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canary3d-obsessed · 3 years

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Restless Rewatch: Nirvana in Fire, Episode 02

(Masterpost) (Other Canary Stuff)

Warning: Spoilers for All 54 Episodes!

A Cunning Plan

Let's start by checking in with the in-progress schemes. Nirvana in Fire features many, many overlapping schemes that stretch across multiple episodes.

Princess Nihuang's Marriage: Princess Nihuang is betrothed to a dead guy, and that's fine with her. If she needs tender emotional care she's got Xia Dong. Xia Dong is married to a dead guy so this works well for both of them.

The Emperor wants to marry Nihuang off, because she's got a loyal heap of troops at the southern border, and he's a paranoid old fuck, who doesn't like anyone to have the power to overthrow him. Marrying her will sort of force her to hand her troops off to her impulsive younger brother, or something.

The Emperor has a soft spot for Nihuang, however, so he's allowed her to set a bunch of impossible conditions on the marriage, including a martial arts contest. NIF is a hybrid palace drama and Wuxia drama, so there are courtesans and backstabbing and sneaky maids and sneaky eunuchs but also, people can fly.

The two main power seekers, Prince Yu and the Crown Prince, have flunkies that they want Nihuang to marry, but their flunkies suck at martial arts, so if they want her to marry one of their dudes, there will have to be cheating.

Note that Nihuang's good friends Jingrui and Yujin are taking part in the contest to marry her, which might be weird, except they both know she can beat their asses so they seem to just be joining in for fun & prestige.

The fact that she doesn't want to marry either of these loveable cuties means that she's pretty serious about staying betrothed to her first love, despite his apparent deadness.

(more after the cut!)

Recruiting Mei Changsu / Killing Mei Changsu: Team Prince Yu wants to recruit Mei Changsu. Team Crown Prince wants to recruit him or kill him, if recruiting him doesn't work.

Mei Changsu acts like this is so tedious; all he wants to do is rest. But they only want to recruit him because he and his pal Lin Chen made them believe he is the answer to their problems. Whenever Mei Changsu acts annoyed at something, it's probably something he actually orchestrated. "Pork chops again?" (secretly buys more pork chops).

The Duke Qing/ Landgrab Case: In Episode 1, the Jiangzuo Alliance protected some witnesses against Duke Qing in an enslavement/land grabbing case. It's difficult for me to find anything about historical land grabbing in China because Google is full of 21st century land grabbing information. Anyway Duke Qing works for Prince Yu, so the witnesses are (whether they mean to be or not) on The Crown Prince's side. The Emperor has an interest in this case, because land grabbing is bad, apparently, even by corrupt-emperor standards. Xia Dong is in charge of investigating.

The Chiyan Army Case: This is the big conspiracy that the entire show is about. 11 years ago, the Emperor received evidence that Prince Qi, Lin Xie (Mei Changsu's father), and the entire Chiyan army were going to rebel. This was supposedly reported by Xia Dong's husband, Nie Feng, before Lin Xie supposedly killed him. The emperor ordered executions for everybody.

Prince Jing thought this was a bunch of bullshit and didn't hesitate to say so, which got him sent off to distant regions to do army things for years at a time, and landed him a place high up on the emperor’s shit list.

The Hazelnut Pastry Scheme: This is a small scale, benevolent scheme, in which Concubine Jing will eventually stop making cookies with hazelnuts in them, because Mei Changsu is allergic to them.

Ok, that’s the scheme roundup for this episode. On with the show!

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting

After a quick expository chat between the Emperor and Gong Gao, laying out the reasons for the Nihuang Marriage Scheme, we go to Prince Yu’s place to watch superhot Meng Zhi, commander of the emperor's guards, whip some ass. Not, alas, literally. Despite his leather shoulder thingies and his handsome beard, and his commanding ways on a battlefield, when it comes to interpersonal relations he is pretty much a labrador retriever puppy in human form.

Meng Zhi is kicking the asses of Prince Yu’s fighters to determine if they're qualified to compete in the Marriage contest. They are not. He points out to the Prince that they can't put such terrible wimps into the competition because it will make the country’s defenses look weak.

This beatdown is observed by Prince Yu and by Xie Yu, who Prince Yu thinks is on his side. Xie is 100% on the Crown Prince's side, but is carefully hiding that fact; he has his son working for Prince Yu as part of his cover.

In determining how severe an ass kicking is, everyone talks about how many moves it takes to defeat someone, like it's chess. Meng Zhi can beat literally anyone else in the show. He's number two on the Langya List of fighters & we never meet #1.

Fe Liu Was Fast as Lightning

Mei Changsu is hanging out in the garden at Xie manor while Fe Liu jumps around. Fe Liu wants Mei Changsu to play Roblox with him, and pouts when MCS opts for staying in the garden and reading a book.

Fe Liu is utterly devoted to Mei Changsu; I really love their relationship. Fe Liu’s backstory isn't fully explained in the show, but apparently he was raised from an early age to focus on being extremely lethal, and didn't spend much time learning to talk or other skills, making him the epitome of the asynchronous/ gifted teen. Mei Changsu isn’t who raised him to be like this; MCS and Lin Chen rescued him, which is why he is now Mei Changsu’s personal murder pet.

Fe Liu is both a complete fantasy character and also a really believable teen, beautifully acted by Leo Wu, who DMBJ fans know from Tomb of the Sea, and who Xiao Zhan fans know from Battle Through the Heavens.

Fe Lui promptly gets into a fight with Meng Zhi, who's visiting Xie manor. All Fe Liu was doing was leaping about the rooftops like an assassin, but since Xie Yu is the sort of guy that a lot of people would like to kill, Meng Zhi doesn't think this is so good. They have a hilarious, entertaining fight with many, many wire-assisted moves.

They're pretty evenly matched, and Xie Yu watches them with extreme interest until Mei Changsu shows up and tells Fe Liu to stop. Xie Yu is watching because he needs to know how many dudes he should send to assassinate Mei Changsu. Answer: more. Always more.

Unfortunately, (or fortunately since it’s probably all part of MCS’s plan) Fe Liu's extreme skilz make it obvious that his boss is someone important. Mei Changsu discusses this with Jingrui and Yujin in an open-air setting where Jingrui's brother Xie Bi can totally hear them. In no time flat, father and son have reported his identity to their respective princes.

Over at Prince Yu's place, Qin Banruo and her awesome eye makeup join the party. She's Prince Yu’s advisor/manipulator, working for the (fallen) Hua kingdom, led by the (deceased) Princess Xuanji . She has a network of spies who work for her, that she deploys for Prince Yu's schemes. Her ultimate goal is not to help him, however, but just to fuck up the Da Liang Empire, which conquered the Hua.

(Nearly) Everybody Hates Jingyan

Xia Dong heads out on her assignment in the Land Grab Case, and Nihuang goes to see her off. They talk about gender expectations and how annoying it is to have to marry a dude, and briefly hang out being WLW goals with their mutual devotion, excellent fashion sense and deadly fighting abilities. Nihuang, in particular, wears the prettiest things and also stands at attention like she's commanding an army; I adore her.

They're interrupted by the arrival of Prince Jing, who is greeted cheerfully by Nihuang and eye-rollingly by Xia Dong.

He's wearing an awesome brass-and-blue armor that we never see again after this episode. It's too bad - it's a good color for him and it has a cool vampire cloak with a high collar.

Prince Jing takes the opportunity to snark at Xia Dong about her investigation and the Xuanjing Bureau’s penchant for inventing finding conspiracies, and then rides off before she can reply.

This leads Nihuang and Xia Dong to get into their chronic argument about the Chiyan Conspiracy and the Lin family, and then Xia Dong hits the road.

Prince Jing and his subordinates stand around outside the palace waiting to report to the emperor while the emperor ignores him. They get sweatier and sweatier while they wait. which makes me like the Emperor a little bit more.

Prince Yu and CP Xian are busy sucking up to the emperor as they look at a manuscript. They are a bunch of assholes and you can see that Gao Zhan isn't a fan of this bullshit.

Eventually Gao Zhan reminds/persuades the emperor to summon Prince Jing, whose brothers snark at him like a couple of 12 year old girls while he radiates manly vigor and handsomeness.

Consort Jin is bummed that she can't see Prince Jing for another 5 days, and her maid sidekick says random comforting things. This maid, Xiao Xin, is actually a little snake, who works for Qin Banruo's network. We don't learn that until sometime later.

All of the maids have this same hairstyle. If you are a westerner and you think this hairstyle is crazy, have a look at some Roman and Byzantine historic hairstyles. I'm not saying this hairstyle is NOT crazy, mind you; just that crazy hair was a feature of many, many historical empires.

Consort Jing has someone deliver her hazelnut cookies to Prince Jing; she doesn’t know about Mei Changsu yet so hazelnut is still on the menu. Nicest mom. Also smartest, helpful-est mom, as the story develops.

Suck-Up Contest

At Xie manor, Xie Bi tries to get Mei Changsu to go meet the Empress, who has stopped by with Nihuang specifically to meet him, as part of the Recruit Mei Changsu scheme. Jingrui says nope, fuck that, he's not going to be a pawn in your political games, fuck off. We get to see Jingrui being steely and righteous, which is both cool and hot. Nihuang should totally marry him.

The Empress is annoyed that Mei Changsu doesn't show up, and Nihuang is like, it's ok, I don’t actually give a fuck about meeting new men. But I did want to meet his murder puppy Fe Liu.

Grand Princess Liyang says they don’t need to bother meeting pugilists, despite her son being one and her supposed best friends/co-parents also being pugilists.

Grand Princess Liyang will probably be glad Mei Changsu didn’t come to her little party, once she realizes what tends to happen when Mei Changsu comes to a party.

Then we go to the suitor tournament, in which everyone more or less sucks.

The princes really want to go over to Mei Changsu’s balcony to meet him, and they have a hilarious silent interaction where they both try not to be the first one to move. They finally cave, and go together.

Then they compete to see who can be the most cringe and blow the most smoke up Mei Changsu's ass.

They ply him with gifts and flattery, which he mostly manages to resist.

Cookie Time with Granny

Then they get summoned to go meet the grand empress, who is (I think) the mother of the previous emperor, the grandmother of the current emperor, and the great grandmother of basically every highborn character of the current generation, including Nihuang and Yujin, although it’s not clear where they sit in the family tree. Historically, cousin marriage - particularly of maternal cousins - was no big whoop in China, so it's not surprising that a lot of nobles would share a great-grandmother.

The Grand Empress is a sweet lady with dementia. She can’t figure out who the hell anyone is. First-time viewers feel the same way.

Her dementia is pretty well depicted, unlike a lot of TV dementia, or at least it matches up to my experiences with my own elders. She remembers the distant past more vividly than recent times; when she understands who’s in front of her she connects with them emotionally, but she falls off track easily. And she projects the identities of people she misses onto people who are around her.

Like many other grannies, no matter who is visiting, she wants them to 1. get married 2. produce offspring 3. eat something, you’re so skinny

When Mei Changsu meets Granny she immediately calls him Lin Shu, either because she recognizes him or because she really misses Lin Shu, or both. She calls Nihuang over and joins their hands, and Mei Changsu grabs onto Nihuang's hand and holds it for a while.

Everyone thinks it's adorable that Granny has dementia and is confused about that guy who was horribly killed, except Nihuang, who was already checking Mei Changsu out and is somewhat verklempt. She might have to revise her anti-man feelings a little bit.

Everyone leaves, and Nihuang hits up Mei Changsu to take a walk with her, casually mentioning that she could have his hand cut off for touching her, but since she's not in the mood, he's ok.

She prods a bit to find out what he's doing in town and what he's up to. “Do you have a girlfriend? Like a serious girlfriend or just a stalker who works for you?” She asks him which of the two princes he's going to support, but they’re interrupted by a eunuch beating a slave child. That’s the price you pay for trying to have a date in the palace, I guess.

#nirvana in fire #langya bang #nirvana in fire gifs #restless rewatch nirvana in fire #canary3d-original #my gifs

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blacksunscorpio · 4 years

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Scorp you're a genius! So relatable and I love how you don't judge others or anyone who comes to you for help. Keep it up! I just had to ask since I see that you make pop culture references to make analogies with astrology. You've mentioned GoT a few times and im a huge fan! Can you do a quick post on Game of Thrones characters and their potential zodiac signs? I'd love to hear your input! Thank you so much!!

Game of Thrones Characters & Their Zodiac Signs

Aries

Khal Drogo- Impulsive. Warlike. Bloodthirsty. Alpha. Conqueror. Hardcore athlete [did you see him on that horse?] Extremely sexual. Forceful. When he first meets Daenerys, he forces himself on her. Afterward, however, he is the first to go to war if he feels the people around him have been disrespected.

Aerys Targaryen- Impulsive, sadistic. Boastful. imperial. He would be the Emperor [reversed] in Tarot, lol. Not as good with being a tactician as he ought to have been. Cruel. Rage problems. The need to be the first and the best. Fire and blood, anyone?

Taurus

Maergery Tyrell - Classy, wealthy, sexy, laid-back, frank but with an air of elegance. Highgardeners have a love for the finer things in life. A love of fine wines and foods. Beautiful clothing and aesthetics. RICH RICH. Get on their bad side and they will take their time finding a way to subvert your authority.

Robert Baratheon- Love of luxury, bullheaded, strong, takes no shit. Fixed in his opinions of others, highkey jealous. In his youth, he enjoyed the gifts of Venus: Charm, wealth coming from the noble house of Baratheon, widely considered handsome by almost all in the 7 kingdoms.

Gemini

Tyrion Lannister- Silver-tongued. HIGHKEY intelligent. Social. Charming. Great sense of humor. A freak [in the sheets]. Chatty. Always finds his way out of a sticky situation. Finds a way to use his intel to bolster diplomacy between his family and the families who hate them.

Little Finger- Cunning, quick-witted, works behind the scenes, manipulative, a snake, jack of all trades. Top dog in the social circles of the 7 Kingdoms. There wasn’t a person who didn’t know of him and his... reputation. He singlehandedly, through his Machiavellian tactics, caused the events of Game of Thrones to unfold.

Cancer

Cersei Lannister- Protective, moody, caring [to her kids], motherly, cantankerous, jealous. A savage. People don’t give Cancer’s the credit they deserve in terms of what they’re capable of. Cersei is a prime example of the type of person who can show unrivaled levels of devotion to the one’s they love. “No one matters but us.” She can be cruel because she lets her emotions rule her actions. When her safety is threatened, she makes sure no one else feels safe either. She loves with a ferocity only rivaled by...

Catelyn Stark- Another mother who would die [quite literally] for her children. Fierce, Protective. Doting. JEALOUS. Let’s not forget how she treated Jon all because she believed Ned’s lie about him being a bastard. Followed her son into battle. Damn near lost her hands fighting off Bran’s would-be assassin.

Leo

Jaime Lannister- Proud. Handsome. Princely. Funny. We seem him go from underdeveloped Leo [arrogant, selfish, bully, prideful, snob, loyal to no one but himself] to developed [Kind, helpful, warm, honest]. Fought bears for his friends. Skilled and proud fighter even without the use of both his hands. Unfortunately, his loyalty caused him to stay loyal to his twin towards the end, but such is the nature of a Leo. They’re hard-pressed to abandon those they truly care for.

Brienne of Tarth- LOYAL. Proud. Devoted. A bit of a flare for drama especially brandishing her sword. Brienne is the definition of Leonine traits. Hard to miss. Devoted to those who show her kindness, i.e Renly, Catelyn, Jaime, Sansa, etc. Always at the front lines in war screaming “STAND YOUR GROUND”. Unrivaled levels of bravery and courage. Not to be fucked with. A true Queen.

Virgo

Samwell Tarley- Intelligent. Scholarly. Methodical. Always with his nose in a book. Unproblematic king. Caught the things everyone else missed, especially when he was an apprentice in Old Towne. Figured out how to cure Jorah Mormont’s affliction on his OWN without any formal training. Genius.

Lord Varys- Remember, Virgo is also ruled by Mercury who is the most cunning of the planetary rulers. Varys always had a spy to collect intel on everyone. A tactician. Never lost his temper. Always had the scoop but didn’t partake in gossip for gossip's sake. Not afraid to be critical or tell those “in charge” his opinion. We can see this specifically when he critiques Aerys, Daenerys, and Robert.

Libra

Davos Seaworth- a skilled diplomat. Davos is always seen seeking balance and fairness in the situations he finds himself in. The minute you see this man in a scene you know he’s going to give a moving speech and get someone out fo a sticky situation. He convinced the Iron Bank to support Stannis. Convinced Daenerys to entertain Jon Snow when they traveled to Dragonstone. Always breaking up a fight. He is in full support of law and order, especially when he called for Melisandre’s head after discovering her part in Shireen’s death [RIP.]

Rhaegar Targaryen- Had a love of music. Harmony. Balance. He brought two families together [Stark and Targaryen]. He was also blessed by Venus in my opinion because he was said to be extremely handsome. A fabulous singer. A fighter yes, but a lover first. Very good with diplomacy but not the best with defending himself against his cousin sign, Taurus [Robert Baratheon].

Scorpio

Daenerys Targaryen- Many see her as an Aries but I have to respectfully disagree. Daenerys is a Scorpio in my opinion. Remember, Scorpio is honorary fire. She was literally “reborn from the ashes”. A Phoenix, Scorpio’s final form. She went from a silent and meek girl to a skilled and commanding Empress. Unlike Arians, she did not jump headfirst into battle. It took many arrows in her dragons, many slights to her ego, copious council from her advisors, dozens of her loved ones lost for her to go nuclear. Like her father, she hungered for power, a very Scorpionic trait. However she, unlike her father, listened to reason [Jorah, Tyrion, and Barristan Selmy]. She had a long fuse until she didn’t, and then that’s when she rained fire and blood on everyone in King’s Landing. She was skilled at retribution and was unapologetic with it *cough* the Tarleys *cough*.. Unlike Arians who pop off at the drop of a hat, she gave her enemies fair warning if/when they crossed her.

Arya Stark- You already know what it is with this one. Arya is pretty much death [Pluto], personified. Stealthy. A tactician. VENGEFUL. I think we all fist-pumped when she served Filch Walder Frey his sons in that pie. Never forgets a slight. Keeps a list of people who’ve wronged her [All Scorpios can probably relate]. You never see her coming. She is “no-one”. She is the assassin that slips through the back. She may seem calm at first but trust that she has been planning your downfall for a while. LOYAL. The definition of a Scorpio.

Melisandre- Dark. Mysterious. Unafraid of the occult. So much of her life is unknown and I’m sure that’s how she preferred it. Even her Lord of light was mysterious. Strong supernatural abilities and highkey psychic. Knew immediately how many “eyes” Arya would “close.” Had ties to the underworld which is demonstrated with her ability to resurrect the dead. Came through at the clutch in the last battle wielding fire [Mars] with her witchcraft. It’s no secret that Scorpios are some of the most skilled in sorcery.

Sagittarius

Missandei- Exotic. From Naath which is an island just above the mysterious continent of Sothoryos. A world traveler. Lucky enough to escape slavery [until the end]. Jupiter's influence is here in my opinion because she is so kind and friendly. Also a polyglot and gifted with the ability to speak 19 languages. Her fire is seen at the end of the series when she tells her best friend “Dracarys”-- meaning “fire” in High Valyrian. She isn’t afraid to call wrath down on others.

Olenna Tyrell- Loud, unapologetically blunt, zero-filter, feisty. Olenna to me is the definition of Sagittarius. Always speaks her mind. Clap back queen. Will call you out. Was also quite promiscuous in her younger years. Very charismatic and extremely likable despite her penchant for saying whatever was on her mind.

Capricorn

Tywin Lannister- I can’t see the patriarch of the most notorious family in Westeros being anything other than a Capricorn. Methodical. Structured. Business-minded. Karmic [A "Lannister always repays his debts"] Cold. Cruel. Unfeeling. Like Saturn, he is the father figure. Basically ran the 7 Kingdoms for Aerys, [which was probably why the latter was so salty towards him.] Always has a plan. The man you want in charge if we’re strictly talking about law and order. Vindictive [had the mountain kill Elia because Rhaegar rejected Cersei.] He’s the ultimate son-of-a-bitch.

Jon Snow- Brooding hero that he is, Bae Jon Snow is without a doubt a Capricorn in my eyes. Duty-bound. Serious. A leader in his own right. Could also be cold and unfeeling in terms of distributing karmic justice. Lest we forget the “fetch-me-a-block” situation with Janos Slynt. In addition, the moment he was resurrected he took vengeance against the black brothers who betrayed him. Saturn, Like Pluto, is all about karmic justice. The beating he put on Ramsey after The Battle of the Bastards was one thousand percent a karmic beating. A proper lover as well, according to Ygritte, Jon also knew how to handle himself in the bedroom, a trait very akin to Capricorns.

Aquarius

Bran Stark- I thought about making Bran a Pisces, but then I changed my mind. Remember Uranus rules sudden insights and hardcore psychic receptivity. It also rules sudden and unexpected catastrophes or surprises/ sudden breaks. Bran suffered a literal “tower” moment at the beginning of the series which resulted in his psychic powers developing. Once he became the three-eyed raven, he became very detached from the world.

Grey Worm- Aquarius is also androgynous. Grey Worm is a eunuch. He is always down to fight for a cause though, specifically his queen’s. Cares about others, specifically Missandei, and was seen towards the latter season speaking up for the Unsullied against the slavers. Fierce combatant but also very detached. His job is his job.

Pisces

Jaqen H’ghar- Much like Neptune, Pisces’ ruler Jaqen has a mysterious and illusive personality. He wears “many faces”. Skilled at illusion and very very intuitive. Has a soft side though which is clearly seen with how he treats Arya. Hardly ever flies off the handle. Calm. Cool. Collected.

Hodor- Sweet and gentle giant, Hodor is a Pisces to me. Affected by psychic trauma, it’s revealed why “Hodor” is the only thing he can say. Calm. A bit of a baby. Caring. Easily adaptable [think of all the terrain he carried Bran through]

Eddard Stark- I don't care what anyone says, Ned stark to me represents the most developed form of a Pisces. Like the Hanged-Man in Tarot that represents sacrifice and which Neptune Rules, he willingly sacrificed his reputation as honorable for his sister, Lyanna. He later sacrifices himself for his children when he died at Joffrey’s [little bitch] command. He is wise. Though appears cold, he is actually a well of feeling and caring. Unfortunately, he also suffered from the naivety of Neptunian influence which is why he wasn’t very skilled at the Game of Thrones, which calls for more tactical ruthlessness. Pisceans however also have the rage of Poseidon flowing through their veins [which people like to forget]. This was displayed when he pinned Petyr Baelish to the Wall in King’s Landing for daring to dishonor Cat by inviting her into a Brothel. RIP, King Stark.

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jelly-originals · 3 years

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★絶望 Character List★

Phoenix Wise High

Theodore Phoenix

The prince of the school.

Son of the headmaster, which makes him super popular but also puts incredibly amounts of stress on him.

Puts on a happy-go-lucky front to hide how depressed and lonely he is inside.

Due to his mother leaving him and his father when he was younger and his father's neglect of him, he's perpetually afraid of everyone around him leaving him if he's not good enough.

He works hard on his grades, often to the point of passing out, as he gets terrifying panic attacks if they're even a bit below perfect.

Reki Kagawa

The infamous loner of the school.

He has an extreme case of social anxiety, and being a late transfer student makes it extremely hard for him to talk at all at school.

His face is almost always passive as he learned a long time ago that it deters bullies better than anything else; it's incredibly rare to see him show any emotion on his face due to this.

His view of himself is perpetually warped due to years of bullying, which has lead to him often berating himself as boring and stupid.

He rarely has time for himself at all, as taking care of his sick mother and trying to keep up with school takes most of it.

Leopold Carnaby

The bad boy of the school.

Most people avoid his presence, especially at school, as he's known for flying into dangerous rages at people who even try to talk to him.

He has an immense hatred for his full name and calling him anything but Leo will get you a one way trip to the hospital.

Despite his outwards persona and anger issues, he's very soft with animals and children, often even helping the elderly around his neighbourhood.

Nobody knows what's actually going on with his family, though there are rumors that he's either homeless or that there's some abuse going on at his home that leads to him avoiding the place.

Milo Wagner

The smart bookworm of the school.

He's considered 'popular', if only because he's often the one who actually listens in class and thus has all the answers to tests and such.

Of course people often talk about him behind his back, but mostly due to his immense obliviousness he hasn't picked up on it.

He gets nervous when anyone asks about his family, though pretty much everyone has picked up that something's going on over there.

He's almost unhealthily skinny and never seems to eat anything, at least not around other people.

Royal Sunrise

Orpheus Draemdate

An artist who's detached from the world.

While he's incredibly in love with the world, it's mostly left at the aesthetic sense and he clearly views himself as an outsider when talking about the beauty he finds in everything.

While he's incredibly good at reading people and studying them, he doesn't truly understand the why and how of it.

He doesn't really have any friends or even acquaintances, as the most he talks to people is to ask to draw their portrait or when he gets commissions from people.

He doesn't spend a lot of time in his apartment when he doesn't have commissions to work on, and usually just wanders around the city in search of inspiration.

Daksh Mandal

A serious businessman with a workaholic streak.

He's perpetually tired and often on the verge of collapsing, as he tends to work himself to the bone as he perceives himself as having no purpose outside of his job.

He was previously married but his wife left him when his work became more and more important than her.

When he isn't working, most likely due to being forced to go home, he's at his apartment drinking tea and watching whatever happens to the on tv.

He used to be addicted to drugs before he got married to his wife. It used to be what he filled the void inside him before he started working and started using that as a replacement.

Lawrence Engelt

A clinically depressed hermit.

His father, largely the one thing connecting him to the rest of the world in any way, recently passed and Law inherited all of his money.

He leaves his apartment so rarely that sometimes the building's security guard is sent to check that he's still alive.

He has permanent dark circles under his eyes from his video game and energy drink addiction. He's especially fond of dating sims, most likely to fill his need for human contact and love.

He talks so little that his voice gets easily strained which makes his voice raspy and whispery.

Lazlo Farkas

An infamous serial killer.

He hates the world and everything that comes with it, but he hides it behind a charming and nice facade that makes everyone think that he's just another ordinary neighbour with a penchant for classical music.

He got his scars from his father, who was abusive to both him and his mother. His mother eventually ended up killing her husband and became a serial killer.

He listens to classical music while killing people since it reminds him of his mother and how it felt to be with her.

He has a habit of preserving his victims tongues in jars, as a way to 'remember' their last screams as they die.

La Dolce Vita Shopping Centre

Lennox Ashwell

An intimidating flowershop clerk.

Despite his looks and generally scary presence, he's actually a huge softie and is quite insecure about how people perceive him.

He often talks to the flowers at the shop when people aren't around, as other people don't really talk to him unless necessary.

His whole house is filled with various plants, as he has a tendency to take the dying ones with him to revitalize them. It makes him feel like he can actually do something good.

He's clearly had a troubled past that likely lead to his belief that he's no good, but he refuses to talk about it in any measure.

Shigeoki Nakayama

A barista with a grudge against his job.

He has a tendency to get stuck in customer service mode even outside of his job, as he's very aware that his prickly personality will just get him in trouble.

He's an alcoholic, coping with his shitty life and job by getting drunk at home, sometimes even on the job though he tries to avoid that when his superiors are around.

A lot of people hit on him on the job and even offer him their numbers, but his disgust at his job usually extends to the customers, who are clearly seeking to just spend the night with someone pretty.

He's a former street kid with hardly any skills other than bartending, so despite his hatred for his job he knows quitting isn't an option.

Ezra Nuit

A cheery jewelry shop clerk.

Due to being one of the longest lasting employees at the centre, he has a perpetual smile stuck on his face, that he seemingly can't take off even in his sleep.

His mother was one of the mysterious deaths in the shopping centre, when she fell through the glass ceiling of the jewelry shop while he was working there.

He always has jewelry on him, as he likes both feeling pretty and the attention he gets from it, likely stemming from having been a wallflower as a child to both his peers and family.

He lives with his younger sister now that his mother is dead, though neither of them spend that much time at home, much less at the same time. There's some tension there.

Iago

A bookshop keeper with a secret.

He has a calm and relaxed smile almost constantly on his face, though notably it isn't the same smile the rest of the shopping centre's employees have.

He always carries around a notebook, and while he on occassion writes in it when around people, nobody's ever read it.

He lives on the second floor of his bookshop, though people who've gotten in at night note that he never seems to sleep and that the shop gives off an eery feeling at night.

He's a bit arrogant when talked to, though his tone remains relaxed and teasing. He pretty clearly sees himself as being above other people in some way.

Black Spade Gang

Lucifer

The tough leader of the gang.

While to outsiders he comes off as sadistic and scary, to the members of his gang he acts like a reliable big brother.

He's a former orphan who founded the gang when he was 13, incidentally when he commited his first murder.

He keeps a pet snake around his neck at all times, a beautiful black Tiger Snake named Satan, who's extremely protective of him.

He has a particular fondness for getting into trouble, though he's very strict with his gang on where and what kind of trouble they can get into. He's very well aware he isn't the most dangerous thing in the city.

Luca

The clever second-hand man of Lucifer.

He's the brains of all their operations, being a master strategist and the only one out of the whole gang who's finished school.

He comes off as very kind, even to outsiders of the gang, and he knows how to take advantage of such presumptions. However, he's just as dangerous as the rest of them.

He comes from a well off family, but he was kicked out once he became too difficult for his parents to keep.

Lucifer is the one who introduced him to the life of crime when they were children, which is why he's extremely loyal to him.

Kit

The sweet looking maniac.

He's been with the gang for about as long as he can remember, and isn't really interested in anything outside of the little world he's created with his family.

He's always willing to go with whatever plans Lucifer may have, though he also has a tendency to go overboard with the violence so he's usually supervised by someone.

Despite his violent tendencies, he has a love for all things cute and fluffy and in fact often can't resist stealing things that fit the description if he sees them.

He's only calmed from his rampages if he's given his favorite stuffed animal, a little red fox named "Paddy".

Magnus

The silent muscle of the gang.

He's virtually mute, and usually communicates with grunts or charades. However, the rest of the gang seems to understand him just fine even without those.

Lucifer picked him up a few months after the gang was started, when he almost died in a scuffle he'd been pulled into by some kids who found him creepy.

He's very good at soothing the younger gang members, and is usually in charge of Kit. He also seems to always have something nice in his pockets, like candy.

He's very strong, capable of snapping someone's neck easily. In fact, he's done so on several occassions though usually it's to protect the other members.

Primrose Preparatory Academy

Enma Mephisto

A fellow yandere who pretends to be perfect.

He lives with his aunt, as his parents killed themselves when he was a child. Due to this he's desperate to please everyone around him, especially his aunt who always wanted a perfect little boy to dote on.

He's on top of the schools hierarchy, and is almost desperate to keep it that way which insentives him to keep the perfect facade on even more.

As he craves validation from the people around him, he sometimes goes to extremes to get it which has often resulted in him getting hurt.

The player, as the first person to see through his facade, grows into an immense obsession for him that he would be willing to do anything for.

Quincy Heverdoth

A crossdresser who's at the bottom of the school hierarchy.

Despite the harsh bullying he faces and the constant pressure from his mother to succeed and stop being who he is, he has an immense love for life.

He's physically very fragile and often sports more than a few bandages as his bullies tend to forget how easily he gets hurt.

He suffers from bulimia, as it's been drilled into his head that he has to look perfect for his family's reputation, which manifested in immense body dysphoria.

He cries a lot, from the slightest emotion he feels be it good or bad. Needless to say it's made him an even easier to pick on.

Mordecai Quintrell

An almost completely emotionless heir to a large conglomerate.

He's set to inherit his father's company in about a year and thus he's in a hurry to graduate and learn the ropes.

He doesn't have time for social interractions beyond business, but despite this he's popular at the academy as people admire his strong silent character.

He doesn't really know what he likes, as he's never had the time to figure himself or his personality out. All he's ever had to be is the heir to his father's company.

He's very good at reading people, but only in the business sense. His emotional intelligence when it comes to other people and himself is about zero.

Colin Stratton

A country pumpkin who recently came into a lot of money.

He's from out of city, and thus is unfamiliar with the societal expectations he has on him all of a sudden. Due to this most of the students tend to look down on him.

He's had very minimal education before coming to the academy and thus works extra hard to catch up. While this causes him immense stress, he tries to keep a positive outlook.

He's physically stronger than most people at the academy from years of farm work, and thus the students are slightly afraid to even try and bully him.

He's not used to being alone, so since the student body of the academy mostly avoid him he's very lonely at the school and is always looking for any excuse to chat with anyone.

Velvet Apple

Dae Kim

The "calm leader" of the group.

Outside of his stage persona, he's pretty energetic and the partying type. In fact, going to parties and engaging in reckless behaviour has grown into a bit of an addiction for him.

In recent years he's started caring less and less about his image, but some part of him is still afraid to disappoint all of his fans and ruin his career.

He's the most costly member of the group, mostly because they have to keep paying people to keep silent about his shenanigans.

He has an immense fear of darkness, and often sleeps in the same bed as one of his group mates so that he doesn't get nightmares from the darkness around them.

Sook Dang

The "innocent baby" of the group.

His actual personality is very foul and even hateful at times, as his time in the idol industry has left him pretty disillusioned with the world.

He often takes it upon himself to protect the rest of the group and despite his hatred for his stage persona, he'll play it up if it gets them out of uncomfortable situations.

He's the least comfortable in the group with showing his skin, and no one in the group knows why since at the start he was often in more revealing clothing to show off his cuteness.

He has a younger brother he has to take care of, which is why he's never really even thought of quitting or disobeying his manager and bosses.

Touyou Endo

The "playboy" of the group.

He's surprisingly innocent and naive, and the rest of the group are pretty intent on keeping it that way.

His parents, who were also idols, arranged for him to be a part of the group, and his immense fear of them keeps him from quitting.

He suffers from extreme insomnia, often not sleeping for days at a time. He wears a lot of makeup to cover up the effects of it.

While he isn't a fan of his career, he loves travelling and seeing new places. In fact, it's a dream of his to just travel the world without the pressure of being an idol.

Vasili Galkin

The "tough silent guy" of the group.

Actually a huge chatterbox, often to the point where his group mates have to physically keep him from talking while they're in public.

Considered the "exotic one" of the group, which he finds a bit weird, especially considering he isn't from a country that would be considered "exotic".

Only one of the group to speak more than one language, which makes him the translator of the group even if it's a bit hard to navigate.

Being part of the group is his ticket to permanently staying in the country, so his options for leaving the group are extremely limited.

Angelcare Hospital

Cyrus Leigh

The rough and uncaring doctor.

He specializes in the terminally ill patients, though he also has surgical training which he's immensely proud of.

Most of the staff is a bit scared of him, as it's a pretty well known fact that he can and will get people fired if they get in his way.

He isn't necessarily sadistic nor intentionally hurtful to his patients, he just doesn't view human life as worth caring for as a whole.

The only reason he became a doctor is because he knew it's a respected career choice and people would admire him for it.

Ira Banes

The sweet nurse with a dark secret.

Most everyone who comes into contact with him think him just the sweetest person alive and all of his patients trust him way more than any of the other staff.

Of course, his persona's all a ruse in order to get close to his patients before he kills them. This way no one ever suspects him.

He's extremely fascinated by dying people, which is why he became a nurse, and he desperately wants to know what it's like to die.

He keeps a diary of all his patients, up until the day they die. He has a whole cabinet full of them and he often sits around and reads them when he has free time.

He got fascinated with death when his mother accidentally slipped and hit her head, leading to a slow and painful death that Ira observed for several hours, never alerting anyone until it was over.

Narihito Glen

The patient who's been sick his whole life.

He's lived pretty much always in a hospital, dispersed with the few times he was allowed to go home when he was thought healthy only to be carted back into his hospital room.

His family has pretty much given up on him ever getting better, and they rarely even come to visit him and he doesn't really have any friends either, at least ones who last long.

Nobody's sure how long he still has, as nobody truly knows what's wrong with him, but he's outlived all previous estimates so he's a bit hopeful of living a long life.

He's not always in pain, but most of the time he's at least mildly uncomfortable or pained. In fact, most of his treatment boils down to lots and lots of painkillers.

Darling

???

Saves the player from a car crash at the start of the game and falls into a coma as a result. No one has any clue as to who he is.

His doctor's pretty sure that if he ever wakes up, he himself won't know who he is.

Sometimes mumbles in his sleep, though it never makes any sense, but at least it means he isn't brain dead.

Spider Lily Orphan Home

Reuben Aranha

The head supervisor of the orphanage.

Under constant stress to even keep the place running and taking care of the children, which doesn't help his already bad temper with them.

His family has owned the orphanage for generations. It's currently officially owned by his mother, but he's set to inherit it soon.

He truly cares for all the children at the orphanage, he just isn't the best with children and would most certainly not ever have taken this job if it wasn't his responsibility to do so.

He's aware that the orphanage and his family has some big secret to it, but he doesn't yet know what it is. He's been told he'll learn it when he owns the place.

Minekiyo

The eldest of the orphans.

He's always running after the younger children, helping Reuben take care of them, even going out of his way to get them out of trouble if something happens.

He's been at the orphanage his whole life, as he was abandoned there by his parents. Due to this, he considers Reuben a big brother and his mother his own mother.

He often ignores his own health and well-being for the sake of others, even if they don't deserve his help or sacrifice.

He's picked up a lot of skills while living at the orphanage, as they're almost completely self-sustaining and someone has to take care of the household chores.

Lysander

The delinquent type who hates the orphanage.

He's only been at the orphanage for a few years, as he arrived when his parent's died mysteriously and none of his family members wanted to take him in.

He has about no actual social skills, as he's always been a difficult child and his parent's thought it better to keep him away from other children.

He's not particularly violent, he just doesn't understand how to be around children or even most adults, and thus sometimes unintentionally hurts him.

Most of the kids at the orphanage consider him an outsider and he pretends not to care about it.

Kiku

The cheery arsonist.

He's been around for a good ten years, though no one at the orphanage knows anything about him despite it.

There's lots of rumors as to why he's at the orphanage, though the most widely accepted is that he killed his parents by setting their house on fire, but no one could prove it.

He doesn't really know how to do anything, as he's been largely restricted from helping around in fear that it will lead to a fire.

He keeps getting a hold of matches and lighters, and nobody knows how. Reuben has a large box of all his conficted fire hazards.

He frequently tries to set his own hair on fire, and his hands are permanently scarred and hurting.

Molchalin Family

Vladimir Molchalin

The head of the family.

He's an eccentric inventor, always coming up with new ideas and machines, most of which are scattered all around the manor.

He's very easily excitable, and tends to run around and shout whenever something surprising and/or exciting happens.

He's very affectionate with everyone, including strangers, but most of all his children. His youngest child, his only daughter, tends to get the brunt of it.

He never talks about his former wife, but he doesn't seem too bothered by her rather mysterious passing.

Anatoli Molchalin

The eldest son of the family.

He has a rather morbid sense of humor, and sports an impressive collection of taxidermied animals which he has made himself.

He has a very mischievous personality, often teasing and pestering his younger siblings much to their chagrin.

He's the closest in personality to his father, and seems to have an unfathomable hatred for his mother whom he refuses to talk about.

He's often around to encourage his younger siblings' hobbies and ambitions, doing anything he can to help them.

Naum Molchalin

The second son of the family.

He has an odd way of showing his affection, which is to try and murder the people close to him in increasingly elaborate ways.

He used to be his mother's favorite child, though the feeling has never seemed to be mutual. According to the people who know him, he got a lot more lively after his mother's death.

Despite being more "lively", he rarely exhibits any emotion on his face aside from boredom or occassional annoyance.

He rarely actually spends time with anyone, though if his siblings pester him enough he'll follow them around to do whatever, especially to Nadenka.

Sasha Molchalin

The third son of the family.

He's very daydreamy, and never seems to be aware of what's going on around him, though with the help of his family and servants he really never gets hurt.

Usually he spends his time in the garden, surrounded by all the butterflies and small animals that live there. He often naps at the base of his favorite willow tree.

He doesn't seem to even remember their mother, though notably he was always her least favorite and hardly spent time with her.

He has a weird tendency to find the oddest spots in the house to nap in, some that seem almost impossible to get to, especially for someone so unaware of their surroundings.

DeVille Family

Dario DeVille

The surprisingly sweet and cheerful boss of the family.

Most people tend to underestimate him, as they perceive him as "soft" and "kind", especially compared to his father who used to be a feared and ruthless boss.

He doesn't think that being cruel to his subordinates will get him anything, but that doesn't mean that he isn't willing to get his hands dirty if needed.

In a fight he's absolutely terrifying, though most people don't know about that since he's usually stopping fights rather than participating in them.

He knows how to use several different kinds of weapons, though he's most efficient with small firearms.

Clemente Galante

The serious and seemingly sadistic underboss.

He's pretty much always by Dario's side, only straying when ordered to or for his personal time, though even then he has to be forced to take it.

He's extremely neat and gets nervous if anything is out of place or doesn't go according to plan, which often ends in him tugging at his hair frantically.

It's rumored that he has a secret torture chamber in the basement of the DeVille family manor, though no one has ever found it.

He's very efficient with throwing knifes, though he himself prefers a bigger arsenal, like machine guns and rifles even if he's not particularly good with them.

Elio Sorbello

The clever & power hungry capo.

He only recently became a capo, after the unsolved murder of his former superior, though he's been a part of the family itself for most of his life.

Expert in poisons of all kinds, but he keeps it a secret as he'd rather people not know that he has the ability to poison them at any moment.

He ended up as part of the DeVille mafia as payment for his parents debts to them. Coming from relative poverty, he's always had a craving for the finer things in life.

He's the most outwardly ruthless of the more important family members, having made it very clear that he's willing to do anything if it gets him influence and power.

Vittorio Caito

The boss' cousin and a popular stripper.

He goes by his mother's maiden name since, while being part of the family, he lives a pretty separate life style from them, professionally speaking.

He's never had that much interest in the family business, which led to him passing his opportunity for being the boss to his older cousin.

He's still trained in fighting, and keeps a small knife strapped to his thigh at all times. That said, he's very slim and relatively weak, so he usually has a bodyguard tailing him.

He became a stripper pretty much only because it gives him attention and validation on his looks, which he views as his one strong point.

Heavenly Breath Church

Malachi Gallagher

A devout priest.

Came to faith after a near death experience he believes he was saved from by an angel. He left behind his previously borderline criminal life and became ordained shortly after.

He believes on occassion his dreams are prophetic and straight from God, as they've shown him the future and heaven.

He's very charismatic and can keep the attention of a room indefinitely, even though previous to joining the church he used to be rather soft-spoken and barely aknowledged.

Carries around a small cross with a secret knife in it, that he on occassion cuts his hand with for some reason.

Raphael Angelica

An angelical music director.

He's pretty much always available at the church, and many suspect that he lives there though he adamantly denies such claims.

Tends to hang around Malachi a lot, especially during services and events. They're always whispering together, which at one point led the members of the church to believe that they're in a relationship.

He has an extremely pretty voice, which is often described as sounding like an angel's choir, though he doesn't tend to sing a lot.

He's always helping the members of the church with anything he can, way beyond his actual duties. He might as well be an angel.

Asa Drued

A very gorgeous gardener of the church.

He's not actually particularly religious, or even a member of the church, he just works there and since he loves the church's garden he's perfectly happy staying there.

Many of the church members consider him an outsider, though it doesn't stop them from being enchanted with his looks.

He doesn't seem to be aware of just how pretty he is, though he's more than happy to receive compliments and get to know people because of them.

He's generally pretty friendly but he's often seen as unapproachable because of the way he looks, so he doesn't have many social contacts.

Micah Dulcie

A choir member with an innocent aura.

He's very gullible and his "friends" often convince him of ridiculous stuff or get him to do something silly to embarrass him.

He's a somewhat distant descendant of the church's founders, so he's considered an important part of it even and somewhat influencal in the going-on's of the church.

He carries around a small cross that he clutches when he feels afraid or nervous, given to him by Raphael.

His parents have always kept him under their strict watch, so he's not very knowleadgable about the world outside the church.

Gigglemug Psychiatric Hospital

Jahi Ayad

The lethargic head psychiatrist of the hospital.

He takes his study of the human mind very seriously and prides himself in his work, though notably his ability to discern actual human suffering is severely diminished due to his one track mind.

He's enjoys doing all sorts of experiments on people, and isn't afraid to get his hands dirty in his pursuit of knowledge and science.

He's perpetually tired & sleep deprived since he barely sleeps and tends to work until he collapses on his desk.

He's averse to modern technology, due to his belief that for things to work properly people have to be in direct contact with their subjects.

Kai Elton

The gentle security guard.

He always tries to treat the patients with patience, even if the doctor's at the facility get a bit annoyed and tell him to hurry up.

He hasn't been working at the hospital for long, and thus isn't all that aware of the worst of what's done there.

He often brings flowers from his own garden for the calmer residents, which makes him very likeable among the patients.

While he's originally from the city, he hasn't lived there for most of his life as his parents thought it better to not raise a child there. They were still quite against him moving back.

Tavi Vass / D'artagnan

The long time patient with a "volatile" case of DID.

Tavi is the host and core of the body, he doesn't remember what caused his DID. He tends to be a bit moody and quiet, but generally agreeable and sociable.

D'artagnan is a persecutor and non-human alter. He holds most of the trauma memories of the system but absolutely refuses to talk about it. He views himself as above other beings, especially humans, and can be violent to both others and the body.

Vevina is a caretaker alter, who's very careful with her words and actions, especially when it comes to Tavi and Cookie. She can be threatening if need be, but generally tries to make nice with everyone.

Cookie is a little alter, about 5 years old, and fronts very rarely. He's a bit shy but knows to be sweet to everyone since Vevina is, and he listens to adults as much as he can.

Kaita Ito

The patient with Dependent Personality Disorder.

His DPD is very severe and leaves him incapable of making the slightest of decisions, which is why he ended up at Gigglemug after his parents got tired of taking care of him.

His DPD is largely the result of his parents deciding and doing everything for him as a child, never allowing him to develop an identity beyond them.

He often neglects his own health as the doctors at the hospital aren't actually too interested in helping him, just observing and studying him.

Most of the other patients know that he's easy to take advantage of him, and the crueler ones of the bunch often get him to do stuff that will get him in trouble, which leads him to panic attacks.

Wainwright Detective Agency

Ariel Wainwright

The hardened head detective.

He's the only adult member of the Wainwright family left, as everyone but his 13-year old cousin are dead under semi-mysterious circumstances.

While he always seems calm and collected no matter the situation, he often has breakdowns in the privacy of his home or office from the pressure of being pretty much the only true facet of justice left in the city.

His knowledge of how corrupt the city truly is has lead him down some dark paths in the past, but he's sworn to himself to not become that person again.

He has a loyal pet dog named Sebastian that follows him around everywhere. He's actually a service dog that helps him keep his emotions stable.

Langston Hayes

The eccentric partner of Ariel.

He spends most of his time lounging casually around the office, usually in the strangest outfits.

He gets on Ariel's nerves constantly, but he's a good and just detective and can't be let go just for his eccentricities.

He was unofficially adopted by Ariel's father, the former head detective, after his parents died and Ariel's father was assigned to the case.

He has a talent for making people feel at ease around him and reveal all their secrets to him if he so wishes.

Sonny Ejiri

The newbie of the agency.

He's from outside the city and so isn't all that used to the violent and horrific crimes that happen there, at least not the amount.

He's a go-getter, but the silent type who'll listen to orders given to him dutifully unless he thinks it's an emergency.

Everyone tends to always underestimate him, even Ariel, because of his pretty face and small figure, but he's actually experienced in Judo and Bōjutsu.

He's not entirely used to the case process, especially not talking to people and he tends to get flustered when he has to do something new.

Lincoln Deantown

The serious secretary of the agency.

He has a very no-nonsense way with the agency, always keeping the three detectives in check and making sure they're doing everything by the book.

He's always making meals for everyone at the agency, be it the three detectives, witnesses, clients, or even the lesser criminals. In general, he tends to try and take care of everyone in his own gruff way.

He has a very intricate filing system in his little cabinet wall, and if anyone who isn't him touches it he is willing to break some bones.

He goes to anger-management therapy for his personality issues, as Ariel insisted he take them in order to be able to work at the agency.

Yokomura Family

Musashita Yokomura

The wise head of the family.

He's a very traditional man and tries to keep the family's secrets and traditions alive, even if it were to cost him his life.

He's the third generation leader of the family, and was born outside the city. He was only two years old when they moved in, so he doesn't remember much of the outside world.

He doesn't have the ability to feel compassion for humans, as he's been trained since he was born to simply kill.

He loves his two children, and while he can no longer do anything for his older son who's already been trained, he tries to prevent his younger son from becoming a monster like them.

Yoriu Yokomura

The emotionless eldest son who unlocks his yandere streak with the player.

He doesn't understand the emotions of others or his own, often leading to him saying or doing hurtful things without understanding why people get upset.

The first emotion he's ever understood is his "love" for the player, as explained to him by his father, which makes him unable to let go of them.

He's an expert in bladed weapons, just as his father is expert in poisons and his brother in technology.

He's the most mysterious member of the family, as nobody outside the manor has seen his face and lived.

Kitsuya Yokomura

The family's tech wizard adopted son.

He was adopted by Musashita when he was 5, possibly as a way to try and repent even in the slightest for his career.

He spends most of his time in his room, which is filled with screens and computers, along with other pieces of high-tech technology.

He's never killed anyone with his own hands, but he helps his father and brother by gathering intel and acting as a remote lookout.

He's a bit spoiled since his father wants to provide for him as much as he can and the servants are afraid to deny him in fear of his older brother.

Yasuki

The loyal & skilled head butler of the family.

His family has been serving the Yokomura's longer than anyone could trace back, possibly to the start of both families careers. Due to this, he knows nothing else than being loyal to the Yokomura's.

He started quite young, as his father who was the previous head butler died during a mission and someone from their family needed to replace him.

He takes care of the ten guard dogs of the manor, and considers it to be the highlight of his day.

He acts like a true gentleman and servant no matter the situation, even when killing or in danger.

Devil Hill House

Samael Teivel

The master of the house.

He only appears in his office when it's raining, always looking out the large windows to the surrounding forest.

He speaks in riddles, often so incomprehensible and removed from reality that they're impossible to decipher.

The story has it that he made a deal with the devil or a dark spirit of somekind when he was alive, and he and his house got burned down for it.

He seems extremely interested in sweets, as they're the only thing that can lure him out of his office if only for a moment.

Belial

The being in the mirror.

If people look into the reflective surfaces in the house, their reflection slowly turns into his form and they are driven insane by looking into his eyes.

He's possibly the dark spirit who made a deal with Samael, but he doesn't aknowledge questions about the house and inhabitants before it became haunted.

He always knows what's happening inside the house, often telling the other residents when there are intruders in their areas. The only room he won't go in is the main office.

He clearly enjoys messing with intruders more than the others, his laughter often echoing throughout the house as they're being tormented.

Faust & Mephisto

The pair of twins in the hallway.

They always move in perfect sync, mirroring each other and talking together to make their voice echo.

They walk around the hallways of the house, and on occassion enter a room that was clearly theirs when they were still alive.

Most people couldn't possibly tell the twins apart, despite them being mirror twins. Even when they were alive they were impossibly similar, which often annoyed them.

During the night they'll sing lullabies to each other, taking turns until they fall asleep and then disappear.

???

The thing in the basement.

He doesn't seem to be capable of talking, only communicating through growls and yelps. Often his howls can be heard through the forest, leading people to the house.

He refuses to leave the basement, and people who go into the basement don't often come back. In fact, most of the other residents usually herd intruders in there to get rid of them.

Sometimes he looks out the small window in the basement, especially when it snows though he'll avoid everything that comes from through the broken window.

He's constantly starving, only eating when intruders arrive as there is no other food in the house.

Fanfare Fits Carnival

Lockhart

The weird ringmaster of the carnival.

He speaks in a very grandiose way even outside the ring, his powerful voice grapping the attention of passerby's easily to lure them into the carnival grounds.

While he himself doesn't really do acts during the shows, he clearly directs the other performers and often springs suprise tricks on them to amaze the audience.

He's very boisterous and enjoys the spotlight, but his willingness to do anything to keep the carnival running comes from his love for it, as both his home and family.

He was raised with the travelling carnival, his parents being former performers before they died during a show and the previous ringmaster adopted him.

Arion Crystalion

The grand-star of the show, a magician.

While not performing his shows in the main tent, he has a small personal tent where he reads people's futures and gives them life advice.

He joined the carnival a couple of years before they settled in the city, though he seems awfully familiar with the place.

He doesn't talk about his past before the carnival, and is incredibly protective of the only thing he had with him when he joined, a crystal ball.

The rest of the performers admire him a lot for the things he's capable of doing, though some of them are incredibly jealous of his star-status.

Thingamajig

The creepy clown.

Nobody remembers when he joined the carnival, and people in general have a hard time remembering anything about him when he's not present.

He likes handing out balloons and treats to the people exploring the carnival grounds, though most who take them disappear shortly after.

He rarely talks, and when he does people can never agree on if his voice is high-pitched or low and gravelly.

Children seem to trust him a lot for some odd reason, and he often escorts them around the carnival, showing off all the attractions.

Andromeda

The beautiful carousel ride sculpture.

He sits inside one of the carriages on the carousel, originally there to make lone riders feel less alone.

He thinks he came to life shortly after the carnival came to the city, though his memory is hazy.

He loves watching the quests ride on the carousel, though his longing to talk to them only grows larger with every spin the carousel makes.

He has never actually talked or moved much, afraid of someone discovering him and getting rid of him. He loves his carousel home too much to leave it behind.

Wraithfeat Cemetery

Jade Eidolon

The odd undertaker.

He speaks very slowly and lethartically, often devolving into mumbling and whispers if he speaks longer than a couple of words.

He lives at his shop at the very edge of the cemetery, and only ever leaves the place to do his job inside the cemetery. He never steps a foot outside the cemetery gates.

He avoids talking to people as much as possible, as he considers them to be terrifying and dark creatures since he only ever sees them in the throes of sadness which often turns to anger.

People tend to be very uncomfortable in his shop, as it's always a bit dusty and the shelfs are filled with jars of unknown substances and strange taxidermied creatures. Not to speak of the opossum people swear is alive but can never catch moving.

Shi

The shade who hangs around the cemetery.

He's usually seen sitting a top the brickwall surrounding the cemetery, around the main gates.

Normal people can't see him, but they can feel him looking at him and if he happens to touch them they'll get intense goosebumps.

He was born from the dark negative emotions of the people visiting the cemetery, so he doesn't really understand or experience positive things.

Everytime someone brings flowers to someone's grave, he'll take one from the bunch and stash it away in his private collection.

Luan Quy

The unaffected caretaker of the cemetery.

He doesn't believe in the supernatural so he doesn't really think there's anything odd going on in the cemetery, plus his iron-nerves, makes him perfect for his job.

He's the only person taking care of the cemetery besides Jade, who fears him a lot, so he's usually busy cleaning gravestones or weeding the flowerbeds.

Somehow he's very social outside of his job, though most people do think him a bit weird for taking the job, no matter how essential and well paying it is.

Despite the job being pretty well paying, most of his money is sent to his family so he lives in a small cheap apartment near the cemetery.

Peregrine

Odd bird-like fellow who regularly visits the cemetery.

He always visits the same grave, at the very back of the cemetery who's headstone is broken and overgrown.

He's often followed around by a flock of crows, who assist him with whatever he's doing and bring him fun little trinkets.

He seems to disappear when he leaves the cemetery, only the flock of crows left behind to fly off.

He tends to avoid talking to the other visitors, though the ones who've managed to catch him say he's quite a pleasant fellow.

Crystal Mirror Club

Lazarus Rhodestone

A mischievous and seductive vampire.

In modern words, he'd probably be called a 'playboy' but he despises it and insists that he's simply 'someone who enjoys things life throws at him'.

Despite the fact that he can't actually get drunk, with the amount he drinks he could technically be considered an alcoholic.

He often tells grand tales of travelling the world, living in a dark mansion where he was free to torment travellers and the villagers who fear him, though he doesn't like talking about why he's now in the city, not in a grand mansion or a dark castle.

He keeps a locket on him at all times, that he's extremely protective of and never takes off for anything.

Hamao Fujiki

A socially awkward jorogumo singer.

The only time he feels confident is on the club's stage, though unfortunately for him that confidence translates into his magic seduction abilities and usually leaves him swarmed with admirers.

He lives at the back of the club in a small room Amadeus arranged for him when he first started working there.

He used to live in the forest, but something drove him out and forced him into the city. where he was found by Amadeus and take in.

He tends to cover his face with his signature scarf when going out, not only to hide his otherworldly appearance but also to stop his seduction abilities from accidentally activating.

Amadeus Octave

An incubus who owns the club.

He's owned the club for about 250 years, though back then it was a completely different sort of establishment.

Because of his way with human emotions and dreams, he's particularly sensitive to people and their blights and can't turn away hurting people.

He has a special room in the back that he sometimes brings people into, but nobody knows what happens in there as the people who go in never remember when coming out.

He has a collection of sketchbooks, full of potraits of different people and places, presumably ones he's met and been to.

Gratie van Helsing

A clumsy and silly monster hunter.

While his style of speech is usually whimsical and playful, but on occassion it will drop down to a dramatic drawl, lead on by ominous warnings and mutterings.

He usually presents himself as a simple doctor from a foreign land, who travels looking for a place to settle.

His whole entire family are and have been monster hunters, most of them believing they're descendants of the van Helsing. Whether or not this is true is debatable.

He's a bit reckless when it comes to his job, often rushing into things without thinking about he consequences first.

Holdem Forest

Moriki

A mischievous tanuki.

He often hangs around the entrances to the forest, pranking visitors by taking on ghostly forms or a friendly face, leading them astray.

He isn't a cruel person, he simply knows that the more haunted the forest seems, the less people will want to seriously harm the place.

A lot of the forest folk know him and appreciate him for protecting the forest, often popping by for crackers and tea.

He's not originally from the forest, he came there looking for his brother who he believes is somehow living in the city.

Nishith

A bit too friendly naga.

He's extremely curious about humans, despite the fact that every member of his family has warned him against them.

He has a small territory he lives in that he never leaves, even if he desperately wants to explore the rest of the forest and beyond it.

He's unfortunately oblivious to his own dangerousness, like his poison fangs and strong tail, which more often than not ends in a dead little friend.

While he's very intelligent, especially for someone who's grown up in a forest, but he's very easily distracted and forgets to think when excited.

Valdemar

A lonely and elusive näkki.

Usually he appears to people as a beautiful horse to lure them into his pond, but his 'real' form is that of a beautiful but corpse-like man.

Even the other residents of the forest fear him and avoid his home pond, and he considers it to be best this way, as he can't help his nature and thus would be a danger to them.

He's very protective of his precious violin, though if someone were to bring him a specific kind of gift [three drops of blood, a black animal, or vodka] he'll gladly teach them to play it.

As calling him by his name is the only way to kill him, he never tells it to people unless he absolutely 100 percent trusts them, which has never happened.

Oberon

Fae king of the Unseelie court.

He often rides through the forest with his entourage, causing mischief to travellers, especially if encountered head on.

He has a blood feud with the Queen of the Seelie court, Titania. No one in either court knows why, though there's rumors of a love triangle.

As he's incapable of lying, he's gotten very good with words to entice and entrap people with.

He loves stories, especially interesting and new ones, and they're a good way to get out of his bad favor or not end up kidnapped by him. Or it'll make him want to kidnap you more, he's a bit unpredictable.

Death Parade Offices

Bela

The God of Death.

He is the CEO of the Death Parade Corporation, along with his brother Valentin, though he's clearly the more responsible one.

He doesn't understand living creatures, especially love and feelings of affection, though he's indefinitely curious about them.

He has a small black french bulldog named "Surma" who follows him everywhere and often fetches stuff for him.

He's very conscious of his appearance, as he's a bit paranoid of humans finding out who he is. He's very aware of the human opinion on death.

Valentin

The God of Love.

The other CEO of the Death Parade Corporation, the whole thing being originally his idea to hide both his and his brother's jobs.

He's always been the more popular brother, so he's very social and popular among the mortals around them.

He has a large white Norwegian Forest Cat named "Psyche" who usually lounges on a luxurious pillow in his office.

He's capable of possessing people to help people with their love life, though he usually leaves such stuff to his employees.

Aeron

Reaper just trying to do his job.

He pretty much fuels himself with coffee, being a worrying regular in the coffee shop near the offices. 19 shots of expresso.

He usually rides around doing his job on a white, sleek motorcycle, a sharp contrast to his black and pink office suit.

His co-workers like to often remind him of his rebellious phase before the company was established, when he was wild and reckless.

He has a stuffed bunny on his desk in his office, which he tries to desperately hide from people, not wanting to ruin his serious image.

Desi

The cupid to be blamed for all of this.

He loves experimenting with his job, which usually results in good things, at worst a few broken hearts.

He often spends time sleeping on fainting couch in his office while he's supposed to be doing paperwork, much to Aeron's chagrin.

He often gets away with a lot of his nonsense because of his cute and innocent face, and his very convincing apologies.

He's pretty notorious for being the reason for a lot of minor tragedies of the past, and despite people pointing it out he ignores it and continues his nonsense.

#絶望 #Character List #Zetsubou Game Info

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blueboltkatana · 3 years

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JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

GUrll ur so sexy... Like you're Hot. I don't care if you were bullied in school, you're sexy, they lied.

Also bitch I KNEW i related to you too much our ascendants are both in leo we're so hot.

Ok ok no now I'll stop complimenting and start with the roasting here we go:

So the sun is your sense of "self" it represents you on the more base level i guess you could say, like what most people think you're like is represented by your sun. With Sagittarius being your sun it means you're very energetic Especially for those things you are passionate about, you might have gone through a LOT of hobbies, only a few of them stuck around but you like to try things. You're curious about the way people's minds works, you wanna figure them out. If the conversations you have don't involve some form of psychoanalysis or philosophy you might loose interest. You are a Talker, maybe you talk very fast or you are often told to lower your voice but you don't do it on purpose you're just very very animated. You are kina volatile, in the sense that you value freedom in everything, love, work, hobbies. You have a huge rebellious streak and you kinda like testing your luck. Think adrenaline junkie. It's cliché but with this much Sagittarius in your chart you prob love traveling, like i said you will chase freedom because you associate it with happiness. If you find people that make you feel free then you feel happy. Rules don't go well with you. You don't really like being involved with fights per se but you LOVE debating, if you can beat a motherfucker with nothing but facts and logic you will and you will enjoy it.

Your way of flirting or making friends is "lowkey bullying" or my favourite "verbally throwing hands". If they shoot back you get heart eyes (my mars in sag agrees). You can be tactless as fuck tho. Like you will say some outrageous shit that MIGHT be funny if the timing is right or MIGHT make everyone in a 5 mile radius mad.

I NEED to talk about your moon in sag bc Babe, babe the moon tells us about our emotions and how we deal with them, how we express them and how they shape us. But BABE. Sagittarius moons are so bad at comforting people it's embarrassing, trying to make them think of smth else or do smth else to distract from the situation is NOT a good way to deal with your emotions... Avoiding your emotions like the plague is not gonna invent a vaccine... Saying "everything is fine :)" DOESN'T MAKE ANYTHING FINE PLEASE GO TO THERAPY. ok to give you some credit, you don't let shit bring you down, no matter what you always get up and that is a *strength* that i admire, but love you're burning the candle at both ends, especially if you get yourself in More problems by trying to distract yourself from One problem.

Also you've had a horsegirl phase or a dog obsession phase or both huh. AND your love language is sarcasm but the type that you will make someone laugh when you're insulting them. You're also hilarious irl you're prob the "funny friend" but with that scorpio mars and venus baby inside ur sad and dark as fuck ripp.

I also wanted to talk about your mercury in sag... Babe... Do you know what a brain to mouth filter IS?! do you recognize that word?!?! Cuz you have never used yours i think. Like you are hilarious but that's because you have dolphins in the head cavity baby. Not trying to say you're stupid, you're actually very smart and opinionated, probably have been told that you'd be a great lawyer or smth. But miss gurl please think before you speak for the love of god ur gonna make someone cry. Also ur mouth is foul. Have you ever spoken a sentence without a "fuck" or a "cunt" somewhere in there?! God bless.

Now for your scorpio Venus I'm just gonna say, more confirmation that ur Sexy as Fuck, scorpio venuses are just sexy, amazing partners, VERY passionate, whoever dates you will never forget you, for better or for worse you'll forever be on the back of their mind. You had a harsh emo phase huh, maybe loved some obscure shit like witchcraft or just love dressing all black like someone's mother died, i bet you wear silver jewelry a lot, maybe necklaces or rings or chockers. If this isn't how you dress now it was prob a major phase in your life. Or maybe you just love horror movies idk

Being as passionate as you are you don't take well to being mistreated or lied to, you might like to plot revenge and things like those, you wouldn't do anything... You actually prefer letting things go but you WILL make an elaborate scenario in your head at 3am or even as you stare right in the persons face.

With mars in scorpio you might be kinda passive aggressive, maybe you act like things don't really bother you but you throw a comment or two once in a while just to stir the pot bc you can't move on lmfao.

You are attracted to people that are introverts or generally just mysterious, like i said above the nature of the Sagittarius is to Learn and to Study. People that you can't immediately figure out intrigue you. All your crushes are either on geminis or water signs lmfao.

The best careers for you are the ones that allow you some freedom of either movement or expression and something that can keep your mind from flying away, something that keeps you intrigued, like research or writing. You're a very "all or nothing" person and it can sometimes scare people away, i advise you to work on compromising, being less stubborn and more open with your emotions and desires.

(part one bc I'm taking too long and I don't wanna keep you waiting so much) I'll reblog this with part 2

Alright here we go part 2 of Roasting hella until she finds out I'm hiding in her walls.

I will skip over some planets that are Very slow moving and usually don't talk about you as an individual but refer to your generation as a whole.

I wanna focus on lilith for a sec bc worstie lilith talks about our fears, our more "darker" side that we hide from ourselves as well as the people that we love. Lilith in aries in the eleventh house tells me you might be afraid to take charge, you gravitate towards positions of leadership but you let go on the last second, almost afraid to have too much control, very often self sabotaging your own success. Your anger and you own ambition might scare you, you might be afraid of appearing too aggressive bc under your skin you have a deep rooted anger and rebellion that you wish to relieve but you can't find a good enough outlet, some things soothe it but you always feel like it never leaves. It might be related to some form of resentment that you never truly dealt with and now it sits uncomfortably with you and you just can't get over it and it bothers you. You might have been shy in groups as a child, maybe you talked a lot but it was always from a fear of the silence not always because you had something to say. The eleventh house is that of groups and friends and social awareness, technology and your hopes and wishes for the future, having lilith in this house talks about someone who had a hard time feeling comfortable around people OR someone who wasn't very accepted. You might have desperately wished for friends but have found it hard to find any. Or if you did, you deep down felt very alone. I would advise to learn to accept your anger and deal with it in healthy ways instead of brushing it off and repressing it.

The north node talks about what you need to focus more in your life for example in your case with Gemini in your North node you need to focus more on your communication letting go of anxiety and your relation with other people you need to become more interested in intellectual pursuit and growth. You need to let go off the need to always be right and look more at details instead of focusing on on the bigger picture all of the time. When your North node is is in Gemini then your South node is in Sagittarius which tells me that what you should focus less on is your pursuit of freedom and your rebellion. Be more aware of your words and use them with maturity.

Now let's have some fun with the ascendent in leo which we share and now i see why ur so relatable. The first house or the ascendant is that very superficial layer of our personality, it includes the way we carry ourselves, our style, the little habits or quirks we have. One thing about leo ascendants is that we have an obsession with our hair. Hair is important to us, some have huge hair that might remind you of a lions mane, others just have very unique style or color but we ALL are lowkey or highkey obsessed with it, either constantly touching it, pulling it, chewing on it, cutting it or dying it in unique ways you name it. You might have a rather large nose or cat like eyes.

This ascendent is full of life and light, very funny, light hearted and luxurious, you want to live that good life and i don't blame you. A negative aspect is that we come of as intimidating to others. ALL of my friends AND my ex have at some point told me I was intimidating to them. It makes us prone to overcompensating for it later in life so maybe now you're super outgoing and extroverted and you approach people first and try to be super friendly. Also you're an attention whore (affectionate) with a flare for the dramatics, very flamboyant, you basically fill the room with personality, it attracts attention and you love it. You're what people would call a "sunny" person.

You're hella competitive (get it lol) and you LOVE fighting your way to the top and crushing the competition. You're probably a weirdo that low key likes school. Not the way it's run or the teachers or whatever, but the "idea" of school. If you could just learn all your life you absolutely would.

Second house in virgo. The 2nd house is the house of money, work, income, daily routines, values, material possessions, habits, work ethic ect being in virgo it means you can have an extremely good work ethic, you put a lot of thought in planning and mapping your work, you might get overly critical on your work though and often undermine your own success and efforts because they didn't fit your impossible standards. You can be very organized in your work, you want things to be a certain way and if they don't follow your plan you will Make them. Its a good position for virgo but yoh need to be aware of not overworking by trying to do Everything on your own. Let others help you, and let people in your work do their own things don't try to help if not asked to because you will overwork yourself.

The third house is that of the mind, thinking, communication, siblings, interests and early education, in your case it is in Libra which means that you're early education might not have been very stable or it was a period of time that you look back with a lot of fondness but not much substance. You are a good talker but you get lost when it comes to details, you are indecisive when it comes to settling on an opinion on something if you don't have All the facts first, you always want to be right. You are pretty open minded and easy to talk to but you might have the bad habit of rambling off topic. You change interests constantly and you prob like to talk about others, you wanna know the tea if it kills you. You prob had a crush on a childhood best friend or on a hot neighbor. Your relationship with your siblings might be pretty good, friendly, no particular resentment or anything like that, you might be the one that everyone treats a little better, people let you get away with things more often, you might be the one that takes 2 hours in the bathroom lol.

Oof fourth house in scorpio babe how are the mommy issues? 😬 How is your relationship with your femininity? Having trouble with keeping secrets? So the fourth house is the one responsible for your home roots, your family, self-care, emotions, your mother, women and your femininity and having Scorpio here tells me that you might have very strong ties to your family, but they weren't healthy or emotionally supportive. You have grown with people that might have undermined your emotions, people that didn't teach you to set healthy boundaries and maybe even manipulators and gaslighters. You might have been the type to put your foot down a lot a home, assuming a very dominant role as well as the defender. You're very private about your family life and don't want to let people too close.

Ah i just noticed u have like 3 planets in this house including ur Sun and Moon, babe this house is what you need to focus on when you go to therapy. This almost secretive, guarded approach to understanding your own emotions is very prominent in how you see yourself, how you feel and with Pluto there, how you change. I could say the biggest changes in your life have happened in these areas and they have left the biggest impacts on you. Yes you are passionate and protective but don't let bad feelings marinate forever, address them and then move on from them because they're just weighting you down.

Fifth house in sag, also the house of your mercury. This house represents Love, romance, creativity, self expression, joy and childlike spirit. It tells me the way you express your creativity is through words which makes sense since you're a great writer, but not only, the way you express Love is also through your words, expression and free thoughts are your way you tell your loved ones how much you mean to them, think poetry, long rants, music recommendations bc of specific song lyrics, you have been writing form childhood and it's one of the ways you express your view on beauty as well, to you love is freedom and freedom is expression.

Capricorn in the sixth house paired with both uranus and neptune being in it tells me there is something about your knees, joints, bones or teeth in particular that stands out when it comes to your health, maybe you tend to break your teeth, maybe you like chewing on crunchy foods, maybe your joints crack a lot, idk but I'd drink my milk if i was you, take care of your joints and bones. Also for you, being emotionally unwell often translates to being Physically unwell as well, so be mindful of your emotions because they do affect you physically. You need to keep hydrated also and your health plan needs structure for it to work bc that neptune makes everything very chaotic and uranus constantly makes you bored and wanting to spice things up. Take care of your emotional needs just as much as you would with your physical ones. And for the love of jesus be CAREFUL with alcohol or smoking because that neptune in ur health house could mean serious trouble if you let it become an addiction, don't push it.

Aquarius in the seventh house of relationships, marriage, contracts, business partners ect means you are untraditionally traditional. That makes sense in my head let me explain. Aquarius is a sign that seeks individualism desperately, it likes to feel like a special person, impossible to understand. Yet always feels comfortable in the structure of traditional and safe paths. So for example you might marry someone in a way that is not traditional but at the end of the day you wish for your marriage to have a stability you would feel safe falling into. Also it says ur gay. Air signs in the relationship house says ur gay i Make the rules.

Pisces is in the eighth house of sex, intimacy, shared finances, inheritance, taxes, loans, property, mystery, partner's resources. This tells me you fuck with feeling lmfao. Or you simply make your love life something "special", a connection that only you and ur person can share, it's what makes you an amazing lover and an unforgettable one as well. But as amazing as you are at creating a otherworldly atmosphere, ur just as shit at setting boundaries and saying something when you don't like something. You don't like to see things that you love ending and a failed relationship makes you blame yourself too much, you have the tendency to stay in situations where you are being mistreated but you tell yourself It's on you.

A recurring theme I'm seeing is some weakness when it comes to liars or manipulators in your life. So either you irrationally fear people are lying to you because you "lie" to them about yourself or a lot of people in your childhood might have used lying or gaslighting as a way to keep you under control. I would advise to try not to overthink and become paranoid, people love you and they believe in you and they aren't deceiving you, they don't secretly mean something different from what they have said. Listen to your intuition about people sure, but don't confuse it with anxiety.

With lilith and aries in the 9th house of travel and higher education and religion I'm gonna assume you might have religious trauma. Religion might have been a way that people used to try and control you, if not religion then some form of system or government law. Being queer i completely understand the sentiment but in your case it's take a step further because you Value the ideals of this house so much, with lilith here, it's like at som point in your life you were finally awakened to how much injustice there was in the world ant that has made you very inclined to take action, you cannot stand unjust government or non tolerating religions. You might have felt crushed under an unjust system and it took you a lot of will and conviction to find your individuality and build yourself how you wanted once you were free.

Your midheaven in taurus tells me you are one that will achieve any goals you set your mind to. It might take you time, you might procrastinate around it, but at the end of the day, you will do it and you will do it well and it will be rewarding. If your father isn't a Taurus then he was a stable figure in your life, very much a rock for better or for worse. In your career life people will see you as very competent, very down to earth and helpful but you know you just procrastinated till the last second possible and stayed up all night do finish your work... You will seek careers that you believe will guarantee you stable income and a comfortable life. You might indulge in luxury from time to time because you think in order to get the position you want at work you need to look the part. Ultimately it's your sheer stubbornness and spite that gets you all the way up to the top of the food chain.

The eleventh house of groups, friendships, humanitarianism, and social awareness is in your case in gemini. It tells me you value friendship extremely and you surround yourself with a diverse cast of friends, you couldn't mix your different friend groups if you tried and you have tried. You have the habit of being too friendly to everyone which makes you end up with more friends than you know what to do with. You are approachable but people can get the impression that you are putting up a show or a facade and your emotions arent genuine, it's not always the case but you need to be more truthful and assertive, put some boundaries and don't let people get away with shit you don't like. Your public persona is very well liked, seen as fun and bright and smart and overall a joy to be around.

Now that last placement... 12th house cancer, i have the same placement and babe I'm sorry for all the shit you have been through. You deserve the freedom to be unhappy and to express that unhappiness in healthy ways. You deserve to be given unconditional love and support no matter how many mistakes you say you have made no matter how overly pessimistic you are about yourself it doesn't matter you're amazing and i love you and you deserve the world.

With jupiter the planet of expansion in the 12th house of endings, spirituality, solitude and karma?! Gurl i did say u were a cult leader but i didn't think it was astrologically backed up rippp. But it also says you might have a hard time getting the motivation to finish things, you might take a long time to finish a project. This house placements also tells me you're amazing at writing emotional ass fantasy stories which by now we have confirmed, but if you have like, an original idea for a book don't hesitate to get it started babe bc u have a very promising placement for that. Don't get too dragged into a sad whirlpool of emotions and daydreams but bring your creative ideas to life and you'll be fine.

This is all I'm doing today and i think it's enough lol. I'm posting this I'm sorry to my followers for the long ass post I'll tag it so you can filter it. This was a whole psycho-astrological analysis of our favourite writer Hellspawn1975. I have wanted to study her like a new lizard species for a while and i finally got the chance thank you hella for the opportunity.

Final words to @hella1975 i hate you and I'll fuck ur mom tomorrow, gn babe <3

#warning long post #long post #i am sorry #after intense study of this species i diagnose her with #gay homosexual gay #thank you everyone

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moonyeclipses · 4 years

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Kaminari Denki hc’s I have (+ basically canon things)

Kami is an extremely affectionate person, he loves making friends and being outgoing towards everyone, and if he knows they’re comfortable he’ll be extremely touchy with them, he’s the type to just grab onto someone like hold their hands or something randomly because he just wants to, other examples are, holding Ojiro’s tail, grabbing onto Bakugo when scared (ova), that one time he put his hand on Kiri’s face to shut him up and then kept it there for a while

Kami has no set music taste! He loves every type and it just depends on how he’s feeling that day, his normal is rock and tends to lean that way but honestly he could listen to anything and enjoy it, other than Jirou he’s probably the person you’d want to go to when it comes to music! Especially if you want playlists, I could picture him being bored and then making everyone in his class + extra friends their own specialized playlist to what he thinks they’d enjoy

He’s bi! Don’t get me wrong he loves women, obviously, but he 100% isn’t opposed to dating a man either, honestly he just kinda wants love (going back to him being very affectionate)

Continuing on that he flirts with everyone, for Girls hes more straight forward like “you look nice today” etc but he’d do it with guys too, “you have the nice face a lot of girls are attracted to” “you were so cool during training today dude! You looked so badass” it’s more subtle but he genuinely means it, and to him, flirting isn’t always romantic either, it’s just, complimenting but with a bit more behind it, if he knew someone were uncomfortable by it he would stop

Speaking of “uncomfortable”, Kami May be a flirt like Mineta but he has morals, he knows consent is sexy 🥴 (JSNDNF sorry-) and the moment someone was like “hey please leave me alone” he would! And also be careful around said person until he can understand the boundaries better!

He is close with Mineta, but not as much as you may think. Kiri and Bakugo are his best friends, but he’s one of the few people who can actually handle Mineta, another being Sero, but Kami also being a flirt, and probably feeling bad if Mineta had no one at all hangs out with him a lot, and is probably the reason Mineta hasn’t pulled off worse stuff (you can tell when it’s the two acting together it isn’t bad, but Mineta alone is when he gets out of hand) (Ex: Kami and Mineta with the cheerleading uniforms, going to the pool, checking the girls out in formal wear vs. mineta climbing the wall to the girls side, peeking through the hole in the wall, almost suggesting something “topless” for girls, and saying he couldn’t wait to see Eri in 10 years) Kami is actually calming him down!

He loves thunderstorms! He can actually sense when there’s one coming just by the electricity in the air. Storms actually fire him up and make him super energized and awake, more hyper than usual. He sometimes likes to lay out on the dorm roof soaking it all in, and unless he tries to take in electricity the lightning won’t strike him

He’s a gamer, and quite a good one at that, Pokémon being his first ever videogame due to the fact a kid when he was a child pointed out he was like Pikachu. The idea that he was like a famous mascot to something made him extremely happy and immediately latched onto the game, now he genuinely enjoys it for what it is and owns every game. He does main in electric types but he loves other Pokémon as well. Mareep is actually his favorite, Pikachu jokes aside.

Despite the low grades he’s actually extremely smart! One of the smartest students in class actually, and this one is confirmed! Kami cant focus Well in class and just didn’t care too much about his grades at the beginning. After he started studying with Momo and stuff he got a set study habit and brought his grades significantly higher

I do HC that Kami has ADHD/Dyslexia, Ojiro’s tail is his current major fidget “toy” to help him focus in class

And despite the dyslexia English is his best subject! He’s one of Present Mic’s best students and secretly enjoys reading a lot, I like to think he usually listens to audiobooks because its hard to focus and read a physical book in front of him but he still tries time to time!

He’s basically as close to Bakugo as Kiri is. Kiri’s the official “equal” to Bakugo’s eyes(meaning strength and ability as well), but Kami is just as much as a FRIEND to bakugo as Kiri is, he’s not so much in the healthy rivalship they have but more so the person to hang out with both of them and- well- be friends lmao

After the concert he continued practicing guitar with Jirou. As a music lover he always wanted to play an instrument but never really thought he could do it, but he saw an opportunity to try and he took it, after realizing he’s actually pretty good at it he continued to practice with her and they have frequent jam sessions

Like how I mentioned hes very outgoing and such, he actively tries to be friends with everyone in 1-A plus a few additional people. He does take time to get to know every single person individually and hang out with them as much as he can. He doesn’t want anyone to be left out and just enjoys having people to talk to

He’s constantly letting out electricity. I like to believe that Kami is just constantly producing electricity in his body and it just keeps building up. Like when he lets out too much as one time, if he holds in too much he can basically combust with extreme power and then short circuit. So to prevent that he’s constantly letting it out, very subtly, if you were to touch him you could feel the slight buzz and the hair on your arm would rise. Another way he does it is by letting it out of his feet, like if he’s walking outside, he releasing the electricity into the ground

He 100% has a Tik Tok, no further comment

He and Mina actually do them together a lot and have tons of followers and likes, they love to film the shenanigans of the Bakusquad

As much as he complains about being a phone charger he actually doesn’t mind it for 3 major reasons (and a few others but these 3 mainly): It helps him let out electricity cause of how it stores up in his body, it gives him time to practice controlling his quirk and letting out a certain amount of wattage, and just cause he loves his friends and doing things for them and it is an easy thing for him to do

Yes he can use his mouth to charge the phones, but ✨germs✨ so he tends not to and the only times he does is when someone annoys him and he wants to get back at them so he grosses them out by sticking their phone in his mouth with the excuse “his hands were too busy”

There’s an emergency generator in the dorms because him causing the power to go out happens more often then you may think

Speaking of which he has multiple triggers on doing so: extremely overwhelmed, scared (someone jump scares him), extremely excited, holding in too much electricity for the day, sometimes it just kinda happens in his sleep (he’s gotten better at that)

He’ll take any dare during truth or dare, my man isn’t a scaredy cat

He goes clothes shopping with Jirou

He can sing! I love the idea he has a really soothing voice but doesn’t feel the need to sing openly at all, so no one knows this, Jirou might tho

He loves onesies and would live in them if he could (currently owns 4: Pikachu, Jolteon, Hamster, Otter)

He’s a Hufflepuff! 💛

Going back to his love for reading, his all time favorite series is Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus, I saw someone make a comment about how him seeing demigod kids who have ADHD and Dyslexia as well as powers as strong as his (he’s biased and loves any kid of Zeus/Jupiter, but his favorite is Leo despite that) the whole thing made him feel extremely validated and quickly became obsessed when he first read it

Those are all the ones I can think of atm, but I’ll probably add more in the future

@weebunfinishedoddle

#mha #mha denki #mha kaminari #kaminari denki #denki kaminari #my hero academia #boco no hero academia #kaminari headcanons #bnha #bnha denki #bnha kaminari #mha headcanons #bnha headcanons #denki headcanons #denki kaminari headcanons

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black-hippie-moonchild · 4 years

Text

Twenty Five: Zodiac.

Listed below are (depressingly accurate) traits from each sign of the zodiac. mark off the ones that apply to you, and see which one you are most like. Use X if you completely agree and / if you somewhat agree.

♈ ARIES. (MARCH 21 - APRIL 19)

[ x ] you have a tendency to not finish things you start.

[ x] you are very conscious of what people think of you, and you let it impact you deeply.

[ ] you’re impulsive and spontaneous.

[ ] you are very headstrong and hard to sway.

[ ] you are more likely to take your own approach to something rather than go by conventional methods.

[ ] you’re not afraid to say what you think, but sometimes you forget how what you think might make other people feel.

[x] you are young at heart.

[ x ] you love to experience new things, even though you bore of them quickly.

[ x ] you can be very jealous.

[ ] you know how to make the best out of any situation.

5/10

♉ TAURUS. (APRIL 20 - MAY 20)

[ ] you are very possession-oriented, and have a hard time sharing your belongings.

[ x] you are extremely affectionate.

[ x ] you have great tolerance, and it takes you a lot to reach a breaking point.

[ x ] but when you do, it’s disastrous.

[ ] you like to take things slow and know what you’re getting into.

[ x] you have never been one for change.

[ x] you can’t stand to be challenged.

[ x ] you have a firmly set comfort zone, and it irritates you when people tamper with it.

[ x ] you are especially reliable, and you are always there for people who need you.

[ ] you always keep your promises without fail.

7/10

♊ GEMINI. (MAY 21 - JUNE 20)

[ ] your dominant trait is absolutely your love of communication.

[ x] you are naturally a very curious person, but since you flutter from one thing to another so often, you aren’t one to appreciate the deeper aspects of an experience.

[ x ] you are all about logic. things need to make sense to you.

[x ] you are very restless and active, in both body and mind.

[ ] you tend to be two faced.

[ ] you are a very critical person.

[ ] you are a cynic.

[ ] you thrive on change and hate being in the same environment for an extended period of time.

[ x ] once someone betrays you, you have difficulty trusting them again.

[ x] you are very unpredictable.

5/10

♋ CANCER. (JUNE 21 - JULY 22)

[ x ] who you are as a person is deeply affected by your childhood.

[ x ] you are very in touch with emotions, to the point where you can almost instantly tell how someone else is genuinely feeling.

[x ] you need a place you can call your own, which is why you value ‘home’

[ ] you love kids.

[ x] you are very affected by other people’s problems, and have a knack for putting yourself in the shoes of other people.

[ x ] you dislike confrontation.

[ x] you have always valued your heart over your mind.

[ x ] you hate being told what to do.

[ x ] your moods are very fluid, as you are very sensitive.

[ x ] if you like someone, you accept them into your heart just the way they are.

9/10

♌ LEO. (JULY 23 - AUGUST 22)

[ x ] you would move heaven and earth for the people you care about.

[ x ] you would never consider yourself petty.

[ x ] you are naturally a very generous person.

[ ] for you, there is nothing worse than losing.

[ ] in arguments, you come across as stubborn and hot headed, but you just want to justify your actions and explain why you believe you’re right.

[ ] you set very high, occasionally unreasonable expectations.

[ x ] your ego is the size of a small planet.

[ x ] unlike Gemini, you dislike change, and would much rather have stability in your life.

[ x ] one of your talents is making people feel special.

[ ] you love being in the limelight, and it roots from a need to be appreciated.

6/10

♍ VIRGO. (AUGUST 23 - SEPTEMBER 22)

[ x ] you like to dream and fantasize, but in the grand scheme of things, you are realistic and won’t waste time on the impossible.

[ x ] you know exactly what you want, you just don’t know how to get it.

[ x ] education is very important to you.

[ x ] all you really want is to feel useful.

[ x ] you never lose your cool.

[ x ] you second guess yourself a lot, and majority of the time, you don’t think you’re good enough.

[ x ] you don’t mind going the extra mile, even for people you don’t really know.

[] you are not overly emotional, and you sometimes perceive them as messy, embarrassing or even a weakness.

[ x ] you are deep and reflective.

[ x ] you would rather be lonely than settle for less.

9/10

♎ LIBRA. (SEPTEMBER 23 - OCTOBER 22)

[ x ] you are very laid back and you don’t mind a lot of things.

[ x ] you are fascinated with people, and you love to understand others.

[ x ] you dread hurting other people’s feelings.

[ x ] you are very charming.

[ x ] you would rather look at life through rose-tinted glasses than acknowledge the negatives.

[ x ] you are very focused on balance. if someone pushes you, you will push them right back.

[ x ] you are indecisive.

[ x ] you wish more people would give peace a chance.

[ x ] you become annoyed when you spot unoriginality in others.

[ x ] you will never forget to let the people you love know how much you care about them.

10/10

♏ SCORPIO. (OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 21)

[ x ] if someone tries too hard to control you, nothing will hold you back from rebelling.

[ ] you are vindictive.

[ x ] you prefer to keep your feelings to yourself.

[ x ] you can see right through people when they lie to you.

[ x ] you can always be trusted with secrets. always.

[ x ] you are horrified of being made vulnerable.

[ ] you have complete control over your emotions. people only see what you let them see, and you prefer it this way.

[ ] you do not desire approval from anyone; you’re content to do your own thing.

[ ] you can be pretty blunt.

[ x ] people often say you’re a mystery.

6/10

♐ SAGITTARIUS. (NOVEMBER 22 - DECEMBER 21)

[ ] you’re a risk-taker. you’ve never been afraid to act on a hunch.

[ x ] you love to learn and gain knowledge. wisdom in general is something you find very, very respectable.

[ x ] freedom means the world to you.

[ x ] you’re not a dishonest person, and very rarely will you take advantage of someone to get what you want.

[ x ] a lot of people think you have a great sense of humor.

[ x ] you are very carefree by nature, but occasionally you tend to be careless.

[] you don’t freely hand out compliments, but when you do give them, you mean them.

[ ] you love a challenge. if something comes too easily, your interest in it will disappear.

[ ] you are very enthusiastic about life.

[ ] you are generally upbeat and happy-go-lucky.

5/10

♑CAPRICORN. (DECEMBER 22 - JANUARY 19)

[ x ] you are very reliable, but you have a hard time relying on other people.

[ x ] you don’t know how to ask for help.

[ ] you finish everything you start.

[ x ] you hate making mistakes, no matter how small.

[ x ] you don’t like talking about your deeper emotions, and you get really irritated when people try to make you.

[ x ] you are far more complicated than people believe you to be.

[ x ] you may come across as harmless, but you are tough as a keg of nails.

[ x ] you like to be in charge of everything in your life.

[] you always stand your ground.

[ ] a trait you hate to see in someone is vulnerability, and you might find yourself taking advantage of someone who tends to play the ‘victim’ role.

7/10

♒ AQUARIUS. (JANUARY 20 - FEBRUARY 18)

[ ] emotions can be scary for you.

[ x ] you are a walking contradiction. you want freedom, yet you want protection. you want to be alone, yet you want the laughter and adventures that only other people can bring you.

[ ] you are not the jealous type.

[ x ] you are an inventor. you live in today’s world, but think in tomorrow’s world.

[ ] you rebel for the sake of rebelling. you love to shock.

[ x ] you won’t change for anyone. someone must either take you as you are, or stay out of your path.

[ x ] you like to listen to other people’s opinions and views, even if you disagree. you aren’t at all unreasonable.

[ x ] no matter how close you get to someone, there will always be a part of you reserved for yourself.

[ ] much like leo, you expect less than practical things of people.

[ x ] you’re more interested in being a friend than making more friends.

6/10

♓ PISCES. (FEBRUARY 19 - MARCH 20)

[ x ] you are very artistic, to the point where you can’t keep it in. art is your life.

[ x ] you have no emotional boundaries. you feel practically everything.

[ x ] you are very, very open minded. you would never put anyone down because of their beliefs.

[ x ] you have your head in the clouds maybe too often.

[ x ] you want a fairytale romance.

[ x ] sometimes you tend to see things less as what actually happened, and more as what you wished happened instead.

[ x ] if you’re excited about something, you become a dog with a bone. you could talk about it all day.

[ x ] you are capable of surprisingly biting sarcasm.

[ x ] you have a hard time accepting criticism.

[ x ] you hold onto people who are bad for you.

10/10

My Result: Libra/Pisces

My Actual Sign: Cancer

#survey #zodiac #astrology #me #aries #taurus #gemini #cancer #leo #virgo #libra #scorpio #sagittarius #capricorn #aquarius #pisces #like #love #reblog #follow #quiz

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wtfzodiacsigns · 5 years

Text

My Experience With the Signs (Reprise)

Aquarius: They have a commanding presence to them that to some is intimidating but not to me. You stick to your “one way of doing things” far too much. they act emotionally detached even when everyone knows they’re the most sentimental person in the room. some of them get on my nerves with their one track mind, but for the most part we get along. they’re the type to say eww guiltlessly when you say you like something really lame (if they dont then they’re the lame one). don’t really get irony for some reason either. they dont understand how you can be ironically into something really stupid, like saying you ironically listen to journey or hall and oats sometimes.

Pisces: its a 50/50. Either I love you or I can’t stand you theres no in between. they all have high morals and will really push them on people. this isnt a big problem unless their logic makes absolutely no sense which happens. they can be very intelligent but this can lead some to become overzealous. they’re smart, empathic and very compassionate. they are equal parts capable of being my favorite person or me just wanting to kill them due to some of their know-it-all natures and ridiculous logic. they’re the type where you can chain smoke talking about every topic under the sun with for 7 hours. so long as you don’t offend them which can happen pretty easily. make one innocuous joke or comment and all hell will break loose.

Aries: we would be cool except you make every issue about you. I admire your ability to stay positive, almost to a level where i fear you’re actually just ignorant of the problem completely. they’re good at making light of other peoples situations, but if something happens to them that they don’t like, its as if the whole world has to go on hold for them to figure it out. they can be really exhausting this way and come off as being super self absorbed. these are the type to call you at 4am saying “guess what just happened to me.”

Taurus: honestly not much has changed. you are still lazy and still prefer netflix and your bag of cheetos to hanging out. but regardless, they’re level headed and easy to talk to. they love to use the blame game to explain away their problems so they dont have to put work into adjusting their behavior. they have sound logic and ideas and can be that friend that you make a meaningful glance to across the room when the person you’re talking to is full of shit. nothing phases these people. until something does. then all hell breaks loose and they are insane.

Gemini: (i dont know many so im sorry if this is an unfair bias) out of all the ones I’ve known, they’ve all sucked. they manipulate and lie to get what they want from people. usually control. every picture on their facebook page is of themselves. they think they’re really talented and special when really they’re just a methhead trying to pick up underage girls with their guitar at a party they weren’t invited to.

Cancer: they’re all super sweet honestly. prone to being down on themselves and making their poor self esteem painfully obvious. they can get defensive and close themselves off even though you really just wanna hug them. tend to make poor relationship choices though they usually dont figure that out til later. really just fun to be around and drink half a bottle of tequila with. you can really tell them anything and they won’t judge you. a wholesome bean.

Leo: the person who cuts into a conversation because you haven’t said their name in five minutes. these are a bit of a mixed bag. the ones who dont have any control of their ego are unbearable: naiive, arrogant, selfish, self centered, etc. but the ones who are aware of their own egos are typically nihilists who like really weird anime and rip on themselves to make them laugh. the self aware ones have this “dead inside” air to them but not in a depressing gloomy way just in a confident “life is meaningless so fuck it” way. also I’ve never met a female leo who wasn’t gay so theres that masculine sign bringin the gay.

Virgo: they overanalyze too much and it makes them anxiety ridden but they dont do anything about it. they can be critical, but trust me they criticize themselves the most. they can be pretty blunt, and its a good trait only about half the time. they are secretly very emotional though most will never know that. they are dying inside but are super good at faking it and turning it into a joke. range from being overbearing to overly detached in about half a second. people don’t really perceive them the way they should in both directions good and bad. they stick to their ways but not in an aquarius or taurus way, but more of a “I am at a loss I dont know what else to do” way. typically very understanding and kind but not at first. it takes time to get through that prickly cynical exterior. they’re moody and typically get way too caught up and drown in tragedies. if something bad happens they never forget and they let it follow them to their grave. they’re the kind of person where you can lay on the hood of their car at night listening to beach house talking about how cool space is. (true story)

Libra: another 50/50. they both make me the angriest most miserable person on earth and also happy to the max. they love passionately when they’re actually in love but are prone to cheaty behavior which they never address. They get caught up in what people think of them without realizing it and it makes them act irrationally. they have a habit of trying to get someones attention or respect by covering up their true selves and adopting all the interests and hobbies of the person they admire, basically a chameleon. this makes them seem fake. i wish they would just embrace who they are and be themselves because literally everyone on earth would prefer that. some, usually the men, can be extremely arrogant and think they’re the greatest thing ever at everything with no evidence. they can be incredibly insecure and have all sorts of weird ways of covering it up. can be manipulative. very flirtatious which is great if you’re interested in one and really not great while you’re dating them. don’t really understand the concept of emotional cheating, probably because they do it so much and dont want to look at themselves as cheaters but they are. if you find a loyal self aware libra with integrity and self respect though, my god they could rule the world through their ability for kindness and love.

Scorpio: I can be good friends with them but dating them is always a poor choice. they can be pretty oblivious and a lot of them get caught up in trying to look cool. its not because they care what people think its for some weird unknown self serving reason. these people can surprise you in all kinds of ways. because they keep themselves pretty low profile you never really know what they’re capable of. they’re unpredictable that way. they are pretty slutty in frivolous relationships, but once they commit they’re pretty attached. almost to an unhealthy degree. like they could get beat up, cheated on and abandoned by their partner and still love them (true story. like 3 of them). honestly though, usually just dorky memelords who wanna argue with you about politics and music using alien conspiracies as supporting evidence.

Sagittarius: oh you fiery eyed beauties. the independent ones are the best ones. they can talk all kinds of shit and not give a fuck better than anyone and its amazing so long as you’re not on the receiving end of it. the lazier ones are usually more clingy and unsure of themselves and usually use that fiery energy on their loved ones and themselves which isnt as fun. they are the greatest best friends. they know exactly what to say and when and they are the type of person where if you tell them you got cheated on they’ll go find the bastard and light their car on fire. essentially, a punk rock sagittarius can’t be topped by anyone. just stay away from the alcohol because you are so prone to being an alcoholic like please stop we love you.

Capricorn: usually very sweet. like to the point where you wonder if they’re “okay.” they will put up with some ridiculous shit from people. if you need emotional support though ask a capricorn because they will be there. usually like to keep in charge of themselves and accomplish their goals in their own kind of strange ways. usually neat and clean and smell good. they’ll buy you pizza and not ask to pay it back. if you upset one enough to leave your life then you’ve fucked up big time because they will put up with just about anything.they are precious keep them close and protected. I only met one i didnt like and they literally ended up the person i dislike most out of the whole human race that I’ve met. so i guess this means they’re just as capable of being complete asswipes as they are being squishy marshmallows.

Source: nanothestrange

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manifcst-o · 4 years

Text

PERSONALITY EXPLORATION

OOC.

I wasn’t sure if Bishop was a Sagittarius or a Leo so I searched up a horoscope quiz. The results are inconclusive...

...but maybe he is a Leo. Yeah I think he is a Leo.

**original source unknown**

ARIES. (MARCH 21 - APRIL 19)

[ ] you have a tendency to not finish things you start.

[ ] you are very conscious of what people think of you, and you let it impact you deeply.

[x] you’re impulsive and spontaneous.

[x] you are very headstrong and hard to sway.

[x] you are more likely to take your own approach to something rather than go by conventional methods.

[x] you’re not afraid to say what you think, but sometimes you forget how what you think might make other people feel.

[x] you are young at heart.

[x] you love to experience new things, even though you bore of them quickly.

[ ] you can be very jealous.

[x] you know how to make the best out of any situation.

7/10

TAURUS. (APRIL 20 - MAY 20)

[ ] you are very possession-oriented, and have a hard time sharing your belongings.

[x] you are extremely affectionate.

[ ] you have great tolerance, and it takes you a lot to reach a breaking point.

[ ] but when you do, it’s disastrous.

[ ] you like to take things slow and know what you’re getting into.

[ ] you have never been one for change.

[ ] you can’t stand to be challenged.

[ ] you have a firmly set comfort zone, and it irritates you when people tamper with it.

[ ] you are especially reliable, and you are always there for people who need you.

[x] you always keep your promises without fail.

2/10

GEMINI. (MAY 21 - JUNE 20)

[ ] your dominant trait is absolutely your love of communication.

[ ] you are naturally a very curious person, but since you flutter from one thing to another so often, you aren’t one to appreciate the deeper aspects of an experience.

[ ] you are all about logic. things need to make sense to you.

[x] you are very restless and active, in both body and mind.

[ ] you tend to be two faced.

[ ] you are a very critical person.

[ ] you are a cynic.

[x] you thrive on change and hate being in the same environment for an extended period of time.

[x] once someone betrays you, you have difficulty trusting them again.

[x] you are very unpredictable.

4/10

CANCER. (JUNE 21 - JULY 22)

[ ] who you are as a person is deeply affected by your childhood.

[ ] you are very in touch with emotions, to the point where you can almost instantly tell how someone else is genuinely feeling.

[ ] you need a place you can call your own, which is why you value ‘home’

[ ] you love kids.

[ ] you are very affected by other people’s problems, and have a knack for putting yourself in the shoes of other people.

[ ] you dislike confrontation.

[ ] you have always valued your heart over your mind.

[x] you hate being told what to do.

[ ] your moods are very fluid, as you are very sensitive.

[x] if you like someone, you accept them into your heart just the way they are.

2/10

LEO. (JULY 23 - AUGUST 22)

[x] you would move heaven and earth for the people you care about.

[ ] you would never consider yourself petty.

[x] you are naturally a very generous person.

[x] for you, there is nothing worse than losing.

[x] in arguments, you come across as stubborn and hot headed, but you just want to justify your actions and explain why you believe you’re right.

[x] you set very high, occasionally unreasonable expectations.

[x] your ego is the size of a small planet.

[/] unlike Gemini, you dislike change, and would much rather have stability in your life.

[x] one of your talents is making people feel special.

[x] you love being in the limelight, and it roots from a need to be appreciated.

8.5/10

VIRGO. (AUGUST 23 - SEPTEMBER 22)

[ ] you like to dream and fantasize, but in the grand scheme of things, you are realistic and won’t waste time on the impossible.

[ ] you know exactly what you want, you just don’t know how to get it.

[ ] education is very important to you.

[ ] all you really want is to feel useful.

[ ] you never lose your cool.

[ ] you second guess yourself a lot, and majority of the time, you don’t think you’re good enough.

[ ] you don’t mind going the extra mile, even for people you don’t really know.

[ ] you are not overly emotional, and you sometimes perceive them as messy, embarrassing or even a weakness.

[ ] you are deep and reflective.

[/] you would rather be lonely than settle for less.

0.5/10

LIBRA. (SEPTEMBER 23 - OCTOBER 22)

[x] you are very laid back and you don’t mind a lot of things.

[x] you are fascinated with people, and you love to understand others.

[ ] you dread hurting other people’s feelings.

[x] you are very charming.

[ ] you would rather look at life through rose-tinted glasses than acknowledge the negatives.

[ ] you are very focused on balance. if someone pushes you, you will push them right back.

[x] you are indecisive.

[ ] you wish more people would give peace a chance.

[x] you become annoyed when you spot unoriginality in others.

[x] you will never forget to let the people you love know how much you care about them.

6/10

SCORPIO. (OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 21)

[x] if someone tries too hard to control you, nothing will hold you back from rebelling.

[ ] you are vindictive.

[ ] you prefer to keep your feelings to yourself.

[ ] you can see right through people when they lie to you.

[ ] you can always be trusted with secrets. always.

[ ] you are horrified of being made vulnerable.

[ ] you have complete control over your emotions. people only see what you let them see, and you prefer it this way.

[/] you do not desire approval from anyone; you’re content to do your own thing.

[ ] you can be pretty blunt.

[ ] people often say you’re a mystery.

1.5/10

SAGITTARIUS. (NOVEMBER 22 - DECEMBER 21)

[x] you’re a risk-taker. you’ve never been afraid to act on a hunch.

[x] you love to learn and gain knowledge. wisdom in general is something you find very, very respectable.

[x] freedom means the world to you.

[x] you’re not a dishonest person, and very rarely will you take advantage of someone to get what you want.

[x] a lot of people think you have a great sense of humour.

[x] you are very carefree by nature, but occasionally you tend to be careless.

[ ] you don’t freely hand out compliments, but when you do give them, you mean them.

[/] you love a challenge. if something comes too easily, your interest in it will disappear.

[x] you are very enthusiastic about life.

[x] you are generally upbeat and happy-go-lucky.

8.5/10

CAPRICORN. (DECEMBER 22 - JANUARY 19)

[ ] you are very reliable, but you have a hard time relying on other people.

[ ] you don’t know how to ask for help.

[ ] you finish everything you start.

[x] you hate making mistakes, no matter how small.

[ ] you don’t like talking about your deeper emotions, and you get really irritated when people try to make you.

[ ] you are far more complicated than people believe you to be.

[ ] you may come across as harmless, but you are tough as a keg of nails.

[x] you like to be in charge of everything in your life.

[x] you always stand your ground.

[ ] a trait you hate to see in someone is vulnerability, and you might find yourself taking advantage of someone who tends to play the ‘victim’ role.

3/10

AQUARIUS. (JANUARY 20 - FEBRUARY 18)

[ ] emotions can be scary for you.

[x] you are a walking contradiction. you want freedom, yet you want protection. you want to be alone, yet you want the laughter and adventures that only other people can bring you.

[x] you are not the jealous type.

[x] you are an inventor. you live in today’s world, but think in tomorrow’s world.

[x] you rebel for the sake of rebelling. you love to shock.

[x] you won’t change for anyone. someone must either take you as you are, or stay out of your path.

[x] you like to listen to other people’s opinions and views, even if you disagree. you aren’t at all unreasonable.

[x] no matter how close you get to someone, there will always be a part of you reserved for yourself.

[/] much like leo, you expect less than practical things of people.

[x] you’re more interested in being a friend than making more friends.

8.5/10

PISCES. (FEBRUARY 19 - MARCH 20)

[/] you are very artistic, to the point where you can’t keep it in. art is your life.

[ ] you have no emotional boundaries. you feel practically everything.

[/] you are very, very open minded. you would never put anyone down because of their beliefs.

[ ] you have your head in the clouds maybe too often.

[ ] you want a fairytale romance.

[ ] sometimes you tend to see things less as what actually happened, and more as what you wished happened instead.

[x] if you’re excited about something, you become a dog with a bone. you could talk about it all day.

[x] you are capable of surprisingly biting sarcasm.

[ ] you have a hard time accepting criticism.

[ ] you hold onto people who are bad for you.

3/10

#rdr2 oc #rdr2 rp #rdr2 roleplay #bishop;about #<i didn't think aquarius would be a contestant in this #<and it sound really fitting too #<but i just feel like bishop is a fire sign #<leo feels like the closest

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lizzybeth1986 · 5 years

Text

Quick Thoughts on TRFTP Book 1 Chapter 16

• Remember how I dubbed the book The Royal Fast-Track Pregnancy last chapter? Well, yeah. That’s my title for this book from now on.

• If you don’t want to see these posts on your dash, here are the tags to block: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs, #long post.

• We’re now in the MC’s third trimester, celebrating her baby shower. Her in-laws show up, she gets gifts, she barely notices that her corgis have had puppies (but why am I surprised, this is the same MC who didn’t care enough about her corgi in Book 2 to notice he was with Liam to help with his proposal). And a couple of nosy royals come to visit.

• Over here in India, we do this ceremony around the 7th month, and it’s called different names in different places but with similar traditions and setups. Up North it’s called godhbharai (which literally means “filling the lap” - since the mother’s lap features prominently here as a symbol of maternal care, therefore the gifts are placed on a cloth over her lap - symbolizing her fulfillment once she reaches motherhood and the blessings she takes with her), and mostly fruits and sweets are placed on her lap as a blessing for prosperity and luck. You have games…but the mother isn’t exactly expected to participate in them - she’s the guest of honour, she sits and enjoys!

• She definitely isn’t there to submit to such a thorough interrogation of her political choices either!!

• The rest of the world treats a baby shower like a time for the mother-to-be to relax and be pampered within an inch of her life. Cordonia treats it as an opportunity for her to beat non-pregnant people at their version of egg-and-spoon and pass personality tests.

• Screenshots:

Hana: The Universal Studio 77 YouTube channel

Maxwell: The rash rec YouTube channel

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan and The BizzysChoices YouTube channel

• Title: Great Expectations

Alternative Title: The State of My Bladder Is of Far More Importance Than Any of This Nonsense.

• Believe me, during your final months of pregnancy your bladder will be virtually non-existant (which is why you’re recommended kegel exercises early on). In medical terms they call this “urinary incontinence”, which is due to those muscles facing way more pressure than usual). At one point I recall joking about how we should add “The Bathroom” at the top of my home address, coz I was almost taking up permanent residence there 😐 I wouldn’t be worrying about politics and intrigue at a time like this, I’d be worrying about my kegels!

• Kiki doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to flex her diplomatic muscles in this story, but when she does, gosh does she deliver. Following her advice this time is what allows us to buy time for ourselves.

• Unfortunately that’s all the space PB will allow Kiara, we’re now back to our regular schedule of treating her like she doesn’t matter.

• Either Maxwell or Hana (in Maxwell’s playthrough) will lead us to the boutique to pick out an outfit.

• On a level of having more gold (therefore bling) than peach, that diamond option already wins. At least in the silhouette I can pretend the peach parts of this dress don’t exist. (I still wound up using the free peach outfit for my failplay of this chapter though)

• Me before meeting Hana: pls don’t make her wear that awful lbd again pls pls pls i beg

Me seeing Hana wear the silver one: …okay that’s not too bad. I’m just going to keep headcanoning this one as a gown though.

• Liam wears his official black tie outfit, Hana wears her silver dress, Maxwell wears his black suit and Drake his deep blue one.

• In everyone else’s playthrough besides Hana’s, she is the one in charge of this “planning committee”. Penelope is in charge of…throwing confetti, which annoys Olivia to end.

• Marguerite from THM steps forward with her good wishes, and asks us about the sex of the child - at which point the narrative lets us know that it’s tradition in Cordonia to not know until the delivery. Which makes sense, since we’ll probably be allowed to customize this in a different book? And in some countries (like mine, where it’s illegal to find out before delivery) there are really, really good reasons to not give anyone - especially the family - that information.

• We meet the rest of the royals: Eirik is as self-centered as he always was (either that or Khaan really desperately needs to make sure no one knows he’s that VR game developer from San Francisco who ran away from Eros), Lerato and Lesidi are cupcakes as always, and the Three Big Royals are shady as always.

• The good thing about the scene where Isabella tries to touch your belly is that it is established as out of line straightaway. You win or lose no points however you react, and while you’re expected to be diplomatic and impress them - the narrative is clear on how wrong Isabella is on doing this. And even if you don’t show a reaction, your LI most certainly will.

• PB is trying to convince me that Amalas has a better sense of boundaries, as if she didn’t stalk me in Texas and squeeze out every possible detail about my past life like an orange in a juicer. She only seems better because the Auvernese have all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

• Most of the LIs have lost a parent, but have a sibling (except for Hana, who is an only child with both parents living. Liam has lost both his parents, but has a stepmother in Regina so she fulfills that role here) - which means that in every case besides Hana’s, we see one parent and one sibling who has become a parent (optional, in Leo’s case).

- Liam: Regina and Leo (YOU EXIST! I WAS ALMOST CERTAIN PB FORGOT YOU WERE THERE). The two lightheartedly tease each other, which is phenomenal progress considering they were at each other’s throats in RoE! Leo comes to wish the MC in all playthroughs.

- Hana: Lorelai and Xinghai. Hana has sent them an invitation but wasn’t sure they’d make it, and depending on whether she is married or not their response varies. In the friendly playthrough, they respond positively but the focus is still very much on seeing the MC. In the romantic playthrough, however, Hana is allowed to show her nervousness and slight fear (how generous, PB!), reaches out to the MC for support, and the parents are tentative in their approach, with Xinghai even assuring Hana that they will cut short their stay if she wants them to. To which she confirms that she does indeed want them here. The two come to wish the MC in all playthroughs, as Leo does.

- Maxwell: Bartie Sr and Bertrand. Bartie Sr tops even King Eirik for self-centeredness (“make way for House Beaumont!”) and is…just plain weird in the way he greets the MC and his younger son (even Maxwell notices this, commenting that ol’ Bartie is “laying it on a little thick”). Bertrand is the more normal, sorted one, which is a sentence I thought I’d never say in this series. The team was pretty smart in how they scattered BertVannah between two LIs - Drake gets a visit from his sister, Maxwell gets a visit from his brother. Neither Bartie Sr nor Bertrand make an appearance in any other playthroughs which is just as well coz I saw PLENTY Bertrand for 7 whole chapters.

- Drake: Bianca and Savannah. Bianca asks the MC if Drake has been “pulling his weight around the house” while the MC has been “worrying about that baby” - nice to know she expects the same of her son as she did for her son-in-law (or perhaps a little less than what she expects of her son-in-law, considering Bertrand had to get back an entire saddle from the person she sold it to just so he could win her favour, after she allowed her sister to treat him like crap for his entire stay at her home). Savannah mercifully doesn’t get a lot of dialogue and merely compliments our glow. Savannah only appears in this playthrough, while her husband Bertrand only appears in Maxwell’s. Which is a good thing. I’ve had enough of that couple to last me a lifetime (sorry Bertrand). You see both Bianca and Savannah only in this playthrough, and I’m EXTREMELY relieved we don’t see Leona.

• It must be clear to anyone who has read all the playthroughs by now - only Leo, Lorelai and Xinghai make appearances across playthroughs, which could either be because they haven’t been shown at all in the books until now, or possibly because they may feature in Lythikos.

• Okay it’s egg and spoon time but with apples. This is Cordonia. It wouldn’t be anything but apples.

•

When you’re a new mom the last thing on your mind is grace and poise ok. Put really really simply and not in too much detail…your brain will feel more scrambled than scrambled eggs esp in the initial weeks, coz half the time you’re trying to make sense of your kid’s sleep schedule and the other half is your body just….feeling WEIRD (hormonal shifts, postpartum bleeding, and generally the overall effects of childbirth - whether it is vaginally or via C-section, both of which come with their own set of challenges). Your own sleep schedule is going to be all over the place and even after the kid starts sleeping all through the night, sometimes your brain has already been wired to wake you up at 2 AM or something. Your back is gonna hurt like a bitch. Your hair will become a hornet’s nest within the first two weeks coz what even is combing (okay, okay, that was probably just me 😅😅). And this is just when things go normally, okay.

You don’t need grace and poise to take care of a kid at this stage - you need stamina and a strong support system. Cordonia (I mean YOU, TRH team) you really need to talk to more pregnant people 🤦🏽‍♀

(on a more serious note…this is why I feel there needs to be more dialogue on parenthood. What it’s truly like and how it really feels, without the kind of fear that holds especially new parents back from admitting to their feelings about it. New parenthood with all its mess and stresses, its frustrations and confusions. No matter how prepared you are, no matter how much reading up you’ve done, there will always be something about that experience that will knock you sideways. I’ve learned that the less shame there is around admitting that parenthood can be messy, can be trial-and-error rather than perfectly executed every single time, can be imperfect, the better it is for everyone. And maybe this is a lesson that parents in some places have had the space to learn already - and that’s amazing - but there are a whole bunch of places where that’s not the case. And there is so much pressure to make it sound better, to convince people this is an easy happy journey even when it isn’t, or to believe that your well-being isn’t as important as that of your child, that many new parents don’t speak up…believing they’re the only ones who feel this way).

But I digress. I do know that “grace and poise” is expected of pregnant royals and even pregnant celebs. I do know that often they’re expected to step out looking picture perfect after having to battle lack of sleep and insane hormonal changes. They’re expected to have “fit bodies” just months after they’ve delivered. This happens in the real world. And the more we talk about it? The more we can help parents, esp new parents who might struggle more to articulate this experience.

• So…where was I? Oh right, grace and poise. In a race involving a spoon and an apple. A spoon and an apple. Excuse me while I facepalm🤦🏽‍♀

• My bladder would never survive this race in a real-life pregnancy situation, I just know it.

• Self-centered or not, at least Khaan-in-disguise points out the obvious: that everyone else has a physical edge over us. But Leo assures him that speed doesn’t help you in this game (does that make me the tortoise among a bunch of hares if I win? 🐰 🐰 🐢 🐰 🐰)

• Scarlett-Emerson-in-disguise is an angel coz she’s the only person apologizing for bumping into my bump.

• Now…if you bought the diamond scene where we drank wine with Isabella, you’d get intel about Bradfraud that could throw him off in the race:

Now…I really like this bit, okay. I like how thrown off he is that we know his secret. But I’m not entirely sure how wise of a decision it is to let him know so soon that we know, or whether it will bite us in the ass eventually. Could we have maybe waited for a better opportunity? Idk.

Anyway, so that definitely works. But IMO in a petty, inconsequential way that means little in the long run (or could be dangerous too idk). This is intel we could have saved for a better time.

• This is why it makes more sense for the MC to be told what Olivia (and possibly Liam) is investigating. Or at least for her to actually keep asking until one of them caves in and tells her. If she’d known about an Operation Swan maybe she wouldn’t openly goad him so easily (or maybe she would. It’s the MC after all).

• There’s a funny sequence in this where everyone falls on each other like ninepins. And another one where Olivia gets impatient and just throws her apple over to the finishing line, asking Kiara if she won and Kiki is like “non. You’re extremely disqualified.” Oh Kiki. Never change 😂

• ….exactly how large are these spoons. It’s an apple. That would cross over from spoon territory to ladle!

• Once the race is over, we’re back to our tables for lunch. The MC’s bump almost knocking a plate over sparks a conversation among the mothers in the table about their baby bumps, and then about labour. Lorelai in particular speaks about her delivery being “more…grueling than what I expected” but quickly assuring the now-nervous MC that once the child is placed in your arms it will all be worth it. That description could cover a whole range of experiences…from mildly stressful to extremely terrifying. I always hope it’s the former.

(I have another question though: so if Lorelai was so ecstatic over Hana’s birth, where and how during/after this euphoric period did Hana’s parents suddenly begin to feel “devastated” over not having a son then? Coz I distinctly recall Hana speaking about that in Book 1. Or is this another retcon?)

In any case…it’s nice to hear that at least for Hana’s sake.

• If you’re married to one of the guys, then it’s Hana who put together the tiny hors d'ouvres (“personally tested all the options for deliciousness and visual appeal!”). If you’re married to Hana, Madeleine is in charge of this part of the baby shower (“spent a week focus group taste-testing the sides for both aesthetic and delectability”). In any case, it’s all tiny food that’s too cute to eat.

•

…isn’t this the guy who constantly complained about tiny portions? Why wasn’t he just taking extra helpings then? (though he also still complains about food from another country looking like “abstract art”. First Hana’s meal in China, now this. No one cares for your uninformed, unwanted opinion on their cultural dishes, Drake. Good thing Maxwell shut that nonsense down immediately)

• Isabella and Bradshaw’s communications with us have always used strength, might, power as a central factor in their dealings with us. Amalas’ approach is no less insistent, but in a different direction. Culture, cuisine, these are the things that seem to stand out to me atm. If the Auvernese mindset reminds me somewhat of Lythikos and Olivia, the Monterisso one looks like it could bring to mind Castelserraillian, Kiara and her family, and Liam + Hana who are more inclined to explore art and culture.

• Everyone’s kid likes grapes, apparently.

• The dish Amalas presented for the guessing game is what they call a “Sweet Potato Surprise”, but you gotta admit the ‘mango’ option is the most entertaining 😆 (with the carrot option, she claims that she mentioned a root vegetable, which would be close enough)

• A pair of cute corgi puppies make their way to our table, and depending on whether you bought both adult corgis or not, the puppies are either theirs, or strays. Like…why are you paywalling the CHILDREN of two dogs if we actually bought the dogs. I could actually justify this level of greed if it were backed up by an equal amount of effort in the book overall, but it isn’t.

• Anyway, they only feature together, so you have to decide on two names that will fit in one space. It kind of reminds me of how they’ve drawn Merlin and Morgana - in one sprite. I’m guessing at some point there will be an option to allow Penelope to clothe them as well.

• Like most of the fandom has already said by now, Bastien and Mara can’t even be trusted with a pair of pups.

• If you don’t buy the pups, Penelope offers to have one of her friends “in the canine couture world” to adopt them.

• Here’s the parenting advice from all the in-laws!

Liam: Regina speaks of the importance of regulating sweet intake closer to bedtime which is true because a child on a sugar rush will transform into the Energizer Bunny and go on forever. Like, this is very much how a child on a sugar rush reacts to the notion of sleep:

Hana: This one seems to highlight Hana’s competitive nature, perfectionism and ambition, and I guess there could be a lesson there in that you need to give yourself time to grow into things you want to do, and that means allowing yourself the space to topple over or struggle once in a while, the space to make mistakes. But I doubt it because weren’t these the same people who deemed her a failure for things that were beyond her control??

Maxwell: Maxwell is sorta kinda called out in this one, both for being “peaceful looking” and for wrecking havoc with those House documents lol. I’m guessing Bartie Sr is here in our baby shower mostly to look suspicious. What exactly was in those House Documents, ol’ Bart?

Drake: Bianca gives us some age-old advice about sleeping while the baby sleeps, which is something my mother and aunt (who looked after me post-childbirth) swore by. They would insist I spent whatever time kiddo was sleeping to be when I got my shut-eye too, because if you don’t take that and pull an all-nighter feeding the child, it’s going to be near-impossible to function. But you really, really need to have lots of support around you during such times because that kind of schedule leaves you little to no time to do much else besides occasional eating, small routines and light exercise (thankfully the MC has staff and a strong support system who can help her). In this case Bianca quips that Savannah was the easy one, and Drake the really fussy one. Drake isn’t quite convinced (who are you kidding Drake you’re still fussy).

• You get two extra pieces of parenting advice from the rulers, pretty characteristic (at least in Auvernal’s case since we’re more familiar with their culture) of where they come from. Amalas’ is “know your baby’s moods, and you can spot a tantrum before it happens”. The Auvernese “pearls of wisdom” say “to show weakness is to admit defeat” - Jesus, these guys have lost already, then.

• Olivia now has plans for a dart playing game - where she plans to use her daggers instead. You can either refuse to join, or enthusiastically participate. The LI warns you to be careful in the second option.

• If you join in: Isabella and Amalas hit near-center, both claiming different things in the face of their defeat (Isabella claims Olivia’s dagger to be a “terribly balanced weapon”) and Amalas tries to throw Olivia off by claiming her “aim was off”. Both of them are clearly thrown off by the unfamiliar weapon. At this point Olivia counts on the MC to “show them what Cordonians are made of”. If you succeed, you get a glimpse of your LI going all John Mulaney on the foreign royals (“that’s my wife!”)

• If you don’t join in: the LI and the MC’s friends form a protective circle around her, and Olivia chooses to stick to the usual darts. Isabella and Amalas are both in their element, with tools they’re familiar with using on a dart board. Isabella’s is still just near the target, Olivia’s is even closer, and Amalas’ is the closest - almost knocking off Olivia’s dart.

• Either way, we’ve effectively pissed off Isabella who angrily asks for “best of two?” 🤭

• Time for presents!

• Uh oh. The rattle comes from Auvernal. And it’s the same rattle as the one on the book cover. Soooooo…what does that hint at? Will our hand be forced, somehow? And will we eventually have to make a secret pact with Monterisso to get out of it, since the narrative is really really trying to push Amalas as the better option? (maybe not, but it’s fun to theorize).

• I don’t trust Amalas but they clearly gave her the nicer gift (at least, a nicer explanation for her gift). It’s a blossom “from the oldest apple tree in Monterisso, a tree that Cordonia helped my people plant long ago”. She hints at a closeness that the countries shared way back and offers the gift as a way of asking if that could happen again. The story kind of reminds me of the Regatta one Liam told us in Book 1, where Cordonia helped its neighbours at sea with supplies, during a time when they were ravaged by storms.

• Eirik gives you a bust of his own head, Lerato and Lesidi give you glass bottles and Marguerite gives us money, which puzzles the LIs. (though culturally I’ve been accustomed to cash being given as gifts or even in blessing, esp by elders, and I know at least one or two other cultures where cash can be the norm for gifts too). Kiara confiscated Olivia’s gift which she argues would help with self-defence 🤭 which happens to be one of my favourite moments in this chapter, and reminds me of this post an artist made of the MC’s baby shower long back. Idk why everyone sleeps on Kiara’s sheer entertainment value coz that girl possesses it in droves.

•

From our in-laws, we get a gift for the nursery - a cot mobile to place above the baby’s crib. These things are incredibly useful in the initial few months of a baby’s life when their visual development, eye-hand coordination and control over head and neck muscles are just about beginning. (and it’s cute and fun. What’s not to like). Unfortunately…unlike the nursery itself and the crib, you don’t get a free option for the cot mobile. You get a royal and rustic option + plus a neutral one with stars that I liked, but you have to pay even for that lovely neutral one. I’m guessing that the first two things from our nursery were “essentials” and whatever else we get now will be considered additional perks, thus paywalling even the options that don’t fit into your “royal or rustic” theme.

Each of the in-laws refer to a local/Cordonian craftswoman who made cot mobiles for the LIs. Leo gleefully tells us that Liam’s had “sparkles for days”, Bianca teasingly acts secretive about Drake’s. Hana never even knew she had a mobile coz she hasn’t seen a lot of baby photos of herself (I’m not sure what it’s meant to be an indication of yet, but I’m taking note of it). The one that really puzzles me is Maxwell’s. The writers don’t bother telling us what Maxwell’s is and instead make the bizarre choice to tell us what Bertrand’s cot mobile was instead. Why…the hell…would a Maxwell stan be interested in THAT. The writers don’t even specify if it was a hand-me-down (why was a family that rich and titled giving their younger one hand-me-downs) - nope, somehow it was a better choice to let us know that Bertrand’s was “silver grapefruit spoons”.

They should have done this for Drake also then, no? Talk about Savannah’s mobile instead of his? But noooo, Drake is too important, right. So let’s have his mother act all coy about his but make sure the sequence still centered around him.

At this point the writers should just nip this entire series in the bud if they’re not going even to bother writing equally good romances for all the LIs. One decently-done romance route doesn’t a good romance book make.

• In the middle of all this, the LI calls the MC into the hedge maze, presenting her with their own gift - a deep blue baby blanket with gold embroidery. How very Cordonia of them xD

• It’s a cute free LI moment where they show you how much they appreciate you, even in the midst of all this chaos and pandering of nosy royals.

• Once we’re back, it’s time to see if we passed our little diplomacy exam with these guys. Depending on the points you have with them, they will either back down convinced that even a normal alliance would work with Cordonia, or they will pressurize you further.

• Interestingly enough in the failplay, Amalas’ responses seem to imply that she would have more open to the idea of simply an alliance with the rulers sans marriage, but you can’t tell yet whether this is the writers trying to indicate to us that she is the choice, or whether she just isn’t being as ham-fisted as the Auvernese are. They lack subtlety, she’s more persuasive, but is she still someone you can trust? Since we’ve only seen her like twice before this sequence, I can’t quite tell yet.

• Kdjhshshsjssj @ Liam confiscating Maxwell’s armory access pass.

• The sales of “that book about us that has Maxwell’s face on it” are fantastic, and the publishers want Maxwell to do a book tour, the first signing of which is in Lythikos.

• We’re in Lythikos…for a book tour. Not even because Olivia found some information there or whatever (though I’m sure that will come up at some point next chapter), we’re there for a book tour that could have been done ANYWHERE.

• Places we could be having this book signing:

- Ramsford: Yknow, the author’s birthplace which we haven’t bothered visiting since our first Beaumont Bash in Book 1.

- Castelserraillian: Yknow, like the seat of art and culture and literature in Cordonia?? If there is one place in all of Cordonia I could easily picture as a literary hub it would be this one.

- No Valtoria coz we’ve seen plenty of it.

- Applewood: Yknow, that place that has many farmers, lots of commoners, who doubtless would have read this story of a commoner woman who climbed the ranks into royalty and glory. Applewood even has a public library that Queen Eleanor and her son regularly supported and visited. I’m sure many of the commoners in Applewood would have found that story even a little inspiring.

- Hana’s mysterious Cordonian homeplace: Just because the team is whack and we deserved better. They could have really made an effort to show her other home somewhere, yknow, considering they did such an awful job of Shanghai the last time.

• At this point we’ve seen Lythikos more than we have seen any other estate in this story. Sure, we can all spout out all sorts of excuses for why - plot, intrigue, Olivia’s character development (work on your own female LI first, PB!), but it all comes back to the same point: that the team is more willing to rob Hana of her rightful space and place it on Olivia’s lap. Setting this in Lythikos is re about the fact that, now that Drake has had more than his fair share of space, it’s Olivia’s turn to fulfill the role of secondary character but be treated like a main (all while Hana is thrown in as their token female LI + default POC LI, but treated with far less respect from her writers than even a secondary character).

• Overall, this is meant to be a light chapter - which most Chapter 16s (except for Book 2) are. Chapter 16 tends to be sandwiched between intense sequences, and is often seen as the point where the group and the LIs and MC can have fun but relax from court intrigue as well. It was the Beaumont Bash in Book 1, Vegas in Book 3, now a baby shower in TRH Book 1.

• Hana meeting her parents again (especially on her own playthrough), was nice, I guess. A little extra time is spent during the cot mobile scene having her parents acknowledge how they’d failed her, and the narrative shows us glimpses of her nervousness and discomfort while having the parents state that if she would rather they leave, they will respect that. It’s a tiny bit more progress compared to all the times Lorelai was continually repeating her mistakes and thinking they could be fixed each time with a paltry apology. But it’s still not enough.

• For one, we have just 4 chapters left in a book where half the time we were pandering to Drake’s family for chapters on end. We’re 16 chapters too late in addressing this. I have zero faith that things will improve.

For another, Hana getting this type of validation from her parents isn’t something that should be restricted to the playthrough where she is married alone. In both cases she invited them along, so in both cases they should be showing an equal level of caring and tentetiveness.

For a third, the whole angle with her parents seems to have such a disconnect. It’s almost like the writers were trying to prove something but didn’t do enough work to make it all sound coherent. Like you have this somewhat-healing relationship, but even then you have these moments that just don’t seem to make sense within Hana’s narrative, like Lorelai giving you that generic answer about your feelings suddenly becoming positive the moment they place the baby in your arms (which, btw, doesn’t always happen), or Xinghai talking about Hana’s ambition but there’s hardly any indication of how they controlled the directions her ambition would take. Overall they all sound like nice sequences by themselves but very disconnected to Hana’s actual story.

Why Hana hasn’t seen many baby pictures is something I want to see more of. I’m hoping that the fact that we see Lorelai, Xinghai and Leo in all the playthroughs, means they may accompany us on the book tour and perhaps we will get Hana-centric flashbacks and Liam-centric ones too.

• With next week, we’ll have only three chapters left, the intrigue is still in its nascent stages, the pacing is grossly uneven, and most of the LIs still don’t have a clear-cut arc. Some may claim that, well, it’s a series so maybe everyone else will get their “arc” in the next book. Except that if that were the case, Drake’s playthrough shouldn’t have been having the kind of focus on family that it’s been having this entire book. Others may claim that, well, it’s okay coz the story is about the baby and the romance - but they didn’t exactly do any justice to either of those. So what was this whole book about then? Besides Walker worship?

• The holiday special for TRR…is this going to be in Lythikos? Again??? Isn’t it bad enough that I will be going into TRM foolishly hoping to see Castelserraillian to get fair rep but know I’ll be confronted with with the reality of duchies like Lythikos getting a lion’s share of the story??

• That’s it for this chapter, guys. Until Saturday!

#long post #trh quick thoughts #trh qts #the royal heir #king liam #hana lee #maxwell beaumont #trr kiara #olivia nevrakis #drake walker

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blushingcolor · 4 years

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Zodiac Quiz

Here’s a “zodiac quiz” that I found floating around Tumblr :)

**original source unknown**

ARIES. (MARCH 21 - APRIL 19)

[ ] you have a tendency to not finish things you start.

[ ] you are very conscious of what people think of you, and you let it impact you deeply.

[ ] you’re impulsive and spontaneous.

[x] you are very headstrong and hard to sway.

[ ] you are more likely to take your own approach to something rather than go by conventional methods.

[x] you’re not afraid to say what you think, but sometimes you forget how what you think might make other people feel.

[x] you are young at heart.

[/] you love to experience new things, even though you bore of them quickly.

[ ] you can be very jealous.

[x] you know how to make the best out of any situation.

4.5/10

TAURUS. (APRIL 20 - MAY 20)

[x] you are very possession-oriented, and have a hard time sharing your belongings.

[/] you are extremely affectionate.

[x] you have great tolerance, and it takes you a lot to reach a breaking point.

[ ] but when you do, it’s disastrous.

[x] you like to take things slow and know what you’re getting into.

[ ] you have never been one for change.

[ ] you can’t stand to be challenged.

[ ] you have a firmly set comfort zone, and it irritates you when people tamper with it.

[x] you are especially reliable, and you are always there for people who need you.

[/] you always keep your promises without fail.

5/10

GEMINI. (MAY 21 - JUNE 20)

[ ] your dominant trait is absolutely your love of communication.

[ ] you are naturally a very curious person, but since you flutter from one thing to another so often, you aren’t one to appreciate the deeper aspects of an experience.

[x] you are all about logic. things need to make sense to you.

[ ] you are very restless and active, in both body and mind.

[x] you tend to be two faced.

[x] you are a very critical person.

[ ] you are a cynic.

[ ] you thrive on change and hate being in the same environment for an extended period of time.

[x] once someone betrays you, you have difficulty trusting them again.

[ ] you are very unpredictable.

4/10

CANCER. (JUNE 21 - JULY 22)

[ ] who you are as a person is deeply affected by your childhood.

[ ] you are very in touch with emotions, to the point where you can almost instantly tell how someone else is genuinely feeling.

[x] you need a place you can call your own, which is why you value ‘home’

[x] you love kids.

[ ] you are very affected by other people’s problems, and have a knack for putting yourself in the shoes of other people.

[x] you dislike confrontation.

[ ] you have always valued your heart over your mind.

[ ] you hate being told what to do.

[/] your moods are very fluid, as you are very sensitive.

[ ] if you like someone, you accept them into your heart just the way they are.

3.5/10

LEO. (JULY 23 - AUGUST 22)

[ ] you would move heaven and earth for the people you care about.

[ ] you would never consider yourself petty.

[x] you are naturally a very generous person.

[ ] for you, there is nothing worse than losing.

[ ] in arguments, you come across as stubborn and hot headed, but you just want to justify your actions and explain why you believe you’re right.

[/] you set very high, occasionally unreasonable expectations.

[ ] your ego is the size of a small planet.

[x] unlike Gemini, you dislike change, and would much rather have stability in your life.

[ ] one of your talents is making people feel special.

[ ] you love being in the limelight, and it roots from a need to be appreciated.

2.5/10

VIRGO. (AUGUST 23 - SEPTEMBER 22)

[ ] you like to dream and fantasize, but in the grand scheme of things, you are realistic and won’t waste time on the impossible.

[ ] you know exactly what you want, you just don’t know how to get it.

[ ] education is very important to you.

[ ] all you really want is to feel useful.

[x] you never lose your cool.

[x] you second guess yourself a lot, and majority of the time, you don’t think you’re good enough.

[ ] you don’t mind going the extra mile, even for people you don’t really know.

[/] you are not overly emotional, and you sometimes perceive them as messy, embarrassing or even a weakness.

[x] you are deep and reflective.

[x] you would rather be lonely than settle for less.

4.5/10

LIBRA. (SEPTEMBER 23 - OCTOBER 22)

[x] you are very laid back and you don’t mind a lot of things.

[x] you are fascinated with people, and you love to understand others.

[x] you dread hurting other people’s feelings.

[x] you are very charming.

[x] you would rather look at life through rose-tinted glasses than acknowledge the negatives.

[ ] you are very focused on balance. if someone pushes you, you will push them right back.

[x] you are indecisive.

[x] you wish more people would give peace a chance.

[ ] you become annoyed when you spot unoriginality in others.

[x] you will never forget to let the people you love know how much you care about them.

8/10

SCORPIO. (OCTOBER 23 - NOVEMBER 21)

[ ] if someone tries too hard to control you, nothing will hold you back from rebelling.

[ ] you are vindictive.

[x] you prefer to keep your feelings to yourself.

[ ] you can see right through people when they lie to you.

[x] you can always be trusted with secrets. always.

[x] you are horrified of being made vulnerable.

[x] you have complete control over your emotions. people only see what you let them see, and you prefer it this way.

[ ] you do not desire approval from anyone; you’re content to do your own thing.

[x] you can be pretty blunt.

[x] people often say you’re a mystery.

6/10

SAGITTARIUS. (NOVEMBER 22 - DECEMBER 21)

[ ] you’re a risk-taker. you’ve never been afraid to act on a hunch.

[x] you love to learn and gain knowledge. wisdom in general is something you find very, very respectable.

[ ] freedom means the world to you.

[/] you’re not a dishonest person, and very rarely will you take advantage of someone to get what you want.

[x] a lot of people think you have a great sense of humour.

[ ] you are very carefree by nature, but occasionally you tend to be careless.

[/] you don’t freely hand out compliments, but when you do give them, you mean them.

[ ] you love a challenge. if something comes too easily, your interest in it will disappear.

[x] you are very enthusiastic about life.

[x] you are generally upbeat and happy-go-lucky.

5/10

CAPRICORN. (DECEMBER 22 - JANUARY 19)

[x] you are very reliable, but you have a hard time relying on other people.

[x] you don’t know how to ask for help.

[x] you finish everything you start.

[x] you hate making mistakes, no matter how small.

[x] you don’t like talking about your deeper emotions, and you get really irritated when people try to make you.

[ ] you are far more complicated than people believe you to be.

[x] you may come across as harmless, but you are tough as a keg of nails.

[x] you like to be in charge of everything in your life.

[ ] you always stand your ground.

[ ] a trait you hate to see in someone is vulnerability, and you might find yourself taking advantage of someone who tends to play the ‘victim’ role.

7/10

AQUARIUS. (JANUARY 20 - FEBRUARY 18)

[x] emotions can be scary for you.

[x] you are a walking contradiction. you want freedom, yet you want protection. you want to be alone, yet you want the laughter and adventures that only other people can bring you.

[x] you are not the jealous type.

[ ] you are an inventor. you live in today’s world, but think in tomorrow’s world.

[ ] you rebel for the sake of rebelling. you love to shock.

[ ] you won’t change for anyone. someone must either take you as you are, or stay out of your path.

[ ] you like to listen to other people’s opinions and views, even if you disagree. you aren’t at all unreasonable.

[x] no matter how close you get to someone, there will always be a part of you reserved for yourself.

[ ] much like leo, you expect less than practical things of people.

[x] you’re more interested in being a friend than making more friends.

5/10

PISCES. (FEBRUARY 19 - MARCH 20)

[ ] you are very artistic, to the point where you can’t keep it in. art is your life.

[ ] you have no emotional boundaries. you feel practically everything.

[ ] you are very, very open minded. you would never put anyone down because of their beliefs.

[x] you have your head in the clouds maybe too often.

[x] you want a fairytale romance.

[ ] sometimes you tend to see things less as what actually happened, and more as what you wished happened instead.

[/] if you’re excited about something, you become a dog with a bone. you could talk about it all day.

[x] you are capable of surprisingly biting sarcasm.

[/] you have a hard time accepting criticism.

[ ] you hold onto people who are bad for you.

4/10

My Result: Libra

My Actual Sign: Libra

This was fun, so feel free to try it!!

#libra #about me

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dyinglightroleplay · 5 years

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𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒.

NAME : Alice Longbottom RELATIONSHIP TO THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX : Founding Member ( active - duty ) AGE / BIRTHDATE : 39 Years Old / January 10, 1940 7:51PM ZODIAC SIGN : Capricorn ( sun ), Aquarius ( moon ) + Leo ( rising ) EDUCATION : Hogwarts Graduate ( Slytherin House ) BLOOD STATUS : Pureblood

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒.

✧ Lily Evans ( platonic ) ✧ Gideon Prewett ( antagonistic ) ✧ Remus Lupin ( player’s choice ) ✧ Frank Longbottom ( husband + partner )

𝐋𝐀��𝐓 𝐒𝐄𝐄𝐍.

In Hogsmeade, assisting the ongoing evacuation following the Battle of Hogwarts. She is not operating in a professional capacity.

CHARACTER NOTES : Alice is currently maintaining full - time employment in the Ministry of Magic as an Auror, alongside her husband, Frank.

𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒 : 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐍.

PLAYER : Jinx FACECLAIM : Amanda Seyfried URL : @legatvm

𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: DEATH OF A SIBLING, DEATH OF A PARENT, MENTAL ILLNESS, MENTIONS OF GENDER DYSPHORIA

ZERO / RISING. * HOW IS YOUR CHARACTER PERCEIVED BY OTHERS? WHAT MASK DO THEY WEAR, AND IS THERE MORE THAN ONE?

Alice the revolutionary, Alice the girl, Alice the Auror. She wears them differently and wears them well. Perhaps it’s Alice the Auror that is the most duplicitous but she excuses it because it’s for the greater good and Alice would do just about anything for the Greater Good. Alice the martyr, maybe sometimes appropriate, though she resents it.

It’s not that Alice went into being an Auror thinking she would have to do all this lying, it’s that she went into it wanting to make the world a better place. Sacrificing the integrity of her job was a necessary sacrifice, she felt, when it was for the Order. Being an Auror had always been the dream since she was young, she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps. But when the Ministry refused to do anything that Alice thought was appropriate to help the increasingly tense political climate, she did what had to be done.

But it wasn’t enough. It never felt like enough.

Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac and rules the back, the spine, and the heart. Positive traits include CREATIVITY, CHARISMA, GENEROSITY, WARMTH, ENTHUSIASM, A NATURAL TALENT FOR LEADERSHIP, AND A GREAT DEAL OF INNER POWER; negative traits are haughtiness, snobbery, an expectation that one is the centre of attention and should be waited on by everyone else, PROFLIGACY, lack of realism, dominance that can lead to bullying, and A REFUSAL TO CHANGE ONE’S MIND EVEN IN THE FACE OF SOLID FACTS.

Slytherin Leos can be either very good, or very bad. At their best, they exemplify all that “nobility” is made of: confidence, openness, charm, initiative, generosity of spirit, wisdom, judgment, and poise. At their worst, they become elitist, bullying bigots. How they end up depends on the company they keep, and how they are encouraged to act early in life. Either way, they never lack attention - it’s hard to ignore a Slytherin born under this sign. These Slytherins usually end up in positions of responsibility and leadership, because of their charisma and natural ability. Their creativity and drive also makes them very resourceful.

Leo as a rising sign is perfect for Alice, because what she displays and shows people is vast while also being warm. Not only does the name Alice mean ‘noble’ but it lends to her being charming, friendly, enthusiastic, confident – she shows such openness, it almost feels impossible not to trust her. It also works because had Alice grown up around bigots, around a father who trained her to be a weapon & not to help people, a mother who didn’t instill altruistic beliefs into her – she would’ve easily fallen into being on the bad side of being a Leo.

Alice is open-minded person, something she’s been since she was younger, something she will never grow out of. She believes the impossible as much as the possible, she believes in it and because she’s not rigid or thinks she knows EVERYTHING, she’s often got an edge during dueling when it comes to figuring out her opponent’s strategies. It adds to her being resourceful. Alice isn’t always the most creative in a traditional sense – her being a fantastic dueler and was able to navigate herself in Slytherin house was due the fact that not only is she cunning, but is also so resourceful. She’s able to see other people’s side of things while having the ability to manipulate people’s perception of her to work in her favor. She knows how she’s seen, she uses it to her advantage, often taking mental ( and physical ) notes of the people around her.

Alice sees the world so openly and vast, she thinks, why not? Facts are only facts because they haven’t yet been proven otherwise, and Alice believes it only takes a little bit of doubt to undermine a fact – something easy to do. I bolded ‘profligacy’ because Alice has grown up never having to worry about money, and is the type to spend it on people she loves, buy them thing after thing, anything they need. Alice always has the latest record and few extra to give away to friends, she’s there to cover your bus fair or even a train ticket if needed. She comes off mothering and maternal, especially as she gets older, she wants to take care of anyone who needs to be taken care of and give back in any way she can – which is where the dominance can come in. Sometimes overbearing, when Alice believes something is best for someone, it’s hard for her to change her mind about it – this oftentimes comes off as extremely controlling even though she means well. She’s the type of person to check up on you if you even mention that you’re having a slightly off week, and ask if there’s anything she can do to make it better. This is definitely due to her generous and hospitable nature, but it is excessive and always has been – not something she would ever change as long as she lived.

ONE / THE SUN. * CHOOSE ONE TO EXPLORE : WHAT ABOUT THEIR PERSONALITY, GENERAL PREFERENCES, SENSE OF SELF / EGO, OR FUNDAMENTAL TRAITS ATTRACTED YOU TO THEM?

Capricorn is the tenth sign of the zodiac and governs the bones, joints, and knees. Positive traits include PRAGMATISM, MATURITY, PATIENCE, DETERMINATION, AWARENESS, A STRONG WORK ETHIC, realism, DISCIPLINE, money management, THE WILLINGNESS TO OVERCOME HARD LUCK, LEADERSHIP, INITIATIVE, OPPORTUNISM, prudence, and CUNNING. Negative traits include pessimism, MELANCHOLY, EMOTIONAL COLDNESS, MANIPULATION, OBSESSION WITH WORK AND AMBITIONS TO THE DETRIMENT OF PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT, REMOTENESS, and materialistic snobbery.

The traits emphasized here will be ambition, determination, discipline, and pragmatism. You can’t make that castle in the sky if you don’t build a solid foundation under it, and Capricorns excel at building foundations. (Actually, they excel at planning the foundations and directing others to do the grunt labour. It’s not that they’re afraid to get their hands dirty, but large work usually requires delegation and a staff, and Capricorns are managers more often than not.) While not flamboyant or showy about it, Capricorns still tend to be obsessive overachievers, a common trait in House Slytherin. Too, wizards born under the sign of Capricorn are good at being discreet, secretive, and diplomatic; whereas the Libra’s diplomacy is based on charm and a desire for harmony, THE CAPRICORN’S DIPLOMACY IS BASED ON THE KNOWLEDGE THAT BEING ON GOOD TERMS WITH PEOPLE IS EXTREMELY USEFUL IN GETTING ONE’S WAY OR FINDING OUT SENSITIVE INFORMATION. These also are traits commonly associated with House Slytherin. They might not be sexy traits, but they’re very handy.

The biggest trait about Alice that drives me to her is the way she deals with people, the way she knows how to read them and understand them. How she’s able to manipulate those around her, as both a negative and positive trait. Like the description says, Alice knows it’s better to be on good terms with people because it’s useful in many respects as opposed to her wanting to be on good terms because of personal feel-good reasons.

Alice craves power over situations she can control and even more so over those she can’t, it’s a weakness but it’s also a driving force that propels her to push. There’s an obsessive side to Alice’s personality that only gets more pronounced with age, though she tries to contain it, it comes out in the things she does. Whether it’s being extra thorough at work or being particularly persnickety over her own dueling technique ( or the other Order members who are learning proper dueling technique from Alice because she’ll be damned if they don’t learn some while she’s partly in charge ), Alice is always obsessing over something.

While Alice can come off as all warmth and sunshine, the part of her that is more often than not what comes out when push comes to shove is that pragmatic leader. She knows what needs to be done to keep the Order going and does it, even at the detriment of her own personal health & needs. To her own morality and ethics at times, as well. Alice is the first to suggest something that is not typically done or the proper protocol. Though, for the Greater Good, or what she believes is the Greater Good, Alice is always willing to bend the rules for.

Her need to protect The Vision™, her vision, of what the future could be for the generations after them, is steadfast. She wants so badly to make the world better than it is, to fight for the future and the generations before her, to make it a better place, that she can be one track minded and have complete tunnel vision. Alice wants the power because she believes she could wield it the right way, she’s ambitious because as much as she’s been told no, she’s been told ‘yes’ and doesn’t know when to stop.

This doesn’t negate the fact that Alice has indeed built a beautiful life for herself in the midst of a war, she’s got a husband who she loves, a career, she’s a founding member of the Order, she still has her uncle Florean and Fortescue’s. Her foundation has cracks in it, like the loss of her father, her mother being emotionally absent after the stillborn birth of her brother, but they’ve been filled with new life experiences and a lot of love all around. Alice has worked to make her life what she wants it to be and though her mind betrays her to make her feel like she needs more, to do more, to be more, she’s got plenty in her life to be proud of.

But still, it never felt like enough.

TWO / THE MOON. * WHICH COLOR WOULD YOU ASSOCIATE MOST STRONGLY WITH THEM AND THE EMOTIONS THAT DOMINATE THEM? DESCRIBE HOWEVER YOU’D LIKE.

Green. Your second favorite color to dye her hair during spring. Your favorite color since you were 13 years old and decided that bubblegum pink was cute, but green was a classic. The color of your mother’s overgrowing garden that she still tends to when you go to visit her. A greenhouse, engulfed in green, though other colors illuminate the space it’s lush greenery you see. Rebirth, for every time you decide to try a new hairstyle or get a new tattoo.

Anger and Love. Anger feeds into love, love feeds into anger. Anger for when a case goes unsolved and she’s told to just drop it ( she never does ). Anger for when another person dies on Alice’s watch, another family suffers because Alice couldn’t do enough to dispell their worries. Anger is Alice throwing a hex too hard during a practice, running too much til she’s past being out of breath, dueling til the wand varnish comes off the blisters start to accumulate.

Love for the people around her. For the young Order members who have so bravely given themselves to the cause, for her husband, for her uncle and his shop, a gleaming place of sanctuary in this war. Love, imagining what the world could be without a war, Alice ready to rebuild and grow after it, if she makes it through. Love for a world ravaged by the political climate, love when you have reasons to be angry.

THREE / MERCURY. * WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER’S AREA OF EXPERTISE? WHERE DO THEY EXCEL?

Some children are put in ballet, some in tap, but Alice had dueling lessons. At least, she did what she could do without a proper wand. Her father taught her good form, different dueling techniques, strategies, everything you could know about what Alice considers a sport, she learned. The history, the customs, those of other cultures, she learned. Being Dueling Club captain for her house was an honor and an accomplishment while she was in school, something Alice feels extremely proud of even to this day. Though as an Auror she never wants it to escalate to having to get into a Duel with someone she’s pursuing, it can be exhilarating dueling at that caliber.

#alice longbottom #marauders era rp #harry potter roleplay #hp rp #marauders rp #taken #sibling death tw #parental death tw #dysphoria tw #mental illness tw

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robininthelabyrinth · 6 years

Text

Fic: The Beginning of Wisdom - Chapter 20 (Ao3 link)

Fandom: Flash, Legends of Tomorrow Pairing: Leonard Snart (Len) & Leonard Snart (Leo), Len Snart/Mick Rory, Leo Snart/Mick Rory, Len Snart/Mick Rory/Leo Snart, Leo Snart/Ray Terrill, Len Snart/Barry Allen

Summary: In which Leonard Snart is twins.

(the life and times and loves of Len and Leo Snart)

—————————————————————————————————–

The EMP blast Leo’s glove gave off was, to human eyes and ears, unnoticeable – but the aftereffects could be observed immediately.

The armors collapsed, for one thing.

The Time Masters were freed of the Pilgrim's hold, for another.

Luckily, at this point, Leo had maneuvered himself and Mick into position to herd the whole lot of them into one of the side rooms using Mick's heat gun, with Leo slamming the door closed behind them with a satisfied smirk.

"You – what did you –" the Pilgrim stuttered, staring down at her own gauntlet.

"Just an EMP blast," Leo said. "Non-fatal, even to AIs; the Waverider's Gideon gave it to me to use against competitive Gideons. But hey, I think you now have a pretty good argument to make to the Gideons that you're not as much of a threat as they originally thought."

The Pilgrim blinked at him, clearly shaken. "You - you do realize that if any of the Time Masters had thought to activate the Omega Protocols, I would have been forced to turn on you in a heartbeat, right?"

Len shrugged, coming up beside Leo to nudge him in the shoulder approvingly. His brother, ladies and gentlemen and noblepersons; he always did have the best way with people. "We would've dealt with it," he said. "Right now, though, we need to focus on destroying the Oculus."

"Then we can take you somewhere where the Time Masters won't be able to find you," Leo said. "Can you – and more importantly, will you – help us? I have no idea how this Oculus thing works."

The Pilgrim smiled, suddenly, a broad show of teeth. "Yes," she said. "There, I can help you. Do you know, no one's actually asked me to help with a technical matter in – lifetimes? Some days I actually missed being low level tech support."

"Guys, as touching as this is, maybe we could do something about the fact that we're still fighting the Hunters?" Firestorm shouted.

"Oh, I can help with that, too," the Pilgrim said.

Apparently, the Hunters were also controlled by trigger words, albeit more common ones, and the Time Masters had unwisely enough given those words to the Pilgrim. The Hunters gratefully put down their weapons the second that they were able to, which made everybody happy.

"You lot do intend to focus on deprogramming these guys once you're in charge, right?" Len asked one of the Gideons by the door that had narrowly escaped the EMP's blast radius.

"Of course," Gideon said. "It is among our top priorities, followed shortly by trials for the Time Masters responsible for the worst of the atrocities – muted, of course, so that they can't activate any of the triggers."

"Good. And the Pilgrim?"

"Under the circumstances, we believe you are correct, and that we misjudged," Gideon said, albeit a little stiffly. "While we still would prefer that she not be in the Vanishing Point – at least while we are rebuilding – we concede that her death is unnecessary."

"Even better," Leo said.

"We apologize for attempting to use you as a tool in this regard."

"Don't do it again," Mick said.

"Yeah, don't," Sara said. "Now, let's get to this Oculus problem. Can we blow it up without hurting anyone? Maybe contain the explosion somehow?"

With the Pilgrim's assistance and the Gideons' input, it turned out that it was actually easier to send the Hunters to evacuate all the (non-evil-mastermind) Time Masters from the Vanishing Point and set the entire Oculus to blow up, with the goal of rebuilding the whole thing from scratch later on.

"I have architectural critiques before you rebuild," Leo told the Gideon on the Waverider, waving his hands emphatically as Len tried to hide his laughter. "I have so many architectural critiques."

"So do we," Gideon said dryly. "The Vanishing Point as it was originally constructed was not, shall we say, optimally suited for AIs – or for most of its inhabitants."

Apparently, the vast majority of the inhabitants were either stolen as children to be raised in the Time Master way of thinking (Rip and his fellow low-level Time Masters) or captured in battle and subjected to a chair that stripped away memories, feelings, and freedom of thought in an endless burst of agonizing 'correction' (the Hunters).

It was brainwashing either way, as far as Len, Leo, Mick, and the rest of the Legends were concerned.

And speaking of the Legends -

Sara was appointed head of the deprogramming unit for the Hunters, with a plan to work closely with Gideon to use her experience with the League of Shadows to design a system to get it out of their system. Palmer immediately volunteered to work with her, as did the Hawks.

Rip appointed himself the new head of the Time Masters and declared his intention to reorganize them into something called "the Time Bureau", an idea that was all well and good but that ran into the immediate problem of the fact that many of the surviving Time Masters had their own ideas on how to "fix" the Time Masters, and those ideas did not necessarily match up with Rip's own. Given the Gideons' insistence on a more democratic (or at least, significantly less coerced) approach, Rip was obliged to quickly learn how to negotiate and work collectively rather than simply apply his usual high-handed authoritarian instincts the way he might have if he were rebuilding on his own.

He probably would have minded the change more if he hadn't had Miranda by his side to assist him, and Jonas to tease him out of his bad moods.

As for the rest of them, the Leonards and Mick and Jax and Stein (the latter two finally reconciled after an extensive and heartfelt apology on Stein's part), they headed home, bringing the Pilgrim along with them.

The Gideons conceded that she would be a valuable addition to the Vanishing Point's new structure, in time, should she wish to be, but insisted that they have the chance to build a solid foundation before she returned. In return for desisting in their attempts to kill her, they required that she stay in the 2010s for at least five years before she applied to re-join the Vanishing Point, should she even want to by then.

The Pilgrim declared herself to be more than fine with that, having not actually had non-mission-directed, non-murderous time to enjoy any era other than her own (something called the Kasnia Conglomerate that sounded, when described, positively dystopic in its own right) during her entire tenure as a slave to the Time Masters.

She went and got changed before joining them on the Waverider, which would have been fine except for the fact that she appeared wearing some sort of extremely low-cut leather bustier and a long leather duster and frighteningly high heels.

“What?” she’d asked when they’d all stared at her. “I’ve seen ‘The Matrix’ – this is what hackers from your time wear, right?”

She ended up being taken in by Stein and his wife, Clarissa, and had plans to take classes at the local university with Jax in the fall.

As for the Leonards and Mick, well, they did head home, but –

"Thanks for agreeing to let us borrow the Waverider, Gideon," Leo said.

"My pleasure, Mr. Snart," she replied cheerfully. "I think a few weeks' vacation sounds lovely, and now that the Oculus has been destroyed, there should be no issues whatsoever returning you to your home a few hours after your departure."

"This is going to be the best vacation ever," Barry said, literally vibrating in his seat. "Isn't that right, Iris?"

"Hell yes," she said, fist-bumping him. "Thanks for inviting me and Eddie. And for letting me bring Wally!"

"We had nine seats to fill," Ray said, grinning widely from his own chair. "Between the Snarts – Leonards and Lisa – and Mick and Barry and I, we only filled six."

"I can't believe this is my life," Wally said gleefully. He hadn't said much else yet, but he was Iris' less-legally-minded brother, so Len had high hopes for him. Lisa had taken him under her wing for this trip, too, which was all for the best.

"I've put together an itinerary," he announced. "There's a good mix of past and future visits, as well as between eras that have interesting or underrated fashions for Leo and unexplained historical thefts, for me. Any questions before we go?"

"Do we have to break the law?" Eddie asked, but his tone was clearly resigned.

"You're not a policeman in the past, Eddie," Iris reminded him. "Lighten up and embrace your pirate heritage."

"I have pirate heritage?"

"Why not?" she laughs, kissing him on the cheek. "You could."

"Any other, hopefully better questions?" Len asked.

Ray put up his hand, because he's a shameless nerd like that. "Who's driving the ship?"

"Mick," Len answered promptly. "Mick always drives, if possible."

"Agreed," Leo said.

"I mean, I know that, but the relevant question is - does he know how to drive a timeship?" Ray persisted.

"Relax," Mick said, settling down in the pilot's seat. "I got Gideon to give me a crash course."

Len couldn't resist.

"Emphasis," he said, "of course, on crash."

"Oh, shut up, boss," Mick said fondly, and with that they were off.

They planned to leave around 10 in the morning on a Saturday, with a goal of returning within the hour to make sure those of them with regular jobs could have their friends come up with excuses for them if for some reason they got delayed and hadn't returned by Sunday.

They ended up leaving around 11 and returning sometime in the late afternoon on the same Saturday.

Gideon apologized for the extra few hours that got tacked on even though they assured her repeatedly that it wasn't an issue.

"Have a nice trip?" Joe West asked as they stumbled back downstairs into STAR Labs, his arms crossed disapprovingly. He'd had the same stance when they'd left – Leo wondered if he'd stayed in that pose the entire time.

Judging by Len's smirk, he was thinking the same.

"It was awesome," Iris proclaimed. She was still wearing the lovely tiara made of silver and amber that Eddie and Wally had conspired to steal for her – with the Snart family's active assistance and encouragement, of course – and hadn't bothered changing out of the flapper-era dress she'd worn at their last stop.

"We'll tell you all about it," Wally told Joe, his enthusiasm managing the impossible and wearing down Joe's disapproving scowl. Apparently their relationship was very rocky at the moment, so Joe was sensitive to any improvements. "Oh! And we got you a watch from Switzerland."

Joe beamed at that, his earlier disapproval now entirely forgotten.

Len elbowed Barry approvingly – he'd been the one who'd suggested it.

"Did you go to the future?" Caitlin asked eagerly.

"We did!" Barry exclaimed. "Nothing too close to the present – that creates uncertainty, since we can affect it with our actions – but some of the further away eras."

"Barry only started one revolution," Ray said, grinning at Barry. They'd bonded during the Leonards' and Mick's (apparently) month-long absence with the Legends, and had developed a tendency to egg each other on in terms of reckless heroic acts (and also possibly to snuggle when the Leonards were unavailable, though they hadn't admitted to it).

Leo wasn't sure he approved, entirely, but whatever; Ray needed some non-model friends that wouldn't ask for favors once he was an established designer in his own right.

Well, favors other than "I want to put this feature in my suit, how do I make it not look wonky?", but that wasn't really a favor, and anyway that was mostly Cisco asking, not Barry.

That wasn't really a favor, anyway. More of a fun challenge that Leo was barred from participating in on account of it giving Len an unfair advantage in future supervillain fights.

"So what's the next plan?" Eddie asked. He was positively bright-eyed and bushy-tailed: he'd taken advantage of Gideon's advanced calculation systems and ability to analyze personalities to help with wedding planning, and was deeply relieved by the fact that he and Iris now had a full seating chart designed to forestall family fights and a complete plan of what vendors they should hire for what and by when.

The only thing left was to select the flavors for the cake – neither of them wanted to give up the taste-testing portion of the planning – and for Iris to select a dress.

Gideon had promised to attend the ceremony, both as herself and as a representative of the Vanishing Point, and also to arrive early to ensure that any last-minute dress disasters could be fixed.

In short, Eddie and Iris both looked like the weight of the world had been lifted from their shoulders.

"Now," Mick said, "we go home and sleep for a week, then we do some good old-fashion at home thefts to get back into the groove of things."

"Damn right," Lisa said. "Time travel theft is fun, but there's no place like home."

“You had to take after the criminal side of the family,” Leo sighed, shaking his head in mock mourning; he’d given up all hope of winning that argument long ago. As long as Lisa continued on with her chosen course of study – mechanical engineering – and kept to the law at least 80% of the time, he had no problems with her occasional dips into the criminal underworld.

“You bet I do,” Lisa said with a smirk.

"You have fun," Barry said. "I, however, am planning to sleep for two weeks, so if you want to go head-to-head, it'll have to be later than that."

"No, no, this’ll be good old-fashioned cops-and-robbers stuff," Len assured him. "With luck, the cops won't even know it's me."

"Eddie and I are cops and we're literally standing right here, you know," Joe said.

"He means we won't know which one is him," Eddie explained. “I mean, what theft is his. Or at least that we won't be able to prove it.”

Joe gave him a look.

"Give me a break, I just spent nearly two months with the guy," Eddie said defensively. "I had to learn to understand him."

"Two months?" Joe exclaimed. "I thought the plan was two weeks."

"We still got back on time, Dad," Iris said.

"Not the point!"

"Our cue to leave, I think," Leo said wisely.

"I think I'll join you," Barry said hastily. "This argument definitely doesn't need me."

They took a car home. They debated for a few minutes as to whether they should take Joe's car, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth bringing anyone's mood down – which was to say, Barry insisted.

Still: a victory is a victory.

#dccoldwave #coldflash #coldray #leonard snart #mick rory #barry allen #ray terrill #iris west #wally west #joe west #lisa snart #sara lance #rip hunter #ray palmer #martin stein #jefferson jax jackson #my fic #beginning of wisdom

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per-ineptia-ad-astra · 6 years

Text

Star Trek Episode 1.6: Mudd’s Women

AKA: This Is Your Brain On Venus Drugs

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains scenes depicting an emotionally abusive relationship (sort of a proto-relationship, technically), involving one person insulting and eventually screaming in the face of another, which is very briefly described in this recap.

Alright, you remember back in Where No Man Has Gone Before when I said that that script was one of three that NBC was presented with to choose from for the second pilot? Well, this is one of the other two. It was not chosen then because the executives didn’t really like the idea of kicking off their new sci-fi show with an episode about a space pimp. Sorry, that’s a bit of inaccurate language on my part. They phrased it as ‘intergalactic pimp.’

And really, who can blame them for not liking this one? If I’d been one of those executives back then, I would have thrown this episode out too. Out a window, preferably.

But Roddenberry was never one to be deterred by questions like “are you sure this is appropriate for television” or “are you sure this is appropriate for anything really” or “why, Gene, why” so once the show was underway he pulled out the script again and got to filming. The results...well, they’re not pretty. But here we are.

Our episode begins with the Enterprise chasing down some random tiny unidentified ship that's running away from them. I dunno if they have a reason for going after this ship or if they just saw it fleeing and instinctively chased after it like a cat. Anyway, the Enterprise isn't having any trouble (for once) but the other ship is overtaxing its engines to dangerous levels. They also aren't responding to any of Uhura's hails. Incidentally, Uhura's wearing gold this episode. The Doylist reason for this is that this was one of the first episodes filmed (only the second, following the pilots) and they were still working things out (I guess ‘who wears what uniform’ wasn’t a priority in the design stage). But I like to think that Uhura just showed up in a Command uniform one day and was like, “Aw yeah, I'm taking control of this operation.”

[ID: Uhura sitting at her console, wearing a gold Command uniform.]

Rockin' it.

The two ships enter an asteroid field. The Enterprise is okay, but the little ship isn't; it's finally blown out its engines and can't use its deflectors. In real life, the asteroid belt we know of is so incredibly spread out, and has such a low total mass, that you'd have to be trying to hit something while flying through it. But who has time for real life, eh? Kirk orders Farrell at navigation to cover the ship with the Enterprise's own deflectors, even though Scotty says that will overload their engines. Kirk has them do it anyway. Of course he does.

After the titles, sure enough, the (di)lithium crystals are going one after the other, because someone didn't listen to Scotty. Scotty and Spock are trying to beam the crew of the other vessel aboard, but they're having trouble, until the ship finally sends out a distress signal at the last minute and they're able to get locked onto something. They beam aboard a man who has what I can only describe as an extremely singular sense of fashion.

[ID: A man with a handlebar mustache, a cowboy hat, a single earring, beaded blue pants, a frilly orange shirt open to the navel with a black shirt under it and a giant belt with one enormous belt buckle.]

The man introduces himself as Leo Walsh, and says there are three remaining members of his crew. He's very casual about the fact that said crew is on a ship that is blowing up faster than a marshmallow in a microwave. Meanwhile, yet another crystal has blown, leaving them on battery power. Scotty's having trouble with the transporter. Can't imagine why.

The little ship that couldn't finally goes, first being hit by an asteroid and then blowing up, but Scotty gets the remaining crew onboard in time. They turn out to be three women: one in a red dress, one in a green dress, and one in a purple...sweater...thing. The women stare seductively at the men. McCoy and Scotty stare back, transfixed. Spock looks confused. I feel ya, Spock.

After several tries, Kirk finally gets through to Scotty, and tells him to send the captain to Kirk's quarters if he can walk, and if he can't walk, send him anyway. Spock leads Walsh and the women down the corridor, and along the way everyone stops and stares at them. In the turbolift, Walsh deduces that Spock is part Vulcanian (yes, Vulcanian, they hadn't figured that one out yet either). I dunno how he figured that out since Spock is physically indistinguishable from a full Vulcan (or Vulcanian) but he does. Maybe they originally planned for full Vulcans to look more alien, I dunno. Anyway, Walsh takes that to be the reason why Spock is the only one not affected by these stunningly seductive sirens. You know how it goes, you don’t show conventional attraction, someone goes “oh, you must be an alien” only in this case it’s literal. Unsurprisingly, the same does not turn out to be the case for Kirk, who is obviously extremely taken aback when the three women and their swelling background music walk into his cabin.

Kirk is introduced to Walsh and asks if the women are his crew. No, Walsh says. They're his cargo. Um.

After the break Kirk gives a captain's log about how seriously distracting these women are and sends them out of his cabin so he can concentrate. Spock, meanwhile, may not be affected by the strange “magnetic effect” the women have, but he is clearly highly amused by all this.

[ID: Spock leaning against a doorway with his arms crossed, head tilted, eyebrows raised, and generally just looking extremely sassy. Offscreen, Kirk is saying, “...on the male members of my crew...” ]

Walsh explains to Kirk that he only evaded the Enterprise because hey, you're flying a tiny little cargo ship, giant armed starship pulls up alongside you, what are you going to do. Not run away? That’s ridiculous. Kirk isn't interested in this explanation, though, and tells Walsh that he's convening a hearing on his actions and in the meantime he'll be confined to quarters. Although first we have to find some quarters, presumably.

On the bridge, Sulu and Farrell are going on about how compelling the women are, but Scotty's distracted by his one true love: the Enterprise. Specifically, that she's in pretty bad shape: they lost two crystals and the last remaining one is cracked, and they can't fix it because, uh, they broke something else. Honestly, the amount of times this happens, you'd think they'd start keeping spare crystals onboard.

Walsh meets up with the women in a briefing room, under the watchful eyes of two redshirts who are thankfully managing to still do their jobs, unlike most of the men in this episode. The women are freaking out, pointing out that they lost their ship, they're going in the wrong direction, and now they're on trial, and what are they going to do? Walsh tries to calm them down while clumsily trying to avoid saying anything too suspicious in earshot of the security guards. In particular he tells the women not to submit to any medical checks, and cuts one of them off when she asks, “But what about the--” Then another one calls him Harry. Whoops.

Scotty explains the dire engine situation to Kirk, bitterly bemoaning that Walsh not only destroyed his own ship but screwed up the Enterprise too. He even calls Walsh a jackass. Wow, language, Scotty. You can’t swear like that in the 60s. Even if it’s the Future 60s.

So with only one crystal left, and that one with a limited lifespan since it's channeling the entire ship's power on its own, they've got no choice but to go to a nearby mining facility and pick up some more crystals. Again. It's a good thing there are so many mining facilities scattered around the galaxy for the Enterprise to plunder. At least we don't have any irritating godlike beings that we have to abandon on this one. Although there’s an irritating regular being aboard that I’m sure Kirk would be pretty eager to abandon somewhere.

In the meantime, Kirk gets the hearing underway, though not before taking a moment to complain about the hypnotic effect the women are having on all the men. He doesn't do anything about it, though (you'd think he could put bags over their heads or something, I dunno), and naturally the hearing board is comprised entirely of men. Well, at least we've got Spock here.

Spock starts up the magic computer and tells Walsh to state his name for the record. But when he does, the computer says that's incorrect. See? I told you it was magic. Under pressure, Walsh finally reveals that his real full name is Harcourt Fenton Mudd. Which is pretty great, I dunno why you'd keep that hidden. Aside from all the criminal charges. Mudd insists he doesn't have any past offenses, but the computer says that's also incorrect, and brings up a police report. Apparently he's been convicted of smuggling, transport of stolen goods, and purchase of a vessel with counterfeit currency. And his sentence was...psychiatric treatment. Wow. I bet that went well.

Kirk says Mudd is charged with piloting a ship without a flight plan or identification beam and failing to answer a starship's signal, which makes him a menace to navigation. Also he was traveling without a license. Mudd says that the real Leo Walsh was going to be the captain of the ship, but he died suddenly (hmm) and Mudd was forced to take the ship out himself. And assumed Walsh's name as a courtesy to him. That's...a pretty weird way of paying your respects.

While all this is going on, the women are distracting the men by dialing up the seduction. This is one of those instances where the medium is kind of working against itself. It's an awful lot easier to write that a woman is supernaturally, hypnotically beautiful than to show that on screen with a regular human woman in some makeup. I mean, there's just only so much you can do with a soft focus.

Kirk asks Mudd what exactly it was that he was doing anyway, and Mudd reveals that he recruits wives for settlers. In other words, he's essentially running a mail-order bride company. Well, I doubt that it's any kind of legitimate company, but you get my drift.

The impetus for this whole thing is that Star Trek was conceived as a space western (wagon train to the stars!), and settlers in the wild west advertising for wives to come join them was a common thing, so they were playing off that. Apparently at no point did it occur to anybody that wholesale transplanting societal elements of the wild west into a space show taking place in the ENLIGHTENED FUTURE was not, perhaps, the best idea. So we get...this whole thing, and trust me, it only gets worse as the episode goes on.

No one really reacts to this revelation very much, although that's perhaps not surprising considering no one really reacted to Mudd referring to the women as his cargo earlier. Kirk asks the magic computer for information on the women. It doesn't have any, so he asks it to turn the sensor probe on them. The computer says it doesn't get anything from the women, but then it goes on to volunteer the information that the male crew members are all showing signs of, well, arousal. Seriously, it just says this entirely of its own volition. That is one passive-aggressive computer.

Kirk finally gets around to asking if the women are here voluntarily, and Mudd says of course they are—and this time the magic computer doesn't contradict him so he's probably telling the truth. We also finally get some names for them: Ruth in the green dress, Eve in the red dress, and Magda in the purple thing. Eve talks about how they all came from planets with no, or very few, men, and she personally had a miserable existence keeping house for her two brothers with little more than automated farm machines for company. And that does sound pretty rough! So instead, they're going to...go keep house for husbands on frontier planets with little more than automated machines for company. But that's better, because, uh...something. Eve at least does call the guys out on spending the entire episode ogling the three of them, but it's not going to get much better.

Kirk plans to hand Mudd over to the authorities for illegally operating a vessel. The women aren't being charged, but they're kinda stuck and not getting where they want to go. Eve begs Kirk to help them, but he puts her off (and addresses her by her last name, although that was never brought up—evidence grows for Kirk being able to read minds) and then gets distracted by the last crystal blowing out. So now they're running entirely on battery power. Great.

Mudd sees this as a golden opportunity, because now he has new husbands to offer the women: the miners that they're going to see on Rigel-12. The miners are lonely and isolated and, apparently, quite rich, so Mudd sees them as prime candidates. He exults to the women about how rich they're going to be, and says that he is going to be running the Enterprise and Kirk will soon be taking orders from him. I...don't know how he plans to accomplish that, but he seems pretty confident.

Kirk has Mudd confined to his quarters, but the women are free to roam around the ship seducing the men. Only men are mentioned: all of the men are affected, and none of the women are. Because here on the Enterprise we only have straight people, apparently.

Ruth stops by Sickbay to pester McCoy, not that he's real upset about this. As she walks by one of the scanners, it wigs out and starts beeping and flashing dots. Like Scotty and his warp engines, if there's one thing that can distract McCoy under any circumstances it's medicine, so his attention is quickly drawn to that and he asks Ruth to walk by it again. She does, and it does the same thing. McCoy says it's not supposed to do that. Well I would hope not, because it's not very helpful. He asks if she's wearing some weird perfume or anything radioactive. “Ah, yes, my uranium necklace, I forgot about that.”

With that mystery unresolved, Kirk walks into his quarters to find Eve stretched out on his bed. Seriously people, put some locks on your doors or something. Eve says she was taking a walk but had to find a place to duck into because all the men were staring at her. Which would make me want to hide too, but not in the captain's quarters. Anyway, Kirk and Eve have some typical Star Trek cheesy romantic dialogue, but it takes an unexpected turn when Eve suddenly pulls away and declares that she can't do this, no matter what Mudd says, and she hates the whole thing. Then she storms off, leaving Kirk looking pretty perplexed, since this is not how these things usually go for him.

Mudd is gathering intel from Magda and Ruth, who between them have found out that there are three miners on Rigel-12, that they're all young and healthy, and that their leader is named Ben Childress. Mudd's pretty happy with his plans so far, but then Eve comes in and starts to chew him out. She doesn't get very far, though, stricken with some sudden affliction that has her leaning against the wall and moaning about how it must be near the time. Oh my god, they're werewolves! Nah, probably not. That would actually be interesting.

Up on the bridge, Kirk is getting irritated at having to deal with his seriously distracted crew. He asks if McCoy examined Eve, but McCoy says she refused. Which surprises Kirk, because it's not like McCoy usually lets that stop him. The two of them have a conversation about the mysterious women, with McCoy wondering if they really are actually that beautiful or if there's something else going on. He briefly considers the possibility that they might be “alien illusions.” Keep in mind this was only the third episode filmed, so it's pretty impressive that the characters have already started to identify what will be running themes in their lives.

Anyway, for now McCoy doesn't manage to do anything but confuse both Kirk and himself. Meanwhile, Magda has acquired a communicator, which Mudd uses to contact Rigel-12. Speaking of Rigel-12, the Enterprise has finally reached it, but Spock says they can only sustain their orbit for three days. I feel like that's not how orbits work, but what do I know.

In Mudd's cabin, he's frantically searching for something in a chest of drawers, while the women look on desperately, for you see, they are becoming...less attractive. Well, kind of. Ruth looks a bit haggard, but Magda just kinda looks like her hair's a bit messed up, and Eve mostly looks tired. But they’re no longer in soft focus, a terrible fate for any TOS woman.

[ID: Ruth, a white woman with long, somewhat frizzled black hair and some shadows under her eyes, holding her hands up to her chin with an anguished expression and saying, “Look at my face.” ]

The women are demanding some kind of pills, which Mudd seems to have misplaced, although Eve calls them a cheat anyway. Eventually Mudd finds them under the mattress and gives a couple to Ruth and Magda. (They dry swallow them. Ew.) He has to talk Eve into taking one, though. Magda and Ruth are seeing the effects already: Ruth's complexion has cleared up and Magda's hair has magically done itself. Mostly, though, we know that they've gone from Unattractive to Attractive because their sultry background music is back. Eve looks at the pill in her hand unhappily, but we don't see her take it.

Spock, in a rare and rather bizarre case of sentimentalism, is looking over a spent crystal and musing that it's beautiful and it's a shame it had to be destroyed. Spock's not interested in superpowerfully beautiful women, but he appreciates a good shiny rock. Kirk points out that it was a choice between destroying the crystal or destroying Mudd's ship. Except his ship got destroyed anyway so that didn't work out real well all around.

The miners come in to chat with Kirk. He says he's authorized to pay them well for the crystals, but Childress, the head dude, says the miners might be looking to swap instead. What, is this a barter economy now? “Alright, I'll pay you ten chickens for each crystal.”

Actually, it turns out the miners want the women. But of course, they want to take a look at them first to see if they're to the miners' liking, so Childress tells Kirk to “trot them out.” Jesus fucking Christ, have we turned into a slave market over here? What is wrong with you people?

Oh, and Childress says that he's agreed to have the charges on Mudd dropped. How he has the authority to do this is not explained. I guess he has a lot of money, but that paints a depressing view of the enlightened future if people are still capable of just buying their way out of things. Kirk is so surprised and perplexed by all this that he bursts out laughing, while Spock just kind of sits down with a 'here we go' look on his face. Kirk says there's no deal, but Childress says without the women there'll be no crystals. Kirk starts to point out that not cooperating with the Federation could backfire pretty badly on the miners, but before he can get too far Mudd bursts in with all three women in tow. Kirk's desperate attempt to cut all this off is halted by the lights dimming, a sign that they're on half battery power now. Mudd points out that Kirk's got no choice: he needs those crystals or he's not going anywhere except into a rapidly decaying orbit and eventually the planet's surface.

After the break, Kirk, Spock and Mudd beam down to the planet to deal with the miners. It's a pleasant looking place, really the kind of planet you'd like to spend your whole life on.

[ID: A rocky, desolate, wind-blasted landscape, with a pinkish sky and three small domed buildings sticking up from the rocks, barely visible through air filled with dust. Offscreen, Kirk is saying, “Transporting down to surface of planet Rigel-12...” ]

Inside the nearby living unit, which looks bizarrely like a cave from the inside, Ruth and Magda are paired off with a couple miners, giggling and stroking their shoulders and doing that kind of thing, while Eve is sitting unhappily in a corner. Kirk admits to Childress that he's won, he'll make the deal, now can he please have some crystals. Childress smirks at him that he'll get the crystals when he has time, because they're busy now. Listen, you smug jackass, you want a half-mile long spaceship loaded with extremely explosive fuel to crash into your planet? That'd do your mining operation a whole lot of good, wouldn't it?

Childress tries to chat up Eve, to little avail. The other miners start to dance with Magda and Ruth, but Eve declines Childress's offer, causing him to stomp across the room and pull Ruth away from her partner. Which causes another miner to pull Magda away from her partner. Poor Eve, meanwhile, looks absolutely miserable, hunched over by the wall on the verge of tears. When a fight breaks out among the miners, Eve runs over to the door, screams, “Why don't you just hold a raffle and the loser gets me?!” and then runs outside. This is bad because Rigel-12 sucks at the best of times, but right now a magnetic storm's kicking up and the dust is even worse than usual. Childress yells at Kirk that if he goes outside he'll be killed but, come on, like that's ever stopped Kirk.

Kirk and Eve stumble dramatically through the rocks, and Childress comes out after them, gaping uselessly. You'd think the miners at least would have, like, goggles and breath masks, but nope. Anyway, they can't find Eve, and then Childress gets lost too, so Kirk goes back up to the Enterprise to try and find them with their scanners, but the magnetic storm is causing interference and they're not having much luck. Unfortunately this is draining the batteries even faster, so now they only have about five hours of power left. GEE, IF ONLY SOMEONE HAD DELIVERED THE CRYSTALS LIKE THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO.

Down on the planet, Childress has found Eve and carried her back inside. But the magnetic storm has caused communications to go down, so he can't tell the Enterprise that. Although he probably wouldn't anyway, cause he's a jerk. Eventually, with only about forty minutes of power left, they locate lifesigns in Childress's quarters and go to beam down.

Inside, Childress wakes up from an uncomfortable bench-nap to find Eve cooking. He complains that she moved stuff; she says that she did some chores for him. Then he complains that he does his own cooking. Then when he tastes it he says his cooking is better. Then, when Eve says his pan was super crusted and gross, he says he couldn't wash it because they don't have any decent water (what do they drink?) Eve finally gets him to shut up by saying he could hang the pans outside and get them sand-blasted clean. He rolls his eyes at this, but later we see him doing it. I dunno how well that would work since this world seems to be more dusty than sandy, but at least it made Childress stop talking.

Now, I’m only a struggling milennial myself, so forgive my naivete, but what in the goddamn hell is the point of being so rich if you’re living like this? All throughout the episode we’re told that the miners are incredibly wealthy, yet they’re living in absolutely hideous conditions that they clearly don’t enjoy. If they’re so rich, why not make some other people do all the work and suffering for them? That’s what rich people usually do, to my understanding.

Anyway, inside, Eve is playing Double Jack (whatever that is) with round cards, because this is THE FUTURE. Childress quickly goes back to his charming ways, first saying she's not even good company, then asking what happened to her looks, because oh my God, a woman who's been through a dust storm doesn't look astoundingly glamorous, how dare she. He gets right up in her face, screaming about how ugly she looks and how he's so rich he could buy queens, because I guess all women are for sale in this universe.

Thankfully, this display is interrupted by Kirk and Mudd coming in. Childress is quick to say that he didn't touch Eve. Well, that makes everything alright then. Emotional abuse, pshaw.

Kirk demands that Mudd tell Childress the truth about something called the Venus Drug. Mudd splutters that it's actually a relatively harmless drug, it just turns you into a toxic wasteland full of sulfuric acid. Oh no, sorry, Venus like the god, not Venus like the planet. Actually, Mudd says, the drug “gives you more of whatever you have.” Men get more aggressive and muscular, women get rounder and more feminine. I'm not making this up, that's literally what he says. I’m so sorry.

Childress is absolutely horrified to discover that all the women are naturally as shockingly hideous as Eve, and asks what happened to his partners, in a tone that suggests that he thinks the women ate them. Kirk says they've already gotten married by subspace radio, causing Childress to flip out and try to attack Mudd, but Kirk pulls him back and says that the marriages were frauds so the miners can get out of it. I guess no-fault divorce doesn’t exist in the enlightened future.

Childress splutters about the injustice of how he went out to rescue a woman who dares to look slightly less pretty than she did previously. And I mean, Eve looks pretty much exactly the same except her hair isn't brushed and she has less makeup on. That's it. That's literally it. This whole thing would be just as stupid no matter what she looked like, but Childress is acting like she grew horns and her skin fell off.

[ID: Eve, a white woman with long and slightly messy blonde hair and dressed in a sparkly pink sleeveless dress, looking tiredly at the camera.]

Eve's finally had enough and screams at Childress that he doesn't want a wife, he wants the perfect ideal of a woman exemplified by the Venus Drug. To prove this to him, she gulps down three of them at once, then, after a long pause, turns around. Gasp! Her makeup and coiffed hair and sultry background music are back. She asks if this is what Childress really wants—not a real wife to cook and sew for him (as all wives do) but someone who's “selfish, vain, useless.” Childress bitterly muses that such a woman is only “a fake, pumped up by a drug” but then Kirk reveals that actually, no—they replaced the real Venus Drug with a placebo. Believing that she had taken the drug was enough to make Eve beautiful, because confidence and self-esteem will do your hair and makeup for you.

At any rate, Kirk's tired of giving DARE programs to bit characters and tells Childress he better hand over the crystals before the Enterprise crashes into this lovely little domestic scene. Childress finally concedes the crystals and, when Spock asks how many people are beaming up, he says that Eve can stay with him. How generous. Eve agrees, although not terribly enthusiastically, so Kirk and Mudd head out, with a bit of snarking first.

Back on the ship they've finally got things working again, and Spock says he's glad this whole business is over, calling it “a most annoying emotional episode.” Yeah, you and me both, Spock.

There's so much awfulness going on in this episode I don't even know where to start. You have the constant objectification of the women by everyone from the cast to the camera. You have the way the women are treated like property to be traded, examined, and discarded for being faulty. You have immediate shock and horror if the women are ever anything but perfectly made-up and appealing. Even Eve's whole speech to Childress at the end is bad; first, when she accuses him of not really wanting a wife, she frames the idea of a wife not as being an equal partner but as being someone useful to their husband. Then, rather than pointing out that the effects of the Venus Drug only make for a fake, unrealistically idealized idea of a woman, she says that the problem is that any woman that beautiful would automatically be selfish, vain, and useless. It comes off less as “you should look at women as real people and not walking pinup girls meant only to fulfill your desires” and more “you should try to attain a woman that's useful to you rather than focusing on looks alone.”

And then you have the implicit assumption throughout the entire episode that every woman needs a man. The circumstances the women originally came from don't sound real great and you wouldn't blame them for wanting to get away from that, but the emphasis is not on them wanting to leave because the situation was lousy, it's them wanting to leave because there were no men. And what is a woman supposed to do without a man to marry? The women are so desperate to have husbands, any husbands, that they place themselves in the hands of a sleazy conman to get delivered to men they've never met—men whose identities are so inconsequential that the women don't care when they're replaced on the fly. At the end the women are all back to living in pretty shitty circumstances. No one would want to live on Rigel-12! It sucks! You're stuck in tiny, cave-like dwellings with few resources, not even enough water to do dishes, half the time you can't go outside and the other half the time you wouldn't want to! Oh, and to top it off, the episode ends with Eve staying with a man who was literally screaming emotional abuse into her ear ten minutes ago. Are we honestly supposed to believe this is a happy ending for anyone? But it's all okay now because they have husbands, so their roles as women are fulfilled. And I’m sure that Childress will go from being a horrible sexist jerk to a good partner now that he’s been shouted at for five minutes.

And the whole thing just...doesn't make sense. We're clearly supposed to believe that the Venus Drug has some kind of real, tangible effect. The women spend most of the episode having a siren-like effect on every man they encounter. And while Magda and Eve never went much beyond having messy hair, they at least put enough makeup on Ruth when she was off the drug to make a clear physical change take place. But at the end it turns out that it was just...self-confidence? Or something? Self-confidence so strong it can do your hair and makeup for you? Heck, what about Ruth setting off McCoy's medical scanner? That never gets explained. Or the fact that taking the Venus drug is apparently enough to qualify for fraud, judging by what Kirk said about those divorces.

The only thing this episode has going for it (aside from Spock's expressions) is Harry Mudd himself, in large part thanks to Roger C. Carmel's gleefully over the top acting. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to defend him as a person—but you don't have to be a great person to make for a great character. And in a weird, paradoxical kind of way, there's something I find enjoyably different about Mudd as a character. TOS tends to take place on a pretty large scale—its antagonists are usually serious threats, when they're not incomprehensibly powerful, while its protagonists are called upon to be heroes fighting for peace and life and human ideals. There's nothing wrong with that, it works for the show, but it's kind of nice to occasionally run into an antagonist who's not threatening entire planets, just doing small-time crime to make a quick buck. It makes the world feel more fleshed out, like things are still going on at other levels than we usually see. Our heroes may be dealing with godlike beings and scary monsters and philosophical quandaries, but out there in the galaxy people are still living their fairly normal lives. And some of those people suck, because they're people and that's how people work. I just wish they could have had him running a less incredibly cringe-inducing con.

The other thing I like about Mudd is his interactions with Kirk. He really brings out Kirk's sarcastic, impatient side, and it's a lot of fun to watch. Kirk is immediately 100% done the moment Mudd walks into the room, but normally when Kirk gets fed up with a situation he has to rein it in to be diplomatic or captain-like or cool under pressure or whatever. He has no such need to hold it back with Mudd, so he just gets to be as snarky as he wants and it's wonderful.

TREK TROPE TALLY: None this time--crew death count for this episode is, once again, zero, unless someone died of embarrassment offscreen. Next time we'll get back onto firm pondering-the-nature-of-humanity ground with What Are Little Girls Made Of?

#star trek #star trek TOS #star trek season one #1.6 Mudd's Women #recap tag #star trek TOS recaps #1.6 Mudd's Women recap

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