#or avoiding his trauma by actively changing!! and im just!! it’s my favorite thing for him to heal and be himself again because | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kimsnnn · 3 years ago

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Part 1

Disclaimer: This post is in favor of my ship, Elriel. No hate, just an opinion. This is what makes sense to me. If this isn't your cup of tea, and it came up on your feed, no worries just skip please.

If you look at it this way:

If the series were to officially end at ACOWAR then that would mean that there would be no need to add any more books due to the majority of the plot being resolved. If there were slight questions or plot holes that were left open, we as readers can basically create our own conclusion based of where these characters and their stories were left off at. That’s the beauty of being a reader, being able to use our imagination to extend the stories based on canon information to infer or even speculate what happened to those beloved characters of ours.

If its easy to answer these questions, fill these plot holes and resolve any issues within that story, then there would be no need for any additional books, and lets say there were questions that were pressing but not complicated to answer, a simple extra book could be added to resolve that like ACOFAS. ACOFAS could’ve concluded everything. She could’ve also showed Feyre or whoever freeing Vassa and then created a whole spin off on Vassa and her adventures including the plot of her defeating her captor Koschei while also dealing with the queens and humans basically introducing us to a whole new world and continent with new fae/fae territories (like chaol introduced in his book from ToG). Her LI would most likely be Jurian because Lucien would have ended up with Elain which we know because she resolved that in ACOFAS.

BUT

That’s not at all what happened. Things were not answered/resolved during ACOFAS.

The author which in this case is SJM knew that whatever obvious inferences/speculation we the fandom would have is not the accurate ending she had for these characters. So she decided to introduce far more books into the series as standalones but, still part of the overarching plot to truly get the full scope of what she has in store for these characters. Why make additional books based on the obvious ? She’s a writer, she knows the importance of creating mystery or writing plot twists that we either didn’t or decided not to realize or even accept. So ACOFAS and even ACOWAR wasn’t there to answer last minute questions, to show us that our favorite ships did end up together, no it was there to be used to set up future stories like SJM said and be as close as can be as opposite of obvious.

At the End of ACOWAR we have :

Nesta

-THAT Nessian moment 🥰 (& Nessian moments in general in ACOWAR)

We can infer based on where those characters were left off that :

-They would end up together eventually. I mean come on, Cass’s line *chef’s kiss*.

BUT what people forget is that was also her breaking point (trauma)

-We didn’t know how her trauma would affect her, her life and loved ones, & how she’d heal Or what were even her powers. These questions were built up throughout all of ACOWAR

So what did SJM do?

-She wrote the answers to those questions in ACOSF while also resolving questions about Nessian’s status especially since Nesta first had to start healing to let herself be loved.

The evidence ? The set up to gain support to find these answers ? Its in ACOFAS

-Nesta’s drinking, isolation, rage, fear, loneliness and self hate

-Nesta’s avoidance of her sisters, the IC and Cassian

-Cassian’s persistence, confusion. Feeling helpless.

Same thing can be seen for Elain

At the end of ACOWAR

Elain

-Civilness between E and L. She seems more at peach and want to plan gardens/rebuild

We can infer

-Elain talked to Lucien so she forgave him or is on track to forgive him. From this we can assume the possibility of Elucien being endgame.

Elain also must be healed because she smiled and wants to help rebuild. So that all equals acceptance of her powers (on occasionally seeing things and that it, that’s her power), her new life and bond

BUT what we forget is the iconic Elriel moments (Hybern camp & truth teller connection), Elain’s world/future going up in flames, the consequences/trauma of having been gifted these powers

-We don’t know the full scope of her powers, why the cauldron adores her, how she feels, why were we given blooming moments between Elriel

So again what will SJM probably do?

-Set Elriel to be endgame. Cause civility/friendship/forgiveness/CLOSURE between Elain and Lucien. Get In depth about her powers, her trauma and how it has affected the life she thought she would have. Have her come into her role in the NC and have self growth.

The evidence? Its in ACOFAS & ACOSF

-Elain’s anger and desperation to have a choice, to have her own agency

-Elain’s avoidance, tolerance, discomfort of Lucien ( she wilts and regresses)

-Elain’s push to contribute more and firmly declare she’s a member of the NC

-Elriel’s tension & build up ( glances, smiles, blushing, gifts, humor, awareness, longing, protectiveness, attraction, actively trying to distract themselves, etc I could go on and on)

-Confirmation of Elain’s power still existing. Her whereabouts: where is Elain when the IC are facing obstacles?

-Her visions still to happen. The fourth dead trove needs to be found: it makes sense that it would be found by Elain (& Az) ( the crown: Braiylln, the harp & mask: Nesta, the fourth trove: Elain)

*If there are 3 cauldron made and Braiylln found one (& is now dead), Nesta found 2 but couldn't get a good read of the fourth, that means it'll be up to Elain & Azriel because they are basically the only two in the IC who closely work with shadows and even mist. Maybe Nuala and Cerridwen would also join in searching which id love.

Now let’s ignore the evidence.

From that moment at the end of ACOWAR again: 1) we see Elain who seems better and 2)we have Elain and Lucien who seem to be in a civil place

So we assume she’s healed or on track, and her relationship with Lucien is looking up. So why would SJM write a whole standalone on the obvious?

If she’s healed and okay, if she and Lucien will be a sailing ship why be so secretive and unclear on Elain’s story, on who she ends up with?

Nessian was so clear, there was no REAL doubt that they would not end up together despite the obstacles between them, two of them being her rage and trauma. But Nessian would be and are endgame period. All the other “prospects” were just for angst, development and humor. Not real threats.

She wrote Nesta’s story because the worry and question wasn’t on Nessian’s validity, she established their validity and their romance when Nesta prepared to die with Cassian, when Cassian promised to find more time with her, when Nesta called for Cassian, when Nesta Wass worried for Cassian, when Nesta would constantly pay attention to him without realizing it (his wings) when Cassian ran after her during solstice, when Cassian bought her a gift etc. The worry and questions were ALWAYS on and about Nesta’s role, powers, and trauma because they were the influencing factor that affected everyone’s future, Nesta’s life/health and Nessian’s ability to finally able to come together.

If Elucien were endgame we as a fandom would know without a doubt that they are. There would be many more moments of ooh’s and hmmm’s and less mystery and confusion on their validity. There would be far more angst and these characters would have be seen more often together (seeking each other out, but Elain never does) or at least have them have more than one scene of mutual civilness where they dont talk awkwardly, and have a real conversation not one that seems forced, especially by Feyre. Even with the obstacles between them and their distance (because of the obvious elephant in the room) we should have scenes that showcases clear interest between them but we don’t. There is only one true scene where we have that and its at the end of ACOWAR, Im not blind i could see where people might interpret it as Elucien confirmation and who knows maybe I'm wrong and it is but, I read that differently. That to me was confirmation that a friendship between them is possible. Something completely platonic but just as sweet in a different way. That scene to me wasn’t charged it was not even a slow burn or even a spark it was healing and the foreshadowing of a possible friendship.

ALSO:

*Possible ToG spoiler below*

I don’t think it’s too far fetched to assume that Vassien is a thing. And in all honestly I also don’t think its too far fetched to have Lucien (& Vassa) have their own book like Chaol (& Yrene) did. Chaol was an important/original main character from the very beginning of the series who ended up doing grave mistakes. He found himself lost in life to later finding himself gaining a new purpose outlook & perspective when he left the continent to only meet his new LI Yrene freaking Towers who SERIOUSLY changed the whole game ( I freaking love her) and was extremely valuable to winning that war. This is so similar to Lucien’s story so far and Vassa (the firebird) who I expect to resemble Yrene in value and vitalness BUT it is important to state that Lucien is nothing like Chaol and is far more SUPERIOR. So No this is not me saying Lucien is like Chaol. This is just me seeing the resemblance in their journeys so far, which might be due to SJM possibly reusing the same template on purpose.

Part 2

#elain #elain archeron #elain x azriel #elriel #acotar 5

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charcolor · 4 years ago

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ok. because nobody was asking about it, here's my proseka group ranking

25-ji - i am mentally ill and also i kin one of them. their covers/songs are all so good. it's also unique in a lot of ways (only group where none of the characters meet at school, only group with only 1 first year, only group with a sekai manifested from someone that isn't the leader, only group that was an established music group before their main story, etc) and i like that. and because i'm edgy i like their aesthetics, story, and characterization. there's lots of interesting and realistic scenarios with them. kanade has trauma and blames herself for her father's illness, mafuyu has ultimately been driven to suicidal depression mostly due to her overly controlling parents, ena has a severe inferiority complex because she works super hard on her art and gets no recognition or praise outside of 25ji even from her own family (kinnie moments), and mizuki has resorted to skipping school to avoid transphobic harassment from other students. these are real problems lots of people relate to, someone could even relate to all of them at once, so it makes the stories so intriguing and the characters so memorable

wxs - my gf likes this one so i have bias. i love the clowns because they're all totally autistic. i love tsukasa and emu's noises. i also like how colorful they are and i think they all have very good backstories. i'd really like emu in particular to be expanded on she definitely seems like she'd be a "my family is rich and cares more about money than my own happiness" kinda character but i might be reading too deep into it.

vbs - definitely the gayest of units. they also get the giga-p songs AND echo so huge bonus points for that. i love their styles, an in particular is my favorite character design in the whole game. their story also rules, the only thing that kinda bothers me is i think kohane should have kept her glasses. the haircut i understand, it's cool, but i don't like the trope of "character stops wearing glasses to signify Change" bitch she needs to SEE!!!!!!!!! i know she has contacts but i don't get what was wrong with the glasses :( (also i know kohane is first in the lineup but i'm not the only one who thought an was the leader at first right. like she's the one they show at the beginning of the vbs story, kohane doesn't show up til like halfway through chapter 1 and i dont think they even display her name at first. actually that kinda bothers me too)

mmj - i like them, i don't have any strong opinions. i like some of their songs but i definitely feel like the songs they cover are very inconsistent, in some cases i think they should have gone to other units (like i think patchwork staccato fits in more with 25-ji, maybe near as well). i think the concept is super interesting, 1 aspiring idol + 3 girls who quit being idols, and the story behind those 3 girls and WHY they quit being idols. the characters just don't really stand out to me though...they're not like, boring or copied from other characters or anything, they just don't super interest me. BUT i do really appreciate how their story is handled, and their subsequent event stories are realistic idol stuff like finding an agency or managing live streaming sessions, i think it's a good take on that stuff

leo/need - i think the story is very well done, and the individual characterization too, but i gotta be honest. the more i think about leo/need the more upset i am. it has everything to do with their songs. i don't generally like deco*27's style, he's very talented but his style is just not for me (but i like hibana and ghost rule). pretty much every song leo/need has other than teo, roki and hibana (though even with hibana i play with the meiko cover) is sooo boring to me to the point where i actively dread having to play through them in multilives. not to mention that ichika gets WAY more emphasis than any other group leader. off the top of my head i can think of 5 songs (hibana, teo, roki, dramaturgy, and umitetie katiyetan or whatever it's called. whatever that one is) that are just ichika and miku duets, which is way more than any other group leader. in fact the only other miku/unit member duet i can think of is hated by life itself (with kanade). ichika even gets a solo cover (night sky patrol of tomorrow) which im pretty sure literally no other unit member has (not counting another vocal versions obviously). saki, honami and shiho get NO songs of their own, or even like individual duets with ichika or miku (and luka has NOTHING. vbs and mmj let her sing with them but not the unit that she was literally assigned to!!). in the mvs for teo and roki they just play their instruments together in the background without singing. i get they're the band unit but all the characters are meant to be singers in some form, there's no reason the other members shouldnt get to sing. (and it's not like ichika herself doesnt have an instrument!! like it's not like everyone else is too busy!!) LITERALLY DURING SHIHO'S BIRTHDAY LIVE SHE DIDN'T SING AT ALL IT WAS ICHIKA AND MIKU DOING TEO. i didnt see honami's birthday but i imagine they didn't let her sing either. it just really pisses me off how they just, neglect ichika's friends way more than they would for any other unit. but yeah i just think their songs are boring

#.....i may have made this post specifically to complain about leo/need. sorry #aimee's antics #long post

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wydmariana · 5 years ago

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well hellooooo beautiful people !! my name’s dani, i’m one of the admins on the main! i’m 20, i’m from toronto & i also play the hailey fc alanna !! i’m so fkn excited to have wealthy back up & running and to bring my baby mariana back ! she’s the same old girl and if you don’t know anything about her...everything u need is under the read more ! i rly need all the connections rn so like this & i’ll hit you up for plots !!!!

❛ new york’s very own mariana cavello was spotted on broadway street in christian louboutin’s. your resemblance to selena gomez is unreal. according to tmz, you just had your twenty-third birthday bash. while living in new york, you’ve been labeled as being reticent, but also quixotic. i guess being a gemini explains that. three things that would paint a better picture of you would be fishnets, tequila shots, notebooks filled with lyrics. & ( cisfemale & she/her ) + ( dani, 20, she/her, est )

☇ ❪ ˚･ﾟ ❛ STATISTICS :

full name: mariana marisol cavello

nickname(s): mari

age: twenty three

date of birth: june 4th

hometown: new york city

current location: upper east side, new york city

ethnicity: half mexican

nationality: american

gender: cisfemale

pronouns: she/her

parents names: tanner hastings, liliana cavello

orientation: pansexual but she doesn’t like labels

religion: grew up catholic, undecided

political affiliation: democrat

occupation: singer/songwriter

living arrangements: lives in her own mansion in the upper east side

language(s) spoken: english, spanish

accent: american

face claim: selena gomez

hair colour: x (most basic/accurate/but it changes)

eye colour: brown

height: 5″5

weight: 120lbs

build: petite

tattoos: mostly selena’s canon, but x instead of the music note

piercings: x (both ears)

drugs/alcohol/sex: yes/yes/yes

pets: one cat, 5 years old, named sergio - x

astrological chart: gemini sun, cancer moon, scorpio rising

☇ ❪ ˚･ﾟ ❛ BACKSTORY/CURRENT :

mariana was born to tanner cavello (famous hotel owner, entrepreneur, multimillionaire, been on forbes, think bart bass) & lilliana cavello (hispanic model/socialite)

her parents marriage was very much settling, the two of them cared about each other & were excited to start their life together in effort to please their parents and keep their images pristine

they were quick to fall out of love though, if you could say they were even ever in it

once mariana and her brother became teenagers, their dad started having affairs with his employes, the hot, young ones of course. & their mom found out, but confided in a 16 year old mariana about her father’s actions

( sexual abuse tw ) this infuriated mariana, especially considering the hours she would spend waiting outside her father’s office doing homework while his business partners molested her in the empty conference room starting at the age of 14

she never told anyone about it, although she knew her father had known the whole time, remembering how many times he’d interrupt it by summoning his partners for work or a meeting

mariana began absolutely hating her father, while still yearning for his approval, & this went on for 4 years until she turned 18 and got revenge by sleeping with one of her dad’s business partners & allowing his wife to find out

so his wife threatened to tell the media about this little scandal, unless mari’s dad paid them off, which is exactly what he did but not before taking his anger out on mariana & blaming her for the whole mess

she has barely talked to her dad since & moved out right as that whole situation went down. she does her best to avoid family gatherings, doesn’t visit the house to see her parents too often. she does have weekly phone calls with her mom & tries to see her as often as she can, no matter how much she resents her

she got into the party scene around 17/18 as well, and became new york’s resident “wild child rich kid/socialite” in her teen years, so she has that reputation in the media still to this day

her parents have been rich as fuck since the day she was born, so she’s definitely a spoiled brat, never worked a day in her life, had daddy’s credit card whenever she needed it

music had always been a passion of hers though, being her favorite class in school(on days when she would actually attend)

so when she was 20, she started getting back into writing, sold a couple of her songs to artists like zendaya, the weeknd, etc

when she turned 21 she released her first single & album within the same year, began touring, and got to the top of the charts almost right away & gained a huge fanbase, whom she loves

she’s now 23 and has two studio albums out !! she’s v successful and happy w her music <3 she releases things very sporadically & im probs gonna release random selena songs along with other voice claims maybe IDKDKKD hope yall dont mind my messy ass kskffsk

she works hard though, & loves writing and releasing music now and never wants to stop. it’s truly the thing that makes her most happy in the entire world and keeps her sane

☇ ❪ ˚･ﾟ ❛ PERSONALITY :

mariana can be a brat, to put it simply. she thinks she’s always right about everything & it’s rare you’re ever gonna get an apology from her when she’s done something wrong (unless she really cares about you which….)

she’s lowkey a softie, bc of her cancer moon tbh. she tends to get herself into relationships and then mess them up for the sake of it or because she stops trusting herself to be in the relationship at all

but when she loves someone, she LOVES them, like w every fibre in her body u know?

and she cares fiercely about people, it ends up being a problem for her a lot of the time

she hasn’t worked through her trauma & probably never will, she bottles that shit up tight & doesn’t let anybody know it’s there. the only way she’s ever opening up is if she’s writing, cause she wants that shit to be real

but she’s still gonna hoe it up, catch her in the club trying to get some dick for the night, u know what i mean?

super depressed if we’re being real here. she’s sad, and she has abandonment issues because of her dad. so her mindset is- there’s no forming attachments, because everyone leaves me anyway

( drugs tw ) she loves cocaine, is most definitely an addict (but who isn’t in this city), tequila is her alcohol of choice, but she’ll drink anything you give her & weed is her creative saving grace

she started popping pain pills on her 21st birthday, opioids occasionally & mostly xanax, stuff like that, is most definitely also addicted to those

we love a bitch who doesn’t care about her health!

her management team frowns upon it, but she does smoke cigarettes pretty often, but mostly only when she’s stressed

mariana’s the type of bitch to call the paparazzi on herself, she loves attention. but with her music career now it’s been 10x harder for her to keep her life private, not that she cares. but at least she doesn’t have to call the paps on herself anymore lol

she thinks it’s important to treat people w kindness and respect, but no doubt she’ll be ready to fight a b*tch if she has to…

catch her at any protest that involves saying “fuck you trump”

her instagram is a big mix of stories of her cat, dumb selfies, ig model posts, her friends, career stuff & political posts. she’s very active on the gram & snapchat lol

honestly thank U for reading this trash if u didnt…i understand. catch her pinterest board for more here & i have a wanted connections page here ! ok bye i love u, plot w me <3

#wealthyhq:intro

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wishyourgirlfriend · 7 years ago

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My Hero

Nayeon x Reader

fluff & angst?

Word Count: 2948 (i’m so sorry I went all out lmao)

Written by Admin LJ

(Author’s Note: it’s almost 2 AM here and I’m so tired so I didn’t proofread, so I’m sorry if there are any errors!)

There were a lot of differences between you and Nayeon. For one, Nayeon was the easily the most well liked, most beautiful, and most kindhearted person to attend your school. It was an honor to be acknowledged by her (which wasn’t uncommon, because she was sweet to pretty much everyone, telling classmates who she never spoke to prior that they looked cute that day, or helped another student in class when they were struggling with some work), and wherever she went, smiles erupted in masses. Her personality didn’t quite fit her appearance- when you had first seen her, you were convinced she was going to be much like those stereotypical popular snobs, but you were so very wrong.

You, on the other hand, were apparently not as appealing as Nayeon was, according to your classmates. You considered yourself to be average, not stunning but not repulsive either, but compared to Nayeon, people seemed to think you looked the equivalent of a trash heap, which was entirely unfortunate for your social standing.

Nayeon was also so incredibly involved with extracurricular activities, you sometimes wondered if she had a life outside of school. Every day she stayed after the school day ended, whether it be for cheerleading practice in the fall, track practice in the spring, or the drama club- she was pretty always on the school grounds.

You, not so much. You didn’t really associate yourself with the rest of your students- not exactly by your own decision, but moreso everyone else’s. You were dubbed the “nerd” early on in your schooling, just because you were really smart, and that stuck all the way until high school. Most of your classmates didn’t talk to you- some even bullied you, which was completely unfair, given the fact that there was nothing wrong with being smart, and you never did anything to harm anyone. It wasn’t fair at all.

And, of course, with Nayeon’s popularity, it was a given that she had a hot boyfriend- Park Jinyoung, senior, football captain in the fall, soccer captain in the spring. His grades were lacking all around, but who ever looked at grades when your athletic capabilities were extraordinary? (the answer is no one. Jinyoung should have been expelled by now, with the way his grades were, but no one gave two shits because he was the school’s star athlete.)

And you? Hardly anyone ever looked your way. That changed, though. It just took a lot of time.

“Hey, (Y/N), forgetting something?”

You had just been walking out of class when Jinyoung called from behind you. You turned, and he flashed you a wide, entirely fake smile as he waved your notebook in the air, his eyes staring you down as if he were a lion and you were his prey.

You shuffled back to him and held out your hand. “Give me my book, Jinyoung.” You huffed, your patience already wearing thin after he kept throwing paper balls at you during class. “Give it back now.”

“Hey now,” Jinyoung laughed, elbowing Jackson playfully as he raised an eyebrow at you. ��That’s no way to ask someone for your book back. Try again, this time a little more politely, if you don’t mind.”

The growl that escaped your throat was heard by only Jackson and Jinyoung, who both cackled, and you looked up and tried to make eye contact with your teacher for some help, but he avoided looking in your direction (of course, because although Jinyoung was stupid, he was still the teacher’s favorite. You had to admit, Jinyoung was charming. He really had a way with words when he wants something). “Give me the book, Junior.” You hissed, feeling a bit of satisfaction as Jinyoung’s face fell ever so slightly. He hated that nickname- growing up, his friends always called him that, but as Jinyoung grew older, he grew out of the childish nickname. He became too cool for it).

Jinyoung took a step forward, with Jackson snickering behind him, and shoved you, his hand making contact with your shoulder a little too hard, causing you to stumble back quite a bit. “Watch yourself, loser,” He said, dropping your notebook to the floor, “You don’t get to speak to me like that. Ever. Learn your place, bitch.” Then he was gone, Jackson right behind, leaving you in the class alone, aside from the teacher.

“Thanks, Mr. H.” You called, sarcasm dripping from your voice as you glared at the teacher who wouldn’t come to your aid.

“I don’t like your tone, (Y/N). Don’t make me give you detention.”

You dreaded lunchtime. Not only was the cafeteria completely out of control, but you had no friends in your lunch period, so you were vulnerable to be picked on, which happened pretty much every other day.

Today was one of those days.

“Hey loser,” some girl you never met nudged you, “you’re in my seat. Move.”

You shook your head and picked at your lunch. “I’ve been sitting here since the first day of school.”

The girl, who you eventually recognized as one of the girls Jinyoung hung out with, tapped her foot on the tile floor with clear impatience. “That’s great and all, but I don’t care. I want to sit here now, so scram.”

You had been about to protest again when a voice rang from across the cafeteria. “Can you do me a favor and leave her alone?”

You spun around in your seat to see her, the beauty, the legend herself, Im Nayeon, approaching you quickly, her feet stopping to the ground with every step, the sound echoing through the now quiet cafeteria. You gulped, thinking she was telling you to leave the other girl alone, until Nayeon pushed the girl out of the way.

“Go to hell,” Nayeon spat before she took a seat next to you, her arm around your shoulders, as if she had known you for years and you two were really good friends. The mystery girl left with a huff, but no further protest, as if she knew her life would surely be done for if she messed with a very angry Im Nayeon.

You sat in silence for a few moments, afraid to speak up while the cafeteria was still so quiet, but Nayeon stayed where she was even as you refused to speak. Once the sound of laughter and general conversation picked up again, you turned to face her, although your eyes remained glued to the lunch table. “Thank you,” you whispered, picking at your lunch again, “you didn’t have to do that. You might have made an enemy.”

“Ah, so one person doesn’t like me now. Big deal. Don’t worry about that though,” Nayeon said, removing her arm from your shoulder. “Are you okay? Did she say anything out of line?”

You shook your head quickly. “No, no, she was just being a little rude. It wasn’t so bad. I’ve heard worse.” You chuckled, but your heart sunk at the realization that yes, you really have heard worse, and that’s just horrible.

Nayeon nodded slowly, and you could just feel her eyes burning into you, but you still wouldn’t look over at her. “Well, at least she’s gone now.” Her tone was gentle, as if you were something fragile. “Anyway, I’m Nayeon. You’re (Y/N), right?”

“That’s me.” you muttered, wondering what kind of horrible stories Nayeon had heard about you to remember your name.

“It’s nice to meet you. Mind if I eat with you?”

Nayeon coming to your aid became a bit of a routine over the next few days. Whether it was in the cafeteria or in the hallway, if she saw you, she approached you, asking a whole line of “are you okay?”’s and “has anyone bothered you today?”’s. You couldn’t help but feel as though there was some kind of reason Nayeon was approaching you like this, maybe on a dare or something of the sort, but as the days turned to weeks, she still found you in the hallways, walked you to class, and sat with you at lunch, and, after a while, stopped asking if anyone was bothering you, and instead asked how your day was going or if you had any plans for the day, like you two were real friends.

It was nice.

This went on for a month- friendly conversation and genuine laughter shared between the least popular and the most popular people in all of your grade, and it made your life so much more relaxed. Sometimes, you didn’t even dread coming to school so much, because once Nayeon started hanging out with you, it seemed everyone else took that as a message to stop bullying you. It was a huge relief. You almost felt like you were on the same level as the other kids for once.

Almost.

Of course, there were plenty of times where Nayeon talked highly of Jinyoung to you, seemingly unaware of the trauma he had caused you throughout your years in school, and the unnecessary attitude he still gave you while everyone else backed off. You wanted so desperately to tell Nayeon how horrible of a person Jinyoung was to you, but you couldn’t. You wanted to so badly, maybe to put an end to this bullying once and for all, and maybe because you were slowly but surely developing real, scary feelings for Nayeon and wanted her to dump Jinyoung, but there was no way you could bring yourself to throw Jinyoung under the bus like that. The last thing you wanted was to look petty by snitching on him to his own girlfriend.

So you sucked it up and dealt with Jinyoung’s harassment day after day, but knowing you’d get to see Nayeon later that day made it a bit easier to not take what Jinyoung had to say to heart. Nayeon made you feel more confident, with her constant, sweet compliments and caring gaze, and before you knew it, you were falling so hard for her. It was impossible not to- Nayeon was the first person to treat you like a real human being with actual feelings (aside from your small friend group- Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Umji, and Yeoreum had been there for most of your schooling years, but they were pretty much in the same boat as you- never too popular, but still stood much better in the social ranks than you), so falling for her was inevitable.

Tragic.

You spent almost every day with Nayeon over winter break. She invited you over for a sleepover at the start of break, and from that point on, you two bounced back and forth between each other’s houses, spending so much time together that you two might as well have been living together. It was nice, comforting, although sometimes it went to your head a bit, and you had to remind yourself constantly that Nayeon’s lingering looks and the way she held onto your hand while she slept meant nothing other than platonic affection among two friends. You could hope, but it was always a slap in the face when you remembered that Nayeon was still with Jinyoung, and had that you shouldn’t get your hopes up when she clearly wasn’t interested (was it clear, though?).

Winter turned to spring, and the amount of time you spent with Nayeon was, at this point, more time than she spent with Jinyoung. You felt proud, accomplished, and a little bit cocky over the fact that Nayeon had blown off Jinyoung a few times to hang out with you instead. Movie nights became popular between you two, finding a new film every weekend to watch. Nayeon always snuggled up to you during the movie, her arms slipping around you under the blanket you shared, and you reminded yourself once again that Nayeon was just really affectionate and her actions meant nothing, sadly. By this point you were entirely, thoroughly, one hundred percent whipped for Nayeon. Head over heels. In love. It was a huge change for you.

Nayeon was still oblivious to Jinyoung’s malicious antics, unfortunately, but you still chose to not tell her. You knew she was happy with Jinyoung, and that’s what you wanted- for her to be happy, and even though you hated Jinyoung, you weren’t going to ruin that for her.

The school year was coming to a close before you knew it, and teachers were cracking down with homework and study material, overwhelming both you and Nayeon with work. Rather than doing it separately, you two had study dates nearly every day, aiding each other with different subjects (Nayeon helped you study for your history exams, constantly running through important dates in the past with you to make sure you had them memorized, and you, in return, helped Nayeon with her math work). It was a routine now, and neither of you wanted to break that routine.

You found that, on more than one occasion, Nayeon had been staring at you as you studied the pages of your textbook, her gaze quickly lowering to her own book once you took notice.

“Why are you staring at me?” You asked once, after you had caught her doing it for the third time that day.

Nayeon shrugged, and you could have sworn she was… blushing? Or was it just because it was really hot in your room? Damn springtime. “I dunno… you’re really pretty.”

If Nayeon wasn’t blushing, you certainly were.

The next day, you were walking through the hallways, books in hand, walking as fast as you could to your next class out of fear of being late, when-

“Hey (Y/N).” Jinyoung stepped in front of you, a wickedly evil smile creeping across his face, his eyes cold and hard as they burned into your own. “How’s it goin’?”

You said nothing, and instead tried to go around him, but Jinyoung simply stepped in front of you again, holding a hand out to keep you from going any further. “We need to have a talk,” he began, tapping his foot against the floor, his eyes never leaving yours, “You see, you’ve been spending a lot of time with my girlfriend. That needs to stop. Now.”

You laughed, feeling a bit more bold and brave since spending time with Nayeon. “Back off, Jinyoung.”

Jinyoung, as fast as lightning, slapped your books out of your hand with a force strong enough to send them slamming into the tile floor with a loud boom, causing heads to turn. “Watch yourself, bitch.” He snarled, stepping closer to you, kicking some of your books out of the way. “Don’t speak to me like I’m your equal. I’m above you. Always have, always will be. Know your place.”

You opened your mouth, about to spit out some snarky reply that was sure to have Jinyoung fuming, when-

“Park Jinyoung.”

And there she was, grabbing your arm, pulling you away from him before- wham!- her hand made contact with Jinyoung’s cheek with a sharp slap. Nayeon, face bright red in anger, held you behind her so she was in between you and Jinyoung, protecting you from Jinyoung’s wrath.

Jinyoung held a hand to his cheek gently, jaw dropped, staring at Nayeon, before his eyes lit up with some wild fire that made you a bit scared. “What the hell was that??” Jinyoung hissed, still in shock. His eyes shifted from Nayeon to you, but Nayeon moved in front of you so Jinyoung couldn’t lay one eye on you.

“Are you joking? What’s wrong with you? Why are you being an ass to her?” Nayeon barked, taking a step towards Jinyoung to get in his face. “What’s your damn problem?”

Jinyoung growled. “My problem? What’s my problem? My problem is that I barely spend time with you because this little bitch is in the picture now! I’m your boyfriend! You should be spending time with me!” Their faces were just inches apart, and it looked as though Nayeon was ready to slap him again with some godly force.

“Leave her alone, and stop calling her a bitch!” Nayeon’s voice kept getting louder and louder with every sentence, and all heads were turned to the two of them now, but no one was willing to break the two of them up.

“Why do you even care?” Jinyoung questioned quickly, his eyes glaring down at Nayeon, who stood so much shorter than himself. “She’s a loser, Nayeon. She’s nothing. She’s just some nerd with no friends. So tell me, why do you care?”

Nayeon gave a strong shove to Jinyoung’s chest, sending him backwards a few feet. “Because I'm in love with her.” Nayeon snarled, loud enough for everyone to hear, and collective gasps could be heard all down the hallway soon after, followed by incoherent muttering between students.

Jinyoung was at a loss for words. He looked furious, and you had to admit, it was a frightening sight, but no words escaped his mouth. He could only stare, bite his lip angrily, and clench his fists tightly, as if ready to punch the nearest thing to him.

“You’re an ass.” Nayeon said in a matter of fact tone as she stepped away from Jinyoung, a disappointed look on her face. “We’re done, Junior-” Jinyoung’s facial expression grew noticeably more angry at the nickname, his face growing red in embarrassment as some students laughed at the nickname. “You can go to hell.” Nayeon finished, before taking your hand and pulling you in the opposite direction. “Come on, let’s go.”

You nodded, and with one last look at Jinyoung, you allowed yourself to be pulled away by Nayeon. “Okay.”

#nayeon #fluff #angst #im nayeon #nayeon imagines #nayeon scenarios #twice reactions #twice scenarios #twice imagines #twice #jyp #twice nayeon #park jinyoung #jinyoung #junior #got7 #got7 junior

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naturecpw · 6 years ago

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Why we Need to Stop Saying, “I’m Sorry For Your Loss.”

Via Ed Preston on Apr 2, 2017

There were about 150 people at my father’s memorial service.

Standing in the receiving line afterward it seemed like every conversation, whether it was with an old friend or a total stranger, began with the exact same phrase, “I’m sorry for your loss.” Most conversations didn’t go far beyond that, partly because there’s not much to say in response except, “thank you.”

A few people managed to mix in another platitude like, “He’s in a better place now” or, “At least his suffering is over,” but it all started to sound like a broken record pretty quickly; one that I had heard many times before, seen played out in movies and even unknowingly participated in myself. Now it was being played for me at one of the most painful moments of my life, and the hollowness of that experience would literally change my course forever.

Why do so many of us struggle with what to say to someone who is grieving?

Perhaps it’s because of our cultural death phobia, and the way it pathologizes everything related to sadness. If we’re not better at dealing with grief, then it’s because we’ve never been taught better. Unfortunately, that leaves the majority of people with only one stock phrase in their repertoire, “I’m sorry for your loss.” Grieving Needs More than Clichés.

One problem is simply the overwhelming use of this one phrase, while simultaneously reserving it almost exclusively for the family. It seems as the close friends aren’t really grieving at all, while family members get the idea of loss hammered into them over and over.

Saying, “I’m sorry for your loss” is a bit like the cashier saying, “Have a nice day,” at the convenience store. It betrays a lack of original thought and is so pervasive it has become irritating for many.

When responses are this programmed, how sincere is the sentiment? As more people start to become irritated by it, choosing this particular phrase because it feels “safe” isn’t really that safe anymore. Clarity Works. Euphemisms Don’t.

Using the language of loss as a euphemism for death is one of many ways in which our culture conceals the reality of death, perpetuates our phobias about it, and keeps us trapped. Spoken by a griever, “I lost my mother in 2015” is being used to avoid saying the word “died.” Spoken to a griever it expresses pity combined with distancing, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

The problem is that it’s linguistically incorrect. The verb “to lose” is active, something we do. The reality of grief is that someone else died. You didn’t lose them in the same way you would lose your car keys or your wallet, and depending on your religious convictions you may not feel like you lost them at all.

For most of my life, I definitely thought of deceased loved ones as lost because I was well trained by the culture to do so. Visiting a Native American friend one day I said something about losing someone and my friend responded, “You don’t have to lose someone just because they died.”

That was the first time I was exposed to the idea that it’s possible to live in the presence of the dead, not as frightening ghosts, but as honored members of the clan.

These days I’ve become accustomed to drawing comfort from the idea that I’m living in the presence of departed loved ones. Actually, speaking to them in quiet moments when I’m alone is one of several key components—like meditation, being in nature or remembering special occasions—I use to process my grief whenever it shows up. Whether one wishes to think about that in terms of psychology or in terms of the spiritual language, it seems completely irrelevant. All I know is that I find it helpful. It’s the Wrong Mental Programming.

Experts in the field of grief care (Stephen Jenkinson, for example) are starting to recommend using the language of suffering, healing, and overcoming challenges instead. The language of loss refutes the notion that there might be an upside to grief, a spiritual deepening that can result from being exposed to something that’s an inevitable consequence of being born and choosing to love each other. By shifting to the language of suffering, healing, and overcoming challenges instead, death and grieving can once again become the redemptive processes I’ve come to believe they were always meant to be.

After personally experiencing the old cliché and its real world application thousands of times over several decades, I remember quite vividly the first time someone said, “I’m sorry for your suffering. I’m here with you.”

How different those words felt!

I immediately knew the stranger sitting next to me on a park bench somehow understood something that had been missed by all the close friends and family who had been sorry for my loss, but not present with my suffering.

Firstly, she knew I was suffering, and her use of the word “sorry” came across as authentic compassion rather than pity. Second, there was no distancing or avoidance in the way she said it. She knew what I needed most: validation of my grief and someone willing to listen, even if that meant listening through some tears. Best of all there was no judgment. The Challenges Ahead.

Significant numbers of people are starting to open up about their dissatisfaction with this worn out cliché. Others seem almost determined to defend it as the ultimate expression of sympathy. What the defenders don’t seem to understand is that no one will ever be offended or hurt by not saying, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

For those wanting to improve their grief communication by eliminating clichés with more accurate, helpful, and authentic responses, but still aren’t sure what to say, here are a few other choices in no particular order. These are just a few of the many options available, and they can be combined in various ways to make them both personal and appropriate.

1. I’m sorry you’re suffering right now, but I’m here with you and willing to help any way I can. Is there anything you need right now?

2. I’m sorry for whatever challenges might lie ahead for you, but I’m here and willing to help. Would it be okay if I call next week just to check in with you?

3. Please accept my deepest condolences. I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now, but I know enough about grief to know that it can be very challenging. Don’t hesitate to call me if there’s anything I can do to help.

4. I’m so sorry to hear about _____. I’m sure you’re going to miss him/her terribly. How are you holding up?

5. I know there’s nothing I can say right now to make things better, but I also know that having someone to talk to at times like this is really important, so don’t hesitate to call me whenever you need to.

Follow any of those with what you loved most about the deceased or tell a story about a favorite memory of them, and I think most people will be pleased with the deep level of connection that’s instantly created. I’m absolutely certain the bereft will feel less isolated and better supported.

One reason is that the phrases above easily open into longer conversations, while “I’m sorry for your loss” tends to shut them down. In some cases, it’s even appropriate to simply remain silent and offer them a deeply heartfelt hug instead.

Most important of all is just being willing to listen and be present.

Author: Ed Preston

https://www.elephantjournal.com/2017/04/why-we-need-to-stop-saying-im-sorry-for-your-loss/

Ed Preston is a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist and mindfulness meditation teacher with over 20 years of experience. He is the founder of Triad Grief Recovery & Support Services in Greensboro, NC. He also has a degree in cultural anthropology and lived in the Four Corners region for 35 years, where he was a professional guide and bridge to the Navajo and Hopi cultures. Connect with Ed on his website.

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Comments

Deborah Crane-Foote I disagree. I lost my only child the day after this past Christmas. The loss is to awful to contemplate, let alone know what to say. I prefer it to " he's waiting for you" " he's in a better place" or other drivel. Im sorry means, I have no idea what to say, but I care that you hurt. I'm a substance abuse counselor and deal with mite loss and trauma than humanity should have to endure. My clients have all expressed their appreciation that people say that to them. Intentions can be communicated with more than words. The look on people's faces, their body language and their follow up efforts show that "I'm sorry" is deeper than those simple words. Like · Reply · 24 · Apr 2, 2017 6:20pm

Sylvain Thibault · John Abbott College Hi Deborah. I understand and agree with your point of view. Seeing, feeling and knowing that someone is genuinely understanding and "sorry" is very comforting. However, please read the article again carefully. I think you'll see that it's really about how the "sorry for your loss" phrase is most often being used in a way that has become meaningless, insincere, and disingenuine. I feel that many of us say it simply because it's easier, requires less effort, allows us to remain detatched and save our energy, rather than commit or "give" of ourselves to another human being. I feel the reason this often seems laborious and demanding. is that we have this idea, this notion, that we MUST "be", "feel" and respond in a certain way towards the other person, rather than just being ourselves, however we may be feeling in the moment, and extending as much as we can afford to give to the person in that moment. We often think this will not be enough, not be good enough, and then unnecessarily demand more of ourselves. This is taxing and draining, and so a quick and/or "easy" way out of this heavy, burdensome demand we place on ourselves is to say something that is "socially acceptable" and has become "the norm", and even expected. ...Until we realize that simply saying how we truly feel, and only giving as much of ourselves as we can, no more and no less, would be more than enough and greatly appreciated and accepted by the other person. In the end what we actually say doesn't matter, whether it's one thing or another, so long as it's sincere and genuine. The other will feel that and most often show thier gratitude and appreciation for it. I think this is what the article is really about. Someone who is genuinely sorry and understands us, and is able to show this is what we need and appreciate most. Like · Reply · 6 · Apr 3, 2017 9:29am

MaryBeth Whiting Walz · Freelance Writer at Writing and blogging Sylvain Thibault - Well, in a perfect world, that would be great. But this world and every person in it are imperfect. And so they say something that "sounds" rote to you. But you have no idea if it is, or if it took every ounce of their being just to say that! Most people do not handle words well, especially when someone is eminating stress and grief. And if you've never been there, how could you possibly know?

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Rachel Fuerstenberg Stewart I also disagree. While insightful in theory, for me the most comfort was in this simple expression. I did lose my husband, his warmth and physical presence is gone. Though I feel him with me, to say I didn't lose him is disrespectful. I may be a spiritual being, but I am also a physical being, suffering a physical loss. While it may be cliche, that simple easy phrase allowed me to accept the comfort of an endless stream of well wishers without requiring a conversation of me - a blessed gift. Every time someone asked what I needed, I wanted to scream, "my husband!!"

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danschkade · 8 years ago

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PAGE x PAGE ANALYSIS — ‘THE SHADOW STRIKES!’ #13 (1990)

PUBLISHED: DC Comics, October 1990

SCRIPT: Gerard Jones

PENCILS/INKS: Eduardo Barreto

LETTERS: John Workman

COLORS: Anthony Tollin

EDITORIAL: Brian Augustyn

THE SHADOW STRIKES! is high on my list of favorite ongoing series ever. As far as I’m concerned, of the many four-color iterations of The Shadow, this is the one that truly gets it right. The Shadow of STRIKES! is a lurking, manipulating hybrid of The Phantom of the Opera and John Wick, the action of the series playing out mainly through the perspectives of his agents and his criminal quarry. This book is tight, hard-edged, and restrained; it avoids a lot of hacky pulp comics pitfalls because it understands that the original Walter Gibson Shadow novels weren’t “trying to be pulpy” — they were trying to be lean, lurid action thrillers. This is almost entirely down to writer Gerard Jones, but it works better than anywhere else in the issues drawn by the artist that defined the look and feel of the series — Eduardo Barreto. STRIKES! sometimes suffers from being the type of lower budget 80’s/90’s DC book where the fill-in issues can be sloppy to unreadable and the truly great issues mainly succeed by virtue of being the product of creators who weren’t really being watched that closely, but that doesn’t mean I’m grading on some kind of a curve when I say the truly great issues are truly great.

Today, we’re looking at one of those issues — the second installment of an amazing four-part storyline that sees The Shadow, along with his most trusted agent Margo Lane and the begrudgingly complicit Inspector Cardona, taking his private war on crime from their habitual New York haunts to the streets of Chicago. In this analysis, I’ll be looking at how tightly Barreto’s pencils and inks hew to Jones’ script, and how the diligence of colorist (and Shadow historian) Anthony Tollin actively facilitates the near-seamless transitions between the plot’s many storylines. This is a full comic that never feels crowded, a dense comic that keeps light, and a very comic booky comic book that never loses sight of the emotional reality of what it’s depicting.

THE SHADOW STRIKES! #13 and all characters contained therein are property of DC Comics and/or Conde Nast Publications, reproduced here solely for educational purposes.

COVER

I love how conceptually simple this cover is. Graphic, understated buildings. A mostly obscured main character. Smoke and mist wafting around for a little atmosphere. There’s only one thing that’s clearly rendered — a tommy gun, unfired. The Shadow is usually depicted using handguns, so him holding this universal visual signifier for “MOB STORY” immediately lets you know what you’re in for. And that’s even without the blurb at the top. You wanna see The Shadow fight the Chicago Mob? I know I wanna see The Shadow fight the Chicago Mob.

PAGE ONE

Something THE SHADOW STRIKES! does particularly well is maintaining the balance between mainstream comic book sensibility and HBO subject matter without making either seem out of place. We open with a prime example — the hand acting in panels one through four clearly conveys uncomfortable reality of a woman having sex she doesn’t enjoy with a man she doesn’t like. This transitions to her reaching over to grab a cigarette and light up in panels five and six (along with the barb “what was even quicker than usual” for those in the back). This establishes her as our POV character for the scene, something every scene going forward will have in some form or another. The point of this opening scene is to establish bad guy mobster Anthony ‘Half-Step’ Sbarbarro as a detestable macho prick in his personal as well as professional life. By identifying with this woman, we share her lack of fulfillment and, soon, her ongoing victimization. We quickly learn to hate Half-Step by seeing him through her eyes. We also see a hint of a gun in a shoulder holster, in case you didn’t realize what kind of comic you’re about to read.

PAGE TWO

This page validates the bad feeling we got about Half-Step on the previous page. Not only so we establish the leg injury that gives him his nickname, we show how petty and violent he is. Note how loose his fingers are as he strikes her in panel four — it’s a casual, low-effort act in between tying his tie and pulling on his pants, and it absolutely demolishes her. Half-Step is a powerful man who callously uses that power to abuse those weaker than him. The scene ends on her, leaving us stewing in the emotional trauma Half-Step leaves behind him. Imagine a version of this scene that focuses on him instead of this nameless woman; his hands on the first page instead of hers, him walking out into the hall in this last panel instead of her crying into her pillow. One version of the scene encourages you to identify with Half-Step, or, jesus, maybe even thrill in his violent savoir faire. This other version shows him for the monster he is by humanizing the people around him.

PAGE THREE

Chick Heck — a dynamite name — catches us up on the events of the previous issue and shows us pictures of the main players so we’ll recognize them when we see them later. While Joe O’Hara is mainly just a quippy mannequin to help Chick with the recap, there’s some great staging between him and the showgirl in the first couple panels. She’s way too smart for him, and even though she’s constantly placed in positions of power in her panels (larger than him in panels one and three, walking past/in front of him in panel two) he just keeps checking out her legs with the unearned confidence of a white man with a little hair.

PAGE FOUR

More concise, well-written recapping, which Barreto livens up even further with a variety of camera angels and some cool lighting and drapery. We see Half-Step (who I keep accidentally and only quasi-understandably calling “Johnny Stomp” before correcting myself) near the end of the page, connecting this scene to the last and reminding us how much we would like for somebody to kill him. Chick does us a final narrative solid by setting us up for the next page with a great dramatic line.

PAGE FIVE

And now, after getting to know the distinct personalities and motivations of five characters across four pages, we get our title page. The Shadow stretches out onto the scene, speaking like goddamn Dracula and dressing the part. Between Barreto’s smoky effects* and Tollin’s icy, atmospheric coloring, The Shadow really feels like a different kind creature than anything else in the book. Also worth mentioning is John Workman’s great work on the issue’s title, with the rigid ‘B’ adding extra viciousness to the sketchy, violent ‘UTCHERS.’

*I was curious how exactly Barreto achieved this affect. I consulted with Jesse Hamm and Lukas Ketner, and the consensus is that Barreto probably drew these pages on coquille board, using graphite or lightly-applied colored pencil for the smaller areas of texture and watercolor sponge with white gouache, or possibly even just correction fluid, for the large smokey areas. If any collectors or collaborators of Mr. Barreto know otherwise, please let me know. I’m still curious.

PAGE SIX

This page does a great job of immediately changing the focus of the scene from The Shadow to old man Romanowski. The Shadow is a non-character who will never learn anything new about himself or struggle with a decision, so the drama of the series usually centers around how ‘normal’ people react to him. In this case, it’s the equally resolute Romanowski, whose whole motivation is neatly laid out in the first three panels. “And I will owe NOTHING... to NOBODY...Not even YOU,” Mr. Devil-Man With A Gun.

There’s a nice leftward motion as Romanowski tries to hustle this intruder out of his house, followed up by the overwhelming rightward motion of The Shadow as he silences the old man and makes his final pitch. This panel’s layout, its placement on the page, and even Tollin’s blue coloring all loosely mirror the Half-Step slap on page two; I think this is the first instance in the issue of the creative team setting up parallels between the two men. The Shadow also possesses a frightening degree of physical power, but he uses it carefully. He’s scary, but not dangerous. Or at least less dangerous. He’s not actively a woman-beater, how about that. The two panels in question, so you can draw your own conclusions:

Continuity note: the money on the floor in panel two carries over from the previous issue — Tad came to his father asking for money to pay out his gambling debts, and Romanowski, enraged at his son’s weakness, grabs glass jars containing his savings and smashes them to the floor, yelling “take it! Take it!” He uses jars because he doesn’t trust the banks — having his own money during the stock market crash was what allowed him to grow his business to what it is today. This goes further toward establishing that Romanowski sees himself as a man who doesn’t owe anything to anybody. This scene here doesn’t rely on that information, but it’s useful garnish, no?

PAGE SEVEN

Tad’s brief show of spine on the previous page immediately melts once The Shadow leaves — Barreto keeps him wobbling and weak while his father is still and resolute. The scene transitions from being about Romanowsky the senior to being about Tad, tears in his eyes as he speeds away. The last panel switches it again to the Shadow, watching silently from high above. Note how Barreto makes liberal use of the graphite shading, but leaves The Shadow’s hat and Tad’s car flat, highlighting them by omission. And man, how insane is this angle? We somehow see the train and the car at the same time without it feeling forced. The complexity of the El Tracks The Shadow’s hanging on might at first seem punishingly complicated, but I think it’s actually the parallel beams of that structure that makes the warped perspective visually legible in the first place. Using something difficult to depict something impossible. Eduardo Barreto. I tell ya.

PAGE EIGHT

This page gives us what I like to call ‘an artificial action beat.’ The Shadow catching a ride on this train is hardly a conventional action set piece, but it’s a splashy, physically extraordinary Thing That Is Happening and it breaks up a couple of dialogue-heavy scenes. It also gives us a private moment from The Shadow, helping us like him as our macroprotagonist by seeing him successfully doing something difficult. How do we know it’s difficult? The acting in his face in panel two, plus the fact that he loses his hat. On some level we know he can’t fly or teleport, but seeing him actually have to put effort into getting around helps us identify with him, without sacrificing too much of his mystery.

At the bottom of page: the return of shaky Tad. Jones does a good job of keeping small NPC type characters around, like the singer in panel four, making their Chicago feel full. It’s easy for large-cast crime comics like this to start to feel like the only people in the world are the people involved in the case in question; bizarrely, this can actually serve to make the case seem less important. What’s so bad about bad guys if there’s no society at large to be threatened by them?

PAGE NINE

Georgie Katomeris’ office (containing Georgie, Tad and Half-Step) and Frank Nitty’s drawing room (containing Nitti, Jake Guzik, and Half-Step again after some passage of time) are indistinguishable from each other as Barreto draws them, but are still kept distinct by three things. One is Jones’ dialogue — the ellipsis in that precedes Nitti’s panel three dialogue indicates a jump in time. Another is Nitti’s smoking jacket — he wouldn’t be going out in it, so we must have changed locations from the office to his private residence. The last and most effective is Tollin’s coloring — the grey of George’s office gives way to the green walls of Nitti’s drawing room. I admit this transition felt abrupt to me at first read, but these three clues let me easily find my footing again.

PAGE TEN

We spent the first two pages of the issue showing Half-Step to be detestable; now we show him to be truly dangerous. His patience and planning further draw him into parallel with The Shadow — having him tell a story that essentially ends with “I could have killed the President of the United States but didn’t want to because of my deeply held principles” does a great job of showing us his crazy ego and, more importantly, his ambition. The point of the end of this scene is clear: this is not someone who’ll willingly stay in a subordinate role forever. But he’s not just going to throw his weight around. He’s going to be smart about it. Note how he goes from very small in panel five, cut off by the top of the panel, to large in panel six, crowding Nitti into the corner.

PAGE ELEVEN

Half-Step dominates his half of the page. The heavy shadowing on his face in panel three indicates there’s something dark going on in his mind. The other half of the page is all about The Shadow. We finally have the two of them in the same location here, with the Shadow placed in a position of power — the low angle of his glory shot in panel five, the fact that Half-Step doesn’t know he’s being watched. They’re even sort of almost facing each other down, with Half-Step facing left in panel three and the Shadow creeping in towards the right in panel five. But like Half-Step, The Shadow won’t just smash in guns ablaze— he’s playing a longer game. This page really sets them up as worthy enemies, with a lot of good, or at least better, people caught in the metaphorical crossfire between them.

PAGE TWELVE

Here we finally catch up with Inspector Cardona, Brenda Shield, and Margo Lane, who Chick Heck introduced us to by proxy in his earlier scene. This page has what for my money is the only real misstep this issue makes; although Margo and Cardona are both name-checked on this page, Brenda is not, and it’s been so long since the Heck scene that it’s asking a lot of the readers to remember her by sight — especially since there isn’t really much going on with her design to visually distinguish her, big polka dot bow or not. That said, this page does still somehow manage to give us that cool, spacious three-panel sequence of Cardona walking away from the ladies only to be waylaid by The Shadow while still leaving room for a nice big ‘Identify With This Character Please’ shot of Margo in the penultimate panel. Jones also manages to give us clear ideas of both Margo and Cardona’s characters, their dynamic with each other, AND their individual dynamics with the Shadow while he’s at it. Lastly, I like Tollin’s choice to give Margo a Green color scheme, making her instantly as visually distinct in the issue as the Shadow in his blacks and reds. For a page that makes the issue’s one arguable mistake, it sure does a hell of a lot right.

PAGE THIRTEEN

Half-Step is back, haunting the plot just like the Shadow does. Seems to be a theme of men preying on women in this issue — let’s keep an eye on that going forward. Note how much real estate on the page is given up, letting the panels float around; this is used in the top half to separate Half-Step from the other guys in the car, painting his “Like I’m gonna break this city down” line as an unthinking quasi-crazy utterance, as well as to separate Margo and Brenda from the gossiping nightclub crowd in the bottom half.

PAGE FOURTEEN

Here we explain Brenda’s stakes in this scene. Even if you don’t empathize with her high-society worries, it’s worth noting that Jones has made clear through action and dialogue that every character in every scene has something they want, need, and/or fear, and Brenda is no exception. Tollin draws attention to the dreaded encroachment of gossip in the last panel with a change in background color from a neutral yellow to a threatening orange.

Now, bear in mind, Margo might be genuinely supportive here, but all of what he’s saying about herself is a lie. There is no Dick. She's never met the Hartes. She’s working Brenda as per the Shadow’s orders — she and her fellow agents are basically Ocean’s Eleven if Danny Ocean decided to start dressing like Doctor Sax and fighting crime, and if that means pulling a hustle on a pie-eyed heiress, then I guess that’s just what's on the agenda for the evening.

(Fun personal trivia: This comic came out the month my girlfriend was born. She also sort of has the face Barreto gives most women he draws. Coincidence? One wonders.)

PAGE FIFTEEN

Margo is the only person in this issue who gets an internal monologue, which she uses here to reveal the way her charade chafes, but also the freedom she feels from being anonymous, from being unconnected to her past mistakes. So, of course, enter: the man who knows all her secrets, here to spoil her reverie. This scene takes place in the ladies room — another example of a man trespassing against a woman, except that while our gangsters are doing it for personal gain, the Shadow (here unsexed and dehumanized to the point of being almost a silhouette) does it in service of his theoretically higher calling. He dominates panel four, almost encircling her. Margo’s body language tells it all — not afraid, but very uncomfortable. We keep the scene in her perspective by cutting from the Shadow in panel five to Brenda in panel six, both more or less in her literal point of view. Note again how Barreto employs negative space above and below the final panel to create a zoom-in effect on Brenda’s eyes.

PAGE SIXTEEN

More Big Sister Margo; see how she controls Brenda’s body in panels one through three. Half-Step is inside now — I think we’re supposed to infer that he’s responsible for loosing the rumor that’s upsetting Brenda. A slightly abstract example of a man invading a female space? I might be reaching, there.

Barreto does a great job of changing locations by making panel five a round panel with poor Joe Cardona on the right of the frame, contrasting with Half-Step’s leftward placement in the square panel opposite. Tollin helps with a cold color shift. The last panel might not seem like it does a lot, but it actually sets up two things for later in the issue: One is that it makes for the second time we see The Shadow and Cardona together, so when we see them together again at the end of the issue it benefits from a satisfying ‘rule of threes’ thing. The other is that it sets up one of The Shadow’s later appearances — I’ll touch on why this was necessary when it comes up.

PAGE SEVENTEEN

A great falling line of action as Tad stumbles and falls across the top four panels. Employing steadily lengthening panels like this is something Barreto does so well, and here it has the side benefit of giving Half-Step room to really loom over Tad in panel four. Meanwhile, I’m glad Half-Step’s poor, mistreated girlfriend had a good lay. She deserves it.

PAGE EIGHTEEN

Barreto is so good at clothing and drapery that you start to take it for granted — and then you remember it all over again when he draws a disheveled suit like the one Tad’s stuffed into. As soon as Nitti shuffles Tad out of the apartment, Half-Step’s attention turns to the woman. We get super close to him, the rendering becomes denser, meaner. Tollin even gives him an angry rage-flush. He’s huge in panel four, crowding her to the edge of the frame. His dialogue transverses panel five into panel six, implying he’s following her as she tries to get away from him. The final panel puts us back in her shoes, as Half-Step’s rage is directed straight at us.

PAGE NINETEEN

Panel one to panel two is the kind of cut we don’t see much in comics, despite it being incredible effective. We get the point of her abuse without — man, I guess the phrase I want to use is cheapen it by showing it explicitly on the page. Clearly implying something and then cutting away can be even more effective than showing it outright. If we were to see this scene play out, we’d still know in the backs of our heads that this is, essentially, a superhero comic, and that it’d be possible that when we turned the page, The Shadow might show up to save this woman. When the scene is over and the hero never appears, we might be left wondering, “Christ, then what was the point of seeing all that?” This method here conveys what happened with a haunting finality, but without any creepy exploitation.

On a characterization front, the thread that culminates in this scene is massive. Half-Step treats this woman like an appliance, but claims he’d kill any man who touched her. He actively entraps her into this weird “gotcha” self-cuckold and then punishes her for falling for it. This shows us so much about the depth of his bizarre self-loathing, his warped pride, the outright evil of him. And yet, again, staging these as events in her life keeps her from being just a prop to let us know how super duper bad this story’s bad guy is. She has an internal life outside of him. This all actually makes these displays of his violence more effecting because we’re seeing its effects on a “real person,” not just some Real Doll who doubles as a speedbag.

Note also how well panel two and the butcher hanging up the cow in panel three frames the interaction between Romanowski and his debtor, Karl. Size continues to equal power as we get the huge foregrounded gangster (rendered into one monotone shape by Tollin’s colors) making the bright, full-figured Romanowsky look smaller and more vulnerable than he realizes.

PAGE TWENTY

The empty room in panel one gives us a moment to breathe as we head into a tense scene. At the same time, we know we’re getting close to the end of the issue, so an entire panel dedicated to an empty room makes us slightly nervous — we’re aware we’re running out of time. Which, by design or by happenstance, is the Shadow’s point at the end of the page. Tad is consistently rendered in a clear, clean comic book style, while The Shadow is rendered in planes of light and darkness, making him seem elemental, powerful, spectral.

PAGE TWENTY ONE

This is the best page in this comic. I lost my mind when I saw this page. It’s AWESOME. Look at how well rendered Romanowski is in panel one. The oppressive dark architecture in panel two, drawing the eye to the small, bright Romanowski. That unnecessary but oh so cool-looking graphic black-out in panel three. The hatching on Romanowski in panel four. The callback to Half-Step’s leg injury, set up nearly twenty pages ago. The cascade of action across those last three panels. Tollin’s colors across the whole damn thing. I love this page. This page is why they have comic books.

PAGE TWENTY TWO

Look at Romanowski’s face in panel one, highlighted by the falling glasses. The FURY. The reveal of Half-Step is so pat, so understated. The little throw-away line to himself further cements him as a bona fide evil psycho criminal — one more reason we want to see him go down. The circular panel inside the square field of panel five, a technique I can’t ever remember seeing before, gives the impression that a notable amount of time has passed since the glasses fell — glasses that Barreto made sure to pointedly re-establish as a visual signifier for old man Romanowski in these last few pages.

So, The Shadow shows up late. This is why it was important to set up The Shadow’s intent to see Romanowski in that panel at the end of page sixteen; to have The Shadow appear too late would come off as arbitrary, or even as an intentional delay on his part, if we hadn’t established The Shadow’s intentions beforehand. Or, put more simply: in order to show a character failing at something, you have show they were trying to accomplish that thing in the first place — especially when so much work has gone into conveying that character’s competence.

PAGE TWENTY THREE

The Shadow respects Romanowski’s principles. Of all the characters in this story, the two of them are the most alike in that regard. But while Romanowski was a stubborn old butcher and easy prey for Half-Step and his guys, The Shadow is an unkillable psychic murder man.

Panel two is full of space, both geographic and negative, giving us another much needed moment of breathing room. All the gangsters present have distinctive color cues, easily letting us get a feel for the size of the gathering as opposed to an amorphous clutch of same-colored “GANGSTERS (tm),” which often happens in comic book scenes depicting groups of men in suits. They can become like zebras if you don’t take the time to make him distinct, as they are here. Half-Step’s buggy zooms into panel four from beyond the page, a nice way to emphasize that the vehicle is coming at them from out of nowhere.

PAGE TWENTY FOUR

The tommy gun EXPLODES through panel one, dissolving the panel border itself. Those carefully color-coded mobsters from the previous page all catch bullets, which wouldn’t mean as much to the reader if they weren’t distinct from one another. “A bunch of gangsters got shot” becomes “several men were brutally murdered by machine gun fire.” Said gunfire chases Guzik from left to right in panel three — note the diagonal line that tracks his presence in panels two, three, and four, making his plunge to the ground in panel four seem like an extension of his movement in the other panels, even though the they happen on radically different parts of the page. Barreto keeps the same angle on Guzik in panels four and six, cementing him as the lone survivor of this drive-by and the default POV character for the scene. Or, to put in visually:

This is some seriously solid craft.

PAGE TWENTY FIVE

The Shadow is HUGE on this page. This drawing of him the biggest thing in the entire comic — the same size as he is on the cover. He bookends this story, dominating it. Cardona’s fear and uncertainly help sell the terrifying finals words of his boss, seen here in full on What-If-Hannibal-Lecter-was-Batman mode. This drive-by was easily the biggest act of violence in the issue, and the heavy blacks of The Shadow on this last page emphasizes him as this dark presence bringing doom to the Chicago mob. This page cements what we can expect from the next issue: The Shadow’s done his ground work. He’s ready to start making some moves.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Despite having three more pages than your typical modern comic, the page for page action is always dense and well-paced. Every scene feels necessary and the story never lingers long on any one place or character, and yet it never feels overstuffed or rushed. It takes time for some impressive visuals to break up the action, but never to the point of self-indulgence. There’s always something happening, even in a scene that basically boils down to ‘Two women go a club and a third woman talks shit.’ I talk a lot about Barreto — and I would, he remains one of the best artists of all time — but I don’t think enough can be said for Jones’ masterful pacing and lean yet conversational dialogue. These are two creators at the top of their game, with a solid coloring/lettering/editorial team backing their play. Almost thirty years after its publication, there’s still a lot to learn and even more to admire in these pages. This is definitely the kind of read that makes me want to up my game.

When possible, I’ll be placing links at the end of these so you can buy better copies of the comics I’m analyzing with out my words getting in the way.

Retroactively, here’s Comixology links for the comics I covered in my first two reviews:

BATMAN: GOTHAM ADVENTURES #17

PETER PARKER: SPIDER-MAN #13

As far as I can tell, THE SHADOW STRIKES! has never been collected in print, nor does Comixology doesn’t carry it, so I’ll link to another great Shadow story by someone else who really understands the material: Matt Wagner’s GRENDEL vs THE SHADOW, with Brennan Wagner on colors. I’ll also throw in a link to another Eduardo Barreto DC comic I’ve always dug, written by this issue’s editor, Brian Augustyn: BATMAN: MASTER OF THE FUTURE.

As always, feel free to check me on any mistakes I might have made, add your own commentary, or share similar examples of good comics done well. I’ll be back next week with a different comic to peruse.

#The Shadow #The Shadow Strikes!#Analysis #Educational Purposes #comics #pulp #DC Comics #Eduardo Barreto #Gerard Jones

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andsotheuniverseended · 5 years ago

Note

Character headcanons: the whole mighty nein?

oh damn aight babe lets get started

Jester

1: sexuality headcanon

my girl is bisexual, no question.

2: otp

beaujes ftw, of course. i just... i feel like Jester can lean on Beau a lot, and that’s important.

3: brotp

honestly Jester has such a good relationship with the whole entire team, i cant believe how much she is the heart of the entire team. i would say my favorite dynamic is... jester and fjord. they just have some real cute moments, and they really try and support each other.

4: notp

i dont really have any notps? i mean... i cant really see her with caleb, i guess, which is a thing some people like? but im very much a chill person.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Jester used to make little gifts for her mom, but she kind of had to make do with the things she had access to, so it was a lot of drawings and playing pranks she thinks will make her mom smile.

Also, Marion still has every single one of the drawings Jester ever gave her.

6: one way in which I relate to this character

Dick jokes.

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

hmmm... i dont get much from Jes, honestly. i would say... oh wait gods i just remembered that conversation with Beau about relationships and how theyre not like the books they read oh my poor baby Jester ishfgufkd.lg8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon roll

Caleb

1: sexuality headcanon

i am personally real into asexual and panromantic Caleb.

2: otp

i dont particularly ship Caleb with anyone? but if i had to say... maybe with Essek? or Caduceus? but Caleb is v much the kind of person who needs solid family relationships more than romantic ones.

3: brotp

Caleb and Nott are the og, obvi.

4: notp

Caleb and Beau, for sure my dudes. they are Empire Siblings, platonic forever.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

i dont remember if its said where he got the name from but ive decided just now he got the name Caleb Widogast from a porn book. it was a minor character and he’s mostly just praying that Jester will never run into the book he took it from.

6: one way in which I relate to this character

depression and trauma, babey

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

when he was having that conversation with Beau and they were just literally talking circles around each other and not getting anywhere with it. also any time where he starts talking about how he’s a shitty person.8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

problematic fave, for suresies

Caduceus

1: sexuality headcanon

he is a big and soft and gentle gay man.

2: otp

Caduceus x peace, Caduceus x support, Caduceus x not dying ever again please

also i like Caduceus and Fjord

3: brotp

i really want Cads to connect more with the others, yknow? i feel like hes doing a lot of supporting them and not getting a lot of support. i liked that moment he had with the Gentleman, i would love if that got more time but i doubt it.

i would say... Cads and Jester? i feel like they both do that thing where they don’t lean on others as much as they could and so they should lean on each other.

4: notp

i dont think i honestly have one for Cads. i mean, him and anyone who would hurt him. dont let anyone hurt the boy. he needs protection.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

i think part of why he hasnt scried on his family is partially worry about just not being able to see them, but also partially worry that theyre fine out there. theyre fine and doing good work and they just havent come back, havent checked in on him or the Grove, and he’s just as scared to see that as he is to see that theyre not okay at all.

6: one way in which I relate to this character

low int, has trouble paying attention, big mood.

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

i... honestly cant really think of a moment? he has always done his best and i love him.8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon roll

Nott

1: sexuality headcanon

i... i feel like. she has straight woman energy? but i dont like that so as far as im concerned she’s bisexual.

2: otp

Nott and Yeza. rhino sex potions, learning how to change and grow together, and that entire moment when they’re reunited and Yeza is just happy she’s alive no matter what she looks like.

3: brotp

listen Nott and Caleb are the og, but Nott and Jester are the detective duo and as far as im concerned, thats what matters most.

4: notp

mmmmmmmmmm idk does anyone ship nott and caduceus? thats a notp for me, i just decided that just now.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Nott hasn’t spoken to her brothers in a very long time, and in fact actively avoids it when given the chance.

6: one way in which I relate to this character

“they turned me into everything i thought was”. always thinking of yourself as Less. and also being a gross goblin.

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

knowing she had a crush on caleb lmao not gonna lie8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

problematic fave

Beau

1: sexuality headcanon

lesbian

2: otp

BeauJes, my dudes. “i could be her beacon” was a powerful phrase. and also beauyasha is still very very good content.

3: brotp

Beau and Fjord. captain and first mate. teacher and student. i honestly think Fjord was one of the first people to really give Beau a chance to grow as a person and she grabbed it with both hands and worked so hard at it, and Fjord was there for it.

4: notp

beau and any guy. she’s a lesbian, ya’ll. come on.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

beau doesnt like yellow because one time she had to wear a yellow dress to a party and she spilled something on it and got yelled at for the stain and she’s a bitter one who doesnt let things go so now she just doesnt wear yellow, and prefers dark colors.

cant get yelled at for stains if no one can see them!

6: one way in which I relate to this character

socially awkward! yes.

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

mmmm socially awkward, again8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

i feel. like. she cant be a cinnamon roll but shes also. not entirely a problematic fave? more problematic fave than cinnamon roll, but not really either.

Yasha

1: sexuality headcanon

she is a Lesbian who was very much in love with her wife, as most lesbians are.

2: otp

Yasha x forgiveness, Yasha x happiness, Yasha x freedom

also beauyasha is always good. and so is yasha and jester? get yasha a blue girlfriend who will reassure her that things are okay.

3: brotp

Yasha and Molly were, obvi, amazing together. maybe its bc of them that i also want to see more of Cads and Yasha.

i just feel like the low int bros could be fun.

4: notp

ummmm i guess. i cant see molly and yasha in a romantic way at all?

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

on yasha and zuala’s wedding day, they had to do it in secret, so they couldnt really decorate or celebrate much. but what they did do was pick flowers and put them everywhere. so that even if they couldnt show their love to their tribe, they could still be surrounded by colors and life and beauty.

6: one way in which I relate to this character

Says Dumb Things, Loves Girls So Much, Needs A Break

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

listen i am anticipating a lot of awkward apologizing and guilt and idk if this counts as second hand embarrassment but im deffo gonna be crying so8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon roll and i will fight anyone who says otherwise

Fjord

1: sexuality headcanon

thinking about it... im real into demi Fjord.

2: otp

Fjord x Eldritch Blaaaast

forreal tho i dont heavily ship him with anything. him and Cads are cute, tho.

3: brotp

i know i already said this for beau but really the captain first mate dynamic is so so good.

i also like him and nott. green drowning victims! bickering! also actually being ride or die for each other but like you would never tell them that!

4: notp

mmmmm him and avantika i guess

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

a lot of the reason Fjord is so good at accents is bc, as a kid, he would try and mimic other people’s voices. he thought it would get them to stop looking at him like a half-orc. it didnt work, but now he can p much copy anyone’s voice so that’s handy!

6: one way in which I relate to this character

just doesnt know whats going on, assumes someone who says wise words must be the smartest person ever, feels like deadweight if they dont have something special they can do

7: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

this is legit the hardest question for every character my dudes uhhhhh oh gods the whole thing with avantika was killer so i guess when he has to fake it but also doesnt know what the hells going on at the same time.8: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon... roll? i mean... he did also almost unleash a many eyed eldritch snake tho......... so....

send me a character or anything really

#critical role new campaign #Universe Answers #anon my dear little star this was So Much #and i didnt even do mOLLY! like!#but it was also real fun so thank you darling #Anonymous

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tempocblogaaabc · 8 years ago

Text

Morris

BIRTHDAY: May 19th

ZODIAC: Gemini

SPECIES: Human

GENDER: Male

FAMILY

Mother/Father - no idea man the kid was dropped off to live with his aunt so Aunt - caretaker

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Morris has flat long-ish black hair from not taking the actual time to at least try cutting it. He has a natural olive/tan skin tone. He carries a wiry body from his earlier days. About 5'8 or so. He usually wears a cracked pair of goggles on his head. The kid's got a fair share of scars, the most obvious one over his mouth. His wardrobe isn't really static, but commonly wears hoodies. He has blue eyes.

PERSONALITY

Morris is constantly on edge. He's constantly worried for the worst to come. He believes that he's more realistic than pessimistic. He hardly ever admits anything outright, dodging any personal questions whenever possible. His solution to most problems is to either avoid them altogether, or run away. He's often irritable, lacking people skills. He avoids people if he can, keeping to himself. He could pretty much be summed up as "properly paranoid". Though cowardly, he is able to stand his own in a fight.

SEXUALITY: Bisexual

SETTING

lmao the city still doesnt have a name im working on it

BACK STORY

Born in Mexico, his parents legally crossed the border in hopes to have more success in the US much like his mother's sister. Though not extremely wealthy, she lived decently and was more than willing to help them on their way. However, when he was still very young, his parents found that they wouldn't be able to afford raising him, passing him off to his aunt before moving on with their lives. He lived comfortably for the first ten years of his life before his aunt's business went downhill and moved to a shadier part of the city to keep rent down. His aunt resorted to fostering kids on the side in order to get paid by the state. Sure it wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. One particular child stayed in her care for a long while due to complications (talking 11 months - 18 months). During this time, Morris grew very fond of her. Unfortunately, she wasn't the best influence, as she got into all sorts of shit and participated in gang life. Of course, he found this all to be cool/exciting and followed right in her footsteps. She was practically a big sister figure to him. He grew to cause havoc and participate in illegal shit for a good while (half a year?? idk). Which was all fine and dandy, he was p much enjoying himself and pissing off people. One day he's just going downtown and finds the corpse of his "big sister" in an alleyway. Needless to say it was bloody and morbid as shit and probably gave him some serious trauma. (He may have developed ptsd from this) The event had him snap and do a complete 180 after witnessing the body. He desperately tried to get out of gang life, but ended up not being able to escape.

FAVORITE COLOR?

Dark blue.

DOES YOUR CHARACTER COLLECT ANYTHING?

The shards of our broken hearts.

ALLERGIES?

ur bullshit

KIND OF CLOTHING?

Your average hoodies. Most tend to be cheap.

FAVORITE ANIMAL?

Dogs.

LEAST FAVORITE ANIMAL?

Bees. Flies.

WHAT ELEMENT WOULD THEY BE?

Water

ALIGNMENT?

True Neutral

DEADLY SIN THAT BEST REPRESENTS THEM?

Envy

WHICH ANIMAL WOULD THEY BE?

Maybe a coyote or a ferret.

SPECIAL SKILLS / TALENTS?

Nitrogen manipulation, picking locks, decent with a knife

PATIENCE LEVEL?

Pretty low

REGRETS?

[Hysterical laughing]

ROLE MODEL?

ded lmao

FAVORITE FOODS?

Probably fruits. Ones with juice like apples, oranges, ect.

DREAM PLACE TO LIVE?

In an actual house, preferably away from the city.

MODE OF TRANSPORTATION?

Foot.

PETS?

None. Often interacts with stray cats and dogs though.

WEAPON

Switchblade, Liquid Nitrogen

MOST APPROPRIATE TV TROPE(S)?

Heroic Sacrifice (in mafia) and Sour Outside, Sad Inside

SMELLS LIKE?

what

HOW DO THEY FEEL ABOUT LOVE?

He feels that it's well....dangerous.

LEAST FAVORITE COLOR?

White.

MAKES A LIVING BY?

Doesn't need to make a living seeing how he lives with his aunt. He tends to steal for extra money though.

FEARS OR PHOBIAS?

He's afraid of the future in general.

RACE, ETHNICITY AND NATIONALITY?

Mexican American.

BAD HABITS?

The whole scratching arms thing when he's nervous. Running away a lot.

IF THEY TRANSITIONED FROM THEIR WORLD TO OURS, HOW WOULD THEY REACT?

He'd be really relieved actually. Doesn't have to deal with all this OP gang bs.

DOES THEIR UNIVERSE HAVE A GOD?

(It's me)

PERSONAL PROBLEMS?

[Laughcrying in the distance]

RELIGIOUS AND TO WHAT EXTENT? ANY SPIRITUAL BELIEFS?

Not religious at all.

KIND OF STUDENT IF THEY ATTEND/WERE TO ATTEND SCHOOL? (E.G. CLASS CLOWN, STRAIGHT A)

Straight B+ or B student. No extra activities.

RANDOM FACT!

He used to wear his hair in a ponytail :3c

DO GHOSTS OR SUPERNATURAL ENTITIES EXIST IN THEIR’ WORLD?

Sort of.

OUTLOOK ON LIFE?

He believes that people born under certain circumstances, as well as being born with a likeable personality are able to get ahead in life and enjoy it. He is not one of those people.

WHAT OR WHO INSPIRED YOU TO CREATE THEM?

I was looking for a friend for Jordan/a protagonist buuut he's not so much a protagonist anymore seeing how there isn't an actual/fixed story anymore. I don't think Jordan and Morris would get along anyway haha.

MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN THEIR LIFE

Br...andon...

FAVORITE OBJECT?

His goggles.

WHEN DID YOU CREATE THIS CHARACTER?

Chinese class haha

IF YOUR CHARACTER HAS A SIGNIFICANT OTHER, WHAT WOULD THEIR SONG BE?

I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT'D BE "NO LIGHT, NO LIGHT" BUT IDK

WHAT WAS YOUR CHARACTER LIKE AS A CHILD?

Prideful. Scum of the Earth

DO THEY LIKE THE NAME THEY WERE GIVEN?

He's pretty okay with it.

NERVOUS HABITS?

Scratches the back of his neck and his arms.

SIBLINGS?

Has a few adoptive ones.

HAVE THEY EVER WANTED TO COMMIT SUICIDE?

Probably at some point tbh I mean he's a teenager

GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY?

Half empty.

VIEWS ON GAMBLING, LYING, KILLING, ETC...?

He stands neutral on these kind of topics. He doesn't care what others do, as long as it doesn't affect him or anyone he actually cares about.

DO THEY STAND UP FOR WHAT THEY BELIEVE IN?

Sometimes. He prefers to avoid conflict though.

HOW MUCH DO THEY VALUE MONEY?

A lot.

WANTS TO HAVE KIDS, RAISE A FAMILY?

[One Direction Laughter]

WHAT'S THEIR ONE BIG KINK?

[One Direction Laughter ceases] [Dead silence]

PASSIVE, AGRESSIVE, OR DEFENSIVE?

Defensive.

CAT OR DOG PERSON?

Dog.

WHAT SONGS RELATE TO YOUR CHARACTER?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ephdl5HjIzQ maybe shrugs

HOW HAS THEIR LOOK/DESIGN CHANGED OVER TIME?

He used to wear glasses, had short hair, no scars. Also had a chain hanging from his pants.

MOST TRAUMATIC EXPERIENCE?

The time he got his rolemodel killed lmao. And mafia. The haunted mansion and Denny's were not fun for him.

WHAT BRINGS THEM THE MOST JOY?

Watching familiar stray doges run up to him :3. Spending time with Brandon also makes him really happy but also makes him really nervous.

ARE THEY TICKLISH?

Probably on his sides.

DO THEY PLAY ANY INSTRUMENTS?

I'd like to think he plays the piano, but then again I like the piano a lot and want all my ocs to play the piano.

COKE OR PEPSI?

He thinks they're pretty much the same.

HOGWARTS HOUSE

Gryffindor or Hufflepuff probably.

IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN THEIR LIFE

Brandon....

IF THEY COULD HAVE ONE THING IN THE WORLD?

A stable lifestyle.

WOULD THEY DARE KILL SOMEONE?

If the situation was dire enough, probably.

INVOLVED WITH MAGIC OR WITCHCRAFT?

His nitrogeny powers counts as magic soo

WHAT MLP CHARACTER WOULD THEY BE?

Why.

WOULD YOUR CHARACTER BE WILLING TO SACRIFICE ORDER AND SANITY TO LIVE IN A CRAZY FANTASY WORLD WHERE ANYTHING WAS POSSIBLE, OR DO ALL IN THEIR POWER TO PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING?

The latter.

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