#especially considering that ive definitely shipped my own characters with no intention of making them canon

[teaposing]

entirely against my will i am a teeny-tiny bit fully obsessed with 1899 -- meta-adjacent thoughts below the cut. spoilers through the entire first season. i have seen very little meta for this show so this is probably not innovative or anything but i wanted to put it out there if only for posterity

first off i have to admit that i am extremely extremely skeptical of this type of convoluted puzzle-box scifi. they’re very compelling to me especially at the beginning but i don’t think most of them are anywhere as smart as they’d like to appear. well-made as dark was, i didn’t find the ending particularly satisfying, and this show seems to be in a very very similar vein.  i LOVE 1889 so far -- it’s so stylish and fun to watch, the characters and their relationships are incredible, the mysteries have completely drawn me in  -- but i don’t have super high expectations for the eventual resolution. that being said i will be happy as long as it stays bonkers. which i think is EXTREMELY likely.

probably an obvious one, but i’m definitely thinking the 2099 spaceship is probably another layer of the simulation, not the final reality. that prediction is mostly because it seems to make more structural sense -- this show is pretty heavy-handedly concerned with the nature of reality, and a multi-layered simulation would play into that. from what i gleaned from dark it’s also stylistically consistent (ie as convoluted as possible i say this with great affection).

the other big theory ive heard is that daniel isn’t real. i agree and i’d go further and say that i don’t think any of maura’s family (daniel, eliot, henry, ciaran) are literal people -- none of them are present aboard the ship in 2099 (except ciaran; i don’t have enough info to say what the fuck is going on there but i would say he’s probably not a human person). maybe this is too hokey but i’m wondering if they’re somehow representations of maura’s own self. it doesn’t make sense to me that maura created the simulation to keep eliot from dying -- why would she erase her memory of him and daniel if it was borne of an obsessive desire to keep living together as a family? also, maura is very explicitly not driven by emotion. desperation and grief can definitely make people do uncharacteristic things, yeah, but there’s such an intentional focus on that aspect of her personality, and that feels like an indicator that henry is lying. if he created the simulation, though, why would he be in it himself? i don’t think either maura’s theory or henry’s is entirely true -- i get the feeling maura made the simulation, but not for the reasons henry suggests.

the logistics of daniel and eliot don’t make a ton of sense to me (why do they remember, how does daniel control the simulation from within, what does it mean that they used the prometheus to “gain access”) and i’m not really sure whether those things are intentional and will be revealed or if they’re hand-wavey plot devices. 

similarly i’ve had the thought that maybe everyone onboard is a fabrication -- since i’m solidly of the belief that 2099 is not a final reality either, anything is possible -- and that maura has trapped herself in the simulation either to examine her own mind or escape from reality. i’ve decided that it’s unlikely, though, because of how omniscient the show’s perspective is. it would be very jarring if the characters turned out to be unreal, considering how often and deeply they interact among each other without maura present at all. also, the memories would be pointless if they were just parts of a constructed person. the only way it would make sense, i think, would be if they were all also representations of maura’s self, but that seems too far out even for these guys, and also not really all that interesting. plus it would be a bummer imo.

i’m curious about the statement that everyone aboard the kerberos agreed to enter the simulation to escape their own pain -- they very clearly did NOT escape their pain. it’s literally under the floorboards. the whole situation is very compelling to me -- it’s half-therapy, half-torture. are the memories real ones altered to be plausibly turn-of-the-century, or are they completely fabricated? because the simulation does seem to be at least partially a kind of psychological experiment, i doubt they’re completely out of nowhere, but i genuinely have no idea to what degree they’re based in reality.

finally and most importantly i would like eyk and maura to kiss. thank you for reading

[raitrolling]

Open Quadrants: Secondary Trolls Edition (Part 2)

just like the first masterpost i made for my main trolls, this is meant to be a starting off point for anyone who may be interested in shipping with my trolls, only for my secondary characters (obviously lmao). these trolls i tend to have less muse for than my main trolls, or they might have an inconsistent muse and i can only write so much rp for them at a time

like i said in the previous post, i only plot and reserve quadrants for friends + rp partners who ive done a couple threads with already so i feel comfortable interacting w. them ooc, but if we are friends/rp partners and u have an idea for a ship lmk!

and given how many secondary trolls i have, im splitting this up between two posts. this post covers amarys-fleure, while part 1 covers liiore-somerl

other posts: main trolls | secondary trolls (part 1)

Amarys - 11.5 sweeps / ~24 years, Female, Lesbian

♥ - Amarys is a nice and chivalrous troll, the kind who will treat her matesprit like a princess and vow to never leave their side. She loves doing things for other people, especially people she’s close to, so expect her to cook dinner, run errands, and buy gifts that made her think of her girlfriend. She doesn’t really know what she’d want in a matespritship, but she hopes whoever she ends up dating likes having fun and would enjoy going out to the same places she does. However, Amarys is very, very dense. Romantic intentions very often fly directly over her head, so if you want to try romancing her, you’d have to be incredibly blunt about it or she’ll just think you’re being a nice friend.

♦ - When it comes to pale relationships, Amarys is prime material for the princely bodyguard type. Do you need a more confident troll to stick up for you and accompany you to places that might make you anxious? She’s your troll. Do you want someone who will attempt to give you advice but will probably just end up beating up whatever troll is giving you trouble? She’s your troll. Do you have a fantasy of being bridal carried by a pretty woman? She’s your troll. Do you want someone who will happily put her life on the line to protect you because your life is worth far more than anything else? She’s your troll, but also you should maybe try to prevent this scenario so you don’t end up with a dead moirail.

♠ - Amarys is excited by the prospect of getting a kismesis because she loves competition. It doesn’t matter what it is, a sporting game, a friendly sparring match, or even something as innocuous as racing someone to a random location, her competitive side is just begging for someone to challenge her. She’d prefer someone who is as active as she is, but won’t turn down a board game or video game challenge even though she’s bad at both. Although, given how oblivious she can be when it comes to romance, don’t be surprised if she mistakes obvious blackrom flirting for just some fun meaningless trash talk.

Ananta - 10.5 sweeps / ~22 years, Non-Binary (Any pronouns), Pan

♥ - Ananta will claim that they don’t need this quadrant because they’re perfectly fine on their own, but that’s definitely not the case. They crave attention and affection from others, but consider that to be a weakness so they put up a front of being hostile and uncaring. They need someone who they can feel vulnerable around, and doesn’t mind them being clingy. They're thankfully not possessive of their quads, but they’d definitely keep asking them to stay for just one more round of video games in hope they’ll stick around longer.

♦ - Ananta has a bit of trauma over how their lusus disappeared one night, as much as they don’t want to admit it. They’d most likely be scared of their quadrants also doing the same, so they push others away as much as they can as they can’t be abandoned again if there’s no one around in the first place. Like their red quad, they’d want someone who they can let their guard down around, and be reassured that they’re not going to get ditched without warning. They also have an issue with lashing out as soon as they feel even slightly upset and being very unforgiving when someone does them wrong, so a moirail would have to be careful about not setting them off. Or if they do, find out how to get through to Ana and help them learn to forgive others again.

♠ - Ananta is a bit touchy towards their black quad, they enjoy a challenge but they’re sensitive to heckling. They’d prefer someone who would be okay with handling them with care, and figure out how to aggravate them without causing them to lash out. They’re not going to tell anyone how to do that, of course, that’s part of the challenge of dating them! Like their red quad, they can get clingy towards their kismesis out of fear they might leave them. Jokingly threatening to do so just to see their reaction is an instant relationship-ender.

Rosato - 9.5 sweeps / ~20 years, Male, Gay Ace

♥ - Rosato is honestly a little disgusted with the idea of having a matesprit, because he finds the company of other trolls to be unpleasant. Although, he doesn’t have the energy to keep pushing away someone who is persistent, so at the very least he might learn to put up with hanging around someone who is interested in him. But at this point in time he’s not interested in this quadrant at all. Maybe try being friends with him first to see if he warms up to you, if you can deal with his attitude for longer than a couple minutes.

♦ - Above all else, Rosato needs someone to help him adjust to being a rainbowdrinker. The biggest hurdle is the fact he won’t believe you because everyone knows rainbowdrinkers aren’t real and he can’t be undead if he doesn’t remember dying, so it’d probably be easier to look out for him in more subtle ways. Maybe someone who can sneak some more blood into his food so he can get to proper sustenance he needs (other than eating paint…), or can think of other ways to help him without saying the forbidden word that starts with ‘r’ and ends with ‘ainbowdrinker’.

♠ - Rosato is equally as disgusted with the idea of having a kismesis, because the company of people who don’t like him is even more unpleasant. He’s very likely to immediately turn down anyone who is interested in him, because having to keep up some sort of rivalry sounds exhausting. At this point in time, the closest thing to a kismesitude that could probably work for him would be another rainbowdrinker attempting to make him act like a proper undead, albeit in a more harsh way than a moirail would. But still don’t expect Rosato to be receptive to the idea, and would probably just keep telling them to fuck off.

Vivyin - 14 sweeps / ~29 years, Female, Bi (Fem preference)

♥ - Based on the fact that she previously dated Glasya, it is probably safe to assume that Vivyin likes her flushed relationships to be a little goofy. She’s very quiet and reserved with a bit of a grumpy streak, so she appreciates those who she’s able to lighten up and have a few laughs with. But, she’ll also appreciate trolls who are relaxing in other ways, and don’t mind both her introverted nature and the fact that she’s not very adventurous. Despite being a cosplayer and attending a lot of conventions, she finds most anime and video game fans to be a bit obnoxious.

♦ - As somewhat of a workaholic and also in a highly mentally demanding field, Vivyin would definitely appreciate a moirail she can relax around and vent about her job whenever necessary. She’s not the most open troll around, especially when it comes to her past, but she begrudgingly admits that a pale relationship would have to be tolerant of the supernatural given how her fae curse affects her when she’s stressed. In return, while she may not be the warmest or most affectionate person, she is a good listener and a decent shoulder to cry on.

♠ - Vivyin thinks the idea of a kismesis sounds completely exhausting, as she isn’t the competitive type nor is she interested in having someone constantly try to annoy her. She isn’t opposed to the idea per se, but it is more likely that someone will end up annoying her and wanting them to leave her alone than stir up any pitch feelings. She would likely fare best with a kismesis in a similar professional field as her, as she’d expect that they would understand the boundaries to not cross and what pranks could put her career in jeopardy.

Ariete - 11.5 sweeps / ~24 years, Female, Lesbian

♥ - Ariete is interested in looking for a matesprit, but since she tends to come on a bit too strongly towards anyone who shows interest in her, it tends to not go as well as she’d like. She gets attached to people pretty easily and tends to assume that if they like her then they must be good friends, even if they’ve only met once. That, and her obsession with historical objects and her own museum can be a little too much sometimes. She’d be happy with basically any girl who is nice and patient enough to deal with her attitude, and she doesn’t really have any other preferences. She’s just lonely and would like a friend (or girlfriend), pretty much.

♦ - Ariete doesn’t really know what she wants in a moirail, or even if she’d be a good moirail in return. Her tendency to say whatever’s on her mind can make her unintentionally insensitive at times, and she often makes the mistake of misjudging how close of a relationship she has with someone and treating an acquaintance the same way she’d treat a friend. However, she does have a good heart, and will try her best to do what she can for her pale partner.

♠ - A kismesitude would be somewhat difficult for Ariete to navigate, as she’s very sensitive to rejection and gets frustrated easily if people don’t like her. She’s used to not being liked so she puts up a front that she doesn’t care, but she secretly worries about it a lot. She might have trouble distinguishing other’s black feelings towards her with genuine hatred, so as much as she’d like a kismesis she’s a little nervous about it. Aside from that, she’s a very passionate troll who loves others who are equally as passionate, but with slightly different hobbies so she can learn more about things she wouldn’t think about otherwise. A rival museum curator or treasure hunter would be fun, as would a history buff or period drama enthusiast.

Celise - 11 sweeps / ~23 years, Non-Binary, Bi (Male preference)

♥ - Celise has a thing for dangerous trolls. The nastier and more morally ambiguous, the better. That’s really their only preference for a matesprit and have no other desires for any other kind of troll in that quadrant. Be warned, they get obsessive over the target of their affections.

♦ - Celise doesn’t think they need a moirail because they’re a perfectly well-adjusted troll who doesn’t do anything wrong! … Yeah, no. Resorting to violent murder is not a good anger management method, and their constant denial of their flaws is not a healthy coping mechanism. Someone would need to put in a lot of effort to get this quadrant to work, especially because Celise genuinely believes they’re incapable of doing the harm they do. Expect to do a lot of talking to brick walls and then getting nothing in return.

♠ - Celise is interested in a black quad, but for the same reason as their red. They really love dangerous people and a kismesitude is the best way to get close to someone like that to observe their worst habits. Although, since they don’t really know how to court someone like that in a blackrom way, they’d be better off with a more traditional rival. A screenplay writer from a more successful company, a movie critic who reviews terrible niche horror films, or just someone else in the entertainment industry. Just be warned, they can get very violent when angered, which can make this quadrant potentially become unhealthy quickly.

Sharle - 14 sweeps / ~29 years, Male, Pan

♥ - Taken by @/cloudbattrolls’ Jamie

♦ - Sharle doesn’t know what he’d want for a moirail, because short temper aside he feels like he’s a very stable individual. He’d like someone he could just relax around and learn what it’s like to live a more normal life, but he also feels like he could get that from having more friends outside the grid than specifically requiring a moirail.

♠ - Sharle doesn’t know what he wants for a kismesis either. He’s very competitive, but prefers to put all that energy into his racing. He also tries to not be aggressive towards anyone off the track, but that doesn’t mean he’s immune to getting riled by heckling or challenges.

Belamy - 13 sweeps / ~27 years, Male, Demi Aro

♥ - As Belamy is aromantic, a matespritship (and any other quadrant) with him would be more of a close companionship rather than a romantic quadrant. Belamy is also incredibly picky and has impossibly high standards, so he’d expect perfection from the one who courts his red quad at all times. He’d be most critical of this quadrant because it’s probably the biggest status symbol one can have, so he expects to be impressed. He loves the idea of being courted, so go the whole nine yards.

♦ - Belamy is a professional therapist, if you count offering therapy advice to other trolls because he read a couple textbooks ‘professional’. As such, he thinks he’d make a great moirail to another seadweller. However, his advice isn’t exactly the best out there, preferring to tell people to just get over themselves and act like a proper highblood, if he’s not psychoanalysing their relationship with their lusus. He’d have a good dynamic with someone with an opposing personality to him, such as a bubbly but naive troll or an introvert who wants to get more involved with seadweller society. Who knows, maybe that innocence or quiet introspection will rub off on him so he can confront his own issues with his bitterness and bottled-up anger towards the rest of the world.

♠ - Becoming Belamy’s kismesis is easy. Just be an equally snooty seadweller who happens to bump heads with anyone with a similar personality to them and can take an onslaught of insults without much issue. Reawakening Belamy’s competitive side may either be the best thing to help solve his issues about his past, or could be a death sentence for whoever is courting him in the black quad, I genuinely don’t know how that would turn out. Just don’t bring up anything about his hand injuries, they’re a very sore spot for him.

Linnae - 11 sweeps / ~23 years, Male (He/They), Pan

♥ - Quadrants are somewhat of a new concept to Linnae, he knows they exist and other people have them, but doesn’t know how one gets quadrants and what to do with them. He’s very embarrassed by his lack of knowledge of quadrants, so he’s very hesitant to pursue them in general. He’s quite intimidated by the idea of having a matesprit because a committed and loving relationship is something he’s never had before, and he has no idea what qualities he should be looking for in another troll. If he were to develop a crush on someone, he wouldn’t really understand what those feelings are.

♦ - Pale would be the quadrant that he’s the most receptive to, if only because he’s always seeking trolls he can depend on to help him with everything. A good moirail for him would be someone who can help him with his social anxieties but also encourage him to be more independent and confident in himself. He doesn’t know what he can provide for someone in return, but he would try to make an effort once he’s made aware of what his partner needs him to do. 

♠ - In all honestly, this quad is probably impossible to obtain. Linnae doesn’t have a hateful bone in his body, and the concept of a rival seems utterly foreign to him. He’d be most intimidated by this quadrant as well, since to him it sounds like it has the biggest chance of going wrong and turning violent. 

Fleure - ~1000 sweeps / ~35 years (immortal / ageless), Male, Pan

♥ - Fleure has better things to worry about at the moment than the possibility of finding a matesprit, but he’s not entirely uninterested in the quadrant. He prefers trolls who are kind, but are also capable of standing up for themselves and don’t take shit from anyone. Contrary to his current self, he is surprisingly soft when courting another troll, but it’s difficult for him to find someone who will make him drop his guard and relax. Due to his age, Fleure would only be interested in dating other trolls who are at least a couple hundred sweeps old because they’d be closest to his relative age and maturity. 

♦ - Fleure definitely needs someone to help him find his bearings, whether than be a moirail or a trusted friend. He’s lost in a world that has advanced far beyond his own understanding, and while he is much more independent than his descendant could really use a guide before he ends up getting into genuine trouble. And while he is a very guarded troll and has no desire to open up about his trauma, he does very quietly crave the idea of someone wanting to break down these barriers and force him to tell them about everything. In return, he will do whatever he can to ensure his moirail is safe from all harm, as he greatly values the emotional closeness that comes with this quadrant. 

♠ - While blackrom may appear to be the easiest quadrant to court him in given his ornery personality, it’s the one he has the least interest in. He’s old and feels like he knows everything he’s capable of, and has lost the spark for competition with another troll. It’s still possible for someone to push his buttons in the right way, but since he doesn’t know what he wants it’d be difficult for those emotions to stick for long enough to convince him into pursuing the quadrant.

[addictedforbooksquad]

B O O K  R E V I E W

╙ T H E  Q U E E N  O F  N O T H I N G  B Y  H O L L Y  B L A C K

genre: fantasy, young adult

publication date: 19th November, 2019

rating (1-5 scale):

writing:   ★ ★ ★ ★

characters & character development: ★ ★ ★ ★

could-not-put-it-down factor: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

general rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 

WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS!

 “By you, I am forever undone.”

Exhilarating. Feels-inducing. Heart-attacking. I didn't just read this book. I devoured it. Inhaled it through my pores. Drank it in with haste and thirst as if indulging in faerie wine after a year-long fast. Perhaps from a storytelling point of view, this wasn't as good as “The Wicked King” but nevertheless, I revelled in every single page. I read it in one go, from cover to cover, and all I can say is that it was absolutely worth a sleepless night. And then it left me so satisfied and full of reflections and feelings, then I just cannot stop thinking about it. And aren't those books, which leave us content and sated, and yet somehow yearning for even more of a good thing, just the best? Now, onto the details, the good and (despite 5-star rating) the bad: I. the sister thing Anyone who knows me, knows that I absolutely hated Taryn in the first two books. Betrayal of her sister aside, I just found her utterly and unforgivably...boring. In "The Queen of Nothing" though, I was happy to discover depths to her character that weren't that fleshed out before. From killing Locke (YASSS!!!) to standing up to Madoc, side by side with Jude and Vivi, Taryn finally showed with her ACTIONS, not words, which side she is on. And look, this perhaps doesn't erase what she did to Jude in “The Cruel Prince” but I liked how the story unfolded between them in this last installment. This is not a series about pure-hearted good characters. They all did awful things. They all did some of those awful things to each other. So in the end, I'm glad there was no "grovelling" on Taryn's part, no act of "official" forgiveness. That's not how things work in Faerie. More than that, all the sisterly moments! Loved them! Whether it was Taryn trying to gossip about Cardan with Jude or the three sisters united against Madoc, it was great to see a positive sister relationship in a fantasy for once. I definitely prefer them together than apart and set up against each other. II. the trick thing I had lots of theories after finishing "The Wicked King" about Cardan banishing Jude from Elfhame and damn, do I have a satisfaction of getting it at least partially right. I know a lot of people hated what Cardan did in TWK but personally, I loved that plot twist. I thought it evened out the playing field between them and I always knew there was more to it anyway. And would you look at that, it was indeed a trick! When Jude and Cardan reunited and he was so utterly confused that Jude WASN'T proud of him for pulling one over her...priceless. He did it to impress her. He did it to protect her (and his kingdom). He did it to, let's face it, get back at her. It's so wonderfully twisted, my pitch-black heart rejoices and flutters. Added to that delicious cake of dark and twisted is a cherry of irony on top which is the fact that Jude did realize that she could pardon herself...and didn't. She, who is usually so smart and devious and quick to pick up on other people being smart and devious, wasn't able to see through the smoke screen and guess Cardan's true intentions. Which isn't that surprising to me, because when it comes to feelings, my daughter Jude is the most hopeless and oblivious person in that fantasy realm. That lack of trust in Cardan cost her and it only underlined what needed to change - to be able to rule together, Jude and Cardan need to lower their defences when it comes to one another. But more on that in the next point. III. the love thing Jude and Cardan's dynamic has been one of my very favourite things about this series from the start. I love them both as characters and I love them as a ship. I was happy to find out that what unravelled between them in this last installment was utterly (with some minor mishaps) satisfying. Their reunion, untangling the coiled web of mistrust and misunderstandings, learning to trust and be trusted...it was everything. I longed to see them as allies and a team, rather than enemies and reluctant/forced co-operators from the start (not that it wasn't fun to see them as enemies and reluctant allies, IT WAS SO MUCH FUN) and here I got what I wished for. Love scenes, their talk of lowering their shields, those that had been kept up for so so long, melted my heart. Cardan's love confession? Perfect! And so fitting for him in my opinion. Only he would say ILY in such an off-handed manner.

Basically:

"Hi you probably already know this because you're so smart (and I love you) but I've loved you for a long time, OK we got stuff to do BYE" Perfection 😍😂 Cardan was also, quite obviously, Jude's first stan, and I just live for relationships like that. And the longing between them was so palpable. Especially in Cardan's letters to Jude, I could feel how much he missed his Queen *ugly weeping* I'd say that Jude's confession could've been handled better, as in, there could've been even more build-up to it, considering how good she is at holding on to her walls and defences. Still, I loved it in its own way. IV. the character development thing I know there are some who were dissatisfied with the plot twist and the ending. Personally, I thought it was very fitting though. The decision that Jude faces? Between love and power, between her own humanity and the possibility of utter control over Cardan? That dilemma was the best way to capture the character development she had gone through throughout this series. Ever since the beginning, Jude had been wondering about one thing - where will she draw a line? Is there a line that she won't cross to get more power? She got her answer in this book. As Jude was making her choice between killing Cardan or killing her chances at ruling Elfhame, I was crying heavy tears of someone who had witnessed a painful yet utterly satisfying journey. Jude had always been scared. Jude had always resented being weak and human. Jude had always craved power and security for herself. Jude had always hated being vulnerable and relished in the control she gained over Cardan. And with her choice, she embraced so much of what she had once resented. She chose hardship and uncertain future and opened herself up to being hurt. She chose love. She chose being human and weak and what-the-hell-I'll-deal-with-it-because-I'm-not-weak-at-all. She chose Cardan. *this reviewer took a 5-minute break at this point to wipe off all the tears from her keyboard* The point is, I loved the character development this choice represented and yet, Jude also remained very much herself by doing this. V. the loose thread thing Not to be overly sweet on this book, there were also some loose ends, all right. For one, I wish the relationship between Cardan and his mother was explored more, same with more insight into Jude's biological parents, especially her mother. It seemed like it was teased a lot in two previous installments and yet, I didn't experience nearly as much delivery as I expected on those subjects. I just wish there was more on this. VI. other things

Cardan calling Jude his wife, THE FEELS ARE REAL

the not-so-subtle hinting at the possible Taryn-Ghost romance, I dig it

loved the conclusion to Jude and Madoc relationship, he got exactly what he deserved

onto punishment topic, I also loved that Cardan left that responsibility solely within Jude's power

underlining the fact that Cardan is very stable in his feelings, very un-faerie-like was very much appreciated, I love one (1) Faerie boy

Vivi and Heather getting their HEA as well, YESSSS

the symbolism of Cardan creating two thrones from one, my heart stopped

Cardan in the mortal world (P.S. I NEED MORE OF THIS, approximately 483949 pages more)

I could go on and on but there was just so much - and in such a (relatively) short book too. What I will say is this - The Folk of the Air had been shaping up to be one of my favourite fantasy series, and "The Queen of Nothing" made it into a fact. Which it could have very well failed to do, as it often happens with final books in a series. Because ever since I finished "The Wicked King", I've been holding my breath, waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop and for this final book not to live up to the very high expectations I've had for a conclusion not only to a great series, but also some of my very favourite characters and relationships. But after reading this, "I feel as though I can finally breathe again."        

[metalgearkong]

Jedi: Fallen Order - Review (PS4)

11/24/19

Developed by Respawn Entertainment

Up until now, Electronic Arts has taken the wrong direction with their exclusive Star Wars license. So far they created not one, but two awful Star Wars: Battlefront games, both overstuffed with microtransactions and unethical loot boxes. Sure the graphics, sights, and sounds of Star Wars were present, but when the entry fee was $60 and the base game had so little to it, I wasn’t a fan. Jedi: Fallen Order is an answer to all the rightful criticism EA has taken, and they have finally funded developer Respawn Entertainment to make a dedicated single-player, offline, action/adventure game that Star Wars fans have wanted for years. Jedi: Fallen Order is an enormous step in the right direction with the Star Wars license, and shows the potential on what a lot of money and talented people can create when backed by passion.

This is yet another game taking place place between episodes III and IV, a few years after Order 66 and the fall of the Jedi Order. I don’t know if the Force Unleashed games are still considered canon, but I certainly hope not. We play as Cal Kestis, a young Jedi Padawan who survived the purge, and has been hiding out for years as a scrapper taking apart old ships from the war. The Empire has established itself firmly as the dominant superpower of the galaxy, equipped with all the classic Star Wars stuff I love, such as AT-ATs, AT-STs, Stormtroopers, and TIE fighters. A few additions include the Inquisitors, apparently Dark Jedi not following the "rule of two,” who seek out and kill the remaining Jedi in hiding. I guess they come from a TV show or something, but I’ve never watched any of those. Accompanying them are Purge Troopers, who use electro-magnetic melee weapons and can be a struggle to take down. I think the Purge Troopers should have just taken the role of the Inquisitors because I think it would be way cooler to know that the only experienced Force-users left alive now are Obi-Wan, Yoda, the Emperor, and Vader.

The gameplay could be described as a combination of Uncharted exploring, and Dark Souls combat (although it more so reminds me of 2018′s God of War, also inspired by Dark Souls). I didn’t give this game enough credit in the beginning. I decided to play the game on the hard difficulty option, but a few a few hours, I bumped it back down to normal mode. I underestimated the combat and how tough even simple enemies could be. Encounters involve locking on to one enemy at a time, and timing attacks, parries, and dodges. Even low level bad guys can take down your health, especially because they usually appear in small groups. I quite enjoyed fighting members of the Empire, especially basic Stormtroopers, but fighting creatures was much more annoying. Space bugs, space rats, and space crabs feel like a chore to kill as they leap backwards and avoid your lightsaber strikes, and its often harder to read their telegraphs. 

Coming across a squad of Stormtroopers is always where I had the most devilish fun. I appreciate how the game gave the troops a lot of personality. You can hear them chatting to each other before a fight, and they make sarcastic comments as you slowly dwindle their numbers. Laser bolts can be reflected back at the shooter, making ranged combat pretty easy. It’s when the game mixes melee enemies and ranged enemies where it gets a little more tricky and engaging. Every melee trooper is a Scout Trooper and I found that a little hilarious and inconsistent compared to a Scout’s role and ability levels from the films. I didn’t realize they can stand toe-to-toe with a Jedi using their electric sticks and block plenty of lightsaber strikes before being killed. I also liked the detail that when an AT-ST is defeated, you then get to brutally execute the pilot as he scrambles out and fires his pistol as a last ditch effort before his merciless death.

Bosses range from the aforementioned AT-STs, as well as large indigenous creatures found on different planets. Each world, from what I could tell, also has an optional, semi-hidden boss. These didn’t draw my attention much because they’re basically clones of other tougher creatures, only with a greater damage output, higher speed, and more health. You do get experience points for defeating enemies, but I lived happily without taking down these frustrating side-bosses. The most blatant rip-off of the Souls-like formula is the fact that when you rest at meditation spots (save points), it resets all the enemies in the level. This makes more sense in a game with tighter gameplay, such as Hollow Knight or Dark Souls, but there’s not as much of a need for experience points, and the gameplay isn’t reliable enough to warrant farming XP from regular enemies over and over again. I nearly gagged when the game warned me that meditating resets the enemies around you. I’m sick of seeing this mechanic, especially if it isn’t necessary.

I wish the gameplay was a little tighter and snappier. Enemies telegraphy their attacks well enough most of the time, but if an enemy is about to do an unblockable attack, the game doesn’t let you react quick enough to go from blocking to dodging. Many times I’d be blocking or trying to parry, and when an unblockable attack was coming, I couldn’t quick-step to the side fast enough. This means your reflexes not only have to be good enough, but you have to give the game a head start because it takes some time to go from one thing to another. This would happen often enough to get me frustrated. Another annoyance was Cal falling to the ground when the block meter isn’t depleted, and getting hit repeatedly as he’s trying to get up. I get that you can’t block forever, but you shouldn’t be “stunned” when the block meter isn’t empty yet. I don’t know if some of the clumsiness was intentional, but I would get pissed off during tougher fights because I felt like I was fighting an enemy as well as the mechanics.

This all has to do with combat, but I found the traversing to be more reliable. Respawn Entertainment definitely borrows heavily from the Uncharted and rebooted Tomb Raider series. Cal can’t do a lot at first, but as he remembers powers over time, you unlock more abilities such as Force push, Force pull, wall running, double jumping, and more. Sliding down icy or muddy slopes is always fun, especially when combined with other traversal obstacles such as gaps and the need to wall run at the beginning or end. If you die in combat, your brought back to a meditation point, but if you die while adventuring, the game resets you quickly and with a small loss of health. The animations were great as well. I really did feel like a character in the Star Wars universe climbing rocky terrain, jumping over ledges, climbing, and all sorts of stuff like that. It gave the game a cinematic feel even during gameplay. Same goes for combat which can be a little imprecise, but at least looks great. It’s funny, however, that a lot of what prevents Cal from going to new places is the game, is him simply not “remembering” how to do something, especially when he will recall one of his skills out of the blue.

One of the greatest strengths of the game is also it’s greatest weakness: the level design. Each planet you visit has its own interconnecting environments, of which short cuts can be unlocked so you can loop back around easier in the future. The map is also extremely helpful as it gives you a 3D view of the environments, shows where you haven’t explored, shows where places are locked, and shows things like meditation spots. But there isn’t one bit of fast-travel in the game, so when you find yourself deep in a tomb or canyon, you have to hike your way all the way back to your ship. Granted, the developers have tried their best to make the way back interesting with new enemies or new ways to get back to the start, but when some of the environments are as large and twisting as they are, it can be a grind to get from A to B sometimes. Regardless, I’m impressed with how big and detailed each location is (my favorite being the lush jungles of Kashyyyk). It also gives you reminders of places you can re-explore once new abilities are unlocked.

The story itself is one of the worst aspects of the game. While the settings and storytelling itself can be quite good on regular occasions, the overall plot is extremely basic. When Cal is forced to use his powers to save his friend during an industrial accident, he draws the attention of the Empire and the Inquisitors. The game becomes a race between you and the Empire to find a hidden list of Force-sensitive children left in the galaxy. This list (Holocron) has been hidden by a former Jedi who simply has put it in a difficult place to get to simply as a test, so that anyone who finds it would be “worthy” or something. We don’t necessarily see the Empire taking steps to find this list, but they pop in and our during cinematics when it’s convenient for the game. It’s basically an excuse to hop between a handful of planets and get slightly further and further as we unlock new abilities (a la Metroidvania). We spend a vast amount of time in deep tombs, putting Lara’s recent adventures to shame. It got old after a bit, even if the graphics and designs were gorgeous. I also think the game had one or two many giant ball puzzles.

The acting can be hit or miss as well. The most annoying character was Cere (Debra Wilson), one of the members of your small crew, who is a former Jedi Master, but has cut herself off from the Force. I think on a technical level, Wilson plays this character like a seasoned actor, but I found Cere’s character to be like one of those teachers or supervisors who is more dramatic than she needs to be. Cere comes off as condescending and a bit self-important, making excuses for herself while holding Cal to a very noble and high standard. She just comes off as endlessly melodramatic, and I don’t see a lot of need for her to have been a former Jedi, especially because she’s nothing but a co-pilot, quest-giver, and expositioner.. Cal Kestis (Cameron Monaghan) is a very vanilla hero who isn’t too bright, but is very altruistic. He has to have everything explained to him, even though I think he could have easily been telling other characters information, rather than being so clueless as a Jedi Padawan. Monaghan does a pretty good job playing him, I just thought the character itself was a little bland and typical.

Instead of the main Inquisitor chasing you around (called the “Second Sister”) I think being pursued by Darth Vader would have been way more fun. How much cooler would it have been to be hunted by THE Darth Vader, him doing exactly what his job was during this time period? Another inconsistency that irked me was that Cal is a Padawan, yet he’s proficient in single blade, staff, and double lightsaber combat. I know this makes the game more “fun” but it doesn’t make sense to me that a teenage Padawan is an expert in three forms of lightsaber combat, each of them needing nearly a lifetime to master. I was annoyed I could switch to a lightsaber staff at any time with no background or explanation for it. I would have liked it much more if the story and game stuck to single blade combat, and not felt like it would have been too basic or boring for most players. But I think the larger thing to blame is the Star Wars canon and Force-using, lightsaber-using people don’t get much of a technical explanation on how much the Force aids you or how much training you need to do on your own.

It may not seem like it, but overall I am actually pretty happy with Jedi: Fallen Order. Not only does it eschew the practices EA has become notorious for, but it’s a game in a genre I really enjoy. Aside from some combat imperfections, flat story, and average characters, I had a lot of fun exploring this game at every turn. Finding chests with cosmetic collectibles and playing with the Force powers kept me going from one corner to the next. I also enjoyed the music which was done by composers Stephen Barton and Gordy Haab, instead of relying too much on the famous John William tracks (although they are heard far and few between). They evoked a Star Warsy tone and atmosphere without outright copying existing works. I loved moments like my first AT-ST fight, or climbing and piloting an AT-AT. Most of the set-piece moments were exciting and unique for a Star Wars video game. It certainly has its blemishes, but definitely not things that couldn’t be ironed out in a future sequel. I really hope Respawn Entertainment and EA continue on this path of coming up with semi-original stories with their Star Wars license and make single player driven experiences.

7.5/10

[logh-icebergs]

Episode 1: In the Eternal Night

Early 796/487; the Battle of Astate. The Free Planets Alliance idiotically splits their 40,000 ships into three fleets far apart from each other, leaving Reinhard and his 20,000 Empire ships free to take advantage of them despite being outnumbered. Yang sees this coming, but his proposal gets steamrolled by his shortsighted commanding officer, Paeta. Reinhard wipes out the Alliance’s fourth fleet, and when Paeta again refuses to take Yang’s advice, the sixth fleet as well—which included Yang’s former classmate, Lapp. Meanwhile, Reinhard and Kircheis make moon-eyes at each other, Annerose gazes sadly into a bouquet of flowers, and Reuental and Mittermeyer go on a date. Yang and Dusty talk a lot of well-justified shit about their superiors.  

Reinhard and Kircheis

A lot has changed between Reinhard and Kircheis since the events of “My Conquest,” but we won’t learn about that until Episodes 9-12 of LoGH: Gaiden, so just keep it in the back of your mind for now and we’ll return to it later. Extensively.

A lot has also changed for Reinhard and Kircheis—which we won’t hear about directly for some time, either, but at the very least: No, you’re not losing your mind; Reinhard’s last name has changed from Musel to Lohengramm. It’s a whole aristocracy thing, and the anime team deemed it Not Important Enough To Get Super Into At The Moment, so I’m going to take my cue from them. (For now, again.)

More importantly, episode 1 gives us our first substantive glimpse into the Reinhard/Kircheis dynamic beyond just how they look at each other (though we get that too—based on this episode, I’m honestly not sure Kircheis is capable of looking anywhere but at Reinhard). 

Anyway, above, where Kircheis reminds Reinhard that the soldiers under his command might benefit from taking a short rest, is our first example of something that we’re going to see a great deal: Kircheis gently nudging Reinhard to be a bit more empathetic than comes naturally to him. But don’t let that aspect of their relationship fool you into thinking they are on opposite ends of the archetypical warmth-coolness spectrum. There’s very little Reinhard can’t persuade (or, less charitably, order) Kircheis to do, as we’ll see later, and the fact that they are both susceptible to one another’s influence indicates that neither is too far to one side.

And speaking of topics that would be a lot easier to parse if only they were as black-and-white as they first appeared...

Annerose

When given the choice between shying away from something difficult and facing it head on, LoGH tends aggressively towards the latter. Its unwillingness to simplify situations for the sake of straightforward storytelling, or black-and-white solutions, is a big part of what makes LoGH better than, uh, everything else. And occupying a particularly difficult space in the LoGH landscape is Annerose, Reinhard’s older sister and the favored concubine of Kaiser Friedrich IV.

Annerose is a tragic figure, and on the surface she’s characterized as a pretty one-dimensional martyr-type, which can be frustrating and confusing in a show where even the most minor character contains multitudes. But Annerose does contain multitudes—they’re just hidden under a series of facades, erected by a woman who has been subjected to a decade of sexual slavery, and by a creative team that was trying, in 1988, to tell a story about two boys falling in love.

Our first glimpse of Annerose in the OVA (you might remember her as the hologram those rude soldiers were leering at in an Iserlohn bar during “My Conquest”) is not actually of her, but rather of her reflection, upside-down and backwards in a lake. She’s looking at herself when the camera pans up to where she’s sitting placidly on a balcony above the water.

I’ll wait till we get further on before I start throwing around Narcissus comparisons, but they’re coming.

That first warped image of Annerose is this season’s biggest hint that we shouldn’t be taking anything about Annerose—how other characters see her, how she sees herself, even her ostensible role in the story—at face value. But on the other hand, the creators were counting on some viewers to take her at face value, because Annerose’s presence is a huge part of the heteronormative surface reading that allows LoGH to “pass” as something other than a collection of politically-themed queer love stories. More about that when we get to episode 4; for now, let’s talk about Annerose herself.

You will see versions of this scene a goddamn LOT, so get used to it.

Annerose presents as a traditional, heteronormative romantic heroine, mostly insofar as she appears to be terminally bland. There is nothing immediately interesting or appealing about Annerose, but it is signalled to us that she is Good: She is beautiful, docile, and a victim, the quintessential damsel in perpetual distress. She feels like a symbol, in a world richly populated by humans; her identity is presented to us as revolving entirely around men. There’s no way around it: As our first named female character, Annerose is irritating as hell.

But literally everything I just said is on the surface. Or, several surfaces, all stacked up on top of each other between Annerose and the people around her, and between Annerose and us, the viewer. There’s a reason she seems so much more archetypical and, frankly, poorly written than any other character in this show, and it’s that what we see is not Annerose herself, but how the world reflects her. As we spend more time with Annerose, we’ll dig deeper into the specifics of her whole situation, and get to the bottom of what she’s doing in LoGH. Hopefully by the time we’re done, she’ll look more like a person and less like an upside-down-and-backwards version of the same person.

Oh, and one more thing: Adding to the many layers of obscurity between Annerose and us, is the fact that in the LoGH novels and short stories, Annerose is heavily implied to be Kircheis’s love interest, whereas in the anime, Kircheis’s love interest is Reinhard. There are a few ways we know for sure that this was an intentional divergence, which we’ll definitely bring up when we get to them (primarily not until the first Gaiden series though, so please be patient!), but for now it’s just important to keep this in mind for understanding yet another reason why Annerose’s very presence can at times feel unsettling or out of place: She’s a character who has been completely repurposed but only minimally changed from her source material.

Power

We’ll have a bit more to say about the actual battle that’s going on when it continues in episode two, but I want to point out one contrast that’s deftly drawn here between Reinhard and Yang.

The parallel here is not especially subtle, but it’s a key one: Reinhard and Yang are (rather comically) the only people who seem to realize that if the Alliance forces are split into three small groups, the Empire can pick them off one by one; but Reinhard is in a position to demand that the doubtful and resentful admirals under his command execute his strategy, while Yang is stuck making proposals to stubborn commanding officers. These two scenes coming back-to-back serve as a quick way to establish this dynamic, which becomes a theme that evolves throughout the show.

Stray Tidbits

Hey it’s some of that matter-of-fact worldbuilding I talked about in our first post!! And also an important opportunity to remark on how much I personally would love to have a tank bed of my very own:

The back-and-forth about philosophy of war is very first-episode-y, establishing a basic framework of Yang’s pragmatism against the more ideal-driven decisions of the commanders. (“We must never abandon our allies! We must never consider defeat a real option!”) It feels a bit trite for sure, but it’s setting up for the future.

Oh yeah, also Yang’s best friend from school is introduced and then immediately killed off. Pretty bold move really. More on this later.

An astonishingly high percentage of the time we see Reuental and Mittermeyer, they’re on a date, and their appearance in this episode is no exception. Get it, you two!

[dent-de-leon]

do you think there is any chance of Keith and Lotor being half brothers or something

ok so ive been thinking about this a lot myself lately so hERE w e gO: 

uHHHH,,,,

uhhHHHH,,, 

well,, as someone who has both a druid keith theory and also cant get over the noticeable similarities between haggar and lotor, uhHHH,,,,

i wouldnt rule it out as a possibility. it would certainly make for an interesting dynamic between the two. for one thing, we know that lotor is at least not full galra, and most probably part altean. ive said it before and ill say it again, but i definitely think giving both allura’s family and haggar white hair while still keeping lotor’s white was v much intentional, and shows some kind of relation between them. now, we know lotor looks pretty visibly both galran and altean. and if he’s still zarkon’s son, then we can pretty safely assume thats where most of his galra genes come from. of course, if he and keith were both haggar’s sons, then that would make keith somewhat altean as well. 

but i mean, nothing that says keith’s other parent has to be full galra. there’s this one thing hunk says that kinda tips it off, but i feel it gets kinda glossed over:

so i think this kinda opens the door for a lot of different options. this galra thing could be something that goes back a few generations, or could be a case where his other parent wasnt fully galra (like haggar) and in the case of an altean parent, we can also explain away keith’s completely human appearance with the whole shapeshifter gene thing

but see like,,, becuase im someone who really believes haggar is lotor’s mom, i just dont like this theory purely because…then i have to live with the idea that keith’s dad got with haggar lmao. like, i really think a lot of mr kogane’s parenting choices were bad enough (you didnt even get that boy a bed to sleep in bro) but i would hope he maybe had the good sense not to get involved with an evil space witch ya know

haggar and kogane would also be really weird because, well, supposedly keith’s mom was in the bom. haggar really seems invested in looking out for zarkon, i cant see her ever trying to start a coup. she was also pretty deadset on stopping keith and thace, so uh…ya…

but, if we rule out haggar as the mom, then things dont get much easier. cause then youre stuck with a scenario where zarkon’s queen/girlfriend/whatever was a rebel plotting to overthrow him. like, as soon as he found out, she would end up very dead very fast. i could see lotor quickly getting disowned over something like that, maybe even thrown in prison, tortured for information (depending on his age), ect. i also highly doubt lotor would sound so loyal to zarkon in vld if his mom really did go against zarkon, especially given the way he handled his dad killing her in the original 

but, then aGAIIIN,,,

we dont actually know for sure that keith’s mom was loyal to the bom. i mean, if you look at the whole scene in keith’s hallucination–that does not look like a very nice homecoming. kogane says keith’s mom is on the way, but you know who else is in the way? the giant fucking galra ship and that army of droids that are invading earth. like, this does not make his mom look like one of the Good Guys

the way this scene is portrayed, it seriously looks like his mom is with the invasion force. its also really suspicious that keith says the bom have told him nothing so far. what even was the point of the whole knowledge or death thing if you dont even?? get the knowledge??? that makes me feel like the bom are hiding stuff from him–you know, more so than your average secret alien society i guess 

also!! something i think really gets overlooked–remember why ulaz freed shiro in the first place? ya, that was cause the galra had discovered the blue lion. on earth. 

you know, the same lion thats conveniently within walking distance of keith’s shack. 

the same shack where keith’s dad lives. and as far as we know, he was the first and only human to ever interact with a galra on earth. then, suddenly, they’re both gone. and some years later, the galra magically have intel that the blue lion is on earth. we have no evidence that there were any other scouts there other than keith’s mom though. 

so like, im not saying keith’s mom tipped off the galra about where the blue lion was, but like…if she did i wouldn’t be all that surprised 

so anyway, long story short–i think on the genetics side of things, it makes sense. theyre both partially galra. lotor is also clearly part altean, and altean genes might explain why keith looks the way he does (and can sense/connect with other lions like allura does). but the biggest problem then is you have to reconcile the fact that the person zarkon was with was also maybe an agent of the bom. and even if she was loyal to zarkon and not them, then she’s still considered a traitor to keith’s dad and the resistance. 

so either way their mom would be a traitor, and i dont know that might be too much of an incongruence for the narrative. but i mean, if they did have the same mom, then lotor and keith would likely have very varying opinions on her (depending on her loyalty) and the way their own dynamic would play out from that could be very interesting. 

removing their mom from the equation for a minute, i do think having lotor and keith related in some way does make sense thematically though. because, right now there’s no real connection. the thing that really fueled their rivalry in the original was lotor’s obsession with allura–something that staff has already said theyre not bringing back. so like, i think there needs to be something else there to kinda spark that rivalry. ya, the fact that they’re both half-galra could do it. but i think it makes it so much more personal if lotor’s family. 

especially since it would be the ultimate thing to test keith’s loyalty to the team–his found family, or his biological one? and honestly, as someone who’s struggled with my own family for years, to see keith not give a damn about his blood and love team voltron just the same would be so rewarding for me. because, wasn’t that part of what keith realized in season 2? that he doesn’t necessarily need whatever his lost family could’ve given him to feel whole? that team voltron is still his family just the same? i think its way more powerful a message to show that, even if your family doesnt accept you, even if they arent there for you, even if they’ve done horrible things, you can still always find people out there who will love and accept you. you can find your own family 

so ya, i think making keith and lotor brothers could ultimately lead to some really good character development and a nice overarching theme that ties into voltron’s whole found family thing. and i would really like that honestly 

one last thing real quick–that thing with their eyes. ya, i know there are scenes where keith’s eyes look more purple depending on the light. but, you know who else has eyes the same color as keith’s for the one scene they’re in? mr father of the year right here

so im not sure id really hinge everything on something like eye color, especially considering that there’s this whole debate over whether keith’s are purple/violet/grey/blue/whatever. but i do think the fact that lotor inherits purple eyes instead of the traditional galra yellow, as well as the fact that keith’s do look distinctly purple in some light, can maybe point to something. not really sure what, but its something. doesn’t change the fact that kogane’s eyes look really similar to his son’s though (more importantly, they look similar in the same lighting, so we know its the color itself and not just a trick of the light)

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews... Riverdale /S01\/E10\ Chapter 10: The Lost Weekend Airdate: April 13, 2017 @cwnetwork Ratings: 0.872 Million :: 0.32 18-49 Demo Share Score: 8.5/10 @riverdaleseries @archiecomics TVTime/FB/Twitter/IG/Tumblr/Path/Pin: @SpotlightSaga **********SPOILERS BELOW********** Four Months late isn't too bad, right? See, in Miami, it's never cute to be the first person at the party, and really the party never ends until someone actually says it does... And clearly the Riverdale Party is still very much in full swing. So consider this 10th Entry 'Riverdale Revisit'; the after party to end all after parties. Of course, we're going to be set up for S2 when it goes live. This is definitely not one of the tv shows that Spotlight Saga will be dropping in the coming, world famous, 'fall tv' season frenzy. But don't get it twisted, there are many on the chopping block... OUR chopping block. We're looking at what gets our blood pumping and our thoughts racing, giving us something more to talk about than "Last Night on ___insert uninspired show number #45 here___." 'Riverdale' has made a massive stir across social media and of course on The CW & their worldwide dominating partner, Netflix, as well. I love that due to streaming, the new large amounts of cash pouring in from its subsequent deals, and actually several generations full of 'cord cutters', there are no longer rules to watching and writing about television series and films... Get to them when you can, some will watch them live, some will stream them later, some will wait until they can binge them all at once like a Weekend Warrior with a pocket full of Ecstasy and a head full of hallucinogens. It's our world now, and CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, and more (or less) importantly 'Nielsen Holdings', no longer control what, when, where, why, and how much. Smell that? That's the sweet smell of change... And the remnants of murder and sticky maple syrup, obvi. Ive been extremely careful not to overpraise 'Riverdale' in the past. Similar series have only led to frustration or feelings of complete frustration. Its hard to know what to expect from a show like this in the near future... We all saw the demise of similar series like 'Pretty Little Liars' and other shows that run through the same type of vein... Kind of like many of the other ones attempted over at the now defunct ABC Family where PLL first started. Like The WB, UPN, and now The CW, ABC Family has also gone through a newly rebranding process that didn't do much to help the sinking ship they now call Freeform TV... A network that only 'The Fosters' and its cheesy sister show 'Shadowhunters' seem to be keeping afloat. We aren't being negative, we're being real... And when you're at a party, or in this case, 'After Party', you've got to be real. You just gotta... Even if no one ever wanted the party in the first place. If you don't know what I mean, let me spell it out for you. Ready? Set? Spell! Ah fuck it, we'll just spill the tea... 'Let's have a Kiki! Lock the doors tight!' I sometimes wonder if my obscure pop culture references I often sneak into these articles ever actually connect. They probably don't, but to that one person that got it, FUCK YEAH! It's the birthday of Jughead (Cole Sprouse)... And much like the very similar, fellow female counterpart, Sheila the She-Wolf, another introverted style character from 'Riverdale's sister show on Netflix, 'GLOW'... Jughead is not really into parties and/or making a big fuss about a birthday or bringing any unnecessary & unwanted attention to his person. Unfortunately for Betty (Lili Reinhart), Jughead isn't really big on camaraderie, most definitely not in the spirit equivalent to the 'Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling'! The reasons behind throwing these two characters' each their own impromptu birthday bashes on their respective tv shows are done for totally different reasons. With 'GLOW', it was slightly annoying at first (for Sheila, anyway), but eventually it turned from an apprehensive & anxiety filled event to a touching, sweet moment, where a closed off character had a major breakthrough that was captured in the perfect beam of light, allowing a significant development and enabling an insight into another character's backstory, bringing the whole cast together for the most part. In a great juxtaposition, on 'Riverdale', the psychology behind this one is actually much, much different... It's still got the 'trepidatious yet possible potential for a surprise moment of gratification' aspect down to a certain degree, but it doesn't go down the path of the balmy & charming. The reasoning behind Betty's sudden obsession to give Jughead the party that he never wanted, and the background as to why he's so against the idea in the first place certainly doesn't inspire camaraderie or any kind of 'feel good' moments, especially at the party itself. If anything, the intent is slightly bordering on the side of creepy. Riverdale?! Creepy?!? Yup! Keep up! It's only getting creepier. You see... We've been up on 'Riverdale' and then back down, and then back up and down again... And I think everyone here will openly admit that it's mostly due to a shaky CW track record, as well as similar networks just like it, though there has been a few inconsistencies outside of this oddball tone & beautiful color scheme we're always raving about. However, when the show fully embraces its complete and total anomalous, almost freakish eccentricities, we all just fall right back in love with the show again. It's episodes like 'Chapter 10: The Lost Weekend' that completely make us forget about past network follies and shows like PLL completely losing their way after gaining our trust and enthusiasm in its beginning stages. Reinhart is effortlessly serving up 'Bizarre, Bilateral, Betty Bananas' like a full-on, award ready, seasoned vet. Seriously, I don't want to blow too much smoke up the kid's ass, but I'm pretty sure her breakthrough performance here would even make the likes of decorated actress such as Nicole Kidman proud. Betty Cooper has a duality that Reinhart not only highlights with strong, hearty performances... But it's also the efforts of Director Dawn Williamson, a phenomenal Art Department (you guys KICK MAJOR ASS), Cinematographer Stephen Jackson (this guy was award-worthy in this episode), and Costume & Wardrobe (hell, everyone involved in the smallest, minute details) framed from shot to shot... The absurdity of how tight & perfectly situated her ponytail is, how hard she clenches her hands (leaving scratch marks on her palms), even the way she holds the cake & dawns the signature 'Jughead Crown', to whoever made the call of having those weirdo party goers in horse masks in the background - Good call, guys! That was freaking CRAZY! It's all those little things that make the picture such a pleasure to watch... Turning what seems like a normal teen drama at first glance, to a finely tuned, surprisingly compelling theatrical spectacle. The crazy is in full on abundance, though... It's not just Betty. Suddenly after a string of a few disappointing episodes, I come back after a break and either see things in a totally different light, or it could be that this was just slowly building right under our noses the whole time, or *the most plausible of all three options* is that the ironically lowest rated episode of the series, according to the great analysts over at Nielsen, is actually the most technically sound, character driven, insanely atmospheric entry of the entire 1st Season. Veronica Lodge (Camila Mendes) finally lets go of some deep resentments she's been bottling up and goes after Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch). This is a task that I wouldn't suggest to any person of sound or capable mind to attempt in any way, shape, fashion, or form. The act is crazy in and of itself, and pissing off the 'Ravishing Redhead' that literally wears the letters 'HBIC' on the back of her cheerleading uniform, that's 'Head Bitch in Charge' for anyone too young or too old to remember Tiffany Pollard of VH1's 'I Love New York', is obviously going to lead to a backlash that Veronica won't likely forget. Sure she might get her big 'W' now, but we must remind you... There's no 'W' in 'HBIC'. Meanwhile, Cole Sprouse & Skeet Ulrich, who plays Serpent Gangster FP Jones & Jughead's father on the show, are literally close to actually convincing me that they are really father and son in real life. The little ticks and nuances that they share are out of this fn' world insane. Either these two have spent a week in a trailer together mirroring their every move or we seriously need to ring in Maury Povich for a DNA Test! Oh, and apparently there's some guy on the show named Archie Andrews (KJ Apa)... The only drawback is that they've failed to make the main protagonist (is he tho?) even remotely interesting. He's good looking, but he's not a convincing redhead, and I'm still not hooked into his arc. Hey, that's ok... Enter Mary Andrews (Molly Ringwald - ChaChing!), Archie's long lost mother. So nice of you to finally drop in, Molly! Fred Andrews (Luke Perry) is ready to finalize the divorce, but we're just biting on all the possibly juicy dramatic scenarios! Who is Archie again? Back at the party, that burgeoning rivalry between Veronica and Cheryl hits its boiling point when Veronica gets a bit too carried away and accuses Cheryl and her deceased brother Jason (Trevor Stines) of having an incestious affair. Ah, gotta love seedy underbelly of the United States! The more money, the crazier the family!!! Oh but there's more! Good ol' All-American Chuck (Jordan Calloway), who actually WAS almost boiled alive, attempts to out Betty on her 'Dr. Jeckyl/Ms. Hyde' issue that surfaced when a hot tub prank got a bit too out of hand earlier in the season. To our surprise, and viewer delight, Jughead and his Dad actually had a moment, which was completely unexpected, yet felt completely real. Like I said before, Ulrich & Sprouse have stellar chemistry, and the writers seem to know this and obviously derive great pleasure in giving us this moment where the two aren't at total odds and Jughead not only carefully considers, but actually takes his biological father's advice... Providing solid proof that the series isn't trying to meander or stretch out any unnecessary storylines at all. No disrespect to fans of other series broadcast on The CW, but clearly this isn't 'The Flash'. These storylines seem to be heading into important territory at a reasonable pace, and not just hanging around to fulfill an episode number requested by an executive to make sure ad-space quotas are filled... Although I have considered that this could be an issue that the show could run into in its expanded 22-Episode Run that it's been greenlit for S2. There's plenty of juicy drama to go around, but when we see that drama making moves instead of being drawn out, then you know you've got a potentially good show on your hands. For now, 'Riverdale' is back on a solid trajectory, delivering what appears to be a set-up episode for the impending S1 finale... A set-up episode that was easily the most consistent entry to date from start to finish. The impression that an episode as good as this exists to move its characters like chess pieces, seemingly just to put everyone in place for the final three episodes is an exciting notion for the last 3 hours of S1 of 'Riverdale' to come!

[mermaidsirennikita]

I love how unbiased you are and how knowledgeable. I don't get why people are so up in arms about proving how it was the best or worst marriage ever with Henry and Elizabeth. I think they were just fine although I'm sure they went through rough patches due to the awkward political situation they were in. They seem to have gotten along fine although comforting each other when their son died always seemed to me like they were on good terms but not indicative of a great love. (1)

(2) I actually find Elizabeth and Richard more interesting. Did he really entertain marrying her or was the public denial completely true? Despite what novels claim there is really no evidence of a romantic connection with Anne. The other question i ponder is how Elizabeth felt towards her uncle. I would've hated him if I were her yet she wrote without changing next to his name in a story of forbidden romance!

Thank you!  I definitely have my biases, and I majored in art history so this isn’t my ~thing but I’m interested in it and I try my best.  There are definitely people on here who know more about Elizabeth and Henry than I do, tho--and I follow them and learn from them!

As for Richard III and Elizabeth--I won’t lie, I shipped them back when The White Queen was airing just because I didn’t super enjoy that show’s portrayal of Anne Neville (a woman whose character Philippa Gregory basically had to make up for that series, so it’s no shade on the real Anne there).  But I don’t think there’s any truth to rumors of a romance between them.  

I don’t know Richard III’s mind, so I can’t say that he NEVER considered marrying Elizabeth.  But even if he did, I think it would have been a purely political question, and he brushed it away immediately.  Above all else, I think Richard was a politically shrewd man.  He would have gained nothing from marrying his niece (for whom he’d have to get a papal dispensation) especially after he essentially declared her a bastard.  To marry her would be to acknowledge the political importance of Edward IV’s children with Elizabeth Woodville, and that would have contradicted Richard’s own justification for his rule.  Furthermore, Richard seemed to be negotiating to marry Joanna of Portugal--I feel like it’s possible that that would have fallen through had he lived (she was older by the standards of the day and hadn’t had any children, and he needed an heir) but he was clearly looking at foreign princesses.  And I wouldn’t say that there was ZERO evidence of a romance between Anne and Richard--more that there wasn’t much evidence of who Anne was as a person in general, aside from the victim wash she got when people started really going in on Richard.  I believe they knew each other when they were quite young, which is more than a lot of people could say in those days, and there have been reports that he was grieving after her death.  He also didn’t make a big show of mistresses during their marriage; now, there could have been some that didn’t make the history books, but aside from the questionable age of his younger illegitimate child (which I’ve seen people argue about on either side, I now am more convinced that the kid was born prior to Richard marrying Anne) there’s no solid evidence that Richard strayed from Anne’s bed.  

As for Elizabeth writing her name in “Tristan and Isolde”--while I get why, on the surface, that seems suspicious, we have to understand that they weren’t operating with a twenty-first century mindset, and it was most probably completely innocent.  From what I understand, Elizabeth’s signature indicates that she got the book before she married, but I haven’t seen anything that otherwise indicates when she wrote her signature.  Maybe she wrote it before her father died.  In that case, Richard was actually very respected before then and considered to be very loyal to Edward IV, and quite possibly a good uncle to his nieces and nephews.  (... Alas.)  So maybe she respected him and liked her uncle and wrote her name as a little token of affection.  On the other hand, it’s possible that she wrote the signature after Richard’s death but prior to her marriage, in which case it’s possible that she wasn’t yet sure about whether or not Richard killed her brothers and wrote her name as a tribute to a dead relative.  OR maybe she did believe he killed her brother and wrote it anyway.  The thing is that you could really dislike someone but still honor a family connection back in those days, especially when that family member was a king.  Kind of a “my uncle, good or bad” sort of thing.  I mean, for all intents and purposes Edward IV killed his and Richard’s brother George, but Richard still played nice with Edward.  Complicated times, you know?

So no, I ultimately don’t believe that Richard and Elizabeth were at all really romantically connected.  But I can see why people run with that with fiction--I just feel that it’s important to make it clear that it’s not reality if you’re going to do that.  It’s a really interesting idea, but to me it’s no more the truth than the Borgia incest rumors.

[sofashorts41-blog]

How Much You Need To Expect You'll Pay For A Good deacon christian

The vocative circumstance (abbreviated VOC) is the case utilized for a noun that identifies a person (animal, item etc.) currently being dealt with or occasionally the determiners of that noun. A vocative expression is definitely an expression of direct deal with by which the identity on the celebration spoken to is set forth expressly within a sentence. the eremitic life, also known since the anchoritic life, "by which the Christian faithful dedicate their life towards the praise of God and salvation of the world by way of a stricter separation from the world, the silence of solitude and assiduous prayer and penance".[8] Catholic Church legislation recognizes to be a hermit "one focused on God in a consecrated life if he / she publicly professes the a few evangelical counsels, verified by a vow or other sacred bond, during the hands from the diocesan bishop, and observes her or his very own prepare of life beneath his route". A RELIGIOUS ORDER DIFFERS from a guild or society or association for the reason that its members have taken vows. We list guilds, societies, and associations in their very own portion. , drawn up in a basic chapter of abbots and monks held at Cîteaux in 1119, placed the supreme path of Cistercian monasteries under the Abbot of Cîteaux, and understood a Considerably greater unity which prepared the way to the religious orders of a later period (see "Carta caritatis" in P.L., CLXVI, 1377). The monasteries of Premonstratensian Canons were early grouped in circles ( A woman dedicates herself towards the vocation of her partner; she fills up and performs the subordinate areas in it. But if she has any Future, any vocation of her individual, she ought to renounce it, in nine scenarios from 10. 'An Anglican Religious Community, Launched in 1865 in London. Two moves later the convent is currently in Derby. In addition there are 6 other department houses. From all houses within the Community the sisters are engaged in a variety of pastoral and evangelistic works, based on the certain gifts in the sister involved. In truth, if partial emancipation is always to become a complete and true emancipation of woman, it will have to accomplish absent with the absurd notion that to become loved, to get sweetheart and mother, is synonymous with getting slave or subordinate. Thus the slogans of equality serve not so much to elevate people today to your dignity of getting human regarding free them from the responsibility of rising to this vocation. I has to be true to my conviction that I share with all Males the calling for being a son of your living God. Further than the calling of race or nation or creed is this vocation of sonship and brotherhood, and because I think that the Father is deeply involved especially for his struggling and helpless and outcast children, I come tonight to talk for them. On this web site there are lots of great scriptures within the concept of "Wisdom" worded as short "prayers". It's good to confess scripture, but it can be reworking if the scripture is a prayer of because of God. n. pl. ro·sa·ries one. Roman Catholic Church a. A type of devotion to your Virgin Mary, mainly consisting of 3 sets of five decades Just about every with the Hail Mary, each decade preceded via the Lord's Prayer and ending with a doxology. Move is our new subscription program meant to carry you unrestricted two-working day free shipping for one particular year with no minimum amount order. Get what you need ― rapid! Moreover, not just about every doctrine or observe of the Bogus religion is necessarily faulty or reprehensible; there may be fantastic nobility of character amid Buddhist monks or Mussulman dervishes, as there may be faults sullying the monastic or religious behavior worn within the true Church. We need not right here existing a comparative Evaluation from the Christian religious life and also the religious life of non-Christians, nor even Assess our religious with the servants of God within the Outdated Testament (see ANCHORITES; ASCETICISM; BUDDHISM; ESSENES; MONASTICISM). But how are we to recognize the religious life with the true and Divine religion? adoration prayers Not by bodily mortifications, which may be surpassed in severity by All those of your fakirs; not by mystical ecstasies and raptures, which were knowledgeable by These initiated into the Greek and Oriental mysteries, and remain fulfilled with among Buddhist monks and dervishes; not even through the faultless strains of many of the programs of Catholic religious life, for God, who desires progress even in His Church, has permitted tough beginnings, experiments, and particular person issues; but even the persons making these mistakes possess within the true religion the ideas which make sure correction and gradual improvement. Aside from, in its entirety, the religious life of your true religion ought to appear to us for being in conformity with the moral and social legal guidelines of our current existence, together with with our Future; its intentions have to appear sincerely directed toward personal sanctification, toward God, as well as the Divine order. The tree ought to almost everywhere be known by its fruits. Now, Catholic religious life infinitely surpasses all other ascetic devices by the truth and beauty in the doctrine laid down in a great number of rules and treatises, and via the eminent sanctity of its followers for instance Saints Anthony, Pachomius, Basil Augustine, Colombanus, Gregory, and Some others, and finally, especially in the West, via the marvellous fruitfulness of its work for the benefit of mankind. Right after these preliminary observations, we may possibly confidently hunt for the true religious life in the Gospel. Evangelical plan If your monastic life has sometimes appeared incompatible with those sacred functions which drew the monk from his silence and retreat (see Decree of Gratian, c. XVI, q. 1, c. 1, 2, 4, six, eight, 10, eleven), The easy division into contemplative and mixed orders demonstrates the error of People persons who have represented the religious life as inconsistent with the sacred ministry, like piety have been against charity, or apostolic zeal did not presuppose and foster the love of God. This error, which experienced by now been refuted by St. Thomas in his "Contra impugnantes religionem", ch. iv, directed from William of St. Amour, was renewed in the Jansenist pseudo-Council of Pistoia and condemned by the Constitution "Auctorem Fidei" of 1794, prop. eighty. In the midst of the final century, Verhoeven, a professor of Louvain, within a pamphlet entitled "De regularium et sæcularium juribus et officiis", preserved that, in accordance with the spirit with the Church, religious ought to not consider any but a secondary and supplementary section from the sacred ministry, and only when the secular clergy weren't sufficiently various with the work. His opinion was refuted by an nameless work, entitled "Examen historicum et canonicum libri R. D. Mariani Verhoeven", created by Fathers De Buck and Tinnebroeck, S.J., in contrast to knowledge, considering that religious perfection aids apostolic work; to tradition, as a lot of terrific missionary enterprises have been carried out by religious; to canon legislation, which approves of orders recognized for the objective of the sacred ministry, and take into consideration religious as fitted for The main capabilities.

[lucius-inspo-blog]

PART I: THE MUGGLE

Name: Aman

Age: ..22? shit how old am I? Yeah, 22. We’re good.

Timezone: PST

Preferred Pronouns: She/her

Activity Level: um… active? low key always around ngl

Have you read the rules and F.A.Q.?: yuppp

Tell us a bit about yourself and roleplaying: umm… hi

What is your favourite spell?: Weird question, I know, but I’m curious! Fat rat yellow spell!

Ships | Anti-Ships: Lucius/Narcissa, Lucius/Chem

Anything else?: sorry, i wrote a lot…

PART II: THE WIZARD

Name: Full name of the character you are applying for.

Age and Birthday: August 11, 1954, which makes him 25

Preferred Pronouns: He/him

Character alignment: Neutral Evil. He might not exactly fit the mold but I’d say the following holds true: A neutral evil villain does whatever she can get away with. She is out for herself, pure and simple. She sheds no tears for those she kills, whether for profit, sport, or convenience. The explanation goes on to explain that he has no love of order or destruction for the sake of destruction. Which, honestly, is true. All of that, his reasons for everything tie back to himself.

Affiliation: Death Eater. Why’d he join? Practical reasons: everyone is, Lord Voldemort is clearly powerful, there’s a movement here he wants to be a part of, he wants to be actively involved, he knew his father’d done plenty of meddling in affairs but this is more than that and even better, he would be making things happen Emotional reasons: he struggles with depression, the bloody part of this role serves as therapy of sorts, it brings him a rush, a power and something bigger.

Occupation: Pls, he has none. Socialite. As a Malfoy, he’s been taught to have his fingers in everything but to always keep his respectability. He’s shrewd, clever and intends to go after power, however he refers being the whispers in someone’s ear rather than to take the limelight (in case it backfires in the future). He doesn’t mind throwing anyone under the bus, but he’ll always do it from behind the scenes. This persona is part of why he’s able to plead Imperius curse when put on trial after the war. He was never openly cruel towards the wrong people. When we see him later in the series, we see a lot through Harry’s very biased perspective where he is openly cruel. At that point, he has made an enemy out of Harry and makes a point to be brutal. Backspace jut a little earlier in the book and you’ll hear him telling his son to never be openly hostile towards Harry because it wouldn’t do well to hate the BWL.

PART III: THE INTERVIEW

1. What was your first sexual experience if you had one? Is it a positive or negative memory?

“I hope you know that, usually, I’ll need a good glass of wine or three before delving into such topics. However, I can make an exception today.” He paused for effect, playful smile hiding behind the rim of his wine glass. “Let’s see, I was bright eyed young thing at Hogwarts and spending time with an older girl– hush, we’re not naming names. We’d found a little alcove and had ourselves a quick, little fumble. Awkward, a little cringe worthy, definitely warrants a good chuckle as I look back at it now. Overall, I’d say it’s a good memory, which I’m thankful for. I’ve heard quite a few tales of some terrible first experiences.” 2. If you had a weakness for one of the seven deadly sins, which one would it be and why?

“Easily gluttony. If one takes into account how much as I’ve eaten today, I might need to be rolled back to the manor.” Lucius laughed and patted his smooth stomach, taking delight in the lingering gaze on his figure. “You’d do the honors, right? Help a poor, gluttonous man out.” 3. What kind of house/apartment do you live in?

“Grandiose would not even begin to describe Malfoy manor. Don’t tell me I have never invited you over– oh no, this has to be rectified immediately. Next time we meet to discuss the policy, we shall do so at the manor. I’ll give you a tour, maybe we might be able to catch my father.” Lucius watched the man stand to attention at the mention of Abraxas. Perfect, he could work with that. 4. Which do you idealise most: happiness or success?

“Happiness. Success isn’t the answer. No, listen, wait a minute, don’t go saying I want every endeavor to fail. Success isn’t the answer to everything, it’s a way of life. I have it now and it’s something that I’ll always be chasing– anyone in their right mind will always be chasing it. Once you stop working towards it, it’s gone… Happiness, however, is a state of being that I’d love to get to know better. ” 5. If you died or went missing, who would miss you?

“My wife to be, I would imagine, would be quite torn apart by my loss.” An image played in his head: Narcissa crumpled over in a chair, inconsolable as she pressed a damp handkerchief to her eyes, the air full of choked sobs and prayers for his safe return. She was strikingly beautiful when she cried but he had no desire to test that theory, especially not in this manner. He would be staying as far from death as he could manage. His own death, that was. “Were you expecting me to say my father? Tsk, you and I both know he’d be delighted to raise another Malfoy heir. He always did enjoy my younger years.” 6. What would you do if you had insomnia and had to find something to do to amuse yourself?

“As a man who thrives off company, I’d be at a loss.” Perhaps that’s where marriage comes in, another person to share your sleepless nights… The reply never passed his lips so that the man’s thoughts stayed away from a certain pale, beautiful figure wrapped up in silk sheets. Lucius wet his lips, then continued, driving the other wizard in another direction. “If no one is available for a floo call, well… I’ve always been a fan of learning something new– perhaps a musical instrument. Do you play any yourself?”

PART IV: THE DETAILS

Q1 Takeaways:

Warm and inviting, when he talks to someone, he’s basically inviting them into his space. Like they’re special and an exception and can see something that no one ever gets to see.

He can laugh at himself. Only he can though, if you say something about/to him, he’ll remember it and it’ll bite them in the ass later. But if he laughs at himself, you can go ahead and give a good chuckle with him.

He’ll withhold as deemed classy and he’ll do it in a way that doesn’t feel like he’s holding back. He’s smooth and charming and hardly hesitates

More selfish note about witholding the girl’s name: it’s also about his first time and he doesn’t want any other perspective. He doesn’t want someone being interested, seeking her out and getting her side of it. Again, back to the being able to laugh at himself but you better not laugh at him.

However, if he didn’t like her, if it was a bad memory, he might’ve let part of the name slip by ‘accident’.

Q2 takeaways:

He’s vain, he loves when people appreciate him. Half of these types of comments from him are for when the reply is along the lines of 'rolled back? Look at you, you’re flawless.“

Gluttony: selfishness. Overindulgence, he loves the big stuff and he often gets wrapped up and carried away in it. Give him something good and he’ll chase it with all he’s got. Even the thought or hope of something good is enough to demand his attention. He’s constantly seeking out fulfillment and happiness. He’ll gobble something up and then move on to the next thing, never satisfied. This is a huge aspect to him as a person where he doesn’t know where to stop. He tends to get enthralled by something and then carelessly toss it aside when it’s consumed (when he’s realizes that, no, it’s not going to make him happy). There’s always a new best thing: a new bottle of wine, the family wand, Narcissa.

Rejects

Lust: nah, not for sex, not for power. He has power

Envy: meeeeeeeeh

Greed: psh

Sloth: NOPE, he always gets irritated when people claim that rich just laze about in their manors. He’s seen his parents stress, struggle, and strive for more just like anyone else. He sees his friends and others in his society picking up jobs, organizing charities and balls, influencing the world…

Wrath: this is a contender, if only because he knows how to hold a grudge. He gets angry, upset, he goes to violence, he sees it as just. He revels in vengeance and enjoys a good cleverly hatched plan. However, it’s not blinding. He’ll never lose himself in a rage and will always weigh consequences. He values himself more than he values that anger.

Pride: another contendor, but not that high. This man’s ego is unparalleled by many. He values himself and thinks of himself as a gift to the world. It’s put in perspective, however, when you look at how he uses it. He considers himself high but he surrounds himself in other people who are at his level. He sees others’ pride as well and acknowledges that, yes, they should be proud. They’re accomplished as well. They’re powerful, skilled men and women to admire.

Q3 Takeaways:

He knows what the man wants, he just roundabout worked his way there. This wizard wants to meet Abraxas? That can be arranged. It might be. Maybe. Okay, Lucius had no intention of bringing his father in, but let’s keep that between us.

Even if Abraxas isn’t there, it’s a way to bring the other into his arms. Lucius enjoys these kinds of things, where he can show off the manor, share little 'secrets’, help the other unwind, bring him in to his side.

Q4 Takeaways

Fuck me up I have a lot of thoughts about this. So does Lucius, can you tell? His demeanor gets a bit more earnest, like he’s telling you something you need to know.

He’s familiar with success.

He isn’t familiar with happiness. It goes back to how he has the world at his fingertips. It hit him a lot as a teenager– he dealt with depression! He was prefect. He had good friends. A girlfriend. Sexual experiences. Grades. Pureblood. Teachers loved him. He was perfect. But he felt empty and, damn, he needed something. It’s multiple things: he doesn’t handle bad news as well, constantly looking up the ladder, goals are less gratifying than he’d thought them to be, he felt like he’d always had to hold back. He withdrew for a while there, in Hogwarts, pulled back from all the shit and just tried to sort his stuff out on his own, but that didn’t end up working out at all. Now he’s grounded a bit in his mission with the Death Eaters.

The torture and the killing is almost therapeutic to him, putting life and values into perspective. It keeps him grounded but it still doesn’t give him that happiness. Right now, he thinks Narcissa is going to make him happy.

Q5 Takeaways

He’s a dreamer, can you see? It works with him in general. He knows how to dream big. He knows how to get what he wants!

Narcissa… He has an image built up of her in his head. He has an idea of who she is and what she’ll be to him. He expects her to fill it, honestly. He’s controlling as a fiance and he makes sure he has a say. At the same time, he’s very romantic. He wants her to be in love with him and to miss him. There’s a juxtaposition there that’s going to definitely leave him jarred. Especially as he realizes that his image of Narcissa isn’t really her. Right now though, he idealizes her. She is the solution to all his problems, his other half, his wife to be, the woman who’ll share his bed and his struggles.

He’s spoiled by his dad. Absolutely spoiled and they have had a really good relationship ever since he was young. Something changed a little with his father when he grew up. He idealizes his childhood a little bit and that joy he had there.

Q6 Takeaways:

He’s an extrovert and everyone knows it

He has very very detailed and vivid thoughts about Narcissa being in his bed

The assumption that he can wake her up if he can’t sleep. Not for sex, but just in general. It’s such an interesting assumption and you can tell that he doesn’t understand relationships in any way

He realizes how the mention of Narcissa can bring the other guy’s thoughts to her scantily clad and in bed. So he’s protecting his wife to be’s virtue. Gtfo, guy, only he can daydream about her like that

He likes to spend time productively and doing things. He does, however, have a loose sense of the word productive. Making peacocks out of paper? Useless, sure, but it’s productive. An intricate braid in his hair? Why not?

Wand

Age: 11–now

Sentiments: it’s been a great companion to him, served him well, he enjoys a little flair Alder wood, dragon heartstring

Wood: Alder

Whilst Alder makes for an unyielding wood, its ideal owner is not stubborn or obstinate, but often helpful, considerate and most likeable. Whereas most wand woods seek similarity in the characters of those they will best serve, alder is unusual in that it seems to desire a nature that is, if not precisely opposite to its own, then certainly of a markedly different type. When an alder wand is happily placed, it becomes a magnificent, loyal helpmate. Of all wand types, alder is best suited to non-verbal spell work, whence comes its reputation for being suitable only for the most advanced witches and wizards. Alder is also excellent for protection against outside forces, and, when combined with phoenix feather, is a suitable match for a wizard who will "make their mark on this world”

Core: Dragon Heartstring

As a rule, dragon heartstrings produce wands with the most power, and which are capable of the most flamboyant spells. Dragon wands tend to learn more quickly than other types. While they can change allegiance if won from their original master, they always bond strongly with the current owner. The dragon wand tends to be easiest to turn to the Dark Arts, though it will not incline that way of its own accord. It is also the most prone of the three cores to accidents, being somewhat temperamental.

Age: for the future

Sentiments: longing Elm, dragonheartstring: Kept in a walking stick, family heirloom that’s been passed through the Malfoy family from patriarch to patriarch for generations.

He’s eagerly awaiting this wand, honestly. He’ll be getting it when he marries, as a symbol of becoming head of the Malfoy family.

Lucius has this game he plays with his father where he’ll try to sneak it away from him. They’ve been doing it since he was younger. Sometimes the wand would be laying in the open and he’d sneak it away. Other times, he’d go with a classic “OH WHAT WAS THAT” and then run with it, giggling like a mad man. It led to quite a few little accidents, unfortunately, but nothing that couldn’t be waved away.

Friends

He’s a lot looser with his friends than the general public. He can be more crude, more playful and enjoys that they can bring out the cruel streak in him.

He has no problem sharing disgusting details with his friends, he’s also the group gossip for sure.

Considering his friends, I can easily see them having a bit of a good cop bad cop dynamic sometimes.

He judges Rodolphus’ relationship with Bellatrix and definitely doesn’t want anything like that for himself.

He’s known for his parties tbh, he throws amazing ones

Family

Father: Lucius close with his dad and has always been. When he was younger, his dad would bring him along to teas and casual events, just to charm the ladies. Lucius would sit there, well behaved, flashing a couple smiles and asking a few questions here or there. Winning people over had never been difficult. He enjoyed the bonding. He loved seeing the inner working’s of his father’s circle– how things worked and why. The man did, however, have a habit of silencing young Lucius when he used the wrong words. Abraxas took a direct approach to raising Lucius and showed him how everything worked and why. His father didn’t give away all his secrets, though, which was made apparent when he rebuked any questions Lucius had about if he really did organize the unfortunate death of the first muggleborn minister.

Mother: His mother was a stranger to him growing up. She’d married Abraxas for his name, gave him an heir, and then declared her duties done. She stood by Abraxas at parties but hardly did much more. Lucius didn’t interact much with her growing up and, honestly, he didn’t want to. His father had never had kind words for her, which left a mark in Lucius’ impressionable young mind.

Relationship^ He doesn’t want a relationship like his parents. He wants love and companionship. He has a lot of views of what marriage would mean to him and they’re very naïve, idealistic and one sided.

The Supremacy

He was raised with pureblood supremacy. It was how he viewed life, of course. He knew he was better than others, that much was clear. He was isolated in a similar society. In this way, he definitely grew up seeing an ideal. This is what the rest of the world could be. He couldn’t fathom why they would not want this. His family has always held such beliefs and have been pulling strings in the background for years. Abraxas, in fact, was part of the assassination of the first muggle born minister. Lucius started his Hogwarts years with that belief never wavering. However, it was always just a belief until he joined the death eaters. Then it quickly became something more. He’s proud of his position as death eater. He sees himself as taking a belief and acting upon it, not just once or twice but over and over with each mission he takes. He sees himself and his comrades taking up arms for a something they believe in and rallying together. He finds a lot of strength in that idea. They’re coming together to do something good. It’s something that needs to be done. He recognizes the cruelty of it. How would he not see the fact that there’s death and torture at every step? He doesn’t mind, though. In fact, it’s part of the draw. Lucius struggled with depression for a lot of his teenage years, but this has helped pull him out of it. He’s found something that helps him feel steady. This is what he likes. He likes the torture. He likes the ideals. What is he there for? He’s there for himself. Honestly, he’s there because it works for him. It’s an easy, entertaining way for him to solidify his sense of self. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in any of it. Actually, he’s dived fully into it and has quickly climbed the ranks of the Death Eaters. However, it just means that his loyalties lie with himself.

^– is a a coward? Idk about that. Maybe you could call him one. It’s more that he loves himself more than anything else and he’ll take care of himself. He’s loyal to the death eaters but that’s because it works for him. When it stops working for him, he’ll let it go. When Voldemort dies, he has no desire to go look for him. He’s not loyal to the man. Yes, he believes in pureblood supremacy, but he’ll find his own ways to play with it that doesn’t involve voldemort or the death eaters. And by then, he has a son as well which ends up becoming another way to ground him (a healthier way than torture and killing). He doesn’t go searching for Voldemort. He doesn’t want to end up in Azkaban. So he says forget that. He doesn’t think Voldemort is the answer to everything. He sees him and respects him and even fears him, but he believes in himself more than this dark wizard.

I’m using this in reference, as well, to when the DE masks come out at the Quidditch World Cup. At that point, he’s been bored, slightly unbalanced yet again and the torture was a pull he couldn’t resist.

OKAY

Now that you’ve read all this bullshit, go ahead and check out: https://lucius-inspo.tumblr.com/ it’s easier to read, i swear

PART V: THE STORY

Lucius Malfoy graced the wizarding world with his arrival between claps of thunder– applause. The downpour continued for a week after his birth but did nothing to deter the flocks of men and women who made their way to Malfoy manor. The manor sat under darkened skies, teeming with life as the pitter patter of rain against the tiles became another layer of music. After years and years of trying, a new heir for the Malfoy family was born. Abraxas paraded the newborn around, the bundle of blankets cradled in his arms for all to see while his wife sat with her friends, exhausted and pretending her insides weren’t torn apart.

These first few days of Lucius’ life reflected the following years perfectly. A doting father, a distant mother, thunderous applause and the Malfoy name.

The name Malfoy gave Lucius everything– wealth, prestige, luxury, heritage, purity, and a sense of pride– and his father never once let him believe otherwise. As he grew, Lucius learned how to wield this identity as both a weapon and a shield. With words as sweet as honey and a bright smile to go with it, he charmed everyone through his childhood, from his father’s coworkers to Hogwarts professors to the girls who giggled in the halls when he passed by. His actions held a warmth that, though exagerrated, could hardly be called fake.

Pull this string and you get a nod of acknowledgement, pull the other and you get an invitation into their home. Hogwarts was a breeze to the clever young Slytherin, who churned out excellent spellwork, acceptance into the Slug Club, and a prefect’s badge. His friends never left his side and the girls were another adventure entirely. Life should be perfect for Lucius Malfoy, the young boy who had everything.

Yet, the ever elusive concept of happiness stayed within arm’s reach for him. Both in and after Hogwarts, each goal he placed for himself brought a satisfied curl to his stomach before leaving him empty and in want of more. The man ate, drank and smiled his way through a barrage of parties but found himself craving more. Parties, alcohol, drugs, women. When something failed, he switched his attention to something else.

The fullfillment was found in the Death Eaters. When he joined Lord Voldemort’s ranks, it was as much for himself as it was for the cause that he believed in so dearly. The higher purpose and the torture that came with it was just enough to ground the unbalanced young man. The climb through Lord Voldemort’s ranks was accompanied by a renewed vigor in Lucius’ life.

He craved more: a wife, the manor, a new title, impact on policy, his family wand, his mother’s approval, Lord Voldemort’s favor, the list goes on and on. Narcissa was the first on the list and just as easy as everything else was to him. With a word in her mother’s direction, the young woman was already his, down to the new platinum blonde hair. The dedication delighted him like nothing else before. It could only get better from there.

At 25, Lucius had grown into himself as a man. He had gained his own reputation in the Ministry that could rival his father’s– one with no need for a job title. Lucius kept his hands clean, fingers gently wrapped around his wineglass as he smiled his way through yet another Ministry function with his beautiful fiancée by his side. With Narcissa as his own, the Ministry in his pocket, and the muggleborns quickly dwindling away, he saw good things for his future. And damn, he was craving something good.