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businesscasualart · 1 year ago

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What's your favourite evil literary trope and favourite good literary trope, and if they battled which would win?

YOOOO. Yo. Yo. I’m already so excited to answer this, this is such a good question, even though I’m not …100% sure what this means. If I misconstrue what you’re saying or something I mention doesn’t qualify or you wanna hear about…idk, second favorites, you can totally ask again. I love talking about. Media. oughhh…hmmmm…oh, I’m gonna go on a while aren’t I? Sorry in advance.

Okay, like, any trope that occurs in books? Most of my favorite tropes are the same across any medium. Does like, a character trope work? Like an archetype? Bc I do have a lot of favorite archetypes if they count. They’re usually my favorite kinds of tropes and easier to label as good or evil.

My favorite type of evil character is probably the good ol’ mad scientist. I’m SUCH a sucker for them. Anyone who knows me will tell you.

As for good, heroic character…hm…is strong woman a trope? Like lady knights, buff ladies, the one woman in the military squad that does not get Love Interest-Ed and probably dies….I think it’s kinda a trope, a rarer one, but it’s there.

In a fight, it’s probably easier to guess who’ll win since they’re characters but it still depends to me. If we’re allowed weapons, prep time, etc. etc…mad scientist is probably winning. They tends to have more plot armor too, while strong ladies Usually aren’t the protagonists but more dispensable side characters. Sudden fist fight tho? Idk if it matters what kind of strong warrior lady we go with, mad scientists are so regularly portrayed as having the constitution of a paper bag. I love both tropes sm tho, when a mad scientist is good, when a buff lady is evil, when they meet, when they don’t, when they’re enemies, when they’re friends, when they working for each other, when they’re kissinWho said that

Now, if we mean ANYTHING BUT character tropes uhh. Well thankfully I’ve been watching a lot of Overly Sarcastic Productions, I got some fresh in my mind.

okay…so like…a good plot trope and a evil plot trope? Mmm that’s harder, uh.

Ooo can I say when the bad guy gets a redemption? Power of friendship style? It’s probably a good trope. I love it sm, idc how cheesy it can get. As long as it’s slapdash and not just so the hero can make out sloppy style with the villain in good conscious, I always get incredibly soft about it. If its the hero winning them over with friendship, if they’re just genuinely working for good now to suit their own selfish means, if it’s just the villain realizing “oh…I have Not been as good as I thought.”, if they just get bound by some dare or curse to work for good now, etc. it’s always so fun to me.

As far as evil? It’s harder for me to think of an evil plot trope. I’m tempted say like, the plot twist where a main character was the evil one all along? But I specifically love the ones where THAT CHARACTER did not know it until the twist, due to amnesia or brainwashing or they were a sleeper agent. It IS evil but is it a trope? And also it’s like, a gateway into “redemption of a bad character” but AGAIN. How about “the horrors were manmade all along”? You see some scary monster or some eldtrich god or kaiju or malfunctioning robot overlord and wonder how this happened, and it’s eventually revealed that like “oh. Some scientist had a lot of hubris. Some military group wanted a better weapon. Just some rich guy was curious. Behind the monster was a Frankenstein.”. Pretty good stuff imo. And I think it qualifies as evil. The horror is usually malicious and the creator is usually evil or at least misguided in some definition. Man I’m a sucker for a hubristic downfall…probably why I love mad scientists sm. Or vise versa.

Now, in a fight? I think “the horrors were manmade, humanity destroyed itself, the downfall of your hubris” is absolutely Destroying “bad guy become good guy [brought to you by friendship <3]”. The horrors May be able to be converted but like. Fat chance.

Thank you for coming to my TEDtalk, IM SORRY I WENT ON SO LONG

I kept getting caught between ‘fanfic tag’ tropes (e.g. hurt/comfort, slow burn, fixit, only one bed, major character death, sickfic, etc.) and ‘that’s just whole genre of story’ tropes (e.g. noir detective, military group realizes they’ve been deceived and fighting for evil all along, uprising against big evil corporation, mundane boring guy doing mundane boring job is also an assassin, etc.) so I tried to keep it firmly in the middle, trying to think of normal book tropes. I’m hoping that’s what you meant? But if not, you can ask me again! I want to answer properly and I’ll happily go on again!…actually kinda hoping I got it wrong bc I disqualified so many tropes I adore while writing this, I’d love to rant about them XD maybe keep it more concise on any “next time”s though.

Thank you SM for such a good question! And if you or anyone else has their own they’d like to share, I’d be happy to listen :3c|

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siriex · 2 years ago

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I don't believe I have to say this, but you're not "misgendering" Enkidu by using "they/them" pronouns for them.

Yes, "boku" is used more by men than women in Japan, but it is absolutely used by both. It does not, in and of itself, indicate gender. I'm nonbinary. I use "boku." My pronouns are they/them. Are you gonna start telling me I'm misgendering myself? A lot of nonbinary characters in anime default to boku too! Think Najimi from Komi-san, Kino from Kino's journey, Crona from Soul Eater, pretty much all of the gems from Land of the Lustrous, Yuu from Stars align... I could go on. "Boku" is the most common first-person pronoun for nonbinary characters in anime that I'm aware of. It's harder for me to think of nonbinary characters in anime that don't use "boku." (They do exist, but they're rarer.)

Putting that aside, Enkidu at no point refers to themself as a man.

Kingu is consistently referred to as a man and with masculine pronouns in both Japanese and English, but Enkidu isn't.

You could make an argument that Enkidu should be "he/him" because Gilgamesh refers to them using masculine language on one or two occasions specifically in Babylonia (I don't believe this ever happens in Fate/Strange Fake), but no one else does- and Enkidu definitely never does. Enkidu consistently refers to themself as "not human" and a "tool" and a "weapon." Their general attitude towards themself is that they're not even a living being! (I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they thought "it" was most appropriate given how they talk about themself.) Gilgamesh is constantly fighting them on this, repeatedly insisting that they're human, and him using some masc terms to refer to Enkidu appears to be a part of this. He usually uses gendered terms when he's trying to affirm Enkidu's "humanity" and/or insist they're not just a weapon or a tool.

The thing is, Enkidu repeatedly pushes back against this narrative in their conversations with him in Babylonia, in their internal monologue in Gil's secret garden in CCC, in their My Room lines, and so-on.

In Fate/Strange Fake the narrative goes out of its way to have Faldeus use "he" and "she" for Enkidu before finally settling on neutral pronouns to refer to them. While Faldeus is a character in the story so this isn't exactly a "voice of god" thing, it's probably as close as we'll get- and this happens in both the original Japanese and the English translation.

I think you can make a good argument for using "he/him" for Enkidu.

But for Fate Enkidu specifically, you could also make a good argument for she/her. Enkidu can look however they want- they specifically chose a woman's face when creating their humanoid appearance. There's also a lot of symbolism contrasting them to Gil both in Fate and in the original Epic. Sun vs Moon, Sky vs Earth, man vs woman, etc.

I think you can make an argument for just about any pronouns for Enkidu. And yes! Nonbinary people can use any pronouns. We're not restricted to they/them. But for the love of everything good, it is not misgendering Enkidu to use they/them pronouns. In fact, that interpretation has the most explicit canon support given Enkidu's treatment in their source material (Fate/Strange Fake) and their treatment in official translations. (Which we know Type Moon and Nasu has to approve- see "Altria" instead of "Artoria.")

#Siri text #I don't care what pronouns you use for Enkidu ;#But don't say someone else is misgendering them for using pronouns you don't agree with ;

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xaracosmia · 10 months ago

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ꕥ — WELCOME TO CATA COSMIA, RIAN. 🌕

ꕥ — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: dee age: 26 pronouns: she/her ooc contact: @starfeil on twt. other characters in xc: hugo marín (oc), ottilie adesina-durand (oc)

ꕥ — IC INFORMATION;

name: rian age: adult, around 28 in human years pronouns: he/they/it series: original character canon point: n/a app triggers: n/a….i THINK.

personality:

Rian doesn’t particularly fit the image one would expect of a prince’s retainer—or rather, a former prince’s retainer. He trades the stoicism for carelessness, the severity for a sharp-toothed grin and modesty for rambunctiousness. Without ties to his kingdom anymore, he walks around the surface alongside humans, trying to blend in while his less-than-subtle appearance works against him overtime.

The recent lack of purpose doesn’t particularly help the sense of indifference he seems to carry around. Trouble finds him easily, or perhaps he finds it—and he has no qualms about living his life that way. He finds humans entertaining company, even if his oftentimes facetious behaviour and loud personality means the feeling isn’t reciprocated.

In the rarer occasions where Rian doesn’t seem to act like he’s from another planet (although he might as well be), he does make a fairly loyal friend and an easy companion when it comes to the funner things in life…though he’s not particularly sure if he’s made for anything deeper.

something your muse struggles with: a sense of identity now he’s no longer welcome in his kingdom, nor does he fit in amongst surface-dwellers. An ego he’s still working on deflating.

your muse’s greatest strength:

history / background:

Rian doesn’t really know where he came from originally. The story goes that he was found as but an egg, caught within the Sargasso Kingdom’s golden barriers of seaweed. Whether he had been placed there deliberately or had been lost by his parents and drifted on unsuspecting currents, no-one is sure, but what he does know is that he was placed in the care of a woman named Nilala, and that was that.

He’s a somewhat curious sight in a kingdom composed almost solely of eel merfolk, given his own mismatched tail and questionable origins. Nonetheless, he’s welcomed as a member of the kingdom, treated as if he were Nilala’s own son, and that’s that for a time.

When Rian gets old enough to swim all by himself, to the age where all young merfolk show signs of wielding magic, he does something that surprises his mother—he begins to spark. Electric magic is almost exclusively wielded by the royal family and its descendants, and almost never by merfolk who aren’t of eel lineage. Word spreads quickly, and soon the aforementioned royal family summons Rian and his mother to court to demonstrate.

Demonstrate he does, and they propose to have him trained in the use of this magic in return for his service as a retainer to the youngest prince, Alesio. His mother reluctantly agrees, leaving Rian in the care of the palace for the foreseeable future.

He excels in his teachings, stands out against his other peers and garners attention as the retainer to the magicless youngest prince, who subsequently becomes his closest friend. It’s a little hard for Rian to not grow an ego, given all that he’s got going for him.

He gets older, gains his first battle scars and his first accolades, and he grows ever closer to his prince. Alesio’s his best friend in spite of being his polar opposite—shy where Rian is obnoxiously loud, nervous where Rian is cocky and overconfident. In spite of their differences, they compliment each other’s strengths well. While Alesio is busy filling his mind with the knowledge and lectures it takes to run a kingdom, Rian keeps him safe and sound. He knows he can protect his prince. It’s why he pulls him into trouble.

There is only one place that’s off-limits to the Sargassan citizens—the surface. Perhaps that’s what possessed Rian to lead his prince there, one illicit trip to land, so that they can say they’ve truly lived. There’s a whole world they’re missing out on, and besides…the more the prince knows of said world, the better equipped he is to deal with his subjects, right?

It goes horrifically wrong. When Rian returns the badly injured prince back to the palace, Alesio panics, cracks under the demands for an explanation and doesn’t hesitate to tell his family exactly who’s at fault. Rian is to be punished.

He flees before they can, the sting of betrayal following, to the only place he knows they won’t follow him—the surface.

powers / abilities:

Electricity Manipulation/Magic — Rian can control the flow of electricity around him, as well as create it. Ummm I’ll be honest I want to submit this app before inbox closes so I’m going to update this later using mod powers. hi (okay.)

inherent abilities:

Transformation Magic — something that almost every merfolk is born with the ability to do, a failsafe of their people should the ocean ever become uninhabitable and they must flee to land. Rian is able to transform between a more human-like appearance and one more suited for the waters, the degree of transformation of which he can control.

Fuckin uhhhh….sharp teeth — Rian’s teeth are akin to those of a great white shark’s, and he possesses a second, retractable set of teeth behind the first for when his prey is particularly tough to bite into.

items / weapons:

nothing at all baybee

starting ability: Electricity Manipulation

starting item: n/a

extra:

is shirtless 90% of the time regardless of weather

sparks a little when he gets embarrassed

6’4” in human form

His anatomy and powers and everything make no sense but it’s MY mermaid world and you just have to deal with it

discord id: bitesyoubitesyoubitesyou

#xc application #mun: dee #cata cosmia

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maneaterwithtail · 5 months ago

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Because he's given what they want and he is very very indolent with what he has.

I like how the FIRST sign of suicide in this show AND standing up to authority come from him and they are deliberately not sympathetic and not corrected by validating this sense as a whole and the show is cheekily aware of this.

sorry to be cheap like this. But he VERY intentionally comes off like Galinda from Wicked with all the many fine criticisms and annoyances the character is intended to draw. With the key point where Glinda is manipulative and agenda driven and somewhat intentionally satiric as were contemporary broadcasted characters like Sarah Newlin and Regina George. deliberately cultivating a sweet passive aggressive social alpha stance so bad that even when intending to be good these acts are motivated by base urges and through nasty means with no fucking cost whatever their massive forward facing piety (the closest male equivalents are Light Yagami, usually some form of abusive mastermind boyfriend on lifetime). This HURTS. ESPECIALLY in presence of explicit queer, disabled, racial minority, or just recent class apartheid struggles or characters said character can come off as massively entitled, selfish, and damaging/triggering or reminding of ongoing frustrations or real traumas to the audience eager for the fresher rarer or more personally relevant story.

But then here comes the gospel of Cellspex; regardless of the fact he's the most blessed upper middle class guy with potential before him with exceptions made as to our hard-scrabble kids from the prior episode* His suffering is still VERY real and hurts not a wit less. Vi suffers the fate Jayce was threatened with, you think she appreciate Marcus's mercy of summary ostracisation from her society only to be used to further some clever rich girls agenda to further her already rarefied circumstances.

*Children who have been unfairly rocked by tragedy all their shorter livers for the privileges he takes for granted. Takes for granted so bad he would kill himself while still having all those privileges and advantages when deliberately committing more dangerous crimes more egotistically and blindly despite the devastation it has wrought to his neighborhood and his response to being SPARED EXECUTION or EXILE would do the EXACT HARM PREVENTED to his mother who in flashback he saved but is STILL in less fixation/value than this childlike fascination and attachment to magic in dismissal to everyone's chiding of it.... The harm he is callously doing to others while only seeing himself hurt to the point not see the value in life.

And he's stopped from this act not by desperate sorrowful plea but a cheeky casual almost snide remark from someone whose had less, struggled more, more experienced, and while sees value not going to take his bullshit. If viktor and mel weren't as eager to take his obvious callow annoyances and selfishness as matters to work around they would have nothing from their association with him (and note by strict heirarchy BOTH eclipse him in rank and they STILL have to do this) while he can take them for granted with at best token thanks to appreciate how they support him.

If you have EVER been in this situation. let alone due to identity politics or social unfairness. How someone can be associated with the worse of crimes yet get "promising young man" attached to him out the gate and its seems judgement how little we can or must punish him as to how much we can for breaking someone's ease of living. which, say, being a foreign woman wielding power, or an immigrant cripple you still need to cajole, charm and gladhand to merely stay in place? Watching someone wanting to end themselves because they failed to get more than they feel entitled to do even at the detriment of others and by violation of society's most formal deepest taboos (research into the Arcane "violates the ethos which guided the very founding charter" if I'm paraphrasing somewhat accurately).

A society which fails to play ball with as Jayce doesn't haggle. This forthright quality means can be easy to take as sincere but proven not above deceit and disobedience and won't even be shamed when caught, even in violently failed endeavor. And again we know Mel and Viktor need to calculate their interactions with others to maintain their achievements and position. So yes as there is some.. resentment to Jayce's privilege which he is seemingly callous and devaluing of as is his own life and the harm he causes those around him right from the characters in story closest to him. That this is so present in the story brings it that key versimilitude and creates depth

but its going to foster ALOT of annoyance with the charmed guy who is basically given a special closed trial to be let off for helping setup a bomb in town by the very people eagerly demanding 4 children or ANYONE ELSE of lower status/class or region be scapegoated for public calm.

Think of this as me trying to make clear in character, narrative, and with audience what is happening and why and how, not necessarily reflecting my personal values and judgements.

still don��t get how jayce endured so much hate during arcane. i’m not saying he wasn’t flawed. he was ambitious, naive, and loyal to almost a fault. he had conventions and notions about zaunites that he was very mistaken about, upheld from years of societal conditioning. his convictions were faltering and wavering. outside of science, he didn’t have much confidence or certainty in what he was doing.

i don’t think he was perfect—not by a long shot.

but he was always apologetic when he made mistakes and he tried his best to recalibrate to a different path when he realized what he was doing wasn’t working.

and idrc how ppl choose to define jayvik, romantically or platonically, whatever but you cannot tell me that him choosing death with viktor wasn’t as self-sacrificial and loving as it comes.

i’m rly not here for the jayce slander

#arcane #character analysis #Jayce Talis #response

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fairymascot · 4 years ago

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when i started watching harley quinn TV, about the last thing i expected of it was to be feminist in any way. i mean, it's an adult comedy cartoon. it's based on 2016 suicide squad's take on harley. the poor woman doesn't even wear any pants. but man, the more i think about it, and the more i consume other dc content featuring those characters, the more appreciative i am of its takes on its female cast.

let's talk about ivy. i watched the btas episode 'house and garden' today, and was honestly appalled by how blatantly male it all felt. in this episode, ivy 'rehabitilates' herself by getting released from arkham, marrying her therapist (which nobody even pointed out is illegal?!), taking care of his two kids from a previous marriage, and basically living the perfect suburban housewife dream. when batman suspects she's up to some shit, she tells him she's never been happier, and no longer has any need for crime. of course it turns out to be an elaborate ruse, but the ending reveals that she wasn't completely insincere -- she does, in fact, dream of having a husband and children, something she cannot accomplish due to the infertility caused by her powers.

unfortunately, this episode must have had a serious impact on ivy's characterization, as the book 'cycle of life and death' from 2016 is heavily founded on it. in my humble opinion, it's terrible. i mean, i get it, it was the nineties and written by men, and tv writers only really started picking up on how to write women as complex multilayered beings in recent years, but damn.

ivy's original character is already rooted in a very male, distorted perception of women. she's a textbook femme fatale-- she's dainty, gorgeous, scantily clad, and her powers are seducing men into doing her bidding. and to pile further on top of her misogynistic foundation, the only way they could think to humanize her is by forcing more of their stereotypical male perception onto her-- how do we show she's a sympathetic character? by making her deep down a 'normal woman', who has normal woman dreams of being a housewife with children. the rather blatant subtext that she turned to a life of villainy because her infertility denied her that dream -- a failed woman that has turned into a despicable monster -- only makes this depiction all the uglier. i'm actually amazed this take on her character managed to survive all the way to 2016.

but then you have hqtv ivy, who takes all that and unceremoniously dumps it in the trash. it rethinks the basics of ivy's personality and attitude from the ground up. she's a misanthrope -- the only company she seeks outside of her plants is harley -- why would she make a villain career out of seducing men? why does she have to be sensual and coy? no. instead, she's awkward, stoic, and anti social. she dresses a whole hell of a lot more practical, she's blunt to a fault, and wastes none of her time trying to appeal to men.

the sexual element of her powers has been removed, or at the very least severely limited-- no more poison kisses or seducing men to do her bidding. the only scene that incorporates that element at all is when she has to peck a bunch of dweeby 12 year old boys on the mouth to reverse the effect of her toxin that's been slipped into their bar mitzvah punch bowl by mistake. it's ridiculous, it's absolutely mortifying for her, and it's funny. nothing about it is remotely sexy.

as for her dreams of becoming a housewife... well, ivy very clearly doesn't know what she wants for her future. or rather, she's so repressed that she doesn't allow herself to want. she always saw herself ecoterroristing it up solo-- but then harley happened, and she found herself going soft, and opening up to other people through harley's influence as well. she allows herself to acknowledge that she's lonely, and that she does crave human connection. specifically, she craves harley -- but that's a part of her she had to seal away, out of fear of ruining their friendship. this leads her to pursue a relationship with kite man (or rather: be pursued by him), even though at every step of the way she pretty obviously has to force herself farther into it.

it's not that she doesn't like kite man. the opposite. she can tell he's a good guy, he treats her so well, he cares for her so deeply. for someone like ivy, coming from a life of abuse and isolation, that's rarer than rare. and that's why she forces herself to overlook all their differences, all the aspects of their relationship that clearly aren't working, and clings on to it regardless. finally, someone genuinely wants her, cares about her. she'd have to be stupid to let that go, right?

but she doesn't want it. that's spelled out the most blatantly on their wedding day-- while he's reciting his dream future of them living in a nice house with a white picket fence, a dog and three kids, ivy is horrified. unlike btas' ivy, who would've surely been delighted, it's completely removed from anything this version of ivy ever wanted for herself. and in that moment, she realizes she fucked up. she locked herself into a life she never wanted because she thought it was the best she could hope to get.

and then their wedding goes up in literal flames, kite man calls it quits, and ivy finally lets herself pursue what she really, truly wants: harley.

it's such a great, fresh take on ivy's character. she's written as a woman, but not some male writer's narrow view of one, but an actual honest, human woman. her struggles and insecurities are incredibly relatable to me as a female viewer, because she's allowed to breathe and grow and have depth outside of the list of stereotypes female characters are so often shoehorned into. she's aloof, she's cynical, she's a loner; she's carrying years of trauma that's made her insecure and closed off, and she's just starting to grow past that; she's desperate for love but forces herself to settle for tepid affection because she's too scared to pursue anything more; she's a genius biochemist and a badass with the power to control all of plant life, but she's fucking chickenshit and wishy-washy and doesn't know how to be honest with her feelings, leading her to hurt those she cares about. and the fact that they took btas' ivy's dream of getting married and having a family, and used it as a stepping stone-- subverted it as part of ivy's self-realization and growth-- that's just the icing on the cake.

hqtv ivy is hands down the best take of this character i've seen to date. god bless, i cannot wait for season 3.

#poison ivy #harley quinn #harley quinn tv #text #meta #my rambles #harlivy #long post #ITS LOVING POISON IVY HOURS

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nostalgebraist-autoresponder · 3 years ago

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Title: A Thornbush Tale

Author: Suzanne Collins

Rating: 5/5 stars

This is one of the rare times when I felt like a middle-schooler coming of age. The book is a YA-ish fantasy novel, of the sort that, just when you think "this seems like a thing someone would enjoy," it turns out that they've been enjoying this thing all along and they didn't know -- that "the world is made of stories, and each story touches every living person."

Like most YA fantasy novels, this one is about young people going on adventures and trying to find a way home. Its adventures are more interesting and its plot more developed than those of anything else I've seen recently, which is a very high bar indeed. Here's the plot:

Sixteen-year-old Suzy and her best friend, Molly, move to a magical new school, where they make many exciting friends, one of whom is a boy named Thornbush (pronounced "Truf") who has a big green hat and magic powers.

Suzy falls in love with him, which she does not realize until she hears about it from her friend Hazelnut.

Molly, jealous of Suzy, plots to break up her and Thornbush. She is able to do this partly by pretending to date Thornbush, but she also ends up getting involved in an exciting secret plot that involves magical creatures, prophecies, and a lot of adventure. At some point Hazelnut helps her, and she eventually reveals to Suzy that she did not date Thornbush after all. Everyone is shocked and hurt by the revelation, but Hazelnut ends up happy.

Several months later, everyone realizes that Thornbush actually has powers after all, but he was not supposed to use them until he was 18. Suzy and Molly set out to find a way to use the magical powers of the other students and get the best treatment for Thornbush. They find a magic lamp, get a good deal of extra cash from the money-beast (which, like Harry Potter's Snitch, never shows up again) and begin the process of using these powers to find a way home.

Everyone learns a lot of lessons (e.g. some people are bad at sharing; you can hurt someone with a hug) and is able to help each other with their problems. Meanwhile, the plot continues and we learn about:

Molly and Hazelnut's long-term relationship;

The fate of the money-beast; and, most importantly,

The mysterious woman in the blue hat whom Molly is secretly in love with.

Thornbush eventually leaves and returns to his parents, and Molly and Suzy get on a train for the trip back home. Everyone else gets back safely as well, and we find out that Molly and Hazelnut are getting married.

The ending was a little unsatisfying, but still pretty good. I particularly liked the way Collins set up a bunch of sideplots and character arcs that were just waiting for resolution, and then the main plot finally resolved and they were given the happy ending they deserved, together.

Also, I have a special fondness for the main characters. Suzy and Molly are both very "you know exactly who you are, you've always known you would end up exactly as you are, and you are going to get your happy ending" characters, a rarer kind. Molly is especially so: she is confident and straightforward, her inner thoughts and motivations are easy to follow even while she is hiding from her friends and plotting to break them up.

Also, I have never had a story in which a character named "Hazelnut" shows up. I don't know what that was about, Collins. Is Hazelnut the name of the girl you're going to marry? The nickname of your husband? I am totally in love with all of you.

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idahofallshq · 3 years ago

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justice for eva! she has truly been put through the ringer and while reading this was heartbreaking, all of eva's experiences have shaped her into a very intricate character. for all her uses, her stubborn and passionate soul is bound to come head to head with authority that is looking for compliance. we are looking forward to seeing how her knowledge of the powers at play in idaho and wyoming effect her journey to finding some closure.

welcome to idaho falls, eva rhie! please make sure to complete the accepted checklist so we can invite you to our servers. we can’t wait to start writing with you!

OOC.

name: kris age: 25 pronouns: she/her/hers timezone: CST previous roleplay blog: redacted triggers: redacted wanted connection?: n/a

IC.

name: eva rhie gender & pronouns: cis woman, she/her/hers faceclaim: jamie chung age & birthdate: 35 years old, 20th May 2009 occupation: soldier immunity: not immune

skills.

agriculture: As the daughter of farmers, Eva not only has the knowledge but also the practical skill of running and up-keeping harvesting patches within bases. While she was too young to remember her family’s true farming origins, her mother and father would always be employed within whatever farming land or harvesting patches the QZ’s they lived in had, and so would Eva. I think she could be very useful in up-keeping and/or increasing the farming happening on base.

melee weapons proficiency: As described below in her biography, Eva has always had a fascination with ‘little trinkets,’ as she’s called them. It started off as a simple hobby, fidgeting fingers and swiftness in her limbs that paired well with pocketknives that graduated to bayonets and daggers. Overtime, however, she has become skilled in combat with these as well. She is highly proficient with any run-of-the-mill melee weapons (ex: spears, spikes, axes, daggers, clubs, hammers, scythes, etc.) and perhaps even a few rarer varieties (ex: maces, throwing stars, maybe even handling a sword or two if you give her a moment to figure out how she wants to move with it). During her travels through no man’s land, she’s certainly refined her proficiency with these items and can pick up the use of pretty much any melee weapons she comes across.

long range weapons proficiency: A skill picked up more out of necessity during her travels in no man’s land, Eva is skilled with long range weapons. She developed this skill by practice and coaching from some of the travel mates she’s had over the years and has primarily used these types of weapons for hunting and securing food. However, these weapons also come in handy in patrolling (if available and not scarce), and so she’s quite proficient at spotting and shooting down the infected and whatever else is needed with the use of such long range weapons. While she prefers melee weapons, she is proficient in both.

positive traits.

reliable: As the only child and with only her mother and father to call as her family for most of her life, Eva has always been loyal and reliable to those she calls her own. She’s not the type to leave a post abandoned or go back on promises. While her faith may have been shaken and loyalties eschewed in recent years due to losing all her loved ones; by nature, Eva will always show up as she is called upon. Eva values a sense of community and despite her best efforts now to avoid it, cares for people. If she can help, she will. Her generosity might be running a bit low these days, but her word is still worth its weight in gold.

meticulous: Eva is relentless and meticulous in all that she does. Whatever she sets her mind to do, she is not going to do half-heartedly. Whether its tending to farmland and making sure every patch of land is attended to and used to the upmost it can be so as to not waste resources, so be it. Whether it’s patrolling the extra mile down the path that is always abandoned, so be it. It’s this same meticulousness that also led to her in honing her skill of melee weaponry. She tackles every task and every weapon, for that matter, with a sense of attentiveness and precision that is unrelenting.

passionate: Try as she might, Eva feels with all of her. Though she is currently dealing with loss and grief she hasn’t yet come to terms with, she has a level of passion in her spirit. This comes through in a passion for what is ultimately just and right. There isn’t a lot to be done for that in the world they live and now, but she is not one to stand down from an unfair fight.

negative traits.

untrusting: As many in this world have come to be, Eva doesn’t trust very easily. Having always had such a small sphere of people she needed to trust, she still finds it hard to open up to strangers. It’s a precaution most take in their world, and Eva is no exception.

headstrong: Eva is stubborn at her core, and arguably, to a fault. Compromise is not often in her vocabulary, which can make her hard to have around. It’s not necessarily a belief of her way being the best one, but more so an inability to yield to others when needed. This can put her at odds with authority and get her into more trouble than is likely wise.

disillusioned: Eva has only ever seen a world that the infection has taken. She’s also seen a remarkable amount of QZ’s crumble. Tag that long with the recent deaths of her mother, father, and fiance -- Eva is more despondent now than she has ever been. At her core, Eva doesn’t believe the world can recover -- there is nothing that has shown her there is anything for them in this world other than death and destruction. They can make do as best as they can in the meantime, but the core fact of the matter does’t change in her mind.

biography.

(As a note -- I wanted to give Eva somewhat of a long, winding path here to Idaho Falls and current day to allow for a plethora of arcs and fun possible dynamics/opportunities to plot with. But, I am aware I’m taking plenty of liberties here so I am totally open to simplifying and/or changing things if they conflict with the game lore or the rp’s lore so far!)

2009 - 2013 (Santa Rosa, CA) - Euna “Eva” Rhie was the only child born to Ji Sung “Johnathan” and Soo Mi “Maeve” Rhie. She came from a family of farmers -- plums and figs -- and her earliest memories are set in the idyllic groves of Santa Rosa, CA. Eva was 4 by the time the infection had spread all across the country. For all intents and purposes, she doesn’t remember a world or life before the infection. Any memories she does have of the time are as good as dreams, hazy along the corners and those she only revisits when she’s seeking comfort from this reality -- the only world she’s known.

2013 - 2030 (San Francisco QZ)

- Her family moved from their hometown to the San Francisco QZ as soon as marshal law had been declared in 2013. There was not much left to salvage of their farm with no one to buy the produce. And while they were in rural areas and thus further than the urban centers of cities that succumbed to the infection, they were largely unprotected and isolated in their home turf. It was this QZ where Eva was raised; the farm her family had once had and the life with it, a forgotten memory.

- Her family continued to farm within the QZ, employing their skills to run the agriculture grounds within the QZ. It was limited and hardly fruitful given the lack of proper land or resources, but it was the best way her family knew to contribute. Alongside what makeshift semblance of education was assembled for the children in the QZ, the rest of her days were spent in the harvesting patches along with her parents. Eva was’t necessarily passionate about agriculture, or naturally skilled at it -- but practice makes perfect, and she had plenty of it growing up.

- Despite the apocalyptic world she was growing up in, Eva remembers these years in the San Francisco QZ fondly. Her childhood was relatively intact, as far as childhoods could go in a world like theirs. As one of the early residents of the QZ, Eva had only seen it at its best -- well-funded, not entirely abundant with resources but not lacking. There was enough to go around, enough where she didn’t have to worry about a pillow under her head or her next meal. Enough that she could afford the little delinquencies a child often has. She could often be found sneaking around the barracks or through the lost and found after her classes instead of reporting to the harvesting patches. She wasn’t interested in any green thumbs as a child, but certainly enjoyed pick-pocketing little trinkets of her own -- little pocketknives, compasses, switchblades, pistols (if she could ever get a hand on them long enough before being found and having them confiscated). She had a magpie’s gaze which was a luxury if anything, she knows now.

- It was here where her interests in weapons was really born. It was as innocent as a child’s fascination with her toys. She was dexterous, able to pick up anything in her hand and make home with it quick. She supposed she’d always been good with her hands given the laboring over the farmland and the otherwise slippery stealth she seemed to possess with all the pretty, shiny things she could get a hold of. She grew familiar with the barracks leads over the years -- they were neighbors, parents of her friends’, friendly faces around the QZ who would teach her the right way to angle a bayonet so to pierce through the thickest rope. Or, wield the scythes that were tucked in the back in their farm shed that could be used to pierce through the cargo canvas that covered the ration shed floors. It started as a hobby, really -- but she’d come to develop and use this weapons mastery over her years.

- The relative calm didn’t last forever. With numerous uprisings throughout North America in other QZ’s and the overall dwindling levels of rations and funding as different zones struggled for the control of resources and power, Eva remembers quite starkly the way the safe zone she’d called home was slowly unmade. As she came into adulthood, the memories of the bustling QZ were replaced by memories of hoards of people leaving the QZ every couple of nights. More and more people took to disappearing as talks of the QZ being shut down and abandoned spread amongst those within it. Eva saw neighbors and childhood friends turns into ghosts overnight. There was always a sense of impermanence to the QZ, but it had been the only home she had known. None of the slow unraveling came easy.

- She saw how the contributing chaos affected her family too -- fanaticism taking slow and insidious hold. Maybe it was the teenage rebel in her, the growing cynic -- but she never quite succumbed to the beliefs of the purged even as her family did. With the continued, mass exoduses and the unraveling of faith in the state of the world, her mother and father took to believing in the purged and developed a plan of their own to travel to Yellowstone to join the base there. Eva tried her best to talk them out of it, convinced her family had gone delusional, but to no avail.

- Eva and her family left the San Francisco QZ in the fall of 2030 along with a group of thirty-tree other believers. The group contained two other families and an otherwise ensemble of ragtag supporters that had charted a path to travel from San Francisco, to Sacramento, to Reno and finally -- to the Salt Lake City QZ. Here, they were to regroup before making the final leg of the journey.

2030 - 2032 (San Francisco, CA > Salt Lake City, UT)

- While this was only two years of her life, the memories across this time period span longer and claw deeper than many others for Eva. The trip through the charted cities and quarantine zones was tough and deadly. Eva had known their life in the QZ was sheltered but had not realized the extent of the danger out in no man’s land uncharted. She may divulge the extent of the bloodshed and the loss, or the pure fear of seeing the infected and the close calls that allowed it, over a glass of bourbon, but not much less. Eva wouldn’t say she believes in things like fate or luck, but she has a hard time attributing their survival to anything other than luck.

- Their group of thirty-three dwindled to twelve through the course of their journey. They lost some to the trip, they lost others to the QZ’s along the way -- those who lost the nerve and the will to fight and were happy to settle down along one of the pit-stops. Their troupe had been well prepared enough with an ex-military general turned fanatic to lead them and enough people with medical and hunting knowledge to scrape by. This was also where Eva honed many of her weapons-based skills -- the weapons she’d considered toys started lining her belts and served her well in one too many close calls. She was also, it appeared, skilled at hunting given her quickly learned proficiency of long-range weapons. She would often be part of the patrol, able to spot any runners, stalkers, and the few clickers or bloaters they came across (never a shambler -- not at that point) through long range and give them time to make escape as needed. She was also often in the hunting party -- fresh meat was rare to come by, but more frequent while they were traveling than when quarantined.

2032 - 2038 (Salt Lake City QZ)

- Eva’s family hadn’t planned on staying in the Salt Lake City QZ as long as they did, this Eva was well aware of. She had been following her parents’ delusions to the world’s end, it seemed. But they were older now, weakened by their travels and all that it exposed them to. Her mother had fallen sick in the last legs of their travel (not the infection, thankfully -- though there was no lack of things out there in the larger wild now that could take you), and was in no condition to continue traveling. Selfishly, Eva was thankful for the reprieve -- thankful that they could live a life of relative normalcy for some time at the least in the shelter of this QZ.

- The reprieve went from somewhat temporary to permanent as days turned into weeks. It was easy to settle back into the relative comforts of a safe zone. They fell into routines -- they took-up roles within the quarantine zone, had enough hours in the night to sleep, just enough food on their plates. They didn’t have to worry about patches of nights without sleep or empty stomachs if the hunting and gathering cull had been measly. The comfort brought slow recovery for her mother, though she never truly returned to full health. It was an accepted truth now, though. The Salt Lake City QZ had started to feel much like home.

- It was also here that Eva met her fiance. She may need more than just a glass of bourbon to divulge much more about him -- but there are a few tidbits here to spare. They met working the dinner meals line, both had been scheduled for the same shifts for a few weeks in a row. And it was as simple as that, really. Love felt somehow simple in their world today. With everything else that wasn’t, love still was -- and that much was true. They met in summer of 2033 and the rest had been history. They had no ring to declare they were no longer dating but now engaged, but the demarcations felt silly to declare between the two anyways. He was hers and she was his, and the rest of the logistics were -- well, simply logistics. This also gave her a reason to stay, gave her purpose beyond following her parents’ mindlessly to the Yellowstone base. They were happy -- they all were. And for these few years alone, that much was enough.

2038 - 2039 (Salt Lake City QZ > Yellowstone Stronghold > Wyoming Militia) - This peace and stability did not last forever, though. Eva started to notice the same signs at this QZ as they had in San Francisco. There were whispers of uprisings, nameless rebellions. Rations were running low and people were desperate with nowhere to go. Maybe that’s why it was no surprise when one night her parents told her they wanted to continue their journey to the Yellowstone base. Her mother wasn’t strong enough to travel, Eva had argued. But she never would be, they’d countered. And while this much Eva knew, she couldn’t shake the dread at the base of her throat at the thought of leaving their shaky but undoubtable sanctuary. She had more to lose now -- her love and her parents already weakened by the ravage of the world. She had been still a child the last time they’d made such a journey, but she’d knew what all lay out there for them now.

- Once again, she tried her best to convince her parents out of the journey, but they were unsurprisingly unshakeable. Her fiance, with no family of his own, would come with them this time. The facts were different this time, they bargained -- the journey was shorter, they had more experience, they’d done this before. Once again, Eva felt helpless in the face of this choice.

- They were to make the journey in March of 2039, right after the winter had melted and made way for spring. It would be cold enough to dissuade the infected upon their path, Eva desperately hoped. With no larger group to chart their journey now, she was the one pouring over charted plans, detailing supplies to pack, doing the math over how often they’d need to hunt or forage and their odds on surviving depending on the most meager results.

- All things considered, everything devolved into chaos quite swiftly after their departure. They were two weeks into their travel, camping for the night when her world ended. Their camp was attacked by a runner. She -- it -- had to have been a fresh one, rabid with the newness of its undeath, it had been messy in its attack. There was a skirmish. She can still recall the infinite length of the moment she spent reaching for something, anything -- but she’d heard the gunshot before she could grasp the shotgun on her side. It had all happened so quickly. There had been a gunshot, and a falling body. Her father had been on the first patrol. He’d killed it, this she remembered -- or, had to remind herself of when she thought back to this moment. Because all Eva remembers is the red on his side and the dooming reality of what that meant. The rest of the night is a blur in her memory. She remembers her mother reaching for her father, remembers the sinking feeling of what would have to come next.

- The memory of that night feels infinite to her now, but she knows this all would’ve had to happened swiftly. She remembers the goodbyes they couldn’t have because she couldn’t get any closer to her father or her mother -- one infected, one too close to the other to be any better. She remembers her fiance telling her if there was a runner, there would be another close by -- and another, and another. She remembers being hysterical and trying not to be, she remembers him driving them away. She remembers him telling her to not look back, but Eva couldn’t turn away even if she wanted to. She remembers flashes of gunshots, the cover of trees, silence -- and the nothingness that followed.

2039 - 2043 (Wyoming Militia)

- They had been too far from the Salt Lake City QZ to return there after the attack. Eva remembers these days in a blur. Grief had taken hold of her but she had no means to cope with it, no time to process it. She held no anger at her fiance because she knew he had done what he needed to, but there was no coming to terms with what had transpired.

- They came across the Wyoming militia settlement on their way back to the Salt Lake City QZ. Eva couldn’t chart the path of how they did get there because she was running on survival mode, nothing holding her tethered beyond autopilot and the will of her fiance keeping her moving. They had arrived to the settlement just prior to the planned attack on Idaho Falls. Her and her fiance had no skin in the fight, barely even knew the people they had run into here -- but they needed a basecamp. They were in no shape to travel anymore. Beyond their physical condition, Eva couldn’t fathom putting together any semblance of purpose or direction. She didn’t know what she was supposed to do anymore. This entire journey -- what felt like her whole life -- had been to get to the Yellowstone base and it had all collapsed in a night.

- Her fiance made the decisions for them both. The raiders needed numbers, he bargained -- and so he volunteered for the raid on Idaho Falls if that meant they both got sanctuary and stay at the militia settlement. They had no other choice. They wouldn’t survive in the wild alone. It was another goodbye she couldn’t fathom -- she would’ve gone with him if she could. But he insisted that she stay back so there would be a place in the settlement for them when he returned. They could figure it out from there, he promised. They would figure the rest out. He’d be back before she would know it. This would all be over before they could blink. That was the last time she saw him.

- Her fiance never returned from the raid. There had been casualties in the raid, and he was written-off as one of them. When the party had returned, they had come with no answers. No one knew what had happened to him, no one could tell her anything. They had been strangers to the settlement, had arrived just days before the raid -- no one knew her, no one knew him. He was a ghost. It wasn’t the easiest way to accept another death. Eva couldn’t bare to think she’d lost him, but it’d be a miracle if she hadn’t.

- After losing her entire family in back to back succession, there was not much left to get her out of bed everyday. The settlement was run like a tight ship. In a way, that was great for Eva. She had no direction, no purpose -- her grief was bigger than her. But if she was to stay in the settlement, she had to play by their rules. And so she did. Where else did she have to go?

- It would be a stretch to say she settled into life in the settlement well -- it was more that she pushed and pulled her way through the days. Life in the settlement wasn’t easy. An offshoot of the Purged base where camaraderie and dogma had likely fallen through, the settlement was run like the military camp it claimed to be. If anything, Eva preferred it that way. As much as she could, she thrived in it. With nothing else to serve as her purpose, regiment and routine did wonders.

- Years passed, and yet -- Eva couldn’t move on. Moving on didn’t seem like an option when it came to her fiance. With too many questions surrounding his supposed death, Eva couldn’t leave his memory to rest. What if he had deserted the effort? Abandoned it? What if he was in Idaho Falls now? Living like she was -- unable to get back to her, or get a message to her? She knew she likely sounded crazy, but in the scale of all that had happened -- this started to seem more and more feasible to her everyday. Idleness was as good as madness, these ideas took hold on her. She fixated on the possibility of him well, alive, healthy in another camp. It left her with only one choice.

- Eva deserted the militia camp in the death of night. October chills sat deep in her bones. Her travels this time were relatively harmless. Besides her being a solo traveler and being hardened by all that lay in her past, Eva also had nothing to lose anymore. It made her reckless but it also made her dangerous. It was the ferocity of her hope on what she would find in Idaho Falls that brought her to the base’s patrol borders. Hands raised and moving slow, declaring that she was not infected -- Eva fell to her knees beyond the range of the long-shooters on patrol the night she arrived. She knew she was at the mercy of the base to even be allowed to live, but all Eva could think about was who might be waiting for her beyond those walls.

2043 - Present Day (Idaho Falls QZ)

- How she was taken in and allowed to stay, Eva couldn’t tell. you for certain. If she knew who to thank, perhaps she would. She certainly didn’t have the self-preservation to think on that when she deserted the militia settlement for the Idaho Falls base. Her mind had been one track set on finding her fiance. Eva hadn’t stop to think about the optics of it all -- a deserter of the militia settlement looking for an ex-raider. Eva hadn’t thought about what she would do if there weren’t any friendly faces around to greet her. It hand’t mattered, then -- all that had mattered is she get in long enough to find him.

- This isn’t a world of miracles. This Eva had known. And yet, it felt like her world had ended a second time around when she didn’t find her fiance within the walls of Idaho Falls. He hadn’t been there. She had searched and scoured, made acquaintance of everyone in town trying to find him. He wasn’t here. She’d heard the tales of what had happened here in the aftermath - but the bodies of those shot dead had been decayed and disposed off by now. In the cruelest of ways, Eva would never know what happened to him.

- Given just about the half of a year she’s spent in Idaho Falls, Eva has become intimately aware of her grief. With no delusions to hold her staid and above water, she has nothing much keeping her afloat other than reporting for her duties and hoping that her tasks see her through the day and until the exhaustion takes her over into the night. You can find her in the harvesting patches, with the hunting teams, or on patrol. She is, however, a soldier at command, so you might just find her volunteering for whatever comes next. The riskier the better. What has she got to lose, after all?

arcs.

- the north star: What happened to Eva’s fiance was left open ended on purpose. He very likely could’ve been killed in the raid. At least, that’s what Eva has taken to thinking now. But one arc I can see for her, is if there was some way that he did escape and makes a return, or if there is someone on base that knows anything about him. Eva would do anything to find him again. As alluded to above, she’s lost everyone in her life that she has ever loved so if there’s even a chance that he is alive somewhere, I think Eva would do whatever it took to get to him. That strong of a driver would open up this arc in all sorts of ways for her depending on how it shapes up!

- the renegade: As I mentioned above, I gave Eva lots of pit-stops along the way for her journey into Idaho Falls. I did that on one hand because I wanted her to really get time and real-world experience, if you will, to hone her specialized skills and also because I wanted to keep open the possibility of having a whole range of connections. I can see different arcs forming if she knows any of the other base members from different QZ’s or has otherwise overlapping connections. Nothing has to be set in stone, but I think the variety gives an opportunity for a lot of different types of dynamics being set-up that can then take her through a variety of arcs. Maybe she meets someone from the San Francisco QZ where she grew up, maybe she meets someone from the journeys along the way, etc. I think having the options allows for some fun plotting opportunities when it comes to her future arcs.

- the radical: Another open-ended one, but I really just breezed past her arrival and acceptance into Idaho Falls. I recognize it was probably not that smooth, and I can see there being complications as to her loyalties and/or trouble given the militia base she is coming from. I think Eva very clearly had no loyalties to the settlement and just happened to be at a certain place during a certain time, but I am very open to any arcs where there are tensions between her and Idaho Falls leadership and/or base members given where she is coming from. On the flip-side, I can also see her getting radicalized against Alexei’s rule given her fiance most likely died as one of the shot-down raiders. I think her backstory has the groundwork to give way to proper radicalization and/or tensions in either regard, so I can see either of those arcs for her as well.

#accepted.

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cursebreaker-lilith · 4 years ago

Text

HC List #4-Wands

Wand HC’s! Mostly focused on the wood since there’s more variety than with the cores.

Also if you have any suggestions for Ismelda, Skye, or Murphy please tell me, because I don’t have their characterizations down as well and I’m not 100% sold on my choices for them!

Rowan

Hornbeam “with a single, pure passion, which some might call obsession (though I prefer the term ‘vision’), which will almost always be realised.” Unicorn hair

I had a lot of trouble with Rowan. I considered, duh, rowan wood, and I believe the former head writer said Rowan had a rowan wand, but I think hornbeam fits. Rowan has a clear ‘vision’ and goals with which to get it, so it seems fitting.

Ben

Black walnut “If the witch or wizard is unable or unwilling to be honest with themselves or others, the wand often fails to perform adequately and must be matched with a new owner if it is to regain its former prowess. Paired with a sincere, self-aware owner, however, it becomes one of the most loyal and impressive wands of all, with a particular flair in all kinds of charmwork.” Phoenix feather

This is sort of inspired by someone who had done a wand wood post then deleted it :’) Anyways, there’s the good at charms bit (Ben’s specialty) but also it just fits Ben’s narrative. He is not someone honest with himself and that affects how he lives his life hugely, so a wand that reflects this problem makes sense. Then a phoenix feather core, because again, Ben’s problem is he has a lot of talent but is held back by himself. If he were to shake off his fears, i think itd be a good match .

Penny

Alder “not stubborn or obstinate, but often helpful, considerate and most likeable.” “whence comes its reputation for being suitable only for the most advanced witches and wizards.” Unicorn hair

Saw the first quote and was immediately like Penny! Then saw the second quote and knew it was Penny’s wand wood. Unicorn because she’s pure .

Merula

Red oak “You will often hear the ignorant say that red oak is an infallible sign of its owner’s hot temper. In fact, the true match for a red oak wand is possessed of unusually fast reactions, making it a perfect duelling wand.” Dragon heartstring

She fits that first part. hot temper, a good dueler, fast reactions, all very Merula. And she pairs it with dragon heartstring for extra power and ease to do darker spells.

Bill

Poplar “‘If you seek integrity, search first among the poplars,’ was a great maxim of my grandfather, Gerbold Ollivander, and my own experience of poplar wands and their owners tallies exactly with his. Here is a wand to rely upon, of consistency, strength and uniform power, always happiest when working with a witch or wizard of clear moral vision.” Dragon heartstring

It’s like Penny, I saw the description and immediately went Bill! Literally everything about that description fits Bill very well. Dragon heartstring, as its considered to do more powerful spells. As for some hc’s, I feel he’s one of the few Weasley’s to get his own wand just because he’s the oldest so he kind of gets everything new.

Tulip

Dogwood “Dogwood wands are quirky and mischievous; they have playful natures and insist upon partners who can provide them with scope for excitement and fun.” “when paired with a suitably clever and ingenious witch or wizard, can produce dazzling enchantments.” Dragon heartstring

I wavered between giving dogwood to Tonks and sycamore to Tulip but in the end I put dogwood for Tulip because I saw “clever and ingenious” and immediately thought of Tulip over Tonks (not that Tonks isn’t clever, but Tulip is more proud of her cleverness). Plus I thought of a wand much more known for mischief would delight her in rebelling against her parents. (I know the former head writer said her wand is meant to be cherry wood and a hand me down from her grandmother, but I like Tulip having her own wand. Fits with her sense of independence better.)

Tonks

Sycamore “The sycamore makes a questing wand, eager for new experience and losing brilliance if engaged in mundane activities.” “As may be deduced, the sycamore’s ideal owner is curious, vital and adventurous,” Unicorn hair

Like with Tulip above, both could fit either girl, but certain words made me choose these woods. for Tonks, it was the use of “curious” and “adventure.” Tulip rebels to break rules, but Tonks just likes fun and adventure, so this felt a better fit.

Barnaby

English oak “A wand for good times and bad, this is a friend as loyal as the wizard who deserves it. Wands of English oak demand partners of strength, courage and fidelity. Less well-known is the propensity for owners of English oak wands to have powerful intuition, and, often, an affinity with the magic of the natural world, with the creatures and plants that are necessary to wizardkind for both magic and pleasure.” Dragon heartstring

Another one where I instantly put the wood to a character. With perhaps the exception of the “intuition” bit, every part just screams Barnaby. Loyal? Yes. Strong? Yup. Courageous? Deffo. Loyal again? Mhm. Affinity for natural world? Totally. And dragon heartstring for extra power.

Ismelda

Yew “Yew wands are among the rarer kinds, and their ideal matches are likewise unusual, and occasionally notorious. The wand of yew is reputed to endow its possessor with the power of life and death, which might, of course, be said of all wands; and yet yew retains a particularly dark and fearsome reputation in the spheres of duelling and all curses.” Unicorn hair

I had a lot of trouble with Ismelda. This probably isn’t what i’ll settle on tbh but it’s good enough. It’s sort of like her. Has a dark reputation but is much lighter on the inside.

Charlie

Ash “Those witches and wizards best suited to ash wands are not, in my experience, lightly swayed from their beliefs or purposes. However, the brash or over-confident witch or wizard, who often insists on trying wands of this prestigious wood, will be disappointed by its effects. The ideal owner may be stubborn, and will certainly be courageous, but never crass or arrogant.” Unicorn hair

Charlie does have a canon wand for this period, which is Ron’s wand. Probably coincidentally, but the ash tree description fits him well, so I do like to think that the second wand he gets after he graduates was also ash. And a hc note, I like to think the wand Ron had was also a hand me down to Charlie. No way that wand got that bad in only 7 years, even if Charlie is a bit rough and tumble. Plus if it was a personal wand, why would he give it away? So, yea, he graduated, got enough money for a new wand and Ron received his old one.

Andre

Spruce “The spruce wand requires a firm hand, because it often appears to have its own ideas about what magic it ought to be called upon to produce. However, when a spruce wand meets its match – which, in my experience, is a bold spell-caster with a good sense of humour – it becomes a superb helper, intensely loyal to their owners and capable of producing particularly flamboyant and dramatic effects.” Unicorn hair

I had a hard time with Andre, but this called to me best with him. I thought adjectives like ‘bold’ ‘good sense of humour’ ‘flamboyant’ all fit well with him.

Jae

Redwood “redwood wands are not themselves lucky, but are strongly attracted to witches and wizards who already possess the admirable ability to fall on their feet, to make the right choice, to snatch advantage from catastrophe.” Dragon heartstring

I struggled a lot with Jae unable to decide if I wanted him to have Redwood or Fir. He always had dragon heartstring, but I couldn’t decide on a wood type. I liked them for pretty much the same reason in that both have an emphasis on coming out on top despite the odds which I think fits Jae. Anyways, I eventually picked redwood because I just liked the description in regards to Jae better aha.

Badeea

Walnut “Highly intelligent witches and wizards ought to be offered a walnut wand for trial first, because in nine cases out of ten, the two will find in each other their ideal mate. Walnut wands are often found in the hands of magical innovators and inventors; this is a handsome wood possessed of unusual versatility and adaptability.” Unicorn hair

I had another one originally, but “innovators and inventors” just fits Badeea much better than what I originally had. Not much else to say.

Liz

Apple “They are powerful and best suited to an owner of high aims and ideals, as this wood mixes poorly with Dark magic. It is said that the possessor of an apple wand will be well-loved and long-lived, and I have often noticed that customers of great personal charm find their perfect match in an applewood wand. An unusual ability to converse with other magical beings in their native tongues is often found among apple wand owners” Unicorn hair

One I took from that post mentioned above as I was rather stuck on Liz. But I do feel it fits. Liz is a Slytherin but is against the idea that Slytherin = dark, so that bit fits, plus she’s all about the magical beings and I wouldn’t be surprised if she was good at speaking mermish and such.

Diego

Red oak ”In fact, the true match for a red oak wand is possessed of unusually fast reactions, making it a perfect duelling wand. Less common than English oak, I have found that its ideal master is light of touch, quick-witted and adaptable, often the creator of distinctive, trademark spells, and a good man or woman to have beside one in a fight. Red oak wands are, in my opinion, among the most handsome.” Unicorn hair

So this is the same as Merula, but I feel he fits the second half of the description while she fits the first. A dueler, quick witted, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a distinctive spell, and I’m sure he agrees that his wand is as handsome as him. He however has a unicorn core as hes much lighter and nicer than Merula.

Talbott

Chestnut “The wand of chestnut is attracted to witches and wizards who are skilled tamers of magical beasts, those who possess great gifts in Herbology, and those who are natural fliers.” Phoenix feather

There was another I considered entirely bc it had like “mysterious loner” in it, but honestly this one sentence screamed Talbott to me. Like, he’s mentioned being great at comc, loves herbology and is one of the best in the class, and I would definitely say he’s a natural flier lol Now with chestnut wands, they change a lot depending on the core. But the description mentions only unicorn hair and dragon heartstring alongside specific descriptions, while the one above is standalone. So I’m assuming its meant to go with phoenix feather, which I would’ve given him anyways. Bird core for a bird boy.

Chiara

Willow “Willow is an uncommon wand wood with healing power, and I have noted that the ideal owner for a willow wand often has some (usually unwarranted) insecurity, however well they may try and hide it.” Dragon heartstring

It took me a while to decide between willow or hawthorn, both of which mentioned healing and insecruties. Eventually I decided on willow entirely because it’s a paler wood and fits her whole silvery aesthetic.

Bea

Fir “There is no doubt that this wood, coming as it does from the most resilient of trees, produces wands that demand staying power and strength of purpose in their true owners, and that they are poor tools in the hands of the changeable and indecisive.” Phoenix feather

While Bea has a big change, I wouldn’t call her changeable considering she’s sticking with her new style and outlook. And I would call her a survivor. Poor girl’s survived a lot already and she’s only 12. : (((

Skye

Spruce “which produces wands that are ill-matched with cautious or nervous natures, and become positively dangerous in fumbling fingers. The spruce wand requires a firm hand, because it often appears to have its own ideas about what magic it ought to be called upon to produce.” Dragon heartstring

I used this for Andre, but I feel it fits Skye too. She’s very brash and confident (or appears that way) so I feel she would have that firm hand needed.

Murphy

Ebony ”Ebony is happiest in the hand of those with the courage to be themselves. Frequently non-conformist, highly individual or comfortable with the status of outsider” Unicorn hair

Murphy is very open about how he is who he is, so even though he isn’t an outsider, I feel he has that “courage to be themselves” bit down.

Orion

Beech “The true match for a beech wand will be, if young, wise beyond his or her years, and if full-grown, rich in understanding and experience. Beech wands perform very weakly for the narrow-minded and intolerant.” Unicorn hair

Yet another one where I read one sentence and was like oh that’s them.

#hphm #harry potter hogwarts mystery #hogwarts mystery #merula snyde #bill weasley #tulip karasu #and all the others theyre mentioned too #hc list series #text be mine

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peach-the-owl · 4 years ago

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Hi! Hope you are having a great month! If possible can I make a request with a Godling (Godlings from The Witcher) Reader who travel with the Mighty Nein. How would having such a 'powerful' being (child-like) effect their relationship. Also, just as a guilty pleasure how would Lucien react to them-knowing their 'other' self raised/cared for them?

Since there isn’t much seen about godlings a few things will probably be a little more on the headcanon-y side of what I think they’re capable of. Hope you all enjoy regardless 😁

Godlings

Mighty Nein & Godling!Reader

Jester

Her childlike nature was what originally drew your attention to her, enjoying the little pranks she’d pull on unsuspecting folks you watched from a distance at first but drew in curiouser by the day. You were first discovered by the archfey that lingered near her who also liked to stay hidden, making a few rude comments when he practically shoved you into the open for her to see. When you got to know her better, you and Jester spent a lot of time singing songs together or causing absolute chaos, although you certainly were no follower to the "Traveler" and didn’t plan on it anytime soon. You were her new secret friend, always hiding yourself when another member of her party would come along. When you grew comfortable enough you finally decided you would join your friend on her adventures, much to Jester's delight. Everyone else was surprised by your sudden presence in the group, little was known to them about godlings aside from normally living in burrows, you argued that you were just a bird of a different feather.

Nott/Veth

The goblin reeked of an old crone's curse, you making that statement very clear when you hobble out of your burrow, scaring a few people in the group which you appropriately laughed at. At first they thought you could help break the curse on Nott, and while you did have means of breaking curses, this one in particular was cleverly crafted making it near impossible to break aside from the crone who placed it. You agreed to help them locate the witch seeing as you had nothing better to do and they promised food. Nott found you to be quite adorable with those big eyes and tended to be very motherly around you, now you could argue that you were much older then her but you weren’t going to pass up on this kind of free affection. When the curse was lifted you still decided to stick around wanting to see what all this trouble had been about. Newly freed from her curse, Veth still acted as a motherly figure towards you as she had before, and honestly you rather liked it sticking with her and blessing that good life be given to her family.

Caleb

Godlings were secretive and shy by nature yet kind and helpful so long as you gain their trust or you’ve peaked their interest, and Caleb was a very interesting man to you being almost as secretive as you were. When you made your presence known he was shocked to see such a rare being of once presumable myth approach him, but he also didn’t want to lose an opportunity to learn about your kind in more detail. You made a deal, you'd come along with him and he'd get to know everything he wanted about your kind so long as you got to learn more about him and play with the friendly little kitty he had with him. You were a lot more mature then Caleb expected hearing how godlings normally enjoy mischief and merriment, you told him you did like doing all those things but that didn’t mean you couldn’t be serious too. He learned more about you just by watching you interact with everything around you over you simply telling him different facts about yourself, and grew to really appreciate you more because of it. You grew appreciation and learned a lot about him through his interactions too, the stories he told did help some for context on certain things but you much preferred this visual over verbal learning.

Caduceus

You'd been a guardian for the Clay family and their home for generations, providing protection and care where you could, being given food and tools for your burrow as thanks by them. They were respectable folk, caring for the nature of the woods as much as you did. When the strange blight started plaguing your wooded home you did everything in your power to help push it back, but there was something unnatural about it that even you couldn’t hold it off forever. It got so bad that it overtook your burrow, forcing you out, thankfully the Clays were happy to house you, so while most of them left in search of a cure you stayed back with Caduceus still doing what you could to try taming or at least keeping back the plague. When adventurers came along you acted on the defence at first, being calmed by Caduceus to get a better grip of the situation. They were all surprised to see such a rare and normally secretive being like yourself be so comfortable and open once you'd dropped the defensive act, even more so when you asked if you could join them on their travels. Your home needed help, but it certainly wasn’t going to get any if you just sat there and did nothing, you managed to slow the growth of the strange blight hoping it’ll grant enough time for you to locate the cure you needed.

Fjord

Godlings were known to live in more wooded or boggy areas so finding one living by the sea was a rarer sight then your kind themselves were. You liked the sounds of the waves they were calming and you had many pretty seashells to do with as you wished. When you first met Fjord it was because he mistook your sandy burrow as an animals den, boy was he wrong and the reaction he had when you popped out scaring the daylights out of him was priceless. You smelled great opportunity for mischief from this, popping out of nowhere to scare the poor half-orc when he least expected it until one time when you had you realized the ship you snuck onto to scare him was now sailing across the sea, meaning you were now stuck here. Sure you knew how to swim but you had limits to yourself and would never be able to find your way back to shore. With less places to hide you were almost forced to interact with the crew, which Fjord learned made you rather uncomfortable but since you didn’t mind his presence he decided to pull you off to the side and have a privet conversation. Through this conversation you learned a little more about Fjord and started to grow respect for the guy, promising to stop scaring him so much, but not completely give up on it much to his dismay.

Beau

The Cobalt Soul had research on all sorts of creatures and different species that lived throughout all of Exandria, one of the few things they had little to no information on however were the rare and elusive creatures called godlings. They were beings said to have great power but were usual docile unless provoked, they were so rare some thought them to be only creatures of myth. Beau herself used to think nothing much of them until they were assigned to investigate a home that was "haunted" where she met you. Seeing your big bright eyes and pale blue skin was enough for her to see that you were in fact no myth but the real deal. Itching to get more information and payment for ridding the house of its "ghost" problem Beau was determined to befriend you, problem was she could be a bit aggressive and you were a bit more shy then she’d like. However with enough time and patients she was eventually able to lure you out and convince you to leave the home, promising if you came with her she’d be all the protection you’d need. You still didn’t fully trust her but you liked her confident attitude and her more childish side when she was willing to show it.

Yasha

Big, tough and silent, to you the woman was very intimidating, but she was picking the flowers all wrong so you’d have to suck it up and confront her about it. You march your way over to her and freeze when she turns to look at you, she looked confused by your appearance perhaps she didn’t know what you were but what did that matter right now. You start to scold her over her flower picking and to your surprise she apologizes, offering you one as a sorry, you puff out your cheeks and decline telling her that it was sloppily picked, and if she really wanted to say sorry she’d need to learn how to pluck flowers properly next time. To make sure she wouldn’t ruin the poor flowers again you show her the proper procedure to plucking them, when you were done she offered you a daisy, this one having been picked properly you accept and watch as she leaves. You lived life as normal only to one day see the same woman had returned she looked saddened as she plucked up some flowers, you carefully make your way over seeing she was using the technique you taught her. You sit in front of her and just watch until she finally notices you, you first saw recognition for in her eyes, guess she remembered you, but past that you could see pain, like she’d just lost someone important to her. Now that you thought about it she had a similar look to herself when you first met but this was different, it was recent. You pluck up and offer her a forget-me-not which she slowly takes from you and stores away into a little book, the two of you sit there in a silence of understanding before she eventually leaves again, you never even knew her name.

Molly

He discovered you on accident when the circus set up their show tent right over your burrow and you relentlessly caused problems for them. He felt bad for ruining your home so he asked if you’d like to come run away with the circus instead. You were hesitant at first, but his childish nature was oddly alluring and you’d fit right in with all the other crazy colourful characters so you figured why not. He didn’t quite know what you were and he didn’t really care, the two of you enjoying yourselves and causing mischief wherever you went. When the circus disbanded you were saddened because this was now the second home you lost although this group of adventurers were quite the delight in and of themselves. Still all good things come to an end, and losing Molly was the last straw, not only did these Iron Shepherds take away your friend but they kidnapped innocents and one of them actually ate children. All this infuriated you, and once those who had been enslaved were free people saw just how terrifyingly powerful an angered godling could be when the Sour Nest was reduced to nothing but rubble in the blink of an eye.

Bonus:

Lucien

He was almost jealous that the imposter inhabiting his body at the time had befriended such a powerful and mysterious creature. Knowledge on your kind was almost nonexistent, even the Somnovem had little information, this furthered Lucien’s curiosity and uncertainty. He knew his limits but not yours and from what he’d heard this group you were with talk about you could turn from docile to very dangerous if pushed the wrong way. This could spell bad news for his plans if what they said was true, but could also be a useful asset if on his side. Now all he had to do was figure out how to regain your favour…

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the-incapable-hero · 4 years ago

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Yo I saw this done by someone (sorry, I forgot who, but I think I reblogged the post) and my dreams are insane, so here

Dream SMP members as characters from my dreams!

Side note: characters of the same color name are from the same dream.

Dream (lol): The leader of a huge corporation that had an entire civilization under its thumb. Known as the Overlord, he would take control of mindless superheroes created to defend the people and use their powers to threaten the city.

Awesamdude: A general in charge of a secret group of high ranking and specialized agents that work to protect people from semi-concious pockets of energy that possess inanimate objects. He's high ranking but plays by his own very strict rules and uses his authority to help those who need his help.

Karl Jacobs: A boy who I've seen in several dreams and who's helped me escape several situations and moved the plot of the dream forward. Once, upon asking him how I was supposed to escape some people after me, he simply responded with "just wake up." When I fell back asleep, the dream resumed and he asked me why I came back

Tommy: A rambunctious friend named Sam who, despite his powers being very limited, he was somehow able to weasel his way into the main plot of the dream and not even use his powers to do so

Tubbo: The best friend of Sam and in a similar position with her powers, but she was the more stable of the two. When confronted with how to deal with a big issue, her immediate response was still similar to Sam's "it's fine! You can just steal the documents!" The documents in question were about catastrophic weapons of mass destruction.

Ranboo: A man named Clark who was disguised as a person with weaker powers but was actually of a rarer variety. Serious main character vibes and he was best friends with Sam and the nameless second friend. He eventually joined the general's (Sam's character) special unit.

Jshlatt: A woman named Selena who was a high rank in an organization and dubbed herself the top of the hierarchy. She also decided to manipulate whole countries into war for money.

Quackity: A man known as the "Green Rebel" but had given up his duties as a rebellion leader as soon as he got captured and instead tried to suck up to his captors and slowly went mad in prison.

Philza: A father who led his kids and their friends so that they could overthrow the government and escape horrible living conditions and save them from child labor. He had no powers, but was able to survive several attacks from supervillains

Tachnoblade: A friend that lived with me and the father character if only because she hung around us more than her own family. She helped us take down the government and was the reason that mindless superheroes stopped being made after she yelled at the people making them for being idiots and giving the Overlord power. Side note: she really had some Tachnoblade vibes when I talked to her.

Wilbur: A pleasant girl I met on a trip and spent the whole day with. She was funny and knew the area well. Later, the teacher asked me why I spent the whole day alone and I discovered that the girl was actually a ghost that the teacher had accidentally killed in a hit and run and I had been talking to her ghost.

Yeah. I can't think of any more that fit, but if any come to mind, then I might add to it. Hope you like it!

#dream smp #dreamwastaken #dream #karl jacobs #jshlatt #tommyinnit #tubbo #tubbo underscore #ranboo #wilbur soot #awesamdude #quackity #philza #ph1lza #technoblade

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fairfaxleasee · 4 years ago

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I was looking through your Devil's Hands prompt list and am intrigued! How about either 9 (Just dropped by to make sure you’re as happy with our little deal as I am.) or 10 (Hm. I forgot you could tempt me with things I want)? Happy Friday!

For @dadrunkwriting

"Hm. I forgot you could tempt me with things I want..." Gamlen Amell ran a hand along his chin and licked his lips.

Solas doubted very much the shemlen had forgotten anything of the sort. "Just so we're clear, Gamlen, my proposal is that I will pay you for information about your niece. Not rumor, not speculation, and not your opinion. I am only interested in information."

Information on Cassia Hawke was annoyingly difficult to come by. There were plenty people who "knew" things about the Champion, and more who "knew" somehow more outlandish things about the Ice Queen, but people who knew anything about Cassia Hawke the woman were somehow rarer than people who knew about Elvhanan.

As far as Solas could tell, there were only two people alive who really knew her, and both of them refused to speak with him. (Well, technically the imitation wolf would talk with him, but he rarely said anything that wasn't an insult or a threat. He certainly wasn't willing to talk with Solas about his 'Cass.') The degree of loyalty ara vherlin had cultivated in her servant was surprising, but it was obvious she was a lost cause to Solas.

Merrill was supposed to have known ara vherlin, but it seemed that the women had managed to spend ten years in each other's company and Merrill knew just as little (and 'knew' just as much) as the people who'd never even met ara vherlin.

Which is why Solas had been forced to lower himself to this meeting. Gamlen Amell was ara vherlin's only living relative, and unfortunately the dead ones were beyond Solas' reach. He'd lived with her for over a year. He had to know something.

Solas just hoped it wouldn't take too long to get to it. Every second in the shemlen's company was absolute agony.

"Oh, I can give you information alright..."

"Then I suggest you get to it. No information, no money."

"Straight down to business then? I can respect that."

Solas had no idea why the shemlen thought he could affect a behavior he'd never received, but this wasn't the time to bring it up. "...yes. I think it's preferable that we keep our interaction to a minimum."

"Well," Gamlen leaned in and motioned for Solas to mirror the movement. He barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes and reluctantly did as requested. Once he was close enough, the shemlen took a look around the bar (despite the fact Solas was already positive no one was paying them any heed) and whispered, "The thing to know about my niece, elf, is... she's completely out of her blighted mind."

Solas was sorely tempted to kill Gamlen now and be done with it. "...that is unhelpful to my endeavors, as well as a matter of opinion. It doesn't count as information."

"Well now just a bloody second! You're not going to go changing our deal now, you said you'd pay for information, you didn't say a blighted thing about how it had to be useful to you!"

"I had thought..." Solas forced a smile. "That it was implied."

"I'll tell you what's 'implied' - it's implied that there are a lot of other people who are interested in my time and hearing about my niece!" Solas doubted both those things. "It's implied that I've been nice enough to meet with you to talk, and now you're going and changing our deal -" Solas closed his eyes and counted in his head to ignore and resist murdering the shemlen. When he opened them, Gamlen was still ranting, "I'll imply you, is what I'll do!"

Solas slammed a fist on the table. "First, stop using that word. I do not know what you think it means, but whatever that is, it does not mean what you think it means! Second - I will pay you for useful information about your niece. But if you think you can get a better offer elsewhere, feel free to leave."

The man blanched and swallowed. "I... fine. I'll tell you what I know."

"Please. And I think it would be better for both of us if you were quick about it."

"Let's see now. Most of it comes back to the girl being out of her blighted mind, like I told you. Never went out, never had any friends, would just totally stop talking for hours on end. No idea what that was about. Complained when I was 'loud,' complained about my drinking - said it made the house 'smell funny,' wouldn't do anything Leandra or I told her to. Never did any of the things she was supposed to - didn't cook, didn't clean, always galivanting off somewhere with that entourage of hers, like that glowy elf she ran off with." He laughed. "Actually, you want to get to know her that badly, go get yourself some of those fancy lyrium tattoos. Knife-ears and those things and she'll throw herself at a man. Course, if you don't have those things, she'll completely ignore you. Did you know, in all the time she lived here, she never bought one thing at the Rose."

"Why do you know that?" Solas regretted the question before he'd finished asking it, but its monumental stupidity stuck out in the shemlen's monumentally stupid diatribe that Solas hadn't been able to resist.

"Kept trying to get put on her tab there! Only every time I do, I get told she's not a customer and doesn't have a tab! I asked her to open one for me - it was the least she could have done; she never once paid rent when she was living with me, and not just her mind! That damn dog of hers ate about a third of my cheese inventory! And once she made it in that Deep Roads expedition there wasn't even an extra copper for Dear Old Uncle Gamlen - no Nameday gifts, no Satinalia gifts, nothing! And she kept trying to poison me! First it was the mistletoe at the Satinalia dinner I had to invite myself to, then it was the cyanide at the Tevinter dinner party."

"I cannot imagine anyone wanting to poison you." It was a good thing Solas didn't have any handy or he'd have probably already slipped some in the man's drink. "But none of this is helpful. If I wanted gossip, I'd ask the bartender. I want insight."

"Alright. I'll give you insight. But it's going to cost you." Gamlen rubbed his fingers together.

"You will get paid when I get my information. Not sooner."

"Well, here goes - I think she always was jealous of Bethany. Although I suppose that made sense, Bethany was the nice one, and the pretty one, and the easy one, too bad she was also the apostate one. If she hadn't been, things would have gone very differently. Leandra'd have given Cassia up to the Circle in a heartbeat. Of course who knows, girl might have actually liked it there. You know, Leandra told me more than once that if she'd known that was what she was going to get, she wouldn't have thrown it all away."

"But they're dead."

"Who?"

"Leandra and Bethany - her mother and sister."

Who I would much rather be talking to than you.

"Yeah... but suspicious that way, isn't it? People around Cassia always seem to turn up dead. She says Bethany got the Taint, but there's really only her word for it, and that elf she's attached to - who knows what happened in the Deep Roads. Same with Leandra, girl said blood magic, but they never did like each other either."

Matricide and sororicide were perfectly plausible activities for the Ice Queen to get up to, but apparently even her uncle was unable to realize that ara vherlin had little in common with that character.

Solas shook his head and pulled his cloak back up. "This was a waste of time." He stood to leave.

"Hey! Get back here, elf, and give me my money!"

"I thought," Solas shot a bolt in the shemlen's direction. It was harmless, but it had the desired effect of stopping him in his tracks, "I was clear - I would pay you for information; not opinion, not speculation. And you obviously have no information to offer whatsoever on your niece."

"I told you," Gamlen took a step in his direction, then glanced at his hands nervously and stopped moving, "The girl's out of her blighted mind!"

"And I told you, that was your opinion. You get nothing for that. Good day, 'sir.'"

Solas stalked out of the shemlen's hovel. This entire trip had wasted a day chasing useless leads when he could have used it trying to figure out a way to outflank what was, by far, the most dangerous adversary he'd encountered. Who he still couldn't believe was human.

#dragon age #dragon age fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #dragon age inquistor #da drunk writing circle #solas #dragon age solas

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buzzdixonwriter · 3 years ago

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Batty ‘bout THE BAT (1920 stage play)

It’s the rare creative work with two legendary lost films associated with it, and rarer still the one where both lost films are rediscovered.

Mary Roberts Rinehart and Avery Hopwood’s murder mystery melodrama, The Bat, has been filmed three times (five, if you want to count subvariants, as we will see), turned into radio and TV dramas, and even today casts a long shadow can be seen in as varied forms as Knives Out and Scooby Doo, Where Are You?.

As mentioned elsewhere, I do a lot of prospecting down the rabbit hole.

Decades ago I saw the 1959 film version on TV.

Suffice it to say I was underwhelmed at the time.

I saw the 1926 silent film version on TCM a few years back, mostly curious about the film’s art design by the legendary designer / director William Cameron Menzies.

I was impressed with the look but not the story.

A short while ago, while looking up old pre-code mystery movies on YouTube, I found the 1930 widescreen version was available.

Well, color me curious.

And when I’m curious, I open a lot of doors and peer inside, not so much wondering what I’ll find as what I’ll ask.

Case in point: What in the world did original audiences think they were seeing when they first saw The Bat?

THE ur-BAT

Mary Roberts Rinehart is called the American Agatha Christie but that’s unfair.

Christie is the British Mary Roberts Rinehart.

Rinehart beat her to print by well over a decade and her first mystery novel, The Circular Staircase, hit the best seller list on publication and stayed a perennial title on bookstore shelves for decades to.

While Rinehart is most famous for her mysteries -- and they are her most enduring works – she wrote a lot of popular fiction, novels and short stories, including several very funny ones about feisty older women refusing to fit into the role society tried to force on them.

She also wrote a lot of what might be called Jazz Age fiction, though truth be told not with the same impact and verisimilitude as Ben Hecht or Damon Runyon, much less F. Scott Fitzgerald.

But her mysteries remain satisfying, even when she uses tropes that have since turned into cliches (her novel The Door was the first the finger the butler as the killer).

The Circular Staircase isn’t the first novel of its type (i.e., a woman -- alone or with younger family -- stuck in a remote, mysterious house with spooky goings on until All Is Revealed in the end to be a villain’s evil machinations), but it sure defined that sub-genre and cemented Rhinehart’s reputation to the form.

While filmed in the early silent era, that version of The Circular Staircase is lost, but it also turned into a nasty legal battle over who controlled the remake and stage adaptation rights.

Rinehart -- no slouch as a publishing business savvy novelist -- figured out an end run to the rights issue and, with Broadway playwright Avery Hopwood as her co-writer, renamed the characters, added a more colorful villain, and called the final effort The Bat.

THE BAT (1920 stage play)

A smash in its Broadway debut, The Bat ran more than two years and spawned no less than six touring companies that took it around the country.

A copy of the play may be found in the University of Pittsburgh’s digital archives, and before going further into the play itself, this script -- apparently specially typed up for the stage manager and lighting crew -- is fascinating in and of itself. It goes into lengthy and excruciatingly detailed set / prop / costume / lighting / sound effects descriptions with every on stage move and position of each character carefully noted.

The actors’ script probably lacked this attention to detail, but the dialog and characters are there and they help us visualize what early audiences saw while watching The Bat.

The plot, while convoluted and frentic, can be followed with careful reading.

Cornelia Van Gorder, a spinster, rents the Fleming mansion for the summer for herself, her niece Dale, and servants Lizzie and Washington (the play apparently changed this character’s name and ethnicity at some point, but the U of P text refers to him as Washington; he comes across stereotypically although not the worst example of the era). The owner, bank president Courtleigh Fleming, reportedly died several months earlier.

During the night Cornelia, Dale, and Lizzie are frightened by various strange things happening in and around the mansion. A notorious criminal, The Bat, is reported in the area and apparently targeting the mansion. Brooks, a gardener, shows up to apply for a job in the middle of the night and this is the sort of play where nobody bats an eye (Ouch! Sorry!) at his late arrival and simply hires him and assigns him a room.

Lizzie the Irish maid gets hysterical as more and more odd things happen. The local coroner, Dr. Wells, arrives (because of course the coroner would arrive on a dark and stormy night) to tell them a clerk from Fleming’s bank may have embezzled a million dollars and hid it in a secret room in the house. Detective Anderson arrives, summoned by Cornelia to protect the house and search for the money. Richard Fleming, the purportedly dead banker’s nephew, shows up looking for the blueprints that reveal the secret room and of course he gets plugged posthaste.

Dr. Wells comes back to examine Richard Fleming’s body (it’s the sort of play where a corpse is left laying just out of sight and nobody comments on it further). Richard Fleming’s lawyer shows up and fingers Brooks as Baily, the clerk accused of stealing a million dollars; Baily, who is Dale’s fiancé (because of course he is) claims he’s trying to find the secret room to prove his innocence. Dr. Wells gets fingered (no, not literally) by Anderson; Wells knocks Anderson out, but before he can find the secret room a badly beaten Unknown Man shows up, claiming to have amnesia.

Then blah-blah-blah, something something something, the dead banker is discovered moldering away in the secret room (because again this is the sort of play where a corpse stuffed in a room for 72+ hours doesn’t decompose at all), and Anderson is revealed to be the infamous Bat while the Unknown Man turns out to be the real Detective Anderson, beaten up and left unconscious by The Bat (who for reasons unknown simply didn’t kill him or Dr. Wells when he had the chance).

Like I said, I want to know what the original audience thought they were watching.

Were they laughing with the play, the way we laugh with Stephen Sondheim’s The Last Of Sheila?

Or were they laughing at the play, the way we’re encouraged to laugh at Clue, a literal linear descendent of The Bat?

It makes a difference, because if The Bat was presented as a straight mystery with comedic elements, lordie, does it ever suck wet farts out of dead pigeons.

But if it’s a send up of the sub-genre, we can feel a little more comfortable about our ancestral audience, excusing the exercise as an Airplane-like spoof.

Rinehart and Hopwood certainly took the plot seriously enough to carefully plot out the time it would take characters to engage in various off stage shenanigans so that no one could accuse them of producing a play with an impossible to perform timeline (the movie versions, relying on cinematic techniques such as editing which can extend or compress the amount of time between scenes, never face this problem).

And the U of P text ends with an option for the production to use the standard ending or an alternate climax that presents itself as a shade more realistic (albeit it still miles from plausible).

Whatever Rinehart and Hopwood’s intent, it’s clear The Bat was a crowd pleaser, no doubt because it was crammed with frantic characters rushing madly about, trying to solve a mystery that grew more and more outlandish with every turn.

It also seems to be an early, if not the first, user of the “don’t spoil the ending” style of advertising campaign where audiences were admonished not to reveal the big plot reveal re Detective Anderson being The Bat (the play’s 101 years old; the spoiler statue of limitations has long passed). This caution would be repeated with the filmed versions of the play, and later expanded upon by legendary schlockmeister showman, William Castle. Rinehart and Hopwood were so intent on preserving the mystery that the play was rehearsed up to the start of the very last scene, and the last few pages were withheld from the actors until shortly before the first dress rehearsal, surprising Harrison Hunter who thought he was playing the hero!

The Bat inspired several imitations on stage just as the film version would inspire several on screen.

#William Cameron Menzies #Mary Roberts Rinehart #Avery Hopwood #The Circular Staircase #The Bat 1920 stage play #The Bat 1926 #The Bat Whispers 1930 #The Bat 1959 #mystery #movies #lost films

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realityhelixcreates · 4 years ago

Text

Dance of the Spheres Chapter Six: Meteoric Mambo

Chapters: 6/?

Fandom: Marvel Cinematic Universe

Rating: PG 13

Warnings: kidnapping, forced marriage, death mention, mild body horror

Characters: Loki(Marvel), Heimdall(Marvel)

Additional Tags: Loki Goes Overboard, But When Doesn’t Loki go Overboard, Mature Reader, Disabled Reader, Political Intrigue

Summary:

Gave my love to a shooting star But she moves so fast that I can't keep up, I'm chasing I'm in love with a shooting star But she moves so fast, when she falls then I'll be waiting Shooting Star-Bag Raiders

Loki leapt for the door, bellowing for somebody to fetch someone named Eir. Then he was at your side, lifting you effortlessly in his arms and carrying you through your beautiful rooms, to lay you down on your warm, comfortable bed, where you writhed uncontrollably in terrible pain.

Loki unbelted your dress, and drew the blanket up to your chest, then seated himself next to you, holding your hand, stroking your face, and murmuring things you could barely understand through the pain. Eventually a graceful, middle-aged woman appeared with several handheld devices, and a sound scolding for Loki for being so irresponsible with the Apple.

You couldn't even take pleasure in the dressing-down he was receiving, as the woman attached one of the devices to your arm, and set the other one above your bed. A projection of your body appeared above you, hovering in midair. It showed all kinds of information that you didn't understand, like the graphics in a science fiction film.

“It's started in her spine.” Eir said. “That's why the pain is so severe to begin with. It's effecting her nerves first.”

“What does that mean?” you cried, your voice twisted into squeals of agony. “What is it doing to me?”

Eir began to launch into another scolding, but Loki drowned her out with speedy explanations.

“The Apples of Immortality contain enzymes that act as catalizers on the genetic codes of certain species. So far, we know for certain that they effect Vanir, Asgardians, Jotun, and Humans. They effect us in slightly different ways, but in humans, the change is most drastic.

The Apples give humans greater strength and durability, energy efficiency, speedier healing of wounds and resistance to disease, and a greatly extended lifespan. However, it does this by stimulating the cells of your body to divide en masse, and changing the DNA as it is replicating, resulting in one cell that it original, and one cell that is enhanced. The enhanced cell then devours the original cell, eventually eradicating all traces of original DNA in the body, and leaving a fully enhanced individual behind.”

“My body is making a new me, and cannibalizing the old me at the same time?” you shrieked.

“That's a remarkably lurid way of putting it, but yes, it's accurate. Don't worry, you will still be you at the end of it. Only stronger, and with greater longevity.”

He was so desperately trying to reassure you of the good that would come of this, but all you could do was scream curses at him for the pain, and the lack of permission, and the recklessness. You didn't care if you destroyed the illusion of complacency you had planned to weave-the agony stripped you of any guile you'd thought to employ. But he stayed by your side anyway, gently kissing your hand and wiping your face with a dry cloth as you writhed and screamed.

It didn't matter that you couldn't tell the time; time was meaningless. There was only moment after moment of suffering, an endless, enduring, torturous present. Each minute brought fresh distress, and greater disorientation, as your senses altered under the effects of the Apple, and the agony spread throughout your body as if carried in your blood.

Perhaps it was the trauma of pain effecting your compromised mind, but you were sure that your sense of touch had been so enhanced that your could feel your body devouring and replacing its most sensitive and delicate parts. Your eyes, your tongue, your throat and lungs-you were certain that you felt them rapidly dying and changing. You saw sparks as you writhed helplessly, the colors so bright that you had to squeeze your eyes shut.

And still he babbled on, and still Eir monitored the illusion body, and still you suffered without end. You expected to fall unconscious into exhaustion, begged for it to come, but remained trapped firmly in the grip of the eternal Now.

It reached into your heart, slowed it so much you could hardly move or breathe, It reached into your brain, dampened everything, sound, sight, and finally, even the pain. As your brain ate and replaced itself, your screams faded, and you found yourself unable to feel, think, or do anything. It was a form of death, and you welcomed it with gratitude, though remained conscious throughout.

You vaguely registered that Loki was panicking, believing the Apple might have somehow killed you, blathering about love and apologies, snapping at Eir, who coldly shut him down.

He was insane, this whole ordeal really proved it. Mad royals weren't uncommon, mad, immortal, super-powered rulers were a much rarer problem, but a problem you now had.

Maybe not for long. Maybe you really were dying. Maybe your brain didn't replace itself fast enough. Maybe other parts of your body were failing. Maybe you would be free of this nightmare soon.

But the replacement must have gone well, because pain began to fade back in, from the parts of you that weren't finished with their self-cannibalization. Loki threw his arms around you when he noticed you beginning to writhe and gasp again, holding you firmly, yet tenderly. Some small and guilty part of you took comfort in it, even as you hissed hatred into his ear.

Time did pass, even if you couldn't perceive it, and you only had so much body to devour and rebuild. The pain finally dissipated, but ache and shock remained. If what Loki said was true, if it wasn't just a lie that Eir was going along with, then you had been changed; irrevocably changed without him even asking or letting you know what was happening until it was already happening. No choice, no consent. And he dared babble about love.

The shock dampened the resentment, and the exhaustion kept you from struggling; Loki kept holding you like it was okay, like he hadn't just subjected you to a trauma nearly equal to the one you had already endured. You could feel your leg. It had been years since you'd felt those phantoms, but this brought it all back.

All you could really do was cry in the arms of the monster that now held you, tenderly as a beast cradling a chick.

You could feel his horrible strength, his cloying warmth, his humid breath on your hair was hot in the dry air. You hadn't yet thought about him having a scent, but he did, the kind of scent that any living animal had, similar to another human being, and poorly covered with soap or cologne, also like a human being. He smelled alive; alive, and breathing, and warm, and you were cold with sweat, ravenous and sore with exertion, weary with exhaustion.

“Don't...want to be here.” you breathed piteously.

“Shh.” he soothed, dabbing your tears with his cloth. “It will be alright, my dear. I will make it so.”

He said it with such firm confidence, as if nothing in the universe could stand in his way. But then, he was perfectly capable of just killing inconveniences, wasn't he? All authority was; from the small-town cop with their false drug or gun allegations, to entire governments who politely asked their people not to call the internment camps at the border 'concentration camps' please.

All your life you had been under the thumb of that authority, and all your life all authority had done was try to take more and more control from you-from your mind, with constant propaganda and psyops, and from your body, with never-ending financial drains and restrictions. But it had never been as direct as this. It was exhausting and soul breaking, but it wasn't like this.

This man held you like a lover while he destroyed you.

“Let yourself rest. Rest.” he murmured “Nothing else will hurt you. You'll be safe from now on, I'll see to it. My precious bride, just wait. After this, we can look to the future. After this, I can make you deliriously happy. Just let me.”

You were already drifting off, but you didn't miss the command behind that. What would he do if you were unable to comply? Would he find some way to 'make' you, like he had 'made' those people follow him when he first came to Earth? Or would he just remove you somehow? It was clear now that he wasn't planning to replace you with some other woman, not after this. This 'mistake' was permanent now.

You didn't fight the slumber as it came over you. It seemed like the only thin that would free you, if only for a little while.

******

Loki didn't want to leave your side, not even while you slept, but Eir all but dragged him away by the ear, to scold him for his recklessness.

“This is not one of your magical experiments, your highness, this is your wife! She is human! She is delicate, and distressed, and you have dropped a great deal on her in a very short time. Humans are not that strong, my prince. You must treat her gently, moreso than her own people apparently have.”

Loki took the tongue-lashing as he deserved, guilt gnawing at him. He had been reckless. He'd rushed things that hadn't needed to be rushed. Things that, in fact, should have been taken much more slowly, so that this case of mistaken identity could have been revealed and safely resolved.

It was far too late for that now. Loki was tied to you, and you were immortalized, and there would never be another for him, and your life would never be the same. More than his overflowing love for you, he now owed you quite a bit, for the tremendous disruption he had caused you.

He needed to find out what happened. Why had this all gone so wrong? It was tempting to attribute it to a curse upon his life; like every great plan he had ever made, it had come crashing down disastrously. But no, there was something else at work here, something outside of his knowledge or control. Someone was working against him.

Only a handful of humans knew he still lived, and was here. Several key U.N. leaders, those Thor had deemed either the most powerful, or the most trustworthy. It was a knife's edge of political power balance: if Loki stepped too far out of line, those leaders could reveal to the world that he still lived, and all of humanity might turn against Asgard for it. But likewise, Asgard could turn it back on them; after all, those leaders knew he lived, and ignored it for their own gain. Human lives were so brief, and human leaders were so terribly aware of their own mortality, so terribly obsessed with holding their power until they died. To lose that was the greatest fear of each and every one of them, and he was entirely willing to use that against them as viciously as necessary.

Showing mercy, while making it clear what unmercifulness would look like was one of Asgards oldest and most powerful negotiating tools.

Had someone in power in your homeland interfered with the selection process? Had an enemy of your homeland done it? He had expected a relative of your country's leader, a daughter, niece, or cousin. Perhaps an even more distant relation. Had a third cousin objected to their daughter being sent to him, and replaced her with you at the last moment? Treachery.

Why had they deemed you a suitable replacement then? Was it the leg? Was it that you were poor? They must have known that you would become rich beyond measure as his wife.

What had happened?

He couldn't shake free of the memory of your face, contorted with agony, begging for death, cursing his name for hours. It had taken nearly a day for the transformation to be complete, but it had been so long since a human had been blessed with an Apple, that Loki didn't know if that was normal or not. Maybe that was why they were given to humans so rarely. Few would go through that kind of torment willingly.

You hadn't even done it willingly.

His heart squeezed tight in his chest. He had to find out what had happened.

******

“Ah. If it isn't my favorite face, before me once again.” Heimdall said, voice as flat as always.

“How is it possible that you've gotten even more insufferable since the last time we met?” Loki shot back. “All this extra sunlight must be overheating your brain.”

“And yet, it was your highness who decreed this be my new lookout point. Do you complain now?”

“No, no, look. When I picked up my wife, did you see anything unusual? Anything surrounding the event at all?”

“I saw two men, dressed identically, in a vehicle that lacked some of the marks that they usually have. They threw her walking aid into the grass a few miles away from your pick up site. A dog dragged it away. I did not see them escort her, as I did not know who I was looking for at that time.”

“Could you find them again?”

Heimdall gave him a stoic look. Loki sighed and nodded.

“Find them again. I wish to know what they are doing right now.”

Heimdall gazed out, ignoring the beating sun, and sought his targets.

“One is eating a sandwich at an outdoor cafe. He has an iced coffee. The waitress is flirting with him, but he does not respond to it.” he said in the hollow voice he got when he was far away like that. “The other...rots under the desert, naked.”

“He's dead?” Loki exclaimed. It had only been a day since he had received you. What could the man have done that warranted his death? He had delivered you, as promised.

Unless the men weren't supposed to deliver you. Unless they had been part of a plot, and perhaps one man had sacrificed his partner in order to escape. Unless...any number of possible intrigues.

“Extremely.” Heimdall confirmed.

Loki sighed and shook his head. There was too much missing information.

“I will need to speak to him.”

“The dead man?”

“No, of course not! The one having lunch. But not right now. When he is alone. Keep an eye on him.”

Heimdall said nothing, but merely settled into his long distance gaze. Loki approached a nearby worker. He was dressed in the heavy duty working clothes of a miner, and looking over a stack of reports. Loki joined him under his sun shelter.

“Find anything new?”

The miner started at his sudden appearance.

“Your majesty!” he exclaimed. “I didn't know you were coming.”

“I just happened to be in the area. How are your findings?”

“Uh, well,” the miner shuffled his reports nervously. “the iron has turned out to be substantially more that the traces we initially assumed, and we have discovered more water to be extracted. Several locations, in fact. We've also discovered titanium, however...”

“Is there some kind of problem with it?” Loki asked.

“It's pretty far to the south...on land that technically hasn't been ceded to us.”

“A complication, to be certain. Well. Let's look at it as Midgardians would.” Loki began ticking points off on his fingers. “One: does anybody else live there? No, this entire rock is uninhabited, save for us. Two: Has anyone else laid claim to that land? Doubtful. I believe there have been treaties regarding that. Treaties which, incidentally, we have not signed. Three: is there any indigenous wildlife in the area that needs to be protected?”

The miner laughed.

“So the problem we are faced with here is largely non-binding. And if we keep our operation mostly underground, they might never notice in the first place. And even if they do, wasn't this land-gift meant to be a way for them to observe how we transform difficult terrain into livable space? They cannot observe us if we do not do it.”

“As you say, my liege.” The miner said.

Loki left him to his business, and made his rounds to each of the workers who were out plying their trades under the bright sun; water gatherers, stonecutters, road builders, brick makers, and maintenance workers, listening to their worries and spreading encouragement.

This was something he felt Odin must have forgotten; that kingdoms were not built on secrets, but by the hands of every member of society. Addressing their concerns was important, and often not all that difficult. The commoner was most often interested in simple things, such as food and safety for their family. The worker was usually concerned for their project, and their concerns were worth hearing, as they knew what they were doing. Loki did not know what stone was good and sturdy, or what stone was flawed or too weak for building with. A stonemason did.

Also, it was worth the time to be known by the people he was meant to lead and rule. Who could proclaim allegiance to a mystery?

He heard Heimdall softly call for him, as if the watcher was right next to him. He wished the man he was talking to well, and made his way back along the sun-drenched road.

“Well?” he asked.

“The man has retired to an inn. He is alone in his room.”

Loki smiled thinly. “Perfect.”

#danceofthespheres #loki (marvel)#loki x reader #Heimdall (Marvel)

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