#wallace's memories; lore

[variouscolors-old]

.:Wallace’s Memories

A long time ago, a child in the village of Summer Memory, Colorado got a DigiEgg while his mother was browsing on the internet. The child took the giant egg and took care of it like he had taken care of any other normal egg. His family had a little farm, so Wallace was used to animals. But this giant egg… It brought to life not one but two mysterious creatures. Round and soft, such creatures weren’t treated differently by the boy. So the small babies grew pretty quickly into higher forms – Gummymon and Chocomon. Those surprised the boy, as they started to talk normally and naturally! They became inseparable friends, until the day Chocomon got infected by a random virus and disappeared… In the flower field. 

Wallace and his family had to move out, so they went to live in New York due to his parent’s current job. Without finding Chocomon, Wallace and Gummymon left him behind and against their wishes.

Wallace grew up, so did Gummymon (turning into Terriermon now) and he suddenly developed a few coping mechanisms, such as flirting with girls. Yes, his “girlfriend” was an anime character and he learned Japanese mostly with Gummymon, and this real Asian friend he had and he told her about the digimon. He was quite immature, so they never dated at all and only kept on a friendship basis. Besides that, he was thankful for their bonds. One day, Wallace found a strange device lying on his desk. It was when he became an official Chosen Child.

Chocomon then started to stalk Wallace in New York. Gummymon felt it was his duty to protect Wallace, BUT he couldn’t lay a finger on Chocomon first. Chocomon’s new form wasn’t like Gummymon’s and he felt more like a scary monster. It was when Wallace started to seek for Chocomon, and promise him to go back to the flower field again. Gummymon was against that idea at first, but he wanted to save Chocomon as well… So they had to go back there! Maybe… Maybe Chocomon can change back and they all live together again, right!?

This is when Wallace and Daisuke’s paths crossed. Those Japanese kids were looking for other people. Wallace knew about some strange disappearances happening in New York, but he only connected the dots when he learned of it happening to Daisuke’s friends. Gummymon had suspected it already, but Wallace wanted to not believe it at all. Chocomon is a good digimon! He wouldn’t do that! Right!?

Wallace then gave up and decided to open his heart to Daisuke, who was too smart-for-the-usual-Daisuke and wondered if Chocomon, the digimon kidnapping Chosen Children, was his partner. After Daisuke shed tears for his tragic story, the boys settled to go together to the flower field, in order to say everyone – even Chocomon.

But… That wasn’t what happened. Sadly, a battle started and they almost lost everything, but the power of Destiny blessed them with a Miracle. Chocomon was saved from the virus… But had reverted into DigiEgg state. Wallace and Gummymon found the egg lying on a lake, and took it back to New York. Years and Years trying to hatch such digiegg… But nothing. A year after his first meeting with Daisuke, he met Mimi, who introduced him to Koushiro. They kept in contact, and Koushiro said he would investigate his case. In Summer 2003, he met Daisuke again and he, Mimi and their friend were involved in a strange winter and abandoned New York caused by a digimon who they named by Natchan. Once the mystery was solved and everything came back to normal, the trio, Chibimon and Gummymon went to look for Natchan’s partner.

A few years later, the egg finally hatched. Chocomon was back!! And with no evil virus involved this time!! As Chocomon grew healthy, he evolved into Lopmon. They got their happy back.

But… Wallace is still oblivious about digimon in general. He doesn’t know what a Digital Gate is, what a Digital World is, that digimon change names when they evolve… Yep, nothing at all. Daisuke and Mimi will have to teach him… Or at least try to.

[variouscolors]

lore page

This is the background/lore for my portrayal/muses. You’re not obliged to follow those posts, unless you want to. Please treat this as some extra info about my muses and what changes from canon and what not.

※ Currently, the tags in this post are for new stuff posted here instead. Check the old posts on the old acc here.

[thisisnotthenerd]

The Legend Lore Database

This is another use of the Legend Lore spell. All information herein is only that of legendary importance.

[a more complete database. i took some artistic liberties. see here for the updating document]

Legendary Individuals

Deities / Deific Entities

Ankarna

Infernal Deity of Fire, Rage and Conquest

Formerly the Giant Deity of Summer, Justice and the Harvest, Patron of the Giantkin of the Mountains of Chaos

Sister to Ruvina, Giant Deity of Winter and Sorrow

Spouse of Cassandra, Sylvan Deity of Mystery, Magic, and the Night

Cassandra / Nightmare King

Sylvan Deity of Mystery, Magic, and the Night, Patron of the Tribes of Sylvaire

Formerly the Nightmare King, the King of the Dark Dreaming, Rí Aisling Olc

Raised from their Undead form by the Blessed Saint Kristen Applebees

Sibling of Galicaea, Elven Goddess of the Moon, and Sol, Human God of the Sun

Spouse of Ankarna, Infernal Deity of Fire, Rage and Conquest

Stark Father of Baron from the Baronies

Eidolons

Seven Sisters, Elemental Spirits of the Universe and Hands of the Gods

From Eldest to Youngest

Chronoa, Eidolon of Time, of the Astral and Ethereal Planes

Terra, Eidolon of Earth, of the Elemental Plane of Earth

Pyrria, Eidolon of Fire, of the Elemental Plane of Fire

Nera, Eidolon of Water, of the Elemental Plane of Water

Zefira, Eidolon of Air, of the Elemental Plane of Air

Anima, Eidolon of Life, the Beginning of All Things

Talura, Eidolon of Death, the Ending of All Things

Trapped in Enchanted Mirrors created by Logran Soulforger, of which the only way out was Infinity

Galicaea / Lida

Elven Deity of the Moon, Patron of the Elves of Fallinel

Patron of Lycanthropes in her aspect as Lida

Sister of Sol, Human God of the Sun, and Cassandra, Sylvan Deity of Mystery, Magic, and the Night

Struck her Sister from memory by way of the Sylvarian Heresy

Helio

Human God of Corn

Son of Sol, Human God of the Sun, and a mortal woman

Followed by the Cult of the Harvestmen, who sought the Apocalypse through perditional contradoxy

Jane Wren

Pirate Goddess of New Horizons, Freedom, and Adventure

She who stands atop the Ramble, overlooking the City of Leviathan

Kahaerin

The Storm King, the Wrathful Primordial of Storms

Perpetually in search of his lost Daughter

Logran Soulforger

Dwarven God of the Forge, He who Makes the World

Created the Enchanted Mirrors to capture the Eidolons in Finite Form, While Leaving Escape in Infinity

Did not Commune with his Followers after the Capture of the Eidolons, until Ostentatia Wallace, Prophet of the Forge, Joined him in his Workshop

Night Yorb

Speak Not of the Night Yorb

The Manta Ray of Darkness, they who would herald an age of darkness through a slow apocalypse

Currently Sealed by the Solar Lasso in the Hangvan

Ollie

Rad Dwarven God of Shredding, Patron of Skateboarders

Ruvina

Giant Deity of Winter and Sorrow, Patron of the Giantkin of the Mountains of Chaos

Sister of Ankarna, Infernal Deity of Fire, Rage, and Conquest

Sol

Human God of the Sun, Patron of the Humans of Highcourt and Solace

Father of Helio, Human God of Corn

Once ousted from his position by Arthur Aguefort, who proceeded to never leave his office and shit in a corner

Umberlee

Goddess of the Deep Sea, Patron of that which lies in the briny depths

Punisher of Sinners who Enter Her Waters

Prohibits artifacts which control the weather

NPCs

Aelwyn Abernant

She who assassinated the first Elven Oracle, Eleminthindriel

She who sank the Harpy, Flagship of the Fleet of Kalvaxus

She who determined the second Elven Oracle, Adaine Abernant

Caused the initiation of war between the nations of Solace and Fallinel

She who dispelled the Nightmare King’s Plague of the Shadow Cat

Acting Mistress of the Compass Points Library, in lieu of Ayda Aguefort

Arthur Aguefort

Founder and Principal of the Aguefort Adventuring Academy

He who caused the Sun to Fall

Paramour of the Last Phoenix

Former Paramour of the previous Elven Oracle, Eleminthindriel

Founder of the School of Chronomancy

Father of Ayda Aguefort

Asha Hammerheart

Saint and Cleric of Logran Soulforger

One of the Three Pilgrims to the Temple to the Earth Defiant

Ayda Aguefort

The Mistress of the Compass Points LIbrary, Quartermaster of the Knowledge of Leviathan

Paramour of Figueroth the Infaethable, the Archdevil of Rebellion, the Dark Mistress of the Bottomless Pit

Creator of Adaine’s Furious Fist

Bakur / Athenriel

Infernal Servant of Ankarna, the Deity of Fire, Rage, and Conquest

Formerly Athenriel of the Faeth Lineage

Former Owner of the Armor of Pride

Cathilda “The Black” Ceili

Legendary Pirate, the Widow in Black, whose daggers flash with death and destruction

Crewmember aboard the Hangman

Elder of the Ramble, who defended Leviathan amidst the wrath of the Storm King

Chungledown Bim

Legendary Mouth-Shitter

Archnemesis of Fabian Aramais Seacaster

Survivor of Captain James Whitclaw's attack on the Cult of Bill Seacaster

Braved the Forest of the Nightmare King alone and escaped unscathed

Highest-level Warlock of the Cult of Bill Seacaster

Court of Elders

Leaders of the Tribes of Sylvaire and the Great Unicorn

Destroyed the Name of the Goddess of Mystery in the Sylvarian Heresy, in league with clerics of Galicaea

Eleminthindriel

The First Elven Oracle, succeeded by Adaine Abernant

Member of the First Council of Chosen

She who prophesied the second rise and fall of Kalvaxus

Garthy O’Brien

Prodigious Descendant of Zajiri Celestials

Impresario of the Gold Gardens, Leviathan’s hub for pleasure and sanctuary 

The Curse Breaker who fought the effects of the King of the Dark Dreaming

Child of Ayda Aguefort

Guardian of Ayda Aguefort

Name contains an anagram for the Night Yorb

Gilear Faeth

The Chosen One

Current eldest male descendant of the lineage of Athenriel

Penultimate Inheritor of the Curse of the Armor of Pride

He who stopped three Apocalypses with wishes from a Puppy

Gorthalax the Insatiable

Prince of the Nine Hells and former ruler of the Bottomless Pit

Formerly Gorthiel, the Seraph of Eating the Right Amount of Food / Temperance

Father of Figueroth the Infaethable, Archdevil of Rebellion and Dark Mistress of the Bottomless Pit

Grafmy Rootdrinker

The Druidic Leader who pushed back the Curse of the Nightmare King on the Forest of Sylvaire

Hallariel Seacaster née Lomenelda 

The Greatest Fencer to Ever Live

Daughter of Telemaine Lomenelda, Heir to Kei Lumennura

Widow of William “Old Bill” Seacaster, the Scourge of the Nine Hells

Jamina Joy

The Bosun of Leviathan

She who keeps the City afloat

She who contains a Wish for the Welfare of Leviathan

Kalina

The Shadow Cat

Right Hand of the Nightmare King

Familiar of Cassandra

The Cursed Plague of the King of the Dark Dreaming

Kalvaxus

Former Emperor of the Red Waste

Allied with the Nightmare King and the Undead of the Necronomikron

Prophesied to rise once more at the word of Elven Oracle Eleminthindriel

When Kalvaxus once again beholds his glittering treasure And seven maidens once more are chained at the mouth of his lair When war befalls the realm And a king and queen are crowned anew in Solace Then will the Emperor of the Red Waste be released from bondage His destruction will know no bounds The sun shall fall from the Heavens And the world as we know it shall perish forever

Former Vice Principal of the Aguefort Adventuring Academy

Currently the Goldenrod, the Infernal Vessel of William “Old Bill” Seacaster

Karl Cleaver

Legendary Adventurer and Member of the Pact of Kyburus

Of the Cleaver lineage of Adventurers

Kora Ironbrow

Saint and Cleric of Logran Soulforger

One of the Three Pilgrims to the Temple to the Earth Defiant

Lydia Barkrock

She who sealed Bakur in her body with rage and rage alone

The Curse of the Armor of Pride was used to excise Bakur from her body

Nuathera

The Awakened Familiar of Grafmy Rootdrinker

Leader of the Town of Arborly and Protector of the Border of Sylvaire

Octavio Costello Gainglynn

He who sailed off the edge of the World and into the Heavens

Paramour of the Solar Zarael

Pok Gukgak

Premier Agent of the Lower Planar Reconnaissance Task Force of the Plane of Bytopia

He who brought the Plague of the Shadow Cat to the nation of Solace

The first Solesian to be slayed by Kalvaxus personally in centuries

Father of Riz Gukgak, Slayer of Kalvaxus

Telemaine Lomenelda

The Greatest Elven Swordsmith, who forged Fandrangor and the Sword of Sight

Lord of Kei Lumennura, the Guardian of Elven Teens

Tectonya Karkovnya

Superintendent of the Larger Solesian School District

Legendary Wizard and Scholar of the Eidolons

She who stole the Legendarium Extrordia

Tracker O’Shaughnessy

She who dispelled the Nightmare King’s Curse on Sylvaire, the Forest of the Nightmare King

She who dispelled the Nightmare King’s Tree

Reformer of the Faith of Galicaea, Leader of Wolfsong, the Lupine Cleric of Lida

The Vulture King

Father to all Vultures, King of the Vulture Dimension

He whose body became the Royal Artifacts of the Vulture Dimension

William “Old Bill” Seacaster

He who struck down the Pirate King and Hung his Head in Gibbety Square

Captain of the Hangman

Married to Hallariel Lomenelda, the Greatest Fencer to Ever Live

Current Captain of the Infernal Wastes, Scourge of the Nine Hells

Captain of the Goldenrod, the Infernal Vessel carved from the body of Kalvaxus, Emperor of the Red Waste

Yvonna of the Sundering Hills

Saint and Cleric of Logran Soulforger

One of the Three Pilgrims to the Temple to the Earth Defiant

Zaphriel

Spirit of Endless Sky Towards Late Afternoon on a Day at the Beach with Your Feet in the Warm Sand, Just Being Chill as Hell

The Possessing Spirit of the Hangvan

PCs

Adaine Abernant:

The Second Elven Oracle, preceded by Eleminthindriel

Established the right of the Elven Oracle to be paid, via dance battle

Patron of the Oracle of Dance Fabian Aramais Seacaster

Current wielder of the Sword of Sight, Sword of the Elven Oracle

She who invoked the name of Ankarna and broke Obliviati Mori

She who sealed Bakur with the power of the Curse of the Armor of Pride

Creator of Ayda’s Comprehend Subtext

Kristen Applebees:

The Chosen of Helio, God of Corn

The Creator of Yes!/Yes?

She who Resurrected Herself

She who dispelled the Nightmare King’s Coin

She who destroyed the Crown of the Nightmare King

The Blessed Saint of Cassandra, Deity of Mystery, Night and Magic

Figueroth Faeth:

Mortal daughter of Gorthalax the Insatiable, Prince of the Nine Hells and former ruler of the Bottomless Pit

Current Archdevil of Rebellion, Figueroth the Infaethable, the Dark Mistress of the Bottomless Pit

Paramour of Ayda Aguefort, the Mistress of the Compass Points Library

Last of the Faeth Lineage to bear the Curse of the Armor of Pride

Currently holds dominion over the infernal domain of Ankarna, Goddess of Fire, Rage, and Conquest, due to the creation of Dawn of Justice, a song so metal it could claim an infernal domain

Riz Gukgak:

Fifth of the World of Spyre to summon the Night Yorb to the Material Plane

He who slayed the Dragon Kalvaxus, Emperor of the Red Waste

First living member of the Lower Planar Reconnaissance Task Force

The Investigator who Found the Prophesied Seven Maidens

Fabian Aramais Seacaster:

Mortal son of William "Old Bill" Seacaster, Legendary Pirate and the Current Captain of the Infernal Wastes, Scourge of the Nine Hells and Hallariel Lomenelda, the Greatest Fencer to Ever Live

Grandson of Telemaine Lomenelda, Swordsmith of the Elven Kings

He who killed William "Old Bill" Seacaster

Current wielder of Fandrangor, Sword of the North Star

Dance Champion of the Elven Oracle, the Oracle of Dance

Maximum Legend at the Aguefort Adventuring Academy

Gorgug Thistlespring:

He who discovered the Plague of the Shadow Cat

Creator of the Solar Lasso used to seal the Night Yorb into his personal vehicle, the Hangvan

Creator of the Barbificer Specialty, the first in the World of Spyre to combine barbarian rage and artificer spellcasting

The Greatest Wizard of Our Age, as titled by Ayda Aguefort, Mistress of the Compass Points Library

Danielle Barkstock:

Blessed of Anima, Eidolon of Life

She who assumed the form and gave voice to the Empress Anima, Eidolon of Life

One of Seven Maidens Chained at the Mouth of the Lair of Kalvaxus, the Emperor of the Red Waste

Katja Cleaver

Blessed of Terra, Eidolon of Earth

Daughter of Karl Cleaver, of the Cleaver lineage of adventurers

Friend to Horses, Rider of Cinnamon

Slayer of Jana Cleaver

One of Seven Maidens Chained at the Mouth of the Lair of Kalvaxus, the Emperor of the Red Waste

Zelda Donovan

Blessed of Zefira, Eidolon of Air

Battle Dancer of the Donovan Lineage, who was possessed by the god of wine and ecstasy in bacchanal

One of Seven Maidens Chained at the Mouth of the Lair of Kalvaxus, the Emperor of the Red Waste

Antiope Jones

Blessed of Chronoa, Eidolon of Time

She who killed Charity Blythe

Daughter of Athena and Hector Jones, of the Jones lineage of adventurers

Leader of the Reform of the Ministry of Adventure

One of Seven Maidens Chained at the Mouth of the Lair of Kalvaxus, the Emperor of the Red Waste

Penny Luckstone

Blessed of Nera, Eidolon of Water

She who revealed the Society of Shadows one of

Seven Maidens Chained at the Mouth of the Lair of Kalvaxus, the Emperor of the Red Waste

Sam Nightingale:

Blessed of Talura, Eidolon of Death, the Ending of All Things

She who released Talura upon Spyre for the first time in millennia

She who guided Talura to infinite form

One of Seven Maidens Chained at the Mouth of the Lair of Kalvaxus, the Emperor of the Red Waste

Ostentatia Wallace:

The first forge cleric to Commune with Logran Soulforger in millennia

Prophet of Logran Soulforger

Designer for the Gods

Blessed of Pyrria, Eidolon of Fire

One of Seven Maidens Chained at the Mouth of the Lair of Kalvaxus, the Emperor of the Red Waste

Barbarella Sasparilla Gainglynn

The Goddess of the Gold Gardens

Daughter of Octavio Costello Gainglynn and Zarael

She who struck down the Storm-Druid Alamaria

Myrtle (the Bitch)

The Priestess of Storms, Devout of Umberlee, the Sinker of Ships and Collector of the Treasures of the Deep

Jack Brakkow

Unlucky Jack, he who escaped the Bilge only to sink in the depths of betrayal

The Captain of the Late Bloomer, whose crew haunts the mast kept at his side always

Legendary Adventuring Parties

The Bad Kids (Adventuring Party):

Members: Adaine Abernant, Kristen Applebees, Figueroth Faeth, Riz Gukgak, Fabian Aramais Seacaster, Gorgug Thistlespring

Slayed Daybreak, leader of the Harvestmen, and averted the apocalypse of perditional contradoxy

Defeated Kalvaxus, Emperor of the Red Waste

Defeated Occularia, Queen of Sight

Defeated Captain James Whitclaw, the archnemesis of William “Old Bill” Seacaster and prevented the crowning of a new Pirate King

Demolished the Elven prison, Calethriel Tower

Defeated the Nightmare King, the King of the Dark Dreaming

Defeated the Cult of the Night Yorb

Defeated the Night Yorb

The Sole Survivors of the Sundering of the Synod of Spyre

The first adventuring party in living memory to survive the Last Stand-ard Exam

The Buccaneer Buddies (Adventuring Party)

Members: Sunny Biscotto, Jack Brakkow, Barbarella Sasparilla Gainglynn, Cheese Stormcrank, Marcid the Typhoon, Myrtle the Bitch

Prevented the Summoning of William Seacaster for the destruction of Leviathan

Saved Leviathan from Destruction at the hands of Langley Sheffield-Harrington, Clive Mardres, the Storm-Druid Alamaria, and the Crescent Moon Trading Company

Averted the Wrath of the Storm King by disrupting the ritual of Alamaria and returning the Daughter of Storms to the briny depths

The Seven / The Maidens (Adventuring Party)

Members: Danielle Barkstock, Katja Cleaver, Zelda Donovan, Antiope Jones, Penny Luckstone, Sam Nightingale, Ostentatia Wallace

The Seven Maidens Chained at the Mouth of the Lair of Kalvaxus, the Emperor of the Red Waste

Eliminated the Cult of Kalvaxus as vengeance for their capture

Cleansed the Temple of the Earth Defiant of the mutated monstrosities

Commandeered the Rombosa, the Pleasure Barge of Talcidimir Tallbreeze and kidnapped hundreds of nobles from the Baronies

Averted Project Reset, an effort by the Ministry of Adventure to cause world-ending disasters

Defeated Talura, Eidolon of Death, the Ending of All Things, by channeling the spirits of the Eidolons

Legendary Items

Sword of Sight

The Sword of the Elven Oracle, forged by the legendary swordsmith Telemaine Lomenelda

Currently owned by the Elven Oracle Adaine Abernant

Fandrangor

The Sword of the North Star, forged by the legendary swordsmith Telemaine Lomenelda and gifted to the Elven King Thristwin Eversong

Currently owned by Fabian Aramais Seacaster

The Armors of Sin

Seven Suits of Infernal Armor, each forged by a different Infernal Being and associated with the Sins assigned to them by name

Armor of Gluttony - Armor Carved of White Bone, armed with a massive spiked net. Chosen Armor of Gorthalax the Insatiable. 

Armor of Pride - Armor of Gleaming gold, armed with a Golden Halberd

Armor gifted from Ankarna to her follower Athenriel. After Athenriel took on the form of Bakur, the armor passed through his lineage patrilineally until it was gifted to Gorthalax the Insatiable. 

The curse of the armor transferred to the eldest male descendants of the lineage with the death of each previous holder of the curse. The most recent of these was Gilear Faeth. Upon reunification with the line of Athenriel, the curse was left in a flux state, until it was taken on by the Dark Mistress and Archdevil of the Bottomless Pit, Figueroth the Infaethable. 

The Curse was broken and sealed in the Sword of Sight, and later used to remove the containment of Bakur from the body of Lydia Barkrock

Armor of Lust - Armor of Jet Black Leather, stitched together with a zipper over the mouth.

Armor of Envy - Armor formed of Pure Mirror

Armor of Wrath - Armor of Bleeding Iron, armed with two double-sided flails/scourges.

Armor of Greed

Armor of Sloth

Owned by Gorthalax the Insatiable and kept in the Bottomless Pit until stolen by the Scourge of the Nine Hells, Bill Seacaster.

The Transubstantiations of the Nightmare King

Four symbols of the Unnamed Goddess’ power, converted into four curses which spread the power of the King of the Dark Dreaming

The Coin, a curse placed on the hoard of Kalvaxus that allowed the Nightmare King to possess those who had knowledge of their wealth’s origin (Dragon Madness). This curse came from the trans-substantiation of the spellbook of the Unnamed Goddess, now known as Cassandra. DIspelled by the Blessed Saint Kristen Applebees.

The Plague, a curse placed on the familiar of the Unnamed Goddess, Kalina the Shadow Cat. This curse converted Kalina into a plague that manifested as various illusionary powers, with additional strength within the borders of Sylvaire. Dispelled by Aelwyn Abernant.

The Curse, a curse that bound celestials who attempted to enter the Nightmare King’s Forest and utilized their energies to power the mycelium web of trans-substantiations. This curse originated from the cottage of the Unnamed Goddess. Dispelled by Tracker O’Shaughnessy.

The Tree, a curse on the arcane focus of the Unnamed Goddess, a broomstick which became the Tree at the center of Sylvaire. This curse altered the shape of the Forest to suit the fears of those who entered–the more confident a traveler was in their path, the further they traveled from the center of the Forest. Dispelled by Tracker O’Shaughnessy.

The Crown of the Nightmare King

The last remnant of the Nightmare King after the Fall of Kalvaxus

A talisman capable of anchoring an extraplanar being to a world as if they were native to that plane

The Source of a great deal of power for the other trans-substantiations

Powerfully Cursed for mortal beings. Singular Curse broken by Garthy O’Brien

Dispelled by the Blessed Saint Kristen Applebees, through her Honest Worship of Doubt and her Resurrection of the Goddess Cassandra

The Daughter of Storms

Marble Relief that contains the soul of the daughter of Kahaerin, the Storm King, who calls the wrath of storms when it is brought above the surface of the deep sea

The Legendarium Extrordia

Divinatory Artifact that tracks the classification and progression of quests in the world of Spyre

Watches and Wards

Protective Ward created by the Elven Oracle Eleminthindriel, that prevents harmful summonings and conjurations on the grounds of the Aguefort Adventuring Academy

Only removable from the Aguefort Adventuring Academy Library by Arthur Aguefort and the Elven Oracle. Removed by Elven Oracle Adaine Abernant

[eganmont]

Dagger: "Hey don't you think some of Vivi's children feel... eerily familiar?"

Zidane: "... Nah it's probably fine."

I've seen the concept of Vivi being a Black Waltz, but what if the Waltz were Vivi-fied?

*Ahem*, excuse me while I briefly obsess over an AU for minor characters who only show up like once from a 20+ year old game:

So anyhoo, I present an FF9 epilogue AU where Vivi accidently and unknowingly reincarnated the Black Waltz alongside his other sons. Assuming that Vivi used traces of mist to make his kiddos, I suppose it could be possible for the Waltzes' mist/souls be recycled back into life again by the same method. Made more likely by the fact they all originally perished during a time when Gaia's souls weren't properly passing on... (Hopefully I'm understanding ff9 lore right)

Neither of the 3 can fully remember their past lives, though they still subconsciously retain their memories. It's enough to influence their personalities, but you know, since they are no longer living weapons their violent tendencies get toned-down a lot and they properly get the chance to develop morals and stuff. At worst they probably just act like typical spoiled brats or trouble makers. I'd think they surprisingly get along well with Zidane too.

They're unofficially known as the Encore Trio, and get actual names now, from left to right: Waldren, Walter, and Wallace.

(The names just sort of came natural to them, I wonder why lol)

I can't help but feel the original trio deserved so much better, and couldn't pass up the idea of them getting a second-chance to live life and pursue non-evil and non-princess capturing related interests.

And despite what had happened in the past, I'd think Vivi would be happy for them too…

Ok ramble over for now!

[drivinmeinsane]

Would you wanna expand on Anna and K being siblings in all ways that matter? I agree, I'd just like to hesr your thoughts on the matter too :]

Oh man, you've opened a can of worms. 👀 Here's some of my rambling threads of thoughts complete with my mauled digital copy of the script and screencaps galore.

Spoilers for Blade Runner 2049 under the cut.

From the moment Ana is introduced, even before we meet her face to face, she is a mirror of K. They are copies of one another. Two people can't have the exact same genetic code, but the closest one can get is twins. They shared their defining memory and splintered off later in life as siblings do.

There was always meant to be two of them. The files say that one died from an illness and the other lived. We find out that Ana was stuck on-world from an illness that she developed. Only, she didn't die. She was left behind and abandoned to work for Wallace and other corporations needing her memory making services. Ana is the real girl and K is her ghost.

A life of freedom as long as it's behind glass. K has the same as long as he obeys the rigid system that keeps him tethered. Neither are truly living. It's escapism. They both dream of realities where they are loved. By illegally putting her memory into K, Ana created a family member. He's her copy—a sibling, a twin—someone who shared her life experience and could relate. Two children, protecting the only item they have left from a father who they had never met. As one, they had stowed it away in a furnace and enduring being beaten. They lived this. Together. Ana's last name of Stelline. Little stars. It beings to mind the Gemini zodiac sign. The twins. Castor and Pollux and their horses. K was the invisible companion of Ana, an unborn ghost. Maybe she imagined him when things got too dismal. Maybe she thought about having a brother or a sister. When the time came, she offered up the memory to the Wallace corporation so the burden of that childhood could be shared, understood. A sibling made reality. A ghost was made solid, living flesh. Who would have thought that replicant would come looking? Who would have thought Officer K would break every shred of genetic modification and careful conditioning to find her, his sister, while searching for answers because he cared, because he was part of Ana's scattered family and didn't know it.

Again, they mirror each other. In the same moment that Ana is looking at the snow falling on her hand, K is doing the same. Even in the end, they are connected. Left hand and right hand—two parts of a whole.

No one had ever come for K. He makes sure someone comes for Ana. He knows what it's like to want family so badly that your very bones ache, that you would kill another one of your kind for the first time for it. He found their father and brought him home. He was a good brother, a good son.

There is a void over Ana's right shoulder where K should be. Her ghost—her copy—has died even if she does not know it yet. His death in a roundabout way fulfills the prophecy of the DNA database findings. Two siblings, a boy and a girl. One dies. He haunted her before his inception and he haunts her still after his body is found on the stairs of the upgrade center. If only she had spoken up. If only K had told Deckard the truth. If only there had been another way to love someone without remaining a stranger.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record because I've honestly lost count of how many times I've said this, I genuinely believe Deckard would have shrugged and accepted the fact that he and Rachael had had two kids.

I think the three of them could have been happy together, but Blade Runner 2049 is a modern Greek tragedy seeped in the lore from thousands of years ago. There are no joyous endings here.

[ishallgivehimupforever]

A SHORT (NOT) MESS OF AN ESSAY ON HOW CLARKE AND BELLAMY ARE INCREDIBLY ESSENTIAL TO THEIR UNIVERSE This is a half-humorous post about the ridiculousness of the plot, but believe me it's filled to the brim with my love for it

Or, in which explaining the plot of the numbers show would get me institutionalized. I refuse to check wiki while writing this post so if I'm wrong about any of the lore and dates, just look past it. So, ~100 years before S1 we have the following happening: Becca Franco is a brilliant billionaire who is a genetic engineer, a prodigy coder, oh and a eugenics supporter who is working on a superior black-blooded race. She also creates A.L.L.I.E - an AI that does not understand that sometimes the end does not justify the means In the background, WW3 is raging, Diyoza is blowing up fascist governments, the U.S. president is a Wallace. And then there is this bombshell blonde Josephine Ada Lightbourne, with her princess haircut, who is a huge fan of Becca's. She is preparing to embark on a mission to look for inhabitable planets onboard of Eligious III. Those who are part of this mission are equipped with memory drives inside their heads for storing data about new environments. Eventually, Becca has one of those inside her head, too. Meanwhile, Diyoza and >300 other prisoners are sent on a mining mission on a bunch of rocks in space aboard Eligious I. They are put to sleep in cryopods developed by Becca's company. Meanwhile, it can be assumed that Clarke's ancestors and Bellamy's great-great-great grandpa with 4 PhDs have begun their space station jobs.

97 years later, we all know what happens, 101 people are sent to Earth on what is believed by many to be a suicidal mission. There is nothing inherently special about Clarke or Bellamy. I mean, of course they are dearly special to my heart and turn out to be incredibly special to the universe, but before I humorously describe the plot progression, I need to emphasize, they are two humans who lived all of their life on a tin can in space, and while within the context of the Ark they are special (Clarke is a "princess", of course not literally but it does not seem far fetched that she would end up becoming the Chancellor someday; Bellamy is the only big sibling on the ark which gives him personality traits unique for someone his age as far as the ark is concerned). But they are not supernatural beings, they do not have nightblood, they are not chosen ones, know what I mean? And yet:

S1: the most down-to-earth season, after that the stakes will only go up. Objective: make sure that the 102 has as many survivors as possible until the adults get down to Earth. Enemies: grounders, reapers, wildlife, elements, toxic fog (mountain men but they do not know that yet), sometimes the delinquents turn against other delinquents. Clarke uses her calculating, cunning, and caring nature as well as her medical skills to gain respect among the group. By the end of S1 she is someone that the rest of the delinquents look up to guidance. Bellamy uses his PhD in public speaking (why is he sometimes "quiet" in blarke fanfic, he is literally the yapper boyfriend) and combat prowess to initially scare people into deference, however his caring side cannot be contained for too long. By the end of S1, he is someone that the rest of the delinquents look up to for guidance. Blarke status: co-leaders who respect and inspire each other and friends who flirt at the most improper occasions

S2: the season with the finale to end all season finales trademark.

Objective: break the 47 out of mount weather; establish a truce with the grounders and claim some territory for arkadians Enemies: Mountain Men, grounders and their commandor but in a "enemy-of-my-enemy-is-my-friend kinda way, gorilla mutant

Clarke - kills her ex-boyfriend (and that is the merciful option), and becomes a de-facto chancellor due to incompetence of A/bby and K/ane; negotiates a deal with the grounder ruler - L/xa who in her head HAS A MIND DRVE WITH ALLIE 2.0 THE MORE ADVANCED VERSION OF THE AI WHO NUKED THE WORLD and also HAS THE MEMORIES OF BECCA FRANCO. Clarke kisses l/xa - the start of a long situationship with the chip.

Bellamy - goes on an extremely risky one-man undercover mission to infiltrate Mount Weather. Just so it resonates, Bellamy is not a trained spy or a navy seal or a special forces soldier. He pulls of this insane feat of disabling the acid fog without being caught(the fog machine apparently has been killing the grounders for 50+ years and is the reason why the grounders could not retaliate against MW all this time!!!! He!! really!! did!! all1! that!! without being caught AND was actively working on protecting the 47 simultaneously) Blarke status: bonded over the actual genocide of MW (including the Wallace lineage) after the grounders forced their hand by utterly betraying them. S3 - the season when things start to get out of hand Objective: claim safe territory for arkadians to live and hunt for food; develop an alliance with the grounders (who stabbed them in the back in S2); make sure the commander keeps her word that arkadians are part of the alliance; make sure Ice nation does not ascend and wipe out skycrew; keep their own people from being executed by their own people; stop Emerson; stop THE AI THAT ENDED THE WORLD WITH NUKES, stop the zombies controlled by said AI; obtain a nightblood in order to access Becca and stop the evil AI SAVE THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE

Enemies: grounders (heh I see a pattern); Pike (kinda), Queen Nia, Emerson, Roan (kinda), Ontario, ALLIE, Jaha (kinda), l/xa (kinda), Echolocation wew, just writing it down, they really did try to do everything in those 16 episodes, didn't they? ALLIE the AI that NUKED THE PLANET bats her eyelashes flirtatiously at BELLAMY while possessing Raven. Calls out Bellamy for being more devoted to Clarke than to his actual girlfriend. i need to emphasise that THE AI THAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ENDING THE CIVILATION IS INVESTED IN BELLARKE RELATIONSHIP DRAMA.

Clarke enters the chip inhabited by her lover and by Becca Franco. Has a conversation with both ALLIE and Becca. The memory of 'together" gives her strength to pull the kill switch.

ALLIE: so essentially in 6 month is the last day of humanity because of the second nuclear apocalypse incoming,

Clarke: don't worry, me and Bellamy will figure something out :))) together :))) (with Raven ofc, I mean no erasure to my girl, its just this post is focusing on bellarke) ALLIE: :O Im exhausted Ive already been writing out this post for an hour, Im glad I'm halfway through

Blarke status: reunited and it feels so good. Saved the world (but not quite yet) S4 - the calamity season

Objective: Save the human race (again)

Enemies: Primefiya, Ice Nation (kinda), Ilian (for a hot second), ALLIE 1.0 (for Raven) Uncle Jaha sets up Blarke on a day trip in order to feed them some lore that will be relevant later. Bellamy picks up a coin with the 'from the ashes we will rise" written on it, which will prompt Jaha to correlate this with the grounder prayer which will make him ask the flaimkeeper about it which will lead them to check the temple which will lead them to discovering the bunker. So I think that all the ppl who found salvation inside the bunker owe their life to Bellamy in a round about way.

Clarke once again negotiates an alliance with the grounders. Acts as de facto chancellor. Bellarke act as the leaders of the sky people as god intended. Clarke becomes a nightblood (this will be extra relevant in S6) O*tavia is credited with something that was Clarke's idea in the first place and would be impossible without Bellamy's help. So everyone say thank you Clarke and Bellamy for saving us :) Blarke status: This voice mail is currently full. S5: We are not pretanding that the apocalypse could have possibly happened around 2050 anymore considering the technology available

Objective: Save the human race and Earth. Try not to destroy the only inhabitable spot of land left on the planet challenge.

Enemies: Paxton "Graveyard" McCreary, Diyoza (kinda), rest of the miner's crew, Kara Cooper, Octonian, Miller (for a minute) Diyoza, the former navy seal corporal turned domestic anti-fascist terrorist back from 106 years ago is very invested in the Bellarke relationship status. Bellamy makes a deal with Diyoza & her army by having a galaxy brain and keeping that Best Dad in the Universe mug - truly an iconic behavior. This leads to a) saving Clarke and Madi (a.k.a his wife and daughter uwu) b) opening the bunker, which apparently the 814 left in the bunker had no prospects of opening so please say thank you Bellamy fast forward to the end - Clarke and Bellamy are off to ANOTHER FUCKING PLANET?!?! and making decision regarding the fate of the human race again as God intended. Also Marper got to be happy and grow old together <3 miss them though. Blarke status: they got sick of their world-wide fame and now are onto their galaxy-wide fame. They have 2 kids. S6 - The most romantic 10 episodes of television brought to screen I think Objective: explore Alpha; find a safe territory for their people; make alliances with Sanctum; uh oh what are those people up to???; sci-fi horror intensifies; SAVE CLARKE; and the rest of sky crew I guess; keep an eye on Jordan and Madi (objective failed); act on feelings (objective failed)

Okay, so. We have this awesome chick Josephine and she and neuroscientist Gabriel are sooooo in love. They are quite crazy about each other. Josie is very flirtatious but you can tell that what she and Gabriel have is something special. But then BUT THEN Josie is murdered by her own dad while he was having an environment-driven psychotic episode. and Gabriel is NOT READY TO LET HER GO HE LOVES HER OKAY. And her dad, Russel, obviously feels guilty as fuck and cannot live with himself. So Russel and Gabriel work on defeating death. Yea you heard that right, we are dealing with immortality now. After decades of inhumane experiments they succeed in bringing Josie back in some innocent girl';s body. How? Because Josie was backed up on a mindrive, that was developed by Becca. You know, the same Becca that caused the world to end the first time and inadvertently caused the plot of the whole show to happen. The same Becca whose AI was very invested in Bellarke relationship drama. I digress

Fast forward ~250 years later, Josie is a bubbly psychopath (she sad endearingly). And Gabriel actually noped the fuck out of this eugenics oblation camp 70 years prior. This caused Josie to become even colder and more ruthless, she doubled down after she realised that the love of her life had become disgusted by her. She does no longer remember how it feels to be loved or how did it feel TO love someone as she did Gabriel. One day, She wakes up and discovered she was put in the body of the iconic Clarke "Ferrari" Griffin herself. She thinks she will get away with the (not successful) murder of her because she has a lot to offer her friends in return, namely immortality, territory, and all the intel about the planet they had gathered. BUT BUT BUT she did not expect one Bellamy Goddamn Blake a.k.a the love of Clarke's life.

He is the first one to realize that Clarke is not Clarke. He is the first one to realize that Clarke is ALIVE. By seeing Clarke memories Josie knows that what would be likely to make Clarke stop trying is the belief that Bellamy gave up on her. BITCH YOU THOUGHT

So she experiences Bellamy DRAGGING her on forest floor and being gentle with her body at the same time because it is CLARKE's body. While they are in a cave she teases him about his relationship with Clarke, then reminisces about Gabriel and gets all sappy, and then by taunting Bellamy she hears "I wont let you die" and let me tell you SHE'S SHOOk. SHE FORGOT. SHE FORGOT YOU COULD LOVE SOMEONE SO MUCH. SHE FORGOT YOU COULD BE LOVED SO MUCH. IT PROBABLY REMINDS HER OF HOW GABRIEL ONCE WAS DEVOTED TO HER AND T SHAKES HER TO THE CORE.

Fast forward to Bellamy showing up Just In Time, undercover (as is his favorite past time) Josie says mockingly "because of course it s" BUT YOU KNOW SHE'S IMPRESSED. Then, The Tent, o man, THE TENT. Josie, probably slowly accepting that this might really be her end, admits to Bellamy in the softest voice "she was right to depend on you" And then she pleads with Gabriel and it's heartbreaking because yes she's a villain, she's a eugenist, a psycho, even simply Evil, probably BUT ONCE SHE WAS A BRILLIANT, RESOURCEFUL, CONFIDENT YOUNG WOMAN LIKE CLARKE. AND SHE JUST WANTED TO GROW OLD WITH GABRIEL. AND GABRIEL TELLS HER I LOVED YOU FOR CENTURIES AND BELLAMY'S FACE AND JOSIE GOT TO HAVE TO SPEND HER LAST MOMENTS WITH GABRIEL THANKS TO BELLAMY AND CLARKE AND IT GIVES HER STRENGTH TO KIND OF ACCEPT DEATH, PERMANENTLY "IN THIS BIG SLEEP, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME" "I HAVE TO LET YOU GO NOW" AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA NA DTHEn AND THEN WE HAVE THE CPR SCENE "I NEED YOU" "YOU'RE A FIGHTER SO GET UP AND FIGHT" "I AM NOT LETTING YOU GO" MOUTH TO MOUTH, TRUE LOVE"S KISS And Clarke looks at him like he hung the stars in the sky. Bellamy looks at her like he is the only star in his sky. And they save their friends. again. And they Do Better.

Cause they are better. together. And they are SO.POWERFUL

Their relationship literally transcends centuries and planets. Wow this is long. My legs are tired from sitting in one position. Who made it till the end?

[sharkwithc4]

hey,, you should totally explain all the important lore of dialtown to me bc im far too lazy to actually go watch somethin myself /nf

OKAY OKAY SO. Anybody correct me if I forgot anything, but.

all but Norm have object heads due to The Dialup, initiated by Callum Crown, former president, who lost his memory on January first of 1967, day after the Dailup was set into motion. Norm doesn’t have an object head due to being the first ever astronaut sent into a worm hole, forcing him to travel into the 2020’s, despite being from the 60’s, meaning he’d missed the dialup in its entirety. He was exiled by Mayor Mingus, Callum’s Granddaughter, for refusing to conform and replace his head.

Now, as for Callum. Born in 1923, his left arm being his only complete limb. He eventually built himself legs to join the war, but was denied, giving him newfound spite and determination. He made himself a prosthetic arm, and sold multiple prosthetics to soldiers who had returned, getting him a business, but that was quickly shut down once soldiers didn’t NEED to buy any more limbs. He tried adding upgrades to these prosthetics, with tools built in, but was passed off as a guy who made himself a freak for show. Passed off as a door to door salesman made of clanking metal. He soon realized his telephone was what connected him to the rest of Dialtown, the world, and that’s what started his idea for the phone-heads. The idea caught on, and a typewriter alternative was made too.

Callum was elected president after other roles, but after the dialup, he had accidentally pressed a button on the side of his head, one that would erase his memories in case he was ever captured by an enemy, or something of the sort. Of course, he HAD planned a way to get those memories back, that being giving his vice president, Milton R. Wallace, the plans to his head. But, Milton was no longer around, and not another soul knew a thing about how to fix him. Doctors tried, but there wasn’t anything they could do.

Mingus (in the 2020’s I assume) even tried to get GOD to fix it, only to be turned down.

[gamblingluck]

alright this'll be part 1 bc i'm gonna go through the WHOLE lore entry and boy it's long. I'm gonna be leaving out the gross parts with the slugs bc eugh.

Ace rushes into Uh, Ohs sports bar still pumped with the excitement of the mixed martial art title defense he just watched. Female lightweight MMA champion Mika James knocked the challenger out in the first round and now Ace is ready for another thrill. He sits with his buddy Wallace. "Did I miss anything?" Wallace shakes his head. "Nah... they're preparing the bowl now!" Ace laughs out loud: "hilarious!"

Ace is legit someone who will take any sort of bet because he loves seeing the reactions he can get out of people when he may win but he also thrives a bit on the fact he could get any sort of bit out of someone even if he was the one to lose in the end!

Wallace nudges Ace and levels a wager. Ace looks at the idiot and the bowl in front of him. His instincts tell him this guy's actually going to do it. Ace just cleaned Wallace at the MMA fight and he doesn't mind taking more of his money. Ace scrutinizes the idiot just to make sure his gut isn't leading him astray. This guy knows what he's doing. He's a winning horse. A sure thing. "All right... let's say double our last bet!"

Here he goes just making another bet after winning the last one because he just wants to see how much he can get out of anything offered to him. It's a thrill Ace will never stop chasing honestly!

Wallace nods and assures him he's going to lose. Ace smirks. "We'll see about that!" As he stares beyond the idiot preparing, he's amazed to see Mika James at the bar in her signature tracksuit. They exchange a look. He points at his fan shirt and extends a thumbs-up for a great title defense, but she looks past him as she nurses a beer.

... he's such a nerd. that's all i got with this. LMAO

Wallace sees Mika and nudges Ace. "She could kick your ass in two licks!" Ace scoffs. "That's a bet you would lose, asshole. I'm double her size and strength!" Wallace snickers. "I say you don't last ten minutes... nah... you wouldn't even last five minutes!" Wallace is talking shit just to talk shit. Before Ace can respond, a bell sounds and everyone goes silent as the idiot lifts the bowl. Ace stops breathing, narrows his gaze, pulls out his lucky alligator tooth, holds it in his fist, and just knows he's got a winner.

He definitely remembers Wallace while in the fog still and he thinks all about the bets the two of them would make with each other. It's pretty funny the entity lets him keep those memories but perhaps it's because that keeps him going in this damned place.

[variouscolors-old]

ALRIGHT, might write down one more lore post because i feel the urge to craft another memory for a character.

Maybe it's Wallace time. *goes to grab the post where there was an overthought about Wallace in the artblog*

[idohistorysometimes]

The “Alopecian bad guy” trope: how Alopecia is shown in film

Intro

The other day my friend was watching Bladerunner 2049 and shot me a message saying: “Hey (insert my name here), there is a guy like you in my movie”.

Since my friends have learned of my diagnosis of Alopecia they will send me messages every so often informing me of characters in movies, shows, or other pieces of media they are watching that also have some form of it as well. And in true friend form, they followed up this message to me with a screenshot along with requesting I watch the movie with them.

Sure enough, its a guy like me (not the same type of Alopecia but still a fellow Alopecian)

For those unaware, this man’s name is Tómas Lemarquis and he plays the file clerk at the Wallace facility housing all of the replicant records. I have seen him in a few other films and I gotta say, he has great acting chops and I look forward to seeing what else he plans on doing. It is very important to note here that, despite working for the ‘big bad’ of the film, the clerk (played by Tómas) does not do anything that would indicate him being a ‘bad guy’. He greets the main character, takes his DNA sample, does some computer stuff, takes him to a massive file room, and gives him the file he is looking for. The clerk and K (the main character) have some idle chit-chat while the clerk is attempting to locate the files, but none of it is of a malicious nature. In fact, he seems scared of Luv (the replicant working directly under the CEO of the Wallace company) and tries to keep as much distance between himself and her as possible. He is just here to do his job and then leave. We never see him again after this point in the film.

It is pretty unclear if the clerk is a replicant or not since most replicants are visually the same as normal humans, and often tend to work service-type jobs (which is what the clerk is doing). The clerk does talk to K about memories though which is important since replicants have false implanted memories. He describes his childhood being alive during “The Blackout” and how his parents (specifically his mother) were upset about his baby pictures being deleted. This is important lore-wise because replicants are never children, they come out as fully-formed adults, and as a result, they never have parents. But at the same time he is working at the Wallace company HQ and the only other people we see there are Mr Wallace himself and Luv (who is a replicant). Given replicants are genetically made to be obedient and submissive to their masters so rebellion would not be an issue; it would make sense if a large chuck of Mr Wallace’s workforce are replicants. While there still would be human employees doing a lot of the functional work creating replicants (like Ana Stelline or Mr Wallace himself) it makes sense for such a large company to use replicants for everything else. And since they are the people making the replicants, it does not seem like it would be that hard to make replicants for use by Wallace for their company.

I thought the clerk was human but there was a bit of disagreement between me and my friend as we were watching the film. Given I had not ever watched this movie before I typed something along the lines of “is the clerk in blade runner a replicant” and then clicked the search bar on Google and BOOM, somebody had the same question as me on Reddit. I clicked on the post and scrolled down into the replies to see what people were saying. And while there were many comments that were pretty good about explaining why the clerk was or was not a replicant, I ran into some comments less than kind.

Here are the 2 comments that stuck out to me in that thread. As you might be able to notice there have been some things edited out here. I edited out the usernames in these commenters and I also edited out bits of the first comment since those parts were more specific to the lore in the movie that did not involve this character. But I would like to bring focus to how Tómas is being described here. He is described as ugly, creepy, and having visible defects you would not see in a ‘perfect’ replicant. He is likened to a Ghoul not once, but twice, and in the second comment is compared to Nosferatu (a well-known media villain). Let me remind you, the clerk has not done anything to warrant him being compared to a Ghoul or a well-known fictional monster. These statements are all being made based on Tómas’ physical appearance and nothing else. And while these comments do not appear in EVERYTHING relating to the clerk, they appear enough to show that a non-zero amount of people view the clerk’s character as either being undesirable or at the most extreme inhuman based on his visual appearance alone which therefore meant he either was or was not a replicant.

And that is where it hit me, I’ve seen this before.

“Bad Bald Guy Syndrome”

BBGS or “Bad Bald Guy Syndrome” is a term coined by myself used to describe the common media trope of the villains or untrustworthy characters in media being bald or balding. It does not seem to matter if this baldness is elective or not, as long as the character in question is shown as or is described as having visual hair loss the trope applies. And usually, the greater the hair loss the more often the trope is applicable however this is not always universal. But their evil seems to come from the fact they are bald or is added onto because they are bald.

But the trope in question does not stop there.

Another aspect of this trope I have noticed is that characters that fall under the “Bad Bald Guy Syndrome” trope also tend to lack morality, ‘saneness’, or othe traits people might find ‘good’. Baldness is often conflated with having a weak moral constitution or often have flimsy morals/consciences when external pressures are involved. For example: lots of bald characters often get involved with betrayal plots. They either switch teams halfway through, they can’t seem to consistently stick to their own moral compasses, or their allegiances and morality often are tied to money or self-gain so they were never morally reliable in the first place. They are not trustworthy characters. And in many cases their baldness also makes them creepy or unhinged.

To show you what I am talking about let’s look at some examples. And since we have already talked about Tómas Lemarquis once, let’s look at some of his filmography.

Tómas Lemarquis’ Filmography

I will be honest and say that given a lot of Tómas’ earlier work is in a language that is not English, I did not get a chance to really explore those films and see just how his characters were treated on screen. I tried to only look at films that had complete English dubs or subs that were available online that I could find given those were the only ones I could understand and thus give a complete opinion on. The films I watched were “Errors of the Human Body”, “Snowpiercer” (which is actually a show), “Touch me not”, “Dreamland”, and “Waiting for Anya”. I also later watched Xmen Apocalypse.

“Touch me not” is the film that gives Tómas the most humanity and portrays him in the most human way. In this film, Tómas (playing himself) struggles with intimacy much like many of the other characters we see. He struggles with being emotionally and in some cases physically close with people. And part of the film just deals with his struggles with being able to address that idea of closeness and openness and overcoming his personal mental blocks. And even though the film does give Tómas a few offputting moments, it is not because the film is trying to make him the bad guy. These scenes are to show us just how disconnected Tómas is from himself and how he wants to feel. He wants intimacy but he is held back by his own mental wall. He only watches and sees other people doing what he wants to do. And as an Alopecian myself (of a lesser degree of course) I relate to this a lot. Being close to others when you have a condition that makes others look at you funny is hard. And I struggle with similar feelings as I am sure many other people both Alopecian and not do.

And by the end of the film, with the guidance of his therapy group and his therapy partner Christian specifically, he kind of becomes more comfortable with himself and where he is at. He has less hangups than before. And we actually see him have relations with Laura, the protagonist, around the end of the movie (something I dont think he would have or could have done before). The reason I say kind of is because it is still going to take Tómas a very long time to deprogram himself from thinking in his very self-limiting way. He is still going to have to uphold the lessons he has learned throughout the film. But you can tell throughout the duration of the film Tómas is growing as a person and is, most importantly, humanized.

In these other films, however, Tómas’ characters are not treated like this.

In “Errors of the human body”, “Snowpiercer“, “Dreamland” and “Waiting for Anya”, Tómas is very much supposed to be a, if for THE, bad guy in the film.

In “Errors of the human body” Tómas plays a doctor by the name of Jarek Novak who is from the start primed to be the antagonist. He postures himself to be as offputting as possible. He never states what his intentions are initially and he is kind of pushy with Geoff (the main character). When he does be more blatant with Geoff about what he wants he uses Geoff’s dead son as an example. He views the death of Geoff’s son by way of genetic disease as more “a means to an end” rather than as Geoff’s motivation for his work. He also steals research from the character Rebekka and plans to pass it off as his own discovery, and breaks into Geoff’s house to steal back the mouse Geoff took from his lab. He is also the reason why Geoff ends up getting sick during the middle half of the film. While it is confirmed that Jarek and Rebekka had a fling in the past, there is not really an explicit reason why he acts the way he does beyond “that’s just how he is”. Unlike Geoff or Rebekka he does not seem to have any reason for any of what he does beyond wanting fame or influence.

The man brings up Stalin’s thoughts about ideological indoctrination in his opening pitch to Geoff as being a positive example. I do not think we are supposed to like him.

In Snowpiercer Tómas plays a henchman named “Egghead” who serves Deputy-Minister Mason. He shoots people and gives out eggs. That is about it. He has a very minor role.

He is also the evil vampire Count character who is marrying a child bride in “DREAMLAND”. For those wishing to watch this film please be warned: there are 2 movies named “DREAMLAND” released within about a year from each other. This makes it somewhat hard to track down online since, more often than not, you will find the other movie produced with a much larger budget and a more star-studded cast. Anyway, he is never actually given a name, he is normally either referred to as “the countesses brother, the vampire” or something of that nature. He overall does not have an overly large role in the film. While he is A bad guy character I would not clock him as THE bad guy character since all he seems to do is loom, do over-the-top vampire things, or look creepily at the ‘bride’. And to add to this, we only see him a few times. He is not on screen as much as a few of the other characters. But when he is on screen he is actually really fun to watch here due to just how animated he is. But he is no Jarek Novak, that is for sure. He is not the main thing we should be worrying about. But he is there, doing over-the-top vampire things… and honestly thats how it should be for this film.

And in “Waiting for Anya” he is a nazi. He is a nazi officer who shoots a child at the end of the movie. He very much is the villain or at least on the side of the people we do not want to win. He plays a nazi. The film itself is about escaping the nazis.

Tómas’ role as Caliban in Xmen is not a villain per say, but Caliban is not the same character he is in Logan (both because they are not the same actor and because the personality shift is pretty profound even though the series writers try to claim otherwise). Caliban is shown to be pretty easily swayed with the promise of money. He is willing to betray any person if the price is right. He has pretty flimsy morals (which also further plays into this trope) and does not seem to be too overly concerned with things as long as he gets what he wants. He is not ‘bad’ but he is not ‘good’ either. He is whatever will pay him the most. He occupies a very ‘neutral’ space.

I think it would be unfair to blame Tómas for any of these castings since I will admit, being the bad guy can be fun. There is an allure in getting to be the villain of the story, and I say that having played a few of those types of roles myself. There is nothing inherently wrong with playing the bad guy or morally questionable character in a story.  Tómas is also an actor (wow, shocking I know) and sometimes being picky with your roles while being an actor with less of an industry presence can result in more harm to your career than good. This is not me trying to shame Tómas for taking these roles or enjoying them. However, the types of roles he is being cast in shows a little bit of a trend.

Tómas is not the only actor this happens to though.

Anthony Carrigan’s  Filmography

Anthony Carrigan is another actor who is pretty well known for having Alopecia. His most well-known role right now is in Barry as the character NoHo Hank (a gay Chechen Mobster who is in a relationship with a rival gang member). He also appears in Gotham as the character Victor Zsasz, The Mist in the show “The Flash”, and a lot of other shows as 1-off characters. However, much like with Tómas, he tends to be typecast.

Here is Anthony’s filmography. Given he is an American actor who primarily does films that are in English and produced by companies that distribute their work to the US, his work is a lot easier for me to find (and some of it I happen to be fans of, like Barry for instance. Noho is the best character).

Something I would like to say about the look at Anthony’s filmography is that I am ‘conveniently’ ignoring a lot of his older work along with some of his voice-acting work. This is because for the voice acting work Anthony is not physically on screen, and for a lot of his work pre-2014 he is not playing roles as a bald character. He still had Alopecia at this time but it was not something he was showing openly at the time. Because of this, I will only be looking at films/shows where this trope does actually apply. Those shows/films are: “Satanic”, “Hard Sun”, “Gotham”, “Barry”, “The Flash”, and “Fatherhood”. Sadly I was not able to get a hold of his Blacklist episode for whatever reason.

In Gotham, Anthony plays Victor Zsasz, one of Gotham’s most formidable hitmen. He tortures, kills, and he has no loyalties to speak of (minus the one he has with Falcone) and will switch sides as soon as more money is added to the pool (case in point, what he does to Oswald Cobblepot). They also don’t show this too much but like in the comics, Victor Zsasz also cuts tally marks into his skin every time he kills a person. From the 1 time we do see him do this it is shown that these tallies already cover the majority for his forearm and probably many more parts of his skin we cannot see. Mans is scary and earns that fear well. He does help the ‘good guys’ on occasion but I would not call what he does an act of goodness or altruism. He does it to save himself or because he has some sort of greater incentive to. He does not hate Jim, I would say he is more on the side of liking Jim Gordon than not, but him throwing them bones also brings down the people he does not like or gives him problems.

In the film Satanic, Anthony plays the owner of a satanic goods shop in LA. Anthony (who also has the name Anthony in the film) is shown as also being a person who is willing to do actual satanic rituals and is seen nearly killing a woman for a ritual in the first half of the movie. Is he ultimately the bad guy? That is unclear since there is a lot going on with the movie that makes its plot a little difficult to follow (which is also why the movie kinda flubbed at the box office). But regardless Anthony is a character meant to be feared and or distrusted here and a lot of that comes from his appearance. He is visually set aside from the other characters.

In The Flash Anthony is “Kyle Nimbus” who also goes by the name “The Mist” The Mist is a hitman who is a minor antagonist in the first season of the show.

And as Mr. Vice (or Weiss as according to Wikipedia) in Hard Sun Anthony takes on the role of a serial lobotomizer. Upon watching those scenes I actually felt like I was watching Victor Zsasz back in Gotham. Anthony is really good at channeling that kind of energy. If you edited out the bit with the officers at the end of this scene and replaced them with Jim Gordon and Harvey I would think it came from Gotham. Mr Vice and Zsasz have very similar energies.

Anthony’s roles of Oscar in “Fatherhood” and as the best character Noho Hank in “Barry” kind of diverge from this. Oscar is not shown to be an antagonist, but rather a friend helping a single-father friend raise his daughter. He is just a normal guy and his appearance is not used as a method of making the audience unsettled. And in “Barry”, although Hank is a mobster who does kill people, sells drugs, and does all of the other ‘Chechen mobster things’, he is probably one of the best morally good characters in the show. He does not give up on the people he loves (Cristobal, Barry, his men) even though sometimes he probably should to save himself. At many points, it would have probably been easier to just dump them and save himself but he does not. He goes out of his way to help others even if he has to put his own life on the line to do it. And yes, he feels extremely bad when he finds out Cristobal had children and was still married to his wife. He wants to be happy, not a homewrecker. And Cristobal’s dishonesty was something that majorly bothered Hank although it was not enough to keep him from saving him. He was not going to let Cristobal suffer as an act of petty revenge even though it probably would have been the easiest thing to do. Hank, despite being a criminal, is human and a good person deep down. And the audience roots for him because not only is he human, but he is genuine. He is more genuine than Fuches, Gene at times, and even Sally. He does bad things but is not a bad guy. If he was, he would have taken advantage of a lot of events in the show. He could have thrown Barry, Fuches, Goran, and Cristobal under the bus but did not. He could have gotten revenge on a lot of people or used his position for his own gain. He does not.

Once again this is not a stab at Anthony for taking these roles or having fun with them. He is actually really fun to watch on screen and you can tell he enjoys what he is doing and those are the best types of actors to watch. Being the asshole character can be fun. However, in 4/6 of the roles, we have talked about Anthony is explicitly an antagonist which is not inherently a problem by itself. And in all 4/6 of these roles, Anthony’s appearance is used to make the viewer uneasy and to drive home the fact Anthony’s character is the person you should not be wanting to win. To be fair this has not stopped the Tumblr fangirlies from all but making shrines of Victor Zsasz and or Noho Hank in their sock drawers. But the behavior of Tumblr fan culture does not change the fact that Anthony is being used to add to the ‘creepy factor’ to some of the scenes he is in.

This is a screenshot from the Hard Sun episode Anthony is in. Yes I am aware this is terrible quality. While the setup and context of this scene inherently makes whoever is the bad guy unsettling (because forced lobotomy is not something friendly or soothing), you cannot tell me that they are not using Anthony’s appearance to add to the unsettling factor of the scene. This problem is not with Anthony’s performance or even with his casting in general, its with how Alopecians are framed in media consistently. Alopecians can be the bad guy, and they often are, but when are they the good guy? They do exist but they are not an extremely common sight.

They more often than not, are always the bad guy in popular media.

And once again it does not stop here.

Joseph Gatt’s filmography

I thought I would stop at just Anthony and Tómas’ filmography I discovered yet ANOTHER actor that this can apply to.

Joseph Gatt is an English actor with Alopecia Universalis. His filmography is probably more than Anthony’s and Tómas’ put together and then some. It is pretty long. He has had no shortage of work, that is for sure.

And just like I did with both Anthony and Tómas, I went on another epic film adventure to see how this trope shows up in Joseph’s filmography. In the interest of time and space, I will not be getting as intensive as I did with the filmographies of the other 2 actors mostly because there are a lot more things to look over. But for the roles where Joseph is some form of antagonist, I am going to mark them with a red dot. And as with Tómas, there were some films and shows I was not able to find and watch for whatever reason. They are either not on US streaming servers, or are not saved anywhere you can watch them in general. I did resort to pirating for some of these films/shows I could not find legally. While that did bring up SOME results, some of them were still not locatable.

Lets take a look at his filmography with those dots.

These are the films Joseph has been in, just the films. Out of the 27 films he is in, 20 of which I was able to locate in some form online, he is a ‘bad guy’ in 13 of them. Using math to calculate, out of the films I was able to actually watch he was a ‘bad guy’ around 65% of the time. And even then this is probably an inaccurate number because, as I said before, I was not able to find some of these things he was in. There is a very real chance this number might be higher.

But to be fair, lets say Joseph is a ‘bad guy’ at least 50% of the time.

But wait, there is more.

Joseph has done more than just film work, he has done work for TV as well.

That’s a lot of red dots.

I was not able to find a lot of his older stuff (mostly things pre-2008) but post-Wonder Woman MOST of his shows were online.

Lets do some math again.

Joseph Gatt is in 28 shows, 22 of which I was able to find. He plays the villain or some type of antagonistic character in 17 of these shows. So 17/22 is ABOUT 77% OF THE TIME. And again these numbers might not be completely accurate since I was not able to watch 6 of these shows.

So to give some final stats: out of all 42 shows/movies Joseph is in where he is physically on screen, he is an antagonist in 30 of them. This means 71% of the time Joseph is some form of bad-guy. And in the larger, more ‘well-known’ productions he is in (Dumbo, Star Trek, Black Adam) he is the villain 2/3rds of the time. While I doubt many of you have seen the theatrical masterpiece that is Titanic 666, I am fairly sure you might at least be familiar with the Dumbo movie or Black Adam (or for my nerds out there Star Trek). And if you have conveniently ignored those movies, I think you might have seen NCIS, Game of Thrones, or Teen Wolf.

While this might not be as prolific of an issue in Tómas Lemarquis’ filmography (given I was not able to really give it a very in-depth look and only focused on his English releases so the scale might be off) or only starts to really show up in Anthony’s after his transition from Alopecia Areata to Alopecia Universalis, Joseph has had Alopecia Universalis since he was 14, before he started taking roles. He went into acting with Alopecia. And while he does get cast quite a bit so it is clear the Alopecia has not really gotten in the way of him getting jobs. It does however appear to be affecting what types of jobs he is getting. And because it is doing this, it sets a pretty clear theme.

Most of the time he is this tall imposing figure who you are meant to subconsciously fear. He is presented as scary. You do not see Victor Zelko or Neils Skellig and think “wow this is a friendly guy who I would like to be around”. You think “wow, this guy is scary and could kill me”. He does play good or neutral characters but he is never really an explicit protagonist. He is not really ever the person we are rooting for when he is on screen. And when he is in those few instances where that is the case, it only seems to be in small inde films that tend to get critically panned.

But this does not only happen to actors with Alopecia, as shown here, it happens to characters who are bald as well.

Dune (2021)

The film Dune is a Science Fiction movie based on the book of the same name. As you might imagine, the plot of this movie (by virtue of being science fiction) is extremely complex and is packed with Lore so rich it would make Jeffrey Bezos look like a struggling college student. I am not going to explain the extent of the Lore of Dune here since, that would take a while, but what is relevant here are the Houses all vying for control for the planet Arrakis (the planet that produces all of the Spice) and political power. In the books there are a LOT of these houses all fighting for control and dominance over each other. However, in the movie, we only really see House Atreides (the House protagonist Paul is apart of), House Harkonnen (the evil guys we are not supposed to like), and House Corrino (the house the emperor is a part of).

House Harkonnen will be what we are focusing on.

In the movie House Harkonnen is described as “ A brutal, militarist empire in the dystopian wasteland of Giedi Prime, ruled by Baron Vladimir Harkonnen”. The Baron himself is also described as being cruel, sadistic, and addicted to various vices such as food and sex (it is also implied he is a rapist and that many of his sex slaves/affairs are not adults). He is not a good person and serves as the primary antagonist in the movie. But lets take a look at what the Baron looks like.

Like all members of House Harkonnen shown to us in the movie, the Baron looks like this:

He has no hair, at all. No eyebrows, no hair on the scalp, no facial hair, nothing. He is completely hairless. And this is not something unique to the Baron either.

The Baron’s Nephew Rabban also looks like this and so do all of the soldiers Rabban is around who are all presumably born on the Harkonnen homeworld.

This is Piter de Vries, the Mentat (human computer smart guy person), for House Harkonnen. He also, again, looks the same. It also does not help that he is depicted as a sadistic psychopath who enjoys the suffering of others.

Here are the female servants seen serving the Baron. Same thing. They have no hair at all either (although I do want to point out that both of these actresses also have Alopecia and, unlike with a few of the other Harkonnen characters, they did not need makeup to achieve this look).

I have also seen this image floating around. I THINK it is from one of the deleted scenes, specifically featuring Rabban interrogating some technicians (these guys) trying to bring back the Baron from the gas incident using a decontamination pod thing. This is the only image I can find of this deleted scene, but if this IS truly a screenshot from that scene: this just further proves my point. Everybody on ‘ Team Harkonnen’ looks like this. We have not seen a Harkonnen person who has not looked like this.

While we know both the Baron and Rabban are related, I do not think the soldiers we see around both Rabban and the Baron, the servants, these technicians, and Piter are also related to the Baron. That, and in previous versions of Dune (including in the books) House Harkonnen is not described to look like this. They all mostly have red hair and a widow’s peak. The Baron is still extremely obese (as that is literally his whole character) but the complete hairlessness was an invention unique to the Dune 2021 movie. I see a lot of people say this universal Alopecia among ALL  House Harkonnens was a result of them living on their hellhole home planet. I have seen others claim it was to show them being powerful and dominant. But if that were the case why are the slaves (the subjugated people) also shown like this? And the only person shown to have negative health conditions is the Baron himself, and most of that just seems to be because he is constantly stuffing his face with food. If Giedi Prime was truly giving people illnesses and making their hair fall out Piter, Rabban, and their entire army would probably have health issues as well.

I suppose you might be able to argue that the lack of sun might also be a factor here. But I am more willing to bet the fact the people of House Harkonnen or the people around it look like this because the movie is trying to visually differentiate them from the rest of the people in the movie. Harkonnen, the bald guys, are the bad guys while House Atreides, the people with hair, are the good guys.

Bald bad, hair good.

The School for Good and Evil

The Netflix movie “The School for Good and Evil” (based on the book of the same name) is a movie about 2 friends who wish to go to this fairytale school. One friend is stereotypically preppy-like and wants to make dresses and be at the good school, while the other friend who is more tomboy anti-establishment does not really seem to care much about the school in general but would prefer to be on the evil side. But when they are magically chosen to go to the school, they get switched. Blond-hair-blue-eyes gets thrown into the evil side while “It’s not a phase mom” gets thrown into the good side.

During the scene where the 2 headmistresses kind of explain to the first year students (and to us, the audience) what is going on, we get this shot where it pans to each side of the room showing us the students.

Here is the “Good” side of the room. Its pretty much what you would expect. There is a lot of pink, poofy gowns, big hair, etc.

Here is the “evil” side of the room. I would like to point out here we see 2 bald characters. I THINK there are others in the background at other points of the film. But I want to point out that they are on the ‘evil’ side. There are no bald characters on the other side of the room. They are here. I would like to pay special attention to the one bald girl sitting next to Sophie in the front row.

On the far right you can see that one character again.

She pops up the most out of the 2 bald characters in that previous scene and you can frequently see her in the background of shots. She is always kinda there. But the thing you instantly notice is that she is only on screen when the evil side of the school is being shown. And while Sophie does this weird thing near the end of the movie where she flips the sides so good is now evil and evil is now good (I think I don’t know, I still am confused) that one character is still just consistently there and sometimes does evil stuff to remind you that she is apart of the evil school. And at the end of the movie, she, like the rest of the evil school, decides to chill with the good school because… friendship I guess. The movie itself is not the easiest to understand when it comes to plot. I hear the books were much better.

Regardless, she serves as a visual reminder of this trope. She starts out on the evil side and that is where she stays for most of the movie. While the movie does make fun of many of these “good vs evil” tropes, Sophie herself calls the ‘good’ school hypocrites which, within the context of the movie, is not wrong. But I do not think this actress and her inclusion in the film are meant to make fun of this trope. At best it fails to say anything new and at worst it just reinforces it.

It also does not help that the actress who plays this character (her name is Joelle) has only been in 2 mainstream films, both of which involve her being on the evil team (she is one of the Harkonnen servants in Dune and obviously the student seen above in The School of Good and Evil).

Nosferatu

In the 1922 film Nosferatu ALL of the bad guy characters are shown as bald.

This old guy standing next to our anime protagonist Thomas Hutter (seen on the right) is named Knock and he is the secondary antagonist of the film is Thomas’ boss. He is also the reason the vampire Count Orlok was able to come to the town and spread the plague. When we first meet this character he is sending/receiving encoded letters from the count. They are conspiring. And as the film itself progresses Knock’s negative traits increase. He slowly becomes insane. He acts more erratically as the count draws closer and begins doing things like eating spiders and attacking people. He is very not well and soon becomes a raving madman.

Count Orlok (the vampire) himself also has extremely visible hair loss much like Knock does. And to accompany this hair loss, Count Orlok also has bone-thin features, large teeth, and odd proportions. Count Orlok looks like this for a reason. He is meant to look sickly, ill, dead (which makes sense given how the Count is a literal vampire). When you see him you know right away “this guy is not normal”. Count Orlok also gets used as the basis for a lot of the other bald vampire archetypes we see in other movies, including the movie DREAMLAND I mentioned earlier. There are many visual callbacks to Count Orlok which persist in media today. He is the quintessential vampire.

The balding of both Knock and Count Orlok was a very intentional design choice for reasons I have explained above. The filmmakers do not want you to view these characters as normal or healthy. They also look the way they do because of some not-so-subtle biases common in Germany in the 1920s, but that is another post for another time.

Other examples

And because this is such a COMMON trope, it does not stop with the examples I have listed above. It goes far beyond the properties I have listed above in detail or will even be able to list.

Lets look at some additional examples

This is Gollum (Lord of the Rings) before and after the ring. The ring turned him evil and part of the visual representation of this is the fact most of his hair falls out.

Voldemort in Harry Potter is VERY bald. Meanwhile, Dumbledore (a character much older than Voldemort) has a full hair of hair and a long beard. These 2 characters are polar opposites from each other. We have a very solid “GOOD VS EVIL” visual comparison like we do with House Atreides and House Harkonnen.

Dr Evil from Austin Powers (and Mini Me) are bald, but the character is literally a satire of this trope. He exists to make fun of supervillains and the very subject of this article. However, he is included here because… just look at him. He IS the trope.

ALL of the Cenobites in the Hellraiser Franchise are bald and becoming bald seems to be part of the process of becoming a Cenobite

This Nazi guy played by Otto Preminger in Margin for Error is bald. There is now a trend of bald Nazis I am starting to notice. I think this is another subject also worth exploring on its own but it still feeds into the “amorality” of baldness thing I mentioned earlier.

And many MANY more I could not fit into this article who fall under this media trope too including characters like Bane, Walter White, Dorkus from that Planet Sein show that failed on nickelodeon, Lex Luthor, Frank from Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia (he might be a protagonist of the how but he is not a good person) Mr Freeze in the batman universe (80% of the time), and many many others. There are too many to really count and I do not wish to watch any more films. I have already burnt a hole through my CPU watching Dune in 4K.

Why does this trope exist?

Since I am an Alopecian myself, I have some theories.

Hair loss has historically been something that has been undesirable for both men and women. The loss of hair can affect a person in multiple ways. Hair is a method of self-expression, an extension of yourself and your personality. Hair can be an extension of one’s cultural or religious identity. It can be an extension of one’s gender identity. Hair means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. And since hair is such an important aspect of ourselves and culture, it is pretty understandable why people would be afraid of losing it. It’s like losing a part of yourself or a way to connect with where you came from.

With that said I feel like, with this trope specifically, these feelings directed at hair loss itself often get translated into other negative feelings which leads the way for bald characters to get shown this way. They are manifestations of how we as people fear baldness and the unpredictability of losing our hair and start assigning other negative traits to baldness even if those traits have nothing to do with losing hair. For example, let’s look at the Dune movie again.

House Atreides (the house that consistently has full heads of hair and or beards) are portrayed as being the desirable house to root for. They are honorable, they are well respected among the other houses (minus 2 but this is out of jealousy), and they rule their people well (historically having fewer issues compared to the other houses due to their kindness and honorability). Even their homeworld of  Caladan is depicted is as lush and prosperous. Conversely, House Harkonnen (the completely hairless house) is depicted as being dishonorable, cruel, and plagued with problems both specific to individual house members (like the Baron and his food problem) and applicable to the house as a whole (like the greed and power-hunger). And even the home planet of House Harkonnen, Giedi Prime, is described as being an industrialized hellhole. Atreides is, in a very simple dumbed-down sense, all the traits you want to have. Meanwhile, Harkonnen is all of the traits you don’t want. They are complete opposites of each other visually and tonally.

We also see this similar concept take place in cases where some form of transformation (either physically or mentally) is involved.

Voldemort, Gollum, The Cenobites, Lex Luther, Walter White, and Knock did not start out bald. Knock has Androgenic Alopecia (a slower process than AA) which probably happened over the course of his life as he was becoming enthralled by Count Orlok, Lex Luther loses his hair in prison, Walter White chooses to go bald himself after finding out he has cancer and just before starting his meth lab, and Voldemort, Gollum, and the Cenobites all lose their hair as a result of their evil transformations into what they are now. Losing your hair seems to be an important narrative benchmark for creating evil characters. Once that hair is lost there is a noticeable change in the character’s personality and sometimes goals. It’s a point of no return. You are reminded that the character is now evil because they lack the hair they had before. They are no longer ‘good’. This then circles us back to feelings and concepts being projected onto hair loss even though these 2 concepts have nothing to do with each other.

The effect of this trope on Alopecian actors

Being bald does not make you commit crimes, rape people, become a scam artist, cook meth, go insane, or “eat hot chip and lie” as some of these films seem to suggest. This can put Alopecians in an interesting spot when it comes to acting and their ability to be seen in media. On the one hand, Anthony, Tomas, Joelle, Joseph, and other people with Alopecia are getting roles in Hollywood. Their condition is not a detriment to their career and its very awesome that this wall is slowly being broken down. They are visible. We see them. And with other celebrities coming out about their Alopecia, like Jada Pickett Smith for example, it has broken that barrier down further because that word is being normalized. Its there. We see it. We know what it is.

I would love to see more people like me in film and I am sure other Alopecians think similarly. Representation is important. And while Alopecia might not be the most detrimental medical condition to have, it still has a heavy stigma attached to it independent of this trope. And it extends far beyond stupid invasive questions and mean comments. That stigma can make it lethal given there have been multiple suicides linked to people with this condition being bullied and harassed. Kids often suffer this negative side of the stigma the most. Allowing both kids and adults with Alopecia to see people like them on screen not only allows for those people to have characters to relate to, it allows the general public to SEE Alopecia without it being in a medical context.

But at the same time I cannot help but feel that, because of this trope, baldness and by extension the illnesses that can cause it to happen often get put in this spot where it becomes a plot device, and not a good one. It becomes “oh, this character is bad” or “oh, this character is dishonest” or “oh, this character is evil, mean, not to be trusted, probably eats spiders”. What message does this send? You do not have to outright say “people with Alopecia are inherently creepy/bad” to send that message. How much are these castings are really the actor/actress choosing to play these roles and how much of it is these people getting pigeonholed so this trope can continue? And even as we move outside of the realm of actors with Alopecia Universalis, why is losing hair in general something we have to demonize so much in media? Regardless of the extent of the loss, why does hair loss have to mean doing creepy/villain roles or losing your job as an actor?

While I understand many of these actors have enjoyed their roles and have said as much in interviews, I would like to see them not be limited by this trope. And while it might be a good start to start addressing the biases we have around baldness in our private lives, we should also start addressing them on the media level as well. Hair loss does not have to be relegated to evilness or bad characters. Bald people can be the villain, a neutral character, or the hero! Its just a matter of letting bald actors and actresses be seen in those diverse lights. Beyond their baldness, beyond the villain roles. They deserve the right to be able to be more diverse with their filmographies and show the sides of themselves we often do not see because of this pigeonholing in media.

[rockheadcd]

steven’s metagross lore dump while i wait for cs6 to run its import script:

> metagross’ evolution from beldum to metang to metagross is a series of joining brains working together, but they each remain unique. with four inputs, this is why metagross refers to themselves as ‘we’. 

> although not particularly a democracy at play when they make decisions, each original beldum retains it’s own specific memories that’s shared among the whole unit. one of these beldum is steven’s first one from when he began his adventures, which is why metagross has such a strong attachment to him. 

> metagross doesn’t have a nickname other than probably just ‘meta’, which they will respond to.

> when mega evolved, it’s very competitive. maybe too competitive. as a reigning champion’s ace, they take their role very seriously ( and have genuinely injured competition because of it ).

> steven has multiple metagross that he trains, seeing as he’s an avid beldum appreciator they kind of just....follow him home half of the time. however, this metagross accompanies him just about everywhere.

> metagross has multiple signs of wear and tear, where the edge between facets have been chipped away. their psychic abilities outweigh their physical abilities as they age, so long as they exercise the network between each of their brains.

> they love puzzle games a LOT. steven got a console just for them to play puzzle games online. watching two metagross play tetris is terrifying.

> all four brains adore wallace’s milotic, kireina. they’ve been together alongside their dads for years. i promise you they figured things out sooner than steven has. :^)

> saltwater is a weird sensation. it feels like erosion, so metagross tries not to be in the ocean very much. instead, they often float above it. droplets aren’t a bother, but they would not appreciate being intentionally splashed, nor would they choose to stand in saltwater if they can help it. freshwater is much easier to handle.

> they’re older than steven, technically. steven guesses metagross was at least a year or two old when he found them as a beldum.

> they speak funny because of the way they process information and how the assimilate a response. although more natural than a computer counterpart, they behave very logically. this is reflected in how they speak.

> meteor mash is one of their favorite skills. very cathartic.

> they enjoy carrying things and people and pokemon alike. they’re kind of jealous of skarmory for stealing some of their thunder in terms of who steven will pick if he needs to fly somewhere. otherwise, metagross doesn’t actually mind being a glorified table/seat.

[digitalgate02]

If there’s something it took me a while to get is... Nowhere in 02 material is stated or implied that Daisuke would have Miracles as crest.

Like, I previously mentioned that 5 years ago Bandai made Gashapon toys of the Adv digivices and tags, but the surprise part of those was the fact it did include Kindness, Miracles and Destiny in tag forms.

But, as far as I know, those do not mean they exist in the universe, with exception of Kindness of course. The only missing part of Kindness crest is the tag, but that’s not much important.

As I write this post, I’ve seen theories and headcanons about Daisuke having the Crest of Miracles if he had one. Well, we know those are assumptions based on the times Daisuke had the Digimental of Miracles in hands (three times for now) and it being questioned by Daisuke in 02 ep 20.

The fact Magnamon only appears by two episodes and never again in 02 could result in some interesting stuff in the lore, but my in-production theory is that Magnamon wasn’t planned for 02 and it was actually a movie promotion for Hurricane Touchdown (which aired before this episode, with a long gap between its release and this episode’s airing date) which probably went a bit too late in the series.

So... Is really Miracles a Daisuke’s digimental/crest?

Officially... No. None of 02 material (and even Kizuna) depict Miracles when they have to put Daisuke’s crests on it. It’s always Courage and Friendship, to represent his Digimentals.

The only material to mention Miracles as some “temporary” power he got is Digimon Series Memorial Book: Digimon Animation Chronicle page for Daisuke’s sketches and information about his character and design:

His Digimentals are “Courage,” “Friendship,” and at one point, “Miracles.”

[TL by onkei]

Which also implies in the sense of “This is only his during certain circumstances, but we’re adding it here as some special power he had in his arsenal” and not some official confirmation that his crest is Miracles as well.

I’m saying this because a long time ago i’ve bought this idea as well, believing Daisuke had a crest just like Ken (and also Wallace) but turns out official does NOT count it as something official.

This does not stop us, fans, to headcanon and play with the idea of Daisuke having it as crest as well, since he’s quite the embodiment of “making the impossible be possible” hehe.

Just musing about this...

[halloweenkillsfullfree-blog]

Watch Halloween Kills full

Halloween Kills 2021 full - https://halloween-kills-eng.blogspot.com/

Lori Strode, her daughter Karen, and granddaughter Allison trapped Michael Myers and left him on fire in the basement of their house. The injured Laurie is sent to the hospital, confident that her pursuer is finally dead. But Michael manages to free himself, and his bloody massacre continues. Laurie must cope with the pain and defend herself again, however, this time the whole city is ready to fight back the unstoppable monster. The women of the Strode family join a group of survivors who want to take justice into their own hands, hunt down Michael and stop him once and for all. Evil must die today.

In 2018, my review of David Gordon Green's Halloween likened the semi-restart to a home renovation: taking a dilapidated mansion and working to restore it to its former glory. The original blueprints were whipped out and all of the junk and unnecessary accessories removed while production focused on further exploring the size of the foundation and original design. With smart, modern accents, a cabin turned into a home - one perfectly built for Michael Myers to break in so he can viciously murder all residents.

To expand on that metaphor, that house invasion (aka the natural continuation of the story) has now taken the form of Halloween Kills, and it's a sequel that is popular both for its spectacular brutality and for its intelligent approach to continuing the Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie saga impresses Strode and the inhuman monster Michael Myers. Once again, it finds fantastic ways to tie in with the canonical events that played out on Halloween in 1978 without repeating themselves, while adding some well-executed commentary that adds to the story and horror.

Halloween Kills challenges itself right away by foregoing any kind of time jump and instead continues exactly where the last story left off - with Michael Myers in the basement of a burning property and Laurie Strode bleeding from a knife wound while she is with her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and her granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) rides away in the back of a cot. Without deceiving or undermining the effects of its predecessor, the Halloween 2018 film continues, noting that the battle against evil continues as the heroes stand out from all the other residents of Haddonfield who have been haunted by memories for 40 years , connect and them up to Try to end the nightmare once and for all.

While Laurie is being rushed to the local hospital for emergency surgery, news spreads that Michael has returned, and when the news arrives at a local bar, the spark hits a powder keg. This pub is home to Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), Lindsey Wallace (Kyle Richards), Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens) and Lonnie Elam (Robert Longstreet), survivors of the 1978 rampage who gathered to support one on the anniversary another when terrifying memories come to mind. Tired of being victims, Tommy and the others decide it is time to start the hunt - but when a terrible mob mentality develops, the white masked serial killer turns into one bloody night one of two deadly sources of fear. Though he doesn't have an established background in horror, David Gordon Green proved his Halloween fan credit with his 2018 film - but on Halloween Kills he's partnered with co-writers Scott Teems and Danny McBride to dig deeper to break into the weeds of lore from John Carpenter's original film, and it's wonderful. Not only does the sequel effectively bring back a slew of notable characters (and not just on behalf of fan service), it also adds to the lore with intriguing new flashbacks to The Night He Came Home. All of this serves to further illustrate the deep wound the Michael Myers terror left in the psyche of Haddonfield, and this atmosphere then gives the town a fantastic chance that comes to a seething boil.

The sequel not only goes deeper into the 1978 film, but also meshes perfectly with the previous chapter. While Halloween 2018 leaves Dylan Arnold's Cameron Elam at the costume party after, for example, destroying Allyson's phone, he surprises with a big comeback in Halloween Kills and becomes an important part of the ensemble. The aftermath of the horrific murderers that night can still be seen very clearly, including an emotional moment with the mother of Drew Scheid's Oscar, who fans will remember as a teenager whose head was impaled on a metal fence.

Halloween Kills film Halloween Kills movie Halloween Kills online Halloween Kills stream Halloween Kills 2021 Halloween Kills full

[digimonadventuretimelines]

[03 - After The Re:encounter]

He opened the door of his dad’s office room after everyone had left the house, holding a few packages and juice boxes so he could feed the other two. It was like dealing with pets except said pets can eat human food.

Ulforce was still sleeping in the couch, with Natsu in her digimon form on his back. A very adorable scene, except that Daichi had to wake them up.

“Uh, good morning?”

The digimon duo opened their eyes slowly, sitting one next to the other on the couch.

“Man, I’ve been sleepin’ on the cold solid ground of a cave so this whole royal treatment is so good!” Ulforce chirped, smiling “Huh? What’s this? Food?”

“Uh, yeah… I couldn’t cook something without my mom and Kiyoko asking me about the quantity of food so… I brought some snacks and juice.”

“Oh, I miss eating those!!” Natsu cried “It brings me so many good memories…”

“Y-you’ve eaten those before, digi-girl?!” the blue digimon exclaimed.

“Daisuke and I had known each other for years…! I’m an honorary partner digimon of his.”

“That I didn’t know” Daichi seemed happier today “My dad always talked about you being an old friend of his and friends.”

“Mimi and Wallace were okay, but Vee was so jealous of me!”

“Is Vee my father’s partner digimon?” the boy asked “I thought he was just an employee from my dad’s restaurant…”

“Your dad’s partner is Vee, and he can be a little meanie compared to my loyalty to Daisuke.”

She wasn’t fine talking about another digimon, especially the one who didn’t like her at the beginning…

“You kiddin’?! He’s a legend!” Ulforce protested “He beat Chimeramon, Cherubimon Vice, Belial Vamdemon, Boltmon and Pukumon, and Diablomon’s highest form!”

“W-wow, this means… my father were in those stories?!” you can feel Daichi’s joy to hear his father had been a hero in the past.

“Not only him, but also other cool ‘mons too!” the draconian digi-child grinned, “All the Twelve are legendaries! You seem surprised, didn’t you hear about them?! They’re in the books and lore about our worlds as the ones who connected humans and digimons!”

“Um… My parents never had told me that. Actually, I didn’t even know the DigiWorld’s Ambassador was one of those most known heroes too… I’m not sure if I can tell Taisuke about that...”

“They had children” Natsu said vaguely “and they decided to not let anyone else know their identities and keep their children safe.”

That made sense, at least to Daichi.

“When the first kids of the Twelve had born, a lot of discussion between what to do and how to keep them safe happened. Then, Taichi and Daisuke decided they had to keep their identities as a secret and… Requested Homeostasis to do a soft reboot on the worlds. Their digimon kept being known, but the human partners of them got all data and memories deleted from most of the people and digimon’s heads.”

“So… No one knows the identity of the Twelve? But how can my father be controlled by the bad guys right now…?”

“I didn’t say ‘everyone’ but ‘most of them’ had their memories rebooted” she pouted “Some digimon and the Worldwide Chosen Children know their identities. Also them all had their memories untouched.”

“Man, that thing about reboots is annoyin’!!” Ulforce crossed his arms “Lots of stories got taken away! Not just that, but some don’t even believe they existed!”

“Thinking about that… That possibly happened with the first human children who fought for the DigiWorld…”

“So, my dad and ambassador Yagami weren’t the first…?”

She looked down.

“No, Taichi’s from the second generation and Daisuke from the third. The story of the first gen. is a bit of unknown… All we know is that four of their partners evolved into the Holy Beasts to fight the Four Dark Masters.”

“ENOUGH OF STORIES I WANT TO EAT!!” Ulforce roared nervously “I want those there! and that too! Aaah, human food! I’ve dreamed with this day!!”

------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Ugh, he’s spending more and more time inside without even taking a break to play with me!”

Kiyoko was not okay again, venting all of her frustrations to Taisuke and Eiji, the ones who she sees as her best friends. Despite of Eiji’s height, he’s twelve like Kiyoko, and only Taisuke is the youngest of the trio, being eleven years old.

“I don’t understand!”

“Have you tried to ask what’s bugging him?” Eiji mused “Sometimes asking is better than jumping to conclusions… I hope that’s not a little intrusive.”

“I tried!” she responded with some annoyance. She was upset with Daichi though, “Today mom left to work and then he just said ‘go play with your friends I have to study’ and… And…!!”

“He’s a meanie!” Taisuke interrupted her “Locking themselves in the office and not even coming to play with us at the park…!”

“Yeah, that!”

Though Eiji realized Taisuke wasn’t talking about Daichi only, but about someone else too…

“Who do they think they are?!” the youngest clenched his fist “They have no time for us, we’re like nothing to them?! I hate it!!”

“Yeah-- Uh, ‘they’ you mean…”

“Sigh, his father” Eiji answered “The ambassador is too busy lately and Taisuke spends more time at my house with my sister and me.”

“Oh… Yeah, I’ve heard the news” she frowned “There’s something big happening, some guys causing a fuss because of the digimon and some digimon causing a fuss because of us.”

“My dad is also busy…” he added “We barely see him these days.”

“I’m mad…!” Taisuke growled.

“At least you two aren’t hearing weird theories that my dad is dead and no one can admit that, like Daichi’s doing on a daily basis every time we talk...”

“We don’t relate to that issue but we feel sorry, Kiyoko.”

“Thanks Eiji…”

“I’d have said it’s okay to spend time studying, but honestly Daichi’s case is somehow unhealthy. Does he skip meals or pull all nighters?”

“Huh, not that I know… If he weren’t going to school I’d have said he has turned into a complete shut-in.”

“That’s a problem then… He needs to exercise at least once per day…”

“Why care about him,” Taisuke rolled his eyes “He chose that path. Let him face the consequences.”

“I don’t want to let Daichi’s health get bad…” she kept voicing her concerns “He’s definitely suffering the most with that anxiety about dad. Maybe we can do something?”

“... ‘we’ like, me and Eiji?!”

Eiji glanced at her and then started thinking of something. ------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the digimon finished their breakfast, them and Daichi started examining the mysterious D-TimeRune device given by Skuld. The boy explained then that the digivice’s design reminded him one of the several retro phones his best friend had collected.

But that made no sense to the blue digimon, since he never had seen said phone before and Daichi’s description of that sounded like a digivice to him while Natsu kept in silence. Daichi sighed, then changed the entire subject.

“I… I tried talking to mom about what we know but…”

“ ‘But’ …?”

“I lost courage,” he sighed.

“But you HAVE to tell her and Taichi!” Natsu wasn’t happy with that answer.

“I know, I know! But seems they’re too busy to hear me out!” he babbled “I can try to send him an e-mail or a voicemail… And try to talk with mom when she’s home from work tonight!”

“At this pace better you take me back to the DigiWorld so I can beat that--” Ulforce was threatened by Natsu’s deathly glare “--that m-man and then bring it back home f-for you, kid!”

“... mrs. Skuld said I can… Do something about that.”

He looked at the digivice.

“What if I use this power to prevent my dad from being captured?”

“H-Hold on, Daichi” the pink digimon gasped “You shouldn’t mess with space-time! Awful things happen to those who defy the laws of Space-Time.”

“How do you know that?” both Ulforce and Daichi frowned.

“... Feminine intuition.”

“But we can try… I won’t mess things enough to change the entire course of story!”

“Ryou, Taichi and Daisuke never messed with time, just traveled through parallel worlds. You messing with time might be worse than anything. You can end up destroying this world’s timeline or…”

“... Making me to not exist anymore?”

“Yes.”

“Whoa, wait can all of those happen?!” that V-mon definitely felt concerned with that idea.

“Natsu,” Daichi glared at her “If you had this power to save my father, would’ve you taken the chance to change his fate… Or would’ve you let him suffer and be seen as a traitor?”

“H-how do you know about that part… About him being accused of--”

“If he’s a hero and is working for the evil, then they will treat him as a traitor until proven otherwise. It’s logical. I don’t know if mom and ambassador Yagami think he’s innocent, but you do! We do!”

“Except Ulforce, though”

“I didn’t know he’s the kid’s father COME ON!!”

“But…” she looked at the boy with some concern in her face “I think it’s better to let the adults solve it. Have faith in your parents and Taichi, they will solve it--”

“I know my father is friends with Ambassador Yagami, but now that he’s on an important role, he will ignore boundaries and do what’s right for the digimon. He won’t go easy on dad, and might… Might do something wrong.”

“And why do you think that…?”

“Because as I remember, this is a threat to the human world and it might force Ambassador Yagami to put an end on this, by killing my dad.”

“... I think he wouldn’t--”

“No, he would. He’s a responsible adult, not a leader from a children’s group.”

“Hey, kid’s right” Ulforce added “If he let his mom and this Yagami-dude know about Lupinmon they gotta ground kid and do the wrong thing!”

Natsu felt conflicted. Especially because she knows Daisuke would’ve preferred her to keep Daichi and Kiyoko away from him to avoid misfortune, but on the other hand Daichi is the only one able to do something and save Daisuke.

“Please, Natsu!” Daichi begged her.

“I don’t know!!” she cried “Daisuke’s very important to me, but his children is also important! I can’t let you do something risky-- I...”

“My father would’ve done the same for me! I know it!”

Natsu’s imagination worked all again, her imagining Daisuke in front of her smiling and approving the idea of Daichi becoming a hero like him. It made her eyes shine and she nodded her head many times that the boy and blue digimon felt scared.

“LET’S GO!” she yelled “To save your father and the worlds!”

“But kid needs a partner digimon first, doesn’t he?” Ulforce looked at the digivice and then to Daichi, “This means he needs to… Return there.”

“Let’s go,” the boy nodded “If I get partnered with a digimon, I can save my father.”

“... I can’t be your partner” Natsu looked away “I can’t, sorry.”

“Who’s sayin’ it will be you!?” Ulforce pouted “Also why would he pick you!?”

“I understand” Daichi smiled “You don’t want to fight my father, is it?”

“... Let’s say it's that.”

“Then, you won’t be forced to! Now let’s go to the Digital World, I will find a digimon who’s willing to fight alongside me and then save my father and the the world.”

[distant-stargirl]

Hey my lovelies,

Soooo if you’ve been following my Twitter account (link to which is in the menu bar of my page, please visit it, my beautiful page which I tried so hard to set up for all of you is getting lonely 😢 ) you’d know that I recently went out and bought a LOT of books from Barnes and Noble! Heck yeah! Gosh I absolutely love books and it’s been wayyyy too long since I’ve been at my local B&N store. It’s just so soothing for me to visit it, get myself either tea or hot coco with a pastry sit down and just r e a d. Yeah, I’m a geeky bookworm and I love it. Books, and the occasional manga, are my sustenance and it’s also been too long since I’ve bought some of my favorite books/manga for myself and added to my growing book collection. Also shout-out to the incredibly friendly and chill Barnes and Noble staff who absolutely took all of my queries about where certain books were located in stride and not once were irritated by how often I returned to ask where another one was located. You guys are the best and thank you so crazy much for putting up with me and my stupid queries!!! So let me deconstruct these books, why I bought them for myself, and why they’re my favorite in this PART 1 post:

Boneless Mercies by April Genevieve Tcholke  Honestly I know nothing about this book, it just jumped out at me as I was looking for the other books that are in the picture and after reading the flap summary and finding out that it was a dark fantasy novel with its own world and females having magical killing powers I knew this was the book for me and I had to have it so I could read it for myself. Sadly I haven’t read it yet, but it’s definitely sitting high up on my to-read list right now.

Eliza and Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia This Young Adult realistic fictional novel I’ve read before based on a recommendation from a local librarian friend, and once I got past the awkward beginning I just couldn’t put it down and finished the rest in almost one go. The book is about an awkward teen named Eliza Mirk who is an artist/author for a famous online websomic called Monstrous Sea. Whilst she is practically famous and extremely adept at the online sphere she keeps this persona very separate from her real life, thus making her out very awkward in her high school and constantly battles with negative thoughts from her social anxiety. Thankfully all of this changes when she meets a fellow Monstrous Sea fan Wallace who is actually... well nah I’m not gonna spoil it for you guys :P But anyways, I absolutely loved how this book described social anxiety along with the depressive thoughts Eliza faces later on and it really touched me at how accurate and realistically it described them. I knew I had to have this book for myself and today was the day I decided to get it

Kitchen Princess Volume 1 omnibus by Nastumi Ando & Miyuki Kobayashi So some of you may not know but I’m an avid fan of Japanese comics, otherwise known as manga. Well, this is another series that I’ve read before about a girl named Najika who has a special talent of having absolute taste which means that if she tastes something she can almost always recreate the recipe almost perfectly for what it is, if not improve it too! But Najika isn’t too focused on her special talent, what she wants is to find the boy who first inspired her to live by giving her some flan to eat after her parents passed away leaving Najika all by herself. And the only thing she has to go by is a spoon that was included with the flan leading her to the prestigious Seika Academy. The manga follows Najika through her ups and downs at Seika Academy as she discovers and navigates through her inherent cooking/baking talent and secretly searches for the boy that stole her heart so many years ago. So. I am a total sucker for insipid high school romance stories and this was one of the prime ones I’ve read a long time ago. Plus I’ve already read manga with Kobayashi’s artwork and Ando’s storyline and I knew I loved their artist/writer combination so this one wouldn’t disappoint me. Of course this is only 1 of 5 omnibus volumes which contains both volumes 1 & 2 and I can’t wait to slowly collect the rest of the volumes month by month, so excited!

The Ancient Magus’ Bride by Kore Yamazaki Another manga I’ve been wanting to get for a while! So for a while I’ve seen this manga really gaining a huge following over the years to the point that I even saw it being sold at my high school’s Scholastic book fair. Honestly, I wasn’t all about this book back then especially after reading summary of it despite it really being everything I should want in a manga (I was stupidly only focused on those insipid high school romance manga I mentioned before). But the years passed and I once again happened upon it at my local library and thought heck I may as well try it and see where it got me. And boy did it get me. Right from the start I was dragged under with its basic yet fascinating fantasy elements especially with its otherworldly characters and lore behind it all. It had pretty much everything I could ever hope for: an immersive and developing side-world within the real world, unique and magnetic characters, a developing magical lore, and even a small hint and undercurrent of a budding romance between the two main characters. And if my memory serves me right, I believed that the first novel actually was the one that explored the character relations and romance aspect the most so I decided to finally buy it for myself so that I could return to it at any point I wished. plus the first couple volumes had the most magical lore exploration and artwork as well so heck, another reason why I should buy this novel! Aaaaaand finally... last but not least:

Waiting for you by Susanne Colassanti Yeah, yet another insipid high school romance novel by one of my favorite YA authors. What? I love these novels especially the ones that explore the heavy mental disorders and how it feels/is to live with them on a day to day basis. This one features Marissa a teen high school girl that suffers from general anxiety and the depression that stems from it as well. The book is pretty much how she navigates her spiraling family, her search for a boyfriend, and how to support her friend Sterling who is constantly attracted to boys that are well outside her age range. Although I do love this book to absolute bits because of its mental health awareness, I feel like the book is more of a summary of the things Marissa goes through and it doesn’t really emotionally or spiritually connect with the situations that she faces. They kind of fall flat most of the time since a lot of these things are mostly told rather than shown I guess. Shame because this book really faces some serious thoughts about depression and all.

So these are some of the books I’ve been dying to buy for myself and finally decided enough was enough and bought them for myself a few days ago. Of course this isn’t a complete list of all the books I’ve wanted for myself, which i why this is just a PART 1 post as I’m already planning to buy the books which were out of stock at B&N’s today. So definitely tune in and follow me to get a notification about the future post about the other books that I decide to buy for myself and a possible deconstruction behind them as well!!! Thank you for everyone who read this post to the very end, and here’s a kookie as thanks and congrats 🍪<---- kookie!!! I really hope I didn’t bore y’all out of your minds with this deconstruction, and for those who left in the middle of it, I’m really sorry you didn’t decide to stay to the end but I understand that I can be very monotonous at times (damn me and my perfectionist nature!!!).

Anyhow, thank you all my lovelies for reading all of this again, and follow me to keep an eye out for a part 2 of this!!! Good night my lovelies, sweet dreams and as always.... I’ll catch you all on the flip-blog side!

~ Distant-Stargirl out!

[cleverwordsandsadstories]

A very Brian Hoover Transformers

Okay so this whole thing came to me in a dream, like 100% not making that up to sound cool or deep, I woke up in a start and explained this WHOLE THING in detail to the waifu. 

ps. It bears noting that I am not super familiar with tf lore, I'm just dating a woman who is so familiar I think she could name 100 of the dudes and recall when they first appeared, what their figure costs, what line it was in, and what they change into down to the model of car…so like, I think my brain just tried to osmose the bit I know from her, and from the og show, armada, and the movies into one ball of…something

  Okay so the plot of the….episode? I saw in my dream went as follows, the autobots, lead by a version of optimus voiced by Kirby Morrow (Trowa Barton from Gundam Wing) that transformed into a Jeep Wrangler, and towed a camping caravan behind him, the second in command was a female pink sports car, like a Mazda RX8 named Starshot, the two of them lead a group of autobots into what looked like some old medieval dungeons that were designed for beings much larger than themselves. There were two humans with them named Kate, who was a young Hispanic girl about like 15 or so, and a little boy named Wallace who was like 9 or so, but was like really smart?

they fought with a few decepticons who were lead by a bad guy who had the head of demolisher from armada but on like…a big purple body, like really big, like twice optimus and the others height.  After they defeated him and two of his lackies they entered a giant room that had a giant bird cage in it, and in the cage was a giant pink bird, that looked like a hot pink version of the red zeo megazord with like, one really long back tail feather, like twice the length of the rest of her body, and totally prehensile, also of course no cockpit on the head like the zord, instead a big plumage of white feathers.

she was intelligent and the autobots and the kids let her free, she stood as tall as optimus, and said her name was alpha terex. They left the dungeon with her, and found themselves in what looked like the ruins of a modern city, like this world looked fucked dudes, like a world without humans weird, like nature had retaken this eastern European feeling city completely, it was more forest then old town.  And in the sky, megatrons giant purple head orbiting the planet, like gigantic (saying this all out loud a lot of these dudes are pink or purple, not sure what that’s about)

and then alpha terex whipped optimus with her tail and flew towards megatron, when she got close to him, he seemed to come back to life, and began to decend. His body grew back, or came up from the earth itself, my memories fuzzy, but regardless, he stood about 6-7 times the height of optimus, like he was gargantuan in scale. His voice sounded like Laurence Fishburne (morpheus from the matrix). He thanked the bird robot, who he refereed to as Terra Alphex, and who then transformed into like, a samurai, whose tail turned into two big ol samurai swords.

they stared eachother down across a meadow, and the caravan that optimus had been hauling around, came apart and formed like a bigger armored form, with like bigger arms and legs, and wings, like big angel wings.

and just about then I woke up……I really like this world and the themes around it, feel like I need to write it out