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artsyannierose · 14 days ago

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Rose, as you asked, I'd like to ramble on Sonamy's narrative potential in the movies.

1) To start, doomed by the narrative. This is my main bet for the context of their dynamic - as twitter say, we need more tragic Sonamy. Amy's character has a lot to do with "fate" and she's in love with the boy who is the personification of freedom, combine that with the whole time travel thing, timelines, dealing with choices and the great meta commentary that this would give - after all, there's a certain tragic aspect to the fact that it's always chasing the universe thing and always being left behind. Not only that, Amy is a firm believer in the idea of Fate. So, I see her easily accepting something like a future where everything ends well, but she ends up dying and the chaos that would unfold from there. Why doesn't Sonic care about fate and see his new best friend/person he fell in love with accept her own death like that? Nah, he wouldn't take it lightly. Especially with the existing trauma of losing loved ones. Bonus points if Amy doesn't like her "destiny" very much but accepts it because it would preserve lives, especially Sonic's and the Wachowskis' in general, in the best sacrificial sheep style. Extra bonuses if she comes from a lonely life and the sacrifice would be between her and Soni. And Amy chooses to carry the burden because she thinks no one would miss her anyway.

2) Sonamy will start with a beef - so no, no love at first sight or anything like that. Both for Sonic to parallel Metal's animosity towards Amy and both start from common points, but to symbolize his rejection of vulnerability, dealing with the past and strong feelings in general that she represents. And he warms up to her because Amy gets along with his entire family and that moves him. Referring to how unlike Metal, Sonic is anchored in humanity and love. Bonus points if he starts to like her because Tails warmed up to Amy.

3)Sonic and Amy will have very complementary personalities, which allows them to become best friends - as they are in the comics - but due to the trauma on both sides, they don't realize that they are also falling in love. And everyone knows they like each other... except them.

4)We'll have Tom/Maddie, Sonic/Amy parallels. In fact, Tom might say that Amy reminds him a lot of Maddie and everything.

5)Amy will be the one to address Sonic's tendency to run and leave everyone behind and how damaging that is. She is the final key to the group working together, being the glue. Especially since I believe that only she can get through to him in this. And we'll have a visual representation of this fact with Sonic running super fast - with the whole time distortion scene - but since Amy has the power of time manipulation, she can get to him anyway and have the heart-to-heart talk he needs.

6)It makes me tingle like a chihuahua, but the fact that Sonic's worst fears (in the movies) are easily handled by Amy just by existing and that's what will get him. Is he a mess? No problem, she knows that. Is he afraid of her getting hurt? She's not, she knows how to defend herself and will make it very clear. The most touching thing? His fear of abandonment and people getting hurt because of him is too much to handle. Amy is known in the games for always knowing where Sonic is, and it's almost like a power of hers, and in the movies it's such fantastic symbolism.

Sonic doesn't need to fear being alone because Amy always knows where he's going to be, inevitably. Not only that, she's the love personified of the franchise. She wants to be close to him because she loves him. Sonic will never be too much for her. Above all, he won't be a danger. She's a hero. She wants to fight by his side. She's there. Amy will always be there.

6)Sonic will be emotionally shaken after the third movie, it will get worse with Metal Sonic, culminating in a scene where he tries to reach out to the robot only to be rejected and lead to his darkest hour. And then, ohoho, Sonic will be helped by AMY! Who will offer him a hand this time.

7)Sonic will help Amy overcome the ideas of predestined destiny and that she can choose whatever she wants for herself.

8)Amy will have a connection to the Time Stones like Sonic has to the Chaos Emeralds.

9)Amy and Sonic will have several distinct parallels. It's the same scenario - rather than the opposite like Shadow and Sonic - but different in itself. For example, he and she would grow up on Earth, but Sonic would be all about freedom and running around and getting attached to the Wachowskis, while Amy is limited to the New York area but has more freedom but doesn't get attached to any humans. Or they both had a family back on Mobius, but while Longclaw was loving, Amy's was harsher and maybe even really mean.

10)There will be a parallel to the fact that Sonic lives in a cabe with Amy living in a tree house and how that shows how similar and different they are.

They both live in the forests and not only that, I think Amy has her own collection of things related to pop culture but these are just more Amy things: mangas of magical girls instead of comics (Sakura Card-Capture/Sailor Moon vibes), rom-com movies, musicals (especially from Brodoway), a player with white girl music, flowers, etc. Both take advantage of this place to have anonymity and explore the surroundings.

However, Sonic lives in a cave because he needs to hide from others, to stay hidden. Amy lives in a treehouse because she needs high ground to prevent attacks. Her mission would be to fight Metal Sonic, so she would need a less vulnerable place that would allow a good view. Trees are also places full of birds - an animal that recurs in her story - and would illustrate how close she is to animal life, perhaps living near a nest. It would also show how little self-preservation Amy would have, being in an exposed place and that she values the mission above her own safety.

11)Sonic will be horrified to see her getting along so well with Tails and Knuckles while being... Impressed. It's about how she accepts Tails immediately and vixe-versa and earns Knuckles' respect with a handshake. And yes, Amy would have traits in common with her siblings and that would make them all get along.

12) I think Amy has a symbolism with the moon. The moon was whole and then it broke, just like (I theorize) that Amy lived well until her past was changed and destroyed when Ivo went back in time and ended up in her home - Little Planet. But not only her, Shadow has it with the stars and I think Sonic would be the Earth.

Yes, Earth and Moon. How both are connected and one always influences the other. I'm that corny.

That's it! Have a good day!

you know i have always loved the clash with sonic and amy’s core ideals

amy fully believes in fate and thing like that, while sonic believes in making his own future

this may be a personal preference, but i kind of like the idea of Sonic indirectly encouraging to be more open to the idea of controlling her fate rather than being controlled by fate if ykwim

i really want movie sonamy to have an amy who’s too quick to sacrifice herself and Sonic is like “TF IS WRONG WITH YOU PLS STOP”

the kind of “my only purpose” mindset because of the (supposed) environment in which she grew up in

i’ve already expressed how much i want sonamy to have beef at first it’s always extremely amusing

I think that’s a very in-line concept with the games, given how Amy is presented as the only other individual with the same desire for adventure that Sonic has, its very much a core part of her character as much as it is for Sonic

So I really hope that reflects in their movie counterparts—i hope that their kindred spirits who find solace in each other in terms of their emotional states and what they’ve gone through individually, and now they have each other to face the world with <3

absolute yes on the tom and maddie/sonic and amy parallels no disputes there i already see it honestly

tom and maddie feel like a toned down, more normal version of a married sonamy

THIS 6TH POINT YOU’VE MADE STOP I LOVE IT. SO MUCH. THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS INTO THE LIGHT EVERY SONAMY FAN READ THIS

AMY CURING SONIC’S FEARS. BEING HIS ENCOURAGEMENT. HIS PARTNER. going insane

i really hope they get parallels in the movie, whoever decided to make sonic and shadow foils in the 3rd movie deserves a raise 🙌

THE EARTH AND MOON PARALLELS HELLOOOO

THATS SUCH A GOOD IDEA HOW HAS NO ONE THOUGHT OF THIS YET

The way the moon is dependent on the Earth but so manybthings on Earth wouldn’t be possible without the moon, the way the moon pushes and pulls the tides on earth even from so far away, how they always will be stuck together no matter what

genius

sry i dont have much to say but THANK YOU FOR THIS I LOVED IT SMSMSMMMMM MOVIE SONAAAMMMMYYYYYYYY

#sonamy #sonic the hedgehog #amy rose #sonic cinematic universe #sonic movie 4 #predictions #artsyannierambles #thanks for the ask!#movie sonamy

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baoshan-sanren · 5 years ago

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Chapter 50

Emperor Wei WuXian And His Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Birthday

Nie HuaiSang wrinkles his nose at the smell.

It has been some years since he has descended into the dungeons, but the damp air seems heavier now than it had been in the past. They are not meant to be enjoyable, the dungeons, and more pleasant accommodations would defeat the purpose of using them as a form of punishment. Still, HuaiSang does not understand why nothing can be done about the smell. The fan does precious little aside from moving the sticky air across his cheeks, and he folds it irritably, tapping Song Lan on the shoulder.

“Are you certain that torture will yield no results? I assure you, Madam Yu has made quite an art of it over the years. I think she takes pride in obtaining confessions without spilling a drop of blood.”

Song Lan shakes his head. They have spoken of this before, but HuaiSang knows that his voice will carry to the nearest cells. Perhaps Xue ChengMei cannot be tortured into a confession, but there is no harm in issuing a threat.

The boy is on his feet long before they reach him, forehead pressed against the bars, a mischievous grin etched across surprisingly attractive features. HuaiSang understands that a monster’s appearance will rarely reflect their inner monstrosity, but even he has to admit that this is slightly ridiculous. The boy looks fifteen years old at most, short in stature, small in build. The only vaguely threatening features of his appearance are the white, sharp teeth, but even those are made more menacing by their surroundings. Had the boy grinned at him in a well-lit courtyard instead of doing so in-between the bars of a cell, HuaiSang would have thought him cute, rather than dangerous.

“The Royal Companion,” the boy exclaims, “what an unexpected pleasure! I am a great admirer of yours.”

“Is that so?” HuaiSang says, “Do not spare the detail. I am always willing to be admired.”

Xue ChengMei’s eyes glitter in the darkness, his grin unwavering, “I should have known you would make no pretense of false humility.”

“Not precisely the way I prefer to be flattered.”

“It is your deeds I admire,” the boy says, “Tell me, does Sect Leader Su still believe that his son perished from a snake bite? Do you not think it extremely unfortunate? To be bitten by a yellow tail in MoLing?”

The boy taps his lips with his finger, issuing an exaggerated wink, “What a studious, sturdy snake that must have been, to have traveled all the way from QingHe just for a taste of the Young Master Su.”

HuaiSang mirrors the boy’s movement, tapping his lips with the fan.

Interesting. And potentially problematic.

“Your performance was not nearly as impressive,” HuaiSang smiles, “Such a common poison, with such an easily obtainable antidote. Surely, you did not expect that plan to work.”

“Ahh,” the boy sighs, pressing his cheek against the iron bar, “not all of us can be masters of the art I suppose. But the resulting chaos was quite entertaining.”

“Tell me about the Emperor’s potential,” HuaiSang says, “Tell me about achieving greatness.”

“Oh, but I have a much more interesting story to tell.”

“I am bored now,” HuaiSang turns to Song Lan, “let us go back.”

“Your father,” Xue ChengMei says quickly, “was no older than myself when the Empress took the throne. Such a young age, to be handed such great responsibility. Are you sure that you do not care to hear the story?”

HuaiSang’s fingers do not clench around his fan. He is calm as still water.

“You will like it,” the boy goes on, excitedly pressing himself against the bars, “it is a story no one else knows, but I am willing to share it with you.”

“Most of his words are deranged nonsense,” Song Lan says decisively, “there is no need to humor him.”

“Might as well,” HuaiSang says, glad to hear himself sound unaffected, “He seems anxious to tell it.”

“I am,” Xue ChengMei exclaims, “It is a fascinating tale. Many, many years ago, there was a mad Emperor who had a gift for demonic cultivation. But trying to control resentful energy comes with a cost. In order to continue using this infinite resource without harming himself in the process, he decided to store this energy into an object. The object would be capable of concentrating and directing the energy, but the process of creating such a thing came with a cost as well. He committed endless atrocities, slaughtered thousands of people, burned towns, rivers ran red with blood, so on and so forth,” he waves his hand impatiently, “You know that part of the story I am sure. Temples and cities obliterated, Sects decimated, advisors strung up by their toes, blah-blah.”

The impatient wave of his hand is such a perfect mirror image of Wei Ying’s own frequently used gesture, that HuaiSang is both alarmed and nauseated to see it.

“This part is known to all; the Emperor’s little niece, his favorite creature in the world, decides that the Emperor must be replaced, and murders her own uncle in cold blood. This is a story told and retold. Every child can recite the details. The Emperor’s experiments had failed, the Emperor was killed, the Empress took the throne, years of peace followed. But,” the boy presses his forehead to the iron bar, “this story is wrong.”

“Is it?” HuaiSang says, more and more convinced that this creature is dangerously unstable, “How so?”

“The Emperor did not fail in his experiments,” Xue ChengMei whispers conspiratorially, “He had succeeded. He had managed to create an object which can store infinite amounts of resentful energy, an object which can be used by any of his descendants. Any descendants, that is, who posses a particular affinity for demonic cultivation.”

HuaiSang feels his stomach turn, “The sword.”

“The sword,” the boy confirms, “Now, this is the interesting part of the story. The Empress, having grown up at court, did not have many trustworthy friends. But she did have three close confidants, two sworn brothers and a sister, peers she explicitly trusted. One of them, your father, was entrusted the sword. He was to place the sword in the Nie family's Ancestral Hall, where no descendent of YanLing DaoRen could lay their hands on it again. Can you guess what happened next?”

HuaiSang no longer cares that the boy can see his tight grip on the fan.

“Enlighten me,” he says coldly.

“Your father did not follow the Empress’ order,” Xue ChengMei grins brightly, “and who can blame him, truly? A young girl, not a full day in possession of the throne yet, asking him to hide such an object? If she were to lose her seat within a year, who would stand in the Nie Sect’s defense? Who would believe that the Nie Sect had obtained such an object for the sake of protecting the throne, instead of personal gain? You may think yourself a rare creature, Young Master Nie,” the boy winks again, “but I think you will find that the Nie Sect Leaders have always been pragmatists at heart.”

HuaiSang ignores the jab, his mind a whirlwind, “What did he do with the sword?”

The boy offers an exaggerated shrug, “Pawned it, sold it, given it away. What difference does it make?”

He is lying; HuaiSang knows this. He had made no effort to make it sound like the truth.

“How did you get it?”

“A friend gave to me,” Xue ChengMei says, blinking innocently through the bars.

“A friend who is still in the Immortal Mountain City?”

“Maybe,” the boy says, “Maybe not. Maybe he is no longer a friend. One cannot always trust those they call friends,” his grin is a sharp, sickly-sweet thing, “I believe this is a lesson the Emperor has yet to learn.”

HuaiSang wants nothing more than to take a hot, fragrant bath, and forget that he had ever spoken to this creature.

“You wanted the Emperor to become another YanLing DaoRen. To what purpose?”

“Wei WuXian would never be another YanLing DaoRen,” Xue ChengMei scoffs, “He would be so much more. A perfect vessel of destruction. A divine entity. Chaos personified.”

Well.

That answers that question.

HuaiSang taps his fan against his leg, thinking.

“Your attempts to eliminate the Lan Sect. You did not want the presence of those who can cleanse the Emperor of the resentful energy. But the Lan Sect is still here. The Emperor will recover. Your plan has failed.”

Xue ChengMei does not seem upset by the revelation, “Plans fail on occasion. There is always tomorrow.”

“You must have a great deal of confidence in your friend, who is maybe no longer a friend, if you intend to live long enough to see tomorrow.”

The boy only smiles in response.

It is an empty threat.

HuaiSang hates making empty threats.

A Jin Sect disciple cannot meet an accidental death in the Immortal Mountain City dungeons; not unless HuaiSang means to cause a diplomatic disaster. The situation at court is still too tense, too fragile for such heavy-handed solutions.

HuaiSang also cannot reveal the reasons for Xue ChengMei’s imprisonment. Such an accusation would result in a swift death, with no opportunity to draw out the accomplices he must have in the Immortal Mountain City.

No, the boy is infinitely more useful alive, although it sets HuaiSang’s teeth on edge to have this creature anywhere near Wei Ying.

There are many more questions he could ask, but the smell is unbearable, and for the time being, he has the majority of the answers he needs. The boy’s revelations may have been sparse and unpleasant, but HuaiSang has never needed all the pieces of a tangram to discern its shape.

Only when he is climbing the stone steps, does one particular sentence come back to him with full force, and he finds himself shaking his head in disbelief.

Chaos personified. As if Wei Ying had ever needed a demonic sword to be worthy of such a title.

#the untamed #cql #mdzs #ficlet #m #wwx emperor au #okay so i mixed up the order last time #this is xue yang's creepy story time #wangji's pov is next #ily chickens

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hollenka99 · 4 years ago

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A God Walks Into a Temple

Summary: The Blood God is someone to be feared as much as revered. So that is why he is going to raise this baby he just met to be a soldier, definitely not for any other reason. Prologue of Blood and Feathers.

If you were to research the cultural history of piglins, perhaps one of the most prominent figures you will encounter is the Blood God. This deity can be found mentioned as far back as their records go. He likely predates any ancient literature they have. There are disputes, as with anything from that far back in history, as to his origins or his true role. Some say he is simply a war god for a race that easily become hostile. Others argue he is Death personified while a handful speculate he is specifically the patron of those who die bloody. Whatever attributes he is labelled as, be it war, bloodshed, death, chaos or vengeance, it is clear the Blood God is not an individual to be messed with. A significant piglin settlement is rarely devoid of some sort of effigy pertaining to their god, especially the ruins of old cities. A common sight is a golden statue portraying a grand piglin dressed in armour and armed with a sword, typically in a stance suggesting he is rallying his forces to fight and potentially fall in his name. The only method known to kill the Blood God is causing him fall in battle. Even then he will not be quashed for long. Within weeks, he will be reborn amongst his piglin brethren. His bloodthirsty nature will reveal itself before too long and his years of harsh yet necessary training will begin so he may lead his followers into battle once more. The last time the Blood God was defeated was centuries ago. The days of his youth in this life are faded memories. The blood that he has witnessed with these eyes alone has been enough to replace vast bodies of water. He has admired each tribute to him, dilapidated and well maintained alike, countless times. He's not even sure of the quantity that have been sacrificed in his name by this point. Functional immortality can get dull, repetitive even, with enough time. So perhaps it’s a good thing he finds himself passing an avian settlement that night. The valley is populated by a small city. The architecture is tall, practically dominated by skyscrapers. There is a temple a fair distance away at another point of the rim surrounding the place. In the darkness, he can just about make out a series of stairs leading up to it, all well lit by lamps. The local area up here is full of farmland. However, it would seem the year's harvest has been collected by now. A small gathering exit the temple. They disband with some flying home and others ushering themselves down the stairs reminiscent of defeated troops. That is the least of his concerns though, especially given his divine visitor who lands beside him with a swoop. "Well well well, this is a rare sight. Bit far from the Nether, aren't you, Blood God?" "Perhaps. And you are? Sky goddess undoubtedly but which one? There are a few of you." She gives him a thoughtful smile. From her hair, she retrieves a yellow flower which she proceeds to twirl within her fingers for a moment. "Celandine. Perhaps you are more familiar with my mother, Aderyn, the Mother of Birds." "Sure. You're all the same anyway." "Oh, is that so?" She laughs in mock offense. "Then I suppose all piglins and Netherworlders are of the same breed too." He grunts in acknowledgement that she has spoken but gives her words no further attention. Instead, he gestures towards the temple and asks "What's going on down there, some ritual?" "Ah." She gazes in the same direction as him. "Now that would be the Offering of Hatchlings. They do this every year. As you may or may not have noticed, the wind have been growing colder recently. They've gathered the year's harvest and it is time for them to temporarily migrate to a warmer climate. But, of course, they want us to ensure their journey is a successfully safe one. For whatever reason, they've convinced themselves the way to sweeten the deal is to leave two of their children that were born in the past 12 months behind for us along with other gifts. Come, I'll show you if you'd like." "Well, I got nothing better to do. Lead the way." The interior wasn't anything significant. White walls surrounded them without a ceiling. What did surprise the Blood God, however, was how there was more room to walk around than the view from outside gave the impression of. That said, the centrepiece of the room is, by far, the large sculpture that resembled a nest, filled with cushioning. Surrounding it are gifts like samples of freshly yielded crops, gems and gold ingots. Situated on top are two winged infants in white gowns that had been abandoned as part of the ritual. On the left was a girl with hair as dark as her complexion and light purple feathers that may grow richer in tone as she ages. She bawls from fresh abandonment but the empty air is yet to pay her any notice. Then to the right was her companion who was seemingly slightly older and far calmer. The boy stares up at him with blue eyes that match the gradient of his wings. He does not cry or murmur despite the ceremonial desertion of his parents or the oversized figure (even by piglin brute standards) of a god looming over him. The infant... even breaks into a tiny smile at him. "They just leave them out here? Surely there must be some parents that get attached to their child." "Oh, of course, all the time. Some see it as a great honour but others do view it as a great loss, yes." She sighs. "I have made it my vocation to watch over their community and ensure these chosen children are kept safe. I even bless them with longevity so that they may endure far into old age. There is another town far from here where I send them. There's always someone who is willing to raise a new arrival." "I see." He does not know nor understand why the notion appears in his mind. He has no reason to care about some dumb baby, especially not one who isn't even remotely the same species as him. Caring about living things isn't on brand for him either. Nah, he was more the type to make things stop living, not ensure their survival. Although... he could use this as an opportunity to raise a warrior whose skills were on par with his and those of his greatest recruits. Maybe if this experiment produces successful results, he will consider home growing armies' worth of overworlder children. Oh, who is he kidding? He simply wants a change of pace, a new experience. As far as he can recall across the spans of all his lives, he has rarely troubled himself with trivial distractions such as a family or passing his knowledge based of vast years of experience to the next generation. Who says he can't break that pattern? "What if I took this one with me, the boy?" She raises an scrutinising eyebrow. "Are you sure?" "I have lived eons. How difficult can one child be to maintain?" The incredulous look towards him persists before laughter unfurls from her mouth. She comments something about how he is setting himself up for more than a few surprises. It bears no consequence since she complies with his request regardless. As Celandine advises him on the basics like how to hold the boy and gods above, no, you cannot feed him cow's milk as to compensate for a lack of his mother's own. Shortly before the pair depart for their new life together, he is told the child's name is Phillip. He see no reason to change it.

#mcyt #dream smp #technoblade #philza #kidza #my writing #blood and feathers

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harcourthq · 4 years ago

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❝ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘 𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐒. please make sure to go over our after-acceptance CHECKLIST and send in your account in the following TWENTY-FOUR HOURS. your story has just begun and we can’t wait to see where it takes you !

JAYDEN SUMMERS in PAGE 08: THE HUMOURIST.

GRAY, we both loved and adored jayden from the very beginning. as soon as we started reading about her childhood, her scrapped knees and wild hair, we were in love. she’s not just your typical class clown and we love that, you’ve given her a depth that we know will mesh really well with the rest of the squad!

WINONA BERKELEY in PAGE 09: THE DREAM.

BREN, from the moment we started reading about winona, we were hooked !! everything about her is so, pardon the pun, dreamy. i adored the way her story was woven and her being raised by women was such a wonderful touch. her moment on the page was so heartbreaking and i know from the way you wrote that section that she’ll fit in beautifully at harcourt. we can’t wait to see more of her!

MORRIS “MOE” DRISCOLL in PAGE 10: THE CAREGIVER.

KAYLA, wow! you had us from the moment moe learned he was going to be a big brother. the whole bit about him writing his mother’s farewell letters and receiving one on the day of her funeral? heartbreaking and sublime. moe is a beautiful character and we love how he truly embodies the caregiver. quoting you, he might not need the society but the members need him.

GAIA GUINIVERE LAWRENCE in PAGE 18: THE OBSERVER.

BEE, we’re not exaggerating when we say gaia is harcourt. not just because of the literal bits of her story, but because she embodies everything we feel harcourt is. this is her home and we’re just happy she’s sharing it with us. besides, she has a cult?! a badass bitch. gaia is such an amazing character, we’re just so glad you had time to write that app!

DEVIN DUMA-UG in PAGE 23: THE TRAGEDY.

THIA, i don’t speak lightly when i say devin had us absolutely stunned. you have created such an original and gorgeous character that there was no way we could let her slip away. believe us when we say making the choice for this skeleton was absolutely one of the hardest, but your honesty as a writer and devin’s story along with her potential to grow within the society won us over. we cannot wait to see where you take her!

JUDE ALIRA SUTTON in PAGE 24: THE EXPLORER.

EM, your app was so much fun to read! the format you used to tell jude’s story was so original and fresh and it fit perfectly with what we think of the explorer. also, jude is such a fun character! reading about her lovers, her relationship with her dad and her concept of home, it was just so fun to read. and we love how she feels about the society, it’s def inch-resting and we can’t wait to see how that plays out!

KUN WOLFGANG PARK in PAGE 33: THE REBEL.

LISSA, when i was writing up the skeleton i imagined someone exactly like wolfgang, who despite everything, pushes through. his rebellion is one stemming from something and it makes his fight all the more glorious. thank you for sharing him with us and i have to say the line “but stories have always been the only thing the rebel has ever had, and he will protect them with his life, if need be.” was the cherry on top of the delicious cake! he’ll fit right in at harcourt!

DANIELLE WILSON in PAGE 39: THE SEDUCER.

EMILY, there’s no doubt about it, danielle is our seducer skeleton through and through. she is aphrodite reincarnated, she is the girl who steals all the attention in the room and the breath from your lungs. we loved the format of your app with the rumors, it was incredibly original and fun to read. what you did with the moment on the page was also so clever and everything about danielle’s relationship with the society makes us just wants to see more of her in this setting! can’t wait to see what she’ll do next!

EWAN LARNER in PAGE 41: THE HOTSHOT.

LOGAN, ewan is chaos personified, a rich boy with destructive tendencies? more like our perfect hotshot! we loved the way you presented his bio through key words, and the moment on the page?! the fates?! you got to greek mythos hearts. we are sure ewan will bring lots of drama and chaos to the group and we can’t wait for it!

DANIEL ITO in PAGE 57: THE INGENUE.

ANNIE, the idea that the ingenue is not someone who has to be soft but rather can use that as protection or as a facade was a welcomed one and you portrayed it so beautifully through danny. he is soft despite how he feels about the word, not because he chooses to be but rather circumstances made him this way for survival and i adore that interpretation. we can’t wait to see how he grows within harcourt’s walls! also, the two leo admins understand danny’s need for attention and hate for lion tamers very well!

LYSANDER “LYE” BELLO VASSILIS in PAGE 74: THE KNIGHT.

ALEXA, lye is the prince charming of our dreams! we love that he is not what we would usually expect from the knight, but still, he fits so well into the role. a knight in shining armor to his sister. we’re in love with him! his whole ass natal chart in there was not our favorite bit, but we forgive you because we know lye will bring the drama and the sexy!

BEATRICE “BEA” ANDERSON-YAMADA in PAGE 75: THE LOVER.

ASH, you didn’t have to go so hard with your app, pheeww! it was such a ride. there were some amazing apps for the lover but we just couldn’t look away from bea. she was the one for us. the way she shines warmth and love reached us through the screen. bea is such a beautiful character, to us, she is a lover of life and the people around her, she is light and poetry and we can’t wait to see more of her!

JULIAN ROMERO in PAGE 88: THE UNDERDOG.

ELIZABETH, julian is such a sweet boy, i just want him to succeed in everything he does and i truly am rooting for him. his story was refreshing and the idea that despite him having a harder time than most, he can still do the things they can just in his own way was really wonderful. we are so excited to see him interact with the rest of the society members and be the resident historian! we hope he has the round-frame glasses to match the look!

DOROTHEA “THEA” MARQUIS in PAGE 93: THE WILDCARD.

ELLIE, we both agree that thea is our perfect wildcard! everything about her, from her backstory with her parents, to living with her brother, to her own fall from grace make her an incredibly fascinating character. you just never know what to expect with her, as is only right for the wildcard and we can’t wait to see how she fits into the society and interacts with everyone else!

PHOEBE-MAY LANGDON in PAGE 95: THE CORRUPTER.

S, you probably already suspect it but this was one of the skeletons we struggled the most with as all of the apps were beautiful and each character had such a wonderful take on the corrupter. but phoebe. PHOEBE! we love the way she is lowkey a psychopath and goes through life as if it’s the most normal thing in the world. we have a feeling that she is so completely out of touch with reality, on her own goddess fantasy, that we can’t wait to see how she mingles with the rest of the group! also... did she ever serve time for... you know?

EDISON “EDI” BLAIR in PAGE 103: THE INDIFFERENT.

JAX, edi’s story is so heartbreaking. the way you played with this idea of the controlling parents, doing exactly what they’d done in life in death as well. having the guilt controlling her now and that being the cause of her indifference, a shield of sorts was truly compelling. we’re incredibly excited to see how this will work within the group and what other sides of edi it will bring out!

#accepted.#WELCOME EVERYONE!!!!!!!!#WE ARE SOSOSOSOSO HAPPY TO HAVE YOU!

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sweetsmellosuccess · 5 years ago

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NYFF 2020: Part 1

It’s been a curious season of festivals — as always, Venice, TIFF, and the NYFF go more or less back-to-back-to-back, making for an almost indecent amount of captivating offerings for all but the most gluttonous of cinephiles — but not without its charms. In this time of massive uncertainty in the industry, amongst film distributors and theaters particularly, it’s deeply reassuring to know the medium is still capable of powerful statements, exquisite imagery, and haunting performances as it ever has.

Mind you, next year at this time, if there’s still no widely available vaccine, there might be a more serious dearth of selections, but for what has been an unsettling and mostly miserable 2020, we can thank the stars that films are often shot a year or more in advance of their release.

This year’s NYFF (still ongoing, as I write this) has provided some glories and some failures, more or less in keeping with the usual standard. Herewith, a quartet of selections, ranging from a resurrected Hungarian triumph, to a modern French non-romance, to the debut of a new and energizing auteur.

Damnation (1988) Dir. Bela Tarr

Perhaps no setting in cinematic history is more appropriate for shooting in low-contrast black and white than late ‘80s, post-communist Hungary. Bleak, drab, and pelting with rain, the landscape bleeds in shades of grey. Bela Tarr’s 1988 film, a newly restored 4K edition from the Festival’s “Revival” section, begins with a long shot of a ski lift-like apparatus, endlessly transporting buckets of coal to a repository, whose grinding machinery offers a looping hum throughout the film. Much as Tarr’s various musical interludes include similarly cyclical drones of accordion music, are the men and women of this nameless small city seemingly doomed to their various loops of behavior and experience. In Tarr’s Hungary, everyone looks haunted and morose, like a selection of down-on-their-luck rummies in a dive bar at last call. One such bar patron, Karrer (Miklos Szekely B.), is deeply in love with a beautiful, depressed (unnamed) nightclub singer (Vali Kerekes), married to a loutish man, Sebestyén (Gyorgy Cserthalmi), in bad debt to the wrong sorts of people. When Karrer’s friend, bar owner Willarsky (Gyula Pauer), offers him a potentially lucrative gig picking up a mystery package abroad and bringing it back to him, Karrer instead offers it to Sebestyén as a means of getting him out of debt, but more importantly getting him away from his wife, so their affair can continue apace. Tarr’s films move slowly, with long, static shots, or slow-panning camera movement, but within his frame, he packs in detail — from the pellet-like surface of a wall, to the expression of a group of people huddled under a station roof, staring out at the endless rain — and adds in acute sound effects as further punctuation (the sound of a man close shaving over his scruff with a straight-edge, for example, or water dripping from an unseen leak). As with his 1994 opus, Satantango, he includes extended shots of drunken merriment, with people dancing, stumbling, falling over each other, and coming back again, but the effect isn’t exactly heartening. As packs of stray dogs work their way over muddy, mostly deserted fields, and Karrer continues to imbibe the depressed resignation of his life’s trajectory (“the fog settles into your soul,” Willarsky helpfully explains), Tarr’s film, his first collaboration with Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai, presents a remarkably tactile vision of life under a blundering political machine, well past the point of repair. With its deep shadows, and obvious femme fatale, you could make the case that the film is a ripened Noir, but one with much of the magistry beaten out of it, tarnished in the mud of the fields. Karrer wears a trenchcoat, alright, but it’s only there to keep out the rain.

Mangrove (2020) Dir. Steve McQueen

Frank Crichlow (Shaun Parkes) didn’t mean to create a community, exactly, when he opened his restaurant in the section of West London that had become home to many immigrants from Trinidad and Jamaica. He just wanted to have a clean business that wouldn’t attract undue police attention, as his former nightclub, Rio, had done. As more and more natives of the Caribbean moved abroad, however, there became a greater need for a place where the community could gather and feel at home. Frank’s place became a local landmark, and Frank himself, a reluctant leader of the growing movement against the continual police harassment many of the residents faced on a daily basis. In this, he wasn’t given much of a choice: Led by a deeply racist police force — more or less personified by writer/director Steve McQueen in the form of the sneering PC Frank Pulley (Sam Spruell) — Frank’s place had been unnecessarily raided nine times in six weeks. So, when approached by local Black activists, including Darcus Howe (Malachi Kirby) and Altheia Jones-Lecointe (Letitia Wright), he agrees to take part in a peaceful protest against the constables. Naturally, the police turn violent, and in the resulting chaos, nine protestors, including Frank, Darcus, and Altheia are arrested. Over time, they are tried, acquitted, and re-tried for even more serious charges. McQueen’s film, another segment from Small Axe, his chronicle of London’s West-Indies neighborhood through the decades, focuses on this specific case, not just because two of the defendants decided to represent themselves (proving to be adept barristers), but because it became a landmark part of the British crusade for civil rights (even though, as the film’s postscript explains, Frank was still routinely harassed by the police for another 18 years after the trial). To capture the sense of the complexity of the community, McQueen employs a David Simon-esque narrative hodge-podge of smaller scenes from different characters’ vantage points and views, allowing us an in-depth sense of the neighborhood and the stakes, while rarely dipping into the more played out elements of the courtroom genre. I would say, in light of the recent racial protests after the Louisville grand jury failed to hold two of the three officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor responsible, the film could not be more prescient, but, sadly, this would have also been true just about anytime in the last three decades. As Frank says of the incorrigibly racist leaders and henchpeople continually holding them down, “These people are like vampires, you think you beat them, but they keep coming back again.”

The Salt of Tears (2020) Dir. Philippe Garrel

From the flinch-inducing title (a direct translation from the French), which sounds like a YA novel steeped in melodrama, to the mournful piano soundtrack of the intro, Philippe Garrel’s (very) French counter-romance would seem to indicate a different sort of film than what he’s actually made. It’s a bit of flim-flammery from a celebrated director unafraid to throw his audience for a loop or two (take that title, which proves to be thoroughly ironic until the very last scene). Luc (Logann Antoufermo), a young man from the provinces, has come to Paris to take an entrance exam at an exacting wood-working institute in order to receive a degree in joining, in order to better emulate his woodworking father (Andre Wilms), a kind, elderly man with a “poet’s soul.” In Paris, he happens to meet Djemila (Oulaya Amamra), a sweet young woman falling hard for the handsome Luc, who callously breaks her heart after he returns to his village. Back home, he takes up with Genevieve (Louise Chevillote), an old high-school flame, who also falls deeply for him, getting pregnant in the process, but when he unexpectedly gets accepted to the woodworking school, he dumps her to return to Paris, where — you guessed it! — he meets up with yet another woman, Betsy (Souheila Yacoub), a stunning brunette whom, we are told via our occasional narrator (Jean Chevalier), is finally “his equal.” Or more so, to be precise, as she takes in a second lover (Martin Mesnier) to their apartment, making the unhappy Luc live as a threesome. Garrel’s charting of Luc’s endless relationship explorations themselves gets tiresome, but the director isn’t much interested in his protagonist’s romantic investments, as he is the callousness of Luc, and the young in general — Luc crushes two loving women; then himself gets crushed; while treating his loving father as yet another irritation from time to time — and the manner in which their decision-making has often not matured enough to include the expansiveness of empathy. They know not what they do, until it’s too late.

Beginning (2020) Dir. Dea Kulumbegashvili

Georgian director Dea Kulumbegashvili’s debut feature, about a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses working as missionaries in a small village outside Tbilisi, and the abuse they endure at the hands of religious extremists, captivates and bewilders in equal measure. The film begins with a long single shot from inside a “prayer house,” as congregants slowly file in and fill the pews, eventually allowing David (Rati Oneli) to begin his sermon concerning the story of Abraham, willing to sacrifice his beloved son in order to appease God. The shot remains static for so long, building its own rhythm, that it becomes that much more shocking when a side door suddenly opens, and an unseen assailant tosses in a fire bomb, lighting the floor and sending everyone into terrified tumult. Kulumbegashvili’s film is filled with similar striking compositions, long single shots with very little camera movement, the edges of the frame gradually generating increasing levels of apprehension, as the action swirls often out of our visual range. She has a way of filming the opposite of what you expect: Several key conversations between pairs of characters are shot with the focus on the reaction rather than the speaker, and vitally significant scenes are crafted with characters’ backs to us, such that we can’t read their expressions or get our normal bearings. It’s a similar conundrum for the missionaries themselves, especially Yana (Ia Sukhitashvili), David’s dutiful wife, a former actress, who tries to make the best of their difficult situation, even in the face of such violent opposition to her husband’s proselytizing, a job David, ambitious he is, sees as the key to rising up in the Church’s hierarchy. After their prayer house is burned to the ground, David leaves for a few days to meet with the Elders in order to secure funding for its replacement. Into that void, enter a detective (Kakha Kintsurashvili), who appears one night to “talk” with Yana, but ends up intimidating her into a sort of sexual compromise, an event that leaves her strangely unfazed, even, it might be said, oddly curious. From there, things get both more dire, and more peculiar, with Kulumbegashvili’s implacable camera remaining stoically witness to her characters’ increasingly distressing plight. As curious as it can be tonally, she is so in command of her narrative, the film is never less than compelling, even as tragedy becomes something else entirely. By film’s end, true to David’s earlier sermons, it’s clear that at least his most devoted acolyte has taken in the biblical lessons he proffered, for better or worse.

#sweet smell of success #ssos #piers marchant #films #movies #nyff #New York Film Festival 2020 #Mangrove #Beginning #The Salt of Tears #damnation

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dicecast · 7 years ago

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The Core Realms of the Outer Planes

-Introduction of the Planes, as written by Sigil Scholar “First Dawn” as punishment for a great crime she committed against nature itself. She can be found in Sigil University giving extremely grumpy lectures about the multiverse until her community service is entirely over.

Part 1: The Core Planes

The most famous Planes are of course, the Outer Planes, so much so that they are quite frankly, over done, and I find this assignment to be entirely beneath my time and dignity to have to explain. The popularity of these monuments to limited imagination isn’t surprising, after all each of them represent a facade of a simplistic, reductive, and all together uninspired morality that shackles this world to the corpse of absolutes. Each of them is dramatic and superficially excited, and for the average prime I imagine it must be quite exciting to discover that not only is Hell real, but that it is build upon metaphorical representations of Lawful Sins. But for those of us wordly enough not only see the larger framework but also to challenge base assumption, the unimpatnative nature of these 9 planes isn’t just uninteresting, it is actively detrimental to true planar study. These 9 planes are so overly studied so that all other fields of Planar examination are left woefully understaffed, with more and more time and effort being dedicated to 9 realms which frankly weren’t very interesting to begin with. This is similar to how the four “Classical” Elements (Earth, Wind, Fire, Water) have become popular that there are more scholars dedicated to the Plane of Water than their are to all of the other 17 elemental planes combined. This planar brain drain is not just frustrating and tedious, it’s also dangerous as the denizens of say, the Middle Planes are actually just as threatening as Demons but lack the symbolic residence to have people make the proper preparations. There are more paladin demon hunting orders than I can caught, but the designs of the PLane of Dreams can evidently walk freely, as their machinations are not laced in the mask of objective morality. Even within the Outer Planes, the vast majority of scholarship goes to the Lower Planes, the realms of Evil, likely because of how ultimately simplistic they are. Discarding cultists, nobody likes demons, and so there are book upon tedious book written about their evil, their depravity, and their lack of complexity, all of which boil down to “Demons are bad, we should kill them.” The Upper Planes, far more challenging in their conceptions, have little in the way of scholar, because defining what is evil is easy, defining what is good is challenging. Seriously can I write about anything other than this, I mean god, this is child’s play stuff?

Ok Fine

There are 9 “Core” Planes, which embody, as you might imagine, personify one of the Night Alignments. I might as well mention now, the Outer Planes have a creepy obsessive fetish with symmetry, which will get tiring very very quickly I assure you. These nine planes can be subdivided into the “Upper” “Lower” and “Central” Planes, personifying Good, Evil, and Neutrality respectively, and it’s all very nice and neat and infantile. Let’s do the Lower Planes First, which as the personification of evil, are utterly overdone in terms of the popular imagination. There is nothing more tedious than the many many texts on the Lower PLanes, so I will try to sum them up as quickly as possible. One thing first, these planes are the largest infinite planes in the multiverse ,because evil is the most powerful force in the multiverse, luckily they are always fighting each other in The Blood War so we don’t have to deal with it, and I’m sure you know this already.

The most overrated of them all are The Nine Hells of Baator, Home of the Devils, Beings of Law and Evil, and every layer of it has been so particularly scrutinized that I suspect many of the scholars (such as those who wrote the Gates of Hell manuals) are actually in the pay of the Nine. Hell is a land of rigid unyielding law, but I want it duly noted it is not in fact, fascist. It isn’t absolute, mindless dehumanizing law, instead it is the most evil aspect law can possibly have, namely Feudalism. The Law of Baator is strict, unyielding, and inhuman, but above all it is unfair and arbitrary. The laws are contradictory, inconsistent, and utterly self destructive but they are literal law, even if they make no sense. This is law to such a demented degree that they don’t make any sense, a hypocritical system which is absolute in its incompetence and inhumanity and yet stills frustrate continues to exist. The Hells are not realms of absolute obedience and conformity to an absolute law, they are an incomprehensible set of rules and obligations that pretends to be a realm of absolute obedience and conformity, which is even worse. The Hells are ruled by the “Lords of the Nine”, 9 freakishly powerful Devils who serve as Feudal Lords, lead by the “Lord of the Nine” the enigmatic and entirely overplayed Asmodeus, who if you read his news briefs, is the most clever, intelligent, funny and sexy entity in the world, but everybody else sees him as a prat.

The opposition to the Nine Hells is the realm of Chaos and Evil, The 666 Infinite Layers of the Abyss, is a realm of absolute paradox, staying with the fact that it supposedly has infinite layers but in fact has 666 (scholars have counted 667). Populated by the Demons, this realm is crawling with every horrific evil imaginable and is the largest plane in existence, for every one Devil, there are at least a million demon, likely more. A single Lawful Evil Mortal soul can create 9 devils, while a single Chaotic Evil soul can create a huge amounts of demons. This is fundamentally and explicitly unfair...and that’s the point. The Abyss is a realm where rules don’t work, in fact any attempt to even conceive of rules are folly, and trying to put it into a box is futile in itself. All generalizations are proven wrong and all trends fail because the Abyss actively rejects it, and the plane itself almost seems to delight in thumbing its nose at conventional understanding, occasionally producing good demons just to confuse everybody else. As a rule demons are sadistic, cruel, and anarchistic but of course...that’s a rule. The Abyss is forever in a war against themselves, each layer has a Demon Lord who wishes to claim the title of “Demon Prince” but only three really have a shot and they have fought for millenia, Grazz’t Lord of Lust and the Triple Realms, Orcus the master of Undeath and Divnity, and of course Demogorgon, the Prince of Demons. However combat is tedious and so is the Abyss, so let’s move one.

The least appreciate Lower Plane is Abaddon, the realm of the Daemons, who are in many ways the more moderate evils and thus less focus is paid to them, which I think is largely unfair, because that makes them the most human. Daemons are oriented around 4 principles of evil, Hypocrisy, Bigotry, Vindictiveness, and Ignorance, and individual Daemons will drift between these as if they were wearing hats. It is very hard to sum up Daemons because they are evil in a very relatable way, they are most famous for their vast corporations of soulless bureaucracy, but Daemons also can have a great deal of personality individually, though almost always in as needlessly dickish a way that they can. Daemons are all hypocrites who lack any core or foundation other than circumstances, and so what type of viciousness they represent varies from moment to moment, and unlike their extreme counterparts, it’s never ideological. Daemons are at their core nihilists, and are evil without justification, logic, intention, or even knowledge, they are the random everyday evil of your average man. Which is why I find them superfluous and am going to move one.

Editor's Note: I have to also mention they are ruled by The Four Horsemen. There, moving on.

Moving on to the perpetually overlooked “Central Planes”, these are the realms of neutrality and really don’t have the scholarship they deserve. They are not in constant war, while Law and Chaos disagree, each mostly acknowledges the necessity of the other, but instead try to find a balance, which is of course, extremely difficult.

First are The Outlands, the great patchwork that connects the Outer Plane, and at the center of this infinite plane is the Spire, on top which lies Sigil. Every square mile of the Outlands is different, almost a patchwork of aspects of other planes, and you could walk through a forest into a desert into a great mechanical wasteland in the span of three minutes. This plane has the largest mortal population, and is responsible for many of the fundamental rules of reality, and keeping the Balance of the Planes intated. Ruling over this are The Aeons, mysterious cosmic entities who keep the illusion of the world intact, or possible weave a new one, enematic and unknown. Their ruler the Monad has as far as I can tell, never been seen and likely doesn’t exist.

Next to the Outlands is The Maelstrom, supposedly the origin of life, and an ever shifting realm in its own right, but this is a realm of creativity, language, and the senses, things that fundamentally reject any limitations placed upon them. The realm is one of potential good and bad, independence and free will, and the native Proteans, strange snake like creatures who seem to wish to push against all restrictions, and offer up radical visions of what could yet be.

Next one is Mechanus, the realm of Gears, which maintains the universe itself. This gigantic endless system of gears and systems is the realm of math, shapes, physics, and systems, consistency and understanding. It has little interest in societal rules, which it finds all together too inconsistent and self serving, but instead cosmic rules, like the notion that 1+1=2 unless you can prove otherwise mathematically. The natives are known as Modrons, and each resemble different forms of law, most look like shapes (Cubes, Pyramids, squares) but other are equations, and the greatest resemble strangely enough different forms of dice.

Next are the Upper Planes, where the forces of good dwell, and are some of the smallest realms in the world, for here dwell the forces of absolute good. And as much as the edgelords out there like to claim otherwise, they aren’t well intended extremists, they cannot be anything other than absolutely good, they are defined by their very good nature on a fundamental level incomprehensible to a mortal. These planes are on the verge of destruction, barely holding their own against the vast hordes of evil, but despite this, they stayed strong and part of that is through their unity, these planes have difference but they work together and help each other, their differences make them stronger and allow them to prevail over the forces of evil. Also i want to make this clear, they are not ruled by Gods, Gods are entirely different things, these are secular realms. Just assholes.

The most famous are the Seven Heavens, where Law and Good come together as one, ruled by the Archons. Built around a Celestial Mountain, the seven layers are all built around the theme of betterment of the self, souls come here and improve steadily, ascending the layers. The natives here believe strongly in goodness as the result of governance, and hope to build institutions, orders, and structures to allow good to flourish. Militarily, they are armies, which is why they get the most attention, the Archons go forth in hoards to try to stymie the forces of evil where they can, and when they do show up, it is indeed magnificent.

Next is the Realm is the Blessed Fields of Elysium, ruled by the kind Aasimons, creatures of love, relationships, and community. This realm is idealism, understanding, and goodness as the result of personal happiness. The souls here try to find joy in themselves and those around them, for those who are happy will turn away from cruelty. The Aasimons are the least known of the Good Exemplars, for they focus not on dramatic heroism whenever possible, but instead on the smaller acts to try to make good have a chance. Childcare, helping broken homes, providing medical aid or psychological care, first responders to disasters, grief counselors, or simply a mysterious women in a bar who is willing to lend a sympathetic ear, Aasimons go often in secret the Material Plane to help keep the spark of hope alive in what little way they can. To them, depression is where evil emerges, and joy is what allows the goodness within you to come forth.

The Transcendent Glades of Arborea is where Chaos and Goodness come together, with the Azatas serving as its manifestation. Aborea is a vast wilderland except more wonderful and magical than any that exists, colors, sensations, and pleasures exist as no mortal co comprehend them, and seriously they throw the best fucking parties you have no idea. This is a realm where man’s base nature is good, and without limitations and restrictions placed upon it, they can come forth and enjoy the morality that lies within us, and Azatas hope to tear down the institutions and systems to force mortals to choose selfishness rather than compassion. Azatas, like Archons, go forth and fight evil ,but they do so as individuals or small bands, of scouts and infiltrators. Many times a force of evil has suddenly fallen apart due to the secret machinations of the Azatas, and more than a few times villians have found they prefer getting really high in Arborea than taking over the world.

Once these 9 realms were balanced equally but ever since the actions of mortals have determined their power, evil has been winning, and so much so that Good as a force is no longer a factor. If the legends are to be believed, this new circumstances was created by the Upper Planes themselves as the price to give mortals true choice of their actions, thus condemning themselves to their own destructions. The Upper Planes by all right should have been wiped out long ago, destroyed by the forces of evil, and yet they prevail, because in a world seemingly resigned to darkness, there is just enough kindness that the light stubbornly refuses to go out.

There you go, 9 overdone, over analyzed, over handled bullshit system which isn’t worth any respect, and I think that the whole thing is a colossal waste of time.

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legendofthematriarch · 5 years ago

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On Necromancy (Ch. 2)

Of all the subjects The Matriarch would go on to learn various forms of magic. She figured it would be useful for her coming adventures into the multiverse, and she had no qualms about the darker and the taboo. She did not have any basis of reference regarding the ethics and legality of certain types of magic, a trait she would ultimately share with other deities even though she did not know it. Of significant note was the subject of Necromancy and Blood magic.

As a young deity born of the aetherius, she spent much of her time studying Yggdrasil and norse lore. The aether, an old and ancient concept seemed to be an energy that flowed through the entire multiverse. It’s source is only hinted at in some ancient grimoires, some thinking that the gods themselves breathed life into the universe and that very breath became the aether. In reality, this overplays the various god’s roles in the multiverse’s creation. They are born, made, spawned and designed like anything else but the actual origin of all existence still eludes the gods themselves. They are functionally immortal but they still live and die like so many others. That however, is a subject for another time.

It was the concept of immortality that drew her to the subject of Necromancy. The passage of time meant very little to her personally, but as she read more on mortal lore she noticed a trend. There was an ever present anxiety upon the concept of death, to the point of personifying it. Death became a person, something tangible that they could ultimately defeat. Through technology, medicine, and even magic they extended their lifespans in order to defeat this abstract concept that their mortal souls will eventually join the aether.

While she never intended to mass resurrect swaths of populations, she still pinpointed a problem that she could possibly assist in. So she got to work. The aether is a flowing force that keeps various multiverses together. Through her studies she found that, while lacking a sentient consciousness that mortals could understand, it still had its own intelligence. It could be effectively petitioned, just as all magic users do whenever they cast the most simplest of spells. Effectively asking the universe permission to make fire into their hands, and then proceed to cook their morning eggs because that damn stove pilot light went out again. The aether never truly says “No, this cannot be done” except in the rarest of cases (one example is that of Chaos - another lesson for another day). However, ‘petitioning the aether’ is effectively the closest comparison.

The same works for dark, deep, or ‘evil’ magic. The aether is intelligent in its own, unknowable way but it holds no judgement on how gods or mortals use it. This is a fact that The Matriarch surely could take advantage of. Necromancy was an interesting topic to her, originally thought to be pissing in the face of the natural order of things (and many mortals think that very thing), but some types of death magic have many practical uses. She thought of a saying whenever she was argued with; “People forget that while death magic can take life, it can also give it back.” It was her justification for essentially popping into some universes and ultimately engaging in graverobbing. Her estate held a lab, a sort of morgue and holding facility for corpses where she would experiment within. She had a nexus that allowed her to pop into various mortal realms (and otherwise), but she kept her presence secretive as to not alert locals. She still had so much to learn after all, and did not want to interact whilst unprepared.

Magic functions ever so slightly differently in every timeline she entered, Matriarch noticed. Asking the aether for permission still only goes so far. Some spells were less effective at times, so this was a fact she had to take real note of and could be a threat in the future (which is why she also endeavored to self train in some martial arts). Regardless, there are some fundamentals to Necromancy she had learned through some trial and error, as well as utilizing dozens of grimoires to effectively triangulate the truth. Firstly, there was a window of effectiveness. Two weeks after death is the most ideal window of time to resurrect a corpse. She had done so and monitored certain mortal’s lives after giving them the gift of a second life. After some upheaval in their home and work lives, they typically carried on as normal. Most even continued to live well into their eighties or nineties, though their health seemed to have declined more rapidly after a certain point.

That’s when she discovered the second point; the aether demands a trade. Not so much that all magic requires such a thing, but necromancy effectively drains a certain life force from the subject and engineers a different kind within. It is a death magic after all, so resurrected subjects are typically instructed that some time has been shaved off their lifespan. Most never mind, as they are typically eager to return to their families. Thirdly, something the Matriarch dubs as the ‘yellow zone’, two to five weeks is when certain side effects become more apparent. After the initial resurrection, subjects are far more sluggish and slower to attune to the life they’ve been given again. Their lifespans are also much shorter, their health dropping a decade or two before their timeline’s life expectancy. The idea here is that part of their essence has already passed into the aether, and petitioning it to return what has been taken becomes too far a demand. Even if their spirit had lingered, their very soul continually passes through a course of time (this very thing causes most ghosts to turn mad over the course of decades or for some of the strong willed, possibly centuries).

Yellow-zone subjects can still live mostly normal lives, but at a depleted capacity. They’re prone to more health problems and they also hit earlier in their lives. Some medicine and magic can alay this, but they will eventually pass sooner than they probably wished for.

There are two other tiers. There’s an orange zone, which is roughly one to two months. It is everything that the yellow zone offers but worse. The Matriarch reserves month-long resurrection for information gathering rather than worrying about the subjects quality of life - Which will soon rapidly decline. Breaking one of her own rules, she had met with some mortals and utilized an Orange resurrection to a higher classed noble family whose grandfather passed without making it clear which family members acquired which assets. She kept her personal interactions brief, but she was ultimately paid a sum of gold once the matter was properly settled. Gold is typically useful no matter the timeline, so she made a storage facility to keep various treasures. Finally, they can go into the red. After two or three months, the corpse is just a corpse. Their essence has been absorbed into the aetherius, and petitioning it to bring back life to the corpse yields unfavorable results. In common parlance, the subject effectively becomes a zombie. The more polite term in mage circles would be “ghoul”, their actual formal term. Some intelligence can be forced into them, but they essentially become subservient creatures to their summoner. What was once held within their minds, is long gone at that point.

There are exceptions, like an aforementioned strong-willed ghost hanging around for a long period of time. Since their soul is still present, necromancy can be used to mend the corpse and force their soul back into their original home. This still leads to potential health risks, especially that of mental. Speaking of exceptions, all of this varies slightly in every universe. What has been documented above is just the typical ‘average’, and the Matriarch makes it a point to make sure the subjects know about the potential variance. Even if a subject was resurrected within a day of their death, there’s always the risk of health issues in their future.

(Chapter ‘On Necromancy’ may be edited/added to in the future as I think of more specifics, of if I’m asked things that could be addressed within).

#Creative Writing #LGBT #Fantasy #SciFi

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godsandvillainsrpg-blog · 8 years ago

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Congratulations, PHEOBE! You have been accepted as CATERINA GIORDANO.

Note from Admin Jade: Caterina is truly chaos personified, and you did such a wonderful job of showing me both who she is, and why she is. You managed to reflect the influence of nearly every member of her family in your application, and I’m telling you, it’s got me feeling pretty shook up. From her loathing of the weak souls who bore her, to the one soft spot that exists for her sister, to the fact that her only semblance of routine is one imposed on her by Stefano, you completely understand the way the girl’s upbringing has shaped her present and future. You showed me just how primal she is, ruled by the powerful emotions she feels far too strongly — with a sprinkle of just how twisted her mind can be when allowed to roam free. I’m admittedly a bit terrified of her, in the absolute best possible way. I’m thrilled to welcome you and Cat to the GAV family!

OUT OF CHARACTER

Name: Phoebe, but do not hesitate to address me as Pheebs.

Age: 18 years (19 in May)

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her

Timezone: GMT+10 yas she is aussie

Activity Level: I would say I would be able to definitely make it only every second day, if not every day. When I join new rp groups they tend to take up my life and I get way to invested and care about their life more than my own, i thrive for the drama. To give a number, I would say a 6-7 out of 10?

Triggers: REMOVED

Anything Else? Lowkey blessed that you guys took your time getting out the bios and not rushing because i was able to come back from Europe in time for opening lol

IN CHARACTER

Desired Character: I know ya’ll assumed it would be Alessia but SIKE IT’S CATERINA GIORDANO (i fell full in love but who knows you might get multiple apps off me I’m a wild card ya kno)

Describe this character in your own words: As we all know, a person’s backstory is so important to their character and that remains true with Caterina, and to me, I interpret that the most significant part of Caterina’s history is her relationship with her family; specifically her mother. I could write another few paragraphs about the impact her relationships with her siblings shape her but that will come through so much stronger in her character development in the rp as she interacts with her half-brother and sister on the dashboard so right now I want to focus on her mother. As you guys created, she is literally the polar opposite of her mother. Everything that her mother is, Caterina wanted to be reverse of that. When she watched her mother, all Caterina saw was weakness, vulnerability. And being of the Giordano family, knowing all too well of exactly what her aunt and uncle were up to, her mother embarrassed her. How could any self-respecting woman allow herself to be so open to command? How could she even be a mother to Caterina and to Bella if the damn woman couldn’t even leave the house without her father’s approval? Not for Caterina, she would never be like that. And don’t even get me started on her father. To Caterina, who thrives off the game her uncle built, who looks into the eye of destruction and licks her lips, who would literally go to no stop to reign supreme in the name of chaos, her father all but walked away from the opportunity. Her parents are weak. Weak is a word Caterina never wants to be associated with, and the reason of that lives in her DNA. She was raised by weak, and she only came out stronger than both of her parents put together. If anything, the only time Caterina’s eyes brightened up in the conversation with her father was when he spoke of his first wife, Adelia. Caterina felt like she was robbed of the vicious mother that Stefano got to be the spawned from. At least he got to have at least one respectable parent.

There’s a line from Caterina’s biography “she’s the kind that laughs at your pain, and cries at your happiness.” I literally would go ride and die with this. Cat, as stated, is a very primal character. I wouldn’t place Cat as being the type of girl who has no emotions, no. Caterina’s emotions are powerful. They’re passionate, and strong and the size of fucking tsunamis. I view Cat as a very jealous person, when it says cries at your happiness, she is literally the type that when an other succeeds at anything, something that has nothing to do with Cat or her motives, it still drives her insane. Another person’s success is another threat to Caterina and her ambition. When someone else is smiling, she wants to take it away. She’s the destruction, she’s the hurricane. She’s Caterina fucking Giordano and she is what you are afraid of.

I live for the quality in Caterina that drives on impulse. She isn’t like Stefano, who is calculative and thinks his actions through; she is like a lion in the jungle. When she sees her prey she will lunge and rip into its throat before she has time to think anything else about it. Her actions strive purely on instinct, and that’s why she’s so lethal. Granted, you have to be wary of those who plan their attacks, who take time to think it through and know exactly where to bite; which is why her and Stefano make such a powerful team. But who wants to be inside a cage with a loose jaguar and not know at what moment they decide it’s time to kill you?

What are this character’s motives? What drives this character? What are their goals? It’s the fire inside Caterina that creates such a chaotic character and her own ambition that feeds the flame. Her main goal is to lead the empire her family built. She is the only one who could master the game better than the creator himself. Her aggressive emotions and her undeniable love for chaos would lead the Giordano name further into history and not leave any cracks in the mix for anyone to screw up their family again, as her uncle had already allowed. Caterina and Stefano are a team, as fearless and unpredictable as the girl might be, she wouldn’t abandon the power that her and her half-brother created together. Her motives are engraved into their plans, into their success, and as unattainable as she knows herself to be on her own, she knows that with Stefano’s qualities, that could be what leads her to her success on the thrown.

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

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

PARA SAMPLE

“They send me away to find them a fortune..” The words poured out of Caterina’s lips as smoothly as the blood would sweep from a victim’s body. The lullaby she sang electrified her nerves, exciting the blood that flowed through her veins as she thought of those she would visit tonight. Unlike her usual struct that she possessed as she walked through the kingdom that was the Giordano empire, the assertive and self-aware walk that demanded it’s own respect, Cat now would practically dance through her bedroom, her feet light and delicate as she handled her belongings.

Moving through her closet of the extensive range of attire for the multiple occasions that being a Giordano requires of one, Caterina hummed along to the tune of her preparation song, pulling out small, dark, tight pieces of clothing and carrying them out to lay on her bed. “..a chest filled with diamonds and gold,” Caterina wasn’t exactly the most organised dame in Rome; she was more known for her sporadic nature and impulsivity. Although, when it came to this night, to the nights when the darkness wasn’t dark enough and her heartbeat made more noise than the screams of those people who’s voices she stole; tonight she was organised. Stefano taught her this. If things weren’t organised, then everything could go very wrong, very quickly. Caterina of course thought that her brother was over-exaggerating, being a little too serious for her liking. But after awhile, she got used to this routine, and then she started to love it.

It thrilled Cat, seeing it all laid down in front of her. Her own little creation of the chaos that scared most but seduced her own unattainable nature. As she laid down the clothes she was sure would be drenched in blood in a few hours, Caterina’s teeth felt like fangs between her lips. Her eyes moved from the clothes to what sat next to it on her mattress. Her eyes lit up as she sang the lullaby, the weapons her instruments as she bent over to lightly drag her hand over the cool metal. Three machetes laid beside each other, each one bigger than the last as her fingers danced, feeling the curve of the blade. “I’m bigger than my body..” Cat’s hands moved further up the bed, curling around the handle of her G18. The power she felt surge through her body from merely holding such death in her hands brought her more pleasure than most of her lovers. These weapons were where Cat felt normal, comfortable. The only time Caterina Giordano was happy was when she was standing in the middle of complete chaos, and these little things that she held in her hands were Cat’s ticket onto the train to her cyclone. She picked up the handgun, turning around in her chambers to look into the mirror that hung on the wall opposite her bed. “I’m meaner than my demons, I’m bigger than these bones..” Raising her arms, Caterina pointed the gun at the reflection in front of her. She looked at the way her face smiled in response, the way her arms looked as strong as tree trunks with no fear of the death that she held between her palms. Cat welcomed it.

She dropped her arms and placed the gun back onto it’s rightful place on the bed. Running her fingers through her blonde hair, Cat walked over to her dresser. There stood only one picture in her bedroom, it was taken years ago and given to Caterina as a gift. Usually, she would have thrown out such a sappy present but it was the only picture that she considered allowable to keep in her home. Stefano, Caterina and Bella stood side by side, the bright smile on Bella’s face where her lips went practically ear to ear almost blinded Cat whenever she looked at it, or at least that’s what she would tell Bella every time she commented on Cat’s keeping of it. Her own smile in the photograph was gorgeous, yet extremely fake and filled with dark thoughts of how much she wanted to stick that camera up her mother’s ass as she made the three siblings stand together on her father’s birthday. Stefano stood taller than them all, broad and straight with a faint, almost unrecognisable smile, although he still looked handsome with those infamous Giordano traits. Cat looked at the photograph, thinking of Bella and her unchanging innocence, surely one of these days that was going to come and bite her in the ass and Cat would be the one cleaning up the pieces. She turned the photograph down and continued on her routine, picking her lullaby back up into tune and finishing off the ballad.

“And all the kids cried out, ‘Please stop, you’re scaring me’..” The words made Cat’s lips twirl into a evil grin as she sang. Digging down underneath her bed, Cat fetched out one black, large bag and placed all her weapons of choice carefully into it’s body. Turning to look at the time, it wasn’t long before she heard a knock at her bedroom door. Perfectly on time, she could never expect anything less from her half brother. “God damn right you should be scared of me..” Cat purred as she walked to open the door. Unlatching every advanced lock that sat on her main entrance, she pulled the door apart and it revealed none other than Stefano on the other side. His face looked as it always did this time of night on this special day; calm, controlled and ready to fuck this city up alongside his sister. Caterina’s lips smiled softly in greeting at him, leaving the door open as she went to her bed and picked up the bag. “..who is in control?”

“Do you still sing that wretched song?” Her brother asked as he stepped inside, looking around the place. Cat always managed to change something about her home in the time before anyone made a second visit. Whether it was throwing away furniture she had grown sick of or painting all her walls into a deep red, Cat never let anything settle in her life for too long.

“You were the one who said I need to have a routine.” She pointed out, moving toward the door and waiting for her brother to join her. “Are you ready?” She asked impatiently, one hand on the doorknob, her feet barely keeping still as her excitement seeped through her lack of composure. Stefano turned back to look at Caterina, his expression obvious.

In those moments, between Caterina locking her door behind her and Stefano and her walking down the hallway and out into the city of Rome, Caterina could swear she felt the city tremble.

EXTRAS

http://tylerfxckingdurden.tumblr.com/tagged/caterina

#accepted #accepted: caterina

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