#hes willing to bend his gender for the purpose of hurting others

[alien-til-i-stage]

Luka’s gender is whatever will get the trauma worse

[fangirleaconmigo]

Calling any transmasc people, or people who use he/they for any advice you are willing to share with an online fandom friend.

I’m a little worried to ask this because I know how awful people can be online. (Goes without saying that anyone who interacts with this for the purpose of being transphobic will be immediately blocked.)

But. I also feel bad asking online friends directly because it feels like putting them on the spot to do emotional labor for me on a topic that might be triggering.

So I’m putting this into the tumblr sphere and anyone who feels comfortable doing so can respond. Here it is.

I have two young transmasc people in my life. For one I’m their auntie (actually I think it’s cousin once removed) and for the other, soon to be sort of aunt in law… The important thing to know is that they are young people (adults but very young/starting college age) in my life and I love them. They are both creative, sweet, delightful, intelligent people who I enjoy spending time with and want to support.

Both of them have come out as transmasc publicly on fb and insta. One uses he/they pronouns and one uses he/him pronouns.

But it is complicated because I’m connected by similar age and/or familial connections to their parents, who have actively refused to accept this.

So here are my questions.

They have both said to misgender them in front of their parents. Both have parents who are helping support them through school and who they love, so they sort of just swallow the pain of it.

I feel like garbage misgendering them in front of their parents. Based on what they’ve said to me privately and on social media , I know this is painful for them. But I obviously I will do what they ask.

But it leaves me feeling like…how can I show them I care in other ways?

And when do I stop misgendering them? One is starting hormone therapy and planning for gender affirming surgery. And what about other non parent relatives? How do I refer to them to other parent-connected people? What about social media?

And for the person who uses he/they, his friends ALWAYS use “they”. I’ve never actually heard anyone use the ‘he’ bit. So, should I always use they? Should I assume this a preference? Or is it just tolerated? (He is extremely shy and quiet and I don’t know what is just done for purpose of going with the flow)

And (sorry this is ignorant but I don’t know) does transmasc with he/they pronouns still mean boy or man? Or is it non gendery? Does the “they” make things non binary? Or should I refer to them with masculine names?

I feel very ignorant but I don’t know how else to fix that besides asking.

If anyone has advice please let me know. Should I just ask? If so is there a better approach than just being blunt?

I just worry about just straight up asking either of them direct personal questions about their identity when they’re under so much pressure and so many of the questions I see them get are passive aggressive veiled insults. It’s nonstop! Even “supportive” people are usually asking questions to challenge them and then they go “what I’m just asking??” but it’s obviously gaslighting. And one is extremely quiet and shy and I just worry about adding to the bullshit they’re experiencing every day.

Anti-trans people on social media are always painting trans folks as so aggressive about their identities, but in real life, all I see are trans people constantly bending over backwards and apologizing for their existence and it hurts my heart when it is young people that I care about.

But I don’t really always know how to support in these complicated situations.

[babygirl-kaoru]

Wataei/Reader Threesome HCs

Contains: Wataru x Eichi / Watari, Dom!Wataru, Trans!Eichi, Switch!Eichi, penetration, double penetration, dumbification, mild degradation

Reader: Gender neutral, no pronouns or terms used. Both AFAB and AMAB genitals referenced. 2/3 sub, 1/3 Dom.

By clicking "Read More," you signify that you are OK with reading adult content.

Just imagine having a threesome with Wataru and Eichi... Seriously, talk about an ego booster. A billionaire idol and his insanely talented boyfriend decided that they wanted you to have sex with them. They could seduce anyone they wanted, but they specifically chose you. That alone is a testament to how awesome and sexy you are.

Anyway, moving on. They’re both willing to adapt to any role you want them to play. If you want to team up with Wataru and take control of Eichi, he would be delighted, his boyfriend does have two perfectly good holes after all. But if you would prefer to submit to Wataru as well, that can certainly be arranged. Maybe you even want both of them to dominate you, that’s reasonable if you’re feeling ambitious~

Eichi likes to be treated rough, so don’t hesitate to grab his hair and force him to take more of your cock, or hold his head against your cunt and make him service you. Wataru has no problem sharing, either, if you want to fuck Eichi too. You can bite or spank him wherever you like, as often as you like. Actually, please give him a mark or two as a memento. He gets off on the thought of someone seeing your love bites on his skin, or noticing that his thighs or arms are bruised like somebody grabbed them hard. He’ll certainly be leaving some marks on you too, scratching your back on purpose to provoke you into fucking him harder. If you’re not so sure about hurting him, that’s fine. He’d be just as happy if you wrote on his skin in marker, recording how many times he came from having his holes ruined, signing your name, or even writing his unofficial title: “Wataru and [name]’s Slut.”

Then again, you might not want to dominate Eichi at all. If that’s the case, don’t worry, you can lay back and let Wataru take care of you both. There’s just the small (or not-so-small) problem of how huge his cock is. It’s intimidating whether you have experience or not. Either way, Eichi understands that feeling, he did experience it himself once upon a time. He doesn’t mind going first, letting you watch Wataru fuck him to prove that there’s nothing to be afraid of. That said, it’s not long before he forgets his original intentions of reassuring you and only cares about getting railed like the whore he is. But watching your friend moan and cum with a brainless, delirious smile just makes you more excited for your turn. Wataru is more than capable of satisfying you both at the same time, using a vibrator to push Eichi even further while he fucks you on his cock. He’d be so happy to see you and Eichi get along as well, holding hands and kissing or fondling each other. Even when he’s finished, he doesn’t stop kissing your precious faces and cooing over how cute you both are.

But if you think you’re up to the task of satisfying them both, you’re in for a nice treat. Both of them can get quite rough and demanding, but they’ll leap at the chance to spoil you too. Eichi will kiss your cheeks and hold your legs apart, reassuring you that you’re in very good hands while Wataru takes his sweet time pushing his cock into you. They both bombard you with praise, telling you how you’re such a good little toy for them. You’ve still got to attend to their needs too, though. Eichi will hold your head and have you eat him out while Wataru bends you over the bed; alternatively, if you’re lying on your back, he’ll sit on your face so you can serve him. He makes sure to sit facing Wataru so he gets a perfect view of both of you, and he’ll reach out and jerk you off or rub your clit if he can. If you’re AFAB, he might even pull out the strap-on and fuck whatever hole Wataru isn’t using. Not just anyone gets this privilege, though, so you better say thank you~

By the time all three of you are satisfied, Eichi is completely spent and needs the most attention. Wataru doesn’t mind leaving to get water, snacks, towels, etc, leaving you to cuddle with Eichi and praise him for a job well done. You’ll most likely end up showering with one or both of them, Eichi’s fancy ass shower is definitely big enough for three (and there’s so many knobs, you’ll never find the right one on your own.) The housekeeping staff is already changing the sheets for you too, so you can all get right in bed once you’re all clean. You’re not getting away without any post coitus snuggles, that’s the best part. When you’re nice and warm under the blankets, with an exhausted but satisfied body and two lovely people on either side of you, you’re guaranteed the best sleep of your life. All three of you will certainly be in agreement: this needs to happen again sometime soon.

[finn-writes-stuff]

Hey Finn, my beloved, uh

So like, we both know I flinch if people move to fast so uh.... Could you do headcannons for if House Dimitrescu found that out..... Maybe replace Dani with Karl if you want I don't care

Do I make sense? Have I ever made sense? Uh oh here comes thinking anyways uh Love you

I'll do House Dimitrescu and Karl for you. (This does not change my rule of 4 characters per request, I am allowed to bend them at my discretion)

House Dimitrescu & Karl Heisenberg x Reader

Depending how you read this, it may imply a reader with a background of abuse, but this does not go in depth on any of the reasons why the reader flinches like this.

Gender neutral reader

Lady Dimitrescu

She generally moves very carefully and with purpose, so it's rare that she'll set you off.

But when she is angry, her movements are much more erratic. Even if you're not the one she's angry with, her presence can be very intimidating.

Alcina pays a lot of attention to you though, and she would note the way you flinched at her movements when she was angry and complaining to you about whatever had set her off.

It serves as a reminder for her to keep her anger in check, and she'll be sure to make sure you're alright.

She would never intentionally hurt you, but she also won't blame you for an instinctive reaction. She will, however, do her best to make sure every touch you receive from her is gentle and caring.

Bela Dimitrescu

She rarely moves too fast unless she's hunting, or arguing with her sisters, but she is very observant, especially when it comes to you.

Seeing the way you flinch when anyone moves to fast or with a dangerous intent around you immediately sets her into protective mode.

She will stab people for you, all you need to do is ask <3

Otherwise though, she keeps an eye on her own movements and will make sure other people around you do to.

If it ever is bad enough to really upset you, she'll set aside her whole day to take care of you.

Cassandra Dimitrescu

Cassandra is a very sharp and wild person, so sometimes she'll move like the snap of a whip. It doesn't really gel with the way you react.

But she does make a very specific effort to be softer around you after the first time she sees you flinch because of her.

You are the only person that she doesn't want to be scared of her, and she is doing her best to make sure you know you never need to be.

If your reactions are because of someone in your past, she will hunt them down and exact her revenge on whoever made her darling so worried and stressed.

Daniella Dimitrescu

Dani is erratic and energetic. A perfect combination for lots of sudden, quick movements.

She can also be a bit oblivious sometimes, so it may take her a while to notice how you flinch if you don't talk to her about it.

Eventually she'll see it though, and she'll sit down with you to have a conversation about why it affects you so much. She won't push for more information than you're willing to give, but she wants to understand.

She'll do her best to be careful around you, but she'll cover you in kisses if she ever messes up.

Karl Heisenberg

Karl is someone who has a tendency to gesture quickly and widely when he's going on a tangent. He never intends to hit you, but it's hard not to flinch when he's throwing his hands around like that.

It's made worse by the fact that he has a tendency to make himself big and loud when he's angry. He does his best to keep that in check if he's ever upset with you, but even if he's yelling at the Soldats, it can be a lot if you're close.

When he eventually notices the way you flinch, or if you bring it up to him, he'll realize how much his movements must stress you out, considering that he does it near constantly if he's working.

You'll be able to see him make an effort to watch himself when he's with you. His gesturing is gentler, and he pays attention to your reactions to make sure you're good.

When he's upset with you, he has a tendency to leave the room to cool off anyways, but now you'll notice him monitoring his anger at others too. He isn't any nicer to the soldats, but threats hissed out from behind gritted teeth are just as effective as his yelling and posturing.

[weebrecs]

Recommended Romance Anime Part 2

Hi Everyone, Someone messaged me asking for straight romance anime recommendations. I already made one list here: (https://weebrecs.tumblr.com/post/157666048002/recommended-romance-anime) and I have included more below. The ones with the *** are movies. I hope you enjoy!!

Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (9/10) Chiyo is the definition of adorable and loveable, at least for everyone except for the person that she likes. Nozaki is oblivious to the world around him and most of all Chiyo’s interest in him. However, Nozaki’s distance is due to him actually being a respectable shoujo mangaka. In her efforts to win his heart Chiyo finds herself acting as Nozaki’s assistant. Together they undergo hilarious situations and act out possible scenarios for Nozaki’s manga. Nozaki asks Chiyo to help him with brainstorming situations for his romance manga and Chiyo swoons just like the protagonist of the manga, and Nozaki starts wondering where the manga ends and true love begins. It is a great show to watch and has interesting character development as Chiyo goes from a girl that has a simple crush to a girl with real reason and purpose. Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life, School Life

Lovely Complex (8/10) If you love height differences then this is the show for you. Meet Koizumi who is much taller than the average girl and Ootani who is much shorter than the average guy. They are known as a Comedy Duo and they are constantly play tricks or making gags at the other’s expense. However, they soon learn that they have more in common then they first realized when their crushes end up falling for each other. Then as soon as they both start to realize that they might be falling for each other too the question of their mismatched heights comes up.  Romance, Comedy, Height difference

Ouran High School Host Club (8/10) Haruhi is an insanely bright and gifted girl that just wants some peace and quiet. She sneaks into a music room to get alone and stumbles into the school’s host club. Frantically she tries to remove herself from the situation and shatters an expensive vase. Since she’s a scholarship student without a lot of money she doesn’t know how she’ll pay to replace the vase. However, the host club has an option for her. Join Haruhi as she meets a delight cast of male hosts that slowly find themselves changing due to Haruhi’s influence. Haruhi starts to learn about life outside of books and the boys learn to love someone. I love how relaxed this show is at times and how crazy the characters and situations are. Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life, School Life

Skip Beat (9/10) Kyouko is willing to bend over backwards to help her childhood friend, Shou, in his dreams of becoming famous. Out of the goodness of her heart she helps him basically live his life. She thinks that they are perfect together then everything changes when she over hears him telling someone that Kyouko is like is his servant. Furious Kyouko stops supporting him and decides that if she built him to become a famous celebrity then she could do it for herself too. As she grows she meets someone that can help her not only gain her revenge on Shou but someone that might actually treat her right. This is an encouraging love story that shows that people that love you can bring out the best in you Romance, Comedy, Show Business, Revenge

Akagami no Shirayuki-hime (8/10) This is a modern retelling of Snow White, but this time with a twist: she has red hair. There are two season of this anime and if you love romance animes with a dash of adventure you’ll love this one. Shirayuki is a skilled herbalist who is noticed by a prince. Terrified that she’ll live a kept life she escapes and is rescued by Zen (who is adorable and perfect…goodness I love him!). Zen brings her to his castle and their life begins. Slowly friendship turns into romance. Romance, Adventure

Akatsuki no Yona (9/10) When I first read the synopsis of this I thought it was going to be one of those off animes that wouldn’t win me over, but I was wrong. This show introduces Yona who is the princess of a well off kingdom, but when the King is betrayed by Yona’s cousin Yona must act swiftly. She escapes danger with her bodyguard Hak (I think you mean Hunk—sorry lol). Together they team up to save Yona’s kingdom. Action, Adventure, Reverse Harem, Romance

Ao Haru Ride (8/10) After risking everything for a boy she met in a rain shelter, Futaba is ready to turn her life around in high school. She is determined to have friends and be liked by everyone. Her plan is foolproof until the boy she met returns and so do her feelings for him. However, he is different from the boy that had betrayed Futaba in the past. Together they need to learn more about themselves and each other. This show is emotional and shows the sacrifices we all make for those we love. School Life, Blooming Romance

Fruits Basket (9/10) This show has recently been rebooted and is expecting a second season. It tells the story of Honda who has lost her mother in an accident and goes to live with her grandfather. However, as renovations are being done at her house she lies to her grandfather and tells him that she’s going to live with a friend. When she is actually pitching a tent in the woods. The esteemed Souma family actually owns the woods that Honda hides in and the prince of the school Yuki Souma invites Honda to stay in his house, but the Souma’s have a secret. They are possessed by the Chinese Zodiac spirits, and will turn into their respective animals if they’re hugged by the opposite gender. This series is adorable and super fun to watch. The characters are all special in their own way. Comedy, Zodiac, Mystery, School Life, Supernatural, Romance

***Hotarubi no Mori e (10/10) I love this movie it is so beautiful. Hotaru has been fond of the mysterious tale of the mountain god since she was six and after she loses her way in the mountain forest, she stumbles into a masked spirit named Gin. Together they begin their unlikely friendship. Gin informs Hotaru that they can play together as long as she doesn’t get too close. They start to spend every summer together and Hotaru helps Gin learn what is means to be human and love someone. Soon they find that the distance that they are keeping between them is slowly shrinking. This movie is epically beautiful, romantic, and heart wrenching. Spirit, Supernatural, Romance

Ore Monogatari!! (10/10) Are you sick of the romance animes filled with beautiful girls and handsome princes? Well then it’s time to watch Ore Monogatari staring an unlikely anime pairing: Takeo Gouda and Rinko Yamato. Yamato is the definition of adorable and angelic; while Takeo struggles with love due to his tall and muscular build. Takeo’s appearance might be a little rough, but under it all he has a heart of gold. However, few ever see it since Takeo’s best friend Makoto is the definition of an anime prince. Without trying Makoto is a girl magnet and Takeo finds that people only talk to him to try and get close with Makoto. But when Takeo saves Yamato he instantly falls for her. He worries that she’s only being nice to him to gain Makoto’s love, but in truth she actually like Takeo and not Makoto. I love how this shakes up the romance genre and I love Makoto and Takeo’s friendship. Every time Yamato is on the screen I swoon. She is precious! Comedy, Friendship, Romance, First Love, Dorks

Your Lie in April (10/10) This is one of those romance animes that you hear rumors about. You know it will hurt you, but you have to watch it anyway because it’s a masterpiece. It is a truly enjoyable watch! Plus, the animation is breathtaking. Kousei is a great piano player and under the tutelage of his mother he excels in the competitions.  Then his mother dies and Kousei turns from music and his world begins to turn grey. Until his world us turned upside down by Kaori, an outstanding violinist who is anything but traditional. She is free-spirited and challenges Kousei to join her in exploring music once more. Kousei starts to fall in love with music again and also finds himself falling for the girl that added color back into his world. Together they enhance each other’s musical ability and change each other’s lives. Music, Romance, Mystery, Friendship, School Life

***Toki wo Kakeru Shoujo (10/10) The last year is difficult for everyone, but for Makoto it is crazy since she can literally jump through time. She doesn’t really understand this new-found power and must learn how to control it. She fosters old and new relationships and might even fall in love, but with all time travel sacrifices must be made. I really don’t want to say too much because it could ruin the plot, but just trust me—watch it. Mystery, Supernatural, Time Travel, Romance

[hpdabbles]

Prompt: Severus thinks the best way to get revenge on Sirius Black is seduce his brother. It goes horribly wrong

The idea comes to him right after Black taunts him by  announcing the loser of whatever game the large group of lions and baggers are playing had to ask out Severus Snape on a date. The pain of the others gagging as they turn to look at him is nearly as much as the hate he feels for those smug-looking silver eyes.

See how much you repulse everyone? They seem to say. See how much no one wants you? You’re the worst punishment I can think of.

He forces himself to walk away willing their mocking laughter to silence for once as he steps. Severus had been enjoying the sun, reading his books not bothering anyone, enjoying himself for once and they had to ruin it. They always have to ruin it. Especially Sirius Black.  

He keeps his eyes on the ground, watching his feet raise and fall as the earth passes him by. There is a deep ache in him that earns for vengeance, to make Black rue the day he said that about Severus.

But how could he? Even Severus can admit the teenager is outrageously handsome, and had he not been an ass then even he would fantasize about dating the Gryffindor. Trying to say that no one would date Black would only make him look like a fool.

“Excuse me.” A soft voice said as a person passed him rather abruptly. Severus spared the running student who was most likely late for a class a disinterested glance. Shorter then him, with long wavy black hair, a sweet looking face and green robes of the finniest silks. 

Regulus Black. Black’s younger less impressive brother. He didn’t have any friends, barely even talked but looked and acted like a deliciated porcelain doll. He is beautiful like his brother but he was also always one harsh word from breaking. He bended before conflict and tried to blend into the shadows when every one so much as looked at him.

Half the time the youngest Black looked frighten to even be out of bed much less in public. The only reason he isn’t a target of bullies, who would love to turn such a weak little boy into a toy is because his family name protects him.

Severus found his lack of strength disappointing. If he had been born lucky enough to be part of such a powerful family he would use that power to the fullest. Such a privilege was a waste on Black who-

Who is the younger brother of Sirius Black, someone Severus wanted to hurt. Who adored his precious little brother no matter how much he tried to hide it. What would the bastard do if said little brother was to be deflowered and become a laughing stock were the knowledge ever to get out?

It’ wouldn’t be that much of a challenge really, to seduce the younger male. After all he is isolated, any attention would be welcome even if it was from someone as repulsive as Severus. He just had to find the right things to say, the right buttons to push and he would have a warm body in his bed. 

Severus smiled a wicked thing watching meek little Black run up the stairs, ducking his head as he pass other students.  “What fun this will be.”

He waited for the perfect moment to approach the other. It took two days but eventually, Severus is able to find the way to seduce him in the library. He had been watching him for a while, making notes of what Black did in his spare time and found the boy absorbed in a fantasy novels more often then not. 

Most purebloods turn up their noses at that branch of literature, thinking too uncouth for their refine taste. Black knew this because he only read them when he was sitting in the farthest corner of the library away from all other students in a old table that was half hidden in shadows. His silver eyes lit up with more joyous emotions then even flying as Slytherin Seeker did, as he read his books while Severus watched from a between the space of two books a bookshelf over.

Severus had his mother send him a book from his bedroom, a old copy of the Thief and the Fantasy Spell-book, where a muggle finds a spell that allows him to cast magic. Of course it’s not even close to real magic but hopefully it would do it purpose. It was the only book he knew that had the word “Fantasy” take up have the book cover. 

He walked out his hiding place pretending to be so engross in his novel that he did not notice Black scrambling to hid his book. He looked up with a well-practice surprise look on his face fighting not to smirk in amusement. Black is sitting with hunched shoulder, a advance potion text book now in his hands. It is upside down.

You fool no one. Severus thinks tauntingly.

“Apologizes I didn’t realize anyone was back here.” He says out loud instead making his tone casual. Black flinches, as if being address is a physical attack, but he lowers his book ever so slightly as Severus turns making sure he can see the cover.

Like a fish hooking onto a line the Black blurts  “You read fantasy?” in surprise before shrinking back.

Hiding the satisfaction his plan is working, Severus struggles to keep his face the perfectly even disinterested expression he is known for. “Hm? Oh, yes. I think it’s a lovely past time, though I only read muggle kind. I haven’t been able to find a wizard series I enjoy besides Spartan’s Path.”

“You’ve read Spartan’s Path?” Black lowers his book completely his pretty face on full display. Severus, despite himself, feels a bit stun by the eagerness and wonder in his expression momently blinded by how attractive the boy is. 

“Y-yes.” He coughs. Now was not the time to be distracted by his hormones. “My favorite is the third book, The Sea of Sin.”

“Mine too! I just adore the scene where they fight the giant sea serpent all the while the ship captain is attempting to seduce Nephele!” Black exclaims with far more life then Severus has ever seen. “Oh but it was romantic don’t you think? Especially when the Veela shows up to try and lure him away? I have a theory that it didn’t work because the captain despite being male who is attracted to a female, is not actually interested in gender but rather the person. It would explain why his magic comes form the necklace of his True Love then Nephele herself. The cave scene for example-”

Severus took a seat across from Black who was speaking more now then the last five years he’s been at Hogwarts. He couldn’t get a word in because Black jump right into another theory of his, citing examples from the text to back up his claims in a very un-pureblood matter.  

He couldn’t look away. 

Oh no Severus thinks watching as Black spoke with his hands a happy little flush on his cheeks, those lovely grey eyes focus entirely on him Oh no he’s so cute.

His plan of revenge! How would Severus go through with his plan now, that Black had gone and placed butterflies in his stomach with his surprisingly sharp mind and energetic softness?

“Oh by the way Snape.” Black says some hours later when they are walking back to their dorms, after talking so long about various book series they both enjoyed. Severus himself got carried away with a few potion academic essays but found that Black could keep up with. He never had so much fun speaking with a other human about possible changes to potions before not even Lily. “If you keep following me around I’ll make your intestines into out-ines. Well good-night!”

Severus blink as the fifteen year old waved at him with a sweet smile and scurried down to his dorm. 

Did....had he been aware the whole...time? He never felt more off balance then he did in that moment questioning every action of his that could have given him away. 

“Don’t beat yourself up Snape” Black called over his shoulder, twisting his neck so one grey eye could peak at him. A playful smirk was on pink lips that had lava boiling in the pit of Severus’s stomach. “Not everyone is as intelligent as me to pick up the signs. I’m sure you’ll get better at deceiving people when you’re a big boy. I wouldn’t mind teaching you a few....things.” 

The last word curved with sinful promise that a shiver ran up from the half-blood’s toes to his head as Black threw his head back and laughed. But it was not mocking. It was a honest to Merlin, laugh of mirth as if though Severus was someone who could inspire that type of emotion in someone. 

“Oh no.” Severus whispers watching the back of the other until he disappeared behind a door.  “Oh no he’s hot.”

[mutantsrisingrpg]

Congratulations HAILEY! You’ve been accepted as JANUS.

Hailey, you took Jacksons skeleton and delivered it to us on a silver platter. I’m truly speechless at how you captured their ability to never be the same person twice. “He has never been content with one face, even before his abilities developed.” Who is Jackson deep down, does he even know that? Having them figure out who their are on a personally level and within the grand scheme of things. I also can’t believe you made me choose between two of my fave white boys.

Welcome to Mutants Rising! Please read the checklist and submit your account within 24 hours.

Out of Character Information:

NAME/ALIAS: Hailey 

PRONOUNS: she / her

AGE: 22

TIMEZONE & ACTIVITY LEVEL: EST: I would say around a 5 activity wise. I usually work five days of the week now (but sometimes more) so although my hours are funky I usually have time to reply to dms after or before work, and get replies up during at least two days of the week!

In Character Information:

DESIRED ROLE: Jackson Raemers / Janus

GENDER/PRONOUNS: he / they

DETAILS & ANALYSIS:

They are the wind beneath your sails, the bandage over your wound, and the realization that it never meant anything to them.

Jackson may never covet your gilded spotlight but you would be a fool to underestimate him for it. Though he works best from the shadows, obscured by the weight of faces and names that are not his own, it’s his fingerprints that stain the success of all who wield him. He slips effortlessly through cracks others would be constrained by, both unnoticed and undetected, though the impact of his presence are neither of those things. Though you may be unable to place your overlooked hero on the streets, you will never forget how effortlessly he stanched the troubles that bleed from your veins before slipping from your grasp, another unknown stranger in the crowd. Jackson’s someone you’d want on your side, both capable and necessary, but is it because his heart blooms for your cause, or simply because it’s expected of him? So quickly shifting, so carefully adapting, if you were to blink, you might miss him, but is that not his charm? His name will never spill from your lips in adoration, yet it does nothing to still the parts of him that jump to prove himself worthy of such. Both the optimism that manifests when you most need it and the invisible force that gently urges you onward when you’ve lost hope; Jackson prioritizes that which beckons his assistance most urgently with greedy delight, perhaps, in a desperate attempt to fill the void of not knowing yet what it is that they need themselves.

The cut you get on your finger from opening a letter and the blood that stains the white carpet when it drips down.

Jackson, like most others, is a product of their past, though it’s with great strides that they aren’t entirely felled by the memory of their own. Enough has been taken from him that he resents every fragment of himself still coerced into something bitter and unfamiliar; the scars of wounds that will never heal correctly. Though he’s convinced that his purpose in the Jem Family is to spare future mutants from suffering the same fate as him, and his companions, he knows there’s a more sinister, albeit spurned, intent that resides deep within his heart. Is it truly for the betterment of all mutants? Or is there a part of them that selfishly yearns for the violent demise of the humans that hurt him? Jackson battles with his morality, determined not to become the very monster he feared as a child, though he worries what’s left of his purity may already be touched crimson by this bitterness. There are thoughts even Jackson shies away from, scared to grapple with the stranger that resides in the dark crevices of his mind. They’re already fighting one monster, what’s another?

They are the fake label that is stitched onto a shirt then sold for hundreds of dollars, the flake that comes off of a gold bar to reveal that it’s copper, and the cheap paint that washes away when an itchy suspicion turns out to be true.

They are intimately familiar with disappointment. Watching the glimmer in your eye fade after the fraudulence of their fantasies surface. That pang of realization that he is nothing more than a cheap imitation of the person you most want; someone that Jackson, himself, could never be. At times, they too wish to be the greater, more gilded thing, punished by the reminder that it’s just an act, and underneath it all, he still remains himself. His ability is but a taste of more, followed by the wrenching of such from greedy fingers as the curtain falls. With the gift to be anyone in the world, why would you ever want to be yourself? He hardly ever is, the details of his forgotten identity swept under the rug in favor of better, more appealing, traits he’s adopted. Though his ability is mighty, Jackson often wonders what would be left of him without it. Would he ever be enough, if not for the weight of power at his restless fingertips? Years of his life were overshadowed by those abilities, and how deftly he could demonstrate them. But would he carry any value, at all, when stripped of them?

They are your wildest dreams come true, willing to do what it takes to get you to believe in their lies.

Jackson dons a separate mask for every one person; figuratively, though at times, literally. He has never been content with one face, even before his abilities developed. Jackson has been abandoned and overlooked too often not to revel in the warm light of adoration, no matter the cost. He can feel your ease when he seemingly leans in the very direction you hoped he’d go, or the spark of elation when he fulfills muted desires. It’s a drug, that praise, and he longs for its buzz. Perhaps he bends the truth at times to sell the vision; that he’s exactly who you want him to be. But is it such a crime when you’re both getting what you long for most? Even when wearing the face he was born with, Jackson will tug at the details of himself until they smooth to your liking; until you weaken for the portrait he’s painted. His tongue may be as gifted as his mutant abilities, able to angle the truth that lay right in front of your very eyes. But when his pretty lies fail, there is always another identity lying in wait, convincing you to love him, no matter what it takes, no matter how little you truly know the illusion that desperately beckons your worship.

BIO:  TW (ABUSE, STOCKHOLM SYNDROME)

Jackson had often wondered if it was his mother’s eyes, or his father’s, reflected back at him in the mirror. If the chilling sensation that zipped up their vertebrae in the dark was inherited, or simply a product of their own cowardice. How much of him was comprised of people he was not given the chance to remember, and how much had begun with him, and him alone? Having been given up for adoption at birth, Jackson willed his own conclusions. The first foster family he can recall were the Wilsons, and he had just turned six. Even then, he was enthralled with the parents that had abandoned him, devising make believe anecdotes about each that were far more charming and warmhearted than the inferior truth. But Jackson grew, and so did his stories. Childish fibs about how he was the spitting image of his father, or how his mother used to be read him stories every night blossomed into tales of ship crashes and war stories. He longed for the startled admiration of the other children he roomed with; the closest thing to family the boy had ever known. Jackson was lucky, his time in the foster care system had been undeniably better than that of most.

In fact, it was only after his removal that life began its downslide.

He lived in his fourth home, with the Jefferson family, in the two story brick at the end of the street. Jackson was eleven at the time. Then, he was only vaguely familiar with mutants, and of the whispers they elicited among the streets. He had no reason to think he could be one, of course, so it came as quite a shock when a foster sister attempted to tattle on Jackson and they were able to perfectly mimic the girlish whine of her voice in jest. Their flawless recitation had been no parlor trick, nor mundane talent. But the incident slipped away with little interest, having been confined to Jackson and their adolescent witness. Still, the memory of its inhumane nature simmered within him, and he longed to see if he could repeat it; a child experimenting with a new toy. After the others had gone to bed, and the house was blanketed in eerie silence, Jackson pulled the covers over his head with a mirror in one hand and a flashlight in the other. It began with impressions of voices he was familiar with; Allison Jefferon’s shrill, demanding pitch, Peter Jefferson’s gravely grumbling. It was astonishing, how his tongue so effortlessly disguised itself as one right after the other. The boy spent nights grinning ear to ear beneath his sheets, delighted with the newfound ability.

But just as quickly delight bled into panic. One afternoon, in an argument with the same rambunctious sister, Jackson thought it funny to mock her insults. But, rather than the unfamiliar tone they had practiced, they were met with their own voice. Still, shock and fear contorted the girl’s expression, sending her sprinting into the next room despite their nervous pleas for an explanation. Instead they were met with Peter Jefferson, who demanded to know how this was possible while blocking the exit of Jackson’s room. It was only with a side glance at the closet mirror that the boy saw themselves for what they had become; a direct copy of the girl whose reactions they so enjoyed. Though it was their own voice that yelled out in panic, and their own fingers that tore at the skin that did not belong to them, they instead appeared as the same sister that now cowered from them. Try as he might to reverse the sight, Jackson remained a prisoner in his own body, terrified he would be buried as this strange and unusual anomaly.

Many distressed phone calls later and Jackson was removed from the foster home by men he did not recognize, shut into a stranger’s car with no goodbyes or answers. It was with terror that they were confined to a windowless van, their heart frantically galloping in their chest. He choked on questions, and begged for help, but his captors remained silent. When he finally arrived at his destination it mirrored a hospital; sterile, cold, disarming. Jackson thought, briefly, he had been taken somewhere that could right this mistake, and return him to the person he had been before, with those fearful eyes of his lost mother or father. But he would never again be that child, and he quickly discovered the truth of his unwanted fifth home, undeniably less a home than it was a punishment.

There were various testing facilities surrounding the city of Chicago, though at the time Jackson was ignorant to their existence. Now, he was ensnared by one; a child called by a monster’s name. Mutant. He could remember the kids at school, how they had sneered the word. How Allison Jefferson had once called them abominations when the title was mentioned on the six o’clock news. It must be a mistake, he’d assured himself, shaking fingers grasping at the fabric of their allocated uniform. But quickly, and without mercy, what remained of his humanity was stripped. The boy who longed to be more human than all of the others reduced to a guinea pig. They couldn’t find one more cooperative than Jackson though, who would rather suffer through bouts of exhaustion after the abuse of their abilities than deny the facility what they demanded of him. Perhaps it was fear, or the lingering hope that his entrapment served a larger, more benevolent purpose, that pushed him past his hard limits time and time again. There were occasions when he was returned to his room so badly shaken and weary that all he could do was lay on the cold linoleum and consider the people and places from his childhood stories; the heroes he wanted to be, and the exotic lands he longed for.

There were times even Jackson’s impeccable behavior was not enough. Moments when he had proudly displayed a perfect recreation of the photograph they provided only to be struck by someone or jolted with electricity in response. At times the abuse grew so detrimental to their health they wondered what could possibly remain of them when it was all over, if it was ever to be over. Eventually the hope for escape dwindled, and they grew accustomed to the constant beep of monitors, and the purging of all freedom or individuality. Jackson’s childhood had been brutally ripped from him and because of it he expected far more of himself than any normal teenager would. If his abilities were what they wanted most, what stifled the pain, if for only a moment, he would give it to them. He would harness and sharpen his shifting skins until there was nothing left for them to want from him; until he reached the peak of his power and they were, at last, forced to accept his limit.

Jackson’s abilities were his lifeline. From the ashes of his optimism grew determination, and though he focused on his power for the wrong reasons, it was this concentration that spared him long nights of agony. The unrelenting practice redirected his mind, and maintained its sharpness, pinning it instead to a goal that Jackson desperately grasped for. Relief. It was his only outlet behind the guarded walls of the facility, and even with shaking hands he would muster its presence, as much for himself as for the scientists that watched on in scrutiny.  What else did he have? No family, no friends, and no future if this torture was to continue. Only himself, and the identities he nurtured for his own feeble sanity.  

It was by sheer luck his fellow mutants were less easily appeased than Jackson. He can still remember the vivid blare of warning sirens, a red haze painting the nauseating white of the walls. A fire maybe, or a raid. One could only guess what had become of the real world while Jackson withered away behind bars. But it was not flames that licked his cage, or the rumblings of a distant bomb, but another subject. A group, rather, of others like Jackson who had tired of their binds and created a key where there was not one to be found. In a flurry, the door to his confine was opened, and the various boys and girls, both adult and child, fled toward liberation. They were escaping. A plan so harrowing and disillusioned that it had not occurred to Jackson to consider. Had they gotten help? Who had organized it? How had they known he was there, waiting, clueless? He was left to his thoughts, the hall clearing as quickly as it had filled with terrified mutants, bound for freedom. At any moment the guards would surely return, tightening the leashes upon their throats to reel them back to their chambers.

Time had blurred together, minutes languidly blended into one exhausting eternity as Jackson remained curled in a ball against the clinical white of his room. So many unfamiliar faces had passed, restless, wild, in their search for sanctuary, but Jackson was rooted to the floor. His knees trembling against his chest in panic. If the punishment for existing scarred their skin and bruised their bone, what would become of those mutants that greedily chased more? The temptation was so great Jackson vibrated with it, the need aching in his heavy chest, but they had been bitten too many times among these corridors. Maybe it was a test. Perhaps, he would lie in wait, cooperative and meek, and the guards would have mercy on him in the wake of his pristine behavior. He could not fathom the alternative. A life somehow worse than the one that already clung to his weary bones like shackles. Jackson couldn’t, in good conscience, betray himself that carelessly. Ultimately, it was not that fearful boy who made the decision. But rather a fellow mutant, who beckoned him. Who encircled his wrist in their grasp and pulled him loose from his submission. It was the turning point of his world, that day, and yet it crashes on his conscious like roaring waves. A blink of relieved mutants there, a glimpse of determined hands pulling him through the wreckage of the facility, a glance at the gentle expressions that lulled him into a car, much the same as the van he arrived in. The day returned in fragments, then his chest had heaved too rapidly, his head split with far too much tension, to place every minute detail. But since, every relocated shard has surfaced with gratitude.

Jackson had never heard of the Jem Family before his escape. Until they had dusted the ash from him, like a forgotten phoenix who not yet had the strength to rise themselves. In a sense, they were his sixth foster home. The one that finally stuck, resolute and steadfast. In their embrace he found acceptance, unlike that he’d ever known before them. When his fingers shook and his gaze flickered away from contact, they were there. When he resented himself, and the abilities that had slipped the cruel noose around his throat for many years, they were there. The same power that had worked as a desperate distraction now served as a wicked reminder of his time spent in captivity. They felt less like his, as if he had robbed the facility of their cherished work. For a time, Jackson imagined that being ordinary would be easier. Better. He abandoned his talents for those more socially accepted, and after years of grappling with the sickly feeling that blossomed at his mutant traits, enrolled in college. He would find a new talent, one that even the humans that ostracized him could appreciate.

He had been robbed of so much normalcy. He finally had a real family, and still, it was not enough. Selfishly, he wanted more. The job, the house, the wife. The future that had been dangled in front of his eyes, and subsequently, severed while imprisoned. If Jackson could blend in, and escape the mutant brand, perhaps it was not yet lost. The aspirations he had once daydreamed about could be fulfilled, if only he could swallow the half of himself that stood in the way. The half of himself that had already unraveled his hopes once before. But he had far better control now; never again would he look in the mirror and be startled by what he saw. His abilities could only rear their ugly head if he allowed them to, if he summoned them, and then, just entering adulthood, he planned not to. They would suffocate alongside all of the memories he carried of being abnormal.

Perhaps, in a sense, that was Jackson’s teen rebellion. It could have lasted, possibly, had the local news not carried such concerning developments on mutants around the country. Every day they were confronted with horror stories, some far worse than what Jackson himself had endured. The Jem family made it a point not to shield him from every horrific detail, instead swaddling him in positive reinforcement. The trick was not to comply to the country’s social norms, but to demand equal treatment for those who could not meet the impossible standards. They hammered it into his brain. The cause had saved him. Did he not want to do the same for others? Did he not want to be the salvation for some other trembling child, starved of freedom?

The more the surrounding abuse escalated, the more inclined Jackson was to entertain his once banished abilities. It took no shortage of support, and encouragement from the Jem Family. Especially as his eyes glazed over, and his heart squeezed beneath his ribcage; the torment Jackson endured present in every celebrated advancement of his powers. It, at times, hurt. In the same way it might have to break through the steel of unwanted chains. Repression was no light weight, and Jackson, like Atlas, had shouldered far too much for far too long. But in time, he could feel how it sloughed off his shoulders. How he breathed a little easier with the gentle coaxing from those that could truly understand him, and the pain of a past he longed to forget. He was no longer that scared child, fending for itself. He was not alone anymore, a solitary sacrifice to science. He was part of something. Something with claws and razor sharp teeth that could seize back all that had been stolen from Jackson.

He only hopes he was not rescued from one monster, and fated to become another. At times, Jackson carries more humanity than those entirely so. Living with the burden of remaining soft in a world that so often yearned to splinter his edges into something deadly. But how can he shy away from its violence without hiding from those that plead for his help? How can he betray those that are what he, at his core, is himself? A mutant.

EXPANDED CONNECTIONS:

LUCA MENDOZA: Many would never gravitate to Jackson without his illusions and honeyed words, yet when Luca caught him on a bad day they were all ears and, under their willful gaze, he found plenty to say. He knows he’s skirting sharpened edges with Luca, but when they look at Jackson they give him nothing; no hint to mold himself around. All that remains is himself, and the words that fall unbidden at Luca’s presence. Maybe he’s a fool to trust them as he does, baring his heart to someone that would just as surely carve him of it, yet he does in spite of the warnings. Perhaps because Luca’s strength, no matter how off-putting to some, ensnares him like an unsuspecting moth to a flame that fails to find its own. I would love to see as the two develop whether there will come a day where there’s something they can’t agree on or look past and it grows to cause fissures in the wall they’ve built around their relationship. Or if, oppositely, one is driven to do something out of character in order to protect/appease the other and it changes them as a person, and ultimately the dynamic the two share.

NEVE KAPLAN: The first person to ever truly know Jackson, and the first to love him in spite of it. Because it was, no matter how she shies from the emotion, love. How freeing it was to meet someone who could liberate them from their net of lies and niceties, and embrace the less glamorous parts of him. In Neve’s presence they never felt the urge to bite their tongue, or swallow thoughts for her to deem them worthy. During the course of their relationship, he’d tasted the normalcy he so craved as a teenager. The bliss of routine he never thought could belong to someone like himself. Slowly, his veil of shame lifted as Neve demanded to see the presence beyond. Who was he to deny her anything when she’d given him everything? A family, a love, a confidante. But while the girl had filled Jackson’s wanting hands, he had failed to return the favor. More than he, she yearned for retribution. The very desire he often wrestled and longed to suffocate bloomed within Neve effortlessly. As time wore on, it became clear which of the two she held dearer to her heart, despite Jackson’s efforts. She will always be the one that got away, though he fears she will become a stranger to even herself as obsession needles at the parts of her he most adored. Pain festering within her until the person he once loved becomes swallowed whole in its mutiny.

As a child, Jackson’s mind was plagued with selfless heroes and hedonistic adventures. In Neve he sees the bones of those imagined villains, and he fears she will meet the same fate should he not intervene. I can’t wait to see these two interact! Jackson will always carry this unique bond with her and I’d love to see what he’d do to protect it. How will her motivations intersect with his own and those of the Jem Family? Will it one day cause problems for the others he considers family, and will he be forced to decide between the two? Could Neve eventually cross a line even Jackson can’t defend, or will he submerge himself in the same depravity in hopes of pulling her free from it? I think he is hopelessly attached to Neve and I’d love to see the depths he’d go and the sacrifices he’d make to salvage what remains of her.

CAIN DOUGLAS: Jackson is someone who aches to be liked, and Cain seems to enjoy pressing their thumb against the wound. Sure, he may be far too careless or distracted at times but the doctor’s rage is unmatched. He’s not sure of the exact moment he fingered the wrong button on Douglas, but how he yearns to undo it. No matter how he tries to joke and soften their demeanor he’s met with unparalleled annoyance. Still, if Jackson is anything, it’s persistent, and in the wake of Cain’s rejection he finds himself searching for common ground. Usually, he finds more give in the walls he prods, but with the doctor they’ve found disappointingly little. In an attempt to ease their dislike and garner their help, Jackson’s even resorted to offering them bits of information. A secret here, a weighted question there, waiting eagerly for that flicker of interest in their glare. But should it not manifest, Jackson is relieved for the input, no matter how hostile or unhelpful. Though Cain might simmer at the sight of him, Jackson can’t deny the way he lingers on their words and reactions, in careful observation. There’s a lot to learn from someone so seemingly opposite to himself, and if the two are fated to spend so many hours together, he just might take advantage of it. I’m really interested to see how this could progress! Jackson garners respect for Cain despite their differences, and I’d like to see if eventually he could pique their interest, perhaps with something serious or dire that he meant to keep quiet from the others. Or if it’s as simple as Jackson finally proving himself with some unexpected act that meets Cain’s standards. Otherwise, I do love enemies and it’d, oppositely, be super fun to see how Cain’s annoyance could blossom and what it would create within Jackson to be met with such growing aggression when they ache for the opposite.

EXTRA: a pinterest board here (x)

HEADCANONS

Began to collect a lot of house plants aftering dating Neve but her green thumb never rubbed off. It took days of research just to learn how to keep a succulent alive for longer than a week at a time.

Really enjoys reading and, in particular, immersing themselves in stories/poems with heros and travel tales.

Outside of his mutant abilities, Jackson grew to be quite an actor due to his careful observation of those around him. It mainly stemmed from self defense reasons: foster care, and entrapment, but stuck over time. He has no desire to pursue it, but it’s a good party trick for telling stories (that are not always factual) and jokes at parties. It’s only when those pesky feelings interfere that their body betrays them, and their gift falls to the wayside.

Jackson is bisexual/biromantic and awful at dating.

A documentary junkie. Whether it’s something he’s interested in or not, Jackson breezed through the Netflix selections in a week, trying to expand their horizons. They would blame it on general research for facts and details that might be of use while masquerading as someone else, but he really just wants to collect hobbies and knowledge in search of fulfillment.

Very simplistic/minimal taste in both clothes and interior decorating (which means, in so many words, they’re too lazy to venture outside their comfort zone.)

A dog person with no dogs. 10/10 will pet your dog.

Likes being outdoors and feels like he’s suffocating if he doesn’t get out often enough. Outside of needing company and hating to be alone for extended periods, he starts to feel trapped if he doesn’t get fresh air and room to roam after long intervals stuck between four walls.

ANYTHING ELSE: If possible I might prefer an alt fc of Richard Madden but if you’re attached to Jack Lowden no worries!

[decadentrpg-blog]

WELCOME AVI, YOU’VE BEEN ACCEPTED FOR THE ROLE OF OPHELIA PREWETT

Admins Note: i was absolutely floored by the clarity and conciseness of your take on Ophelia. I love how you’ve really considered all the facets of tragedy she’s facing. How terribly beautiful and broken she is - I can’t wait to see you develop her and grow her, where she shall become more than the melancholy she has been forced to be. Perhaps Ophelia shall find her own happiness and hope in a way never seen before! Congratulations on your acceptance again, please make sure to head your way to the checklist and submit your account within the next 24 hours!

Out of Character

Name / Alias: Avi Pronouns: She/Her Age: 24 Timezone: CST

In Character Application

Full Name: Ophelia Prewett Sexuality:  Heterosexual Gender/Pronouns: Cisgender Female, She/Her Hogwarts House: Slytherin

BACKGROUND / HISTORY.

Before the Fall.

They say school days are easily missed, easily the best time of your life … and she should’ve listened. Ophelia didn’t think too strongly of how her life might drastically change given the company she kept – how she would turn from burning sapphire, to rouge, to black. Before the decaying transformation, she was simply spoiled. Clueless about the world around her, about how money couldn’t save her from the troubles that brewed. She was sheltered, and somehow convinced to believe that everything would go as she had intended; people would walk to her tune, they would bow, they would dance as she instructed. The world was her dollhouse, and Ophelia played with it to her delight. The spoils of luxury were her first love, after all.

Cupid’s Arrow.

With riches at her fingertips, it was no surprise that she couldn’t buy love. In fact, she had never encountered such a thing before – something that required effort to obtain. Something even her own name, and status, couldn’t bend or break. It was new, it was exciting. What started off as an interest soon morphed into infatuation … only to crumble into an obsession ( a beautiful decay ). Why couldn’t Zion Potter love her? What could she have possibly lacked? The questions were endless as her patience shimmered – it was suffocating. These feelings, this sense of desperation. Love, in all honesty, hurt …  and no amount of money could stop the pain. It felt as if little knives were piercing into her skin, trying to salvage something from the boy she couldn’t have; from the boy that didn’t want her.

Marriage of Convenience.

Perhaps it had been a moment of weakness, a shot in the dark. She tried everything to win over the heart of another … then this strange opportunity had waltzed into her lap, willing. Aelius wanted to marry her, and anyone without an ailing heart would’ve instantly said yes. After all, the Malfoy family had been well respected, well recognized – while her own family might’ve disowned the redhead had she refused. But … there were more reasons to accept than decline this opportune match. It was the hope that maybe, just maybe, her prince charming would come save her. That the entire thing would implode in his face, and he would declare his undying love ( as she ran into his arms, the sunset glowing in the distance ). It was the perfect plan … until it wasn’t. The walk down the aisle couldn’t have been avoided, neither could her shattering heart. And Ophelia was left to wonder if she had been lied to, been fooled … because weren’t all love stories supposed to have a happy ending?

Combustion.  

Like a boiling pot of water, everything seemed to pop! The fairytale wedding quickly turned into a grim marriage – one filled with screaming, and distaste, and regret. Ophelia couldn’t help herself, she couldn’t stop from falling ( from turning into a broken being of sorts ). Her agony was released on her husband as he tossed it back at her, with full force. They fell apart before there was a chance to even be together. While she carried the blame partially, she also carried bitterness. None of this would’ve happened if their alliance had been avoided. None of this heartache would’ve unearthed if Zion didn’t …  look at another in that manner. She was jealous, she was fragile. And in the depths of emotional turmoil, she declared that Aelius would suffer too. He would feel her pain as she intended to never let him go. He would feel the emptiness of loving … and being unloved in return.

Summary / Why this character?

I wanted to get out Ophelia’s thoughts, and her feelings, about her messy relationships. Primarily focused on Zion and Aelius, but also her character as a whole. From being a girl who had everything … to having almost nothing that she truly wanted, it’s quite a tragic depiction. Her name is also something that speaks to her character, because it reminds me of Ophelia from Hamlet, who essentially drowned to prove her love’s worth. It’s symbolic, and dark, and you can see it reflected across a woman who has had such a difficult journey with love. I’m mostly curious to play her because I want her to embrace some self-love, and care, even if she can’t let go of these feelings that haunt her. If anything, she must learn how to cope and manage these relationships. Not to mention, Maxima and Genevieve seem to offer a breath of fresh air that her two boys cannot. She’s an intensely broken, yet powerful character. And I cannot wait to see her bloom in this world.

HEADCANONS.

Fashion.

As a teenager, she would wear a plethora of color – the latest fashion trend easily obtained by her request. It was fun, being able to express herself ( and impress others ) by the clothes that hugged her skin. Not to mention, it only played into the hierarchy of pureblood status; people in her social circle didn’t dress like peasants.

However, during her marriage, Ophelia wore mostly dark colors. It reflected her thoughts, and feelings, about the people around her. About herself. Bright colors irritated her, reminded her of the blissful past where nothing had haunted her ( where her feelings hadn’t unraveled ). Her wardrobe, at one point, probably mimicked a clothing shop specifically tailored for funerals. And the one thing that stood out amongst the shades of gray … was her white wedding dress. Mocking her.

These days, she’s slowly introduced some patterns back into her life. Some semblance of control. Sharp edges and fabrics that brought attention to her form, attention to herself. Perhaps it was a way of deflecting that sad, little persona that Ophelia had embodied, and carried, for years. But it was time for a change – and why not freshen up her wardrobe in preparation?

Drinking. (tw: alcoholism)

There were many ways to numb the pain, but there weren’t many ways to shake up her mind, scramble her thoughts so hard that Ophelia couldn’t think straight – couldn’t think about him. Drinking a glass of wine every night wasn’t anything worrisome, not within her family. However, drinking more than a glass on the bad nights had somehow turned into a routine. It only amplified upon her marriage, upon everything else that had followed. Perhaps it even contributed to her madness. A mimicry of Icarus falling … for she had no wings to carry her, and no lover to hold. Liquor would have to simply suffice instead.

Children.

Ophelia had always loved indulgence, especially during her younger days. It led her to fantasize about having her own mansion one day, with beautiful pillars that highlighted a grand entrance. She would often think about her ideal closet, and the amount of clothes and jewelry that would fit inside of it. She would sit and imagine all sorts of things, and wonder more importantly about family. While she never thought about children from a motherly perspective, the redhead always assumed them to be living dolls. Things she could play with, dress up, show off. Children weren’t something she was dying to have … and especially not once she got married. In fact, her ideal fantasy had shattered the moment she grew older and realized that happy endings didn’t exist – pity. She should’ve kept her eyes shut, kept her dreams flowing.

Foreign.

The journey to the United States wasn’t something she had planned or felt excited about – Ophelia simply had wanted to get away. Perhaps part of her had hoped that a change of scenery would shake all her troubles away, the ones that brewed with unrequited love and the union of marriage. At least her friends would be nearby, knowing that the loneliness that ate at her heart surely couldn’t grow much more. However, the change of pace and faces did nothing to appease her. If anything, it felt like a lost cause – one she couldn’t escape either. If Aelius chose to stay, she would stay too. She wouldn’t let him off the hook so easily ( nor could she turn away from Potter’s presence ). It had been a strange prison of sorts, because in hindsight, she could very easily leave. Start fresh, start anew. Except Ophelia felt compelled to drown further … and reawaken in the very city where she had fallen ( a rebirth that required rising from the ashes ).

In Character Paragraph:

Ophelia stared at her reflection in the mirror, noticing the way red lipstick seemed to bring some life back into her skin. It had been two weeks since she had stormed off, the separation between her husband only growing with each passing second. Oddly enough, instead of feeling panicked, she felt … calm. A sense of ease had settled into her mind ( and she wanted to cherish it ). In fact, the only thing that did feel out of place was the written invitation that sat on her vanity, reminding her of tonight’s affairs.

Pureblood Society would be having a nightly soiree, a gathering where chatter and formalities would be exchanged. Some would call it a chance to socialize … but Ophelia felt as if it had been a chore that she purposely ignored. Until time slipped out of her hands, forcing her to address the situation. It wouldn’t surprise her if that rumors had spread like wildfire – the ones that circled around her estranged husband. The death of a marriage. And yet, she refused to dress for its funeral.

No, not this time.

Upon her entrance, they wouldn’t talk about something that couldn’t be reflected in her image. No more bloodshot, red eyes from crying. No more hoarse voice from the impact of screaming. Nothing about her appearance would suggest otherwise … and they would all look and turn, the loss of words cutting into their throats. Ophelia had a perchance for rage, and vengeance, and tonight … she wouldn’t let anyone speak ill of her.

Not in the presence of her so-called estranged husband.

Adding another touch of powder across her cheeks, the redhead stood up, admiring her appearance once more. She hadn’t felt this dolled up in ages, knowing Genevieve would have to be thanked later ( after all, it was one of her oldest friends that had extended the invite ). Walking away from the mirror, Ophelia felt herself realign, and reawaken, as her heels tapped across the floor.

Despite the short journey, she found herself pausing for a moment in front of the door ( gathering herself again, reaching for the pieces that hadn’t entirely fragmented ). Her jaw tightened, her eyes hardening as gloved fingers pushed through – the slight creak of the door indicating her awaited arrival.

Ophelia smiled, the same smile she had practiced in the mirror. The same smile she had learned to wear throughout her marriage.

The very same smile … except, this time, it felt real.

Extras:

PLAYLIST:

Wicked Game by Ursine Vulpine ft. Annaca Night by Einuadi Ludovico Waiting Game by BANKS Radio Silence by James Blake Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys

[elssiie]

Walk through the fire

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Strategist and priestess Lucy Heartfilia gets caught up in the turmoil of war. Torn between duty and love she must decide whether to follow her heart or mind because the destiny of two nations rests on her shoulders.

Chapter 4: Take a chance

 “With open hearts, despite the stakes we take a chance on our mistakes”

 Being in panic sucked quite a lot. Even if a person had been training for years not to succumb to it, there was always that first moment, when it completely devoured the conscience and didn’t let anything else to be in control. Lucy must had overcome this problem by now. During the years spend on the battlefield, she learned to make quick decisions, which affected not only her, but also Icenberg’s men. Thousands of lives depended on her. It wasn’t much different now. True, she was surrounded by the enemy, she was completely alone, without a single ally on her side, but she was the strategist and the priestess of Icenberg. Her power was exactly in finding ways out of the most difficult situations.

In the next hour Lucy looked around the room. She went through the cupboards, checked every corner, every hidden place. She tried to go downstairs and see what she could find there, but was stopped on the first floor by the two guards, who ordered her to go back. When Lucy went to the terrace, she observed the perimeter around the tower more accurately. Relief passed through her body as she found, that there weren’t many tents in this part of the military camp. The reason for that was probably, because the tower was not in the outlying parts of the camp and the vast lands of Pregrande were behind it. That’s why the General had wisely ordered more warriors to stay in the outskirt in case someone from the No Man’s land attacked.

The No Man’s land. Territories, ruled by no country in particular, but for some reason most wanted by everyone. Pregrande and Icenberg’s hatred towards one another had been born because of the No Man’s land. It wasn’t that the territories were fertile. On the contrary, the earth was actually plain, hard and only pines grew there. But for decades the land was considered to be holy. There were a lot of ruins, ancient stones and half-destroyed sanctuaries, remained from times when the gods and the stars had been still properly honored. When the prayers and the rituals were part of everyone’s life, not just of the priests and priestesses like now. Still, according to Lucy, it wasn’t a logical enough reason for this brutal conflict between the countries. Sometimes she wondered if the King of Icenberg, Gray’s father, had truly lost his mind. She knew he was cruel and cold, but he wasn’t a stupid man. Oh, no. He was cunning like a snake. And dangerous too.

Lucy shook her head to push away her thoughts. She had to concentrate on the important thing, which was the fact that around the tower there was a small number of tents and the warriors, who were walking around, were more relaxed and wouldn’t expect something to happen in their part of the camp, like for example a prisoner to escape.

Lucy went back to her room to think over everything she learned and then she made a plan in her head, which could go wrong in so many different ways, but still… it was a plan. She felt like these days she had to depend on such imperfect strategies but whatever. Maybe the heavens wanted to challenge her.

The only thing that she needed for her to put the plan in action, was a weapon. Where, in the name of the moon goddess, could she find a weapon in this room, when she couldn’t see a single sharp object?

Lucy looked around the room again. What could she possibly use?

There was almost nothing except for the cupboards, the bed, the vase on the wooden table, the wardrobe…

The vase.

Lucy rushed to the table, grabbed the vase and lifted it in the air. It was made of glass.

She sat on the armchair, putting the vase in her lap and shifted her gaze to the ceiling.

Lucy had everything she needed. The success of her plan now depended on her and on how much luck the stars were willing to give her.

 ***

Natsu felt as if his body was a sack of potatoes, sluggish and heavy. It didn’t just suck, but it was also quite surprising, because he could usually fight for days without a stop and even then he hardly ever got so tired.

The General opened the mantle and went in his tent, which he had been using since they had made the camp two weeks ago. Contrary to popular belief, he didn’t sleep in the luxurious bedroom of the tower, but he used a normal tent like his subordinates. It had the same conveniences, a sleeping bag, short wooden table and a place for his weapons. The only difference was that the ceiling was a lot higher than a normal tent and Natsu could easily stay up in his full form without stooping.

He untied his belt with the sword, left it on one side and then undressed the armor pieces one after another. The sudden fleetness made him feel a little better, so he decided to remove his linen shirt. He felt hot, tired and in desperate need of a cold bath.

What the hell was wrong with him today?

Natsu sank down on the pillows half-naked and spread his arms, staring at the ceiling. The last two days had been so fucking weird. From the moment that huge wave appeared and killed his men to the meeting of the strategist and her peculiar behavior. For the first time in a while Natsu felt as if he was floating in the endless sky without direction or a purpose, which was just plainly stupid. He always had a goal set in mind. A kingdom for conquering, princes for killing and towns for seizing were all waiting for him.

Then why did he have this feeling, that with the kidnapping of the strategist he had set the beginning of a chain of events, which would radically change his life?

A soldier from the group of the maintaining the weapons went in the tent and left a bowl of icy water and a towel on the table. After Natsu thanked him and sent him away, he dipped his palms in the cold liquid and splashed his face and neck.

Thank the Deity of the Sun! It wasn’t enough to cool his fiery blood, but it still dulled the heat and calmed his thumping heart.

Natsu was used to the fire storm, raging in his body every time he was burned by a stronger emotion. It was just a side effect from the blessing of Zhulong, the Torch Dragon, the God of the Day and the Night. But why did Natsu’s body react like that today?

The strategist had managed to get under his skin, that was for sure.

Natsu put his hands on both sides of the bowl, staring at the water, while drops were falling down his nose and wet hair. He sighed loudly, “This will be harder than I thought.”

“What will be?”

Natsu clenched his teeth. He couldn’t get a single minute alone, could he…

Gajeel Redfox, his first cousin and Lieutenant General, second in command after Natsu, came inside the tent with crossed arms, filling the place with his huge body.

Gajeel was also without his armor, standing only in a dark shirt and trousers, bit was still keeping the belt with the sword on his waist. Natsu shook head, besprinkling the table with water, then grabbed one of the pillows and hurled it at him.

“Who gave you permission to come in as you please?” growled Natsu when his cousin easily dodged the blow.

Gajeel lifted his eyebrows.

“Salamander, do we know each other? When have I ever needed permission to do something that would annoy you? I thought that for fifteen years you would have learned.”

Natsu dropped his body on the sleeping bag.

“I am so kicking your arrogant ass.” He tried to sound intimidating, but it came out quite weak.

“Keep lying like that, looking like a desperate wreck, and that kicking will happen only in your dreams. We already kidnapped the strategist, didn’t we? Why the pouting?”

Gajeel’s tone was cold, but his eyes gave him away. They were wary and considerate. Gajeel was worrying about him.

Natsu pursed lips.

“I am not pouting.”

“Sulking.”

“Shut up.”

Gajeel came closer and lightly kicked Natsu’s leg, ignoring his glare.

“Come on, Salamander, spill the beans.”

Natsu’s nostrils flared and he deeply signed. Suddenly he rose in a sitting position, resting his elbows on his knees. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to share his troubles with someone he trusted.

“This whole situation with the strategist and Icenberg…It’s just not right. I can smell the coming problems in the air.”

“What problems? The strategist seems tough, but you’ve managed to claw information out of even more stubborn enemies.” Gajeel fixed at him with careful awareness. “You just don’t want to hurt a woman, do you?”

Natsu threw him a bored look.

“Gender doesn’t have anything to do with it.” He shifted his gaze away, knitting eyebrows. “She withstood my intimidation attack.”

“What?” Gajeel barked.

“I was literally millimeters away from her and she looked me straight in the eyes and declared in my goddamn face that she would not lose to me.” Natsu laughed, not in his usual confident way. He laughed in confusion and wonder. “Do you have any idea how many people have managed to oppose me when I am intimidating them with the powers of Zhulong?”

He lifted a hand, bended his thumb and forefinger together, making a circle.

“Zero.”

“That’s… that’s not possible…” insisted Gajeel, surprise written on his face. “That would mean…”

“The strategist isn’t a normal human. She is something more.”

Gajeel shook head as if he still couldn’t believe it.

“Do you think she is, you know, like you?”

“Blessed by a Celestial God?” Natsu stretched his arms and loudly yawned. His lips formed a confident smile. “Nah, no one’s like me.”

“Moron. The Torch Dragon isn’t the only Celestial Being, who can grant blesses.”

Natsu shrugged.

“Even if she is actually blessed, it doesn’t matter. The only thing that concerns us right now is to figure out a way to make her talk.”

“Well, there is one really fast way I can think of.”

Gajeel pulled out a knife and pointedly cleaned the sharp part with edge of his shirt.

Natsu clicked with teeth.

“I doubt that a knife would scare her. You saw her on the boat. That woman was ready give up on life because she didn’t want to step on Pregrande’s land.”

“Nobody is capable of enduring a strong pain, no matter how strong the will is.”

Natsu shook his head.

“You haven’t seen the look she gave me. I think that she will bring us more problems than we can imagine.”

Gajeel signed heavily, throwing a skeptical look at his cousin.

“And I think that you are totally whipped.”

The General hurled the second pillow so fast and suddenly and this time it made contact with its target. Gajeel lifted his eyebrows and Natsu could almost hear the unspoken words in his head. Are you fucking kidding me, Salamander? Brat. So seemed to say Gajeel with his famous grumpy glare.

“I suggest you stop thinking then, because you don’t seem to be particularly good at it. We are in a war, Gajeel, and you know me. Winning is always the goal for me and I don’t let anyone stand in my way. But I can’t just ignore the fact that there is something strange with that woman.”

“Hmph. Whatever you say. Then why did you give her time until morning if you knew she would not agree so easily?”

“That time is not for her, but for me. I needed to figure out what I would do when she refuses to cooperate.”

Gajeel opened his palms expectantly. “And? What did your great mind think of?” He closed his mouth, because of the stare he received. Natsu’s eyes were two glowing green spheres, promising mischief and danger. The eyes of a predator.

“It’s quite simple, cousin.” Natsu started. “I will beat her in her own game.”

“What are you blabbing?”

Natsu stood up, a terrifying flame roaming his eyes. “I will use whatever is necessary to make her talk. Whatever it is. I’ll have to try everything. From physical torture to the goddamn shaman magic of Kingdom Fiore, if I have to. Let’s see then who will give up first, me or her.”

Something flickered across Gajeel’s face, an emotion close to worry. It was also expressed in his tone.

“Look, Natsu…You haven’t tortured women before. It’s completely different especially when your prisoner isn’t really a fighter either. Completely different.” For a moment a dark shadow of shame and fear conquered his eyes. “Are you certain that you can do this? If you want, I…I can…”

Gajeel couldn’t finish the sentence, so he left the unspoken suggestion to fly in the air, as if he wasn’t sure about what he had been about to offer.

Natsu understood what that suggestion meant for Gajeel, who in the last few months had drastically change his views on women and torturing as a whole. The General’s heart overflew with a warm, pleasant feeling of gratitude. On the outside he just shook head.

“No. I am in charge, so the responsibility rests on my shoulders. And cut the bullshit with the strategist being a woman. I have eyes and can perfectly recognize the distinctive features of the female gender. In the first place she is the enemy. And what do I do with enemies?” Natsu opened his palm and suddenly closed it tightly into a fist. “I destroy them. That is what will happen this time too.”

“Now, why the hell, do you look so excited?! Five minutes ago you were being so fucking miserable.”

Natsu shrugged.

“You’ve seen her in action. She isn’t physically strong as Erza for example but she stands proudly in front of a danger.” Both of them evidently shivered when they heard the name of the fearsome General of Fiore Kingdom. “She is interesting. And unpredictable. Would be a total delight for me to win her little game.”

He winked with the glint of a powerful dragon.

Gajeel signed for the hundredth time, turned around and before the tent’s exit, stopped.

“You know…” he started. “Your father was right about you being obsessed with winning.”

Those words reached a deep, hidden place in Natsu’s chest, a place, he thought was long forgotten. He certainly wasn’t pleased to feel the things he felt right now because of his cousin’s way of showing concern. So he did what he’d always done when being shaken up. He acted as if he didn’t have a single care in the world, being too awesome for actual feeling and all that deep shit.

“Don’t really see anything bad in that, metal head. If my memory isn’t failing me, I would say that you’d been the same as me. Remember that? Or you’ve forgotten about it already?” And now Natsu was acting like a goddamn asshole. Great. He knew that he shouldn’t open this topic, shouldn’t open Gajeel’s wounds so soon, but it seemed his tongue had a mind of its own and stupid words spew out of his mouth. “Now that I think about it, you’ve changed quite a lot for the past few months, cos. Since the time you came back from that mission in Fiore, to be more precise. And then you say I am whipped, heh.”

That laugh at the end was too bitter even for his own taste. But it was too late for taking everything back, so he had to just suck it up. After all, Natsu Dragneel never ever apologized.

Gajeel’s nostrils flared, his eyebrows curved and his large body stood even straighter, filling with the new-come anger.

“Shut the fuck up, Natsu. You have no idea what you’re talking about.” He grunted. “That…thing, me, before was nothing more than an empty shell. A monster, who didn’t live, just existed. I despise what I had become and I’m thousand times grateful to the Emperor for sending me on that mission in Fiore. Let me tell you something. You need a solid change too, Salamander. And you need it desperately. You’ve been acting like an arrogant brat, crying for victories for as long as I’ve known you, and that is a very long time.”

He closed his lips when he met Natsu’s steel glare.

“Careful with the rubbish that comes out of that mouth of yours, metalhead.” Natsu’s voice went down with a couple of octaves, which usually meant that he was really pissed, not just annoyed. “You don’t want me to show you who’s the brat when I kick your ass.”

Gajeel snorted. “Tche. I am done lecturing you.” He opened the exit of the tent and before completely disappearing managed to say another infuriating bullshit.” I hope the strategist wins in your little game so that I get to see your miserable face afterwards.”

“Hope is all you’ll ever get.” barked Natsu after him, but Gajeel was already outside. Still, the General couldn’t stop himself, so he also yelled, “Don’t you come back here until the morning! I need a huge dose of sleep and your ugly face will give me nightmares!”

After pouring out his frustration, Natsu Dragneel, The General of one of the biggest armies on the continent and a twenty-five-year-old man, dropped his body on the sleeping bag and with a dissatisfied murmuring nestled in the coverings.

 ***

It was a common knowledge that best time for running out of prison was during the night. You didn’t have to be a strategist to figure that out. Still, it was easier said than done. The sun hadn’t set down yet but was scarcely burning out at the end of the horizon, throwing muddled orange rays onto the warrior’s tents.

Lucy deeply took breath.

It was now or never.

She took the vase and with a swing splashed it on the floor, thousands of glass pieces flying in different directions. The noise was too loud and as Lucy guessed, she heard the rushing steps of the guards, going upstairs.

She grabbed two bigger pieces of glass and involuntarily pressed the edges to her skin, sharp pain building up her veins. Lucy hid her bloody palms in the General’s mantle, which was still on her shoulders, and waited.

The two guards appeared at the doorstep and Lucy suddenly bended her body, as if someone had kicked her in the stomach.

“I feel unwell.” She cawed and for an even bigger effect crouched to the ground, her knees almost touching the glass pieces. “Help.”

The guards rushed to her, one of them even dropped his weapon, to catch her right side with both hands. They didn’t doubt her ridiculous acting, not until they helped her get up and saw something shining in her hands. The second guard widened his eyes but before he could get the chance to do something, Lucy lifted palms and drove the glass pieces in the hollow of their knees. A painful cry tore from the guards’ mouths and they dropped to the floor.

“The strategist is running! The strategist is run-…” started one of the guards, but Lucy grabbed the sword by its blade, ignoring the stinging pain in her palms, and stroke their faces with the blunt part of the hilt.

Everything happened for less than a minute but to her it felt like ages. The guard, lay unconscious on the broken glass and Lucy stood above them, breathing heavily and with bloodied hands.

There was no time to waste. Lucy went to the staircase, looked downstairs and signed with relief when she saw no other men to check on her. Nobody had heard the noises.

Lucy went back to one of the guards and began removing his armor.  It took her quite some time until she figured how to do that but finally she managed to take off all of the armor parts. Although, her hands hurt as hell. She didn’t let herself open them to see the damage, knowing it would make her feel sick if she did that. At least the blood had stopped flowing.

Lucy tore the skirts of her nightdress in a couple of bands, then tied each around her ankles, so it became as some sort of weird shalwars. The dress would only make things harder for her, so she needed the practicableness of the pants. She managed to put on the armor considerably fast, knowing already where and how the different parts worked. The helmet on her head was the last part and the only thing that was visible now was her face. From afar and in the darkness, ruling outside, would be hard for anyone to recognize her.

Lucy threw a last glance at the bodies on the floor, the guilt clouding her mind for some seconds. She shook her head. She couldn't allow herself such weakness. That’s why she gripped the sword, sheathed it and with a confident step went outside.

At first she startled, when a couple of warriors passed around her, laughing at something. They’d passed just centimeters away from her, but no one turned their attention to her. Lucy blinked and tried to focus on her expression. She had to seem calm on the outside.

Looking around, she saw that there wasn’t a single man who suspected her, so she kept moving.

She knew where the best place to go right now was because she had an amazing view from the terrace in her room. She couldn’t just go straight for Icenberg, not if she wanted to pass through thousands of tents. No, she had to go south. It would be a lot quicker, moving around the camp and then going to the No Man’s land.

Lucy was walking through the camp with steady, rhythmical steps. The only thing, shining over the path were the torches, sticking in the ground. She was now in the outskirts, where the tents were a lot more, there were also more awaken men, who were guarding the end of the camp. Lucy hoped they wouldn’t watch out for those who were exiting.

She passed through one of the darker places, where there weren’t so many torches and there weren’t any people, so she became a bit calmer.

“Where are you going?”

Lucy froze. Her heart pounded loudly against her ribs so hard she thought they would break. She turned around and was left surprised. The warrior, who had called her, was at least a head smaller than her and wasn’t wearing a helmet, so she could easily see his face. He was a boy, no more than fifteen years old. His jaw and cheeks were still soft, his eyes filled with childish innocence.

“If you continue down this path, it will lead you outside the camp.” The boy said, with wrinkled eyebrows. “Don’t you know that?”

Lucy frowned and tried to give herself more manly pose by trusting forward her chest.

“Gotta take a leak. I’m kind of the shy type.” Her voice was lowered.” And what are toy doing here, kid? Isn’t it past your bedtime?”

Would these questions worry him? Because she was pretty sure that in Pregrande the Emperor forbid men under seventeen to participate in battles, even if they were volunteers. That led her to think the boy probably broke the law.

He opened and closed his mouth like a fish on land. Bingo!

“I’m a soldier like you.” He answered, but his legs, which stepped on one foot to other, gave the lie away.

Lucy laughed rudely, “Whatever you say, kid.”

She turned again and kept walking as calm as possible.

“Hey, wait! Your hands… they are…” he went after her, but stopped when she stomped with her foot. “…bleeding.”

The gods were laughing at her.

“Well, yes.” She replied. “That’s what happens when I drink a little bit too much. I broke the bottle on the ground, thinking that I was fighting the damn Icenbergers.” Her lips formed an arrogant smile and she winked. ” Don’t become a drunken moron like me when you grow up.”

Drunken she may not be, but a moron who let herself be captured… well…

The boy moved his eyes from her palms to her face. Distrust was coming from his whole body but he nodded. Lucy smiled, “Be right back, kid.”

She coughed, her throat too sour from making lower voice. But the boy didn’t stop her this time and soon she was in the forest, without a single soldier, who guarded the end of the camp, stopping her. She just told them the same thing she’d told the boy about her desperate need of a private toilet, so they let her go, snickering at her.

 ***

The forests in Pregrande weren’t the same as in Icenberg. Lucy knew the danger, lurking in the deep, wild places of her kingdom. The climate was conductive to frost giants, the river nymphs, the wolf changers and many other creatures who roamed the ice vacant land of the north territories. They were truly terrifying but at least she knew what could be expected from them.

Pregrande was a large empire, filled with mountains, lakes, lowlands and valleys. The climate was different in the different places, which meant that the richness of the dangers also grew.

Naturally, Lucy had read books about creatures living in Pregrande but her knowledge couldn’t capture even half the stuff. Also the creatures she had read about… well, she didn’t want to meet them. Like, at all.

At least she had a sword. She could try to protect herself. It wouldn’t help her much, but still it was something.

Lucy didn’t know how much time she’d walked and after a while she lost her sense of direction too.

Great.

Just what she needed right now. Getting lost was something she hadn’t done before but after getting kidnapped and assaulted she figured there was a first time for everything. The moon was full enough to clearly see where she was going, but it didn’t do her much good. After some time, she decided to lean against the trunk of a large tree. She couldn’t keep going this way. Lucy had to know at least where exactly she was heading if she wanted to get out of there alive.

Maybe she could climb a tree… but she’d never done that before…

“Don’t move.”

Lucy jumped and without thinking pulled her sword out, pointing it at the newcomer. When she saw who that was, she didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried.

The boy from earlier stood a few steps away with a spear in his hand. His hands were visibly shaking, the spear moving unstably in the air.

“Put the weapon down, kid. You’re barely holding it.” Lucy lifted her hand in a careful way, as if trying to calm an injured animal.

“They are looking for you in the camp!” the boy shouted, a nervious smile on his face. “I immediately understood who you are, when they said Icenberg’s strategist had escaped. Now I will catch you.”

“Let’s calm down and put the weapons away, alright? You’ll hurt yourself.” Her voice was quiet, reserved.

“I am a warrior of Pregrande.” He stepped forward, anger written on his features. The spear was now barely reaching her chest. “I know what I am doing, so if you don’t want to get hurt, put the sword down! Now!”

Lucy raised her sword, “Alright, alright.��

She carefully put down the weapon, not letting his eyes out of hers. “What’s your name?”

“Romeo. Now go towards me! I want to see you in front of me!”

She followed his order, but with slow steps, while talking to him.

“Romeo. If I stay in the camp, your General will most likely torture me to get information. Is that what you want?”

His face twisted in a shocked grimace. Doubt crept in his eyes.

“N-no.” The boy stuttered. “Natsu wouldn’t do that. But…even so…Even so! You are an enemy to Pregrande!”

Lucy realized at this moment that this boy worshipped the General. She saw it in his stare, felt it in the way he familiarly pronounced the General’s first name.

The stars were totally laughing at her now.

“Are you really going to let them…” she was cut off by a sharp sound, coming somewhere above them. They both listened and looked around.

A complete silence followed after that.

Lucy and Romeo casted a glance at each other.

Suddenly something fell with a lightning speed in front of Romeo’s feet. The boy forgot about the priestess and pointed the spear upwards.

“Who’s there? I am from Pregrande’s army! Attack me, and you attack the Empire!” the boy shouted, desperately looking at the tree’s branches. Lucy tried doing the same, but the darkness was too thick for her to see anything.

Then she saw two bright spheres. Then another two, and another two, and another…

Dozens of eyes appeared on the trees, surrounding both Romeo and Lucy from all over the place.

Romeo took a step back, his own eyes widened and filled with fear.

“The Forest people…” he whispered, terror ruling over his voice. He shouted, “We are not your enemies! We just want to leave your territory with peace.”

Lucy bit her lip. The Forest people were one of the little creatures that weren’t afraid of the humans. On the contrary. They did everything possible to embitter their lives, and sometimes even attacked battalions. Two warriors on their territory weren’t any kind of authority to them.

This wouldn’t end well. Romeo was kind of stupid and naïve child, but he was simply that. A child.

He was going to die if she didn’t do something.

While Romeo was busy talking to the Forest people, she kept coming closer to him until she almost touched him.

She felt it, then. The stirring of the wind, the killing intention, dripping in the air and promising death… The gods were whispering her to move away from the boy, to run in the opposite direction.

Seconds later from the branches above them blazed a light and a wooden stake flew straight for Romeo. The boy had no idea what was to happen, but Lucy was already on the move. She threw her body in front of Romeo and a powerful wave of pain hit her back.

Her mouth opened widely, but she barely even registered her scream. The agonizing tearing of her skin was the only thing roaring in her head, as if someone spilled molten gold on her back. She was drowning in pain, but never reaching the point of dying. An endless torture. Somewhere far away in the fogginess of her mind she addressed her body crashing down on the ground, heard familiar voices, but nothing more. Her sight bleared and the pain weakened its cruel hold on her, giving path to the darkness, which consumed her thoughts.

The last thing she sensed, as her mind slowly faded, was the smell of burned skin and smoke.

Yes, I am still writing this story, no worries.

Am I slow? Well, yeah, you could say so... but in my defense life is busy and motivation kind of runs away from time to time.

I hope that you liked this chapter, cause I kind of dig it. I love how Natsu turned out. He is a little asshole, but if he was perfect from the begining then there wouldn't be any place for growth, right? Deep down, and I mean deep, deep down he is a soft guy. Good thing Lucy appeared, cause she is gonna help our boy figured out his issues.

Tell me your thoughts and follow if you like the story.

I am gonna be honest, if it weren't for the commentors and the followers( you guys rock!), this story would be totally left unfinished. :D

Until next time,

xoxoxo

elssiie

Chapter 5

[frczenhcartarchive]

Hello there! I'm really really wanting to join the descendants rp community with a child of Elsa, but I'm seeing a lot of the same things being used and I came across your blog here and fell in love! I was just wondering what to possibly do or not to do when creating my character because your's is so diverse and different and I absolutely am hoping you can help me out!

this is LITERALLY the sweetest thing i’ve read, and i’ve noticed i’ve got a few of these sitting in my inbox so i figured i’d just answer all of them now. i was an rph for a reason. so consider this KYLA’S GUIDE TO CREATING CHARACTERS. and since descendants is my primary focus in this, please keep this in mind. but i will try to keep this as open to all character types and fandoms as possible.

this will explain step by step how i created my own muse and what i thought of in terms of how i chose his name, personality, appearance and faceclaim. please keep in mind to read ALL THE WAY TO THE END in case i misinformed anything or incorrectly stated anything as i have received hate before and hurtful messages for unknowingly reblogging things and upsetting people.

so let us begin !!

1. THINK ABOUT THE CHARACTER’S PARENTS. in a descendants sort of way, we have to always keep in mind that there are parents involved. whether it be two mothers, two fathers, or a mother and father. even MAL’S FATHER is mentioned in the books. in eldon’s case, i started with hans. but after adding elsa, it changed things. never solely base your character off one parent. if you CHOOSE to have one parent like evie, jay and carlos, or basically every other kid on the isle, please keep in mind that every character has their own personality. do NOT rely solely on the parent’s persona to create the character. it’s not very original and it’s like a copy and pasted version of the parent. 

2. APPEARANCE. i never make the character’s name first, i always start with the appearance. feel FREE to go out of order if you just need help with one thing! but this is where genes take a role. YEP! science is apart of this tutorial! in eldon’s case, a lot of people ask me why he has red hair instead of blonde. ( and it wasn’t just for the lack if blonde male face claims i wanted to choose from ) i kept in mind that elsa had blonde hair because of her powers, BUT blonde hair is a recessive gene, as in even if both parents have dark hair, if there was any sort of blonde hair in their family, the kid can get it. i also noted how a LOT of children of elsa had blonde hair, so i avoided that all together. this is where the other parent comes in handy. hans has RED hair. it’s also a recessive gene, but i found that it’d really make my character look different apposed to his mom’s appearance. 

( CONT. ) putting it all together, you can really just pick and choose what you want. hans has red hair and green eyes while elsa has blonde hair and blue eyes, so instead of solely basing eldon’s appearance on one parent, i mixed and matched. he has red hair and blue eyes. in the part of appearance as well, you want to keep in mind that it’s not just about the hair color and eye color. NOTICE their features. do they look more like their mom or dad? what aspects of their dad do they have? what aspects of their mom do they have? are there any features they have that aren’t their mom’s or dad’s? it help builds a better mental picture of what you want your character to look like! in my case, i presumed eldon looked more like hans with the broad exterior, charming features and the way hans carried himself. though given his facial appearance, he still has a lot of knicks of his dad’s but his facial features give more towards his mom’s side. the previous king of arendelle, elsa’s father, gave eldon his nose, bone structure and could have possibly been the source of his red hair. but eldon’s also been known to have his mom’s eyes. that’s the most notable feature, actually to me. he has elsa’s calculating, protruding eyes.

3. PERSONALITY. this one is what gets me every time. i’ve noticed that a lot of people base their character’s personality PRIMARILY on their parents. a lot of children of elsa ( to my observation ) have a very similar personality to hers. obviously there will be aspects of a parents personality, but REMEMBER, your character isn’t their parent. evie was brought up to want to be the prettiest and thought that she had to be beautiful to get a prince, but while she was discovering herself, she learned to be incredibly bright, intelligent and there was more to her than just her looks. so while some traits are genetic, a lot of a character’s personality is given due to their upbringing. EX. eldon was brought up a lot like elsa was, being shoved behind walls to learn everything in solitude and alone. parents tend to raise their kids as their parents had before them, and while elsa had thought it was the right thing, it turned out to be the wrong thing. not to forget that he’s sent to the Isle for misdemeanor and when he lives with his father, hans does the same thing his own father did by looking to eldon as weak and insolent. this causes eldon to become very reclusive and quiet, primarily callous and mistrustful. while yes, eldon does have some traits from elsa, like his nervousness that gets the best of him from time to time and fear of himself, he also has hans’ personality of being afraid of failure, wanting nothing but to prove his worth to people around him. BUT he also learns that he is independent, strong-willed and wants to help people who are in similar situations that he is in.

4. NAMES. i always find myself falling into this category last. to a lot of people NAMES HAVE MEANING. in the descendants, you notice a lot of the kids have names starting with the same letter as their parents or even the same name as their parents ( ie. gaston jr. ) don’t let this limit you to naming your character. eldon did get his name from his mom’s initials, elsa, but the meaning of his name gives reference to the trolls in frozen that help save anna’s life. eldon is english for ‘from the elves’ valley’, which obviously they’re not elves, but it’s close to mentioning the grove where the trolls were residing and i picked this on purpose because it reminded me of that very situation. i also had mentioned before how his middle name gives reference to elsa as well, as arvid means ‘forest of eagles’ and in american culture, eagles are seen as symbols of freedom. elsa’s want for freedom for her powers i included in eldon’s name.

ALSO. don’t forget that if your character is from a certain ethnic background, it’s a good idea to stay in their country’s language as in eldon’s norwegian heritage plays a part in his name.

5. THINK OF THE LITTLE THINGS. what makes your character like they are? what’s their favorite food? favorite color? what are their hobbies? fears? likes or dislikes? habits? what are they good at? what are they bad at? what would they like to work on? little things like this could make a HUGE difference in how your character interacts or even sees themselves.

6. BIOGRAPHICAL & CHOOSING A FACE CLAIM. i still do make mistakes when it comes to this here. DO NOT STRETCH YOUR FACE CLAIM’S ETHNICITY OR GENDER. i am pulling some strings with using kj apa, as he’s partially samoan but also majority Caucasian, so i’m walking on thin ice here. also, if your character is transgender or non-binary, use a trans!face claim or even a faceclaim who identifies themselves as non-binary. using cis!faceclaims to play trans or non-binary muses can result in insulting muns that are trans or non-binary themselves. IE. my muse moriana is non-binary and her faceclaim is amandla stenberg, who has openly identified as being non-binary.

 if your character’s parent(s) or one of them is african-american and the other is white, that would more than likely make them mixed-raced. i’d recommend keeping your faceclaims the race that their parent is specified, though i did find some place where it’s OKAY to choose their parents’ ethnicity or biographical information ONLY IF they’re ethnicity isn’t stated otherwise. like audrey, aurora’s daughter appears to be mix raced, and her grandmother being african-american also perceives or gives reference to the fact it’s HIGHLY possible aurora is african-american herself. in situations like these, IT’S HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT OFFEND ANYONE’S RACE AND TO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE PORTRAYING THEIR CULTURE CORRECTLY. ( me, the mun, am of israeli descent and i sure as hell am not cool of someone portraying my culture the way they want to ) i would highly recommend NOT doing this unless you’ve really dug deep into the biographical studies. i have done it ONCE myself with my daughter of snow white and all i did was created a latinx version of snow white. PLEASE BE CAREFUL IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO THIS. ( i will make the disclaimer that i am in no way encouraging anyone to bend the ethnicity of ANY POC FACE CLAIMS. THIS IS STRICTLY FOR WHITE FACE CLAIMS AND WITH A LOT OF STUDYING AND MAKING SURE IT IS OKAY WITH OTHERS BEFORE YOU DO SO ) 

7. HAVING FUN. after getting all of your character’s information and are happy with what you’ve done, GO OUT AND INTRODUCE THEM TO THE WORLD. roleplaying is one of the BEST ways to understand and work with your character, whether it be an OC or CANON DIVERGENT, you make your character work how you want them to! it’s all about research, learning and finding out how you want your muse or character to be while also being aware of how they can effect those around you!

BONUS. for descendants, children of elsa seem to ALWAYS have the ice magic she possesses, and it’s SUPER ALRIGHT to give your character those powers, but keep in mind it’s also possible they don’t have them. how would they cope with being normal? would they see themselves as ‘different’ opposed to their mom? 

i gave eldon the powers to help me further develop his personality. unlike his mom, he uses his power as a WEAPON but also sees it as a curse. he both fears and abuses his ability and often pays the price for it. depending on how you create your character, you can bend it in all sorts of ways! the sky is the limit though be sure to keep them original and diverse! you want to avoid all sources of mary-sues and gary-stus.

i really hope this has been helpful and i know i am still learning character development myself, IF THERE IS ANY INFORMATION IN HERE THAT IS INCORRECT OR NEEDS TO BE ALTERED, please message me and DO NOT INBOX ME ON ANON OR IN GENERAL. it’s much more civil to let me know 1x1 so i can personally apologize if i may have misinformed or worded something incorrectly.

[robboyblunder]

~click for better view!

So since i’m into Red vs Blue, I made my own halo soldier/spartan a bit ago and have been drawing him a bunch for practice and out of boredom so I thought I’d post the stuff I did with him~ you’d be surprised how much I can do with freetime and a lot of boredom... I made him up using an online generator and came up with this:

the profile bust picture took up an entire page in my sketchbook too so it’s a LOT bigger than it looks; I wanted to do more with it but didn’t wanna ruin it so I left it as it. anyways here’s this guy! I’ll put the story stuff I made up for him under a read more~ I used some ‘make your own soldier’ template someone made lmao

(please don’t repost or use w/o permission, and leave my description; thanks!)

I wrote this all in wordpad so if the grammar or anything is off...that’s why lmao.

Name: Renin Psy Codename: Psy ID: PS22 DOB: July 1st, age 25 Gender: Male Armor: EVA helmet, CQB left shoulder pad, EVA Right shoulder pad, EOD Chestplate Armor Colors: Primary is Silver, Secondary is Tan, Detail is Salmon Nationality: (???), born in desert climate biome on unspecified planet; formerly lived in oasis area within all the sand and heat before being taken into and raised by army as spartan soldier. Location: (???) Rank: ‘formerly’ captain, now bounty hunter (still has rank due to being considered missing as he was never recovered from a mission) Classification: Highly trained in standard soldier abilities, but has become a reconnaissance expert/bounty hunter Squad/Fireteam: Used to have squad of 5 (including him), now loner Primary Weapon of Interest: Sniper rifle Secondary Weapon of Interest: SMG/automatic Preferred Armor Ability: Thruster Pack

Personality: Surprisingly empathetic and easily emotional, he hides it well behind a steely demeanor that makes him seem distant and never quite involved; very objective focused, and will bend or break rules if necessary to achieve his goals, though he's not very willing to sacrifice innocents to achieve them making him conflicted. Being very emotional, he has a lot of spirit and determination and can be fairly stubborn at times. Despite being skilled in combat, he prefers to avoid it altogether if possible as stealth is his main skill; uncomfortable situations and fighting upset him and he can show strong emotion if his demeanor wavers, surprising others with outbursts of emotion now and then. Otherwise he's a quiet and distant person, though when he opens up to someone he can be very talkative, sharing, and loyal. He is not easy to forget or forgive, and carries grudges to the core.

Relationship Towards Fellow Comrades: Appreciates team mates and company, and does best to be on their good side; as the leader, he usually tries to keep his relationships with all members balanced not allowing favorism (or keeping it to himself) to keep them from infighting. Though usually short and to the point on the outside and seemingly spaced off a lot, when one gets closer to him he becomes warm and friendly and opens up.

Last Known Location: Disappeared in action during combat, lost team (not sure if they're alive or dead) in a frozen wasteland planet

Status: MIA

Anything Else About you Spartan: He's a very caring and creative fellow with a soft heart which is unfitting for the army, so he hides it and tries to be a concise and effective leader instead making him seem like an emotionless robot to most. To those he serves, he's usually unquestioningly loyal unless he gains suspicions their actions and objects are harmful and not morally right; he hate injustice and unfairness, and would rather die than commit and unjust act. Having been drafted, he decided to make the best of his situation and try to achieve to the greatest heights he could, though even if he excelled he was never at the top; instead he was more so above average, and his team wasn't considered top-tier though it was effective. Though after disappearing in action, he now secretly travels collecting bounties on those he deems guilty while helping others wherever he can; he donates a lot of the massive bounties when he doesn't need the money, keeping few personal belongings as he has no stationary home. 

His main goal is to try and recover from the mission that nearly destroyed him and his team breaking them apart, bring his team back together, and achieve justice against those who sent them to their deaths without letting them know what could happen fully. he isn't exactly sure why, who, or how but he's determined to find out one way or another. His side goal is to try and help those he can, and fix himself internally; the practical suicide mission he and his squad went through traumatized him and left him struggling to keep his emotions and sanity in control; he often loses himself to memories, spacing off more so than ever or can violently relive them and become aggressive and physically violent in response often accidentally scaring/endangering/hurting others in return. hurting others however piles more of the immense guilt and blame he has on himself further making him unstable.

Likes: friends, fair treatment, romance novels/movies/etc., motorcycles and vehicles, trying out new weapons, temperant weather, collecting valuable items, making others happy, taking down criminals, running over criminals, flying (jetpacks, planes, you name it), star gazing, day dreaming, leading his squad, sneaking up on others, polishing his visor, cleanliness (though dirtiness isn't entirely bothersome; he just prefers things clean), being complimented, feeling special/important, sniping, being accurate, feeling included, water falls, robots/robotics, cats

Dislikes: loneliness/being alone, injustice, killing/hurting innocents, upsetting those he cares about, thick mud, extreme heat or cold (he deals with it but hates it), being underground, his stuff breaking/getting lost/stolen, sharing his personal items, thinking about bad memories, spacing off (when not on purpose), being spotted/giving himself away from stealth, feeling ignored/unimportant/useless, making mistakes, turtles/turtle like creatures, dishonesty and manipulation, swallowing his pride, being forced to follow rather than lead, being disrespected/mocked/etc., people w/ cold/unfriendly personalities, getting lost, being out of control, being exposed

[republicstandard]

Top Ten Movies You Couldn’t Make Today: 1990's Edition

As John Q's exploration of movies from the 1980s which deserve the Fahrenheit 451 treatment was so popular, we locked him in a dark room with a Netflix account and his weekly allowance of absinthe until he made another glorious slice of borderline-illegal viral content. The kids love lists, and we need the clicks! Thanks John, hope your time in rehab goes well. Here are 10 movies from the 90's that would never be made in our modern, progressive utopia.

10. The Lion King (1994)

As an allegory for mass Third World immigration and the consequent environmental degradation, cultural subversion, tyrannical Marxism, and ultimately population replacement, the film hits way too close to home. It also reinforces gender expectations via the patriarchal right of succession and is, in its portrayal of both the hyenas and Rafiki the mandrill, undoubtedly racist. Despite the setting in Africa, the source material is Shakespearean, and as a Dead White Male, this is strictly forbidden. What, Alice Walker isn’t good enough for you bigots?

(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:10817585113717094,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-7788-6480"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.lockerdomecdn.com/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

9. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

An all-(white) male ensemble cast? Oh honey, you’re dreaming! Not today, not ever again (unless it’s gay porn, to borrow the joke from Zack and Miri). As an added “bonus,” the film is decidedly anti-egalitarian in orientation, and is replete with a number of homophobic slurs. Deeply troubling stuff, here, folks.

8. Man of the House (1995)

Easily one of the most culturally appropriative scenes of all time takes place about mid-way through the film in the Boy Scouts-equivalent meeting where the entirely white (possibly minus one ethnically-ambiguous pair) male cast is wearing all manner of headdresses and war paint imitating Amerindians. To add insult to injury, the father-son duos are in a circle and are practicing a kind of “Native American” initiation rite by way of introduction, called the “Naming Ceremony.” I want to unpack how problematic this scene is further, but “I can’t even.”

7. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)

The entire premise of the film is built on the decision of a man so desperate to spend time with his children that he enlists his fabulous brother to turn him into a nanny named Mrs. Doubtfire. The problem is that the humor of the film derives almost exclusively from the Robin Williams’s gender-bending and the absurdity of it all, thus, the humor must come at the expense of the Other; Williams’s character’s son completely freaks out after seeing Doubtfire/his dad urinating while standing: “He’s a she, she’s a he, she’s a he-she!” The children quickly turn against Doubtfire. Not very open-minded if you ask me. As Nico Lang wrote for The Daily Dot:

If Mrs. Doubtfire’s casual transphobia is a product of its era, so is its comedy… Mrs. Doubtfire also debuted the exact same month as The Crying Game, another AMPAS favorite that relied on the inherent titillation of transgender bodies…A culture that continues to laugh at “men in dresses” will continue to invalidate the struggles that actual transgender people go through every day, both in and out of the workplace. If our comedy is stuck in the ’90s, our treatment of LGBT people will be, too…What plays well in 1992 reads very differently today. Mrs. Doubtfire was a product of the gender politics of its era, a cultural panic about divorce and men’s declining roles in the home, as well as a deep insecurity about masculinity…Sally Field’s “Mean Mom” is the real threat. Because she wears the pants in the family, Williams’ character has to prove his worth by wearing a dress.

Commenter Gegenny on Reddit’s “r/asktransgender” forum doesn’t necessarily see the film as transphobic so much as nakedly misogynistic, declaring:

It is less transphobic so much as misogynistic. Man is willing to endure the most humiliating thing possible to see his kids, so naturally that means posing as a woman. The aspects of that humiliation are then played for laughs.

The reactions to the film are mixed; some consider it to be transphobic, others, as the quote above exemplifies, consider it “just” misogynistic, and still others say that it is transvestite-phobic. Whichever (or all of the above) the film is, it is definitely hurtful and hateful and should never have been made. As a final note, one could definitely read the “drive-by fruiting” as having homophobic undertones. A very problematic film any way you slice it.

6. Kindergarten Cop (1990)

More transphobia here. One of the most appalling scenes in all of cinema is when young Joseph, at only 27 months old says, seemingly innocently enough, “Boys have a penis and girls have a vagina!” After being triggered by this shocking ignorance of gender as a social construct when I re-watched the film for the purposes of this article, I was literally shaking. What were they teaching kids in school back then?

5. Aladdin (1992)

According to The Washington Post, 90% of the lines in the movie go to male characters. For Christine-Marie Liwag Dixon: Nearly a decade after slave Leia appeared in Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi, Princess Jasmine faced similar circumstances in Aladdin. The depiction was no less creepy and no less sexualized, but is made worse by the fact that Aladdin is supposed to be a kid’s movie…To see Jasmine forced into subservience by the evil Jafar is nauseating. It’s not really surprising that Jafar treats women badly, but this scene goes a little too far for comfort in a children’s film, especially after Jasmine uses her feminine wiles to distract Jafar before Aladdin saves the day. Watching the sham seduction take place is gross, but is even more disturbing when you remember how many kids watched this scene without understanding just how messed up it is.

Furthermore, the film shows Arabic society (and Islam by extension given the source material) in a bad light as intractably patriarchal—this is extremely problematic as we all know that anything less than the deification of brown folks is racism, and anything less than hosannas to the heavens for Islam is “Islamophobic,” for it is well-established that Islam is enriching, empowering, peaceful, and tolerant.

(Let us not even get into how even the lyrics to the intro song were considered too racist, and were changed. Tsch, maybe we had 9/11 coming after all -Ed.)

4. Starship Troopers (1997)

Despite director Paul Verhoeven’s attempt to satirize the source material, Robert Heinlein’s novel is just too strong and the satire falls flat, instead making fascism look way too appealing. In fact, the entire future society was only made possible by the reclamation of Western civilization from the near-abyss of “democracy”; one may choose to remain a civilian with all attendant rights and privileges, but no vote and no ability to stand for public office and certain other professions, or one may earn the franchise through military service for the Federation at the potential cost of their lives. Furthermore, the protagonist of the novel, Juan Rico, is Filipino, whereas Verhoeven intentionally “white-washed” Rico and his friends and family for the film to highlight the overt “Nazism” of Heinlein’s creation. The problem is that, beyond betraying Heinlein’s point that race was largely irrelevant in the Federation (its military predicated exclusively on merit), the actors are all extremely good-looking, and their attractiveness only makes saving humanity from the Bugs while exercising their civic duty that much more, well, attractive.

3. Hocus Pocus (1993)

From the hook noses to the child sacrifices, the anti-Semitic overtones in this film are extremely problematic. In the opening scene, the local white populace comes with pitchforks to execute the three witches for stealing their children and using them in their rituals, which evokes uncomfortable images of an Eastern European pogrom. For context, Ron Unz explains:

It appears that a considerable number of Ashkenazi Jews traditionally regarded Christian blood as having powerful magical properties and considered it a very valuable component of certain important ritual observances at particular religious holidays. Obviously, obtaining such blood in large amounts was fraught with considerable risk, which greatly enhanced its monetary value, and the trade in the vials of this commodity seems to have been widely practiced.

Additionally, according to Sheikh Khaled Al-Mughrabi, the Jews were killed by the Nazis because they were kidnapping Christian children to use their blood to make matzah.

2. Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994)

The 90s were probably our most transphobic decade. Elena Nicolaou writes:

Trans women in ‘90s comedies like Ace Ventura were often law-breakers who deliberately hid their trans identities, as Meredith Talusan points out in a Buzzfeed article. Consequently, “the exposure of these women becomes synonymous with ‘catching’ them; there’s no meaningful difference made between finding out a woman is trans and discovering that she’s a criminal.”

When Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey) finds out that he’s kissed a man dressed as a woman, who also happens to be the villain, he has what Nicolaou describes as “an outrageously transphobic reaction.” He vomits in the shower and sets his clothes on fire. R. Kurt Osenlund recaps:

At the time of this movie’s release, Ace’s revelation was played entirely for laughs, but seen today, it’s basically horrifying. “Finkle is Einhorn!” Ace declares to himself. “Einhorn is a man!” With that, Ace, remembering that Einhorn pinned him on her desk and gave him sloppy kisses, goes into a violent burst of queer panic, purging in the toilet, loading his mouth with toothpaste, taking a plunger to his face, purging some more, burning his clothes, and finally crying naked in the shower, all to the tune of Boy George’s “The Crying Game.” Spying the pre-op trans woman the next day, Ace, still loading his mouth with chewing gum as a disinfectant, notes that “the gun” that was “digging into [his] hip” during the pair’s make-out session was in fact a penis, and he shudders madly at the thought.

The next day, as Nicolaou recaps, “He stages a big sex ‘reveal’ in which he pulls down the character’s pants.” In a thoroughly humiliating transphobic vaudeville show, returning to Osenlund:

Einhorn stands there on display, until, thanks to a tip-off from Marino, Ace grabs his culprit and spins her around, revealing the vivid bulge of a dick and balls that Einhorn had tucked back. Just then, “The Crying Game” picks back up on the soundtrack, and all the males on site begin spitting and cleaning out their mouths, as they too have all locked lips with a woman packing a cock. There is no redemption for Einhorn. She’s knocked into the water and left humiliated all over again—a pathetic loser who deserves to suffer not just for kidnapping, but for the gross crimes of mental instability, sexual deviance, and anatomical otherness.

If one thing is certain, it is that trans people should be above any and all reproach, even if they are sociopathic criminals. Which leads me to my final film:

(function(w,d,s,i){w.ldAdInit=w.ldAdInit||[];w.ldAdInit.push({slot:10817587730962790,size:[0, 0],id:"ld-5979-7226"});if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement(s),p=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];j.async=true;j.src="//cdn2.lockerdomecdn.com/_js/ajs.js";j.id=i;p.parentNode.insertBefore(j,p);}})(window,document,"script","ld-ajs");

1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

As perhaps the mother of all transphobic films, the portrayal of transgendereds in The Silence of the Lambs as lethality incarnate probably set the LGBTQI+’s agenda to invert heteronormativity-as-deviant back a good decade. As author Mey wrote for Autostraddle:

Perhaps the most famous instance of a trans woman being used to scare audiences is The Silence of the Lambs. When we see serial killer Buffalo Bill in their most famous scene, it is meant to be one of the most jarring and disturbing moments of the film. We see someone who is presented to us as a man tucking their penis between their legs, wearing a wig made from a woman’s scalp, swaying and dancing to music. Growing up, I remember many times hearing that this was one of the strangest and creepiest scenes in modern film. This action of putting on makeup and a wig, tucking and trying to look as beautiful and feminine as you can is something that a lot of us trans women can relate to. It’s something that a lot of us trans women have done. And here it is being presented as the epitome of horror.

Mey is right—the perfectly benign activity of murdering women in order to skin and scalp them and literally “wear” them is presented here as deviant and horrific.

It’s something a lot of us trans-womyn have done.

from Republic Standard | Conservative Thought & Culture Magazine https://ift.tt/2OmWXzs via IFTTT