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zapreportsblog · 2 years ago

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In Love With The Same Cat

➥ summary : There’s no Spider-Man without the Black Cat just like there’s no Black Cat without Spider-Man. But what if we had a multiverse dimensional traveling jewelry stealing burglar Black Cat (try saying that seven times fast aye) that traveled across dimensions not only stealing the worlds finest jewels but also the hearts of four unlucky, or lucky depending on how you see it Spider-Man’s and Spider-Women’s hearts.

➥ chapter 5: Threads of Legacy

In the vast labyrinth of the black market community, connections were forged and secrets whispered. Walter Hardy, a renowned cat burglar, had cultivated relationships that spanned decades, his influence reaching even the darkest corners of this clandestine realm. Among his network of allies was an old friend, a master craftsman skilled in the art of creating costumes for those who tread the shadows.

As Walter recounted tales of his daughter (y/n) venturing into the family business, his old friend's curiosity piqued. They were captivated by the notion of a new generation carrying forward the legacy of the cat burglar thieves. Their discussions became more frequent, their conversations a dance of nostalgia and anticipation for what the future held.

Inspired by the significance of (y/n)'s journey, Walter's friend felt compelled to contribute to the unfolding narrative. They meticulously crafted a costume that embodied the essence of the cat burglar's life—a testament to the cunning, agility, and legacy that coursed through the veins of those who walked the path of shadows.

The day came when Walter, with a glimmer of excitement in his eyes, presented (y/n) with a carefully wrapped package. As she unwrapped it, a gasp escaped her lips, her eyes widening in awe and anticipation. Nestled within the folds of the fabric lay the embodiment of her newfound identity—a costume that told a story of heritage and destiny.

The costume shimmered with elegance and mystery, intricately designed to blend seamlessly with the night. It clung to her form, accentuating her lithe figure and exuding an air of confidence and allure. The midnight black fabric, adorned with subtle patterns resembling the tracks of a stealthy feline, whispered tales of the secrets it had witnessed and the treasures it had helped secure.

As (y/n) donned the costume, a surge of energy coursed through her, connecting her to a lineage of illustrious thieves who had come before her. She felt the weight of their legacy settle upon her shoulders, yet she stood tall, ready to embrace the challenge. The costume had become an extension of her being, a symbol of her commitment to honor the past while carving her own path.

Walter watched with a mix of pride and apprehension as his daughter transformed before his eyes. He recognized the significance of the costume—the mantle she had chosen to carry. But his heart ached, for he understood the dangers that lay in the shadows, and he longed to protect her from the perils he had faced.

"(y/n)," Walter's voice was tinged with a mix of caution and love, "this path is not an easy one. The shadows hold both secrets and danger. Promise me that you will be vigilant, that you will always remember the risks that come with our chosen way of life."

In response, (y/n) turned to her father, her eyes reflecting determination and a deep sense of gratitude. "I promise, Dad," she said, her voice steady. "I will tread carefully, but I will also honor the legacy you have passed down to me. Together, we will navigate this world, protect what is precious, and strive for justice.

Walter's heart swelled with a mixture of emotions as he witnessed the resolve in his daughter's eyes. He had feared that she would be consumed by the darkness, but (y/n) had proven herself to be a beacon of strength and integrity. With a sigh, he embraced her, a silent acknowledgment of the challenges they would face together.

In the nights that followed, (y/n) ventured into the depths of the city, her costume a constant reminder of the path she had chosen. The fabric rustled gently as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, a silent wraith traversing the shadows. The city became her playground, its buildings and alleyways offering an intricate web of challenges to test her agility and cunning.

As she immersed herself in the art of thievery, (y/n) discovered a delicate balance—a dance between darkness and light. With each successful heist, she aimed to protect the innocent, to ensure that justice prevailed even within the realm of shadows. Her actions echoed the legacy of those who had come before her, but with her unique blend of tenacity and compassion, she carved her own mark on the pages of history.

The costume that adorned her became more than mere fabric; it was a symbol of her commitment to preserving the values instilled in her by her father. It spoke volumes of her determination, resilience, and reverence for the past. With each use of her newfound abilities, (y/n) honored the lineage of cat burglars who had walked this path—a legacy of audacity, skill, and the pursuit of the extraordinary.

In the heart of the city, (y/n) embraced her dual identity—the daughter of Walter Hardy, a legendary cat burglar, and the embodiment of her own destiny. With each stolen moment and daring escapade, she became a testament to the enduring power of legacy—a force that bridged generations and propelled her toward a future filled with mystery, adventure, and a profound sense of purpose.

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thorntonkrell-blog-blog · 1 year ago

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Fowler died a happy man in the company of Eleanor and Robert as the bells rang and the lanterns blazed throughout justice.

Eleanor, now the official clock keeper, and Robert, the lamplighter, stood by Fowler's side, honoring the man who had not only maintained the town's connection to time but had also made them the people that they were. The townspeople, upon hearing the tolling of the bells, sensed a profound moment, a transition in the life of their beloved clock keeper.

Fowler, with a contented smile on his weathered face, took solace in knowing that the traditions he had upheld would continue through the capable hands of his daughter and the loving heart of Robert. He realized that this time, the Bell had tolled for him and he followed the light.

Eleanor and Robert married. They had a daughter named Molly

The union of Eleanor and Robert brought a new chapter of love and family to the town of Justice. .Their love story, which had blossomed against the backdrop of the clock tower and lantern-lit streets, now took on a new dimension with the arrival of their daughter, Molly.

Molly, born into the embrace of Justice's enchanting atmosphere, became a symbol of continuity—a link between the past, present, and future. The familiar sounds of the clock's chimes and the comforting glow of lanterns were the lullabies that cradled her early years. The town, with its reverence for tradition, embraced Molly as the newest addition to the close-knit community.

Eleanor, now not only the dedicated clock keeper but also a loving mother, instilled in Molly the same reverence for the town's history and the importance of timekeeping. As Molly grew, she found herself drawn to the allure of the clock tower, just as her mother and grandfather had before her.

Robert, the lamplighter, shared his tales of the town's nocturnal wonders with Molly, igniting her imagination and sparking a love for the lantern-lit evenings. while familiarizing her with the history of the town and the back stories of the residents.The clock tower, with its rhythmic chimes, continued to be a central part of their lives. Eleanor, now not only carrying the legacy of her father but also sharing the responsibilities with her husband and daughter, ensured that the town's connection to Father Fowler time remained unwavering.

As Molly grew older, she began to show an interest in both the clock and the lanterns. Under the watchful guidance of her parents and the echoes of her grandfather's teachings, she became an apprentice in the delicate art of timekeeping and the enchanting world of lantern lighting.The town of Justice, witnessing the passage of generations, marveled at the continuity of the clock keeper's lineage. The legacy of Fowler, carried forward by Eleanor, now extended to Molly, all was well with the world.

Molly matured and grew more deeply connected to the enchanting town of Justice, she found herself drawn to the allure of the lantern-lit evenings, just as her father, Robert, had been in his youth. Inspired by her father's stories and fueled by a sense of adventure, Molly expressed a desire to take on some of the responsibilities of the lamplighter.

Eleanor and Robert, recognizing Molly's genuine enthusiasm and understanding the importance of passing down the town's traditions, embraced her decision with pride and support. They saw in Molly the same spark of curiosity and love for the magical ambiance of the lantern-lit streets that had defined their own roles in the community.

Under Robert's patient guidance, Molly became an apprentice lamplighter. Together, father and daughter embarked on nightly rounds, ensuring that every lantern was carefully tended to and that the streets of Justice were bathed in the warm glow that had become synonymous with the town's charm.

Molly's transition into the role of a lamplighter was marked by a blend of tradition and innovation. While respecting the time-honored practices taught by her father, she introduced her own creative touch, infusing a youthful energy into the nightly ritual. The townspeople, familiar with the Fowler family's dedication to Justice, welcomed Molly's presence among the lantern-lit pathways.

The trio—Eleanor, still devoted to the clock tower; Robert, continuing his role as the lamplighter with Molly by his side—formed a multi-generational team, each contributing to the town's timeless narrative in their unique way. The clock tower and lantern-lit streets became a harmonious symphony, a reflection of the enduring connection between past, present, and future.

Molly's involvement as a lamplighter not only strengthened the family bond but also added a new dimension to Justice's story. Her laughter echoed through the narrow pathways as she lit each lantern with a sense of purpose, embodying the spirit of continuity and community that had defined the town for generations.

And so, with Eleanor caring for the clock tower, Robert passing on his wisdom as the lamplighter, and Molly adding her youthful touch to the streets of Justice, the family legacy continued to thrive. The lanterns blazed, the clock tower chimed, and the legacy and love of the Fowler family continually inspired the enlightened residents of Justice.

And so, with Eleanor and Robert at the helm, and Molly becoming an integral part of Justice's story, the town continued to thrive—a testament to the enduring power of love, family, and the timeless traditions that bound them together. The clock tower, lanterns ablaze, stood as a silent witness to the ever-unfolding tale of Justice.

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Molly also followed the footsteps of her father and took on some of his reponsibilities as lamplighterChatGPT

ChatGPT

As Molly matured and grew more deeply connected to the enchanting town of Justice, she found herself drawn to the magical allure of the lantern-lit evenings, just as her father, Robert, had been in his youth. Inspired by her father's stories and fueled by a sense of adventure, Molly expressed a desire to take on some of the responsibilities of the lamplighter.

And so, with Eleanor caring for the clock tower, Robert passing on his wisdom as the lamplighter, and Molly adding her youthful touch to the enchantment of Justice, the family legacy continued to thrive. The townspeople, witnessing the seamless transition from one generation to the next, reveled in the enduring magic that permeated every corner of their beloved town. The lanterns blazed, the clock tower chimed, and the legacy of the Fowler family remained an integral part of the timeless tale of Justice.

You

When Molly and Robert were courting and falling in love, they would stop at a particular bench to kiss and hug. The lamplighter at that time, a man named Peary, noticed their behavior and always left the lantern above the bench unlit.ChatGPT

ChatGPT

Molly and Robert's courtship unfolded against the enchanting backdrop of Justice, where every lantern-lit street held a story of its own. Their love, nurtured amidst the magical glow of the lanterns, became a cherished part of the town's tapestry. There was a particular bench, bathed in the soft light of a lantern, where the couple found solace and shared intimate moments.

Peary, the observant lamplighter of that time, couldn't help but notice Molly and Robert's affectionate rendezvous at the special bench. Recognizing the significance of that spot to the couple, Peary decided to add a touch of magic to their romantic moments.

Every evening, as he diligently went about lighting the lanterns throughout Justice, Peary intentionally left the lantern above the cherished bench unlit. It became a silent yet expressive gesture, signaling to Molly and Robert that this particular spot held a place in the heart of the lamplighter and, by extension, in the heart of the town.

The unlit lantern above the bench became a symbol of Peary's acknowledgment of the young couple's love story. It was a subtle way of respecting and preserving the intimacy of their connection, allowing them to enjoy their private moments undisturbed by the glow of the lantern.

Molly and Robert, unaware of Peary's thoughtful gesture, continued to find comfort and romance at their favorite bench. As they kissed and hugged under the dimly lit lantern, the unlit one above them became a beacon of quiet support and a testament to the shared experiences that make a town truly special.

In the years to come, even after Molly took on the responsibilities of the lamplighter alongside her father, the unlit lantern above the bench remained a symbol of enduring love and the unique way in which the townspeople, in this case, Peary, played a role in the personal stories that unfolded within the embrace of Justice's lantern-lit streets.

You

in her spare time, Molly studied law and became the town magistrate shedding a new form of light on the town of Justice.ChatGPT

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Molly's intellectual curiosity and desire to contribute to the community led her to pursue a different path in addition to her duties as a lamplighter. In her spare time, she immersed herself in the study of law, eventually becoming well-versed in the legal intricacies that governed the town of Justice. Her dedication and passion for justice were evident to all who knew her.

As Molly delved into her legal studies, her keen sense of fairness and empathy guided her. Justice, for her, became more than just a name; it became a principle that she aimed to uphold in every aspect of her life. The townspeople recognized Molly's commitment to understanding and applying the law fairly, and they admired her for taking on such a significant role.

With her newfound knowledge and a sense of civic duty, Molly pursued a position as the town magistrate. The appointment brought a new form of light to Justice, shedding illumination on matters of justice and fairness. As the town magistrate, Molly ensured that legal matters were addressed with a careful balance of compassion and adherence to the law.

The courtroom, once a space filled with echoes of legal discourse, now resonated with Molly's thoughtful approach to justice. She became a respected figure, known for her impartiality and dedication to upholding the values that had defined Justice for generations. The unlit lantern above the special bench, once a symbol of romantic moments, now took on new significance—a reflection of Molly's dual roles as the lamplighter and the magistrate.

The town of Justice embraced Molly's multifaceted contributions, acknowledging the unique blend of tradition and progress she brought to the community. The lantern-lit streets, now not only symbols of romantic ambiance but also beacons of legal enlightenment, showcased the diverse and evolving nature of the town.

Molly's journey as both the lamplighter and the town magistrate symbolized the dynamic spirit of Justice—a town that valued tradition, love, and justice in equal measure. Her story became woven into the fabric of the town's narrative, adding a new layer of illumination to the timeless tale of Justice.

You

Eleanor and Robert were justly proud of their child who continued to fill in as both clock keeper and lamplighter.ChatGPT

ChatGPT

Eleanor and Robert, the proud parents, watched with joy and admiration as Molly seamlessly embraced the responsibilities of both clock keeper and lamplighter. Their hearts swelled with pride as they witnessed their daughter carrying forward the traditions of Justice with dedication, passion, and a touch of her own unique brilliance.

Molly, in the footsteps of her parents and grandfather, became a symbol of continuity in the town. Her hands, adept at both delicate clockwork and the illumination of lanterns, wove a seamless connection between the past and the present. The clock tower, under Molly's care, continued to chime with precision, marking the passage of time as it had for generations.

As a dual luminary force—both the keeper of time and the bringer of light—Molly added her own flair to the role. The townspeople marveled at her ability to seamlessly navigate the responsibilities of both the clock keeper and the lamplighter, recognizing the unique legacy she carried on.

Eleanor and Robert, seeing Molly thrive in her multifaceted roles, felt a profound sense of fulfillment. Their daughter, with her love for the town and an innate understanding of its traditions, had become the living embodiment of the values they had held dear. The unlit lantern above the special bench, a symbol of familial support, seemed to radiate with pride in Molly's accomplishments.

The trio—Eleanor, Robert, and Molly—formed a tight-knit team that not only maintained the enchanting atmosphere of Justice but also added new dimensions to its timeless narrative. Molly's involvement as both the clock keeper and lamplighter brought a harmonious balance to the town, showcasing the evolving nature of their roles in the community.

As the clock tower chimed and the lanterns cast their magical glow, Eleanor and Robert basked in the legacy they had helped shape—a legacy that now thrived through the capable hands of their daughter. Molly, with her commitment to justice, love, and tradition, became the living embodiment of the town's spirit, shining a brilliant light on the enduring tale of Justice.

You

Robert and Eleanor continued to walk to the park to their favorite spot. On the way one night, Robert noticed another young couple beneath a lantern deeper into the park. ChatGPT

ChatGPT

Robert and Eleanor's evening walks to the park had become a cherished tradition—a time for them to reconnect, share stories, and enjoy the enchanting atmosphere of Justice. As they strolled along the familiar paths, the soft glow of lanterns casting a warm light, they approached their favorite spot in the park.

One night, as they made their way to the bench beneath their chosen lantern, Robert's keen eyes caught sight of another young couple deeper into the park. The lantern above them illuminated their faces, and the scene was reminiscent of Robert and Eleanor's own courtship days.

Intrigued by the familiar tableau of young love, Robert gently tugged at Eleanor's arm, directing her attention toward the couple. The lamplighter's observant nature, honed through years of navigating the lantern-lit streets, recognized the intimate moments shared beneath the magical glow.

With a nostalgic smile, Robert whispered to Eleanor, "Look, my love. It seems like we have company." They paused for a moment, observing the young couple—a mirror image of the romance they had once known.

Eleanor, touched by the scene before her, felt a wave of warmth. The unspoken language of love, exchanged beneath the lanterns, transcended generations. The couple's presence added a layer of sweetness to Robert and Eleanor's own journey, a reminder of the enduring magic that had drawn them together in the first place.

As they continued their walk to their favorite spot, Robert and Eleanor exchanged knowing glances, their hearts filled with a profound appreciation for the timeless beauty of love. The lanterns overhead seemed to flicker with a shared understanding, casting a radiant glow over the paths of the park.

The unlit lantern above the special bench, a silent witness to countless love stories, seemed to shimmer with approval. In that moment, Robert and Eleanor felt a deep connection not only to each other but to the town of Justice itself—a place where love and tradition intertwined, illuminated by the ever-present glow of lanterns that had guided countless couples through the enchanting pathways of the park.

You

The next night Robert and Eleanor again noticed the young couple. The four of them nodded. Robert put out the lantern above their heads. On the way back, Robert and Eleanor passed their cherished spot. Eleanor whispered to Robert. He smiled. He lit the lantern as the bells rang.ChatGPT

ChatGPT

The following night, as Robert and Eleanor took their customary walk to the park, they once again noticed the young couple beneath the lantern. This time, there was a silent acknowledgment—an unspoken understanding that connected the two couples sharing the enchanting space.

As they approached the young pair, the four of them exchanged nods, recognizing the shared experience of finding love beneath the lantern-lit pathways of Justice. Robert, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, reached up and extinguished the lantern above their heads. The sudden dimming of light added a playful touch to the moment, a silent gesture that transcended words.

On their way back, as Robert and Eleanor passed their cherished spot, Eleanor leaned in and whispered something to Robert. A conspiratorial smile crossed his face as he nodded in agreement. The unlit lantern above their special bench seemed to beckon them, a canvas waiting to be illuminated.

With a sense of shared joy, Robert reached for his special wand and, as the bells rang, he lit the lantern above their heads. The warm glow spilled over the bench, creating a magical ambiance that mirrored the love that had flourished beneath its light for so many years.

Eleanor and Robert, hand in hand, basked in the radiance of the lantern they had rekindled. The young couple, witnessing the exchange, smiled in appreciation, recognizing the beautiful connection between generations.

In that fleeting moment, beneath the lantern-lit sky, the park became a canvas of shared memories and love stories—a timeless tapestry woven with the threads of tradition and the enduring magic of Justice. The lanterns continued to flicker, casting their glow over the pathways, as Robert and Eleanor walked back home, their hearts aglow with the warmth of love, nostalgia, and the unbroken continuity of time in their beloved town.

You

Robert and Eleanor passed on before the invasion of electric streetlights. ChatGPT

ChatGPT

As the years passed and the town of Justice evolved, Robert and Eleanor continued to play vital roles as the keepers of tradition. The lantern-lit streets and the chimes of the clock tower remained central to the town's identity. However, with the march of progress, the invasion of electric streetlights became inevitable.

Having witnessed the changing times, Robert and Eleanor, with a sense of fulfillment, passed on, leaving behind a legacy of love, tradition, and the timeless magic of Justice. Their contributions as the lamplighter and clock keeper had become an integral part of the town's narrative, etching their names in the hearts of the townspeople.

The invasion of electric streetlights brought a new era to Justice—a chapter that, while marking progress, also carried a touch of nostalgia for the warm glow of lanterns that had guided the town for generations. The unlit lantern above the special bench stood as a silent testament to the love stories and shared moments that had unfolded beneath its watchful light.

The town mourned the loss of Robert and Eleanor, but their legacy lived on in the collective memory of Justice. The clock tower, now automated and electrically lit, continued to chime every hour, a reminder of the diligent care it had received from generations past. The streets, once illuminated by the flickering lanterns, now bathed in the consistent glow of electric lights.

The town, while embracing modernity, still held on to the timeless traditions that had defined its character. The stories of Robert and Eleanor, the lamplighter and the clock keeper, were passed down through generations, becoming a source of inspiration for the townspeople.

As Justice moved forward, the electric streetlights became a symbol of progress, but the echoes of lantern-lit evenings and the chiming bells remained eternally woven into the fabric of the town's history. The unlit lantern above the special bench stood as a quiet reminder of the love and continuity that had once flourished beneath its light—a legacy that endured even as the town embraced the changing times.

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hadesisqueer · 4 years ago

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I'm bored and I don't care and you most probably don't care too but I don't care about that either, so here it comes: my Blake analysis.

People tend to think Yang is my favorite character. And, although they're not entirely wrong, because she's the character I relate the most to, my actual favorite character is Blake. I just find her so inspiring, and such an interesting character yet flawed character. CRWBY did a great job showing her traits as both the Beauty and the Beast, and I just love it.

Leaving the White Fang and Beacon times

Honestly, one of the things I admire the most about Blake is just how freaking brave she is. Because it takes an incredible amount of courage to be able to realize about your mistakes and seek a way to redeem yourself by learning to help people. And it takes a lot of strength to be able to leave your abuser behind.

Blake leaves the White Fang and gets into Beacon hoping for two things: redemption and a new life. She starts off as the typical quiet, kind of cynical (yet still idealistic), emo and mysterious girl who we knew basically nothing about her. We had basic information about the other three, but nothing from her except that she wore a bow and liked books.

I really liked how she seemed to not want to get close to anyone, but then the interactions with Ruby and Yang came. She, although kind of annoyed because they wouldn't let her read (mood), seemed amused by them, and even awkwardly tried to tell them that it was a pleasure to meet them as they fought and before Weiss came and she gave up reading (mood).

Which is one of the reasons I think she chose Yang as her partner. She was probably looking for a partner who she knew she could work well with. And having being partners with Adam, who was just as much of an offensive fighter as Yang, she knew she could work with that. That and the fact that she also seemed to like her and Ruby the night before, so Blake probably recognised her and followed her around to check if Yang could fight too (also because she was hot okay this is just me shipping). And when she saw she could, she was probably like “Okay, I'm keeping this one”. Which is fun, because Blake was the quiet girl and then she went and chose the most extrovert partner (besides Nora) there was. And actually liked having her around, as anyone could see when she smiled when Yang said something.

And that's the thing: she didn't want to get really close to anyone, but she was really eager to start a new life. Even though she wasn't really sure about Weiss, she had good teammates and genuinely liked them. She joined Ruby and Yang in their idiocy (love those two) from the start and showed to be as much as a dork as them if she wanted. She was relaxed with them and liked team JNPR too (we never really saw her having conversations with them alone but if she sat with Pyrrha in class it meant she was cool with them too) and, if you read the books, she was really good friends with team CFVY as well.

Still, she was afraid to open up about her past, or even tell them about being a faunus to the point that when she slipped and told them when she was mad at Weiss being an ignorant, she ran away. Because after all, she doesn't think they would like her true self. I mean, we're talking about a girl who ran away from the White Fang because she realized it had turned into basically a terrorist organisation -one she took part of, and left her family behind for. A girl who's suffered from abuse, making her feel like she doesn't deserve anything good. It's crystal clear in the comics (though they're vol 4 content), Blake thinks she is poison and ruins everything good around her. And she felt like she'd just ruined it again. Which is why when she sees that they don't care, and that Weiss has decided she doesn't care either (and to me, that's the beginning of her arc of being an ignorant and daddy's girl to “when I see a racist a floor him and fucky you, dad), Blake almost cries.

Then in vol 2 she is literally obsessed with Torchwick and the White Fang. It's understandable: she used to be part of that organisation (goddammit, her own father created it) and she's had to see how it went from believing in peace and equality to becoming more violent to start working with human crime lords in a way that doesn't seem to benefit the faunus at all? She knew there was something big going on, and even if she had to fight her own past, she was willing to if that's what it took to find out what it was. It's funny because I felt like she was the main protagonist in that volume instead of Ruby and it's true: she was the one calling the shots.

The thing is that she took it too far and led her to basically become obsessed with the White Fang, as I said. To the point that Yang had to almost literally slap some sense into her and tell her to chill and go to sleep. And well, it worked. She took Yang's advice and didn't forget her goals, but took her time instead of destroying herself in the process.

In vol 3, she seems more relaxed than we'd ever seen. She doesn't have to hide who she is to the people she cares about, because she's slowly opening up more and they are understanding. They succesfully stopped a Grimm attack in Vale and got Torchwick in jail, so she felt more confident and hopeful. And they were killing it at the Vytal Festival. So yeah, she deserved to chill a little, enjoy herself, to be a little goofy and eat some tuna with her friends. The girl had earned it.

... but it's volume 3, and if it fucked everyone up, it wasn't going to be any different with Blake. Like, for fuck's sake, give the poor girl a break.

It starts with Yang breaking Mercury's leg and Blake not knowing what to think. Because as she said, the whole situation was so familiar. She'd had a passionate and aggressive yet “kind” partner before, one she thought she loved and trusted, and he slowly became more and more violent, and more abusive, and for a long time, she was blind to it. And then Yang does that. Her passionate and kind of aggressive yet sweet new partner, who she may already had romantic feelings for (even if she hadn't realized yet), who even had the same semblance as Adam. Was it all happening again?

Yang and Adam are, after all, foils of each other in a way. They're really similar. The main difference is how they deal with their suffering: Adam used it as an excuse for hurting others and never really got over it, and Yang took meaning from it instead and found the way to move on. Her heart was never driven by hate; she used her pain to become a better, stronger person. After all, just as Blake said, Adam was Spite, and Yang was Strength.

Blake's reaction was understandable. She was a victim of abuse and the situation reminded her of it. And as I said, it didn't help that Adam and Yang were so similar. But deep down, she knew that Yang wasn't Adam, that there was an explanation, which is why she gave Yang that chance to tell her. And she knew Yang wasn't lying.

And then everything gets REALLY fucked up for everyone. The situation couldn't be worse. Penny has died, Ruby is at Amity Arena, Yang is still at the dorms. Blake and Weiss are fighting together at Beacon against the White Fang and Grimm- and also the robots. And getting separated was honestly the worst thing they could have done, but Blake went after that Beowolf. And then she found Adam.

I don't think I have to even explain how I think she felt at that moment, when she saw her abuser right there in front of her eyes, for the first time since she left him. I think the look in her eyes are enough to express how terrified and conflicted she was. And yet, she is brave enough to fight him. And she loses. And then the guy uses “summon love interest” card and Yang appears, and he sees right through Blake. And the thing she feared the most happens. She's ruined it. She's really ruined it.

Vol 4 & 5 or the Belladonnas, Sun and Ilia.

Volume 4 is, without any doubt, Blake's lowest point, and again, thank God for having her parents and Sun around, because the girl was almost suicidal (most of all, when you read the comics). As I said, she feels like she's poison who ruins everything good around her, and this once, the universe has proved her right. Yang, her lovable partner who had been nothing but sweet, funny and understanding since she'd met her, had lost an arm trying to save her. And she knew that Adam wasn't kidding when he said that he'd kill her. So she left because she'd rather have Yang, Ruby and Weiss hating her than risking their lives. And because she couldn't stand the guilt she felt. The poor girl hated herself for what happened.

It took her while to decide to go back to Menagerie, but she did, and I was honestly thrilled to find out about her family. Like, we knew about Ruby and Yang being sisters and later we also find out more about their family life. We knew about Weiss being the heiress of the SDC, that she came from an important family, and later we know that she has siblings and it's implied that her father is a dickhead. But we didn't know anything about Blake's family life. We didn't know if she had any family at all or if she was an orphan, or if she had been abandoned, or if she was poor or rich. I think a lot of people had those headcannons before vol 4. But nope. Those ideas were obliterated.

Her father had created the White Fang, which explained why Blake always took the whole matter so personal: it was her legacy, and it had been taken from her and became corrupted. Not only wasn't she poor: she was some sort of fucking princess and owned a mansion. And not only wasn't she an orphan or an abandoned kid: out of team RWBY, she was the only one with two functional, loving parents. She clearly felt guilty about leaving them as well but both of her parents forgave her without any doubts, and showed her unconditional love. Kali and Ghira were two understanding and forgiving people who loved their daughter more than anything, and really, it was such a relief.

And I have my issues with the whole Sun thing, most of all after reading Before the Dawn. He followed her without permission, didn't respect her boundaries and she got too aggressive with him sometimes because of that (first slap I get it, the other two no). And I don't think he was completely necessary for the whole Battle of Haven thing. But at the same time, I really think having him around actually helped Blake a lot. Because yes, he didn't understand her many times, but I do think that having him around helped her as much as her parents. He had a big crush on her, and Blake did like him back, but never at the same level. After the time-skip, he still liked her but her crush on him had faded. And he took his time, but he realized. Blake didn't need a boyfriend, she needed a partner, a good friend who opened her eyes and made her understand that not everything that happens is her fault. That pushing people away with the excuse of protecting them wasn't helping anyone: she was just hurting herself and others more. And that's what he became. And I love the fact that he never for a second thought that she owed him anything: he helped her because he wanted, not because he expected anything from Blake. He would literally be disgusted with people who think she did owe him. Sun has his issues but he is an amazing friend and a perfect example of a guy without one bit of toxic masculinity, and his friendship with Blake is just great (can't wait to see more of them. Brotp).

Blake got love, forgiveness, support and friendship from her parents and Sun, but honestly, I think that what finally pushed her to stop running away and put an end to this whole bullshit was Ilia's appearance. Her former best friend up until she left the White Fang (who was, by the way, the person who indirectly gave her the idea of using a bow to pass for human).

She had already seen someone she cared about lose his way and turn into a monster. Blake herself had lost her way for a good while, found it back and then lost it again, and was working to find it once more. Seeing Ilia in that situation too made her brain go like “Okay, there's no way I'm letting you end up like Adam”. Blake knew Ilia wasn't like Adam, she knew it wasn't too late for Ilia yet, just like it hadn't been too late for Blake herself. So she gave Ilia the same things her parents and Sun had given her, the same things team RWBY gave her once too: love, forgiveness and friendship. And by helping Ilia, Blake also helped herself. I've done this before in another post, but I'll do it again; as uncle Iroh said once: sometimes the best way to solve your own problems is to help someone else.

(I'm not going to get too deep about the White Fang; most of all, because I'd need an entire post just about it. I'll just say that even though I thought I liked most of it, I still have a lot of issues with the White Fang thing and I found the end to be a bit disappointing and rushed).

Back with team RWBY, rebuilding relationships and Adam's end.

I'll never stop thinking that the fact that she didn't know what the fuck was going on at Haven but still joined the fight was hilarious, but still, it really made sense. She's done running away from her fears and her past, and one of her fears was that: confronting her team (mostly, Yang, because of the whole Adam thing) after leaving them. And then they all appear right in front of her eyes.

Past Blake would run away again to avoid the consequences. But she'd grown from that. Instead, she dealt with her own problems with Adam and the White Fang, and as soon as she was done, she went right back into the building and start fighting by Weiss and Ruby's side. And after the fight, while she was talking to her family and Ilia, Sun gave her the final push: he encouraged her to go and actually talk to the team, and she did. She went and told them that if they gave her a second chance, she wouldn't leave them again. Because she knows that leaving them had been one of the biggest mistakes of her life, if not the biggest one. She didn't know if they'd forgive her (a part of her probably still thought they wouldn't, and that she probably didn't deserve it anyway) but she still tried. And Ruby and Weiss accept her without questions. And honestly, the face Blake makes when she sees that Yang is also accepting her back and then they all invite her to the group hug still gets me every time.

She was obviously really happy that they'd forgiven her and that they gave her another chance that it's clear she was really trying to make the most of it. She clearly wanted to make up for lost time, and really make up for leaving, showing Ruby a bunch of times that she was always ready to follow her lead, reassuring Weiss after finding the bodies and... the whole thing with Yang. Because she felt guilty. But don't think Blake was feeling guilty because of the arm thing; at least, not anymore. She had reached a point where she understood that Adam's actions weren't her fault. No, she felt guilty because she left.

Yang had told her about Raven, and Blake knew that the poor girl had some serious abandonment issues (actually, Blake and Raven are kind of similar as well but with many differences, like the fact that they both tend to run away when they're scared, but for different reasons; one leaves by putting people in harm's way to protect herself, and the other because she wants to protect people in the wrong way. Eventually both get called out on that behaviour, and one responds with running away again, and the other with learning to not to run and face her fears. Both are foils of each other in Yang's eyes just like Yang and Adam in Blake's. Okay I'll continue). And Blake knew that when she left Yang, she most likely made said issues worse. Which is why she was trying so hard to make sure that Yang knew she wasn't leaving her again. She even actually tells her over and over again. “I'm not leaving”, “I'll hurry back”, “I'm not gonna break my promise, I swear”. Even during the Bees vs Adam fight, she says “I have people who actually care about me and I promised I'd never leave them again, so I'm not dying now”. That states two things:

1) She wants to fucking live, of course.

2) Blake is telling Yang that she is not going to die, not only because, as I said, she is a normal person who wants to live. But because she knows that, even if she would totally do it given the case, Yang doesn't want her to sacrifice herself for her, because then, she'd be leaving her again. She is telling Yang that she's not going to do that, and that they'd leave that place together.

But the thing is, Blake was trying SO hard to be there for her that she made things awkward, making Yang think Blake believed she was fragile and needed protection, which wasn't the case (I already talked about all this and Yang hating people taking care of her she thinks it makes her weak in the Yang analysis). And which is why Blake corrected herself and said “protecting each other”, as equals.

(Before people complain about how I'm talking too much about Yang in here, let's be clear: you can't make an Yang analysis without talking about Blake. Just like you can't make a Jaune analysis without talking about Pyrrha. You can't make a Salem analysis without talking a lot about Ozma. Or a Weiss one and not mention her entire family. Because that's what happens when you write a complex character with varied relationships with different characters - the relationships shape the character into what they are-. And Blake and Yang's arcs is so intertwined with the others' since the Fall of Beacon that you can't make an analysis of one without talking a lot about the other. Thus, I'm analyzing their relationship too, just like I'm talking about Sun, Adam and more. And yes, I'm doing this from the romantic perspective. Because, in case you hadn't noticed, the relationship stopped being platonic since Heroes and Monsters, and has been showing to be more and more romantic as the show goes on. It's been even confirmed to be romantic. So please, anon, I'm talking to you: if you don't like it stop reading lmao).

Now for the Adam part. Man, I can't even talk about this.

People complain that it didn't make sense that Blake seemed full of confidence at Haven when facing him, and then at Argus, she was terrified. Well, let me clear one thing up: the situation was totally different, dude.

At Haven, she was surrounded by people she knew they would help her: Sun, her parents, damn, even team RWBY. She had a whole army supporting her (and even with Sun's help, she wasn't dumb and she knew better than trying to follow him, because she knew him and knew that that's what he wanted). So of course she was going to feel safer then than being totally alone with that guy who had been stalking her across the world like a total creep. Like, thank God Yang appeared and helped her.

Once again, these three are all together again since the Fall of Beacon. This guy, who maimed and traumatized Yang in a way she will most likely never completely get over (as a person with PTSD, I know it gets better, but it will never entirely go away). Blake's ex boyfriend. A person she trusted and loved, and turned out to be completely different than he made her believe.

Blake's done with running away from him. And she's done with being afraid, because she is. But even though she's afraid, I love how during the entire fight, he tried to get in her head but Blake didn't let him. Because she was done with that. He had abused her, tried to kill her and the people she loved, took her innocence and confidence, even stole her own legacy. And she's not letting him do that again. Not now, and nevermore.

Sorry, I had to.

Blake and Yang give him multiple opportunities to leave. He didn't. We know how that ended for him. And even after that, Blake feels terrible about having to take his life, and feels guilty about it, or felt like she'd ruined the whole “let's steal an airship” plan. But luckily, she had all of her friends reassuring her and being completely understanding and loving, and honestly, I'll say it a million times: that scene between Ruby, Blake and Yang is one of my favorites.

Volume 7

We don't see much Blake during volume 7, to be honest. Yes, we get that great moment with Weiss and Jacques (fuck you). We get to see how she really hasn't forgotten about the whole Adam thing, and how killing him was haunting her in a way. We got to see her and Yang being the ones who reached out for Robyn (people with brains who don't try to take her out and try to make her and the HH allies instead. THANK YOU). We got to see her and Yang kicking some ass in the RWBY vs Ace Ops fight. And of course, we get confirmation (we already knew, but some people are blind and needed more. Some people won't understand until they kiss) of Bumbleby going the romantic way. And I liked that.

But neither Blake nor Yang had much of an individual arc or important stuff to do last volume (and I really hope that changes in volume 8). That annoyed me. But at the same time, I remember that they hadn't had a break since vol 3; Blake had never had one, actually, because every volume found the way to emotionally fuck her up in some way. And after losing limbs, being stabbed, having to deal with terrorists, with bandits, with terrible moms, with abandonment issues, with PTSD and depression, with an abusive exboyfriend they even had to end up killing to survive... I was kind of fine with both of them getting an “easy” volume where they didn't have to deal with big emotional arcs like that, and were just chilling and enjoying themselves for a little while. Still, I want them to be more important, both as a couple and individually, next volume.

Conclussion

As I said, Blake is my favorite character. She is a very flawed person who learns about her flaws and works hard to be better. She is incredibly brave, by far, the bravest character in the series, who overcomes her fears and her abuse and moves forward. Blake's arc, besides taking back her legacy and fighting for equality, is about her finally understanding that she's not to blame for others' actions, that she isn't poison. She learns to finally stop running from her fears and her guilt, to stop pushing others away, and realize that she deserves a second chance, that deserves forgiveness and love and friendship, and to be happy. Blake's entire personal journey is about her finding her path, about overcoming her abuse and trauma, and about learning to love herself. And I love it. I love her.

#rwby #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #weiss schnee #ruby rose #bumbleby #sun wukong #kali belladonna #ghira belladonna #damn this is long #i just love blake so much #rwby analysis #blake analysis

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megashadowdragon · 4 years ago

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whats the point of yamato

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Here's my take: the Wano Arc is about the "burden of inherited will." By this I mean something like, the burden of upholding the promises and dreams of those who came before. We've seen inherited will as an unambiguously good thing in the series so far, but the Wano Arc is trying to complicate the narrative, by showing what a burden it can be to take on the dreams of those who came before. And this theme isn't just in one storyline, it's laced throughout the Wano Arc, in the motivations of so many characters: * We have Momo struggling with the burden of living up to his father's legacy as a leader, and the burden of the throne of Wano. He's anguished over this, he weeps, because it's a burden to live up to someone as great as his father. * In Oden's flashback, we seem him struggle with the burden of his own father's dreams (that he become the Shogun, settle down, etc), only for him to eventually return and take on the burden of the country (literally, he puts his followers on his back!). * We have the Scabbards struggling with the burden of achieving Oden's dream of opening Wano's borders. They spend twenty years waiting and suffering, or travel across the sea and suffer, all for the sake of their leader's dream. We see Ashura-doji grow bitter under this burden, we see Denjiro mentally break, we see Kine'mon refuse to have a joyful reunion with his wife, all because they suffer under the burden of an inherited dream. * Orochi felt compelled to uphold the will of his ancestors and depose the Kozukis and throw the country into ruin. There's a reason we see his ancestors basically manipulate him into pursuing his path. They pass on their dream to him. * So obviously we have Luffy also taking on the dream of Oden, to defeat Kaido and Orochi, etc. But it's not a coincidence that in this arc we have two characters to whom Ace made promises: Tama and Yamato. They've become part of Luffy's burden, because he inherited Ace's will. (That's one way Yamato fits in) * But we also have Yamato struggling under the burden of a will she does not want to inherit, her father's. He wants her to be imprisoned, literally chained to a will that is not her own. That's quite the burden, I'd say. But there's another will she would prefer to inherit, obviously: Oden's. I think in the conclusion of this arc, we'll see characters (Luffy, probably) say something about inherited will being something chosen, it has to be a burden you choose to bear, not one forced on you. Yamato will probably feature in this conclusion in a few ways: (1) as a character foil to Momonosuke. It's not a coincidence that they're the exact same age and each want to take on the will that was forced on the other. Momo was swept across the world and travelled with Luffy in order to fulfill his role as Oden's son, but he wants to be Shogun. He takes on Kaido's appearance (via his Devil Fruit). Yamato was chained to Onigashima, and wanted nothing more to escape and travel the world with Luffy, but Kaido wants her to become the Shogun. She takes on Oden's appearance. The arc will conclude with something about Yamato and Momo freely entrusting each other with the dreams of their fathers, or something. (2) as a feature in Luffy choosing to uphold Ace's will. By taking her with him and reaffirming a promise with Tama, we'll see Luffy choose to take on Ace's will. In this way, we'll see that what makes a will truly inherited isn't a bond of blood or destiny, it's a bond of friendship, trust, et cetera. Yamato's storyline will be used to punctuate that theme for Luffy and Momo, the actual central characters of this arc.

I feel like Yamato’s storyline is learning about inherited will and not having to actually be someone (Oden) to carry on their will/dreams.

Hannya, which Yamato’s mask is based on, are well known in Japanese theatrical stage culture for representing characters who are the physical manifestation of twisted female souls.

Yamato seems to be inspired by Oscar François de Jarjayes, from the shōjo manga The Rose of Versailles, who is a woman raised by her father as if she were a boy in order to succeed him as the commander of the Royal Guard at the Palace of Versailles.

an authors comment for chapter 945 oda talked about how he read rose of versailles and was surprised oscar was a woman

The Shogun must be a male of Seiwa Genji lineage according to Japanese history so this explains why she is referred to as son. Oda based Yamato on 2 people. 1) Yamato Takeru a crossdressing Japanese prince and 2) Oscar from Rose of Versailles. Yamato Takeru being the son of Emperor Keiko who crossdressed to kill his enemies. Oscar being a girl raised as a boy to succeed the throne. Oda is mixing Japanese folklore with Rose of Versailles to tell a story of Kaido trying to force his daughter to be the Shogun/a boy. Do you think I rip this from nowhere? Chapter 945 if I recall correctly on VIZ Oda is on the authors comments speaking on Rose of Versailles. Yamato wears a Hannya mask which originates from Noh theater and represents female obsession (Oden obsession) and I bet this arc has a theme of deliverance. Not just deliverance from physical chains but familial bonds as well. The people who refer to her as “he” miss the underlying themes the Shogun must be male and Kaido is probably upset he has no actual son. Yamato does not want to be the Shogun and referring to the last chapter Kaido is trying to tell her what her fate is. The Vivre Cards will not say (Male Heart) like in close reference to Kiku’s card and she will not come out and say “I am a man at heart!” She uses the pronoun boku which is ambiguous and abnormal which is in reference to the “Oden” funny delusional act she has going on. Coming chapters will reveal this more and more. Since the combination of the title card saying daughter -> the Hannya mask -> explosive cuffs and the Shogun theme it was clear she was being bruteforced into something.

Not trying to speak for everyone here, but to say people use "he" because they don't pick up on themes is simply not the case. People use "he/him" pronouns because so far in the story, that is how Yamato has made clear that he would like to be referred to and so people use he/him pronouns out of respect for those desires. I'm not trying to say at all that I disagree with the themes/connections you've mentioned, but to say that you've "cracked the code" and you know better than Yamato on how they should be gendered is disrespectful to them. It may well be the case that everything you said is true and that by the end of the arc Yamato will wish to be referred to with she/her pronouns, but like I said to just assume this before it actually happens is disrespectful. Imagine refusing to use he/him pronouns for a trans-man because you know that their father always wanted a son and assuming their desire to use these pronouns only exists to validate their fathers wishes. I'm not trying to draw a one to one equivalence with this example, I get that One Piece is a story where information does just exist but is introduced with a specific purpose, I just hope I can better explain why many people believe he/him are the correct pronouns to use for Yamato at this time. Frankly, I think the presence of Kiku as a trans-women in this arc might be odas way of setting up the exact scenario you mentioned with yamato while still making sure he doesn't come across as invalidating trans identities. Hopefully that makes sense. Again I'm not trying to be argumentative, only trying explain why many people believe it is more respectful to use he/him pronouns at this time for yamato DESPITE the themes you've mentioned.

Quick fact check: Oscar wasn't raised as a boy to succeed the throne, she was a raised as a boy to become commander of the royal guards

This might not be accurate as I'm just saying off the top of my head but in a way, Yamato might represent wano itself. She was chained up and abused by Kaido like he does to wano in a sense.

Yamato is literally old name of Japan, lol

Yamato by taking Oden legacy she is impersonating the man who's the main representation of wano to the world

On a larger scale we are fighting to save wano from kaido

On a individual scale Yamato who disguises as Oden who represents wano is fighting to save herself from kaido

It's like NAMI all over again

A girl who is representing an entire population and territory is fighting to save herself and the people and territory she represents from a fish that keeps her and her territory enslaved

Her not being part of the mainland is symbolic to Wano exactly lol, isolated from the other world and chained there by Kaido for decades. She, like the people of Wano, has this black and white perception of Oden that they blindly follow without looking into why he did what he did. Even now people are putting Momo on some pedestal worth dying for without understanding who he is, similar to their past expectations of Oden for his dad. Yamato is doing the same with her declaration of dying for him based solely on his dad and the stuff in the journal.

Yamato's development seems to fall in parallel to Momo. Momo had to deal with the expectations of being Oden's son and his people want him to be just like Oden they don't see Momonosuke Kozuki.

On the other hand Yamato similarly was thrust with a path set by Kaido her father but wants to be Oden this person who inspired Yamato to the point of worship that every action is posed with the question "what would Oden do."

The climax of both their arcs might be to just choose to be who they are and act as they would do not as their predecessors as they both could never be Oden for instance.

I sort of dislike how some people act like Yamato realizing not to “be oden” and Yamato joining the strawhats are mutually exclusive

if yamato does join the strawhats and is the 11th that would confirm the idea that yamato isnt trans she just cosplays as oden due to idolizing him if you believe the MFMM theory due to people noticing that in east blue the recruitment went zoro, nami, usopp, and sanji in grand line it was chopper, robin, franky and brook a male female male male .

jinbe is the 10th who joined in new world ( the male ) and it fits for him to be followed by the 11th a woman . ( so if yamato joins the strawhats and is the 11th ( meaning carrot doesnt join) yamato isnt trans

if yamato and carrot both join then yamato really is a transman

both okiku and yamato wore hannya masks

after okiku put on a hannya mask she revealed that she was a man in body but a woman in heart and a hannya mask represents female demon

yamato was introduced as kaidos son while in a hannya mask but after she took it off revealed she was his daughter

"Yamato" (大和やまと?), meaning "Great Harmony", is an ancient name for Japan (originating from the Yamato Province) and can can also refer to the Yamato period of Japanese history, which lasted into the 8th century. Relating to that, Yamato is the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial House of Japan and further refers to the dominant ethnic group of Japan, the Yamato people. Otherwise:

Yamato Takeru is a legendary Japanese prince of the Yamato dynasty, prominent in mythology.

Yamato is the name of a prominent WWII-era Japanese battleship.

Yamato nadeshiko is a phrase that refers to the idealized image of a Japanese female.

#one piece #op yamato #one piece yamato #one piece meta #op meta

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nadiaportia · 4 years ago

Text

Ximena Rubalcaba

art by magician-of-the-lantern

The disgraced exile with a past she’d rather keep hidden.

Other bios: Sayelle | Deirdra | Heloisa | Cibela

Full name: Ximena María Magdalena de Rubalcaba y Saavedra

Meaning of name:

Ximena: Basque variant of Simone, meaning “one who has heard”

María Magdalena: Spanish variant of Mary Magdalene, derived of “of Magdala”, a village whose name means “tower” in Old Hebrew

Family:

Heloisa and Cibela de Rubalcaba: Ximena’s elder sisters, Heloisa by 6 and Cibela by 12 years. In her youth and early adulthood, due to being closer in age she spent more time with Heloisa than with Cibela, to whom she did look up though as a role model as well as Cibela being more introverted like her in contrast to the very extroverted Heloisa. Cibela was mostly absent during her childhood, whereas she and Heloisa spent most of their free time, and tutor-free time together.

Marisol de Rubalcaba (deceased): Her mother and the former Marquesa de Rubalcaba. Having immense favouritism for her firstborn, Marisol was rather distant towards her younger daughters but would try to be an affectionate mother towards them.

Valentín Saavedra (deceased): Ximena’s late father and a sea-faring merchant prince from the higher Cartagense bourgeoisie. Like his wife, Valentín favored his eldest daughter yet tried to encourage all of his daughters’ ambitions and work. Ximena is said to be similar to him in terms of personality.

Esmerelda de Rubalcaba: The matriarch in-all-but-name of the Rubalcaba family, Marisol’s older sister and Ximena’s aunt. Esmerelda is arguably the most central maternal figure in her life, even more than her own mother, and her primary tutor. She was the one who recognized Ximena’s affinity for magic and gave her vital support when she entered the Magician’s Guild.

Agustín de Rubalcaba: Esmerelda’s only son and Ximena’s cousin. A diplomat that wasn’t under his mother’s wing unlike his cousins, he is very affectionate towards Ximena and fulfills the role of an older brother for her as well as being her only connection to her family after her exile.

Segismundo: Ximena’s familiar whom she found in the rainforests of Northern Calpacia sometime after her exile as a hatchling and nursed him back to health. Their connection is deep and he is both trusting and protective of her.

Others: Constanza de Rubalcaba (maternal grand-mother, deceased), Cristobal de Rubalcaba (maternal uncle, deceased), Máximo de Otxoa (maternal grand-father, deceased), Jaime Saavedra (paternal uncle), Genoveva Saavedra (paternal aunt), Dulcinea Saavedra (paternal grand-mother, deceased), Leonardo Buendía (paternal grand-father), Catalina Saavedra (paternal grand-aunt), Aníbal Heßling de Cordovero (brother-in-law)

Nicknames: Xime (used by both friends and lovers), Ximenita (used by family, especially since she is the youngest among her generation), Marilena (exclusively used by her mother and her aunt)

Favourite meal: Tamales de pollo

Favourite drink: Cartagense liquor

Favourite flower: White Plumeria

Favourite color: Cerulean

Birthday: 20th of November

Age: 37 during the events of the game

Zodiac: Scorpio

MBTI: INTP

Patron Arcana: Death and the King of Cups

Upright: Death reaps that which has run its course, allowing new life to grow in the space left behind.

Reversed: Death turns his back on his duty, allowing things to fester and rot in his negligence.

Upright: The King of Cups is generous and compassionate, yet never allows his emotions to overwhelm his sense.

Reversed: The King of Cups manipulates the emotions of others callously, twisting them to fit his own agenda.

Gender: Cis female

Sexuality: Bisexual

Height: 1,65 m // 5′4″

Appearance:

Ximena is of rather slender build. Her skin is medium brown with a warm undertone and she has a round face with a rounded chin. She has a beauty mark underneath the outer corner of her left eye and an upturned nose with a low bridge. Her eyes are a color similar to dark honey and she has full lips. Her eyebrows are thick and dark, groomed but not thinned, and she has bags underneath her eyes. Her black hair is long and curly with the occasional grey hair, especially near her temples.

She usually wears golden hoop earrings and several golden rings on her fingers. She wears a bit of eyeliner and darkened lipstick.

She gives off the impression of being rather serene and after her exile purposely tries to change the way she spoke and held herself in order to appear less like an aristocrat and more like a commoner.

Visual Inspirations: Tessa Thompson and America Ferrera

Languages spoken: Calpacian, Prakran, Firenti, Karnasso, Galbradan, Hjallen, Nopali, Nevivish, Venterran, Oriolà, Zadithi and the Common Tongue

Magical abilities:

due to the Cartagense Magician’s Guild being rather pragmatic, she is not as versatile in her skills but honed those that she is good at so well that it makes her a master in the area

high intuition and good knowledge of people, to the point that she can feel when someone is lying to her

very perceptive and aware of her surroundings

fire-based offensive magic; used to replace her profound lack of physical combat skills

Love interests:

Out of the Main 6, while I mostly ship her with Lucio (since I am rewriting his route with her as the primary main character) and Asra (her ex), her dynamics with Nadia and Portia could leave the possibility for romance open.

Isidora: An OC of mine who was once very close friends with Xime as well as colleagues on whom she had eventually not unrequited feelings.

In general, like with most of my characters; if they’re compatible sexuality- as well as personality-wise, feel free to ship them with your OCs or MCs! Hit me up with a message and we can discuss the details!

Backstory:

Born into the influential aristocratic Rubalcaba family based in Cartagenth, the capital of the Calpacian Empire in the West, Ximena received an extensive education and since she had the most affinity to magic within her family, a vast tutoring in magic while her sisters were put on other carreer tracks. The Rubalcabas have had a presence ever since the founding of Cartagenth thanks to Fairuza, one of the city’s original founders, and then with Xochitl I., who was rumored to be the primary force behind the union of various kingdoms into what became Calpacia. They have centuries long history of being close to Calpacia’s sovereign, the Zaan, and involvement in politics, the military and on very rare occasions the Magician’s Guild of Cartagenth, where Ximena was meant to eventually become Head of the Guild and a vital instrument in the plans her aunt Esmerelda had for her, her sisters and the fate of all of Calpacia.

Mostly due to their riches, privilege and upbringing, the climate in Ximena’s family was a rather toxic one, with a centuries-old legacy hanging over them like a Damocles sword and envy, entitlement, jealously, sabotage and power struggles running rampant among them. Esmerelda’s desire to cement her family’s position and ensure their survival in the cut-throat environment in the Cartagense court as well as wanting to function as the driving force behind the pillars of powers saw her mercilessly using her family and to see them as little more than pawns to be utilized to achieve the desired goal.

Being maneuvered like a puppet made Ximena resent her family; her sisters for refusing to lean against it or even relishing in it, her parents for tolerating this and her aunt for being a manipulative force of nature. The straw that broke the camel’s back occurred weeks before her coronation as Head of the Guild where a vision came to her during a reading and showed how she would use her magic and that of the Guild to help in fighting a total war against everyone who refused to kneel to Cartagense’s power, resulting in the deaths of countless people - and herself as one of those who were supposed to carry on this blood-stained legacy. The refusal to partake in such future atrocities and the secret reveal of plans by the War Council to actually provoke a conflict and throw the country into total warfare caused Ximena to have her status as noblewoman taken from her and be banished from Cartagenth… or clean up her act, beg for forgiveness and mercy from her family and have the chance to correct her mistakes. That choice presented by her aunt in a final confrontation was refused and so Ximena, once a lady, now a nobody, fled Cartagenth.

Having to pretend to be a commoner was difficult at first but soon became a necessity, as well as having to adopt a different identity to make it beyond the Calpacian borders. Meeting her familiar and having someone in whom to confide absolutely everything was a much needed outlet for her, and some years her only constant companions were Segismundo, for whom she would’ve laid down her life, and the fear of being discovered by Calpacian spies even outside of the empire. She met Asra when contemplating to escape to Hjalle and from there on to the eastern countries beyond Nevivon and continue to live her life in anonymity, but decided to return with him to Vesuvia, a city of which she knew Calpacia fostered no diplomatic relations with. Her relationship with Asra at some point transcended mere friendship but even when that ended, they always remained amicable with each other and arguably the most important person in each other’s lives. The building in which Asra and she eventually opened as their ship was a gift from Agustín who was the only person from her old life Ximena ever contacted through magical and untraceable means. In Vesuvia, she also met magician and professional medium Sayelle bint Zahir from the city state of Bizatena at the Eastern Coast, and another exile from their respective home country, Deirdra Margalit of Calpacia’s neighboring kingdom Oriol.

She died from the Red Plague at the age of 34 while trying help Julian, with whom she had common friends, to find a cure for the illness that had already claimed thousands within the city. The efforts of those close to her did little in preventing her passing, and yet she woke up a year later with no memory of her previous life, her friends and the bond to her familiar being severed beyond repair.

More art:

feat. Heloisa by @missrabbitart | full post

feat. Lucio by @cherrygirl666 | full post including the uncut nsfw version

#the arcana #the arcana fan apprentice #the arcana oc #other people's ocs #ximena rubalcaba #i heard from multiple people that they couldn't assess the other bio since it was a subpage on my blog and mobile doesnt fuck w that #so there we gooooo... repolished and with an actual structure LOL

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rockislandadultreads · 4 years ago

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Gothic Fiction: a 2020 reading list

Did you adore Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia? Check out these titles with similar dark themes..

Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings

In a small Western Queensland town, a reserved young woman receives a note from one of her vanished brothers—a note that makes question her memories of their disappearance and her father’s departure. A beguiling story that proves that gothic delights and uncanny family horror can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun, Flyaway introduces readers to Bettina Scott, whose search for the truth throws her into tales of eerie dogs, vanished schools, cursed monsters, and enchanted bottles. In these pages Jennings assures you that gothic delights, uncanny family horror, and strange, unsettling prose can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun. Holly Black describes as “half mystery, half fairy tale, all exquisitely rendered and full of teeth.” Flyaway enchants you with the sly, beautiful darkness of Karen Russell and a world utterly its own.

The Safe Place by Anna Downes

Emily is a mess. Emily Proudman just lost her acting agent, her job, and her apartment in one miserable day. Emily is desperate. Scott Denny, a successful and charismatic CEO, has a problem that neither his business acumen nor vast wealth can fix. Until he meets Emily. Emily is perfect. Scott offers Emily a summer job as a housekeeper on his remote, beautiful French estate. Enchanted by his lovely wife Nina, and his eccentric young daughter, Aurelia, Emily falls headlong into this oasis of wine-soaked days by the pool. But soon Emily realizes that Scott and Nina are hiding dangerous secrets, and if she doesn't play along, the consequences could be deadly. Superbly tense and oozing with atmosphere, Anna Downs's debut is the perfect summer suspense, with the modern gothic feel of Ruth Ware and the morally complex family dynamics of Lisa Jewell. Welcome to paradise...will you ever be able to leave?

The House of Whispers by Laura Purcell

Consumption has ravaged Louise Pinecroft's family, leaving her and her father alone and heartbroken. But Dr Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary experiment: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure his wife and children needed, he arranges to house a group of prisoners suffering from the same disease in the cliffs beneath his new Cornish home. While he devotes himself to his controversial medical trials, Louise finds herself increasingly discomfited by the strange tales her new maid tells of the fairies that hunt the land, searching for those they can steal away to their realm. Forty years later, Hester Why arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralysed and almost entirely mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try and escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers that her new home may be just as dangerous as her last.

The Woman in the Mirror by Rebecca James

For more than two centuries, Winterbourne Hall has stood atop a bluff overseeing the English countryside of Cornwall and the sea beyond. In 1947, Londoner Alice Miller accepts a post as governess at Winterbourne, looking after Captain Jonathan de Grey’s twin children. Falling under the de Greys’ spell, Alice believes the family will heal her own past sorrows. But then the twins’ adoration becomes deceitful and taunting. Their father, ever distant, turns spiteful and cruel. The manor itself seems to lash out. Alice finds her surroundings subtly altered, her air slightly chilled. Something malicious resents her presence, something clouding her senses and threatening her very sanity. In present day New York, art gallery curator Rachel Wright has learned she is a descendant of the de Greys and heir to Winterbourne. Adopted as an infant, she never knew her birth parents or her lineage. At long last, Rachel will find answers to questions about her identity that have haunted her entire life. But what she finds in Cornwall is a devastating tragic legacy that has afflicted generations of de Greys. A legacy borne from greed and deceit, twisted by madness, and suffused with unrequited love and unequivocal rage.

You Let Me In by Camilla Bruce

Cassandra Tipp is dead...or is she? After all, the notorious recluse and eccentric bestselling novelist has always been prone to flights of fancy--everyone in town remembers the shocking events leading up to Cassie's infamous trial (she may have been acquitted, but the insanity defense only stretches so far). Cassandra Tipp has left behind no body--just her massive fortune, and one final manuscript. Then again, there are enough bodies in her past--her husband Tommy Tipp, whose mysterious disembowelment has never been solved, and a few years later, the shocking murder-suicide of her father and brother. Cassandra Tipp will tell you a story--but it will come with a terrible price. What really happened, out there in the woods--and who has Cassie been protecting all along? Read on, if you dare...

In Her Shadow by Kristin Miller

Once his secretary, Colleen is now pregnant with Michael's baby. When he brings her to his opulent estate, Ravenwood, she is abruptly thrust into a life of luxury she's never known. But Colleen finds the immense house suffused with the memory of Michael's beautiful wife, Joanna, who left months ago and who haunts her imagination. It quickly becomes apparent that there is little room for a new mistress of this house: The staff greets her with hostility, and there are entire wings and corridors from which she is prohibited to enter. Then bones are unearthed in the grove across the street. When Michael falls under the suspicion of the detectives investigating the case, the soon-to-be mother of his child finds herself hurled deeper into her boyfriend's dark past--a past that threatens to upend all her dreams. But the terrifying secrets lurking in the shadows of Ravenwood pale in comparison to the drastic measures Colleen will take to stake a claim to her new life. Inspired by Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca, In Her Shadow is the chilling story of one woman's desperate desire to be loved and the ghosts that get in her way--but only if she lets them.

Synopses pulled from goodreads.com

#fiction #gothic #gothic fiction #Reading Recs #reading recommendations #Book Recommendations #book recs #to be read #currently reading #recommended reading #booklr #booklist #library #public library #tbr #to read

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pevchpits · 4 years ago

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𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙚𝙨 "𝙘𝙝𝙪𝙘𝙠" 𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙤. 𝘤𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘩𝘦 /𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘣𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭. 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘳.

❛ I don't worry, don't worry, don't worry about people in my face I hit 'em with the style and grace, and watch their ankles break ❜

𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 . 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 . 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 . 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴 . 𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 . 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 . 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 . 𝘥𝘰𝘤. 𝘢𝘭𝘭 . 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘪𝘰 ⤵︎

𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜 𝗔𝗣𝗣.

〔 ian anthony dale, 40, cis man, he/him ) CHARLES “CHUCK” HIRANO was seen listening to BAD BAD NEWS BY LEON BRIDGES on their way to ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING. CHUCK is known to be CREATIVE & STUBBORN.

𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗦.

full name: charles hirano nicknames: chuck is his preferred name, charlie can be used on occasion birth date: september 12, 1982 hometown: born in sao paolo, brazil; raised predominantly in vancouver, british columbia, canada ethnicity: european, japanese gender: cis man sexuality: bisexual religion: agnostic occupation: environmental engineering living situation: home owner languages: english, various programming languages, fluent japanese and portuguese, conversational french, spanish, and mandarin ( chuck only has his private tutors to thank ) height: 5 ft 11 in / 1.8034 m tattoo(s)/piercing(s): none. clothing style: chuck, despite swearing that appearances mean nothing to him, likes to dress on the nicer side when he’s not on sight. a nice pair of slacks, button downs, and form fitting sweaters are some of his signature pieces. hobbies: landscaping! not even gardening particularly but landscaping is big for him. building in general ( swing-sets, tree houses, random counter spaces for the kitchen ), anything that involves spending time with his daughter. billards/pool tournaments with friends when he convinces himself he has the time. photography ( especially of his daughter ). he’s played on a few adult recreational league sports teams. reading, predominantly political and/or historical biographies/autobiographies or historical fiction.

𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜 𝗕𝗜𝗢.

Life was easy growing up: travels, nannies there to pick up the messes he would make, and tutors there to make sure, amongst all the fun, Charles Hirano was still making the grades his parents expected. His life path was set ahead, clearly lined, with no little diversions or side paths left to be traveled. After high-school, it was straight onto one of the various universities his parents had connections to in order to study business or economics, during university he would intern at his parents’ fossil-fuel company, and then when he graduated he would land a gig and climb the ladder. Take his place. Secure the family legacy.

The world may have been at his fingertips, all his for the taking as his father liked to say, but that world was small. Born and raised inside an echo chamber of his parents and their colleagues beliefs that were never challenged in the private school filled with students from families just like his, Chuck thought he had life figured out by the time he first stepped foot on his university’s campus.

His first class, an elective he chose just to fill his required credit load, was an ethics course in urban planning, and by the first week, his entire major and course plan had changed. Ethics courses replaced economics, environmental science courses replaced entrepreneurship, and engineering courses replaced e-commerce.

By the time his parents realized the switch, it was already to late. They had been too busy dealing with their own business by the time he forwarded the graduation ceremony dates, and Chuck had already snagged a job assisting the city planner and city public health commissioner of Huntsville with short-term and long-term projects for the city. It was a humble gig, and certainly not the one his parents wanted him to take, but Chuck was sold.

[ pregnancy tw ] Once in his new home, it didn’t take long for him to flourish both in his role and social life. He was a bright light with something to prove, and that caught the eyes of his superiors, friends, and who would soon become the mother of his beloved daughter. They started as just friends, as she had been dating one of their mutual friends, but one thing led to a next, and when she went through a horrible break-up, it was Chuck’s shoulder she leaned on. He thought he had found the one, even brought up marriage when he finally made enough to save up for a nice right and nice wedding, so it was the least bit alarming when she found out she was pregnant. The two were happy and excited for this next stage of their life. [ tw end ]

With the promise of marriage in the near future, a new baby girl, and a recent promotion to a full-time environmental engineer for the city, Chuck got comfortable. More effort was put on work and making sure he could build a legacy all his own for his family and eventually save up for that big wedding than on the actual relationships he was working so hard for. By the time his daughter was four, enough was enough. She had fallen out of love, and while it was never explicitly stated, Chuck knew he was the only one to blame.

Years past, and he tried harder both for himself and his daughter. He still has his moments where he’ll get too in his head: dinner will be forgotten about, he’ll be late to picking up his daughter from her mother’s, but he cares, and he’s trying and hoping one day it’ll stick.

𝗛𝗘𝗔𝗗𝗖𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗡𝗦.

- character inspiration: sandy cohen from the oc, jacob yi from minari

- feels as if he has a lot to prove, which only intensifies whenever someone finds out what his parents did and where he came from

- fell in love with design/landscaping/engineering type of work earlier than college, he just never realized it. he’d spend hours creating his own little worlds with whatever he could find around house: desert palaces in sand, mud huts with their own mini gardens, and mazes of snow tunnels feeding into various areas around the family backyard

- extremely smart but can often lack ‘common sense’ and forgets things quite easily

- can come off as a bit intense in work spaces but is very laid back in his social life. snarky and sarcastic at times ( most of the time ) sure, but especially with his daughter, chuck wants her to be able to explore and make mistakes and learn from them without the weight of “expectations”

𝗪𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗗 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦.

platonic. good pals give him a group of friends! friends that he had through his ex that are now in a bit of a awkward situation but still loving. coworkers ( chuck works for the city so anything govt, engineering, outdoorsy probably has some overlap ), fellow parents! teachers! anyone involved in adult sports teams he might’ve run into ( definitely jack-of-all-trades but master of none in sports, likes it for social aspect and competition ) familial. siblings.... we’d have to work on how they got here, but i imagine he was estranged from most of them. his daughter’s family on her mother’s side! romantic. his ex. maybe one or two dates/flings he’s had to ‘get out there’ since the break-up negative. anyone who might be turned off by his opinionated self! work rivals. anyone angry for how he treated his ex!

#sero.intro #ch. charles hirano — all.#ch. charles hirano — intro.#pregnancy tw

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thewarinourstarwars · 4 years ago

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son of rage and love: a fan sequel to landscapes with a blur of conquerors

Inspired by @kylorenvevo‘s saga and following hopeless fountain kingdom.

Three years after the plot of hopeless fountain kingdom, son of rage and love picks up with the story of Jacen Djo.

One year ago, his best friend and first love went missing one night after dreams of a past once lost to her. Now a Jedi Knight, Jacen drifts through the black of space looking for her during his patrols and missions when he answers a distress signal in the Valley of the Sith.

There, he finds a gang of tomb-raiders armed with an artifact thought to be in safe hands and a girl known as the Angel of the Dunes. Sensing a connection between the girl he lost and the Angel, he seeks her out in hopes of finding Reza, and in the process discovers a greater threat at the edge of the galaxy.

STARRING

JACEN

The Force runs strong in his family. His father has it, his mother has it, his sisters have it; he has that power, too. Jacen Solo Djo has dedicated his life to the Jedi and the Force, eschewing politics and the court for adventures in the black and a life with meaning. Recently knighted as a full-fledged member of the Jedi Order, Jacen patrols space, answering distress calls and solving disputes as requested. He works tirelessly in hopes of finding Reza Rystra, his missing first love.

His first clue in a year comes in the Valley of the Sith when he is almost killed by tomb-raiders, only to be rescued by a mysterious girl who he senses holds the key to Reza. Upon investigating the tomb-raiders and the girl who saved his life, he discovers a deeper mystery that will take him to the edge of the galaxy.

REZA She disappeared without a trace. Jacen holds close the memory of the last night he saw her, on top of the Temple of the Winged Goddess when he told her he loved her. He’d loved her when he first met her, an amnesiac with strange powers found in the Valley of the Sith. They had weathered many challenges together, including the discovery of her identity and origins in the crisis on Crseih Station.

The daughter of ancient Sith Lords, Reza has a ghost story for a pedigree and a legacy. She was slipping slowly from the land of the living before she left, with dreams of memories once lost to her. Jacen knows she left because she remembered something: but was it a threat to her new life, or the inheritance from her old one?

KAMLIN All of the archaeologists in the camp on Korriban recall the day that one of their own went missing. Kamlin Castalia was a student at the University of Corellia who had come for a semester to work on the dig site on Korriban. During her time in the barren Valley of te Sith, Kamlin reported strange dreams and a feeling as if the artifacts within the tombs were calling to her, culminating in a strange explosion of Sith magics upon recovering a mysterious crystal within the tomb of Janton Belos, a Sith Lord from the height of the Sith Empire circa the Great Hyperspace War.

While she claimed to be fine afterwards, the next morning she was missing, her tent showing signs of a struggle. A few months after, members of the team claimed to see her when tomb-raiders came, acting a guardian of the campsite only to disappear without a trace. A legend grew around these strange appearances, naming this figure the Angel of the Dunes and the ghost of Kamlin.

BASILEIA

When she was fourteen, she left home and joined a crew of Hapan privateers sponsored by her parents and explored the galaxy, seeing great wonders and great terrors alike. It was only upon witnessing the horrors on Crseih Station that Basileia Arune retired and returned home to her ducha of Miranda, rising in rank to become a lady-in-waiting to the Chume’da. She gladly served her future Queen Mother and guiding the younger princess as she entered the court as a young woman.

Three years ago, she finally confronted the abominations that pushed her into retirement, and now she secretly dreams of returning to the stars once more. When the Prince of Hapes comes to her with news of the girl she rescued years ago, Basileia leaps to accept, feeling an obligation to Reza and knowing this is the adventure she’s been secretly yearning for.

SIRIEL

After the marriage of the Chume’da, her role and those of the ladies-in-waiting have greatly diminished at court. While Siriel Jien is happy for her childhood friend and future leader, she finds herself unsure of her place and her worth as a young woman whose status is owed to the Queen Mother Kira if she is not serving her benefactor’s daughter.

Experimenting with various hobbies and taking lovers, Siriel is lost in the pleasures of the Hapan court and is yearning for purpose and love. Both come in the blink of an eye with an opportunity with the Prince of Hapes, and Siriel does not hesitate. As the adventure takes her to the end of space and time, her view of the world is tested when she realizes that her benefactor did not solve the problems she thought she had.

YUN

He knows that he is incredibly lucky, to be where he is now. Yun Vasilias was taken to Luke Skywalker after an outburst caused by the Force awakening in him as a small child. Had he been born only a few years earlier, he would have been either killed or forcibly recruited into the Knights of Ren, being the child of two Imperial officers. He secretly wishes that his parents would pay more attention to him than a message for Life Day and a birthday present and tries to act in a way that will make his family proud.

Recalling the shadow the dark side has cast onto his family, he works to uphold the Jedi Code and ensure that he only follows the lightsaber, even using a Solari crystal for his lightsaber to indicate his true alignment. He walks a difficult path but he knows it must be done and will do it to the bitter end.

GRAINNE

She was a small child when they lost the war. Of course, most of the Resistance didn’t see the end of the Galactic Civil War the same way as Grainne’s parents did. While others cheered on the treaty, they mourned for the leader they thought they knew, the princess they thought would deliver them from evil and not compromise with it. Grainne’s parents raised her with a cell of the last remainders of the Resistance, men and women who would never again live under the Imperial flag.

Grainne learned how to lie, cheat, and steal to further her cause and now works with her husband, a trained space pirate, in hopes of someday bringing the First Order to the ground.

ASLEEN

Beyond the Kothal Rift, on the little-known planet of Andowyne, the First Order never ceased their occupation. Asleen Ceridwys grew up in fear of the First Order, just as his grandparents were raised in the shadows of the Empire. Their attempts to signal the help of the Emperor have been muffled and concealed by the local government, and they have come to believe that the First Order is just as corrupt as it was in his parents’ days and in the days of the Empire. Allying with worlds like Deyer, Naboo, and others that were heartbroken by Leia’s decision in the final great battle of the war, Asleen and his young wife are pirates and members of the Amidalans as they have evolved to become the last echoes of the Resistance.

ALLANA

All her life, she was raised to lead a galaxy. Allana Djo is the Chume’da, the future Queen Mother of Hapes and Empress of the First Order. She may have been born to power, but she was also born to fight. The Chume’da is no girl in the tower or pretty little figurehead. Neither is she the cunning viper Ta’a Chume would have hoped for.

An active archaeologist and actor in galactic events, she and her husband go around the galaxy retrieving and protecting important artifacts strong with the Force while training to take Rey’s place and secure the future of the galaxy with her reign. The last echoes of the Galactic Civil Wars will die with her, or so she hopes. But politics are never as simple as they may seem.

SANSIN

He has been given a second chance beyond his wildest dreams. Sansin Koriss was brought back to life by the death of a crystal star, in a place where the Force is strong and beyond life and death, between space and time. Having finally learned to forgive and let go, he is determined to make a better world than the one he knew in his first life, and make his second chance count.

He has also come to enjoy Hapes and its finery, content to take a role as the Jedi Queen’s consort and the knight determined to carry out her will. But his past comes back to haunt him when the tomb-raiders of Korriban come into possession of an artifact his Sith master hid from the galaxy.

BREHA

Her future is as bright as the jets of her starfighter. Breha Djo is about graduate from Hapes’ flight academy on Kalidasa, and is about to be stationed at the First Order embassy on Coruscant, alongside her sweetheart Shara Tico-Dameron. A calm, confident flygirl, the New Republic and First Order militaries alike whisper about how she’s the next Luke Skywalker, sharing his gift for flying and for strategy, not to mention and considerable and practical talent with the Force. Most of all, she isn’t forced to step into the royal role many Hapans would prefer of the princess, and can keep flying free.

That is, until tensions reach a high with the Amidalans as they continue to fight for the eradication of the First Order. Breha’s infamy as a sort of successor of Luke Skywalker has drawn the attention and admiration of the Amidalans, and with them, a chance to lead Naboo. But Breha has spent her whole life eschewing royal responsibility in favor of the stars and the battlefield.

KOO

There’s always a bit of truth in legends. As the official Jedi Historian, Koo Tharen has learned that lesson well. She gathers and protects the artifacts that belonged to the Jedi and the Sith throughout the centuries, observing them and learning their stories. She knows the real danger that the Jedi are in when it is revealed that the tomb-raiders have a mole within the Jedi. She knows that their story is at a turning point, a shatterpoint, where everything will lead to what they do now. The question is, what will she do?

BRIANNA

A victim of circumstance, she goes anyway the wind blows. Brianna Carren was an orphan in the underworld of Corellia who was pulled out by the First Order during one of their raids. In First Order custody, her ability with the Force was discovered and she was given the chance to train with Luke Skywalker. Not that given her options it was really a choice, and so Brianna shuffled off. Even as she becomes an apprentice to Koo Tharen and rises as a Jedi Knight, Brianna still harbors the habits of her old life as a street rat, taking her life as she must, and going any way the wind blows.

DORIEN

She took everything from his family. Dorien Belos was only a child when his father fell, but he remembers him all too well. Grappling with the complex grief of the man who raised him, the only way out of his grief and anger that he knows is the way of revenge. When he finally enacts it on what remains of his father’s murderer, then he will be free.

COMING NOVEMBER 2020

#fic: son of rage and love #lwaboc #landscapes with a blur of conquerors #reylo #reylo son

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ariainstars · 6 years ago

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It’s Time for Rey to Grow Up

So, our all-time favourite Emperor is back, what a surprise. Or not? Why isn’t he “really gone”? What is his purpose?

Palpatine is known for his patience. He always waited until the fruit was ripe to pick. Is he after Ben Solo perhaps, now that Snoke is gone?

I don’t think so. Snoke impersonated Ben’s inner darkness, and he chose to destroy him.

Palpatine was more impressive and powerful than Snoke, more vicious, manipulating, more viscerally evil. Does anyone honestly think that he’s after our dreamy-eyed space prince? I don’t.

He’s after Rey.

Rey is extremely powerful and untrained. Ben always tried to keep her close: remember how he said “The longer she is free, the more dangerous she becomes.”

Dangerous for whom? For him? For the First Order? For herself? For the galaxy at large? He offered to be her teacher, to “show her the ways of the Force”. Luke, too, said that she needed a teacher, but he refused to apply to the task. He promised her three lessons and gave her only two.

Let’s consider these scenes.

Rey attacks a defenceless old guy. Ever the pacifist, Luke pulled the staff from her hands with the aid of the Force, lowering all his guard before her: at which she lights the sabre which used to be his and stands over him menacingly.

Rey hits Kylo over the face scarring and disfiguring him for life. She is defending herself and she’s angry because he killed the man who was a father figure for her, but how long did she know Han? Maybe a day. Contrarily to his son, who knew him all of his life and was coerced by the head of a criminal organization to prove his ultimate loyalty with an unpardonable crime.

Rey trains with the Skywalker legacy light sabre. She cuts a rock clean in half, which slides down to the cart of the hapless Caretakers. They don’t get hit by a hair’s breadth. Rey doesn’t even look down to them.

Kylo only is aggressive when he wears his mask. On meeting Rey, he does not hurt her but immobilizes her through the Force.

As their duel begins, he rotates his light sabre almost playfully. The gesture is everything but aggressive; he doesn’t look at all like someone who goes for the kill.

Snoke said that Kylo was “bested by a girl who never held a light sabre”.

Excuse me? He’s watching her in fascination. Why doesn’t he strike?! Kylo’s not losing. He’s letting her go on purpose. (Another parallel to “Beauty and the Beast”. Sorry about the trope. :-)

After the Crait battle, he could send the entire forces of the First Order after “that old piece of junk”. He’s the Supreme Leader now and he has a unique chance to destroy what little is left of the Resistance. But he just watches Rey leave, crying silently.

The Throne Room battle: Ben concentrates and meditates for a second to collect his strength.

Rey screams and attacks, aggressively.

As he meets Luke, Ben is aggressive, too, but his posture is ducked. He’s deeply conflicted although he’s meeting again with the man who pulled the rug from under his feet by first separating him from his family at young age, and then (if briefly) contemplating that to kill him would be the best solution.

In “The Rise of Skywalker” he only has a brief scene in the teaser trailer. His light sabre is ignited but instead of killing his opponent, he just shoves him to the ground.

Is that someone Palpatine would go after? I don’t think so.

What with believing (or suspecting for a long time) that Rey is Luke’s daughter, admiring her for being a kick-ass woman, and seeing a sweet cinnamon roll in her whose destiny it is to turn the villain’s heart, we are refusing to see the truth: Rey is much more aggressive and dangerous than Ben ever was.

Remember: Snoke was in Ben Solo’s mind ever since he was conceived, but he only submitted to him after his uncle’s betrayal. Aggressive? Violent? Murderous? Ben Solo rather seems someone who has endless patience. But even the most patient person snaps, if the pressure is too strong.

Rey herself said “I need someone to show me my place in all this.” Luke refused to show her that place. Ben offered her a place by his side, but she rejected him. Just try to imagine for a moment what would happen if Palpatine offered to be her master.

The Rule of Two still applies. Palpatine can’t act on his own: he needs someone by his side, and he always wanted the most powerful Force user there was. Rey doesn’t know him. Like everybody else, she believes him to be dead. And if they met, he would certainly not tell her “I’m the old Emperor”; Palpatine always had subtle means to tell half-truths in order to manipulate somebody to his own ends.

Rey comes from a desert planet, she’s an ex slave, she has no family, she’s a scavenger and mechanic. “Anakin” means “without a family” (no kin). Rey’s parallels with Luke are few: she’s much more like Anakin.

If we consider the balancing rule of the Force, “darkness rises and light to meet it”, this also goes for the contrary. Now that light has risen in Ben, dark must be rising in Rey at the same time. She just doesn’t know that yet. Rey believes she’s doing the right thing, the same trap Anakin, Luke and Ben fell into in their time. At least Ben questioned his choices; Rey never does.

The irony of the situation is that Ben is now, politically, in the role Palpatine used to be. But can anyone imagine him ruling the galaxy with an iron fist? The thought borders on ridiculous. He killed Snoke because he had abused him and Rey, not because he wanted his power.

Rey has never really let go of the past, of her illusion of the Jedi’s glory, of her desire to find a father figure; her time on Ahch-To amply showed that. Ben, who knows her mind, told her so to her face. And Palpatine used to belong to the Jedi, even if he wasn’t one; he knows everything about their ways, and about the political past of the galaxy.

Obi-Wan told Luke about the Republic from his own point of view, drawing a picture that Luke and his friends desperately tried to restore. It was assuredly better than the Empire, but watching the prequels, we see a decadent, stagnant society on the brink of its downfall, with the Jedi willing to pursue war for years to maintain the old order (i.e., keeping their power), never accepting new impulses, and merely paying lip service to their duty to compassion.

Ben was right telling Rey that the past needs to die and that the galaxy needs a new order. Maybe not the way he was imagining, with the two of them ruling: but the galaxy certainly does not need to go back to what used to be. Luke and his friends already tried to restore the past, and failed. Why? Because the system didn’t work in the first place.

Yet Palpatine is not dead. In one way or another, the old devil came back. And I’m sure he knows whom he wants to get into his claws. Not the volatile, vulnerable, insecure last scion of the Skywalker family, but the uncompromising, judgemental Force user who was never warned about the dangers of her power.

That’s why I am quite certain that Rey will not have to save Ben in Episode IX; he will have to save her. Or at least, he must try.

Remember: this is his story. The Skywalker man always becomes protagonist only in the third instalment of a trilogy, finally deciding about his own fate. Episode IX is named “The Rise of Skywalker”, which assuredly does not hint at Rey: it would be stupid to make the grand revelation “oh, she’s a daughter of Luke’s after all” now, with all that was said and done to prove she’s not.

Ben needs to finally man up, to become the hero of his own story. If anyone can save the day, it’s him and not her. Out of love for her, perhaps; but I would find it infinitely better if he also acted out of love for others. (Yes, I’m a Reylo, but I have never believed that “true love” means the girl must inspire the man to be a better person for her sake. If anything, this dynamic must be reciprocated.)

Whom will Rey trust, ultimately? Whom will she choose?

The seemingly harmless, mild-mannered father figure who Palpatine can so credibly interpret, as he already proved during the time of the old Republic?

The assuredly not saintly, but immensely preferable Supreme Leader, who has repeatedly proven that he’s the only person who understands what Rey is going through, and has always done everything in his power to protect her?

Will Rey grow up at last, or will the lure of the “Jedi’s glorious past” and of the father figure (Palpatine) be stronger than the goodwill of a man who accepts her for what she is, no matter how often she attacked him verbally and physically, or left him alone when he would most have needed her (Ben)?

Ben Solo has learned his hardest lessons. Rey’s are still to come. She can’t be that good, strong and virtuous without difficulties or consequences; it was all too good to be true. The Dark Side lurks, and it’s already calling to her. She hasn’t done evil until now, but she also never was in the same situation as Ben - trapped, isolated, manipulated. She judged him, just like she judged Luke later on; she does not know what it means to be in their shoes. And I think it’s important for her to make that experience, because she needs to learn that she has no right to look down on someone.

We never learned why Rey’s parents gave her away when she was still small. According to Ben, who read it in her mind, they sold her for drinking money. Sure, some parents are horrible. Some fans suspect that she might have unknowingly killed them through the Force, and that this was why they never came back. Which would make a lot of sense; but I believe it would make more sense to assume that they noticed their daughter’s strange powers and were frightened by them, their fear made worse by the fact that there was no Jedi around whom they could have asked for advice.

Rey means well, but she is naïve and she knows too little about her own powers, and their temptation. Ben tried to protect and instruct her from the start, and he always was honest with her. Palpatine would know how to subtly make her believe that by using her powers unconditionally she would do the right thing: her eyes would gradually turn yellow, and she wouldn’t even notice. Palpatine would assuredly not tell her that he uses the Dark Side, and he would not appear to her in his demoniac true looks. Snoke’s evil was clearly to be seen, but Palpatine has amply shown that he knows how to come off as harmless and well-meaning while operating only in his own favour. And Ben would be the only person capable of pulling her out of his trap: because he’s as strong as she is, because he knows how her mind works, and mostly, because he used to be in a similar situation.

The moment Kylo Ren took off his mask, he showed us his true face: arrogant, but ultimately harmless. Almost all the crimes we saw him commit he carried out with the mask on his face, as if he didn’t really want to see what he was doing. The only crime he committed being forced to look was Han’s murder; it also was his last. He never killed again except in self-defence.

What’s behind Rey’s mask? Rey introduced herself saying, “I’m no one.” Are you indeed, Rey? Or have you simply not taken off your own mask yet?

Luke Skywalker himself, the last and strongest of all Jedi, said that your raw power frightened him.

I know that many people dislike the sequels, but for the most part, in my experience it’s because they don’t understand them. They haven’t realized or accepted that the whole saga is a work of art in itself, not a trilogy that was good and is now being copied over and over to make money out of it. Both prequels and sequels have their own arc, their own story to tell.

A lot of viewers, both fans and antis, see Rey as Luke 2.0 (although some pretend that she’s a Mary Sue) and Kylo as Vader 2.0 (albeit grumbling that he’s a whiny sissy).

But this last trilogy is about balance. Rey cannot be the heroine and Kylo / Ben cannot be the villain. They’re both equal parts good and evil. They are not like Luke and Vader and never were meant to be. They’re characters of their own, in their own place, with their own story. The culmination of the saga is still to come. And looking at the facts, beyond prejudices and expectations, it looks like it won’t be pretty. Maybe love will see it through, but there will be the devil to pay before that - literally.

This happy ever after, still hoping it will take place, will be bitterly fought and hard-earned.

#rey #ben solo #emperor palpatine #star wars #episode IX #theory #bendemption #read more

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alexsfictionaddiction · 5 years ago

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Alex Recommends: May and June Books

I must apologise for the late arrival of this post. It should have been up days ago but I’ve been struggling to read much for the last month or so. My head has been very foggy and dark with all of the confusion, anxiety and hate that has been filling my news feeds and I’ve been filled with a desire to combat it. Before this month, I’d have run in the opposite direction from any kind of confrontation but recent events have given me the kick up the butt to actively do better. I’ve been calling out bigotry when I come across it and I’ve noticed that some people, notably my older relatives, haven’t necessarily reacted favorably to the changed, more outspoken Alex. It has been pretty daunting and I’ve worked myself up into fits of rage and tears several times over the last couple of months.

A lot of things have changed for me since my last Alex Recommends post. I’m currently temporarily living in Staffordshire with my boyfriend because my depression got too bad for me to stay at home for much longer. I missed him unbelievably much and I knew that spending some prolonged time with him would help -and it has. Both him and I have spent 12 weeks religiously following all of the rules, so we’re both extremely low-risk for catching and spreading COVID-19 and being together was something that we simply really needed to do. Please don’t hate me for it! In other news, I have also started writing again, which feels amazing. I’m now a few thousand words into a queer Rapunzel retelling that I have lots of ideas for. Maybe I’ll even post an extract or two, when I feel it’s ready to show you.

In the centre of the renewed energy of Black Lives Matter and the undeniable exposure of the horrors that is police brutality, the book blogging and BookTube worlds vowed to uplift Black voices. I wrote a very long, in-depth blog post full of Black-written books and Black book influencers. Please check it out to diversify your TBR and educate yourself on Black issues, which is what every white person should be doing now and always.

June was Pride Month and I tried my best to compile a series of recommendation posts in honour of it. These included gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, ace, pansexual and intersex lists. I’ve had some great feedback on this, so I hope you find some fantastic new reads. It felt especially poignant to put them together the same year that one of my childhood heroes came out as an ignorant trans-exclusive feminist. As a lifelong Harry Potter superfan and someone who has repeatedly publicly supported Rowling in the past, I feel the need to clarify where I now stand. I do not support or agree with a single thing that she has said in recent times with regard to transgender people. I’ve never felt my own status as a cisgender female threatened by trans people wanting more rights or believed that children or women were at risk due to their existence.

I read her words more than once and struggled to find any semblance of the woman who wrote the books that have most defined my life. I’m hesitant to say that we can always successfully separate the art from the artist but I will say that it makes sense to me that the Rowling of 2020 is not the same Rowling that wrote Harry Potter. She was a destitute single mother when Philosopher’s Stone was published in 1997 and of course, she is now a million worlds away from that lifestyle. It breaks my heart but it makes sense to me that she has changed beyond belief because her life has changed beyond belief. I’m not and never would make any excuses for her recent behaviour and I have stopped supporting her personally but I will not be getting rid of my Harry Potter books and I will undoubtedly re-read them several more times. However, I am now hugely reluctant to buy any more merchandise or special editions of the books, which saddens me but at the moment, it feels right. There is no coming back for her from this and I will make a conscious effort to keep Harry Potter and Rowling away from my future content. It can be really tough to admit that the people you once really admired aren’t great humans but it’s something that we all have to acknowledge in this case, in order to move forward with our own quests to become our best selves.

It didn’t feel right to post my May recommendations last month as I didn’t feel comfortable promoting my own content in the midst of boosting Black voices. So today I’m bringing you a bumper edition of Alex Recommends. Here are 10 books that I’ve enjoyed since the start of May that I’d love to share with you. Enjoy! -Love, Alex x

FICTION: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

Set in the affluent neighbourhood of Shaker Heights, Ohio in the 1990s, two families are brought together and pulled apart by the most intense, devastating circumstances. Dealing with issues of race, class, coming-of-age, motherhood and the dangers of perfection, Little Fires Everywhere is highly addictive and effecting. With characters who are so heartbreakingly real and a story that weaves its way to your very core, I couldn’t put it down and I’m still thinking about it over a month after finishing it.

FICTION: Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

When coding nerd Chloe Brown almost dies, she makes a list of goals and vows to finally Get A Life. So she enlists tattooed redhead handyman and biker Red to teach her how. Cute, funny and ultimately life-affirming, this enemies-to-lovers rom-com was exactly the brand of light relief that I needed this month. The follow-up Take A Hint, Dani Brown focuses on a fake-dating situation with Chloe’s over-achieving academic sister and I can’t wait to get my hands on that.

FICTION: The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore

Just before her 19th birthday at midnight on New Year’s Eve 1983, Oona Lockhart finds herself inexplicably in 2015 inside her 51-year-old body. She soon learns that every year on New Year’s Day, she will now find herself inside a random year of her life and she has no control over it. Seeing her through relationships, friendships and extreme wealth, this strange novel has echoes of Back To The Future and 13 Going On 30 with a final revelation that I certainly never saw coming.

NON-FICTION: The Five by Hallie Rubenhold

Atmospheric and engaging, The Five details the previously untold stories of Polly, Annie, Elisabeth, Kate and Mary-Jane -the women who lost their lives at the hands of Jack the Ripper. Full of fascinating research and heartbreaking accounts of what these women’s lives may have been like, Rubenhold paints a dark immersive portrait of Victorian London and gives voice to these tragic silenced lives. Although we can’t know for certain if these accounts are entirely accurate, they feel very plausible and in some ways, The Five exposes how little time has moved on, when it comes to the public portrayal of single, troubled women.

NON-FICTION: Unicorn by Amrou Al-Kadhi

From a childhood crush on Macaulay Culkin to how a teenage obsession with marine biology helped them realise their non-binary identity, Unicorn tells the story of how the obsessive perfectionist son of a strict Muslim Iraqi family became the gorgeous drag queen Glamrou. Packed full of humour, honesty and heart, this book will give you the strength and inspiration to harness what you were born with and be who you were always meant to be.

MIDDLE-GRADE: The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates by Jenny Pearson

When fact-obsessed Freddie’s grandmother dies, he discovers that the father he has never met may actually be alive and living in Wales. So he has no choice but to grab his best friends Ben and Charlie, leave his home in Andover and go to find his dad! I laughed so many times during this madcap adventure and I know the slapstick crazy humour will hit the middle-grade target audience just right. It’s also a wonderful depiction of small town Britain with a focus on the true meaning of family.

MIDDLE-GRADE: A Kind Of Spark by Elle McNicoll

When Addie learns about her hometown’s history of witch trials, she campaigns tirelessly to get a memorial for the women who lost their lives through it. This wonderfully beautiful novel gives a unique insight into the mind of an 11-year-old autistic girl with a huge heart. Busting myths about neurodiversity while tackling typical pre-teen drama, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry but most of all, you’ll close the book with a huge smile on your face.

HISTORICAL FICTION: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

In 16th century Warwickshire, Agnes is a woman with a unique gift whose relationship with a young Latin tutor produces three children and a legacy that lasts for centuries. This enchanting, all-consuming account of the tragic story of Shakespeare’s lost son, the effects that rippled through the family and the play that was born from their pain will send a bullet straight through your heart. Wonderfully researched and beautifully written, Hamnet is worth all of the hype.

HISTORICAL FICTION: The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave

When a vicious storm kills most of the men of Vardø, Norway, it’s up to the women to keep things going but a man with a murderous past is about to come down with an iron fist. At the heart of this dark tale of witch trials, grief and feminism, two women find something they’ve each been searching for within each other. Gorgeously written with a fantastically slow-burning queer romance, Kiran Millwood Hargrave’s first adult novel is an addictive, atmospheric read with a poignant, tearjerker of an ending.

SCI-FI: Q by Christina Dalcher

When one of Elena’s daughters manages to drop below the country’s desired Q number, she is sent away to one of the new state schools and Elena is about to find out something she’d really rather not know about the new system. Packed full of real social commentary and critique of life as we know it while painting a picture of how things could be even worse (yes, really!), this pulse-racing, horrifying sci-fi dystopian gripped me from the first page and refused to let me go.

#book recommendations #recommended #recommendations #may #june #books #bookworm

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inkabelledesigns · 5 years ago

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So the time has finally come to unveil one of my favorite prompts from Demon-th, Crossover! I hope you enjoy part one of my short fic, Too Many Eyes, now with 20% more cinnamon. Here’s the A03 link, but under the cut, I’ll have the story here for the rest of you to enjoy. (Don’t be fooled on A03 though, it says one chapter, but there’s another coming before the end of the year)

Summary: When one Joey Drew finds another, it can be a joyous occasion, but not every Joey is made of sunshine and rainbows, especially when power is at stake. What will become of a fusion when a dastardly old coot tries to pry at their secrets?

Credits at the beginning because darn it these peeps deserve recognition!

Characters Included:

Briefly Alluded to:

Edward @metallicartist

Magenta (Chestnut) @halfusek

Algernon @wolfheart7snow

Joy @obscurelog

Snowy, Ana, and Joy, (Frosty) @aceofintuition

Gingie and Baby Linda, (Cinnamon and Frosty) @pipesflowforeverandever

Hyde, Mary Jane, and Ivy, (Cinnamon, Chestnut, and Frosty) @startistdoodles

Giuseppe, Bella, Eliza Stein, and Belphene me, @inkabelledesigns

Sammy Lawrence, Henry Stein, Bertrum Piedmont, and Joey Drew all belong to Kindly Beast as part of the Bendy and the Ink Machine property. I do not own these characters, but this fiction does include them and my interpretations of them.

Joey Drew was a name shared by many universes. Some were kind and made honest mistakes, while others had hearts darker than the blackest of ink. But then you had cases that fell between the extremes, painted in shades of gray, and those were the cases that often found each other. For where there is a Joey Drew, there will always be a cat-like curiosity, an interest that often spirals into obsession. Such is the case with our fellow here today.

It started as an innocent slip of the tongue. The demon known as Belphene has been chatting with her contractor, just casual talk after a long business meeting, when she said “I’m grateful that you’re my Joey.” Never once had she considered that he would inquire about the realms beyond his own. He had everything he could ever want in this one, what more could he desire? That was the day Giuseppe Drew learned just what kinds of worlds existed outside of the reality he crafted.

It turned out there was a plethora of worlds to explore, all equipped with a chap that shared his proud name. And stranger still was just how aware they were! Some crossed into each other’s realms all the time, for silly things as well as serious ones. And stranger than that: they were friends. It sounded awfully narcissistic to be friends with yourself, but they were all so different, so colorful and inspired, that maybe it wasn’t so self-involved. Giuseppe had many reasons to fear and admire them. From the raw intensity of Edward’s aura to the soft and gentle joy in Polaris' smile, there was something beautiful in all of them. But one trio caught his attention, one that seemingly feared no consequences when it came to the untapped potential of magic.

Yes, of course it had to start with a spirit as bright as Gingie’s. Giuseppe had always been attracted to bright lights. Like a moth drawn to flames, he set his sights on the elder, curious. Where did his childlike wonder come from, how was it that he was so magical, so mystifying? Many a time, he considered inviting his apprentice to watch with him, sharing such visage with a young mind ought to be good for them. But he had never been good at sharing. Of course, he had a rationale, saying he’d let Bella taste true magic soon enough, once they were out of his hellscape of a studio. But alas, would it ever be true? From his ancient office, he pondered such possibilities, watching lives much happier than his own. He saw so much love and spirit in the pumpkin haired fellow, so much happiness that it threatened to burst right through his heart. If a man like Gingie could be happy, surely so could he. Surely so could his family, couldn’t they?

Giuseppe took great pleasure in watching him, especially when Snowy or Hyde were around. A very strange family they were, but between loving spouses, lovely sons and daughters, and their hearty circle of friends, it was better than anything a television station could hope to air. Through the looking glass on his desk, a stolen monocle from the great Bertrum Piedmont, he spied on everyone’s antics without making so much as a peep, no different than when he watched his prisoners. It was as though he were reading a book by a genius author, he felt a connection, like he was beginning to understand them as people, even though he’d never uttered so much as a word to them. From Magenta’s dark duality to Hyde’s grieving heart over his sick sunshines, from Snowy’s bravery and style to Algernon’s frozen soul, all the way to Joy’s ever-shifting emotions. He saw their tears, their hope, their pain, and yet something was missing. Something intimate he had not earned. For while Giuseppe thought he knew them, he could only see the surface. No different than within his studio, he couldn’t search the depths, he couldn’t see what they did not reveal.

And as to be expected from a man named Joey Drew, the more he saw happiness, the more envious he became, the more he wanted to make it his. He was jealous of just how deep their ties were. Never in his years had he felt such comradery, such a sense of family, not since his childhood days climbing trees with little Henry Stein. Some days he yearned to reveal himself, but how could he? A first impression was difficult to form, how could he make a good one when there was so much resting on his conscience? No, they’d never want him, they couldn’t understand why he’d done what he’d done, and there was no way he could hide it from them. If his own family couldn’t love him, then how could they? He’d tried so desperately to get Eliza and Bella back by his side, away from the monsters he made, but they wouldn’t return, they ran away. They were so dead set on freeing his former staff from the curse he’d placed on them. Foolish children, why wouldn’t they listen? Why didn’t they understand that there were sins for the monsters to atone for?

Then, just like a cartoon’s script, a glimmer of hope was found. It wasn’t until he saw Minty that he knew what must be done. It was him that helped him to theorize how to truly understand another. At first he’d only heard the strange name in passing, spying on the ginger-haired grandfather as he recalled such events in his journal. But eventually, he witnessed fusion for himself. And boy was it a secret to be in on! So many possibilities filled his mind the more he saw, from the bumbling Chestnut to Frosty and his overzealous amount of limbs. But no matter his watching, he couldn’t decipher the spells that merged these men together. Fate seemed to block them from view. Of course he wanted to know how it was done, fusion seemed to be the ultimate partnership. Perhaps it could be the key to getting back his legacy, his progeny. Lawrence and the others caused his daughters’ trust to slip, their view of him to change. He had to stop it before he lost his chance for good, or else he’d never be able to take back what had rightfully been his. So like any good storyteller, he hatched himself a plan, a devious, ethically questionable plan. His watching shifted, as did his empathy, from entertainment to observation. And like any good scientist, he recorded every detail that mattered, until he deduced the best candidate to give him the answers: Cinnamon.

Gingie and Hyde were an unlikely pair. What made them merge together was still unclear, but on the rare occasion they did, it was dreamlike. Gingie had even gone to the trouble of starting a small garden just for them, a quiet place to talk and bond as they tended to the blooms and spices. Sometimes, Giuseppe caught Cinnamon babysitting for Snowy and Ana, always a relaxing experience. Cinnamon brought the best out of both men and put it together like a nicely decorated cake, or maybe snickerdoodles in this case. They had tenderness, a side Hyde wasn’t usually quick to reveal. The fusion was so gentle, acting as if the world was glass, and one misstep would break it. It was like he feared what he was capable of. In some ways, it brought out the heavy heart in both of them, fears of repeating past mistakes. No one would dare call them insecure, but uncomfortable seemed to be accurate. For beneath their frilly bows and ruffles, they danced with demons, demons who knew all too well how to lead a tango. Giuseppe could relate. He didn’t feel remorse often, but when he did, it hit like a brick to the face.

It was this shared vulnerability that made Cinnamon perfect for his needs. Joey kept an eye out, always waiting for a time to get them alone. After all, he wouldn’t dare drag anyone else into this. There was no way he would let Snowy come to their rescue, nor would he let harm come to the children they cared for. As heartless as he may have seemed, even Giuseppe had standards. Though since children were clearly the key to a father’s heart, then perhaps they could help him. After all, the other path to someone’s heart is through their stomach.

It was a peaceful evening in the Drew household. Snowy and Ana had gone out for the night, while Hyde and Gingie had volunteered to babysit. After all, Mary Jane and Ivy would never pass up on a sleepover with Joy. Even baby Linda had fun when they were together. The girls could be trouble though, especially with the mischief Ivy liked to cause. So naturally, it took a super parent to keep things under control, certainly a good reason to join together. Cinnamon was the perfect guest for dress-up and tea parties, and he was equally loved by all the daughters. They had a grand old time playing and baking as he helped them to make a tollhouse pie that night.

But as all good things must come to an end, the girls eventually had to go to bed. After reading stories and singing lullabies, four little heads were tucked in tightly, a tender kiss left upon each brow. Cinnamon made his way back down the stairs, cotton candy swirls of sparkles trailed behind him to keep their dreams sweet. Like a sorcerer, he conducted with his hands and cleaned up the mess from all their fun, sweeping away spilled flour and loose chocolate chips. He crossed over to the kitchen’s kettle and smiled to himself as he brewed his favorite tea. So many lovely thoughts filled his head, his three eyes threatened to burst with joyful tears. How grateful he was, to have so much love in his life. He stood there lost in thought until the whistle of the kettle pulled him back to reality. He poured the hot water into his favorite teacup and proceeded to cut himself another piece of pie. Content, he walked over to the living room and laid back in the cozy recliner, much too small to accommodate his height. He sighed dreamily, content with their evening and ready to enjoy the fruits of their labor. He savored every last bite of that scrumptious pie. The girls had doubled the sugar when he wasn’t looking, which made it terribly grainy, but oh so sweet on the fusion’s tongue.

Though speaking of not looking, there was something amiss that failed to catch his attention. The earlier chaos in the kitchen had too many cooks around, making it difficult to notice the appearance of another. Belphene had invaded undetected to share a little extra in their recipe. It wasn’t a bad ingredient by any means, just a few drops of sleep elixir. Nothing lethal, she wouldn’t dare, just enough to make sure no one woke up before the time was right.

Clearly, the time had come. No sooner had he finished dessert, poor Cinnamon fell into a deep slumber. While visions of sugarplums danced in his head, a dark curtain hung itself over the room. An inky void slowly opened in the corner, letting a smog slip above the carpet. The demoness manifested as quietly as a mouse, mindful not to disturb any of Snowy’s interior decorating. She set her sights on the three-eyed man, her own eyes glowing softly in the darkness. Even in her regret, she was graceful, gliding soundlessly across the floor she picked them up and carried them off like a bride to a happily ever after.

If only that were their destination.

On the other side of the void, an old man tapped his foot to the ticking of the Bendy clock on his wall. His grin shone brightly under the low lights, anticipating his lovely Belphene’s return. Sure enough, she was prompt to arrive, her precious cargo snoozing away as she entered. Belphene wore a smile for Mr. Drew, carrying Cinnamon to the secret room within the office: the prison cell. Usually, it was reserved for the worst outliers in his twisted little world, but he was happy to relocate them in favor of his most treasured guest. Yes, Mr. Cinnamon would get the V.I.P. treatment, Mr. Drew was sure of that.

Once his limbs were secured to the wall, Cinnamon was left to rest for a little while longer. That part of the task was in Joey’s hands now. Belphene scurried off. She had other things to attend to. After all, it would be awfully irresponsible to leave the children without a babysitter.

Cinnamon didn’t know where they were when they awoke. Two minds were groggy and troubled as they gained consciousness in their predicament. But the minute they felt the chains that held them back, the fight for freedom began.

Thank you for reading all the way through! So glad you made it to the end. I hope you enjoyed it, and if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let me know! It always brightens my day to hear your thoughts! Hope you have a wonderful day!

#demonth #the ink demonth #bendy crossover #Joey Drew #joey gingie drew #snowy drew #joey hyde drew #giuseppe drew #cinnamon #fusion #joeyverse #violence #please tell me if there's any warnings I should tag this with #I've never been good at that and could really use your help!

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septembersung · 5 years ago

Note

WIP Writing Asks: 3, 9, 14, 18

3: How has the WIP changed between starting it and where it is now?I don’t think it’s changed in fundamentals? My ideas of how to execute those fundamentals continue to look a little different as I go along, because I keep trying very different narrative voices/approaches. It has a different flavor depending on which aspect of the story I’m focusing on at the moment, because I have trouble reconciling all of them in my mind, like the technology, and the religious aspect, and the political dystopia, and the home/farm/family struggles, and Anna-Lucia’s personal issues and growth. I think that reconciliation will only come when all the different bits are actually written and layered together.

9: Who is your favourite character to write?I’ve been trying to write Anna-Lucia’s part primarily, so of course she’s the most real to me, and I’m the most invested. I’m afraid the other two protagonists (Hannah, in the past, and Hope, in the future,) are going to stay feeling flat, because I’m just not as invested in them yet; at the moment they exist only to support Anna-Lucia’s story. I will be committed to them, eventually, or they won’t actually be part of the story; but I wish they were as clear and real and immediate to me. Part of that is the lack of context for them; I don’t see their worlds as clearly, whereas the stakes for Anna-Lucia are clear, and were part of the original motivation of the novel. So of course she’s clearer and more emotionally gripping.

I have been surprised over the last couple weeks how much I enjoyed writing Andrew and Leah, her father and grandmother. In the dates I have currently set, Leah is from my generation, assuming millennials live to a ripe old age, which was a bit startling to realize. I’ve made some changes, since I wrote the initial chapters I just posted, to Andrew’s inner life, which I think will make him even more fun. Her uncles’ personalities are becoming more clear to me, too, and that has been super interesting. The biggest surprise was my one scene with her traitorous aunt, which was a blast. I didn’t know she was going to be sympathetic. And the writing there felt closer to what I want as writing. (Not there - but, closer-enough to be pleasingly startling.)

14: Tell us about an upcoming scene in your WIP, that you’re excited about.I need to do a scene that just establishes the family relationships and their home, with as little intrusion from technology and politics as possible. It’ll be there, necessarily, but it has to be subordinate. I need to free myself up to write the “literary” part, instead of trying to move the plot along at three major points per page. I’ve identified that as a huge handicap of mine: my brain is so far ahead of where the words are, that I have trouble separating the time it takes to really do a good scene from the speed that, say, a reader would have in reading the whole book. If that makes any sense. It does in my head. Anyway I already know that these “chapters” I’ve been writing are going to be all scrambled and merged in the first revision, but for the moment I’m going to plod along chronologically, for my own sanity, and one of the next scenes I’m going to write is going to be just the family, at their annual summer reunion, doing family things, and the goal is to make the reader care about this place and them and why they’re attached to it.

18: Give a brief character description of your main characters.Anna-Lucia is a late-twenties, single, leave-me-alone-already kind of woman. She appreciates the resistance (which doesn’t yet have a better name) to the dystopian government and understands in part what she loves most in life (her family farm) is dependent on it, but mostly she just wants to be left to farm and live her life. Because I’m uncertain about how I want her to be in the larger community and what I want her relationships to be like, at the moment she’s kind of a shy, uncomfortable, anti-social presence, but as I figure out her context and bring it to life, her personality will reveal itself better.

Hannah is the founding mother of the family farm, and lives through her journals, which Anna-Lucia begins to read early on, and becomes a major part of the story in her own right. Her life is the type, as it were, of her family’s life that follows: the pioneer who braved the unknown, the isolation, the dangers, and the hardships in pursuit of the American dream: making a home for yourself and a better life for your children by the sweat of your brow and the grace of God. She’ll be a foil and challenge, and eventually inspiration, for Anna-Lucia, and comfort and guiding light to Hope.

Hope is the ship-born child, Anna-Lucia’s granddaughter, who carries on (she thinks alone) the family heritage and dreams. She’s the one caught in the middle: she can expect to live the best part of her life on the ship, in exile, a holding pattern, treading water. She will, with her community, face the tough choices about building a new civilization and, at one point, where to direct the ship: they can go back to Earth - or push on to the original destination And it’ll be a very complicated choice, pragmatically and politically. She’s the one who will have to shoulder, practically from birth, the realization that her “choices” for her life are extremely limited, if they exist at all, and that what she might “want” is essentially irrelevant. As she wrestles with that, she’ll have Anna-Lucia’s journals, which will give us a glimpse into how Anna-Lucia dealt with the wrenching tragedy of her youth and her old age in exile. We’ll see Hope throughout her life (as the plan currently stands), from young girl to old woman. It will be her children who have a chance for life on solid ground, and her grandchildren who will have the hope and chance to put their feet on Earth again. Hope is the one who will have to manage the legacy, in all its awfulness and glory, of the past, and guide the direction of the future. Her choices will set the shape and tone of a big swath of humanity for generations to come. And that’s kind of a lot to grow into and deal with.

There are plenty of men characters in the story and they’re very important, but it was important to me, narratively and honestly as a writer, to follow the matrilineal line, so when it comes to what I’m currently writing and summaries, it sounds like the cast is all-woman. I want my three primary narrators to have the not just the bond of blood, but the bond of womanhood. We’re not following just a family "name,” which of course changes from Hannah’s time on as marriages and quirks of succession happen, but a particular lineage of spirit and grit and grief, from mother to daughter to granddaughter, even if they’re separated by quite a few generations.

#the next great american space novel #writing out that last question was SO HELPFUL i'm so glad you asked #my writing life #fictionadventurer #conversations

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obsidianarchives · 5 years ago

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The Importance of Creating Worlds for Young Black Readers

**This piece contains SPOILERS for Children of Virtue and Vengeance and Daughters of Nri.

The field of fantasy in the fiction world has predominantly been comprised of white writers. While many authors, like Kai Ashante Wilson and N.K. Jemisin, worked hard to break down that barrier, we're just starting to see an increase in the number of diverse authors coming into the field and bringing their African roots with them. This transition is essential in our modern society to provide more representation not just for Black people but also for our traditions and rich history. From Lagos to Wakanda, a fusion of the past and newly created stories has merged into an explosion of love, launching a journey of rediscovery for Black people.

Authors like Tomi Adeyemi (Legacy of Orisha trilogy) and Reni K. Amayo (Daughters of Nri), have successfully introduced Nigerian heritage in their writing; Adeyemi honours the Yorùbá tribe, while Amayo pays homage to the Igbo tribe, thus allowing our culture to exist and thrive within the fantasy realm. While we can't ignore our history and the excruciating ordeals of our ancestors, slavery has become the depiction of the African Diaspora, and unfortunately, portrays the absence of excellence which is reductive to our accomplishments. Books like Brown Girl Dreaming celebrate the eloquent poetry of Jacqueline Woodson and her interpretation of the Civil Rights movement era. A great example of how fiction allows us to retain our past and provides a platform for writers to create new worlds young Black readers want to exist in.

Adeyemi's debut novel Children of Blood and Bone features a character named Amari, a princess in the mythical kingdom of Orïsha, where her father’s tyrannical rule plagues their land. In the first book of the trilogy, Zélie, the protagonist, was my favourite, however after reading the second in the series, Children of Virtue and Vengeance, I found myself rooting for Amari, her best friend, more. I was very invested in her character development throughout the story, as she transitioned from a timid girl into a warrior with newly discovered magical powers.

As the story develops, Amari struggles with her father's legacy as she tries to do what's best for Orïsha. She strives to put the kingdom’s needs before her own, struggling to forge a new path as she fights to become queen. Readers begin to notice how her father's teachings and brutal training affect her decision making, inadvertently putting the people she's closest to at risk. Born a noble, Amari found it hard to empathise with Iyika — the maji resistance group — due to her tunnel-visioned approach to defeating their rivals in battle. In an attempt to gain loyalty and respect from them, she challenges an elder in the camp, and although she wins, they still refused to acknowledge her.

Over time Amari reflects on the tough decisions her father had to make as King, leading her to deviate from her original plan. Eventually, she chooses to sacrifice the lives of residents at a nearby village in a ploy to defeat her family, thus putting a further strain on her friendship with Zélie. The cause of the divide stems from Amari's desire to rule Orïsha as a better queen, after the manifestation of her magical powers in the ritual that concluded the previous book.

As she emerges as a tîtán — nobles with magic ancestry — Amari is keen to use her magic for good, but her new abilities come without a manual, and so she lacks the knowledge of the Yorùbá tradition required to harness and control it. We later discover that majis and tîtáns differ in the way they use their magic; while majis rely on spells to activate their powers, tîtáns are not bound by them since they possess blood magic in their veins. Moreover, having this unlimited access to these powers causes Amari to unintentionally hurt others when driven by rage, something she and other tîtáns had to work on when training with chants recited by the maji. She relied heavily on her instincts and advice from maji clan leaders in her quest to become queen.

Likewise, in the Return of the Earth Mother series, Amayo focuses on the self-discovery and journey of twin sisters separated at birth for their protection. Both born with magical powers unknown to them, Naala and Sinai encounter several obstacles that prompt them to question their existence and the rules plaguing their communities. I liked that although the main protagonists are twins, Amayo wrote each character with distinctive personalities in a complementing way that allows both individuals to learn from each other.

The ruler of their kingdom, Eze, has hunted down sets of twins over time to prevent a prophecy foreshadowing that his reign would be ended by one. In the Igbo spiritual realm, Chukwu is the supreme spirit that created the universe and creator of the Mother, birthing life on earth. The Eze is now in possession of the Mother’s crystal that gives him unlimited access to unimaginable power, but only a type of being can access it. So, an onus falls on the girls to use their magic as demi-gods to defeat him.

In the early chapters of the story we meet Naala, due to get married in an hour. Still wearing her bridal gown, she hesitates and ponders what life would look like outside the village. Naala, raised on the outskirts of Nri is the more courageous and feisty twin, constantly questions the decisions and customs of the villagers, consequently resulting in punishment for her defiance. Her lack of discipline in decision-making is also mirrored in her magical abilities as she struggles to control her powers. Initially, her magic is sparked accidentally and is often triggered when her mind is in a chaotic state, so, though it frightened her initially, it almost acts as an anchor to keep her internally grounded.

As the story unfolds, we learn that though Naala has lived in the village all her life, she never belonged there. She sensed that a part of her was missing and following an attack against her people, she makes the brave decision to run away, and embarks on a journey with her companions, as she attempts survival outside her comfort zone. Likewise, her sister Sinai learns more about the complexity of nobles and their way of life before fleeing the royal city on a quest for survival, not knowing how her life is about change.

Unlike Naala, Sinai lives in the city of Nri, several miles from the village. She displays a certain naivety to the actions of nobles within the palace and shies away from attention. Over time she learns that to prevail in her trials she has to completely surrender to her purpose, and being her authentic self informs her decisions.

This story of survival incorporates the values and experiences many young women face today because as we get older, we make more difficult choices in life. Inspiring stories like these can help us get through them. We need more magical books that present real models to inspire, inform and empower the younger generation in a world where they may have to try twice as hard to excel. For younger kids, in particular, our history needs to be presented in a digestible form and not so full of struggle and pain to the extent of trauma, so a fictional version is required. When certain characters in the story encounter problems, readers get to experience this journey with them and, as such, learn how they approach it rather than reading about them as facts and figures. Powerful young women like Naala and Sinai and Amari and Zélie encourage other young Black people through their stories and teach them to reach for the stars and realise their potential.

It's here, and it's working. But we need more of it!

#Black Girl Magic #Children of Blood and Bone #Daughters of Nri #Fantasy #Books

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protectblackchildren · 6 years ago

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OVERLOOKED

These remarkable black men and women never received obituaries in The New York Times — until now. We’re adding their stories to our project about prominent people whose deaths were not reported by the newspaper.

Since 1851, The New York Times has published thousands of obituaries, capturing the lives and legacies of people who have influenced the world in which we live.

But many important figures were left out.

Overlooked reveals the stories of some of those remarkable people.

We started the series last year by focusing on women like Sylvia Plath, the postwar poet; Emma Gatewood, the hiking grandmother who captivated a nation; and Ana Mendieta, the Cuban artist whose work was bold, raw and sometimes violent. We added to that collection each week.

Now, this special edition of Overlooked highlights a prominent group of black men and women whose lives we did not examine at the time of their deaths.

Many of them were a generation removed from slavery. They often attempted to break the same barriers again and again. Sometimes they made myth out of a painful history, misrepresenting their past to gain a better footing in their future. Some managed to achieve success in their lifetimes, only to die penniless, buried in unmarked graves. But all were pioneers, shaping our world and making paths for future generations.

We hope you’ll spread the word about Overlooked — and tell us who else we missed.

Read about the project��s first year, and use this form to nominate a candidate for future Overlooked obits.

1907-1960

Gladys Bentley

A gender-bending blues performer who became 1920s Harlem royalty.

BY GIOVANNI RUSSONELLO

When it comes to loosening social mores, progress that isn’t made in private has often taken place onstage.

That was certainly the case at the Clam House, a Prohibition-era speakeasy in Harlem, where Gladys Bentley, one of the boldest performers of her era, held court.

1867-1917

Scott Joplin

A pianist and ragtime master who wrote “The Entertainer” and the groundbreaking opera “Treemonisha.”

BY WIL HAYGOOD

When Scott Joplin’s father left the North Carolina plantation where he had been born a slave, there was one thing he wanted to hold on to: the echoes of the Negro spirituals he had heard in the fields. In those songs he found a sense of uplift, hope and possibility.

In the post-Civil War era, the cruel breath of slavery and the aborted plan of Reconstruction still hung over the American South. But in the Joplin home, banjo and fiddle music filled the family’s evenings, giving the children — Scott in particular — a sense of music’s power to move.

1834-1858

Margaret Garner

In one soul-chilling moment, she killed her own daughter rather than return her to the horrors of slavery.

BY REBECCA CARROLL

Margaret garner, who was born as an enslaved girl, almost certainly did not plan to kill her child when she grew up and became an enslaved mother.

But she also couldn’t yet know that the physical, emotional and psychological violence of slavery, relentless and horrific, would one day conspire to force her maternal judgment in a moment already fraught with grave imperative.

1878-1932

Major Taylor

A world champion bicycle racer whose fame was undermined by prejudice.

BY RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD

More than 100 years ago, one of the most popular spectator sports in the world was bicycle racing, and one of the most popular racers was a squat, strapping man with bulging thighs named Major Taylor.

He set records in his teens and was a world champion at 20. He traveled the globe, racing as far away as Australia, and amassed wealth among the greatest of any athlete of his time. Thousands of people flocked to see him; newspapers fawned over him.

1905-2001

Zelda Wynn Valdes

A fashion designer who outfitted the glittery stars of screen and stage.

BY TANISHA C. FORD

More than a half century before a “curvy” model made the cover of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, and before hashtags like #allbodiesaregoodbodies, there was a designer who knew that it was the job of clothes to fit the woman, not vice versa.

Zelda Wynn Valdes was a designer to the stars who could fit a dress to a body of any size — even if she had to do so just by looking at the client. “I only fit her once in 12 years,” Valdes told The New York Times in 1994 of her long-time client Ella Fitzgerald, “I had to do everything by imagination for her.” Valdes would simply look at Fitzgerald in the latest paper, noting any changes in her full-figured body, and would design the elaborate gowns — with beads and appliques — that she knew Fitzgerald loved.

1941-1970

Alfred Hair

A charismatic businessman who created a movement for Florida’s black artists.

BY GORDON K. HURD

“Well-Known Artist Alfred Hair Slain,” read the headline in The Fort Pierce News Tribune newspaper in Florida.

But before he was killed in a barroom brawl on Aug. 9, 1970, at just 29, Hair had become more than just an artist. With his drive, charisma and business acumen, he helped start a collective of Floridian artists, all African-American, who painted vibrant landscapes of their home state. They would later come to be known as The Florida Highwaymen, or more simply The Highwaymen.

1912-1967

Nina Mae McKinney

An actress who defied the barrier of race to find stardom in Europe.

BY ANITA GATES

About 20 minutes into “Hallelujah,” Hollywood’s first all-sound feature with an all-black cast, Nina Mae McKinney appeared on screen as Chick, a singer and dancer, in a sexy flapper dress.

She had flashing eyes, an armful of jangly bracelets, and no qualms about cheating a handsome young cotton farmer out of the money he had just gotten for his family’s crop.

1856-1910

Granville T. Woods

An inventor known as the ‘Black Edison.’ He found that recognition came at a hefty price.

BY AMISHA PADNANI

He carefully sealed the drawings in a mailing tube and quietly placed them out of sight from his business partner, then went to a meeting.

But when he returned, Granville T. Woods found that his drawings — a design for a novel invention that held the potential to revolutionize transportation around the world — were gone.

1884-1951

Oscar Micheaux

A pioneering filmmaker prefiguring independent directors like Spike Lee and Tyler Perry.

BY MONICA DRAKE

Almost as soon as you settle in to watch the 1939 melodrama “Lying Lips,” you can figure out who is the victim, who is the villain and who is the hero. And even if you know how it all will end, you want to watch anyway.

That was the beauty of the filmmaker Oscar Micheaux. He made you want to soak up the exuberance he clearly felt in delivering a whole new way of telling stories.

1814-1907

Mary Ellen Pleasant

Born into slavery, she became a Gold Rush-era millionaire and a powerful abolitionist.

BY VERONICA CHAMBERS

When the abolitionist John Brown was hanged on Dec. 2, 1859, for murder and treason, a note found in his pocket read, “The ax is laid at the foot of the tree. When the first blow is struck, there will be more money to help.” Officials most likely believed it was written by a wealthy Northerner who had helped fund Brown’s attempt to incite, and arm, an enormous slave uprising by taking over an arsenal at Harpers Ferry in Virginia. No one suspected that the note was written by a black woman named Mary Ellen Pleasant.

In 1901, an elderly Pleasant dictated her autobiography to the journalist Sam Davis. As Lynn Hudson writes in the book “The Making of ‘Mammy Pleasant’: A Black Entrepreneur in Nineteenth-Century San Francisco,” Pleasant told Davis, “Before I pass away, I wish to clear the identity of the party who furnished John Brown with most of his money to start the fight at Harpers Ferry and who signed the letter found on him when he was arrested.” The sum she donated was $30,000 — almost $900,000 in today’s dollars.

1827-1901

Elizabeth Jennings

Life experiences primed her to fight for racial equality. Her moment came on a streetcar ride to church.

BY SAM ROBERTS

Because she was running behind one Sunday morning, Elizabeth Jennings turned out to be a century ahead of her time.

She was a teacher in her 20s, on her way to the First Colored American Congregational Church in Lower Manhattan, where she was the regular organist, when a conductor ordered her off a horse-drawn Third Avenue trolley and told her to wait for a car reserved for black passengers.

1876-1917

Philip A. Payton Jr.

A real estate magnate who turned Harlem into a black mecca.

BY ADEEL HASSAN

“Human hives, honeycombed with little rooms thick with human beings,” is how a white journalist and co-founder of the N.A.A.C.P., Mary White Ovington, described the filthy tenements that black New Yorkers were relegated to at the turn of the 20th century.

As more rural Southerners arrived in the city, the teeming Manhattan slums in which African-Americans were living had become the most densely populated streets in the city, nearly 5,000 people per block, according to one count, as landlords rented almost exclusively to white tenants.

1857-1924

Moses Fleetwood Walker

The first black baseball player in the big leagues, even before Jackie Robinson.

BY RICHARD GOLDSTEIN

When Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, becoming the first African-American player in modern major league baseball, he was not only a trailblazer in the sports world, but an inspiring figure in the modern civil rights movement.

But Robinson was not the first ballplayer in the long history of big league baseball known to be an African-American. That distinction belongs to Moses Fleetwood Walker.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/obituaries/black-history-month-overlooked.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

#Emma Gatewood #Gladys Bentley #Scott Joplin #Margaret Garner #Major Taylor #Zelda Wynn Valdes #Alfred Hair #Nina Mae McKinney #Granville T. Woods #Oscar Micheaux #Mary Ellen Pleasant #Elizabeth Jennings #Philip A. Payton Jr.#Moses Fleetwood Walker #Ana Mendieta #NYT

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