#if any ship (between the Sides) becomes canon then that’s completely Thomas’s choice

[strad-214]

Sunday, 06/07/2020 Lightsaber:

The crystal is the heart of the blade.

The heart is the crystal of the Jedi.

The Jedi is the crystal of the Force.

The Force is the blade of the heart.

All are intertwined: the crystal, the blade, the Jedi.

We are one.

 My favorite subject concerning the Jedi Order: Lightsabers, the most iconic weapon in all of cinematic history. Every chance I got—and provided I had the funds—I purchased toy lightsabers, replicas, and unlicensed stunt weapons wherever they were available; I must have at least eight of those Ultimate Lightsabers you could build yourself in Disney World at the Star Tours Gift Shop, I built one every time I went. You could also buy the kits in toy stores once upon a time, then Disney bought them and you could only make them there after that. I have yet to visit the new Galaxy’s Edge, I haven’t been to Disney World in quite some time.

When anyone thinks of the Jedi, in universe or not, they first think of their weapon; the lightsaber is the closest thing to a possession that the Jedi have. It is a direct reflection of their personality, fighting style, and personal beliefs. The lightsaber itself is as much a piece of art as is the fighting styles the Jedi have developed to wield their weapons, and I am only too happy to describe them to anyone at any given moment. Once again, I will be drawing most of my discussion from Old Canon and a little bit from Legends, particularly from The Jedi Path and the rpg game of Knights of the Old Republic and the mmorpg, The Old Republic. I personally find that the New Canon removes some of the intimacy involved in creating a lightsaber, but it is part of the Universe, so I will give it its fair analysis too.

Across most versions of canon, there are four key components to building a lightsaber: the emitter matrix, the lens, a focusing crystal, and a power cell. The emitter matrix is usually made up of a lightsaber resistant material, usually the metal called phrik, and houses the lens. The lens is what the raw energy passes through to form the blade and can be made from various different things such as high yield glass or other crystalline material. The focusing crystal, in old canon, was a crystal compound that was of organic and inorganic matter, the root element of which was kyber. There were several types of kyber crystals, including adegan kyber crystals found on Ilum. In Jedi vs. Sith, The Essential Guide to the Force (JvSEss.), some lightsabers were made using other crystals instead of those that were kyber based such as emeralds and diamonds. There are also some accounts that say you could use more than one crystal, up to three crystals to be specific, in order to form durable and potent blades. The crystal(s) are placed into a housing constructed to conduct the appropriate amounts of energy into the crystal(s). The power cell of the lightsaber was to be installed empty, with no charge. This was because the Jedi building the lightsaber was supposed to use the Force to charge the power cell according to JvSEss. The rest of the lightsaber is up to interpretation, the switch assemble, the emitter housing, the hand grip, the pommel; all these other components are constructed to the Jedi’s specific designs, making their weapon unique to all the others.

image by Chris Trevas

In building the lightsaber, a Jedi would assemble the components and meditate on the mantra: “The crystal is the heart of the blade. The heart is the crystal of the Jedi. The Jedi is the crystal of the Force. The Force is the blade of the heart. All are intertwined: the crystal, the blade, the Jedi. We are one.” As they did this, they would use the Force to telekinetically assemble the lightsaber, fusing the individual components at the molecular level as they went so that their lightsaber would become one entity. They would charge their power cell, align their crystal to the Force, and influence the lightsaber to take shape before them. Now, with a complete lightsaber at hand, the Jedi Knight may dispense justice and protect citizens across the Galaxy. In Old Canon—and according to The Jedi Path—Padawans would come to Ilum with their Master about midway through their partnership to build their first lightsabers. The lightsabers they carried before these would either be training sabers or ones gifted to them by their Masters once they were paired to each other. Now, having had enough training in applying telekinetics and knowing their fighting style and themselves better, they can make their own unique weapon. The Master would leave their pupil in the caves to select a crystal they liked—blue, green, yellow, or purple, not all were available in every cavern— then to select components they liked from the stores on site or build their own components, and meditate on their new weapon. In New Canon, Younglings, not yet Padawans, would join in a ceremony called The Gathering, where a Jedi Master would take the Younglings to Ilum in order to build their first lightsabers. Younglings had a limited amount of time to gather their crystals, as the frozen door to the caverns would melt open from the sunlight and refreeze over time as time grew closer to night. The Younglings couldn’t select any crystal, the crystal had to select them, already being attuned to the Force and attuned to the Youngling. They had to hear their crystal calling to them and face a trial that would teach them something about themselves in order to obtain it. Once the crystal was obtained, the Younglings would return to the temple and ride the Jedi Vessel named The Crucible back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Aboard this ship, a Mark IV Architect Droid named Professer Huyang taught the Younglings how to build their lightsabers and provided them with components. The crystal color would become evident once the Younglings attuned them to the Force.

gif by me, sourced from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vq8N4EAusL4 

I personally favor the version of Old Canon for lightsaber construction; it feels as though it has a lot more room for variety, independence of choice, and application of experience. The Force is supposed to guide our choices, meaning, follow your gut instinct: even if you attract to the role of a Jedi Consular, if you saw a gleaming, deep blue kyber crystal in the caves of Ilum and loved the way it looked, you could take that one to be your lightsaber crystal. Now, Jedi Consulars are known to have green lightsaber blades, but that doesn’t have to be law and it is stated all over both versions of Canon that the color doesn’t define the role of the Jedi, it defines their personality: Blue for those who are active, valiant, and are swift to action in the face of danger. Green for the patient and scholarly, those Jedi who are able to navigate the political battle field as well as the physical one, if not better than. Yellow for the Jedi who walks a fine line between civilian and protector, they often are sent out, undercover to hunt down agents of the Dark Side and are strong enough in their foundations to guard the Jedi from even their selves. Purple is for the Jedi who walks the fine line between the light and the dark, being able to summon strength from both sides without falling to either one in order to fulfill their role as a Jedi Knight. There are many more, but these are the most common. Given this analysis, however, Jedi Master Jocasta Nu, historian and librarian in the Jedi Archives, should have a green lightsaber, but something either made her pick a blue crystal or her crystal became blue (depending on which version you prefer), and that speaks volumes about her character.

In our real world, lightsaber technology is quite beyond our reach. However, in a thesis written by one Thomas William Noel at the University of Washington in 2014, creating a blade of solid energy was demonstrated to be possible. His experiments were conducted to see how a trapped Barium ion would react when spontaneously exposed to a positively charged photon. The result is that the two become entangled and form something like a solid wall of energy. Now, photons are particles representing a spectrum of light or other electromagnetic radiation. A photon carries energy proportional to the specific band of light’s frequency but has zero mass. Yet, when exposed to a specific variety of Barium Ion, the photon acts as though it has mass, acts as though it is matter, conversion of energy into matter without losing its properties of energy, a lightsaber blade. Barium is our kyber and photons are our Force. There are so many more applications far more practical than this, but the science is there. Perhaps, one day… (Source: https://depts.washington.edu/qcomp/pdfs/tom_thesis.pdf )

In the mean time, we have these:

I purchased my current lightsaber from UltraSabers.com; it’s a combination of three different models. The main body is the “Shock LE” model, the emitter is from the “Archon v2.1” model and the pommel is from the “Manticore Model”, the low grade version. The color of the blade is their guardian blue option, the switch lights up blue when activated, and I originally had sound on it. The speaker inside has since broken off when I beat the ever living hell out of a BB-8 piñata with it. This was after a couple years of love and usage. She still lights up brilliantly though… if I didn’t lose the batteries and the charger in a recent move. Between these two deterants and the fact that I’ve been eyeing other lightsabers, I think it’s time I’ve retired her.

I just recently purchased many components from Saberforge.com to construct a new lightsaber with. They have an adaptive saber component collection and their parts look far more movie accurate.

I can’t wait for the components to come in, I already have the emitter from a sale I jumped on ages ago. I like to admire it and dream of a brilliant blue blade coming from the end of it. I ordered a couple different pommels and switches so I can see what I like more on the finished product, but I like the way this 3D rendering looks the most so far. I got extra parts though because it’s one thing to see an image of it, and something else entirely to see it in person. Saberforge has really great stuff, they just take awhile to ship for some reason. So, if you don�� mind the wait, they’re an excellent company to get sabers from. UltraSabers also has really great products, very sturdy and lots of basic looks that you wouldn’t mind it if they got banged up. Like, I love the concept of my new saber a lot, but I know I’m gonna freak out the second it has a pit in the metal because I dropped it or it got wacked by another blade the right way. Unfortunate fact of ownership; these things are meant to be used, they get beat up looking after awhile. If you look closely at my current one, the thing is covered in nicks, smudges, and pits from years of love. And yes, they are expensive. However, for the quality of use, they could be more expensive, and they certainly help you become closer to that Galaxy far, far away.

I hope you gained something from this. Enjoy the rest of Jedi June.

May the Force be with you.

@jedijune​ 

[mossflowermouse]

Second ‘When Christ and His Saints Slept’ reaction post (part one here), covering chapters 11 to 20 aka the bit where I start shipping actual historical figures for the first time ever (other than Wars of the Roses-era people, but that’s different because they were actually married and it wasn’t a ship ship in the same way these are. Anyway.)

Chapters XI and XII:

Annora and Ranulf still love each other :) and they found a loophole so they can get married when Maude's queen! I really should've remembered about that plight-troth. Now a bit worried about all the ways this could go wrong, not least because I'm aware Maude doesn't become queen, but that was really sweet and I'm glad they're happy and things have been resolved (ish)

UGH, GEOFFREY. He's being awful about Maude and Henry's overhearing :(

Between the odd mentions of her here and what little I know about her historically, I'm so excited for when Eleanor of Aquitaine shows up!

Whoops, Chester. Genuine anger and a lack of mercy from Stephen may be a rare thing, but I have a feeling this has crossed the line.

I like it when Maude has interactions with people she likes and trusts - her brothers, Adeliza, and now Brien. It's good.

...okay I might be starting to ship this. 

Oh dear I'm definitely shipping this. It's impossible and a mess and they both (Maude especially) seem like they'd rather be swallowed by the earth than actually admit to feelings, but it's so sweet and they trust each other so much and must have such a long shared history? Help?

And also lbr this is just That One Dynamic that absolutely kills me in every piece of media. The mutual trust, the quiet but unbreakable loyalty, the circumstances making things so difficult for them? This is absolutely my thing.

This might be the first time I've actually shipped people who existed. Like, there were some good moments in TSiS but all with people who were actually couples in real life. But with this, I don't know many of the specifics, I have no idea what happens to Brien and only know slightly more about Maude. This is strange.

AAAAAHH. Maude you can't do this to my heart. You just can't.

Chapter XIII:

I like Robert.

Hmmm. Looking at both sides' chances in this battle, and knowing Stephen gets captured at some point during the Anarchy, I have a feeling I know how this will end.

Why does it feel like the awful déjà vu of this part was intentional. This is making me have Bosworth-related emotions all over again.

Okay, wow, that was all quite a lot to take in. Chester's plan was good, and I'm grateful that he saved Robert; wasn't expecting William of Ypres of all people to flee*; Stephen's determination is also making me remember Bosworth in TSiS; I liked the bit with him and Robert and Ranulf at the end.

Chapters XIV and XV:

Aww, family (Maud and Robert and Ranulf) 

Maude :')

Matilda just found out about Stephen :(

Maude's going to have trouble winning over the people. London's apparently still loyal to Stephen, and their favour was often an advantage in struggles like this war (looking at you, Edward IV)

I'm feeling more sorry for Constance with every scene she's in or mentioned. Things just keep getting worse for her.

William de Ypres just showed up; Matilda is (understandably) furious about the Battle of Lincoln and letting him know it. 

Alliance time! This is one of the things I was vaguely aware of before starting the book, and the anticipation of it has been a lot of fun. Also, I like how honest he’s being here - he made a choice, realised/decided it was the wrong one, and is making no excuses, instead being clear that he wants to try and make things right. The contrast with, say, Bishop Henry’s total lack of self-awareness (or maybe it’s wilful ignorance?) about his moral bankruptcy is wonderful.

Chapters XVI and XVII:

My ship! They're interacting!

HAND. KISSES. My weakness. I know they're the norm and not necessarily romantic at this time but still. 

I am deceased. This ship has killed me and they've only had two direct conversations.

Bishop Henry is possibly about to switch sides. Again. I ought to keep track of who’s betrayed both sides the most times (probably him right now).

It's been four months since Matilda joined forces with William de Ypres to try and save Stephen, I wonder what they've been up to? (They haven’t been mentioned in the novel since then)

Everything about this:

and then THIS:

I love this conversation for so many reasons. Most of which involve Maude and Brien because apparently now I’ve dedicated my life to being emotional about them.

Matilda!!! It’s been too long.

Okay, so based on Northumberland's thoughts:

hmmm, new ship?

they're using nicknames they're being familiar this feels like a Big Deal for people in their position at that time. It’s certainly a level of informality that very few others have in the book so far.

Wait they just mentioned a Thomas Becket. Is he that Thomas Becket? I know his feud was with Henry II, whose reign begins in about fourteen years, so it's possible.

I love every mention of the chronicles. It's really cool having the regular narration of the novel interspersed with little pieces of old accounts.

I also love the little moments like Ypres here and his quiet admiration of/confidence in Matilda.

Chapter XVIII:

Not content to just leave me to deal with my feelings from the last few pages, the chapter opens with this:

Immediately following that last part, we now switch to Matilda’s thoughts about de Ypres? He’s trying to hide his exhaustion and she’s not having it? Literally standing over him to make sure he eats? Fond??? Yup, I'm definitely invested in it now. These relationships will be the death of me.

Stephen listing Ypres as one of the people who he could never expect to help Matilda :')

And he's just found out about their alliance!

The guard saying "No one knows how your lady won him over" before being cut off is just really funny. I'm just picturing all of England in total confusion about how Matilda managed to get this cynical, battle-scarred mercenary's unwavering loyalty after Stephen couldn't manage the same. Just. The entire country, collectively looking at this alliance and going '???'

"I had my own miracle all along. I'd married her!" Stephen you cinnamon roll you're completely right

Maude and Brien Maude and Brien Maude and Brien Maude and Brien Maude and Brien Maude and Brien

:DDDD

...I have become hopelessly obsessed. This book has two ships that are my favourite dynamic. Two. This is turning into Code Geass all over again.

(The dynamic is "mutual trust, admiration and respect; if there are romantic feelings, they might be ambiguous and possibly not acted on for any one of a number of reasons, most of which can be summed up as ‘external circumstances getting in the way’; absolute loyalty through thick and thin; help each other grow and get through difficulty; one or both is probably also a little scarred by the world". Bonus points if they have a long history, or any period of time spent together that’s not fully described in canon and can therefore be speculated about.)

 Chapter XX (and some reflections on XIX):

The thing about recognising Matilda’s habits:

made me think immediately of this post

Hell yeah teaming up to get Chester to leave. 

Ypres just internally being like “oh god I’m actually caring about someone’s emotional wellbeing what is this what do I do”: 

(also “the one man she trusted not to lie to her” is sweet but it’s also kind of upsetting that Matilda’s surrounded by allies and yet knows she can’t fully trust most of them)

my heart???

Some of my favourite ships are the ones where I don’t even know if I see it as platonic or romantic, just that these people have such deep affection and trust for each other and it’s wonderful. This is absolutely one of those ships.

I’ve not written anything about the destruction(s) of Winchester, mainly because this book is once again difficult to put down, but suffice to say that it’s pretty harrowing. Seeing things from the perspectives of Maude and Matilda, who haven’t witnessed this side of the war up close before and are feeling responsible for everything awful that’s happening, as well as Ranulf, who’s similarly horrified and hasn’t seen this kind of destruction before, possibly makes it even worse. Also I love the occasional scenes from the point of view of ordinary citizens – it really makes the wider effects of this civil war between cousins sink in. This may have begun as a personal tragedy for Maude, Stephen and their loved ones, but it’s become a catastrophe affecting so many more people across England, Normandy, Anjou…the fact that the narrative brings in the thoughts of people from all across society in recognition of this is one of the things that makes this book so good imo.

Okay, so I’m getting very attached to quite a lot of these people and it’s occurred a few times that I don’t actually know the dates of death for anyone except Stephen. But because this is history and also the first book in a trilogy spanning many decades and the characters are (as far as I know) not immortal, they’re all going to die at some point. I just don’t know when. There is no way to be prepared for the sadness that this book and its sequels will bring.

OH NO RANULF

At this point he should really just stop trying to break into nunneries. As Gilbert mentioned, it never seems to go well.

Wait, if they’re specifying not to kill Ranulf does that mean everyone else who was with him was killed? FEAR

Okay good there are more survivors

That fire was awful. Although I’m going to keep in mind that Gilbert and Marshal are only dead according to the people outside the church – the narration moved away from them when Marshal lost his eye, so there’s still hope (albeit not much). Also, this really showed both sides of de Ypres – he’s managed to be merciful and ruthless in the same paragraph.

Ancel!

And Ranulf is free, but with a hefty dose of survivor’s guilt.

Awww, Maude’s really openly relieved he’s safe. Robert too.

Gilbert’s alive too! I’d suspected but wasn’t sure. Glad for him and Ranulf that they’ve got each other back.

 *I’d known that he’d abandoned a battle at some point before allying with Matilda, but had thought that referred to his feud with Robert during the Normandy campaign, which was briefly mentioned earlier, so this came as a surprise.

[iinxdecisionss]

MASS MUSE LIST

Note: All of my muses are open to ships (unless listed otherwise), canon, and AU verses. I openly RP with anyone from any fandom. Open to darker plots and themes with any who are listed as OK to do so.

THE MAIN CAST

Holly “Veronica” Fraiz: OC.  Half-human, half-vampire. Dhampir. Daughter of the “Devil’s house”  regent Kraven and Moira the human nurse. Was raised by her mother and  step-father, Roose, in a quiet country-side home that could adhere to  her ‘symptoms.’ When Moira and Roose died in a car accident she finally went to her vampire brethren pleading for sanctuary as she didn’t know  where else to go or who else she could trust with her secret. Though they were suspicious about her being a ‘half-blood,’ they indict her into their ranks and now she trains as an ambassador for the vampire covens. her ability to move about in the daylight is a huge help. Moira told her daughter who her father was but Holly has not told anyone the truth for fear of being judged. She prefers to be called by her middle name,  Veronica. Only those really close to her could call her by her first  name. NSFW ALLOWED.

Selene: CANON.  Corvinus hybrid vampire. Selene is a vampire soldier known as a Death  Dealer. For over 600 years she has fought in the lycan-vampire war to avenge her family who was supposedly killed by lycans when she was still  a mortal. The vampire Elder, Viktor, turned her and gave her the strength and powers to avenge her kin. Little did she know it was actually him who killed her family and when she discovered the truth she killed the vampire Elder and has been on the run with Michael since. Ships selectively. Mainly with Michael rpers but open to other relationship if they are established in threads beforehand. NSFW ALLOWED.

David: CANON. Pure-born vampire son of Thomas and the late Elder Amelia. Progeny of Selene, the current Elder, and rightful heir to the Eastern coven. Going from a rogue to a leader, David is incredibly brave and loyal to his species and  will not hesitate to act on his choices whether or not he stands alone.  David fights when no one else will and goes out of his way to defend  others and puts their lives before his. He is an opportunist and highly believes in resistance when it comes to problem-solving. Views Selene as a mother figure and teacher. He has a lot of respect for her and stands by her on her decisions. NSFW ALLOWED.

Michael Corvin: CANON. Michael Corvin is the human descendant of the Founding Father Alexander Corvinus. He came to Budapest to become a surgeon and was wrangled into the unseen war between lycan and vampires when his blood was proven to be the key to the perfect blend of the species. He was first changed into a lycan by Lucian and then into a vampire by the Death Dealer Selene in an effort to save his life. Creating him to be the first hybrid of the two species. For this reason he is highly sought after and hunted. He is the lover of Selene and father to Eve. (LISTEN I’VE SEEN THE  MOVIE BUT OUT OF PURE SPITE HE IS COMPLETELY AU HERE. WHAT HAPPENED WAS  BULLSHIT AND HE DESERVES BETTER. NSFW ALLOWED BUT VERY SELECTIVE.)  Ships selectively with Selene rpers.

Marius: CANON.  Lycan leader who took charge after the fall of Antigen and it’s  commanders, Jacob and Quint Lane. He captured the hybrid Michael Corvin  and used the hybrid’s blood to enhance himself and give him an unstable amount of strength to make himself immune to silver and defeat the vampires.  Marius is ambitious, cruel, and ruthless. If he forms an attachment to you it can be very hard to tell if he does it out of genuine care or if he sees a usefulness in you and nothing more. He will stop at nothing to give himself all the power he can grab. NSFW ALLOWED.

Markus Corvinus: CANON.  Vampire turned hybrid Elder of the vampire covens. The first and oldest  of the vampires as well as the very son of Alexander Corvinus, The  Founding Father. Markus is extremely loyal and bonded to his twin  brother, the first werewolf, William. Markus was turned into an hybrid  after lycan blood was drained into his coffin. It twisted his genes, his  body, and his mind. When he awoke destroyed the mansion he once ruled  over and set out to free his brother and possibly set out to conquer the immortal and mortal races. Cold-blooded and driven, Markus won’t stop until he reaches his goals. NSFW ALLOWED.

Nara Pickett: OC.  Lycan and older sister of Duncan. Nara was turned as a teenager after an attack and barely survived, coming back stronger than she had ever felt before. When her brother was turned into the lycan’s most hated enemy, the vampire, she stuck by him rather than leaving him for the sun or his own  new blood-kin. The two of them stayed as hidden as they could but when  Nara was attacked by a pair of vampires that almost killed her, she was taken in by lycans who found her left for dead and nursed her back to health. They refused to let her leave and convinced her that she needed to stay with her own kind for her very safety. Ten years later she found her brother but could not find it in herself to leave her new pack, thus she meets up with him in secret now. Not very feminine looking, she is one of the taller and buffer lycans in her pack with lots of scars from fights and challenges. She has won many. NSFW ALLOWED.

Duncan Pickett: OC.  Vampire and younger brother of Nara. Duncan and his sister grew up in the streets with only each other after their parents died during a storm while out to sea. When his sister was attacked and turned he never left her side the whole time she was on death’s bed. Her newfound ‘condition’ was one they  lived with for a few months until a rogue vampire attacked and turned Duncan. Nara came to his defense and killed the blood-sucker. They lived as well as they could for a few years until they were forcibly separated for a long time. Duncan wandered looking for his sister until his health deteriorated and he was found by a vampire patrol from a Mountain Coven. He was brought to a mountain vampire coven where he became the guardian and ‘brother’ to the Queen’s only daughter, Jasmine. Finally Nara reunited with him after ten years but they both found new responsibilities and bounds within their species. Still he could not hate or shun his sister no matter how their species waged war on each  other. They continued to meet in secret. NSFW ALLOWED.

Kitridge Prairie: OC.  Universal shape-shifting human who can take the form of a coyote. She has a checkered past but looks out for others despite. Has a cunning and selfish streak. Kitridge looks young for her age and is rather skinny. There’s nothing she won’t eat due to living on the streets most of her life. It’s hard to earn her full trust but once you have it her loyalty to you is unwavering. Breaking it is the worst thing you can do in her mind and she’ll never give you another chance if you mess that up. She is the adoptive mother of Tamara and Chirin. NSFW ALLOWED.

Lebya: NON-CANON.  Romanian female turned lycan from the non-canon  Underworld novel ‘Blood enemy.’ She is a lycan slave alongside Lucian when vampires kept lycans as their daylight guardians. Lebya is a scheming and power hungry individual who seemed to have an interest in Lucian but only for his elevated status in hopes she would gain some as well. When he ignored her for Sonja, she jealously revealed their relationship to Viktor and instead of being rewarded, she was set on fire, tossed from the castle, and into a river where she presumably drowned. She did not die and instead lived as a lone hermit and wreaking havoc and revenge on both the lycan and vampire races as her hatred for them was that strong.  NSFW ALLOWED.

Tamara and Chirin: OC’s.  Pureborn Lycan twins of an unknown lycan male and a lycaness consort, Tathe.  Tathe did not want the children but could not leave them to die so she enlisted an old acquaintance she knew could be trusted to raise them away from their sociopath father. The children live quite differently from others of their kind with only their adoptive mother in a cottage with woods to run and play in. Tamara can display her mother’s hard-set temper and arrogance while her brother is more soft-hearted. Both are still children. Ages can vary depending on verse. NO NSFW.

(I say unknown father because it brings so much more potential for possible angst and drama in threads. Let me know if you’re interested in tossing a male muse into this mix.)

Damien and Mischala: OC’s. Half lycan/half human twins born to Quint Lane and Petra Nikonova. Petra is an OC who belongs to @silencedsonatas. These two have two verses that could work.

1.  Before they were born their mother escaped the from the den their father was holding her in and gave birth to them with Kitridge to help her. Petra left them with her and never looked back.

2. They were  born into their father’s hands and Petra was let go (or escaped) seeing as she served her purpose and gave Quint what he wanted. In this verse they would be raised by him. Damien looks the most like his father but has lighter hair like his mom. He is overprotective of his twin and keeps an eye on her at all times. He can act rough and talk loudly but he doesn’t really have it in him to be cruel like his papa. When he play-fights he always does so to win but will purposely hold back with Mischala. His sister inherited more of her mother’s looks but with her father’s hair. She is more quiet and clever than her brother. She has a sweeter disposition but will sink to very petty levels to get what she  wants. NO NSFW.

                                                        ——

                                    SECONDARY CHARACTERS

These  are characters I have newly made or do not have the strongest muse for.  Nevertheless if you want to rp with one just drop me an IM!

—————————————————————————————————————————

Kassa Decaro: OC.  Pureborn vampire of lowborn vampire parents. The only daughter of Kavek and Kassandra Decaro. Kavek turned Kassandra after the two fell in love and she gave him a single child that they raised for up to three years before the Purges threatened their livelihood and they left their child with Kassandra’s mortal sister in an attempt to keep her safe. An aging woman named Sheila who knew of her sister’s condition as the two of them were the only family they had left since their parents died. Kassa’s parents were killed days later and Sheila raised her niece as well as she could up until she was 12. When the Feds began door-to-doors once again Sheila rushed Kassa out and searched tirelessly until finding a group of vampires trying to reach a safe haven. Sheila begged them to take Kassa and raise her among her own. Sheila was killed for distracting and ‘betraying’ the mortal authorities. Kassa is played  as a 14-16 year old. NSFW NOT ALLOWED.

Vestor: OC. Coven librarian and considerably one of the largest and most big-boned vampires you will ever lay eyes on. He fits well into the ‘crusty and grumpy ol’ pouter’ who will break your bones if you so much as get a smudge on the dusty pages of his books. Vestor is of an unknown past and age and refuses to discuss with anyone, even the  Elders. He always seems to hold a grudge but no one truly knows to who or what excactly. NSFW ALLOWED IF YOU ARE INTO REALLY OLD AND GRUMPY GUYS.

Andreas Tanis: CANON. Vampire historian and bibliophile. Tanis is a very intelligent  and resourceful vampire who was sent away in exile from the covens after  recording what the Elder Viktor called “malicious lies.” In reality he  may have been telling the truth. He is quite old and knows much about  the vampire/lycan wars, how they started, what spurred them on, and all those guilty parties involved. NSFW ALLOWED.

Abigail Whitaker: OC. Universal mortal serial killer based off a dream. Abigail grew up with a mentally ill mother and a father who was not home very often. Neglected and malnourished, she grew up skinny and with stunted growth. Very lonely at home and in school when she managed to make it. Abigail enjoyed finding dead things and taking them apart carefully into little pieces. At first she only focused on animals but one day she discovered her first dead body and managed to drag it into a shed where she went back day by day to take it apart. One night a thief broke into the house and she killed him after he had taken her mother’s life. The girl’s own mental state was not quite right afterwards. NSFW ALLOWED. Darker themes encouraged.

[darknessfactor]

DOTO Thoughts

Spoilers below.

Game, I dub thee, “the game that had some cool ideas and a lot of potential and absolutely wasted all of it”.

I’m going to start with the bad, just to get it out of the way.  Bullet points are acceptable, yes?

Billie was given very little motivation of her own, taking her cues from Daud instead and making the game about him when it should’ve been focused on her.

People have already done a much better job of explaining why Billie and Daud’s motivations make no sense than I could, but anyway, their motivations make no sense.

The level recycling was a bit exhausting.

The scene where the Outsider shows up and takes Billie’s arm and eye is... very violent.  And I don’t necessarily mean that in the way you might be thinking, but I think it’s important to note that the Outsider, who has never shown any inclination to touch anyone before, suddenly manhandles Billie and essentially forces her powers on her.  There are some uncomfortable implications that go along with that, especially when you consider that he gave the Dishonored 2 main characters a choice, but not Billie.

The lack of the chaos system.  The game doesn’t have the stakes of the previous game, and it damages Billie’s character development immensely to have her be able to kill people indiscriminately without any consequences.

“Daud never stopped killing.”  This makes absolutely no sense to me, because the fact that he canonically let Billie go would mean that he would’ve had to be low chaos in Knife of Dunwall.  But according to Thomas (I’m assuming that was Thomas), he’s still the same assassin?  Sure, game.  Sure.

Missing pieces of lore.  Sure, killing the Outsider/turning him human renders him unable to give magic to people, but the game doesn’t explain what happens to those he’s already marked (of which I’m pretty sure the only one who’s left alive is Emily).  

Apparently Arkane has decided to stick with their insistence that all witches are evil.  Great.

Now, here are the things that I thought were interesting, or had potential, but didn’t end up going anywhere or were underused.

Billie’s connection to the change in time at Stilton’s manor.  Obviously this is important, as it’s the reason for her nightmares and the reason why she can see all the hollows, but for some reason the game never does anything with it.  Billie never expresses any interest in finding out why she has the dreams, and she never gets to find out that the reason she loses her eye and arm is because Emily went back in time and saved Aramis Stilton.  I personally think that the main plot of the game should’ve been about her figuring this out, but that could just be my fanfic getting to me.

The juxtaposition of Billie and the Outsider.  Again, the game had some interesting moments where it’s pointed out that the Outsider and Billie have gone through similar experiences - of not having a choice, and of undergoing childhood trauma.  It could’ve been a fascinating parallel throughout the game, except that it’s ruined almost immediately by - you guessed it - the Outsider not giving Billie a choice in accepting her powers.

And honestly this one upsets me on a personal level, because I love both characters and I love the idea that there was this connection between the two because of their similar experiences, and also because they’re both able to see the world in ways that ordinary people are not, but again: the game did nothing with it.

The relationship between Billie and Daud.  There was no tension between them at all.  I feel like there should’ve been some initial wariness and even some animosity between them at first - after all, it’s been fifteen years, and the last time they saw one another Billie had betrayed him.  They shouldn’t have just been like, “Yeah, it’s all good, let’s just do our thing.”  I expected more there.

The Eyeless.  On the surface, just another nut-job cult, but more insidious than they appeared.  But again, Arkane could’ve done a lot more with them.

There was the whole thing about Delilah’s witches joining the Eyeless after Delilah was overthrown, and it was clear that the witches had contempt for their fellow cult members.  To them, the Eyeless were just a bunch of wanna-bes.  Arkane could’ve taken this plot and run with it, could’ve turned it into an eventual civil war within the cult, could’ve given the player the ability to manipulate both sides - it would’ve been the perfect example of how it’s the choices we make determine our fate, because in the end the cult would have self-destructed.

I think, in general, I think that this game should’ve been about Billie taking down the cult, not the Outsider, because the cult is poisoning Karnaca from inside.  The game showed that the Eyeless are at every level of society; uncovering it would’ve been a way for Billie to continue her story, but I guess Arkane wanted to capitalize on the Outsider.  We know that the Eyeless are pretty terrible, and if Arkane had really wanted to get the Outsider involved, then you could make saving him an optional action at the end of the game.  At any rate, doing this would remove the issue with terrible motivation for Billie and Daud.

The ‘choice’ theme.  At least, I think Arkane wanted this to be a theme.  The Outsider talks about Billie having a choice, his whole creation revolved around him not having a choice, human beings are the ones who make their own choices, etc.  Once again, this is ruined by:

The Outsider not giving Billie a choice at the beginning of the game.

Billie basically being a robot who follows Daud’s orders, instead of choosing to help him for her own reasons.

And now, the things that I liked:

On a very superficial level, I like the non-lethal ending.  Yes, I am aware that realistically speaking, the Outsider will probably die within a few weeks because of his lack of real life experience, but I’m instead going to headcanon that he ends up living at Dunwall Tower as an advisor, becomes the biggest advocate for environmental awareness and reform in court, and adopts a lot of cats.  Like, a LOT of cats.  And names them after his marked.

Billie’s attempts to write a thanks-but-no-thanks letter to Emily killed me.  KILLED ME.  And yes, that’s almost entirely because I ship them.

The hollows were cool.  Kinda pointless, but cool, nonetheless.

It’s still fun to play.  If you completely ignore the character development and the plot, then you can still have a blast.  Billie’s powers are great, the exploration is fun, and the puzzles are still fun to solve.  

Those rare moments when Billie actually seemed like a person - “A secret knock?  Really?”  and “Cryptic little shit.”

The little tidbits of what happened to the Dishonored 2 characters.  I love that Billie keeps newspaper clippings about Emily and Sokolov.

Worldbuilding and the overall aesthetic was still pretty cool.

As you can, based on the above... the things I like about the game are not the things that are important to me in a game.  I can forgive a game with a nonsensical plot if the characters are still interesting and engaging (*coughLightningReturnscough*), but Death of the Outsider couldn’t even be bothered to do that.  Instead, most of the characters fall flat, and for the first time in my life I’ve found myself playing a game purely for the gameplay.  I haven’t seen a mess this bad since the KOTET expansion from SWTOR.

It wouldn’t be accurate to say that I’m upset.  After learning about That One Writer, I expected something like this.  But I am angry.  I’m angry on behalf of the people who are fans of Daud (even if I’m not one), and I’m angry as a fan of Billie.  And so, I will do as I have always done: I will turn to my fanfiction, ignore canon, and move on.

(But make no mistake, I’ll be low-key bitter for a while.)