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lessonsfrommadamexmas · 3 years

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EREN JAEGER AND THE ENNEAGRAM TYPE 6

First of all, to my followers, please excuse me. This account isn’t for SNK but it’s the one I have and I wanted to write this.

Secondly, I hope this post finds the fandom lol. But if you’re expecting this to be another meta to judge Eren’s actions, don’t waste your time. The enneagram is a tool of understanding, not judgement, and I just wanted to share one thing I appreciate immensely about Eren’s characterization.

Well, why don’t we start with chapter 137? There, Zeke states that life’s purpose is to propagate and it’s core fear is to be extinguished. In other words, from the moment we are born, our organisms need to survive. As humans, we are on our own: suddenly, you gotta breathe on your own; the food is no longer provided. Everything is scary. A baby cries because everything is hard and far away and something in their biology tells them to keep fighting to survive.

Now, onto a more spiritual approach. In El Eneagrama de la Sociedad, Claudio Naranjo says that several cultures have their own ideas and tales regarding a disconnection from a primordial state of wholeness. Once born, we become individuals and are separated from the Universe, as if we’re no longer in sync, and something is lost in the process. How can we survive? Our defense mechanisms start with that question. We need love, we need resources and we need to stand our ground in this cruel, but beautiful world. This, on the enneagram, is called “childhood trauma”.

What I want to do in this post is to break down Eren’s character development through the lens of the enneagram, but for that, I need to give you an overview of the system. It is cruel and beautiful, just like the SNK world. It sees us with care and understanding but it also exposes the harsh truths we don’t want to see.

The enneagram, first and foremost, is an ancient symbol, a figure of nine points connected within a circle. There’s a lot of fascinating history to it, but I’m gonna focus on what matters to this post. The enneagram is a personality system that encompasses nine essences of the Universe, and once our childhood trauma sinks in, we attach to one type which defines our worldview. Here’s how each enneatype manifests itself:

Type 1, the reformer: this person seeks to not make mistakes. They are principled and meticulous in everything they do but highly critical of themselves and others.

Type 2, the helper: this person seeks to be needed. They are proud of their independence and helpfulness but believe they can only receive love if they give first.

Type 3, the achiever: this person seeks to be worthy. They are motivated and ambitious but shape themselves around what is expected of them.

Type 4, the individualist: this person seeks to build their identity. They are sensitive and creative but reject the ordinary and focus on what is harder to reach.

Type 5, the investigator: this person seeks to be a specialist. They are perceptive and curious but withhold themselves and their resources and worry they’re never prepared.

Type 6, the loyalist: we’ll talk about it in a moment.

Type 7, the enthusiast: this person seeks to avoid pain. They are joyful and spontaneous but afraid of facing hardships and being swallowed by negativity and sadness.

Type 8, the leader: this person seeks to be strong. They are fierce and protective but don’t allow themselves any vulnerability and need to be on top.

Type 9, the peacemaker: this person seeks to be in peace. They’re kind and their inner stability is unshakable, but have a hard time asserting themselves.

So what does it mean to be a type 6?

Some of you might not believe if I told you that Eren is moved by fear. But that’s what it is. The type 6 represents fear itself. It’s our search for safety and support. The person who is a type 6 has disconnected from their inner guide and they don’t believe they have the same capability to make decisions as everyone else. That is more of an unconscious state, which manifests through an overly alert stance. Sixes are always on the lookout for threats and danger, their minds work predicting things that can go wrong, so they can be prepared. In other words, the type 6 fears how imprevisible life is, because they truly don’t find in themselves the compass to the answers they need “in this very moment”. They have to be one step ahead and they have to find outside structures for support, people in whom to trust and who’ll give them the guidelines and sense of balance. Fellowship and loyalty are essential to the type 6 as they look for reassurance in their concerns.

In Personality Types: Using the Enneagram for Self-Discovery (1996), Don Richard Riso has described nine levels of development for the enneatypes. They are the path from our healthy, healed state where we’re closer to wholeness again (Level 1) down to our most broken state where we’ve abandoned ourselves (Level 9).

When we start Attack on Titan, Eren is on Level 6. Here’s what Riso says:

“In its innocent forms, counterphobia is well employed by people to master their fears — for example, children who are afraid of the dark might purposefully go to a dark room to overcome their fear.”

Eren, too, wanted to overcome his fear since he was a kid. He wanted to go outside and face those faceless titans. He wanted people around him to be prepared, but since the Garrison was incompetent and lazy, he needed to be prepared. Grisha seems to be Eren’s first authority figure. From what we know, Grisha allowed Eren to have his own thoughts and didn’t impose anything on him, which is a kind of reassurance. Thus, with his father, Eren felt more understood.

Carla, on the other hand, wished for Eren’s immediate safety and cared about him living a quiet life. But that also means she couldn’t understand his concerns, and the type 6 interprets that demeanor as vulnerability — his mother is more exposed to the threat. If the type 6 is a room where nobody is vigilant, the only option they see is to step up and become hypervigilant.

This relation to an authority is very specific for the type 6 as they search for people and systems in whom to rely on. Since the Garrison aren’t the most reliable soldiers around, Eren turns to the Survey Corps. That section of the military consists of the rebels, those who want to explore the unknown, understand the titans and figure out the best way to fight the enemy. The SC wants to be free, so they become Eren’s next “authority figure”.

Riso also says that the type 6 in Level 6 has a more aggressive stance and wants to prove to others that he isn’t indecisive and can’t be pushed around.

“They blame and berate whatever threatens them. They become rebellious… and are desperate to latch onto a position or stance that will make them feel stronger and dispel their feelings of inferiority.”

The type 6 feels inferior because they feel lost inside. Eren, too, knows that the threat lurking behind those walls is much bigger than him and a single human doesn’t stand a chance. And he berates people around him for not seeing what he sees, or for disrespecting his “heroes”.

Eren will be back to Level 6 later, embodying other aspects of it, but let’s talk about the moment he joins the army.

At this point, Eren reaches the stable position he has been eager for. He is part of a group and working towards his goals, he feels more confident because he’s preparing for the next attack. He has climbed to Level 4:

“The security which groups and institutions provide far exceeds the strength of any individual members...”

As we know, Eren sees his mission to eradicate all titans also as a social responsibility. The type 6 can easily fall into “us versus them” mentality where they are putting effort into something and will trust only the people who understand the importance of it. Eren’s bickering with Jean, as well as his admiration for Reiner starts from there.

“And even within their own group, average Sixes make it their business to find out who is pulling the weight and who is not... If others are not loyal or committed, it not only makes them angry, it threatens them.”

Eren talks over and over about how he’s going to join the suicide squad, to the point people start making fun of him. But he is testing everyone’s commitment to the cause of “fighting titans” and he finds people like Jean, who only really want their safe life, as well as Reiner, who is dedicated and understands him immediately. Reiner becomes his new “authority figure”: whenever Eren’s failing, Reiner is there to understand him, to offer help and to remind him of why he’s there.

“The loyalty of average Sixes for the people with whom they have identified is almost without bounds. They find it extremely difficult to break their emotional bonds, even should they desire to do so… Their love may, in time, turn to hatred but never to indifference.”

That one speaks for itself. It’s exactly how Eren felt upon RBA’s betrayal. He’s in total denial about Annie, while for Reiner/Berthold all he has left is rage.

Choosing who to trust is part of the type 6 identity. All of their beliefs, all their inner world is shaken if they are betrayed, because the network they build is how they find a safe space for themselves in the world and how they orient themselves. Annie was Eren’s parameter of fighter, Reiner was Eren’s parameter of leadership. The first backstab is too hard for him to process, we see it all unfold. He can’t admit she’s a traitor, and he doesn’t even have the will to transform and fight her.

The second one, however, is embraced somewhat faster and he’s even able to contain himself and play along. But it doesn’t change how deeply it affected him and how vengeful he gets. Years later, that hatred would dissipate, but never to indifference — Eren still feels a need for some closure between them.

I got ahead of myself on the timeline, so I’m going to rewind to the moment Eren joins the Survey Corps, which is his childhood dream. Erwin is his main authority figure now and you see that, even though Erwin locked him up, he trusts the guy. As Don Riso explains, the type 6 on Level 4 plays by the rules of his group because he strongly believes in those rules and they bring comfort to their minds. In reality, the SC doesn’t really know what they’re doing. Erwin himself doesn’t know how he’s gonna cross the walls and find out the truth. But Eren is devoted to them. Their cause is his cause and he knows how hard it is but what matters is they’re trying. Besides, they embrace him. They want to reach the basement and want to defend him on the court and want to investigate/use his titan power. Thus, for Eren, the SC is the most solid and welcoming place to be. He’ll do whatever they want from him.

However, Eren was about to find out that things were far from glorious out there. Although the Survey Corps work under strict “plans” that soldiers are supposed to follow blindly, Eren can’t just watch people being sacrificed to protect him. Especially when he has enough power to act in a more significant way than those individual humans. But how much control does he have over his own power? Eren can’t answer that, and he feels immensely conflicted as soldiers continue to drop dead.

In that moment, Levi could’ve forced him to follow his orders, and perhaps that would’ve eased his mind when he chose not to transform. But the captain is a different kind of leader than Erwin, and he challenges Eren instead:

And I really appreciate how fitting that is to the type 6 conflit. It’s very difficult for them to accept it, sometimes there simply isn’t a clear path, sometimes it is okay to trust yourself and act on your own. But this is what Eren’s thinking:

That didn’t turn out very well, did it? At the end of the expedition, Eren is forced to admit that the SC don’t have all the answers and that all his power and training can’t always keep everyone safe. He’s once again reminded of that after activating the Coordinate — not even the power to control titans can avoid sacrifices.

Ideally, the type 6 can only reach the safety they seek once they allow themselves to move in the chaos with the courage to face it step by step, instead of predicting it. This may sound easy for others but not for them, especially if they are inserted in a reality where the cost of a mistake is lives.

So we get to the Uprising arc. It starts with the Survey Corps planning the retake of Wall Maria while they put Eren through hardening experiments. Time is not on their side and Eren’s determined to go beyond his limits during the tests.

“They consequently try to further strengthen their ‘social security’ systems by working harder to be accepted and approved by their allies and authorities… Others wonder if they resent the workloads and pressures they seem to be under, yet Sixes seem eager to fulfill their obligations and duties...”

Eren’s entire world would fall apart again once he’s kidnapped by Rod Reiss and discovers the truth of his father’s sin. Like I said earlier, Grisha was one of Eren’s authority figures, and even though he was absent, the basement key and the promised truth kept son and father connected. Wherever Grisha was, Eren could still count on the answers he’d left behind.

That is, until he is hit by a trainwreck of a revelation that his father killed an entire family and sacrificed himself to pass on the titans to him. Eren’s left completely lost, he no longer knows what to think of himself, of the world, of his father.

He falls from Level 4 to Level 7:

“Sixes become trapped in an unhealthy pattern of self-disparagement and massive insecurity which reinforces feelings of inferiority and worthlessness, a marked deterioration from the indecision and evasiveness we saw [before].”

This shift to a much more confused and self-loathing state doesn’t last long because Eren has his friend’s support for now. Historia chooses to see his worth and let him live. Levi once again challenges him to make his own decision, and Eren manages to save the day.

As Eren becomes aware of those destructive feelings, he tries to get rid of them by “fighting” himself, in an attempt to put himself back up.

He realizes he isn’t alone and he doesn’t have to do everything on his own, people around him are also strong enough to stand up for themselves. That helps him return to a more average stage and it could have been the beginning of his growth...

Well, if only life wouldn’t have a surprise waiting for him at every corner.

I hope you’re being able to follow and understand that we all have ups and downs in life. The levels of development represent exactly that, so it is common to find yourself in the same stage in different periods of your life. Nevertheless, after Eren learns the truth about the world and sees his future memories, it all goes downhill for him, no turning back anymore.

Here is what Riso comments on the ambivalence of the type 6 on Level 5:

“Sixes begin to follow the narrow path between the expectations of their allies and authorities and their need to resist having any further demands placed on them.”

Eren is overwhelmed by the view of the outside world. He has experienced his father’s memories first hand and it’s nothing like what he expected. No one around him has the same perspective. A lot of self-awareness and self-doubt emerge from the future memories he saw through Historia. Riso explains that on Level 5 the person starts to become more worried about how their allies feel about them.

“They become skeptical of new views and ideas, feeling that they have already put a lot of effort into understanding the perspectives and approaches they already know.”

Eren went from “I HATE TITANS ALL TITANS ARE MY ENEMIES DESTROY ‘EM ALL” to “titans are my people and they haven’t chosen this horrible outcome”. And that’s A LOT to process when you wrapped your life around that initial idea. But things are changing even faster, and his friends are talking about how the enemy could be reached out too. This thought needs to coexist in Eren with the clear image he has of the enemy, one that only he has accessed. Add to that how Eren was kept away from the Marleyan prisoners as Paradis also feared some kind of betrayal. As long as there’s people out there against them, he can’t so easily rest.

Who knows at what point Eren returns to Level 6. The time skip is covered very loosely. But probably when he is feeling so lost that he actually comes to Historia to vent.

“As in other types, to be functioning in this Level or lower usually indicates that there were extremely dysfunctional elements in the child’s environment.”

Self-explanatory. It’s even hard to talk about Level 6 because it is a point where Sixes start to overthink threats that aren’t that big, but in Eren’s case, the threat is 100% REAL and there’s a world isolating them and wishing for his people to die and throwing gigantic creatures at them. No big deal at all.

Eren turns to the people who actually understand the urgency he feels. Floch is eager to follow him, while Zeke and Yelena have an actual plan. Eren says he’s acting out of his own decisions, and he sure is, but he has also left it in Zeke’s hands to set the course. At this point, it no longer is a positive thing for the type 6 to have reassurance instead of a grounding support, it’ll only leave them trapped in the current mentality.

What would be more appropriate would be a balance between rejection…

…and full acceptance.

(By the way, I can’t even know where Historia stands, since she let him do his thing, but I’m still using her here because of how immediate her reaction was, which could lead Eren to think he can’t risk telling anyone else. Unhealthy Sixes are just that paranoid.)

Zeke could have been Eren’s new “authority figure“ if their goals were the same. But more and more the only thing Eren is starting to rely on are the future memories.

Riso talks about how a violent environment would lead to violent actions and “they end up using the same aggressive tactics on others”. And I can draw a parallel with how Eren has been facing titans for so long and watched them take people from him, that he just feels aggression arise whenever he thinks of all the injustice he has witnessed. Same would happen later on, when he sees Ymir’s memories and finally decides to unleash this pain on the world.

“It’s hard for Sixes to work for something. Instead, their energies are galvanized by being against people and things.”

Despite being highly conflicted and problematic, Eren so far has waited. It’s too hard at this point to fully engage with those dreams, but he has watched things unfold and allowed the Survey Corps to do their stuff and try to contact the outside world. On Level 7, the type 6 is just going through the day with little hope. When the SC reaches Marley and Eren meets the boy of his memories, he can no longer escape from facing himself.

“Tearful and obsequious, they are disgusted with themselves for not having been tough enough to stand on their own two feet, to defend themselves, to be independent.”

Not only Eren, but Paradis as a whole, have been unable to be independent in a much bigger world, or this is how he sees it after Kyiomi monopolizes the resources and the pro-Eldians group rejects the island. Finally, Eren recognizes in himself the person who would be capable of trampling the kid he currently wants to save, and that leaves him disgusted.

“They do not necessarily deceive others maliciously, but to escape punishment or abandonment. They believe they may be able to repair the damage they have caused...”

What Riso is saying here is that the type 6 feel the need to hide (themselves) so their loved ones won’t abandon them. And again, in Eren’s case, he has a damn good reason to think his loved ones might not be super happy if he said he was going to destroy the whole world. Let’s not forget they are the people who counted on him to save the world this whole time, and he is the person several people have been sacrificed for.

All this pressure has brought him this low, but Eren reaches rock bottom when he allows himself to admit he wished for it all to be destroyed. Now, he can no longer face his family (as he would tell Falco) and he has little faith in himself.

Again, Eren’s paranoias aren’t so far from reality because there is, indeed, a world against them, and that keeps feeding into his anxiety. Paradis’s progress is little and the future is uncertain. When the type 6 reaches Level 9, they can no longer get out of this spiral. They know it’s only a matter of time until the threat comes to them. So they call the threat upon themselves.

Eren allowed himself to go as far as understanding his enemies and accepting that they’re the same, but with the declaration of war, he can’t wait anymore.

I already told you the reason: the type 6 needs to be able to predict. That’s the very core of their beings, their minds seek to control events. Striking first is their final attempt to make sure they won’t be taken by surprise. Ultimately, they are lost and desperate to find support again. Here’s what Riso says about the type 6 on Level 9:

“They may drop out, abasing themselves as vagrants and living in skid row conditions, thus allowing their health and minds to deteriorate to the point of no return.”

It almost feels like Isayama has read this book, I swear to God. Yeah, that’s word by word what Eren does. He goes to enemy territory, injures himself and throws himself in war. Despite resisting for so long to a new perspective of his enemies, Eren allows himself to see them with his own eyes. All because he’s desperate to understand his enemy, desperate to understand himself (and what would lead to his decision) and desperate to run away from his friends. He is ashamed of choosing those future memories as his new authority figure, get it? They are the most certain thing in his life now. As much as he waited and as much as the SC tried, they don’t have any guaranteed future and it’s just too hard for the type 6, especially unhealthy Sixes, to wait. It’s impossible.

Remember I said that Sixes want to feel understood? Well, I think Eren feels understood, to some degree, when he’s among those broken soldiers. They are relatable, more than anyone else.

“Neurotic Sixes bring disaster of some sort upon themselves not to end their relationship with authority figures, but to reestablish a protective one. [...] It is also important to notice that neurotic Sixes are masochist not because they take pleasure in suffering as such, but because they hope their suffering will bring someone to their side who’ll save them… as if to say, ‘Punish me, because I’ve been bad. Then you can love me again.’”

In the mind of the unhealthy type 6, if he can’t find the answers, he can’t be there for his allies. If he fails his allies, he doesn’t deserve their support. But even when he feels he doesn’t deserve it and feels they won’t forgive him, he desperately needs it — the type 6 doesn’t know how to live without support. He is completely aware of his cowardice, he may unleash his despair in innocent people, he seeks punishment for his behavior and hopes for someone to end his pain.

“Unhealthy Sixes are self-defeating persons who are their worst enemies. If they persist in their masochist behavior, neurotic Sixes will drive away everyone on whom they depend. They will be abandoned and alone, the very things they most fear.”

Eren pushed everyone away, but deep down he waited for them to come to his rescue. He knew he was a lost cause, but still couldn’t let go of what he saw as a compromise, a duty to them. His completely cruel and extreme actions are, in enneagram terms, his way to not leave his allies adrift. But aren’t all his actions for his own freedom? I don’t think so, not entirely. There’s a reason the type 6 has been named “the loyalist” — they always, always see themselves as part of a group. And in the end, he saw himself in Ymir, someone who was trapped and waiting to be rescued, understood. Don Riso says the worst part of coming this low is how much Sixes hurt others while they hurt themselves, both because they want to harm everyone who doesn’t understand and to show people the worst in themselves; they want to punish and be punished at same the time.

That is what I wanted to break down — Eren’s inner process. Yes, the type 6 is an ambivalent, contradicting personality type, precisely because that’s how they feel inside. Other enneagram types don’t escape from their own personal conflicts, that’s also important to point out. The enneagram does not define integrity, people capable of causing great harm exist in all types and no one from type 6 is fated to destroying the world — just in case that isn’t obvious.

This post is heavy, I know. One of the things I love about SNK are the emotions it evokes and how human characters are. I’m so thankful to have followed Eren’s fascinating journey. He has never hit me as a one-dimensional character as some people claim. To me, Eren is not a chad, he’s not a monster, either. He’s just human.

I’m thankful for this fandom as well. We’re a total mess but the monthly wait would’ve killed me without the crazy theories and the heated discussions.

#snk 137 #snk 138 #snk 139 #Eren Jaeger analysis #attack on titan manga and anime #enneagram #LONG post #eren jaeger #snk analysis

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idkwhoiamanymorebutwtf · 4 years

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Below imma put my reasoning for each of these if you were confused about why I put certain characters where I did.

(note that this is about the show Harley Quinn 2019 so most things outside of this show won’t be taken into account when discussing the character’s alignments)

James Gordon as Lawful Good: He’s group and order oriented, and will cooperate with authority in all cases. You’ll never see Gordon team up with anyone who isn’t strictly on the ‘good’ side of things. He’s convinced that order and laws are absolutely necessary to assure that goodness prevails and continued to uphold the law even when Batman was gone. A lawful good being kills whenever necessary to promote the greater good, or to protect himself, his companions, or anyone whom he's vowed to defend. In times of war, he strikes down the enemies. Gordon was very much willing to kill Two Face and basically went into an all out war against Harley. He admitted himself that he got into the police force to shoot bad guys. So long as it’s within the letter of the law and the people in question deserve it, he’s very much willing to maim and kill. Gordon responds to authority and when there is no authority figure around he does his best to uphold the law on his own.

Bruce Wayne as Neutral Good: He, like most neutral good characters, values life and freedom above all else, and despises those who would deprive others of them. Neutral good characters, including him, sometimes find themselves forced to work beyond the law, yet for the law, and the greater good of the people. Multiple times throughout the series he teams up with people the law dictates he ought to be fighting, like when he helped Harley in season one and even sacrificed himself to save Harley and Ivy, or when he helped Harley and The Joker get the Justice League back in season two. He’s a super hero, he tries to stay within the law, but he’s willing to work with those who aren’t strictly on the side of ‘good’ if it’s for the sake of goodness.

Barbara Gordon as Chaotic Good: A chaotic good character acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect of him. He makes his own way, but he's kind and benevolent. He believes in goodness and right but has little use for laws and regulations. Babs, within the context of the show, does work with law enforcement, but she isn’t exactly bound by codes and laws. She worked with Harley and Ivy to take down the Riddler in Season 2 (and lets be real lawful characters...probably wouldn’t work with criminals) and she actually tries to befriend and hang out with the two. Working with them wasn’t just because she had to and there was no other option, she actually wanted to be friends with two criminals which again shows that she isn’t exactly bound to the law. In fact, she actively goes against it when she warns Harley about Gordon coming to take her down and tries to dissuade her father from going through with it, actively sabotaging the police to do what she believes is the right thing.

Pamela Isley as Lawful Neutral: A lawful neutral character acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs her. Order and organization are paramount to her. She may believe in personal order and live by a code or standard, or she may believe in order for all and favor a strong, organized government. Traditionally, when people think ‘lawful neutral’ they think the latter of those possible motivations, someone who believes in the law and government, however in Ivy’s case she’s much more dictated by a personal standard. A lawful character trusts someone or something better than he trusts themselves, but they still pick which thing that is, it doesn’t have to be the laws of the land, it can be anything so long as it’s a solid principal or code or set of ideals rather than “whatever I feel like at the time”. Ivy’s moral code focuses mainly on saving the earth and she doesn’t every stray from that. She has a strong ideal that she’s completely dedicated to and doesn’t ever really change. She’s an eco-terrorist, and terrorism is usually enacted over incredibly strong beliefs. She isn’t exactly ‘good’ because although her goal is respectable she does things that most people consider immoral to get there, showing she isn’t too concerned about doing what’s good towards people. However she also doesn’t exactly go out of her way to harm or do evil (i mean she hurts people who try and hurt harley or the environment but this is moreso a form of vigilante justice than doing something ivy sees as immoral because she inherently believes that most of humanity is below the environment and below harley too “she’s my only friend but that’s by design, because she’s the only human I think is worth a shit”.)

Harleen Quinzel as True Neutral: True Neutral character’s fully think of good as better than evil. After all, they would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. They’re just not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way. True neutral characters are known to behave in a good, moral way towards friends and allies. They support the people who support them, often out of genuine love. True neutral characters also typically only go out of their ways to hurt people who they think deserve it. Basically people who tried to hurt them or their loved ones first. Beyond that they don’t care. They don’t go out of their way to hurt people who don’t deserve it but if these people haven’t done anything to earn this character’s affection then these people don’t really matter. True neutrals often believe in lex talionis forms of justice. True neutral individuals do not lack interest, ambition, or passion--they value their own well-being and that of friends and loved ones. They may struggle passionately on behalf of themselves or others, as well as feel compassion for those they barely know. But overall they aren’t bound with any loyalty to doing what’s good. They aren’t bound to the law. They don’t feel an obligation to go against morality or law just for the sake of it either, though. I honestly think this is the most fitting for Harley. She doesn’t see any reason to follow the laws so she doesn’t. When someone fucks with her she’ll fuck right back, but generally she isn’t known to go out of her way to hurt people. It really feels like she’s mostly out to protect herself and her own. She’ll fight for things her friends care about and to help the people she loves. She has no qualms about lying and killing when the people in question hurt her or someone she cares about, though. She said herself that she can’t really even be considered a bad guy. Harley turned down the chance to take over the world because she isn’t evil and doesn’t want to inflict unwarranted suffering on random people, but at the same time she’s taken down multiple people who mess with her with little remorse for doing so. The broader conflicts between ‘good’ and ‘evil’ and ‘law’ and ‘chaos’ don’t seem to mean much to her, she’s just out to protect her and her own.

Selina Kyle as Chaotic Neutral: She, like all chaotic neutral characters, strives to protect her freedom first and foremost. Chaotic neutral characters follow their whims without any regard for good or evil or law. They often don’t have much actual concern for personal relationships. Chaotic neutral characters do not necessarily want others to suffer as a result of their actions, but do not care if others do suffer. They tend to behave in a good manner towards friends and allies, unless their friends and allies do not agree with them. Within the show, Selina has betrayed her allies multiple times, first abandoning her to steal a blood diamond and leaving Ivy to pay for her hotel bills, then stealing the the diamond Kiteman wanted to use to propose. She generally isn’t concerned with the wellbeing of Ivy, Harley, or any other allies, and prioritizes her own interests over all else with very little loyalty to...well...anything.

Darkseid as Lawful Evil: A lawful evil villain methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts. He cares about tradition, loyalty, and order but not about freedom, dignity, or life. He plays by the rules but without mercy or compassion. Darkseid is difficult to please and demands grand gestures of obedience and power in order for people to prove themselves, as was the case of Harley and Doctor Psycho offering to conquer planet Earth for him. Any acts of betrayal or disloyalty towards him is met with anger on his part and an oaf of vengeance. Despite this, he is not without a sense of restraint, as was the case of him returning to Apokolips after Harley refused for a second time to rule over Earth. He keeps his promises (when he offered harley the ability to rule earth after she showed her strength, for example), but doesn’t take kindly to disobedience or disloyalty and is undoubtedly evil, going out of his way to maim, kill, and conquer.

Edgar Cizko as Neutral Evil: Neutral evil characters are primarily concerned with themselves and their own advancement. They have no particular objection to working with others or, for that matter, going it on their own. Their only interest is in getting ahead. If there is a quick and easy way to gain a profit, whether it be legal, questionable, or obviously illegal, they take advantage of it. Although neutral evil characters do not have the every-man-for-himself attitude of chaotic characters, they have no qualms about betraying their friends and companions for personal gain. These characters willingly cooperate with anyone who will further their own ends. They often seek the easy road to fame and fortune, with little concern for the people they trample along the way. They value strength and ability alone. If the neutral evil can use laws to weaken those who stand in the way of his success, he will use them. He may betray a family member, comrade, or friend if it is convenient to do so and it advances his agenda. Dr. Psycho was fully willing to completely betray Harley over an offer of power, something that everyone else on the team viewed as reprehensible (this is why he’s the only one who i’d consider ‘evil’, btw, because king, clayface, harley, and ivy all value their friends/allies over power and control and view each other as friends wheras Dr. Psycho was willing to betray all of them even after everything they’d all gone through together). He does whatever it takes to elevate himself and goes out of his way to hurt people (like trying to take over the world or broadcasting revenge porn of harley and ivy into the sky).

The Joker as Chaotic Evil: As Harley said, he’s a sociopathic narcissist. As with all Chaotic Evil characters, he is hot-tempered, vicious, arbitrarily violent, and unpredictable. Thankfully, these character’s plans are haphazard, and any groups they join or form are poorly organized.The Joker may be a ‘genius’ but he often fails to really think things through or execute plans successfully (I knowwww I said we were just analyzing this show and not the character’s other appearances but there’s such a good example from another show to what i mean when i say the joker isn’t as effective as he could be. remember when harley literally came closer to killing batman than joker did and improved his original plans? and the only reason batman survived was because joker threw her out a fucking window and screwed everything up? yeah.) He’s smart and powerful and rutheless and all that but he doesn’t think things through or organize his thoughts well enough. The major precepts of this alignment are freedom, randomness, and woe. Laws and order, kindness, and good deeds are disdained. Life has no value. By promoting chaos and evil, those of this alignment hope to bring themselves to positions of power, glory, and prestige in a system ruled by individual caprice and their own whim. The chaotic evil creature holds that individual freedom and choice is important, and that other individuals and their freedoms are unimportant if they cannot be held by the individuals through their own strength and merit. Thus, law and order rends to promote not individuals but groups, and groups suppress individual volition and success. The Joker abused his girlfriend ruthlessly, goes out of his way to hurt innocents, tries to kill people on a regular basis weather they deserve it or not, and generally goes out of his way to exert his power over other’s simply for the sake of proving he’s dominant to them.

#harley quinn 2019 #harley quinn #harleen quinzel #selina kyle #catwoman #poison ivy #pamela isley #darkseid #dr psycho #the joker #joker #james gordon #barbara gordon #batgirl #batman #bruce wayne

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five-miles-over · 4 years

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Why I Think ‘Gladiator’’s Commodus is a Better Character than Maximus

(Disclaimer: this schpiel is not intended to offend anyone, or any group of people. This is just a personal opinion I have based on the characters of the film, Gladiator. This has nothing to do with the historical Commodus. If you happen to disagree with some of the ideas here or might like to add on, I’m always happy to hear it. I welcome constructive criticism! Also SPOILER ALERT!!!)

So, without further ado...here are some of the reasons why I think Commodus is a better character than Maximus.

Tag list: @beautifulyoungprospect @captain-el-writes @jokerflecker @cruellytearful @dreamingmaria @cherrymoon75

(Note: When I talk about being a “strong character”, I don’t necessarily mean physical strength (I think I’ll leave that to your imaginations.) I think of strength as in emotional endurance and resilience combined with inherent good qualities present in both men. In addition, I factored in the ability to ‘win over’ the audience.)

1) Commodus is Self-Motivated

For this, I’d look no further than the scene in the first few moments of Gladiator, where Maximus checks on his camp and finds Commodus practicing with his sword. Aside from a little fanservice, I think this scene gives insight onto one of the ways Commodus acts upon his ambition. We (the audience) don’t see his father standing nearby or telling him to practice, thereby we can assume Commodus creates his own practice sessions.

And by the looks of his fighting (I’ve only tried fencing for a few weeks so pardon my ignorance), Commodus looks like he is actually interested in perfecting his performance. He genuinely wants to be a good fighter, knowing how important it would be in the future.

Compared to Commodus, Maximus constantly needs other people to stir him into action - be it his wife and son, Proximo, or Lucilla and the senators. Even when he’s put in the gladiatorial area, Maximus initially refuses to fight and has to be goaded. This is possibly the consequence of being surrounded by people all his life - he constantly needs somebody else to be the catalyst for his actions.

Commodus on the other hand knew he had to rely on none other but himself in order to get his things done.

2) He knows himself....and he stands up for himself

“You wrote to me once, listing the four chief virtues. Wisdom, Justice, Fortitude and Temperance. As I read the list I knew I had none of them. But I have other virtues, father. Ambition, that can be a virtue when it drives us to excel. Resourcefulness. Courage. Perhaps not on the battlefield but there are many forms of courage. Devotion, to my family, to you. But none of my virtues were on your list.”

For the record, ambition is a virtue when it drives us to excel. And in my opinion, it is a quality that Maximus lacks. I would rather trust a ruler like Commodus who had a clear vision of everything he wanted from his time on the throne, as opposed to someone simply thrusted the power of the empire with no intent (or possible idea) on how to rule.

The ability of Commodus to advocate for his own virtues makes him look better than someone like Maximus, who constantly needs someone to remind him of his abilities. While someone could call Maximus ‘humble’ for refusing to brag about himself, it is Commodus’s ability to fight for his rights that enables him to fulfill his lifelong ambition.

And it is only when Maximus decides to stand up instead of letting someone else control his life that he is finally able to get his revenge. By deciding to win the crowd using his ‘mercy’ and ‘defiance of killing’, Maximus is able to get closer to winning over Commodus.

Moreover, Commodus’s ability to fight relentlessly to get what (he believes) he deserves is something desirable in today’s day and age. People like someone who knows what they have to offer, and isn’t afraid to use their talents to get what they want.

3) He appears to have learnt from his father on how not to raise a child

When it comes to being a father-figure, he appears to have learnt some of the things what not to do based on his experience with Marcus Aurelius. For proof of this, watch how he interacts with his nephew, Lucius. He plays with Lucius, reads to him, and encourages him. (”A gladiator? A gladiator fights only for the games. Wouldn’t you rather be a great Roman warrior like Julius Caesar?”)

He never actively neglects him or berates him, like his father did. Most of all, once he finds out that Lucilla was conspiring against him, he made sure never to speak ill about her in front of Lucius. (Proof: the “busy little bee” monologue) Commodus wanted Lucius to have a mother he could respect, and he also knew when to separate politics from his family life.

(Also, side note to Lucilla and the conspiring Senators: don’t you all know better than to get an innocent child involved in political schemes that could endanger him? All he had to do was shout, “Maximus, the savior of Rome!” in front of Commodus.)

4) He wasn’t afraid to call out the Senate on their bullsh*t

“I doubt many of the people eat so well as you, Gracchus. Or have so such splendid mistresses as you, Gaius.”

Let me start with this: I admire sassiness in all its glory. And with Commodus particularly, I like the fact that he used witty retorts as a way to establish his authority in a room. It was the perfect, non-verbal method of saying ‘don’t mess with me’.

The Senate was elected to represent the Roman public, the majority of whom certainly did not fall into the aristocratic class of the Senators.

Commodus actually had a point when he stated this flaw- throughout the film, the Senate never really did anything to help Rome. All they cared about was gossiping about Commodus’s spending habits and plotting his assassination. Honestly, I would’ve ordered the Senate to be temporarily dismissed until those guys got their act together. The Senators needed to realize that they were elected to represent the people, not their own individual interests.

5) He shows instances of having excellent knowledge on being an emperor

For this point, I’m going to use the (deleted?) scene in which Commodus has two of his soldiers executed for lying about Maximus’s escape.

Many viewers use this scene as a way to emphasize how cruel of an emperor Commodus seemed to be. On the contrary, Commodus shows what an emperor is supposed to do.

To a ruler, lying is one of highest sins ever. Commodus himself explained it quite clearly in the film. “If they lie to me, they don’t respect me. If they don’t respect me, how can they ever love me?” The other point Commodus didn’t mention is, what’s the likelihood they won’t do it again? If a liar is allowed to go free, that makes the Emperor more vulnerable to further betrayal. So, to take no further chances, execution would be the correct punishment.

On another note, public execution is by far one of the greatest ways of establishing authority by intimidation. It was the one way Commodus could tell the entire kingdom what happens to people who lie to the emperor.

Most emperors, fictional and historical, would’ve seen this logic and followed suit during their own instances of betrayal.

Another instance is his organization of the gladiatorial games. His willingness to empathize with this particular aspect of the Roman people made him well liked among citizens - the very same citizens he is supposed to rule over as an Emperor.

6) Commodus had no allies throughout his reign...and still lived with his head held high

Being Marcus Aurelius’s only son may have gotten him the throne, but staying on the throne was all Commodus’s effort.

This guy had no allies throughout the entire film, no ‘personal cheerleader’ to encourage him. In fact he had the total opposite. He’s been criticized and belittled all his life, while Maximus was praised all the time - even as an emperor, Commodus was belittled by every one of the Senators. They never took him seriously or even considered Commodus’s ideas to be good in any way.

In fact, it would be plausible to say that Commodus was also his own enemy at times - fighting his conflicting urges, trying to create an identity for History to remember him by. (Should he be Commodus the Invincible or Commodus the Merciful?)

Nevertheless, he still keeps his head held high at the end of the day - never once do we see him attempt to give up the throne or drown himself in vices (like women, gambling, etc.) to try to escape from his duty as Emperor. He never lost his determination to be the best Emperor he could be.

7) Your Hero is Only as Good as Your Villain Is

This is by far one of the most interesting parts about stories involving a Hero’s Journey archetype. Based on the types of things the villain metaphorically “throws” in the hero’s way, audience members get to see the hero’s adaptability and even the depth, or the extent, to which the hero is truly heroic (or not).

(Side note: this gif is freaking adorable. He looks like a (big) little boy enjoying himself. I once watched this on loop for a solid five minutes.)

In Gladiator, Commodus is someone that many love to hate, but also many love to sympathize. Commodus’s desires to be a successful (and popular!) Emperor and a devoted son are things people see within themselves as well. This complex mixture results in a character that needed something as unforgivable as patricide or incestuous-looking actions in order for the filmmakers to tell the audience, “You are not supposed to be cheering for him. You’re supposed to cheer for the vanilla, goody-two-shoes guy.”

However, with the amount of things Commodus does to seem relatable or even likable by the audience, Maximus is expected to do more or show more heroism and charisma to be really considered the ‘good guy’ of this story. It’s something that each and every viewer decides for themselves.

8) Commodus is more attractive than Maximus

Now, this is not a comparison between Joaquin Phoenix’s and Russel Crowe’s looks- I think “People” magazine can do a better job of this than me.

(My ex-friends fawn over Maximus, I’ve found friends that think Commodus is more gorgeous...the feud never ends, folks.)

Commodus is definitely more charismatic, offering plenty more for the attentive audience member to dissect in his personality. His actions and emotions attract viewers into asking questions and even creating their own theories to understand what makes him tick.

Maximus, on the other hand, offers nothing of that sort. His profile ends at just, “loves his family, wants to do the right thing.” This is the main reason I call his character ‘boring’ - he brings no element of mystery. With him, what you see is pretty much what you get.

So there you have it, everyone. This is why I personally appreciate Commodus as a character more than Maximus. Sorry I made this super long; I really like analyzing movie characters. I hope you liked reading this and I would love to hear your opinions. Feel free to comment or message me directly.

#gladiator 2000 #commodus #maximus #movie analysis #commodus rant

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the-end-of-art · 4 years

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No wonder our communities seem organized to keep suffering at a distance

“The Interruptions are my work” by Henri Nouwen

(Henri Nouwen—Turn My Mourning into Dancing, p. 5-11)

When I came to Daybreak, the community of ministry to disable people where I have been pastor, I was experiencing a great deal of personal pain. My many years in the world of academics, my travels among the poor in Central America, and later, my speaking around the world about what I had seen, left me deflated. My schedule kept me running hard and fast. Rather than providing an escape from my own inner conflicts, my scurrying from speaking engagement to speaking engagement only intensified my inner turmoil. And because of my schedule, I could not fully face my pain. I carried on with the illusion that I was in control, that I could avoid what I did not want to face within myself and in the world around me.

But when I arrived, I witnessed the enormous suffering of the mentally and physically handicapped persons living here. I came gradually to see my painful problems in a new light. I realised they formed part of a much larger suffering. And I found through that insight new energy to live amid my own hardship and pain.

I realised that healing begins with our taking our pain out of its diabolic isolation and seeing that whatever we suffer, we suffer it in communion with all of humanity, and yes, all of creation. In so doing, we become participants in the great battle against the powers of darkness. Our little lives participate in something larger.

I also found something else here: people asking not so much “How can I get rid of my suffering?” but “How can I make it an occasion for growth and insight?” Among these people, most of whom cannot read, many of whom cannot care for themselves, among men and women rejected by a world that values only the whole and bright and healthy, I saw people learning how to make the connection between human suffering and God’s suffering. They helped me to see how the way through suffering is not to deny it, but to live fully in the midst of it. They were asking how they could turn pain from a long interruption into an opportunity.

How do we make such connection ourselves? How do we make this shift from evading our pain to asking God to redeem and make good use of it?

An early step in the dance sounds very simple, though often will not come easily: We are called to grieve our losses. It seems paradoxical, but healing and dancing begin with looking squarely at what causes us pain. We face the secret losses that have paralysed us and kept us imprisoned in denial or shame or guilt. We do not nurse the illusion that we can hopscotch our way through difficulties. For by trying to hide parts of our story from God’s eye and our own consciousness, we become judges of our own past. We limit divine mercy to our human fears. Our efforts to disconnect ourselves from our own suffering, end up disconnecting our suffering from God’s suffering for us. The way out of our loss and hurt is in and through. When Jesus said, “For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners” (Matthew 9:13), He affirmed that only those who can face their wounded condition can be available for healing and enter a new way of living.

Sometimes we need to ask ourselves just what our losses are. Doing so reminds us how real the experience of loss is. Perhaps you know what it is to have a parent die. How well I remember the grief I felt after my mother’s illness and death. We may experience the death of a child or of friends. And we lose people, sometimes just as painfully, through misunderstanding, conflict, or anger. I may expect a friend to visit, but he does not come. I speak to a group and expect a warm reception but no one really seems to respond. Someone may take from us a job, a career, a good name.

We may watch hopes flicker through growing infirmity, or dreams vanish through the betrayal of someone we trusted for along time. A family member may walk out in anger and we wonder if we have failed. Sometimes our sense of loss feels large indeed: I read the newspaper and find things only worse than the day before. Our souls grow sad because of poverty or the destruction of so much natural beauty in our world. And we may lose meaning in our lives, not only because our hearts become tired, but also because someone ridicules long-cherished ways of thinking and praying. Our convictions suddenly seem old-fashioned, unnecessary. Even our faith seems shaky. Such are the potential disappointments of any life.

Typically we see such hardship as an obstacle to what we think we should be—healthy, good-looking, free of discomfort. We consider suffering as annoying at best, meaningless at worst. We strive to get rid of our pains in whatever way we can. A part of us prefers the illusion that our losses are not real, that they come only as temporary interruptions. We thereby expend much energy in denial. “They should not prevent us from holding on to the real thing,” we say to ourselves.

Several temptations feed this denial. Our incessant busyness, for example, becomes a way to escape what must some days be confronted. The world in which we live lies in the power of the Evil One, and the Evil One would prefer to distract us and fill every little space with things to do, people to meet, business to accomplish, products to be made. He does not allow any space for genuine grief and mourning. Our busyness becomes a curse, even while we think it provides us with relief from the pain inside. Our over packed lives serve only to keep us from facing the inevitable difficulty that we all, at some time or another, must face.

The voice of evil also tries to tempt us to put on an invincible front. Words such as vulnerability, letting go, surrendering, crying, mourning, and grief are not to be found in the devil’s dictionary. Someone once said to me, “Never show your weakness, for you will be used; never be vulnerable, for you will get hurt; never depend on others, for you will lose your freedom.” This might sound very wise, but it does not echo the voice of wisdom. It mimics a world that wants us to respect without question the social boundaries and compulsions that our society has defined for us.

Facing our losses also means avoiding a temptation to see life as an exercise in having needs met. We are needy people, of course: We want attention, affection, influence, power. And our needs seem never to be satisfied. Even altruistic actions can get tangled with these needs. Then, when people or circumstances do not fulfil all of our needs, we withdraw or lash out. We nurse our wounded spirits. And we become even needier. We crave easy assurances, ignoring anything that would suggest another way.

We also like easy victories: growth without crisis, healing without pains, the resurrection without the cross. No wonder we enjoy watching parades and shouting out to returning heroes, miracle workers, and record breakers. No wonder our communities seem organised to keep suffering at a distance: People are buried in ways that shroud death with euphemism and ornate furnishings. Institutions hide away the mentally ill and criminal offenders in a continuing denial that they belong to the human family. Even our daily customs lead us to cloak our feelings and speak politely through clenched teeth and prevent honest, healing confrontation. Friendships become superficial and temporary.

The way of Jesus looks very different. While Jesus brought great comfort and came with kind words and a healing touch, He did not come to take all our pains away. Jesus entered into Jerusalem in His last days on a donkey, like a clown at a parade. This was His way of reminding us that we fool ourselves when we insist on easy victories. When we think we can succeed in cloaking what ails us and our times in pleasantness. Much that is worthwhile comes only through confrontation.

The way from Palm Sunday to is the patient way, the suffering way. Indeed, our word patience comes from the ancient root patior, “to suffer.” To learn patience is not to rebel against every hardship. For if we insist on continuing to cover our pains with easy “Hosannas,” we run the risk of losing our patience. We are likely to become bitter and cynical or violent and aggressive when the shallowness of the easy way wears through.

Instead, Christ invites us to remain in touch with the many suffering of every day and to taste the beginning of hope and new life right there, where we live amid our hurts and pains and brokenness. By observing His life, His followers discover that when all of the crowd’s “Hosannas” had fallen silent, when disciples and friends had left Him, and after Jesus cried out, “My God, my God why have you forsaken Me?” then it was the Son of Man rose from death. Then He broke through the chains of death and became Saviour. That is the patient way, slowly leading me from easy triumph to the hard victory.

I am less likely to deny my suffering when I learn how God uses it to mould me and draw me closer to Him. I will be less likely to see my pains as interruptions to my plans and more able to see them as the means for God to make me ready to receive Him. I let Christ live near my hurts and distractions.

I remember an old priest who one day said to me, “I have always been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted; then I realised that the interruptions were my work.” The unpleasant things, the hard moments, the unexpected setbacks carry more potential than we usually realise. For the movement from Palm Sunday to Easter takes us from the easy victory built on small dreams and illusions to the hard victory offered by God who wants to purify us by His patient, caring hand.

As I learned from my friends at Daybreak, at the center of our Christian faith we perceive a God who took on Himself the burden of the entire world. Suffering invites us to place our hurts in larger hands. In Christ we see God suffering—for us. And calling us to share in God’s suffering love for a hurting world. The small and even overpowering pains of our lives are intimately connected with the greater pains of Christ. Our daily sorrows are anchored in a greater sorrow and therefore a larger hope. Absolutely nothing in our lives lies outside the realm of God’s judgement and mercy.

#henri nouwen #mourning #grief #pain #loss #covid #coronavirus #covid-19 #pandemic #Christ #God #Jesus #love #suffering

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harmonyandco · 4 years

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-----TRIGGER WARNING: INCEST -----

Wizards are nothing if not stupid and that’s why a half blood from a poor family was able to bend them to his will, when he styled himself a new name - Lord Voldemort.

Even the great Albus Dumbledore was unaware of the power of a Horcrux. Ginny Weasley was possessed by one for nearly a year and though Potter had managed to slay his precious basilisk, destroy his diary - the old fool and the stupid boy forgot one simple thing - he, Lord Voldemort, was unable to complete the transfer of the life force of that silly little girl to acquire a body of his own two years ago but he had sunk his hooks deep within her and they weren’t destroyed. Now he was back and with access to Potter’s blood and his mind no less, able to pillage and plunder through the boy’s head at will able to learn how Potter had accidentally found his diary but both he and Dumbledore none the wiser about the effects of the possession of the young witch.

The fools who had assumed he would be defeated would never know that he has a spy of his own amongst the order.

No one suspected him or his subtle influence and vast influence being the reason why the chit was suddenly able to bag Potter out of the blue. He has had to be so careful, so subtle about these things - guiding her to the book that would help her ensnare and bewitch Potter slipping him potions and using spells. It was going perfect, so perfectly well he was impressed by his own ingenuity until the boy played the noble hero and vanished one day - the day he was sure his servants would capture him from the girl’s home no less on her brother’s wedding.

He knows Potter is up to something but it’s no good since the only two he trusted with the knowledge were gone with him too. Potter didn’t even trust the girl who he was dating with something so important and it irked and infuriated him. Had Dumbledore guided those three to help Potter harness, gain a power that he, Lord Voldemort, doesn’t know? The prophesied tool of his destruction? He had to know, he wanted to know!

The fates smiled down on him again - he had access to the young fool - the girl’s older brother! He had abandoned Potter and the mudblood and now he was here at Shell Cottage, at the home of Bill and Fleur Weasley, where he would use the girl to lure the information out of him.

He sees the boy is left alone, shunned and forsaken for his abandonment by his own family and wants to laugh at them. Loyal to Potter more than their own blood, oh this will be easy too easy he thinks but he’s wrong for the girl tried to be sympathetic, concerned, caring and loving, supportive even to cajole the information out of him but to no avail. The boy’s lips were glued shut on the mysterious quest he was on with Potter, until days ago.

He knows he doesn’t have a lot of time for the charade is to be kept up and the girl will have to go back to school when the holidays are over, he must have the information soon and that’s what propelled him to make the girl approach the boy once again at night, alone and lonely as he lay in his room.

The door opened and the girl hears him before she sets her eyes on him - he is moaning, dreaming about the mudblood and he knew what he had to do.

The girl climbs the bed and onto the boy’s body - her lips on his skin and her hands down his trousers and inside his boxers and on his organ, hard in her hand now. He awakens when he feels a hot mouth on him, taking him inside itself and jerks up as the girl kisses him to shut him up.

“Shh Ron, I know.. I know you want her and dream of her… I am alone and lonely too and frustrated, so frustrated all by myself. I never got to this point with Harry you see… all we did is snog some but Dean and Michael and oh Cormac, they, they would please me, so, so much - with their hands and their mouths and oh their dicks! I miss all of that Ron you see I miss it so much. The slide of a dick within me, of lips sucking my teats and hands on my ass so much. Harry didn’t value either you or me… and neither does Hermione. They think they’re better than us so why should we suffer? Come on Ron I know what you want I am willing, give it to me and I can give it to you. I can make you feel good Ron… don’t you want to feel good?”

The boy is hard in her hands and her naked breasts are within his reach and he is lonely and pathetic and he is easy to use from that point on.

It took 3 nights, two days and all the orifices and experience the whore had to offer to make him spill.

Potter and the mudblood knew about he made Horcruxes. They were out searching for them and hunting them - starving and clueless. The old fool had left them nothing but a suicidal mission.

Five months later Lord Voldemort would be defeated on the second of May in a war that would go down in history and become the stuff of legends.

A war which Ginny Weasley wouldn’t participate in because she was heavily pregnant.

Harry would never get together with her again.

Hermione would never kiss Ron Weasley for upon their return to Hogwarts, Luna Lovegood would inform him of his younger sister’s pregnancy; by congratulating Harry upon his supposed impending fatherhood who’d go on to declare in a moment of shock he was still a virgin and hence couldn’t have fathered Ginny’s child.

The news would shock Ron enough to make him stay distracted throughout the battle causing him to lose an eye and limb in the end.

Four months later Ginny would give birth to a pair of twins - a boy and a girl and her silence regarding the paternity of her children would be moot since the mediwitch who would assist with her delivery would run a paternity test spell on her babies upon Molly Weasley’s insistence and instructions for Molly knew her daughter couldn’t have been impregnated by Harry who was out on his mission when she must have conceived.

A shocked clan of Weasleys would find the truth in front of Harry and Hermione, who just so happened to be at St. Mungo’s to meet their mindhealer and stumbled across the redheads in their path.

The knowledge would add to their issues going forward in therapy and Molly would make Ron Weasley admit he was seduced by Ginny Weasley during their Christmas holidays.

It would be discovered the girl was still under the shade of Lord Voldemort even after all this time and her promiscuous nature had transmitted an as of yet untreated STD specific to magicals only; introduced in her system by one Cormac McLaggen two weeks prior to getting pregnant.

Ron would be detected with the same STD later on upon inspection.

The children would be free however since the particular illness wouldn’t transmit to those underage and undeveloped.

News of Ginny having been unfaithful to him during the hunt with not one but two wizards would soon reach Harry who would find solace in his best friend Hermione.

The two would set off to Australia to recover her parents and discover love eventually.

Their marriage would take place four years later in a private ceremony attended only by family and selected friends none of whom bore the name Weasley.

#submission #harmony prompt #harmony #DH #Voldemort #Horcruxes #posessed ginny #Weasley bashing

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edhaneyyy · 4 years

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Hope Because Humanity Is Within Us

“Being human is given.But keeping our humanity is a choice.” – Ida Protuger

This quote simply showsor tells us that humanity is a choice.Meaning wenare human ourselves but living here in this world, humanity is hard to keep for some of us.

When we get asked, what is humanity? Answering this question is just as easy as a pie. Humanity is the good qualities a human could have. Humanity is our ability to have compassion, care, empathy and love others. Humanity is helping other wherever and whenever, it is being selfless. If humanity is a person, the best example is Mother Teresa. But, the real question is, is there any hope for humanity when some of the human beings keeps on ruining humanity in our world? Our deepest humanity, however, is rooted within the fragility of all of our lives. Unless we work together we are going to be unable to save lots of the earth. If we cannot see that our vulnerabilities, and not our masks of perfection are what bind us to one another, we are going to be left wondering what's wrong with us.

There is such a common scene in human history when the media community says that men have lost their trust in humanity. That's because most people these days are starting to be cruel to themselves and others. They hurt themselves and the people around them. A common problem was the many facts that made this "virus" bigger and affected the whole world. When we talk about humanity, we should think of it only about human life, not because humanity is about humanity, including all humanity on earth. It is also a terminology of the qualities that make us human. For example, the ability to love, be considerate, be creative, and not be a robot or an alien.

We have to keep humanity within us. Why? Because that is our only key to prevent chaos in our modern world. Without a little bit of humanity do you think we can live, sleep peacefully and have friends around us? No. I listed some acts that show humanity from the website Good Housekeeping . ( https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/inspirational-stories/news/gmp5124/random-acts-of-kindness/)

1. Florence Rescue Force - After Hurricane Florence caused devastating flooding in North Carolina this fall, kindhearted citizens like Amber Hersel jumped into action. The volunteer from the Civilian Crisis Response Team helped rescue 7-year-old Keiyana Cromartie and her family from their flooded home on September 14, 2018 in James City.

2. Donor Network - The decision made by Patricia Almonte (right) to donate the organs of her late 3-year-old daughter Veronica Garcia helped save three lives: Essence Walls (left), an 8-month-old baby, received her heart; a 2-year-old received her liver; and a 68-year-old woman received her kidneys.

3. Canine Heroes - A lucky dog got a ride from some unnamed helpers in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew two years ago. Photographer Sean Rayford caught these two men pushing a makeshift boat through the floodwaters in Lumberton, North Carolina.

4. Earthquake Heroes - Frida the rescue dog and her trainer Israel Arauz Salinas went viral for their life-saving efforts during the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that shook Mexico City in 2017. The 9-year-old Labrador has detected the bodies of 52 people during her career, and the duo recently received their own statue for their service to the Mexican navy.

5. Helping Hand - American Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealander Nikki Hamblin won a special Olympic commendation for their sportsmanship at the 2016 Rio Games. After Hamblin tripped in a 5,000-meter heat, and brought D'Agostino down with her, the American helped her competitor to her feet. Later on in the race, D'Agostino fell again as a result of her twisted leg, but Hamblin stayed by her side until the finish line.

6. Moments after posing for a fun photograph at a local beauty spot, brave teenager Cheng Changjiang was dead. Despite being unable to swim, Cheng, 18, waded into the lake to save the lives of three young children who had got into trouble in the water. But the brave act cost the teenager – branded a ‘hero’ by onlookers – his life. Cheng was enjoying the public holiday at the rural spot in Xinyang, at Henan province in central China, when tragedy struck.

7. ryclectic’ wrote: “My Buddy Witnessed an Act of Utter Kindness Today…While he was standing on the corner waiting for the crosswalk he saw this woman buy two meals at a street vender and go sit down beside this man and give him one of the meals. She proceeded to introduce herself and talk to him about his life and just shot the [breeze] with him. She wasn’t acting superior, she was his equal, she just wanted to talk to and express inclusion to a fellow human being.”

8. This is a picture of a chap called Tully holding a 46 year old, wheelchair bound man with severe mental handicaps. Tully picked him up so he could go on the hay ride with everyone else. 5 minutes into the ride the man got so excited that he peed all over himself and Tully. Tully sat there soaked in pee for the remainder of the 40 minute hay ride. As soon as it was over he changed the mans clothes before his own. If that doesn’t show character we don’t know what does.

9. I will not let you go. This woman spent 3 hours holding the horse’s head above the tide after it got stuck in the mud on a beach in Australia. The horse was later rescued, unharmed.

10. Strangers Leave her Money While She Gently Sleeps. “alexthegreat90″ wrote: “I took this picture this morning. Ever been somewhere and seen something that amazed you? I’m at the east side McDonald’s and this lady was sitting in front of me sleeping. She has everything she owns in a small backpack. Curled up with her blanket she sleeps not knowing what is going on around her. While she is sleeping everyone is getting their money out and putting it on the table so it’s there when she wakes up.”

These are only few of the acts that restored humanity. These acts showed us that no matter how cruel the world is. There are still people out there who shows kindness and selfless love without any hesitation despite any situation. So what are those things that could destroy our humanity? Stephen Hawking who is known for his work on black holes and gravitational singularities thinks that there are three things that ruin our humanity, but I will only cite two. He have this outspoken ideas about human civilization. Hawking suffers from a nerve cell disease just like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, which left him paralyzed and unable to talk without a voice synthesizer. But that hasn't stopped the University of Cambridge professor from making proclamations about the wide selection of dangers humanity faces -- including ourselves. He is part of a small group who voiced out their concerns about artificial intelligence.

First, according to Stephen Hawking, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race," "The human failing I would most like to correct is aggression. It may have had survival advantage in caveman days, to get more food, territory or partner with whom to reproduce, but now it threatens to destroy us all," The Independent reported. I believe that Hawking here is telling us that AI could destroy us just like in the movie entitled Wall-e, we could see there that the AI are already controlling every move of the humans in the ship. They are dependent to the robot around them and don’t seem to care to anyone. There would be no care, love and empathy left.

Second, if AI won’t kill us, our own self might kill us. For example, a major nuclear war would likely end civilization, and could wipe out the human race, Hawking added. When asked which human quality he would most like to chose, he chose empathy , because "it brings us together in a peaceful, loving state.” Chaos would be everywhere without humanity.

In the current time, we ask ourselves sometimes, where is humanity? There are certain issues in our modern world that made us question ourselves. Despite those, we should look at the brighter side. There are still good people who we have mentioned above.

This year, our humanity is being tested. During this pandemic time we should remember our humanity. On the occasion of taking care of the elderly, and those who are sick and needy. This is what's happening in countless hospitals, clinics and medical aid units round the world, where truth heroes of this ordeal – the doctors, nurses and physicians – are risking their lives to avoid wasting others. This deeper humanity must spread to each street, every neighbourhood, every city and each country if we are to defeat the virus with our science and technology but also showing wisdom, compassion and humanity.

In the event that food and fun are what we were destined to be, there is one thing we should remember. Indeed, even creatures can do such exercises. In the event that God made us human, there must be an explanation behind it. No one but people can comprehend the importance of mankind, and it is humankind because of insight that truly gives the center substance to human presence. You needn't bother with a solid financial balance to add to helpful exercises. Paying your family help reasonably is humankind as well. You're prepared to pay a large number of dollars for your clinical test, yet with regards to paying your collaborator; You need to spare each penny. Compassionate exercises ought to never be embraced to pick up distinction or get a superficial point of interest. You can without much of a stretch accomplish popularity through the work you do. Lifting the weighty sack of an elderly person is humankind, helping an incapacitated individual to go across the road is mankind, helping your mom at work is humankind; truth be told, it is humankind to help whoever needs it. How would we express or show mankind? One approach to show our mankind helping poor people and the individuals who crippled. Additionally utilizing indicating counterfeit mankind to pick up distinction ought to never be one your choice. Did you experience finding a major measure of cash and when you return it, there's the incredible inclination that we can't clarify? Since on the event of indicating our humankind to other people, we have that believing that we can not get.

Humanity is significant in our daily lives. It teaches us to understand the problem and gives us ideas. It helps us understand others. Humanities students specialize in writing and critical reading. Humanity encourages us to think creatively. They teach us to explain why we are human and to ask questions about our world. Humanity produces informed and critical citizens. Democracy cannot flourish without humanity. We all need to assist one another. We humans are like that. We need to live by each other’s bliss – not by each other’s hopelessness. We don’t need to despise and loathe one another. Because that's not what humanity is.

Some may say, we are losing our humanity. No, we are not losing it. We could see it everywhere. It is within us. Humanity is lively and the light is sparkling profoundly within the hearts and souls of numerous individuals from all works of life. They are of all races, societies, social status and religions. It is individuals who see their commitments to the world as their employments and they continuously inquire what can l do to contribute to distant better;a much better; a higher;a stronger; an improved" a stronger world. It’s just that, humanity is covered by our selfishness, our hatred, all negative traits that prevents us from helping and doing good for someone. Never lose hope for we still have humanity stored in us.

https://www.humanitystyle.com/new-page-5

https://kindnessblog.com/2014/11/03/34-examples-of-heart-warming-humanity/

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yukiwrites · 5 years

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Many of Their Kind

Thank you for the support as always, @xpegasusuniverse! This is such an interesting topic, I got a bit carried away, heehee!

Summary: Seteth and Flayn were summoned to Askr after hearing all about it from Byleth. The older brother, overprotective as ever, would only allow his little sister to remain there once he was absolutely sure it would be safe, though Flayn couldn’t be happier to be able to meet new people, especially those with whom she and Seteth shared an unexpected bond with, the manaketes.

Commission info HERE and HERE!

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New Heroes from other worlds arrived practically daily on Askr, especially after the Summoner's Breidablik was magically enhanced during the recent skirmishes.

They amounted to the point that Kiran himself was unable to welcome and indulge them all until they were used to their day-to-day at the Order of Heroes, so the other people in charge also took it upon themselves to help the Heroes accommodate themselves as quickly as possible.

Anna, Sharena and Alfonse shared those duties mostly equally; the Crown Prince had his own royal duties to attend to, so he was more often than not too busy to help. Though since that was expected, Sharena and Anna didn't seem to mind the added task on their shoulders.

That particular morning, it was Anna's turn to walk the new heroes through the castle, though the newly arrived pair seemed to have other ideas in mind.

Seteth and Flayn was how they had presented themselves, though Anna could swear she had seen their picture in the book depicting Fódlan's history under other aliases entirely.

The young woman looked around eagerly, ooh-ing and aaah-ing at every detail. "Look, Brother!" She nudged the tall man, pointing at this or that vase or decoration. "Even the architecture itself differs on its fundamentals! Everything here is so interesting!"

"Indeed." The green-haired man replied curtly, though warmly enough not to dismiss the girl's enthusiasm. "However, try not to attract much attention, Flayn, for we are still unaware of our role here as... 'Heroes'." He said the last word with contempt, though Anna could discern a large amount of worry in his tone, rather than disdain.

"Annnd here we have the, well, let's call it 'Administration Wing', for now. I don't think we ever gave it a name apart from 'Western Wing' now that I think about it." Anna concluded the hurried tour, simply going through the motions of doing so as her brain searched for the piece of information regarding those two that she was forgetting. "You seem to have more than a few questions, so I'll welcome you to my office so we can talk more leisurely."

"That would be ideal, Commander. I thank you." Seteth bobbed his head to the sides in compliance, nudging Flayn along the corridor towards Anna's study.

Once there, the man barely waited for Anna to take her seat behind the desk to ask. "I have heard from Professor Byleth that this world is very peculiar in its deepest roots."

"Yes?" Anna tilted her head in question.

"To speak bluntly, I have heard that a few of whom we've considered enemies in Fódlan are here as allies, instead. Namely, the," he glanced at Flayn with a painful expression, "Death Knight."

The young woman looked down in visible distress, digging her nails on her skirt. "You see, Commander, that man has attacked me on occasion and ever since then I- I have been terrified of him."

"It is as my sister says. How can I trust the integrity of an Order, otherworldly as it may be, that employs villains within their ranks? How do you maintain order within your own organization by having mutual enemies fighting on the same side of the battlefield?"

Anna took one index to her lips, looking up in thought. "That is a valid concern, good people," she said matter-of-factly, somehow seeming to remember something and jumping out of her seat to browser the bookshelf to her left. "However, unfounded. Every Hero summoned by Kiran's -- ah, he's our Summoner, I believe you met him immediately after crossing the portal to our world -- weapon is bound by the Pact of Non-aggression." She picked two or three volumes from the shelves, placing them on her desk as she sat back on her chair.

Flayn and Seteth exchanged curious glances, choosing to remain in silence to allow Anna to continue.

The Commander opened the first volume, its cover decorated in a pale silver. "You see, it's physically impossible for a Hero to harm another one within Askrian grounds. Well, even outside our borders -- as long as they were summoned by Breidablik, they're bound to this. We employ many, ah, unique characters from opposing sides of the same war, so we have heard no small amount of complaints on this matter. Yet, there has never been a case of a fight breaking out since their own bodies are subjugated by the Pact." She looked through a sentence or another, muttering a few ah-s of understanding. "There is also a potent, ancient magic protecting each and every one of you -- as long as you are under our command, you are under no peril of death."

"I would ask you to explain this further, Commander. How can one avoid death just by being in an unfamiliar world?"

Anna looked from the book to the duo, her mind finally clear on her suspicious. "You and your, ah... sister," she took a dignified pause to assert the two of them that she not only was aware of their most guarded secret but that she was willing to keep it so, "as any other Hero summoned to this world, are, let's say, a 'borrowed' power from your original world. We pluck you out of there to fight for us here, but this does not change at all your role nor your history back whence you came. For that to happen, the magic here protects you on an intimate level -- although you can be injured and forced to retreat the battlefield, no wounds you retain will be fatal. After all, your life -- or death -- only concerns your original world."

Seteth took one hand to his chin in thought as Flayn looked down at her own hands, pensive. "Most interesting," the man muttered, his interest piqued. "I would rather avoid sending my sister to battle altogether; she is a healer first and foremost, you see. Since you've just told us that the wounds aren't fatal..."

"Well, having field healers certainly helps with the progression of battle." Anna interrupted, knowing where Seteth wanted to take the conversation to. "But, of course, it'll ultimately depend on you whether you choose to fight for us or not. Kiran's weapon also has the power to server the, ah, 'heroic' bonds binding you to Askr -- meaning he can send you back home with a snap of his fingers, anytime you want."

Narrowing his eyes, the man took a moment to think, then sighed. "I see."

Feeling increasingly antsy, Flayn looked from Seteth to Anna. "Um, you are not planning to have Lord Kiran send me back on my own, are you, Brother? I will have no such thing, I say!"

"Flayn-"

"We are finally in a place where we can be ourselves, under no peril to our lives! And it is such a wonderful place! Have you not heard the curious songs of the birds or the different color of the sky once we crossed over? I simply must explore it all for myself! I am most too weary of being alone for so long, Brother! I beg you to say such thought of returning me alone has not crossed your mind!"

Seteth looked down in visible distress. "I would, dear Flayn, but it'd be a lie. I just worry for you so-"

"Well, worry no more, for our dear Commander Anna cleared all and any doubts you had regarding this world! Has she not?" Flayn got up with a bounce, her curls dancing over her shoulders. "It is time for us to make ourselves acquainted with the askrian ways of life, for as long as we are needed here." She curtsied elegantly to Anna before turning her back to the Commander, heading to the door. "I thank you for your time, Commander, however we must take our leave."

"Flayn!" Seteth scrambled on his feet, barely bowing to Anna before running after his sister. "Do not walk away like this, young lady! What poor manners!" He scolded as they walked through the door, leaving Anna to her books.

"There's still so much to happen with these two," she absent-mindedly caressed the silver book she had just read. "I hope their time here can help them enrich themselves for what's to come."

"Ah, the very air in here feels different in my lungs!" Flayn twirled around herself as she headed towards the garden, lured by the clear atmosphere. "Do you not feel it so, Brother?"

Panting, Seteth sighed loudly. "Flayn, just because this world might be safer than where we came from, it does not mean you can frolic around on your own! I beg you to always be with me whenever you want to take a walk... I fear for you, even if you are protected by this ancient magic of this place's."

Feeling rather bad for running like that, Flayn looked down, sheepish. "Forgive me, Brother. I know all you care about it my safety, but I assure you that I am more than capable of taking care of myself, especially in this unfamiliar world."

"It's precisely because this is an unfamiliar world that I worry even more-"

"Oh!" A surprised gasp came from beside them, right a bit ahead into the garden. "Are you two new Heroes? It's not always that we welcome more dragons into the fray!"

Flayn widened her eyes so much she felt they were bulging out. "D-dragons? W-whyever would you assume that about us, dear stranger?" She tried her best to act meek, stepping just a bit behind Seteth's shoulder.

The owner of the voice, a silver-haired, pointy-eared woman tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? Did I get it wrong? I can clearly feel it..."

Way more used to keeping his poker face, Seteth simply cleared his throat. "I'm afraid we haven't met yet, Lady...?"

"Ah, how boorish of me! I'm Corrin, nice to meet you!" She curtsied with the grace of a noble, despite wearing a strange-looking armor. "I can turn into a dragon, so that's why I assumed you two were the same. Something about your vibes..."

Flayn stared at Corrin's exposed ears, somehow wanting to do the same with her own. It's been so long since she felt the wind without fearing her hair going up! "I am Flayn, dear Corrin. Nice to meet you."

"Seteth. It's my pleasure."

Corrin smiled gleefully. "Can I ask where are you guys from? Ever since coming here, I've found so many shape-shifters from all over! I always thought I was alone in this, but finding other people that share this burden has made it lighter, somehow."

"Burden?" Flayn asked innocently, exchanging glances with Seteth.

"Oh, look at me babble! Sorry about that." She looked down in distress for half a second before shaking her head to do away with any negative thoughts. "I still have much to learn from those manaketes -- ah, that's how some of the other dragon shape-shifters call themselves in their worlds -- so it's no wonder I got you guys mixed up with actual shape-shifters."

"There are more? More people who can turn to beasts- to dragons? In this world and in many others?" Flayn stepped away from Seteth's protection, taking Corrin's hand in unabashed excitement.

"Why, yes! Do you want to meet them? They were going to teach me lots of stuff today just at that gazebo over there, in the middle of the garden."

"Oh, I would dearly love to meet them! They can impart much knowledge, can they not? I am eager to learn more and more!"

"Yes!" Corrin squeezed Flayn's hand, matching her excitement down to her giddy steps. "They as wise as they are old -- some of them are over 3,000 years old!"

"Three thous-" Seteth choked. Could these creatures be the exact same as the ones back in their own world? How did they manage to retain their draconic forms for so long? How fundamentally different were they from the children of the goddess, if there were any changes at all?

Even Seteth was getting excited about it, if he could be honest.

Once they arrived, however, Seteth couldn't help but scowl so deeply he even let out a 'that's it?' under his breath.

The 'ancient beings' waiting for them looked no older than children -- though their ears were immensely longer than Corrin's.

"I'm here, Nowi! Tiki and Fae, too! Good afternoon!" Corrin giggled as she pulled Flayn to the middle of the girls, who all welcomed them with excited bounces and hugs.

"You brought us another dragon friend!!" Nowi jumped in Flayn's arms, digging her face into the taller girl's chest. "This world is THE BEST, did you know? I struggled so much to find dragon friends back in Ylisse, but I just instantly found so many friends the moment I was summoned! IT'S THE BEST!" She giggled happily, twirling Flayn about.

"Well, you met me, though! The not-me, me." A young, green-haired girl -- Tiki -- smiled, also diving into the hug.

"Uh-huh, but that was wayyyy later. I was lonely for a long time, you know! A thousand years!"

Flayn gasped. "So it is true that you are all ancient beings-"

"I'm five!" Fae got on her tiptoes to pull Flayn's skirt. "Five hundred!"

"My, and your youth hasn't changed at all!" Flayn patted the little girl's head, truly already at home amidst these strangers -- they shared something akin to a bond that no one else but themselves had: the blood of immortals and their burdens.

“It warms the heart to see the young ones chatting so happily, doesn’t it?” Bantu said as though he had simply materialized beside Seteth.

“Gah-” The green-haired man flinched. “Since when-”

“Ohoho, I’ve been here the whole time, my lad.” Bantu smiled. “Let us have a seat, shall we? It fits us old men better to simply watch over the younger generation as they bloom on their own, don’t you agree?”

Seteth glanced at Flayn’s genuine smile, one he hadn’t seen in many an age. He allowed himself to smile as well, shaking his head slightly. “You are right. Let us converse over there, friendly stranger. I also have much to ask regarding your- no, our kind.”

#fire emblem heroes #fire emblem three houses #feh #fe 3h #spoilers #seteth #flayn #anna #my writings #yuki's commissions

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skull001 · 5 years

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I just saw that page of the latest issue of the IDW Sonic comic that shows a moment of bonding between Amy and Cream, and while at face value I admit it does look cute, there is something that bothers me...

In fiction, sometimes a trap writers can fall for is that they want certain situations to happen between two or more characters. Usually these should be played off by respecting whom the characters involved and their personalities are. A very well known example of this not being taken into consideration can be how in the Archie comics, for Sonic and Sally to be a thing, Sonic's REAL personality had to be thrown out of the window.

Amy has always been a character who in the games never loses faith, not even when things feel lost (Unleashed) and when a ray of hope appears, she is among the first to take action (06).

To see Amy asks Cream how is she still in high spirits despite all the things that have happened is something that rubbed me the same kind of wrong as seeing Sonic tell Chris how he would never be as brave as to jump into the water to save someone (despite him doing so to save Amy in ep. 9). I know Amy is supposed to be exhausted, but she has always drawn strength from within and make others not lose hope... Hell,she was the one keeping Cream and Big from giving up in Sonic Heroes whenever they were starting to show doubt.

Likewise, a thing I've noticed is how the comic is trying to hype Cream as the bravest, a kid full of potential, etc. I know there's people who are going to be annoyed, but in my experience, often the characters who are treated like this are those who have no real significant achievements. Ironically, Amy IS the original girl who started from zero, who grew all on her own to become a heroine in her own right all the way up to not only becoming one of Sonic's most loyal and trusted friends along with Tails as well as taking on a huge responsability as the leader of a group that helps people, yet not once was she ever hyped by Sonic in the same way or received a "pat in her back". Heck, the biggest compliment Amy ever received for all the growing up she achieved came from Metal Sonic, out of all characters!

A thing that has always bothered me, is that for Cream to shine, she has to become a sort of "Amy 2.0", and for that to happen, some of Amy's character has to pay the price... And the comic seems to go for that direction, which does not give me much hope to see those endearing traits of Amy if they're going to be given to a character that in my honest opinion, was never needed in the first place because it adds nothing of worth that was not already covered by Amy. They show Amy keeping things organized, but not how she keeps the morale or comforts those in distress and builds their confifence by believing in them, since probably that most likely is going to be Cream's role to justify her existance.

But like I said, I can already hear the “how dare you?!” from certain people.

#Amy Rose #Cream the Rabbit #unpopular opinion

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greencrusader13 · 5 years

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All Were Innocent Once: Chapter 8 - Coruscant Sunset

Finally! It’s done, just like I said it would be. Thank you to everyone who waited so patiently for this next chapter. Hopefully the next one won’t take nearly as long.

If you like this fic please like and reblog it! Feedback is greatly appreciated as well.

You can read here, FF.net, or AO3.

“Master Shan,” Greylam called, hurrying down the steps of the Jedi Temple. The hem of his robes threatened to trip him mid-gait, and Greylam remained mindful of them as he tried closing the distance between Satele Shan and himself. The senior Jedi was still several paces ahead of him, but she’d stopped and turned at his call. Her expression remained calm, serene, not even curious in the least. Ahead a Republic transport craft waited for her along with a handful of soldiers Greylam presumed she’d been assigned.

Another Jedi off to war. Unlike most others, though, Satele Shan had already distinguished herself as a capable warrior. She’d been on Korriban when the war first started, survived it. She was the sort of hero the Republic wished to follow, as did he. Restraint possessed wisdom of its own, but not when it turned into sloth. He did no good sitting around the temple, not when Greylam knew what he himself was capable of. Perhaps Satele would see it as well.

It was not a decision he’d reached arbitrarily. Each day since hearing of Master Paddoq’s fall he’d meditated on the wisdom of joining the war himself. The idea gnawed at his mind, seizing thoughts normally dedicated to studies and quiet reflection. His nights had been filled with tossing and turning and thinking, pondering. He knew pride was yet another path to the dark side of the Force, especially when viewing oneself with an overinflated sense of self, and he’d made sure that he wasn’t pursuing this out of a misplaced ego. He just wanted to help.

Greylam slowed to a stop ahead of her, panting. He hadn’t thought himself running all that quickly, and yet he found himself out of breath as he reached her. Although he’d recited his appeal within his head on repeat since leaving the library, something about her presence now cowed him into forgetting it entirely. Satele Shan was not an imposing Jedi, far from it in fact. Her blue eyes held a distinct calm obtained from years of training within the Jedi Order. She’d fixed him with an expression of muted concern, her lips pursed as though to tell him everything he thought she’d say without any words.

Still, even under her gaze, Greylam straightened himself and bowed. “Master Shan,” he repeated, meeting her eyes again. It took all the conviction he possessed to keep himself from crumbling under her presence. “I hear that you are heading for the battlefront. Is it true?”

“It is,” she replied. Satele then cocked an eyebrow. “But I’m guessing you did not run all this way just to ask me something you already know, are you?”

“Master Shan, I would humbly petition that you allow me to accompany you wherever you are heading.”

As he spoke Satele Shan turned and waved to her charge of Republic soldiers lingering by the shuttle. Their commander – his face obscured by a helmet, Republic standard issue – nodded and signaled his contingent to board. Greylam watched them file into the ship with a lackadaisical pace, far less regimented and orderly than what he’d expected. Yet their commander didn’t bark orders at them, didn’t press. Perhaps having a Jedi with them shifted their perspective of the mission.

After the soldiers had boarded Satele lowered herself to a knee, meeting Greylam at eye-level. This time he did not look away. “Greylam, war is no place for children. I couldn’t bring you out there in good conscience, not knowing that you could get hurt or killed.”

There is no death; there is the Force. “But Master Shan-”

“You humble me, Greylam, but I am no Jedi Master. You can just call me Satele.”

“Satele,” Greylam repeated hesitantly. Her name felt weird in his mouth, and he almost regretted addressing her without her due respect. “I don’t understand. We’re taught that our only limits are what the Force allows. My age shouldn’t diminish how I could aid the Republic. I do not presume my own abilities, and I know I have much to learn, but I want…”

His voice trailed off at that word: want. He wasn’t supposed to want anything. It was unbecoming of a Jedi to want, to allow his own emotions to get in the way of the Order’s wisdom. As he realized this he felt a pang of regret, which he then dismissed with a deep breath.

“I understand what you want Greylam, but all things come in time. Your place is here at the temple. It’s what Master Paddoq would’ve wanted for you as well, no?”

The thought of his old master stirred pain within him. When he’d heard that Paddoq and the rest of the garrison fell it had taken all the meditations he knew to prevent grief from overwhelming him. Even now the loss hurt, although he knew that it was another thing he had to let go. Paddoq was with the Force now. There was comfort in that. No death. It was not all right that some part of him still grieved.

“It was. I apologize for my brashness. I should’ve taken more time to consider the wisdom in staying,” Greylam said, bowing. “My purpose is wherever the Force guides me. I’ll not try to compel it to my own desires.”

“You are still young Greylam,” Satele said. Her faced warmed a little, a small smile forming at the edge of her lips. “There’s much you’ve yet to learn about being a Jedi, and many of these lessons cannot be taught in books. Calm yourself; there’s nothing out beyond the Temple that requires your diligence.

“Perhaps if you’re looking for some way to occupy yourself you could seek out Master Yuon Par. I happen to know that she is always looking for some aid on her archaeology projects.”

The offer intrigued him. He’d heard of Yuon Par and her exploits with the history of the Order, read about them, but he’d never met her. Archaeology happened to be one of the subjects he’d taken a liking to reading during his many hours in the library. “I’ll do that,” he said, turning around to head back to the Jedi Temple.

“Greylam?” Satele called, a note of confusion audible in her tone.

He stopped. “Yes?”

Satele Shan’s expression tempered as he looked back at her. “Things will work out eventually. Trust in the Force, and may it be with you.”

“May the Force be with you too.”

Greylam didn’t remain for the departure of her shuttle, only hearing it depart behind him as he made his way up the steps towards the central ziggurat. A gust of warm wind rippled his robes, and for a moment he hesitated. Glancing back, Greylam watched as the ship became silhouetted against the gold-orange hue of Coruscant’s sun before disappearing altogether.

Night had fully set by the time Greylam reached the archives, and few Jedi remained in its halls. His steps echoed faintly off the marble floor as he made his way down the rows. A stray initiate or two sat at spaces along the table at the repository’s center, their weary eyes struggling to focus on the texts in front of them. A nearby Nautolan girl hadn’t even managed that. Her face remained pressed down against the holopad before her. She snored, and on occasion an initiate would shoot her an annoyed glance.

Greylam had always loved the archives. He’d spent more than his fair share of time there, and if he was lucky he’d spend all the much more. If the Temple Spire was the heart of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, then the archives were its mind. The space was filled with the faint glow of blue light emanating from the infinite number of texts on shelves around the rotunda. Each of the four wings held different texts, different mysteries. Sometimes searching for them was worth more than what he’d gleamed from the texts at all. From the balconies on the second floor he could look down and watch those in pursuit of knowledge peruse the rows for it. Behind the railings cone-shaped windows would pour natural light into the chamber on clear days. It felt paradoxically open and closed; a world of endless knowledge on an impossible scale so neatly and organically fit within the ziggurat.

Greylam braced himself along the balcony. No one matching Yuon Par’s description remained in the library. She’d likely retired for the night, as was common sense. He couldn’t help but feel mildly disappointed. Although it was late, Greylam could still feel his mind racing, stirring, thinking. If he tried to fall asleep now he’d be up for several more hours, that much Greylam knew.

I’m already here, he thought, shrugging to himself. I might as well brush up on the topics Yuon Par will want to cover with me. He scanned the chamber again. From his vantage point he could not see the Chief Librarian, but several analysis droids clanked below as they clumsily moved about the shelves. Perhaps with a quick look he could find what texts she’d browsed recently.

“Come on, you shouldn’t stay up anymore,” a young voice said behind him.

It’s not that late, Greylam thought, then paused. He turned, confused, only to find that the speaker wasn’t speaking to him at all. A Zabrak male roughly around his own age sat crouched by the window across a similarly aged Cathar, the latter of whom’s head remained planted against his knees in a seated fetal position. At the Zabrak’s continued urging the Cathar only shook his head and pulled himself tighter. The fur around his eyes was damp, ruffled from being rubbed at repeatedly. Greylam couldn’t help but feel taken aback. Was he really…crying? Had he no control over his emotions?

The Zabrak glanced over and noticed Greylam staring mutely. “Could you give me some help? Please? Tyar isn’t going to sleep.”

“I don’t wanna,” the Cathar – Tyar – mumbled through his folded arms.

Greylam looked over the boys again. Not long ago he had overheard Master Nomris mentioning that the Order had found two more potential initiates, one from Nar Shaddaa and another a rescued slave. Red rings of chaffed dry skin marked the Zabrak boy’s neck and wrists. “You must be the slave Master Din liberated from the Sith,” Greylam said.

Concern flashed in the boy’s amber eyes, and he stopped his approach. “How did you know that?” Before Greylam could explain his deduction the Zabrak boy touched at his neck and glanced away in shame. It was an odd response, one that he hadn’t expected.

“There’s nothing you need to feel ashamed of,” Greylam replied. “Nobody will think less of you for it. Looking down on others for their background is not the Jedi way, and slavery is an injustice the Republic does not tolerate. I hope they treat you with kindness.” It seemed like something Master Paddoq would’ve said, and Greylam hoped he’d emulated him well.

The boy smiled meekly. Perhaps it was the right thing to say.

“I don’t want to be here,” Tyar moaned as he pressed his weight harder against the glass. “Eonur I want to go home. I want my brother.” He sniffled again before exhaling sharply. Fog formed on the glass inches from his mouth, and Tyar drew a line through it with his finger.

Greylam crouched down to the Cathar boy, who looked up at him with big red eyes. “What you’re feeling right now is just from being in a new place that’s very different for you. It’s not a rational one. As Jedi we need to learn how to control our emotions instead of letting them control us. Does that make sense? If you calm them you might find you like it here.”

Tyar shook his head and looked up at him with large red eyes. “I don’t want to like it here! I just want Dad and Cirak.”

He had once heard from Master Paddoq that some Jedi were like pottery. Some needed more time on the wheel with gentle hands to give them more shape. Others needed time to cool after being in the kiln. Patience and a guiding hand would eventually yield a beautiful creation, regardless of what step you started with. Looking over these two new initiates it was clear that Greylam had lumps of clay.

“Let’s just try a breathing exercise. Eonur I’d like you to try this as well.” Once the Zabrak boy had joined them, Greylam kneeled down on both knees in front of Tyar. The Cathar boy turned in his seat, but did not loose the tension in his posture. “First, we breathe in.” Greylam demonstrated, inhaling slowly through his nose while guiding his right hand up in motion with the breath. Eonur copied him from Greylam’s peripheral. “Then, we just breathe out the same way.” He exhaled from his mouth, letting his hand fall at the same pace down the length of his chest.

Tyar’s first breath was rough, coarse and still embroiled in unchecked fear and anguish. When he exhaled the release of air was more like a huff than a meditative technique, but Greylam saw his shoulders relax all the same. Greylam repeated the technique. Soon Tyar’s chest rose and fell at a normal rhythm, and the crying stopped.

“Are you calm?”

The boy rubbed at his eyes. “I just really miss home.”

He needs something else to think about, Greylam thought. There were hundreds of thousands of texts here in the library, but Tyar did not appear to be in a studious state, and they were unlikely to provide any peace for him. He needed something tranquil that did not require any active focus.

“Would you like to see my favorite place in the entire temple?” Greylam asked.

A hopeful light sparkled in Tyar’s eyes, and he nodded fervently. Greylam offered his hand and helped the boy up as Eonur watched. Tyar’s grip remained firm in Greylam’s even after reaching his feet, and although he wasn’t much smaller than him Tyar still held his hand with the same sort of craving for protection a child would seek from their parent. Greylam wanted to wriggle his hand free, but he could not. The boy would have an emotional reaction again if he did.

Once they were out of the archives Eonur quickened his pace up to Greylam’s side. After a few moments of decided silence he spoke. “Thank you. He was fine for most of the day, but it’s like once it started getting later he started getting really sad, and I couldn’t do anything.”

“It was nothing really,” Greylam replied. “All I did was show him a rudimentary breathing technique for relaxation.”

“Well it worked. Even I felt calmer afterwards, and I wasn’t even the one you were trying to help.”

Greylam struggled to think of an appropriate Jedi teaching or saying to repeat back to him. He had received many over his years at the temple, but in the moment they seemed to vanish from his mind. It would’ve just confused him anyhow. Greylam instead opted for the simpler response. “You are welcome.”

The gardens were empty when the three arrived, much to Greylam’s relief. The smell of fresh greenery rushed into his nose, amplified by the cool humidity from the small streams running over rock formation that misted on contact. Once again, he felt serene, and all remaining thoughts of following Satele Shan to war vanished from his mind. Beside him he heard Tyar and Eonur gasp in awe.

“I didn’t know there was this much green in the whole galaxy,” Eonur muttered.

“Me neither.”

“This place is wonderful for quiet reflection and study. You can truly feel the Force at work within the garden,” Greylam said. He took a seat cross-legged on a knoll across from a still pond and closed his eyes. “I often come here to practice my meditations and-”

“There’s fish!”

Greylam opened a single eye. The boys had rushed over to the water’s edge and were now peering over it, pointing at the swimming creatures beneath the pond’s surface. They were laughing, reveling, but calm. He could feel that peace through the Force.

They were new, and had much to learn. As he reached out to the Force in quiet meditation, Greylam thought back to Master Paddoq’s instruction and guidance, that making friends would help him become a better Jedi, that there was good in friendship. Perhaps this is what he meant. He would teach them. They would be his friends.

#all were innocent once #swtor #swtor fanfiction #my swtor #my writing #fanfiction #fanfic #AO3 fanfic #ao3 #ff.net #greylam cormat #eonur bogra #tyar kiht

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animefan299110 · 6 years

Text

Offers and Threats

Hey guys! I know I said that the next chapter would involve Christmas and Birthdays, but trust me, this chapter will help in the future in another. Also, I had to tone down on the adorableness and cuteness for this chapter. And again, I do not own Boku no Hero Academia, its characters, or its locations. They are all owned by Kohei Horikoshi, Jump Comics, and Funimation.

It was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon in the month of November at U.A. High and Class 1-A were gathering their things for the end of the day. As they were preparing to see the little bundle of joy that called them 'Mama' and 'Papa', Ochako and Midoriya were both wondering about what they should serve Eri for dinner that night. They had put out some ground beef the night before in the fridge, so that left how to include vegetables and how to create it in a way that would surprise her.

"Maybe we could try meatloaf?" Midoriya asked before he dismissed it, knowing that Eri had that dish last week.

"What about tacos?" Ochako asked before she realized that Eri would probably never touch another one of those after the incident back during the beginning of the month. One Tuesday, Class 1-A decided to have tacos for dinner, to which Eri was more than excited for. However, things had taken a turn for the worse that night. As it turned out, Mineta had tried to pull a prank on Kaminari by putting hot sauce in his taco. Unfortunately, the taco had accidently ended up on Eri's plate. Needless to say, Eri ended up crying from the burning sensation and Mineta ended up sleeping outside, his face all black and blue from the smacks he received from Ochako and the girls, as well as from Kaminari and Bakugou.

"How about..." Midoriya began, but stopped when he noticed that Mr. Aizawa was standing right in front of them with a note in his hand.

"Midoriya. Uraraka." He said as he handed them the note. "The principal would like to speak with you both in his office."

Midoriya and Ochako looked at each other in surprise; neither one of them had done anything wrong in the past few months, unless you counted Midoriya and Bakugou's second fight before they began their internships and met Eri. As they made their way to the principal's office, they began to wonder the worst.

"You don't think something bad happened to Eri, do you?" Ochako asked as they neared the principal's office.

"No." Midoriya said simply. "If something had happened to her, Mr. Aizawa would have told us himself."

After a few minutes, the two students arrived outside the principal's office. Taking a deep breath, both entered to find the little talking animal standing in front of them.

"Ah, Midoriya. Uraraka." Nezu said as he raised his right paw and waved. "How nice of you to join us."

'Us?' Both students thought as they glanced around. 'Who else is…?' Their thoughts were soon answered when they saw two people to their left.

One was a large, burly man in his 40s with bulging muscles that were shown through his business suit. He had a scar over his right eye, had a tattoo of a dragon's head on the other side of his face, and wore an expression of utmost anger on his face. It was enough to have both Midoriya and Uraraka shaking from shear intimidation.

The other was a man in his 60s, bound in a wheelchair. He had wispy white hair and a somewhat athletic frame for someone his age. Even though his skin was wrinkled, Uraraka and Midoriya could still make out the various tattoos on his arms. They also noticed that the pinkie on his right hand was much smaller than the other fingers, as though it was crudely cut off. 'Yakuza.' They both thought.

"You must be Izuku Midoriya and Ochako Uraraka." The old man asked as the bigger man wheeled his chair over to the two students. The old man than gave the best bow he could, while Midoriya and Uraraka themselves gave bows out of respect. "My name is Shinobu Noshimuri. This is my escort, Raiki Watanabe." He added as he gestured to the man behind him. Watanabe only grunted in response. "Perhaps," Noshimuri continued, "it would be best if we could all have a seat." At this, the five of them made their way into the conference room next door. Once inside, Noshimuri and Watanabe sat on one end of the table while Midoriya and Uraraka sat on the other. Nezu sat within the middle between them.

"Now then," Noshimuri began, "you are probably wondering why I wished to speak with you two." Uraraka and Midoriya only nodded in response. Giving a small smile, Noshimuri said, "Lately, it has come to my attention that you and a few other heroes fought against my old syndicate, The Eight Precepts of Death. Also," he continued, "It has also come to my attention that you also aided in the rescue of a young girl named Eri, to whom I hold and care for dearly."

"Forgive me, Mr. Noshimuri," Midoriya said upon hearing his 'daughter's' name, "but how exactly do you know all of this?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, my boy," Noshimuri said with a sense of confidence, "I was the Capo for said group and was the teacher of Kai Chisaki, until a few months ago when I fell ill and gave control of the group to him. And to answer your question about Eri…she is my granddaughter."

At this revelation, Uraraka and Midoriya's eyes widen in shock. They had heard that Eri had a grandfather, but they never knew that he was alive and a former leader of the group that was holding her captive.

"When I got out of the hospital," Noshimuri said, not noticing the change in the teens' faces, "I had heard about what Chisaki had done to both the organization and to my little Eri. Needless to say, I was shocked and appalled by the details. So it's safe to say that I showed no remorse when I saw on the news that they found his burned remains. A perfect example of justice being served, if I do say so myself."

"B-But…" Uraraka stuttered slightly, still in shock by the previous announcement, "Wh-What does this have to do with Deku and I?"

"Ah, yes," Noshimuri said as he made a hand motion toward Watanabe, who picked up two black briefcases and placed them on the table. "I wish to commend you both for taking my granddaughter into your home. From what Nezu has told me," he added as he gestured toward the biped animal, "Eri has been taken good care of and that she has been extremely happy thanks to you two. For that, I am forever grateful. So, I wish to reward you both for all that you have done." After he motioned with his hand once more, Watanabe pushed the two briefcases toward Uraraka and Midoriya. As they caught said briefcases, the two students felt a strong force surge through their bodies, as a way of indicating Watanabe's strength.

When they opened the briefcases, Midoriya and Uraraka's eyes widen in shock: both cases were stuffed with cash. Chuckling at their amazement, Noshimuri said, "Consider what's in those briefcases compensation for any expenses you may have lost from raising Eri, plus a little extra to show my appreciation for what you've done. All in all, each briefcase contains 120 million yen."

Uraraka and Midoriya couldn't believe what they were seeing; 120 million yen was being given to them for taking care of Eri. Midoriya's mind raced at the thought of having all that money. He could pay off an outstanding student payments. He could give some to his mother as a way of saying thanks for raising him all those years when he was quirkless and had nearly lost hope of ever becoming a superhero. He could pay for Eri's tuition; she could go to the best public colleges in all of Japan!

Uraraka mind was going through a similar process. Not only could this be good for both them and Eri, but she could give a majority of this money to her parents. It was always her goal to become a hero and earn enough money to give her parents the life they deserved. The money in front of her could be used to kick start that goal. "So," she said as she glanced away to look at Noshimuri, "This is all for us?"

"Indeed," he said before a look of seriousness spread across his face, "if you were to return Eri to me."

Any hopes and dreams that formulated into Uraraka and Midoriya's minds were immediately shattered when those words came out of Noshimuri's mouth. Slowly, they looked up with impassive looks on their faces. "Give…Eri…back to you?" Midoriya asked slowly.

"Indeed." Noshimuri said with a nod. "She is my granddaughter, after all. Though I can assure you, she will be placed in a better home and will be treated well. When available, we could even set days when she could meet you two for a day."

Uraraka and Midoriya looked down at the money, still untouched. With this, they could use to help not just themselves, but their parents as well. Goals could be met, better living arrangements could be made, and even tuition wouldn't be a problem.

But it would mean having to give up perhaps the most precious thing in their lives. Eri was a child who suffered so much at a young age, and yet who always had a smile on her face whenever she made someone happy. She was selfless, caring, obedient, and was willing to help in any way she could. And then, there was the promise they made to her months ago:

"It's okay, Eri. We're here. You just had a bad dream, that's all."

"But….But it seemed so real."

"Believe us, Eri, we will never leave you, not in a million years."

As the two looked at each other, they both knew their answer.

"We're sorry, Mr. Noshimuri." Midoriya said as he and Ochako closed their cases and pushed them toward the old man. "But we cannot accept these terms."

"If the problem is the money," Noshimuri said as Watanabe took the briefcases, "then I can surely offer you le-"

"The problem isn't about the money." Uraraka interrupted as she and Midoriya rose from their chairs. "It's about Eri. We cannot let you take her away from us."

A long silence loomed through the air as the two students stared at the criminal and his underling. After a while, Noshimuri rubbed the bridge of his nose and said, "I don't think you two understand what I said to you earlier. Eri is my granddaughter; I am her only living relative. Legally, she belongs with me."

"Oh, believe us, we understood." Midoriya said. "We know she's your granddaughter and we know she belongs with you." It was at that moment that his impassive expression turned dark as he glared at Noshimuri. "But do you honestly think we would give her up to you, a known head of a Yakuza gang that consisted of villains?"

"A man who turned his own flesh and blood over to a bunch of criminals so that they could do experiments on her." Ochako stated, her glare as equal as Midoriya's. "A man who knew the monster that he not only took under his wing, but also performed horrid experiment on a little girl."

"And you expect us to believe that you'll just put her in a safer environment than she was before we took her in?" Midoriya asked as he clenched his fists in anger. "You'll probably just leave her in the hands of others who just want to experiment on her even more. So if you think we're just going to accept your dirty money and give Eri away, then you can forget about it."

Noshimuri's once soft gaze changed into an angry glare. "I would be careful with what you say next." He growled deeply. "I am not asking you; I am telling you: if you do not give me my granddaughter, I will-"

"That is enough." Nezu said finally as he stood up from his chair and onto the table. "I will not tolerate any threats made to my students. And I must agree with Mr. Midoriya and Ms. Uraraka." He added as he slowly made his way to Noshimuri. "You may be Eri's legitimate family member, but you are also a criminal. The police entrusted U.A. High School to look after Eri and, thus, protect her from any harm that may come to her. In turn, I entrusted Mr. Midoriya and Ms. Uraraka to look after her and care for her. And from what I have heard from their fellow classmates and Eri's teacher, they have done a much better job in raising her than you or anyone else from your organization had ever done."

"Tough talk coming from a flea-infested, walking, talking, rodent freak." Watanabe finally said in a deep, menacing voice.

"This coming from the human gorilla." Nezu retorted, brushing the insult off as if it were dust on his suit. "Sure, you could try and have your assistant kill the three of us, Mr. Noshimuri," He continued, turning his attention back to the crime lord, "but I will remind you that this school houses some of the finest future heroes as well as many pro heroes who would be more than willing to take you both down in an instant. And one or two students aren't against killing a criminal." He added, making a slight reference to Bakugou. "So do us all a favor. Take your filthy money, take your lackey, and get off this campus."

Watanabe gnashed his teeth together, but Noshimuri held up a hand to silence him. Without another word, Watanabe placed both briefcases on his back and pushed his boss' wheelchair away from the table. As they reached the door, however, Noshimuri shot one last look of hatred toward Midoriya and Uraraka. "You'll both regret not taking me up on my offer." He growled through gritted teeth. "This isn't over." And with that, the crime boss and his lackey exited the room.

A few seconds of silence passed in the room as Midoriya, Uraraka, and Nezu's eyes were still fixated on the door. Soon, though, their expressions soon softened and Midoriya and Uraraka fell back into their seats. "You both did the right thing." Nezu said as he stood in front of them. "It takes true love and care of a person to deny an offer that incredible."

"Yeah," Midoriya said, "but what do we do now? We just made enemies with a Yakuza boss whose Eri's grandfather."

"I do have a few suggestions." Nezu said. "First, it might be best to have Eri spend some nights in Ms. Uraraka's room from time to time so as to not have her sleeping quarters be routine. Second, it would best to not let Eri go off campus for the rest of the month, lest someone tries to abduct her. Perhaps let her have playdates with that Satsuki girl at your dormitory. Finally, it would be best not to tell Eri about what was discussed here today. She is still recovering from her experience and we would not want any wounds to open up. If all of those seem reasonable, you are both dismissed and may head back to your dormitory."

Midoriya and Uraraka nodded; those did seem like fair suggestions. With that, they packed up their belongings and made their way out of the room. "I meant what I said earlier." Nezu said as the students reached the door. "About the fact that you two are raising Eri better than that dreadful organization. Even though it may be a while until Eri fully heals mentally, she seems to enjoy her life thanks to you two and the rest of Class 1-A." Midoriya and Uraraka both smiled at the principal for his kind words. And with that, they exited the room. 'I just hope they remember that Eri's stay is only temporary.' Nezu thought sadly as he watched them leave.

Neither Midoriya nor Uraraka spoke another word about the incident until they got to the 1-A dormitory. "We should probably tell the others about this so that they can be aware as well." Midoriya said.

"Agreed." Uraraka responded. "But we should wait until after we put Eri to bed." Midoriya nodded, and with that, both students entered the building only to be met by the rest of their classmates.

"What happened?" Momo asked in concern. "We heard that you both went to the principal's office."

"Was it about the hot sauce incident?" Mineta asked nervously.

"Did it have something to do with your grades?" Iida asked with annoyance. "I know you like spending time with Eri, but if you both wish to become heroes, your grades must come first."

"Mama? Papa?" A small voice asked. The class parted to reveal Eri, who was staring up at Midoriya and Uraraka with concern. "What's wrong?"

Both students smiled softly as Uraraka placed her hand on Eri's head. "It's nothing, sweetie." She replied. "Have you eaten yet?" When the little girl shook her head, Uraraka took her hand and led her into the kitchen.

Midoriya started to follow, but not before turning to his fellow classmates with a look of seriousness on his face. "Uraraka and I will explain everything later." He said quietly so as to not let Eri hear him. "We're asking that you all wait until Eri has been put to bed." And with that, he took his leave.

The rest of the evening continued without any incidents. After dinner, Ochako asked Eri if she would like to spend a few nights in her room, as a nice change of pace. Eri was more than happy to sleep in Uraraka's room from time to time, whispering to her that there was so much All Might memorabilia a person could intake or see. At around 8pm, Uraraka and Midoriya took Eri upstairs to bed. After tucking her in, they each gave her a good-night kiss before they closed the door.

After the easy part of the evening was done, they made their way down the stairs until they reached the living room, where they found the rest of Class 1-A staring back at them. "So," Bakugou said in an annoyed tone, "are you gonna tell us what happened or not?"

And with that, Midoriya and Uraraka told them everything, but in a quiet tone so as to not wake up Eri. About Noshimuri and that he was Eri's grandfather, how he offered them 120 million yen each in exchange for Eri, how they rejected his offer, and how he threatened them before he left. As they finished their story, they glanced around to see mixed reactions. Iida, Shouto, and a few others were shaking their heads in either shock or disgust. Momo, Mina, Aoyama, Tsuyu, and others had a hand over their mouths in shock. Mineta and a few just stood there with blank expressions on their faces. Bakugou and Kirishima, on the other hand, were clenching their fists in anger.

"Goddamn bastard." Bakugou said with a snarl. "Thinking that a little kid could be easily bought. You should've slammed his face into a wall, Deku." He added as he directed his glare at Midoriya.

"We didn't want things to get out of hand, Kacchan." Midoriya said calmly. "Besides, if we did attack Noshimuri, we would be proving that we're no better than him." Bakugou only replied with a scoff.

"Though I will agree with the principal." Iida said as he placed a hand on Midoriya and Uraraka's shoulders. "You both did the right thing about not accepting that money." At this, the rest of the class nodded in agreement.

"So what do we do now about Eri?" Mina asked with concern.

"Nezu told us that it would be best to keep an eye on Eri and her surroundings for the time being." Uraraka said. "He also said to not let her off-campus for the rest of the month. If she wants to spend time with friends like Satsuki, then they can hang out here." She added as she glanced at Tsuyu, who nodded in agreement.

"But the two of us cannot do this alone." Midoriya chimed in. "We need all of you to help out in any way you can. After the Simulation Joint and Training Camp invasions, we can't be too careful. Noshimuri has powerful connections in the underworld. Heck, Overhaul had connections with the League of Villains. We have to be on guard."

All the other students nodded in agreement; by angering the former head of the organization that held Eri captive, they had just made a whole new list of enemies. "Now then," Iida said after a while, "I'm sure the two of you are exhausted after what happened. I would thus suggest that you both head up to bed."

Midoriya and Uraraka both nodded; it had indeed been a rough day for them. Silently, they made their way upstairs. When they made it to the second floor, Midoriya turned to Uraraka. "Hey Uraraka," he said, "Mind if I accompany you to your room?" It was then that Uraraka's face turned a bright shade of pink. Noticing what she may have interpreted from what he said, Midoriya's face turned an equal shade as he waved his hands back and forth nervously. "I-I-I j-j-just wanted t-t-t-to check on Eri, that's all!" He stammered. At this explanation, Uraraka calmed down. With a nod, they both made their way up the stairs.

When they reached Uraraka's room, they opened the door slowly so as to not wake Eri up. They glanced in to see her curled up under her blanket, cuddling up with the Midoriya plushie that Momo had made for her a week ago. The memory of that day still brought a smile to both Midoriya and Uraraka's faces. When Koji had shown Eri the teddy bear and giraffe plushies in his room, he offered to let her have one of them. When she kindly refused, Momo offered to make one for her of her choosing. After thinking for a while, Eri asked if she could make a plushie of Midoriya, which was followed by a collection of "DAAAAAW"s from the girls. Midoriya, at that time, didn't know whether to blush in embarrassment or cry tears of joy.

Midoriya and Uraraka couldn't help but smile. They may have made a new enemy in Shinobu Noshimuri, but that would be an issue for another time. Right now, Eri was safe and happy with her life and with people who loved and cared for her. As they continued to watch Eri smile in her sleep, they remembered another reason why they turned down Noshimuri's offer. She may have been worth only 240 million yen to him, but to Midoriya and Uraraka…she was priceless.

And with that, Offers and Threats comes to an end. Thanks for reading this chapter! Again, this will help as an explanation in a future chapter. Hope you all enjoyed it. I promise that the next chapter will be the Christmas and birthday chapter.

By the way, I met Justin Briner (the English voice actor for Midoriya) at Boston Comic Con on Saturday, August 11th. When asked what he thought about the IzuOcha ship, these were his words: "Yeah, man. I am all for those two as a couple." . . . . I thought I was going to explode with happiness. THE VOICE OF MIDORIYA IS IN SUPPORT OF THE SHIP! SOMEONE GRAB THE CHAMPAGNE!

Ha! But in all seriousness, that's awesome to know he supports it. I also got a photo with him (with Christopher Sabat [All Might] photobombing us!).

And kudos to Black Fuego Rio and Discord user Igneel Seishouki for editing this chapter.

Anyway, don't forget to favorite, comment and follow for more.

Until the next chapter, this is AnimeFan299110, telling you all to go beyond...PLUS ULTRA!

#eri #my hero academia #izuocha #Family Matters #fluff #fanfic

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segadores-y-soldados · 6 years

Text

Those Who Rise Up

Part 2 of “Retribution and Reapercussions”: exploring the consequences of “Retribution” on the characters of Overwatch. The timeframe for this covers the end of the debriefings from the Venice Mission (“Retribution”) to the beginning of Null Sector’s uprising (“Uprising”), approximately a one-year span.

This part will cover the rise of Akande Ogundimu, both as the third Doomfist (“The Successor”) and as a new Talon leader; the creation of Widowmaker; and the hypothesis that the first Slipstream flight was sabotaged.

A follow-up to “Long Reasons Not to Trust Moira in Retribution”, “A Clash of Kings,” the post about the declassified Blackwatch memorandum on Venice, a post about Overwatch and Blackwatch investigating their own organization, “The Immortal Soldier?”, and other essays. The ones linked above are the most important at the moment.

Additional essays and posts related to this topic: “Tal Pai, Tal Filho”, a write-up on the new Lúcio story and interactions between Lúcio, Symmetra, and Doomfist; a reply to an ask about if the attack on Antonio was planned or not; “An Eye for An Eye”, hypotheses on the new Soldier: 76-Moira interaction and if Soldier is “in” on Reaper’s plan.

Warning: Like “Retribution and Reapercussions”, this essay will be long. As always, a “Read more” link/cut will be provided, but tumblr mobile is a buggy app, and you may encounter problems with opening this or other links on the app.

McCree: Our target was dead, so I guess he got what was coming to him. But still…it didn’t seem right. But that wasn’t the end of our problems: for the first time, people knew we were out there. New faces stepped up to fill the void in Talon. And I can’t help but wonder…if that’s where it all started to go wrong.

Even though Blackwatch was suspended in the wake of the compromised Venice mission, relatively little changed “internally” within Overwatch. We don’t fully know Moira’s status as a known Talon agent, but as described in Part 1, it is possible that Gabriel Reyes managed to secure her cooperation and her silence by permitting her to continue her experiments on him. He likely also convinced her that he was either “going rogue” and leaving Overwatch, or convinced her that she could “recruit him” if more pressures caused “visible” schisms between him and Jack Morrison.

We also don’t fully know if Moira was or is aware of this, but it is likely that Gabriel started this “masquerade” to begin a reverse-infiltration of Talon. Gabriel, and later his persona of Reaper, represent the spirit of retribution, and he was willing to bend or break “the rules” that Overwatch (and even Blackwatch) was forced to play by in order to do “the real work of keeping the world safe” (Gabriel’s own words). It is not known if Jack was in on this plan, or if the plan “evolved” over time. At the moment, in the immedate aftermath of the mission, it is possible that “Gabriel’s plan” was only in its beginning stages.

Externally, the public reeled from the revelation of Blackwatch’s existence.

However, while we don’t know the all of the details, the “Uprising” comic shows us that, even a year after the events of “Retribution” -

Overwatch and select, trusted members of Blackwatch continued to work as they normally did. This implies that Blackwatch’s suspension was essentially...just a masquerade of its own.

So, despite what seemed to have been implied by McCree’s ending narration of “Retribution,” Overwatch itself did not fall, did not struggle.

Arguably, it didn’t even really crack.

In Part 1, I posited the idea that Gabriel and Jack possibly welcomed the Blackwatch suspension, as an immediate and “official” way for them, Ana, and Gérard to begin cracking down on “compromised” Blackwatch and Overwatch agents. The suspension would have allowed them adequate cover to investigate their own organization and divisions, and clear individual agents or groups as trustworthy, in order to isolate the effects of Talon’s spreading infiltration.

In fact, the suspension and internal investigation don’t stop Overwatch from continuing its missions or external investigations. By the time of Null Sector’s uprising in London a year later, Overwatch has several on-going investigations or “active situations” it is monitoring:

(A lot more under the cut.)

This map is taken directly from the screen in Jack’s office in the “Uprising” comic. Though incredibly small, we actually roughly know the majority of the location of the dots. From right to left, they are:

Tokyo, Japan: likely the investigation of the Shimada criminal empire, as Genji is still present in Overwatch.

Cairo and/or Giza, Egypt: no mission is known, but an Overwatch official was killed there shortly before the comic takes place. It is also the present-day home of the Anubis AI.

An unknown location in Switzerland: possibly Overwatch’s internal investigation of itself, or an investigation into the UN’s Geneva base.

Either Oyo, Nigeria or Numbani: an investigation into the new “Doomfist”, Akande Ogundimu, and his “mercenary” troops

London, UK: this is Null Sector’s uprising

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: with the new revelation about Lúcio’s father working for Vishkar, this investigation becomes tantalizing to hypothesize about

Dorado, Mexico: though we don’t know what Overwatch was investigating specifically, the location is home to Los Muertos, the gang affiliated with Sombra (who was a new Talon agent at the time) and possibly the site of LumériCo’s then-new developments

Pacific Northwest, United States and/or Canada: unknown entirely, aside from being where Fareeha Amari’s biological father, Sam, is from.

Several of these locations can be double-checked against the map from the Soldier: 76 Origin video.

One obvious and major diffierence between the maps is...well...

Paris, France.

Which is almost certainly tied to:

Odette, Odile skin description: For much of her life, Amélie Lacroix was better known as an accomplished ballet dancer in Paris.

Overwatch went through several major decisions in the immediate aftermath of the Venice mission, likely in rapid-fire succession. Arguably, due to the speed and efficiency of the decisions (the debriefings, Gabriel working with Moira, the suspension), Overwatch was able to pretty quickly recover and return to relative equilibrium, with surprisingly few side-effects internally.

In fact, it was arguably Talon which went through much bigger and more significant changes after the Venice mission. The effects of Antonio’s death rippled throughout the paramilitary organization’s core, likely setting off a number of events in the days to months that followed.

The most important and - quite frankly - “world-changing” of these consequences would absolutely be:

The True Successor: Akande overthrows Akinjide

We know from the Blackwatch memorandum and an interaction in “Retribution” that the “Doomfist” associated with Antonio was actually the second one:

Akinjide Adeyemi, also known as “The Scourge”.

McCree: Did Antonio have any associates? Gabriel: There’s the one who will probably take over for him - Vialli. Don’t know too much about him. Then Doomfist in Numbani, and an Omnic, who runs a casino in Monaco - uh, Maximilien or something.

While we don’t know for certain if Talon was organized the exact same way then (8-9 years ago) as it is during the events of the “Masquerade” comic, it seems fairly reasonable to conclude that the major aspects of leadership were roughly the same: a council made up of select leaders, each of whom runs a major faction or component of the organization, and who form “alliances” to achieve their objectives.

At the time of “Retribution,” Blackwatch did not fully know: 1) the exact nature of these relationships and connections between Talon “leaders” and 2) the extent of them. In fact, the whole point of the Venice mission was to grab Antonio and get information from him, to help Blackwatch conduct a more thorough investigation and coordinate covert operations against Talon.

This is significant for two main reasons:

The first is that - as part of the “Gabriel is infiltrating Talon” theory - Gabriel Reyes does not actually know all of the Talon leaders at the time of “Masquerade”. In fact, it is very likely that the crux of his infiltration plan is to find all the major Talon leaders and...well, enact retribution upon them (hence the references to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death”).

“Retribution” rather subtly slips in an important clue: Gabriel Reyes did not know exactly who “Vialli” was at the time of the Venice mission. He knew him by name, and knew that he was associated with Antonio, but he could not actually recognize him in person.

And roughly nine years later, “Reaper” still cannot recognize Vialli in-person.

Getting access to the secretive Talon council is vital for Gabriel’s infiltration, or everything he’s done between “Retribution” and “Masquerade” will have been a hugely wasted and incredibly costly effort - he’s arguably “lost” everything in exchange for this “retribution infiltration” mission against Talon.

However, unlike “Retribution-era” Gabriel and Blackwatch, “we the audience” have additional sources of information at our disposal: we know who Vialli is, we know his relationship with Antonio (who was his “predecessor”), we know his relationship with Akande (though there are a number of interesting plot twists there), and we know what he eventually becomes after Overwatch falls (the main “leader”/commander of Talon).

We also know the rough structure of Talon’s council and its overall hierarchy: Talon should be viewed as a sort of network of alliances between powerful, cunning, and extreme individuals who manage either actual mercenary or paramilitary troops (such as Antonio?):

Or who control access to resources or funding (such as Maximilien):

Or who possess the abilities or technical knowledge to apply certain extreme technologies, enhancements, or augmentations to Talon assets (such as Moira).

From what we know from Akande’s Hero Profile, Akinjide Adeyemi was a member of Talon who actually led and organized mercenary and paramilitary units:

We don’t know when exactly Akinjide recruited Akande, or what he said to encourage Akande to join him. Akande did not “start” in Talon, but instead was brought on as a mercenary (much like another Talon character, hmmm). Implied in the wording is that Akinjide wanted to see what Akande’s enhanced capabilities were actually “worth” before he brought him to Talon, and therefore made him do a lot of “mercenary grunt work” before he started introducing Akande to his Talon forces or - more importantly - his Talon associates, notably Maximilien.

However, even though it isn’t directly stated in Akande’s Hero Profile or in the “Masquerade” comic (likely because the latter occurs much later in the story), it’s important to realize that what Akinjide said may have mattered significantly less to Akande than who Akinjide was.

Or at least...who he represented.

There are a number of “Doomfists” in the history of the Overwatch universe, so it’s sort of a title that’s been carried by different characters. The original “Doomfist” was a really good guy - one of the heroes of the Omnic Crisis...

(Source: Michael Chu)

Ages and ages ago - before any real aspects of “Doomfist” had been fully revealed - I wrote one of my first “big essay” posts discussing his then-immenient release. It was titled “Doomfist: Lineage and Legacy” and essentially, it analyzed the names of the three main “Doomfists” (and originally postulated the possible existence of a fourth). What was most important about the essay was that: it established that there was a mythological/historical inspiration for the “lineage” of Doomfists (which is similar to how many Overwatch characters have mythological inspirations), that there was a certain amount of “regality” and “kingship” among the three (maybe four) Doomfists (which was shortly confirmed by the literary references in the “Masquerade” comic), and that the usage of the Gauntlets was being transformed from a tool for justice into a weapon of war.

Not all of it was correct: obviously, the idea of a “fourth” Doomfist was wrong (at least...for now, lol). But what was correct was the concept of “rightful inheritance” and “legacy”, along with a twisting transformation of both ideas from one of heroism to one of “war”.

To begin with, the first Doomfist was a man named Adhabu Ngumi.

It means “Doom Fist” in Swahili.

However, it is not so much his direct name meaning that is the significant part, but the fact that it is Swahili, which is found in the region of the African Great Lakes (for example, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, etc). This is notably east of Nigeria.

Adhabu is also dressed in an extremely militarized manner - he is wearing body armor, what appears to be a biotic field (compare to the yellow one on the Strike-Commander Morrison skin), and a military beret. He is framed with a rising sun, showing him as a heroic, bold figure.

This, coupled with his title “The Savior,” implies that he was a military figure in Africa - arguably Eastern Africa.

However, given the backstory of the OR-14s, we know there was an Omnium in Nigeria:

“Originally put into service before the Omnic Crisis, the OR14 “Idina” line of security robots was built in Nigeria’s massive manufacturing omnium. After the war, they were taken out of production, along with many of the other models used during the crisis. Twenty years later, Numbani revived and recommissioned the OR14 program to protect the city from external threats. These new OR15s were deployed for a short time before they were destroyed in an attack by Doomfist.”

Which means that it’s very, very likely Adhabu was the man who led African military forces to triumph over the Nigerian Omnium.

It may be possible that Numbani itself was built in Adhabu’s honor.

Although Adhabu is Swahili, he seems to bear some references to the Oduduwa mythology of the Yoruba people (whom the Scourge and Akande are a part of): he “hails from the east,” and appears to be “a bringer of light.” Oduduwa is considered the ancestor of all Yoruba kings.

Many of his details referencing Oduduwa is important: regality and kingship are deliberate and intentional choices in Akande’s design.

“We really wanted to give [Akande] colors that made him feel very powerful like red, gold - and really adorn him with that regal presence.” - Arnold Tsang, Doomfist Hero Preview video

Moreover, the concept of “kingly inheritance” and “kingly successorship” is integral into the entire “Doomfist” title and lineage: Adhabu set the precedent, both in presence and in story. He came from the east, represented by his Swahili origins and the sun, and helped save Nigeria and other parts of West Africa from the Nigerian Omnium. He is a noble, heroic figure, a modern-day king-commander (not unlike a few other characters in Overwatch, mainly Gabriel Reyes, Jack Morrison, Fareeha Amari, and Hanzo Shimada), and he represented how a human with added augmentation (his Gauntlet) could become powerful - more powerful than literal machines. The people of Numbani still hold him in high regard, bestowing the title of “The Savior” upon him.

This goes further than just Adhabu:

Because even though his “title” is “The Scourge,” Akinjide Adeyemi has all the hallmarks of “a king”.

(Again, wrote this before Doomfist/Akande was released.)

Much like how Akinjide eventually took Akande under his wing, it is very plausible that Adhabu taught or possibly even raised Akinjide. The meaning of Akinjide’s full name - “the strong one who is worthy of the crown has returned” - certainly bestows a weighty and powerful “right” of successorship upon him. Like names like “Gabriel Reyes” or “Moira O’Deorain”, “Akinjide Adeyemi” is a name that gives us the sense that he was supposed to be a heroic and just figure - a true inheritor of Adhabu’s title, Gauntlet, and legacy. That he should have been another “Savior” to Numbani and Nigeria.

Instead...he became a “scourge” upon the city and the region.

Akinjide took his version of the Gauntlet (or perhaps even Adhabu’s own Gauntlet) and recrafted it: he made it bigger, more aggressive, more powerful, and more weaponized. He took what was originally a symbol of hope, power, and honor, and transformed it into one of destruction and despair. Whatever ties he had to Adhabu were severed when he began to abuse this power and “worthiness” for ill.

A young Akande grew up through all of this - the Omnic Crisis, Adhabu saving Nigeria, the construction of Numbani, the growth and flourishing of the city and region. He watched his family’s prosthetic company change the lives of those injured during the Crisis, making them stronger, better, more powerful. He witnessed how a single man, a single commander - Adhabu Ngumi - could change the course of history of parts of the world with a single, powerful tool.

What Akande witnessed was that war - perhaps the greatest war in Overwatch’s fictional history - did not weaken humanity.

War had made everything around him grow. Thrive. Flourish. And improve.

Numbani and Nigeria rose from the ashes of the Omnic Crisis with a burgeoning economy and rapid advancements in technology. It was a vision of the future, a vision of what humanity - coupled with new technology, new ideas, and new power - could create.

And Akande himself had gotten stronger because of the Crisis.

Though perhaps...at the time, he did not think so:

Here, we have a collision.

Akinjide - a man who should’ve had the world in the palm of his hand - running mercenary groups, raiding off the edges of Numbani’s wealth and advancements, coming in contact with Akande - a man who should’ve inherited the wealth, technology, the power, and the prestige of his family - completely discontent with his life...

Discontent with his destiny.

Two inheritors of two similar yet different legacies, both of whom had lost them for different reasons - Akinjide for reasons unknown, but for methods we know about (he abused his power), and Akande for the reasons above, who lost all interest in simply “running a company,” even if the company was prestigous and doing remarkable work.

So perhaps, it was not specifically Akinjide who Akande was interested in working with, but rather, the “legacy” he was carrying:

His Gauntlet

His title of “Doomfist”

And eventually - his “army”.

We know from Akande’s Hero Profile that he excelled in his new line of work, first as a mercenary, then as a “rising” Talon leader. He worked his way up the ranks, proving himself as a capable, calm, tactical commander, and others in Talon...took notice of his “greater potential”.

We are bedeviled by the mysteries of creation. Science can reveal the truths that lie behind these many questions. What we learn can unlock the true potential of humanity.

- Moira (source)

We don’t know when or how Akande and Moira met, but it is clear that - at their cores - they share a similar vision, though the means and methods they use to achieve those are different. Akande focuses on conflict as a way of driving technological advancement, while Moira is more interested in the research aspect of progress. However, both individuals are extremely loose in their ethics, and capable of switching to alternate methods when necessary to achieve their goals.

Symmetra: Doomfist, you are mistaken - only with order can humanity evolve! Doomfist: Order…chaos… means to an end.

---

Moira: Well, that was certainly a decisive solution to the Antonio problem. McCree: It’s not how we do things! Moira: Well, it seems we’ve had a change in methodology. McCree, muttering: …A little too much change.

Both Akande and Moira found pre-Retribution Talon suitable to their then-purposes: Akande, listless in the direction his life had been taking, found a place where his “true potential” as a visionary king-commander could thrive, while Moira, who had lost her life’s research after Overwatch had shut down her original lab, found an organization whose lack of ethics (and seemingly endless supply of human test subjects) suited her own amoral experiments.

There was, however, a problem.

...Or rather, two problems.

The first and most important, of course, was Overwatch: Overwatch was a militarized organization with the authority and actual power (e.g. resources, agents, teams, divisions, and motivations) to enforce peacekeeping and other regulations. While Numbani had grown from the ashes of the Crisis, so too had Overwatch, expanding from a team of five known individuals into an international, UN-chartered organization that helped build global peace and stability. And despite what Akande and Moira claim, Overwatch did support scientific, economic, and social advancement, such as helping fund the development of different research divisions or different projects (see: Mercy, Winston, Mei, and Torbjörn as examples).

However, while Overwatch was not perfect about stopping global or international crime, it made a concerted effort to do so: disbanding arms-trafficking groups like the Deadlock Gang or focusing missions against criminal networks like the Shimada clan.

In fact, it is loosely implied that Talon was formed specifically to counter and undermine Overwatch: a conglomeration of “well-funding criminals” who wanted to see the peacekeeping organization destabilized so they could run their “profitable” crimes, from operating mercenary groups to arms-dealing to laundering money through casinos (currently only implied). A hint at this comes from Genji in Retribution:

Genji: Talon once tried to recruit my father. Gabriel: He didn’t take them up on their offer? Genji: He did not find them to his liking. Their aims did not…coincide with his own.

(Source)

And we know that even though Hanzo has left the clan in the present-day, Akande and Widowmaker very actively try to recruit him into Talon, bluntly saying that they could help him restore the Shimada clan to its former glory at the head of a criminal empire. Talon - then and now - makes a concentrated effort to recruit people who are powerful in the...unethical side of the story.

However, we now run into “Retribution-era” Akande’s and Moira’s second problem:

The Talon leadership at the time of Retribution was...“narrow-minded” in its focus, purpose, and methods.

Adeyemi was a useful asset to Talon, but the organization saw far greater potential in Ogundimu, with his intelligence and his ability to inspire as a commander. While Adeyemi was content to profit from raids on Numbani, Ogundimu had a grander vision.

(Source)

Petty “raids” on wealthy cities, disjointed and unorganized attacks on Overwatch facilities -

Attacks that didn’t even work in killing or harming their intended targets:

After all, the explosion on the temporary Blackwatch base in Rome was meant to kill Gérard Lacroix, but not only did it fail to do that, Gérard was set to make a full recovery. Instead, approximately fourteen Blackwatch members - possibly even just support staff or third-party contractors - were killed. While those numbers were still emotionally upsetting for Gabriel and Jack, they did not actually impact Overwatch’s or Blackwatch’s ability to function.

We can conclude that with individuals like Antonio and Akinjide in charge of Talon, these semi-randomized attacks on Overwatch had been going on for awhile, maybe a few months to a year, and that they were largely unsuccessful in harming the overal integrity of the peacekeeping organzation (but they were successful at emotional “wear-and-tear” on Overwatch’s leaders).

Antonio’s lines in “Retribution” show us this sort of “narrow-minded” focus:

Antonio: …Good evening, Commander Reyes. Ha, how will this look on the news? Overwatch unlawfully abducting a respected businessman? Even if you take me now, my friends would have me released within the week. All these…theatrics have been a waste of our time.

All that Antonio is focused on is “appearances” - the news coverage of his arrest, his public “respected businessman” stature, how he derides the back-and-forth exchanges between Overwatch/Blackwatch and Talon as simple “theatrics” (“theatrics” which resulted in deaths that impacted Gabriel). His message to Gabriel is surprisingly simple: Talon and Blackwatch can keep playing these “theatrics” of not-really-harming each other, or Gabriel and his team can turn around, walk away from the situation, back off of the investigation of Talon, and turn a blind eye to Talon’s future crimes.

No talk of “visionary futures.” No talk of “true potentials.” No talk of dedication to research, experiments seeking the truth. No talk of ideologies of how war reshapes humanity, how conflict is the “crucible through which we evolve”.

Just “business” and “theatrics.”

So like -

Is it really that surprising that she’s happy to see Antonio die?

As I wrote in this answer, I don’t think Moira particularly expected Antonio to die. I think she expected to put Gabriel - one of her current “research interests” - into an extremely tough “experiment” against her other “research interests” (the Talon paramilitary agents), and see who came out on top. If it was Gabriel, well, she knew he was bound to her by her research, and if it was the Talon army, then great, her new experiments were a success.

However, instead, she was excited to see an unexpected “result” of her experiment:

Gabriel’s intense and sudden “change of plans,” which result in Antonio’s death.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it as many times as I need to: Moira’s sense of “loyalty” obviously runs by a different “ethical code” than most people. Her loyalty is to her research first, and those who support it second. If Antonio was as “narrow-minded” as Akinjide or (for example) Winston or Mercy, of course she’d be pretty happy to see him removed from Talon, just as she would be happy to undermine Overwatch. Her “loyalty” is not about who is giving her a paycheck or protection, but who best aligns with her vision of free and “unrestricted” research.

In his own way, Antonio and the “old” Talon leadership hindered Moira almost as much as Overwatch did.

We don’t exactly know who or what compelled Moira to join Blackwatch when Gabriel recruited her. We know from Michael’s implications and her paper on curing degenerative diseases that it’s pretty plausible Gabriel recruited Moira mainly to solve his SEP side-effects, but we don’t know if that alone was enough to catch Moira’s interest.

However, considering the wording on her Hero Profile (which implies she was already a Talon agent in Blackwatch), her obvious hatred for Overwatch, the themes of “parallel retributions gone wrong” (e.g. Gabriel’s retribution vs. Moira’s retribution), and her obvious amorality in using, leaking, and “repurposing” Gabriel’s biodata, I don’t think it’s very surprising that someone probably encouraged her to accept Gabriel’s request and enter Blackwatch as a Talon spy.

“We stand on the brink of a breakthrough in human evolution. I have dedicated my life to unraveling its secrets. I take risks that others would consider to be ‘unwise,’ for I do not share their caution. Overwatch held back the pace of scientific discovery for decades. They believed my methods were too radical… too controversial…

“And they tried…to silence me.

“…But there were others in the shadows, searching for ways to circumvent their rules. Freed from my shackles, the pace of our research hastened - together, we delved deeper into those areas forbidden by law, by morality…and by fear. “New patrons emerged who possessed an appetite for my discoveries. And with this knowledge…what new world could we build?”

- Moira Origin story (source)

Someone encouraged Moira. Though her Origin video wants you to think it was Gabriel, we know from the “Retribution” comic that his priorities were on protecting Jack and Overwatch. In that case, the part about “others in the shadows, searching for ways to circumvent [Overwatch’s] rules” almost certainly implies Talon as a whole.

But the line “Together, we delved deeper into those areas forbidden by law, by morality...and by fear” is stronger, but in different ways.

If Moira is talking about Talon, then she appears to be describing both her experimental work on the Talon paramilitary agents, and - most likely - her work as a “spy” in Blackwatch. Talon has no problem breaking “law and morality,” but “fear” is an interesting one, because the sentence structure makes it sound like Moira is talking about her own fear.

As if someone had to help her get past her fear of being an untrained, noncombatant spy entering Blackwatch, a division specializing in covert operations.

Adeyemi was a useful asset to Talon, but the organization saw far greater potential in Ogundimu, with his intelligence and his ability to inspire as a commander.

We know one member of Retribution-era Talon who had the ability to inspire others to be “courageous.”

I don’t know if Moira joined Blackwatch under Akande’s orders or interests. I don’t know if she saw him as a “king-commander” or if she saw him as an associate, or even as a friend. However, 8-9 years later, Moira has answered Akande’s “call to war” seemingly without hesitation:

In the present day, we know that other characters like Maximilien and Sanjay are also apparently loyal to Akande, along with a few others that we haven’t seen. “Reaper” appears to be acting as an “inspired” henchman to Akande, though we know he helped Sombra sabotage the Volskaya mission, and he might have deliberately thrown the “stop Recall” and “reclaim the Gauntlet” missions as well.

At the very least, at the time of Retribution, Moira and Akande’s intra-Talon interests aligned:

They would see Overwatch brought down.

And if “sacrifices” within Talon had to be made in the name of science and progress, then so be it.

This is Akande’s moment.

When we look at it from his perspective, we see a long sequence of events that have finally “aligned”:

Akinjide, who initially appeared promising to Akande as the “successor” to Adhabu, has proven to be a disappointment, ideologically and motivationally weak compared to Akande’s own “grander vision.”

Moira, who has slipped into Blackwatch as a Talon spy, has found a number of abilities to experiment with, and has possibly found a critical weakness to one of the founding members of Overwatch.

Against all odds, that exact member of Overwatch - Gabriel Reyes - has actually killed Antonio, who was a “weak willed” and “narrow-minded” leader of Talon, and one of Akinjide’s allies.

And - perhaps what is truly shocking (or motivating) to Akande - is that Antonio’s new experimental army and paramilitary units have been decimated by Gabriel, two additional Blackwatch agents, and Moira, who was more or less there to keep herself alive.

If there is ever a time to remake and reforge Talon, it is now.

After all, only through conflict do we evolve.

And Akande is going to fulfill his “true potential.”

Akande is a male Yoruba name meaning "firstborn." Ogun is a Yoruba god of war and metalwork, and dimu is Yoruba for "grasping." Akande Ogundimu can therefore be roughly translated as, "heir to the god who grasps iron and war.”

And he is going to remake and reforge the Doomfist legacy, from a “savior” to a “scourge” to a true “success(or)”.

Humanity has always been tested. Conflict and war is the crucible through which we evolve. Every battle makes us stronger. Those who fall will be forgotten. Those who rise up - their names will be remembered forever. (source)

History is written by the victors... Ha. You know my name. (source)

By killing and overthrowing Akinjide, Akande would embody - in name, in title, in inheritance, in legacy, in motivation, in literal “armaments” - his ideology of conflict making people (and organizations) stronger.

As the new Doomfist, Ogundimu rose high in Talon and helped to orchestrate a conflict that the organization hoped would someday engulf the world.

With Akinjide and Antonio gone, a new set of alliances is made among the remaining members of the Talon council. Incredibly, Maximilien - the casino-owning French Omnic - survives the coup (we’ll get a little more into him later), no doubt using his political savvy and money to persuade the new “successors” to Akinjide and Antonio (Akande and Vialli respectively) to keep him around. It is not known if Moira is able to contact her allies in Talon, but she is obviously intelligent enough and clever enough to survive whatever situation she is in.

Secured in his new position on the Talon council, Akande sets out to make his “grander vision” a reality. He is not going to make the same mistakes as Akinjide and Antonio. His “grander vision” is noble, honorable, powerful. It will require the abilities and inspirations of a king-commander, the genius of brilliant but troubled scientists, and the craftsmanship of engineers and architechs (lol).

Akande is going to use all the resources at his disposal to make more tactical, precision strikes against Overwatch.

You don’t break a dam by chipping away at the top, and you don’t weaken an organization by killing random agents.

You break a dam by destroying the foundation -

And you weaken an organization by taking down important targets.

Swan song: the death of Gérard Lacroix and the creation of Widowmaker

Moira: How are you feeling, Lacroix? Widowmaker: I don't feel. That's the point, isn't it?

Gabriel Reyes had shown that he was “too hard to kill” in a direct confrontation, and if he had formed some sort of negotiations with Moira, he may have been “safe” from further Talon attacks. Similarly, Jesse McCree and Genji Shimada had also proven themselves pretty difficult to kill in Venice, and with Gabriel vouching for their loyalty, they may have been extra “guarded” by Overwatch.

Furthermore, the Blackwatch suspension would’ve made it impossible for Moira or any other Talon double-agents to make any aggressive moves against the organization (if they were even allowed in the Overwatch facilities).

Inside Overwatch’s “castles,” the core members of Overwatch and Blackwatch were relatively safe from direct Talon attacks or from Talon infiltrators leaking information (at the moment). Business resumed some degree of normalcy.

After Gabriel Reyes, Jesse McCree, and Genji Shimada, Gérard Lacroix was arguably the most important member of Blackwatch (that we know of). He was the principle investigator in the anti-Talon operations, and he was also a crucial witness in Gabriel’s debriefing:

However, inside Overwatch facilities, Gérard would have been secure, surrounded by allies and medics who could help him. Because of Gabriel’s debriefing, Gérard would also have been aware of Moira’s role as a Talon infiltrator, and like Jesse and Genji, would’ve kept his guard up around her.

He might also have been the first person to start identifying other Talon infiltrators (if there were some).

Removing him would’ve become the top spot on Talon’s priority list.

With Akande now leading Talon, it was time to try a different set of tactics. Aggressive but semi-randomized attacks had failed to take down the most important Blackwatch and Overwatch leaders and agents. Even direct ambushes had proven dicey, as Talon had lost one of their own major leaders in their last attempt at that.

However, there was one avenue that had proven to be effective.

Extremely effective:

“Hope” had been Overwatch’s greatest strength for nearly 25 years -

And much like how Moira had found “hope” to be Gabriel’s weakness -

All the virtues that had helped make Overwatch strong would be its undoing.

Love, courage, loyalty, determination, and hope -

Moira had proven with her “experiment” that these things could be used to put Overwatch and Blackwatch agents in critical situations, where their guards were lowered and their judgments weakened.

Other methods had failed, but with a new “visionary” at the helm of Talon, perhaps they could try her “new methodology.”

It is believed that in her former life, Widowmaker was married to Gérard Lacroix, an Overwatch agent spearheading operations against the Talon terrorist organization. After several unsuccessful attempts to eliminate Gérard, Talon decided to change its focus to his wife, Amélie.

We don’t know where, when, or how exactly Amélie’s kidnapping occurred, but based on her Odette and Odile skin descriptions:

For much of her life, Amélie Lacroix was better known as an accomplished ballet dancer in Paris.

She was probably kidnapped in Paris.

We don’t know how long she was missing, or where she was found again, but we can surmise or hypothesize about a few things:

Talon operatives kidnapped her and subjected her to an intense program of neural reconditioning. They broke her will, suppressed her personality, and reprogrammed her as a sleeper agent. She was eventually found by Overwatch agents, apparently none the worse for wear, and returned to her normal life.

Now, we don’t exactly know if Moira was involved in her reconditioning. Personally, I believe that if Moira did get involved, it occurred at a later phase, when Amélie’s physiology changed. It would be extremely strange for a geneticist to be involved in brainwashing, though considering Blizzard doesn’t have the best track record for “accurate” science fiction, I wouldn’t be surprised if they somehow threw that in there.

However, we do know that Talon - especially Akande’s new Talon - was full of extreme, powerful individuals, many of whom shared the same intense ideology and principles of “conflict/stress/experimentation makes us stronger”, “we are part of a grander vision/truer potential/greater order”, and “the ends justifies the methods”. In fact, Widowmaker’s “reconditioning” has a very strong parallel in another character:

Now, let me make this very clear: I do not think Satya Vaswani has been deliberately brainwashed like Amélie Lacroix. I do think Vishkar has been such a massive and looming part of Satya’s life for so long that it has an incredibly strong grip on her views and mindset.

We also know that Vishkar demands an extreme amount of loyalty, dedication, and ruthlessness from its employees. This point had long been implied by Satya’s dialogue and her behavior, but it was more overtly confirmed by a new interaction:

Lúcio: Vishkar’s using you - just like they used my father! …You just wait - you’ll see. Symmetra: Your father was a Vishkar employee. He understood our company’s vision…a shame he never educated you.

We don’t know when exactly Sanjay Korpal joined Talon: he appears to be relatively young, but so do Moira and Akande, who are both in their 40′s, and they were part of Talon before the events of the Venice mission. An intriguing “hint” that Sanjay might have also been part of Talon during Retribution comes from the Blackwatch Venice memorandum:

On the “Organization Profile”, the list of known members of Talon is different than the list of Antonio’s known associates.

Notably, Akinjide Adeyemi was not listed as a member, but was later identified by Blackwatch as a Talon associate (when they monitor his fight with Akande):

Both of the [redacted] names are relatively short - approximately the same length as “Maximilien”. “Sanjay Korpal” could fit in one of them. The only other member of Talon at the time (though we do not know if Blackwatch was aware of her) was Olivia Colomar, better known as “Sombra”.

Also the fact that the Talon Assassin appears to use hard light and sonic technology for her blades and her increased speed:

While I would not be surprised for Blizzard to released a new character who is directly responsible for Amélie’s brainwashing, I would also be unsurprised if the role is pinned on Sanjay and/or Moira.

After all, Moira is already responsible for parts of another character’s “condition”:

Moira: How are you feeling, Commander? Gabriel: Fine, no ill effects so far. Moira: Let me know if that changes.

Which is suspiciously parallel to:

Moira: How are you feeling, Lacroix? Widowmaker: I don’t feel - that’s the point, isn’t it?

In fact, Widowmaker’s story has a number of intriguing plot elements that pointedly mirror Reaper’s.

The first is that both appear to have been - or currently be - double-agents or sleeper agents. Amélie was made into a sleeper agent on behalf of Talon, killing her husband Gérard and then returning to Talon for further conditioning and training. Gabriel, on the other hand, appears to currently be infiltrating Talon as a double-agent, notably after having a “falling out” with his “partner”, Jack Morrison.

The second is that they both claim - admittedly for different reasons - to not feel any emotion in regards to their actions, but both of these are lies.

This is an outright lie by Reaper. Even if he is genuinely angry with Jack, Reaper refused to kill Ana Amari when he had a chance because he got emotional.

Meanwhile, in the above interaction with Moira, Widowmaker claims to feel nothing, but during the events of “Reflections”, she visits Gérard’s grave and brings a rose:

(Amusingly, she also claims she cannot feel “the cold” in Volskaya, but wears a coat here.)

Widowmaker also retains Gérard’s picture in her mansion.

Which - while we haven’t seen this in the present day - has a side-eyeing parallel to Gabriel’s situation room during the “Retribution” comic:

Lastly, both of them have had major emotional virtues undermined as their points of weakness by Talon:

Gabriel had his trust and hope betrayed.

Amélie’s love and loyalty were taken from her:

Two weeks later she killed Gérard in his sleep.

Personally, I’m not a fan of the “Gabriel is brainwashed” theory because I think it removes a lot of his in-universe agency and decision-making power from him (which, admittedly, I don’t love that aspect of Widowmaker either), but I do think there are strong parallels and connections to be made between Widowmaker and “Reaper”. As I said earlier, it appears that Moira may be holding onto Gabriel’s “cure” or blackmailing him about his “secrets” to have him work as a mercenary for Talon (though obviously this could be perceived differently to one or both of them - hell, it may even be a relatively “mutual” agreement between them by the time of Recall). In both situations, Talon seems to have a “grip” on an emotional or meaningful aspect of both Widowmaker’s and Reaper’s personal lives and motivations, and Talon appears to have targeted a “virtuous emotion” (love, hope, trust, etc) and transformed it into a weakness or even a weapon -

An opening to kill Gérard, or an opening to bring down Overwatch.

I also personally think that, given that this was his reaction to Gérard getting hurt:

Gabriel almost certainly escalated his “plans” for Talon upon Gérard’s death.

Again, I don’t know if Jack, Ana, Reinhardt, Torbjörn, or McCree were aware of Gabriel’s plans. Based on Ana’s reaction in the “Old Soldiers” comic, and her’s and the other characters’ interactions with “Reaper” in the game (though not necessarily canon, Reinhardt and McCree’s reactions certainly feel like they would be genuinely angry to find out that Gabriel had “switched sides” for Talon), I would say that many of the characters closest to Gabriel were unaware of his “change in methodology.”

And that, if there was any one character who knew about Gabriel “intensifying” his mission against Talon -

It would be Jack.

As I wrote in “An Eye for An Eye,” it’s hard to tell what exactly Soldier: 76 is aware of in terms of Reaper’s “masquerade” inside Talon. I think it’s pretty safe to conclude that he knows what Moira did during Retribution (or at least was convinced of it during Gabriel’s debriefing), but how aware he is of “what Reyes had been planning” is more vague and open to wider interpretations.

However, unlike Ana and McCree, who have much stronger reactions to Reaper in-game, Soldier: 76′s interactions with him are...surprisingly calm, almost joking at times. It’s not unlike how Reaper and Sombra talk to each other, actually (which is an important point, given that Reaper and Sombra are allies in this “masquerade” in Talon).

It’s also difficult to say where Widowmaker falls in Reaper’s “plans”. According to Michael Chu, “Reaper” had no involvement in Widowmaker’s conditioning:

And based on Gabriel’s close friendship with Gérard, I cannot see him as willingly authorizing or approving of Amélie’s reconditioning or Gérard’s assassination.

A popular fan theory - which works in tandem with the “Gabriel is infiltrating Talon to bring it down” theory - is that Gabriel is attempting to save Amélie (or whatever remains of her) from Talon. It is a theory I am personally a fan of, but I recognize that, aside from the above parallels, there isn’t a lot of direct evidence for it (as opposed to the other elements of the theory, e.g. Sombra is working with Reaper). Reaper makes little to no effort to protect or help Widowmaker, even undermining a major assassination mission for her, so while I like the idea, currently, it doesn’t really have much to support it.

And speaking of “pure speculation theories”...

Time keeps on slippin’: was the disappearance of the Slipstream an accident or sabotage?

Pharah: Helix should keep the peace in Vishkar developments! Symmetra: We does not need an army to keep the peace. We prefer our own methods...

Lena Oxton (call sign: "Tracer") was the youngest person ever inducted into Overwatch's experimental flight program. Known for her fearless piloting skills, she was handpicked to test the prototype of a teleporting fighter, the Slipstream. But during its first flight, the aircraft's teleportation matrix malfunctioned, and it disappeared. Lena was presumed dead.

She reappeared months later, but her ordeal had greatly changed her: her molecules had been desynchronized from the flow of time. Suffering from "chronal disassociation," she was a living ghost, disappearing for hours and days at a time. Even for the brief moments she was present, she was unable to maintain physical form.

(source)

Overwatch was looking for a hotshot pilot to test their next-generation teleporting fighter, The Slipstream. Enter Lena Oxton - call sign: “Tracer”! Haha, that’s me! It was the sort of opportunity I had dreamed of my whole life. But on my first flight, the teleportation matrix malfunctioned, and I disappeared! I was missing for months! And no one knew where - or when - I had gone.

By the time Overwatch found me, I was little more than a ghost...

(source)

It seems innocent enough.

After all, pretty much every story involving a teleportation device, or a time machine, or some sort of “time-and-or-space” controlling element involves a plot point of someone or something getting “lost” in time and/or space, right? It’s a common enough trope that no one bats an eye over it. “Of course the Slipstream was going to fail - you don’t mess around with teleportation, something always goes wrong.”

Right?

But like I said earlier -

We have concrete evidence of a major company with ties to Talon that specializes in teleportation that will literally go to extremes to undermine any “competition”:

Yes, “A Better World” takes place approximately a few months to about a year before the events of “Recall.” However, I personally have been skeptical of Tracer’s profile and Lena’s Origin story narrative since I first read and watched them. Remember: both of these have “a perspective”. The former is meant to be vague or just...“thin” enough to cover the surface, while the latter is told from Lena’s own perspective.

She was young at the time - only 18 - and brand new to Overwatch. We know she admired Overwatch, and dreamed of joining their ranks “[her] whole life.”

But at the time, Tracer probably didn’t know what was happening in the upper levels of Overwatch: that Overwatch and Blackwatch were starting to unravel, holes being poked through their defenses, critical individuals being blackmailed, threatened, hurt, or even assassinated.

Just like McCree in Retribution -

It is not that Tracer’s narrative of the Slipstream flight is untrustworthy -

It is just extremely limited.

If, after the fall and disbandment of Overwatch, Vishkar is willing to blow up a rival construction company in order to secure a building contract in a new location -

What would Vishkar (read: Sanjay) have done to prevent Overwatch from developing a teleporting, rapid-flight fighter jet from being successful?

For the last year and a half, I thought of the possibility of Vishkar sabotaging the Slipstream test flight as little more than an interesting hypothesis, a funny little “red conspiracy string” idea that had some distant and “barely there” connections. Interesting, intriguing, but unlikely. Tracer’s “story” hadn’t been looked at since Uprising last year, and even then, the details of her Slipstream flight were just taken for granted - background elements to the “current plot” of Null Sector and Tracer’s first mission.

But then came this:

Which showed how easy it was for a trusted third-party to enter “secure” Blackwatch bases.

And then during the Retribution mission -

She shows up.

And much, much more recently, we have new interactions indicating that Vishkar had access to “hyper-speed-inducing, light-and-sound-based” technology, possibly even at the time of Retribution:

Mercy: Lúcio, I never realized your father was the one who made Vishkar’s sonic technology! Lúcio: The core tech was his life’s work, owned and patented by Vishkar…but it’s mine now.

— Lúcio: Vishkar’s using you - just like they used my father! …You just wait - you’ll see. Symmetra: Your father was a Vishkar employee. He understood our company’s vision…a shame he never educated you.

Lúcio, who has an intimate and personal history with the sonic technology, fully believes that Vishkar has either “wrongfully” claimed the rights to his father’s work, or is likely misusing it. His Hero Profile implies the latter:

Lúcio wouldn’t stand for it. He stole Vishkar sonic technology that had been used to suppress the people, and he converted it into a tool to rally them to action.

We don’t know what Lúcio’s father intended to use the sonic technology for (but given that there’s the possibility Lúcio is a synesthete, it might have originally been meant to help him manage his sensory perceptions), but if Lúcio’s father was anything like Symmetra in the present-day, then he was probably unware of how Vishkar was misusing it.

We know that by the time of “Uprising”, Overwatch is investigating an “active threat” in Rio de Janeiro:

It is possible (again, not saying how likely this hypothesis is, just that it is possible) that Overwatch tracked down the technology that made the Talon Assassins and traced it to an engineer/architech in Rio - but that he himself was likely not directly involved in the creation of the Assassins.

And from Talon and/or Vishkar’s side of it, there is an additional...complication.

If it is true that the Assassin is using prototype hard light and/or sonic technology, she represents Talon/Vishkar’s attempts to create a some sort of “hyper-fast, speed-boosted” warrior, an agent capable of appearing, killing, and then disappearing.

But again - consider her screams. Her disjointed movement. How seemingly every “Assassin” in the Retribution mission dies to Blackwatch.

If the Assassins are “Vishkar experiments” -

Then they are failures.

Vishkar, and Talon, likely give up on the Assassin tech, as it looks to be a combination of too dangerous and too ineffective to utilize in a serious manner. It’s not that I personally think characters like Moira or Sanjay are worried about safety, but when “high cost” experiments/assets like the Assassins and Snipers keep dying, it might be worthwhile to set those “projects” aside and come back to them later (like...maybe when you don’t have the “pressure” of Overwatch and Blackwatch breathing down your neck). And if Overwatch has its “eyes” on the architech who developed the technology, it might not be a bad idea to “lay low” while Akande puts other plans into action (like, say, reconditioning the wife of the anti-Talon investigator to kill him?).

That said, if or when Vishkar and/or Talon discover that Overwatch is making a teleporting, rapid-flight fighter jet, how would they have reacted to that?

Imagine if Overwatch and/or an unsuspended Blackwatch could literally appear over known Talon hideouts, infiltrate them, either kill Talon’s paramilitary troops or take information and technology, and then leave in the blink of an eye?

Well...let’s just say that “Retribution” probably could’ve ended in a very different way if the Slipstream had been available at the time.

Hell, even Null Sector’s uprising probably would’ve been much easier to deal with if Overwatch had not needed to worry about those “anti-air defense systems” by simply materializing fighter jets out of a timestream.

Point is, a teleporting fighter jet could’ve revitalized Overwatch’s “aging” military technology, pushing it ahead of Talon, Vishkar, and possibly other “competing” groups like Helix and reestablishing Overwatch’s peacekeeping efforts in Talon-stronghold or “anti-Overwatch” regions.

And if Vishkar and/or Talon did sabotage the Slipstream, their efforts appear to have paid off - the Slipstream is never mentioned again, as the project was likely dropped from Overwatch’s development docket for being too dangerous and too unstable.

But what no one expected was a different success.

Winston, who was probably well-known within Overwatch but kept a lower profile in the public, develops his first big, internal “claim to fame” moment when he creates the chronal accelerator and saves Tracer from her disassociation condition.

And this is why Tracer and Winston are the two biggest “mascot” characters for Overwatch:

“Hope” does not die.

No matter how it gets undermined or betrayed -

No matter what horrific losses and heartbreak it faces -

No matter how frequently it gets hurt or lost -

Hope and heroes always rise.

All the virtues that made Overwatch “weak” to Talon’s infiltrations, “weak” to disruption, “weak” to sabotage -

Are the same virtues that will help it return in the future.

But at the time of Lena’s accident, Talon doesn’t know this.

With Akande commanding the new Talon leadership, Talon deals what they believe are decisive blows to Overwatch’s power: Gérard Lacroix is dead and unable to “track” Talon’s movements. The Slipstream project is abandoned, and Talon thinks their ability to start more intense, “global-scale” conflicts has reached a new high.

As the new Doomfist, Ogundimu rose high in Talon and helped to orchestrate a conflict that the organization hoped would someday engulf the world.

Doomfist, on King’s Row:

Omnics will not be kept down forever. The ashes of the Crisis still smolder. This city is a powder keg that could ignite the world. And Talon is the flame.

Akande would embody uprisings.

And his new version of Talon would help others do the same.

Jack: This is Morrison. London has been attacked! King’s Row has fallen. We’re on the brink of open war. Ana: Hundreds are dead, and thousands injured! Jack: Team, it’s up to you.

In the next part, analyzing the implications that Talon fueled the Null Sector uprising in King’s Row, and how they plan to do it again, starting with Mondatta’s death.

And in a rather retributive turn of events, Akande gets arrested:

Probably because someone wanted to see him fall.

“Many were happy to see you go away.”

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frankcastled · 6 years

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So, I was drunk and told people to fight me on facebook about the MCU, and people did and this is my response to one of those people who said, “the villains are trash.” I just decided to post it on here for The Discourse. I love The Discourse. (Also, it explains why I refer to another person while writing this. I don’t feel like editing.)

So, your comment is super broad. I dunno if you’re referring to some villains or all of them, but I agree and disagree. Are all the villains in every movie perfect? No. Some of them have been underwhelming, that’s for sure. Malekith is a good example of this. And then on the opposite of the end of the same spectrum you have Loki, who is arguably the best villain. But let’s make him an exception to the rule, because he appears across multiple films and thus he has room to develop and grow as a villain and a character, even beyond the Thor films and so, like the heroes, he has a character arc that makes sense and just naturally makes him a good villain.

But anyway, I’m assuming you’re talking about the infamous Marvel villain problem. Well known and although I don’t know the specifics of the argument, I’m going to pick out a few standalone villains who I think stand well on their own and actually present the heroes with real stakes.

First, Obadiah Stane. So, I think a fair argument can be made, that in a way, he is the catalyst for everything in the MCU. For one, there would be no Iron Man without Obadiah. I mean, he had Tony kidnapped, which is subsequently the reason Tony developed the Mark I in the first place! He’s the entire reason the Iron Man exists. In Civil War, we see the opposite effect: where Iron Man, as a result from mere existence, spawned a backlash. It’s pretty much the entire plot of Civil War: heroes create villains. But with Obadiah, he was a villain who created a hero, which I think is fascinating (and fine, a lot of stories follow this narrative, but in a world where superheroes are generally an accepted thing, it’s fascinating within this context). Not only that, but he has a history with Tony and with Tony’s father, Howard. Did the movie explore him fully and completely? No. That’s, I think, part of the problem with the villains in the MCU, most of them are given their one movie and because they are killed off, don’t have room to develop or grow the same way our protagonists do (again, the exception being Loki). However, I think Obadiah is also a great start for the MCU, plus the kind of villain who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. He goes out of his way to have other people do his dirty work: having Raza be the one to kidnap and kill Tony, trying to get the scientists to build an arc reactor, etc. However, at the end of the day he realizes that he has to do it himself and does exactly that.

Stakes: He got his own Iron Man suit, makes him and Tony evenly matched. Perfect introductory villain.

Second, Red Skull from Captain America. I’m not even entirely sure that I even like him as a villain, so much as I like what he does for the movie and for developing Captain America as a character. But, I’m gonna throw him out there, because I’m already writing an essay here and may as well go full force. So, Red Skull first and foremost serves as a foil for Captain America. He got injected with the serum, etc, etc and yet here he is, the bad guy to Captain America’s good guy. He is the, “it was important for the super soldier experiment to pick the appropriate person to do tests on because this is what happens if we pick the wrong person” scenario. He is the “what if” scenario. He is like the dark side of Captain America. I think that’s important to establish for Captain America as a character because so much of the first movie is all about pushing his character and motivations and the Red Skull also kind of serves as a cautionary tale of, “this is what happens when you get greedy and power hungry and search out power for the wrong reasons.” But, it also establishes why he’s a formidable foe for Captain America. He has the same abilities as him. He is a match which also serves to show that an ordinary person could not take Captain America time (yeah, yeah we see this demonstrated multiple times when he takes out 20 henchmen on his own, but whatever). Again, I don’t know if any of these points necessarily make Red Skull a good villain, but I also think it was necessary for him to the the first villain (but also he’s a nazi and yeah this movie came out ages before, umm, well today’s current political climate, but suddenly Captain America straight up fighting a nazi is relevant again, but I digress).

Stakes: Also enhanced with super soldier serum. Is literally Captain America, but the evil version. Perfect introductory villain.

Captain America: Winter Soldier. I’m including this movie, because the villain here isn’t the traditional Marvel villain and I think that’s part of the reason why people love this movie so much. It’s complex and explores something very real and tangible (in my humble opinion, I think it’s slightly overrated and I have movies higher than this on my list, but I loved this one nonetheless). So, we’re made to believe the Winter Soldier is the villain. Makes for great drama and I would say a good twist, but considering the trailers gave it away— Anyway, he starts off as the villain, but as the movie progresses, lo and behold we find out that it’s really Hydra that’s behind all this!!!! *GASP* Not only that, but somehow Hydra is still around. And I’m not going to get too wordy, because Hydra ends up falling into the Loki category of villain, in that, they become a well developed and established organization being developed across multiple films, but hey! Still, they count as a valid villain and the fact that Hydra infiltrates S.H.I.E.L.D. and manages to compromise them, I feel speaks volumes for how powerful they are.

Stakes: Is an en entire organization whom Steve Rogers has history with and thus it dissolves his trust of others in general. Of course there are stakes.

Next we have one of the newer entries to the MCU: Spider-Man, or rather, The Vulture. So, I think part of what makes him a brilliant villain, maybe only second to Loki, is that he is so damn relatable. Which is the point. He represents the blue collar worker and the struggle they encounter in today’s world. He gets his job taken away (by one of the HEROES no less!) and is left being obsolete. Machines and technology are basically doing what he does (because are we really going to believe that Tony Stark has physical and living people doing the jobs that his Iron Legion can feasibly do or any other specialized drone that he may have made to do clean up) and that’s kind of the one thing you hear a lot about today: people are being replaced by machines! People with a limited skillset are having their jobs taken by machines! They’re being left behind and forgotten because they have never done any other job but the one job they just had taken away from them. The Vulture presents such a modern day dilemma for so many people, especially nowadays (coughminerscough). And so the Vulture forces us to question a lot. Do the ends justify the means? How far is too far? How bad is he when he was literally doing this to keep a roof over his family’s head, a family we know about and grow to care about prior to the big reveal and thus compromising how we feel? He’s one of the more complex villains I would argue. His entire character arc is about being able to obtain materials to make weapons so that he can sell them and literally keep food on the table and a roof over his family’s head (hey, remember which other famous character was a weapons manufacturer and made his living off selling weapons and facilitating war? Hmmm, he might have popped up once or twice in this movie already…). Ultimately, yeah, we know what he’s doing isn’t great. He sells to only criminals (that we know of), I’m sure part of it is out of necessity considering that he kept all the debris illegally, and what better way to make sure your client base doesn’t talk than to make sure they’re already criminals who aren’t going to go blabbing since they live their lives outside of the law, anyway. I could go on, but I won’t.

Stakes: Well, Peter Parker is a high school kid with powers and the Vulture has alien technology and is an adult, so pretty evenly matched. Arguably the Vulture has less morality than Peter Parker, as well, and thus will aim for the kill, unlike Peter who obviously aims to keep him alive.

The living planet, Ego. Okay, so this one, again like Red Skull, I’m not even entirely sure if he makes a good villain, or because I like the purpose he serves and the way he drives the story. But, he’s gonna get thrown on here. So, this was never a secret, but hey turns out Ego is Peter Quill’s father! Hurray! How happy for Peter Quill. Ego ends up being the opposite of Winter Soldier, in that he is meant to be a good guy until he’s revealed to be the villain. I think this is part of makes the second Guardians movie really compelling. There isn’t a real villain until the final reveal. Even the Sovereign, who arguably are something of a secondary antagonist, are more of a nuisance to the Guardians rather than an outright villain. Anyway, part of the whole Guardians’ storyline is the concept of family (if the use of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain didn’t give it away, then I don’t know what would have) and that’s why Ego makes such a suitable villain for this movie. Peter’s own biological parentage isn’t really family, not in the same way Yondu was and not in the same way the Guardians are to Peter. Ego is a necessary villain because it makes an incredibly relevant point, that hey, your family isn’t actually who is related to you by blood, but about who you make your family. That people who share blood with you can be the people who make you miserable, but that does not mean you have any obligation to them. Honestly, the movie said it best, “Sometimes, the thing you’ve been looking for your whole life is right there beside you all along.”

Stakes: Literally a god. Does not get harder to defeat than this. Someone straight up died, so.

Final villain, I swear. I thought having a nice variety of good and relevant villains was important for the discourse. Hela. (Huh, three of my villains from the three most recent films.) So, first I would like to point out, I think Hela was vastly underused. I don’t think she had much screen time and I think she should have had more, but that being said, I do think there was one very important thing that Hela did accomplish, and it honestly makes up for her lack of screen time. So, at the end of Ragnarok, you have everyone on the ship and Asgard has just turned into a fiery hellscape. Fun stuff. Taika then has this moment as Korg, where Korg talks about how they can rebuild Asgard because it has a foundation, etc. only to then have any semblance of a foundation blow up. It’s a joke. However, it’s a very important joke, (to be fair, the following of what I’m going to say kind of is a shot in the dark and based on only two viewings of this movie) I think part of the point of Korg making light of what has just happened, despite the seriousness of the situation (Thor no longer has a home. He has all these people with him that he needs to find a home for so they can rebuild their lives and start anew and that’s something very serious), but remember Hela’s entire arc in the movie? For the most of the movie, she talks about her life before Odin imprisoned her. There’s a scene where she destroys a mural and reveals another mural underneath that showed her and Odin conquering the world. She talks about all the conquests she and Odin have, building an empire (kind of sounds like white colonialism, if you ask me) and I think that’s kind of the point of her character? She reveals Asgard for what it is, a sham. She reveals Odin for who he was. She shows that the foundation of Asgard was built upon conquests and wars and that after she was imprisoned: lies. Ragnarok isn’t just about Asgard dying, but about Asgard having a fresh start. It’s the cyclical nature of what Ragnarok really is and I think it’s part of why Korg makes light of the whole situation. There was never really a foundation for Asgard. It was covered up and in the end, it was built on something dirty. Hela, while brief her appearance is, serves to expose all that. She was a villain because her father made her that way, that much is clear. She didn’t want to conquer Asgard because that’s what villains do, she wanted to conquer Asgard because that’s literally what she was told was true. She was the rightful successor, but also she probably truly believed that. In fact, you see her giving Asgard the chance to simply accept her (which, to be fair, from the POV of the people, that’s a lot to ask when they’ve literally never heard of her, so you can’t blame them, but you also can’t blame her) and she might have ruled with an iron fist, but again, that’s how she was raised. Wars and conquests, and in a way it makes her character arc kind of tragic. In all honesty, I kind of hope she ends up coming back because I think she’s fascinating (and I’ve heard that in the comics Thanos has a thing for her, and to be honest, I am here for the evil, villain couple).

Stakes: She is Thor’s sister, therefore is a goddess and is level with him in the sense they are both otherworldly beings. Also, she can create weapons from nothingness. Literally Thor and company can’t defeat her, they bring back the hell monster to get rid of her (and to be honest I am not even sure that she’s dead anyway). People died, people less powerful than Thor and friends.

Anyway, if you’ve made it this far, congratulations for making it through my rambling! Here’s are just how I think the villains stack up individually in terms of being awful to being excellent.

Terrible, glad they are dead. 3 out of 10 stars.

Tim Roth (Lmao, okay that’s the actor, but god knows what his character’s name is, I admit I’ve seen the Incredible Hulk like four times and it’s at the bottom of my MCU movie list)

Malekith

Okay, probably could have been better but the movie was good so I don’t care.

Whiplash + Justin Hammer

Killian Aldrich

Hovers in the middle of being “eh” to being “good.”

Kaecilius + Dormammu

I liked them, not sure of public opinion, I could defend in a fight.

Ronan the Accuser

Ultron

Darren Cross

Zemo

Villains I think are good and just wrote a literally essay about

Obadiah Stane

Red Skull

Hydra

Ego

Vulture

Hela

The only collectively good villain in the MCU that most people agree on

Loki

#rosie cries about marvel #marvel

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opsmxspinnaker · 4 years

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Many developers, DevOps engineers, and SREs are clearly excited about using Spinnaker to modernize their overall software delivery process. And the primary reasons for this excitement are Spinnaker is opensource software and the only tool to offer hybrid and multicloud deployment in the marketplace.

At the same time, many organizations are hesitant to move forward with Spinnaker for continuous delivery because it has a reputation of being difficult to get right.

If you are considering adopting Spinnaker to transform your continuous delivery, I am confident that you can be successful. Simplifying Spinnaker isn’t easy, but it can be done.

Our many customers around the world have seen compelling success – driving down costs, slashing delivery errors, and improving cycle time. They have mastered the challenges of scaling Spinnaker, even though they had plenty of questions along the way.

That’s the purpose of this blog – to highlight the top four challenges you should address to ensure a successful transformation to Spinnaker Continuous Delivery (CD) – and move quickly from your very first service in production with Spinnaker to your first 100 applications.

Remember that adopting any product with the potential of Spinnaker, and updating any process as important as software delivery, brings with it some complexity and potential for error. You’re not alone – most companies have struggled with the same difficulties that you have now – and have overcome them.

Nearly every company today must transform their software delivery process to meet their business goals. Leverage the learning of the Spinnaker early adopters to eliminate the risk of being buried underneath an avalanche of work as you adopt Spinnaker and transform your Continuous Delivery processes across your organization.

Integrate Spinnaker with your Existing Tools

Spinnaker is a great product and saves time, energy, and effort in moving your services and applications through your deployment process, culminating with the apps running successfully in production.

However, Spinnaker doesn’t exist in a vacuum. You probably already have a well developed tool chain, perhaps using GitHub for source control, Jenkins for build, Jira for tickets, Slack for communication, JFrog Artifactory for binaries, and perhaps many others.

The first element that companies struggle to address is to completely configure Spinnaker so it is set up to fit well into your existing tool chain. Some of the integrations are simple, others are more complex. Unfortunately, Spinnaker doesn’t provide an “easy button” for any of the integrations. And extending your existing processes to include a new tool like Spinnaker always takes more thought and effort that we’d like.

So before you install Spinnaker or begin thinking about creating your first few pipelines, consider how Spinnaker will fit into your overall tool chain and how fit in with the processes that are adjacent to the deployment step in your SDLC.

Design Spinnaker CD Pipelines for Broad Adoption

Once Spinnaker is integrated into your tool chain and word gets around that you have enabled Spinnaker, you’ll be a hero because Spinnaker reduces work for everyone involved.

At the same time, you’ll likely be deluged with requests for assistance – especially for “onboarding” new applications on to Spinnaker. The process for building new pipelines for applications isn’t really onerous, but Spinnaker on its own doesn’t provide an easy way for individuals to do this work on their own.

Further, it is highly likely that you won’t use the same deployment strategy across all your different applications. When should you use the different strategies available to you? How should you set up Spinnaker to utilize a dark, canary, blue/green, rolling, or highlander deployment? How do you modify any of these strategies to your specific environment? Not all these questions have obvious answers when you’re getting started.

Once you have experience with the first few applications, and have the pipelines happily moving changes through the process, you should consider how to streamline the process of deploying new applications. Can you set up the system so that new teams can onboard their applications without you providing significant assistance?

Each organization is of course different. Some want to have full control by a central team; other times the individual development teams should have the ability to control the process for each service they build. Still other times the company wants to outsource the whole thing to an outside team so their inside teams can concentrate on their highest value.

Whichever option is good for you, consider the onboarding process or you will have difficulty moving past the first few applications toward broad deployment.

Handle Governance and Security Concerns in Continuous Delivery

Making Spinnaker operational is one thing. Making sure that the system is secure and follows your organization’s rules and regulations is also critically important before you move to wide adoption.

There are many different sub bullets to this general topic of governance, much more than I can cover in a single blog. The good news is that Spinnaker is built for large scale operations and so you can effectively handle just about every security and governance concern that you might have.

In order to ensure your specific governance requirements with Spinnaker are met for a broad range of services and applications, the top items that you should address are: secrets management, user onboarding and access control, audit, and policy compliance.

Different organizations have different strategies for secrets management, some heavily using Git, others using a product like Vault from Hashicorp. You must configure Spinnaker to fit into your security and secrets processes before you’re able to broadly deploy it. You definitely don’t want to manage your passwords and other secrets within Spinnaker itself.

User onboarding and permissions is a second area to consider. All but the smallest organizations have some centralized user management in place, and you’ll want to integrate Spinnaker into the system you’ve chosen, whether it be LDAP or something different.

Audit is the next element that typically impedes organizations from broad deployment. Ensuring that you can track the successes and failures of all the different changes that are pushed into production is important for every company, not just those in regulated industries.

And finally, general policy compliance is a must for organization-wide adoption of any product or process, especially one in as important an area as software deployment. Whether the policies are as simple as blackout windows (at which times completed software can move into production) or as complex as who within the organization can or must approve any move, and under what circumstances a move can be approved, there must be a simple way to ensure that the rules are followed (and of course, the compliance must be documented and easily verified).

Trust an Experienced Navigator for your CD Transformation

Once Spinnaker is in place for more than a few applications, you’ll see demand for it increase quickly. And with more users, there will be more need for support. Many of the questions will be simple, but you will want to be sure that your team has someone available at all times to have their questions answered – you don’t want to be first, second, and third level support to your Spinnaker installation.

In addition to simple support questions, a healthy percentage of requests will be around the best way to use different Spinnaker capabilities, and which approach enabled by Spinnaker would be recommended for your specific situation. These types of best practice questions should be answered by someone with specific knowledge of your situation and deep knowledge of and experience with Spinnaker. Of course, you could let everyone experiment and build best practices over time, but it’s much more efficient to leverage best practices from someone who has plenty of experience. Addressing this challenge is required before you can really start to scale past your first 100 applications. Don’t feel that you need to go it alone – work with an external company like OpsMx that you can trust and that has led multiple CD transformations with Spinnaker.

Check out our professional services that will help you to enhance and customize Spinnaker for your enterprise requirements.

Now is the Time to Start

Organizations that are successful with Spinnaker achieve impressive results. They dramatically improve the speed at which changes are deployed into production. And they are able to simultaneously slash costs, reduce errors in production, improve the experience of their end users, and better maintain compliance with standards and regulations.

Spinnaker is proven in organizations around the world, many of whom are OpsMx customers. They confronted the same anxiety that you may be having as you begin your Spinnaker rollout. We helped them get past the initial Spinnaker struggles and would be excited to work with you as well.

#Audit Service #AWS #CD pipeline #Compliance #Continuous Delivery #Jenkins #Professional Service #Spinnaker #Spinnaker deployments #multicloud deployment

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ravenclawlitza · 7 years

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HOGWARTS HOUSES AS D&D 5e BACKGROUNDS

GRYFFINDOR

You are a member of the house of Godric Gryffindor, known for courage, valor, bravery, and loyalty. Associated with fire and the colors red and gold, its insignia is a lion and its students are known for being noble and bold, if a bit reckless and foolhardy. Occupying one of Hogwarts’ four towers, the dormitories are warm and rich, with a common room often filled with students laughing and playing games.

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Intimidation Tool Proficiencies: One type of gaming set, one type of artisan’s tools or a broomstick Equipment: Gryffindor robes, a partial map of Hogwarts and the grounds, a gaming set, a lucky charm such as a rabbit foot or a small stone, a wand, a pet (owl, rat, toad, or cat), a pouch containing 15 galleons

Feature: Rustic Hospitality Considered one of the “heroic house,” you have no problem fitting in with common witches and wizards. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among other common wix or other Gryffindors, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them. They will shield you from authority figures or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives for you.

Alternate Feature: Explorer You have spent much time wandering Hogwarts and the surrounding grounds, and have developed an excellent memory for maps and geography. You can always recall the general layout of terrain, buildings, and other features around you. When you are in a place where you have been before, you and your companions can travel between any two locations within that area twice as fast as your speed would normally allow.

Personality Trait: 1. When I set my mind to something, I follow through no matter what gets in my way. 2. I’m confident in my abilities and do what I can to instill confidence in others. 3. The best way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t do it. 4. I get bored easily. When am I going to get on with my destiny? 5. I have a joke for every occasion, especially occasions where humor is inappropriate. 6. I can stare down a hellhound without flinching. 7. I face problems head-on. A simple, direct solution is the best path to success. 8. My friends know they can rely on me no matter what.

Ideal: 1. Fairness. No one should get preferential treatment before the rules, and no one is above the rules. (Lawful) 2. Freedom. Bullies, even those in authority, must not be allowed to terrorize. (Chaotic) 3. Might. If I become strong, I can take what I want --- what I deserve. (Evil) 4. Independence. I am a free spirit --- no one tells me what to do. (Chaotic) 5. Friendship. Material goods come and go. Bonds of friendship last forever. (Good) 6. Destiny. Nothing and no one can keep me from my higher calling. (Any)

Bond: 1. I protect those who cannot protect themselves. 2. I wish the person I love would love me back. 3. I idolize a hero of old and measure my deeds again that person. 4. I will do anything to prove myself superior to my hated rival. 5. I would do anything for my friends. 6. Someone got hurt because of my reckless actions. That will never happen again.

Flaw: 1. I am blind to my shortcomings and risk of failure. 2. I have a weakness for gambling and strong drink. 3. I have trouble trusting in my allies. 4. I have trouble keeping my true feelings hidden. My sharp tongue lands me in trouble. 5. Despite my best efforts, I am unreliable to my friends. 6. I can’t resist a pretty face.

HUFFLEPUFF

You are a member of the house of Helga Hufflepuff, known for hard work, kindness, loyalty, and perseverance. Associated with earth and the colors yellow and black, its insignia is a badger and its students are known for being friendly and fair minded, if a bit simple. Located in the basement of Hogwarts near the kitchens, the dormitories are cozy and welcoming, with a common room often filled with students relaxing and tending to their plants.

Skill Proficiencies: Nature, Insight Tool Proficiencies: Herbalism kit, one type of musical instrument or a broomstick Equipment: Hufflepuff robes, the favor of an admirer such as a love letter or trinket, an herbalism kit, a small potted plant that was given to you after you were sorted, a wand, a pet (owl, rat, toad, or cat), a pouch containing 15 galleons

Potted Plants: 1. Dittany allows you to use an action to cast Spare the Dying once per long rest.. 2. Gillyweed grants one hour of waterbreathing once per long rest. 3. Venemous Tentacula allows you to use an action to cast Thorn Whip once per long rest, using Dexterity as your attack modifier. 4. Young Mandrake allows you to use an action to cast Vicious Mockery once per long rest, with a DC of 12. 5. Devil’s Snare allows you to use an action to to cast Entangle once per long rest without concentration, with a DC of 12, increasing by 1 each subsequent DC save. 6. Fire Seed Bush allows you to use an action to cast Produce Flame once per long rest, using Dexterity as your attack modifier. 7. Snargaluff allows you to harvest 1d6 goodberries once per long rest, but the plant makes a thorn whip attack against you, dealing 1d6 piercing damage if you fail a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw. 8. Wiggenbush allows you to use an action to cast Protection from Evil and Good once per long rest, with maintained contact with the bush being required instead of concentration.

Feature: By Popular Demand People tend to like you wherever you go, and you can often find lodging and food for less than the normal price, or free if you work each night. When people recognize you from previous encounters, they typically take a liking to you.

Alternate Feature: Shelter of the Dutiful You have spent time working or volunteering at a place such as a dragon reserve, hospital, bank, or other organization or business. Whenever you return there, you can expect to receive free healing and care, and will support you at a modest lifestyle in exchange for work. While nearby, you can call upon your shelter for assistance, provided the assistance you ask for is not hazardous and you remain in good standing with them.

Personality Trait: 1. I judge people by their actions, not their words. 2. If someone is in trouble, I’m always ready to help. 3. I have a strong sense of fair play and always try to find the most equitable solution to arguments. 4. Nobody stays angry at me or around me for long since I can defuse any amount of tension. 5. I can find common ground between the fiercest enemies, empathizing with them and always working toward peace. 6. I feel more comfortable around plants and animals than people. 7. I watch over my friends as if they were a litter of newborn pups. 8. I work hard so that I can play hard when the work is done.

Ideal: 1. Charity. I always try to help those in need, no matter what the personal cost. (Good) 2. Change. We must bring about the change we wish to see in the world. (Chaotic) 3. Hope. I have faith that if I work hard, thing will go well. (Lawful) 4. Redemption. There’s a spark of good in everyone. (Good) 5. People. I like making smiles appear on people’s faces. That’s all that matters. (Neutral) 6. Aspiration. I’m determined to make something of myself. (Any)

Bond: 1. Everything I do is for the good of the community. 2. I was once bullied and now I will stop any bully I see. 3. I owe my mentor a great debt for forging me into the person I am today. 4. Nothing is more important than the other members of my house. 5. I will face any challenge to prove I’m just as good as my peers. 6. A friend stuck close to me in a time of need. To this day, I will never leave a friend behind.

Flaw: 1. I judge others harshly, and myself even more severely. 2. I put too much trust in people. 3. Once I pick a goal, I become obsessed with it to the detriment of everything else in my life. 4. I am too enamored of ale, wine, and other intoxicants. 5. A dangerous creature I once faced still leaves me quivering with fear. 6. I’d rather eat my armor than admit when I’m wrong.

RAVENCLAW

You are a member of the house of Rowena Ravenclaw, known for intelligence, wit, creativity, and curiousity. Associated with air and the colors bronze and blue, its insignia is an eagle and its students are known for being smart and inventive, if a bit odd and absentminded. Occupying one of Hogwarts’ four towers, the dormitories are breezy and open, with a common room often filled with students studying and working on odd inventions.

Skill Proficiencies: Investigation, Perception Tool Proficiencies: Tinker's tools, one type of gaming set or a broom Equipment: Ravenclaw robes, a notebook stuffed full of notes from your studies, a bottle of black ink, a quill, a gaming set or tinker's tools, a trinket that you find fascinating or meaningful, either a small mechanical device of your own invention (such as a clockwork toy, firestarter, or music box) or a muggle device you've rigged to work at Hogwarts (such as a record player, old fashioned projector, or walkman), a wand, a pet (owl, rat, toad, or cat), a pouch containing 15 galleons

Feature: Researcher When you do not know a piece of information or lore that you seek, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. You are respected as a fellow scholar and can often gain access to the private collections of learned witches and wizards. You have proven yourself trustworthy at Hogwarts and are allowed access to the restricted section of the library, though you still aren’t permitted to take book from that section.

Alternate Feature: Discovery In your independent studies, you have uncovered a unique and powerful discovery. it might be a great truth about the nature of magic, the lost recipe to a potion, a new magical plant or creature, a site that no human has seen, a new spell, a fact that has been long forgotten, or some ancient magical artifact.

Personality Trait: 1. I’ve read every book in the library --- or I like to boast that I have. 2. I’m used to helping those who aren’t as smart as I am, and I patiently explain anything and everything to others. 3. I always want to know how things work and what makes people tick. 4. I’m working on a grand philosophical theory and love sharing my ideas. 5. I believe that anything worth doing is worth doing right. I can’t help it --- I’m a perfectionist. 6. There’s nothing I like more than a good mystery.

Ideal: 1. Knowledge. The path to power and self-improvement is through knowledge. (Neutral) 2. Logic. Emotions must not cloud our logical thinking. (Lawful) 3. Power. Knowledge is the path to power and domination. (Evil) 4. Creativity. I never work on the same project twice. (Chaotic) 5. Generosity. My talents have been given to me so I can use them to benefit the world. (Good) 6. Self-improvement. The goal of a life of study is the betterment of oneself. (Any)

Bond: 1. I possess knowledge that must not fall into the wrong hands. 2. I’ve been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question. 3. I seek to preserve a spell scroll or ancient tome that my enemies consider dangerous and seek to destroy. 4. I suffer awful visions of a coming disaster and will do anything to prevent it. 5. Someone stole my invention and someday I’ll get it back. 6. I would die to recover an ancient artifact, spell, or formula that was lost long ago.

Flaw: 1. I’m convinced that no one could ever outsmart me the way I outsmart others. 2. I am easily distracted by the promise of information. 3. I’ll do anything to get my hands on something rare or priceless. 4. I let my need to win arguments overshadow friendships and harmony. 5. I overlook obvious solutions in favor of complicated ones. 6. Most people scream and run when they see a dangerous creature. I stop and take notes on its anatomy.

SLYTHERIN

You are a member of the house of Salazar Slytherin, known for ambition, resourcefulness, cunning, and self-preservation. Associated with water and the colors green and silver, its insignia is a snake and its students are known for being cunning and confident, if a bit cold and manipulative. Located in the dungeons of Hogwarts, the dormitories are grand and cold, with a common room often filled with students conversing quietly and watching the underwater wildlife through the windows to the Great Lake.

Skill Proficiencies: Deception, Persuasion Tool Proficiencies: A disguise kit or forgery kit or a broom Languages: One of your choice Equipment: Slytherin robes, a disguise kit or forgery kit, a wand, a pet (owl, rat, toad, or cat), a purse containing 25 galleons

Feature: Criminal Contact You have a reliable and trustworthy contact who acts as your liaison to a network of other witches and wizards in the black market. You know how to get messages to and from your contact, even over great distances, whether through messengers or magical means. You are often able to use this network to find people, things, or information you seek, including illegal contraband.

Alternate Feature: Position of Privilege Even if you are not a pureblood, you are welcome in pureblood circles because of your house, and the aristocracy treats you as a member of the same social sphere. Common witches and wizards often assume you are wealthy because of your bearing, even if you are not, and will make every effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure. You can secure an audience with a prominent Ministry official or powerful family if you need to.

Personality Trait: 1. I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy. 2. Whenever I come to a new place, I collect local rumors and spread gossip. 3. Sarcasm and insults are my weapons of choice. 4. I am always calm, no matter what the situation. I never raise my voice or let my emotions control me. 5. I am incredibly slow to trust. Those who seem the fairest often have the most to hide. 6. I always have a plan for what to do when things go wrong. 7. I get bitter if I’m not the center of attention. 8. I like a job well done, especially if I can convince someone else to do it.

Ideal: 1. Tradition. The traditions of my house must be preserved and upheld. (Lawful) 2. Greed. I will do whatever it takes to become rich and powerful. (Evil) 3. People. I’m loyal to my friends, not to any ideals, and everyone else can take a trip down the Styx for all I care. (Neutral) 4. Adaptability. Life is in constant change, and we must change with it to succeed. (Chaotic) 5. Obligation. I have a responsibility to protect and care for those who cannot protect themselves. (Good) 6. Fraternity. My school, house, or friends are all that matter. (Any)

Bond: 1. I will someday get revenge on an enemy that once humiliated me. 2. I will become the greatest wizard that ever lived. 3. My studies into the dark arts gave me insight into a great evil that only I can destroy. 4. I want to be famous, whatever it takes. 5. I’m loyal to my mentor first, everyone else second. 6. Hogwarts is my home, and I’ll fight to defend it.

Flaw: 1. I am suspicious of strangers and expect the worst of them. 2. I’ll run and preserve my own hide if the going gets tough. 3. I have a “tell” that reveals when I’m lying. 4. I’ll do anything to win fame and renown. 5. People who can’t take care of themselves get what they deserve. 6. I remember every insult I’ve received and nurse a silent resentment toward anyone who’s ever wronged me.

BLOOD STATUSES AS D&D 5e BACKGROUNDS

PUREBLOOD (ARISTOCRATIC)

Your family can trace their lineage back to the witches and wizards of old, with no muggle interbreeding to speak of (or, at least, so they claim).

Skill Proficiencies: History, Performance Tool Proficiencies: One type of musical instrument or a broom Languages: Latin Equipment: Wizard robes, a signet ring with your family’s crest or a family heirloom, a musical instrument or a racing broom

Feature: Position of Privilege As a pureblood, you are welcome in aristocratic pureblood circles, and are given preferential treatment over those of lesser blood or lower social standing. Common witches and wizards make every effort to accommodate you and avoid your displeasure. You can secure an audience with a prominent Ministry official or powerful family if you need to.

Personality Trait: 1. I am tolerant (or intolerant) of other houses and blood statuses and respect (or condemn) relationships with them 2. I’ve enjoyed fine food, drink, and high society raised in the wizarding aristocracy. Rough living grates on me. 3. My eloquent flattery makes everyone I talk to feel like the most important and wonderful person in the world. 4. I don’t like to get my hands dirty, and I won’t be caught dead in unsuitable accommodations. 5. No one could doubt by looking at my regal bearing that I am a cut above the unwashed masses. 6. I take great pains to always look my best and follow the latest fashions. 7. Despite my blood status, I do not place myself above other people. We all have the same magic. 8. I’m always polite and respectful.

Ideal: 1. Responsibility. It is my duty to respect the authority of those above me, just as those below me must respect mine. (Lawful) 2. Power. If I can attain more power, no one will tell me what to do. (Evil) 3. Family. Blood runs thicker than water. (Any) 4. Independence. I must prove that I can handle myself without the coddling of my family. (Chaotic) 5. Respect. Respect is due to me because of my position, but all people regardless of station deserve to be treated with dignity. (Good) 6. Aspiration. I’m determined to make something of myself. (Any)

Bond: 1. It is my duty to provide children to carry on my family’s name. 2. Nothing is more important than the other members of my family. 3. I will face any challenge to win the approval of my family. 4. My houses’ alliance with another house must be sustained at all costs. 5. I am in love with a member of another family that my family despises. 6. I owe everything to my mentor --- a horrible person who’s now rotting in Azkaban.

Flaw: 1. I secretly believe that everyone is beneath me. 2. I hide a truly scandalous secret that could ruin my family forever. 3. I too often hear veiled insults and threats in every word addressed to me, and I’m quick to anger. 4. I have an insatiable desire for carnal pleasures. 5. In fact, the world does revolve around me. 6. By my words and actions, I often bring shame to my family.

PUREBLOOD (BLOOD TRAITOR)

Though your family is technically pureblooded, they are considered blood traitors, not welcome in high society, and likely have lost their wealth shortly after losing their social status. Alternatively, you are the sole blood traitor in your pureblooded family, disowned and cut off from your previous position of privilege.

Skill Proficiencies: History, Performance Tool Proficiencies: One type of musical instrument or a broom Languages: Latin Equipment: Wizard robes or muggle clothes, a musical instrument or a racing broom

Feature: Rustic Hospitality After you or your family were declared blood traitors, you made new friends among the middle and lower-class wizarding community. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among other common witches and wizards, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them. They will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives for you.

Personality Trait: 1. The best way to get me to do something is to tell me I can’t do it. 2. I actively go against aristocratic etiquette to spite blood purists. 3. I’ve lost too many friends, and I’m slow to make new ones. 4. I’m haunted by my old life and family. I can’t get them out of my head. 5. Nothing can shake my optimistic attitude. 6. I feel tremendous empathy for all who suffer.

Ideal: 1. Independence. I’m a free spirit --- no one tells me what to do. (Chaotic) 2. Sincerity. There’s no good in pretending to be something I’m not. (Neutral) 3. Respect. People deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. (Good) 4. Community. We have to take care of each other, because no one else is going to do it. (Lawful) 5. Free Thinking. Inquiry and curiousity are the pillars of progress. (Chaotic) 6. Aspiration. I’m going to chart my own destiny. (Any)

Bond: 1. No one should have to endure the hardships I’ve been through. 2. I owe my survival to someone who took me in when I was disowned. 3. I left someone I loved behind when I left my family. 4. I’m the true heir to a pureblood fortune, and one day I’ll reclaim my lands and wealth from the those who would keep them from me. 5. I was disowned because I fell in love with someone I shouldn’t have. 6. Those who fight beside me are those worth dying for.

Flaw: 1. I once humiliated a powerful member of a pureblooded family who still wants revenge. It was a mistake that I will likely repeat. 2. The people who knew me when I was young know a shameful secret about me. 3. No one must ever know that I stole money from a wealthy family. 4. There’s no room for caution in a life lived to the fullest. 5. I speak without really thinking though my words, invariably insulting others. 6. I can’t keep a secret to save my life, or anyone else’s.

HALFBLOOD

The biggest category of witches and wizards, you know plenty about the wizarding world but don’t usually care about blood status. Some halfbloods have been accepted into pureblooded aristocratic society, but they are never considered equals.

Skill Proficiencies: History, one of your choice Tool Proficiencies: One type of artisan’s tools, one type of gaming set Equipment: Wizard robes, one type of artisan’s tools or gaming set

Feature: Rustic Hospitality Your family has long ties within the middle and lower-class wizarding community. You can find a place to hide, rest, or recuperate among common witches and wizards, unless you have shown yourself to be a danger to them. They will shield you from the law or anyone else searching for you, though they will not risk their lives for you.

Personality Trait: 1. I know a story relevant to almost every situation. 2. I love a good insult, even one directed at me. 3. I change my mood and my mind quickly. 4. I’m driven by wanderlust and love to travel. 5. I’m willing to listen to every side of an argument before I make my own judgment. 6. I stretch the truth for the sake of a good story. 7. I bluntly say what other people are hinting at or hiding. 8. I like to talk at length about my hobbies.

Ideal: 1. Aspiration. I work to one day be the best at my profession. (Neutral) 2. History. The knowledge of the past must never be forgotten, for they teach us who we are. (Lawful) 3. Greed. I’m only in it for the money. (Evil) 4. Greater Good. My gifts are meant to be shared with all, not used for my own benefit. (Good) 5. Live and Let Live. Meddling in the affairs of others only causes trouble. (Neutral) 6. No Limits. Nothing should fetter the infinite possibility inherent in all existence. (Chaotic)

Bond: 1. A powerful person hurt someone I care about. Someday soon, I’ll have my revenge. 2. My instrument is my most treasured possession, and it reminds me of someone I love. 3. I want to be famous, whatever it takes. 4. I have a family, but I have no idea where they are. One day, I hope to find them. 5. The location of my favorite class is the most important place in the world to me. 6. My friends are the most important thing in my life.

Flaw: 1. I am inflexible in my thinking. 2. Once I start drinking, it’s hard for me to stop. 3. I am dogmatic in my thoughts and philosophy. 4. I like keeping secrets and won’t share them with anyone. 5. I can’t help but pocket loose coins and other trinkets I comes across. 6. I have little respect for anyone who isn’t a proven duelist.

MUGGLEBORN

You come from a family of muggles, with no knowledge of the magical world before your eleventh birthday. Your mannerisms, figures of speech, and clothing all mark you as muggleborn, and you had to work twice as hard to learn what halfbloods and purebloods have been taught from birth.

Skill Proficiencies: Science, one of your choice Tool Proficiencies: Vehicles (land) and one type of muggle device Equipment: Muggle clothes, a few muggle books or magazines, a muggle trinket that non-muggles find fascinating or intriguing

Feature: Muggle Secrets You are familiar with muggle customs and society in a way that very few non-muggles are. You can effortlessly blend into muggle society and help your companions do the same. When you are not in combat, you and your companions can travel between two locations in a muggle city twice as fast as your speed would normally allow.

Personality Trait: 1. I often use muggle words or phrases that those around me don't understand. 2. I idolize a famous muggle and constantly refer to their deeds and example. 3. I like to talk at length about the muggle world. 4. I take great pains to try to blend into the wizarding world. 5. I place no stock in wealthy or well-mannered folk, and I sometimes go out of my way to bother blood purists. 6. I love visiting new places and making new friends over a flagon of butterbeer.

Ideal: 1. Open. I have much to learn about wizarding society from the kind people I meet along my way. (Good) 2. Reserved. The wizarding world is foreign to me, and I am cautious in my dealings. (Lawful) 3. Adventure. Everything about magic is strange and wonderful! (Chaotic) 4. Cunning. Though I may not fully understand the wizarding world, neither do they know the muggle world, which can be to my advantage. (Evil) 5. Inquisitive. Everything is new, but I have a thirst to learn. (Neutral) 6. Aspiration. I’m going to prove that I’m worthy of my magic. (Any)

Bond: 1. I'm fascinated by the beauty and wonder of magic. 2. I didn't want to leave my family, and I can't wait to return to them. 3. I owe everything to my mentor who helped me adapt to the wizarding world. 4. My muggle possessions are symbols of my past life, and I carry them so that I will never forget my roots. 5. I wish my muggle friend had been able to come to Hogwarts with me. 6. I escaped my life of poverty by coming to Hogwarts, and I’ll never go back.

Flaw: 1. I am secretly (or not so secretly) convinced of the superiority of muggle culture over that of wizarding culture. 2. I am suspicious of purebloods and expect the worst of them. 3. I still have much to learn about the wizarding world, and my ignorance and thirst for knowledge makes me gullible. 4. I’m never satisfied with what I have --- I always want more. 5. I am too enamored of magical drinks, potions, and other stimulants and intoxicants. 6. I can’t resist swindling people who are more powerful than me.

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