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seaofsunbeams · 2 months

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Fourth Wing / Iron Flame SPOILERS ahead

I just read these 2 books within like 5 days so let us talk about some theories shall we?

Be ready for a long rant about multiple theories

So first of, I saw some people hating on book 2 for not following the hype of Fourth Wings???? I admit it took me 4 days to get through Iron Flame and like not even a day for Fourth Wings BUT I think thats because IF is more lore heavy. IF is just as good as the first one imo!

Now to some theories

The mystery of Violet Sorrengail's second signet.

So I was like 1/3 of the way through the book when I got some spoilers about Xaden having a second signet without diving further in what it is and then people being like "Hey I wonder what Violet's would be". So I started reading with some more purpose

I have 2 theories so far and no, I don't think Violet is a Distance Wielder. Yes that signet hasnt been seen in decades or even centuries and Adarna waited almost 700 years to hatch WHICH WOULD ADD UP! But I feel like it's a little too much on the nose.

At first I thought Violet might be able to dreamwalk. would it be useful in combat? No. But seeing as Violet thrives on knowing the facts and what is around her and it probably manifesting while Adarna was in the Dreamless Sleep (bit contradicting).. It would explain Violet being able to talk to Sage and actual being able to gather information from it. But we also do not know enough about Venin to know if this power comes from them.

My other guess on her signet, as more people are talking about, is her speaking to the dead. Now hear me out, yes I know it is a common thing in books and stuff that on the brink of madness and dehydration and yada yada.... people can hallucinate. Is it a possibility that this is also still the case? Sure, but why does Liam tell her things she doesn't know? Or contradict her? Speaking to the dead could also apply that she is Spiritualy gifted thanks to her mother being sick during pregnacy. MAYBE Lilith praying to Malek asking him to not take her child came with the cost of making her 'fragile' . And as we learned and keep hearing:

"At its core, magic demands balance"

Also interesting how she can talk to Liam.. maybe because not ALL his stuff was burned??? I think they must burn it to cut off the connection between the mortal world and the plane they go to after death. Is this a Riders custom? Possibly but maybe Malek is more hoovering over the people bonded by dragons.

Now that that ramble is done.. could all of these be far fatched, oh definitely but it's a fantasy world so we are allowed to be

MOVING ON THEORY 2 !!!

Which is just me debunking the orange dragon theory. Why does everyone automatically assume Sgeayl doesnt trust Brennan because of his dragon?? Sure we know the orange dragons are unpredictable and their choice of rider mirrors that.. like look at both Jack and Varrish FUCKING UNHINGED if you ask me.

But why is no one going like "oh, it's because Brennan is the reason Tairn his last rider died" ?? Do we know if this almost killed Tairn, which FYI is Sgeayl's mate?? So she could still blame him for almost taking him from her. I'm not sure if we know if he almost died (its 2am and I needed this out my head to be able to sleep) after his riders death. But we do know that after the events took place Tairn was only ever spotted and distanced himself as far as we know, until he joined Adarna because even as a feathertail they couldnt keep her in check.

I also think Cam AKA Aaric will be WAY more important to the story like.. how will a third prince with pent up anger towards his father and the way he rules the kingdom not be able to siphon a powerfull signet

Well please enlighten me with you guys' thoughts because I'm obsessed and can't stop crying about Liam so distract me.

#fourth wing #iron flame #violet sorrengail #xaden riorson #tairneanach #tairn #violet and xaden #sgaeyl #adarna #Theory #Rebecca Yarros #violet's second signet theory

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cellsshapedlikestars · 2 years

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Your stories & regency movies are my happy place currently in a world of awful. Also, so glad you're inspired to start into On the Run again because I love it! ALSO ALSO - another reality show prompt if you're interested lolol. Sansa is the host of a reality show (dating? survivor-y? Skill-based forged in fire-y?) and Jon is on the show. Maybe fans of the show are obsessed with them?

first - thank you anon, I'm so happy you like my writing! That's so sweet

second - funnily enough, @hilarychuff and I MAY have gone on a tangent a long time ago about alternate Bachelor stories, including one where Sansa was hosting Bachelor in Paradise (and I even wrote a bit at that time, too). Smash cut to me getting this prompt, and I was immediately reminded of that. So thank you anon, for the prompt, which got me to finish the snippet I had started writing, and thank you to hil, for helping brainstorm & come up with ideas! I didn't even get to use most of them, but they will live rent free in my head.

third - this is in no way related to my full Bachelor story, I just have a problem. And yes, I did write this during the 3 hour Bachelorette finale last night. It kept me sane.

read it here:

ephemera, chapter 30

Sansa rolls her luggage into the hotel room, depositing it near the foot of the bed before turning and flopping face down onto the mattress.

She can't believe she's back.

One would think, after two disastrous runs on this show, that she would know better than to sign another contract.

First, her time on Joffrey's season that had ended with her in tears, humiliated on national television. Watching that season back had been a revelation. Watching him lie to her. Watching her eat it up. She remembers in the Fantasy Suite, he'd told her he loved her and hinted she was going to be his winner, and she had agreed to sleep with him, thinking he'd be her fiance in another two weeks - only to be dumped in the finale for Margaery.

And then, while she was still emotionally destroyed and with her dignity in ruins, she had agreed to be Bachelorette. She'd signed the contract with the producers telling her this would be her comeback, she would be redeemed, she would get her love story. Instead, what she got was Harry. An actor and musician who she only found out later, after she picked him (after he put a ring on her finger), had a girlfriend already. He was using the show - using her – to further his career.

God, why did she agree to come back?

At least she's only the host this time.

…

Free vacation, she reminds herself as she sits down with Tyrion, and Varys for her debriefing. That's what they're calling it – debriefing – as if this is some top secret mission and not a reality TV show that, ultimately, is meaningless.

She's reminding herself why she's doing this. Free vacation, and the fat paycheck she would get from it. A big paycheck. They're desperate, after the scandal that ousted Jaime from his iconic host role – one he'd held for over a decade. They had called her up and practically begged her to come to Paradise. They needed the ratings she could bring. Twice-dumped Sansa. Even now, a year and a different Bachelorette later, people are still calling for her return.

It's sweet, really, that people want her to have her love story. It's sweet that they care. And she's lucky, she knows, to have come out the other side of this with a relatively positive reputation within Bachelor Nation. There was even a recent poll where she was voted the most popular Bachelorette of all time.

But the thing is, Sansa can't do this again. She can't have her heart broken on television, in front of millions of people, again.

So she'd turned them down. A hard no. And no, there's nothing they could do to convince her.

Well, that was her stance, until they offered her the host gig. Take over Jaime's role, instead of coming on as a contestant. Get on camera to welcome the actual contestants to Paradise, say a few lines at the elimination ceremonies, do some narration in post-production. Minimal work, considering the amount of money they're throwing at her just so she'll come back. Just so she'll help them rebuild a bit of their crumbling reputation after the scandal.

She can do this.

Free vacation, minimal work, lots of money.

…

The first round goes fine.

Sansa stands at the entrance to Paradise and greets each new cast member as they show up. She's friends with some of them, and familiar with almost all of them – Dany arrives first, her pale blonde hair in a crown of intricate braids and wearing a silver bikini she barely hides under a wrap. The show had tried to paint her as a villain on Daario's season, but most of the audience ended up liking her anyway, and now she's set to be the star of the beach this season. Sansa can already picture the men tripping over themselves to get with her.

Next comes Theon, from Val's season, all cocky smile and waggling eyebrows as she greets him. Then Mya, Dickon, Myranda... the list goes on. She loses track of who she greets, and by the end of it, her cheeks hurt from smiling. Then she goes and gives the group a welcome speech, hands out the date card, and she's done.

Back to the hotel for a massage and a drink (or two).

By the time she's nice and relaxed and laying by the hotel pool, she thinks she definitely made the right decision.

…

The day after the first elimination round, Sansa stands at the top of the stairs leading down to Paradise, waiting for the new arrivals. As she's waiting, she reads the card that has the basic info of the new contestants again, just to make sure she's got it.

First will be Domeric, he was on one of the earlier seasons. She doesn't remember him, and she wonders if the audience will.

Then it's Jon. She does remember him – he'd been on Val's season, the year after Sansa's.

Sansa remembers Jon the way everyone else does – because Twitter went crazy over him. He'd been eliminated night one, and Twitter had gone into an uproar about it. The hashtag #MechanicJon was trending through the whole season, memes were made, a petition was created to make him the next Bachelor. All for a guy who was eliminated night one, who didn't even have an Instagram account until he became internet famous and had to create one because of all the fake accounts that were popping up.

She's surprised he's here, honestly.

Though to be fair, the contestants are actually paid for Paradise, so he probably figured why not – a couple grand for three weeks of shooting, plus a free vacation to Sayulita? She's here for the same reasons.

Domeric comes down first and he's nice enough. She greets him and hands him the date card, and he heads in, no issues.

Then Sansa's dabbed with oil blotters, she's given a fresh coat of powder to try and hide how ungodly hot it is here, and then she's back in position, waiting for the next arrival.

Jon comes down next, and she will admit, she does understand the appeal of him. He's so unlike most of the other contestants – he's a mechanic from Boston (which actually isn't too far from her hometown). From the brief minutes of screentime he got, plus the bits she's seen of him on social media, he almost seems like a sort of anti-contestant. Someone she never could have imagined would go on the show. She thinks she remembers some article, where he said his niece had begged him to go on, which is the only reason he did.

“Welcome to Paradise,” she greets when he makes it to her. He's even more handsome in person, she thinks idly.

“Uh, thanks,” he says, then seems to rethink it and adds, “it's great to be here.”

He's a bit awkward, she thinks he doesn't really know how to hold himself in front of cameras. It's refreshing, actually, and sort of cute. He gives her a tentative smile that she returns in full, and her smile seems to give him a bit of confidence - she watches his shoulders square and his spine straighten, and his own smile gets wider.

“Now, you had such a short run on the show, are you excited for the possibility of finding love here in Paradise?”

“Yeah,” he says, though he doesn't sound convinced.

“Let's try that again, with a bit more enthusiasm,” Tyrion calls from behind the camera, and Jon winces. “Say you're excited to get a real chance at love. You're looking for The One.”

She can see Jon hesitate, and she realizes now why he was sent home night one. He doesn't seem as willing to play the game as most of the others, and if Val was on the fence about him, Sansa can imagine the producers telling her to cut him, knowing he wouldn't be easy to control.

That's what they like, she knows. Easily controllable contestants, or the ones who create explosive drama. Jon, it seems, is neither. She thinks the only reason he made it to paradise is because of his sudden spike of popularity.

“I'm really excited to... see what comes out of this for me,” is what he ends up saying, and Sansa tries to suppress her smile, just knowing Tyrion is likely fuming. The producers want the contestants to talk about love as much as possible, and Jon isn't giving them what they want.

“Well, here's a date card for your first chance at love here in Paradise,” she says, holding out the envelope to him. “You can ask anyone.”

Jon nods, looks at the envelope, then back up at her, eyes flicking over her briefly. “Would you want to go?” he asks, and for a moment all Sansa can do is stare.

“Me?” she asks, completely dumbfounded.

“Yeah,” he shrugs, giving her another one of his smiles.

To her utter horror, she feels a swirl of butterflies in her stomach.

“Uh,” she looks towards production for help, but Tyrion is watching them intently and hasn't cut. “I'm the host,” she says, turning back to Jon.

“Oh,” Jon's brows furrow a bit. “So... I can't take you on the date?”

“Yeah, that's not really how it works,” she glances over at Tyrion again, who remains silent. “Um, you take the card down to the beach and you talk to the women – or men, whatever you prefer – and see which one of them you'd like to take on a date.” She tries to make her voice light and airy, tries to add a bit of laughter, but she's not sure how well it works.

“You were on the show before, right?” he asks, and she's actually a bit surprised that he doesn't know who she is, considering how much of a mess both her "journeys" had been. He must have gone on the show without ever watching an episode.

“Right,” she nods.

“But I can't ask you,” he says, brows furrowing even deeper. For a second she wonders if he's an idiot, but then she sees the slight quirk to his lips, and she narrows her eyes at him. He's being obtuse on purpose.

“I'm off limits,” she says archly, flicking her hair over her shoulder, and she watches his lips twitch, like he's trying to hold back a smile.

“Okay, I think I've got it now,” Jon nods slowly.

Sansa rolls her eyes at him, and he finally gives her a full grin. It makes the corners of his eyes crinkle, and sends those butterflies in her tummy going again.

“Then you should go on down,” she gestures towards the stairs that lead down to the beach.

He gives her once last look, his eyes raking over her fully, before he heads past her.

Once he's gone, Sansa's knees almost feel like they're about to give out.

It's just the heat, she tells herself, as she heads over to where the cameras are set up.

“Why didn't you jump in?” she asks Tyrion when she reaches them, pulling at the microphone taped to her before Pod even gets there to help her.

Tyrion gives her an appraising look and just shrugs. “That'll make for good TV,” he says, though there's something in his voice Sansa doesn't like. She's been around him enough by now to hear the things he doesn't say, and Tyrion's tone is... well, if she didn't know any better, she'd say he sounds almost giddy.

“Won't it muddle the story?” she frowns, grabbing one of the portable fans from Pod and closing her eyes for a moment as she turns it on her face. “You can't seriously be thinking of airing that. You should be focusing on the actual contestants and whatever romance he finds there.”

Sansa tries to think of the women here and she can't imagine who would even be Jon's type.

Not that she knows what Jon's type is.

She doesn't know Jon at all.

Sansa heads towards the car waiting to take her back to the hotel, and she really does not like the gleam in Tyrion's eye.

…

“And just to be clear,” Jon says, as everyone watches him pick up a rose from the table, “I'm not allowed to give this to you?”

Sansa can feel her face go hot, just like it does every time he flirts with her.

Everyone on the beach knows he tried to ask her on the date when he first arrived, and now it's a thing. The girls are keeping him on, giving him a rose at every elimination ceremony where they have the power, even though he hasn't formed a romantic connection with any of them. They're keeping him around for this – for the moments when Sansa is on set and Jon will, inevitably, ask if he can give her a rose or take her on a date.

There's a few cheers from the contestants, and Sansa turns a glare on them. Her friends, and even the ones she's not all that close with, are really enjoying this.

“That's against the rules,” she tells Jon, just like she has the last two times.

“Right, right,” he nods, which gets a laugh from the others. Then he turns back, holds up the rose, and says, “Missandei?” Missandei tears up as she steps forward. She'd just had her heart stomped on, and Sansa hates how sad she looks. Luckily she's made friends with a lot of the girls, especially Dany, so Sansa knows she at least has a support system here. “I think you deserve another shot at love,” Jon says as she walks over to him. “Will you accept this rose?”

“Thank you,” Missandei sniffs, giving him a watery smile.

Sansa watches and narrates the rest of the ceremony, then says goodbye to those who were eliminated. As they're wrapping up, Jon makes his way over to her.

“You're still alright?” he asks, murmurs it to her as the crew starts to herd the contestants away. But they leave Jon alone, and she knows it's because Tyrion has told them to. In fact, she's fairly certain there's a camera somewhere, trained on them right now. “Just tell me if-”

“It's fine,” she whispers. He had asked, the first time he did this, if his flirting made her uncomfortable. She had stuttered through her response, which ended up being – no. No, it didn't make her uncomfortable. The only thing that does is that they're being filmed, and she swore she'd never do this again in front of cameras.

“Alright,” he nods, eyes searching her face, like he's trying to make sure she isn't lying. “I'll see you next time, then?”

“Good night, Jon,” she says, trying to sound professional. But it's hard when he gives her a soft smile and his gaze drops to her lips, before he finally turns around and heads off with the other contestants.

“Stop filming me,” she scolds Tyrion the moment they're gone.

“What?” Tyrion says, eyes wide and innocent. “We film everything.”

“I told you I don't want to be a contestant,” she huffs. “So stop-” she waves around at the cameras that are now being packed away, now that Jon's gone.

“Seems to me,” Tyrion hums, eyebrows raised, “you could tell him to stop anytime and he would. Then we'd have nothing to film.”

Tyrion spins on his heel and walks away and she stares after him, mouth agape.

…

Sansa groans as she zips up her makeup bag, looking at herself one last time in the mirror before she heads back into the living quarters of her hotel room.

Production had interrupted her very important sipping-margaritas-by-the-pool time to tell her she had to get camera ready. She wasn't supposed to film today, so she has no idea what's going on.

There's a knock at her door and she makes her way over to it, expecting Tyrion to be on the other side.

Instead, it's Jon.

“Hi,” she says, eyes immediately darting around the hall to look for the cameras.

Except there aren't any. At least not that she can see. Just a production assistant waiting a distance away.

“Hey,” he says, giving her that same soft, warm smile. “I just wanted to let you know, I've uh... I've decided to leave.”

“Leave?”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “I mean, obviously this isn't for me. I've known that since I got here. I should've left earlier, if I'm being honest, but...”

His eyes meet hers, and something swoops low in her belly that she tries to ignore.

“Anyway,” he continues. “I just wanted to um... here.” He hands her a piece of paper and she unfolds it to find- “My number,” he says, as if she couldn't figure that out. “In case you ever wanted to call me. I don't really look at any social media, so if you tried to contact me that way... but yeah. You can call me if you want.”

Her head feels completely empty of words, and all she can do is nod.

He leaves, then, escorted out by the production assistant who had been waiting down the hall, and Sansa slowly closes the door and goes to sit on the couch.

She's not sure how long she sits there, staring blankly into the distance, when a knock comes at the door and she jolts out of her reverie.

It is Tyrion this time, and he gives her a look.

“Did you get the footage you wanted?” she asks, trying to sound annoyed, though she's still reeling. Still clutching that scrap of paper.

“Didn't get any footage,” Tyrion drawls. “Did you see a camera around?”

She hadn't, but they're sneaky sometimes.

“He asked to come up, but said he wouldn't if we followed him with cameras, so-” Tyrion shrugs.

“Why would you agree to that?”

A look passes over Tyrion's face, something she might almost describe as soft. Affectionate. Or, she would, if she didn't know Tyrion better than that.

“I know we're usually all cynics here,” he says, “and hey, maybe the show's finally brainwashed me, but I think you deserve that love story you were looking for.”

Sansa sucks in a breath as Tyrion reaches out and places a hand on her arm, just for a moment, before he lets go and leaves her hotel room.

Still in a daze, she walks back and sits on the couch, before pulling out her phone, and adding his number.

Hi, she types. This is Sansa Stark.

#jonsa #jonsa fic

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narutakijune · 3 years

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About ATLA Relationship Arcs

So, this is me, finally trying to write some meta after lurking in my little tumblr corner for months! Hi!

Although I’ve tried to tag properly, if you are a Kat*anger and just want to enjoy your favourite couple in peace, this might not be the post for you. I am not trying to bash characters but I do have a lot of critical stuff to say about the writing.

Anyway, you have been warned and here is my story about my personal first Atla experience: I watched the show this year for the first time, and after the end of Book 1 I decided to look up spoilers, because after what happened to Yue, I wanted to make sure that Zuko and Iroh would be ok. So I knew what was going to happen: Kat*ang endgame and absolutely no Zutara at all. Still, by the end of Book 3, I was convinced that I had read wrong - that there would be an epilogue with a different ending or at least that Aang would only get together with Katara post-show- in that Korra series or something - because anything else wouldn’t make sense- right?

….

After I got over my shock and surprise, I went online and found out about that decade-long aggressive passionate ship war and how even the showrunners got involved.

And then I really worried that I might have missed a few points. Apparently ”Aang and Katara were the DNA of the show”, according to the creators themselves, and “Zutara could never have happened”.

Another popular anti-ZK argument I found was: Why do you always go on about Katara and Zuko? Just look at Zuko and Aang! They are the hero/ anti-hero and each other’s foils, their relationship is much more meaningful!”

So I tried to find out what it was that I apparently couldn’t see.

(Another disclaimer: I love analysing stories (like many Zutarians apparently) and this will get long and rambly. If you get bored to tears when people start talking about “narrative structure” you will probably not like this.)

Talking about narrative structure, I do believe that, in order to let your story, your characters and their relationships really shine, a good basic structure is important. There should be a recognizable development and individual parts of the story that build upon each other and lead to consequences and change, until there is a completed arc - because it is all about the journey that takes you to a satisfying ending, right? So that’s what I tried to do, with my personal Kat*ang vs. Zutara take, I tried to look at the structure and development of their relationship arcs.

The argument that threw me off track for a while is that compared to Aang and Zuko, Zuko and Katara’s relationship is not supposed to be that relevant for the plot. After all, Zuko is the foil, the anti-hero, the deuteragonist to Aang, who is the hero protagonist.

This is all true of course. But then why is it that in every finale, Zuko’s main opponent (and later ally) is not Aang but Katara? Why is it that their sun/moon, red/blue, fire/water dichotomy is so obviously highlighted?

I think one reason why Zuko and Katara are paired off so frequently in the story - as opposite elements, as opponents and as allies - is that they BOTH are Aang’s deuteragonists. While Zuko also acts as antagonist and Aang’s foil/mirror, Katara takes over the more traditional deuteragonist role of confidant / best friend/ narrator.

Protagonist Aang is what connects them, although they are on opposite sides: Both need Aang because he represents their hope to save their world. Very simply put, Katara protects him, so he can make the world a safer place again, and Zuko wants to capture him, so he can go home and be safe again. That rivalry between them is already established in the first episode, even before they meet each other: Katara, who hopes that the Avatar will return (as she tells everyone in the intro), and Zuko, who seems to be obsessed with finding him for more sinister reasons.

And just to make sure, I am not talking here about the characters’ feelings and emotions! This is just about the abstract roles they have been assigned within the narrative.

When regarding Zutara’s special connection to Aang and their rivalry with each other, it makes absolute sense to stress their “same but different”ness as well, visually and metaphorically: Red and blue, fire and water, sun and moon, arguably Painted Lady/Blue Spirit, and, when you put into account their story arc, also Oma and Shu.

With this basis, which puts them together and sets them apart simultaneously, their relationship already becomes very dynamic and interesting, even before you consider any romantic potential.

And here’s another thing, Zuko and Katara also have their own story arc within the main plot. Although they don’t have many scenes together before Zuko joins the Gaang, when they do meet there is always a new shift in their relationship and in quite a few cases their interactions are important for the main plot as well. If you just look at their “end fights” at each book’s finale, there is an obvious and consequential build-up, like any decent story arc should have:

Book 1 starts with Zuko as the powered-up enemy and Katara as the weak newbie waterbender. Both are battling over Aang. At the end of Book 1, they are finally established as equally powerful fighters but still fundamentally different (You rise with the moon, I rise with the sun!)

In CoD at the end of Book 2 happens the next step: they realize that they are not different at all! But Aang still doesn’t represent the same for them and they end up on opposing sides of the war again.

In the Book 3 finale, when Zuko has completed his own (anti-) hero's journey and Aang represents the same “hope” for both of them, they do not only join forces: Their “same but different”- traits make them such a uniquely suited match that they are even able to save each other’s lives during their fight with Azula (who in turn happens to be Katara and Zuko’s antagonist/mirror/foil).

And in addition to their own story arc they even get an individual recurring theme, which also appears in every book whenever their relationship status changes: The lost mothers, especially Katara’s mother.

In Book 1, Katara’s necklace (the symbol of Kiya) plays not only a major part in two of Zuko’s capture attempts, it is the reason for their very first one-one one encounter in the story.

Their first friendly connection in COD in Book 2 happens because they start talking about their mothers. And in Book 3, their final reconciliation (sealed with a very cathartic hug) happens after their life-changing trip which is, of course, all about Katara’s mother.

Again, I am not even trying to analyse their characters and motivations within the story - there are many metas that have already done that much better, more detailed and with screenshots. This is just dry structure and tropes and themes. But I think people recognize and connect with a well-structured arc, even subconsciously, which is one of the reasons that makes Zutara such a compelling couple. They complete and contrast each other, their relationship dynamic constantly changes, builds up, falls apart, reconnects. Such a setup is the perfect playground for a lot of creative takes on what-ifs and alternative scenarios and of course, shipping them romantically is extremely tempting - think of all the possibilities! It’s no wonder that the Zutara fandom is still so active decades after the end of the show. And it’s also no wonder that the Zutarians are known for “over-analysing everything”. You can only over-analyse if there is anything that gives you enough food to analyse to begin with. Which brings me to

KAT*ANG

I just go right to the top and take the quote from Br*yke themselves:

Kata*ng was in the DNA of the thing from the start…. [Zutara] was just dark and intriguing.

If you read this quote and then start watching the show, I would (grudgingly) agree that:

Aang and Katara understand and complement each other really well. Aang gives her the chance to have fun and go on adventures and in turn, Katara is his fiercest supporter from the very beginning, something that he really needs after he lost all his people AND has to find out that the world thinks the war is sort of his fault. In turn, the journey to the North Pole is as important to Katara as it is to Aang, because it is her dream to learn waterbending properly. That’s what she literally says when Sokka & Co try to banish Aang: (Sokka: Where do you think you’re going? Katara: To find a waterbender. Aang is taking me to the North Pole.) In that way, they are friends who give and take equally and are equally taken care of. They even have the last Airbender/ last Southern Waterbender status that connects them. The few times they have a fight, Aang does something in the end to redeem himself (perform some heroic feat) and Katara sees that she is right to believe in him.

Aang has this very sweet crush on her and it will be very sweet and wholesome when Katara will return his feelings at the end of their adventure after he has hit puberty. On the other side, there is also some heavy shipbaiting with Zuko: I save you from the pirates. The betrothal necklace. June and her excellent shipping taste. But in the end they are enemies, they barely know each other and, come on, it would be too dark and intriguing! There is no real threat against friends to lovers Kat*ang, the soft heart of the story. It’s very straightforward and there are a lot of simple “the hero saves the day” scenes for Aang but that’s fine! It’s not really my kind of ship but that’s not the point, it works for the story they want to tell.

End of Book 1.

In my - probably harsh- opinion, everything you really need to know about the Kat*ang relationship has been told by this point. If you want to be really mean, already by Book 1, episode 3.

That explains maybe why many (not all! but many) pro-KA arguments sound as if their shippers have not watched Book 2 and 3 at all. The Book 1 synopsis also perfectly sums up Bry*ke’s quote above. But then Book 2 and 3 are still there and I don’t know what happened but it seems as if they somehow decided that the Kat*ang story does not need any new and lasting input. Maybe because they were afraid that too much new development and change would stray too far away from their original Kat*ang vision. But there are still 2 more books and more adventures and Kat*ang somehow has to be kept apart until the finale.

So the tension in their potential romance is based largely on the question whether or not Katara will return Aang’s feelings. In general I don’t have a problem with that will-she-won’t she-technique. It works well in books where the love interest is not a POV or in shows/ movies where the love interest is not one of the main characters. But Katara is not only the female lead but also arguably the narrative voice of the whole story! As a result, this kind of writing makes Katara look as if she doesn’t have any agency in their relationship, which is not surprisingly a very popular anti-KA criticism.

Additionally, since her dream - learning waterbending - has been fulfilled by the end of Book 1, the relationship work becomes a bit one-sided. Of course Aang is the hero and his journey is the heart of the story. But in order to highlight their special connection it would have helped to give Katara another personal agenda, which Aang could have supported in some way. She is still the last Southern Waterbender and he the Last Airbender but this is not really explored in the Kat*ang relationship. And her other personal agenda, her mother, is already reserved for the Zutara arc.

Instead, in Book 2 and 3 the Kat*ang story is somehow all over the place. Of course there is new conflict and a few romantic scenes as well. But obstacles are either introduced too late or just dropped when not needed anymore, conflict is not resolved and their flirty, romantic moments never lead anywhere- and if they do, they lead to more conflict that is not resolved (yes, I am looking at you, EIP Kiss!).

Take for example Katara’s very sudden argument that they cannot be together now because there is a war going on. We hear her saying that for the first time in the very last episode (EIP) before the 4-part finale. That is too late to have any impact! That she has these kinds of thoughts was never even alluded to before. Not once.

Or the pattern Aang runs away/ is flaky - Katara is upset - Aang comes back and does his hero thing - Katara is relieved. In regards to their relationship arc, nothing changes here between Book 1 and the finale, only the stakes for Aang’s heroic performances get higher.

Or Katara being the one who is able to calm Aang down when he cannot control the Avatar state (which, in my personal opinion, is neither romantic nor healthy). This is also connected to the problem with the seventh Chakra, that Aang needs to let go of his attachment for her. I will be angry forever with how they wasted this for a possible relationship development! That Aang has to decide to either do his duty or save his forever girl (because let’s be fair, he did try to let go and only ran when he had the vision of Katara in danger) - that’s a fantastic setup!

But no, it doesn’t have any real consequences for Kat*ang at all. Instead there were only half-baked attempts – Aang does lie about his failed practice with Guru Pathik but the ultimate reason why his chakra is blocked is Azula, not his decision to run. Aang does try to let go of Katara for a little bit but then Azula shoots him. Nothing in Book 3 shows any change in his feelings that could have been a result of his instant let-it-go. If anything, he gets weirdly obsessive - which could have been used as a side effect of his blocked chakra but – again, no, nothing happens.

I suspect the whole thing was just introduced to create temporary drama for poor Aang, but it is never explained why Katara holds him back, what aspect of the attachment is blocking him or what would happen if he did let her go. Maybe they tried to make a statement about how love is more important than Avatar rules – which would have been fine but it’s also never properly explored. Instead, as soon as that plot point becomes inconvenient it’s simply dropped like a random rock™.

Compare all that to the Zutara arc, where both characters’ feelings about each other are always very much in the open, and where every interaction causes lasting effects in their relationship. Yes, it is unfair to compare that to Kat*ang, because up to the end of Book 3, Zuko and Katara almost never meet, while Aang and Katara spend almost every episode together – of course they cannot do meaningful things all the time. But on the other side, with Kat*ang, there would have been a great chance to show a subtle, gradual build-up instead.

It also doesn’t help that the Zutara arc seems hellbent on sabotaging every romantic moment Aang is allowed to enjoy:

There is Kat*angs first maybe-kiss in the dark before the background of the Oma and Shu legend. But it does not lead anywhere. Instead, Zuko and Katara almost reenact the legend itself in the Book 2 finale as two real enemies to almost-friends, including a glowy rocks-backdrop and the right costume colours, just so nobody misses the message.

In Footloose The Headband, Aang and Katara have a really sweet dance together, and everybody can see how they almost intuitively know each other's moves. This could be a great hint on how well they will fight together in the finale. But is it plot-relevant? No, because the final tag team is Katara and Zuko! While Aang gets paired off with random rock™.

Then there is Aang’s riding off to battle- kiss in DotBS, which Katara is not even allowed to enjoy, because keeping her feelings vague is apparently more important than character development at this point. It is the only romantic moment that gets mentioned again, but in a way that sinks the former cute and wholesome ship into the deep ocean, and the reason is - Aang is jealous of Zuko!

If all of this was only done for the sake of shipbaiting, then it really went out of control at some point.

In the end, the showrunners still had their reasons to choose Kat*ang, maybe because that corresponded more to their own vision, and there are still enough people out there who agree with them. Which is absolutely fine! In the end, what matters most is how you personally connect to the characters and nobody needs to defend their personal taste. But the typical anti-ZK claim, that all the Zutarians with their crazy analysis and rambling meta essays are reaching and delusional and that they desperately try to construct something that isn’t there, is not only a very lazy argument but simply not true.

And I’d claim that in spite of the canon choice, Zutara is technically the better written relationship. By far.

#zutara #antikataang #anti kataang #anti-kataang #atla critical #atla writing critical #long post #atla meta

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friendofhayley · 2 years

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The February 2022 Multifandom Fic Rec is here! This month flew by too fast but also got me knee deep into a new poly ship that I'm obsessing over. Thank you to every content creator out there, y'all are our shining stars. This Fic Rec includes fics from the fandoms. Enjoy!

Geralt/Jaskier/Yennifer (The Witcher)

1. lilac and buttercups by @ivegotbreadinmypants | pre-transformation Yennifer is the best, she's as feral! as Jaskier - more heavy on the Yennskier - immortal Jaskier - star-crossed lovers - 5k

Jaskier has walked the Continent for decades. He's seen it all. Nothing, however, could have prepared him for the violet-eyed hunchback who shines with hurt and power.

He's never been so enamored.

2. Couples Therapy by TheBookMouse | modern AU - this is literally my dream - Geralt is a himbo malewife and Yennifer is a power girlboss, as usual - and they were roommates - 6k

Geralt and Yennefer have been in an on-again-off-again relationship for six years. When they start pissing off their roommate Jaskier with their arguments, he suggests they go to couples therapy. They go in a couple, they come out at the end as more than that.

3. lilacs and dandelions by @limerental | listen this fic got me in the feels, I literally had to stop and come back a week later! aaa! - they just love each other so much - found family with a pinch of pegging - slow burn bc of Geralt's self-esteem - 46k

“The Witcher believes you’re under a spell,” Yennefer said, conversationally, drawing a sip from her tea.

“I most certainly am,” said Jaskier to her in a warm drawl that Geralt recognized as the tone of voice he slipped into when flirting and frankly, things needed to start making more sense and fast before he gave into his impulse to do something rash and wholly unhelpful. Namely, chuck himself out the cottage window and into the sea.

4. our voices collide with each howl of the tide by dragon_rider | creature Jaskier - if you have body dysmorphia, mixed-race, and/or have low self-esteem this will be a rollercoaster ride for you, trust me - WINTER IN KAER MORHEN - found family - 29k

It reeked of slaughter, both fresh and old, as soon as he went through the portal and into enemy territory.

Soldiers in black armour immediately tried to take him down so he started Singing, reaching for the dormant power deep within him.

Sterek (Teen Wolf)

1. Driving Mr. Derek by I_JustWokeUp | author-made media to tell the story, so cool!!! - misunderstandings - a splash of Derek/Jackson - mutual pining - 9k

Derek no longer has a license to drive. So Laura steps in and hires fresh-out-of-college-with-useless-major Stiles Stilinski to drive him around.

2. And We'll Be Complicated by ingberry | selective amnesia - homophobic gnomes - magical Stiles - misunderstandings - 18k

Stiles already had his hands full with the case he was working on for the enigmatic Mrs. B. He really didn't need this too, but there was no changing the fact that he no longer remembered Derek Hale or anything connected to him. And no one could figure out why.

Drarry (Harry Potter)

1. A Touch Of Respect by donnarafiki | consent! is! for! everybody! including! kids! - established relationship - chronic illness - family dynamics soz - 23k

Five year old Scorpius isn't fond of people touching him, and he has a million reasons for it. However, his father is of the opinion that just saying 'no' should be enough without giving any of those reasons, but not everyone in his new-found family agrees.

2. It's No Great Mystery by agentmoppet | first Drarry Harry POV time loop I've seen! - angst with a happy ending - ghosts and portraits are his only peers, v cool - Harry has PTSD and depression - 57k

Who on earth decided that bringing back the Yule Ball for their eighth year would be a good idea? It feels like the worst day of Harry’s life, watching everyone get glammed up like the war never happened, like the last Triwizard Tournament wasn’t such a colossal failure.

And then it happens again. And again. And again.

3. Petals on the Breeze by @luna-lenaa | Fae Drarry - canon divergence - Ron is a Bad Friend - BAMF Narcissa Black - 125k+

After witnessing Harry’s return with Cedric’s dead body at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, Draco begins to question his father’s ambitions and beliefs. His mother reveals her, and, therefore, his non-human heritage soon afterward, and they realize they must go into hiding or suffer as all non-humans will when Voldemort comes into power.

They go to the only person they think might be able to help and also be too noble to use their situation against them:

Harry Potter.

#monthly fic rec #multifandom fic rec #february fic rec #yennskier #geraskeir #drarry #sterek #drarry fic rec #yennskier fic rec #fic rec #mine

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fratboykate · 2 years

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i would love some book recs! ig i’m not really sure what i want to focus on most? i’d like to try both but my natural instinct is to gravitate more towards TV

Not the same anon, but please do share those scriptwriting books. I have always considered myself a terrible writer (aka doubt my every written word to the point that I have memories of my parents taking away my eraser as a kid while I did my homework due to my obsessive self editing), so I am game to always read about how to be better at writing stuff. (Ps, this took 10 minutes to write xD)

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The two on the left are general, basic screenwriting format and structure books. Most writers swear by them. You'll find Robert's book on almost every screenwriter's bookshelf. It's considered by most (if not all) in the industry as THE seminal book on screenwriting. I personally never even finished it. That book is MASSIVE. There's a ton of stuff I don't agree with, I think it gets too into the weeds on shit it doesn't have too, and it tries to dictate archaic rules that don't need to exist BUT it's part of that "learn the foundations before you break the rules" thing that I think newbies to everything should abide by. I'd been writing for over a decade by the time I got around to reading this so when I stopped I simply knew it wasn't for me because I already had my process and it worked. It could be great for people that are starting out but FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, please, the moment anyone starts telling you "your story needs to do something by X page" or "your scenes can only be 2 pages long" tune that shit out. It's why I *fucking loathe* Save The Cat. I think it might have been the worst thing that ever happened to screenwriting lol. If you're telling a good story no one gives a fuck. Story and character first. Those inane rules are part of the shitty, formulaic things that a lot of screenwriters who read these books follow and why most films end up looking and sounding the same. Fuck the "your hero has to be on his journey by page 10 or its a terrible script". I can guarantee you not one of the feature or pilot scripts I've sold in the last 2-2.5 years have followed ANY of these rules. Good writing and unique voice. That's what people are looking for. That's not to say your protagonist should still be fucking around and we don't know what the movie is about by page 50, but you know what I mean. Just don't worry about if they tell you "X needs to happen by page 10" and it's page 15 and it hasn't. No one is going to kill you for it. You're fine. I promise. No one cares if your scene is 5 pages long as long as it's a solid 5 pages that make sense within the story and moves it forward.

The other four are the only books I think you need to read to start writing TV. I have a shit ton of books on TV and also gave up on all of them. These are the only ones I finished and 3/4 of them are SUPER quick reads. You can probably get through those three in an afternoon. That's because writing a pilot is both the easiest and the hardest thing you can do. These books are breaking down the quite simple basics and your writing skills will take over from there. A pilot (and subsequently selling the series) is ultimately about how strong your story, characters, and series concept are because structure wise it's very very straightforward.

You'll have to decide how you prefer to break your pilots and what structure you find easiest to naturally follow. Every writer has their own bag of tricks and trying to imitate someone else's will almost always lead to failure. These are not one size fits all things. It never is with creative shit. Here's what works for me. For hour longs I do teaser and five acts when I'm writing then I take out all the act breaks when I'm done since I write for streamers not broadcast or cable. Having the act breaks there when I'm writing helps keep track of what is happening where/when. Only reason why they're there and why I take them out. I don't want people focusing on them/when they happen when they're reading. For half hours I literally don't do acts. At all. Whatsoever. That's part of the reason why I say follow your gut. I just write 30-40 pages worth of good story and that's it. It particularly helps me because - again - I write for streamers not for broadcast so I don't have to worry about commercial breaks. But if you're trying to write broadcast/cable comedy stuff then it's different and you should absolutely learn half hour acts.

Anywhooooooo, hope any of that rambling helped. That's what works for me and it's a process that has taken me years to have on lock. Each of you should find your own groove.

#if you're a good writer and you know how to use a basic formatting software like final draft #then screenwriting is not intimidating #BUT you have to be a good writer to rise to the top because there's ten million people calling themselves screenwriters #you gotta make sure you're one of the ones that people don't stop reading by page 10 #and that's a real thing #most people only read 10 pages #if you've read enough scripts you know when a script will be good or bad within the first 10 pages #so your goal is to get people past that and to get them to keep reading 10 more every time #rants #anonymous #answers

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abandonedcyberpunkspidermech · 3 years

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Character Bio: Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus)

Name: Otto Octavius

Villain Alias: Doctor Octopus

Bio:

Every superhero has a nemesis, and for SP//dr, that’s Dr. Otto Octavius, otherwise known as Doctor Octopus, but the man wasn’t always the monstrous villain New York City knows and fears.

Otto Octavius was born on July 10th, 3103, in Schenectady, New York, to factory worker Torbert Octavius and doting (s)mother Mary Lavinia Octavius. Young Otto was not the most liked child in school, facing bullying for his portliness, bashfulness, and intelligence. On this, his parents quarreled. Torbert, the abusive brawler, believed he should fight back, while Mary shielded him from the drunken tirades and wanted him to use his mind to solve problems. Due to Torbert’s abuse, Otto swore never to end up like his father. This came in the form of burying himself in his schoolwork with his mother’s emotional support, which paid off with his admittance to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he graduated with a Ph. D in Robotics, but not before his father’s death. After graduation, Dr. Octavius began work on what would be his magnum opus: A set of four robotic tentacles, controlled by the human brain through a specialized neural interface. However, this wouldn’t be easy. Robotics, or, more accurately, prosthetics, faced the issue of the human brain’s not being capable of handling more than four limbs. This normally results in brain damage at best and death at worst. If Dr. Octavius could succeed in overcoming this, he would revolutionize the field of robotics. And, for a time, it looked like he would. Even with a nonexistent social life he insists is unneeded, the loss of fiancee Mary Anders to his mother’s rejection, and his mother’s death from a heart attack due to his arguing with her over her dating another man while rejecting his fiancee, he pushed onwards, working to complete his work. Except for one crippling factor.

Enter the Parker family. With Drs. Ben and May Parker as heads and Richard Parker as pilot, the SP//dr project waltzed into the government’s eye. Quickly, the government began funding the project, but such funding came at a cost. Another program would need to be shut down. Just like that, Otto’s robotic arms lost their funding. Try as he did, he failed to find any other source of the funding he needed. And so, with emotions heavy from this and other incidents, he roared at the Parkers for ruining his life’s work and swore vengeance. And then, his arms spoke to him. Filled his mind with ideas. Wonderful, awful ideas. If this project was a threat to him, to them, it needed to go, and what better way to make it go than by eliminating the one and only pilot. And so, Otto struck the SP//dr lab in his first act of villainy. Serendipitously, this proved an excellent opportunity to demonstrate SP//dr’s capabilities. That fateful battle, ending atop Oscorp Tower with a Pulitzer Prize-winning shot, marked the beginning of a long and fateful rivalry between them, with Richard taking on the hero moniker of “SP//dr” and Otto having his old nickname, “Doctor Octopus”, in the Daily Bugle’s headlines. For ten-odd years, Otto and Richard sparred across New York City, and time after time, Richard won. Until he didn’t. In early 3142, Otto won. With a well-placed explosive, he blew up SP//dr with Richard inside. Their rivalry was over at last. Except for one small problem. He had a daughter he could never reach, one who would take his place as SP//dr. But for someone like Doctor Octopus, even with nearly a decade of injuries, making a little girl run away from him screaming and crying couldn’t be easier.

Abilities:

Robotic Tentacles: Doctor Octopus fights using four robotic, neurally controlled tentacles. A specialized neural implant allows Otto to control and feel through them as though they were his own limbs, but this comes with the consequence of neural degradation. Each limb has multiple degrees of freedom, allowing them enormous dexterity. They also have artificial intelligence and a limited degree of autonomy.

Length: These tentacles can be as short as 2 meters or as long as 8 meters each.

Striking Power: Each tentacle can move at a maximum speed of 60 meters per second and strike with ten kilonewtons of force without breaking.

Strength: Even with a need to brace himself using two of his arms, Otto’s tentacles provide him a great deal of strength, with each arm being capable of lifting 15000 kilograms.

Grip Strength: The pincers on the ends of the tentacles have a gripping strength of 3 megapascals.

Intelligence: Otto Octavius is an MIT graduate who majored in robotics. Thus, the man is immensely skilled with robotics, technology, science, and engineering.

Enhancements: Over the years, to counteract his injuries from years of combat, Doctor Octopus enhanced his body to keep pace with the mech (and pilot) he considers an enemy. These include accelerated healing (although nothing like Wolverine or Deadpool), enhanced strength (nowhere near Jessica Jones, never mind Captain America), heightened durability (but nothing close to Luke Cage’s), and limited cybernetics.

Weaknesses:

Previous Injuries: Doctor Octopus’s career as a villain has meant ten years of fighting a lineup of heroes ranging from street level heroes like Jessica Jones, Daredevil, and the Punisher to Avengers such as Captain America and Iron Man, and featuring SP//dr, a cutting-edge combat mech. This translates to years of beatdowns and injuries the old doctor still feels.

Brain Damage: While Doc Ock believes his arms work perfectly, eliminating the issues associated with adding extra limbs, they do not. The arms overwork his brain with every use, warping him into the villain he is today, and will eventually kill him.

Reliance on Arms: The only reason Otto can be a villain is through his arms, as he otherwise lacks the physical ability and fighting skill to fight heroes.

Power Grid:

Intelligence: 5

Strength: 2 (5 with limbs)

Speed: 2 (3 with limbs)

Durability: 1

Energy Projection: 1

Fighting Skills: 4

Appearance/Intro Snippet:

Peni’s spider-sense was pounding at her skull, harder than it ever has.

“So, this is the new SP//dr”, came a voice, male and thick with a German accent.

The voice brought up memories from within them, but Peni couldn’t place them. And then, she could. From the spider and the mech she remembered arguing with him over projects, she remembered fighting with him for nearly a decade, she remembered how he killed…

She turned to face him, stepping back for a better look.

He was easy to see on the roof he was standing on. His eyes were obscured by a set of goggles, and his head was clean-shaven outside a shaggy mop of brown. Everything from the neck down was covered in a dandelion yellow bodysuit with neon blue accents, thick with metal armor over most of the body, but in a few spots thin enough to show the faint lines of his muscles. But more prominent were the arms. Four of them, black as night with neon blue lines like glowing veins, extended from his back like snakes, ending in four-fingered claws.

Oh God… it’s HIM

Her breath hung in her throat, the mech staggering back with uneasy steps. This was Dr. Otto Octavius, the man who killed her father, and here he was, ready to do the same to her.

“Getting rid of you will be quite easy”

The corners of his mouth perked upwards in a smirk. Two of his tentacles struck the roof, and he vaulted off it. As he fell, two claws charged forward, right at her.

Personality:

Otto Octavius is at once a monster and a tragedy. He’s arrogant, prideful to a fault, obsessive, and doesn’t care who or what he has to hurt to achieve his goals, be they scientific or villainous. But, at the same time, he’s alone. His social life is nonexistent, and the only “minds” he has in his life are other villains, who he rarely interacts with, and the arms that drove him to villainy. One might wonder if his life would turn out differently if he had just one lasting, stable relationship; maybe one good shoulder to cry on could change his fate.

Additional Trivia:

Ideal English VA: Steve Blum

Ideal Japanese Seiyuu: Takehito Koyasu

This Doc Ock is meant to be Peni’s big personal arch nemesis. This is because her father’s dead, SOMEONE had to kill him, and the comics simply IGNORE the pile of plotlines that come from this. WHO killed him, do THEY ever fight Peni, does Peni ever break the no-kill rule against him? I mean, the death of a loved one is a fairly integral part of most Spider-Man origin stories, and with how directly correlated it is to being a hero in Peni’s case, her comics just… ignore it. Nay, nay I say.

I know her last comic set up her world’s Nathaniel Essex as setting up her Sinister Six, but I have issues with how that’s presented, and I like my Doc Ock more as the main antagonist.

My design for Doc Ock is based on a blue-ringed octopus’s coloration.

I hadn’t originally planned to make him so similar to Dio Brando (From JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure), but a few leanings might be intentional.

#otto octavius #doctor octopus #doc ock #marvel #marvel comics #spiderman itsv #spider man into the spider verse #into the spider verse #spider verse #spiderman #spider man #earth-14512 #world building #worldbuilding #cyberpunk #earth 14512

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lulusoblue · 4 years

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so I did some maths when this topic came up with friends in chat (because fanfic requires the smallest of details when you are obsessive and anxious of quality lore checking), and I figured out that Elizabeth never gets past the age of 20 in Infinite and its DLC not counting the bad future where she was injected with a spinal shock collar for 70 years.

So to the rest of Columbia, Elizabeth is 18 at the start of Infinite, July 6th 1912. This is presuming that Comstock would claim Elizabeth was born on the day he kidnapped Anna, October 8th 1893.

I looked up the stages of baby development and compared baby Anna’s behaviour - recognises Booker, some attentiveness to surroundings - to that based on what we see within the game, and she can’t be any more than a few weeks/month and a half-ish old, I’d need to check. Presumably, Anna’s true birthday would have been at earliest in August in this case, so Elizabeth’s true age is a month and a half older than the birthday I presume she’s been given (if Comstock even let her HAVE a birthday in isolation which I wouldn’t put past him).

So Elizabeth starts the game at age 18, three months from her birthday as the Lamb of Columbia and actually a month or so shy of her true birthday. We don’t know exactly how much time passes from the fairgrounds to Emporia in-universe, probably no more than a few days based on the radio snippets we hear, but by the end of Infinite she’s definitely 19. Booker is jumped forward 6 months by Old Elizabeth, from where Songbird takes Elizabeth back to Comstock to the operating theatre in Comstock House. Since we have to go with the “rough” time measurement, Booker interrupts the procedure at Comstock House in January or at latest early February in 1913.

I wouldn’t say any more than 24 hours passes at this point, as there’s no transitions to suggest more than a day passes between freeing Elizabeth and confronting Comstock on his airship. We hit the ending, and Elizabeth attempts to erase Comstock completely by drowning Booker.

In Burial at Sea, Elizabeth arrives in Rapture on the 8th of October 1958. We can presume this is right after attempting to purge all the Comstocks as she’s still in her blue dress, and since she has merged with every other Elizabeth according to the story, she would likely set out for her revenge on the last Comstock as soon as possible. She then goes about blending into Rapture and learning as much as she can, then goes to work under Sander Cohen to get information on his child trafficking and Sally’s current location. She then goes to Booker on the 31st of December 1958.

Elizabeth only spends less than 3 months in Rapture after the events of Infinite, so by her false birthday based on if she stayed in Columbia she would be 19 years and 7-ish months old, and based on her estimate true birthday month she would be 19 years and 8-9ish months old. This isn’t even considering how being an omniscient being might affect how she ages, which we also don’t really know about the Luteces.

So, Elizabeth never even reaches a full second decade before she goes through a multitimeline trauma compilation, which then drives her on a merciless revenge quest that nearly gets an innocent child killed, which starts with her entering an adult book shop to trade her Columbian attire for Rapture attire with an employee of a peep show, then has to go to work under the man complicit with child kidnappings and who is actively trafficking said children so she can get information from him, then gets stripped of the powers that helped free her to make amends for the aforementioned child-gets-doomed-in-the-revenge-plot scenario, then has to suffer in a 4-8 hour lowest point DLC that includes every major male character from the first game ramping the assholery up to 11, THEN goes through an ATTEMTED LOBOTOMY WHICH NO OTHER - read, *male* - PLAYER CHARACTER HAS HAD TO GO THROUGH, and she goes through this harrowing journey for the slightest chance of some small redemption by getting bludgeoned to death by a player avatar’s primary melee weapon of choice.

I don’t know how finding out Elizabeth’s age for the duration of Infinite and its DLCs being 19 for the most part ended with me getting angrier at Ken Levine’s writing for the character he says was “like a daughter” to him - I don’t even know why I obsessed over this and ranted about it to my friends in the first place - but it did I am indeed angrier knowing this. Bad enough when I presumed she was at least of the average legal drinking age by BaS, now I know thanks to timeline investigation that she was barely a young adult when she went from Disney Princess in complete social isolation her whole life to broken traumatised abused and bloody corpse in the span of less than a year.

I don’t know how to end this post so I guess the conclusion is we have another small log added to the fire of “Levine hates the women he has to write for”.

#bioshock #bioshock infinite #elizabeth comstock #burial at sea #episode two what episode two #i don’t know why this special interest in particular has me going into a hyperfixation rabbit hole of small things #but it does #this has the exact opposite mood of figuring out how tall eleanor is #i find out eleanor’s true height i’m elated #i find out elizabeth’s true age i’m depressed and enraged #i don’t think any of this confirms that levine hates women #because we already knew that WITHOUT elizabeth’s age being a factor

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readerinsertfanfiction · 4 years

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Dear Penpal,

Fandom: Boku no Hero Academia

Character: Shigaraki Tomura / Tenko Shimura

Prompt: Childhood friends to enemies

A/N: I can’t recall if I have cursed before on this blog, if not, I suppose I have opened the floods now.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

What happened to you Tenko? Are you… still alive?

I don’t want to think of the possibility that you aren’t there anymore, but why did All Might lie to me? Why did he say that he didn’t know you when he so obviously recognised your name?

Tenko, I really hate you for never responding to me. For never talking to me. Why? Why did you suddenly stop writing? Why did you suddenly start ignoring me? Why did you leave me behind and have me chase after you?

I’m just… frustrated. I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t lash out at you. We were both kids back then, whatever happened back then must have forced you to stop writing to me. Whatever happened to you must have stopped you from chasing your dream as well.

Does All Might have anything to do with your disappearance? I wonder why he reacted so strangely, so evasively.

Tenko, I have been thinking of submitting my letters to the radio station. Maybe the host will read them for me to you, maybe you will listen to it, though I have no idea which radio station you tune in at.

Do you still think as often of me as I of you? Do you also write letters to me and stack them into an envelope like I do? This little book of letters to you has become so precious to me. Everything I share with you, I wonder how you would react if you were to read it.

Are you still the same Tenko as the one I wrote to?

Putting your pen down you folded the letter once more, carefully, deliberately, repeating the sequence you had incorporated into your routine for so long.

You didn’t actually hate him. Far from it. It just frustrated you, knowing that your friend was somewhere outside of there, that he might have forgotten you, or was too caught up to think of you, much less write to you. It hurt.

Dearest Tenko,

I’m sorry for my last letter. I didn’t mean to be harsh. I just miss you.

All those ‘I’s how awkward. Hey, Tenko, do you think of me as selfish? Or obsessive? It has been more than a decade after all, and yet I think of you every day.

You felt pathetic. For jumping onto assumptions, for giving up so soon. It had been barely a week since you had arrived in Japan! Barely a week in and All Might’s words already discouraged you. No, you were more determined than that. Smarter as well. There were loose strands in the story, in All Might’s explanation, and you were determined to find out what they meant.

Slipping off your couch you decided that what you needed was a stiff drink and some company. Both things that you haven’t had in a long while and what you were sure of would help you get back onto your feet.

The streets were dark already when you hopped out, your eyes bouncing off the many neon flashing lights, all advertising their own amusement. All locations that promised entertainment, company and a distraction from your mind.

Yet you chose the most inconspicuous bar of them all. The one without a sign, the wooden door shut and unwelcome providing no clue if it was even open for the public. However, knowing that the area was a popular nightlife area you refused to believe that there was an empty spot at such a top location, your hand pushing against the door and letting yourself in.

“Welcome,” a deep voice spoke from the bar, a cloud, or a mist, you couldn’t quite tell, was your bartender for the night, hands deftly polishing the glasses as he waited for your order. Blinking you sat down, your eyes scanning down the rather sparse bar.

“What is your specialty?” you asked the man, your eyes falling over one hunched over figure that was glaring into your direction. Trying not to flinch, as not to give the stranger any reason to believe that he had the upper hand you just kept on staring, your lips turning up into a friendly smile as you added a wave for the extra measure.

That seemed to deepen the glare, red eyes now positively glowering you down as a hand reached for the back of his neck, scratching over what you thought sounded like already scratched and irritated skin.

Definitely not sane, you determined, awkwardly turning back to the bartender who had returned with his specialty.

“Nice place you have here,” you tried to open a conversation, though the mist-like figure didn’t seem to be very responsive.

“You must not be from around here,” the stranger down the bar spoke up, the sound of nails running over dry skin providing a backdrop to the otherwise quiet place. His overall expression was hidden beneath a hoodie, but it was clear from his voice that he still wasn’t welcoming you any more to this bar than he had been before.

Blinking you tried to shake off the feeling of unease, straightening up as you shot another polite smile. “Nope, recently moved here, or into the country, actually,” you grimaced, finding that you were surprisingly starved for company and conversation. “I’m [Name] [Surname] by the way,” you quickly introduced yourself, definitely surprising yourself with your own forwardness.

“Do I look like I fucking care?” the hooded male responded, his voice now clearly disgruntled with you as he pushed himself off his seat, long lanky legs carrying themselves over to you, a hand reaching out towards you in an almost menacing way.

“So freaking annoying,” he sighed, as you sat rooted in your seat.

“Don’t,” the bartender interfered, though it didn’t seem that he intended to involve himself any further if needed, earning a mental sweatdrop from you. “[Name], you said? Welcome to Japan, this bar isn’t usually open for the public, but we can understand why you might think so,” the bartender addressed you, his hands endlessly polishing the glasses in the otherwise empty bar.

Understanding the sudden hostility you gulped at your own cluelessness, your lips forming into an ‘o’ form as you blinked a few times between the bartender and the threatening stranger.

“I see, so sorry for that,” you exclaimed, a chuckle escaping you. “You could have told me from the start instead of sending me away, haha,” you said as you swirled your drink. “Though, thank you for hosting me nonetheless, I was in need of a good drink, and some company,” you added, not missing out on the fact that the bartender still had politely taken you in despite the supposed exclusiveness of the place.

“You’re welcome. Don’t mind that one too much, he tends to get a little grumpy at sudden changes,” the bartender responded, to which you nodded in reply, glad to have at least one friendly shade tonight.

“So, what kind of bar is this?” you asked casually, fingers tapping on the board of the bar as you eyed the two only figures residing inside. “Just wondering, maybe that I would like to be a member?” you quickly added, feeling another shiver travel up your spine as another glare was shot into your direction.

A low rumble escaped the hostile stranger, something that resembled a laugh and the beginnings of a hacking cough, a hand reaching underneath his hood, covering his face as his shoulders shook.

“You really have no clue, huh, [Name],” the male spoke, spitting out your name pointedly. You guessed that despite his apathy towards getting to know you he did pay some attention, though you knew better than to get smart with the man, still unable to read his unhinged and feral behaviour.

“Within this bar we don’t give out our names freely,” the stranger spoke, a deep exhale escaping him as his hand stretched out towards you. “Not without eliminating you first,” he spoke, the words clearly a threat as you gulped in response.

“My bad,” you mumbled back, as you quickly took a big gulp from your drink. “We can pretend that I never introduced myself?” you tried, but flinched nonetheless as you noticed the glint of red glare at you once more. “Or not,” you meekly retreated, ready to bolt out of the bar and never return.

“T.S,” the man spoke, deciding that he had enough of taunting you, though he didn’t retreat, instead taking a seat next to you as he waved for the bartender to pour him a drink. Wordlessly the dark mist seemed to understand the man perfectly, reaching out for a bottle as he started to pour.

“Kuro,” the bartender said, filling a glass for you as well. “Welcome to the club, [Name],” he spoke, pouring one for himself.

Blinking you were once more surprised when T.S. reached his glass out to you, four fingers holding a firm grip as he kept one lifted, clinking it against yours when you didn’t react.

“Drink up, stop gaping,” was all he said before downing his glass.

You regretted giving out your name so easily.

#bnha x reader #bnha #shigaraki tomura #shigaraki x reader #bnha shigaraki #mha shigaraki #mha x reader #mha #my hero academia #boku no hero academia

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poirott · 4 years

Note

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother 💞💓

Thank you so much. She passed away on Saturday and the funeral is in a couple days. At 88 years old, she was my last remaining grandparent, and we were very close. My parents and I are heart-broken. I haven’t slept since she passed away. I can’t stop crying and thinking about her. Her passing came suddenly, it all happened within just two weeks as she went from an energetic and active lady, to feeling very sick and not being able to walk without help, and she couldn’t eat anymore. It was a shocking transformation that made us worry constantly.

Doctors diagnosed her with liver tumor and told us she could be gone “quite soon”. Of course, in those two weeks my parents and I obsessed over what “quite soon” could mean. A month? Three? How long is “quite soon”? You know how it is, a part of you may be expecting her to die soon but then when the day arrives, it always comes too soon.

And we truly didn’t expect her to pass this soon. She simply fell asleep peacefully in the afternoon (her heart gave out), she didn’t know she had a tumor and she was looking forward to coming home to my parents soon, we all talked about it before and she agreed to us taking care of her from now on. I held her hand and talked to her for the last time before she had to be brought to the ER again, I didn’t know I’ll never see her again. :( She was only with us for two days before she had to return to the hospital because she still couldn’t eat. I’ll always treasure those two days with her. I keep reliving our last conversations over and over again. She waved at me sweetly before paramedics carried her away, and I’ll keep that image of her in my mind always.

Due to covid-19, there were no visiting hours at the hospital and we couldn’t visit her at all, just like there are tight restrictions for the funeral - only 10 people are allowed to attend, which was another huge blow for us and for everyone who wanted to come. The person who plays the trumpet at the funeral also counts, which means there’s only 9 spaces left for family, and if there’s a choir, even less spaces. :(

Compromises had to be made and we decided to not include any strangers and only invite the closest family members, while others, including grandma’s neighbours who lived in the same apartment block and loved her and knew her for several decades, said they’ll pay their respects as a group at a later date. It’s heart-breaking they can’t come with us but they all understood and said they don’t want us to pay a fine for breaking the rules, there’s actually an inspection at every funeral and if there’s 11 people, you get into huge trouble.

Grandma’s best friend is (was) a wonderful little old lady who lives next door, and she was waiting for grandma to come back from the hospital so they could chat and sit together and share stories again like they did before every day, and it was so incredibly soul-crushing to see her break into tears and wail when she heard the news grandma is never coming back. Everyone they’ve been friends with for decades have already passed away, and this little old lady is the last one from their group who remains. She must be lonely and hurting so much, being the last one left. We’ll keep her company as much as we can.

Grandma and I were supposed to go to the seaside together in early September. We were both looking forward to the vacation, we’ve done trips like that before and it was always fun to make plans and organize together, go to festivals and museums, etc. Having to cancel the reservation broke my heart all over again. Right now it feels like I’ll never be happy or smile again. I’m a huge mess.

Thank you for your message, it was kind of you to send it. Bless. <3

#irenadler #replies #i love you grandma <3

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abrazimir · 3 years

Note

3. & 14.

Mun questions meme! - still accepting

3: Answered!

14. What are five of your favorite ships? (In the rp community or otherwise)

Ok I’m about to get real talkative, we’ll leave the obvious one for last;

Denethor/Finduilas/Aragorn: LISTEN. Listen to me. This ship? God tier. The fucking... angst... the drama... the ‘two men of equal mastery and great competative spirit who both love and cannot stand one another and the woman who rages between them’ is so so good it’s SO good. And Aragorn LEAVES? And the sense of loss and betrayal? And Boromir being two when he DOES? And Finduilas dies far away and when Aragorn returns to a (living) Denethor he both recognises and cannot see the man he knew but it’s PAINFUL loving each other alongside bitter blame and without Finduilas being there for it. It’s painful!! AND COMPELLING.

Tar-Telperien/Ciryatur: In my own very specific version of these characters they are BOTH butch lesbians and Ciryatur is a he/they lesbian who has like... another name because Ciryatur is a title but ALSO he just kinda takes that title as his full name because it just WORKS for him so well so he’s always just called Ciryatur. And they are just... an unfathomable power couple in the time just before Numenor went south. Tar-Telperien not wanting to reinforce the resentment festering within Numenor for their elven friends by asking her people to die for them, Ciryatur agreeing, but when she finally relents she still goes and does an incredible job. The COMPETANCY the LESBIANISM the QUEEN WHO CAN CHOOSE WHICHEVER LIFE PARTNER SHE WISHES AND NO ONE CAN SAY SHIT ABOUT IT so she goes down in history as ‘willful’ and ‘too proud’ I’m obsessed and here’s some art

Imrahil/Theoden: Listen, I can’t help how I react to the fact that Imrahil cried out in grief at the sight of Theoden’s body and the pall bearers actually paused for him to collapse at his side and weep with grief and then, still in tears, for him to rush over to Eowyn and discover that she’s still breathing in a kind of desperate yet commanding way. I CANNOt HELP but think about Imrahil and Theoden as young men and I cannot help but think of Theoden, alone and grief stricken after Elfhild’s death needing comfort. And I also will not stop thinking about it either.

Gandalf/Glorfindel: no listen to me ok yes I know I KNOW BUT LISTEN, I swear this isn’t a crackship, this is entirely Lord of the Rings Online’s fault, spoilers for the most recent expansion- LOTRO creates this huge overarching plot that follows Glorfindel and his ‘Bright Company’ who were heroes in the last alliance and in the new expansion you go TOO the last alliance timeline. And you meet Glorfindel and his bright company and this elf Lendellen who’s in it. Glorfindel and Lendellen literally flirt with each other during the whole expansion, Lendellen is bashful around Glorfindel when in general he’s a fucking orc murdering machine that lusts for blood and is not ashamed of it. Glorfindel goes SO soft when Lendellen compliments him. Basically they’re fucking. Then Lendellen is needed to destroy this big stone at the top of Barad Dur or they’re all done for. The bright company all infiltrate the tower but when you, Glorfindel and Lendellen arrive Sauron’s up there. Lendellen still manages to destroy the stone but he’s captured before he can flee and Glorfindel doesn’t notice until it’s too late. Well it turns out!! Lendellen was a previous incarnation of Gandalf! And he was captured and tortured by Sauron for decades, and when he finally died the Valar wanted him to return but he was too traumatised too! So they BRAIN WIPED him and sent him back! And when Glorfindel recognised him he realised that Gandalf didn’t remember their time together and so he did not mention it in case he brought back those traumatic memories. But this is the canon reason why Gandalf is so reluctant to face Sauron up close, he is still instinctually too afraid of what he KNOWS might happen! AND GLORFINDEL HAS HELD THIS LOVING SECRET, SILENTLY PINING AFTER GANDALF AND BEFRIENDING HIM ALL OVER AGAIN FOR 2000 YEARS. SSG MADE ME CARE ABOUT GANDALF, THIS IS ENTIRELY THEIR FAULT, PLAY LOTRO.

Boromir/Theodred: Of course! The obvious one. They’re the exact same age, they have so much in common, they die for the same reasons, with the same sentiments, they love their countries and accept that in one another, they know not to deny each other pain, the way it enhances both of their stories, the way it slips into present canon like a glove, the way they are each other’s narrative parallel and how inherently homoerotic that is, the fact that their love for one another can mirror the love their countries have for each other, the fact that they’re just... the two reliable backbones with this life and this passion that none of their younger family members have any idea about, by their own design, but they finally crumble together and those youngers have to pick up their loads, and then later on they discover so much more of the burdens they had to carry, and everyone grows and it’s just life... and... and... and in some universe they get to find each other again... and then become the anchor between their life of war and their life of peace that they can build on, a happiness that remains good and can guide them into a new age with each other........................... I’m fine.

#;;ooc #about:denethor #about:gandalf #about:ciryatur #about:theoden #vezely #asks

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brokenbuttonsmusic · 3 years

Text

Howard Tate: A Philadelphia Soul Resurrection

This post is a near- transcript of the Broken Buttons: Buried Treasure Music podcast (episode 1, side B). Here you’ll find the narration from the segment featuring the great Philadelphia soul singer Howard Tate, along with links, videos, photos and references for the episode.

Listen to the full episode on Spotify, Anchor or Mixcloud.

Music history is packed with bands and artists that had the talent, the songs and even the fully realized recordings to make it big, only to be passed over. Some miss their window, or worse, some get their big break, but somehow self-destruct or fail to capitalize on it. It’s the reason why I decided to do this show. There is so much overlooked and under appreciated music out there to be found and enjoyed.

This next artist doesn’t quite hit any of those scenarios exactly though. Howard Tate got his break and made it happen. Howard Tate hit big and he hit fast. Tate said he came home from work one day and a big limousine was sitting in front of his door.

“You gotta get in here right away. You gotta get a suit. You’re playing with Marvin Gaye tomorrow night.”

Between 1966 and 1970 Howard Tate had six top 40 R&B singles. And then he disappeared. Plunging into obscurity, almost as quickly as he soared within sight of the summit. Tate never completely crossed over. While he regularly appeared on the R&B charts, the highest he ever placed on the Pop charts was #63.

Let’s start our dive into Tate, by hearing his highest charting single. One of three top 20 R&B hits in his catalog. This is Ain’t Nobody Home by Howard Tate.

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Ain’t Nobody Home by Howard Tate.

Here’s what the Rough Guide to Soul & R&B has to say about that recording and the chemistry of the whole crew who made it happen.

“With a groove laid down by keyboardist Richard Tee, guitarist Cornell Dupree, bassist Chuck Rainey and drummer Herb Lovell, the production of Ain’t Nobody Home by Jerry Ragovoy both borrowed from and influenced the music coming from Memphis and Muscle Shoals, and set the precedent for Atlantic’s first recordings with Aretha Franklin. While the music was great, however, it was Tate’s vocals that made the record. Sounding like a less overwrought Percy Sledge, Tate’s simultaneously Northern and Southern phrasing was impeccable, and economical use of his falsetto made it all the more effective.”

Tate had the voice, which many compared to Sam Cooke and Marvin Gaye. He also had a distinctive gospel-blues delivery that sticks with you for days. But the tunes came from somewhere else.

Before his quick ascent, Tate was singing in a group with Garnet Mimms. Mimms was the original singer of the Janis Joplin hit, Cry Baby. He also introduced Howard to record producer Jerry Ragovoy, who co-wrote Cry Baby. Ragovoy is known for writing Time is On My Side for the Rolling Stones and another Joplin hit, Piece of My Heart. Clearly Janis liked the songwriting of Jerry Ragovoy. In fact, she also performed this Ragovoy composition that you’ve probably come across at one time or another.

That’s Janis Joplin singing Get It While You Can from her massive second album Pearl in 1971. What you might not know is that Get it While you Can was originally performed by Howard Tate, five years earlier in 1966.

Ragovoy was taken with Tate’s voice and began recording him as a solo artist for Verve Records. Ragovoy’s memorable, punchy Northern soul production paired with Tate’s soulful blues phrasing was a perfect match.

Here’s Howard Tate’s version, the original version, of the Jerry Ragovoy penned Get It While You Can.

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That was Howard Tate with Get It While You Can from the 1966 album of the same name.

American rock critic Robert Christgau had this to say about Tate and his collaboration with Jerry Ragovoy.

“Tate is a blues-drenched Macon native who had the desire to head north and sounds it every time he gooses a lament with one of the trademark keens that signify the escape he never achieved. He brought out the best in soul pro Jerry Ragovoy, who made Tate's records jump instead of arranging them into submission, and gave him lyrics with some wit to them besides. In return, Ragovoy brought out the best in Tate.”

Despite the magical team up on early singles and a debut album, Tate recorded his second album without Ragovoy, instead working with Lloyd Price and Johnny Nash. Released in 1969, Howard Tate’s Reaction is more uptown soul than the grittier southern soul of its predecessor, but it’s another recognition worthy collection of performances.

Ragovoy and Tate reunited for 1972’s eponymous Howard Tate. This time an Atlantic release. Critics knock this album as being a notch below Ragovoy’s best songwriting, but I think it’s a worthy piece of Tate’s catalog. Tate sounds great, as always, and there are a couple of really explosive, interesting covers. The Band’s Jemima Surrender and this one.

Bob Dylan’s Girl From the North Country. Listen to this voice.

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Howard Tate covering Bob Dylan’s Girl From the North County from 1972.

After recording a handful of additional songs—one single for Epic and a few for his own label—Tate retired from the music business. Frustrated with his lack of crossover, but downright bitter about how little he was paid for his successes, which again, included 3 top 20 R&B hits—he quit. Disappeared, really.

But not everyone was ready to forget. And while his name would fade from memories over the coming decades, Howard Tate’s impact was undeniable.

One of Tate’s heroes, BB King, covered Ain’t Nobody Home. So did Bonnie Raitt.

Ry Cooder and Grand Funk covered Look At Granny Run Run

Jimi Hendrix covered Stop

Foghat covered Eight Days on the Road and so did the one and only queen if soul.

And not everyone forgot. Tate’s old partner, record producer and chief songwriter Jerry Ragovoy made many attempts to track down his old friend over the years. He contacted old business associates and got them in on the search. They all came up empty.

A New Jersey DJ named Phil Casden had developed somewhat of an obsession with Tate’s whereabouts. Casden hosted a weekly radio show, spinning soul, blues and R&B and had taken to asking his listeners for any information about the missing (by this time) cult soul legend.

Even Verve, Tate’s old record company, had given up trying to track down the long retired crooner. The 1995 CD reissue of Tate’s Verve sessions included liner notes that flat out said: Howard Tate is probably dead.

''It wasn't sufficient to leave a story like that open-ended,'' Mr. Casden said. ''I had to find out: 'Is the guy alive? Is he dead?' There had to be something more than, 'He just rode off into the sunset.' ''

In 2001 the mystery was solved. Ron Kennedy, singer of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes recognized Tate at a grocery store and the old pals played catch up after nearly 30 years. They exchanged numbers. Kennedy put the New Jersey DJ, Casden, in touch with Tate. Casden enthusiastically announced the good news to his listeners and the soul fanatics across the internet. Howard Tate was alive! He even put Tate in touch with a lawyer to help him recoup past royalties from his reissues.

Apparently Tate had quite a loyal following overseas. Eventually, a British journalist reached out to Tate’s old partner-producer Jerry Ragovoy for a reaction. The only problem was, Ragovoy didn’t have a reaction to give because he didn’t know Tate had been found. Ragovoy was elated at the news. After reconnecting with his long lost friend and confirming he was doing well, the next thing on his mind: could Howard Tate still sing?

Before we answer that, let’s answer this: where had Tate been all those years after walking away from the music?

After becoming resentful and disheartened by his missing paydays, Tate decided to go missing himself. He didn’t intentionally go into hiding, he just bailed on the industry that he felt wronged had him.

He worked as a securities dealer with Prudential for a while and then darkness hit. He lost his 13-year-old daughter in a house fire. In 1981, after 20 years, his marriage fell apart. Soon after, Tate unraveled too. He tumbled into drug addiction and lost everything. He lived on the streets for years, struggling to get by and feed his habit. Finally, in the mid 90s, he started to climb out of the hole. He cleaned up and found god. He became a minister and dedicated his life to helping the poor and homeless.

And that brings us up to the moment of his big reunion with Jerry Ragovoy and loyal fans awareness that Howard Tate was alive and well after all those years. But now more than your die hard R&B/soul enthusiasts were interested.

But did he still have that voice? Could Howard still sing?

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Uh, yeah. Jerry Ragovoy was stunned at how strong Tate sounded after decades of being out of the game. And he was REALLY out of the game. Howard claims he never sang a note all those years. Not until Jerry approached him about recording a comeback album and got him into the studio. Tate also says he had no clue that Janis, B.B., Jimi, Ry or any of the others had ever covered his songs or took an interest in his music.

Howard and Jerry recorded a new album in 2003. It’s called Rediscovered. And remember that Elvis Costello quote from the intro to this episode? Elvis called Tate the missing link between Jackie Wilson and Al Green. Tate asked Costello to write a song for his new album and he agreed.

Let’s here that now. From his comeback album, Rediscovered, more than 3 decades in the making, here’s Howard Tate with Either Side of the Same Town, written by Elvis Costello.

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That was Either Side of the Same Town from Howard Tate’s first album after 30 hears away from the music business. But not his last.

Tate had quite the victory lap. He made numerous tv, radio and festival appearances in the ten years after his reemergence. He recorded two more studio full lengths and a live album. On December 2nd, 2011, Tate passed away of complications of multiple myeloma and leukemia.

With a superb first act and a spectacular resurrection that led to the near doubling of his recorded output, there’s plenty of Tate music to check out and enjoy.

Other sources for this segment are listed below.

I referenced several NPR features in this episode, including the obituary they did for Tate.

Deep Southern Soul - This blog did a great post on Howard Tate. Lots of other good stuff here, but they recently announced they are closing up.

Gadfly Online - Another nice write up on Tate and his back story.

New Jersey new feature - The clip of Howard talking is from this segment. They did a feature on Tate’s rediscovery.

Trunkworthy - Post about Tate and his comeback. This site digs into music, movies and TV you might have missed. They also did a post about the Elvis Costello song featured in this episode. Elvis’ version is on The Delivery Man album.

New York Times Obituary for Howard Tate

The Guardian Obituary for Howard Tate

Billboard Magazine, July 26, 2003 - Article about Howard’s return after 30 years.

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mrschimpf · 4 years

Text

Longing with a Cherry Tomato on Top | Chapter Twenty-Eight| Part One | Innocent & Unknowing

Title: Longing with a Cherry Tomato on Top | Chapter Twenty-Eight, Part One | Innocent & Unknowing Author: Nate Pairing: Paris/Rory, varying POVs Spoilers: Nothing to be spoiled show-wise, as we're well into my alternate universe here. Rating: R (sexual situations, allusions and recalls about past mental and physical abuse of a minor) Disclaimer: Despite all of us wishing she didn't at this point, Amy Sherman-Palladino still owns the Gilmore Girls, along with Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions, Hofflund-Polone, and whatever entity in the AT&T Deathstar now owns Warner Bros. Television (currently WarnerMedia). All other products mentioned within are the property and trademarks of their respective owners, and no disrespect is meant or implied. And yes, the mention of the setting in the end of this part was exhaustively researched and is completely true to where it is in Hartford. Archiving: AO3, RalSt, FF.net and aff.net. Since I have had so many issues with other sites shutting down after posting my work, from now on you must explicitly contact me to archive this story and promise to maintain your posting venue for more than a year. If you intend me to help start a Prory/Gellmore site, you need to commit to it for the sake of our fandom. Summary: It's the first Christmas Day for Paris and Rory together, and the Gilmore girl begins to understand why December 25th has never been easy for her upper-class girlfriend beyond not observing it due to her religion. Author's Notes: I'm posting this 2½ years after I promised a new chapter, and I do apologize for that, whole-heartedly. But I don't think any of us expected that 2020 would be spent since March inside most of the time, wearing a mask outside in public (including going to college), and that we wouldn't have struggles with unemployment and trying to find things to do. I hate to admit...my muse died for this story for about a year because I didn't feel well mentally. Coronavirus (and everything going on with it politically and our 'president') has not helped either. I'm getting help so hopefully in the future I can focus on this story (along with improving my life overall in general) and get it out to you faster. But as it is...I'm just one person, and I hope you do understand what goes into the process of writing it. During this time I also got a new MacBook Pro...so I'm learning how to work with MacOS. As someone who has been all-Windows since 3.11, this is a change I'm getting used to for sure (but it's so much easier to work with text!).

Also...the reviews of certain people who think I am a 'man-hater' (LOL!) also got me down and made me feel maybe I was too hard on Dean in the last chapter. But being in my friend circle, I think I got him right, and I reject those types of reviews out of hand in the future. You are reading a fic about Paris and Rory as a couple. Do you really think I'm going to be neutral on how awful and possessive Dean was? I've warned you multiple times before where I'm coming from. I'm going to say this now; if you're a fan of Dean or Christopher, please don't bother me any further. I'm not going to change my views that they're horrid men, and I won't waver on that going forward. Thus, I take back my early statement in a past AM that 'I mean no harm to Dean'...a statement I made in the mid-2000s before I wised up and found my current friend circle. And I stand 100% behind how he was in the last chapter.

And as for chapters...going by my word count, we're going to end up with this 'chapter' being around 130,000 (!) words, so I've decided over the next month, up to Thanksgiving, I'll be releasing it over about four-six parts rather than in one chunk, so you can pace yourself. That way...you have something to look forward to, and I can hopefully look forward to your feedback and criticism, which I will take, in any form.

For this chapter, I'd like to thank everyone who has stuck by me for the decade and a half plus reading this story loyally, and even those who are still discovering the show just now and have only strengthened the flame for Gellmore. One of them is anxiouspunk on AO3 (or on Tumblr, @paris-geller-was-straightwashed), who has posted a lot of amazing fic with our favorite duo in all the eras of the show (outside S6/7), including with their children. They are an amazing writer, and I'm glad to know them. Through our shared fandom, I've also gotten to know Lena (@lanafannabanana on Tumblr) over the last couple years, and I would recommend their Good Girls stories and if you just love obsessing over Rachel Weisz and Christina Hendricks. As always, Danielle and Taylor are always my rock, and I thank them for being here for me as all this has gone on. Also @dollsome-does-tumblr on Tumblr for being the one cranking out so many Gellmore gifsets (and some great fic herself)...thank you for your service!

The biggest reason I agonize over this chapter...is it establishes my overall headcanon for Paris and her most special of days, along with more of her family background beyond ASP's 'she has a mean mom'. I read too many stories where Mitchum is Worst Father Ever to Logan, and Paris always spoke with love about her dad (despite the S6 tax mess which just felt like ASP wanting to write another character and dragging Liza with her). Over the last two decades, this is how I imagine how she came into the world, and how despite it all, she does have a support system with her family. I wanted to post something for not only the 20th anniversary of Gilmore Girls, such a special show to be, but for the day Liza Weil first came onto our screens as Paris Gellar. Though I did not actually watch on October 12, 2000 (my first episode was Rory's Dance two months later, thus I had to back-track and be thankful the WB aired reruns...in January...on VHS...remember those?! Video on demand and stacking rights are a lifesaver!), I still hold Paris close to my heart, and telling this story as a love letter to her character and what might have been with Rory is what I hope to leave behind in this world proudly one day.

To end this novel of an author's note (last paragraph, I promise!), yes, I'm going to please say vote safely and carefully on November 3 if you're in the United States, or before then if you can. Mail your vote (or put it in a government-endorsed safe dropbox), and please don't waste it on a rapper or former pageant owner who is disrespectful to those sacrificing their lives to keep everyone safe, despite his own suffering he learned nothing from. I (and everyone I know) would like to wake up looking forward to January 20 at noon, knowing our country's future is bright, rather than four more years of...this. And so much bigotry. I usually tease about this...but if you're a bigot, please click out of this story and move on to anything else. You are not welcome here.

That said, on with the story. Title inspiration from "Fear" by Sarah McLachlan.

AO3 | FF.net

#gilmore girls #gilmoregirls #fanfiction #femslash #paris x rory #rory x paris #gellmore #rory and paris #paris and rory #longing #longing with a cherry tomato on top #paris geller #rory gilmore

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stripyhorse23 · 3 years

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TV of 2020

1) I May Destroy You

I May Destroy You might not have been written during the pandemic, but when it arrived in June it felt like the sort of complicated, cathartic show that could have been. Detailing one woman’s experience of rape and its aftermath, Michaela Coel (who wrote every episode) continually found rich narrative avenues in which to explore her characters’ individual experiences of sexual assault and consent. If that makes the series sound concept-driven, it always placed its characters first; the push-and-pull between Arabella, Terry and Kwame is key to the ways in which Coel’s tender, curious writing is able to explore power dynamics within relationships, friendships and hook-ups. Other, lesser shows that are this deliberately open-ended might feel opaque: it’s testament to the show’s confidence of voice that isn’t the case here.

2) Normal People

Like plenty of others, I binged the entire series of Normal People in a weekend, although one of its many pleasures is how Sally Rooney and Alice Birch’s adaptation teases out the episodic nature of the former’s bestseller. From Connell’s early days at university, to a Tuscan holiday turned sour, and an exchange year in Sweden, Normal People was about the ways in which the people we love move in and out of our lives over the years. It wasn’t immune to mis-steps (the show draws something of a crude line between the abuse Marianne suffers at home and what she seeks out in romantic partners), but the sheer emotional heft of the show was undeniable, nowhere less so than Paul Mescal’s floodgate-opening performance in Episode 10.

3) Adult Material

Perhaps one of the year’s most overlooked shows, Adult Material follows Hayley Burrows as she attempts to balance life as the harassed mother-of-three and the twilight years of her career as adult performer Jolene Dollar. The slyly comic edge of the first episode is quickly eroded after Jolene becomes embroiled in the abuse of another actor on-set. A stark portrait of alcohol abuse and loneliness, it’s also a sharp indictment of how little the so-called ‘culture wars’ surrounding pornography are meaningfully impactful on sex workers themselves. Hayley Squires gives the sort of white-hot star performance usually reserved for 90s Hollywood rom-coms, a veneer of frustration and resignation overlaying even her character’s most abrasive moments.

4) Cook, Eat, Repeat

Why not in this interminably shitty year, choose the one show that offered the sort of balm it’s impossible to reverse engineer? Following hot on the heels of a disappointing series of The Great British Bake-Off, Nigella Lawson’s warm, inviting half-hour new series was the televisual equivalent of a long bath and a facemask. Her fish finger bhorta, brown butter colcannon and black pudding meatballs have already made it into this household’s repertoire, but there’s something innately comforting about the luxurious silliness of Nigella that almost transcends criticism. Whether it’s the giddy nonsense of her liquorice box, the ‘did I hear that right’ moment when she revealed her pronunciation of ‘microwave,’ or the seductive self-care of making a creme caramel for one, no other show elicited such pure enjoyment from me this year.

5) I’ll Be Gone In The Dark

The true crime documentary series boom has increasingly leaned into a focus on the victims, from last year’s The Yorkshire Ripper Files to Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich, but none so effectively or compassionately as I’ll Be Gone In The Dark. Less a story about the hunt for the Golden State Killer and more a study of trauma and obsession, the series splices together home footage of the late Michelle McNamara’s investigation with survivor testimony to create a haunting portrait of one man’s legacy of pain. The early episodes are replete with skin-crawling tension, anguish and tears, but the later episodes allow that to fall away, focusing on the mental fortitude necessary for the survivors at its centre and the sense of community fostered by meeting other women like them.

6)The Salisbury Poisonings

I had no interest in watching this BBC limited series initially: the advertising made it look dry, the story itself (the Novichok poisonings of 2018) seemingly devoid of juicy narrative material. That I’ve watched this three times in the space of a year speaks to its robust, urgent filmmaking. Like several other shows on this list, it arrived into the context of a pandemic it couldn’t have foreseen, but watching the rapid, careful response of local government (crucially and deliberately obstructed by Whitehall) to this crisis presented a sort of horribly watchable what-if scenario. What seemed at first blush to be middle-of-the-road programming evolved over three episodes into the sort of spare, quietly terrifying journalistic drama that invites comparison to last year’s Chernobyl.

7) We Are Who We Are

It turns out that Luca Guadagnino’s woozy, seductive style transfers perfectly to television, and despite We Are Who We Are lacking the timelessness that typifies I Am Love or Call Me By Your Name it thrillingly captured the turbulent adolescence of its teenage characters. Equally effervescent and raggedly emotional, the show’s joy always felt hard-won, bumping heads with the often cynical, unreadable motivations of the adult characters. A tender and frank depiction of queer identities within traditionally restrictive environments, it’s also a love letter to young friendship and the lifeline that can provide during our formative years. Spellbinding.

8) Selling Sunset

Perhaps the year’s most impressively constructed reality show, I was slow on the uptake with Netflix’s Selling Sunset only to have it take over my life for a few weeks during the summer. Manufactured reality series are tough to get right, but much like The Hills (surely this show’s biggest influence) Selling Sunset gains a lot of mileage from gaming pre-existing friendships for maximum impact. Christine and Mary’s beleaguered relationship and, obliquely, their respective responses to fame continued to provide wildly watchable fireworks, but the build-up to Chrishell’s separation from husband Justin Hartley was exquisitely handled. Suddenly Davina’s strangely uncharismatic shit-stirrer and Christine’s predictably OTT wedding were forced to take a back seat to something approaching genuinely moving television. Trying to tease out what was real and what wasn’t, and following the ways this all spilled out onto social media, was pure, unmitigated pleasure in a year sorely lacking in just that sort of unfettered escapism.

9) My Brilliant Friend

Two seasons in and there might not be another character on TV that I’m as continually frustrated and fascinated by as Lila, the eponymous ‘brilliant friend’ of the show’s title. Sparingly warm, often cruel, seductive, Season 2 of HBO’s masterful adaptation sees her trapped in a loveless, abusive marriage but as ever it’s her fractured relationship with Lenù that forms the emotional spine of the show. There’s often a strange sort of snobbery around the term ‘prestige drama,’ as if all that money on the screen is a smokescreen for a dearth of anything to say; My Brilliant Friend uses every colour in its paintbox to portray the yawning void that opened up between Lenù and Lila as they entered adulthood, from the lavish, provocative outfits Lila’s adopts after she marries Stefano to Max Richter’s evocative score and the detail poured into the show’s supporting characters. Rewardingly complex.

10) Mrs. America

I laboured over what would take my tenth spot this year since there was so much TV that I loved, and especially this year so much of it felt essential to how I was receiving the world around me. Ultimately, Mrs. America’s mixture of astute political commentary, character-driven writing and host of enjoyable performances tipped the scale in its favour. Cate Blanchett’s all-timer of a performance as Phyllis Schafly understandably received the majority of attention, but Mrs. America gave us so many memorable moments: Sarah Paulson’s Alice ringing the bell at reception whilst high, Uzo Aduba’s Shirley Chisholm speaking to a potentially bugged hotel ventilator, Margo Martindale’s Bella Abzug quietly realising she’s no longer the radical of her youth on a busy New York street. This sort of deft, smart political drama isn’t often this much fun to watch, and what an ending...

11) This Life

An honourable mention to a show made almost twenty-five years ago that nevertheless helped define the year in TV for me. Shows that were once considered part of the zeitgeist can often feel quaint and old-fashioned in retrospect, but Amy Jenkins rambunctious flatshare drama isn’t one of them. Whilst it can sometimes feel like the show’s characters are universally adverse to making even one good decision between them, there’s a compassion and care underpinning This Life that means it never comes across as overly cynical or sneering. There’s also a lot to be said for discovering a performance that you genuinely consider to be one of the best of the decade, and no other character this year frustrated and moved me in the ways that Daniela Nardini’s Anna did. Bonus points for the genuinely chaotic final episode, perhaps one of the best I’ve ever seen.

And FWIW, these are ten performances from shows not on the list above that I loved this year: Marielle Heller in The Queen’s Gambit, Nicholas Hoult in The Great, Sarah Lancashire in Last Tango in Halifax, Poorna Jagannathan in Never Have I Ever, Michael Sheen in Quiz, Imelda Staunton in Talking Heads, Leila Farzad in I Hate Suzie, Alison Pill in Star Trek: Picard, Gillian Anderson in The Crown and Andy Allo in Upload.

And ten episodes of TV that I loved too: ‘Terry and Korvo Steal a Bear’ (Solar Opposites), ‘The Gang Deals With Alternate Reality’ (The Good Fight), ‘Uncle Naseem’ (Ramy), ‘The View From Halfway Down’ (Bojack Horseman), ‘The Vat of Acid Episode’ (Rick and Morty), ‘I Am’ (Lovecraft Country), ‘No Small Parts’ (Star Trek: Lower Decks), Seven-Spotted Ladybug’ (Everything’s Gonna Be Okay), ‘Daytona’ (Cheer), ‘Whenever You’re Ready’ (The Good Place).

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your-turn-to-role · 4 years

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new opinions of the cerberus assembly (etgw spoilers!!)

somewhat inspired by the conversations the other day, bc it’s reminded me i have a lot to say about these motherfuckers

let’s start with the obvious:

Master Trent Ikithon, Archmage of Civil Influence (Chaotic Evil Human)

Book Text: [Trent is respected as the acclaimed Propagandist of the empire and the third oldest member of the assembly. Once an instructor at the Soltryce Academy, he only returns every few years to collect young students for his experiments in the mental conditioning that he calls “awakening.” Many of these students go mad and are locked away, but those who endure become zealots for the assembly and join the Volstrucker, an elite group of arcane thugs commonly known as Scourgers, who perform the assembly’s dirtiest work under Trent’s direction.]

Most of this we knew. I hate this guy. Though, as a point of interest - Caleb’s for sure not the first person this has happened to. They account for a certain number of aspiring Volstrucker never completing the program, Caleb was just another statistic. Which means somewhere in Vergessen is a lot of other people with the same backstory who never managed to escape. That’s, something worth looking into, maybe.

Martinet Ludinus Da’leth, Archmage of Domestic Protections (Lawful Evil Elf)

[Ludinus is the oldest and only original member of the assembly, as well as the master of warfare and conflict. Charged with overhauling the military structure of the Dwendalian Empire, Ludinus directed the construction of the garrisons on the Xhorhasian border and often oversees their maintenance. He was one of the mages who survived the destruction of Molaesmyr and fled to Bysaes Tyl, but he saw the opportunity to achieve greatness within the empire and left his culture behind to continue his arcane pursuits. Wise, if emotionless, he bears a deep hatred for the Kryn Dynasty and spares no effort gathering information on their weaknesses and secrets. Ludinus spends most of his time developing arcane weapons of war and shoring up the military might of the empire, while subtly challenging the leadership of Crown Marshal Damurag.]

This guy’s old. That's the scariest thing about him really. Like, this guy's been in the empire since it was half its current size. This guy saw the destruction of Molaesmyr, and knew many of its residents. But he also rejected that society, purely for his own ends. He's at least 400 years old, more likely at least 500, and for the past 3-4 centuries has been focusing entirely on magic and warfare. That's a long time to hone those skills. Ludinus may say it's hard to compare power in the Assembly, but if I had to pick one of them for an end game boss, it would be him, no question. Trent's more of a wild card, sure, but he's only like 60, 70 years old. He's a baby compared to Da'leth. Keep an eye on this dude, and under no circumstances trust him.

Lady Vess de Rogna, Archmage of Antiquity (Neutral Evil Half-Elf)

[A public recluse for most of her life, Vess is both a brilliant mage and dedicated historian. She assumed this post after replacing her criminal predecessor, Lady Delilah Briarwood. As an instructor at the Soltryce Academy for over two decades, Vess has studied and unraveled a number of historical mysteries and pre-Calamity riddles — and hoarded some of the spoils for herself. Always eager to pursue forgotten lore and artifacts of eons past, Vess has been known to quietly vanish to Xhorhas for weeks at a time, returning with fewer guards and more uncovered secrets.]

Canon confirmation that this is who took over from Delilah Briarwood, and from what we’ve seen, they’re rather similar people. They're both scientists and historians, ruthlessly efficient, far more concerned with what they can learn and what they can do than what's good or safe for those around them. Liable to be found breaking the law in the name of science and progress. At least Vess has lasted longer than her predecessor.

Headmaster Oremid Hass, Archmage of Cultivation (Lawful Neutral Earth Genasi)

[The current headmaster of the Hall of Erudition in Zadash, Oremid is tasked with watching and grooming the next generation of mages and arcane specialists outside Rexxentrum. While he himself is a gentle soul who adores animals, he puts on the façade of a strict man with no sense of humor, which is further enhanced by the elemental influence of his earth genasi blood. He teaches students that failure is not an option, and that emotion is a barrier to one’s true ability. Equally feared, respected, and privately loathed by the students (and some instructors), Oremid personally dismisses those who break under his school’s curriculum and heaps joyous praise on those who endure their training.]

So, I've had teachers like this. And they stick in your mind, because, even a decade later, I still have a hard time getting over their instilled fear of failure. I can believe that, in general terms, Oremid's not a terrible person. I think he looks the other way on a lot of things, which precludes him from ever qualifying as good in my books, but he hasn't committed any major acts of torture or murder himself. Still though. You don't teach like that if you view your students as people. You teach like that if you view your students as potential assets. So like.... not as bad as some of his colleagues. Potentially someone they could work with if they had to. But still probably someone to stay away from.

Headmaster Zivan Margolin, Archmage of Conscription (Lawful Neutral Human)

[Zivan Margolin inherited the position of headmaster from his father, the late Jorma Margolin. Zivan has been the headmaster of the Soltryce Academy in Rexxentrum for nearly twenty years. Calm, patient, and quietly imposing, Zivan walks the halls of the Academy with a keen eye for talent. He is in charge of the curriculum and also watches for any latent powers that may be worth grooming as future allies of the assembly, dangers to be monitored, or prospective minds for Ikithon to conscribe into the Volstrucker. Zivan has rarely had the opportunity to demonstrate his full power, for he is typically busied with keeping the peace between the feuding members of the assembly. Those who have witnessed his true might, however, now know that his words are backed by some of the most powerful magics within the Cerberus Assembly.]

I think @lostsometime said it best, having the archmage of conscription be in charge of your elite magic school really sums up everything wrong with the empire. Like, if that's out in the open, your problems are unfixable. Get a new government. Jeez.

Master Doolan Tversky, Archmage of Dysology (Chaotic Neutral Gnome)

[The second-oldest member of the assembly, Doolan is in charge of the study and understanding of abnormal creatures and deviants of arcane creation that might threaten the empire’s way of life. She is an absentminded yet brilliant gnome who is obsessed with all beasts, aberrations, and creatures of legend. Doolan imports creatures from around the world to study, disassemble, and use in her attempts to revolutionize magical practices. She resents the Library of the Cobalt Soul, as her reputation has caused them to bar her from their facilities. She wishes to catalog the unstudied horrors of Xhorhas and has covertly obtained the services of the Myriad to retrieve new specimens.]

Now, Doolan is fascinating to me, not because I think she's a good person, but because she's just so delightfully weird. She's probably done some evil as fuck shit but she's also a gremlin of a gnome who loves weird fucked up arcane experiments and magical meteors that created eldritch ducks and all sorts of bizarre things like that. I'd love to see more of her, because there's always room in fantasy stories for more weird morally ambiguous old ladies who are banned from libraries on the grounds of "is about as likely to eat the books as she is to read them" and "last time we let her in here she somehow combined five forbidden rituals and created a new species of demon that haunts the halls of the rexxentrum archive spreading toxic slime everywhere and we can't figure out what it wants or how to make it go away".

Lord Athesias Uludan, Archmage of Diplomatic Union (Neutral Good Human)

[Athesias’s charm and bombastic personality serve him well as a diplomat. His duty is to foster a positive relationship with people of power both within and beyond the borders of the empire. He was originally one of the most effective instructors at the Soltryce Academy, but his penchant for spectacle and his rampant narcissism made him a difficult ally to trust with state secrets. When the office of Diplomatic Union opened, he was quickly and quietly reassigned. Athesias finds great pleasure in ruining or usurping the plans of his counterpart in the Crown’s employ, Emissary Lord Zeddan Graf.]

We’ve talked a bit about Uludan already - the Gilderoy Lockhart of the group for sure. Though I’m sure he has layers to him, so I’d be interested to find out what exactly they are.

And, saving the most interesting for last,

Baroness Jenna Iresor, Archmage of Industry (True Neutral Doppelganger)

[One of the younger members of the assembly, Jenna is known for her business acumen and her extravagant lifestyle. By hiding her nature as a doppelganger and using memory-altering magics at a young age to fabricate a false past, Jenna constructed her human persona from the ground up, leveraging her powers of deception to essentially write herself into history as a Clovis Concord expatriate. She helps oversee central guild business in Rexxentrum under Guildmaster Kai Arness, and helps Exchequer Aethia Drooze organize the collection of tithes through starostas across the empire.]

I am, insanely curious about how a doppelganger ended up in the Cerberus Assembly. She’s definitely ambitious for sure, doppelgangers already have a fair bit of innate magic - they’re natural shapeshifters and have a fair amount of psychic powers (like reading minds of anyone who happens to be near them), but to get here she had to be extremely committed. Which means she probably has plans for this position, or had plans that she’s already put into motion. Very interested what those are, especially for the archmage of industry.

#cr2 #cr spoilers #explorer's guide to wildemount #cerberus assembly #trent ikithon #ludinus da'leth #vess derogna #oremid hass #jenna iresor #athesias uludan #doolan tversky #zivan margolin #cr thoughts #text #meta

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