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shirophantomvox · 3 years

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Random date night with Illumi, Hisoka, and Chrollo

Hello, anon! Ask and you shall receive! This prompt is very interesting and I will try to keep it in character as much as possible. To sum this up, Hisoka would take you to an ice cream shop, a carnival, or apple orchard while Illumi would rather go to an art or historical museum. Chrollo would persuade you to attend a book reading/author signing or go hiking. Depending on who you are and what your ideal date is, I’m sure you’d find them all fun. Going to a carnival or apple orchard is my go-to since I’ve barely been because they’re all in the suburbs. These headcanons are explained much more than the others. That is why Chrollo and Illumi seem to be short, but they’re not. Also, I can’t wait for Halloween because these headcanons are going to be amazing. I am extremely sorry if there are grammar errors! Taking classes on Zoom is frustrating and now my brain has to relearn everything that I lost in 3 months! Before we get started, I have a few announcements.

This post is more laid back than my other headcanons because I tried to keep it as canon as possible.

I want to thank you all for 65 followers! It means a lot! I’m happy to see that a lot of you enjoy my writing and like it enough to follow me! I have a challenge for you! When I reach 100 followers, I will host some type of writing event here...but I need ideas. I’ve seen some pages do specials where you can send an ask and pretend like you're talking to a character and I respond with what they’d say. SEND ME IDEAS! I WILL CREDIT YOU!

I will be stepping back a little more than before. I’ll still be logged in and re-blogging but as far as writing posts like this...it may only be once or twice a week. You see, I’m in college and I’m struggling financially and I have to work on scholarships. If you all send me an ask, be patient.

Voltron posts will only be created based on asks. I will not be writing posts about VLD if no one requests them. I do not receive any feedback from it anymore and no one seems to like them.

Now, let’s get into the post.

Let's start with Illumi first.

Headcanon 1: Illumi has a secret admiration for different types of art but he specifically enjoys pop art and surrealism. He has commented on how surrealism makes his brain twist and his feelings swirl as he tries to figure out the piece and what inspires it.

He prefers not to participate in tours as he likes to digest the art at his own pace.

Headcanon 2: In his spare time, he paints on a canvas. His art style consists of both surrealism and abstract art. For a person with a dark personality, his compositions always contain bright colors and abstract techniques that leave you wondering about his TRUE personality. He is truly a good man with a bright personality but after being abused for so long, those behaviors/personalities have been shoved so far down his throat that they may not come back up.

He has a bad habit of asking you what you thought about every single piece of art you passed. The conversations were great but this is a date after all. The playful conversation slowly turns into a lecture about art. Although you loved your bf’s dictionary-like brain it also drained your energy.

One of his favorite artists is Vincent Van Gough. Although he favors surrealism, Van Gogh’s art style was mind-blowing to him. So amazed that he buys several Van Gogh t-shirts from the gift shop.

His favorite piece created by Van Gough is “Starry Night”.

He notices that you are becoming bored and decides that it is time for MORE excitement, one that you are certain to enjoy.

“Where are we going,” you ask, pretending to be interested.

“Down to the basement. We are going to have a bite to eat.”

Since Illumi rarely smiled, when he did smile it drove you wild. The anticipation of what his next move was going to be is what drove that wildness. Being a bounty hunter was thrilling already but dating a smart, badass assassin was totally out of your league but it worked out.

Headcanon 3: Illumi’s idea of being romantic is dramatically different from yours. He believes just spending time with you on the couch was enough. He is correct; but if you have the time and funds, your time together should be a little spontaneous. You insisted on dates outside of the house because his family will not stay out of your business.

“Illumi, I am too hungry for more trivia.”

He chuckles. “Don’t worry. So am I. That is why I’ve decided to take you to a wine and cheese party.”

Huh? Wine and Cheese at 3PM? That’s ok. When was there a time limit on when you can drink alcohol?

Illumi has indirectly attended parties as such when he was 15 years old. He never drank, but he watched as his mother’s friends (surprisingly) talked about business and their children. This time, you weren’t going to talk about business for once. Instead, you two were going to actually talk about what couples discuss.

Headcanon 4: When introduced to alcohol for the first time, Illumi immediately stated how he hated brown liquor. That includes Hennessy, Jack Daniels, etc. It makes him sick to his stomach. He prefers to drink Smirnoff mixed with fruity drinks like strawberry or pineapple.

He loves it when you make these drinks for him on a summer day.

Hence the title wine and cheese, you both go to a stand-up table, place your brochures down, and actually have a wonderful conversation not involving work or hunting.

Illumi smiled a few times, more than usual. Whenever he appears to be softer even around you, that is because he has mellowed out and doesn't have the overbearing weight of his family on his shoulders. You set him free.

Hisoka

According to a one-shot that another manga artist created, they expressed that Hisoka was found on the side of the road, was taken in by someone that worked at a local circus, and learned Nen in a matter of days. Hisoka’s clown look and having the skills of a magician proves that this has to be canon in some way.

Headcanon 1: Given this potential backstory, going to a carnival is his go-to every summer. He wants to take you to a circus but saves that for you as an engagement gift.

Everyone with a heart knows that whether or not you’re in a relationship or not the carnival is fun as hell! Expensive fried food, elephant ears, funnel cake, ICEE’s, rides, and stuffed animals are to die for!

Being at a carnival relaxes him so his bloodlust isn’t activated unless someone bumps into him and causes a scene.

Headcanon 2: PDA is something that Hisoka does well; he doesn’t overdo it but does it enough where people get the impression that you are a couple and aren’t “best friends”.

While completing a mission depending on how rough it may be, he insists that you tag along to see how he handles the situation. You’ve already seen his ruthlessness from Hunter’s exam but he insists.

His sense of pride gets the best of him sometimes. Sometimes his head is so big that it reminds you of a large birthday balloon.

Headcanon 3: ANYWAY, given his nature, he is very adventurous, dangerous, and courageous. If he wants to go on the Demon Drop, he’ll do it and you DO not have a choice in the matter. He’ll tease or guilt trip you into doing something that you would not like to do.

“Well, you wouldn’t want me to cling on to someone else, would you?”

“No. Of course not,” you reply.

“Let’s go then, scaredy-cat.”

As a hunter, you’ve seen worse. Why are you so afraid to go on a ride?

Headcanon 4: At apple orchards, cornfield mazes are one of his favorites. You cannot for the life of you figure out how to get out but he can. He grabs a scarecrow and scares you from behind. That annoys you but is nothing compared to later on that night.

Oh. My. God. It’s haunted house time!

“Hisoka, I’m not going in!”

“Why not? I’ll protect you.”

“Because they’re monsters and I already have to deal with one.”

It took him a second to catch on that you were talking about him.

“That’s going to bite you in the butt, kitten.”

Headcanon 5: Like Killua, Hisoka has a sweet tooth. Don’t allow his buff appearance to fool you!

He LOVES caramel apples, elephant ears, funnel cake, freshly squeezed lemonade, fudge, and cotton candy. How can this man manage to stay in shape? The world may never know.

Headcanon 6: He isn’t one to play by other people’s rules but he sets his own rules with your relationship that you both must obey. One of those rules says that neither of you can be on your phones while together.

Headcanon 7: Hisoka insists that you both wear either matching pants or matching shirts to avoid unnecessary flirtation.

He isn’t jealous but on “us time”, he doesn’t want to lose a single second.

Headcanon 8: Hisoka only jumps in when necessary. Given that you’ve passed the hunter’s exam and work as a bodyguard, he knows you can handle your business. If the person can’t take a hint, then he steps in. They almost back up immediately considering Hisoka is towering over them.

When the moon shines, you both go to the car and off to sleep in your comfy king-sized bed.

Chrollo

We all know that Chrollo loves to read! What does he specifically like to read? What Genre? Does he like to read alone or with other people?

Although Chrollo is a thief and must be hidden in the shadows, the authorities have called off the search for him for at least 3 years. Slowly but surely, he begins to find himself in the outside world again.

Chrollo once discussed a book with the Phantom Troupe when they were being transported to another place for a mission. He read “Tears of a Tiger” by Sharon M. Draper.

The reading sessions are opened with an affirmation and a reason to be thankful to be alive. He says he is thankful for the troupe, glances at you, and smiles. No one catches on to that sly face except for Phinks.

Headcanon 1: Chrollo is very silent and shy to an extent. He only associates with people he knows and trusts. You are the social butterfly at this moment.

Chrollo tags along behind you like a shy child, holding your hand while you stick out your free hand to greet everyone.

Today, the book club was going to read “Divergent”.

Headcanon 2: Although he loves to read, he hates it when others read out loud. Most people are drably read and it annoys him. After a while, he takes over. Chrollo was tense the first 30 minutes of the meeting because two cops were there but neither of them noticed it was him.

Headcanon 3: Chrollo often acts the part of the character that he is reading in the book. His tone, attitude, and emphasis on certain words keep the group engaged. He is complimented on his acting!

“Good Job, honey,” you whisper.

He responds by tightly squeezing your hand.

His tone was so impressive that the host insisted that he read for the entire night. He was ok with that because in between reads he was often distracted by a lovely pair of jeans and shoes you had on. You were into writing, so hearing others read and act out the characters helped.

Headcanon 4: In some settings, Chrollo is very braggadocious. He insisted that the group read one of your stories so you could be provided with feedback.

“We’d be delighted to view your story, y/n!”

“It will be fun!”

The book club wasn’t a stereotypical club that only consisted of soccer moms but instead consisted of men and women who were involved with a business, law enforcement, health, etc. This was an open space for everyone to relax and forget about their demanding jobs.

After the meeting, the group went to dinner at a nearby pizzeria. You all enjoyed large pizzas, beer, salads, and dessert. How could your stomach (or anyone’s stomach) hold that much?

Chrollo laughed so much that it made you question if he was your actual boyfriend or not. He even engaged in conversations with the two off-duty cops! For once, you helped Chrollo experience the greater things in life; true love, friendship, and happiness.

“Thank you,” he whispered and slyly placed a kiss on your hand. “For everything.”

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blackevermore · 3 years

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x Secrets of The Lake: The Company of Misery and Pain

{ Chapter 8 }

Summary: Vladimir Masters’ family tree has always been tainted by secrets swept under the rug. From generation to generation there have been countless reasons the Masters’ family had seemed to keep private from the public. Even to this day, Vladimir was no exception. But what was one to do when a restless spirit from the settlement years finally breaks free from restraints and demands you answer for your ancestor’s crimes? Vladimir doesn’t know. However, Clockworks does.

Notes: We just having fun, rewriting some of the canon, new adventure new characters. I will apologize now for any grammar, spelling, weird sentence structuring in advance. My brain writes faster than my fingers and even when I go back through to reread it I still miss things. Sorry about that!

Word Count: 2681

P.s: Fighting scenes are haaaaard :)

The morning went by in a flash as the Masters household found itself being decorated head to toe by 4pm. Not many people showed up to the party luckily, many chose to just enjoy their day off which was no sweat off Vlad’s back. The less the merrier. Another reason he hosted it at his home instead of at an event center. In the back of his mind though he did enjoy getting to brag about his riches to those that did arrive. The company gathering started at 6pm which left just enough time for Vlad to tell Dani yes and no for all the antics she swore she was going to get away with.

“I feel as though I don’t have to tell you not to throw any form of ice powers at the guest. But I know you well, Danielle, so no throwing ice powers at the guest.” Vlad stood in the middle of his foyer supervising the ghost staff hanging up streamers. Dani flew around helping out where she could and rolling her eyes as her father spoke.

“I won’t” She replied before shooting off towards the living room which was converted to the winter section. “Unless they ask.”

“No!” Vlad yelled and shook his head but let her be. She was in a good mood and that’s all that mattered.

“Also I invited Danny as my plus ghost.” Dani flew back into the foyer sucking on a slushie. Vlad rose a brow and nodded, not really having anything to say that would be good. Hopefully the two wouldn’t cause too much trouble, if they did, he would just brush it off and distract his guest till it was fixed. Vlad let out a big yawn feeling the sudden tiredness starting to take over. He had missed his 12pm nap due to finishing emails and the paperwork from last night. He had been running on one cup of coffee and toast and now he could feel the crash coming.

“You could go take a nap and I’ll finish this, you can trust me.” Dani smiled and gave him a thumbs up.

“Hmm as much as that sounds lovely I prefer to be awake.” He wasn’t going to tell Dani about the dreams, that would have just undid all the work he did to get her away from the topic of the ghost. Vlad held up a hand to excuse himself as he let out another big yawn and Dani shook her head at his stubbornness. “I’ll just have an espresso and tough it out.” Vlad walked towards the kitchen and asked one of the chefs to make him a cup. As he waited he sat at the kitchen table patiently, crossing his legs he pulled out his phone and checked the time. It was five minutes to 5pm and that left an hour for him to mentally prepare himself.

“Here you are, Sir.” The chef floated over and placed the cup on the table and Vlad nodded his thank you. Taking a sip he could feel his sense heighten back up once again. The party only lasted for two and half hours, if he could make it through the party he could spend the rest of the day however. Hopefully however wasn’t cleaning up any messes left by Dani and Danny. Vlad took in a deep breath and looked around the kitchen. The food was perfect as he expected and the dessert tower looked ever so daring. Ghost hurried in and out around him setting up stations, it oddly felt homely having so much activity around him, that was how lonely he had been for so long.

Vlad snorted and turned to look out the giant bay windows and saw how beautiful the sun lit up the view of the garden. He had just ordered new roses and lilies to be planted along the side of the house. A very expensive statue of a woman holding a vase above her head was the centerpiece and brought it all together. Not many people knew it, and if they did they were miles away, Vlad had a keen eye for gardening and landscaping. His mother had a giant garden and when she died he took it over and always impressed his step mothers with arrangements. ‘I need more plants inside the house’ he thought and finished his cup before standing and leaving. He floated upstairs through the ceiling and into his room to ready himself with a shower and a fresh suit. Once he was dressed he stood in his mirror looking himself over and decided to leave half of his hair down for the occasion. Making his way back downstairs he noticed that tonight's entertainment was slipping through the floor talking to each other. They looked worried and some flatout had a terrified expression plastered across their faces.

“Is there a problem?” Vlad called out to one of the groups which had two female ghosts dressed for the spring and one male ghost for the summer. They looked nervous to say anything but finally one of the girls spoke up.

“You don’t feel that?” Vlad narrowed his eyes and looked towards his sides then back to her and shook his head.

“Feel what exactly?”

“That uneasy feeling, it's everywhere in here and everyone is talking about it. Surely you’ve noticed it, dude.” The male ghost spoke in a typical Cali accent and shook in fear. Vlad tried to make sense of what they were saying but for the past few days his home had felt like his home. Nothing other than his dreams seemed out of place. And the only uneasy feeling he had was only related to what happened in the Ghost Zone. Vlad cleared his throat, not allowing the other ghost to see his face shift into worry and put on a gentle smile.

“I can assure you there is not a problem here, if there were I would have handled it by now. Now come along and get ready for the party. If there is a problem I will handle it.” The ghosts looked between each other then slowly nodded before flying away. ‘Everyone is talking about it?’ Vlad hadn’t heard anything from his two maids nor the chefs he hired on. If there was a threat his security would have alerted him and he’d wouldn’ve dealt with it by now. Or maybe the uneasy feeling was from the Ghost Zone and the ghosts he allowed in were just shaken up. He hadn’t heard from anyone that the screaming was back but that didn’t mean that Tayonna’s weird emotional side effects had worn off. Vlad had to push the thought to the side as he nearly ran into another ghost who came through the floor.

“Sorry, Sir!” It was a child ghost dressed in a pilgrim outfit, seconds later her parent were following right behind them trying to catch them. This ghost however was dressed more like an autumn spirit with falling gold and red leaves as a cape.

“I’m so sorry.” The adult ghost said with a nervous smile and Vlad stepped out of their way.

“All is well. Carry on.” He still couldn’t believe he allowed Dani to convince him to allow one ghost dressed like a pilgrim.

As the clock ticked on slowly his employees started to arrive, he greeted them at the door and watched as their mouths dropped as they saw the theme. Some couldn’t make it through the door before asking him about the ‘effects’ he set up. As more poured in Vlad could help himself to a few more yawns, he tried his best to excuse himself when he felt them coming, but it also seemed like they were consistent. The expresso must have worn out and Vlad told himself he had to make a pit stop in the kitchen to refresh. As the last guess filed through the door, Vlad thanked whoever above the number of guests was less than last year. That meant the party wouldn’t likely drag on like years before. Straightening himself he made his rounds once again greeting and thanking everyone for coming and hoping they enjoyed themselves. A solid hour had passed as he did his rounds, engaged in conversations and lied about how much money it was to hire these magicians.

“Must have cost you no more than a penny,” one of the guests joked and Vlad only chuckled and agreed. Even if the ghost were real people he hired it wouldn’t really put a dent in his wallet. While talking he found Kate had actually arrived and she busied herself at the autumn station watching the show. Of course as her face didn’t move much she seemed very bored. He stopped at a few stations to ask if the ghost were alright and they seemed to be having more fun than the humans. A few of them showed off their powers which amazed the simple minds and Vlad felt at ease. Then his ghost senses went off and he spun to look around. He didn’t see anything or anyone and he swiftly made it to the living room. He clicked his tongue as he saw Danny had arrived, of course not coming through the front door like a normal person. Danny and Dani were putting on a snow act which earned him a lot of ‘ooo’s and ‘ahh’s and ended with them making slushies for those that asked. When they finished Danny looked up and noticed Vlad in the crowd and quickly shot over to him.

“Nice party but we have a problem, a very big problem.” Danny’s green eyes were wide and Vlad could see fear in them.

“Care to explain?” Vlad narrowed his eyes and leaned in as a few guests walked by and waved.

“Ethay ortalpay inway ouryay asementbay,” Danny pointed downward then looked over his shoulder to make sure Dani wasn’t in ear shot. Vlad’s eyes widened and he turned on his heels like they were on fire and headed towards the hallway. The party was only located in the large foyer and the two living rooms, no one was allowed to go past there which gave Vlad a great excuse of having to grab something from his downstairs office and being right back. When he made it away from everyone else he sunk through the floor and into his basement. Vlad could almost feel his core run cold when he noticed his security system completely busted up and the portal cracked open as the Ghost Zone leaked out. The basement looked completely wrecked as things were knocked over and broken on the floor. The only thing that lit up the room was the faint green glow that peaked through the crack door of the portal.

“I asked the other ghost if this happened when they arrived but most of them said they didn’t come through your portal at all.” Danny now stood behind Vlad looking over the damage. “How come you didn’t notice this?”

“Daniel, I have a job I have to keep up with, and mind you, I was unconscious for three days. I didn’t feel the need to come down here as of recently.” Vlad marched over to his equipment with anger but also with a broken heart. It took a lot of work building this and a lot of money as well. Vlad tried to touch the switches but purple static shot out from the controls. Vlad grumbled and cursed sweet treats as he tried to touch it again but small shocks licked at his fingers. Finally he had enough and used his own electric power to reshock the system causing the system screen to turn back on. Through the badly cracked glass the words 'intruder’ flashed.

“This isn’t good,” Vlad turned towards Danny who was by the portal wiping at something on the ground. Vlad walked over and stood above him and noticed the puddles of water. “You don’t think-”

“I-I have no idea.” Vlad cut him off and before Danny could say anything else a loud scream came from upstairs causing the two to jump into action. They quickly slipped back through the floor in the hallway and hurried out to the foyer. When they did they slowed as they felt their feet become wet, the floor had become flooded with water to their ankles.

From the living room Dani flew out and looked at them with big eyes asking them what was going on. Guests started to panic as they tried to find a place to stand that didn’t have them in the water. The water was still but it seemed to get higher the longer everyone stood there. That’s when all three halfas noticed the ghost guest started to panic and frantically flew out of the house.

“Wait what’s going on?!” Danny called out as a ghost shot past him and he reached out to grab their wrist. It was one of the spring girls.

“There is so much uneasiness here! It’s not good we have to leave!” The girl snatched her arm away from Danny and quickly flew off with her company.

“Um guys?” Dani flew closer to the others and pointed downward as the water began to ripple in large symmetrical ringlets. The guest gasped but stood frozen in their spots as they watched on. Vlad knew he had to get everyone out of here before Tayonna started to rear her head and appear.

“Everyone I’m sorry to say there has been a terrible burst in my pipes and we must exit.” Vlad said loudly trying to get everyone’s attention and pointing towards the front door. The guest all agreed and started towards the door but when someone in the front tried the handle they couldn’t get it open.

“The door won't open, Sir!” Danny quickly set into motion flying over and trying the door himself and worried when he couldn’t open it either. The water was now reaching up to people's knees and panic started to set in as a few of the female workers started pushing and shoving others to get to the door. Danny gave a harsh ‘stand back’ and shot the door handle off then rammed it open. Vlad knew it wasn’t appropriate to think of how much that would cost to get fixed but the thought still lingered. When the door busted open the water and the guest quickly rushed out. Vlad quickly hurried out to calm everyone down with minimum questions and send them on their way.

“Well that was one hell of a party, Sir.” Kate held up her dress and continued to sip a glass of wine as she walked up behind him.

“Send out a message that tomorrow is also an off day.” Vlad rubbed the bridge of his nose and huffed.

“Right.” Kate handed him the glass and walked away. When everyone was either in their cars or already gone, Vlad strolled hastily back towards his house. Danny and Dani were already inside and he could hear the sound of Danny yelling. When he made it inside Danny was stanced and ready for attack.

“Tayonna we know you’re here, you fucked up a cool party and scared for the guests. Come out already!” Danny yelled.

“Don’t talk to me, boy. You are in the way.” A voice echoed around the room like thunder then it became solid as another puddle of water formed in the center of the floor and Tayonna rose from it. Her bright green eyes were sinister as black tears fell down her face. She stepped out of the water and both Phantoms held up their hands ready to send off ectoblasts. Tayonna was unphased and flipped out her hands to send an electric blast towards the both of them. When they dodged it and it crashed into the wall only a few feet away from Vlad. Danny tried to counter attack but was quickly caught by a tentacle from the water pulling him down. Danny blasted the tentacle to break free but couldn’t make it out of the way before an ectoblast shot him down. Dani managed to land a hit on the ghost and did a quick cheer. But the way Tayonna turned and stared deep into her eyes caused the younger Phantom to still and become breathless. Dani’s head started to flash through every bad memory she had and broke her. Within seconds Dani was shakenily falling to the floor with tears in her eyes.

“S-stop it! Stop it!” Dani yelled out gripping the sides of her head trying to shake away the thoughts and the hurtful feelings. Dani looked back up towards Tayonna then down again when she felt half of her body starting to break apart. Danny let out a yell to leave her alone but Tayonna was already making her way towards the child.

“Why do we allow them to keep hurting us?” Tayonna asked and Dani couldn’t understand her question. “He hurt you and yet you choose to stay with him.” Tayonna reached out a hand and wiped the tears from Dani’s face. Just then a hand shot out and grabbed Tayonna by the throat and threw her to the ground.

“That is enough.” Vlad commanded and stood between the two. “You may come after me but you will never harm her.” Tayonna coughed and pushed herself to sit up, her eyes narrowed as she looked between Dani and Vlad, like lighting her body shot back up and she stood.

“Is this how you protect her?” Tayonna asked but Vlad refused to answer and kept his ground. Dani was still on the ground but her body was pulling itself back together. “You hurt her and used her, but yet you love her.”

“You know nothing about us.” Vlad hissed and stuck out a hand to shield Dani.

“I know what it’s like to trust someone and have them betray you.” Tayonna brought her hand up to her chest and looked away panting a bit before her hand turned invisible and sunk into her body. She let out a painful cry as she dug her fingers into her core and Vlad felt it. He fell to his knees as he felt his core once again being attacked. It wasn’t as unbearable as before but it still took a lot out of him. Tayonna pulled her hand away from her chest and panted as she came closer and stood above him. She was about to strike him again with a blast but Danny stopped her by shoving her out the way. When he tackled her he quickly let her go and flew back into the air and shot her with shot after shot. Tayonna let out a cry of pain as she tried to protect herself. When Danny thought he had done enough he held back his final throw to watch the smoke clear. When it did, fear set into his stomach as he felt a sudden gust of wind brush against his neck. He tried to shield himself as Tayonna placed her hand on his body and electrocuted him. The shock ran deep inside him and touched the base of his core. Every muscle in Danny’s body tightened and a cramp ran up his left leg. The only time he ever felt something like this was when Vlad managed to get ahold of him. When Tayonna removed her hand smoke rose from Danny’s body and he began to fall.

Danny fell to the ground with a hard thud. Vlad had managed to get off the ground and told Dani to go and get his guns. He had to weaken Tayonna before she not only killed Danny but also him and Dani. Dani sank through the floor and Vlad stumbled about still feeling his core pulse sporadically. She had somehow tied their cores together during their first fight and could easily weaken him. Vlad noticed though that when she did this it also hurt her. Vlad had never touched another ghost’s corem he only took the liberty of learning the basics of them. Had he known back in his crazed days that crushing them would hurt like hell he may have done it to Danny. An idea formed in his mind he knew would work but also cause him a great amount of pain. If whatever he did to his core tied back to her then it was worth doing, not only to save himself but his guest and also his house.

“Tayonna!” Vlad called out, grabbing the ghost’s attention, he brought his hand to his chest and sunk it towards his core. Tayonna knew what he was doing and quickly shot towards him to stop him. Vlad wasted no time placing his hand on his core and sending a high voltage electric shock through it. They both cried out in pain and fell to the floor. Tayonna began to cry and claw at her chest and Vlad shocked them back again. Each shock made him woozy and on the verge of passing out but he had to keep her down. With another shock he pulled his hand out of his chest and rolled to his side. He was weak and Tayonna was barely moving. He could see she was still conscious but she laid limp with only the sound of crying coming from her body.

“Vladan, please stop...Vladan, please stop.” Tayonna’s begging was broken and she had managed to shakingly move her head and look up to him. Vlad, though hanging on barely and unable to move, brows knotted as he looked at her. The small voice in his head told him he should feel worried for her, sad even, to maybe reach out a hand and apologize. But that voice was quickly shut out by Vlad’s consciousness telling it to shut up. This ghost had caused him so much trouble, why should he feel any sympathy towards her? His name was also most certainly not Vladan! He didn’t know her and yet he wanted to pull her towards him and tell her he was sorry. As Vlad found a bit of strength he pushed himself up on his elbow, panting and groaning he sat up and moved away from her. Dani came back with two guns and quickly placed one down to take aim with the other. She shot it towards Tayonna and caught the ghost in a string with two metal balls that wrapped around her and shocked her even more. Tayonna let out her infamous wail causing the whole house to shake before passing out on the ground.

Dani threw the gun down and ran over to Vlad first with tears in her eyes, “Dad! Are you okay?!” Vlad could barely keep his eyes open as he held his chest and breathed out.

“I’m fine,” he managed to get words out even if it was a lie. He pointed towards Danny and told the youngest Phantom to go check on him. Dani wanted to protest but Vlad insisted and she ran over to the other. Danny was beat up but he was fine, way better than Vlad, the boy groaned and sat up wincing when he turned his back. Dani quickly helped Danny up and brought him over to Vlad.

“No dying on us fruitloop, that’s so unlike you.” Danny stumbled to his knees and reached out a hand to rest on Vlad’s shoulder. The older halfa huffed and chuckled as he pushed Danny off.

“Only in your dream, little badger.” They sat on the ground for a moment trying to catch their breath before turning over and looking at the ghost now wrapped up.

“What do we do with her?” Dani asked, scared more than the others, she could still feel Tayonna’s powers through her mind. Dani hadn’t thought about any of that for years and the sudden rush of emotions really made her uneasy.

“Handcuffs, we need to place them on her and keep her here to figure this out.” Vlad coughed out, he was starting to feel his powers about to tap out and he couldn’t fight it. Dark rings formed above him and he was back in his human form. Danny seemed almost worried and ready to ask him what happened while he was out but held his tongue. The young man reached towards his side and grabbed the ghost handcuffs he always kept on him and got up. He limped over to Tayonna and clamped them on her with ease and they auto activated. Danny gasped as he saw dark rings form around her and transform her into a more human appearance.

“Well this is a lot messier than I thought,” Danny mumbled and moved out of the way for the others to see. Vlad held his breath as he saw Tayonna as she was in his dreams. She was now human with dark skin and messy dark brown hair and her clothes even had changed colors. A pit in Vlad’s stomach sunk deeper and he felt like he was about to throw up. He pushed Dani away and turned his head as his stomach emptied itself. Instead of stomach acid and food it was all ectoplasma mixed with a bit of blood. Vlad panted heavily and tried to push himself away so he wouldn’t have to look at it. But as he did so a red mist floated off his body and a face formed through it. It was his own, sadden and staring him down like he had done the worst possible thing. Vlad didn’t have time to react as he felt his eyes grow heavy and his body fall back onto the floor.

He knew this wasn’t right, sneaking out of the cottage as his family slept, trying to make it to the trees behind the house without making a sound. He told himself over and over he shouldn’t have agreed to something so crazy especially with a servant. A servant! Of all the faces that passed him in the town square or even while he was back in Europe, he chose to follow a servant. But those beautiful haunting green eyes stole his breath away every time he stole a glance. He had cornered himself and struck up conversation with her when he could and found her exciting. She seemed far beyond the cold soils of the colonies, especially when she spoke about where she came from.

“Africa is home of the true earth bound people, we all come from there but so many left for colder places.” Her words sound like poetry and he wondered where she learnt that. It had only been a year since he arrived and he longed to be taught by her as he would do to she. Stumbling through the line of trees he grumbled and pushed past the wild grass and broken twigs. When he finally made it past the fallen wild life he came to a clearing that stretched into a pond. The moon seemed so much closer here than it did when he left the house and it shone graciously, illuminating everything in its wake. Vladan was taken back by how beautiful nature was at night and took a moment to himself to take it all in. He lowered his eyes when he saw the person he was looking for and quickly came up behind her.

Tayonna stood by the edge of the water and looked down at her reflection. She was dressed only in her night clothes, unlike Vladan who still wore his day clothes, with a purple shawl wrapped around her. Her wild hair was out of its bonnet and rested gently just above her shoulders, wild and untamed curls stuck out in various places but it made her look even more in tune with nature. Vladan took his place beside her causing her to smile when his reflection showed up.

“I was sure you wouldn’t come,” she said and turned towards him with a warm and welcoming smile.

“I had to as I promised.” Vlad slipped his hand into hers and brought her knuckles up for him to kiss. It made her heart stop a bit and her breathing quickened. This was the first time he had ever done that.

“I’m glad,” Tayonna responded and slowly leaned in for a kiss that Vladan had already indicated. When their lips met, Tayonna jumped back in fear as he felt so cold, her eyes widened as he reached out to touch her but turned to mist and blew away.

Tayonna’s eyes shot wide as she laid on the ground still tied up and unable to break free.

“She’s awake!”

#📖Ghost Stories👻#vlad masters #Danny Phantom #My writing #dp fanfic #Secrets of The Lake

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f4liveblogarchives · 4 years

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Fantastic Four Vol 1 #223

Tues Apr 27 2020 [09:18 PM] Wack'd: And so the Four, plus Agatha and Gabriel, are off in the Pogo Plane to New Salem, in order to undo Nicholas Scratch's possession of Franklin. [09:19 PM] Wack'd: Who?! Who calls you that?!

[09:19 PM] Bocaj: His barber [09:19 PM] Umbramatic: the narrator apparently [09:20 PM] Wack'd: There are other "here's how the crew is doing" panels but they're all roughly what you'd expect. Ben angry, Sue determined, Reed thinking, Agatha contemplating fate [09:21 PM] Bocaj: Shake it up, the fantastic four [09:21 PM] Wack'd: Johnny musing on how he's never seen Reed and Sue this intense before besides the thirteen other times he's never seen them this intense before [09:21 PM] Bocaj: Pfft [09:22 PM] Wack'd: Reed and Sue have a moment where Sue gets kinda weepy and Reed reassures her that he'll do everything he can [09:23 PM] Bocaj: Shake it up, the fantastic four book [09:24 PM] Wack'd: How have these fuckers not been consigned to the dustbin of history already

[09:24 PM] maxwellelvis: Because Scratch hasn't yet. [09:25 PM] Wack'd: Even if I concede there are some cool designs, which...eh?... this is the first sign of personality they've exhibited in like three storylines [09:25 PM] Umbramatic: i'm a sucker for nagas but i dunno how to feel about the snake arms

[09:25 PM] maxwellelvis: Gazelle looks a little less Marge Simpson-y this time. [09:26 PM] Wack'd: The lack of yellow skin helps [09:26 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Nick possesses the lion dude and recruits them back into his dark army [09:27 PM] Wack'd: And reveals his master plan, which is to bring back the...essence???...of the Dark Realm to torment humanity [09:27 PM] maxwellelvis: I too am puzzled at how many reappearances these glorified minibosses are getting. [09:27 PM] Bocaj: That’s how I feel about zodiac [09:27 PM] Bocaj: In avengers [09:28 PM] Wack'd: I think seven is too many distinct henchpeople for a villain to have, also, especially in a team book and especially if they're always gonna be a group [09:28 PM] Wack'd: Like there's so much wacky happening here but it just kind of cancels out back to boring [09:28 PM] maxwellelvis: And I do mean glorified because the law of conservation of ninjutsu means they should not have handled the Four as easily as they have in the past. [09:29 PM] Aleph Null: @Wack'd the seven deadly sins? [09:29 PM] Wack'd: The Salem Seven [09:29 PM] maxwellelvis: I could understand that if they had to fight them all one at a time in a series of progressing battles up a tower, but [09:29 PM] Wack'd: Anyway Nick possesses the folks guarding the Seven's cell and lets them out [09:30 PM] Bocaj: I could get behind a shonen style tower climb mini boss squad fight [09:30 PM] Wack'd: Dude seems to be getting a lot of mileage out of possession and it's making me wonder why he even needs a physical form? Though I guess that's not really his goal since he's doing the whole "release the essence of the Dark Realm" thing [09:30 PM] Wack'd: Still though he doesn't seem particularly weaker in this form than he did on earth. He might as well have never been banished at all [09:31 PM] Bocaj: You had one job with several distinct tasks under it, Agatha! [09:31 PM] Wack'd: The Seven, now free, decide they have some free time before the plot kicks in and decide to torture some civilians for shits and giggles [09:32 PM] Wack'd: Really just Nick used to establish what everybody's shtick is with some actual breathing room, which, y'know, finally, but one row of panels each is not a lot [09:33 PM] Wack'd: Vakume (the solid grey one) makes a tornado that sucks air out of everyone's lungs [09:33 PM] Aleph Null: that doesn't sound right but i don't know enough about wind physics to say otherwise [09:33 PM] Wack'd: It's magic, they don't have to explain it [09:33 PM] Aleph Null: ...then why is the tornado necessary? why not just cast a fuck you no breathing spell? [09:33 PM] maxwellelvis: STYLE [09:33 PM] Wack'd: Looks cool [09:33 PM] Wack'd: But not cool enough to screencap [09:33 PM] Wack'd: Vertigo (the Pam Grier one) uh...gives everyone vertigo [09:34 PM] Bocaj: Ah like Zaheer [09:34 PM] Wack'd: Actually I guess that's it because we cut back to the Four [09:36 PM] Wack'd: This is a perfectly prefunctionary, even good, "Ben knows what it's like to be othered" speech, but I'm losing it at it being deployed in defense of Baby's First Dungeons & Dragons Character

[09:38 PM] Wack'd: And I can make that joke because my first Dungeons & Dragons character, before orc vampire and dragonborn stage magician, was in fact a mysterious loner with strange powers who keeps to the shadows. I know from whence I speak [09:38 PM] Umbramatic: pffft [09:38 PM] Umbramatic: i don't think mine was that weird [09:38 PM] Wack'd: I am deliberately and specifically not saying it's weird [09:38 PM] Wack'd: It is super boring [09:39 PM] Bocaj: I’ve been thinking the whole time [09:39 PM] Bocaj: Is this just nick fury doing Dresden larp? [09:39 PM] Wack'd: It is, I assume, everyone's first Dungeons & Dragons character [09:41 PM] Wack'd: Anyway I looked up Gabriel--sorry, *Devil Hunter*--to see if I should bother caring about him. Turns out he's not a new character, but the lead in a short-lived magazine-format book from the mid-70s called *Haunt of Horror*. [09:41 PM] maxwellelvis: I went with Eberk, because clerics were busted as shit in 3.5e [09:41 PM] Wack'd: Written by--and you might wanna sit down for this--Doug Moench. [09:42 PM] Bocaj: Ha [09:42 PM] maxwellelvis: No. Say it ain't so. [09:42 PM] Mousa The 14: Of course [09:43 PM] Wack'd: These two Fantastic Four issues are his first appearances since then, and his last for twelve years before he briefly resurfaces as a recurring Hellstorm supporting character in the early 90s. [09:44 PM] Umbramatic: wow [09:44 PM] Mousa The 14: “I mean, we have the IP, we may as well use him!” “Yeah, but why tho?” [09:44 PM] Wack'd: He has since the only been seen in Marvel encyclopedias. [09:44 PM] Umbramatic: welp [09:45 PM] Bocaj: I still think he’s larp Nick Fury [09:45 PM] Wack'd: Fair [09:46 PM] Wack'd: Anyway, the team arrives in New Salem, where Scratch reappears inside Franklin to say more mean stuff. [09:46 PM] Wack'd: I would assume he's been quiet because he's been busy possessing loads of other people, but no, Gabriel is important

[09:47 PM] Wack'd: Johnny then feels bad for writing him off as a moody loner cliché since he was actually doing shit apparently [09:47 PM] Mousa The 14: Good grief, what a joke [09:48 PM] maxwellelvis: Why's he EMOTING so hard in that second panel? [09:50 PM] Wack'd: (Oh if anyone cares the red haired lady who placed the cryptic phone call is also from Haunt of Horrors and also appears in Hellstorm's 90s book. She dies) [09:50 PM] Mousa The 14: As women do apparently [09:50 PM] Wack'd: Back to the story at hand. It is time for a fight scene [09:51 PM] Wack'd: And then a capture scene [09:51 PM] Wack'd: It's a good thing this book has so much dumb minutia in it or I woulda been done half an hour ago [09:52 PM] Wack'd: So the team is placed on an alter and Franklin's powers are used to bring forth the Dark Realm [09:53 PM] Aleph Null: this is a fantastic four comic right? [09:53 PM] Aleph Null: just checking [09:53 PM] Wack'd: Yeah but this is not terribly off spec for them [09:53 PM] maxwellelvis: Yes [09:54 PM] maxwellelvis: Also we were still in the middle of the Satanic Panic at the time. [09:54 PM] Wack'd: Fantastic Four doesn't really have a consistent tone or manner of threat. They're from the 60s, they'll do whatever [09:55 PM] Wack'd: Gabriel and Agatha use their combined power to turn the Four into a literal love bomb to defeat Nick Scratch's hate

[09:56 PM] Aleph Null: My Little Superheroes: Friendship Is Magic [09:57 PM] Wack'd: This is a nice scene but I'd be a lot more convinced if Nick Scratch didn't try to murder Agatha gruesomely every previous time he appeared

[09:58 PM] Wack'd:

Ben: That wuz the easiest fight we ever had...and it wuz the best weapon we coulda used.

[09:59 PM] maxwellelvis: "We contributed the bare minimum to our own story!" [09:59 PM] Wack'd:

Agatha: Nicholas, you must be punished...severely. I hav erred on the sign of leniency in the past.

[09:59 PM] Wack'd: agatha you banished him to a nightmare dimension but okay [09:59 PM] Mousa The 14: Yeah but she didn’t kill him [10:00 PM] Mousa The 14: They’re magic people, nightmare dimension is really more if a time out for ‘em [10:00 PM] Wack'd: Honestly the "Dark Realm" was originally called "the World Beyond Worlds" [10:00 PM] Wack'd: So I assumed it was a Yu-Gi-Oh "Shadow Realm" thing until this story [10:01 PM] Wack'd: And so Nicholas' punishment is to become like the humans he so despised [10:02 PM] Wack'd: And Agatha decides to stay behind to be an ambassador to her people on behalf of non-magic folks to maybe cut down on future genocide attempts [10:03 PM] Wack'd:

[10:03 PM] Bocaj: Awwwww.....www?? [10:04 PM] Wack'd: Even as the modern age creeps closer, silent panels are still kind of a rarity [10:04 PM] Wack'd: It's smart to deploy one here [10:04 PM] maxwellelvis: "Hey, how 'bout a little sugar for Gabriel?" [10:04 PM] Umbramatic: awwww [10:05 PM] Wack'd: He just kinda...vanishes [10:05 PM] Wack'd: Reed assures us he probably has his own way home [10:05 PM] maxwellelvis: He doesn't need the company of people with no sugar for him. [10:05 PM] Bocaj: Pfft

#1980 #Doug Moench #Bill Sienkiewicz #The Main Book

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tarotjourney2021 · 3 years

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6:16 PM Last day of work before going on leave

I think this is the tower moment.. the moment they told me about.. that I am gonna have a big change which will scare me.. i think this is is.. but contarary to what I thought before, the change won't happen to me, the job won't call me back while I do nothing, this job might try to insult me again as a second blow.. and this tower of the 360 review.. which i can hear Areen's mean thoughts of how can I kick her harder.. this backstabbing bitch! She will get her karma.. and the karma will be through my work.. i will start publishing all the links and things I have been featured in.. so everyone knows how good I am.. and this my work will be the karma.. the karma won't come from an outside source.. the karma.. is me..! it's me bitch!

I think Minnow Pond said something to that effect.. he said that you will see someone get their karma.. but the karma could be through me getting my success! And that's exactly what I'm gonna do Chris.. I am done with this fool journey.. I need to step into the magician.. I need to level up.. to get my 'glow up'

very very very cheesy.

anyways,

The same applies to the tower.. i am the one who will take control of the tower and be the one not only jumping out of it willingly, but creating it. I will manifest what I want, and would work very hard and strategically towards it.. I will update the website.. most of it is done anyways.. just the last stop of details and making decisions and doing a bulk of work done... okay.. i have a lot to do.. but at least I know that i started and did a shit load of work before.. and it got me here.. how many times did I design and redesign the website.. even though everyone tells me it looks great.. but do i let that be and work on the technical parts of it.. like the shop or the blog or to let people share my stuff on social media..I mean! there is a lot to be done.. but that's okay.. let's push ourselves to the next phase.. because this is the price to be paid to manifest this.. I want the kind of employer that is not only impressed that I have a website, but can appreciate that I have a terrific website.. levelling up requires that, I need to ask for better things. and just because I like to research the hell out of things, I decided to watch every video ever made on youtube on manifestation, scripting.. add it to a long list.. bingewatch it as I organize my youtube videos.. so I can give them to the two editors.. and this way the youtube channel can keep going..

I will still try to keep my deadline of publishing a youtube video today.. cause I need to be consistent and to be consistent I need to stick to the plan.. the plan is good.. land the plan..or take off.. do something.. stop hovering.. stop doing things half-assed and congratulating yourself for getting out of bed, cause you have mental health issues.

We have a therapist now, so she will be helping with that, and also I am still willing to put in the work.. i am the king of pentacles.. despite the turblant water.. i am still focused on my pentacles.. still willing to sit here.. after breaking down in tears after the 360 review.. after all the work I have been doing.. and letting these as%###$@ make me work regularly long hours.. sometimes until 10 at night or midnight.. only to make me redo it all again.. because they changed their mind! Making me go on a saturday, across town in the ttc to take pictures with my personal camera and come back home at 5.. shaking with exhaustion.. and i only had sunday to work before i start the work day again.. and I wonder why I am always sick.. i work myself to the bone.

Even now.. even now .. when not even an hour ago.. i told myself to relax and sleep on the hammock to calm myself down and remind myself that the positive comments from the CEO, my manager, even my new manager can't stop saying great things about me. But you know how it is.. it is the corporate world, 360 reviews is the perfect time for anyone who has been hating on you, and to be honest with your taurus anger when someone disrespects you, especially when it involves racism, it boils my blood. And everyone wants to treat me like I am an idiot, when they hear my accent, or being black, an immigrant, single in my 30s... a lot of back-handed comments are exchanged.. racist 'jokes'.. even a suggestion of a black face from that bitch.. when the manager asked for suggestions for Halloween costumes as a team for the office virtual mandatory party. And both our TWO managers were in the meeting.. and none of them said anything! Shouldn't you 'manage' this?

I need to show them in action, very quietly without a lot of chatter that they don't get to do that.. they don't get to allow this kind of behaviour.. coming from the CEO herself and her daughter..

But I need to win all the way through, I need to keep my cool, they automatically win, if I lose it and start openly misbehaven.. the best insults are the ones that are given with class.

So what's the plan.

I will do the whole ritual thing, candles and all.

and then get to work.

Hopefully by the time I am done watching youtube, the files will be sent to my editors.. and youtube the youtube channel will start picking up soon. I think I already said that.

Then!

I will buy the sparkling water thing.. I feel the problem with staying focused is that I need hydration and somehow I can't stand tab water these days.. and I can't have enough of sparkling.. so let's make the investment.. you are officially on leave for the next two weeks, you will be able to post all those things to facebook market and sell them, and put the money back into the little investments we need to do now..

Like the investment in my time and energy I am gonna have to make to meet my illustration deadline and my youtube deadline

Let's start with youtube deadline.. I need to build the trust in myself.. by keeping this promise.. I will publish a video on youtube every week on Thursday 11 AM. I know I already missed the time deadline.. but it is still thursday.. so let's do the easiest thing to do and post it.. doesn't matter we only have 25 subscribers.. 26!! sorry!!!! so no one is watching.. you need to jerk the giant algoritm awake and the only way to awaken this dragon is by meeting this deadline.. over and over and over again.. and I want you to have those posters of red crosses all around to see the progress that I am making in everything and keep things balanced.. and after this time off i want it to be clear in your mind.. what we are postponing, what we are focusing on.. my art.. my clay.. building this as a business... slowly but surely.

ok, after the youtube video.. i will give myself the deadline of 45 minutes.. so we are done.. i might even make it 30 minutes.. because i want to test my theory.. that people now want youtube videos to be as short as possible maybe a minute or two.. because youtube videos now compared to what's out there on social media feel like 2-hour long movies.. we have adapted to everything being tik-tok fast and crazy, so we can't sit through anything this long.. i personally can't! So I have to assume I am not alone, and I would like to attract those people on youtube, the people that I can almost feel their pulse.. they are tuned to me, can get what I like.. feel like they know me and I know them, feel like it is a warm hug between dear friends they found each others but never knew one another. I want that. But to get there.. I need to throw a lot of things out there and assess, adjust and move forward.. I need to be more like the chariot, Cancer, my moon sign. i need to flow like water.. move a way a little bit from my Taurus ways.. my Virgo rising better pay attention to all these little details and I should give her back the hermit mode... where I can retreat into my introverted shell and stay here for a little bit, until i start to figure things out.. I am actually almost flattered to know that the magician is also a card for virgo.. and it is fitting that I am stepping into this magician.. literally.. googling magic stuff.. and petition examples.. and also physically by actively going after the laid down plan.. the plan i kept changing and working out in my head..I feel for years, but never taking a real step towards it, but now it's time. It's been long enough.. the plan is ready.. let's go.. not apologetically... not kinda.. all in! ALL #!@#@$ IN!!

That's what I promised that I would do when I had this 'awakening or whatever', that to pay back the universe lady for seeing me for what I am and what I can be, that I won't give up on myself.. and I will stand up for that voice in my head that's trying to kill me and this feeling of longing to die. I even had the urge to die today.. to give up. and wish I was gone, out of laziness more than anything.. self pity and look-at-me bo-ho.. i know i sound mean.. and I am probably an asshole on some level(s). I should be compassionate.. i'm sorry towards myself first.. I know that i am healing from a trauma. I am better, but still all over the place.. i am so stressed and so alone.. i have been a lone for too long.. i realize now since I moved to Canada 4 years ago, I got lazy on the friends front, settled into a small group of women, whom are nice, but are not my people.. they can part of my people.. but not the centre.. they should be on the side tables... I need to find the right people for me.. to give me warmth.. my life has been cold and lonely for too long.. being here alone.. starting my life over.. still in a way living a double life between the old traditions and between who i really I am and what I want..and what I have been raised on that I am not good enough to have it. Even though I know in my gut that I can have it. I used to have the dead belief in myself that I will have everything.. but something broke back in Sudan. The weight of the tradition or the culture.. the shari'a law.. and its unforgiving rules.. people and how cruel they can sometimes get with their racist misogynist lifestyles that they impose on me, with all their force... then the heart break.. I never thought anything could throw me off like that, but it did. I guess I was already beaten enough when his blow came.

He too is another person I need to be on that mountain.. on top of it.. so he doesn't miss me. he can't miss me. and I don't think it will take me as long as I think to get on the top of the mountain. The hermit is already on the top of the mountain.. but I need to trust that I need to get myself mentally there.. so this physical world follows.

But to get there... i need to focus on myself.. forget about all of those people who shook your ego. You have to shake them off.. and put your head down to pray.. even though we don't pray .. but we need to lay down the details on that little prayer ritual I made up. A small part of me thinks it is ridiculous, because it is. But the other part loves it.. it gives me strength and I can almost swear.. actually i can swear.. that it was working.. the difficult days ahead smoothed out... and the dragon weren't as scary as I thought. I got a few little chips of gold every here and there.. and now I want to go for the real deal.

I need to be Indiana Jones one more time though, I know I am tired of it.. like literally tired.. my eyes are red.. and my body is aching.. couldn't because of all the crying with myself after work. I mean today is my last day of work before time off.. and I thought judging my surprising positivity this year, I thought I will be with a glass of wine celebrating by now... but I think knowing that rest is coming soon, my body is collapsing.

And true to my nature I am pushing her a little bit more. But we will rest I promise.. your cut off time is 10 PM! Then you can do whatever the hell I want. Maybe if it's not raining lay down in the hammock I need it.. I am tired.. it was so nice for a few minutes.. then I was again restless to start working again.

am I losing my mind?

#tarot #tarotcommunity #king of pentacles #Taurus #Virgo #Cancer #fooljourney

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dishonoredrpg · 4 years

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Congratulations, ALYX! You’ve been accepted for the role of THE MAGICIAN with the faceclaim of HANNAH KLEIT. Tasmin was such a delight to read about. I really feel like you pinned down The Magician’s internal personal conflicts in contrast to the contrast of the world around her -- everything is going up in flames, but Tasmin’s field of vision is so much narrower when compared to the other characters around her that things might have to start melting before she takes notice. I’m interested in seeing how this plays out on the dashboard, especially with the plots you’ve given me, and how the fruit on the table will slowly begin to rot. Forget a marriage -- what about rebellion?

Please review the CHECKLIST and send your blog in within 24 hours.

OOC

NAME: Alyx

PRONOUNS: She/Her

AGE: 21

TIMEZONE, ACTIVITY LEVEL: CST; I’m honestly not doing anything right now because i’m not taking summer classes and i’m not currently working, so i’m usually hovering most of the day. I’m good at keeping up with activity and will usually post a few replies a week if not more.

ANYTHING ELSE?: The Magician is my first choice, but if I manage to write an app for the Tower, then that would be the obvious second choice.

IN CHARACTER

SKELETON: The Magician

NAME: Tasmin Declair (Cisgender female, she/her)

FACECLAIM: Hannah Kleit is definitely my first choice, but my backup would be Adeline Rudolph.

AGE: 21 years old.

DETAILS:

I tend to go for the soft characters with a rough past, and I felt like The Magician had qualities that I usually gravitate towards. I like those characters that have a sense of duty driving them. The Magician is dealing with these new powers, powers that could get her killed both by merely using them but also by discovery from the king or another high up player, but she’s still focusing on the goal of marrying up to better her family. She doesn’t have a rough past, but her pleasant upbringing adds to this angst in my opinion. She’s the beloved firstborn, the daughter meant to bring her family up in the ranks, and she has to deal with those expectations as she goes through the court. I assume it also goes through her mind of—- what would my family think about me if they truly knew? Magic is frowned upon, especially her type of magic. It’s this burden that I think intrigues me further.

I also like that she’s not a big player in the war so far. Yes, she has powers, but her ambitions don’t lie with joining a rebellion or killing the king. She’s here to find a spouse and settle down in a good noble marriage. It makes me eager to explore her further and see how she reacts as the plot escalates. I think the characters that might not have the biggest role at the beginning are the ones that people need to watch out for, and she’s definitely one of those characters. There’s no prophecies guiding her path, no dead parent to form her decision, she only has her fear and her standing propelling her forward.

I don’t know— she’s really just the type of character I usually go for. I just find her story interesting and I want to see what becomes of her as her life becomes more complicated and she falls deeper into the political atmosphere of Tyrholm.

BACKGROUND:

Your earliest memory consisted of you looking down on your youngest sister, Nesryn. She had seemed so small, so fragile, and you were terrified of holding her. You thought you’d break her, but your mother had reassured you that you were strong enough to handle her with ease. You were the oldest. It was your job to protect her and Sabina. You nodded slowly, and as you felt Nesryn’s small body slip into your arms, you knew you would do anything to protect them both. You looked at your parents with that soft spark of life, and they smiled back at you. You were always taught that family came first, and this was that first moment you truly understood their words.

Childhood days were spend in a tight balance of leisure and work. You spent hours chasing Sabina and Nesryn around the gardens. Your dress would be covered in dirt and the remains of flowers that were trampled under your enthusiastic feet. Your mother would chuckle at the sight of you before whisking you off to change. You would beam at the sound of her laughter, at the slight nod of approval, because there was a part of you that liked the praise thrown your way. You were the oldest, the light of your family, and approval from your family had always been a certain goal in your mind.

Your father had been more of a challenge. Light feet would slip across the floor as you peaked into your father’s study. A few business gambles had propelled the Declair household into a comfortable wealth, and you watched as he worked to keep your family in that rank. You would tug on his pant leg as he filled out papers, and finally, after what felt like a century in your young mind, he would place the papers down and pull you onto his lap. “You’re a strange one, Tasmin.” He’d comment, looking at you with that unreadable gaze. “The best ones are.” You’d answer, firmly believing in your words. Little did either of you know how right he would turn out to be.

Years go by, and you spent less time racing around the garden with your siblings. Carefree adventures turned into careful lessons. You learned about history, etiquette, and the various positions around the court. You fight to retain the knowledge because every right answer meant that certain nod of approval that kept you going. You strived for perfection, strived to be that perfect daughter for your parents, and you felt yourself getting closer to that goal. If you could memorize another king, if you could successfully tell them which fork is used for which course, then perhaps you’ll continue being their little light. You don’t aim to become a soldier or a princess. You don’t aim to be one of the heroes you read about in your history books. All you need is a lifestyle that’ll make your family proud.

When they tell you that you’ll be going to court in search of a suitor, you simply nod and accept your fate. You always knew this was your future. You had your life planned out ever since childhood, and you had readily gone along with it. Your parents would place their expectations on your shoulders. They would talk about you marrying up, bringing more status to the Declair name, and you knew you would try your best to accomplish that goal. The only love you needed was from your family. You valued their words, their compliments, more than a suitor’s. You had smiled at your parents, gently shoved your sisters, but there was a doubt that lurked in the back of your mind. What if you couldn’t accomplish their vision?

You had pushed that doubt away, but it had resurfaced the day before you left for court. There was a nervousness that you had never experienced before, a burning in your veins that couldn’t be tamed, and you tucked yourself away from prying eyes. Your heart beat faster, your breathing was shallow, and all you could do was wonder what was wrong with you. You wanted this life. You had agreed to go to court. Sweat dripped down your face before a bright flash of light erupted from your hands. Searing pain wracked your body as the room filled with light, the same light you would often be accused of, and a true fear penetrated your mind for the first time in your life: How were you going to hide this?

You let the pain die down into a slight warmth before you pushed the tears away. You were the first-born, and you would do this for your family. You would put on a smile and endure the pain. You would slip on gloves to cover up the burns that formed on your hands if it meant seeing that same glimpse of approval in their eyes. You would allow yourself to arrive at the castle, the belly of the beast, if it meant helping them get a better life. You had to because the other scenarios were too horrible to think about. Little light, will you glow, or will fear diminish you entirely?

The question still stands as you walk through the corridors of the palace with nervousness to your stance. Your eyes were trained to watch the reactions of others, but now you seek out something different than approval. You seek out any suspicion on your behalf. You keep your head down, your ears open and you try to walk through the castle without raising alarm. You will do this for your family, even if it kills you. Sadly, it just might.

PLOT IDEAS:

Collapse. Crumble. This is not your destruction.

You were normal, and now you’re not. You were a sister, a daughter, a socialite, but never were you an enemy of a kingdom. Magic is banned— knowledge you bore ever since you were old enough to learn the history of the kingdom— and now you possess the very magic that you read about in old books. What will you do? I’d like to see Tasmin taming her magic. She’s very inexperienced with it, and I want to see her get a bit more in control as she gets more involved in court life. I think it would be interesting to see her using her magic in small ways, such as her giving light to The Moon’s plants, and progressing from there. I also think it would be interesting to see someone take her under their wing. I know the Priestess seems to suspect her powers, and it would interesting to see her learn from someone that has had years to master their craft. I think she definitely needs to seek out help if she wants to last at court, and I want to see her lasting.

You are shadows and I am light.

The Emperor. That was the name fed to you before you left for court. You felt that familiar doubt creeping in at the thought of a lower socialite such as yourself pursuing anything with the king’s son, but you would try. You would try because that’s what your parents wanted of you, and who were you to let them down? I want to see Tasmin trying to get courted by the Emperor. I like the light and dark dynamic that these two possess, and I feel like that’s the sort of thing she’d do to satisfy her parent’s wishes. It would make more sense to go for someone lower than the prince, both because she’s rather lower and because his father is the one that banned most magic, but this is an instance where she’s going against her better judgment for the sake of her family.

Expectations fall from me like waves.

Oh, perfect daughter. Oh, the apple of their eye. Were you made to be Atlas, or did you choose to carry such heavy responsibilities on your shoulders? Were you designed to carry that torch all the way to the end, or will you allow the flame to burn out? Only time will tell where you land. I feel like Tasmin has gone through life with a sort of craving for validity, especially when it comes to her parents. She loves being seen as the golden child, and she takes their disappointment to heart. I want to see her focus less on her family and more on herself. Maybe her parents are disappointed that she hasn’t made a connection with any high ranking nobles yet. Maybe they find out about her magic and erase that image of her as the family’s light. Maybe nothing happens at all. I just want to see Tasmin gradually acting more for herself rather than others. This is her first time away from her family, and I want to see Tasmin Declair— not the daughter or sister that she got used to being. I also think it’ll be interesting to explore what she wants as she dives deeper into her time at court. She’s always wanted to impress her family, but she’s currently not around her household. It’s the perfect time to allow her to grow past that initial mindset of hers and into her own individual person.

The weight of their eyes sits heavy on your soul.

They know. You don’t know how it happened, but they know your secret. Did they catch a glimpse of your burns? Did they merely peer into your soul? You don’t know, but you’ve gotten on their radar. This might go along with the first point, but I love the dynamic of the Sun and the Magician. I like the fact that the Sun is offering to help them, especially because the Sun is someone that is highly valued by the king seeing as they’re the assassin. I think Tasmin is scared to accept the hand that the Sun is extending because a part of her believes that it’s a trick. She doesn’t know if they’ll grip her hand and drag her straight to the king, to remove her gloved hands and show him the impact of her power, to leave her at his mercy. She doesn’t know if the offer is truly genuine, but a part of her reaches towards the offer. She wants to control her powers. She wants to get rid of the fear that haunts her. She just doesn’t know if the Sun will be a trusted mentor or a snake in disguise. I would love to see Tasmin accepting their help and watching the partnership unfold. I think its interesting to see such a powerful person taking an interest in her, and I’m curious to see how a necromancer could help her with her light.

They bare their teeth and you hide in cover.

You never thought death would occur so soon. You always pictured yourself living a comfortable life and dying of old age. Your timeline has shifted since the discovery of your powers, but you still long for that old vision. Oh, how the universe loves to mess with fate. This one doesn’t necessarily have to do with death, but I want someone to discover her powers. The High Priestess and The Sun are aware of her powers, but what happens if a member of the royal family discovered her secret? Would they end her time at court right then and there? Would they look the other way in an act of kindness? Would they use it to further their own agenda? What if it’s someone who is part of the revolters? Would they try to persuade her to help end the king? I love the possibilities that come with holding in such a big secret. I personally would love to see someone blackmailing her into doing something in order to keep her secret safe, but honestly, all routes with this plot point would be interesting to explore.

CHARACTER DEATH: I’m always up for the possibility of killing my character. I don’t know if she’s involved enough to warrant death, but the beauty of rp is that it leads you down unexpected roads.

WRITING SAMPLE

She didn’t know how long she had been preparing for this day. Her mother spoke about her departure party for the past few months, and she had worked to make sure it would be perfect. Her dress had been tailored to her liking. Her hair fell into a braid just above your chest. Her shoes were freshly polished. Tasmin looked at herself in the mirror and she felt like the noble that she was intending to become. A small smile fell on her lips as she envisioned herself at the palace. A picture of her dancing with a respectable noble glimpsed through her mind before it flickered away. The image had left behind that aching feeling in her chest—- that small glimpse of doubt that had occurred before.

What if she couldn’t find a respectable partner? What if she was forced to arrive back home with nothing to show her parents? What if she put in all this work only to fail in the end?

Tasmin shook her head. She couldn’t let those thoughts ruin her day. She knew she had to focus on the party and preparing to leave for Tyrholm. She slipped away from her mirror, but a flash of pain caused her to stop in her tracks. A burning sensation flashed through her arm, and all Tasmin could think was: Not today. Please, not today.

She forced herself to leave her room, but the pain crept up on her as she tried to make her way towards the party. Sweat built upon her forehead before she finally slipped away into a darkened room. Deep breathes were taken as Tasmin tried to force herself to calm down. She knew she had doubts, but she wanted this life. She wanted a fine suitor to settle down with. She wanted that peaceful life that came with never worrying about money. She wanted that classic dream of the white picket fence and children running around her feet. I want it. I want it. I want it.

Her eyes had fluttered shut as she repeated the mantra in her head. She had doubts, but those doubts would disappear as she started her journey. She had worries, but those worries would be gone once she spotted her mother’s caring smile and her father’s silent nod of approval. I want it. She was the oldest— she needed to help secure her sisters’ futures. I want it. She had trained for this since she was young. She knew what she was getting into. I want it. What was the alternative? Disappointing those that had cared for her so well? Watching their pride fade away? Please, let me have it.

The burning sensation increased in her arms, and a silent plea hovered on her lips. Let this misery end. Let the burning subside before the party grows too restless. A small tear trickled down her cheek as sweat built upon her forehead. A metallic taste filled her mouth as her teeth dug into her tongue, and she began to wonder if the sensation would ever leave her body.

The thoughts faded away as light burst out of her hands. Tears fell from her eyes in rapid succession, but it was the fear that truly caused the most damage. Wrong— this was all wrong. She was normal. She was made to live a healthy, normal life. She— she couldn’t possess magic. It wasn’t possible. It was a fluke.

It wasn’t a fluke, and she knew it. As she watched the light bloom from her hands, she knew it wasn’t a fluke. Her lip quivered as this new, unfound fear threatened to swallow her whole. Her mind thought back to her mother curling her hair in her youth and the way she would talk about her oldest daughter lighting up any room she walked into. The memory was replaced with another— her two sisters commented that her smile was its own source of light. A final memory pushed through all the rest of her father placing her on his lap. “You’re a strange one, Tasmin.” The words had sparked certain courage in you as you replied, “The best ones are.” What would they think about this revelation? More importantly— what would the king think of this discovery?

Tasmin fell to her knees as the light slowly faded away. The darkness engulfed her once more, and Tasmin was left with nothing but her own thoughts and her shaking body. Her hands felt raw as she attempted to brush her tears away. A sob finally forced itself from her throat as she struggled to get to her feet. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This was supposed to be a day of celebration, but instead, fear had overwhelmed all her senses. She stood there alone with your thoughts for what felt like a century before finally, she forced herself to open the door and wander back to her bedroom.

It took minutes to fix the makeup that had been smeared off. It took even longer to rummage through her drawers in search of some gloves. Finally, she was able to look in the mirror and see a semblance of her old self. The ends of her hair were singed, her hands ached beneath their covers, but she looked like the same girl that had stared into the mirror earlier. It was the small comfort she needed to force herself to enter the party and play the part of the dutiful daughter.

If they would ask about her gloves, she would lie.

If they would ask about her hair, she would lie.

If they would ask about her timing, she would lie.

She would lie, lie, and lie again if it meant keeping that light from escaping her parent’s gaze. She would lie forever if it meant making them proud. Sadly, she didn’t think she had that long.

EXTRAS

https://www.pinterest.com/aesthctics/oc-the-magician/ here is her pinterest!

Headcanons:

Burns mark her skin after using her powers. She has the power of light, but light can harm in the same way it can heal. Her power feels like the equivalent of touching a lit light bulb. Because of this, she slips on gloves whenever she goes out of her bedroom. She doesn’t want people staring at the rawness of her hands and asking questions, so instead, she merely covers it up. A simple lie about having cold hands leaves her lips whenever someone notes her fashion choice, but little did they know, her hands were never cold.

She often writes letters to her family. She tells her parents about the people around the court and the potential matches she’s found. She tells her sisters about all the desserts she’ll sneak back to them when she returns home. She even wrote a few that talked about her powers and her fear, but she always ends up tucking those away in a drawer. One day she hopes to tell them the truth, but for now, she’s content with just keeping the conversation light. She couldn’t bear the thought of making them worry, or worse, disappointing them completely.

Tasmin will spend her free time in the courtyard. The area reminds her of the garden that surrounded her home, and she enjoys wandering the area to clear her mind. She often likes to have her breakfast there instead of inside, and there’s visible disappointment in her features if the weather is rainy.

Tasmin likes to keep her hair short. She always enjoyed the lower maintenance that came with shorter hair. She also had singed it a few times when using her magic, so the shortness helps keep it out of her way. Finally, she was a bit scarred from seeing the Moon’s hair caught on fire. Tasmin didn’t want that to happen to her, so she solved the issue before it arose.

#accepted #accepted: the magician

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painted-starlight · 7 years

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Why does Mother Gothel Want to Stay Young?

Warning: Super Long Post and some swearing

An in depth analysis why Mother Gothel’s motivation to stay young doesn’t make any sense.

No seriously why does Mother Gothel want to stay young forever?

Vanity as a flaw is an old stereotype to pit young women against older women. But this sole motivation doesn’t really hold up when we compare her to other Disney Villains. The reason I say this is because there is a certain level of complexity that villains in Disney hold. Little things like character quirks, their occupation, their background, their ethnicity can give the audience subtle clues about why they at the way they do.

For example, villains with a deep and shallow level of complexity would have to fulfill certain qualifications (note: I got a lot of helpful information on creating villains from Letterpile.com’s “Three Steps to Creating a Complex Villain”. I suggest you take a look, since I got a lot of my information on how Disney Villains are formed from this piece.):

1) What does the audience know about them from what is shown? Their environment, their disposition, interactions with the hero, etc. Things we can see, and are shown.

2) What is implied by the story about who they were before the events of the movie? Basically what’s not shown but what can be reasonably assumed by the audience. (Off screen mentions don’t count because film is a visual medium and what a villain does must be shown to audience in order to establish them as a threat.)

3) Are their motivations understandable? Not an excuse mind you, and sometimes they aren’t relate-able (which is fine depending on their level of complexity. Not all villains have to have full backstories). But do their struggles parallel the hero in some way?

An effective Disney villain doesn’t always follow these rules or answer these questions since so many are different. But here are a few:

Dr. Facilier from the “Princess and the Frog”

Complex/Sympathetic Human Villain

We don’t know that much about Dr. Facilier, but what the audience is shown let’s fill in the clues. He is most likely had struggles financially, and is a victim of the racist system of Jim Crow. He had a mother, so there is a familial aspect to his life.

Dr. Facilier is an understandable villain, because he has been denied the opportunity to prosper while the white upper class that practiced slavery lives in mansions. This is one of the most sympathetic villains Disney has created, and his struggles parallel Tiana’s since they both are black people living in a racist system.

That doesn’t mean he isn’t a villain, but the small moment of sheer hopelessness he has in the beginning (during “Down in New Orleans” ) while watching the descendant of slave owner ride around in a car make him a complex villain.

Scar from the “Lion King”

Complex/Unsympathetic Non-Human Villain

Scar is a complex villain in the Lion King, but he’s not sympathetic. He is resentful of his position as the beta-male. He is smarmy, manipulative, and petulant. What we are shown is the level of his hatred of Mufasa leads him to murder his brother. It is Shakespearean, and his hostile takeover of the Pride Lands is driven by his selfishness. The failure of his reign is due to a lack of foresight and planning. Once he got what he wanted, he was a pretty shitty king.

Scar is an effective villain because of his environment, his character quirks, and sarcasm make him memorable. He is antisocial and is shown lounging around alone while the celebration of his nephews birth takes place. His character animation is distinctive, and shows the audience his personality.

There are supplementary books that shine a light on his past, but since most people have seen the first film we can’t really count that.

Maleficent

Simple/Effective Humanoid Villain

Maleficent is not complex. She doesn’t need to be because her character’s actions are consistent with the rules of the world she lives in. She wasn’t invited to a party so she cursed the host’s baby. Because she is a faerie, she doesn’t abide by certain human etiquette (or at least she doesn’t use etiquette when dealing with people who don’t take the time to use it for her).

The rules are different. She’s not like Scar from the Lion King who is aware of certain rules and technically a part of the social structure. The Lion pride has a hierarchy of their own and a society with different nuances. While he is a social climber, Maleficent is a wild card that can come in at any moment and tear up the place.

If she were human and had these powers, the audience would probably wonder what her deal is, but since she acts more like a force of nature and a Western audience is used to tales of gods and supernatural creatures with strange morals, it makes sense. Considering how the other three faeries are more or less clueless about how real humans act, this idea is consistent and not necessarily speculative to assume that that is just how faeries act.

So where does Mother Gothel fit into this?

She’s not complex, but she’s a human character that requires a reason for her to act the way she does. Her just being controlling, manipulative and occaisionally falsely charming has nothing to do with who she is because those are things that any villain can do. Who is Mother Gothel? Why does she do the things she do?

Does she fear death?

Not really.

The film tries to tie in beauty with life and old age with imminent death in a really strange way. Just because you’re old doesn’t mean that as soon as you turn sixty that death is coming for you. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean that it’s going to be your best years.

How does her being young translate into a fear of death exactly?

It doesn’t make any sense from we know (very very little) of Gothel’s backstory. No subtle hints of backstory, no references to past marriages, partners, children, or even something she might have done that could raise an eyebrow. What does she even DO while Rapunzel is in the tower?

We have no idea where she goes, what she does, why she needs to be young to do it, etc.

During Mother Knows Best, she references some things like the plague, but the rest is just shit she made up and few disappearing acts. How does this factor into her character exactly? Was she a magician or a performer at some point?

The reason why I ask is because if it’s true, what does that have to do with her staying young forever or a fear of death? It could be that she was performer and her acts rely on her being immortal or looking a certain way, but that makes no sense because everyone and their grandma apparently knows about a magic flower that makes people stay young forever and they made a big deal out of it. And she seems reaaaaly secretive. Like she doesn’t want anyone to know who she is.

But what does she do when Rapunzel is in the tower???

Apparently she just walks around doing nothing. Like, what’s the point of her being young at all? If she were hiding from the palace guards that’s fine but why was she so obsessed with being young BEFORE the king and queen took the flower?

If she were really afraid of dying she would be obsessed with not getting sick, or being injured.She can’t be afraid of dying or getting seriously hurt since she scales a friggin tower every three days from a fall that could KILL her.

The only thing that she seems to love is beauty and youth. But why? There’s no actual reason given. There’s no hint of sibling rivalry, or showing her being self conscious in front of other women because there are barely any other women in this movie.

The only woman/girl she even talks to is Rapunzel. And that’s not a good frame of reference because she actively manipulates her and has complete and total control over her/her environment. She has full control and it’s all an act.

When she’s technically “out of control” of Rapunzel, she still doesn’t seem to talk from experience. She is literally a caricature at points, mostly there to oppose Rapunzel and be the “Older Woman” who jealous of Rapunzel’s beauty.

She isn’t paralleled with Rapunzel properly either. Usually a villain should be more than just a physical opposite to the hero. Her character arc should want the same thing as Rapunzel, and she does for a small part. They both want control of Rapunzel and her choices.

But other than that, it kind of falls flat. Flynn/Eugene drives Rapunzel’s story and he pretty much becomes the center of her universe other than the floating lanterns. Mother Gothel internally has almost nothing for the audience to hold onto. She has no understandable motivations (no matter how twisted a villains motivation is, the audience needs to know what IT IS), and she parallel’s Rapunzel in the most basic, shallow way. Physically. And that’s not enough for a human character.

So what T*ngled is trying to say is this is guess:

Mother Gothel wants to stay young because all women want to be youthful for no real reason. Just cause! When your young you stay young forever and never get old or injured. If you’re an older woman, you aren’t pretty anymore and you might as well be dust in the wind. (Unless of course you’re a white disney princess or her youthful looking mother lol)

???????

Mother Gothel from T*angled

Mother Gothel is Simple/Unrelatable in the Disney Villain category. She’s basically on par with Clayton from Tarzan. Very one note, and there for opposition, a caricature.

Simple in terms of characterization and the barrier between her as a villain and the audience.

Unrelatable because of the missing elements of shown or implied backstory. Not enough information other than surface traits given to the audience.

#long post #disney #tangled crit #animation #anti tangled

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foxhenki-blog · 7 years

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Goblets of Blood and Power

‘Authority, Energy, and Power,’ that sounds like some sort of omniscient labyrinthine bureaucratic department in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.

I've been thinking a lot about the concepts of authority, energy, and power in magic lately. I think it is important, at least for my own practice, to define these terms and to map them onto the greater magical reality.

The hyperlocal space weather has really messed me up lately. I haven't been right since the last new moon actually. Last night was a partial lunar eclipse and on the 21st of August I am in the path of at least an 80 to 90% total solar eclipse. All of these solar / lunar conclusions have destroyed my rhythm, or at least, have garbled the communication channels I thought I had open with sublunar spirit entities like saints, sigils, and demons.

I've done some asking around my cohort and close friends, but I seem to be an outlier here. I'm told that the full moon in Aquarius is a good thing, that Jupiter is in the house and that is positive, but all I see are shadows. I've read about all the magical plans, charging accoutrements under the eclipsed sun, special timing and rituals to coincide with the event, but it all seems to map back to experimentation.

There is nothing in the hygromanteia about eclipse work, nor in the Book of Oberon or the Book of St. Cyprian. I am of the strong opinion that these are anomalies that haven't been worked in any consistent manner and don't have precedent in the grimoires. There IS some precedent in the ouvre and magical reality of HP Lovecraft, which I will touch on later in this post.

Authority, Energy, and Power; what are they to the magician?

Authority is how a magician carries herself and is primarily concerned with how effective communication between the magician and the spirit world is. The more authority, the more open and clear the channels of communication are.

Energy is the fabric of magic, but it is uncontrolled. It is the washing over of the earth by radiant sunlight. We can shield ourselves from it or bake our flesh in its rays, but the we have no control over it. Energy is there and some can feel it but none can control it. It is the physical interaction of the magic and real, a force untouched by man and governed by things like the movement of the planets, the passing through and shattering of barriers between the real and the spirit world. If someone claims to be an energy worker, I challenge that moniker and that practice, frankly. There is no working with the radioactive, not without a lot of gear anyway, and certainly not wearing nothing but body paint dancing around a bonfire... but I digress too much.

Power, now power is what I am concerned with. Power is the concept I am most questioning. I've spoke about that all over body buzz I get that let's me know that the magic is 'working'. I previously thought that was a sign of communication, a sign that my authority with the spirit world was growing. I no longer think that is the case. I think what I'm feeling there is power. Power is a combination of authority and energy, both of these things are a component of power, but power is the addition of the human the channeling and alchemical transmutation of magical energy as it is put to work by the will of the magician.

Power isn't a new concept in magic, and it is almost always accompanied with the idea of maintaining balance, a balance in the universe. The idea that there is a limited amount of power that can be put to use by magicians is swiftly falling apart for me. Power, in this magical context, is (it has to be) the size of the universe itself. I deeply believe that the idea of one magician, even a dozen powerful covens or every Thelemite on the planet together, the idea that we can somehow deplete or unbalance something as large as the available magical power in the universe is the height of ego.

The HiLowBrow podcast, in episode 13 of their Illicit Objects series, encapsulate the traditional ideas of magical power very well.

Humans are powerful, but we are powerful in our robustness, in our resistance, we are powerful conduits of unlimited cosmic power.

Balance, in this context, also strengthens the false idea that there is an inherent good vs evil morality in the universe. One of the most popular and well understood themes in Lovecraft is the amorality of his Old and Other and Elder Gods. Sure, his protagonists, like the Detective Malone that we will look at below, view the world of the magical other through this binary lens, but that isn't what Lovecraft is saying. He's trying to tell us that we are, or we can be, insignificant in the eyes of these entities. They aren't here on earth to destroy or bedevil us. They are here for their own reasons and we are, largely, in the way.

The below tweet perfectly sums up these ideas in a very relatable format, human / cat interaction. Anyone who has every loved (or hated) a cat will be able to understand the true nature of Spirit / Human relationships.

Once you conceptualize Power using these much more realistic heuristics, the entire nature of magic begins to change.

The best example of this trinity of concepts in the Tarot is the King of Swords.

The King of Swords in the Etteilla deck possess the keyword 'Homme de Robe' or Man of Dress. The surface translation of this is that the card signifies a well-dressed man, perhaps. Looking at the etymology of the word 'dress' however, takes us a bit deeper. Dress is related to the Latin term 'directre', to direct, to keep straight. The Early 14c meaning is the same and in the late 14th c, it means to align a column of troops. A Man of Dress can thus be interpreted as a strategist, an office, one that enforces the rules and bends the rules to his benefit. He is intellectual, articulate, logical, rational, and akin to a judge. He has ambition but is also surrounded by controversy. This card says that the power of the universe is subject to man's rule. Man, ultimately, has the ability to direct, enforce, and change the rules of power at his discretion. Man is, or has the capability to be, the judge that governs how magical power is used.

We see this archetype in Lovecraf'ts tale, 'The Horror at Red Hook', specifically in the protagonist, Detective Thomas F. Malone the (retired) New York Police Detective. This story begin by informing the audience of Malone's Batophobia, or his fear of being around or in sight of tall buildings - in Malone's case, tall brick buildings. His fear is linked to images of collapse, fire, and calamity, a visualization that takes us back to the Tower, which lies on the same path of our memory forest as the King of Swords.

Lovecraft speaks of Malone as having

"The logician's quick eye for the outwardly unconvincing"

But also a

"Sense of latent mystery in existence... always [being] present"

He takes us to very specific places in New York, this neighborhood of Red Hook that he frames in with Clinton Street, Court Street, and Borough Hall. The Tower comes up again with Lovecraft's familiar trope of the horror of a babel of tongues and an order hidden beneath chaos.

Malone is a student of the occult as well as a detective, but only a student insomuch as his need to understand the paranormal as his enemy. Lovecraft references Murray's 'Witch-Cult in Western Europe, which according to ST Joshi's catalog of Lovecraft's personal library, was not a tome that he owned at the time of his death (this is not uncommon and begs the question of where Lovecraft's knowledge of most occult books come from, but that is another post).

This story is an example of what many modern critiques might take as Lovecraft's inherent racism. I will begin to assert here, and further my point in later posts, that Lovecraft used corporeal xenophobia in the same vein as his cosmic xenophobia - as a trope to instigate horror in the reader and not as a sociopolitical commentary.

But back to our King of Swords. Lovecraft further offers us a physicality for our archetype through the mention of the Reformed Church in Flatbush with the 'Netherlandish cemetery' and the home of the antagonist (a kind of anti-antagonist) on Martense Street. The story goes on to include a judge, or the fooling of a judge (following or bending the rules as needed) and reveals the true antagonist of the family, Lilith. He even offers an invocation for her, the first I've certainly seen, that brings me to my brief assertion in the beginning, that Lovecraft's ouvre is actually a type of grimoire itself.

Here is the invocation, the order is garbled so I've aligned it here with a more conventional format, beginning with an appeal to angelic / demonic entities before invoking the famous vampire:

Hel, Heloym, Sother, Emmanuel, Saboath, Agla, Tetragrammaton, Aymros, Otheos, Ischyros, Athanatos, Jehova, Va, Adonai, Sadat, Homousion, Messias, Eschereheye!

O Friend and Companion of the Night, Thou Who Rejoicest in the Baying of Dogs and Spilt Blood, Who Wanderest in the Midst of Shades Among the Tombs, Who Longest for Blood and Bringest Terror to Mortals, Gorgo! Mormo! Thousand-Faced Moon, Look Favorably On [My Offerings]!

Malone, our King of Swords, is set through the entire tale on the destruction or interruption of what he views as corrupt or evil, but in the end this moral assertion proves false. It is clear that the morality is only in Malone's heart and not in the spirits, demons, and the undead that he encounters. The Horror of Red Hook is truly a commentary on the horrors of human-trafficking, bondage, and kidnapping - in how humans bind and restrict themselves.

In the end, we see again the breaking through of a barrier between the real and the unreal when Malone, the master strategist having tracked down and pieced together tiny bits of data from a diversity of sources find himself confronted with a dark and ominous locked door in a fetid basement on Martense Street. He smashes the barrier with raw power and is rewarded with the knowledge and evil that he sought, he is rewarded with visions soaked in goblets of blood and the luminescent power of the antagonists.

I will leave off on this theme for now, but it is one that I must return to, because the concept of an amoral spirit world and man as a conduit of magic, and magic being an unlimited power in the universe, is proving to - much like Malone's investigation - be a horror that will likely consume me.

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