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grass-and-citrus · 3 years

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@Disney, why do you do this to us

Here's a post where I ask the question: "Who at Disney thought this was a good idea and signed off on it?" Sorry, this might get a bit long lol!

Today, I received a book I ordered called "The Art and Making of Artemis Fowl", as one can tell from the title, it's one of those sorts of books that documents the production of a particular film. I was already going to make a post about little tidbits in this book that (unintentionally) reveals a bit about the messy production of the Artemis Fowl movie.

However, I became sidetracked by a particular page in the book that left me a bit baffled, and I decided that it warranted its own post. The two images here of both taken from page 154 of the book, where hair and makeup designer Carol Hemming writes about the work she did on the movie. This section does happen to touch on some of the, eh, cosmetic changes made to the characters, and some of the comments come across as odd to me at the very least, to problematic at worst, depending on how you interpret it. There’s a lot to unpack here, I feel!

In the first section, we’re already off to bad start in the first sentence with the use of “exotic” to describe the diverse cast of the movie. Carol goes on to explain that the reason they gave Butler white hair and blue eyes was because of the remains of “Cheddar Man”, a fossil of an ancient man found in England. However, a lot of the details given are incorrect when I looked into this myself. For one, Cheddar Man was not a 100,000 year old fossil, but instead more like 10,000 years old, so off by a magnitude of 10 times there! Secondly, from what I read, the scientists believe that Cheddar Man likely had dark skin, dark curly hair, and green eyes, though they can’t be certain, of course, with how old the sample is. So, using that as justification to give Butler white-blond hair and unnaturally saturated, bright blue eyes is certainly an interesting Choice™ they made.

Frankly, I have always thought that if they wanted to make Butler black that they should have full embraced Nonso’s natural features, including his black hair and brown eyes. Altering his appearance in the way they did perpetuates that trope of giving POC characters more euro-centric features to “stand out” more. I mean, think of all the fictional media out there with dark skinned characters that have blond/silver hair or where asian characters are often given random streaks of bright hair dye. Of course, those design decisions aren’t necessarily offensive on their own, but one has to make sure they’re being mindful of their reasoning behind things, ya know? At the very least, they could have be more subtle, they changed Tamara Smart’s (Juliet’s actress) hair to be blond and it didn’t come off as unnatural, although if it were me I would have left her hair as its natural color too!

This second part is what really got under my skin, though. Carol says that in her research that she saw there was a wide variety of depictions of fairy folk in terms of skin tone and eye color, but that she tried to “show similarities between Artemis and Holly” and that they “share a subtle similarity of look that hints at a shared beauty and intelligence.” Um, let me know if I’m reading too far into this, but this makes it sounds like they felt the need to make Holly white, and appear very similarly to Artemis, so that they would relate to each other more? Did she have to look white to be seen as beautiful and intelligent? They already wrote in that odd addition to the story of them bonding over shared father related trauma, did they also need to look like to get along?

It seems she’s trying to say they wanted to show how the fairy people are very much like humans and have many similar traits and behaviors, but why does that have to involve making the fairies appear like Europeans? I don’t know, this whole part is very weird to me, especially with how this was a change from the novel and how Carol Hemming acknowledges that Celtic depictions of fairies can have a large range of diversity. But somehow, Artemis and Holly both being white is diverse according to her statement? Maybe it’s just so poorly worded that it sounds bad?

What do yall think of this? Maybe I’m over thinking a bit over here, but something just seems off with the reasoning given for their design decisions! There might be someone more informed than I am on these sort of issues that could share their thoughts!

Transcription of the images below the cut for those who need/want it:

First image: “Apart from the many curious and exotic characters in the film, there are human who become entangled with the inhabitants of the fairy realm. Nonso Anozie, playing Butler, was keen to have a different look from what he felt was his usual screen persona. The inspiration for Butler’s highly individual look came from new scientific research, published early in 2018, based on the one-hundred-thousand-year-old fossil remains of a man who once lived in the West Country of Britain. Known as Cheddar Man, the fossil possesses DNA suggesting that- contrary to earlier theories- the first modern Britons were dark skinned with curly hair and blue eyes. Fired by this revelation, Nonso was given blue contact lenses and white, tightly curled hair. ‘We shaved Nonso’s head,’ says Carol, ‘and, rather than a wig, his hair was laid on piece by piece- an operation that required three or four makeup artists working as a team.’

Second image: “As for Artemis, Carol rook her cue from the fact that, as the story unfolds, a kinship develops between him and Holly Short. ‘During my early research,’ she says, ‘I explored many depictions of Celtic fairies and reference the popular imagery of blue- and green-eyed fairies with skins tones of alabaster through to dark. I tried to show similarities between Artemis and Holly and again, some diversity.’ As a result, the two protagonists, later compatriots, share a subtle similarity of look that hints at a shared beauty and intelligence. There is, it’s clear to see, much more to fantasy film makeup than just thousands of elf ears!”

#Artemis Fowl #Artemis Fowl Movie #@ carol turn on your location I just want to talk #the actors and actresses deserved better :(#my next post will probably be some of the other stuff I found in this book #hopefully more light hearted than this post

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carnistcervine · 4 years

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Haunting AU

Hey everyone, it’s ya gurl Carnist with another AU that she came up with instead of sleeping.

*The Avatar is an ancient spirit amalgamate that is reborn into a new mortal body every time it's current one dies.

*However, since the attack on the Air Temples 100 years ago, no one has encountered any trace of the legendary being.

*It is with this knowledge that Ozai banishes his gravely injured son, sending him on a quest to find the Avatar.

*So, a freshly burned Zuko is send off with his uncle and a motley crew with a half-trained medic.

*At first Zuko's fever fueled nightmares are centered purely around the agni kai and his father burning his face away.

*However, it's not too long before the dreams evolve. The dark figure that looms over Zuko changes in shape, instead of burning him, it gently cups his chin.

*The figure is not Ozai, no, it looks barely anything like his father, it's hair is much too white, and the beard is too large.

*It is gentle with him, but he finds himself afraid anyway. Zuko eventually finds the strength to push away from the figure and run, but he finds that he's surrounded by familiar, yet unfamiliar figures.

*They loom around him, closing in on him, chanting his name.

*Thankfully when he wakes up, he's safely by his Uncle's side.

*By what is considered a miracle of Agni himself, Zuko recovers from his injury. The only reminder being the scar that now mars his face.

*Once he's well enough to stand, he demands to search the air temples.

*Iroh tries to get him to rest, as the old man knows Zuko will never find the Avatar, and needs this boy to take this time to rest and recover. But Zuko is too stubborn to listen. So Iroh assists the boy in getting around until he's well enough to walk on his own again.

*There is a heaviness in the temples that Zuko cannot ignore.

*He tries to anyway, leaving as soon as he's able to see the Avatar isn't around.

*He pushes himself to get back to firebending as soon as possible.

*Much to his dismay, he's developed pyrophobia. His terror over his own element drives him up a wall. Iroh is patient with him, but Zuko can't stand his lack of progress and nearly re-traumatizes himself trying to force himself to get over it.

*The Iron Slug roams from place to place as Zuko runs his crew(and himself) ragged tracking down every hint of the Avatar.

*He pours over any information on the Avatar or Air Nomads to find any info he use to locate the Avatar.

*He's absolutely obsessed determined.

*It's been three years, his crew have grown resentful of him, and his Uncle just keeps trying his best in the hopes that he can help his nephew.

*One fateful day, he spies a strange light while sailing through the south.

*"It must be the Avatar." He tells himself.

*His Uncle however, believes it to be nothing more than the southern lights and encourages him to get some rest, maybe drink some calming tea.

*Zuko persists and tracks the lights down to a small Water Tribe village.

*The village is nothing more than women and young children.

*Well, there are two slightly notable exceptions, a teenage boy and girl who hold the most vicious, venomous gaze towards Zuko.

*He simply brushes them off as he talks to the village's leader.

*The woman holds a firm glare at him, telling him that his people have already taken the last of the waterbenders, that their village has /nothing/ left.

*Zuko remarks that he's not interested in waterbenders, or warriors, or anything of the like. He's looking for the Avatar or information on the Avatar.

*The woman makes an odd expression, and tells him that the Avatar has been gone for a hundred years.

*Zuko knows that the woman is hiding something and threatens her at flamepoint, when suddenly his target comes out of hiding.

*A small boy, eyes burning with the purest light comes in from seemingly out of nowhere.

*The Avatar offers himself up if Zuko leaves the village alone.

*Zuko accepts these terms.

*He doesn't see the strange, pitying looks the villagers give him as he leaves.

*Zuko tells his men to lock up the Avatar, and they just look at each other, only opting to move when he yells at them to quit dawdling.

*Uncle looks very concerned and asks Zuko if he's feeling alright, Zuko says that his journey is finally over and he can finally go home, he's never been better.

*Iroh looks even more concerned at this, but Zuko brushes him off to go to his room.

*He's not surprised when he finds the Avatar sitting on his bed, head tilted like a curious puppy.

*Zuko's not really surprised that the Avatar has essentially been allowed to roam loose on his ship, his crew are a bunch of useless good-for-nothings and he has to do /everything/.

*The Avatar doesn't even so much as flinch as he approaches him, but the second he's on the stupid arrow head, he's all the way across the room.

*Like he teleported or something.

*Zuko pinches his nose. He should have known that catching and containing a spirit would be hard.

*The Avatar offers a friendly smile and calls himself Aang, he extends an offer of friendship to Zuko, but Zuko turns the spirit down.

*Aang frowns, glumly saying that he won't play along with Zuko's game if he doesn't wanna be friends.

*Zuko angrily yells that none of this is a game, when two new voices catch his attention.

*It's the Water Tribe teens from before.

*They're pretty pissed at him, ranting at him about how terrible he and his country are.

*Zuko yells and argues back until he's as blue in the face as their clothes.

*Eventually, he just yells at them to fuck off, and just like that, they're gone.

-Now for the other side of things-

*Iroh's already tired when Zuko goes on an impassioned rant about the southern lights. Like sure, they're very beautiful, but they've been down this road before.

*The Avatar is GONE. If they go and check out the lights, they won't find anything.

*They end up coming upon a tiny village, a remnant of the once might SWT. Iroh can barely bring himself to look at the place, seeing what his country has done to these innocent people hurts him deeply. But he needs to keep an eye on Zuko and make sure he doesn't get himself hurt.

*Iroh notes that the only people in the village are grown women and small children, and no one else.

*Iroh and the crew are very surprised at how easily Zuko agrees to leave the village.

*That surprise turns to muted horror when Zuko tells his crew to take the Avatar below deck.

*They want to ask Zuko exactly who he's referring to, as no one was taken aboard the ship, but Zuko is quick to get angry and yells at his crew to get on it.

*Not looking to get yelled at some more by the clearly agitated Zuko, the crew disappear below deck. They opt to gossip in the engine room like they usually do when Zuko is behaving strangely.

*Iroh tries to ask his nephew if he's feeling alright. He worries that some of their food might have gone bad or that the boy had caught something.

*Before Iroh can press further, or check for fever, Zuko disappears below deck to go to his room. He specifically requests that no one disturb him.

*Iroh hopes that Zuko is going to finally lie down and get some rest. He clearly needs it.

*The crew have grown used to tuning out Zuko's yelling, so they don't bat an eye at the shouting match coming from his quarters.

-Basically, Zuko is being haunted/possessed. The Avatar is pretty much a person that's possessed by a spirit amalgamate. Zuko is the Avatar.

*Aang is one of Zuko's past lives that's reaching out to him.

*Katara and Sokka are ghosts from the SWT that came to torment Zuko because they’re mad about being dead.

*Aang gets Katara and Sokka to slowly mellow out and chill a bit, and be a bit nicer to Zuko.

*Aang also convinces Zuko to go to all sorts of places in an effort to get him to have fun.

*He convinces him to visit Kyoshi, where Zuko is assaulted by the ghosts of the Kyoshi Warriors.

*When he inevitably gets captured by the locals after getting beaten and tied up by ghosts, Iroh has to come in and rescue his nephew.

*In fact, quite a few scenarios end up like this, where Aang somehow convinces Zuko to do something or go somewhere and Zuko ends up knee deep in ghost shenanigans, meanwhile Iroh's blood pressure could kill a komodorhino.

*Zuko has always been a bit off, but lately his strange behavior has taken a frightening turn. As no one else can see the ghosts(except Iroh, on few occasions) the crew go from near mutinous to deeply worried over Zuko and his mental state.

*Once they learn the truth of his scar, they want to go and kill Ozai themselves.

*A few times the Iroh Slug will dock at a port and a mysterious entity will be spotted. At first it's assumed to be a glow-eyed jiang-shi, only to be later identified as the lost Avatar.

*During these times, Zuko is overtaken by the Avatar Spirit and takes on one of his past live's appearances. Usually Aang's. He'll move in an unnatural manor, like something that isn't used to controlling a human body, or some limp, corpse being.

*It's not until Iroh realizes that he hears other distinct voices coming from Zuko's room, with no evidence of anyone coming in or out, that his nephew is being haunted.

*Slowly but surely, Aang drags Zuko northward so that they can "teach Katara waterbending". *wink wonk*

*It's only after they end up at the North Pole, fighting off waterbenders that Zuko goes into the Avatar state in front of his crew and they realize that /he's/ the Avatar.

*But the NWT also know that Zuko is the Avatar and they're like: 👀 so Zuko's crew is gonna have hell keeping custody of him.

*Especially when the ghosts keep trying to drag him away too.

*Speaking of ghosts, Yue is fairly ghost-like in appearance, with her pale brown skin, supernatural blue eyes, and snow white hair, but very decidedly physical and alive.

*But she is haunted/possessed by the Tui, and can empathize with Zuko on the being harassed by ghosts or possessing spirits.

*I'm still deciding on whether Toph should be a ghost or someone pretending to be a ghost.

*On the one hand: Ghost!Toph who kicks just as much ass and causes even more trouble than normal Toph, and haunted the shit out of the underground earthbending ring before she decided that harassing Zuko would be more fun. On the other: Little blind girl who dresses up as a spooky spirit and beats everyone's ass teaming up with a ex-prince who's possessed by an evergrowing, all powerful spirit amalgamation and constantly haunted by a pair of Water Tribe ghosts.

*It does eventually get back to Hakoda that the spirits of his children are haunting the Avatar and he just: 👁👄👁

#ATLA #Avatar #Avatar AU #Zuko #Avatar Zuko #Haunting AU #i wrote this instead of sleeping #I probably left something out but my last braincell is melting #It comes out that Zuko is the Avatar #So Azula ends up being sent to capture the Avatar #I'm not sure what I want to do with Zhao #But I do think it would be funny to have the ghosts harass him every time he messes with Zuko #Like they become a bit protective of him #He's their target #Back off sideburns

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the-jade-cross · 3 years

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Over the Mountains - Chapter 1

My name is Persephone Anatello. My first name is pronounced (p-ur-s-eh-f-oh-n-ee) and my last name is pronounced (Anne-uh-tell-oh).

I an 99 years old but I only look like I could be twenty or so. I have deep brown hair and leaf green eyes. I was born alongside by twin brother, Prometa (Pro-m-eh-t-ah) but he died during a war. My mother was a halfbreed: half dwarf half elf. Her mother was an elf and her father was a dwarf. My father...was also halfbreed: half skin changer (on his mother's side) and half wizard (on his father's side). In that case, I'm not a half breed but more like a quarter breed. I am part elf, dwarf, skin changer and wizard!

With all of these heritages, I have many powers. From my mother's side I have developed mostly my style of fighting and my features. I am petite like a dwarf, but not as short as a hobbit, standing about four feet tall at most. That is taller than most hobbits luckily. I don't possess the dwarves's rugged figure but rather the slender, graceful and delicate body of an elf, including the ears but they aren't as pointed as most elves, but they're pointy none the less.

I have no beard (THANK THE HEAVENS!) but my dark hair (according to my parents) came from the dwarf side. It's thick and hardy like a dwarves but soft and silky like an elf's. I have developed the strength, endurance and stubbornness of the dwarves but the agility, gracefulness, patience and good manners as well as fighting style from the elves.

My fighting style is a mixture of all my ancestors so most people think I am a completely rare race myself. Most people call me A Whisperer but before my brother died, he named our 'race' Faerie.

The traits that I have inherited from my father is my ability to transform into a wolf. My father's ancestor was a fox skin changer but I turned out to be a wolf skin changer. most people don't believe it because I don't look like most skin changers when I am in human form. I can fool anyone. I'm not as tall nor aggressive and am actually very kind and a good companion when in wolf form. I can transform whenever I wish but sometimes I cannot help it especially if I'm upset, scared or angry.

From my wizard heritage, I have developed the ability to use some magic. I can conjure fire, water, light as well as a levitating spell but sometimes they don't work especially if something is on my mind, I'm wounded or upset.

As far as features go besides my hair, my parents told me that my green eyes came from my skin changer side for they are the rarest green color ever.

However, they match my rich brown hair perfectly, setting off the copper colors in my hair. Of course however, my hair and eyes change color whenever I am going through transformation from human to wolf, or when I am using my wizard magic. During that time, my eyes turn violet and my hair takes on several shades of purple and pink.This soon developed into the wizards referring to me as the Purple Wizard or the Wizard of the Milky Way.

Having all these talents soon proved my downfall for no dwarves or humans would let me near them. My elven people of Rivendell took me in shortly after my brother was killed in battle and I stayed with them for a good part of my life. After that I went and lived with Gandalf the Gray for a time as well as Radagast on and off. I never lived with men or dwarves but I ran into them occasionally. In terms of skin changers, they were all wiped out before I was born so I never found any of my skin changer people.

By the time I turned 80, I ran away from other people but kept in touch with the elves and wizards. I lived on my own in the wilderness, wandering around and exploring. Before long I knew almost every single corner of the world. I worked as a spy for the wizards and elves and made many friends especially with Arwen, Elrond and Galadrial.

It wasn't until I was 99 that I received a visit from the Wizard. Gandalf had a mission for me.... but that meant I would have to come out of hiding. Well, better late than never.

********

"So listen here Sepha," the wizard said, using Persephone's nickname. "I'll be going in with the dwarves. I want you to wait until all the dwarves arrive."

"How will I know when they're all here?" Persephone whispered.

The two were hiding in the bushes of the garden, watching the dwarves who were one by one approaching the hobbit hole.

"I'll let you know when I want you to come in," Gandalf whispered. "How about that?"

Sepha nodded and sat back in the bushes, "I'll just stay here then."

Gandalf nodded and got up, brushing himself off and heading to the door just as a group of dwarves arrived.

Sepha drew out her two swords and began to run her fingers over the elvish runes.

The swords she had fashioned herself but in memory of her mother, she had etched in elvish designs to the blade, as well as styling the sword to look ancient elvish. However, on the other side of the sword that most people didn't see, she had etched dwarfish designs.

After a while she set the sword back onto the hilts on her back. She messed with the iron wrist brace that she wore on her left wrist. After her brother died, she had decided to hold her race with pride. People always tried guessing which race she was so she decided to make Faerie's official even though there had only been two.... and only one was still alive. She had fashioned a large metal bracelet type thing that came from below her elbow to her wrist, hugging her arms snugly. Two strips of thin metal ran around her middle finger, connecting the brace.

Etched deep into the brace were designs that she had designed herself, making them 'Faerie' designs. most of them were shaped like skin changers with a mixture of dwarf and elf designs intertwined as well as magical designs for their wizard culture. On the underneath where no one but she could see, she etched in her family tree in Khuzdul and around the tree was a wolf, a swirl of magic, a dwarf axe, an elvish arrow and at the top, her brother's name in elvish.

She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard a knocking beside her. Turning, she saw Gandalf looking at her through a window, winking at her. Time to go inside.

Standing up, she pulled her hood on and pulled her mask over her face, only letting her green eyes show. She put her swords onto her back and put her left hand under her cloak. She didn't want to flash her Faerie band just yet.

She knocked firmly on the door and it was answered by a little man whom she guessed was Bilbo. he was shorter than her and looked slightly shocked.

"GAAAAANNNNDDAAAALLLLFFFF?????" Bilbo called, looking at the girl uncertainly.

Gandalf arrived within seconds and smiled at Persephone, "Ah there you are my dear. Come on in."

Sepha stepped inside and soon saw that she was the last person to arrive. There was a host of dwarves standing in the kitchen doorway, all of them crowding to see who had arrived. She glanced over them quickly and caught sight of two young dwarves who looked about her age, both staring in awe. The tallest dwarf was bald and had his arms crossed, considering the girl thoughtfully. However, the dwarf who was obviously a leader had his eyebrows down.

"Who is this Gandalf?" a young dwarf asked quietly.

"Everyone, I would like you to meet the fifteenth member of the company: Persephone Anatello." Gandalf said. "Persephone, I would like you to meet THorin Oakenshield."

The leader stepped forward and looked slightly down at the girl. Persephone considered him from beneath her hood, not letting him even see the color of her eyes. He was strikingly handsome with ebony black hair, the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen and firm features.

"We are not taking a woman with us Gandalf," Thorin snapped.

Persephone rolled her eyes which at once caught the attention of FIli and Kili.

"Uncle, we don't even know anything about her. She might be a really good fighter." Kili suggested.

THorin snorted, "She wont even show her face."

Sighing, Persephone reached up and pulled her hood back, letting her brown hair down and revealing her bright green eyes. Everyone was taken aback by her beautiful eyes but they weren't prepared when she pulled her mask down.

Fili took a step back in shock and Kili's jaw dropped open.

"By my beard," Bofur whispered to Nori, "She's a bonnie lass!"

An old dwarf, Balin, stepped forward and considered the girl, "How old are you lass?"

Sepha smiled, knowing that they all probably thought she was a human, "99 sir."

Balin's eyebrows shot up and Sepha saw Thorin's eyes widen in surprise.

"I am part dwarf," she explained. "That's why I'm short."

Fili snickered when Kili frowned, not liking the idea of being called short.

"What about fighting?" Dwalin inquired, towering over the girl.

Sepha looked up at the huge intimidating dwarf with no fear in her eyes. This surprised everyone for Dwalin was rather frightening. She smiled. "Swords."

Dwalin looked at THorin in time to see a faint smile lick across the dwarf's face. Thorin was especially fond of the sword, even over an axe. That was a good first impression on Sepha's part.

"I like her," Fili chirped while Kili still gawked.

Balin nodded, "I think she would be a good asset to the team."

"Sepha is also a trained healer," Gandalf pointed out. "She is also extremely talented in navigation and tracking."

"I'm in," Dwalin remarked.

All eyes turned to Dwalin in surprise. He was considering the girl with a firm look but a smile on his face. He was nodding slowly.

"Never judge a book by it's cover. Let's give her a try."

All eyes turned to Thorin who was pinching the bridge of his nose. He obviously wasn't all for it. He sighed.

"Fine. But on a trial basis."

epha tried to avoid the dwarves at all costs while they lingered around the place, bothering the poor hobbit. She soon found her way into the kitchen where Nori and Ori were putting the dishes away. She could tell they would be there a while so she twirled her fingers, not letting them see her in the shadows.

Suddenly, the dishes began to float and levitate to their cabinets, leaving Ori and Nori stunned. Halfway through, the two let out horrified squeals and rushed from the kitchen. Sepha chuckled to herself, finishing her job and turning.

That was when she realized that two pairs of eyes were staring at her in awe: Fili and Kili.

"That is absolutely brilliant!" Kili gushed. "How did you do that?"

Sepha smiled, "I'm part wizard on my father's side."

"but you're part dwarf too?" Fili inquired, "That is officially the coolest thing I have ever seen!"

Sepha chuckled and pulled her hood over her hair, leaving her mask down, "What are you guys going to do next? It's a few hours before it's time for bed."

The two nodded, "Thorin is calling us into the sitting room. Come on."

The two grabbed each of her hands and pulled her into the living room. All the dwarves were there and Sepha could see Gandalf sitting in the other room, nearby while Bilbo was in his bedroom, the door open.

Sepha didn't want to intrude because of the silence in the room, she knew that this was a dwarfish thing. Pulling away from Fili and Kili, she stood in the doorway, arms crossed, partially in the shadows.

She could see the smoke from the pipes make swirls in the air and it smelled sweet to her. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a deep baritone voice singing and Sepha realized in shock that it was THorin!

He was staring into the fire, one arm on the mantle, singing deeply as the other dwarves began to join him.

Far over the misty mountains cold To dungeons deep and caverns old We must away ere break of day To find our long-forgotten goldThe pines were roaring on the height The winds were moaning in the night The fire was red, it flaming spread The trees like torches blazed with light

When they finished, Sepha found herself smiling. One by one, the dwarves said goodnight to each other and headed out of the room, off to find a corner of the room to sleep. Soon, it was only Dwalin, Fili and Kili in the room. Kili was staring at the fire, almost sadly while Fili had an arm around his shoulders. Dwalin had a hand on his shoulder, patting it.

"Kili," Sepha said, stepping into the dim light, "Are you alright?"

The youngest dwarf nodded, "it's just.... this is my first time really being away from home and.... I don't know...."

Sepha smiled and sat down on the other side of Kili. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and the dwarf laid his head on her shoulder.

"I know what it feels like," she whispered. "I had to leave my home... when I was young and I felt lost and alone. Even though there were people to care for me, I felt like I didn't belong."

"What happened to your parents?" Kili whispered.

Sepha stiffened and Kili sensed it, "You don't have to tell me if you dont want to."

"They... were killed in war," she whispered, "So was my twin brother... Prometa."

"I'm sorry lass," Dwalin said, standing by the mantle where Thorin had stood not long ago, "No one that young should lose their loved ones."

Sepha nodded and stroked Kili's hair and she felt him shiver, "What do you miss about home the most Kili?"

FIli and Dwalin could tell right away that she was trying to comfort him so they didn't say anything.

"I miss my mother.... she was a woman.... but she was so strong too! So brave when everyone else was scared or upset. She was the strongest person I know..." Kili whispered.

Sepha smiled and hugged him tighter, "Never feel like you should feel ashamed of missing your mother. It's the cowards who say that they don't miss their mothers, or sisters or wives. It's the strong brave ones who know that we aren't here to make them seem weak, but to help them be stronger."

Kili sniffed and sighed, "Can you sing something? My mom always sang when Fili and Kili were scared."

Fili was about to point out that she hadn't done that since they were kids but Sepha's smiled cut him off.

"Sure thing."

Fili sat forward, watching Sepha and Dwalin considered the young girl. Her face seemed to relax and her features lit up as her angelic, soft voice gently filled the room with a soft sensation that the dwarves had never felt before.

I saw the light fade from the sky On the wind I heard a sigh As the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers I will say this last goodbyeNight is now falling So ends this day The road is now calling And I must away Over hill and under tree Through lands where never light has shone By silver streams that run down to the sea

Under cloud, beneath the stars

Over snow one winter's morn I turn at last to paths that lead home And though where the road then takes me I cannot tell We came all this way But now comes the day To bid you farewell

Many places I have been Many sorrows I have seen But I don't regret Nor will I forget All who took the road with me

Night is now falling

So ends this day The road is now calling And I must away Over hill and under tree Through lands where never light has shone By silver streams that run down to the sea

To these memories I will hold

with your blessings I will go

to turn at last to paths that lead home

and though where the road then takes me

I cannot tell

We came all this way

but now comes the day

to bid you farewell

I bid you all a very fond farewell

When she finally finished, Fili's mouth was practically dangling open, Dwalin was smiling fondly at the girl and Kili was sound asleep, on the verge of snoring. Not looking at Fili or Dwalin, Persephone reached over and slipped from underneath Kili's head so that he was lying in front of the fire.

"Brisingr," she whispered, fire shooting from her fingers and making the fire burn brighter.

Dwalin jumped slightly at that but Fili just grinned in awe. As the girl slowly stepped into the kitchen, where she was going to bunk down for the night, Dwalin caught sight of Thorin standing in the doorway. His blue eyes were staring in wonder after Persephone while the rest of him was silent and serious... but calm.

Dwalin smirked and headed past THorin to get some sleep, "She's a special one," he whispered as he passed. "I can tell."

When the dwarf was gone, THorin looked at where Persephone had curled up against the warm stone wall next to the fireplace. He had to admit that even though it wasnt the most comfortable position, sleeping sitting up, her idea of sitting against the hot stones wasn't a bad idea.

"We'll see," Thorin whispered, looking from the girl to his two nephews who were sleeping by the fire.

#thorin #oakenshield #thorin oakenshield #thorin oakenshield x oc #hobbit #lotr

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fromthelibrary · 5 years

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In that vanishing point, neither of us speaks. Language is crushed. We are anyway too busily engaged building structures within ourselves that might house our spirits, for the pressure here is immense, a weight of rock and time, bearing down upon us from every direction with an intensity I have never experienced before, turning us fast to stone. It is a fascinating and terrible place, and not one that can be borne for long.

Robert Macfarlane, Underland

I have read non-fiction which fascinated me, and non-fiction that transported me, allowed me to see through the eyes of another, but I cannot remember a time when I was so thoroughly enchanted by a work of non-fiction as I was by Robert Macfarlane’s Underland. It reads like a strange blend of science, travel memoir, poetry and fairy tale. The term “Underland” used as the basis of this work refers to all the world below the earth’s surface, both natural and man-made. I feel like I’m still struggling with the concept of “deep time,” but it seems to be referring to time scales so large that they dwarf all of human history, such as the formation of glaciers and the hazard of nuclear waste. This book covers a huge breadth of times, places and subjects, including:

Burials, both ancient and modern

Caving

Mining

Physics research which can only be carried out deep underground in a chamber made of salt

Neolithic cave art

Use of underground passageways, trenches, sinkholes and cave systems by the military, revolutionaries, and refugees

Storage of nuclear waste and the daunting task of communicating its hazards not only to future humans but to the possibility of a post-human future world

The secret cities which lie underneath European cities such as Paris and Odessa in the form of catacombs and abandoned quarries.

Fossilisation of human remains and material culture

Oil drilling and the ocean floor

The innumerable layers of history trapped within sea ice and glaciers

One thing I loved deeply about this book is the approach to science which is very accessible for Arts and Humanities type people like myself, who are curious about science but woefully under-educated in these fields. He explains dark matter and neutrinos, fungal networks and the ecology of the forest, marine biology and geology, glaciology and other scientific concepts and research fields with ease and elegance. He blends these subjects into a narrative of his journeys through the underland which is deeply emotional, almost spiritual. I feel like this mix of science and spirituality should be uncomfortable, but for this subject matter it feels intensely appropriate. After a long and dangerous journey to a remote, isolated part of Norway’s coastline in winter, days alone among the rocks and snow and ruins of an abandoned village, I feel like I too would sit down and actually cry upon encountering paintings left on the wall of a cave by people who lived so long ago I can scarcely imagine, but who feel close and alive still in the darkness and otherworldly time within the cave. To me, this is a rational response to such an experience, but in his approach to this journey and his retrospective writing about it, the archaeological, anthropological, geological and even historical and literary contexts of the paintings, the cave that houses them, the landscape in which they are situated and the journey to reach them are all considered and explored. Many parts of this book read like poetry, or like a dream sequence, some passages are also very reminiscent of the parts of folk tales where the hero is told how to reach Fairyland and what the crucial rules are to ensure he makes it back out alive. For me, the entire work came across as a love song.

I think part of what pulled me into this book was not just a preexisting interest in this subject matter or the enjoyable writing style, but the places to which Macfarlane journeys. I have read books in the past which irritated me because the subject matter was obscured under the author’s personal anecdotes and attempts at travel writing. Macfarlane writes so much life into his landscapes and describes his underland guides, companions and interview subjects in a style which makes them appear almost like characters from a story. His descriptions of his journeys often draw on imagery of darkness and light to evoke the feeling of passing between one world and another: “I feel the snap of the black stone’s jaws at the empty air below my toes, and then I am out of the swallet and into the hollow, and warm air is rolling around me, and my bones grow again in the storm of light and ferns furl their green over and into me and moss thrives on my skin and leaves teem in my eyes, and Sean and I sit laughing, knowing for those few moments that to understand light you need first to have been buried in the deep-down dark.” Colour is also frequently invoked to bring the concept of deep time to life, such as the red ochre paste on the wall of the cave. The passage about the memory of ice encapsulated within the blue of time is particularly memorable and it would have been worth reading this book just for those few pages alone. In researching and writing this book, Macfarlane traveled far off the beaten path, occasionally alone, and often at great risk of injury or death. These are the parts of the narrative which grabbed my imagination and really ran with it. Much like Caroline Van Hemert’s book, which I read a few weeks ago, the retelling of these journeys, and particularly his adventures on the ice struck some chord in me that I don’t really know how to interpret. As I read I began to think that maybe stories about travel into the Arctic, the deep wilderness, caves and abandoned underground cities, affect me this way because of subconscious knowledge that unlike Middle Earth or Roshar, these are places which exist in the world I inhabit, that I could conceivably make a series of choices that would lead me to these places. I believe that the idea of these places captivate me in this way because they are seen so infrequently and through such great peril to the viewer, but are so wild and so alive. I have come to think of them as places of probable death but certain wonder.

I cannot urge you enough to give this book a shot. There were so many beautiful passages in it that I eventually gave up on copying them into my notes and had difficulty choosing one to include in this review. If you have any interest in adventure, the environment, natural sciences, or just want to experience things few humans will ever see through the pages of a book, read this one. Normally, if I am going to recommend a book, I like to think not only about who the book is for, but also for which readers the book might miss the mark. The only thing I can think of here is that the dreamlike prose combined with the breadth of subject matter (and being made to think about deep time, which hurts my brain), can be a lot to chew on and made me feel a bit disoriented within the world. It took me nearly three weeks to read it in its entirety. Not because the language or subject matter was difficult but because I felt the need to occasionally put the book down and turn everything over in my mind for a bit. That said, I would urge anyone with an interest or curiousity in any of the topics covered here to pick it up. Macfarlane wrote, “Occasionally - once or twice in a lifetime if you are lucky - you encounter an idea so powerful in its implications that it unsettles the ground you walk on.” Perhaps some of those are waiting here for you.

#books #book review #books i read in 2019 #non-fiction #science #glaciology #mycology #physics #ecology #spelology #archaeology #really just lots of -ologies #caving #travel memoir #adventure #catacombs #underland #deep time #robert macfarlane

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chosen-42-blog · 5 years

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‘love you to the moon and back’

“I love you to the moon and back“, a quote from the children’s book "Guess How Much I Love You", meant to express that one loves another person more than they can imagine.

From ancient times to the present, MOON is always be seen as a symbol of beauty, romance and mysterious. Therefore, the curiosity and exploration to the moon have never stopped. On July 20, 1969, American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first and second person to walk on the moon. At the time, US President Richard Nixon was in the first place. They talked to them on a landline. In the televised broadcast of the call, Nixon told the astronauts that the whole world is proud of them. "Because of everything you do, heaven has become a part of the human world." Humans regard the moon as a wonderful symbol. It is both the goal of scientific inquiry and political expansion, as well as the source of romance and the desire of art. Common ambitions and desires have gone through thousands of years of accumulation, and humans have finally had a close contact with the closest neighbors of the Earth half a century ago.

In order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Apollo's moon landing and to explore the complex and strong attraction of the moon to humans, the global art circle has also presented exhibition projects related to the "moon" to explore the human image of the moon and its importance and power of charming.

Firstly, the exhibition of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Apollo's Muse: The Moon in the Age of Photography, explores the visual performance of the moon from the beginning of photography technology. In addition to the photos, the exhibition also features a series of related sketches, prints, oil paintings, movies, astronomical instruments and cameras used by Apollo astronauts.

On July 20, 1969, 500 million viewers around the world watched the first moon landing photo uploaded by the American astronauts from the moon. The images helped humans remember this very historical moment in their unique way. The limit of human vision was pushed. To the new dimension.

▲ El Meyers, "Le Voyage dans la lune" film excerpt, 1902

This "moon landing"-themed film pioneered the sci-fi film, which made the film a platform for fantasy and a tool for entertainment. This year's exhibition in the West, which commemorated the 50th anniversary of Apollo's moon landing, almost all showed the film.

Another typical exhibition is the museum of the moon. The Moon Museum is an art installation project for global tours. British artist Luke Jerram replicates the moon at a ratio of 1:500,000. Through the image of NASA, he displays every corner and crack of the moon's surface on an internally illuminated 23-foot diameter sphere, representing 5 kilometers of the moon per centimeter. As Jerram said in an article: "I hope this project can reproduce a myth, inspire people's doubts and re-engage with the night sky." This installation of more than 30 museums, palaces and landmarks has been popular in Europe and the United States since two years ago. But it is not as simple as a photo location. Its popularity comes from the result of the common emotions, myths and narratives of human beings. When you stand in front of this huge moon, it seems to be surrounded and impacted by the charm of the vast universe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX6HrVdtC7A

OLALA 2018-The Museum of the Moon, Luke Jerram

Moon Museum, British National History Museum, London

As it travels from one place to another, it will collect new musical compositions and continue to collect personal reactions, stories and myths, as well as highlight the latest lunar science. The device combines a moon image, moonlight and surround sound, created by British composer Dan Jones. From the beginning of human history, the moon has become a "cultural mirror" of our way of faith, understanding and observation. For centuries, the moon has been interpreted as a god and a planet. It is used for timing, calendaring, and assisted night navigation. Throughout history, the moon has inspired artists, poets, scientists, writers and musicians all over the world. A round of the moon, a delicate new moon with the sun, or the mysterious dark side of the moon, the faint blue light that evokes people's passion and exploration. Different cultures around the world have their own historical, cultural, scientific and religious relationships with the moon. The Moon Museum allows us to observe and think about cultural differences and similarities around the world and to consider the latest lunar science. The meaning and interpretation of the work will vary depending on where the work is presented. New stories and meanings will be collected through local research on the artwork of each location. (https://my-moon.org/about/)

Moon Museum, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney

Moon Museum, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto

Moon Museum, Milano

Moon Museum, Water Cube, Beijing

For a long time, human beings have a long-lasting fascination with the fascinating spheres in the sky, so this exhibition shows various paintings, scientific instruments and contemporary art through interactive installations, displays and art installations to explore the moon in human faith and science. And the various roles played in the arts.

Talking back to the meaning of moon exhibition, those exhibitions aim to memorize the 50th anniversary of the first human landing on the moon. In today’s context of the United States’ “returning to the moon”, the establishment of a lunar space station, and other countries competing to explore the moon, people cannot forget the political, scientific, technological, economic, and life-like aspects of Apollo’s manned moon landing on human society. Even the great influence and promotion brought by the spirit.For the time being, the US “Return to the Moon” program will also draw heavily on the experience and technology of the Apollo manned moon landing project. Many of the programs and technologies of the year are not out of date even today. The Apollo manned moon landing project will continue to affect the global influence for many generations and affect generations.

| Celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing logo. The prominent two letters O nested the Moon and Mars, respectively, meaning that the two planets NASA has explored, from "Apollo" to the moon, to "return to the moon", and then to Mars in the future. The next huge overflight refers to the next era to explore the focus: Mars. Samsung represents the three stars on the Orion belt. This logo was designed by NASA graphic artist Matthew Skins.|

In the fierce space competition between the United States and the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union successively won several firsts: launching the world's first artificial earth satellite, launching the world's first moon detector, and launching it. The world’s first manned spaceship... The United States deeply feels that this is an extremely serious political issue. Therefore, the United States has been eager to surpass the slogan of the Soviet Union and is determined to show the United States as the world’s number one superpower. Level and national strength.

On May 25, 1961, US President Kennedy announced to the world that he would implement a majestic manned moon landing plan. “I think that our country should achieve the goal of sending people to the moon and returning them safely to Earth before the end of this decade.” Thus, the implementation of the manned mission to the moon in the United States is a political decision. The purpose is to re-establish the technological leadership of the United States in the eyes of the people of the world and to invigorate the spirit of the United States.

| President Kennedy speaks on the "Apollo" project in Congress |

The project is named after the sun god "Apollo". Although it can be seen as an ad hoc plan to compete with the Soviet Union, it is also the first step in human expansion into the solar system. Its purpose is to achieve manned moon landings and human field visits to the moon, for manned planets and Probing for technical preparation.

The Apollo manned moon landing project has greatly stimulated the slow-moving space program in the United States. Various people from all walks of life have offered suggestions, and it took only eight years to get on the moon.

| Apollo 11 Badge |

The success and achievements of the Apollo program have great historical and practical significance.

Politically, it has finally established the United States in a leading position in many aspects of space technology, and has produced a great reputation. In science, it has made humans have the first direct research and understanding of the moon and near-moon space. In terms of technology, many breakthroughs have been made, which not only laid the foundation for the later aerospace program, but also widely used in the national economy.

In engineering management, NASA has thus gained a series of valuable experience in large-scale engineering planning and management. Economically, this is a more controversial issue, but according to the Zeiss report, the “Apollo” plan has increased the US economic growth rate by 2%, the price index by 2%, and created 800,000 employment indicators. The Zeiss report also believes that In 1958, the US national income was 406.2 billion US dollars. In 1968, it reached 864 billion US dollars. In 1970, it increased to 90.46 billion US dollars.

The implementation of the project has led to a large number of high-tech industrial groups such as liquid fuel rockets, microwave radars, remote control operations, radio guidance, ultra-high strength and high temperature resistant synthetic materials, new electronic computers, pharmaceuticals and bioengineering. Later, many technical achievements such as artificial intelligence, robotics and remote control operations of the project were transferred to civilian use, which promoted the overall development and prosperity of science and technology and industry. The benefits of secondary development and application far exceeded the Apollo program itself. Direct economic and social benefits.

In the last 10 years of the 20th century, the United States was able to maintain high-speed and efficient growth, thanks in large part to the thousands of application technology achievements or patent applications in the economic field derived from the Apollo manned moon landing project. The United States is ahead of the world. High-tech, such as information, biology, and new materials, comes from the digestion, optimization, and secondary development of lunar exploration technology.

In the implementation of the Apollo manned moon landing project, in order to cool down and ensure the safety of the astronauts on the moon, the liquid cooling suit was developed. The principle is to use the pump to deliver cold water circulation refrigeration. Later, this technology was directly applied to the army, navy and air force. The working conditions of tankers, submarines and pilots have also reduced the suffering for some special patients. For example, there is a little boy who has scalded scalpel disease and can't dissipate heat through the skin. Therefore, most of his time can only be kept in the air-cooled environment. Many daily activities can't participate. After the liquid cold clothes, he can Go out and play, save from illness and loneliness.

Another popular bar code for shopping pricing is one of the aerospace technology masterpieces that was originally invented by the United States to control the countless components of the Apollo program.

The intensive care unit was one of the important medical advances brought by aerospace technology. It was originally born in response to the Apollo program's need for health testing of astronauts on the moon.

The dried cabbage leaves in instant noodles are the dehydrated vegetables commonly used in aerospace foods. They are used to store, store, and transport excess water in vegetables. The Apollo program first uses this technology to allow astronauts to eat vegetables. Aerospace foods are now widely available in aerospace foods.

All kinds of fashionable sneakers are also the "products" of Apollo's achievements. The "air blow molding" manufacturing technology is derived from the Apollo plan for the production of space suits. At that time, scientists made a complete and uniform thickness. The large-pressure space suit liner invented a method of heating and softening a group of pressure-resistant soft materials, placing them in a mold, and then blowing high-pressure gas into the mold. After that, the sneaker manufacturer found that the process could Quickly and efficiently create a complete upper that is widely used.

In conclusion, human desire for space and resources is growing towards rationality with the advancement of technology. On September 5, 1977, NASA unmanned probe traveler 1 launched into the solar system. Voyager 1 carries a gold-plated bronze record with a diameter of 30 cm, trying to introduce humanity to the extraterrestrial civilization as completely as possible. The album contains 115 pictures of the earth's features, humans, knowledge and solar system celestial bodies; 55 kinds of earth language greetings, beginning with the Aka German used by the Sumerians 6,000 years ago, ending in Chinese dialects; Dogs, birds, trains, and other "voices of the earth"; there are also music from a variety of cultures, including Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, Chinese Guqin "Water", Chuck Berry's rock, African blows Music, the voice of New Guineans, and so on. When astronomer Carl Sagan presided over the compilation of the album content, people's expectations of discovering extraterrestrial civilization seemed to be a little higher and more romantic than now, unlike the calmness of more than 40 years. Today, the urban legendary craze of UFO and alien signs is over, but serious exploration is still in progress.I don't know if we can see the breakthrough in our lifetime. We don't know when humans can really leave the cradle and start the interstellar voyage. We don't know whether the form of life will exceed the range we are familiar with, or even whether human cognition is enough to understand the universe and itself. The only thing that can be determined at the moment is that as long as the human species still exists, there will always be some members who will be the pioneers of travel, extending the footprints of human footprints and thinking to farther places.

#museum of the moon

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whenrockwasyoung19 · 5 years

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Time to address Ariana Grande’s friggin tan. So back in like 2014 there was a post showing Ariana in the first season of Victorious where she was looking all pale and shit. And they compared that to pictures of Ariana now with her tan. Essentially people equate Ariana tanning with cultural appropriation but I would argue there’s more to it than that.

So let’s address a few things. Ariana is white. She is not a person of color according to today’s standards. At one point in time she would’ve been considered ethnically ambiguous as all Southern and Eastern Europeans were. So the fact that she sort of is ethnically ambiguous has this loaded history behind it.

Also, Italian Americans can be ethnically ambiguous just innately. For instance, the surname Grande kinda sounds like it could be Italian or Spanish. The distinction isn’t really clear. The languages are similar (very very similar). I swear every time I see that Emilia Clark Dolce and Gabana ad I think she’s speaking Spanish. There are these subtle crossovers that can make it hard to distinguish who belongs to what camp. There is also the issue of skin tone. Italian features vary a lot. Some can be blonde and blue eyed. Others are olive skinned with brown hair and brown eyes. Some are mixture with fairer skin and brown hair and eyes.

It seems that naturally Ariana falls into that category. I wouldn’t say she’s pale. Like if you’ve seen videos on her old YouTube channel you’ll notice she’s got a slight tan. She also naturally has dark brown hair. She’s sort of the average Italian who doesn’t really look like the standard Sicilian but still looks very Italian. So she already has a very Italian look and whatever ethnically ambiguous qualities that come with that are innate. The tan came later, but we’ll get to that.

So for Italians who look more olive skinned, it can be easy to be perceived as Latine. I can personally vouch for this as after returning from summer vacation (and after spending my days outside, I naturally got very very tan) I would occasionally be told I looked Latina. Some would even assume it. And notably, I didn’t try to look this way. The summer sun just does that to my skin. So it’s not an effort on my part to look more Hispanic. And for those who naturally have darker, olive skinned may look ethnically ambiguous.

From this point on, I can really only refer to Italian Americans as I’m not from Italy. I don’t know much about their beauty standards.

Do y’all remember Jersey Shore? The original run in like 09? I do. I was in high school at the time (because I’m ancient). And I also grew up in New Jersey. So, I was around a lot of girls trying to be like Snooki. Girls wore the bump. They wore bright prints. And they tanned. Oh they tanned. I knew a lot of girls who made frequent trips to the tanning beds. And whenever school dances came up, spray tans were suddenly everywhere. There was an obsession with tanning. And Ariana is basically just like those girls I went to school with: obsessed with tanning.

This is a common beauty standard for Italian Americans. I don’t know the precise history behind these beauty standards. But I’ll make an educated guess. Sicilians are like the ideal Italians (in terms of beauty). They seem to capture all the Italian features. Their skin is darker, they have beautiful brown hair, amber eyes; and if you go off of American television, they’ve got curves. I personally take great pride in my Sicilian heritage (even tho I’m only part Sicilian and only kinda look it).

Sicilian beauty standards are also idealized on television. The women Tony Soprano often slept with were often Sicilian. On Everybody loves Raymond, Robert abandoned his plain Jane blonde girlfriend for a voluptuous Sicilian woman he met on holiday. In The Godfather, when Al Pacino is in Italy he practically forgets all about poor Diane Keaton and marries a beautiful Italian woman. In this case, unlike the other examples, Apollonia doesn’t speak much English. Their attraction is merely physical. In all of these cases, the somewhat plain blonde is seen as kinda of conventional but boring. The Sicilian is the attractive one drawing the man away from his woman. In other words, Sicilians are portrayed as this ideal beauty. Sicilian beauty types are similar to Latina beauty types as well which is where I think a lot of the confusion lies. Latina women have darker skin (sometimes very similar in tone) and dark hair. So when all the Italian American girls in my school were trying to look like more Sicilian, it can be perceived as looking more Latina. In my community, no one would mix that up. We know that pale skin is far from ideal. If you can look like you just got off a plane from the Bahamas, you’re looking good. And obviously have slightly tanner skin is popular in general. Self-tanner and bronzer are incorporated into a lot of beauty gurus makeup routine. The fact that someone wants to look a little tanner is not really shocking. But like I said, I can see where the mixup is. Ariana is basically just emulating a Sicilian beauty standard as many Italian Americans do. It can be misconstrued that Ariana is reflecting a Latina look but that’s not the case. But then we get into some phrasing issues. So I hear people say things like Ariana darkens her skin. Ok. Technically yeah. But that’s what tanning is. That’s what applying bronzer is. In reality, such acts are neutral. But the phrasing is definitely off. It does sound like Ariana regularly applies like brown polish to her skin. That’s not what she or other girls who tan do. If you use a tanning bed, it’s your skin naturally reacting to UV light. It’s no different than when I spend a summer riding my bike in shorts, and by August my thighs are very tanned. For girls who spray tan, you can throw a little shade at because it’s not their natural skin. But it’s also aspiring to a Caucasian beauty standard. So is it a cultural appropriation if it’s white people appropriating other white people stuff? Eh I don’t know. My point is the act of tanning really isn’t like problematic in and of itself. And framing it to be problematic by using carefully chosen language is perfidious and wrong. It creates a culture of shame around Ariana which isn’t fair to her or her fans. In era where cultural appropriation is a mortal sin, it’s unfair to accuse someone of that without really understanding the complexities of this situation. Being Italian American has complexity especially in terms of beauty and there is a deeper history there. If you think her music or singing is cultural appropriation, I’m not going to argue that point. But please stop saying that Ariana is tan, therefore she’s appropriating latine culture, therefore she’s cancelled.

#ariana grande #cultural appropriation #italian #Italian American #tanning #FYI I never entered a tanning bed

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starlightcurse-blog · 5 years

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So I finally got time to make this post I’ve been wanting to make for a long while. This is a complete list of spirits I am bonded with and work with on an almost daily basis. this is long so ill post it all below the cut, just to save room on the dash of people who might not want to read this.

I also want to start this off by saying I like to differentiate three types of spirits. Really, two but I’ll entertain three. the main two would be living spirits and dead spirits, and I’ll say the third category would be divine spirits but I consider divine spirits to also be living spirits. Now what does this mean? Well, what I consider dead spirits are spirits of the deceased, those who have passed on and are wandering the earth or ones that have moved on to the afterlife. What I consider living spirits would be divine entities like gods, angels, demons, things of that nature, and other living spirits would be faeries, mythical creatures, or just other creatures in the spirit or astral realm, that were not incarnated on this physical realm or just have never had a physical form.

Midnight: She is a Goddess of Spirits, she refers to herself as the ‘Queen of Spirits’. She is the first one of these that I meet and bonded with. She is highly intelligent, but somewhat impersonal. She is blunt, but she gives good advice. She also connects me to the spirit realm and helps act as my guide. When I can contact her, she gives me a vision of what she looks like. Tall, ghostly pale skin, black eyes, and then lots of gray. She speaks to me through visions.

Lunar: She is a goddess of light and shadow, sunlight and moonlight, the sun and the moon, basically that whole duality of light and dark in the literal sense. Her alignment is basically lawful neutral. She says she is associated with wolves, owls, lions, and eagles. She is actually very gentle and nice, and has a motherly vibe. When I get visions of her, I see blonde hair, a long white flowing dress, and colors of black white. She speaks to me through mental images, which I consider different from visions because a vision for me is like a gif, whereas Lunar flashes pictures and words in my mind. She helps me connect with other deities.

Bloodwyraine: This will be long and detail and dark because I know the most about her. She is probably the second one of these spirits I met and the rest I don’t remember the order. I think after her it was Lunar or Esmerlda, then Rion or Peaches. She also has a very tragic back story. She is an angel, and she used to be the Keeper of the Sands of Time, she was also associated with storms, knowledge, time, and magic. She was sent to Earth on a mission, met this human Zara, fell in love with her and they somehow conceived a little girl Sarah. When her brothers and sisters showed up to tell her it was time for her to come home, she declined and told them how she had a family to protect now. They understood and left, but shortly after she was demanded to return to Heaven and she declined again, this time she also invoked God’s wrath(She calls him simply Yahweh, and in a very dead tone..). She left her house one day to get herbs and when she came back her family was gone and there was a feather on her door step. She went to Heaven and demanded her family back, of course they asked her to stay in return ad she told them to basically fuck themselves. They killed her wife Zara, turned her daughter into marble and smashed her. This sent Bloodwyraine in a fit of rage and she doesn’t remember much. She remembered sitting in a forest back on Earth, and being covered in blood and having no halo. She used to look like the embodiment of purity, short white hair, 18 big and small soft white wings, five blue eyes, and that’s all of her form she could show me. When she left that forest that night, she had three silver eyes, three black wings, long black hair and nails, and her skin looked greyish. She says she mutilated herself because she couldn’t His brand. She changed her name to Rosemary and went into hiding, and wandered the Earth as a medicine woman that would go from village to village curing people using her knowledge of magic and herbs. She decided to stop hiding and now goes by her old name. We have a very strong bond, and arrangement, I give her energy when she needs any from me and she provides me with tips on magic. Despite all that has happened to her, and the fact that she wants nothing to do with Yahweh or his... “minions”, she’s very sweet and soft spoken. She stays with me because she sees something in me, I don’t know what that is though. She actually shared all this with me in one very vivid dream and when I woke up from it I saw her sitting on my bed, two wings out and one folded behind her she looked very sad and nodded and I started crying and we held each other all night. I believe my bond with her is so strong and vivid because she has spent so much time here on Earth. I don’t spend a lot of time with her in one go though because if gives me migraines. She also helps me keep myself balanced and cleansed.

Esmerlda(Not a typo, seriously. I thought she meant Esmerelda but nope.): This is one feisty girl. She is a princess of some sort, I don’t know her parentage, and she certainly doesn’t act like one, but she does claim to be a princess. She is kind of full of herself though lol. She’s very carefree and friendly. She claims that she could transform her tail into two legs, i think it was either through cutting open her tail or by eating the heart/lungs of sailors after luring them into the water. She liked to use her legs to climb onto ships with her “girlfriends”(I don’t know if this was a band of female friends or female lovers or both), and play pirate. She also claims she was the basis for Ariel because they both had red hair and blue/green tails but I don’t believe that for. a. second. Esme can just be.. a little cocky. But we love her here. She likes to sit here with me and gossip, she is a pretty physical spirit, in that she likes to come to me and sit with me whenever I’m doing something, this also makes her the easiest for me to contact since I don’t have to use my energy to channel or astral visit her. I do not know if she used to be alive or not so I don’t know how to classify her. She is also in a very cute relationship with another spirit, Tiana. She helps me out with elemental magic and identifying other spiritual creatures.

Peaches- I have mentioned this cool cat before. She is very secretive, and doesn’t actually speak. She communicates to me through visions and mental images. She used to appear to me in a very strange form that had a small head and arms/legs, but a large round body. She now appears to me in the form of a short, fast, black as night humanoid form. She has ears, eyes, and a face like a cat. She has whiskers, I think, and a nose like a cat, I think, and she has small sharp teeth. She also has features of gold on her, like tattoos, in her eyes, and such. She doesn’t really give me complete answers, and when I asked when/where she’s from she shows me flashes of a sunset or sunrise, a plain of dead grasses or wheat, and some old stone building city. I know she had a tribe of beings just like her. I can’t tell if she hails from England/Ireland/Scotland/Wales or maybe Northern Africa, specifically Egypt. I have a suspicion she is the goddess Bast in disguise, but I don’t push her on that because its not my business or she would be straight forward with me about it. She helps me out with element magic, and anything that relates to ancient times.

Rion- He is, for now, the only male spirit I know. He is the spiritual incarnation of a thunder storm, and looks like a tornado in humanoid form, if that makes sense. He told me that his mother was a tornado and his father was a hurricane. He talks very softly in my head, because his real voice is deafening thunder. I believe he has a little sister that is a lightning bolt. There isn’t much to tell about him, I mostly only see him when it storms or is just cloudy out. I suppose you could classify him as a slyph, or ventus, but I don’t really know. It’s weird. I met him when I was alone one day at my old job and a storm knocked the power out. He is very sweet, and he does help me influence the weather when he’s around. He also can sometimes stop the rain for me when i need to run outside for something. He does like to talk about nature spirits with me.

Tiana- She is a lovely young lady. She was born and grew up in somewhere near modern day Estonia, but then moved somewhere near present day Hungary or Austria. It’s hard to say, since she hails from the 15th-16th century. She was surprisingly educated, and when she was a servant girl for either a type of Duke or Viscount, she overheard the Master of the house talking about a problem he was dealing with she spoke up, and he when he realised she was intelligent he quickly made her a form of nobility, even though she was just a peasant girl. She doesn’t have the best memory now, but she believes he married her, and shortly after there was an accident with food or maybe she was wounded and died from infection. She’s very quiet and soft spoken, and she’s not angry or remorseful in terms of her death, she knows it was an accident, but she decided to roam the Earth to watch mankind evolve. She’s very nice and friendly. She doesn’t help me perform my magic but she does like to watch. She is so gay for Esme.

and last but not least, my mother. Well, not my actual mother but yeah.

Taliyana. She’s not helpful at all. But she takes care of me when I’m too tired to do things for myself. Mostly basic stuff, like showering, eating, driving home at night. She also takes care of me if I’m too stressed out or too emotionally drained. She lives within me, as in she has permission to just control my body at her will. She mostly just sleeps all day. She is a dragon, specifically a type of Wyrm. She has black iridescent scales, with purple skin and emerald eyes. She has two arms, legs, and wings but they’re very small and mostly just stay curled into her body so she can slither around like a snake. She also has highly venomous fangs, or so she claims. We communicate mostly through telepathy, or just in my mind really.

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ghost-town-story · 5 years

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Let’s Dance Like Old Times

The very air seemed to hold its breath here. This was a place of old magic and ancient creatures, and only those who were truly desperate would dare tread here.

And that description fit Aiden perfectly, he thought wryly as he made short work of stripping his clothes.

Leaving them in a neat pile next to his backpack, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and jumped into the pool. He fell quickly, down, down, down, until his toes sunk into the soft sand at the bottom of the pool.

A chuckle reached his ears, but he didn’t dare open his eyes yet. Something slashed at his neck, and Aiden couldn’t help his reflexive gasp at the pain. He was relieved when he didn’t choke on water, the magic immediately taking effect.

“Well well little fire mage,” a voice purred. “I never expected to see you again. Didn’t you find what you wanted?”

“I did,” Aiden said, finally opening his eyes.

In his home world, she might have been called a mermaid, though far more spiny and scaly and terrifying than most would like to believe. When he had called her that, the first time they met, she had hissed and corrected him that the term was waterkind, thank you very much.

“Then what brings you back?” Her tail flicked lazily under her as she regarded Aiden with half-lidded eyes.

“Can’t you guess?”

Aiden knew she enjoyed the banter, as she bared her teeth in the facsimile of a smile. “You’re desperate.”

“Aren’t we all.”

The waterkind laughed, the sunlight dancing off her scales as she tossed her head back. “Yes, you silly humans usually are if you’re visiting me,” she chuckled. “So tell me, little fire mage. Why are you here? What do you need to find so desperately you’ll pay my price again?”

“Two things.”

“It’ll cost you.”

“I’m willing to pay.”

“Oh I know.” Her grin was predatory. “So what is it, little fire mage?”

“I need to find Starfire.”

“Your dragon companion has fled Ilasea?”

It was more of a statement than a question, but Aiden still nodded.

“And I need a way to get my magic back. Preferably without needing Ashe.”

“Your former mentor?”

“One of them. He took my magic and I need it back. Please.”

His voice cracked slightly on the last word. He was so close. He couldn’t bear the thought his magic was gone forever.

The waterkind hummed, looking thoughtful.

Aiden held out his wrist. “You know my questions. Now take your payment and tell me.”

The waterkind shook her head, and Aiden felt his heart jump into his throat.

“You ask difficult questions,” she purred, swimming closer.

Aiden didn’t move despite every instinct screaming at him to put distance between them. He couldn’t help a shudder though as she ran her claws along his neck.

“And for those,” she continued, “it needs to be closer to the source. Understand, little mage?”

Aiden barely nodded.

“That’s my price,” the waterkind purred in his ear. “Are you willing?”

“I’ve come this far. Would I say no now?” Aiden tilted his head to the side.

“Some do,” the waterkind murmured.

Any response Aiden would have given was cut off as the waterkind sunk her teeth into his exposed neck. Blood magic was powerful of course, why else was he here, but damn it hurt.

The waterkind released his throat, licking at the blood that was undoubtedly trickling from the wound. “You’ll find both answers you seek in the north,” she murmured against his skin. “The dragon cannot return to her kind, but she is drawn there nonetheless.”

“And my magic?” Aiden asked.

“You’ll find both answers you seek in the north,” the waterkind repeated. “Your magic is tied to the dragon. Find her and your magic will return.”

“Just like that?”

The waterkind sighed, pressing her lips to his neck for a moment. “She holds your magic,” she eventually replied. “And once you come into contact with it again, it’ll return to you.”

Aiden nodded, dislodging the waterkind. “Thank you.”

“In a hurry to set off, little fire mage?” The waterkind drifted back, licking at the blood that stained her lips.

“I’ve lived ten years without my magic or my dragon,” Aiden answered. “Can you blame me for being anxious to get them back?”

“But what about your third answer?”

Aiden froze. “I never asked a third question.”

The waterkind grinned, her teeth sharp and bloody. “He’ll come to you,” was her cryptic answer. “Sooner, rather than later.” And with a flash of scales, she darted off into the rocks.

Aiden didn’t have the strength nor speed to chase her down, and he thought he knew who she was referring to, so he instead swam for the surface. Now he just needed to find Starfire in the north. He hoped it would be an easy task.

James read the note left, then looked up at Basil and nodded. “It’s here.”

“Any special instructions?” Basil asked, edging closer to the pool and peering into it’s impossibly blue depths.

“Doesn’t look like it.” James folded the note and slipped it into his backpack to join the many others there.

“Alright.” Basil slung his rifle off his shoulder. “Why are so many of these stupid portals in water?”

James mustered a weak laugh at that.

“See you on the other side.” Basil shot James a grin, then hopped in.

He sunk down, deep into the pool before he felt the telltale wash of magic, then he was in a dark room full of boxes. Basil silently cursed, cautiously moving away from his starting position, rifle up and ready to shoot if necessary.

As he was making sure the room was empty, he heard the sound of water, and a glance told him James had followed him.

“Safe?” was the only thing James said.

Basil finished his lap of the room, making his way back to the other man. “For now,” he said. “But I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I,” James admitted, glancing around nervously. “Did you see a note?”

Basil shook his head. “One can’t be far though.”

Before they could get looking though, they heard footsteps echoing outside the door. Basil just had enough time to raise his rifle before the door slammed open, and Basil found himself looking down the barrel of a gun.

“Let me tell you, having a portal lead to your storeroom is real fucking annoying,” a voice grumbled.

Basil blinked. He sounded so familiar for some reason.

“Now put down the fucking gun and we can talk like civilized people, okay?”

“Says the one also threatening to shoot.” Basil reluctantly lowered his rifle, but kept it at the ready.

There was a long pause, then, “Well fuck me gently with a chainsaw.”

“Isn’t that a Heathers quote?” James murmured to Basil.

“Basil fucking Hendrickson, is that really you?”

Basil tensed up. “How do you know me?”

The stranger lowered his gun and flipped on a light in the storeroom, and Basil gaped in shock. The man was in his late sixties, but there was no mistaking that distinctive scar on his neck, mirrored by a tattoo, nor the style choice of a leather jacket with a flannel shirt tied around his waist. But Basil couldn’t be too sure.

“Show me your arm.”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Alright.”

He stripped the jacket, revealing his left arm was covered in bandages. Before Basil could make further demands though, the man unwound the bandages to reveal an old scar on his left forearm.

Basil blinked, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “Jay?” he breathed.

“The very same.” Jay grinned. “It’s been a long time Basil.”

Basil dashed across the space between them, his rifle clattering to the floor, long forgotten as he threw himself into Jay’s arms. Jay grunted with surprise, but wrapped Basil in his arms.

“I never meant to stay away so long,” Basil mumbled into Jay’s tattoo.

“I know,” Jay whispered back. “We knew Baz. We understood.”

Basil wanted to stay here forever, but he was on a mission, and so finally reluctantly extracted himself from Jay’s grip. “Jay, this is James. James, Jay.”

“James Milo Lunacen?” Jay asked, picking up his discarded jacket and slinging it over his shoulder. James started in surprise, and Jay laughed. “Yeah, Aiden told me all about you.”

“Aiden?” James breathed, his eyes shining with hope.

“I’m assuming your Aiden. Heller, right?”

James nodded.

“Alright then,” Jay said. “Come on, I’ll make some coffee, you two can get dry, and we can all get on the same page here.”

Basil grinned and snapped his fingers, drying himself off with magic.

“Showoff.” Basil knew Jay was rolling his eyes behind his tech goggles, though he was grinning.

“This is the first world I know I can safely use magic in since I left, fuck off,” Basil shot back, drying off James.

“Oh you haven’t changed a bit,” Jay said fondly. “Come on. Coffee time.”

It was gradual, but Aiden eventually became aware of the fact that the natural forest sounds were dying away. He was approaching something dangerous, something the creatures of the forest were afraid of. Aiden only hoped the danger was Starfire, and not some monster he had no hope of fighting as he was, magicless and defenseless except for his small knife.

Aiden pushed through a wall of bushes to find himself suddenly free of the trees. Looming ahead of him was the Dragon Ridge, still as dark and forbidding as they had looked when he was sixteen.

Aiden stared at the tallest peak, eyes searching for a flash of movement. Are you there Starfire? he wondered. Are you up there on Stormking, with your family again?

A low growl distracted him from his thoughts, and Aiden’s gaze snapped back down to the ground. There was no rustle of leaves indicating the danger was behind him, so Aiden let his sights focus on the boulders littering the ground around the base of the mountain. He crept closer, knife held at the ready, on alert for another indication he was in danger.

There was another snarl, this time accompanied by the clatter of rocks, and Aiden swung towards the noise to see what he had missed before, the entrance to a cave where movement was stirring in the depths.

Not for the first time, Aiden wished for his magic back, if only to throw a light in the cave to illuminate the danger. Instead, he was forced to wait for the creature to reveal itself.

And slowly, it did, with a flash of ruby and crystalline scales.

Aiden gasped, nearly dropping his knife. “Starfire!” He ran towards his dragon, sheathing his knife as he went, but she snarled and snapped at him.

“Hey, it’s just me,” Aiden soothed, but he stopped short, wary of her sharp teeth. “Look, I know it’s been a long time, and I’m so sorry, but I’m back Starfire, and—Hey!”

Starfire lunged for him, and Aiden barely dodged her snapping jaws.

“Starfire! It’s me!”

His words seemed to have no effect as she made to bite him again.

Aiden danced away, pulling out his knife, though he was painfully aware of how little protection it afforded him. “Stand down,” he said, his voice full of confidence and authority he didn’t feel.

Starfire snarled at him.

“Stand. Down.”

Starfire’s tail lashed angrily, and that’s all the warning Aiden got before she leapt for him again.

This time, she managed to catch Aiden’s arm in her teeth. Before she could go any further though, Aiden had his knife under her jaw, where he knew the scales were soft and easily moved aside and he could hurt her.

“Don’t make me do this Starfire,” he pleaded, eyes stinging at the pain coming from his arm. “Please girl, I don’t want to do this. Let me go, and I won’t hurt you.”

Dragon and man stared at each other for a few long moments, then Starfire gently released Aiden’s arm. Aiden hissed in pain, but he kept eye-contact with his dragon as he slowly made his way around to her side.

Starfire growled again.

Aiden dropped his knife, holding up his empty hand. “Let me get this off you,” he said softly.

Starfire’s tail twitched, but she made no move to attack him.

Aiden took that as consent, and moved closer to remove the saddle still on her back. He cursed softly as he dragged it off, seeing where the straps had cut into her sides. Somebody had tried to ride her after he left, and never took her saddle off again.

“I’m sorry girl.” He almost laid a hand against the raw, angry wound, but thought better of it. There was nothing he could do for her right now.

Aiden pulled the saddle away from Starfire, finally settling down where the rocks turned to grass again. Starfire stared at him with narrowed eyes. “At ease girl,” Aiden tried to joke, but she didn’t move, didn’t relax her tense, angry posture.

Aiden sighed. He tried.

Instead, he focused on bandaging the bite on his arm before rifling through his saddlebags. He was pleased to find his weapons still there, the old magic still working to keep them clean and in working order. Everything was just as he left it, except…

Aiden pulled a jar out of the saddlebag. “What’s this girl?”

Aiden held it out to Starfire, but she just snarled at him.

“Okay.” Aiden was confused by her behavior, but instead focused back on the jar.

It was filled with what seemed to be liquid flames, burning blue and gold and red. They seemed familiar, but in a twisted way, like from a nightmare he barely remembered.

But Aiden had always been too curious for his own good, so he opened the jar. The flames, which had been softly sloshing around, now became agitated, trying to escape. A few droplets splashed against Aiden’s skin, and he hissed as it burned, bringing back memories he had tried his best for forget.

Ashe’s hands covered in liquid flames as his blood turned to ice.

Tied down, helpless, unable to do anything but watch as Ashe pulled his magic from his body.

“Oh this better be what the waterkind was talking about,” Aiden muttered, then poured the flames over his uninjured arm and legs.

The burning was immediate, and Aiden gasped with the pain, dropping the jar. But as the flames clung to him, racing across his body, Aiden saw his old tattoos returning, the marks he’d made to amplify his magic.

Aiden looked up at Starfire, tears blurring his eyes. “It’s back,” he gasped. “It’s back Starfire.”

He felt, for the first time, the gentle brush of Starfire’s telepathy. Aiden?

“It’s me Starfire,” Aiden laughed through his tears. “Here.” He stood unsteadily, the last of the flames winking out across his body as they sunk into his skin, and he pulled out Starfire’s scales. “I think these are yours.”

Starfire blinked, her golden eyes going wide in surprise.

Aiden carefully used his magic to remove the metal from the scales, then held them out to his dragon. Starfire gently pressed her nose into his palm, and the scales skittered from his hand to her body, slotting back in to the places they had been taken from.

“Who did this to you?” Aiden asked softly, running his hand along her scales until he made it to the wounds in her sides.

The traitor, Starfire snarled.

“Ashe?”

Yes.

“Then we’ll make him pay,” Aiden said grimly as he healed his dragon.

Basil lightly knocked at the door, and when no answer was forthcoming, carefully opened it. As he expected, the bedroom was empty, the balcony door wide open and curtains fluttering. Basil crossed the room to the balcony, finding Jay leaning against the railing, a lit cigarette dangling between his fingers.

As Basil stepped out onto the balcony, Jay reached down without looking and tossed a can of something at Basil.

Basil easily caught it, opening it and taking a swig as he joined Jay at the railing. He sighed in contentment. “Haven’t had one of these fuckers in over five years,” he said. “You’ve kept some around for me this whole time?”

“Of course,” Jay said, looking out to the horizon. “You said you’d come home. We never doubted you.”

Basil hesitated, but he needed to know. “Jay, where’s Sky?”

Jay was silent, taking a drag of his cigarette.

“Jay, I need to know.”

“I know you do.” Basil had always hated the way he was entranced by the smoke curling from Jay’s lips as he talked. “But it’s hard to know how to tell you.”

“She’s gone.”

“Yes.”

Basil felt his chest constrict. “How?”

“It was an accident, in her lab. I tried so hard to save her Baz. I tried so many times to save her.”

“Jay.” Basil laid a hand on Jay’s shoulder. “You said so yourself. It was an accident.”

“I know.” Jay sighed, taking another drag of his cigarette.

“I should have been here for you.”

“Did you try to get home? When you were ready?”

“Yes,” Basil whispered. “But I fell into their world, James and Aiden’s, and it was so hard to escape from. The doorways were so fleeting and temperamental and fragile and it felt like I couldn’t escape.”

“Then you did everything you could,” Jay said quietly. “And you’re here now, and you know.”

Basil nodded, and the two stood in silence for a while. Basil finished his drink. Jay burned his cigarette down to the filter.

Finally, Jay dropped his cigarette into his ashtray, then held out his hand to Basil. “Come on. You deserve this much at least.”

“Deserve what?” Basil took his hand.

Jay’s answer was with his magic, enveloping Basil and dragging him away from the present.

When their surroundings cleared, they were in the living room, lit by late afternoon sun. A younger Jay was on the couch, his legs tangled with Sky’s. Basil felt tears blurring his eyes yet again. They were his age. Or, the ages they should be relative to him now.

Past-Jay looked up from the screen of his tech goggles, and Basil knew he made eye contact with his present self. Past-Jay nodded, then closed his screens and sat up.

“Jay?” Sky asked, looking up from her book.

Past-Jay stood and held his hand out to Sky. “Ready for some time bullshit?” he asked.

“Okay?” Sky was smiling as she took past-Jay’s hand and stood with him.

She blinked. “Basil!”

Basil looked at present-Jay, who let go and stepped back, and that was all the invitation Basil needed to pull the young Sky and Jay into his arms. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sorry it took me so long to make it back.”

“As long as you’re happy Basil,” Sky murmured into his chest.

“Yeah.” Past-Jay gently headbutted Basil. “And hey, you make it back to us eventually.”

But Basil could see the haunted look in past-Jay’s eyes. He knew Basil didn’t make it back to Sky.

“So, how long can you keep this up?” Basil asked either Jay.

Present-Jay answered. “A bit. I’ll let you know when we have to go.”

Sky shook her head. “No talking. Just hugs.”

“Okay.” Basil was content with that answer.

After what felt like not long enough (forever wouldn’t be long enough), present-Jay coughed. Basil reluctantly let go of his two younger partners.

“Oh Basil,” Sky sighed. “I’ll see you in the future, okay?”

“Yeah.” Basil kissed her forehead. “Stay safe Sky.”

“Of course,” Sky giggled.

Past-Jay nodded solemnly at Basil, though he mustered up a smile for Sky’s sake. “See ya,” he said.

“Same to you kiddo,” Basil smirked. “Stay safe. Make sure he still exists.”

Past-Jay rolled his eyes. “Will do.”

Basil felt present-Jay grab his shoulder, then Jay’s magic flared and faded, and they were back on the balcony in the starlight.

Jay sighed, settling back against the railing, weariness etched into every line in his body.

“Thank you,” Basil whispered.

“Of course.” Jay dug his cigarettes out of his pockets and lit another one.

Silence fell again. Jay eventually broke it. “You’ll go with him, when he leaves to follow Aiden.”

“Don’t sound so sure,” Basil scowled.

Jay raised an eyebrow at Basil.

“Don’t claim time fuckery, you can’t be sure about this!” Basil insisted.

“This has nothing to do with the time bullshit,” Jay claimed, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Rather, I know you Baz, and more importantly I know myself.”

“You can’t force me to leave.”

“Baz, what do you have to stay for?”

“You!”

“And you’ve missed a good forty years of my life. I won’t let you stare that guilt in the face every day for the rest of your life.”

Basil knew a fight he couldn’t win.

“You two can stay a few days,” Jay waved his hand vaguely. “You can wrap up any lose ends you feel you still have, and I’ll give that rifle of yours an upgrade. Then, James goes after Aiden, and you go with him.”

“Jay.” Basil reached out in the space between them.

Jay took Basil’s hand in his free one. “You promised to come home, and you kept that promise,” he said. “Now go live that life you’ve found out there.”

Basil knew he couldn’t change Jay’s mind, and moreover, he didn’t entirely want to. Jay did have a point.

“Mkay?” Jay squeezed Basil’s hand.

Basil sighed. “Fine. But for tonight…” He trailed off, not entirely sure what he wanted to ask of Jay. What could they do in one night that would excuse the forty years Jay and Sky had spent without him, that would make up for the lifetime Basil would live without them?

Jay set his cigarette in his ashtray before standing up straight and pulling Basil close. “For tonight,” he repeated, looking up at Basil. Despite the age difference between them now, he was still shorter.

“Let’s dance like old times.”

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#the astral chronicles #coming home #writing #in which i write #n technically a little bit of nova but i'm not tagging that #sky and jay (and basil) are originally from nova #this was the first bit of coming home that came to me #almost 4000 words oof #4000 words of angst and meeting old friends/acquaintances #the astral chronicles: part 2

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savingpartoftheworld · 7 years

Text

Saving Part of the World - Part Two - Chapter Fifteen

Summary: Set after G-Rev, the World Championships have come to Belfast, Northern Ireland in the hopes of spreading the interest and drawing in tourists. In between all the teen angst and the team drama, something powerful and hungry lurks on the horizon and with the help of the beybladers, it may just destroy part of the world.

Rated: T for cursing and mild violence

Ships: Hints of Mariah/Rei, Hilary/Tyson, Enrique/Julia

Previous Chapters: One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight NineTenEleven Twelve Thirteen Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

The cafe was relatively quiet as Hilary and Ian sat in the back booth. Outside a few other customers occupied the metallic table and chair sets, enjoying the warmth while shielded from the splash of sunshine by the large red and white parasols. Hilary glanced around the establishment, taking in the mahogany tables, the green leather booths and the vase of dried flowers in the empty hearth. It was quaint and homely and was probably a delight to sit in on rainy afternoons, but today the light was blue and made cafe seem cold and vacant.

She tapped her nose lightly and stifled a hiss. She was definitely burnt and a quick glance at her shoulders showed they were a delicate pink, which was bound to turn neon red by the nights end if she didn’t do something quick about it. Maybe she could smear some of her ice-cream on them. Or she could buy some sunscreen on her way back to the hotel. Not that she had any idea of when she’d return.

“You believe her now?”

Hilary turned her attention back to Ian with a sigh and delicate roll of her shoulders. “I don’t know what to believe. On one hand, I saw that person in her head and that tree -”

“Trees fall down all time,” Ian muttered, glancing down the corridor where an almost catatonic Amber had disappeared, claiming she needed the bathroom in a dull monotonous tone, not unlike Morrigan’s. It seemed so alien falling from her lips that Hilary had felt a shudder rush down her spine.

“Who reacts to a fallen tree like that, Ian? And you didn’t see Morrigan, but I did.”

“Who is Morrigan?”

Hilary pursed her lips and glanced over the counter where two staff in black uniforms were talking casually while completing their orders for two ice-creams and a tea. On the screen over their heads, reporters were discussing the clips they'd seen of the previous night’s tournament, flashing images of bladers and stats.

Since they were virtually alone, Hilary leaned over the table. “Morrigan is the voice in her head, only it’s not just a voice, it’s a spirit, an ancient deity cursed to watch over her family until this… thing is over.”

Ian lifted a bushy navy brow as he slowly blinked. “Right. Crazy.” He twisted a finger by his temple.

Hilary dropped in her seat with a sigh. “Ian, I’m telling the truth.”

“Oh I believe you think it is truth, but it is not truth. Spirits need mediums. Trust me. I know things.”

“I trust you know how to make a bomb, I trust you know how to shoot a gun, but on spirits, do not try to act like you know more than I do. I have done my research. I am like this” -- she curled her fingers -- “with Kenny, who is font of knowledge on all things bitbeast. If it needs a medium, then that is what Amber is.”

Ian rolled his eyes and Hilary huffed out a breath. Stalemate. Every so often people would walk past the open door of the cafe and conversation would filter in, breaking their little bubble of isolation.

Ian quirked a brow. "Pretty coincidental that the tree falls down after you visit."

Hilary dropped her gaze to the table, fingers toying over the smooth surface.

"Ha!" he crowed. "You think so too."

"I don't know what to think," she admitted. But it was weird that the tree came down just after they'd left. Except Amber's devastation couldn't be faked, could it? That dead look in her eyes, the way her fingers trembled, the wane complexion.

Ian leaned forward, crimson eyes grim. "We cannot trust her."

Hilary slumped in her seat, chin in her hand. "I know. I keep wondering if Morrigan being there had something to do with the tree coming down? Did it sense her or something? But I don't think Amber herself had anything to do with it."

"Lots of things seem to happen to her but there's never any evidence that can be seen."

He had a point. Amber claimed to be attacked by Eoin, but they only had her word for it. She also claimed to be living with her father, and that the world was going to end. “Well, I do know that Amber didn't knock down the tree herself. She was with us. And I hate to say it, but that kind of damage looked like it came from a blade." She looked at him.

Ian's hands lifted, as with a shake of his head, he said, "Not me." One hand dropped under the table and reemerged with his beyblade in hand. "No marks. Not been used all tournament."

She looked at the smooth purple attack ring, the weight disk minus any scoring and the pristine base and had to agree, Ian hadn't used his blade recently. She focused in on the purple bitbeast curled up in the chip, almost watching her through green eyes. "That's your bitbeast?" Having never seen Ian’s blade before, she'd never considered if Ian had a bitbeast, never mind what form it came in. Somehow the idea of a snake with such huge fangs and sleek design seemed so at odds with the boy she was getting to know. "What's his name?"

"Her name is Wyborg."

"She?" Ian had a female bitbeast? How did he know? It didn't look very feminine; it looked fierce and lethal.

"What?" Ian sneered, shoulders hunched as he pulled his beyblade back to clutch it in his hand, as if shielding it from her words. "Just because she isn't pink or wears a ribbon, she can't be female? Or is it that you don't think a boy can have a female bitbeast?"

Before Hilary could try to extract her foot from her mouth, she caught sight of Amber shuffling down the corridor towards them, dragging her feet. Her skin was still a shade of pale under the gold, making her complexion look like waxy parchment and her eyes were bloodshot.

“You look like hell.”

“Who needs a magic mirror when you have Ian,” Amber muttered, throwing herself into the seat beside him and elbowing him hard. “Budge over.”

Hilary mustered up a smile. It was hard to think of the girl as a manipulator when she really did look terrible. “How are you feeling?”

“I have a killer headache and the voice in my head is raging like a wounded animal.”

“Why do you refer to her as the voice, why not Morrigan?”

Amber sent her a dark look. “Because it’s hard enough to have a voice in my head, never mind personifying her. Once you do that, it’s like there’s a person inside of my skin, someone other than me, and that gives me the creeps.”

Ah, well that did indeed make sense. It wasn't like the spirit was a pet or a guardian that watched over her from another realm; Morrigan all but resided in Amber's body. Hilary could understand her reasoning for distancing herself from the spirit.

They fell into silence as the female server came over with an order. Placing down the two silver bowls of ice-cream, she moved around to Amber’s side to set down her tea. As soon as she was gone, Amber took the mug in her hands. Hilary watched the girl as she all but reverently savoured the liquid in slow sips.

“Enjoying that?”

“I haven’t had a cup of tea in… almost a day. Damn right I’m enjoying it. I go into withdrawal if I don’t have any. And after today, I need it for the shock.”

“Lie,” Ian muttered, studying his phone while holding a spoonful of ice-cream aloft.

“Eat your damn ice-cream and stop making snide comments,” Amber groused, setting her tea down and dropping her chin to her folded arms on the table, pouting.

“Don’t you want some ice-cream? It’s too hot for tea,” Hilary offered because, honestly, she didn’t know what else she could do. While Amber wasn’t technically Hilary’s problem, she couldn’t just ignore her, and she couldn't boss her around either. It left Hilary in a frankly awkward position.

“I can’t.”

“What, some religious reason?” Ian managed to ask around a mouthful of strawberry ice-cream.

Amber scowled. “No. Not religious, just personal.”

When they continued to stare at her, she lifted her eyes to the ceiling and heaved a sigh. “I can’t have ice-cream until I save Ireland, okay? It wouldn’t be right for me to be enjoying myself when people could end up dead. Once everything is sorted, I can have guilt free ice cream; my Nana says she’ll treat me too.”

That was almost noble, Hilary mused, then Ian snorted and she kicked him under the table. Honestly, he had no need to be so rude. She didn’t know what kinds of manners those Blitzkrieg boys were teaching him but she was not putting up with his nonsense. “So, what is next on your plan to save Ireland? You’ve shown me Mor - the voice, and the tree.”

“Well, the tree being cut down “ —Amber sent Ian a pointed look but he shrugged it off— “down wasn’t exactly in my master plan. I don’t know what that means and…” she trailed off, rubbing her temples. “I don’t know. So far I’ve just been winging it this whole time.”

Ian gaped at her. “Winning? You aren't winning anything.”

“Winging," Amber ground out. "You know, making shit up.”

Ian looked meaningfully at Hilary and pointed his spoon. “Told you.”

“Ian, she doesn’t mean it like that. Stop being obtuse. She simply means that she’s been…” Oh, she didn’t know any other English terms for it. “…ah… doing the same thing as Tyson.”

“Tyson?”

Hilary nodded while comprehension dawned on Ian’s face.

“Oh,” he said. “Attacking and hoping you win.”

Hilary winced. Well, no, not exactly. “That’s not what Tyson does. He just… has a tendency to not make a plan, but it works for him. He puts his all into his matches and he’s successful.”

Ian gave a dismissive flick of his wrist. “Won’t always work.” He turned to Amber. “You need plan.”

Amber rested her cheek on her folded arms as she looked at him. “I need a plan. I need allies. I need… I don’t know, but you can’t save the world on your own. I know that much.”

“Especially when you have no power of own self.”

Hilary sighed when Amber scowled, eyes sparking. Great. When Amber felt better, Hilary could tell that she would be endlessly playing mediator between these two.

Mariam delicately balanced her weight as she walked along the slender branch, closing a hand on the trunk when she came to a halt. She looked down upon the clearing. This was the spot where the energy had originated and gods it was a mess. It was like coming across an electric wire that had been cut; magic pulsed and sizzled around the large tree lying on its side, as leaves spiralled down onto the canvas of long grass.

She crouched down and all but tasted the magic lingering within the clearing. It was powerful. Breathing in was almost a chore, the air felt thick and soupy.

A flicker of movement made her almost lose her footing. Clutching the trunk, she stared. Sharkrash hovered on the other side of the tree, red eyes studying the broken mess below.

“How are you out?” she wondered, pulling out her beyblade with her free hand. The bitchip glowed brightly, bathing her face in its light. Strange, she hadn’t summoned her bitbeast. In fact, she’d been actively keeping her thoughts away from Sharkrash so Ozuma couldn’t nag her for running off without backup.

Her eyes dropped to clearing again, noting the slanted standing stones pushed aside by the tree and she sighed. “A stone circle, I should have known.”

“Mariam?”

She stiffened and sent an irritated look over her shoulder as Joseph stepped into sight beneath her. “Hello, baby brother.” Yet again, Ozuma was right. Joseph had been close by, though she felt miffed at not sensing his arrival. Rationally she knew she shouldn’t; sneaking was Joseph’s innate skill after all.

Still.

“I take it you felt that wave of power?”

“How could I not? This place is giving off seriously powerful vibes.”

“Well, we have a stone circle that’s possibly a gateway. Hard to tell.”

Joseph nodded, absently reaching up to stroke Vanishing Moot’s trunk as it butted against his shoulder.

Mariam frowned. “When did Moot Point show up?”

“Stop calling him that.” Joseph tossed out the order but it lacked any real heat, his attention fixated on the clearing. He stepped forward, then paused and bent down, picking something up from the long grass.

Since her brother didn’t consider it to be dangerous, Mariam jumped from her branch, landing in a crouch. Standing, she wiggled her toes, pleased with her catlike grace. She glanced up at Sharkrash, expecting a look of — acknowledgement, respect, admiration — something, but her bitbeast was happily circling the clearing above them.

“Not two fucks were given that day,” she muttered, shoving her hands into the pockets of her orange tunic. She reached her brother and held out her hand. “What have you got?”

“Looks like a broken part of an attack ring.” He scanned the clearing. “But I can’t imagine anyone blading around here. The grass is too long for a start.” He rubbed a hand through the dark green hair he’d inherited from their grandfather and frowned, gesturing a hand in bewilderment. “I don’t understand why a beyblade would be here. Did one take down this tree?”

Mariam passed him to crouch down beside the shorn edge of the trunk, running her fingers over the rough bark and breathing in the scent of sawdust. “It can be done, we know that, but why take down this one tree in particular? It doesn’t look like any of the other trees have been touched. Never mind the fact that this place is so isolated that reaching it should be near impossible and it’s guarded by wards.” Wards strong enough to almost force her to leave.

Joseph nodded. “They were definitely druid magic.”

She stood up, dusting off her hands. “What gave you the hint? The ogham writing? Or the fact we’re in Ireland?”

“Temper, temper sister.”

Ignoring his chiding, she propped her hands on her hips. What happened here? She could feel the waves of energy marching over her legs and arms, lifting goosebumps in their wake and it was clear something was broken but this was so far out of her realm of expertise. She sealed renegade spirits, she didn’t mess with magic of this nature. She ducked out of the path of an errant bug and lifted her hair off her neck as the heat began to make her feel sticky. This place was stifling, as if all the heat from the sun had become trapped by the dense circle of trees.

“Well,” Joseph said, placing the attack ring piece into a plastic baggy — why he had that, Mariam had no clue — and slipping it into his pocket, “there’s not a lot we can do other than record our findings. Here, take this camera and go take some photos of the wards so we can show them to Ozuma.”

Mariam stared at the camera in her hand. Record their findings? Take photos? What did he think they were? Supernatural detectives? Scientists? This was ridiculous. She’d expected something big here, maybe more of a clue as to what they were dealing with, or a strong bitbeast to seal away, or something! Instead, they were recording evidence in baggies and taking samples.

Biting her tongue, she stalked away with Sharkrash tagging along at her shoulder. The heat was making her cranky; it was so damned heavy. She felt grubby, and her clothes were sticking to her, and her neck was in boulder-sized knots. The idea that there wouldn’t be fresh bedsheets, a hot shower or a hot Russian waiting for her on her return wasn’t improving her mood either. She just wanted to get this done and go somewhere cool. She'd even forego the hot Russian if she was guaranteed a shower with pulsing jets and fresh, clean water. Though with the way Ozuma was acting, she’d be taking a bath in the nearest river.

Max watched the gathering crowd of fans lining up by the front door and grinned. Even on such a small island, the sport of Beyblading was really gaining interest. It seemed like the balding spirit was spreading fast all over the world. He liked to think that not only was it the good work of Mr Dickinson and the WBBA, but also the way people like himself, Tyson, Rei and sometimes Kai conducted themselves when they were in the arena.

He glanced up sharply as the door to the balcony opened, letting out bright fluorescent light that dimmed the sunlight shimmering over the River Lagan. He lifted his fingers in a salute as Rick came out of the building, a fleeting grin crossing his lips as he caught sight of Rick's one concession to being considerate to others: earphones.

The burly boy removed his white Beats, slipping them around his neck. He rested his arms on the railing, clasping his hands in front of him. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be with your team?"

Max sighed. Ah, he should have guessed Rick might be a little upset that he hadn't joined the PPB All Starz this time around, but that was the problem of being affiliated with two teams. They both wanted him to play. However, he was originally, at heart, a Bladebreaker and that's what this tournament was about, going back to your roots. Besides, when he'd joined the PPB All Starz, it had been a two player team really. Now that it was back to four players and with Rick on the team, it seemed unfair to deprive Michael, Eddy and Emily of their place, and with Kai off the Bladebreakers, there was a space to fill and he gladly took it.

He wanted his chance at being World Champion of course, and he would get it through the single battles, but he also wanted to blade all the players who had missed out last time, like his old teammates, like Enrique, Bryan, and Spencer. And he missed blading side by side with Tyson and Rei, though he’d miss blading side by side with Kai now.

"No, my team is off practicing, doing their thing. I'm just checking out the crowds. We have some serious amount of fans."

Rick jerked a shoulder. "It's not like these people have anything better to do. This is probably the highlight of their miserable lives."

Max chuckled ruefully. Oh Rick. "How are things going on your team?"

Rick's shoulders hunched as he pulled out his blade and studied it. "Michael needs his ass kicked, Emily needs that stick removed from her ass and Eddy is too busy flirting with Emily to even know what he's up to. Honestly, I'm about ready to quit this gig."

Max gaped at him. Surely he hadn't heard that right. "No way, Rick."

"Max, they're not my team. They're a bunch of poser wannabes and they don't even accept me."

Ah. And therein lay the problem. Rick's self esteem issues when it came to feeling like the black sheep of the group. The PPB All Starz were a hard team to click with. They were so individual and often led by their own egos. Every so often, they just needed a reality check, and Rick was the person to do it. Under the right kind of leader, they could really live up to their potential.

"So make them respect you." Max smothered a grin. "I guess this time you're playing my role."

Rick snarled, then grumpily crossed his arms and sent Max a side long look. "You think I can get through to them? I mean, if we don't pull together, how are we gonna battle? That's what you taught me, Max; there's more to being a team than having the same jacket."

That there was, Max mused, shoving his hands into his Bladebreakers jacket as he gazed up at the deep blue sky with fluffy orange tinged clouds. "Look, right now, you guys are like noodles, okay? You're there, you're performing your function as wholesome food, but you guys are not a meal. You, Rick, have to be the mayonnaise that links it all together."

Rick frowned and kicked a foot against the railing. "Max, I don't think anyone but you gets your food analogies."

Max laughed and patted his friend on the back. “You’ll understand someday.”

“So, what do you think?” Ian asked as they stood outside the convenience store waiting for Amber to return.

For some reason Hilary had needed chocolate and mayonnaise because the hotel insisted on supplying every condiment but mayonnaise much to Max's chagrin, and, well a lot of crap Ian didn’t care about. But when she’d eventually returned with a plastic bag filled with that stuff, Amber had suddenly remembered something she desperately needed — probably tampons. Girls were always dashing off to buy tampons. So now they waited for her. Not that he knew why. She could find her own way home. They didn’t need to escort her.

“About what?” Hilary asked, looking up from her phone.

“Her. Do we ignore what we found out? Or do we tell people?”

Hilary sighed. “I don’t think we should tell anyone.”

“Not even Kai?” Well, wouldn’t Mr Sour Puss get in such a bad mood when he found out perfect Hilary was hiding things from him. Heh. Maybe he could take photos for his blog of Kai’s tantrum — or gifs. He needed to figure out how to make gifs. That would certainly help increase his followers and, in turn, maximise his profits.

“Definitely not Kai. We don’t have any evidence and what if the tree falling down leads to nothing? There’s no point worrying them.”

“Then why are we still here?”

“Because we can’t let her walk home alone and honestly Ian, I think she’s lonely.”

“Lonely?” What did that girl know about lonely? She hadn’t been abandoned by her only family while they toured around the world, now had she? She had parents; she hadn’t grown up in an orphanage. “She has her dad.”

Hilary shook her head, putting away her phone and folding her arms. “No, she doesn’t.”

“She lives with him.” He’d seen the photographs of Amber and her father posing for various things. They looked happy and unified and like a family. Ian had spent enough time observing families to know what one looked like. “She does not pay for that apartment.”

“Oh yes, I agree, that is her father’s home but he’s not living there right now. Didn’t you see her dishes? I mean, there was one cup and one bowl. She didn’t have milk and everything in that apartment was hers. There were no shoes at the door, his bed was perfectly made —”

“You spied?”

Hilary averted her gaze, a clear sign she was evading. “I had a quick look around while waiting for her to dress. But I’m nearly certain that there’s only one person living in that apartment and that’s Amber. Even if her dad is there, we can’t let her walk home alone at this time of night. Not when we don’t know what’s going on. And there's Eoin, something happened in that corridor, Ian. Maybe he did think she was trying to steal his beyblade but I don't think that warrants such a reaction.”

While that was a valid reason to attack someone to Ian’s way of thinking, he had to agree with Hilary. Much as it left a bad taste in his mouth. They couldn’t not walk her home and, he glanced around, taking in the high peaking rooftops and darkened alleys, there was just the mildest sense that they were being watched.

They were talking about her. Even as she stood in the line for the checkout in the grocery store, Amber could see Hilary and Ian standing in the middle of the darkening pedestrian street exchanging tense sentences and clipped words. Hilary’s arms were folded tightly across her middle while Ian constantly surveyed their surroundings. And once in a while their gaze would dart to her. Despite everything they’d seen — what Hilary had seen — they still didn’t believe her and that just pissed her off. Her fingers tightened around the cold plastic handle of the milk bottle and she frowned, wondering what she would have to do to convince them. At the moment she was all out of options and the voice was of no help, having slunk back to her dark corner to hibernate.

“How’s it going?” she greeted the cashier mechanically, handing over the bottle of milk and fishing in her pocket for her spare change.

“One ten, please.”

Handing over the coins, she took her milk and headed back out into the cooling night. She knew they spotted her coming, Hilary had that forced smile on her face and Ian’s expression was blank, his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. She shuffled awkwardly. “Um, so if you guys go down in that direction, you’ll-”

Hilary shook her head. “You live across from the arena, and that’s where we’re heading.”

“Well, just in case you get lost sometime.” Belfast wasn’t huge but it had tiny little streets and assholes and she didn’t want her only potential allies to get accosted because someone was a giant prick. Scowling, she stepped into the middle of the street and scanned over the point of the rooftops. “See those yellow things in the distance?”

“Oh, those are the cranes, right? The ones near the arena.”

“That’s right. Samson and Goliath, they’re on the Harland and Wolff shipyard, which is directly down the street from the Odyssey.”

“That shipyard is where the Titanic was made, right?” Hilary asked, rising on her tiptoes to look at the cranes.

“Ha,” Ian scoffed, “ship that could not sink. Like tree that could not fall down. Your country, shoddy workmanship.”

Hilary swiped for his head but expecting it, he ducked away with a laugh.

Amber felt her lips quirk. He was kind of right. “Except, you know, details. Anyway, once you find them, you can find the arena pretty easily. They’re much easier to spot than say the river.”

Hilary nodded, looking pleased with herself. Which made sense, she now pretty much had a compass to find her way to the arena whenever she needed to. There was something almost relieving about knowing your way around a strange city; it was like it eliminated a modicum of danger. Of course, that was probably when things became much more dangerous, but Amber didn’t like to think like that. Otherwise, she’d never leave the apartment ever.

“Right, we should all go together. Besides, didn’t Ian leave stuff in your apartment?”

Ian’s mouth opened, then shut, as he sent Hilary a dark look. “I can collect them later. You won’t damage them.”

“I won’t, but if you’re -“

“We walk you home. Don’t need extra baggage to take to arena. I collect later.”

And that was that. They headed down to the bottom of Ann Street and followed the footpath along Victoria Street. Cars swept along the route, headlights beginning to illuminate the road for them as they weaved up through the lanes or turned off down side roads. Brake lights flared in combination with the red glow of traffic lights, disappearing once the green appeared. Laughter bounced off walls as other people came out of buildings or darted across the street in front of them.

“Do you want to come to the tournament with us?” Hilary suddenly asked.

“Rain check? I just want a hot shower and bed. I don’t feel great, to be honest.”

“Hilary?”

Hilary paused and looked over her shoulder, scanning for the person calling her name. Amber spotted him just a second before Hilary called out: “Kai! What are you doing out here?”

He was standing on a pedestrian island across the street from them, wearing a blue hoodie and a pair of black cargos, with his hands casually dipped into the pockets. Silver chains flashed as he took advantage of a break in the traffic, jogging over to meet them. She knew instantly the moment he’d spotted her and faltered, his expression icing over. Great, she mused. Just another person to drag down her epically shit day. Fan-fucking-tastic.

To her side, Ian began to almost bounce gleefully. “What are you doing out here?” he asked, not even seeming to care that he was repeating Hilary’s question or that Kai wasn’t inclined to answer.

“What are you two doing out?” Kai countered, voice deep and commanding. He was like their really awful big brother, Amber decided. The kind who had to know all your secrets but not because he cared, but because he hated not knowing things.

Hilary’s mouth worked before she finally said, “Oh, we were getting ice cream with Amber. You remember Amber don’t you?”

“Yes. Amber. Our friend.”

She did not like the way Ian said that. It was almost menacing. Little douchebag was up to something. Without thinking she reached out and tugged a piece of his hair, causing him to hiss and round on her. “You attacked me.”

Rubbing her nose, she met his furious gaze with a pointed look. “Aye, I pulled your hair. It was… sticking out. Kind of being annoying, you know?”

Kai pinched the bridge of his nose. “Are you two going to the arena?”

“Yes.” Hilary seized on the distraction. “Yes. We are. Amber’s showing us a shortcut.”

“Uh, yeah, just that clock there.” She pointed to the Albert Memorial clock as they approached it. It spiked up to the sky, illuminated in orange. “If you go down the road beside it and then straight across the next road, you’ll reach the Lagan weir footbridge which pretty much ends at the Odyssey. Saves you travelling along the main bridge.”

“Ah, see, now that’s helpful because we were using that bridge a lot, weren’t we, Ian? And there’s cars and it’s dangerous. A footbridge would be much safer.” Hilary forced a laugh, flapping her hands manically, so much so that Ian almost got smacked again.

Amber closed her eyes and prayed for patience. Was Hilary really this bad at acting natural around Kai? Then again, maybe she was right when she suggested Hilary had a crush on him. She couldn’t blame the girl. He was an utterly divine example of the male species, lean, taught muscles; sharply chiselled face; nice mouth, gorgeous brown eyes… but then he opened his mouth. Heck sometimes he didn’t even need to open his mouth, a look could pretty much wither up any hope a girl had of wanting to be noticed by him. And Amber was quite happy to stay out of his way.

“Hilary, your nose is burnt.”

“Ha!” Ian barked out a laugh. “You look like you have chilli nose.”

Hilary flinched and her hand came up to cover her nose as her shoulder’s dropped. “I know. I’m going to be so sore later.”

“I’d offer aftersun, but I don’t have any.”

“Your usefulness continues to impress me,” Kai muttered.

“Sorry, been kind of busy doing other important things.” Like trying to save the world so assholes like Kai didn’t end up wiped off the face of the earth, but yeah, she should have made some time to shop for aftersun. Douchebag.

They came to a halt at the pedestrian crossing, waiting for the green man. “Ah, here, I bought you chocolate.” Hilary dug into her bag and came out brandishing a foil wrapped bar. “I heard Irish chocolate is particularly good. Nothing in comparison to Belgian chocolate, but you tell me your verdict.”

Kai’s ears turned pink and he humphed, pulling up the hood of his jacket just as the beeping began and the green man told them to walk. Hurrying across the street, Amber released a sigh as a weight lifted off her shoulders and chest, and the buzzing under her skin died away. She called out a goodbye to Ian and Hilary, then left them to cross the courtyard to her apartment block.

She was home and she had milk. Thank bloody christ. Not that she had a clue what her next step would be, but at least she knew she could go into her apartment, have a nice cup of tea and have a bowl of cereal in the morning. She’d make her next decision after that. Besides, this whole thing was a bit of a waiting game anyway. Perhaps she’d be lucky and Ian and Hilary would convince their teams to leave while she was sleeping. Unlikely, but a girl could hope.

#beyblade #beyblade fanfiction #saving part of the world #saving fanfic #fanfiction #chapter fifteen #hilary tachibana #ian papov #brotp #kai hiwatari #amber marie benson

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truagh-mo-thuras · 7 years

Text

From a handout I prepared for my students last year

Bán: white, fair, fair-haired, pale. Bán is the colour of white cloth, frost, white wine, silver, white or fair hair, and pale, pallid, or blanched skin. People with albinism are described as bán. Bán is used in terms of endearment: mo chailín bán, “my fair girl” regardless of hair colour. Idiomatically, bán is used to mean 'empty' or 'blank': a leathanach bán is a blank page, while an áit ban is an empty or deserted place.

Geal: white, bright, clear. Geal is the colour of white flour, lime, the sun, teeth, snow, and swans. It describes bright light, and clear days. Like bán, it is used in terms of endearment: a ghrá gheal, O fair love.

Fionn: white, fair. Fionn is the colour of sunlight, seafoam, and fair hair.

Bán, geal, and fionn all overlap significantly. Bán generally is the most common, and tends not to refer to shades which can be described as bright or shiny – however silver money is described as airgead bán. Fair hair is never described as geal, although fair skin is.

Liath: grey, pale grey. Liath is the grey of grey hair, animals like mice, mist, mouldy bread, and watery milk. Unlike geal, it is a dull colour. Idiomatically, liath can mean “ancient.”

Buí: yellow. Buí is the colour of sunlight, gold, cornmeal, tanned leather, dried fish, and tanned or sallow skin. Idiomatically, buí is used to meán “ugly”, an gadaí buí meaning “the ugly thief.” A fear buí is an Orangeman. Seán Buí is John Bull, or by extension, England as a whole.

Flannbhuí: Orange.

Dearg: dark or vibrant red. Dearg is the colour of red ink, blood, gore, fire, embers, hot iron, and the lower layers of soil. Fíon dearg is red wine. Idiomatically, it can mean “real” or “intense”.

Rua: brownish-red, copper, russet. Rua is the colour of red hair, chestnut horses, copper, and rust. Idiomatically, it can mean “strong” or “violent”: an oíche rua is a stormy night. A madra rua is a fox. In place-names, such as An Cheathrú Rua, it refers to high iron content in the soil.

Bándearg: pink.

Corcra: purple. An early loan-word from Latin purpura, before Irish had a p sound.

Gorm: blue, but also bluish green, deep green, and deep purple. Gorm is the colour of indigo, azure, discoloured potatoes, the deep-blue colour of the sky, lush vegetation and grass, blue or green eyes, and bruised or livid skin. A duine gorm is a Black person.

Glas: green, but also grey and light-blue. Glas is the colour of the sea, grass, young or unripe plants, and green timber. It is also the colour of undyed wool, homespun cloth, iron, a cold winter sky, and grey eyes. Idiomatically, it can mean new, unexperienced, fresh; a saighdiúir glas, green soldier, is a new recruit.

Uaine: bright green. Uaine is typically used for any artificial green: one of the colours of the Irish flag, green paint.

Donn: brown. Donn is the colour of brown hair, cattle, brown paper, and timber or wood. Idiomatically, it can mean “firm”, or “strong.”

Dubh: black, dark. Dubh is the colour of black hair, night, ravens, and coal. Idiomatically, it can mean gloomy, evil, in secret. A place which is dubh le daoine, black with people, is overwhelmingly crowded. To have a croí dubh, black heart, is to feel overwhelmed by sorrow. An Fear Dubh is the devil.

#Gaeilge

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calamity-writes · 7 years

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The Peoples of Entropic Horizons

Read Entropic Horizons here

Humans

By far the most powerful and most populous of all the Peoples of the Thedas system, humans vary widely between size, colouring, build, aptitude, and religions. They are the ruling class of every planet and major colony in the Thedas system aside from the Par Vollen flotilla, Orzammar and Skyhold.

Compared to the other peoples, humans reproduce at rapid rates, allowing them to adapt to new habitats and skills much more quickly than the ancient peoples of the elves and dwarves. How they compare to the relatively new arrivals to the system, the Qunari, remains to be seen.

Only humans are able to become official rulers in the main nations, and non-humans are not able to serve directly in the Chantry or the Templars.

Basic Traits

Roles are Rarely Gender specific outside of the Chantry

heights average between 5'6'' and 6'' but not uncommon for outliers, builds muscular to slender

Round ears, hair that varies from blonde to red to black, skin from very pale pink to near black-brown

eyes that do not have a tapetum lucidum (reflective lining on the retina that improves low light vision and glows like a cat's)

Age relatively quickly

Aka

Shems - Elven, 'Quicklings'

Shemlen - Elven, 'Quick children'

Basra - Qunlat (derogatory) 'useless thing'

Magic Ability - Present but still rare. Genetics play a factor but not guaranteed.

Notable Humans

Rythlen Theirin (Hero and Queen of Ferelden) & Alistair Theirin (king of Ferelden)

Empress Celene I and General Gaspard, the warring Lions

Captain Frederic Rousseau formerly of the Chevaliers and his son with Milliara, Nils DuLion

Former Champion of Kirkwall, Garret Hawke and his brother, Senior Warden Carver Hawke

The Advisors to the Inquisitor

Maeve Trevelyan, one of the Heralds of Andraste

Haylan the Enchanter, doctor within the Inquisition and former Hound of the Templars

Theseus Trevelyan, former Templar Knight, now Knight of the Inquisition

Almost everyone in power, really.

Elves

The elves have a poor lot in Thedas. once a thriving nation of near-immortals, now elves live either under the thumb of humans in slums called alienages, as slaves in Tevinter or as nomads that call themselves the Dalish. They have no true home, having lost each they founded to human empire builders.

No longer immortal, they still hold some characteristics of their ancient ancestors such as skin that can range from purple to golden, eyes that are inhumanly bright and can see more clearly in the depths of deep space than any human or dwarf can. And of course, their ears.

Recently, an elf has come to prominence as the Inquisitor and a Herald of Andraste. This has stirred elven populations throughout the system, to stand up against the injustices they face. A surprising number of elves also seek out the Qun, appreciating the transparent rules and roles.

Basic Traits

Roles are never Gender specific among the dalish, but city elves follow the human societies that they live in.

Eeights average between 5'0'' and 5'9'' but it is not uncommon for outliers, and Dalish tend to be slightly taller as they are less likely to grow up malnourished.

Their builds vary but elves are more slender by nature than humans.

Elves have pointed ears, hair that varies from white to red to black and gem-coloured skin that ranges from blue to golden.

Dalish elves have luminescent markings tattooed on their faces called vallaslin. The markings will often flicker in time with the elf's mood

In addition to having large eyes, elves have a tapetum lucidum that causes their eyes to glow like a cat's in low light. Apparently it can be unnerving.

Elves age and reproduce at rates comparable to a human (though slightly slower) however whenever an elf has a child with a human, dwarf or Qunari, the child appears to be fully the same race as their other parent.

Aka

Knife Ear - common insult

Rabbit - Orlesian insult

Elvhen'alas - 'Dirt Elves', a Dalish slur for City elves

Flat-ears - a slur for elves too friendly with humans

Basra - Qunlat (derogatory) 'useless thing' for non-Qun affiliated elves

Magic Ability - Slightly more prevalent in elves than in humans, however whether this is due to the reduction of policing of mages among the Dalish, or a genetic trait is unclear.

Notable Elves

Dalish Elves

Milliara Lavellan - A Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor, Former Orlesian Bard, former city elf

Fiowyn Lavellan - Cousin to Milliara, part of the Inquisition

Kalieth Surana - Grey Warden Enchanter, half sister to Aldes and Karya

Aldes Lavellan - A hunter, older brother to Karya and incorrigible flirt

Karya Lavellan - the First of what used to be Clan Lavellan.

Other?

Solas

City Elves

Briala, former lover of Celene I

Sera of the Red Jennys

Dwarves

While at first they might appear to be short humans, Dwarves are a distinct people from humans and incapable of interbreeding. Traditionally, Dwarves live underground on sub-planet Thaig. However many dwarves have ‘ascended’, leaving Thaig to seek fortune elsewhere. Traditional dwarven life relies on a strict caste system, Once a ‘true’ Dwarf sees the sky, they are considered to be casteless, and cannot return to their past role.

To travel between planets, Orzammar dwarves use windowless ships and shuttles to ensure that they do not lose their caste, although such trips are exceedingly rare.

The Carta is a dwarven cartel that dominates the grey and blue (lyrium) markets, ruthlessly defending their business holdings with less than legal methods.

Basic Traits

Built short and stocky, Dwarves barely reach over 5′2″ but are dense with muscle and sturdy bone from developing as a people on sub-planet Thaig which has a super-dense core, and increased gravity compared to the human planets.

In terms of colouring, Dwarves take after humans in range of hair, skin and eye colours, which is curious despite their ancestors living underground for so many thousands of years.

Dwarven reproduction rate is slow, and the population has been in decline for centuries, aggravated by the attacks by Darkspawn on former strongholds.

Dwarves have exceptional hearing, and Dark dwarves often speak about the ‘song’ of the stone which allows them to find veins of minerals and other important geolithic features

Aka

Surfacers - Ascended Dwarves, dwarves who have seen the sky, stars or sun

Dark Dwarves - ‘True dwarves’ who have not ascended

NugScats - Casteless Dwarves

Magic Ability - None, although Dwarves are skilled at enchanting magical effects into items they are completely unable to perform magic or even dream.

Notable Dwarves

Surfacers

Varric Tethras - famous author, blogger and podcaster

Dagna Smith - formerly of the Smith Caste, now a renowned researcher and enchanter

Deep Dwarves

Orzammar’s King

Qunari

The Flotilla known as Par Vollen arrived in the Thedas System some time ago, but still not much is known about the People known as the Qunari. Initial scans appear to show that Qunari are the result of gene splicing, but such technology has never been known to produce viable individuals, let alone a fertile species of people.

Basic Traits

In the Qun roles are specified by Gender, but Gender is not specified by the sex one is born with. Qunari men hold martial roles such as Sten, Arishok and Ben Hassrath while Qunari women hold spiritual and guidance roles, and are considered to be the true power behind the Qun. Tal-Vashoth and Vashoth however tend to follow societal norms of the area they live.

Qunari are the tallest and most muscular of the people in Thedas system. Averaging 6-9 feet, their size is made more impressive when one considers the horns many of them grow.

Like elves, Qunari have pointed ears, though they are smaller in relation to the Qunari’s skull. They also have inhuman skin tones, but while elves are ‘gem’ toned, Qunari tend to have skin the colour of metal.

Qunari often wear body and face paint made from substances that offer special protection against the hazards of space and battle. A trait unique to them, Qunari are able to survive in the void of space for brief periods of time with little side effect.

No one is certain about the aging rate of Qunari, as most met by non-Qun forces are killed in action or some other violent means.

Aka

Ox men - common insult

Magic Ability - Minor, seen as extremely dangerous, mages in the Qun are referred to as Saarebas and mages in the Qun are harshly treated if not outright killed. However mage Qunari exist among the Tal-Vashoth and Vashoth in small numbers.

Notable Qunari

Of the Qun

Sten, Veteran of the Fifth Blight

The Arishok of Kirkwall

The Iron Bull

Vashoth (not of the Qun, and never were)

Peanut and Tanim Adaar

Darkspawn

There are many theories and legends that surround the origin of Darkspawn and the Blight, the truth is that no-one knows for sure how the Blight or Darkspawn came to be. A true Blight occurs when Darkspawn rally around an Archdemon, developing a hive-mind. The Darkspawn horde then launches an attack upon non-infected populations, poisoning the land they inhabit and infecting or killing the individuals they find there.

The only known way of ending a Blight is to kill the Archdemon, and the only way to do that is to sacrifice a Grey Warden... until the 5th Blight when the Hero of Ferelden managed to slay the Archdemon without losing her life.

Darkspawn have overrun most of the sub-planet of Thaig save for a few holdouts like Orzammar, and now inhabit the deep caverns and mines on most Thedan planets. As a result any subterranean ventures deeper than a kilometer

Basic Traits

Savage, varying vastly in size, shape and ability

inhabit most of Orzammar

Magic Ability - Present in a few darkspawn, but these type of individuals are rarely seen outside of true Blights.

Notable Darkspawn

The Archdemon of the 5th Blight

Broodmothers

Corypheus

Red Lyrium

Spirits

The Chantry teaches that all spirits are Demons waiting to trick unwitting mages into allowing themselves to be possessed. This is absolutely not true, although it is a belief that continues to be pervasive and colour the perception of the any contact with spirits even if they’re benevolent.

Spirits reside in the fade, and while some do twist into demons either of their own will or through mangled summoning rituals, many spirits are happy to stay in the Fade.

Basic Traits - Vary too wildly to specify. Spirits represent an aspect of the physical world.

Magic Ability - Innate and extensive. Spirit are magical beings by nature, and reside in the fade. They can become demons if they are summoned into the physical dimension and are twisted against their nature.

Notable Spirits

Faith/The Divine

Knowledge

Justice

Cole/Compassion

Demons

Basic Traits - Vary, but tend to follow the 'sins' taught by the Chantry: sloth, despair, pride, rage, desire (too often thought of as lust), but there exist others not yet known. The Inquisition has only recently identified Fear demons as being distinct from despair.

Magic Ability - Innate and extensive. Demons are magical beings by nature, and exploit their abilities to possess or ensnare a mortal to experience life through them.

Notable Demons

The Nightmare

Imshael

Golem

Golem are exceedingly rare. Aside from the deep roads and the golem serving Minrathous, only archival footage exists of the Golem that once served with the Grey Wardens in the third blight.

Basic Traits

Not squishy, no obvious gender roles but always best to ask the golem which pronouns they prefer. They hit hard

Inorganic, crafted by Dwarves from lyrium, crystsal and metal with a soul bound to them to animate the otherwise dead object.

Very tall, Golem are said to get as large as 20 feet tall, but modern history shows they range from 7 to 12 feet

Often (but not always) paired with a control mechanism. Either in the form of a non-replicable program or, in the case of truly ancient Golem, a rod mad of the same crystal as the Golem’s ‘heart’.

Magic Ability - None, but inherently magical beings as dwarven souls are enchanted into the Golem's body.

Notable Golem

Shale

Caridin

#the world of entropic Horizons #peoples of Eh #dragon age in space #AU #long post #gif warning

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