#I hate than people called her weak and ooc for considering the terms

[alicentflorent]

No one can blame Rhaenyra for wanting to go with Alicents terms. Her sons would be taken care of and as a mother who just tragically lost one child and hasn't even had a chance to let her body recover from Visenya’s stillbirth. Ff course she’s going to want to save her children over going after power. It did not make her weak or passive, she wanted to avoid war and the risk to her family and the realm and if anything it shows who she is as person and who she could have been as a queen but once she loses another child, in a horrible way at the hands of her brother all bets are off and she’s ready to go full ruthless Targaryen warrior.

[hall-of-merlin2]

Magic, Monsters and Merthur - 1x03 - (Magic)

Been a while, hasn’t it?

Alright so I totally forgot to post the two other parts for this episode. I just put so much into the Merthur part that I... kind of got sick? Blergh, that was awful.

Magic is way more fun! A little recap.

Two prophecies for the world, we got the bad timeline. Magic is a living Being that blessed humans, but humans didn’t like that it didn’t give them god-like powers over all of nature, so they made their own blessings purely out of spite and they fought something that shouldn’t even be fight-able, or even like... physical, and won.

What the Episodes taught us.

1x01 - Teleportation is a thing, but is apparently complicated. Veil spells - covering ones form with a look that deceives human eyes, but not the world. Dragons were so fancy they re-purposed Druidspeak to turn it into Dragonspeak - a similarly echo-y way of communication. Imagine snapping your fingers to a tune and doing magic at the same time. A dream scenario, but nothing to confirm such an amazing possibility. Merlin is resistant to sleep magic, or in other words, enchantment magic (Stuff that puts people under a spell, different from amulets that put people under a spell.). Amulets can be shattered - they can break under a certain amount of force applied and the spells they were keeping alive break at the same time. Quite a useful way to render a sorcerer harmless.

1x02 - Human lives are not higher than those of animals - I refuse to accept anything else, and I made up a whole theory of how the Cup of Life doesn’t take lives, just life-force, which every living being has, to continue my theory. Which means that any life is worth another’s life, even a flower’s, and making dead material into living things is a trend that just keeps going.

Let’s see what bullshit the afanc can do!

<_><_><_>

<_><_><_>

00:40

(Wow thanks subtitles…)

Anyway if you’ve heard it, then you know it’s similar to what Merlin used to revive stone. So it’s the same spell with little variations depending on what material you’re using.

Apparently, I WAS A GODDAMN FOOL FOR THINKING THAT.

I was going to somehow find the spell that Nimueh used here and then put it through a translator to see what it meant, but some very dedicated people on the wiki have already done that for me.

Yes, there is a Merlin Wiki, there’s a wiki for everything but I was just shocked how much information it held on everything…

And… The only difference is Nimueh calls the afanc “ancient” or “old” and Merlin just skips that and tells the stone to wake up already (as you do).

It WOULD have been fun if there was ONE spell that made DEAD material ALIVE, but it CHANGED based on what MATERIAL you USED.

But no. Clay is more ancient than stone. That’s all.

*Writes this down on “Reasons I’m adding to the magic”*

<_><_><_>

01:45

Those rocks look familiar.

Because of that… not even fact, I used to think that Nimueh was just hiding out in one of Camelot’s deepest caves, very far away so no one could find her. Dumb idea, but imagine how many creatures would reside in these caves if they really were that large? Unending magical creatures attacks from somewhere underneath Camelot and the knights having to storm some “stronghold” of the creatures – that’s a whole episode!

<_><_><_>

16:36

Yeah… I’m not gonna try to explain how the hell healing spells work. Mostly because… I’m not sure the sorcerers know themselves.

Are there magical herbs at all? Or are simple herbs given better healing qualities through the use of magic? Are the herbs there as a placebo and healing magic doesn’t need anything but the incantations that all other magic needs?

There is one type of healing magic that I CAN explain, but that’s… Oh boy that’s in another season, and only relevant there.

But does any of this matter, really? Should we just accept that spells are spells and leave it at that?

I wanna leave it at that. It’s way more fun just thinking of what ways those spells can be used.

(I know that the whole point of this part of the re-watch is to try and fill in the gaps that the show left, but... Spells and what they do have always been iffy for me. I don’t like them, I don’t even know why. I like “silent” spells, or magic that you can do without speaking, I actually have no good reason for why I like that more and hate spoken spells and spells with rituals and specific materials.

Oh wait I did say why I hate them... But who read that rant anyway?

Not me, apparently.)

<_><_><_>

33:25

Oh no this line spiraled yet another theory.

This is taken from my “Too many reasons to hate Kilgharrah”, a book that I’m not sure when I’ll release since paper is scarce.

(I also think that everything Kilgharrah does is to somehow manipulate Merlin and get him to trust him.)

(Oh and assuming innocent and meaning-nothing lines have actually incredible meaning and are definitely hiding something is… The basis of this whole theory, I’m only staying in-character.)

***

Kilgharrah already knew of the afanc before Merlin came to him. Yes, you could say that Merlin hadn’t come to him before, so his advice on how to defeat it isn’t just another attempt to get the warlock to rely on him, but how did Kilgharrah know? If the dungeon he’s trapped in is connected to the other dungeons and the one Nimueh is doing her thing in, and the chain is long enough for him to reach and see her, why didn’t he call Merlin the moment he found out? A creature of his knowledge knows what the afanc does and he knows Camelot is in grave danger, what was he waiting for? For someone important to Merlin to die? Was he just petty and thought that half of Camelot getting destroyed was funny? What if it would have deterred Merlin further from him, make him leave Camelot, did this lizard really not think of that? Did he want Nimueh’s plan to succeed? Does Kilgharrah feel any kind of attachment to Nimueh? She is of the Old Religion. Maybe he feels that they are kin and he doesn’t wish for her plan to fail.

And if this has nothing to do with Nimueh at all and he doesn’t even know she still exists, then what reason would he have to withhold information? If he felt the afanc moving through the water, why didn’t call to Merlin and warn him? No excuse.

But when Merlin comes by, he has no choice. He tells him how to beat the afanc, but says nothing about Nimueh. He probably knows that she’s smart and she will see what Merlin is capable of and… who knows what she’ll attempt next.

Kilgharrah is willing to bet she doesn’t want to kill Merlin.

(ALSO MERLIN COULD HAVE KILLED THE AFANC HIMSELF, BUT OF COURSE, LET’S TRY TO HAMMER HOME THE IDEA THAT HIM AND ARTHUR ARE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING TOGETHER EVEN MORE SO MERLIN COMES TO TERMS WITH THE IDEA THAT HE HAS TO BE A SERVANT ALL HIS LIFE.)

***

That bit about Nimueh being of the Old Religion and Kilgharrah sort of… being an accomplice of hers, it…

It made me think that the dragons and the Old Religion used to be connected.

And with how Kilgharrah manipulates Merlin and then how Nimueh is a slave to prophecies – that’s probably because the dragon told her of the prophecies.

I think that the dragons used to rule over the members of the Old Religion.

Why not, right> Dragons are powerful, they’re knowledgeable, why not turn a few puny humans to their side? It would help to know more things, and it would stroke their egos just a bit more.

I’ve literally no basis for this idea, but knowing that Dragonlords exist, it makes you think.

Why would dragons allow/need humans to speak to them? I honestly don’t think that Dragonlords are natural. Commanding dragons? Humans? What about eggs hatching? Why the fuck couldn’t an egg just… hatch like all other eggs do? How is a dragon’s soul equal to a human’s – the two don’t even have similar magic among them! Their bodies decay differently, their thinking is different, how can the two’s souls be considered brothers if the human part of the soul retains no memories of past reincarnations? It’s like it’s a new soul, and the thing that’s actually passed down after death (HOW COULD IT BE A SOUL THAT’S PASSED DOWN IF A PERSON WAS PERFECTLY FIND WITHOUT THIS QUESTIONABLE GIFT UP UNTIL THEIR FATHER DIED?) is just a type of magic. A very specific type of magic, that’s coded to only be passed down this way, and to work in the way that it’s described – a dragon’s soul is felt like that of a sibling’s.

I think… I think that Dragonlords were a thing created by the Old Religion sometime after dragons tried to rule over them. This caused the tables to turn, and suddenly the Old Religion had knowledge of the Draconic prophecies, which Nimueh actually seems to follow.

This is far-fetched, obviously. The two prophecy sets were far-fetched. But I’m nothing if not a stubborn believer in going big or going home.

And oh boy the documents of text for each episode each have like… 5k+ words. It doesn’t count the screencaps, otherwise, the character number would be in the hundred thousands.

I am not even halfway of going big.

<_><_><_>

35:25

So the afanc is a beast born of clay, needs considerable power to be conjured, and we all know Merlin has enough power to do that so the stone-resurrecting is not ooc. Exudes some sort of toxic waste from its body that drains the life force of everything that has any (which is everything, apart from non-organic stuff – includes glass, stone, rock that formed incredibly long ago and leather, etc.), but it takes a few days for it to finish what it starts in the first burst of draining. It is defeated by using fire and wind, the two of the four base elements the afanc isn’t made out of.

(We never heard of elements again though. There are some fire spells, but if this type of effective-against-one-weak-against-another thing is going on, then certain alchemy is conducted every time you cast these spells. Water extinguishes fire, fire eats up wind(oxygen), wind… erodes? Earth?, earth… Yeah no, it’s the other way around. Water extinguishes fire, fire scorches earth, earth… takes over wind? Doesn’t leave space for it to move? And air just carries water around so the little droplets get separated and can’t form something stronger. Yeah, that sounds better.

The other way around is empowering then, I guess. Or… making different elements? Wind picks up the earth, making it more impactful in the air current,  earth… turns into… lava… because of the heat? Fire… makes water vapor? And water… gets inbetween the air and also makes it more impactful? I don’t know… NOT ENOUGH INFO DAMMIT. AND THAT’S SAYING SOMETHING SINCE I’VE SPUN AN ENTIRE NEW UNIVERSE FROM LIKE 2 EPISODES OF THIS SHIT. THIS IS DISAPPOINTING LEVELS OF LOW INFO.)

<_><_><_>

The Merthur

The Monster

[gallantgautier]

Ooc, what are Sylvains most positive traits and strengths?

ooc: I’m so sorry this took me forever to answer, I got distracted. And when the mun gets distracted they forget about things sitting in their inbox. But considering the sheer amount of Sylvain angst I’ve been writing, both in threads and in meta, I feel now is a good time to get into this. Under a cut that I stealth edited in because this got long.

Strangely, this topic is actually a little harder to talk about than his flaws, and it probably has a lot to do with the fact that those flaws are so deeply intertwined with the positive aspects of his character that, as far as examination goes, they get overshadowed by the act of actually unravelling his personality to get to them, it’s what makes Sylvain such an interesting character, really.

That, and I think one of Sylvain’s biggest strengths of character is that, despite it all, despite his disillusions, insecurity, bitterness and inner conflict, he doesn’t let it completely consume him.

Let’s briefly touch on a big aspect of Sylvain Meta I have been focusing on a lot lately, both in previous character examinations and in my head because damn if the bug hasn’t bitten me hard. I won’t get too much into it, there’s a whole lot over here if you’re interested, but it focuses on the negative and that’s not what we’re doing today.

Miklan.

All that stuff considered; it would be so easy for Sylvain to hate Miklan. (He says he does. He doesn’t.) It would be so easy for him to hate the world, and I suppose he does in a way. He hates the world that’s put so much stock into Crests and those who bare them. In general, it would be so easy for Sylvain to hate everything and lash out.

Yet he doesn’t.

Now, an argument can be made that he lashes in, and he does, in a big way. It results in his interactions with people – mainly women – being fake. It results in his lack of trust in people in general, evidenced in that, if we don’t include Byleth seeing as they can reach S rank in all their supports across avatar gender choice, Sylvain only has four supports that go higher than B. Only two of those go to A+, and they’re both with people he’s known all his life.

And yet, Sylvain is very genuine in his friendships. Sure, there’s a colouring of playing around, and while he may not fully trust other people in his life he calls friends and may never let them see the person underneath, he cares and it shows.

I present to you exhibit A; his support with Bernadetta.

Now, this is a subject we’re probably all close to, receiving praise for your writing is forever going to be awkward, but we can see in this conversation that he isn’t just saying “Yeah! This is really good!” Sylvain makes a point of highlighting the details he enjoyed, and more importantly, why he enjoyed them. He also states in his letter that he hopes he inspires Berie to write more, and when we consider how little Sylvain thinks of himself, it’s hard to imagine that he’d think of his opinions as ‘inspirational.’ We can conclude, then, that Sylvain is sharing his thoughts not because he thinks anyone would be interested in hearing them, rather that he thinks having them heard will help.

Let’s move on to his second positive trait. He’s very insightful.

Now, we all know he’s smart, way smarter than he’d like to let anyone think. We see this easily in his supports with Annette, not just how easily he understands the text she’s studying, but also his recognition that the formula is over-complicated. It’s proof that he really does understand the subject and hasn’t just memorised it.

But that’s a display of his intelligence, not insightfulness, that comes later in the support with “Guys like me who hate hard work and sorta get by on our wits? It all falls apart eventually.” Now, I suppose this is a somewhat weak example, as it’s more self-awareness than insight, still, I do think it’s a bit of both, to know that he can’t just get by on luck forever.

Still on this topic, but in radically different context, I’d like to point your attention to Sylvain’s support conversation with Dedue, where he comes to the conclusion that the people of Duscur are innocent. Now, Three Houses intentionally halts certain supports from progressing if they contain story spoilers or if they require certain events to have occurred before them, either because the support itself references those events, or so that the player has context to understand the gravity of what happens in the support.

As such, this statement from Sylvain can happen incredibly early in the game, and potentially is one of the first occasions where a student alludes to a third party pulling some strings. Now, Sylvain doesn’t go that far in his conclusion, doesn’t even have a conclusion, really. But the fact that he even questions it, that he’s looked at the evidence and found that something doesn’t add up, speaks for an insight that, so far, I haven’t really found in the “supporting cast” for lack of a better term.

The final positive trait I want to bring up, one that he doesn’t attempt to hide because honestly he has no need to by virtue of the reasoning I’m about to get into; how important promises are to him, how lightly he doesn’t make them, and how he keeps every single one. He doesn’t hide this simply because it’s a rare occurrence that only happens around people he trusts.

I’ve trawled through Sylvain supports, the word “promise” comes up a grand total of 13 times across all 17 characters (that’s a total of 42 separate conversations.) You’d think for a guy who is personified as being a cheat would make a helluva lot of empty promises, wouldn’t you?

That number isn’t even accounting for the fact that half of the time in these supports, it isn’t even him saying the word.

Let’s discount one of these right off the bat. He says it, but it’s to Hilda, and half of it is a joke, where he tells her to “stop lying, take responsibility, and fall madly in love with him.” He asks her to promise him these things in exchange for forgiveness for taking a tongue lashing from the librarian that was meant for her. None of this is overly important to my point, save the fact that it’s the one time where the word doesn’t carry all that much weight, but it’s not an exception to the rule and still a reinforcement as he’s not the one making it.

Two other occasions I want to bring up next are his supports with Byleth and Mercedes. These aren’t like the previous where it doesn’t carry weight, quite the opposite, but he says the word only once for each. For the former it’s right at the end of his marriage proposal so… Kinda a “well duh” moment, doesn’t really require any analysis. The latter is also at the end of the final support conversation, and it comes in response to Mercedes asking if he will “protect her in turn.” Considering this is a support required for their paired ending, we can sort of take this as a marriage proposal too, but I place more emphasis on the fact that during this portion of the conversation, Sylvain has let his guard down around Mercedes, to the point where he actually cries. That’s pretty significant.

The remaining ten mentions of “promise” come in his supports with his three childhood friends.

Let’s look at Dimitri first, as he only has half of the number of conversations with everyone’s favourite philanderer that the other two do. The word comes up, across both conversations, four times, and only once by Sylvain himself, in which he promises to “do better” and focus more on his studies etc. The other three occasions come from Dimitri, first questioning whether Sylvain will keep to his word, the second is in the B support where he confirms that Sylvain actually did, and the last is Dimitri promising to help Sylvain out with “…something he knows how to help with.” (The last isn’t all that important really, save for keeping count.)

So that leaves the final six, considering we discounted one at the beginning, that’s half. And wouldn’t you know, as well as being part of the Original Childhood Friend Quartet, these two are the only people he can obtain an A+ rank support with. Coincidence? I think not.

Between Ingrid and Felix’s supports, Ingrid’s contain the majority with four, but unlike with Dimitri, it’s Sylvain saying it three out of those four times. However, this time we have the one occasion where he doesn’t completely stay true to his word. Like Dimitri’s support, his first promise to Ingrid is in regards to his behaviour, but, despite his own opinion on the matter, Ingrid expresses exasperation that he’s still playing around. However, it’s worth noting that this promise comes after Ingrid has chewed him out for events that happened a number of years ago, in public, and in a manner that by all accounts is pretty belittling. It’s probably the one occasion he’s made a promise out of frustration and to just end the conversation, evidenced by how he tacks “ Are you happy now?” on to the end. This, I think, is the exception to the rule, rather than the occasion with Hilda, but an exception I think proves the rule.

The second mention is from Ingrid asking Sylvain to stop acting so nonchalant about getting hurt or killed,” and the third is him making that promise right after. It’s never strictly mentioned if he actually does keep it, however, his following support with her involves scenes with him taking his training and combat situations seriously. I believe this is him making an attempt to minimise the possibility of getting hurt in the first place. It’s a roundabout way of keeping his promise, sure, but one that definitely works, dealing with the root cause rather than the surface issue, as it were.

The last comes with “It’s not a joke that you’re beautiful, but I wasn’t trying to hit on you or anything. Promise.” This one, at first glance, doesn’t seem much to read in to, and at face value, there really isn’t. I think this ties in more to the way Sylvain regards promises, and that (hopefully) Ingrid knows that aspect of him too. It’s an emphasis on him being genuine, that he truly means what he’s saying.

Lastly, we have Felix, arguably the most important one. I have a lot of headcannon surrounding this, we’re not going there today, we’re going to stick with what we know.

It’s only mentioned twice, both by Sylvain, and it’s a reference to the same promise, that they’ll “stick together, until they die together.” It’s worth noting that he brings it up specifically on the second mention, but on the first, it comes after Felix being concerned (angrily, because it’s Felix) that Sylvain actually will die, and Sylvain stating “Nah, I won’t die on you. I promise.”

At first, it’s a bit of a throwaway line, until later in the support he talks about The Promise, it paints the first line in a whole new light, that in reality Sylvain is saying “I’m not going to break my promise.” And if you get their paired ending in the Azure Moon route, he really doesn’t.

It’s also brought up outside their supports, if you recruit one and not the other, they talk about it pre-combat if you set them against each other. Please don’t do that. It’s rather poignant, I think, that game mechanics are the only way to get Sylvain to break a promise.

To summarise, Sylvain’s strengths of character manifest in how much he truly cares about people. How he can find the strength to lift his friends up despite the weight he puts on his own shoulders. How he might be crumbling but ultimately will not break. And just how dependable he is by virtue of how he won’t ever make a promise lightly, nor will he break one.

[chaseyesterdays]

So this is probably a tad late but I realized you are probably the biggest Star Wars fan I follow (okay maybe not probably) but I want your opinion on TLJ and to an extent TFW, like you honest impression and opinion. I have no problem asking off anon/sending a message if you’ve got some opinions™️, just state so.

Hi Anon! I’m perfectly comfortable answering anonymous messages or carrying on conversations via DM, so however you feel most comfortable is fine by me! I do have A LOT of opinions though and I’m probably not going to remember half of them for this post, so if there’s anything you want me to elaborate on or any other questions you may have, feel free to ask me however you like!

(I’m putting this under a cut because holy crap, this went on so much longer than I ever thought it would.)

Okay, first off: I think TFA had great potential as a film. ( I know you asked more specifically about TLJ, but I feel like I have to start at the beginning to get my thoughts semi-in-order. TFA introduced what could have been very interesting characters: a female orphan scavenger Force sensitive, a POC stormtrooper raised from birth for destruction but with a kind heart that ultimately guides him, a hotshot pilot with a gentle soul and a desire to do the right thing while remaining loyal to whom and what he believes in – even a female stormtrooper captain who could have had such a great backstory if they’d just let her. I can’t demonize TFA too much on not developing these characters because it’s the first installment in the saga, but still, where TFA failed is in its progression of the characters. I can almost forgive Rey’s overt Force abilities in the fight with Kylo Ren because yeah, we’ve seen the same with Luke on a slightly smaller scale, but it still felt a little bit jerky to me in terms of flow. Finn and Poe fared better in my opinion, but only because I felt like this new trilogy would give each of the new trio a movie in which to shine: TFA would be Rey’s and Finn and Poe would have what became TLJ and Episode IX to be more of the focal characters.

But here’s where I have issues with TFA. First, the movie was just a remake of A New Hope with different characters. I get that JJ Abrams was trying to appeal to the original fans while still providing that same magic to bring in the younger generations, but sheesh, the whole plot is essentially recycled with a few things moved around order-wise. Desert planet that isn’t Tatooine but looks like it, jungle planet that isn’t Yavin IV but looks similar, a “Death Star” that isn’t a Death Star but is essentially a Death Star, the death of a wise old mentor… There was literally no originality. I think JJ let his fears of fucking up the saga get the better of him, so he was too afraid to branch out and make the movie really great. He could have used similar elements and plot points as an homage to the first movie while still providing his own take on modernizing the film, or placing different characters as the focal point. In the end, even though I cried like four times watching it because Han Solo was one of my favorite characters and didn’t deserve to go out like that, I can’t rag on JJ too hard for TFA. He tried, but he fell flat on some things, and ultimately his treatment of an Original Trilogy character opened the door for some atrocities to be committed down the road.

And speaking of atrocities, that leads me to TLJ. Now, I’ll be honest here, I’ve only seen the movie once and fucking refuse to watch it again, but I’ve read a lot of other people’s reactions to it and examined some articles/YouTube videos explaining why everybody else thinks it’s such a bad movie, so I’ll call on what I remember for now and if anything else comes up in the future, I’ll let you know. But I’ll start here and now by saying that the reason TLJ was a failure from the start falls directly on the shoulders of Rian Johnson. Rian Fucking Johnson, Mr. Hubris, who literally said he set out to make a movie that destroyed fan expectations and worked to keep them guessing (if I remember correctly – like I said, I’ve sworn off TLJ content for awhile now just to keep my blood from boiling). The direction Rian took TLJ made no fucking sense and completely torpedoed the outline that JJ had for the movie, derailing the trilogy as a whole just because Rian wanted to be the smug, smart asshole who knew better than anybody what was gonna happen. As a result, the movie is full of plot holes and directionless actions and flat dialogue and ridiculous characterizations, and it’s not just a failure as a Star Wars film, it’s a failure as a movie in general because the plot simply doesn’t hold water. It’s literally a low-speed car chase with some cool effects that made half of its characters either useless, annoying, OOC, or redundant. It’s bad. My creative writing professors aren’t even dead yet, but if I’d turned in that script for one of my classes, they’d be rolling in their graves. (Did I mention I studied writing, grammar, composition, storytelling, character building and plot development for four years in college and make my living as a writer now? Trust me, I know my shit.)

First off, one of the biggest failings Rian Johnson had aside from the general plot was mistreatment of characters. The POC characters Finn, Poe, and Rose bore the brunt of that because Rian wouldn’t know how to write good POC characters if they literally smacked him in the face – hell, even the best of us white people are still learning. But Poe was reduced to an angry Latino stereotype, which made absolutely no sense considering his actions and attitude in TFA. He trusted Leia and the Resistance leaders and followed them because he respected them, not because he was blinded by them or whatever else anyone can try to insinuate. Admittedly he’s right to question Holdo because her actions make no sense and there’s literally nO REASON FOR HER NOT TO TELL HIM WHAT’S GOING ON, but he wouldn’t just fly off the handle and stage a mutiny like that. He would have talked to Leia about it repeatedly, talked to Holdo and others repeatedly, and Leia would have made Holdo see sense if she was in character AND SHE NEVER WOULD HAVE FUCKING STUNNED POE.

Ahem.

Finn and Rose’s storyline is harder for me to remember because I hated that cantina sidequest thing so much, but what I do remember is feeling like Finn wasn’t even the same person (he wasn’t, because Rian Johnson killed him and put someone else in his place) and Rose was just redundant because it felt like she was created to be a love interest so Finn would be with someone other than Rey (again, I’m fine with platonic best friend relationships, but considering the fact that Finn/Rey would be a biracial relationship and the big ship R*eylo is founded on a whiny white man literally abusing the female protagonist, it just seems like a blatant attempt to undermine the POC characters and relationships in the film). Now let me be clear: what happened to Finn and Rose is not the actors’ faults, as they were at the mercy of Rian Fucking Johnson, and it isn’t the characters’ faults that they’re so weak. That’s all on bad writing and Rian Johnson, and I’m in no way blaming anyone but him for destroying them. (Also, I don’t want Finn to die at all, but having Rose save him from sacrificing himself just so she could kiss him and declare love for him and keep fans guessing again is just…so bad, Rian. Why won’t you let your characters make sense.)

And then there’s Rey. If I’m remembering correctly, both Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill said they didn’t get back into character for TLJ because the characters they played, Rey and Luke, weren’t even the same characters in this film, and whoo boy, does it show. First off, I hate this term, but Rey was essentially a Mary Sue in this film. She had pretty much no training with Luke but somehow managed to be an amazing Force user anyway?? Look, I’m a naturally talented singer, but I didn’t just get good because of that, I got good because I worked hard and studied technique and worked with instructors who helped me take my natural talent and channel it and refine it into something better. That’s what Luke should have done. That’s what Rey should have gotten. But neither of them were in character so of course we didn’t get that. Instead, we got an angry, sullen Luke who tried to murder his nephew in his sleep, which NEVER WOULD HAVE HAPPENED BECAUSE HE SAW ENOUGH GOOD IN DARTH VADER NOT TO MURDER HIM SO WHY THE FUCK WOULD HE DO IT TO HIS NEPHEW, HIS SISTER’S ONLY CHILD. No sense people. No sense.

Rey being a nobody is a controversial point because some people love the fact that a great Jedi can be anyone at all. I get that. But what those people don’t realize is that the Skywalker line came from a slave woman. She was a “nobody” in the grand scheme of things – no disrespect to Shmi Skywalker, who was a powerful woman and a goddess in her own right. Making Rey a Skywalker (either from Luke’s line or Leia’s) does not diminish the “nobody” thing. In fact, it’s the only thing that makes sense, because that lightsaber belongs to the Skywalker line and it wouldn’t just call out to anybody – my creative writing professors would have shot that shit down in a heartbeat. So I think Rey will actually end up being someone with a connection to the Skywalkers; some people theorized that “The Chosen One,” AKA Anakin born of midichlorians, could be almost an avatar-like thing, or Rey could be a reincarnation of Anakin if she’s not a Skywalker/Solo somehow. Kinda farfetched, but no less farfetched than the rest of this fucking movie, so whatever.

Tying Rey and Kylo together could have been so interesting if Rey was his sister. I loved the idea that Rey and Kylo were both Solo children of the Skywalker bloodline, representing the Light and Dark sides of the Force and proving that ultimately, the balance between Dark and Light is what defeats true evil and restores balance to the galaxy (after all, balance is not the absence of dark or light, but an equal ratio of it, and I firmly believe that being a Jedi should not be banishing all the darkness in you, but simply controlling it and centering yourself on the balance between love and passion and anger and pain). It would have made such a good story for Kylo Ren to be a double agent or a legitimately brainwashed young man struggling to do what he thinks is right and being misled but still using his gifts to support balance once he realizes he’s been led astray. Instead, we got literally the worst villain ever: he’s not intimidating, he’s whiny, he pitches temper tantrums, he’s selfish, he’s abusive, he’s impulsive… The writers can’t figure out what they want with him, because they’ve worked so hard to make us sympathize with him and like him and set him up like a misunderstood kid, but then they go and have him make the conscious choice to be evil but still be all those “good” things? It makes no sense. His character progression is all over the place because Rian can’t write and the Kylo he created is not even the same character as JJ put in TFA. And as a result, we now have just about canon proof that Rian wanted R*eylo, which is just another glorified abusive relationship that “stans” keep romanticizing. Gag me with a spoon. I’m done.

Also, who the fuck was Snoke? How was he so powerful? Where did he come from? How did he brainwash Kylo? Who trained him or how did he learn all he knew? How could he see everything and sense everything but not hear, see, or feel Kylo moving the lightsaber? Why were he and Phasma completely nerfed and killed out of nowhere with absolutely no character development or reason for dying? The world may never know.

And here’s where I get really angry: the sheer disrespect for the Original Trilogy characters. Harrison was ready to retire as Han, and I can understand that – I don’t like how Han went out, but I can almost forgive that because I don’t want the actors to be miserable. But what they did to Luke and Leia is unforgivable. Straight up, point blank. Luke Skywalker would never try to murder his nephew in his sleep. Leia would never stun Poe or send her son away or be a terrible, absentee parent. Luke would never be the person he was in that movie, because even in the depths of despair, Luke chose good, chose to see the good in others. He and Leia never gave up hope or belief that good would always triumph over evil. The Luke I saw in TLJ had none of that, and Mark Hamill himself said it wasn’t Luke, it was “Jake Skywalker” or some other nonsense. Mark is a genuinely kind and accepting person, so if you manage to make him angry about a character he’s played for more than thirty years, you’ve fucked up big time, and Rian Johnson did just that. And what’s worse, there was no reason for Luke to die aside from the fact that he just wasn’t convenient for the writers to consider anymore. Han’s death happened to let Harrison retire, but Luke’s was just to get the old generation out so Kathleen Kennedy and the other Powers That Be could do whatever they wanted in the Star Wars universe and milk that cash cow for all it’s worth. Now that Carrie’s gone, all real ties to the Lucasverse are gone, and I’m not convinced they weren’t going to kill Leia off anyway for the reasons I stated above. The blatant disrespect of that, of destroying characters I’ve loved my whole life, who literally kept me alive when nothing else did… It’s unforgivable. I wept like I lost loved ones watching Luke and Han die, and I refuse to do it again.

And here’s what it all comes down to for me: hope. Star Wars was founded on hope. The whole franchise was created in the wake of the Vietnam War when everyone needed something good to believe in, a clear divide between good and evil where good won simply because it was willing to fight for what it believed in, support others, love others, do the right thing. Even when the chips were down and everything was at its darkest in ESB, they always had hope, and in the end, hope won out. There are literally documentaries out there and books written about the success of Star Wars and the fact that hope is its literal cornerstone. The sequel trilogy destroyed all of that. There is no hope anymore. The Resistance is pretty much decimated at the end of TLJ, and at the hands of a government (not even a government??) that rose up out of nothing and destroyed like twelve planets with a flick of a switch and blew billions of people away (and of course we never hear another word about that because that can’t be important at all). Everyone is dying. There are no ships left. There are no forces – less than 100 people made it off that salt planet whose name escapes me and I don’t care enough to look up, and it might have been less than 50. There is no chance that the Resistance can rise up out of nothing and overcome that. Considering how far Rian derailed the progression of the trilogy as a whole, I don’t know how on earth JJ can come back and fix it with literally nothing on his side – all for the sake of shock factor (I swear, I shake my fist at Rian Johnson in my head at least once a day). I know the modern trend is to shoot for gritty, hopeless, “realistic” films because that’s what the current mood is in this country and around the world, but that’s not what Star Wars is about. That’s never been what Star Wars is about. The whole story was built on the foundation of hope, that good could rise and triumph over evil, and there’s simply no room for that in this sequel trilogy. Essentially, the sequel trilogy has failed because it destroyed what makes Star Wars “Star Wars” at its core, and for that, I will never forgive it. The prequels may have been dark, but they exist to show that while the good can fall, ultimately, they can rise again even if in the smallest of ways. “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” The narrative is so convoluted and misconstrued in the sequel trilogy, and it will never be able to find that same foundation of hope again because Disney fucked up. As I said in 2017, “Star Wars is dead. Long live Star Wars.” So I’ll stick to my Original Trilogy and remember the good things that kept me going, the characters and actors that saved my life and made me realize that even in the face of darkness, hope and love can overcome all. That’s Star Wars to me. Honestly, that’s what Rogue One delivered, and if you take anything out of this, it’s that Rogue One is the only Star Wars thing Disney did right. But the sequel trilogy isn’t Star Wars, it isn’t even halfway decent storytelling, and I hope that on the day I die Rian Johnson and everyone responsible for TLJ can lower me into my grave so they can let me down one last time.

I probably left a lot out because I have so many feelings on this matter, and this response is like encyclopedia-long as is, but it’s the truth of what I feel, and I really hope I shed some light on the topic for you (probably way too much light, but I digress). Thank you for caring about my opinions Anon! I really appreciate you giving me the opportunity to put my thoughts down, and if you managed to make it to the end of this ridiculous post, just know that my inbox and my asks are always open for any clarification or fandom-screaming or thoughts in general. Have an amazing day, and as some people whom I love very dearly used to say, “May the Force be with you. Always.”

[princeandreis]

neighbors

I had this pretty spontaneous inspiration for a fluff thing where ev meets the reader in an au where he and heidi move away after the events in the musical

  A/N: hhhh um yea b l e a s e no judgement on this, I started and finished it at 1:30 in the morning

word count: idk but it’s l o o o n g because I CANT SEEM TO WRITE ANYTHING SJORTER THAN 1000 WORDS I (edit: 3315 holy sh) includes: angst, swearing probably, slow burn, Evan is probably really ooc I don’t even know pairing: Evan Hansen x reader

  ~~~~~~~~

  Moving to a new city was always stressful. Evan knew the feeling well. The lump in your throat as you said goodbye to your home, the clutter and discomfort in the new house, the unfamiliar streets; he’d seen it all before. He and Heidi had had to move several times when her job could not support them.

    He’d hoped they would be able to stay in one place now, since his mom had a steady job at a doctor’s office. But now they were moving once again, and this time it was his fault. He’d royally screwed things up with the only friends he’d ever known, and now Heidi thought it was best they both move on. Evan had left on good enough terms with Jared, but he wasn’t naive enough to hope to carry on like nothing had ever happened.

  So here he was, in a brand new city, hundreds of miles away from the place he’d come to consider his home. This town was a place full of opportunity. There was a nice community college he was interested in, and he’d find a job soon enough. He knew that here he could make a new start.

  And he was absolutely miserable.

  Evan missed his friends, even though he realized things wouldn’t have been the same after the Connor Project.

  He sighed, looking around at his new room. So far it was bare. The walls were a light yellow, which he liked. A little light peaked through the blinds in the fading evening sun. He hefted the box he was holding, set it down in the corner, and went downstairs to get another.

  ~~~~~~~~

  You heard the sounds of shuffling boxes outside and ran to your window to see. So the new neighbors were finally moving in. You watched the movers gradually unload the U-Haul truck for awhile, and finally they drove away. A woman in scrubs and a boy about your age were hauling boxes into their new home. You wondered vaguely what the boy was like, and if you would ever be friends.

  Whatever. It didn’t matter. People were all the same, anyway. Just as you were turning away from the window, your mother called from downstairs, “[Y/N]?”

  “Yes?” you yelled back. “Would you take these cookies next door and see if they need any help?” You rolled your eyes. “Why don’t you do it?”

  “Sweetie, I’m working right n– oh, would you just come downstairs?” she called again. You sighed and clomped into the living room, where your mother was sitting on the couch, typing on her laptop. She looked over at you. “Babe, like I said, I have to work, or I would definitely go over there myself. But my boss is going to kill me if I miss my deadline again.” Your mom was an online columnist for the local paper.

  “Would it really be so hard?” she asked, trying to hold your gaze. “All you have to do is bring the cookies over, ring the doorbell, and introduce yourself and offer to help them move in.” You twisted your silver bracelet, a parting gift from your dad. “Mom, this might sound surprising to you, but that’s more than some people can handle.” She leaned over to brush the hair out of your eyes. “Sweetie, I know things have been rough lately. And I’ve tried to give you some time to recover. But at some point, you’ll have to get back out into the world and try to live again. I know it feels like nothing will ever be the same without Dad. I feel that way, too. But we have to keep trying to live our lives, even when somebody we love leaves us.”

  Your eyes watered, and you quickly turned away to make it stop. You didn’t like thinking about Dad. Dad, with his prickly brown beard and his eyes full of laughter. Dad, with his big deep voice and his compassion. Dad, with his strong arms holding you tight. Until he was too weak to lift them, smiling tiredly at you from the hospital bed. And his eyes, once so alive and full of wit, now slowly closing one last time…

  You scrubbed at your eyes and wiped your nose hurriedly. Mom couldn’t see you crying. She’d worry even more if she knew how strongly your Dad’s death had affected you. It had been long enough, but it seemed like nothing without him would ever be right. Your world had gone completely dark after losing him, and you couldn’t imagine recovering from such a heavy blow.

  You snuffled and turned back around, sure your eyes were red. If she wanted you to socialize, then so be it. “Where are the cookies?”

  ~~~~~~~~

  Evan was setting down a box marked “Kitchen supplies” when the doorbell rang. He froze. “Mom?” he called. “What?” came a muffled response from Heidi. He tiptoed into her room, where she was busy sorting clothing into piles. “There’s– there’s someone at the door.” he whispered, feeling petrified. The doorbell rang again. Whoever was there was getting tired of waiting.

  Heidi looked at her son. “Sweetie, you’re going to have to step out of your comfort zone a little bit and get to know some people. Meeting your neighbors is always a good start. Now, shoo!” And with that, she gave him a little shove toward the front door.

  Evan stumbled over and opened it. He stopped cold when he saw who was there. A girl, holding a plate of cookies. A very, very pretty girl. He felt his face grow hot as she snapped her gum and half-glared at him. “Hi, I’m Eban. I meap, mean, Evan. Evan.” He mumbled, flustered. He’d fallen in love once and he knew what it felt like. Now it was happening again.

  She rolled her eyes a little and held out the plate of cookies. “These are for you and your mom,” she said. “My mom baked them and made me take them over here. She thinks I need to learn to ‘socialize.’” Evan shifted a little, taking the plate of cookies nervously. Who was this girl?

  “My mom thinks that about me,” he said. “What’s your name?”

  “[Y/N]. [Y/L/N].”

  “[Y/N].” Evan repeated. “Nice name.” “Thanks, I made it myself,” she replied sarcastically. There was a small pause as he tried to figure out how to respond. “I’ll see you around, Evan. Enjoy the cookies.” And with that, his neighbor stalked off across the lawn, narrowly missing Heidi’s unplanted peonies.

  What a character, Evan thought to himself. And he turned and went back inside. In spite of himself, he blushed. She really was pretty, even if she had a terrible attitude.

  The next morning, Saturday, Evan was shaken awake by his mother. He had a job interview, since Heidi needed him to help support the two of them, at least for a little while. “Evan,” Heidi said urgently. “You’re late for your interview.”

  Evan shot out of bed. “Shit, shit, shit,” he whispered, looking for some clean pants. His mother said, “I’ll make you some coffee you can grab on your way out. Hurry!” and she rushed downstairs as Evan slipped on some jeans and mismatched socks.

  5 minutes later he was out the door, coffee in hand, hustling toward his car parked on the curb, when he slammed straight into someone. It was you. You’d been taking out the garbage in your pajama shorts and tank top when Evan, in his hurry to leave, didn’t see you and collided with you. “[Y/N],” he gasped. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you, I just, I’m late for an interv- interview, and I j–” He stopped. You were already walking away.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Why had you walked away from Evan? It had been two days and you still weren’t really sure. Maybe it was because you were in your pajamas and looked awful. Maybe it was because you hadn’t been expecting to see him. Or maybe it was because you were entirely caught off-guard by his eyes. His enormous eyes… they were so blue and innocent. You could fall into those eyes if you didn’t watch your step.

  His eyes had flooded into you, making you wonder again what type of person he was, and if he would ever reach out to be friends. You didn’t like the intimate level of eye contact, since it made memories resurface. You didn’t like to remember. You didn’t like to feel. And somehow, in an instant, an accidental collision, he’d made you do just that.

  Somewhere inside you regretted being so rude to Evan, but you had to protect yourself. Any time you let others in or cared about someone, you got hurt. The person you’d loved most in the world was your dad, and look what had happened to him.

  Your dad would have loved Evan. He was extremely perceptive. He’d probably have your neighbor all figured out by now. You knew Evan was quiet and shy, and your dad had been that way, too. They probably would have had so much to talk about, everything from politics to trees to peanut butter and everything in between.

  You shook yourself. Why are you thinking about Dad? you scolded yourself. It doesn’t do you any good. So stop it.

  Evan was a safe subject to think about, more or less. You were curious about his mom and what his house looked like and if he had a cat and suddenly, you were seized with a desire to know everything about him. You couldn’t trust him (or anyone), but there was no harm in learning about him. Right?

  You meandered over to your bedroom window. It was Monday morning, two days after the trash incident. How did Evan feel? He probably hated you. Peeking cautiously through your blinds, you saw him. He was watering a few small potted plants on his windowsill, and his mouth was moving. Was he singing? Struck with an overpowering curiosity, you moved to open your window just a crack to listen.

  He was singing. His voice was a little reedy and so soft you could barely hear, but full of sweetness. It was a folk song you vaguely recognized, but you couldn’t put your finger on the title.

  “Through the forest down to your grave, where the birds wait and the tall grasses wave. They do not know you anymore…”

  Evan paused, looking up, and saw that you had been watching him. “Nice voice,” you called. “Color me impressed.” He turned beet-red and wiped his hands hurriedly on his jeans. “Thank y- thank you, [Y/N],” he stammered. “How long were you watching me?”

  “Not long,” you lied. There was an awkward pause as Evan shifted and set down his watering can. “So…”

  “So…” You swung your legs out and sat on the windowsill. “What song were you singing? It sounded really familiar.” Still flushed, Evan kneeled in front of his window to talk. “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.”

  Now you remembered. “Oh, that’s Fleet Foxes, right?” He nodded and bit his lip. “Do you like their music?” You admitted not listening to them in a few years. Evan looked up and smiled shyly. “You should definitely try it out again. Their first album is their best one.”

  “Alright, I will,” you promised. “It’ll change your life.” “Oh, yeah?” “Yeah.”

  Another pause.

  A bird chattered from a tree nearby.

  “At least, I think so. I mean, um, I mean, if you don’t like th–” “Do you want to just come over?” you interrupted. “Talking like this is weird.”

  Evan looked surprised but tried to cover it up. “Uh, yeah, o-okay, sure, that sounds good. Totally.” “Okay.” You stood up. “Come over in five minutes.” And you shut your window.

  ~~~~~~~~

  Was this real? Was Evan really about to visit [Y/N] and… hang out? He really couldn’t believe his luck. Already his hands were sweating like fuck, and he hadn’t even left the house. He pawed through a box of his CDs, looking for “Fleet Foxes.” There it was, among some Broadway soundtracks (“Legally Blonde” and “Les Misérables,” to name a few) and a John Mayer album. He really needed to unpack soon.

  Evan headed downstairs, CD in hand, wondering if he should bring something over. Coffee? Everyone liked coffee. Right? “Mom?” he called out.

  No answer. Of course. She was at work. It would be dumb to bother her with that kind of question, anyway. So he quickly fixed up two thermoses of hot English Breakfast coffee and headed out, locking the door behind him.

  Shaking, Evan shuffled up the sidewalk to [Y/N]’s house and rang the doorbell. After about a minute, she opened the door. Goodness, she was beautiful. “Hi,” he said timidly. “Hi.”

  She left the door open and turned back into her house and went to the kitchen. Evan followed. She was busy rummaging through the pantry for something, seemingly ignoring him. “I brought some coffee,” he offered. When this merited no response, he added, “English Breakfast…”

  “How did you know?” she demanded. “Know wh -at?”

  She softened a little at how scared he looked. “That’s my favorite kind of coffee.” (Oh worm?)

  Evan glanced shyly at her. “Lucky guess. It’s my favorite, too, so I just thought…”

  She nodded. “It’s the best, definitely. So do you want a donut?” she asked, pulling a bag out of the pantry. He blurted, “What kind?” “What?” “I just wanna see something. Wha- what kind of donuts do you have?”

  She smirked. “Only the best.” At the same time they said, “Cherry iced.”

  Evan’s mouth fell open. “No way.” Raising an eyebrow, she deadpanned, “The plot thickens.” He laughed at that.

  [Y/N] set the donuts on a plate and sat down at the kitchen table across from Evan. He handed her a thermos and they each silently took a donut and ate. Evan was nervous, but somehow the quiet with her wasn’t as bad as it was with others. He got the impression that she was thinking. Her eyes were far away, her chin rested absently in the cup of her hand.

  Evan cautiously reached out and tapped her other hand. “What are you thinking about?” he asked. She looked up and her eyes focused again. “Nothing.”

  Silence.

  She looked over at Evan. “Sorry for what happened the other day. That was shitty.” He smiled feebly. “Yeah. Thank you, though.” She spotted the Fleet Foxes CD. “Shall we give it a listen?”

  Evan was really starting to like this girl.

  ~~~~~~~~

  You popped the CD out of its case and inserted it into the stereo in your living room. Soft, haunting strains of folk music floated from the speakers. You turned to Evan, whose eyes were sparkling. He really did love this album, and you could see why.

  As a song called “Blue Ridge Mountains” began to play, you sat with Evan on the couch. “So.” you said to him. “Mr. Just-Moved-In. Where do you come from?”

  He began to tell you about his hometown and Zoe and Jared and Alana and the Connor Project and everything else, until his breathing was labored and you could see tears welling up in his eyes. He was clearly still broken up about everything he’d done, and a part of him always would be.

  He sniffed hard and wiped his eyes on his sleeve, saying with a watery grin, “I didn’t expect for all of that to come out. I’m sorry, that’s a big burden to unload on you after we just met…”

  You shook your head. “No, it’s okay. I have a lot of baggage, too. We’ll just be emotionally fucked-up together.” He laughed, loud this time. It made you feel so good to make him smile, and you felt yourself laughing a little too. You chuckled again, and again, until you were both hysterically laughing at yourselves.

  Wiping a stray ironic tear from your eyes, you gushed, “Oh, we’re fucked up. We’re soooo fucked up, Evan.” He was still laughing a little. “Yeah. Yeah, we are.

  “Hey, what about you?” he asked. “What’s your damage?” You stopped laughing. “Oh, man, I don’t think so, bud. Not yet.” His smile faded. “Why not?” His eyes were fragile.

  You shook your head and ran a hand through your hair. “It’s too much to talk about right now. It didn’t happen very long ago.” He pressed a hand on yours gently, cautiously. “Neither did mine, [Y/N]. You’ll have to talk about it sometime. And I’m guessing your parents aren’t in the know about this, right?”

  You winced. Here we go. He pulled his hand back abruptly. “What is it?” he said, worried. “Did I say something wrong? Is this about your parents?” You nodded wordlessly, too distressed to speak. If you opened your mouth, it would all come tumbling out, and you couldn’t let that happen.

  Evan looked at you with concern. “[Y/N], you can tell me. It… it’s okay. I know we just met and everything but I’m - I’m your friend. I want to help.” You met his eyes, his huge, sincere, beautiful blue eyes, and in that moment you knew you had found someone you could finally trust.

  And so everything came pouring out of you, about your family and your dad, your best friend, and how his eyes were always laughing, and how they stayed that way even through the chemo, even through all the treatments and surgeries and pain; you told him about how your dad would wrap you up in his big arms and tickle your face with his scratchy beard and tell you everything would be just fine. And you remembered, breathlessly, the day the laughter left his eyes for good and his body relaxed and his monitors flatlined and…

  …and you found yourself sobbing onto Evan’s shoulder; Evan, whom you barely knew; Evan, who had betrayed everyone he loved, but who you still knew beyond a doubt that you could trust. He was stroking your hair as sobs wracked your body. You clung to his sweater and cried until you could cry no more, and then you snuffled and looked up at him.

  He smiled down at you and softly sang along as Fleet Foxes crooned in the background: "Your protector's coming home."

  “My mom has no idea how I feel,” you said. “I never tell her anything because all I get is a lecture.” He looked concerned. “[Y/N], you need to talk to your mom about this. There’s no way you’re gonna feel better until you get this figured out."

  "I mean, I guess."

  A pause.

  "[Y/N]?" "Yeah?" "Can I... hold your hand?" "Uhhh... okay." "Are you sure? Because I don't have to if you don't want to or if that would make you or uncomfortable or anything, I would totally get it if y--"

  You broke him off by reaching up and kissing him suddenly and quickly. You were surprised at yourself; you'd never done anything like that before. He made a surprised little "mmf!" but didn't pull away.

  When the kiss ended, his eyes were still closed and his eyebrows raised as if he were in shock. "[Y/N]," he breathed, his eyes fluttering open, "that was, uh..."

  "...nice," you finished for him. His cheeks were colored. "Yeah." He pulled you in for another kiss, deeper this time, but sweeter, too. Evan was better than anything you'd ever known.

  Could it be that he was sincere and could be there for you? It seemed the universe had given you a bit of luck at last. Evan could take care of you and help you through your heartbreak. You were ready to heal.

  Your protector's coming home.

[realrhythmskrp]

DISPATCH, (06/24/17): Mirage Media has officially released information about actress, Moon Suah, also known as “Sun” by some fans, on the official website! Suah is a ‘93 liner and has been beloved by fans since her debut in 2015. Find out more about Suah below!

I, Moon Suah, have read and understand the terms and conditions as my position of Actress 1 and agree to honor the standards that are to be expected of me as an employee of Mirage Media.

OOC INFORMATION

Preferred name: gina

Pronouns: she/her

Timezone: gmt+1

Other muses: none

Password (for reservations only): lime

IC INFORMATION

Faceclaim: iu

Name: moon suah

Stage name (if applicable): was supposed to debut with the stage name ‘sun’. some people that have known her since her singer trainee days still call her that.

Idol concept: while training to become a member of skyLectric, the idea behind her was the typical “girl crush“. she was supposed to be it all to fans - the little sister one would want to protect and the girl next door one wouldn’t hesitate to give up their heart for. despite suah not being all that in reality, she accepted that image. though, that perception and utopic idea of her faltered as soon as she became a full-time actress. there was a number of meetings held, all of which revolved around her possible image. soon it was announced that her new image is “mystery“. she became like someone behind a white veil; you can see her, but she‘s blurry; you can talk to her, but you‘re never sure of what exactly she means – a “mirage“ in its finest form. Her image is a painting of blurred lines and enchanting gazes, which never failed to draw people in and ensure that all eyes stay on her.

Birth date and age: february 16th, 1993 (24 years old)

Company name: mirage

Group Name (if applicable): -

Group Position (if applicable): actress 1

Strengths: she has a certain aura around her that draws people‘s attention and makes eyes set on her and her only. that‘s something the company and the girl herself view as an ultimate strength – the mystery behind her character and the likable aura around her mixed with undeniable acting talent ensures that she will stay relevant despite the quick changing actor industry. besides that, it‘s worth to mention that she has trained to become an idol for a number of years before the ceo had her switch to become an actress. therefore, she exceeds in dancing and singing, music composing and songwriting. on top of that, she‘s variety trained, so she knew how to maneuver her supposed, idolized personality just right in interviews and tv shows.

Weaknesses: her ultimate weakness is the fact that her actual personality is far from mysterious. she‘s in a constant struggle between who she has to be and who see is, and that causes a lot of slip ups. suah hates having to hide herself from the world and the fact that she genuinely didn‘t want to be a full time actress adds to it. she‘s also a very bad liar – to the point where she taught herself to just stay quiet instead of telling the truth. of course, it adds to her image, but when she is forced to talk, it does more damage than anything else.

Positive traits: proactive, expressive, enchanting

Negative traits: angry, pessimistic, cunning

PERSONAL HISTORY

to her life was but a stage in the purest sense of the words. there were no exits or substitutes, only her and hairbrushes turned microphones and noises turned melodies. therefore, as seasons changed one another and leaves turned from green to brown, she ignored the endless misfortunes that walked hand in hand with her family ever since she could remember and chose to focus on music instead. needless to say, it was her dream. to become an idol, that is. and with every step she took, just as her body moved further into maturity, she moved slowly towards her goal. soon, the never-ending cycle of part time jobs, dance lessons, vocal training, speech lessons became a routine.

mirage welcomed her at fifteen. and as soon as her eyes blinked the sleep away at four in the morning right after her acceptance, all the scattered puzzle pieces of the graceful dance moves, melodies that steadily gained stability over the years, the formal and elegant speech she was always taught of seemed to slowly start fitting together. the stage that she saw whenever she closed her eyes started becoming real – the status of an trainee to suah was an equivalent of a promise of a debut, stages and blinding lights, sending her mind into a daze and her heart soaring in euphoria.

and she worked hard for it. with tears in her eyes and droplets of sweat in her hair, she practiced until until the sore playing with her muscles made her taste sweetness on the tip of her tongue. but who could blame her; she often mistook the lights in the practice room for the ones of a stage. if only she had known that living in a dream that she so desperately tried to make real might end up being venomous.

time passed in a blink of an eye and there she was; standing proud and tall, looking at the girls standing next to her through the dance studio mirror. they were her new family, her new partners, as a chance of debut finally peeked in their horizon. together they were supposed to create something of theirs, leave a mark in the industry. and all suah could do at that is smile at the ridiculousness of her own mind, as somehow right then and there looking at those girls through the mirror made them seem like they somehow were a part of an alternate universe, a different reality. they seemed far from reach. maybe suah’s subconscious mind knew the future.

“we have decided to debut you as an actress later,“ / “after promotions?“ / “no. it’s the best for you and the company for you to debut later as an actress instead of a singer.“

suah never considered that a couple of acting lessons might change her whole life path to one she never asked for and the twinkle of light that was a promise of a debut with a group disappeared out of her sight just as swiftly as it appeared. a star fallen, one might say. the worst part about it was that she didn’t even try to be good at acting. without as much as a grain of effort from her, her face and body told stories to those who watched her. a talent she never wanted to possess ripped her only goal in life out of her hands.

from there she was angry. suah is angry at the whole word that she didn‘t get to do what she wanted. and she is angry at herself for failing to protest the announcement of a change of her career plan. to this day, she has a lot of pent up bitterness and spite in her gut. luckily, the “mystery” of her persona and the lack of background information about who she was coming with that helps with keeping the negativity inside while in public. but you can only fill a cup to a certain point before it spills; her feelings do come out here and there; the frustration, helplessness and pure dissatisfaction directed towards herself and her life.

[macdnald-old-blog]

Under the cut you will find Mary’s app, minus the para sample + the ooc info!

* DEVELOPMENT :

Character Name, age, pronouns and house:

M A R Y / M A R I A ;; her name is biblical and means sea of bitterness, rebellion and wished for child. These fit Mary quite well: while she tries hard not to be a cynic, a bitterness sits inside her and makes her look at the world with a dark look; she’s filled with determination to do what is right and to stand up against those who are in her eyes wrong, and she is thus rebellious (she also grew up pranking her sister and brothers quite a lot), and Mary waswished for, as her parents are nothing but loving.

The Mary/Maria thing is, I think, a confusing one and I will clear that up right away: Mary’s mother is Puerto Rican and her father is Scottish, and when she was born they could not quitedecide if they wanted to name their first daughter the English or Spanish name of Mary/Maria. Her birth certificate says Mary, and it’s the name she goes by at Hogwarts, but to her mother and extended maternal family, she has always been Maria. As she’s proud of her Puerto Rican roots, Mary doesn’t keep quiet with this, and loves the fact that she kind of has twonames.

A G A T H A ;; this name was picked because of the famous writer Agatha Christie, whose books Mary’s parents loved deeply. It means good woman, which I do truly think Mary is, despite her faults and flaws.

M A C D O N A L D ;; a Scottish surname of a proud family that lives in the Scottish highlands. A long line of farmers, they’re hardworking and no-nonsense, but have great love and respect in their heart. Mary loves her name, except for the fact that a lot of people tended to sing Old MacDonald whenever they saw her or her siblings in town: it simply grew annoying.

A G E ;; sixteen years old. Mary was born October 25th 1959, which makes her a Scorpio:

       Positive traits include magnetic charisma, ambition, drive, a penetrating mind, curiosity, intensity of focus, emotional depth, consistency, persistence, willpower, and the potential for inner transformation and regeneration        Negative traits include selfishness, obsessiveness, vindictiveness, hypersensitivity,ruthlessness, cynicism, an inability to understand the word “moderation,” and jealousy

P R O N O U N S ;; she/her.

H O U S E ;; Gryffindor.

Choose five of the follow questions to answer.

What is their patronus?  Why does this fit your character?

The P H O E N I X is a creature that’s constantly reborn, that constantly rises from its ashes. One of my most important themes for Mary is that she always gets up. Always. Whatever might knock her down, whatever might make her feel more lost than anything, she gets back up. I feel like this fits in with the Phoenix beautifully ( and while I feel a little guilty using a ‘rare’ patronus, I cannot help but love this one so much for her ).

Phoenixes are also creatures that are associated to fire a lot and while Mary had quite the fear of fire as a child, she is firehearted. She’s warm and compassionate and inflammatory and spirited. She’s someone who can burn entire empire and walk over its ashes as well as give warmth to those who need it ( she will usually pick the latter, but in the future she has no trouble fighting back with gritted teeth ).

This bird also doesn’t die, and Mary is ( in canon ) the only one of our beautiful trinity who comes out of the war physically & mentally healthy, unlike Lily, who dies and Alice, who loses her mind. Many others she loves die too, and to her it will more than often feel like a burden than a gift; for what is life without your loved ones there by your side?

The Chinese Phoenix is also thought of as a gentle creature, and while Mary has her rough edges and dark sides, I do believe she is gentle in her core. With her friends, she’s warm and loving and barely ever brash, and with strangers she will hardly be rude unless they give her reason to be.

In Chinese culture, when a house was decorated with a Phoenix, this meant the people living there were loyal and honest. Mary is loyal to her very core and could never be moved to betray those she love; she would die, if she could keep them safe. As she’s not a good liar, Mary’s also honest; she’s not always happy about this fact, as it doesn’t always benefit her, but it does make her an outspoken individual.

What is their wand and their wand core?  Why does this fit your character?

Sycamore, Dragon Heart String, 12 ½ inches, reasonably supple.

                   The sycamore makes a questing wand, eager                    for new experience and losing brilliance if                    engaged in mundane activities. It is a quirk of                    these handsome wands that they may combust                    if allowed to become ‘bored,’ and many witches                    and wizards, settling down into middle age, are                    disconcerted to find their trusty wand bursting                    into flame in their hand as they ask it, one more                    time, to fetch their slippers. As may be deduced,                    the sycamore’s ideal owner is curious, vital and                    adventurous, and when paired with such an owner,                   it demonstrates a capacity to learn and adapt that                    earns it a rightful place among the world’s most                    highly-prized wand woods.

I think this fits Mary quite well; she gets restless when there is nothing to do and doesn’t feel inspired when she’s doing something that doesn’t interest her. Mary, even though her spirit is somewhat damaged at the moment, is a vivacious being, someone who does not do anything half-heartedly.

I chose the Dragon Heartstring, mostly because I really didn’t think a Unicorn Hair core would fit; Mary would, even though she hates it, dabble in some darker spells if it could save lives. I also didn’t think the Phoenix feather core fit as well as the Dragon one did. Dragon Heartstring cores fit fast learners, and Mary definitely is that. The wand is also temperamental, and so is Mary.

What is a song lyric that represents your character?

i’d rather be spitting blood // than have this silence fuck me up (…)  i’d rather have broken bones // than feel myself turn to stone                                               ( troye sivan, the quiet. )

How would your character react if they saw an older student bullying a first year Muggleborn?

First, Mary would understand; she has been in that situation more than often, has seen her best friend Lily end up in that situation ( even having been bullied by someone who called her a friend ) and knows what it is like. She knows how it makes your skin crawl with a feeling of powerlessness; how useless the anger you feel usually is, as these pureblood elitists will not change their mind because of you; she knows how somewhere, even though you may not like it, there is also fear sneaking in the back of your mind, because this is what a great part of the wizarding community thinks.

Secondly, there would be anger. Because of her understanding of the situation – better than most, considering last year – she will feel an outrage, because this shouldn’t be happening. Bullying in the first place is something that makes her feel nauseous, but when it’s based on something like this, it also causes a rage. She will use this to speak up, to show the older student that this not okay: because Mary will never sit idly by and watch injustice happen under her nose. She’ll snap and her words will be cutting and her eyes will be narrowed. Fear will not be present, not when there is something to be done.

Lastly, there would be comfort. Once the older student vanishes ( which, hopefully, is sooner rather than later ) she will look after the younger student her brothers do for her with soothing words and a few promises she cannot keep. Mary is compassionate and warm, and while it could become a weakness, it is a strength at present time: it makes her stand up to injustice and look after those who need it.

Is you character a virgin?  How do they view sex?  What’s their sexuality?  Does their gender align to their canon gender?

Mary is not a virgin. She lost her virginity just before Christmas break last school year at the age of sixteen to someone who did not mean too much to her in that way: they were both a bit more than tipsy, both attracted to each other and both filled with the energy that had been pulsing through the party. It was no bad experience; Mary doesn’t feel regret about not losing her virginity to someone who meant a little more to her, as in her eyes it’s not a big deal.

Even though Mary was raised Christian and is still religious, her thoughts on sex do not really fit her upbringing: she feels no need to wait for marriage and doesn’t think sex should just be between two people. No, Mary thinks sex is something that people should simply do if they want to, and not do if they don’t want to. She, herself, has not yet has sex with someone sheloved, and this is something that doesn’t bother her at all: she is, after all, young, and she’s having fun.

    ( internalised ) biphobia tw for the coming paragraph

Her sexuality is something she did struggle a little more with than sex in general. Mary is bisexual, and this is something that wasn’t much of a surprise to her, but it did take a while for her to figure it out. Mary was confused about liking girls for a few years, was not sure how shecould, as she liked boys as well. She knew some girls liked girls and she was okay with that, but she felt like that wasn’t just the case for her. Eventually she came across the termbisexual, and a weight seemed to roll off her shoulders when she did. Mary took the label and applied it upon herself, coming out to her friends with a slight nonchalance but a relieved grin still on her lips. She hasn’t told her family yet and knows she won’t until she really has to. With all the things going on around her, she doesn’t wish to deal with the potential reaction her parents might have.

Still, there is no shame surrounding her sexuality. Mary might not have come out to her parents, but she is not necessarily quiet about her sexuality to her friends and other schoolmates. She takes pride in it, actually —– Mary might be an insecure person, but she does take pride in the ways she can identify. She’s proudly half-latina, she’s proudly muggleborn and she’s proudly bisexual.

Mary identifies as a woman and has never questioned her gender much. She’s got sides that are very traditionally feminine and sides that are more traditionally masculine, and she won’t let people judge her for either of those. She can wear lipstick and play football, can wear dresses and still kick ass and she takes pride in her being a woman.

What’s the best thing that’s ever happened to them? What’s the worst?

T H E   B E S T ( discovering she’s a witch )

Mary turns eleven and this is what she knows: she’s a farm girl, she prefers speaking Spanish because then she gets to roll her R’s, she has two brothers and one sister, she is good at history and bad at maths, and strange things happen to her. Strange things that no one can quite explain, strange things that excite and frighten her at the same time. Strange things that happen when she’s happy or angry or scared.

                     One time, Carlos cut all the hair off her favourite doll’s head                      and Mary got so angry that his favourite car exploded in little                      pieces of plastic.

Mary turns eleven and a day and she knows all the same things and this: she is a witch. Suddenly there is an explanation for all these sparks and explosions, and Mary for a moment looks at her parents in fear, because doesn’t the bible say magic is evil? But the MacDonalds are accepting and open-minded and shake their head, because if magic flows through her daughter, there is no way it could be evil.

And so Mary accepts the truth and makes it her own. She’s a witch, and she’s proud and intrigued, as there are a thousand things she does not know yet. She gets her books and her wand and her robes, and her parents tell her she can take one of the family cats with her so she doesn’t have to miss him, and Mary dreams of a beautifully big castle with endless opportunities.

This moment in her life, of course, leads to many more beautiful ones. It leads to her meeting Alice and Lily, who soon become two new siblings of hers. It leads to her discovering that she has great power and that she can use it in incredible ways. It leads to her finding out about Quidditch and actually making it on the team — Mary played football back at home, you see and the team very much reminds her of her siblings and the sport of football, too. It leads to tasting Fizzing Whizbees and Chocolate Frogs. It leads to learning about new creatures and parts of history she did not now yet. It leads to meeting people who inspire her constantly. It leads to her growing as a person and a witch.

It also leads to things that are less pretty. It leads to her discovering that discrimination is a big part of the wizarding culture as well. It leads to her hearing slurs thrown at her and her red-haired sister. It leads to moments where she fails at spells. It leads to tumbling down stairs and losing her way and feeling overwhelmed with all these things that are new to her. It leads to being the victim of an Unforgivable curse. It leads to her being told that there is nothing they can do. It leads to her feeling lost and unsafe at a place that had become her second home. It leads to Hogwarts being attacked and Mary finding herself in a battle at sixteen years old. It leads to her seeing the dead bodies of people who taught her, of people she saw in the hallways. It leads to her learning of a war where people like herself and her friends are constantly killed for the things they are labelled to be.

Still, it’s the best thing that ever happened to her, and even though there are many bad things that happened because she entered the wizarding world at age eleven, she would never go back to just being a muggle.

T H E   W O R S T ( mulciber )

She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was pure coincidence that it was her who had been there. It had not been personal, but it was, of course it still was.

You cannot take someone’s will away and say it wasn’t personal. You cannot cause mental harm to someone and say that it wasn’t even that bad. You should not even be able to get away with a thing like that, but Arjun Mulciber did.

He did, and left Mary fractured and confused, even if she didn’t like to admit it.

Perhaps the fact that it was random, that it could all be blamed on coincidence, was what made it even worse: Mary felt guilty wishing this hadn’t happened to her, as that would mean it would have happened to someone else. Another muggleborn, who was condemned for something they had no power over. And while she hated what had happened, while it made a cold feeling run over her spine whenever she thought of it, she could never wish it upon someone else.

                                                                          – / –

Here’s the thing about someone taking away your will and forcing you to do things: it makes you distrustful of your own body, makes you feel unsafe wherever you go. While no physical harm had come to Mary when she was cursed, there was plenty of harm caused mentally. She had suddenly grown paranoid and scared, was damaged in a way she didn’t like to think about.

Mary, in all honesty, felt weak the moment the curse broke and even weaker now that months have passed. Because she is still not over it, is still worried about seeing his face again, is still haunted by that one afternoon and all the things that followed.

Maybe, if he’d been expelled, things would have been better. Maybe then, Mary would be able to move on and feel a little safer in the castle that was supposed to be her home. But he was still at Hogwarts, he was still laughing with friends and taking the same classes she would take next year. He was still there, very much okay, and she was, too, but she was not okay at all.

Her confrontation with Mulciber is something that has changed Mary. It has given her a new kind of bravery, but also more fears. It has given her paranoia, but also determination. It has given her a reason to cower in a corner, but that is not her, and so it has also given her a reason to move on with her head high and her entire being filled with a determination to prove people like him wrong.

Because if there’s one thing she’s sure of ( and there are not many of those ), it’s that she won’t allow this to happen to anyone else as long as she has a say in it.

Is there anyone they would kill for?  Would they die for anyone?  Where does that list differ?

Mary is, in the end, a selfless being. She looks at the war and wishes to fight to contribute to the greater good, to stand up for what is right and work towards a future of freedom and safety. Because of this, she would have no trouble dying in the war if it was meaningful. If she could save a life, she would, if she could buy a group of people time by facing death with a raised chin, she would. Mary isn’t necessarily scared to die, but she is scared of dying for no reason, with no purpose at all.

When I say that Mary would die to save a life, I don’t mean any life, of course. Mary might be noble and selfless, but she��s not reckless. She’s seen Death Eaters, she’s been attacked by a purist and she knows that she wouldn’t die for them. She wouldn’t die for people who’d kill her if they got the chance, wouldn’t die for people who are even less aggressive about their discrimination.

Still, the list for people she would die for is long: on top, of course, are her family and friends. Then follow classmates and students that are not blood purists, civilians, other victims of the war, etcetera, etcetera. Honestly, Mary hasn’t spent to much time thinking about it, but in this sense she’s very much Gryffindor: she is ready to die in battle, ready to die a death that is glorious and heroic. Mary is loyal and committed and is set on taking a big part in this war, as she feels like she has no choice either way.

Killing, however, is a different story. It’s not only a sin, but also just something that is very much wrong in Mary’s eyes. Still, she is not naive and not at all pacifistic, and knows the Death Eaters do things much worse than kill. While she would never kill out of choice, she knows that – if she were to become part of the war – she might have to choose between killing or being killed, and as it’s a war, she thinks she would be able to. Not that she likes the idea of it much.

If her killing somebody would save somebody she loved, she would without a thought. Mary is very much human and would not think about the moral side of it all ( which she would, was it her own life that was at stake ), as she will go to the end of the world to keep those she loves safe. The people she would kill for are Alice and Lily, naturally, all of her other friends and her family members.

As for other people, I’m not sure. There’s a lot of different scenarios to consider and the options are endless and I won’t bore you too much with them. If Mary could save a life by taking a other, she would feel very conflicted ( if this life didn’t belong to a loved one ) and I think it all depends on the situation, on who these people are and what the stakes exactly are. I can’t give a proper answer, but I do know that Mary would kill to save some lives, even though she doesn’t know this yet. Of course, she will always try to stun first.

How do they feel about the war?  Do they plan on getting (more) involved?

Mary feels a wide range of emotions when it comes to the war:

    - She is A N G R Y. Angry, because the school that was supposed to be a safe place was attacked, because there is a movement in the world that is against a certain group of people, a group that is willing to use violence to reach their goal, which is based on a crooked ideology. She is angry that there is discrimination, angry because it makes no sense and is only making the world a place that is scary and filled with terror. Mary knows the effects discrimination can have — her mother is a Puerto Rican living in a small Scottish town, after all — and has always been very strongly against it. The fact that blood purism has such a large following makes her feel hot with rage, in all honesty, because it’s simply wrong.         A lot of her anger is also caused by a feeling of powerlessness. There is not much she can do, at this point, as she is still in school and has not even finished her education. And even if she was a fully qualified witch who no longer had to attend classes, there is only so little she can do. It’s frustrating to know that this war comes from a long, long history of purist thoughts and anti-muggle sentiments, and that it because of that won’t disappear as quickly as she would like. It’s frustrating to know that even though she might work her hardest and try her best to influence the world around her, it won’t be enough. This, of course, does not mean that Mary won’t try.

   - She is F R I G H T E N E D. Fear is a funny thing, Mary learned last year. It’s like a different person altogether, living in a corner of your mind, and even when you think they’re gone, they’re still there. Whispering, softly making your muscles tense because the world around you is slowly falling apart and so are you, and while it’s enough to make someone angry, it’s also really scary. Mary knows what some people are capable of, has seen it, has felt it, and it’s simply unnerving to know what they are willing to do for their cause.        Mary is frightened for the future and what is to come. She is terrified that the war will only get worse, that it will cost the lives of people she holds so very dear, that she will lose herself. She doesn’t like to admit it, but her fear is a thing that greatly influences her. It’s part of her, and Mary prefers to deny it rather than accept it, as she feels weak for being scared. Of course, it’s only logical that she is: this war is a terrifying one, after all.

   - She is D E T E R M I N E D. The two emotions mentioned before both lead to Mary feeling determined. She’s someone who gets up every time, someone who will never be fully beaten down no matter what. Mary is determined to stand up for what is right, to fight in this war and show people that she will not stand for this injustice, that there is no way to silence her besides ending her life. Last years happenings had great impact on her, and while they have left her spirit somewhat fractured and her heart filled with invisible scars, she is trying to use her negative experiences to learn.        Mary wishes to become an Auror, to practice the law the way she deems right. She wants to become part of the Ministry, an institution she does not back fully. That, however, is just another reason for her to work there: to be part of something that feels corrupt to her. The only way to make sure things are one the right way is to do it yourself, after all.

I don’t think I need to clarify it, but the answer is yes, Mary does plan on getting involved. She’s filled with determination, fear and anger and with those three emotions swirling through her being she will not sit by idly as a war rages on. Mary doesn’t know in what way she wishes to get more involved, as she doesn’t know what ways there are for her to do so. All she knows is that, eventually, she will. And rather sooner than later.

What’s their best class?  How will that skill benefit them as they begin looking for a job?

Mary is, usually, best at Defense. It’s a class that comes natural to her, something that she also just enjoys very much. It’s a very physical and practical subject, and while Mary is good at theoretical stuff, these kind of things simply come more natural to her. She’s able to channel her emotions into her magic quite well, which is why spells as the Patronus are ones that she likes most.

It is not, however, her favourite class: the teacher changes every year, of course, which is something that very much bothers her. It’s tiring to her that she has to adjust to a new professor each year. No, Mary’s favourite subject is Transfiguration: she holds an immense amount of respect for Minerva McGonagall and as the class is a challenge it’s something that constantly keeps her interested and alert. She’s not as good in it as she’d like, but she’s never been bad at it.

In all honesty, Mary’s quite a good student. She’s skilled in many departments of magic and very much enjoys learning. It does depend on the teacher how motivated she is. With History, for example, she’s not very motivated because Binns is not the most inspirational teacher, to put it lightly. She dropped the subject because of this, but does enjoy reading history books very much ( it was one of her favourite subjects in elementary school ). Potions is a class she struggles with a lot, but as Lily is one of her best friends, she’s able to get help if she needs it.

Mary’s skills in DADA will definitely help her with the goals she has set for herself. Of course, becoming an Auror is more than dueling and fighting against the dark arts, but it is a very big part of it. She’s got her mind set on doing some extra assignments for the class this year as well, just to become better at the subject and so she can feel more prepared should another battle come.

How did they react when they learned of Dumbledore’s death?

Mary didn’t hold the same amount of respect for Albus Dumbledore that most of the people at Hogwarts and in the wizarding community did: he did not back her up when she needed him to, and it very much shattered her blind admiration for the man. Still, she knew that he was an important person to Hogwarts and was doing very much to keep the place safe from the war.

When she learned he had died, Mary was shocked. Dumbledore seemed like someone who could not be defeated, an immensely strong force in this war who was on the good side. On her side. She felt grief, too, of course. While he had disappointed her before, he had still been a good man – flawed, yes, but still good – and it was terrible that good people were killed. Fear followed once her shock and grief had become less loud, as this meant only terrible things for the future of Hogwarts. Mary hadn’t felt safe at Hogwarts for a couple of months before the battle, but this feeling only grew when Dumbledore was murdered. Even worse, she knew that other people would also start to feel unsafe and she didn’t wish that uponanyone.

* WRITING SAMPLES :

Respond to the following prompt as though it was a short chat.  Be sure to include a gif.

“Yeah mate, I saw them snogging in the astronomy tower.  I know it’s a bit unconventional, but we’re in the middle of a war.  Love is all that matters at a time like this.”

“Whoa, slow down there, buddy,” said Mary, taking a sip of her coffee. “Love is all that matters? That’s … I mean, it’s a beautiful sentiment, but that’s not true. Not to be a smarty-pants, or anything, but morals and security and respect and all those things matter too.” A pause. “Still, though, really? Them, snogging? I had not seen that one coming at all.”

[godsandvillainsrpg-blog]

Congratulations, TERRY! You have been accepted as MAXIMILIANO MANCINI.

Note from Admin Jade: If a slippery creature has every roamed this earth, it’s Max Mancini — and Terry, you captured his essence so well that I couldn’t contain my ear-to-ear smile by the end of your sample. You showed me every aspect that defines who he is — from the overpowering ego to the way he’ll tell you what you need to hear with a smile on his lips before literally stabbing you in the back.. Or in this case, pushing you off a balcony. You did such an amazing job of showing us exactly where his priorities lie — with himself, because everyone else is expendable. Max is a dangerous player in this game, and I’ve got a feeling he’ll be even more so in your hands. I can’t wait to see where his ambitions take him with you behind the wheel!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name: Let us know your name, alias, or whatever you’d like to be addressed as.

Terry

Age: There is no age limit for this group, but we ask that all applicants ensure they’re comfortable with mature themes.

30

Preferred Pronouns: All OOC pronouns will be added to our masterlist.

He or They pronouns

Timezone: All timezones will be added to our masterlist.

Eastern

Activity Level: Describe in words how active you believe you’ll be able to be.

I’m more prone to work during the afternoon/evening almost every day so I’m unable to be “on” during that time. Other than that I’m aiming to be active always at some point.

Triggers: All players’ triggers will be added to our triggers page and must be tagged accordingly.

REMOVED

Anything Else? If you’d like to request an approved FC change, please do so here.

Nope. Not really.

IN CHARACTER

Desired Character: Who are you hoping to portray?

Maximilano Mancini

Describe this character in your own words: Beyond what’s stated in the biography, who is this character to you? What aspects of their history and personality most shape them? Here is your opportunity to expand on what was provided in the bio and show us you know this character better than we do.

Some may call him a snake, in which he really doesn’t mind the term. It’s unpredictable. Stealthy. Lethal when needed to be; the right recipe that makes Maximillano the way that he is. Max is a very intricate person if you’re not in the knows of what’s going on. His strengths are undoubtedly his weaknesses, and while the man has been damn near perfect in his occupation, he’s always had his eye out for something more. He was like a squirrel just weeks before the Winter season would start, trying to hoard as many acorns as possible for his own personal gain. In Max’s case, it was always the promise of being at the helm of the family, any one for that matter. Sure, he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to get his hands dirty every now and again, but his real passion waited for him at the top of the highest ladder, where his success would be rewarded with the promise of power, riches, and fame. That’s what he really wanted anyway.

But one can only be ambitious for so long before toes get stepped on, when disappointment awakened a few inner demons you wouldn’t have known existed otherwise. Max had been fucked over plenty of times in his life, and to think it all started in his own home all those years ago. Then Cassius dug the knife deeper when he’d chosen Stavros for that nifty right hand man position. By then, Max was seeing red, and all of his energy went into making sure the Giordano family paid for this stupid ass decision. These experiences has taught the man who to befriend and who to leave astray, all for the sake of his own foolish and selfish goal. The new rift between the family was the perfect opportunity for Max to start fresh and anew from the other side, but even he is impatient to see his results come to life in just a short amount of time.

Still, Max isn’t going away any time soon. Sure, he’s not gonna complain too much about where he’s at now, but you can’t deny the fact that his strategy is headed in the right direction, slowly, but surely. And you can guarantee that Max will be wherever you least expect it, while his victims are oblivious of the threat that lingers behind them in the shadows just like a snake, the same one they forced him to be.

What are this character’s motives? What drives this character? What are their goals?

Max’s harmful ambition of wanting to be at the top is one of his main motivators of getting the job done. Plus, he loves his daily grind of espionage, or as he likes to call it: information brokering. It’s a pasttime he holds near and dear, and it’s where he’s out in his element doing what he does best. Lying, cheating. Perhaps killing. Anything to give the family a better edge in society, even if he has to plow through those he considered friends once upon a time. He wants nothing more than to get drunk off of his own lust for revenge while dishing out pain and havoc to anyone that falls in his way. Getting rid of Harland and taking his place beside Celine is Max’s ultimate goal and endgame, for anything that happens to him otherwise may result in major failure. Maybe even death.

What potential plots do you foresee for this character? Where do you see this character’s story going? What potential storylines would you like to explore, both with the character themselves and as a part of the group as a whole?

REMOVED

Would you be open to this character’s death? Though we’d love to keep all characters alive and well in an ideal world, the nature of this group may put some characters’ lives in danger at one point or another. Should your character’s death be necessary for the furthering of the plot, would you be open to the idea of killing them off and working with the admin team to create a new role for you to take on?

REMOVED

PARA SAMPLE

9 kilometers to go.

The saying is that money can never buy anyone happiness; a cute little deterrent to keep the poor where they were. And in all honesty, money would only lead you down a horrible path to trouble and greed. Trouble because everyone wanted to take it from you, greed because you wanted to hoard as much as you allow yourself to. Though this never stopped the mighty billionaires of the world from cranking the rusty wheel of this damned planet. Max fell somewhere along the middle of it all. He had the greed, as to everyone did, but the trouble was something he never tangoed with. It certainly helped him get out of a jam a time or two. Everyone had a price. All they had to do was name it.

With his eyes fixed on a segment on CNN, Max sat on his top-of-the-line cycling machine, pedaling through his weekly workout segment for 15 miles. Age wasn’t a factor when it came to keeping himself in shape, and since the man didn’t smoke nor drink himself into a drunken stupor on a regular basis, activities such as this were easy to keep up with. His choice of clothing consisted of nothing but gym shorts and sneakers, but fuck it. No one else would see him like that anyway…Except if you were the housekeeper. Or perhaps Ruby whenever she needed to be at his side. But that was it. No one else.

There had been an alert coming from the bike’s computer system, indicating that Max was now heading into rough terrain while continuing on his “trail”. The bike’s gears locked up and suddenly placed pressure on the pedals, giving him the feeling that he was now pedaling uphill. Max then lifted himself from the seat of the bike and rode. Panting. Pedaling. Panting. Pedaling. Muscles shifting and contorting under the stress of going through this exercise, a thin layer of sweat coated his scalp and shoulders. The burning sensation traveling through his body felt good, serving as an escape from the world around him. He was a junkie for it; the only pain he could take without seeking some type of vengeance for it. The man biked through his virtual adventure, all until there was a voice that could be heard on the other side of the room.

“Mr. Mancini,” the housekeeper began. “You have a visitor.” Standing beside the young woman - which was an odd yet usual request for Max to have - was a middle aged man, gripping a white envelope as he waited to be greeted. Max kept pedaling a while longer, though stopped completely before drinking a sip of water. “Leave us.” he ordered.

The housekeeper immediately fell back into her job, leaving the two men alone in his personal space. Max stood from his seat while the visitor watched the young housekeeper rush to her duties, doing anything to keep his eyes from the man before him. “Join me on the balcony. Would you like a drink?”

“N-no…thanks.” The man replied. Good, because Max wasn’t going to give him anything, not without good news this damn time around. The man had proven to be inadequate of his duties in recent weeks, and Max had enough of his incompetence. This small meeting today would go on to prove whether he would live or die. The outcome was about as random as winning the lottery.

The thing about Max and his work was that he hated talking on the phone, just as much as he hated texting. Breadcrumbs could be left anywhere these days, and without strong, top of the line security from outsiders of all kinds, risking his neck for the sake of his job was something he couldn’t let slip through his fingers. With that, he had people make his calls, talk to people face to face instead of on the phone, even going as far as speaking to one another in cryptic messages so that whoever was listening didn’t know what was going on. Some may say it was paranoia that fueled the man to keep his tracks clean, but to Max, it enabled him to keep control on who did what and where. He could watch anyone he damn well pleased, but no one watched Maximillano Mancini. No one.

The two men walked to the balcony of Max’s home away from home with him taking lead. A towel had been draped around his neck, giving him some sort of comfort as the near hot air caused his body a shiver. Cutting to the chase, the man hands over Max the envelope that was in his hands without a moment to spare. It was nothing important to anyone else, but once Max gazed at the list of numbers - coordinates that you would find on a map, rather - in front of him, he smiled like the Grinch on Christmas. Pure evil and delight danced around his blackened heart.

“You’ve done something right for a change. Now I don’t have to break one of your appendages again in order to get your useless ass in gear.” Max smiled, although never really cared for the fear that started to appear on the man’s expressions. Max had been known to make an example out of someone just to keep everyone in check, but he’d never had time to do such a thing lately. That only meant that everyone was following orders like they should’ve been in the first place.

Max placed the paper back inside the envelope, and clutched it in his hand in order to give his hardworking minion a pat on the back, or rather, a hard tug into the balcony’s gate. The moment the man noticed it was too late to do anything was when he fought for his life, but Max was the stronger being out of the two, and flipped him right over the edge, where he fell seven stories down onto the concrete below. The man’s body bounced on the back of his head and neck, breaking and shattering bones before leaving him for dead. The only thing Max had done was stare down at the body, watching as his soul would tear away from his body. Slowly, but surely, life would eventually meet death. The man was expendable, and his fuckups had lead to his downfall, right down to the very end. It was great because he was an outside associate to the family, and that he wouldn’t be missed by anyone important. Again, Max didn’t care. He didn’t need knuckle draggers risking everything that was important to him. Not right now. As he clutched the map coordinates in his hand, the sound of a distant vaccum cleaner started up back in his apartment, the only noise that was able to compete with the voice in his head about his next task.

EXTRAS

I’ve put together a little something over here. Nothing too fancy tho: https://mockmax.tumblr.com/

[antarprince-blog]

Kings Never Die

Chapter 1/?

Rating – M(FF.N)/Explicit(AO3)/Explicit(Tumblr)

Pairing – As yet Undecided 

Disclaimer – I do not own Harry Potter or any of its associated characters: all rights belong to JK Rowling. I do not own any crossover references used in the story: all rights belong to their original creators. I do own any OC spells explained at the end of a chapter.

Spoiler - Everything, to be safe

Summary - A Response to my own Hail to the King/Overlord of Magic Challenge. For those of us climbing to the top of the food chain, there can be no mercy. There is but one rule: hunt or be hunted. I have zero tolerance for betrayal, which they will soon indelibly learn...

Warnings: Slash, Lots of Politics, Blood, Death, and Violence. And because Some are idiots OOCness

Authors Note: Here we go again. Here's hoping... So, Most of the Notes are at the end of the Chapter, BUT it has been brought to my attention that Some may not know what an Absolute Monarchy is. So, Crash course: It's very simple. Unlike a constitutional Monarchy which is Often seen as a Figurehead (It isn't) and whose Power is confined to a Constitution, An Absolute Monarchs power is Absolute. Their word is Law

Also, to be Clear, this will have Slash and Het. However, being Gay it will be more Heavily Slash. If this Bothers you, You know where the Back button is. Also, the fic doesn't focus on Smut, but it will probably happen. 

Challenge Information:

Plot: For nearly five years Harry has watched the Prejudice and corruption of the Magical Community, suffered their slings and arrows, but no more! When the Dark Lord returns and the people turn on him again he's had enough. If the Wizards can't take care of themselves than he will do it for them - by force!

Rules:

Must begin after the Third Task, or Summer before 5th Year

Harry Must Declare Himself King of the Wizards

Absolute Monarchy

There Must be an Actual War, with Soldiers and Armies (Always hated the Term "War with Voldemort")

The Ministry and Dumbledore Must Oppose Harry

The Weasley Family, including Percy, must be Monarchists and pledge themselves to Harry (Just for fun, a Break from the Bashing)

All Affinities Welcome – Grey with Dark leanings considering what he sets out to do

All Pairs welcome except Forbidden

Super powerful, or OP Harry

Superpowered Voldemort and Dumbledore

Guidelines/Optional:

Master of Death Harry - Accepted

Harry becomes emancipated and Claims his Family Titles (Nobility) - Accepted

Super Intelligent/Genius Harry (Think Lelouch or Light) - Accepted

Fawkes bonds with Harry as his Familiar - Accepted

As a result of the new bond, Fawkes transforms into a Dark Phoenix with Powers associated with Death (i.e. Poison Tears, Cry that kills etc...) – Depends on how DARK Harry Gets

The Muggle Crown Opposes Harry - Accepted

Neville becomes The Ministry's Poster Boy – Accepted (I love him but Authors Always make him Loyal to Harry)

Sirius and/or Ron become Harry's Knight of Honor – No (I have Other idea's)

Harry becomes the first of his name, creating a New line (i.e. Targaryen, Britannia etc...) –No

Multiple Partners (Harry IS Starting a Dynasty) –Maybe

Slash - Accepted

M/M/F Pairs - Accepted

M/F/F Pair - No

Crossover - References

Suggested Pairs:(Optional and Not Required!)

Harry/Tonks (Haven't seen this in ages, and as a Black could lend Legitimacy to Harry's claim)

Harry/Luna

Harry/Ginny (Don't like it, but I can see it here)

Harry/Member of the Muggle Royal Family - OC, NOT Real Person)

Harry/Cedric (If he Lives) -Undecided, but Probably. I can never Not (Thank my Friend Storm Wolfsong)

Harry/Seamus

Harry/Blaise (NOT Female. hate that)

Harry/Marcus Flint

Any Combo of those Listed

Forbidden:

Harry Siding with Voldemort

Giving up his Crusade

Weak/or Unintelligent Harry

Harry/Hermione

Harry/Fem!Blaise

Fem!Harry

constitutional Wizard Monarchy

Ottery St. Catchpole was a small quaint little town just outside of Devonshire. It was a mostly open field filled with sheep and wheat, but it was nice. It was quiet. That quiet, however, was about to be broken.

A small cabin sat in the field surrounded by a fence with nothing around it for good kilometer. Light spilled from the open windows and casts a warm glow over the area, but the silence of the night was soon broken by panicked yelling and the sound of running footsteps.

Inside the house, Amos Diggory sat in his study in front of a warm fireplace with a glass of brandy in hand. The flickering firelight casting in eerie glow over mahogany walls and making shadows dance, and the tumbler of the brandy to look like gold.

One might wonder how such an elegant room could fit with the decor of a cozy cottage, but when it came to wizards nothing was as it seemed.

Amos sat staring blindly into the flames and contemplating the last month of his life. It had nearly been irrevocably changed. At the end of June, during the Tri-Wizard tournament, Amos Diggory had nearly lost his son. He still wasn't sure what happened that night, but his son Cedric had exited the maze of the third task covered in dirt and bruised, and yelling incoherently that Harry Potter, the boy who lived was in trouble - in danger - and that the Dark Lord had returned.

And wasn't that just a kick in the teeth. The Dark Lord returned to power. His stomach flopped at the mere thought of it. He remembered the Dark Lord's first rise and the had no urge to relive it.

He believed his son. Cedric wasn't a liar; if he said that the Dark Lord was back then Amos believed him, but it was only natural that such a proclamation would cause a panic. At first, the silence was deafening, and then the erupted in shouts of denial and anger and fear. The headmasters of the various schools and the minister had come barreling down to meet Cedric, all shouting questions and accusations and demanding to know what happened. It was pure bedlam.

And then it all stopped, interrupted by an ear-splitting earthshaking boom that forced the mob to go silent. They all stopped and looked around them. It was one of the Stadium audience that said first. "It's Harry Potter!" She yelled.

Amos remembered thinking the impossible. The boy had Apparated – bypassing the wards of Hogwarts, seemingly by sheer force of will.

Everyone rushed toward the boy, all shouting questions at once and surrounding him but Cedric forced his way through the crowd with a glare that would put a basilisk to shame, and the shouts quieted to a dull roar. His son turned to Harry checking him over for himself.

All the while Harry simply smiled in relief. "You made it…" He whispered and grinned tiredly before collapsing into unconsciousness.

As he had said before, Amos wasn't sure what it happened in that maze, or afterward if you listened to Harry's story when he woke up. Cedric had won the tournament that evening, but according to Cedric Harry had saved his life that day and as far as Amos was concerned Harry was a hero.

Amos was broken from his thoughts by the sound of muffled yelling in the other room making his head swivel around to investigate. The silencing charms around the house weren't particularly strong, but it must've been loud to pierce it.

That was Cedric's voice. Amos paled at the realization and nearly slammed his glass down on the side table in his rush to get up. Hastily exiting his study, he made his way through the house toward his son's room. "Cedric!" He called loudly as he neared. He reached for his wand to undo the locking charm, but it was unnecessary the door was already open.

Roberta - Cedric's mother - sat on his bed with a worried expression as she watched her son pace back and forth across his room in the dark. Amos looks to her questioningly, but she only shook her head with the lost expression.

Meanwhile, hearing his father call his name Cedric turned to face his father and moved to meet him. The hallway light exposed Cedric's pale, sweat-drenched face. "Dad! We have to do something, Harry's in trouble… Dementors'…"

Cedric was frantic, speaking too fast to properly understand. All he heard was Harry, trouble, and Dementors'. "Whoa, whoa, slow down son. Take a breath and try again."

Cedric stopped and took a deep breath, swallowing hard before repeating himself slower. "Harry is in trouble. He's being attacked by Dementors'"

Amos's face fell, flooded with concern by Cedric's assertion, but it didn't make any sense. Dumbledore said that Harry was safe where he was, and even if he wasn't there was no way that Cedric would know if he was in trouble or not, was there? Amos took a minute to assess the situation. He looked around his son's room and comprehension dawned on him. "Now just take a minute and relax Cedric," he said as calmly as possible. "I'm sure it was just a dream. After all, you have been through a very traumatic experience."

This only seemed to irritate Cedric more. "No dad," he shook his head violently. "I mean yes, I was sleeping but I know that Harry is in trouble."

"Now Cedric…" He began to speak but cut himself off and instead chose to take a more logical track. "Think about this logically. How could you possibly know if Harry was in trouble?"

Cedric took a minute to again calm himself and try to collect his thoughts. Now was not the time to panic, he told himself. He locked his gaze on his father and addressed him in an eerily cold and calm tone. "I would know," he said simply. "We - I have to help him, dad. I owe him my life." He said that last bit with a very pointed expression.

A heavy protracted silence fell over the room like a massive weight pressing down on them. They all stood there in silence for another few seconds observing one another, and not speaking a word. The gravity of his statement hitting them like a ton of bricks.

Amos's lips thinned into a hard line. Cedric was right. He owed Harry Potter a debt of life. In theory, he would know when Harry Potter was in danger, and even if he was wrong that wasn't a chance that they could take. "… All right, I'll contact Dumbledore."

Cedric nodded in relief and moved to follow his father as he exited the room.

Amos knew that Cedric was following him as he made his way to his bedroom to retrieve the mirror the Dumbledore had given him for emergency communications. As a rule, Cedric did not enter his parents' bedroom. He never had, but in this case, Amos ignored it in favor of the emergency. He went to his bedside table and retrieve the two-way mirror from the drawer. "Albus Dumbledore…"

The glass fogged and turned for a moment before it connected to the other side. "What can I help you with Amos," Dumbledore said as his face filled the other side. He held the same kind grandfatherly tone that he always did, but he did sound slightly distracted.

"Well Albus," he responded sounding slightly apologetic. "This may sound strange, but we believe that Harry Potter may be in some danger."

Dumbledore's face became slightly grim. "I'm aware," he confirmed. "I'm on my way to headquarters to summon the order."

Amos's brow furrowed. How would Dumbledore know so soon if Harry were in trouble? He shook his head and decided to let it go. "All right," he said and paused, considering his next words carefully. "We will be there in a few moments."

Albus nodded and the mirror fogged and cleared. He put the mirror back in the drawer and turned to face Cedric intending to tell him to get dressed, but the boy had already pulled his wand and transfigured his pajamas into jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. Amos nodded. He could try and tell his son not to go, but he knew it would be a fight. "I'll make a portkey…"

Amos sighed, Roberta was not going to be happy.

-x-

Magnolia Crescent - a few minutes earlier

Harry Potter had faced death before many times. Well, four times before, but for an average person that was three times too many. He was rather used to it. Something about this time, however, was different. His cousin was on the ground, curled up into the fetal position in a gibbering mess of fear unable to see their assailants, but Harry could see them… Black-robed figures gliding down the street toward them, the very specter of death and Harry had lost his wand - thank you very much Dudley Dursley! For the first time in his life, Harry Potter felt true fear. Not the adrenaline rush that comes with a survival instinct, but true, cold and paralyzing fear.

One of the Dementors descended on him, reaching out with a skeletal hand whose flesh still clung to the bone, and grabbed him by the shirt collar and lifted him off his feet. This close to a dementor Harry felt a chill settle over him like a bucket of ice water over his bones. He could hear the literal soul-sucking noise behind the dark void of the creature's hood.

His vision began to waver and blur, darkness creeping around the edges, and he had one thought as the darkness claimed him:

I don't want to die!

The first thing that he heard when he regained consciousness was the marry and soothing crackle of a fire. Must be the hospital wing, Harry thought to himself. Wherever he was, was soft as well. With his eyes still closed he ran his palm over silk sheets. The cold was gone too. He felt warm and cozy, a feeling that seeped into his very bones like the cold of the Dementors, but much nicer...

Remembering the Dementors gave him a jolt. His eyes snapped open and he sat bolt upright in bed, looking around frantically. Seeing no danger Harry took a moment to collect himself, taking in his surroundings. The room was indeed cozy. The walls were made of a rich stained holly wood paneling, contrasted by flickering shadows cast by the firelight. The floor was covered in thick crimson carpeting that Harry imagined would be very pleasant under his bare feet; except for the space right in front of the fireplace that looked to be smooth gray cobblestone.

On closer inspection, however, he noticed that the room was in great disarray. There was a desk on the far wall, for example, that was filled with junk of all kinds: old broken toys, dirty tattered clothes, and all kinds of odds and ends. On the far opposite wall, and the one to his left was empty bookshelves, the books having long since fallen to the floor; some of them splayed open others stacked haphazardly against the wall covered in dust as if they hadn't been touched in ages. Likewise, there were loose pieces of paper and parchment scattered all over the floor of the room; and the entire room, Harry noticed was covered in the thinnest sheen of dust.

On the mantle above the fireplace sat four precious stones over varying size and color. One that was a small sapphire the size of his fist, another with the smaller blood red Ruby, the third a crystal-clear diamond, and the fourth was a large black obsidian shard the size of three hands that seemed to absorb the light the room. Unlike the other objects in the room, these four gems appeared to be mounted to the mantle.

On the far end of the room, just out of Harry's field of vision and obscured in the darkest part of the room sat an empty St. Andrew's cross made of dull, strained and crack hew whose leather straps hung loosely at the ends.

"Finally, with me I see," said a soft feminine voice that Harry thought he would recognize nearly anywhere.

Harry's head whipped around toward the source of the voice which were two chairs in front of the fireplace, facing away from him, the reminded him of the all-too-familiar furniture in Gryffindor tower. He scrambled out of bed and over to the fireplace, his face filled with happiness, excitement, worry, and sadness all in equal measure. The woman that was now next to him had long flowing auburn hair and eyes that shine like emeralds in the firelight. "Mum…" He said quietly around the lump that was forming in his throat.

Lily Potter looked up at her son and smiled lovingly. "Hello baby," she said softly. "My Harrison…" Before she could continue Harry launched himself at her and broke down into tears - crying. She just wrapped her arms around him smiling sadly and soothed him. "Shhhh, it's alright baby… It's alright," she repeated softly rocking back and forth as Harry cried, releasing 14 years of pent-up emotion.

It seemed like ages before Harry finally calms down and stop crying. Finally pulling away with the sniffle, Harry smiled awkwardly at his mother an apology. She just smiled and rubbed his back comfortingly.

Harry noticed when he pulled away that the room had grown considerably darker. The shadows and become darker – heavier - and the fire in the hearth and died a little. He sat down in the other chair cautiously. He had so many questions to ask, but he settled on the most obvious. "H-how are you here, and what is this place," he asked." Are you a ghost?"

Lily laughed. Although he was biased, Harry thought it sounded like music, but then again this was the first time Harry had heard his mother's voice without hearing her scream. "Straight to the point. I suppose it makes sense because we don't have much time. Simply put - we aren't physically here." She explained and Harry looked confused, so she explained. "This is in your mind. It is what some people call a mind palace, a metaphysical representation of your mind. Although, the wizards and witches call it your magical core." Here she gestured to a low burning fire.

"Wait a minute," Harry interrupted. He understood most of it, but there were few things that were lost on him. "If this is my mind then why is it such a mess. It looks like no one's used this room in ages, and how are you here and what are those?"

Lily laughed fondly at her son, and Harry blushed in response. He knew he was babbling, but this was all so strange and he was curious. "It's alright Harry," she reassured him. "It is a bit disorganized. Although you can't fix that… Everything you see around you is a part of you: memories, knowledge, things you learned. With time and practice, you could organize and access it quickly."

"To answer your question, however, I have always been here." She explained quickly before Harry could interrupt again. "The night the dark lord came for you your father and I performed a very ancient ritual of Japanese origin. Using this, I sealed up part of my magic and a tiny piece of myself inside your core. It's why Voldemort could never touch you before last year."

"He did something to you that night though." Her face grew very grim and he came to this part. "Like me, Voldemort sealed a piece of himself inside of you and for the last 13 years I have contained him, binding him so that he could not affect you." Here she saw fear enter Harry's eyes when she gestured to the abandoned St. Andrew's cross concealed in the darkness. She stood up and moved to wrap her arms around him to comfort him even as she reassured him. "It's alright!" She said forcibly as she felt Harry stiffen in her arms. "It's alright baby, he's gone now. My guess is that whatever ritual he used to bring himself back last year used that part of himself. That's why he needed you and your blood."

Harry nodded and extricated himself from her, sitting down stiffly. They sat in silence for a few minutes as Harry contemplated what his mother told him. He knew that he should be scared. The idea of Voldemort having ever been part of him was terrifying, but the anger he felt learning this overpowered the fear. He felt slightly violated and that infuriated him.

After a few minutes, Harry sighed and refocused. "And the jewels?"

Here Lily smirked and it was heartwarming to see how very much like Harry she was in that moment." Well, those… Those are interesting. Tell me, Harry," she said conspicuously. "Since your time at Hogwarts, how many people have you saved?"

Harry looked at her confused. How many people he saved? It didn't make much sense, not that he kept track of it. Still, he took a moment to think about it: "Well, I don't really know. Let's see, there was Ginny in second year, Sirius in my third year and… Cedric last year." He realized, counting. "But that's only three and there are four crystals, and what does that have to do with anything?"

Lily nodded to the row of jewels with a smile. "Go on, go touch one - reach out to it with your magic."

Harry went over and choosing a random crystal reached out with his palm and placed it on the diamond. When he thought about pushing his magic into the object the fireplace flared weekly before settling again. As he pushed the power into the diamond he felt it respond and grow warm as power flowed back into him in reciprocation. It was like having a cup of tea. He felt energized, but more than that he also felt stronger.

He was about to draw away and look at his mother to explain but he never got the chance. He gasped as images flashed before his eyes. He saw 10-year-old boy excitedly opening what he knew to be his first broom on his birthday and running out into the yard to climb on.

Just as quickly the image changed again. This time it was an 11-year-old boy -the same 11-year-old boy. He felt pride emanating from him. He had received his Hogwarts letter and excitedly showed his parents.

Images continued to flash before him. Some of them in quick succession and he couldn't identify them. Others were clearer. He saw the boy watching a Quidditch match at 13 years old, watching a 14-year-old Oliver Wood Fly on his broom in front of the goal posts and blushing madly. There was one in the Hogwarts library at the age of 16 of him helping a young Chinese girl that Harry recognized as Cho Chang in the library at Hogwarts with her charms homework. She would grin and him shyly and he would look back smiling flirtatiously.

Finally, Harry had enough and wrenched his hand away, finding himself back in his mind palace. He looked back at his mother in shock. "Those were Cedric Diggory's memories! What the hell was that!"

"Each one of those crystals represents a life debt that isowed to you. Those four individuals are bound to you, and you to them."

Harry took a minute to digest this information. His immediate reaction was to object but he knew that it would do no good and suppressed the urge. "Okay," he said exasperatedly. "That's only three though, what's the fourth one?"

Here Lily's eyes flashed with sadness. "That one is Severus - a life debt that you inherited from your father."

Harry looked at her flabbergasted.

"But enough of that," Lily said abruptly. "We are running out of time. The Dementor is about to claim you." Suddenly Harry was reminded of his dilemma and noticed that the room had grown extremely dark. The fire was nearly gone and the darkness encroaching on them. It barely illuminated the space in front of them now.

Suddenly the survival instinct that Harry was familiar with took hold. His eyes darkened in determination. He would not die tonight! "I'm open to suggestions mum."

Lily's expression mirrored Harry's. "I want you to use the crystal again. Connect with it and draw power into you. Use it to help you stave off the Dementor once you're in the physical world. She paused and considered what he was going to say next. "… I will give myself in your place."

Harry looked at his mother bug-eyed, as if she were insane. "No mother!" He objected. "I'm not going to let the Dementor take your soul, or your magic or whatever is that you are now." As Harry was speaking a massive black hole vortex formed in the center of the room, the powerful sucking noise it made sounding like ripping paper.

Lily put herself between the vortex and Harry, pushing him away back towards the fireplace. "Harry James Potter!" She yelled over the sound of the vortex to be heard. "Do as you are told! I am your mother and it is my job to protect you, I always have and I will do so again!" Harry looked at his mother in despair but said nothing. "GO… And, I love you!"

Harry forced himself to turn away and climbed his eyes shut against the tears. Squaring his shoulders as he marched up to the mantle and placed his hand upon the diamond represented Cedric, connecting and pulling power from it. As he did so, he heard his own voice echoing around his mind palace in a soft whisper. "Help me… I don't want to die, I will not die!

Harry's eyes snapped open, but they were different. He's Emerald eyes glowed with fire as green as the killing curse that he knew intimately. He felt rage and anger build up inside of him like he'd never felt before. He grasped it like a vice with his mind, remembering his core and his mind palace and pulled on it imagining them as strings of palpable power and lashed out, releasing the anger and rage in waves. "Get off of me!" He snarled and his voice echoed with power. The Dementor was thrown backward as if he had hit a brick wall at full GeForce speed. If it had not been the Dementor than and probably would've turned into a puddle of goo.

He hit the pavement in a crouch, tossing his arms out to catch himself and scraping them on the concrete. He stood up and look at the creature with loathing. He hated Dementors. He despised them. They were foul creatures and he didn't just want to drive them off, no he wanted to decimate them.

Acting on instinct he extended his arm in the direction that he remembered his wand being in and felt it fly into his hand with an audible slapping sound. It'd returned to his hand with such force that stung on his scraped palm.

"Incindia Inferno," he intoned a low and deadly voice the promised pain and death. This street before him cracked and split as if the mouth of hell itself were opening, and in a way, it was. Fire and lava begin to spew out from the cracks, interrupting like a volcano. Streams of magical flame followed suit lashing out at the Dementors like whips.

They screeched and dodged and backpedaled trying to avoid the flames but wherever they moved new cracks appeared and the process repeated itself. Eventually, the beasts were driven into the lava and their robes caught fire. They screeched in an ungodly sound as the flames consume them burning them until they were ash.

Harry stood there for a moment scanning the area looking for threats. Seeing none he released his hold on power and his eyes faded returning to their normal green.

He heaved to breathe tiredly and was about to go check on his cousin, but before he could do so the sound of several cracks reminiscent of his fourth year, remembering the sound of apparition. He clenched his wand tightly bringing it to bear.

"Drop your wand!" Several voices called out frantically. "Drop it now!"

Harry looked at them as if they were stupid. "Identify yourself and I'll think about it!"

"Drop your wand now!" They repeated forcefully "Department of Magical Law enforcement! If you do not lower your wand we will fire."

Harry considered his options. Even if they weren't who they said they were, taking on a few mindless creatures were different than taking on four arms wizards and he wasn't stupid. He looked at them closely trying to remember their faces for identification later. Two of them were very tall one of them a black man that looked to be of South African descent. The other was a tall grisly redhead that eyed him as if he were a dangerous animal.

The two others were women, likely their partners. One was a slight of a girl that looked vaguely familiar to him. What he found interesting was that her features kept changing and her hair shifting colors. He got the distinct impression she was nervous. The other Harry didn't recognize she was a hard-faced woman looking to be in her early thirties to survey the scene with a critical eye like a veteran.

"All right, all right." He said placing his wand slowly on the ground and raising his hands above his head in the universal sign for surrender. "If you are Auror's then check on my cousin Dudley. He does not look well."

The two male officers moved forward, one taking his wand and the other approaching him cautiously. The woman with the shifting features moved toward his cousin to check on him and the fourth kept watch.

The girl checked Dudley and looked back up grimly. "He's dead. It looks like you souls been removed as well." Harry should have been horrified but he wasn't. He found himself slightly amused. The Dementors didn't kill, they took your soul. Fat bastard must've died of a heart attack. Harry smirked.

The grisly redhead placed a firm hand on Harry's shoulder and pushed him to his knees. Oddly, Harry noticed that he did not look happy about it. "Put your hands behind your back please." He grunted as Harry did as he was told. "Harry James Potter, you are under arrest for breach of the statute is secrecy, violation of the underage magic restriction, and the apparent murder of a Muggle, and other such charges as the ministry deems appropriate."

""You do not have to say anything. But it may harm your defense if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in Court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?"

Well, Fuck…

End Notes:

First and Foremost, Oh my GOD the Feels! I know, I'm an awful Person. And I'm sure some of you Realize what I did with Lilly and where I took it from. I couldn't resist.

To DZ2: I told you I was gonna use Your Mind Palace concept. I hope you don't mind and you like it

Roberta Diggory:

Cedric's mother's name is never actually given according to anything that I can find. So I simply took it from Robert Himself :)

OC Spell: Incindia Inferno - Fires of Hell

Also, the Challenge info is Posted. Feel free to write your own responses, but send me a Link

Lastly, I do not currently have a Beta Editor. If you’re interested Drop me a line.

[realrhythmskrp]

DISPATCH, (05/03/17): Mirage Media has officially released information about actress, Moon Suah, also known as “Sun” by some fans, on the official website! Suah is a ‘93 liner and has been beloved by fans since her debut in 2015. Find out more about Suah below!

I, Moon Suah, have read and understand the terms and conditions as my position of Actress 1 and agree to honor the standards that are to be expected of me as an employee of Mirage Media.

OOC INFORMATION

Preferred name: gina

Pronouns: she/her

Timezone: gmt+1

Other muses: none

Password (for reservations only): lime

IC INFORMATION

Faceclaim: iu

Name: moon suah

Stage name (if applicable): was supposed to debut with the stage name ‘sun’. some people that have known her since her singer trainee days still call her that.

Idol concept: while training to become a member of skyLectric, the idea behind her was the typical “girl crush“. she was supposed to be it all to fans - the little sister one would want to protect and the girl next door one wouldn’t hesitate to give up their heart for. despite suah not being all that in reality, she accepted that image. though, that perception and utopic idea of her faltered as soon as she became a full-time actress. there was a number of meetings held, all of which revolved around her possible image. soon it was announced that her new image is “mystery“. she became like someone behind a white veil; you can see her, but she‘s blurry; you can talk to her, but you‘re never sure of what exactly she means – a “mirage“ in its finest form. Her image is a painting of blurred lines and enchanting gazes, which never failed to draw people in and ensure that all eyes stay on her.

Birth date and age: february 16th, 1993 (24 years old)

Company name: mirage

Group Name (if applicable): -

Group Position (if applicable): actress 1

Strengths: she has a certain aura around her that draws people‘s attention and makes eyes set on her and her only. that‘s something the company and the girl herself view as an ultimate strength – the mystery behind her character and the likable aura around her mixed with undeniable acting talent ensures that she will stay relevant despite the quick changing actor industry. besides that, it‘s worth to mention that she has trained to become an idol for a number of years before the ceo had her switch to become an actress. therefore, she exceeds in dancing and singing, music composing and songwriting. on top of that, she‘s variety trained, so she knew how to maneuver her supposed, idolized personality just right in interviews and tv shows.

Weaknesses: her ultimate weakness is the fact that her actual personality is far from mysterious. she‘s in a constant struggle between who she has to be and who see is, and that causes a lot of slip ups. suah hates having to hide herself from the world and the fact that she genuinely didn‘t want to be a full time actress adds to it. she‘s also a very bad liar – to the point where she taught herself to just stay quiet instead of telling the truth. of course, it adds to her image, but when she is forced to talk, it does more damage than anything else.

Positive traits: proactive, expressive, enchanting

Negative traits: angry, pessimistic, cunning

PERSONAL HISTORY

to her life was but a stage in the purest sense of the words. there were no exits or substitutes, only her and hairbrushes turned microphones and noises turned melodies. therefore, as seasons changed one another and leaves turned from green to brown, she ignored the endless misfortunes that walked hand in hand with her family ever since she could remember and chose to focus on music instead. needless to say, it was her dream. to become an idol, that is. and with every step she took, just as her body moved further into maturity, she moved slowly towards her goal. soon, the never-ending cycle of part time jobs, dance lessons, vocal training, speech lessons became a routine.

mirage welcomed her at fifteen. and as soon as her eyes blinked the sleep away at four in the morning right after her acceptance, all the scattered puzzle pieces of the graceful dance moves, melodies that steadily gained stability over the years, the formal and elegant speech she was always taught of seemed to slowly start fitting together. the stage that she saw whenever she closed her eyes started becoming real – the status of an trainee to suah was an equivalent of a promise of a debut, stages and blinding lights, sending her mind into a daze and her heart soaring in euphoria.

and she worked hard for it. with tears in her eyes and droplets of sweat in her hair, she practiced until until the sore playing with her muscles made her taste sweetness on the tip of her tongue. but who could blame her; she often mistook the lights in the practice room for the ones of a stage. if only she had known that living in a dream that she so desperately tried to make real might end up being venomous.

time passed in a blink of an eye and there she was; standing proud and tall, looking at the girls standing next to her through the dance studio mirror. they were her new family, her new partners, as a chance of debut finally peeked in their horizon. together they were supposed to create something of theirs, leave a mark in the industry. and all suah could do at that is smile at the ridiculousness of her own mind, as somehow right then and there looking at those girls through the mirror made them seem like they somehow were a part of an alternate universe, a different reality. they seemed far from reach. maybe suah’s subconscious mind knew the future.

“we have decided to debut you as an actress later,“ / “after promotions?“ / “no. it’s the best for you and the company for you to debut later as an actress instead of a singer.“

suah never considered that a couple of acting lessons might change her whole life path to one she never asked for and the twinkle of light that was a promise of a debut with a group disappeared out of her sight just as swiftly as it appeared. a star fallen, one might say. the worst part about it was that she didn’t even try to be good at acting. without as much as a grain of effort from her, her face and body told stories to those who watched her. a talent she never wanted to possess ripped her only goal in life out of her hands.

from there she was angry. suah is angry at the whole word that she didn‘t get to do what she wanted. and she is angry at herself for failing to protest the announcement of a change of her career plan. to this day, she has a lot of pent up bitterness and spite in her gut. luckily, the “mystery” of her persona and the lack of background information about who she was coming with that helps with keeping the negativity inside while in public. but you can only fill a cup to a certain point before it spills; her feelings do come out here and there; the frustration, helplessness and pure dissatisfaction directed towards herself and her life.

[realrhythmskrp]

DISPATCH, (04/08/17): Mirage Media has officially released information about main rapper, main dancer, and main vocalist, Song Areum, also known as Aria, on skyLectric’s official website! Aria is a ‘91 liner and has been beloved by fans since her debut in 2012. Find out more about Aria below!

I, SONG AREUM, have read and understand the terms and conditions as my position of SKYLECTRIC’S MAIN RAPPER and agree to honor the standards that are to be expected of me as an employee of MIRAGE MEDIA.

OOC INFORMATION

Preferred name: Elli

Pronouns: she/her

Timezone: EST

Other muses: Jo Dahye

IC INFORMATION

Faceclaim: Kim Hyuna

Name: Song Areum

Stage name (if applicable): Aria

Idol concept: Aria is considered the seductress of skyLectric, known to give off a dangerous aura when performing, yet maintaining a level of sexiness that appeals to male fans and labels her as a ‘girl crush’ to female fans. Her minimal activity on social media and quiet yet calming presence on variety and reality shows makes her appear mysterious as well, and while it does draw fans in and make them appreciate the few times that she is more personable, it makes her an easy target for hate and rumors. For the most part, Aria doesn’t mind– at the end of the day it’s all a part of the job, and being able to let loose and act outside of her actual demeanor certainly makes her days more interesting. The one thing she dislikes is having to solely appeal to male fans, but as she comes to terms with her sexuality, she sees this as both a blessing and a curse.

Birth date and age: May 12th, 1991 / 25

Company name: Mirage Media

Group Name (if applicable): skyLectric

Group Position (if applicable): Main rapper

Strengths: STRONG RAPS: Aria’s intention was never to rap, but since debuting she’s been motivated to improve her abilities after growing sick of having a few weak seconds of rhymes. When her group isn’t promoting and she isn’t busy with a drama, she’s more than likely rehearsing and meeting up with rap coaches, and has displayed her growth through various videos posted on social media and features on other people’s tracks. Despite her claims that her rapping has improved over the years, skyLectric’s music doesn’t allow her to show this and she doesn’t see a solo debut for herself in the near future. DANCE: She’s not skyLectric’s dance machine for no reason. Aria has basically been dancing for as long as she could walk, from dance lessons, to her dance crew in New York, to training for six years. She’s often creating choreography, both for her own practice videos and for skyLectric’s performances, and one of her biggest post-idol goals is to open a dance studio. STAGE PRESENCE: When Aria performs, she easily attracts all eyes to herself. No matter the song (even the songs that she hates), she looks as if she’s having the time of her life. Paired along with perfectly timed eye contact with the crowd, plus a few winks, grins and poking out of her tongue here and there, eyes often gravitate to her when audience members are unfamiliar with the group as a whole.

Weaknesses: CONTROLLING STREAK: It’s not an exaggeration to say that when working with Aria, it’s her way or the highway. When it comes to topics that she feels confident in, she’ll argue to hell and back trying to prove her point. This often leads to conflicts not only with her group members (mainly her leader as she talks over her commands), but with producers as well, and especially choreographers. SEEMINGLY FRIENDLESS: Aria’s limited social media presence means that she has very minimal opportunities to interact, both with her fans and other fellow idols. On one hand, this works out for her mysterious image, but on the other hand, it makes her look as if she’s not comfortable with anyone but her group mates. She keeps a small circle of idol friends, but there’s never anything to show for it besides offhanded mentions on shows. In a business where networking plays a key role in exposure, Aria can’t be bothered to force a smile on her face and interact with people she doesn’t care to interact with just because their high profile will help to benefit her. This has only made it easier for people to spring up rumors about her being an unlikable person and make up conflicts for her, all because there’s not much evidence out there to prove otherwise. FANSERVICE: As a person that prefers to show her appreciation and affection towards people with subtle actions, Aria often struggles when it comes to the direct (and almost obnoxious) acts done to show appreciation to fans. Either she misses the mark and barely gives more than finger hearts, or she’s over the top, leading to cringe worthy videos of it being passed around and being mocked for it.

Positive traits: Resourceful, Motivated, Protective

Negative traits: Stubborn, Blunt, Spiteful

PERSONAL HISTORY

“congratulations, it’s a baby girl.”

may 12th, 1991 at 9:32 in the morning. areum aria song took her first breath in mount sinai hospital, bringing much happiness and relief to her anxious parents. the apartment that she grew up in might have been bare of possessions, but for what they couldn’t provide financially, they made up for with love. even as a young child, aria was always aware to some extent that her family was poor– it was obvious in the way that her parents never seemed to be hungry around dinnertime, how stressed they looked whenever they opened the mail, or how her birthday and christmas time was always less extravagant than what she saw on television or heard about from her friends. they had less, but that was okay. it could never stop her from wanting to get more for herself.

“we practice on wednesday, friday and saturday. you should come down, when you can.”

aria is ten years old when she found her first love, and no, it wasn’t a person. a local community center in her neighborhood hosted dance practices, and as a way to stay out of her parents way, she signed herself up in a heartbeat. as it turned out, she was a natural, starting off with tap and jazz before eventually branching out to whatever form she could find. by age thirteen, aria leaves the community center with a few other members to form a dance crew called nuAGE, and they start uploading their choreography and routines to youtube.

what started off as friends goofing around eventually picked up traction, and within a year nuAGE had thousands of youtube subscribers. busking in times square and coney island soon turned into paid gigs, and soon dance turned into more than just a hobby for aria. she was young, with years ahead of her, yet she was already debating whether or not this was going to be her future, or if she should soar a little lower.

“bkb entertainment is holding global auditions. why don’t you give it a try, see what they think of your skills?”

truthfully, aria wasn’t entirely sure why she went– even as she was in line, she still considered sneaking off every now and then before her name was called. she hadn’t told her parents, they would be expecting her home by sun down, she had tons of homework to do, yet even with all the excuses, she still managed to stay in the waiting area until she was called back. maybe it was just fate, or maybe her being more foolish than she ever thought she was, but in the end it paid off. aria soared through her audition, and by age fifteen she was packing her bags to move to seoul and train under bkb entertainment.

her training under bkb lasted for all of two years before she decided not to renew and find a different, better company to train under, all she wanted to do was dance and they were far too restrictive and controlling for her tastes. after months of nonstop searching she chooses to sign with mirage media, and from then on out she soared, quickly finding herself as part of the lineup for a predebut group not even a year after she started to train there.

“mom, dad… i think i’m gay.”

adulthood hit aria like a ton of bricks, both with new responsibilities and realizations as she finally got closer and closer to her actual debut. one, that she was woefully unprepared for her new role as a rapper that had been forced upon her. two, that despite her reassurances that she was fine, there was a part of her that was still bitter over the fact that she was passed over the opportunity to lead her group. and three, perhaps the most important of all– aria was absolutely, without a doubt in her mind, not straight. it had taken her years to grasp this information, and much longer to build up the courage to tell someone.

her parents were the first people that she came out to, over the phone after she warmed them up with her debut announcement. they hung up on her, and they haven’t called back since. ‘fuck ‘em’, she’ll say when anyone asks her about them, her face looking as nonchalant as ever when deep down the memories drive a knife into her heart.

she hasn’t told another soul since, and at this rate, she doesn’t plan to.

“hello, i’m aria, skyLectric’s passion! please treat us well!”

as always, things begin to look up, mainly because aria refuses to stay in the dumps. she might not lead her group, but she’s established herself as a pillar of support for the other three (along with their previous potential members), and that’s good enough. rather than settle with being yet another mediocre idol rapper, she pushed herself to at least show some sort of improvement over the last five years. naturally, she has her complaints here and there, but as long as she can still get on stage and dance her heart out, she’ll never have a day without a smile on her face.

[realrhythmskrp]

DISPATCH, 03/30/17: BKB Entertainment has officially released information about lead vocalist 2, Jo Dahye, on silverBEAT’s official website! Dahye is a ‘90 liner and has been beloved by fans since her debut in 2010. Find out more about Dahye below!

I, JO DAHYE, have read and understand the terms and conditions as my position of silverBEAT LEAD VOCALIST and agree to honor the standards that are to be expected of me as an employee of BKB ENTERTAINMENT.

OOC INFORMATION

Preferred name: Elli

Pronouns: she/her

Timezone: EST

Other muses: n/a

IC INFORMATION

Faceclaim: Jeon Hyosung (Secret)

Name: Jo Dahye

Stage name (if applicable): n/a

Idol concept: Dahye is known as the “pink princess” of silverBEAT, girlish, fashion forward, and adorable in all ways possible. Rather than forced aegyo, she’s considered to have a natural cuteness to her that’s shown through silly, almost innocent questions and an unstoppable amount of energy and motivation to get a task done. For the most part, she has no problems with it, but as she’s getting older, she’s getting tired of the “baekji” or “dumb blonde” image that’s been pushed on her as well. She knows she’s not the smartest person around, but she’s not a complete idiot, and as she nears her thirties she doesn’t want to be known for a lack of intelligence that’s nothing more than a show. In private, she’s certainly as energetic as she acts on camera, but she isn’t so in-your-face about it. Dahye is typically the first to attempt to cheer her members up, often by distracting them with something fun. As of late, her smiles are merely a facade as she battles her own inner demons.

Birth date and age: August 29th, 1990; 26

Company name: BKB Entertainment

Group Name: silverBEAT

Group Position: Lead Vocalist 2

Strengths: STABLE VOCALS: As expected, Dahye’s years of training have come with benefits. She’s able to sing circles around someone while maintaining the same pitch and without going breathless, but BKB’s producers don’t cash in on this, and instead stick her with high notes and belting ab libs where she runs the risk of falling flat. PERSONABLE: Dahye loves people, simple as that. People don’t call her silverBEAT’s princess for no reason, after all– her smiles are genuine, her concern for her fans and others are genuine, and she knows just the right thing to say to keep people satisfied. She’s a natural conversationalist, able to convince even the most disinterested person to give BKB’s artists a chance. GOOD AT VARIETY: On that same note, she knows just the right things to say and do that’ll bring ratings up and keep viewers interested. Funny story about her unnies? She’s telling it. funny, yet embarrassing story about herself? She’s telling that too. Whatever trick she’s learned in the little free time she has? Showing it off. She manages to get the attention on her, but not in an obnoxious way.

Weaknesses: SELF DOUBTING: She’s only human– after a while, the negative comments start to take a toll on her. Times like this are when Dahye starts to lag, wishing to spend time with her family and friends rather than in the spotlight where she has no choice but to face the darker aspects of the industry she thrust herself into. REBELLIOUS STREAK: No amount of training and struggles can erase Dahye’s spoiled attitude. If there’s something that she doesn’t want to do, in the end, she’s either going to find a way to not do it or she’s going to complain the entire time about it. Out of silverBEAT’s members, she’s notorious for finding ways to break their strict diet to satisfy her junk food cravings, and in their early years, one of her major scandals involved being caught out drinking at clubs with her friends. Whenever stress starts to get to her, she frantically finds a release for it, even if it’ll only come back to bite her in the end. PICKY: Stylists either love her or hate her. If she isn’t pleased with her attire, she’s very quick to voice her opinions on it, even if it leads to nothing more than eyerolls in her direction. Depending on her familiarity with the stylist, she might ask them to redo her hair or makeup until they give in and do it, leading to the whole group being put off schedule waiting for her. In these instances, she’s very kind and attempts to make up for her inconveniences in whatever way that she can manage. If she doesn’t get her way, however, she doesn’t hesitate to use her image as silverBEAT’s princess to express her displeasure on camera towards her outfit for the day.

Positive traits: Moodmaker, lively, outgoing, ambitious.

Negative traits: Spoiled, overemotional, impulsive, naive.

PERSONAL HISTORY

Jo Dahye was born into excellence, the youngest daughter of legendary movie director Jo Byungchul and famous actress Kang Insook. Her birth came late in her parent’s life, and with plenty of complications, making her birth all the more special. There was no shortage of love shown towards her, even when her parents were overseas for weeks or months at a time. Without any pressure from her parents, Dahye knew that she was destined for fame just like them. Visiting her father’s sets left her starry eyed, and at an early age she had plenty of cameras flashing in her face (mainly from her jumping in front of them, adorably basking in the attention that was truthfully directed towards her mother). The lavish lifestyle was one that was meant for her, it was simply a matter of what and how, which her parents were willing to support her every step of the way.

At age fourteen, Dahye signed with BKB Entertainment as a trainee. Already envisioning skyrocketing to the top just like her parents before her, she went into training eager to learn and willing to do anything to get ahead.  Who her parents were was no secret to other trainees, causing her to be the target of rumors and seclusion out of jealousy. What was meant to demotivate her only pushed her harder, though– she was going to prove that she got in on her own talents and not through nepotism and connections, even if it meant dancing until she dropped and singing until she could no longer speak. In the end her efforts paid off, and 2010 became one of the best years of her life when she was added to the lineup of upcoming group silverBEAT as one of their lead vocalists.

No matter how much negativity was flung at her and her group mates, Dahye refused to let any of it get her down. Finally, she could say that she was famous, even if it meant she spent her entire day stuck in practice rooms, even if it meant barely eating throughout the day, and even if she felt more exhausted than she ever felt in the previous 20 years of her life combined. Those were just the prices to pay for stardom, and year after year, she was willing to give it up to stay relevant. Just force a smile on her face, down as much coffee as she could and fake, fake, fake her way through it all. She wanted to follow her parent’s legacy, she wanted to make them proud of her, no matter what it took.

If 2010 was the best year of her life, then 2014 was easily the worst. Her father was diagnosed with stage three lung cancer at the start of the year, but silverBEAT’s tight schedules made it impossible for her to make time to visit him and mentally prepare herself for the worst. In the end, he passed during Mr Mr promotions, and the company refused to allow her to take time off from the promotions to attend his funeral. There was no time for her to mourn, to catch up with her family after years of near-separation, instead she secluded herself in back corners of waiting rooms, medicating herself with eye drops after crying nonstop minutes before. Variety appearance after appearance meant that she had to smile her way through the pain, pretend that her heart wasn’t aching inside and that she wasn’t offended by the negative comments claiming that she was completely unbothered by the death of the most important man in her life.

For the first time in her life, she wanted out.

Unfortunately, Dahye was beat to the punch. Before she could even properly heal from her father’s death, suddenly she and her fellow members were being accused of forcing their ninth member to leave the group. Once again, her opportunity to say goodbye was cut short, and silverBEAT was whisked to the stage once again to promote Catch Me If You Can, where fans quickly began to notice how Dahye was looking less and less energetic like she normally did off stage. But, what could she do? This was the life that she begged for, all ugliness included.

Struggling to come to terms with the sudden whirlwind of events, Dahye fell into a depression that she’s yet to fully pull herself out of. She was no longer able to deny or avoid the disgusting ways of her company, and she also was no longer able to feel like she had any control over her life– both as an idol, and as a person. The bottle quickly became her new best friend, and one of the only ways for her to get through the day and force a smile to her face. silverBEAT returned to the stage once again the following year, and they haven’t done any promoting since. One might think of it as a blessing after years of nonstop promoting, but Dahye knows better. To her it’s a curse, or a punishment even, as if Bin Byeoungkeun could read their mind and sense their true unhappiness.

After a while, the helplessness she felt began to manifest as jealousy as she watched her fellow members gain solo debuts. Of course she was proud of them, and of course she felt they deserved all the recognition in the world, but what about her? She was left to cheer them on from the sidelines and twiddle her thumbs as she was stuck with her hundredth Running Man appearance and enough bikini shoots to bore her into a coma. As much as she wants to leave BKB (and part of her wants to leave the idol lifestyle as a whole), she still wants to make a name for herself, and she still wants to have a safety net for when those gruesome three years come to an end and she can run free. As much as she feels conflicted about her position, she refuses to think that she’s spent years training just to be known as a pretty face and appealing personality. She has a voice, and she wants to show it to the world, alone.

All in all, Dahye’s exhausted. But it could be worse– she could be a nobody.

[realrhythmskrp]

DISPATCH, (06/24/17): Mirage Media has officially released information about main rapper, main dancer, and main vocalist, Song Areum, also known as Aria, on skyLectric’s official website! Aria is a ‘91 liner and has been beloved by fans since her debut in 2012. Find out more about Aria below!

I, SONG AREUM, have read and understand the terms and conditions as my position of SKYLECTRIC’S MAIN RAPPER and agree to honor the standards that are to be expected of me as an employee of MIRAGE MEDIA.

OOC INFORMATION

Preferred name: Elli

Pronouns: she/her

Timezone: EST

Other muses: Jo Dahye

IC INFORMATION

Faceclaim: Kim Hyuna

Name: Song Areum

Stage name (if applicable): Aria

Idol concept: Aria is considered the seductress of skyLectric, known to give off a dangerous aura when performing, yet maintaining a level of sexiness that appeals to male fans and labels her as a ‘girl crush’ to female fans. Her minimal activity on social media and quiet yet calming presence on variety and reality shows makes her appear mysterious as well, and while it does draw fans in and make them appreciate the few times that she is more personable, it makes her an easy target for hate and rumors. For the most part, Aria doesn’t mind– at the end of the day it’s all a part of the job, and being able to let loose and act outside of her actual demeanor certainly makes her days more interesting. The one thing she dislikes is having to solely appeal to male fans, but as she comes to terms with her sexuality, she sees this as both a blessing and a curse.

Birth date and age: May 12th, 1991 / 25

Company name: Mirage Media

Group Name (if applicable): skyLectric

Group Position (if applicable): Main rapper

Strengths: STRONG RAPS: Aria’s intention was never to rap, but since debuting she’s been motivated to improve her abilities after growing sick of having a few weak seconds of rhymes. When her group isn’t promoting and she isn’t busy with a drama, she’s more than likely rehearsing and meeting up with rap coaches, and has displayed her growth through various videos posted on social media and features on other people’s tracks. Despite her claims that her rapping has improved over the years, skyLectric’s music doesn’t allow her to show this and she doesn’t see a solo debut for herself in the near future. DANCE: She’s not skyLectric’s dance machine for no reason. Aria has basically been dancing for as long as she could walk, from dance lessons, to her dance crew in New York, to training for six years. She’s often creating choreography, both for her own practice videos and for skyLectric’s performances, and one of her biggest post-idol goals is to open a dance studio. STAGE PRESENCE: When Aria performs, she easily attracts all eyes to herself. No matter the song (even the songs that she hates), she looks as if she’s having the time of her life. Paired along with perfectly timed eye contact with the crowd, plus a few winks, grins and poking out of her tongue here and there, eyes often gravitate to her when audience members are unfamiliar with the group as a whole.

Weaknesses: CONTROLLING STREAK: It’s not an exaggeration to say that when working with Aria, it’s her way or the highway. When it comes to topics that she feels confident in, she’ll argue to hell and back trying to prove her point. This often leads to conflicts not only with her group members (mainly her leader as she talks over her commands), but with producers as well, and especially choreographers. SEEMINGLY FRIENDLESS: Aria’s limited social media presence means that she has very minimal opportunities to interact, both with her fans and other fellow idols. On one hand, this works out for her mysterious image, but on the other hand, it makes her look as if she’s not comfortable with anyone but her group mates. She keeps a small circle of idol friends, but there’s never anything to show for it besides offhanded mentions on shows. In a business where networking plays a key role in exposure, Aria can’t be bothered to force a smile on her face and interact with people she doesn’t care to interact with just because their high profile will help to benefit her. This has only made it easier for people to spring up rumors about her being an unlikable person and make up conflicts for her, all because there’s not much evidence out there to prove otherwise. FANSERVICE: As a person that prefers to show her appreciation and affection towards people with subtle actions, Aria often struggles when it comes to the direct (and almost obnoxious) acts done to show appreciation to fans. Either she misses the mark and barely gives more than finger hearts, or she’s over the top, leading to cringe worthy videos of it being passed around and being mocked for it.

Positive traits: Resourceful, Motivated, Protective

Negative traits: Stubborn, Blunt, Spiteful

PERSONAL HISTORY

“congratulations, it’s a baby girl.”

may 12th, 1991 at 9:32 in the morning. areum aria song took her first breath in mount sinai hospital, bringing much happiness and relief to her anxious parents. the apartment that she grew up in might have been bare of possessions, but for what they couldn’t provide financially, they made up for with love. even as a young child, aria was always aware to some extent that her family was poor– it was obvious in the way that her parents never seemed to be hungry around dinnertime, how stressed they looked whenever they opened the mail, or how her birthday and christmas time was always less extravagant than what she saw on television or heard about from her friends. they had less, but that was okay. it could never stop her from wanting to get more for herself.

“we practice on wednesday, friday and saturday. you should come down, when you can.”

aria is ten years old when she found her first love, and no, it wasn’t a person. a local community center in her neighborhood hosted dance practices, and as a way to stay out of her parents way, she signed herself up in a heartbeat. as it turned out, she was a natural, starting off with tap and jazz before eventually branching out to whatever form she could find. by age thirteen, aria leaves the community center with a few other members to form a dance crew called nuAGE, and they start uploading their choreography and routines to youtube.

what started off as friends goofing around eventually picked up traction, and within a year nuAGE had thousands of youtube subscribers. busking in times square and coney island soon turned into paid gigs, and soon dance turned into more than just a hobby for aria. she was young, with years ahead of her, yet she was already debating whether or not this was going to be her future, or if she should soar a little lower.

“bkb entertainment is holding global auditions. why don’t you give it a try, see what they think of your skills?”

truthfully, aria wasn’t entirely sure why she went– even as she was in line, she still considered sneaking off every now and then before her name was called. she hadn’t told her parents, they would be expecting her home by sun down, she had tons of homework to do, yet even with all the excuses, she still managed to stay in the waiting area until she was called back. maybe it was just fate, or maybe her being more foolish than she ever thought she was, but in the end it paid off. aria soared through her audition, and by age fifteen she was packing her bags to move to seoul and train under bkb entertainment.

her training under bkb lasted for all of two years before she decided not to renew and find a different, better company to train under, all she wanted to do was dance and they were far too restrictive and controlling for her tastes. after months of nonstop searching she chooses to sign with mirage media, and from then on out she soared, quickly finding herself as part of the lineup for a predebut group not even a year after she started to train there.

“mom, dad… i think i’m gay.”

adulthood hit aria like a ton of bricks, both with new responsibilities and realizations as she finally got closer and closer to her actual debut. one, that she was woefully unprepared for her new role as a rapper that had been forced upon her. two, that despite her reassurances that she was fine, there was a part of her that was still bitter over the fact that she was passed over the opportunity to lead her group. and three, perhaps the most important of all– aria was absolutely, without a doubt in her mind, not straight. it had taken her years to grasp this information, and much longer to build up the courage to tell someone.

her parents were the first people that she came out to, over the phone after she warmed them up with her debut announcement. they hung up on her, and they haven’t called back since. ‘fuck ‘em’, she’ll say when anyone asks her about them, her face looking as nonchalant as ever when deep down the memories drive a knife into her heart.

she hasn’t told another soul since, and at this rate, she doesn’t plan to.

“hello, i’m aria, skyLectric’s passion! please treat us well!”

as always, things begin to look up, mainly because aria refuses to stay in the dumps. she might not lead her group, but she’s established herself as a pillar of support for the other three (along with their previous potential members), and that’s good enough. rather than settle with being yet another mediocre idol rapper, she pushed herself to at least show some sort of improvement over the last five years. naturally, she has her complaints here and there, but as long as she can still get on stage and dance her heart out, she’ll never have a day without a smile on her face.

[realrhythmskrp]

DISPATCH, 06/24/17: BKB Entertainment has officially released information about lead vocalist 2, Jo Dahye, on silverBEAT’s official website! Dahye is a ‘90 liner and has been beloved by fans since her debut in 2010. Find out more about Dahye below!

I, JO DAHYE, have read and understand the terms and conditions as my position of silverBEAT LEAD VOCALIST and agree to honor the standards that are to be expected of me as an employee of BKB ENTERTAINMENT.

OOC INFORMATION

Preferred name: Elli

Pronouns: she/her

Timezone: EST

Other muses: n/a

IC INFORMATION

Faceclaim: Jeon Hyosung (Secret)

Name: Jo Dahye

Stage name (if applicable): n/a

Idol concept: Dahye is known as the “pink princess” of silverBEAT, girlish, fashion forward, and adorable in all ways possible. Rather than forced aegyo, she’s considered to have a natural cuteness to her that’s shown through silly, almost innocent questions and an unstoppable amount of energy and motivation to get a task done. For the most part, she has no problems with it, but as she’s getting older, she’s getting tired of the “baekji” or “dumb blonde” image that’s been pushed on her as well. She knows she’s not the smartest person around, but she’s not a complete idiot, and as she nears her thirties she doesn’t want to be known for a lack of intelligence that’s nothing more than a show. In private, she’s certainly as energetic as she acts on camera, but she isn’t so in-your-face about it. Dahye is typically the first to attempt to cheer her members up, often by distracting them with something fun. As of late, her smiles are merely a facade as she battles her own inner demons.

Birth date and age: August 29th, 1990; 26

Company name: BKB Entertainment

Group Name: silverBEAT

Group Position: Lead Vocalist 2

Strengths: STABLE VOCALS: As expected, Dahye’s years of training have come with benefits. She’s able to sing circles around someone while maintaining the same pitch and without going breathless, but BKB’s producers don’t cash in on this, and instead stick her with high notes and belting ab libs where she runs the risk of falling flat. PERSONABLE: Dahye loves people, simple as that. People don’t call her silverBEAT’s princess for no reason, after all– her smiles are genuine, her concern for her fans and others are genuine, and she knows just the right thing to say to keep people satisfied. She’s a natural conversationalist, able to convince even the most disinterested person to give BKB’s artists a chance. GOOD AT VARIETY: On that same note, she knows just the right things to say and do that’ll bring ratings up and keep viewers interested. Funny story about her unnies? She’s telling it. funny, yet embarrassing story about herself? She’s telling that too. Whatever trick she’s learned in the little free time she has? Showing it off. She manages to get the attention on her, but not in an obnoxious way.

Weaknesses: SELF DOUBTING: She’s only human– after a while, the negative comments start to take a toll on her. Times like this are when Dahye starts to lag, wishing to spend time with her family and friends rather than in the spotlight where she has no choice but to face the darker aspects of the industry she thrust herself into. REBELLIOUS STREAK: No amount of training and struggles can erase Dahye’s spoiled attitude. If there’s something that she doesn’t want to do, in the end, she’s either going to find a way to not do it or she’s going to complain the entire time about it. Out of silverBEAT’s members, she’s notorious for finding ways to break their strict diet to satisfy her junk food cravings, and in their early years, one of her major scandals involved being caught out drinking at clubs with her friends. Whenever stress starts to get to her, she frantically finds a release for it, even if it’ll only come back to bite her in the end. PICKY: Stylists either love her or hate her. If she isn’t pleased with her attire, she’s very quick to voice her opinions on it, even if it leads to nothing more than eyerolls in her direction. Depending on her familiarity with the stylist, she might ask them to redo her hair or makeup until they give in and do it, leading to the whole group being put off schedule waiting for her. In these instances, she’s very kind and attempts to make up for her inconveniences in whatever way that she can manage. If she doesn’t get her way, however, she doesn’t hesitate to use her image as silverBEAT’s princess to express her displeasure on camera towards her outfit for the day.

Positive traits: Moodmaker, lively, outgoing, ambitious.

Negative traits: Spoiled, overemotional, impulsive, naive.

PERSONAL HISTORY

Jo Dahye was born into excellence, the youngest daughter of legendary movie director Jo Byungchul and famous actress Kang Insook. Her birth came late in her parent’s life, and with plenty of complications, making her birth all the more special. There was no shortage of love shown towards her, even when her parents were overseas for weeks or months at a time. Without any pressure from her parents, Dahye knew that she was destined for fame just like them. Visiting her father’s sets left her starry eyed, and at an early age she had plenty of cameras flashing in her face (mainly from her jumping in front of them, adorably basking in the attention that was truthfully directed towards her mother). The lavish lifestyle was one that was meant for her, it was simply a matter of what and how, which her parents were willing to support her every step of the way.

At age fourteen, Dahye signed with BKB Entertainment as a trainee. Already envisioning skyrocketing to the top just like her parents before her, she went into training eager to learn and willing to do anything to get ahead.  Who her parents were was no secret to other trainees, causing her to be the target of rumors and seclusion out of jealousy. What was meant to demotivate her only pushed her harder, though– she was going to prove that she got in on her own talents and not through nepotism and connections, even if it meant dancing until she dropped and singing until she could no longer speak. In the end her efforts paid off, and 2010 became one of the best years of her life when she was added to the lineup of upcoming group silverBEAT as one of their lead vocalists.

No matter how much negativity was flung at her and her group mates, Dahye refused to let any of it get her down. Finally, she could say that she was famous, even if it meant she spent her entire day stuck in practice rooms, even if it meant barely eating throughout the day, and even if she felt more exhausted than she ever felt in the previous 20 years of her life combined. Those were just the prices to pay for stardom, and year after year, she was willing to give it up to stay relevant. Just force a smile on her face, down as much coffee as she could and fake, fake, fake her way through it all. She wanted to follow her parent’s legacy, she wanted to make them proud of her, no matter what it took.

If 2010 was the best year of her life, then 2014 was easily the worst. Her father was diagnosed with stage three lung cancer at the start of the year, but silverBEAT’s tight schedules made it impossible for her to make time to visit him and mentally prepare herself for the worst. In the end, he passed during Mr Mr promotions, and the company refused to allow her to take time off from the promotions to attend his funeral. There was no time for her to mourn, to catch up with her family after years of near-separation, instead she secluded herself in back corners of waiting rooms, medicating herself with eye drops after crying nonstop minutes before. Variety appearance after appearance meant that she had to smile her way through the pain, pretend that her heart wasn’t aching inside and that she wasn’t offended by the negative comments claiming that she was completely unbothered by the death of the most important man in her life.

For the first time in her life, she wanted out.

Unfortunately, Dahye was beat to the punch. Before she could even properly heal from her father’s death, suddenly she and her fellow members were being accused of forcing their ninth member to leave the group. Once again, her opportunity to say goodbye was cut short, and silverBEAT was whisked to the stage once again to promote Catch Me If You Can, where fans quickly began to notice how Dahye was looking less and less energetic like she normally did off stage. But, what could she do? This was the life that she begged for, all ugliness included.

Struggling to come to terms with the sudden whirlwind of events, Dahye fell into a depression that she’s yet to fully pull herself out of. She was no longer able to deny or avoid the disgusting ways of her company, and she also was no longer able to feel like she had any control over her life– both as an idol, and as a person. The bottle quickly became her new best friend, and one of the only ways for her to get through the day and force a smile to her face. silverBEAT returned to the stage once again the following year, and they haven’t done any promoting since. One might think of it as a blessing after years of nonstop promoting, but Dahye knows better. To her it’s a curse, or a punishment even, as if Bin Byeoungkeun could read their mind and sense their true unhappiness.

After a while, the helplessness she felt began to manifest as jealousy as she watched her fellow members gain solo debuts. Of course she was proud of them, and of course she felt they deserved all the recognition in the world, but what about her? She was left to cheer them on from the sidelines and twiddle her thumbs as she was stuck with her hundredth Running Man appearance and enough bikini shoots to bore her into a coma. As much as she wants to leave BKB (and part of her wants to leave the idol lifestyle as a whole), she still wants to make a name for herself, and she still wants to have a safety net for when those gruesome three years come to an end and she can run free. As much as she feels conflicted about her position, she refuses to think that she’s spent years training just to be known as a pretty face and appealing personality. She has a voice, and she wants to show it to the world, alone.

All in all, Dahye’s exhausted. But it could be worse– she could be a nobody.