#if they sought out things that were considered fantastical

[amelikos]

The implication that Lucius must have read Heather's Scarlet Book (and that being why he used the name "Terapagos" in his memoirs) is pretty interesting. Lucius, someone from the past, who is currently inspiring the current generation also being someone who took inspiration from people who came before him, etc.

Briar also said that Heather's book was regarded as a mere occult story, and that no one believed it. I wonder if Lucius was one of those who believed it, or at least took it seriously enough that it may have inspired him to go on his own journey to check things for himself. Lucius believing in things no one else takes seriously, and that led him to meet Terapagos eventually.

I wonder if Gibeon and the third friend in their group were also people who were curious about these mysteries and wanted to find out more about them. Maybe they didn't fit the norm during their time because of this. It makes me think a bit about the Rising Volt Tacklers since Friede and the others don't fit in the traditional expectations for their chosen professions and took other paths.

[imastoryteller]

The Paradoxical Character: 19 Unique Trait Pairings

Here’s a list of 19 wildly unusual, highly contrasting trait pairs that blend quirky or fantastical attributes. These could make for delightfully strange, otherworldly, or surreal characters:

Immensely Patient & Chronically Forgetful Character Idea: They can wait for years without complaint but never remember why they started waiting in the first place. Their endless patience is undercut by the confusion of purpose, creating an aura of timeless mystery.

Unbearably Charming & Involuntarily Invisible Character Idea: This character has charisma in spades but is cursed to flicker out of sight randomly. Their allure is magnetic, but people constantly forget they were even there, adding to their mystique and frustration.

Perpetually Cheerful & Pathologically Suspicious Character Idea: They radiate sunshine and kindness yet believe everyone is secretly plotting against them. Their optimism is baffling, considering they’re convinced of hidden dangers everywhere.

Mind-Reading Empath & Emotionally Oblivious Character Idea: Able to feel others’ emotions intensely, yet baffled by their own, this character has no clue how they themselves feel. They’re highly attuned to everyone else but entirely alienated from their own heart.

Limitless Curiosity & Existentially Terrified Character Idea: Endlessly fascinated by every detail of the universe, yet they’re constantly haunted by the fear of the universe itself. Every new discovery brings wonder and intense dread, creating a fascinating internal tug-of-war.

Brilliant Strategist & Hopelessly Absent-Minded Character Idea: A tactical genius who can plan a perfect heist, yet constantly forgets their own plan halfway through. They’re sought after for their brilliance but just as likely to wander off mid-operation.

Supernaturally Persuasive & Pathologically Indecisive Character Idea: They could talk anyone into anything—if only they could decide what they wanted to say. Their powers of persuasion are legendary, but they take forever to make a single choice.

Ancient Wisdom & Childlike Innocence Character Idea: Despite being impossibly old and wise, they approach every situation with the wonder of a child. They’re both sage and novice, baffling people who come seeking advice but receive only wonder-filled observations.

Obscure Knowledge Hoarder & Shameless Gossip Character Idea: They know every forgotten fact of history yet can’t keep a secret to save their life. This character’s deep knowledge clashes hilariously with their loose tongue, turning historical mysteries into idle chatter.

Zen-like Tranquility & Quick to Panic Character Idea: Usually the calmest person in any room, until anything unusual happens, at which point they’re the first to run. People turn to them for peace until their sudden freakouts reveal a hidden, hilarious irony.

Hyper-Logical Thinker & Ridiculously Superstitious Character Idea: Obsessed with logical consistency yet terrified of stepping on cracks or upsetting minor spirits. Their rationality makes them a master problem-solver, but they’re comically fearful of common superstitions.

Effortlessly Graceful & Magically Clumsy Character Idea: They’re naturally elegant in all they do, but objects randomly fly out of their hands or shatter in their presence. They’re revered for poise but cursed by chaos, creating an aura of unpredictable charm.

Telepathically Intuitive & Immensely Gullible Character Idea: Able to sense the unspoken thoughts of others, but easily duped by the most obvious lies. They sense everyone’s hidden motives but constantly believe in harmless nonsense.

Exceptionally Knowledgeable & Epically Lazy Character Idea: They’ve accumulated endless knowledge from books but refuse to do anything with it. They could save the world but prefer napping and observing others fumble around in ignorance.

Magnet for Coincidences & Cynically Skeptical Character Idea: The most absurd things constantly happen around them, yet they refuse to believe in coincidences. This character is a walking contradiction of fate and disbelief, surrounded by odd events they disdain.

Hyper-Attentive Listener & Mute Character Idea: They pick up every nuance of conversation and are incredibly insightful, but they can’t respond out loud. People find comfort in their presence but struggle to understand their silence and deep gaze.

Radiantly Optimistic & Obsessed with Disaster Preparedness Character Idea: Always smiling and convinced things will work out, yet constantly building bunkers and storing supplies. Their sunny outlook is shadowed by an apocalyptic readiness that baffles everyone.

Unbreakable Memory & Instantly Distracted Character Idea: They remember every moment of their life in perfect detail but are so easily distracted that they rarely finish sentences. They’re a walking history book if only they’d stay focused long enough to share it.

Boundless Energy & Always Asleep Character Idea: They have an endless zest for life and could do anything—if they could just stay awake. People are drawn to their energy, but they frequently fall asleep mid-sentence, leaving everyone in suspense.

[wheresmymilliondollarman]

please do a part to the Grayson Hawthorn head canons maybe where he meets eve and that whole mess.

the moment i knew

grayson hawthorne x fem! reader

you're confident in your relationship with grayson hawthorne. that is until a girl who look exactly like emily laughlin shows up at the mansion.

(part of these hcs )

a/n: im SO glad someone requested this bc i had ideas while writing the hcs for this scenario. get ready for some drama and grayson being dumb💯 also finally happy to be back to posting!! been hectic but now i have free time <3 ty to everyone for being so understanding ur all amazing. listened to my sad playlist for the fighting part LOL also i wanted to make this fic format but i was already way too deep into the bullets to fix it.

word count: 7.2k (wayyy longer than intended)

warnings: angst (i love and hate it), swearing, eve, fighting, death threats, final gambit spoilers but also plot changes

dating grayson hawthorne was truly the most beautiful feeling. you would even consider it better than finding out you were going to inherit billions. that's not true, but dating grayson is a close second still.

he was a fantastic boyfriend who cared so deeply for you, and you greatly got along with his family.

the two of you had occasional fights, but it was never anything that lasted more than an hour of being mad at each other. plus, he always caved in first whether you were right or wrong.

life was truly straight out of a movie for you. you were going to be a billionaire, run a foundation, and have a boyfriend. freshman year you would never be able to believe it, especially the boyfriend part.

it was almost too perfect. you should've expected an event to come crashing down at some point. because, after all, this still was the hawthorne family you're dealing with.

the road to disaster was initiated the moment grayson hawthorne left the house. he'd gotten into the ivy league of his choice, harvard and you were more than thrilled for him. but you were unsure of where it put the two of you at. he would be leaving the mansion, while you were forced to stay.

your's and avery's contract had yet to end, you still had a few month to bypass - so you couldn't leave the residence for more than 3 consecutive days.

grayson assured you the long distance thing would work, and he'd visit you as often as possible, then when you passed the year mark, you'd be able to visit and stay with him for long periods.

the plan he formated has eased your worries about your relationship. however, a small, but growing wall had formed between you, and you feared him leaving would lengthen it. you'd begun to notice a distant feeling from grayson at times, it was as if he was still concealing a part of himself. it was a build-up of all the unresolved emotional stresses he's faces - mainly from the death of both emily and tobias.

there were moments when you had attempted to get him to open up - but he either never got the hint or desperately wanted to remain ignorant. you'd decided to leave it as is, and perhaps that was your first error.

before leaving the family had put together a party as a 'farewell' gift. since the night began, you sensed the distant feeling had returned and grayson wasn't entirely there.

when a young girl had fallen into the pool, and grayson was quick to save her, jumping right into the pool in his suit and tie. you were quick to approach them with towels; even after the girl was returned to her family, grayson stayed still with a distant look in his eyes. you called his name and shook him a few times before he finally snapped back. but before you could question anything, he sought off into the house - leaving you on your own.

you gave him time alone since that was what he obviously wished for. you were relieved to see avery return with grayson, so relieved that you were insensible to the tension between the two.

thought things weren't resolved when grayson left, you were still hopeful for the both of you.

it started off great; frequent texts, late-night calls, occasional visits, and even gifts delivered to you. you felt silly for not having faith in the long-distance thing.

but your doubts returned when those daily calls turned into weekly texts and updates and those every other weekend visits shifted to seeing each other once a month.

grayson's excuse had been he was adjusting and had a hard time getting a grip on balancing everything in his life. had it been anyone else, you'd believed it better, but because it was grayson hawthorne, who you knew could effortlessly take on any task - you were growing suspicious. but you had yet to have a serious with grayson about it.

your silence broke the moment avery sat you down and revealed what had gone down in the wine cellar with grayson the night of his party.

she started with her concern for grayson, then ventured onto what happened after grayson ran off. avery had been in the wine cellar getting a bottle at jameson's request when grayson stumbled in. she immediately noticed he was in distress, and it wasn't long before he started breaking down. avery did her best to help, but he just insisted she leave, then went on a tangent about seeing hallucinations of emily and all the stress caused by being a hawthorne. avery's first thought was to get you, but he begged her not to tell him, which is why she was silent until that moment.

you were too occupied on the information regarding your boyfriend to even get a little mad that avery withheld the information. you had an inkling grayson wasn't well, you hadn't known it had gotten as bad as it did, and it was probably much worse by now.

you made an urgent call to grayson the as soon as you got to your room, and it took a couple tries to get him to answer. he answered a bit agitated, but you didn't care and started hounding him for an explanation on everything avery had told you.

at first, grayson was taken aback by both the interrogation and avery betraying him, then he finally confirmed that avery's words were true.

your heart grew heavy, and he confirmed everything. it was silent on the line for a second before you spoke up again. the first thing you asked was 'why?' why didn't he tell you about his trouble, especially the fact he was having nightmares and hallucinations about emily, his ex- girlfriend. and why, why had he confided in someone else instead of his own girlfriend.

you weren't jealous of avery nor did you fret over something happening between grayson and avery, but it hurt like hell to know she was the first he opened up to, whether it was intentional or not.

grayson repeated apologies over the phone, but by then, you were over it and wished him goodnight before hanging up. and once the line went dead, you curled up in bed and cried til you were tired enough to pass out.

grayson called multiple times the following day, and you declined them all. when calls were a bust, he turned to a flux of texts hourly, all consisting of the same mantra of sorry's and 'call me back'. you still didn't budge. you continued that behavior for a week or so, still upset at him.

however, you couldn't help but feel bad - the last thing you wanted to do was add stress to this place. nonetheless, your emotions were also valid; no one likes their boyfriend keeping things from them, telling said secrets to another woman he used to live with at that.

what you didn't expect on your monday morning was grayson to show up behind your bedroom door when you opened it. knowing he came all that way just because you were ignoring him made your heart flutter, however, you kept you solid composure.

grayson begged you to hear him out, so you hesitantly let him into your room and sat on the bed, waiting for him to say something. then grayson gave permission, he spilled his guts.

he revealed to you all of the difficulties he was going through, and you listened with an open heart. by the end of it he was crying, and you didn't hesitate to comfort him in his arms, a gesture he gladly accepted.

when it was safe for you to speak, you told him he didn't have to face all of it alone, there were many people in his life who cared for him.

"hawthorne or not, i'm your girlfriend. you are free to run to me when things get hard. then we can take it on together, okay?"

"you still want to be with me even after i've cried on your shoulder like this."

"the crying actually makes me like you more." you joke, and he gives a small smile at that.

you felt everything had gotten better after that. you'd manage to knock down another wall grayson had built, and now the two of you were closer than ever. avery's birthday was soon, so any two weeks after that, you'd be able to see grayson much more.

you were going to surprise your boyfriend by telling him you'd been looking at apartments in cambridge and landed on the perfect apartment for yourself. so, as soon as the year was up, you were moving there. yes, it was a huge step for someone you hadn't even been dating for over a year, but there was no place you'd rather be than by grayson's side.

avery's birthday had been, as jameson described, an "introvert's ball." and to be frank, you'd prefer it that way. after the way the last big party ended u, you were happy to have it just be immediate close friends and family.

everyone had a great time, grayson had made time to attend, and the both of you danced almost all night long. by the end, you're feet were blistered and bruised, but courteously swept you off your feet and carried you in his arms and into his bedroom. you were out like a light, but not before hearing grayson say 'love you' when he thought you were sound asleep. you went to bed with a smile etched on your lips.

you would've never left his bed had you known what was in store for you both the next day.

you'd just eaten breakfast with avery when you had both been informed by oren of a visitor name eve. avery looked anxious about it, and you didn't wait for her permission to follow her to the gates.

from the distance, you'd assumed it was rebecca, but as you approached, you realized that wasn't her. the girl in front of you was an exact copy of emily laughlin, more than her own twin.

"what the hell."

you were stunned to see a version of emily in person, and not just from photos you'd seen. avery was shocked, but it wasn't because of her appearance, more so due to her appearance at the manor. you were highly confused and began to think you were still sleeping.

avery had no choice but to confide in you everything that had gone on with toby and grayson's father, and how eve was toby's daughter. it was all much for your morning brain. but you processed enough to know the hawthornes, mainly grayson, seeing eve was the last thing needed. a part of you wanted to halt the meeting for selfish purposes. but the issue with eve being at hawthorne mansion meant a bigger issue; toby was taken.

oren, you, avery, and eve were discussing how to proceed, but there was little time to discuss the matter because the first person to come outside was grayson. the last person you'd wanted to come out of the mansion.

"emily?"

he was, understandably, pale as a ghost. it wasn't every day you saw a replica of your ex-girlfriend. you ran up to him with no plan of action. what could you possibly say? 'oh, this isn't emily this is eve, who just happens to look exactly like emily. and she's toby's daughter. oh, and by the way, your father is actually dead.'

grayson walked closer to eve, the resemblance becoming clear as day. looked to you to verify if what he was seeing was real or another figment of your imagination. you could only nod in response.

grayson didn't look away from eve, even when you tried to pull him back into the house. eve was annoyed by his trance and demanded to be taken inside for a shower after all she's had to deal with for the day.

so it was decided that everyone would gather in avery's room while eve used her bathroom. jameson had already been in avery's room when you four entered. he obviously noticed eve but made no comment until she was into the shower. since eve locked herself in the bathroom, grayson's eyes didn't move from the door. you couldn't lie and say it didn't create a sour feeling inside of you.

you knew it was horrible to make your boyfriend's trauma about you, but you couldnt help it. you were worried eve having the same face as emily was going to bring back unwarranted feelings. you bit back your envy, seeing that jameson was unaffected by eve's face, in contrast to grayson who stared longingly.

"tell me everything, heiress one and two."

avery briefly went over eve's appearance and toby's disappearance. she believes toby being taken has to do with a disk he gave her, one eve didn't know about. she ended it with an open discussion on ideas on how to get toby back.

jameson was the first to recognize how little you all knew about eve, and if you could truly trust her. you were glad someone had similar thoughts and you wouldn't be the first to voice them.

"we have to help her."

you turned to grayson at his words, your lips turned slightly down. jameson and avery also looked at the brother weirdly. was he seriously defending eve because she was an emily dupe?

"gray, we don't know her."

"it doesn't mean we should leave her to her own devices."

eve stepped out of the bathroom with clothes provided by avery,and grayson now had a look in his eye you coulden't identify. you had just about enough and lamely excused yourself to your room.

a part of you stupidly hoped your boyfriend would follow, but he never did.

as you busied yourself in your room reading books of fantasy lands to forget your own reality, avery knocked at your door. you hollered at her to enter, and she did. you continued reading, waiting for her to speak first.

"what do you think of a few welcome festivities?"

you raised a brow, "what did you have in mind?"

"how does chutes and ladders sound?"

chutes and ladder did not sound very fun, and frankly you'd never heard of it until that moment, but avery needed everyone in the game to get eve on board. you were even less enthused finding out grayson had been where eve was.

'you trust your boyfriend. you trust your boyfriend. you trust your boyfriend.' you repeated over and over. maybe you would believe it at some point.

as everyone gathered in the study and took a seat, you took your usual place next to grayson. you clenched your fists in your lap as you witnessed eve do the same.

as xander droned on about the rules of the game, you subtly side-eyed the pair beside you. your attention shifts back to the game when xander instructs the first person to go is the person with the best-kept secret. so that meant each of you had to confess something.

grayson took the liberty of starting off, not before sparring a guilty glance at you, "a girl tried to kiss me at harvard."

your head snapped, "what?"

"seriously, it was nothing."

"i can't believe you wouldn't tell me, i thought we agreed no secrets!"

"i didn't think it matter, it obviously pushed the girl away."

"it was enough of a deal for you to choose it as your secret."

you got up from your seat and opted to sit between avery and maxine. grayson grabbed your arm in an attempt to stop you, but you shook him off and took your new seat. grayson attempted to throw apologies, but you disregarded them.

to lighten the mood, maxine continued revealing she had a tattoo and xander continued telling the room he found his birth father; most of you gasped and asked for more, but xander kept his mouth shut. avery went next, heartfelt, saying she felt tobias made a mistake choosing her. you couldn't deny you didn't feel the same at times.

then eyes shifted onto you, awaiting your confession. you had a plethora to give, but you settled for one that matched the vulnerability of avery's.

"not to speak ill of the dead, but sometimes i think tobias hawthorne is a coward for leaving a game in his will instead of an explanation."

the room was silenced by your voice. you and avery each gave a look toward one another in understanding. you couldn't bare to turn your head in grayson's direction for his reaction. plus, you were still upset at him.

eve took the moment to finish the circle of secrets with her own. she disclosed her relationship with her family and their resentment toward her. you didn't fully trust eve, but you sympathized with her story. part of that sympathy was broken off as you saw grayson lean closer to her without a second thought. you started to think you would explode if the game didn't start any sooner.

as you wished, the game commenced - no surprise to you when eve was decided to go first. then the rest of you followed, and the race began.

you truly had no intention of trying that hard for a game, but it seems your inner competitiveness took the lead when you noticed eve ahead and grayson trailing right behind her.

maybe your anger and irritation spurred you on, but in everyone's, including yourself, surprise - you were right on eve's tail climbing up the ladder behind her.

your next move was a dirty one, maybe even callous, but in all honesty, you hadn't meant to do it. you think.

trying to grab onto the next rung as fast as possible, you managed to also grab the heel of eve's foot - causing her to misstep, lose her balance, and hang off the ladder by an arm and a foot. you utilized the time eve had to stabilize herself to then slide past her. you shot her a sorry look on the way up, and opened the hatch to the rooftop, declaring you the winner.

eve was right behind, grayson and jamseon after, and avery after two minutes. eve shot you a glare but didn't say a word about the incident. grayson was making his way in your direction, but you steered the other way to where jameson and avery stood.

jameson chuckled, "i didn't know you had it in you to play dirty."

"it was an accident, she tripped!" you defended.

jameson gave you a knowing look, but raised his hands in surrender and walked away to where xander and maxine were on the verge of entering. (they got sidetracked by a pillow fight)

you told avery you were off to shower and change; you hadn;t realized how sweaty you got until that moment. she nodded and you made your way to the hatch, but before you went down, she grabbed your arm.

"between you and me, was it an actual accident?"

"it was... if you count grabbing her foot and dragging her down as an accident."

avery shakes her head, "can't say i wouldn't have done the same given the opportunity."

walking down the hall, you heard your name being called. on instinct, you turned; grayson was behind you. you figured avoiding him wouldn't work forever.

"can we talk?" he asks, interwining his hand into yours.

you open your mouth the respond, but he cuts you off - "actually, you don't get a choice. i'm going to talk, and you're going to listen."

his tone left no room for argument, so you conceded. grayson went on to apologize for the 'almost-kiss' incident and for the lack of telling you.

"forgive me, angel. it was idiotic of me to assume it wasn't a important matter to communicate to you. you are the only girl i'll ever want to kiss."

you were a sucker for sincere apologies, and his piercing eyes made for a compelling argument. you sighed, "okay, i'll forgive you. but next time a girl tries to kiss you and you don't tell me, i'm kicking your ass, then hers."

grayson smiles and leans in for a kiss, which you accept. as his lips ignite with yours, you can't help but think of how much of a hypocrite you're being by not telling him your emotions regarding eve. 'it wasn't the right time,' you told yourself. it was only her first day, you were jumping to conclusions too soon. everything would work out.

the morning made for a rude awakening; threatening note sent to the gates hadn't been on your to-do list. avery shook you so hard you jumped out of bed, thinking it was an earthquake and smacked grayson's face in your alarm. (he wasn't pleased at that)

the threat contained a photo of toby, and a crypt message you all decoded. everyone started to think of suspects for the culprit behind the kidnapping. number one being skye hawthorne.

however, the investigation proved to be fruitless because she didn't have toby, and the other suspects led to a dead end. the threats hadn't stopped either.

you found yourself sleeping in grayson's more frequently. grayson didn't feel comfortable leaving you in your room, but you also knew it was because he secretly loved cuddling you at night. he held off going back to harvard, claiming he couldn't leave while there was danger lurking. it made you feel safe, but you also wondered if eve had anything to do with it. part of you didn't want an answer to that.

on this night, the two of you were in the pool past midnight. now that you learned to swim, grayson wouldn't stop challenging you to races. you knew what the outcome would be, but you accepted everytime, telling him you'd beat him eventually. (doubt, but it was nice to dream). for every win, you'd award him a kiss per his demand.

on his fifth victory, you leaned in to kiss him, only to ambush him with water to the face. grayson pretended to be annoyed and claimed revenge. you quickly swam away, but it didn't take long for him to catch up to you. he hands attacked your sides, and you were tortured by the ticklish sensation. you begged for him to stop, but he refused and wanted an apology.

you were stubborn, but finally threw in the towel, and accepted defeat. even after he stopped, grayson kept you in his arms as you calmed down from your fits of laughter. for a moment, it was just the both of you gazing into each other's eyes lovingly. at the same time, you titled you heads and reduced the gap between your lips.

before your mouths made contact, the lights, alerting the presence of another, shone. you both quickly turned toward the direction of the light, and grayson made a swift move to push you behind him. you were half expecting it to be another hawthorne brother, or worst-case scenario - the kidnapper.

but instead, there stood eve. she wore a silk lilac nightgown with a small slit that stopped midthigh. you immediately recognized it as your own by the small tear on the strap. 'when did she get this from my room?' had she stolen it or did grayson give it to her? both answers made your blood boil.

grayson relaxed as he recognized her, but you stayed tense. eve apologized for the intrusion, she was walking around the grounds and hadn't realized there were others awake. despite hating the interruption, you assured her it was alright, and she should be careful roaming around at night.

you thought that was that, and she'd just wander off, but it wasn't.

"do you mind if i swim, too?"

"well we-"

"not at all."

you turned your head to your boyfriend and gave him a questioning look, but he ignored it. his attention was now on eve. you had no choice, but to go along with it.

eve was quick to remove her your nightgown and reveal a one-piece swimsuit under. you were a bit confused, didn't she say she was just roaming the grounds, why did she already have a bathing suit on? but you stayed silent.

she jumped from the edge of the pool and landed a few feet away from where you and grayson. for a moment she struggling to reach the top, likely from not expecting how deep the pool actually was. grayson, ever the hero, swam to her aid, grabbing her hand to reel her back to the surface.

at this point, you couldn't even blame eve for these little accidents. you were getting upset at how grayson never failed to aid her when she was in need.

eve laughed, and thanked him for the gesture. then they started conversing about a topic you didn't care to pay attention to. had you just become a third wheel? 'no, no. he's just being friendly. gray will come back to you any second, then you'll both return to his room.'

except that didn't happen. eve asked grayson to race her, and he gladly accepted. even teased her about how badly she'd lose. not once did he turn back your way. no, but as eve swam to the edge, she gave you glance, obviously noticing how you awkwardly floated in your spot waiting for grayson. but she didn't speak a word, and continued to race in preparation for the friendly competition.

you had more than enough at that point. you swam to the pool's railing and pulled yourself out. you stomped out the swimming area, not even bothering to get a towel, and walked back into the mansion. you'd apologize to the cleaners for the wet mess later.

you were more heartbroken than angry. which was worse in your book. you'd been trying not to act like a jealous girlfriend who couldn't trust her boyfriend, and you took grayson's trauma with the emily situation into account, so you made excuses for all of grayson's actions toward eve. but sometimes, you shouldn't deny what's right in front of you.

now, you were cold and wet. you just wanted to go to bed. taking on threatening notes seemed so much easier now.

with all your deep thinking, you missed the sound of running feet from behind you. when a hand grabbed your wrist so suddenly, you were startled, and on instinct - you hand went flying at whoever stood behind you.

seeing now that it was grayson, you gave a small apology, seeing him clutch his face in pain. but you weren't that sorry at all. you probably would've done the same thing if you knew it was him.

grayson collected himself like nothing, "why did you leave?" he gently asks, wrapping a towel, you just noticed he brought, around your form.

you feign innocence, "oh, you actually noticed i was gone? 'figured you'd be too busy racing your new best friend."

"what are you acting like this?"

"i'm tired. tired of standing by as you treat eve like she's a damsel in distress. eve's no better; she clearly knows the effect she has on you."

"you're misinterpreting the situation. eve is one of us, we have to protect her."

"i'm sorry, did we forget you launched a full federal investigation on avery and i as soon as we got here? even after the will reading, i don't remember getting this warm welcome from you."

grayson lips form a straight line, frustrated, "that was different. eve has no one else-"

"she's not emily, grayson."

"trust me, i know that."

"i dont think you do! you see her as your second chance. news flash grayson, she isn't, emily is dead!" you venomously spit out. you hadn't intended for the harsh words to come out, but you wanted to hurt him as much as he was hurting you at the moment.

grayson's fists clench at his sides, he eyes brim with rage toward you, "jealously isn't a good look on you, y/n." the blow cut deeper than you had wished.

"neither is ignorance." you bite back.

you angrily turn your back and storm off in the direction of your room. luckily, it was only less than twenty feet away. you hoped grayson got the hint to not follow.

"we owe her our loyalty, y/n." grayson calls out one last time in a calm voice - different from the aggravated one from a second prior.

you enter your room and turn to him, deciding your final words before closing your door, "your loyalty was to me first."

part of you expected an apology the following day, but it never came. you were unsure where the two of you stood, and you weren't going to waltz up to grayson door to ask.

you confided your feelings in avery and libby, both defended your stance. avery was also wary about eve, and libby just loved any chance to bash a hawthorne.

you were sure the whole house was aware of the argument, likely the laughlins and thea calligaris as well. news travels easily around here. you didn't even want the know eve's point of view on the whole thing.

you steered clear of grayson, and busied yourself with toby's kidnapping along with everyone else. (which honestly should've been the most important matter.) you ensured avery everything was fine because you felt selfish making it about you when toby was in serious danger.

even without being in the same room with grayson, the tension was painfully evident. you could always sense when his gaze was on you, and it took everything to not return it. when you both were in the same room, you made sure to stay on opposite ends. everyone else had trouble deciding on how to handle the situation, but there were no direct comments, at least not that you heard.

there were nights when you wished grayson would show up at your door and just apologize. you wanted a reenactment of those cheesy romance movies where the guys begs the girl for forgiveness, and then they kiss and makeup. truthfully, you would've taken him back in a heartbeat. but this wasn't a movie, and he never showed up at your door.

you wondered if he even felt half of the heart ache you were going through. by the way eve was still hanging around him, even after the argument, you were starting to doubt it.

the more the investigation ensured, the more you and avery grew suspicious of eve. though whenever you thought you had a smidge of proof, it never followed through. it only succeeded in making you look like the villainous ex girlfriend and eve the innocent protagonist.

you and grayson were in a forced proximity when you had to investigate the wine cellar, along with avery and jameson. it was an awkward situation for all four of you, especially pertaining to the event with avery and grayson. but nonetheless, it proved to be useful because the final clue was hidden in the crystals of the chandelier. 'DON'T TRUST ANYONE'

you shouldn't had been so surprised that it was another vague message.

after critical thinking, you and avery came to the same conclusion - eve. the game started with her, she had to be the one tobias was warning about.

however, jameson and grayson weren't convinced by the conviction. both inferring that it would've stated 'her' instead of 'anyone'. but you persisted, avery backing you up.

jameson sighed, "i think recent events are affecting your judgment, y/n." you were taken aback by the claim, especially it coming from jameson. hadn't he been suspicious of her as well?

"i'm not acting out of jealousy. the old man knew of her, even made a plan in the event she arrived to the mansion, yet failed to mention her to anyone. why is that?"

"y/n." grayson spoke to you for the first time in awhile, "this isn't like you to act so rash. if you gave evie a chance-"

"evie? what, you guys have fucking pet names for each other now? don't you see how she's played you since the beginning!"

"y/n, you're not thinking straight."

you shake your head, "no, i don't think it's ever been clearer than right now. so, i'm going to give you one last chance grayson. to, for once, take my side over eve's. because if you don't, you're going to lose me."

there was silence, a hairpin being dropped could be heard. grayson put his head down and said nothing. and yet, it told you everything. you laughed at yourself for expecting a different outcome.

you scoffed with a humorless grin, turned around and walked away. you heard avery call out for you, but you ignored it. you didn't want to see the pity she'd have in her eyes after that embarrassing debacle.

you made it all the way to your room before crying into your pillow. you finally got the answer of whether or not it was over. the pain of the night at the pool seemed like an easy feat to face compared to your anguish now.

when you calmed down a few hours later, you looked out the window and saw the pool. a flashback of pain seared in you at first, but then you noticed something peculiar you failed to notice before. there was a part of the tiles that weren't aligned with the rest. you likely would miss it if you were close to it, but from far away it was noticeable.

something inside you told you to investigate. maybe it was the need for a distraction, but you followed your gut, not even stopping to change attire.

once getting to the pool, you jump straight in to create enough force to reach the bottom of the pool more efficiently. there, you observed the tile for a second before attempting to move it. nothing happened, and you readied yourself to get a breath of air -but suddenly, a key popped out from a compartment under the tile. you got it and returned to the surface.

without the chlorine in your eyes, you were able to immediately know where to put the key to use; the chapel tobias built for nan hawthorne. you rushed there, not caring for how soggy your hair and clothes were.

luckily, nan wasn't anywhere in sight. you rushed to the statue in the center of the room and eyed it for a moment before finding the intended target, the statue's mouth. you fit the key inside and wiggled it around before hearing that 'click' to let you know it was unlocked. a second later, a small plate popped out and with it it contained a usb. you'd never been prouder of yourself for figuring out one of tobias's stupid puzzles without avery's help.

you pulled out your phone and pressed on avery's contact, and started ringing her. she picked up in an instant, "hello?"

"avery! you won't believe it i-"

your sentence was rudely cut off due to your phone being shot of your hand. by a bullet.

you gasped and snapped your head to the entrance of the chapel. you saw the gun at once and its owner; eve.

"sorry, i think you're going to need a new phone," she says innocently.

you let out a cheerless laugh, "i knew it, you psycho bitch!" obviously not the best choice of words to say to the person pointing a gun at you, but god, did it feel good to be right about eve.

eve rolled her eyes, "i suppose you did, but it wasn't like anyone believed you. i'll admit you and avery almost, just almost, got me. but eventually, i was able to fool her too. now give me the usb and i won't shoot you." she got you there.

you gripped the usb tightly in your palm, "why do you want it?"

"i'm getting what's owed to me, what was taken from my family by that stupid old man. god, was it easy to infiltrate the hawthornes. especially grayson." you flinched at the mention of his name and eve took note of it.

she laughs, "right, he's your boyfriend- i mean ex-boyfriend, oops." there's no sincerity in that apology. "you know, when i heard you two were dating i was prepared to work twice as hard to get his attention.. but it was proven unnecessary because as soon as i stepped on hawthorne mansion - i had him." ouch.

"enough chatting, now walk over here slowly and hand me the drive." eve commanded, emphasizing the gun in her hands.

where was your bodyguard when you needed him?

you followed her commands, and took slow steps to her. she took on hand off the trigger to open her palm toward you. you made a motion to place the usb in her hand, but then quickly charged at the gun.

you both struggled back and forth, moving the gun. suddenly, the weapon flew out of both of your grasps and landed in front of the angel statue.

with the usb situated in your pocket, you ran to retrieve it, but eve was quick and tackled you from behind, causing you both to land on the ground. you were both rolling up and down the aisle, trying to get the upper hand. eve roughly situated herself ontop of your waist, immobilizing you. then her hands slithered to your neck and squeezed hard.

it was getting harder to breathe, but you were a fighter. your armed flayed at her, grabbing whatever was closest. as a last resort, you clawed at her face.

"bitch." you mutter as your nails scratch across her face.

it worked, eve howled in pain and retracted her hands from your neck. you briskly shoved her off your body. having little energy from the lack of oxygen, you still take your chance and crawl toward the gun. but eve had recovered, and dragged you back by your heel. 'talk about karma' you thought.

you're crazily moving your feet to shrug eve's hands off as you continue to painfully crawl. but suddenly the gun is lifted off the ground, both you and eve look up to see grayson now clutching the gun. you're both relieved and worried.

you stand up on your feet, eve does the same. grayson waves the gun toward both of you and both hold your hands in front of your forms.

"gray, thank god you're here. i came here looking for a clue, and found a usb, but then y/n showed up.. s-she took the usb from me then pulled out a gun and tried to kill me." her voice was no longer diabolical, now it was full of vulnerability and fear.

"grayson, she's lying, she almost killed me!"

"y/n's been working with vincent blake, she plans on giving that usb to him."

"oh, you little liar!"

"look at what she did to my face!" eve points at the bloody scratch on her face, starting from her left eyebrow and ending at her lip.

grayson eyes went back and forth in observing both you and eve. the gun was pointed in the middle, still deciding its target.

his eyes landed on yours, as does the gun. "y/n. give me the usb." your stomach drops.

"grayson." you plead.

"y/n. now." he held his hand out. you knew that tone. it meant 'no room for argument'.

if he didn't believe in you even now, then you had no choice. you took steps toward him.

"careful, gray, pretended to give the usb to me and then attacked me." eve warned. you shot her a nasty glare.

grayson doesn't say anything and waits for your move. you drop the usb in his hand.

"thank you." you say nothing.

grayson turns his head to eve, "i've always known who to believe." eve smiles at that, "i just had to stall long enough for john to show up."

in an instant, eve is brought down to the floor. oren is behind her, holding her arms behind her back long enough to put handcuffs on her wrist.

you let out a large breath you didn't know you were holding. grayson believed you in the moment that mattered most.

grayson tosses the gun to the ground and engulfs you in a hug. you accept it, and grip onto him like your life depends on it. his hold triggers your emotions, and tears spring out from your eyes. you can't help it when you start crying into his shoulder. he soothes you, cradling his hand on the back of your head.

"im sorry." grayson muttered into your hair. "you were right. i can't let emily rule my life any longer."

"you're an idiot." you say in the midst of tears.

"i am." he agrees

"and i'm still super mad at you."

"i know."

"you're going to have to work really hard to earn my forgiveness, like beg on your knees and hold a boombox outside of my window type stuff." you croak.

"i will, baby." grayson smiles.

for now, you were happy to feel safe and protected in his arms.

bonus:

"is this really necessary?"

"very," avery confirms, "you broke boyfriend code, now your penance must be fulfilled."

"you guys only made up those codes a day ago," grayson counters.

it was true, after the whole eve fiasco grayson was willing to do whatever to earn your forgiveness. you were ready to forgive him, but you also wanted to give him a hard time. it might've been a little evil of you, but you thought it was well deserved. after a girl talk with avery and libby, you came up with a new set of rules you liked to refer to as 'boyfriend code.' inspired by the code the brother share.

"exactly why we ought to use you as an example for future culprits," xander justifies waving a hand in grayson's direction.

grayson groans, looking up at the ceiling, "i love my girlfriend. i'm doing this for my girlfriend." he murmurs to himself.

"that's the spirit" nash cuts in, he lifts his drink up.

avery looks around, "where is y/n, anyway?" she asks.

"here!" you announce, walking out from behind the stage, "i was just preparing the song." you take a seat next to jameson and grin mischievously at grayson, "you'll love it."

graysons eyes narrow, "i have a feeling i won't."

just then, the beginning of a song plays out from the speakers.

grayson eyes widen, and he looks at you, "no."

your smile widens, "oh, yes."

"c'mon gray, we're all waiting." jameson hollers from his seat.

everyone starts egging grayson on, cheering for him to commence.

he takes a deep breath, "guess i have no choice."

as grayson starts to sing the lyrics of "shake it off" by taylor swift, jameson leans over to you.

"gotta say, this is a brilliant punishment for him."

you nod in agreement, "and it'll be even better after when i reveal, i have ten other taylor swift songs for him to perform." specially, 'ME!' was next.

"yikes. remind me to never break boyfriend code."

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

when people say wwx is not truly good because he rightfully sought revenge (justice!!!??!!) against those who wronged him and his former sect... dude some of them are so silly it upsets me

I have said it before but I think when people read, they don't want to draw a line between the conventions of what are considered everyday expectations of what is considered justifiable morals in our very monotonous domestic lives, to that of what is presented as wild and fantastical for fantasy.

The best accompaniment I can think of to compare to what we see from MDZS in a well-known English work is The Hunger Games. We have a protagonist that is very proud and independent in their own talents, they know what their limitations are yet still are able to go above even those when they are pushed to do it, every time this is out of a sense of duty but also devotion to what they love. They are not naive of the cruelty of life and at times can even come off as rather jaded about the reality of their worlds for good reason as both essentially are made caretakers and keepers of children their own age because of the incompetence of the adults in their lives and needing to learn how to survive themselves, but still offer love and hope for the best for the ones they care about.

They are also both thrust into continuous life and death situations, not because of any fault of their own, but because they didn't want others to be hurt needlessly. Neither Katniss or Wei Wuxian WANT to be self-sacrificial, they actually fight tooth and nail to live, they want to live because it is very human, but they also disavow real cruelty, not justifiable vengeance. They kill themselves to survive and partake in gruesome ones, yet the thing is that even in their own settings these are not condemned as them having ever been wrong for that by the narratives, one is in first person perspective and the other is from an omniscient other perspective.

This also reflects in the traits of their respective love interest that they both admittedly knew little about but were unconsciously taken by in their younger days and continued to have that admiration grow partly in due to the kindness within the love interest that is focused on heavily as a point of draw. And ironically both are called "oblivious" in their feelings of love when no, they rationalize it as friendship each time throughout the novels until they can and do safely admit they cannot be or it would always be the other for them.

Morality is a very fine line to argue when what is not my every day expectations of it are defied by the themes meant for novels and plots. In not one instance would I try to say Wei Wuxian or Katniss are "morally grey" or not justified in their actions when they continued to stick to their own ideals as much as possible without compromising what they believed to be right. They themselves do not ever try to deny their part in hurt or harm caused but do not take more and do not want more blame then they realistically are due. Maybe people see that as selfish and callous, I for one do not when they decide to take responsibility for what is theirs all the while being unapologetic about wanting to survive and happiness as what they deem is happiness.

[aleksanderscult]

People accuse the Darkling of...

⚠️TW!: Genocide, sexual assault and abuse⚠️

People accuse the Darkling of lacking empathy.

Well that's what immortality does to you, my friend. The human brain is not designed for this kind of thing. It's miraculous that he wasn't insane by the start of "Shadow and Bone".

He also willingly stopped feeling emotions because they distracted him from his goal.

Furthermore, he was raised by a mother that kept telling him to never believe in love and always tried to isolate him from people he could bond with.

And I don't think you call someone "unfeeling" when he seems concerned about what will happen to Ravka and the Grisha or when you remember his reaction to his mother's fall or when he saw the woman he loved lose her entire soul, her very being right in front of him. The man could feel. But his emotions were buried deep within.

People accuse the Darkling of being a murderer.

Yes, he was, I agree.

But so was Alina, so was Mal, so was Nikolai. Everybody killed people.

"But Nikolai didn't kill out of evilness"

Neither did the Darkling. He didn't do it because he enjoyed it, he wasn't a sadist. He killed because he was fighting a war. At times of peace (if there was any in Ravka) he didn't go around shooting people out of boredom.

People accuse the Darkling of lying to Alina.

He lied to Alina because she was a new and, apparently, naïve person that he couldn't just trust from day one. He was the leader of an army that was already in danger of being hunted down if the King changed his mind. Why should he trust her? Why should he tell her his secrets? Is she his lieutenant? Is she part of the royal council? No, I don't think so.

"He lied to her about who he is!"

Isn't that the same lie he was telling to literally everyone for 400 years? You say it like he did it because he had something personal against her. It really shows how clueless all of you are for the matters of politics and ruling. Read a book ffs.

People accuse the Darkling of committing genocide.

He didn't. He was actually a victim of one.

I can't believe this accusation even exists

People accuse the Darkling of being a sexually creep towards Alina.

Aside from the fact that neither I nor the author herself consider him as one, are we talking about those moments where they already were enemies? Do you know what an "enemies-to-lovers" trope is? Do you know that in this kind of trope attraction and aversion are the primary ingredients?

Or the fact that, in the Grishaverse, the very rules of consent are different. How can you or anyone put modern laws into a fantastical universe where people with magical powers exist and things are run differently? Each universe has its own setting, structure and rules. Why are you putting your contemporary ideals and ethics there? What are they even doing there in the first place?

People accuse the Darkling of being manipulative towards Alina.

If you accuse him as such, could you please DM me the passages from the book where he did that? Because even I can't find them.

And I'm talking about before his big reveal as the "villain". Because after that, those moments are again taken as the actions of an enemies-to-lovers trope.

But where he was manipulative before that?

Good luck trying to figure out the impossibly ambiguous scenes where Leigh tried to paint him as one in S&B and failed.

People accuse the Darkling of being power-hungry

I agree, he sought power. But as far as we know he never wanted power exclusively for himself. In RoW it was revealed that even the Fold was the result of him trying to stop the wars:

Wars ended and began again—and again and again. Grisha were not accepted; they were resented in Ravka and hunted abroad. Men fought them with swords, then guns, then worse. There was no end to it, and so he had sought an end. Power that could not be questioned. Might that could not be reckoned with. The result had been the Fold.

The amplifiers? To control the Fold and stop the wars.

The nichevo'ya? Used them to lower the losses of his army.

The throne? Unlike his predecessor, he seemed to be involved in paperwork, listening to his advisors, feeding his army and trying to deal with all the deserters from that army.

"You try to defend him and his actions!!"

Actually we're trying to protect him from your stupidity and inability to read between the lines and past the narrative. And the Darkling has become totally evil in the eyes of this fandom because:

A) the narrative really did him dirty. Always talking about his atrocities and villainous actions.

B) the fandom is really clueless and stupid about the ways of leadership and ruling and I will die on this hill. You have NO idea how treason must be handled, or political intrigues are working and it shows from the very first second you open your mouth. "The Darkling scarred Genya!" Welcome to the world of "treason is met with consequences". "The Darkling lied to Alina!" Welcome to the world of politics.

Also, it's the double standards that kill us. You forgive Kaz for killing people for money but spit on the Darkling for doing it for a selfless purpose. You love Nikolai for trying to usurp the throne, but hate the Darkling for doing the same when he did it to bring a change to Ravka.

The Darkling was an anti-villain. Anti-villains are characters with a noble, sympathetic goal but the means to achieve it is through violence. And these characters are meant to stir sympathy towards the reader and are, almost always, tragic characters.

Now whether someone forgives his actions or excuse his character is always up to the reader.

But let's not pretend like the heroes did better. Or the fact that you probably wanted him to act like a forgiving, kind-hearted fairy godmother after one thousand years full of shit to the point that he broke, said enough and stood up against the violence and atrocities his people were suffering from. He decided to fight fire with fire and I find that understandable, just like the majority of his supporters in this fandom.

[talenlee]

Game Pile: The Arilou

New Post has been published on https://press.invincible.ink/game-pile-the-arilou/

Game Pile: The Arilou

In consideration of science fiction storytelling there are some problems that kind of have to be tangled with between the realism of here and now and the fantastic of the story can intersect. It’s because there’s a hypothetical attenuation between the scientific of the genre, the way that things need to be built out of conventions and frameworks we’re already familiar with. Sometimes this can be done with single, deeply, and fundamentally important boundaries on reality, like how in Mass Effect there’s the introduction of a new, single element one level higher than Hydrogen, and its presence allows for all the stuff in that universe that we conventionally consider to have broken the rules of our reality.

One of those challenges is the Fermi Paradox, which is – simplified – ‘hey, where are all the aliens, bro?’ If there are a lot of aliens and we’ve had a lot of time, surely we’d see some sign of them, and we haven’t. This puzzle is at the heart of a lot of different science fiction stories. Sometimes it’s addressed, sometimes it’s central to the whole narrative (spoilers for The Three Body Problem I suppose), and sometimes, in a story big enough, it just gets to be a detail in amongst many.

In Star Control 2, there is a species of little green humanoids that fly around in strange saucers that don’t behave according to the laws of physics the way that other species’ space ships do. They’re called the Arilou, or more formally the Arilou Lalee’lay, and they speak to humans as delightful tricksters who are here to help us and guide us through the stars.

They like to use the term ‘enigmatic,’ which is a good term for it. They do things that don’t seem to make much sense. Now, part of the challenge with all of this is that when you’re dealing with alien civilisations, hypothetically they should have some sense of individuality and cultural variety just by dint of having such large numbers, and yet, the genre that Star Control lives in is that there are [The culture] and then occasionally, like Admiral Vux or Fwiffo, you get individuals from that culture. Complicating this further are some cultures that aren’t cultures – the Mycosynth and Orz in particular.

Spoilers for the Orz I guess.

Anyway, the Arilou project a uniformity of purpose, a univocality of culture, and that means that their reasons are inscrutable. They appeared out of nowhere to join an alliance, but only once humans did. Then when humans were enslaved by the Ur-Quan (we’ve talked about them before), the Arilou also disappeared. They then rejoined the normal world when the humans sought them out, all because of their special, mysterious connection with humans.

Anyway, the Arilou are kinda dicks?

See, if you asked the rest of our galaxy about them, they had no idea they existed, which is pretty odd. After all, they’re very technologically advanced and somehow did everything without trading with other people. They know a lot about everything in the whole of the sector and they interact freely with them as soon as Humans are involved. And bear in mind, that’s Humans Humans. There are two cultures in the Star Control Universe that provide a wrinkle to what it means to be humans.

Most obviously, there are the Androsynth. They are uh, they’re humans? They are definitively and actually humans. They’re cloned humans who have left the Earth and undergone whatever modest genetic translation you can do across a few generations, which is nothing fit enough to guide towards speciation. Androsynth and humans could absolutely interbreed, if not for the fact the Androsynth regard humans as being a bunch of slave-keeping assholes.

Which they are.

But that’s not all, because there’s also the Syreen. Syreen were originally conceived as a kind of Sexy Space Succubus, but in Star Control 2 they were fleshed out into a fully realised culture of their own. They’re a culture of predominantly women who are completely genetically compatible with humans, which, if you’re curious about such things, means they’re basically humans. Of course the question about why the Syreen are like that is a huge puzzle for the universe to answer, and the weird thing is there’s actually a pretty obvious answer as to why there’s a culture of nonhuman humans parked a few hundred light years away.

That answer is ‘probably something the Arilou did.’

But the Arilou don’t care about the Syreen. We know this because the Syreen were the people who witnessed the way that the Arilou abandoned the universe the second humans were slave-shielded. In fact, this led to the Syreen being defeated by the Ur-Quan and that’s why the Syreen call the Arilou a bunch of weasels.

Here’s the thing: The Arilou have fucked with humanity. The nature of Star Control 2 is that it is a world whose narratives leave a lot of questions because the why of how things ended up the way they are isn’t as important as the what the player gets to do in the discovering of it. To that end, what I can tell you about the Arilou is something with no greater answer, complicated further by the fact that the source for it is largely diegetic information from the Arilou themselves.

The Arilou assert that they want to preserve humanity from interactions with entities that exist. These entities, they claim, are fundamentally dangerous to humans, and therefore, the Arilou have changed humanity, like all of humanity so as to not be noticeable to them. They do this, and then also hide their own influence on humans, their presence in our history, their homeworld and a bunch of other stuff because they believe that ignorance is the humans’ best protection.

This belief is such that when they discover Humans know things, they bemoan them because the knowledge of things like the presence of the Orz or the way that Arilou travel through space is something that’s going to create problems for them later down the line. This ignorance and this enshrinement of it, complete with their discussion of keeping secrets from humans seems to indicate that they were doing things to keep us from finding out about other alien cultures.

When I talk about the science fiction speculation of Star Control, it’s not like I’m talking about it as a fundamentally predictive kind of text. It’s a science fiction story built out of the ideas of science fiction of its time, and there’s no reason any of this stuff needs to be built out of any kind of reasonable science. It’s wild to me that when Star Control 2 released, exoplanets were a theory (a pretty well justified theory). Now they’re confirmed facts. It isn’t even that remarkable a thing, when you think about it — the idea other stars wouldn’t have planets would be such a weird idea as to be impossible.

Every time we learn a bit more about the universe, in so doing, we discover the parameters that play with the edges of these big questions. Why aren’t there, why are there, how common is this, and the beautiful thing about it is that knowing these things are deducing actual answers to actual questions and we may know those questions better — and their potential answers — comes from being able to play with them, to see these ideas used in the media around us.

And in Star Control 2, this question of why are we alone has an answer that introduces you to the question.

The Arilou are why we are alone.

Because they were looking for things to make that way.

[buscaminas]

Bipolarism made into a manga (Oshi no Ko) and other illnesses…things that children should not go through.

Because that illness is linked to the manga (I will explain it with facts and theories) and in fact it is hereditary. Ai Hoshino

Ai's mother was not well, probably she is one of the most hated characters in the series, in fact I have the theory that she conceived Ai, a music producer (it's ironic, really), she put glass in her rice, she physically mistreated her by burning her, hitting her or telling her that she was worthless (Ai's mother was a prostitute) and she was bipolar, the situation was so serious that the mother robbed a supermarket to lose custody of Ai and another curiosity is that she collected 500,000 yen insurance and squandered it on parties and revelry with her lovers. Ai knew about that. The worst thing of all is that the reason for his contempt towards his daughter was because his clients considered his daughter prettier than her mother 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢 The curious thing is that bipolarity does not mean changing to the opposite emotion, for example hate-love, anger-happiness, it can be any emotion at any time and with different intensity, it is a shame that he never sought help and sought happiness in such superficial things (parallels). Hikaru Kamiki

He is a particular case, his parents abandoned him (I have no idea why and I don't want to know, I don't want to understand those things, they just make me angry🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 I want to break those parents' faces). One thing in common with Ai is that having grown up without any affection he thinks that no one cares about him so he doesn't care what he does. Also a bad experience with women (that shi**** woman who took advantage of him and makes me want to kill) and partly Ai who already wanted to sleep with him very quickly (something very common in victims of physical abuse and their desire to have a family) that's why she invites him to her house. But he really couldn't have that will to tell Ai that he loved her because both were good liars apart Ai didn't want to give him more burdens with his other son although I recognize that that situation felt somewhat forced, but well that's not bad with this manga. Hikaru was the mastermind of all this, he was very clever, he even became a millionaire, but he never loved again. I also find his bipolarity to be very forced, it's more crazy. I know he tried to go against Ruby, but he's not 100% responsible for Ai's death, and what Aqua did is stupid. I just hope that wherever he is, he has found peace.

Aqua and Ruby Aqua and Ruby's situation is summed up in that they saw their mother die, and Gorou Amemiya and Sarina Tendouji didn't have proper paternal or maternal figures in their lives.

Kana, Mem-Cho and Akane Here it's not so much bipolarity, but the pressure of being famous at such a young age and believing that you're only worth something when you're successful is a very cruel capitalist concept. Tell me how much you have or what you've achieved and I'll tell you how much you're worth. Speaking of that, something that is already confirmed is that Ichigo did exploit Ai because they falsified documents to change her age since the age to work in the entertainment world is 18 years old or older. But I will not deny that I did appreciate her as her father, I wish that good concept had been maintained in the manga. I also notice that the fantastic part of the series about reincarnation and the crow goddess Tsukuyomi or something like that is forced because it came out of nowhere that Hikaru and Ai are gods I don't see much sense in it (it's an idea without head or tail) the same as the story and the manga are already disappointing. And I hope the ending is leaked… I must upload it. In the end, may everything be God's will.

[vianwrites]

So, I decided to continue with that previous Trimberly fanfic I did? And, this time it's on Kimberly's side of the story...so, yeah...ended up making it multi-chapter? Sort of? I'm not really sure how well I am doing with this, but I hope I am doing well.

Anyways, here's the second part/companion piece to Eyes Open (Trini's Version). The title of this one is Jump and Fall (Kimberly's Version)...and, yeah, pulling titles from Taylor Swift's discography because, why not? Will be postin this on AO3 and Wattpad as well. Anywho...this fic goes like this:

Kimberly Hart sat at her desk in her room, the soft vibrant hues of the cloudy afternoon sun basked her room with enough light that she didn’t need to open the lamp by her desk. She sat there for a reason, had been seated at her desk for much of the afternoon already. And, in all honesty, she should have been focusing on the opened textbooks in front of her, on the notebooks strewn haphazardly on her desk, on school assignments demanding her attention. But they ended up all fading to the background, like they were unimportant set pieces. Instead of diving into algebraic equations or historical dates, grammar and the proper use of punctuation, Kimberly found herself lost in a maze of thoughts and emotions as she tapped to a random rhythm with her pen.

It had been a whirlwind these past few months—months that felt like years. A whirlwind of emotions and events. It had been months since she made that brash and reckless action—some would call it a boneheaded move, a social suicide—that ended up destroying her reputation, getting her status as the ‘Queen Bee’ revoked and made her a pariah in school. That led her to a path she never dreamed would even be one possible to trudge on. It was so impossible and fantastical and something straight out of a comic book. It also led her to people—outcasts and misfits, like herself—that she would form a connection with. To people she would call her “family” and would call her theirs.

If she were to be honest, it felt like a lifetime ago. She felt as though the person she was then and the person she was now were from two different alternate universes. And, in the midst of all the drama, all the training and the struggles of trying to morph and the disappointment and frustration that came with failing to do so, witnessing a friend die and be revived, and almost dying herself in the process of defending their town...yeah, she would like to think that she had changed quite a bit. All the Rangers—Jason, Billy, Zack, and Trini—had.

But, in the midst of her thoughts of her journey as the Pink Ranger thus far, there was one thing that stood out to her as clear as daylight: the surprising bond she had forged with Trini Gomez, the Yellow Ranger. It was, if she was being honest, she had never thought Trini would be her closest in their friend group. After all, Trini wasn’t exactly easy to get along with. At least, not from the start.

The lonesome girl had been wary of her, and for good reasons. Still, they did end up getting along and now she considers Trini her best friend and knows the other girl thinks of her that way as well.

Suffice to say, it wasn’t the first time the Yellow Ranger wormed her way into the other girl’s thoughts.

Still, no matter how many times it has happened, it always managed to surprise her. She wasn’t doing it on purpose, so it wasn’t something she comes to expect at times or even sought after. But, regardless, it always had a way of creeping up to her. Sometimes it came slowly and insidiously. Other times it came like a freight train that comes barreling with such unstoppable speed and force. Regardless of how those thoughts invaded, they were always impossible to ignore. There was just something about Trini—her strong sense of individuality and fierce independence, rebelliousness to conforming to societal norms and social hierarchies, the confidence she seemed to carry that belied her years, and the juxtaposition she found with her hardened facade to her soft caring attitude.

She was captivated by the way Trini carried herself; captivated by the way her lips would quirk into a genuine smile—often a rare occasion to others, but one that had become somewhat of a norm recently whenever they have hung out together; captivated by the way Trini had been treating her as of late.

And yet behind that ruggedness that she showed and the lone wolf attitude she had initially portrayed, Kimberly found a multi-faceted girl that drew her in, like a moth to that proverbial flame.

When Trini was with her, Kimberly couldn't shake the feeling of solace and peace she felt. It was like a warm embrace, a fluffy blanket of comforting presence in the midst the hectic chaos that their life had become. At the same time, there was always something lingering—like a spark just about ready to ignite—whenever they interacted, making her feel something akin to an adrenaline rush. Kimberly found herself seeking out Trini's gaze, drawn to the warmth and depth of her brown eyes, deep and soulful.

As the Pink Ranger sat there in her room, she couldn’t help but wonder why she felt that way about Trini. Why did she crave Trini's approval, seek out her company, cherish each interaction they had together? Why did she feel a sense of loss whenever Trini wasn't around. Like a piece of her was, not necessarily incomplete but, missing? It wasn’t like that with the other Rangers. And, to be honest, she doesn’t remember it being the same way with anybody else. Well, there was somebody else, but that was before he cheated on her and—

—And then, like a bolt of lightning, it hit her.

This undeniable attraction she felt towards Trini was more than just admiration, more than just respect. It felt like it had morphed—pardon the pun—from something more than just friendship and a sense of camaraderie. It was now something deeper, more profound; something simple but yet oh so complicated. Something she had never felt before with another girl.

She had feelings for Trini. Feelings that went beyond platonic, more than just mere friendship.

The thought terrified her. Her mind couldn’t quite wrap itself around such an epiphany. She had never considered herself anything but straight. She had never entertained nor imagined the thought of being attracted to another girl, much more falling in love with one. But, as she sat there in her mess of a room it, strangely and jarringly, made undeniable sense to her, like puzzle pieces being put in quick succession into place.

It frightened her as much as it elated her. It made her heart skip a bit and thundered between her rib cage. Her chest constricting and breath hitching at the realization of her own desires; of acknowledging the possibility of her own queerness and sexuality and of the path her heart had suddenly decided to open up for her.

As she wrestled with these conflicting emotions, she caught glimpse of the photo she had tacked on the wall near her desk: the photo of the Power Rangers, taken as a group, during the celebratory campfire they had after Rita’s defeat. Her eyes gravitated and fixated themselves on Trini standing next to her in the photograph, grinning widely, skin glowing with the light of the campfire’s flames, and memories of her interactions with the shorter girl flooded her mind—from their first exchange and the chase that followed and every memory since.

But one memory stood out above all others: that night at the campfire.

In the midst of Zack’s suggestion to share about themselves—a proposition that irked Kimberly at that time despite what merits may be gained, what with not wanting to talk about the whole Amanda-thing and the shame that came with what she had done—in the hopes that they would trust each other more and be able to morph, Kimberly witnessed the strength and resilience beneath the tough exterior of one Trini Gomez. She saw the vulnerability and uncertainty hidden behind Trini’s bravado. After all, it takes quite a lot of courage to speak up about one’s insecurities the way the shorter girl had.

In that moment, Kimberly had felt a sense of awe and wonder at Trini, whom she initially thought was just someone with a lot of pent up rage and angst personified in such a small body. She felt something begin to form with the Yellow Ranger and with her desire to try and emulate such strength and get to know Trini further, get her to share more, to open up more.

That connection solidified itself and grew into actual friendship when Trini pulled her locker door out of its hinges after it had been vandalized and had offered her own locker for Kimberly to use. It was an act that she didn’t think she would be receiving from anyone. Certainly not something Trini would instigate without much egging. Granted, she didn’t know much about the girl at that time, but up until then Trini was pretty much aloof with her. They talked, yes, but she didn’t get a sense that the girl had any desire to be protective of her outside of their training until that moment. So, yes, that had come as a surprise. So much so that she distinctly remembered herself being at a loss for words.

And now, as Kimberly sat there in her room, her heart heavy and wrestling with longing and uncertainty, she couldn’t help but wonder what it now all meant for her. Did she really crave for something more? It did feel that way. Did she want to do something about it? More importantly, does Trini feel the same way? Does she want to risk what she had with Trini in favor of what they could have if the feeling was mutual? What would her parents say? What would everyone think? So many questions, one after the other, bubbled up to the forefront of her mind.

Any other day and those questions would have been ones she would be avoiding for weeks, pushing it to the back of her mind in favor of what little bit of normalcy was left in her life. After all, things were changing too fast, she wanted to slow down a bit. But now, there was nothing to occupy her mind with. It was simply fixated on the possibilities that lay before her...that was, if Trini did feel the same way.

And, she knew she was reckless. She knew it was, perhaps, her fatal flaw. Her recklessness was often tied to her emotional state—on what she was feeling at the moment and that energy being converted into some spontaneous action. It was that recklessness that often landed her into all sorts of messes in the past, and would no doubt continue to do so in the future. Especially when she does something without fully analyzing the consequence her actions would bring to herself or to others.

It was that sudden impulsiveness that had Kimberly reach for her phone, unlock it, and with trembling fingers type out and send a message to Trini without so much as second guessing what she was doing.

“Hey Trini, can we talk? It’s important.”

Yeah, if things went south, she could blame it on that. Or own up to it with the fact that one of the things she had learned with this whole ordeal with Rita was she shouldn’t take things for granted; that when the time to act came, she must be decisive about it, act on it. No regrets. Because you only live once, and once should be enough.

As recent as the revelation of her feelings for her best friend was, Kimberly felt it was time for her to come into terms with them, to explore them, to understand them and herself. And who better to do that with than Trini? She just hoped the other girl felt the same way.

As the three dots appeared on her messenger signifying Trini writing a message, Kimberly felt a rush of adrenaline course through her veins.

Yes, this was uncharted territory for her. She didn’t know where this would lead her. It was the same with becoming the Pink Ranger and, well, she’d like to think she handled that as well as it she could—maybe even better than she think she would, all things considered.

Yeah, positive thoughts and all that.

With that thought in mind, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, only opening them when her phone notified her of Trini’s reply.

“I’ll be there in a few,” it had said.

[vital-information]

“William J. Mann has argued that, contrary to the widespread impression of Hollywood as a place in which the closet was rigorously enforced by the studio system, the movie industry was often more accommodating to its homosexual workers at all levels. One of Mann’s interviewees said to him, in answer to an obvious question, ‘Who didn’t have to lie? Who didn’t have to pretend? We had a whole community, for God’s sake. We had—dare I say it?—power. Where else in America did gays have such a thing?’ The passionate tone offers its own evidence. Mann correctly points out what his interviewee seems not to have known, that there were other such protective communities and subcultures across the States at the time; but the point is well made, all the same. From the start, there were more than enough homosexual men and women in Hollywood for the operation of informal supportive systems. The disappointment is in the failure of that power to translate into a corresponding visibility in the cultural product: the movies.

Mann found that his interviewees did not use such expressions as ‘in’ and ‘out’ (of the closet). Instead, they independently kept coming back to the words ‘overt’ and ‘circumspect,’ and to degrees of both. Individuals, couples and groups tended to locate themselves where they felt most comfortable across a spectrum of degrees of openness. There was no general pressure to work towards a point at which it would become possible to come out; but, perhaps more surprisingly, there was no general imperative not to come out. The determining factors were many. There was a class difference, as elsewhere. ‘The most overt gays tended to come from working-class backgrounds, while those from the middle classes invariably were more circumspect.’ In certain professional areas, such as costume design and set design, it was possible to exploit the popular connection of male effeteness with aesthetic sophistication; yet that connection does not appear to have been applicable in relation to men who sought to direct movies. On the other hand, the few women who made it in major behind-camera creative roles had to shake off the stigma of whimsical femininity and demonstrate a willingness to get their hands dirty, metaphorically or not. One of Mann’s interviewees summed up his own experience of being gay in Hollywood’s early days as follows: ‘My being gay and knowing all these people—the doors were always open. It was all this “understood” business. They knew I knew, I knew they knew. It was kind of a brotherhood.’

Referring to Hollywood in the 1920s, Hart Crane said: ‘O André Gide! No Paris ever yielded such as this!’ In the heyday of what Kenneth Anger would call ‘Hollywood Babylon,’ one might argue that an artistic ethos combined with a pleasant climate to produce an attitude of sexual celebration, within limits that would soon be tightened up. The extent to which the ethos of the mode of production ever influenced the product—the movies themselves—has been a matter for much debate. In this context, William Mann asks a series of pertinent, rhetorical questions:

is it possible to see the gay influence in The Wizard of Oz, for example, because [the costume designer] Adrian created the Munchkins and Jack Moore the Yellow Brick Road? Can we reflect upon the gayness of the narrative of Cat People, written by DeWitt Bodeen? Might we consider the queerness of the very look of Casablanca, whose fantastic sets were designed by George James Hopkins? Or detect the gay soul of Meet Me in St. Louis, because its direction was staged by Vincent Minnelli, its score orchestrated by Conrad Salinger, and its production arranged by Roger Edens? Might we consider the entire body of work of such directors as George Cukor or Dorothy Arzner or Edmund Goulding or James Whale, seeing their films as the creations of artists who were gay?

The answer is probably affirmative in every case, if more convincingly so in some than in others; and acknowledging ‘the creations of artists who were gay’ is, of course, a long way from finding specifically ‘gay art,’ especially since all of the named figures were working in collaboration with other artists who were not gay. However, Mann’s list of questions gives a vivid sense of the creative possibilities of a specifically gay spectatorship.

Although the atmosphere in the film industry itself was quite relaxed, outside observers of that industry came to be less so. Ever since the late 1920s, varying degrees of pressure exerted from outside have had an effect on the atmosphere within the studios themselves and on the extent to which professionals in the industry—especially actors—have been able to reconcile their sexual orientations and their working lives.”

Gregory Woods, Homintern: How Gay Culture Linerated the Modern World

[anarchic-miscellany]

Gundam SEED: A Dubbing Journey

More fun physical media tales! "Gundam SEED"

It's not the best Gundam series, but it's good fun and the first iteration of "Gundam" which I watched. Hence I have a sense of nostalgia for it, despite its flaws (looking at you 48 episode length...).

Anime is already a fairly niche field, despite the hilarious jokes and mainstream creep us filthy degenerates are making into modern society. The age old "debate" I guess, between those of us who have never seen the sun, seems to be between watching in the original language with subtitles, or watching it dubbed.

My personal thoughts go towards the dub. Aside from the fact that there are dozens and dozens of brilliant actors in this field who make the material fantastic and more accessible (Tara Platt, Yuri Lowenthal, Colleen Clinkenbeard, my homie Kirk Thornton, Steve Blum, Michelle Ruff, Wendee Lee, Kari Wahlgren, Todd Haberkon, Joel McDonald, so, so, so, so many others) to simply ignore the dub through snobbery is to disregard the hours and hours of effort and work put in by hard working, under-appreciated actors across the field. Voice actors are my jam.

So, "Gundam SEED" came out in 2002/2003 but was dubbed by the Ocean Group with Bandai in 2004, released by Beez on DVD. It's a good dub: No "Baccano!" or "Cowboy Bebop" but then again, what is? There are some great actors in this (Andrew Drummond's brother Brian plays the best character: Andrew Waltfeld THE DESERT TIGER, Lisa Ann Beley is the ship's captain, Trevor Devall from "Cowboy Bebop" and "Team America" as Mu La Flaga, Samuel Vincent as one of the two leads and, for some god-damned reason Brad "Light Yagami" Swaile as one of the best characters) as well as some lesser known names in the industry but also great in their parts. Chantal Strand is a standout as Lacus Clyne.

The dub was an excellent work, and my first exposure to the series, it's great.

The series was released on DVD, but had a rather short run: the always excellent Beez released it in the ever delightful format of five episodes per disc and one disc per box, their usual M.O.

I am going somewhere with this, bear with me.

So far so good.

In 2014 the series was re-released in HD, fine. Excellent! More of Beez's back catalogue coming out again and to the forefront is always a good thing.

However.

The dub was redone.

The actors, for the most part, were completely replaced from the top down. Gone were Matt Hill and Samuel Vincent as Kira and Athrun, gone were Drummond and Swaile. Everybody has been changed, right down to the lesser known actors playing some major parts in the series.

And they are the people who I want to talk about.

Bill Switzer, Sarah Johns and Lisa Ann Beley are not ever going to be household names, nor ever known truly amongst the clique-like cult who follow weaboo shit. But I am going to focus on these three people for a moment.

Respectively, in the Ocean Dub, they play Sai Argyle, Lt. Badgiruel and Captain Murrue Ramius, all fairly major characters in the series.

And they were replaced.

Bye, so long, farewell, hope that you got something out of the experience.

This isn't about rambling about how "the new dub sucks" or "Grrrr, change is bad" (well, maybe the latter a little) because, in all honesty, I haven't watched it. Heck, maybe it's fantastic!

But on a more philosophical level, I guess, consider this:

Mr Switzer, Ms Johns and Ms Beley have put a lot of work, time and effort into those parts, they're actors underappreciated, underpaid and glossed over in an already niche field, and then the one big piece of art they get to do, the one big part they have to be remembered and loved, is forgotten, soon to be washed away by the new dub. Sounds dramatic, sure, but now in future should Gundam SEED be sought out by people hoping to catch up on Gundam (though, why you'd start with "Gundam SEED" like a moron when the fantabulously gay "Gundam Wing" exists I shall never know) or just picked up and watched it's more likely that one will watch the remastered dub, and Mr Switzer and co will be banished and forgotten by history.

I guess what I wanted to say was simple:

Remember forgotten art, remember obscure actors, writers, producers and the like. All art has meaning, be it terrible, great or forgotten. Every piece of art has effort and love put into it by some people.

Don't let Bill Switzer and Sarah Johns and Lisa Ann Beley be mere forgotten footnotes.

Buy a DVD of something obscure and forgotten. Remember the effort put into it.

[reversemoon255]

Xros Figures SkullKnightmon + DeadlyAxemon

This is it. The whale. The impossible get. Frequently valued around $700 on the aftermarket, I managed to find a boxless Singapore version for... half of that.

What can I say? It was the only one I was missing.

Now, it's definitely not worth either of those prices; this did retail for $30ish when it came out. And for $30, this is a fantastic toy. Back in the day I might have even paid $50 and have been satisfied. But let's talk about why it's so good, its few faults, and why mine looks different than yours.

The Good: SkullKnightmon is fairly posable, with almost all of its joints being ratcheted. The head, wrists, knees, and ankles can all swivel, and the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees can all click. The upper arm can click outward, but there isn't any form of bicep rotation.

DeadlyAxemon is a component Digimon, and as such shares some of the issues others like Sparrowmon and Deckerdramon have. Though, you are able to move its arms slightly to adjust its pose.

And this pair is capable of forming two different combinations. SkullKnightmon Big Axe Mode utilizes its parts in a completely different way than DarkKnightmon. And while Big Axe Mode becomes slightly encumbered by the size and weight of its weapon, it does maintain all of SkullKnightmon's posability. Similarly, DarkKnightmon doesn't lose any posability through combining (replacing its swivel neck for a ratcheted one), and its shoulder pauldron can swivel out of the way for posing.

The Bad: It came up in the previous section, but SkullKnightmon doesn't have any real outward arm motion, which hinders the use of its large lance. Similarly, DeadlyAxemon is still very brickish. Also, while Cavalier Mode is depicted as an official form, doing it with the figures is just you teetering SkullKnightmon on top of DeadlyAxemon; there's no connection.

In terms of construction, while most of it holds together well, DarkKnightmon's chest ornament likes to fall off. The lances have these weird nubs on them not present on the actual design that end up getting in the way of certain things (I considered cutting them off and painting over them, but I'm pretty sure they're hollow). Lastly, as I have researched this figure a bit in trying to find a decently priced one, the interior shoulder clips used to hold DeadlyAxemon as a shoulder pauldron can break, and DeadlyAxemon's neck has a tendency to pop out while combined as DarkKnightmon.

The Details: And of course I sullied this expensive figure by customizing it!

These guys were ever so slightly damaged when I got them, so it wasn't unwarranted. SkullKnightmon has some paint scuffs on its head and the center of the chest, so I sought to fix those. I repainted the horns and patched the silver on the forehead and chest.

As for added details, there were only three. I painted the codpiece silver and dotted it with red to match the official art, and I painted the underside of the cape blue to match its appearances in the anime. I also panel lined around the eyes to make them pop more.

Similar to SkullKnightmon, DeadlyAxemon required a few fixes. The gold on the knees and the small spikes on its back were both chipped, so I repainted those. There was also some damage to the back, so I filed and sanded it as smooth as I could. There's still a small nick, but it is significantly smaller than it was.

In terms of colors, DeadlyAxemon actually changes color depending on which piece of art you're looking at. I decided to keep the spikes next to the head gold since that's what color they are as DarkKnightmon. No color needed to be added to DeadlyAxemon outside of deciding to do that or not, so all I needed to do was panel line its back toes and leg bandages...

Except its panel lining over paint, which can set weird, and cleaning it up ended up scratching some of the paint, so I decided to weather the bandages a bit to hide it.

Ultimately, the DarkKnightmon set (if undamaged), doesn't require very much to make it screen accurate. That might lend to why it's so popular, as it's a very good representation of the design.

Overall, this is a good figure. It's not worth the after market prices, but know you're getting a good toy if you find one at a decent price. I'm semi-tempted to track down more copies of some of the Xros Figures to do some heavier repaints, like Shoutmon Blue, Greymon Orange, or purified SkullKnightmon, but only if I can find them cheap. Also, I might be thinking about drawing a new SkullKnightmon partner...

[fierce-in-the-forest]

FFXIV Write Day 16, Third Rate

It wasn’t that Char didn’t love her sister. She did. More than anyone in the world. It was more that Char….she didn’t quite have the words to express what she was feeling. The witch knew though. Char felt Y’shtola’s eyes on her everywhere she went, whether the witch was actually physically present or not. The witch knew that which Char could not put a name to.

Saoirse was beautiful, confident. She walked through life almost as if on a cloud, like nothing could touch her, able to command whatsoever she chose with a snap of her fingers and a kind turn of the tongue. Char was….not that. The twins were identical in physical appearance only. When Char looked in the mirror, she didn’t see beauty. She saw ugly, she saw someone that didn’t belong. Confidence was not a virtue that existed with Char’s skill tree, nor did she have the ability to command anything—minus the flight of her arrow directly into the target she sought. Her mother Alannah told her she was the best huntress since, well, Alannah.

Saoirse couldn’t hunt. In the slightest. So Char had that going for her at least. She wasn’t last place in EVERYTHING.

“What are you doing up here?” Alannah appeared over the edge of the roof and pulled herself up to sit beside Char. The roof was both of their favorite places.

“Thinking.” Char still didn’t have words to say everything that needed to be said.

“You will be fantastic in the hunt tomorrow, if that is your concern.” Alannah patted Char’s knee.

This was not Char’s concern. She had never been as confident as she was that she would win the hunt, a hunt her mother had started many years ago as a way to bring her viera traditions to Doma. They would go into the wood and the one to return with the biggest catch would win the prize. “I will win,” she told her mother proudly. “I am certain of this. You have taught me well.”

“You did not need me,” Alannah replied. “You had the gift all on your own.”

They were quiet for a few moments before Char got the bravery to ask, “Mother? Have you ever felt like you did not belong?”

Alannah pursed her lips for a moment as she clearly considered the correct things to say. “I…have,” she hesitated, “many moons ago in my tribe. They did not understand the person I wanted to be. But I have your father now, and you girls. And our people. It took time, to figure out how I fit within the world.”

Char nodded slowly. “How will I figure it out? When will I know?”

“You fit with me,” Alannah said gently, taking her hand. “And with your father, and your sister. Your place is with us.”

Char was not so sure. She decided then and there that she would ask the witch, someday. That she would find her answers.

“If you would like to talk about—“

“That’s okay.” Char stood and dusted off the rear of her hunting smock. “I must prepare for the hunt.”

She grasped the top of the roof and swung down, leaving her mother behind.

[hellcab]

@keeperofquestions

The Fool of Yesterday saw the castle in the distance. He sought what might be inside. Silverware. Jewels. Magical Artifacts.

Roth wanted it and deserved it.

The Hoary Imp was right about the location of the ruins. Long ago, they served here until their servitude was severed. Yet, what enticed Roth was the descriptions of wealth and splendor. Greedy at heart, Roth sought Noctua Castle. He arrived by cab, pulling as close as he could to the castle itself. The ruins were impressive, despite the ravages of time.

In a way, Roth was living out some juvenile fantasy.  His mind recalled old fantasy comics of adventurers, braving old castles filled with ghouls and vampires. There was one about an old demon, who guarded a glowing ruby.

Its greed and selfishness kept it bound to the treasure. Forever a prisoner of greed. In a way, Roth was like the demon in the story. A prisoner of his own selfish flaws.

The demon of the ruby died in that story.

Dispelling the thought, Roth scours the wall using rope he purchased. Finally, he entered the castle grounds. It was overgrown, with all manner of fauna about. He entered the garden turned jungle, heading for the one of many entrances.

Finally, he was inside! The place seemed worse for wear, considering how aged and damaged everything was. Yet, somehow, Roth sensed that something wasn’t quite right. He moved through the hallways, burying that thought of doubt inside him.

This place was one beautiful, Roth thought.

He admired the façade of the hallway, finding himself entrance by his surroundings. He could say many things about The Goetia, but they had style. His flashlight illuminated the fantastic beauty of it all.

He then-

He thought he heard something. HE DID HEAR SOMETHING DOWN THE HALLWAY.

Roth panicked; he knew someone was here! Someone bad, someone terrible. So, out of panic, he transformed into his alternate form. A rat.

Of course, Roth dropped his flashlight. He couldn’t really move the damn thing; the steps were getting closer.

He must hide! He sought the safety of a nearby Goetia Commode. He waited and waited, for whoever was coming the hallway to show themselves.

[8iunie]

Måneskin: ‘People are going to talk s**t about you. It’s part of the game’

From X Factor to Eurovision to interstellar fame, the Italian rockers have turned not being cool into a superpower (posted on 21.01.2023)

Down a video link from Rome, Gen Z’s favourite rock band, Måneskin, are making enthusiastic thumbs-up gestures. “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” says guitarist Thomas Raggi, in his rich and rococo Italian accent. “We’re gonna vote for Ireland,” agrees frontman Damiano David. “Go for it.”

The Irish Times has just canvassed Måneskin’s opinion about Public Image Limited singer John Lydon’s ambition to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2023. The former Johnny Rotten wants to boldly go where no punk iconoclast has previously ventured by following in the footsteps of Dana, Johnny Logan and Dustin the Turkey.

Johnny Rotten singing for Ireland is, in theory, an absurd proposition. But so is the idea of an Italian rock band in sex-dungeon dungarees conquering Eurovision with lyrics such as “you better hold on to your balls”. Which is exactly what Måneskin achieved in Rotterdam in 2021 with the zinging Zitti e Buoni (“Shut Up and Behave”).

Indeed it is arguable Lydon might not have even considered Eurovision were it not for Måneskin. Squeezed into unforgiving leather trousers, tattoos on proud display, they gatecrashed Rotterdam with red eyes and flared nostrils. In doing so, they refashioned Europe’s pre-eminent cheesefest in their own image. Eurovision has been a lot of things in the past 20 years. It took Måneskin to make it cool.

Since then they haven’t looked back. Måneskin have won Best Rock Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards, supported The Rolling Stones in Las Vegas and covered Elvis’s I Can Dream for Baz Luhrmann’s hit Presley biopic.

Now, they are about to open the most exciting chapter of their career to date with the release on January 19th of their fantastic third album, Rush! It captures the group at their most riotous – so much so that it comes as a shock to learn it was produced by Taylor Swift/Britney Spears collaborator Max Martin. At moments they sound like Queen trapped in a Fellini movie. Elsewhere, they’re straight-ahead punk. At one point they appear to be channelling Rage Against The Machine – hardly a surprise since RATM guitarist Tom Morello guests on new single Gossip.

“We’re trying to play with our own rules. And not the rules that in the past five to 10 years have dominated the music industry,” says David (24), earrings glinting in the harsh studio light.

Måneskin don’t claim to be reinventing the wheel. Still, they are well aware of how much they stand out in a musical landscape dominated by pop.

“We go on TV shows and play rock music. Which is uncommon. We do analogue music, which is uncommon. We are a four-piece band,” says David, radiating lounge-lizard charisma. “There are a lot of things in how we create or project and how we show ourselves… I wouldn’t say it’s unique. It isn’t anything that hasn’t been done before. But it’s unique in today’s environment.”

Måneskin have come along at the perfect moment. Mainstream rock, comatose for a least a decade, is crying out for a recharge. Now the status quo has been upended by a group who make headbanging riffs and cock-a-hoop bass solos seem as fresh and daring as Harry Styles in a dress.

“A lot of people love us because we are showing them something that feels new,” says David. “For a lot of kids, rock music is new.”

It isn’t just the kids. Iggy Pop cameos on Måneskin’s 2021 single, I Wanna Be Your Slave. At Coachella last year, Jared Leto sought them out for a selfie. Chris Martin insisted David have lunch with him on that same trip. People don’t simply like Måneskin – they adore them.

“We get messages where people say, ‘my five-year-old is now obsessed with Rage Against The Machine because he listened to your song,’” says David. “Basically if you want to make it simple: we sound new for many different reasons – even though we are not new.”

Not all new fans are as welcome. After the Eurovision, French president Emmanuel Macron suggested Måneskin be disqualified because of the “fake cocaine” controversy [see below]. One of those rallying to their defence was right-wing politician Giorgia Meloni. She was subsequently appointed prime minister of Italy. The musicians weren’t aware of her intervention on their behalf before The Irish Times brings it up, and would rather Meloni keep her opinions to herself.

“I don’t want support from them,” says Raggi.

Måneskin’s music isn’t explicitly political. But they know where they stand. And it isn’t with Meloni’s populist Brothers of Italy party. Following her election, David took to Instagram to lament Italy’s drift to the right. “Today is a sad day for my country,” he wrote, linking to a story in newspaper La Repubblica.

“I would do it again. One hundred per cent,” he says, shrugging. “I don’t even know what to say. It’s hard not to say something offending [about Meloni and her supporters]. It’s clear that we’re making the same mistakes that we made in the past. Maybe we didn’t study the story well enough. Our generation is not going to make the same mistakes, hopefully. Italy has a very good taste for old-fashioned things. It doesn’t surprise me,” he continues, referring to Italy’s history of supporting right-wing politicians.

The band formed in Rome in 2016. David, Raggi and bassist Victoria De Angelis [who is under the weather and sitting out the interview] knew each other from high school. They met Ethan Torchio, from the suburb of Frosinone, after advertising for a drummer on Facebook.

De Angelis came up with their name. “Måneskin” is Danish for moonlight. The bassist suggested it, in part as tribute to her Danish mother who died when her daughter was 15. From there they had a rapid ascent. A stint busking in central Rome was followed by a tilt at X Factor Italy, where they blitzed their way to the final with molten versions of Somebody Told Me by The Killers and Take Me Out by Franz Ferdinand. Then came Eurovision and the global stage.

Måneskin are great fun. But the energy rippling through their music is interwoven with a fascination with the dark side of human nature. Gossip, for instance, interrogates the American dream and finds it wanting. “Welcome to the city of lies/ Where everything’s got a price,” they sing. They also take on Christianity. The Eurovision winner Zitti e Buoni contains the marvellously baroque lyric, “I wrote above a tombstone: ‘In my house there is no God.’”

“None of us is very Catholic. We don’t have that much influence. We have the opposite influence,” says David. “We feel the weight of the church on society, on our country. We see how late we are on many, many things because of the influence of the church. We have this hateful relationship.”

He pauses, at pains not to be misinterpreted. “I would like to make it clear that [Måneskin’s problems] are with the institution of the church. Nothing against religion. It’s a beautiful thing. The institution of the church and the money-laundering and all that… I’ll shut up.”

Eurovision was a baptism for Måneskin. However, their coming-out party threatened to turn sour amid an ersatz scandal over David supposedly taking cocaine. A photograph of the singer leaning over the table in the green room was seized on as evidence of illicit drug use.

The image was beamed around the world. There were calls – from Macron and others – for the group to be stripped of their title. Which is what prompted Meloni’s unwelcome intervention. David passed a drugs test and was cleared of any inappropriate behaviour. By then, though, Måneskin were all over the front pages and the talk of the internet. Did they fear they had blown it?

“We were laughing,” says David. “But we were pissed off. We were not worried about anything. The thing that disturbed me was that we had done something meaningful and great. We were a four-piece rock band from 20 to 22 years old who were breaking the hugest TV show in Europe. This was being overshadowed by some assholes who were not good at accepting the loss. I was pissed off that they had the power to do it. And that people were letting them do it.”

They made peace with the controversy by accepting that it was merely a downside of success. Once you achieve a certain level of celebrity, people will come after you.

“We know that being famous and winning and having a good career leads to criticism,” says David. “People are going to wait for you to make some mistake and talk s**t about you. It’s part of the game. You have to be stronger than it. If you are able to make irony about it and laugh about it… It’s kind of a superpower.”

There have been other controversies. Their performance of Supermodel from the 2022 MTV VMA Awards was heavily edited to conceal De Angelis’s exposed breast (though the cameras still caught David’s bare-bummed chap trousers).

“They have weird censorship rules,” says David of MTV and American broadcasting in general. “You can show guns and people dancing on huge dicks on stage. You cannot show a female nipple. I think it was worse for them than for us. We did our performance. They showed how it doesn’t make sense – their politics.”

Rush! copperfastens Måneskin’s status as the most exciting force in mainstream rock. It confirms, too, that they are magpies, with David drawing on everyone from Freddie Mercury to Kurt Cobain. And from Bono. U2 are adored in Italy and David says that their influence has seeped into his band.

“U2 have been so big it’s impossible not to be influenced. Indirectly, you’re influenced. The idea of the big frontman and blah blah blah. I think that indirectly it has been very strong. Also, putting the political into the music… they really changed that. Made it more common.”

The comparison goes beyond music. U2 were never much bothered about being cool. They never went out of fashion because they weren’t particularly fashionable to begin with. The same is true of Måneskin. From X Factor to Eurovision to interstellar fame, they have turned not being cool into a superpower, as David acknowledges.

“It’s a bit insecure to have this mindset [of wanting to be credible]. The idea that if you go to a pop environment, you’re not rock any more. It’s insecurity. Fortunately we were confident enough of our music and our identity to not think a stage or a TV show could change us. In fact, it didn’t happen. We brought ourselves everywhere we went. It was always the right thing to do. It is the only advice we could give to anybody. Bring yourself to the table. Don’t try to conform.”

Writer: Ed Power for The Irish Times

[altairtalisman]

Addy's Bio

"Alright, let's fuckin' rumble!"

More details about Addy is under the cut

Name: Addyson "Addy" Stríodea

Age: 958

Height: 181 cm

Birthday: 24 Vierum 1064 (Laintayra)

Orientation: Transgender Bisexual Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Species: Dullahan (formerly elf)

Title: The Sixteenth Dullahan

Country of Birth: Balwirk

Likes: Freedom of expression, loud noises, fireworks

Dislikes: Silence, tradition, social expectations, milk

Hobbies: Hosting parties, hobby fireworks

Personality: Fearless, extroverted, and unafraid to say what's on her mind, she gets into trouble frequently. She's good at inspiring others and keeping morale up, but surprisingly hesitant to take on a leadership role. She actually prefers to do things by herself is possible, but that doesn't mean that she's not a team player though and if anything, she's fantastic at it

Style: Glittery singlets with translucent straps and three-quarter pants along with boots that have buckles. Also ties a long sleeved denim shirt with buttons at the sleeves in case she gets cold

Status: Alive

Abilities: Shadow manipulation, proficient with sound magic

Background: Considered the black sheep amongst her family, Addyson was left alone to her own devices as her family shunned her for not conforming to her assigned gender at birth and outspoken opinions about how Balwirk's elven society was a failure. In 1149, there were whispers of a radical group of elven researchers who sought ways to preserve life even after their heads had been severed from the neck. Addyson ignored them, chalking them up to rumours. However by Rexim 1182, the number was estimated to be around twenty thousand which did nothing to allay the worries of the remaining 60 percent of Balwirk

Addyson, fed up with the nobility's lack of action, confronted them and berated them over it. Afterwards, the Réiteode matriarch privately admitted to her that her son went missing after investigating the Soféinaiths and she sincerely hoped that Addyson could do what everyone else couldn't and put an end to the disappearances. Determined, Addyson confronted the Soféinaiths only to be knocked out. She then woke up strapped onto an experiment table with her head severed from her neck. She was facing Aileen, who quickly mouthed for use her magic to break free before she was chained up. Compiling, Addyson amplified her shout such that it stunned everyone present. Addyson managed to wriggle free from the straps and rushed to free Aileen. Afterwards, she located a room where some survivors were locked in and freed both Berine and Finbar, quickly adding that nis mother was worried about nim

Addyson then proceeded to free the survivors in another room, stunning any researchers who tried to stop her with her sound magic. Apart from Gerald, Cain and Fiona, who was in a seperate room with Dylan, the 13 of them killed the researchers and ended the experiment, afterwards they kept the notes and studied it despite their distaste towards the entire act. Aileen was able to identify the flaws in the research notes, which cultivated in the alarmingly high mortality rate. Together with Eva, Hywel as well as Ilias' existing research on arcane magic, the trio was able to create a ritual that tapped onto Ratein's ley lines which made it safer to turn someone into a dullahan. Afterwards, they destroyed the original notes such that no one could ever attempt the cruel methods used to create dullahans again

Brianna and Danielle then pointed out that the very notion of turning someone into a dullahan was unthinkable, and sought to get an unanimous consensus that under no circumstances should the 16 turn others into dullahans unless the individual in question was prepared to bear the curse of being one. Addyson agreed, not wanting the nobles to make things worse should a similar incident occur again

Addyson then spent the next few centuries working hard as an apprentice under a famous pyrotechnician, eventually going independent in Unaiem 1603 and building a reputation as a pyrotechnician that doesn't use magic for her pyrotechnics. Due to her hard work and reputation, she was finally able to afford Corportus in 1675 and transitioned to her ideal physical characteristics. In Trieme 1701, the Balwirkian War started and Addyson, not wanting to wait for the remaining nobles to take action, rallied the Balwirkians against the Unois Empire. However on 18 Rexim 1706, the empire ambushed the Balwirkians, killing a significant majority of the dullahans. This brought the war to an end and separated Balwirk into two halves, with Addyson remaining in East Balwirk to remind the empire that the half didn't necessarily bowed down to them and to never forget what Cain had done despite being a Balwirkian himself

In 1764, Addyson discovered a hidden stash of weapons in East Balwirk as well as a faded message from the Duxburys to Finbar. She decided to move the weapon stash into her residence after deciding that it was easier to blend it in with her pyrotechnics. Even so, she decided to spread the news of the weapons to the West Balwirkians as she knew that the empire's influence didn't reach them yet. Shortly afterwards, Giselle had sought her out with plans to launch a full scale rebellion against the empire, adding that she was also planning to recruit Emmet and Berine

Addyson agreed, and helped Giselle to persuade Emmet to spearhead more violent rebellions by saying that he could use his popularity for good and that Finbar had a hidden weapon stash that almost all of West Balwirk would've been aware about by now. In 1772, Emmet finally agreed and initially used his soup kitchen to accommodate the rebels, moving into the orphanage in 1838. Able to plan in a relatively safe location, the rebels were able to unite East Balwirk, Crex, Lindow and Nantrax together over the years but still weren't enough to go against the empire's military. The turning point came in Dia'ae 1863 when Noah suddenly returned to Relnivon in his true form and caused mass destruction within the country

Due to the sight of a free wyvern openly rebelling against the empire, the dragon captives followed suit, which started a domino effect that led to the Relnivians to openly rebel against the empire. West Balwirk had also seized this window of opportunity to launch another rebellion against the empire, forcing the Unois Empire to divide its resources against three fronts. In order to advance, Emmet, Giselle, and Addyson entered Relnivon to provide the Relnivians with support, which meant working alongside Noah

However, Giselle's death had an impact on Emmet and Berine, something which the latter would insist that it didn't. Addyson could only watch as Emmet made things worse for Berine when he told her something that she couldn't make out but was sure it was about the Balwirkian War. Not wanting the rebels to lose momentum, she rallied the rebels together and informed that with the other countries' assistance, the Unois Empire was sure to fall soon. Addyson was relieved when Emmet and Berine actively participated in the rebellion, though she couldn't help but worry about both of their mental states

On 4 Primna 1865, he and Addyson had managed to corner Cain, who was prepared to kill them both at the cost of his own life. Despite their best efforts, Cain proved to be a competent fighter despite his inability to use magic. Emmet, who wanted to capture Cain alive so that he could face his misdeeds, attempted to freeze him so that he could be brought back to Balwirk. However, in the midst of freezing Cain, the latter had detonated a bomb that would kill everyone within range. Realising that Cain had never planned to leave the war alive, he decided to freeze himself along with the Eighth Dullahan in an ice prison in hopes of containing the explosion. This saved Addyson, but she had to watch the First Dullahan explode along with the Eighth Dullahan

She as well as some of the surviving Balwirkians brought their fellow Balwirkians' bodies to Aocite Cemetery along with Cain's. Hugh planned on burying Cain in the cemetery, but Addyson, who was still enraged over Cain's betrayal as well as the reason why Emmet died, intervened and bitterly reminded him that Cain was the reason why so many of their friends died, imploring him to let his body rot elsewhere. Addyson was then approached to lead Balwirk for rallying the rebels together at crucial moments, but she turned them down as not only did she feel that she would make a terrible leader for the country, she wanted to be as far away from Balwirk as much as possible to distance herself from memories of the war

With her decision made, she decided to travel across Ratein and occasionally came across Danielle during her travels. Currently, she earns money both as a pyrotechnician and as one of the usual winners in the annual Ratein Combat Championship... all while avoiding Balwirk as much as she can

Former Appearance:

[funkylittlebaldcharapoll]

for decades, perhaps even centuries, the starting state of much of humanity has been "small and bald". most have only a fleeting grasp of this state. but some powerful individuals manage to stay that way even as they are buffeted by the sands of time..... and we as a society have honored them, by putting their likeness in films, and car toons. welcome, to the

FUNKY LITTLE BALD CHARACTER POLL

this is a poll to find out which, among the many funky little bald characters out there, is most beloved. there have been other bald character polls, but those have been geared towards such individuals as "Walter White" and "T Hanos". we dont want those guys. the ideal Funky Little Bald Character is as follows:

bald. obviously. they can be fully bald or just bald on top. they can also just have a design that evokes baldness. but a simple slightly-receded hairline will not cut it

little. physical shortness takes priority, however if a character is not short but fits all the other categories then they still may be eligible!

funky. characters who are fun and cool. characters you could hang out with. characters who are NOT going to attract discourse or make us read about atrocities. they can however be evil or mean if its funny edit: okay judging by a few early submissions the intended vibes here were not clear enough! we are looking for Just Standing Here types. background types. big personalities like dr eggman, while fantastic, do not quite fit the bill! can they be described as a funky little guy/gal/etc. that is what we are looking for

of any gender. though most characters in this genre are male, we will make it a priority to include others in the lineup. #baldEQUALITY

not a real person. sorry that we cant include real life actor danny devito. weve made him the header of the blog in compensation. characters played by danny devito (or other real people) are fine though, we would ideally like a diverse spread of media!

not a baby. thats cheating

other sought-after characteristics include Round Shaped and Wears Some Kind of Cloak Thing. is this all just a scheme to see more characters in the genre of bido from fullmetal alchemist? perchance. either way, submissions will be open for 2 weeks until the end of tuesday, may 9th! we reserve the right to pick and choose but we Will consider every candidate deeply. the size of the final bracket is entirely dependent on the number of submissions. here is the google form: https://forms.gle/s2a4CL4mDx4tgHi37