#They all look like normal gems except for the main three of the piece. He can��t identify what kind of gem they are.

[kizzer55555]

Core Gems

So when a ghost becomes injured, they have a last ditch defense where they retreat into their core. And I mean, injured badly where their body is rip apart to the point they can’t hold a solid form anymore. And they basically go into a hibernation state until they are strong enough to form again.

Ellie, Danny, and Dan are all injured in a final battle against the GIW. The organization was destroyed and the ghosts were safe but the halfas ended up being so injured that they reverted to core form and then went to sleep for a bit. When they woke up, they were still weak but at least recovered enough to gain consciousness. And realize…they are in some kind of auction…in the middle of a heist. It appeared that two furries (one in a bat costume and one in a cat costume) were ducking it out. And they…they were a necklace. All three of them had been turned into a necklace with their cores as gems accompanied by sapphires, pearls, and opals. And frankly gorgeous craftsmanship as the metal was crafted around their cores as if to cradle them and the other gems.

Unfortunately, they were too weak to take a form properly, they could still feel the strain on their bodies. But at least they could still communicate through their auras. Then the cat lady punched a hole in the glass container surrounding them and grabbed their necklace.

However, the bat grabbed the other end and it resulted in a sort of tug-a-war. Meanwhile, Danny, Ellie, and Dan were having a back and form commentary on the situation and what they should do. Completely unheard by the other party.

In the corner of their eye, the three halfas finally noticed a third contender. Some kind of clown who was���hold on…holding a gun?! And it was pointed straight at the two fighting furies who had yet to notice him. The ghosts’ protective instincts went into overdrive and they frantically tried to shout, yell, move. Just do something to warn the two but their cries fell on deaf ears. All they succeeded in doing was faintly glow which immediatly caught the attention of the fighting duo. The two turned to look at the strange necklace but right at that moment, the clown fired and a gunshot rang throughout the auction room. Having no other options, Danny and the others poured every ounce of ectoplasm they had to try and phaseshift, making the two furries intangible as the bullets passed right through them, but in their shock, the two jumped away in opposite directions and accidentally ripped the necklace apart. Gems and pearls went flying and the three cores bounced along the ground.

Luckily, the two finally noticed the clown and went to deal with him and his minions who had appeared. Seemingly putting their fight on hold and forming a temporary truce. The three halfas could only watch as the battle finally wound down, ending with the cops barging into the place and arresting the clown and his grunts, the cat managing to escape with half the scattered gems and pearls from the broken necklace along with a few other jewelry pieces (none of their cores though) and the bat leaving through a skylight.

The auction continued and in the end, despite being broken, their necklace seemed to have caught someone’s interest. A man named Bruce Wayne bought up every piece of the shattered jewelry wear. The auctioneers appeared relived that the item managed to sell in the end and gratefully gave it to him.

Bruce had no idea what happened at the auction, but he could have sworn that some of the gems faintly glowed right before he and Selina were shot. If the necklace was some sort of magical item, then he needed to understand exactly what has been brought to Gotham. It was unfortunate that Selena had taken some parts of the necklace but he utilized his vast wealth to make sure all the other parts ended in his possession. Now he would take them back to the mansion for examination.

[takerfoxx]

Here's the next part of the Walpurgis Nights girls watch The Rebellion Story, this time stretching from that upside-down reflection conversation to Homura and Kyoko's wacky bus trip.

Reminder:

G=Gretchen

H=Homulilly

Op=Ophelia

Ok=Oktavia

Ca=Candeloro/Mami

Ch=Charlotte

...

Ca: Okay, so, is everyone ready?

Ch: Yeah. Yeah. Sorry about losing my shit. I’ll try to keep it together.

Op: No, by all means. I’d say you’re entitled.

G: I mean, if I found out that I was a tiny, living doll that turned into a giant worm, I’d be upset too!

=Charlotte sighs deeply=

G: Oh. Sorry.

H: It’s a fake.

G: Eh?

H: All of it. The whole scenario. We’re caught in a super-witch’s labyrinth, or some kind of virtual reality simulation, or a shared dream.

Ok: Like the Matrix?

H: The what?

Ok: Oh, I’ve got to show that one to you. It’s this old movie from the world of the living about how all of humanity are trapped in this virtual world because machines have taken over the planet, and they use people’s bodies as living batteries or something. And-

Op: Tavi, starting to ramble.

Ok: Sorry. Anyway, there’s like three different recreations out there. Personally I like the one from Madd Dogg Studios the best.

Op: Because of all the sex.

Ok: Yeah, the other two don’t have those. Shame, really.

Ch: Okay, hold on though! If all that is some kind of weird simulation, then why am I there? By rights if you guys never turned into witches, I should be dead! You should’ve killed me, and then I would be comfortably here in Freehaven while you guys sit around singing songs to severed heads inside of demented teddy-bears!

G: Well, if there’s no witches in this world, then maybe we never fought you in the first place.

Ch: But I’m clearly a witch!

G: Yeah, that is weird.

Ca: Let’s find out.

…

Ok: You think that all of this being in an upside-down reflection means anything?

H: Yes. That it’s a fake.

Op: You are not going to let that go, are you?

H: Just watch.

Op: Have you seen this before?

H: Obviously not.

Ok: Well, this version of Candeloro is just as on it with her tea game, I see.

Ca: Some things never change.

Ok: Like Ophelia’s dislike for sour stuff, apparently.

Ca: It’s her tradeoff for her ungodly tolerance for spicy.

Ch: Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s not as high as she makes it out to be.

Op: Hey, who exactly ate those dockengaut viper peppers without flinching? Me, that’s who!

Ch: You literally had to the hospital and grow your tongue back.

Op: But I didn’t flinch.

…

Ok: They really like showing us around the town.

G: Do any of these locations mean anything?

Ca: Well, that’s the school, so I suppose-Huh?

G: UM!

Ok: Why is everyone’s faces suddenly horribly disfigured?

Ch: Are they melting? It looks like they’re melting.

Op: Yeah. And…ours are fine?

G: See! You two are sleeping in class! I told you that having a party right after fighting that Nightmare was a bad idea! Growing girls need sleep!

Op: Honestly, I’m more concerned about the horrific burns on everyone’s face than I am about our counterparts’ unhealthy sleeping habits.

H: HA! Called it! It’s a simulation! None of those people are real! We’re the only actual people here!

Op: Hey, credit where it’s due, you did call it.

G: Looks like Hitomi’s real too.

H: Oh, goody.

G: So’s that guy with the silver hair? Who is he?

Ok: Oh, so that must be Kyousuke!

Op: That was who I was up against? Huh. Well, he’s…pretty.

Ok: I always wondered what he looked like.

Op: …so?

Ok: I’m sure past me thought he was good-looking, but I still think I traded up.

Op: Darn right, you did.

…

Ch: So who took the time to make food in the shape of your heads?

Ok: You know, between this and Hitomi, there’s a lot of severed heads going around.

=Candeloro frowns and feels her neck=

Ch: You okay?

Ca: I’m fine. I just got the weirdest feeling of déjà vu all of a sudden.

Ok: Who wants to bet that the one with all the bags of junk food for lunch is Ophelia?

Op: What? Why me in specific?

Ca: That one must be mine.

Ch: Well, at least I get my own severed-head snack now.

G: Right next to Kyubey.

H: If there was any justice in the world that would be his actual head.

G: Still. Those soul-gem treats are pretty creative.

Ca: Oh, wait! Never mind! That’s Homura’s lunch.

Ch: Homulilly? Why are you eating my face?

H: Don’t ask.

Op: And of course I snatch Blue Raspberry’s soul-gem!

Ok: Even then, you couldn’t keep me out of your mouth.

Op: AAANNNDDD the rat just ate it. Huh.

Ok: Oh, that makes me so uncomfortable.

Ch: And we get a close-up of me looking like a lunatic. Thanks, movie.

Op: I mean, that is a pretty accurate depiction of your face whenever you get anywhere near a piece of mozzarella.

H: All of this making me incredibly uneasy.

G: What is?

H: The slow pace. The lack of audible dialogue. The somber music. Something is up.

Ch: That’s all kinds of deliberate.

H: Well, at least this other me can tell that something’s wrong.

Op: I for one am incredibly disappointed in the rest of us. Everyone in the city has their faces burned off. That ought to at least raise a few red flags.

…

Ok: AAANNNDDD it’s gone all weird again!

Ca: Okay, this is obviously a witch’s labyrinth. They’re not even hiding it anymore.

Ok: Except from us. Like, are we blind?

Op: Oh, hey. It’s me. A lunch date?

H: I doubt it.

G: Is any of this normal? I mean, I know Freehaven is strange to newcomers but normal to us, so in this world, is it normal to just hang out on a floating island filled with chairs and tables with really long legs while blimps fly by in formation?

Ok: To say nothing of that freakshow going on down there. What are those? Those creepy little girls and the guy with the wind-up box?

Ca: Witch’s familiars.

=everyone looks to Charlotte, who is nonplussed=

Ch: You know, I’m actually okay with being the villain. At least that would make sense!

Op: You better get some kind of redemption arc and a weirdly sexually charged gunfight with Candeloro.

Ch: That would honestly make up for everything else that’s happened so far.

Ca: I don’t know. All of this looks very witchy, but it wasn’t what I remember from your labyrinth.

…

Op: Hey. Teenaged me. Wake up and smell the bad drug trip.

Ch: Why do you guys have so many cups on that table? Do you have a drinking problem or something?

Op: Look, shit is weird. Don’t judge our coping mechanisms.

G: Is it just me, or is there a bunch of random objects just falling out of the sky all around you?

Ok: Is it just me, or did that blimp have to come literally out of the river to fly at that angle?

H: This is getting progressively more dream-like.

Op: Nice crotch-shot, movie. How come I don’t get the boob or butt camera like Candy and Tavi?

Ch: Do you really want us to answer that question?

Op: I’d prefer if you didn’t.

H: Anyone else notice that the number of cups keep changing?

Op: Like I said. We all have our own ways of coping. Don’t judge.

…

H: Well, at least I’m noticing that something’s off. Even if I’m completely blind to the obviously bizarre stuff going on all around me?

G: Oh, so it’s going to be like a mystery story! And you’re the detective!

Op: And I get to be the sidekick. There are worst roles, I guess.

Ch: I guess that means you’re the main character after all, Lilly.

H: Thank you, but I’d really rather be the lead of a completely different movie.

…

Op: And off we go, on our wild adventure!

H: Beneath endless stone bridges. I mean, seriously. If either of us wanted proof that something was wrong, all we have to do is look up.

G: If this is a fake world you’re trapped in, you’re probably programmed to not notice that anything’s wrong. You know, like how we never really how strange dreams are until we wake up.

Op: Oh, what the hell. The bus is dropping us off in this fever dream? WAKE UP, IDIOTS! WAKE UP AND SMELL THE FREAKY!

Ch: They’re not even hiding it anymore.

G: You know, I can’t help but wonder if this world was always this strange, but that since the first few minutes were from our point of view all the weird stuff not having to do with the Nightmare wasn’t shown. But now that Lilly’s noticed, the weirdness just keeps coming out more and more.

Ch: I would not be surprised.

Ca: I think we can all collectively agree that despite whatever the witch turns out to be, this is all Kyubey’s fault, right?

Op: Fine by mean.

Ok: Agreed.

H: I wonder where all those fake people are going.

Op: I’m just going to assume that there’s a big meat grinder at the bottom of those stairs.

G: Ew.

…

Op: Oh, that’s not right? THAT’S NOT RIGHT? YAH THINK?

Ok: Of course you would be tipped off by the wrong destination but not by the field of hazy red filled with windmills.

Op: Turn left? We were supposed to turn left? HOW CAN YOU TELL? THERE’S NOTHING THERE!

Ch: That does bring up an interesting point. I’m assuming that you’re just blind to the weirdness because it’s got you trapped. So, what is it that you’re seeing?

G: Probably just a normal road, I guess.

Ok: Well, what did you expect taking the loop line?

…

Ch: Okay, so there’s a clear divide between the big, empty, red field with the windmills and the mostly normal looking city.

H: A very loose definition of the word “normal.”

Ch: Well, yeah, but you know what I mean.

H: Like I said. It’s not real.

Ch: We know, I’m just trying to pick out details.

Ok: Hey, girls. Don’t get on the creepy bus.

…

G: If at first you don’t succeed…

Op: Come on, other me! Get a clue!

H: I notice the field is blue now.

Ch: Probably to signify the change from day to night.

Ok: That bus driver is weirdly okay with a couple teenaged girls jumping onto the front of his bus and yelling at him.

H: He’s a fakedy-fake-fake.

Ok: We know! It’s called commentary!

H: Sorry.

Op: “Crossroads”? “Left fork”? How can you tell the difference! It’s a bunch of shiny tiles and windmills!

G: Plus that giant tower made of pipes!

Op: That was probably where we were heading. Giant tower made of pipes.

Ok: Wonder where the ramen shop was.

Op: Third pipe cluster from the bottom.

Ch: Hey, girls. Word of advice. Don’t walk into the scary, blank void.

Op: I know they can’t see the weirdness, but I still feeling like yelling at them.

G: Oh, hey! It’s normal again!

H: They were brought back to the city.

G: Well, relatively normal, at least. With a really tall bridge and giant moon.

…

Op: So…are we about to kiss or something?

H: Obviously not.

Op: I don’t know. You’re holding me awfully close.

H: I’m just trying to keep you from doing something stupid.

Op: If you say so.

…

Op: Oh, hey. If we didn’t have enough problems, it’s a zombie apocalypse.

H: All with our faces, I see.

Op: Somehow, that’s freakier than if they were just the classic rotting kind.

Ca: Obviously a defense system put in place by the witch. Once one of its prisoners start to notice that something’s wrong, the familiars come in to stop them.

Ch: You know, as much as the early parts weirded me out, I am really starting to dig this! I mean, sure, the cake song was…a thing that happened, but now there’s a reason for the weirdness! There’s a mystery! There’s set-up and atmosphere! It’s not just weird for the sake of being weird!

Ok: I’m pretty sure there’s some of that.

Ch: Well, sure.

H: You do remember that with the way things are going, you’re probably going to be revealed as the villain, right?

Ch: I am okay with this.

…

Op: And the zombies leave after I change my stance?

Ok: Those hips don’t lie.

H: More of they sensed that you weren’t resisting anymore.

Op: Might want to rephrase that.

H: You made it dirty. Not me.

Op: At least this me is starting to wake up. So you have at least one bad bitch supporting you.

H: I feel so much better.

G: Oh, hey! Even then you did that thing where you give people candy as a sign of affection!

Op: I’m honestly surprised that more people don’t do that. Honestly, most problems would be solved if people just gave each other candy all the time.

[skzsauce01]

In Fair Verona︱Chapter 3

Synopsis: Jisung knows he is the Romeo to your Juliet. He could wax poetry about you all throughout rehearsal and even a little after. Except Hwang Hyunjin is the one playing Romeo in the school play, not him. Jisung is just another tech crew member that you don’t know, but he’s determined to win your heart... by any means necessary.

Warning: none... yet

Word Count: 1.7k

Pairing: fem!reader x Jisung; fem!reader x Hyunjin

updates every Wednesday and Sunday @ 11 PM PST︱chapter list

Give me my Romeo. And when I shall die,

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine

That all the world will be in love with night

And pay no worship to the garish sun.

There’s an issue with the soundboard, so the third rehearsal is delayed. While the girl playing Nurse whispers her lines to herself, you and Hyunjin sit on the apron, comparing ear piercings. Hyunjin isn't even in the upcoming scene.

Jisung scrolls through his phone while observing the two of you. Hyunjin takes out his silver bar earring and lets you look at it. Your mouth forms a perfect ‘o’ as you turn it around and hold it up to the light like a gem appraiser. He says something to you, and you break out into laughter.

Never has Jisung wanted to trade places with another person so badly.

Hyunjin rests his hand on your knee, and Jisung feels something inside him burst into flames. He abruptly gets up, knocking his chair into Changbin’s leg and earning an “Ow!” He doesn’t even apologize, just leaves the auditorium and goes down the school hallway. Without meaning to, he ends up in front of the restroom door.

There’s no one else inside, thank goodness. He splashes water on his face and watches as the droplets drip down his chin in the mirror. He has piercings, too. In fact, he has a silver bar just like Hyunjin’s at home. He tugs on the hoop in his right ear, wishing it would magically change. He allows himself to wallow in his self-pity for a minute. After drying his face with the hem of his shirt, he reluctantly heads back to the auditorium.

The soundboard appears to be fixed, judging by the tech director and Chan’s cheering. As expected, “Actors! To your places!” comes over on the intercom, and there’s a commotion as you scramble into position and Hyunjin disappears into the wings. He hopes Hyunjin trips on a cable, but alas, the cables on the floor are actually organized for once. The rest of the crew puts their headsets back and gets ready as well. The lights dim, and rehearsal finally begins.

You start the scene, and Jisung is surprised and proud of how quickly you are able to transition from yourself to Juliet. The spotlight shines upon you, and there is nothing else he can focus on. You look to the sky and describe the beauty of your lover.

“And he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will be in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun,” you recite.

Jisung disagrees with all those statements. Still, he can’t help but be moved by your love, even though it’s about Hyunjin.

Whenever you play lovesick Juliet, there’s always a small smile playing on your lips. This time it’s so tender that he unintentionally mirrors it when looking at you. Nurse stands by his side, waiting for her cue, so when Nurse enters the scene, you smile in his general direction, and it’s like it’s for him. His ears feel like they’ve been doused in sriracha, and he thanks the heavens that he’s wearing a headset, so no one can see how delighted he is. His day immediately brightens, and he almost forgets about the interaction between you and Hyunjin. News of Romeo’s banishment from Verona only increases his happiness. It might be strange to feel so strongly about a fictional character, but not to him.

Scene two is completed quickly. The lights go out, and the stage crew on the other side of the stage bring out the set pieces for scene three. At the same time, other actors rush on stage, trying to get into position before the blackout ends. While you walk back backstage, you attempt to take out the large pin in your hair.

“Can someone help me?” you whisper.

Jisung is about to step towards you, but the girl in charge of costumes, Ryujin, beats him to it. You lower yourself, so she can reach the crown of your head. You notice Jisung watching, and the corner of your mouth quirks up.

“I’m normally better at costume changes than this,” you tell him. The pin finally comes free, and you thank the girl for helping.

“Do you wanna change now or later?” She holds up a looser dress from the rack.

“Now. I might forget and then it’ll turn into a quick change,” you joke.

It doesn’t hit Jisung until a few seconds later. You are going to change, right here, right now, in the wings of the stage, not in the dressing room, in front of him, and a few other crew members who are not girls. He turns bright red, matching the color of the main curtain. He’s not the only way he’s flustered at this new prospect; the props guy, Yugyeom, who overheard the entire conversation, is also in a panic.

You begin unzipping the side of your dress, and Jisung and Yugyeom quickly face the wall, striking up a conversation about how great the weather has been. Jisung babbles on about the possibility of rain even though the sky has been clear for the past three days, while Yugyeom frantically nods. He wonders how Changbin and the fly rail guy are unfazed by this.

“I’m decent now.” They both hesitate and continue staring at the wall, so you add, “Seriously. You can stop pretending to be meteorologists.”

Jisung takes one for the two-person team and breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that you’re fluffing your hair out from the collar of your newly-donned dress. You look amused by the trouble you caused.

“I wear a tank top and shorts under all my Juliet costumes, so don’t worry,” you explain, “but I appreciate the courtesy.”

“Got it,” he weakly replies. Yugyeom, on his way out of the stage, echoes his sentiment.

There’s no way he can just ignore you changing in front of him; he’s going to run and hide every time, especially now that he sees the aftermath of your change. Your hair is slightly unkempt, and your previous costume pools around your feet, reminding him —

Reminding him that now is not the time for impure thoughts.

“Stage crew, start getting ready,” Felix calls over the comms. “Jisung, at you in particular.”

“I didn’t come here to be attacked,” he grumbles as he meets Changbin at the edge of the stage and picks up the other end of the table.

“Lights and stage crew, get ready.”

The lights go out, and Jisung and Changbin bring the table out and align it with the glow-in-the-dark tape on the floor. Then they run back before Jeongin turns the lights back on. Changbin and Felix congratulate him on a job well done, and he rolls his eyes in response. He goes back to his previous position near the costume rack.

“I never realized how fast you guys set the stage,” you remark. “And you have to come back here as well. Is it nerve wracking?”

“You get used to it after a while,” he replies. “You have to get on stage fast, too.”

“Yeah, but it’s a one-way trip. And I don’t have to carry stuff.”

“It’s still impressive.”

You look up at him. “I think yours is more so.”

He is so grateful for the headset; his ears are burning, and he’s sure his cheeks will be soon. He awkwardly mumbles, “Thanks,” while focusing slightly to the right of you. The conversation dies, and you start talking to Nurse about the upcoming scene. Jisung internally slaps himself for not saying more, but he couldn’t think of anything witty after your compliment. His mind is still not working, and based on the comms, the soundboard might be having the same issue.

The last scene of Act III begins, and there are indeed problems with sound. Despite that, the actors and the rest of the tech crew power through, though the actors struggle to do the same.

Rehearsal is paused while the sound issue gets solved. Jisung decides to go to the classroom and wait out the situation in the more comfortable chairs there. As expected, it’s crowded, but he manages to nab a seat in the middle of the room. He spies you on the next table and waves hello. You light up and make your way over with Hyunjin in tow.

“Hey, Jisung!” you greet. “Hyunjin, he’s the one who thought you and I were the perfect Romeo and Juliet. Jisung, he doesn’t believe me. Tell him I’m not lying.”

Jisung feels small in his seat, looking up at Hyunjin. He’s already shorter than him, but sitting down really emphasizes the difference. His raised eyebrows combined with his slight grin make him seem like a condescending prick.

“She’s not lying,” Jisung shrugs.

“See?” you say to Hyunjin. “You’re doing great, so don’t worry.”

Hyunjin smiles softly at you, and you turn a pretty shade of pink. “Thanks. And, uh, you too, Jisung.”

“No problem,” he manages to get out. He can’t decide whether he wants to Hyunjin down a flight of stairs or to kiss you. Maybe both are possible. “Always glad to be of help.”

“Do you wanna run the lines for the balcony scene again?” Hyunjin asks you. “I don’t think Ms. Park likes it right now.”

“Oh, sure!” you eagerly reply. “See you later,” you say to Jisung before following Hyunjin back over to the next table.

“See you,” he whispers too late.

Ten minutes later, Mr. Gi announces that there is going to be an adjustment to rehearsal today because the soundboard is still on the fritz, and a proper tech rehearsal is near impossible.

Despite their best efforts, rehearsal ends up being cut short. Everyone seems relatively happy about this, and Jeongin wonders out loud if anyone wants to get frozen yogurt with him. Jisung declines, citing that he has homework to catch up on, and while that’s true, he would rather go with you. Unfortunately for him, you and Hyunjin are working on the balcony scene with Ms. Park, and it doesn’t look like the drama rehearsals are ending early.

He gets frozen yogurt with Jeongin, Chan, and Felix after all. He’s disappointed that you aren’t a part of it, but it’s fine. He’ll go get some with you on your first date.

Just you, him, and a cup of strawberry cheesecake froyo to share.

~ ad.gray

[yellowmagicalgirl]

Nari: the Adorable Plant-Themed Lamp

(Disclaimer: this post is not an attack on fans of Nari. It is just my own personal frustrations with her character.)

The first time I saw Nari on-screen in the “Castle Attacked” clip, I loved her. I remember thinking to myself, “She’s so adorable. She might be my favorite character in Wizards, or at least my favorite character who was not introduced in a previous show, and unlike with my other faves from the Tales of Arcadia I can’t see myself ever wanting to hurt her in fics and au’s.”

Instead, I caught myself thinking “Oh come on, just kill Nari off.” And I wasn’t fully sure why; nothing has changed about her. She’s still the same adorable plant-themed girl, so why do I dislike her so much? Then I remembered the Sexy Lamp Test.

The Sexy Lamp Test basically goes along the lines of this: take a major female character. Now replace her with a sexy lamp. Does your story still work, or at least mostly work? If it does, then you need to change your story because lamps don’t have agency and neither does your female character. She’s not a character; she’s a plot device.

While I personally wouldn’t call Nari sexy, for most of the story you could easily replace her with an adorable, plant themed lamp. But, let me take all of Nari’s appearances and see what happens when you replace her with a lamp:

Powering up Camelot to create the time rift: she needs to be a powerful magical lamp that Merlin activates.

Interacting with Morgana, Guinevere, and Arthur as they are playing in the woods: doesn’t make sense for Arthur to freak out so much. Still, could be replaced with a random magical animal like a Stalkling.

Reviving Morgana: Morgana would need a different reason for having a green hand and a green gem in the helmet, unless lamp!Nari is used by Bellroc and Skrael to give her the prosthetic and gem. Morgana’s first meeting with the Arcane Order wouldn’t be as pleasant.

Betraying the Arcane Order: A lamp can’t do this, and it wouldn’t make sense with a random magical animal, either. Sadly, this scene is brushed over.

Archie pretending to be Nari: I mean, he has pretended to be a small ball that Douxie used for a cup game. Pretending to be a lamp shouldn’t be too hard.

Search for Jim’s soul: They do not get confirmation that Jim’s soul isn’t on Earth (unless the lamp has a “look for person” setting). Claire can still get magical visions in the Shadow Realm.

Telling Douxie that the Arcane Order will tear his soul to pieces: let Bellroc and Skrael make their own threats

Hiding from the Arcane Order: Hiding a lamp.

Nari has two contributions to the plot that are more than just “oh yeah she’s the apocalypse-starting MacGuffin” or “she’s a member of the Arcane Order going along and doing Arcane Order things”. Those contributions are helping with Morgana’s origin story, and leaving the Arcane Order (a scene that could’ve been expanded upon).

Normally, I don’t like the idea of “to stop the apocalypse we need to kill this one woman”. But with Nari, I had to ask myself why Nari didn’t die in Wizards (other than to provide plot for Rise of the Titans). Sure, most of the main characters aren’t the type of people to kill a random person for the greater good, not unless that person is attacking them. Merlin, though? Merlin is morally grey and all about the “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few” argument. And it’d be one thing if it was pre-established that Nari can’t be killed, or at least can’t be killed except for by very specific means. But this was never established. Likewise it was never established if Nari needed to be alive or not for the Arcane Order to break the Genesis Seals. If her corpse could’ve been used, then sure, keep her alive so she can fight back against this.

Now, I wasn’t hoping for Nari to be killed by anyone else, because even though it would make sense for Merlin to kill her, if she was killed to keep her out of the Arcane Order’s hands then the tone of the show would be too grimdark even for my tastes. Instead, I was hoping that Nari would sacrifice herself. Maybe she’d need very specific circumstances to do so, but sacrificing herself so that Bellroc and Skrael can’t end the world would line up with the sacrifices made by other characters in the story. Heck, if we want to keep the Douxie afterlife scene he could have needed to have held off Bellroc and Skrael while Nari prepares to have everything necessary to sacrifice herself. He could’ve died, and Bellroc and Skrael think they’re victorious. That now they can break the seals. And then Nari sacrifices herself, killing off the other two in the process. Nari then shows up in the afterlife with Merlin and Morgana, and the three of them charge Douxie with living and leading the Guardians of Arcadia with now protecting the Balance of the universe.

I know that, had Wizards been the same length as 3Below, there’s a good chance I would’ve been able to appreciate Nari more as a character. Sadly though, we have what we have. Hopefully she’ll be a more meaningful character in Rise of the Titans.

More information on the Sexy Lamp Test

[mysecondsecretaccount]

Media Theory Analysis - Steven Universe

Steven Universe is an animated children’s TV show from Cartoon Network.  The show had 5 seasons from 2013 to 2019, and was followed up by a 2019 movie and 2019 epilogue series entitled “Steven Universe Future” that ran until 2020.  The series was created by Rebecca Sugar, notable for being the network’s first bisexual non-binary women to run a show.  Steven Universe follows the titular Steven, who lives with his human father and Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, who are gems, humanoid aliens with a variety of fantastical powers, including the ability for two gems to fuse into one gem, essentially two people becoming one for an amount of time.  Steven is half-gem, and his Mom, the gem Rose Quartz, gave up her physical form to become Steven, essentially dying in the process.  Much of the show centers around Steven coming into his own: dealing with his identity as half-gem, figuring his relationship to his dead mother, and fighting with the responsibilities and assumptions placed on him by Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, who simultaneously view him as just a little kid, and the next Rose Quartz.  As the show progresses, we learn that the Gems have a caste system based on function, which is run by the tyrannical Diamond Authority.

Power distance

As mentioned above, the show has a caste system based on function, which reflects our current system in many ways.  In the episode “Too Far”, the character Peridot shed some light on how the caste system works (shown at 3:12 in the video below)

As Peridot says “Pearl is a pearl, Garnet is a fusion,  [and Amethyst is] the only Crystal Gem, that's actually a Gem!”  There’s very clearly a power structure implied here, with Pearls and Fusions being seen as second-class citizens.  With this in mind, let’s start to look at the parallels to our real life caste system.

First, let’s talk about Pearls.  Pearls are essentially a slave race of personal servants, owned by nobility and forced to do work similar to secretary work, all while expected to look nice and fancy.  Throughout the show we see Pearl, the character (characters have the same name as their type of gem), being passed off as “just a pearl”, or “a feisty pearl”, and it’s a huge deal that she’s “a pearl that belongs to no one”.

“A Pearl who belonged to no one”

As you may be able to tell, the way Pearls are treated is allegorical for how women are treated in society.  Though views of women as second-class citizens aren’t exactly common in today’s world, backwards views like this still exist in many parts of the world.  There are still places where women are essentially bound to their husbands, in the same way that Pearls are bound to their masters.  And though it isn’t common now, the time when women mainly did secretary work was not that long ago in the grand scheme of things.

Next, there’s fusions.  In the show, fusions between the same types of gem are normal and common, though they are only used for military purposes and unfuse immediately after battle.

Three rubies fusing 

But fusions between different gem types are relatively unheard of, and are heavily shunned by gem society.  The first time two different gems fused, onlookers were horrified, and both particular gems were ordered to be shattered (killed).

Now it’s important to note that fusions, being the physical embodiment to two character’s feelings towards each other, are often used to represent romantic relationships.  And since all Gems are female (or at least, female-coded, I’ll get into that later), all relationships are necessarily queer.  And by viewing fusions through a queer framework, the hatred and contempt felt towards fusions becomes an obvious allegory for homophobia.  And though it may seem like most people are accepting of the queer community, especially seeing how gay marriage is legal in the united states, that’s simply not the case, especially seeing as a major political party in the U.S. is explicitly against gay marriage.

“Garnet? Does that call herself a Garnet? Haha! What would you have her do? Enter with the Demantoids? The Hessonites, the Pyropes?”

This degradation is embodied in the show.  When two gems become one, the gem that they become is one that would be higher rank than the two composing gems.  However, the rulers of gem society do not recognize the status of fusions, and find the very idea laughable, as shown above.  This only further shows how much of a second class citizen fusions are in this society.

 Let’s return to that Peridot quote from earlier: Amethyst is higher status than both Pearl and Garnet.  The thing is, Amethysts are lowly soldiers, so the fact that she could be the leader of the group, despite being the youngest, and despite the fact that Garnet should be a high-ranking military commander is frankly astonishing, and really speaks to the backwards nature of their society, which can, in turn make us reflect on the many absurd contradictions of our society.

Uncertainty avoidance

Newness and uncertainty are heavy themes in Steven Universe, even being built into the show’s very premise.  You see, Steven is a half human, haf gem hybrid, and that’s something that’s completely new in this universe.  

“There's never been anything or anyone like Steven.”

This is at the heart of one of the show’s central conflicts: how Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl view Steven.  Steven is something new, and that’s confusing and scary to the gems, because they frankly have no idea what to do with him.  But, over time, they learn that they have to accept Steven as a member of their team.  And this message of accepting the new and uncomfortable comes through with one of the show’s main mechanics: fusion.

“Something entirely new”

As shown in the video above, when the first fusion between two gems occurs, it’s portrayed as “Something entirely new”, and the show makes sure to emphasize. how special and unique that is.

“I still can't believe it. Only on Earth, don't you think? Only on Earth where anything can happen. A fusion of two completely different Gems! Can all Gems do that? How have I never heard of this?! I've only ever heard that it's unheard of.”

Furthermore, in the episode “Alone Together”, Steven fuses with his best friend Connie, creating Stevonnie, the first human/gem hybrid fusion.  At first, Pearl is perplexed and uncomfortable, calling it “inappropriate”, but Garnet, who’s portrayed as the wisest of the group, don’t ask questions or make assumptions, instead only telling them to “Go have fun!”

Finally, it's important to note that trying new things is at the crux of the plot, at least in season one.  You see, the show starts with Steven and the Crystal Gems going around and capturing corrupted gems, who are animalistic in nature.  For most interactions with these creatures, the Crystal Gems just fight them.  But Steven is irked by this, and proposes nonviolent solutions.  Ultimately, it’s only through these new solutions that progress is made.  Just as in real life, progress can only be made by accepting new and uncertain solutions.

Finally, it's important to note that trying new things is at the crux of the plot, at least in season one.  You see, the show starts with Steven and the Crystal Gems going around and capturing corrupted gems, who are animalistic in nature.  For most interactions with these creatures, the Crystal Gems just fight them.  But Steven is irked by this, and proposes nonviolent solutions.  Ultimately, it’s only through these new solutions that progress is made.  Just as in real life, progress can only be made by accepting new and uncertain solutions.

First of all, the entire Gem race is female (or female presenting rather, I’ll get to that in a minute), except for Steven, who’s half-gem and identifies as male (he/him).  This is notable, because many mainstream franchises have casts that are almost entirely male, usually save for one token female (see: the smurfette principle).  Steven universe is unique for having an entire race designed specifically to subvert this.

But what’s interesting that none of the Gems are actually female, they’re all nonbinary.  According to the show’s creator (who herself is a nonbinary women), all the gems are sexless and agendered, an alien species that don’t have a gender binary.  However, they all present female and use she/her pronouns (with a couple exceptions I’ll get to in a moment).  This is unique as nearly every character in every piece of media falls within the gender binary, and though the gems may lean to one side of it, they still fall strictly outside the gender binary.

 Masculinity vs femininity

Steven Universe is notable for defying gender expectations in several unique and groundbreaking ways.

First of all, the entire Gem race is female (or female presenting rather, I’ll get to that in a minute), except for Steven, who’s half-gem and identifies as male (he/him).  This is notable, because many mainstream franchises have casts that are almost entirely male, usually save for one token female (see: the Smurfette principle).  Steven Universe is unique for having an entire race designed specifically to subvert this.

But what’s interesting that none of the Gems are actually female, they’re all nonbinary.  According to the show’s creator (who herself is a nonbinary women), all the gems are sexless and agendered, an alien species that don’t have a gender binary.  However, they all present female and use she/her pronouns (with a couple exceptions I’ll get to in a moment).  This is unique as nearly every character in every piece of media falls within the gender binary, and though the gems may lean to one side of it, they still fall strictly outside the gender binary.

Some characters go even further in being non-binary, not leaning to either side and using they/them pronouns.  Specifically, we have Stevonnie, who is the fusion of Steven (male) and Connie (female).  Stevonnie is romanticized by the show as a true human experience, which also serves as a validation and confirmation of nonbinary identities.

Stevonnie being awesome.

All of the other fusions that include steven use they/them pronouns, including: Smoky Quartz (they/them), Rainbow Quartz 2.0 (They/Them & He/Him), Sunstone (They/Them & She/Her) and Obsidian (They/Them & She/Her).

It’s also worth noting that in Steven Universe Future, we get to briefly meet a nonbinary character named Shep, proving once and for all, that you don’t have to be a half-alien gem fusion to be nonbinary.

They 

Another gender standard that Steven Universe rebukes is that of traditional female beauty.  Though most Gems are female-presenting, they all present their femininity in different ways.  

Taken from a Contrapoints video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bbINLWtMKI)  

As you can clearly see, even though all of these characters use she/her pronouns, they all present their femininity in radically different ways, not being afraid to stray into nontraditional femininity.

Then there’s the subversive masculinity of Steven Universe.

The video above basically says everything I wanted to say on this topic in a manner infinitely better than I could ever do, and I don’t want to just limply restate its arguments, so just go watch the video for yourself.  All I have to add is that Steven is not at all afraid to wear traditionally feminine clothing, or act in a traditionally feminine manner, as shown below:

Individualism vs. collectivism

Throughout the show, the Crystal Gems are constantly fighting as a team.  They’re always working together, and there’s an assumed promotion of the value of teamwork throughout the show.  All major problems are only ever solved through cooperation.

What’s more interesting is how fusion plays into this topic.  Fusion is an allegory for relationships, of all different shapes, sizes and kinds.  So naturally, some fusions represent teamwork, specifically Alexandrite and Obsidian, the fusion of Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl and the fusion of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and Steven respectively.  These fusions only exist as long as the contributing members are willing to cooperate, and have trouble staying together when the members aren’t working well together.

Alexandrite coming apart after her components start bickering

We also see the smaller, two-gem type fusions being used to represent teamwork and collective power.  The philosophy behind fusions is that they are greater than the sum of their parts, and as such are extremely useful for completing tasks.  Throughout the show we see characters fusing to do things like lift up a drill, destroy a tall structure, babysit, or even just to fight.  Recurring is known for lamenting the fact that she’s always beaten by fusion, even resorting to fusing with an uneasy ally to win a battle, twice (it works neither time).  The message is clear: teamwork creates synergy.

Pearl and Amethyst fuse to lift a drill

But what makes this truly interesting is how Steven Universe also champions individuality.  The show features plenty of characters who have arcs of self discovery, eventually coming into their own as a unique person, most notably Steven Universe himself.  Though you may think that these themes of individuality and collectivism may contradict each other, Steven Universe finds a way to escape that binary and champion both.

In episode “The Question”, the idea of differentiation is explored.  Differentiation is the idea that members of a couple need solid individual identities to work together as a couple.  And this idea can be applied to many other fusions throughout the show.  For example, in the episode “Mindful Education”, Stevonnie starts hallucinating when one of their components, Connie, is having trouble at school.  In said episode, Garnet explains that for fusions to stay fused, there has to be balance, and all participants have to be stable.  

“For a fusion to work, there needs to be balance. An imbalance can cause your fusion to...fall apart. That is to say, if one of you is falling apart, your fusion will as well. To find balance, you must understand your feelings.”

Ultimately, Steven Universe conveys a complex but important message: “Teamwork and cooperation are vital in making societal progress, but individual identity is crucial and cannot be ignored”

Indulgence vs restraint

While Some critics of the show have posited that in the first season, Steven has everything he wants.  And while that may be true from a physical statement (he eats what he wants, he gets to play video games all the time, he lives extremely close to both an arcade and an amusement park), his emotional needs, his need to be accepted by his family, his need to feel like he’s a valued member of the team, his need to be not be seen in the shadow of his mother, taken entire seasons to be meet, and some of those needs are frankly never met.

In the end, Steven Universe proves to be a subversive masterpiece, defying traditional expectations of gender and power structure, while providing new ways forward through uncertainty and the combination of individuality and collectivism.  To matter what framework you view the show through, it will always have something to learn from. 

[brokenmimir]

The Curse of the Golden Hoard

White Rose Week 2020, Day 5: Curse

In Vale, success breeds misfortune as readily as failure.

(Sequel to The Ruby Eye of the Serpent King)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/24718948 https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13615480/1/The-Curse-of-the-Golden-Hoard

Weiss rolled her eyes as Yang threw the door open, the solid oak banging against the interior wall loudly, drawing the attention of all of Beacon. Normally she would've been angry at the brute attracting the potential ire of as many dangerous people as routinely visited the small tavern, but in that moment she was too elated to care.

Still, appearances had to maintained, even if her heart wasn't in it. “Yang…”

“Sorry, ice queen,” Yang sang. “Guess I forgot my own strength. How 'bout I make it up to everyone with a round of drinks on me!”

“Yeah!” the room cheered, and Peter Port smiled behind his thick mustache as he began preparing drinks for the relaxing crowd, who were all discretely tucking away the weapons they had prepared against the forceful entry.

Yang strutted over to their usual table, throwing the heavy sack she'd been carrying down on it, making it clink suggestively for those with an ear for gold. Blake did the same, and then Ruby as well, until all three looked at her expectantly. Finally, with a long suffering sigh, Weiss heaved her own sack onto the table, privately enjoying the sound of their new fortune.

“We're going to be robbed the moment we step out of here,” Weiss complained as she sat down, an unrepentant Ruby hopping onto her lap with a grin. Weiss grunted a little at the weight, as for as petite as she looked, the barbarian girl was all densely packed muscle, built lean and wiry for maximum speed and agility.

“Like anyone can take us,” Yang snorted. “I don't know about anyone else, but I'm feeling good tonight!”

Blake grabbed their drinks, a glass of mead for Ruby and red wine for Weiss, and soon all four clinked their glasses together. “To friends and family!” Ruby cried.

“To a job well done,” Blake added.

“To having fun,” Weiss put in.

“To being filthy stinkin' rich!” Yang crowed, and all four downed their drinks. “Hey Port, another round on us!"

“There's no way we're going to make it back in safety after this,” Weiss said. “And you'd better not dip into our haul to pay for all of this; we haven't even divvied it up yet.”

“Ugh, you are such a killjoy,” Yang groaned. “Come on, live a little! When are we ever gonna get this much again. And it wasn't even illegal!”

“Well, not very illegal, anyway,” Blake drawled. “I'm sure we broke some laws. You can barely breathe in Vale with pissing off some magistrate.”

Weiss hummed thoughtfully. “The tower was probably owned by someone, for all that it's been abandoned since the Grimm attack centuries ago. Furthermore, we are supposed to declare any salvage for tax purposes. So on at least two levels we broke the law.”

“Ugh, Vale sucks,” Yang groaned, before taking a swig of her ale. “Of course, I can't party like this back home. Even if I brought back this good've a haul somehow the elders would've just taken it to 'spend on the village' and I'd be expected to go right back out there.

“So not that different,” Weiss chuckled. “Except here, everyone's so corrupt that no one is going to report you for not following the law. It's just a matter of if you can keep your ill gotten gains.”

Hours later, drunk with success and alcohol, the four girls staggered out of Beacon and onto the filthy streets of Vale. Not even stepping over a mugged corpse could get Ruby down that evening. Nothing could distract her from how right everything felt.

When she'd first arrived in Vale five months before she'd been an outsider, a barbarian unable to understand or accept anything about the city she'd been warned about her entire life. The first person she'd made a real connection to, Weiss, hadn't really simplified things, as the beautiful woman had represented everything her people had looked down upon about the city folk.

But somehow, after those few short months, full of combat, wealth, deprivation, magic, fear, and joy, they had bonded more strongly than she ever thought she could with an outsider. She spent more time with Weiss than she did her own sister, despite both of them being in the same city. And somehow, she wouldn't change a thing.

“Hey, which way should we go?” Yang asked, as she casually slugged an opportunistic moron in the jaw. His head snapped around, teeth flying, before he collapsed bonelessly onto the ancient cobblestones.

After pausing to rob the thieves of the few coppers they had, Blake pointed down the street. “Ruby's place is closer.”

“It's my flat,” Weiss grumbled. “I'm the one who signed the contract for it."

“Ruby's sounds good,” Yang agreed. “Come on sis, let's go crash you're place and split some loot.”

Weiss grumbled a little, but Ruby could tell that it was mostly for appearances, and even that stopped when she moved close enough to rest her head on the other woman's shoulder. Weiss actually blushed a little, which Ruby found more than a little funny. Weiss had no shame at all about nudity or sex, but honest, public affection made her quite embarrassed.

Once Yang and Blake had dealt with the criminals who had seen or heard about their largesse and its probably cause at Beacon, they made good progress, soon arriving at Weiss's apartment building. Unlike the cheap flophouses and rundown hovels that populated most of the poorer part of town, it was a newly renovated building, one only two blocks from the nicer living spaces that surrounded the Great Market. Obviously the owner either expected for merchants to be bold enough to make the journey through the crime ridden streets in exchange for cheaper rent, or they thought that the market district would soon grow to encompass the building. Either way, it was far nicer than it had any right to be, and had been available for a price that they could (barely) afford.

Once Weiss had the door unlocked they entered the main living area, and without a word all four began to dump their sacks out in the center of the floor. Coins and small gems made up the bulk of the haul, but a variety of statuettes, jewelry, and idols joined the growing pile. It was an impressive display of wealth, and for all that gold had relatively little allure for her, even she felt herself caught up in the moment, drooling over enough wealth to buy her village.

“Weiss,” Yang said distantly.

“Yes?”

“Remind me to team up with you more often,” Yang sighed joyfully.

Weiss smirked, tossing her ponytail over her shoulder smugly. “Of course. A little bit of research, and enough muscle to make it through some Grimm infested ruins, and we have more money than we know what to do with.”

“Little bit of research?” Ruby asked. “Weiss, you've done nothing but plan this thing for weeks now. I was actually getting a bit worried.”

“Why would you be worried?” Blake asked. “A good score always requires careful planning.”

“'Cause I've never seen Weiss fret over this kinda thing before,” Ruby said. “Usually Weiss doesn't worry about money at all. It was more than a little odd.”

“This was a lot of money,” Blake said, patting her sack.

“Not as much as the snake guy had,” Ruby pointed out.

“No,” Weiss grunted, before smirking. “But this is gold in my home. There's a big difference.”

“Hell yeah, there is,” Yang crowed, scooping up a handful of gold coins and tossing them in the air. “We're rich!”

It was far too late at night when they finally finished splitting the money, and with the help of a few bottles of wine that Weiss had gleefully shared, Blake and Yang were in no condition to walk home, so she graciously let them sleep on her floor near the fireplace for the night. With their own fortune secured in sacks, Weiss and Ruby retreated to their bedroom, where, after a brief moment of thought, she dumped the sacks on the center of the bed.

“What are you doing?” Ruby asked with a giggle.

“Just a fantasy of mine,” Weiss said, removing Ruby's cloak and letting it fall to the floor. With deft, well practiced fingers she swiftly stripped Ruby completely naked, taking a moment to admire her strong, lean form. As she always did she leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to the scar she'd received fending off an assassin to save her life, before straightening up and shoving the barbarian back onto the bed.

“Hey! Ack!” Ruby complained. “That's cold.”

“If that's another ice queen joke,” Weiss grumbled as she straddled her lover.

“No, I mean, it's like, really cold,” Ruby said. “And kinda hard. And a little pointy.”

Weiss giggled like a child as she hovered over Ruby, sliding a hand through the gold and gems covering her bed. “Ah, come on. I've always wanted to make love in a pile of gold, and this is my chance. You're not going to say no, are you?”

Ruby just smiled up at her. “How much wine have you had to drink, anyway?”

She giggled again. “Way too much.”

Instead of replying Ruby pulled her down, and the two began to kiss, quickly growing heated as hands wandered. Eventually Ruby started trying to pull at Weiss's clothing, and she pulled back, standing from the bed.

“What?” Ruby panted.

“Just stay there,” Weiss said, before slowly, sensually beginning to remove her own clothing. She'd seen many, many dances put on to entertain crowds and rile up guests for more personal services, and while she'd never felt a need to put on such a show for a lover, she put every bit of her grace into it, the slight stumbles her drunkenness caused interfering very little with the display. Ruby's silver eyes were wide open, and Weiss grinned like the cat who caught the canary as she finally stripped the last item away, letting the silken undergarment drift to the ground.

She straddled Ruby again, but before she continued she spotted a piece of treasure sitting beside her lover. It was the appropriate size and shape, and with a wicked grin she picked it up, before leaning down and kissing Ruby again.

“Ack! Cold!”

Ruby wasn't sure what woke her up. Normally after so much mead and intimacy with Weiss she'd sleep the whole night through, but something pulled at her consciousness. It was a cold feeling, and at first she mentally blamed the treasure pile that Weiss had insisted they sleep on like they were legendary dragons. It wasn't quite that, however. The cold was deeper, in her heart, and she found herself shivering despite the blankets and warm body next to her.

Opening her eyes, she couldn't really see anything. It was dark, even darker than it should've been, as normally some dim light made it through the windows even deep in the heart of the night. She swallowed thickly, knowing on some level that something was wrong, although she couldn't put her finger on what. The same deep, primal sense that warned her when a dangerous beast was lurking about in the wilderness told her something was very, very wrong.

“Weiss, Weiss, wake up,” she whispered, still slowly turning her head from one side to the other as she tried to make out something in the pitch blackness. “Weiss.”

“Ughhhh,” Weiss groaned, shifting slightly closer and tossing a leg over her hip. “Again? You're starting to wear even me out.”

“Weiss, something's wrong,” Ruby whispered.

“Yeah, you're not asleep,” Weiss mumbled. “I promise, I'll do whatever you want… in the morning. Just need a… a little more sleep.”

“That's not… ugh,” Ruby groaned as Weiss fell back asleep. With a sigh she pushed her lover away, standing up stiffly and stumbling from the bed, coins and other valuables falling to the floor in a cascade of invisible gold. The sound seemed strangely dampened, however, as the heavy metal should've been louder falling more than a foot onto the wooden floor.

“I am never going to sleep on money again,” Ruby whimpered, rubbing her back and wincing when she dislodged a coin that had managed to embed itself into her flesh. No, she definitely wasn't doing that again, no matter how excited her weird fantasy had made Weiss.

It was hard finding her clothing in total darkness, especially since she'd been a bit distracted by Weiss while she'd stripped her. Once she finally had something on she reclaimed her battle scythe and carefully opened the door to the rest of the apartment, not wanting to risk walking in on her sister and Blake having their own celebration.

Instead, it was pitch black as well, but she could hear muffled snoring coming from the center of the room. “Blake? Yang?”

They didn't respond, even when she called again, and with her heart pounding in her throat she stumbled through the room, heading to where Weiss kept a candle for dark nights. Usually they navigated just fine by starlight, but sometimes her lover wanted to read in the evening, and she had to have something for that.

Normally finding the candle in the dark wouldn't have been difficult, but it felt like she was somehow being watched, like danger was all around her, ready to pounce. The longer she spent in that dark, quiet room, the more she felt vulnerable, like she was being hunted by an unknown predator. With unsteady hands she finally grasped the fine beeswax candle, a gift from herself to replace the stinky, smokey tallow Weiss had been using, and she pulled flint and steel from her pouch.

It was only as she tried to strike the tinder that she realized how badly her hands were shaking. She actually paused in her work in surprise, not quite able to believe it. It felt like it had been years since she'd had such a strong, useless reaction to fear, and yet here she was, shaking like a child on her first hunt. For the first time she was almost glad that it was dark, since it meant that no one could see her weakness.

After taking several long, deep breaths to gather herself Ruby finally regained her control, striking the flint and steel to produce strangely dull sparks. It took several tries, but finally the tinder took, and then the wick thereafter, lighting the candle.

It did almost nothing for the darkness. The large candle should've provided enough light to easily make out the room, but instead it seemed to be little more than a single point in the middle of a deep, dark blackness. She couldn't even see the walls of the room, and it was far from being so large as to make that reasonable.

Something was very, very wrong.

Ruby quickly, methodically searched the apartment. It wasn't very large, but with her light the way it was she had to take her time looking everywhere. Everything was as it should be, with no signs of intruders or anything else strange, other than the muffling of all sound and dampening of all light.

Yang and Blake were still asleep, which she supposed was strange in its own right. Yang was a heavy sleeper, but normally it was impossible to do anything without waking Blake up. Even a shift in the pattern of your breathing would cause her cat ears to twitch warily, but Ruby was able to crouch over her, burning candle in hand, without it disturbing her dreams.

With nothing wrong inside of the apartment, Ruby decided to check one last thing before waking up the others. Opening the door, she crept outside, looking about warily, before heading down to the street. While they were usually dark at night, with most honest citizens (for some meaning of the term) carrying lanterns if they had some business at that late of an hour, the stars and distant buildings usually gave enough illumination for her trained eyes to navigate the streets.

Instead Ruby looked around, frowning at the excessive dimness, before deciding to walk a bit to see where the dimming effect began and ended. She had only begun to walk when she spotted a body lying against the side of the building. She almost moved on, her time in Vale having conditioned her to ignore peopleliving or dead lying in the street, something that had been difficult to get used to after growing up in insular, tightly knit Patch. Without Weiss or Blake around to scold her for it, she decided to check on the person.

They were a woman of more than twice her years, with a face made up with powders and creams to seem younger, if poorly,something severely undermined by black streaks under her eyes. She was dressed in very little clothing, and from what Ruby could guess, were she younger and more attractive, the Weiss she had first met upon arriving in Vale would probably have paid for her services.

She also shouldn't have been passed out in the streets, without any sign of injury or intoxication causing her collapse. Ruby checked her pulse, and was relieved to find it, although it seemed slow, sluggish. She tried to shake her awake, but she didn't react at all, and it was then that she noticed something else odd. The black streaks, which she had assumed had come from tears mixing with kohl, were slimy and thick, and her eyes widened when she realized that their was a black streak on the wall behind her as well. It was hard to tell in the dim light, but if she had to guess, she'd say that the black ooze ran straight up the wall towards her window.

Ruby's fear sharpened, no longer seeming quite so baseless. She might've been able to dismiss her instincts crying out that something was wrong, or even somehow assumed that the muffling of sound and light were only in her head. But this was far more suspicious, and the only thing that kept her from running up the stairs was the burning candle in her hands, and how difficult it had been for her to light it in the first place.

As she hurried back towards the door she noticed two more bodies, this time a pair of laborers, tall and strong, collapsed near the street corner. While the woman may have been taking a break in the alley before continuing her walk or job, they were obviously taken by surprise, simply collapsing on the spot without a word. It was enough to make her speed up her step, using the arm holding her scythe to shield her candle as best as she could from the wind of her movement.

When she reached her door she paused for a moment, taking a deep breath, leaning her deployed battle scythe against her shoulder so that she could carefully open the door without setting down her candle. It creaked open, and the gloom within was somehow even thicker, more impenetrable than before. The candle barely seemed to do anything, but she could somehow see something moving in the dark.

“Yang? Blake? Weiss?”

There was no response, but she heard something shifting in the room. Jaw tightening, she stepped inside, carefully shutting the door before her, before raising her scythe, choking up her grip to provide control one handed. It was a poor way to fight, but without better lighting she had no choice.

She slowly made her way across the room, eyes darting about, her heart jumping every time she saw something move, but every time it was simply her eyes playing tricks on her. Every figure was a piece of furniture, every attacker was naught but a shadow shadow, every monster an illusion when examined properly in the dim light.

When she reached her sister she nudged her with a toe. “Yang. Yang… Yang!”

She didn't move, didn't react. Finally, Ruby looked down, only to gasp at what she saw. Trailing down her face were the same thick, slimy black trails, as something apparently poured from her eyes, before being drawn across the room in the direction of the bedroom. One final glance at Blake to verify the same thing, and she was moving towards the bedroom door, keeping one eye on the slime trail while looking around for danger.

She didn't even bother opening the door, simply kicking it open, the loud slam a barely audible thud. Looming over the bed, over Weiss, was the most hideous creature she had ever seen.

It was thin, with long, spindly limbs, the feet coming to a single, sharp point, while the arms ended in three long, slender claws. The rest of the body was like a human shadow, angular and distorted, but recognizable in form, with bony plates scattered here and there, notably a skull and ribs. The face was vaguely human in shape under the bone, with burning red coals for eyes, and a gaping, fang filled maw.

Without hesitating she lunged forward, swinging her scythe in a broad, desperate stroke, hitting nothing but air. Unfortunately, the fast motion made the candle gutter out to almost nothing, and she was reduced to standing perfectly still, knowing there was a monster in the dark, unable to do a thing to stop it. She tried to listen, tried to feel the motion of the air, or see something in the dim ember of candle light, but it was like being wrapped in a blanket of night. All was still, silent, and shadowed.

After far too long the candle finally stopped sputtering, and Ruby turned about looking for the monster once more. It was when she had turned halfway around that she saw it, the thing having moved behind her, ready to attack once more. She swung her scythe again, trying her best to shield the candle with her body, but once again the tiny light failed, and she could do nothing but stand still, desperately hoping to find it before it could attack her again.

Then she felt the claws dig into her back. She reacted instantly to the sneak attack, diving forward into a roll that ended with her swinging her scythe, and this time, finally, she made contact. The monster broke its silence with a loud, terrible screech, which tore through her, scraping her bones for marrow and hollowing out her heart, leaving nothing but ice and fear behind.

This time she could hear it moving, the dullness slightly receded, and she didn't even hesitate, dropping the now completely snuffed candle on the ground as she spun in place, swinging her scythe right towards where she was sure the monster was. She made contact once again, and this blow sheared through something, and a moment later she heard something thump onto the floor, before the shrieking renewed.

Unfortunately her next swing missed, and her follow up hit the wall, so she paused, holding her scythe in both hands, trying to slow her breathing as she listened for the monster once again. She almost lashed out when she heard another sound, only to pause as she recognized Weiss's voice, even if she couldn't hold onto the words passing through her ears and mind. She shuddered, the motion agitating the cut on her back, and then the room was finally illuminated.

Weiss, nude and beautiful as ever, crouched on the bed, her sword in hand covered in a pale, spectral blue flame. She looked weak, her hand trembling, unable to fully stand as she held the weapon as high as she could through her enervation, trying to provide the best light she could. Ruby could see the lines of black slime down her own face, as whatever had happened to the others has been done to her as well.

Then Ruby turned, reacting almost before she sensed it, swinging her scythe once more at the monster. It was looming behind her once more, its left hand missing from her earlier attack, and, finally able to see, Ruby aimed her swing directly towards its neck. The scythe cut through, and the head bounced away, breaking down into the same black ooze before turning into the oily, smokey fog of a dead Grimm, its body slowly following.

“Weiss!” Ruby shouted, lowering her scythe and turning to her lover. “Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah,” she rasped, raising a shaking hand to her face, rubbing away the slime with a look of disgust. “What the hell was that?”

Weiss had never felt so completely drained in her life. Not after performing all night magical rituals with Cinder and the others, not after the frantic, desperate sword training lessons her sister gave her before she left to become a mercenary, not even after the wild, week long benders that dragged her to half the houses of ill repute in the city trying to forget everything. It was as though every bit of energy had been ripped from her body, leaving nothing but exhaustion in its place.

She'd used what little energy she had left to cleanse and bind Ruby's injury, the process wearing her out so badly that her lover had been forced to dress her, as she could do little more than slowly shift her limbs by the time the process was complete. Ruby had, much to her protestations, actually carried her into the main room, where she set her on a large chair and lit several candles.

Blake and Yang stirred sluggishly, Blake finally sitting up and blinking dazedly around the room. She didn't even seem to the notice the slime on her face, her nearly vacant expression only gaining a little focus when she saw them. “Weiss… Ruby. What happened?”

“Grimm,” Ruby answered. “I've never seen anything like it.”

Blake blink a couple of times, before starting to stand only to collapse when her legs wouldn't support her weight. She blinked down at them, an expression of betrayal on her face, before looking back up at Ruby for answers.

“I don't know,” Ruby said. “Weiss's the same, and I think it wasn't just us. There were some people in the street the same way.”

Weiss gathered her strength for a moment, before speaking, her voice small and weak. “The Grimm must've gained strength by taking ours. Given enough time we'd be dead, and it probably would've expanded the area effected. This whole block probably would've died before anyone noticed if Ruby hadn't stopped it.”

“How come you weren't effected?” Blake demanded.

“I dunno,” Ruby said. “I just… woke up. When this whole thing started. Dunno know why.”

Weiss sighed, leaning back into her seat as Blake and Ruby talked. She was too tired to really maintain a conversation, but she hadn't wanted to lapse into silence while Ruby was obviously upset. She smiled slightly, glad for the diversion, as she let herself mentally drift.

She had managed to fall asleep again, only to awaken when the smell of cooking bacon filled the air. They rarely made their own food, with Weiss knowing nothing about how to do so, and Ruby being limited to roasting fresh game over a campfire, but Yang had somehow picked up some real cooking skills, and when she came back to herself it was to the sight of the exhausted blonde hunched over the fireplace, slowly poking at crisping bacon in a pan, bread sitting on the stone nearby to heat.

“You're awake!” Ruby said.

“Mmm,” she hummed. “Did anything happen?”

“Uh… good news or bad news?” Ruby asked, moving to sit beside her on the seat.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. “How bad?”

“Uh… we're all alive, so it could be worse news,” Ruby hedged.

Weiss frowned. “So, very bad news.”

“Kinda,” Ruby agreed with a wince.

Weiss groaned in dismay. “How about good news… then breakfast… then bad news.”

Yang chuckled. “Gotta recharge before the bad?”

“Well, the good news is we're all alive,” Ruby said brightly. “The Grimm's gone, and the longer they've been up the better they've been feeling.”

“Yeah, you really need to put some meat on those bones, Weiss,” Yang taunted. “You're the only one who fell back asleep.”

Weiss glowered at her, not even breaking her expression when the other woman handed her a plate of food. “I also helped Ruby deal with the Grimm, while you two slept right through it.”

“Details,” Yang dismissed.

As annoying as the woman was, she prepared a filling meal. The fresh, hot bread was slathered with honey and fruit preserves, and the bacon was crispy, just the way she liked it. After crunching on a piece she groaned ecstatically. “Alright… you get to live.”

“How kind of you,” Blake drawled, although Weiss noticed she hadn't even looked up from her own breakfast.

Once they were all finished, Weiss leaned back against Ruby, a smile on her face as she finally felt a bit more human. “Okay, so what's the bad news.”

“Um… maybe it's better if you see for yourself.”

“See for myself?”

“Yeah… why don't you check our room.”

It was another typical night at Beacon, with Weiss nursing her red wine while Ruby sipped at her mead. Blake and Yang had gone elsewhere for the evening, probably driven off by Weiss's smoldering temper. Even most of a day after finding out the truth, her lover still wasn't over it.

“I can't believe it was all trash,” Weiss grumbled again.

Ruby chuckled. “Well, you know… easy come, easy go.”

Weiss glared at her, before sighing and slumping against the table. “But there was so much!”

The golden treasures they'd taken from the abandoned tower had turned out to be anything but valuable. With the Grimm cursing it dead, the treasure had turned out to be nothing but corroded scraps, rusty iron, and broken clay and pewter bits. Weiss hadn't been able to determine whether the fake treasure and associated Grimm had been an intentional trap placed by the tower's former owner, or if it had been something put together by the Grimm seeking gullible treasure hunters to prey upon, but either way they had been left with nothing.

“What's really bothering you?” Ruby asked.

“What do you mean?” Weiss asked, her back tensing slightly.

“Weiss, you're the one who taught me what 'easy come easy goes' means,” Ruby pointed out. “Usually you're the first one to shrug that kinda stuff off. So why're you so upset now?”

Weiss was quiet for a long time, before finally sighing. “You know our apartment?”

“Uh huh,” Ruby hummed. “What about it?”

“Before… before we moved in together… before we got together, I didn't have anything beyond what I could carry,” Weiss said. “Just a belt pouch of money, the clothes on my back, and my ancestral sword. Otherwise, I would fight or steal to fill my pouch, and then find someone's bed to sleep in for the night. It's been… years since I've had a room that required a lease. I haven't… I haven't had a home since I left Schnee Manor.”

“What's wrong with that?” Ruby asked.

“Everything,” Weiss sighed. “And nothing. I guess… I was used to a lifestyle once, where I had roots, and books, and fancy candles, and staff cooking me meals, and a warmed bed ready for me at night. All with a steady roof over my head and no risk of losing it all. Well, no risk until I chose to throw it away. Then I had nothing to lose, but that meant I had nothing at all. I was rudderless, alone in crowds, with nothing to depend on, and nothing depending on me.

“But now… I don't want that anymore. I want a life with you. With a home, and a bed, and the security not to need to run when things go wrong. Money… money had no value to me when my family had so much of it, and no value to me when I needed no more than I could take in a day. But now… now I don't want to risk losing this… this life we're building.”

“I had no idea,” Ruby said, taking her hand. “This has been really bothering you, hasn't it?”

“It should bother you, too,” Weiss said. “Vale chews up and spits people out. That was fine when I didn't care what happened to me tomorrow, but I don't want that anymore. I want… I want a tomorrow, not just a today. And a tomorrow requires more than odd jobs and petty crimes.”

“Then we'll find more.”

“It's not that simple,” Weiss said.

Ruby grinned at her. “It's only not simple if you make it not simple. Besides, even if something does go wrong, I know how to live in the forest with nothing at all. We'll figure out how to get by, I promise.”

“Dolt,” Weiss said, rolling her eyes.

“Hey, who's worrying about silly stuff here,” Ruby said. “You know, you should share this stuff with me. We're in this together, you know? You don't have to worry alone.”

“I- huh,” Weiss said, leaning back in her seat. “I suppose you're right.”

“Of course I am,” Ruby said with a grin. “Now, how 'bout I get us another round of drinks, and then we can figure out what we can do next, since I guess we have to pay money to that landlord guy every month.”

“Sure,” Weiss said with a smile. “Together.”

[revisitingstoneybrook]

#68 Jessi and the Bad Babysitter: Chapter 2

A different take on the usual Chapter 2. Also, Kristy’s a bitch.

5:25 and Mrs. Wilder's already calling for a sitter. KRISTY SAYS NO! Mrs. Wilder has broken Rule #3 of the BSC: you must NEVER call for a sitter any other time than 5:30-6 on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. What’ll her punishment be...will they raise their rate for the Wilders? Though considering what they already charge, it’ll probably just be by like three cents.

Kristy tells her to call back and Claudia, who's opening up a big bag of chips (wonder where she hid them...knowing her, probably in her pillow case, so they're all crushed now), says that the BSC is really busy now, considering that school's started.

This is an unconventional Chapter 2. We still get the usual crap about everyone but rather than get it all done at once, each girl does something that segues into Jessi's description. Kristy proclaims the BSC is very well-known now (her brainwashing methods are really working) and let's skip the Kristy description because there's nothing new in it. Geez, Watson the Millionaire isn't even a real, live millionaire here! He's just a millionaire! Oh and Jessi says Kristy doesn't look dynamic. How dare you not proclaim your admiration and respect for your club president! And I don't see how it's marvelous that she invented the appointment book. That seems like a necessity that any club would need. Unless you're the We <3 Kids Club.

5:27 and Kristy is already bitching that no one else is there. Calm the fuck down, Kristy! Jessi says Aunt Cecilia would call Kristy a “stickler for punctuality.” More like “consider yourself lucky that she doesn't gouge your eyes out like Oedipus if you show up a minute late.” Though her Look has been known to bend spoons and make curly hair go straight. Why do you think Stacey always needs perms?

Another minute passes and Kristy looks like she's ready to cut a bitch. Claudia tells her to chill out, then goes back to digging through her dresser drawer and finds a pack of frosted cupcakes she hid there. I'll skip Claudia's stuff, except for an outfit description, yay!

“For example, today she was wearing an oversized white shirt under a black vest covered with a design of shiny beads. (She sewed the beads on it herself). She wore neon green leggings and black ballet slippers (on which she'd sewn a matching bead design). From one of her pierced ears hung a dangling earring made from the same beads and on the other ears she wore a small green hoop earring.”

For Claudia, that's a relatively normal outfit. Though where's her third earring? And how comfortable would it be walking around all day in ballet slippers? I thought for a minute it might just be ballet flats, until I saw she had sewn stuff onto it. And wait...Jessi says Claudia does calligraphy? Oh, the irony. I can just picture her invitations now: “Yoo ahr kordally cordeally invitid to a BSC partey!”

5:29. Claudia's nomming cupcakes, smoke is pouring out of Kristy's ears. “It's five-twenty-nine. I don't understand this.” Shut up, Kristy. Stacey then walks in, making it on time. She says she was at a sitting job at the Arnolds and that Mrs. Arnold came back late from getting a perm. And she can totally relate, you guys! Would Kristy be a big enough bitch to yell at Stacey for coming to a meeting late from a sitting job? Yes. Yes, she would. And nothing new about Stacey.

5:30! Kristy calls for order and Mary Anne runs in. Three seconds late! Twenty lashes for you! Mary Anne was also at a sitting job for the Rodowskys and as she was leaving, Jackie (of course) knocked over a huge bottle of root beer, so she helped Mrs. Rodowsky clean up, since she's so nice! She should consider herself lucky that she came back from the Rodowskys in one piece. And nothing new about Mary Anne. Or Logan. Or Shannon. Poor Shannon, downgraded to one little paragraph!

Mallory comes in then, late. Uh oh! A Look from Kristy makes the lenses of her glasses shatter. Mallory slumps down next to Jessi and says she fell asleep as soon as she came home from school. Oh, foreshadowing to the next book when she gets mono!

Mary Anne and Jessi are concerned that she might be sick but Mallory says she doesn't feel sick, just tired. Stacey chalks it up to being overworked from all the babysitting. And then we get this lovely gem from Kristy:

“It's pretty clear to me that we have a problem. And her name is Mallory! Why did you join again? Every one of us is running late or over-sleeping because we have too much to do. We're trying to fit too much in.”

Oh my god, calm the fuck down, Kristy! What do you want everyone to do, start ditching school so they have more time to do stuff? The only one who would be willing to do that would be Claudia.

Stacey asks if they're going to replace Dawn and Kristy says she isn't sure. “What will happen to the new member when Dawn returns? Seven main members is plenty. Eight would be too many. We can't just ask someone to leave in six months.” Translated: “I don't want to bring in a normie because any one else who isn't in the BSC is inept and would let kids play outside with no mittens on.”

But, Kristy? The club is overbooked and overworked. You can't just keep expecting Shannon and Logan to pick up the slack. Either bring one of them up to temporarily replace Dawn and bring in another associate member (nothing wrong with 3 associate members) or just bring in someone else, for the sake of everyone's sanity.

At that moment, Mrs. Wilder calls back, followed by Dr. Johanssen and a whole mess of other people. And Mallory falls asleep. Of course, Mallory's the one who gets sick. Everyone hates Mallory.

[psychosistr]

FOWL Facets- Chapter 1

Summary: After going missing for more than a day, Steelbeak’s team finally gets word from the missing gem and goes to pick him up, but something seems..off.

Notes: This is fic number two for my 100 Follower Fic Giveaway! This one is for the anon who requested something with Steelbeak and @eleanorose123 / @thefriendlyfour ‘s awesome OC, Dominic Domino, in the Steven Universe!AU (Fearsome Facets) that I’ve been working on with @abbythegamergirl . As a special bonus, I also got to use @deldraws19 ‘s wonderful OC Loony Toony for this story! ^.^ Enjoy!

Daily life continues as it usually does for the organic creatures of the planet Earth. They go to work or school, eat, sleep, and live out their dull, short lives. All of them completely and blissfully unaware of the creatures prowling about their world and blending in among them- some for noble reasons such as to protect the planet, some for more sinister motives such as its destruction, and even more who walk the line between the two sides for their own benefit while hiding in the shadows.

This is a tale following those who work from the shadows, unaligned in the fight of good and evil…

Slowly circling the Earth, hidden high above the clouds and beyond the detection of standard Earth-based scanners, a black ship flies unseen through the skies. The surface of the ship is sharp and angular, looking similar to an obsidian arrowhead with four wings/thrusters sprouting from the back to form a sideways X shape along the flatter back end of the ship. It’s dark, reflective coating looks as if the whole thing were carved from a single large stone rather than many pieces of metal like most ships native to the planet- the only exceptions to its deep black color being speckles of white along the undercarriage of the ship and an angular red windshield on the front. The dark material works to its favor, however, letting it blend in with the starry sky behind it and giving it a natural camouflage with its surroundings.

Within the cockpit of the ship, amongst the many red and white panels with their hologram-projected interfaces, a small panel on the dash lights up with a pinging sound. A hand with brown feathers and black fingerless gloves taps the panel, bringing up a large hologram of the planet in white with a single, small, glowing black point pulsing on it.

“Steelbeak’s beacon just came back online.” A female voice says while the gloved hands zoom in on the black point of the hologram.

“Confirm that it’s actually him and double check for any other gems in the area.” A male voice commands from the other side of the hologram, red eyes watching closely as the image zooms in on the black point.

“Way ahead of you.” The female voice from earlier responds. Once the hologram-map is zoomed in far enough, it changes to an image of a single figure outlined in black standing on its own in a large, open field. “No other gems on the radar..” A gloved hand taps the image of the figure, bringing up a square bubble of text in a language consisting mostly of glyphs. “Andradite garnet..subset, black melanite..ball cut..yeah, that looks like Steelbeak.”

“Hm..” The red eyes narrow slightly, looking closely at the black-outlined hologram. “Go pick him up, but keep an eye out for any traps. I want to know why he went off the grid without contacting us first.”

“On it.” The female voice responds, a pair of gloved hands coming down to an extra-wide red panel and moving over it to steer the ship.

Red eyes stay fixed on the hologram, the male voice speaking quietly. “What have you been up to, Steelbeak…?”

______________________________________________________

A being perfectly matching the hologram from earlier waits patiently in the middle of a flat, open field miles away from any nearby towns. It appears to be a tall rooster with a large red comb, green tail feathers, and, interestingly enough, a rather dangerous looking, jagged, metallic beak. He’s dressed rather classy for someone standing in the middle of a dirty field, wearing black slacks with a red button up shirt, a black bowtie, a white suit jacket, and black patent leather oxfords with white spats. On the left side of his chest, where one would normally see a pocket square or boutonniere, is a gleaming black ball-cut melanite gemstone.

“Geez, what’s taken ‘em so long..?” He grumbles to himself while pulling back his left sleeve to check what, at first, looks like a regular black wrist watch, but actually displays a small radar-like hologram of two black points steadily getting closer to each other. The clouds parting above him draws his attention up towards the sky. “About time..” At first it’s hard to see anything against the starry backdrop, but, after moving lower, it becomes easier to see the outline of the black ship against the re-forming clouds. It gets close enough for the bottom hatch to open and extend a ramp, the melanite climbing on board. He looks around once he’s inside and the hatch has closed behind him, tapping his knuckles against one of the nearby walls as he ventures further into the ship. “Hey, anyone home?”

The ship is loaded with plenty of control consoles, interactive panels, and devices built into the walls and ceilings of the ship, but is fairly sparse on things like furniture and decorations. In fact, the first decorative thing that he spots is a tall shelving unit built into one of the walls. The shelves have what looks like a translucent white energy barrier in front of them, presumably to keep the various small colorful objects (mostly toys, it would seem) from falling off and onto the floor. Seemingly curious about the shelves and the out of place items on it, the melanite moves in for a closer look.

“Hehe~” A giggle echoing through the room, however, stops him in his tracks.

“??” The melanite looks around, searching for the source of the laughter. “Hello..?”

“Hehe~” Another giggle, that time coming from behind him.

“?!” He turns to look, but sees nothing. He hears the sound of movement from somewhere behind him and starts to walk backwards to get away from it. When he finally turns back around to face where he’s going, however, he’s met with large, black and white eyes directly in front of his own.

“Boo!” The excitedly smiling black beak just beneath (above, from his perspective) the black and white eyes says before sticking a white tongue out at him playfully.

“What the-?!” The rooster, startled by the surprise appearance of the face in front of him, tries to take a step back but ends up slipping on a small stuffed blue teddy bear lying on the ground. “Woah!” He falls down onto the ground, rubbing his head after he lands with a thud. “Oof…that’s gonna smart…”

“Whoopsie! Sorry, Steely!” The person hanging from the ceiling begins to reorient herself, moving so that she’s right-side-up before dropping down onto the ground from her previous hiding spot on the ceiling. Doing so reveals her to be another gem like him, though in her case she has a smooth heart-cut black spinel gemstone in the center of her chest over her black and white-striped long-sleeved shirt. She has matching stripes along her legs with everything else she’s wearing- a pair of gloves, her slightly platformed shoes, a puffy pair of pocketed suspender shorts, the round cloth bindings between her torso and her arms, and a hairband holding her hair up into a ponytail- are all grey with the shorts, overalls, and main part of the shoes being a lighter shade while the hairband, gloves, soles of her shoes, bindings on her arms, and the buttons and pockets on her overall shorts are all the same shade of darker grey. Once her unusually long arms are detangled from the various wires and beams of the ceiling, she reaches down to offer the melanite a hand up. “You okay?”

He takes the offered hand and pulls himself back up to his feet. “Eh, nothing scuffed or cracked, so I’ll live.”

“Oh, goodie!” Knowing that he wasn’t injured seems to be all the go-ahead she needs to start laughing, her earlier smile returning full-force. “I haven’t gotten you that good in a while! You should’ve seen the look on your face!”

“Yeah, yeah, that was pretty funny.” The melanite’s slightly forced smile contradicts his words, but the spinel ignores him as she begins stretching her body around him- elongating her neck so she can peek around his shoulder from behind while her hands start poking and prodding at his pockets. “Um..whatcha doin’, doll?”

She stretches her neck further so that her face moves around in front of his. “You promised you’d bring me something, remember? You didn’t forget, right??” She begins to pout, looking disappointed by the lack of objects in his pockets.

He rubs the back of his head with a slight frown. “Oh, geez…sorry, somethin’ came up and I didn’t get the chance. My bad..”

“Awwwww…” Her entire body seems to deflate with the disappointing news, her elongated limbs and neck drooping down to the ground while her head remains upright in the air.

The melanite frowns a bit more at the sad look on the spinel’s face and pats her on the head. “Tell ya what? I’ll getcha three next time t’ make it up to ya. Sound good?” He offers her a smile to go along with his words.

“Really?!” She perks back up instantly, her limbs and neck snapping back into place as she gives him an excited smile.

“Sure thing.” He promises with a grin of his own at her renewed energy.

“Yay! Thanks, Steely!” The spinel throws her arms around the melanite in a big hug, the long limbs stretching so they can wrap and coil around him three times over. “You’re the best!”

“Heh, no problem.” He winces slightly from the tightness of the embrace. “Say, you seen Domino? I gotta talk t’ him ‘bout somethin’.”

“Oh, Dommy’s in his room.” She unwinds her arms from around him and points down one of the ship’s hallways. “Said he got a call from High Command.”

“Ah, cool.” He gives her another pat on the head before walking down the indicated hall. “Thanks, sweetheart.” He calls over his shoulder with a wave, not looking back at her.

“No problemo-!” She almost walks off, but stops and does a double-take, watching the melanite disappear down the corridor with a confused expression on her face. “Wait, ‘sweetheart’??” Keeping her eyes on him, she stretches her arms up to the beams on the ceiling and blends in with them once again.

The melanite continues towards his destination, unaware of the confusion from the spinel regarding his choice of words. As he passes one of the rooms, the door opens up and he bumps into someone right as they come out of what appears to be the ship’s control room.

“Hey, watch it!” The person he bumped into turns out to be another gem, this one looking like a brown-feathered female chicken with short dark hair. Her outfit is pretty casual, consisting of a black shirt with torn sleeves, ripped black jeans, black and white sneakers, black fingerless gloves, and what appears to be a white lab coat tied around her waist. As she rubs her head, the black gemstone on her left shoulder catches the light- at a glance, one could be forgiven for seeing it as just a regular black stone, but, as it refracts the lights overhead, the white star in the center appears, revealing it to be a round black and white star-sapphire. She looks up at the melanite she bumped into and rolls her eyes. “Steelbeak…why am I NOT surprised..?” She asks sarcastically.

The melanite helps her to her feet. “Sorry ‘bout that, toots.” He nods his head in the direction he was going before he bumped into her. “Domino’s still in his room, right?”

“……” The star-sapphire eyes him with an unreadable expression after he helps her up. “Yeah, I think so. He should be finishing up his call with High Command soon.”

“Good to know, thanks.” He continues on his way, unaware of the suspicious gaze following him as he walks away.

He walks to the end of the hall and looks at the five doors, each one imprinted with a different gem on the front: The first one on the right has a round black and white star-sapphire on it. The one right next to it has a heart-shaped black spinel. The first one on the left has a black ball-cut melanite. The one next to it has a step-cut black and white snowflake obsidian. The gem on the final door, located on the wall between the two sides of the hall, has been shot at, burned, and shredded so badly that the gem on it is no longer recognizable- all that remains are a few traces of blue between the bullet holes and gauges in the material.

Finding the door that he’s looking for, the melanite knocks twice on the one with the snowflake obsidian on the front.

“It’s open.” A voice from within calls, sounding distracted.

Activating the small panel beside the door, the melanite calmly walks in. “Hey, Dom.” He greets the room’s only occupant with a quick wave.

The gem in question is a loon with striking red eyes and a step-cut black and white snowflake obsidian on the right side of his chest. Unlike the other two gems on the ship, his outfit could be considered a bit more refined, consisting of a white collared shirt under a black buttoned-up vest, a red bow tie, a white hat with a red band holding a small domino in place, and a long white coat that went down to just past his white leg feathers with a red inner-lining, a domino on each shoulder, an unclasped red belt with a white buckle, and a pattern along the bottom featuring large black lines that were each topped with a black circle.

“Hm..?” The snowflake obsidian had been busy reading something on a datapad when the other gem walked in. Seated at a small two-person table built into the left wall of the tastefully decorated room, he looks up when he hears the melanite’s greeting. He cocks an eyebrow at the taller gem, setting the datapad aside for the time being. “Since when do you knock?”

The melanite just shrugs, stepping further into the room and letting the door close behind him. “Heard you was takin’ a call from High Command, didn’t wanna interrupt anythin’ important.”

“That’s never stopped you before.” Domino gets up from his seat, looking the other gem over slowly. “Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, mind telling me why you suddenly decided to deactivate your beacon and have been ignoring our calls for the past twenty-eight hours?”

“Eh, just ran into a bit of trouble.” He shrugs again, leaning against the wall casually. “Nothin’ I couldn’t handle.”

Domino crosses his arms, giving the other gem a mild glare. “If you ‘run into trouble’, you’re supposed to call us immediately. Code 67, remember? ‘All F.O.W.L. agents operating in teams of two or more are to call for backup to neutralize any threats above Class 2.’ Considering you had to go dark for more than a day, I’d say that threat fell far above a Class 2.” He watches the melanite closely, stern eyes picking him apart with their sharp gaze.

“Like I said, it wasn’t anythin’ I couldn’t handle- no need t’ get you an’ the ladies involved.” The melanite waves off the reminder and the stern glare, not noticing the way the other gem’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Anyway, we’ve got bigger things t’ worry about.” He looks down at Domino, his previous demeanor changing to something more serious. “I found somethin’ big you’re gonna wanna see for yourself…but I don’t think we can take the others with us for this one.”

“Oh?” Domino’s eyebrow raises again in a look of curiosity. “We have to go without Loony and Gandra? That does sound serious. Where exactly are we going?”

“Can’t talk about it here.” He says with a shake of his head. “Let’s just grab one of the backup pods, I know the way.”

Domino walks closer, pulling back the sleeve on his right arm to reveal a black watch similar to the one the melanite checked earlier in the field. “Just a moment, I got a message from High Command earlier and they wanted me to make sure everyone else got it.” He pushes a button on the screen shaped like a star-sapphire. “Gandra, I got a message regarding a possible Code Zultanite. Did you?”

The voice of the star-sapphire from earlier is heard through the watch’s speakers. “Yeah, I got that message. Loony?”

An image of a heart-shaped spinel appears on the screen as the spinel from earlier can be heard now. “Code Zulta- ohhhh! Yep! I got that too!”

“Good to know we’re all on the same page.” Domino walks over to the door and puts his hand on a small panel next to it, opening the door up quickly. “Now that that’s out of the way..” He doesn’t finish his statement- instead, he raises one hand and a white barrier forms in front of him. He then thrusts his hand forward, sending the barrier crashing into the melanite with a great deal of momentum that sends him flying out of the room.

“!!!” The melanite hits the closed door on the other side of the hall, wincing from the impact. “Hey, what’s the big ide-?!” He ducks just in time to avoid a burst of flames aimed directly at his head. “Woah!” He scrambles to get out of the way of another shot of fire, running down the hall to avoid the attack.

Domino follows him out into the hall, a pistol held in his right hand. “Oh, I think you know what the ‘big idea’ is…or do I have to make it even clearer for you?” He brings his left hand to the gem on his chest, the stone glowing as he pulls a second gun identical to the first out of his gem. He aims and fires the second gun at the floor below the retreating gem’s feet right as the barrel turns an icy blue, a bullet of the same color hitting the ground and freezing it over with a smooth sheet of ice.

“Ack!” The melanite slips and falls over, wincing again when he hits the ground. He isn’t given long to linger on the sensation, though, as he’s forced to quickly roll to the side to avoid a yellow bullet sparking with electricity that had been aimed right at his head. “Stars!” He swears under his breath, getting to his feet again once he’s off of the icy patch and trying to run while keeping an eye on the snowflake obsidian.

Unfortunately, this proves to be a mistake for him, as he doesn’t notice the black and white striped leg stretching across the floor in his path until it’s too late. The spinel from earlier stretches down from the ceiling and gives the melanite a light shove with her hand. “Tag, you’re it!” She laughs as he ends up tripping over her leg.

“Not yet, Loony.” The star-sapphire from earlier is standing over him when he lands on the ground, taking off one of her gloves. With the black fabric gone, dark lines that look like circuitry wired into her palm are revealed. “Now he’s it.” The lines on her hand light up right before she touches his face.

A powerful bolt of white electricity goes through the melanite’s body, making him spasm and twitch before everything goes dark…

Next Chapter-> End Notes: Keeping the first chapter fairly short to help with the pacing and properly establish each of the characters :)

Fun side note- I wanted to make Steelbeak and Domino part of a team as a mirror to the main story that focuses mostly on the Fearsome Four with occasional appearances from the Crystal Ducks (Darkwing, Launchpad, Gizmoduck, and Gosalyn). Both of the other main teams for the series were in groups of four, so I thought it would be fitting to make a F.O.W.L. team too :D Gandra was someone I’d already thought of putting on the team because I liked her DT17 design and already mentioned her before in the character bios along with Steelbeak.

When trying to figure out who would be the best option for the final member of the team, I remembered @thefriendlyfour ‘s and @deldraws19 ‘s pictures of Domino and Loony and felt like she would be a perfect fit that perfectly balances the group on multiple levels: Her cheerful disposition serves as a counterbalance for how sarcastic or cynical the others can get sometimes. Like Gandra, she’s a gem that doesn’t have a weapon of her own since she was never made to be a battle gem, but her stretchy, impenetrable body acts as a weapon in and-of-itself, similar to how Gandra uses the electrified white gem-destabilizers in her hand as a way to fight despite her purpose. I also really liked the balance of short to mid-range attacks she would be capable of in combat and enjoyed the idea that the girls (Gandra and Loony) on the team would be more of the up-close brawlers while the guys (Domino and Steelbeak) would be more of the mid to long-range fighters with their weapons. Add to all of this the fact that her and Domino have a sibling-like relationship AND that she would be someone who knew him back when he was with Checkers and there’s no way I could resist asking Del for permission to use this awesome character and I am so so SO glad I did because she works so well off of everyone else!

[toviitaffee]

A Day Out

Author’s notes : Chapter three of The Magical Orphanage AU! Kind of a filler but it does has a thing or two I had to establish or foreshadow. Have fun reading!

Summary : In a world of magic, fairies and dragons, misfortune find us at every step. So how, pray tell, are the lost and abandoned supposed to live when no one else will care for them? It’s quite simple really. They can head to the Brookden Orphanage, there they will be taken in with open arms.

A few weeks have past and it is finally time for Virgil to join the others in helping around the orphanage. Task one? A shopping trip with Logan.

Pairings : Implied romantic Remile, everything else will be platonic because THEY ARE CHILDREN BETWEEN 4 AND 7

Warnings : Mention of Orphanages. Description of panic attacks kinda.

Word count : 1946

AO3 link

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Usually, the winding streets of the market place weren't where young children would be found. Sure, it wasn’t uncommon to see children in the workplace but for one reason or another the market just didn’t have them. Maybe it was a result of several fairy tales about shady merchants who took children away, never to be seen again or the simple mistrust towards a child’s ability to be responsible with money. The latter point made a lot less sense considering that many of said youth are trusted with much more dangerous tools than money but adults really aren’t all that logical when it truly comes down to it. At least Logan said so when Virgil asked why the amount of children seemed to go down the closer they were to the colourful stalls filled with various intriguing items with a fascinating smell of mixed herbs, food and fabrics amongst many other things. A smell was actually the nice way to put it. It was more of a stench which would linger for days on end.

It seemed that Logan and Virgil were the only children with enough courage to enter this mysterious land of overwhelming senses. Well, Logan was the brave one, Virgil was simply already committed to helping Logan, he couldn’t just say he can’t do it. For all he knew, that would make Logan disappointed in him and he really wanted to avoid not meeting the expectations of someone who the younger boy already managed to get so close to. He didn’t want to lose Logan’s calm demeanour and logic that always managed to calm him down throughout the few weeks that Virgil spent at the orphanage. So Virgil pushed past the fear by grabbing onto Logan’s hand and using the excuse that he didn’t want to get lost in the crowd.

The crowd itself was a view to behold. People swiftly sliding in between each other, like the rush of a river if it could flow in more than one direction at a time. The better way to describe it would probably be to compare it to the air that constantly swivelled around them. The chatter reached far and wide yet not much of it was anything that Virgil could understand as it all just blurred into one loud buzz of noise. Various colours and fabrics kept brushing past the two boys. A dull blue skirt there, a pale green coat here, or maybe the various grays of sweeping cloaks of different lengths all around. It was a lot. Virgil found that maybe there was another potential reason why children didn’t dare enter the market. Maybe they were just smart enough to avoid getting crushed like a snail beneath all these trampling feet. Adults always claim to be oh so more organised than children yet Virgil couldn't help muttering that the children at the orphanage, those who were supposed to be the most disorganised of all, could manage to be more sensible than the shoppers and vendors around them.

“Ah, so we share that sentiment huh?” Logan murmured back to the unsuspecting Virgil. The younger boy didn’t think he was heard but one look at Logan said that maybe he shouldn’t have been as worried about speaking his mind. After all, if Logan was smiling, that meant there’s no way he said anything wrong.

“Adults are peculiar creatures, even if they are simply our older counterparts. Then again, hardly any of them are properly educated, shame really but that is the world we live in unfortunately,” Logan added after a little while, adjusting his glasses and facing ahead once more and tugging gently at their intertwined hands to keep on going.

“Why are we here anyway? I mean, Emile probably explained but I got a bit… distracted and it would be nice to know what to keep my eyes peeled for, right?” The younger boy enquired, tugging at the strings of his own cloak with his free hand. ‘Distracted’ was one word to describe what happened. He doesn’t really remember how he got from the main room where Emile was giving out chores to about a ten minute walk from the market. It’s a good thing that Logan isn’t one for constant chatter like Patton because it was easy to slowly adjust to his consciousness again without alerting anyone about being sort of gone in the first place. The worst part about the entire experience is that he is aware of what happened, of the sounds and sights, they just make very little sense in context to time. It was something that was difficult to explain even to himself. That and the pressure on his chest and constant shivers that ran across his body even now despite it being relatively warm.

“Just some writing equipment, a few herbs for the stores, fresh produce and the like. Oh and a gift for Annalease, she’s one of the older girls and she’s leaving the orphanage tomorrow,” Logan listed off, glancing at a piece of paper he pulled out of one of his many pockets. Much to Virgil’s relief, he didn’t even mention anything about the boy’s distant mind. Virgil had a feeling that Logan knew though, regardless of what he said or rather didn’t say. The older boy had that sort of look in his eye that wasn’t quite concern but it definitely hid some sort of knowledge and feeling about Virgil’s state from a few minutes ago. Nonetheless, Virgil was extremely grateful it wasn’t brought up now. He was also starting to understand why some people thought that Logan held some magical power. It sometimes seemed as if the older boy could actually read minds when in reality he was just extremely observant of the most miniscule details.

“Alright!” Virgil said, some of the fear having turned into excitement along the way. It didn’t negate the slight tremor in the boy’s voice. No, that didn’t seem to be getting away for another while yet. “Isn’t this usually Remy’s job though? Going out to buy things?” Virgil added the question after a few moments of silence between the two. His heterochromatic eyes looking up to meet with the ocean blue ones that belonged to Logan.

“It is, however Remy doesn’t always have time to do this so sometimes one of us, usually me for some reason, does the shopping. As far as I’m aware, Remy is trying to see if he can find any information as to where you are from and why you were in the river,” Logan explained, his eyes then narrowing as he struggled to see a far away object even with the spectacles over his eyes. When the eyes widened to a normal level once more, the two boys changed their direction, signalling that Logan found one of the things on their list. Virgil simply nodded in response. He was extremely curious about why Remy was still bothering trying to find out anything about him. The past two times either he or Emile tried to find answers only brought on more questions. Mainly, there was the biggest one they were all aware of from the beginning of this whole situation. Did Virgil possess any magical ability. Funnily enough, that would give a lot more answers than his name or appearance which were already unique enough. Basically every adult in the land knows that those with potential to become powerful mages are most likely of noble birth and those who don’t hold a shred of magical intuition like Logan tend to be as far away from the nobility as possible. Then again, using Logan and his biological line as an example again as he was from a quite favourable family that was just a step away from nobility, it doesn’t always follow that rule. Exceptions will always exist in nature.

Virgil got quite caught up in his thoughts. So much so that he almost ran into Logan’s back when he came to a stop over a stall filled with various gemstones. This wasn’t specifically on the list meaning they stopped there for Annalease and her parting gift. Virgil’s eyes ran over the gems. There were so many of them, all varying in colour size and shape. It didn’t seem like there were any two gems alike. Some looked like they could probably cut him quite deeply if he wasn’t careful and others were probably smoother than anything he could possibly think of.

“What’s Annalease’s favourite colour?” Virgil asked, glancing between Logan and the gems, “I think I know some of their meanings and associations and meaningful gifts are the best kind of gift,” he added soon after. Logan looked down at Virgil with an eyebrow raised in curiosity. After all, gemstone meanings aren’t exactly common knowledge.

“Green or blue.Truth be told I can never tell with that woman so it could be different,” Logan answers with a sigh but that’s all that Virgil needed to look across the table and point at a bluish green shaped gem the size of a small button. Logan nodded to the vendor to enquire about the details of the stone. After all, it’s not like they could spend a fortune they didn’t really have on one person.

“Good eye child, Alexandrites are quite well received with women with how their colour changes. Fascinating, right?” The man said with a raspy voice that was probably one of the consequences of being in the sales business. Virgil nodded in agreement, his eyes shining with a new kind of passion that Logan had yet to see.

“Mmhm! And they have a really cool meaning too! It’s intuition, creativity and imagination, right?” Virgil chatted to the man before Logan could even try to speak again. “Huh, that kind of sounds like Roman, it’ll suit Annalease well then considering they are freakishly similar in personality,” the boy added quietly, the words meant for Logan this time rather than the vendor. There was something about the way Virgil said that that implied there was something else he wanted to say. The man was nodding at the boy once he fell silent again but after that Virgil didn’t pay attention to the conversation between Logan and the man which did thankfully result in a new necklace for their fellow orphan.

Soon, the boys moved on in silence, Logan’s concern visible on his face yet Virgil was oblivious to it. He was in his own world, not here but not quite anywhere else at the same time. This resulted in a decision being made to drag the two of them into a more quiet part of the market where Virgil could sit down for a minute.

“Is everything alright, Virgil?” Logan enquired, sitting down next to Virgil and passing some water he brought with him for the journey to the boy. Virgil didn’t protest the silent command to drink, taking a few sips before passing it back to Logan and shrugging his shoulders.

“It’s just… I know that someone taught me about the gems and I know they were really important to something about that person or maybe another person but it’s frustrating not to actually know what’s going on in my head and who those people and voices are,” Virgil whispered. Logan hummed in understanding, placing a comforting hand on the younger boy’s shoulder while adding a mental note to pass this information on to the adults. And tell Patton to comfort the younger boy once they were back.

Virgil tried to push the thoughts aside for the remainder of their shopping trip yet it was difficult not to see a familiar yet strange pendant with two yellow gems - Citrine and Topaz.

[a-goddess-called-infinity]

Chapter 3: Calamity pt. 1

Synopsis: The gems join the battle of Wakanda and end up getting separated. In this part one of three, we focus on Garnet, Peridot, and Amethyst up until the Blast.

DISCLAIMER: Some terminology may be off about the battle and the alien army itself. I haven't seen Infinity War in a while though I did consult the script and other resources. I'm not breaking my back to make every tiny detail accurate guys, I'm just not.

Words: 2,076

AO3 link here

previous - next - beginning

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When the Gems arrive, the caverns are dark except for a humming blue glow from the cavern walls. Peridot is immediately drawn to the minerals that make up the walls. “Whoa, this stuff is vibranium! Super rare and super strong,” she reported as she traces her hand along the various patches of raw vibranium. She could only imagine how strong gems could be if they were made in a Kindergarten here.

As they walk along, Pearl gets uneasy, “Something doesn’t seem right. Was— was this like this the last time we were here?” She asks hesitantly. It’d been millennia since the gems last used this particular warp.

“Ah, don’t be paranoid Pearl, no one knows about this place except… us…” Amethyst retorts, but she trails off as they exit the chamber into the rest of the mine. Huge chunks of the vibranium had been excavated, and various high-tech trains transported the mineral to the surface. As each train passed, the humming reverb echoed off the expansive walls of the mine, creating a chorus of never-ending magnetism. The gems’ jaws collectively drop.

“There’s no way this is Earth tech, and it’s too different for gem tech too!” Pearl exclaims. How could they have not known about this?

“The only way we find out is on the surface,” Garnet resolved.

“Yeah, but how the heck do we get allllll the way up there?” Amethyst huffs, gesturing upwards. There was no clear exit or indication that there was a surface. Garnet observes as a train started to pass by.

“We hitch a ride,” she states. Before anyone could react to her statement she grabs Amethyst and throws her at the train.

“Wahooooo!” Amethyst exclaims as she hurtles towards the train and latches on. She’s soon out of sight due to the train’s speed, but the train was far from done passing by.

“Me next,” Peridot proclaims. Garnet gives a microscopic nod and throws her too. Success. She turns to the rest of them.

“I’m okay, I’ll meet you up there,” Lapis says as she summons her water wings and flies off.

“Uh, I’ll escort Steven and Connie to the surface a different way,” Pearl decides. Steven groans, but Garnet nods, “Stay safe,” she says with a smile. With that, Garnet leaps up a tremendous height and was able to catch the train before it finished passing by.

“Right,” Pearl says, once they’re the only ones left. She peers around the cavern before spotting a path, “This looks like a section of the original structure, we can follow it to the surface,” she reports confidently as she leads the way. Connie and Steven glance at each other and shrug before following.

Meanwhile, on the train, Garnet swung herself to the top of it after latching on and was making her way to the other two. Amethyst was holding on with her whip and Peridot was practically attached to her.

“Why does this train feel so weird?” Amethyst shouted over the sounds of electricity. Her form and voice seemed to wavier as sonic energy pulsed towards the train. While Garnet didn’t seem to struggle to stay upright, she felt a quivering sensation as well, as if she was going to internally collapse. Peridot finally opens her eyes and takes a look around. It was hard to see the struts along the track as they whizzed by them, but she had a clue of what was going on.

“It’s pulsing some sort of energy, we likely won’t last long here!!” She concludes.

“We have to get off as soon as possible,” Garnet replies urgently. She couldn’t have them all poof before they reach the fight! She spots a bit of sunlight and doesn’t hesitate. Garnet scoops up Amethyst and Peridot leaps up. Amethyst saw that they weren’t going to make it and threw out her whip so that it latched onto a stalactite. Finally, they swing to safety.

“Good work,” Garnet says simply as she puts both gems down. Amethyst only replies with a small, smug smile.

The area they exit out onto was a minor loading dock, but not the main exit. The scene they are greeted with once they finally exit the mines is that of utter chaos. T’Challa had given the order to open the barrier partially and The Outriders were pouring in. They were off to the east of the main battle and had an impressive view of the front line. Peridot was beginning to regret her decision to come.

Garnet sensed her concern, “Stay close to us, we’ll cover you.” Peridot considered it and nodded. She had her ferrokinesis to help her and she could possibly take a weapon from the fallen. The three of them leap down into the battle and head for the front with their weapons drawn and ready. Peridot remained behind the two of them, eyes scanning for danger.

“Whoa!” Amethyst shouts as she dodges an Outrider. She throws out her whip and it wraps around the creature's throat. She then swings it around, “Catch Garnet!” Garnet turns and punches it with her heavy gauntlets, launching the creature across the battlefield. A horde of nearby enemies take notice to them and break off from the main front to apprehend them to allow their other allies to charge through unfazed.

Peridot observed a large metal panel on the ground from a fallen ship and a group of Outriders charging at her. She extends her hands in an attempt to lift the panel. It quivered but didn't budge. "C'mon, lift!" Peridot huffs as she strained with her powers. Garnet saw what she was trying to do. She manually picks up the panel and props it up, "Hold it there," Garnet commanded as she let go. It wobbles, but Peridot is able to keep it upright. Garnet let herself have a running start before she punched the panel with both gauntlets. The panel rips itself from the ground and plows through the battlefield, taking a huge column of enemies with it. The feat did not go unnoticed.

“Guys, I’ve got three bogeys at the front,” Sam says as he observes the three gems from his position in the sky. Not only were they wildly different from the invaders, but they were also fighting them.

Natasha saw who he was talking about, “I got a visual too,” she confirms. She and Okoye had just cleared a wall of Outriders a bit aways from the gems and had a moment to breathe. It wouldn’t last long, though. Still, they observe their colorful allies.

“Friend or foe?...” She trails off.

Okoye didn’t reply at first. Garnet leaps over a swing of one Outrider and lands on the other side of it. Before the creature could turn around, she punches it several times in rapid succession when it finally retaliated. She caught its arm as it was thrust at her and throws the alien over her shoulder. It lands into another Outrider and brings both of them down.

Okoye smiles microscopically in approval, “The enemy of our enemy is our friend.” Natasha nods, “Stay sharp out there, we got new allies,” she says into the commlink. She turns to Okoye, “Wanna give them a hand?” Okoye nods and they run down to join up with them.

At one point, Peridot jumped to avoid a blast and ended up on the back of one of the Outriders. It didn't seem to notice her as it charged along. "Get me off this thing!" She cries. It stopped short as a launched spear pierced its head which caused Peridot to be thrown off of it. Okoye promptly retrieves her spear.

"Thanks," Peridot says as she gets up and dusts herself off, though there was a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Garnet and Amethyst fight side by side, a whip cracking out to pull an enemy down, a well-placed punch to send one reeling. Garnet goes to hit another but some energy hit it first before sending electricity through it. It howls in agony before falling along with the rest. Garnet turned to see the source of the shot to be from a blonde human in a black jumpsuit; Natasha.

Garnet had no time for introductions, as more and more Outriders replaced the ones they'd taken down. She launches into an uppercut that sent two flying. Okoye took the opportunity to launch her spear again, nailing both in the strike. Garnet was able to yank the weapon from their bodies to hand it back to the Wakandian general.

"To whom do I owe the pleasure of this battle?" Okoye asked the strange ally after they fended off a few more of the invaders.

"Garnet," she replied simply. Garnet was never one to normally indulge in conversation, but there was unspoken solidarity between the two warriors. A wall of enemies form to attack them, but Garnet places her gauntlets in front of her and clicks them together. They launch from her arms like rockets and hit the brigade with mighty force before dissipating. Garnet promptly summons a new pair to continue fighting. Okoye was both grateful and impressed by the move.

The ground begins to rumble and Peridot spots a Tresher heading right towards them. It tore through the Earth and even swallowed Outriders with it. "Incoming!" She calls out, feebly attempting to move it out of the way with her ferrokinesis. Red energy engulfs the large, devastating piece of machinery instead as Wanda descends to join the fight. With great effort, she is able to lift it off the ground and toss it away, taking out dozens of Outriders with it. Okoye huffs in disbelief, "Why was she up there all this time?"

With another temporary pause in the battle, Garnet turns to regard her new allies but notices someone missing. "Where's Amethyst?" She says quickly to Peridot. Her question was soon answered for her, as Amethyst came by hanging onto a small Outrider ship as it zipped through the air. She had apparently tried to drag it down with her whip but was unsuccessful.

"Come on, we have to go get 'er," Garnet says to Peridot. "Right behind you," she replies, standing on a small piece of metal debris and levitating it as she did with a trash can lid sometimes to get around.

"Well, they were… interesting," Natasha comments as the three gems went wayward down the battlefield. Soon, however, they were warned by Sam that Vision was in trouble.

Meanwhile, Garnet gave great chase to the fleeting ship, using charging Outriders as stepping stones to her goal. Once she was close enough, she leaps up and catches the ship before hoisting herself up. She helps Amethyst up too, who had been swinging behind the ship.

Peridot soon catches up and hops off the piece of metal she’d been floating on. “Really Amethyst?” she huffs. “I was just trying to take this hunk of junk down!” She insists, “Besides, we can just hop off.”

Garnet shakes her head, “If we get off now, we’ll be surrounded,” she reasons. It was true; the ship was cruising deeper and deeper into the Outrider charge, to the source of the brigade itself.

“Then we can hijack the ship!” Peridot suggests. Without further hesitation, Garnet began to punch her way into what seemed to be the cockpit. Soon she breaks through, grabs the Outrider, and tosses it out. Peridot was quick to jump in to assume control of the ship. Garnet and Amethyst held on tightly as the ship swayed, but eventually Peridot—being an engineer—figured out the basic controls. The ship continues towards the main dropship.

“It’s not letting me turn it around!” She says worriedly.

“Garnet…” Amethyst trails off, pulling her attention away from the frazzled green gem. She was pointing to a spot where a huge surge of energy was coming from. Suddenly, streaks of color mark the sky as four objects flew away from Earth.

“What was that?” Peridot comments. Garnet had no answer.

Further and further they were taken away from Earth, and now it seemed the whole Outrider army was following suit.

Amethyst and Peridot look to Garnet with an unspoken question, How are we getting back home? There was a moment of silence.

“We have to stick together for now. This fight isn’t over, and we’ll reunite with the others soon enough,” Garnet says solemnly. The other two gems didn’t interject, for it was all they could truly do.

[pass-the-bechdel]

Marvel Cinematic Universe: Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Does it pass the Bechdel Test?

No.

How many female characters (with names and lines) are there?

Four (23.52% of cast).

How many male characters (with names and lines) are there?

Thirteen.

Positive Content Rating:

Three.

General Film Quality:

Loads of fun, though tonally dissonant; works best on first viewing. Easily the superior film of the Thor franchise, though that’s not a huge achievement considering its predecessors.

MORE INFO (and potential spoilers) UNDER THE CUT:

Passing the Bechdel:

Sigh.

Female characters:

Hela.

Scrapper 142 (I know, she is credited as Valkyrie, but since the name is never used to address her in the film it doesn’t count by the rules of this blog; if she didn’t happen to be referred to by her scrapper number a few times, she wouldn’t count as a named character at all).

Topaz.

Natasha Romanoff.

Male characters:

Thor.

Surtur.

Skurge.

Loki.

Stephen Strange.

Odin.

Volstagg.

Hogun.

The Grandmaster.

Carlo.

Korg.

Bruce Banner.

Heimdall.

OTHER NOTES:

The use of Immigrant Song is my favourite thing about this movie, to be honest. I don’t mean that as an insult, it’s just such a good choice.

The inclusion of Doctor Strange in this film feels like a pointless misstep, a distraction at what is really a vital early point in establishing tone, especially considering this useless scene is what leads us in to...

...the literal death of Odin and introduction of Big Bad Hela, all of which should be emotional and intense and is instead flat and dissonant in the extreme. Watching this for the first time, I was very concerned that the whole film was just gonna end up gimmicky and soulless. While it does pick up, I was also not wrong about that early assessment.

Not that I was attached to Thor’s friends from the previous films, but they sure do just kill them off without fanfare, except for Sif who just doesn’t appear at all (logically, we should assume she dies off-screen, otherwise there’s no reason for her not to be up-front with Thor at the end of the movie). Fandral doesn’t even get a line in before he croaks, that’s how irrelevant these franchise-veteran characters are. Emotional engagement in plot and character is for chumps, anyway.

*whispers* Jeff Goldblum is here.

“Piss off, ghost!”

Hulk reveal is pretty solid, if you manage not to have been spoiled (a tall order, since it was in the promos).

Heimdall is still the MVP of the Thor franchise.

Can’t believe it took this long for any movie to squeeze some real fun and heart out of the Hulk character. This is way better than embarrassingly forcing a love match on him.

The valkyrie-battle memory is soooo good-looking.

This movie is too recent to be using the word ‘gypsy’...

Thor’s story about Loki pretending to be a snake when they were kids is the good shit.

But, Immigrant Song is still the most inspired choice of the film. Not sorry.

So, this is one of those movies which I felt was pretty over-hyped, to be honest. It is great fun, don’t get me wrong, it’s fresh and hilarious and subversive and way the Hell better than the previous Thor films, plus it has a great cast and strong visuals and they used Immigrant Song really effectively...but the tone of the film is an absolute fucking mess, the plotting is a shambles, and there’s nowhere near as much heart and weight underpinning it all as what there should be for a movie involving the near-total destruction of an entire civilisation. The majority of the movie is handed over to a shenanigan-heavy side-plot of no consequence to the central conflict, while the central conflict - LITERAL RAGNAROK - is relegated to a handful of scenes sprinkled across the film, obliterating any chance of it seeming meaningful or even particularly serious. The strongest point of the story is the final act, once Thor and company finally get to Asgard to confront Hela, but the narrative doesn’t earn that strong finish; it just goes to show how much more engaging the rest of the film could have been if they had stayed on track.

This is a big part of why this movie - while a delightful surprise on first viewing - doesn’t age particularly well on repeat; this was my fourth time through, and by the third quarter, as Sakaar draaaagged through its roster of jokes and pratfalls, my attention span was waning fast. Even if the entire garbage-planet sidebar was not distracting from what should have been a very serious main plot, I’m not sure it would remain engaging long-term, since it is rather spare and low on emotional/character investment; it’s not a pitfall of comedy that has to exist (heavily-emotional and/or dark comedies are definitely a real thing), but unfortunately, this is not a movie that is very interested in what has come before it, and it expresses that disinterest by neglecting any element of the established Thor mythology which might have brought this plot a sense of meaning. As such, rather than feeling like ‘the Thor movie that finally got it right’, it’s more like a reboot, with old characters unceremoniously ditched and any sense of purpose or import in old story threads or histories gone right alongside Asgard itself.

I’ve seen people praise this film for its ‘anti-Imperialism, anti-colonialism’ message, but I feel it’s a point weakly made onscreen; any depth to that argument would require a more sincere effort from the script in addressing those scant Asgard scenes, and as such, I feel that this element - though it isn’t completely wishful thinking - is much more in the eye of the beholder than it is a function of the narrative itself. The attempt to engage with any thoughtful discussion on Asgard’s legacy is a swift casualty of the film’s overall superficiality, just the same as the devastation of Asgard and the decimation of its population is blithely underplayed because, hey, Thor vs Hulk is worth way more attention than genocide, right? It’s that tonal dissonance in the two pieces of the plot which keeps me from really relaxing and enjoying the lightness, because that lightness is both excessive and out-of-place; I feel uncomfortable being asked to just shrug and go with it, I want to be emotionally involved and moved by the plight of the Asgardians, and instead I’m stuck watching Thor get a haircut and an eyeful of Hulk dick. Under almost any other circumstances, I would be all about a hard-comedy version of Thor, especially after the generic drudgery of the earlier installments in the franchise, but at the same time as Ragnarok? Not so much.

That said? This film is definitely not without quality. Comedic quality, for sure (anything with Taika Waititi’s name attached is worth a look), and there really are some great casting flourishes (though I maintain disappointment that the Asgard plot is so undersold, because it means Karl Urban and especially Cate Blanchett are under-utilised); for the interests of this blog, it’s that Scrapper 142 aka Valkyrie who forms the highlight (and she’s a worthy highlight without the context of this blog, too). Valkyrie’s drunk, angry sauntering and her snappy disregard for Thor’s righteous pontificating positions her within an archetype normally restricted to male characters only, too loose and unseemly for a female character, who might be found dislikeable and (horror of horrors) too sloppy to be sexy, whereas a man in the same archetype is funny, a ‘lovable asshole’, and the perception of his appearance is not tied up in his behaviour the same way nor is he under the same pressure to prioritise his appeal for the audience in the first place. Angry male drunkards who begrudgingly tag along with the protagonist in the end because they’re surly but not bad, those are a dime a dozen, but a woman in the same position? A rare gem indeed. And Valkyrie is more than just a fresh twist on an old cliche; her personality is grounded, it has a relatable simplicity (disillusionment with a side-order of survivor’s guilt), and there’s a confidence about the way she and the unspoken parts of her life are presented, without need to force a connection with Thor and his personal plight in order to justify Valkyrie’s actions or relevance to the plot. She’s an entirely self-contained character who could just as easily have the story to herself with no further mention of Thor et al., and that’s the hallmark of any well-constructed character: the ability to stand alone.

As a whole, this movie is far from bad - when I call it overrated, I am very much talking about the fact that it’s mostly a string of shenanigans with minimal narrative underpinning, and while that’s not a terrible thing in itself, I do think the hype around this movie implied that it had something more to offer than just laughs and a retro look. For me personally, the lack of emotional engagement and character stakes is close to a fatal flaw, and so while I enjoy this movie on a superficial level, it gives me nothing I need in order to really dig it (for others, obviously, this is not a problem). It always rubs me the wrong way to see something completely disavow previous chapters in the same story - there’s a big difference between developing an idea in a new direction, and simply ditching whatever you didn’t like about what came before - and I would have preferred to see this film make its changes with at least a modicum of respect for the foundations it is building upon (basic as the previous Thor films were, they weren’t catastrophic embarrassments). And yes, ultimately, the burying of the Ragnarok plot under a pile of Planet Garbage (feat. Jeff Goldblum) is just a little unforgivable in my mind, and it’s the first thing I think of whenever this film pops up; I really, really wish that Ragnarok were not part of this plot at all, that the Sakaar part of the story (i.e. the part that The Powers That Be were actually invested in, clearly) formed the bulk of the second film in the Thor franchise instead, since that movie basically sucked and took itself too seriously, and then the Thor film which took itself seriously could have been actually about Ragnarok. Basically, I wish that Marvel had gotten their shit together sooner rather than later with this part of the franchise, because while this worked out fine for them monetarily, narratively it’s just not a step I can get behind.

[rionsanura]

@jadefyre​ said: hello yes I would like the deets of how the POTC theme evokes the swashbucklery so amazingly please

@mochuelita​ replied to your post: I am HERE for the swashbuckle deets

@jackironsides replied to your post: Will you divulge the secrets??

Oh I will absolutely try. I have no perspective about how much anyone knows about music, so I am likely going to vacillate wildly between explaining basic concepts in insulting detail and glossing over things that seem obvious to me but may not be, but I love this damb song so much that I am bout to EXPLAIN IT SO HARD. (Pls let me know the degree of unintelligibility you encounter here, and in what deet, and I will try to ameliorate.)

This glorious Hans Zimmer/Klaus Badelt/Geoff Zanelli thrill, the crowning achievement of hollywood pirate music, named, appropriately, He's A Pirate, is a deep and riotous well of perfectly executed brain-melting techniques. Welcome to my Deet Tour. The biggest categories of secrets here are

1. hemiola 2. augmentation(**) 3. orchestration 4. modal borrowing 5. cadential rhythm

So the biggest and most important rhythmic secret anyone can ever learn has a name that sounds hilariously like either an unfortunate blood disease or an unfortunate Ancient Greek poet. But it is Life and Greatness; it is the secret that makes compound time magic, and I am such a huge sucker for it that back when facebook was an exciting new platform that had just been opened to a few schools outside the ivy league, including mine, back when fb groups were a form of self-expression and not a freebooting nightmare, I made a facebook group called "If Hemiola Were A Person, We'd Be Married." Yes. And 17 of my closest music school friends joined, because hemiola is really that great.

Here is what it means: you are in compound time (a kind of meter that has beats made of 3 smaller beats). You arrange those tiny beats into groups of 2 instead.* Like this:

| | |   | | | -> | |   | |   | |

Think of the coolest thing about the rhythm in the classic Theory 101 hemiola demonstration standby, America from West Side Story. It goes onetwothree onetwothree onetwo onetwo onetwo. That's one way to hemiola. The most obvious way, very good, very satisfying.

A more advanced (and more connotatively piratical, but we'll get to that in a bit) way to hemiola is to do the 3 and the 2 at the SAME TIME. This can be in different instruments, or in the same instrument at different points in the melody of the same bar; the options are endless. You end up with a rhythm that, devil take it, can only reasonably be called Rollicking. Is it in 3? Is it in 2? DOESN'T MATTER. IT'S HEMIOLA. IT'S IN BOTH. Listen to the A section of He's a Pirate; it has everything that can possibly be in both 3 and 2 going on at once. The melody, played by some forthright horns and low strings, has a rhythm that mostly divides the bar into 3, while still keeping the pickup subdivision that makes you feel like the little beats are in 2 big groups of 3. I'll write the rhythm out with periods for rests and pipes for played beats and divide them into the groups I hear them in, with big spaces between the bars: (...) .||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    ||. .||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    |.. .||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    |. |. ||    ||. .||    |. |. |.    ||. .||    |. |. ||   |.. ...

The most ambiguous thing here is the middle beat of the bar, the 4th one if you're counting it in 6 (2nd if you're in 2, 1.5 if you're in 3). This whole melody hinges on that empty beat. Is it part of the second note? Or is it a springboard for the last two notes? Is it an on-beat or an offbeat? IT'S HEMIOLA. IT'S BOTH. MAGIC. Obviously some bars will be easier to hear in 2 (the fourth bar at end of each phrase, for example, which starts with two notes in a row with no space between, and a really emphatic drum hit on beat 4 (or 2, or 1.5) while no notes are happening). Some are easier to hear in 3; the rest of the phrase, besides the fourth bar, has at least two notes per bar that sounds like they should be grouped in Big Three (two little beats per group). The best part about it, and what makes the Rollicking so successful (one might even say, as OP did, that it is Jaunty) is that for most of these bars, it is equally easy to hear them in 3 or in 2. The British Isles, particularly the bits that the English tried and failed to assimilate, are deeply associated with this kind of rhythmic ambiguity. In fact the wikipedia example of what an Irish drum (bodhrán) sounds like is mostly composed of 6/8 hemiola, and though it's not the best playing I've ever heard, it is a good example of the rhythms usually played on that drum.

I'm counting the climactic bit that sounds like cutlass swipes (there's our Swashbuckling) about 0:33-0:46 as a B section. Why does it buckle the swash? Because all the beats of the melody have been occupied so far in this tune, and now there are big holes. Are they still hemiola? Yes. It's just the slightly more obvious kind that switches back and forth between 2 and 3 beats per bar in one voice instead of both at once through ambiguous beat 4 (or 2 or 1.5):

|.. .||   |.. ...   |.. ...    ||. |..    |.. .||    |. |. |.   |.. .||   |. |. |.   ||. ...   |. |. |.   ||. ...   |. |. |.   |.. .(||) (the last two pipes here are the pickup to the C section and can be counted as rests for the purposes of the B section)

But don't worry, both kinds of subdivision are still happening everywhere else. It's a mechanically complex but simply majestic pearl of a tune.

Which brings us to Secret #2: augmentation. This is why we feel the buckle is swashed atop the bowsprit, rather than anywhere else on board. This one is Particularly Secret, because to be honest there is no literal augmentation going on in this song, just the implication of it.** This might be a bit harder to explain.

The C section of this song, starting at 0:45 right after the cutlass swipes, goes rhythmically like this (basically two times in a row, with different notes the second time):

(||)   |.. .||    |. |. |.    |. |. |.    |.. .||    |.. .||    |. |. |.   |. .. |.    |.. (...)

Look how many groups of unambiguous 3 there are in this horn melody! With big holes in the rest of the bars! This makes the melody sound slower, because not as many small notes in a row are being played, even though there are still the same underlying rhythms happening in the drums and the accompanying figures that are not the melody. It's like we're on the top of the ship instead of underneath in the waves being bashed on the hull by all the little chops and splashes we hear in the drums and cellos. We can see/hear those little subdivisions, we're just not involved in them right now: this is how we become majestic. The drums are definitively in 2, which emphasizes the moments when the melody is more 3ish. The bass line and accompanimental figures are ambiguous.

This brings us to Secret #3: orchestration.

The magnificence and high wind (which causes rough seas) are indeed related to some cellos. The swash wouldn't be nearly so all-encompassing if the orchestrators hadn't picked the instruments they picked (I'm not sure who orchestrated this particular moment of the soundtrack; see the wikipedia entry on the 7 different composers hired to orchestrate this score because of weird production reasons). There is an ASTONISHINGLY small number of kinds of instruments used in this song considering the forces available in an orchestra, and all but the cellos, horns, basses, and drums are basically decorations on top of the main tune.

Here is the obvious thing: it's very low. Cellos are pretty low instruments, basses are Really low instruments, horns have the capability to go high but do not do it in this song, and drums have no exact pitch but most of the ones used in this piece for the main beats are low in frequency with occasional high crashy sounds for emphasis. Cellos, and I don't think I'm making this up, I've read association studies, sound like wood. Horns are used in hollywood scores (and for hundreds of years before movies were invented) for noble and majestic melodies, associated with noble and majestic characters and environments and qualities (check out some Wagner for more information about the association of melodies with story elements before movies were invented). This is the deet where we start thinking about notes instead of just rhythms.

It is pretty unusual for notes so low to be so fast. A gem of an aphorism I picked up in high-school-orchestra rehearsals (from the director, no less): "an octave lower, an octave slower." (This was usually meant as a gentle tease to the bass section for not playing their part right, or on time, but it works as an explanation of normal orchestration principles.) We don't expect our driving, foundational bass frequencies to move from note to note so fast. Usually if they do, it's an exceptional showoff moment in a bigger orchestral context where the violins or other high instruments are doing the rest of the fast stuff. Here, the violins are just doubling the low strings to emphasize them when the melody is repeated; the high strings aren't even playing all the time. What this means is that the low instruments are showing off all the time, so it's very drivy and feels much faster than it would if just the high instruments were doing the tune.

It's also one of the reasons the song is foreboding; very low notes, punctuated with high shrieky interjections (like the violin swashes in the cutlass section), is the technique used in horror scoring, which we have been conditioned to associate with something scary. Also I think there is some science there.

Another reason it is a bit foreboding (though other sections of the soundtrack are More Foreboding, for example Fog Bound but we're just talking about the main theme in this post) is Secret #4: modal borrowing.

Let's be clear here, there's nothing Super Weird going on in this melody modally, but there are several ways to do a minor scale, and it takes advantage of more than one. Minor keys have a surprising amount of options regarding what notes to use after the fifth scale degree; you can have a low 6 and 7 (often used coming down the scale), or a high 6 and 7 (usually for going up), or low 6 and high 7 (this is often used to sound middle-eastern) or a high 6 and low 7 (this is not often used, since low 6 is good for tension in that half-step going to the 5th degree, but if it is used, it sounds folky and maybe Old). This array of usual options means you don't really have to borrow much to have both kinds of 6th and 7th scale degrees, but the fact that the melody so frequently emphasizes the low 7 (whole step between 7 and 1, instead of half) makes it sound modal and British-folk-ish. Listen to some jigs (Butterfly, for example) or reels (like this whole set of them) or really any minor-key Irish or Scottish folk music and you'll find it has low 7.

This frequent low 7th scale degree means the chord that starts on the 5th scale degree, usually called the V chord in classical parlance, is in fact in this situation the v chord, because it's minor. That's modal borrowing! The minor v chord is not really native to any mode, because usually we make the V chord major even if 7 is low in the scale, but we call it borrowing anyway. It is a particular kind of sound where the drive of the five chord to the one chord is less strong, because the low 7 doesn't want quite as badly to lead to 1. This makes the chord more atmospheric than functional, and it might be more foreboding this way. It's not rare, it's not exceptional, but it is definitely associated with the British Isles (more the 19th century than the 17th, but fewer people know actual 17th century tunes) and folk music and sea chanties etc. This may be how we know it's the jolly roger flapping from the mast.

However! The tune also has moments of high 7! And this means V is major sometimes! Like the end of the A section before it repeats slightly differently (0:17). The fact that both of these chords exist in this tune makes it even borrowier, because usually you get only one of these kinds of five chord. But sometimes we have major V, which makes it More Climactic, the spectacular flaps of the jolly roger.

The last Secret I would like to relate is #5: cadential rhythm. This is the reason we have any actual association with the 17th century instead of the 19th (most piratey music anyone knows is from the 19th century).

Cadences (a cadence is the way a phrase ends) have been classified over the centuries, in terms of both rhythm and melody, into two kinds. They are conventionally called masculine and feminine, or strong and weak, but those are bullshit names so I am calling them direct and indirect. A direct cadence lands on the downbeat, and probably on the root of the chord. An indirect cadence lands after the downbeat, and so the first note of the bar isn't the cadential note; the note after it is.

The way He's A Pirate uses indirect cadential rhythm is especially emphatic. The very first phrase (0:05-0:08) cadences on the second tiny beat of the bar instead of the first. Since the tiny beats go real fast, it's very obvious how the phrase lands on Not The Big Beat. The tinier the beats are, the more emphatic the syncopation is. BUT THEN: the second phrase cadences directly (0:08-0:11). It goes back and forth between direct and indirect until the end of the A section when we have two indirects in a row, which makes the direct (on major V, no less!) last one especially swashbuckly.

Here is a playlist of 17th century English songs (mostly in compound time), the first of which is also full of hemiola, many (especially the third, 14th, 15th and 16th) of which have indirect cadences at the end of nearly every phrase. The switching back and forth between the two kinds of cadential rhythm is really important to the piratical nature of this song, contributes to the jauntiness, and has actual connections to historical 17th century tunes (though this cadential strategy is also common in the 19th century sea folk tunes people are more likely to know). BEHOLD THE GALLEON.

I hope that these Secrets have been Revealed. If my explanatory techniques have been too obscure, please do ask me about things you find unclear; I larve this song to tiny tiny bits and would be delighted to explain it forever.

*Or the other way around. Hemiola just means messing with the subdivision of beats, regrouping them either from 2 to 3 or 3 to 2. OR BOTH AT ONCE YAAASSSS. also you don’t necessarily have to be in compound time (which is subdivided into 3); you can be in any meter, as long as you are regrouping things between 2 and 3. it’s just easiest and most rollicking when you’re in, for example, 6/8 or 9/8. **Despite my 11 years of music school, I have not found a better inaccurate but explicative term for this technique, but let me explain to you what augmentation actually is, so that you know why this isn't exactly augmentation. When you make a melody twice as slow but with the exact same thing happening, that's real augmentation. Like if in the original melody from my first dumb rhythmic transcription had values of quarter notes instead of eighth notes; if it just sounded slower with the rest of everything going the same speed. Obviously the melody in the C section is not the same as the A section, and it does not actually use values that are twice that of the A section, but it expands the beat to feel slower in a way that is compatible with the flexible ambiguous 2 or 3 subdivision of compound time.

[shinneth]

Gem Ascension Tropes (Peridot-specific: I - K)

Reference:

Primary Peri Post ▼ Primary General Post ▼ Full Article

I Am What I Am: While technically in Chartreuse’s form in this moment, Steven’s (as Pink 2.0) intensive Epiphany Therapy towards the end of Chapter 8 of Act III revolves around Peridot’s inner turmoil and self-acceptance regarding her past life as a Manipulative Bastard, which has wracked her with endless guilt since her canon Heel-Face Turn. Said guilt turns out to be what is really inhibiting Peridot’s ability to fuse with Steven. Once it’s lifted when Peridot fully accepts herself, she not only finds that she and Steven can fuse after all, but together fulfill an ancient prophecy as the Diamond of Miracles.

I Gave My Word: Peridot promised herself and everyone else that she’d save everyone trapped on Homeworld and make sure they’re brought home to Earth, and remembering this often helps shake her out a mental funk she’s stuck in.

I Hate Past Me: A major internal issue for Peridot that only gets worse the further she progresses through Homeworld as former repressed memories of how horrible she was as a Homeworld Gem are inadvertently regained. White Diamond actively tortures Peridot by making her watch these memories in Act III, and this ends up weighing down so heavily on Peridot’s conscience that it inhibits her potential for fusion.

I Just Want to Be Special: Peridot is well aware she’s the weakest Crystal Gem, is one of the most common types of gems in existence (as well as the lowest-regarded kind in society) and is destined to be insignificant as an Era 2 gem who will never measure up to her friends. That hasn’t stopped her from going above and beyond to avert this even in her Homeworld days, and now being able to legitimately lead what’s left of the Crystal Gems is Peridot’s opportunity to really stand out and shine. However…

I Just Want to Be Normal: By Act III, it’s revealed Peridot is not only a Chosen One, but a one-of-a-kind Unwitting Test Subject that hasn’t been seen in several millennia. She becomes the first and only ascended gem, capable of being an ordinary gem and a Diamond simultaneously. This consequently makes her the only Era 2 gem with Era 1 capabilities, the only Diamond to be created from another gem, and then there’s her ridiculously powerful ability to conjure things by willing them into existence. All of this is thrown onto Peridot at once, who was determined not to let White Diamond compromise her identity… only to succumb to her fate following a Moment of Weakness. This trope is especially prevalent in Peridot at the very end of GA and all stories following it, as the consequences of her achievements in Act III force Peridot onto a pedestal she doesn’t feel ready for. Ironically, all of this is something Peridot would have been fully on board with prior to her Character Development.

I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Double Subverted with Pumpkin. Celadon Diamond – a fusion of Chartreuse Diamond and White Diamond – killed Pumpkin (while attempting to kill Greg, which he narrowly avoided). While Celadon used willpower (inherited from her Peridot/Chartreuse component) to do the deed, Peridot herself tried to do everything she could to make the fusion hold back. However, resigning to the fusion the way she had made Peridot’s influence on Celadon very limited; White was a much more dominant presence in the fusion, and her desire to kill Steven’s father overpowered Peridot’s resistance. It was only after this happened that Peridot managed to find a way to break the fusion, after several failed attempts. Had she been able to break the fusion earlier, all of this could have been avoided. While Peridot knows it wasn’t fully her fault that she lost Pumpkin, severely injured Greg, and destroyed the Crystal Gems’ spaceship, the fact remains that it was her power that caused this mess. Peridot failed to use her powers to save Pumpkin despite her efforts, and until Steven consoles her later in Act III, she laments that she could have spared Pumpkin, Greg, and their ship from this if only she had been strong enough to break or hold back the fusion. She also could have prevented this if she hadn’t fallen prey to White’s tactics earlier that rendered her emotionally vulnerable, which allowed the Celadon fusion to happen in the first place.

I Lied: Manipulative Bastard Peridot says this verbatim to 9FC in a flashback shown in Chapter 2 of Act III in regards to their friendship.

I Owe You My Life: Peridot wholeheartedly credits her life to Steven. It’s more than him simply liberating her from the oppressive Homeworld life where Individuality is Illegal and giving her a second chance when no one else would. Because he spent so much time teaching Peridot about Earth, as well as talking to her and enjoying life together, Peridot has very good reason to believe her “Great and Lovable” self would never have existed without him. She’s deeply grateful for it and makes sure Steven knows she feels that way several times in the story.

Before this (though it takes a long time for Peridot to remember this), Lapis is similarly credited simply due to coming in just in time before Peridot’s Near-Rape Experience with Jasper went any further than that. Lapis had no intention of saving Peridot; in fact, she was more than willing to let Peridot be subjected to the full extent of being violated for the sake of her own safety. However, Jasper was naturally more drawn to Lapis not only out of instinct, but lust/alleged “love” – meaning Lapis inadvertently took the bullet for Peridot anyway. Several times, at that, while the three were a team together. While the trauma surrounding the incident and Peridot’s own reprehensible behavior during this time were so overwhelming that they had to be fully repressed and nearly forgotten in order for Peridot to function properly after this, she never let herself forget that Lapis did save her from an incident that nearly erased her entire identity – which can be seen as her life being saved. This was the main reason why Peridot went out of her way to be accommodating for Lapis in canon, even at her own expense.

I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Played with. Peridot was fully prepared to be rejected by Steven when it came to the pursuit of a romantic relationship. No matter how jealous she was over her competition, Peridot valued her friendship with Steven far too much to jeopardize it over a selfish desire. She will gladly put Steven’s needs above her own every time. Thankfully for her, it never came to this.

I Will Only Slow You Down: Her rationale when she tells Steven and Garnet to Go on Without Me. White Diamond is just a couple of minutes away, which affords them no time to break the gate with brute force, while Peridot is too fatigued and injured to save herself. While she tries to smile at her friends without showing any tears or sorrow, that briefly fades when Peridot turns her head to hear White Diamond closing in. She resumes her smile when she looks back at Garnet and Steven, now more adamantly ordering them to leave her behind.

I Will Wait for You: Has this sentiment for Steven regarding her feelings for him, under the assumption that he may not be ready for that kind of relationship yet or if he’s with someone else entirely. Peridot’s got all the time in the world to wait for her turn. Luckily for her, she doesn’t have to wait too long.

I’m Having Soul Pains: When Peridot tries to do too much with her willpower in her base form, she will suffer this in the form of headaches, fatigue, and overall physical strain. This is due to her form not being a very good conductor for this kind of power; this kind of side-effect does not happen when performing the same feats (or greater) as Chartreuse Diamond. Only problem is that Peridot doesn’t exactly like to be Chartreuse unless she absolutely has to…

The Immodest Orgasm: It’d be more surprising if someone as naturally loud, expressive, and dramatic as Peridot didn’t behave this way. And sure enough, this is what happens in Chapter 2 of It’s a Birthday, Yes It Is.

Improvised Weapon: Even post-ascension, Peridot never gains an official weapon. Beforehand, she literally could not summon one from her gemstone due to her limitations as an Era 2 gem. Now charged with willpower, Peridot can summon pretty much any weapon she wants for the right situation, assuming she can decide on what to go with. Prior to this, Peridot improvised at least two weapons in a hammer (which she later gifted to an unarmed Connie) and a piece of metal scrap she was able to manipulate into whatever shape she wanted. Although it was mainly a mode of transport, Peridot also used a steel beam to ram into a pallid gem late in Act I.

Drop the Hammer: Though she used it very sparingly before giving it to Connie, Peridot did use the hammer to damage Yellow Diamond badly enough to stun her for the entire battle.

Indy Ploy: Peridot is forced to resort to this in Chapter 5 of This is Who I Am. 5XG is strangling the Light Steven in a separate dimension – consequently, Dark Steven (Peridot’s opponent) is unable to breathe due to his life being bound to his counterpart’s. Being isolated in a separate dimension makes Peridot unable to directly interfere with her counterpart’s efforts… except for one way: injuring herself. The problem is that 5XG is extremely resilient to damage, so Peridot has to inflict a severe injury on herself to have any hope of causing enough mutual damage to disrupt her dark self. With both Stevens moments away from being choked to death, Peridot has no choice but to go with her instincts, as there’s no time to think anything through. She knows it’s a bad idea to directly damage her own gemstone, but being bereft of options and not having the luxury of taking time to think this through leaves her with no choice. She stabs her own gemstone with a broken floor tile – this does force 5XG to stop, but now both Peridots are on death’s door. Luckily for them, Light Steven is merciful enough to heal the one who almost killed him while Dark Steven begrudgingly respects Peridot’s efforts to save his life and heals her to avoid feeling indebted. Ultimately, this insane plan helps end both deathmatches, as both Peridots are too injured to function while both Stevens are too fatigued to carry on, leading to a draw where both Steven and Peridot escape with their lives against all odds.

Inelegant Blubbering: Downplayed, but Peridot’s reunion with Steven in Act I includes sobbing into his chest, calling him every derogatory name she can think of, and punching his shoulder for each insult. Being that Peridot is severely injured, she’s not hurting Steven at all and it isn’t long before she fully devolves into this. Badly enough that the Crystal Gems need to split up and relocate, since Peridot’s cries are garnering unwanted attention.

Inferiority Superiority Complex: Still burdened with this, as Peridot can’t really escape being faced with constant limitations as the only Era 2 of the Crystal Gems… until she ascends, of course. But even then, she has limitations on her new powers unless she shifts into Chartreuse Diamond. She’s constantly self-conscious as a leader, and now that Peridot has regained her memories of her life as a Homeworld Gem, she has a lot of Old Shame moments that are hard for her to live down… especially when the Homeworld refugees constantly remind her of those times.

Insecure Love Interest: Downplayed, as this mostly applies to Peridot after she regains her memories about how awful she used to be during her pre-Earth life. It’s only hinted at in Act II; by Act III, Peridot also struggles with her identity as an Unwitting Test Subject that led to her betraying her friends early on. While it’s seemingly mended with Steven’s declaration of them being an Official Couple by Chapter 5, another problem arises in their inability to fuse. By Chapter 8, it’s revealed the primary cause of that was Peridot’s own guilt over her past crimes weighing her down to the point where she subconsciously believed she didn’t deserve to fuse with Steven.

Insistent Terminology: At the end of It’s a Birthday, Yes It Is, Steven points out the Department of Redundancy Department nature of Peridot’s GA-exclusive catchphrase, “stupid idiot”. Peridot’s response?

Peridot: “It’s not redundancy, clod. It’s emphasis.”

Steven: “I’m… not following.”

Peridot: “Some people can be stupid; others are idiots… but it takes a special kind of clod mentality to achieve the level of stupid idiot, Steven. When I say you’re a stupid idiot, I mean you’re an idiot even by idiot standards, get it?”

Insufferable Genius: Per canon, Peridot definitely has her moments of this, although she’s often prone to self-criticism in the story as well. Sometimes, she deliberately invokes this trope in an attempt to cover something up (usually an insecurity).

Internalized Categorism: Downplayed as time goes on; in Act II, she admits to envying Amethyst for being a gem made on Earth rather than Homeworld, as Peridot had grown to loathe being associated with her home planet in any way. Still, Peridot knows there’s nothing that can be done about it, and she soon no longer has the luxury of lamenting over such trivial details. But then, it’s revealed Peridot is part-Diamond in Act III – and this trope returns with a vengeance. Peridot learns to accept herself by the end of the primary GA series, but still isn’t really comfortable about embracing her Diamond heritage.

Involuntary Shapeshifting: Happens a couple of times. Most notably, she shifts into her Chartreuse Diamond form as she grieves over Pumpkin’s death that only makes her destructive reactions worse.

It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: For all the times Peridot wanted to stand out and be special, she didn’t get to enjoy even a second of it when it was revealed in Act III that she is a very unique Chosen One after all. While Peridot eventually has Steven to lean on to share her burdens with, the Post-GA stories exaggerate their woes as the new Era 3 operation looms over them, as they are the designated centerpieces for the operation, being the only diamonds left in existence at that point. Stories taking place after their project launches show that the burden of responsibility and work have weighed heavily upon the pair.

It’s All About Me: Heavily downplayed due to the high stakes and circumstances of Peridot’s goals in the story, but still has her moments of this. Played very straight regarding who Peridot used to be before she was assigned to monitor Earth.

It’s Personal: Messing with Steven automatically makes any matter personal for Peridot. After Act I, it becomes more personal as White Diamond directly messes with her life and compromises her identity that brings life-long consequences. Then Pumpkin gets brought into it, and… the results are not pretty.

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: She’s still full of herself, she’s still a brat, and she’s still prone to respond aggressively, but don’t ever question Peridot’s love for her friends, her loyalty towards her family, or what she’s willing to do or what she has to sacrifice to keep them out of harm’s way.

Jerkass Ball: Chapter 6 of Act III: after failing to fuse with Steven during their private time together, Peridot covers up her misery with this in order to function not only as a Crystal Gem, but a co-leader of the team, as well as avoid admitting her confirmed inability to fuse to the rest of her friends. However, this façade only makes it more apparent to the others that something is wrong with Peridot, who absolutely refuses to talk about it.

Jerkass Woobie: Peridot in a nutshell after her Near-Rape Experience with Jasper, but before her Heel-Face Turn when she aligned herself with the Crystal Gems.

Jumped at the Call: The moment she realizes Steven’s in trouble, Peridot not only does this, but is irked the others didn’t react like this and instead waited for her to reform before doing anything at all.

Karma Houdini: Until she met Jasper, Manipulative Bastard Peridot suffered no consequences whatsoever for her horrific behavior on Homeworld. She literally got away with murder on several occasions; even worse, often got rewarded for it. Peridot’s good fortune abruptly ran out once she was finally promoted and got on Yellow Pearl’s bad side; ever since her first encounter with Jasper, misfortune followed Peridot everywhere she went. Before long, she was finally suffering the consequences for her cruel ambitions.

5XF expresses that she has no desire to become “another 5XG” regarding her own despicable actions during Chapters 4 and 5 of This is Who I Am. Apparently “5XG” is a synonym for this trope now.

The Killer in Me: The Amnesiac variety, as Peridot is horrified and disgusted to remember how reprehensible she used to be once she reaches Homeworld, and how many lives were lost due to her actions, directly or otherwise.

The Klutz: Per canon, but also the reason why Gem Ascension didn’t end with Act I. Actually heavily downplayed in Act I after leaving Earth, specifically so it happening in Act I’s climax would be even more impactful and unexpected.

Knight, Knave, and Squire: The Squire to Bismuth’s Knight and Lapis’ Knave.

[chimchimssenpai-blog]

Step by step instructions to Purchase An Exquisite Engagement Ring On the web

Getting drew in is maybe one of the scariest moves a man (and yes a lady as well) would ever make. So I have assembled this Engagement Rings Perth manual for help you locate that extraordinary ring that your young lady will love - while abandoning you fulfilled that you have not over-spent.

What's more, regardless of whether your fiancee will pick her very own ring, you'd need to advise her to peruse this data also. Be that as it may, more than likely, you'd purchase your "unique woman" a precious stone engagement ring. Since:

Precious stones Are A Young lady's Closest Companion

Right. Precious stones are 99.95% unadulterated solidified carbon and is as old as soil - between 1-3 billion years of age. Actually, they are the hardest normally occurring substance known and are framed in the world's upper mantle under warmth and weight and conveyed to the world's surface by profound volcanic ejections.

They are later mined from layers of rock found in only a couple of locales around the globe. At that point they are transported to the different slicing focuses to be cut, cleaned and set as gems. Their splendor, shimmer and durability make them well looked for after.

In any case, they can be expensive as well. Different sources quote midpoints costs somewhere in the range of $3500 - $5000. "Ouch" you say. All things considered, I can give you the name of:

The "Virtuoso" That Began The Precious stone Engagement Ring Thought

Be that as it may, he has since quite a while ago passed so you'll need to return your weapon in your holster. The primary very much archived instance of giving an engagement jewel ring happened in 1477.

This was the point at which a lovestruck Austrian, Archduke Maximilian, put a jewel ring on the third finger of the left hand of Mary of Burgundy in his pre-wedding assurance to her. That finger was accepted by antiquated Egyptians to have a vein that drives directly to a lady's heart.

In the Unified States, it was not until the point when the 30′s that giving precious stone rings for engagements ended up average. Presently about 80% of ladies drew in are offered precious stone rings.

As this will be a most imperative buy - representative of your affection and the significance of your relationship, observing the accompanying variables should place you in great stead.

The fifth C And Thinking of A Financial plan

Any great engagement rings guide will make reference to the 4 C's as they are key to making a buy for a precious stone ring. The 4 C's are sketched out in more prominent detail underneath however it is the "fifth C" - cost, that excites the best measure of interest and maybe fear.

You may have heard the "standard way of thinking" that asserts that you have to spare somewhere around three months compensation to buy a precious stone ring. This "counsel" may have originated from the De Brews' exposure machine; Debeers being predominant power in each part of the precious stone industry. So accept this exhortation with a grain of salt.

A greatly improved methodology is to set your financial plan dependent on the amount you can practically manage. What's more, you are likely the best individual who can concoct that number.

Likewise your spending should think about the characteristics of the ring that are the most critical to you. With the wide exhibit of precious stone rings accessible, you can spend less and still get a decent ring or you can spend much more on size and quality.

There are some exceptionally believed spots where you can purchase engagement rings online while remaining inside your financial plan. These spots offer a 100% unconditional promise should you not be happy with your financial plan.

A trustworthy online precious stone retailer would likewise guarantee that their jewels don't begin from struggle nations nor different sources with connections to criminal or psychological oppressor exercises.

Whichever source you purchase from, oppose the impulse to go over your financial plan particularly if cash is tight. A businessperson may urge you to spend past your financial plan since precious stones perhaps speak to a sound speculation.

However, a retailer can altogether increase the estimation of a precious stone and not long after you purchase that ring, it could lose a considerable measure of it esteem. Furthermore, more terrible, it could take a long time for that incentive to return. So remain consistent with your financial plan as much as you can.

Know Her Size and What She Prefers

How frequently have I told my sweetheart that I am not a mind peruser? Ladies regularly anticipate that men will know precisely what they need particularly if those men have been in an involved acquaintance with them.

Try not to accept that you know everything about your woman. Discovering what sort of jewel engagement ring your exceptional woman adores can be precarious in the event that you need to keep your fast approaching proposition secretive.

So before you start shopping you ought to

* Concentrate her style of gems. Is it true that she is more into customary or sentimental gems? Does she cherish showy or more unobtrusive gems?

Likewise focus on the metal and shade of the gems she wears.

Likewise get a second assessment. Ask her dear companions or even family for guidance on the style of adornments she loves.

* Decide her ring size by furtively "acquiring" one of her rings and comparing it to a size outline or demonstrating it to a gem dealer. Ensure the ring you "acquire" is the one she wears on the proposed finger.

You could likewise enroll the assistance of a companion or relative who could coolly attempt on one of her rings and find out its size. On the off chance that you are not happy with any of these 007-like moves, basically attempt on one of her rings and bring it down the extent that it can easily go.

You can stamp that line and show it to a gem dealer who should then have the capacity to estimate it from that point. When in doubt and you are not still beyond any doubt about her ring size - pick a ring that is on the greater side. It is significantly better to diminish the span of a ring than it is to "scrutinize it.

The 4 C's Of A Precious stone Buy

No engagement rings control is finished without a talk of the "Four C's" - cut, shading, clearness and carat. The 4 C's are a noteworthy piece of value setting and will be incorporated into a jewel evaluating report.

Albeit the majority of the 4 C's ought to be considered similarly, gemologists will disclose to you that "cut" is the most basic in light of the fact that there are such huge numbers of factors included.

Precious stone Cut: As you'll see, this is the main "C" that isn't impacted by the unstoppable force of life. "Cut" alludes to the geometric extents, symmetry and clean of jewel - not its shape. These components decide a precious stone's fire, brightness and shine.

At the point when light enters an inadequately cut jewel, a large portion of the light will get lost through the sides instead of reflecting back up the best. The previous gives the precious stone a dull, dormant look.

Know that there are medicines that can be completed to a precious stone that can enhance its shading or absolutely change it to an extravagant shading.

Precious stone Shading: Apparently the second most vital "C", goldsmiths normally review shading on a 23 letter set scale - "D" - "Z". "D" is the whitest shading and "Z" is a light yellow shading.

You may feel that a more white shading would constantly mean a more costly precious stone. Be that as it may, this isn't really the situation as irregularity is the thing that decides cost.

There are precious stones called "likes" which have solid hues, (for example, blue and red) and are exceptionally uncommon and expensive. A few likes are estimated out of the scope of a great many people as they cost in the a huge number of dollars.

Jewel Clearness: Precious stones normally have interior and outer flaws called considerations or nature's unique finger impression. These are frequently imperceptible to the exposed eye however can be seen under a gem specialist's magnifying instrument (loupe).

Less considerations implies more noteworthy clearness and a cleaner, more costly precious stone. Pearl quality jewels, that is those with practically no inside considerations are reviewed "FL" for impeccable. These precious stones are uncommon and costly.

Precious stone Carat Weight: The heaviness of a jewel is estimated in carats. This isn't to be mistaken for "karat" which is the manner by which the immaculateness of gold is portrayed.

Nor should you confound the heaviness of a precious stone with its size. 1 carat measures up to 0.2 grams or 100. Numerous individuals know about "carat" as it is a term that is continually drifting near. Carat weight is entirely direct as it is institutionalized and can be precisely decided with a precious stone carat weight scale. The more a precious stone gauges - the more it costs.

The sixth C - Accreditation

Here is another "C" for you - "accreditation". I consider this the sixth "C." alright - I swear - no more "Cs" in this engagement rings direct.

"Accreditation" is really a jewel reviewing report which gives an expert gemological evaluation of the 4Cs.

You should just believe precious stone evaluating reports from strong confided in labs, for example, the Gemological Organization of America (GIA), American Pearl Society (AGS) and the Diamond Confirmation and Affirmation Lab (GCAL).

Notwithstanding the huge 3 precious stone graders over, some online retailers, Amazon for instance, incorporate endorsements from Worldwide Gemological Foundation (IGI).

Remember that precious stone reviewing reports don't offer examinations of jewels. Examinations notice esteem. So in the event that somebody demonstrates to you an evaluating report with a sum professing to be a market estimation of the precious stone - you realize something isn't right.

Purchasing Precious stones On the web

During a time where a half eaten flame broiled cheddar sandwich and a lady's turn in marriage are sold on the web, it appears there is nothing you can't purchase on the web. Wherever you mean on purchasing a precious stone, trust in the seller should be an issue and obviously you have to practice good judgment.

[parkerparlour]

promises - peter parker

Summary: When Peter shows up to school one day wearing a ring you've never seen before, you don't think anything of it. That is, until he gives one to you.

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Just some nervous fluff!

A/N: I wore a ring for the first time in a while recently and kept fiddling with it, so here this is! Peter is supposed to be about 17/18 here, a senior spidey. 

The grey, velvet box is soft in Peter's palm, and his hands start sweating as soon as he opens it. He can barely touch it, let alone take it out, but he wants to get a good look at this magnificent piece of work one more time.

He's being careful, almost too careful, because this ring isn't his.

Peter looks down at the small, silver-colored ring in his hands, a lovely white sapphire intricately placed in the center. Two other purple sapphire gems are on either side of the larger stone to represent the month you started dating - February of sophomore year (he cheesily asked you out on valentine's day and you've been together ever since). Honestly, the center piece looks like a diamond, but it's not. It was also much cheaper and better to get on his teen salary.

When he decided he wanted to get you a ring, he took up a very, very part time job at a bookstore near his apartment. It paid decently and he could squeeze in hours on days where crime seemed thin. Overall it only took a couple months to save up enough, and in that time he was able to even design the two rings. He was initially thinking a gold band, but that was too ridiculously expensive. He spent all his down time at work sketching away at the rings, making at least seven different ideas before settling on this final one. Simple, sweet, and cute.

They match, sharing the same material (stainless steel - less likely to get scratched in daily life or destroyed in a fight with a villain) and two matching striped indents down the band. The craftsmanship is stunning and no flaws are to be seen anywhere on them.

They are professionally made, and the guy he hired to do it even gave him a discount. The guy, Mr. K as he asked to be called, thought it was cute that Peter wanted to make matching promise rings for you two, especially at such a young age. He was more than happy to do the job and the rings were done within the week, gently put in two different ring boxes and handed to the boy, whose nerves now have gone sky high.

It's been three weeks since then and he hasn't found an opportunity to give you the ring, to ask you to wait for him. It's daunting and terrifying, even though Ned has assured him a thousand times that you'll definitely say yes. You've made it clear that you're following Peter wherever he decides to go after this year, that you see an amazing future with him, but Peter is still too scared.

But here he is, your ring glistening, shiny, new in his palm. Today is the day.

He decided that last night, and once he decides something, his brain thinks that it's too late to take it back. Of course, he could just leave the ring here, like he has the past few days, but no. He's made up his mind, it has to be now.

His hands shake as he puts the ring back in the box, tucking it away in his pocket for safekeeping. He feels like he's getting ready to marry you or something, which, in hindsight, he kinda is. He's not going to be able to breathe easily until he gets you this ring, until he knows you'll say yes.

He's honestly surprised that you were so okay with measuring your fingers with the ring-band tester a few weeks ago, but he made it seem innocuous. He did all of his fingers one day while you two were sitting in study hall, writing down his band sizes, and when you took interest, you decided to measure yours too. Of course his main focus was one finger, but now he has all of them at easy reach if he ever wanted to get you a little something else.

His pen skipped when he was trying to write the number for your left ring finger, but it was no matter, because he had already memorized it and only a few minutes later sent a text to Mr. K about the size. You had absolutely no idea, because, for once, Peter was actually being decently sneaky.

Peter looks down at his own hand, where he has decided to wear the ring for him, but on his right hand so you don't suspect anything. His own band is much less jeweled, not that he doesn't like them, but because they'd most certainly break when fighting. In wearing just a simple band like this, he can be assured that it won't get destroyed, since once he switches it to the other hand he won't ever want to take it off even in battle.

The train ride to school is full of nerves and excitement and oh god, he might throw up, no, keep it together, Peter, don't back down now. His mind battles with himself over today.

What if she's not ready? Ned said she was ready. What if she doesn't want to promise to me? We've been together for two years, and we're going to college together. What if she doesn't like it? What if it's not to her taste? You've seen what jewelry she wears, this looks exactly like something she'd love.

He goes back and forth, negating every single worry that he has, and he slowly begins to build more confidence.

He practically floats into the building, both on cloud nine and deep within himself. When he spots you his heart skips a beat, but he makes his way quickly over to you, excited and terrified for today.

“Hey, Pete,” you smile at him for a second before going back to grabbing something out of your locker.

“Good morning, Y/N,” he says, pressing a quick, chaste kiss to your cheek. Even that gets some squinty eyes from the teacher down the hall, whose lips press into a thin line. Mrs. P has always been a hater of PDA, but there’s nothing she can do with the rules changing over time.

Peter rests his head on top of yours, watching as you put books in and take books out of your locker. His gaze follows your left hand and he can’t help but wonder what it will look like with the ring on.

You shut the locker and look up at your boyfriend. “Shall we head to math?”

He steps back, nodding. You start walking and chatting quietly together as you head in the direction of the classroom.

As Peter's hand intertwines with yours, you suddenly feel some cold metal. You look down subtly and notice that he is wearing a silver band on his right ring finger, nothing super fancy but still appealing. You decide not to ask about it, assuming that maybe May got it or he was just trying out something new.

The day passes normally, you sitting and laughing with Ned and Peter during lunch, chatting quietly with Peter during study hall, catching up with MJ during a couple classes with her. You don't notice anything out of the ordinary, except that Peter keeps fidgeting with the ring on his hand, spinning it over, and over, and over, endlessly.

When you ask about it, he chuckles.

"Oh, I'm just not used to wearing a ring." And I don't want to wear it on this finger.

You, once again, let it drop, and the end of the day comes. Peter suddenly asks you out for a little evening thing, if you'd want to get coffee or dinner with him before going home. His hand is furiously twisting away at that ring, nerves on high.

"Pete, it's like, 2:45, that's a little early for dinner isn't it?" You raise an eyebrow at your boyfriend and he shuffles from side to side, getting more and more nervous. You backtrack quickly, stuttering. "I-I mean, of course! Of course. Where do you want to go?"

He perks up at that, mentioning a cool new place he wanted to try that was just a couple blocks from the school. It turns out to be a fairly normal restaurant, not too fancy but not a dive either. The atmosphere is warm and cozy, and you can tell this will be a new place for you two to come often. The food is great and after Peter pays, you sit for a little bit, finishing your drinks.

He clears his throat and you look up.

"Uhm… Y/N, I was wondering, if you, my lovely, darling, fantastic, amazing, beautiful," you giggle and Peter finally continues, "wonderful girlfriend, would be willing to… promise yourself to me?" His voice pitches up with the question as he opens the ring box in his lap, sliding it across the table to sit in front of you.

You gasp.

Your eyes well with tears and you can't even form the words you desperately want to say, instead choosing to nod your head vigorously as your hands come up to your mouth. You shriek into them quietly with excitement and Peter's grin is blindingly bright. You like it, you want to be with him. He did good and his heart feels full.

He pulls your left hand down from your face, your right one staying put where it's covering your mouth. He slips the ring on and a shiver courses through you at the contact. It's so real and there and wow you've promised yourself to him. You've made one of the first steps to forever together.

Peter leans forward, pressing a kiss to your nose before holding his right hand out.

"Would you like to do the same for me?"

You realize at that moment that the rings match, the sly bastard. Finally you lower your hand from your face after wiping your cheeks of the few tears that leaked out without your accord. You have to clear your throat a few times as you take the ring off, holding it out to him.

"W-would you promise yourself to me?"

The grin is still on his face from before as he nods, murmuring a soft and loving, "Yes, of course."

He has a similar reaction when you slide his ring on, his heart thundering and chest tightening as he sees both of your hands together, matching and dedicated to each other. This feels right, and now all he can imagine is what you'll look like on the wedding day, which is years from now, at least, but he's excited. He's excited for an eternity with you.

He holds your hands tight in both of his, bringing them up to his lips and he presses a kiss to your left hand and then the right and then the left again.

"I love you," he murmurs against the soft skin of your hands and you feel the words as they are spoken.

"I love you, too," you say, smiling now and eyes dry, giddy with what just happened.

Unbeknownst to you, the little old lady that's behind the counter right now is tearing up watching you two. She made a similar promise there, 60 years ago, and the restaurant has become an informal place for such things to happen. She's addicted to it, watching the young couples fall further in love with each visit and asking gently if they're married yet in the same way a loving grandma would.

She rubs her eyes and turns around, grabbing a slice of their most delicious cake. She carries it over to you two, placing it gently in the center of the table.

"For you," she says, smiling softly at the two of you.

"Oh- we didn't-" Peter starts, confused.

"Nonsense, it's on the house. Congratulations!" she interrupts, waving her hands to distill the confusion.

As you two enjoy the delicious slice, your rings glint and shine, as they will for an eternity together.

[dubsism]

Today’s Movie: A Woman Called Golda

Year of Release: 1982

Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Ned Beatty, Franklin Cover

Director: Alan Gibson

This movie is not on my list of essential films.

NOTE: This installment of Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies is being done as part of something called The 5th Wonderful Ingrid Bergman Blog-A-Thon being hosted by The Wonderful World of Cinema. She hosted the first blog-a-thon in which I ever participated; you might say she helped create the monster you see now some 90 episodes later.  At one time, I wondered why she kept having me in these events; after all, she has to be smarter than that considering she just earned an advanced degree in “filmy stuff.”  Then I realized her genius…she has me around as my thick-headed slop makes the other participants look that much better 🙂

You can see all the contributors to this blog-a-thon here:

Days One, Two, and Three

The Story:

Have you ever heard the old saying “save the best for last?” No doubt, there are some hardcore Bergman-o-philes who might recoil in horror at what I’m about to suggest, but for my money, Ingrid Bergman’s final performance may very well be one of her best.

For purposes of full disclosure, I’m not the world’s foremost Ingrid Bergman fan. I don’t get far off the “beaten path” when it comes to her work; I couldn’t take a discussion much beyond “Casablanca,” “Gaslight,” or “Notorious.” I could barely tell you if Rossellini is a pasta dish or a director, but I can tell you this. Anybody who does consider themselves a fan of Bergman needs to have this movie in their “watched” folder.

The Necessary Backstory

If it weren’t for “Movie for a Rained-Out Ball Game,” I wouldn’t have discovered this gem either.  Now, you can’t be a “movie snob” and still appreciate “A Woman Called Golda.” Going in, you have to understand this is a “made for television” effort; it has the inherent flaws of such a movie.

First, it’s pretty clear this movie lacked the luxury of a large budget. Second, having such low overhead is why local television stations had this film in the bank ready for the “rainy day.” Lastly, there’s the issue of casting. Most such films have three core characteristics:

1) A Collection of “That Guy” Actors

This is a tactic shared by disaster movies as I explored in the low-budget Martin Milner 1976 TV epic “Flood!” The difference is the price tags on the cast of familiar faces.  “A Woman Called Golda” is no exception.  The first-time viewer of a sufficient age is certainly going to recognize some faces of the time.  If you were a fan of “The Jeffersons,” you might recognize Franklin “Mr. Willis” Cover playing Senator Hubert Humphery.  Fans of the “Star Wars” franchise might recognize this movie’s “Mr. Macy” as General Rieekan from “The Empire Strikes Back;” the guy who looks like he’s wearing throat lozenges on his uniform.  Then’s there’s the ever-present Ned “Squeal Like a Pig” Beatty.

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That’s just for openers. If for no other reason, you need to watch this movie to spot all the familiar faces. This cast features one Oscar winner and four Oscar nominees in a melange of the recognizable. You can even make a drinking game out of spotting them all.

2) A Television Legend

Arguably the biggest legend to date is television history in William Shatner.  But if his first series didn’t become so iconic, Shatner is likely little more than a footnote in the grand scheme of the small screen; he’s forever the guy who sees gremlins on the wing in “The Twilight Zone.”

Let’s be honest, “Star Trek” doesn’t become a staple of television history with out Leonard Nimoy; Shatner lived long and prospered because of “Spock.” In the very same vein as the green-blooded Spock did for Captain Kirk, Nimoy’s presence in this film as Golda Meir’s husband lays the foundation for the capital piece of casting for any film of this ilk…

3) Honest to Goodness Hollywood Royalty (albeit an aging one)

Character actor extraordinaire Robert Loggia’s portrayal of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat offered the opportunity to portray one of the great dynamic characters of all time. Sadat was one of the military officers who staged a coup d’état against King Farouk in 1952. He became prominent in Egyptian politics serving as Vice President and Minister of State under President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Sadat succeeded Nasser as President of Egypt in 1970, the year after Golda Meir became the Prime Minister of Israel.

The problem is Loggia was normally known for playing “Mob” type uber-hoodlums and he simply just wasn’t up to the task of playing a statesman like Sadat.

Frankly, there are times when Loggia’s performance borders on the clownish, but putting him in that role was either the definition of “accidentally successful” or pure, unadulterated genius. If an actor capable of exploring the depth of a character like Anwar Sadat had been cast in that role, it very easily could have forced a pivot in perspective of the whole film.  If they had been able to put Anthony Quinn in that role, they might as well have re-worked the whole picture to “A Man Called Anwar” rather than “A Woman Called Golda.”

In terms of world history, the tales of Anwar Sadat and Golda Meir are inextricably linked, which makes telling the tale of one without making a co-star of the other intrinsically difficult. Besides, as previously mentioned, Paramount Domestic Television only had budget for one Hollywood monarch, and that was Ingrid Bergman.

Even if they hadn’t re-worked the picture, the Sadat character could have easily stolen the movie.  When Sadat comes to power in 1970, he is the leader of a nation orders of magnitude larger and more powerful than Israel.  Not only is that nation thirsty for revenge for the loss of the Sinai Peninsula during the 1967 “Six-Day War,” but the Soviet Union is Egypt’s main source of foreign aid and also wouldn’t mind seeing the Jewish state wiped off the map. Sadat know that being hostile to both the United States and Israel was a hindrance to industrialization and modernization of Egypt, but changing those things was not going to be an “overnight” project.

But by 1973, the Arab states, particularly Syria, Jordan, and the Egyptian Army – those who had lost territory to Israel in 1967 – were ready to unleash the dogs of war yet again in a bid to recapture the Sinai, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and the other lands lost in the previously. This leads us to the defining moment of Golda Meir’s life.

The Brilliance of Ingrid Bergman

Golda Meir with Anwar Sadat during his visit to Israel in 1977.

“A Woman Called Golda” was a four-hour “made for television” movie originally aired in two-hour halves in 1982.  As the aforementioned “Hollywood Royalty,” Bergman’s main role was to lend gravitas to the film. The film opens in 1977; the scene being Golda Meir has returned to her old school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is telling the students the story of her life.  Through a series of flashbacks woven together with Bergman’s narrative, the audience is drawn into the story-telling. In one fell swoop, all the problems are solved. The way this movie was made eliminated issues created by the the quirky casting, the also aforementioned “Sadat” problem, and opens the door for Bergman to deliver a tremendous performance for a story which richly deserved it.

Meir was born on May 3, 1898 as Golda Mabovitch in Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine). Her father went to find work in America in 1903, and once he had saved enough money, the rest of the family emigrated to Milwaukee in 1906 to escape the ever-present persecution of Jews throughout Europe. Those struggles fed Golda’s dream of an independent Jewish state.  In the meantime, she attended college, became a teacher, met and married Morris Meyerson (played by Leonard Nimoy) in 1917.

Morris and Golda moved to the British Mandate of Palestine (land that would eventually become Israel) in 1921 to live and work on a kibbutz.  While Golda was not performing her duties of picking almonds, planting trees, tending chickens, and running the kitchen, her leadership abilities were noticed. As a result, the other members of the kibbutz chose her as its representative to the General Federation of Labor known as the Histadrut.

Despite the fact they left the kibbutz in 1924, Golda’s rise in the political world would continue.  The couple eventually settled in Jerusalem where they have two children; a son Menachem and a daughter Sarah.

The next step in Golda’s ascension took place in 1928 when she was elected secretary of the Working Women’s Council (Moetzet HaPoalot).  This position required her to spend two years as an emissary in the United States. While this was a major step for her, it also marked the beginning of the end of her marriage to Morris.  The children went with Golda to America, but Morris remained in Jerusalem. Over the next two decades Morris and Golda grew apart, but never divorced; despite their estrangement, they remained married until his death in 1951. The next two decades saw Golda serve in a variety of roles in service of Israel.

Meir with President Kennedy when she was Israel’s Foreign Minister. 1962

By 1969, Meir was in a state of semi-retirement due to health concerns, but after prime minister Levi Eshkol’s sudden death, Meir was elected as his successor.  She took office in March of 1969 and maintained the coalition government between her own Mapai party and two others, the Rafi and Ahdut Ha’Avoda. Eventually, these three would officially merge to form the Israeli Labor Party.

But early in her term as prime minister, Meir eschewed politics to court other world leaders regardless of their ideology with her own vision of peace in the middle east. This included the President of the United States Richard Nixon, Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausesçu, and and Pope Paul VI. In a highly controversial move, Meir even hosted a visit to Israel by West German chancellor Willy Brandt in 1973.

Through Bergman’s portrayal and narration, viewers start to see Meir’s overall strategy of making Israel a sympathetic figure by being the side seeking peace.  This is only exacerbated in the wake of the Palestinian terror attack on the 1972 Munich Olympics in which 11 Israeli athletes were murdered. This strategy becomes pivotal in Meir’s finest moment.

Early in 1973, Meir cemented her relationship with American President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger when she agreed to Kissinger’s peace proposal based on “security versus sovereignty” in which Israel would accept Egyptian sovereignty over all of the Sinai Peninsula, while Egypt would accept Israeli presence in some of the Sinai’s strategic positions. However, this back-fired; in October of 1973 the Arab states began massing troops on the Israeli borders.

Prime Minister Meir, President Nixon, and Secretary of State Kissinger in 1973.

This is the moment when Bergman’s portrayal fulfills the “gravitas” role – and then some – because this is the moment where Meir is faced with a decision with the fate of a nation hanging in the balance.

On the eve of the October 1973 “Yom Kippur” war, Israeli intelligence could not conclusively determine that an attack was imminent, but the signs of a heavy troop build-up in the Golan Heights and in the Sinai were clear. Meir was convinced this was a set-up identical to the Six-Day War six years earlier. On one hand, there were advisors telling her an attack was not likely. The Israeli public shared that sentiment, especially given the crushing defeat which was  inflicted on the Arab states in 1967.  Despite the fact she had complete authority to order a full-scale mobilization for war, Meir did not do so.

But a few days later, it became clear an attack was imminent, and Meir’s delay only allowed the enemy forces to grow in strength. Mere hours before the outbreak of war, Meir met with Minister of Defense Moshe Dayan and Army Chief of Staff General David Elazar. While Dayan continued to argue that war was not likely and felt that only the Israeli Air Force and two Army division needed to be called up, while Elazar felt a full-scale mobilization was necessary along with launch of a devastating preemptive strike on the Syrian and Egyptian forces.

Meir agreed to the complete mobilization of the Israeli Defense Force (IDF), but would not order the preemptive attack. Meir told Dayan and Elezar that Israel’s survival would depend on foreign aid. To that end, she believed they were not able to depend on European nations to supply Israel with military equipment, and the only country which would possibly come to Israel’s defense was the United States, but that wouldn’t happen if the Americans felt Israel initiated the hostilities. Meir placed her bet; million of lives including her own and the survival of a notion were at stake.

At 2 p.m. on October 6th, the armies of Syria and Egypt poured into Israel. The IDF launched a series of blocking actions against the Syrians and launched a mostly ineffective counter-offensive against the Egyptians in the Sinai.  By October 11th, the invading forces had been pushed back by the IDF, but the Israeli Air Force and Army had suffered massive casualties and had no reserves.  If the Arabs counter-attacked at this point, the Israelis could have easily suffered a defeat ensuring the destruction of the entire nation and a blood-bath of unimaginable scale.

But Meir’s gamble paid off. On October 12th, President of the United States Richard Nixon ordered the launch of Operation Nickel Grass, and within 24 hours American military hardware began flooding into Israel. Within days, the re-armed and re-supplied IDF was back on the offensive with forces across the Suez Canal threatening Cairo and breaking out of the Golan Heights on the road to Damascus.

One of the reasons why Meir made the right call on the preemptive strike is she hedged that bet by letting Nixon and Kissinger know her decision and why she made it. After Operation Nickel Grass was launched, Kissinger told Meir that she made the right choice; that if she had ordered the firing of the first shot, he and Nixon “wouldn’t have given Israel so much as a nail.”

Ironically, it was Meir’s triumph in the Yom Kippur war which led to her political downfall. In the aftermath, the Israeli public demanded answers for why the IDF seemed so -ill-prepared for the initial attack which led to it taking such heavy casualties. Both Meir and Chief of Staff Elazar became scapegoats and were forced to resign.

The Legacy of Golda Meir

Israeli 10 Sheqalim Banknote commemorating Golda Meir

The film ends by coming full circle with Ingrid Bergman bringing the tale of Golda Meir’s life story to a close with the audience of school children. Meir died shortly after this trip to her school; she had been suffering from lymphoma for years. Bergman passed away on her 67th birthday only a few months from the end of filming “A Woman Called Golda.”  Like Meir, Bergman was also suffering from cancer.

But despite the ignominious end to her political career, Golda Meir is still a revered figure in Israel.  Not only is she on a bank note, she is buried on Mount Herzl, the site of Israel’s national cemetery. The first and only woman to hold the office of Prime Minister in Israeli history to date, and only the fourth woman to be a head of state in the world at the time, Golda Meir was known as the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics; this term would later be used to describe Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Former Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion called Meir “the best man in the government” and “strong-willed, straight-talking, gray-bunned grandmother of the Jewish people.”

Similar glowing words for Ingrid Bergman came from her daughter Isabella Rossellini after she had seen “A Woman Called Golda.”

She never showed herself like that in life. In life, Mum showed courage. She was always a little vulnerable, courageous, but vulnerable. Mother had a sort of presence, like Golda, I was surprised to see it…When I saw her performance, I saw a mother that I’d never seen before – this woman with balls.

Like I said, if you consider yourself a fan of Ingrid Bergman, and you’ve never seen this film, you need to change that. Even if you already agree with the words of her daughter, once you see “A Woman Called Golda,” you’ll have a whole new appreciation for them.

Look what it did for me…the guy who still thinks Rossellini is something that comes with a red sauce.

The Hidden Sports Analogy:

Give or take a few years, Golda Meir was born right around the same time as Joan Whitney Payson.  They both died within a few years of each other as well. But other than today’s hidden sports analogy, the similarities stop there.

Meir came to America as a penniless immigrant escaping the pogroms of Russia of the turn of the 20th century. Her father was a carpenter who sweated for every cent he ever had. Payson was the essential “trust find baby;” She inherited a trust fund from her grandfather William C. Whitney of the prominent Whitney family and on her father’s death in 1927, she received a large part of the family’s fortune…which goes all the way back to the colonial days.  She was “old money” of the first order, was pedigreed at Barnard College, and was known as a businesswoman, philanthropist, patron of the arts and renowned art collector.

Joan Whitney Payson

But Payson was also a dedicated sports enthusiast who also happened to be a minority shareholder in the old New York Giants baseball club. Albeit on a different scale, post World War II Palestine shares a crucial characteristic with Major League Baseball of the same time; for both this was a time of complete upheaval. The effect of establishing a Jewish state in land held by Muslims since the Crusades speaks for itself.  But the 1950s represented an equally tectonic shift in the demographics of the United States…and consequently those of it’s biggest sport at that time.

The Baseball Diaspora

The 1950s ushered in an era for franchise relocation and expansion for Major League Baseball. By 1957, the lure of new and untapped markets was so strong it reached the de facto capital of baseball, New York City. The “Big Apple” was home three teams; two of them being the biggest franchises in the game. To this day, no team has won more games than the Giants, and no team has won more championships than the New York Yankees. Conversely, the Brooklyn Dodgers were the “red-headed step-child” of New York baseball.  The Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley wanted to buy land on which to build a stadium to replace the dilapidated Ebbets Field. For a host of reasons, this proved difficult.

Meanwhile, emissaries from the city of Los Angeles were looking to entice a team to move to California.  After the war, the advent of transcontinental airline travel meant the obstacles of slow rail travel and the distance to the west coast were no longer in play.  Nobody really thought a team would leave New York; as such the Angelino’s target  to move west was the Washington Senators.  It was no secret that Senators’ owner Calvin Griffith was open to be courted for a move.  But when stories began to appear of O’Malley’s dissatisfaction with New York, the faction from Los Angeles shifted their focus.

In no time, O’Malley and the city of Los Angeles had a deal in place, but there was one snag. Citing travel and scheduling concerns, National League president Warren Giles would not allow O’Malley to move the Dodgers to the West Coast unless he could find another owner also willing to move. O’Malley began to put out feelers, but It was starting to look like Giles’ mandate was going to kill the deal. There were only eight teams in the National League at the time; the process of elimination left O’Malley with what he thought were no “real” options.

August Busch just had the city of St. Louis handed to his Cardinals as their exclusive market when the American League’s St. Louis Browns left to become the Baltimore Orioles in 1954, so there was no way he was moving. One of the biggest proponents of westward expansion was the Chicago Cubs’ owner William Wrigley; the Cubs were the first team to move their Spring Training facilities out of Florida, and he already owned the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. But for a host of reason, the idea of the Cubs abandoning Chicago was almost heretical as a team leaving New York.  The one team which might have moved west with him was the Boston Braves, but they already made their move when they headed to Milwaukee in 1953.

Just when O’Malley was about to give up on the Los Angeles deal and the Brooklyn fans were beginning to rest assured they weren’t going to lose “dem Bums,” the bombshell hit that both the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants were leaving the “Big Apple” for Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively.

Horace Stoneham and Walter O’Malley right before they head for the airport.

What nobody knew that O’Malley discovered was the Giants’ majority owner Horace Stoneham was having similar difficulty finding a replacement for his team’s antiquated home stadium, the Polo Grounds. While all this was going one, the city of Minneapolis was already constructing Metropolitan Stadium in an attempt to lure a baseball team and/or a football team to the upper mid-west. The Minneapolis Millers were the New York Giants top minor-league affiliate at the time and Shoreham was noted to have said “there were not two better major league stadiums.”

That’s when O’Malley put “two and two together” deducing Shoreham was at least entertaining the idea of moving the Giants to the Twin Cities.  Being open to leaving New York was the only opening O’Malley needed; he persuaded Shoreham to move the Giants San Francisco, fulfilling Warren Giles’ dictate the Dodgers would have a National League rival closer than St. Louis.

Redrawing Baseball’s Borders

As a minority owner of the the New York Giants, Joan Whitney Payson was staunchly opposed to the move. She knew what this would do to the fans. Baseball fandom in New York in the 1950 enjoyed the same fervor as any religion.  It was a major component of your personal identity; race, creed, national origin, and Dodgers, Giants, or Yankees. It was that simple and well-defined, and you couldn’t change any of them.

In one fell swoop, legions of New York National League fans were cast into the baseball desert. Their teams were gone, and there was nothing they could do about.  While Dodger and Giants fans enjoy of the great rivalries in all of sports, they do have one unifying factor. They both have an eyeball-splitting hatred of the New York Yankees.

Imagine what would have happened if in 1973 Golda Meir had said something like “In order to escape the never-ending cycle of war, we’re going to move the State of Israel to Utah. It’s just like Palestine; it’s got a big, salty lake and plenty of desert. It’ll be great!” Granted, that comparison leans a smidge to the absurd side, but it makes the point. It also sets the table for something even more absurd which actually happened.  Imagine that after Israel made the move to Utah, somebody told the Jews left in Palestine that they could always just convert to Islam.

That’s essentially what National League president Warren Giles told Dodger and Giant fans after their teams were ripped out from underneath them.  Giles was a huge proponent of expansion or relocation; anything that would put his league into new markets. During his term as president from 1952 to 1969, the National League broke out of it’s borders not having any teams farther south or west of St. Louis. In much the same way the borders of Israel were redrawn by military conquest, the borders of baseball territory were being redrawn by Warren Giles and his quest to chase the ever-shifting American population demographics.

The first step was the two New York teams heading for California. But it was in the 1960s when the expansion of baseball really took off. At the dawn of the decade, Giles announced plans to add four teams to the National League, with two being added in 1962 and two more in 1969. The plan called for the 1962 expansion to target Texas and the South, while the 1969 additions would focus on the West and possibly even a foray into Canada.

When questioned as to why there was no thought towards establishing a new National League presence in the “Big Apple,” Giles’ notorious reply “Who says you have to have a team in New York?”

The Rise of a New Baseball State

Naturally, Giles’ comments didn’t sit well with New Yorkers.  But what baseball fans didn’t know was Giles’ visions of expansion were the direct result of the founding of a third Major League. While the Continental League never played a game, the fact that it had investors ready to move big-time baseball into cities where it did not exist yet made both the National and American leagues take notice.

Founded in 1958 by prominent attorney William Shea, the Continental Baseball League (CBL) had prominent prospective franchise owners like Bob Howsam (who would help create the American Football League and become the founder of the Denver Broncos), Wheelock Whitney, Jr. (who was influential in bringing professional sports to Minneapolis and was an owner of the National Football League’s Minnesota Vikings) and Toronto’s Jack Kent Cooke (who at one time owned the NFL’s Washington Redskins, the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers, and the Los Angeles Lakers of the NHL.). That was a formidable line-up, but the CBL acquired its gravitas when Joan Whitney Payson threw open the door of her Fort Knox-ian bank vault to fund the start-up league.

Once she knew she couldn’t stop the Giants from leaving New York, Payson immediately sold her interest and began efforts to get another team in the “Big Apple.” But once she heard Warren Giles’ comments about New York, she knew the National League president did not want to give her an expansion team.  But once she heard of the Continental Baseball League, Payson knew one way or another she was going to bring baseball back to Brooklyn and Queens.

When Warren Giles found out that Payson had just been awarded the CBL’s New York franchise, he knew he could not have somebody with her wealth and dedication to New York as a rival in the nation’s largest market. As a result, Warren Giles and the National League awarded an expansion franchise in 1960 for New York City to Joan Whitney Payson.  At this point, both her and Shea abandoned the CBL to focus on their new National League franchise. This effectively marked the end of the CBL, which formally disbanded later that year.

Many have speculated over the years that the CBL was simply a canard used by Shea and Payson to illicit an expansion franchise out of Warren Giles. True or not, the fact is they brought the National League back to New York. The rest is history.

The Legacy

The New York Mets took the field for the first time in 1962. They had a record of 40 wins and 120 losses, making them easily the worst team in all of Major League Baseball.  The wins and losses didn’t matter; what was important was baseball was back for Brooklyn and Queens. In those boroughs, there was no baseball; the hated Yankees were for Manhattan and the Bronx.  Building on that,Payson managed to merge the fan bases of the departed Dodgers and Giants in much the same manner Golda Meir unified three political parties in Israel. The Mets’ uniforms featured both Dodger blue and Giant orange, and for their first two seasons they played their home games in the Giants’ old home, the Polo Grounds.

William Shea and the stadium that would bear his name.

In 1964, the Mets moved into the newly-constructed William H. Shea Municipal Stadium, or “Shea” for short. Payson insisted the new venue bear Shea’s name in tribute for all he did to bring the Mets to New York.  As for Payson, she retained majority ownership of the Mets and functioned as the team president from it’s inception until her death in 1975.  But she was no “figurehead” in the corner office. Payson was “hands-on” for the day-to-day operations of the New York Mets every day of her life. She was a fixture in the team’s facilities and was well admired by the team’s personnel and players, and all around baseball as well.

Joan Whitney Payson was the first woman in a major North American sports league found a franchise from the ground up, to buy majority control of a team rather than inheriting it, and as such was the first to have her team capture championship when “Miracle” Mets won the World Series in 1969.

Joan Whitney Payson was there from Day One of the New York Mets, and she gambled hard with her own money to bring the dream of a new franchise in New York to reality.  Golda Meir was there from Day One with Israel, and she literally bet her own life to save her dream of an independent Jewish state. As mentioned, Payson and Meir came from very different backgrounds; Payson had money, and Golda Meir ended up on money.

But they both created something which means a great deal to a great many people to this day.

The Moral of the Story:

Even the largest of historical figures can’t make history alone. but Joan Whitney Payson and Golda Meir got pretty damn close.

FUN FACT: There was a television mini-series made in America in 1983 about the life of Anwar Sadat. He was played by Louis Gossett, Jr. and it was banned Egypt.

BONUS FUN FACT: This is not the first time Ingrid Bergman’s portrayal of Golda Meir has been mentioned on Dubsism. She was actually one of our first Sports Doppelgangers.

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Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies – Volume 90: “A Woman Called Golda” Today's Movie: A Woman Called Golda Year of Release: 1982 Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Ned Beatty, Franklin Cover…