#deep diana lore under the cut | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kwiiwi1 · 1 year ago

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(ok so I realized I haven't introduced my poly polynesian OC relationship so imma do it rn)

INTRODUCING.. VĀ-KĀ YIPPEE ✨️✨️✨️

Vā-Kā is this kinda NZ K-pop group / band I made way back in lockdown, which was 4 years ago, and have since then been thinking about sm (along with all my other 100+ OC's but shh I'll talk about em in another post maybe lolz)

I created them because I was really bored and sad, and it was like, "mm wonder if there's like an NZ K-Pop group... imma make my own for funsies 😈😈😈"

It was supposed to be like a one-off thing, but they turned into this v real thing I could pull off when I'm older and have more experience with art, like I'm literally crying inside because the edits I could animate?? the music?? the unofficial photoshoots?? them in general?? so many ideas are crammed in my head fr

Anywaysss onto like actually talking about them!

There's 8 members overall, 6 girls and 2 dudes, and they're all best friends turned band / K-pop group turned lovers (cause I'm a sucker for friends to lovers fr)

It's kinda like a K-Pop group but not really it's like.. looser. Idk

I will post proper art of them eventually, but I'm so worried about like repping em wrong since like 7 members are POC, and even tho I'm POC, I'm feeling like I'd do something wrong so yeah

But anyways, time for actual lore stuff hooray 🥳🥳🥳

(Lore under the cut lolz)

Members:

💜 Tori Tuigamala / Lunar 💜

Tori is the oldest of the group and is one of the main leaders (the group doesn't really have leaders, but they all follow her and Kora since they both have the most level heads about shit.). She's introverted and a bit motherly, except its kinda like she'll nip you around the ears if you don't listen to her fr.

It always feels like she's the one who knows what to do because of how organized she is. She seems to plan out everyones schedule without their permission, even if it comes from a good place.

However, she follows through with the promises she makes every time, and actively tries to own up to whatever wrongdoings either her or her group cause, while watching out for the groups safety because she cares and loves them all so much, even if she doesn't say it enough like she'd want to.

Silly facts:

Dyslexic so often she'll record her notes through voice messages or voice-to-text to make it easier. Otherwise, Kora will note the stuff down when they're in meetings n stuff

Loves mochas, ube roll, chocolate chip cookies, and straight black coffee

insomniac, probably

Smells like pomegranate

Samoan-French, has 2 dads and a younger sister, Toni, who's also in the band

25 years old, oldest member. Bday is 31st August, starsigns a Virgo

Her as a squishmallow would be Violet the Octopus

Bisexual and Demigirl, pronouns are she/her + they/them

Height is 5'9"

A friend said that her clothing style would be similar to Hoonjoong from Ateez, and from analysing, it'd be like.. baggy shirts tucked into high-waisted pants or mom jeans-eque pants, washed out colours, sweaters, and cardigans, generally very soft and casual yet trendy if you style it right yknow

Seungmin-core from the "Which SKZ member are you?" quiz, and Yoongi-core from the "Which BTS member are you?" quiz

Favourite colour is purple 💜💜💜💜💜

One of the main singers of the band/group, the other one is Harper

Music taste is like.. jazz. soul music. R&B. idfk fr 😭😭😭😭

Voice claim is AACACIA cause I've always felt like she'd have this kinda deep-ish soul voice that's a lil bit floaty and lilty (idk how to explain my brain properly fr) and like.. soon as I listened to AACACIA, she just fit

Probably had an emo phase. or a vampire phase. maybe both. we don't talk about it

Eats plain rice when she's stressed, bored, overwhelmed, or all three (like me 😍😍😍😍)

Link to voice claim: https://youtu.be/bAAExYOc3VY

💙 Diana Kim / Fluxx 💙

Diana's a smartie seems so very cold and somewhat distant to the public because of how harsh and blunt her remarks come off as.

Their fandom + her group know that she isn't at all like that and that she has trouble communicating her feelings properly. She loves to talk about space and / or the ocean (it changes each day), makes clothes for group sometimes, does photography, and is actually a very soft and caring person, she just doesn't know how to express it properly sometimes.

It takes her a bit of a while to tho, and when she does, she puts in a lot of time and effort. On the inside, she's very expressive and ambitious, always eager to learn something new, and is encouraging her group with how she sticks constantly to one goal until she makes it without Diana realizing her effect.

Silly facts:

Loves earl grey tea, caramel brittle and carrot cake.

Smells like peppermint

Blasian (African-American + South Korean), has 3 parents (two are her birth parents)

24 years old. Birthday is 16th December, starsign is Sagittarius

Her as a squishmallow would be Perry the Dolphin

Bisexual and Demisexual, pronouns are she/her

Height is 6'0"

Friend said that she'd dress like smart but fashionable. Has a similar style to Seungmin or Hyunjin from Stray Kids, so it's half comfy and fashionable n half smart and fashionable

Changbin-core from the "Which SKZ member are you?" quiz, also Yoongi-core from the "Which BTS member are you?" quiz

Favourite colour is blue 💙💙💙

Plays keyboard / synth for the group

I'm not sure what her music taste is either, but it feels like a mix of classical and jazz music + BTS

Voice claim for her is Bic Runga

Ocean and space hyperfixation, my dudes

Takes photos of her members lovers and sticks it up on her room walls

BTS stan, biases are SUGA / Yoongi and RM / Namjoon

Has an Avatar (blue people) OC lolz

Link to voice claim: https://youtu.be/WJXfwo68C4M

💚 Asher Kieu / virt2 💚

Asher is v v quiet and soft-spoken, barely speaks up in the interview's or stuff the group has. Even though Asher's quiet most of the time, she's very perceptive and can often pick up on what others don't, making her a real good listener.

Is secretly a good cook + baker and sometimes plays piano pieces for the group or the fandom when she has the time on her solo livestreams. (I say secretly cause none of Vā-Kā let her into the kitchen. There's like... a 75% chance she'll set the entire thing on fire. Maybe. Probably.)

She's a very emotional kinda person, can kinda come off as being a bit sensitive even if she doesn't mean to get hurt. The fandom + members compare her voice to like an angels because of how like soft and gentle it sounds. It helps some of their fans, n tbh Asher loves being able to inspire their fandom even if she doesn't involve herself as much as she would like to.

Silly facts:

Likes mint chocolate chip ice cream, lemonade and caramel apples

Smells like vanilla sugar cookies.

Dark skin Vietnamese (still need to figure out the deets), also has 3 parents and a younger brother

23 years old. Birthday is 25th February, starsign is Pisces

Her as a squishmallow would be Serene the Squirrel

Pansexual and Genderqueer, pronouns are she/her + he/him + they/them

Height is 5'5"

Friend said that asher would dress in stuff that's really comfortable, like it doesn't have to look crazy good it just has to be comfy for them to hide and not draw attention yknow

Hyunjin-core from the "Which SKZ member are you?" quiz, Jimin-core from the "Which BTS member are you?" quiz

Fav colour is green (more specifically, mint) 💚💚💚

Backup vocals for the group, n plays acoustic guitar + piano if needed

I have literally no clue for what she listens to 💀💀💀💀💀 maybe like lofi, but I'm not sure yet

Voice claim is Georgia Lines (found her on a NZ mix playlist on Spotify and she kinda stuck instantly)

Strong self-esteem issues (me too ✨️✨️✨️✨️). doesn't choose to be in the spotlight in case it's seen as them showing off

Loves baking. Secret hobby of hers. Has a lil secret room in her room where she bakes and vibes

Autistic probably (me pt 2)

🧡 Kora Faletau / sivk 🧡

Kora is a grouchy but lovable and stupid idiot, keeps the group in check when they're in public, and helps to lighten the mood with some self-deprecating jokes at his expense.

Very intelligent. Smartiepants. High IQ mother fucker. Really tall. And strong. uh. yuh

Is almost always done with the groups shenanigans (especially when Harper, Micah, Toni, and Alto are being lil asshats), but he deals with it because they're the only thing that keeps him sane.

Most honest person in the group tho, will not be afraid to call you out on your shit. You lie to him, he will wrestle ur ass off that high horse in a second (he inherited his mother's sass and attitude to a point ong)

Silly facts:

Likes pizza n pasta despite being lactose sensitive / intolerant. Dumb shithead

Smells like strawberries

Tongan-Latino, youngest of 4 siblings (3 older sisters) n a single mum

23 years old. birthday is 21st September, starsign is Virgo

Them as a squishmallow would be Gary the Giraffe

Demisexual Pansexual + Nonbinary, uses he/they pronouns

Height is 6'3", tallest member

Friend said that Kora would wear whatever he pulls out of the closet and somehow he'd still make it work, so they don't really have a set style and it's all over the place but it fits them

Bangchan and / or Changbin-core from the "Which SKZ member are you?" quiz, Namjoon-core from the "Which BTS member are you?" quiz

Fav colour is orange 🧡🧡🧡

Bassist, does keyboard/synth when Diana's not free + main rapper

Listens to rap n stuff, like Kendrick Lamar, J.Cole, Logic, and then siren jams because man's would not be complete with blasting some shitty siren jam early in the morning

Voice claim for him is Kings because he's kinda got like a deep kinda scratchy n smooth voice fr

V v Bangchan n Changbin-core like have you seen this dude work out. Mans used to play basketball too cause of his height, so he'd probably be real good at sports shit n like lean n built n muscular lolz

Hates physical contact when they're in interviews or other (hugs and kisses in front of people make him lose his confidence and gets him all embarrassed and shy), but loves it when the groups behind closed doors.

💛 Harper Mayfield / Sun-E 💛

Harper is an absolute ball of sunshine, jokes around and makes fun of her friends, very energetic, and hypes everyone up.

She's always on the move, whether it be from cleaning, cooking, to her favourite dancing, she's always found to be doing something in order to improve on herself.

Bros surprisingly wise and almost always manages to talk down confrontations, and her smile is known to brighten up both the group and their fandoms day. Whenever she makes someone happy, she's happy.

Silly facts:

Likes lemon drops, turkish delight, fry bread

Smells like coconut cream and ginger

Māori-Australian, is the youngest of 4 siblings (1 older sister and 2 older brothers) n a single mum

22 years old. Birthday is 5th June, starsign is Gemini

Her as a squishmallow would be Kayla the Koala

Pansexual + Genderfluid , uses any pronouns

Height is 5'11"

Friend said that Harper has like a simple style, like a shirt and jeans with the occasional jacket here and there, plus a lot of accessories. Either that or she'll wear really colourful n confident clothes that she pulls off really easily, so she v much has a style similar to J-Hope from BTS

Jisung-core from the "Which SKZ member are you?" quiz, Hobi-core from the "Which BTS member are you?" quiz

Favourite colour is yellow 💛💛💛

2nd Main Vocalist + Saxophonist for the group

Listens to anything she can dance to, so it'd be like a mix of Hip Hop n Rap. I have a playlist of songs I think she'd dance to for funsies lol

Voice claim is Kimbra, idk she fits fr fr

Down bad. Down horrendously. Easy to fluster and easy to please. Silly silly Harper

Makes a lot of kandi n stuff for the group as accessories for when they dress up n shit. Loves it sm

❤️ Micah Tyjani / DUSK ❤️

Micah is very laid back and chill, takes a whole lotta shit to piss her off. She sometimes helps out Kora with cooking or the younger members (Toni and Alto) with being stupid as shit, but she goes with the flow most of the time.

She's a night owl kinda person too lol. Most of the group go to her for a place to vent or cry because she's so laid-back and lax with it, and she welcomes it all, as she always makes sure to check up on her members.

She cares a lot, and she cares very deeply about all of them, just like they all care for her fr.

Silly facts:

Likes red velvet cake and mashed potatoes

Smells like gingerbread

Nigerian-Haitian, born to two dads (one of them was a seahorse dad)

23 years old, birthday is 13th July, starsign is Cancer

Them as a squishmallow would be Bailey the Llama

Unlabeled + Bigender, uses she/him pronouns

Height is 5'8"

Friend said that Michas style would be a mix of both Harper and Ashers, so like simple and comfortable clothes with a lot of accessories and bright colours lolz

Seungmin-core from the "Which SKZ member are you?" quiz, Namjoon-core from the "Which BTS member are you?" quiz

Favourite colour is red ❤❤❤

2nd Bassist of the group + 2nd rapper

Listens to Hip Hop n Rap n like other stuff. Still need to think fr

Voice claim is Ladi6

Works out with Kora. they're both so 🤤🤤🤤🤤 PLUS she can beat people up if they need to, so boom banger

🩷 Toni Tuigamala / Eris 🩷

Toni is the absolute opposite of her older sister. Where Tori is organized and figured out, Toni is brash and all over the place.

Although she fools around a lot and kinda comes off as a bit of a jerk, she can be quiet and caring when needed mhm mhm

Unafraid to speak her mind, and probably joins Kora in the "I shall beat u up with my words and my wit" category. Her wit is sharp, but her tongue is even sharper fr. Sassy lil shit.

Offers the best fashion advice and makes sure that everyone looks their best.

Silly facts:

Likes rice pudding and raspberry cheesecake

Smells like waffles and maple syrup

Samoan-French, two dads, and ofc her older sister Tori

22 years old, birthday is 17th April n starsign is Aries

Her as a squishmallow would be Reina the Butterfly

Omnisexual (with the teeniest lean towards women) + Pangender, uses she/they + he/him pronouns

Height is 5'7"

Friend said that Toni would have a similar style to Tori since she's her sister, but like sometimes when he's in the mood, he'd wear something chic. They said that there isn't really a specific theme, but that's how Toni is, she doesn't have a certain theme but if it works it works lolz

Lee-Know-core from the "Which SKZ member are you?" quiz, Tae-core from the "Which BTS member are you?" quiz

Favourite colour is magenta, but I use this soft pink heart for her lolz 🩷🩷🩷

Drummer for the group

Listens to FLO n like.. idk sexy bitch music. she is the moment slayy 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽

Voice claim is Aaradhna

Flirty. So flirty. So pretty. Gets under Harper's skin a lot, but in a flirty sexy way yknow

🩵 Alto Manukuo / Alto 🩵

Alto's the sweetheart himbo of the group, the bro who can manage to make everyone swoon for him without even trying. Very sweet and kind, has the ultimate puppy eyes tbh

Sometimes, he surfs when he's got the time, but most of the time, he spends it doing gymnastics and / or working out and / or playing with Toni. Likes helping out around the groups house and gives the best hugs for such a short guy. Always energetic and bubbly, will not stop until he'd able to make your day better.

(He's so puppy I NEED HIM 👹👹👹👹👹)

Silly facts:

Likes honeycomb n milk and fry bread

Smells like peach and custard pie

Indonesian-Niuean. youngest of 3 siblings, has 2 older brothers n their two mums

21 years old, birthday is 30th March, starsign is Pisces

Him as a squishmallow would be Harrison the Dog

Bisexual + Genderfluid, uses any pronouns but mainly he/him and she/her

Height is 5'6"

Friend said that though Alto is a cutie because they work out / do gymnastics, so they feel like their closet would mostly have like sleeveless shirts n cropped tops, similar to Bangchan from Stray Kids. Otherwise it'd be soft sweaters n sweatpants because yes

Jeongin-core from the "Which SKZ member are you?" quiz, Jin-core from the "Which BTS member are you?" quiz

Favourite colour is teal, but I use this like light blue emoji for him 🩵🩵🩵

2nd backup vocalist + Electric Guitar for the group

Listens to I have no fucking clue, but it'd be like flowy n vibey yknow

Voice claim is Shaan Singh from Drax Project, absolute loml 😍😍😍😍😍

Golden retriever energy. himbo. solid himbo energy mans onggg

Works out a lot too. Stronk. Squidgy. Need him

Still can't get rid of that CHUNKY THICC ASS 😫😫😫😫😫

#I applaud anyone who actually reads thru all of this ong #vā-kā

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spyrkle4 · 3 years ago

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Ark hcs I have about the survivors: Aberration (Part 1)

I’ve been awaiting this one bc I have SO many ideas

Sequel to the SE post

---

-A lot of people think ab pre-destruction looked a lot like the island, but I like to imagine it was more of a jungle surrounded by very large cliffs and rocky hills (which would explain Diana’s attempt of escape via jetpack)

-Kind of obvious but I think the tek survivors were specifically ones that got killed during the URE/Terran conflict

-I don’t think the Tek tribe were the only tribe on ab, but they were the only tribe from the “future”

-Other tribes started spawning in after ab got broken down, these tribes were ones that ascended tho, since the overseer was destroyed atm, the only way survivors could get on aberration (pre-Rockwell cuz I think he started spawning in test subjects once left to his own devices) was by selecting it on ascension

-Some of the other tribes helped the Tek Tribe with the Gateway Project (usually getting nice gear out of it) so it could be how they managed to build the gate in the red zone (aka the hell zone)

-The Tek Tribe weren’t super into taming other creatures until Mei Yin joined, so they mostly kept light pets and other passive tames

-Shinehorns are really popular in the Tek Tribe, most other tribe keeps Bulbdogs though

-Diana had a pet Featherlight that she tamed during her mission Mei Yin had to rescue her from

-She and Mei Yin basically share custody of said Featherlight (who Diana nicknamed Cherry), Cherry sometimes helps Mei Yin with Rock Drake egg snatching

-Oh yeah, Mei Yin also does egg snatching, usually to bolster the Tek Tribe’s ranks, or she does it for another tribe in exchange for supplies

-Mei Yin has also tamed a lot of creatures for either the Tek Tribe or another tribes, but not raptors, I don’t think she’d have it in her heart to tame another raptor after Wuzhui :C

(more notes under the cut, and when I mean more notes I mean more notes holy heck)

-Everyone on ab collectively agree that you don’t want to run into Reapers bc they are dangerous

-That’s why whenever anyone goes on surface runs, it’s usually 2-3 tribes doing the runs

-Someone on ab figured out how to track the season change, probably Santiago bc if anyone could figure out the day/night cycle in aberration, it’s him

-Mei-Yin probably had arrived on Ab during the 90% day 10% night cycle so when she made a comment of “It felt like the sun was up for days” it got Santiago to do some investigating and they were like “this is weird” when finding out the day cycle

-Even tho the Reapers on the surface can’t uh... impale you with it’s unborn children, the survivors would rather go in groups when handling those things

-Disclaimer no shade to Reapers to any reaper fans reading this but in lore I think everyone would be Terrified of them

-There’s probably one lone survivor on ab that has managed to get his own tamed Reaper Kings, most ppl on ab think he’s crazy for risking his life to get reapers, I feel like he and Mei Yin would get along in terms of having dangerous dinos tamed

-Said guy is nicknamed Reaper Man, and yes, he acts like a cartoon superhero, gets along great with anyone but sadly most people avoid him bc they are nervous around his tames

-Dw tho Helena would be buddies with him and they talk abt dinosaurs bc Reaper Man is a fan of observing the dinos in ab so they’d geek about dinos together

-Speaking of Helena some of the newcoming tribes would have some of the folks from the Island post-New Legion

This is basically is what happens:

(I had to meme, from imgflip sidenote)

-It was a whole convo conversation

Island Guy: YO I THOUGHT NERVA KILLED YOU!

Helena: Nope I’m still alive n.n

Island Guy: Where did you go tho???

Helena: *deep exhale* sit down it’s a long story my dude

-Same guy also lost his mind when seeing Mei Yin and Rockwell, and got treated to an epic play-by-play of the duel between Nerva and Mei Yin

-Oh yeah speaking of Nerva remember when he got crispy fried then found by Diana? I think she buried what was left of him after her surface trip, she asked about it to Mei Yin and was Angry hearing about what Nerva did on the Island (Diana has a good heart she would not like hearing about a guy that brought violence to a once peaceful island and killed Mei Yin’s companions and also took Helena prisoner)

-Mei Yin also talked about Wuzhui a few days after talking about Nerva, it was a very emotional convo bc Mei Yin let herself grieve for her fallen friend she had channeled that grief into vengeance, then survival, and later thanked Diana for listening

-Disclaimer Helena 100% picked up on Diana’s crush on Mei Yin and teased her a lil’ about it but she’d also encourage Diana to “go for it” bc she think both her friends would make a good couple

-And yes, Helena was an annoying wingman that drove Diana low-key nuts

Helena: Hey Mei Yin did you know Diana likes y--

Diana, running in and cutting off Helena: Utahraptors! Because they’re so fluffy and you told me how great they are

Mei Yin: ah... yes, the raptors are great company to have

Helena: I’m sure they are n.n *glances to Diana*

Diana: *whispering* I will end you one of these days

Helena: *whispering back* no you won’t : )

(The shenanigans these 3 got up to before Plot occurred was many, Mei Yin tagged along with Helena while she did her notes and Diana went with bc it was fun and she totally taped the whole experience)

-Santiago also picked up on Diana’s crush and he and Helena got along like a house on fire trying to get the two together XD

-There was probably a time span of weeks-maybe a month before Helena found out about the Gateway Project’s true nature and had a Panic abt the Obelisk so she just wandered doing her research and mingling with the other tribes

-Apparently Shinehorns used to be called Lantern Goats so I hc that was the name survivors called them until Mei Yin showed up on ab and was like “that is not a suitable name for a creature of Xiao’s species” so she called them Shinehorns, Mei Yin wanted to give her emotional support goat a fancy name okay?

-During the trip of Helena, Santiago, and Mei Yin shutting down the obelisk and discovering the clone room, it was what got them to remember what killed them in their past lives... only reason the survivors don’t remember dying is bc like what happened with Santiago’s first respawn, they didn’t want to traumatize the survivors by having them remember their deaths

-Tho some survivors do pick up on the fact they died, and in this case they all remembered “oh my gosh we totally died” and Helena freaked out the most bc unlike Santiago and Mei Yin’s deaths... hers was not quick (the rocks man, the rocks)

-Mei Yin managed to help calm her down from her panic attack, but they all had to take a breather after... That

-Wiki on Reapers theorize that they use Nameless as a substitute for uh... making children instead of humans to explain why they vibe together and I accept this as hc bc how else would Reapers survive biologically without a mountain of human body count

-Helena discovered this tidbit from the neighborhood friendly Reaper Man, he put a camera on one of his light pets/Reapers while they were wandering the blue zone

-This is also how I think Reaper Man got his Reapers, he used a Nameless sacrifice I mean uh substitute (maybe Nameless survive the process since it seems to be a symbiotic relationship between the two species)

-Speaking of cameras the Tek Tribe probably shooted videos of light pets doing stunts or lent cameras to tribes as some form of entertainment (Discount Undernet anyone?)

-When the Tek Tribe finished their project they sent a whole “Y’ALL WE’RE BLOWING THIS POPSICLE STAND COME WITH US!” message bc the other survivors wanted to leave and also Ab at that point in time was really deadly during the time Rockwell was on the loose so a lot of survivors were bunched together by the portal

-Sidenote the Island Survivors were also Upset that Rockwell the once nice old guy who made kibble and settled disputes went off the deep end, (except like one guy who read the explorer notes and went “okay something’s weird about that dude”)

-The Island Survivors on ab should probably form a support group, first the New Legion, now this... it def was lot for them and they needed some comfort from their other survivors

-After escaping Aberation most of the tribes split up to cover more ground, it was the last time Helena saw of the former island survivors, since she stuck with the tek tribe (Idk if I’ll make an Extinction post since I don’t really have lots of hcs for that but I think most of the other tribes survived, including any tek tribe survivors that decided to tag along with a friend from another tribe instead of the main group)

-I think Rockwell, after getting lost in the Element sauce (*dodges angry fans for the meme*) expressed his power trip by trying to destroy the other tribes/survivors for “mocking his greatness” or something

-A lot of people speculate that Xiao was the Shinehorn Rockwell ejected Element with... I don’t have this same idea bc I think if he actually did that to Mei Yin’s companion Diana would’ve probably killed him on the spot bc she was very attached to Xiao

-Sadly Cherry, her Featherlight, was killed by Rockwell when he first transformed and wreaked havoc on the Tek Tribe... Xiao survived as he got picked up by one of the fleeing survivors (as well as some of the other light pets)

-As for Xiao’s fate, I think he stayed by the ruins of the Tek Tribe, not having the heart to see what’s left of his family leave (Mei Yin did give him a good goodbye hug), and eventually got discovered by two survivors long after ab was abandoned (Trent and Imamu)

-I’ll talk about the Grad Students in Part 2 of this hc post bc my gosh I went on and on about ab because it’s my fav map, even tho I don’t have it (curse you dlc for hiding cool content with money), I just like the lore okay?!

#ark survival evolved #ark aberration #diana altaras #santiago de costa #ark santiago #helena walker #mei yin li #ark mei yin li #ark sir edmund rockwell #sir edmund rockwell #ark hcs #ark survivors

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booksociety · 4 years ago

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Book Society presents its May and June reading event! This time, the members have selected In Another Universe as our theme. We invite you to wander with us through various universes of the Earth - be it an alternate reality, history or future. We hope you enjoy and join us on our reading adventure! This event is open to everyone, not just our members.

✧ how to participate:

optional: reblog this post; check out our network and members

read (or reread) a book of your choice that fits this month’s theme

share what book you’ve chosen, thoughts, reactions, and/or creations

use the tag #booksocietynet in your posts, and include “@booksociety’s In Another Universe event: [insert book title here]” in the description of your creations

the event starts on May 8 and ends on June 30

✧ reading recommendations (under the cut):

1984 by George Orwell (classic, dystopia; 237 pages; tw: torture, violence, misogyny, police brutality)

A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic #1) by V.E. Schwab (adult, fantasy; 400 pages; tw: violence, blood, torture, self-harm, death)

A Dead Djinn in Cairo (Dead Djinn Universe #0.5) by P. Djèlí Clark (historical, fantasy, steampunk, mystery; 43 pages; tw: death, suicide, gore, body horror, violence)

American Gods (American Gods #1) by Neil Gaiman (adult, urban fantasy; 635 pages; tw: death, violence)

American Royals (American Royals #1) by Katharine McGee (young adult, contemporary, romance; 448 pages; tw: cancer, toxic relationship, death, death of a parent)

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing (The Carls #1) by Hank Green (adult, scifi, lgbt+; 343 pages; tw: gore, violence, death, blood, confinement, hate crime)

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days #1) by Susan Ee (young adult, paranormal fantasy, romance; 288 pages; tw: violence, gore, torture, child death)

A Song Below Water (A Song Below Water #1) by Bethany C. Morrow (young adult, fantasy, contemporary, mermaids; 288 pages; tw: racism, police brutality, bullying)

Burn for Me (Hidden Legacy #1) by Ilona Andrews (adult, urban fantasy; 406 pages; tw: death, violence, torture)

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (adult, historical, paranormal fantasy; 272 pages; tw: violence, gore, blood)

Clean Sweep (Innkeeper Chronicles #1) by Ilona Andrews (adult, urban fantasy, sci-fi, paranormal; 227 pages; tw: death, gore, violence)

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente (adult, fantasy, historical, romance; 352 pages; tw: domestic abuse, death, body horror, toxic relationship)

Dread Nation (Dread Nation #1) by Justina Ireland (young adult, fantasy, horror; 455 pages; tw: racism, violence, gore, death)

Dry by Neal Shusterman & Jarrod Shusterman (young adult, scifi, dystopia; 390 pages; tw: death, gun violence, blood)

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (classic, dystopia; 294 pages; tw: death, murder, suicide, torture, drug abuse)

Flame in the Mist (Flame in the Mist #1) by Renée Ahdieh (young adult, fantasy, historical, romance; 392 pages; tw: violence, death)

Geekerella (Once Upon a Con #1) by Ashley Poston (young adult, retelling, contemporary, romance; 336 pages; tw: death of a parent, bullying, grief, emotional abuse)

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman (urban fantasy, humour; 412 pages; tw: death)

Heiress Apparently (Daughters of the Dynasty #1) by Diana Ma (young adult, contemporary, romance; 304 pages)

His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire #1) by Naomi Novik (historical, fantasy; 356 pages; tw: animal death, animal cruelty, violence, blood)

How Much of These Hills is Gold by C Pam Zhang (adult, historical, lgbt+; 288 pages; tw: racism, transphobia)

Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu (adult, contemporary; 273 pages; tw: racism, xenophobia, hate crime)

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore (young adult, scifi, lgbt+; 464 pages; tw: kidnapping, animal cruelty)

Kiss of Steel (London Steampunk #1) by Bec McMaster (adult, historical, romance, paranormal, steampunk; 423 pages; tw: violence, blood, suicidal thoughts, physical abuse)

Lore by Alexandra Bracken (young adult, urban fantasy, mythology; 480 pages; tw: misogyny, violence, gore, death, death of a family)

Magic Bites (Kate Daniels #1) by Ilona Andrews (adult, urban & paranormal fantasy; 261 pages; tw: gore, violence, death, body horror)

Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice (adult, scifi, dystopia, horror; 213 pages; tw: violence, death, animal death, gore, racism)

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (adult, scifi, dystopia; 288 pages; tw: medical trauma, bullying, trafficking, death, grief)

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (new adult, romance, contemporary, lgbt+; 421 pages; tw: homophobia, drug use mention, panic attacks)

Rivers of London (Rivers of London #1) by Ben Aaronovitch (adult, urban fantasy, mystery; 392 pages; tw: death, murder, violence, facial disfiguration)

Royally Matched (Royally #2) by Emma Chase (new adult, contemporary romance; 264 pages; tw: parental abuse, misogyny, panic attacks)

Scythe (Arc of a Scythe #1) by Neal Shusterman (young adult, scifi, dystopia; 435 pages; tw: death, violence, murder)

Shadows of Asphodel (Shadows of Asphodel #1) by Karen Kincy (adult, historical, fantasy, romance, dieselpunk; 352 pages)

Temporary by Hilary Leichter (adult, contemporary, fabulism; 208 pages)

The Bear and the Nightingale (The Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden (young adult, fantasy, historical; 319 pages; tw: misogyny, death, religious bigotry, death of a parent, violence, animal death)

The Bone Season (The Bone Season #1) by Samantha Shannon (adult, scifi, fantasy; 466 pages; tw: slavery, violence, death, torture, trafficking)

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1) by S.A. Chakraborty (adult, fantasy; 533 pages; tw: violence, blood, gore, slavery, xenophobia)

The City We Became (Great Cities #1) by N.K. Jemisin (adult, urban fantasy, lgbt+; 437 pages; tw: racism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexual assault)

The Darkest Minds (The Darkest Minds #1) by Alexandra Bracken (young adult, scifi, dystopia; 488 pages; tw: violence, torture, death, sexual assault, physical abuse)

The Deep by Rivers Solomon (adult, fantasy, lgbt+, mythology; 166 pages; tw: slavery, genocide, death, grief, mental illness, self-harm, panic attacks)

The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada (adult, dystopia; 116 pages)

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (young adult, historical fiction, paranromal, romance; 390 pages; tw: death, death of a parent, drug addiction, misogyny)

The Gilded Wolves (The Gilded Wolves #1) by Roshani Chokshi (young adult, fantasy, historical; 388 pages; tw: violence, death, child abuse, torture, panic attacks, racism, ableism)

The Golden Compass (His Dark Materials #1) by Philip Pullman (young adult, fantasy; 399 pages; tw: violence, kidnapping, animal death, child death, religious bigotry)

The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni #1) by Helene Wecker (adult, historical, fantasy; 486 pages; tw: violence, rape)

The Handmaid's Tale (The Handmaid's Tale #1) by Margaret Atwood (adult, dystopia, feminism; 314 pages; tw: rape, violence, misogyny, sexual violence, death, miscarriage, suicide)

The Host by Stephenie Meyer (adult, scifi, dystopia, romance; 619 pages; tw: death, violence, medical gore, loss of bodily autonomy, grief)

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune (adult, urban fantasy, lgbt+; 394 pages; tw: child abuse, xenophobia, confinement, fatphobia, bullying)

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) by Suzanne Collins (young adult, scifi, dystopia; 374 pages; tw: violence, death, blood, gore, body horror, alcoholism)

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (adult, scifi, dystopia; 274 pages; tw: confinement, police brutality, death, animal death)

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (adult, contemporary, fabulism; 228 pages; tw: suicide, grief, depression)

The Power by Naomi Alderman (adult, dystopia, feminism; 341 pages; tw: rape, violence, sexual assault, torture, murder)

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (young adult, contemporary, romance, lgbt+; 389 pages; tw: death, death of a parent, grief, violence)

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone (adult, scifi, romance, lgbt+; 209 pages; tw: violence, death, gore, murder, body horror)

White Tears by Hari Kunzru (adult, fabulism, mystery; 271 pages; tw: racism, murder, police violence)

#booksocietynet #*event #may and june 2021 event

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creation-help · 3 years ago

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i hope i'm not annoying you or something but i saw you really liked my art of mirrorwave so i guess i'm gonna submit her too,,

okay so! mirrorwave! (CW for lots of military stuff and violence and sad things)

(born Ayna lar Dalgasi, her name is a play on words with the turkish "aynalar dalgası" which literally means "mirrors wave")

known as a resistance fighter during the reign of Queen Amorea and later a royal guard under King Alcohol B. Genesis (yes that's his name dont ask), Ayna is probably one of the most widely known military figures in her home dimension of Cyberverse. A universe that's home to a singular species, the cyber humans, who are known for not really having any kind of a government or any rules or laws except for a king or queen who is usually pretty incompetent and relies on their guards to keep peace in the kingdom. it's much more silly than my main setting, but also has some serious elements baked into it, especially the lore. you'll see what i mean.

Ayna was born in the Tue-Tue region of cyberverse, a tropical zone that's very excluded from all the troubles going on outside. Tue-Tuians are known for their relaxed attitude and their peaceful, positive view on life, which is why it's even more surprising that two of the most powerful fighters and currently the only living royal guards of king genesis are from here. When she was 19, a war broke out between several groups of cyber people, and being a naturally courageous person who's always one to help others no matter what, she decided to do what she saw as right, teaching herself how to fight with various weapons to defend her people. Together with her childhood friend Malachite, born Keith Orlando, she successfully kept the conflicts out of their homeland for a long time,

until she didn't.

it's all very blurred in her memory, of course partly because mystery is cool but also because i'm too lazy to write lots of lore, but the basics is, ayna was kidnapped by an opposing group of fighters wanting to get secret information from her about where they could attack the people from best and things like that. over the course of days, they continuously hurt her more, trying to get her to speak, but failing every time. in the next months, Ayna was held in a sort of basement, chained to the wall, basically worthless to them at this point, so they decided to hurt her even more, intending to kill her rather quickly. but that never happened. as they continued to cut deep wounds into her body, she stayed alive for all of it, however at some point, her face was so badly destroyed that she lost her eyes, and with the limited connection to the outside world, Ayna was practically all alone, not even being able to see anyone who would come into the room she was in. this however turned out to be important because after months of this physical and mental torture, Ayna's companion and friend for life, Malachite, after finding out she was probably still alive, came to rescue her from this place, however; while she was still alive, her wounds were so bad that big parts of her body were completely destroyed, including her arms and legs, aswell as parts of her face like her lower jaw and her eyes. now, this is a scifi-fantasy setting, but even here they dont have some kind of magical healing spells so this still meant she wasn't able to fight or do much at all for a long while. during this time, she was cared for by a polygonian nurse, Diana Karelliova (aka "farewell to the fairground") who she is also married to now but that's a story for another day. Diana herself was once wounded in battle, losing her lower legs, which she replaced with a pair of robotic legs intended for a horse, decorated with shimmering blue crystal which she carved herself for this purpose. Diana's use of these prosthetic legs was the reason why after many months of suffering and robotic horses Ayna got prosthetics of her own, made by the same person who had made the original horse legs. however, they're attached to a sort of exoskeleton, attached to her waist and shoulders for support since not much of her limbs was still intact, unlike in Diana's case. After Ayna finally returned to a somewhat normal life, cyberverse's queen Amorea, who was originally the reason for conflict under the people, was killed, leading to this long period of war and people being horribly mutilated being over, for now. The new king, genesis, was surprisingly satisfying for most. he was a fan of what Ayna and Keith had done for the people, and just up and made them into his personal guards. uhhhh yea

wow that was long. im sorry for completely destroying your askbox with this truckload of information about a fictional war i hope you like it

Very gruesome, Mirrorwave probably has trauma from the torture which would definitely explain the gaps in her memory. Lots of people experience traumatic memory loss which can extend to things even before the event happened, so it makes sense to me. This might not be why she has memory problems but it's a suggestion

Are the humans cyber beyond being able to have cybernetic prostethics? Or are they living in a digital world altogether? The technology seems to be advanced but otherwise I'm not sure what is meant by "cyber humans"

The governmental bodies of this world do sound utterly incompetent so no wonder there's been a big horrible war. I suspect unless they heavily update the systems in their society, they'll likely have lots more war and crime to look forward to, despite the decent king right now

Good on Mirrorwave for making it through all that, much respect to Diana especially for making the prostethics! Of course cybernetic additions would require maintenance I assume so it's a good thing we have their maker on hand lol. I assume her eyes and jaw were also repaired cybernetically? Although they don't look like it as much but that's probably thanks to advanced technology/medical care. I wonder what the glasses are for, tho, if her eyes were destroyed during the torture. Wouldn't fixing them through technology negate the need for glasses altogether?

The character design looks really snazzy! I like the bright colored outfit and bombastic hair, it's definitely suited for a funky scifi adventure but for being something you called "Much more silly" as a setting, it's definitely really grim. I would suggest having it be comedy horror but I wouldn't joke about or make light of stuff like war and mutilation

Ps. the king could introduce himself as Al :] nobody would know lol

#Ask #Oc sharing #Tw torture #Tw war #Malachite is one of my fav gems #:)

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knives-out20 · 3 years ago

Text

Hollywood Anniversary - Cliff Booth X Male!OC

Fandom: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

Pairing: Bobby Brightside (OC) x Cliff Booth

Warnings: Swearing, Faggotry, Cradle robbing,

Notes: Welcome to the Clobby one year anniversary! On this day last year, I released the very first Clobby one shot and boy, oh boy, did I have no idea what type of an investment I was in for. These two changed my life in ways I didn't know they even could, they gave me a different perspective of love than I previously had, and they honestly mean the world to me. I'm so glad I created Bobby Brightside and that in continuing to create more content and lore for him, I've been able to create a different version of myself. Enjoy, everyone!

Bobby snuck on top of Cliff on the couch, waking him up. "Happy anniversary, Cliffy."

Cliff chuckled softly, gazing back up at Bobby with adoring eyes. "Happy anniversary to you, too, Bobby." He returned, happily taking the kiss Bobby gave him. "So what are our plans for today?"

"Ah, we always go out and do things. I thought this year we could coop up at home, just the two of us..." Bobby looked up, at Brandy playing with a chew toy by the stairs. "...And Brandy."

"Sounds good." Cliff nodded.

Bobby brought Cliff's left hand up to his lips, kissing the ring on his finger. "I love you. I'm happy this is here and I'm so much fucking more glad that you're here...with me."

Cliff slowly sat up, Bobby shuffling off of him.

There was a knock at the front door.

Cliff furrowed his eyebrows. "...Are we expecting anyone?"

Bobby could barely contain an excited smile. "Only a chauffeur."

"A chauffeur?" Cliff repeated, standing up after Bobby. "You're insane."

"I'm a liar, and you love me. You're in love with a liar. C'mon, get your shoes on." Bobby walked over to the front door, sliding on a pair of his shoes. He whistled for Brandy, who dropped her toy and padded over.

Cliff shook his head, following Bobby's lead. "Who's the driver?"

Bobby unlocked his door, swinging it open. "Frankie!" He welcomed, enveloping his buddy in a tight hug.

Frankie hugged him back. "Hey, Bobby- um, Cliff- uh, both." He greeted, his newly-washed Plymouth sparkling in Bobby's driveway. Frankie pulled away from the hug first, tipping his hat. "Your chariot a-a-awaits, you two."

Bobby clapped his hands as he giggled, gesturing for Cliff to follow.

Cliff locked the front door behind them, Brandy at his side as they got into Frankie's car.

Frankie started the car, pulling out of the driveway. "H-Happy anniversary, you guys. Uh...from the Buddies, 'n' Ramon, MJ...Bruce, too! And Soup 'n' Dolly...And Diana. Best for last."

"You're so good for her." Bobby cooed, "thanks, by the way."

Cliff slid an arm around Bobby's shoulders, Brandy panting with her head out the window. "Yea, thanks."

Frankie nodded in return, Freddy & The Dreamers playing through the car's speakers.

"So..." Cliff started. "Where exactly are we going?"

"I'm strictly pro-prohibited from telling you- telling you that...Sorry."

Cliff looked at Bobby, who simply grinned. "Alright, no worries. Guess we'll find out."

"That's- That's- That's the plan!"

Bobby leaned his head on Cliff's shoulder, one hand rubbing Brandy's back.

"It's sweet that you thought to bring Brandy along on...this...whatever this is." Cliff giggled.

"Hey, she's part of us." Bobby gestured his free hand between Cliff and himself. "She only deserves to."

Frankie slowed to a stop by a beautiful green field, a prominent tree in the near distance. "Think you can walk the- the walk?"

"To the tree?" Cliff inquired.

"Mhm."

"Uh, yea, no, definitely."

Bobby pushed open the door on his right, letting Brandy out first. He climbed out the car and ran around it to open Cliff's door for him.

Cliff poked the inside of his cheek with his tongue. "Thank you."

Bobby closed the door behind him. "No problem. Thanks, Frankilicious! See you later!"

Frankie nodded and waved, quick to drive off.

Bobby took Cliff's hand in his own, leading Brandy and his beloved over to a tree.

As Cliff and him drew closer to the tree, he could make out more and more things; a picnic blanket and basket, some beer, a record player with a stack of records next to it, and a swing tied to the tree that gave the blanket shade. "Woah..." He breathed, eyes jumping between Bobby, and then the sight, then Bobby, then the sight. "You planned all this?"

"Yup." Bobby replied. "With some help from my Buddies." He sat down on one part of the blanket once they reached it, Cliff doing the same.

Brandy opted for an off-blanket spot on the borderline of the shade and the sunlight.

Bobby cracked open a bottle of beer, instantly offering it to Cliff.

Cliff took it, letting Bobby open a bottle of his own.

"That stack o'er there-" Bobby gestured to the record stack. "Has the Buddies, the Stones, other stuff I like, and a lotta of the stuff you like. Take your pick, mango."

Cliff carefully set down his beer bottle, rifling through the stack. He choose a Paul Revere & The Raiders album, sliding out the vinyl and setting it on the record player. Cliff slowly set the needle down, and the record started to spin.

"Nice choice." Bobby tilted his head, taking a sip from his bottle.

Cliff peaked inside the basket. "This is unbelievable, moonlight."

"Better believe it, sunlight." Bobby raised his eyebrows, watching the reality slowly sink into Cliff. God, he loves Cliff so much- he'd tell the same to anyone who'd listen.

"I love Cliff," Bobby could start off with. "He's my God, he really is. He makes everything I'm fighting for, worth fighting for. Cliff believes in all of it, he's told me from the day he met me. Fighting for him, his love, his attention...It took a lot of work, no fuckin' doubt, but hey, I won him, didn't I? I got him. I got Cliff Booth." He'd smile. "I got the only thing the entire universe that could ever matter to me. What's better than that?"

Bobby drank some more of his beer and Cliff pulled out a sandwich from the basket, starting to chow down on it. "Y'know, Monte 'n' Peep made the sweets that're in there. And Deep 'n' Maria helped me make some spicy-vodka-pasta concoction, it's in some Tupperware in there-"

"'Spicy vodka pasta'?" Cliff repeated, eyes going wide.

"Yea!" Bobby nodded. "I can't wait to dig into it. Sounds scary, right? And yet...I'm goddamn intrigued."

"God, Bobby, this is..." Cliff hung his head, to badly hide his bright smile. "This is amazing, you seriously didn't need to do all this for-"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Bobby cut Cliff off, raising a hand. "Yes, I did. C'mon, quit lying in the bad way." He pouted, scooting closer to Cliff. Bobby took a quick sip of his beer, then diving in to kiss Cliff. When he pulled away, he pat Cliff's cheek.

"I love you."

"Yea, I love you, too."

***

It was nightfall, and Bobby and Cliff were still under the tree on the soft picnic blanket.

Brandy fell asleep under the swing.

Bobby lay on top of Cliff, their lips locked with one of his hands raked into Cliff's blond hair.

Both of Cliff's arms were around Bobby's waist, holding him.

Bobby pulled way, taking a breather to look at Cliff.

Cliff smiled slightly. "Today was nice." He muttered.

"Glad you liked it." Bobby answered, beaming. He glanced over at Brandy, "knocked the hell outta Brandy, though."

Cliff and Bobby giggled. "Yea, runnin' around a pretty field probably tuckered her out." He shrugged, stealing another kiss from Bobby. "Thank you for all this, by the way. It means a lot- I mean, obviously. You mean more, though." Cliff looked straight up, at the moon peaking through the leaves in the tree.

Bobby winked, "I'm flattered, baby."

"Happy anniversary, Bobby." Cliff told, focusing in on Bobby once more.

Bobby refrained from answering, listening to the Stones play on the record player. His smile somehow grew, as he knew for sure he couldn't possibly be happier with anyone other than the blond stuntman he was with, in that moment. "Happy anniversary, Cliff."

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morwensteelsheen · 3 years ago

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WIP wednesday thoughts:

willow cabin is utterly fucked because i changed my intended ~moral~ halfway through and now im stuck trying to integrate this shitty political intrigue plot into what should’ve been a more interesting story about éowyn adapting to life in gondor. hugely fucking annoyed by it and just totally unsure how to proceed. i could significantly increase the chapter count, but im worried that because the initial framing device was this bandits shit that closing out that plot and then still going for ages afterwards would be really shitty? i honestly don’t know, it’s so difficult. really i just need someone to read my outline and tell me if im being a dumb twat about it lol

meanwhile I know exactly where I want to go with AFTA but for some unaccountable reason im stressed that my ass is gonna get roasted for the direction i want to take it in. it’s all based in both tolkien’s personal politics and (some) historical precedent, but im worried people are gonna see it as a marysue-ification? but also im hoping to do sthg of a sequel to afta to practice the political intrigue writing so i don’t make the same mistakes i did in wc, and to do that it would require this specific set up in AFTA. im gonna put my AFTA thing under the cut so don’t click read more unless you’re gucci with potential AFTA spoilers!!

this royal affair au is definitely gonna get published at some point but im trying to decide if i want to do ~tasteful~ smut that drives a longer narrative or if im really just gonna do a whole 3,000 word build up to some run of the mill, old fashioned PWP lmao

okay so i have spent a Lot of time thinking about what impact i think éowyn and faramir would have on each other in a pre-ring war setting, and the honest to god conclusion ive come to is that they would somewhat inadvertently egg on each other’s (wildly divergent) idealism.

faramir’s an idealist politically in ways that, as Big D rightly points out, are not super productive in a wartime scenario. but so far as im concerned, the war doesn’t feel as warlike until they have to blow the bridge at osgiliath. until that point, there’s not really anything to say that faramir’s whole throwback optimism isn’t a perfectly justifiable position to have.

but what that idealism is and how it manifests are two really important considerations. the crux of his idealistic politics is that he looks at númenor and sees something valuable in it, and looks at gondor and sees a lot that he thinks is fucked up. outside of articulating a general angst towards the glory hunting, it’s not like he’s spending time talking about his specific policy prescriptions. however, we do know a few things that can guide us to a more coherent reconstruction of his politics:

he’s pretty rigidly hierarchical (when it’s convenient for him). as seen in: him basically telling sam to fuck off and stay in his lane in WOTW, and in how and when he chooses to refer to his father as ‘father’ vs ‘my lord’ or ‘lord of the city’ in the aftermath of the osgiliath retreat and then before he gets his ass sent back there. i don’t want to go into too much detail here but if i go with this i’ll definitely justify it more thoroughly in the footnotes.

so we’ve got faramir’s emphasis on hierarchy and his occasional (when convenient) belief that the upper echelons of a hierarchy are there because they’re intellectually and/or morally better. or, maybe to remove the causation from that instance, because they are in those upper echelons, they have an obligation to be more morally/intellectually upstanding, and the people in the structure below them have an obligation to show deference. unless you’re faramir and you’re dealing with denethor in which case that all goes out the window. classic.

we know there is some sort of nascent pseudo-democratic tradition of popular sovereignty in gondor. we know this because faramir asks the masses at aragorn’s coronation if they’ll accept him as king. faramir is a lot of things, but he is certainly not a progressive political radical, and i cannot imagine any situation in which he cooked up that rigmarole himself. that then implies to me that it’s building on some sort of political/cultural expectation in gondor. so: some sort of relationship to popular legitimacy. the people of gondor are subjects, but perhaps not as totally passive and unconsidered in the power structure as we might assume given the comparability to feudal europe/asia.

given those two things, i want to use AFTA to argue:

that faramir, in looking to assign blame for the faults he sees in gondor, would not directly assign blame to the lower classes, but rather to the aristocracy, because he will have seen them as failing in their moral obligations to the people they rule over. this is not to say that he isn’t fucked off about The People™ valorising war, but i think he’d take the position that they couldn’t possibly be expected to form those values and opinions of their own volition, and the fault lies in their rules. faramir: not gramscian.

faramir lacks any power that is non-military, and even that is of questionable worth because the rangers seem to be fairly distinct to the general structure of the army, and are not exactly a huge force.

faramir lacking any political power isn’t necessarily a huge concern for him (as in, he’s not actively trying to change that), because he knows he’s not going to lead a moral revolution and isn’t interested in taking up the responsibilities having political capital would engender because he’s stuck dealing with this war, that he fucking hates btw has he mentioned that he hates it?

however, given that he is apparently eminently versed in lore and scholarship, he is probably keenly aware that there is this incipient notion of popular legitimacy somewhere in gondor’s culture. it’s not, for most of his life, knowledge that actually does anything for him, but it is there.

éowyn, meanwhile, doesn’t really have many strong political convictions (yet). not because she’s a dumbass or whatever, but because she looks at court politics as kind of a farce, and doesn’t believe that power legitimately emanates from anywhere that isn’t a Big Fucking Army. and why, strictly speaking, would she not think that? the event that brought about the creation of her kingdom was not careful, soft spoken negotiation, it was her ancestors being in the right place at the right time with a Big Fucking Army.

and the internal politics of the Riddermark actually seem to be fairly stable, all things considered. i sincerely doubt that Théoden or Théodred are having to negotiate complex politicking in the way Denethor and Boromir are. so where, then, would éowyn see that kind of political behaviour outside gondor? with gríma.

éowyn, then, will see the immediate contrast between gríma (backroom dealer, manipulator extraordinaire) and théoden (owner of Big Fucking Army). and gríma goes and fucking wins that fight. that forces éowyn to confront the fact that, jesus christ, maybe there are different types of power.

at the same time, she’s going to be in minas tirith and needing to cover for théoden letting his shit get wrecked. not just because she’s prideful, which of course she is, but because if denethor/gondor think that théoden is too weak to hold up his end of the bargain, why would they ever go help the Mark? éowyn, seeing that théoden’s f-f-fucked, knows that there’s a very very good chance the Mark will need help.

against her feelings about courtly politics, she starts to accept that she’s going to need to do something to get power in gondor. not anything substantial, it’s not like she’s trying to overthrow anybody, but enough that when push comes to shove she can force denethor to help out the Mark (if he doesn’t do so willingly).

but, as ive sort of already shown in AFTA, she’s a bit of a dogshit diplomat. good for a little big-brawny-enforcer stuff, but not exactly brimming with cultural sensitivity. by the time she realises théoden + the Mark are fucked, she’ll have burnt quite a few bridges with the gondorrim nobles, and it’s not like she’s the sort of person to go running cap-in-hand begging for mercy.

so: she has to look elsewhere. and wow! a chance for faramir to do his favourite thing — talk about his opinions! and by god, his weird idealistic politics are… actually kind of helpful? because he’s like, look, you’re never gonna be a diplomat, but there are other ways of consolidating power. and one of those ways is by appealing to The People™. so why not work that angle?

and actually, we know that this is a viable route for éowyn because hama, in arguing for her to take up the mantle of théoden’s heir when théoden and éomer fuck off to helm’s deep, basically says that The People™ love her and would have willingly chosen her to lead them.

we also know, based on faramir’s middle men speech, that the people of gondor and the mark have grown alike in nature. not totally unreasonable to then think that the people of gondor would take to her like the people of the mark did.

éowyn, then, in various ways begins to try to win over the people of minas tirith. i need to do a little more research on this bc what ive got on the practicalities of that so far are a bit, uhhh, sketchy, but the least jargony way to describe this is to point to when natalie dormer’s character in GOT gets out of the carriage to go hug and kiss some babies. (marc bloch, eat your heart out)

this would later segue into a potential sequel where, while trying to secure the way for aragorn’s coronation, éowyn actually plays an interesting role because she’s fallen into this incidental Diana, People’s Princess™ role and so is better positioned than almost anyone to go advocate on his behalf. wow! cool! éowyn getting to be politically useful in more ways than just getting hitched!

so yeah. that’s how i am thinking it might play out. this would obviously have a rolling impact on the remainder of AFTA and how certain (🔥) events pan out later, but i think that building up part has to begin pretty much now, narratively. also this lets me get in a reference to “and then her heart changed, or else at last she understood it” and have it not be almost entirely about wanting to shag faramir, but actually about her gradual evolution from valorising war above all else to being like, hmm, maybe there are other ways of being powerful. which i think still largely captures the “no longer I will vie with the great riders” stuff, but more subtly and without feeling quite so… deferential, I guess? Like it’s not that she’s swapping one form of power (violence) for nothing (gardening?? healing?? tolkien accidental articulation of necropolitics??) but swapping violence for a different type of more sustainable power.

yeah. that’s the take, basically. who fucking knows.

#e writes

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lunewraith · 4 years ago

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𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒂 𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒘𝒚𝒏 .

hi peaches !! ira here, with an intro that’s long overdue -- though i have for you what i hope is a concise and compact breakdown of miss selwyn, whom i’ve taken the liberty to craft from scratch with bases only in the lore and ethos of the nearly - extant selwyn family. i am so super duper honoured and thrilled to be a part of this family and cannot wait to get to know all of you ( and your beautiful muses ) so please leave a like on this post if you’d like to plot and i’ll come forth to plot very shortly !! 𝑻𝑹𝑰𝑮𝑮𝑬𝑹 𝑾𝑨𝑹𝑵𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 : poisoning, attempted murder, anxiety, madness.

⧼ park sooyoung, cisfemale, she / her / bare by wildes + a near parasitic need for catharsis, rivulets of water gleaning off the wing of a jet - black swan, the deadly routine of lovelessness. ⧽ ━━ hey, isn’t that DIANA SELWYN ? i read a daily prophet article on them, once ; the TWENTY - THREE year old [ pure - blood ] WITCH is a [ HOGWARTS alumnus who has gone on to be a SEEKER FOR THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES. ] i’ve heard they can be quite SEDULOUS & SCINTILLATING, but i don’t know … they came off very INSOUCIANT & DELPHIC in that interview. it really is hard to know what to believe these days though, isn’t it ?

𝑷𝑹𝑬𝑳𝑼𝑫𝑬 ... the girl’s nascent years are bled across wars. cassandra selwyn is a starling, a songbird, a divine phantom in the clutches of wayward men, but she is not a mother. diana comes to her as headaches often do -- once afflicted, soon dismissed. what binds her departed flesh to her is not love, but a garish desire to keep her own divinity adrift, never to be snuffed out. she knits her progeny in her own image, and marvels at her ingenuity, her likeness -- until her daughter wades into the throes of girlhood and threads through colours she’s never managed to. jealousy rankles as deep as it cuts, and venom festers where there was once hope for a kindling of kinship. on the eve of diana’s seventh birthday, cassandra selwyn coaxes a slurry of belladonna and aconite into the child’s supper. diana is found, salvaged from a husk of a home, and lives to cross the threshold into another year. her mother would vanish and eschew any efforts to locate her for a decade before she materialises again, in the alcove of a casket, embroidered with pallor and strings of belladonna.

now unmoored, diana astounds and baffles the best of her peers and teachers with her aptitude for flying and alchemy ( though they were often kind enough to prevaricate the notion that her mother had been an exceptional alchemist ) and preens under the swathes of glamour and praise. now oscillating between two realms of understanding and two platitudes of ‘ morality, ’ she’s entreated to unspool, on her own, the ideals of purity and nobility that her mother had managed to indoctrinate in her and what she’s inculcated on her own, standing on her own two feet.

𝑻𝑳𝑫𝑹 : she was raised in the image of a starlet mother who, upon realising that her own daughter had grown more precocious and promising than she had at that age, took it upon herself to poison her own blood. the attempt failed and her mother fled, leaving her in the care of a foster family who never could get through to diana. now, as the newly inducted seeker of the holyhead harpies, she’s grappling with the symptoms of disillusionment and anxiety that her mother had displayed, and has to stand stalwart against the decision which has to be made in the eminent war.

𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺 ... everything and anything under the sun would be dearly appreciated and cherished !! i’ll whip up a connections page fairly soon ensuing this, but for now, i’d love for her a fair few friends, acquaintances, arch - nemeses, frenemies, flings, will - they - won’t - they’s, companions, and those who empathise with her position in the limbo between ‘ light ’ and ‘ dark. ’

#nox.intro #this is so super late im so sorry ;;;#but ily all i am so excited to meet everyone aaah

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thesaltoforion · 5 years ago

Text

Biding

[Written for @onetrickdiana after I got an interesting idea regarding Diana’s lore]

[Part 1]

A bell jingled as the door to Conner’s Carpet Conundrums swung open.

"You're the last one to show up." Conner Rennoc tutted from the counter.

"I don't want to hear it." Diana snapped. She stalked around the racks of thick, hanging rugs. She brushed the snow from her tiny black hat as she reached the counter.

"I smell like garlic and the damn weather is out to get me." She muttered and pinned the decorative hat back. The mesh vale covered her face and blurred her features. "The only good thing that came out of today was that I had to act like a fresh widow. Everyone was so polite in the streets."

“I’m sorry to hear about it. Your dagger, please.”

“Of course.” She dug an ornate dagger from her black skirts. The handle had delicate engravings of ancient characters. Gold plated the handle and the hilt, indicative of her status within the club. The thin, sterling silver blade had the serial code D352. Every member of the Order of the Exalted Lion had a dagger similar to Diana's. Every dagger had a code, unique to the member. The symbols warded away magic and monsters so that they couldn't be stolen. Each member had to present their dagger before they could enter club meetings. Conner showed her his own dagger. The handle was made of copper and the blade had the serial number C368.

"Still at gold, are we?" Conner commented as he opened the back door.

Diana hid the weapon again, “Sometimes the promotions don’t happen as fast as we’d like.”

"Amen to that. Say hello to the lads for me.”

“You’ll get your chance soon enough." She swished past him and into the back room. Her dark boots tapped down the wooden stairs. She hauled open the large, wooden door. The scent of burning pine embraced her. She padded along the thick rugs that sprawled across the cement floor.

"Diana, what a surprise. We thought the storm took you." A slim man greeted in a Scottish lilt. He sat at the head of a large table. His chiseled Grey beard contrasted his blue eyes neatly. A lavender ascot tied around his neck. Diana thought it looked smart against his silver waistcoat.

"Please pardon my tardy appearance, Master Mordex. The weather outside is horrid." Diana hung her overcoat on the rack and took her seat at the large table. On her left sat Horton Timis. He was a burly man with a sharp mustache. He lost three fingers in a fight against a warlock. He thought it was a fair price for victory. To her right sat Richard Lormuex. Everyone called him Tickety. Lormuex was a balding Frenchman. His eyes darted apprehensively between the members of the table. Occasionally, he wrung his hands and wet his lips.

Mordex smiled, "It's good to see that you made it safely. I'll be expecting your task report next week. I take it your mission went well?"

"One of my best yet." She grinned.

"Good. Anything else to report?”

“Conner says hello.”

“We’ll return the favour on our way out, tonight. Let's move on, now that we're all present. We'll skip the Oath today since we started late."

"With all due respect, Master Mordex,” Lormuex quipped, “but the Oath is a sacred practice – we can’t just skip it because her highness Diana waltzed in on behalf of the horrid weather.” He braced his hands on the table, “After all, the rest of the Quarter managed to make it on time. I don’t understand why you’re always so soft on – ahk!”

Diana spiked her dagger between his bony fingers. It stood, lodged in the table. "I have been around vampires all day, Richard. I have worn these stupid, disabling skirts all day. I reek of garlic, my boots are killing my feet and the weather outside is, frankly, unbearable. I had to bury a vampire in a blizzard, for God’s sake!" She wrenched the blade from the table and concealed back in her skirts. "What did you do today?"

Lormuex sank into his chair.

"That's what I thought. Shut up and stop wasting time."

The Quartermaster cleared his throat, amused, "Mr. Lormuex please stick around after tonight's meeting. Now, let us discuss the plans for the raid this weekend." He reached under the table and produced a stack of papers. "The scribes worked hard on these mission packages. They're expecting a generous thanks. A box will be passed around at the end of today's meeting for your contributions."

Each package was tied together with garden twine.

"Right," he began, once the pages circled back to him, "I've decided to give the position of mission leader to Diana."

"Uh, M-Master Mordex," Lormuex said, "How come it says my name then, in the package - under mission leader?"

Diana glared at him.

"I'm not an unreasonable man. But, sometimes, I just sort of… change my mind. Business owners tend to get used to such a luxury." Mordex winked at Diana. She smirked.

They discussed the plan for Saturday and everybody dropped a few pounds in the contribution box for the scribes.

Diana braved the storm as she headed back to her townhouse. The sad, little structure looked like it might blow over in the wind. She turned on the radiators and the cast-iron stove. She washed away the garlic and the grime of the day shoved her frozen toes into a pair of slippers. Quickly, she shimmied out of her gown and dawned some flannel pajamas. She studied herself in the bathroom mirror. Scowling at the sight of her unruly black hair, she dug out a pair of scissors from under the sink. She hadn't cut it in months and the locks started to stray past her chin. Carefully, she cut it just below her earlobes. Satisfied, she closed the lights and crawled into bed. She wedged her dagger between the headboard and the side of the mattress.

Diana fell fast into unconsciousness.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Sunlight scattered across Diana's eyelids. She cracked them open and gazed at the fluttering, sheer curtains. A warm breeze floated through the room. She frowned at the floral wallpaper and bolted upright. Automatically, she grabbed her dagger from beneath her pillow. The satin sheets rubbed nicely at her bare skin. The room she gazed upon looked roomier than her bedroom. A Persian rug decorated the hardwood floor. She’s never been able to afford such a luxury. She sat in a canopied, four poster bed. She noted the rocking chair in the corner. Her hunting gear rested on the upholstered seat and her satchel hung from the chair’s back.

Diana’s toes curled into the carpet as she approached the chair. She paused by the large mirror on the wardrobe. It showed her an odd mark on her shoulder. She was hit by a magic spell. As she assembled her armour, Diana tried to recall how she ended up naked in a strange bed. She searched her satchel for clues and found some folded papers. She unfurled the pages and skimmed the neat text.

She was supposed to be an extermination mission. She had no idea where the rest of her team went. She hoped they didn’t get captured with her. She grabbed her weapons from the wardrobe and set off.

She stepped into a corridor. There was a banister on one side and closed doors on the other. If she leaned against the banister, she could look across and see the other side of the floor. The hall ran in a circular shape. If she looked down, she could see all the way to the main hall downstairs. An elaborate chandelier hung from the ceiling and descended down, just past the top floor. She crept down the stairs, her hand trailing over the fat railing. Through the expanse of marble floors and elegant statues, Diana’s shoes clipped against the tiles. Eventually, she made it to the foyer where she slinked out through the double doors.

Warm sun hit her face and fields of green stretched as far as she could see. Wildflowers of all sizes and colors poked out from the grass. A cobblestone path snaked out from the patio in front of the doors. She spotted a farm on a hill and made out vaguely human shapes in the distance. Someone approached her from the stone path. He had long, silver hair pulled into a half bun. The soft features on his face offset a sharp jaw and jagged nose. Diana didn't miss the way his ears ended in points. A large set of transparent wings extended from his back and cast colourful shadows on the ground.

Diana shot a loaded arrow at him. She watched it slow down and halt in front of the fairy. He side stepped the frozen arrow like it was an inconvenience.

"We see the Lady has awoken. Sorry nobody was around to greet you. Some of your friends are trying to get through the defenses." he gave a deep bow, "Our name is Sunflower. Welcome to Our manor. "

“How did I get here?" Diana demanded.

"You gave yourself up - willingly, We might add."

"I'd never do such a thing."

"Mn, on the contrary, that's exactly what you did. You stepped through the fairy ring. Metaphorically, you signed Our contract - you belong to Us now."

"Damn it. How? I don't remember anything!"

"A side effect. You won't remember anything from the past ninety-six hours. That's just how the magic works. Sorry!"

"What kind of idiot leaves their captor completely alone - and doesn't bother to take her weapons away?" Diana complained, slinging her bow across her back.

"You saw what happened to your arrow."

"How do I leave?"

"So soon? We must insist you stay for dinner." He fluttered his eyelashes, playfully.

"Stop playing games, Sunflower."

"You can't leave." He scowled as his wings flexed straighter.

"Yes, I can! There's always a way with you lot. A deal or something?"

Sunflower smiled, and his teeth flashed against the sun. "You've done your research. We’re not impressed, per say, but We can make you a deal. Give Us your most valued possession and We will set you free."

"Most of my valuables are in my house. How do you expect me to -"

"Nonsense, Diana. Your most valuable possession is right here, with you. Until you can cough it up, We suggest you make yourself at home. Dinner starts when the sun sets. The wardrobe in your bedroom will give you any outfit you desire. Wear something nice this evening - you'll be meeting the rest of the family. "

"Wonderful. Anything else?"

"Ah…. Yes. Every night, before you turn in, We'll be at your door, expecting a payment. If you don't have anything to satisfy the agreement, We will leave and you can try again the next night."

"Fine. I'll see you at dinner."

"Excellent! We'll be off." Sunflower started in the same direction he came from. Diana watched his form slip beyond the hill. She decided to head westward. The manor soon disappeared behind a thicket of trees. She crossed a small stream and ended up in a cleaning. It took longer than she'd like but Diana ended up at the edge of the property. A row of mushrooms marked the end of the fairy ring. She pulled the papers from her pocket and read them. Master Mordex always made sure to be explicit and meticulous in his plans.

We are looking for a ring of mushrooms. The largest diameter it can be is approximately 5 meters. The smallest is 2 meters. Do not be fooled - this small ring of fungi holds powerful magic many of us can't fathom to understand. Under no circumstances are you to set foot in this circle.

So it’s a transporter of sorts? Diana wondered, pocketing the papers. Well, She reasoned as she backed up from the boarder, if things can come in… she loaded an arrow, it should stand to reason… that things can go out. The arrow snapped free and soared.

Once, during a goblin raid, Diana took out five goblins before something knocked her out from behind. When she woke up, the dust had settled, and the goblins were done for. She found the rest of the team as they counted up the bodies. One of the members tried to claim Diana's kills as his own. Diana had no way to prove that the arrows sticking out of the dead creatures were hers. Master Mordex seemed to be on her side but it was hard to quell the controversy amongst the other men. Since then, Diana died the feathers of her arrows a custom shade of blue – so as to leave out any room for potential confusion in the future.

She watched the arrow race to the boundary. It collided solidly against the air and exploded in a shower of sparks.

"So much for that." She grumbled, putting the weapon away. “They did say the barrier was magical.” Diana rubbed at her face and dug through the contents of her satchel. From the depths of the bag, she retrieved several packages of salt and other herbs. She removed led and silver bullets, her wallet and an Azul eye amulet. The leather cord dangled down from her hand. The gleaming blue eye winked against the sunlight. To ward away evil curses and the common jinx. She remembered. It seemed anti-magical enough.

With a grunt, she hurled the amulet at the barrier. The leather cord streamed after the blue eye like a tail. It hit the wall with a thunk and plummeted to the ground. Diana retrieved the amulet and sighed at the crack that ran down the center. She put it alongside the herbs and the wallet and the bullets. Once more, she dove into the depths of her bag. Her fingers curled around the cold hand of her dagger. She liked the way the engraved handle scratched the surface of her palm. It gleamed in the canopied sun and Diana took another look at the invisible barrier.

“Dearest brethren of the Quarter, please forgive my actions.” She swallowed. She chucked the knife as hard as she could at the barrier. The engravings lit up a bright, scarlet red as it sank beyond the barrier and out of sight. She stared after it.

A breeze picked up around her and the river bubbled distantly. She headed back through the forest and formulated a new plan. The Quarter could take all the time they needed.

She had some fairies to exterminate, after all.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Quartermaster Octavius Mordex owned a very successful scribing business. Anyone would describe him as quiet and just a little bit terrifying. Very few people could actually describe a time where the Quartermaster displayed a fit of anger.

Richard Lormuex was a balding, timid man of French descent. Most wondered why he bothered to join the monster hunters - considering his constant state of apprehension. Hardly anybody calls him by his real name. After several months of service, he earned the nick-name Rickety-Tickety. Sometimes his worries get the best of him and things around him, including Richard himself, seem to reach their last tick.

"Richard Lormuex!" Mordex bellowed. The frosty wind whipped his black coat wayward. The other hunting members watched silently as Mordex allowed his quaint demeanor to slip away into something feral.

"I hereby order you to relinquish your status from the Order of the Exalted Lion." Mordex took large strides into Lormuex 's personal space. “Please,” He swallowed, “hand over your dagger.”

The balding man trembled, "Don't I at least get a trial?"

"You could have killed one of our finest warriors." Mordex growled. He addressed the rest of the Order, "All those in favor of Richard Lormuex 's exile from the monster hunting society, say 'aye'!"

"Aye." Barked the men. Their agreement shook the forest to its core.

Lormuex looked on in betrayal. "But, Master Mordex, please, you can't do this. Not when I'm so close to -"

"Your dagger, now Mr. Lormuex." He murmured quietly, "we don't have all day."

Lormuex placed his silver dagger in Mordex's upturned glove.

"Dismissed. We thank you for your service." Mordex whispered a prayer at the base of the dagger. His eyes fluttered closed as he held it against his mouth.

"Thank you for your service." The team repeated.

Lormuex took one last look and fled the forest.

Mordex sighed and stored the dagger in his jacket. "We should head back to the town. From there, we’ll regroup and plan a rescue mission.”

“What – and just leave her in there?” Horton scoffed, “They could be doing a whole manor of things to her. Besides, what’s in the village that we don’t have right here?”

“There are more men in town. We’ll be ambushed if we decide to attack now. Diana is fine, trust me.

“Actually,” Charlie said, “If it’s lads you need, I can just ride into town while you lot come up with a plan. I’ll’ve returned with the other Order members by the time you’re ready.

“There’s a lad, Charlie!” Horton goaded. The other members murmured in agreement.

“What will it be, Quartermaster?” Horton asked.

Mordex sighed, “Fine. Charlie retrieves more resources. Dunkin, you’re in charge of setting up camp – tents, firewood, you know what to do. Jackson and Lard will help me create a new plan. We regroup in two hours. We don’t have time to waste!”

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

Diana stood in her borrowed room and paced in her under-armour.

"I want something sleek but classy." She listed at the wardrobe, " I want to feel confident and look unsuspecting. And I need somewhere clever to hide my guns and bullets. Hopefully, that isn’t too complicated for you.”

The wardrobe thumped twice.

Diana opened the oak doors and inspected the gown inside. The three-quarter sleeves were made of dark green lace. The lace came up to the base of the neck and covered the shoulders and clavicle. It stopped at a red, satin, V-shaped neckline. The satin parted high at the waist as it draped into a modest skirt. White pleats ran down the center of the skirt. Green stitching hemmed the bottom of each pleat. Dizzying green and gold swirls embroidered the red satin. She frowned at the corset tie in the back.

"I'll need help with that. " She noted and rang the service bell by the bed. In her home, back in London, Diana had a wooden machine that tightened her dresses with a crank – no help required. Someone knocked on the door immediately. Diana let them in.

A lady with fine lines around her eyes stepped in. Her hair streaked Grey in some places and she stood much shorter than Diana.

"I understand you need help, miss?" Her eyes darted wryly around the room and back at Diana.

"Yes, I can’t tie the dress on my own… have we met before?" Diana recognized her bulging eyes and the apprehensive twist of her thin lips.

"Oh, certainly not. I'd remember a lady like you."

"You aren't a fairy." Diana noted as she slipped into the dress.

"Ah, no, miss. I'm like you, I suppose. I got trapped -" She grunted as she tugged on the lace, "- in a stupid ring of mushrooms. There you go, all tied up and pretty.

"Thank you."

"Give us a twirl, yeah?"

Diana spun half-heartedly.

"Oh, you're stunning. What's your name, love?"

"Diana… Flintlock." Diana shook the lady's clammy hands.

"Pleasure to meet ya. I'm Michelle Lormuex. We can be friends, if you'd like. It can't hurt to have a friend in a place like this."

Diana nearly stuttered, "You don't happen to have a brother, do you?"

"I do! You've met little Richey?"

"Yep." She sighed.

"Oh,” her face fell, “he's upset you, hasn't he. Tell me - what's he done this time?"

"That's the problem: I lost my memory of the past few days. I don't know what it is but whenever I think of your brother… I get the strongest feeling of discontent. "

"Well, I'm sorry for whatever he's done. Mom tried her best and I looked out for him when she couldn't but he's always so terribly nervous - sometimes he just… well,"

"Snaps?"

"Occasionally, yeah. He’s incredibly bright, I tell you. He went away to America for engineering!"

"Mm. Will I see you at dinner?”

“Of course! Oh – I should probably get ready! I’ll see you in a few.” She bustled out and closed the door.

Diana turned back to the wardrobe and inspected the accessories that were left on the shelf. She found two lacey garters, leather boots and a beaded purse. Upon closer inspection, the dark red garters had pouches stitched to the side.

“It’s like a holster made of lace and satin.” She murmured. She slipped them on under the gown, all the way up her thighs. She wrestled with the belts until they clung gently to her skin. “Don’t get me wrong,” she said to her reflection, “the dress is stunning, and the garters are very clever things but I don’t understand how to access my guns. I mean, I can – I’ve managed dresses before. But I figured you’d have an easier solution..?”

The mirror on the wardrobe decided to do something very odd. In that moment, Diana’s reflection slid its hands down the sides of the dress. Its hands disappeared inside the thick inlays of satin gown and retrieved the guns. The refection winked as it twirled the guns. Diana looked down at her waist and felt around the soft skirt. Her fingers slipped between two slits and she laughed.

“Oh you are gorgeous – pockets! Who could’ve thought?” She shoved her hands deeper and felt a metallic zipper at the bottom of the pockets. Curious, she tugged open the zippers and dug deeper through the skirts. She went all the way until she could feel the holsters around her legs. “I could get used to a wardrobe like you. Perhaps I’ll take you home with me.” She loaded bullets into the barrels of her guns and slipped them into the garters.

Next, she inspected the boots. Golden buckles complimented the emerald-green leather. A short heal jutted out of the bottom. She noticed golden zippers along the sides of the boots and stored extra bullets in the small pouches. Each boot held five bullets.

Finally, she grabbed the purse. It had red and gold beading held together by a golden clasp. She filled it with bullets and packets of salt.

Diana took a few minutes to pin a golden rose buckle in the side of her short hair. Then, smeared on some lipstick, spritzed a bit of perfume and went down for dinner.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

The remaining members of the Order sat around a fire, surrounded by newly pitched tents.

“We’re going to need everyone’s warding herbs – every last speck.” The Quartermaster explained, “We have to establish a bridge between here and whatever lies beyond that ring. I need to cross over, find the hostage and return safely. Now, the other thing is…” Mordex frowned, “What was that?”

The small ring of mushrooms rustled. They sounded like tiny bells as their caps knocked against themselves. The Order leaned closer to get a better look. Something sharp and shiny whizzed past their heads. Silver and gold gleamed under the bleak, winter sky. It landed a few meters away from their camp.

“I’ve got it.” Horton said. He lumbered into the thickets and returned a moment later with a blade in his hand. Everyone in the Order recognized the shape and design of the dagger. They had to – after all, each had a similar weapon concealed in their coats.

Mordex took the dagger. It felt warm, even through his gloved hands. “D352 – isn’t that something…”

“That’s Diana’s number.” Horton noted.

“Aye.”

“She … threw away her dagger? That’s not right.”

“No. I don’t blame her – given the circumstances. The enchantments on the daggers make them impervious to magic. It’s her way of letting us know she’s safe – and she intends on a swift return.”

“That certainly sounds like the Diana we know. I hope Charlie returns soon.”

“He’ll get here, eventually. Now, let’s start with the warding herbs and then we can complete the second part of our rescue mission.”

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

The magnificent dining room was everything one would expect out of a lord’s mansion. The staff had set the grand table in pristine cloth, porcelain plates and crystal glasses for a whole slew of beverages.

“Please, find your place cards and get comfortable.” Sunflower gestured from the head of the table.

Diana found her place next to Sunflower.

“Huntress.” She murmured, reading her card. The script was gold and paper reflected iridescently under the chandelier. “It’s fitting, I suppose.” She set it back down and admired the many utensils that lay beside her plate.

“We knew you’d like it! You’re the biggest name in the Underground, you know. Well, besides Octavius Mordex – but he’s the Quartermaster of an organization bent on killing otherworldly creatures.”

“And yet, you’ve invited me to dinner?”

“Of course, We did! You are a guest in Our home.” He looked scandalized.

“Is Michelle a guest too? Or did you decide to turn her into a house maid?”

“Usually my staff answer the service bell, but Michelle insisted to visit you first – she wanted to make sure you settled in. The nerve that you even asked Us such a thing! Honestly, Our dear.” Sunflower shook their head, “Michelle is free to do what she pleases. Oh, look, there she comes.”

“Hello, Sunflower.” Michelle took the empty seat next to Diana, “I like what you did with those roses – they match your complexion.” She gestured at the woven crown in Sunflower’s hair.

“Why, thank you, Michelle.” He cleared their throat, “Thank you all for joining Us today. I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of Our household – Diana the huntress. Do be careful, Our dears, she bites. If you’ll turn your place cards over, you’ll find tonight’s menu on the back. Cheers, loves.”

The footmen filed through the huge doors and started serving the first course. Diana recognized some of roots and berries, and the spices had a familiar zing to them. The leaves looked a little strange, but they tasted like arugula and spinach. Around her, the fairies spoke to each other in different tongues. She only understood Sunflower – who seemed to be the only fairy at the table who spoke in English – and Michelle. Diana conversed automatically when it seemed appropriate and paid no attention to the subject matter.

The second course was served. The squash soup felt creamy upon her tongue. Diana counted twelve elves at the table and five waitstaff. She tried to estimate how many maids were in the scullery, how many chefs were in the kitchen and how many groundskeepers were out in the fields.

The staff served the third course. On the plate sat a sweet potato pate, garnished with chestnuts and parsley. Diana estimated that about thirty fairies lived on this property. She knew they outnumbered her.

Course number four was a thick slice of bear. The meat felt softer than beef but it tasted sweeter, somehow. If she took out Sunflower first, the estate would go into chaos. Diana chewed sternly and slipped a hand beneath the table. Concealed by the table cloth, she pulled a gun from her thick skirts.

“Diana, Our dear,” Sunflower said, “We’re assuming you’ve never tried bear before.”

“It’s not very common, where I’m from. But I could get used to it.” She smiled easily.

Diana took several more bites. On the seventh bite, she revealed her gun and opened fire. Michelle shrieked and ducked under the table. Her bullets disappeared as soon as they blasted from her gun. The fairies seemed mildly disappointed, their lips turned downward. Sunflower gasped, clutched at his shoulder and screwed his eyes shut.

“Oh for the love of everything that is celestial and eternal – We’ve been shot! Oh how will We ever cope with the pain, the agony, the suffering.” He whined, “Oh great mistress Diana, huntress of divine beasts – how could you do this to Us?” His mouth twisted into an unsettling smile. Slowly, he rose from his seat and his mighty wings fanned out behind him. They cast the whole room in scattered pieces of coloured light. “While We think your production was enticing in every aspect, the rest of the dinner party does not share Our opinion. You may stay, Diana, and finish dinner with us. We’re afraid you’ve ruined the mood. Unfortunately, food is not a commodity to waste. All of your weapons and armour shall be confiscated this evening. We will give them back when you leave.”

Diana fell back in her chair and scowled. Michelle – pale-faced and trembling – crawled back out from under the table and brushed herself off.

#brawlhalla #diana #mordex #fairies #monsters #magic #i think i got carried away #i might make this huge part into smaller chunks bc it's so long idk

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llcarchive · 3 years ago

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LLC Changelog

v1.2.5 (12.12.21.)

Removed "The Spirit of Copperwood Glade" (st), belongs in Coven AU

Added "The Face in Her Stars" (st), "Feast of the Prophet" (st), "Dead of Winter" (st)

v1.2.4 (06.11.21.)

Added Vex (ch), "The Meaning in Misery" (st), "Testimony of the Balladeer" (st), "Fragile Legacies" (st), "THE DISSONANT VERSES" (st)

Removed obsolete entries from TOC

v1.2.3 (11.08.21.)

Added "In Search of Things Lost" (st), "The Spirit of Copperwood Glade" (st)

v1.2.2 (11.07.21.)

Added Akshan (ch) (oof missed it yesterday)

v1.2.1 (10.07.21.)

Dr. Mundo bio rework, added Viego references in some entries

Added "Mundos Medikul Jernel" (st), "Rise with Me" (st), "In Sight of Land" (st), "The Despoiler of Havenfall" (st)

v1.2.0 (22.05.21.)

"Perennial" (st) isn't AU, deleted mark

"The Lure" (st), "Trial of the Masks" (st), "The Man With the Grinning Shadow" (st), "With Hell Before Them" (st), "Ambition's Embrace" (st), "Of Rats and Cats and Neon Mice" (st), "Out of Time" (st) have been moved to AU ebook (external link)

Added missing hotlinks for Diana's related champions list

v1.1.2 (30.04.21.)

added "The Stranger Who Sews" (st), "To Herd A Cat" (st)

added a note and edited some metadata

created a zip file for all full-sized header images, you can find it here (Google Drive, 363Mb). Some images are reused in stories, so I haven't omitted anything despite some story names being left out.

v1.1.1 (03.04.21.)

added Gwen (ch), "Finishing Soates" (st)

cross-referencing is such a pain...

(development ramblings changelog under cut)

2021.02.14. loluni1.0.0.

My own little encyclopedia of sorts. so whats the default alignment

The styles are shit...

I could add a glossary at the back for authors. and regions... maybe...

created first file. Added regions, champions, story sections. added templates. champions A-C

I should change the name of the project.... sometime

2021.02.15. loluni1.0.1.

hmm added champions and stories

~Kled

2021.02.16. llc1.0.2.

I will change the name..

lol lore collection - LLC... 무슨 회사같네.. 시벌

~Seraphine

2021.02.17. llc1.0.3.

~Zyra. All champs! finally hexkasd

2021.02.18. llc1.0.4.

Some short stories missing. This version for TOC file.

2021.02.18. llc1.0.5.

Cleaned TOC file.

todo: all stories, regions, notes

I will: add short stories not on official site to champion's main pages, and add related champions not listed on official site to short stories at the ends (for both check fandom.wiki), and add Senna on Lucian's main related champions page. Didn't differentiate between starring and mentioned.

2021.02.19. llc1.0.6.

continuing where i left off (Ezreal~)

v2.0.0 (09.02.22.)

Feature Updates

Added index at the end of the book — browse by author.

Added authors to previously empty stories. Referenced from corresponding pages in the fandom wiki.

Fixed non-fatal formatting, file should upload successfully to Google Play Books now

Moved cover to the beginning of the book.

Deleted TOC page. (Internal table of contents will still show up in ebook readers)

Content Updates

Added Zeri (ch), Renata Glasc (ch), “The Faceless God” (st), “Hollowspun” (st), “In Battle, Broken” (st), “The Unexpected Spark” (st)

Added splash for “Dead of Winter”.

Updated Caitlyn’s bio.

Updated regions.

Updated some cross-references between stories and champions.

Changed splash for “A Quick Fix”, “Deep Breath”, “Do No Harm”, “Ensemble”, “Fieram”, “Interrogation 101”, “Lullaby”.

Removed obsolete entry “Trial of the Masks” from toc.

Removed obsolete reference “The Spirit of Copperwood Glade” from Nocturne’s champion page.

#LLC changelog #lol lore collection

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icathiaism · 7 years ago

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Is it my idea or the Void is in the depths of the sea according to the new Nami comic? The supposed chosen tidecaller had three eyes?

Much does point to this in the new comic actually and I’ve always thought that it was. I just find poetic irony to escape from the void once only to find another weakness in the world. Under the cut I’m going to analyse each of the panels where stuff appears, but tl:dr yes I think it is void.

WARNING: VERY LONG!

So our first mention of what lies deep in the ocean ( besides the fish ) comes in the story of the tidecallers. Nami’s mother tells her that before her birth “… the Marai were plagued by attacks from monstrous creatures in the deeps.”

These creatures are illustrated as immense serpentine beings, creatures with rigid bodies and multitudes of limbs. Such traits have all been seen within Void creatures and some even resembling a few known species. Coupled with this Riot has depicted them in purple. Riot has often given colour schemes to different sects to give them instant recognisability. For instance, noxus often being red, green and black and demacia being white, gold and blue. This is not untrue from the Voidborn with most being depicted in purples, blues and other dark colours.

The Void is also a plane without light and a place where its denisens are not used to it. Cho’Gath remarks that the sun’s light actually burns him and we also know that Vel’Koz misses the Void’s darkness ( possibly out of home-sickness, if they can experience that, or out of discomfort ) from in-game quotes. And, in conjunction with this, the monsters retreating when flooded with the light from the moonstone and again from Nami later in the comic ( panels I can’t include for post size reasons ) further supports the case of them being Void.

Further evidence comes from the Lunari. It is already well ingrained that Targon knows of and actively fights against the Void. Pantheon commands Aurelion Sol to close Void rifts, Taric now stands ever vigilant against the insidious corruption of the Void, and Diana hunts them to cleanse the night and seal their way to do the ‘night’s work’. So it is not a stretch of the imagination that a Lunari ( and assumingly previous aspect of the moon ) would help the Marai against the Void. ( also Leona may know which is something she may want to talk to Diana about but that is up for speculation. )

The next instance of evidence comes with her meeting with the seaweed monster.

The creature Nami faces appears to be a clump of sea-weed surrounding a glowing core. Its weed acts like tentacle-like appendages which grab and constrict around Nami until she is able to slice her way free and distract it long enough with her light. This creature falls under one of two categories - a being born in the Void or something created by its influence - but I am leaning towards the latter.

In Riot’s description of the Void, it states:

In places where the mystical barriers between Runeterra and the Void have been worn thin, the air feels charged, and fantastical occurrences are the norm. Rivers run with vibrant colors, flowers bloom with incredible perfumes, and living beings experience psychedelic visions and surges in magical power. For a time, such places are wondrous and brimming with miracles, but soon the landscape is twisted into new and deadly forms, and if the Void is able to consume enough biomass to survive, it can grow and evolve into something ferocious and terrifying.

I believe this is what has happened to the creatures of the deep such as this sea-weed monster. An example of this seen in-game with the skuttle-bug and the rift-herald as a result of latent energies left by Baron Nashor. And, I think this given its appearance. It is quite obviously sea-weed evident that is looks like a clump of kelp and with how easy Nami was about to slash it. Further more, the creature did not bleed when it was slashed meaning it lacked any circulatory system or blood / blood-like components, nor did is recoil from being cut which suggesting it lacked nerves which plants do not have. ( plants do however recognise they have been injured just through different channels and often fight back with chemical warfare rather than reaction. )

Furthermore, I think this based on assumptions of Void-born hunting styles. Creatures born of the Void are born in darkness and often do not rely on sight. The Xer’Sai feel where their prey are through the ground, there have been various mentions of them sensing prey through magic or some other means, hearing and smell but never have they been hindered by lack of light. Also, their need to consume and their hunger for blood and flesh has usually always taken precedent over their own lives or motives. Which makes me think it is not born of the Void rather it is made of native biomass and kept some of the mannerisms from the hunters in the area. Another part of the comic ( which I am unable to show you as Tumblr is finding this post too big to save ) has it using similar hunting methods to the previous lantern fish which supports this.

( also, the next part supports this for obvious reasons )

While I have been posting all panels then talking about them, this next part will be too long and so I will talk about each idea as it comes up.

Besides the obvious portal in the ground, the warped scenery and insidious purple glow, This line - “I’ve never seen anything so BEAUTIFUL.” - is another thing that drives this down that this is the Void. This line pairs perfectly with how Riot describes the Void’s effect on the world and people. The world about the tear is beautiful, tantalising and alluring to those that see it. It warps how people view it and it digs into the viewer’s mind and corrupts it.

Also, something to note, the portal seems to be leading onto the image of the Void we received with the universe hub with the massive skeleton to the bottom left. This is just speculation but I do think it’s cool.

Here it is implied that Nami was in a sought of trance until she comes to her senses about the true nature of what she is looking at. Her own pain allows her to free herself from the Void’s grasp, something which is evidently quite fast acting in how quickly it enthralled her. Another thing which enforces that this is the Void to me is the use of words such as death and nightmare. The Void is often compared to nightmares through the lores of many Void-affiliated champions from Malzahar having nightmares of the Void forced upon him to others having it referenced to as a nightmare or nightmarish place in their lore.

The use of death, or rather that the Void is NOT DEATH but a nightmare, leads itself to the idea that death would be better than a fate by the Void since some quotes and flavour stories suggest that the Void collects / feeds on souls - a quote from Cho’Gath even suggesting that those afflicted will suffer eternally / there will be no end to it. This is also interesting as the way a Void-born ( and Void-touched ) dies is also different to the beings of this world, with Aurelion Sol even claiming the Void-born don’t understand how this universe works, and their bodies rapidly disintegrating or decomposing with their deaths. I’ll touch on this again soon.

I really, really enjoy the addition of this new character ( and would love to have someone write for him ). So, if you were still with doubts that this is indeed the Void his existence and what he says should blow those completely out of the water.

Firstly, his design largely mirrors that of the two canon Void-touched humanoids we have. Like Kassadin he has extreme bodily changes from his fins degrading to either spikes or nothing at all, his body mass deteriorated to look sickly and starved ( I am assuming that he did not look like this two weeks ago based on that he was the chosen strongest Marai ), his scale colour has changed from his natural yellows, blues and greens and his eyes have gone glassy and purple. Not to mention the very Malzahar-like trait of the third eye which glows with purple energy. I am also basing my assumption that he did not look like this prior as a result of Nami asking “unscathed, huh?” at his claim so suggesting he is very scathed.

Secondly, his choice of words are very similar to how other characters talk about the Void. He refers to what’s beyond the portal as the Beyond. The word is often used to describe the Void, calling it ‘what lies beyond’ or the Unkown or the Outside. Furthermore, he mentions SEEING beyond, something which almost drove Kassdain to become a mindless beast, was used to torture and break Malzahar through his visions and is said to be able to cause madness and immense fear at just a glimpse. His speaking of the truth and not having fear is very similar to Malzahar whom has forsook all human emotion and claims what he sees as true.

( Also, Rasho’s continued use of calling it death implies he is still under the control which Nami was able to break from when she thought it was death - something very cool. )

Finally, he mentions having great power. This is probably well like what Kassadin experienced where the Void’s energies have given him other-worldly strength, something canon to all Void-touched and described in the Void’s blurb on the Universe Hub.

Now, coming back to how Void-born and Void-touch die it is obvious his body was fully assimilated during his two weeks at the portal. His body seems to disintegrate ( similarly to Malzahar’s own death animation ) and turn into a black substance when he was pierced by the staff. This is similar to the Void-born in Diana’s flavour story where upon killing them they dissolved into a black, tar like substance. So from all of this, it should be quite clear that Rasho was indeed a Void-touched of some description, however more along the vein of the rift herald than the unique circumstances surrounding Kassadin ( where he resisted ) and Malzahar ( where he was purposely targetted ).

Unfortunately, there are some sections I was unable to cover due to post size restraints ( or something - I wasn’t able to save the post ) but they were largely minor or had details previously covered.

But, again, do I think the rift is Void? Heck yeah, I do, and I love it!

#( ♚ ’ an audience with the prophet – ask )#noxianmercy #( ♚ ’ the weaver of fate – ooc )#meta post /#world building /#( ♚ ’ condemnation of memory – head canon )

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aion-rsa · 4 years ago

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Justice League The Snyder Cut Trailer Breakdown and Analysis

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

After years of drama, hundreds of hashtags, and a lot of discourse we finally got our first look at the Snyder Cut of Justice League. You might say “isn’t this just a director’s cut, what’s the big deal?” and honestly looking at this new trailer you might not be wrong. But for a lot of fans this moment has been a longtime coming and if you’re a big DC Comics head then there are some interesting deep-cut moments to dig into.

If you somehow haven’t watched it yet, you can check it out here…

So without further ado let’s dive in…

Darkseid

Uxas is here baby. As teased in Zack Snyder’s social media posts, Darkseid will play a huge part in the new cut of Justice League.

The opening of the trailer (which is set to a very on the nose song choice of “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen) shows a younger looking Darkseid wielding a large weapon and looking generally menacing.

Does that weapon look like a farm tool to you? If it does then this could hint that we’re going to be seeing the New 52 version of the character who was a cosmic farmhand that killed the gods in order to gain their power and create the planet of Apokolips. That sounds very Randian and rather up Zack Snyder’s alley.

There is also the other option which is that he’s holding a sledgehammer, to denote just how subtle Snyder’s messaging and symbolism will be in the new cut of Justice League.

Did you know Superman is basically Jesus? Well, you will in this four hour edit of the superhero team-up flick!

The Hall of Justice

Though we only get a glimpse of the terrible fate that the Justice League may have to face, we do get to see a demolished Hall of Justice–which is pretty funny as we never saw the Hall completed or even under construction–in the ruins of a city swarming with Parademons. We know that those are the minions of Apokolips and are usually controlled by Darkseid or whoever he gives his all powerful Boomstick to.

The only time we’ve ever seen them in the DCEU continuity is in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice during Bruce Wayne’s psychedelic dream sequence where he has a dark vision of the future where Darkseid has apparently terraformed the Earth which is under the control of a fascist-Injustice-style Superman.

It’s very likely that this is a vision of a potential future, much like Wayne’s vision in Batman v. Superman. And of course, Snyder made his disdain for “Saturday morning cartoons” known during a spat with a critic a few hours before this trailer was released. Since the Hall of Justice originated on the Super Friends animated series well…you do the math.

Aquaman

One of the best things about the theatrical cut of Justice League is the absolutely badass introduction of Arthur Curry as Aquaman. Though the character was soft-rebooted in James Wan’s spectacular solo-superhero movie we get a lot of shirtless Jason Momoa action here hinting at a bigger role in Snyder’s new cut. We don’t get much else with him though we do see him getting really wet in numerous water-soaked set pieces and who doesn’t want to see that in their lives?

But then there’s the question of who this is…

Is this Arthur in full and regal Atlantean armor before he had accepted his role as King in the Aquaman movie? Based on another shot in the movie that appears to show Arthur stumbling on a suit of armor and a trident, it’s possible.

Or is this more of the flashback sequence we saw in the theatrical cut of the film, which explored how DC heroes of earlier eras rose up to fight the hordes of Apokolips?

Batman

One of the key pieces of the arc of this movie (any cut) was always Bruce Wayne’s revelation that the world needed Superman, and needs heroes in general. This shot helps bookend Batman‘s line at the end of the trailer about the team being “united” against Steppenwolf and Apokolips.

Black Suit Superman

We all knew this was coming but we do get a brief momentary glance of Superman in the Fortress of Solitude wearing his Black suit. This isn’t technically new as a version of it apparently appeared on the Justice League deleted scenes but the fact that it’s here confirms we will actually get to see Superman in the Black suit in Zack Snyder’s Justice League rather than just walking past it in his icy den (the director had previously released a scene as well)

But there’s more at work with the Man of Steel that we’re still trying to figure out…

Supes appears to be wearing his traditional red and blue suit here, and we’re not sure exactly what’s happening. Could it be part of the sequence where the Man of Steel is resurrected after his battle with Doomsday in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice?

In any case, Supes is back in black in another shot which appears to be him taking on Steppenwolf during the film’s climax.

Cyborg

Zack Snyder has said that Ray Fisher’s Cyborg is “the heart of the movie” in his cut of Justice League, and the character is certainly a little more prominent here.

For one thing, we’re going to see Vic Stone’s origin story explored a little bit, as we see here is time as a college football star for Gotham University.

This quick shot COULD be of a vision Vic sees of the hordes from Apokolips coming to Earth.

In the established Justice League movie continuity, Cyborg’s father saves his son using the magic of the Motherbox. In case you aren’t aware what the alien technology is, the most important thing to know is that they’re a key part of DC’s Fourth World lore–where Darkseid hails from–and play a large part in all iterations of the DCEU’s Justice League.

In the comics they’re essentially superpowered supercomputers created by a scientist on Apokolips, in the movie universe they are mysterious threats which link the mythical worlds of both Atlantis and Themyscira as the powerful world’s tried to hide and destroy the boxes in the far past.

The new sequence doesn’t really build on any of that lore but it does show one of the boxes killing Cyborg’s father and turning him into Thanos-style dust. Another tragic moment for the young hero and one that will likely drive him to become a reluctant hero and defeat Darkseid.

There are a couple of interesting new scenes including one where see the hero desperately digging up a grave in a dark cemetery… whose grave is it, well that takes us to the next sequence.

Maybe it’s his father’s grave he’s trying to dig up. Or perhaps his mother’s. Oh god, what if it’s Martha’s…

The Flash

From what we understand, this shot happens right before the Iris West rescue above, as Barry vibrates through a shop window to stop the young reporter from getting run over by a car.

Barry’s in the speedforce. There’s not much more to say here but we didn’t get to see much of Barry being a speedster in the original cut of the movie and Miller’s version has been more of a cameo character than a true hero.

During the Snyder Cut panel, Snyder teased that Barry would play a larger role and hinted at the Cosmic Treadmill part of Flash canon that he has winked at before. Basically expect to see Barry causing some timey-wimey chaos in this cut.

Let’s stick with Flash stuff for a minute…

Iris West

Kiersey Clemons is a powerhouse and for this writer the most exciting moment of the film was seeing her appear in a brief moment that appeared to be the first meeting between her version of Iris West and Barry Allen (Ezra Miller).

Iris is a key part of The Flash lore and it was a massive disappointment to find out that she didn’t make it into the final cut of the original movie. Even though there is a lot of cynicism around this cut getting to see Clemons bring Iris to life as part of the wider DC world is actually pretty exciting.

Wonder Woman

Is Diana in Themyscira here? And is this spear an artifact of the flashback battle sequence we saw in the theatrical cut with the Amazons and DC heroes of old taking on Steppenwolf and company?

And no, the little girl she smiles at probably isn’t Donna Troy. We…think.

DeSaad

In a very exciting moment for DC fans the trailer revealed what seemed to be the first appearance of the deep-cut supervillain DeSaad. With his trademark hood and a suspiciously alien face we only get a momentary glimpse of the cosmic antagonist, but with his deep connections to Darkseid it makes sense that he’d appear.

The most interesting thing here is that DeSaad is a key part of the old school–Pre-Crisis–version of the character who was a royal on the planet of Apokolips who killed his whole family in his quest for power.

But as much as we’d love to see more of that dynamic Jack Kirby version of the character, he did play a small role in the New 52 relaunch during a plotpoint which focused on cloning Superman and Parademons. Both of those things are already established in the Snyder-verse–remember Doomsday? So if DeSaad is involved it probably doesn’t change the fact that this is a young Darkseid or Uxas.

We have more on Desaad here.

Steppenwolf

There’s a new and “improved” and definitely more menacing design for Darkseid herald/henchman/uncle Steppenwolf for this flick, too.

We wrote a little bit more about that new design here.

Uniting the Seven

Remember that poster for Justice League that said Unite the Seven and then nothing came of it? Well, maybe that was actually about the Aquaman movie’s seven kingdoms? Anyway it was once again hinted at here as Ben Affleck’s Batman says the word “united.”

Of course the big twist here would be if Green Lantern turned up making the Justice League seven heroes instead of six, that was a big rumor going into this movie but it never occurred. Who knows, maybe we will see a Green Lantern in this new four hour cut? If that happens my money is on John Stewart.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League hits HBO Max in 2021… allegedly.

The post Justice League The Snyder Cut Trailer Breakdown and Analysis appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2FRcXuL

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

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