#props to Jace for giving me wings for this take

[reginrokkr]

𝐗𝐗𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈. Birth of a thought made manifest in human flesh —Dáinsleif's origins—.

◜The Winged One's regret or remorse gave birth to a thought, and as he imagined the path that could have been taken, a new soul was born.◞

As a result of the war waged against the Second Who Came, Nibelung and the ensuing chaos with the leaking Forbidden Knowledge that had to be subdued lest the world was plunged into darkness, thus left with no chances for survival, Phanes' functions were ruined and could no longer use their absolute authority to suppress the original order of this world. In combination with his severely wounded state, the Usurper glimpsed into the wrongs of his deeds and the ones bound to come after if he were to be deteriorated further due to the influence of the Forbidden Knowledge, the loathing and resentments of the world or other forces that could take advantage of his weakened state.

He who loved his human creations more than anyone, and He who cursed the gods to come after to love humans saw himself mired in hypocrisy the moment his creations were at disadvantage the most and were kept in the highest regard no longer due to his own decisions' and that of his closest circle, who should follow his will. Thus in a moment of weakness and lucidity, his regret gave birth to a thought— to a what if. What if things were different, what if his initial desire continued without struggling against the vicissitudes and personal agendas, what if he was stronger to not let himself be corrupted to this point of apparent no return.

What if he could undo everything that made his sacred plans evil.

From these last thoughts was Dáinsleif born as a soul, nurtured in a seed in Irminsul's benevolent aura out of its kindness and will for the world to cease fighting against its own natural orders and to diminish the loathing and resentments of the world that the Primordial One has caused. One day of the countless moons this seed basked under the moonlight and Irminsul's might, he was born in the material world in Celestia as a human, a manifestation of the origins never known by others of Phanes' closest circle until divine's eyes fell upon him. Unrest was among them, yet only muted at the knowledge that they could do with him as they pleased. So repeating the cycle of a once heiress of Celestia that failed in her task to retrieve the Pearl of Genesis and believed herself to be the queen of the kingdom of darkness, Dáinsleif was sent there with the intent to erase his memories of any ties he could have to Celestia.

Thus he would have no connection with the divine, nor his actions would suppose betrayal to any— for it is them who betrayed them first, abandoned him to his fortune. Unbeknownst to them, he who they abandoned would be the one to silence the source of all sins in the deepest abyss and undo the wrongs that began with the greatest Usurper, as well as reweaving all threads of fate.

It would all begin in Khaenri'ah, where Dáinsleif has drifted with a mission he recalls no more, and where he would mature his views of the world, limited at the time as they may be. His love for humanity and pursuit to defend them limitless as the Primordial Sea from where all life is born, even if his personal beliefs about the laws set in the kingdom and its deeds may differ drastically from what it would be expected of anyone who arrives to the kingdom established along the roots of Irminsul.

[professional-anti]

Chapter Eleven: Magnus Bane

Okay, kiddos. Let’s go.

Jace and Clary leave the Brotherhood HQ, and Jace calls the cab driver a “brain-dead moron”. You know what, here’s the full quote:

Jace leaned forward and banged his hand against the partition separating them from the cab driver. “Turn left! Left! I said to take Broadway, you brain-dead moron!”

Oh, man, I’m so hot for Jace you guys. He’s so evil and cruel. I’m fanning myself. And the reason he wants to take Broadway? He wants breakfast. That’s it. It’s not a life-or-death situation. He wants fucking breakfast.

I like the idea of the diner they go to. A place where magical ppl can get together for some spaghetti. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I LOVE the idea of a secret (or not-so-secret) magical Manhattan. It’s just so unfortunate that Clare’s is so bad.

Clarinet asks Jack-Jack about Magnus Bane. Jack-Jack explains that he’s a warlock. Alec shows up. Clare is the foreshadowing master.

Clary freaks out about a guy in front of the store who looks like a demon. Clary. Girl. Come on. You know about this stuff already. It’s been like two days. Calm down. Apparently he’s a bouncer (for a diner) and is the warlock equivalent of a squib.

Honesty, I love this diner. They have blood on tap!!!! That’s so cool!!!!!! Plus, the people eating there sound way more interesting than our MCs.

[A] boy with spiky blue dreads was sitting next to a beautiful Indian girl with long black hair and gauzelike golden wings sprouting from her back.

Gotta love how the only people of color are basically set-dressing, though. At least Simon is Jewish, even with the messed up antisemitic crosses-burned-into-him dream thing. Clare’s Jewish, though, so of course she represents only herself and leaves everyone else out in the cold.

Alec shows up:

There was a kinetic, almost feverish energy to [Alec] that hadn’t been there before. Something about Jace sharpened him, brought him into focus. If she were going to draw them together, she thought, she would make Jace a little blurry, while Alec stood out, all sharp, clear planes and angles.

Oh, here it is. The “poor gay boy only comes to life in front of hopelessly straight crush” trope. Bc Alec has nothing better to do than obsess over Jace, a boy who is currently being rude to the waitress. Does Clare honestly not know how annoying rude boys are?

Isabelle and Simon show up. Apparently, even Isabelle’s perfume is evil:

Isabelle’s hair tickled [Clary’s] face, smelling of some kind of vanilla perfume. Clary fought the urge to sneeze. She hated vanilla perfume. She’d never understood why some girls felt the need to smell like dessert.

Haven’t I mentioned? Clary is the best girl to ever girl. Isabelle can’t even order right. Instead of getting something reasonable, like a large order of coconut pancakes (gross, Clary), “Isabelle fastidiously order[s] a fruit smoothie”.

Jace goes off to flirt with the waitress. Clary is confused bc the waitress is a Downworlder and aren’t they, like, totally evil? Isabelle and Alec assure her that the only kill the bad Downworlders. The rest they let live.

“Like letting spiders live because they eat mosquitoes, Clary thought.” Uh, not really. The Downworlders aren’t spiders. They’re just people, living their lives.

“So they’re good enough to let live, good enough to let live, good enough to make your food for you, good enough to flirt with—but not really good enough? I mean, not as good as people.” Isabelle and Alec looked at her as if she were speaking Urdu. “Different from people,” said Alec finally.

This doesn’t really seem like such a difficult question? Isabelle and Alec are just trying to cover up their bullshit.

“Better than mundanes?” said Simon. “No,” Isabelle said decidedly. “You could turn a mundane into a Shadowhunter. But you could never turn a Downworlder into one of the Clave. They can’t withstand the runes.”

So Shadowhunters judge others based on their ability to become Shadowhunters? Seems not at all racist. I’m so glad we had this chat. Jace comes back and explains that there’s just a shit-ton of hostility between Shadowhunters and Downworlders, so it’s not really racism.

Miracle of miracles, Isabelle reveals that Magnus Bane has invited the magical community of New York to his house for a party. God, I love parties.

There’s a whole day before the party, so Simon and Isabelle decide to go for a walk in Central Park. For some reason, this makes Clary feel a “murderous rage”. These emotions are seriously not healthy.

Back at the Institute, Clary goes exploring in the library and finds a photo of her mom and other Order of the Pheonix members-cum-Deatheaters Shadowhunters. Evil Giles shows up and points out Valentine, Luke, the Lightwoods, Jace’s mom, and himself in the picture. Clary mentions that Jace doesn’t look anything like his father. What could this possibly mean?

Honestly, the concept of a book about the children of villains isn’t terrible. It really just the complete ripping-off of Harry Potter that annoys me.

Oh, God. Clary gets back to her room (armed with a sleeping potion from Hodge) to see Jace looking at her sketchbook. I’m not even good at drawing, and my sketchbooks are still deeply personal. You can’t just look in someone’s sketchbook! It’s like a diary! WTF, Jace!

In fact, Clary tells Jace that it’s  basically a diary and that he shouldn’t look at it. This should be obvious.

Wait, I’m laughing:

“You could try not being charming all the time,” Clary said. “It might be a relief for everyone.”

BITCH, WHERE???

Jace offers to tell Clary a bedtime story. It’s the famous falcon story, the one that Clare used in her Harry Potter fanfiction. You know, where Jace’s father gives him a falcon to train, and when Jace loves it, his father kills it. Proof that Jace is Draco.

Somehow, Clary makes the connection that this story is about Jace only as she falls asleep. Whatever.

Isabelle wakes up Clary. Again, a famous moment:

[Isabelle] looked like a moon goddess. Clary hated her.

Bitch, Isabelle is a moon goddess, and I love her.

Yes, we have a makeover scene!! My secret weakness. I’m sorry, fellow patriarchy fighters. Makeover scenes are just so good.

Isabelle continues to be the coolest person in this book:

Her room looked as if a disco ball had exploded inside it. The walls were black and shimmered with swirls of sponged-on golden paint. Clothes were strewn everywhere: on chairs, spilling out of the closet and the tall wardrobe propped against one wall. Her vanity table, its mirror rimmed with spangled pink fur, was covered in glitter, sequins, and pots of blush and powder.

I want this room!

Clary gets a slinky black dress, fishnets, and boots. I want this outfit, too. When Isabelle does Clary’s makeup, Clary asks if Alec is gay. For some reason, this causes an intense shock in Isabelle:

Isabelle’s wrist jerked. The eyeliner skidded, inking a long line of black from the corner of Clary’s eye to her hairline. “Oh, hell,” Isabelle said, putting the pen down. “It’s all right,” Clary began, putting her hand up to her eye. “No, it isn’t.” Isabelle sounded near tears as she scrabbled around among the piles of junk on top of the vanity . . . She sat down on the edge of the bed, ankle bracelets jingling, and looked at Clary through her hair. “How did you guess?” she said finally. “I—” “You absolutely can’t tell anyone,” said Isabelle. “Not even  Jace?” “Especially not Jace!” “All right.” Clary heard the stiffness in her own voice. “I guess I didn’t realize it was such a  big deal.” “It would be to my parents,” said Isabelle quietly. “They would disown him and throw him out of the Clave—” “What, you can’t be gay and a Shadowhunter?” “There’s no official rule about it, But people don’t like it. I mean, less with people our age—I think,” she added, uncertainly, and Clary remembered how few other people her age Isabelle had ever really met. “But the older generation, no. If it happens, you don’t talk about it.”

Okay. So. I’m trying to judge this for when it was written. But, like. Is the homophobia necessary? It’s kind of like the ridiculous sexism in ACOTA/R. It’s a choice the author is making, for, like, no good reason. This is a case of a straight author needlessly torturing her gay character. But since this was published in 2007, I feel like this has been talked out, so let’s move on.

IT TURNS OUT THAT ISABELLE’S ANKLETS ARE WEAPONS. I LOVE HER. WE ARE GETTING MARRIED. WEDDING INVITATIONS TO FOLLOW.

Ugh, Simon short-circuits bc Clary is wearing a short skirt. Please calm down, sweetie. You’re embarrassing me. Wait, what is even going on here? Jace gives Clary a dagger, and, uh, this happens:

“I could give you a thigh sheath to put that in,” Isabelle offered. “I’ve got tons.” “ABSOLUTELY NOT,” said Simon.

I’m actually laughing. Lol for real. What does this even mean? Is a thigh sheath too sexy or something? Simon, can you chill for .2 seconds? This isn’t your body. Let’s all take deep breaths.

Clary puts the dagger in the outside pocket of her backpack because there’s no way having to unzip a backpack to get to the dagger could bit her in the ass during a fight. Then Jace reaches over and undoes her hair bc, uh, shipping moment.

I’m so grossed out by the fact that in a short while, they will think they’re siblings.

[asflowersfade]

Scribble-Doodle: Let’s Nuke Edom!

What if Magnus told Alec no in 220? What if Alec and Izzy had to seal the rift without his help? How would they do it?

“What do you mean he said no?” Izzy asks in disbelief.

Alec leans against the computer table. “Exactly that, Magnus said no.”

She stares at him for a moment. “Did you tell him about the Seelie Queen’s betrayal? That she joined forces with Valentine?”

Alec sighs. “He already knew.”

“Did you tell him about the demons? About the rifts?” Izzy’s voice is full emotions and rising slightly.

“He already knew, Iz,” Alec replies quietly.

Izzy takes a step closer. “Did you tell him--”

Alec lifts a hand to cut her off. “Izzy! He slammed the door in my face before I could say anything more. Magnus is not coming. He won’t help us close the rift. Accept that. Move on. We’ll have to deal with it on our own.”

Throwing her hands up, Izzy exclaims, “How? Rune magic isn’t strong enough to close a rift of this size, you know that.”

“Yes, I know!” Alec snaps, finally losing his patience. “I know that, you don’t have to remind me. We’ll just have to think of something.”

Gritting her teeth, Izzy leans against the table, too. “Alright, alright,” she mutters, taking a deep breath and letting it out again. “The shield’s up, so we can’t get in reinforcements. The warlocks won’t help us, so we’re on our own. What do we have that we can use?”

After a lengthy pause, Alec says, thinking out loud, “Demons react badly to pure adamas, right?” 

“Yes,” Izzy nods. “But the only piece of raw adamas that we have is the stone you used to track down Jace. And you could barely smash a fly with that one. We have our weapons, of course, those are made of adamas, too, but I very much doubt that dumping them into the rift would help.”

Alec freezes as his mind stumbles across an idea so insane… that it might actually work. ”Izzy…”

“I was joking, Alec!” she protests, rolling her eyes.

Straightening up, Alec points at her. “No, no, you were actually onto something there. Since we can’t use warlock magic that would close the rift from our side, we need something that would close it from the other side, from Edom. We need something so powerful that, when dropped into the hole, the following explosion would collapse the rift.”

She straightens up, too. “And do we have something like that?”

With a pointed look, Alec waves his hand, index finger still outstretched, around.

Izzy’s eyes widen. “You can’t be serious.”

Alec tilts his head and raises his eyebrows challengingly.

“You want to drop the angelic power core down the rift?” she asks in utter disbelief.

“It will certainly do the job,” Alec replies.

“Yeah,” Izzy drawls sarcastically, “and take out half the city with it! It’s the angelic core, Alec. It has the power of a small nuclear weapon!”

He nods. “And that’s exactly what we need to close the rift.”

She shakes her head. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am. Perfectly.”

Izzy closes her eyes, still shaking her head. Then she says, “Even if we decided to do this - and that’s a big if! - how would you want to set it off? With a remote detonator? I very much doubt it would cover the distance to another realm! With a timer? We don’t know how deep the rift is. It could fall for a whole minute and still not drop deep enough to seal it when it explodes!”

“That won’t be a problem,” Alec says with not a hint of doubt in his voice, “the core won’t explode till it reaches Edom. It’s made of blessed adamas. It’ll simply burn through anything less substantial than the demon realm itself. But once it gets there, it’ll be like lighting a match in a room full of gas.”

“Right. So, if that won’t be the problem, what will?” Izzy asks, her voice full of sarcasm again.

“We’ll have to make sure that it actually reaches its destination,” Alec explains. “Because demons are dumb creatures but they’re not that dumb. They’ll soon realize what we’re up to and they’ll try to stop us at any cost.”

Izzy raises her eyebrows. “Like how? Carry it out of the rift? You said it yourself, the moment they touch it, they’ll disintegrate!” she points out.

Alec raises his eyebrows, too. “You think they’ll care? Driven into the frenzy by their masters, they’ll die by the dozens to stop us, if need be. Because once that core explodes, it won’t just seal the rift, it might take out a part of Edom, too, for all we know. It does have the power of a small nuke, after all.”

Izzy rubs her forehead. “Raziel, I can’t believe we’re even contemplating doing this!”

Alec throws his hands up. “If you have a better idea, I’m all ears.”

“Alec,” she says, looking up at him, “if we disengage the core, we’ll lose the wards, all the protections here, at the Institute, everything! If we do this and we fail, we might lose the whole city!”

“And if we don’t seal the rift, we will lose the city. There’s simply not enough of us to kill all the demons pouring out of the rift and without the warlocks’s help, we can’t close it. If we don’t do something, we will fail for sure,” he replies.

They stare at each other for a long moment, then Izzy mutters in resignation, “What the hell. Let’s nuke Edom!”

Everyone’s there, on the beach, every single Shadowhunter who’s able to lift a weapon, from the common foot soldier to computer geeks, armed to the teeth. And in their midst, the angelic core, strapped to a stretcher.

Several yards away, the rift into Edom yawns, spitting out howling demons and emanating an eerie red glow. It looks like the gates of hell. 

“Alright,” Alec calls out. “Half of you archers stays with me, the rest goes with Izzy. We’ll make sure the core’s delivered to where it’s supposed to go. You’ll cover our backs. Once the creatures figure out what we’re up to, they’ll try to stop us. You need to give us enough time to do our job. The rift needs to be closed or we’re all dead. Is that understood?”

They all nod grimly, determination, apprehension and downright fear are written all over their faces. But they’ll do their job. Or die trying.

Izzy looks up at her brother, then she lifts herself up on her tiptoes and kisses him on the cheek. “Be careful, big brother,” she whispers in his ear.

He hugs her quickly around the shoulders and whispers back, “You too!”

Then they separate and with one last nod, they head out to fulfill their duty.

The moment the angelic core’s dropped into the rift, falling down and down and down the hole, resembling a bright white-blue star headed for the gaping reddish mouth of Edom, it seems as if they kicked the hornet’s nest. Demons start crawling and flying and slithering up the rift, trying to catch the shining spec of blessed power, but it keeps dropping and dropping, burning through limbs and wings and even bodies, still aiming for Edom.

And the archers at the lip of the hole keep firing runed arrows down at the larger demons that could, maybe, with a lot of determination, slow down their angelic bomb. They keep firing and killing everything that tries to crawl out of the hole in a desperate attempt to save itself, too, not letting anything get past. And on the beach, Izzy’s soldiers fight the beasts rushing in from the city to try and stop them…

Then, the angelic core explodes and a wave of white-blue energy shoots up the rift, burning all the demons in its way and pouring out of the hole and across the beach, too, balling over the Shadowhunters fighting there and turning the demons into dust before petering out and dissipating altogether, while the rift itself implodes with a silent, barely audible pop.

When it’s all over and the demons are gone and the rift is sealed, Izzy picks herself up, spitting out sand and wiping away blood from her eyes. Her first thought is for her brother, who was right there, at the edge of the rift when it collapsed on itself.

“Alec!” she screams, turning around and around, trying to find him.

But there’s nothing there, not even a slight indentation in the sand where the rift used to be. The gate to Edom’s gone - and everyone who was in the vicinity of it when it went disappeared together with it.

“Alec!” Izzy screams again, tears flooding her burning eyes.

But no one answers, the beach is eerily quiet, all of the people around her, her soldiers, seem dazed, but her brother’s not among them, her brother’s nowhere to be seen.

“Alec!”

Alec’s lying on a dust covered pavement, blanketed by darkness pierced with dim red glow. He can barely see in the gloom but he doesn’t need to. He has a terrible suspicion he knows where he is.

He hurts. He hurts so much. He doesn’t want to move because every twitch sends agony flaring through his body. He remembers standing at the edge of the rift, shooting arrows down the hole, picking off demons trying to escape. And then… then the angelic core exploded and its energy shot upwards and out, before reversing its course and pulling everything back in - and everyone. Him included.

Alec fell. He fell through the rift before it closed. Raziel, he thinks, staring up at the swirling, bruised looking sky, at the boiling, red-streaked clouds. Raziel…

There’s a sound, a scuttering sound, first to one side, then the other. All around him. A whisper of a growl, chittering.

For a second, Alec freezes, then slowly, biting his lip to stop himself from crying out in agony, he pulls out his Seraph Blade and as its runes flare up white-blue, more brightly than ever before in reaction to the strong demonic presence, he can see that he’s in the courtyard of a palace - or what used to be one. Now it’s just a smoking ruin, demolished by the angelic core’s explosion.

“My, my,” echoes an amused voice from the deep red shadows. “Lilith will be most displeased. She really liked her fortress. After centuries, it was finally tailored to her needs. And now, all in shambles.”

Alec tries to roll over and despite all his efforts, a pained groaned escapes him as his broken bones grind against each other. Still, he manages to prop himself up and lift his blade - and in its light, he can see monstrous beasts crawling closer, led by a man with glowing eyes.

“Who are you?” Alec croaks out, his broken ribs preventing him from drawing in a deep breath of the noxious air.

There’s a chuckle and then the man steps closer. He’s tall and stunning, elegantly dressed and poised. “My name’s Asmodeus and I’m one of the Seven Princes of Hell. Welcome to Edom, Shadowhunter. Welcome to hell.”

[acxisms]

yes, it is i, your local mess. back with none other than my child ace zhu. as always i’m a mess with intros and i’m just ?? excited to have my lil bab back pls. his STATS page is there, and i have some PLOT ideas --- but otherwise, if you want to plot give me a lil heart ?? or hit me up on d*scord ( STAN PARKER#8932 ). MENTIONS OF FAMILY DEATH,  ATTEMPTED SEXUAL ASSAULT, VICTIM BLAMING, AND ABUSE ( MENTAL, PHYSICAL ), UNDER THE CUT !!

PERSONALITY.

personality wise, as is one of the brightest kids you will ever meet. ever since birth ( or so his mother would say ), the boy has had a genuine grin on his lips. blessed with optimism and an idealistic view of the world, it’s honestly no wonder he’s earned himself the label of the quixotic.

ace has always had a romanticized idea of the world around him ( his parents were the most in love, his siblings gave him the best they could give, his school was the best one around, etc, there was always a naive optimistic view behind everything with him ).

it’s likely not shocking that he falls in love with anyone that will give him attention and or affection. although he lacks romantic experience, ( though there were romances here and there — plot idea(s), wink wonk ), he’s kind of … obsessed with the idea of romance, the feeling of being in love, and all things surrounding the very concept of love.

the moST AFFECTIONATE PERSON EVER. need a hug ?? ace is there. don’t need one ?? he’s still there. loves affection so much, whether giving or receiving; loves skinship and just ?? closeness. what a Nerd.

his heart is eight sizes too big for his body ?? he’s blatantly optimistic and idealistic about everything for the sake of everyone around him. he’s always worrying for others, always asking if they’ve eaten, if they’re feeling okay, and just being altruistic above all?? he really just wants to be a positive source for anyone he can but it can just get  …annoying sometimes ( or so he’s been told ), so oftentimes he has to hold himself back.

he talks so much, about everything and anything. boy has like zero filter somtimes and it even frustrates him at times. he just gets nervous often, and his mouth’s first reaction is to just ramble on about pointless things. before you know it he’ll tell you all about snail hibernation.

korean is a constant work in progress for him. he can speak and understand it almost fluently, but sometimes someone will speak and his brain just like … stops functioning?? but as i said before, the kid talks and asks a lot of questions so if he doesn’t understand what someone is saying he’ll make you talk around it until you’re both on the same page

he is quite confident of the fact that he is both pan romantic & sexual.

small excited puppy that just wants love, honestly.

CHILDHOOD.

ace zhu was born in a small US town in upstate new york, in a town called new paltz. he also has two older siblings; there’s a seven year gap between him and his older sister mei, and ten years between him and his brother, benjamin. ( aka benji ).

his chinese name is jieming but his english name is jason. he went by jace a lot growing up, but in middle school he dropped the j and began to prefer ace over jason and jace bc ?? one kid called him ‘ the ace ’ when he was playing baseball and he was like … oh ym god. ( a Nerd ).

i won’t lie, he had a rather comfortable childhood. his parents loved him as much as they loved each other, and although they were much older, his siblings loved him too. and there were never any money problems he was aware of ( being a rose colored glasses kid will do that, ig ). it’s also likely that he was bullied in elementary school, but such things used to go way over his head as a younger kid.

he has always wanted to be a dancer, and probably always will, (  there was that baseball dream there for awhile but he quickly learned in high school kids his size don’t get scouted unless they’re the best of the best, so that dream kinda blew away ). but it wasn’t until he was 11 that he started taking lessons.

it wasn’t until late spring when he was thirteen that things got complicated; his father was hospitalized after a severe stroke, a fact that he didn’t know about right away — his mother claiming that she didn’t want him worrying about something like that when everything would be okay. being the gullible boy he was, he believed it then.

but after a few weeks of his dad being in the hospital he knew something was up; his brother came home and stayed, began working odd jobs on top of the successful one he landed out of college, and helped way more than he ever did when he lived with them. when ace finally asked him about his reason for being home, benji told him everything.

his father wasn’t in good shape, and his mother was barely holding onto the hope that everything would be okay. there were financial problems that she couldn’t take care of, and benji decided to step in himself. this broke thirteen year old ace’s heart, of course. all he wanted to do from then on was help his family.

so he prompted himself to that summer. any job that would hire a thirteen year old, he was after. dropped his dance classes, started dog walking, babysitting, house sitting, lawn mowing, you name it. it wasn’t much, but he wanted to help.

his father also passed away that summer, a few weeks before ace started high school. he quit baseball shortly after, as the sport was something they shared and he didn’t think he was good enough to go further with it anyways.

he was a sophomore in high school when he was scouted by a south korean entertainment company for the first time. shortly after seeing his potential of talent with dance, they talked him into the idea of becoming an idol in korea, which prompted him to want to audition.

it took convincing his mom for weeks, but she finally said okay after benji had told her it was a once in a lifetime opportunity

so off to seoul he went at age fifteen !! to be a trainee !! fr nearly 3 years !!

TRAINEE DAYS ( first time around )

although he had no prior korean, and he pushed himself hard to learn the new language, he oftentimes found himself sticking around the other english-speaking trainees. at least when he first came to korea.

after about a year or so, he managed to stick out like a sore thumb to some senior of his. and they’d soon taken him under their wing in a way. he was propped up above a bunch of other trainees in his group because this one higher up favored him; given spotlight dances, suggested to directors and managers because they had connections, all because they wanted to see ace happy. or so it seemed. it didn’t make him too many friends.

and although it was a bit lonely, he still had people that he called friends, and a senior that adored him, right ? it was no wonder ace had started to admire with this senior of his above most people he knew at the time.

ooooh boy, bad idea.

one of their encounters had gone a way ace had never expected — or wanted. they were kissing him and touching him in a way he had never wanted. not any off it. he somehow got himself out, explicitly saying just how much the encounter was notwanted, and ran away.

the next day at practice wasn’t a nice one.

or the next day after that

this senior seemed to be after only one thing with ace; and after such advances were denied by the dancer, they became harsher and harsher on ace by the day. no more spotlight dances, and the beginnings of mentions of him being worthless and wasting his time because he didn’t have any real talent. and ace, being impressionable at the time, and extremely homesick, believed them.

then they began to hit him. just once or twice a day over stupid things, but it became gradual over a few weeks. he’d come to practice with markings  he couldn’t explain; or didn’t want too, because he was still in the belief that this senior was a good person, and it was somehow his fault.

he ended up quitting shortly after that ( not soon enough ), with the urging of a friend that had witnessed said abuse ace was enduring, and maybe noticed a change in his demeanor. ( he was more sad than he had ever been and it showed — even more so than he allowed when his father passed on ) — plot idea ?

after he quit, when he was barely eighteen there was a LONG search for somewhere to live. he couldn’t afford a place of his own and no one wanted a kid who couldn’t afford rent for a few months to be their roommate; until he came across jeaki. the two have been living together ever since.

although being a trainee didn’t work out the way he had hoped, and he was internally more sad than he had ever been during his last months of being one, he’s never let go of his kind and benevolent nature. one thing he promised himself when he came to korea was that he wouldn’t change. and for the most part, he hasn’t.

he still hasn’t exactly come to terms with the abuse he endured. because he feels so many others have had it worse, and he was lucky that he had gotten out of that situation. he doesn’t want to confront how it’s scarred him, because it undoubtedly has.

RECENTLY

after about a year and a half of working as a dance instructor ( teaching mostly kids and elderly ), he has fallen back into trainee life by chance thanks to the parents of one of his students. while it was a really hard decision to make, to go back into everything or not, he’s decided he wants to go after his dream.

though the company he’s apart of now is on a much smaller scale than the first. ( think fantagio, maybe even smaller than that ), and he believes it’s a better fit this time around even though he’s working just as hard as he was before, if not harder.

overworks himself ? falls asleep in the studio more than he does in his own bed. he just needs a nap and some food, and to take out his contacts before he goes blind from sleeping in them.

[mtg-weekly-recap]

MTG Weekly Tumblr Recap

Tibalt | Original art by @sedelerystick​

Welcome to another edition! So many things to look at this week, including a look at the spoilers for Amonkhet, as well as Cats under Wraps, and some reactions to this weeks Magic Story, Trust. But let’s not put the Cartouche before the horse, and get started on the bounty that is this issue of the Magic the Gathering Weekly Tumblr Recap

1. To the Victor go the Spoilers

Cartouche Blend | Reconstructed by @hopelessly-vorthosian, Original MtG art by Kieran Yanner

This week, we got glimpses of Amonkhet’s local deities, and they’re posed to make waves. Like the gods of Theros, these gods require you to meet a certain condition before they can fight for you. It seems that all 5 will have different conditions, which will interact with their activated abilities. Hazoret feels right at home with Madness cards from Shadows Over Innistrad, and Amonkhet’s own “Discard matters” theme.  Kefnet strikes me as a shoo-in for a control build. not only does it give you an end-of-turn mana sink, but late game, only costs 3 if you miss your land drop. Expect to see these on game day, I think!

Recently, we saw the Planeswalker deck cards, sans text, but now here they are, in their untouched, uncensored, lean, mean ab-flexin’ glory! Gideon, Martial Paragon is lackluster, feeling like a toned-down version of his Battle For Zendikar printing, which has been a mainstay in Standard since he was printed. Liliana, on the other hand, is EDH ready, just begging to be slotted into an Atraxa deck. Her +2 can make short work of smaller creatures, or gun down larger threats every other turn, much to the ire of Voltron players. Her ultimate is nothing to scoff at, especially in a multiplayer game where she’s spent several turns putting creatures underground. 

Liliana, Death’s Majesty looks amazing to me, being able to wipe the board 3 turns after she comes down, all while protecting herself in the meantime. Alternatively, she has a home in battlecruiser decks, promising to raise the two titans left in standard, or any of the Gearhulks from Kaladesh. Gideon of the Trials also has the goods to shake up standard, being a three mana Platinum Angel that can protect itself. The great thing is, the emblem even works with any other Gideon, including his Battle for Zendikar printing, or Martial Paragon. Expect to see this, alongside his Oath at an LGS near you!

These two creatures are posed to be my favorite in the set. Scribe of the Mindful seems lackluster at first glance, but serves as a potent threat. With it, and Keftnet in play, your opponent is forced into a dilemma. Either walk right into an answer, such as a Fatal Push with revolt on, or give you the free card draw. With so many uses, I look forward to playing with the Scribe. Soul-Scar Mage fills me with an incredible urge to build UR Prowess again. It was an archetype I enjoyed deeply during EMN standard, but lost its chutzpa for me with the release of Kaladesh, and more importantly, the loss of Elusive Spellfist. Soul-Scar mage could be the aggressive, field-controlling presence the archetype needs to return!

-- Nick @nick-dowdle-jeskai-judicator​

2. This  Week’s Magic Story Review

Trust, by James Wyatt

Untitled | Original MtG art by Tyler Jacobesen

When writing a recap for the Magic Story, I think it’s important to consider beforehand what you want to focus on and what to leave out. For example, are we writing this for those who have read the story or for those who haven’t? The answer, of course, is both. You should cover the essential aspects of what happened so that those who haven’t read it can catch up and understand, but at the same time additional thoughts should be added, or those who have read it will find this to be nothing other than a boring summary. So, with this in mind, let’s get right to it!

This week’s Magic Story, Trust, follows the Gatewatch as they arrive in Naktamun, and their first experiences there. Thanks to Jace’s sublime improv abilities (and despite Chandra’s vocal ignorance regarding the customs of Naktamun), the group is able to lie its way into convincing Vizier Temmet that they’re returning from a mission for Bolas, and secure a place to stay as base for its operations. There are two main takeaways I would like to underline from this story. Firstly, we see a warrior taken away by viziers of Bontu as consequence for declaring  “The trials are a lie! The gods lie! The hours are a lie! Free yourselves!” and “The return will bring only devastation and ruin!” This is interesting: this woman somehow found out the truth, or at least part of it, hiding behind the trials of Amonkhet. This begs a few questions: how did she find out? Have other Amonkhetians discovered the truth over the years? And does she know something that we, as an audience, do not? Sooner or later, we will hopefully find out.

Renewed Faith | Original art by Wesley Burt

Now, onto the second major issue: Gideon. Ohh boy. As I mentioned in last week’s installment, Gideon’s admiration of the gods (stemming from his backstory) can and will cause friction between him and the rest of the Gatewatch. The feeling of utter devotion that Oketra instills in him in this story is powerful and difficult to explain (props to James Wyatt for conveying it so effectively), and has resonated with many who have felt a similar religious abandonment in their life: take @talinthas​ post on this, for example\. As a non-believer, I have a hard time relating to this feeling, but I do not underestimate its power. And it is clear that Gideon is torn between the Gatewatch’s mission and his feelings towards Oketra. All you have to do to see that is read these two passages: Firstly:

"Do you hear her?" Chandra said. "She's a freedom fighter!"

"We're not on Kaladesh anymore," Gideon said gently.”

and secondly,

"And what if your precious cat-god is the one lying?" "She's not." "So much for asking questions. Seems you already know the truth." "I don't know about the woman, or the trials, or the hours. But there is no deception in Oketra.”

There is no doubt, in Gideon’s mind, that Oketra is on the right side of the things. The gods’ true nature and intentions are still a mystery, both to the Gatewatch and to us, but the fact that they are the supreme authority on Bolas’s plane should make us suspicious, at the very least. Next week we will hopefully resume from the cliffhanger of Gideon meeting Oketra alone and see how exactly this will unfold.

As Cruel Reality shows us, Gideon will eventually have to face the true face of Naktamun. But what will happen between now and then? And how will this affect his relation with the divine? I look forward to finding out alongside you all.

--- Diego, @magus-of-the-color-pie

3. Just Cos...play

Nicol Bolas Armor | @dominian-dracologist​ After some exciting progress reports, it’s finally ready!

Akroma | @jdcosplay

--- Compiled by Liam, @coincidencetheories​

4. Shot through the Fan-Art

All Long, Evil Villains Have Equally Long, Evil Cats | Original art by @frigidloki

Spoiler season descended upon us like angry Jackal God, and as the new art is unveiled, new inspiration sparks within Magic Tumblr’s best and brightest. @diorevoredo is enamored with the concept of cat mummies, while @misteryada celebrated the opening of a fresh pack of chalk with a six foot announcement board drawing of our beloved Goddess, Oketra. Speaking of the Gods @theblogeternities imagined a world where Elspeth, spurred by the devotion of those who share her story, ascends to Theroan Godhood. Also, see the same user’s melding of the Amonkhet and Theroan Pantheon’s key art If you’re less for the gods, and more for the monsters, @steveraffle​ has immortalized the Eldrazi Titans in Stained Glass  --- Liam, @coincidencetheories

5. Tunnel Vision

Tunnel Vision| Original Art by Danny Orizio

This week, we’re looking to highlight some YouTube videos!

Commander Clash - MTGGoldfish:  A third series begins with a brand new cast member, Twitch’s Mrs Mulligan, Jennifer Long!  Deck Tech #1 - Board State: Recap contributor @delver-of-seacrest​ is starting a YouTube channel, Board State, and in this premiere video, he’s going through the Temur variant of the Modern Delver. Is it worth it: Mind vs Might - Tolarian Community College: The Prof takes a look at Magic’s most out-of-it’s-time duel deck release in recent memory, and asks if it is indeed worth the MSRP. and what else might be of relevance... oh yes Amonkhet Trailer (English) - Wizards of the Coast: I’ll just leave this here. --- Liam, @coincidencetheories

...and finally: Magic: the Travelling Binder project

It started with an idea by @zoe-of-the-veil, to send someone a magic card for them to receive, enjoy, love and then autograph and pass along to another magic player, with new cards being added once a card is full of signatures, hopefully building to an amazing collection winging it’s way around the world. Adapting and developing the idea, @commandtower-solring-go is preparing to host the Magic Binder of Travelling Cards, hoping to turn the tables on Wizards, and instead of sending cards to WotC for them to sign, participants would chose a pet card, sign it themselves and send it to @commandtower-solring-go. The cards would then be collated and arranged in a binder, to be sent to Head Office in Renton, as a gesture of appreciation for the game we all love. We understand that this is still going head, so check out the post for more!

Thank you again for reading this week’s issue of the MTG Weekly Tumblr Recap. Hope to see you next week!

Interested in contributing to the Recap? Want to keep track of notable posts and trends throughout the MTG community on a given week? Or write a short blurb on a specific topic? Do you just want to make us aware of one specific topic or post? Please PM our main editor @the-burnished-hart or any of our staff writers! 

[acxismsarchive]

hello my loves !! i’m lizzy ( 18, she/her, est ), alli’s messy co-admin and local china line enthusiast. right here is my lil bab ace !!  i’ve been playing him for quite some time now, but i’m always in the mood for developing him even further !! if you’d like to give him a chance and plot, give this a like or feel free to hit me up on dis*ord @ #8932 !!

MENTIONS OF FAMILY DEATH,  ATTEMPTED SEXUAL ASSAULT, VICTIM BLAMING, AND ABUSE ( MENTAL, PHYSICAL ), UNDER THE CUT !! 

PERSONALITY.

personality wise, as is one of the brightest kids you will ever meet. ever since birth ( or so his mother would say ), the boy has had a genuine grin on his lips. blessed with optimism and an idealistic view of the world, it’s honestly no wonder he’s earned himself the label of the quixotic.

ace has always had a romanticized idea of the world around him ( his parents were the most in love, his siblings gave him the best they could give, his school was the best one around, etc, there was always a naive optimistic view behind everything with him ).

it’s likely not shocking that he falls in love with anyone that will give him attention and or affection. although he lacks romantic experience, ( though there were romances here and there --- plot idea(s), wink wonk ), he’s kind of ... obsessed with the idea of romance, the feeling of being in love, and all things surrounding the very concept of love.

the moST AFFECTIONATE PERSON EVER. need a hug ?? ace is there. don’t need one ?? he’s still there. loves affection so much, whether giving or receiving; loves skinship and just ?? closeness. what a Nerd.

his heart is eight sizes too big for his body ?? he’s blatantly optimistic and idealistic about everything for the sake of everyone around him. he’s always worrying for others, always asking if they’ve eaten, if they’re feeling okay, and just being altruistic above all ?? he really just wants to be a positive source for anyone he can but it can just get  ... annoying sometimes ( or so he’s been told ), so oftentimes he has to hold himself back.

he talks so much, about everything and anything. boy has like zero filter somtimes and it even frustrates him at times. he just gets nervous often, and his mouth’s first reaction is to just ramble on about pointless things. before you know it he’ll tell you all about snail hibernation.

korean is a constant work in progress for him. he can speak and understand it almost fluently, but sometimes someone will speak and his brain just like … stops functioning ?? but as i said before, the kid talks and asks a lot of questions so if he doesn’t understand what someone is saying he’ll make you talk around it until you’re both on the same page

although he lacks actual sexual experience ( not that he lacks the desire, but bub is still a virgin ), he is quite confident of the fact that he is both pan romantic & sexual.

small excited puppy that just wants love, honestly.

CHILDHOOD.

ace zhu was born in a small US town in upstate new york, in a town called new paltz. he also has two older siblings; there’s a seven year gap between him and his older sister mei, and ten years between him and his brother, benjamin. ( aka benji ).

his chinese name is jieming but his english name is jason. he went by jace a lot growing up, but in middle school he dropped the j and began to prefer ace over jason and jace bc ?? one kid called him ‘ the ace ’ when he was playing baseball and he was like … oh ym god. ( a Nerd ).

i won’t lie, he had a rather comfortable childhood. his parents loved him as much as they loved each other, and although they were much older, his siblings loved him too. and there were never any money problems he was aware of ( being a rose colored glasses kid will do that, ig ). it’s also likely that he was bullied in elementary school, but such things used to go way over his head as a younger kid.

he has always wanted to be a dancer, and probably always will, (  there was that baseball dream there for awhile but he quickly learned in high school kids his size don’t get scouted unless they’re the best of the best, so that dream kinda blew away ). but it wasn’t until he was 11 that he started taking lessons.

it wasn’t until late spring when he was thirteen that things got complicated; his father was hospitalized after a severe stroke, a fact that he didn’t know about right away --- his mother claiming that she didn’t want him worrying about something like that when everything would be okay. being the gullible boy he was, he believed it then.

but after a few weeks of his dad being in the hospital he knew something was up; his brother came home and stayed, began working odd jobs on top of the successful one he landed out of college, and helped way more than he ever did when he lived with them. when ace finally asked him about his reason for being home, benji told him everything.

his father wasn’t in good shape, and his mother was barely holding onto the hope that everything would be okay. there were financial problems that she couldn’t take care of, and benji decided to step in himself. this broke thirteen year old ace’s heart, of course. all he wanted to do from then on was help his family.

so he prompted himself to that summer. any job that would hire a thirteen year old, he was after. dropped his dance classes, started dog walking, babysitting, house sitting, lawn mowing, you name it. it wasn’t much, but he wanted to help.

his father also passed away that summer, a few weeks before ace started high school. he quit baseball shortly after, as the sport was something they shared and he didn’t think he was good enough to go further with it anyways.

he was a sophomore in high school when he was scouted by a south korean entertainment company for the first time. shortly after seeing his potential of talent with dance, they talked him into the idea of becoming an idol in korea.

it took convincing his mom for weeks, but she finally said okay after benji had told her it was a once in a lifetime opportunity

so off to seoul he went at age fifteen !! to be a trainee !! fpr nearly 3 years !!

TRAINEE DAYS

although he had no prior korean, and he pushed himself hard to learn the new language, he oftentimes found himself sticking around the other english-speaking trainees. at least when he first came to korea.

after about a year or so, he managed to stick out like a sore thumb to some senior of his. and they’d soon taken him under their wing in a way. he was propped up above a bunch of other trainees in his group because this one higher up favored him; given spotlight dances, suggested to directors and managers because they had connections, all because they wanted to see ace happy. or so it seemed. it didn’t make him too many friends.

and although it was a bit lonely, he still had people that he called friends, and a senior that adored him, right ? it was no wonder ace had started to admire with this senior of his above most people he knew at the time.

ooooh boy, bad idea.

one of their encounters had gone a way ace had never expected --- or wanted. they were kissing him and touching him in a way he had never wanted. not any off it. he somehow got himself out, explicitly saying just how much the encounter was not wanted, and ran away.

the next day at practice wasn’t a nice one.

or the next day after that

this senior seemed to be after only one thing with ace; and after such advances were denied by the dancer, they became harsher and harsher on ace by the day. no more spotlight dances, and the beginnings of mentions of him being worthless and wasting his time because he didn’t have any real talent. and ace, being impressionable at the time, and extremely homesick, believed them.

then they began to hit him. just once or twice a day over stupid things, but it became gradual over a few weeks. he’d come to practice with markings  he couldn’t explain; or didn’t want too, because he was still in the belief that this senior was a good person, and it was somehow his fault.

he ended up quitting shortly after that ( not soon enough ), with the urging of a friend that had witnessed said abuse ace was enduring, and maybe noticed a change in his demeanor. ( he was more sad than he had ever been and it showed --- even more so than he allowed when his father passed on ) --- plot idea ?

after he quit, there was a LONG search for somewhere to live. he couldn’t afford a place of his own and no one wanted a kid who couldn’t afford rent for a few months to be their roommate; until he came across jeaki. the two have been living together ever since.

RECENTLY.

although being a trainee didn’t work out the way he had hoped, and he was internally more sad than he had ever been during his last months of being one, he’s never let go of his kind and benevolent nature. one thing he promised himself when he came to korea was that he wouldn’t change. and for the most part, he hasn’t.

he still hasn’t exactly come to terms with the abuse he endured. because he feels so many others have had it worse, and he was lucky that he had gotten out of that situation. he doesn’t want to confront how it’s scarred him, because it undoubtedly has.

since living in his shared apartment with jeaki, he’s picked up a job as a dance instructor. although his dream of being an idol came to an abrupt end, dancing is still something that makes him so so so so happy.

he’s a v generous teacher who will teach just about anyone, no matter age or gender or what have you. rly likes helping kids who are interested in dance, bc he remembers being that age and just wanting someone to help and encourage him with dancing.

overworks himself ? falls asleep in the studio more than he does in his own bed. he just needs a nap and some food, and to take out his contacts before he goes blind from sleeping in them.

JUST came back from an abrupt trip to america. he’d only gone back a spare number of times during his time in korea, because money was tight on both ends and he wasn’t going to burden his mom further by asking to come home every other month bc he missed his mommy. ( god, he wanted to tho ). 

his older brother was the one that bought him the ticket and urged him to come home, telling him it was serious and not to worry about the money or anything

his mom had just been talking abt how much she missed him and his brother decided to take action ??

as CUTE as it was, boy had a panic attack while packing his bags, thinking that his mother was in danger or something djksd.

that’s p much it ?? thIS IS SO LONG IF YOU’RE STILL READING I’M SORRY AND I LOVE YOU