#no intelligence gang rise up

[mini-zorayas]

My Tav :) she’s a tiefling barbarian!

[black-lake]

astro observations 12

heyy here are some of the things i found out lately while i was wasting time

——

🎠 An aries moon and capricorn sun man, I always find this mix intriguing. Can give off the vibes of a character straight out of a webtoon, or a fuck boy that’s just visibly toxic. Either way I find them so incredibly magnetic. They possess strong fiery auras and usually have a rebellious streak to them. If they act out of their shadows they can be arrogant, insensitive, disloyal and only chase after the physical. 

🎠 Initially I wondered why eminem doesn’t give me libra sun vibes at all, then I looked a bit deeper into his chart and realized that he’s just textbook uranian, he even looks like an alien and acts like one at times. He got sun conjunct uranus, aquarius moon, mars conjunct uranus, and uranus square nn. He was born to be a rebel. 

🎠 He’s one of greatest rappers to exist and it’s worthy to mention some of the aspects that indicate his unique talent for rapping. First of all mars conj uranus is known to give unique talents, so that’s that. In this case sun and mars conj uranus granting him a natural rhythm, quick thinking, and unique expression. But the supersonic speed doesn’t come just from that. What’s interesting is that his ability to be a fast rapper and master lyricist is amplified by pluto also being in libra, conjunct his mars and pallas, fueling him with anger, intensifying his capabilities with determination, and heightened mental control and intelligence. Saturn is also in an air sign (gemini), indicating speed and intelligence. This gives rise to a grand air trine, linking his powerful stellium of sun, mars, uranus, pluto, and pallas in libra, his moon in aquarius, and saturn in gemini. The stars really aligned there making him the rap god huh.

🎠 If you know eminem's story you'd know that he had a tough upbringing. From a difficult mother and absent father to being an outcast bouncing between schools and sketchy neighbourhoods, the only white kid in a black community, being bullied by gangs, and even beaten up till he drifted out of consciousness, then dropped out of school. Makes me think it's why he keeps his bodyguards with him all the time! He was left with nothing and a daughter to provide for, encountered racial prejudice in rap contests for being white, despite these obstacles, he rose to become the best-selling hip-hop artist and earned recognition from rappers as one of the greatest of all time. Leads me to the next obs.

🎠 Heavy uranus/aquarius or 11°, 23° can easily become misfits without trying to. They’re constantly put in new environments, places where they’re the only ones of their kind, like a white kid in a black community, a foreign in a mostly local area, the new kid in school. There’s always ‘something different about them’ that people pick up on even if it was as early as elementary school. Which may get them outcasted or bullied. Their experiences at times lead them to hate school and drop out. 

🎠 People with these placements have something special to offer the world. It may seem like obstacles are constantly put in their way without them doing anything, but it’s their path unfolding. So they can wake up from their conditioned states and break from the status quo. The more that happens the more they realize who they are. 

🎠 Here’s why I think those that got capricorn north node can be the best fathers or the child’s favorite parent. It’s part of their destiny to be a caregiver and a good example for their children and they have the biggest hearts when it comes to caring for them and protecting them. They desire to give their child what they themselves may have lacked in their youth and shield them from the pain they experienced. Their child is their inspiration and reason to keep going in a way.

🎠 The biggest two examples I can give, Eminem singing mockingbird (one of my favs) for his daughter Hailie. He often mentions her in award shows, and did a whole diss track (killshot), in 13 minutes btw lmao, just because MGK made a tweet about his daughter. The other example is Travis Scott singing goosebumps for his daughter Stormi on stage and bringing her to his concerts. She has always said that her fav parent is her dad. Anyway, don’t mess with these ppl’s kids they’ll go after you to the end of the world. 

🎠 Men with mercury conjunct saturn have deeper voices, speak slowly and eloquently like they’re a 50 year old even if they’re 25. They are very grounded, have a methodical way of thinking and are wise beyond their years. Also masters at dodging questions.

🎠 I’ve seen it a lot and experienced it myself having an aries stellium. Women with a lot of aries or mars placements can often feel like they’re more cute, youthful and sexy in a cool way rather than the typical feminine way. They often have toned bodies, smaller chests and a lot of masculine qualities that trying to appear too feminine can feel fake to them. 

🎠 People with north node in capricorn can feel like they've been robbed of the success they deserve. It's giving the vibe of a musician that has worked so damn hard on their album and received public success but no official awards, then released another album and did it again and again and still haven’t gotten a grammy. I mean grammys are scams but ykwim. Along the lessons of success and accomplishment, there's also a profound lesson in patience and self-validation, a focus on recognizing one's worth from within rather than seeking external validation.

🎠 I noticed that aries, gemini, aquarius and capricorn placements or heavy mars, mercury, uranus and saturn can prefer skirts over dresses or just wear pants all the time.

🎠 Those with uranus-neptune in pisces really brought back the love for anime, manga, webtoons, cosplay, colourful cute aesthetics, dreamcore, surrealist aesthetics and art. They just got a dreamland vibe to them and it’s quite fascinating to see.

🎠 I have north node in leo and I'm starting to look like my 5 year old self, no joke, connecting to your inner child can do that. Looking at my childhood photos stirs up emotions within me. I often find myself reminiscing and yearning for that carefree time when I was simply myself, devoid of societal pressures. Plus, I can't help but notice after fixing my fucked up teeth I got my child smile back. I feel like I'm in a journey of rediscovery as I start to recognize that childlike spirit within me once again.

🎠 Those with sagittarius, libra, taurus, gemini, leo and aries placements have the most beautiful smiles omg, like it does something to your heart. Please keep smiling it really brightens up this world. I mean I can fit all the signs here I just love when others smile. 🥺

🎠 Mercury opposite pluto, these native can say exactly what would get them mocked or bullied. They keep starting the wrong fights for the wrong reasons. They could get triggered of people who communicate better than them. Their lesson lies in improving their communication skills, cultivating tactfulness and diplomacy, and learning to reclaim their power in a psychological manner rather than resorting to mindless verbal confrontations.

🎠 Mars conj/opp pluto can at times experience violence early on, in school or their neighborhood. They experience a lot of obstacles constantly, inner and outer pressures that they may feel like giving up. These challenges ultimately instill within them greater resilience and determination to pursue their goals. Many martial artists and athletes have this aspect, seeking an outlet to channel the intense anger they experience.

🎠 People with aries north node really go from one battle to another without a break. Leaving behind their need to compromise and avoid confrontations can be challenging but is the very thing that brings those battles. Eventually they will find themselves needing to defend themselves alone with no support, fighting back relentlessly no matter what and stop compromising to keep the peace. They will gain this sense of self assurance and bravery to face anything in life.

🎠 I know someone with a lot of saturn oppositions, aquarius sun and stellium opposite saturn, capricorn moon and aries nn. This person has always been underestimated by their parents and always felt like an outsider. They had controlling parents that imposed so many restrictions on them. They also were targeted in school for having a funny and likable personality. Being their aquarius mc and aries mercury bestie I saw their potential and encouraged them to fight back even if it meant making a scene. They eventually built up the courage to stand up for themselves no matter how alone they are. But they also have this wisdom to know when to pick their battles and when to ignore things and let them go, which I look up to.

🎠 People with a lot of chiron conjunctions or oppositions have a heart of gold. Real angels on earth that have been through it. They have so much compassion and understanding for others because they’ve been hurt in many ways. They know what it feels like to be wounded by life and have tremendous amounts of empathy for that. They have sensitive souls and their presence alone can make others feel seen and heard. I appreciate these people a lot, like thank u for existing. 

[violenteconomics]

Your first year oneshots are so big-brained I love reading them all :)) What would the first year gang do if they found out Yuu had found a way home but because of timing issues, they didn't get to say goodbye? (Other brainrot idea which could be with this idea or seperate, Yuu Hometown event where the First Year gang get to visit Yuu's world for a couple of days 👀)

anything 4 u, baby.

the idea of what the first-years will do after yuu goes home is already sad, but you dare bring up the possibility that yuu won't get to say goodbye??? how could you /affectionate

like, i sort of imagine this to be a "seven years later" scenario, where all of the first-years have drifted apart without yuu's grounding presence. they were the ones who brought them all together, after all, and now they're just... gone. (inspired, i admit, by this AMAZING first-years fanfic right here!)

the freshmen have all done their best to move on with their lives — ace has joined riddle's popular legal firm as his suave and smooth-talking legal partner; epel is at harveston, working on an potion that's going to revolutionize farming forever; jack is a rising star in the world of winter sports; deuce is working hard as a respected member of the royal guard; ortho has founded a popular video game studio that specializes in rpgs; and sebek has begun a humble little life as the owner of bookstore, too burned by the best friendship of his life ending in such an abrupt manner to even think about returning to how life used to be.

but the stories of their once legendary friendship continues to spread through the halls of night raven college, even though it's been a while since they've graduated. nobody really knows their names, but they do know them.

the intelligent heart. the good-natured spade. the honorable wolf. the persevering apple. the optimistic flame. the loyal knight. and of course, the underestimated companion.

they've become legends, almost like the the great seven of old, for their ability to withstand so much, yet come out stronger all the same.

(until they day they just... disappeared from public view altogether.)

and so, everyone notices when history starts to repeat itself.

at this point, jack has taken a mentee under his tail — a young teen named magne beihof (twisted from sven from "frozen (2013)"). one day, magne comes running up to him, excitedly holding an invitation to night raven college. jack congratulates him, but secretly, he can't help the feeling of dread crawling up his back... and he's not even sure why. maybe because sven's too nice for nrc, but he's strong enough that jack's not too worried about that. he takes him out for carrot soup to celebrate, but the trepidation never goes way.

it comes to him when magne leaves for school, and starts writing to him about how weird his orientation was... about a random girl who just showed up, claiming to be from another world... about a nice person he met from ignihyde... until magne's eventually going on and on about how nice his new friends are and how much fun they're having and how stressed his housewarden has been lately...

and jack panics.

he furiously starts looking up the mailing addresses of the others and writing to them. he doesn't if they'll answer or even read it, but he just has to tell someone before the worst can occur.

to his surprise, they all end up responding, agreeing to meet with him at his house to discuss it further. turns out, this pattern of history repeating itself goes even further than just story beats. ace and ortho's interns, one of deuce's junior knights, one of epel's baby cousins, and the kid who comes by sebek's bookstore every saturday are all freshmen at night raven college... and all of them are part of sven's little friend group.

on a whim, jack writes yuu a letter, too, that simply says:

Yuu,

I'm worried.

Jack

he obviously doesn't expect a response, so he leaves the letter on the top of his bookshelf, expecting it to just collect dust. so imagine his surprise when it goes missing, and suddenly there's a letter on his bed, with a stamp on it from a place he doesn't recognize.

he reads it, and it says:

Jack,

I can't find my little sister.

Is she with you?

Yuu.

and jack's world comes crashing down.

///

(or, to make this less ominous, maybe the new freshmen plot never happens, and jack just decides to write letters to yuu who somehow recieves them. this eventually spirals into the freshmen making a large package and stuffing themselves inside to test a theory, only for yuu to open the lid and find their long-lost friends inside.

cue a fluffy reunion, and a nice yuu hometown event :3)

[bella-goths-wife]

How platonic yandere bowers gang view you

Warnings: smoking, violence, weird relationships, obsessive behaviour, yandere tendencies, reader is a bad person objectively

Henry:

Henry’s view of you varies on his mood

Sometimes he views you as something of an equal to him because of his narcissistic tendencies convincing him that the two of you are equally intelligent despite you clearly being the smarter one by a landslide

On the days where he sees you as an equal, he almost views you as his right hand woman

Your an extremely honest person, something that would usually put a target on your back with the bowers gang

But your honesty is another thing that appeals to Henry

You don’t sugarcoat your opinions about his actions and your too bored to lie and spare his feelings when he does something stupid

And while there are some days that Henry will become aggressive with you because of your honesty, most of the time Henry appreciates that you don’t fear him enough to hide your opinions

On the days where he views you as his right hand woman, you’ll replace Patrick for the day as Henry orders you to follow him around and basically just help him in his antics

Which you do, even if it’s at the harm of other people

You don’t particularly care either way, not in a psychopath way but more of a bored just by existing way

But it’s not like this for you all the time considering that your the only girl in the group and your much younger than them, there are some more unkind days

There are some days where because of your age and gender coupled with your inability to look after yourself properly, Henry will view you as the bottom of the food chain and you’ll be treated as such

You’ll get the vic treatment as your mocked constantly, unlike vic though you’ll actually respond back with snark or just fight back more in general

That usually just ends up with you getting some kind of unusual punishment

On the days where your the bottom of the food chain you’ll basically be treated as Henry’s personal assistant as you do his homework and cook and clean for him

You wonder why you even stick to this agreement sometimes but the protection that Henry and the others provide is worth it

Plus they’re less boring considering they’re unpredictable

Patrick:

Patrick views you as a challenge, something he can attempt to manipulate and break

And he gives it his best go

He’ll pull out all the stops in an attempt to get you to fall for one of his tricks or to cry at one of his cruel insults

But you just won’t

Your intelligence makes it almost impossible for you to fall for his manipulation

And sometimes you’ve tried to fake falling for it, but you just couldn’t because it was all so obvious to you

But that only spurs Patrick on

He’s a psychopath, he thrives on watching people act out emotionally to make up for the lack of his own emotions

But you don’t, you don’t show many emotions if he’s honest

Maybe he feels something similar to relation between you because of that

Maybe you could relate to him and why he does what he does

Maybe your like him?

He does treat you more affectionately then he does with anyone else as he’ll put his arm over your shoulders as you walk to platonically be affectionate and show the people around you that your protected

And he definitely views you as a challenge, but only his challenge

If anyone else did anything similar to what he does they’d be killed before the sun could rise to the sky

So in short your treated better than in the ballerina au but still treated pretty badly

Victor:

Victor views you as someone who’s finally below him on the food chain

For as long as he’s been part of the bowers gang, he’s always been the bottom of the food chain and the one whose given shitty jobs and constantly mocked

With you around, he’s free from that fate

He can finally experience what it’s like to have someone to look down on and to laugh at

But he’ll do all this in a sickly sweet way

He’ll condescend you and talk down to you like your stupid, like your IQ isn’t miles higher than his is

He’s the one who coined your nickname ‘smarty’

It started originally because he mockingly called you smarty pants to humiliate him but then he quickly took to just calling you ‘smarty’

Eventually the whole gang started calling you that to mock you but it just ended up becoming your default nickname

You didn’t particularly care about vic mocking you, in a way you sort of pitied him

Because he thought he was higher up in the food chain then he was, and it was slightly pathetic in your eyes

You felt bad for him so you allowed the mockery

But vic’s views on you clashed sometimes as sometimes he viewed you as some sort of naive little lamb considering you couldn’t really fight and you were a heavily picked on freshman girl

So he wanted to guide you, something you also allowed because you pitied him

You fulfil his need to be needed and you feed his ego in the meantime

He’d talk to you sweetly like you were a young child and explained obvious things to you like you were just a babe in the woods

But he also beat up anyone who tried to hurt you, so you allowed it for now

If he pushed his luck anymore though, you were sure you could figure a way out to separate him from the group or just manipulate him into doing something incriminating to get rid of him

Belch:

Belch views you almost a little sister figure

He was the first one to meet you and when you met you were nothing but nice to him, even if you delivered your kindness in your usual monotone manner

You were obviously smarter than him, but you never made him feel bad for it and you never shamed him for knowing less than you

You’d even help him in your spare time, you’ll try and encourage him to complete the work himself before you did it for him

Belch enjoyed spending time with you, he rarely got kindness in his life and even with your abrupt and blunt manner you were always nice to him

So he’d protect you from harm and would purposely seek you out at free times just because he wanted to spend time with you

He even got you some small games to play under the desk for when you got bored in class, which you did regularly because you already knew everything being taught

Belch also views you as someone he has to provide for

Belch is very well off, his family is quite wealthy in comparison to his friends

You on the other hand, were not

You were in the foster care system and living in a group home with twelve other kids and a shitty caretaker who barely registered if you were there or not

And belch always noticed how hungry were looked and how tired you always seemed

So he started inviting you back to his home since his dad worked all the time and he had a fridge full of food

You made a meal that night and you wolfed it down in record time, confirming belch’s theory that you weren’t being fed well at all

So you started going to his house a lot more, during one of these times you mentioned how you struggled to sleep since it’s so noisy where you were living

So belch started to offer for you to stay over in one of the spare bedrooms, which you agreed to after a bit of force from the rest of the gang

You practically moved in with belch after that, sleeping at his house most nights

His father had met you at this point and liked you enough to allow this so belch started insisting that you stay more and more until the spare bedroom become your unofficial bedroom

Belch then noticed the state of your clothes and how worn down they looked, and wordlessly he got approval from his father to spend some money on getting you new clothes

When he gave you them you couldn’t help but give him a small hug in thanks

Belch enjoyed providing for you, it felt nice to have someone for him to take care of

It made belch realise how lonely he was before you, and it made him thankful to have you

You practically living with him also made you more likely to accept the bowers gang manipulation and rules

People don’t give belch enough credit sometimes, he was a lot smarter then people thought

Not smarter then you though

[mariacallous]

Georgians are in the streets fighting for their democracy. The Georgian Dream party, which is working to align Tbilisi with Moscow’s interests, declared victory in the country’s Oct. 26 election before the votes were even counted. Voters and election observers were harassed by Russian-funded gangs and mobsters; just after the election, protesters holding European Union flags were sprayed with water from high-powered hoses. And the person who has the iron will necessary to lead the charge against Russian-inspired authoritarianism in Georgia? A woman: President Salome Zourabichvili.

This is no accident. Across the world, women have, and are, playing incredible roles as bulwarks against the rise of authoritarianism. Moldovan President Maia Sandu is standing up to a tsunami of Russian disinformation. In Poland, women played a critical role in the effort to oust the right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) party. In Hong Kong, women continue to be the practical and normative face of resistance to Chinese authoritarian rule.

These are the freedom fighters of the 21st century. And yet, the U.S. national security community tends to view women’s issues as a domestic concern, frivolous, or irrelevant to “hard” security matters. For example, in 2003, discussions of securing Iraq excluded women, with a top U.S. general stating, “When we get the place secure, then we’ll be able to talk about women’s issues.” More recently, the role of women in the military has been reduced to discussions of diversity, equity, and inclusion, rather than a focus on how women have been vital to solving the United States’ most wicked national security problems—from serving on the front lines in combat to providing essential intelligence analysis. But if the overall aim of U.S. national strategy is to shore up democracy and democratic freedoms, the treatment of women and girls cannot be ignored.

Globally, women’s rights are often eroding in both policy and practice, from the struggles of the Iranian and Afghan women who exist under gender apartheid to the Kenyan women experiencing the harsh backlash of the rise of the manosphere. In tandem, there’s been a sharp rise in reports of online harassment and misogyny worldwide.

National security analysts explore issues and psychologies through any number of prisms, but Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) remains an underutilized one. One of the national security community’s core tasks is discerning signals from noise in the global strategic environment, and regressive ideas on gender and gender equality can be a useful proxy metric for democratic backsliding and authoritarian rise.

The United States’ 2023 Strategy and National Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security provides the backbone for the United States to leverage WPS to counter authoritarianism. It highlights that displays of misogyny online are linked to violent action. The plan also points out that formally incorporating gendered perspectives is essential for maintaining democratic institutions at home and modeling them aboard. This includes recognizing misogyny—online or in policy—as an early indicator of authoritarian rise.

Unfortunately, WPS is often misread as simply including more women in the national security workforce. But it is more than that. It offers a framework for understanding why it is useful to take gendered perspectives into account when assessing how the actions of individuals or groups enhance national security, which is especially important at a time when authoritarian regimes are weaponizing gender in ways that strengthen their grip on power domestically and justify their aggression abroad.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin has argued that he is the guardian of traditional Christian values, telling women that they should be back at home raising children, and has been rolling back domestic violence laws at the same time. Days before invading Ukraine in February 2022, Putin said, “Like it or don’t like it, it’s your duty, my beauty,” which was widely interpreted within Russia as a reference to martial rape. Russia’s own army is built on a foundation of hierarchical hazing in which “inferior” men are degraded by their comrades. With that kind of rhetoric from the top, is it any wonder that Russian soldiers’ war crimes have included the rapes of women and children?

But Putin isn’t alone. In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has consolidated media outlets to censor women’s voices, in the name of protecting traditional values. He has also used coercive financial practices to push women out of the workforce and positions of political power and into more traditional roles of wife and mother. In Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko attempted to force the deportation of the most prominent woman opposition leader and imprisoned her after she tore up her passport to prevent it. In China, where women were once told they “hold up half the sky,” President Xi Jinping has worked to undo decades of Chinese Communist Party policy on gender equality. Chinese women are now being encouraged to return home and become mothers, while feminists have been targeted legally and socially.

The WPS agenda provides the U.S. national security community with three opportunities to recognize, understand, and counter early-stage authoritarianism.

First, the United States can do a much better job of supporting women’s groups around the world as a central aspect of its national security strategy. Women’s groups are often a bellwether for authoritarian rise and democratic backsliding—as currently on display in Russia, China, Hungary, Georgia, and Belarus, where women inside and outside their respective regimes have been specifically targeted or attacked.

Women have also found innovative ways to resist the rise of authoritarian norms. In places like Moldova, women have acted as bulwarks against authoritarianism despite vicious disinformation campaigns targeting women leaders. Yet when it comes to formulating and executing strategies on national security, women’s groups are often left in the margins and their concerns dismissed.

Second, gender perspectives are essential to more fulsome intelligence gathering and analysis. The U.S. intelligence community can do a much better job of integrating gender—particularly as it relates to the treatment of the most vulnerable—as an indicator of societal and democratic health. This includes understanding how both masculinities and femininities influence decision-making and how, in turn, lived experiences act as necessary analytical tools. Training collectors and analysts of intelligence to recognize gendered indicators will provide a more robust view of the geopolitical landscape and fill critical holes in national security decision-making.

Finally, the United States must improve the participation of its national security community in WPS and feminist foreign-policy discussions. For too long, the “hard” security sector has distanced itself from more “human” security-focused endeavors and treated women’s rights as something that’s just nice to have.

Yet national security is an essentially human endeavor, and gender is a central component of what it means to be human. This is something that needs to be appreciated to better understand the many dimensions of the conflict—disinformation, online influence campaigns, and lawfare—that authoritarian regimes are waging against the United States and its allies.

[youabandonedthem]

slick and crowbar's mental versions of reality if they were forced to lead each other's gangs - visual concepts

basic hypothesis: their mental states would progress in opposite directions. Slick at first would think of it as no big deal and that he can handle "a bunch of soddin retards," and would treat all of them similarly to the way he treats deuce, dispensing orders and hitting and hurting them as he feels necessary. however after a maximum of 3 weeks with a lack of access to sentient minds and as the repeated corporal punishments show diminishing returns he would begin to feel the ramifications of being surrounded by what he thinks of as 14 deuces. this would go along with the added stress of living in an environment that constitutes his personalised hell (clocks/frogs/green/snowman). the visceral disturbance within him gradually builds up and when someone taller than him tugs on his coat collar and asks him to tuck them in to bed his mind would snap. his violence against them despite being their leader would become gratuitous. when the solid colours use their abilities to prank him he would begin reacting disproportionately. he would be speedwalking through the halls holding his head and hallucinating slime while a felt member is following him begging for something to do. squeezing his eye closed saying "shut up shut up shut up" even when nobody is talking anymore. he would have broken most clocks in the mansion even the ones they try to replace but continues to hear them tick. unless the situation or environment changes he would continue to deteriorate.

meanwhile crowbar would be locked in psychological warfare with the crew who will never accept him as one of their own for biological and ideological reasons. The best metaphor for crowbar's usual environment compared to this new one is if he were a special needs summer camp counsellor now placed with 'troubled teens' who sit through him explaining various preplanned activities then stare at him with contempt and only do whatever they ideologically agree with doing. The first scene would involve this new arrangement sitting in the hideout around the table in silence and he tries to say one thing and smoke gets blown in his face. after a few seconds he starts saying something else and a low growling sound is heard and he shuts up completely. everyone would be conscious of the missing piece in the crew and the replacement that doesnt belong. everything he says would be scrutinised and he would feel the need to explain/justify most of his decisions especially to droog who he thinks of as intelligent and refined. (he fully buys into the image that droog sells). he does everything he can to rise up from the idiotic association of the felt even though he would defend his gang/species to the end of the earth if they were directly insulted. the only one who is nice to him (agreeing with all of his ideas, baking cookies in the shape of his face, consistently making a point of calling him "boss," etc) is clubs deuce which is so disconcerting compared to the treatment from the other two it leads him to believe deuce is the true mastermind in this situation, deliberately trying to earn his trust in order to weaken his defences. He would periodically go back and forth between this paranoia and phases where he is almost "fooled" by deuce's behaviour.

however after 6-12 months of this psychological warfare crowbar would eventually realise he has now adapted to the crew's individual ways and personalities. he ultimately learns how to act so that they will work with him even though he will never truly synergise or fully understand their ways of communication. and when he finally returns to the felt he'll somewhat MISS being with the crew but ultimately rejoin the gang he belongs to with a new outlook and wlil begin making more of an effort to encourage their independence and individual strengths. whereas slick would barely learn anything from this experience because it is pure mental torture for him. He would slither back up to his crew wordlessly and the only thing he would note is how much better it feels to be around them and little else. the scenario would serve no greater purpose either other than hypothetical psychological experimentation that only lats the duration it takes for them to both reach a plateau of torment

[noirapocalypto]

✧ ─── ᴄᴏᴠᴇɴ ⋆┊ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀʟᴇꜱ

✧ ─── ᴏᴄ ⋆┊ꜱᴠʟᴇᴍ

Age: 29 Generation: 3rd Gender: Cis Male Species: Warlock • Demon Magic Type: Chaos • Shadow • Hedge Sexuality: Gay Astrological Sign: Aquarius Sun • Sagittarius Moon • Leo Rising Element: Spirit Languages Spoken: English • Cajun French • Arcani Occupation: Rapper • Music Producer Affiliations: Black Mage Records

───

✦ Born Isiah Layne Hale, he took the stage name SVLEM early on in his career. Now a days, it's not uncommon for him to go by his moniker in most social settings--such as interacting with fans and even in his social circle. However, his family and coven still refer to him by his real name.

✦ Salem is half demon on his father Bastien's side. He is the only one in his coven that's half-blooded.

✦ He is the fourth oldest of his generation, coming in neck and neck with his cousin Darcy--who is only a few months younger than him.

✦ Salem gets along with most of his cousins but is closest to Darcy due to their closeness in age. Neither have siblings and have developed an almost sibling like dynamic with one another.

✦ Salem grew up apart from his coven, having been born and raised in the Republic of Texas rather than in North Cal. Because of this--his elder cousins Silas and Avis often tease him about being "from the streets"--referring to his crime ridden, gang infested hometown.

✦ His childhood friends are Alec and Amirah. They met in their early teens and have been friends since. Though their careers have taken them on separate paths, they remain close and get together when they can. They also collab with one another and are often seen in each other's projects.

✦ Salem takes pride in his magical prowess--a lot of his skills have been self-taught with plenty of trial and error. He has a natural curiosity and a hunger for knowledge, especially drawn to more unorthodox methods than traditional. Salem is a very skilled and powerful warlock--though he sometimes struggles to keep himself reeled in. His magic is chaotic, and at times, unstable.

✦ He is one of the only two members of his coven (the other being Darcy) that were born with the ability to shapeshift into an animal form. Because of his coven's association with corvids, Salem's animal form is a raven.

✦ Salem excels in hedge magic and magic relating to the astral realm. He inherited this skill from his father Bastien, who's demonic lineage gave him the ability to astral project. Salem learned this from his father, and honed his skills as he grew older.

✦ Salem is very fond of tantric sex magic, something he begins to study and practice much more often once he enters a relationship. He enjoys feeling connected to his partner and feels the closest to him when they're intertwined; body and soul.

✦ Because his soul spirit is a raven, Salem displays several raven-like qualities, even when he's not shifted. He's playful, intelligent, clever, has an affinity for shiny things and especially holds grudges against those that have slighted him. He mates for life (deeply monogamous) and courts his partner the way a raven would court it's mate.

✦ Much like his wild raven counterparts, Salem seems to get along with lycans and most wolf-adjacent individuals. He's able to understand them and communicate with them while they're shifted. He has even been seen playing with his lycan friends in similar ways that ravens play with wolves out in the wild.

───

Tag List ⋆ @a-pirate ✧ @whitebalverines ✧ @togepies ✧ @ruvviks ✧ @mojaves ✧ @vivalasthedas ✧ @thesavagemuffin ✧ @veryfancydoilies ✧ @cccyberia64 ✧ @kidomega91

[nevesmose]

Nostraman Nature Sucks: An Attempted Lore Post

Ave dominus nox Night Lords fans. I thought I'd take some time to go through the various NL stories I have to hand and see what I could find out about the animals that lived on Nostramo. Might come in useful for something, who knows?

Sharks and Whales

As a child, on several coastal journeys with his father, he had witnessed the eyeless barrasal sharks that would group together to hunt the great whales of the open ocean. (Night Lords Trilogy)

His voice filters into something savage and predatory, as hungry as the eyeless white sharks of Nostramo’s blackest depths. (The Long Night)

Not a big surprise since they talk about them fairly often and have the Space Sharks as a successor chapter but Nostramo does have sharks. Pretty gnarly-sounding sharks if I'm honest.

I didn't know what "barrasal" meant, so I looked it up and only found one thread on r/40klore that had the same quote in it as above. Hmm.

Assuming it's not a typo or a more straightforward reference to something I'm just not getting, I'd venture a guess that barrasal, understood here to mean of or relating to "barras" like with "abyssal" could be connected to the French Revolutionary leader Paul Barras who is mostly remembered for supporting Napoleon's rise to power before being overthrown by him.

So maybe the older barrasal sharks will make use of younger ones as temporary hunting partners only to be inevitably betrayed and consumed by them. Sounds about right I think.

As for the whales, where do I even begin? I would imagine they're "whales" in name only like in Dishonored:

This does imply the possible existence of a whaling industry at some stage in Nostramo's history, though.

Crows

Jago reached into his pockets, offering a handful of breadcrumbs. Come, he said to the crows. Food for tonight. Flesh, flesh, flesh, they called back. He laughed as several of the black birds landed on his shoulders and outstretched arm. (Prince Of Crows)

‘Yes. I’ve seen them in books. Is a crow a type of bird?’ ‘Black of feather and dark of eye. It feeds on the bodies of the dead, and sings in a raw, croaking caw.’ (TLN)

Breaking news - legion that keeps referring to crows in shocking has crows on its homeworld scandal. "This is outrageous," said local Nostraman cutpurse and skin disease enthusiast Verxaglryn Quickstabber, "here we are trying to make a good name for Nostramo as a respectable hellhole, a place you'd be proud to exile your worst enemy to, and yet we're surrounded by some of the most intelligent and curious birds in existence. I was shanking someone in a back alley the other night and suddenly I saw a crow learning how to use rudimentary tools! Not on my watch, I said to the rapidly cooling body, and I threw my shiv at it. But it just flew away." At this point Mr Quickstabber was obliged to end the interview due to having been eviscerated by the Night Haunter.

I know their communication with Sevatar is happening in a dream but I really like the idea of the crows adapting to Nostramo by developing some kind of psychic hive mind that's also able to be understood by human psykers.

Crag Cougars

A beast of my home world. When next you see one of the Atramentar, look to their shoulder guards. The roaring lions on their pauldrons are what we called crag cougars on Nostramo. It was considered a mark of wealth for gang bosses to be able to leave the cities and hunt such creatures. (NLT)

Every single one of them is Scar from the Lion King, isn't it? An interesting hint about Nostramo's geography though, of which more later.

Rats

Groundcars whisked by, headlights brighter than deep-hive rats’ eyes, the occupants snug and safe behind armoured glass. (Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter)

No surprises here either. Where there's people there's rats after all.

Something with tusks?

The older Astartes grinned, wolf-like and keen, as the Atramentar either side of the Exalted’s throne growled through their tusked helms. (NLT)

This isn't that conclusive because a lot of Chaos Terminators have tusks no matter what legion they are, but Nostramo being Nostramo they probably belonged to a species of giant carnivorous mammoth that ate babies and sprayed acid from its trunk.

Cows? On My Sunless World?

‘They are still of standard human stock, and not to be mourned. What does it matter if the cattle fear the herdsman?’ hissed Krukesh the Pale. (KC:TNH)

This one's a real reach on my part as it's very likely just a turn of phrase, but I noticed it because wouldn't it be slightly more typical to use a sheep metaphor here? Plus it supports the existence of Nostraman cowboys/ranchers/vaqueros which is fun.

No bats?

His helmet bore a new, spread batwing crest in blatant imitation of Sevatar’s own. (A Safe and Shadowed Place)

A sole space was neat: a circle around an iron lectern fashioned in the form of a bat’s outflung wings, which carried a heavy book bound in human skin. (KC:TNH)

Although they appear a lot in the VIII legion's iconography and artwork, oddly enough I wasn't actually able to find a direct reference to Nostramo itself having bats. Let's cover my ass by saying this aspect might therefore have been brought in by the legion's Terran component instead.

Some Nostraman geography

The Hill Folk lived away from the cities, eking out an existence in the mountains. (NLT)

What's worse than living in a Nostraman city? Living on a Nostraman hill, apparently. This seems to just be an idea of ADB's that doesn't come up again but I've always found it quite interesting. Were the Hill Folk as scummy as the City Folk, just with more of a down-home Dukes of Hazzard vibe? Seems likely.

This also supports the idea of Nostramo not being completely urbanised like some Hive Worlds are. In my view its continents might have had a geographical layout a bit like Italy or Scotland where the cities are mainly on the flatter coasts with a more sparsely populated hilly/mountainous interior.

What else? (This part is just me making stuff up so feel free to ignore it. I'm not ADB, I'm not even ADB's hat.)

If the rest of Nostramo's marine life is anything like the sharks and whales then it's fucking terrifying. I would imagine, because it's funny, that a lot of Nostraman food features disgusting industrially-processed fish in some way or another. Like the food in Dishonored but even worse.

Is something wrong, dearest offworld husband? You haven't touched your stale bread, whalemeat and jellied eels.

Since all life on Nostramo seems to be comically carnivorous and aggressive, it would make sense in a 40K kind of way for there to be giant predatory penguins living at one or both of its poles. A bit like the monstrous blind albino penguins HP Lovecraft wrote about.

Last known infrared pict-capture of an early Nostraman settler attempting communication with a juvenile specimen of the native penguin species. There were no survivors.

[gumnut-logic]

John Tracy hated taking public transport.

He hated the cramped seats, the invasion of his personal space, the fact the bus stopped every few minutes to pick up more passengers and the noise.

It was stressful, annoying and far too full of people.

But the astrolabs were too far from the dorm to hike it or bike it, so bus it was.

He mapped out the most direct route, left early to avoid the crowds and handled it the best he could. Earphones helped and he never travelled without his tablet and a network connection.

He made do.

He made do for over a year. Every morning and every night.

The work was fascinating and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He considered getting a car, but it wasn’t practical and parking was non-existent, so he stuck with the bus.

Despite the fact he hated it.

Every trip he buried himself in his own world whether it be his work, research, a good book or even a movie. He shut the world out and more importantly anyone who sat next to him.

Sometimes this was not possible.

Because sometimes they spoke to him.

John had been brought up polite. His grandmother would have slapped his wrist if she found out he was ignoring people. So, he always replied. Often concisely, but always watching his manners.

That often opened the floodgates. Because if there was anything common between big cities it was the people who were lost in them, desperately alone in a sea of faces.

John liked being alone to a certain extent, but he was blessed with a close and large family.

Some people had no one.

So, ever so reluctantly, he found himself answering their call for help.

The first was Mrs Bucklin. She was a tiny woman, well dressed, but slightly scented with mothballs as if her clothes hadn’t been out of the closet in a long time.

She sat right beside him and immediately enquired as to what he was doing.

At the time he was coding a new game and her sharp voice startled him enough for his fingers to slip and enter a chain of commands he had not intended. He would have sworn if he was alone, but the program righted itself and the new commands, instead of corrupting and crashing the function, actually appeared to improve it. He frowned and hastily input some bridging structures so the code wouldn’t fragment, idly wondering if the error would improve the game, ruin it, have him need to rewrite the whole section or be the spark that would initiate sentience.

Great, his tablet would rise up and eat him while he was distracted by a random bus passenger.

She did apologise and he did reassure her that it was all okay in the hope she would let him be.

She didn’t.

He learnt she had three cats, a niece in another country (he didn’t gather which because the woman’s pronunciation defied translation), that she had lost her son in the Global Conflict, she liked his hair (that was a first) and that he looked like an intelligent young man.

He acknowledged her quietly and politely as he eyed his code and the results of an initial compile test. How did it do that?

Her cats were named Scottie, Gordy and Allie.

He did blink at that, but didn’t comment.

Eventually, she said goodbye and got off the bus at her stop.

He would have forgotten about her, except she sat next to him the next day and the day after that.

Apparently, this was her route to work, and he was such a polite young man.

Three weeks later she admitted he made her feel safe just by being there. She had been mugged three times in her life and public transport was as much a bane for her as it was for him.

He actively kept an eye out for her after that.

Gus was a different matter.

Gus didn’t have a home and he often rode the bus just for the air conditioning and comfort.

He sat on the other side of the walkway to John. He didn’t say much and would likely have never said anything if it hadn’t been for the gang of boys who decided to throw verbal potshots at him one day.

John had had an all-nighter with exams coming up, so he was cranky. His latest project had stalled – the same game he had been tackling when Mrs Bucklin had startled him. The core of the program had become a little unpredictable and he couldn’t work out why.

So, when a group of teenagers crawled to the back of the bus and started needling a fellow passenger, it was not only a situation where the innocent man appeared to need a bit of a rescue, but it also pissed John off.

There were four of them. Teenagers flocked in groups apparently. He’d never been one for that formation himself, but he knew of them, had encountered them and Virgil had kicked a few of their asses for him.

John was in college now.

He could kick his own fair share of ass quite happily.

“Leave the man alone, or I will call the police.” He raised his voice, but not his head, transmitting all the body language of how beneath his notice they were and how he might respond if they didn’t comply.

“Mind your own business, kook!”

There was always a brave one amongst the group, usually the ringleader, the head dickhead.

At least they were only teenagers.

This time he did look up and put all that communication theory into the coldest stare possible. “Excuse me?”

All four of them froze. Hell, they couldn’t be older than fifteen, somewhere between Gordy and Alan. If either of his brothers acted like this, there were three older brothers who would quite firmly re-educate them on proper conduct.

Not that he thought either of his younger brothers would do such a thing.

In any case, all four of them stared at him wide-eyed. The eldest swore and climbed out of his seat just as the bus pulled up at the next stop. He snarled at John as he stalked past, spitting profanities. His cohorts followed and they climbed off the bus.

It was lovely and quiet after that and John went back to tackling his misbehaving program.

“Thank you, sir.”

John blinked up at the unkempt man who had been the centre of the teenagers’ torment.

A small smile. “You’re welcome.”

Was this variable being changed by the program itself? How the hell could it do that?

He didn’t fail to notice after that incident that Gus, as he introduced himself the next time they met, always sat near John on his rides, morning or evening.

John met other people. Mrs Magarey and her three young children always needed a hand with her pram. John sometimes took advantage of this and stuck the pram in the footwell of the seat next to him so no-one could sit there.

That made Mrs Bucklin sit behind him and whisper her stories in his ear.

He wasn’t sure if he was comfortable with that either.

Two other students from his faculty took the same bus as well. Ridley was in the year behind him and always had a friend on the phone. She chattered a lot and he learnt to tune her out.

Well, until the day he boarded the bus and found her crying into her tablet.

She had lost her entire thesis in a computer crash. He was polite. He enquired and she answered, staring up at him as if she had never seen him before. Which was entirely possible. John didn’t like to draw attention to himself.

He accompanied her off the bus that day and delved into her damaged computer. He dug up her thesis and she gushed all over him, even crying into his sweater.

He hugged her awkwardly and wished her all the best.

After that, she always said hello and had a smile for him.

John smiled back, but his program was still not behaving. It acted as if it had a mind of its own and it was very distracting.

Mrs Bucklin said it sounded like cat number two, Gordy. Never behaving, but always loveable.

John stared at her when she said that, and wondered if she knew more than she was letting on.

The day Virgil landed in the seat beside him on the way to the labs startled him enough to drop his tablet.

“Hey, Johnny.”

He fumbled between the seats for the device. “Don’t call me Johnny.”

“Sorry.” But he could tell Virgil was anything but.

His fingers touched the cool metal of his tablet and he scrabbled for it. “What are you doing here?”

“Can’t a brother drop in on his brother to see how he is doing?”

John eyed him. If it was Scott sitting next to him or Gordon, he might have been suspicious of any double meaning his brother might be communicating. But this was Virgil and although the engineer had a sense of humour that could cut when necessary, this wasn’t his style.

“I guess he can. But why the bus?”

Virgil shrugged. “Didn’t catch you early enough. Barely caught the bus behind you. I thought your classes didn’t start until later.”

“They don’t.”

“Then why are you up so early?”

It was John’s turn to shrug. “Just avoiding the crowds, I guess.”

Virgil eyed him with a slightly worried frown.

“And who is this lovely young man who has taken my seat?”

Oh god.

Virgil stared up at Mrs Bucklin as she bustled in to sit behind them.

An internal sigh. “Mrs Bucklin, this is my brother Virgil.”

“Your brother?” She eyed Virgil as if inspecting him for sale. “Doesn’t look like you at all. Where’s the red hair?”

Virgil arched a dark eyebrow.

“Nevertheless, Mrs Bucklin, Virgil is my older brother.”

“Then how come we haven’t met before? You’ve been travelling this route for a year now and we haven’t seen hide or hair of him.” She continued to glare at Virgil as if he was a threat.

Virgil was shifting in his seat, his expression decidedly wary.

“Virgil has been assisting my father on a project. He’s an engineer. I’m unsure what he is doing here right now.”

“Hmph, well, in my opinion, he should have been here earlier.” She addressed Virgil directly. “Did you know your sweet little brother has been a bastion of this bus route, defending and assisting all?”

What?

John’s head shot up. “Mrs Bucklin-“

“Don’t you go all humble pie on me, young man. I saw what you did to those teenagers and how you help young Mollie every week. That girl is going to work herself into an early grave. And poor Gus, you’ve given him a new reason to try. Did you know he has enrolled himself in a course? Got himself a grant from the government and everything. Got help from that employment assistance group. Not to mention that doe-eyed young student who stares at you with love hearts floating about her head. I don’t know what you did for her, but I have no doubt she would do anything for you if you asked.” She turned back to Virgil, accusation in her eyes. “Why haven’t you been looking after your brother?”

Virgil’s wide eyes darted between John and the older woman.

John had no idea what to say.

“Well?” Mrs Bucklin’s glare was determined.

“Ah-“

“Is this man harassing you?”

John looked up to see Gus looming over Virgil.

You know, the Virgil who lifted weights that weighed more than his brothers on a daily basis.

John frowned. Gus had a new coat on and was looking much healthier than the last time he paid attention. “No, Gus. This is my older brother Virgil.”

And Virgil was subjected to another staring glare. “Doesn’t look like your brother.”

What?!

“I can assure you that he is indeed my caring older brother and he is not neglecting me in any way.”

Gus grunted, still glaring at Virgil. He nodded in John’s direction. “Make sure he eats more. He’s too skinny.”

That started Mrs Bucklin off again. “My goodness, yes. John you do not eat enough. Have you tried any of those recipes I recommended?”

Gus was still eyeing Virgil.

Virgil appeared to be regretting several recent life choices.

“I’m fine, Mrs Bucklin.” He raised his hands. “And both of you, Virgil is not responsible for my wellbeing.”

His tablet beeped. A glance and he found a text message from Ridley. You okay over there?

He looked up and found her at the other end of the bus staring back at him worriedly.

A sigh.

A flick of his fingers. I’m fine.

He turned back to Virgil who was literally cornered, only for his tablet to chime again.

You free tonight?

Oh, for the love of-

“Guys, Virgil is my big brother. He looks after me. He cares. I’m fine. He’s here for a visit. I don’t know why yet. Stop glaring at him.”

Gus grunted again and wandered off to his seat. He didn’t stop eyeing John’s brother for a second.

Mrs Bucklin let off a slightly miffed sound before leaning back in her seat. “He better. Or I have a mind to bring Scottie with me next time. Or maybe Gordy. To teach him a lesson.”

What the hell?

“No need, Mrs Bucklin. I assure you.”

Virgil was staring at John as if he wasn’t sure what planet he was on.

John sighed.

Yeah, he hated public transport.

It was stressful, annoying and far too full of people.

His tablet pinged again. This time it was the program he was working on. It was claiming it was dawn despite the fact the sun had risen an hour ago. He let out an exasperated hiss.

Virgil was still staring at him.

Damn public transport.

-o-o-o-

[ultrainfinitepit]

Town of Puddle: Vampires

Last updated 08/14/2023

In the world of Puddle, vampire is a catch-all term for any humanoid creature that needs to consume something from a human to survive - usually human flesh or blood, but some subsist on other things such as emotions, dreams, etc. The most common vampire is the classic undead vampire. Vampires are usually immortal or very long-lived. 

While vampires are thought to have any number of origins, there is in fact one singular origin from which they descend. The first vampires were nephilim, the children of the demon Asherah and the angel Rapha. Asherah was the queen of a kingdom named Hell. Tales of this kingdom and her rule would pass through the ages and become distorted into mythology. Rapha was an angel of blood with a terrible hunger his children would inherit. Both are long dead and gone, but their influence on their descendants lingers. Common vampiric powers, such as glamours and shapeshifting, come from these ancient ancestors.

Asherah and Rapha’s children were destined to rule, for a time anyway, over all corners of the earth. Some were more suited to the forests or mountains or cities, others to the sea or even the skies. These first vampires would eventually give rise to all the different types of vampires we see today.

The kingdoms of vampires were matriarchal, modeled after Asherah’s own kingdom. Matriarchs are a special type of vampire suited to rule, and childbirth. Mundane vampires have difficulty bearing children, most being completely infertile. Natural-born vampires are thus rare but not unheard of. Most vampires nowadays are turned, from human to vampire as other creatures are immune or will simply die to vampirism.

A childe (plural, childer) is a vampire that has been turned by another, who is their sire. One of the few remaining widespread cultural norms for vampires, is that a sire has some degree of responsibility for their childer shortly after they are turned, and it is good practice to teach them local vampire rules, history, and etiquette.

While most vampires prefer solitary existences, many vampires form groups for mutual support. These groups often vie for power in shadowy undergrounds that exist away from human eyes. A vampire group might be called a gang, a pack, or a coven.

Below are my named vampires so far. If you’re curious about even more, @wyrmzier also has their own Puddle vampire characters you can ask about.

Vivian Moon used to be human, but she was turned into a vampire. She is like a siphonophore, a colony inhabiting a human form. Because she is a colony of organisms she can survive grave injuries or even dismemberment, for short periods of time. When her limbs are separated from her body they have their own intelligence, like an octopus’s. Vivian works as a forensic consultant for a special precinct dedicated to investigating monster-related crimes. 

Ethel Stone is Vivian’s friend in City Hall, who keeps her informed of political goings-on and secretly helps out her fellow vampires. Ethel is a lamprey vampire.

Teutho Melua is a vampiric pirate captain with a love of theatrics and parties. He is Vivian and Mordecai’s sire. Teutho is initially very narcissistic and bloodthirsty, but after some character development he becomes slightly less narcissistic. He is still bloodthirsty.

Mordecai Esadze is Teutho’s first mate. He is dark, serious, and grumpy, to balance Teutho’s more flashy personality. Mordecai is responsible and secretly more of a softie than he lets on.

Adelaide is Mordecai’s childe, his only one. As a human she sought the change, vampires call these sorts of humans “bite-chasers.” Now she manages a modest network of underground clubs and casinos, and in her spare time enjoys breeding snakes.

Lilian Heather is the adopted daughter of Samuel, and an up-and-coming actress.

Melanthios is an ancient vampire, thousands of years old and now more monstrous than humanoid. He is Menodora’s mate.

Malakos was the youngest of Menodora’s children, a cruel and egotistical vampire who controlled a small criminal empire on the Black Sea. He was Teutho’s sire, and was killed by Teutho and Mordecai.

Hyacinth is another of Malakos's childer, who pursues Teutho for a time.

Chise is Vivian’s mother, a bakeneko vampire. She abandoned Vivian at a young age, leaving her with no knowledge of her heritage.

Lycan was an ancient vampire, a child of Rapha and Asherah. His pursuit of a cure for vampirism led to the creation of werewolves.

Felisity is an ancient cat vampire, and a Matriarch. She was a queen of a small kingdom and was worshipped as an aspect of the goddess Bastet for many years, but eventually was dethroned and went into hiding.

[shion-ah]

Death of Me

It's no secret that the Peaky Blinders ran Small Heath with the Shelby family making up its head members of the gang, however one other family had been just as integral to the success of the Peaky Blinders and helped with the rise into power. 

At the call of war Katherine Redwine had been thrusted into her brother Patrick's role as intelligence for the Peaky Blinders once the men had been sent to fight for their country, she had no idea how dangerous her life was going to get working side by side with her ex fiancé, Thomas Shelby.

Cast and Chapter One Chapter Two

[heyitschartic]

Finally finished with the redone Undersiders as the Mall Cluster. Still cannibalized a lot of the secondaries from my previous attempt, but I'm happy with it. Entire thing is under the line cause I don't wanna clog people's pages.

Cluster Mechanic

Every night the group wakes up in the dream room. A rotating member of the cluster is given two tokens to hand out. Whoever is holding a token at the end of the dream gets an additional aspect of their primary unlocked.

Taylor

Trigger: Danny and Taylor made it out of Earth Bet as the world ended, but Annette didn't. Emma, after being attacked by a gang (potentially the Fallen) and saved by Sophia, turned on her. Bullied and abused, Taylor slowly began to fall out of society. Feeling less and less connected to others, feeling less and less like a person. Things came to a head when she's found by the Trio at the mall and locked inside a garbage room. As the flames grow closer and no one hears her cries for help, Taylor feels at her most trapped and alone, both metaphorically and literally. Trigger.

Primary: A master power with very rough control of bugs and a blink mover power that allows her to move between clumps of bugs roughly as big as she is.

Token Boost: When she teleports but before she reforms, she's spread throughout her swarm and gains a master power equivalent to Skitter. Feels at that moment however like she's trapped in darkness.

Sarah Secondary: A thinker power that allows her to understand potential angles of attack and a sixth sense of when they are coming as a slow building anxiety.

Alec Secondary: A master power that allows her to shout commands. Those who hear it feel their bodies moving without their control. Effects fade after a few seconds.

Brian secondary: Forms a cloud of inky blackness around herself. Affords weak brute powers, but mainly stranger capabilities, dampening noise and hiding her.

Rachel Secondary: Wet tinker power focused on modifying bats to increase sonic abilities, boost intelligence to follow simple commands.

Sarah

Trigger: After the end of the world, Sarah's family lost everything. While coping they found religion; the Fallen found them soon after. When her parents joined, her brother seemed to be the only one who managed to land on his feet. He made friends, formed connections, and kept their families standing while the rest of them felt like they were floundering. When he killed himself, it was a massive blow and the Fallen looked down on them for it. Pressure. Pressure from all angles to keep performing, to make up for it, and to do better. Sarah suffered the worst of it, including pressure from her parents that she should have done more, should have seen this coming. She picked up the slack and took his place at the mall attack. As she sees the fire rising and hears the screams of people inside, she realizes this is what her brother was trying to avoid so badly, he was willing to die to stop it. As the molotov slips from her fingers, she wonders what her brother would think of her now. Trigger.

Primary: A pre-cognitive zone thinker power, able to feel visceral sights/sounds of things to come in an area. However, this power is vaguer the further away from the event she is. Glimpses at a day, better understanding an hour away, perfect vision bare seconds before the event is happening.

Token Boost: Enhanced reactions and understanding during events, allowing for combat thinker capabilities.

Taylor Secondary: Blink mover ability dependent on damage. Transferring attacks on herself into a teleport that blasts out with force those she teleports near.

Alec Secondary: Master power to erode the will of someone, eliciting feelings of dread and despair after long enough. Power works through focused line of sight.

Brian secondary: Able to leak a smokescreen, thick and inky, from her pores. Loosely prehensile, can turn from a gas to liquid appendage that stings and numbs what it hits.

Rachel Secondary: Wet tinker power to modify sheep/goats with combat abilities, will act like guardians.

Alec

Trigger: Gold Morning upended many things, but Jean-Paul used it as his chance to finally escape the thumb of his father. Somewhere along the way, he met Olivia. They were inseparable ever since, moving place to place, though he always was looking over his shoulder for dear old dad. Not quite dating, never the right word, but together. In many ways, it felt like the first connection he ever had. Someone who drew things out of him that he thought were gone. Then the mall. They were separated in the rush and he spent his time looking for her. As he searches, half blinded and deafened by smoke and screams, he finally finds her body, trampled when the attack began. Trigger.

Primary: A single minion master. Forms a minion that resembles Olivia out of himself. She leaves with his emotions, putting him in a burnscar-esque emotional state. She's very swift and mobile, but weak to damage and Alec gets backlash from her breaking apart.

Token Boost: She radiates his emotions to others around her, intensly.

Taylor Secondary: Enters a mover state where he becomes faster and more agile while leaving behind a trail of harrying vermin.

Sarah Secondary: Thinker power to understand what others are thinking/feeling in an area. Surface level understanding without deeper insight.

Brian: Stranger power that gives him a sense when others are looking at him. Is able to blur the senses of one person of his choice, including powered sense.

Rachel: Wet tinker ability to modify birds with increased surveillance abilities, able to relay information.

Brian

Trigger: When GM happened, the Laborne siblings lost their parents. Reeling from the loss, but neither able to articulate it, they are forced to forge on. Brian takes the brunt of it, working construction jobs to try and make money. He doesn't have enough time to be with Aisha, to keep her in check, but as long as they're both safe, he's fine with that. They head to the mall on one of his free days to get her stuff for a new school year when the attack happens. Caught outside, they're ganged up by Fallen members and Brian is taken down by a blow to the back. He lies on the ground disoriented and unable to work up the strength or motivation to stand as he watches Aisha take her first few hits. Trigger.

Primary: Brian leaks a smoky mist he's able to form into a sword. The sword is weightless allowing for fast and continuous attacks, and hits with a force harder than it should.

Token Boost: The swords hits have the added effect of momentarily deafening and blinding who they hit.

Taylor Secondary: blink power to teleport around a set zone centered on his first teleport. Needs to move manually from first spot to change zone radius.

Sarah: A precog power focused on one person or thing to warn of incoming attacks. Allows for combat thinker-esque reactions to those warnings.

Alec: a single shot blaster power with good accuracy. Hits others with a sense of pacification. Emotion hits are cumulative, clouding judgement.

Rachel: Wet tinker abilities to modify offensive and defensive aspects of a single wolf.

Rachel

Trigger: A poor girl on the streets after the world ended, Rachel had to fight to keep what she had. Without a real connection to keep her safe though, she was one of thousands that slipped through the cracks. Like so many other people, she was found by the Fallen and press-ganged. Things were harder on her now because she didn't fit in. She was violent and could hold her own, sure, but she still couldn't connect to others, still couldn't quite understand them, and so she was pushed to the fringes of the group. She found herself caring for animals under Bamet, something she had proven good at. Things didn't get better and because of this position, she couldn't escape the stigma or try to improve with others. It comes to a head at the mall, when she see her dog Rollo get shot and go down. She rushes to save him and is pulled back by the hands of her compatriots. She in anger fights to break free, but can't shake so many and her pleas fall on deaf ears. Again, she can't even articulate or have them understand what she's trying to do. Trigger.

Primary: Wet tinker ability to modify dogs, granting some increased combat capability, but mainly making them more intelligent.

Token Boost: Able to make medication to grant temporary boosts beyond what her modifications can normally do.

Taylor Secondary: Master power to control a small group of rats. Power puts her in a dissociative state.

Sarah Secondary: Combat thinker power focusing on understanding her own body and movement with enhanced reflexes. Give vague feelings of intentions of others.

Alec secondary: Shaker power centered on herself. Those caught in the radius are forced into an emotion of Rachel's choosing.

Brian secondary: Striker power to imbue her strikes with mild smoke. Imparts an increased force (like a shove) and a cumulative disorientation/blindness.

[punksocks]

Astrology Analysis: You - Joe and his many loves

I heard the people loud and clear! I was a bit intimidated by this at first but as a longtime fan of the show my astrology opinion soon flowed pretty easily. Please enjoy and let me know what you think!

**You is a dark show, most of the placements here are underdeveloped/extreme shadow versions, please don’t feel disrespected if any of your placements appear here

*** major spoilers below (for every season!)

Joe:

Virgo rising: He’s able to appear as calm, intelligent, helpful, and overall more “normal” than someone who murders so much should be able to (he barely gets away with presenting like this and for some people he just irks them, but not as much as say a Scorpio rising would). People tend to want to believe he’s good within the universe of the show, even when he gets caught red handed. He’s also so analytical, he finds out everything about anyone he interacts with and takes note of all their responses. He tries to stay subtle and use information to connect the dots and he catalogs all the information he finds out to use later. He’s communicative in a very minimalist way too, no matter how much information he’s gathering on those around him.

Scorpio Sun: Like no one has guessed this before lol, but he’s really the poster child for a nightmare Scorpio boyfriend (on like extreme mode lol). He’s intense and attractive, and his ego is tied to possessing his partner. He needs to be in control and keeping them safe….but his view of what this means is distorted by his own ego and (later? Always??) psychosis. He’s a f*ckin menace. He’s such a if I can’t have you no one will dude, and he’s so frickin jealous my god. And he’s been cheated on before and he loses it when it comes down to it. But he’s cheated on/with his romantic interests before too. He’s very emotionally charged about the situations at hand and like a toxic water sign he never takes real responsibility for his actions.

Cancer Moon: I struggled a bit here because he’s so tied up emotionally but can easily falter when his idealized version of his love interests doesn’t work out. He’s both super fixated and fickle. Bc he’s a psycho… But who does that work for? I personally thought Cancer moon. He’s got deep mommy issues and he acts like a guy that has moon square his mars, an unfortunately common trait in domestic ab*sers. He’s constantly emotionally battling his anger and his s*x drive, and that he has a violent time actually working out his anger when it comes down to it (so many m*rders). He’s able to be very sweet one minute but literally k*ll the next. And he has a loose set of standards for his violent actions that screamed water moon to me (didn’t k*ll Love because she was pregnant… but that didn’t matter so much after she had his baby oml). Also, he frequently sees himself as the victim of circumstances he created which is kind of Cancer’s thing, especially in a man’s chart.

Virgo Mercury (conjunct rising): He communicates as efficiently as possible while overthinking and over analyzing every word in his head. He’s intelligent and good enough at analyzing literature that he’s able to bluff his way into being a literary professor (also he’s a white guy that’s why). He lies a lot but not in the way Beck does, he usually lies by telling as little as possible or changing minor details, which seems like a more virgo Mercury way to do it. He also moves really in a wirey frenetic way, especially when he’s scheming or fighting to get himself out of a corner he’s backed into.

Scorpio Venus (conjunct Pluto): (sorry Venus conjunct Pluto gang, it’s not you it’s him lol) he’s drawn to very passionate and beautiful women. Stunning s*xiness/attractiveness is an important precursor to a romantic fixation for him. Like he very frequently goes after one of the most complimented women in the room, but like in a Venus ruled way many of his love interests have something darker going on he wants to rescue them from. (He kind of breezes past Kate at first and she’s very pretty ofc but the least complimented on her looks in the show out of all his love interests so far). The more passion comes through, and the more “trials” (bad communication, rivals gotten rid of, cheating, etch) that are “passed” in the relationship, the more connected he feels to the women he’s interested in. I say trials in quotes because if things are going that sideways y’all should probably just breakup (I’m a Sagittarius Venus, no man is about to become my problem lol). And I say passed in quotes because he manipulates the situation as much as he can for his desired outcome (from stalking and stealing phones, to k*lling romantic rivals). He also stalks his love interests every time, on all their public profiles, just to find out who they present themselves to be, and this can be a habit in the most tame Scorpio Venus/Venus conjunct Pluto people lowkey. But he’ll escalate immediately to stalking them in person and getting copies of their itenerary and breaking into their phones and getting keepsakes of their things (oml his teeth jar, I’ll never forget). He’s very emotional and possessive and projects onto his romantic interests pretty much as soon as he says hello. Pluto just turns this intensity up as much as it can.

Aries Mars: because of all the m*rders. But lemme not skip ahead lol. He’s a chaser, he “competes” with rival love interests, and he loves his twisted art of winning a woman over. He acts on impulse s*xually. He’s super competitive but mostly in relationships and making sure he comes out on top romantically. He finished super fast the first time he got with Beck (sorry Aries mars, no shade). He reacts impulsively to most situations and violently when he feels threatened physically or emotionally. I feel like water mars can be overwhelming because they really feel anger and can act unpredictably but Joe is so freaking impulsive Aries mars just fit right, even with all this methodical Scorpio in his chart he’ll just take someone out without a plan because they say the wrong thing to him. Also again, moon square mars can be dangerous if underdeveloped in a man’s chart. Lots of explosive/ab*sive tendencies.

Scorpio Stellium: he needed to work on resolving his trauma and looking inwardly to figure out his emotional insecurities before getting all tied up in his possessive and wild ways, but oops that was like good healing advice before all the stalking and m*rder began.

Beck:

(My Beck section stayed empty the longest lol oh no)

Sagittarius Rising: Beck is lighthearted and fun, she likes to approach people in her life through a worldly attitude. She likes to come off as philosophical and like she’s enjoying all the little adventures in life. She puts a deal of effort into coming off as interesting. But she tends to sort of just attract abundance in her life, she has a lot of friends/romantic partners that tend to support her and her goals monetarily or otherwise.

Gemini Sun: She’s smart and vivacious. She takes pride in her writing skills and has a deep interest in “making it” as a writer. She also lies a lot, in major ways (infidelity and the death of a parent). Duplicity shows up in different ways for all Geminis but Beck has a lot of faces she shows to different people and ways she carries herself only in certain situations. Everyone knows a different version of her depending on who they are in her life. (Joe does not like this later on)

Pisces moon: (ok I changed this after I started it lol. Twice! When I tell you I struggled…) i had to refresh my memory on Beck’s emotional state oml. Ok ok I went through a few moons and I settled on Pisces moon, because she has such a fairytale/disillusionment arch with her whole season. She longs for the perfect romance and she really wants a knight in shining armor but she ends up idealizing her partners and her friends through this distorted lens and so she gets guys that are kind of douchey and has endgame with a total psycho. There’s a lot of infidelity and lies too. She wants to appear to be more magnetic and like “worldly” than she is and will often distort the truth to do so. (Her moon would square her ascendant and sun leading to identity issues) And of course Joe projects his idealized version of Beck onto her (Joe and guys like him are gonna project lol but this placement only enhances that)

(Also, Local Capricorn moon struggles to explain emotional motivations, lol that’s how it goes)

Libra Mercury: Beck writes and communicates in a creative and flowery way. She uses her words to come off as intelligent and balanced. She gets backlash from her professor for coming off as too superficial and lacking depth in her writing. She charms her way in and out of situations (until she can’t- Venus ruled meet pluto ruled). Her writing seems to align most easily with her how she thinks of herself(Sun trine Mercury).

Pisces Venus: at first I wrote this line as a joke but this is the only way I can think to explain it actually—— Beck does get very attached but also doesn’t? It’s that very specific Pisces/12th house placement vibe. Like people that are both emotionally involved and vulnerable but are like detached at the same time. Like tethered to everyone and nothing all at once. She’s sort of lost in how she identifies herself and constantly terns to be another way (I notice this quite a bit with Pisces placements). Also again she embellishes her past and lies about her present, and has a distorted view of her friends and romantic relationships that even she can’t seem to see through until the end.

Sagittarius Mars: ok for a few reasons. Beck doesn’t really have a textbook type (I feel like Sagittarius mars/Venus are less likely to have a set type and more likely to be attracted to personalities). She’s attracted to Joe when he comes off as cultured and interesting. When he gets overshadowed by her friends she starts to shrug him off. She has a passionate s*xual appetite and tends to have a few people she’s seeing at once. She also has a tinge of not like other girls energy I find to be common in Mars rising women.

Love:

Libra rising: She comes across as a gentle, affable beauty. A lovely, community minded person that’s able to balance it all with her friends and her partner. She’s social, creative, and enterprising without coming off as imposing. No one sees all of that darkness she’s got bubbling beneath the surface, until she chooses to bring it out.

(As a Scorpio rising/Libra 12th house I think I subconsciously associate Libra/Venus ruled with hiding something under a very pleasant nature lol that’s my bias)

Cancer sun: she’s so invested in her family. Her ego is aligned with caring for others, especially those that are close to her in her family. She committed her first acts of violence to protect her brother (at least that’s how she tells it). She loves her son and her sibling fiercely and does the most work to keep them at ease. She uses her dark inclination in guise of protection. She’s manipulative and has fooled many people into trusting/underestimating her, by the time they realize she’s not on their side it’s too late.

Scorpio moon (conjunct Venus): she’s so in love!! Don’t betray her or she’s gonna get ya!! Fr though Love loves with her whole twisted heart, so she also feels betrayed and protects her loved ones with her whole twisted heart. Not a woman to be trifled with, (so ofc Joe trifles with her.

Pisces Mercury: I think she’s a better liar than Joe. She just constructs a truth all her own. She tells the stories she wants to because that’s exactly what she believes happened (Moon and Sun trine Mercury). Most people truly don’t see through her lies or feel the need to look through what she’s telling them

Scorpio Venus (conjunct Pluto): (I’m sorry scorpio Venus folks, I’m like trying to be cool here lol, it’s not a bad placement.) Joe and Love just both came into the relationship hot and passionate and jealous and possessive, lol. I really do think that Joe and Love mirror each other and I love how the writers handled their mad love. She takes on his problems as her problems, including k*liking anyone in Joe’s (I.e their) way. And once Joe made Love jealous, she did not hesitate to take Natalie out. So much passion and possessiveness and assuming that love in a relationship is forged through intensity and pain (their cheating, arguing, Joe’s probable emotional ab*se), definitely giving shadow Scorpio Venus being amped up 1000% by that Scorpio Pluto.

Pisces Mars: Unconventional because this is a passive aggressive placement but mutables can be m*rderous pretty commonly (I cannot tell you why lol just so many serial killer charts are peppered with mutable signs) and I’m going off of a few things. Love is in love with Joe, she falls for him when he projects being a total sentimental romantic (since Love is a femme, mars can show her type). She also cheats on Joe as she gets disillusioned. She’s usually pretty fluid even opening up their marriage to bring the sparks back. She also also does get that anger out indirectly…. through m*rder!! Lol

Candace:

Leo Rising: She often attracts attention but also chases it. She’s charismatic enough to be the front man in a band and to make Beck jealous. She’s flirty and fun.

Aries Sun: Impulsive and charismatic. She clashes with people around her. She is a great frontman for her band. There’s a lot of impulsivity in how she goes after Joe (sis needed a plan and her only plan was get him lol)

Scorpio moon: feels deeply and is very protective of how she feels. she’s very invested in getting revenge on Joe (which is fair he was a shit for trying to k*ll her). If she was the protagonist of any other tale I’m sure she would’ve gotten payback. But she follows him across country to torture him herself when all else fails and nothing can be done to hold him accountable. (Also moon square rising for how at odds she was with people believing the depth of her trauma and what was done to her and how much people projected onto her.)

Scorpio Mercury: She can’t really get a lot of people to believe her, and idk but I feel like Scorpio placements are the least likely to be believed when it comes to water placements. She lies to keep her revenge plan going but she has trouble faking it and keeping up with the lies. She communicates with intensity and pointedly. She fights to try to reveal the truth (unfortunately it doesn’t work out great).

Sagittarius Venus: she actually is pretty worldly and very charming. She’s enthusiastic in her relationships, but rarely in love. Pretty untethered in that we’re not really dating we’re just having fun sagittarius Venus sort of way. She cheats on Joe because she’s not serious about him. She gets mad and tries to leave when Joe gets too possessive and controlling of her of her.

Scorpio Mars: this was hard, I feel like I got everything else easy. I’m going with Scorpio mars because she was very much into revenge before reason. She went out of her way to try to expose Joe instead of just calling the cops when she had the upper hand and it backfired. She’s also protective in her quest for truth. At the heart of her revenge motives, she’s concerned that Joe is going to hurt other people. She also was attracted to Joe’s passion and intensity and how much of a romantic he seemed to be. (She got tired of him and went to someone more connected)

Marienne:

(Omg poor Marienne right?? Christ, just minding her own business and pulled into mess…)

Scorpio Rising: She’s very alluring and has a kind of dark tinge to her appearance. She’s very perceptive and will call out someone out if they’re faking any behavior around her. She’s able to sense when something’s off with other people.

Virgo Sun: Marienne, for all her troubles, she works to stay grounded. She makes sure she does better for the sake of her daughter and her future. She bounces back through constant adversity and holds down a structured, healthy, and supportive routine. One of her big journeys in life seems to deal with her aligning her head and her heart (sun opposition moon).

Pisces Moon: She’s emotionally in tuned to her daughter and creates a loving environment for her. She’s very creative as well and her heart is in her work. She has struggled with addiction and keeps clean out of efforts to make a better life for her and her daughter. She has a lot of men lie to her and project onto her and deceive her in an effort to get close to her.

Virgo Mercury: intelligent and capable. When Joe is out of his depth on missing white woman syndrome (immediately, he’s out of his depth immediately lol) she swiftly corrects him.

Taurus Venus (trine Mercury): charming with her words. She writes and illustrates story books. Most people are attracted by her creativity and her calm nature.

Gemini Mars (square moon): just attracting (and unconsciously being attracted to) very duplicitous men. Both Joe and her ex try/tried to come off as intellectual and rational to get close to her before their ab*sive sides came out. She also fights her battles with her wits and knows how much to say and when to say it in dangerous situations.

*bonus: strong Lilith placements- Lilith conjunction/square/opposition 1st or 7th or 10th house (maybe in virgo): I’m totally becoming the Lilith lady lol, but nothing explains guys getting *weird* like Lilith does. Marienne has to have a significant Lilith placement in her chart. Her ab*sive ex husband trying to destroy her life unless she submits to him, but then Joe comes in to save her. Oops he’s actually obsessed with her and he travels across the ocean to track her down (he’s Joe, but even this is a lot for him) and he refuses to accept how desperately he’s trying to chain her to him to the point where Joe’s personality literally splits so he can keep Marienne under lock and key? Marienne already knew, in that exhausted way, that she had to make herself truly inaccessible in order to escape this obsession. It’s giving strong Lilith and bringing out the worst in bad guys.

Kate:

Capricorn Rising: She really seems to have her shit together and she takes no bs from anyone. And her dad is super rich so she grew up in luxury.

Pisces Sun: I said Aries before because she really didn’t like Joe and let him know it in the beginning. But I say Pisces because she seems to mirror some element of her environment. I had a friend say that since Pisces were the last zodiac sign they tended to be able to embody a lot of traits of other signs. I also have noticed that Pisces placements tend to have personalities that are mailable to the people around them. Kate acts different around her cultivated group of friends and her dad for example. Yet it runs so deep that she seems to have a different set of morals around different groups as well.

Aquarius Moon: Shes a bit…detached. She poisoned a bunch of kids and saw it as a means to an end, then she remade herself into a humanitarian to atone for her sins. But she’s fallen for Joe after he’s done some pretty inhumane things to “save” her. And now she’s perfectly happy to clean Joe’s record and take over her dad’s evil company. she’s pretty apt to take on her own morality and that reminds me of underdeveloped Aquarius moons. This is no shade to Saturn moons (I’m a Saturn moon too) but there’s something emotionally lacking from her lack of horror at finding out her boyfriend is a serial m*rderer and a bunch of the other wild sh*t she surrounds herself with. I thought about Capricorn moon but I couldn’t find any structure/career climbing in her overall actions. Aquarius seemed to fit better, especially with how at one point she really prided herself on being the most morally aware of her friends and saw her involvement in the arts as such a benevolent thing.

(Also lowkey I feel like a Capricorn moon would’ve sensed if their parents were pulling strings for them and wouldn’t be down with how randomly m*rderous Joe could be. Not the moral issue, not in this show, but the not knowing who he’s going to k*ll next issue— just like Kate’s dad ran into)

Mercury Capricorn: She communicates in a directly to the point sort of way. She’s verbally sharp and sort of pokes at Joe no matter how she feels about him. She tends to tell her friends how to hey their shit together.

Gemini Venus: She’s very clever and witty and all of her flirting/foreplay is bantering and screwing with Joe’s head by baiting him. She also knows all of her friends’ secrets.(is that an astrology observation?) Gemini placements tend to have a knack for getting information out of people)

Virgo Mars: Actually seems to go from annoyed by to attracted to Joe when he’s coming in to help her. She also is corrective when she’s upset. She handles her upsetting emotions in strategic way until she’s cornered.

Bonus - Rhys (major season 4 spoiler):

(He was basically Joe’s love in the latest season— bc he loves himself!! But the real Rhys…Poor guy! Oml)

I have no idea bc he was an hallucination for 98%(??) of his screen time lol, but at minimum I’d say Capricorn Neptune in the 1st house. He came across as knowledgeable and in control and very ambitious. A lot of people related to his life story as he told it, a story of rags to riches… and he had a terrible stalker that projected a completely different personality onto him. And that’s all I got for the real Rhys.

[alenablack]

In Defense of Peter Pettigrew: an analysis

The rat

In all things Peter is considered inferior. He isn’t handsome, or witty, or magically powerful. His biggest accomplishment is his friends. If they’re a blazing bonfire, Peter is a candle in a window. Small, and hardly seen.

The tag along friends

In multiple instances throughout the series James and Sirius are described as inseparable and easy to mistake as brothers. This leaves Remus and Peter as the add on friends, the back up, the followers. The rise of fandom culture has promoted Remus to the same level as James and Sirius in terms of friendship. However canon does not fully support this.

Example one: ‘This was in contrast to the only wizarding photograph on the walls, which was a picture of four Hogwarts students standing arm in arm, laughing at the camera. With a leap of pleasure, Harry recognised his father; his untidy, black hair stuck up at the back like Harry's and he, too, wore glasses. Beside him was Sirius, carelessly handsome, his slightly arrogant face so much younger and happier than Harry had ever seen it alive. To Sirius's right stood Pettigrew, more than a head shorter, plump and watery-eyed, flushed with pleasure at his inclusion in this coolest of gangs, with the much admired rebels that James and Sirius had been. On James's left was Lupin, even then a little shabby-looking, but he had the same air of delighted surprise at finding himself liked and included ... or was it simply because Harry knew how it had been, that he saw these things in the picture?’

Even Harry is capable of recognizing that the real core of the marauders were Sirius & James, and that both Peter and Remus experienced feelings of inadequacy and as though they did not belong; despite being devoted to Potter & Black.

Example 2: 'You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta, murmured Professor McGonagall. 'Do you remember who his best friend was?' 'Naturally, said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. 'Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here - ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!' 'Precisely,' said Professor McGonagall. 'Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course - exceptionally bright, in fact - but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers -*... 'You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!' chimed in Professor Flitwick. 'Inseparable!'

When remembered by professors and town folks it is Sirius Black and James Potter who are both remembered for their intellect and close connection to one another. Peter and Remus are spoken of less, and often less favorably.

While the marauders were a gang; the truth was they were four children who shared a dorm and formed a bond based upon proximity and a mutual interest in causing chaos.

The stupid and foolish boy

When the motivation for Peter’s betrayal come up the discussion generally revolves around his lack of courage or weakness in character. While an important aspect to contribute it’s also important to factor in how he felt about his place within both his side of the war as well as his place within the marauders. Let’s take a look at some moments that display how he is viewed by others prior to his betrayal.

Example 1:

Peter Pettigrew: "I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes, and the tufted tail, but I couldn't think what else —"

James Potter: "How thick are you, Wormtail? You run round with a werewolf once a month —"

Peter’s intelligence is often disregarded or degraded by his friends, despite the fact that Peter was successfully able to become an animagi at the same time as his friends, he is referred to as thick for simply taking more time to decide on his shape. James doesn’t speak kindly to his friend in any flashbacks or scenes we’re privy to; leading to the probability that this was a normal occurrence.

Example 2:

“Professor Minvera Mcgonagall described Pettigrew as a "stupid and foolish boy" who hero-worshipped Sirius and James. She also stated that Pettigrew was a less than average student and was not capable of fighting with Sirius. She was somewhat harsh with him during their years of student-teacher relationship.” (Pulled from the wiki)

This is another occurrence of how Peter was viewed by people meant to support him. If we circle back to the earlier quote by Mcgonagall we can see that she describes Sirius and James in a much more positive light.

Example 3: Peter being chosen as the Potter’s secret keeper. The whole premise of this stems from Peter’s lack of closeness to his friends; he wasn’t considered close enough to be chosen for such a role and therefore would serve as good protection.

What do these examples show us? Even prior to Peter’s betrayal he is viewed in a negative light.

In particular, his intelligence has always fascinated me. How is it that someone who is described as stupid, not magically powerful, or anything more than a follower is able to pull off his betrayal so completely? Not even Dumbledore himself suspected Peter as the spy, while this can be attributed to people’s low opinion of him. How exactly would someone without some level of cleverness keep up such a ruse? How could frumpy, mild mannered, second rate Peter Pettigrew capable of fooling the most powerful wizard alive and the entirety of the order? How could the rat frame the bright admired Sirius Black and murder 12 muggles if he was magically weak?

These complexities are what makes Peter both so fascinating and pitiful. They lead one to believe the general view of him was either grossly misinterpreted or overtly wrong. Was he just a stupid foolish boy who was weak with fear? Or was he a loyal devoted friend for a decade; who protected his creature friend for years, supported sirius through his estrangement from his family, and willing became the secretkeeper to the potter’s despite the target it placed on his back, who despite all this was simply tired of being treated poorly by the people he put first?

Ultimately we’ll never know, but what an interesting character develops from these contrary qualities.

Conclusion

Finally; let’s discuss the betrayal and the events that follow. Was the betrayal of his entire friend group horrific? Absolutely. Was it really that surprising after one dives into the inner workings of that said friend group? I’d said no. Peter is shown to have deep regret for his actions afterwards and in a turn of events helps Harry, but Peter never betrays Voldemort. Even when he is defeated and presumed dead, Peter stays loyal to him. He performs the ritual to bring back Voldemort himself, a magical feat in of itself. What does this say about Peter’s character? It shows both warring factions within himself but also how he is trapped between loyalty and cowardice. Peter is deeply loyal, firstly to the marauders despite their treatment of him, and later to Voldemort despite the fear and mistreatment he experiences.

Would the circumstances of Peter been different if he felt valued by his friends?

Or was he always destined to serve as a traitor?

[bella-goths-wife]

HERE ME OUTTT…

Platonic yandere bowers gang.

The reader is a freshman, shes just a clueless 14 year old who needs someone to guide her, why not that be the bowers gang?

Platonic yandere bowers gang x freshman reader

You weren’t particularly bad kid

Sure, you mouthed off to teachers and smoked behind the bleachers on rough days

But you also kept up with your studies and got pretty good grades

So you weren’t a bad kid, certainly not bad enough to avoid snide comments or harassment

Certainly not bad enough to catch the eyes of anyone important, or at least you thought anyway

You had met belch first

After a particularly cruel day caused by your classmates constant teasing and bullying, you had decided to hide out behind the bleachers for a quick smoke and to reevaluate your life choices

But instead of the usual quietness, you heard frustrated mumblings and the sounds of crunched up papers

You peaked your head around and saw an extremely frustrated belch sat on the ground with papers scrunched up in his hands as he attempted to solve whatever was on the paper

You had planned to just turn around and pretend you saw nothing, but fate had another plan for you as belch coincidentally looked to his left and made eye contact with you

Belch stiffened and began to plan out how to best beat you into forgetting what you saw, but before he could even rise up from the ground you spoke

“Do you want some help?” You had asked quite calmly considering the situation, and belch had noticed there was not one smidge of mockery or pity in your tone

He would have almost called your tone kind if it weren’t for your monotone delivery

Belch was stunned into a paralysed state as you calmly sat yourself next to him and read over the math problems he had been attempting

Half an hour later you had helped him complete the sheet, practically finishing it all by yourself at that point

Belch was about to threaten you into silence but you just stood up and walked away, not intimidated by him in the slightest

You, a lowly freshman, was not intimidated by him, one of the biggest and scariest people in school

Belch was so taken aback that he immediately reported his findings to Henry, who let a plot grow in his head

While the bowers gang had a few very intelligent members, they were all failing extraordinarily

All of their grades were written with a ‘do better’ message and delivered with a sigh from their teachers

So an idea popped into Henry’s head

Why should they do all of their work when they can just get someone else to do it for them

And now he knows about this genius freshman from belch, well it was almost fate in Henry’s eyes

He rounded up the boys and stalked you throughout your day at school to find a chance to corner you

They watched as you sat through your first lessons with a bored expression and they also watched as you completed the class work in less than ten minutes before just staring out the window for the rest of the time

They watched as you got relentlessly picked on by your peers and they watched as you finally grew tired enough of it to get up and leave the classroom, deciding to just skip considering you already knew what was being taught

They couldn’t help but he slightly fascinated with how you carried yourself

You were a genius, that was very much clear

But you almost seemed like you were reluctant with your intelligence, like the mere fact that you existed bored and exhausted you

Henry in his own brand of narcissism, couldn’t help but think he was the same

He was not, he was intelligent but he could never fully match up to you

But he projected the idea that you were exactly like him, that you two were two peas in a pod

Two geniuses surrounded by idiots

He finally thought he had found an equal

It was then that he decided that instead of just intimidating you into doing what they wanted, he’d make you a deal

And that’s what he did as he and his boys cornered you behind the bleachers

He made you an offer, you complete all their work and get them good grades and they’d allow you to sit with them at lunch and would keep your tormentors away

You were reluctant to accept this offer considering you understood that the boys in front of you were not good people and it was likely you wouldn’t be treated well during this agreement but you were just so tired of being picked on that you agreed anyway

So the deal was made and from that day forward you’d sit with them at lunch and would complete their work for them during the periods that you skipped, most of the time one of them joined you

Most of the group didn’t understand why Henry had extended this offer to you in the first place, didn’t understand his weird fascination with you

They all began to understand individually with time

Patrick began his obsession when he realised that he could make being in your presence a game

Patrick is a sociopath, there’s no sugar coating it because it’s just the truth

And Patrick loves to torment, he likes to manipulative and he likes to cause pain to his chosen target

And it’s only after a few times he tries to target you that he realises that you don’t succumb as easily as other people

Any words he spewed, any plots he cooked up and any sickly sweet manipulative tactics he tried to use, you would most of the time simply see through it

This made whenever Patrick finally did break you down all the more satisfying

It became a somewhat game of cat and mouse to him as he attempted to find the best ways to hurt you

But Patrick also quickly noticed he despises when someone other than him and the others tried the same methods to hurt you, that’s why he scared off all of your tormentors and bullies

He wants to be your biggest and only bully

And he wants the satisfaction of finally overcoming your intelligence and breaking you more than anything

Victor was the next one to become obsessed with you

Victor was the verbal punching bag of the group, or he thought he was considering how he denies ever acknowledging his cruelty towards belch

But with you, he finally had someone who was below him

In his eyes no matter how smart you were, your still younger than him and you clearly need guidance in how to survive in highschool

He could sweetly (meanly and roughly) condescend you and you couldn’t do a damn thing about it because you were the bottom of the food chain

You validated his want to be needed, to know better and be better than someone

He purposely ignores the fact that intelligence wise and probably in most ways your better than him

He doesn’t care as long as he can keep treating you like a clueless little lamb who wandered into the den of wolves

Belch was quickly taken with you considering he always struggled with his intelligence and you had helped him that afternoon in a calmer manner than any teacher had

But he also enjoyed that your not scared of him despite that fact you definitely should be

You spoke to him without mockery but you also didn’t mince your words, you explained things without sugar coating his failures but you also didn’t rub his loses in his face

The other question why he has you teach him instead of just having you do his work, but you help him learn and overcome his insecurities that he’s had about his intelligence for years now

Maybe that’s why he’s so protective of you, maybe that’s why he begin to view you as a sister figure

Belch doesn’t care to expand his thoughts on that subject beyond the fact that he knows it’ll be hard to ever let go of you now

Henry and you have a weird dynamic

In some ways Henry views you as somewhat of an equal, in others he views you as the bottom of the food chain considering you can hardly defend yourself

His fascination brews from the need to be what you are, he’s always wanted to be the smartest in the room and his inherent narcissism had deluded him into believing that’s true

And now he has you, someone who actually is the smartest person in the room

Sometimes deep down Henry can’t tell if he’s obsessive with you because he wants to have an equal or if he just secretly wants what you have

He also enjoys that your unafraid of speaking the truth to him

You don’t sugarcoat your words when talking to him, which is a risky move on your part but it seems to work for you for now

You’ll openly disagree with his decisions if you believe they’re wrong, and usually Henry would kill someone for disrespecting him by disagreeing

But he feels more open to listening to you, feels more inclined to taking your advice

Your almost like a right hand to Henry, that’s if he ever actually admitted that your anything to him

But you are, because he’s already threatened and hurt the people who hurt you and is actively making sure that his presence surrounds you enough so that anyone within a few feet of you will flee out of fear

Henry believes that your just like him, therefore it’s his duty to guide you to the right path

To guide you into his path

You just didn’t realise how intrusive and dangerous this guidance would become

Sorry if this didn’t make sense at all 😭🙏

I’m trying to go for a sister sage and homelander type dynamic here but it probably doesn’t work

I just had the idea and thought I’d mix it with the ask tbh

Anyway, what did you think? :)

[itsparis-07]

BROOKLNY'S SPARROW PT.1

( since this my first fic ever please go easy on me now, and as always stay fresh and reblog this fic for pt.2!!! - with love, Paris!)

In the year 202X, Earth-42 was a world much like any other. People lived their lives, went to work, raised families, and tried their best to ignore the rising tide of crime that threatened to engulf their world. But in one small corner of the universe, in the bustling city of New York, there was a company called Oscorp that had a secret plan to change everything. They had created human-avian hybrids, soldiers designed to stop gang crime once and for all. The project, code-named "XJR-10," was supposedly aimed at restoring order to the city, but the truth was far more sinister.

Oscorp's real goal was to use these hybrids, known as "Reapers," to wipe out every bi-poc area in New York City, starting with Brooklyn. The plan was to infiltrate the neighborhoods, gather intelligence then launch a coordinated attack that would leave no witnesses. It was a brutal and a genocidal scheme, but it was one that Oscorp felt was necessary to maintain control over New York City.

As the Reapers began their mission, they encountered resistance from the very people they were supposed to protect. In one of Oscorp's "Metro" facilities in Brooklyn, a riot broke out as the Reapers tried to round up innocent civilians. The facility was overrun, and one of the hybrids, Michiko, managed to escape. As she fled into the night, she found herself in the midst of chaos and confusion.

Little did she know that her escape would lead her straight into the path of Rio Morales, a nurse at the time saw something in Michiko that reminded her of her own past, of the innocence and hope that had once filled him. She decided to take her in.

As they walked along to park slope, Rio walked her inside, placed down her bags and walked toward the kitchen. She grabbed a small box of Mango tea and started the kettle on the stove.

"Are your wings feeling better? You were in the hospital with me for awhile" Rio said as she placed the mug of tea in front of Michiko. Miciko smiled softly and nodded, "Yes, thank you." She took a sip of the tea and let out a small sigh of relief. "You've been very kind to me Ms.Rio, I'm not sure what I would've done if you hadn't found me." Rio chuckled, "I couldn't just leave you there not even if it was my son, as a mother I can't stand to see kids like you going through thing like that."

As they continued to talk, Rio began to tell Michiko about her family and her life before becoming a nurse. She shared stories of her childhood, her teenage years, and even her early adult life. Michiko, in turn, shared some of her own experiences, though she was careful not to reveal too much about her past as a Reaper. The two women seemed to connect on a deep level, and Rio couldn't help but feel a sense of protectiveness over Michiko.

As the front sofly opened Miles walked in to greet his mother as usual, as he walked to the kitchen he stopped to face the two women. Michiko and Rio looked up at him, their eyes filled with curiosity and wonder. "Miles, this is Michiko. She was in the Metro facility when it was attacked and she managed to escape. I found her wandering around and decided to take her in." Rio explained, her voice gentle but firm. Miles nodded, taking in the sight of the young woman with wings. Michiko smiled shyly and took a sip from her cup as she brushed her sister locs out of her face. He stared at Michiko for a bit then sat down at the table along with his mother.

"I know it's job your to take care of others, but she's can't be here for long. I mean she's on the news and Oscorp has the cops searching all of New York for her." Miles said worriedly.

Rio looked at Miles and then back at Michiko."We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, Miles. For now, let's focus on making sure she's safe and comfortable. And if the police do come looking for her, we'll figure something out then." She reached out to pat Michiko's hand reassuringly.

TO BE CONT!!!