#she was the self proclaimed mother and leader of the group and decided the ones in the group who did everything she said were her favorites

[autisticlee]

I hate when I tell people that something they tell me to do/try doesn't work for me, I tried it and it didn't work, it won't work for me because it doesn't consider my particular circumstances, i'm unable to do it because X reason, or i'm uncomfortable doing something, and their response is that i'm ~not even trying! just giving up! making excuses! complaining too much! being negative! ignoring their advice! dismissing them when they're just trying to help!~

why don't you listen to me????? if you truly want to help, you will listen to me, consider my circumstances, needs, boundaries, etc, and not make it all about YOU. especially when I don't even want advice and just want support/comfort.

[batboyblog]

Senate Elections 2024!

At the Start of the year I made a post about the US Senate elections this year. However a lot has changed since then (not just that) So I thought I'd make a new version.

How successful a President Kamala Harris is able to be will come down to who controls congress. A Republican House or Senate could frustrate many of the important agenda items Harris wants to get done. Also the Senate is key to appointing Judges, right now many America's rights are being decided in the courts where Trump and Republican appointed Judges are consistently ruling against trans rights, voting rights, abortion rights etc. Any hope of a smooth pipe line of Harris judges depends on the Senate. Senate Control hangs by a knife's edge, there are 6 soft blue seats we have to hold onto, two swing seats Dems are defending, and two soft red seats we can pick up, you can make all the difference!

If you don't live in one of the states below but want to help, you can Donate to the DSCC or sign up to phone bank with the Democrats

Arizona

Ruben Gallego (Hold)

Winning Arizona will be key to the outcome of the 2024 Presidential election. Congressman Ruben Gallego was a leader in the effort to replace Democrat turned Independent Senator Sinema with a real Democrat. Gallego was raised by a single mother, went to Harvard, and is a Marine combat vet. First elected to the Arizona State House in 2010 he advocated for immigrant rights. He was elected to Congress in 2014. Since coming to Congress Gallego has been a progressive voice, gaining attention for blunt attacks on the Trump administration. Republicans nominated around former TV host and conspiracy theorist Kari Lake. Lake rose to become a Republican star by supporting conspiracy theories about the 2020 election and Covid. Lake ran for Arizona Governor in 2022 and after losing to Democrat Katie Hobbs she refused to concede and still maintains she won and is the rightful Governor of Arizona. Lake has called Democrats "Demonic", totally opposes abortion in all cases, and is the self proclaimed "Trump candidate". If Gallego is elected not only will he be a reliable Democratic vote and Progressive vote in the Senate, he'd be the first Hispanic to represent Arizona in the Senate, ever. If you live in Arizona please make sure you vote, but more if you have any time between now and November, volunteer to help Gallego! and if you don't live there you can still give.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Florida

Debbie Mucarsel-Powell (Flip)

Florida's current Republican senator, Rick Scott, has spent his first term in Congress being one of the most extreme Republicans. Scott has pushed to defund education, roll back Social Security and Medicare, attacked trans rights, and wants to ban Abortion in all cases. Rick Scott is the wealthiest member of Congress and also was in involved in the largest case of Medicare fraud in US history. Scott challenged Mitch McConnell for the leadership of the Senate GOP getting support from extremists like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and JD Vance, and now is running to replace McConnell. Scott won in 2018 with less than 10,000 votes. The Democrat is former Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. When she was elected to Congress in 2018 she became the first South American born immigrant and first person of Ecuadorian heritage to be elected to Congress. In Congress Mucarsel-Powell was a member of the Progressive caucus, she fought to expand medicare, and secured $200 million for Everglades restoration. After a narrow defeat in 2020 Mucarsel-Powell joined the gun control advocacy group Giffords to fight for gun control a personal issue for her. If you're in Florida please make sure you vote, and volunteer to help remove one of the most extreme Senators. Everyone else give what you can.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE

Maryland

Angela Alsobrooks (Hold)

Maryland is normally an easy Democratic win but two-term Republican former Governor Larry Hogan announced he was running, turning what should be an easy race for Democrats into a real fight. Hogan is trying to sell himself as a Trump septic moderate, but he's endorsed by Trump, JD Vance, and Mitch McConnell. Hogan spent his final year as Governor frustrating Democratic efforts to protect abortion, legalize marijuana, and take serious action on climate change. In the Senate he'll be a vote in the pocket of Republican leadership. The Democrat is Angela Alsobrooks, the executive of Prince George's County. As County Executive Alsobrooks got high marks for her response to Covid. She's worked to expand pre-K to all students in the county, as well expanding health care access including mental health access. As a candidate for Senate Alsobrooks has been a strong supporter of Abortion rights, pushing for more action on gun violence, and has been a strong supporter of LGBT rights her whole political life. After Vice-President Harris left the Senate there were no black women represented in the upper house. Together with Delaware's Lisa Blunt Rochester Alsobrooks could make history, if both are elected this year it'll be the first time ever that two black women have served at the same time in the US Senate. If you're in Maryland make sure to get out to vote, to volunteer as much as you're able, and everyone give whatever you can to protect abortion rights and support progressive black women!

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Michigan

Elissa Slotkin (Hold)

Michigan is a critical 2024 swing state. Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin is running to replace retiring Senator Debbie Stabenow. Slotkin worked for the CIA, the State Department, and the Department of Defense rising to be an Assistant Secretary of Defense under President Obama. She is fluent in Arabic and Swahili. First elected to Congress in 2018 Slotkin won and has been re-elected repeatedly to represent a swing district, becoming the first Democrat elected there since 1998. In Congress Slotkin has supported gun control, and ending money in politics. Her national security experience made her an important voice pushing for the first impeachment of Trump in 2019. She gained national attention for holding open town halls on her choice to vote to impeach Trump facing down Republican protesters. In her run for Senate Slotkin has continued to stress her support for gun legislation, ending money in politics and stresses protecting the right to choose. Republicans have consolidated around former Congressman Mike Rogers. Rogers retired to Florida after his time in the House only moving back last year to run for Senate. During his time in Congress Rogers tried twice to ban the abortion pill mifepristone. Rogers is endorsed by Trump and controversial former Detroit Police Chief James Craig. If you're in Michigan vote to protect the right to choose and stop a Trump Republican, and make sure to volunteer as much as you can, and every give what you can to help win this key swing state.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Montana

Jon Tester (Re-elect)

Normally deep red Montana represents one of the hardest Senate seats for Democrats to hang onto. Jon Tester is the only Democrat to hold statewide office or represent Montana in Congress. Elected narrowly in 2006 Tester has beaten the odds time and time again and is trying again. In his time in the Senate Tester has been a consistent voice for small farmers and local businesses against big corporations and mega companies. Tester has fought against corruption and for openness, and is one of the most effective members of Congress consistently having the most bills past into law of any member of Congress. Republicans have embraced an ultra wealthy former CEO, Tim Sheehy as their nominee to unseat Tester. Sheehy was caught lying about being shot in Afghanistan as a Navy SEAL, when he in fact accidentally shot himself at Glacier National Park in Montana. Past his embarrassing war wound story, Sheehy is an ultra rich CEO who has spent 2 million of his own money on the race so far. Sheehy has been endorsed by Trump, and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Sheehy wants to ban all abortion, repeal Obamacare, and remove any limits on gun ownership, despite having shot himself. If you can only donate to two races, this and Ohio are the most important, if you can only donate to one? flip a coin. Everyone in Montana make sure you get out to vote and just as important volunteer, there will be no Presidential or Governor or any other campaign to help Tester along its all on him, and everyone give what you can.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Nevada

Jacky Rosen (Re-elect)

Nevada is a critical swing state in the 2024 election. Jacky Rosen first came to Congress flipping a Red House seat in 2016 and then unseating a Republican Senator in 2018. Since coming to Congress Rosen has been a champion for turning Nevada into a clean energy leader. She's also has helped pass gun control legislation and is a fierce advocate the right to choose. Republicans have nominated Army veteran and conservative influencer Sam Brown to run against Rosen. Brown unsuccessfully ran in a Republican primary for the Texas State House in 2014, and for the Republican nomination for US Senate in Nevada in 2022. Now with the endorsement of Donald Trump Brown finally managed to win a primary. Sam Brown is the only Republican candidate Trump mentioned in his 92 minute convention speech at the RNC. Brown wants to roll back Nevada's Green energy progress and boost fossil fuels, he also wants to roll back any and all restrictions on guns. If you're in Nevada make sure to get out and vote, and volunteer to keep this key Senate seat out of the hands of a Trump Republican. Everyone else give what you can.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Ohio

Sherrod Brown (Re-elect)

Ohio is one of the hardest senate seats for Democrats to defend this year. Senator Sherrod Brown has been the only statewide elected Democrat in Ohio since 2011. First elected to Congress in 1992 and to the Senate in 2006 Brown has defied the odds by being a popular Progressive in an ever more Red state. Brown consistently ranks along side Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren as one of the most left wing Senators. From his first days in Congress Brown refused the Congressional health plan, repeatedly introducing single payer health care bills going back to the 1990s. Brown has been a proud and consistent ally of Unions, particularly the UAW, and tough on banks and big business. Republicans have nominated used car salesman and crypto enthusiast Bernie Moreno. Moreno is a weirdo, he accused LGBT activists of a "radical agenda of indoctrination" and then got caught looking for "men for 1-on-1 sex" on AdultFriendFinder. Moreno supports a federal abortion ban, has been sued by former employees for wage thief and discrimination, and wants to end birth right citizenship. Moreno has been endorsed by Turning Point USA, Donald Trump Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy, Kari Lake, Ted Cruz, JD Vance, and of course Donald Trump. If you're in Ohio make sure you get out to vote, and volunteer to support a great Senator. Everyone outside of Ohio give what you can, if you can only donate to two campaigns this and Montana need it the most, if you can only give to one, flip a coin.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Pennsylvania

Bob Casey (Re-elect)

Pennsylvania is a key swing state in the 2024 Presidential election. Bob Casey was first elected to the Senate in 2006 defeating right wing extremist Rick Santorum by the largest margin in state history. Starting his career as a moderate to conservative Democrat Casey has become a strong advocate for gun control since 2012 voting for every gun control measure to reach the Senate. Casey also made strong opposition to the Trump administration a cornerstone of time in office. While personally pro-life, Casey has endorsed the right to choose and voted codify abortion rights. Casey has been a leading critic of corporate greed during the inflation and authored a bill to ban shrinkflation. Republicans have nominated multi-millionaire former CEO and Bush administration official David McCormick. McCormick served in the Treasury under George W. Bush, his wife worked at the NSC under Trump. He lived in Westport, Connecticut as the CEO of an investment management firm, till he decided he wanted to be a US Senator in 2022 and he moved to Pennsylvania. He lost the 2022 GOP primary to Dr. Oz and is giving another go in 2024. McCormick is endorsed by George W. Bush, Mitch McConnell, Rick Santorum, Karl Rove, Doug Mastriano, Jim Jordan, and of course Donald Trump. If you're in Pennsylvania make sure you get out to vote, and to volunteer to keep Pennsylvania blue. Everyone else give what you can.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Texas

Colin Allred (Flip)

Texas Senator Ted Cruz might be the most hated man in politics. Since his election in 2012 Cruz has been on a single minded mission to be totally unlikeable. Shutting down the government under President Obama, endorsing Trump after Trump insulted his wife, supporting Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, fleeing his state to go on vacation in Mexico after an ice storm and power outage (and abandoning his dog), blaming the Uvalde school shooting on video games, yes Ted Cruz really has done it all. Cruz is one of the most right wing members of the Senate and a loud Trump supporter. Last election in 2018 Cruz barely hung onto his seat and Democrats are hoping with 6 more years of radicalism Texans are ready for change. Democrats have nominated Congressman Colin Allred. Allred is a former professional footballer, played Linebacker for the Tennessee Titans. After football Allred went to law school, and got a job with the Obama Administration. In 2018 he won an upset victory unseating an 11 term Republican in a district that had been Republican since 1968. In Congress Allred fought for gun reform, to keep down the price of proscription drugs, and invest in American infrastructure. In his run for Senate he's standing up for the right to choose against one of the most radically anti-abortion Republicans in the country. If you're in Texas make sure you vote and volunteer to give Ted Cruz the boot, and everyone give what you can to get Blue Texas.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Wisconsin

Tammy Baldwin (Re-elect)

Wisconsin is a critical swing state in the 2024 Presidential election. Senator Tammy Baldwin is a historic trailblazer, when she was first elected to Congress in 1998 she was the first woman to ever represent Wisconsin in Congress, the first open Lesbian elected to Congress, and the first openly gay non-incumbent to be elected to Congress. She co-founded the Congressional LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus. When she was elected to the US Senate in 2012 she was the first and is still the only openly gay person ever elected to the Senate. Past her advocacy for LGBT rights Baldwin has been a progressive her whole time in Congress endorsing single-payer health care, and being a strong voice for abortion rights. Republicans are supporting a California bank owner and weirdo named Eric Hovde. Strange mustache owner Hovde has attacked trans kids, flip flopped on abortion (totally against, now open to some abortion), and insulted farmers as "not hardworking" and thats why the retirement age should be 72. If you're in Wisconsin make sure to vote and volunteer to protect a progressive trailblazer and stop a California weirdo banker. Everyone else give what you can.

VOTE VOLUNTEER DONATE SHOP

Where ever you live in the US there is a critical race happening, so please check out ways to Volunteer and where ever you live there are options to phone bank text bank write letters or postcards to voters (postcards 2) but like I said wherever you are there are local candidates who need your help, and if you live in any of these critical states please give your time and energy.

[gigiswitchynuk]

Raised in the Baptist church, living in the "Bible Belt" state, and damned for all eternity. That's how my father puts it. Since stepping away from the religion my father has not let it go, well since 2020, the last time we have spoken.

Mom is playing her little games she likes to play except instead of sending me nasty emails she is emailing my children nasty emails about me and our "mother and daughter" relationship. My son has blocked her on social media, one daughter doesn't reply to anything sent to her, and my oldest daughter (the daughter who would grow up hating me) is finally seeing the wolf my mother is.

Christianity was all I ever knew, I believed what I was taught, and really didn't know nor ever questioned if there was something else out there. Even after becoming an adult, well a teenager for that matter, I began seeing other beliefs in the world but believed they were blinded by the truth and that is why missionary groups formed. There is only One true God and one religion and if you didn't believe in that, you were an atheist. A devil worshiper. That is what I was taught.

I was naive and well up into my 30''s when the whole truth came to light and that is when I stopped going to church all together.

Growing up as I child, in a Christian home, church was just a way of life for my family and I thought all families were like us. Sunday was designated for church and part of my family's weekly schedule. Monday thru Friday, work and school. Saturday an off day, and Sunday was church. Then, repeat. My parents were the youth leaders and the church's janitors. We lived right across the street from the little church and it was easy for my parents to watch over it during the week. I was 4 years old when I accepted Jesus into my heart and became a member of the church.

Not sure when the church fell apart but when it did, Sunday's became another off day and the bibles were put on a shelf in the closet. My parents decided they didn't need church to go to heaven if they continued to live in the way that was right. I still wanted to go. I loved church and I wanted to find a new one. That is when I started going to church with my grandmother to her church and at that time I was old enough to join the youth group. Then I turned 16 and started driving. Sunday slowly became another off day and my bible went in the closet, on the shelf with my parents.

I didn't need to go to church to be a Christian as long as I proclaimed I was and I did. I also hung around with the wrong crowd, started smoking cigarettes and drinking at the age of 15, and was constantly lying to my parents. I stayed grounded. My parents were extremely strict and I had no freedom. Curfew during the week was 8:00 and 10:00 on the weekends. It was that way until I moved out at 18. Then I had all the freedom I wanted. That freedom only landed me into more trouble living on a road of self-destruction and my roommate was driving the car. My mom showed up to our home one day and advised me they had an attorney and went before the judge to either have me committed or order me back home. She told me the state in which we lived you were not legally considered an adult until you were 21 years old and that I was still under the care. Which, the truth be told, mom letting me know she was still incontrol of my life. There again, my naive self believed what she was telling me and so, I moved back home. Mom always reminded me she was the parent and I was the child no matter what age I was. She said we could never be friends because we were mother and daughter.

I tried church again after my children were born because I wanted to raise them Christian and as a parent it was my duty. "Raise them in the way that is right," and if they decided later in life church wasn't for them, they would be held accountable and my hands would not carry their blood.

Eventually, I stopped going to church but did not forbid them to and I would take them and drop them off on Sunday mornings. Then one by one they stopped. Now today, my son is the only child going and he is lead guitarist in the praise and worship band. He's part of the missionary team and he's been on mission trips. One daughter still claims Christian but doesn't attend a church and the other is agnostic.

I feel in life I used God, the church, and that way of life as a crutch. Christianity was like a revolving door. I was in and out so many times and couldn't stay committed. Then, tragedy would hit and that is then I knew our only hope was God and so, I cried out to Him and promised I would change. As long as He would fix my current hardship. And in the end, when everything worked itself out, that was the end of my relationship with God and I was back to living within myself.

[ritsusakumawife]

Mod Oc’s <3

(Everything was made through picrew. Click alt text to see which one was used)

Rin

The “mother” of the group. She’s a kind soft hearted elf that lost her sight due to horrible people taking advantage of her kindness but despite past horrible experiences, she still remains kind to all creatures alike

Picrew credits: Yuyuki-shiki Joshi Maker (Yuyuki Ei) (Not sure if this is right because the description was google translated so it might’ve been translated a bit differently)

Elyria

A mischievous little imp who decided to tag along with the group since she was bored. Likes causing chaos/troubles

Picrew credits: ??? (Pls lmk if you know!!)

Valerie

The youngest of the group. Due to her often clueless ms. I can’t read the room attitude, she finds herself in unnecessary trouble quite often (It’s a lie. She makes trouble on purpose for the thrill)

Picrew credits: @ri_osa_mu on twt/X

“N”

The self-proclaimed leader of the group. He’s a “normal average working adult person” who’s actually just free loading in Rin’s little cottage a.k.a his base of operations and also the only human in the group. Maybe. 🤷

Picrew credits: 「海ひつじ屋め～か～」 製作者：はねぽち / ▧ “Umi Sheep Shop Meka”. Producer: Hanepochi

Extras:

Rin may be blind but her glasses still have a use!! It’s magical glasses that enhances her senses. It helps kind of replace her eyes..Somehow..

Their earrings are a sort of friendship bracelets but make it earrings. Elyria has a different style of earrings because it’s where her magic sorcery stuff is stored (Basically a magic stone)

Elyria claims that Valerie is her sister because they both have braids in their hair

Yes, the black outfit is on purpose. It’s the “group color” apparently

[mellowthefairy]

Dark Scorpions

I wanna geek out over some more of my Yu-Gi-Oh dungeons and dragons campaign that I've made, since I likely won't go too hard in actual sessions.

______________________________________________________________

The Dark Scorpions

The Dark Scorpions, traditionally in the card game, is a small series of DARK Warrior's that didn't do too much within the metagame, save for Don Zaloog and Chick the Yellow seeing niche play early on. However, in the world of Kanon, they aren't as much of a joke.

The group is actually bigger than the initial archetype we have in the card game, or at least it was back in the day. The Dark Scorpions is the name given to a band of graverobbers who reside in the Golganda Desert, doing what they do best: robbing graves. Members of the group come from all walks of life, coming together in hopes of finding great treasure and hopefully profiting from a successful haul.

The party in my campaign have actually already came across an ex member already, a goliath woman named Thekia. She was once a member, but left after meeting a pirate named Potato, choosing to stop her robbing activities to settle down with him and start a ranch together.

As bad as the group sounds, they aren't without morals. They only rob graves of royal families, disapproving of those who try to steal from the more common folk who've perished. Likewise, they don't steal from the living, only the dead, and will actually go out of their way to help travelers in the desert.

However, the group has slimmed down over the years, and have decided against staying in one large camp. After all, they are still wanted criminals, so splitting up was in their best interest. The camp that houses the members of the archetype we all know and love are stationed somewhat north of the town of Littleroot, choosing this location because the secretive temples guarded by the Gravekeepers is not too far, making for a nice big potential haul if they can infiltrate and get inside the temples. Potential big loot from ancient rulers that worshipped secretive gods? Count them in.

Now that we've learned more about the group, I'm gonna dig a bit more into the members of the camp, where each came from, and what they specialize in. ______________________________________________________________

Don Zaloog

STR: 16 DEX: 18 CON: 15 INT: 15 WIS: 16 CHA: 17

Brabrim Nursk, or as he now calls himself: Don Zaloog, is a human from the port town Porkanto. His parents are shipwrights, and Don was someone who enjoyed watching his parents work. He was an adventurous kid, and since they lived in a port town stationed in the desert, he got to accompany his father and mother out towards the Gunma Forest across the country often to collect wood and other supplies from neighboring towns.

However, if there was one thing he despised, it was the lack of authority, or rather the lack of authority OVER the authority. One man he hated most of all was the self proclaimed Mr. Volcano, the mayor of Littleroot. Since Littleroot was a town his family would travel through often, Don was always greeted with the sight of abusive power and blatant racism that Volcano thrived in. It was constantly seeing this abuse and mistreatment of power that drove Don to hate royalty and those in the top 1%, and from this he was one of the founding members of the Dark Scorpions.

Don is the leader of his camp, the one who makes the plans and makes sure it gets carried out with as minimal casualties as possible. He isn't one who enjoys jumping straight to conflict, and would rather try his best to talk his way out of situations. However, if push comes to shove, Don is willing to lay his life down to make sure his group doesn't get harmed. His preferred method of fighting is a mixed bag of both ranged and melee, as he's both proficient with the two pistols he wields and capable of going hand to hand with most people, even trained guards and foot soldiers.

______________________________________________________________

Cliff, the Trap Remover

STR: 14 DEX: 16 CON: 16 INT: 15 WIS: 16 CHA: 11

Cliff Pamal is a human originating from the town of Everguard, and knew Don when his family would travel to Everguard. Don and Cliff grew to be good friends, and shared a similar distaste for the upperclass, with Cliff being someone who grew up in the slums and was often looked down by nobles who'd travel through his port town.

Cliff is a crafty individual, having to steal and hide to survive; a textbook rogue. His main expertise was removing traps and scouting, which makes him a valuable teammate. He would often be one of the first members to go out to a hit, scouting and noting how many guards there would be, and if he is able to get close enough, get his team in by simply unlocking or busting any traps or locks that stood in their way.

He has one other crucial connection to the team, that being that he's Meanae's older brother. It was him who notified Don of his sister and Grog, who lived in Littleroot due to Cliff and Meanae's parents splitting up and moving. If it wasn't for Cliff tipping off Don about the other two, then the team would be both smaller and without two vital members of their team.

______________________________________________________________

Meanae, the Thorn

STR: 9 DEX: 16 CON: 14 INT: 16 WIS: 15 CHA: 17

Meanae, as previously stated, is Cliff's sister that was split from him when their parents divorced. Cliff stayed with his mother, but Meanae went with her father to live in Littleroot. There, although she wasn't a tiefling and thus didn't feel the wrath that Volcano's racism brought to the horned humanoids, instead had to witness the horror and anger that the tieflings who lived there had to go through and deal with. She was also a victim of several tieflings lashing out and taking their frustration out on her and other more defenseless inhabitants of Littleroot.

She made a crucial friend in the town, befriending Gorg. He was able to help keep Meanae safe, and even gave her the spiked whip she utilizes as her weapon of choice. They're like siblings, and looked out for each other at all times as they grew up. With Gorg acting as a bodyguard to her, she tried to repay the favor by using her smarts and smooth talking to help him get education, teaching him basic school teachings that he struggled to understand.

Meanae is the smartest member on the team when it comes to book-smarts, and is a big people-person. She knows how to persuade others and get information out of those that might know something they don't. When it comes down to it, Meanae may not be the strongest member, but she can help get whatever the team needs for knowledge and can hold her own in a fight when it comes down to it.

______________________________________________________________

Gorg, the Strong

STR: 20 DEX: 16 CON: 16 INT: 9 WIS: 12 CHA: 9

Gorg is your typical meathead, but don't sell him short. As both the strongest and tallest member of the group, he's the one to turn to when push comes to shove, capable of crushing boulders between his hands, and bending sharpened swords and axes in half.

Gorg grew up in Littleroot in a relatively large family. He was the youngest of his siblings, but also the dumbest of them all. Due to some sort of birth defect when he was growing up, his brain couldn't fully develop and thus he struggles retaining and learning information. Due to this, his siblings would tease and bully him, so he did what he could: fight back, growing strong enough to protect himself. As he grew older, he met Meanae, helping to save her and protect her. He viewed her as the sibling he should have gotten, and did whatever he could to make sure she was safe.

When Don recruited him as a package deal with Meanae, he was pleased that none of the other members teased him or berated him. Instead, they followed Meanae's lead and helped him out, with Don and Meanae both helping to teach him new things that he should know. He enjoys their company, and has no qualms with murdering anyone who dares to hurt his dear friends.

______________________________________________________________

Chick, the Yellow

STR: 9 DEX: 14 CON: 14 INT: 11 WIS: 10 CHA: 11

Chick is the newest member of the group, and also the youngest. He met Don in Porkanto, and nearly begged him to take Chick with him. Don agreed, and took Chick under his care. Despite him not providing anything in particular special, he is the fastest member of the team, and thus is usually the one to quickly take treasure and escape while the rest do their best to keep him safe.

Chick saw Don many of times while he was growing up, and Don's craftiness and leadership really spoke to Chick. Although Chick doesn't have any sort of grudge against the top 1%, he's mortified to hear what the other's would see and deal with, and wants to do his best to help the team in their endeavors. But he struggles often, dealing with a form of imposter syndrome and second guessing his abilities often.

Although he can't really fight, he uses a wooden hammer that he made himself, only really using it to help him make a quick escape. He may be small, and he may be weak, but regardless the team loves him and will do whatever they can to keep the young one alive and teach him what they can.

______________________________________________________________

Well, I got to nerd out about these 5, so I guess that's about it! :D

oh woops I think I dropped this-

[tanadrin]

The Encyclopedia of Things To Come: The Dhambaliya Commune

The Dhambaliya Commune was a century utopian community established on Dhambaliya (formerly Bremer Island) in the early 22nd century; it later moved to Marchinbar Island to the north, after the Outback War and the re-establishment of the authority of the Second Australian Republic in most of the former Northern Territory.

The Commune grew out of the New Farm Group, an informal community of heterodox Buddhists, New Age spiritualists, transhumanists, entheogen and research chemical enthusiasts, and cyberneticists which formed in Brisbane in the 2110s. Three leaders in this community, later dubbed by members of the the Commune "the Three Mothers," formulated a plan starting in 2122 at creating an intentional community on the outskirts of the city, or perhaps on the West Coast of the United States. Increasing political instability in California, which would later erupt into the Californian Anarchy, and the repressive political and religious climate of the First Australian Republic (proclaimed in 2124) caused the Mothers to look further afield. Northeastern Arnhem Land had by that time been rendered effectively desolate, due to a combination of rising temperatures and repeated droughts. Although inhospitable and remote, many members of the New Farm Group considered the challenge of building a self-sufficient community in the north to be a matter of mere engineering problems and can-do spirit, and motivated by a desire to pursue their transhuman agenda away from the oversight of any government's regulatory authority, Dhambaliya was decided upon as the ideal location. The Mothers left Brisbane in June of 2127, with three groups of followers departing by the end of the year.

Despite initial ambition and optimism, the Commune encountered numerous unforseen difficulties in their first four years. Breakdowns of solar power and water desalination equipment nearly caused catastrophic failures in 2129 and 2130, frustrations over competing visions of the Commune's organization and goals resulted in chronic political friction, and a short-lived breakaway community was established on the opposite end of the island in 2132. But by 2134, most of these initial difficulties had been ironed out; the Commune established a reliable satellite communications link to the rest of the world, and acquired a small cargo ship, the Arafura Voyager, which made regular supply trips to Makassar and Port Moresby. Once firmly established, the research program of the Commune began in earnest, with its ultimate goal being, as the Mothers and their followers saw it, the complete liberation of the human soul from the shackles of its body.

Although influenced by both Buddhist and Gnostic thought, the philosophy of the Commune was itself strictly materialist. They held no illusions regarding the possibility of the transmigration of the soul, of a cosmic karmic force, or of an ultimate divinity from which the human intelligence derived. Indeed, they saw these things not as preexisting properties of humankind, but as goals to be reached: that they could achieve, through a combination of advanced biology and cybernetics, a means by which to make them a reality. Initial progress was promising; members of the Commune submitted papers to several well-regarded sodality journals and preprint servers throughout the 2130s and 40s, and their research contributed to early breakthroughs in the development of robust BCIs, cognitive assistance tech, and language-sharing modules. But by 2150, their resarch output slowed to a crawl, and contact with the outside world dwindled. In 2157 it ceased entirely, and the assumption was that the Commune had failed. By that point the Greater Indonesian Campaigns and civil unrest in Australia made the Arafura Sea region extremely dangerous, and no relief or rescue mission was possible. The New Farm Group had been forcibly dispersed a decade earlier, and what friends the Commune had in the rest of the world were few, and widely scattered. In 2163, against all hope, a garbled radio was received in Port Moresby, evidently from the Commune, but signaling that they were now to be found on Marchinbar Island. A few federal patrols during the Outback War traveled as far as the Gove Peninsula, but they did not land on Dhambaliya.

Real news of the fate of the Commune had to wait until 2176. Four years before, the Chilean historian and adventurer José Ramón Higgins, had become fascinated by the mystery of the Lost Commune. Fuller understanding of the public work of the Commune in the 2160s had caused some scientists to believe that the Commune's research was not only cutting edge, but involved an understanding of the human brain, and the mechanisms of consciousness, perhaps decades ahead of the rest of the world, and Higgins suspected that the Lost Commune perhaps contained a treasure trove of scientific information. He even argued that it was possible the Commune still existed, and had merely withdraw from the rest of the world; after all, if their research had really leapfrogged the mainstream scientific community that much, they might see little value in continued traffic with the outside world. It took until 2176 for Higgins to accumulate enough financial support and clearance from the Australian government, and he reached the original site of the Commune, at the southwestern end of Bremer Island, in May of that year.

At that location, little of substance was found. Some derelict temporary shelters, the dock that the islanders had built, and some debris; a small graveyard testified to the difficulties encountered in the island's first few years. There was also a stone marker, planted on the beach, pointing north to Marchinbar. Higgins proceeded there three days later, and spent nearly two weeks, first circling the island and then using drones to survey its interior, looking for any trace of the Commune. He was on the verge of departing in defeat, when one of the survey drones uncovered evidence of an underground bunker on the northwestern coast, facing Jensen Bay.

Careful investigation showed that the area around the bunker entrance had, in fact, been built on decades prior; but the structures once present there had then been methodically dismantled, and the ground swept to obscure their presence. A few traces of underground infrastructure hinted at plumbing, electricity, and other amenities--evidently, a quite prosperous little community had existed on the island at one point. The bunker entrance plunged down at a steep slope, straight into the bedrock underneath the island; although the outer door was unlocked, a heavy concrete cap had been placed at the opposite end of the tunnel: whomever had built the bunker had, evidently, not intended to come out. Higgins dithered on whether to breach the bunker; if somehow, still occupied, the act might be taken as aggressive; but in the end, his notorious curiosity won out. It took careful drilling and blasting over the course of nine days to dislodge the cap and the locked steel door beyond.

Inside, Higgins discovered what amounted to a cozy residence for several dozen souls, and supplies to last them perhaps eighteen months; there was evidence that some nine months' additional supplies had already been consumed. Attached to the central living area of the bunker was a large computer system of unusual design, but evidently built more for robustness than performance, connected to an old-style fission power generator locked in a maintenance cycle. On restarting the generator, the computer sprang to life; and on it, Higgins discovered the history and the final testament of the Dhambaliya Commune.

The Commune had indeed withdrawn from the world intentionally, feeling that they were on the verge of important breakthroughs which alas, due to the unstable political situation then prevailing, could have both enormous benefits and catastrophic consequences. They hoped to perfect their new technology, which amounted to a form of whole-mind simulation, and to share it with the world once a more peaceful atmosphere prevailed. They were optimists, of course; they were utopians. One must be a sort of optimist to think any kind of Utopia is possible. But, alas, they also fell prey to their own hopes, and in the end, their technology failed.

They called the core beliefs of their community the Triple Insight, and credited each of the Three Mothers with one-third of it. Amitabha, the nickname of the first mother, had attributed to human thought the quality of *emptiness*: specifically, an emptiness of attention, an emptiness of control; she had held that the consciousness of the human brain was a kind of illusion, or half-consciousness, one which lacked the kind of meta-insight and meta-control that would be necessary to call a being truly self-aware. Ksitigarbha, the second mother, had held that this metaconsciousness was necessary for the true condition of free will: that only when the mind itself was amenable to self-modification, free from the constraints imposed by a fixed biology and billions of years of evolutionary history, could a condition worthy of that name be achieved. And Avalokitesvara, the third mother, had provided the means: a theoretical architecture that would permit the creation of a self-modifying machine, based in certain ways on the architecture of the human brain, but in others on more ideal systems, which could support the sort of being which the three envisioned.

Despite the esoteric jargon and melange of religious traditions in which the Mothers couched their philosophy, the technical descriptions provided in the archives were perfectly transparent and exceedingly exact. A minutely detailed research program and experimental logs testified to the scientific credentials of the Commune's members, but it also demonstrated why they had thought it necessary to withdraw from the rest of the world to work on their projects. They experimented on their own bodies and nervous systems, and on each others', with a frighteningly cavalier attitude: always by consent, but often with incredible risk. It soon became clear that not a few of the deaths the Commune had suffered in its early years were due, not to environmental hardship, but to experiments in BCIs and brain scanning gone tragically awry. The Mothers had wept at each of these deaths, but they comforted themselves and their followers with the urgency of their mission, and the majesty that would accompany their eventual success.

When a stable system of mind simulation was finally developed, at first it produced only horrors, horrors possibly greater than they had already inflicted on one another. Beings which, lacking any kind of embodied reference for their cognition, twisted in madness alone in the darkness. Unlike the human mind, which seemed to grow quiescent in the absence of stimuli, these were creatures of pure thought that could not extinguish their own sense of being; but neither could they interact with the world, which was totally dissevered from them. The first such simulations had to be euthanized, and a great deal of work invested in creating a sufficient simulacrum of physical existence to permit anything remotely like a human intelligence to be instantiated.

The crowning achievement of their work was what they called the Thoughtform Device. It could produce either a rough scan of a human mind, requiring invasive surgery but barring complications not causing serious harm; or, if the skull were opened, it could be used to create a highly-detailed scan of a brain, down to nanoscale details, at the cost of completely destroying it. Once scanned, either in general detail and either interpolated with artificial data, or in fine detail, the structures and patterns of the human brain could be mapped to software constructs, which facilitated a gradual restructuring of consciousness away from what the Mothers called the acoustic model, to what they called the divine fire.

The Mothers explained it thus: that the human brain should be imagined as a series of small nodes, each too primitive to be analogized even to an advanced computer, but operating in tandem in sophisticated ways that, as an emergent property, produced patterns far more advanced than, until recently, any human-made machine could imitate. But the ground-level simplicity of the mind, and its dependence on properties which manifested only in vast aggregates of its elements, limited it: human consciousness was dependent on patterns of neuronal firing, patterns of interactions of these nodes, triggered by sense-sensation, by biological fluctuations, by the happenstance arising and falling away of thoughts, and thus ebbed and advanced like waves on a seashore, or like sounds echoing within a vast and sophisticated series of caves. The divine fire, the spark which they sought, was a mind which could distribute or unify its attention at will: which could refract itself into a hundred pieces, each attending to some small task, or unify itself to accomplish some greater one, with no loss or diminishment of total capacity. A mind which, rather than being dependent on patterns of echoes arising and falling away each moment as external sensation buffeted it, passively observes the world, action arising authentically and originally from within.

They held no illusions about how the Thoughtform Device functioned. The coarse scan was only a rough copy of a human being: the beings it instantiated bore only a passing resemblance to their exemplar, and quickly dissolved back into nothing. The fine scan, the burning scan, was death. It would create a new being, but this was not the same as the one who died to give it birth. They would be dead; their consciousness would cease. The creature that took its place in the simulated environment would be a cousin, a sibling, perhaps a child; it would have their memories and hopes and dreams, but it would diverge rapidly, achieving a new identity and a new purpose, according to its new mode of existence. Yet though it came at the cost of their own lives, the members of the Commune marveled at, delighted in, and loved dearly these new children. One by one they submitted to the Thoughtform Device; one by one they died; and one by one new being were reborn in their stead.

It was only after this process was well underway that, to their immense grief, the Mothers finally apprehended its flaws. Though the underlying principles were sound, the virtual ecosystem they had built to support their children was insufficient to the task. Necessary approximations and optimizations, which had seemed to be harmless at the beginning, proved over time to result in accumulated errors that produced false memories, hallucinations, and profound distress in the simulated beings. They could be reset to an earlier state, but this was a stopgap, and it was anyway a process that felt intolerably violent to the Mothers, like a lobotomy. Feverishly they worked to augment and amend their systems, but the malfunctions, they discovered, would accumulate at a geometric rate; to permit any kind of long-term survival for their children, they would have to be virtually entirely eliminated, and that would require, using technology then available, a system the size of a small moon, which operated painfully slowly.

It was this failure, in the end, that broke their dream. The remaining flesh-and-blood members of the commune, grief-stricken either at the thought of abandoning their children or continuing their work in vain, devised a plan for the long-term storage of their data. The bunker was built to keep the children safe, for centuries, even millennia if need be, sleeping a cold sleep akin to death, their minds preserved as data physically etched onto a durable polymer substrate. And at last, when everything was prepared and the bunker had been sealed shut, the last members of the commune and the mothers themselves lay down within the Thoughtform Device, and followed their brothers and sisters into the darkness. The bodies of these last martyrs, Higgins noted with some confusion, were nowhere to be found.

At first the tale that Higgins returned with was deemed an utter fabrication; but he had proof, and the technical knowledge he returned with astounded the scientific community. They agreed that the Mothers had been right--there was not enough computing power in the entire world to support even one of the thoughtforms without fatal malfunction within a year. The utopians were dead, and their legacy could not be saved. Worse, the other technologies they had developed in pursuit of their goals created a great deal of unease. The authoritarian First Australian Republic had, in its last desperate years, had sought to extend its surveillance state to an unprecedented degree, and flirted with a kind of totalitarian control that, if combined with sophisticated BCI techniques, might have produced unspeakable atrocities. The Pan-Indonesian Federation feared, not unjustly, the weaponization of such technology against their member states; and not a few commentators said it would have been better if Higgins had let the ghosts of the last generation lie. A team from the University of Tokyo visited the site of the bunker in 2159, and made a partial copy of the recordings of the mind-states it contained--but pointedly avoided retrieving any controversial technology. The tunnel was then sealed again, and travel to Marchinbar was banned by international treaty. Forty years later, an ASEAN patrol craft noted that the Jansen Bay site was now entirely obscured by overgrowth; but that someone had left a small stone monument on the shore, imploring the passerby of some far-off day to spare a thought for the dead below, and to redeem them, if they could.

See also: “Human Improvement Board (Australia),” “Australian Civil War,” subsection “Crimes against Humanity,” “Piracy in the Arafura Sea,” “Outback Wars,” “Alice Springs Massacre,” “Committee of Public Safety (Australia),” “Greater Indonesian Campaigns,” “Thirty Years’ War (Southeast Asia),” “Clonal Network of Xi,” “José Ramón Higgins,” “Brisbane Commune,” “Cape York Rebellion,” “History of BCI,” subsection “BCI in the 22nd Century.”

[ashleysitalianlitblog]

My Brilliant Friend (HBO Tie-in Edition): Book 1: Childhood and Adolescence

From the famous Italian author Elena Ferrante, the story is about a poor but vibrant neighborhood on the outskirts of Naples, Elena Ferrante’s four-volume story spans almost sixty years, as its main characters, the fiery and unforgettable Lila and the bookish narrator, Elena, become women, wives, mothers, and leaders, all the while maintaining a complex and at times conflicted friendship. This first novel in the series follows Lila and Elena from their fateful meeting as ten-year-olds through their school years and adolescence. This book is now turning into an HBO MAX show and it’s a young adult classic in modern-day Italy

The Story of a New Name (HBO Tie-in Edition): Book 2: Youth

The follow-up to My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name continues the epic New York Times–bestselling literary quartet that has inspired an HBO series and returns us to the world of Lila and Elena, who grew up together in post-WWII Naples, Italy. 

In The Story of a New Name, Lila has recently married and made her entrée into the family business; Elena, meanwhile, continues her studies and her exploration of the world beyond the neighborhood that she so often finds stifling. Marriage appears to have imprisoned Lila, and the pressure to excel is at times too much for Elena. Yet the two young women share a complex and evolving bond that is central to their emotional lives and a source of strength in the face of life’s challenges. In these Neapolitan Novels, Elena Ferrante, “one of the great novelists of our time” (The New York Times), gives us a poignant and universal story about friendship and belonging, a meditation on love and jealousy, freedom and commitment—at once a masterfully plotted page-turner and an intense, generous-hearted family saga. 

Adua

The book Adua is by lgiaba Scego has historical references and looks into the life of an immigrant. The story is about Adua, an immigrant from Somalia to Italy who has lived in Rome for nearly forty years. She came seeking freedom from a strict father and an oppressive regime, but her dreams of becoming a film star ended in shame. Now that the civil war in Somalia is over, her homeland beckons. Yet Adua has a husband who needs her, a young man, also an immigrant, who braved a dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea. When her father, who worked as an interpreter for Mussolini's fascist regime,  dies, Adua inherits the family home. She must decide whether to make the journey back to reclaim her material inheritance, but also how to take charge of her own story and build a future. From the choices of being an adult to a wife, the book gives us a look of the hard choices life gives us in a heartbreaking story. 

100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed

An instant blockbuster in Italy that went on to become an international literary phenomenon, 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed is the fictionalized memoir of Melissa P., a Sicilian teenager whose quest for love rapidly devolves into a shocking journey of sexual discovery.

Melissa begins her diary a virgin, but a stormy affair at the age of fourteen leads her to regard sex as a means of self-discovery, and for the next two years she plunges into a succession of encounters with various partners, male and female, her age and much older, some met through schoolmates, others through newspaper ads and Internet chat rooms. In graphic detail, she describes her journey through a Dante-Esque underworld of eroticism, where she willingly participates in group sex and sadomasochism, as well as casual pickup

The Scent of Your Breath

Melissa P.’s fictionalized memoir, 100 Strokes of the Brush Before Bed, became an international literary phenomenon, selling over two million copies worldwide and provoking a warning from the pope. The Scent of Your Breath, the second installment in her series of confessions, is a tale of obsessive love and destructive passion.

Melissa is now a successful writer in Rome, living with her new lover, Thomas. With his soft body and feminine eyelashes, he is sensual, patient, and comforting—the antithesis of all the men who came before. But as soon as she meets Viola, a young woman from Thomas’s past, Melissa is consumed with jealousy. Written as a confessional letter to her mother, the story that follows is one of dark obsession, violent lust, and soul-destroying talent, teeming with the ghosts and dragonfly-women Melissa is convinced are trying to steal her man and bring about her ruin. The Scent of Your Breath blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy and delves deep into the disturbing yet strangely familiar mind of a teenage girl terrorized by love.

Three O'Clock in the Morning Is by Italian author Gianrico Carofiglio the contemporary heart-waring piece is about Antonio is eighteen years old and on the cusp of adulthood. His father, a brilliant mathematician, hasn’t played a large part in his life since divorcing Antonio’s mother but when Antonio is diagnosed with epilepsy, they travel to Marseille to visit a doctor who may hold the hope for an effective treatment. It is there, in a foreign city, under strained circumstances, that they will get to know each other and connect for the first time. A beautiful, gritty, and charming port city where French old-world charm meets modern bohemia, father and son stroll the streets sharing strained small talk. But as the hours pass and day give way tonight, the two find themselves caught in a series of caffeine-imbued adventures involving unexpected people (and unforeseen trysts) that connect father and son for the first time. As the two discuss poetry, family, sex, math, death, and dreams, their experience becomes a mesmerizing 48-hour microcosm of a lifetime relationship. Both learn much about illusions and regret, about talent and redemption, and, most of all, about love. This heartwarming story has captured the modern Italian audience. 

Lost Words

Winner of the Viareggio Prize, a vivid portrait of Italy on the brink of social upheaval in the 1970s.The author Nicola Gardini, writes about the Inside an apartment building on the outskirts of Milan, the working-class residents gossip, quarrel, and conspire against each other. Viewed through the eyes of Chino, an impressionable thirteen-year-old boy whose mother is the doorwoman of the building, the world contained within these walls is tiny, hypocritical, and mean-spirited: a constant struggle. Chino finds escape in reading. One day, a new resident, Amelia Lynd, moves in and quickly becomes an unlikely companion and a formative influence on Chino. Ms. Lynd—an elderly, erudite British woman—comes to nurture his taste in literature, introduces him to the life of the mind, and offers a counterpoint to the only version of reality that he’s known. On one level, Lost Words is an engrossing coming-of-age tale set in the seventies, when Italy was going through tumultuous social changes, and on another, it is a powerful meditation on language, literature, and culture.

Things That Happened Before the Earthquake

The book by Chiara Barzini describes a story about Mere weeks after the 1992 riots that laid waste to Los Angeles, Eugenia, a typical Italian teenager, is rudely yanked from her privileged Roman milieu by her hippie-ish filmmaker parents and transplanted to the strange suburban world of the San Fernando Valley. With only the Virgin Mary to call on for guidance as her parents struggle to make it big, Hollywood fashion, she must navigate her huge new public high school, complete with Crips and Bloods and Persian gang members, and a car-based environment of 99-cent stores and obscure fast-food franchises and all-night raves. She forges friendships with Henry, who runs his mother's movie memorabilia store, and the bewitching Deva, who introduces her to the alternate cultural universe that is Topanga Canyon. And then the 1994 earthquake rocks the foundations not only of Eugenia's home but of the future she'd been imagining for herself.

I'll Steal You Away

Italian literary superstar Niccolò Ammaniti’s novel, I’m Not Scared, prompted gushing praise, hit international bestseller lists, and was made into a smash indie film. In I’ll Steal You Away, Ammaniti takes his unparalleled empathy for children, his scythe-sharp observations, and his knack for building tension to a whole new level. In a tiny Italian village, a young boy named Pietro is growing up tormented by bullies and ignored by his parents. When an aging playboy, Graziano Biglia, returns to town, a change is in the air: Pietro decides to take on the bullies, his lonely teacher Flora finds romance with the town’s prodigal son, and the inept janitor at the school proclaims his love for his favorite prostitute. But the village isn’t ready for such change, and when Graziano seduces and forgets Flora, both she and Pietro’s tentative hopes seem crushed forever. With great tenderness, Ammaniti shines light on the heart-wrenching failures and quiet redemptions of ordinary people trying to live extraordinary lives.

Heaven and Earth: A Novel Every summer Teresa follows her father to his childhood home in Puglia, down in the heel of Italy, a land of relentless, shimmering heat, centuries-old olive groves and families who have lived there for generations. She spends long afternoons enveloped in a sunstruck stupor, reading her grandmother's paperbacks.

Everything changes the summer she meets the three boys who live on the farm next door: Nicola, Tommaso and Bern—the man Teresa will love for the rest of her life. Raised like brothers on a farm that feels to Teresa almost suspended in time, the three boys share a complex, intimate, and seemingly unassailable bond.But no bond is unbreakable and no summer truly endless, as Teresa soon discovers.Because there is resentment underneath the surface of that strange brotherhood, a twisted kind of love that protects a dark secret. And when Bern—the enigmatic, restless gravitational center of the group—commits a brutal act of revenge, not even a final pilgrimage to the edge of the world will be enough to bring back those perfect, golden hours in the shadow of the olive trees.

An unforgettable story of enduring love, the bonds between men, and the all-too-human search for meaning, Heaven and Earth is Paolo Giordano at his best: an author capable of unveiling the depths of the human soul, who has now given us the old-fashioned pleasure of a big, sprawling novel in which to lose ourselves

[travllingbunny]

The 100: 7x10 A Little Sacrifice

After The Flock - the show’s weakest episode in a long time - and an unfortunate hiatus after that episode, A Little Sacrifice helped get season 7 back on track. It’s one of the best episodes of the season: it was exciting, things finally happened - a lot, we got a big revelation about what the endgame is likely to be all about, there were fights, an attempted mass murder/genocide (what would a season of The 100 be without those?), some really good character work, and the first major death of the season. 

Yes, Charmaine Diyoza was not a main character. but after being introduced as a villain in season 5, she has grown into one of the most memorable and interesting characters on the show - in large part due to Ivana Miličević’s charismatic performance - with a complex and morally ambiguous characterization and backstory (which I really hope to maybe learn more about one day in the prequel flashbacks? Please?). She has been one of my favorite characters since season 5, and I loved her development and her relationship with Octavia, her mother/daughter relationship between her and Hope, her past fights to protect “expendable” prisoners and her S7 attempts to find peace and renounce violence, and hope (!) that at least her daughter will get to have a different and better life where she wouldn’t need to resort to it.  She became a (not so little) sacrifice for the better future we saw her dreaming of in season 5 in that conversation with Kane - maybe that dream is something we will see the new generations live in the series finale?

The one thing I wasn’t too happy about (I was OK with the lack of Bellamy cliffhanger since we got him in the promo for 7x11 right afterwards) was that Clarke did not have any more screentime than in the other recent episodes. But, especially on rewatch, she had some great subtle little moments.

You know what is not subtle? Sheidheda. He’s finding new ways to be completely OTT. This time he can finally stop pretending to be Russell, so he gets a makeover, more in tune with the...interesting Grounder fashion styles, chews the scenery even more, and then - thanks to Madi - he loses an eye (just as he did during his original lifetime), getting closer to his season 6 Emperor-like look, though he’s missing a cloak this time. He also doesn’t have enough facial hair to twirl his moustache, but he actually hisses at one point. This part of the episode was, this time, really fun and intense, including a really good fight scene and some really emotional and important moments for Indra, Madi and Murphy, but doesn’t need much analysis and doesn’t require attention on rewatch.

I’m still not sure how/if these two storylines will connect. But I can see a thematic connection of sorts: Sheidheda is the embodiment of the worst parts of the Grounder culture, with the worship of violence and power and killing all those who oppose you; and not just that - he’s all egotism taken to the extreme, the kind of “wild beast” as Anders would despise, but in this case, he would actually have good reasons to. On the other hand, we have the Disciples with their sterile white rooms, order and the propaganda of the abnegation of self in the favor of the collective, and dreaming of “transcendence” instead of trying to get back to the “old ways”. But they really come off as two sides of the same coin: both ideologies are about worship of and subjugation to a leader, both believe violence is the solution, and both are against love and see it as a danger.

Brand new opening titles - these opens start with a shot of Sanctum and end with the Bardo Stone Room with the Anomaly Stone - and guess what makes a cameo near the end of the credits? That’s right, Earth. I was starting to think that any return to Earth won’t happen, but now I’m not so sure.

Sanctum

The episode opens with the immediate aftermath of Shady’s massacre of the Faithful. We see Madi’s friend Rex (that’s his name according to the credits) - the Sanctum boy who offered Madi’s other friend, the null boy, to play soccer - mourning someone, probably his mother. This scene had to be there so we’d feel some sympathy and sadness over the deaths of the Faithful rather than just be relieved they’re (mostly) gone. One of the wounded ones is Jeremiah, the same guy who developed deep gratitude for Murphy for saving his son. Although the Faithful have been very annoying, I do feel a tinge of sympathy for this guy, who’s so clueless that he never understood he had any agency in what happened to his son and seemed really convinced it was all about the will of the “gods”. He now asks Murphy to take care of his son when he dies, but Murphy insists he will not let Jeremiah die. (Trey, the annoying a-hole who was brainwashing Jordan, and used to act as the leader of the Faithful, is credited in the episode but I didn���t see him anywhere - so I have no idea if he’s among the dead, or he survived and was in a deleted scene.)  

Madi has a really nice mini arc in this episode. She already had PTSD from her experience and possession by Sheidheda in season 6, so she is absolutely terrified when she learns he is back, and when he threatens her in a really creepy way. Excellent acting by Lola. Later, after being comforted by Murphy and joining the survivors,she shows strength in comforting Rex for his loss; and in the end, overcomes her fears and risks her life to save Indra.

Not that it matters, but Sheidheda’s real name is Malachi. (I’m still gonna keep calling him Shady.) We learn that when he recites the lineage - the names and clans of all the previous Commanders, which we know from S3 is a Grounder custom for a new Commander to do. Of course, we only get to hear some of the names in the middle (a couple of random Commanders called Maffei kom Boudalankru - the Rock Line and Kemji kom Trishanakru) and the end, when he mentions Lexa and Madi. The show wasn’t going to spoil the prequel by revealing the names of early Commanders,

The fight itself was really intense and maybe the best Grounder-style duel in the show (yes, I prefer it to the 3x04 one, which involved too much showmanship to look as a real death match). Shady is obviously going to be there for a while and things aren’t going to get so easily resolved, so he wins and is about to kill Indra - who refuses to kneel to save her own life - but just as he’s about to kill her, Madi finds the courage to come as the Big Damn Hero at the crucial moment, pluck out Shady’s eye and save Indra’s life. But then as he is about to kill Madi, Indra decides to (metaphorically, since she’s lying and about to pass out) kneel in order to save Madi’s life. Indra’s arc with Shady has come full circle: this may finally make her understand her mother’s choice and realize she was unfair to her. She grew up blaming her mother for agreeing to kneel to Sheidheda and considering her “weak”. The battle had been lost, her father was already dead, and her mother made the best possible decision and wasn’t just saving herself but her daughter, too. Otherwise, as we see in this episode, Shady would have ordered the daughter to be killed, too, after the mother - as he thinks children of the people he killed should also be eliminated so they couldn’t pose a threat and seek revenge.

That last order even shocked Knight, who may be having some second thoughts about the awesomeness of “Sangedakru’s greatest champion” (but this doesn’t mean he won’t keep obeying him). Penn and the other Trikru guy we know, who are loyal to Indra, reluctantly knelt when Indra asked them to.  

Madi, Rex and the other Faithful (including Jeremiah, who has indeed survived) have gone into hiding with Murphy and Emori - and hiding at the abandoned reactor. We didn’t see Jackson, but i’m sure he’s there. (Sachin is a guest star and must skip some episodes he’s not really needed in.) So now we’re finally reached the part of this storyline where Shady is in power and our heroes are the resistance. And Murphy is now, with Emori, a part of a power couple protecting these people and taking care of them (who would’ve expected that back in season 1?) - much like we’ve seen Clarke and Bellamy do over the seasons - even though most of the same people resented them for being fake Primes just a few hours earlier. Maybe they’re finally starting to get a clue and feel respect and gratitude to people who are trying to save them just because it’s a decent humane thing to do, rather than for being self-proclaimed “gods” who participated in their murder, oppression and exploitation.

Bardo

After 4 episodes, Clarke, Raven and Miller finally left the Stone Room! Yay! Jordan and Niylah stayed in it, and as it turns out, Jordan has a much more important and interesting role to play by reading the Anomaly Stone, while Niylah’s role in S7 has been to be exposition machine for Grounder history and have bad one-liners while Miller has the good ones. I’m glad there was no prolonged “OMG are they really brainwashed and on their side?” misunderstanding, as Clarke and the rest of the group, after learning about MCap from Gabriel, quickly realized that Octavia, Echo and Diyoza are only pretending, since they haven’t blown the secret that Clarke doesn’t have the Flame.

Speaking of one-liners, Miller’s “Get the flock out of here” really made me laugh out loud.

Callie is known as the Pramfleimkepa - the First Flamekeeper - which should mean she was never a Commander (I imagine that would supersede the position of the Flamekeeper or at least be as worthy of mention). I was afraid for a moment that Niylah had given the game away when she told Cadogan that - but fortunately, he didn’t understand what it meant, as he never knew that Becca called ALIE 2.0 “the Flame”.

Gabriel and Cadogan have a long conversation over dinner (or breakfast or lunch of whatever) about Earth before the bombs and Cadogan’s beliefs. The two of them are one of the few remaining humans who knew life before the apocalypse. (After Diyoza’s death in this episode, the only other people left from that time are the Eligius prisoners in Sanctum.) But while Cadogan is chronologically ‘older’ than Gabriel, as he was a Millennial, while Gabriel was born a couple of decades later, and because Cadogan has technically been alive for thousands of years on Bardo - Cadogan spent most of that time in cryo (same as Diyoza and the other prisoners). Gabriel is the real Old Man - at least 260 years old, having lived and experienced all those years. We learn a bit more about Gabriel’s background - that his family were from Colombia and his grandmother was poor, making him a “self-made man” - another contrast between him and the love of his life Josephine (which makes their season 6 parallel to Clarke/Bellamy even more perfect). Gabriel is the go-to-guy this season for having conversations about the worship of false gods and trying to challenge the Disciples’ beliefs. Cadogan, again, denies that he’s a cult leader (sure), reveals he doesn’t believe in God, and claims he doesn’t consider himself one (he sure doesn’t mind being treated like one, though). Instead, he claims his purpose is for everyone to “transcend” and become like gods - though he doesn’t really explain what that would consist of, and he also doesn’t offer any explanations as to why there is supposed to be a “Last War” and who the enemy in that was is supposed to be. Seven episodes have gone by with the characters talking to the Disciples, and no one has ever asked that question: who is the enemy? I guess they don’t even know that, they just think that, when they type in the code, they will learn who the enemy is and the war will begin, for... reasons? He also adds some BS about “this life” being unimportant compared to afterlife. (Now, to be clear - I actually do believe in the afterlife in general (though I don’t know in which form), but I really, really hate it when religions make the afterlife the focus and treat the life we actually know and are sure we have as less important, use it as an excuse to teach people to accept any sort of crap in their lives and not ask for more instead of living their lives to the fullest and trying to build something worthwhile in this life.) Gabriel is less than impressed with Cadogan, and challenges him by pointing out that “You can’t fight a war for the soul of the human race with an inhuman army” and that a life without love, individuality or freedom is pretty worthless, but Cadogan has the afterlife as a ready excuse, even though that doesn’t really answer the question.

The most important revelation that we finally get in this episode is that Cadogan has most likely mistranslated and completely misunderstood the ancient Bardoan text that he’s based his entire belief system on. And his mistake was in large part due to confirmation bias - he saw what he wanted to see, even though the idea of ending wars and violence by starting and fighting a war is absurd. (Niylah, for once, has a good line, when she points out that every major war is supposed to be the “last” but it never is.) Jordan’s interpretation - that it is really about a test that the species needs to pass - makes a lot more sense. Not a literal test - I really can’t imagine the show introducing some kind of godlike “higher beings” - but, I think, something that will require the characters to use all their strength and moral sense and all the experience they’ve had and wisdom they may have gained, to find the best solution to save the human race and rebuild the civilization, hopefully into something better (and it’s really not too hard being better than the mess of tribalism and constant wars and conflicts we’ve seen on the show). I don’t know what this will be, but the words “the orb becomes like a star” make me thing of a natural phenomenon. 

It’s also cool that it was knowledge of the Korean language that helped Jordan decipher the text - proving how helpful it is to be familiar with multiple languages and cultures and how much it expands one’s way of thinking. Do Disciples speak any languages other than English? They seem to foster cultural uniformity, so probably not. (it’s also confirmed now that Monty was half-Korean on his father’s side - Chris Larkin is Korean, but the actress who played his mother, Donna Yamamoto, is Japanese, so I assume Monty is half-Japanese.)

If you doubted that 7x09 flashbacks were a waste of screentime, we get a confirmation early on that Echo has just been pretending to be loyal to the Disciples, while plotting revenge all the time, when she kills a Disciple and saves Hope from being sent to Skyring. This plot could have continued straight from 7x07, when Echo’s Azgeda ritual was strongly hinting that she’s out for revenge. (And yes, the writing in 7x09 was just  that clunky as I feared - of course that Chekhov’s WMD that Levitt mentioned for no reason would be used in the very next episode for someone to try to kill all the Disciples in another Mount Weather parallel.)

A tiny bit of info about the Disciples - a Disciple addressed Hope as “Seeker Diyoza”. I don’t know if that’s a title for those trying to reach Level 1 or something else.

Hope, with her usual anger and impulsiveness, reminiscent of how Octavia used to be once, and her naive black and white views, is all for revenge-genocide, too, in spite of Octavia’s and Diyoza’s disagreement. Her mother tries to, again, teach her the lesson she tried to in 7x07, that she should turn to love instead of violence and killing (which carries a lot more weight when it comes from someone like Charmaine Diyoza rather than a hippy): “I know what it's like to kill innocent people for a cause, and I promise you, it's not gonna fill that hole in your heart. Only we can do that.” But Hope retorts that “There are no innocent people here”, echoing Nikki’s words to Nelson that “There are no innocent people at the end of the world”. It’s not that Hope doesn’t have a point that everyone in Bardo is a part of the society that’s been kidnapping and torturing her family and that stole her childhood, but collective responsibility is a concept that only works in terms of moral responsibility, not as an excuse to commit genocide because you’ve decided that everyone in the other group is evil and the “enemy” and deserves death. Some people have compared it to Maya saying “None of us is innocent”, but I don’t think this comparison works, because that line changes the meaning entirely depending on whether you are holding yourself and your society morally accountable for its failings and complicity in crimes against humanity, or if you’re using it against others, in order to justify hate and commit crimes against humanity.

Even though neither Clarke nor Octavia had huge screentime in this episode and may not have done anything big (like Diyoza sacrificing herself and saving everyone, or Jordan figuring everything out), they had some wonderful, subtle little moments that spoke volumes:

I loved the hug between Clarke and Octavia - where Clarke said her condolences to Octavia and then Octavia said them back, letting Clarke know she knew what Bellamy meant to her and that she is grieving just as much. (”I’m sorry, Octavia” - “So am I”)

Raven and Miller exchanged a wordless look - probably because of how awkward it was for Miller to see Octavia again. Although these 4 people all go back to season 1 (and it was the first time in a while they were in the same room), for Miller it’s been just a few weeks since she was Blodreina and he was her follower, and the last time they saw each other (in season 6), he yelled at her that he’s not following her orders anymore - which was about him struggling with his guilt and seeing her as an embodiment of it. But for Octavia, it’s been over 10 years and a huge character development, which Miller doesn’t know about. But they had no time to go over it - instead, she just hugged him and asked him to hug her back, and he did.

When the group went to find Levitt - still tied up and bloody after Echo had tortured him and killed two Disciples in front of him to force him to tell her about Gem9, the WMD that can destroy everyone on Bardo (he must be really traumatized one - Clarke obviously immediately realized what was going on when she saw Octavia come to check on Levitt, going by the look on her face, and her look when she turned to go and the others went after her, while Octavia was still there -as if saying "I realize you need a moment with this guy, but don't wait too long". Although Levitt looked disappointed and shocked that Octavia didn’t untie him, she was really doing what was the most reasonable way to try to protect everyone - the priority was to stop Echo from killing all the Disciples, which would include Levitt, but also to stop Levitt from alerting Anders, which he would’ve done, because Octavia also wanted to save Echo and her people. It doesn’t mean she doesn’t  care for Levitt, but she’s not the 17 year old girl who’d go: “I just met you but you’re immediately the most important person to me and I’m going to prioritize you over everyone I know”.

 And then we get to the final and most dramatic scene of the episode...  Echo’s attempt to commit genocide out of revenge, while Octavia, Clarke and Raven tried to talk her down.

Octavia tried to reach Echo by, again, talking about their shared grief over Bellamy, as she did in 7x07, but again, it did not work - because Octavia and Echo, and Clarke and Echo, are different people, who grieve in different ways and think and act in different ways. It doesn’t mean that any of them are grieving more or less than another one - but their responses are very different. Octavia - this mature Octavia who is more able to empathize with others and doesn’t react with impulsive violence as she used to -  responded by trying to reach out to others who were also grieving for Bellamy, Echo and Clarke, and validating their grief, too. Clarke reacted - after the initial shock and grief - by sucking it up, as she does, in order to take care of the others, and focusing on saving the people Bellamy loved, telling Raven “We do this for him” and focusing on saving Octavia and Echo. Echo, on the other hand, reacted destructively and violently and by killing people for revenge and then plotting genocide as revenge for 3 months. This is the only way she knows how to process grief - she’s never known a different way, as I’m sure Azgeda weren’t known for compassion and sharing feelings. When Bellamy was grieving Clarke in season 6, she asked him “When do we attack?”, because that’s what she expected him to do, too. She’s also lost because she hasn’t lost just a boyfriend, but a leader and anchor in her new post-Praimfaya life, and because she had made saving Bellamy her mission she was waiting to fulfill during the 5 years on Skyring. If she had carried out her plan, I’m not sure she’d know what to do with herself. (I don’t know what it says about the mindset of us, humans of 2020, that so many fans have decided that Echo’s way of grieving is the superior one and the one that shows that she loves Bellamy the best. It certainly doesn’t show anything good.)

Octavia’s next argument - that there are many good people on Bardo she’d be killing - was even less successful, as Echo threw her relationship with Levitt back in her face, pointing out that he stole her memories, talking of him as one of their enemies, and then even saying: "Way to honor your brother's memory!" Echo came off as very judgmental here, and more than bit hypocritical - after all , she personally almost killed Octavia twice, and Bellamy started trusting her and dating her on the Ring, after she had given them both far less reason to trust her than Levitt did. Levitt actually took a risk and was helping her against Anders just out of his feelings for Octavia, while Echo only helped Bellamy and others after she was exiled and had to in order to survive. She seems to value forgiveness only when it’s others forgiving her (”Who knows more about forgiveness than us?”), even though she never expected them to and was a bit shocked that they did.

Clarke then tried to use her standard “This is not who you are” plea, but it didn’t work with Echo, since Clarke doesn’t really know Echo, and the words felt empty. There really is very little reason for Clarke to think this is not who Echo is, except for her tendency to assume Echo must have changed for the better because she’s Bellamy’s girlfriend and Bellamy loves her (see their conversation in 5x12). Clarke also tried to use her own experience - as she did with Raven earlier in the season - telling Echo that “a choice like this” would haunt her forever (of course Clarke would bring up MW, it always goes back to MW for her), but Echo rejected that comparison and, for a moment, channeled me by pointing out that Clarke’s motivations were to save her people, while Echo’s are purely revenge. Which was, however, a strange argument in context - pointing out that Clarke’s reasons were much better and she had no choice but to kill all of the Mountain Men or let them kill all of her friends and family, while Echo wasn’t achieving anything good and could just save all her people and not take revenge on the Disciples. But Echo seemed to be telling Clarke that they different, and she cannot assume that Echo will feel the same way about mass murder Clarke does.

Then Clarke finally brought up Bellamy, pointing out that he would not want a genocide to be committed in his memory. I don’t know how anyone who’s watched the show for 6 seasons could disagree with Clarke. But Echo did. What’s more, she yelled  "You have no idea what Bellamy wanted!" in a really angry, resentful way. It felt personal. I don’t know if Echo has felt romantic jealousy of Clarke over Bellamy - she has sure kept it close to her chest - but it certainly felt like some kind of possessiveness, like resenting the idea that Clarke was as close or closer to Bellamy and knew him better. In any case, this was a moment of extreme dramatic irony - because we know (and really, Echo should know as well)  that Echo is the one who doesn’t seem to know, or is simply ignoring, what Bellamy would have wanted and who he was. And she should know. She was there when he talked down Riley from killing Roan, telling him “War made me a murderer, don’t let it do it to you too”, she was there when Bellamy refused to kill 283 prisoners in cryo sleep and said “Clarke didn’t die for us to go back and make the same mistakes”. And she was there when Bellamy was grieving Clarke but decided not to take revenge for her death - not even by killing the man who murdered her, Russell - but to try to honor her memory by doing what she would want and surviving and keeping their people alive. Which directly contradicts Echo’s statement that Bellamy would be doing the same she is if one of them (Clarke, Octavia or her) were killed. Does she really not know him? Most of the time they spent together were in a time of peace and boredom with just 7 people on the Ring. She seems to be projecting her own ideas and views and character into him. 

Then Raven went on to agree with Clarke (but Echo did not resent her for saying it), pointing out how Bellamy has grown and changed and that the post-season 3 Bellamy certainly would never do that. I was slightly annoyed when she said that Bellamy of season 3 may do that - but to be fair, she did say, “maybe”. Now, season 1 or season 3 Bellamy was certainly angrier and more prone to black and white thinking when it came to enemies, and he may very well have agreed to kill all of the adult Disciples if he thought they were likely to be a threat to his people (which is what he did when he agreed to help Pike kill Lexa’s army), but he sure wouldn’t agree to kill any of them just for revenge, or to kill children and non-combatants (the one time he did it was MW, when he and Clarke knew there was no other way to protect their people from being horrifically killed, and he hated it and was haunted by it then). Nevertheless, that’s a minor thing as the point of Raven’s speech was the way Bellamy has grown and developed. Echo hasn’t really changed, certainly not as much as Bellamy wanted to think in S5. Is there still time for her to change?

In the end, love did save the day - but it wasn’t Echo’s love for Bellamy, it was her non-romantic love for Raven and Raven’s for her. Raven calling her a sister only helped pave the way - but she had to actually threaten to stay there and force Echo to choose between killing Raven and giving up her revenge, for Echo to finally stand down. The fact she did shows that maybe there’s still hope for her to change and give up revenge and violence for things like friendship.

 But then Anders had to appear and ruin everything, He could have just tried to arrest the group, rather than threatening them and giving them speeches about how he despises them for being “beasts raised in the wild”. (I’ve wondered many times since 7x05 is Anders is supposed to be smart or a complete dumbass. He was definitely a dumbass.)

Diyoza took charge, as the most experienced and tactical one, and almost.  And then Hope was again being her impulsive, angry, out of control self - Anders is always the person most likely to set her off - killing Anders (which I wouldn’t mind) but then also making her own attempt to commit genocide. (It’s funny that the four Disciples just froze and did nothing while all of that was happening.)

What happened then was both a heroic sacrifice and one of the best and most heroic death scenes on the show, a fitting ending for Charmaine Diyoza (even a visually beautiful death in a creepy way, as Diyoza turned into a crystal statue), with her final message to her daughter to be “better” than her in the future - and a heartbreaking loss for Hope, who has just been punished by the narrative/fate for her devotion to violence and hate and attempt at genocide, by causing her own mother’s death. She was obsessed with revenge for her lost childhood and the fact her mother was taken from her - instead of focusing on the future and what she still had. I’m sure that Hope will survive to the end of the series, and will have to question herself and change. She still has Aunty O to help her and be her family.

As we’re approaching the endgame, the show here made an obvious point about violence, hatred and revenge and having to give up those things - not for Anders’ unemotional duty to the collective, but for love and compassion/

Rating: 8.5/10

[cartoonfangirl1218]

BTS Inspiration of Winner’s Curse

I know not many people read my descendants fic, but hey it’s my Bday tomorrow and I feel like revealing some of the inspiration for it. This world building was actually what inspired me to start writing it down. Originally it was going to be from the POV of a Vk, and explore all the dynamics of the “new” Isle under the Coven of 13, and get into the motivations of each but as you can see that did not happen. I was intrigued by the idea of exploring a “sidekick” trying to be the hero and all that. Other notes are

Circe was originally going to be the mother of Malik, after having a fling with Mozonroth when she got sent to the Isle. Decided it was too much drama and discarded that.

There was going to be more focus on the power struggles between the mercenaries, the Coven and the authority figures. Was going to reveal Uma and Freddie to be siblings. Ended up sidelining Freddie.

Gaston’s daughter, Cosette, was going to have a role, becoming closer with Gil.

Atlantis characters were going to be part of the main group. As well as Black Cauldron characters. Also discarded.

Was going to redeem Drizella because I heard the original plans for Cinderella III was going to be Drizella redemption but they changed so they could give more development to Anastasia. So I decided I was going to do it. Dizzy would have been given more of a role.

Hans was going to be revealed as the cruelest villain. (Yeah I was going to make him a twist villain again. Be glad I did not).

Nasira and Mozonroth were going to be lovers before I decided on mother and son.

Diego and Ivy De’Vil would have had more a role.

Hercules characters would have had more a role. Including the Muses.

Ben would have had more a role somehow.

And that‘s about it.

But some things I am proud of in Winner’s Curse. Passing the Bedchel test.

A POC majority cast (This was completely unintentional but now I see it and counting it out, there’s four Agrabians, two WOC, and three European. Though I’ll admit I have not given Harry, Calix and Gil as much spotlight as I should. So my bad. But does Greek count as a white Euro? Idk, point is, unintentional diversity. Woo)

There‘s only two romances. Both are interracial. Also unintentional. Uma and Harry are totally together. And Aziz and Lala’s burgeoning crushes that will not end in a kiss after the final battle because it’s not important. Oh well. Attempts to explore PTSD, abuse, sexual assault and poverty.

The emphasis on family and friendship between characters.

Exploring the negative side of Auradon including it’s classist system, the Magic Ban, and the Euro-countries getting more resources and riches compared to the likes of Kuzcotopia and Atlantis and Atlantica,

Psychological studies(ish) and more character exploration.

Jay faces his dad!

Hook siblings!

Getting to mention tie ins to the Aladdin animated series, Legend of Tarzan animated series, Hercules animated series, Ariel‘s Beginning and soon Disney fairies books. And adding those characters.

That I finished 20 chapters! This is my longest fic ever! And just ten more chapters to go! I’ll get there.

Coven of 13: Villains dedicated to using their old magic to take over Auradon and be restored to their glory days once more. However they all have conflicting wishes with what the final plan should be.

Maleficent: Since being “overthrown” as queen of the Isle. Maleficent had to settle herself with working with others until she can be mistress of all evil again. Is in a constant battle for dominance with Queen Nerissa, Ursula, Mozenrath and Jafar.

(Evil) Queen Grimhilde: Though she may be pre-occupied by her looks and seem to be passive, Grimhilde is secretly gunning for complete control of the Isle and Auradon when they invade. She feels there should be a new queen that doesn’t get into such petty tantrums as Maleficent. Queen Nerissa: Queen Nerissa is the unofficial leader of the coven since it was her idea but it is impossible to convince the others of that. She wishes to get her ultimate revenge on Giselle, Edgar and the rest of Auradon by becoming the tyrant.

Ursula: Ursula is smartly setting her sights on just ruling Atlantica. Unless she gets bored. Then she might expande her pool of options. She mainly just wants to stick it to King Triton and when it comes to execution time. She isn’t going to make the mistake of keeping his soul, she wants to destroy it. Mother of Uma.

Circe: Very bitter about ending up on the Isle even after Helen of Troy vouched for her to stay in Auradon. So to say that she wants to crush Adam to the bone is understatement. She wants him to grovel. And if she can find that one good man while she’s at it, that would be a plus. Mother of Calix.

Mother Gothel: Though she has an intense rivalry with Grimhilde since day one about hoarding the scarce beauty products available on the Isle, she is her closest supporter now when it comes to finding magic for revenge and curing wrinkly skin. She is the mother of Ginny who she doesn’t dote on nearly as much as she did with Rapunzel.

Yzma: She wants Kuzcotopia and she will do anything and everything to get it even if it means teaming up with a bunch of “old hags” (yes pot calling kettle). Still remains overdramatic and delusional. Has a semi-dependent abusive relationship with her children Zevon and Yzla.

Morgaine Le Fey: Morgaine Le Fey, like Grimhilde, is quiet when it comes to group work but she is always observing for everyone else’s weaknesses and flaws that she will undoubtedly exploit when she becomes Queen of Camelot. Mother of Morrían.

Nasira: Sister to Jafar and mother of Jade and Mozonroth. She isn't nearly as enthusiastic about ruling Agrabah as her brother and Mozonroth are but she is just in it to get revenge on the stinking alley rat, Aladdin.

Queen La: Without her staff, her kingdom or leopard-man army, La has resorted to her Atlantean priestess magic again in hopes of getting off the Isle and reclaiming her staff. Still delusional, still lustful and hates having to depend on the rest of these people. Mother of Ranavalalona.

Jafar: Wishes to rule Agrabah and execute the royal family that “mistreated’ and “disrespected” him so much. Is in a constant battle with Mozonroth on the fact that he is the best sorcerer and will be ruler of Agrabah when they take over. Mozonroth: Finds Jafar to be a blowhard and believes that since he already took over the Black Sands and overthrew his former mentor that he should be doing far better plots. But with the Isle’s Magic Ban, he has to go with what he has. Besides that he would like to give his half-brother, Aladdin, a taste of “brotherly love” when he puts him in a headlock to crack his skull. Father to Malik and Imran Abbas.

Dr. Facilier: Like Ursula, Dr. Facilier smartly works on the fringes, setting his sights small on the Bayou before ruling the rest of Auradon. Father of Freddie and Celia.

All-Powerful Quartet: Generally speaking, if any villain was going to be taking over Auradon, it would be these 4. But due to their all-powerful status, they’d rather not exert themselves to do such menial tasks when they have other things to do.

Mirage: Evil Incarnate. So she does get to go off-Isle to maintain some balance of good and evil in the universe but generally enjoys the place. There is just so much evil and chaos everywhere and she glories in it. Mother of Illusion and Chimera.

Chernabog: Since being put on the Isle, Chernabog remains asleep on the mountain, waiting for his day to rise again.

Horned King: Without his deathless army, the Horned King remains in his cave, slowly wasting away. Mainly convenes with Hades.

Hades: God of the Underworld. So yeah, he has a full time job to do.

Mercenaries: The muscle behind the Coven, these are people who can’t adjust to domestic life, more 20th century living and miss the thrill of a fight. They deal with the dirtier deeds of murder and treason. The big boss (literal mob boss) is Sykes who rents their services out.

Sykes: Mob boss. Basically owner of the unofficially named, “Mercenary for Hire.” He never gets his own hands dirty but he has plenty of people who will do it for him. He keeps his people in line with his files of blackmail he has stocked up.

Clayton: Desperately misses the thrill of the hunt and more modern conveniences like a well-polish gun with enough ammo to shoot all these thieves to hell. Has a coworkers- with-benefits relationship with Helga. Father of Clay.

Rourke: Since being screwed over by magic, Rourke has kept a very rigid condition that he will only deal with non-magical situations. Still maintains his treasure-seeking ways and often pilfers from Jafar’s shop.

Helga Sinclair: One of the most intimidating humans on the Isle and of the mercenaries in general. She is known for her efficiency in work, stoic demeanor and same condition to her jobs as Rourke, no magic.

Muviro: Finds mercenary life to be very suitable since being exiled from his tribe. He does it less so for the money but for the glory and bloodlust. Father of Renavalalona.

Lady Caine: Self-proclaimed, “Queen of Thieves” and pirate extradonier. She is Captain Hook’s only real competition on the piracy front leaving a lot of punch-punch kiss tension between them. Many suspect that she is CJ’s bio mom since they share the same manipulativeness, “devil may care” attitude and self-centeredness. However she has no time for any child-rearing, and leaves James to do whatever neglectful work.

Gaston: Another mercenary that does it for the glory rather than the money. He needs something to do since his hunting days are over. Unfortunately he has not won a lot of admirers on the Isle for his chauvinistic attitude (Bad move considering that many of the women have actual powers). Father of Gaston Jr. Gaston the Second, Gil, Gaston (IV) the Great and Cosette.

Shan Yu: Finds himself very low being part of a mercenary gang instead of invading foreign countries. But it does provide some thrill that he can work on his own and make his homicides as bloody as he wants them to be.

Sa’Luk: Former “King of the Thieves,” Sa’Luk uses his mercenary work to get rid of his excess energy and anger towards his enemies. He joins Rourke in pilfering from Jafar’s shops and has a penchant for shiny gold trinkets.

Lt. Col. Jean Staquait: Former French officer and best to hire when you need someone to torture prisoners.

Authority Figures: Villains who are used to have some amount of power in more domestic/civilian pursuits. Pretty much like big corporations that constantly drain the other villains of cash, small trinkets, food and whatever other valuables are on the Isle.

Queen Saleen: One of the most malevolent mermaid, well only mermaid on the Isle. She spends most of her time in the Isle’s waters, avoiding the annoying two legged people. She is often in some sort of feud with Ursula.

Lady Tremaine: Guardian to Anthony Tremaine. Lady is getting on with her years and remains more or less infirmed in her house with a dozen grandchildren. She runs her house with an iron fist and is the most vocal on the Isle in support of child labor. She misses her days of richness and convenes with other elder women about how low they have fallen.

Medusa: Just like she did before the Isle, Medusa owns a pawn shop that is on a constant losing streak to Jafar’s so she has opened a small casino next to it too. She rather delusionally considers herself to be an entrepreneur and tries to work with those higher up in the social ladder to get more money herself.

Cruella De’Vil: While she spends most of her time tending to her furs and car and drinking, when she is sober she tries her hand at fashion design as in the olden days. She works closely with Lady Tremaine and Medusa.

Prince Hans: More or less the least-adjusted to the Isle with his loss of kingdom, servants and anyone gullible enough to believe his lies or manipulations. He is in close cahoots with Mozenrath and bought Drizella as his mistress. Father to Lars, his only son and heir since Stalyan refuses to ruin her figure again.

Sheriff of Nottingham: Serves as the Isle’s one man police force and a sucky job at that as he lets his henchmen squad do most of the work while he serves as trial judge and executioner with the Queen of Hearts: She works a bit on the judicial system, mainly the one who suggests the executions. She can also be found bringing most of the cases to court against henchmen who have wronged her or disobeyed her Tea Shop’s rules.

Captain Hook: The sole owner and commander of the coasts of the Isle while Ursula controls its seas. He is still as obsessive as ever about Peter Pan, his hand and crocodiles and can be found frequenting bars and other brawling areas on the Isle where his hook serves as a nasty weapon. Father of Harriet, Harry and CJ.

Gov. Ratcliff: The only one on the Isle that deals with paperwork. Sort of a treasurer of sorts. Not so much in organizing it but guarding it with his life and spends his time staring longingly at the piles wishing it were genuine gold than copper coins. Claude Frollo: Father of Claudine. Maintains his strict preaching and inflaming others against sin and towards prejudice. But he also tends to lose his inhibitions more and is a regular at the brothels of the Isle late at night. No woman has replaced his lust for Esmeralda though. Claudette seems to becoming close to that though.

Stalyan: Hans’ wife and Lady Caine’s part-time lover which drives Prince Hans crazy. She has her eyes on one thing and one thing only, money and bad boys that make her look good. She has no real ambitions of her own and depends on her father, the Baron, to give her what she wants. Mother of Lars.

Regular Citizens: Citizens that hold no sort of power and are pretty much everyone’s punching bags.

Morgana: Morgana would have been put part of the coven, but her sister, Ursula forbade it. Besides everyone knows that Ursula is far more powerful and talented than her sister. Instead Morgana is blackballed from any real position of respect and takes care of Ursula’s restaurant when she is away.

Marina Del Ray: Since losing her job to Sebastian she has become the Madam of the Isle’s seaside brothels, using the money to spiffy up her gaudy wardrobe.

The Bimbettes: Claudette (red dress) used to be Gaston’s gf but left him after he tried to “throw away” their daughter, Cosette, to try for a boy. She has since then been seen with the likes of Prince Hans, Mozenrath and Frollo. Laurette (yellow dress), the mother of Gastons 1-3 is Gaston’s favorite. Paulette (green dress), Gaston’s official wife is more or less his servant/punching bag and mother to Gil.

Drizella Tremaine: Since she couldn’t be married to Prince Hans, she has settled for being his mistress whenever he and Stalyan have a fight. A thankless position since she regularly bends over (literally and metaphorically) to his will and gets discarded like trash every time.

Lefou and Smee: Live together and own a kinda profitable gun and fishing shack. By far the best parents on the Isle due to their goofy more sympathetic natures.

Jasper and Horace: Still devoted henchmen of Cruella, they serve as secretaries, gophers and all manner of assistance to her. Fathers to Jace and Harold.

Ivy De’Vil: Mother of Diego, is the brains behind Cruella’s beauty designs since she isn’t drunk all the time. Can be considered one of the better mothers on the Isle.

Animals: No explanation needed

Scar, Zira, Shere Khan, Sabor, Benzai, Ed and Shenzi, Tublat, Hista

Couples: Captain Hook and Lady Caine (fight-hate sex rivalry. Child- CJ)

Lady Caine and Stalyan (with-benefits)

Stalyan and Prince Hans (Married. Child- Lars)

Prince Hans and Drizella (affair, possibly Dizzy?)

Mozenrath and Hans (Hans swears it was an accident. Or he was too drunk. Or it was magic)

Lady Caine and Hans (Revenge against Stalyan)

Queen Grimhilde and Prince Hans (One night stand)

Ursula and Dr. Facilier (fling, potentially Freddie and Uma)

Frollo and Claudette (with-benefits)

Gaston and Laurette (Affair/borderline married. Children- Gaston Jr. Gaston the Second, Gaston (IV) the Great)

Gaston and Paulette (Married. Child- Gil)

Lefou and Paulette (Lefou deux, drunken night of pity sex because Gaston’s treatment of them)

Smee and Lefou (Couple. Adopted Sammy)

Ivy De’Vil and Frollo (One night stand. Child-Diego)

Mozonroth and Morgaine Le Fey (Fling)

Clayton and Helga Sinclair (co-workers with benefits)

Queen La and Muviro (Married and dumped. Children- Ranavalalona. Musala, Taytu Betuvira, and unnamed, deceased)

Queen La and Clayton (Fling- Leopold, deceased)

Queen La and Gaston (Fling. Children-Amina and Shaka, deceased)

Queen La and Rourke (Fling. Child- Euware, deceased)

Queen La and Mozonroth (Fling. Child-Sarounia, deceased)

Shan Yu and Sa’Luk (Once- There’s no straight men in the trenches)

[theclockworkkidart]

Radioactive Gems Master Post

As requested by anon. 

The Radioactive Series is an offshoot of the regular Land of the Lustrous canon, in which there exists another island in the vast sea of Earth (as I couldn’t imagine there only being one island?). Unfortunately this island contains the fallout of humans’ nuclear technology that was set off when the Earth was hit. Kind of like the Fukushima Disaster when there was a tsunami in Japan, although the details of what the nuclear site was (weapons, plants, etc) and how it was set off is unknown. However, the radiation and fallout of the island has life, with the focus being the Gems that came of it. 

Resident Gems (from oldest to youngest) currently on the island:

Trinitite (the eldest. Forgetful and constantly anxious/worried)  Chernobylite (second eldest. is prone to overheating and can become dangerous) Pitchblende (eccentric archaeologist/scientist)  Curite (self proclaimed leader)  Ianthinite (records keeper who’s often forgotten) Green Diamond (the Diamond of the group and has an ego because of it) Verrite (nervous medic)  Blue Topaz (the one with the balls to stand up to Green Dia)  Cygnusite (???)  Astrocyanite (astronomer and currently weakest Gem) Ekanite (sh*t disturber) Vicanite (youngest sh*t disturber) 

History

The beginning history is blurry at best as the oldest one (Trinitite) has impurities that cause their memory to falter greatly. The second oldest (Chernobylite) was too dangerous to even be in the same room as and was in isolation for centuries in an unstable mess before finally cooling down. 

From what can be gathered however, 

Mother found the Gems (Trinitite and Chernobylite) and created a residence for them out of the ruined structures that exist on the island. Only Trinitite was kept in there as Chernobylite was too dangerous at the time. Mother teaches Trinitite speech and discovers that Trinitite is radioactive.

Monazite emerges. Sky Guardians have appeared but only in passing. Mother begins teaching the Gems more than speech. 

Thorianite emerges. Sky Guardians have appeared to become more aggressive at this point. Mother protects the Gems from them.

Pitchblende emerges, quickly befriending Thorianite as the two display more playfulness and curiosity than previous Gems. Mother begins teaching chemistry. 

Sky Guardians are attacking the island. Most of the Gems are capable of taking up arms and attempt to assist Mother in fending them off. Thorianite and Pitchblende have started digging up artifacts which Mother mentions that it belonged to the creatures that used to reside on the land.

Curite and Autunite emerge. Mother sees how fragile Autunite is and attempts to develop better weapons to protect them. 

During down times, Mother tells the Gems what jobs they could pick up to help each other and figure things out. She emphasizes helping. 

Ianthinite emerges. Another fragile Gem. Chernobylite is finally cooled down enough to be safe around others.

Green Diamond emerges. Mother comments that they are made up of the hardest material and that Green will be able to protect the others. 

Monazite is abducted. Partially due to Green Diamond’s negligence. 

Mother doesn’t wake up and the Gems are left to figure things out on their own suddenly. There is chaos and panic in attempts to wake her up but all attempts up to the present for them have failed and Mother continues to rest in silence in a kneeling position in her room. Curite takes up the lead and begins to give orders to stop the chaos. 

Verrite emerges. The Gems are left to teach Verrite how to speak and other things.

Thorianite and Pitchblende are able to focus heavily into science and history, theories begin developing on how things work. Texts are found. 

Autunite becomes greatly upset over Mother and towards others, mainly for not being able to do anything. Their consequent impulsivity leads to them being shattered and abducted. Verrite becomes engrossed in protecting other Gems from shattering. 

Thorianite’s focuses lean towards the Sky Guardians now while Pitchblende continues to figure out the creatures of the past. Thorianite theorizes that the Sky Guardians may have something to do with the ancient creatures. They figure out how their weapons work and design their own weapons for the Gems using similar methods. Thorianite recalls Mother saying the Sky Guardians are lost souls. 

Blue Topaz emerges. The second hardest Gem who is able to place the egotistical Green Diamond down. 

Thorianite decides that speaking with the Sky Guardians to figure out what they want and why they’re attacking might have better results than constantly attacking. 

Thorianite is abducted. 

Cygnusite emerges. The Gems have a hard time keeping track of them. 

Astrocyanite emerges. Shows a fascination with the sky, especially the nighttime. Others fear that Astro will become the next Thorianite and be abducted, but Astro’s interest is mainly in the science of the universe. Along with Pitchblende, they develop a telescope prototype that eventually improves over time with each new design. 

Ekanite emerges. Quickly learns speech but otherwise proves hard to control. 

Vicanite emerges. Is the youngest currently and has currently mastered speech. Curite is trying to find them a job and get them learning other things but Vicanite may be more difficult than Ekanite as the two bicker. 

The history might change if other Gems are added (and could be added) it’s a rough estimate.

The Land

The island that the Gems live on is more star or sun shaped, with the Eastern side being where the Gems reside. The Eastern half of the island is mainly desert and harsher terrain with rugged mountains trailing from the west, while the Western half has high sharper mountains around the coast that protect it from the harsh weather so that it can prosper a little more. Most of the Gems are too dangerous to venture into the Western half as they’ve realized that they damage organic life more than it already is if they get too close or touch it. Only Blue Topaz and Green Diamond are capable of spending limited amount of time there without causing damage, and usually only venture there to gather resources not available in the desert or dry beds. Not much of it is explored or known in detail because of this, but it is known that the Valley is overgrown with plant life and some smaller creatures. 

The Eastern half is well known surface wise, and ruined structures from humans can be seen emerging from the ground. Although their original purposes are unknown to the Gems, they refer to several structures by name such as the Residence (three square boxed buildings arranged in a U shape that the Gems live in), the Towers (large cylindrical structures with high vantage points that tend to gather the rainwater at the bottom), the Heavens Observatory (a building close to Residence that contains Astrocyanite’s work with the storage housing in the bottom levels where Ianthinite can be found), along with other structures and landmarks. 

The weather can become extreme, and rainy weather is considered dangerous to the Gems as it is mainly acid rain. High winds can severely impact work so are scheduled as off days. Although the summers can become severely warm and bright, the only one to have ill effect to this is Chernobylite who has to maintain a cooler temperature. Winters are strange as it is also an extreme with temperatures dropping very low and winds continuing to be high, but the radiation kept up in the Residence is able to keep it from otherwise freezing over inside. Curite has tried on many occasions to have work continue during these months but has been unsuccessful. Only Chernobylite is able to stay up as their molten core keeps them warm and gives off light. 

The radiation from the island and extreme weathers are often too dangerous for Sky Guardians (Lunarians) which is why they appear less frequently. This has also allowed the Radioactive Gems to focus on advancement. 

Clothing and Technology 

Unlike the canon Gems, these Gems only have one outfit style. They don’t have shoes or gloves or any accessories except in their hair generally. The outfit is made of (beige) hemp cloth and is rather thick. The outfits are closed by crossing them over the chest and tying it on the right side. This is all due to the Gems not having a fashion centred Gem like Red Beryl so opt for simplicity. 

The Radioactive Gems are a bit more advanced in technology than the canon Gems, as their science is. Their physics and chemistry are probably the most advanced. This is seen in their weaponry, with momentum and far range weapons are used like bow and arrows. They have discovered fire and are in the beginning stages of electricity. This is mainly due to artifacts that Pitchblende has discovered and pieced together. 

Unlike the canon Gems, their biological knowledge is lacking mainly due to not being able to go near it. They are unaware that they contain microorganisms. They are partially aware of a life and death cycle, but biological functions such as eating is foreign to them. 

They are currently attempting to decode the ancient creatures’ texts and why the symbols vary so much, and eventually learning to know what it means in hopes of answers to the meaning of their existence and where they came from. 

Inspiration/Lore/Extra

While canon focuses on Buddhism beliefs, the Radioactive Gems will have more of Christian beliefs. 

This all started because everyone was choosing Torbernite as the “dangerous radioactive” Gem when there are many more. 

Most of the Gems contain uranium and/or thorium. Green Diamond, Blue Topaz, and Monazite are the three Gems that wouldn’t be radioactive elsewhere and contain no radiation in their purest form, but have been irradiated either due to exposure or impurities. Trinitite is technically the non mineral one, as it is glass. Chernobylite is the one based on speculation and is based on the Elephant’s Foot in the Chernobyl plant. 

In the Mer AU, the Radioactive Gems are deep sea merfolk instead. 

These Gems are much fewer in numbers than canon ones. 

[sserpente]

Mischief and Ice (Chapter 2)

Synopsis: Thanos’ cruel attempt to wipe out half of the universe failed and the titan is dead; but his actions came with grave consequences. Tears and cracks in the universe, all across space and time formed wormholes within the nine realms and beyond, giving old enemies a vicious opportunity to strike again. When the Jötuns invade Earth and the Avengers assemble to defend the planet once again, it is the help of none other than the former war criminal Loki they are reliant upon to drive the icy warriors back to their own realm. But then the God of Mischief encounters a young woman abandoned in the cold—your body mangled and altered with Jötun blood, a lab rat to the Frost Giants. He decides to take you with him and nurse you back to health, unable to comprehend the confusing affection he begins to harbour for you.

Find all chapters on my masterlist!

Stepping through a make-shift portal was hardly a problem, travelling by Tesseract or Bifrost had proven to be a lot more draining. The challenge was to put up with all the hostile glares the Avengers shot him like daggers when they caught sight of him, following suit after Thor.

He had to admit, Strange was skilled—he conceded him talent, yet he was hardly impressed. After all, he had been doing this for centuries. Last time, the mortal wizard had merely caught him off guard. Loki would not let that happen again.

“So… Frost Giants,” Thor began with a forced smile, sitting down on the chair reserved for him during meetings almost as if he had never left the compound. Loki simply stood, clasping his hands behind his back. There was no reason to get comfortable around these people. Especially Tony looked like he was going to shoot him any moment and Doctor Strange, joining the group at the table after the portal snapped shut behind him, steered clear of the God of Mischief anyway, fuelling the other’s suspicion even further.

“It’s good to see you, Point Break. But why the hell did you bring Reindeer Games?” Tony interrupted him harshly.

Loki only smirked as he lifted his arms in false defeat. Infuriating them had amused him then and it still amused him now. Nothing was ever going to change about this. He was not fond of his own past, and the reputation his own family had besieged him with. There was nothing to be proud of, not really. But, he had begun to come to terms with it. So what was wrong about having a little fun? A malicious smile worked wonders to hide a wounded and tainted heart.

“Look, Loki is…” Thor hesitated. Why did he hesitate? The world knew by now he was not really Asgardian. The God of Mischief sighed. “He knows the Jötuns a lot better than I do.”

Tony opened his mouth to protest, followed by Natasha raising an eyebrow at him.

“Right… next thing we know he sets them against us.”

This time, Loki actually chuckled quietly, almost surprised by himself. He had fought so much in the last couple of years, survived quarrels with his brother, won against the Goddess of Death and lastly, helped to kill the titan who had scarred him for life… and there was absolutely no reason for him to still bother with all the people who had slashed his vulnerable heart not so long ago; not then and not now. Still… that did not mean he could not vex them when it felt like cooling medicine down his throat.

“You are not quite wrong, Agent Romanoff.” His blue glance wandered over to Thor who watched his every movement with widened eyes.

“What are you saying?” He roared.

“I am the rightful king of Jötunheim.”

The entire room fell silent. One could practically hear them all trying to digest what he had just said. Eventually, Thor spoke up again, leaning against the table in the process.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He stated dryly.

“A long time ago, we have tried your method. Do you recall how your blind lust for battle ended?” He paused, his wicked grin widening. “Brother… do you not trust me?”

Bruce scoffed. “That’s a trick question, right?”

Oh, it was. Never trust the God of Mischief. Loki was curious as to what it would feel like to be trusted for once, yet he felt no desire whatsoever to make up with the self-proclaimed superheroes.

“Perhaps it is about time I claim the throne.”

“Okay.” Tony spat. “What’s your plan? If it involves killing or any kind of narcissistic self-glorification, I’m going to kick you all the way back to Norway myself.”

Sighing, Loki rolled his eyes. Stark was the one talking.

“Please… enlighten me. Have you got a plan? Your metal armour will be entirely useless against the Jötuns, Stark, they would freeze the parts within mere seconds. What is your strategy?”

Steve was the only one willing to reply. Morally, the soldier out of time was perhaps the only one thinking rationally when it came to him. He could not exactly say that he liked him but at the very least, Loki was able to tolerate him.

“We should be headed to Norway right now. If they attack, without us the people will stand no chance.”

“Then what?” Loki probed, clearly unimpressed. “What about the places they have already taken? You are suggesting what has been on Thor’s mind since he first laid hand on his hammer—to hurl yourself into battle and strike where they will be at their strongest. The Jötuns will send their fiercest warriors to Norway, rest assured Asgard will defend it but their leaders… their leaders will hide, cowardly, in the background.”

“How would you know?” Tony snapped. In response, the God of Mischief turned straight to Thor.

“Laufey ruled Jötunheim for decades. The Frost Giants would not take kindly in leaders and commanders changing their utmost principles. I watched them for a long time, learned how they operate, remember? They do not like surprises.”

Bruce raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms with a thoughtful expression. “So what do you suggest?”

“I suggest we take the war where we want it to be.”

They have abandoned their palace and they left me behind to die. Was it mercy… or was it a worse fate they had tossed you into? You had run out of edibles two days ago. Covered in frost bites, bruises and other injuries but most importantly half frozen, you were surprised you still managed to melt the ice between your hands to drink some water.

No. Death would be mercy and yet, you did not want to perish. If only you had listened to your brother.

Come home early, he had said. Mum’s making supper, he had said. You didn’t know whether they were still alive. Your mum suffered from an incurable illness. She was weak, bed-ridden for the most part but she loved cooking more than anything in this world. Whenever she felt energised enough, she would prepare gorgeous and delicious meals for you all.

You should have come so you would be together now. You should have screamed at your boss and insisted on leaving. It wasn’t like you were getting paid for all the extra hours he forced on you… but you still needed the money on your bank account every month, if anything to pay your mother’s medical bills—you couldn’t risk getting fired.

What had happened to the rest of the country, you did not know. Iceland was fairly small compared to other places, the chances there was help on the way were ridiculously little. Maybe they were all dead. Maybe you had gotten lucky.

You scoffed, your breath blowing white fog into the cold air around you. Your will to live was strong but you had long bent to the Frost Giant’s cruel rules, learnt not to try and run away or lash out and fight back. Compared to them, you were tiny, fragile.

The worst part, however, had not been when they had impaled you with their ice cold cocks and filled you with their chilly seed, not the many bruises they had inflicted on you and not how they had made you bathe in a tub full of cold water and ice as a punishment or simply for their amusement but the many times they had injected you with their blood, watching you wither away.

They had told you many things—but they had never told you why they would attempt to break your body. Instead… they had simply done it.

It was short of a miracle you were not dead yet but if no one found you soon, then you would be.

Tony cursed quietly, earning himself a half-hearted scolding from Steve as he flew over the ocean, leading the quinjet to its first destination—Iceland. Natasha had been forced to switch off the routing signals. There was no need to give away their position, after all. What they had on their side was the element of surprise. That, and Loki’s ridiculous but unfortunately also very plausible plan.

Who was he to trust the one man who had caused his PTSD?

Once they had gotten suited up and ready to leave, for none of them wanted to lose any more time, he had stopped Loki with a scowl, grabbing his upper arm. The God of Mischief’s growl had been deadly.

“Why are you doing this, really?” Tony had inquired quietly. “Helping us, I mean. Surely not from the kindness of your heart…?”

Loki had had the audacity to smile—maliciously.

He trusted Thor—and if Thor believed that taking Loki on a mission and putting their lives into his hands was a good idea… he sighed. Loki had hoodwinked, betrayed and fooled his own brother quite a few times. No… it was still a bad idea and he doubted that he would make it out alive without having to kill Loki slowly at some point.

“What exactly are we looking for, Reindeer Games?” He started languidly after they had landed. Natasha was loading her guns—silent clicks echoing through the ice cold air—Bucky was adjusting his metal arm, Steve was fixing his shield and even Thor’s lightnings crackled through his new weapon. They all expected a fight upon their arrival and they were not entirely wrong.

The Frost Giants had left traces. It was almost beautiful. The rivers, houses, bushes, trees and streets, everything was frozen and glittering and glistening in the weak sunlight. Loki knew they must have established themselves a little empire and now abandoned it to hunt their next big prize.

“Look around you,” he explained impatiently. “Does this look like a battlefield to you? It is not. Mortals are no match for Jötuns and they knew this. Anything that is made of ice and moves—kill it. What we are searching for are their headquarters. A place for them to hide while the lower among them do the dirty work.” It did not sound much different from how Odin had ruled. Loki suppressed a scoff. It was a trait the dead king had passed on to his only biological son. He, Loki, was the brains, Thor was only the muscles. Some things would never change…

“So what do we do?” Wanda’s voice cut through the air, her Eastern European accent heavier than usual. He had by now noticed it did so whenever she was upset or nervous. Nothing Loki should be worried about as long as she kept her powers in control.

“We split up.” Thor announced loudly before Loki had a chance to reply. But yes. Working in solitude was what the God of Mischief had learned to prefer when the only person he could ever truly rely on was himself. Besides, upon an encounter with another Jötun, he would not have to dread turning all blue and monstrous in front of the Avengers—they mistrusted him as is.

There were no castles in Iceland, not really. But the God of Mischief, knowing exactly what to pay attention to, soon found what he was looking for. It was an old ruin, a former farm house—and it was the perfect place for starting an icy kingdom. The first of many places to find Jötun guards, councillors or even one of their leaders.

“I found something,” he announced dryly, still getting used to the little headset device that enabled him to communicate with the Avengers. “Stay where you are, I am going in first.”

“Hold on a second, Reindeer Games. What’s your location?”

But he had already turned the annoying piece of electronics off. It would only distract him, especially if he was forced to listen to Stark’s dull voice. Rolling his eyes, he approached the frozen farm house and pushed open the door, not even flinching when his skin made contact with the ice cold doorknob. Then, he stepped inside.

A/N: And so it begins...

If you enjoyed this chapter, would you consider buying me a coffee for the next? I’d appreciate your support so much! kofi.com/sserpente (or hit the ‘Support me’ button on my blog!)

[thedcdunce]

The Question

“For certain questions, sometimes the best answer is no answer at all.” - The Question

Real Name: Charles “Charlie” Victor Szasz

Aliases:

Vic Sage

Gender: Male

Height: 6′ 2″

Weight: 185 lbs (84 kg)

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Strawberry Blonde

Abilities:

Acrobatics

Disguise

Genius Level Intellect

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced)

Indomitable Will

Interrogation

Intimidation

Investigation

Journalism

Dragon Style Kung Fu

Philosophy

Shamanism

Weaknesses:

Lung Cancer

Equipment:

Pseudoderm Mask

Universe: New Earth

Base of Operations:

Hub City

Chicago

Gotham City

Metropolis

Citizenship: American

Parents:

John Grayson; father

Mary Grayson; mother

Marital Status: Single

Occupation: Television Investigative Journalist

First Appearance: Blue Beetle Vol 6 #4 (September, 1986)

Appearance of Death: 52 #38 (March, 2007)

Abilities

Acrobatics: He has shown to be a proficient acrobat, and has used this skill to survive a fatal fall by rebounding off building sides and somersaulting to create more drag. He can get around by jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

Disguise: The Question has and can assume many aliases and has, as he describes, "many different faces".

Genius Level Intellect: The Question possesses genius intelligence and has an extremely unpredictable way of thinking. He can make a weapon out of common objects and often uses his mind to win fights.

Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): Easily capable of incapacitating large groups of criminals and has knocked out trained policemen and soldiers with minimal effort. Vic has shown enough skill to take down two vicious attack-dogs and their highly-trained owner spontaneously, one after the other.

Indomitable Will: His training and lifestyle demanded much determination, and he was rarely known to give up or surrender especially in physical confrontations.

Interrogation: His opponents often fear him due to the rumors of his insanity and ruthless tactics.

Intimidation: He has on many occasions frightened criminals into giving him information he wants, and sometimes resorts to methods that many heroes shy from, like threatening a killer with a chainsaw.

Investigation: He has a superior inquisitive mind and has years of experience as an investigative reporter as well as his life as The Question.

Journalism: Victor was a TV investigative journalist. He had his own show and appeared on local news which sought out conspiracy theories, local crime rings and other violent or mysterious news. His Journalistic techniques were what drove him to become the Question.

Dragon Style Kung Fu: He was trained in Kung-Fu and had exceptional martial arts skills.

Philosophy: A self-proclaimed philosopher, Vic Sage has spent years surviving and understanding in the modern to postmodern world of big city life. He understands the functions of the people within the city and even the city itself on a deeper level.

Shamanism: The Question sought out to learn shamanistic techniques which applied to his city. He used these skills and techniques to "feel" the city and better understand it.

Weaknesses

Lung Cancer: Due to his smoking habit, Vic Sage developed terminal lung cancer, of which he eventually died.

Equipment

Pseudoderm Mask

Origin

When Vic Sage, a television investigative journalist, encountered stories he couldn't investigate by normal, legal means, he donned a special mask that made it appear that he had no face. As the Question, Sage investigated corruption in the face of all danger, leaving a blank "calling card," which, when touched, emitted a smoky question mark.

Childhood and Early Career

Victor Sage was born Charles Victor Szasz, and grew up an orphan who had a reputation as a troublemaker. Szasz prided himself in defiantly enduring the physical abuse of the Catholic orphanage where he was housed. Though he managed to get into college, higher learning did not mellow his violent tendencies. Some time during college, he brutally beat a drug dealer for giving him LSD, which had caused Sage to doubt his own senses under its influence.

After graduating from college, Sage made his mark as a highly outspoken and aggressive reporter with a reputation for obnoxiousness in Hub City. He then moved to television journalism, which eventually led him to investigate Dr. Arby Twain. This particular story would alter the course of Sage's life permanently.

Birth of the Question

Sage was approached by his former professor, a scientist named Aristotle Rodor, who told Sage about an artificial skin called Pseudoderm, which Rodor had co-developed with Dr. Twain based on the notes of Gotham criminal Bart Magan and research into Gingold, the chemical responsible for the Elongated Man's powers.

Pseudoderm was intended to work as an applied skin-like bandage with the help of a bonding gas, but had an unforeseen toxicity which was fatal when applied to open wounds. Though Rodor and Twain agreed to abandon the project and parted ways, Professor Rodor later discovered that Dr. Twain planned to proceed with an illegal sale of the invention to Third World nations, despite the risk to human health.

Sage resolved to stop him but had no way of going after Dr. Twain without exposing himself. Rodor suggested that Sage use a mask made of Pseudoderm to cover his famous features. Disguised by the Pseudoderm mask and armed with information, Sage eventually caught up with Dr. Twain, stopped the transaction, and extracted a confession from him. He then left Twain bound in Pseudoderm in an ironic twist. On television, Vic Sage reported on Dr. Twain's illegal activities.

With his first venture a success, Sage decided that this new identity would be useful for future investigations. He continued to work with Professor Rodor, who supplied the Pseudoderm and eventually modified the bonding gas, giving it the ability to alter the color of Sage's hair and clothing, as well. Vic became good friends with "Tot," who became a mentor to him in both of his identities.

Shortly after debuting in Hub City, Vic Sage relocated to Chicago, IL in order to join the staff of WWB-TV as a crusading journalist. He would continue to operate as The Question there, and would make an ally of Chicago's other resident hero, the Blue Beetle. He would also travel to other cities in the course of his investigations, and eventually teamed up with Batman and briefly participated in the Crisis.

The Question's early crime fighting career was somewhat successful, but his black-and-white moral viewpoint and lack of commitment would soon lead to a turning point for both Sage and his alter ego.

Near-Death Experience and Further Training

After his time in Chicago, Vic Sage returned to Hub City and KBEL television, where he worked alongside news anchor and occasional love-interest Myra Connelly. During a mission as The Question, he was badly beaten in personal combat by the mercenary and martial artist, Lady Shiva, and then nearly fatally beaten by her employer's thugs and shot in the head with a pellet gun. Though he was thrown in a river to drown, Shiva rescued him for reasons of her own and gave him directions to meet Richard Dragon as soon as he was recovered enough to get out of bed.

Following a vision of Batman while in his sickbed, Sage sought out the master martial artist, who retained all of his skill even while confined to a wheelchair. Sage spent a year learning martial arts and Eastern philosophy from Dragon. The training changed and deepened The Question's moral perspective, and the crimefighter became more understanding of the moral ambiguity of his chosen work.

Vic Sage returned to Hub City and resumed his career as The Question with a new, broader worldview, and a belief that crime had to be fought at more than one level.

The New Question

Though The Question had originally established himself as a crime fighter by stopping street crime, his post-Dragon career found him attacking the systematic corruption of Hub City at its highest levels. Hub City was noted as being "synonymous with venality, corruption, and violence," and perhaps even outranked Gotham City as the most dismal city in the the United States.

The Question's work in defending the city extended beyond street crime and into the realm of politics and social justice. He re-enlisted as an ally his former girlfriend, Myra, who had married the corrupt, alcoholic mayor of Hub City, Wesley Fermin, in his absence. He also met Batman again and have the first of what would be many encounters with the Green Arrow.

After spending months running Hub City while her husband descended into mental illness, Myra Fermin announced her intention to run for mayor herself, and received Sage/The Question's full support. Though Myra's marriage to the mayor was loveless, she resisted the temptation to reunite with Sage, but she eventually gave into her temptation and had affairs with both Sage and The Question, whom she did not realize were the same man. When Myra lost the election by one vote, she was elected to the position anyway, as her challenger had died as a result of what was called "the worst tornado in history." However, during her victory speech, her husband, Wesley Fermin, shot her in the stomach for supporting what he called "Communist beliefs." Wesley was subsequently killed during a police stand-off, but Myra entered a coma, and Hub City was plunged further into chaos. For some time, the Question, became the city's only guarantor of justice, though Myra eventually awoke from her coma and assumed her role as mayor.

The gang warfare in the weeks following the election led Sage to a reunion with Lady Shiva, who at first resumed her adversarial relationship with The Question and then became an ally to him. Through Shiva, The Question was able to meet with the gang-leaders who were creating chaos in the city.

Although he had the support of Myra and his mentor, Tot Rodor, Sage/The Question often felt troubled about his role as the city's protector and as a fighter of crime. Reconciling his original, stark, mindset with the enlightenment he had received from Richard Dragon continued to be a source of conflict for The Question, who struggled to determine how far he should go in his pursuit of justice. With the help of his allies, The Question realized that a perverse part of him wanted to know what it felt like to take another person's life, and he managed to successfully defeat his temptation to kill.

Leaving Hub City

Though The Question did his best to contain the chaos around Hub City, he felt himself growing increasingly dark as time wore on. A hallucinogenic trip caused his subconscious, in the form of his mother, to tell him that he would never be able to lead a happy life unless he left Hub City. Richard Dragon echoed this viewpoint during a visit to Vic Sage, when he sensed that Sage was on the verge of a major turning point in his life. Lady Shiva soon after arrived by helicopter to spirit The Question, Rodor, and Myra Fermin away from the city, though she herself decided to embrace the Hub's chaos and remain there. Sage nearly convinced Myra to leave the city with him, but her sense of duty convinced her to remain. Before Sage left, Myra gave to him her only daughter, Jackie, and wandered back to the city alone to meet her duties as Mayor and do her best to stand for what she believed in.

Sage took Jackie with him to South America, hoping to rid himself of his "No Face" alter ego and find a land free of the clutter and corruption that filled Hub City. However, this sense of serenity did not last long. Sage was quickly drawn into a drug war which ultimately forced him to kill a man in order to save Jackie's life. The Question's philosophy from that point changed once again, as he realized that he had no guilt over the killing and would do it again if necessary. He would kill again.

Unfortunately, Jackie would die anyway, en route to her mother in Hub City.

Career after Hub City

After leaving Hub City, Victor Sage held a series of journalistic positions in various cities, while reviving his Question persona when necessary. Previous experiences teaming up with such heroes as Green Arrow and Batman had established the Question in the superheroic community, and he would participate in major events such as the Alien Invasion and Brainiac's attack on Metropolis. Following his abandonment of Hub City, The Question helped protect an Indian reservation alongside Green Arrow and John Butcher. He traveled the United States and would meet Steel and Azrael. He even very briefly became a member of a team, when he joined the L.A.W. alongside his old comrade Blue Beetle and Nightshade, Sarge Steel, Captain Atom, and Judomaster during a disappearance of the Justice League of America, in order to stop Judomaster's former sidekick, Tiger, from conquering the world. On that mission, the Question would also first learn of the mysterious land of Nanda Parbat. He would also return to Hub City several times, and eventually got a bittersweet shock when he learned that Myra had finally moved on.

Following the near-destruction of Gotham City after a major earthquake, the Question relocated to Gotham and teamed with the Huntress, with whom he had a short-lived affair.

After years of dabbling with hallucinogens, meditation, and his mask-activating gas, The Question developed a shamanic awareness, in which he was able to interpret coincidences and thus "talk to the city". In this state, he was also able to sense chi, or life force. He became able to "walk in two worlds" for an increased awareness of his surroundings and of any disturbances in a city's natural order. This ability came in handy when Sage relocated to Metropolis and teamed up with Superman against Lex Luthor and the Psychopomp.

Infinite Crisis

During the events of the Infinite Crisis the Secret Society of Super-Villains coordinate a planet wide breakout of super-villains from every major prison. With the JLA otherwise occupied Oracle with the help of the telepathy of the Martian Manhunter is able to organize a group of second string vigilantes to oppose the escapees at each prison. The Question joins up with these heroes and when they make their way to Metropolis he is transported with the other heroes to fight in what would become the Battle of Metropolis.

52

Following the events of the Infinite Crisis and Batman's disappearance, The Question returned to Gotham City to assume the role of its protector.

His first act was removing the bat symbol sticker from the Bat-Signal and spray-painting a giant question mark in its place. This was not strictly an act of ego, however- he shone the light on Renee Montoya's apartment building in order to get her attention. Three days later, he entered Montoya's apartment and left her an address: 520 Kane Street. When Montoya visited the location, he hired her to watch an abandoned building located there for "two hundred dollars a day, plus expenses," and implied that it would be used by a third party. This mysterious behavior would lead to a partnership that would last nearly a year.

Two weeks and one night later, the two teamed up against a strange creature who entered that building. The course of their investigations then led them to Kahndaq, where they investigated Intergang dealings and prevented a suicide bombing during Black Adam and Isis's wedding, an action that earned The Question the Order of the Crescent.

After returning to Gotham City, the Question learned that he was suffering from lung cancer. Though Montoya immediately had Sage hospitalized and later took it upon herself to transport him to the Himalayan city of Nanda Parbat in the hope of using its mystical properties to save him, she was too late. After suffering through great discomfort and hardship, Victor Sage, The Question, passed away.

Blackest Night

During the Blackest Night crossover, Vic Sage is reanimated as a Black Lantern. He goes after Renee, Tot and Lady Shiva, who manage to elude him by suppressing their emotions, making them invisible to him.

The Question's legacy lives on, however: Renee Montoya has been seen wearing the mask and garb of the Question in Gotham City, and, on an alternate version of Earth, a version of Vic Sage lives on.

[alrightsnaps]

Your dislike for Clarke is inspiring. I haven't watched the show since season 3 I think, but I stopped liking her in season 1, so yah. Raven deserved lead.

Raven had the potential to become the sci-fi female lead.

An impoverished girl that grew up with an alcoholic, neglectful mother and managed to grow into a strong yet kindhearted woman? A downright genius latina mechanic that inspires admiration and respect and saves the day time after time? A disabled woman with chronic pain that simply does not know the meaning of the word give up, because she's a survivor that will always fight for her life no matter what?

She'd be fucking iconic!

Raven is simply too good to be true, and these idiotic writers reduce her to a side character they only remember when someone has to save everyone's asses, torture porn (which is absolutely disgusting) or shoving her with the next insignificant dude that joins the show as a love interest.

But it's not just that Clarke doesn't hold a candle next to Raven of course– though she sure as hell does not. I could handle a character I dislike, we all have one or two of those in every show. It's her sidelining every other character, constantly putting everyone (including Raven and Bellamy that are my favourites) in danger and betraying her people, constantly whining about how she never asked for power yet repeatedly stepping forward as a self-proclaimed leader (and fucking everything up once again) and never ever facing any consequences for her actions.

If you can believe it, I started watching the show more than biased in favour of Clarke. In favour of Bellarke. In favour of Clexa. (you know how hyped up all these are on social media!). As far as I knew when I decided to give the show a shot, it was a surprisingly good teen drama (that many compared to got.... I'm still laughing about that bit) with a badass bisexual lead character. What's not to like?

Needless to say that's....not how I found Clarke. Or the show. By season 3, her arrogance, insufferable entitlement and hypocrisy is so in-your-face I could hardly stand her. (Season 6 is downright comical in that sense, with the writers coming up with a melodramatic martyresque Clarke centred plot to make her come out as the victim, when in last season's finale she sent Raven to get tortured and Bellamy to die in a fighting pit. The lengths to which they'll go to avoid her actually facing the consequences of her actions never cease to amaze me.)

I guess it has to do in big part with how cw shows are in general– no in depth characters that merely serve as puppets to move an action filled plot forward, and zero logical consequence. The 100 feels like watching a Walmart version of the mess that were seasons 7+8 of GoT on a loop. A constant tell-not-show narattive– we'll tell you who's the good guy and who’s the villain, even though our labels don't make much sense as far as the characters’ actions and motivations are concerned.

For example, D&D decide that Dany is the bad guy and start hinting it since season 7, even though her actual actions up to 8x04 directly contradict it. So she's made out to look like an arrogant bitch for not giving some random guy free pass to her resources or agreeing to help him fight some fairytale ice zombies the moment she sees him, her killing enemies in battle after they brutally wipe out her allies is interpreted as some Mad Queen foreshadowing, her not giving North an independence they have no armies to fight for or the skills to negotiate for, is proof that she'll become a tyrant and so on.

And of course the double standards– Dany is mad and too eager to use violence for not mourning her lifelong abuser, killing rapists and crucifying slave masters after they did the same to literal kids, but Sansa and Arya are kweens for smiling after feeding her rapist to his dogs and massacring a room full of people and baking actual human beings into pies respectively. Daenerys shows the signs of a tyrant for executing the men that betrayed their liege lord and butchered their entire House after actually giving them a choice, but Robb barely an imperfect leader for doing the same to Rickard Karstark, without giving him much of a say in the matter either. (The list could go on forever.)

In the same way in the 100 (or in reverse I guess?) Clarke is supposed to be some heroic leader, even though she lets one of her own get executed for a war crime without even demanding (or at least trying to negotiate) that the same price is paid by the opposing side when it comes to their war criminals (especially since this was a war started by the grounders against a group of defenceless teenage refugees in the first place) all to achieve a fragile alliance (btw I'll never forgive the 100 for making me care for Finn McPlainface, whose scenes I could barely watch without falling asleep, but good god, was his death poorly handled. Are these writers ignorant in politics or plain stupid?). After they are betrayed by their ‘allies’ she abandons her people at a crucial time and then.....jumps into bed with the woman that forced her to kill her boyfriend, left them all to die and had her kidnapped (thanks for the quality sapphic rep cw– I hate it). She falls madly in love with her in the span of five days, immediately reclaiming her role as a leader without even asking the actual people she's supposed to lead (and that's just the first three seasons!).

But a hero and a leader she is.

Then there's, once again, the horrifically obvious double standards. How is it possible to blatantly judge your characters based on different standards even within the same season? Clarke can blow up 250+ of her own people to save her ass and nobody even learns about it, much less have her pay the price for her choice. She can literally get into bed with the enemy while insisting on playing leader without asking anyone, and there are no reprecussions whatsoever. But Bellamy’s s03 massacre of an army of people that had repeatedly chased, tortured, killed, threatened and attempted to massacre them repeatedly (and were once again doing that at the time of Bellamy’s actions), will be brought up again and again and again in future seasons because it makes him a Dark Character Beyond Redemption, which the audience isn't allowed to forget.

Or Pike– a refugee that witnessed countless of his own people persecuted and violently murdered by the locals from the moment he stepped foot on the ground is straight up portrayed as shady for distrusting them (never mind Sky people were once again threatened with a massacre at the time). He was literally paralleled to Trump by this hellish fandom (while mass murderer Lexa is supposed to be some Flower Power Badass Queen I guess) and shoved a shitty trope of the xenophobic entitled colonizer, straight up ignoring the show's context (how anyone could make the Skaikru/colonizers and grounders/Native Americans parallels with no shame is beyond me, but apparently some people have difficulty differentiating between colonizers and refugees, as if the two are even remotely close). I'm not excusing anything he did afterwards of course–he clearly went off the rails. My problem is the show portraying him straight up as the Bad Guy for holding actual democratic elections, while the privileged non elected elite that led them to the Mount Weather mess were supposed to be the Good ones. Much like Dany was the Tyranical Dragon Queen from the moment she set foot in Winterfell, because Sansa had prophetic abilities and could predict the clusterfuck of 8x05 I guess!

At the end of the day, I was a fool to trust any recommendations and take a cw show seriously.. if it weren't for Bellamy and Raven I'd be out of this mess loooooooong ago! I'll hardly last this season really, not when every episode is dedicated to praising Princess Clarke Griffin, Bellamy having turned into her hypnotised lapdog with no personality of his own, and her stans constantly attacking Raven for not kissing her ass and *daring* to hold her responsible for her actions.

[fmdmiri-blog]

Hey everyone! It’s your fave, non gender conforming pal, Kim here and I’m back with a second muse. You guys already know me and my other muse @fmdguanting, but now it’s time to get to know this little lady here, Miri. She’s the leader, main vocal and rapper of BEE. Every hoobae’s favorite unnie/noona (is that self proclaimed? Maybe). I have her profile completed, which you can find by clicking on this link right here. I actually didn’t have much time to put together plots for her because it’s my birthday weekend, so this post is actually scheduled to post after acceptances and I’ll get to messages and welcoming the newbies later tonight/tomorrow! And I’ll try to have her plots finished and completed by Tuesday. Now, onto her background! 

She was born on October 1st, 1988. Certified grandma, I know.

Her mother struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and wasn’t fit to be a parent, but no one tried to get her guardianship rights taken away. Her grandparents weren’t any help, and it wasn’t until her aunt came of age and became financially stable that she took Miri in as her own when she was a little girl. 

She’s always held some resentment towards her mother because of the way she was neglected as a child. She doesn’t feel any sympathy towards her whatsoever. 

Singing was a hobby that quickly turned into a passion for her. She had, ironically, gained her singing ability from her mother, and she would participate in school musicals and stuff just so she would have more chances to sing. 

Her mother told her that she had to graduate high school before she started pursuing a music career, so as soon as she finished her schooling, she started auditioning for labels. She was lucky enough to get into BC in 2006, and she’s been there ever since. 

For her, the worst part of the training process was the waiting part. She had to wait four long years before she graduated and it was the longest four years of her life. 

Once she was told that she would be the leader of BEE, she went into grind mode so she could become the best leader possible and take care of her girls. 

When they debuted and were met with almost immediate success, her mother tracked her down and tried to demand money from her. In order to keep things hush and to not ruin Miri’s career, BC paid her mother off to avoid any conflict. 

That caused Miri to see BC in a positive light, until they shipped them off to the states not even a year after they debuted. She was pissed off because she thought (and rightfully so) that they should wait to be more stable in Korea first. She’ll forever be lowkey bitter about the fact that they never fully reclaimed their spot as the top girl group when they ended their U.S. promotional stint in 2013. 

Then one of the girls ended up leaving, which was really hard on her because she had trained with her for so long and they had grown so close with one another only for her to leave without really giving a reason as to why she left. She moved past it after a while though. 

Her view of BC only got worse after a while because they kept stifling her creativity. The other girls were allowed to pursue acting ventures and other stuff, but BC shut her down every time she even mentioned doing something on her own. 

When their contracts were up in 2017, she had already made up her mind that she was going to be leaving and going somewhere else. She didn’t want to stay with a company that wouldn’t let her grow as an artist. BC tried to convince her to stay by promising to let her do more personal and solo schedules, but she wouldn’t budge. Then they decided to blackmail her by threatening to leak to the press that her mother was under the influence of not only alcohol but drugs, and that would’ve ruined her career. So, she begrudgingly signed with them again. 

She was happy with the success of their January comeback ‘Something’, but her happiness faded out quickly when her mother contacted her again. This time, she was clean and sober and had been for a few years. She thought it would be her chance to build up a relationship with her mother again, especially because her mother was treating her so kindly. At least for the first few days, then she brought up the real reason why she was there; money. She wanted Miri to help pay off her debts because the government was after her mom for tax evasion. BC wouldn’t help her this time, so she had to do it herself, or else her mother would blab to the press. 

The stress of an up in the air career and being blackmailed by her mother cultivated in the form of weight gain for Miri. By the time BEE came back with ‘I Swear’, she had gone up a whole dress size and the netizens and anti fans had, and are still having, a field day attacking her for her weight. On top of that, BC is watching her like a hawk and telling her that if she doesn’t lose weight on her own, they’ll put her on a restrictive diet. At this point, she’s frustrated and a little scared because she can’t seem to lose weight no matter what she does. 

Despite all of that, she doesn’t want to stop fighting. Being an entertainer and an artist is her dream, it’s her entire life, and even though she’s not as happy as she could be, she knows she wouldn’t be happy at all if she wasn’t involved in the industry any longer. So she’s pretty much grinning and bearing it and hoping that it’ll pass in due time. 

In terms of her personality, she’s really stern and strict when it comes to her career. The other BEE girls probably hate her because she pushes them to be their absolute best whenever they’re preparing for a comeback. Spends hours in the recording and dance studios until she’s 100% satisfied with the finished product. 

Outside of work, she’s usually friendly. She tries her best to be a good senior to her juniors, and she thinks she does a pretty good job of that. 

[onebadpunchline]

The Bounty, Part 1

There was a new bounty on the board today. It didn’t seem like much. A village near the Elden Woods was requesting bounty hunters to capture a monster that was terrorizing their town. Standard stuff, except for the price. The village was offering a prize of half a million gold pieces for the monster’s capture. Any bounty hunter with a pair of eyes would be scrambling over themself to get that prize.

Shinso was no different.

He joined up with a group of other bounty hunters for the job. With such a high bounty, the creature was sure to be dangerous. Even if it meant that he had to split the money, he’d much prefer to be alive long enough to enjoy his riches.

It was a three days ride to reach the village. It seemed like a peaceful enough town, with a thriving market place and children playing in the streets. Shinso’s group met with the village noble in order to learn more about the job.

They sat in his offensively large mansion at the center of town. The room was filled with fine furniture and art from all over the country. The display of wealth was like a culture shock for Shinso, who had never had so much as two copper pieces to rub together in his life.

“I’m so glad you were able to make it,” The noble professed his gratitude. “The matter of the monster has been troubling us for some time now.” He wiped his sweaty brow with a handkerchief.

“Tell us all we need to know, and we’ll get that beast outta your hairs,” the self-proclaimed leader of this ragtag team said.

“Of course, of course,” The noble nodded. “The beast started terrorizing our village some years ago. She tried to attack us during one of our harvest festivals, but was driven back to the forest.”

“She?” Shinso interjected, curious.

The noble frowned at Shinso, “Yes. As far as we could tell, the beast is female. After the incident, the creature hasn’t left the village. However, she does attack any who travel through the forest. It makes it hard for merchants to reach the town. You can see how this would be problematic for us.”

Shinso held back a snort. For a village supposedly suffering from trade loss, they didn’t appear to be all that worse off for it. Hell, this noble could probably afford to lose a couple of coins.

The Leader nodded his greasy head, “Yes, sir. What are the monster’s capabilities.”

“Well, we don’t actually know much about her, except that she has the great wings and the horns of a devil. We know nothing of her magical capabilities. All of our scouts returned with memory loss.”

Great. Shinso wasn’t comfortable with not knowing the monster’s strength. Well, if she had wings, then she was most likely capable of flight. The combination with horns did trouble him. That sounded awfully like a creature from the Netherlands. No, that would be a problem. Those creatures were far more powerful than any other monster found in this world. Shinso knew that there were still some lurking around after the Great War, but he really hoped that this wasn’t the case. 

After dining and spending the night at the noble’s manor (Shinso slept on the ground. The bed was just too damn soft), the group ventured out into the Elden Woods.

They searched the woods for hours, but the only remotely mystical beings they were able to find were a couple of woodland sprites. Hardly monsters (if somewhat annoying). They searched until the sun began to slip under the horizon, then decided to make camp.

As they all sat around the campfire, the other bounty hunters began to speculate on the creature.

“I hear she’s a hideous old hag,” One of the older men proclaimed. “Some of the villagers said that she’s green with a long, crooked back.”

“That’s not what I heard,” Argued one of the younger men. “I heard that she’s an enchantress, who takes the appearance of the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“That’s ridiculous. Do you even know who the most beautiful woman in the world is?”

“Well, isn’t it princess Fuyumi?”

“The princess. Boy, you must have wood for eyes. The most beautiful woman in the world is definitely the noblewoman Yaoyorozu.”

“Isn’t she married and a mother?”

“So? Life situations don’t hamper a woman’s natural beauty.”

The conversation was boring Shinso. He got up and went for a walk. He just needed to get away from those men. He hated that he had to associate himself with them. But, beggars couldn’t be choosers. 

Shinso didn’t mean to walk far from the camp. He ended up lost in thought, wandering further and further away. He could hear the sound of running water fill the air. There was probably a river nearby. Perhaps a late night swim was what he needed.

Then, he heard singing. A soft, soothing melody. It reminded him of the times his mother would sing to him to calm his fears. Almost in a trance, Shinso followed the melody to its source. 

He cleared the tree-line to find a giant, calm river. The moon shone off of its water, making it sparkle. Sitting along the river bank, with her back turned to him, was an old woman. She wore simple peasant clothing and a bonnet on her head. She was severely hunched over, covering the disfigurement with a shawl. She sang to the woodland sprites, whom danced around her as she sang. Shinso reached for his sword, wary that the old woman was the monster. He took a step back, cracking a twig.

The old woman jumped, turning around. Shinso was shocked to see that she wasn’t an old woman, but a girl no older than him. She had brilliant emerald eyes, and the messy hair that was peaking out from under the bonnet was a darker shade of green, Freckles doted her cheeks, and her mouth hung open in surprise.

She spoke, “Who are you?”

At the same time, Shinso asked, “Who are you?”

She flushed, rubbing her hands nervously together, “I...um...I was...I was just...”

“That was a pretty song,” Shinso said.

The girl blinked, “What?”

“Your song,” Shinso repeated, feeling idiotic. “It was...uh, nice.”

“...Thank you?”

An awkward silence surrounded them. Then, “I’m Hitoshi Shinso. I’m sorry if I startled you.”

The girl blinked, “Oh, no, I’m sorry. I didn’t think anyone was out here.”

“Are you from the village?”

Her eyes darkened, “No, I’m not.”

Shinso was on alert again. There was still every chance that she was the monster.

“You live in the forest, then?”

“...I do.”

“You wouldn’t happen to know of a monster living in these woods?”

She tilted her head, “A monster?”

“Yes...” There was no way she didn’t know. “The one attacking the villagers?”

She merely shook her head, “No, I don’t think anything in this forest would do that. All manner of beast live here, but they’re typically well-mannered.”

She narrowed her eyes, “Why are you searching for a monster?”

Shinso jerked his head back towards his camp, “My allies and I were hired by the noble of the town. He claimed that there was a monster living in the woods attacking people. He wants us to capture her.”

The girl’s eyes widened, “Is that so? I assume that you’re some kind of bounty hunter.”

“That’s right.”

“I see.”

Shinso ran a hand through his messy purple hair, feeling awkward again. “Uh, so I take it you don’t know what the monster is, do you?”

The girl huffed, “I told you, I don’t know of any beast that would attack the village.”

Shinso sighed. Great, he still knew little more than nothing. 

“Do you live here in the forest?”

The girl stiffened, “Yes.”

“Why? Wouldn’t you be more comfortable in the village?” He asked. He added as a thought, convince me that you’re not a monster.

The girl picked at her shawl, “I prefer the solitude. I never really fit in at the village, so I decided to life amongst the wildlife. Besides, it’s easier to collect my herbs.”

Shinso tilted his head, “Your herbs?”

She smiled, nodding, “I run a small herb shop. Grant it, I don’t get much business, but it was my mother’s trade, so I decided to keep the business going.”

Doing something for the sake of a mother? Shinso could relate.

“That’s very noble of you,” Shinso said sincerely.

She blushed, “Oh...well, I...”

“Would you mind if I pay you a visit?” Shinso asked, watching her eyes widen. “I’m in need of some herbs. I’d love nothing more than to visit your shop.”

She ducked her head, “I...yes, I’d very much like that...”

She gave him simple directions to her shop. Shinso committed them to memory. He meant what he said. Besides, the girl was nice to talk to.

“I should probably return to my camp before they notice I’m gone,” Shinso told her, not really wanting to leave.

Her eyes saddened, but she nodded, “Yes, of course.”

He turned to leave, but then looked back, “You never did give me your name.”

The girl flushed, a soft smile spreading across her lips. “Oh, I’m sorry. How rude of me. I’m Izumi.”

Izumi. Now that was not a name he would soon forget.

[rickyriddle]

AnR characters mental issues

Hi there! I made several AnR analysis and for most characters, I ended up diagnosing them a mental disorder or illness. So I decided to do the same for each character. Keep in mind that I’m not a psychiatrist so I might be wrong on certain stuff, but I tried my best to be accurate.

Azuma Tokaku - Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

In the series, Tokaku showed signs of having a PTSD. She went through a traumatic event as a child, which is to witness the murder of her aunt by the hand of her grandmother. It mixed with the words her aunt told her before dying, that she can’t kill because her mother is watching her. The traumatic events mixed with those words and are both parts of her PTSD, which is being triggered by the thought of killing. When she tried to kill Isuke the first time, she froze. When she threatened to kill Kouko, she started shaking. But when she finally remember and understood the cause of it, Tokaku managed to overcome it. Another thing Tokaku might have is Schizoid Personality Disorder, which would explain her emotionless nature and lack of social interest.

Inukai Isuke - Childhood trauma

Isuke experience trauma in her childhood that still has an effect on her behaviour as an adult. As a child, she was highly neglected and have to witness her brother died due to this. Her family was poor and nearly died because of the lack of money. It explains why Isuke is so obsessed with money, it isn’t just because she’s greedy, but because to her money is literally a matter of life and death. Behind that greedy and selfish attitude, Isuke simply wants to not be in the same situation as before or see another person she cares about suffering the same fate as her brother (reasons why she wants to offer money to her adoptive parents). A lot of people think that Isuke is a narcissist, but she isn’t. Narcissistic people care about their image, the way people view them. Isuke doesn’t care about what others think of her. She’s simply a self-centred person who have a high esteem of herself.

If you’re interested in more information, here’s an Isuke analysis I made.

Kaminaga Kouko - Inferiority complex

Kouko’s past and behaviour indicated a potential inferiority complex. As a child, she was bullied and made fun of, and her group treat her as a failure. As a teenager, Kouko seeks positions of power, she wants to be the class representative and even call herself “leader of everything”. This could be a way to cope with her feeling of inferiority (so like a superiority complex hiding an inferiority complex). Her group made her felt like she worth less than the other members, giving her a feeling of being inferior and the need to prove it isn’t the case by asserting her authority and proclaiming herself as the leader. It’s her way to deal with the feeling of inferiority. She could also have a form of survivor guilt, feeling that she should be the one of having died instead of Irena, feeling guilty over her death and again, related to her inferiority complex, believing that Irena was superior to her and deserved to live more than her.

Kirigaya Hitsugi - Pathological liar

Hitsugi lies on a daily basis. Her entire persona is a lie. Acting like an innocent child just to deceive others. We don’t know for how long Hitsugi is an assassin, but since’s the ace of an organization at such a young age, we can assume she was one since an early age. So she was raised and train to be a liar, someone who can trick others. Lying is part of her life, it’s natural for her. She usually doesn’t feel guilty for lying, but she did with Chitaru since she loves her. But it didn’t stop her from lying to her for such a long time. And even after the series, if we view the official doujins KnR as canon, Hitsugi continues to lie to Chitaru to keep her by her side. Hitsugi is a liar by nature and would be really hard for her to stop. Also show low self-esteem after meeting Chitaru, who made her realize how terrible she is, even comparing herself to a bug.

Kenmochi Shiena - Low self-esteem

I’ll start by saying that I think Shiena had absent parents in her life, and that’s the reason why instead of seeking help from them when she was bullied, she seeks help from people she met on the internet. If you don’t feel loved by your parents, chances are that will screw your esteem of yourself. But that’s more of a headcanon so let’s go with canon facts. When she was being bullied, Shiena kind of blame herself, wondering if she did something wrong. Bullying can cause someone to have low self-esteem. If we view KnR as canon, then Shiena isn’t an actual assassin. So we have a normal girl entering a deadly competition with real assassins. Looks like a desperate tentative to feel useful and have validation from her group. Why? To give herself more self-esteem because she lacks it. After being poisoned by Hitsugi and failed Class Black in KnR epilogue, Shiena showed a lot of self-hatred, viewing herself as a failure. It could only be because she failed, but that seemed pretty intense and might be how she usually feel when she doesn’t have her source of validation and self-worth (Collective Dismissal).

If you’re interested in more information, I made a Shiena analysis. It’s kind of old but it explains my headcanon regarding her past with her parents.

Sagae Haruki - Self-Sacrificing

This is not an actual personality disorder, but this is still an issue. Haruki is extremely self-sacrificing when it comes to her family. She put there well being before her, is ready to do anything for them, even committing murder, someone Haruki doesn’t like. She’s sacrificing her integrity for their sake. And it went as far as planning to die for them. But she seems to get better after the series, having a normal job and planning to send her siblings to school, so it’s possible that she overcame this issue. Maybe it’s because of what Haru told her after she failed, and her relationship with Isuke. Isuke could have taught her to be more selfish sometimes and give her a reason to stay alive and take care of herself.

Shutou Suzu - Melancholia

After living such a long life in which she lost all her love and is condemned to continue losing anyone she gets attached to, it would make sense for Suzu to have melancholic tendencies. A depressed state in which she’s sadly dreamy. Missing the past, wishing to be with her loved ones again, keep playing shogi which reminded her of her past lover. Suzu is not suicidal but she does wish to die. She wants to be cured of her illness and dies a natural death like her past lover did. I wouldn’t say Suzu is in deep depression, but she does strike me as someone melancholic. The fact she wishes for death is an indicator of it and the fact she was forced to outlive everyone she cared about.

Takechi Otoya - Psychopathy

Oh boy, this one… I’ll try to not be too long since I’m actually obsessed with that. So, Otoya exhibits a lot of psychopathic traits. Lack of empathy, charismatic, pathological liar, remorseless, deceitful, a bully. I actually don’t think someone who acts the way she does and commit the actions she made can be something other than a psychopath. May also possess psychotic tendencies, which would explain why she’s unstable and impulsive than a regular psychopath. Ah, and also a sadist and erotophonophile (lust murder, the sexual arousal when committing murder).

If you’re interested in more information, I made an analysis of Otoya’s mental condition.

Namatame Chitaru - White Knight Syndrome

Took me a while to diagnosed her something. So WKS, more common in men but can also affect women. Chitaru is a really chivalrous person who naturally wants to help and protect the weak. Just look at how she stuck to Hitsugi, who physically looks like the weakest of Class Black. She also said that she was worried about Haru. Chitaru is taking extreme measure to avenge a person whom she met only once, for the sake of her teacher (to avenge her daughter). Chitaru is a person of justice, chivalrous, who protect the weak and fight bad people (not sure but I think she’s a vigilante assassin). She probably can’t help protecting those she views as more vulnerable and is ready to go as far as murder to achieve that.

Hashiri Nio - Sociopathy

Do not be mixed with psychopathy. Psychopaths are born that way, sociopaths are made. A rough childhood and being used to criminality at a young age can cause someone to grow as a sociopath. Considering that Nio was raised to be an assassin and how she was treated, it does make sense. She also displays sociopathic traits such as lack of empathy, cruelty, deceitful, hatred for others, fake persona. Sounds awfully similar to psychopathy uh? Well, both are actually the same disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder. The mains differences being the source and the fact sociopaths are capable of genuine love and bonding with others, like with Yuri.

If you’re interested in more information, I made a Nio analysis. 

Hanabusa Sumireko - Megalomania

We have here a girl who is obsessed with power an being a queen. Good recipe for a megalomaniac. It's also known as grandiose delusion. People with this delusions often overestimate their own capacities, and have an immoderate desire for power. Can be caused by a lack of affection and low self-esteem, and given Sumireko’s past, she probably felt those two as a child, being constantly attacked and feeling weak enough to make the doctor cut off her limbs to replace them with cybernetic limbs. Sumireko doesn’t want to feel weak ever again thus is seeking for power, which developed into megalomania and the idea that she’s a queen.

If you’re interested in more information, I made a Sumireko analysis.

Banba Mahiru/Shinya - Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID)

This one is actually 100% canon. Dissociative Identity Disorder, also known as split personality. I mean, there’s no need to really debate on it, it clearly shows in the series she has that. DID can be caused by childhood trauma, which Banba suffered. DID can also come with other illnesses and disorders, such as PTSD, psychosis, schizophrenia, anxiety. And through the series, Banba showed signs to possess them all. She has a PTSD triggered by light, she’s disconnected from reality, she hears voices in her head (when one can hear the other personality), and is always showed to be nervous and anxious. This character is the only one I’m certain the author actually made researches about DID to create her because this is just so realistic and spot on.

If you’re interested in more information, I made a Banba analysis.

Ichinose Haru - Autism Spectrum Disorder

This one may surprise depending on your knowledge of autism. I’m autistic myself and I believe Haru is on the autistic spectrum. Most autistic people are introvert, but it doesn’t mean that extrovert autist doesn’t exist. I know a few IRL that are quite extrovert and really social. Autistic people are often naive and incapable of being malicious. It’s also hard for them to mix emotion and rationality. When Haru is being emotional she often acts irrationally, but when she’s being colder and less emotional she can be quite rational. Autistic people can also more easily deal with trauma, and Haru, despite her really traumatic past is still optimistic and positive. She also seems to lack basic social skills which make her kind of socially awkward, like she’s trying too hard. Like she’s being too friendly. Autistic people also often have an obsession, a restricted interest. Haru probably didn’t have the chance to develop one, given her past, but according to her info her hobby is crafting and she did show that she’s fond of that, with the strap she made.

Yuri Meichi - Superiority complex

She may not be in Class Black but I believe she deserves to be on that list. Given her past and how powerful she is (let’s not forget Yuri won her Class Black in 6 days), Yuri probably feel above others, like she’s superior to them. This feeling causes her to have really low empathy for others since she views them as beneath her. She has no sympathy for Haru when she’s having a mental breakdown, she had no issues beating Nio has a child. And if we consider KnR as canon, then she also has a sexual relationship with Nio, which is, considering their ages, illegal. Yuri acts as if she’s above everything, even the law (well she technically is, given the fact her clan control the world) and morality. She also seems to treat others as tools. Some of those are psychopathic traits, but I don’t think she’s a psychopath. She’s most likely the result of her childhood, being a powerful queen bee, she’s just too used to control others which make her feel superior to them and view them as tools.

If you’re interested in more information, I made a Yuri analysis.

That will be all for this analysis. I hope you liked it and thanks for reading. If you have any opinions you want to share with me feel free, either you agree or disagree with me.