#would have extremely interesting takes on animal instinct and human morality

[abyssalpriest]

sketch i had in mind for a painting in light of that last post, on the topic of death lullabies and parents throughout history petitioning Death as a gentle release to take their kids who they believe (emphasis on the subjectivity of this situation) are better off at peace, rather than in the horrors of life in need.

[44-mr-midnight-44]

🤭 Tee hee why thank you :3

I have a LOT of AUs and I'm veeeeery very very big on worldbuilding so if that floats your boat, stay tuned. I'm especially big on crossover AUs with like a bajillion characters from different fandoms in one story, so if that also (less likely) floats your boat, then I got those too.

If you're interested, here's some of my CCCC(-related) AUs:

-Untitled Chonny Jash AU, I mostly write for the Separation AU whilst my lover would do more for the Main AU. In the Separation AU, Heart and Mind are these bizarre wild animals called ids that Whole (Cameron) spawned shortly after emancipation as a kid and raised. This story has less of a linear timeline and is more of a bunch of shenanigans, but if bizarre incredibly-dumb-but-incredibly-sweet animals are your thing you'll love it.

-Pillow Club, a crossover AU where basically all of my blorbos live together and the worldbuilding is essentially "what if fictional characters lived in the cluck-all middle of nowhere in Modern Iceland?" Heart in this AU is one of the main protagonists, and ids also play a big part in the worldbuilding as they live in a sanctuary in a forest somewhere and I have thought WAY too in-detail about this. Also, Soul and Simon Hawaii Pt ii have a situationship in this AU.

-Deteriorating Waters, my dystopian crossover AU also in the cluck-all middle of nowhere in Modern Iceland where fantasy-setting/magical characters are the supremacist majority and everyone else has to deal with things like getting cancer from magic, humans being portrayed as the "evil species", being forcibly integrated in a culture they aren't equipped for, lots and lots and lots and lots of real-world-parallel discrimination and horrors, etc. Heart is yet again a protagonist in this AU and is whole thing is how CLUCKED UP this dude is, like holy bananers he has a really horrific background, and his arc revolves around learning to be happy in-spite of how bad his life has been. He deals with a lot of racism towards him for being an id and also finds himself in a lot of bad situations. Mind and Soul are also more messed up too, and they all actually have a really bad relationship for most of the story, but the story has an admittedly almost sappy really happy ending. Fun fact, this is one of my only two stories that is specifically adult-oriented!

-Elsewhere Reflective, my favourite, which is my hero-villain crossover AU! I summed it all up pretty well here:

-Rubatotic Limbo, which is essentially just summarised as "Heart Chonny Jash gets isekai'd to random video games I like" and it's great and I gotta start clucking writing it already

-Modern AU/Optimystic, which is actually one of the AUs this version of Heart is in! Basically, take this AU, but instead of Cacophony leading to him being stuck on the Isle, he goes into real world adulthood and works as a Starbucks barista, goes to college for astronomy, lives on a (not-real-in real-life) county in Long Island, and goes on normal human adventures as a creechur, in a world where fictional characters live alongside humans seamlessly (think like BoJack Horseman, but instead of animals it's characters, and way way less grimdark). Funnily it's called that, as literally all of my AUs except for like two extremely small ones are modern. And this AU is in 2013.

-Reflecting Elsewhere, the "darker" version of Elsewhere Reflective, the only story I have that doesn't have a set "moral" or kinda lesson to learn albeit still has a happy ending. It's based on whump and is a VERY self-indulgent story, like one of those "story I think about at night where characters suffer" stories. HMSW2 also stem from Lost at Sea here, and Heart and Mind in this AU are semi-ancient beings that war for control eternally due to an instinct they can't ignore induced via Soul's intense desire to get ahold of himself. So long as Soul desires to heal, they will always fight, or so it's told in mythology. Heart is more fixated on ruling this world for a logical reason, that being so Mind doesn't act on bad urges, taking control simply because it's the better option, whilst Mind takes control for an emotional reason; out-of-spite for Heart and to rule how he sees fit. This makes them go against their domains, and make them exact hypocrites for why they hate one another. This world is the result of Soul's consciousness forming an entire universe that abducts people from other worlds and permanently holds them within itself, not only trapping them there but removing their ability perish; forcing them to eternally come back when they die. Just like Elsewhere, it is locked in eternal night, and is frigidly cold; everyone lives in a golden, bustling city, too. Everyone is simply attempting to cope with their forever-imprisonment, and heroes and villains started as apart of this.

-Solar Trail, my kingdom AU, where everyone lives in different kingdoms ruled by my different blorbos in one small continent. Mind is the ruler of Soul's kingdom and he forced Heart to be a jester, whom embraced his role as a means to scheme against Mind unsuspicously. Unfortunately, people only find him funny when he's being exposed to violence, leading to Heart associating validation with violence. Ouch.

The main ones I'll probably be posting about it Elsewhere, Modern AU, and Reflecting, but ABSOLUTELY also Lost at Sea. So stay tuned hee hee!

Just little kids, brother and sister, playing a game of tag in the Lítost Isle.

For some context, in my AU Lost at Sea Heart and Mind live in isolation with Soul on an anomalous isle that is essentially the result of Soul's damaged consciousness spilling out into the physical world.

Heart and Mind first lived in a cramped apartment where Soul tried to hide them from the world, ashamed of their existence, and became kids due to how Soul perceived them; but then Soul broke more and the Isle was created.

Heart and Mind are perfectly content playing with each other all day, no responsibilities. They're homeschooled, are fed nothing but candy and microwaveable meals, have sleepovers with one another constantly, and only deal with the occasional snapping from Soul, albeit it's never too harsh.

It doesn't stay so simple. But it's good for bow.

(also Heart is cis female and Mind is cis male in my AU for reference)

(REBLOGS > LIKES) + (DON'T TAG AS SHIP.)

[daily-dose-of-imagines]

(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ Matchup ♥

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Naruto, One Piece, and Free Match-Up Request

May I request another match-up but for Free, One Piece, and Naruto this time? :) Here’s all my info once more!

Name: Corethra (or Corey for short)

Age: 25

Gender: Female

Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual

Occupation: Hand Packer at an ice cream factory. I work 12 hours (5:30pm to 6am) on a rotating schedule.

Birthplace: Memphis, TN, USA. I was raised in the neighborhood called Frayser which is the most impoverished area in Memphis and has a high crime rate as expected.

Zodiac Sign: Pisces (born March 2) My full birth chart can be found here

Enneagram: 5w6

Chinese Zodiac: Year Of The Pig

MBTI Type: INFJ

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Hogwarts House: Slytherin

Love Language: Acts Of Service

Race/Ethnicity: African-American

Height: 4'11 (Call me short and I’ll kick your butt!)

Body Type/Shape: Average but well developed figure at best. I weigh about 158 lbs and am pretty insecure about my body. I also have really bad scars on my left arm from being bitten by a dog.

Hair Color/Style: Black and naturally curly but I keep it flat-ironed so it’s straight. It’s long and goes down to just below my shoulder blades. There are times when I will have braids put in of various lengths.

Glasses or No?: Yes I wear glasses

Eye Color: Brown

Dress Style: I usually dress up in a casual way, just throwing on whatever looks good at the time but I will sometimes put in the effort when the time calls for it or when I’m in a good mood. I have an affinity for the punk, emo, and goth styles and I rarely wear feminine clothes but I will wear something risky every once in a while.

Hobbies/Interests: Video games, reading, writing, anime, internet surfing, listening to music, politics (sometimes), watching movies/TV shows, basically being an overall nerd. I’m usually either on my laptop or one of my many video game consoles if I’m not on my phone or reading one of my books.

Dislikes: Ignorance, stupidity, restriction, manipulation/gas-lighting, bullying, humanity, not being understood, corruption/injustice, close-mindedness

Personality: At first glance, I seem quiet and keep to myself, only speaking when I need to or when I’m spoken to. I’m an anti-social introvert to the fullest and don’t care much for small talk or going out. I prefer to have deeper conversations. When I get comfortable enough in whatever environment I’m in, I start to open up bit by bit. I’m a tomboy and pretty rough-minded as well as stubborn. I’m very sassy, have a smart, sarcastic, and witty mouth if not humorous and outrageous at times, can be borderline rude and mean, and I’m more sensitive than I care to be. I can literally cry at someone’s suffering especially if it’s someone I’m close to or even a total stranger. I’m very empathetic and my heart is bigger than what most people would expect. Most people describe me as quiet, intelligent, creative, dorky, a smartass, and really sweet. I love a good laugh and have an open sense of humor to boot.

Many of my friends say that I’m very sweet and kind which I usually am if I’m in a good mood as well as affectionate as hell. Hugs and pet names galore with me! However only my friends and family see that side of me. My language is often unfiltered, harsh, foul, and blunt which shocks people because they think I’m a pure angel. I say what I want when I want and no one tells me otherwise. If they do, they can expect a mouthful from me. I’m an escapist and very imaginative, can be a bit scatterbrained at times, and I’m methodical and detailed to the point of perfectionism. I’m usually a walking contradiction in terms of personality in so many ways to the point where the real me is almost impossible to decipher. To make matters more complicated, I’m not very good at expressing myself verbally and prefer to let my actions do the talking. I also express myself better through written form.

I have many pet peeves and I get annoyed easily in general. I’m also slowly embracing misanthropy and nihilism but I can be pretty idealistic so it balances out. I’m practically zero tolerance when it comes to bullshit. I hate confrontation and conflict but I’m starting to work on it so I can be less passive-aggressive and more assertive. I also wish to stand up for myself more often than I should so people won’t think that I’m weak and an easy target. I’m pretty cynical which is to be expected and usually expect the worst from people. When someone angers me, I will either just withdraw altogether and completely cut them off (slam the door basically) or get in their face and go off before doing the former. I’m the “hold my anger in and release it all at once” type but I hope to change that one day and stop letting things fester before they get out of hand. I can be quite petty and even cold as well and if someone wrongs me, they will have to make the first move to mend fences. I refuse to apologize if I’m not in the wrong and I will not accept gaslighting/guilt tripping. I also refuse to change for others and will admit to having quite a lot of pride but that’s mostly due to me not wanting to be hurt and manipulated, mistreated, or used.

I have issues with trust and a wild imagination to boot. I usually trust my instincts and can see right through bullshit. I don’t like taking risks and I have to know all the details when I do something so I don’t mess up and look like an idiot. I am indeed a perfectionist and introverted to a fault which often prevents me from trying new things and going outside my comfort zone. I haven’t been in a relationship yet and am still a virgin due to my issues with trust and not wanting to be hurt or humiliated as well as being quite picky/perfectionistic with the people I allow in my life. I have high standards for both people and myself although I’m pretty laid-back and my dislike of conflict allows me to also take a lot of shit from people too before I eventually say “fuck it” and slam the door or go off on them. I don’t think very highly of myself and can sometimes fall into a period of self-hatred and self-pity.

Many people praise me for my intelligence which is fitting since I’m an intellectual. My ideals and beliefs are rather odd to say the least (I’m a classical liberal/independent and despise most ideologies/ideas. This includes religion, feminism, social justice, traditionalism, statism, big government, nationalism, socialism/communism, etc.) and I feel misunderstood because of it (mostly because of the black community ostracizing me). I am indeed a rebel, open-minded, and a free thinker. No one tells me how to think or feel or else they face my wrath. I highly value power over myself and I think it’s the most important thing that a person needs in order to survive. I am definitely an outcast at heart and I often distance myself from others and don’t like talking about my feelings or beliefs because I think most people lack the ability/capacity to understand me. Before I give my opinion on something, I like to do as much research as possible as well as look at things from all perspectives before coming to my own conclusion. I don’t mind discussing things but I prefer logic over emotion when doing so which makes it damn near impossible these days for me to have an real conversation without insults and threats being thrown (usually towards me). Chances are I’m gonna find something wrong with damn near anything someone believes in or says and I’m not afraid to call it out when I see it. Once I do open up and express how I feel, the gates of passion will open up and never close. I also have high morals and values and stick to my guns no matter what which can make me pretty stubborn at times.

I’m currently battling depression and often experience many symptoms of it including suicidal thoughts and depression spells. I also suffer from iron-deficiency anemia as well as irregular, prolonged periods. These things are pretty annoying for me to deal with whenever they flare up. 

Overall, I’m pretty crazy and a handful to deal with. Good luck matching me up with someone :P

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Hello @sacredwarrior88 and thank you so much for requesting with us! I am so sorry that this came out so late, but I do hope you enjoy this!

>Admin 𝕋

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

𝐼 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓅 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽…

Ace! I feel that you and ace would be such a great couple! He is open minded and kind to others whereas you are the same way! You are passionate like he is, caring like he is, loyal to the bone like he is! He would see you and see your personality and just instantly fall in love you and your personality! Like, I can’t even imagine how much he will want you on his crew, so they he can keep on you and protect you at all times-- though he will soon figure out that you don’t need help, you can take care yourself--which he will find extremely attractive, no doubt about that! 

He will love that fact that you are independent, because he really values individualism and independency, he sees it as a great traits to have. But he will also love the fact that you are sensitive, and can sometimes get into your own  head. He understands that, knows it all too well, so he will try with all his might to try and make sure that you are happy and always smiling! But he will love how fierce you can be to other people, never bowing down to their expectations! 

All in all, I feel like Ace would be a great man for you in the one piece universe! He would be attentive to you, would love your attitude and personality, and would absolutely adore how loyal and strong you are! make sure to love him thoroughly!

Ah, Sai! He is much like Ace, just a little less emotional, which is fine! I feel like you and Sai would make a couple for a couple reasons! He would love how mature you are, and how logical you can be, and-- like ace-- he loves the fact that you are extremely loyal to your friends! That is a true factor in the way he will see you, and it is for the better! He will se how strong you are, emotionally and will be envious and at the same time fascinated! I Feel like Sai will look at you with wide eyes, his breath caught in his throat, his heart beating wildly in his ribcage because he will love you that much! All the things you are interested he will want to hear with enthusiasm, everything you love he will want to learn and hear from you, to get to know you better!

Another thing is that if you were to go to him with your insecurities and how you are battling depression, he will try to understand, and once he does he will try to everything and anything to make sure you feel better! You need a massage? He’s on it! You need cuddles? oh yeah he will give you some! You need chocolate or sweets or anything of the like? He’ll run to the store, and be back 5 minutes tops! 

All in all, I feel like the cool, mature Sai, with a heart of pure gold will be such a good match for you! He will make sure that you uncomfortable with him, he will never want to make you unhappy, and he will definitely do anything i his power to make sure that you will keep on loving him as much as you can!

Rei! Now, with Rei, I wanted to go a more cute route. I feel that Rei would be equal parts and scared and in love with you! He sees how strong you are against people that oppose, he sees how strong you are for your friends, and how you have such a different personality to everybody else around him, and he will immediately fall in with you. Like instantly! To him, you’d be like a beautiful butterfly blooming right in front of him, and he will want to have you all tot himself! Of course, he won’t force you, but he will definitely watch you at a distance longingly!

He is very much an introvert and your calm but strong aura would definitely help with his anxiety! I just see him melting next you, into your lap or shoulder whenever you are around him because he is so comfortable around you. He doesn’t do this with just anybody so it would be a real honor! And when it it comes to your insecurities, he would want to make sure that you know he loves you the way are, and if you were to want to change something about yourself, then he will support you all the way, as long as you are happy! He will just love that you are such a freethinker and so openminded about things, so unlike him!

All in all, I feel like Rei would love you and (somewhat) idolize because you have all these traits that he would love to have. This perfectionist will understand how it feels to be such a perfectionist and will want to help you with that too! He will love to the moon and back(stroke)!

[aspenflower17]

Finding You (Part Three of ??)

Hey, hey, hey everyone! I’m back with part three! This update is shorter than the other ones, but I wanted to publish this part for you guys :) If you wanna check out the other parts, their links are down below.

Part One Link Part Two Link

@simpingforsatan and @naimena

F! Mc/Satan

Word count: 1,460

Warnings: none this time!

“Your brother?”

“Yeah. I… I think there was a… a… stampede… Of demons, and I accidentally let go of his hand, and I don’t know where he is now,” the small angel looked up at the demon, and winced, her neck hurting her.

“A stampede huh?” Satan chuckled at the word, and crouched down. The feeling that he’d met her before was even stronger seeing her close up.

“Well, what else would it have been?”

“There are other words you could have used, but I suppose stampede works just as well. Just don’t let other demons here you say that; they’ll think you were trying to insult them.”

“Oh, I definitely wasn’t trying to do that,” Mc explained, her words tumbling out much too quickly.

Satan just put up his hand with a smile, halting her words, “I know you didn’t.” He found the young angel intriguing. Most angels wouldn’t have asked him, a demon, for help, much less apologized for using a word that was commonly thought of for animals for demons. Especially one that called Luke of all people a big brother.

“... Did you see it? The… ?”

“Stampede? I did actually. I was part of the cause actually. I apologize for that.”

“It’s okay, as long as you help me find my brother.”

“That is more than fair,” Satan agreed, offering a hand to help pull the small angel up. Once she was up, she started dusting off her small dress.

Satan chuckled, “Do you want me to help get them out of your hair?”

Mc smiled up at him, “Yes, thank you!”

Her hair was in a braid, so some small bits were stuck in there, but he got most of the large bits, “You had a whole leaf up there,” he said, showing her a large leaf.

She took the leaf from him, staring at it, “Is it supposed to be black like that?”

“Yes. It’s from that tree over there.”

“Is it because you guys don’t have a sun?”

“Mostly.”

“That’s really cool!”

“Heh. I’m glad you think so.”

They started walking, and Mc grabbed his hand by instinct. Satan was impressed that he didn’t pull away, not having had someone hold his hand since…

“So, where am I taking you?”

“Pur.. Pu.. Purag... “

“Purgatory Hall?”

“Yes,” she smiled.

“Off to Purgatory Hall then.”

The angel was full of questions, the demon more than willing to answer all of them. Her curiosity was refreshing, and he found himself completely at ease. Most children made him a bit irritated but she seemed to be more mature than a lot of other children he’d met her age. He still couldn’t place why she seemed so familiar. Even small actions had his brain screaming he knew her.

For her part, she was quickly growing to enjoy the demon's company. He was extremely knowledgeable, and answered all her questions completely and without annoyance. She was generally aware of when someone was talking down to her, and there was no guise with him. He was probably tailoring his responses down a bit, but it wasn’t demeaning.

“So, can I ask you a question?” Satan asked.

“If you want.”

“This may sound strange, but have we met before?”

Mc blinked a bit, that definitely not being the question she was expecting, “Ummm… I don’t think so. Unless you’ve been to the Celestial Realm.”

“Nope. I haven’t had the pleasure.”

“Oh… Well, I’ve never been here before…”

“Also, your older brother. What’s his name?”

“Luke.”

“I knew it,” Satan muttered, pleased he’d been right.

“... Knew it?”

“Oh. I saw you guys walking in the park before the stampede happened.”

Mc narrowed her eyes, “Are you making fun of me?”

“Maybe a little bit,” Satan laughed.

Mc shook her head, a smile creeping onto her face at seeing him laugh, “That’s not very nice you know. But, did you say you know Big Brother?”

“I do, though I didn’t know he had a little sister.”

“With Sim.”

“I’m a newer addition to the family.”

“Family?”

“... Do You mean Simeon?”

“Oh yeah. Luke and Sim were really nice to me when I got up to the Celestial Realm, so when I was able to become an angel they decided I needed to be in their family,” the young angel smiled softly.

“I thought all angels were supposed to be nice.”

“Oh, they… We are. It’s just… I was lonely when I got there, and they listened to me instead of just telling me I’d be alright after a while.”

“You were lonely?”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Did they say why?” Satan had a strange feeling about the whole thing, but he couldn’t put his finger on what was bugging him.

“Well, the other angels said it’s cuz’ I’m missing someone I knew during my life as a human. They promised after being there awhile I’d find them and I’d feel better.”

“... Did it ever happen?” Satan asked, pretty sure he already knew the answer.

“... No.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, it’s not like it’s your fault. And Sim and Big Brother help me feel okay most of the time,” as Mc fell quiet, she realized… She wasn’t feeling very lonely right then. In fact, she wasn’t feeling lonely at all. She blinked a couple times, something tugging at her mind. She turned to look up at the blonde demon next to her who seemed caught up for the moment in his own thoughts. The small furrow between his brows. His other hand on his chin. Green eyes trying to turn a problem around in his mind. This feeling of safety and contentment with a demon she’d never met?... Wait. He knew Luke?

“Were you one of the demons who called him chihuahua during the exchange program?”

“Huh? Oh, that. Kind of. It was mostly my brothers, but I may have called him chihuahua a couple times. He really did carry on like a dog sometimes.”

“He said he didn’t like the exchange program because of that.”

“I think there was more at play then just us calling him that, but I’m sure that was something that didn’t help. He seemed to be… okay with us last time I saw him. That was quite a while ago.”

“He did warn me about demons, but I think what Sim said is more true.”

“What’d he say?” Satan asked.

“He told me demon’s can be scary, like what happened earlier, but they’re really not that bad like you. Besides corrupting humans of course.”

Satan chuckled at the statement, the compliment not going unnoticed. She was matter of fact with the statement, not accusing demonkind of anything, but simply stating a fact he couldn’t argue with in any meaningful way. While he personally didn’t see anything wrong with corrupting a human he knew all angels and a lot of humans found it morally wrong. While the child was precocious, she was just that, a child, and an angel to boot. He doubted he’d be able to debate the subtle nuances of morality with her. He also didn’t want to tell her about how terrible demons could be, finding himself wanting her good opinion. Interesting.

The rest of the walk to Purgatory Hall went like this, the two enjoying each other’s company. Satan was more than impressed with the angel’s maturity despite how young she was, and Mc was content with the demon, Luke’s earlier warning’s about demon’s seeming very silly. Soon, the dorm was in view.

“Well, here we are,” Satan said, finding he was disappointed the small angel was leaving so soon.

“You could come in,” Mc said a bit shyly, “You could say hi to big brother and Sim.”

“As great as that sounds, I should be getting back. I was supposed to be cleaning the park up. Maybe I’ll come by tomorrow,” he said seeing her crestfallen face.

“You should!”

Satan smiled again, “I’ll see what I can do. I should be getting back now though.”

“Okay… Well, thank you again for helping me.”

“It was my pleasure. Thank you for keeping me company. It was nice to have an intelligent conversation for once.”

Mc beamed at the compliment, and then started walking towards the door. She had knocked when Satan realized he’d never asked her name, “Wait, what’s your name?”

She turned to answer when the door opened to reveal a frantic looking Simeon, “There you are! Where have you been? Luke and I have been worried sick! Luke! She’s here! I found her. You nearly gave me a heart attack! Do you know how-” his voice cut off as he shut the door.

Oh well. I’ll just drop by tomorrow and ask then.

Unfortunately for Satan and Mc, when Satan got back to the park, Lucifer was waiting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next Part (which is a continuation of this part)

Thanks for reading! If you’d like to be tagged when I update this, just comment down below! There’s a lot more story than this :) Likes, reblogs and comments are always appreciated! 

[lady-griffin]

DC’s Hex Girls, aka Klarion’s Devils - The Demon

Raven

Name: Rachel Roth Age: 18 Country of Origin: Germany Species: Half human, Half Demon

Height: 5′3 Skin: Very Pale Hair: Black/Dark Blue Eyes: Red 

Raven is a young woman who has a strong desire to belong, but has come to the conclusion that she never will. Ever since she was young, people have always said - “there’s something wrong with her.” This stems from her perceived lack of emotions and her being a demon hybrid. People are instinctually afraid of Raven, even without her using her powers, something within them (animal instinct or whatever) knows she’s a danger to them. As an empath, Raven is well aware of how people actually feel about her.

When she was young, her mother died in a car accident and she went into the foster care system, where she was moved around frequently. None of her guardians could “handle” her. They would insist she was possessed, due to - furniture moving around, horrific nightmares, increase in anxiety/depression, shadows swallowing them whole, and so on.

Raven eventually ran away, deciding that people were better off without her. She did end up joining the Hex Girls, though, in the hopes that maybe she’ll belong. However, she was once more disappointed to find out that she doesn’t belong with them either. Nonetheless she stays as they’re the only ones who aren’t afraid of her (to an extent) and Raven doesn’t know what else to do. 

Despite her caustic tongue and willingness to manipulate others, Raven has shown to be a compassionate and empathetic individual. It is debatable whether her lack of willingness to fight the heroes is due to her overall apathetic nature or an actual conflict of conscience. Of course, one should never take her reluctance to fight as a lack of power. Raven is extremely dangerous and there is a reason why so many are terrified of her (including the Light).

Raven tends to be the one with the most common sense and she often acts as the voice of reason within the group, bringing the others back on track in their missions. If one pays close attention, they might notice that she subtly prevents and manipulates Klarion and the others from not going too far with their acts of cruelty and violence. Eventually, Raven will have to make a choice in regards to her life and who she actually wants to be.

Powers/Abilities

Empath – Raven feels and knows the emotions of others and she can manipulate/influence said emotions. Thus, she is able to ‘persuade’ people into doing certain things for her - usually small actions or something that the person likely does within their day to day life.

Raven is very good at digging into people’s emotional wounds, she seems to know exactly what to say in order to cause the most damage.

Soul Magic – Raven can physically manifest her soul outside of her body in both tangible and intangible forms. This is the basis for the majority of her powers, including, but not limited to -

Astral Projection (Barriers, a Raven, Claws), Darkness Manipulation, Healing, Teleportation/Portal Creation, Telekinesis and so on.

Raven’s soul is essentially the embodiment of darkness itself.

Defense – Raven is very good at defending herself and her allies and she is quite adept at avoiding most physical attacks.

Intelligent – Raven has shown herself to be quite intelligent and she has an extensive knowledge on the occult and psychology.

Multilingualism – German, French, English, and Tongues (language of demons)

Control – Raven is not someone who is easily affected by others or her surroundings. Due to the nature of her powers, Raven had learned to be in control in all matters of her life.

Demon – As a half-demon, dark magic has little to no effect on Raven and she is extremely resistant to both heat and fire. In her true demon form, Raven is almost impossible to defeat.

Weaknesses

Demon – As a half-demon, Raven is quite susceptible to the cold and is extremely vulnerable to holy magic. 

Control – Raven needs to be in constant control of herself and her emotions. When she becomes overwhelmed, she begins to lose control, causing her powers to ‘leak out.’ When her anger takes over, Raven turns into her true demon form; she has little control over herself as she’s blinded by her anger and desire for blood.

Empath Limitations – Raven is not a telepath, but she can read souls - which is less accurate and not very useful for battles. Raven can’t really control people - as there’s a limit to how much she can persuade someone into doing something that goes against their true nature.

Those who are not easily swayed by their emotions are much harder for her to influence. 

Combat/Physical Attacks – Raven is not a fighter when it comes to actual combat. If one is able to get close enough to her, she’ll likely be down for the count with a solid hit. In addition, when her soul is separated from her body, she is quite vulnerable to physical attacks.

Time Limit – Raven’s soul can only stay truly separated from her body for a limited time. If her soul is unable to return to her body in time, she will die.

Soultaker – While other things (energy, magic, physical forces) can ‘destroy’ Raven’s astral projections, they don’t hurt Raven herself. However, Katana’s sword Soultaker is unique, due to its ability to take a soul. When Soultaker slices through Raven’s astral projections it causes Raven immense pain.

Apathetic Nature – Unlike Jinx and especially unlike Angel, Raven kind of just lets life happen to her. She doesn’t really fight for what she wants and she doesn’t seem to care for herself at all.

Relationships

Raven has a distant relationship with the others, but she does get along with Jinx, Angel, and Klarion much better than she does with other people. Overall, she has a very good relationship with both Jinx and Angel, but with Klarion it’s a bit more complicated. 

Raven has a very antagonistic relationship with other bad guys, and people in general. She for the most part doesn’t interact with the Light in any real way, as she largely just interacts with Klarion and the Hex Girls. People tend to have a healthy dosage of fear when comes to Raven, which she encourages at this point in her life. Raven both wants people to be afraid of her, but also hates that everyone is scared of her. Raven doesn’t have the same anger towards the world that Jinx and Angel have, and is well aware that she’s in the wrong. 

Jinx – Jinx is probably the only real friend Raven has ever had. She is one of the few people who is able to verbally spar with Raven and while the two tend to be rather mean to each other, this is just how they communicate and get along. Neither takes it personal. Overall, Raven is more likely to engage and respond to Jinx than anyone else.

Klarion – Raven and Klarion have a strained friendship. While they have bonded over their shared interests; Klarion is essentially evil and Raven is struggling with her own morals. When Klarion acts less as a friend and more as Lord of Chaos who bosses Raven around, she is quick to turn on him. Klarion is also somewhat fearful of Raven, as he recognizes that she is one of the few individuals who could seriously harm him or worse contain him. 

Angel – Raven likes Angel better than most people, which is not saying much. But, while she can easily get annoyed with Angel, she does consider them to be friends. Raven will always come in to pull Angel away from a fight that she cannot win, no matter how much Angel protests.

Beast Boy and Nightwing - Raven is developing a complicated relationship with Beast Boy and Nightwing, as the two have been more than willing to reach out to Raven. In addition, Beast Boy and Nightwing aren’t really afraid of her, not like how others are.

Doll Divine’s X-Girl Scene Maker

[itsnotmyfaultsomepeoplecantread]

Ok I wouldn’t normally respond to this, but this person seems to be transphobic and that pisses me off.

Read this with the knowledge that I have several degrees in both biology and gender studies, and am currently pursuing a PhD in animal behavior that is literally focused on sexually dimorphic behaviors.

1) No fish are not mammals. But they are far from the only species where this happens. The diversity of what sex and reproduction mean in the life sciences is incredibly complicated, and much of it boils down to finding ways for the genes to continue to exist (hence why a lot of it is called “instinct.”) To your point, humans have tended to separate themselves from this idea of instinct, which also means that defining ourselves by our underlying natures is very complex anyway. So saying that a trans person is invalid because it’s “not natural” is a) wrong because nature does not care what you think is natural which is why biologists are constantly discovering new and weird stuff all the time and b) absurd when you also look at all the other things we do (do any other mammals have guns? No? Then shut up about what’s natural.)

2) No, I’d imagine that animals don’t have genders to begin with. Which perhaps makes humans being so insane about following gender norms a little odd, don’t you think? Unless you want to come at me with “what’s natural” again. There have, however, been many, many documented cases of animals going against their sexually dimorphic behaviors. And the variation of what these behaviors consist of is so extreme between closely related species anyway, that the evolutionary implications of how dimorphism even exists has become a very interesting field of study.

3) What is recorded in mammals is very limited. There are incredibly detailed laws regarding what you can and cannot do regarding mammal (and other large animal) research, and the majority of it can’t be done in a lab. When you are mostly studying camera traps, it’s pretty hard to study animal behaviors. So to that point, there is in fact so much we don’t know, that trying to say transgender or transsexual mammals don’t exist because we haven’t observed them is just a ridiculous concept. Because in reality, we haven’t observed much of anything.

4) And finally, as I mentioned before, gender truly is a construct. Because the behaviors of nature very so wildly from species to species and even within species. So if they have no understanding of gender, then our focus on gender is reasonably insane. However, from a physiological standpoint, there is also much that goes into regulating our bodies and our brains, that there are a lot of complexities when it comes to how we understand our bodies and our place inside of our bodies. So saying that a trans person is bad because they don’t feel that a) a gender represents them accurately OR b) that they feel they weren’t born into the right body is just transphobic. There’s not a single scientific argument you can use to justify it (aside from perhaps studying why you yourself think that to begin with). If that’s what you believe, then you do not understand science or morality. And if it’s because of religion then I’m sorry to say that Jesus, in his dress-wearing, accepting-of-everyone glory (and this is coming from an atheist but I have, in fact, read the Bible) would be incredibly disappointed in you as a person. Oh, and the next time you feel uncomfortable in your body for having more fat than you’d like, or not looking a certain way compared to someone else, then maybe you can remember that other people feel this way too, and it doesn’t give you the right to take away their fundamental human rights.

So in conclusion, don’t ever fucking come at me with “what’s natural,” because that’s what I study. And I can say that every time you think something is natural, we discover something new and even cooler than what we knew before. So I therefore have the authority to say to all the bigots in the world, go fuck yourself.

And maybe learn that your pathetic groupthink behaviors are what is preventing us from evolving. So go learn some damn empathy because the only unnatural one is you.

It’s so wild to me how people pick and choose facts to fit their opinions. The only people who say that being trans is “against nature” haven’t actually studied nature.

Anyway, here are some fish for your enjoyment.

[morsking]

i was told to come here for fate zero kotomine kirei questions? i was thinking about kirei in f/z and realized i don't think i actually completely understood his arc and specifically how it relates to his spirituality/belief in God? can you explain to me what happened to this strange knife-throwing man

i’d be VERY happy to, i love talking about kirei even if i don’t do it very often.

this is something that becomes a little more clear later on in heaven’s feel but the gist of it is that kirei has an inexplicably sadistic nature he does not understand where it comes from or why he has it. for the majority of fate/zero’s first part, he doesn’t even know it exists until gilgamesh slowly draws it out of him by making him deconstruct his own thought process and personal beliefs.

kirei was raised catholic and had a priest for a father, so kirei had catholic teachings of altruism and asceticism hammered into his young brain on top of risei’s, his father’s, expectations and desires for kirei to be “pure and beautiful”, just like kirei’s name suggests. 

kirei, however, secretly felt repressed by those teachings and expectations since forsaking personal happiness and helping others never brought him any joy, and because he never felt any joy in helping others, he reasoned that joy and pleasure were sinful indulgences that a believer, much less a priest, should never partake in. he therefore internalized displeasure and complete emotional detachment as a natural and righteous state of life. this, coupled with the catholic belief that selflessness in life would mean salvation in death, resulted in kirei becoming far too guilty to ever chase after pleasure because doing so would mean betraying not just the faith in his Lord, but also all the hard work and love his father had put into raising him as a pure and beautiful person. kirei respected his father’s ideal and tried his best to live up to it, but fundamentally could not understand it, and he could not love the man it belonged to. in response to these emotions, kirei resorted to grievous and deadly methods of self-harm to keep himself walking the righteous path.

nevertheless, kirei could not contain his curiosity (and unbeknownst to him, his yearning) for pleasure and travelled the world attempting to find meaning and enjoyment in different activities. he graduated top of his class, skipped grades as an exceptional student, worked diligently as an executor, and even ate some of the most exquisite delicacies known to man... and found them all tasteless and unfulfilling. kirei was a truly hopeless individual with no direction or sense of self and personhood. he had failed to find meaning in basic, and even some luxurious, delights every human being desires to experience.

in a desperate, final gambit to connect with the inner humanity he lacked his entire life, kirei attempted to fall in love with a woman called claudia ortensia. claudia was terminally ill, and was not expected to live for much longer. while she did love him, he could not bring himself to reciprocate despite his best efforts. they were together for two years and had a child, caren, out of wedlock. throughout his time with claudia kirei could only find salvation in claudia’s suffering. but claudia, an incorregible saint, was willing to suffer if it meant bringing him joy and salvation. claudia slowly died, and soon enough her time was at hand. kirei believed that as her husband it was his duty to at least say his farewells on her deathbed. as claudia lay dying, kirei relayed the simple fact to claudia that after all their time together, he did not love her. to prove him wrong and save him, she disconnected her life support machine. kirei cried at the sight of wife selflessly dying to save him, and claudia, with her fading strength, told him that those tears were proof that he did love her, and that love is proof of his humanity. 

unbeknownst to either of them, the true reason kirei cried was because he didn’t get to kill her himself.

kirei handed over his child to the church. if marriage did not save him, parenthood wouldn’t either. kirei contemplated suicide, but instead opted to return to his teachings and live as an executor, craving even the most artificial of purpose to justify his existence. 

we then reach fate/zero. kirei is at his lowest emotional point, and sensing the pit in his soul yearning for purpose, the grail bestows him with command spells. kotomine risei contacts his ally tohsaka tokiomi, and takes kirei under his wing as an apprentice in magecraft. 

kirei is a natural prodigy at magecraft, and is able to almost master every single discipline before abandoning it in frustration at his failure to find fulfillment and joy in it. (interestingly enough, he has a particularly high affinity for spiritual healing and surgery.) while kirei intends to follow tokiomi and risei’s orders to crown tokiomi as the victor of the grail war, he secretly begrudges being a bored pawn with no freedom and bears no actual loyalty to either of them.

in the world’s most bizarre boy-meets-girl scenario in the history of anime, kotomine kirei learns of emiya kiritsugu. kiritsugu is a mercenary employed by the einzberns to participate in the holy grail war. he has fought in countless battlefields, only joining the fight when combat is at its fiercest. he has killed scores upon scores of mages who deviate from the clocktower’s rules, and has been reported to have taken extreme measures in his assassinations such as bringing down an entire commercial airline just because his target was in it. kirei is mystified by kiritsugu’s lack of moral restraint, personhood, and regard for his own life. kirei immediately projects his own lack of self into kiritsugu and is desperate to understand him. he vows to meet kiritsugu in battle to finally grasp the answer to the question that is his existence.

as he attempts to meet kiritsugu throughout the story, kirei is approached by gilgamesh, the world’s most ancient hedonist. gilgamesh senses that kirei is repressing a fundamental part of himself, and that’s the true source of kirei’s unhappiness. gilgamesh attempts to make kirei realize that kirei has never lacked anything, he’s just tried to avert his gaze from the truth of his own nature. gilgamesh tells kirei that pleasure and joy aren’t things that are inherently sinful. human beings instinctively seek pleasure as and end in and of itself, and kirei is no different. because pleasure is a natural human drive, it can never be something unforgivable. to drive his point further, gilgamesh asks kirei that if he can’t see himself winning, then he should try to imagine a scenario where the war’s weakest combatant, matou kariya, does. 

kirei does try, but before he can tell kirei what he envisions, gilgamesh stops him. gilgamesh reveals that there was no point to engaging in speculation when kirei asks if there was one, but the fact kirei did anyway shows he found a meaningless notion entertaining, and therefore, fulfilling. this comes to a head when kirei decides to heal kariya’s burn wounds after his confrontation with tokiomi. kirei experiences a rush he’s never felt before. he hasn’t just helped kariya stay in the race for the grail out of his own volition, he has done it against his master’s orders and best interests. 

when risei is killed by kayneth, kirei finds his grief to be oddly forced and empty. surely, he must be devastated at the death of his father, the man who loved him, raised him, taught him, and made him who he is today. but strangely, his grief seems to be directed at something else. that’s when gilgamesh appears to him and tells him the reason why he’s sad isn’t that his father died, but that kirei didn’t get to kill him himself. this shocks kirei to his core, but he’s also forced to entertain that notion. once he realizes that gilgamesh IS right about what kirei really wanted out of his father, he’s ordered by tokiomi to leave japan and exit the war as demanded by irisviel if an alliance between the tohsakas and the einzberns against the matous is to take place. kirei secretly meets with gilgamesh, who is bored and frustrated with tokiomi, and they agree to partner up and kill tokiomi. kirei realizes that there was a satisfaction in killing tokiomi and having the last thing he ever saw be kirei betraying him and asserting his personal desire over his obligation to his teacher. 

kirei, now fully committed to discovering what he yearns for the most, tells kariya he will allow him to duel tokiomi once more in exchange for bringing him the container of the holy grail and the person closest to kiritsugu: irisviel. unbeknownst to kariya, tokiomi’s wife aoi has been summoned to the church by kirei. kariya finds tokiomi already dead, and aoi walks into kariya holding tokiomi’s corpse. aoi believes kariya has killed tokiomi, and angrily accuses kariya of never having loved anyone. kariya reaches the breaking point of his rage and suffering after being rejected by aoi, the person he was enduring torture and humiliation for, and asphyxiates her in madness. realizing what he’s done, kariya runs away from the church wailing in grief and guilt. kirei and gilgamesh had watched the whole affair, and kirei realizes that what he finds meaning and pleasure in is inflicting suffering upon others and watch them collapse under the crosses struggles they carry. while he does not understand why he is this way, he nevertheless wants to find out to feel complete and intends to use the grail for that purpose.

kirei meets with irisviel, and demands answers for his questions about emiya kiritsugu. irisviel reveals kiritsugu is not the heartless killing machine kirei believed him to be, but fundamentally an altruist who wishes to shower the world in peace and blessings and seeks the grail for that purpose. she condescends kirei by telling him kiritsugu is not like him, he is far better and that’s why kiritsugu will not lose. finally understanding the man whose nature has eluded him and finding where kirei’s karma stands in relation to him, kirei kills irisviel and vows to destroy kiritsugu’s dream with his own hands. 

when kiritsugu and kirei fight and the grail interferes by crowning kiritsugu the winner rather than reach a stalemate, kirei watches kiritsugu speaking with angra mainyu. he observes kiritsugu realizing that what he wanted all along was to live peacefully with his family even if it meant forsaking the world to a violent extinction. he is baffled at kiritsugu rejecting the cursed genocidal grail, and demands kiritsugu to hand it over if he doesn’t want it, because kirei has the need to find the defining principle of his own existence. after kiritsugu kills kirei and has saber destroy the grail, the curses that spill out of it engulf kirei’s corpse and resuscitate him. angra mainyu has declared kirei as the winner for the sake of using him as an anchor and a midwife for his eventual birth. 

upon seeing angra mainyu’s catastrophe, kirei concludes that the calamity he is standing over is what his heart has yearned for all this time. he laughs in shock, irony, and glee that despite kotomine risei’s righteous nature and teachings, kirei is simply a monstrous and heretical cur who thrives in the agony of mankind. when gilgamesh asks if the sight of angra mainyu’s birth has satisfied him, kirei replies that it doesn’t, because kirei has been shown the end result of his desire rather than the actual philosophical principle and logical process that guides to the outcome. so for the next 10 years, kirei wrestles with the fact that he still cannot abandon his teachings and his obligation to be somewhat helpful as a priest for the desire to reject and challenge god and allow angra mainyu to fully manifest in this world and engulf it completely to finally give his existence meaning and validity because he knows his impulses to be wrong and yet needs to know why he has them and whether he is still worthy of living while having them. he is willing to manipulate and kill and betray and curse and deprive and destroy the world just for that chance at redeeming his existence because not understanding himself and having denied himself joy for so long has utterly broken him as a person and this is all he has left after a lifetime of denying himself happiness, empathy, and understanding to work through his feelings. to bless angra mainyu’s birth as a man of the cloth would reconcile his religious principles and belief in a merciful all-loving god with his yearning to accept and comprehend himself, because if angra mainyu can be allowed to live and prosper in this world while being the unforgivable culmination of all sin, then maybe he can too. (this is also a powerful and intimate parallel to both shirou and sakura that deserves its own post that i may or may not write later.)

that’s pretty much his development throughout zero and his defining character struggle in fate/stay night. this is something that spring song will delve into further and it’s actually quite interesting how such a bastard of a man suddenly becomes so sympathetic towards the end of the entire game. 

grace if you ever have time for it i heavily encourage you to read through the heaven’s feel route whether through letsplayarchive or by playing realta nua yourself whilst we wait for a spring song release in the west because your perception of everyone will change drastically as you understand them at a much deeper level the movies could not show because of runtime constraints. i hope this explanation wasn’t too long or convoluted or raised more questions than delivered answers. three good friends of mine, thessaliah, kurozu501, and avicebro here on tumblr can probably elaborate further and offer more insight if you’re interested. 

[urupotter]

Hi! I made a tumblr just for this because I'm just a lurker in the Snapedom, but I was genuinely interested in discussing your philosophic takes with you. I'm going to preface this by saying I'm not a libertarian, so I have no weight in this (and I'm sorry you're getting insulted over your post).

This being, I agree that metaphysically property makes no sense, because it's not something that has an "essential" quality. But then, the whole concept of reality or of sense of self is also not that clear metaphysically. Can you prove that you exist? Or that I exist? That's why I don't think discussing the metaphysical concept of property is really important or fruitful, because it's too far removed from the reality (or at least the reality we think we experience). A sense of private property has always been seen everywhere both in humans and animals (yeah, I know, call to nature, but it makes sense in my argument). Try to take a toy or a collar from a dog and it'll want it back, because he thinks it is. Same when under the URSS, farmers who had to work in the collective farm prefered to take care of their own small private crops because it was theirs, rather than a vague concept of common property.

And I agree enforcing property means coercion, because it means deciding that this thing or land is mine and you can't have it. But it's a "natural" thing coming to every being around and they will all defend what's theirs. Like I'm pretty that if someone would burst into your flat and take everything, you would try to prevent them to. You would have the instinct to do it, because you consider them yours. Sure we can debate about the metaphysics of properties (and of a lot of other things), but in the end, you can't fully be against private property as a real thing. Or it would mean that everybody can come in and kill you if they want to. You raised the point that murder would decrease well-being and that's why it's illegal. But maybe killing you would be beneficial to the global level of well-being and then, it would be our duty to do it in an utilitarian point of view (I'm not threatening you or anything, I mean a figurative you, not you you).

The cogito is proof to me that something exists. As for wether my perception of reality actually corresponds to some objective reality and it’s not just part of the matrix, that I can’t prove, but I take it as an axiom, as I have nothing to lose if I’m wrong. Also, just because we don’t have proof of something doesn’t mean we shouldn’t believe it. Proof is an extremely high standard, and basically only applies in fields like mathematics.

I actually agree that there’s no point to discussing property metaphysically. That doesn’t mean that there’s no point to discussing property at all though. It still exists as a legal construct and in the real world.

My main point is that property before taxation has no real moral significance. Post taxation property doesn’t either. We should distribute property on consequentialist grounds And I’m not against private property. It’s an extremely useful concept.

While rights exist, natural rights really don’t. Rights are inherently normative claims. If you say X right exists and I say it doesn’t, all that matters is whether you have more pointy sticks or I do, or if somehow there existed a monopoly of the usage of pointy sticks to enforce either of our claims. As it stands, the state creates rights, and thats a good thing. We should compel it to create more.

[meta-squash]

Brick Club 1.2.7 “Profoundest Despair”

There’s just so much in this section, I’m just going to pick random bits that I’ve written down and go at them. I wrote a lot of notes in my February reread and even more this time.

In this section we start to really zoom in on Valjean. We go from his distant, unformed, sort of numb characterization in 1.2.6 to this deep, intense rage and injury. Hugo makes it clear that because Valjean was ignorant, but not stupid, he is able to think more about his situation and judge it (and others). It is interesting that he says this at the beginning of the chapter, and yet later on his also says that Valjean did not consciously think of any of this stuff or know what he was feeling. I’m not entirely sure how he can think things over and not think things over at the same time?

Valjean really goes for the extremes when he‘s thinking through his internal tribunal. First, he condemns his theft as extraordinary and reprehensible, then he decides that all humans should suffer greatly, then he decides that his punishment was excessive. He reaches the right answer, I think, but the machinations to get there swing wildly in terms of moral opinions.

“He asked himself whether human society could rightfully make its members submit equally, in the one case by its unreasonable carelessness and in the other by its pitiless care; and to hold a poor man forever between a lack and an excess, a lack of work, and an excess of punishment.”

This is such a good criticism of both capitalist society and the prison system. Not only is he frustrated and outraged by the extreme nature of the punishment for a rather minor crime, it’s also a condemnation of a society that, instead of helping it’s least fortunate, forces them into a bare life and a scarcity while expecting them to bootstrap themselves and survive “honestly” without giving them the ability or chance to even do so. They punish a person who desperate for being desperate due to poverty and lack of social/economic resources, but the punishment leaves them socially marked so that when they return to society, they’re stuck in the same cycle of deprivation, unable find work because no one wants to employ a former convict, so they’re left with stealing again.

There are some things that Hugo says that I just have to disagree with. “One may be wrongly irritated, but a man never feels outraged unless in some respect he is fundamentally right.” Like???? I think people just get angry when they think they’re right, but that doesn’t mean they’re fundamentally right. I’m sure Hugo got into at least one debate where the other person was fundamentally wrong and got angry? I can’t get behind this one, Hugo, sorry. People are angry all the time for stupid and wrong reasons, that doesn’t mean they’re fundamentally right.

It’s interesting, I think, that Valjean seems to have remained rather docile and neutral and empty of emotion or thought until he reaches the prison. Hugo says, “Through suffering upon suffering he gradually came to the conclusion that life was a war and that in that war he was the vanquished. He had no weapon but his hatred.” I think it’s interesting that it’s not just the suffering of poverty and hunger that makes him angry, and he doesn’t condemn society and everything until he reaches the prison. Suffering as a poor but “honest” peasant isn’t enough to reach the depths of hatred. It’s only when he reaches the prison and finds that he’s even deeper in the pit of despair and misfortune that he clings to hatred rather than numbness as a coping mechanism. It’s also not until he reaches this point that his “thoughtful” nature appears. As far as the narration is concerned for 1.2.6, he just kind of goes unthinkingly about his life, numbly doing what he has to in order to survive and for his family to survive. But when he suffers enough for his anger and hatred to flare, so too do his thoughts.

In prison Valjean has “an incomplete nature and a vanquished intelligence,” which I think is Hugo’s way of establishing him as moldable at this point. His mind “wakes up” when he reaches this point of intense suffering, but he’s still incomplete. He’s smart, but society and suffering have smothered his mind etc to the point where, in 1.2.6, he’s just going about life without much substance. Because of his intelligence, he’s able to feel that rage about his situation, and to use it as something to cling to. Hugo says it again when he’s talking about the “spark” in each soul. He really hammers home the fact that Valjean is someone who has goodness and intelligence inside him, but it’s been intensely suppressed and oppressed and needs kindness etc for it to blossom into something true.

Also, Valjean was in his late 20s when he went to prison; he doesn’t decide to go to school until he is 40. That means he’s most of his way through his sentence and extremely mired in hate before he gets an education and learns to read, etc. I think it’s interesting that he’s so mired in hate for so long, and yet when he encounters the bishop and is affected by him, it really doesn’t take very long for him to start to change. It shows the power of kindness, and really hammers home the fact that Valjean really never had felt any sort of kindness in his adult life and that “never since infancy, since his mother, since his sister, never had he been greeted with a friendly word or a kind look,” and that the bishop’s acts really had a huge impact on him.

“At times he did not even know exactly what he felt. Jean Valjean was in the dark, suffering in the dark, hating in the dark. He lived constantly in darkness, groping blindly, like a dreamer. Except, at times, there broke over him suddenly, from inside or out, a shockwave of anger, an overflow of suffering, a sudden white flash that lit up his whole soul and showed all around him in front and behind in the glare of a hideous light the fearful precipices and dark perspectives of his fate.”

Valjean’s anger seems very different from other characters in similar situations. It seems to have more light, more perspective. It seems much more self-righteous and self-preserving. Patron Minette and Valjean’s fellow inmates seem to simply accept their lot in life; they’re desperate but not angry. They don’t feel cheated by the system, they feel cheated by individuals. They do not feel they don’t belong there; they have long since accepted this is where they are, they seem frustrated or sullen, but not white-hot with rage like Valjean. Fantine is desperate and miserable but not angry; Patron Minette etc are violent and conniving but never seem to be outraged at their situation. They are “almost unconscious,” as Hugo says in 3.7.2, due to their “ignorance and misery.” Valjean, on the other hand, is still “incomplete,” I guess?

Valjean seems uniquely aware that his situation is caused by a corrupt system. Which I think is actually really interesting because of what Hugo says about about being outraged if you’re fundamentally right. In this case, the subconscious or unconscious awareness of his intrinsic goodness and “incorruptible element” makes Valjean more angry about his circumstances than someone who is not as introspective or perhaps who has totally given up and accepted their fate.

This chapter also establishes Valjean’s superhuman strength and basically describes him as a parkour master that can climb walls. I wish I could draw because reading the section describing that ability made me want a little animation of a bearded older Valjean leaping around on top of buildings.

“The peculiarity of punishment of this kind, in which the pitiless or brutalizing part predominates, is to transform gradually by a slow numbing process a man into an animal, sometimes into a wild beast.” There’s something about this sentence that is so intense and so descriptive. Again, another excellent criticism of the prison system. Only this time he straight up calls out the fact that pitiless, brutalizing punishment does nothing to help a person or rehabilitate them or do anything but totally break and dehumanize them. It feels vaguely connected to the line a page or so later, in which Valjean would look around him and say to himself “This is a dream.” The ongoing and almost inconceivable trauma of prison and galleys life making it impossible for Valjean and his fellow prisoners not to react to their circumstances in ways that either shut them down completely or make them reactionary due to ptsd.

“As motives, he had habitual indignation, bitterness, a deep sense of injury, a reaction even against the good, the innocent, and the upright, in the unlikely event he encountered them. The beginning and end of all his thoughts was hatred of human law; that hatred which, if not checked in it growth by some providential event, becomes in time a hatred of society, then hatred of the human race, then hatred of creation, revealing itself by a vague, incessant desire to injure some living being, no matter who.”

This paragraph almost seems to be Hugo foreshadowing Myriel’s kindness and the effect that has on Valjean. It makes me think of Petit Gervais, and the way Valjean’s own actions towards the innocent and unsuspecting Petit Gervais clash drastically with the effects of Myriel and start to break down all the walls and instincts Valjean built in prison.

Finally, I have a question that someone more historically inclined might be able to tell me. In the Argot section (4.7.2) Hugo describes the dungeons in the Chatelet de Paris, and says that “Men condemned to the galleys were put in this cellar until the day of their departure for Toulon.” Would Valjean have been subjected to this? Hugo doesn’t mention it in reference to Valjean, so I’m going to assume that isn’t the case, and perhaps it was an ancien regime thing that disappeared with the revolution? I just figured if Valjean had gone through that, it would have been mentioned in this section somewhere.

[rhomsfanfic]

BnHA Vampire!AU

Here we go guys, with my own take on a Vampire!AU!!

Feel free to use for your own art/writing, but please link back to this post or @ me because I would love to see what you do with it and also for the original idea

It’s long, so click read more if you are interested! Also, frequent blood mentioning if you guys are sensitive to it, you might not want to read this!

Shouta Aizawa is still a relatively young but because of his human age and incredible body control, already a fully-grown vampire. Used to be a professor at an elite school before getting turned by Hizashi after being involved in a freak accident. Has never believed in the supernatural and even after his turning, refuses to see himself as a vampire. He does not like drinking blood, eventually starving himself for a long time - resulting in dark bags under his eyes and sometimes passing out from hunger - however, he does realize fully that it’s something he has to drink to survive and rather chooses to starve until the very last bit of his sanity vanishes. Is incredibly strict and grumpy, but makes for an amazing teacher if he’s willing. Even after decades being a vampire, he’s still the one that tries the most to go back to his human roots, only ever meeting rejection. He spends his nights reading if he can, always having dry eyes because the mansion is so dark and candles do not suffice as a light source for all the reading he does. If he isn’t reading, he’s most likely outside of the mansion, trying to find new books. The new life bores him extremely, which is why he urges for new knowledge

Hizashi Yamada is the third oldest of the adult vampires, differencing himself in how flashy he is. He wears colors that absolutely stand out even at night and he loves it when people point it out to him, only reassuring him in his choice of clothes. He makes the creature of the night name proud, always up to some form of shenanigans. Hizashi is the most likely to bring “fodder” into the mansion, having his fun before letting someone dispose of the body before he/she wakes up in the mansion the next morning. He can be found in night clubs and opium holes during the night, passed out in his room in the morning. Had absolutely no problem with becoming a vampire and even though he doesn’t hunt for fun - he won’t bite someone if it isn’t absolutely necessary -, is the most seductive and efficient of them all concerning humans. Incredibly loud and annoying but also a good teacher to the young vampires for everything concerning vampire-lessons. Used to be infatuated with Shouta when he was still a human because he was so serious and no fun, eventually turning him into a vampire when he got fatally wounded. He’s almost a century older than Shouta so he claims to not remember his life as a human, hiding the deep scars it left on him with his obnoxious personality

Toshinori Yagi is second oldest of the mansion and next to Lady Midnight the patriarch of the young vampires. Probably the calmest, modest and honest of all of them, even though he keeps secrets from not only the students but also the two adult vampires under him. He just doesn’t see the necessity to tell them certain things that are more than harmful to their living alongside humans, keeping these secrets to himself. Used to be a soldier, centuries ago. Fell in a war, but got resurrected accidentally by a vampire who used to feed off the dead. Got taken under the wing of said vampire and taught all the necessities by them. Follows their teachings to the point but also has since refrained from their old practice of feeding off the death out of his own morals. After living for so long, he still carries great empathy for humans and is the most sorry for drinking blood, but after the long time of being a vampire, he can’t be bothered with starving himself anymore. Spends most of his time teaching the little bats how to be a good vampire and life alongside humans and is the only one who can go outside by day if necessary - though he will eventually start coughing blood and die if he’s out too long - due to the fact that he can transform in a more humanly form at day, looking like an old, weak man, instead of a build soldier as he does by night. Only one to also advise drinking animal blood if there is no other option but staying undercover

Nemuri Kayama - or how she wants to be called: Lady Midnight - is the oldest vampire of the pack, the lady of the house, matriarch to everyone joining them and most of the ones that were turned into vampires, and first teacher to them all. She has lived so long. So incredibly long. Think about a long time, now think longer. Do never ask her for her age or your dead. After being a very primal and instinctive vampire for centuries, she eventually got back in touch with her human roots and chose to live alongside humans as peaceful as possible, giving up her monstrosities of behavior after that long time. She formed one of the few clans of vampires that do not choose the being superior to humans and is one of the main threats to them. Used to be something like royalty as a human and even after all the years still has the same graceful but suppressing aura as she had then. Though it’s only half of her, as sometimes her beastly behavior still shows in the way she talks and relentless she is in her thinking. Could go years without drinking blood without any consequences to her sanity, but drinks it for pleasure. No matter how much she puts into living peacefully next to humans, they still mostly are fodder for her. She is well-respected in human society and attends social events by night or teaches her ways to the little bats. Otherwise, one can find her in high-end clubs or in the mansion’s saloon, where she’ll gladly talk about stories she experienced or heard for hours. Very interesting and also sleep-inducing. Had a word in Shouta’s turning and though she didn’t turn him herself, is still considered to be his matriarch due to the fact she is Hizashi’s. Even though she is the oldest and highest ranking member of the pack, she still gave rights to Toshinori that enables him to have the same place in the hierarchy as her. They never fight and are very much in correspondence with each other, however, their main point in difference is their view on humans and it comes to fragile tension every now and then between them

Izuku Midoriya was a young student in the city’s university, always incredibly curious about the supernatural and considered a little odd for his fanatical researches. However, except for being dedicated to his researches, he was naive at the same time, running right into the vampire’s lair and witnessing something he shouldn’t have. Was turned by Toshinori as a precaution, even though the vampire felt very sorry for young Izuku to have to go through that process and the tragedy that comes with being of the supernatural kind. Relatively quickly adjusted to being a vampire, however, struggles with having to drink blood and his own hunger a lot. Is in a constant fight over his own desires and morals and has a hard time getting used to it like the other students. Very curious about vampires still after becoming one himself and spends most of his time learning more about it, next to being taught by the elders

Katsuki Bakugou was yet again another student curious about the supernatural, though not to the extent of Izuku. Comes from a more prestige family and loved making fun of Izuku for his interest, while keeping his own interest to himself, due to fearing that other people would find him odd too. Used to bully Izuku a lot and when he heard about the other boy going to inspect a so-called vampire lair, he made it his purpose to spook Izuku and make fun of him. Got unwillingly pulled into the whole disaster they had to witness and turned by Toshinori too so they wouldn’t tell on the vampires. After the transformation he’s even more aggressive towards Izuku, blaming him for the procedure they had to go through, though he finds his new strength and power quite alluring. Lady Midnight fears he’s the most likely to fall into the category of vampire that would cause harm to humans just because he thinks he’s better than them, so he’s kept under close watch. Surprisingly, even though he has bad habits and swears like a sailor all the time, he is still pretty respectful towards Toshinori and Shouta. Even though he seems to have quite the superiority complex, he still learns what he’s told and much like Izuku is an example vampire for the clan

GENERAL INFORMATION FOLLOWING

Overall there are two differences in vampires, 1.) the ones that want to live next to humans and with them, accepting their thirst and do drink the blood, mostly hiding it behind sexual play or by biting people who will not cause a scene. They have an undergroup of vampires who drink exclusively from animals and/or the dead. And 2.) the ones that see themselves superior to humans, hunting and killing them with their bites just for the fun or satisfaction of their needs. They are more inhuman than number 1 and can barely stand walking through crowds of humans without attacking them. They also look more like monsters than vampires in disguise, with larger fangs and claw-like fingers, due to their constant consumption of blood and hunting habits. Vampires with a strong will can turn away from being a monstrosity and turn back into a more human-like appearance, still keeping up their inhuman speed and strength. Vampires of type 2 are still capable of conversing like humans and think logical, but are driven by their instincts more and have less reasoning to hold back or overthink situations

Vampires can go a long time without drinking blood, but with every day they starve they lose a bit of sanity and could turn back into their inhuman form at any point. They only die when exposed to the sun too long - lurking in the shadows is an option - and/or are stabbed by a silver knife/hit by a silver bullet. Vampires and other supernatural beings are the only species capable of murdering another vampire with brute force, but it’s not common practice

Vampire bites do not kill - per se. They leave the characteristic marks on the victim's body but No. 1 Vampires do not drink enough to kill the victim or let them bleed out either, their salvia can close up the wounds. They are most likely to get their victim to faint before placing them back somewhere near the village where they can be found. The marks are quite troublesome as they signalizing a vampire’s presence, so they do their best to bite somewhere, where it won’t be noticed too much later on. No. 2 Vampire’s however, kill their victims by ripping out either limbs or biting through their throats which will leave the victim dying. Ultimately a way more efficient method of hiding their presence, but also much crueler and deathly.

Vampire can eat and drink whatever they want, but will be faced with tummy aches and other medical conditions if they overdo it. Some of the main cast prefers human drinks over blood, though it gives them nothing. Lady Midnight likes the taste of red wine, but can never get drunk. Shouta likes coffee but will not get a caffeine rush from it. They simply won’t gain any negative or positive effects of it, and their bodies cannot change except if they have a high intake of blood, since that will trigger the poison in their own blood to rise and turn them into the monster they are if not controlled by their will

Turning does not happen via biting someone, but through intake of the vampire’s DNA. Most efficient are nails or hair, also in form of powder in a drink. But saliva will do just as much, it just takes a whole lot of it to be intaken by the victim to be turned. It is not possible for a human to become a vampire by having sex with them, though the species cannot impregnate each other either. Vampires cannot have children and it’s uncommon to turn a child into a vampire as that is what it will be for the rest of its life. However - though very rare - a human can possibly be turned if a vampire were to lick a very deep wound of them, the vampire’s salvia having a chance to get into the body enough to let out the poison of their being that would turn the human. Dead bodies cannot be turned anymore, as the poison simply cannot circulate through them anymore. The likelihood of a victim of No. 2 Vampires to survive and turn is small, but not impossible and more likely than them surviving.

The main goal of the vampire clan under Lady Midnight is the hiding of what they are, while also protecting the territory she managed to achieve. In the eyes of other vampires, she owns a big university city, the forests next to it and the mansion inside the forest and their mission is to protect the humans in her territory from mostly No. 2 Vampires but also No. 1 who dare to set foot into it. That’s why the clan has patrols every night and even in the day (thanks to Toshinori and eventually maybe some other characters depending on where the AU leads)

It is set in medieval times so yay for carriages, old clothes, and chaise lounges

[ask-alaska-and-hawaii]

TV Tropes: Alaska

Acting Your Intellectual Age: He has the looks of a first-grader but the mind of a seasoned mountaineer and has no interest in connecting with children that look his age. However, this could just be because he has no interest in connecting with anyone outside his ‘pack’ after what happened last time.

Adorkable: Has his moments, such as when he’s gushing about dogs. He really loves dogs.

The Alcoholic: Being Alaska, Alaska has a love for the sauce, especially salmon vodka. This usually leads him to pass out by the end. 

Animal Motif: Dogs and wolves obviously. Specifically Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies for the former and Arctic Wolves for the latter.

Badass Bookworm: Loves to read but is a natural survivalist and gunslinger.

Berserk Button: For your safety, do not mention Russia or Texas within ten feet of him. Also, don’t call him small.

Big Brother Instinct: To Hawaii and by extension the other states if they are threatened as he does genuinely care about all of them even if they do think he’s rather odd.

Big Brother Mentor: Also to Hawaii by sharing his experiences to teach her that the world isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. She, however, hasn’t taken on his nihilism and still believes in the best in people.

Big Eater: Given that he smokes marijuana, is a state, and is stress eater this is no big shocker.

Blue-and-Orange Morality: Being raised by wolves, Alaska has a mindset closer to animals than humans. For one Alaska, cares nothing for morality besides protecting his ‘pack’ (America and the other states) and judges things like disloyalty and irresponsibility far more harshly than someone being outright malicious. He also thinks that politicians need to start fighting to the death for their position. Literally. (This also could just be because he just hates politicians since they often lie to gain people’s favor)

Broken Bird: After so many years of tragedy and isolation, Alaska is understandably rather cynical.

Break the Cutie: See ‘Dark and Troubled Past’.

Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: A platonic version but he is the brooding boy to Hawaii’s gentle girl. 

Brutal Honesty: Everyone agrees that Alaska is probably the most honest of the states, however, his honesty is usually extremely impolite to which he just says ‘I say the truth, it’s their fault if they can’t accept’.

Byronic Hero: Alaska is snarky, stoic, stubborn, excessively cynical but is passionate about his beliefs and has a soft spot for the environment and its creatures.

Celibate Hero: While not asexual, he has little interest in ever having sex and it’s not just because he looks six.

Color Motif: White and gray.

Comically Serious: He does not understand jokes so he will often take these at face value.  

Crazy-Prepared: Winter’s in his state are intense, so he leaves nothing to chance. 

Dark and Troubled Past: Imagine being locked into the form of a baby, abandoned by the people who were supposed to love and protect you, find a new family in wolves only for them to be killed leaving you to survive on your own while looking a like a toddler. When you finally found someone they also die leaving you to want to curl up and die and then be adopted again but seen as odd by your adopted siblings. Yeah, Alaska having depression and anxiety makes a lot of sense.

Deadpan Snarker: Usually this, especially when at states meeting or when he’s answering asks.

Defrosting Ice Queen: Alaska is not an easy person to get along with and can be extremely rude and sarcastic especially to ask blogs that star Texas, however, it is possible for him to warm up to some people outside his family like Dave (@alaska-ask-blog-aph) or at the very least learns the ability to bite his tongue.

Emotionless Boy: Most of the time, he is extremely stoic due to the fact that when he does express emotion, he can come off as rather intense.

Everyone Has Standards: He has a strange morality, however he is openly disgusted by ‘people’ who would rip away children’s innocence.

Foil: To Hawaii. They are both disconnected states and the child of a Native mother and Caucasian parent with trauma happening to them at very young ages which caused them to act the way they do, with Alaska being very stern and no-nonsense while Hawaii is energetic and enjoys making people smile.

Friendless Background: Because of his inability to relate to children his physical age and his autism causing him panic attacks whenever he is in close proximity to others, he has very few friends other than Hawaii. 

Friend to All Children: Zigzagged. He doesn’t connect with older children very well but he does have a soft spot for toddlers and babies and even makes an attempt to be openly kind to them. He also considers the worst people the ones who would purposefully steal their innocence and wouldn’t hesitate to pull his gun on such people.

Friend to All Living Things: Hey, I said humans, I never said anything about animals but yes he does love animals particularly dogs, wolves, and eagles.

Good is Not Nice: Not nice is an understatement. He has a strange moral code, is rather rude to new people, and mainly keeps to himself but if someone dares and tries to hurt his little sister or anyone in his family, they better start running.

Guilt Complex: Blames himself for what happened to his crush.

Hates Being Touched: The only one who he will willingly let touch him, much less hug him, is Hawaii. Other than not, hands-off.

Hates Their Parent: Openly refers to Russia as ‘a sperm donor’. And that’s when he’s being nice.

The Hermit: Lives like this whenever he’s at home in his state.  

Hidden Depths: 

Instead of hockey as one would think, he enjoys figure skating and is actually pretty good.

Not shown on the blog, yet but he actually enjoys the company of toddlers like Nunavut as they are far less complicated than people who are older.

He also enjoys writing and even creates stories in his free time. He also uses it along with his personal journal as a form of therapy for himself.

Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Brother/Sister version. Alaska is the huge guy to Hawaii’s tiny girl, especially once they’re older where he’ll be at 5′11 to 6′0 to Hawaii’s 5′3. Justified as Alaska is one-fifth the size of the lower 48 and is larger than Montana, California, Texas COMBINED.

Human Mom, Non-Human Dad: While his biological father is Russia, his mother was a normal Yup'ik woman named Uki.  

Hypocrite: Alaska calls Russia a ‘cruel, crazy manchild’  when he openly calls for the deaths of anyone who betrays their country. He also wants Hawaii to seek help when he resists any for him.

Hypocrite has a Point: To be fair, being lenient with traitors is a recipe for disaster for this country.

Ice Queen: He’s a rather cold and rude person but still a nice guy underneath.

Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Cynical, rude, stubborn are all words that would accurately describe him but also family-orientated, protective, and generous when he needs to be.

Knight in Sour Armor: He does see the world as a cold and dark and is a self-proclaimed misanthrope but still does his best to protect his family and people.

Meaningful Name: Alaska’s name Inuit name, ‘Nukilik’, means ‘strong’ and given everything, he’s gone through and still living to see today, no one can say he isn’t strong. As for his European name of ‘Peter’ meaning ‘stone’ and he is stone-faced and it’s also a nice reference to Peter the Great of Russia.

Mixed Ancestry: He’s half-Slavic, half-Inuit. 

Nature Lover: Growing up most of his life in the forests of Alaska, it makes sense the woods are where he’s most comfortable especially among the animals there. He is also disgusted by hunters who hunt merely for the game and not because they need it.

Not Good with People: Type 2. My beloved grumpy boy is unsurprisingly not good with people as he can’t understand their feelings or why he offended him. However, he is good at reading the feelings of animals and emphasizes more with them.

No Social Skills: Justified due to both his upbringing. He also is very indifferent to having them at the end of the day.

Older Than They Look: Being a state this a given. However where he differs, since he was born in 1800, he’s actually older than most states but since he was basically deserted by Russia he was never given the ability to grow.

Only Sane Man: Certainly sees himself as this among the other states as he feels that they play bloated, bureaucratic politics far too much instead of working together to help their father.

The Pessimist: Alaska physically can’t bring himself to hope in the best in people since all he’s seen was the worst in people since he was young when everyone he loved just ditched him or died. 

Raised by Wolves: Played completely straight. After his mother’s tribe abandoned him in the woods an Alpha She-Wolf who had just lost her pups adopted Alaska.

Socially Awkward Hero: Alaska can scale mountains, survive massive earthquakes, and survive on his own for years. However, the ability to interact with humans or even other anthropics is the hard part.

Strong Family Resemblance: Besides his dark skin, black hair, and eye shape, Alaska is basically a younger version of Russia. This has gotten him into quite a bit of trouble like when he was accused of being a communist during the McCarthy era due to his Russian heritage and Belarus has tried to kidnap him on more than one occasion.

Sugar-and-Ice Personality: In spite of cold, loner nature and dislike for society in general, Alaska at his core is a genuinely familial, protective person who just wants to take care of those he cares about. This is best showcased in his relationship with Hawaii, who might be the only person he openly gives affection to and he did go as Elsa twice just to make her happy even if it was embarrassing for him.

Trauma Conga Line: Abandoned, seen as a threat, had his pack murdered, only person he ended up caring about dying, and nearly froze to almost-death. All when he looked 2. Someone get this boy a therapists.

Used to Be a Sweet Kid: When he was young, Alaska was a sweet and gentle boy, even while living with his wolf pack. However, due to the many tragedies in his life, he has become extremely bitter and cynical towards the world.

When She Smiles: Has given a few in some comics and chats. He even admits that the main reason he loves Hawaii (as a sister) is that she is one of the few people who can make him give a genuine smile.

[tomasorban]

THE ZODIAC: SCORPIO THE SCORPION

Date of Rulership: 23rd October-21st November; Polarity: Negative, female; Quality: Fixed; Ruling planet: Mars/Pluto; Element: Water; Body part: Reproductive organs; Colour: Deep red; Gemstone: Opal; Metal:Steel or iron.

Attempting to make sense out of the eighth sign of the zodiac can sometimes mimic the insurmountable task of trying to answer a cosmological question as to why the universe came into being. If we could equate Scorpio with a physical object, it would be an iceberg. Why, you ask? Well everyone finds it difficult to relax and be uninhibited around an iceberg, especially when you’re on a ship and there’s simply no way of telling what lies beneath the surface of the water, how big it is, and if it will steadfast melt or simply tear a slit into your vessel and sink you. What you see or what you think you see isn’t always what you get, and that tenet is truer of Scorpio than it is for any other sign.

In equating the iceberg with the archetype of Scorpio, the part resting above the water would be the desolate, unapproachable, and cryptic exterior that doesn’t quite lend itself to close investigation for fear of judgement and ridicule, and the larger part beneath the water is the smouldering chamber of power-packed emotions and unconscious images that are left to proliferate there unchecked and are rarely, if ever, vented. Just as the iceberg severs itself from a main body and floats into territories foreign to its own nature, so too does Scorpio show the side of itself that is frequently incompatible with social rituals and codes, alienating it from the joys and benefits of social intercourse. Moreover, ice is a solid, concrete form of water and Scorpio’s watery but fixed nature indicates that it is a sign that can quickly become fixated with things. Scalding is usually associated with heat, though conditions of severe cold such as those facilitated by ice can generate analogous effects. Hence just as heat and cold can scald the skin so too can Scorpio’s behavioural extremes, brooding intensity, and fiery emotional outbursts leave people with psychic burns and scars that won’t easily be forgotten or forgiven. Scorpio, then, is the iceberg that drifts through the cosmic ocean, a block of ice that remains acutely aware of its own temporal existence, vulnerability, and composition while at the same time emanating a snow-white radioactive plume around it that alerts others to proceed with caution, or better still, stay away altogether.

The soul of a Scorpio man or woman is extremely delicate, soft, and pliable. Think of it in terms of a piece of twenty-four carat gold that can easily be bent, twisted, broken in half, amalgamated with other metals, and fashioned into material things that do not accurately express the spiritual worth of ‘gold’. Being the intuitive and proud gem that it is, Scorpio knows this and inherently feels that it’s only viable recourse is to raise gargantuan walls and set cunning traps in the immediate vicinity around itself as to thwart any foreign invasion which seeks to dismantle its bubbling motivations and innermost desires. The type and nature of defences employed by the Scorpion to ensure this never comes to pass varies from person to person, however one that exists in the arsenal of all is a belligerent, angry, and red-coloured force field that will not allow another cheap laughs at its own expense. In the mind of a Scorpio, any deliberate attempt to humiliate, threated, scold, or tease, vilify and slander either itself or a fellow conscious projection of the universe violates the most vital of moral codes and deserves shameless retaliation.

As we have thus far discerned, Scorpio possesses an innate sensitivity that renders it receptive to even the slightest changes in external temperatures and environment. Thus it seems only natural that the sign might become unnecessarily fixated on trying to control and manipulate everything around it for the sake of lessening its anxieties and maintaining harmony of its inner empire in the manner that a chess player strategically positions pawns, knights, bishops, and rooks to defend an inner sanctuary epitomized by the royal couple. Like the latter, souls incarnating under the stars of Scorpio enjoy playing games in which they can draw like-minded others into their private little worlds, identify their psychic dowry and talents as well as the positive and negative elementary characteristics of their personality, and henceforward advise them on what course of action and karmic life choices they should make. Scorpio enjoys proposing unsolicited makeovers that they believe will emphasize another’s finest characteristics, inside and out, and can be quite intrusive in prying for information that it perceives to be of utmost importance to the wellbeing of its significant other, its loved ones, and itself. Being the control freak that it is, Scorpios are aversed to and become apprehensive around obstinate and autonomous persons that will steer clear of Scorpionic manipulation, especially when the individual concerned is their own partner. Like its close cousin Cancer, Scorpio doesn’t like to be confronted about the way in which it operates or the manner in which it chooses to live its life and will often go to any length to protect its emotional security and hold onto the few momentous others that comprise its cryptic and often unintelligible chess game.

“One thing you’ll really like about me,” says Scorpio, “is the fact that I’m very understanding. I understand the conflict of interests between the outer and inner landscape that can cause one to feel like a social misfit, a reject, a loser, or simply undesired and unwanted. I don’t judge people who are different from the conforming majority; on the contrary, I embrace and honour them. I’m also really good at fixing things. I simply love to pick at something until it’s either fixed or it vanishes from the face of the earth. I’m also intensely self-aware. I’m aware of gestures, subtle energies, actions, and implications that often move in the opposite direction to that of the spoken word and might have their own story to tell. Really, I haven’t got a problem in diving down into the abyssal depths of the human soul, perusing an inner darkness that contains the carnal impulses, compulsions, instincts, and latent desires within you, and then re-emerging into the conscious light to reveal how your outer landscape will inevitably undergo a metamorphosis for the worse if you don’t confront it.

Life is about experiencing this world, but it is also about learning how to die and resurrect throughout the course of one’s lifetime in order to expand the psychic and spiritual fields of our collective consciousness. Alchemically speaking, we might say it involves a threefold cycle: necrosis, the corruption of death; leucosis, rebirth through intuition; and iosis, the conciliation of conscious and unconscious elements that leads to the much desired ruby-red state of illumination. We must all come to terms with the insecurities, hostilities, and boiling obstructions within the depths of our being that set this cycle into motion, as well as find a way of reconciling these qualities with our conscious personalities in order to attain closure. Why, you ask? Well in my search for the truth I have acquired a hunch that there are other dimensions of existence beyond our physical one, and so the plight of each human being should be to purge oneself of murky, carnal qualities that go far in inhibiting the attainment of illumination, inner purity, freedom and most importantly, unalloyed love. I, for one, come into the world karmically prepared for the emotional tribulations life will inevitably throw at me, and I know of no other sign that experiences such cheerful bliss, soaring through the boundless skies like a carefree eagle, when these obstacles are finally overcome.

Like every animal on this planet, I enjoy having sex and will often engage it purely to release tension and other psychic steam that has been collecting in the confines of my subconscious for weeks if not months. Hence, anyone lucky enough to tango with me will share in the providential gift of a mind-blowing and positively uplifting experience. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ll use sex as a method of exploitation, but one should never take me for easy, and I’m not particularly interested in dispassionate and no-strings-attached casual sex. For me, sex is extremely sacred and must involve love and intimacy between two people who care for one another otherwise the act becomes pointless and futile.”

There are two symbols associated with the zodiacal sign of Scorpio. The animal totem that represents the first of these really does correspond to the distribution of stars in the sign’s constellation, and it appears that all ancient cultures from the Chaldeans, Babylonians, and Indians to the Egyptians, Hellenes, and Romans were in unanimous agreement about this. The most significant stellar body in this vivid star group was Antares, a bright eye otherwise known as the Heart of the Scorpion and inextricably linked with the war god Mars. In ancient Egyptian cosmogony, Scorpio was ascribed prominence as the constellation of Seth, the primordial god of destruction, irruption, anger and chaos. In a book by archaeoastronomer Jane Sellers entitled The Death of Gods in Ancient Egypt, astronomy, archaeological evidence, and mythography come together to reveal that the eighty-year battle between the gods Horus and Seth had a precessional basis, the question being which constellation of the equinoxes, Scorpius (Seth) or Taurus (Horus), would gain the ascendency after Orion (Osiris) had been obliterated from the night skies of the northern hemisphere. Given the fervent preoccupation of our ancient ancestors with celestial events, the Predynastic Egyptians would have envisioned a harmonious balance in the annual circuit of the sun when Taurus (Horus) marked the spring equinox and Scorpio (Seth) marked the autumnal equinox. This was something of a Golden Age, a locus classicus when the v-shaped bovine head of Taurus manifested by the Hyades rose heliacally over the eastern horizon at the vernal point just before sunrise and the arachnid-like form of fiery Scorpio reappeared there exactly six months afterward to herald the autumnal equinox. According to Sellers, this Golden Age would have occurred between c. 6900-4867bce before the relentless yet subtle effect of the precessional cycle knocked it all out of allignment.    

The second, an astrological shorthand for the zodiacal sign utilized by astrologers in the creation of astrological charts, looks like the small letter “m” save for the fact that the third leg terminates with an upturned arrow. Many astrologers and symbologists have attempted to anatomically define the contemporary sigil, though it appears that none of the suggestions are wholly convincing. Hypotheses linking the modern shorthand symbol to the male reproductive organs, a severed scorpion tail, the tail of the Christian devil, the tail of a mythical dragon, and a coiled serpent have all been proposed. This particular symbol has undergone many changes through time. In Egypt, four demotic tablets were uncovered that recorded days and months in which the five visible planets entered the zodiacal signs over a twenty-eight year period. These revealed that the shorthand symbol used in ancient Egypt was a snake. Alternatively, medieval treatises show an actual scorpion.

In the northern hemisphere Scorpio appears at a time when the formative forces of Mother Nature are at their weakest, but it is also a time of turbulent change when fermentation has commenced and the scales are about to tip towards the proliferation of life energy. Evolving around the rudimentary myth relating the passions of the beneficent Osiris, ancient Egyptian belief ascertained that the latter suffered death and descent into the netherworld beneath the stars of the vigilant Scorpion. In Peri Isidos kai Osiridos, we learn that Osiris’s penis was the only body part that wasn’t found his wife, the mourning Isis, who solved the enigma of how she might conceive a son posthumously by equipping him with one hewn from a piece of wood. The myth’s preoccupation with the reproductive organs, sexuality, and resurrection fits in well with Scorpio as a spiritual archetype intensely preoccupied with the cosmic cycle of death, transformation, and rebirth.      

The Scorpion exudes an energy which works in indirect and often cryptic ways. Consequentially, this sign is one of the most misunderstood in the zodiac and will more often than not encounter hostile adversities and reactions from those that cannot comprehend the benevolent intent indigenous to the Scorpion’s nature. Having said that souls incarnating under this sign possess a psychic dowry that enables them to handle and cope with such situations, for one can be sure that the universe will never impose a blueprint onto something or someone unless it is sure that that something or someone can survive experiences and consequences that might be simulated as a result. When looking at the zodiacal image and the symbols as a whole, one intuitively feels that the poisonous stinger and sharp arrow imply sharp qualities and sentiments that cut like glass such as adroitness, cleverness, and smooth-tongued straightforwardness. They also recalls the Stygian depths of Scorpio’s psyche, a raw, windswept, and multifarious breeding ground of passion, charm, astuteness, creativity, intensity, and both sexual and romantic love. These fiery traits can be attributed to the immanence of Plutonian energy in the sign, a prominent planetary position formerly held by Mars.      

[thesecundus-blog]

Character Analysis/Bio

 Name: Mello (Mihael Keehl) Age: 20

Personality:

From a young age, Mello has been conditioned to win, which has served to shape the majority of his overall demeanor. Groomed to succeed L, the world’s top three detectives, Mello has known competition since he was young and carries it with him in everything he does. Life is a game and the world is his playground; he will willingly destroy everything in his way in his effort to be number one.  Paired with an inferiority complex that is brought to light when he states that no matter what he does, he always comes in second to his primary rival, this leads him to make overblown, extreme decisions in his quest to accomplish a goal.

Highly intelligent, he has the ability to deduce and predict his opposition’s thought-process and form his own plan of attack accordingly. While his brilliance was originally intended to be utilized for noble purposes, he instead chose to exploit it in order to rise to a high rank of a criminal enterprise. His intelligence shows in his ability to form successful plans and bring them to conclusion, as referenced by one of the mafia members with whom he associates when the man asks his comrades rhetorically whether Mello has ever been wrong in the short time he worked with them. Another area where he is knowledgeable is literature, as when telling the story of Beyond Birthday—the failed successor who went on to defy L—he quotes Holden Caulfield and refers to him as, “One of history’s most famous literary bullshitters.” Given that he was second in line to succeed a genius, it would be safe to assume that his intellect is extraordinary. His reference to Caulfield and the flippant comment that followed is a clue that at some point, he immersed himself in literature to the point of becoming a bit of a well-versed critic.  

Before the explosion that destroyed his hideout and wiped out his crew, Mello appears to practice self-preservation through delegation, a primary aspect of his personality denoting selfishness.  The duties he imparts on others range from kidnapping the Japanese chief of police’s daughter (who was also Kira’s sister), having underlings seal a deal with a death god—sacrificing half of their lifespan—in order to gain the ability to see his enemy’s names and subsequently write their names in the notebook to simple tasks ranging as low as holding a mobile phone to his ear. In order to win, he has to be alive. Making others do most of his dirty work is a way to ensure this, though he will also have people do small, unimportant things for him in order to assert himself on the food-chain. However, when backed into a corner, he has personally taken drastic actions that have injured and eventually killed him, showing that he's not at all incapable of being the one who will make a move directly.

If it suits his purposes, Mello will employ his high social skills in order to gain the favor of those around him. He will seek the group or individual with the most power and align himself with them in order to exploit their position(s) for his own needs. This will often lead him to operating outside of what would be considered legal restrictions. If criminals have more pull, he will align himself with criminals. However, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that if law-abiding groups have more influence, he will turn to them instead.  

Loyalty?  What’s that? He doesn't understand the meaning of the word. Through his actions involving the Los Angeles mafia, he shows no loyalty to the L title or the institution responsible for educating and housing him. Through setting explosives all through the building which he detonated with his remaining crew inside, he shows a disregard for those with whom he works. Having no loyalty, he is not trustworthy when forming pacts and alliances. If someone’s motivations align with his own, he will use that to further his own agenda and show no qualms when it comes to disposing of the other party. In the world of Death Note, possessing a person’s name in conjunction with their image gives the notebook holder the ability to kill an individual. There is one picture of Mello in existence and it is possessed by Near after Mello (for unknown reasons) left it behind at the orphanage where he resided. That Mello goes to retrieve this photo and offers information pertaining to the rules in the notebook as a fair exchange shows that he is well-versed in acceptable business tactics and will employ them even if he is not particularly fond of the individual with whom he is interacting. Disloyalty does not necessarily suggest a lack of honor.

That said, Mello is most likely not apt to become close to anyone in the traditional sense. Instead, he will interact with those he holds the most confidence in on a level that may resemble camaraderie though in the end, he is only interested in what the individuals contribute to whatever his given cause may be. Manipulation, however, would be an incorrect assessment as those with whom he associates possess the opportunity to mutually benefit from their interactions.

He possesses a commanding air about him, even going so far as to frighten a god of death with his demeanor. Where the death gods make it a point multiple times in canon to state that helping the human who possesses their notebook is not something that interests them, Mello succeeds in having one not only assist him, but work under him and take orders. It even appears that he hands orders down to the head of the mafia sect to which he belongs, though he does so in less in the way of barking commands, more along the lines of making infallible suggestions that he knows will be heeded. He is frequently shown sitting separate from his gang, as though he has established spaces for himself that others simply don't enter.

In the words of the death god, Sidoh: "For a human, he's scary."

His lack of subtlety shows in the most ridiculously obvious ways: he’s aesthetically flashy, he owns any room that he occupies with nothing more than his presence. He likes to <i>sprawl</i> when he sits, he has the ability to stand at 5’6” next to a hulking mob boss and make the other man look small in comparison. However, this isn’t just limited to the physical. His actions are chaotic: he has launched missiles, killed, kidnapped, blackmailed the President of the United States</i> (successfully), blown his own hideout with himself in it to avoid capture, and he has done it all with poise and style. While many of his moves may be driven by impulse, they are also the result of quick-thinking on his feet and the ability to carry out actions with little time between conception and execution.  

Despite his cool exterior, Mello operates on emotion more than it appears. It is shown that he is prone to outbursts as a child such as when he is informed by the school’s headmaster that L has been defeated and killed by Kira, he launches over the man’s desk and takes him by the collar, demanding confirmation that it is in fact true that his predecessor was killed. After this incident, he regains some form of composure and makes the impulsive decision to leave the school and set out on his own. Though given the option to work alongside Near under the L title, he refuses, stating that the two of them don’t get along. He then goes on to acknowledge his own shortcomings by claiming that unlike himself, Near is able to “calmly and unemotionally solve the puzzle.” He makes decisions based on frustration and impulse but will blanket them with a calm justification, though he is very aware that emotions drive his most reckless responses.

Victory, excitement, defeat: these things all show in his facial expressions at any given time.

All bets are off if someone is considered a fierce rival. Mello will hold a grudge forever and lose his composure in the face of said rivalry. Both as a child and an adult, Mello is shown to have little patience for Near’s presence, even going so far as to recklessly pull a gun on the other in the SPK headquarters where the majority of his team is armed. Doing so shows that despite his logic and thorough planning, when in the presence of a worthy opponent, Mello’s emotions will overcome common sense to the point where he will ignore his self-preservation instinct and risk his life in exchange for instant gratification. He is also not above cheating, as he has one of the mafia members execute most of Near's team via the notebook in order to set the other back in his race to capture Kira.

Morally, Mello cannot be defined as either “good” or “evil.” Whereas L sought to bring Kira to justice, Mello states during his hunt that he wants Kira’s head, and that he “will be number one.” It is merely a byproduct of his end-game success that thousands of lives would be saved and the world would ultimately benefit from the removal of Kira. However, this is not to suggest that he is evil in any sense. Though people may get caught in his line of fire, Mello does canonically show remorse for, not his actions, but the fallout from his actions. He expresses regret for the death of his former Wammy’s schoolmate who was eliminated in the process of kidnapping Kiyomi Takada, an underling of Kira.  He also states that he originally had no intention of inadvertently causing the death of Yagami  Soichiro, Kira’s father and the chief of the Japanese Task Force, during a raid on his hideout. He may be a firebomb, but he does occasionally feel guilt for his actions.

Based on how highly he speaks of L in the spinoff novel, Another Note, he appears to hold his predecessor in high esteem despite deviating from his methods to the point where he falls into the category of “criminal.” He laments the loss of a great man and states that his killer, Kira, is “Not worth the dirt beneath (L’s) shoes” and that meeting L was “The single most valuable memory” that he possessed.  He then goes on to gloat in reference to L’s achievements and shows an overall awe of the man he was set to succeed. Mello’s reverence for his predecessor directly contradicts his criminal lifestyle and goes to show that with him, there is no black or white. There are only grey areas, self-serving initiatives that hold no place on either side of the “good and evil” spectrum. What he views as good is anything falling in line with his own wants/ideals with evil being all that opposes him and stands in his way.

With a fierce determination, Mello is unmitigated chaos. He will do anything and everything to dominate any situation which he deems worthy of his attention, including sacrifice himself if it will prove that no one else could have accomplished the goal. His drive is the thing that fuels him, though it can also be his downfall. His capability is often eclipsed by his sense of inferiority—his need to constantly prove himself to anyone he deems competition—and this can lead to him going overboard with his execution to the point of endangering himself and everyone around him. He is a vain, dangerous, untrustworthy, disloyal, self-absorbed genius who has somehow convinced himself that any uncouth action he takes in the grand scheme of things is for the greater good. He wants the world, and he fully intends on taking it.

[travllingbunny]

The 100 rewatch: 2x06 Fog of War

This episode has one major character introduction (and one minor one), which might have been a cool reveal the first time I saw it, if I hadn't been always spoiled on it; some really tense moments involving major revelations for the characters themselves, which made me think for a moment I'd give this episode a higher rating; and a very questionable follow-up to the major storyline from the previous episode, which made me rate it lower than the previous few episodes, but nowhere near as low as an upcoming episode all focused on that storyline, and that's just because it's still a minor part of this episode.

Rating: 7.5/10

You've probably guessed what I meant already: the way the show deals with the aftermath of Finn's mass murder in the Grounder village is full of problems and annoying character behavior. Which gets even worse in episode 2x08, but it starts here, when we learn that Finn was questioned by the Council*in Camp Jaha and fully cleared, because, according to Abby: "He thought he was rescuing his friends". Sorry, what? Usually it's the Grounders that get on my nerves with their dumb decisions and attitudes, but this time, this storyline always made me extremely irritated with the Arkers. WTF is wrong with their judicial system and their moral views? They used to give death sentences on the Ark for any damn thing, from smoking weed to stealing medicine for your kids to giving birth to a second child to getting born as a second child; they announced they aren't doing it on the ground, but then were insisting on maintaining law and order by locking people up for hitting someone, or shock-lashing them for letting some of them go on an authorised mission; but killing 18 unarmed civilians who weren't posing a threat, all on your own - that's what they're OK with?

*Speaking of which, who’s in the Council now? Not any of the old members, since they died in Diana’s terrorist attack last season. We never see any of the new council members and I don’t we ever even hear about the council again. It’s always apparently just the Chancellor – whoever it is at the time (Abby, Kane, Pike) – making decisions on their own.

Now, if they had released Finn on the grounds of him suffering from PTSD, having diminished capacity - that would be a different matter. But they didn't. No one ever says explicitly that Finn is suffering from PTSD or has any kind of mental issue, and if they do think he has, why haven't they tried to help him? Do they even know anything about mental health? Do they have psychologists and psychiatrists? Going by everything we see in this and the following seasons, they have no clue. But in this case, the writers didn't seem to have much of a clue, either. (The show did much better with Jasper's storyline later on, though characters in-universe treated it just as poorly.) They even let Finn carry a gun and go on a recon mission with everyone else, and this time I’m totally with Octavia when she says she can’t believe they did it. (But does this mean that Octavia is the only one bothered because she is the only one who knew one of the victims?)

There are just mentions of how Finn has changed, etc. And then Raven even tells Finn "We all have battle scars, Finn. Suck it up and build a brace for yours." Um, no, no, Raven, you cannot do this with mental scars. That's not how it works. But, ironically, she'll find that out herself with what she will go through in seasons 3-4.

When I binged the show for the first time, I thought Finn’s character was a big failure because he was supposed to likable and a good guy, but never really came off that way. On rewatch, I realized he works much better as a character if I assume he was never meant to be all that likable in the first place. But “did they actually expect me to find him likable here, or not?” is something I’m still not sure at many points, and that’s the case in this episode. If they did, they really failed. It would be different if Finn was showing real guilt over what he had done, instead of going around trying to talk to Clarke and complaining because she’s not comfortable around him. “You don’t look at me the way you used to.” Duh! What did you expect?

The episode starts with an interesting scene where Clarke and Bellamy are making plans how to save their friends from Mount Weather. Bellamy actually says at one point that, if the Council doesn’t authorize the mission to save them, he’ll go there on his own. Which he seriously meant as that’s what he does in 2x09. Bellamy then asks about Finn (the second and last time the two of them ever talk about any of each other’s love interests) and Clarke replies she hasn’t talked to Finn, while Bellamy is trying to make lighter of Finn’s actions, saying “We’ve all done bad things” - .obviously to try to make her feel better, and because he feels guilty for allowing Finn to continue the mission with just Murphy to look after him, since we know from before that he’s well aware of the gravity of Finn’s actions. Then Finn arrives, his body language saying: “Go away, I need to talk to Clarke, since my relationship with her is the most important thing in the world”. Bellamy is understanding and walks away, while Clarke is following him with her eyes until he leaves, her body language saying “I much preferred you company, why did you have to leave me with him?” She’s obviously creeped out and doesn’t know how to act around this new, murderous Finn, who appears to be so much different from what she thought the guy she fell in love was. The time they spend together – hiding from the acid fog – in the house, where Finn killed Delano, the Grounder prisoner, doesn’t help – Finn takes a chance to give her Jake’s watch, but the moment is obviously spoiled for her by Delano’s dead body she sees lying there. What do you mean, murder isn’t a great way to say “I love you”? But it seems like I’m supposed to feel sorry for him, when he and Clarke have an exchange about how war has changed them all:

“I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

“Neither do I.”

“What have we become?”

With how I feel about this storyline, it may seem odd that I’m still rating this episode rather high, but 1) it is still a rather small part of this episode (and I’m going to pour all my hate for this storyline into episode 2x08), 2) Clarke’s extreme discomfort with Finn is character and makes sense –they may have released him, but that doesn’t mean people really feel like nothing has changed, and 3) the other storylines in this episode are really good.

I really like the scenes where Bellamy and Octavia go on their own to find an entrance into Mount Weather to save Lincoln -together with some Arker guards who decided to help them rather than listen to their orders - and are shocked to find him as a Reaper, who doesn’t recognize them but seems to have some sort of a reaction to Octavia’s voice. Those scenes are really intense, and the literal darkness of the Mount Weather hallways combined with the cheesy Christmas song that starts playing all of a sudden from a wind-up toy, just before a Reaper attack, makes for one of the creepier and more effective season 2 scenes.

(Season 2 was by far the most harmonious one for the Blake sibling relationship. Or rather, the only one. Their relationship is usually extremely dysfunctional.)

Major developments happen in Mount Weather itself. This is when Jasper, Monty and the other Delinquents finally learn the truth about their hosts – thanks to Maya, who has found out that her “accidental” radioactivity contamination was planned, and realized that the 47 may soon meet the same fate as the Grounders caught in MW. I’ve always liked Maya – I trusted her since first seeing 2x01. She’s one of the most underrated characters on The 100, IMO.

The scene where Maya shows Jasper and Monty the cages with people in them and people getting drained, is a really strong one. I love this dialogue where she tries to explain the mentality of the ordinary Mountain Men and their silent complicity in what their regime is doing:

Maya: “Everyone knows, we don’t talk about it (…) Look, without the treatments, we die. What were we supposed to do?” Monty: “Die.”

It’s one of the times when the show really successfully did moral ambiguity. Monty’s answer is kind of harsh, but completely understandable since he’s just seen the horrors happening, and he’s kind of right, but he’s also kind of wrong… Because it’s not exactly easy for people to ignore such a basic instinct as survival, for the sake of morality and humanness. But as we later learn, Maya’s mother did make that choice, refuse the treatments, and die. And Maya herself will help the Arkers, and die, as a result – kind of killed by Monty himself, saying “None of us is innocent” as her final words.

We also get more insight into the Wallace father-son relationship, with signs of their upcoming conflict, and some more info about MW. Though Dante’s title is President, we learn that every president of MW has been a Wallace. They’re basically a dynasty like the Kims in North Korea. We learn that the initial plan for the 48 was to “assimilate them into our gene pool”, which explains the chocolate cake and all other attempts to charm them. Dante must have been happy to see Maya and Jasper get close, in that case all he needed to do was let nature take its course, but how did they intend to do that with the rest of the kids? Arrange marriages/relationships? Ask them for sperm/egg cells? Dante is against draining the kids and says he “won’t put them in cages like animals”. You mean, like other people you already have in cages? Mount Weather will, in Dante’s opinion, eventually will be breached by radiation, which is an explanation for the panic of the Mountain Men, but Dante insists that it’s not just important to be able to go the surface, but that he won’t deserve to survive if he allows it. Um… you already don’t deserve it. Why does he draw the line with the kids? Is it because he thinks of the Grounders as “savages” and finds it easier to dehumanize them?

(BTW, what on Earth made Dante give his son the name Cage, of all the things he could have possibly named him?!)

At the end of the episode, the kids in MW have decided to pretend and work within MW to get out, with Jasper and Monty have decided to volunteer for blood donations to fool their hosts. Raven has meanwhile discovered the secret MW channel, realized that it was MW that crashed the Exodus ship and that they are jamming all radio communications. She and Abby discussed whether to destroy the Mountain Men tower that does the jamming, which would allow them to get in radio contact with other possible survivors from other Ark stations, or to not do it and listen in to the Mountain Men conversations instead, which would allow them to rescue the kids from MW – and Abby finally made the decision to do the latter, which means she’s finally supporting Clarke in her determination to save her friends. The consequence of this is also that the Farm station survivors (including Pike, Hannah Green and Bryan) will only join the other Arkers in season 3.

The big character introduction in the episode is, of course, Lexa. Her right hand man/bodyguard Gustus is also introduced, and he utters the line “Blood must have blood”, talking about retaliation for Finn’s massacre, which is the first time we hear that line. I’ll never know if the twist at the end of the episode that Lexa is the Commander would have been a surprise for me. I was already spoiled, long before I started watching the show, that there was a character called “Commander Lexa”, that she has a relationship with Clarke at some point, and gets killed by a stray bullet after the first time they had sex – because that was a huge controversy in 2016, which you couldn’t avoid if you were visiting any online fandom sites, even if you knew nothing about The 100. So, when she introduced herself as Lexa, I knew “oh, so she’s the Commander”. The show did a good job playing against expectations by introducing her as a frail-looking young servant girl, playing on her youth and looks, so I might have been fooled otherwise, or I might have gotten suspicious after she was just standing there listening and observing Jaha and Kane all the time? Or maybe I would have thought she was someone spying for the Commander. In this episode, we just learn she’s smart and can be sneaky and likes to get a measure of her opponents/enemies – but we don’t really get more sense of what she’s like as a person and leader until around 2x09.

The thing with Kane and Jaha being made to fight to the death to supposedly decide who will live and be set free, reminds me of the Blodreina gladiator fights in season 5, except those were actual fights to the death, while this was just a ploy, and Octavia got the idea from the Roman history. But I guess that type of death match wouldn’t have been a foreign concept to the Grounders from the Wonkru.

The show tried to play with expectations for a second with Kane taking the knife to do something, as if he was going to kill Jaha, but at that point, we already knew what Kane was really like, so his attempt at self-sacrifice, in order to end the war, was not a surprise. He is still haunted by guilt for the culling (Jaha: “You didn’t order the massacre” – Kane: “Not this one”). One of the reasons I started liking him is that he is one of the few characters, alongside Clarke and Bellamy, who show genuine remorse for their actions. Another good piece of dialogue is when Jaha says that the things they did on the Ark were for survival of the human race, with Kane pointing out that the human race was, in fact, surviving without them anyway – to which Jaha replied that they are, then, doing everything for their people. Which is the justification/guiding motive Jaha has from this moment on: “for my people”.

I’m still not sure what exactly Lexa’s take from all of this was, since she declared to Kane“Your intention are honorable, and your desire for peace is true”, so apparently, she appreciated his conviction – but then she let Jaha go to be a messenger and deliver the dramatic message to the Arkers to “Leave or die!”, while detaining Kane to further talk to him, or observe him (?), or keep him as a hostage? What exactly was she planning to do with him?

Anyway, this is the only time that Lexa and Jaha ever interacted. It would have been interesting to see them talk about leadership some time, since they strike me as similar type of leaders: both are ruthless, believe that the end justifies the means and justify their actions by saying it’s all for their people, but their concept of “their people” is an abstract one, because they are less concerned with the welfare of individuals that make up the collective called “my people”, and are ready to sacrifice quite a few of them if their goals require it.

Timeline: 2 days after Human Trials. This is one of the few times we actually get some pointers about the time that has passed – and one of the few times we get a.. mini time jump. It’s weird to call 2 days a time jump, but most of the episodes start right after the previous one. It was only late in season 3 (after the “Six months earlier” tag in 3x13) that I realized how condensed the show’s timeline was.

Body count: 1 Arker guard killed by the fog, other two killed by Reapers, a couple of Reapers killed by Bellamy.

[rivetgoth]

The Twin HCs

Okay, so without the third movie (which supposedly was gonna delve into Lucifer’s backstory and Hell’s beginnings) we’ll never really know the lore for the Twin sadly, and I’ve spent a billion years thinking about it so I’m just gonna throw my headcanons at you all. I’ve put a lot of time & thought into all of this and included MANY sources both from the movies and from outside sources, but of course it may not prove to be canon should Terrance ever decide to release info we didn’t previously have :)

The Twin was the serpent in the Garden of Eden who tempted Eve. Aside from “demon snake” making this already an obvious conclusion to jump to, this fits to me because June is meant to be an Eve-like figure in “Alleluia!”, as she “eats forbidden fruit” (the book she takes even has an apple on it) and she’s cast out of God’s kingdom for trying to gain knowledge that God didn’t want her to have. The Twin is the very first being she truly interacts with in Hell, and he lures and tempts her and then steals from her. Plus a lot of what he does with Merrywood is tempt her and lure her into losing everything. It feels like a fitting parallel.

Edit: By complete coincidence I had to read some literary analysis recently that actually explored the fact that the serpent in the Garden of Eden has frequently specifically not only been used as a symbol of trickery (very very obviously fitting of the Twin), but also of a symbol of theft, which fits the Twin stealing June’s horseshoe pin from her as well, and being the carny specifically chosen to confront Merrywood in the first film after she’s damned to Hell for literally being a thief. Some scholars actually also consider the serpent a symbol of sexual desire, which is fitting since I want the Twin to f

(Actually, as a side note, what’s super interesting about that is that in Dante’s Divine Comedy the part of Hell that thieves are sent to is specifically filled with serpents, because of the reason stated above. As punishment for thievery the serpents rob the damned souls of their own identity.... THAT SOUNDS... FAMILIAR, RIGHT. ANYWAY...)

Genesis 3:14- “So the LORD God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.’”

So after the Twin tricked Eve into tasting the forbidden fruit, God curses him and all serpents to live the rest of their lives crawling on the ground. Who knows what the Twin looked like prior to this curse. We have no way of knowing, but now he was in the form of what we think of as a modern day legless, armless noodle creature. A snake.

However, Lucifer defied God, perhaps at the Twin’s plea (more on that in a second), and gave the Twin a human form with legs and all. This was a big deal, because it was a very early act of defiance against God and his wishes from Lucifer, as these were still the early days after the fall.

Nivek Ogre on the Twin- “I myself tend to have too much empathy so I wanted to make him very sympathetic. I kind of saw him as one of the original shells that were shucked down to hell. He probably made a bargain with the man below and is now living in fear trying to escape his fate by taking on the appearance of another. However while doing this he tends to see the best parts of him which gave him a slight bit of humanity. He also would see their nastiest thoughts which ultimately would do them in. It is both an empathetic and vicious character. I see myself as the bait for Lucifer.“ [source]

The “bargain with the man below” is left ambiguous; I think that could realistically fit my headcanon, if you envision that the “bargain” the Twin made with Lucifer was to defy God’s curse on him and give him a human form. However, if you go along with that idea, Ogre’s words also imply that the Twin isn’t necessarily happy with what he got on his end of the bargain. He “lives in fear trying to escape his fate”...

...Which brings me to my next point, which is that Lucifer’s powers are not nearly as strong as God’s, especially not at this point, when he was still young and had only just begun his work on Hell, and Lucifer certainly can’t create life. He could only kind of give the Twin a facade of a human form.

In “Alleluia!”, during the flashback with June, we see the Twin’s skin is different. He appears to have serpent scales almost breaking out of more human flesh, as opposed to the fully scaled form we see later on in the future (in the first movie and at the end of the second). We also see that the Twin uses a cane sometimes in the first movie.

An article about the makeup for the second movie- “[The Twin’s] make-up goes back and forth from past to present. Through the film we finally see him become the lizard-like Twin through a series of different looks like leprosy.” [source]

Note that maaaybe this isn’t the most reliable source on concrete facts, especially considering the fact that the Twin is referred to as a lizard rather than a snake lol (and I think he is definitely supposed to be a snake, he... he hisses), but it’s a good and official quote to point out the obviously intentional visual change and progression in the film. I also think the leprosy comment is interesting and fits the theme; leprosy is seen in the Bible as an uncleanliness that only God can cure. If Lucifer gave the Twin a body that goes against God’s wishes, perhaps it would begin to “fall apart” in a way similar to the way the Bible claims one who is unclean from God’s blessing would?

(comparison between the Twin’s flashback makeup and “present” makeup)

I think the Twin’s body degenerated over time and slowly returned to a more serpentine form. Lucifer’s powers could only do so much. Now, at the point he’s at by the time we see him in the first movie, I don’t think his condition will get “worse.” I don’t think he’s going to lose his humanoid form altogether, but I think initially, at the very beginning, he looked significantly more humanoid, and as time has gone on his skin has shed (the way a snake’s would) back into scales and his legs have become weaker, and it can cause him a great deal of pain to walk on them for too long a period of time, because they’re entirely unnatural to him. They directly defy God’s wishes. The Twin drinks and uses a cane, we see that in the first movie. I think he deals with a lot of physical pain.

Nivek Ogre on the Twin Part 2- “My character is the twin who’s an empath and someone who is able to take on the characteristics - physical and emotional - of anybody that they come in contact with. He’s a trickster, but at the same time I think he is one of the most empathetic characters in hell because he’s able to feel all of your pain, all of your troubles and all of the worries that you have. But also all of the secrets and the nastiness. That’s where it turns dark for him. He does show empathy, but he’s still, at the very heart of it very sociopathic and reptilian almost - in a way, cold blooded.” [source]

This quote gives the best insight to the Twin as a character, I think. To summarize as well as inject some of my own interpretation and headcanon, the Twin is very much a snake at heart. “Cold blooded,” as Ogre puts it, both literally and metaphorically. I think the Twin has a sense of morality on a totally different plain than other people, and I think he’s very instinct driven. I think he enjoys shiny things and carnival games because frankly he’s a simple creature and he’s amused and distracted and pleased easily by these things because, again, he’s a snake. He was a snake and there’s a part of him that will always be a snake. He certainly is not human, and does not have a human conscience.

However, I don’t think this makes him “evil” at all. As Ogre states numerous times, the Twin is a very, very empathetic creature, which also makes sense to me in the context of him being a snake. Snakes can sense emotion in a very unique way; they’re sensitive to touch and feeling and if a person shows fear around a snake, for example, the snake is more likely to be tense and aggressive. Being calm around snakes is imperative for their own comfort or else they lash out or flee. So in a way, snakes are incredibly empathetic, but in a very instinct-driven way. The Twin, too, can sense the emotions of others to an extreme, even supernatural degree. He can take their emotions on and adopt them as his own. He feels their pain and their fears and the darkness in their hearts that sent them to Hell in the first place. But, like Ogre said, at the end of the day he’s very “sociopathic” about it, and these don’t necessarily impact him in a long term negative way that they would a human taking on the extreme negative emotions of others, so he’s the perfect man for the job down in Hell of doing exactly that.

Although there’s no long term emotional exhaustion from the Twin when he takes these emotions on, and he’s able to “cope” with feeling negative emotion pretty easily and simply reflect it back on the person to torment them, I think that experiencing these emotions does “humanize” him in a way, or “gives him a slight bit of humanity,” as Ogre says. The Twin doesn’t experience human emotion firsthand, but he does secondhand, and that’s stopped him from being literally nothing but an instinct-driven snake. There’s something more there.

I also think the Twin is, in a strange way, very much a big brother figure for the other carnies. He has no ill feeling towards them. Actually, he has no ill feelings towards anyone (except perhaps God and his angels). Again, he’s not evil. He’s among the carnies in every major crowd scene, participating and having fun alongside the others. He’s in every audience during the songs of the first movie, even participating and laughing and throwing coins and drinking with the others, he dances with everyone at the end, and he throws his armband with everyone else in the second, and claps and cheers for June when she does the same.

He was one of the first beings in Hell, and the other carnies, I think, are very aware that he’s incredibly powerful and full of knowledge - and secrets. I think a lot of them have a lot of respect for him, and maybe fear him a bit; they certainly wouldn’t tease him the way they do the Magician. It doesn’t help that I don’t think he’s necessarily wildly social and he can be very hard to understand and connect with on an emotional level (because, again, he’s a snake), but he does care in his own way. He is, after all, an empath, and he can relate deeply to their experience of being cast out by God and trapped in Hell for eternity. He’s driven primarily by instinct, and his idea of friendship probably mostly is based around playing cards and other silly carnival games because he really clearly enjoys that, and he would have absolutely no qualms robbing you if you had something shiny on your person, but he still does care about the other carnies and has fun with them when he’s around them, even if he’s a bit cold and intimidating and difficult to interact with one-on-one.

If another carny were “make the first move” interacting with the Twin, like actually coming to his tent and initiating a conversation or asking to play a game with him, I think that’d actually make him really happy, and he’d be really happy to have someone to spend time with. He seems like he’s enjoying playing cards with Wick at the beginning of the first movie!

Cute! =}

As for some more fun headcanons I have that aren’t grounded in much but they make me happy:

The Twin hisses when he speaks because he has a snake accent. He’s gotten good at covering that accent when he’s in another person’s form, but he still slips up sometimes and you can still hear him hissing in another person’s voice. He’s working on it.

The Twin likes to tell stories, and he can get very excited while he’s telling them, and if he gets too excited, he’ll start taking the form of the people in the story as he’s telling it. Like, “And then the Magician said THIS-” [takes the form of the Magician without even realizing it]. It’s actually very entertaining and makes his stories even more fun to listen to, and he really doesn’t notice he’s doing it.

The Twin is actually impressed by the Magician’s magic on good days, which makes the Magician feel really proud of himself because the Twin is such a well respected figure in Hell, but he really shouldn’t be all too proud because actually, the Twin literally is just impressed by shiny things. The Magician conjures up some sparkles and the Twin acts like it’s the best thing he’s ever fucking seen (but, in seriousness, he’s also impressed by the Magician’s little magic tricks, because the Twin himself clearly dabbles in magic tricks in his own games, so the two of them can actually bond over that shared interest).

The Twin sheds every... I dunno, thousand years? Ten thousand years? It’s not a wildly frequent occurrence, but he sheds just like a regular snake would, which is a wildly unpleasant process. When a snake sheds, their ENTIRE body sheds, including their EYES. For a period of time before shedding a snake is almost entirely blind as its skin encloses its eyes. He’s incredibly uncomfortable during this time, not only is he blind but there’s, like, a literal full layer of skin half-attached to his body. He probably spends this time hidden away inside his tent, not social at all. Snakes in general tend to be more cautious and reserved and hostile should they be bothered during this time, because they’re so vulnerable. He’s in an extra pissy mood during this time. Then, afterwards, he gets a shiny new coat, bright green and very pretty, but it’s very sensitive at first, so he’s still not very keen on social interaction for awhile LOL. 

SO THERE YOU HAVE IT!!!!!!!!!! THERE’S MORE HONESTLY but I figured I’d keep it at this since this is already long as hell, buuuuut I wanted to share OKAY I love him. 💕🐍💕

[chocoscar-velvet]

Worldbuilding junk for my webcomic/game. OOC

Been thinking about how the faun in my world came to be, after realizing this is a criminally underrated question that never gets answered in shows or games for a race of humans with animal traits.. -cough- Not to name names….

I think it’d be interesting to have it be a genetic disease of sorts, that people are just born with. And you don’t need a faun parent/parents to have it. Which means two human parents can have a faun child. And with them being seen as only half human, many get abandoned at birth by human parents. Maybe there’s a slightly higher chance of having a faun child if both parents are fauns, but not a confirmed outcome.

You can imagine the stink a nobles family would raise if their child was born a faun. Nobles would want to change their nations laws on the inheritence of nobility to be sure a faun could never hold or have a right to power. A lot of the commoners probably wouldn’t even accept a faun noble anyway.

And with it generally not a “seperate race” but a randomly genetic ‘mistake’, fauns don’t have a very centralized/organized existence like the faunus in RWBY. Making fighting for rights or coming together for safety a slow/harder process. I.E. no “prison country” on Hawaii, full of faun. Eventually, there may be enough to make an organized effort, like a small city-state, but this would quickly get squashed by a larger, neighboring nation. Annexing the city-state, with heavy taxes and often forced labor. Faun businesses are bled dry as human businesses move in to make a killing with higher then normal pricing (it’s fauns, who cares). The resources of their city-state rapidly depleted and the landscape left in shambles, with depleted, weak, and poisoned land.

Much their small city-states was once lush forests, perhaps rolling hills full of valuable materials. Now the hills are large, mined out craters, the plains are for growing produce they’re forced to give most of to their larger nation. The forests, much are chopped down, some left to rot, others taken away, and eventually desertification sets in, further damaging the land.

10 minute edit: I figured the faun traits aren't immediately noticable at birth (ex. "Oh, the baby has ears, dear. Open that trash can, please."). Instead, to make it more difficult to hide a faun childs entire existence for nobles, traits start developing between the ages of 6 - 10. It's a mostly painless process, and it takes roughly 2-3 months to fully transition. Sort of similar to chest development. While extra appendages (like tails) don't replace anything and just kinda grow, something like ears do replace the original human variant. Faun instinctively know what animal traits they take up, and while it's random what they get, it is often related to the personality. If the child is well aware of the treatment of faun, wants to hide their traits, CAN hide their traits, and are able to trick even their family, some can live peacefully as commoners. Perhaps even nobles. Although, this last one is likely extremely rare/impossible, as nobles would rigorously check and obsess over their children at this time. The embarassment would kill them and potentially smear their status. Most children, however, would believe their family will love them anyway, just the same. This may easily be true for some, but it's not actually super common. Surely, people would ask questions if a family's child went missing or had an 'accident' at a certain age. Some Noble families would likely congratulate each other for cleaning and shaping up their heirs. As for why faun are considered below human intellect, and less then human, it's not just their appearance. While that holds a large factor, many cite simply untrue myths. (like white healthcare enthusiasts of old claiming african americans have smaller brains, just to morally justify their treatment as subhuman)