#anyhow fictional characters my beloveds ~ <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[loregoddess]

001 Wrightworth and 002 your girl Anna Pascal from TriStrat!

wrightworth (the most ship duo of all AA):

when I started shipping it if I did: I guess after I watched the first game? No that's not quite right, more like after I finished watching the second game. I was like, "Ah, I understand why this is a popular ship now" after the first and then was like, "Yeah this tracks" after the second.

my thoughts: Wholesome ship, I totally get the appeal (the ship's actually a QPR in my fleet, but I'm not bothered by others shipping romantic wrightworth at all)

What makes me happy about them: I dunno, the dynamic works so well. Phoenix and Edgeworth saved each other, they believe in each other, they're always there for each other--they're just a feel good sort of duo for me.

What makes me sad about them: Nothing really? I mean, sure the entirety of the second game is a low point in their relationship, but it's also so interesting from a writing perspective because like, these two would not have gone into the future games with the bond of trust they eventually come to share w/out the events of the second game so like *gestures wildly*. I know a lot of fans headcanon/theorize that the time between 3 and 4 was also a rougher time (although I have my own set of headcanons/theories about this blank timeframe), but again, there's something about weathering the tough times together and coming out stronger that I enjoy seeing in any sort of fictional relationship arcs.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Hmm, I don't think I have really any other ships for either of them outside of the main one. They have great platonic dynamics with a lot of characters, but nothing that my brain goes "ah, a QPR or romantic relationship!" about

My happily ever after for them: Retired, living together, supporting Trucy's career, tending a nice small house and rewatching Steel Samurai while giving advice to the younger lawyers in their spare time. Probably show up to guest lecture at Themis more often than not, do mock trials for the students there.

who is the big spoon/little spoon: They take turns, but Phoenix likes being the big spoon more often than not.

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Binge-watching Steel Samurai, Edgeworth critiquing the spinoffs while Phoenix plays devil's advocate as a joke, although probably they have little mock court battles for the silliest things. I headcanon Phoenix as an ex-theater/vis. arts double major and Edgeworth had a "formal" upbringing, so sometimes they go to galleries or live theater performances too (silly little discussions about the art/shows they see like, ALL the time).

Anna Pascal (my girl...):

How I feel about this character: Love her, love her, lover her. My MVP who was first to hit the lv. 30 cap bc I used her so often in battle, but also just one of my overall favorite characters in the story.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Uhhhh..................actually no one, now that I'm thinking about it? I know Milo x Anna is somewhat popular (as popular as can be in a teeny tiny fandom like TriStrat), but I see them more as enemies to weird coworkers. Although when I realized that both Anna and Avlora were orphaned by the same war, part of my brain wondered what it would be like if they talked/interacted and stuff, and that sort of "what if they talked" question once led to a crackship for a different game, so who knows. If my TriStrat obsession comes back maybe Anna x Avlora will turn from a "wonder what would happen..." to full "welp, guess I have a weird ship now"

My non-romantic OTP for this character: I think Anna has a good relationship with all or most of the House Wolffort people. Obviously her weird familial relationship with Benedict is of endless fascination to me, and I think she has something of a familial relationship with Erador and Archibald as well. I think she gets along very well with Serenoa (and eventually Frederica and Geela) too. Weird coworker with Milo, but the two eventually become weird friends. Accidental mentor figure to Trish and Rudolph and is so confused by this. Accidental parental figure to Decimal. Accidental older familial figure to Quahuag, and he still visits her even after being reunited with his mom. Not entirely sure how she ended up with the giant found family, but isn't complaining.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Honestly I dunno if I have any? Small fandoms sometimes mean there is no "wildly popular" opinions or headcanons to actually go against, because everyone is doing their own thing while also being respectful of their fellow fans, and that's how the TriStrat fandom feels on this site at least.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I want to see Anna's conversation with Benedict after her second character story so badly (I still have not played/watched the extra story that got released, so for all I know she does talk with Benedict finally, but until I do play the extra story I'm to sit here and wonder about her weird and wild familial situation in silence).

my OTP: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

a headcanon: I think Anna is very good with children, and probably helped take care of all the kids Serenoa took in during the war. Wildly popular with all the kids in the Wolffort demense. Acted as something of a babysitter, sort of older sister figure to Serenoa as he was growing up. Is a bit baffled by the fact that even teens who are Going Through It (re: Trish and Ridolph) gravitate towards her and think she's cool. Also, I think she got the scar on her face falling out of a tree when she was a kid, but refuses to tell anyone who doesn't already know about the scar's origin, because she knows it makes her look more intimidating and she wants that edge as the official Wolffort spy. Also, also bc I actually have a lot of headcanons, I also think she gets mistaken as younger than she is like, constantly. Partly because she is Very Short, and partly because she has the "age well" genetics. Milo simply did not believe they were almost the same age when Anna finally told her, and it took everyone who knew Anna when she was a kid to confirm that she is in fact in her early 30s. Trish and Rudolph switched from "oh, we're the same" to "holy shit, teach us your ways" as soon as they figured out Anna was not an older teen or early 20s-adult, which was slightly better than the two of them thinking Anna was also a delinquent since they respect her even more now, but she's still a bit ?? about the development.

[kyndaris]

Dearly Beloved

The Kingdom Hearts franchise has always been dear to my heart, ever since I first saw ads of it on TV back when I was just a little one. The infusion of Disney with Final Fantasy had be hooked. Mostly because of Disney. It was only later on that I fell in love with Final Fantasy. And the rest...well, as they say, is history. 

It should also not come as a surprise that I have great respect for the Goddess that is Yoko Shimomura. Since my early days of playing video games, she’s managed to capture the essence of the Disney worlds and bring them to life as Sora has traipsed through, destroying Heartless everywhere he went. I mean...look no further to my old posts about Final Fantasy XV and you will see that I basically worship anything that she throws out into the world.

So, though I was burned by re: Coded and its rehash of prior events, I still picked up Melody of Memory with the full knowledge that any relevant lore drops would most likely be at the end and just be enough to tide me over before the next bigger release (and honestly, after the dumpster fire that was Kairi’s entire character arc in Kingdom Hearts 3, I would have liked to see her uplifted a little in future instalments). And because the game is essentially a celebration of the work Shimomura has poured into the series.

As soon as gamers pick the game up, they are thrust into the ‘World Tour’. There’s little explanation for why the characters have ended up in a musically-themed game, but as soon as you unlock the first recap cutscene, it becomes clear that Kairi is summarising the series.

A lot of the music are top-notch and easily recognisable for anyone familiar with the series. Whether that was Bustin’ on the Beach, Destati or L’impeto Oscuro. Others were a little bit harder to pin down - mostly because they never truly impressed upon me during my initial playthrough, such as Access the Grid (which also did not seem to hit my beat centres so I felt as if I was too heavily reliant on the visuals to pull me through).

Melody of Memory only contains approximately 140 or so songs. That meant that not all of my favourite songs were present. In particular, Tears of the Light, which is my  go-to melancholy song to make sad things a hundred times sadder. Still, there was quite a bit of variety, though there were also quite a few remixes of songs, such as Traverse in Trance and Scherzo di Notte. All of them brought a little something extra to the pieces on display, so it did not feel like I was playing through the exact same song, even if I thought that it was cheating. At least, a little.

I will admit, though, that the limit of one song for each world in the Kingdom Hearts 3 portion of the game was a little disappointing. Even if Let it Go is a bop, I would have preferred additional field and battle music. 

What came as a shock, though, were ACTUAL DISNEY SONGS that could be unlocked. Like: A Whole New World and Beauty and the Beast. All, of course, from the ACTUAL ANIMATED FILMS! 

I mean, I had expected Utada Hikaru - because the singer has become synonymous with the series, but one does not simply throw in Part of Your World, okay? At least warn a Disney geek!

The gameplay is reminiscent of Theatrhythm Final Fantasy. However, as none of the consoles that can play it have the use of a stylus, it’s mostly button presses with the occasional flick of the thumbstick. The presentation is also vastly different - with the four different teams running towards enemies and hacking away at them to the rhythm of the music. This took me some adjustment as my natural inclination was to hammer away at X (or A, as I was playing on the Nintendo Switch) as soon as Heartless/ Nobodies/ Unversed or Nightmares appeared. Of course, that often resulted in a ‘bad’, hurting my poor characters and depleting my health bar.

The controls for the game keep it quite simple. There are three buttons that can be used to attack (which are helpful when the occasional simultaneous attack occurs, as you need to press either two or all three), one is for jump (and if you hold it down, you can glide) and a final button to use magic/ special move. At least, those are for the general tracks.

There are also two other different types of tracks that one can play through. Boss battles and movie tracks have singular hit notes (red), hold notes (green) and thumbstick flick notes (yellow). Most of these are to the left or right of the screen rather than centred, as with the general ones. But unless I was playing on beginner, most of my attention was focused on what combination of notes were coming up ahead - desperate to not miss a single one in my chain (particularly on Proud).

Once I had gone through all the worlds, I was rewarded with discovering that the entire game had been Kairi reliving her memories in a desperate bid to find Sora. How something like that would help in reality is questionable, but THIS is Kingdom Hearts. I’ve stopped trying to apply logic where the franchise is concerned. After remembering her traumatic childhood and being ‘rescued’ by Terra-nort, she is put into a machine to find a keyblade wielder. Researcher Terra-nort says a few obscure words and Kairi is back in THE FINAL WORLD. Where, of course, a phantom of Master Xehanort appears. They fight. Kairi, for some random reason, takes on the form of Sora, defeats Master Xehanort and then she wakes back in Radiant Garden with Diz, Ienzo and Even looking on.

It’s not too long before Riku appears and then THE FAIRY GODMOTHER! Some revelations are dropped and all three are whisked away to the Final World (which I thought was where hearts on the cusp of death went, but anyhow, they manage to travel there) to meet with the Nameless Star. She is revealed to come from the ‘Other’ world. A place of fiction and ‘unreality.’ It is then that she reveals a city called Quadratum, wherein resides Noctis Yozora of Verum Rex fame. Riku, as always, heads in to rescue his good old friend and Kairi stays behind to train with Master Aqua.

Thus ends Melody of Memory, paving the way for where the story will go next.

I’m not entirely sure how the Lost Masters will feature in Quadrutum or what role they’ll play in the inevitable sequel. The Re:Mind DLC seemed incredibly focused on Yozora and the unreleased ‘fantasy based on reality’ Final Fantasy Versus XIII. Somehow, though, I’m sure Nomura will make it all fit and still have fans scratching their heads. Hopefully, though, we’ll get to see more Riku AND have a proper strong story arc for Kairi. The poor girl needs to catch a break instead of being a walking plot device cliche that only serves to motivate the main protagonist.

Now, back to whether or not Melody of Memory is worth playing through and purchasing. If you’re a Kingdom Hearts aficionado that also loves the music and doesn’t mind rhythm games, pick it up. If you said no to any of the three, particularly if you hate rhythm games, then don’t. You might as well just YouTube the ending to get your daily fix of Kingdom Hearts lore that’ll keep you informed and give you a modicum of knowledge for what Kingdom Hearts 4 may bring. 

Ah! Who am I kidding? The next title after this won’t be Kingdom Hearts 4. It’ll probably be another indecipherable list of numbers or words that are just jammed together because it sounds cool. NOMURA! LOOK AT THE CHAOS YOU HAVE WROUGHT!

[sawthefaeriequeen]

Various thoughts on “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral“

1.I wasn’t expecting Goyo’s PTSD arc at all, but it makes so much sense for a 20-something who’s way too young to have led a fuckton of battles. “They were schoolboys/Never held a gun” and all that. Anyhow, it made for a great character study and emotional spine.

1.1 Goyo being haunted by the elder Bernal and other victims of war. Oof. I was holding my breath through every single attack. I only really know Paulo Avelino from heartthrob type roles (but of course, this was one of those rare times that casting a kilig-type actor as a historical figure was exactly right!) so I didn’t know what to expect, but he did a really  good job portraying someone in the constant grip of war flashbacks.

1.2 I’d read about the skinny dipping incident in…was it Joaquin or Kalaw’s book? I forget. There I was, thinking it’d be used as a comedic moment; boys just having fun before they head off to war, yay!…and then BOOM, a wild death foreshadowing appears! Oookay.

1.3 Really, it was all so very: I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory/When’s it gonna get me? I wouldn’t be surprised if Tarrog was inspired by Hamilton, which rose up (heh) in the time between Goyo and Luna’s releases.

2. Alejandrino was awesome in general. Alvin Anson makes some truly excellent I Am So Done With Everybody’s Shit But Especially  White Colonizers And A Certain Up-His-Own-Ass President faces.

3. Oh, Joven. The embodiment of “stale cinnamon roll, been in this world too long, too cynical.” He looked SO weary and jaded at the start of the film, so different from his bright-eyed and bushy-tailed self in Heneral Luna that I actually whipped out my phone midway to check if it was still Arron playing him. (It was.)

3.1 One of my favorite scenes was Goyo doing his peacock dance for Remedios contrasted with Joven going through all the love letters from all of Goyo’s exes. My friend and I were like “duuuude. That’s…that’s a lot of heartbroken girls.”

3.2 Other favorite scene was when they’re all exhausted and camped out in the mountain, and Joven looks on at the hopelessness but then catches Goyo’s journal-words about his love for his country and smiles. <3

4. Gwen Zamora was really good at being steely and firm and saying hell no to Goyo’s honeyed words, haha. I wish we’d gotten to know Remedios more. Also…am I missing something? Wasn’t her sister, Dolores, historically his actual sweetheart? Which they tried to account for by having her give him the sister’s handkerchief, but still*. Anyway, I sort of feel like she was speaking for the audience/Pinoys when she was saying that she wanted to love a Human Being and not someone who was a Hero and A Symbol.

4.1 *of course the likely historical explanation is that Goyo fooled around with both sisters. Snerk.

5. I also liked Felicidad and her classy shade-throwing a lot! I wanted way more of her. Clearly, Tarrog or someone else needs to shed the spotlight on women of the revolution. I’d kill for an introspective Gregoria de Jesus flick set in the early days of the Katipunan, let me tell you.

6. I thought I’d hate Julian, and then I really liked Julian? Idk. Loved the whole repeating exchange of “Sino ka?”/”Agila.” between the del Pilar brothers. Also, where the heck did he go there at the end? It just doesn’t make sense, storywise, to have a big brother mentor figure, only to have him just disappear. He should’ve been beside Vicente there, at the grave. Or heck, at least show a shot of him receiving the news that his beloved baby brother died holding down the line in a distant mountain.

6.1  I’m SO glad the actual “agila” symbol belonged to Goyo himself. For some reason, I thought it’d be (stupidass) Aguinaldo, lmfao.

7. Vicente was my favorite. Look, it’s not my fault Carlo Aquino is flipping great in everything he acts in, okay?! Anyway I love how he was the group’s conscience, and that he looks after Joven**, and that it takes only one look from him for Goyo to lower his fists…but that he is also a hardass who will absolutely cuss out and raise his gun at any comrade who tries to escape battle.

7.1 **which, um. Joven/Vicente is a ship, right? IT IS, RIGHT? I know a lot of folks came away from Heneral Luna with shippy feels for certain people, fictional or historical, and while I supported fandom having fun, I never really got similar ~feels…until now. The last straw was when Vicente told a dude that he was screwed if anything happened to Joven during battle, like. Ka Enteng. Dude. Calm down. Quell your heart eyes.  And “Brigada Joven,” seriously? Anyway, please tell me there’s fic!

7.2 (Shippy thoughts aside, I also kind of felt it was hinted that Joven wasn’t straight. Yeah, he could just be a flop at flirting with women, but then there’s that scene where he just sits back and dazedly watches all his guy friends skinny-dipping, and, uhhh. I dunno, is it just me?)

8. Speaking of ships, someone needs to make a We Are Never, Ever, Ever Getting Back Together crack fanvid starring Aguinaldo and Mabini.

9. The iconic Battle of Tirad Pass was both exactly what I thought it’d be and really not what I thought it’d be. I…hmmm. I’m gonna have to rewatch to form a more concrete opinion. I’m just gonna say that I’m totally satisfied with how the death scene was done, and the crushing defeat after.

10. When Garcia tells Goyo that leaders may come and go but this land is forever… well, pardon my French, but: fuck me. My heart.  My friend was crying through a lot of the film because, in her words “oh God, our country got so screwed and is still so screwed, and nothing has changed and is it ever going to change?” Yeah, big mood.

Much of this movie was about deconstruction and asking the question: what makes a hero? Was Gregorio del Pilar a hero? My answer to that is: well he certainly loved this country more than *I* do most of these days, and he died for it too.          

[projectnero]

PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE: THE SHEPHERD

Ah, Mr. Amos. The Starwatcher. The Shepherd. The Survivor. There are many names that my massive friend has taken over the years, but the only one he seems to consciously retain is “Amos”. Any attempts at a first or even middle name have been met with failure, and it has been confirmed that Canadian Mountain Giants do not even adhere to a typical giant nomenclature or tribal structure; that is to say, Amos is not his clan’s name, and Mr. Amos’s refusal or inability to divulge any more information than he has already given us makes finding records of him or his tribe next to impossible, unless one of you schleps feels like hiking through the Canadian wilderness. I’ll leave the moose fighting to the RCMP, thank you very much.

I am told by Mr. Amos that remark could be construed as offensive and inaccurate to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Yet, if they do not FIGHT the moose, how do they mount it?

I am being told now that they do not ride moose.

My apologies. It seems that even they have enough sense not to pick a fight with those massive death machines.

One of these days I must have a word with Epimetheus.

Regardless of the hellish landscape my massive friend is from, he IS a dear friend of mine, and the only one amongst our company who surpasses me in age. His wisdom shows, though his age does not. He is pleasant company, if a bit quiet and reserved at times. I sometimes worry he only interacts with me out of fear of angering my patron god Apollo again -- we shall get to that part soon.

Anyhow, I suppose we should get this underway. Once again the lovely Doctor [REDACTED] has deemed herself fit to evaluate Mr. Amos’s mental state. Even though nobody asked, I’m starting to think that these psychological evaluations are just excuses to try and assign labels to that which is inherently unique. Classifying that which cannot be classified. Which of you scientists has lived for over 2000 years? Nobody? That’s what I thought.

NAME: Amos

ALIASES: Mr. Amos, Goliath, The Shepherd, The Slaughterer, The Survivor

AGE: Approximately 4,500 years old, by his own estimation

HEIGHT: 20 Meters (non-suppressed), 3 Meters (suppressed)

Note: Mr. Amos requested we use the metric system because, and I quote, “America needs to get with the times” and “Citizens of other countries might read this”. Mr. Amos is wrong on both accounts, but nonetheless I have accommodated his ridiculous request, if only because I remember what it was like to not be beholden to America’s rules. For any of you Americans scrolling through this (I’m assuming that would be all of you), his respective heights are 65 feet when not wearing his suppression amulet and 9 feet when wearing the suppression amulet. Approximately. I promise you I tried every method under the sun to get the man under 9 feet but it is impossible.

WEIGHT: 9071 Kilograms/20,000 pounds (non-suppressed), 1,360 Kilograms/3,000 pounds (suppressed)

Again, I tried every method under the sun to make this giant hunk of muscle be able to walk around without leaving craters everywhere, and 3,000 pounds seems to be the best I can get. Gods watch over you if you get in-between this man and his protein.

SPECIES: Giant/Goliath (SUBSPECIES: Canadian Mountain Giant)

NOTABLE ABILITIES:

Gods above, what CAN’T he do?

Apologies, but one cannot help but be in awe of the giant known as Amos.

For starters, with the assistance of an amulet I made specifically for him (you know, because I’m a savant), Mr. Amos can solve the problem of not being small enough for human interaction by shrinking considerably, reducing his overall mass. Your human law of conservation says this is impossible, but Apollo and Thoth spit in the face of your Einstein.

Even while in his shrunken form, Mr. Amos is proportionately strong for a man of his size. Further testing over the years has shown Mr. Amos actually retains his strength of his non-suppressed form at 100% efficiency, and his strength is actually so great that we as weaklings are incapable of differentiating between his different levels.

On a side note, have I mentioned how beautiful this man is?

No, really. This is INCREDIBLY important. When you think of a giant, a certain image comes to mind, right? Some gnarled, ugly, unwashed heap of muscles and meat who doesn’t even know what a loincloth is.

Unfortunately for my poor little heart, Mr. Amos’s species seems to have properties similar to only one other known creature: the fucking succubus. Which is just fantastic, because one of my comrades is a succubus.

This means that Mr. Amos, as well as Mr. di Carina, constantly make subtle changes to their appearance with every passing second to appear more and more beautiful, and constantly release pheromones designed to make sentient creatures of ANY gender attracted to them. This means that, somehow, if Mr. di Carina is ever rendered out of action, the fucking GIANT is our next option for seducing someone. Terrific.

A notable distinction is that succubi surpass expectations of gender; for instance, Mr. di Carina is constantly adjusting to standards of beauty, appearing male to some, and female to others, and retaining an all around feminine appearance in spite of it all. However in all known instances, Mr. Amos has only ever appeared to fit the observers ideal of an attractive male.

I feel guilty for objectifying Mr. Amos, despite how many times he has assured me it is perfectly fine. Gods grant me the strength to continue.

Mr. Amos is capable of traversing massive bodies of water and land in little to no time. The strain on his body appears to be nonexistent, though with his appetite it would be unable to tell if his body is expending more energy than is the norm.

As befitting a giant, Mr. Amos has a ridiculously high pain threshold. Many have compared the man to the fictional character “The Juggernaut”, and indeed it would be a comprehensive comparison if not for Mr. Amos’s weaknesses.

NOTABLE WEAKNESSES:

As mentioned before, Mr. Amos has been compared to the fictional Juggernaut of Marvel series fame. However, if the Juggernaut is an unstoppable force like a freight train, then Mr. Amos is more of a... unstoppable Sherman. He has traded Mr. Juggernaut’s weakness to psychic powers and a binding contract to a deity for moving about as fast as a turtle.

I should clarify. Mr. Amos is not slow by any means, but the mere power in his steps and his dense body means that gravity is constantly weighing down on him, and were he to pick up speed, the already massive craters he calls footsteps would eventually dig through to the Earth’s core and he would all die. Mr. Amos moves deliberately and once he reaches his target, they will be decimated. However, this makes hit and run tactics very disadvantageous, and instead makes Mr. Amos a useful front line combatant and siege unit; I wish that we had been able to make use of Mr. Amos’s abilities when fighting in the Somme.

As mentioned before, as the biggest member of Project: Nero, Mr. Amos requires a massive amount of sustenance. I have seen 90 nobles of the most wasteful houses go through less food in a week-long feast than Mr. Amos does. Apparently this insatiable appetite does not disturb the ration officers; I saw one of them reading a book by some Welsh author about giants and such and the ‘why’ became clear.

Due to his inability to be stopped combined with his high maintenance, we are currently only really able to bring Mr. Amos’s giant form out as an ultimate trump card... and because the chaos caused would not be able to hide our existence to the world anymore. The government only authorizes the transformation if they don’t want any survivors or witnesses.

Subsequently, this treatment of Mr. Amos as an emergency-only monster, deemed to chaotic compared to the likes of even Mr. Takahashi have lead to some... harsh treatment of Mr. Amos by the human outliers of the science team. It has not been good for Mr. Amos’s self-esteem and were it not for the fact that I have no real authority and we must meet a human quota, I would order these hateful beasts to be executed painfully and without mercy.

As of recently, Mr. Amos’s age has finally caught up with him, at least mentally, and the anguish of his perfect memory and knowledge of the past has caused him to become closed-off, lowering team morale.

Make no mistake. I may be the de facto leader of this little ragtag group of freaks, but Mr. Amos is the heart.

PSYCHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSES AND PERSONALITY TRAITS:

Mr. Amos has a severe case of survivor’s guilt, as well as imposter syndrome, though his feelings of fraudulence appear to be completely unfounded as the man has been nothing but forthcoming.

As of Mr. Amos’s deployment to Vietnam and his subsequent return home, routine psychological evaluations seemed to indicate development of post-traumatic stress disorder and late-onset dissasociative identity disorder, if there truly is such a thing as late-onset DID. It is more likely that the giant has been battling with this disorder his entire life, and the harsh conditions and psychological trauma suffered while in Vietnam simply made him unable to mask his suffering anymore. I cannot imagine what it must be like to suffer for over 4,000 years in silence. The man has been suffering from survivor’s guilt for over 2,000 years as well, indicating that whatever happened to his tribe, it happened long before Europeans ever made contact with the Americas.

Mr. Amos seems to have an intense fear of death, as if the concept never occurred to him before.

Behind a deeply troubled man lies a heart almost as massive as he is. No, not literally. That would be biologically impossible. As Dr. Fero previously stated, Mr. Amos is certainly the most beloved member of his team... by his fellow squadmates, at least. I have nothing against Mr. Amos, do not get me wrong. However, the also aforementioned treatment of Mr. Amos by my fellow humans does not make me eager to approach him and inevitably cause more pain.

Mr. Amos is a deeply spiritual man, and seems to be in tune with nature. He is all-loving, and this attitude seems to endear him to everyone, especially the mostly prickly Agent Shrub. Yes, that was a pun, and no, I will not tell you why. I suppose you’ll find out once we get to Agent Shrub’s profile.

Even despite his fear of humans, Mr. Amos has made efforts to understand us - something that I cannot say my colleagues have done. Mr. Amos is a skilled baker and farmhand, and his skill levels equal those of one with PhDs in horticulturalism, herbalism, agriculturalism, animal behavior, science, and even culinary arts. I cannot describe the cakes he makes, for they are filled with something that we humans cannot even grasp. When we say something is made with “love”, I’m not sure we even know what “love” is. When I first tasted some of Mr. Amos’s pastries, I cried. Everyone always does. It tastes divine. It reminds me of... well, I shouldn’t get into details of my own life.

Mr. Amos has shown signs of a crippling loneliness and every time I look at him I want to help. I know I cannot, but when I catch glimpses of his eyes I see a man in need of love.

Note: The rest of the lines have been scribbled out, crossed out, drowned in white-out, and are evidently too embarrassing for Doctor [REDACTED] to repeat.

BACKGROUND:

Hello, all. I will try to keep this short.

My name is incomprehensible in the human tongue, and so I go by Amos. I once had a first and middle name, but the shame of losing my tribe has caused me to discard them.

I couldn’t protect them, and I cannot protect the ones I care about. I will not lie to you and pretend that I read Carter or Yvette’s analyses of me. I will instead tell you the plain, hard facts of my life.

I was born to a loving mother named Viktoria, and a just-as-loving father named Isaac. For a while, life was happy. Giants of my type generally live longer than humans can comprehend; death by old age would not happen until thousands of civilizations would rise and fall. I did not have to worry about mortality. Even when I died, I knew the Gods would reincarnate me as something infinitely more beautiful, such as a gust of wind, or a bird, or a flower. Such is life.

Our clan was exempt from most of the horrors that other giants faced; there was no such thing as war for us. There was no shortage of supplies, no shortage of responsibilities or things to do. We were shepherds. Farmers, bakers, herbalists, apothecaries, we were the providers, the caretakers of this world. Epimetheus’s favored tribe, we carried on long after he and Prometheus were punished for their hubris.

Our clan cared for all the sacred, exotic animals of the different pantheons, but chief amongst them were the Greeks. Athena’s owls, Poseidon’s stallions, Dionysus’s leopards... the most important were Apollo’s sacred cattle. For a while we were happy. Good at our jobs.

And perhaps if that peace had lasted, you would not be hearing from me.

When humans first came to the continent, we welcomed them with open arms. They were kind and kept to themselves; they held much of the same views about land as we did. Unfortunately, humans carry so many viral diseases that they even poison each other accidentally. It was no surprise, then, that left and right giants started to come down with what was only called “the pestilence”. With fewer farmers to tend to the vast fields, to take care of the animals, our crops and livestock dwindled. Panic and mass hysteria set in. Some giants left to try to feast on the very humans that had brought this plague -- but that in and of itself is against the nature of giants. Hatred is not in our veins. We do not resent mankind for bringing sickness. It is simply the will of the Gods.

And so those who feasted on human flesh were stripped of their clan names and their rights, marked as monsters.

But the pestilence and famine continued, and finally death came to us. In Christian mythos, there is a fourth horseman, and if you know who he is, then you should be able to predict what came next.

War. Infighting broke out amongst us. I was hardly a child; 2000 years old. My parents, who should have lived for tens of thousands of years more, were cut down in the blink of an eye. So enraged and desperate where we, so powerful was the cursed horseman’s influence, that we made weapons that should not have been able to kill us, and yet did -- through the power of hatred or through ingenuity, I do not know. What I do remember was seeing my former clansmen feasting on the remains of my parents. Once again they had turned to the unthinkable, the horrible, in order to survive this horrible time.

When the war was over, thankfully the winning side were not the cannibals. The cannibals were not only marked as monsters, but it was decided that they should be executed as well. So disgusting and long-lasting were War’s repugnant effects that once we learned how to kill each other, we still used it. They were killed. It was the will of the Gods.

With our quelled numbers, it was theorized that surely we should be able to survive on the food now, yes? No.

Giants still starved. Babies passed due to the pestilence. And we still killed one another.

Eventually my more weak-willed kin gave up hope. Truly there WAS no way of the Gods. They had abandoned us.

And once the Gods abandoned us, why should we keep ourselves from taking what was no longer sacred, but instead sustenance?

I watched in horror and fear as the four horsemen left before my very eyes. With each bloodied hand that dug into a bull or cow, I could feel the gentle warmth of the sun turn to a blistering fire.

Before my very eyes, the four horsemen were replaced by one angry God.

Apollo vaporized my tribe. I was the only one not to eat the cattle. No, I had instead prayed every day to Apollo as I lovingly tended to his remaining cows.

And for this, he spared me.

The rest is all relative.

Learn from my mistakes. Please.

Do not lose faith.

[thetwelvecaesars]

Anakin Skywalker is Space Nero

Well, more like a fictional version of Nero- set in space. I love Star Wars (I AM SO HYPED ABOUT THE LAST JEDI!) and I came across an article about the Emperor Palpatine being based off of many historical evil people and one that was included was Julius Caesar. (Now, I don’t know if Julius is actually evil, but Hitler was listed as well and he is the most evil of all evil.)  But the idea that in the Star Wars Universe, the Emperor is Julius Caesar made me start to think, “if he’s Caesar, then were are the other Julio-Claudians?”

(Because I think too much.) 

Anyway, I came to the conclusion that the other Sith Lords and villains of the prequels are all kinda based off the various Julio-Claudian Emperors of Rome. Darth Maul is Augustus, Count Dooku is Tiberius, Ventress is Sejanus and General Grevious is Caligula. (I am going to say that Jar Jar Theory is pretty valid and he’d have to be Claudius.) 

But the the one character who stands out the most is Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader.

He is Nero. 

Why? Because of all the parallels. 

They both grew up in poverty.

“At the age of three he [Nero] lost his father, being left heir to a third of his estate; but even this he did not receive in full, since his fellow heir Gaius [aka, Caligula] seized all the property. Then his mother was banished too, and he was brought up at the house of his aunt [Domitia] Lepida almost in actual want, under two tutors, a dancer and a barber.” (Suetonius, Nero 6:3)

Anakin Skywalker also grew up poor and yes, Nero wasn’t a slave, but low-class. And both of them were forced to leave their mother. Yes, Anakin left to join the Jedi Order for a better life, but he still had to leave his mom behind. Anyhow, onwards with this lovely comparison. (This poor post has been sitting in my drafts forever.)

Both of them hated their given names (at some point).

In the eleventh year of his age he [Nero] was adopted by Claudius and consigned to the training of Annaeus Seneca, who was then already a senator. They say that on the following night Seneca dreamed that he was teaching Gaius Caesar, and Nero soon proved the dream prophetic by revealing the cruelty of his disposition at the earliest possible opportunity. For merely because his brother Britannicus had, after his adoption, greeted him as usual as Ahenobarbus, he tried to convince his father that Britannicus was a changeling (Suetonius, Nero 7:1)

Both them were arsonists for various reasons.

Anakin set fire to the Jedi Temple to please Palpatine, which isn’t a good motive. But... it’s the thought that counts, right?

Nero set fire to Rome, but not because he wanted to destroy people. No. He wanted money and maybe, according to the historian, Tacitus, rebuild Rome under a ‘better’ name. (Tacitus,15:40). Anyhow, this is what Suetonius says about said fire:

For under cover of displeasure at the ugliness of the old buildings and the narrow, crooked streets, he [Nero] set fire to the city. so openly that several ex-consuls did not venture to lay hands on his chamberlains although they caught them on their estates with tow and fire-brands, while some granaries near the Golden House, whose room he particularly desired, were demolished by engines of war and then set on fire, because their walls were of stone. For six days and seven nights destruction raged, while the people were driven for shelter to monuments and tombs. ...Furthermore, to gain from this calamity too all the spoil and booty possible, while promising the removal of the debris and dead bodies free of cost he [Nero] allowed no one to approach the ruins of his own property; and from the contributions which he not only received, but even demanded, he nearly bankrupted the provinces and exhausted the resources of individuals. ” (Suetonius, Nero, 38).

Both of them killed their teacher.

“He drove his tutor Seneca to suicide, although when the old man often pleaded to be allowed to retire and offered to give up his estates...” (Suetonius Nero, 35:4)

Anakin killed his Jedi Master, Obi-wan Kenobi. (Now, I’m thinking that Nero and Seneca should have had a lightsaber duel... someone draw that, please?) Anyhow, I think things are looking far too similar.

But most importantly, both of them killed their beloved.

“He [Nero] dearly loved Poppaea, whom he married twelve days after his divorce from Octavia, yet he caused her death too by kicking her when she was pregnant and ill, because she had scolded him for coming home late from the races” (Suetonius, Nero 35:3)

And that I believe Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader’s character to be inspired by the Roman Emperor, Nero.  And from now on, I am going to call Anakin, Space Nero. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the new Star Wars movie! 

[wolfofmohito]

Little curiosities of oneself...

Hey! I was tagged by - @snowyshadow Thank you dear, appreciate it. 

My questions are further down...

1. Who is your authority ?

  To be honest, I’m not really sure what the answer for this should be. Sooo, let’s just leave this as aliens then..

2. What is your favourite poem ?

  Ahh, difficult one. The one poem I love the most must be the one from “Kill Your Darlings”, it’s easy to find so you should check it out (It has not got a title sadly).   Other than that check out Fireflyfiphie, as she creates wonderful pieces of poetry.

3. If you knew that today was your last day, what would you do ? 

  Trust me, such scenario may only take place once they are definitely sure that there won’t be Hannibal Season 4 and once BBC Sherlock has aired their last episode ever.    Anyhow, I’d probably draw, eat, read and watch Ghost Adventures, as well as sob over Mystrade and Johnlock videos, as my last day should not be spend slobbing over the lack of time left but instead be spend doing what I love.

4. Do you have a person, who changed your life ?

I think everyone who has been and is a part of my life has changed it in a good way at least slightly, as we all leave at least a slight trace of nostalgia in each others hearts by our presence.

5. What’s your beloved love song ?

Once again can’t simply name one thing...

  But Beautiful -  created by Jimmy Van Heusen and Johnny Burke. (Range of artists have performed it, yet I prefer either Tony Bennett/Lady Gaga or Frank Sinatra version)

  Loveland by Milky Chance.

6. Did you have a ‘‘magic moment’‘ once ?

  Possibly, yet nothing comes to my mind. 

7. How do you act when someone offends you ?

  It differs from the situation, but I usually get upset and close off from everyone in general, whilst full on avoiding the person who has been mean to me.

8. What’s your beloved TV show and why ?

BBC Sherlock because it has the never ending spark of excitement. It makes me feel like I’m 5 years old once again, when everything still was new to me. Plus, it’s very nostalgic for me due to the fact that I grew up on Sherlock Holmes stories; I grew up watching the old Russian version of Sherlock Holmes which is heartwarming and brilliant in it’s simplicity. 

And I have to go with Hannibal too because alike Sherlock - it’s a piece of art. 

9. What’s your funniest memory ?

  At around age of ten, I was visiting my friend and we decided to tell each other horror stories. This took place in a nearby playground and lead to us trying to hide from a “flying wood log”, after she told me of a legend that there’s a wood log flying around in the area which was said to have killed many children. 

10. Who are your TV show OTPs ?

With all of my heart for ever and always - Mystrade, Johnlock, Hannigram and Destiel. 

My questions: 

1. Favourite horror story? 2. If you were a ghost, what would be your way of frightening people? 3. Favourite smells? (E.g. Vanilla, coffee, pine wood, etc, can be literally anything.) 4. How do you make your cup of tea? (Step-by-step) 5. What is your spirit fictional or real life personage and why?  6. Perfect song for a rainy day? 7. Favourite memory so far? 8. If you were a fictional character, what would be your name, personality traits and specific features/objects which would define them.  9. A random fact about you? 10. Can you describe what nostalgia feels like to you? 

I’m sorry I’m simply curious and thank you so much! - @madhatter-dee, @book-worm-js, @thatstupidamerican, also @snowyshadow because why no?