#the only thing i want out of gladiatorial media is some kind of awareness of intersections of power and spectacle at play with the body

[brother-emperors]

have you seen the new show those about to die? is there any degree of accuracy to it or is it just silly murdercamp fun

I’m waiting until November to watch it so I can do Gladiator II and Those About To Die at the same time. I also don’t watch historical drama for historical accuracy, historical fact isnt even the main thing I judge a show for. it’s maybe the fourth or fifth thing I think about.

[dzamie]

Fuckton of OC questions: Kenneth

Questions from @liaraliara‘s post here. Doing these for Kenneth, will do more for other characters eventually, whether y’all want me to or not.

1. What’s their full name? Why was that chosen? Does it mean anything? His full name is “Kenneth Oberon Brighton” has little to do with anything. Dzamie killed his last rival, and I just needed one with more staying power. And possibly a hint of questionable occasional necromancy, just in case. His middle and last name rarely come up, but his middle name is after the fairy king because he’s very good with magic, and his middle and last initials are because “haha his name is Ken O.B.”

2. Do they have any titles? How did they get them? He currently has High Mage (very powerful red magic), Elite Dragonslayer (self-explanatory), Katul’s Bane (near-singlehandedly wiped out several key positions during a war), and is currently Dzamie’s Rival (self-explanatory).

3. Did they have a good childhood? What are fond memories they have of it? What’s a bad memory? Yeah, grew up in a moderately well-off household. His fondest memories are from watching gladiatorial fights from time to time, and several events while in the dragonslaying academy, including his first kill and when he and a couple of friends woke up early to see how many people would fall for a bucket of water over some doors. Total sodden count: 5 humans, 2 Katul, and one very angry dragon. One of the Katul was Dzamie; neither Kenneth nor he knows the other was involved in any way.

4. What is their relationship with their parents? What’s a good and bad memory with them? Did they know both parents? They don’t really approve of his opinions about Katul, and believe the dragonslaying academy irreversibly corrupted their happy, bright-eyed son into a wary man with a sharp gaze. Doesn’t stop them from inviting him over for the holidays, or him from accepting the invitation every year, though it can get a little tense from time to time.

5. Do they have any siblings? What’s their names? What is their relationship with them? Has their relationship changed since they were kids to adults? No siblings.

6. What were they like at school? Did they enjoy it? Did they finish? What level of higher education did they reach? What subjects did they enjoy? Which did they hate? He was a bit of a prankster, but somehow kept escaping punishment, and eventually graduated at the top of his class. He was never really a fan of humanities subjects, and loved pretty much anything involving killing dragons.

7. Did they have lots of friends as a child? Did they keep any of their childhood friends into adulthood? He knew a few others who shared his mischievous nature at the time, but many drifted away, and several have been killed by dragons.

8. Did they have pets as a child? Do they have pets as an adult? Do they like animals? Used to have a dog, left the dog with his parents. Dog is presumably dead by now.

9. Do animals like them? Do they get on well with animals? He’s not particularly good or bad with animals. Snakes don’t like him, though.

10. Do they like children? Do children like them? Do they have or want any children? What would they be like as a parent? Or as a godparent/babysitter/ect? He doesn’t really feel strongly one way or another, but knows his lifestyle is inherently too dangerous to have kids near for long.

11. Do they have any special diet requirements? Are they a vegetarian? Vegan? Have any allergies? He’s allergic to catnip.

12. What is their favourite food? Cheeseburgers, medium-well.

13. What is their least favourite food? He’s not a fan of cannibalism, and as such no longer sneaks a bite from Dzamie’s or HM’s plates, no matter how appetizing they look. Just in case.

14. Do they have any specific memories of food/a restaurant/meal? At an event, one dish was made with dragon meat. HM had brought his own food as well; he and Kenneth spent an awful lot of time trying to outsmug each other, knowing full well that the other knew what they were eating.

15. Are they good at cooking? Do they enjoy it? What do others think of their cooking? He can cook... spaghetti and basic sandwiches. Claims to know some good recipes for Katul, but the only ones who’d take him up on that offer figure they can prepare it better.

16. Do they collect anything? What do they do with it? Where do they keep it? Collects the horns of dragons he kills. Neither he nor Dzamie knows the other does this. They’re kept in a proper magical subspace pocket, which happens to make it nearly immune to theft.

17. Do they like to take photos? What do they like to take photos of? Selfies? What do they do with their photos? He started a habit of taking pictures of weird or interesting things that he might normally not notice, as a way of practicing general awareness.

18. What’s their favourite genre of: books, music, tv shows, films, video games and anything else CYOA, ragtime, whatever QI counts as, cheesy horror, and fighting game respectively.

19. What’s their least favourite genres? Romance, vocaloid, reality TV, romance, and platformers

20. Do they like musicals? Music in general? What do they do when they’re favourite song comes? He’s not really into music.

21. Do they have a temper? Are they patient? What are they like when they do lose their temper? Fuck yes he does. His magic draws on and reinforces anger and hatred. He’s often quick to lose his temper, which generally manifests a destructive magical aura around him if he doesn’t focus it at something or someone.

22. What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back? He mostly just swears.

23. Do they have a good memory? Short term or long term? Are they good with names? Or faces? He has a scary good recollection of just about anything that could be used to more efficiently kill Katul and dragons. Also, he remembers voices and faces well, but takes a while for names.

24. What is their sleeping pattern like? Do they snore? What do they like to sleep on? A soft or hard mattress? Nobody’s actually sure if he sleeps regularly. Dream has confirmed that he does, occasionally, go to sleep, but doesn’t know if this is regular or induced behavior.

25. What do they find funny? Do they have a good sense of humour? Are they funny themselves? He laughs at shaggy dog stories and at seeing the destruction of his enemies. He’s not conventionally funny, but he’s good at making himself laugh, usually via the second method.

26. How do they act when they’re happy? Do they sing? Dance? Hum? Or do they hide their emotions? Probably has a bit of a spring in his step from his recent victorious fight. He’s more likely to keep his sparring with Dzamie to the verbal realm, rather than physical and/or magical.

27. What makes them sad? Do they cry regularly? Do they cry openly or hide it? What are they like they are sad? He kinda turns all sadness into anger.

28. What is their biggest fear? What in general scares them? How do they act when they’re scared? A visibly angry Dzamie scares him, as do a couple of well-known but civilized dragons. He’s also scared of his parents disowning him, but realizes this is an unrealistic fear (though that doesn’t stop fears).

29. What do they do when they find out someone else’s fear? Do they tease them? Or get very over protective? Fears are for tactically exploiting.

30. Do they exercise? Regularly? Or only when forced? What do they act like pre-work out and post-work out? Nothing really planned or structured, but fighting Dzamie is often quite the workout. He’s usually rather upset going into it, and either exhausted or deceased afterwards.

31. Do they drink? What are they like drunk? What are they like hungover? How do they act when other people are drunk or hungover? Kind or teasing? He no longer drinks, after Dream sent him a certain picture of himself, drunk, after he’d recovered. He and she are the only two who know what the picture is of.

32. What do they dress like? What sorta shops do they buy clothes from? Do they wear the fashion that they like? What do they wear to sleep? Do they wear makeup? What’s their hair like? Well-fitting, somewhat elastic t-shirt, and a pair of shorts or slacks - offers him freedom of movement, since his lifestyle sees him in sudden fights rather often. Kenneth usually sleeps in the buff, but has several sets of pajama bottoms that he’ll wear a t-shirt with if he’s a guest or has a guest.

33. What underwear do they wear? Boxers or briefs? Lacey? Comfy granny panties? Red or black boxers.

34. What is their body type? How tall are they? Do they like their body? Lean and fit. He’s a couple inches shy of 6′, and likes his body.

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure? His guilty pleasure is definitely his collection of dragon/human vore media. It’s better-protected than anything else he has. His less-than-guilty pleasure is Dream. 

36. What are they good at? What hobbies do they like? Can they sing? He’s good at killing Katul and dragons, and has nigh-unparalleled physical and magical offenses. His hobby is whittling, though generally he just makes sticks into pointy sticks.

37. Do they like to read? Are they a fast or slow reader? Do they like poetry? Fictional or non fiction? He likes to read some things, especially historical accounts of military strategy. It’s slow going, though. Fiction is nice, but he believes poetry to be too pretentious.

38. What do they admire in others? What talents do they wish they had? He tends to admire mostly physical beauty. Kenneth is very envious of Dzamie’s mana regeneration.

39. Do they like letters? Or prefer emails/messaging? Letters, since those can be sent via magical means and keep their properties, unlike digital messaging.

40. Do they like energy drinks? Coffee? Sugary food? Or can they naturally stay awake and alert? Nope. He’s just naturally alert.

41. What’s their sexuality? What do they find attractive? Physically and mentally? What do they like/need in a relationship? Completely straight. He’s got a thing for large boobs and dark hair, but hasn’t really formed any mental preferences.

42. What are their goals? What would they sacrifice anything for? What is their secret ambition? He seeks power, physical, magical, and to an extent political. Kenneth would sacrifice nearly anything for the ability to massively increase his power.

43. Are they religious? What do they think of religion? What do they think of religious people? What do they think of non religious people? He’s aware of deities, but doesn’t worship any, as he figures he doesn’t want to worship anyone who’d let Dzamie - the annoyingly resiliant Katul - and HM - the wicked dragon who kills all attempted slayers - continue to exist.

44. What is their favourite season? Type of weather? Are they good in the cold or the heat? What weather do they complain in the most? He finds winter very pretty, and likes that his fire magic reduces its effect on him while still hampering dragons he might be trying to slay.

45. How do other people see them? Is it similar to how they see themselves? He is a picture of strength, but tends to intimidate people.

46. Do they make a good first impression? Does their first impression reflect them accurately? How do they introduce themselves? If he tries, he makes a good first impression. Though, if he doesn’t prepare himself beforehand, he comes off as dismissive.

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event? He will find something to do instead of going to those occasions. If forced to go, he looks for someone he knows to talk or just whatever for the entire time; this someone is usually Dzamie, who’s there either for his own reasons or by the winds of chaos. Kenneth has inadvertently stopped several highly valuable things being stolen in this manner.

48. Do they enjoy any parties? If so what kind? Do they organise the party or just turn up? How do they act? What if they didn’t want to go but were dragged along by a friend? See above; he mostly only interacts with others if there’s a thing he’s interested in going on.

49. What is their most valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to take everywhere with them? His dragonslayer’s sword and shield. He’s not sentimental in the slightest. He doesn’t take anything in particular, but usually has at least one mana crystal on him just in case.

50. If they could only take one bag of stuff somewhere with them: what would they pack? What do they consider their essentials? Honestly, I have no idea. He’d probably go for basic wilderness survival things and a few charged mana crystals.