#philip of guise

[nothingunrealistic]

WENDY: How many times have you seen The Hunt for Red October? TAYLOR: I don’t watch Alec — PHILIP: Yeah, and Connery had that interview back in — WENDY: Okay, I hear you, but let’s not with that, right now. I asked rhetorically. I’m sure you both know lines by heart. The point is: even Ramius, who had almost total discretion, couldn’t act alone. Someone had to give him the keys every time he took out that sub. PHILIP: Is Ramius…? WENDY: Two captains in this story. The point is, if you’re asking for total and complete control 24/7, you are wasting your time. And his.

7x05 the gulag archipelago. the hunt for red october follows marko ramius, a soviet submarine captain who defies orders and goes rogue in what’s interpreted as an imminent renegade nuclear attack on the united states, and jack ryan, a cia analyst who figures out that ramius is actually trying to defect to the united states. if philip ends up defecting to Team Kill Prince under the guise of attacking them, we’ll know exactly who ramius is.

[saltwatersweets]

the way that the toy head is on backwards is also very interesting, because even when the toy was fixed it wasnt fixed perfectly, likely similar to how when belos “broke” and “fixed” the grimwalkers they all came back differently

these screens are all correlated .

with the fact that collector saw things/people as "playthings" that could be fixed up even as much damage its done to them, its messes me up with the implications / their behavior towards trying to be open to Belos again so quickly after everything because he thought it could kindness could work, to use their own self in the form of a doll as something that can be broken up and fixed on a whim fully makes me believe they expected to be freed by Philip and continue to be treated the same way he did before, even when Philip was physically lashing out at them in their shadow form, he put trust into Philip that even if they "got broken" , Philip would be able to "fix him" or he would fix themselves and continue playing on, just like the grimwalkers were made over and over and Collector was not raised to see them as their own individuals . By all means Collector was not raised to fear Belos like grimwalkers did , but its worse that Collector was actually always this willing to take in abuse on the guise that its "pretend" or "its just part of the game" because at the end of it all they are inmortal and it "shouldnt matter".

[kvetchlandia]

Sam Falk Novelist Philip Roth, Princeton, New Jersey 1964

"No one I know of has foreseen an America like the one we live in today. No one (except perhaps the acidic H. L. Mencken, who famously described American democracy as "the worship of jackals by jackasses") could have imagined that the 21st-century catastrophe to befall the U.S.A., the most debasing of disasters, would appear not, say, in the terrifying guise of an Orwellian Big Brother but in the ominously ridiculous commedia dell’arte figure of the boastful buffoon. How naïve I was in 1960 to think that I was an American living in preposterous times! How quaint! But then what could I know in 1960 of 1963 or 1968 or 1974 or 2001 or 2016? … However prescient "The Plot Against America" might seem to you, there is surely one enormous difference between the political circumstances I invent there for the U.S. in 1940 and the political calamity that dismays us so today. It’s the difference in stature between a President Lindbergh and a President Trump. Charles Lindbergh, in life as in my novel, may have been a genuine racist and an anti-Semite and a white supremacist sympathetic to Fascism, but he was also — because of the extraordinary feat of his solo trans-Atlantic flight at the age of 25 — an authentic American hero 13 years before I have him winning the presidency. … Trump, by comparison, is a massive fraud, the evil sum of his deficiencies, devoid of everything but the hollow ideology of a megalomaniac." Philip Roth, 2018

If only he'd lived a few years longer, the horrors we inflicted on ourselves just a week ago would certainly have made Philip Roth plotz.

[sepublic]

People -and this did include myself at one point- really don't want to engage with the fact that Belos is modeled after white supremacy by trying to bury this under the lens of "Oh he's actually a lonely weirdo like Luz!!!" when Belos' superiority complex is the most important part of him and it's where all analyses inevitably must stem from. I think the problem is that people are too attached to their speculative fanon version of Belos and instead of letting go of that to rebuild their understanding of him from the ground up (since he's a mysterious character who is only gradually revealed bit by bit), they keep clinging to this sympathetic tragic villain as the core behind their interpretation of him. 

Everything about Belos makes so much more sense when you explore him as someone akin to a lot of right-wing 4channers; A lonely young boy who was radicalized because white supremacy promised to rescue him from his isolation, and after buying into it wholesale, he very much chose to cling onto the need to be superior to the "NPCs" even when someone close to him actually unlearns and deconstructs for him why this is harmful. He sees firsthand how someone just like him is happier for leaving this mindset, and then kills them to eliminate that contradiction threatening his world belief; At which point it’s inaccurate to infantilize him as just a lonely and misguided kid, because he’s no longer a kid and he made a very cognizant and informed choice to double down and commit actual violence.

And everyone knows that by this point, such people are not actually being sincere; They’re not secretly misguided, you can’t simply attribute their harm to not knowing better because this is what their religion says or whatever. These people know they’re committing harm, but rather than help on “lesser” people’s terms, they ‘help’ the way THEY see fit, in the way that strokes their ego. That’s what separates Philip from someone like Gwen, who humbled herself to focus on what Eda was saying she really needed. So the Titan’s summarization of Belos as someone who only cares about being the hero in his own delusion, and fears what he can’t control is… hardly an oversimplification, it really gets to the core of Belos as a character, and the narrative he embodies. It captures the difference between wanting to help and having a savior complex, and is what ends up delineating the two at the crucial crossroads. 

And I find it a little concerning to joke about how this type of character is “just a silly guy” when people exactly like him are on the rise and committing very real violence right now. It’s also why I don’t buy the justification behind a lot of salt about how villains need to be humanized in order to show kids how THEY can become villains, because the show is fairly outright about how Belos rationalizes atrocities under the guise of the ‘greater good’ and refuses to self-reflect, and it’s not as if we don’t have Luz learning to understand characters like Amity or Lilith, the Collector and even Kikimora (whom she DID relate to personally, yet Kiki still doubled down with or without Belos), while still having the show emphasize that they need to get their act together and can’t just depend on people to save them. 

There’s also the very obvious theme of Luz realizing she doesn’t owe her oppressor anything, especially not when he won’t ever meet her or anyone else on their terms, but idk some people just seem to hate Luz for having boundaries I guess, even though she already put in the effort to be kind and understanding to Belos and she got hurt for it. Hell the Collector made that effort after being inspired by Luz, and Luz was murdered protecting them from that mistake!!! There are some very obvious stories and lessons being told here with the actual protagonists being the heart of those narratives, but the problem I’ve noticed is that a lot of the people complaining on Belos’ behalf are those who hyperfixated almost exclusively on the Wittebane aspect of the lore, going over it with a fine tooth comb and microscope to extrapolate an entire fanon from the littlest of details… only to just ignore the actual show and narrative and themes happening on-screen. 

And that leads to many not understanding various narrative decisions because they weren’t really paying attention to the actual point they’re in service to, and then they blame the writers for their own chosen ignorance, and how the story wasn’t about their part specifically so everything else doesn’t count and the whole show is wasted potential, really. The way so many of said fans immediately turned on Luz after the finale and tried to drag her down to Belos’ level by acting like she wasn’t any better for also wanting things and 'demonizing enemies', claiming Luz had unaddressed ‘flaws’ while Belos deserved more sympathy, and framing Belos as a ‘better’ character who ‘worked harder’ while claiming Luz was retconned into an arrogant chosen one who never grew, is actually baffling.

A lot of them are just upset that Belos didn’t play the role in Luz’s arc that they wanted him to play, so they’ve opted to dismiss Luz’s overall storyline as badly written and even a reflection of Dana's 'Catholic complex' (which is a tasteless jab to make) because they neglected the nuance behind every other aspect of Luz that wasn’t directly tied to Belos, that didn’t set her up as the one person who understands him or whatever because that’s more important to them than addressing the sheer trauma and pain that Belos willingly inflicted upon Luz. Because god forbid this brown girl be angry against her white abuser, huh? God forbid the white guy be used to set up the brown main character, rather than the other way around right????? It’s really just a jealous complaint about the show’s choice of priorities and celebration, hidden under the false guise of ever caring about Luz’s arc for Luz’s sake.

And that’s how you get insincere arguments about how Belos should’ve been able to survive, that’s how you get AUs that undermine the lessons of canon to egregiously relegate Luz to being Belos’ sidekick, or even present her as an obstacle to him getting his much-needed redemption, as if that last part hinges on all of Belos’ victims getting over their pain to help him, because obviously he needs it more than they do! Because we gotta spare Belos’ feelings by giving him friends instead of consequences!!! Unbelievable. He is not Amity, not Lilith, and definitely not Hunter, and the people who forgave them had actual reason to do so. And even Lilith had to move in with her mother so she could be given reparations by someone who actually owed it to her, rather than her younger sister and two kids.

And there’s definitely a major difference between Lilith and Gwen’s dynamic and Philip and Caleb’s, especially since Caleb was also a child when he moved into Gravesfield. Even if you think Belos' bigotry was radicalized due to 'grief' over losing his brother to witches, that's just entitlement and control because it's not as if Caleb can't have more than one positive relationship in his life; Philip is no better than people who blame minorities for some incident in their life and use that as justification to become white supremacists, and there's nothing sympathetic or 'tragic' about that.

But the point is that Caleb ultimately wasn’t THAT important to Belos because he’d always be secondary to witch-hunting, Belos clearly chose his white supremacy over his brother, and any ‘takebacks’ that come in the form of the Grimwalkers are insincere given Belos does nothing to actually repent or regret his violence committed on the people of the isles; It’d have been one thing if he DID try to undo his mistake by choosing differently, by cloning Caleb and giving up witch hunting, but he still doesn’t (Note that Belos does not hallucinate the ghosts of the witches he killed; He still feels no remorse over them, because his fear of being wrong comes from a selfish place). And unlike Luz, Belos can’t have it both ways because one option explicitly calls for the extermination of the other; It’s the Paradox of Tolerance that Luz struggled with, except contrary to what Belos claims, humanity’s existence does not require the eradication of others.

Because yes there IS a meaningful moral distinction between Luz and Belos -don’t forget they’re not just parallels but explicit opposites- that occurs even before you get into the genocide, not that you should neglect that other part either because it’s incredibly important, being the starting point for this entire rant. Society already has a bias towards devil’s advocating bigotry as some big misunderstanding, and prioritizing the angst of white dudes who commit it over the victims of color; Can we avoid applying that to fiction?!??!? I literally saw someone complain that the show didn’t portray Belos’ grief from murdering Luz, and that Luz’s “glory moment” took away from a Wittebane backstory!!! At this point, people are just being racist.

[queerstake]

i just sent my own letter and wanted to share it. it is not politic in the least; i'm angry and they deserve to know that.

To the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: I am writing to express my grief and disappointment at the recent revisions to the Church Handbook's policy on transgender individuals. The new policies are extreme, degrading, and manipulative, and I cannot believe that they are the result of anything more than human bigotry. I cannot put it more plainly than this: you are in the wrong. You are letting your worldly assumptions and fears interfere with your sworn and sacred duty to bring God's love and salvation to ALL of His children. We have already seen the fruits of these policies of exclusion, and they are the bitter, bitter fruits of despair, isolation, and death. The gilding of this fruit under the guise of "concern", or worse, "love", only intensifies its poison. Sirs, the way this church has been mistreating God's queer children is a monstrous thing. I condemn you for your cowardice in allowing and encouraging it to continue. May the God of Hagar and Rahab and the eunuch that Philip baptized—the God of the slave, the foreigner, the excluded and the unclean—show mercy to you even as you have not shown mercy to those He loves.

This is so powerful, thank you. Your anger is extremely warranted, extremely appropriate, and I hope the brethren heed your call to repentance <333 thank you so much for sharing.

[garden-of-mancers]

Hihihi! I wasn't sure who to come to for this info, and I couldn't find anything related to this, so if you don't have an answer/insufficient research or something like that, then feel free to ignore this! /gen/neu

What's the difference between a tulpamancy and imagimancy? Ty if you answer this ask! <333

No problem! Full disclosure: I have done more research into the Buddhist origins of tulpamancy, but I'm not Buddhist or a tulpamancer, so if I get any academic or cultural information wrong, I apologize.

So, tulpamancy has an origin in Buddhist spirituality, and the modern western "tulpamancy" you see on tumblr is a misappropriated version of it.

In Tibetan Buddhism, tulpamancy is the act of creating a thoughtform (tulpa) with the goal for it to become an autonomous person through developing independent thought, emotions, etc. These thoughtforms are also called "emanations" or "emanation bodies" depending on the Buddhist you're talking to. Most tulpas also break away from their creators once they reach autonomy, therefore completing a cycle or the exercise. I know it's originally supposed to be an exercise to teach the Buddhist student *something* about nirvana and being a living human, but I can't remember or figure out what the specific goal is, so I apologize if any part of this explanation is 'off.' I'm not Buddhist, so I encourage you to take my answer as a starting-off point to do your own research into the topic.

Here's a reddit post by a Tibetan Buddhist on tulpamancy, and here's another reddit thread with multiple insights on the purpose of tulpas.

Appropriated tulpamancy like you see on tumblr, where the tulpamancer is making more than one thoughtform, isn't working towards the goal of autonomy, or is utilizing manifestation techniques to create headmates or "friends" is not tulpamancy. It's thoughtformism--it's a completely different practice that is just using terminology from a different (religious and culturally charged) practice. It should not be practiced under the guise of tulpamancy. It's not cultural appropriation because you're white, (anyone can convert to Buddhism); it's cultural appropriation because you're using terms and ideas in a way completely divorced from the original (cultural, religious) context.

(This cultural shift didn't start on tumblr, by the way. Occultists and westerners were recontextualizing and appropriating tulpas long before people on tumblr did it.)

After a lot of POC and Buddhists criticized the tulpa community, a few secular thoughtformist communities have come up. Daemonism is one example, where the "lore" and framework around your thoughtform is based on the novel His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. (Although, what I've seen in the community is that daemians can play pretty fast and loose with the rules and no one really minds it.) But a lot of thoughtformists I've seen on tumblr just seem to make a certain flavor of dude (like a servitor, egregore, godhead--all things I'm not yet familiar enough with to explain) without tulpamancy OR daemonism as a label (which is a good thing!).

Imagimancy is the latest thoughtformist community to come up, and in my perspective, it feels like a "configurable" experience in thoughtformism. There's no more religious or cultural context, there's no more lore from already-existing books or movies, there aren't even any occulty or mystical labels if you don't want there to be. It's just... imaginary friends, but taken seriously and refined into a practice or activity that "older kids" and adults can do in a fulfilling way. To me, imagimancy IS the closest thing to what appropriated "tulpamancers" wanted tulpamancy to be. There are no rules or restrictions. One of the co-coiners of the imagimancy term describes imagimancy as "not trying to reinvent or relabel things; just filling the gaps between [thoughtformist] communities," and I think that's the best explanation out there tbh.

This isn't a "tulpas dni" post or anything like that; I'm interested in everyone's experiences of thoughtformism, even if someone's vocabulary isn't the most culturally sensitive. But I am very much in the ballpark of "what you're doing isn't tulpamancy. Call it something else" as a person tbh.

[poisonousquinzel]

and the fact that it's a musical just adds a whole 'nother level to the wtf factor cause wtf

what the actual heck is this joker 2 movie

[transbookoftheday]

The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O'Keefe

When a spy and her mortal enemy crash-land on a dying planet, she must figure out how to survive long enough to uncover the deadly, galaxy-spanning conspiracy that landed them there. The Blighted Stars is the first book in an epic new space-opera trilogy from the author of the Philip K. Dick-nominated Velocity Weapon.

She's a revolutionary. Humanity is running out of options. Habitable planets are being destroyed as quickly as they're found, and Naira Sharp thinks she knows the reason why. The all-powerful Mercator family has been controlling the exploration of the universe for decades, and exploiting any materials they find along the way under the guise of helping humanity's expansion. But Naira knows the truth, and she plans to bring the whole family down from the inside.

He's the heir to the dynasty. Tarquin Mercator never wanted to run a galaxy-spanning business empire. He just wanted to study geology and read books. But Tarquin's father has tasked him with monitoring the settlement of a new planet, and he doesn't really have a choice in the matter.

Disguised as Tarquin's new bodyguard, Naira plans to destroy the settlement ship before they land. But neither of them expects to end up stranded on a dead planet. To survive and keep her secret, Naira will have to join forces with the man she's sworn to hate. And together they will uncover a plot that's bigger than both of them.

[asherisawkward]

Are there any headcanons that make Belos worse than he is on the show that you enjoy?

I headcanon that he went back and killed the Fang brothers after he got the Collector’s disk because they tried to burn his journal.

He overworks and keeps the scouts in poor conditions so they’ll be too exhausted and stressed to plan a revolt of any time.

There is an eighty percent chance that Coven Head Scooter Crane was murdered by other Coven Heads, Raine, or Philip himself. Regardless of this, Philip doesn’t care and actively encouraged infighting and competition between the Coven Heads, so they won’t notice what he’s planning.

Philip tormented Lilith in the Emperor’s Coven by giving her nearly impossible tasks and threatening to kick her from the coven if she failed before letting her stay if she did under the guise of mercy, but it’s really just so he can torment her more. This is because she broke his nose in the Deadwardian Era.

Philip is intentionally creating a Palistrom tree shortage so that witches are unable to make Palismen, which would make it easier to fight him.

To make Grimwalkers, Philip hunts baby Selkidomus instead of adult ones, because he doesn’t know how long scales keep before they go brittle, and he doesn’t want a lot of resources wasted. Baby Selkidomus are just sized better for his needs.

When the Grimwalkers find out about the truth, Philip often “attempts” to kill them but fails intentionally to see how they react. He doesn’t even realize he’s doing it, but he’s pushing them to leave so he has a reason to kill that one and start again fresh.

Philip and the Collector had bingo cards for the way that the former kills the Grimwalkers. The latter of the pair has more bingos.

Philip re-uses Galderstones whenever he can’t find more of them for new Grimwalkers.

He was probably forced to cannibalize his brother’s corpse some time during his years living in a cave. It was a very low point for him.

[tomorrowusa]

Matt Gaetz, the MAGA Meryn Trant, is now out of the running for US Attorney General. Not that Pam Bondi is much better in terms of policy.

But Gaetz was not exactly the only problematic Trump nominee for office.

Trump has stated that he wishes to abolish the Department of Education. Perhaps to facilitate this, he's nominated a totally unqualified individual who looked the other way when 13 to 15 year old boys were being sexually exploited.

A recent lawsuit alleges Linda McMahon, who President-elect Donald Trump tapped to lead the Department of Education, knowingly enabled the sexual exploitation of children by a World Wrestling Entertainment(WWE) employee as early as the 1980s — allegations she denies. McMahon is the former CEO of the WWE, which she co-founded with her husband, Vince. As head of the WWE, Linda McMahon oversaw its transformation from a wrestling entertainment company into a publicly traded media empire. She stepped down in 2009 to run for Senate, but shelost in Connecticut in 2010 and 2012. As McMahon — who co-chairs Trump’s transition team — vies to be confirmed as Education secretary, a recent lawsuit raises questions about her care for children’s safety at the WWE. The suit alleges McMahon, her husband, the WWE and TKO Group Holdings, the league’s parent company, knowingly allowedemployeeMelvin Phillips Jr. to use his position as ringside announcer to sexually exploit children. The filingalleges Phillips would recruit children to work as “Ring Boys,” helping him set up and take down wrestling rings at WWE events. However, the job was a guise for sexually exploiting the children, which Phillips would do even in front of wrestlers and executives in the locker area, the lawsuit alleges. He also would often film his sexual abuse, according to the filing. The suit was filed in October in Baltimore County, Maryland, on behalf of five John Does, who say they were ages 13 to 15 when Phillips met and recruited them to work as “Ring Boys.” Each of them say they suffered mental and emotional abuse as a result of the alleged abuse.

These allegations are not exactly new.

Phillips’ alleged abuse at the WWE was reported by the New York Post as early as 1992. “It was common knowledge in the WWE — among the ring crew, wrestlers, and executives — that Phillips surrounded himself with a posse of underaged Ring Boys, including when he traveled across state lines and stayed in hotel rooms with the children,” the lawsuit alleges. The McMahons fired Phillips in 1988 after allegations about him sexually exploiting children continued to surface, according to the lawsuit. They “rehired him six weeks later on the condition that he ‘steer clear from kids,’” but he continued sexually exploiting young boys with the McMahons’ knowledge, the lawsuit alleges. “After decades of suffering in silence from their childhood trauma, these survivors come forward now to hold Defendants accountable for their conduct in allowing the systemic and pervasive abuse by Philips,” the lawsuit alleges.

The McMahons are rather typical Trump friends.

Allegations of sex trafficking and abuse have followed Vince McMahon for some time. In 2023, Vince McMahon paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to a former employee who accused him of rape, and he stepped down this year as executive chairman of TK Holdings following allegations of sexual assault and trafficking. He has denied the allegations. Most recently, Vince McMahon is a subject in a federal criminal investigation and a separate lawsuit in federal court in Connecticut. That lawsuit was put on hold this summer until early December. A criminal investigation around McMahon also exists in New York, though it doesn’t carry legal risk for Linda McMahon, who left the WWE over a decade ago, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation.

[scotianostra]

On February 9th in 1587, news reached London of Mary, Queen of Scots execution the previous day.

The people went wild with joy, church bells were rung out in celebration, guns thundered a salute, bonfires were lit in celebration and there were impromptu feasts held in every street.

Elizabeth however, did not greet the news with the same enthusiasm! It is said she had signed the death warrant in anger when she was told that Mary had plotted against her to be the figurehead of a Catholic uprising in England. It is also claimed that she withdrew the warrant but it was retained by her spymaster Walsingham.

Historians still debate how much Mary knew about the plot to overthrow Elizabeth.

It is a fact that the English Queen became almost hysterical. Her biographer William Camden, wrote that

“her countenance changed, her words faltered, and with excessive sorrow she was in a manner astonished, insomuch as she gave herself over to grief, putting herself into mourning weeds and shedding abundance of tears”.

Her rage was vengeful against those who had acted on her behalf. They had expected her anger, but not quite this extreme! Some fled home, others were banished, and Davison who had carried the warrant to Fotheringay, was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Elizabeth wrote to James VI, telling him that his mother’s execution had happened without her knowledge, and whilst James at first displayed grief, he did not want to alienate Elizabeth, and told a group of angry nobles that he believed Elizabeth was genuine in her grief and would not do anything to effect the Anglo-Scottish alliance.

It was three weeks before news of Mary’s execution reached France, where there was widespread distress at the death of the King’s sister-in-law. The English Ambassador reported:

“I never saw a thing more hated by little, great, old, young and of all religions than the Queen of Scots’ death, and especially the manner of it. I would to God it had not been in this time”

On 12th March 1587 as a part of French national mourning a requiem mass was held at Notre Dame attended by Henri III, Catherine de Medici, and many of Mary’s Guise relations including her uncle, Elbeuf. A moving eulogy was given by Renauld de Beaune, Archbishop of Bourges, recalling the days of her youth and the spectacle of her magnificent wedding ceremony in Paris. It seemed to him ‘as if God had chosen to render her virtues more glorious than her afflictions’. She had become a cult figure.

It’s a disgrace the Scottish nation were denied a similar mark of respect for Mary, remember many Scots still thought of her as our rightful Monarch, although it has been said that in Scotland there was displays of anger towards Elizabeth for what had happened - despite the fact that they had forced Mary’s abdication twenty years earlier.

In the eyes of Catholic Europe, Mary was a Martyr, wrongfully put to death by the ‘heretic Elizabeth’. Philip of Spain believed it was his duty to avenge Mary’s death.

Nevertheless, Scotland and France did not act in revenge for Mary. Philip did however, with the Armada as we know. But this did not quite have the desired affect, thanks largely to the weather. It is ironic to think that Mary’s death gave both herself and Elizabeth their finest hour, Mary became the Martyr that she wanted to be, while Elizabeth became 'Gloriana’, with the “heart and stomach of a King”.

I will finish this post and go back briefly to Mary’s execution. Those present that day spoke of her great courage and dignity, just under 61 years later her grandson Charles I was also executed with the same bravery shown, whatever the faults or follies of the House of Stuart, its sons and daughters, with rare exceptions, have at least known how to die.

The pics show the death mask of Mary, her tomb in Westminster Abbey and a replica in The Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh.

[normanbateswife]

Never Any Other Option

Philip Graves x fem!reader

Warnings: mw2 spoilers, canon level violence, smut (it isn't a major plot point but it's there), graves being an asshole

It started slow. Much slower than Graves would’ve liked, that’s for sure. He had his eyes on you the moment he saw you and they sure as hell never left, not through the entire briefing. His eyes battled with everyone else in the cramped room to meet yours and you never once looked up. 

He admired your strength. It reminded him of him. 

He barely heard the resolution to the brief and made a mental note to reconvene with someone who was actually listening before he went out into the field. You left the room quickly but that didn’t stop him. Graves looped around the hallway till he met up with you at the stairs. 

“Yes Commander?” you asked under your breath, glancing up at him as you opened the door. He held it for you and then followed so that he was walking beside you. 

“Have you thought about that dinner?” he questioned. You side eyed him and tried not to show any emotions. You refused to be one of the girls he slept with in a coat closet and left behind. Dinner could be a step forward. You just weren’t sure if you could resist that charming side smile much longer. 

“I’ve thought about the mission we’re meant to leave for tomorrow morning. Have you thought about that?” you asked. He blew a sharp breath out of his nose and shrugged. 

“Enough.” 

“You get to be in the confines of a helicopter. I have to be out there. You got it easy this time Graves.” 

“I’ll cover you from the sky. Everyone else will be jealous.” 

“If you don’t help, everyone else will be dead.” 

“They can handle themselves.” 

“So can I.” He skipped so that he stood in front of you, not letting you walk past him. You halted. There was no point in making an attempt to exit the conversation. Plus. You didn’t really want to. It was an easy part of your day, flirting back and forth with the Shadows Commander, stringing him along and pulling him back. 

“One dinner. Then you can go back to thinking we wouldn’t be fantastic together.” 

“Philip,” you crossed your arms. 

“One.” 

You clenched your teeth together, narrowing your look at him. He waited in anticipation, eyes wide open. You let out a breath of finality, guised as annoyance. 

“One. Just cause we might die tomorrow.” 

He smiled brightly, clapping his hands together in triumph. He pointed at you, not quite sure what he was doing with his hands anymore. 

“Fantastic. I’ll pick you up at 8? I’ll text you. I won’t keep you out later because of work, no worries.” He looked up and moved his tongue around in his mouth. “No later than you want me to, that is.”

“Don’t you make me regret this Philip.” 

“I would never sweetheart.” 

-

Thus started the on again off again relationship you had with Philip Graves. You were not often in the same place at the same time which left some things to be desired. But everytime you came back it was a free for all. It was like neither of you had left. 

You unclenched your jaw as you exited the helicopter, keenly aware of the cold nipping at your sides. You were eager to go inside and wind down for the night. It had been a long couple of days and you weren’t exactly happy to go back the next day. For right now you would enjoy a nice long shower and sleep the day away. You were anxious to scrub the day from your body. 

“Heading to bed already?” Price asked as he caught up to you. You nodded, stretching your neck to the side. You had an endless amount of knots in your back. 

“What do you mean already? It’s 9:30 Captain,” you joked dryly. 

“You didn’t used to be a lightweight,” he said with a small knowing smile. You rolled your eyes. Your work alongside John Price and his friends could go back years. You were used to the men that had lived long enough for you to remember. 

“And you used to only smoke once a day. You’ll get cancer Price.” 

“If cancer takes me out after all those shots at me, I deserve to go.” You nudged him and gave him a nod as you split ways. You walked up the stairs to your small room. You would’ve gone home to your apartment if you had the time but right now the dorm like space would have to do. You needed sleep more than you needed comfortability. 

You opened up the door and were already sliding off your shoes when you saw Graves sitting at your desk. You had no idea he was back. You thought he and his team were half way across the world at this point but you supposed no one owed you the information of where they would end up. He looked up at the sound of the door opening. 

“Graves,” you hummed with a pleasant smile. 

You weren’t sure when looking at him had started to bring a kind of comfort. You were so used to a sense of instability. When had he started to feel stable? “What are you doing?” you asked softly. 

He stood up, an uncharacteristic gentle look on his face. For a moment you worried that someone had died. He only ever gave you that look in the middle of the night when your faces were even against the pillows and tracing each other's features. At a time where the world was asleep and no one but you could catch him with his guard down. But instead of saying anything he closed the gap between the two of you. 

Your breath caught but he gave you his. 

His hands held your sides, effectively taking the weight of the day into his palms. He was still wearing his clothes from combat. What had happened to him? What was the emotion bleeding into your lips? Even as you started to move back he pushed his face forward needily. He bit your lip. It felt like he drew blood but you didn’t mind, blinded by the haze of his eyes being so close. 

“What happened to you?” you breathed, hand flat on his chest. 

“Long fuckin day,” he muttered. You dragged your hand up to his chest and brushed hair out of his face. “Missed your face.” 

“Mmm that sounds vaguely romantic of you Commander,” you mused with a sly smile. He rolled his eyes.

“Don’t push it.” 

“I’m not pushing anything. I was gonna take a shower. You look sweaty, wanna join me?” He breathed out a long sigh of relaxation at the mere thought. 

“Yes ma’am.” 

“You got clothes to sleep in here?” you questioned starting to walk towards the bathroom. His hand let go of your waist only to hold your pointer finger as you walked away from him. 

“When have I ever needed clothes in here darlin '?” You looked back at him with a pointed look but couldn’t deny the pretty look in his eyes as you pushed open the door with your free hand. 

You didn’t speak as you turned on the water too hot. He started to remove his layers. The bathroom was tight enough with one person so there was no avoiding bumping into each other silently, soft grunts filling the room as you landed on just undressing each other. 

His lips found yours again. Familiar. Almost as warm as the water you were pushed into. You were pressed against each other, your only stability a hand on the steamy glass wall between you and the rest of the bathroom. The routine of your bodies was something you had never thought about till that moment. You lazily realized that you knew his moves now. You knew his calloused hands and the bump of his scars and the feeling of him sliding inside of you. 

He was sloppy, as usual, but slow. He was allowing some sort of feeling to meld between the two of you in the heat of the shower. You held him close and he had no denial of burying his head into your shoulder as he stroked in and out of you. When he resurfaced from your skin he kissed you lazily. 

But it was the look in his eyes when he pulled away that made you realize it. 

He was in love. 

You kissed him again before he could take back his silent words, allowing yourself to melt into him like the water was washing you both away. 

-

“Who’s in the sky?” you questioned, looking up at the helicopter trailing your group. 

“Shadows,” Ghost said evenly. You glanced up. Graves. You suppressed a smile. You never got to be in the field together. Sure you had three of the best in the business surrounding you but knowing your Graves had your six made you feel almost at ease. Almost. 

“It’s good to see you guys,” Graves said into your earpiece. 

“Likewise mate,” Ghost said. 

You were trailed all the way through till you were able to get extraction and Hassan. You were escorted back to base by the helicopter in the sky. Hassan remained masked and quiet throughout the drive. You were just trying to ignore the fact that you would get to actually see Philip in person. It had only been a couple of weeks, nothing either of you hadn’t lived without before. But if had started to move towards more serious categories. He was starting to talk about babies during pillowtalk. Retirement one day. A home instead of an apartment. 

You parked before they landed. You led Hassan back with Ghost and Alejandro but left when they had him set up in the middle of some field. You waited at the edge of the field as the helicopter landed. 

The ramp lowered and the shadows started to exit. You could see Philip amongst the faces and didn’t miss his smirk as he caught sight of you. He walked directly for you, one hand in his pocket. You raised an eyebrow. 

“Well?” he asked. 

“Well what?” 

“No thank you? No ‘my hero’?” You laughed, genuine laughter and he returned it with some of his own. 

“It was some fantastic air support. You heard Ghost.” 

“Ghost doesn’t have a sweet as silk voice like you,” he teased.

“I don’t know, Ghost’s voice is pretty good…” you joked. He rolled his eyes and looked back at the Shadows passing him into base. You leaned against the wall and followed his gaze. He was waiting until everyone went inside. You didn’t mind. You just wished you could kiss him now. The scruff of adrenaline hadn’t left him. 

“Thank you for your help Graves.”

“You mad at me?” 

“Huh?”

“It’s like saying my middle name when you say my last name.” You rolled your eyes. “I prefer Philip. Or Commander works too.” You scoffed and finally the last of the Shadows seemed to have trickled away so that you could stand up straight to get in his face. 

“I’m not mad Commander. Thank you for your help.” 

“Atta girl.” 

He dipped his head and kissed you, taking your breath away as he did everytime. He held your chin between his thumb and pointer finger as he pulled away. 

“You sleepin with me tonight?” 

“As in fucking you or sleeping in your bed?”

“Both,” he said plainly. You grinned, unable to hide the butterflies that blossomed in your stomach. You had missed him. 

“There was never any other option Commander.” He kissed your forehead, lips lingering for a moment. 

“Let’s go beat the shit out of Hassan.” 

“I don’t think you can legally do that.”

“When have you ever cared about legality?”  

“Aren’t we legality?” 

-

You were already working within the 141 Task Force when you started to work with Graves more on the missions to obtain Hassan and the American missiles from the enemies. You had worked with Ghost countless times before and you were starting to enjoy your time with this Soap kid. Not to mention you and Alejandro got along swimmingly. Price always knew how to pick em. 

You were on the boat with Ghost that held the missile and you were there when Soap and Graves changed course of the missile. It wasn’t an easy one and you weren’t envious of Soap who was in front of the missile controls. 

Graves had stood in front of you almost the whole night. It made you wonder at what point he started to truly believe you were his to protect, like you couldn’t handle yourself. You had to get back to Alejandro’s base before you could question him about it though. 

You took a helicopter back onto the ground and then piled into two cars. You and Philip forced the others in the task force into one as you took one with just a driver. You shut the window between the front seat and the back ones as you relaxed back into the seat, still soaked from the rain and bleeding in various places. 

You turned your head to look at him. He had his hand on your knee. 

“You sleeping with me tonight?” you questioned lazily. He looked over at you with a gentle smile. 

“There was never any other option,” he said gravely, dipping his head. You laughed a bit and grabbed his hand that was resting on you. You rubbed his gloved skin. 

“You know I can handle myself out there,” you muttered. “You don’t need to protect me.” He looked over at you, silently. He chewed on that for a moment. 

“I want to.”

“That’s very sweet but I don’t need you doing both of our jobs Philip.” He scooted closer to you so that your shoulders were touching. You watched him carefully. 

“I like to.” 

“What are they paying me for then?” 

“To look pretty and stay alive,” he said dryly. You scoffed, rolling your eyes. 

“Alright Philip.” You brought his hand up to your lips and kissed him. The road bumped underneath of you, making you both jolt around the car. 

He looked at you with solemn eyes that you didn’t catch. He had never quite had someone like you. Someone he liked. Someone he…

“I love you,” he whispered, barely audible. You looked back up to his eyes again. 

“Huh?” He leaned forward and kissed you feverishly like you were going to die in the next moment. You were taken about by his ferocity but countered it easily after a moment. 

“I love you,” he repeated against your lips before diving in again. You smiled into the kiss. 

“Never thought I’d hear those words Commander,” you mused. 

“Yeah, well listen and weep.” You giggled. 

“I think it’s read and weep.” 

“Whatever.” He was peppering kisses against your jaw. You grabbed his chin and forced him to look at you. 

“I love you too.” He let out a breath. 

“Good.” You laughed heartily as the car stopped. He looked towards the window and picked up his gun. 

Still laughing, you spoke, “Are we not on base? Whatcha need your gun for Philip?” 

“Don’t worry about it baby. Stay in the car.” 

“I love you,” you said, relishing in the words, “but no.” You opened up your door and noted you were parked outside. You hadn’t pulled in. The guys got out of the car behind you. 

“What’s that face?” Soap asked you. 

“Nothin.” He narrowed his eyes at you but Alejandro spoke before he could. 

“What’s this?” 

“This is the immediate future,” Philip said on the other side of the car. You circled around so you were standing beside Soap. “Darlin get back in the car,” he said pointedly. You furrowed your brows. 

“What?” you asked. 

“Y/L/N,” he said sharply. 

“Graves,” you said back. “What’s this about?” He let out a sigh, closing his eyes for a moment and then turned around to the men standing behind him. 

“Take her gently.” “What?” Soap asked, stepping forward. 

“Step away from the gate,” Graves said. 

“What?!” Soap said louder. 

“You heard me.” 

“You’re crazy. This is my base,” Alejandro said, gesturing with his hands. 

“It’s not a base. This is a sizable covert facility and I admire it - so I’m takin it.” He said it so calmly. It was like a moment ago he wasn’t confessing his love for you in the back of the car he was standing beside. 

Your smile had fallen as you attempted to process what was going on. 

“You boys have been relieved. Thank you for your service.” 

“No no no. I don’t take orders from you,” Alejandro argued. 

“Didn’t Valeria say that? Now that makes me wonder what else I don’t know about your affiliation with a drug lord?”

“Graves!” you said sternly, Alejandro speaking over you. 

“What the fuck did you just say to me pendejo…” Soap grabbed his arm. 

“You’re out of line,” you said, eyeing Graves. Soap approached him. 

“Don’t do that. Don’t. No one needs to get hurt here,” he promised, pointing to you and to Soap. 

“Are you threatening us?” Ghost asked from somewhere behind you. 

“Soldier, I don't make threats. I make guarantees. So let's not do this.” You couldn’t wrap your head around it. What the fuck was going on? 

“I’m calling Shepherd,” Soap said, speaking your thoughts. 

“General Shepherd sends his regards. He told me y’all wouldn’t take this well.” 

“He knows about this?” Ghost questioned. 

“He put me in command of this operation from here on out. So y’all need to stand down, it’s time to let the pros finish this.” You scoffed, catching the eyes of the other guys who were looking around, catching on much faster than you were. “And why the hell are we talking like this is some kind of negotiation? It’s not. I’ve got my orders and now you have yours.” 

“And who the fuck do you think you are carbon?” Alejandro asked. “My men are inside!” 

“I’m afraid not.” You set your jaw. “Your men have been…detained.” 

Alejandro pushed forward, cursing and was immediately stopped by the guards beside Graves. You weren’t prepared for this kind of fight. You were so caught off guard you barely had time to move away from a gunshot. 

“I said gently!” Philip yelled. He rushed forward, knocking Alejandro out with his gun. He had grazed Soap from the sound of it and Ghost was nowhere to be seen. He turned the corner to get Soap but he had scampered away. You started to back away, tripping over your feet. Some other men were looking for Ghost. 

“Philip what the fuck!” 

“I’m following orders,” he promised. “You were supposed to stay in the car!” You scoffed sliding away as he walked closer. 

“Graves you’re fucking shooting our friends!” 

“They’re just soldiers, they aren’t friends.” 

“Then aren't I just a soldier?!” you asked angrily. 

“No-” he shook his head quickly, “no but they-”

“You’re helping the enemy?”

“I’m following-”

“Orders?! Yeah I fucking heard!” You finally got back up onto your feet and had reached the edge of the driveway. You breathed heavily as he walked forward. 

“Let me explain.”

“You shot Soap! What the fuck is happening to Alejandro?! Where the fuck is Ghost?!” You took a breath. “I loved you!”  

He paused. He was pointing a gun at you still. You never thought you would be on the end of Philip Graves' gun. 

“They’re all a liability.” 

“And me?” 

“I could’ve saved you.” You scoffed, shaking your head. 

“Did you love me?” 

“Of course I do. Please just let me-”

“I don’t know what to believe anymore. Which of your faces am I staring at Graves?” 

"There was no other options."

You didn’t recognize the look that was staring back at you. It was supposedly a jaw you knew well with a scar you had traced before falling into slumber and eyes you had seen above you countless times. 

You didn’t recognize the look in his eyes. 

He scared you. 

You gripped a knife that was at your side and tossed it blindly at him. It hit its mark in his leg and he screamed as you fell over the edge of the railing and rolled down the shrubbery until you landed somewhere hard and dark. You looked up at the sky, the gunshots muffled. It was a dark night. 

You allowed yourself to heave an angry cry into the stars. You wouldn’t be sleeping in the familiar comfortable bed tonight. 

You picked yourself up and forced yourself to walk away, hopefully towards Soap or Ghost. Tears pricked at your eyes as you did so.

[gryficowa]

Interesting fact: The author of "Witcher" sued the game company because he wanted money (And he wrote books mainly when he was short of money, yes, that's a funny fact)

And because people thought he wrote the books based on the game

Sapkowski doesn't like it being said that he wrote books based on the game, although in Poland it is a meme that he wrote books based on the game

"

In 2016, during an author's meeting at Polcon, the writer commented ironically - negatively - on the impact of CD Projekt RED games on the sale and reception of books, the gaming community reacted to the words with a kind of boycott of Sapkowski[16]. The author defends his view by saying: that from his observations - his titles with covers with computer graphics - were perceived by some readers as the so-called game related, i.e. a book based on a game, which in turn translates into perceiving the work of the writer from Łódź as secondary, unoriginal"

Yes, Polish Wikipedia has no mercy

In October 2018, the writer called on CD Projekt to pay an additional PLN 60 million, over and above the remuneration specified in the contracts between him and the company, for the use of the world of The Witcher in games, citing Art. 44 of the Act on Copyright and Related Rights. CD Projekt described this demand as groundless and stated, that he validly and legally acquired the rights to Sapkowski's works[21]. On December 20, 2019, the company concluded an agreement with the writer, the provisions of which were kept secret"

Hey guys, I found it now:

"Photo - Andrzej Sapkowski Andrzej Sapkowski(1948-06-21) - (still) Andrzej Sapkowski. The most popular author of short stories and fantasy novels in Poland. Andrzej Sapkowski - biography, life and work Andrzej Sapkowski was born in 1948 in Łódź. He is an economist and trader by education.

Andrzej Sapkowski: the witcher He gained popularity thanks to a series of stories and novels about the witcher Geralt. The Witcher is a mutant, a hired killer trained from childhood to fight monsters, but this training has not deprived him of his internal ethical code. At once cynical and noble, he is compared to Chandler's Philip Marlowe. World, in which the action of the Witcher story takes place, draws a lot from Tolkien, but also contains references to Slavic mythologies.

Andrzej Sapkowski: characteristics of his work Sapkowski's fantasy works are characterized by, apart from the fast-paced action taking place in an imaginary world populated by people, typical of this genre, elves, dwarves, etc., with a specific colorful language somewhat reminiscent of Sienkiewicz's Trilogy and a kind of humorous game with the reader consisting of hundreds of references to the world canon of fantasy novels (Conan, Tolkien, Dune, etc.), as well as references to Polish classical literature (especially Sienkiewicz and Słowacki) and traditional Germanic, Celtic and Slavic legends. However, under the guise of jokes and fast-paced action, there is often a deeper reflection hidden.

Andrzej Sapkowski: awards Andrzej Sapkowski is a multiple winner of all the most important Polish awards for fantasy works, and his books are constantly on the bestseller lists. In 1997, he received the POLITYKI PASZPORT award granted by this prestigious weekly to creators who have the opportunity to promote Polish culture in the world. Andrzej Sapkowski: controversy Andrzej Sapkowski lost the sympathy of some of his fans by coming to meetings with them under the influence of alcohol.

In 2005, a scandal was caused by Sapkowski's statement that "a white man should work three hours a day. After all, God created other races - Jews, Gypsies, to work for him…". This statement took place during the National Convention of Fantasy Lovers "Polcon", in Błażejewko near Poznań, on August 27, 2005. According to comments in the press, it was a racist statement, but most of the comments of the convention participants indicate that it was only an ironic provocation.

"Sapkowski has a phenomenal gift of narrative, inventing sensational events, creating a suggestive mood, grading tension. And a dazzling, slightly cynical sense of humor…" (Jacek Sieradzki, "Polityka")"

"The creator of the fantastic world, Andrzej Sapkowski, was inspired by, among others, Slavic traditions and folklore. There are also elements of contemporary Poland in computer games and the latest TV series"

I don't know if this thing about sequels is a meme, or if he actually wrote new books because he was running out of money, actually, I don't know.

Still, I don't know if people abroad know who the author of this series is

[phobylee]

I don't know if I posted these au drawings-

It's a Demon Swap AU.. I need a proper name. I'll think of one soon-!

But basically this is an AU where Caleb and Philip are demons (with a smidgen of witch in them so they CAN use witch magic too) and Evelyn is human. The boys are still orphans, only this is because their parents left for the Human Realm to research it under a demon guise and were found to be witches, though the boys didn't know that. So Caleb goes to the Human Realm to investigate for closure with a human disguise (it's an illusion at first but later on he figures out how to do full transformations), but he briefly gets distracted from his goal of uncovering the truth when a human catches his attention. They become friends and later it becomes more romantic, and that's when Caleb decides he has to tell her the truth. Let's just say.. Evelyn runs away for a while, and Caleb is heartbroken. He decides he's going to leave and visits one more time.

In the end Evelyn returned to see him, conflicted because she did still LOVE him. And they bond again. Blah blah blah, stuff happens-- I kind of wanna make this into a fic but I'm nervous-- and they end up chased out of gravesfield by a mob-- eve was nearly captured so Caleb fought them off and becomes injured. So they go to the demon realm with Philip to continue their life there! To which Philip doesn't know she's human yet but he's SUS about it. They get along later though!! And AHHH this was my excuse for them all to be happy. Cause unlike in canon.. Philip has 0 reason to kill his brother here or even attempt it. Sure, they might fight, but that's the extent and they work it out. And it's FUN and I enjoy thinking about it. MAYBE.. if anyone's interested.. I will write about these guys. :)

[missazura]

Is there a way I can read up what mirror caleb is about because I'm still kinda confused on what exactly he is

i haven't written up a full profile for him (but i plan to in the future once everything's sorted out) but the gist of it...

this is an AU where caleb and philip grew up with the things they lacked in the main timeline. they have wealthy parents, their sibling relationship is strong, both of them eventually end up being professional witch hunters, a profession that their father left them with. this version of caleb is incredibly skilled and enjoys the hunt, while lil brother philip is more of the town's pretty boy.

one fateful day, evelyn shows up in gravesfield and accidentally kills caleb's father out of self defense. his men went back to report it to caleb, and the brothers set out to find this red-headed witch and kill her. while out tracking with his hounds caleb found evelyn hiding in the forest out of the edge of town. caleb decides to spare and study her and her witch kin under the guise of him fallen in love with her. he finds out about the demon realm through her and the portal. once everything's set, the witherbanes and the other hunters decide to ambush evelyn to steal the portal door and key- raiding the unsuspecting demon realm afterwards.

in the middle of this sudden war/takeover, both brothers were cursed by a powerful witch to be trapped in a handheld mirror, thrown into the boiling lake where no one can ever find it again. hundreds of years pass, the lake dries up- and just like all cursed items someone eventually finds it and takes it home with them. in this case, it ends up being confiscated by the emperor's coven.

in the rp that i'm writing with my friend, he's set free by a human (me) breaking the mirror. he meets emperor belos, who's just shocked to see a version of caleb that he always wanted, someone who wants nothing more than see belos' goal come into fruition. mirror caleb is the ideal caleb to him.

but little did belos know that caleb plans to betray him once the day of unity passes, seeing him nothing but a trophy that he would mount on his wall. belos uses magic, poses as their emperor. god forbid he finds out about the cursed beast form as well... hunting down deer had been something that he did in his youth and he's just itching to do it again.

after all, you can't expect a witchhunter general to be friends with the witch king of the demon realm now...

[viridiave]

Wailing Souls

so I had a really mean thought. What if the 8path 1 gang fell to Galdera in the last battle

gonna do a funky and list them in the order of the gods that fell during the fight against Vide according to 8path 2

LONG list of HCs under the cut

8 - TRESSA COLZIONE (Honesty, Prosperity, and the Undying) - Contract-maker with deadly binding deals that ruin lives and punish those amassing fortune - Has the inexplicable ability to show up only when people are in need of the deals she offers - and many people happen to be in need of that - Is also a haunter of ships. At times she is the cause of tempests on the high seas - new ship graveyards have appeared because of her boredom - Deterrents: Marina and Olneo Colzione ○ Perhaps the easiest of the Travelers to reach out to given both her unstable nature and the fact that she was the youngest and first out of all of them to die, but chasing her down is a challenge comparable to Therion's ordeal

7 - THERION (Unreachable Conquest) - Steals more than just material objects now. Lost souls, lost people, lost nations are now part of the hoard - Also comes and goes in the dead of the night - the locations that he is known to have stolen from are all inflicted with nasty insomnia - Specifically avoids high places like the Highlands and the Cliftlands - particularly its highroads. Some are rescued by his hand should they fall by accident (or on purpose) - Deterrent: None, later Tressa Colzione ○ Lingering distrust in the Ravus household - his last meaningful connection before dying to Galdera, other than the Travelers - meant that Therion could not be reached, unless any one of the other Travelers were recovered first as they are the only people he truly trusts with his life. Even if the other Travelers are the ones to reach out to him, he will do his utmost to resist and uh - good luck trying to even catch him

6 - H'AANIT (Wrath of the Successors) - Haunter of the woods and progenitor of monsters - may or may not be cultivating entirely new species that thrive on blood - May or may not be wearing Linde's skin. If the skin is touched without permission, she goes on a rampage. - Is the reason boss monsters like the Devourers of Man and Beast and Direwolves prowl around more often - Deterrent: Z'aanta ○ Like Cyrus, the hardest part about reaching H'aanit is surviving her onslaught - the beasts that rampage the lands are things that even Z'aanta has trouble facing alone. The lack of Linde doesn't help matters.

5 - PRIMROSE AZELHART (Delusions of Grandeur) - Siren-like figure who operates in the shadows to seduce people to their cause; binds generational curses to her victims - Operates under a harmless guise like Ophilia - unlike Ophilia, doesn't have any reservations regarding recruitment methods - Haunts brothels and taverns out of a twisted sense of sympathy for the workers - Deterrent: Revello Forsythe ○ In spite of Primrose's bleak ending she still at least has past connections to ground her - but it will take a LOT of convincing, so sometimes Revello doesn't act alone in trying to reach out to her. Arianna and Odette are along for the ride when the situation is particularly dire

4 - OLBERIC EISENBERG (Isolation in Quiet Suffering) - Holes himself away inside a mountain and becomes an immortal legend that arises only when challengers approach his domain - Likely the most sane out of all of them, but is so isolated and consumed with grief that you wouldn't really be able to tell the difference - Never acts unless provoked to the point of fury. WOULD be the least harmful out of all of them if not for his strength - Deterrents: Erhardt and Philip ○ Erhardt is to Olberic as Odette is to Cyrus - being one of the only people who really understand Olberic to his core. The problem with this is the tragedies that Erhardt himself has caused, and with Olberic's sense of loss being elevated to dangerous extremes, balancing this out with Philip representing the future he swore to protect is pretty much his best bet at reaching him

3 - ALFYN GREENGRASS (Salvation and Guilt) - Silent plaguemaster who spreads poison and ills like a walking pandora's box among the lands - Comes and goes in the dead of the night. He has no set pattern for this, sometimes entire towns just end up rotting overnight - The poisons he sets also fuck up the local environment, and unlike Cyrus he can hide his presence - so he ends up being more of a pain to deal with - Deterrent: Zeph ○ Zeph COULD reach Alfyn fairly easily given Alfyn's core nature being masked over rather than overwritten entirely. The problem is actually managing to find Alfyn before he poisons a town to death, and even then you'd have to deal with his overriding guilt first

2 - CYRUS ALBRIGHT (Reckoning with the Last Stand) - Obscures information through uncontrollable bursts of magic, destroying histories through unbridled destruction - Best treated as a walking natural calamity. Nobody knows how he sustains himself in there. - An incomprehensible babbling mess - sometimes he quotes From The Far Reaches of Hell and other hellish tomes and sometimes it's just apologies - Deterrent: Odette ○ Outside of the other Travelers, Odette is the sole person who understands how Cyrus works. The most difficult part about reaching Cyrus is surviving the calamities he brings

1- OPHILIA CLEMENT (Alone, alone, alone) - Mindt-like figure who guides the lost and weary into their arms so they can spread Galdera's influence further - Basically Ceraphina again? Then again Ceraphina is how deadly cults work - Alongside Primrose is the one to operate under a guise, they probably work together sometimes to poison the Order of the Sacred Flame from the inside - Deterrent: Lianna Clement ○ Very much the only person who can reach her at this low point, but the most that the Deterrents can do is minimize their influence over their victims by taking advantage of their slight lapses of judgment ○ Lianna herself still being in recovery after the events of Ophilia 4 needs a lot of time bring Ophilia back. Her sympathizing somewhat with the Traveler's conditions doesn't help despite her inherent distaste for what they have become ○ Ophilia being the last of the Travelers to be killed also poses a hard challenge for anyone trying to reach her given all she has witnessed and gone through while inside the Gate of Finis