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the-psychopathist · 4 months ago

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Is Agatha Harkness a sociopath?

I wanted to make this post ever since I finished Agatha All Along, specifically after Agatha was referred to as a “sociopath” in the series. Now, “sociopath” is not an actual diagnosis and most of the time, what people refer to when it comes to sociopathy and psychopathy is actually anti-social personality disorder (ASPD). In this post, I’ll attempt to “diagnose” Agatha with ASPD and see if she fits the criteria for a diagnosis.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional, I’m only “diagnosing” Agatha because she’s a fictional character. Do not attempt to do the same for any real person. This post isn’t meant to stigmatize any real person with that condition, this is simply a character study. None of what I’m writing should be used in a real-life context.

1) Failure to obey laws and norms by engaging in behavior which results in criminal arrest, or would warrant criminal arrest

Agatha is quite literally a serial killer. She has been luring witches to their early graves for centuries. We don't know exactly how many people she has killed, but her body count is definitely quite large. I don't think she was ever arrested for her crimes but it definitely warrants a criminal arrest. If it wasn't for Wanda trapping her in the Agnes persona at the end of WandaVision, she would have most likely been arrested, especially since she attempted to kill multiple S.W.O.R.D. soldiers.

2) Deceitfulness, indicated by continuously lying, using aliases, or conning others for personal gain and pleasure.

This one is a given. Her primary means to steal magic was through a con. She deceived and manipulated unsuspecting witches who trusted her with the intent of stealing their magic and killing them. And even before that, she used her own son to lure witches and do the same. She does it primarily for profit, to get more magic, but she does seem to genuinely enjoy deceiving others and gaining pleasure out of it.

In both WV and AAA she was lying, deceiving and manipulating the rest of the cast from the very beginning for her own benefit. She infiltrated Wanda’s hex and posed as her nosy neighbour “Agnes”, graining Wanda's trust with the intent of stealing her magic from the start. She did it primarily for profit but there was also some enjoyment for her when she revealed the truth to Wanda, so much so that she created her own intro song. She was enjoying putting up a show almost as much as getting Wanda's magic.

This pattern of behaviors is seen throughout AAA too, especially upon rewatch. On your first watch, you might not notice but after rewatching a second time fully knowing the end, you can notice how much Agatha has been lying the entire time. Not only did she lie about the road and always intended to murder the cover in her basement, but when the hex road appeared she kept the lie that she went to the road before going. One could say that she had to keep the lie going because she never intended for the road to appear, so those weren’t lies she intended to tell, but at the same time, we can see how easily she can lie and deceive others. She knew all along that Billy created the road and that said road was deadly, yet made no attempt at stopping him. She knew people would die but she kept the lie going because she hoped that she could get back her powers at the end. So she lied, deceived and manipulated the group the entire time for her own gain.

3) Exhibiting impulsivity or failing to plan ahead.

Agatha is someone who likes to be in control, and does give off the illusion of being in control. But the truth is, she isn’t as much in control as she thinks she is, and is quite impulsive. Lots of her shortcomings are a direct consequence of an impulsive decision (fuck around and find out). Being impulsive doesn’t mean she can’t make elaborate schemes, because she sure does. But a lot of those are made impulsively. She sensed Wanda’s magic and decided to join her hex without knowing exactly how Wanda’s magic worked. She even started messing with her without knowing how Wanda’s magic would respond. Then in AAA we see more of her impulsive nature. She doesn’t think through whenever she makes a decision and ends up needing to improvise in order to compensate for her reckless decisions. She told Lilia about how her ability to steal magic worked, she picked a bound witch to be part of her coven, as well as a non-magical woman. The only one in the group that seemed to have the ability to blast was Alice. Not the greatest group if she needed to steal as much magic as possible. On the road, she made a lot of impulsive decisions that were quite reckless, like attempting to break the window and throwing her wine glass during the first trial, suggesting to summon another green witch, pretending to be possessed by Sharon, or messing with the tarot cards. There’s also the way she provoked Billy right after he nearly killed her. Those were all decisions she took without thinking about the consequences, out of impulsivity. But she’s not only impulsive when it comes to being reckless with others’ safety. She was also shown to be impulsive when it comes to helping some of her coven members. When Rio first emerged from Sharon’s grave, Agatha’s first instinct was to get in front of the coven as if she wanted to protect them. When Billy got thrown into the window, Agatha rushed to go check on him, or when Lilia was about to get impaled she jumped to push her out of the sword’s trajectory.

4) Irritability and aggressiveness, indicated by repeatedly getting into fights or physically assaulting others.

Once again, this one is a given. Agatha is easily irritated and very aggressive, she’s quick to anger, losing her patience and snapping at people. She had no issue hurting Wanda when she had her captive in her basement, slamming her against the wall when she got irritated with her. I’d argue that the mass murdering she did over centuries also count as frequent assaults. She’s also quick to engage in physical fights with Rio (although those are mutual on both sides), and there was a moment at the end of episode 3 where Agatha randomly kicked Jen when she was already down after they all went through the water slide.

5) Reckless behaviors that disregard the safety of others.

Agatha did not care how her actions affected the resident of Westview when she was purposefully messing around with the hex. She did not care either on the road. She knew from the beginning that it was a hex and even after seeing they could actually die in the trials, she made no attempt to try telling the others the road was fake. She could have tried to let Billy know he made the road but she didn’t. Because she didn’t care if some of them might die. She had no concern for their safety. She endangered the coven in the first trial by trying to break the window and by refusing to drink the wine. She did so too in the third trial by pretending to be possessed, making the group lose precious time. Same with the fourth trial by messing with the tarot cards and not stopping even when the swords were dangerous dropping on both her and Billy.

6) A pattern of irresponsibility

This is probably the only criteria I’m not sure would apply. There are instances of Agatha being irresponsible, but I don’t think we have seen enough of her personal life to establish a pattern. So until further notice, I’ll consider this criteria doesn’t particularly fit.

7) Lack of remorse after hurting or mistreating another person.

Agatha does not seem to have any remorse for all the people she murdered. She may have some remorse regarding her original coven, including her mother, but that was a much younger Agatha. The Agatha we know now does not seem to feel bad for the people she had killed for centuries. It’s even something she will be really flippant about whenever she talks about how many people she has killed.

She didn’t feel remorse when Sharon died either. Agatha might not have directly killed her, she is still responsible for her death by recruiting her into the coven. And it’s not like Agatha didn’t intend from the start to put Sharon in harm’s way. If her initial intention was to kill the coven, it’s very likely she would have killed Sharon too, or Sharon would have been killed by the Salem Seven. Billy may be indirectly responsible for Sharon’s death because he created the road, he was not aware of that nor did he intend for this to happen. Agatha on the other hand always intended for Sharon to die and did not feel bad when she actually did die. She acted extremely callous after Sharon’s death and never bothered to learn her name, even forgetting who she was later on.

And it’s not just about murder. She didn’t feel bad when she got Alice fired, nor did she feel bad when she learned she was the person who got Jen bound for a hundred years. She didn’t feel bad either about attempting to kill the coven from the beginning and had no qualms about using them to get to the end of the road even if it meant sacrificing them.

The coven’s members aren’t the only people who suffer because of Agatha’s actions. If we go back to WandaVision, Agatha orchestrated Sparky’s death. And she seemed pretty proud about causing a dog to die. It may have been revealed in AAA that Ralph poisoned the dog, but it was under Agatha’s order. He was under her magical control, so the blame is entirely on her. She did not feel bad at all for killing a dog. Speaking of Ralph, as much as his character is played for laughs, what she did to him was also pretty atrocious. She took control of his life, stole his house, and forced him to commit awful acts, causing psychological damage to him to the point he is completely paranoid now. It’s unlikely Agatha knows how Ralph ended up after what she did to him, I highly doubt she’d feel an ounce of remorse for that.

Now, lack of remorse does not mean lack of regrets. Agatha does not feel bad for hurting others and how her actions affected them, but she does have regrets. She does feel bad if her actions negatively affect her, like personal loss or missed opportunity. She did seem to feel regret about killing Alice, but I don’t think she felt remorse. She did not feel bad for Alice, she felt bad because of the consequences she had to face after. She did not intend to kill Alice at that time, and now she has lost any potential trust she could gain from the coven. Not only that, we know Agatha became a ghost because she couldn’t face Nicky in the afterlife, so the regret might also be that she thought her son had seen her kill Alice. I don’t think she felt remorse for what she did to Jen either. When Jen did the unbinding ritual, getting told over and over that she “holds nothing” worked on Agatha possibly because deep down, Agatha knew it was true. She no longer has her son, she has no magic, and she has driven away Rio. She did hold nothing anymore.

Having ASPD does not mean Agatha is incapable of love, or caring about others. She undoubtedly loved and cared about her son. So much so that she developed a soft spot for Billy because he reminded her of Nicky. She loved Rio too. Same for her pet rabbit. Unlike popular belief, lack of empathy is not a criteria for ASPD. It does usually result in low empathy, and that can vary from person to person. Agatha probably has little to no empathy for most people except the rare people she does manage to bond with. You can see it as a selective empathy for those she did love and care about, which included Nicky, Rio, Señor Scratchy and later possibly Billy.

If Agatha does have ASPD, how did it start? Even if sometimes genetics can play a role in developing that personality disorder, you aren’t born with it. Most of the time, it’s caused by the environment, mostly trauma experienced as a child. We know Agatha’s mother hated her. She thought she was born evil. She, with her coven, attempted to have her executed when Agatha was only 18. I do believe the accusations made at her were mostly true. She probably did steal knowledge and practiced dark magic. But Agatha did beg her coven to teach her, so I think it’s very likely that since her mother thought she was born evil, she didn’t allow Agatha to properly learn magic. If Agatha wasn’t taught magic and had this power she couldn’t control (siphoning), it’s not surprising that she would have to steal knowledge in order to learn. Agatha learned from a young age to break the rules in order to get what she wants or needs. And without proper guidance, it’s reasonable to think she might have practiced dark magic.

So yes, even if the accusations were true, her coven and mother are not blameless. Agatha is the way she is because of how she was raised, how she was treated as a child and growing up, and what she had to do in order to learn magic. She never had a healthy support system growing up, there was no possibility for therapy at that time, she was a witch living in the worst era for her kind, and she couldn’t even rely on her fellow witches to protect herself. After accidentally killing her original coven (including her own mother), which was definitely a traumatic event for her regardless if it was self-defence, she kept doing what she did so far to survive; steal, lie, deceive, kill. All the antisocial traits she exhibits as an adult are learned behaviours. Of course, it does not justify her crimes and horrific actions she later committed, but it does explain why she is that way. She wasn’t born evil, she became evil. She’s the product of her environment, experiences, circumstances and era.

#agatha all along #agatha harkness #marvel #mcu #analysis #theory #armchair psychology #antisocial personality disorder #anti-social personality disorder #aspd #sociopath #sociopathy

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raven-at-the-writing-desk · 8 months ago

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Why did they change Fellow’s and Gidel’s name for EN but not Rollo’s? So weird you’d think they’d at least be consistent and change all the names or none at all.

[Referencing this post!]

hchfxbjsbajCgwhq Deep breaths, everyone 😅 Deeeeeeep breaths…

I know a lot of us might be displeased with the name changes (moreso with Fellow’s than with Gidel’s) but let’s remember that, at the end of the day, they’re just names. They’re not erasing the original names, they’re not changing the context of the event story, and no one will force you to use the new names if you don’t want to. Your feelings are valid, but please be mindful about how you express them (because unfortunately I fear it can very easily veer into insulting or talking down to the localization/the localization team or fans who don’t mind/actually like the name changes 💦 It is partly for this reason that I did not include the other asks I received on this topic, as they could be needlessly inflammatory).

That being said, here are my thoughts on the matter: initially, I didn’t like the names. My automatic thought was that they sound like a corny 4Kids dub where they changed the Obviously Japanese Name (ex: Ichigo) to something Very Western (ex: Zoey). However, I’ll also be the first to admit that I also initially found the Japanese names odd because who names their kid FELLOW?? It’s like naming someone Person. I’m used to it now, but it definitely took me weeks and weeks to consider “Fellow Honest” a full name.

I’ve seen some people say that Fellow and Gidel’s names are meant to be silly sounding (and so the localized names are actually fitting), but I don’t agree with that sentiment. To my knowledge, no one in-universe ever laughs at their names or says they’re out of place. If the names were intended to be perceived as silly, there would be remarks indicating this. For example, “Tsunotaro”/“Hornton” IS silly because characters make explicit mention of how strange the nickname is. This is not true of Fellow and Gidel, so I don’t believe their names are supposed to be unserious.

I’ve also seen a lot of people poking fun at “Ernesto Foulworth” because “it sounds like such an obvious name for a scammer”. And yeah, maybe that’s true depending on who’s looking at it. I get where people are coming from. Buuut to play devil’s advocate, “Fellow Honest” invokes similar vibes. Both names have that element of honesty/earnest, but “Fellow” is more of a “John Doe” or generic name whereas “FOULworth” sounds bad since we associate the word foul with negativity. Essentially, both names are shady in their own ways but “Ernesto Foulworth” gets more flack because foul triggers an automatic negative association whereas fellow is more neutral.

So then I sat with the localized names for a little longer and the changes started to make a little more sense. To me, both sound very Italian, which fits given that Pinocchio has Italian origins. Additionally, “Ernesto” looks and sounds like “earnest”, which refers to being truthful. His surname, “Foulworth”, may be a reference to Honest John’s full name? Worthington Foulfellow. (I have no insights for Gino, unfortunately… other than making him “match” Fellow’s name better since they’re a pair?)

In all honesty (heh) though, I still don’t really like the new names even considering that context. I’ll probably keep calling them by their Japanese ones. I’ll never be a fan of any name changes because it means I have to go back and edit the tags on ALL my related posts, lol

Side note: shoutout to all the folks saying the names sound Ace Attorney-esque, how you think of Ernesto de la Cruz from Coco, and/or joking about how the EN names are Fellow and Gidel’s fake identities/aliases while they’re on the run from the cops 😭 I laughed too hard reading those comments cbwhebjzbwiwhwlek

Now, I’m not sure why the names were changed considering that names prior have largely been unchanged (Cheka, Marja, Najma, Rollo, etc.), save for maybe some spelling changes (Meleanor -> Maleanor, Baul -> Baur, Farena -> Falena, Leven -> Raverne, etc.). The only huge exception to this is Kifaji, who became Neji in EN. Here’s some theories and speculation going around in the fandom about Fellow and Gidel’s changes:

Copyright issues???? For example, you can’t really trademark “Fellow” and “Honest”, but you could maybe trademark “Ernesto Foulworth”. (This doesn’t explain Gino’s name or why they couldn’t trademark “Fellow Honest”.)

Another interpretation of copyright issues theory is that there’s weird legal stuff happening between Aniplex and Disney (international), which forced the name changes. (I think this one assumes a lot of tight regulations and hinges on how litigious big corpos and especially Disney are when it comes to “protecting” their brand and properties.)

Some have suggested that “Fellow Honest” is noun-adjective word order, which is uncommon in English. In “Ernesto Foulworth”, the first name looks and sounds like the adjective “earnest”, meaning the adjective(s) come first, which is more common in English. (This theory is a little incomplete though; there is no noun in the localized name to complete the thought. Additionally, Japanese also usually goes with the adjective-noun rule, so “Fellow Honest” would be an unusual name for JP too. And again, no explanation for Gino.)

… ITALIAn REP BABY 🇮🇹

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acesw · 3 months ago

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Knowing our Arcanists: Urd

Hello! It's been a long time since I've made a post for this series, but unfortunately I've been busy and thus I haven't been able to catch up. However, this entry is special because this is the first NPC that I've wanted to explore ever since 1.6 dropped. So for this post, let's welcome: Urd.

Urd has been a mysterious character since the beginning of the game, and it's only now that we've come to a point where we're introduced to the face of the biographer.

Even then, we don't have much to understand about her, so this post will be mainly dedicated to understanding who she is and why she's so significant as a character. Let's get started.

Being from an unknown time and place, Urd is most known as the famous biographer who has traveled to many niche places around the world; most notably Apeiron and it's Island. This particular article is what prompted Vertin's search for her, and why we're here now.

Igor claims that Urd had been previously involved with not only Zeno, but also the Foundation's Pax Security Council.

We're not sure with what she did with the Pax House, but it became significant enough that she had been gifted a marble chair—one that continued to be brought to her until the present day.

At the end of 1999, there was a war that happened between Zeno and an unknown entity, and Igor also claims that Urd was involved in it. After that, the "Storm" happened, and Urd disappeared with it.

Or at least that's what everyone had thought.

For the next 8 years, however, Urd had continued to roam the Earth as the biographer, having been confirmed to have appeared in 1996 and 1966.

She released stories about Rayashki and London (refer to 1.1 and 1.8), but she barely remembers them now. She writes articles and travel notes for UTTU, and the magazine releases them to the public once doing so.

She has become a very important piece in understanding the true nature of the "Storm" after being discovered that she is able to cross it mostly unscathed. Urd is unlike Vertin's case, since she still gets affected by it.

The "Storm" greatly affected her not only physically but also physiologically. For every "Storm" that happens, she becomes reconstructed as the same blind woman, but she loses a chunk of her memories as a result of the "Storm" affecting her mind.

She remembers who she fundamentally is, but she had forgotten her memories from prior to the "Storm" and the early years of it.

It's likely because of this that she began to go under different aliases when she had began to travel. Marta, Dr. Dores, The Friend From Afar, and (possibly) Bessmert—they're all under the same face, and it's why not a lot of people had been able to find her for so long.

Nevertheless, her survival has become incredibly invaluable for many, and it is mainly why she's sought after by multiple parties. From not only Vertin and the Foundation, but also Igor and the Manus Vindictae, and even the Pax House.

In Chapter 8, she was found in São Paulo, and we're finally introduced to her proper. Urd can be described as an altruistic and gentle person, seeking peaceful resolutions above everything.

She wanders around a lot and keeps her typewriter on her person. With her fondness of interacting with those around her, she's able to befriend people quite easily.

Urd is also a very insightful person and is (almost) sincere about herself and her own observations of the world. She stands as an observer from a distance, but wishes to make everyone's stories known by her own means.

However, she remains enigmatic with her methods and her plans, making it difficult to discern the goals she's trying to achieve in this story.

Beyond this, she's a peculiar person in the lore, and the fact that she looks like a certain someone is already damning. I hope that her story and her relationships with everyone is further expanded upon in future chapters.

#knowing our arcanists #reverse 1999 #reverse 1999 urd #as @/fish once said #smash and dash

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theatercatklio · 6 months ago

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OC Intro - Klio

(click image for better quality)

"I'll change this world for the better. Doesn't everyone want to live in a fairytale?"

RARITY: ��✦✦✦✦

⭒♬ Titles/Aliases⭒› Lady of the Theater, High Court Magician, Patron of Heros

⭒𝄞 Path⭒› Emanator of Enigmatia

⭒♫ Faction⭒› The Grand Promethean Theater

⭒♬ Combat Info⭒› 5 Star, Fire/Harmony

⭒𝄞 Species⭒› Grimalkin (species info to be added)

⭒♫ Planet⭒› Bacharach - Laurel Wreath Galaxy (planet info to be added)

@miscellaneouslibrary @raven-starlight hope you don't mind me tagging you two, but you both seemed interested in knowing more about her :D

COMBAT:

pretend XX is a number I'm too lazy to figure out what it would realistically be T-T

⭒𝄞 Basic ATK⭒› Cutting Words

Deals Fire DMG equal to 50% of Klio’s ATK.

⭒♫ Skill⭒› Lights, Curtains, Action!

Increases the ATK of a single ally equal to XX% of Klio’s ATK for two turns. At the same time, Advance Forward the targeted ally’s action by 20%

⭒♬ Ult⭒› Final Bow in a Full House

Creates a field that lasts for two turns, decreasing by one at the start of Klio’s turn. While the field is active, increase DMG done by allies by XX%. Additionally, while an ally’s energy is full inside the field, gain Patronage, lasting until the Ult is cast. Ults cast while Patronage is active use up less energy and deal increased damage.

⭒𝄞 Talent⭒› A Tough Act to Follow

After a character uses their Ult, their next attack deals XX% more DMG

⭒♫ Technique⭒› Shifting Stargazer

....I'll figure it out later its late and I'm tired

LORE

Introduction

A playwright and Emanator of Enigmata who wants to make the world more like one of her shows (really taking the phrase "all the world's a stage" literally huh) She's revered for her storytelling and her status in high society as a patron of heros.

Personality

Eccentric and dramatic, Klio usually follows her heart over her head. She's very emotional and rarely seen being calm or serious. At worst, she's childish with a dangerous amount of power at her fingertips. At best, she's playful and happily uses her status to uplift others.

Character Stories

(to be added)

Voicelines

Voice Claim - ok imagine Furina's voice but 1) slightly deeper/mature and 2) slightly Italian boom done

First Meeting: "I've been keeping up on your journey, Trailblazer. If you ever want a stage adaptation, you must let me know at once!"

Greeting: "I've been running into you a lot...hey, this isn't a ploy to get free tickets, huh?

Parting: "Leaving already? Well, if you must leave so soon, make sure you come to see my next show!"

About Self - Book and Pen: "The book records and the pen rewrites- it's simple enough."

Chat - Intelligentsia Guild: "While the Genius Society is too busy to focus on me, and the IPC likes me enough to leave me alone, some members of the Guild have nothing better to do than bother a lady on her rest days- the day they stop messing with me will be the day I keel over dead!"

Annoyances: "Too often I have to wake up early for events- why can't they set them for later in the day, when people aren't asleep?"

Hobbies: "In addition to writing the scripts, I compose the music for my plays as well. It's rather relaxing, you should try it sometimes."

About Mr. Reca: "We disagree on some points, but I can always count on him to give me good feedback- that's why he always gets the first invite to my premieres."

About Dr. Ratio: "What was it he called me? Ah, yes- "a hedonistic fool who delights in obscuring the truth." Well, I was made an Emanator, and he hasn't gotten so much as a glance- let me ask, which one of us is the true fool?"

About Duke Bellerophon: "How he can manage to be that calm all the time is beyond me. If I had to sit through that many useless meetings I'd go insane!"

About Duke Bellerophon (2): "He's rather quiet, but I guess anyone would be considered quiet when compared to me, hehe."

Trivia/Fun Facts

⭒› She was originally designed to be a Masked Fool who was Elio's sister, and her first design was purple and black instead of red, white, and gold

⭒› VERY picky with her food, she's very gourmet and dislikes processed food. Her favorite food is sweet crêpes, she likes how versatile they are.

⭒› Despite being powerful magically, she's a coward, squeamish, and bad at most kinds of physical combat. No wonder she gets other people to fight for her!

⭒› Her last name is Vittorio, meaning winner or conqueror. She picked it out for herself after seeing it on the inside cover of her book.

⭒› Her and her planet are based on the Baroque period, specifically Baroque Italy/Rome, France, and Germany.

#tbh shes the oc the most like me #not quite a self-insert but she has some negative traits I have (dopamine seeker + overly emotional)#and some positive ones I want (confident + good at writing and storytelling)#honkai star rail oc #hsr oc #honkai star rail #original character

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mythals-whore · 2 months ago

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OC Tag Game!!

Thank you for the tag @rookamell i love to yap about my girl

Name: Cyrilla Mercar

Aliases: Rook, Cyri, Aegis (for reasons you may find out later)

Gender: female

Age: 29

Place of Birth: Minrathous, Tevinter

Spoken languages: Trade, Tevene, a little bit of elven (very bad elven)

Sexual Orientation: Probably bi but she’ll never find out because she likes to play with men’s feelings for fun (:

Occupation: PRE-VEILGUARD: Praetor turned Shadow Dragon, part-time criminal, professional menace to the Minrathous elite/Venatori, VG: Varric's Second, Leader of the Veilguard, POST VEILGUARD: Archon's personal guard (and special advisor), part-time consultant for Minrathous Murders & Monsters (rip MM&M from my cold dead fingers)

FAVOURITE

Color: Red(: mostly bc she thinks she looks good in it (she does)

Entertainment: Loves live music! Fun fact is that she took the quest where you say all the buskers in Minrathous very personally. Also fighting. She loves a good scrap.

Pastime: Plays the piano, but doesn't get a lot of opportunities at it. Vandalism. Going to a dive bar to drink and dance and get in a fight. RIP Cyri you would have loved After Midnight by Chappell Roan(:

Food: Khinkali (they're little dumplings with meat and vegetables in there)

Drink: Whiskey girl

Books: has read a lot of military theory, think Art of War but the Thedas equivalent. If some old Tevinter Legatus wrore a biography, she’s probably read it. And her feelings about it are probably similar to Davrin's feelings on the Monster manual guys. She has specific beef with Archon Hessarian who wrote several canticles for the chant of light and still had time to write an entire novel on his life and strategy in the war with Andraste. It has a lot of overt religious teachings in it and Cyri always thought it was ridiculous that they were forced to study it as some kind of war strategy because it has very little to do with the actual war.

1000% becomes the biggest fan of Bellara's serials though. Finds herself getting way to invested. She says they're over dramatic and cheesy but she fucking loves it.

HAVE THEY

Passed university: Uhm if you count the Tevinter military academy I made up then yes!

Had sex: Yep!

Had sex in public: as in, intentionally in front of people? No. In the backrooms of taverns/back alleys/a balcony/rooftop/Arlathan forest? Absolutely. She loves a messy night out.

Gotten tattoos: No, mostly because they'd make her more recognizable

Gotten piercings: Nah, liability in a fight.

Gotten scarred: Yep!

Had a broken heart: Assuming this means romantically, yes (when she was still pretty young) but she would barely count that. I am going to count losing her entire cohort during the Antaam invasion. Definitely the worse her heart has ever broken

Been in love: she would say no, but the answer is definitely yes she's just deep in denial and the moment she starts feeling anything resembling feelings she runs far far away.

ARE THEY:

A cuddler: Yes but she'd say no. My girl loves to deny herself the simple pleasures.

Scared easily: Yes! One of my favorite character traits about Cyri (that I gave her lmao) is that she's afraid of everything: the underground, heights, drowning, fish etc. But she kinda just does it through gritted teeth.

Jealous easily: Difficult to answer because I would say definitely not BUT um, there are specific instances. She's never been in a committed relationship (before Davrin) so she's never really had cause to be jealous. And also once they're established and there's no more uncertainty where that's concerned I'd say the answer goes back to being no. She knows that man is obsessed with and devoted to her. (gods help anyone who doesn't know it, honestly)

Trustworthy: Actually yes. She can definitely keep a secret and is very reliable, at least to her friends/people she's loyal to. So they have to earn it, but she will 100% come through for you.

FAMILY:

Sibling(s): None!

Parents: Adopted parents are both alive, but she's been somewhat estranged. They thought she was dead for a long time, they got her back for a little while and then she left with Varric and didn't write them because she assumed someone else would. It's a little complicated considering she's like a wanted criminal...

Children: None unless you count Assan, which she wouldn't ONLY BECAUSE she wants to spoil him and not be the disciplinarian so she's only Assan's mom when it's convenient.

Pets: She had a cat growing up that she brought in off the street and hid. she got to keep it. It's gray and very old now. his name is Smoke and he still lives with her parents. and Assan, ofc.

I AM TAGGING: @flowersforthemachines @thedissonantverses @basedonconjecture @complikatedd @gingervitus @cute-ellyna (((: tell me about your ocs let me love them

#oc tag game #oc: Cyrilla Mercar #my beloved little feral street cat

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venussaidso · 1 year ago

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Vedic Astrology Observation (based on shows/films part 4)

I'm watching the series Archer and I guessed three main nakshatra archetypes correct! This includes Uttarabhadrapada, which is so potent in the two of the most prominent female characters in the main character's life.

First of all, this series is about espionage. So immediately, I know there are moon nakshatras. The main character, Sterling Archer, embodies lunar qualities: being a secret agent, going undercover, using disguises/aliases, trickery etc. etc.

Another hint that supported my theory of the character being lunar is how the fandom literally compare his character design to Henry Cavill who is a Shravana Moon.

As Henry Cavill is also famous for being in the espionage, spy film The Man From U.N.C.L.E.

Another hint is Archer being a huge fanboy for Burt Reynolds who he inspires after or quotes during his epic, spy missions. And Burt Reynolds is a Hasta Moon, Rohini Ascendant.

Burt Reynolds even guest starred in an episode as himself and we see our main character fanboying throughout.

Burt Reynolds is famous for his spy film Operation CIA in which he plays a CIA agent who is undercover as a university professor.

The character Sterling Archer has to be voiced by a moon nakshatra native, right?

Finally, I went out to find the voice actor and calculated his vedic chart. Thank goodness the guy has his birthtime available; and accurate, at that. And I guessed right!!! 😭👇🏼

Just like Henry Cavill, also Shravana, who was a highly voted candidate in the fandom to play the live-action version.

But, in the very beginning of watching this series, the character Sterling immediately struck me as a Sun nakshatra native. His inability to commit to a relationship or anything; having zero devotion to anything.

He improvises everything; not much of a planner which makes him come off more carefree. He is missing this cold, lunar quality to him of being a strategist or even just being highly intelligent. I've always believed that Sun men are quite... bimbos, to say the least. Claire Nakti explored this in her Sun dominant men video more articulately and respectfully; and Archer embodies this energy too.

So, in the beginning episodes of the series, I believed he was mainly Sun dominant before witnessing other aspects of the character expanding.

I also noticed that he is emotionally volatile and loud and extremely comedic, which is not really Solar or Lunar, but Rahuvian. And guess what? The voice actor is an Ardra Moon, which makes a lot of sense.

But, I was right, again, to assume him being a Sun nakshatra. Because the voice actor also has Krittika Sun. Ha!

The reason why his Sun nakshatra was more blatantly obvious in the beginning for me was because of his relationship with his ex girlfriend, Lana!

Lana, whose character design is quite literally inspired by Rihanna's physique.

Rihanna, who I personally believe is an Uttarabhadrapada Ascendant, as her birthtime is rated C (unlikely to be accurate). And even if you don't think she's Uttarabhadrapada, fine, but the character Lana is.

She is the Saturn nakshatra archetype.

She's very kickass, warrior-like and has a masculine edge— which are the type of characters usually played by Saturnians/Uttarabhadrapadas.

I immediately noticed with how she butts heads with Archer. Uttarabhadrapada is a nakshatra in which its women are known for emasculating other male archetypes/even going head to head with men ruled by fiery-hot planets such as the Sun. Their chemistry in the series is the epitome of the Saturn woman x Sun man pairing.

Sun and Saturn are literally mortal enemies.

But people with this planetary rulership tend to be intrigued by each other. It seems to be very similar to having an intense square synastry with someone, in my opinion, which might add sexual/romantic tension more often than not.

Archer's mother is another important female figure in his life who is also Uttarabhadrapada.

She's a hardened woman who is in charge of a spy agency, a masculine job, and she acts or looks very similar to characters such as 1996's Cruella Deville or Miranda Priestly (both also played by Saturn nakshatras; both characters' hair are pale white).

Malory Archer quite literally ruined her son's life since he was born; always emasculating him even in his adult life. She's had a very cold, (Saturn) oppressive nature towards him since he was young. Saturn nakshatras are either known to humiliate its natives, or natives under this nakshatra lord will further humiliate/abuse others into their cold grip.

A trope I've seen often with this nakshatra, which makes sense if you think of them being the literal ice dragon.

I immediately noticed that she is Uttarabhadrapada not just from her masculine, commanding role in the series— but from the outfits she wears in every episode. She's always wearing cold colours, especially powder blue.

Uttarabhadrapada characters almost always have something significant that is coloured blue, which you'll always associate with the character; as Claire Nakti brilliantly pointed out in her Uttarabhadrapada video. And that's how I knew.

And her relationship with Lana, who is also very Uttarabhadrapada coded, is interesting. The same way Sun men tend to respect each other and always find each other from across the room, Saturn women always have a quiet air of respect for each other's strength.

The first time Malory met Lana, she pointed a gun to her head and Lana stubbornly stood her ground. It was like Malory immediately recognized herself in Lana. She was so impressed by her that she hired her to work at her agency as a top spy, just like that.

I was so certain that they were Uttarabhadrapadas and finally had the courage to check their charts AND I WAS RIGHT! Both voice actors are Uttarabhadrapadas!!

Their dynamic features this very Ascendant-Moon synastry — I definitely couldn't have guessed that one. This synastry quite literally demonstrates seeing yourself (Moon) in someone else (the Ascendent person). I've been very into studying synastries lately and it's always interesting how it plays out.

Anyway, now it makes sense why Sterling has a connection with Lana. Even though Lana isn't half as worse as Malory, I've always noticed their similarities. Like Lana, Malory used to be a kickass, spy lady before Sterling was born. They both have very sharp, stern personalities and are frequently annoyed by Sterling's existence. And in Sterling's case, it is true that you'll subconsciously seek out traits in a partner that are similar to your parent's.

Also, Sterling's unhealthy relationship with women & sex (unsuccessfully) fills up the empty hole inside of him that was supposed to be nourished by his mother's love as a child. This makes him fearful of intimacy and closeness, which is common with Sun nakshatra natives.

Malory's neglect is still a running gag in the series — she's emotionally hardened which is a prominent theme for Uttarabhadrapada (especially for the female natives). Being the middle nakshatra in the Pisces segment, it truly is the only Pisces that can struggle with intimacy, vulnerability or melancholic fluff. Which makes sense as Saturn is there. Luckily in Revati, there is more freedom and unrestrained expansion. There is a reason why Venus exalts in 27° of Pisces, where Revati lies. Revati is everything love and philosophical. Uttarabhadrapada isn't always comfortable expressing sentimentality, as they tend to be very self-restraint or outwardly hardened.

Anyway. I'm not done with the characters. I'll make a part 2 once I have the energy.

Ugh I'm sooo good at guessing nakshatras! LMAOO 😭

Especially moon nakshatras. I'm still so intrigued by moon men.

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thornswoggled · 11 months ago

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yori is fumiki and heres why: my manifesto

or: wait, we werent all on the same page about this?

i should have written this when i first read chapter 98, but im only getting around to it now. this is less me trying to convince you, the reader, and more hoarding all my collected thoughts on why yori is absolutely fumiki, if its a red herring its a silly one, and if he isnt or if its left ambiguous forever i will eat crow. here we go:

before i start let me say most of my evidence is the way yamazaki frames him visually rather than solid "proof." comics are an artform, theres a reason things get framed the way they do, and her artistic choices in ch 98 (i feel) are meant to serve as a big blinking neon light that says "you should be feeling this way about xyz right now"

iic, there were rumblings of "the young auditor" being fumiki as far back as his introduction in ch 51 due to to his unique ability:

which is essentially a refined version of fumikis innate ability to keep fae away. we know yori is part of a "family business," and it seems appropriate that with the proper training, he would be able to freeze fae in their tracks rather than simply ward them off

unfortunately this is where "evidence" ends and "vibes" begin

chapter 51 didnt get adapted into what was otherwise a pretty faithful adaptation in season 2, and i understand why - theres a lot going on, and this chapter is fairly out of left field. but theres one other quip that got left out of season 2:

this is a one-off thought that wouldnt have been difficult to include in the anime. imo, i believe this line from ch 62 didnt get animated because we hadnt met fumiki yet like we did in the manga. now, onto more recent chapters... (under a read more because this is going to get pretty long)

chise and yoris first meeting is framed in a very purposeful way. in chapter 98, elias is preoccupied with ousting all the outsiders so that he and chise can be alone, stuck on the idea that "christmas is for family only:"

and three pages later, who do we meet?

im really struck by the way chise and yori are drawn together here. personally, i dont read this as "chise is meeting a new unimportant side character," this is "the strings of fate have pulled us miraculously back together again"

waiter! waiter! can i get an order of drifting sakura petals and sparkles with this panel? am i waxing poetic here or do you see it? the way theres no background drawn here, no other characters, even in later pages when we know elias is standing right behind chise, he doesnt get included in frame so that its just the two of them:

while im at it, can we appreciate how theyre wearing the same outfit? black pants and a hip-length dark coat/sweater with oversized pockets, a collar, and six left-sided buttons. yoris dark gloves also evoke chises cursed arm here but i dont want to risk looking like a maniac any more than i already do. i mean... dude, look at them, theyre matching

speaking of matching, lets pop back to 51 for a sec

both yori and chise have canine familiars! actually, it looks like yori might have multiple - look at all those pokeballs i mean bamboo tubes in his coat. if my memory serves, we didnt know yori was japanese at this point, but everyone assumed so because of the appearance of this familiar... which was another log on the "this might be fumiki" fire

fun fact: this little dude is almost certainly a kuda-kitsune, which were said to be kept in tubes and summoned by a soothsayer, who could use it to perform curses, or tell the past and future

and the drama with which we find out his "name":

"i bet you were expecting me to say fumiki, huh. good luck im not giving you that this early you have to work for it." as far as aliases go, "ri" could be derived from "hatori," but neither of the kanji in "fumiki" can be read as "yo," so its probably just random

after yori leaves, we get another repetition of "christmas is for family," which at this point feels like yamazaki is leading us to water and dunking our head in it:

i think its awfully convenient that ruth was absent for chises exchange with yori. do you think he would have been able to smell that theyre related? or whiffed the kuda-kitsune in his coat?

right after this, too, we get this line from elias which i have been thinking about a lot:

theres a few different ways this could be read, so im not married to any one interpretation, but it could be foreshadowing "if chise decides to pursue a relationship with her estranged family, what will i do then?" as gabriella would say, "i hate to be a third wheel"

given what we have seen of yoris aloof personality, i have to imagine there will be drama if/when the reveal is made. sadly i can picture him actually pushing chise away if she tries to reestablish a relationship with him

now! that is pretty much where my thoughts end, but i do want to share questions/doubts i have:

if yori read all of simons reports to determine he was an unfit observer, there is no way he doesnt know chises full name. i wonder whether he had any reaction to it? he may assume that its just a coincidence. i briefly wondered if the hatori name was an invention by yuuki, until i remembered that the family chise stays with in the OVA also has the same name. unless yuuki was adopted by another family like seth...? dont mind me, im going pepe silvia mode over here

have i mentioned i talked about yuuki before in another theory post? take it with a grain of salt, i already got proven wrong on one front now that jasper has been introduced

will yuuki be reintroduced if fumiki is? i desperately want chise to get that closure, but this scene from ch 42 has a sense of finality to it, a sort of "you will never get to resolve things with your father or see his side of things" stank:

... actually, now that ive mentioned the kuda-kitsune, can we look at this thing again?

another word for the kuda-kitsune is "izuna," which is read in modern japanese as "weasel." could the critter whos watching yuuki here come from the same place as yoris familiars? yuuki leaves his family immediately after this - getting summoned maybe?

okay, okay, let me stop myself here before i start looking like im ranting and raving. can we talk about the mail, please, mac? ive been dying to talk about the mail with you all day, ok? "pepe silvia," this name keeps coming up over and over again. every day pepe's mail is getting sent back to me. pepe silvia! pepe silvia! i look in the mail, and this whole box is pepe silvia!

if youre a fence-sitter, what are your thoughts? do you think we just dont have enough evidence yet? inquiring minds want to know

#original #fumiki #the ancient magus bride #mahoutsukai no yome #theory

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tyrantisterror · 1 year ago

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A Dozen Or So Great Vampire Ladies

Ok, so, on a mostly unrelated post the topic of good vampire ladies came up, and @bisexualdaikaiju suggested/challenged me to do a top 10 vampire women list. As a self-professed lover of vampire women, it felt like a challenge I couldn't back down from. But it is kind of challenging, for two kind of contradictory reasons.

First, while there are MANY female vampires in fiction, most of them feel like afterthoughts, getting far less characterization than their male counterparts, who more often than not are the star villains of the show. When these supporting lady vampires do get something to do, it's generally the same role: make their human lovers sad when they rise from the dead as a monster that has to be killed, an emotional beat that is often undercut by a lot of these vampire women not getting much characterization to endear them to us before they died. Everyone wants to have the Lucy Westerna plot beat from Dracula but they don't want to do the work that Bram did to make Lucy lovable. The lady vamps who get to step out of Lucy's shadow are rare - but that just makes them all the more wonderful.

The second problem is that, since this is an obsession of mine that few seem to share (there are lots of vampire fans, but man do the boy vamps get to hog the spotlight among them), I've done a lot of scattered thinking about it and I just know I'm bound to forget at least one excellent lady vampire character that should be here. And whittling it down to ten, and trying to rank them? That's too hard! My thoughts are too mercurial to do that reliably in a way I don't forget!

So instead here's a list of, like, a dozen or so lady vampires that I think are just fucking stellar, many of which I think break the mold of what pop culture makes us expect lady vampires to be. It is not ranked - I love all these characters more or less equally, and think it's a lot more interesting to see how they take their archetype in different directions than to figure out which one is "best" of the lot.

Carmilla Karnstein

I'm going to start with the most famous literary female vampire, Mircalla Karnstein from Carmilla. I think she might be the first vampire to have an unhealthy obsession with using anagrams of her real name as aliases, though I'm sure now that I've typed that someone will find an earlier example to school me. She's also the one who popularized the idea of lady vampires being extremely sapphic, with an arguably genuine romantic affection for her female victims. She's got well-deserved clout, basically, and like Dracula has been adapted countless times and reinterpreted in some excellent ways. My favorite screen Carmilla is Ingrid Pitt's take, which captures her fierceness, passion, and tragic nature so well.

2. Amy from Fright Night

Ok, we're having one Lucy Westerna knockoff on this list, but as Lucy knockoffs go, Amy is one of the best. It actually helps that she spends 90% of her movie as a human, because we get to know and love her so much before she turns monstrous. And once she does...

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It is pants-shittingly terrifying. I will never stop raving about the vampire designs in this movie - they made their "game faces" so fucking monstrous and I feel like in a better world this would be the standard ever since, especially since they still gave the vampires pathos while making them so ghastly when they've got their feeding faces on.

3. Drusilla

Buffy the Vampire Slayer had a bunch of vampire characters, and to its credit they did a decent job of making the ladies just as distinct as the gents. Harmony and Darla could both have made this list, but my favorite was always Drusilla, who was so traumatized before she became a vampire that it kind of overwhelms the demon spirit inside her. Like, bare minimum thing to make a lady vampire more interesting than 90% of other female vampires in fiction: give her at least one personality trait, preferably an interesting one, outside of being a vampire. Drusilla's fun, and she survives the entire series after dumping her boyfriend to be a single female vampire. Good for her.

4. Ruby from Scary Godmother

Ok look I am a fake Scary Godmother fan but kudos to the artist of the books for making a lady vampire who's very clearly of the nosferatu mold and is also explicitly benign and sweet. A+ vampire lady character design. I hope it doesn't awaken anything in me.

5. Nadja

What We Do in the Shadows is excellent at finding new takes on vampires in general - it even made me actually like Psychic Vampires as a concept, a feat I thought was impossible - but goddamn do I love Nadja specifically. She's got a distinct personality as vampire ladies go, being very confident and self-assured while also being a complete fucking goober (it is a comedy, after all). She's perfectly capable of being terrifying AND hilarious, often at the same time. A vampire girl failure, in the parlance of our site. I love her.

6. Lady Dimitrescu

I know that she's apparently only in a fourth of the game, but it's still pretty great that Resident Evil 8 decided its mascot villain - its equivalent of the Tyrant, G, Nemesis, etc. - would be the hottest woman I've ever seen a milf an 8 foot tall lady vampire. She's not dainty and willowy like most lady vamps in fiction - not an ambush hunter - but rather HUGE and capable of tossing a human around like a rag doll. She's a physical powerhouse and she looks fine feminine while doing it. Despite being an unabashed blood-sucking monster, she still has enough depth and complexity to have important relationships (like a genuine love for her "giant mass of hive mind flies" daughters), and also she gets to have an awesome transformation into a fungal vampire dragon, which is rad as hell. Also goddamn, her fashion sense is immaculate.

7. Hecate from Hellboy

"Hey, she's not a vampire! She's a goddess! That doesn't count!" Fuck you, my list, my rules. Hecate posits herself as the progenitor and mother of vampires, she drinks blood, and her main form in the comic is as a sicknasty lamia version of the iron maiden used by Elizabeth fucking Bathory, if she doesn't count as a vampire, nothing should. She is the concept of a vampire amped up to maximum capacity, a major mythological figure and an awesome villain.

...also I lowkey shipped her and Hellboy when I was a teenager. They could have made it work!

8 - 12. Carmilla and her girl squad from Castlevania

I suppose I could have counted Castlevania's Carmilla as an adaptation of Miss Karnstein - they're both basted out of Styria, both sapphic, and it's clear she's meant to be an adaptation of the former, just as the Dracula of this show is meant to be a take on Bram's famous vampire. But ultimately they're VERY different characters in the grand scheme of things - Castlevania's Carmilla has none of the tenderness and vulnerability of her literary counterpart, instead being full of barely restrained fury. She is an excellent villain, complex enough to be interesting but thoroughly despicable enough to make it VERY satisfying when she bites it.

I also love her girl posse... in concept, at least. They've all got great designs and the groundwork of interesting characters, but of the the three, only Lenore, the waifish redhead, gets to do much of note. The two on the edges kind of just show up for a few scenes and then bail before the plot catches up to them, doing very little of note - though at least the big hunky one gets one of the coolest fight scenes in the whole show.

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Back to Lenore though - she gets a really nice character arc, and manages to become one of the few sympathetic vampires in the series (while still doing a lot of monstrous shit - she is not a defanged vampire by any stretch). I think her death scene is one of the most moving moments in the series finale.

13. Seras Victoria

A good female vampire has at least one non-vampire part of her personality, right? Ok, so, Seras is:

the muscle in almost every scene she is, which is to say, the one absolutely beating the shit out of people while her allies run for cover

the perky henchman/morality pet of one of history's greatest monsters

the sole ray of sunshine in cast of edgy, cigar-chomping grizzled mercnaries and antiheroes she's been pressganged into fighting alongside

the victim of some HIDEOUS trauma even before her vampirization

the protege of a wise master who gets a full hero's journey arc, taking up his mantle at the end of the series

Like, I love her. She's the secret protagonist of Hellsing. She's got layers like an onion. The scene where she killed Zora Blitz reminded me why I love anime.

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(yeah it's the TFS version fuck you)

14. Youko Shiragami

My Monster Secret is not a horror manga. It is a romantic comedy about a bunch of idiots trying to keep painfully obvious secrets hidden and succeeding only because almost everyone around them is as dumb as they are, just in very different ways. It is a manga where an entire chapter can be summarized as "all the characters race to get the last McRib, using their various supernatural abilities to try and cheat their way to the front of the pack." It is one of the funniest and most heart-warming stories I have ever read, one of my favorite romances of all time, and an excellent piece of long form story-telling.

One of the two main characters is Youko Shiragami, a vampire girl who can't let anyone know she's a vampire or else her dad will pull her out of school. She desperately wants to have a normal life with friends and, like, school shenanigans, but her fear of people uncovering her secret and hating her is so immense that she's been isolating herself from everyone, accidentally torturing herself by being close to what she wants but unable to actually have it.

At least, until Kuromine, the other main character of the story, discovers her secret while trying to ask her out on a date. He ends up promising to keep her secret, and the two of them form a real friendship that blossoms into a very sweet romance, where Youko gets to display all her incongruous personality traits that go against what you'd expect of vampires - namely, that she's kind of a ditz, with an unrefined style of speech and a complete inability to be suave and seductive. She's a sweet, flaky goofball with a big heart, who just happens to drink blood and tan really quickly in the sunlight. There is no other vampire like her, and the world is richer for her being in it.

15. Marceline, the Vampire Queen

This list isn't ranked, but if it was, I'd put Marceline at the top. I think she is not only the most unique and deeply characterized lady vampire in fiction, but ranks right up there with Dracula in how she redefines the idea of what a vampire can be. Like, look at the forms she takes!

There are DOZENS of different monstrous shapes Marceline takes during Adventure Time's 9+ seasons of television, and any one of them would be a superb and memorable vampire on its own. And she's ALL of them. Just on a design standpoint, she is a standout. I think only Dracula himself could compete.

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But she also explores what the concept of what a vampire is in ways no other vampire in fiction can, in part because of the unique nature of Adventure Time's setting. In a world where humans are an extreme minority and most people are weird monsters, a vampire isn't that odd, so we get to explore what being a vampire means divorced from the comparison to "normal" human beings. There's the expected tragedy to Marceline, of course - she's a 16 year old who has been stuck in that adolescent state for hundreds of years, and much of her character arc over the show (including the magnificent vampire-centric storyline, "Stakes") focuses on the horror of being stuck in that transitional state, not quite a child but not quite an adult. Marceline struggles to mature, to understand herself and others, and her vampirism both keeps her distant from reaching those goals but also gives her a lot of time to figure out how to approach them when the opportunity arirves. Marceline goes from one of the most immature and selfish characters in the show to perhaps the most emotionally intelligent, blossoming into a sensitive and thoughtful person she could never have been without first becoming a creature that seems so inherently opposed to ever having those traits.

And she did it all in a children's show where she was rarely if ever allowed to actually drink blood - a problem the writers got around by having her suck the red color out of things, which is right up there with the Joker Venom from BTAS in terms of genius ideas spawned by children's show censorship.

Marceline is the GOAT.

#Vampire Ladies #Youtube

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moony-2001 · 10 months ago

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Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Psychopathy: a Critique on Hades' Character and Personality pt. 1

TW: grooming, abuse (financial, physical, sexual, emotional), violence, manipulation

It is imperative that everyone reading this takes into account the fact that I am not a licensed psychologist. This is purely my own (unprofessional) opinion based on the knowledge I have. When I use the term "diagnose", please take it lightly.

I would also like to note that narcissistic personality disorder and psychopathy are usually misrepresented in the media and there is a lot of stigma surrounding these disorders. I would like to take the time to point out that just because Hades is an abusive groomer that I am “diagnosing” with these disorders does not mean that every person with NPD or psychopathy is an abuser or a groomer.

Hi. I wanted to start by saying that this post will cover many upsetting topics (listed in the Trigger Warning [TW]), so please read at your own discretion.

Straight up, this post is not going to be pretty. It is going to be long and technical and full of me blabbering away about XYZ. Based alone on how long this intro is, it's probably going to be split into multiple parts. If you don't want to read this because of all of the aforementioned things above, that's okay. If you don't like what I have to say, that's okay too (but be respectful). But if you do want to read this, I would be so grateful. I hope at the end of the day, you can at least appreciate my efforts. I will try my best to not get snarky, however I apologize if some snark does come out.

The way the sections are going to be broken down consists of the following:

The disorder + definition

What the criteria is that must be met for the disorder

Other known personality traits those with the disorder have/what are other traits people with this disorder have in common

Examples from Lore Olympus that (in my opinion) would cause the character to fit the disorder

"Honorable" or "Dishonorable" mentions

Final Thoughts

Additionally, I will talk very briefly about Hades being a groomer and an enabler. These are not mental illnesses and thus will not be taking center stage. With that being said, let's begin.

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD)

I must clarify that psychopathy is not actually a category in the DSM 5. Psychopathy falls under Antisocial Personality Disorder or ASPD. So you wouldn’t be diagnosed as a psychopath, you’d be diagnosed as someone who has ASPD with more psychopathic (or sociopathic) tendencies which the DSM 5 does specify. So, even though I can't actually "diagnose" Hades with psychopathy, I can "diagnose" him as someone who has ASPD with more psychopathic tendencies. Again, I'm using the term "diagnose" here very lightly.

The Disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) is a Cluster B Personality Disorder in the DSM 5. Cluster B Personality Disorders are typically marked by inappropriate, volatile emotionality and behavior that is often unpredictable.

The diagnostic criteria for ASPD is as follows ->

a. A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others... as indicated by 3 or more of the following:

failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors, as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest

deceitfulness, as indicated by repeated lying, use of aliases, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure (i.e., to obtain money, sex, or power)

impulsivity or failure to plan ahead

irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults

reckless disregard for safety of self or others

consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations

lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another

b. the individual is at least of 18 years of age

c. there is evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15 years

d. the occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder

When these traits were expanded upon under the diagnostic criteria, these are the traits that stuck out most to me:

"... may repeatedly perform acts that are grounds for arrest such as destroying property, harassing others, stealing, or pursuing illegal occupations."

"... decisions are made in the spur of the moment, without forethought and without consideration for the consequences to self or others."

"They may be indifferent to, or provide a superficial rationalization for having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from someone (e.g., 'life's unfair'); they may minimize the harmful consequences of their actions or may simply indicate indifference; they generally fail to compensate or make amends for their behavior."

Associated Features

Those diagnosed with ASPD may also exhibit other behaviors that are not in the diagnostic criteria but are commonly associated with the disorder. These "features" include:

"Frequently lack[ing] empathy and tend[s] to be callous, cynical, and contemptuous of the feelings, rights, and sufferings of others"

"Irresponsible and exploitative in their sexual relationships"

Have a history of many sexual partners and may never have sustained a monogamous relationship

"May also experience dysphoria (tension, inability to tolerate boredom, and depressed mood), associated anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, substance use disorders, somatic symptom disorder, gambling disorder, and other disorders of impulse control"

"May also often have personality features that meet the criteria for other personality disorders, particularly borderline, histrionic, and narcissistic personality disorders"

Additionally, ASPD cannot be diagnosed before age 18 and is more common in males. Males with ASPD often have some kind of substance use disorder.

Abuse or neglect may increase the likelihood that [a] conduct disorder will evolve into antisocial personality disorder.

Common Examples within Lore Olympus

Irritability and Aggressiveness

As listed above, two of the possible behaviors indicative of ASPD are irritability and aggressiveness, something that Hades seems to have endless amounts of. The two beings that are frequently at the receiving end of this behavior are Thantos and Demeter, though really, Hades behaves inappropriately to anyone who isn't in his innermost circle. This, in my opinion, makes me believe that his abuse of others stems more from narcissism rather than ASPD but I am still unsure.

Throughout the comic, Hades treats Thanatos, his adoptive son, cruely. Even though the panels I used as an example are primarily from the trial and post-trial arch, there are plenty of other examples of Hades talking down to, belittling, or humiliating Thanatos, especially in public. Hades later tries to excuse this behavior by saying that due to the abuse he suffered as a child, he "didn't know what to do" with Thanatos. So, in a genius act of parenting, he resorts to *checks notes* either icing out Thanatos or verbally/emotionally abusing him until he could survive on his own. At which point Hades functionally abandons him. And remember when Thanatos asks Daphne if she's going to break his phone? Odd reaction to someone asking if they can see your phone, right? We know that Hades can be violent, often resorting to physical harm or destruction of property. So what's to stop him from smashing Thanatos' phone as a form of abuse? Granted, that last part is speculation, but don't forget Hades ripped out someone's eye and broke both his legs. Breaking a phone isn't above Hades.

Though the reader doesn't see a large majority of Hades' abuse towards Demeter until later, Hades openly admits that he and Demeter never got along, claiming that Demeter "always" found something to argue with him about. I suspect the actual details of their dislike for each other wouldn't make Hades out to be the victim of Demeter's "nagging". My theory, though wildly unsupported, has some stock to it due to Hades not just belittling but being outright cruel to Demeter in the panels below. But of course, Hades is suddenly worried about making a terrible impression on Demeter after thousands of years of bad treatment now that someone they both care for is involved which reeks of narcissism.

Failure to Conform... to Lawful Behaviors

Something that goes hand in hand with Hades' aggressiveness (and is another required "trait" for ASPD) is his failure to conform to lawful behaviors. Obviously, he's not the only character who does this in Lore Olympus, but I'm not talking about the other characters today.

Three situations that go beyond irritability and aggressiveness and turn into a breach of lawful behaviors (among many) are his brutal assault on Alex, his assault on the nymph to get back Persephone's comb, and the threatening of the pawn shop owner after being denied information about Persephone.

I remember when reading the chapters about Alex’s torture, people either cheered Hades on or felt indifferent. I honestly don't remember my reaction when reading these chapters the first time, but looking back now, Hades majorly overreacted. Paparazzi are generally a scourge upon the earth, and I do understand when celebrities get aggressive with them for wildly overstepping boundaries for the sake of a story. However, Hades' punishment (and reasons for the punishment) is extremely cruel and unusual, especially given that this story is supposed to be a MODERN retelling. I know the core cast are gods, so cruel and unusual is kind of their thing, but that archaic attitude of the ancient world clashes with upheld societal norms of today's times. I've seen videos of celebrities flipping off, getting aggressive, or even shoving away paparazzi but never ripping out their eye or breaking their legs.

I don't think Hades nearly killing Alex was the white knight moment people thought it was; clearly he doesn't know Persephone as well as he thought he did if he thought that nearly beating her classmate's roommate to death is something she would give him a treat and a pat on the head for. Not to mention, Hades did it for his own ego, not for Persephone's sake, something Persephone calls him out on. AND HADES ADMITS IT. Sure, Hades claims that Alex put Persephone's scholarship at risk, which is true to an extent, however, he quickly turns the situation into a "how dare you do this to ME" situation, something I pointed out in one of my previous chapter critiques as a major flaw of Hades.

And if you think "cannon" Lore Olympus Hades is a scumbag, wait until you read the pilot episodes of Lore Olympus. I thought Hades' brutal torture of Alex was bad in the officially released episodes, but if you go on the Lore Olympus Wiki where the pilot episodes are posted, you will see it's... so much worse. Imagine it like this: if Hades being shown about to rip out Alex's eye made you grimace, what he does to Alex in the pilot comic will literally horrify you.

Another character Hades assaults and harasses is the unnamed nymph in the underworld who had purchased and was wearing Persephone's comb. Again, she had purchased the comb i.e. it was legally no longer Persephone's, and therefore Hades had no right to take it back. It doesn't matter whether or not Persephone "would've never sold the comb if she didn't have to". Regardless of whether or not she had the comb, Hades as king of one of the three realms has no right to treat his citizens like that. It is unseemly.

It is just as unseemly for Hades to threaten the pawn shop owner because she refused to give Hades information about Persephone. Privacy policies are extremely important. This owner doesn't know if Hades is an abusive partner or if he's trying to hurt Persephone. It's the same reason why in real life, most places of employment are legally not allowed to give out any information about their employees. But sure, Hades can throw a temper tantrum because he doesn't get his way and when the temper tantrum doesn't work, he can try out his little sob story and magically get the information he wants.

Persephone once argued that as a king, Hades has a little more wiggle room to do what he pleases. However, I disagree. I think as a king, he should have less wiggle room because he is the face of a realm. He needs to set an example for his citizens. Instead he is allowed to run wild and do what he pleases, with Hecate either barely reining in Hades or aiding him.

Exploitative in their Sexual Relationships/Non-monogamous Relationships

Quick note: the DSM 5 hasn’t been updated in about 10 years (with minor changes made in 2022) and non-monogamy will likely no longer be included in future ASPD criterion since the rise of polyamory. A better descriptor for non-monogamy would likely be serial cheating, but for now, it is still regarded as non-monogamy in the DSM and I will be referring to it as such here. Keep in mind that not every person who has ASPD is going to be exploitative in their sexual relationships or participate in non-monogamous relationships and it is deeply unfair to make that assumption of someone who does have ASPD. However, there is usually a reason that certain traits or associated features are listed in the DSM-5 (or on other sites about the disorder) so keep that in mind.

One of the biggest critiques in the anti-LO community concerned Minthe, Hades, and the nature of their relationship. It was made abundantly clear from the very beginning that their relationship was incredibly unhealthy and involved themes like exploitation, abuse, and power dynamics. Obviously, Rachel wanted to portray Minthe as the toxic, jealous ex which worked in a way, given the fan base's treatment of her. However, the moment it was revealed that Minthe was nothing more than Hades' PA with whom he slept (which is a gross behavior still seen in the real world today), I felt it went downhill from there. As more and more details about their relationship came to light, it became clear that the abuse happening in their relationship went both ways, starting right from the moment Minthe became Hades' sugar baby. Please remember that financial abuse is just as damaging as verbal, physical, or psychological abuse. To clear up any confusion, here is a rough timeline of Hades and Minthe's relationship:

Hades and Minthe meet for the first time at the car event where she is working

Minthe storms into Underworld Corp. because she didn't get paid for the gig and was angry at Hades for (unintentionally) screwing her over

Hades fires his current PA and Minthe becomes his new PA

Minthe becomes his sugar baby either immediately or not too long after that

Hades blurs the line first and their relationship is no longer "no strings attached"

Years of on-and-off relationships, abuse, and fighting

Hades was planning on proposing to Minthe (which she discovers beforehand) despite knowing that his family hates her and she never wanted to be queen of the underworld

Hades meets Persephone and begins an affair with her, despite never officially breaking up with Minthe

Hades eventually breaks up with Minthe after she hits him

Hades immediately moves on to Persephone, a 19-year-old whom he's only known for a few weeks

Once again, in the pilot comic, the way Hades treats Minthe is worse. After she seemingly doesn’t come to the party with him (or claims that their relationship “isn’t working”), he immediately cancels her phone plan and doesn’t pay her rent as, what, petty revenge? Again, this is a form of abuse; Pilot!Minthe is now homeless and stranded because Hades took away essentials from her, leaving her scrambling. Hades shouldn’t have to lie down and take Minthe’s treatment of him, but he inherently has power over her as her king, employer, and a god. Their relationship was never one of equals.

Side note: The reason I also included the panels of Minthe talking about what Persephone “gets to look forward to” with Hades is that often, people with ASPD will have a “glib, superficial charm” as stated in the DSM-5. We often see Hades turning on the charm with Persephone, but again, I have a feeling that what Minthe is saying in an attempt to hurt Hades isn’t far off from the truth. And she gets turned into a plant because of it.

*inhale* Emotional 👏🏻 affairs 👏🏻 are 👏🏻 affairs 👏🏻

Not to mention that Hades also got physical with Persephone (and Hera) even while he and Minthe were still together. Like Persephone said, MINTHE DID NOT DESERVE TO BE CHEATED ON and yet they both go ahead and have an affair anyway??? I don’t understand why Hades felt the need to have an affair with Persephone when he had the resources and support necessary to leave Minthe (like seriously. I’m sure there would’ve been a massive party thrown by his family and close friends because they all look down on her). If it was Minthe who decided to leave Hades, she would've had a much harder time with that process.

I will admit I am biased on this topic. I despise cheaters. If you’re going to cheat on your partner, you should just leave and spare them the emotional pain. Instead, Hades drags out their relationship while being involved with Persephone, then gets to play “responsible” so he can sweep Minthe under the rug.

Let's not forget that Hades' relationship with Persephone is exploitative, too. Persephone is a sheltered, naive 19-year-old who hasn't once left the mortal realm until the beginning of this story. She doesn't even know what a butt dial is. Persephone is practically the poster child for the born sexy yesterday trope. And, like every titular story where this god-forsaken trope exists, there also exists a creepy man who is much older than the female protagonist and is totally okay with taking advantage of her so that he may end up with the ideal woman. Like Hera said when chewing out Hades: she's young. Easy to impress. Won't argue with you. And even after Hades finds all this information out, he goes, "Aw damn, that's a shame. Guess I'll pursue her anyways". Luckily for him, Persephone hasn't been around the block, which makes her the perfect target for his grooming and manipulation tactics. Disgusting.

Additionally, there are other moments after Hades and Persephone get together where he exploits her. Some of these moments include when he proposes to her. In this instance (and other situations), Hades exploited Persephone in a moment of distress where he framed himself as someone who could take away her pain. While I won't stick up for the way Demeter treated Persephone, Demeter was correct in the sense that Hades only asked Persephone (and Persephone said yes) to spite her. Of course Persephone was going to say yes, but Hades knew that. That's why he asked in the first place. That was his work around to Demeter's promise of preventing Hades from having something of hers that he truly desired.

Reckless

Hades' recklessness wasn't something I initially picked up on when first reading this comic. However, when doing a more thorough read, it is evident that this behavior is behind many of his actions.

The sleep dive chapter bothered me so much because not only was he not listening to his wife at all, but he acted like they were somehow the victims in this situation which was… certainly a choice. And she had to talk him off a way by having sex with him which just felt so icky to me. Not to mention, he initially wanted to confront Kronos without a plan because HIS pride was at risk. Both of these situations can also be classed as “reckless disregard for safety as self”.

Hades was also reckless in rushing into his relationship and marriage with Persephone. She says she wants to take it slow, he pushes boundaries. She says she wants to live in her own apartment so naturally they move in together 3 episodes later. She wants to take time for them to date and know each other? Nope, he rushes right into that god-forsaken proposal. I don't think I have much else to say on this topic without sounding like a broken record, but this is a behavior that should raise a warning in readers' minds about Hades' ability to make good choices, not only as a person but as a king.

Dishonorable Mentions

There are some “dishonorable mentions” that I think could’ve taken the main stage but I’m not going to go in-depth about them for a few reasons (such as Tumblr's 30-picture limit). They include:

Excuses/Lack of Remorse about the treatment of characters (217, 253)

This mainly concerns Thanatos and Demeter, the two people Hades most often antagonizes. In my opinion, neither party got a proper apology from Hades, just half-assed excuses. Hades blamed his childhood circumstances for the way he treated Thanatos (which funny, Kronos does the same thing with Hera) and his way of making up for that is offering him a sandwitch which just.

Wow. Truly inspiring parenting skills right there.

Not to mention that in the finale Rachel writes that Thanatos and Hades barely talk with each other?? So much for making amends or whatever.

As for Demeter, Hades makes an excuse about how by Demeter "taking away his volcanos", she would remove his only tie to the mortal realm which... I guess we're supposed to feel bad about? As if Hades frequently visits the mortal realm anyways. I suppose it's the principle of the matter, but I still think it's a half-assed apology, especially considering it's been hundreds of years since Demeter was screwed over as queen of the Mortal Realm. And I know Hades also brough back Demophoon, Demeter's "son", but let's be real, it was just to get brownie points with Demeter.

Inappropriate treatment of Persephone in the workplace (40, 41, 44, 59, 88, 107, 178)

Now, I'm unsure if the way I'm interpreting "consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior..." is, in fact, correct, but I'm going to err on the side of caution and mention Hades' treatment of Persephone in the workplace. This is something I mentioned in Minthe's section, but it is irresponsible and inappropriate of Hades as Persephone's boss to treat her the way he does. The private lunches, the tours, hours spent together not working, the list goes on. Not to mention Hades keeps swinging back and forth between trying to treat Persephone as an employee under him and trying to get her under him.

Alcoholism

Hades' alcoholism goes without saying. It has pretty much been known from the very beginning that Hades has an issue with drinking excessively, to the point where Zeus even snarks to Persephone that where Hades is, there's likely booze. Which... is he wrong? Is he? I don't have a whole lot to say on this subject, I just figured I'd bring it up since substance use disorders are frequently associated with ASPD.

Final thoughts

It’s incredible how Hades got older but never seemed to grow up. Granted, something might have been stunted due to the abuse he suffered as a child, but this is also the man who called his therapist a quack so I can only feel so much sympathy for someone who bemoans their situation but refuses to get help *cough*the afterward chapter*cough*. It's very clear that Hades as also been enabled and coddled to the point of being able to unlearn his behaviors and anyone who tries to stand up to him or does something to displease him suffers his wrath.

Overall, while I was not in Rachel's head while writing Hades' character (and I frankly didn't want to be), this is one of my best guesses about what is wrong with Hades. It’s pretty obvious that Rachel never intended to write Hades as someone who presented with anything other than PTSD, but it’s still kind of shocking how many boxes Hades checks off for other psychological disorders. Again, I'm not a professional psychologist, I don't have any kind of degree, I just know a lot about the subject and I love throwing myself into research. All of the information I have gathered has come from credible sources such as the DSM 5 and other similar sites that cite the DSM 5 in their sources. I will see you soon in part 2 when I discuss Hades and Narcisistic Personality Disorder.

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justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms · 2 years ago

Text

Forced Proximity

In honour of the FnaF movie coming out, I wanted to write something. I was inspired by a cosplay video by astrocadet on TikTok and that video's comments section, so credit to them!

When does this happen in the timeline? Who knows. Which pizzeria is the reader working at? Why is Michael called Michael and not one of his (possible) aliases? What year is this happening in? Why does the timeline for this game make no sense? These aren't important questions right now. Also yes, I'm using Michael's in-game sprite for the picture; you can picture him however you want. Hope you like the fanfic!

Fandom: Five Nights at Freddy's

Characters: Michael Afton x day shift! gn! Reader

Word count: 2.1k (2,122 words)

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When you realise you left your bag at work, you don't think much of it at first. But when you remember your keys are in said bag, you have no choice but to go back to Freddy Fazbear's. But your co-worker, the night guard is acting strange and when you get stuck in the office together, who knows what will happen?

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"Damn." You rested your head against the steering wheel. Of course you forgot your bag. And of course your house keys were in your bag.

Why you hadn't just put your car keys with your bag instead of in the key bowl at work, you had no idea. If you'd just done what you always do and put all of your stuff together, you wouldn't be sitting outside your house with no way of getting in.

You really needed to stop procrastinating and get that spare key made.

But, for now, there was nothing to do but drive twenty minutes back to Freddy Fazbear's and get your keys.

You turned the car back on and began driving back to your place of occupation. Why were you working at Freddy Fazbear's? After everything you'd read about it in the newspapers, you weren't really sure. The pay wasn't bad, but you knew you could get a better job. Maybe it was just morbid curiosity that held you there. Maybe if you hung around long enough, you'd find out what had happened to all those missing kids.

You'd never been in the pizzeria after hours. You knew there was a night guard but beyond talking a few times at staff meetings and the one Christmas party that had been held, you didn't really know much about him. Michael. You were pretty sure that was his name. He was sort of cute in a "crush on the guy on the bus" kind of way.

The drive passed faster than you thought, your mind filled with thoughts of work and your co-worker. Before you realized it, you were pulling into the parking lot of Freddy Fazbear's. The lights were off inside, and the doors were locked. You knew, you'd locked them yourself before leaving. Of course you had keys for the pizzeria and not your own house.

You locked your car and walked to the door. This place was way creepier at night-time. You'd have to try harder to remember your keys so you could avoid a repeat of this, no matter how cute your co-worker was.

The key turned with a loud clunk. you heard it echo off the concrete walls and linoleum floors. You pushed the door open. The room inside was dark, the only light reflecting off the security cameras in the corners of the room.

Thankfully, you knew your way around the place well enough that you could make your way around in the low lighting. But you could feel the hairs standing up on the back of your neck. Something felt off.

You stepped into the staff room and quickly found your bag where you had left it. You opened it and ran a hand through the contents. You’d be damned if your keys weren’t in there. But no, your keys were exactly where you thought they would be, in the inside pocket next to your staff id.

You closed your bag again and turned to leave. But halfway across the room you heard a loud thud from somewhere in the building. You jumped.

Could it be intruders? What was the security guard doing not patrolling the halls? You stood, locked in place. You knew you should just leave. You weren’t even supposed to be here. And it was already about 1 o’clock and you had the opening shift which started at 6. You were barely going to get 4 hours of sleep if you left right now.

But some strange duty of care made you stop. It wouldn’t hurt to just have a quick look around, or at least check in on the security guard. Maybe he was asleep? You sighed. Who needed sleep anyway?

You made your way through the halls, your shoes squeaking ever so slightly against the plastic lined floors. The noise seemed especially loud in the oppressive silence.

Suddenly a bright light flashed across your eyes from somewhere to your right. You stepped back, trying to shield your face.

“Oh my god, it’s just you.”

You lowered your hand as the light dropped to the floor. After the glare, the room in front of you seemed even darker than it should have. You could barely make out the figure inside, but you knew from the voice that it was your co-worker. Michael.

“Hey,” You tried for a calm greeting but the shake in your voice made it sound anything but, “Sorry, I left my bag here and-”

“Get in here.” You felt Michael grab your arm and pull you into the small security office. You began to protest at the rough treatment, but Michael shushed you before you could say anything. He pressed a button behind you and the door you’d just been pulled through closed with a metallic clank.

Your eyes now adjusted to the dim light, you shot Michael a questioning look. He ignored you, looking at the footage being shown on the television sitting on the table in front of him. Then, he pressed the button again and the door opened.

He leant back in his chair. “Sorry about that. You just needed to…uh…you being in the hallways would have messed with my check in on the rooms. Might have thought you were an intruder or something.”

His excuse seemed feeble and he looked like he knew it. He tried for what you assumed was meant to be a welcoming smile but instead came across as forced. “So, what are you doing here?”

“Like I was saying before I got pulled in here, I left my bag. And my keys. So I had to come back before I could get into my house.”

Michael’s eyes darted towards the screen, then to the clock. You followed his gaze. Already 2am. Time sure was passing quickly tonight. You were starting to give up on the idea of getting any sleep. Maybe you’d just have sleep in your car and then have a nap during your lunch break. You began backing towards the door.

“Well, I should go, let you get back to your work-”

“No! I mean…” Michael cleared his throat, “uh, you can’t leave right now. It’s not safe.”

You raised an eyebrow. “No safe?”

Michael nodded, eyes again darting to the screen.

“And why is it not safe? I made it here didn’t I?”

A pause. Then Michael sighed. “I don’t really know how to explain it without sounding like I’m crazy.”

You were pretty sure that ship had long since sailed. There was no way this guy was fit to be a night security guard. Or at the very least, being alone in this place every night was starting to get to him.

Michael beckoned you forward. You took a tentative step. He pressed the button again and the door closed once more. You were getting more and more concerned. Was this just a set up? Were you going to show up on the news tomorrow, the latest victim of a serial killer who was hiding as the security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s?

But then Michael pointed at the screen, you leant forward, trying to see the room clearly through the grainy footage. It was the hallway on the other side of the door. For a few seconds, there was nothing. Then a figure ran down the hallway. You could hear metal clanging as the figure passed the door, before the noise faded into the distance.

Michael pressed the button and the door opened.

“Why are you opening the door?” Your voice was shriller than you would have liked.

"We can’t use too much power."

"What do you mean we can’t use too much power?"

"This place only has a limited amount of power available each night. I have to be careful how I use it." Michael pointed to the green bar at the bottom of the screen. The words above it read “power remaining: 50%”.

“And what was that thing?” You could feel yourself beginning to shake. Shock was setting in fast that you’d expected.

“Foxy.”

You laughed. You couldn’t help it. “Foxy? You’re telling me that was Foxy? The animatronic from Pirate’s Cove? The one that gets shut down every night before we close up? The one that couldn’t be running down the hall because that’s not in its code?”

Michael nodded.

“Uh huh. And you want me to think you’re not crazy?”

Michael sighed. “It gets worse believe me.”

“Oh really?” You could hear the hysteria creeping into your voice. Because if that really was Foxy, you sure didn’t want to be in this building anymore. “Go on. Tell me how it gets worse.”

“The animatronics are possessed by the ghosts of the missing children.”

Silence.

“So the kids are dead?” You couldn’t believe that was what you were focusing on.

Michael nodded sombrely. You ran a hand over your face. Either this guy really was crazy, or he was telling the truth. No one in their right mind would joke about dead kids like this.

“And I can’t leave?”

Michael shook his head. “Not unless you want one of the animatronics to get you. We used to have more security guards you know.” From the haunted look in his eyes, you guessed he was telling the truth.

You took a shaky breath. “If I find out this was just an elaborate prank, I’m reporting you to management.”

Michael gave a weak smile. “I wish that was the case.”

You glanced at the clock. Just past 2am. Michael followed your gaze. “We only have to make it until 6. Then everything stops.”

“Only four more hours huh?” A question suddenly occurred to you, “Why do you still work here? You do this every night?”

“Let’s just say I have history with this place.” Michael’s expression was tight, “I can’t quit just yet.” You could tell he wouldn't say any more.

"I guess we just have to make it through the night then."

The evening passed quickly, Michael focusing on keeping the animatronics out and you trying to keep your fear at bay.

The clock now displayed 5am. But it had only showed the hours, not minutes so you had no idea how close it was to 6am and freedom.

You glanced across to Michael. He seemed more frantic than earlier in the night.

"Sorry, I don't think we're getting through tonight."

Your stomach dropped at his words and your eyes flicked over the power bar: only 1% left.

"We might still make it."

But before Michael could reply, the lights turned off with a loud clunk and the whirring of some machine turning off.

You smothered a scream and felt around until you found Michael's shoulder. You wrapped your arms around him and felt him hug you back.

"I'm sorry." His voice was soft and you could hear it shaking.

You tried to calm your breathing, though it was getting increasingly hard. "You did your best."

A loud clanging noise echoed down the corridor outside.

"Just in case we die, I always thought you were cute."

You could hardly believe it. Now you were getting a confession? Just as you were about to die? "Really?"

"Yeah."

"I've had a crush on you since my first day here."

"Guess we were a little late with figuring out our feelings."

The clanging grew louder until it sounded like it was just outside the door. The percent of power ticked lower.

Michael hugged you closer, pressing his face into the top of your head. "I'm sorry."

Suddenly, a bell chimed, playing Westminster Quarters as the sound of children cheering played over the speakers. You jumped at the sudden noise, clinging closer to Michael, your eyes squeezing shut.

So you were surprised to hear him laugh, short and almost hysterical. "We did it. We did it!"

You opened your eyes cautiously and saw, on the camera monitor in large white letters "6 am", pixilated confetti floating down the screen.

"So we're alive?" You could barely believe it.

Michael nodded, smiling at you. "The animatronics stop after six so we're fine."

You began laughing. "Oh my god, I thought we were going to die." A thought suddenly occurred to you, "Did you really confess to me when you thought we were both about to die?"

Michael winced. "I was almost hoping you'd forget." Then he blinked, "But you said you liked me as well?"

You felt your face heat up. "Yeah, I guess I did..."

"Well I guess there's only one thing to do about that. Can I take you out this weekend? I'll be off and I know you're not working."

You smiled, nodding. "That sounds nice."

But you figured you'd better clarify one thing.

"As long as it's not a pizza date."

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#writing #fanfic #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #michael afton #michael afton x reader #five nights at freddy's x reader #fnaf x reader #i keep typing fanfic as fnafic so that partially inspired this...

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sacrosanction · 1 month ago

Note

Hello, I really like your work, it's wonderful. Can you tell me a little about your main characters, maybe even some interesting facts about them?🌿

Thank you so much, it makes me super glad that you're enjoying my stuff !! I'm more than glad to share some info. I'll try and make it understandable, i can ramble forever abt them — there's a lot more but i'll just give the basics for now. My two current mains are, Sepharial and Madigan.

Madigan is a 33 year old exorcist/priest, living in a North American small town during the 1980s, at the height of the Satanic Panic. After being called on a job for a case of demonic possession, that had ended in disaster and leaving behind despair, guilt, self-doubts and the haunting of something both metaphorical and spiritual.

Both the town he lives in and others, became burdened by rumours of cults and demonic possessions.

A year later after his failure, (which was ultimately swept under the rug by the church) it still plagued his every being, he kept searching for something more until finally catching winds of a ritual gone awry by a cult — one that failed to summon something aliased; 'The Deity', instead leaving the veil thin too and allowed more entity's than ever wanted to escape into the mortal world. Fuelled by a need for to redeem himself and atone from past mistakes, Madigan pursues the hunt of demons both within the town and across state — seeking out the cult to put a end to it all before their successful summoning of 'The Deity'.

< Madigan is my oldest and first ever created character, but has gone through many story changes overtime and i've settled on making him based off my favourite game (Faith) and all time favourite movie (The Exorcist) — but with my own takes and spins on stuff.

—

Aand now Sepharial, who is my newest character — only created 1 month ago, he doesn't have as much development on him but i'll try and give as much info as i can.

Sepharial is an angel, created in one of the lowest orders of the angelic choir. In a moment of panic in the order, due to the notice of one of heaven's 'swords' being on the brink of death — Sepharial is assigned guardian to the mortal man, Madigan Belleville.

After being quickly whisked to earth and taking the vessel of a miserable accountant, he was to go to the decaying abandoned shack that the man was bleeding out in. Madigan's work was not done yet on earth, he was saved.

Madigan is a duty to Sepharial, who must stay on earth to keep the guy alive until he's completed his task in a final act of self-sacrifice. Sepharial tends to follow him around from afar, watching and making sure but overall detached. The two are full of both annoyance and negative tension for a good while before getting used to each other.

Over the time being spent on earth, Sepharial begins to develop a subtle sense of individuality and developing more feelings/emotions. This, puts a quite complicated strain on the already fragile, yet growing friendship that he has began with Madigan throughout their time spent with one another. Sepharial must navigate the new fears of what was previously unknown to him and that he might not be able to truly save Madigan in the end.

#lore dump kind of #i think this is a lot but i don't know when to shut myself up lmao #ask #madigan #sepharial

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amayaonly1 · 5 months ago

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Verses Unwritten: A Rap Odyssey

Eminem x Rapper!OC

Verse 6

About: Eminem steps back into the spotlight after years away, bringing raw honesty and unmatched charisma to the stage of The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. Through candid banter, a dive into the making of his album Relapse, and teasing a potential collaboration with Genji, the rap icon reveals the layers of his artistry and resilience.

Disclaimer: This work is a work of fiction, and any involvement of the character Genji is purely fictional and not representative of any real person.

The studio lights dimmed momentarily, casting a soft glow as the band wrapped up their smooth, jazzy rendition of "Crack a Bottle". The audience buzzed in anticipation. Craig Ferguson strode to his desk with his usual infectious energy, ready to introduce his next guest.

"Alright, folks," he began, his signature Scottish brogue rolling off his tongue. "My next guest hardly needs an introduction, but I'm gonna give him one anyway. He's the best-selling rapper of all time, a lyrical genius with a knack for controversy, and a man who's made a career out of turning pain into platinum hits. After a five-year hiatus, he's back and rawer than ever with his new album Relapse. Please welcome the one, the only… Eminem!"

The entire crowd were instantly on their feet and applauded loudly, some even screaming in excitement. Eminem emerged from backstage, cool and collected in his sleek black hoodie and jeans. His neutral expression made it clear he was still the enigmatic figure his fans adored. He gave the crowd a brief nod before approaching the desk. Craig stood to greet him, offering a firm handshake and a knowing smile.

"Welcome, welcome" Craig said warmly, gesturing toward the couch. "Have a seat. Should I call you Eminem or Slim Shady? Or Marshall? You've got more aliases than a Bond villain!"

Eminem looked at the audience, who was still buzzing, before taking his seat on the couch with a casual ease. His posture was slightly hunched, his arms resting loosely on his knees. He shot Craig a look and replied, "You can call me whatever you want, man. I mean, they're all just different sides of the same guy, right? But, Eminem works just fine for now."

"Alright, Eminem it is, then," the talk show host said, settling back into his chair with a grin. "Can't have too many names flying around, or we'll need a name tag." The audience laughed, and Craig waited for the room to settle before continuing. "So, let's start with the obvious question: How does it feel to be back? I mean, it's been five years! And now you're back with a new album."

"It feels good, man," he replied, his tone calm and measured. "Real good. It's been a minute, but sometimes you gotta step back, clear your head, and get right before you come back. I had a lot I needed to get out, so it feels like the right time."

Craig nodded thoughtfully, clearly appreciating the weight of those words. "Well, it sounds like you've been doing some serious soul-searching, huh? I like the 'getting right before you come back' approach. You're like a superhero who went off to recharge his powers, and now you're back to save the world — or, y'know, just make awesome music." The crowd laughed and applauded.

Eminem smirked, his eyes glinting slightly. "Yeah, well, if I'm a superhero, I'd be the kind who's got way too much baggage and a knack for making things messier than they should be. But, y'know, it is what it is. Gotta clear your head and let the dust settle before you go save the day."

Craig leaned forward, his expression softening. "It's no secret you've been through a lot: addiction, recovery, loss. But this album — it's raw. Like, unapologetically raw. Was that intentional? You didn't exactly hold back, did you?"

The rapper's gaze dropped for a moment, as if contemplating the weight of his own words. When he spoke again, his voice was quiet but resolute. "Yeah, it was intentional. When I was making Relapse, I didn't wanna sugarcoat anything. I went through a lot, and I had to face it all. The album's pretty much me being as honest as I could be, even if it's uncomfortable. It wasn't about trying to make something 'radio-friendly'. It's just… what came out when I was in that headspace."

Craig studied him for a moment, the usual cheeky humour fading as he recognised the depth of what Eminem was saying. "And does it help? Putting it all into music?"

The latter nodded slightly, his eyes distant for a moment. "Yeah, it helps. It's like therapy. When I put it in a song, it doesn't feel like it's weighing me down anymore. Once it's out there, it's not sitting inside my head, y'know I'm saying? It doesn't fix everything, but it helps."

Craig sat back in his chair, the moment heavy with understanding. After a pause, he broke the silence with a change of pace. "Let's talk about one of your singles — 'We Made You'. It's catchy, funny, and sharp... classic Eminem, right? But it's also got this funky, almost theatrical vibe to it. Like you're having a lot of fun with it. Was that your intention? I mean, you're poking fun at pop culture, but there's this whole… vibe going on, y'know?"

Eminem allowed a small smile, just a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Yeah, that was the point. I wanted to make something catchy, something people would have fun with. But it's still me poking fun at the craziness of the industry and pop culture. I can get pretty serious in my music, but sometimes I just wanna mess around a bit, make people laugh, and keep it light."

The talk show host raised an eyebrow, clearly enjoying the banter. "You know, I was jamming to it the other day, and I noticed something… there's this little touch, like a layer of mischief in the background. Almost… Genji-like?" His playful grin widened as he glanced at the audience, raising the stakes with his speculative tone. The crowd caught on immediately, and the room erupted in laughter as they caught the reference.

Eminem's lips twitched into a faint smile, though his eyes remained ever so composed. "Yeah, she worked on that track."

Craig sat up, a delighted glint in his eye. "I knew it!" The audience laughed along, and he continued, practically bouncing in his seat. "I could tell from that twist in the bridge. She's got that unique touch, right? I've been a fan of hers since her collab with De La Soul. Mind-blowing stuff. Ever listened to any of her songs?"

"Yeah, I've heard some of her stuff. She's dope, for sure. She's got this way of blending different sounds, real unique vibe."

"I'm curious, what's it like working with her She's like a musical wizard, right? I mean, she's got this almost otherworldly ability to shape sound. It's incredible."

Eminem nodded, his expression more relaxed now. "Working with her's cool. She knows what she's doing, no doubt. She gets it, man. She hears things in music that most people don't, and she pushes you to do things you might not have thought of. And yeah, it's dope that she's still killing it. Not a lot of people can do that."

The talk show host grinned, eyes twinkling with a mischievous glint. "Ah, I love that. She's got that magical touch, huh? Like a musical wizard with a PhD in sound. It’s like she's got a magic formula for keeping things fresh. You know, I've always wondered… does she have a secret lair somewhere? Maybe hidden under a mountain, with a keyboard and a cat wearing glasses? Because it sounds like she might!"

Eminem chuckled, the rare smile stretching slightly wider. "Yeah, something like that. Maybe a secret underground studio with a bunch of cats running around, plotting the next big hit."

The room erupted with laughter, and Craig leaned back in his chair, clearly enjoying the banter. "So, does that mean we could hear more of this collaboration in the future? A Genji and Eminem album? Imagine — a vault of secret tracks released only after a big mystery tour. Maybe even involving some dragons or a moonlit mountain."

"Yeah, man, maybe… as long as the dragons are kept to a minimum. I don't know if the world's ready for that, though. Could be epic, or it could be a disaster. Who knows? We'll see. We're both busy, but you never know.'"

The crowd's excitement spiked, with shouts of "Yes!" and "Do it!" echoing from the audience. Craig smirked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that's not a no, folks! Mark it down — Eminem just left the door wide open. You heard it here first!" He then leaned in with his usual charm. "So, what's next for you? More music? More surprises?"

"Yeah, more music, I guess. Whatever comes, it comes. You'll hear it when I'm ready."

Craig grinned widely, his tone warm and genuine. "Well, whatever it is, we'll be watching and listening. Give it up for Eminem, everybody!"

The audience leapt to their feet, erupting into applause. Eminem stood, offering a small nod of appreciation before making his way offstage, the cheers continuing for a while as the crowd showed their admiration.

Eminem Drops Candid Insights on Music, Life, and Future Collaborations on "The Late Late Show" The rap icon opens up to Craig Ferguson about his raw new album, working with Genji, and the possibility of a future collab that fans are already calling "legendary".

ShadyNation99 🔥🔥 Eminem AND Genji?? A collab album would break the internet! Make it happen, Slim! 🙌 #Relapse #TheLateLateShow FanofFireSpits Genji and Eminem as a duo? Someone check on Kanye. He's gonna feel that earthquake. 🌍🔥 #CollabOfTheCentury GenjiFanatic Can we take a moment to appreciate how Genji's magic keeps inspiring legends like Eminem? 🙌 Future collab? Yes, PLEASE! #MusicalWizardry LateShowFanGirl Craig Ferguson hyping up a Genji x Eminem collab has me believing in unicorns. 😂✨ Make it happen, universe! #TheLateLateShow

Eminem: Yo, saw the Late Late Show? Craig put you on blast. Secret lair with cats, huh? Should I bring tuna if I visit?

Genji: Haha, he's got quite the imagination. But no cats, just a keyboard and maybe some midnight ramen.

Eminem: Midnight ramen sounds more my vibe. You cook, too? Or is it the instant kind?

Genji: Instant, but I jazz it up. Soy eggs, scallions, some spice. Good enough to make you forget it's instant.

Eminem: Sounds like you're tryna flex on my frozen pizza dinners.

Genji: Maybe a little. But I'm sure your microwave skills are top-tier.

Eminem: I'm a pro. Even my microwave be asking me for pointers.

Genji: Haha, impressive. So, are you hinting I should teach you how to cook real food?

Eminem: Maybe. Or maybe I'm saying you should cook for me next time we're in the studio. Call it inspiration fuel.

Genji: Oh, so you're trading bars for bites now? Interesting currency.

Eminem: Gotta keep it creative, right? But seriously, that track we're working on... still can't get over your verse. I mean, I know shit about writing verses in Japanese. But how'd you even come up with that switch-up in the middle?

Genji: Just felt like it needed something unexpected. Gotta keep the energy alive.

Eminem: Yeah, well, mission accomplished. You had me rewriting my lines just to keep up.

Genji: Pretty sure you're exaggerating... But I'll take the compliment.

Eminem: Not exaggerating. I don't hand out compliments for free, y'know. But if I did, you'd still owe me for how much I've been hyping you up.

Genji: Guess I'll have to return the favor next time you drop a verse.

Eminem: Next time? Sounds like you're already planning another collab.

Genji: Only if you're ready to trade more pizza for ramen.

Eminem: Deal. But only if you bring those soy eggs.

#eminem #eminem fanfiction #eminem fluff #eminem imagine #eminem x reader

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pix-writes · 8 months ago

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Hello! Sorry for the random ask, but I can't stop thinking about your Stanley story omg

In what ways do you think his worst shames influence how he enters a relationship? Or do they not really make a significant difference? Thank you so much!

Omg it's so interesting, if I do say so myself haha ❤️ I'm probably going to make a part 2.

(rest under cut)

I think his biggest shames and negative experiences in the past have gone a long way to reinforce the false self belief Stan has about how he is in some way unlovable. It's his main wound from his father and being kicked out at such a young age - that he's always going to be a screw up that needs to prove himself in order to be lovable, which will definitely play a part in his relationships as this is such a deep set wound for his character. Self sabotage is something both the stan twins display a lot (or is heavily implied) within the show/books. I figure it's part of the reason many of Stanley's marriages backfired on him so badly, either because he dove into relationships with people who weren't going to stick around in the first place or through his own sabotage because he expects it to go wrong.

However, Stan hides his shames fairly well, most will only be found out if he tells you them because most of them would be difficult to find (especially because of his various aliases), so I think these won't hinder a relationship necessarily, but would contribute to his self confidence issues in general. We know that Stan has sexual trauma, too, which is something that might also explain him launching into relationships so fast in the past. But then again, I think Stan has gone through a lot and doesn't care if anyone judges him on the flip side? So I think his sex work isn't something he's the most ashamed about more than he knows other people/society has taught him to feel ashamed about it, if that makes sense. What I thought when I was writing Catalogues was that Stan modelling for that dirty magazine came sometime after him being a victim of sa in prison (I have no idea if that lines up in canon tho) which is why it's one of his shames because he did it despite feeling uncomfortable about his body and still in a fucked up headspace.

I think by the end of the show though he's had a lot of time to deal with his trauma even if he isn't dealing with it in the best way 😅 and I think a relationship would ultimately be healing for him! Once he doesn't run away when someone flirts back at him haha. But it wouldn't hinder him entering a relationship, as long as he chooses a keeper!

#stanley pines x reader #stan pines x you #gravity falls imagine #answered asks #pix replies #gf hcs #thisisnotawebsitedotcom #spoilers kinda #tbob spoilers #sw mention #sa mention #I feel sorry for Stan even in my own fics 😅#he really needs a good long hug #Stan's like I'll put all the trauma into the bottomless pit in my brain and then I'll die #☹️#i love him sm it makes me sad

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adarkrainbow · 4 months ago

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I am currently re-reading "The Black Company" by Glen Cook, the first trilogy which I love immensely (I haven't looked at the later trilogies and series).

If you do not know what "The Black Company" is, it is a series of novels started in the 80s that formed, alongside older works like "The Elric Saga", the foundations of the genre we know today as "dark fantasy". And "The Black Company" is one of the specific highlights of the dark fantasy sub-genre that later inspired authors to create what we call the "grimdark fantasy" (though I personally put The Black Company in "dark fantasy" rather than the "grimdark" genre, even though it was a big inspiration for the grimdark).

I love The Black Company. But, I hear you ask, why am I speaking of this onto my fairytale blog? Well... you guessed it: The Black Company is actually a fairytale fantasy. It is not something that is talked about often, nor something that was very much highlighted outside of some trivias, but despite The Black Company seeming like a dark deconstruction of the early Tolkienesque fantasy (which it is), it is also... a deconstruction of fairytales.

Here is a list of points showing the fairytale influence over Glen Cook's work, from the broadest and vaguest to the most specific. WARNING there are BIG SPOILERS ahead for the original trilogy.

From the get-go, names are rare in "The Black Company". As in, personal names. This is one of the most famous features of this series: almost all of the main characters go by nicknames or aliases, and the rest are left anonymous. From the members of the Black Company who abandon their life behind, to the sorcerers who keep their true name secrets, we are following the adventures of "Croaker", "Captain", "Raven", "The Lady", "The Hanged Man", "One-Eye", "Darling", and others. Add to this the sparse and succint physical descriptions, and the fact the past of most of the characters stays mysterious, foggy and untold - the narrative focusing mainly on their actions and their words - and you have a form of archetypal storytelling making the characters seem like they came out straight of a folktale (which is ironic as the story is precisely about introducing gritty realism to an universe of fantasy).

By extensive, the very narrative style of the books (mainly the parts written by Croaker for the Annals) is reminiscent of the way fairytales a la brothers Grimm were told. A very focused, quasi-oral narrative flow filled with ellipses and allusions, mixing direct descriptions with narrator thoughts, spending a lot of time over some trivial things while telling in two sentences huge events, slowly revealing things or explaining elements in a disjointed and broken way...

Still on the same vibe, the magic system (or rather the lack-of) was clearly meant to recreate the effet of magic in fairytales, and legends and myths in general. Unlike other fantasy works where magic is explained or has given rules and conditions, magic here stays a mysterious art only truly understood by its wielders. We are given some rules and elements, we know the power levels of some characters, but magic stays a mysterious force whose effects, while obvious, grandiose and visible, are unclear in their scope, limit and effect, leaving a true "everything is possible" effect that do make the wizards and warlocks of this series "legendary".

The first book opens and hammers down, through Croaker's narrative, the idea that "good versus evil" doesn't exist, that "good" and "evil" are mostly human illusions and excuses, that in the end everybody is just morally gray and the "good side" is decided by the winners of battles and those that write down history. This is of course a subversion of the epic fantasy genre a la Tolkien, but it also serves as a subversion of the very fairytale logic of "good versus evil". And then, a de-subversion as Croaker and the Black Company come to realize, as they get involved deeper and deeper into the wars of the Lady and the return of the Dominator, that while human "goodness" and "evilness" are illusions, there is still an actual "evil" that is too inhuman and dangerous for the world and deserves to be fought by true "heroes". So, the trilogy does end up falling back into the fairytale dichotomy... But to do so, it needs to go beyond the human scope and scale of things, to enter the world of ancient myths and eldritch magic.

Among the Ten who Were Taken, several evoke "classical" fairytale monsters. All of them are evil witches and wicked sorcerers, but some clearly evoke the werewolfs of legends and the Big Bad Wolf (The Howler, Moonbitter) while others clearly take after the giants, trolls and ogres of old (Shapeshifter, Bonegnasher). [Plus Toadkiller Dog has strong "Big Bad Wolf" vibes too] Also, they use extensively flying carpets to fly around, directly as a nod to the One Thousand and One Nights. There are also several sorcerers who evoke the dwarfs of legend, from the evious Limper described as a "small man", to the duo of One-Eye and the aptly name Goblin, who are basically the trickster imps and mischievious dwarfs of old legends.

The story span over the three first books is actually a retelling of Snow-White. Literaly. It is about the fight and struggle by a powerful and beautiful witch-queen (the Lady) with powerful magic to her side (her Eye is the equivalent of the Magic Mirror) to destroy a pure little girl fated to destroy her (Darling, reincarnation of the "White Rose", quite a nod to "Snow White"), only for the little girl to be saved and protected by servants of the Lady who betray their former employer (The Black Company). The little girl events gets, in a Disney fashion, to become "friend" and gain control and protection from animals and plants of nature... with the twist being her "Disney princess" powers make her befriend the alien fauna and insane flora of the Lovecraftian Plain of Fear.

In "The White Rose", the memoirs of Bomanz note how strange it is that everybody was fascinated by the Domination and the Taken, despite them being pure evil, and how little interested is paid to the remains of the White Rose, despite her being the hero that saved them all. This can be taken as a reflection on fictional villains in general, but it does strike a chord with fairytales: fairytale villains are often more iconic, more well-known, more fascinating than the heroes, and the stories often end with the villains - not caring about what happens to the heroes or the "good guys" once the threat is done with. Everybody knows at least half of the names of the Taken, but nobody knows where the White Rose's grave is. (Aka, the "Disney villain phenomenon")

The Taken (plus Lady and Dominator) sleeping forever in their barrows, guarded by a DRAGON, and "woken up" by various intrepid adventurers passing by a deadly barrier has very strong "Sleeping Beauty" vibes - which becomes ironic when later the Lady reveals that her mother was actually the twisted source of the Sleeping Beauty story in this universe.

#the black company #dark fantasy #fairytale deconstruction #fairytale fantasy

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