#unrelated but anyone single who hates wearing ties?

[maghrabiyya]

A friend posted this and said it was OK to share the text but no attribution, so these words are not mine.

"READ EVERY SINGLE WORD:

—If you are livestreaming a protest, and you are recording yourself, or taking selfies, instead of documenting information: you are not an ally. You are a tourist.

—Cover your face. Cover your hair. Cover your tattoos. Wouldn’t want to have any surfaces exposed that could get coronavirus.

—Protect your identity. Obscure your face. There are bad actors on the internet that would love to identify you and track you down for participating in a peaceful protest. Want to feel paranoid? Read about the mysterious deaths of identified Ferguson protestors years later. If you are in the privileged majority, this might be your first time realizing that there are violent people out there who want to hunt you down and harm you for existing. Imagine how POC feel.

—Unless your phone is inside a faraday cage, or you have removed the battery, it can be tracked. Yes, even in airplane mode.

—Assume all information transmitted from your phone is being intercepted by the police at the protest. Including your livestream. Oakland once had one of the largest inventories of Stingray devices (communciations intercept towers) in the US. They used them extensively against Occupy.

—Friendly reminder, your license plate is being scanned and tracked most places you drive.

—Disable your fingerprint or facescan unlock. While it is theoretically true that a search warrant is required to search your phone, it is also theoretically illegal for the police to murder an unarmed and nonviolent citizen. Use a six digit or more passcode.

—Backups to the cloud. Things tend to get broken at protests.

—Do not publicly display your teargas neutralizing spray, or peperspray neutralizing spray. You might be targeted. Keep it discrete and ready for use.

—Document any people showing up in Hawaiian shirts. Document anyone suspected of being undercover cops. Document agent provocateurs. Document bad actors showing up just to destroy property.

—If you have an Iphone, learn how to use your emergency sos. You can set your Emergency SOS to notify your family you might be being arrested or kidnapped (if it is safe for you to activate this feature). You can also disable the call 911 feature in Emergency SOS. Activating this feature also locks your phone against anything but a passcode unlock. If your phone is also encrypted, it is very hard for someone to illegally break into your phone.

—Write your emergency contact on your body in sharpie, somewhere both out of view and where it will not sweat off. Or memorize it. You will not have access to your cellphone if you are arrested (whether wrongfully or not).

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. Hot hands gloves, or Nomex flight gloves, can be used to pick up hot objects on the ground, if you need to throw a teargas grenade away from you.

—Highpowered lasers, not usually the pocket kind, can destroy the sensors on cameras. Be careful with your cameras out there.

—If your goggles have vents, they are vulnerable to teargas and pepperspray.

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. A set of allen keys can sometimes unlock crowd control gates.

—Remember that Neonazis have driven cars into peaceful protests in the past. There is finally a use for all those lyft/lime/uber bikes and scooters. Bring them to the protest and use them to as roadblocks if necessary to prevent cars from driving into protestors or chasing them.

—Umbrellas can be useful in preventing bad actors from hitting you with some projectiles during an otherwise peaceful protest. They also help protect identity.

—If you are a white ally: listen. Don’t make the protests about you. There are already literal Nazis doing that.

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. It has already been noted on multiple organizing boards for white supremacist groups that a protest they’ve whipped into a riot is the perfect place to murder someone with impunity, and even kidnap people. Read up on how to escape from zipties. Bring medical shears or small snips to cut them.

—If you are arrested, identify yourself. Have your ID. Do your best to show the officer that you are peaceful and not resisting arrest. Say nothing else at all without a lawyer present, unless it is to request your phone call. Assume anything said, including on phone call, is being documented and could be aggressively used against you. Innocent people can still go to jail.

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. Assume you might get shot with a rubber bullet/sandbag. Wear protective gear so you can protest in peace. Being misidentified as a violent/illegal protestor by an officer could also mean being hit by a baton, which could break your bones. Protests can quickly turn chaotic, and often the official response to a peaceful protest can be indiscriminate in who gets injured. Don’t forget that photo of a 12 year old that was peppersprayed for being at a protest.

—Recognize that there are complex factors at play. Not everyone at the protest has the same agenda. Some are not peaceful. The Attorney General of the US noted yesterday that outside provacateurs are infiltrating peaceful protests to accelerate outside agendas unrelated to protesting in solidarity with Black Lives Matter/George Floyd/Police Brutality. The Mayor of Minneapolis noted many* violent protestors arrested were from out of state, and some had ties to white supremacist groups. Not all protestors are looters. Not all looters are protesting anything.

—If you are a white ally that acknowledges your privilege and wants to use that to support the protestors, go to the front of the protest. If you can tolerate having your identity known and you can be a peaceful human shield, do it. Just don’t steal the scene. Let the other POC speak. Leave your megaphone and microphone with someone else while you shield them.

—If you are a white ally in your comfortable home, stop deleting anyone that disagrees with you. Stop feeding the divisive algorithms that have helped shape this discourse into a hateful thing. Right now, you can be putting in the work talking to people and helping them understand that “All Lives Matter” is a way to avoid talking about Black Lives Matter. Don’t be combative. Listen. Ask Questions. Talk. Your POC friends don’t need to spend all their time educating—a huge part of our role as white allies is helping our other white circles understand and grow.

—Yes, all lives do matter. The problem is that some are treated like they matter less. And they are disproportionately affected by police violence in the United States. When you shout “All Lives Matter” in response to “Black Lives Matter,” all that is happening is you are silencing people trying to speak up about disproportionate treatment and unequal rights. If you are sharing that favtoid about how many white versus black lives are taken by police, without adjusting for population, you are ignorant of statistics and being willfully manipulative at worst. Do you really believe that all lives are treated and regarded equally?

—Silence is how this grew. Colorblindness is how this grew. Ignoring this is privilege. The status quo is broken. Racism is alive and well. Silence is violence.

—Your political affiliation does not matter in proving you aren’t racist. Living in a diverse and liberal area does not matter. Knowing a POC in your personal life proves nothing. Quoting one convenient MLK quote does not matter. Only being actively anti-racist matters.

—Human lives will always be worth more than property. Stop changing the subject. There will be an appropriate time to rebuild.

—Violence at a protest does not invalidate the point of the protest, even one intended to he peaceful. Focusing on violence is just a way to ignore the meaning of the protest. Stop changing the subject.

If you want to share this, copy and paste it without attribution. This is not about any one person. Not even George Floyd. It is a chain in which George Floyd is the one of the latest links. Like Alton Sterling. Like Sandra Bland. Like Michael Brown. Like Freddie Gray. The list is staggering. And every single one of those names on the list was a person who could still be with us today."

[msbluebell]

what about a "you start war, you face consequences AU"? At the end of BE Route, Edelgard thinks have achieved her goal. But everything go wrong! First, Claude, who has survived, becomes the king of Almyra and declare war to her to the Empire . And he's VERY powerful. Also some former nobles of Alliance and Kingdom don't accept the reunification and start a rebellion with the former knights of Seiros . The peace wil not happen any soon and a lot of people die or suffer or join the rebellion 1-2

2-2. Finally, Felix has survived and becomes the feral guy and decides to avenge Dimitri (his best friend), Rodrigue (his dad) and Sylvain (his lover) by killing the black eagles one by one and nobody (even Byleth) can stop him, no matter what they do. And Byleth has not the power of Sothis anymore. They can only watch everything falling apart, while being powerless. They can only watch their friends die by Felix's hands, Claude taking back the Alliance AND the Kingdom, ect...

This is actually what would have most likely happened if the Black Eagle Route didn’t have an Deus Ex Machina ending and the Crests and God powers didn’t disappear for no reason. I have made no secret of the fact that Black Eagles is my least favorite Route (yes, I’m including Church Route in this), and the lack of actually having to reform and change the system thanks to magical convenience is one of the reasons. 

Nobles will not give up their crest fixation just because Edelgard hates crests. And without crest disappearing, it is unlikely they will take to Edelgard’s reforms. She may end up turning her own allies against her. Especially ones that don’t believe in her cause and just gave up because they didn’t want to be killed.

Also, it is a very, very, very dumb move to spare Claude in the Black Eagles Route. No matter what, he is a political opponent that proved he’s 1) very manipulative 2) very good at thinking on his feet and gathering resources. He should have died just to eliminate the potential for later rebellious uprisings, even if Byleth and Edelgard didn’t know anything about his ties to Almyra. Looking objectively at Claude’s goals and the ending of Black Eagles Route, yeah, he still has a dream of uniting Fodlan and Almyra. And unlike Fodlan, Almyra isn’t suffering from being war torn for five years. There IS a chance he’d come in take over, especially if any of his friends died in the battle. 

Point is, Black Eagles Route has a lot of potential for mess if the crests don’t vanish (which I am so fixated on. The CHURCH didn’t make the crests, so why did they disappear? I interpret Byleth’s powers disappearing because they choose to relinquish them, which is a slap in the face to Sothis btw Byleth, but why did the CRESTS disappear when the Church fell? They had nothing to do with their creation! Ugh.)

(Black Eagles, much as I dislike their Route based on their actions and lack of self-awareness, still deserved a better written ending.)

But I’m ranting. Let’s get on to the prompt with Consequences AU:

I’ve spoken in another post about how Byleth, as I interpret them, more accidentally sided with the Black Eagles than anything. It would be the same in this AU, accidentally burning their bridges when they saved Edelgard in the tomb. Then they were forced to see the path through to the end because they couldn’t go back to anyone else, and they DID disagree with Rhea and distrust the Church, so maybe Edelgard is right...?

It was foolish to hope, in hindsight.

Rhea going mad was something that they expected, but they didn’t think their own actions would be the breaking point that drove her to such insanity. And they can’t erase the image of Dimitri kneeling in the rain as an axe meets his flesh. So many of their students died...but that was just...pitiful.

Edelgard assures him that it was for a better future, that all the death and sacrifice now will mean less suffering later.

But it’s hard to look at the people suffering in the NOW and think it’s better for the future. It’s like Edelgard is so fixated on the world that will be she forgot to take care of the world they’re in, or maybe she didn’t, and the people around her just don’t seem as real to her as the people in the future she’s envisioned.

Byleth’s first clue that everything was going wrong should have been their hair and eye color returning to it’s original state.

Sothis and they...the both of them have always been one, whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing. They are a single entity that was separated and then made whole again. But now there is an emptiness inside of them, and the emotions they’ve developed are fast fading again. They’re becoming numb once again as they lose the part of themselves that was her, and they don’t understand why.

Soon, they even stop caring.

Edelgard insisted that it was a wonderful sign. That they pointed their blades towards the heavens and won, so her path must be the righteous path.

Byleth no longer cares enough to correct her.

Their students, the Black Eagles, frown more when they speak now. Byleth has lost their emotions, so the fondness is ebbing away again. They’re distressed as they lose their teacher, and Byleth tries to pretend they care until even that seems pointless.

They follow Edelgard because they know that’s what they decided to do, not because they care. They’re too muted now, and even guilt is slipping away as time erodes more and more of Sothis from their very being.

Then the murders start to happen.

It starts when Dorathea was found outside of the Opera House. Her body had been cut down by the singular strike of a sword, left to rot in the street by an unknown assassin. The Black Eagles mourn, and Edelgard swears justice will be paid. The guards are doubled in the city and the hunt is on.

It doesn’t keep Fernidand from dying later. His entire platoon was killed, a mix of sword wounds and Reason magic leaving behind a field of corpses. Witnesses say it was a pale, dark haired, man. Just one. With an unused lance tied to his back. Something about revenge, the witnesses say. For a father, a best friend, a brother, a sister, and a lover.

A year goes by and the guards get lazy again. It seems the assassin had reached their goal or died in the process.

Until Almyra declares war.

Byleth gives their advice as it is sought, but no longer cares enough to see to the personal welfare of the troops themselves. It’s...demoralizing, to say the least.

Then Berneddeta dies in her room, a knife left behind, the signal of House Gautier’s crest carved into the hilt of the blade. A warning.

There are no Gautiers left, though, they were all killed, so it can only be Felix, Byleth explains to Edelgard, because there is no one else left to avenge House Gautier, and Felix was a childhood friend of both Dimitri, who is dead, Ingrid, who died defending Dimitri, and Sylvain, who also died in that battle.

Edelgard puts a bounty on his head.

But her troops are too spread thin with Almyra’s sudden and unrelenting assault. With another war on the horizon, many nobles that don’t care for Edelgard or were taken over surrender to Almyra without hesitation. Fodlan is once again halved, and with it Edelgard’s forces.

Then Lindhardt is killed by Felix, this time with a note: “I’m coming for you Edelgard.”

Claude, it seems, is the leader of the Almyran forces, and declares quite happily that he’s going to make Fodlan a part of his country. His smile doesn’t reach his eyes when he says it though, and he’s barely holding back heavy disgust.

Byleth can’t help but think of how foolish they are when they have sentiment.

Byleth also advises Edelgard to surrender.

“Not you.” Edelgard begs, knuckles gripped against the table, “Of all people, you cannot abandon me.”

But the Byleth she wants is long gone. Or, actually, they never existed. But if if they had her dream killed them until nothing but a numb shell was left behind. Byleth, as the are, is under no illusions of what they are now. A walking corpse, with all that made them human faded into the back with a sleeping Goddess that was once themselves. 

Casper, who swore he wouldn’t let another one of his friends die, falls next. Felix, it seemed, has sided with Claude and is now leading the lands that was formally Faerghus. The people of the Alliance and Fearghus help rebel, throwing riots so large that they cannot be suppressed.

Petra is gone shortly after, taken by riots.

“FOR GOOD KING DIMITRI!” Cry out the people of Faerghus as they flood the streets of Fhiridad. Imperial soldiers are pushed back by people not even wearing armor, such is their numbers, and when actual soldiers come Faerghus is no longer a Dukedom of the Empire.

“FOR THE NOBLE CAUSE!” Cry the people of the Alliance as they’re lead by those still left of the Golden Deer. Hilda’s older brother has taken the helm and lead them to victory.

When they finally take Enbarr Byleth isn’t fighting. They don’t care, and watch from Edelgard’s side as they march her palace. They warn her to surrender, but she claims she’ll die first.

Felix walks in, and cuts down Hubert. Claude walks in behind him, hands on his hips, looking up at Edelgard and Byleth with a cold smile, “Did you get what you wanted?”

“I don’t want things.” Byleth answers, emotionless, “I haven’t since the power Sothis gave faded away, and I was left incomplete again.”

“Sounds awful, hope all this was worth that.” Claude answers as Edelgard’s eyes widen in horror.

“Perhaps if I could still feel, that would hurt.” Byleth answers him, “But I can only remember what emotions felt like, the experience is lost to me now.”

“...wow, that almost makes killing you feel like I’m being merciful.” Claude remarks as Felix glares from beside him, “Teach, why did you DO this to yourself?”

“I had meant to take Edelgard prisoner.” Byleth confesses, “I was simply run out and had nowhere else to go. Helping her seemed like the logical choice at the time, but it’s strange, I can’t see the logic in it now.”

Claude originally meant to take Byleth prisoner, if they could somehow be captured. Interrogate them and whatnot, allow their former students to air their grievances before they were executed for treachery. 

Not that just feels too cruel when Byleth was apparently already killed long ago.

So, when the final battle ends, Claude tells Felix to end Byleth.

Byleth never even lifts their sword.

[indigosandviolets]

Zim-Zam, Goddamn, We’re Easy Company

Pairing : Joseph Liebgott x OC x George Luz

Summary : Andrew Marin knew that Airborne school would be hell, and he knew that he wouldn’t fit in, but there just happens to be two men there to make it a little more tolerable.

Word Count : 1990

Special thanks to @whatwouldidowithoutgeorgeluz for the script of Currahee! I wouldn’t have been able to get this part on if it wasn’t for that script.

Part One if We Happy Few

Camp Toccoa

The sweat dripped down into Andrew’s eyes as he stood under the sun, in line with the rest of the men of Easy Company. He stood at attention as Lieutenant Sobel found anything he could on the men to get their Weekend Passes revoked. A Weekend Pass could mean anything to an enlistee, and Sobel was intent on ripping it away to “teach them a thing or two”. Like it earned Sobel the respect of his men. Andrew wouldn’t be the first to tell you that this tactic didn’t work.

It came to be Andrew’s turn for berating, and he was not excited.

“Name.”

“Andrew Marin, sir.”

“Private Marin.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why are your boots covered in mud?”

“No excuse, sir.”

“Are you not ordered to keep everything clean?”

Andrew’s boots weren’t the only thing keeping him from godliness, but he wasn’t going to be the one to tell Sobel that. “I was, sir.”

“So why aren’t they clean, Private?”

“No excuse, sir.”

“You disobeyed direct orders, Private. I’d ought to write you up. Weekend Pass revoked.”

Sobel moved onto the next soldier and Andrew let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Andrew wasn’t too upset about losing his Weekend Pass. He didn’t have anywhere he wanted to go. His friends had already had theirs revoked, and those who hadn’t would inevitably lose them before the hour was out.

Some of the infractions the men had on them were absolutely ridiculous. They were singled out for having something that wasn’t contraband or because they grabbed the wrong canteen or something that wasn’t up to Sobel’s personal standards. If Sobel didn’t like it, you clearly weren’t fit to be a soldier.

“Name.”

“Liebgott, Joseph D., sir.”

Sobel reaches for Liebgott’s bayonet and examines it. “Rusty bayonet, Liebgott. You wanna kill Germans?”

Sobel knew that answer. Everyone wanted to kill the Germans. “Yes, sir.”

Sobel hits Liebgott over the head with his bayonet. “Not with this.”

Instead of returning the bayonet to Liebgott, Sobel held it up over his head to show the company. “I wouldn’t take this rusty piece of shit to war, and I will not take you to war I your condition. Now thanks to these men and their infractions, every man in the company who had a weekend pass has lost it. Change into your PT gear, we’re running Currahee.”

Currahee. Fucking Curahee. If there was ever a way to make a Company hate their CO, it was Currahee. Run up the three miles, run back down in the allotted time. You go over, you do it again, and again, and again until Sobel decides you’ve either had enough or he’s too disappointed in you to go on.

Andrew had to run Currahee twice in one night. He had tripped on the way up and screwed up his time, so Sobel had him run double. Worst night of Airborne School so far. His chest hurt like hell for days after that night, but he never let it show. He couldn’t. Not now.

“Marin!” a voice shouted from behind Andrew. He turned to see George Luz, a good friend and one of the best parts of Easy Company.

“Hey, Luz,” Andrew says with a grin and he pulls his shirt over his chest.

“Still have to wear that posture stuff?”

“Yeah.” Posture stuff. What an excellent lie.

Luz looked down at Andrew’s boots. “Muddy boots make a muddy soldier, Marin!” He said in the most Sobel-like voice he could manage. Luz was always a fan of impressions. “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”

“Tell that to the dirt on your M-1.”

The walk to Currahee was a humiliating one. The men of the other companies would almost taunt Easy as they walked up to the mountain. Andrew happened to be by Liebgott on this occasion.

“Oh, Easy Company. ‘Ey while you’re runnin’, don’t worry, we’ll take your dames to the movies for ya.”

Dog Company. Classic.

“Yeah, good, they need some female company,” Liebgott says. Andrew laughs at it.

“Pretty sure there’s only two of us that have really got any women,” Andrew tells Liebgott.

“Yeah? Wouldn’t doubt it.”

Sobel was unrelenting on Currahee. When Muck tripped Sobel shouted for him to not be helped. Of course, Malarkey and Gordon helped anyway, because that’s what you do when you’re at the very least a decent human being.

Andrew suspects he got up the mountain in 20 minutes. His lungs burned and the sweat in his eyes stung to high heaven but he kept going. He had to.

~

The hour upon Currahee became days on that godforsaken mountain. Those days became weeks. Soon enough, Andrew found himself in the mess hall across from Luz with a plate of spaghetti in front of him. Well, what looked like spaghetti.

“What do ya think, Luz?” Andrew asks. “Fine Italian cooking if I’ve ever seen it.”

Luz put on a big grin. “Perfecto!” He says in a silly Italian accent. “

“Not too loud!” Andrew laughs at him. “You don’t want Guanere to kill you.”

Before Luz can reply, Sobel’s familiar whistle blows and the man himself marches up into the mess hall.

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Andrew hears Liebgott mutter. It’s almost funny. Almost.

“All lectures are canceled! Easy Company is running up Currahee! Move! Move! Move!”

Andrew almost threw up. He really didn’t think he would make it to the top of that mountain without hunching over and vomiting himself inside out.

It was worse when Sobel started yelling, right in his face.

“Marin, your chest hurt? You look pale, Private! You’re gonna be sick! Sick men do not make Paratroopers! Get your ass off this mountain and go home!”

It was almost an incentive to get up the mountain. To do it out of spite. To show Sobel that Andrew really did have it, to show that unlike Sobel, he wasn’t scared. He had seen fear in Sobel’s eyes once, a fear that his men would be better than him, Andrew knew that. He just had to show that they all were.

Then, from beside him, Luz pipes up. “We pull upon the risers…”

Just like that, the men of Easy Company began their chant.

“We fall upon the grass,

We never land upon our feet, we always hit our ass,

Highty tighty, Christ Almighty, who the hell are we?

Zim-Zam goddamn we’re the Airborne Infantry!

We pull upon the risers,

We fall upon the grass,

We never end upon our feet, we always hit our ass

Highty tighty, Christ Almighty, who the hell are we?

Zim-Zam goddamn we’re the Airborne Infantry!”

~

The showers that night were surprisingly empty for Andrew. He stripped down for the first time in what felt like forever. Without the “posture stuff”, as Luz had so affectionately called it, it was like Andrew could breathe again. His muscles ached as he slipped under the hot water, relaxing as he felt he could be totally alone.

The soap going over his body was a treat for Andrew, getting the caked dirt off his hands and the strange spaghetti sauce that someone had coughed up off of his back and the dried salt from his sweat off of his arms was a blessing.

Spaghetti. Andrew wondered if he could ever eat it again without wanting to vomit. He wondered if he could eat any food from the mess hall without thinking about that goddamned mess of spaghetti.

A few minutes under the spray of water was enough for Andrew to lose himself in the moment, to actually think about himself for once. He hadn’t written a letter to his parents except for the first week he was there, informing them of where he was and what he’d be doing. They weren’t too keen on the idea of him being in the military, jumping out of planes no less, but Andrew didn’t let that stop him. He’d gotten one letter from his brother, Albert, out in Chicago. It wasn’t all good news, as it was mainly about what was going on with him and his wife. The general outlook wasn’t great. His wife had cheated on him and he only found out when their daughter didn’t look like him at all. It was funny, but this was his Al, who was always insecure about everything, so it wasn’t supposed to be funny.

Al found out because him and his wife are very dark-haired. The baby was a ginger.

Andrew thought about how his plan didn’t really line up with his brother’s. Al was a real stand-up guy, who always knew what to say and what he wanted to do. Despite his insecurities, he fit in, he blended with the crowd. He moved out to Chicago, started a business, married a girl and got everything he wanted until very recently.

Andrew stuck out like a sore thumb. Everyone seemed to know there was something off about him back home. He didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. He didn’t think he would make it that far. All he knew is that he didn’t want to be stuck with his parents forever. So, when the war started, he knew what he needed to do. It’s good pay, it’s respectable, he’s fighting for something he believes in. It’s good and he somehow manages to fit in with the guys, something he’s never been able to do.

Andrew gets out of the shower before anyone would’ve even realized he was there. He slipped his clothes back on, tied up his boots, but stopped in front of the mirror as he passed it. He almost couldn’t recognize himself. He’s not really sure if he wanted to.

His hair had become lighter from the sun and the freckles on his face began to become more prominent. He was still scrawny but he didn’t look like the wind could push him over anymore. His hands were now scuffed and his fingers became calloused, like the rest of the men’s. He hadn’t realized how hardened he had become. He supposed that all the men have become like this. Some of them were already hard, like Guanere and Martin. Others had hardened, like Winters. But there were some who Andrew couldn’t picture like that.

Like Luz. Luz wasn’t soft. Luz wasn’t hard. He was silly. He did impressions. He didn’t let Sobel get under his skin. He made fun of the Lieutenant. He was determined to get past Sobel and do what he wanted. He made jokes with Andrew.

Or Liebgott. Liebgott was more sarcastic but he had a perfect sense of humor. He was hard, but he had a real sense of humanity. He was always genuine, but always sassy. Liebgott, like Andrew, kind of stuck out. With his being Jewish and Andrew being Andrew, it made sense that two of them were good friends.

Luz and Liebgott. Liebgott and Luz. Andrew chuckled to himself. The two men he couldn’t really define in Easy Company and they both had ‘L’ names. Andrew stopped where he was. Luz and Liebgott. Thinking of the two made Andrew feel different. It wasn’t like that fun feeling around Muck and Penkala or that brotherly feeling around Bull and Martin. It was different. Safe. Comforting. It was nice.

Andrew knew it wouldn’t be good for him, but at least it was nice.

The barracks were quiet that night. All of the men were sore and didn’t want to deal with more than they had to. When Andrew had gotten back, Luz was fast asleep and most of the men were going in the same direction. Andrew found himself in his bed before long, a book in one hand and the other tucked up under his head. He wasn’t sure what time he fell asleep that night, but he knows that he didn’t get very far into chapter three.

~

tag list: @alienoresimagines

if you’d like to be added, let me know!

[daintydormouse]

Some notes for those protesting.

(Stolen from elsewhere on the internet. If you like, copy/paste and spread)

—If you are livestreaming a protest, and you are recording yourself, or taking selfies, instead of documenting information: you are not an ally. You are a tourist.

—Cover your face. Cover your hair. Cover your tattoos. Wouldn’t want to have any surfaces exposed that could get coronavirus.

—Protect your identity. Obscure your face. There are bad actors on the internet that would love to identify you and track you down for participating in a peaceful protest. Want to feel paranoid? Read about the mysterious deaths of identified Ferguson protestors years later. If you are in the privileged majority, this might be your first time realizing that there are violent people out there who want to hunt you down and harm you for existing. Imagine how POC feel.

—Unless your phone is inside a faraday cage, or you have removed the battery, it can be tracked. Yes, even in airplane mode.

—Assume all information transmitted from your phone is being intercepted by the police at the protest. Including your livestream. Oakland once had one of the largest inventories of Stingray devices (communciations intercept towers) in the US. They used them extensively against Occupy.

—Friendly reminder, your license plate is being scanned and tracked most places you drive.

—Disable your fingerprint or facescan unlock. While it is theoretically true that a search warrant is required to search your phone, it is also theoretically illegal for the police to murder an unarmed and nonviolent citizen. Use a six digit or more passcode.

—Backups to the cloud. Things tend to get broken at protests.

—Do not publicly display your teargas neutralizing spray, or peperspray neutralizing spray. You might be targeted. Keep it discrete and ready for use.

—Document any people showing up in Hawaiian shirts. Document anyone suspected of being undercover cops. Document agent provocateurs. Document bad actors showing up just to destroy property.

—If you have an Iphone, learn how to use your emergency sos. You can set your Emergency SOS to notify your family you might be being arrested or kidnapped (if it is safe for you to activate this feature). You can also disable the call 911 feature in Emergency SOS. Activating this feature also locks your phone against anything but a passcode unlock. If your phone is also encrypted, it is very hard for someone to illegally break into your phone.

—Write your emergency contact on your body in sharpie, somewhere both out of view and where it will not sweat off. Or memorize it. You will not have access to your cellphone if you are arrested (whether wrongfully or not).

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. Hot hands gloves, or Nomex flight gloves, can be used to pick up hot objects on the ground, if you need to throw a teargas grenade away from you.

—Highpowered lasers, not usually the pocket kind, can destroy the sensors on cameras. Be careful with your cameras out there.

—If your goggles have vents, they are vulnerable to teargas and pepperspray.

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. A set of allen keys can sometimes unlock crowd control gates.

—Remember that Neonazis have driven cars into peaceful protests in the past. There is finally a use for all those lyft/lime/uber bikes and scooters. Bring them to the protest and use them to as roadblocks if necessary to prevent cars from driving into protestors or chasing them.

—Umbrellas can be useful in preventing bad actors from hitting you with some projectiles during an otherwise peaceful protest. They also help protect identity.

—If you are a white ally: listen. Don’t make the protests about you. There are already literal Nazis doing that.

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. It has already been noted on multiple organizing boards for white supremacist groups that a protest they’ve whipped into a riot is the perfect place to murder someone with impunity, and even kidnap people. Read up on how to escape from zipties. Bring medical shears or small snips to cut them. Replace your bootlaces with paracord, it can be used as a friction saw.

—If you are arrested, identify yourself. Have your ID. Do your best to show the officer that you are peaceful and not resisting arrest. Say nothing else at all without a lawyer present, unless it is to request your phone call. Assume anything said, including on phone call, is being documented and could be aggressively used against you. Innocent people can still go to jail.

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. Assume you might get shot with a rubber bullet/sandbag. Wear protective gear so you can protest in peace. Being misidentified as a violent/illegal protestor by an officer could also mean being hit by a baton, which could break your bones. Protests can quickly turn chaotic, and often the official response to a peaceful protest can be indiscriminate in who gets injured. Don’t forget that photo of a 12 year old that was peppersprayed for being at a protest.

—Recognize that there are complex factors at play. Not everyone at the protest has the same agenda. Some are not peaceful. The Attorney General of the US noted yesterday that outside provacateurs are infiltrating peaceful protests to accelerate outside agendas unrelated to protesting in solidarity with Black Lives Matter/George Floyd/Police Brutality. The Mayor of Minneapolis noted many* violent protestors arrested were from out of state, and some had ties to white supremacist groups. Not all protestors are looters. Not all looters are protesting anything.

—If you are a white ally that acknowledges your privilege and wants to use that to support the protestors, go to the front of the protest. If you can tolerate having your identity known and you can be a peaceful human shield, do it. Just don’t steal the scene. Let the other POC speak. Leave your megaphone and microphone with someone else while you shield them.

—If you are a white ally in your comfortable home, stop deleting anyone that disagrees with you. Stop feeding the divisive algorithms that have helped shape this discourse into a hateful thing. Right now, you can be putting in the work talking to people and helping them understand that “All Lives Matter” is a way to avoid talking about Black Lives Matter. Don’t be combative. Listen. Ask Questions. Talk. Your POC friends don’t need to spend all their time educating—a huge part of our role as white allies is helping our other white circles understand and grow.

—Yes, all lives do matter. The problem is that some are treated like they matter less. And they are disproportionately affected by police violence in the United States. When you shout “All Lives Matter” in response to “Black Lives Matter,” all that is happening is you are silencing people trying to speak up about disproportionate treatment and unequal rights. If you are sharing that factoid about how many white versus black lives are taken by police, without adjusting for population, you are ignorant of statistics and being willfully manipulative at worst. Do you really believe that all lives are treated and regarded equally?

—Silence is how this grew. Colorblindness is how this grew. Ignoring this is privilege. The status quo is broken. Racism is alive and well. Silence is violence.

—Your political affiliation does not matter in proving you aren’t racist. Living in a diverse and liberal area does not matter. Knowing a POC in your personal life proves nothing. Quoting one convenient MLK quote does not matter. Only being actively anti-racist matters.

—Human lives will always be worth more than property. Stop changing the subject. There will be an appropriate time to rebuild.

—Violence at a protest does not invalidate the point of the protest, even one intended to he peaceful. Focusing on violence is just a way to ignore the meaning of the protest. Stop changing the subject.

If you want to share this, copy and paste it without attribution. This is not about any one person. Not even George Floyd. It is a chain in which George Floyd is one of the latest links. Like Alton Sterling. Like Sandra Bland. Like Michael Brown. Like Freddie Gray. The list is staggering. And every single one of those names on the list was a person who could still be with us today

[hardlylace]

CHARACTER SURVEY –

BODY AND APPEARANCE 1. DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER’S HEIGHT AND BUILD. ARE THEY HEAVYSET, THIN, SHORT, RANGY? Scout Harding is an average dwarven lady: short, stocky, and sturdy. 

2. HOW OLD ARE THEY? Anywhere in her 20s. Her official age is unknown.

3. DESCRIBE THEIR POSTURE. DO THEY CARRY HIMSELF WELL OR DO THEY SLOUCH? Harding has excellent posture and often holds her hands behind her back at attention, military style.

4. HOW IS THEIR HEALTH? ARE THEY FIT OR OUT OF SHAPE? ANY ILLNESSES OR CONDITIONS? ANY PHYSICAL DISABILITIES? She’s in good health and insanely good shape. After all, she’s out exploring almost every area in Thedas! No illnesses or physical disabilities to note.

5. HOW DO THEY MOVE? ARE THEY CLUMSY, GRACEFUL, TENSE, FLUID? She’s sneaky and silent -- as any good rogue should be. You will not hear her approach unless she wants you to hear her.

6. HOW ATTRACTIVE IS THIS CHARACTER PHYSICALLY? HOW DO THEY PERCEIVE THEMSELVES IN THE MIRROR? Lace is attractive. She’s gotten a mix of compliments ranging “cute” to “beautiful” thanks namely to her eyes and her freckles. She sees herself as nothing special in the mirror, but that’s not a bad thing. She likes her appearance as it is, scars and all, and remains humble (and flustered) if she ever receives a compliment.

7. DESCRIBE THEIR COMPLEXION. DARK, LIGHT, CLEAR, SCARRED? Fair, rosy skin loaded with freckles. Her most prominent scar is on her face, but she holds several more across her body and obligatory stretch marks.

8. DESCRIBE THEIR HAIR: COLOR, TEXTURE, STYLE. Her red hair is typically braided and pinned into a bun so that it doesn’t get in the way while she works. However, if she were to take it down, it would be pretty long (reaching her mid back). She cut it short once, before the Inquisition, but ironically it kept getting in the way. It’s more manageable at a longer length where she can pull it back and pin it down.

9. WHAT COLOR ARE THEIR EYES? Hazel green. 

10. DOES THE CHARACTER HAVE ANY OTHER NOTEWORTHY FEATURES? In modern verse, the most visible tattoo she has is a compass on her forearm. She also has a watercolor type tattoo at the top of her back and a small one on her ankle.

11. WHAT ARE THEIR CHIEF TENSION CENTERS? Her upper back and her feet. Her hands as well, from archery. Scouting’s hard work.

12. WHAT IS THE CHARACTER’S WARDROBE LIKE? CASUAL, DRESSY, UTILITARIAN? BRIGHT COLORS, PASTELS, NEUTRALS? IS IT VARIED, OR DO THEY HAVE SIX OF THE SAME SUIT? In canon, she wears her standard-issued scout uniform. In modern verse, her clothes are casual -- things she can move around in with ease. Her wardrobe is comprised mostly of earthy neutrals and denim but that’s not to say other colors don’t pop up. 

13. DO THEIR CLOTHES FIT WELL? DO THEY SEEM COMFORTABLE IN THEM? She’s short so some clothes can be too long or roomy for her. Thankfully her mother’s a seamstress, so she’s picked up a thing or two with a needle and thread.

14. DO THEY DRESS THE SAME ON THE JOB AS THEY DO IN THEIR FREE TIME? IF NOT, WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES? In canon we only ever see her wearing her scouting outfit, but she probably defaults to a simple linen shirt and trousers when she’s not working. 

15. YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING: BOXERS, BRIEFS OR COMMANDO? Comfy undies.

SPEECH 1. WHAT DOES THIS CHARACTER’S VOICE SOUND LIKE? HIGH-PITCHED, DEEP, HOARSE? Listen for yourself! (Bonus: MAYHEM)

2. HOW DO THEY NORMALLY SPEAK? LOUD, SOFT, FAST, EVENLY? DO THEY TALK EASILY, OR DO THEY HESITATE? She speaks evenly, although it's a little fast because she normally has a lot of information to convey in a short amount of time. 

3. DOES THE CHARACTER HAVE A DISTINCT ACCENT OR DIALECT? ANY INDIVIDUAL QUIRKS OF PRONUNCIATION? ANY, LIKE, YOU KNOW, VERBAL TICS? She has a distinct “dwarven” accent (read: American).

4. WHAT LANGUAGE/S DO THEY SPEAK, AND WITH HOW MUCH FLUENCY? Common tongue: native level. Throughout her travels and research, she’s picked up on bits and pieces of other languages, but none even near fluent level. 

5. DO THEY SWITCH LANGUAGES OR DIALECTS IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS? Nope. No need.

6. ARE THEY A GOOD IMPROMPTU SPEAKER, OR DO THEY HAVE TO THINK ABOUT THEIR WORDS? She’s sharp as a tack.

7. ARE THEY ELOQUENT OR INARTICULATE? UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES MIGHT THIS CHANGE? She can speak well but keeps it simple and doesn’t waste time with flowery or overly technical jargon. It’s hard to get her tongue-tied (unless your flirting gets heavy-handed) and such moments are few and far in between.

MENTAL AND EMOTIONAL 1. HOW INTELLIGENT IS THIS CHARACTER? ARE THEY BOOK-SMART OR STREET-SMART? Very, very street-smart. She knows all the secret places, and then some.

2. DO THEY THINK ON THEIR FEET, OR DO THEY NEED TIME TO DELIBERATE? As mentioned before: she’s sharp as a tack.

3. DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER’S THOUGHT PROCESS. ARE THEY MORE LOGICAL, OR MORE INTUITIVE? IDEALISTIC OR PRACTICAL? Logical and practical, although she does rely on intuition -- especially if she’s feeling uncomfortable in a situation. 

4. WHAT KIND OF EDUCATION HAS THE CHARACTER HAD? Nothing formal by way of being in a school. She learned from the people around her: her parents, her neighbors, people passing through the village, and what she’s picked up along her travels. Harding is a self-taught lady through and through.

5. WHAT ARE THEIR AREAS OF EXPERTISE? WHAT, IF ANYTHING, ARE THEY INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT? Exploring! She’s not the lead scout for no reason. Harding also loves learning about others, hearing their stories, and seeing what makes them tick. It saves a lot of money on travel, too.

6. ARE THEY AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT? Ambivert. She likes talking to other people and has no trouble striking up conversation, but she can also thrive in a solitary environment.

7. DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER’S TEMPERAMENT. ARE THEY EVEN-TEMPERED OR DO THEY HAVE MOOD SWINGS? CHEERFUL OR MELANCHOLY? LAID-BACK OR DRIVEN? She’s cheerful, optimistic, and driven. Her temperament is serene for the most part, and mood swings don’t often occur. She’s cut from the same cloth as everyone else, though, so don’t think you can pick on her without a reaction.

8. HOW DO THEY RESPOND TO NEW PEOPLE OR SITUATIONS? ARE THEY SUSPICIOUS, RELAXED, TIMID, ENTHUSIASTIC? She’s almost always on guard (you never know what could happen), but otherwise enjoys meeting new people and discovering new areas. 

9. ARE THEY MORE LIKELY TO ACT, OR TO REACT? Act.

10. WHICH IS THE DEFAULT: FIGHT OR FLIGHT? Fight. She’s not one to start them but she will finish them.

11. DESCRIBE THE CHARACTER’S SENSE OF HUMOR. DO THEY APPRECIATE JOKES? PUNS? GALLOWS HUMOR? BATHROOM HUMOR? PRANKS? She’s no stranger to a terrible joke, a bad pun, and a good-natured prank.

12. DOES THE CHARACTER HAVE ANY DIAGNOSABLE MENTAL DISORDERS? IF YES, HOW DO THEY DEAL WITH THEM? No.

13. WHAT MOMENTS IN THIS CHARACTER’S LIFE HAVE DEFINED THEM AS A PERSON? The day she learned how to use a bow and arrow. A traveller coming through her village taught her, and she latched onto the weapon like white on rice. It’s light, fast, and precise -- just how she likes to be. The day the Inquisition came through was another moment. She figured The End was nigh, so why not capitalize on seeing as much of the world as she could before it all came crashing down? Coming from a family that never left Redcliffe’s outskirts, signing on to be a scout irrevocably changed her. 

14. WHAT DO THEY FEAR? Losing the people she calls friends.

15. WHAT ARE THEIR HOPES OR ASPIRATIONS? A nice, long vacation would be a start.

16. WHAT IS SOMETHING THEY DON’T WANT ANYONE TO FIND OUT ABOUT? Her first name. It’s not that she hates it per se; it just doesn’t fully align with her actual personality. Call her Scout Harding, Harding, or even Scout. Those are fine. Don’t call her Lace unless she explicitly tells you to. Don’t tell anyone else her name, either.

RELATIONSHIPS 1. DESCRIBE THIS CHARACTER’S RELATIONSHIP WITH THEIR PARENTS. She is very close with her parents despite the fact she’s always on the road going somewhere. She routinely sends letters back to her family and her mother tracks her trail across Thedas on some old maps she bartered off of a neighbor.

2. DOES THE CHARACTER HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? WHAT IS/WAS THEIR RELATIONSHIP LIKE? Lace is an only child.

3. ARE THERE OTHER BLOOD RELATIVES TO WHOM THEY ARE CLOSE? ARE THERE ONES THEY CAN’T STAND? No, her only close family is her parents.

4. ARE THERE OTHER, UNRELATED PEOPLE WHOM THEY CONSIDER PART OF THE FAMILY? WHAT ARE THEIR RELATIONSHIPS WITH THEM? Her elderly neighbor from her village became something of a grandmother to her, regaling her with many tales and glimpses into a wider world.

5. WHO IS/WAS THE CHARACTER’S BEST FRIEND? HOW DID THEY MEET? Do sheep count? There’s also Contessa, her family’s mabari.

6. DO THEY HAVE OTHER CLOSE FRIENDS? Many acquaintances, few truly close friends.

7. DO THEY MAKE FRIENDS EASILY, OR DO THEY HAVE TROUBLE GETTING ALONG WITH PEOPLE? She can make acquaintances easy. Friendship status is a little harder to achieve because she has so little time to foster strong relationships with others.

8. WHICH DO THEY CONSIDER MORE IMPORTANT: FAMILY OR FRIENDS? Both are important.

9. IS THE CHARACTER SINGLE, MARRIED, DIVORCED, WIDOWED? HAVE THEY BEEN MARRIED MORE THAN ONCE? Single and ready to mingle~

10. ARE THEY CURRENTLY IN A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH SOMEONE OTHER THAN A SPOUSE? Not at the moment, no.

11. WHO WAS THEIR FIRST CRUSH? WHO IS THE LATEST? Her first crush was [redacted]. Her latest is [redacted].

12. WHAT DO THEY LOOK FOR IN A ROMANTIC PARTNER? She’s on the move a lot and wants someone who can keep up with her, someone with a thick skin and a good sense of humor. Physically, she doesn’t have a preference.

13. DOES THE CHARACTER HAVE CHILDREN? GRANDCHILDREN? IF YES, HOW DO THEY RELATE TO THEM? IF NO, DO THEY WANT ANY? No, no, and probably(?) in the far, far future.

14. DOES HE HAVE ANY RIVALS OR ENEMIES? She’s worried Leliana might try to kill her, but other than that, no.

15. WHAT IS THE CHARACTER’S SEXUAL ORIENTATION? WHERE DO THEY FALL ON THE KINSEY SCALE? Harding is a 3 (equally heterosexual and homosexual). She can and will love anybody.

16. HOW DO THEY FEEL ABOUT SEX? HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO THEM? Sex is not that important to her, nor does she treat it as some sacred act. It doesn’t preoccupy her thoughts and she’s not going to go out of her way to fulfill any desires. If it happens, great. If not, that’s fine too.

17. WHAT ARE THEIR TURN-ONS? TURN-OFFS? WEIRD BEDROOM HABITS? She’s not hard to please, but primary turn-ons are confidence, a sense of humor, affection, and reciprocity. Douse her in attention. She doesn’t have bedroom habits out of the norm but she’s willing to try out what her partner wants. 

BELIEFS 1. DO YOU KNOW YOUR CHARACTER’S ASTROLOGICAL (ZODIAC OF CHOICE) SIGN? HOW WELL DOES IT FIT THEIR TYPE? Harding’s birthdate is unknown. I’d pin her as a fellow Sagittarius, so on the Thedosian calendar that’s Firstfall/Haring. She’d also fit as a Gemini (TC: Bloomingtide/Justinian). She’s a very take-charge, jovial type of person, so I think these line up well for her.

2. IS THIS CHARACTER RELIGIOUS, SPIRITUAL, BOTH, OR NEITHER? HOW IMPORTANT ARE THESE ELEMENTS IN THEIR LIFE? She is agnostic and doesn’t subscribe to any one belief. 

3. DOES THIS CHARACTER HAVE A PERSONAL CODE OF MORALS OR ETHICS? IF SO, HOW DID THAT BEGIN? WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO COMPROMISE IT? Lace doesn’t go out of her way to antagonize others or treat them with disrespect. As a surface dwarf, she realized early on how petty and cruel other people can be and learned how to defend herself because of it. 

4. HOW DO THEY REGARD BELIEFS THAT DIFFER FROM THEIRS? ARE THEY TOLERANT, INTOLERANT, CURIOUS, INDIFFERENT? She’s curious and interested in learning more.

5. WHAT PREJUDICES DO THEY HOLD? ARE THEY IRRATIONAL OR DOES THE CHARACTER HAVE A GOOD REASON FOR THEM? She tries not to be prejudiced towards anyone but she seems to regard the Avvar a bit lower than others. They’re considered “barbaric” to many outside of the culture who don’t understand their practices; this includes Harding.

DAILY LIFE 1. WHAT IS THE CHARACTER’S FINANCIAL SITUATION? ARE THEY RICH, POOR, COMFORTABLE, IN DEBT? She’s making far more in the Inquisition than she ever did at home, for a start. She’s not rich but she’s comfortable with what she’s got. It’s not like she’s going shopping all the time. 

2. WHAT IS THEIR SOCIAL STATUS? HAS THIS CHANGED OVER TIME, AND IF SO, HOW HAS THE CHANGE AFFECTED THEM? She’s an average gal like everyone else.

3. WHERE DO THEY LIVE? HOUSE, APARTMENT, TRAILER? IS THEIR HOME A CASTLE OR JUST A PLACE TO CRASH? WHAT CONDITION IS IT IN? DO THEY SHARE IT WITH OTHERS? Verse dependent. Skyhold is a literal castle but not a place she’s at frequently. In modern, she shares a place with two other people. She doesn’t mind having flatmates because she’s rarely there herself. She keeps her area in good condition but it’s definitely “lived in.”

4. BESIDES THE BASIC NECESSITIES, WHAT DO THEY SPEND MONEY ON? She syphons money back to her parents to help them move from the Hinterlands to Denerim, and continues to support them afterwards. In modern: cameras and SD cards, travel, and concert tickets.

5. WHAT DO THEY DO FOR A LIVING? ARE THEY GOOD AT IT? DO THEY ENJOY IT, OR WOULD THEY RATHER BE DOING SOMETHING ELSE? Harding is a lieutenant and lead scout. She loves her job and no one could take it away from her, anyway! Without her expertise, the Inquisition would suffer a huge loss. In modern verse, she’s a travel photographer and has a pretty sizable blog following. 

6. WHAT ARE THEIR INTERESTS OR HOBBIES? HOW DO THEY SPEND THEIR FREE TIME? Outside of scouting for the Inquisition, she teaches dance lessons (when she can find time), enjoys hanging out at the tavern to chat with people, and going to the library to read/research what she’s found out on the field. 

7. WHAT ARE THEIR EATING HABITS? DO THEY SKIP MEALS, EAT OUT, DRINK ALCOHOL, AVOID CERTAIN FOODS? She eats when she can and does her best not to skip meals, although it can’t be helped sometimes. She does drink with others at the tavern but not to the point that she’s getting drunk all the time. Her favorite food is her mother’s turnip-goat stew.

ASSOCIATIONS WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING DO YOU ASSOCIATE WITH THE CHARACTER, OR WHICH IS HIS FAVORITE: (I DID BOTH, ASSOCIATION/ FAVORITE)

1. COLOR? yellow / green 2. SMELL? magnolia / her mother’s cooking 3. TIME OF DAY? early afternoon / sunrise 4. SEASON? summer / " “ 5. BOOK? not sure for either 6. MUSIC? pop / ??? 7. PLACE? anywhere / a group of friends 8. SUBSTANCE? lace :D / wool 9. PLANT? sunflower / succulents 10. ANIMAL? cat / ???

[sveasauvageon]

Congratulations, you have achieved peak millennial || GW

☾♔; March 11, 2018 ☾♔; sotd: That's how you write a song ⠀⠀⠀ by Alexander Rybak ☾♔; comedian otd: Sarah Millican ☾♔; Audition {a mod example} ☾♔; {G} https://goo.gl/XSTtMc ☾♔; mod(s): @.themadmonarchist @.maybones et moi

Title: from a Bill Maher joke (I like some of his stuff)

FINALLY done with this.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ஜ۩۞۩ஜ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀Svea Richelle Estelle Sauvageon, (16-17, 17 by Nov.) ⠀⠀⠀Gick längst stränder av guld ⠀⠀⠀Såg solen färga himmeln röd ⠀⠀⠀Och där sanden ännu är varm ⠀⠀⠀Av dina steg vill jag sätta fötter ⠀⠀⠀Och alla minnen som jag nu bär ⠀⠀⠀Finns där som skatter i mitt bröst

⠀⠀⠀Translation ⠀⠀⠀(according to the lyrics translate website): ⠀I walked along beaches of gold ⠀Saw the sun paint the sky red ⠀And where the sand was still warm ⠀From your steps is where I want to put my feet ⠀And all the memories I carry with me, ⠀Remain there like treasures in my chest

Allt man kan önska sig by Eric Saade https://goo.gl/t5NgUv (I was totally gonna go with a Dima song, egoist, but I wanted a swedish song for my swede)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ THE BASICS

Nickname: Vea (Vay-ah), S (Minah, Eloise, and other close elites), Duchess S (by Gossip Witch), the Swede, Estelle/Stella (by her Grandmama), my moon and stars (Grandpapa), Richelle (her mother and maternal grandfather), princess (papa), Her/Your Royal Highness and älskling (henry), storasyster (Lili and Xander)

Gender: cis-female

Date of Birth: November 23

Place of Birth: Enköping, Sweden

Nationality: British-Swedish

Ethnicity: caucasian (of Frankish, Swedish, and anglo-saxon descent)

Accent: alternates between Swedish and Posh English, usually depending on her level of anger/passion

Blood Status: pure-blood (though, not the purest. Her mother's family is a straight-up blood-purist type family, but her father's is far more open, and if you trace back 5 generations, there's a muggle-born, as well as muggles and etc further back. So technically, she is a "pure" blood, since that term is generally applied to someone whose ancestors up to their grandparents have no muggle or muggle-born blood, but there are numerous muggles and muggle-borns if you go back beyond that, on her father's side. Her mother's is as inbred as the royal families of the real world.)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Face Claim: Cara Delevingne

Hair: Blonde (sometimes magically died platinum/silvery-gold because actual nerd). Long, and generally tied into a different style everyday; ponytails, elaborate braids, etc. When's she's feeling lazy, she'll just leave it free, yet it always ends up perfectly straight without any effort on her part.

Eyes: light blue

Height:  1.73m

Weight: idk, presumably light

Body: slim and athletic

Any Scars/ Marks?: n/a

Any Tattoos/ Piercings?: just her ears, triple pierced for ear cuffs (are they all dragons? Yes), but also, maybe she'll get a dragon tattoo one day.

Quirks/ Mannerisms: n/a (I probably mixed this in with the habits section)

Style: erratic, she wears numerous styles, and doesn't really have one exactly, though if you wanted to summarize her closet in a single word; expensive would be that word. She prefers clothes of silk, cashmere, and/or leather, and tends towards gem embellished things. Her style is basically "I like" and "I do not like", it's quite simplistic, like, in the way she chooses her clothes. Emilio Pucci is probs her favourite brand, also Gucci and Valentino. Also, also D&G and Elie Saab, but that just goes without saying.  

Additional Information: #OnWednesdaysWeWearWhite

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ PERSONALITY:

Head cannon: Svea's a bit of an oddball slytherin (as in she doesn't fit the general mold of a slytherin, she only comes off as crazy to people who witness one of her Eurovision rants, which is around 80% of the stuff that comes out of her mouth so meh, she's got a little bit of a rep as a nutty swede). She can seem standoff-ish or intimidating at first glance, her entire vibe is "arrogant and proud", and "proud of her arrogance", however, she's extremely outspoken and often involves herself in situations that she has nothing to do with (especially if someone is bugging one of her friends or she sees/hears something "stupid" aka bullying) and is a lot more approachable once she starts speaking. She's quite outgoing, and easily befriends people, as well as being well-mannered and polite (even towards people she hates. She makes her hatred clear, but she'll be saying "fu.ck off" with a smile and a "please and thank you"). She generally comes off as a very bossy "Swede" (and she's proud of that. The world would be a better place if everyone strived to be a little more like Sweden).  

Theme Song: shall we begin by Ramin djawadi {https://goo.gl/9Px2Ne}

Strengths: Hardworking, passionate persevering, unrelenting, obsessive (I'd call it a strength), adoring/doting (bordering on becoming a negative trait though), highly self-aware, nerdy af, dedicated, ambitious, resourceful, and cunning (duh-doi, slytherin), independent, protective, proactive, aggressively European/Swedish

+Mom Friend: she's a total mom-friend (even fits in with her sort of GG role), she's ridiculously protective of and invested in her friends and family. It's not inherently a bad thing, hence it's in the strength list, she follows their love lives and is somehow always around to lend an ear/shoulder/offer to hex the fu.ck out of someone. She's always around to give (unsolicited) advice to friends, and really, everyone. However, her mom-friend behaviour can go to the negative extremes because not only is she willing to forgive anything someone she loves does, but she'd also go to any length to protect them, including ruining the lives of others (or literally ending said life) if she feels someone she loves is threatened in anyway. She has a lot of resources at her disposal and uses all of them to protect those she loves. Flashy social takedowns aren't really her thing, it's more framing someone for an illegal act and having them sent to some kind of prison. Her protective behaviour can border on the socio or psychopathic, as she displays a complete lack of empathy for the person who hurt her loved one (regardless of how small that hurt may have been) and seems to lack the ability to see them as another living creature, also seems to relish in the pain she caused that person, displaying a somewhat sadistic side of her as well.

+Boss As.s Bi.tch: she's commanding AF (behaviour she inherited from her Grandmama tbh), she's not as bossy when it comes to her circle of friends. There's an equal playing field there, but for anyone she does not consider a close friend, she's always bossy, her commanding tone increasing on how beneath her she thinks someone is.

Weaknesses: Elitist, unforgiving (except when it comes to people she loves, she's so forgiving of them), somewhat vain (but like, look at her), arrogant, narcissistic, elitist (though, you have to earn the right to be elitist in her eyes), manipulative (duh-doi, that's just basic slytherin-ing), cunning, b.tchy, salty, snarky, stubborn, relentless, aggressive.

+Superiority Complex: like, she doesn't think it's a problem, but it technically is. Her core belief is that if you want respect, earn it, and she feels she's worked hard to accomplish all that she has (well, except her money, that she was born into), so she has earned it.

+Hypocrisy: whilst she claims she has high moral standards, and certainly acts like she's above the idiotic "dark" behaviour her house has a reputation for, but when it comes to her friends, she forgives basically everything. She's like one of those mom's of bad kids who defends them regardless of what stupid shít they've done willingingly, like "Paul Ryan, you should know better. You know my son doesn't know anything about healthcare. Donnie trusted you, he's a slow boy. He's a slow boy, look at him! You took advantage of him." (It's an old, in this day and age, joke made by Trevor Noah about one of Trump's fox news defenders after the healthcare debacle). Anyway, Svea's friends could literally burn down the school or her house or kill someone and she'd be all "okay, here's how we're going to handle the authorities sweetie". Like, she wouldn't even question why did it. The only time she'd struggle with forgiving someone she loves would be if they hurt someone else she loves.

+a messy bítch who loves drama: it's low-key, somewhat, she's certainly not looking to start drama, but she absolutely, 100% wants to hear about it (hence she follows gossip witch), and if it's negatively affecting someone she cares about, she will involve herself to protect them, aggressively.

+Internalizing: she's not so good at sharing her own problems and/or feelings. Whilst she's always around to talk about her friend's issues and feels, when it comes to herself, she tends to shove it down between 60 layers of jokes and salt. When genuinely hurt by something or someone, she tends to just walk away and brood silently in a dark corner. She sees herself as a leader and believes that leader's can't go around showing weakness, so she struggles to open up about that side to even her closest friends.

Habits: - eye rolling (so much eye rolling) - tends to tune out her entire environment when she's in "the zone" (no longer walks and reads because she has run into and fallen off of stuff) - twirls her hair with her wand when she's thinking (like how we use fingers) - Swears a lot - hums Eurovision songs around 90% of the time - corrects people, all the time. She can't not correct people.

Skills/ Talents: - multilingual (English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, and Danish) - magic (she has yet to encounter a form of magic she does not immediately excel at) - memory (it's not really eidetic or photographic, because it's not instant, but after 3 reads of a thing, she can rattle off the whole thing word for word) - making references (that's a talent right? Because otherwise, I am screwed) - emotional manipulation/acting (works best on people that don't know her, she can still manipulate other people, but it takes a little more effort and time) - obsessing (again, totally a talent right because otherwise I have literally no skills)

Any mental health issues: She's got some deeply buried mommy issues, and her narcissism is probably on the borderline of crossing into a disorder. But meh, nothing she's been diagnosed with, and definitely nothing that affects her daily. Actually, her perpetual repression of that could/should cause her emotional distress is probs another disorder, but again, eh. It'll probably all explode one day in some kind of breakdown, but she's basically fine.

♣️ Favorite Quotes/ Sayings that your character would use: - "I'm not better than you because my grandparents had magical parents. I'm better than you because I'm smarter, prettier, and more accomplished."

- "urg, fu.ck you."

- "urg, you're/she's/he's/they're the worst."

- "you should do what I say or my son-in-law (Tyler) is going to hit you."

- "duh-doi"

- "that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

- "what, am I supposed to be impressed?"

- "if you want to buy my forgiveness, start with a Fabergé egg."

- "I am a bi.tch when I wanna be."

- "You win some, you lose some. Except for me/us, I/we always win."

- "I'll pass on that glass of non-premium liquor you're drinking."

- Tbh, she says urg a lot. And a lot of swearing.

- "I care. I care a lot. It's kinda my thing." (Leslie Knope quote, but like, that's Svea @ all her smol beans. aka friends and fam, many of whom are taller than her or her height, but they're all smol precious beans that need her protection)

♣️ Swedish sayings/phrases she uses: - "Pfft, well now you've taken a poop in a blue cabinet." (I dunno the Swedish for this one, it could just be a joke, Alicia Vikander mentioned it when she was on the Graham Norton show. I don't think she's lying, because Alicia's amazing, but she could just be fu.cking with us.)

- "You can't come here and slide in on a shrimp sandwich." (I dunno the Swedish for this one either, it could also just be a joke, Alicia Vikander also mentioned it when she was on the Graham Norton show. I don't think she's lying, because Alicia's amazing, but she could just be fu.cking with us, possibly again. It's said to someone if they're being too ostentascious or acting superior, or says something that smacks of class warfare)

- "Better breadless than clueless" ("Bättre brödlös än rådlös" in Swedish. Apparently the English equivalent is; "Better short of pence than short of sense." But I've literally never heard of it in my life. )

- "throw yourself in the wall" ("Släng dig i väggen" in swedish, apparently it's the equivalent to "take a hike".)

- "bring your spikes down" ("Tagga ned" in Swedish. Apparently it's the equivalent to "chill" )

- "no cow on the ice" ("Ingen ko på isen" in Swedish. Apparently it's the equivalent to "no worries")

- "[pronoun is] forest crazy" ("Skogstokig" in Swedish, it's the equivalent to calling someone "raging mad")

- "dressed up to his/her/their teeth" ("Klädd up till tänderna" in Swedish, the equivalent to "dressed to the nines", supposedly.)  

- "[pronoun]'s hair hurts" ("Ont i håret" in Swedish, the equivalent for the term "hungover")

- "Taste is like your bum, divided" ("Smaken är som baken, delad" in Swedish, I don't think there's an equivalent per say, but it's basically about people's shi.tty opinions.)  

- "If there's room in the heart there's room for the arse." ("Finns det hjärterum så finns det stjärterum" in Swedish, apparently Swede's talk about behinds, this is meant to be welcoming people into their home. I fu.cking love Sweden you guys, it's wild.)

Additional Information: - Well, my extra bit about her swedish phrases probs coulda gone here, but eh. - Also, also, she's kind of OCD, it's not really on a disorder level, which why it's here, because she's not "neat" by our standards, or the standards of someone who actually has OCD, she calls it "controlled chaos", her stuff is literally everywhere, but she always knows where her things are and always knows when someone's touched it or moved it like 2 inches to the left. - tends to get hangry (poutine is the best solution to that problem btw)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ BIOGRAPHY

Likes: stupid puns, muggle space exploration science, quidditch (Vrastra Vultures forever btches!), winter, snow, muggle technology, EUROVISION (hey, she's a European, and a Swede, they love the Eurovision), Melodifestivalen, muggle EuroPop music, football (aka soccer, but she European, she call it by its proper name. Also, ARSENAL FOREVER BÌTCHES), Aaron Ramsey, muggle history, magical history, the stars, the night sky, a song of ice and fire (of course), Dragons, Sweden, magic, her wand (precious), Tolkien's Middle-Earth, Vhagar (precious baby), muggle comedy panel shows, herself (ya seen her? She's real pretty), emeralds, satin, muggle drinks (vodka and ice coffee with caramel are delicious, she will fight you), firewhiskey, rain, kittens, dragons, shipping her friends with each other

Dislikes: rude people (there's a difference between being full of yourself and having manners), Hogwarts magic interfering with her muggle shít, her housemates making fun of her muggle shít (like, excuse me, but can your old af radio playing all 1000+ Eurovision songs at any time of day? That's what I thought), "woman" being used as an insult (she is a woman, and better than you, so fúck off), bertie botts every flavour bean (it's the "every" flavour that repulses her), idioticy, unearned elitism (if you wanna act superior, fine, but at least have something that makes you superior, and blood is not one of those things), Cornwall, camomile tea (it's disgusting), corduroy, roses, her things being moved/touched

Hobbies: reading, learning, football, just hanging out with her friends (forcing them to watch Eurovision)

Any health problems? (allergies, illnesses, etc): n/a

♣️ Family Background

:: Sauvageon Aesthetics: :: https://goo.gl/u4nRiU *contains a tiny bit about the Prince's at the end* Svea is from two notable families (though, even she argues about the notoriety of her mother's family, she would say that they are, in fact, not of note).

The Prince Family Through her mother, Svea is the heir to the Prince Family, a British Wizarding Family who are absolutely psychotic when it comes to blood purity. They are an old family, left off the list of the "Scared Twenty-Eight" for unclear reasons, though Marcius Prince claims it's due an ancestors' very public liaisons and relations with muggle royalty/nobility. Old and pure-blood proud, the Princes are fervent purportors of the concept of blood supremacy and purity, and proud Slytherins. Having all been sorted into the House dating back to Salazar Slytherin himself (or so they claim). Due to centuries of inbreeding with other pureblood families (who are all cousins at this point), the Princes tend to have the following traits; violent tendencies, mental instability, and some are enfeebled (though the family goes to great lengths to hide and eliminate such members). Additionally, due to their close genetics, the family additionally has trouble conceiving, generally ending up with only one child born per generation. Their numbers are currently dwindling, and the name is expected to die if Svea's mother doesn't have another child (or not if Svea agrees to take their name, solid no on that though).

The House of Sauvageon The Sauvageon's are a very family old wizarding family, they were originally French, and later immigrated to Sweden in the late 1700's. Unlike most ancient wizarding families (particularly the British ones), they have never shied away from breeding with muggles and muggleborns, often gaining the label of "blood traitor" from the British families, but they're Swedish, and blood density is irrelevant there. There are as liberal and socialist as their country. Despite being loathed by the blood purist-type families, they are still approached very few generations for marital matches, as they are exceedingly wealthy and when the aforementioned house runs out of options.  

♣️ Family Affiliation: Swedish Ministry of Magic, Durmstrang Institute of Magic (not a happy association, but it's their homeschool, and most Sauvageon's have attended it), House of Bernadotte, House of Châteaudun (and their successive houses), and the Riddarhuset (The House of Nobility in Sweden -- don't really have any power or special tax exemptions anymore, basically protection of historical titles and coat of arms)  

Socio-economic status: More money than God(s), HBO, and Netflix combined ♣️ Family Members:

▪️ Father: Petter Sauvageon | Colin Firth | 50 (if alive) | Dragonologist | missing, presumed dead

▪️ Mother: Diana Prince | Rachel Weisz | 47 | works at the British Ministry of Magic at The Department of International Magical Cooperation, specifically in the International Magical Office of Law (aiming to become Minister for Magic one day, which would suck for everyone that's not a pureblood) | alive

▪️ Step-Mother: Iliana Drubetskaya | Lena Headey | 44 | former Quidditch player, Quidditch commentator/reporter now | alive

▪️ Younger Half-Sister: Lena Sauvageon | Dafne Keen | 12 | second year student at Koldovstoretz | alive

▪️ Paternal Grandfather: Ludvig Sauvageon | Sir Patrick Stewart | 77 | socialite and patriarch, former politician | alive

▪️ Paternal Grandmother: Linnéa Sauvageon | Dame Judi Dench | 78 | socialite and matriarch | alive  

▪️ Paternal Aunt: Brigitta Sauvageon | Gillian Anderson | 46 | Politician, shadowy, high-ranking role in the Swedish Ministry of Magic | alive

▪️ Paternal Uncle: Kåre Sauvageon | James D'Arcy | 45 | Art Collector | alive

▪️ Paternal Cousin: Viggo Sauvageon | Mooms-mooms | 21 | Curse-Breaker for Rökstenen Wizarding Bank (the Swedish counterpart to Gringotts) | pretty, I mean alive

▪️ Maternal Grandfather: Marcius Prince | Sir Michael Caine | 80 | socialite, patriarch, author (of very anti-muggle/muggle-born books) | alive

**the families are further expanded upon here: https://goo.gl/d1pTdj (storyboard) & here: https://goo.gl/Dm6mpM {aesthetics collection with captions, primarily focused on the Sauvageons}

♣️ What is your character's relationship with their family? She has a very positive and close relationship with her paternal family. They were (and remain) her primary guardians, and growing up with the Sauvageon's in Sweden very much molded her into the person she is. Her grandmother is her role model, her sister is her *Gollum voice* precious, her step-mother inspired her to play Quidditch, her father instigated her love of eurovision and dragons, she considers the Sauvageon's her home. Her maternal family on the other hand, "poor" would be an understatement. Svea and her maternal grandfather (Marcius) actively hate each other, and it's not much better than that with her mother.

♣️ Which family member does your character feel the closest to?   She's quite close with her entire paternal family, but as of the last 12 years, it's definitely been her younger sister; Lili. She's a protective type of person, so having the responsibility of an older sibling was an absolute dream come true for this nerd.

Happiest Memory: she has quite a few, but the absolute number one would be the time she attended a Eurovision song contest with her father as a child (mathematically, but vaguely, it was probs around Marija, Dima, or Alexander's win).

Saddest Memory: when she learned that her father went missing. Like, it could be various arguments/standoffs with her mother, but her method for dealing with that is walking away/burying it, with her father going missing, there wasn't anyone to be angry at or someone to walk away from. Someone she loved was taken from her and she was literally powerless to do anything about it. Probably also why she's such an aggressive mom friend, on a subconscious level, she goes out of her to ensure someone she loves cannot be taken again.

How does your OC feel about pureblood supremacy?: She hates the "concept", and thinks it's the most idiotic thing ever thought up by someone. She was raised on Swedish ideals, a very liberal and socialist nation where blood purity or "impurity" is irrelevant, blood is blood, move the fck on. Muggle-borns have time and again been shown to be as powerful as any "pureblood", not to mention it's scientifically impossible for a person to have absolutely no muggle blood in their family histories, the wizarding population is too small when compared to the muggle population in the world, the species would've die out.

How does your OC feel about muggles/ half-bloods? Does your OC think they should be a part of the magical community? Of course they should be part of the magical community. Honestly, she supports the idea of reintegrating the magical and muggle worlds. What are they gonna do? Spread a nerve agent in their shops? They have magic and could easily handle any weapon the muggles send their way. She doesn't really understand why they have to hide.

Quick facts: Svea is half-Swedish, half-British, but was raised as a Swede from birth. Her mother's family was quite ashamed of the whole idea of a "liaison" and "bast.ardry" (how lame), thus she was born in semi-secrecy (secret from the British buddies of her mother's family) at the Sauvageon Estate in Enköping. Her paternal family has custody of her from birth, and she didn't see her mother or maternal family again for a decade (well, she was an infant, we can't actually be sure she ever did see her mother).

From the ages of 2-5, Svea was enrolled in Förskola, and when aged 6, she attended Förskoleklass, school for muggle children in Sweden (both are optional for Swedish kids, "Förskola" is preschool, available to children from ages 1-5, and "Förskoleklass" is preschool class, which I guess is effectively a year of kindergarten, for children aged 6). There she was integrated into muggle culture (or something like that, I can't remember the word I want) and made numerous friends, including one of her all time besties; Lara Coburg (the only one of her muggle friends to be introduced to the magical world, in a very Jacob Kowalski way now that I think of it, even though I hated him in the Fantastic Beasts movie). Lara is aware of the magical world and the only one of Svea's muggle friends who she maintains regular contact with.

After Förskoleklass, Svea attended 4 years of the muggle compulsory school in Sweden (which is for ages 7-16, and basically the north American equivalent of elementary through to high school), with the plan being that she would "transfer" to private, boarding school once she reached the age for magical schooling. However, when she was 10, her mother and maternal grandfather came to Sweden to claim custody and make her a British citizen, to meet the residential requirements to attend Hogwarts. The Sauvageon's initially refused, but as they loathe their local home school, Drumstrang (a very non-Swedish Scandinavian school, because Sweden is liberal af and Drumstrang is magic racist af), they agreed.

Svea spent a year living with her mother and maternal grandfather before being admitted into Hogwarts and did not like it in the least. They were horrified and appalled by the rambunctious, muggle-friendly, aggressively European child she was (and tbh, still is), and spent the year trying to force it out of her. They kept her isolated and cut off all her connections to her father's family, and tried to instruct her in the ways of pureblood, often screaming in frustration and anger when she argued back or simply replied with "so what" or "why". They later took to locking her in rooms, and starving her when she started leaving the estate on her own to mingle with the local muggle population. Eventually, their little war came to a head when they broke her electrical toys from her father's family, and in her fury, she magically set fire to the Prince Estate (on purpose, though they claimed it was an accident to the Improper Use of Magic Office). The fire resembled the Fiendfyre curse, and it was stronger than any fire Svea had produced before. Although no one died, the entire estate became ruins, and took 4 ministry workers plus her mother and grandfather to contain. After the incident, Svea was able to reconnect with her paternal family (crying to the ministry people there about missing her father and worried that her grandfather would say no because he's jealous of her other grandfather, yes she was faking her tears, anyway, they fell for it and informed her Swedish fam who immediately apparated to the Prince Estate). The Sauvageon's offered to pay for the restoration of the Prince Estate, but in exchange, Brigitta Sauvageon would be staying with them until Svea left for Hogwarts. Once that was settled, Svea and her maternal family became akin to strangers living in the same house, with Marcius Prince calling Svea and her aunt "unwelcome guests".

After she received her Hogwarts letter, instead of Diagon Alley, Svea's Aunt and Grandmother took her to Drottningsgränd, basically the Stockholm Diagon Alley (btw, I'm really proud of myself, because I googled Swedish street names and that effectively translates to "Queen's Alley" mostly because there's an actual street called "King's street", well, in Swedish it's "krongsgran" or something like that, tbh, I already forgot). Anyway, it resulted it quite a tiff with the Prince's, who insisted on Diagon Alley and wands from Ollivanders, they lost the argument on the later, but she did get her books, robes, and other school items from Diagon Alley. Also an adorable tawny owl they named "Fredrick".  

Additional Information: - her name is poorly made pun, like, "pun" is actually pushing it. "Svea" comes from a personification of Sweden, a derivative of "Svear", the Swedish name for the ancient Germanic tribe; the Swedes. "Svear" also later evolved into "Sverige", the Swedish name for Sweden and means "the realm of the Svear". Her surname, "Sauvageon", is a French form of "Savage", an English word, nickname, and surname meaning wild and uncouth, which was derived from a Middle English form of Old French; "salvage" or "sauvage", which meant untamed. Effectively, her name means Savage Swede, the flip around being a ref to the annoying flip around in the French language with certain terms and/or phrases (also in other languages, but French is the one I got beef with as a Canadian person). Richelle and Estelle are just because I like frenchy names that rhyme, and they're vaguely posh sounding, so I'm assuming her mother picked those ones. I say, assume, I made these characters, she did pick them for Svea.

- uses a ridiculous array of glitter and nerd-design pens (ink and quills are aesthetically pleasing, but impractical. Come on, the pencil was invented in fcking 1564)

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ HOGWARTS INFORMATION

House: Slytherin

Year: 7

Best Class(s): Arithmancy and History of Magic (honestly, she's great at all of her classes, but those two are her highest scores, well, she get's an outstanding in everything, but they're in like 98-100 percentile, and the others are just 90-98, if Hogwarts used numbers)

Worst Class(s): none

Any Pets?: a tiger patterned kitten, super smol and super cute, but has been a "kitten" for a suspiciously long time. It's been tiny and like a baby since she first got it in her fourth year, though she simply claims that it's a rare Swedish breed. She named it Vhagar, after a dragon in ASOIAF because she's a massive nerd.  

Reputation at Hogwarts: All in all, Svea's got a pretty stellar reputation. She certainly doesn't cause any trouble, she's heavily active in school events and protective of younger students. She's always been doing her own "foreigner" thing, in everything she does, she's aggressively Swedish about it (and that's something she says herself). She's basically the high-achieving "socialist" elitist, she definitely thinks she's better than you, but she's not going to tolerate something as stupid as "blood purity" in "her" school. Her reputation is basically that of the smart, sporty, pretty "cool" girl. Or I guess simply "The Swede". Seriously, she's super liberal, she loves Eurovision, what about that isn't Swedish? The fact that their faceclaim is English, but whatever. ▪️ Is your OC based on one of the character archetypes? If so, which one: Lily van der Woodsen/Bass/Humphrey (somewhat, she's a lot less selfish/self-centered than Lily)

▪️ If not, please write a 2-4 sentence tagline for your OC: GW: The liberal foreigner, the relentless Head Girl. Duchess S is our resident "mother of dragons", or so she claims. Sadly, not all of us can be Daenerys Stormborn. Sad for the Duchess at least. Whilst she may not be blood of the dragon, she is blood of the Franks. With extravagant  tastes and a penchant for chopped off heads (metaphorically, of course), Duchess S may seem like a nice friend for you to have, but cross her, and you'll be eating cake. (Svea, off in the distance: MARIE ANTOINETTE NEVER ACTUALLY SAID THAT YOU UNCULUTURED SWINE!)

Additional Information: - Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch Team, also team captain   - Head Girl   - She could've been a Ravenclaw, but her ambition heavily outweighs her thirst for knowledge

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ INDIVIDUAL MAGIC

Wand: acacia wood Wand Core: dragon heartstring Wand Length: 11 ¾" Wand Flexibility: inflexible, but swishy

Patronus: Swedish Short-Snout

Bogart: her mother

Amortentia: fresh coffee (though the taste disgusts her, hence she pumps caramel into her ice coffee), newly laundered clothes, and petrichor (the scent of wet earth after a recent rain fall)

Affinity to any particular magic?: she's quite skilled with wandless magic, and occlumency (taught by her grandmother), to protect her mind against any invaders. She's dabbled in some legilimency, but does not care for it.

Additional Information: - ridiculously in love with/knowledgeable about dragons. super obsessed with them. - I guess it would fall under affinity, but she's quite drawn to fire and fire-based spells, creatures, potions, etc. She'd never admit it to someone of authority (yet), but her favourite spell is fiendfyre. - obtained her appariting license earlier than would be possible (because her birthday makes her 17 after the usual UK test dates) by applying for it at the Swedish Ministry of magic, which issues Apparition licenses at 16 (completely made that up, but whatever, I don't like half of the few things we know about JKR's Sweden, they're not very Swedish. How is Drumstrang a Scandi school? Scandi's are so liberal, I get it's a German, WWII stereotype, but make it limited to German and Germanic states then, the Scandi's are liberal af. Well, Sweden is, also I think Finland).

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ USER INFORMATION

Username: @.drownedinmoonlight Activity Level (Scale 1-10): 8-ish

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⚜️ OPTIONAL

Playlist: https://goo.gl/vaSFwA {Svea} ⠀⠀⠀⠀& https://goo.gl/Wwgx4s {Svea x Henry} Moodboard: https://goo.gl/VBPzCG Social Media: https://goo.gl/uXqRa9 {insta} Storyboard: https://goo.gl/d1pTdj Aesthetic Collection I: https://goo.gl/qDJazT Aesthetic Collection II: [still in my drafts]   Svea x Henry Aesthetics Collection: https://goo.gl/nVaubL Wardrobe/Style Collection: https://goo.gl/g8rBdV Plotting Set: Story: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ஜ۩۞۩ஜ

When you have completed the audition, please tag the mods: @.drownedinmoonlight @.themadmonarchist and @.maybones and use the hashtag #gossipwitch, #GW

[gtpooh]

Passing things forward

READ EVERY SINGLE WORD:

—If you are livestreaming a protest, and you are recording yourself, or taking selfies, instead of documenting information: you are not an ally. You are a tourist.

—Cover your face. Cover your hair. Cover your tattoos. Wouldn’t want to have any surfaces exposed that could get coronavirus.

—Protect your identity. Obscure your face. There are bad actors on the internet that would love to identify you and track you down for participating in a peaceful protest. Want to feel paranoid? Read about the mysterious deaths of identified Ferguson protestors years later. If you are in the privileged majority, this might be your first time realizing that there are violent people out there who want to hunt you down and harm you for existing. Imagine how POC feel.

—Unless your phone is inside a faraday cage, or you have removed the battery, it can be tracked. Yes, even in airplane mode.

—Assume all information transmitted from your phone is being intercepted by the police at the protest. Including your livestream. Oakland once had one of the largest inventories of Stingray devices (communciations intercept towers) in the US. They used them extensively against Occupy.

—Friendly reminder, your license plate is being scanned and tracked most places you drive.

—Disable your fingerprint or facescan unlock. While it is theoretically true that a search warrant is required to search your phone, it is also theoretically illegal for the police to murder an unarmed and nonviolent citizen. Use a six digit or more passcode.

—Backups to the cloud. Things tend to get broken at protests.

—Do not publicly display your teargas neutralizing spray, or peperspray neutralizing spray. You might be targeted. Keep it discrete and ready for use.

—Document any people showing up in Hawaiian shirts. Document anyone suspected of being undercover cops. Document agent provocateurs. Document bad actors showing up just to destroy property.

—If you have an Iphone, learn how to use your emergency sos. You can set your Emergency SOS to notify your family you might be being arrested or kidnapped (if it is safe for you to activate this feature). You can also disable the call 911 feature in Emergency SOS. Activating this feature also locks your phone against anything but a passcode unlock. If your phone is also encrypted, it is very hard for someone to illegally break into your phone.

—Write your emergency contact on your body in sharpie, somewhere both out of view and where it will not sweat off. Or memorize it. You will not have access to your cellphone if you are arrested (whether wrongfully or not).

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. Hot hands gloves, or Nomex flight gloves, can be used to pick up hot objects on the ground, if you need to throw a teargas grenade away from you.

—Highpowered lasers, not usually the pocket kind, can destroy the sensors on cameras. Be careful with your cameras out there.

—If your goggles have vents, they are vulnerable to teargas and pepperspray.

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. A set of allen keys can sometimes unlock crowd control gates.

—Remember that Neonazis have driven cars into peaceful protests in the past. There is finally a use for all those lyft/lime/uber bikes and scooters. Bring them to the protest and use them to as roadblocks if necessary to prevent cars from driving into protestors or chasing them.

—Umbrellas can be useful in preventing bad actors from hitting you with some projectiles during an otherwise peaceful protest. They also help protect identity.

—If you are a white ally: listen. Don’t make the protests about you. There are already literal Nazis doing that.

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. It has already been noted on multiple organizing boards for white supremacist groups that a protest they’ve whipped into a riot is the perfect place to murder someone with impunity, and even kidnap people. Read up on how to escape from zipties. Bring medical shears or small snips to cut them.

—If you are arrested, identify yourself. Have your ID. Do your best to show the officer that you are peaceful and not resisting arrest. Say nothing else at all without a lawyer present, unless it is to request your phone call. Assume anything said, including on phone call, is being documented and could be aggressively used against you. Innocent people can still go to jail.

—Be careful, all kinds of bad actors can use a peaceful protest as an excuse for violence. Assume you might get shot with a rubber bullet/sandbag. Wear protective gear so you can protest in peace. Being misidentified as a violent/illegal protestor by an officer could also mean being hit by a baton, which could break your bones. Protests can quickly turn chaotic, and often the official response to a peaceful protest can be indiscriminate in who gets injured. Don’t forget that photo of a 12 year old that was peppersprayed for being at a protest.

—Recognize that there are complex factors at play. Not everyone at the protest has the same agenda. Some are not peaceful. The Attorney General of the US noted yesterday that outside provacateurs are infiltrating peaceful protests to accelerate outside agendas unrelated to protesting in solidarity with Black Lives Matter/George Floyd/Police Brutality. The Mayor of Minneapolis noted many* violent protestors arrested were from out of state, and some had ties to white supremacist groups. Not all protestors are looters. Not all looters are protesting anything.

—If you are a white ally that acknowledges your privilege and wants to use that to support the protestors, go to the front of the protest. If you can tolerate having your identity known and you can be a peaceful human shield, do it. Just don’t steal the scene. Let the other POC speak. Leave your megaphone and microphone with someone else while you shield them.

—If you are a white ally in your comfortable home, stop deleting anyone that disagrees with you. Stop feeding the divisive algorithms that have helped shape this discourse into a hateful thing. Right now, you can be putting in the work talking to people and helping them understand that “All Lives Matter” is a way to avoid talking about Black Lives Matter. Don’t be combative. Listen. Ask Questions. Talk. Your POC friends don’t need to spend all their time educating—a huge part of our role as white allies is helping our other white circles understand and grow.

—Yes, all lives do matter. The problem is that some are treated like they matter less. And they are disproportionately affected by police violence in the United States. When you shout “All Lives Matter” in response to “Black Lives Matter,” all that is happening is you are silencing people trying to speak up about disproportionate treatment and unequal rights. If you are sharing that favtoid about how many white versus black lives are taken by police, without adjusting for population, you are ignorant of statistics and being willfully manipulative at worst. Do you really believe that all lives are treated and regarded equally?

—Silence is how this grew. Colorblindness is how this grew. Ignoring this is privilege. The status quo is broken. Racism is alive and well. Silence is violence.

—Your political affiliation does not matter in proving you aren’t racist. Living in a diverse and liberal area does not matter. Knowing a POC in your personal life proves nothing. Quoting one convenient MLK quote does not matter. Only being actively anti-racist matters.

—Human lives will always be worth more than property. Stop changing the subject. There will be an appropriate time to rebuild.

—Violence at a protest does not invalidate the point of the protest, even one intended to he peaceful. Focusing on violence is just a way to ignore the meaning of the protest. Stop changing the subject.

If you want to share this, copy and paste it without attribution. This is not about any one person. Not even George Floyd. It is a chain in which George Floyd is the one of the latest links. Like Alton Sterling. Like Sandra Bland. Like Michael Brown. Like Freddie Gray. The list is staggering. And every single one of those names on the list was a person who could still be with us today.