#Nemesis Models Agency

[hottiesbooted]

Dancer & Model: Tag Garwood (@taggarwood_)

Black Leather Jacket: Bershka

Black Leather On Knee Boots By Luxe To Kill.

[save-the-villainous-cat]

A villain being forced to kneel for a group of heroes 👀

“Oh, I didn't think they could go that low,” the leader of the group joked. It was cruel, the hero knew that. With the villain’s calves sliced open, there was a hardly any chance that the villain could even get up. They looked at their leader who started taunting their nemesis. Big talk for someone who stood above an injured person.

Their jokes were of poor taste and the hero’s throat started to burn. They had been getting on their nerves for months but the hero had managed to mostly ignore it.

“Get lower, maybe you can start licking my boots...” They pushed the villain’s head down with two fingers and kicked their leg until the villain fell from their kneeling position. They couldn’t even use their hands to prevent their face from landing in the dirt. Their fingers were broken. Most of the heroes on the team turned away, searched for something to do instead of watching their leader’s cruelty.

“Look at you, how the mighty have fallen.” The leader laughed and put their boot between the villain’s shoulder blades. And then, with all their strength, they pushed down when the villain tried to struggle to their feet.

“I think you might be overstepping here,” the hero said. They walked towards their leader despite their head screaming at them not to disagree. The agency wasn’t blind, this institution wasn’t dumb. Everyone was aware of the leader’s tyranny. However, the city still let them work because they simply got things done. Even if it took inhumane measures. It wasn’t fair.

The leader turned around.

“What did you say?”

“That’s my villain.” The hero pointed at their nemesis on the ground. “My assignment, my problem, my responsibility.”

“Your villain?”

“I got assigned to them, yes. Your boss made that decision, actually.” They eyed the villain shortly. Blood dripped down their calves, their fingers were crooked and their breathing was definitely not normal. They wanted to shout at the next best medic to take care of them.

“Well—” their hand landed on the hero’s shoulder “— be glad that I got your back. This one was pretty nasty. You would’ve never gotten them.”

They squeezed the hero’s shoulder harshly and the hero understood the warning.

However, they didn’t really care.

They pushed the leader’s hand off their shoulder, basically slapping their hand away.

“Isn’t that lovely?” the hero asked. “You’re such a kind soul.”

They walked past them, feeling the stare in their back and their heart was beating harder than ever. They had the tiny suspicion that wasn’t the leader’s but the villain’s fault.

They kneeled down and took the villain’s face into their hands. Simply put, the villain looked awful. More dead than alive, anyway. The hero rubbed their thumb over the villain’s cheek over and over again.

“Technically, they’re mine now. I beat them and I captured them,” the leader spat.

“I need a medic over here,” the hero said. “Could you call them with all your kindness?”

“I don’t think you understood me. I am your leader. You don’t want to make me your enemy.” The hero sighed and mumbled a few reassuring words towards the villain before they helped them up. They stabilised the villain as good as they could but the villain was muscular and heavy.

“Of course not. It would be quite a pathetic fight.” The hero pulled their villain closer. “Since I am such an incompetent hero and definitely no role model. I can’t fight, can’t even follow orders properly.”

They cocked their head.

“Now, please call a medic. We are good people, aren’t we?”

The leader only scowled, having understood the sarcasm and demand in the hero’s voice. They left and the hero wasn’t sure if they actually got a medic or not.

“Thank you,” the villain whispered next to them, clinging to the hero’s chest.

“Anytime,” they answered. Their grip around the villain tightened and the hero had to admit, they were scared of letting them go again.

[glassofgretel]

My honest opinion on Evillious Chronicles...I believe the series is truly deep and beautifully written, but there are some personal issues I have with it.

I don't really care about the point and message of the Evillious Chronicle series nor the concept of "morally gray", I only believe in good, evil and the consequences of our own actions. MOTHY has made an amazing story that we all still enjoy ~16 years later, but I have to disagree with his philosophy and outlook on the world, ours differ greatly– Though he has some valid points, it's rather naïve IMO... and while it's compelling storywise and from an emotional perspective, it isn't as much realistically or from a political/social standpoint of right and wrong.

Morality never mattered in the first place, because evil always succeeds if it has enough power or deems its deeds necessary for a "greater benefit"... Good and evil are both necessary forces that exist to maintain the balance of this universe, just as our fate dictates.

Personally, I'm starting to see far more evil and corruption than light and hope in today's politics and throughout our society's history, so I only get pissed the fuck off whenever I see a political debate between self-righteous snowflakes on Twitter or Reddit (Especially the Character rant mfs), with each side claiming that they're right and the other is evil.

Even though morality is literally IRRELEVANT in politics, it has always been about interests and agendas in the end. If anything, there are only two lesser and greater evils. 💀

I'm no Altright-winger either, as some idiots on Discord might say... I'm more of a Pan-Arab nationalist but I just hate politics in general. Because if anything, we humans deserve all the shit that's coming to us. And trust me, I HATE Hitler with every fiber of my being... but if I were in his shoes, I would've done far worse with all the scum and idiocy in this world.

As for Riliane Lucifen, despite her awful deeds, she was still somewhat good at heart. Unlike the two-faced hypocrites over at the USA, Russia, China and Israeli governments, and especially those scumbags Adolf/Stalin... But it still doesn't excuse her actions despite her lack of moral agency, neither does her being possessed and manipulated by the demons.

So let's stop painting her as some sort of saint, she was a broken kid who deserved her redemption and a second chance- but that's all there is...

Because we know damn well that would NEVER fly in our reality, even if she was truly genuine about making amends.And I don't want to be like her or Nemesis lol, I prefer the likes of Frieza, Judge Holden, King Piccolo etc. as role models, because at least they're purely evil and honest about their philosophy, they embrace it to reach their own goals. Unlike most of our world's society...

I would say I am Near Pure evil though, since I have clear moral standards and my own personal law, I can discern right from wrong- But I'm not really much better than Hitler myself, and I am wrong more often than I'm right. I just despise everything wrong with the world, but I don't intend to change it for the better either. I don't even care about ending the cycle of violence and hate, infact I want to keep it going for my own benefit. That is the path I've chosen for myself and I embrace it fully with no guilt or regrets, even if it might be the wrong one.

I'm not just being pretentious or edgy either, I am simply disappointed and frustrated with this reality- I've had enough of this world and want to watch it burn. I enjoy treating evil with even worse evil, fighting fire with fire- Because it turns me on, gives me a greater purpose and sense of fulfilment too.

I'm sorry I really don't know how to answer this, it's the most concerning message I've ever received in my entire life

[thistransient]

- If I had a nickel for every time I posted a photo of a goose and it ended up getting over a thousand notes, I'd have two nickels. I would say 'who can fathom the whims of the tumblr audience', because photos I love often go totally unappreciated in favour of something random I shared on a whim, but clearly there is a trend here. Also, the first time around I warned new followers the goose was a one-time phenomenon, and clearly I lied. There may well be future geese, just keep your expectations reasonably low.

- The other day I was talking to a Japanese friend about how jarring it is to overhear one's native language when living somewhere it isn't spoken often. Forced to eavesdrop because you can't not understand it! (Unlike the blissful white noise attained by zoning out around a language that requires some focus to understand.) Recently a loud American guy has started turning up with a companion at my local breakfast joint and inflicting this very situation upon me at high volume. I might not mind so much if I couldn't still hear him when they sit at the very back of the shop and I at the very front. To be fair, a) they come at the same time daily so it's within my power to simply go earlier and b) I'm sure I've tormented enough people with my own public English conversations (although I don't think anyone will ever accuse me of being loud, after a lifetime of complaints that I'm nigh inaudible). In a moment of pettiness, however, I decided to bring my loud Canadian friend today and sit in the back at their usual table. "I can see why you call him your nemesis" he commented, after witnessing [hearing] the state of things. I felt somewhat validated.

- Further brekkie shop gossip (what a fulfilling social life I have, you see): my slutty bisexual summer completely failed to manifest, but we can still have awkward bisexual autumn. Last week the cute guy who also eats there regularly and I ended up putting our trays away at the same time. He looked at me (probably on the simple basis that I was standing next to him). I glanced back and then quickly away. Outside the shop, he was organising his scooter when something possessed me to make direct eye contact. He gave me the nod, and something possessed me further to smile radiantly in response (albeit under the mask). He smiled back. I ran away.

- Because I agreed to model for a friend at a rope class this weekend, I have been faithfully abstaining from anything that could overly aggravate my ribs in their healing (although this also means I haven't been socialising much, hence the most interesting thing recently being the breakfast shop dynamics) and just going biking instead (safe enough so far). The blissful but brief window of perfect fall weather I waited for all summer has already started edging into "I could go outside and gambol about without getting too sweaty, buuut actually now I'm cold and would like to stay under the blanket." (Complain as I might, I actually do appreciate the return of boot & coat season. Or at least for myself, raised somewhere around the 43rd parallel north, since it's apparently always boot & coat season for locals.)

- I suppose the counselling I started has been having some effect, because I've begun to get some of my shit together (some, not all, but better than nothing). However, I think I will still have to do my December visa run (that ironic ticket to Macau). Because I haven't bought a return yet, I started to ruminate on the possibility of getting another Chinese visa (my previous one was invalidated when I updated the personal details on my new passport)- I could in theory take the ferry to Hong Kong and do it at the same agency where I got my first one, except that things have changed post-Covid and one must enquire personally about their rates and conditions. I may have enquired and am awaiting a response...

[noys-boise]

So tell me about beverly

are you sure you're ready for this? are you absolutely sure?

okay so Beverly Switzler otherwise known as my most beloved special girl who i would commit murder for is a character from the 1976 Howard the duck comic series who then appeared alongside I'm pretty sure every iteration of Howard except the mcu unsurprisingly :/ (and maybe some irrelevant side stuff idk). She is narratively integral to the Howard the duck story. This is undebatable, even in the one htd comic where she's not a recurring character she still appears at one point and that's honestly what i see people talk about most when they talk about the 2016 htd run. that's how important she is.

But I should probably start at the beginning. Warning, Howard the duck lore is weird to say the least.

So Bev's first appearance was in the very first issue of Howard's solo comic series (he did appear in Adventure into fear and Giant-sized Man-thing beforehand but that's a story for another day) and she started off strong with being imprisoned by a financial wizard (also known as a cosmic accountant. I'm not making any of this up, he is as over the top as you'd imagine) but Howard found her inside the wizard's tower built out of credit cards of which he was planning to jump off because idk if i mentioned before this duck was very suicidal at this point. Howard doesn't manage to save her though so instead they both get sent to this? alternate universe? i think? where they have to find a gem key or something. And they bond immediately because turns out a human woman and a duck from another world can have a lot more in common than you'd think. I'm not going to elaborate much more on their escape because this post is already going to be way too long but I'll just say they work really well together and Steve Gerber (the writer of htd) saw that and readers saw that and so Beverly stayed in these comics for the rest of the run except for the two times she got written out, more on that later.

She's incredibly tolerant, honestly to a fault like she just let Howard live with him without any conditions forever as if it's nothing, she's generally really positive which contrasts Howard's negativity well and she's just really damn adorable. She also values her agency more than anything which sucks for her because the narrative doesn't treat her very well on that regard, it is strongly implied that her parents tried to shelter her a lot and she's kind of trying to prove her maturity and she refuses to conform to any societal rules. which explains a lot imo.

Now, like i said the narrative doesn't always treat her very well. Largely because this is the 70s and these comics were written by a man (who i have a love-hate parasocial relationship with despite him being very much dead). Wait first i do have to give him one credit on this, even though Bev originally worked as a nude model she was relatively not that sexualized at all. Which good for feminism, bad for my by now very obvious crush on her. Maybe I am kind of guilty too huh. She has been harassed by creeps more than once (she did also defended herself more than once, good for her) she got kidnapped a lot especially early on and i couldn't be writing this without going into the doctor bong arc which does feature some of the most questionable decisions by Gerber. i need to start a new paragraph for this.

So doctor bong (yes that's the name he uses no it's not a drug reference actually i think I've made a post about this once) is considered Howard's arch nemesis. He wears a bell on his head that can paralyze and allegedly even kill people, he makes weird genetically mutated creatures including Fifi the sexy french maid duck who then dies (i don't want to get into it) he has a past in journalism and he just so happens to have had a crush on Beverly since college. And that's a problem because he's very much an incel. He kidnaps Beverly and threatens to kill Howard if she refuses to marry him. So she agrees reluctantly which results in her being out of the story for the majority of the original run and when she does officially return it's after Gerber has left. now the really questionable part is that my beloathed Steve Gerber actually started to imply that Bev might even be enjoying this arranged marriage which not only directly contradicts most of her previous characterization but is also just generally really not believable. I actually don't want to talk about this more right now because it always gets me worked up.

Seriously though as badly as the narrative tends to treat her she's amazing, and without a doubt the second most iconic Howard the duck character after Howard himself. marvel has actually made a few attempts to replace her for some reason but it never worked for them because why would it.

I could go into more detail about her later iterations because contrary to how i tend to act I'm not actually a Gerber purist, I'm kind of neutral on this argument (wait i think i should elaborate on this. a lot of people believe no one can write Howard the duck after Steve Gerber. Which is a statement i only half agree with. I do believe it's never been the same without him, but I do like some of the Howard stuff not written by him. Hell i even enjoy the movie in its way.) but I'm already drawing this post out too much and I'm going on unrelated side rants and i think i should just stop. Oh wait one more thing. She canonically studied theatre. As in original htd run canon. And she did do a play in the 2007 run. I just felt like that should be mentioned because theatre is my religion.

[buffintruder]

I’m making up an end of year fic writing ask thing because why not, all these answers apply to the past year

Most Popular fic

what if the real steel samurai fandom was the friends we made along the way by a long shot in every single measure. I did not expect this to be so popular

Favorite fic

To Turn the World Upside Down, my ace attorney au where Phoenix’s family is ‘blessed’ by a trickster god. Honestly I think it ranks among the best things I’ve written? I’m still in the middle of posting it, but I just think I do a good job with descriptions and character interactions and character growth in this one

Most unexpected fic

This is a tie between two Kamen Rider fics:

Endless Futures Ahead because it’s a Gou/Chase fic and I started writing this (in 2021 actually but whatever) before I’d even seen a full Kamen Rider series. I knew this show was going to suck me in if I ever started watching it (and it did), but I did not think I would write 20k+ words about characters in a show I had only seen a handful of episodes about

Across the River of Stars. I read the Blade novel, sat on it for like a week, particularly the ending where Kenzaki and Hajime agree to meet one night a year (just like the cowherd and weaver of myth, i thought!), and then out of nowhere I wrote 2k words at work about them meeting once a year in modern times. I started it about exactly a month ago and posted it today, so I think this is also the fic I’ve finished the quickest this year (that or my other Blade fic, idk how long that one took to write)

Fics for next year:

The next one I will post is a toss up between:

-the as of yet unnamed sequel to my steel samurai fic. this is 50% Klavier during aa4 having the Worst Year of His Life and 50% Klavier being heart eyes over Apollo, as seen through his unofficial social media (right now about 5k long, i’ve gotten past aa4-4 and the immediate aftermath, i just need to figure out where i want this to end, go over it a couple times, and then do all the formatting)

-The Future Where All Sorrows End (title subject to change) my Kamen Rider Blade soul nemesis au where Kenzaki and Hajime know that they are fated to be each other’s undoing from the moment they meet (right now somewhere in the 50-60k range. i need to finish the last scene, decide if i want to add a post-canon scene where Kenzaki hangs out with Kotaro and Hirose, and then do a bunch of editing but a lot of that i’ll do after i start posting chapters)

The next fic I plan to start writing:

Honestly probably a Kamen Rider W fic. I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with this premise, but I’ve had the rough idea in my head for 6ish months now and watching Fuuto PI + rewatching W with my brother is giving me feels. The basic premise is that instead of Gaia memories, it’s ghosts. Akiko shows up at the PI agency one day and is like “guys your business model sucks, we’re making a ghost investigating youtube channel as well as being private investigators”. Philip is the camera man never on screen but often making snarky comments from the background. The fic alternates between Wakana’s pov who is like ‘what is up with these youtubers that keep referencing my radio show’ and Philip who is like ‘i’m weirdly obsessed with this radio host but i don’t think it’s in a romantic way’. And then they start talking like in canon but no one dies and everything ends happily :) including for Kirihiko

Tagging @arofili @gallus-rising @queerfandommiscellany @moth-time and anyone else who wants to do this, my internet is wonky so i can’t see who follows me and i don’t have a good memory. Also feel free to change the questions if you want, I came up with these just now while sleepy

[marjaystuff]

Trouble In Queenstown by Delia Pitts

Vandy Myrick Book 1

Minotaur Books

July 16, 2924

Trouble in Queenstown by Delia Pitts blends grief, class, race, and family within a murder mystery. This small-town suspense story has lies, dirty politics, and corruption.

“I thought for many years how I would write a story in this genre.  I also thought about a cousin and friend of mine, Esther Myricks, who I grew up in Chicago.  She is several years older than me. I always admired her spirit, grit, and inventiveness during the 1960s and 1970s from an African American woman.  She started with her husband a small security agency on the Southside of Chicago. It filled a gap for the neighbors in the community. Her agency was the model and inspiration for the character and the setting in the book, but I added the murders. I just changed the one letter in the last name of my character to give her a shout out.”

The main character, Vandy Myrick, left the police force to become a private investigator, returning to her childhood hometown of Queenstown, New Jersey.  A new client, Leo Hannah, the nephew of the mayor hires her to tail his wife, thinking she is having an affair. When she arrives at his home to deliver her report, she finds a bloody crime scene where two people were murdered and sets out to investigate what really happened. She realizes that there is a web of deceit surrounding a racially charged murder with deep ties to the town’s most influential family. Per usual, with small town stories where one family is the nemesis, Vandy finds herself the target of an assault with her family and friends also targeted. Someone doesn't want the truth to come out and is willing to go to all lengths to get Vandy to abandon her investigation.

“Vandy is a private investigator who returned to the small town. She had a catastrophic event that disrupted her life.  She has very resilient relationships with her strong women friends. She is very self-aware, sarcastic, literate, and tough. She takes no guff from anybody. I hope readers root for her. She is influenced by her dad, a former policeman.  He was the most important person in her life growing up, a daddy’s girl. She became a police officer because of him. She left the police force and became a PI after her personal tragedy.”

This double murder has many twists and turns.  The main character, Vandy, is likeable and someone readers will root for.

[sweetcloverheart]

Clover Rants Miraculously: Gabriel and the Lesson (un)learned

You know, what pisses me off the most about Gabriel never having his identity as Hawkmoth exposed to Adrien or being brought to justice (which would be a little more tolerable if it was a Lex Luthor-esque situation where Gabriel just has too much power/sway in his civilian life that making him face justice for his crimes as Hawkmoth/Monarch is just near impossible for the heroes at the moment) isn’t just that the plot is basically giving him a literal “Get out of jail free” card - it’s that even with all this, nothing will change. Come season 6, the Miraculous-less Gabriel will simply go back to being neglectful of his son and keep him at arms length as he tries to manipulate his friends and girlfriend away from him for being “bad influences” and continues to try and have him isolated from the world at large - and the only difference between that and the past will be that he no longer has his Hawkmoth/Monarch activities as an excuse anymore. Oh sure, they’ll play up that his grief over Emilie is still weighing him down (though now without any miraculous to help save her, does he even have any excuse to still morn anymore?), but other than that? No excuse. He can’t purposely upset people now that he can’t akumatize them, he can’t force Adrien to leave the country for modeling jobs now that he’s let him quit and can no longer make large-scale schemes to endanger all of Paris to threaten Ladybug over, and he can’t excuse being absent/uninvolved in Adrien’s life because no longer being Hawkmoth means he has all the free time in the world to interact with his child. And yet he’ll continue on. Gabriel will no longer have the means to justify his emotional abuse towards Adrien except that the story simply demands it (unless they plan on sending him to Brazil too).

And when it finally comes time for Adrien to learn of the secret kept from him (Not that his father’s a supervillain, mind you - That would make Adrien imperfect, and the narrative can’t allow any sort of flaw to touch their protagonist’s perfect boyfriend. He can learn that both Marinette and Gabriel know who Hawkmoth is though...), it won’t be Gabriel who apologizes, for neglecting and emotionally abandoning his son to wallow in his own grief to the point that he dabbled in dangerous magics and indirectly assisted in Lilamoth’s ascent to supervillainy just to spite his nemesis (and for using his amok to pull him alongside his whims like a puppet). And it won’t be Nathalie who apologizes either, for numbly standing by while his father basically abandoned his child (who she’s come to see as her own) in a desperate attempt to rebuild his family, and then aided him out of her own misguided form of love until she finally realized things had gone too far. It won’t even be Felix or Plagg, the former who knew what a dangerous person his uncle was and the crimes he was committing but chose to tell his cousin nothing out of spite and “tough love”, while the latter likely chooses to keep Adrien in the dark out of love and loyalty (and because the laws of the Kwami prevent him from saying anything).

No - instead, it’ll be Marinette who apologizes, as the show forces her to self-flagellate and beg for forgiveness in Gabriel’s place over having to be made by the narrative and circumstances to keep mum about the identity of the man who spent the better part of their teenhood tormenting them through monsters and a manipulated public. Marinette will be the one to apologize, for the fact that Adrien’s father chose spite and villainy over his family and taking responsibility for himself, for the fact that a new Hawkmoth is terrorizing the city, for the fact that his mother has remained comatose, for everything terrible that has, can, and will happen after the last episode of season 5 because she has to learn her lesson no matter what, and because the story is adamant in preventing Adrien from having this one bit of agency and closure for himself in his storyline, and will now place the burden on his partner (who likely will be given no choice but to keep Gabriel’s identity a secret for him while the story treats it like a active act of betrayal) to bear - because god forbid we let the adult man who made the active and conscious decision to fight a pair of preteens over magical jewellery (to the point that he literally threw away the chance to save everyone the headache and suffering (and after having it basically handed to him on a silver platter)), then purposely threw away the magical brooch he was using to terrorize the city and its people just to spite them once he had been beat, face any consequences for his actions, let alone be forced to face the fact that maybe, his actions weren’t protecting his son like he thought

[i-hate-liking-batman]

UNDERGROUND HERO ALL MIGHT AU

PEOPLE. My friend gave me this idea and they way we ran with it is driving me insane I'm having so much fun. This I'm making this post so I can get all the info into posts before I lose all the details. So this au basically has three major things to focus on that I might write fic for. For this one I'll focus on underground hero All Might and how he relates to Midoriya.

All Might has been an underground hero his entire career- he really wanted to take his responsibility of OFA seriously by saving the people hidden in the shadows

All Might focused his genius on underground tactics like reconnaissance and how to get the drop on people

With that in mind All Might is the new Villain Boogeyman- he comes in and wipes them all out

All Might finds out about Tomura and saves him- specifics are yet to be had here

Number 1 Hero has been endeavor for 20 years by the time Shouto makes it to UA but Endeavor is not aware he has children (baby steps au- first idea of this mess)

Heroes with Endeavor as #1 believe they can be like him with hard work and since endeavor can't take care of everything more heroes step up to ease his burden

All Might takes care of A LOT of villain problems just by getting to the heart of villain things underground- villainy is now so much more dangerous lol

After taking out AFO without injury to himself- we get his nemesis in jail but All Might then finds out AFO has a son-Izuku

All Might finds Midoriya to see how he is doing and check up on the kid- his dad is a supervillain and he is unaware of how much influence AFO had

Bakugou (and Mineta) doesn't exist in this au so Izuku is actually a intelligent kid with confidence and a determination to do well despite being quirkless

All Might and Midoriya get on like a house on fire- eventually Izuku finds out AM is a underground hero and is given OFA

The end goal of this partnership is to make Izuku help out AM as a intelligence "guy behind the chair" first and then when he is ready, for the two of them to switch roles

Shirakumo doesn't die (AM took care of it) and so now Eraserhead is a daylight hero with the agency the three of them have

He's like Superman though take his scarf away and no one recognizes him

With a buff role model with a "villainous quirk" Shinsou buffs up and makes into UA hero course

Inasa also stays bc Todoroki took the normal test and also bc shouto has no grudges (doesn't know his dad is endeavor and endeavor is good here)

Tododeku things when both him and Midoriya meet-

Todoroki's quirk isn't as strong without the training but he will get there at UA.

And that's all for this part of the AU!!!! I'll probably add more later but this is a big part of it. UNDERGROUND ALL MIGHT IS ALL I NEED IT FIXES ALL MY PROBLEMS. MY CROPS ARE WATERED MY SKIN IS CLEAR. The other two ideas is basically a silly fic where Rei and Endeavor have 4 kids together unknowningly(baby steps au) and get a romance at 45 and a dabihawks thing I set up. These all happen in the same universe and I think I'll call the overall au for this mess "Saved By Your Heart" for reasons to be explained. Feel free to ask questions!!!

Part 1 Part 3

[rollflasher]

So, since I’ve been fond of writing pseudo-essay type of posts regarding Sonic, I might as well do another one that’s similar to my hot take regarding Shadow, in particular involving a topic I talked about with some friends that involves the character.

Those who follow my blog will be aware that as time went on, I became a lot more critical of the idea of Eggman getting softened in a misguided attempt at making him more human, mostly because this in turn comes with the implication that he’s ‘’not so bad after all’’, despite the fact that the character’s selfish acts don’t match up with that. Well, there is another reason I have for thinking that keeping Eggman an evil bastard gives the character even more depth than what could be initially thought of and it specifically involves his connection with Shadow.

Both Eggman and Shadow are the extensions of Gerald’s will, and the contrast between the two characters’ agency is incredibly interesting to say the least.

Now let me explain what I mean by this, last time I wrote a whole essay about why Shadow’s agency in his devotion to justice is so important, and why he shouldn’t be tied to a morality pet in order to be an unambigous hero, but when you look at Eggman’s character there is a surprising contrast in his own agency and there’s a lot to be said about it.

Just like Sonic, canonically we don’t know much about Eggman’s past other than the fact that Gerald was his hero and role model, but what we do know is that we all did it together he didn’t know exactly what went down when the ARK got shut down, so we can confirm that for all intents and purposes Eggman most likely never angsted about his grandpa’s death, chances are he may have not been aware of it and by the time he did, he probably couldn’t care less by that point. (As a matter of fact, in SA2 when he mentions he found Gerald’s diary, he was more interested in the benefits he could get from it instead of what exactly happened to his grandfather) With this in mind, it’s safe to assume that Eggman did not endure a difficult childhood and probably it was quite the contrary, after all we are talking about a psychopatic manchild who’s massive ego has an endless hunger for attention, that ego had to come from somewhere.

This is a stark contrast with Shadow, who’s past we know very well, he has every reason to hate humans and do evil out of vengeance, whereas Eggman quite frankly lacks any reason whatsoever to hold grudges against the world.

Not only that, but unlike Shadow, Eggman’s motivations are completely selfish. When you think about it, Eggman has gotten chances to redeem himself, he’s worked with Sonic before and in the end of SA2, he got a moment to reflect with Tails...and yet, he still decides to be evil and if that wasn’t enough, with each game he appears to get progressively worse. Why? Because Eggman lacks empathy, he understands others' suffering but is too apathetic, as long as it doesn’t affect him it’s not his problem. All Eggman cares about is having the world all for himself, as he puts it, it doesn’t matter how much damage he causes as long as there is something to conquer, even if he has to enslave others or take lives for that matter. He doesn’t care about allies and when he does show care for his creations, he’s pretty much congratulating himself and we know from the E-Series robots’ perspective that living as Eggman’s creation is not pretty. This makes quite the contrast with how Shadow is troubled by the idea of making a bad use of his powers.

Okay, but what does this have to do with Eggman and Shadow being the extension of Gerald’s will? Simple, Eggman goes against everything his grandfather stood for, but in a way serves as a perfect representation of Gerald’s genius being used for wrong, and in a way mirrors how he ended when he eventually went insane.

Gerald dedicated his life to the benefit of mankind and was genuinely a good man who loved his creations as family, hence him considering Shadow his son, and he clearly cared about life-forms like him and Emerl having a soul and being individuals rather than weapons of war. Eggman in contrast only lives for his selfish desires and prefers a world where everyone is devoid of a soul, only living for the benefit of him. Meanwhile, Shadow being a hero out of his own will fits perfectly with the legacy old Gerald had, not because such role was imposed on him, but because that’s his nature.

When Gerald went insane, you can say that he became just as selfish as the people he condemned, because once he jumped the slippery slope, he only cared about satisfying his own wrath and eventually threw away his previous philanthropist ideals. In a way, while not motivated by revenge, Eggman fits perfectly with that selfishness that corrupted Gerald and could be seen as a representation of that darker side of the genius of the Robotnik family being used for malicious purposes.

Shadow represents the good legacy of Gerald while Eggman represents the darkness of it. Both characters had moments where they could have taken another path, but whereas Shadow eventually had the maturity to move on and do good because that’s the right thing to do regardless of having every reason to hold a grudge and not do so, Eggman chose to do evil because he simply refuses to change, the world never wronged him and gave him chances for an epiphany but the doctor is just too emotionally stunted and self-centered to ever change his ways, if there’s no Eggman Empire, life simply has no meaning for him.

Honestly, while Sonic will always be Eggman’s nemesis, I find it fascinating to notice just how deep Shadow and Eggman’s parallels could get, in a way, they can really reinforce the message that it’s choices what defines people, not their past. I think exploring the deeper implications of this makes the Robotnik family more interesting and even somewhat tragic, and is something that could have a lot of potential. Shame that IDW had the perfect chance to explore that but completely wasted it, but that’s besides the point.

Am I analysing a bit too much a franchise about a blue hedgehog? Probably, but it’s still pretty fun.

[bigfan-fanfic]

Was school for good and evil good? Did you read the books and/or just watch the movie?

lemme see... I actually did enjoy it. I've read the books, up to the first book of the sequel series. And some of what they did, I liked, and some I bristled at. I'll put it in the cut, but what I will say here is that I think there was just too much they had to do for a movie - I think it would've served better as a limited series or tv show.

Number 1: Sophie

Sophie... they defanged her. Part of the fun of the story is that she's Evil all along, and there is no true effort to hide it - she's callous, spiteful, and cruel, and she constantly throws Agatha under the bus for her own benefit, while Agatha is truly good, thinking about others and doubting herself. Sophie in the movie is shown being a better friend to Agatha (which I like), but she is a terrible person, and I wish we got more of that. We lost a little bit of her characterization with the Lunchtime with Sophie and with her becoming a Nemesis to Agatha. I think Sophia Caruso did a good job, I just wish there was MORE to her character.

Number 2: Agatha

I really like that they cast Sofia Wylie. (Although, I have an issue here - they do absolutely nothing to "pretty her down" to make her parallel transformation to Sophie make sense, other than make her curly hair a little more managed, which is a little problematic. I wish they had put circles under her eyes, or made her seem at all unkempt other than having big hair. I did like the change to Agatha, the way she was more about nobody being Pure Good or Pure Evil, but human. I just wish we got more time with that. I feel like this Agatha wasn't a whole lot like the book, but I liked how much they played up her empathy.

Number 3: Changes, for Good

I really liked the Gregor character they added. If the little girl Wish Fish Mogrif didn't hammer the point home, the stymph being Gregor was horrifyingly effective at portraying the dark side to the School. I liked that the School Master was a little more involved. I even liked Charlize Theron's Lady Lesso. I really enjoyed the "do I look like I give a SHIT about smiling?!" moment.

Number 4: Changes, for Evil

I didn't enjoy the way Rafal and blood magic were played up. The way it is in the movie, it kinda removes all Sophie's agency, like she was manipulated into Evil, when she should have been Evil all along. I didn't like that Sophie didn't kill the Beast in the Doom Room. I didn't like that Agatha didn't get a transformative moment like Sophie, where she got a fake makeover to realize she didn't need it at all. I didn't think much of Tedros and the Tedros/Agatha relationship here. It just didn't feel very interesting or fun. Tedros didn't really have much to learn, either. I think Kerry Washington didn't do so great as Dovey. I was expecting more of a stable, grandmotherly type than a manic, flip-floppy person. Lady Lesso's story was told way too early, and for no reason. Part of the themes of the series are the ways relationships between people overcome the overarching forced binaries of Good/Evil, Boy/Girl, and Old/New. Dovey and Lesso are supposed to be models for Sophie and Agatha, trusting each other more than Good and Evil. Here, Lesso is just on the School Master's side the whole time instead of freaking out that Sophie is unleashing war in the school.

Number 5: School

There was so little actually in the school! No lessons, no Agatha excelling at Good AND Evil magic, no Sophie being naturally good but bad at work, and no real learning or the Trial By Tale. It also refused to give me the awesome scenes of Agatha using her smarts to get by - she never gets to cross the boundary between schools by outsmarting the binary, which would have fit even better with her new characterization. And we got too little time with the side characters to care about them in the final fight.

So really, I think we needed a series to meet all the side characters and get attached, learn the most about the school, and have more time for Agatha and Sophie's character journeys.

[abookishdreamer]

Character Intro: Nemesis (Kingdom of Ichor)

Nicknames- Lady Vengeance by the people of Olympius

Glam Grunge by Aphrodite

Nene by Achlys

Age- 19 (immortal)

Location- The Underworld

Personality- Nemesis is very sarcastic and confident. She looks down upon those who are too full of hubris. She's cold and calculated when handing down her punishments. She's an aromantic asexual & single.

Nemesis is never seen without her whip, which she ties on the side of her belt as an accessory.

She has the standard abilities of a goddess. As the goddess of vengeance, revenge, retribution, & balance her abilities include umbrakinesis, power redirection, bestowing good or bad luck upon others, sensing and manipulating bodily & spiritual balance, pyrokinesis (her flames burn a dark violet), being able to tell when a person is about to cheat at something, truth sense, placing curses on objects, communicating with/shapeshifting into species of geese, temporary power neutralization, and having an innate sense for a person's weak spot. She's also well versed in hand-to-hand combat, her whip being the perfect weapon.

Nemesis doesn't care much for the other deities. She respects her parents & Hades (god of the dead). She's cordial with Hestia (goddess of the hearth), Athena (goddess of wisdom), Nike (goddess of victory), The Furies, Lykos (goddess of wolves), Dike (goddess of justice), Bia (goddess of force & power), and the messenger god Hermes. Nemesis is good friends with Hecate (goddess of magic & witchcraft), Lyssa (goddess of rage & frenzy), Methe (goddess of drunkenness), Kakia (goddess of vice & moral wrongdoing), Tyche (goddess of luck), Neféloma (goddess of space & dark matter), and Eris (goddess of strife & discord).

Her official mentor was Poena (goddess of punishment).

Nemesis also admires Themis (Titaness of justice) as well as Adikia (goddess of injustice & wrongdoing).

Since falling out with her sister Hemera (goddess of the day), Nemesis has gotten really close with her other sisters Achlys (goddess of the death mist, poison, misery, & sadness), Arae (goddess of curses & hexes), and Keres (goddess of violent death). Nemesis barely remembers her eldest sister Apate (goddess of fraud & deception) who has distanced herself from the family. Out of her brothers, she's closest to Charon (Ferryman of the Underworld). She thinks that her eldest brother Nosos (god of illness, plague, & disease) is a stiff bore.

Nemesis has several small hidden tattoos- including balance scales behind her left ear and thorned black roses on her left ankle.

She lives in her parents' palace, Mansion of Night. In her room there are obsidian torches for light fixtures with shimmering black & dark violet curtains hanging from the high arched windows. The floor is a unique design- half of it is black marble with gold inlay while the other half is white marble with gold inlay.

In Olympius, Nemesis has debt collection agencies as well as official bounty hunters on her payroll. She's also an alternate justice of the Grand Olympian Court. For other work she models for/endorses Hot Intoxication, Nocturnal Vibez, & The Moirai’s fashion brand. Nemesis also endorses Plutopack- Hades’ brand of cigarettes.

She owns a sleek motorcycle and has a pet hellhorse, a girl named Fuega.

Her favorite colors are violet, white, black, & gold.

A favorite piece of jewelry she always wears is the Stygian Iron necklace with a dagger charm that Charon made for her as an induction gift.

At Hollyhock's Bakery, Nemesis' favorite dessert are the loukoumades filled with blackberry jelly.

Her favorite frozen treat is dark chocolate pomegranate ice cream!

She loves using the black absinthe liquid eyeliner- getting the perfect dramatic winged eye make-up every time! Her favorite nail polish color is "Scorched Bourbon", a matte black color from Hot Intoxication.

Surprisingly Nemesis enjoys tai chi. When she travels to Olympius, it's often to go to the Zenesphere yoga studio.

She's quite competitive when it comes to family game night!

One of Nemesis' favorite reality competition TV shows is Blood Sacrifice.

She's also a good cook, taught by her mother Nyx (goddess of the night) of course. Nemesis' favorite meals to make (and eat) are thick & fluffy biscuits, lamb curry stew, fried chicken, rice & peas, and sweet potato moussaka.

In her free time, Nemesis enjoys playing chess, boxing, mixed martial arts, sword fighting, muy thai, listening to music, reading, wrestling (as a part of Bia's team), drag racing, knitting, and crocheting (but won't admit to those two to others).

"Everyone knows that revenge is best served branded on the enemy's flesh!"

[astrognossienne]

scandalous beauty: athalia ponsell lindsley - an analysis

“Not that St. Augustine citizens went around killing people they didn’t like. But Athalia was not on a level playing field. Nobody liked her, so there was not a big hue and cry when she was killed.” - Sally Boyles, a neighbour of Lindsley’s

For someone so brash, loud, and ballsy, her life, especially her early life, was quite a mystery. Just like her controversial death. On January 23, 1974, former model, dancer, political activist and television personality Athalia Ponsell Lindsley was murdered with a machete by an unknown assailant on the front steps of her home in St. Augustine, Florida. Her murder is notorious more than four decades after it occurred. The only eyewitness said a man attacked Lindsley with a machete in broad daylight on the front steps of her white mansion. Gossip swirled that neighbour Frances Bemis knew who killed Lindsley and would notify authorities. Bemis was later murdered on her nightly walk. Police arrested only one suspect for Lindsley's murder, which remains unsolved to this day. For someone who was a Leo, I don't think Athalia was a very happy person. I think she tried to bring others down, with her based on her ill-concealed dissatisfaction with the way things were. Unfortunately for her, her demise happened in a town that didn’t care for her.

Athalia Ponsell Lindsley, according to astrotheme, was a Leo sun and Libra moon (the moon is speculative). She was born Mary Anne “Athalia” Fetter in Toledo, Ohio in 1917. Her parents were both wealthy New Yorkers; her father was a utilities magnate and her mother a socialite. Shortly after her birth, she and her family moved to Isle of Pines (now known as Isla de la Juventud), Cuba where she was raised until the age of 12. By the time the parents moved to Jacksonville, Florida and enrolled her in parochial school, she was winning beauty contests and pursuing an acting career. After high school, she moved to New York City, where it didn’t take her long to be employed as a fashion model for the celebrated fashion designer John Robert Powers, which helped her land work in some Broadway musicals and as a hostess on a TV game show. By 1949, she was the hottest model in NYC. She was just as hot off the runway as well; the list of Ponsell’s sexual conquests was long, including the likes of actor Tyrone Power and Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. She was reported to have been married three times, one of  them to a man named Ponsell, but there is no information on him or her other two spouses. She had a scrapbook of all the celebrities and people she was acquainted. But success had quickly gone to the young model’s head, and by 1954, she’d burned all her bridges at her modeling agency, and her reputation as “the bitch of New York” was well-earned and kept her from earning any more work in the entertainment industry.

Out of work, over the hill, and her looks fading, Ponsell quit her 20-years of modeling and entertainment work and retired to a white stucco mansion in St. Augustine in 1972. By that time, the 55-year-old washed-up model became embittered. From the moment she arrived in St.Augustine, she did her best to position herself at the top of the city’s high society. But the sides of that pyramid were very steep, and to the city’s old-school cultural hardliners, she was an outsider, and an obnoxious one, at that. St. Augustine is known for being a rather cliquish town, and unless you have Spanish, Menorcan, or WASP roots, any newcomer is looked at as an outsider. She was known as a pain in the ass, criticizing everything she thought was wrong with the town and its citizens. Naturally the upper crust didn’t take too well to her. She may have annoyed them, but she did catch the eye of another important person, Mayor James Lindsley, a St. Augustine native who went by the nickname “Jinx”. Jinx was known around the city for his ability to work hard and drink even harder. He was of the generation where if he was wronged, or if there was a problem, he settled his differences with his fists. Despite his passionate love affairs with ass kicking and Jack Daniels, Athalia was drawn to Jinx’s good standing with St. Augustine’s old guard, Jinx was attracted to her still-good looks and fiery personality. The two courted hard and fast, and just a few months after they met, they married.

Their marriage was rocky from the start, providing the town with juicy gossip. In fact, just 3 months into the marriage, the two separated. They wound up living in separate homes, fighting back and forth about possessions and property. She may have treated her husband and the town like dirt, but she was very moved by animals and took in a lot of strays and accumulated a coterie of animals. This didn’t endear herself to the neighbours, and they complained of dogs barking and other noises coming from her makeshift “animal shelter”. One neighbour in particular that took exception to Athalia and her animals was a hot-headed county manager called Alan Stanford. Stanford lived next door to her on Marine Street, and the two clashed from day one. Stanford filed several noise complaints against Athalia and her pets, resulting in her arrest. In revenge, she made Stanford’s life as county manager a living hell. She became a fixture at City Hall, attending every county meeting she could and accuse Stanford of all sorts of improprieties, from the mismanagement of county funds to stealing equipment from the road department. Some of these accusations weren’t entirely unfounded, but it got to the point where her presence was dreaded. She was after his job and wanted him fired. Stanford, in turn, threatened her life. December of 1973, she found out that Stanford lacked the civil engineering degree required for all county managers, and went to the state to report him.

On January 23, 1974 she attended her last city hall meeting, armed with petitions of several citizens calling for Stanford to resign. She exposed the fact that Stanford forged documents and padded his experience and qualifications as county manager. Later that day, to celebrate, she met her estranged husband Jinx for lunch. The day went surprisingly well, going shopping in Jacksonville and running errands. At approximately 5:30 pm, they both went home to their respective houses. As Athalia walked her pet blue jay around in her front yard, an intruder emerged from her back yard, armed with a machete. Moments later, the police department received a call about a murder. The police arrived to the provided address and found Athalia sprawled across the front steps of her porch, nearly decapitated and hacked to death with a machete in broad daylight.

The scene was chaotic, with neighbours trampling all over the grass trying to get a look, contaminating evidence. In their great police work, the cops never thought to rope off the crime scene. When her husband Jinx was notified of his wife’s murder, he took his time getting to her house, making a pit stop to his attorney’s office along the way. A few hours later, the cops find a machete in his pickup truck. But an open-and-shut case this was not. In February of 1974, the rumour was that Jinx killed her in a drunken rage. Even though Jinx had a violent temper and smacked his wife around, in the eyes of local investigators, he was “unarrestable”; they had no real evidence against the mayor and he even passed a lie-detector test. A tip from one of Athalia’s neighbours came in: it seems the neighbour’s 19 year-old son claimed to have witnessed her old nemesis Alan Stanford kill her. There was a trail of blood that led from Athalia’s front porch directly into Allen Stanford’s back yard. More than a few weren’t concerned with Athalia being killed because she was such a bitch that they feel that she deserved what she got.

In March of 1974, there was a blood-stained machete, a watch, and blood-soaked trousers found in a bag in a swamp; the blood on the clothes matched Athalia’s, and the clothes belonged to Stanford. On February 22, 1974, Alan Stanford was arrested and charged with murder. On January 1975, the murder trial commenced. The prosecution had a strong case and a guilty verdict seemed almost certain. Just before closing arguments, Stanford’s defense team called the 19-year old witness to the stand. Despite previously identifying Stanford as the killer, the young man was now unsure of the identity, having never actually seen the assailant’s face. On the day following the killing, a young nurse rode her bicycle as she always did. The police stopped her and questioned her about the murder. The nurse picked out a third suspect, deputy sheriff Dewey Lee, as the killer, further muddling the waters. The jury found Alan Stanford not guilty, despite the mountain of evidence against him. Local authorities were so upset by the verdict that they refused to re-open the case. Even though Stanford was acquitted of the murder, Athalia wound up getting the last laugh in the end, they local county board voted 4 to 1 to fire Stanford due to his lying about his credentials. He wound up leaving town shortly afterward. Today, St. Augustine is different; most who lived on Marine Street during the 1960s and 1970s have either moved away or passed away. Athalia’s house, now a historical landmark, still stands today, a grim reminder of how local resentment can go too far.

the murder of frances bemis

Frances Bemis was a socialite and neighbour of Athalia Ponsell Lindsley who happened to be a close friend of hers. Shortly after Lindsley’s murder, Frances started gathering information in order to write a book about the murder, claiming that she had information on what really happened. On November 3, 1974, she went for an evening walk and disappeared. Her body was found near her house, her skull crushed by a cement block. Her murder has never been solved.

This was the next analysis that I planned to do after the Robert Mitchum one, so I decided to just get this one out of the way.

Stats

birthdate: July 25, 1917*

*note*: due to the absence of a birth time, this analysis will be even more speculative.

major planets:

Sun: Leo

Moon: Libra

Rising: unknown

Mercury: Leo

Venus: Leo

Mars: Gemini

Midheaven: unknown

Jupiter: Gemini

Saturn: Leo

Uranus: Aquarius

Neptune: Leo

Pluto: Cancer

Overall personality snapshot: She had a prestigious, compelling presence, even when she was just clowning around, and a natural ability to command both respect and affection from her friends and colleagues. In the nicest possible way she assumed the position of the leader because she had a strong independent streak and believed in her lofty, worthy ideals, but she also gravitated towards collaboration and an impartial examination of the facts. She could be bossy and yet her bossiness was so diplomatic that it was convincing, even impressive. Although she wanted esteem and tended to identify with honourable goals and people, she could work alongside others she respected and she really wanted the best for everyone. She had style, and she instinctively knew that ‘manners maketh man’ and that, if for some reason they didn’t, they went a long way in making life worth living. When she came into her own, she developed a strongly aesthetic approach to life and are naturally creative. She needed a very positive, active medium through which to express herself, such as drama, teaching or running her own business.

Anything to do with beauty and harmony interested her, such as decorating, design and painting. Her interest in social equality took her into politics or the law. She had a strong sense of herself and stubbornly followed her own personal code of ethics, yet she also enjoyed being part of a group that had a common purpose or bond. She cherished ideals of liberty and equality, but if there were some distasteful tasks to perform she moved very smoothly into the role of delegating – well, she thought, someone has to give the orders around here or we would have no harmony at all. Although she seemed to enjoy an easy, breezy approach to life, there was quite a serious side to her personality, and she could be surprisingly controversial and provocative. She was willing to stand up and be counted, and perhaps make it look easy. She had a natural appreciation and enjoyment of the good things of life; she assumed that they should be hers by birthright. And through cunning charm, calculated boldness, and intelligent maneuver she managed to have plenty.

She was ambitious, sound at giving orders, carried responsibility well and was a good teacher, especially able to bring out the best in children. She believed in herself and generally knew the right thing to say at the right time, although she could show a stubborn and dogmatic side. She had a high opinion of her mental powers, and it was certainly true to say that he had plenty of mental energy. She was a mentally restless person, both versatile and broad-minded. She experienced personal growth through analysis and using her intellect, although the collection and communication of facts may have been an end within itself. She was a reliable and loyal person. Her will and sense of honour were strong and she was a great organizer. On the downside, her self-assuredness could become dogmatism and imperiousness. Conservatism may have affected her creativity, artistic values and love affairs. This expressed itself as self-imposed restrictions or as selfishness. She often felt inadequate, which created an insidious form of oppression over all her forms of expression. She could also take herself so seriously, that people think that she was older than her years.

She belonged to a generation that could be unpredictable in that it liked to instigate change simply for the sake of shaking things up and providing stimulation. Humanitarian ideals became extremely important, as well as the belief in absolute freedom for every individual. She came up with radical new ideas which she stubbornly followed. As a member of this generation, she may have felt deep spiritual convictions, although she may not have seen herself as religious in the traditional sense of the word. She was part of a very artistically talented and creative generation that wanted to escape from the demands of the world around them into a world of excitement and glamour. Members of this generation loved the theater and the cinema, in fact, any sort of creative self-expression. They also believed in the rights of any individual to express themselves. This generation was both idealistic and romantic, selfish and individualistic. Lindsley embodied all of these Leo Neptunian ideals. Also, as a member of the Leo Neptune generation, she experienced and fully embraced changes in sexual mores and attitudes, changing the way people approach the whole issue of romantic relationships. Changes were also experienced in the relationships between parents and children, with the ties becoming looser. She was part of a generation known for its devastating social upheavals concerning home and family. The whole general pattern of family life experiences enormous changes and upheavals; as a Cancer Plutonian, this aspect is highlighted with Lindsley’s father dying relatively young and her having to care for her mother until she died.

Love/sex life: There is never any question as to the ground rules of her erotic universe: what best served her ego, best served her libido. She had a marvelous capacity for enjoying sex but her pride and self-possession always came first. Some people might have found the egotism of this position offensive but many others hardly noticed. After all, a lover as lively, generous and exciting as she had good reason to be proud. There was always a distinctively theatrical quality about her love making. She wanted sex to be a big event, full of drama and intellectual significance. This grandiose approach to sex can certainly be entertaining but it often made her romantic moments seem less than spontaneous. More importantly, real life sex rarely met her cinematic standards. This is one reason why she often found the idea of love much more appealing than its physical manifestations.The sex in her head was never common or clumsy, and she could always count on great reviews.

minor asteroids and points:

North Node: Capricorn

Lilith: Virgo

Her North Node in Capricorn dictated that she needed to develop the more caring and compassionate side to her personality and try to place less emphasis on the materialistic aspects of her life. Her Lilith in Virgo ensured that she exhibited a Madonna-whore complex; she made her way through the world with her sensational wits and she had no time for constricting judgments. She confronted the grittier facts of life, especially sex. She was good at sex but not as a form of sappy emotional expression.

elemental dominance:

fire

air

She was dynamic and passionate, with strong leadership ability. She generated enormous warmth and vibrancy. She was exciting to be around, because she was genuinely enthusiastic and usually friendly. However, she could either be harnessed into helpful energy or flame up and cause destruction. Ultimately, she chose the latter. Confident and opinionated, she was fond of declarative statements such as “I will do this” or “It’s this way.” When out of control—usually because she was bored, or hadn’t been acknowledged—she was be bossy, demanding, and even tyrannical. But at her best, her confidence and vision inspired others to conquer new territory in the world, in society, and in themselves. She was communicative, quick and mentally agile, and she liked to stir things up. She was likely a havoc-seeker on some level. She was oriented more toward thinking than feeling. She carried information and the seeds of ideas. Out of balance, she lived in her head and could be insensitive to the feelings of others. But at her best, she helped others form connections in all spheres of their daily lives.

modality dominance:

fixed

She wasn’t particularly interested in spearheading new ventures or dealing with the day-to-day challenges of organization and management. She excelled at performing tasks and producing outcomes. She was flexible and liked to finish things. Was also likely undependable, lacking in initiative, and disorganized. Had an itchy restlessness and an unwillingness to buckle down to the task at hand. Probably had a chronic inability to commit—to a job, a relationship, or even to a set of values.

planet dominants:

Sun

Mars

Pluto

She had vitality and creativity, as well as a strong ego and was authoritarian and powerful. She likely had strong leadership qualities, she definitely knew who she was, and she had tremendous will. She met challenges and believed in expanding her life. She was aggressive, individualistic and had a high sexual drive. She believed in action and took action. Her survival instinct was strong. She wanted to take herself to the limit—and then surpass that limit, which she often did. She ultimately refused to compromise her integrity by following another’s agenda. She likely didn’t compare herself to other people and didn’t want to dominate or be dominated. She simply wanted to be free to follow her own path, whatever it was. She brought about complete and profound transformations in her life, good or bad (and it was often bad). She felt the need to let go of what was familiar to her and accept new and different ways of being and doing things. There were areas in her life where she had to accept regeneration, which involved the destruction of the old and the creation of the new.

sign dominants:

Leo

Gemini

Cancer

She loved being the center of attention and often surrounded herself with admirers. She had an innate dramatic sense, and life was definitely his stage. Her flamboyance and personal magnetism extended to every facet of her life. She wanted to succeed and make an impact in every situation. At her best, she was optimistic, honorable, loyal, and ambitious. She ventured out to see what else was there and seized upon new ideas that will expand their communities. Her innate curiosity kept her on the move. She used her rational, intellectual mind to explore and understand her personal world. She needed to answer the single burning question in her mind: why? This applied to most facets of her life, from the personal to the impersonal. This need to know sent her off to foreign countries, where her need to explore other cultures and traditions ranked high. She was changeable and often moody. This meant that she was often at odds with herself—the mind demanding one thing, the heart demanding the opposite. To someone else, this internal conflict often manifested as two very different people. At first meeting, she seemed enigmatic, elusive. She needed roots, a place or even a state of mind that he could call her own. She needed a safe harbor, a refuge in which to retreat for solitude. She was generally gentle and kind, unless he was hurt. Then she could become vindictive and sharp-spoken. She was affectionate, passionate, and even possessive at times. She was intuitive and was perhaps even psychic. Experience flowed through her emotionally. She was often moody and always changeable; her interests and social circles shifted constantly. She was emotion distilled into its purest form.

Read more about her under the cut.

Athalia Ponsell Lindsley was a former model, Broadway performer, actress, dancer and television personality who died in a savage late-afternoon attack at her home on Jan. 23, 1974. Wife of the once mayor of St. Augustine, James "Jinx" Lindsley, who died a few years after her death. Mrs. Athalia Lindsley was very active politically.

She also took in many animals, such as dogs, cats and even two goats. At the time of her murder, she was outside trying to rehabilitate one of her rescue birds, a blue jay named Clementine which had an injured wing. She had rescued the little bird from neighborhood cats.

Athalia Ponsell Lindsley was a very devoted daughter who took care of her mother full time until her mother passed away.

She was 58 years old when her life was brutally cut short.

A neighbor and local politician was the only person ever arrested and tried for her murder, after a very dramatic trial, a jury found the defendant not guilty, and he was acquitted

(x)

[remuslupinfest]

Remus Lupin Fest 2020 Master List (Anon)

We're pleased to release this years Master List of fics, sorted by ship and alphabetically! There's 38 incredible works! Author and artist reveals are next week.

GEN

TITLE: First Year SUMMARY: I hope whoever prompted this in the first place is happy with the result. I know it's super messy but I was experimenting a bit with my style!

TITLE: On Talking SUMMARY: Five conversations Remus Lupin and Minerva McGonagall have during Prisoner of Azkaban and one they do not.

TITLE: One of Many Happy Moments SUMMARY: Remus has only come back home from one of particularly typical days of teaching in Hogwarts, but he couldn’t refuse Teddy to read the book together

TITLE: Remus Lupin Sleeping Peacefully SUMMARY: Prompt: Remus sleeping peacefully.

TITLE: Tousled SUMMARY: Prompt: Remus wrapped in a sheet/duvet going to the bathroom or kitchen after having had sex with someone. Maybe someone knocks on the door and he can’t find his trousers. He’s flushed, tousled and possibly has a hickey or two.

REMUS/MISC

TITLE: A Heart Grows Warm SUMMARY: After the war, Remus is a single father and desperate for a job. Snape hires him to work in his potions shop, but Remus can't ignore the building sexual tension between them.

TITLE: Bad Moon Rising SUMMARY: James, Lily and Voldemort all died on Halloween night. Years later, Remus is working in the Auror Department on a confusing case of a transformed werewolf stalking a family outside of a full moon and is assigned a brilliant new Auror, Nymphadora Tonks, to work with him.

TITLE: Briseé SUMMARY: Death eater!Remus struggles to face his past after the death of his lover and the end of his freedom.

TITLE: Care to Share? SUMMARY: Remus had every intention of enjoying solidarity over the holidays. That may change now that he's not the only Slytherin staying behind.

TITLE: His Luck SUMMARY: Modern setting, model/photographer AU for Remus Lupin and Narcissa Black. Written for the Remus Lupin fest 2020.

TITLE: Hold Me While You Wait SUMMARY: Remus Lupin just needs someone to hug him.

TITLE: One Night In Barcelona SUMMARY: The chemistry was too much to resist.

TITLE: Readjusting SUMMARY: When Voldemort murders Frank and Alice Longbottom, their baby survives. Meanwhile, Lily moves into a flat in Muggle London. Alone. With baby Harry and the cat. Remus helps.

TITLE: The Paths We Take SUMMARY: Lily Evans Lupin is a detective, though her husband Remus' name is on all the paperwork. He writes incredible tales while she solves mysteries. All seems normal as the Second World War ends, and Lily is hoping for peace and eventual renown for her talents legally attributed to Remus. Her and Remus' entire world comes crashing down once more as Sirius O. Black, Remus' first love, enters their agency, with one request: to find his missing brother Regulus, who joined the Nazis and hasn't come home. Can Lily find the missing Regulus? Can Remus face his heartbreak?

TITLE: You keep messing with my brain SUMMARY: The awful truth was that when he had noticed Regulus Black he couldn’t exactly look away anymore.

WOLFSTAR

TITLE: AMOR VINCIT OMNIA (love conquers all) SUMMARY: Remus, a servant boy to the cruel Emperor Voldemort, meets Sirius, a charming nobleman. Together they fight for freedom and love in Ancient Rome.

TITLE: An Endearing Portrait SUMMARY: At the beginning of their seventh year at Hogwarts, Sirius fears that Remus’s mother and perhaps Remus himself, too, prefers someone else.

TITLE: Falling Into Place SUMMARY: There's always been something special about Remus Lupin, even if it's taken Sirius Black until his seventh year to realize it. Too bad he spends so much time agonizing over his changing feelings that he loses his chance. In which Remus acts like an idiot, Marlene is the snarky voice of reason, James is a mother hen, Peter is confused, and Sirius is seriously jealous.

TITLE: Fate and Other Ambiguous Notions SUMMARY: Truth be told, Sirius has never really paid much attention to Remus before... (Slytherin!Remus, Gryffindor!Sirius)

TITLE: Hold Me While You Wait SUMMARY: Remus Lupin just needs someone to hug him.

TITLE: If You’ll Be Waiting SUMMARY: Remus gets the Information that Sirius is probably still alive. He goes on a road trip to Germany with Harry to find him.

TITLE: In the Throws of You SUMMARY: Prompt 178: Sirius has a track record for picking bad BDSM doms, but luckily Remus is always there to provide the proper aftercare he needs.

TITLE: Ivory and Gold SUMMARY: Sirius Black is all Remus has been looking for and more. A muse, an inspiration, a theme he never wishes to let go. He’s magnetic. And Remus lets himself be pulled in.

TITLE: Let the Awful Song Be Heard, Bluebird SUMMARY: Prompt: I just miss you, in a quite simple desperate human way. I miss you even more than I could have believed; and I was prepared to miss you a good deal. So this letter is really just a squeal of pain. – Vita Sackville West In some ways, they are still Padfoot and Moony.

TITLE: making a fool out of myself (for you) SUMMARY: Sirius and Remus have been friends for years. However, unbeknownst to the other, both of them have a secret life working as a clown. Over the years, Remus and Sirius have competed against each other in the clown/birthday party circuit, becoming actual clown enemies of each other without knowing their true identities... until now, that is.

TITLE: Meet the Moonies SUMMARY: Remus introduces Sirius to his parents for the first time.

TITLE: Renewal SUMMARY: Remus and Sirius return to Remus's cabin together after the events of Harry's third school year come to a close. Remus decides that Sirius would be much better off with a haircut and some TLC.

TITLE: Sanctify My Body (With Pain) SUMMARY: When Remus leaves for what is essentially a suicide mission, Sirius finds himself grappling with the realities of a life where he doesn't know if the love of his life is dead or alive.

Perhaps the most confusing question in these situations is: which is worse?

TITLE: Siren songs SUMMARY: Sirius had heard of mermaids before, of course. They were all over the songs bards performed at his parents' table and the tall tales sailors traded in every port. He had never given much thought to whether or not the stories were true, though. Imagine his surprise when he and his best mates found themselves shipwrecked on an unfamiliar shore, with a breathtaking and mysterious merman for their only ally.

TITLE: Sweet Nuthin’ SUMMARY: When the summer between third and fourth year begins, Sirius expects it to be nothing but lazy days, harmless pranks with James, and the occasional meet-up with the rest of his friends from Hogwarts. Those plans go out the window rather quickly when he gets a sudden glimpse of Remus Lupin, a mysterious boy who changes everything about Sirius Black's life and shows him that love will always win in the end.

TITLE: Teddy’s Wedding SUMMARY: Teddy's wedding brings about memories of the past and hopes for the future.

TITLE: That Iron Taste SUMMARY: In the middle of a particularly bitter winter, a new attendee starts showing up in Father Black’s congregation. He is entirely unfamiliar and wholly arresting. In his wake there will be confusion, horror, heat, bliss, blood, and perhaps the end of reality itself.

TITLE: The Great Gay Pornstar Twitter Feud of 2020 SUMMARY: “So what I’m hearing is that you’ve got a date with your hot, clever, fellow porn-star twitter nemesis, of whom you once said ‘I’d rather die than let that pretentious knobcloud touch my dick’... is that about right?”

“... Yes.”

Or; Remus Lupin forgets to turn the fucking camera on.

TITLE: The King I Could Become SUMMARY: Prince Sirius of Nox has one thing he cannot stand. Or rather it should be said, one person. Prince Remus of Lupos. They had never gotten along well, though their kingdoms are close allies, but a disturbance in the lands has brought them together on a quest. They'll be able to take down this threat...if they can survive each other's presence first.

TITLE: The New Sailing Master SUMMARY: Sirius is a pirate, Remus is a fugitive, Remus manages to get a lift aboard the Blithering Idiot and it's love at first sight…

TITLE: Things We Can’t Say SUMMARY: Prompt 18: Angst during the first war, based on being on opposite sides. Trying to convince them to join the light side maybe, or accidentally injuring each other or close friends of each other.

TITLE: Thoroughly Debauched SUMMARY: Prompt: Remus riding Sirius in a chair

TITLE: To Admit What Is Not More Illegal SUMMARY: On Valentine’s Day in their seventh year at Hogwarts, Sirius tries to offer what Remus needs, and starts figuring out if he's ashamed of something, and if he is, what it is.

TITLE: You Would Be Calling Me Moony SUMMARY: A month after Sirius falls through the Veil, Remus starts seeing Sirius in his dreams. But they're only dreams...right?

[themurphyzone]

104 Words for 104 Days: Rulebook

I have a very light class this summer and a lot of time to write XD

1. Don’t reveal or compromise your secret identity to your host family. Depending on the nature of the infraction, the host family’s memories will either be erased or you will be reassigned to another host family and nemesis.

2. Watch your language. And we don’t just mean avoiding profanity in front of impressionable recruits. This mostly applies to animal idioms such as “stubborn as a mule”, because the agents will be offended.

*This means you, Monogram.  

3. If the above rule is broken, sensitivity training may be needed. You don’t want to go through it. You will be in a class with Major Monogram, and it will NOT be pretty.

4. For the humans: superior officer does NOT equal superior species.

5. Don’t bring up the Academy in front of Major Monogram.

6. Interspecies dating is allowed, but your work comes first. We will not be held responsible for romantic drama.

7. In fact, please give us the romantic drama. It makes for entertaining office gossip.

8. Planty the Potted Plant is an agent with amazing potential in the neverending battle against evil. Please refrain from eating him or using the bathroom in his pot.

9. Paid intern is only a title. We will not actually pay you despite you sinking most of your life into keeping the agency running. No, we haven’t learned our lesson from the Great Intern Revolt of ’96 or rewritten our policies because of Carl’s brief stint in evil. It’s not happening.

10. Stop calling OWCA evil just because we don’t pay our interns.

11. We’re aware there’s only 26 letters in the English alphabet and hundreds of agents. We’re not changing the system even if it is confusing to have dozens of Agent P’s.

12. Don’t make bathroom jokes out of Agent P’s name. It’s not professional.

13. Stop asking the duck agents if they have any grapes. They don’t. And they know how to clobber you with a chair in seven painful ways.

14. Turkey agents will not be sent out for fieldwork during the month of November unless it’s an emergency. Desk jobs are okay, though they may be skittish if they see an eating utensil.

15. Dr. Doofenshmirtz is NOT allowed anywhere near Major Monogram’s car.

16. If you bring Fireside Girl cupcakes, make sure there’s enough to share.

17. Don’t make cat noises every time Major Monogram is in trouble with his wife. Which happens often. So don’t do it.

18. We aren’t reliant on Agent P to save us during times of crisis! Our agents aren’t that incompetent!

19. Lattes aren’t allowed on couches anymore.

20. If a nonmember animal is harmed, make them agents to avoid a lawsuit.

21. Robots are not allowed to be agents.

22. Humans who are legally animals are allowed to be agents.

23. The above does not apply to interns who claim they’re legally squirrels in order to get a paycheck.

24. No additional agents are allowed to thwart any single evil scientist if said first agent assigned is still well and able to carry out his duties.

25. OWCA insurance policies don’t apply to civilians.

26. Even if you’re on vacation, you’re still required to call in for work.

27. Don’t eat Slushy Burger in front of the bovines. Or any animal products derived from a species standing in front of you.

28. Fighting around or staying committed to one evil scientist is your choice, though we reserve the right to temporarily reassign you as needed.

29. Don’t steal from the ‘congrats for defecting to the good guy side’ gift baskets! The double fudge cookies are an incentive to get them to not be evil anymore!

30. Dr. Feelbetter is not a licensed psychologist and should not be used for solving your relationship problems with your nemesis. Agent P and Dr. Doofenshmirtz’s emotional stunts should not be replicated.  

31. We know money isn’t used efficiently. We can’t do a thing about Monogram commissioning that private jet for himself though.  

32. Peter the Panda is not a heartbreaker. Please stop calling him that.

33. I am the Model of a Modern Major General is banned due to the incident at the last karaoke party.

34.  Make your own theme song. Don’t rip off Agent P or Carl’s no matter how catchy they are.

35. Above all else, fight evil for yourself, your loved ones, and the world.

[queer-failures]

From Images to Creators: On Women (and Their Bodies) in Fiction

In Women, Feminism, and Media Sue Thornham contrasts images of women approach with her take on subversive representational practices that include awareness about tendency of images to slip between discourses as well as their ability to underscore the processes through which the actual women become images and “disjunction which “women experience in relation to Woman-as-image” (53). In this post, I attempt to engage with both: the first approach is used to examine the representation of female superheroes (namely Harley Quinn), and the second one applied through interpretation of novel/television series I Love Dick.

 Originally a comic book character, Harley Quinn, lover and sidekick of Batman’s nemesis Joker, appears in two films: Suicide Squad (2016, dir. David Ayer) and Birds of Prey (2020, dir. Cathy Yan). I feel that application of images of women approach (especially its demand for more women in charge of image-making and  better role models) on superhero themes is an interesting paradox as the genre is simultaneously obviously fictional/fantastical and notorious for reproducing “gendered techniques of objectification” (20) by oversexualizing female characters. Heroines and villainesses are often clad in underwear and heels which is not only strikingly different from most of their male counterparts but also dangerous for stuntwomen and actresses. While I agree with Thornham’s critique of understanding images as reproductions of reality, and her questioning of simplistic solution proposed by images of women approach (more women = better images) is valid, I think that the example of Harley Quinn shows that female creators can make (however slights) difference. Despite having multiple (diverse-ish) female characters, Suicide Squad Harley reproduces a lot of the sexist tropes. For example, in the scene in which all supervillains dress up, camera trails up her body while the other characters stare at her. It is also hinted that she is being sexually harassed by prison guards, but the issue is glossed over. Birds of Prey feature quirky and fun fashion, show how Harley and her all-female crew are dismissed by their opponents (which is far from fictional experience), and feature an amazing scene in which Black Canary saves drunk Harley, now Joker’s ex, from being sexually assaulted.

Kraus’ case suggests slightly more complex representational strategies: transition from book to television series highlights the importance of form and engages in interesting doubling of images and creators. The book is about Kraus and her husband Sylvère Lotringer who, by writing to Dick, write him into their marriage. The peculiar turn of events is a reversal of common procedure in (high) art (female muse’s image is created by male artists for male spectator) which leaves Dick, who was never significantly involved with either of them, bemused and uncomfortable. Adaptation (2017), despite lacking subtlety of Kraus’ writing and hammering in things that she leaves to interpretation (for example, Dick, originally a cultural studies scholar, became a postmodern artist specializing in phallic sculptures), features an interesting subplot about performative group who are trying to fictionalize Chris while she does the same to Dick. Also, it engages with the status of female nakedness in performances (does in conform to male gaze or is it a sign of agency?) in a very interesting manner. While Harley Quinn shows that mainstream isn’t immune to feminist interventions, Kraus, similarly to Thornham, questions the relationship between the subject and his/her representation(s) rather than only differentiating between good and bad images.

Thornham, Sue. Women, Feminism, and Media. Edinburgh University Press, 2007.