#vengeance against a fictional character

[dayurno]

first of yeah i hate when people try to use any sort of disability as punishment for characters in stories as for most attractive ppl 1. Jean Moreau sad boy tall sad and French he would match my crazy and my mental state and i mean this in the unhinged tumblr way 2. literary any character that is strong and beffy as fuck so might as well just put riko here i am very attracted to strong and athletic individuals so really anyone woudl fit here but this is kings spot now 3. Jeremy Knox fake blondes with tan, it's very unusual look at least in my city/environment and tbh considered bit "trashy" but i personally love people who don't match 100% to fashion/beauty standards 4. Renee i don;t need to explain just Renee 5. Probably some raven I am really NOT PICKY tbh like appearance is such miniscule thing? I more care about someone's choices of fashion and how they carry themselves .... no kevin on this list because he is such basic ass white boy even with all the queer diva aesthetic this fandom puts on him sorry he is way too normie

BAHAHA kevin is a glossy two page magazine spread he cannot run from this hes very conventional and classic….. but i do love that about him 🫡 between him and jeremy we can make a fashion magazine for aspiring boys next door

ALSO CRAZY THAT YOUD WANT JEAN i am genuinely like. after having read into jeans mind i can understand the deliciousness of him as a concept but we could not coexist i do not think he is just too pathetic i cant do it… famously the only man ive ever considered being with was meek and submissive which i guess is a point on jeans part but i dont know. hes really crazy. i wouldnt get on this ride at all knowing how loose the screws are

[luna-azzurra]

Character motivations for fictional characters

1. Revenge: Seeking vengeance for a past wrong or harm.

2. Power: Craving dominance and control over others.

3. Love and Relationships: Longing for love, companionship, and emotional connection.

4. Redemption: Seeking to atone for past mistakes and find forgiveness.

5. Survival: Striving to stay alive in dangerous or challenging circumstances.

6. Justice: Fighting against injustice and upholding fairness.

7. Exploration: Satisfying curiosity and a desire for discovery.

8. Ambition: Relentlessly pursuing success and achievement.

9. Freedom: Seeking liberation from oppression and constraints.

10. Knowledge and Wisdom: Thirsting for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

11. Family: Protecting and nurturing one's family and loved ones.

12. Acceptance: Craving acceptance and validation from others.

13. Friendship: Building and maintaining meaningful friendships.

14. Escape: Seeking to break free from a stifling or undesirable situation.

15. Truth: Uncovering the truth and exposing lies or deceit.

16. Creativity: Expressing oneself and bringing imagination to life.

17. Competition: Striving to be the best and outperform others.

18. Self-Discovery: Embarking on a journey to understand oneself better.

19. Healing: Seeking emotional, physical, or spiritual healing.

20. Faith and Belief: Holding strong religious or spiritual convictions.

21. Mentorship: Guiding and inspiring others to reach their potential.

22. Revolution: Fighting against oppressive systems and advocating for change.

23. Sacrifice: Putting others' needs above one's own and making difficult choices.

24. Fear: Overcoming fears and finding strength in the face of adversity.

25. Fame: Desiring recognition, acclaim, and celebrity status.

26. Identity: Discovering and understanding one's true self.

27. Empathy: Understanding and connecting with others' emotions and experiences.

28. Tradition: Upholding cultural or familial traditions and values.

29. Rebellion: Resisting authority and challenging the status quo.

[mxtxfanatic]

Wei Wuxian, Morality, and the False Justice/Revenge Dichotomy

A key feature that drew me into Wei Wuxian's character is that while he is moral, he is not an unconditional pacifist. He will always do the right thing first and foremost without a care for how others will view him, because his morality is not dictated by vanity or reputation:

[Wei Wuxian said] "...But, let the self judge the right and the wrong, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on. I, too, know what I should and shouldn’t do...."

—Chapt. 75: Distance, exr

However, that doesn't mean that he will accept just any treatment towards him. Wei Wuxian is the absolute last person to just lay down to be trampled underfoot by his adversaries:

If he were Chang Ping, he wouldn’t have cared how prominent or powerful the LanlingJin Sect was, or how much glory the road ahead offered him, and he wouldn’t have let the matter go. Instead, he would’ve went to the dungeons on his own, cut Xue Yang up so that he was nothing more than a puddle of flesh on the ground, and summoned his soul back to repeat the process to the point that he regretted ever being born in this world. But, not everyone was like him, preferring to perish together with his enemy.

—Chapt. 30: Dew, exr

The scene inside of the supervision office was more than horrifying. Within the courtyard, corpses lay everywhere. Not only there, the bushes, hallways, fences, and even roofs were piled up with corpses. All of the corpses wore sun robes. They were disciples of the Wen Sect.

—Chapt. 61: Evil, exr

He returns the suffering dealt to him by his enemies back 100 fold, but after he has gotten his revenge, he is able to move on peacefully, which is why he holds no grudges towards the Wen remnants once the Sunshot Campaign against the QishanWen concludes and even encourages Wen Ning's corpse to seek revenge against his murderers. Mianmian actually explains it best:

The woman seemed as if she was scared. She was even more careful, “No... I don’t mean anything more. There’s no need to be so agitated, everyone. I just feel that the words ‘killing indiscriminately’ isn’t really suitable.” Someone else spat, “How is it unsuitable? Wei WuXian has been killing indiscriminately ever since the Sunshot Campaign. Can you disprove this?” The woman tried hard to protest, “The Sunshot Campaign is a battlefield. In the battlefield, would it mean that everyone is killing indiscriminately? Let’s consider this as it stands. I really don’t think it’s right to say that he killed indiscriminately. After all, there is a reason. If the inspectors really abused the prisoners and killed Wen Ning, it wouldn’t be called killing indiscriminately anymore, but rather revenge...”

—Chapt. 73: Recklessness, exr

Seeing a protagonist that believes in "an eye for an eye" without being labeled as bad or "morally gray" by the narrative for refusing to turn the other cheek, who also knows how not to take it too far and stray out of my personal morals, has been such a breath of fresh air. It is also very validating to see a work of fiction so concerned with the subject of oppression and marginalization that doesn't frame violence and vengeance as antithetical to moral righteousness and justice. Because what is "justice" without restitution? And is it truly restitution if the option to avenge oneself of an unconscionable wrong is denied based on the false equivalency of being "just as bad as" your own oppressors' actions? Because the truth is that in most cases, violence is the only route to liberation, and sometimes, revenge is the only way to make possible the release of your resentments, lest the unaddressed wrong keep you stagnant in your malcontent. I am glad that Wei Wuxian serves as a model for this particular lesson.

[deus-sema]

The discourse surrounding Sauron and Galadriel about love and obsession has been rather interesting to catch up with so far. After going through the perspectives of both those who like this pairing and those who don’t, I think both sides can unite in agreement over this one fact, if nothing else: obsession, without any shred of doubt, exists between them. It exists on both sides for she has been obsessed with him long before he was with her. Yes, it was motivated by unadulterated hatred and a desire for vengeance, but he occupied her thoughts for the better or worse. Now, she has planted herself in his mind too.

Then comes the question of whether whatever there is between them can be considered romantic or not. Is it appropriate to label it as love or not? Here it is a matter of preference which differs from person to person. What will be interpreted as romantic by one may not be so by another and vice versa. It is completely understandable why many will be uncomfortable with the notion of obsession being associated with love. Obsession – over anything and anyone – is usually an unhealthy emotion. Unwanted and unpredictable, it can prove detrimental to both the individual experiencing it as well as the people around them. In the real world, it needs to be recognized for what it is and addressed for the betterment of everyone.

But, herein lies the difference between the world we exist in and fictional worlds. Every work of fiction, regardless of genre, exists on a different plane whose happenings have no bearing on our reality. Fiction is a realm of infinite possibilities which is the reason why people use it for wish fulfillment. People can’t fly or use magic for real but they can do so in a make-believe world. People can cheat death and turn over a new leaf. Foes can become friends and overcome their grievances. They can live happily ever after without any worries about betrayal or loss. It is a place where ideal and unconditional love is allowed to thrive. Simultaneously, it is also where love can exist in flawed, twisted and, even, perverse forms. It can be greedy, possessive, selfish, and warped while still retaining its essence. That is probably the reason why many, myself included, are fascinated with the idea of stories with obsessive love. With the idea of an all-consuming desire and yearning on one character’s part for another that can go on to be destructive. With the concept of evil beings experiencing love. It is why obsession fueled by love, whether executed properly or not, is an integral component of many dark romances. Within stories, it is permitted to be what it is most certainly not in reality. In real life, no emotion – not even what we believe to be love – should override our individual well being or anyone else’s. This is why fiction is a safe space to explore fantasies. Even the most incredulous ones of all.

Now, about how I interpret Sauron and Galadriel, specifically, within the context of this show: It is love. They developed feelings for each other when their paths crossed unexpectedly and they forged an unlikely bond because of the circumstances they faced together. Simple. Unintentionally, Galadriel began to care for her greatest enemy and believed him to be her friend. She is still obsessed with defeating him but whatever she felt for Halbrand now exists alongside her hatred for Sauron. Meanwhile, Sauron is still pretty much evil. He is working to further his own interests or,rather,what he thinks to best for Middle Earth. But, at the same time, he desires Galadriel. Both were visibly attracted to one another in the first season. Even though no words were said, Charlie and Morfydd, being the phenomenally talented and intelligent actors that they are, conveyed it beautifully through their expressions and body language. I don’t think it is a betrayal to the characters either for the show, more or less, took Sauron’s canonical obsession with Galadriel and her persistent defiance against him and added to it a layer of romance which is doomed because of who they are. I don’t claim to know what the show plans on doing with them in future and it is not in my hands. We can only speculate, engage in wishful thinking and write fanfics and AUs if things don’t go the way we want them to.

RoP is a show I’m enjoying so far in all its aspects and I’m not exaggerating when I say that its fandom is one of the most chilled-out and relaxing ones I’ve engaged with in recent times. I’ve gotten to interact with many amazing posts. However I’m well aware that where there is more than one person, there are differences in opinions. Where there are differences, there will be disagreements. Where there are disagreements, there will be clashes. Clashes will lead to fanwars. Fanwars have high chances of turning toxic. I know the drill for I have undergone it in many fandoms. I’ve been carried away by the toxicity and have made my fair share of mistakes too. Those experiences have taught me some important lessons. One mistake I made, rather repeatedly, during my…..enthusiastic….stanning phase was to engage in fights with people whose opinions on a certain topic or fictional character differed from mine. All factions believe their interpretation of whichever nonexistent character they like in whatever made-up story they are into, is the correct one and many a times they can substantiate their claims with reasons. Sometimes, these contrasting opinions lead to some riveting and respectful discussions between people which, to be honest, is the entire point behind a public platform. Sometimes, they result in nasty fights.

Ideally, the feelings of real people should be prioritized over seemingly trivial issues like different preferences in fiction. But if we were capable of that we would all be perfect but, as we all know, perfection exists only in Valinor. Fictional works are dearer to us than some random stranger on the internet. So, when we encounter a radically different opinion about something we are passionate about, the first reaction is usually one of annoyance. Depending on whether it is mild or severe, this annoyance can make us petty. We crave the satisfaction of one-upping those who disagree with us, of validating our perspective over their’s and, as a result, we don’t realize if someone’s feelings get hurt in the process. Or even if we do, the euphoria of ‘winning’ in the discourse makes it easier to sweep the adverse effects under the rug. I don’t believe we need to withhold our opinions to make others happy. We are not bound to understand each other's opinions, much less agree every time. But we do owe it to each other to be civil if not anything else. As for me, what I’m going to try and do is to ignore the takes I disagree with and mind my own business. If it gets too much then I am going to press the block button. I advise those who dislike my opinions and takes to do the same. It’s nothing personal and we all deserve to enjoy in our own spaces while choosing what content we wish to see and engage with without suppressing our thoughts. We deserve to vent as well for it is healthy. I cannot guarantee that I’ll be successful right away for there are still instances when I end up behaving in a manner that is plain immature. But, to paraphrase the late Diarmid who once tried to counsel Sauron (Eru bless his soul), I simply have to keep trying until it becomes a habit.

So, take care everyone, and I hope you all are doing well wherever you are.

[valacirya]

Decided to make a post about how most (not all) of Thingol's actions that fans criticize were justified (or at least understandable) and in the interest of his people. I'd recommend checking out warrioreowynofrohan and imakemywings for far more comprehensive meta about the tall boi. Also, no quotes because I'm lazy, but all the canon I mention is from the published Silmarillion.

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1. Quenya ban

I've seen the Quenya ban be described as cultural genocide which icks me out. First of all, maybe don't use genocide to describe fictional characters in a fictional universe, especially when it's happening to real people and cultures. Second of all, that term is still inaccurate. Quenya was spoken in Gondolin, probably in Hithlum and Nargothrond too, and no one was punished for it. Earendil could speak Quenya. The Numenoreans could speak Quenya. Bilbo fucking Baggins could speak Quenya.

The ban was a nonviolent way for Thingol to enact some sort of consequence for the people who murdered his brother's people, stole their ships, and then took advantage of his hospitality while keeping this heinous secret. And it was a way to make sure that Sindarin remained the lingua franca of Beleriand, because the Noldor had already proven their disdain towards the Sindar and their intent to establish their own kingdoms. I think it was imakemywings who said that the ban was also a soft power move to show how all the Sindar who worked with/under the Noldor were still ultimately loyal to Thingol and would obey his decree.

So no, the Quenya ban was not racist or xenophobic or cultural genocide. Again, don't use those terms to describe fiction, and if you insist on doing so, at least look them up in the dictionary first.

2. Isolationism

No he wasn't. He was friends with the dwarves, the Laiquendi, and the Falathrim. He made a mutually beneficial alliance with the Haladin. He was rightfully wary of the (armed-to-the-teeth and hiding something) Noldor but even after he learns about the kinslaying he says he won't cut off relations with the Nolofinweans indefinitely because he recognizes that they're in the fight against Morgoth together.

The Girdle of Melian was only put in place after the first battle when Denethor was killed and it was absolutely the right decision strategically. Thingol knew immediately what it took the Noldor 400 years and countless deaths to understand: there was no defeating Morgoth without the Valar. So he took his people and anyone else who was willing, and he created a kingdom with a semblance of peace where they could thrive. Doriath was a fortress and a symbol of hope for Beleriand. As long as Doriath stood, Morgoth hadn't won completely. No one who cared about Beleriand would have sacrificed that hope for some fanciful ideals of vengeance and glory. And don't forget, he let Beleg and Mablung participate in the Nirnaeth. The fact that only those two went means that no one else in Doriath was willing to fight.

3. Maedhros's comment about a king is he who can hold his own

The arrogance. I'm sorry, Mr. I Got Fooled By Morgoth, were you able to hold your own? You'd be a skeleton hanging from a cliff if Fingon hadn't rescued you. Thingol was filling his armories while the Noldor were still chilling in Valinor. Thingol was battling Morgoth while the Noldor were betraying each other and abandoning their home. He literally said: "...elsewhere there are many of my people, and I would not have them restrained of their freedom, still less ousted from their homes." Those are the words of a king who feels responsible for the people outside of Doriath too. Also, check out the difference between Maedhros's "we'll go wherever we want" comment and Thingol's "I don't like them but they'll be the deadliest foes of Morgoth".

His decision to retreat and put up the Girdle was strategically sound. Many Laiquendi joined him after Denethor's death and the Falathrim came and went freely. He had a choice between spreading out his already depleted forces to help the northern Sindar/Falathrim (and likely get annihilated) or retreat, recover, and wait for a better opportunity (the arrival of the Noldor was not a better opportunity; like I said, he knew only the Valar could defeat Morgoth, and Melian also sensed the Doom). Again, Doriath was a symbol of hope. "Gondor wanes, you say. But Gondor stands." Its survival was essential.

4. Attitude towards Men

Look I'm not going to defend his less-than-stellar attitude, but I do think it's exaggerated by the fandom. Before Beren came, Thingol still agreed to let the Haladin dwell in his territory. He even sent the marchwardens to aid them against orcs. And the minute he realizes Beren's loyalty, bravery, and true love for Luthien, he changes and welcomes him (and also appreciates his humor). He treats Turin like a son, and honors and pities Hurin even when Hurin disrespects him. Turgon otoh refuses to let Hurin into Gondolin even though they were actually friends.

5. Didn't join the Union of Maedhros

See: reasons above. Doriath had to survive. Elves could not defeat Morgoth without the Valar. Also, afaik he didn't actually have an army, just the marchwardens and his guard. Also also, Maedhros had subtly threatened him, Celegorm and Curufin had openly threatened him, and this was after they kidnapped and tried to forcibly marry Luthien. Also also also, he "went not to war, nor any out of Doriath save Mablung and Beleg" meaning the general populace didn't want to fight either.

6. Didn't accept refugees

As far as I'm aware, this is completely fanon. The (Noldorin, just fyi) refugees of Nargothrond are accepted into Doriath, as are the Sindar after Bragollach. Curufin and Celegorm's people join Amrod in Ossiriand I believe after the Nirnaeth. There's no canonical basis for this claim.

7. Responsible for Finrod's death

Nah dude. I'm not saying he was right in setting the quest, it was absolutely a horrible quest. But Finrod decided of his own free will to help Beren. You can say that he wouldn't have died if Thingol hadn't set the quest, but that's like saying if Morgoth hadn't stolen the Silmarils, the kinslayings wouldn't have happened. Objectively true, but missing a whole lotta nuance and absolving the Feanorians of their culpability. And I'm not comparing Thingol with Morgoth so don't start.

*************************************************************

The criticisms I don't mention are the ones I agree with. He should have listened to Melian. He should have reasoned with the dwarves instead of insulting them; honestly, his death was pretty stupid. He probably should have been a little more willing to establish relations with the Nolofinweans, but I understand completely why he didn't. He definitely shouldn't have fucked with the Silmaril but tbh, that seemed like one of the parts where a bigger force was determining things, like it was written in the Music already, because that Silmaril did play a key role in Morgoth's defeat.

In conclusion: Thingol rocked, fandom shocked.

Obligatory disclaimer: I meant no offense to anybody, and everyone is entitled to hold their own opinion on the Silm and its characters.

[witsserviceablesubstitute]

This post isn't really about the characters I reference, even if I use them as examples, nor is me navel-gazing my interpretation automatic criticism of other interpretations, so bear with me.

I find it amusing, in a self deprecating way, when I see players say how killing Anders is the most difficult choice for them in DA2 because I never do. I'm too much of a queer literary nerd to make that decision. I don't give up Jowan, or kill Anders, or even fight Grandin to the disapproval of, well, basically everyone in the party. What does it mean to me that I let justice, vengeance, and rage go free? I know what the game is trying to tell me it means, but I— disagree.

Allegory in speculative fiction overrules the contextual reality of fictional worldbuilding because fantasy and science fiction have too much history using it as a metaphor for real life sociopolitical baggage. Oppression against magic and fantasy races in particular are a frequent stand-in for real life attitudes for marginalized sexual identities and racist power structures. It doesn't matter that having magic in a show like Merlin or in comics like X-Men means individuals have contextual advantages over others, magic doesn't exist, the people they represent do. So when Fenris says it's magic that hurt him by way of graying the area around Dragon Age's pro and anti-magic sentiment in-text I just— disagree. A virulently racist power structure hurt him, magic was the weapon that was used.

What does letting justice, vengeance, and rage go free in Dragon Age mean to me? It's a cathartic release of queer rage, queer vengeance, and queer justice. Magic is an innate identity, it's not something the individual can help, as a queer allegory it is strengthened when systems of power are against it, strengthened even further when those systems of power are religious in nature. And so I let the response to that oppressive atmosphere go free because I think it should exist. Whatever the consequences later in the story.

[seraphimumbra]

My Amrit Doobay opinion is that I don't particularly want him to be written differently and I don't think it would necessarily make him a better character. A better person? Sure.

But him being obsessive, thinking he knows best and thus being disrespectful, controlling, creepy and overstepping all of her boundaries is fitting right alongside the rest of his personality.

I don't want him to suck less, I think he makes for a very enjoyable character as he is. One can enjoy gutting him like a fish or leaving him alone to rot in his pathetic misery or maybe even join him in his insanity depending on the mood. Whether or not his actions were forgiven and ignored by the narrative is thus a bit more complex to comment on since it becomes a path issue.

Amala joining him and moving past all of of his actions is not the same as the narrative doing that. This is the same Amala who has justified a lot of mass murders along the way, who has experienced a lot of traumatic events quite recently and we have been outright told by the narrative that she is going a bit insane.

If this person justifies his actions and decides that she wants to spend her life with him, that doesn't translate to the narrative saying that it's the correct or healthy thing to do. It could means that she did it anyway. She wanted to. She didn't care.

I don't think he was a failed morally gray character per say, because I don't think he was meant to be written as that kind of morally gray character in the first place. He was very outright on the wrong side of things about several issues. Characters who only do 'bad' things for the greater good are fine and good but characters can be wrong about what the greater good is, or about how they should go about it.

They can also have their own flaws outside of the trolley problem debate. Not every flaw has to sit nicely in the morally gray box where this was a bad thing done for good reasons. This was a bad thing done for bad reasons actually and the reason is that this person sucks. This same person had a distinct goal when doing that other bad thing though, arguably a good enough goal. Not every action has the same reason. Characters whose motives and actions are nuanced are fun.

So, I find Amrit Doobay to be a fun character to play with, not necessarily just in the scenarios provided to us in the game. What would happen if she got him arrested and took over the Dozen for herself? If she tried to kill him but he survived and now is sitting there analysing what just happened via his delusional lens, his entire worldview crashing right onto his head.

The self victimization that would come with any scenario of Amala not wanting to play along his schemes and instead doing something of her own. He might fancy himself the last do-gooder, the only one who knows what needs to be done, thus making everyone who goes against him not only dumb but dangerously so - a rabid dog that needs to be put down. Would he also admit to himself that it is out of vengeance, it is for fun, or would it just be 'the necessary thing to do'. His loneliness and deranged expectations from Amala to be his divine soulmate - all of these things make the dynamic interesting to explore to me - in several different ways, not necessarily including them actually being together in any shape or form (well, except for the thread).

All in all, yes he sucks and yes he is fun to explore which easily makes him an enjoyable character to me because I want my characters to be interesting more than anything else. It's fiction.

[hauntingofhouses]

BRB thinking thoughts about Taigen's character, the TaiMizu ship, and a big chunk of fandom's perceptions regarding both those things.

(Inspired by @farintonorth's post related to this topic that just got my brain going brrrrr)

OK so let me just... start off by saying that I think that reducing stories to their tropes is seriously detrimental to the way some people are interacting with fiction, and while that honestly warrants its own post about the subject, I wanna talk specifically about how this affects the way some people in the fandom talk about Taigen and TaiMizu.

Because yeah, tropes are useful shorthand to refer to certain dynamics or archetypes etc, and they are indeed the building blocks to any story. But in a well-written story, characters and their relationships, actions, and motivations, are much more complex than just tropes. Because in a story that has characters who are more than just cardboard cutouts, their behaviours, backgrounds, motivations and all of that, are inseparable from the context of the overall story they exist in.

So like, sure, you can say Mizu and Taigen have an enemies-to-lovers or rivals-to-lovers dynamic. I also use those terms because it's easier. But I also think this is where things start to get a bit twisted, especially from an intertextual sense. Because "enemies-to-lovers" is also commonly used to refer to other ships in other media, whereby it tends to be rooted in an imbalanced power dynamic, such as oppressor-oppressed and bully-victim.

And while that's a whole can of worms that I won't be getting into because it can quickly derail into a whole separate sort of fandom discourse, I'd just like to make it clear that Mizu and Taigen, in particular, do not have an imbalanced power dynamic. They are not bully-victim or oppressor-oppressed. The only understandable reason why someone might actually think their relationship is imbalanced is if

A) they only watched the first episode, or

B) they cannot grasp the slightest bit of nuance in a character, or

C) they're being obtuse on purpose simply because the Mizu/Taigen relationship, or Taigen's character in general, just doesn't suit their tastes.

While yes, Taigen, along with his whole gang, had bullied Mizu when they were children, that dynamic does not exist between them whatsoever in adulthood. Whatever imbalanced bully-victim power dynamic that had once existed between them was decisively ripped apart the moment Mizu beat him in that duel in the dojo, and then completely obliterated by the end of the season.

Mizu is not a defenseless victim at Taigen's mercy. Mizu can beat Taigen's ass any time she wants (and she DOES, repeatedly in fact), and could even kill him if she felt like it. She taunts him openly and without fear ("I like your hair"; "I can beat you with any weapon you choose") and all he does is bark back, because that's pretty much all Taigen ever does. Time and time again, he yaps about how much he wants to kill her, but time and time again, his actions prove that all of it is just an empty threat. Because though his words say "I hate you", his actions demonstrate the complete opposite. He's shown how protective he is of Mizu, how unhesitatingly he sacrifices himself up for her, how loyal he is in enduring days-long torture to not give up information about her, how even when near-death and in pain, he's still willing to keep standing back up so he can fight by her side and help her win against her enemies.

And Mizu is not an idiot! She sees that too. She does not see him as a threat, an enemy, or even a bully. Especially not by the end of Episode 3, and definitely not by the end of the season. When she finds him in the dungeon in Episode 6, she smiles from relief, and doesn't think twice to take him with her. Mizu finds him, at best, an annoyance, or at worst, an infuriating hindrance on her quest for vengeance. Which is why, when Taigen is about to say, "It's a shame our duel's set for tomorrow; I have to kill you before you get your revenge," Mizu whacks him on the head without a second thought before he can even finish his sentence, and leaves him lying unconscious, face-down, in the snow.

And this further emphasises how he does not hold any power over her. There is no abusive power dynamic between them. She is more powerful than him, he knows this, and all he's ever done after they've met up again in adulthood is get his ass whooped by her, get mad about it and pester her and follow her around, get his ass whooped by her some more, and put his life on the line to protect her.

"OOoooOOoooH b-but he called her a demon at the end of Episode 7 and threatened to kill her again!!!" Oh my god. He called her that because he's calling her out on her selfishness to stay silent about her knowledge of Fowler's plans to attack Edo. Because to him, loyalty and honour as a samurai is more important than anything. So in his own brash-and-immature Taigen way, he felt betrayed that Mizu did not hold the same principles. That's why he got angry. He wasn't even that mad about letting Akemi get dragged off by the Tokunobu guards. It was about saving the Shogun and the Shogunate as a whole. That's why the first thing he does in Edo is not find Akemi, but try to warn the Shogun about Fowler's attack.

Look, I'm not defending his stupid ass, of course. Because calling her a demon especially after their cute little wrestling time was obviously rude and inappropriate, especially since words like "demon", "monster" and "Onryo" have had such a deep effect on Mizu throughout her life, and continue to contribute to her self-hatred. But like? That's the fun of realistic and flawed characters, and realistic and flawed relationships. They're not perfect, and it's why we as an audience root for them, wanting to see them work through their shit and find a way to prevail despite it all.

Also, him saying that was in the heat of the moment. He was angry, he felt like his initial belief of who Mizu was—a strong and loyal samurai, just like him—was shattered, and so he lashed out. Was it rude? Definitely. Was it immature of him? Yes, incredibly. But it's also very much in line with his character, because even though he's grown a lot over the course of the season, the show isn't over yet, so obviously his character arc is just beginning, as that is also the case for the other three main characters: Mizu is beginning to accept herself, Akemi is beginning to grow into her position of power, Ringo beginning to train under Master Eiji, while Taigen is beginning to simply be a better person.

On that note, when speaking of Taigen's immaturity, I think that's also one of the main things that people tend to gloss over when it comes to his character. Because when you boil everything down to its bare essentials, Taigen is, essentially, a boy. I've talked about this before, but to reiterate, Taigen very much behaves like an unhealed child. Even as an adult, he is insecure, prone to throwing tantrums, and is desperate to latch onto some material goal in hopes that it will make him feel better—initially he was chasing status/glory/greatness, and then when Mizu tells him that "Nothing comes from being a samurai but death," he immediately decides he wants to run away with Akemi in hopes that he will be happy.

And it's a big step, acknowledging that he doesn't truly want greatness, but had always just assumed it was his only path to a good life. But it's clear he still hasn't really figured it out. Because if he did run off with Akemi to get married and live in the countryside, he still wouldn't be happy. Because he still doesn't know who he really is, or what it is he really wants. Marriage at this moment is the last thing he needs, and as he is now, he would be a pretty awful husband. A simple life would be good for him, but would he be good at a simple life, when he still has so much he needs to work through?

So anyway, what I'm getting at here, is that he's trying and he is learning and growing. So yeah, he is flawed, but honestly? So is Mizu. And the funny thing is that they're flawed in very similar ways.

Because Mizu is also an unhealed child. That's why she's so angry all the time. That's why she pushes people away. That's why she, just like Taigen, is so happy when given the chance to playfully wrestle in the forge, laughing and rolling around like children without shame or pretense.

Again, this shows there is no imbalance between them. They had grown up together as peers from the same town. And while Taigen had had the upper hand back then, because he'd had a gang of other kids with him, that is definitely not the case anymore. Today, they are equally flawed, equally strong, equally skilled swordsmen, and equally bull-headed.

However, yes, Mizu is definitely leagues more mature than Taigen. But she still holds a lot of childhood wounds that mirror Taigen's own. And we see this especially in relation to her mother. Similar to Taigen who had an abusive and alcoholic father, Mizu's Mama was an opium addict and had hit her, berated her, had shaved her head without her consent as a child, and as an adult, had constantly emotionally manipulated and guilt-tripped her. Mizu's love for her Mama was what had driven her to a path of vengeance in the very beginning. And when she'd found out Mama was still alive, she had wanted nothing more than her Mama's love, and it was this alone that pushed her to agree to the marriage with Mikio in the first place. And now, knowing from Fowler that her birth mother is someone else entirely, is what makes her agree to keep him alive and haul his ass to London to seek answers.

Thus, integral to Mizu's self-hatred is also Mizu's intense longing for love and family. Just like Taigen, whose pompousness comes from his insecurity about being the son of a poor fisherman, Mizu's goals are also shaped by who her parents are. Remember, her vengeance is not against just anyone who's corrupt or evil, but specifically against the men who she believes had assaulted her mother, the men she believes had made her a monster, the men she believes had abandoned her to die and continue to try to kill her. Her vengeance is against a father, on behalf of a mother. In The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride, Mizu is not merely the Ronin, the Bride, or the Onryo, but also the Child.

This is also why Ringo is so good, not only for Mizu, but for Taigen as well. Ringo is wise and caring and considerate, but above all, he is in tune with his inner child in ways that Mizu and Taigen are not. He is always earnest and positive, he sees the world with childlike wonder, but is not naive or blind to its ugliness. His whole life has been a battle. Ringo brings out the best in Mizu, consistently acting as her moral compass and conscience, and Mizu's choice to save Akemi in the final episode is only because she promised Ringo that she would. Because it's the right thing to do. Ringo inspires her to be a better person, and to think outside of her narrow-minded goal of revenge. At the same time, Ringo also brings out the best in Taigen. While at first Taigen had looked down on both Mizu and Ringo ("Half-limb to a half-wit"), by the end of the season, he's proud to have Ringo as a friend and ally, he listens to Ringo's advice ("What would Master do?"), and asserts to the fucking Shogun that Ringo is a worthy warrior to have by his side.

Okay, I've gone on a bit of a tangent here, but my main point is that Mizu and Taigen are incredibly similar. They are equals. They are both flawed, unhealed children who are chasing some impossible outlandish goal in hopes that it will fill the void in their hearts. They also both have a long way to go in terms of character development if they were to ever build a healthy romantic relationship (either with each other, or even with anyone else). So while I believe things will be rocky (because duh, it's a story, we all live for the drama, etc), I think with Ringo's help, they'll get there eventually.

[distort-opia]

I'm always so conflicted when stumbling upon posts talking about compassion being the definitive driving force behind Batman, because yes, that is one of his driving forces. But discussions of this kind tend to downplay Bruce's anger and the fact vengeance is very much part of his mission; making it out as something he outgrew, which never manages to sit right with me... and I'm trying to articulate to myself why that is, exactly.

I guess part of it is the progressive framing of Bruce learning to be more empathetic, to hope more, to reach out and try to help more. As if dealing with trauma is always going from point A to point B... when Bruce isn't healing. His refusal to heal is what fuels Batman, it's been stated outright again and again. This has been the core of multiple story arcs in the past decade, with Bruce inevitably choosing to be Batman over anything and anyone else, sacrificing his own happiness in the process. Bruce's Vow doesn't say "I swear to spend the rest of my life making sure no one else goes through what my parents went through." Bruce's Vow says "I swear by the spirits of my parents to avenge their deaths." Vengeance isn't something Bruce left behind in order to be driven by hope and compassion-- it's an essential component, and not giving it an equal seat at the table when analyzing his character is overlooking half of him.

Bruce's darkness, his anger, his need to exact revenge on the criminals that took his parents away... coexists with his need to help others. It's not a matter of overcoming one to gain the other, because that's the very core of the conflict within Batman, and what makes him such a uniquely compelling character. He keeps fighting against the worst parts of himself, attempting to be a hero, a good person, a compassionate man and a father-- and he's succeeded, but he's also unavoidably failed. He's failed numerous times. But he hasn't stopped, or given in. He keeps trying, again and again and again.

There's plenty of Doylist explanations as to why Bruce's character development doesn't stick. He seemingly learns to rise above the conflict, only to fall back into it in the next story, when the next writer gets a hold of him, and so on. By the very virtue of the comic book medium, Bruce cannot truly heal, because then the story ends. But the cyclical nature of his journey, the highs of keeping the Family close and choosing happiness and then the lows of distancing himself and losing himself to paranoia and wrecking everything... within Universe, they portray such a complex traumatized person. A kind of imperfect victimhood that's so cathartic to see in fiction, at least to me; the kind where you never stop burning, you never stop being angry, you're never not broken. And you live with it, to the best of your abilities.

They say that when you get stabbed, you shouldn't pull out the knife, because you'll quickly bleed out and die. Bruce isn't someone who pulled the knife out and then healed from it, by being Batman. Batman is the knife-- simultaneously what's killing him and what's keeping him alive. And Bruce has cultivated a life around the knife; he's a father and a mentor to many, a friend and an ally, a partner. He's a hero who'll always try to save others, echoing all the ways in which he couldn't save his parents the night the knife first sunk in. He isn't only vengeance, but he isn't only love either. He's both.

[autumnmobile12]

I’m hoping that as Nocturne continues, that there might be some eventual parallels between Alucard and Richter.

I’ve mentioned in another post I don’t really like Richter.  I’m not going to reiterate the entire thing, but the long and short of it is I found his character unnecessarily mean-spirited.  Some of his dialogue really rubbed me the wrong way and I didn’t find his lines all that funny.  But it’s this specific line to Tera that sealed the deal with me disliking him.

“And you just happened to stumble upon it one day while you were out picking flowers?”

Um, what the fuck?  She raised you, gave you a safe place to grow up, has been a surrogate mother to you, and has shown you nothing but kindness and support, and you’re going to talk to her like that?  What an asshole.

And this is the difference between Richter and Trevor’s characters.  Trevor is an asshole, but did he ever talk to Sypha or her grandfather this way?  No.  Did he talk to Alucard this way?  Well…yeah, but also observe Alucard also woke up snarky and began insulting him from minute one, so we can argue they are delightfully matching each other’s energy with a vengeance.

But I’m not gonna lie…for the first two seasons, I also didn’t like Alucard’s character all that much and for the same reasons.  I’m a little biased as I generally don't like protagonists who are just mean for no reason.  We all know someone like that in real life, whether they’re a relative or a co-worker or a boss, so why deal with it in fiction?  Okay yeah, I get that it’s often part of a character arc and symbolism for growth and finding maturity.  I understand why storylines like this are necessary, but I’m still gonna hate the little shits for the duration they’re assholes.

So Alucard…the way he treats Trevor in the first two seasons is also pretty crappy behavior.

“I imagine one sacrifices a chicken, and divines the location of the book you want from the intestines. Maybe Belmont has a crystal ball in here you could ask. ….  Your ancestors were apparently mentally ill hoarders.  I fully expect to find family cats mummified under some of these shelves.  Unless your family preferred to eat them.”

You’re gonna talk to your comrade like that…in his own home…where his entire family was brutally slaughtered by a mob....possibly right in front of him?  Yeah, real charming, Alucard.  And this is the tone for his character in the beginning.  There is the point where Sypha calls him out and tells him to stop testing Trevor, but I think there’s another element at play.  “…and he’s a drunk and he’s self-destructive and anyone trying to hold on to him may as well be dragged down with him.”  He isn’t just testing him, he’s judging him and he’s already decided he’s a useless drunk who got lucky and happened to win a few fights.

All right, now that I’ve dragged him through the mud, I’m going to pull back and assess the wider perspective of Alucard’s full character arc.  Alucard’s growth follows the line of the spoiled brat who experienced hardship and had to grow up because of it.  I think Alucard lived a very sheltered life before his mother died, and his actions and dialogue in the Belmont Hold are the strongest indicator to this.  We clearly see he’s disgusted by the trophies and the history of murder against the vampires, and he is not shy about voicing his contempt towards the family’s entire purpose.  He’s right, though.  With the presence of the infant skull in the display case, we do get the very subtle nod that the Belmonts, for all their claims of virtue and protecting humanity, have also committed atrocities.  He does have a right to his anger against Trevor and his family.

But what’s absent from Alucard’s character here is the fact he doesn’t seem to consider the atrocities the vampires have committed against his mother’s people.  To the vampires, humans are food, livestock, and a lesser species.  Godbrand brutally murders several humans in his flashback with no clear intent on actually eating them, so he kills for sport.  Cho torments the humans in her court by amusing herself with duels to the death that only she can win.  Not a humane way to treat the vampire equivalent of livestock.  And exactly how long does Erzsebet Báthory keep those girls chained up while she drains them of blood?

Why does Alucard condone what the vampires do to humans and at the same time condemns the Belmonts for hunting the vampires?

The answer:  I don’t think he did because I don’t think he was fully aware of these scenarios.  Think about it, he had no knowledge of Dracula’s Generals and the only thing he talked about regarding his father was the tragedy of his madness and how killing him would be destroying centuries of knowledge.  I think Dracula wanted him to have a peaceful life and fed him the more rosy-colored version of their history.  Maybe he intended to tell him one day, and that day kept being put off by the sentiment,  “He’s a boy.  Let him continue to be a boy.”

Alucard lives his peaceful childhood until it comes to a screeching halt when Lisa is killed, so I honestly think there is an innocence behind his upbringing that gave him a very clear bias against the Belmonts that was completely justified in some elements and not so much in others.  There’s also the point that he keeps referencing Trevor as a drunk, which is very much condescension.  It’s not until Season 3, after he’s experienced his traumas and has fallen into his own slump of grief that his attitude towards Trevor changes.   There’s still ribbing between the pair, but it’s not the same cutting remarks that we saw back in Season 2.  Alucard walked a mile in Trevor’s shoes, and that mile was bitter.

...

So where I stand with Nocturne:  Richter has started off in a way similar to Alucard.  He lost his mother at a young age, but aside from that, he grew up safe and loved in a stable home, has a good relationship with Tera and Maria, and has otherwise led a relatively peaceful life. Even in the midst of the French Revolution, they don't seem like suffering peasants.  Like Alucard before his world truly went to hell, Richter also didn’t have a full concept of what real hardship looks like.  This is apparent when he’s all confidence and bravado, going around and yelling he’s the ‘last of the Belmonts’ and he ‘kills vampires’ and “Who’s next?”  And then Olrox shows up and he cows him right back into the scared, little boy he’s pretending he’s not.

And so not only is there a parallel between Richter and Alucard, but there is also a big one between Trevor and Annette.  Both of them have suffered through their own individual hardships, both losing their loved ones in some of the most brutal ways imaginable, but those same hardships gave them their pride and their poignant maturity and cynicism in how they see the world.  Granted, the difference between Trevor and Annette is she never lost her purpose or her will to fight despite having been dealt the worse lot of having been born a slave, but still…Trevor never ran away from his nightmares like Richter did.  Even though Annette and Trevor have their moments when they are scared, both of them stood up and said,  “Fuck it, I have a bastard to kill and if I die killing them, so be it.”  They don’t give an absolute damn.  They took their pain and they wore it like armor.

“Killing you was the point.  Living was a luxury.”

“If I let my past terrify me, I’d never be free of it.”

…

Compared to them, Richter is a spoiled brat who has yet to grow up.

And I think Alucard’s going to be right there with him saying,  “Don’t worry.  I was like you once and we’ll get there together.”

[elendsessor]

spoiler warning for smtvv! i won’t shut up about vengeance’s endings because they’re genuinely so interesting to me

consider this the follow up to one of my other analysis posts. i’ve said it once and i’ll say it again: i love how both vengeance endings allow vkun to keep aogami forever and that neither law nor chaos ends on this note of everything sucks ass. more of a hopeful feel if anything. in general, i love how vengeance’s endings challenge the pre existing story structure of most smt games. so did nocturne, but in terms of the same old law-neutral-chaos thing, yeah this was such a nice shake up.

it’s not bc i love aogami to death or bc i love the pairing but more i’m kinda really tired of how mainline smt always has to have this everyone dies and/or loses their humanity quota. this is a really welcome change in my opinion. usually, the leading lady is the only one safe but it is just ran into the ground.

aogami has such a strong arc inherently about gaining individuality. if anything, he becomes more human. vkun stops being the implied outcast and actually doesn’t just completely shove aside all chances at even a friendship compared to how most protags say “fuck you” to the ones who aren’t on their side. having him keep a healthy relationship especially with a demon is something actually unheard of mainline-wise.

4 apocalypse did this too but the difference comes in terms of tone. as a 4a defender i will admit the plot’s a lot less smt and more generic anime-y with 4’s world building sprinkled in. with vengeance, as i mentioned in a previous post, the events still happened so characters that died only to be revived in the law ending still died, and the characters are aware of this. da’at still will be reborn, demons still exist, etc.

the theme of vengeance’s conflict between tao and hiromine is definitely cautious optimism. don’t be a doomer, but recognize that things won’t always work out in a picture perfect way. yeah even with chaos doing a nuke the world thing, it did leave on a somewhat positive note. the way relationships with demons have also changed dramatically in mainline with 5 is nice too. not all demons are bad but they’re often times not fleshed out and are usually relegated to the two extremes of the spectrum. again aogami’s arc is reflective of this, but even hiromine learning to open up more. to have characters gain or retain humanity instead of becoming a cookie cutter rep is super nice since a lot of the actual law and chaos reps don’t come out of it being actual decent beings and tend to be full on inhuman dicks, which tbh doesn’t entirely make sense.

you’re telling me someone can’t be radical in their beliefs without giving up what makes them human? because fun fact, radical people are still people.

also despite being doomed yuri, tao and hiromine don’t truly hate each others’ guts??? they actually do get influenced by one another positively??? they change and grow through their interactions with one another and don’t constantly butt heads, more use their differing views as talking points??? do you have any idea how happy this makes me. to go one game without the law and chaos reps being so against one another that what actually sparks the real imma kill you part is some angel/demon confirming their preexisting beliefs. to have them actually again grow and change. challenge what they know about the world. because you do actually see glimpses of that with them and that’s like actually how some people interact. people can change opinions, they can challenge beliefs, and dammit this is the step forward i really wanted. they’re more respectfully disagreeing as opposed to wanting to strangle each other.

it’s definitely not the most smt ending, but there’s still that looming sense of uncertainty/a bit of dread akin to nocturne’s freedom ending. post apocalyptic fiction needs a lot more of that cautious optimism instead of it being either everything’s okay or everything’s not okay.

so yes taomine shippers won big time. actual best law x chaos pairing.

[blorbologist]

Its stupid stupid stupid STUPID how emotional im getting over these fictional characters having a baby

After all she went through - unwanted daughter unproven ally - bastard daughter. lost her mother. lost her brother. frosty with her father. her sister is far away. flirting and friendly smiles to keep people at a distance to keep her safe to use as tools - selfish and cruel - labeled greedy and mean for using the only means she can to find security. Greedy greedy greedy to keep it all close, except her heart was not her own and it was terrifying and she could not speak truth to the terrifying weakness until he was dead and almost gone and somehow he came back. Always half of a pair - did not go far from him - always together and now broken in half for his loss, his loss because he saved her, because he loved her. How she is secure in her achievements and busy because she wants to be because shes skilled because she loves it because she has the luxury of freedom, did I mention she can fly? She can fly! How family was her mother (gone) was her twin (gone) and now she gets to build a new one and they're safe and loved and her child is not a bastard not a scorned halfbreed not *not enough* like she was, her child is not, her child is not motherless like she was, her child will have a host of siblings and her child will have that family, whole and at ease, or so help her.

After all he went through - smoke and fire and iron and bullets and bullets and bullets - orphan coward a lit fuse looking only to take them down with me signed his own death certificate and that of thousands more and being *fine with it* so long as he worked down his list and checked off vengeance for each. How it mattered but did not but did because it all was a dream. How he achieved it and was saved and had to live with what he had done and nearly not, nearly not - he was ready to go he was fine with going but lo and behold, behold, against all expectations her heart was his?! - and build a new legacy. How in the end he tried, tried, tried to sign this new future away for a friend, a brother, a man who deserved better - last words indignant and irritated - and he could not. He could not fix it. Faced with the loss and the death and the mourning and finally, finally, finally finding time to grieve and heal and grow. And he can put away his weapons and make clocks to tell time and watch it advance and not worry for what it brings. How his family tree was so neatly pruned - so many names - but two. And three when she said yes. And now four, then six, seven, eight, nine, perhaps?

And.

Her.

she's his sister and her mother and only one middle name, starting off simple, her daughter is super cute, his daughter is adorable, their daughter is the future that almost slipped through their fingers or bled out or was left unsaid a hundred times over. And she was carried (because morning sickness was after the end of the world and an adventure and not much time at all) through death and through the Feywild and through the belly of a dragon and a bird in her father's pocket and she survived, against the odds she survived and she thrived and she's loved so completely by hearts that never thought they could. Selfish and cruel, tal'doreis terrible tinkerer, and they made this, and there has to be more good to them than they thought. They have to have made it out (when he didnt when he didn't at his expense even) for a reason.

(And somehow the vampires did not find her, the last de rolos they said, saying nothing of his sister of their baby and she Knew and she kept quiet and she died hoping he would get help and their baby would be safe and perhaps seeing her mother, her mother, gone too soon, and knowing she could not do that to her daughter)

Yes im listening to dalens closet and had to pause and tear up 5 minutes in why you ask

[halfbakedspuds]

Alright, I see other writing blogs doing this, so here's my writeblr intro. Still needs some work but this'll do for now.

Hi! I'm Logan (Yes, like Wolverine), I'm 18 years old, use He/him pronouns, and I'm from South Africa. My main interests are writing, philosophy, history, binge-reading entire series' at a time and any kind of experimental artistic media. All my characters' sexualities and gender identities are up for interpretation unless explicitly stated.

Despite being an English language writer, English is not actually my first language and thus I do still have my fair share of idiot moments in it. If you notice that I used a word wrong, or if my grammar or a phrase seems little bit off, don't hesitate to let me know.

Below are my current WIP's:

Children of the Stars

Perspective: third person limitted.

Genre: Science fiction political drama and mystery.

Tropes: Slowburn lovers, enemies to friends to lovers (more like mutual annoyances to friends to lovers), a stranger in a stranger land, found family.

Status: Currently being worked on.

First chapter

Lyanni has been condemned and incarcerated, charged with witchcraft under the paranoid reign of her home kingdom. Under the laws of her people, she is offered up to their patron Angel as a gift of thanks for ending a long and bloody war, and to her horror: he accepts.

Soon, however, she learns the shocking truth of the universe. Her people's angels are members of an Alien organisation in service to the Empire of Earth, charged with working from the shadows to foster the upliftment of her people in order to free up the human garrison for the front lines of a star-spanning war, and the same is happening on a thousand other worlds.

This Angel, however- who calls himself Adrian- is about as happy about their new living arrangement as she is, which is to say not at all.

When a ship carrying an experimental superweapon crashes on her world, the two must begrudgingly work together in a desperate race against time to find it, while also holding back the tide of forces that threaten to plunge her world into armageddon.

Children of the Wolves

Perspective: First person limitted

Genre: Sci-fi political drama and heist story with some pulp western and cyberpunk elements.

Tropes: found family, heists, honour among thieves, glorious bastards, a lot of gay, high-tech Low-lifes, class divide, redemption arc.

Status: Scheduled to be written sometime after Children of the Stars.

Four years after Children of the Stars, Adrian Castellan returns to Callisto to make amends with his family and tie up the final loose ends of his early life.

Accompanied by Lyanni Sverik and Wilhelm Freedman, he links up with his siblings: Isabelle and Marcus Castellan, and while the trio catch up and scheme to finally exact vengeance for the deaths of their mother and friends at the hands of a rival clan's lord, Lyanni learns the story of why Adrian left his homeworld in the first place.

Seven years before Adrian became an IUC praetor, he was a member of the Volnur, a gang of six young but promising Callistoan gunslingers who acted as the enforcers of clan Castellan.

After a slightly botched trade negotiation with a rival clan forces them to scatter and regroup at home base, Adrian bumps into a mysterious offworlder running from both civil security and the Solar homeguard themselves, and offers to bring him to his clan's holdings for safety.

With supplies running low and the botching of the deal that was meant to save them, the six gunslingers and their new offworlder tagalong begin plotting to rob a Civil Security supply train.

Yet other forces move in the shadows, snapping at their people and waiting for their eventual fall, and with a young Adrian's ambition growing constantly, fostered by his mother's guidance as the Lady of clan Castellan, he will eventually come to match wits with some of the most powerful people not only on Callisto, but throughout the entirety of the Jupiter Prefecture, he will come to question who can be trusted, and whether his own well-founded ambition has given way to a fatal hubris.

The Tempest prince

Perspective: multiple pov first person.

Genre: YA contemporary fantasy with some elements of eldritch horror.

Tropes: Stranger in a strange land, finding identity, causality loop, found family (to an extent), recruiting teenagers with an attitude.

Status: On the back-burner til I gain a little more experience with certain writing skills that'll be necessary to write a 21 book series.

"Congratulations. You are now dead"

Those were the last words he heard before his normal life came to an end.

It was just a another day in February, the scorching, vampiric heat of the sun beating down on the brothers as they slogged through just another school day. At least it was just another day, at least until they stumbled into another dimension and accidentally brought something back with them.

From then on, Jason and Alex Haliday found themselves caught up in a hidden world, one where Jaegers -a race of magic-capable supersoldiers- contain and hunt that which shouldn't be; where ancient gods and forgotten horrors seep through every crack and crevice right under humanity's collective nose. When the brothers show abilities that no-one -Human or Jaeger- ever have, they are offered a job.

Of course, the pair first need to survive two years of training. Noone wants to send a pair of untrained teens into the longest battle of human history, after all. But between a school rivalry, a bloodsport tournament, and a looming ancient threat, it quickly becomes apparent that even while surrounded the extraordinary, their lives still refuse to fall within the established 'normal'.

When their home is attacked: their mother put into a coma and Alex kidnapped, Jason- accompanied by his new Demihuman friend Helga Ravenscar- goes on a manhunt to find his brother against the express orders of some of the most powerful people in the hunter cities. The pair must balance hiding such a dangerous endeavour with excelling in the taxing student life of a mage and a medical officer in training, while eldritch forces plot and scheme in the backdrop.

Echoes of Shadows

Perspective: multiple pov third person limitted.

Genre: Gritty Fantasy-noir detective story.

Tropes: Five man band, (Dunno what to call this but it's like the world is halfway through a transition that'll change every aspect of daily life. Will edit once I've figured it out)

Status: Scheduled to be the next project I finish. Probably.

First chapter

The city goes by many names: Novya Koroleva, Zuidpunkt, De Gat, but the local Ost-Rietlanders simply call it The Pit: the city that'll swallow you whole and spit out whatever bones may remain, a nature that has been exasperbated by the recent surge in mages, splitting the population almost evenly between regular people and the magic capable.

To Johan Suiderkloof and Anastasia Retvenko, the city offered a new start, free of the horrors of their pasts, and among it's verminous populace, they have carved out work for themselves as a private detective agency.

It's a stable job, with many opportunities to find work in the Sodom. By day: the pair investigate cartels, murders, infidelity, all the worst that society has to offer.

But late at night, when Zuurveldt, Ost-Rietland and the rest of the continent of Sumer sleep soundly, they stalk the shadows for leads, tracking down the fanatic followers of dark gods and puttinh an end to their machinations.

When mysterious murders with occult symbolism surrounding them begin to crop up throughout the city and surrounding countryside, the pair find their lot unceremoniously cast in with complete strangers, caught in the powerplay of cults and dead gods as they try to untangle a growing conspiracy that threatens their world as they know it.

The lonely god

Perspective: First person.

Genre: Science fiction.

Status: In the process of being finished up.

The lonely god is a short story I wrote more than a year ago (Originally titled "The last human) and am currently in the process of remastering. I'll be posting it here when I'm done with it.

Some sixteen millenia in the future, humanity finds itself forceably coalesced into a single, immortal being. This individual, born of a trillion infighting souls, is the last human, a species made into a god, and 'The lonely god' follows their story til the end of the universe and beyond as they seek out revenge for what was done to their people while slowly learning to let go of hate.

What does it mean to be alive when you'll outlive even the sand beneath your feet? How do you cherish or love when everything vanishes in but a blink of the eye? How can the product of trillions ever be an individual?

And when the score has been settled; When every trail has been blazed, and all knowledge learnt; When all that is left is to watch as the stars slowly whimper away: how will you find meaning?

[the-rad-menace]

"The Mists of Avalon is a 1983 historical fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which the author relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine (Morgan le Fay), a priestess fighting to save her Celtic religion in a country where Christianity threatens to destroy the pagan way of life. The epic is focused on the lives of Morgaine, Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere), Viviane, Morgause, Igraine and other women of the Arthurian legend."

"The Devil in the White City is a 2003 historical non-fiction book by Erik Larson presented in a novelistic style. Set in Chicago during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, it tells the story of World’s Fair architect Daniel Burnham and of H. H. Holmes, a criminal figure widely considered the first serial killer in the United States."

"The Nightingale is a historical fiction novel by American author Kristin Hannah published by St. Martin's Press in 2015. The book tells the story of two sisters in France during World War II and their struggle to survive and resist the German occupation of France. The book was inspired by the story of a Belgian woman, Andrée de Jongh, who helped downed Allied pilots escape Nazi territory."

"Moby-Dick; or, The Whale is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the maniacal quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, for vengeance against Moby Dick, the giant white sperm whale that bit off his leg on the ship's previous voyage."

[comicsart3]

Red Sonja is an iconic sword and sorcery heroine, dating back to 1973 and her creation by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith. She featured regularly in Conan and her own Marvel titles until the 1990s and was rebooted in the 2000s, with a slightly altered origin story, and has appeared in Dynamite Comics ever since. Sonja’s beginnings as a warrior woman were rooted in the violent death of her parents at the hands of bandits in the fictional land of Hyrkania, in the realm of Hyboria, when she was 17, prompting a lifelong search for vengeance against the murderers and any raiders, pirates or tyrants who reminded her of them. Aided by the goddess Skathach, Sonja equips herself with terrifying swordsmanship skills (frequently supplemented by an axe), together with formidable hand-to-hand fighting ability, and is usually attired in a distinctive scale mail armour “bikini” which, along with her distinctive red hair, increases her allure.

Although Sonja is possessed of a general sense of justice and she harbours particular protective affection for animals and children, she is unremittingly brutal in combat, remorselessly despatching enemies both mortal and supernatural, usually through decapitation. The artwork that has illustrated Sonja’s numerous adventures over the decades is graphic in the depiction of the heroine’s violence, and the stories cleave to an eye-for-an-eye barbaric code of justice and few who cross Sonja live to tell the tale. Her mission in life, such as it is, is to kill the murderers of her parents and to overthrow the evil sorcerer Kulan Gath, whom the bandits served.

Unfortunately, for me, Sonja’s violence and fixation on revenge and combat, makes the character less attractive or interesting than other, more subtle, comic book heroines. Despite in more recent years her stories being authored by female writers, including the peerless Gail Simone, Sonja often seems to be just a female Conan, but without the latter’s thoughtfulness and sensitivity. Perhaps this is also due to a Marvel worldview, which is more comfortable with retribution than justice, as well as the barbaric sword and sorcery genre from which Sonja emerged.

In the page featured, the extraordinarily lucky pirate Gob, has actually been taken prisoner by Sonja, despite having tried to kill her. Whether or not Gob retains his head for the whole of this adventure is anyone’s guess…

Sources: Red Sonja Wiki and ReadComicsOnline

[wrestlersownmyheart]

Closer Than You Think Chapter 2 (Dean Ambrose X OC)

Title: Closer Than You Think Pairing: Dean Ambrose X OC: Shannon Brock Summary: When a serial killer claims a number of victims including NXT wrestler, Shannon Brock's cousin, she vows to find the killer after she is bumped to RAW from NXT. Her cousin's lover, AJ Styles, appoints himself and the Shield—Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns—as her bodyguards.

Dean takes the task very seriously and doesn't let Shannon out of his sight, despite the game of cat and mouse they play with the killer. Can he keep her safe, or will the killer claim his ultimate victim?

Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with WWE. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination. Content/Trigger Warnings: Extreme Violence against women; murder

Chapter Two

Shannon Brock switched her cell phone to her other ear and grabbed a fruit salad out of the hotel room's mini refrigerator while she spoke with her cousin, Larissa Anderson.

The two women were actually more like sisters than cousins. Not only did they share the same physical attributes: long black hair, pale skin and identical gray eyes, they also had grown up living next door to each other, went to school together, spent weekends at each other's houses and watched their beloved wrestling together. They were virtually inseparable. They even planned for their careers to be in the same industry. Larissa wanted to write for World Wrestling Entertainment, while Shannon wanted to wrestle for them.

Then came Shannon's unforgettable eighteenth birthday—the day she'd been waiting for her whole life.

Shannon had applied for entrance to Funking Conservatory Wrestling School a couple weeks prior, and almost as if fate was giving her a birthday present, she received a letter of acceptance that very day. She'd ripped into the envelope with a vengeance and then cried tears of joy when she saw the printed words informing her of her acceptance.

"Mom! Daddy! They accepted me," she'd squealed happily, jumping up and down. "I'm moving to Ocala!"

She was lucky in finding an apartment near her school within the week and was soon on her way to living her dream. Excitement filled her heart, but so did sadness. She had never been away from her family for more than a week. How will I handle being away from them permanently, she wondered. I know I'll be able to visit them, but still… I'm living on my own now. I'm starting my life.

The day came when she left for Ocala. She hugged and kissed her parents goodbye, and then latched onto Larissa. "I'm going to miss you all so much," she cried. "I didn't realize how hard this would be."

"You'll be fine, Shannon," Larissa whispered, hugging her cousin tightly. "In fact, you're going to be amazing! I can't wait to see you on TV," she encouraged.

"You're going to make me cry," Shannon smiled through her tears. "I love you."

"Love you too. Now go get to school and show the veterans how it's done," Larissa teased. "I'll see you at WWE Headquarters in a few years."

Larissa sounded light-hearted for Shannon's benefit, but for a long time, she felt alone. However, she knew Shannon was doing what she loved. And so was Larissa. She had entered college a year before to major in English and minor in Journalism. Three years of very hard work later, she graduated and within a month had secured her dream job. Writing on the creative team for World Wrestling Entertainment.

Four years later, she worked up to both writing and producing—which was how she met her boyfriend, Jim Walker.

"Work is going great." Shannon answered her cousin, as she mentally returned from her reverie of the past. "As you know, I'm sure, I've been NXT Women's Champion for about six months now. Hopefully, I'll get to keep it a while longer. I get afraid every time I get my script that I could learn I'm about to lose the title to someone." She took a bite of pineapple then, "So how is everything with you? How are you and Jim doing?"

"Work is also going great for me. Very busy," Larissa chuckled. "All these storylines and the deadlines that go with them are about to wipe me out, but I'd not have it any other way."

"Well, I'm so glad you are enjoying it. We were both so blessed to get the exact jobs we were wanting," Shannon smiled, genuinely happy for her cousin. "So, how about Jim? Are you still having problems?"

"Not anymore," Larissa answered. "But that is probably because we broke up about two weeks ago. He just became too controlling and jealous for me to deal with."

Shannon felt terrible for her cousin. She knew how crazy about Jim she had once been. "I'm so sorry, Larissa," she said. "I wish there was something I could do."

"Don't worry, Shannon," Larissa told her. "I'm doing much better without him. The ordeal just taught me that being single isn't nearly as bad as being with a jerk."

"That's true," Shannon agreed whole-heartedly. "Well, I really hate to make this a short phone conversation, but I have got to get to bed early so I can work out in the morning and get ready for tomorrow night's show."

"No worries. I understand completely," Larissa told her. "I just wish our schedules would calm down a little so we could get together. Or even if all the brands had a week of being in the same state."

"I know, I miss you so much," Shannon said softly. "I hate that we never get to see each other."

"Maybe soon we can," Larissa said, hope in her voice. "I'll let you get to bed now. Goodnight, Shannon. Love you."

"Goodnight. I love you too."

With that, the two women disconnected the call and got back to the tasks of their everyday lives.

0o0o0

That Night In Philadelphia…

"Dana," Jarold, the night manager of Denny's called out. "Table nine needs more coffee!"

The restaurant was swamped and buzzing with excitement. The building was full of wrestlers and wrestling fans from the live event that had occurred only three blocks away.

"Okay, I'm on it," Dana called back over the dull roar of adoring WWE fans. She grabbed the non-decaffeinated coffee pot and headed to the table that a man was seated at.

"I assume you want regular and not decaf," she flashed him her charming smile, trying to get as good a tip as possible, and brushed her dark ponytail back over her shoulder flirtatiously.

"Yeah, that'll be great," he smiled back at her. "I guess you're staying pretty busy tonight, huh," he conversed as she filled his cup up.

Dana enjoyed the sexy rasp in the handsome man's voice and immediately became nervous. I must look awful after being around this greasy atmosphere all night, she fretted. "Well, I wasn't super busy till about a half hour ago," she chuckled. "But hey, I'm in a large room full of gorgeous wrestlers. So it's worth it," she joked.

"Well, I'm sure you have every male eye in the room locked on you, flashing that smile of yours," the man said, just the slightest hint of disdain entering his demeanor.

Did I imagine that, Dana wondered. Or maybe I'm just really tired and reading too much into his behavior. He seemed friendly enough, but there was some thing dark, sinister in his eyes. Like Dracula, hot and sexy, yet evil and cold-blooded.

He's handsome, I'll give him that, Dana thought. But then again, so was Ted Bundy.

"Well, enjoy your coffee, sir," she said, suddenly growing uncomfortable. "And if you need anything else, just let me know." She smiled kindly this time, with no flirting whatsoever, and headed back to the waitress station.

The young woman stayed busy for the next two hours re-filling coffee, soft drinks, serving desert, collecting dishes and wiping tables. Her only comfort was that she'd made about two hundred dollars in tips, which she'd poked very securely into her waitress apron.

Finally, at about midnight the diner was close to empty so Dana began performing her end-of-shift duties, to prepare for the next waitress' shift. She wiped down all tables and booths, cleaned the coffee machines and soft drink machines, took all dirty dishes to the back to be washed, then prepared to take out the garbage.

Minutes later, she was hauling two large trash bags along with her as she hurried out the backdoor and to the huge dumpsters in the dark alley.

"Why can't these dumpsters be closer to the building," she grumbled under her breath, as she hefted the bags up into one of the large receptacles.

And then suddenly, the hair on her neck stood on end. A cold chill ran down her spine and she visibly shuddered.

"You should have had someone else take the trash out…"

Dana had no time to react, a knife was at her throat instantly.

A hand clamped over her mouth, "Don't scream…" The raspy voice told her, "Or this will hurt more than it has too."

Oh my God, Dana panicked. Please somebody come out here…She prayed silently, Somebody come check on me…

But there was no one nearby. Nobody to hear her whimpering cries. Nobody to see as the serrated edge of the blade viciously tore into her pale throat.

And nobody noticed for a long while that she never re-entered the building…

0o0o0

Shannon reached over to the nightstand and picked up the receiver of the in-room phone which was ringing incessantly. "Hello," she uttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Miss Brock in room 509," came a pleasant female voice.

"Yes, this is she," Shannon said, fighting off a yawn.

"I'm just delivering your 7 A.M. wake up call ma'am. Would you like me to make a follow-up call in five minutes?"

"No, thank you," she replied. "I'm awake enough, so that's not necessary."

"Okay, Miss Brock. Help yourself to a complimentary breakfast in our cafe. Have a nice day."

"Thank you. You have a nice day too." She hung up the phone and stretched with a soft groan. "Ugh…seven o'clock already…."

She stood to her feet then and turned on the television to get the morning news while she prepared for her day. Listening to the weather forecast, she discarded the black satin nightgown she'd slept in and grabbed some workout clothes out of her suitcase. After pulling on a pair of pink yoga pants, a black sports bra, and layered an off-the shoulder black t-shirt over a pink tank top she stepped into a pair of running shoes. Within minutes her teeth were brushed and she began pulling her hair up into a messy bun when the words "brutal murder" shot her attention to the television. Her gaze froze on the TV screen as she listened in.

"…In Philadelphia late last night a brutal murder has the city in turmoil. Live in Philadelphia, Jack Cooper has the story."

"Philadelphia…" Shannon whispered, worriedly. That's where Larissa was last night.

The feed cut to an area at the back of a restaurant taped off with police tape, with Jack Cooper facing the camera.

"The body of thirty year old, Dana Marshall was found outside in this very alley of Denny's restaurant at approximately 12:20 this morning. When the murder was first called in by the late shift's manager, Jarold Carver, the police's first impression was robbery due to the fact that the manager had reported that they'd had a very busy night and that the young woman had made a large amount of money in tips. However, when they arrived at the scene it was a different story. Dana was found lying on her back with her throat and entire body slashed.

A photograph then popped on the television screen of a woman who was apparently Dana Marshall.

"My God…" Shannon whispered.

The woman looked so much like Larissa and herself it was uncanny. The only major difference is that Shannon and Larissa were a few years younger and had longer hair.

Suddenly unnerved, Shannon turned the television off and tried to get herself mentally ready for the day's events. But the images of what she had seen and heard were engraved her mind.

"Denny's…" she thought out loud as she rubbed some tension out of her neck. Grabbing her phone off the night table, she pulled up Google and typed out "Denny's restaurants in Philadelphia", then picked the first link offered. She scanned the page for the street address of the establishment and was distressed to find the address was merely three blocks away from the Thompson Stadium-where SmackDown had been taped.

"Why is this creeping me out so bad," she asked herself. Then shook her head to clear it. "Ugh...I'm just being paranoid. Get a grip, Shannon."

Making sure she had her room's key card in her wallet, she grabbed her gym bag and stuffed a change of clothes into it and then she hurried out the door intent on grabbing some coffee on her way to the gym. And then she was going to work the strange new tension out of her body, even if it killed her.

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