#will join in theorize if it caught her interest

[disastersteps]

they're watching anita gaming (itsalanwake2shhh) + julia giving theory commentary and mortum's just there for the ride!

[rise-my-angel]

i agree with your last post wayyyy too much. i can’t do jon snow haters or people who say that dany had every right to burn down kings landing because they k!lled her best friend. okay??? what about the thousands of innocents. she had a whole army, she could have just gone for cersei or been an actual leader and not taken revenge on her own ‘people’. like??? also if you support jamie lannister being a king slayer and k!lling aerys to save thousands of lives (which ill assume most of the fandom does) then jon did the exact same thing. yes they both ‘betrayed’ people they served but it saved thousands of lives.

my only argument in dany’s defense is she should have never gone ‘mad’. the writers should have never made her get on dragon back and burn down an entire city, but since she did, then she has got to GO.

The thing is, is that the burning of Kings Landing has been a LONG existing prediction by book readers of what Dany will do once she reaches Westeros. It has been theorized for YEARS before Benioff and Weiss were likely ever told about the books planned ending beats.

But, it won't be because she's mad. It will be a calculated move on purpose, no madness, just self righteous justification that because they didn't want her as Queen, they should die.

In the show, Dany has posed this multiple times. Dany in the show over the years does NOT hesitate to say she wants to burn cities to the ground, make her enemies die screaming, and has routinely posed situations where her options are literally bend the knee or die.

For example, this is a snippet of dialouge from season 8 after she burned Kings Landing and one million people with it.

Jon: "What about everyone else? All the other people who think they know what's good." Dany: "They don't get to choose."

This sounds extremely like something Dany says to Jorah in season 4 when he informs her that the masters have disregarded her laws almost as soon as she left Yunkai.

Dany: "He will tell the masters what has happened in Meereen. He will explain the choice they have before them. They can live in my new world or they can die in their old one."

This is the exact same scenario. You either live in Dany's world exactly as she dictates it, or you die.

There is no actual choice she is giving the masters, it is her way or death. Exactly like she plans to do to the rest of Westeros. Season 8 was not out of character.

Jorah says in this very scene that it is tempting to always see your opposition as evil, but that by always treating those who oppose you as such, it is the good and innocent who will get caught in the crossfire, and she says that she has no interest in entertaining what other people think is good and evil, she does as she sees fit.

One Barristan dies, she leads whats left of the leaders of noble houses to where her dragons are locked away, and lets one burn a man alive with abosutely no proof these men had anything to do with it as a threat that she will do the same to them. Again, with no proof that the masters or noble houses of Mereen have ANY relation to the Sons of the Harpy.

Upon a rewatch, one will find Dany says a LOT of very concerning things that foreshadow whats to come. This is going to happen, this was always going to happen. Dany was not going to burn the Red Keep, because thats the castle her family built with the throne her family created. Its the symbol of everything she wants and thinks she's entitled too.

But the people? These people who in the show and likely books, will not see kindly to this foreign occupier who uses her dragons to scare people into submission and will not yeild their Queen or King to her? Well, they are in her way. They refuse to join her new world, so they die in their old one. She doesn't need the people of one city to take the throne as long as theres still a throne to sit upon.

Dany routinely sees evil in her enemies with no grey area. Jon, otherwise is a man who looked his enemy in the eye (lord commander of the nights watch who betrayed them as a spy up against the wildlings he spied on and defeated in battle), and said (paraphrasing) "We don't have to be friends, but you, your children, and your children's children all deserve to survive. Let me protect you."

When everyone hated him for it. But he did it because it was the right thing to do. Jon has always given men at their worst chances at redemption. Thats what the Nights Watch is, so many of them were criminals, murderers, rapists, but Jon lets them prove they are better then their worst parts and only punishes with due justice when they commit the re offending behavior. Jon doesn't kill Karl Tanner in a brutal way beacuse he likes it, he only killed him like that when his back was turned, because Karl was about to kill the innocent girl who helped Jon by stabbing Karl in the back when he had Jon pinned.

Dany has no right to burn down Kings Landing, there is no excuse for it. But she will not beacuse she is forced too, or by accident, or through madness. No, it will be a calculated, purposeful decision that she will choose to do this, because thats how she has chosen to commit every atrocity she's ever done, which when you tally it up, is shocking and disturbingly high.

It was a massacre of extreme proportions that she was proud of. Wheras Jon felt extreme guilt for not saving every free folk when the army of the dead massacred Hardhome, when that was completely out of his control or power, and when he still in fact, saved over 5000 lives of what was supposed to be his greatest enemy.

The completely unbelievable joke of a romance aside, the Jon we know would not have hesitated to kill her. That is one million lives she murdered in the most brutal fashion because she didn't get what she wanted.

But we know why Jon would want to kill her for it, beacuse she answered the very question he posed in season five in the most terrifying way possible.

Jon: "Isn't their survival more important than your pride?"

Dany said no, and massacred the very same people Jon has been trying to save for years. I was being factious when I said Jon should've killed her harder, but it's still true. Dany in the show became exactly what the books are leading up to. But people were tricked through the framing that beacuse Dany thinks shes the world's main character, that she's always in the right, when she very often isn't.

It was always coming, and it was never out of character, beacuse Dany was always this way. At the burning of Kings Landing, she finally just allowed herself to be honest about it.

Jon was right to kill her for committing the exact mass slaughter that Jaime killed Aerys II for being about to commit.

The Targaryeans are fire and blood, and they paid the price for it.

[dreamwreaver]

I don't really have many friends to talk about this theory with, so I'm just typing to get this out of my head !!

I've seen a post bring up a point of how the HH team is pushing Alastor is an asexual and on the spectrum a lot, and there's a theory that, that may hint to something romantic happening in the show? I've seen others be like Lilith, Luci, or Rosie, but tbh idk think it's either of those three. Rosie seems more platonic, I think it's cute but I doubt it romantic, the other two according to Vivzie are in love.

For Vox, I feel like something romantic happened in the past which means = complicated, maybe one sided?

If it's actually something they're doing, it's probably Charlie. Maybe like a love triangle thingy?

Also If Alastor helped Vox in the past, maybe there's parallels between Vox and Charlie? 🤔

Back on the relationship bit, I've seen theories, hints and the things Viv personally put out that sort of hint to Charlastor or maybe I'm delusional.

Alastor seems to have a thing for blondes from Zoophobia, if Viv is keeping some of his lore. But that's sort of broad.

Charlie likes someone dark and mysterious, he does basically anything for her without needing to and don't really mind if she touches him, hold his microphone, and he pretty much climbs over her like a tree, Charlie defends him from her own family, friends, girlfriend, etc and they both share the same sense of humor. I think the real telling will be if Seviathan ever gets introduced. maybe.

The voice actors/team I noticed are.... very quiet about Charlastor, aside from showing prints. But sometimes open about RadioApple, Huskerdust, etc and apparently I saw a post that allegedly Charlie's voice actor ships Charlastor too, according to a fan. 🤔 Of course the whole 'tension bit' too

Idk I feel like, if it's something that's going to happen maybe they don't want it getting out or spoiling a season or episode. Idr think Charlastor fans drawing art on Viv's birthday, etc would stop that. But I am scared of the reaction of it was something planned

I just know though if Charlie was a guy, the ship wouldn't get much backlash/hate and be recognized as Al has a crush and toxic yaoi. Idk The way how Alastor acts towards Charlie is how villains act when they have a crush/"interested"/etc, they are very touchy/feely

Okay those was my thoughts, I had to get out !!

Firstly my sweet nonny consider this my official invitation to join me and other feral shippers in my charlastor discord. We'd love to have someone else to theorize with.

Second you've hit every nail on the head. We definitely know Vox and Alastor have a history of vague information but definite vibes. Look, there's no straight explanation for the amount of hatred Vox harbors towards Alastor. This has jilted suitor all over it. As for Alastor's feelings on the subject, well that's more complicated now isn't it? The few things we do know concerning Alastor's interpersonal stuff is that he hates 1. Men 2. Being touched without his explicit consent, and possibly 3. Being captured on film or video. In the dartboard we do see Alastor in a more relaxed posture as he stands next to whom we can only assume is Vox. Now, Alastor demonstrating that level of comfort speaks to how much trust he has in the person he's standing next to. And if Vox caught feelings and was rejected everything we know about his character seems to indicate he went full "Well who would want you anyways?" And when Alastor continued to go on within his afterlife completely unbothered it only irritated Vox even more.

Charlie would be the only glaring weak point Alastor has. While he may remain unaffected on the outside the fact that he's choosing to help out with the hotel at all is bad, as is the fact that it's run by the devil's little princess. And as a fellow overlord Vox knows the sheer amount of power and prestige Alastor could gain by making some sort of a deal with Charlie. The goal is also his weakness is the logic there. It's only natural Vox would try to get in between Alastor and Charlie as a way to tick off Alastor. In canon I'm not entirely sure how vaggie would react, since even if Charlie did ditch al for vox it would be trading one unscrupulous overlord for the other. (Ask me about vaggie sometime I can promise you I have a LOT of thoughts on how dirty she was done). In a weird way I ship radiobelle static? Perhaps more like radiobelle silence; where vox tried to woo Charlie just as a means of beating Alastor only to oops catch feelings just like the radio demon did. Charlie and al in that scenario also become a couple while vox becomes the third wheeliest third wheel to ever ignore the mood in the room.

As for the in canon dynamic, they're not setting up nothing. Alastor literally makes deer mating noises around her, those soft little squeaky toy noises? Yeah, that's deer mating sounds. Shes his exception, even if it never becomes canon in a romantic sense Charlie is going to become his most important person. Alastor liking blondes did carry over, I refuse to believe Rosie isn't an icy blonde, she's a blonde, so is Mimzy, and now Charlie. Maybe it's an asthetic thing, then again I believe the 20s focused a lot on blondes as glamorous and beautiful so that might have something to do with it. Anyways, Charlie's ideal man was once that sound bite from a sitcom where she describes the phantom of the opera, Viv has stated that Charlie and alastor's shared sense of humor is lonely island's Mona Lisa song. There is so much between the two of them that just makes sense. And it's not like Viv hasn't showed us she has a thing for royal and lower class. Stolitz is endgame canon and Charlie and alastor's ranks are literally mirrored. I'm sorry but even as a fallen Angel Vaggie would rank higher than the average sinner in terms of hierarchy.

My tinfoil hat theory is that it wasn't people who actually liked charlastor who harassed Viv to make it canon. It was antis, of course that would assume they're smart enough to employ this level of thinking. But, most normal fans (you know what I mean) wouldn't harass a creator because we know basic fandom ettiquite. Now what group of fans do we know has no problem harassing fans, actors, and literal showrunners to get their way? Again, this is me conspiracy boarding don't take it seriously.

I think the actors are just that; actors. Is it nice to know they share our ship? Sure, but it's not going to make me stop shipping it if they say it makes them uncomfortable. Art from artist and all that. We know Amir ships Charchar, which I now take to be pilot Charlie/show Charlie because it's funny. I know Erika once allegedly said something about royal Apple not knowing it was charcifer but that's it as far as her ships go. But I mean... come on, look at the promotional art of these two, they just fit. Charlastor was supposed to be an element of the story because Viv wanted to explore Charlie's bisexuality on screen by having her have crushes on men and women, including Alastor, but ultimately end up with a girl. But can you imagine the tension of Charlie trying to be professional if that had been the case? Delicious.

Also, let's be real, we do know how popular charlastor would be if it was gay because it's already the most vocally popular non canon ship. Radioapple is just gay charlastor and no I will not be taking any arguments about it. Charlie and Lucifer look the same, have the same awkward tendencies, the same sort of power appeal for someone like Alastor, etc. Charlie is very much her father's daughter. You can't even have an announcement about Chaggie merch without them whining in the comments about when they'll get their merch, the radioapple title got removed from the streamily print and they acted like they were the most abused and targeted part of the fandom when in reality they're the most toxic and vindictive.

Charlastor; we were talking about charlastor. Truth be told nonny I know a thing or two about narrative construction. Charlie and Alastor are the main characters, they're the most important narratively out of the core six. Their diametrically opposed views on redemption are a driving through line. Alastor now having to admit that it is possible to redeem a demon even though we have no concrete evidence of what Pentious did so that Charlie can replicate the success is an interesting concept to open season 2 with at the very least.

[kitkat-the-muffin]

Late screenshot dump/review for Cloutchase Vol 4!

Here are the previous three installments: [1][2][3]

Hey everybody! It's been a while, about 7 months since I've last been remotely active in this fanbase, but this past weekend I played Vol 4 with my friends and I am here to share my favorite screenshots! I will of course start this post off with some spoiler-free teasers to encourage others to play the game themselves!

And now it's time for the rambles!

This session was quite unique since I had two friends with me this time!

"Homestuck is too problematic lets to Danganronpa" oh I just know you guys put that in on purpose. I only ever saw the Danganronpa anime once but my friend immediately knew who they were going to dress up as and she was right haha

Honestly I love how Snapchat has a permanent dog filter on. My other friend who joined us today gave him the most perfect voice that I can barely attempt to describe. I called it "Irish-Canadian stoner" if that helps you imagine it

Backrooms reference *airhorns*!!!! It was kinda funny when TikTok just abandons the player in favor of egg theft, but what I think desperately needs to be talked about is the alleged missing lion man. Who is he? Where did he go? I have to know!

I spent a good 5 minutes rambling about Musical.ly's character design before I realized they're TikTok pre-transition. They look so fashionable tho! Can I get the raw files of these photos?

YOOOO VINE GETS NEW SPRITES!!!! I like how he's behind the times because he's been dead for a while haha

This is the best possible timeline I think

Tumblr looks FANTASTIC heck yeah

What did they mean by this?

Kinda love how Threads is a character and also kinda not a character. Design is peak tho

Get Gatsby'd! If I had a nickel for every time I was Gatsby'd this year I'd have two nickels-

Congrats on the gender! Genuinely though why did Twitter start looking infinitely more attractive to me after coming out as transfem? Like... she's so pretty now... but also exactly the same? Gender is a construct but holy cheese

I was literally trying to read the option choices and she cut me off ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff anyway hi Reddit. My friend had a surprisingly good Reddit voice (I'd describe it as incel meets gamer but less embarrassing somehow)

Old man Facebook! My friend had the WORST voice for Facebook... Imagine the creepiest old man asmr of your life

Kinda interesting that the Magical Girl sequence is part of the Bad Ending. My friends and I agreed that it was more of a Neutral End than a bad one. She looks great tho, I love the art in Instagram's route

Caught in 4k! This frame only appears for a split second haha

I really like how they characterized the creepy tracking of meta software this way. Instagram looks pleasant on the outside but underneath that top layer is a completely fake personality that covers another layer of invasive curiosity that covers another layer of genuine artistic enjoyment. That's so interesting! Anyway my friends and I started theorizing what the multicolored strings mean and we're stumped on the white bit between Amino and Kik-

I love Insta's photos, I like how they're physical polaroids. The logo on her bag is also the old Instagram logo! I need to see that full sized photo of Tumblr and Twitter tho-

Honestly didn't expect this ending but it's cute and I love it! Genuinely we should all be encouraged to post about our favorite simple pleasures rather than trying to appeal to the masses

Anyway before calling it a night we looked at some of the new bonus content (some of which is just stuff from the tumblr blog lol) and dang is Wikipedia so pretty in this screenshot

Actually my friend saw this next photo and said "he's just like me fr why don't I have that?" Honestly I can't wait for the Wikipedia route hahah

ANYWAY GET GATSBY'D FOR A THIRD TIME-

Or a second time if you aren't a Gravity Falls fan lol

Anyway, this volume was a lot of fun and I greatly enjoyed playing it! I like how TikTok's route had multiple activity choices and endings. It's kind of reminiscent of how much time you can accidentally waste on TikTok haha

Instagram's route being based on trying to maintain a level of perfection was interesting, as well as the Great Gatsby motifs. I laughed out loud when Waltz of the Flowers played because I'm hyperfixating on Princess Tutu rn and my friend is obsessed with Tchaikovsky so that was fun

Here's to the next volume! I can't wait to play it!

[frangipanilove]

LC6M187; “Lincoln Continental”or “Lucifer/Christ”?

Shane's "22" Necklace Revisited

This is a post that's been years in the making. In fact, the themes around Shane, Beth and the Venus/Lucifer/Morningstar symbolism were among the first that caught my interest when I got into TD. I could relate it all to Beth in a general sense, but I always wanted something more tangible. Sure, Lucifer means Light Bringer, and we can easily tie that to Beth. But it's also very surface level. I needed something deeper, something more like a smoking gun, and the other day, I think I found it.

The other day I was rewatching scenes from season 1 in preparation of this post, about the XH6-S781 licence plate, when I suddenly saw a familiar licence plate in a scene I hadn't been aware of, and everything clicked into place.

The LC6M187 licence plate on Shane’s Jeep Wrangler, from 1x3 Tell It To The Frogs.

It's the same as the one we see in on the car 5x2, the one Carol and Daryl use to chase after Officer Lichari's Dodge Magnum. I've written a couple of posts on that here and here. My hypothesis is that the LC in LC6M187 stands for Lincoln Continental, which is a nod to the car Daryl and Beth hid in in 4x12 Still.

LC6M187 is the licence plate on the car that directly lead Daryl and Carol to Noah, and by extension to Beth, in 5x6 Consumed.

We see it for the very first time in 1x3 Tell It To The Frogs, on Shane's black Jeep Wrangler, and we see it along with Carol's yellow Jeep Cherokee and T-Dog's Dodge Van. I talked about the Dodge Van with the XH6-S781 licence plate here, and I'll probably do a separate post on the symbolism around the yellow Jeep Cherokee soon-ish (I did talk about it some here).

At the campsite we see Carol's yellow Jeep Cherokee, T-Dog’s Dodge Van and Shane’s black Jeep Wrangler

One thing that’s abundantly clear, is that the overarching theme of 1x3 TITTF is "death" and "resurrection". More specifically, it's about Merle’s “death” and Rick’s “resurrection”. Rick, believed by his family to be dead, "resurrects" and reunites with his loved ones.

Merle, on the other hand, “disappears”, and isn’t seen again until season 3, when he “resurrects” as one of the Governor's henchmen (except for a brief appearance in Daryl's hallucination in Chupacabra). Death and resurrection are two sides to the same story, you can’t have "resurrection" without “death".

I’m not the first to point out the parallels between Merle and Beth, and I believe the LC6M187 license plate further confirmed these parallels, since we specifically see Daryl learn about Merle’s fate as we see the license plate in the shot very clearly. The story being told around the car is one of death and resurrection.

We actually first see the license plate as Daryl returns to camp after a hunt, calls for his brother and learns that he’s been left behind on a rooftop in Atlanta, exposed to the elements and to walkers. However, Rick intends to go back for him, along with Glenn and T-Dog.

Daryl joins in.

And of course, when they get there, Merle's “just gone”.

This reminds us of what many of us believe went down after 5x8 Coda. We don't know the details, but many of us theorize that for some reason, they had to leave Beth behind (and like I’ve mentioned, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was in the back of Officer Lichari’s Dodge Magnum), with the intention of going back for her, only when they did, they found she was “just gone”.

Let’s talk about Shane for a minute. In this old post I wrote about Shane’s 22 necklace, and in it I promised to write more on the Beth/Shane entanglement...

...and then I just never did. In my early days of being in TD, while I was still figuring out the Sirius symbolism, I did see a lot of symbolical entanglement between Shane and Beth, though I couldn’t quite articulate what it meant. I caught a lot of Morningstar references, references to Christ as the Morningstar, as well as references to Morningstar as a representation of the Devil. I read up the astronomy of the ancient Greeks, who identified Venus/the Morningstar as Phosphorous and Eosphorous, meaning the Light Bringer (Venus is a planet, not two stars as they believed).

Then when seson 4 rolled around, TPTB placed Beth in the center of the Sirius symbolism, which we saw particularly with the white one-eyed dog from Alone. As Sirius is also a Morningstar, I hypothesized that the Venus/Morningstar symbolism and the Sirius symbolism were synonomous. I still believe that.

After Slabtown, we all got obsessed with the "Get Well Soon" clock and how to interpret it.

I knew I believed one of the interpretations of the Slabtown clock involved Shane, because depending on how you read the numbers, the 10 minute marker and the 2 hour marker is the same, meaning you could use 10 and 2 interchangeably. I theorized that the clock therefore could point to episodes 2x2, 2x10, 10x2 and 10x10 (also read this post). You could for exemple argue that it pointed to episode 2x2 Bloodletting, which was when Beth first appeared on the show. But it was also a number linked to Shane, through his necklace.

Later, I also realized that the Slabtown clock could be pointing to episode 10x11 (if you read 10 - one one), which was called Morningstar, and that was a bit of a lightbulb moment; the number 22 is tied to the Morningstar reference in Revelation 22:16.

Isn’t it fascinating how the number of the verse also corresponds with Shane’s necklace?

But Morningstar has also traditionally been a reference to the Devil. That’s an interesting duality, which is perfect for TWDU, and it is something that helps explain the symbolical entanglement between Beth and Shane.

So, Lucifer is in the Bible used as one of the names of Christ, it means "light bringer". It has also been used, especially in literature, as a name for the Devil, Lucifer Morningstar. There’s an interesting duality in the name Lucifer, one iteration referring to Christ, the other referring to the Devil, and it was in that duality I picked up on the symbolism entanglement between Shane and Beth.

They had the same symbolism around them, but in Beth’s case, it was Christ symbolism, in Shane’s case it was the symbolism of the Devil. Where the LC on the LC6M187 license plate on Shane’s black Jeep Wrangler indicates he’s a Prince of Darkness, the same LC on the licence plates seen on other cars points to the resurrection sybolism of the Lincoln Continental from Still, it refers to the resurrection symbolism of a Christ figure, the properties of the Light Bringer. Light and darkness. You can’t have resurrection without death, they’re two sides to the same story.

Beth’s a Sirius figure, she’s associated with fire. We watched her light a fire in Still, she lit a stack of cash on fire to burn down the moonshine shack, she’s associated with yellow, as in her yellow polo, and Yellow Jacket Creek. Shane’s black Jeep Wrangler indicates darkness.

To say that Beth is a Light Bringer is nothing new at this point, it's been abundantly clear since 4x12 Still.

But keep in mind what happened immediately before the scene where she lit the fire:

We see Beth and Daryl "resurrect" from the trunk of the Lincoln Continental (LC) after having escaped death by walker horde the night before. And when we see her start the fire in the next scene, she does so by using the side mirror and a shard of glass from the headlights of the Lincoln Continental. Actual hardware from the car that saved their lives, the car that's been referenced by all the LC licence plates. It's a car that's tied to resurrection, and Beth immeditately establishes herself as Lucifer, the Light Bringer, using tools provided by the car, to light a fire. This is textbook Lucifer Morningstar symbolism.

And this is where an alternative way of interpreting the LC6M187 licence plate reveals itself.

Because remember what I said about the duality in that Lucifer refers to both Christ and the Devil? Could the LC, in addition to being a reference to the Lincoln Continental, also be a reference to Lucifer and Christ?

Could it be, that in the case of the Lincoln Continental from Still, the LC means Lucifer as Christ, marking Beth as the Light Bringer, the Morningstar in its Christ iteration?

As the seasons went by, I came to realize that the entanglement between Beth and Shane in reality was entanglement between Rick and Shane. Rick is the original Christ figure, the original Sirius figure, the original Morningstar. And the reason it comes across as though Beth’s tangled up in all of that, is because she’s so heavily paralleled with Rick. Whatever resurrection symbolism we've seen around Rick, we've also seen around her. And we've watched Rick "resurect" twice now, so...

We really saw this quite clearly in Slabtown, where Dawn, a Morningstar reference, was Shane to Beth’s Rick. Like Shane, she was a cop, her name indicates Morningstar symbolism, and she’s the reason Beth “died”, like Shane was the last one to see Rick before he "died" at the hospital.

Notice the scissors sticking out from Dawn's shoulder. That's another interesting exemple of the entanglement between Shane and Beth. As a weapon of choice when attemting to assert yourself in confrontation with someone carrying a gun, a tiny pair of scissors would probably be my last choice. Why did TPTB do Beth so dirty?

Because symbolism.

We all remember Beth sacrificing herself for Noah in Slabtown, right? He was injured, and much slower than her. He wasn't going to make it without her intenvening. And she did. But in doing so, she ended up trapped, while Noah escaped.

In 2x3, Shane was in a similar situation. Carl had been shot, he needed medicine, and Shane and Otis went out to find it. Inevitably, they ran into a walker horde, and Shane sacrificed Otis so he himself could get away. As he returned to the farm alone, he knew he had fundamentally changed. We get a scene where he shaves his hair off, and transforms into something Devil-like before our eyes. He went "full Shane", as became the meme around the fandom. It means he surrendered to and embraced the Devil side of his Lucifer properties.

And, I want to address the fact that what we see in 2x3, of Shane shooting Otis in the foot, effectively sacrificing him, was entirely told through flashbacks. Meaning, the actual events happened in the previous episode, which was…. Yep. 2x2. Another representation of the 22/Lucifer/Morningstar symbolism and the duality it entails. I’m side-eying that heavily.

We see Shane holding the clippers in his hand in this pic. The 22 necklace is also visible. There's a parallel to Beth here, hiding the scissors up her cast:

Her unconventional choice of weapon to bring to a gunfight is only sufficiently explained through symbolism. Clippers and scissors are tools used for similar tasks. Beth used them after sacrificing herself for Noah (for the second time, no less), Shane used them after having sacrificed Otis.

We also get this representation of the 22/Lucifer/Morningstar symbolism on the trunk of one of the Grady cars in 5x8 Coda, proving the symbolism around Shane's necklace extends beyond Shane himself. And again, remember this was introduced all the way back in season 1. The symbolism goes back to the very beginning.

We've also seen the 22/Lucifer/Morningstar symbolism several other times over the years, such as in 10x13 What We Become, which I've talked about here. Here we see a “22” next to a "11" or a "one one", as we remember from Noah's T-shirt.

Returning to the LC6M187 licence plate for a moment. In season 2 we see yet another one of these license plates on a Ford Mustang, in the exact same shade of yellow as Carols Jeep Cherokee and Beth’s yellow polo.

It’s the car where they end up leaving supplies and a note to Sophia, hoping she’ll return. She didn’t, but if she had managed to return to the Mustang with the supplies, they would have found her and she would have survived. The car provided an opportunity for survival had she managed to return to it. The symbolism of the license plate is still, as in 1x3 TITTF, one of death and resurrection.

The next time we see this license plate is in 3x15, when Merle sacrifices himself so that Michonne and TF can live. Remember we literally became aware of the LC6M187 license plate in 1x3 TITTF, as Daryl learned about Merle being left behind in Atlanta, and when they went looking for him, he was "just gone". Presumed dead, except he wasn't. He “resurrected” in season 3. It’s fitting that it also is a car with this particular license plate that takes him to his sacrificial death. Death and resurrection. Merle did something very Christ-like in his final moments. He sacrificed himself for his brother's new family.

The next time we see a representation of the symbolism of the LC6M187 license plate is in 4x12 Still. We see Beth and Daryl survive a walker horde by hiding in the trunk of a car, a Lincoln Continental. The LC6M187 licence plate itself doesn’t appear in this scene, but my hypothesis is that the LC of the license plates are direct references to this particular Lincoln Continental, and that it was established as resurrection symbolism all the way back in 1x3 TITTF, under showrunner Frank Darabont.

Then, we come across it again in 5x2 Strangers.

Carol is having second thoughts on just about anything. Daryl catches her attempting to leave in a car they discovered earlier that day. This one had a battery charger(!) in the trunk(!). And a very familiar license plate, LC6M187.

Remember, at this point, Beth is “just gone”. Then, suddenly a car with a white cross drives by. Daryl recognizes it as similar to the car that took Beth in 4x13 Alone. They follow the car to Atlanta.

The car they follow is actually Officer Licari’s Dodge Magnum. It is potentially the actual car Beth was left in after Coda. And interestingly, we see here both the XH6-S781 license plate and the LC6M187 license plate in the same scene for the first time since 1x3 TITTF. And Beth is right in the center of the symbolism, in a way that is impossible to disregard! That seems significant to me.

To my knowledge, we don’t ever see the LC6M187 license plate again, but we've had some references to it, such as from the season finale of season 1 of TWDDD. We see Carol in a blue Ford Mustang, with a license plate with the numbers 502, which obviously points to TWD 5x2, the exact episode when we last see the LC6M187 license plate. And when we last see it, it is when Daryl and Carol are following Officer Lichari’s Dodge Magnum to Atlanta. I’ve written about it here and here.

It’s interesting that we’ve had a few mustangs on the show, and it's interesting that they're all tied up in the symbolism around Beth.

But there was also another Mustang, one I haven't mentioned yet, Lucille's green(e) Ford Mustang from 10x22 Here’s Negan. The 22nd episode of season 10... it’s almost like it was foreshadowed by the Slabtown clock… Feel free to side-eye that, I know I do...

Yup, Negan’s wife Lucille drove a green Ford Mustang, and we did get a great look at the license plate

I’m not going to pretend I’ve got everything figured out in regards to these licence plates. I can offer suggestions and explain how I interpret them, but anybody's is guess is as good as mine.

But Lucille’s Mustang almost has got to be involved in the things I've discussed in this post. First, the names Lucifer and Lucille are closely related, they both refer to "light", in that they're both names that are derived from the Latin word for for light, "lux".

“Lucille" is derived from "Lucy/Lucia", patroness saint of the blind.

Again, Beth is right in the center of this symbolism:

Does the LC of the LC6M187 licence plate stand for Lucifer/Christ, essentially describing the duality of the symbolism that’s tied to both the Christ/Light Bringer and the Devil? Is it a metaphor for the duality of "death and resurrection", of light and darkness?

Rick as the Christ figure, Shane as the Devil.

Beth as the Christ figure, Dawn as the Devil?

On the license plate of Lucille's green Ford Mustang, we first see an X. It likely means “cross”, or Christ, or "resurrection"… or it could mean Roman Numeral 10, as in the season in which this episode occurred?

Then a "V"…

...which incidently is the 22nd letter of the alphabet. That's quite the coincidence, isn't it? In the 22nd episode of season 10... we see a "V" for Venus which is the 22nd letter of the alphabet? "V" for Venus, Morningstar, the 22nd letter, and seen on Shane's necklace? Remember that the Bible verse with the Morningstar reference was 22:16.

Then you see the “11”. Obviously, one interpretation is that it’s a reference to the “one one” on Noah’s t-shirt, or to episode 10x11 (10 - one one) Morningstar. Another could be that 1+1=2, and it refers to the second letter of the alphabet, B... for Beth?

Then there's the "44". Is it a reference to the comic book issue that revolves around Andrea, the Beth proxy, being shot? Or is it a representation of Daryl Dixon, in that D is the fourth letter in the alphabet, so that 44 = DD?

I can't say for sure, and I'm open to sugestions.

[shallyne]

(Are We) Out Of The Woods (Ep.)

Bonus Epilogue of my fic for my giftee @starfall-spirit for @acotargiftexchange

Words: about 1k

It has been seven years since that dreadful morning that Rhys had woken up and found his mother gone. Seven years since he rescued her from a psychopath that had held a grudge against his father. Seven years since he met his wife. Well, seven years in the mortal world.

Never in his life would Rhys have thought that he'd wake up that morning, literally living his nightmare but nonetheless it has been the beginning of his happily ever after.

Time was flying since that day but it also felt like that initial day was a hundred years ago. Maybe the cause of this was that Velaris didn't have any time, it was nearly impossible to measure any time in the enchanted forest, Rhys had tried. He had at least five different models in their cabin that were fine but he still didn't crack the code of measuring the forest's time, if there even was a code. It had its own rules and Rhys was interested in learning them one by one.

But it was Christmas and Christmas meant there wasn't any theorizing or experimenting or writing books, Christmas was for family and right now, his son was crouching beside Rhys, trying to form snowballs with his small hands. He was biting his bottom lip, exactly like Feyre did when she was concentrating. After a very long time, his wife had picked up a paintbrush again and when she was focused on her paintings, Rhys used the time to admire her. He often did that, in different scenarios during their lives and he was falling more in love every single time. It was his favorite thing, finding out how she ticked. The way she played with Nyx, the way she held a paintbrush, the way she grunted when she laughed and the blush that crept on her cheeks right after. The way she scrunched her nose when someone complimented her and the way she frowned when she was disappointed and the way she crossed her arms when she closed up, an old habit from being alone for centuries. The way she rubbed her arms when she got overwhelmed and the way her dimples showed when she suppressed a laugh, the way her freckles looked like a constellation of stars that Rhys loved to trace, with his fingers or his lips. The way so many traits of hers were mirrored with Nyx.

“Daddy!” his four year old dragged him out of his thoughts, “Look!” he said proudly, extending his hand that held a snowball.

Rhys smiled, “Perfect! Put it on your pile,” he pointed to the small pile of snowballs that already waited to be used. Nyx did exactly that and when he leaned forward, Rhys caught a glimpse of Feyre's silhouette in the window of his family's mountain cabin, she threw her head back and laughed at something Mor said, who stood beside and seemed to refill Feyre's glass.

“Alright,“ Rhys said, looking at his son. “Are you ready?”

“Yes!” Nyx giggled, his nose slightly red from the cold.

He raised his hand and Nyx high-fived enthusiastically, “This year uncle Azzy won't win the snowball fight.” Rhys spoke.

Nyx stormed right past Rhys as he opened the door of the cabin, making a beeline for Feyre and clinged to her legs. “We won, mommy! Me and daddy won!”

Mor snorted, “Rhys won? That's new.”

Cassian followed Rhys into the cabin, chuckling at Mor's comment, “That was all Nyx's doing.”

Mor shrugged as if to say, makes sense, but it was his sister who actually said it aloud. “He also never won alone without cheating. Good job, Nyxie! I knew you could do it.”

Nyx giggled as Feyre helped him out of his winter coat. Rhys walked past the couch, ruffling his sister's hair as he did so, and joined Feyre at the kitchen island. “I never cheated, you're just a sore loser.” Selene had cried out, slapping his hand away.

Mor murmured something to Azriel and Cassian that Rhys didn't deem to answer as he reached his wife, kissing her and wrapping his arm around her waist as Nyx ran back to Selene and climbed into the seat beside her, telling the tale of how pixies played hide and seek with him and how he befriended a girl named Maia, a Nymoh that was his age, the day before they came back home to celebrate christmas with the whole family.

“Do you need help, mom?” Rhys asked, turning to his mother who was stirring a pot on the stove.

She shook her head, smiling, “No, Mor and Feyre already helped cut the vegetables while you boys attacked each other with snowballs.” she chuckled, “I'm glad there aren't any injuries on any front.”

Feyre chuckled, then Rhys and her both simultaneously, “I don't know what you're talking about.”

They smiled at each other as Rhys's mother only responded with a sigh.

Rhys sat down, pulling Feyre on his lap as she wrapped her arms around his neck and together they watched their family bickering, exchanging stories and laughing as the sun disappeared below the horizon and the atmosphere calmed down. Nyx sat on Mor's lap as Cassian made up stories about Nyx's toy dinosaurs. Azriel went out to pick up Amren an hour before dinner, Feyre and Rhys answered his mother's questions about Velaris.

When evening bled into night, everyone went to bed and when it was only Feyre and Rhys left, Feyre raised her head from where it rested on Rhys's shoulder, “I've been living in an enchanted forest for centuries,” she said quietly, “but this, just an evening your family, our family…it's the most magical thing. It's everything I've dreamed of.” she pressed a soft kiss on his mouth, barely there but it lingered there for a long time. “Everything in Velaris is based on tales but after…after this all started, I didn't expect to get a happy ever after.”

Rhys twirled a lock of Feyre's golden-brown hair around his finger and kissed her temple, “You deserve your happy ever after, Feyre, more than anything. You deserve having a loving family, you deserve that Velaris was fully restored.” She smiled, silver lining her eyes exactly as the day after Nyx's birth, when a faerie found Feyre and told her the news that the center of the forest was fully green again. After Rhys had released his books about Velaris, about Feyre, it had begun to slowly grow back, especially after his books had kicked off and Feyre's story had become a bestseller. Although when Nyx was born, Velaris had reacted in a way nobody else expected, so only in twenty-four hours, the forest was fully restored for the first in a hundred years.

“You deserve it.” Rhys repeated, drawing circles with his fingers on Feyre's back.

She laid her hand on his cheek, smiling through her tears, “We deserve it, Rhys.”she whispered and kissed him.

And they all lived happily ever after.

[snicketsquadron]

Family Tree Headcanons

I’m the kind of person who often holds multiple contradictory headcanons because I like exploring possibilities. Within the space of this blog, I use headcanons for some internal consistency, but even so, I treat threads as independent and may play with different headcanons thread to thread. That being said, I wanted to lay out a ‘default’ for this blog/my own writing regarding the Snicket family tree.

ABC Generation The family tree starts here. This could mean C was the first Snicket to join VFD, much as R was the latest in a long line of duchesses, but was the first VFD member. But Lemony mentions in EE that he learned the code from his grandfather, who learned it in turn for at least four generations (two grandfathers) back. And the map of the city which includes “sketches of costumes” and VFD tunnels, has had “twelve previous owners”. Whether or not it was formally VFD, Snickets have been involved in codes and conspiracies for way before ABC. 

I personally headcanon ABC as brothers, possibly identical triplets (similar to the Denouements. Twins/triplets skips a generation and re-appears in Jacques and Kit). Charles’ name is canonically known. In previous threads I’ve used Aaron as E’s uncle and I might stick with that. Though I also like Abraham for its literal meaning (”father of many” as the eldest of this massive Snicket clan) and for the VFD parallels of the story of Abraham and Isaac, as a father willing to sacrifice his son on faith. B I headcanon as Benjamin. The reason his whereabouts are uninteresting is he never joined VFD. He was just never interested. Benjamin Snicket lived out his life having a normal, mundane job like being a florist or something and never got caught up in the codes and plots his brothers were into. 

DEF Generation I’ve personally established F as Fiona in a thread before and I’m sticking to that. I like the idea of Fiona Widdershins being named after someone two generations earlier. E, is of course, the Snicket mother. I’ve been personally calling her Esther in my head but I’m not locked in on that. I do accept the common fanon that D is the parent of the Anwhistle brothers (see below) with one eyebrow and ear. However, I will typically not be following the other common theory that this is also Ishmael’s student. Ishmael’s student was orphaned, and C lived long enough to meet and teach Lemony and Kit. Personal headcanon name: Delilah.

GHI Trio I will be following common fanon that  G and I are Gregor and Ike Anwhistle, taking their last name from their (unnamed) father. This does mean that Gregor and Ike are first cousins to Jacques, Kit and Lemony. VFD families are often interconnected. Some people theorize H is Hector, who is a VFD member. But Hector’s interactions with the Snickets in both VV and WCTBATH? don’t really fit a ‘first cousins’ vibe for me. There are enough repeated initials in VFD to go around. No locked in name (Heather? Hailey?). Tempted to say H is named Helvella after a family of mushrooms.

Connection to Beatrice It’s mentioned in the Wide Window that Ike is also Beatrice’s cousin, and whistling is a family trait. There is a way for this to be true without Lemony and Beatrice being related, if Beatrice is Ike’s cousin on his father’s side of the family. This, again, gives a neat way for the Baudelaire family to get involved in VFD and repeates the motif of layered VFD families. Betrand (as stated by Poe in TPP) was an orphan, so might have taken on the Baudelaire family name, as Jacob did for the Snickets. This does mean Lemony and Beatrice, while themselves unrelated, would share cousins. (It makes me think of stories where sets of sisters marry sets of brothers).

JKL Jacques, Kit and Lemony. The classic Snickets. Firmly established in canon.

MNO I do not think O is Olaf, it does not make sense given how the characters interact and talk about one another for him to be cousins with JKL. M and O being Miranda and Olivia Caliban is more plausible (definitely not in TV-based threads where J and O are a couple) but even in book verse I don’t think there’s any indication Lemony and Jacques interact with O in a familial way. This is something I might use in a thread-by-thread basis, but as a rule of thumb MNO will be different characters.

[devilrosola]

5th Times a Charm

AO3 ~*~ Wattpad

Month of Mei

Mei and Yamuraiha meet after their respective Magical Centers merge.

Post Canon, Canon Compliant, Drabble, One Shot Rated G; 965 Words Yamuraiha, Ren Koumei

A tall, black pointy hat dipped forward as the head of Magnostadt bowed. It was a wonder that the metal ring around it didn’t cause it to fall off.

The owner of the hat dryly said, “A pleasure to meet you, I’m sure.”

She straightened up, squinting through the rising sun bombarding her retinas. Across from her, a man with a partial mask covered the rest of his face with a feathered fan. The corner of his mouth that could be seen remained curved downward. He bowed in similar fashion.

“Likewise. I’m sure pooling our resources will expedite our discoveries in magic.”

He sighed as he looked to the side at the workers arriving on transportation circles with equipment. This would have been much easier if he still had Dantalion. But then again, using his djinn was exhausting so personally for him, this way was actually easier.

She led him out of the courtyard and to her office. The windows were stuffed with scrolls, potion bottles and cloth, making the room much dimmer than outside, to both of their reliefs. Yamuraiha proceeded to inform Koumei of the current big projects as he browsed over her shelves.

Looking over her journals of research, he came across one of her older experiments for growing beards. It made him think of his brother. Curious, he inquired what use that could have had.

Yamuraiha explained, “Well it did come in handy when my King shaved his eyebrows the night before an important Council.” She let out a small giggle recalling the incident. True Sinbad and Ja’far’s eyebrows did grow a mile long, but it was a stimple trim to make them look normal after that.

Koumei blinked. “Eyebrows? But it’s labeled ‘beard magic.’”

“It affected hair and then eyebrows. I soon gave up after that. See, if  you look at the trial notes from this experiment to this one over here, you’ll see I took the XXX and made it VVV so logically, you would think if that change went from head to brow then converting it further to QQQ would stimulate growth on the chin…but it only went back to the head!”

She started sobbing in the frustration of her failure then caught herself. She covered her mouth as she remembered that extensive details like that is what makes guys uninterested in her. Not that she cared if he was interested in her. He was a prince of the Kou Empire. Or used to be. But he was still Kou and it was hard to forget the terrors they committed in the past.

However, Koumei grabbed the notes and took them to her desk. He laid them out and pointed to the various components of the circles as he theorized, “What if we were to take the ZZZ here and QRX it this way and adjust the NNN by YYY?”

What?!?! He wasn’t put off by her magic jargon? And he understood it? And contributed ideas of his own on top of that?! And the suggestions…made logical sense?! “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

“I have been overseeing magical research since I was 5,” he shrugged.

Yamuraiha pointed to a shelf of gigantic books. “I had those textbooks for advanced students over there as my bedtime stories at that age!”

“Two lines of study gives us two perspectives. That is why our institutes are joining after all.”

“I had abandoned this pursuit but…Oh! I just got to try it out!” She bit her lips and looked at Koumei shyly “...If you don’t mind me testing it out on you?”

“Go ahead. If it works out, I know of someone who could benefit from this.”

He was referring to his brother that would love to have a beard as flourishing as their late uncle. But Kouen could never stand the look of the in-between stage of growing it out, so it remained a neat little point on his chin.

Yamuraiha, however, was thinking how she could personally benefit from this finally working out. Little did she know what would rekindle inside her when the experiment worked.

Either the pride of finding the solution to the conundrum, or the mere sight of a beard on someone as versed in magic as she was. She covered her cheeks, hoping the cool touch of her fingers would tone down the heat radiating from her face.

Koumei stroked the long strands now hanging from his chin, inspecting the quality. “We should see if variables in the HHH and TTT  can alter the length.  Tweaking %%% may help with the coarseness.”

Suddenly finding this man attractive, she got nervous. Her mind went crazy and she couldn’t help herself as she reasoned, “I don’t think so. I’ve tried %%% with @@@ before but that resulted in ### on this other experiment for SSS where I YYY the DDD.” Now she’d done it! She panted heavily as her mind whirled over her most impressive calculations.

He set a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. “Explain more on the DDD with the ###. We can save a lot of time on trial and error if you’ve already mastered the ZZZ of NNN. That can factor the TTT to WWW like a VVV.”

By now Yamuraiha was practically drooling as she grabbed a blank parchment and started scrawling on it with a quill. Big circle, little circles. Lots of runes and symbols. All the elements and commands lined up and she had to capture it before they shifted.

Koumei scratched his new beard, contemplating leaving Magnostadt’s head to her own devices as he left to trim it down. But maybe he’d save the trim until after a nap. Apparently growing hair is exhausting…or last night’s planning council finally caught up to him. Or his new colleague’s energy was just that draining.

[utterrandomnesswithlulu]

Flashback Friday: Stargate (Movie)

Released in October 1994, Stargate centers around linguist and Egyptologist Dr. Daniel Jackson, who joins a military mission to unlock the mysteries of a metal ring unearthed, that ends up being a portal to another planet and galaxy. On today’s Flashback Friday, we’re exploring the world, mythologies, characters, and galaxy of the movie Stargate.

THROUGH THE STARGATE

Directed by Roland Emmerich and co-written and produced by Dean Devlin, the movie became the foundation for the televised spin-offs such as Stargate: SG-1, Stargate: Atlantis, Stargate: Universe, Stargate: Origins, and more. While we’re only exploring the movie in this edition of Flashback Friday, it should be noted that the spin-off is still being created today.

In the movie, we are first introduced to Professor Langford (Erik Holland) and a young girl, Catherine Langford (Kelly Vint Castro) who arrives at an archeological dig in 1928 Egypt. Before being escorted to something that was found, Catherine picks up a necklace of an Eye of Ra on a table displaying objects, pottery, and more found during the dig. She goes to her father, Professor Langford, who is looking into an excavated hole where a large metal ring is being pulled into an upright position.

Fast forward and we’re following an elderly woman, which we can quickly identify as an older Catherine Langford (the late Viveca Lindfors) because of her necklace. Catherine is attending a symposium on Ancient Egypt, which is being presided over by Dr. Daniel Jackson (James Spader). During this symposium, Jackson is postulating that the great pyramids of Egypt couldn’t have been built by the Ancient Egyptians. His peers disagree with him, asking if they didn’t build it. Who did? Caught off guard, he says he doesn’t really have any ideas about who built it, which disgruntles his peers even further. As the other professors and doctors leave, they mock Jackson, saying that “men from Atlantis” or “aliens” built the pyramids. Poor Jackson is left nearly by himself in the middle of his own symposium. Outside, Jackson is confronted by Catherine, who offers him a job in Colorado to translate hieroglyphs. Having nothing to lose, he takes Catherine’s offer.

In a suburban area, we are outside a home following two military men looking for Colonel O’Neil (Kurt Russel). They find him inside a child’s room. He seems sad and distant. We even spot him hiding a gun underneath a pillow. At this moment, we can assume and theorize that Colonel O’Neil is mentally in a dark place. The military men inform O’Neil that he’s been “reactivated” for duty. When the men leave, they comment on how rough the Colonel looks and seems. Through this off-handed dialogue, we learn that O’Neil’s child accidentally shot himself.

Jackson is being escorted through a re-purposed nuclear silo and is shown cover stones by Doctor Barbara Shore and Doctor Gary Myers (Rae Allen and Richard Kind). He quickly fixes the translation that Meyers did. The hieroglyphs now read “million years into the sky is Ra, Sun God/sealed and buried for all time/his Stargate.” Jackson asks why the military is so interested in 5’000-year-old tablets, which O’Neil interrupts that his report says 10’000 years old. Catherine isn’t happy about the sudden appearance of O’Neil, who is now taking over operations. Jackson, on the other hand, is astonished that the cover stones are closer to 10’000 years old than his predicted estimate of 5’000. Shore assures Jackson that the number is indeed correct because “sonic and radiocarbon testing” confirm the date.

This, by the way, would have only worked if organic material was found on the cover stones because carbon dating doesn’t work on metal or stone. Now I don’t know anything about “sonic dating,” but unless organic material was present (i.e. wood, flesh, bone, plant life, etc.) they wouldn’t be able to carbon date. But semantics, because you know, this is a movie. Jackson says that 10’000 years ago the Egyptian culture “didn’t exist.” If we’re going off the Old Kingdom era of Ancient Egypt civilizations timeline, which started approximately in 2686 B.C., then Jackson would technically be correct. We don’t get an idea of how far back in Ancient Egypt’s history Jackson was going back but even if Jackson was going far, as, in the Predynastic era, it only comes up to 6’000 years if our ending date is 1994, which is when the movie was released.

Jackson asked if a coffin or a tomb was found underneath the cover stones, but Shore says no, that something much more interesting had been found. Before Shore could elaborate on what had been found, O’Neil interrupts her saying that the information had now become classified. Once again, Catherine is none too pleased about O’Neil stepping on their toes. She mentions to O’Neil that they promised her “complete autonomy” over the project and she’s owed an explanation. He says that plans have changed, and he’s there just in case she succeeds.

For 2 weeks, Jackson agonizes over the hieroglyphs in the center of the cover stones. At first, he believes that they could be a form or hieratic or cuneiform, but actually, they’re constellations. FYI, this took two years for Catherine’s team to translate the other hieroglyphs. When he presents his findings to General West (Leon Rippy) and Catherin, he hypothesizes that the symbols are some kind of address, with six destination symbols and a seventh being the point of origin. Catherine vaguely says “he did it,” but Dr. Myers says that the hypothesized 7th symbol is “nowhere on the device.” Obviously, we’re asking what device at this point. There is a brief pause when General West glances at Colonel O’Neil, who seems to give him a “go ahead” gesture. I find it a bit odd that a General seems to be seeking permission from the Colonel before Jackson is shown the Stargate.

Jackson is quickly shown to a control room, where he can identify the 7th symbol. They enter the address and the Stargate springs to life. A probe isn’t through which lands in the Kalium Galaxy, while this Galaxy is fictional (to show the distance between the earth and this planet) the constellation it’s based on is real (Caelum Constellation). This real Galaxy is approximately billions of light years away, or according to Catherine, “on the other side of the known universe.”

After receiving pictures of the Stargate from the other side, they realize that the mission probably won’t be able to be completed because the symbols are different compared to their own Stargate. Jackson says he’ll be able to translate the symbols once they’re through the gate. Having confidence in Jackson’s abilities, they proceed through the gate. Which, honestly, looks like a thin pane of shimmering blue and white water, both beautiful and eerie at the same time. Before leaving, Catherine gives Jackson her Eye of Ra necklace, saying it has brought her luck, and they’re off through the Stargate.

They are transported to a pyramid with no hieroglyphs, and the planet has three moons. O’Neil tells him he wants to leave within the hour, but Jackson reveals that he can’t because he doesn’t have the address for them to go back to. Jackson assumed that there would be a cartouche or cover stones, like the one they found on Earth. The soldiers are pissed, but O’Neil seems to have an alternative mission. He can be seen prepping a bomb and detonator.

As the base camp is set, Jackson finds an animal that drags him to a mining site. O’Neil tells Jackson to translate, but he doesn’t understand them, only commenting that the language sounds familiar. But something happens before Jackson can say a word. They all bow down to him before being ushered into the town. We find out that they think Jackson is a God, specifically Ra.

A sandstorm kicks up and they’re stranded in the town while the others are at the base camp. That night, a party is held in their honor. When Jackson tries to talk to them again, he is escorted away and a woman, Sha’uri, is introduced to him. Sha’uri communicates to Jackson that she’s seen the symbol that they’re looking for to dial Earth. Unfortunately, the point of origin symbol is too worn away to make out. O’Neil decides that they need to head back to base camp now that the sandstorm has let up. However, the base camp has been overtaken by people wearing metal jackals and hawk heads after a large pyramid spacecraft landed.

O’Neil tries to arm the bomb only to find that it’s missing. The group eventually surrenders and is captured by the jackals and hawks’ masked people. They are presented to someone who claims that they’ve come to destroy him. They bring out the bomb, to Jackson’s disbelief. After revealing the people under the metal masks, O’Neil takes the opportunity to fight his way out, in the process, Jackson is injured, possibly even killed and Colonel O’Neil is recaptured and thrown into a cell with the surviving members of his team.

Meanwhile, in the town it is attacked by spaceships, Kasuf (Erick Avari) tells Skaara (Alexis Cruz) that they were attacked because they let the strangers in and displeased the Gods.

Jackson comes out of a sarcophagus, being healed. We find out that this person wearing a large pharaoh-like mask is pretending to be the God Ra (Jaye Davidson), and tells Jackson that he modified O’Neil’s bomb tenfold and intends to send it back to Earth. This is punishment for overthrowing him centuries ago and sealing the gate to keep him from coming back. Saying that there is only one Ra.

Meanwhile, Sha’uri tells Skaara and other villager boys the story that is written on the cave walls where the gate address was found. She tells them where they came from and why they can no longer live as slaves.

Ra is holding an execution of O’Neil’s men and demands the presence of the villagers. Ra has one of his men hand Jackson a staff weapon and orders him to execute O’Neil and the others. Seemingly obeying orders, Jackson walks down but is distracted by Skaara, who is reflecting sunlight off a lighter that O’Neil gave him. Seeing this, he continues on and opens the staff weapon and looks up to see Skaara reveal a gun hidden underneath his robes. Quickly, Jackson fires back at Ra and the boys fire the guns into the air as a distraction. They run into the crowd and are given robes to hide.

Jackson, O’Neil, the men, and some of the villagers escaped to the caves and O’Neil isn’t happy that the boys have guns or that Lieutenant Kawalsky (John Diehl) is suggesting that they fight. Jackson reveals that O’Neill had a bomb. Slowly, O’Neil tells them what his actual mission was, which was to blow up the Stargate at any given sign of danger. O’Neil also reveals that this was a solo mission, more specifically a suicide mission. He was going to send everyone back through the Stargate with Jackson. Jackson mentioned that it isn’t this planet’s Stargate that poses a threat, but the one back on Earth. O’Neil agrees, but they can’t do anything about that because they’re stuck.

Later, one of the boys, Nabeh (Gianin Loffler) comments that “husband don’t do this kind of work.” Turns out that Kasuf presented Sha’uri to Jackson and now that they were married according to their customs. Sha’uri didn’t want to mention this to Jackson because she feared that he didn’t want her. But Jackson does have feelings for her as well, so it works out in the end.

Jackson sees Skaara the next morning drawing “the day of their victory” on the cave wall. Jackson realizes that the pyramid Skaara is drawing is the point of origin for the planet. They can officially go home now that they have the address completed.

Using the caravan of the minerals being delivered as cover. They are able to infiltrate Ra’s ship. Kawalsky and some of the boys are caught outside after being locked out of the pyramid. As they attempt to hold their position against ships, inside O’Neil, Jackson, and Sha’uri push forward. Ra orders his men to send the bomb just as O’Neil finds it. O’Neil begins to assemble the bomb and vows to stay behind to make sure it goes off. Within seven minutes, Ra’s men show up and kill Sha’uri. Remembering being brought back by the sarcophagi, he tells O’Neil to wait for him. As Jackson is transported by the rings to the main ship, he tries to save Sha’uri. O’Neil fights one-on-one with Ra’s man as the bomb continues to countdown. Outside, as Kawalsky tries to fight off the ships, one of the village boys, Nabeh, is killed. They’re slowly being picked off one by one. Knowing that they're running out of options, they decide to surrender. Sha’uri is revived but Jackson is caught by Ra and nearly killed by a device on Ra’s hand, but with good timing on O’Neil’s part, Jackson and Sha’uri are saved and O’Neill sent Ra a present–Anubis’ (Carlos Lauchu) head. With less than two minutes left on the bomb, O’Neil tries to turn it off, only to realize that the bomb has been rigged and now is unable to be turned off.

Things begin to be turning around for the men outside as the rest of the town shows up in their defense, outnumbering the Horace guards. Inside, Ra knows he’s beaten and begins to retreat. Jackson and O’Neil panic as they can’t disarm the bomb but they both come up with a plan and send the bomb via the rings onto Ra’s ship and blow it up. O’Neill and his men go back through the Stargate. However, we find out that Jackson is remaining behind with his wife, Sha’uri, and the villagers.

CONCLUSION

Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin’s Stargate are unencumbered by CGI, have complicated characters, and are rich in their story. I loved this movie growing up, and it’s still a favorite. I rate it 4.0/5. Television shows, animated series, and web series expand on the foundation that the movie built. Its backstories actually are nicely fleshed out and left enough wiggle room for the expansion of the subsequent shows and other spinoffs that came later.

Have you watched this movie? Do you like it? Why or why not?

[leyleycraves]

Hey! It's Decayley here (Yes, that was a stupid pun).

I wanted to just ramble about a few theorize about our canons because I wanted to get your thoughts on it! Here are some things I'm sure that will happen in both Burial and Decay: We're sacrificing that floozy to our friend! (Okay, so it was only one thing. God, I just KNOW that Decay and Burial are going to be mirrored but have a lot of differences)

Things that I think will happen in Burial: You and Andrew join Six Eyes, even if it's just a ploy. You guys are going to discover that the cult leader is probably the surgeon that created Toxisoda and tried to harvest our fucking organs.

Things I think will happen in Decay: Andrew will try to save J____ from her death. Andrew and I are going to get caught by the police at some point. The demon will tell me its name finally.

Omfg I love the pun. I would have said Decashley. Puns!!!

I love theory rambles. As much as they are going to be mirrored, I'm super interested in the things that are going to be obvious differences, even in nuance. Considering how Andrew's attitude will be a huge driver in the responsibility he takes and the control he issues.

Honestly I am HOPING that fucking skank gets shanked. I want her to open her mouth and say the wrong thing and Andy to obliterate her without me having to command anything. As much as id like her to die at my hand, dying at andys will be such a final fucking slap in her face. I think infiltrating the cult is an interesting idea. Although, Lord Unknown and Andrew's relationship is probably an outlier that's going to cause a big conflict. I like to think Lord Unknown causes absolute chaos and roundabout ways of helping.

Do you think Andrew would force you to face responsibility and rot in jail while he does too? Or do you think he would take it all on? Or do you think your relationship with the Entity will come into play there?

[creativia10]

Theories on the (K)night

Summary: As Virgil sits to eat after closing, her friends and boyfriend discuss a series they are all fans of. The series must be interesting to get them all to debate theories with each other.

Pairing: Logan/Virgil, Platonic almost everyone else

Wordcount: 1748

Notes: Tuliptober Prompt 14- Theory

Virgil uses she/her pronouns in this one. Let me know if I need to add anything. Back to the concept I like of characters reacting to something from another work. Yes, the series they are talking about is "Love and Other Fairytales".

@radiocrushstarcrash

Based on @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors Metaphysical Determinism series

Virgil was taking care of cleaning up and closing up the café for the night. She already heard the others gathered at some tables. They were debating about something quite loudly this time. Virgil finished up and joined them to see what the energetic discussion was about.

Roman was standing up. He was looking at Remus. Remus was sitting at the table. Patton was glancing between them. Logan appeared to be scribbling on a notebook and had his phone out. Devin was scrolling on his phone.

“That theory doesn’t make any sense Remus!”

Remus shrugged. “I mean, we haven’t seen anything in the story that says it’s not possible.”

Roman huffed and scrunched his nose. “Still though. Theorizing that the ring is made of Greta’s bones? And that the Serpent King making the ring is what turned her into the monster? It’s a pretty messed up theory. Did it say anywhere that the ring was made of bone?”

“I mean, we can always double-check,” Logan said, not looking up from his notetaking.

Roman huffed. Remus crossed his arms.

“Oh yeah? Then how would you explain how the dead witch is somehow the creature that has been attacking?”

Roman sighed. “I don’t know, I just wouldn’t have pictured that would be the cause.”

“Do you think the serpent king isn’t capable of such a thing?”

“I don’t know. I don’t doubt his lack of morality about such a thing.”

Virgil sat down at the table. She turned to Devin.

“What are they talking about?”

Devin looked up and gestured at them. “Some popular online story series Roman convinced them all to read. They’re discussing theories before the next one comes out.” He then lifted his phone. “I’m trying to catch up, sort of. The premise sounds interesting.”

Virgil looked up at them. “I’m surprised there’s a book series that gets this kind of reaction out of all of you.”

Roman put a hand to his chest and threw his head back.

“Oh it’s so good! Magical, fairytale love, and delightfully dramatic. It leaves me on the edge of my seat and I look forward to each installation. I particularly like the character Philip, the hero of the story.”

Remus snorted at that. “The hero? He’s made a lot of mistakes. Besides, there are many main characters.”

Roman huffed. “Heroes are bound to make mistakes. The story wouldn’t be interesting if everything was perfect the whole time. Besides, surely he’s the one who has a fate and destiny to save everyone!”

Devin looked up and raised an eyebrow. “This again?”

Roman huffed and waved him up. “You have no room to talk! You haven’t even caught up yet.”

“I’ve still overheard the entire conversation.”

Virgil looked over to Logan. “You didn’t strike me much as a big fiction guy. What about this series gained your interest?”

Logan hmmed and adjusted his glasses. “Well, you are mostly correct. Overhearing Roman discuss his theories on occasion made me curious. Like with science, I do find gathering pieces of information to come to a conclusion to be a fun process. And there are certainly mysteries in this series. Even if the basis of magic in that fictional world is different from our own.”

He slid over his notebook some. “I’ve been looking at every hint of information that has not been fully revealed yet. I can’t actively experiment the way I would with an observation outside of the fictional world. Yet, I do find it could be satisfying to see how close I was to the answer by my own analyses with the given information.”

Virgil nodded and smiled. Patton clasped his hands. “Oh, I’m just hoping all the gay pining gets resolved. They’re all precious and deserve happiness. Every single one of the main four deserves better!”

Roman wrapped an arm around Patton. “Morgan kind of reminds me of you a bit. And I would totally be your knight in shining armor to save you from enemies.”

Patton giggled at that.

“Isn’t the knight version of Philip questionable at best?” Logan asked. Roman shushed him.

“It’s the sentiment that matters.”

“What is this story even about?” Virgil asked. “I’m very lost.”

She started to pick at the food that was offered to her.

Roman took a breath. “Well, first I do suggest you read, as it is hard to describe everything. But the gist is, Lyndsey is a changeling that was raised in a human family. Morgan is a human boy who gains a faery’s gift as a young child. This ends up being more of a curse. The gift gives him a magical voice that can control people. The two become friends. Philip is another human who befriends the two of them. Most people treat the other two badly because of tensions with the fae in the nearby woods. Brennus is a faery prince who was trapped in a sleeping curse for an unknown amount of time. The three of them visit his sleeping casket on occasion to keep him company. It seems like Brennus wakes up, we don’t know how, and other stuff is happening from it. Such as involving the Serpent King who trapped Brennus in the sleeping curse in the first place.”

Virgil blinked. “Oh. That is a lot going on there.”

“I know right?” Patton said.

“Ohh, it’s so good!” Roman exclaimed again.

“What is this series called again?” Virgil asked as she pulled out her phone.

“It is called ‘Love and Other Fairytales,” Logan said.

“The first few are basically the background stuff. But if you want to get closer to the juice of the series, and catch up quicker, you’re probably fine starting with book 8.”

“I started with 7,” Devin said with a shrug. “It sounded interesting.”

“Hm,” Virgil said, pulling it up.

“Would you like us to refrain from our discussion until you catch up if you decide you wish to? I wouldn’t want to ruin the experience for you,” Logan said.

 Virgil shrugged. “Eh, it’s fine. Won’t mean much to me yet anyways.”

“The next update should be on Friday, I believe,” Roman said.

“Do we have any idea how many books the series will have?” Patton asked.

“I don’t know,“ Roman said. “The author hasn’t stated yet.”

Virgil got to it on the webpage and looked up.

“Is this the same author who wrote that superhero story Roman was talking about?”

Logan nodded. “Ah, yes. This Fairytale one appears to be the more popular series though.”

“Yeah anyways, back to how Philip’s Mamaw somehow saved the four of them from the creature,” Remus said. Roman gave Remus a suspicious look.

“Do we know if there are witches around yet?”

“I mean, it wouldn’t be surprising,” Logan said, flipping through his notes.

“There are certainly implications of another use of magic at play. Plus, we already know that there are witches, given the backstory with Brennus.”

“So, Mamaw is a witch. Somehow that lead to her knowing stuff and saving their asses at the end of the last installation!”

“I’d be curious to know how that works in this world. Specifically, what she used to garner her knowledge of their different mysteries.”

“I mean, we don’t fully know that yet,” Devin said.

“Devin!” Roman said.

“I’m multitasking. And I have a good memory.”

“It’s implied that Mamaw just knows everything,” Patton said with a nod. “She’s the wise grandmother figure.”

Roman laughed a little at that.

“What about the little dolls that just appeared to Philip during the blood bath at the school?” Remus asked.

“I thought that was fate magic!” Roman proclaimed, “He’s the chosen one or something. “

Remus snorted at that.

“I think this author is a bit more original than that,” Devin said.

“Well, either way, I’m sure it will be good,” Patton said.

 Roman nodded.

“Yes of course, I just got excited.”

“That is understandable,” Logan said, “It is a series you are passionate about. I too look forward to the direction it continues to go in. Did we still think the messages Philip found were from a fae about his deal coming to fruition? Or has that changed now that we know more about the existence of night Philip? Also, Mamaw that has more of a role in the magic side of their stories.”

“Maybe another fae is pranking night Philip?” Remus suggested. “We don’t know much about what his environment was like in the serpent king’s court. There could be someone jealous of the king giving other Philip attention.”

“Do we really think there would be another fae crazy enough to mess with the serpent king’s knight?” Roman asked. “Plus, the reveal of the notes felt a bit too serious to simply be a prank.”

“I think the night Philip thing is going to come back around somehow,” Logan said as he straightened his notes. “There was clearly a significance to revealing that information to us.”

“Oo, what if it’s a super angsty twist and they’ll have to deal with evil night Philip at some point?” Remus suggested. “That would be interesting. Philip certainly didn’t like the concept of his other half. At least with some of the things the serpent suggested that Philip had done as his other self.”

“I don’t know if evil is the right term,” Logan said with a frown. “We have many reasons not to trust the word of the Serpent King, despite his inability to lie. There has been significant literary evidence of Philip’s character. I doubt everything the Serpent said about it can be taken at face value. It is likely more complicated than it seems.”

Roman nodded. “Yeah, at least I would hope so. Thinking about some of the implications there could give me a headache. I would much rather night Philip not be anything like the slimy serpent’s implications at all though.”

Virgil shrugged. “You are the one who said you liked how the author kept things exciting. It was certainly a good way to keep your interest after all.”

Virgil could read the series right there like Devin was kind of doing. She was planning on reading it, it did sound like a good read. She was caught up in listening to the discussion though. It was fun hearing what they all thought different parts of the story could mean. Virgil leaned against Logan a bit as the enthusiastic conversation continued. Logan squeezed her hand and then continued. Virgil ate as the discussion went on.

[redux-iterum]

A Kindling: Chapter Twenty-Nine

(AO3 counterpart here.)

Over the next few nights the air was tense enough to be cut apart, and it only got thicker when Bluestar left once more for the neutral grounds to speak with Rookstar—and Crookedstar, this time around. Firepaw’s Clanmates finished their tasks of hunting or marking borders and sprinted from all corners of the territory to wait in camp and theorize with each other about what action was going to be taken, or what was going on in ShadowClan and the Aulmir.

Firepaw couldn’t feign interest in the gossip and conspiring. He was thinking of ShadowClan, too, but his mind’s eye focused on those tiny kittens at the last Gathering, shivering and nervous and far too little to just be new apprentices. He thought of the defeated, shamed way the ShadowClan warriors had silently hunched their shoulders and bowed their heads when Brokenstar smoothly explained away his troublemaking. Did they agree with what Brokenstar was having them do? Why hadn’t they spoken out, told the truth?  What was he doing that kept them all silent?

Firepaw’s eyes roamed around camp. Ravenpaw was sitting with his grandfather and speaking to him while he checked his fur for fleas and ticks; by Patchpelt’s tone, he was trying to soothe the apprentice. The other elders had left their usual lying-around space to join their juniors and give their input on the current situation. It was nice to see respect and curiosity in the warriors’ eyes as the elders spoke.

“If it comes to a fight,” Smallstorm grumbled, “we might very well have to get the fish-faces on board.”

“We can handle ShadowClan alone,” Tigerclaw replied. He sat close enough to Goldenflower to have their flanks pressed against each other, and she looked at him with great affection.

Halftail hummed noncommittally. “Couldn’t hurt to have backup.”

Tigerclaw lowered his chin a little to the elder—who, Firepaw now noticed, looked rather like him, just smaller and missing half of his tail. “You’ve been through a good deal of fights, eparme*. RiverClan was never needed to help us along.”

Halftail blinked slowly. “That’d be because we were fighting them.”

“And we didn’t win all of those battles,” Goldenflower added softly. “Perhaps WindClan can help?”

Smallstorm made a rude hacking noise. “WindClan’s useless in combat and you know it. We’d be better off asking their prey to assist us. Or their buddies, badgers and foxes.” His ears went flat against his head and he twitched his lip in disgust. “I’d bet anything those dirt-eaters would forget who they’re siding with and start killing at random.”

“Then it’s a good thing we aren’t asking them.” Goldenflower’s voice was still gentle, but Firepaw didn’t miss that slight loss of patience at the end of her sentence. “Why not at least try with WindClan?”

Tigerclaw said something, but Firepaw was jarred from his eavesdropping by a warmly rasping voice in his ear. He turned his head quickly enough to nearly injure his neck; Whitecloud was close to him, head slightly tilted.

“I was asking if you wanted to share some prey,” he said before Firepaw could speak. “You look a little uneasy, sitting in the middle of camp by yourself.”

“Oh—” Firepaw stood up. “Yes, yeah. I’d like to eat. Thank you, sir.”

Whitecloud’s whiskers twitched in amusement before he started off, leading Firepaw to the prey-pile. Firepaw gutsily chose to get his favorite, the mole, and Whitecloud took a squirrel. The two walked together to a corner of camp. Firepaw stiffened when he caught the brown form of Dustpelt relaxing in the slowly retreating moonlight.

Dustpelt looked up and noticed Firepaw in turn, but he didn’t get to open his mouth before Whitecloud tossed the squirrel by the tail at the younger warrior’s feet and said, “I’m sure you don’t mind if I bring company over?”

Dustpelt did a very poor job of not scowling at Firepaw, who met his challenge and looked him right in the eye, steady and silent. Dustpelt looked away quickly and muttered, “Go ahead.”

“Thank you.” Whitecloud approached and turned to lower himself into a loafing position at Dustpelt’s side. He tilted his head at Firepaw and swept his tail at the spot next to him, serving as a casual barrier between the two young toms. Firepaw sat by him, only able to see Dustpelt’s head from where he was.

“What’s on your mind, chrii?” Whitecloud put a long paw on the squirrel and pulled one of its legs off. “You looked quite deep in thought.”

Firepaw’s eyes went to his mole, to the center of its chest where its heart lay just behind the fur and skin. “Oh… I was worried about ShadowClan. Not— not, like, what they’re doing, but if everyone there is okay.”

Dustpelt sniffed. “You shouldn’t be worrying about them. They’re the source of all our problems right now.”

Firepaw hardly heard his snippy tone, tilting his head in thought. “Well, Brokenstar is, at least, but I don’t think they all are. Apprentices as little as theirs can’t really disobey their leader, and if there’s rogues involved, then maybe the rest of the Clan is being forced into things, too.”

Dustpelt scoffed.

Firepaw was undeterred. “If Bluestar was telling us to go into other territories and steal prey, or attack seers, you wouldn’t agree with her. But if she had rogues to order around, what if she could push you into doing as she said?”

Dustpelt didn’t answer the question, but his narrowed eyes glaring at the squirrel said enough. Whitecloud looked down at Firepaw, his own eyes reflecting curiosity.

“You’ve got an interesting idea there,” he said.

“It just makes sense to me, is all.” Firepaw half-rolled his mole onto its side as he spoke. “I don’t know much about the Aulmir cats, but I don’t trust Brokenstar, and I saw how the warriors were acting at the last Gathering. They looked really unhappy and ashamed. I know I wouldn’t be able to keep doing something that made me feel bad if someone wasn’t making me.” His left ear turned back. “Well, I mean, I wouldn’t do it anyway, probably, but I’m not everyone else, so…”

“You certainly aren’t.” Whitecloud purred almost under his breath.

Firepaw kept his face turned to Whitecloud, but his eyes darted to Dustpelt. He was still studying his meal with annoyance, but both ears were perked, the left one turned in Firepaw’s direction. He took that as encouragement and continued.

“And if the old molly had to run, or Brokenstar would have done something to her, who knows how everyone else is doing? She even said the elders might be next to be chased out o-or killed. Elders don’t hurt anyone by existing, do they?”

“Of course not,” Dustpelt muttered, but his voice had lost some of its bite.

“So if she’s sure that they’ll be targeted, especially by the leader, then I don’t think anybody is safe. Elders, kits, queens, even regular warriors and apprentices. All of them are in danger if Brokenstar’s really got rogues working with him and they have to do things that’re angering the other leaders or hurting fellow Clan cats.” Firepaw looked down at his mole sadly, picturing the little apprentices at the Gathering again. “So I’m worried about them.”

There was a long moment of silence, Dustpelt’s eyes drifting Firepaw’s way, unreadable and dim. Whitecloud regarded the apprentice with an appreciative sort of surprise, his squirrel’s leg still between his paws.

“I don’t want it to come to a fight, is all,” Firepaw said quietly. “Not if it isn’t their fault. They don’t deserve that.”

Whitecloud’s long, fluffy tail tapped his side like a heartbeat. “That’s very kind of you. I’d appreciate things being resolved peacefully, too. It’ll be hard, though, since seers were attacked.” His voice lowered to match Firepaw’s. “And one was killed.”

No one spoke for a long moment. Firepaw listlessly sniffed his mole while Dustpelt picked off a piece of his squirrel and chewed it like he wasn’t really tasting it. Whitecloud stayed cool and calm, as always, but even with that, the silence was heavy.

To ignore it, Firepaw turned his ear to the rest of camp. Smallstorm was still grumbling about WindClan and RiverClan, but Goldenflower had left the conversation to follow around Cinderkit and Swiftkit. The twins were tussling by Willowpelt’s reclining body as she chatted with Brindleface.

“I just wish I could see what was going on,” she was saying, eyes flashing with frustration. “It’s bad enough being in camp all night and day, having to hear news from a second mouth and just hope that the information is correct.”

Brindleface gave her an amused look. “Oh, it’s not that bad.”

“You just wait until you have kits of your own and you can’t go to Gatherings. You’ll sing a different song then.” Willowpelt made a face and swiped her tail. “But this is a dire conversation the leaders are having. Who knows what they could be saying right now?”

“Well…” Brindleface looked down in thought before raising her head and calling, “Nameless, can you see what’s going on where they are?”

The hag, in the middle of pulling feathers off of a bird, looked up at Brindleface and squinted an eye. “You think me a psychic, girl?”

Brindleface faltered. “Well— I, uh—”

“Use that pretty head of yours and think.” The hag pushed her bird to the side and crossed her front paws, sticking out her jaw in dry mockery. “They’ll be planning the best course of action to take about that moron leader of ShadowClan. I’d wager some talk of how to broach the topic at the next Gathering is going on. Perhaps pooling together their evidence so they can corner him proper tightly.”

Conversation around them had become muted, with cats watching the hag as she spoke. Firepaw couldn’t help a twitch of the whiskers at how they all watched her with such intrigue. It seemed like pretty obvious stuff to him, too.

On cue, the hag’s bulging eye flickered from cat to cat and she licked her chops smugly. “Don’t look so impressed, children. Anyone could have guessed that. You needn’t a fussock like me to teach you basic logic.”

“There are kits around,” Goldenflower said mildly.

“Ach, they hardly know what a tadpole is.” The hag flicked her tail in dismissal. “A word or two won’t hurt them.”

Goldenflower didn’t look convinced, but the kits were still wrestling and biting each other’s ears, apparently oblivious to the world around them. The faces of the witnesses varied between the edge of offended and slightly confused.

“What’s a fussock?” Dustpelt whispered to Whitecloud.

Whitecloud hummed a small chuff. “I have no idea. Firepaw? You’ve been around her the most.”

“Oh, I don’t know, she’s never used that word around me,” Firepaw said. “I mean, she’s used a lot, but not that one.”

Whitecloud chuffed a little harder. “ShadowClan has a colorful vocabulary.”

“They all do talk really different,” Firepaw agreed. “Even the apprentices. Brokenstar sounds more like us.”

Dustpelt snorted. “Better than WindClan, where you can’t get more than four words out of them at a time.”

Firepaw looked at him. “What about RiverClan?”

“Ugh."

Whitecloud leaned in towards Firepaw, speaking quietly, like a RiverClan cat could overhear him. “They can be a little foppish. You heard Crookedstar when he came here, and certainly some cats at Gatherings.”

Firepaw reflected on the leader, his daughter, and the apprentice he had talked with at Sunningrocks. “I guess they do sound a little odd. That’s not nice to say, but still.”

“They probably think we sound like idiots anyway,” Whitecloud said. “I wouldn’t worry about being nice.”

“I would,” Firepaw replied firmly.

The senior warrior didn’t say anything, but from his creased eyes, he was tickled by that retort. He turned his head back down to the leg in his paws and started munching on it without another word.

Firepaw followed suit with his mole. It was a welcome break from conversation and a good distraction so he wouldn’t dare a sidelong glance where he could feel Dustpelt giving him a look. The heart was particularly tasty this time around, though he couldn’t help a weight in his chest as Spottedleaf’s copper eyes shined at him in the back of his head.

He swallowed his last bite and looked up into the sky. The stars were still overhead, but the moon was dipping out of view, closing in disinterest to the world below. Firepaw wondered just how big Suriin was if the moon was really her eye. Did it grow when she put it there? How big was the moon, anyway? He had never seen or heard of anyone touching it, did—?

The camp entrance rustled and every eye and ear whirled around to watch Bluestar step into camp. Her face was set with stony determination, her tail high in a more authoritative way than anything else. Everyone stood and practically tripped over each other to get a spot in front of the meeting stump as she smoothly leaped onto it.

“The meeting went well,” she announced once everyone was settled. “Rookstar and Crookedstar agree that we will be confronting Brokenstar at the next Gathering to prevent any arguments or fighting. On the way there, I scented ShadowClan and rogues. This was close to RiverClan territory, within the neutral grounds. Crookedstar confirmed that he’s caught the scent in his area too.”

“So they’re invading everyone’s land!” Darkstripe shouted, bristling.

“It would appear that way, yes.”

Firepaw watched everyone around him anxiously. This was certainly going to lead to a fight, and to cats getting hurt, if something happened before the Gathering. By the glares on the faces of the surrounding ThunderClanners, they were very ready for that.

“All three of us have decided to patrol twice a day around the borders,” Bluestar went on. “RiverClan and ThunderClan will put aside our battles with each other until we have this situation resolved. If you run into a RiverClan cat, and they’re on their side of the border, do not engage beyond a report meant for Crookedstar or a question about any new scents.”

Thankfully, no one looked too disappointed about that.

“Until the next Gathering, none of you are to speak about any of this with ShadowClan cats. Chase them out of our territory and watch them if you see them close to the border, but do not share that the other three Clans have had a meeting about them. I don’t want them to have any chance to come up with an excuse that can justify their intrusion.” Bluestar’s yellow eyes glinted like the lights of a car as she looked down at her charges. “Are there any questions?”

No one spoke up.

“Very well,” she said. “I will be in my den if any of you need me. I can talk privately if requested.”

With that, she left the stump, landing silently and trotting back out of camp – and Firepaw caught her sagging a little just before she went out of view. The Clan dispersed, all talking to each other about the news. Firepaw said nothing to anyone; he simply went to the prey-pile, picked up a rat, and wove around the much larger warriors, following Bluestar.

The noise of camp was muffled by the bushes and briar surrounding it as soon as Firepaw was out in the woods. His ear caught a heavy sigh and a soft thud in the direction of Bluestar’s den. He trotted after the noise, poking his head through the lichen curtain. Bluestar’s back was to him, stiff and weary. He cleared his throat quietly, announcing himself. She looked back and blinked.

“I, um…” Firepaw tiptoed into her den and dropped the rat at her feet. “I don’t mean to bother you, but I thought you might be hungry. Th-that’s a pretty long walk to make, there and back again.”

Bluestar’s eyes slowly softened and she shifted in her nest to pull the rat close to her chest. “Thank you, Firepaw. I’m sure you must have been bored tonight, I didn’t give you anything to do.”

“Oh, it wasn’t bad!” Firepaw stood straight to emphasize his perkiness. “I got to talk with Whitecloud and Dustpelt. Well—Dustpelt kind of just glared at me, but we still talked. That was nice.”

“I’m glad.” Bluestar sighed softly. “Some of our cats could afford to get used to you living with us now.” Her eyes drifted to the side and Firepaw caught an amused light in them. “I don’t think Darkstripe ever will, but Sandstorm and Dustpelt could, certainly.”

Firepaw nodded. “I hope they do.” He knew this would be a good time to leave, but his worries kept him rooted beyond shifting his feet nervously.

Bluestar caught it and tilted her head at him. “What’s bothering you?”

Firepaw managed to not blurt it out, but his voice was still hitched and a little loud. “Are we going to have to fight ShadowClan?”

Surprise, then sympathy, passed over Bluestar’s face. “I don’t know yet. It all depends on Brokenstar.” Her eyes narrowed a smidge. “I don’t want an unnecessary war, but if he demands it, we’ll give it to him.”

“But…” Firepaw shifted his feet again with increasing anxiety. “Can’t we just talk about it? Can’t he call the trespassing off and we can leave it there?”

Bluestar didn’t answer immediately. Her voice was unusually gentle. “I would very much like that, too. We can’t predict Brokenstar’s decisions, though. He may choose to fight.” She paused. “If it helps, we’ll have the other two Clans with us, so the fight will be quick and decisive. It will be over as fast as possible.”

Firepaw settled a little, but one lingering fear crawled through his throat. “No one will die, right?”

Bluestar shook her head. “Not if we can help it. Warriors only hurt and chase. We don’t kill unless we have to, like prey, or if our opponent is trying to kill us first.”

The bubble of fear and worry escaped Firepaw’s mouth with a heavy sigh of relief.

Bluestar looked at him fondly. “Is there anything else upsetting you?”

Firepaw shook his head. “That’s all. Thank you.”

“And thank you for the prey.” Bluestar nodded once to him, a rare pleased expression on her face.

Firepaw bowed his head, turned, and parted the lichen again, heading back into camp. His feet were lighter, but something tiny scratched at his mind.

It all depends on Brokenstar.

What was he going to do?

*”Eparme”: uncle.

[keeperofhounds]

BNHR X KHR Part One

Okay, so I’ve been having this brain worm in my head and if anything is interested in learning more then shoot me up a message! But this is for the most part a crossover idea between My Hero Academia and Katekyo Hitman Reborn. It’s not a true crossover but if anything My Hero Academic many many years after the events of Reborn.

To start with at the end of the events of Reborn in the manga Tsuna eventually becomes Neo Vongola Primo and starts a new age for Vongola. This is the kid who saved the lives of the lives the Arcobaleno who for the most part become affiliated with Vongola. Considering how no one outside of the events know how the chosen seven are chosen allot of prestige is added. For the most part Arcobaleno move on with their lives but they left with the promos that if Vongola ever needs their strength then they’ll have it.

For the most part they lived their lives and died, except for Verde who was able to recreate the stasis effect that the pacifiers created so that he can continue researching whatever caught his fancy. Good for him!

With the Vindice no longer governing the laws of the Mafia world the Varia take over and become the enforcers which makes sense considering they want to show off that they are the strongest people around. It also gives Tsuna a reason to disband the assassination squad without stamping on them.

Quirks for the most part where well known in the mafia before the shining baby. I mean how couldn’t they have not been known when you have people who can turn food in poison, and children who can ranking anything? The shining baby was just the first time people freaked out and made a big deal about it. It also didn’t help that many similar cases where happen all around the world. Although Byakuran theorized that the events where happening because of the change in the Trin-ni-sette. It doesn’t really matter much since Tsuna’s time has passed by then.

At some point the events of the Shigaraki Brothers come to pass but the two future wielders of One for All are from the Foundation (It’s the organization that TY Hibari created) they are trying to fight against All for One and for the most part have been successful in causing damage. AfO very much dislikes Vongola mostly because they control the Underworld and they are very much an obstacle.

When First is in Vongola custody he learns about his quirk (not the stockpiling but the transfer quirk). The group get to know each other and for the most part they become good friends. Vongola Boss of this time talks to the First although this is against the advice of most people. They talk but no one really knows what about but by the end of it First is given a blessing and leaves with a promise.

The blessing is that anyone who would want to join his quest from this family can go. The promise is that with this blessing they are family and they should never fight and to ask if they ever need help. For the most part things go about the same but the trio of OfA left instructions to their successors on how to contact the Vongola is they ever need anything.

Hikage Shinomori used the Vongola to fund his solitary life and to give opportunities to make the quirk stronger. They also provided medical assistance and insight for his advanced aging.

En used the Vongola for his injuries especially after Banjo had passed away.

Nana used Vongola to put her son into hiding which is how he was able to have a normal life (for the most part what happened to Tenko was bad luck and her sons own actions.) and asks that they keep Toshinori safe until he’s ready to strike out on his own.

While Toshinori is busy training (Toshinori got an amazing scholarship package for a University in the United States) the Vongola step into the fray to make sure the AfO doesn’t encroach on their territory (they have been keeping him out but without anyone to distract him they have to put more force into it.)

Vongola through all this time has been adapting to the social dynamics of the world. Not to mention they have been moving away from their unsavory practices finding legitimate avenues to make money. Back in Italy there are a good few Pro Heroes with ties to the Vongola although this is mostly quiet. After all Vongola started off as a vigilante group, it never hurts to be paid. With OfA out of the way AfO puts his focus on destroying the Vongola. Neo Nono wants to honor the promise but she also can’t let him continue doing what he wants.

It was a sound defeat for AfO he couldn’t stand against Neo Nono and he was forced into hiding. He can be a slippery rat when he wants.

Through underhanded tactics Neo Nono is killed. AfO tries to steal the Vongola sky ring because to have that would give him access to unattainable wealth and power, but Natsu fights back making AfO lose an arm through petrification. Natsu runs away to what can only be assumed will be his new owner. Vongola on the other hand seems to vanish over-night.

AfO isn’t able to enjoy the defeat since All Might comes into the scene.

Years later a young Izuku Midoriya finds a scared looking cat hiding in the bushes. A very strange cat considering it’s made of gold fire!

I have a lot more thoughts I will definitely write out more. But damn I just had to share! Message me if anyone wants to talk about this!

[savagetrickster]

Smirk Upon Me.

Mirio Togata (NSFW) | BNHA

Request: Hi! I saw your bingo event and I would like to give you a suggestion for the prompt “Stolen kisses”. How about Pro Hero Deku, or Mirio, x Vigilante! Reader (NSFW possibly)

anime | character:  bnha   |   mirio togata 

word count: 1.3k+

prompt: stolen kisses

themes/warnings: 18+, Pro-Hero!Mirio x Vigilante!Reader, sex on the street,  public sex, wall sex, vaginal penetration, unprotected sex

a/n: I haven’t been writing nsfw pieces for a while so I’m a little nervous about this one. I’ve made it less explicit but still retained the spiciness (I think) ‘cause writing this made me quite…fired up. I hope reading would make you so too ;) pardon me for any errors i failed to catch; this is not beta-ed. 

special mentions: this idea concept was inspired by the many nsfw bnha fics that carried this ‘hit by libido quirk’ concept i.e. one of them was @/shoutodoki’s Libido

Taglist: the bottom of this post :D (if you’d like to be added, just drop me an ask.)

Mirio had never felt this aroused in his life before. 

Like any other man, “Lemillion” the Pro-hero had his own moment of needs, but this burst of lust right now was too much even for him. 

He won a victorious battle against that perverted villain but the libido quirk of hers still hadn’t let up one bit. 

Fortunately, he was lucky to be in a rather secluded resident area where most houses were already dark and quiet with slumber, and the streets still with occasional passing vehicles. 

The last thing he needed was civilians to see Lemillion struggling to tame the massive erection bulging through his skin-tight hero costume. 

The merciless ache to release the urge gripping him had crippled his ability to think straight.

It was apparent that all rationale thoughts had been wiped clean of his mind when he jumped at your offer.

Life as a vigilante was never boring. You’d dealt with many interesting cases. 

But nothing could be more amusing than bumping into the all-famous ‘Lemillion’ battling, no, more like struggling against his libido evident in the not-so-subtle tent stiff in his suit on your way home.

You’ve never liked Pro-Heroes; they’ve always come across to you as a bunch of narcissists who only did ‘hero’ work to validate their own existences and inflate their egos. That doesn’t mean you liked villains either, of course. Hence, you were a vigilante partly due to Stain’s idea of a hero. 

Lemillion was one of the Pro-Heroes who didn’t irked you, and honestly, you’ve been harboring an attraction toward this man ever since you ‘accidentally’ ended up fighting alongside him months ago in a villain attack.

So you had no qualms helping him with his problem.

Besides, you were familiar enough with this libido quirk to know that the victims of this quirk wouldn’t be able to muster thoughts properly until the libido effect faded off by itself, which could take hours. Or the victims released it with sexual intercourse.

And of course, you wouldn’t want to give the latter with Lemillion a miss. The sight of Lemillion and his erected cock bobbing at you in his tight suit was enough to make you soak through your panties.

You were reminded once again about the other effect the libido quirk had on its victim, or rather a related effect from not being able to muster proper thoughts when he urgently pushed you up against the wall right there and then, in the middle of the goddamn street. 

The sexual frustration pent up from trying to suppress his lust was enough to make Lemillion toss what remaining traces of reasoning he possessed out the window.

He got naked fast, and the splatters of pre-cum flung into the cool night air brought your eyes down to watch his cock spring stiff before him. Slippery fluid of his pre-cum cascaded from its flushed head, coating the slightly curled, generous length in dribbles.  It should not be surprising to find a cock of such thickness and length on a man like Mirio Togata, but nevertheless it took you by surprise.

Theorizing about this man’s girth from the way it bulged under his suit and seeing it in flesh was worlds apart. 

Shoving your dress up and yanking down your soaked panties, a satisfied groan escaped Mirio the moment he pushed his aching cock into your drenched fold in a needy haste. The guttural groan dragging through his throat ended with a strained comment of how tight you felt around him as your velvet walls stretched to wrap around his sheathing cock. 

You couldn’t help chorusing after him at how well he stretched you, fitting between your heated walls perfectly. He was so big and hard; you could feel every bit of his arousal pulsing in the stiffness of his cock.

The man didn’t spend a second more to think about the possibility of being caught thrusting himself into you by any peeking eyes from the windows nearby. 

Going at it with the Lemillion on the street was far too thrilling for you to care either. 

Legs spread apart by the crooks of his elbows, you bit into your bottom lips as you watched him hammer himself into you like a starved man. 

Your moans mingled with his as you savored the pleasure scrunching up his face and the feral way he pistoned his thrusts between your legs. 

Every thrust left a blazing trail of pleasure in your clenching wall. The ruts he plummeted into you were with fervor and deep — deep enough for his swollen tip to graze your womb every single time.

Your hands draped over his broad shoulders slid down his back, clutching onto him like he was your lifeline as white, hot flashes began to blind you in the building heat between your intermingling fluid. 

The tight, clenching muscles ridged across his back as his cock delved desperately into you, its bulging girth pushing apart your sopping folds in a frenzied speed. The wet, squelches slapped violently in the silence of the quiet street as he arched his back with his hips in a emphasizing angle, as if dedicating all his willpower and absolute strength into his thrusts. 

Like he was a man on a mission as he pounded his cock into you.

Breathy groans from you were accompanied by low growls rumbling in his chest as you stared at the dark houses behind him between weakly fluttering eyelids and lips hanging open in a euphoric daze.

One particular brutal prod of his engorged cock against your womb hit the spot, prompting the heat curling in your core to snap.

A sinful moan slipped feverishly from your lips as a hot burst of pleasure surged through you, lighting every nerve in an electrifying euphoria. 

High on the orgasmic thrill convulsing inside you, you felt your clenching walls grip his cock in a choking hold and heard him drag a broken groan through his throat at the peak of his own orgasm.

Mirio couldn’t help the delirious sigh sifting giddily through his lips, relishing the relief he desperately sought earlier engulfing him as his twitching cock released its bulging load in spurts of white, thick ropes onto your walls.

The moan from your high withered to a whimper as he rocked his pelvis languorously against yours, jutting his cock into you over and over until there was nothing left to ejaculate. 

You were surprised no one woke up despite how vocal and raunchy you two sounded.

The carnal heat between was quickly dissipating in the cool air as quivering, ragged breathing heaved and fell with your joined bodies.

“…Did I say you could cum inside me, Mr. Lemillion?” You teased between your harsh pants. You could feel his seeds pouring between your legs, leaving you in warm trails of trickles down your thighs.

Amusement tugged a side of your lips, carving a playful smirk as you felt his body stiffen under you. You heard him curse just as you were leaning away from his shoulders.

“M-My bad, I’ll take responsibility if anything happens. I swear I will—” 

You pressed your lips into his and your tongue slyly darted into his opened mouth mid-sentence, sensually sucking on his. 

Your lips quirked into a smirk once more against his as you drank in the delicious moan you felt rumble from the depth of his chest.

The brush of his hand against your cheek made you break away before he could do anything more. 

The smirk never left you as you gazed down at his flustered face.

“Just kidding, I’m on the pill.” You tilted your head haughtily at him.

You laughed and pushed yourself off him, walking away in the direction of your house, but paused partway.

“Oh yeah, feel free to steal back a kiss anytime, Mr. Lemillion.” 

You threw him a wink over your shoulder.

”You know where to find me.” A curt gesture at a certain house ahead, you turned to go.

“The name’s Mirio Togata!”

You heard him call after you, and your lips curled. 

tags:@shoutodoki​, @princessbunnie666, @glaringlights​, @platinumbelle​, @shamelessyouthqueen​, @lowermoons​, @xaki​, @shippingangel​, @itachianddazai, @khemz1312​, @kageybee​, @toothirsty4main​

[pet-genius]

The Death Eaters as a Cult - Part 3

Follow up to this and this. Trigger warning: Cult abuse.

Draco is vulnerable to being recruited simply because he’s Draco - his father is a Death Eater, and he's eager to prove himself to the master he grew up believing in. I’m not usually sympathetic to Draco, but this line makes me feel for him:

“everyone thinks he’s so smart, wonderful Potter with his scar and his broomstick —”

“You have told me this at least a dozen times already,” said Mr. Malfoy, with a quelling look at his son. “And I would remind you that it is not — prudent — to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear.”

This makes it clear that he’s been indoctrinated from a young age into a fringe belief (his belief in the Dark Lord, not in blood supremacy - that’s mainstream), and into hiding it, even after the cult disbanded. This contributed to a sense of isolation from mainstream society, and for someone like Draco, exacerbated his existing condescension and entitlement. The same must be true for Crabbe and Goyle, who on top of being children, are stupid and lacking in critical thinking skills, which means an escape was nearly impossible for them, and indeed, Crabbe died, and who knows if Goyle was clever enough to stay out of Azkaban.

Throughout HBP, Draco goes from boastful to scared for his life.

From DLA:

“What say you, Draco?” asked Voldemort, and though his voice was quiet, it carried clearly through the catcalls and jeers. “Will you babysit the cubs?”

The hilarity mounted; Draco Malfoy looked in terror at his father, who was staring down into his own lap, then caught his mother’s eye. She shook her head almost imperceptibly, then resumed her own deadpan stare at the opposite wall.

Once on top, now the Malfoys are too scared to make eye contact with anyone and protest at their humiliation. Draco is looking to his parents for protection, but they know they can’t provide it, even though Narcissa is trying.

Regulus was in a similar situation to Draco - I think he felt pressured to prove himself after the bitter disappointment Sirius had been. He and Draco were marked before they were of age, whatever being of age means in the wizarding world - meaning Voldemort was not above using minors. He also used children: the Daily Prophet writes that the Ministry has captured a nine year old child who had been Imperiused into murdering his family.

Snape’s vulnerability is glaring. In a nutshell, his extreme poverty and the neglect and abuse played a part in his decision to join the Death Eaters, and there’s a reason why Lucius is seen patting him on the back as soon as he is sorted. Perhaps the policy was to groom all newcomers. Like Barty, he might have looked for a father figure. Harry notices the many similarities between Snape and Voldemort (and himself), and these are all things Voldemort must have used on young Snape as well.

Snape is an example of how disposable Voldemort’s followers were, to him - he sent him to Hogwarts to get the cursed DADA job, meaning he was willing to let a potentially horrible fate befall Snape within the year. Even after Snape ascended to #2 by killing Dumbledore (on Voldemort’s order, no less), Voldemort killed him to gain mastery of the wand Snape became master of by doing Voldemort’s bidding.

Snape also explains the Dark Mark

“There,” said Snape harshly. “There. The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was an hour or so ago, when it burned black, but you can still see it. Every Death Eater had the sign burned into him by the Dark Lord. It was a means of distinguishing one another, and his means of summoning us to him. When he touched the Mark of any Death Eater, we were to Disapparate, and Apparate, instantly, at his side.”

A famous cult in my country did this: The leader made his followers tattoo pictures of him and his name on their body. It’s this association that originally made me think of the Death Eaters as a cult. Voldemort branded his followers like cattle, and he expected them to drop everything they’re doing to run to him whenever he wants.

Snape was constantly tested, too. He was assigned a servant he despised, for one, and tasked with killing Dumbledore. Even after he had accomplished that, Voldemort did not fully trust him:

“Yaxley. Snape,” said a high, clear voice from the head of the table. “You are very nearly late.”

This is a threat, since they’re not actually late; I think it’s meant as a “hey, remember when I tortured you once for being late?” It is followed by:

“Saturday... at nightfall,” repeated Voldemort. His red eyes fastened upon Snape’s black ones with such intensity that some of the watchers looked away, apparently fearful that they themselves be scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, looked calmly back into Voldemort’s face and, after a moment or two, Voldemort’s lipless mouth curved into something like a smile.

Voldemort is using Legilimency - he still does not trust Snape, he still needs to interrogate him so carefully that the others are afraid to look.

Next, there is this:

“Do you recognize our guest, Severus?” asked Voldemort. Snape raised his eyes to the upside-down face. All of the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now, as though they had been given permission to show curiosity.

That the Death Eaters all knew not to look up at the gruesome sight without permission, goes to show, again, how fun it must have been to be a Death Eater. In general, I think the best way to read “Dark Lord Ascending” is to pay attention to where people are looking, and how - it’s important in general, but especially in this chapter.

Lucius is an anomaly. It’s very hard to picture him kneeling, and there is no obvious reason why he should forfeit his dignity. Cults don’t typically target the elite, and in this, the Death Eaters are a bit strange, unless Lucius was also recruited at a young, impressionable age. This can be resolved if you consider that Voldemort is the Heir of Slytherin, and unlike cult leaders, he really is super-powerful, and the person with the most potential to achieve political goals the Malfoy family is interested in.

Privileged as he was, even Lucius had vulnerabilities, and Voldemort was a Legilimens, meaning it was very easy for him to tell what they were.

This is how he treats Lucius in DLA:

“As I was saying,” continued Voldemort, looking again at the tense faces of his followers, “I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter.”

The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; he might have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms.

“No volunteers?” said Voldemort. “Let’s see... Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore.”

How… emasculating.

Lucius Malfoy looked up [so he was looking down until then]. His skin appeared yellowish and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.

“My Lord?”

Lucius looks like he’s been through a lot. Also, since this scene takes place in the middle of July, why is there a fire? I’m theorizing that it’s for Nagini, or perhaps Voldemort is cold-blooded now, but in any case, he doesn’t care about the others’ comfort level. Maybe he even wants them to sweat.

“Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand.”

“I...”

Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife. She was staring straight ahead, quite as pale as he was, [...] At her touch, Malfoy put his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort.

Voldemort is making Lucius give him the wand himself, to reinforce his submission - he could have used magic.

“Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?”

Some of the throng sniggered.

“I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you?”

Indeed, Voldemort has given Lucius his (questionable) liberty, but again, he is expecting gratitude for something Lucius would have had in the first place, were it not for him: Lucius was imprisoned because he was caught at the Department of Mysteries fighting for Voldemort.

“But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late.... What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?”

“Nothing — nothing, my Lord!”

“Such lies, Lucius...”

The soft voice seemed to hiss on even after the cruel mouth had stopped moving.

[...]

“Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?”

“Of course, my Lord,” said Lucius Malfoy. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. “We did desire it — we do.”

Remember the fire? Do you notice Lucius sweating? His hand shaking? See how terrified he is, and how awful it must be to be forced to state how much he loves being treated like that?

To Malfoy’s left, his wife made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Voldemort and the snake. To his right, his son, Draco, who had been gazing up at the inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Voldemort and away again, terrified to make eye contact.

This is what has become of the once mighty Malfoy family.

Legilimency is important - because it means Voldemort typically could spot the mere thought of defection, and manipulate it out of the offender or outright kill them. The DEs know he can read minds, and so averting your eyes could be seen as admitting to a lie, unless you avert your eyes regularly. Breaking eye contact is a gesture of submission, and if one’s body is forced into it enough, it becomes ingrained. Every mention of eye contact in Dark Lord Ascending reinforces that. Their body language in that chapter also shows how controlled they are. I believe Death Eaters are learning to occlude involuntarily, to deceive themselves into only having permissible thoughts and feelings, to ensure their own survival. This makes it impossible to escape.

Finally, there’s JKR’s statement that Snape was the only DE who could produce a Patronus. This can't be because he's not evil (Umbridge can produce a Patronus), and it can't be because he's the only DE who is more powerful than 13 year old Harry. I think it’s because they were not allowed to - I think a spell that requires you to think genuinely happy thoughts would have reminded Death Eaters that their happiness does not come from Voldemort. The rigid mind control screams "cult" to me, and I think it's a much more interesting take on them than "bunch of plot-stupid people who had somehow managed to terrorize the wizarding world despite being incompetent".

Hope you now feel the same and thanks for reading this thesis <3

[runwithwolvcs]

You Know I'm No Good - six

sick days

Warning(s): Vomiting?

Sometimes you just have to rest. The world can wait.

Waking up the next morning, Tallulah felt as if she had been run over by a bus. Her head was heavy, the nausea she had been consumed with had yet to disappear, the light in her room seemed brighter than the sun and the sound of the rain sounded like rocks being pelted against her skull. Pulling herself out of bed was more exhausting than when she had to run the 12 minute mile in tenth grade, she thought to herself. Grabbing the comfiest clothes she could find, which consisted of a dark pair of leggings and a way too big hoodie, she put them on, only stopping once as she felt woozy. The world around her was spinning and before she could even think, her feet were moving. She ran to the bathroom, thankful it wasn’t occupied, before throwing up anything her petite body held from the day before. Too busy dry heaving as a wave of nausea refused to pass, Tallulah didn’t hear someone join her in the small bathroom, holding her long hair from falling forward and rubbing soothing circles around her back. By the feel of the small hand and the motherly gesture, she could tell it was Kira.

Tallulah sat back on her heels as hoped the worst was out of her system, minus the nagging in the pit of her stomach. Kira held her palm up to her forward and frowned, “You don’t have a fever.” she said, just as her dad came in holding a bottle of water, handing it down to his daughter, who used it to rinse her mouth before taking little sips, hoping to keep it down.

“Maybe it's stress,” he theorized. It wouldn’t have shocked her, but it felt like more than that. Like something wasn’t right and her body was trying to tell her.

The two adults helped the young girl back onto her feet, before moving her back into her room. Joseph tucked his eldest daughter into bed, something he hasn’t done since she was six. Kissing her on the forehead before leaving her room to let her sleep off whatever illness she was currently fighting.

Tallulah closed her eyes once her door was shut, but she could just hear Kira and her father on the other side of the door, ‘I told you this would happen’, she listened to Kira say, the audible sigh came from her dad but his next sentence was too hard to hear as she began to drift off to sleep.

Tallulah was surrounded by the tallest trees she had ever seen, looking upwards to the sky, she could barely see the blue skies peaking through the leaves. She was sitting with her back against a broken tree, her legs tucked underneath her. She felt calm. The most she had felt since arriving in LaPush. In front of her, there was the largest dark gray wolf she had ever seen, and sure, she hadn’t seen many in real life, but this one seemed to be unnaturally big. It stalked closer to her slowly, as if not to frighten her, but she wasn’t the slightest bit afraid of the furry animal. She reached her hand out slowly for the same reason as to not frighten the wolf, as it dipped its head forward, allowing her to touch its snout, and then forehead. She caressed the wolf, giving him small scratches behind both of his ears, a sound of delight leaving the wolf's mouth, almost human like. The gray wolf settled down, nestling its big head onto her lap as she continued to pet him, the two beings both closing their eyes in solace.

---

It was early afternoon when Tallulah awoke. The feeling of nausea seemingly had passed, only to be left with a dull ache in her chest. She picked up her phone to check the time only to be hit with a slew of text messages, from Lina to her mother, as well as Chase and August, with whom they exchanged numbers the day before during their second independent study class.Only one text message caught her off guard, it was from an unknown number. She clicked on it and read it over three times, barely comprehending it,

‘Hey, your dad told me you like to paint and I was wondering if you could do me a small favour?”

‘It’s Paul by the way.’

Tallulah furrowed her eyebrows trying to figure out a response, I haven’t painted since middle school, she thought to herself, while simultaneously wondering why her father was telling Paul this in the first place.

She typed out a response only to delete three times before settling on,

‘What kind of favour?’

Simple, yet assertive, she thought. Before clicking the sleep button on her phone, deciding she would read the rest of her messages later.

Slowly making her way out of bed and down to the kitchen, making sure the woozy spell she had in the morning was just a once off, she was met with Kira sitting at the kitchen table, typing away at her laptop. She cleared her throat so as not to scare her, before grabbing a glass from the cupboard and filling it with water.

“How are you feeling, sweetie?” Kira's voice filled the quiet room. After taking a small sip of water she turned to face her stepmom, “Better, probably was stress, like dad said.” Tallulah said, and Kira nodded in agreement. “Did you get Paul's message?” the older woman asked, a glint of hope evident in her eyes. “I did..” Tallulah spoke apprehensively, “I thought you guys didn't like him and now you're giving him my number and telling him I can help him out?” she asked, not in an aggressive way, more so curious. This brought out a laugh from Kira, “It’s not that we don’t like him, per se.” she chose her next words carefully, “It's just that, we’ve known him since he was a child and we just want to make sure you are careful and don’t get too caught up in his world. Plus his age doesn’t help..” she trailed. His world, Tallulah questioned herself, chalking it up to be what Lenna had been talking about at the cafe, him and Rachel's tumultuous relationship. She smirked at the age comment before slyly saying, “aren’t you six years younger than my dad?”She was only 7 years younger than Paul, and while she had absolutely no interest in him in that regard, there was definitely something interesting to her about him.

Kira nodded her head at her comment, “Yes. But I wasn’t 18 when I met your father. We both had life experience before meeting, it makes a world of a difference dear. But it is your life, and we want you to be safe, happy and healthy. Whatever gives you all of that, we will be supportive of. Within reason of course.”

Tallulah smiled, appreciative that Kira was treating her like an adult, not a child.

Letting Kira get back to her work, she heads out to the back porch, hoping some fresh air would do her some good. Settling on the porch swing, she checked her phone again as it buzzed, the same unknown number she now knew to be Pauls, had sent her message,

‘The Uley’s bookstore down by Third Beach got some water damage a few months back after a storm. I could use your help repainting some of the structures, nothing too intense.’

Tallulah thought it over. It would give her something to do, that her dad would actually allow her to do. The idea of spending time with Paul didn’t hurt either, if anything, it made her excited. She added him into her phone as a contact before replying,

‘I’m in.’

She sat in the porch swing, breathing in the fresh air and watching the treetops sway. It reminded her of her dream, the dark gray wolf filling her thoughts. The dull ache in her chest had been replaced with a fluttering feeling. The sound of a wolf howling through the windless air broke her train of thoughts, causing her to smile. Maybe the wolf was real.

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