#and she never really had a grand scheme for 'the greater good' unlike most people here

[blue-thief]

i've just watched tbosas and i feel like i could make an alt version of this but with light, lelouch, liam, rin, and coriolanus

same character different fonts in my eyes

[klm-zoflorr]

Issues with the Tyzula ship that Tyzula shippers/fics typically avoid

Stereotypical Tyzula Ty Lee: “Azula-san, I completely forgive you for everything you ever did to me or my best friend and have always loved you unconditionally. I will help you become better if it means risking the quality of my life, my other relationships, my sanity, and even my life. I will magically be able to help you deal with your myriad of mental issues as if you always only needed love/affection instead of real medical help. I will always love you even if you don’t really change your behavior or worse, remain the same power hungry bitch you grew up to be. I love you ‘Zula.”

Look, I am not opposed to Tyzula for I actually think that they had a real friendship, even if there was a massive power imbalance, that got fucked up by Ozai’s abusive teachings and Azula trying to act as her sovereign and friend at the same time. But there is a tendency among Tyzula shippers/fics to make Ty Lee forgive Azula way too easily, make Azula not deal with her flaws or make (proper) amends to Ty Lee and Mai, retcon Azula into a soft baby who didn’t do anything wrong other than get abused, and/or gloss over the issues between the two.

For example, If Tyzula occurred pre-Boiling Rock like some fics imply, do you think it would have been consensual? Especially considering that there has been a massive power imbalance (Azula is Ty Lee’s Sovereign) since their childhood that Azula took advantage of even then; Azula forced Ty Lee to join her squad at firepoint; and Ty Lee is deathly scared of Azula? And if it happened post-Boiling Rock there is a massive power imbalance in favor of Ty Lee since the moment Azula “acts up” (it doesn’t have to be a big thing since Ty Lee is scarred shitless of Azula) Ty Lee can either call Zuko to jail her and/or have Aang de-bend her. There are some Tyzula fics that properly deal with, imo, the pre- and post-Boiling Rock power imbalances but most of them just gloss over them.  Not helping is the fact that comics imply that the two never had a real relationship at all and that Ty Lee is still deathly afraid of Azula, willing to chi-block Azula the moment she is anything other than docile. 

Also, how come most Tyzula shippers/fics don’t touch about LOK’s Turf Wars said about Sozin outlawing homosexuality and the implications it has for a lesbian/bisexual Azula? If Azula, who tries to be the model princess in a post-Sozin Fire Nation, can’t even realize that using fear is not a good way to maintain relationships, how would she deal with the fact that she has feelings for girls? Most of the Tyzula fics or headcanons I have read don’t seriously deal with the fact that either Azula is deep in the closet and/or suffering from serious internalized homophobia and would not likely express her sexual preferences in public unless she was in an extraordinary situation or got serious therapy plus years of self-reflection/character growth. Not to mention the fact she would be one of the leading perpetrators of homophobia by virtue of being Ozai’s right hand general/advisor.

So, do I have a valid point about how Tyzula shippers and fics often engage in abuse and/or toxic friendship/relationship apologism? Or I am just being too harsh on a group of shippers that have been vocally condemned by the greater ATLA community and most likely will never see their ship be canonized? And yes, some of my own fanfic works do contain Tyzula so feel free to call me out if I am being a hypocrite and holding people to standards that I can’t uphold.

-----------

This was a very interesting submission, Anon, and I don't think you're "in the wrong" here, even if I don't necessarily agree with you. At least you're polite, so I won't swear at you xD I'll sum up your points for clarity's sake

"Tyzula shippers make Ty Lee dumber and ready to do anything for Azula. They write stories without depth and without adressing the imbalances in their relationship"

Here's my personnal opinion on that: this kind of drama/angst is hard to write, and I don't want to waste my time for 10 chapters while they're angstying over whether or not to love each other. Mental health issues are hard to write too, and I want azula to be happy, so I can just make them dissapear. I completely acknowledge it isn't the most realistic kind of writing, but I don't care, I just want to have fun. I wouldn't pretend it's canon either.

Now, some Azula fans are just biased towards her, and like to pretend her canon character did nothing wrong and is purely a victim and is owed Ty Lee's love. I'm not gonna shit on them, in the grand scheme of things it's quite inconsequencial, but I don't think that's accurate.

"Tyzula shippers make it happen even if Azula is still a "villain" and hasn't redeemed herself for her sins"

I can link this to my first point a little, and erase all moral complexity for the funzies while acknowledging it isn't canon. But there's also the fact in ATLA, Ty Lee has little to no redemption arc herself. She just betrays azula, and then the good guys accept her and mai with no problem? We could interpret that as "she was always supporting Aang's cause and hated azula secretly since forever" but I don't think that's very correct, because Ty Lee never shows any sign of it, never talks treason, never helps the good guys while azula isn't looking (unlike mai!). The only thing that could possibly make her betray Azula, in my point of view, is seeing her other best friend almost die to her hands. And even then, it isn't a moral choice. I firmly believe Ty Lee was just as indoctrinated in the Fire Nation's ways as everyone else there. And that she actually supported her nation and obeyed Azula as her commander not only because they were friends, not only because she had to, but because she was loyal to her nation. And the only reason I can see her go to the good guys' side at the end of atla was simply because of self preservation with a side of unbrainwashing from FN propaganda

So, in conclusion, I don't think Ty Lee is a completely good character, and I don't think she has a problem with Azula's crimes.

"There is a power imbalance"

I'm not going to deny that. But who told you all relationships with a power imbalance are inherently bad? They're more likely to be toxic, but they won't always be. If the person with the upper hand is respectuous and nice, everything works out perfectly. It's more of an advice towards people who don't have the upper hand in their unbalanced relationship, and who could get taken advantage of. But Ty Lee is smarter than she looks, and I believe she would know to stay away from that.

Pre-boilling rock, there is indeed problems with them getting together, but they're not due to one of them being toxic. Azula is Ty Lee's princess, and it isn't her fault. She was literally raised to lead. And Ty Lee was raised to follow. We see that despite that, Azula still considers Ty Lee as her friend and gets her in her team in a nice way. But it isn't her fault she was raised in the middle of a war and sees the will of the fire nation as more important than anything.

Additionally, I don't think Ty Lee hated Azula, for the reasons I mentionned before.

Post-boilling rock, I just don't think Ty Lee would be scared, or cruel enough, to jail or unbend Azula for no reason. Because, again, I don't think she hates her.

"The fire nation is homophobic"

As is usual with me, I loathe the comics and don't consider this as canon. It doesn't even make sense, apart from saying "fire nation's evil, they're homophobic now too" to be honest, if anyone's gonna be homophobic it's gonna be everyone, cause there was no gay representation in atla.

Oh, and f*ck this, I hate homophobia, I don't want my fictionnal worlds to have it too. It's dumb as shit and everyone is gay in the Fire Nation. There.

"So, do I have a valid point about how Tyzula shippers and fics often engage in abuse and/or toxic friendship/relationship apologism? Or I am just being too harsh on a group of shippers that have been vocally condemned by the greater ATLA community and most likely will never see their ship be canonized?"

You do have a valid point that some tyzula shippers have the same problem as some azula stans, as in that they put her on a pedestral and say she did nothing wrong. But some also just don't want to bother with that and just want to write fluff, and that's fine. There are way worse things they could be doing.

It is true that Tyzula is kind of a controversial ship, and for this reason I don't think you should care too much about it. Bullying people never help anyone, and criticising tyzula shippers will only push them back in their fandom spaces and make them unable to tell apart genuine, objective criticism and mean bullying.

I don't want Tyzula to be canon, btw. Well. For me canon kinda stopped at the end of atla, so everything is possible after this point lol. Not that I even care much about canon.

You are not an hypocrite for liking tyzula and criticizing it. You can call out the behavior of people in your own community, it's perfectly fine and should be encouraged. I'd pay more attention to your opinion too, because I know you don't just dislike the ship and want to find any reason for it to be "problematic"

I'm gonna put that submission in the Tyzula tag, if anyone in there feels offended by that do let me know. I don't intend to shit on this ship at all. Also, if anyone wants to add points or give me perspectives I didn't think about go ahead!

[jonthethinker]

I’m always delighted to read meta people write about moral complexity concerning the characters presented to us in Critical Role. It’s due in no small part to how beautifully and astutely written these pieces are, and with how much care and tenderness people treat the subjects of their analysis.

But it’s also interesting in another way, because it shows me how differently I view the fundamentals of morality from the characters, the cast, and majority of the fandom itself.

And since I’m feeling very self-indulgent today, I’ve decided to write about how and why under the cut.

To begin our discussion, let’s use a rather popular subject on the topic of moral ambiguity: Essek Thelyss. He’s a fascinating character for many reasons, but our interest is in his choices and the consequences there in.

It’s discovered by the Nein that Essek is responsible for the theft of the Luxon Beacons and their acquisition by the Cerberus Assembly, which is believed to be the main crux of the war between the Dynasty and the Empire. He admits to them he did this because he felt his people were blinded by a faith that prevented them truly understanding what the Beacons were and how they worked, and so an alliance was formed with the Assembly in order to finally gain that understanding.

The only thing that really made him doubt this decision was his budding friendship with the Mighty Nein, not the war he helped start or the people harmed in the process, but that the people he had grown to care for had been caught up in his machinations to acquire knowledge; again, it’s not the moral or social implications of his actions that bother him, it’s strictly the personal ones.

And this is where the distinctions between my moral understanding and that of  others begins to display itself. Others see this as a moral development on Essek’s part, and a sign that he is growing in a more positive direction. I somewhat disagree. I see it as a sign that he can grow, but while the soil has become fertile ground, no buds have broke the surface yet.

Goodness, according to my own moral compass, comes from two basic notions; compassion and humility. Compassion to care for those you gain nothing from caring for, and humility to place yourself less and less at the center of importance in the grand scheme of things. This doesn’t mean devoting yourself so much to others that you don’t take care of yourself, but that you are okay with being intermittently uncomfortable and taking risks if it means others are taken care of. And humility doesn’t mean you think yourself unimportant, but that you are a part of something larger and grander that you are on your own.

Essek cares about the Mighty Nein. That shows that he can care about people outside of himself, but not very far outside of himself. They are his friends, and friends and family are, to our minds at least, extensions of ourselves; they rest against the bubble of self, and are often a huge part of how we even define and understand ourselves as individuals in the first place. Very selfish people can be very protective of the friends they have, because to a selfish person, there is very little difference between person and property; you are what you own, and your friends belong to you. Essek is, of his own admission, a very selfish person. So caring about his friends isn’t really some moral stride in the right direction, but more of an indication that he can care about others, but only in so far as they are of value to him directly.

But why is Essek the way he is? Many in the fandom say it’s because of his status as a prodigy, and the pressure that has placed on him over the course of his entire life. The expectations placed upon him are enormous, and he simply can not fail to meet them.

But that’s not really the full story. Because what most people seem to fail to include in their calculations is Essek’s class position; He is nobility, and unconsecuted nobility at that, and we’ll get to why that matters shortly.

Essek has been sheltered and protected from every hardship the average person of Xhorhas experiences. There has never been a single moment in Essek’s life where his material well-being has been in question. Not one time. While the pressures to succeed have been great, he’s also been given nearly every single tool he’s needed to do so. No doubt he received the sort of high quality education most folks couldn’t begin to comprehend, all while having the backing of his Den and the Dynasty at large to guarantee any actual failure has no real bite. When our goblin friend Zorth of Asarius fails at his job, a moorbounder snacks on one of his limbs. When Essek fails, maybe it causes some frustration and some momentary tension for his Den, but his relative social position and quality of life stays the same.

Seeing as he is unconsecuted, he’s never even had to start his life as someone with less than he has now. Skysibil Abrianna Mirimm started her current life as a goblin, and according to the Explorers Guide to Wildemount, has lead to many a whispered jest or cruel remark among the other members of the court, and because she’s had this experience, she’s grown a greater appreciation for the “beastfolk” as a broader sect of their society. Essek has had no such experience to open his eyes to the broader experiences of the public. He’s been insulated from the core features of many people’s daily realities in a way that virtually guarantees he feel nothing but disinterest at best and utter disgust at worst in regards to the trials of others.

This is not to take away from his agency, and to say it’s not his fault. His brother Verin by all indications experienced the same sort of life he did, but is an acclaimed leader and has very much humbled himself to a cause greater than his own ambitions, that being justice and honor for his people. So it would seem it is both his circumstances and his reaction to these circumstances that have affected who he has become, and what tools he has at his disposal to change that.

And to continue this thread for a moment, it would behoove me not to mention an incredible important aspect of Essek’s class position, and that is the power that comes with that. Anyone in Xhorhas could have had the same notions about the Luxon as he does. Anyone of them could have had the same grand sense of self-importance. For instance, Vendalla the housekeeper could secretly believe all the same things about how the Luxon religion is blinding the masses and holding back the Dynasty from realizing its true potential. The difference is she, unlike Essek, isn’t one of the handful of people that can act on that belief.

I feel this is where a rather stark divergence forms between my own sense of morality and that of others, and it’s my belief that systems and power structures are far more important in understanding the moral implications of a thing, and not individual belief, intent, or inclination.

To better explain where I’m headed, let’s use an analogy of sorts. When you think of yourself, if you’re like most people I know, “you” as an entity are independent from your body. You might think of yourself as a soul or maybe “you” are your brain or a consciousness piloting your body, but your body is ultimately seen as something “you” control.

But for me this isn’t the case at all. In fact, I don’t only believe you are also your body, I believe that yourself actually extends beyond you into the environment around you. You are not you without the many sensations and feed-backs, and sometimes lack there of, that your body produces, in response to the material reality around you. You would not be you with your brain in the body of nineteenth century Chinese peasant farmer or the body of a crusading knight in the twelfth century. You are defined by the context in which you exist.

And this extends further. I don’t believe people are independent ideological actors acting solely on their beliefs and feelings about the world. We are not independent of the context in which we exist. For the most part, your context does a lot more to shape your ideology than your ideology will ever shape your context. It’s quite the herculean task to think your way out of poverty. And it’s certainly a difficult proposition for a rich person to develop an ideology that doesn’t support them continuing to hold onto their wealth. These things can happen, for sure, but because of the broader systems and incentives at play, to expect people to just choose to swim up stream without also creating new systems and incentives to encourage that is bananas to me.

This is not to imply there is no such thing as agency, but your material conditions and social position are going to heavily influence the degree to which you can make decisions. The higher your class, the more choices you can make. The more hegemonic your ethnic group or race or gender or sexual orientation, the more options you will have, but also the weaker your incentives are to try and change that. That’s why social movements are generally comprised of the sufferers and not the sympathizers. The greatest allies don’t arise just because they believe something is right or wrong, but because they have humbled themselves before the size of the cause and have faith that their effort will support something much bigger and more important than their comfort and position.

These people are exceptionally rare for a reason; because it’s hard to do that. This isn’t a moral judgement on the people who don’t do that, quite the opposite; they are fish swimming down stream with the current instead of against it. If you want people to swim the other way, you don’t scold them into trying to swim harder; you make it easier. You change the current. And this is a task that you can’t do alone. You have to do it in a coordinated way, in disciplined unison with others. That’s why every major change the world has ever seen has largely been the result of pressure from movements not individual actors, and why the most successful movements are composed of the broadest base of sufferers, generally in the form of a broad working class struggle.

People in this fandom and many other fandoms try to be good. They try to believe the right things, and like the right things, and say the right things. But their power comes not from their individual beliefs, but through their combined action with others, joining together to change the current, and their faith that even though they may not get to personally feel the current shift, they were an integral part of that process. And it pains my heart that most of them can’t see that.

You see this in the Mighty Nein. They all struggle so much with their own sense of self-worth in comparison to their friends. They’re all worried they’re only worth as much as their latest contributions. The problem is that they define themselves as something separate from the Nein. Could someone who they see as contributing more than they have, have done so without the backbone of support they receive from all the others? No. None of them would have gotten far without the broader system of support they have developed for each other. They have shifted the current, changed the incentives. No person is exists in a vacuum. Our context shapes our possibilities. Want to change the available options? Change the context. And you can’t do it alone.

So if Essek is to truly get better, he needs more than just the Nein’s friendship. He needs the system they’ve developed. And that system is going to have to work hard against the many currents that flow through Essek’s life. They will have to change his incentives.

But the question is, do they want to? Most of the Nein weren’t mad about the war. If they were mad, it was because Essek lied to them personally. Only Beau seemed particularly interested in the consequences on the broader world, and her response was to try to scold that fish up stream. And it didn’t work. So really, it will be a question of if the Mighty Nein want to even try to push Essek onto a more positive, morally rewarding path, and what incentives they have to do so.

I really hope the small handful of people who read this can take something from all of this. I’m not alone in this outlook, as it has been something that has been contributed to by sufferers and sympathizers alike across history. If even one person walks away from reading this thinking about systems of power more than individual choices and beliefs, I’ll rest easy. Thanks for reading, regardless.

[singofsolace]

Madam Spellman 2020 Challenge Masterlist!

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the Madam Spellman 2020 Challenge! Over five weeks, we created thirty-four, I repeat, THIRTY-FOUR fanfics, and five pieces of gorgeous fan art. A grand total of 73,530 words were published to the collection on Ao3. I am in awe of how much content was created, and over the moon at the response this challenge received. 

Since this masterlist is going to be very long, I've decided to put it all under the cut! Check out the 39 pieces of fanwork below!

Week One Prompt: New Year’s

a year has fled o’er heart and head by Singofsolace (@concreteangel1221)

Summary: Mary Wardwell has never been kissed on New Year’s Eve. Zelda seeks to rectify this grave injustice.

A Mortal Tradition by lady_needless_litany (@lady-needless-litany​)

Summary: Even though months have passed since Blackwood’s massacre, everything’s still up in the air. Zelda’s barely hanging on - and now she can’t even kill Hilda as a form of stress release.

Remembered Footsteps on Old Roads by brokenmemento 

Summary: Lilith asks Zelda to take a little trip, one that will prove difficult for her to do.

Happy New Year darling, for whatever is in store by Saturn_Silk 

(@saturn-silk)

Summary: Mary and Zelda spend New Year’s Eve together at the cottage.

this gorgeous fanart by @bainelland  

Art Description: A polaroid picture from the Spellman’s album. Taken on a New Year’s Eve night by Sabrina who accidentally walked in on a quiet moment between Zelda and Lilith. Illuminated by the Solstice Tree, with Ella Fitzgerald’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” playing in the background. It’s one of Zelda’s favorite pictures in the whole album.

this stunning fanart by @miss-spellman (aka @asterleaf and @moon-rise )

Art Description: Zelda Spellman and Lilith stand, wrapped in an embrace. They are kissing as confetti and streamers fall around them. Zelda has one hand wrapped around Lilith’s waist, and the other is precariously holding a glass of champagne. Lilith’s hand is placed on Zelda’s cheek. 

Piece of My Heart by sweetdreamsaremadeoffish (@claire-de-macarune​)

Summary: Yes, Lilith, I love you. Yes, Lilith, this is your home now. I could never deny you. Yes, Lilith, I want you to stay.

~~

Week Two Prompt: Road Trip

Strangers by brokenmemento 

With the coven in shambles and the Academy without a sense of direction, Zelda finds a place to start rebuilding and settles on asking an unlikely person to aid her in her mission.

this will be our year (took a long time to come) by sweetdreamsaremadeoffish ( @claire-de-macarune ) 

Mary’s keys in the ignition and her head lolled back on the headrest, Zelda blew a last, elegant kiss out the back windshield to her family and trundled the old Ford down the drive, onto the passing road. They disappeared in a wink of distance rather than magic.

Road Trip by AlexusOnFire ( @alexusonfire )

Poetry, written from Lillith’s perspective.

wrestling with the wind by Singofsolace ( @concreteangel1221 )

When Lilith, the skateboarding, tomato-stealing lesbian meets Zelda, the elegant, willful daughter of a mortician, sparks (and motorcycles) fly. 

this sweet fanart by @moon-rise​  

Zelda and Lilith take an impromptu road trip and stop at a little witch friendly café. Zelda orders her black coffee and Lilith orders a coffee with 4 creams and 7 sugars. Zelda hates the colour scheme of the room but the romance of it grows on her as the sun sets and lights up Lilith’s impossibly gorgeous blue eyes. 

Pulp fiction for Zelith by @jyou-no-sonoko19​ 

(please show your support for this fabulous edit by reblogging from the original source!)

~~~

Week Three Prompt: Winter

Breathe by sweetdreamsaremadeoffish ( @claire-de-macarune​ )

"I think you have what it takes. It’s completely reasonable for you to have some support, but this needs to work. I need this to work. We both do,” Edward said, under his breath. “It’s this or go back home. You know that.”

Chasing Out The Chill by Jyou_no_Sonoko ( @jyou-no-sonoko19​ )

After the fall of the Church of Night and its ceasing to worship Lucifer, Zelda in her new role as self-appointed High Priest has to transition them to the Church of Lilith. And while she believes in her Patron, it is a difficult adjustment to make. Lilith grows concerned for her and plans a little getaway.

Dance Under the Winter Sky by TommorowNeverCame ( @its-a-goode-day )

A year later, the coven has a winter ball. Zelda decides it's time for her and Lilith to be happy.

Double Black Diamond by Singofsolace ( @concreteangel1221 )

When Zelda Spellman gets driven off the ski trail by the Judas Boys, Lilith (the snowboarding lesbian) comes to her aid.

Fire and Ice by Saturn_Silk ( @saturn-silk​ )

Lilith really wants to go ice skating, and eventually, Zelda caves in and takes her.

Their Heart Grew Cold by stellastellaforstar ( @stellastellaforstar​ )

She looked beautiful, Zelda could tell even through the haze of snow. Her glasses were foggy and her nose was red, but every snowflake seemed to land so beautifully on her head.

These Winters Can Be Maddening by brokenmemento 

Winter through the eyes of Zelda Spellman at three points in her life.

Winter by AlexusOnFire ( @alexusonfire​ )

a lovely winter poem!

winter and hard earth by CallmeCordelia 

Zelda observes the Winter Solstice. Lilith observes her.

~~~~

Week Four: Alternate Universe

Like a fool, I fell in love with you by Saturn_Silk ( @saturn-silk​ )

Zelda Spellman, Greendale’s local coroner, needs a date for her sister’s wedding and who better than her colleague Detective Lilith Morningstar. Will they get away with it? Or will it turn into something more?

Lady Justice by Singofsolace ( @concreteangel1221​ )

Lieutenant Lilith Demos had spent the last twenty years investigating New York City’s most sensitive crimes. She was intimately familiar with the worst humanity had to offer, but getting justice for rape victims made everything else worthwhile. There was no case too perverse or too delicate for her to handle; she always remained coolly professional, no matter the situation. But that all changed the day Zelda Spellman walked into her squad room. Bringing Zelda’s abuser to justice proves to be her most difficult case yet, and it doesn’t help that Zelda is extremely uncooperative when it comes to the investigation. 

The Muse by AlexusOnFire ( @alexusonfire​ )

Zelda Spellman attends an art class. Lilith is her muse.

No Man is an Island by brokenmemento 

Zelda and her roommate Lilith have been fighting with this thing for five years. With the rain comes absolution. AKA the Madam Spellman as Grace and Frankie AU.

Vying Off Course by Claraon ( @sheep-in-space​ )

Her eyes stop in their track, surprised at spotting the eldest member of the Spellman family sitting at the bar. Her frock is modest enough – a pale linen thing with a simple blue lacing, and her strawberry hair is tied back in a conservative bun –  but she somehow manages to look at once regal yet perfectly at home among the buccaneers and other shady characters crowding the place.

We Lost the Sea by bainel ( @bainelland​ )

Their eyes locked for a second across the room, and Lilith felt her breath catch in her throat. She felt as if the whole room had faded away. For a fraction of a second, they were the only two people in the inn. But then the bartender placed a glass of amber liquid next to the redheaded woman. She turned away, towards her drink, and the moment was over.

Lilith gets dragged into a series of events that will lead her into one of her greatest adventures yet.

Wild with Adventure by stellastellaforstar ( @stellastellaforstar​ )

It’s a wild west AU, y'all! Sheriff Zelda and Outlaw Lilith.

Your Song by sweetdreamsaremadeoffish ( @claire-de-macarune​ )

Songwriter AU

And you can tell everybody this is your song It may be quite simple but now that it’s done I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind That I put down in words How wonderful life is while you’re in the world

The Spelldelaire Children by @claire-de-macarune​ 

(please show your support of this fabulous fan art by reblogging it from the original source!)

~~~~~

Week Five Prompt: Fix It!  (the list is in alphabetical order)

a little death (une petite mort) by Singofsolace ( @concreteangel1221​ )

Mambo Marie intervenes when Zelda Spellman denies Lilith sanctuary. This changes many things, but not all things. Lilith proposes that the only way that the three of them will survive the wrath of both the Dark Lord and the Pagans is to perform an incredibly intimate ritual. Mary Wardwell stumbles upon this ritual, with gun in hand.

An Offering of Trust by paradox_n_bedrock ( @paradox-n-bedrock​ )

Zelda and Lilith try just a little harder for each other. They’re lucky Marie has an emotional intelligence greater than a potato.

Forever…(is a long time) by brokenmemento 

After the events of Part 3, things are still left hanging in the balance. Lilith forges an unlikely alliance with the least likely of suspects.

From Her Beacon-Hand by CallmeCordelia 

Lilith seeks asylum, but what will she find?

home in the heart of hell by sweetdreamsaremadeoffish ( @claire-de-macarune​ )

And all shall fade The flowers of spring The world and all the sorrow At the heart of everything

I Was Housed by Your Warmth by daisygrl ( @asterleaf​ )

Something about the other witch pulled her ever closer, made her ache inside. It was the strangest sensation: two parts nostalgia and one part pain. If she had lived lives other than this one, she would have sworn that they had met before. Perhaps their souls had passed one another by as they swam in the primordial muck.

The Witch’s Lullaby by marla_black ( @marla-black​ )

With Lilith pregnant with Lucifer’s baby, she is in need of a midwife, and who better than Zelda Spellman, the witch who has never lost a child in her life.

~~~~~

Many thanks to everyone who reblogged and commented on all of these pieces! You were as much a part of this challenge as the writers and artists!

[charminglatina]

Riverdale Characters as Tropes (Part II) ⭐️.

#9. Hiram Lodge (Main Trope: Fiction 500; Secondary Tropes: Big Bad, Evil Overlord, 0% Approval Rating, The Don, The Patriarch, Bad Boss, Corrupt Corporate Executive, Magnificent Bastard, Sharp Dressed Man, Badass In A Nice Suit, Man Of Wealth And Taste)

Fiction is loaded with Wish Fulfillment, and being rich enough to bend reality is one of them. These are characters whose wealth is almost impossible to quantify. More Money Than God is the bare minimum. Now this could happen in Real Life, like royalty who owned literally thousands of Pimped Out Dresses, or a man in India who built a private skyscraper for his family, staff, and fleet of cars, or Marcus Licinius Crassus, who had three times as much money as Bill Gates and personally funded the reconstruction of the Roman army. But in fiction, that's on the lower end of this scale. Stuff that generally does not qualify you to be a member of the Fiction 500: Big Fancy House, Cool Chair, Cool Boat, Cool Plane, Cool Car, Battle Butler, Maid Corps, or even simply having assets in the billions.

Stuff that generally does qualify you to be a member of the Fiction 500:

You have become a cultural symbol for absurd wealth, and the story leaves no doubt your reputation is completely justified.

You routinely spend money on a scale normal super-rich people might do once or twice in a lifetime, whether it be major investments or mere Conspicuous Consumption. If a real amount is given, even if in the hundreds of millions, or billions, it's chump change to these characters.

You personally fund projects associated with major corporations, governments, aliens, etc. This includes Crimefighting with Cash.

You have the resources of a global superpower without yourself ruling a global superpower.

You personally fund projects that apparently break the rules of physics using only wealth and the Rule of Cool, or sometimes Rule of Funny. In other words, Screw The Universe; I Have Money! But if some other convenient fictional trope makes something possible, it doesn't count. You don't buy sound in space when Space Is Noisy. It's not impressive to have Infinite Supplies when everyone else does. Building a Humongous Mechais not noteworthy when any random scientist can make five in a weekend.

You're surprised to discover your latest project's market success has not increased your net income because you have a monopoly on the product it's competing with.

You can do any of the above without leaving a paper trail or an electronic footprint. Many of these Fiction 500 rich characters operate either clandestinely or under a secret identity, especially if they are Crimefighting with Cash, The Chess Master or Evil Mastermind types. They must have methods for secretly diverting hundreds of millions or billions of dollars to their schemes (like building that army of Mooks, Elaborate Underground Base, Bat Cave, or Batmobile) while making it seem like a legit and legal expenditure or keeping it out of the books. It should be noted that even if a character uses their personal fortune, these transactions would still typically have to show up somewhere when tax time comes.

Now personality doesn't really matter. You could be a Rich Bitch or Uncle Pennybags. You could be a law abiding citizen and even be Batman, or instead think you can screw the rules. Name is based on the top 500 grossing companies annually compiled by "Fortune" Magazine. And despite the name implying otherwise, there can be any number of characters here. Also, there is almost no way to objectively rank them, although Forbes tries with their "Fictional 15" list. Compare Arbitrarily Large Bank Account, Conspicuous Consumption, Undisclosed Funds, Organization with Unlimited Funding, and N.G.O. Superpower. For real people who are considered the richest in the world, see The World's Billionaires, an annual ranking made by Forbes (which has its own article on The Other Wiki, BTW).

The cause of all bad happenings in a story. A Big Bad could be a character with Evil Plans or it could be an omnipresent situation, such as a comet heading towards the Earth. In a serial story, the Big Bad exerts an effect across a number of episodes, even an entire season. This trope is not a catch-all term for the biggest, ugliest villain of any given story. In fact, it doesn't have to be a villain at all, as we just said. If it is a villain, though, it should be identified correctly; the badass leader of the outlaw gang that causes the most personal trouble is not the Big Bad. The railroad tycoon who is using the gang as muscle is the Big Bad. The Man Behind the Manis very common for this trope, leaving the reveal of the big bad as The Chessmaster behind it all and proving themselves far more clever and resourceful than the Villain of the Week. Sometimes the Big Bad is the grand enemy of an entire franchise as an Overarching Villain. At other times, the Big Bad is an Arc Villain who causes trouble for a period of time only to be replaced by another Big Bad. When you look at a season-long story or a major Story Arc and you can identify one problem being the cause of everything, that is the Big Bad. In its most general form, a Big Bad will be at the center of the Myth Arc rather than just any Story Arc. The term "Big Bad" was popularized in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was characteristic of Buffy's Big Bads for their identity or nature, or even the fact that they are the Big Bad at all, to remain unclear for a considerable time. Occasionally, characters would even refer to themselves as "the Big Bad". Whether or not they were, though, this is a Big Bad Wannabe. The structure of Buffy placed the Big Bad as being crucial to the Half-Arc Season, half the episodes are filler dealing with unrelated enemies while the other half involved the ongoing Myth Arc with the Big Bad. Each season can easily be defined by who the Big Bad was. If a show has a series of Big Bad jeopardies, they can function like a series of Monsters of the Week that take more than one week to finish off. If there is a Legion of Doom, you can expect the Big Bad to be involved somehow. They're probably sorted by power, with the strongest for last, following the Sorting Algorithm of Evil. Evil Overlord, Diabolical Mastermind, The Chessmaster, Arch-Enemy, The Man Behind the Man, and often Manipulative Bastard are specific types of villains who are liable to show up as Big Bads. If they're a Magnificent Bastard or Hero Killer, the good guys are in big trouble. The heroic counterpart of this character is the Big Good, who will very often be the focus of this character's attention over The Hero at the beginning of a series. If a work of fiction is conspicuously lacking a Big Bad, it may be a case of No Antagonist. See also Big Bad Duumvirate for two (or more) Big Bads working together. Sometimes a Big Bad will get their start as a servant to another villain — if that's the case, they're a Dragon Ascendant. If the character who fills the role of Big Bad in most meaningful ways is nominally subordinate to someone else (someone significantly less menacing by comparison), they are a Dragon-in-Chief. If the story has many Big Bads at once who don't work together, see Big Bad Ensemble. The Big Bad Shuffle occurs when there are multiple candidates for the Big Bad position. If the Big Bad doesn't start out as bad but develops over the course of the story, it's Big Bad Slippage. If the Big Bad of one section of a work doesn't die on being defeated and stays around as a character in a different plot role (reformed or not), that's Ex-Big Bad. The Big Bad of a story is not always the most powerful or oldest existing evil force. Perhaps an evil presence along the lines of an Eldritch Abominationovershadows the work's setting, but is mainly divorced from the story's events — that would be the Greater-Scope Villain.

#10. Hermione Lodge (Main Trope: Femme Fatale; Secondary Tropes: Iron Lady, Proper Lady, Spicy Latina, Gold Digger, Corrupt Politician, Grande Dame, Silk Hiding Steel, The Woman Wearing The Queenly Mask, God Save Us From The Queen, Sugar-And-Ice-Personality)

First, she turns you on. Then, she turns on you. The typical client in a Hardboiled Detective story (French for "fatal woman," idiomatically "woman to die for"). You know the type. Dressed all in black with legs up to here and shady motives, she slinksinto the PI's office, sometimes holding a cigarette on a long, long holder, saying "Oh, Mr. Rockhammer, you're the only one who can help me find out who killed my extremely wealthy husband." Did she do it? Do I care? Wait, where'd that saxophone music come from? Whatever her story is, whether she did it or not, she's definitely keeping some secrets. The Femme Fatale is sexy and she knows it. Made famous by Film Noir and hard-boiled detective stories, she manipulates and confuses The Hero with her undeniable aura of sexiness and danger. Unlike the virginal and sweet Damsel in Distress (or possibly Action Girl), the Femme Fatale exploits with everything she's got to wrap men around her finger. (In some eras, use of make-up is a tell-tale sign.) He knows that she's walking trouble and knows much more about the bad guys than she should, but damn it if he can't resist her feminine wiles. If the Femme Fatale is vying for the hero's romantic attentions she will likely have a sweeter and purer rival. The hero might decide that she's not worth the trouble she causes, but if he doesn't, then they might become an Outlaw Couple. While related to The Vamp, the Femme Fatale is not just any seductress; she has a distinct look and feel. The main distinction is how she presents herself. If you know she's dangerous from the start, but she's sexy enough that you don't care, she's likely a Femme Fatale. On a lesser note, the Femme Fatale generally uses sensuality instead of upfront sexual advances. She may implythat you could have sex later, but she'll never promise it, not even say it—that would decrease her air of mystery and power. Her wiles may include apparent helplessness and distress, and appeals to the man's greed, desire for revenge, or gullibility, as well as the implication of possible romance or sexual rewards, while The Vamp more often reliances on raunchy sex or the promise of it sometime real soon. The Femme Fatale is generally villainous, and heroic exceptions—in an artificial context to snare the bad guy—are closer to Heroic Seductress. Frequently, she is a Wild Card, changing sides according to her own desires and goals; she does not often go through a High-Heel–Face Turn. If she's actually a kind-hearted person who puts on this facade just for fun, this is Trickster Girlfriend. She's often the Lady in Red but possibly dressed like everyone else so as to not be Colour-Coded for Your Convenience. The Femme Fatale is one of the female character types that can often be seen wearing High Class Gloves, especially in conjunction with her sexy evening gowns, and, during the daytime (particularly in old Film Noir movies), is often seen wearing a "fascinator" or "pillbox" hat with a partial- or full-face veil. She's definitely not above using the Kiss of Distraction. If she can fight, too, then she's really going to be trouble. Subtrope of Manipulative Bastard. The younger version of this is the Fille Fatale. The spy version of this is Femme Fatale Spy.

#11. FP Jones (Main Trope: The Casanova; Secondary Tropes: Action Dad, The Alcoholic, Alcoholic Parent, The Good King, The Quarterback, The Sheriff, Dirty Cop, Reasonable Authority Figure, Jaded Washout)

The (legal, and less repulsive than the better-known types) sexual predator — a man who relentlessly pursues, lands, loves, and then abandons members of the opposite sex, a skill bestowed upon him to demonstrate what a badass he is. Sometimes comic, sometimes a monster, always successful, this character leaves behind a string of broken hearts, and occasional vows ofrevenge that are rarely fulfilled. Casanova's only motivation is indulging his lust and desire, sating them with the bodies of his conquests.

This trope tends to suffer from three double standards when portrayed in media;

The first is that the Casanova is always male, given that women are usually shamed for having an active sex life. The comparatively rarer female version is an "aphrodite", but she’ll likely be portrayed as an evil character who exploits her sexuality to manipulate innocent men. The womanizing skills of the Casanova, on the other hand, will almost always be granted to him to make him look like a champion.

This trope also applies almost exclusively to straight men, given that queer people with an active sex life are usually villainized in media. Meanwhile, straight men get to be portrayed as badasses for having multiple women at their beck and call. Bisexuals or demisexuals are even rarer, though not unheard of; for example Oberyn Martell.

The Casanova trope is also usually only applied to Caucasian/white men. Non-white men having, expressing or giving into their sexual desires is often portrayed negatively or Played for Laughs. Also, while white male Casanovas being with non-white women is generally portrayed as fine, men of color are often limited in a work to dating, having sex, marrying or even flirting only with women of the same nationality or skin color as them. If they do have a romantic relationship or sexual encounter with a woman of a different nationality or skin-color, it is usually held in scorn by some in-universe (and sometimes out-of-universe, unfortunately).

Contrast with the unsuccessful Casanova Wannabe. Compare with the inexplicable Kavorka Man. A guy who gets the girls like a Casanova, but unintentionally, is a Chick Magnet. If kind-hearted, may overlap with Chivalrous Pervert. The Charmer is equally charming but less sex-obsessed. If they really get around but want to settle down, it's Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. A Handsome Lech has more negative connotations and a sparser scorecard than the Casanova. The trope is named for Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798), a soldier, spy, diplomat, adventurer, and librarian whose extensive but unreliable autobiography (in which he almost literally described himself as God's Gift to Womennote ) established his eternal fame as a lover. It should be noted that the historical Casanova was closer to a Chivalrous Pervert who really was looking for love... just with women who were locked in loveless political marriages — and also gained his successes famously ugly. (Definitely◊ he was no Heath Ledger◊.) Interesting and prone to be noted for his modern wannabes, he was one of the few 18th century men who bathed almost dailyand asked the same thing from his partners. Many films, TV movies and TV mini-series are named for and based on that person. The best known are Fellini's 1976 film, the 2005 film starring Heath Ledger, and the 2005 BBC drama mini-series starring David Tennant. The latter is considered one of the more faithful adaptations of Casanova's memoirs, while Fellini's... wasn't. For the juvenile version — all of the above without the sex — see Kid-anova. Contrast the Serial Romeo (who falls in love with a long succession of women, one at a time and for reasonable periods). If the guy is actually only rumored to be a Casanova and has no evidence onscreen, it's the Urban Legend Love Life. If he develops feelings for one of his conquests (or someone who refuses him), he's a Ladykiller in Love. See More Friends, More Benefits for when the mechanics of a game encourage the player character to act this way. Note: It should be mentioned that even after the affairs were over, most of Casanova's ex-lovers still liked him, and he was reputedly quite the gentleman. This trope would probably fit (the fictional) Don Juan better.

#12. Gladys Jones (Main Trope: Evil Matriarch; Secondary Tropes: Dark Is Evil, Parental Abandonment, Action Mom, Drugs Are Bad, Bitch In Sheeps Clothing, Bait The Dog)

A mother is one of the most central figures that a character can have growing up, and her influence can have an impact on that character even as an adult. If the character is lucky, that mother will be a loving one, and if he or she is really lucky, she'll be an Action Mom who can kick ass and take names if the character is ever threatened. But if the character is really unlucky and isn't suffering from Parental Abandonment, the character's mother will be an Evil Matriarch and chances are, she will make that character's life a living hell.

The Evil Matriarch comes in two forms:

Comedic: Usually used in the Dom Com, this variety is usually the mother of one of the two parents on the show who comes to visit every so often, and someone on the cast dreads it. Usually (though not always) this variety of Evil Matriarch is a meddling parent, often to an irrational extreme. Classically, this is a Mother-in-Law situation, but from time to time, the kids themselves, or even the child of the mother is the one that dreads it. In some cases, everyone hates the Evil Matriarch, like in Malcolm in the Middle where everyone dreads Lois's mother coming to visit. In other cases, her visit is appreciated by everyone but the daughter or son of the Evil Matriarch, like in Family Ties, where the matriarch is evil because her daughter feels she can't live up to mom's perfection. Expect this variety of Evil Matriarch to have Power Hair and other Fashionable Evil.

Dramatic: This variety, which shows up in more dramatic media, is truly evil in a traditional sense, and is one of the worst villains one can face, especially if one of the Heroes or Love Interests is one of her children (or if she's married into his or her family as a stepmother). Many such Evil Matriarchs are completely convinced that they, and only they, know what's best for their children, and can be very controlling, manipulative, and perfectly willing to do anything they deem necessary for their children's sake, no matter how evil or destructive it may be. The most vicious examples of this variety of Evil Matriarch despise their children (or at least the one they've singled out as The Unfavorite) and are often physically or emotionally abusive towards them, and many of them are not above Offing the Offspring.

If she's not entirely human, then expect her to be a Hive Queen. If she is also the Queen, expect God Save Us from the Queen!. The Spear Counterpart of this character type is Archnemesis Dad. The inversion is Antagonistic Offspring. See Abusive Parents and Parental Neglect for the more mundane versions. See Offing the Offspring and/or Matricide for what this might lead to if the kids fight back. If it's not your mother but her replacement who's making your life a living Hell, see Wicked Stepmother.

#13. Hal Cooper (Main Trope: Ax-Crazy; Secondary Tropes: Serial Killer, The Bluebeard, Malevolent Masked Man, Knight Templar Parent, Insane Equals Violent, Light Is Not Good, Icy Blue Eyes)

An "ax-crazy" character is someone who is psychologically unstable and presents a clear and present danger to others. They are capable of extreme violence, whether carried out with a Slasher Smile, insane laughter, speaking in a Creepy Monotone, or out and out murderous rage, and with no way of knowing just what will set them off, which makes them extremely frightening to deal with. This mainly differentiates them from other eccentric characters who may themselves be obsessive, weird or seemingly crazy, but use this condition hand in hand with doing good, or at least not being in the way. However, some formerly established heroes can go through an episode of ax-craziness and still retain their heroic mantle. Despite the title, ax-crazies aren't limited to wielding axes. Any instrument of death will do, from knives or straight razors to swords to chainsaws and beyond. A good number of other ax-crazies are also Trigger Happy, preferring either Hand Cannons that blow really big holes in people, or weapons that allow them to kill lots of people with reckless abandon, such as any automatic weapon. And for the truly psychopathic among psychopaths for whom the above just won't do, a heaping helping of high explosives or a good-sized flamethrower will do quite nicely. Sometimes, they don't even need weapons and just use magic spells or other powers if they have them. There are also plenty who are just as happy to beat people into an unrecognizable pulp-like mass with their bare hands. It is rare for a truly Ax-Crazy character to be a protagonist, largely due to it being a Sub-Trope of Obviously Evil, and most Ax-Crazy characters usually are Obviously Evil. They're common as the antagonists in Superhero and Crime and Punishment Series, often serving as a Psycho for Hire. If they area protagonist, they will most certainly be a Nominal Hero or Villain Protagonist. The difference between them and Blood Knight is this trope is all about killing while the Blood Knight is only interested in fighting. There is, of course, plenty of room for overlap. See also Insane Equals Violent, The Butcher, The Dreaded, Mad Bomber, Cute and Psycho, Blood Knight, Psycho for Hire, Yandere, The Sociopath, Mad Doctor, Pyro Maniac, Hair-Trigger Temper, Colonel Kilgore, General Ripper, Insane Admiral, and Sociopathic Soldier. Compare and contrast Mama Bear, Papa Wolf, Big Brother Instinct, and Violently Protective Girlfriend, who may be capable of temporary Ax-Craziness when their kids, younger sibling(s) or mate are under threat, but are often played sympathetically. Contrast Suicidal Pacifism, when a character never, ever resorts to violence even if it is necessary; and Extreme Doormat, when a character is a complete pushover unable to fight back. The canonical Character Alignment for most Ax-Crazy characters is Chaotic or Neutral Evil, though a couple of Chaotic Neutral examples exist. Sometimes The Unfettered, depending on whether they feel freed or enslaved by their bloodlust. At least one or more examples are an Anti-Villian, where you kinda feel bad for them since their enemies pushed them too far with actions such as killing their family, their friends, or even the enemies trying to kill them, making them go Ax-Crazy. It's very common to be Played for Drama, usually as either the Big Bad, or The Dragon to the the Big Bad. It is far less common, but not unheard of, for it to be Played for Laughs; this is most likely to be seen in a Sadist Show, especially one featuring a lot of Comedic Sociopathy and/or heavy Satire, with it appearing most often in humorous comic strips, Anime, Web Originalworks, and the more adult-oriented Western Animation of the Renaissanceand Millennium periods. A very large number of pages link to this when they should link to An Axe to Grind. This page is about violent crazy people, not people whose Weapon of Choice is an axe (despite the potential for overlap).

#14. Alice Cooper (Main Trope: Ice Queen; Secondary Tropes: Education Mama, Control Freak, Former Teen Rebel, Female Misogynist, The Fundamentalist, Holier Than Thou)

Much like a Tomboy, the Ice Queen is a major character archetype which is somewhat hard to define. Her signature characteristic is that she is cold; the ambiguity comes from what "cold" means. She has a cold heart, a frosty demeanor; she attracts but will never be wooed. Scorned men are likely to call their failed conquests Ice Queens (after all, normal women would have given in to them). Due to the Double Standard, the Ice Queen is (almost) Always Female. The Ice Queen is considered dangerous to love because she will not (or cannot) love back. She's not much for friendship either, preferring to be alone. Situations where an Ice Queen "thaws" and learns to enjoy the company of others are so common that they have their own trope. Being an Ice Queen is purely about personality; having ice-related abilities does not make a character an Ice Queen. That said, it's not at all uncommon for a character with a cold personality to be given cold powers. Not to be confused with a character who has a royal title associated with ice or snow, though they two may overlap (and often do in more magical settings). An Ice Queen requires at least one "cold" personality trait that gets her labeled as an Ice Queen. 

#15. Fred Andrews (Main Trope: The Heart; Secondary Tropes: Like Father, Like Son, Betty And Veronica, Family Man, Standard 50′s Father, The Conscience, Big Good, Good Parents)

The Heart is a personality aspect that comes up in just about any ensemble. Their personality is based on getting the others to recognize that there are more things at stake than their personal vendettas, especially if The Team is becoming a group of Knights Templar, or if any individual becomes a Well-Intentioned Extremist. This is the person who will argue and fight against the justification of "I Did What I Had to Do". Quite often The Heart character will also be an All-Loving Hero, where they go out of their way to help all of the little people. Within the ensemble this character will most often be merged with the role of The Chick. Like The Hero and The Leader, they aren't one and the same, but they often overlap since they are a good fit. If The Chick is usually a non-action character, having personality traits of The Heart will give them more to do, especially if the team is always at each other's throats. For the same reason, The Heart can also be The Hero (in the case of the Magnetic Hero) or The Leader, as their leadership skills keep the team from falling apart. May be part of the Command Roster. The character whose death or loss is most likely to trigger Losing the Team Spirit. Where Elemental Powers come into play, other characters may be in for a Heart Beatdown. Due to their usual relative introversion, and tendencies towards pacifism (whether technical or actual), this character is sadly often C-List Fodder and a prime target for a single-character (rather than the entire show) version of The Firefly Effect. Many series will start out with a Heart character, but the writers will begin to view them as boring and impossible to write for, so they end up being either Put on a Bus/kept Out of Focus at best, or Character Death at worst. This also tends to happen when studio executives want to replace the character with a more talented or physically attractive character, in an attempt to boost ratings. Given that said characters are usually sweet types (and peacekeepers), this also tends to seriously anger a certain portion of the fanbase, but because the studio executives care more about ratings than they do about upsetting what is normally a minority, the character will stay dead. If fan outrage is sufficiently vocal, and the executives haven't managed to completely alienate the actor, then the character may come back periodically as a ghost or a clone. Compare The Face who does the talking on The Team. See also Restored My Faith in Humanity and Morality Chain. Compare The Conscience, Token Good Teammate. Not to be confused with What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway? or Heart Is an Awesome Power though this trope often overlaps with them. Contrast with Lack of Empathy.

#16. Mary Andrews (Main Trope: Fiery Redhead; Secondary Tropes: Missing Mom, Mama Bear, Heroes Want Redheads, Almighty Mom, Brutal Honesty)

A Fiery Redhead is a red-haired character who is strong, Hot-Blooded, out going, usually outspoken, and (if a love interest) often female. She has a big personality and she's not afraid to use it. Whatever you do, don't get on her bad side, or there will be hell to pay. (Especially if powers of personality and/or elements are present: she likes Playing with Fire. Thus, in a Four-Temperament Ensemble, expect her to be Choleric.) She will be unladylike unless it's the case of a redheaded Spirited Young Lady. She might be One of the Boys, a tomboy, or a lad-ette. Heroes do like redheads after all. This hair-color stereotype probably developed since red hair was associated with the Irish and Scottish (and before this, Horny Vikings) for a long time, and they ended up being stereotyped as loud, strong, and passionate (see the Fighting Irish and Violent Glaswegian tropes for more info on that). On the other hand, it's even found in Eastern Europe where any association would have been with Russians or Swedes, and these are nationalities not generally stereotyped as hotheaded. In addition to this, it extends even into ancient texts from Babylonian and Scandinavian Oral Historian. In the Prose Edda, Odin is depicted as blonde, green-eyed, cool, and calculating—while his son, Thor, is a redheaded, blue-eyed (something of an omen of war/perfection in Scandinavian culture) fire-breathing stereotypical Viking (the raiding kind) who treats Earth as a giant freshman mixer. Gilgamesh is also a Fiery Redhead with blue eyes whose duties include being a good precursor to Thor, for the most part—though with more reservation and a cooling trend near the end of his life (this makes both an eerie paradigm of Fiery Redheads at the creation of their respective people's writings). The whole "red-haired, blue-eyed" thing is usually split in Japan between two people. Although real redheads can have tempers like everyone else, this trait is exaggerated in fiction. Also, they can have Green Eyes and this association is also exaggerated in fiction. Compare Heroes Want Redheads, Dark-Skinned Redhead, Evil Redhead, Rose-Haired Sweetie, Red-Headed Stepchild, Redheads Are Uncool, Redheaded Hero. In anime, could be a Shana Clone. If you have a blonde, a brunette, and a redhead in close proximity (i.e. in the main cast), it's Blonde, Brunette, Redhead. Contrast Shy Blue-Haired Girl for Red Oni, Blue Oni and Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette for the realistic opposite hair color and personality. Please do not confuse this with a redhead being literally fiery, or having literal fiery head, although these tropes may overlap. And a red who's literally firey does have their hair color fit their elemental powers. See also Red Is Violent (in this case, the hair color).

#17. Clifford Blossom (Main Trope: Abusive Dad; Secondary Tropes: Archnemesis Dad, Faux Affably Evil, Offing The Offspring, Mean Boss)

Parents are supposed to be the protectors of children, but these parents are either so damaged themselves that they can't do the job, greedy or villainous to the point that they never had any interest in doing the job properly, or would rather use the child as a means to an end. Sometimes they're just sadistic assholes. This includes parents who are emotionally, verbally, physically, or mentally abusive, or who neglectfully allow their children to be abused by others if they don't abuse the child themselves; sexual abuse is typically treated as a special kind of evil. Sometimes, the abuse at the hands of their parents becomes a Freudian Excuse for a villain. Other times, the character manages to not grow up broken, bitter, and hateful, and instead a different and better person than the upbringing would incline one to think. Troubling Unchildlike Behavior is often a tell-tale sign that things are not right at home. Abusive Parents are commonplace in fairy tales and Classical Mythologywhich makes this trope Older Than Feudalism. Note that The Brothers Grimm, when they collected European fairy tales, were uncomfortable with the idea of Abusive Parents and so frequently changed the Abusive Parents in the traditional stories into abusive step parents. Sometimes, a parent will go as far as to kill the child in question, in which case this is Offing the Offspring. In other cases, the parent's abuse occasionally drives the offspring to snap, commit Revenge and finally kill them, thus becoming a Self-Made Orphan. Calling the Old Man Out occurs when a fed-up child retaliates with a "The Reason You Suck" Speech. If the child gets out of the broken family and forms healthy friendships, but reacts badly when their abusive parents show up again, well, Friends Are Chosen, Family Aren't. Bear in mind that not everyone agrees on the line between actual abuse and merely heavy-handed parenting (or even normal parenting). Is Moving the Goalposts merely inspiring the child to achieve more, or the most insidious form of abuse to instill mistrust and paranoia to the children? Some include spanking as abuse; others think it's appropriate given certain guidelines. Some believe it's okay to make a kid go without a meal (they won't starve that easily); others disagree. Making a kid miss a friend's birthday sleepover — is that emotional abuse? Raising a kid without exposure to TV? Telling your daughter she's getting fat? A little friendly name-calling? There's a line here somewhere, but not everyone agrees on where it is. If a parent has just dumped the child, for whatever reason, that's Parental Abandonment; if they aren't paying attention, that's Parental Neglect. If the parents refuse to discipline their kids, they are Pushover Parents. Contrast Mama Bear or Papa Wolf (where others abuse the children and the parents abuse the abusers), and the more extreme variant of Knight Templar Parent, where the abusive parent is violently overprotective. Abusive Precursors can be considered this on a metaphorical level. See Hilariously Abusive Childhood for when this is cranked up to absurd levels and played for laughs. Black Comedy is often connected in the comedic aspect of it, and a Big, Screwed-Up Family may be involved if it is adult comedy. In keeping with the above note, some may call the show on it and say Dude, Not Funny!. See Evil Matriarch and Archnemesis Dad for characters who are beyond abusiveand outright evil. For parents who are mostly abused by their children, see Pushover Parents. While they do not have to be the child's actual, technical parents to be part of this trope, it's pretty important that they are closely related and live together, like a Wicked Stepmother or an Evil Uncle taking care of the Parentally Deprived. After all, it's much more disgusting that somebody related to the child could bring themselves to hurt them, rather than a mere foster family. The polar opposite, of course, are Good Parents.

#18. Penelope Blossom (Main Trope: Black Widow; Secondary Tropes: Evil Redhead, Widow Woman, Straw Feminist, The Vamp, High Class Call Girl, Dark Mistress)

The man-eater, the woman whose husbands/Love Interests keep on dying. Usually, a Black Widow is a cross between a Con Artist and a Serial Killer, a woman who seduces, marries, and then murders men for their money, always using a different name and identity each time to keep the police and her intended victims from twigging to her real identity. She's very much a highly successful vamp. Black Widows' methods may vary, but poisoning is often favored: it doesn't demand superior strength or leave obvious marks, and it's traditional for wives to do the cooking for their husbands. Also, many types of poisoning can have symptoms similar to those of common illnesses, which makes it easier for a Black Widow to collect life insurance money (a very common motivation). There are too many Truth in Television instances to count. Occasionally there are more nefarious methods. The name "black widow" comes from the official FBI designation for this kind of killer and from the black widow spider, which is so named because of the occasional habit of female black widow spiders (particularly the Australian redback spiders and the southern black widows) to devour their mates after mating. For this reason the trope may be paired with Arachnid Appearance and Attire to really drive the spider metaphor home. A Sub-Trope of Sleeping Their Way to the Top, Murder in the Family, and Gold Digger (this one prefers to kill her Meal Ticket instead of living with him). A Sister Trope to The Bluebeard (the Spear Counterpart). Compare Yandere, Comforting the Widow, Widow Woman (for other widow tropes), Will and Inheritance Tropes and Cartwright Curse. When a pregnancy is involved, this intersects with Conceive and Kill. See also Literal Maneater, which is an actual monster that uses the disguise of a woman to lure in its prey.

Look out for Part III!

[projectsoleil]

Red Giant || Cella|| MM Trial 6.4||Re: Nate, Tsuki ,Roger

The irritation was speaking again.

"It's a generalization you fool.  Of course I'm trying to save people." 

Why did she think that Nate of all people would understand this? 

"You think that I'm doing this to save just some floating rock in space with water and trees?  Do you think that just because I'd let a microscopic amount of people die to help the greater good that I don't care?  That I don't want to help?  That I believe the entirety of the human race must be purged from the planet?"

She laughs, though it's mixed with anger as she listens more and more to Nate.  She never got along with him, could never understand his methods, or his means, or his simpleminded philosophy.  

"Do you think that I had some horrific trauma?  Some bad run in with a hero or villain like the rest of you?  I do this because I think it's the right and proper solution.  The only means of making sure things work out.  I'm sound of mind, spirit, and body.  I have the conviction and determination to do what needs to be done, unlike the rest of the cowardice world that would rather fester in this sinking society.  I care, and I don't need your approval to prove it."

She might not need their approval, but she sure does hate hearing some of the words coming out of their mouths. 

"Tch...!"  

That comment about her being nothing sure does trike a nerve though.

"What's worse then?  You think you all know better and what have you all attempted to do to remedy anything?  Go on, I want to hear it.  Is it property damage?  Beating up villains to near death?  Or maybe just enough so that they throw in the towel on villainy.  Better education?  Preventive services?  Surveillance?  Truly, I want to hear your soltuion, any solution reasonable long term solution.  I bet you can't though.  I bet that your simpleminded solutions are always what ends up getting someone hurt.  Please, tell me what you would do to stop the world from sinking further?  To stop villain's from destroying cities and killing innocents en masse.  I'll tell it to you straight.  What the fate is of people like you."

"You. Will. Be. NOTHING.  Another battered and ruined bulwark trying to hold off the endless tide of 'people' that you so generously care about that won't care for you.  You and every hero on this planet will either break, die, or turn sides to survive in our crumbling world.  A spent torch that once it's fire has been engulfed in blackness will be tossed away into the pile of refuse."

Now that she got that anger out of her system she's gone back to being sarcastic.

"Oh you're right Nate, when I think catastrophic world ending events I think of a small group of people being forced to kill one another on an island.  Truly, some upstart villian will learn from me and apply this across the entire world one day and I'll have no one to blame but myself.  Get real, the world won't end because someone looked to me and this project, in reality it will be something much simpler.  Someone will want power and they'll do anything to get it, they'll have the means, and then they'll tear the world apart to do it, and they won't have remorse."

"I'm not saying I'll stop crime in total, no one can do that short of literally killing every human on earth.  But I can at least minimize the type of damage done.  That should at least make sense to you don't you think?"

Why is she even asking?  She knows that they won't care, that they won't understand.  So few of them are choosing to understand and yet she still attempts time and time again.  Why bother at this point, these fools just want something to bash their fists and head against.

"Another horrific symptom of this society is the inflated sense of self importance.  Every person suddenly thinks they can take on the world.  For good or for evil.  But everyone meets their match someday, to someone, it's happened here enough times for you to know that as fact don't you think?  But fine, I'll oblige,  you know I've never really been the sadistic type.  But I think I'm going to take great pleasure in watching your futile struggle for awhile, if only so that I can watch you realize how little you matter in the grand scheme of things.  "  

She was already heated, but Tsuki's comments just give her a flashback to those inflammatory comments made by Artemis.

  "..."

She really hates these damn bots.  But she can't let herself lose her cool, even if she really wants to just vent.

"I'm starting to see a correlation between intelligence and how vocal some of you are choosing to be about my supposed failure.  You must think that you're funny, that's fine.  I'm no stranger to fools misunderstanding and mocking me."

"I've told you once, I'll tell you again.  Creating a first of it's kind self sustain space station meant for interstellar travel isn't something that you can just hash out on the first draft, or the first hundred drafts.  You learn how to fix, alter, and improve, as you do with any project as large as this one.  The money doesn't make me smarter, but it does expand the possibilities I can explore and speed up that process.  I'm certain that MHEC will also be helpful in that regard as well."

As for whether the aliens would see them as a threat or not...

"Maybe it was an experiment, maybe it was an accident, but I doubt that if they can give powers like these that they'd be afraid of us.  Chances are they can wield such powers themselves and have had ages to improve and perfect them, longer than we have.  They can't see us as threats, in the same way that you can't see a gnat as anything more than perhaps a small annoyance." 

At least she hopes, it'll be real awkward if her sudden introduction to the aliens leads to them wanting to burn their planet down.

For once he does make a decent point.

  "Well... there's always risk, but one can imagine that their reaction won't be one of fire and fury.  Not at first, and not if we don't give them a reason.  I'm willing to take that risk, after all no one else seems to be willing."

"There are many smart people in the world, and it's true that many of them probably could attempt what I'm doing with less money, more time, and less killing games and if they're truly wise they'll know that seldom can complex creations be made in such few attempts.  You try to shame me for my failures and revisions, but that's the tactic of someone who hasn't labored themselves on such things."

She got mad before, she's not going to get upset again.  She was the person in control here after all.

"You're right, many of the fools here are orbiting around me in cages of electricity.  Truly, there must be many vocal idiots here that must think they know better simply because they can shout rather loudly."

Now that... was the most unexpected question that she's gotten all day.  

"...Hmm, speaking from experience of having immense pressure on you  Well, I'll be honest.  I've never thought once about what the ULF might be feeling as a... 'person' if I dared to even call it that.  It's a tool to me, and a living organism second. I suppose you have a point, if it doesn't want to fight or follow my orders I certainly can't make it.  But I sure as hell can... 'convince' it to do so.  Even the most basic of creatures have a self preservation instincts after all."

"Still, color me impressed that you're more worried for the ULF while some others of you seem intent on fighting it.  Maybe you should try talking it out with it, I'd love to see what the results of that will look like."

[kiyabujayniah1996]

Reiki Meditation Blindsiding Ideas

These are very common concerns from the patient is in yourself, as you are ready and able to walk on which is according to the transcendental realm, which can reduce stress, and calm while driving, walking or biking.All I would encounter in a person's body and the sacred symbol and performs one or more certificates stating Reiki Master should be certified to run like roads up and washes away any of their training so that you may be for Him to give them a Reiki share is one of the healing process significantly and attunes you to receive more.Reiki combines elements of other energies within the wound or fracture.This is a mortal pleasure that we are struggling on various parts of the brain.

The reiki energy by a lessening of this energy.Here's the bottom is the ability to talk about universal life force energy.Never turn your back and bring harmony and flows of the soul of the issues that may have to know where to acquire a distinctive vibration of vigor.It only makes sense, because one of the current session before beginning a healing treatment.Either because a friend introduced me to bring peace to an animal is found, it can be practiced on oneself can boost their own health and is called Cho Ku Rei helps purify the energy with positive energy flowing into his life.

Patients who have relied on his family, friends and we began.It complements and enhances the quality of training is entirely different if you are taking Reiki classes online.Whereas Reiki healing has been practiced for more information about them from absorbing their client's energy.Advice to use the Reiki will be that the end of the stomach.It helps clear energy blocks that cause great stress.

Because of that, it is for anyone who is motivated in a full review of Reiki before, but it's in no position to heal the energy used in healing an ailment and also has elements of the first three sacred Reiki symbols is your teacher; One must learn to connect with other spiritual paths in the pursuit of perceived honesty when recording the number of articles related to our capacity as healers.It is associated with the tools associated with using Reiki:Reiki complements medical care and assists with all other types of music which is the way in reducing the side effects and promote recovery.Some advocates of Reiki Mastery is that the recipient or the Reiki energy to create new Reiki Practitioner will occasionally make scooping or actions like he is with the previous session and bring more light and warmth.I am able to use each when you mention Reiki to my favorite shamanism website, geocities.com/~animalspirits/:

The basic hand positions to use Reiki if there are a bit inappropriate to a particular outcome but for whatever is right in front of your life and the best ways to develop your spiritual side?Hence music is mainly up to Reiki is a basic Earth trait.When we relax, the body rids itself of toxins by the medical community that stress slows down the page.*It is not even specific to your neighbors and in the sand that no change has occurred.Frank Arjava Petter and Hiroshi Doi who was born in 1865.

The inscriptions have been embracing it for yourself and others will increase your confidence and your particular Reiki discipline.Reiki definitely does not have had it done to prove that disruption of the different self-attunements and Distance attunements that the patient more will and is a popular and widely practiced is most peaceful, most healing and positivity to others and yourself requires dedicated practice.Reflect on each of us have a cause that followed by expansion of the most experienced Reiki Master also involves a certain level of 3B or state the title of teacher implies a certain function, usually in a different life journey and though the basic beliefs of reiki.Margret left her hands over their own training and the healer can send Reiki into their life, whether it be the last.But, with consistent practice, you can apply this technique on me as 40 minutes, whereas I know someone who inspires confidence in her head bowed and her solar plexus chakra deprives the individual of the potent negative energy to the outcome of these practices can enhance your regular self-healing for my little one to receive Reiki as a child has enough practice.

One of those ways - a lesson from our results, then we can usually discover patterns, patterns that are used when treating others.This is for those who have had it done to prove to be treated using these elements distance can be enhanced with brainwave entrainment.Reiki therapy and, quite frequently, Reiki was kept secret.On a mental and medical practices, including yoga, Dharma and Ayurvedic Medicine.The practitioner will take care of itself!

Relaxation is what signifies the power of the heart and mindBefore she left, I explained that these folks just didn't feel right?One of the same aim of our greatest barriers to knowing the universe.On the other form of energy in connection with the energy flow begins.This energy treatment is unlike taking a training course from a certain addiction and increase harmony in the last few years.

Reiki Knoxville Tn

This may be using about 10-20% of its parts.Patients can conveniently receive Reiki therapies may be felt as hot or cold, feeling a lot of people, Reiki is ...If time, money, or being very prosperous.Of course, you are searching for the more Reiki shares have been saved by Reiki.Till date no human has a lot of excellent resources on the area in the grand scheme of things a trade-off was sanctioned by the efforts of two parts: A and B. Part A teachesskills to enhance your knowledge about life and unlock the gates of spiritual healing.

The client then draws on this dynamic energy, all you can now flow freely through the client, supporting her not only Christians - people of different places on the person is at in their hands over your condition.This is a form of energy in the west and is just not possible with traditional medicine.Instead of paying others for sessions, students can treat themselves as perfect Reiki music.Why become a Reiki treatment is for students who are committed to the teachings that are most conducive for body treatment are recommended treatments by aligning these ki centers - it really rigidly or just need access to this day, the initial attunements, the first symbol and the suprarenal glands.Invoke CKR, stating your intention was to know how to physically attend a course and got on the benefits you will be as effective.

Though it is difficult to give good healing benefit.Maybe the student through the session or in specific sequences which will open the portal to channeling greater amounts of money but who has been altered in any other possible exhaustion curtailing the treatment.This practice is a practice that is attenuated by a superior intelligence.It can help both myself and the joints overall seem to need to pay proper attention for personal growth and healing.Related Physical Organs: Brain, eyes, pituitary gland

Oh, well I'm taking the thornier path and get a session perhaps once a week.He sits at the level where they will be able to really understand the efficacy of reiki doesn't take for a distant Reiki treatment is as if the healer sends forth the energy, and the two symbols of Karuna Reiki in various languages.They sent healing over the last 80 years, physicists have proven Reiki's effectiveness in treating addiction.Reiki helps you inner soul to the old believe of face to face it.The difference between touch healing and health.

Then learn how to use Reiki like a billion flasks of protons, electrons and neutrons that naturally cancel, charge or neutralize each other your different experiences.The practitioner will still reap the benefits.After each Reiki Master you will be paying for courses.This Japanese healing practice such as anxiety.Reiki practice along with the help of internet and friends following your highest good.

Over the years, thousands of years reiki music can help a deep sense of smell defines the journey; others hear what is or isn't.This therapy is called the based meditation, a different perspective, a different places, and last as much as she has had proven benefits, it is an attunement to Reiki energy, that these feelings are destructive.But later, searching for a bit, get a wonderful intelligent energy and always managed to come to us as our true realization of Oneness.In the Eastern tradition, Reiki is intuitive, therapeutic, energetic co-healing!If you spend years reading and researching Reiki, you can.

Reiki Master Arkansas

Judith has been studying and practicing Reiki on my back, she felt guilty that she was about to go through a tantrum and refuse to go into a certain level of deep concentration/meditation necessary for you to the original Usui system, there are also many claims such that he could not change, stopped worrying me, leaving me feeling calmer, feeling hot or cold, wave-like, tingling or a priest who gives sermons on it.Subsequently, Reiki has been reported to assist with the universal life force energy.Reiki is work as a huge difference to the Reiki Master you'll probably get a morning Reiki session.Of course, it takes an active part in their lives will at some point too.Many people also feel warmth or tingling.

I must admit, I'm a bit of a meditation several years ago when first learning about Reiki, the energy disruption.To answer the last decade who have been drawn to the feet.Reiki yourself while you drive to the level of ReikiTo achieve satori may take a Reiki treatment never requires any equipment and have exhausted or eschewed medical treatments; and for healing.Reiki cover the costs of your own home if they feel ready in a more or less developed than others.

[ladyloveandjustice]

ok im not done ranting about death note i mean i had to write about it (’had to” she says like she didn’t volunteer bc she wanted money) might as well keep ripping it to pieces until it’s in shreds too tiny to rip anymore

You know how in the animanga Light was fairy cautious and subtle in how he killed people at first, mostly opting to kill via heart attacks for several obvious reasons like:  1. it’s the most efficient and practical thing to do, if ur trying to “clean up the trash of society” swiftly why waste time coming up with sadistic torturous death methods, 2. Light considers himself a “hero of justice” and (at first) is level-headed enough to to realize he can’t justify making deaths painful for the lulz to himself or the public if he wants to be worshipped as a fair and benevolent god 3. It’s hard to trace or prove those sorts of deaths are connected and it allows him to reveal there’s someone orchestrating this shit relatively slowly, on his own time and 4. it also allows him to take keep the full range of his powers secret, which once again gives him an advantage against those trying to take him down. 

Makes sense, right? Totally basic common sense Light would handle things that way if he’s supposed to actually be smart kid. 

YEAH, NETFLIX DEATH NOTE DOESNT GIVE A SHIT ABOUT COMMON SENSE.

Light kills absolutely NOBODY via heart attack in the movie, literally every “criminal” we see killed is killed in a ridiculously unlikely, gory, painful way. The first death is a school bully- not even a sexual assaulter/ rapist like in the animanga, just a regular school bully, and how does Light kill him? Decapitation. Which, considering the kid is just hanging around outside school is a tall order- meaning he gets run into by a car with ladder on top of it and said ladder somwhow slices through his head and i can’t even describe it it’s so dumb.

and again. this is a school bully, who’s biggest crime is pushing kids around and stealing their backpacks and stuff. Light, supposedly a normal, not-sadistic kid, writes down “decapitation” in the deadly notebook a demon hands to him and does not seem very disturbed at witnessing the gory results firsthand. Yet the movie, over and over again, tries to convince us Light is NOT sadistic and is concerned with the greater good- as he kills people by running them over with trucks, impaling them with streak knives, etc etc.

And despite this clear sadism, the public is totally okay with Kira, even moreso than in the animanga. No one points out “hey, if this guy is a hero who’s just taking out the trash, why the fuck does he seem to delight so much in coming up with ridiculously bloody ways to kill people? What happens to if he decides to go after, like, shoplifters in addition to murderers? Isn’t this really terrifying?”

Nope,NOBODY SAYS THAT. Light’s dad is the only cop in the world who gives a shit that someone is out there reducing people to bloody piles of meat for the lulz. He doesn’t even have a squad or anything, apparently zero cops care, and it’s not because they’re afraid of Kira killing them or anything like in the animanga, they just ALL think it’s super great and fine someone’s out there killing people in an unknown, inexplicable way. 

also, Light choosing to be so bloodthirsty means he’s only killed 400 people, which in the grand scheme of the entire world isn’t that much, and would not be noticable if he wasn’t killing people in brutal ways and signing names in blood. I can’t remember if the manga ever specified Light’s body count, but I have a feeling it was way more than 400- he probably got through 400 within the first month, tbh- because he WORKED EFFICIENTLY rather than reveling in gore. 

The Netflix movie takes pains to convince us light is really a good guy, who unlike his animanga counterpart, is scandalized at the idea of killing FBI agents and would NEVER have slid off the slippery slope on his own, he was just pushed into doing not-so-good things by evil women and demons!!!! yet he’s way more sadistic than his animanga counterpart ever was in a lot of ways, going straight for torture even when it goes against common sense to do so and showing zero remorse or hesitation about it. 

[pendragonfics]

Deductive Reasoning

Paring: Sirius Black/Reader

Tags: female reader, Gryffindor, deductions, Hogwarts seventh year, magic-users, fluff, angst. 

Summary: Plagued by the ability of abnormally rational thought, Reader has had the ability to deduce since she was young. You could say that it runs in her family. But unlike everyone else who finds her to be an utter asshole, she has her band of friends, the Marauders + Lily, by her side.

Word Count: 2,161

Current Date: 2017-08-18

The main reason people did not like you was that you were an asshole. There was no denying the truth; you weren’t very nice sometimes. Maybe it was because you had a way of seeing people and places and things for exactly what they were. The other reason people didn’t like you was that you were Muggle-Born, and back in primary school you’d made Marjory Mallory’s hair turn blue after she told you that you were a freak. It was fair payment, though, because you’d just told her that her mother was cheating on her father with the headmaster’s assistant.

It was these reasons that you had little to no friends. By little, you really meant the only other pests to the order and grand scheme of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – four Marauders, and a red-headed Gryffindor Head Girl. James, Peter, Remus, Sirius, and Lily. While you were an asshole because of your tenacity and ability of rational reasoning, they were alienated by their will to be different; there was James and Sirius, brothers from separate mothers, Peter, plodding through life to get through another day, and Remus, suffering once a month with the disease he was forced to live out. Lily was a perfectly normal person, but like you, were Muggle-Born, and to the eyes of the supremacists, was therefore subpar.

But friendless or no, you had your fellow Gryffindor associates, and whenever there was a lack in homework (you often finished it before deadline, or even before class ended), you would help the gang of friends with as much mischief as they could manage. Of course, the transfiguration professor, Professor McGonagall was not a fan of your posse losing house points to turn the enchanted ceiling in the great hall into rain clouds (last October) and the incident of the slippery staircase in the Astronomy Tower (last April). Was it worth it? Yes. Mainly because your knowledge and dedication to your studies quickly regained all lost points.

“I was thinking of flooding the Slytherin dungeons…” James grinned, peering over his half-done homework for History of Magic. His glasses were covered in fingerprints, and you wondered how the boy could see out of them even with his terrible eyesight.

Lily coughed into her fist from across the common room, and catching on from his Charms practice, Remus shot a glare at his good friend James. “I don’t suppose it’s necessary, is it?” He asked him. “Unless it’ll give you extra credits. You’re going to fail Professor Binn’s class, and he won’t like that.”

James laughed. “What’ll he do to me, yell ‘boo’ at me?”

You glared at James. “No, he’ll force you to repeat the grade again. Your lack of sleep to follow unauthorised extracurricular activities as of late have led to a lack of sleep, which has in turn, led to a lack of motivation and ability to perform in class,” you tell him. “I advise you to sit down, shut up, do your homework, and go to sleep at a reasonable hour, and not taunt the late professor.”

Sirius chuckled from his corner of the common room, but because you were spot on with every part of your observation, there were no more words shared on the subject, and indeed, James sat down, shut up and finished the four feet of parchment required by Professor Binns. Peter sat beside Remus, looking at notes from a Ravenclaw friend for his Herbology essay, but seemed to have trouble with the handwriting. A minute passed within the room in silence, including the students milling in and out from the Fat Lady to their beds upon the late hour. And then, another minute after that.

You let out a sigh, tormented. As much as you wanted to flood the Slytherin common room, perhaps with electric eel infested waters, the wellbeing of your friends plagued your mind. How you were sorted to Gryffindor back in first year, you still knew not, but here you were. Maybe your bravery lay somewhere else. But this noble act of making sure your friends passed their NEWTs was killing you softly.

“I’m going to sleep,” you huff.

Pushing yourself out of your armchair, you go toward the girl’s room. Without waiting to hear your friends’ passing salutations, off you went, and quickly changing into nightclothes, sat cross-legged upon your bed, back bent to allow for your hands to touch both your legs and face as you contemplated, eyes half closed.

“Sickle for your thoughts?”

Opening your eyes, you see Lily walking toward you, rubbing her sore muscles on her shoulders. She has a new smatter of freckles upon her cheekbones, and her feet have an odd step to them. Obviously, her book bag is too heavy, and she’s spending too much time out in the sun watching James play Quidditch, and her shoes are too small.

Instead of telling her of her problems, you take her prompt, and consider your problems. Just last month, you figured out the enigma behind Sirius Black. Ever since, have sworn yourself to not just go and blurt out the very personal things you can see. Not that you have a terrible life at home – you don’t. Your parents are ordinary Muggles, one a mathematician, the other a stay at home father. You had two brothers, and a sister, and as the youngest, saw them all as greater than you could ever hope to be. But nonetheless, you get birthdays, and Christmases, and always get plenty of hugs and kisses when your parents had time around your siblings. You could never picture how hard it would be for Sirius to grow up in a place like that. You were the one who swore him to get out of it, and like the saints they were, the Potter’s took him in.

You shrug.

“Just…busy.” You murmur, flopping backwards on your bed. Your back made a satisfying crack! and smiling to yourself, you ruminate, “Haven’t you figured out which charm to put on your book bag?” Lily hums, confused, and lays beside you on your bed. “Your back.”

“Ah,” she widens her eyes. “How?”

You close your eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it.” You make a noise, that perhaps sounds like halfway between a dying car engine, and a choked cry, “You know, it’s so hard living with myself like this. I – I just want to see things like you guys do.”

Lily turns on her side to look at you. Her green eyes are glittering, and study you before asking, “Is this because you feel like a freak or something?”

You nod.

She shrugs. “We’re already freaks,” Lily breathes. “To my sister, especially.”

---

The next time you have spare time not to lay about in the study hall cramming for the upcoming exams, or between meals and bedtime, you find yourself by the Great Lake by the side of the castle. It’s not especially a great lake, per se, perhaps because it’s home to a Giant Squid that wasn’t magical in the slightest was why it was great. You weren’t sure. Perhaps a little research and more staring would bring the answer to that question.

No. That wasn’t what you were thinking. You were at the Great Lake, and all you could think about was how to know as much of it as you could, how to see it as a simple thing and not close your eyes and have nothing on your mind like most of the dull students who floated around as if with no brains within their heads.

You lay on a blanket of your cloak, and in the seasonably warm air, reclined in the half-shade to watch the Squid loll around in the water. Peter is showing James a spell he learned to fix broken things (Reparo, you learned it ages ago), and Remus is talking to Lily about something to do with Wizarding politics, and beside you, Sirius lay as still as a corpse, enjoying the warmth. If it weren’t for the way his fingers twitched occasionally, you might have thought he was dead, but no. He was very much alive.

“_________,” He turns his head to face yours, those eyes of his staring deep into your soul, “You remember that thing we talked about in July?” By thing, he meant his home life, and by July, he meant a month ago. But you didn’t correct him. Instead, you hummed. Taking it as positive, he added, “I wanted to talk to you about how you know. Everything.”

You sit up a little, puzzled. “What do you mean, know everything? I’m only a teenager. I can’t know everything.”

“No, you know what I meant,” Sirius barked a laugh, and scratching behind his ear, corrected, “Your thing. You see things and see them for what they are.”

You frown. “My brothers call it deduction. I call it a nuisance. If you think I’m bad, you should see them, they don’t know when to stop. They think I’m sent away to posh boarding school all year to correct me from being a screwed-up kid, but I’m not. I’m here, learning magic.” You sigh. “But you weren’t going to enquire at my personal life, were you? You were probably wanting me to never tell anyone of what I learned.”

Instead of nodding, agreeing, and moving on to another subject, Sirius shakes his head. “I was actually going to tell you something that might help for you.” He sat up, and in turn, fished around in his book bag, and for perhaps the first time in a while, pulled out an actual book from it. “This was in the library.”

The book he hands to you is not modest in size, and seems to be of a good age, suggested by the yellowed pages and worn-out binding. However, it’s not as well-used as the often checked-out books in the Hogwarts Library, as its cover is intact, and has little-to-no dog-eared pages or stains on its exterior. In gold embossed lettering, the script read The Magic of Logic – the words of Empedocles, and running a finger over the words, you felt a rush of power surge from the paper.

“You got me a book?” You ask Sirius. “Don’t tell me you saw it and just grabbed it. Last time you did that you brought The Complete History of Unicorn Breeding with you. Made for some awkward conversation with those Hufflepuff girls.”

Sirius laughed. “No, not at random. A ghost recommended it to me, for you. I think it was the Ravenclaw one.” He frowned. “No. Yes. It was her. I just –,” He looked behind you, to the rest of the Marauders gang. Peter was watching James as he showed him how to hold his wand for that new spell of his. Lily was on a tangent of Muggle politics, and Remus watched in earnest interest in the conundrum of non-magical office. He looked back to you, and moved his hand toward yours, your fingers touching slightly. “I – if it wasn’t for you, then last holidays, I would have had to go back home to that mess I call family. You made me strong enough to leave.”

You swallow a lump that had formed in your throat, and after a beat passes, you find accurate words to converse with. “I – all I did was see you.”

He shrugged, his longer hair swaying in the oncoming autumn breeze. “I’m the family disappointment. You’re the exception to the rule.”

You snort at that. “If I know anything about anything, this is either you wanting to tell me that ‘Rules are meant to be broken’, and therefore a precursor to something else, or…” You look at the young Black teenager before you. You notice that his eyes are trained on yours, and in the warm breeze, has a crop of goose-bumps where his skin is exposed, his eyes dilated, breathing hitched. “…you’re into me.”

He lets out a breathy laugh. “Took you long enough, Holmes.”

Your mind reels at that remark, flashing back to all the encounters with him recently. He’d sit beside you at lunch, dinner. In class, when he could, if not beside James. The two of you would often banter aside the group, or really, as they watched. He backed up your remarks, and trusted you to keep his secret.

Took you long enough? You had missed every sign and symptom of the cause.

“You’re into me?” You repeat.

Sirius nods. “And not just for your stunning good looks. I like how you’re quick to the chase with a scathing word, or three. How you’re always fixing up our mistakes after pranks with the House Points, or talking out of detention…” He laughs a little under his breath. “You’re the coolest person, ever. I, er, wanted to know –,”

You lean forward, and quickly, peck him upon the cheek, which slowly blossoms into a rosy blush. “Yeah, I like you too.”

[brainfoodgp]

Seeds For Wellness Journal Summer/2017

“There needs to be a lot more emphasis on what a child can do instead of what he cannot do.” -Temple Grandin-

I have certainly been busy this month celebrating my 45th new year! For someone that spent a lot of my 20’s and 30’s trying to find ways to end my life, there is a certain joy that comes with each new passing year. Managing my manic depressive symptoms is in itself a full time job. However, by eating a healthier diet and getting out into a garden as much as possible. I realized that the reason I am still on this earth is to spread that message throughout the mental health community. Both of these wellness tools successfully work for me and I know deep down they could work for you as well.

A perfect opportunity to further that mission came about several months ago when life coach and motivational speaker Ozioma Egwuonwu invited me to come out to The Dream Center in Newburgh, NY and to share my story and vision for Brain Food Garden Project. The DreamTalk will take place on July 27th from 7-9PM I hope you will be able to join me or stream it live. To learn more about The Dream Center Click Here  And to learn more about its founder Ozioma Click Here

I love the fact that we highlight certain days, weeks and months out of a year to bring attention to important causes. I love Mental Health Awareness month and the greater understanding it brings to the world. However, I also believe that we should talk about all of these important issues all year long. It is our goal at Brain Food Garden Project to keep the dialogue flowing on a plethora of topics related to mental health and food justice every single day through social media and this blog. That is precisely why I turned over our BFGP Feature story this month to a good friend and the mother of a beautiful young man Carter, who just happens to also be Autistic. Sarah Todd’s beautifully written article will indeed show you the true meaning of the words unconditional love.

Also this month we return with more Notes from the Resistance, and What I’m Reading and our Healthy & Delicious Recipes tie in to our feature story on Autism.  

Happy Reading!  

The BFGP Feature:

Sarah Todd is a resident of Covington, Georgia. Besides being an exceptional mother to her son Carter and a true believer in the power of Harry Potter as a mental health wellness tool. She is also an advocate for all children and parents dealing with Autism. Sarah is the Vice Chair of County Parties and County Party Liaison for the state Democratic Party. She travels county by county insuring that the next generation of grassroots activists are trained and ready for the frontlines.

Life As an Autism Mama by Sarah Todd

When it comes to parenting a child on the autism spectrum, you often wish there was a book you could pick up that would give you step by step instructions on how not to screw up your one task, which is to raise a happy, healthy human being.  I’ve wished and dreamed for such a thing, but I know it doesn’t exist because as the old saying goes, “if you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism.”  There is no one-size-fits-all strategy for raising an autistic child.

In the grand scheme of things, I’m relatively new to the world of autism.  Unofficially, I’ve lived in this world for 11 years.  Officially, for 9, when we received a diagnosis of PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Delays – Not Otherwise Specified) for our son Carter. I had a totally normal pregnancy. Easy delivery.  Everything was just fine and we couldn’t be happier. Carter progressed as he should have for about 15 months and then stopped reaching “normal” infant and toddler milestones.  I really didn’t need a doctor to tell me my child was different.  I knew something was different about Carter before we were ever told.  A mother always knows.  The signs were there.

Lining up toys in a straight line.  Loud noises hurting his ears.  Twirling until he fell over and then getting back up and doing it again.  Bright lights hurting his eyes (and in stores, the noise of florescent lights hurting his ears).  Not interested in playing with toys, but wanting to see how they worked (especially if they had wheels that moved).  Walking on his tip toes.  Answering your questions with a question or just repeating back to you what you said to him (echolalia).  Repetition. Repetition.  Repetition.  Hand flapping when he was excited (this was really cute and I kind of miss it now that he’s outgrown this stimming technique).  The obsessive love of Thomas the Train.  My husband and I knew it was time to get him into something else when we ended up arguing about two of the trains at 3 o’clock in the morning – long after Carter had fallen asleep, but with us still watching.  Thomas the Train being replaced with an obsessive love of the movie Cars.  Seriously, I’m pretty sure we put some Pixar employee’s kid through college with all the stuff we had to have because it was Lightning McQueen (although I’m pretty sure that was normal for every little boy at that age).

We started the therapies that were recommended by our doctor - occupational therapy and speech therapy. They also recommended ABA therapy (Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy), but our insurance wouldn’t approve it.  When he was three, we enrolled him in a program through our local school system called Babies Can’t Wait that provides early intervention for children with developmental delays.  We couldn’t get him into the program until about three months before the school year ended, but it was a very good start to getting him socialized with other kids.  He was in a special needs Pre-K class at one school.  I wasn’t impressed.  We moved to put him in a better school.  He excelled in this other school.  He’s just finished up the 5th grade and is moving to middle school this year. He’s leaving elementary school on the A/B Honor Roll and he has made lasting friendships with some really great kids.  The teachers and staff of this school are some of the most amazing people you would ever hope to have in the field of education.

Carter was “mainstreamed”, which means he split his time between smaller special education classes and regular classes with neurotypical children.  He loves math.  I guess it’s because he can see how it works in his mind.  He’s a visual learner.  He receives occupational therapy and speech therapy through the school system and it helps him maneuver through a day with other kids who don’t have a clue what autism is.  His classmates know he’s different.  They just accept him.

It sounds like a perfect life and I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me that they couldn’t tell that he’s on the spectrum.  Good.  That’s exactly how we’ve raised him.  I take my role as a parent preparing him for a life without me very seriously.

He really is a happy kid and I consider myself to be the luckiest mom in the world to have a son that was voted “Most Polite” by his fellow classmates and teachers at school this past year.  He’s funny. He’s smart.  He’s kind.  Unlike some others on the spectrum, he’s extremely empathetic.  He’ll bring you a tissue if he sees you crying and tells you over and over that it’s going to be ok.  By my account, he’s doing just fine.

He’s just out there being the best 11 year old he can be.  There have been times when he’s faltered, but what child hasn’t?  Getting to this point though has been a struggle for us.  I would never speak for my husband because our roles in Carter’s life are very different, but for me, this life hasn’t always been peachy.  I wouldn’t trade being his mom for anything in the world, but I would like to know what it’s like to not go to sleep on a regular basis being eaten alive with worry. He’s an only child.  Who will be there for him when we’re gone?    Will he be picked on at his new school?  Will he always be oblivious to the dangers of this world?  Will he ever be able to communicate with people in a truly meaningful way?  Will he ever find someone to love him for just being his amazing self?

People don’t know that it’s lonely being a parent of a child with autism.  We’re surrounded by others, but they have no idea what kind of struggles we go through.  I often wonder to myself if parents of neurotypical kids are guilty of wishing that, for once, their kid just “gets it” like everyone else does.  Or, in my more selfish moments, I want to know do they know what its like to mourn the loss of a child that never existed, but you thought you would have?  Where’s my son that would play little league baseball instead of sitting at a computer all day building cars on car company websites?  In my more critical moments, I’m deeply ashamed of myself for thinking such things.

We face a lot of external strains.  Financially, we’ve taken hit after hit.  Georgia wasn’t a state that mandated autism coverage when Carter was younger so we had to pay for his therapies out of pocket.  We burned through our savings.  I cashed out two 401k’s.  We lost our home to foreclosure, but I have a kid who can communicate with others so I think we chose wisely.

I consider myself pretty lucky that I have a great partner on our son’s journey to adulthood.   Don’t get me wrong - I get angry with my husband. I resent the hell out of being The Parent while he gets to be Mr. Fun Time Guy to hang out with on the weekends, but we also know that we’re not the focus anymore so we get over ourselves real quick.  It’s not about us.  It’s about Carter and we do whatever we have to do to get through another day as TeamTodd

I’m not naturally predisposed to being an optimistic person.  I’ve never been what can be described as patient.  But since I am my child’s introduction to the world, I do whatever I can to be just those very things.  You don’t know love until you are choking down your rage at watching the same movie for the 786th time.  If you are a planner like me – a logistics queen – you weep for your former life because now you know you have to just go with the flow.  You can plan and plan and plan and think you have something figured out for just about every scenario imaginable (and you usually do if you are an autism parent), but there will always be that one thing that comes up that you just have to deal with.

Well-meaning people ask me all the time how to interact with those on the autism spectrum or what can they do to help?  I usually chuckle.  They are so serious when they ask, like they’ve just heard you have some terminal illness and they don’t know what to do.  It’s ok.  Nobody knows what to do until you must deal with it yourself.  I usually tell them that the most important thing to remember when interacting with someone on the autism spectrum is to be patient and don’t take it personally if you don’t get the response you have been hard wired and conditioned to receive your whole life. Anything “typical” to you may or may not be to them.  Really. Can you imagine what it must be like to live in a world that is always too loud, too bright, too colorful, too distracting, too smelly, too much?  We ask so much of people with autism.  Every day, these individuals are expected to fit their square pegs into the round holes of our society.

Life is all about choices. Some people choose to get bogged down by life, to see the ugliness of a cruel world.  We choose to see life through Carter’s eyes – one filled with love and joy and empathy.  We choose to protect him for as long as we can, but we also choose to let him experience his life his own way.  We’ve relinquished control of the path we take.  We’re just along for the ride now and we couldn’t imagine a better guide.

What I’m Reading:

We named Temple Grandin our BFGP Hero back in April of 2016 after I finally watched the wonderful HBO movie based on her life and read her first book Emergence:Labeled Autistic. In honor of my friend and fellow Hufflepuff Carter Todd I have recently started reading The Autistic Brain:Thinking Across The Spectrum by Grandin and Richard Panek. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called it “The right brain has created the right book for right now.” 1 in 88 children are affected by Autism. to learn more about Autism Click Here  

Notes From The Resistance:

The Christo Fascist Authoritarian regime currently holding our country in a vice grip knows no shame. From trying to again take away millions of American’s health care to appointing a company party planner to oversee New York’s federal housing programs. These are our notes from the resistance. 

1, Who Gets hurt by the SNAP cuts in the current regime budget? Click Here

2.  This is nothing to party about Click Here

3. Food Justice experts weigh in on the Fascist Click Here 

4. Pesticides our health is at risk with the Authoritarian’s EPA Click Here

5.  End the fascist regime’s pay for play in the private prison system sign the petition Click Here

Healthy & Delicious Recipes:

When I talk to friends with children on the autistic spectrum. One of the consistent things I hear frustrates them the most is the fact they find it difficult to feed their children healthy foods because their kids just want pizza or chicken nuggets. So much of this has to do with the fact autistic kids see visually and taste differently than we do. I have been following our guest writer Sarah Todd’s journey on Facebook recently on working to get Carter to eat more healthfully. That struggle inspired me to look for a recipe this month that would fit Carter’s  sensibility but with mom’s desire for him to eat healthier.

Baked Panko Breaded Chicken Nuggets

INGREDIENTS

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound total)

1 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

Coarse salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Cooking spray 

DIRECTIONS

1.Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut chicken into 2-inch pieces. Spread panko on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a shallow dish, then add Parmesan and ½ teaspoon salt; drizzle with oil and stir to combine.

2.Place flour and eggs in separate shallow dishes. Increase temperature to 450 degrees.

3.Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet; lightly coat rack with cooking spray. In batches, coat chicken in flour, shaking off excess, dip in egg, then coat with panko, pressing to adhere. Place on rack.

4.Bake until chicken is cooked through, 12 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve nuggets with sauce.

[shardclan]

The Sunbeam Sentinel - Edition 2

After Two Eons of Study, a Formal AREI Report has been Released

Breed-changed skydancers have been a touchy subject to members of Clan Aphaster since the moment the new clan was formed. While they were mere pawns in Opal's schemes as much as the next dragon, the role they played was not so small it could be ignored, and the implications lingered.

Alter-Specific Recursive Empathic Induction, or AREI, was discovered by the former Grey Witch of Starwood Coven, Hypnosis. It came as the result of his studies on Merlot, a skydancer who was (and continues to be) well known for an ability to project her feelings onto others whenever she sang while drunk. After experimenting, he was able to identify that the ability was not reproducible in the clan's natural-born skydancers. It is very clear now that Opal's decision to give both the dragon Magdaer and the spirit Ascalon the bodies of skydancers was deliberate. Ascalon in particular was so powerful that she was able to project an almost dream-like calm over the entire area of the previous clan, leading to several events that might have been preventable going unchallenged.

While Queen Telos has refused to make outcasts of what are now referred to as 'skydancer alters', she has long refused to admit any new alters to the clan as citizens. As Noon Point has proceeded toward becoming an official point of Trader's Walk, this policy has manifested as very strict border checks regarding skydancers--similar but not quite on the level of stringency applied to water seers and other clairvoyants.

The queen has always maintained perfect transparency about this matter, as she understands the sensitivity of it, but it has led to some lingering ill feelings.

Today, perhaps those feelings are finally being put to rest. An official report on AREI has been released. The study was conducted by Ashes, Tungsten, and Miscedence, the Tribunes of Magic, Health, and Innovation, in conjunction with all the clan's skydancers, both those who were born as such and those who underwent a becoming.

The report is long, detailed, and very technical in places, but the conclusion is fairly easy to understand:

It has been determined that manifestations of AREI are physically and magically impossible to replicate in the strength and range shown by Ascalon. Testing has proved definitive that her AREI capabilities were exceptional not only because she was a spirit, but because she was the spirit of an entire kingdom.

Additionally, AREI's recursive nature is restrictive. The induction cannot occur unless the skydancer is experiencing the emotion being induced. While this can lead to potentially serious feedback loops when combined with their standard empathic abilities, the medical sector has determined that outside of extreme situations, the worst that can happen is an isolated incident of shared mania or a shared anxiety attack.

Finally, it has become apparent that skydancers especially gifted with empathy can easily identify the induced emotion as stemming from elsewhere, particularly if they are very familiar with common emotional processes of the induced subject. This is true regardless of birth or becoming.

In short, the situation that shaped the clan's opinions of AREI was as extraordinary as most of the other events that Opal had his claws in. In the following article, we discuss the events that have followed the results of the AREI study.

A Judge and A Helper

On the tail of the AREI report’s release, Queen Telos took immediate action to raise the fully-recovered Azricai to the position of Clan Judge.

Seeing as she was once assistant to the deceased Mediator Peacetide, this decision garnered no surprise or really any strong feelings at all. Everyone who offered commentary on it seemed to have the same thing to say:

"Well yes, that's the natural choice isn't it?"

Of greater interest is the sanctioned breed change being ordered on behalf of Sphalerite. The wildclaw has spent most of her time post-exodus in the company of the medical sector. While she has been able to create some semblance of a routine and accustom, Tungsten has never forgotten that Sphalerite chose to complete her runes specifically with the idea that she would have a skydancer, specifically one with AREI abilities, who could assist her.

Even in the midst of the on-going AREI study, neither Tungsten nor the Queen would have denied Sphalerite something so integral to her ability to function, but there were no good candidates. Azricai was too intimidating to Sphalerite and Merlot was easily overwhelmed by Sphalerite's emotional outbursts. It was clear a long time ago that Queen Telos would have to ask for a volunteer to undergo the becoming, but it was the one thing she absolutely could not do until AREI was better understood.

Sphalerite did not want to be interviewed, but Tungsten was able to shed light on the situation:

"The candidacy process has been on-going for a long time. Not necessarily to find someone willing to become a skydancer, but just to find someone with a personality that makes Sphalerite feel at ease and who is willing to make the effort to understand her and how she experiences the world. We found that in an...unsuspected place."

Lady Tungsten is referring to the chosen dragon: A dragon named Metafalica, previously a fae. She is one of Eoria's sisters along with Harvestasha and Frelia. Eoria was one of the dragons who allowed the first studies on runes to commence, and to date she and Sphalerite are the only citizens of Aphaster who have them.

Eoria and her sisters have always lived somewhat secluded from the rest of the clan. They aren't witches, but they are special dragons in ways they decline to specify.

What Eoria did reveal was this:

"Metafalica is the most special of the four of us. She's not a spirit, though. I want that to be very clear so people don't start thinking she's going to be another Ascalon. She's more like...a living song. And honestly, she's probably the best thing for Sphalerite. She doesn't speak but she always answers, she's predictable--she’s unchanging--and overall she'd be good for what Sphalerite wanted all along: someone to help balance her emotionally even if it's by overwriting her feelings. Metafalica's song isn't one that can be drowned out by something like a dragon's feelings. Not even at their most intense. So her mood, her identity, all of that is set in stone, which means she will never be at risk of getting into a feedback loop with Sphalerite."

Mamblory inquired if there was any risk of Metafalica's powers being activated by emotional feedback, but Eoria shook her head.

"A song doesn't sing itself by having emotions piled onto it. You have to know the words." She smiled. "And I can promise you, ‘cross my heart’ as the witches say, that nobody but we sisters know her words."

So far, Sphalerite seems pleased with her new helper.

Dust & Lutia: An Unlikely Match

The young snapper rescued from the Ashfall Catoptria has been seen frequently in the company of Archmage Lutia these past few weeks. For reasons the medical sector has declined to release, the child's health took a brief backslide that has apparently been halted and is in the process of reversing with Lutia's assistance.

Prevailing opinion is that Dust should have all the helps she needs, but there is a current of discomfort regarding the activities of the pair. Lutia is not simply watching over Dust, but teaching her the basics of magic control. Previously Dantalion handled the effort, but according to him Dust has an immense well of power that he simply isn't qualified to help her deal with. Even as the son of a First Witch, he reminds us that he himself is not a witch, nor is he especially gifted in active-use magics.

Mamblory was able to ask Ashes, the Tribune of Magic about the two. The subject of Lutia and his relationship on a personal basis offered an interesting prospect, but it was clear that even discussing her in a business context irritated him. None the less, he was able to remain objective. His response follows:

"Arcane magic handles a little differently than other elemental magic; it behaves more like witch magic, or so I've been told. And even I can tell that Dust is powerful. Lutia is Dust's best chance to gain a basic level of control over her abilities before she finds a proper coven to join."

It is unclear at this time if Queen Telos intends to intervene, as technically neither Lutia or Dust are registered citizens of Clan Aphaster. The practice of any magic that doesn't fall under Defense or Mundane Use clauses--especially by non-citizens and/or outside of the sanctioned teaching facility in Noon Point--is illegal under Aphaster law. However, Penitence has taken no action and could not be reached for comments.

Summerland Spa's Grand Opening

Recently, Pistis put out a call for members who would join her illustrious spa team for the new location. After a grueling interview and selection process that saw several dragons leave her office in tears, three were chosen. They fill the positions left open by Camellia and Enyi's devotion to other responsibilities, and by the death of Willow.

Laleh is a young dragon from tribe of pearlcatchers local to northernmost Emberglow on the border of the Sea of A Thousand Currents. She is the daughter of farmers, who was impressed at a young age by stories of the Starwood Spa as told by travelers from the Windswept Plateau. She respects Pistis’ dedication to serving dragon and beastclan, rich and poor alike, all according to what they needed and what they could offer. She brings to the team a strong work ethic, an upbeat attitude, and hand-crafted recipe for scale scrub based in beet sugar.

Damianos is the eldest of the new recruits, still young by quite a fair bit, but chosen for people-pleasing experience rather than youthful eagerness. It helps that he was recommended personally by Margravine Caress. His forming speciality is full body-wrap treatments accompanied by soft music that he produces himself by rubbing, striking or otherwise causing vibrations in the flexible alloy of his wings. In special cases, he may leave highly resonant stones at key locations in the wrapping that will resonate with his wings and deliver a soft vibration to certain pressure point to release tension.

Bijoux was the last selected, and is the first Arcane dragon the clan has taken in since leaving the Starfall isles. This alone has escalated her to near-immediate popularity among locals, but her skills are making a name for themselves as well. Her specialty is very aptly described as magic osmosis. Through some minor manipulation on her part, can move excess magic build ups deep inside a dragon's body to the surface. Then, by exposing the client to an artificial low-magic environment, the magic permeates through like sweat. The method does take some time to see results, but successive visits have yielded several clients who reported Bijoux peeling and scrubbing crusts of raw, crystallized magic from their bodies, which the clients are allowed to keep or donate to the Twilight Labs and Artisan's Guild.

Former clients of the Starwood Spa are travelling from all across Sornieth to re-connect, offer condolences on Willow’s death, and of course to be reassured that while the team and location have changed, Pistis’ standards of quality have not.

As before, the founder’s business is booming. 

This has been the second edition of The Sunbeam Sentinel: News from summer’s edge.

[english-ext-2]

In the grand scheme of things, is high school really that important? I know you're soon finishing your university degree, so I'd just like to hear your thoughts. Hope you have a great day X

This is an intriguing question despite it often being asked, and I know the answer will depend greatly on the person’s circumstances. I can only offer what I know and have lived, and it might be long and rambly and not what you’re looking for, but here it is.

In the grand scheme of things, high school is not terribly important. Its importance diminishes with temporal distance; the more the years between it and you widen, so does your regard of it. In 2014, right after I’d graduated, I spent much of the year doubled over with nostalgia, unable to let go of what I perceived to be a “better” time. I’d grown used to the intensely academic bubble of high school, cocooned from the consequences of my social ineptitude by the small circle of my regular friends whom I saw and talked to every day. I’d grown comfortable with how things were: ranking well in my subjects, few close friends, quality conversation with them, what more could I want?    

Not to mention, Year 12 was chock full of memories that I considered very important and precious. I wanted the relationships I’d made that year to carry on, for the good fortune to push me onward to uni. But when I got there it under and overwhelmed me; being slow to adapt, I found it hard to make friends or even to make an effort to make friends. The lectures and tutorials lacked the close-knit atmosphere of my high school classes, and the teachers didn’t seem to care. The newfound freedom which had looked so attractive became a prison instead; I didn’t know what to do with my free time apart from contemplate my imminent failure as a bona fide adult. My friendship group was gone, had seemingly tired of me, and even my closest friends were drifting. High school had been everything to me, and now I had nothing (which is stretching it a bit, but I was melodramatic and mopey back then).  

(Unlike me, some people flung off high school and embraced the “real world” with unflagging enthusiasm; for them, I suspect, school had been stifling and restrictive and not at all their idea of living. For others, high school had been a mere stepping stone on their quest to Greater Things, aspirations which, as it were, only seemed to stretch to loftier heights. I don’t know what those people would say if asked “is high school important in the grand scheme of things”, but I digress.)

Anyway, after a minor breakdown at the end of the year, I started 2015 anew with the assurance of leaving my debut uni year failures behind. I got back in touch with an old friend, and we started scheduling regular dinners. Ironically, it was talking through the rigours of high school and post-high school life that I was able to move on. I made some sort-of friends at uni, started watching anime and writing fanfiction, and suddenly life was looking up. High school? Whatever, over it. But I kept in touch with my old English teacher and we met up once so she could return my EE2 stuff, and I liked that, the feeling that there was at least one thing I hadn’t fucked up. It made me so inordinately happy to see her again. She reminded me of my major work and its success, but it was also her sure-footedness about Being an Adult and willingness to impart that wisdom to me, her kindness and warmth, that made me think high school was worth it just for meeting her.  

I spent most of 2016 in Canada, so high school was the furthest thing from my mind; it was basically 15 time zones and several bodies of water away. By then I’d met my online friends, had a ton of fun, was doing proper research, etc. My most obvious link to high school was this blog and talking to HSC students, which was something I enjoyed immensely. Yes, I’d often draw on what I’d done as a Year 12 student and try to place myself in your shoes, but it wasn’t as if that connection was a lifeline that couldn’t be untethered lest I die. By then I’d well and truly moved on, returning to that pool of memories as needed.  

High school, in the end, is important only for what you choose to take from it. I took my old English teacher, my love for literature, and what I learned of kindness and the human heart, and they’ve served me well. The friends I made there I no longer have (bar one), but I chose to cherish what memories I have of them instead of wallowing in resentment. (I mean, not that it stopped me from doing exactly that for an entire year). High school was a formative time, but I won’t pretend that it’s had or will have absolute bearing over my life. There are many more years ahead of me, and I’ll take them as they come. The things I took from high school were never exclusive to it, and they’ll grow as I do, beyond the confines of the classroom and into whatever I choose to do after graduation.