#i also drew scout but reversed..

[imlostinmy20s]

skethdump

I just wanted to draw a parallel between scout and spy?? nvm

#tf2 #tf2 fanart #tf2 scout #tf2 spy #tf2 sniper #art #team fortress 2 #saw a reddit post “If Sniper looked his canon age” #i also drew scout but reversed.. #but that was too uncany. literally spy cosplaying scout

[ludi-cerealia]

Pick a Tux- Someone's coming in to show you a few things! 🕺

Another light-hearted PAC! Inspired by the Justin Timberlake song Suit & Tie. Take a deep breath and go for the pile you're drawn to the most! Top piles are 1 and 2, and bottom piles are 3 and 4 respectively.

Pile 1

Cards: The Warrior, Cancer: Nurture, Comfort, Protection, Queen of Cups Rx, Page of Cups, Wheel of Fortune

The person who's coming back into your life is someone who, despite their headstrong, protective bordering on combative exterior; is ultimately a soft, sensitive soul underneath who resonates with this effortless quality within yourself. I'm getting Moon in 1st house synastry where this person is the Moon person and you are the house person, where they find a safehaven in your company where there is unspoken understanding. They look to you to learn how to embrace this soft way of living and simply being that is both silly and clumsy. I'm getting the feeling this person is letting their guard down to show you their soft white underbelly. While the page of cups itself does bear a message of contrition, this in combination with the queen of cups reversed indicates to me that you may have recently set firm boundaries with this person over excess emotional labour. Though you are open to reconnecting, it is not without seeing to that they have done the work or are willing to do so. It may have been a long time coming for this moment of reconciliation, and it will come once soon in divine timing for them to concede (I even heard forfeit) their pride. This may well be platonic, but I'm getting moreso platonic/familial vibes for this pile.

Pile 2

Cards : The Comic, Leo: Self-Confidence, Loyalty, Creativity, Seven of Coins, Eight of Coins, The Emperor Reversed

Immediately I heard the song Sorry by Justin Bieber looking at the Comic, which in combination with Leo, indicates someone fairly dramatic and theatrical in their self-expression. This is someone used to the limelight that feels put distance between you two, or even puts you off I heard for some. They may be the kind to tease/roast/make a joke of someone to befriend them, which may have backfired. This person is coming in to express their interest in getting to know you sincerely, which they have taken some time to convince themselves to do— despite their bold nature they are a sheepish coward underneath. They're coming towards you to show you that they're not quite as stand-offish, prideful, or self-absorbed (I heard the list goes on so you may have quite the negative opinion of them, or they believe you do) as you may think. They're working hard on a humble approach hoping their natural charm will eventually rub off the right way this time. (I heard the 'I think you're really cool, I like you a lot, maybe we can hangout or something' vine, which sums the vibe up pretty perfectly.) I also nearly forgot the notes I made pre-shuffling the piles, which included something about making up for what happened over New Year's Day, so it may be that this message comes as a surprise for you as you've long since forgotten.

Pile 3

Cards: The Village, The Empty Room, Chiron: Hurt and Heal, Four of Coins, The Star, Five of Cups rx

I drew a clarifier for your main Archetype card (The Village), and Billie Eilish's bored came through, as well as the phrase plucked from obscurity. This may be for just a few of you, but I do think you may be recruited or scouted for an unexpected opportunity that may bring you some degree of renown. Take what resonates, but it appears that the person coming towards you (I heard karmically obliged) is meant to help you heal your soul wound regarding your purpose in this life. You're shedding old skin, limiting beliefs, fears, and defense mechanisms about how the best of your life is behind you; you will no longer be lingering over what was and instead looking towards what will be pouring into you in abundance. This spread is giving call to adventure in the hero's journey, particularly in the style of Bilbo Baggins, if you are familiar with LOTR. Bilbo at first is resistant to upending his life of stable mediocrity in the Shire but is spun away on the most pivotal journey of this life. I'm really happy to bring you this message Pile 3! Let the dwarves in, it'll be worth it! LOL Some notes I made of this person when pre-shuffling: ever-growing self-critical overthinker, they will tend to fixate over the things they say, so perhaps not the best communicator but they are coming in fast.

Pile 4

Cards: The One, North Node: Destined to Have, Two of Coins, Seven of Wands, Three of Swords rx

Truthfully, I squealed and giggled when I shuffled this group, so much so that I had to see all the cards you got (for most the others unless the cards flipped over, I pre-shuffled without checking). This message is short and sweet and is intended to be cryptic: your manifestations of THE soulmate are coming true, and it will be everything you've ever dreamt when you least expect it. This is what you're destined to have, you have fought long and hard and had your heart broken; but this one is coming to tear those walls right down. They're coming in to show you how you can be a priority, that you can have someone to lean on, that you are chosen and loved and cherished. This person is coming once you stop seeing monsters in the trees and ghosts in the shadows, allow yourself to love, however difficult, and they'll be right around.

I hope you enjoyed this PAC! I’d really love to hear how it resonates for you. Any and all feedback is welcome. If you liked my work, do consider tipping me .

#cerescore #free tarot #pick a card #pick a pile #tarotblr #pac #psychic readings #pick an image #pick a photo #divination #guidance #spirituality #law of assumption #law of attraction #manifesation

[eld-red]

hi im going to be doing tarot readings for the tf2 mercs i dont know if ill get through all of them, but here’s my first one it was for spy and it is fucking. GOOD.

cards here; eight of bows, reversed three of vessels, reversed four of bows.

the eight of bows represents camaraderie, three of vessels normally represents joy, four of bows normally represents celebration.

the way i drew these cards out of my deck; counted by once and drew to represent his partner, counted by twice and drew represent his kids, counted by nine times and drew to represent his place in the tf2 lineup/roster

camaraderie right like the joy of being around your own family your own blood or your found family. even if it is in struggle, everything is better when you deal with it with someone who knows the feeling right. reversal of joy “people sometimes fear joy not because of the feeling itself, but the grief of losing the feeling” he is SOOOO SCARED OF TELLING HIS KIDS. WHO HE REALLY IS TO THEM. THIS TOTALLY REPRESENTS THIS MOTHERFUCKER’S FEAR OF FURTHER LOSING HIS KIDS IF. **IF** HE TELLS THEM. reversal of celebration. “to be able to relax and share in the bounty is a part of the human spirit’s healing process and is how we refresh and nourish our soul.” this motherfucker is NOT. IS NOT RELAXING AND SHARING IN THE BOUNTY OF HUMAN INTERACTION. THIS ANGSTY LITTLE MOTHERFUCKER ISOLATES AWAY FROM OTHERS AND ROTS IN HIS OWN FEARS AWAY FROM OTHERS.

also this is where i reveal that i have a tf2 oc her name is lucy she is scout’s little sister yes they share the same dad anyways ummm scout might be next! or sniper :)

#tf2 #team fortress 2 #tf2 spy #spy tf2 #tarot reading #tarot cards #please dear god let me talk ablut lucy i have tried so hard to make sure her existence makes sense

[universestreasures]

Asaka’s Feelings About Ren

How Asaka feels about Ren is both straightforward, but also not at the same time. Yes, she does LOVE him. No really, like really love him to the point where some would call it obsessive. Girl definitely fell hard for him the day they met, but...why? What drew her to love Ren so much to the point where she dedicated herself to staying at his side?

To get the more straightforward stuff out of the way, she does find Ren attractive in both looks and personality. She loves his messy red locks that are pretty and fun to brush and comb, the way he can make her smile with the weird things he says, his beautiful and deep eyes that say more than his words do as he watches her, and definitely gets a kick out of his more serious and darker side (when it’s not being directed at her, obviously) that comes out during intense Cardfights and how he was until his loss to Aichi in S1.

However, her feelings for Ren go beyond just romantic attraction. What is most important to Asaka, and what really drives her, is how Ren is probably the first person to ever give Asaka any form of recognition and put his faith in her. 

Think about it. It was implied that Ren is the one who scouted Asaka for Asteroid. Even with Tetsu saying she was no where near the skill level needed and wouldn’t be a good candidate, Ren still insisted there was just something about the look in her eyes that he could just tell was there. He saw Asaka’s potential when no one else did. He praised her deck (even in an unpolished state) and the way she wielded it, even after a loss to Kyou during a time where Ren didn’t tolerate loses. He wanted her on his team right then and there, and watched her climb up the ranks. 

And that faith, that attention, that recognition made Asaka feel like she was worth something, when she probably didn’t have those feelings before. She liked how it made her feel, and it made her want to stick around Ren, no matter how hard the environment was around her. She wanted to stay by the side of the person who enjoyed watching her play, who wanted her around.

Not only that, Ren gave her a place to call home. I HC Asaka doesn’t have the best relationship with her parents, which is why we never see her bring that up. She dedicated herself to Asteroid for both it being Ren’s organization, but also because it has become her second home and a place she truly has come to care about. 

All these feelings too drive how she’s willing to do anything for him, too. It’s, in her own way, showing her love language as well as repaying him for what he’s done for her. If it wasn’t for Ren, I don’t think Asaka would be either the player or the person she is now.

Now...has her feelings for Ren caused drawbacks? Yes, absolutely. Her view of her self worth for a very long time (probably not till after their fight in S3 when she’s reversed) depends on Ren, which is why losing to Misaki in S1 hurt so bad (see this HC post for more detail about that). She relied on him to help keep her going. That obsessiveness over his attention and recognition and fear of losing everything if she lost made her push herself way more than a teenager who is also a student should. It got to the point where if Ren didn’t let her back on the team, well...let’s just say I think things would get dark and serious really fast for her. 

Asaka has since learned to manage her feelings and not let Ren alone define her self worth. She still cares about his thoughts, of course, but she now puts greater focus on how she feels about herself and how she shouldn’t be so hard on herself. She definitely also started to engage in more self care and self love than before. And Ren was instrumental in helping with that, helping her learn to love herself. 

Overall, she owes a lot to Ren. Ren is her Vanguard, the one who leads her down her path she chooses to follow at his side. She loves him with her whole heart, and that won’t ever change. She wants to be around him and he wants her around. He asked her to stay with him, after all. And it’s because of him that she can act so confident and take the stage with all her beauty, grace, and skill. She knows he will always be watching her and supporting her, reminding her every day that she is an amazing person and that she deserves love from both the audience as well as from herself. 

#💎 Assassin Treasure (Asaka Narumi) #💎 The Assassin & The Asteroid King (Asaka & Ren) #💎 Assassin's Glimmers And Glitz (Asaka Headcanons) #tw long post #(I've been meaning to put this out cause this is a big part of my Asaka portrayal in general even if she isnt interacting with a ren #(but similar to how my Aichi is about Kai Ren is Asaka's Vanguard and thus is super damm important to her in any universe even if they #(are not a couple #(I HOPE THESE SOUNDED COHERENT CONSIDERING ITS LATE AND IM SO WORDY #(I JUST HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS ABOUT THIS

[lxghtbound]

ok i just remembered rn that maybe i should explain this

the cards that mean the most to scout are the jack, the ace and the four of diamonds

the ace was the first card he drew in the first game of poker he ever won, although he doesnt remember that in current day, it’s just habit for him to keep the ace of diamonds with him. he thinks the jack of diamonds suits him more though: still important, still has a whole lotta worth to it, but doesnt have as much weight put onto it as the ace, perfect for him. as for the four, that was the first card he drew when playing blackjack with prose, mint and tangle altogether for the first time, and he kinda took that as a signal that they should definitely remain as a group, ‘cause i mean, four of diamonds, four of them? that’s a sign

i definitely think scout is kinda superstitious when it comes to cards ngl. i imagine a lot of hunters are. like if he has a REALLY shitty night when playing any sorta card game (any game where no one cheats and it genuinely is all luck dependant), he kinda takes that as a sign that something real shitty is gonna happen to him later on, or the opposite. now if he CHEATS and STILL loses (being caught does not count bc he thinks if someone is smart enough to catch him then hes just versed a good opponent, even if he does bitch abt it), then he figures that karma’s gonna fucking slap him in the face for something hes done

outside of ship bubbles with cayde he actually thinks the ace of spades is incredibly unlucky. he still sometimes carries one around, but never without all three of his other lucky cards too (cause it cancels out the bad luck. that’s how it works obviously). he heard from others that the ace of spades means death, and being already kinda superstitious when it comes to cards, he avoided it. so when cayde DIED, he took that as a sign that yeah. those rumours are fucking RIGHT

but also in reverse forsaken au specifically. i totally think abt how after he started really crushing on cayde he began to carry an ace of spades card around all the time, and then HE ended up dead

#ooc #prince of a thousand enemies | scout #character info

[bus-noises]

I’ve fallen in love with TF2, not for the gameplay but for the characters. I love reading the comics, seeing fanart, all that jazz. Finally, I decided to create my own fanart with my own spin on it. I drew this in IbisPaintX with my finger.

Speed paint: https://youtu.be/QG2khzbKazw

Each of the mercs has their symbol on their face, except it has been turned into patterning. They also each have at least one accessory so that they’re easier to distinguish. I wanted all the mercs to be bipedal carnivores, since those would be easiest to position to hold weaponry and be the most likely to be “bloodthirsty mercenaries”. I fully intend to draw the side characters (Saxton Hale, Ms. Pauling, the Administrator, etc.) and make more art of the dino-mercs. You may draw these designs, but credit MUST be given to me, preferably in the form of a link to my account. Do note this is an older piece of art and that in the future Heavy and Engineer will be different colors “canonically” (although I will design swapped colors for all of them in case I ever need to use them) to allow Heavy and Medic/Engineer and Pyro friendships and Scout/Spy rivalry. I will probably use these as blank slates for my own headcanons.

Heavy

Heavy is an allosaurus. I chose an allosaurus since it was big and tough, but it’s arms were long enough that if I twisted them right he could hold Sasha in drawings. Originally, I had planned to do full body references of the dino mercs. I sketched out Heavy, before deciding I hated the body, but loved the face. So, instead of full body references, I went with what you see here. Since his symbol is a fist, I gave him rounded stripes along his crest to look somewhat like the fingers in the fist.

Medic

Medic is a troodon. I went with a troodon due to the fact that they are believed to be one of, if not the smartest dinosaur (from the Mesozoic at least, we all know there’s plenty of intelligent birds today). While not pictured, Archimedes is a dodo, because dodos are actually relatives to pigeons, and doves are also relatives to pigeons. Also I like the trope of “haha dumb thing is smart”. Medics symbol is a medical cross, so I gave him a rectangular cross-like shape on his snout.

Demo

Demoman is a ceratosaurus. There’s actually no real reason for this, I had just asked my friends for help choosing species for certain characters and one suggested ceratosaurus. It played into my favor though, as it allowed me to make it where his eyepatch went around the horns. Demo’s symbol is a bomb, so I gave him a large circular shape on his snout, followed by smaller circles around the horn, looking slightly like a fuse. (Yes, I know, “wrong type of bomb!!” I tried my best ok)

Engie

Engineer is a Utahraptor. This is because of the trope of dromaeosaurids being intelligent (which they are, just not as smart as Jurassic Park makes them). Another thing that made me choose it is because it is believed Utahraptors lived in desert-like conditions, and Texas is basically a giant desert as far as I know. Engineers symbol is a wrench. I found it difficult to do, but eventually I decided to go with reversed semi-circles, like the claw part of a wrench. (I don’t know the word for it)

Sniper

Sniper is an australovenator. There’s really no reason for this other than the fact they come from Australia. Yes, I know sniper is actually from New Zealand. Snipers symbol is a gun’s crosshair, so I gave him stripes going outwards from the tip of his muzzle. I went a bit crazy on the patterning though if I’m honest.

Pyro

While it’s hard to tell under his mask (which was a pain in the ass and still looks stupid) he is a baryonyx. This is because baryonyx lived near water, and I thought it would be funny to make the pyromaniac a water dwelling dinosaur. Only after I finished was I reminded pyroraptor exists. I decided to change him to be a pyroraptor in the future. Since the symbols are on their heads, I decided to make it seem as if pyro painted flames on his mask in his free time.

Soldier

Soldier is the only exception to the carnivore rule. Instead, he is a pachycephalosaurus. I’m sure it’s obvious why I chose that, but in case it isn’t it’s because of their hard, thick skulls. Not only does it look like a helmet, thick headed is an insult that usually means a person is stupid. (In my opinion it’s funny that he still wears a helmet despite the fact his head is basically already one) Soldiers symbol is a rocket. I wasn’t sure how to do this, so I went with a long, scar-like stripe to symbolize the length of the rocket.

Spy

Spy is a coelophysis. This is another one I needed my friends help on. In my opinion it fits since coelophysis were believed to be sneaky in order to catch their prey of lizards, bugs, and other small things they could get their claws on. Since spy’s symbol is a knife, I gave him sharp, jagged stripes on his snout.

Scout

Scout is a velociraptor, due to the trope of them being fast little gremlins. Originally I had planned to make him a gallimimus or some other ornithomimid, but those are often portrayed as cowardly, and I didn’t want to do that. Besides, they also had no teeth, so I couldn’t give him a cocky grin. I struggled with scouts symbol for a while, trying my best to draw a wing/feather-like pattern. I eventually settled on the pattern seen in the drawing, as it looked enough like a wing-tip to me.

Yeah that’s kinda it uh thanks for reading all this

#scout #tf2 solly #tf2 demo #tf2 sniper #tf2 pyro #tf2 #tf2 scout #team fortress 2 #tf2 heavy #tf2 demoman #dinosaurs

[aethelflaedladyofmercia]

On the Edge of Holiness - Preview

Coming this Friday - “On the Edge of Holiness”

A Reverse Big Bang fic inspired by art by @sevdrag for @do-it-with-style-events​

The year is 1020 CE. Aziraphale and Crowley haven’t spoken in decades, and it seems their friendship is over. But a new threat emerges, too large for either to defeat on his own. Can they put aside their differences to face it together? And what force could be powerful enough to force an angel and a demon to work together?

Posting date for Chapter 1 “Knight of Heaven” is January 29, 2021. Don’t miss it!

Excerpt below.

Arms still bound behind him in glowing rope, Crowley trudged after his captors, down the main road of the camp towards the central tent. Soldiers emerged to watch him, a hush falling as he passed. All illusions dropped, they would see him in his usual human corporation: tall, narrow and male, dressed in a knee-length black tunic and woolen hose. He’d lost his cloak in the run through the forest, and hadn’t been able to clean up the rips and mud that had ruined his outfit. His brilliant red hair had also broken loose, tumbling down well past his shoulders in curls and waves, although a few of the braids remained intact.

Every time he took a step that wasn’t straight forward, one of the blessed swords emerged to hover by his ribs. Completely unjustified, he’d barely resisted at all. Only tried to run away twice, the whole walk back.

As they drew near the command tent, Crowley finally got a good look at the pavilion, a mobile warroom of some sort. A broad table held some loose sheets of parchment, and was covered in little pieces of carved wood; a few smaller tables held odds and ends, but otherwise the space was remarkably clear of clutter. A few more humans were gathered around the main table, listening to their commander speak.

“...another report of fighting, but it doesn’t seem to be related. Once the scouts are rested, I’d like them to go north and look for rumors along the river here…”

Bent over the table - presumably looking at a map - a figure in a white bliaut, a gown of brilliant cream colored silk that hugged ample curves before tumbling down in acres of flowing fabric to brush through the dirt. The sleeves were tight over the thick biceps before falling open in more waterfalls of gold-trimmed silk. Somehow, despite the mud and dust and dirt of the camp, every inch of valuable fabric was unstained. The veil did little to hide the long platinum curls, or the profile of a very familiar face.

The knights shoved Crowley down onto his knees.

“We captured the prisoner, my Lady,” one said, voice positively oozing obsequiousness.

The figure turned in a swirl of pale skirts and looked down at Crowley with clear blue eyes.

“Hello, Aziraphale,” he drawled sardonically. “I see you’ve finally decided to have me killed.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” the angel snapped. “I told them to bring you in alive, and here you are.”

“They hunted me. With crossbows!”

“A perfectly mundane weapon that wouldn’t be able to harm you, even with a direct hit.”

“Still hurts,” Crowley snarled, pulling open the cut on his cheek again, sending a fresh trickle of blood down his face. “And their swords are blessed!”

“They could hardly have corralled you into the trap without a plausible threat.”

“One of them tried to take my head off with a warhammer!”

“Oh, dear.” Aziraphale glanced at the two knights behind Crowley. “I’ll have to speak to them about their...overzealous enthusiasm, but still, you are unharmed.”

“Only by luck. I could have been discorporated!”

“You weren’t responding to my messages!”

“You said you never wanted to speak to me again!”

The words hung in the air of the suddenly silent camp. One of the knights shuffled his feet, coughing uncomfortably.

“Well.” Aziraphale’s hands ran down the front of the dress, tugging the pale silk smooth. “Things have changed. Obviously.” With a quick nod, the angel dismissed the guards and other attendants, leaving them with relative privacy. “I’m sure you’re wondering why I brought you here,” Aziraphale started in the careful voice of a rehearsed speech.

“Don’t care.” Crowley turned his eyes to the ground and resolutely tried to ignore the angel standing less than ten feet away.

“Crowley! There’s no need for--” A heavy breath. “This will be much easier if we can at least agree to be civil.”

“Civil? Civil? Angel, I’m kneeling in the dirt, bound up like a prisoner on your orders. Is that what you call ‘civil’?”

A moment later, Aziraphale sank to the earth in front of Crowley, skirts spread wide to either side. “I’ll untie you, if you agree to hear me out.” One hand reached towards the cut on Crowley’s face.

He jerked his head away. “No deal. Your problems are not my problems, remember?”

The words elicited the smallest gasp from Aziraphale, which tugged at something in Crowley’s gut. He tried very hard to ignore that, too, eyes fixed to the dirt floor.

“I know what I said, and I meant it. I am an angel, Crowley, and I’m in this world on a sacred mission of, of peace and stability and all things good, and -- don’t roll your eyes at me! I cannot perform evil acts, not even to help you. It isn’t in my nature!”

“Then I guess I can’t help you either,” Crowley snapped. “Sorry you wasted all that effort bringing me in. Now either set me free or kill me, because I can’t stand to look at you right now.”

“Crowley…” The demon kept his face turned to the corner of the tent. It was much easier if he couldn’t see Aziraphale’s eyes. “Do you want to be enemies?”

He tried to pretend it sounded like a threat, that he didn’t hear the pain in Azirpahale’s voice. But even Crowley’s imagination wasn’t that good. “No. You know perfectly well I don’t. But I don’t see this working any other way, do you?”

#good omens prime #good omens fanfiction #aziraphale and crowley #the arrangement #good omens angst #aziraphale #crowley #bastard angel #knights #fanfiction #My writing #wip #current wip #reverse big bang #do it with style events #on the edge of holiness

[harborchild]

Maw Bots! some are smol some are toll!

i was gonna draw an outer repair unit but i couldnt get it to look how it looks in my head so i drew a Scout insted

so jus a lil rundown of what each of them do:

the inner repair units are small enough to get into most of the little places that tend to fall appart and have modular parts so they can switch out what tools they need for whatever task its been assigned

the Hydroponic Androids are a fairly new addition to The Maw's crew and are tasked with growing plants in possibly one of the cleanest and brightest places on the The Maw. they, unlike all the other bots, they wernt originally created on the Maw, at least the first couple wernt, the rest were reverse enginered and theres a noticable diffrence between the original ones and the reverse engineerd ones

the Mineing Units gather resources from pretty much anything that gets caught up in The Maw's net, asteroids, ships, basically if it gets caught in the nets the mining bots are gonna strip it for all its worth, that drill isnt just for show

the Debris Sifters well, sift through the debri clouds that are constantly being vented from The Maw to make sure theres nothing still useable being vented from the Maw, they also have general gremlin-like disposistion

and finnally the Scouts are sent planetside to whatever planet the The Maw is currently orbiting to scout it out for the other bots that are sent down to the planet to...retrive things. they are also the only ones (that ive designed so far) that are really painted, an they are painted with chameleon paint that lets them blend somewhat into whatever enviromeng there in

#little nightmares #little nightmares au #ln space au #bots #The Maw's Robots #plz reblog this took so long to type and draw

[tempural]

FIRST SET OF GORL SCOUTS FOR GORL SCOUT DAY!!  My latest drawing of Liv, and some of the first ones!

An essay under the cut:

The current state of my girl Scout has taken many years to simmer.  Before becoming invested in Liv, I was unfortunately struggling to write girl characters.  The media I consumed as a kid informed my storytelling vocabulary, and I must admit that much of the stories I consumed as a babby excluded girl characters.  Ed Edd n Eddy, BatMAN, SpiderMAN, x-MEN, hell, video games like TF2 have ONLY male classes!  The only female characters in TF2 are Scout's voiceless/faceless mom, the late addition of Pauling, and the Admin's disembodied voice.  Mainstream media tends to feed us men as the default/leading characters with so many varying designs and personalities.  Women are rarely written with much depth in comparison, and rarely have designs that go beyond ‘cute/hot girl’ or ‘hag’.  I recall reading writing advice for men that suggested that if one was having trouble writing women, they should think of her as a male character.  It’s a little silly how mainstream media tends to think of female characters as “the other”, barely humans!

Female characters that fall under the “schoolgirl” trope often exist just to be fragile babies or objects of sexual desire (or both at the same time!), and are rarely written with complex wants or sexual autonomy.  See: the Aerosmith video “Crazy” where Liv Tyler (the song singer’s at-the-time 17 year old daughter) plays a schoolgirl, gets upskirted, is ogled by a gas station attendant, pole-dances, has a lil’ pillowfight with her friend, and strips naked for skinny-dipping.  There’s nothing inherently seedy about the video’s subject.  Of course teenagers go on road trips and do “crazy” things!  But I find it extremely repetitive and boring to constantly regurgitate the sexy schoolgirl trope in which men (both the director, viewers, and characters in the video) are openly lusting after young girls.  

Even media that seeks to subvert that trope still play more on the lust of men rather than the desires of girls.  See: Hard Candy.  Elliot Page plays a 14 year old girl who lures child predators by playing on the innocent schoolgirl trope, then plays up the sexy schoolgirl trope to trap them into torture and murder.  In this case the girl is “in control” -- yet she isn’t.  Her personal wants are dictated by the desires of men, and the entire concept is predicated on the girl posturing as prey for sexual predators..  I really enjoy the movie, but it’s a very straightforward take and something in me wants a little bit more twists and turns.  There just doesn’t seem to be a world, even in media fantasy, where girls have desires but are not the object of desire.

The earliest form of a girl Scout/Liv that I have are these designs for what I labeled as the “Japanese Groupie” from 2013.  It plays upon the same concept as Hard Candy although I hadn’t seen the movie yet at the time:  She lures in sexual predators, and chops off their peepees.  She’s mistaken as a child, though she’s actually 35, and plays up her short stature and babyface for her trap.  She’s also mistaken as Japanese, although she’s Chinese, and she also plays that up because westerners are more enamoured with Japanese pop culture.  I still think the concept is fine, but too much impetus for the story is given to the predators, and too much of it plays on the viewer being aware of the identity stereotypes (while people still lack self-awareness in real life: people still mistake me for a child, or mistake me as Japanese)!  Not enough story is moved by the girl!  I want MORE.

The Scout-Chan SFM is the greatest piece of art in the history of TF2.  When I re-engaged with the game in 2018, I was SHAKEN when I discovered it, and had to tell everyone I knew about it!!  This is the POV I’m talking about, lads and ladettes!  I was enamoured!!  The SFM perfectly captured what I liked about the Scout and Spy dynamic!  Scout has a crush on Spy, and Spy doesn’t do anything about it (but helps Scout fight crime at night?!!).  I love the Sukeban Boy design design for Scout, the whole pun with Sailor Scouts is fun, and I grew up with Sailor Moon so it hit my nostalgia prostate button real good.  Most importantly for me, the SFM never shows Scout and Spy in a ”relationship”.  They remain distant, but close.  I love that.

I had to spread the word of Scout-Chan the only way I knew how.  I drew a couple of comics and sketches inspired by the SFM!  But they were obviously tinged with my own tastes and perhaps experiences.

My ideas got very off-topic from the original zombie-slayer Scout-Chan, and I wanted to make my own Scout that was a girl.  On the way, I drew variations that became other girl Scouts with their own personalities (but always the same face and body!  My Scouts are infinite, indistinguishable, and disposable!).  I eventually settled on basically the same outfit as my boy Scout, Ollie, with a ponytail that was in between the hairstyle of my 2013 dickchopper OC and Scout-chan.  She was to be named Liv, partially because it’s a feminine form of the name Oliver, and partially because of the aforementioned Liv Tyler moment.  There’s some interplay with how strange it is for Steven Tyler to cast his own daughter as a sexy model, and how many people compare the Scout and Spy relationship to a fatherly one, with all of that being tossed into a dumpster fire and coming out as a reversal of older-creepy-man into younger-girl-who-creeps-on-her-mentor-figure.

#GORLSCOUTYEARBOOKZINE #femscout #tf2 #tf2 scout #scoutspy #liv

[sheresh0y]

Mar'eyce: Chapter Four

Pairing: Din Djarin x fem!Mando OC Kaiyah Awaud

Word Count: 4,339

Rating: M, 18+, no younglings please this is a heavy chapter.

Warnings: discussions around slavery, kidnapping, a bit more than canon typical violence, poorly researched medical jargon, language, too much Star Wars lore (if I have to learn it I'm forcing you all to learn it with me).

Author’s Note: I rewrote this chapter like a million times. It was a hard one for some reason, but a good push off into the next plot point. No minors please, this chapter is mature and heavy. Translations and lore at the end. Credit to Disney and the amazing artists who drew this, I pulled this from Chapter Three specifically. The gallery can be found here.

Summary: "Is Mando okay? He would have said something to me if he wasn’t, right?"

The end of the canyon opened up into a craggy red rock plain of boulder and shale. The leaders scouted ahead, Kaiyah and Kebiin zipping around the boulders and natural outcroppings to get a better look at the camp.

Kaiyah laid out the plan again, reminding everyone to get on channel two. Despite the slavers moving around frequently to avoid detection and days-old information, the intel held up. Eight tents were on the outside ring and two in the center with two guards. The crew's tents seemed to be the sacrifice for intruders and potential wildlife while protecting the leader and slaves. Overall, no one was too worried about the guards even if one was a Wookie. This would be one of the easiest missions of their lives if it went according to the plan.

The first tent Kaiyah went into was a mess, clothes and trash were scattered on the floor with two cots on either side of the already small tent. The beds were full, a human that had kicked their sheets off in their sleep and something covered in blankets but had lekku. Both were snoring and she was nearly offended at how easy it was to take these idiots out. Flipping her dagger from the reverse grip it was in Kaiyah slid the serrated blade in-between both ribcages, silently and quickly dispatching of the targets.

Sliding out from the tent, she found Mando to her left, he signaled that his two tents were clear and motioned over to the guards letting Kaiyah know that was his next target. She signaled back asking if he needed backup. He shook his head.

Kaiyah went to the tent on her right since Mando had gone left. The kill wasn’t as graceful as the first tent, one of the occupants was a ridiculously light sleeper, but she had the advantage regardless.

Finishing out her current fight Kaiyah heard a shout and knew their cover had been blown. Switching to her long blade - a sword, really - she ran to the large tent in the center. Slicing up the duraweave side she rushed through her impromptu opening when the click of a blaster had Kaiyah stopping short. Another human, an older woman in sleep clothes that sported a blunt grey bob, was aiming at Kaiyah’s helmet.

“Kaiyah?”

“Cerna?”

Both women dropped their weapons and grabbed each other. They nearly fell over from the force of the hug, both breathless and laughing in half relief and half disbelief.

“I thought you were New Republic now. At least that’s what the chatter was saying,” Kaiyah’s smile could be heard even through the vocoder. It had been fourteen, nearly fifteen years since she had seen the Rebel captain. Cerna led her parents' squad when the war first broke out and neither parent wanted to stay away from the fight or their children so the only choice was to bring Kaiyah and Ro with them. As a result, the Awaud kids had many Rebel aunts and uncles, with Captain Cerna being their most consistent adult outside of their parents. She was also the one that convinced Kai to take his children home and fully retire from the war after Ilyah died.

“Yeah,” the woman scoffed lightly. “I tried it out. It was shit. They want us all to be paper pushers upholding galactic standards that someone else decided for us.”

Kaiyah released the hug as Cerna looked her up and down, “Doesn’t matter now though, you grew up! All married with that soulmate shit and a million Mando babies, I’m coming to your secret hidey-hole and getting some Auntie time in.”

Kaiyah shook her head, the helmet mimicking the movement, “No, not married. No kids. Ro has some though, they’re the best.”

“Of course he’s all domestic now. He a good dad? Married?”

Kaiyah smiled as she slipped off her helmet, “Yeah. He’s here actually, once we get you all off Ryloth we’ll catch up. Come on.”

“What do you mean get us off Ryloth?” The captain asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

“The hostages, we’re here to get all out,” Kaiyah gestured to the camp. “I assume that’s why you’re here.”

A frown pulled Cerna’s face inward, her nose scrunching. “No, no. This is my operation, Kay. The Wookie, Kazza, and I pulled it together. He hates Trandoshans and I make a pretty penny. They make great labor slaves. Regeneration, strength, nowhere to go after you take them."

Cerna caught Kaiyah's confusion and chuckled as she explained, "It's great for business. I guess any Trandoshan who gets caught is basically the living dead. Shamed and outcasted from society, not even their goddess wants them.”

“You’re-you… This is yours?”

“Yeah, what? You think the New Republic could keep me tied down? I’m too good for them,” the captain walked towards a table in the middle of the tent. It was full of food, some of which was rotten, and so many liquor bottles. Drives, discs, and holopads stacked haphazardly and used as coasters or plates littered the top. It wasn’t anything like how Cerna kept her place before. She may have been short-fused, often called hotheaded and reckless by the other Rebel leaders, but she ran a tight ship. Everything from plans to rooms was clean and efficient. This was… sad.

Cerna sniffed an empty cup before pouring something in it. “Bastards took away my rank after the war, said it ‘wasn’t necessary now that it was peacetime. Would just be ‘too militaristic’ and that wasn’t how they were doing things now.” A hollow laughed escaped her as she took a swig, “the fucking jobs they tried to give us. Secretaries and crowd control. We were shoved off into the corners where no one could see so that the New Republic could stay shiny. Begged for us when the fancy politicians and princesses needed us to do their dirty work.”

Kaiyah approached the table slowly. This wasn’t her captain, this wasn’t who she was. Cerna always fought for the underdog, her entire squad was a bunch of misfits who didn’t belong anywhere, even in the Rebellion. She took the missions that no one wanted to waste the manpower or risk on. Running supplies to Imperial planets, transporting refugees that may or may not be refugees, support to guerilla armies starting rebellions on their home planets. Every mission Cerna took was for the people of the galaxy, not just The Rebellion. Stopping the Empire was what everyone wanted, but the people of the galaxy were her top priority. Cerna believed that the people could turn the tide and that's why The Rebellion worked, she was why the Awauds stayed so long.

“Cerna this isn’t right. You know that. The galaxy isn’t free until we’re all free.” Standing next to her old captain Kaiyah could see how empty she was. The fiery determination that had always sat on the woman's face was gone, transformed into harsh lines and jaded smiles.

"Of course you would say that. Maker, you’re nearly as gullible as your parents. Does your dad still run that peace and love speech?"

Cerna knew Kai didn't speak anymore. Nejaa and Ro weren't sure if it was a chosen muteness or trauma but nothing helped. Medicine, meditations, talking about it, they tried it all and there weren't any responses. As far as Arumorut was concerned, no one had been ripped apart as violently as Kai and Ilyah had been and the effects of what happened to the soul bond were undiscovered territory. Of course, it didn't help that only Kai's innermost circle knew, they were all trying to save face in case he made a comeback.

None of that mattered though, because Cerna *knew* Kai hadn't spoken a word since Ilyah's death. She had seen him in the medcenter, scrounged in the wreckage to find her 'sister's' armor.

Shaking off the slight the best she could Kaiyah interrupted, "Cerna, get it together. Slavery was your answer to all the galactic injustices? That's thin and you know it."

"Kaiyah, come on, you’ve got to be tired of all this saving people who can’t save themselves bullshit. I am. Gave years of my life on a hope and a prayer that it might get better for all of us and it hasn’t, it won’t."

"That doesn't matter. This isn't right. Forcing people into labor? Taking away their freedom and suffocating their hope until they die? This is Imperial."

The blonde scoffed, “Oh, sorry. I forget that you Awauds can’t see past your moral compasses. Let me spell it out slowly for you, Kazza gets revenge and I’m making life better for myself because that’s what matters in this galaxy. Me.”

"Cerna-"

"No, no! Let's keep this going, Kay. What, you think if your mom was alive life would be better? It wouldn't! Cause the universe takes! It's a hungry Sarlacc that will take everything. Your mom was always meant to be blown to pieces!"

"Stop," Kaiyah said. Whoever this was it wasn't Cerna anymore. This woman was bitter, mean, and knew right where to hurt you.

"No galavanting justice squad you make will get you close to the acceptance you so dearly crave from her. You're forced to chase that forever until the universe takes you out too!" Cerna kept barreling through her speech like a dam had burst in her and she just couldn't stop talking. She was talking a mile a minute, so fast and garbled that Kaiyah almost couldn't understand her.

"Stop."

"So, spare me. Spare me all this bullshit over the 'right thing' because no one cares. No one cares about your warrior, tough guy ways, or this misplaced sense of justice you have. And it doesn't matter. Not your dead mom, or this soulmate that doesn't exist. It. Doesn't. Matter, Kay. Enjoy not caring for fucking once in your life."

A quiet rage enveloped Kaiyah as Cerna spoke, the kind that folded itself over her like a well-worn blanket. "Welcome home," the rage murmured sweetly. "Let us handle this. We'll do it together if you want. Let's do it together." Falling into the comfort of the intimate and well-known feeling, wearing it almost as a second skin, Kaiyah felt more than heard the silence.

Focusing back on herself, Kaiyah wouldn't have said she was shocked at what she saw. Connecting the women in a macabre ending was a vibroblade, lodged in Cerna's stomach and held by Kaiyah.

"This was fun. Until next time," a whisper slid through her entire body, leaving goosebumps wherever it touched. Shaking her head to clear it, Kaiyah took a deep breath and looked over her options.

Leave the slaver she killed to rot in a canyon on Ryloth or bury Cerna like Kaiyah would any other friend.

She didn’t want to do either, a weird dichotomy of guilt and disgust about the situation was churning inside her. She normally wouldn’t care, leave the trash to rot, and move on to more important things. Finding homes, translating if she could, making jokes to put people at ease. But there were more than enough hands for that so she had to face the proverbial music.

Kaiyah had killed her friend. The closest thing she had to aunt, really. Cerna deserved a burial. She deserved something nice. It was the least Kaiyah could do after she facilitated the less than amazing departure the woman had.

Could she extend that kindness to a slaver? The worst people in the universe as far as Kaiyah was concerned. Especially after the revelation that those people could never go home. If Kaiyah was forced to become dar'manda she would never recover, there wasn't anything else for her out there if she wasn't a Mandalorian.

In a compromise of sorts, Kaiyah put Cerna back in her bed, mostly to get rid of the ugly feeling inside of her. Shuffling through the garbage thrown about Kaiyah put the drives, disks, and holopads into any pouch or pocket she had. Maybe something good would come of this. A chance to cut off buyers or potential suppliers, she heavily doubted that the selfish husk Cerna turned into hunted those Trandoshans. It seemed below the paygrade that the captain thought she was.

Finishing her search, Kaiyah sent a transmission to the contact. With nowhere for the Trandoshans to go, it was decided that they could pick. Extra credits would be reimbursed for fuel and rations and with that Kaiyah went to find Ro.

Din watched as Kaiyah strode out of the large tent with an eerie amount of calm, her helmet in place over her head and kama fluttering behind her. She meandered her way through the campsite, seemingly looking like she had no objective, but Din knew. He had seen it enough times to know Kaiyah was looking for something without looking like she was looking for something.

“Everything okay in there, alor? Thought you might’ve died!” Jax bellowed as he counted through a coin purse. Kaiyah said that whatever they found could be considered their bonus, but Din wasn't going to. It felt wrong to take from the dead even if they were slavers.

“Don’t call me that. Ro in here?”

“Yeah, he’s in there with the red Mando,” Jax responded to the air. Kaiyah had swung through the tent before she even heard his response. Reappearing a few moments later with a barefaced Ro she called out, “Kebiin?”

The walking hairball spoke up again, “perimeter. Told him it wasn’t worth it. Nothin’ on the scans through the visor. Reeger should be here soon.” The two disappeared somewhere while Din was distracted trying to find a good position for his arm. It was tense and he could feel swelling in his shoulder, knowing his luck it was probably broken.

He hadn’t meant for the Wookie had lifted him like a doll and slam him back on the ground during the fight. Din honestly thought he had it handled. Two shots, quiet and quick like Kaiyah wanted the mission to be. He hadn’t expected Wookies to be so hardy.

A few minutes passed before the ship could be heard touching down and was everyone converging at the fire again. Paz, Ro, and Kaiyah walked out from in between tents. A pregnant Togruta woman with yellow skin and large brown striped montrals would have given Paz a run for his money came from where he heard the ship.

“Ready for load up?” the Togruta asked looking at Ro. Nodding the Twi’lek looked at the team members that were present. “They’re all kids. Be gentle, okay?”

“Maker. Who takes kids?” Jax shook his head even more straw-like hair falling out of his knot. Paz agreed, lowering his voice just in case the kids could hear him say what everyone was thinking. “Are there parents?”

Ro shrugged and Kaiyah shook her head at the same time. Both of them had their arms crossed over their chests, looking at the ground. The only difference between the two was that Kaiyah was still wearing her helmet.

“That answer wasn’t confusing,” Reeger said as she stood next to Jax. At least Din assumed the Togruta was Reeger and the pilot considering he hadn’t met her before the mission.

“The kids are Trandoshan. They can’t go back. According to their customs and goddess, they would die if we sent them home. They are all coming back to Arumorut as foundlings,” Kaiyah stated, helmet still looking at the red shale. The tension of dealing with child slaves was dissipated by every Mandalorian’s knee-jerk reaction to protect. Every helmet and head snapped to Kaiyah as whispers started flying around.

“I’m not killing a kid.”

“We’ll take them.”

“Being caught? What the fuck does that mean?”

“How many?”

Kaiyah waved her hand in the universal signal to shut up. “No one’s killing a kid, you can take them home if you want, there are five of them. I don’t know what being caught means, it’s all I got out of Cer-the slaver before I killed her. All she told me was that Trandoshans were… Fuck this feels wrong to say. She said that Trandoshans were great slaves because of their regeneration, strength, and the fact they had nowhere to go.”

Din had never freed slaves before, if anything he was probably complicit in keeping slaves. He never questioned a bounty before the kid and going back further with Ran… Well, he had done bad things. However, none of the terrible things he had or hadn’t done were as bad as what Kaiyah was saying. This slaver took kids, children, whose culture kept them from going home if they ever got free.

The silence was heavy as each Mandalorian grieved for either themself or the children. It helped to know that all five would have a life as one of them, being a Mando’ade was what saved Din after all. It still hurt knowing that the kids didn’t have a choice either. A cry snapped them all out of the grief and into mission mode again, all of them going about their tasks. Ro's eyes zeroed in on Din favoring his right arm, “anyone need medical attention?”

Seeing no point in obviously lying he grunted out a ‘yes’. Carefully prodding the arm and shoulder Ro looked up at Din’s helmet, “It’s dislocated but you probably knew that. Armor and shirt off, please.”

“Buy me dinner first.”

Ro barked out a surprised laugh, “I think my riduur would object to that, Mando. Need anyone to help you get the armor off or can you manage with one hand?”

The insinuation wasn’t lost on Din. Was there someone here who could help him without breaking his creed? He lifted his left arm, “Just this if your riduur doesn’t mind.”

Kaiyah was coming out of the children's tent as she saw the two men talk about something she couldn’t hear. Mando had his back to her as Ro’s fingers slid off the vambraces and bes’marbur laughing about something.

Is Mando okay? He would have said something to me if he wasn’t, right?

Be careful. That’s his injured side, di’kut. You’re hurting him, Ro.

That should be me.

Shame of a new kind filled her as Kaiyah realized exactly what she was thinking. She barely knew him. Mando was her nephews' friend’s buir, an acquaintance. Just a guy she knew who at most was maybe-possibly-kind of her friend. Not whatever thoughts she was just having.

Shuffling the kids back through the camp took a while. It seemed pretty sacked, tents torn down, crates emptied, everyone had done what she said and taken their bonuses. It wasn’t hard to feel guilty about stealing from demogalka. Didn't stop the children from being terrified, slowly trodding along or completely stopping and asking where their parents were or if they were new masters. Something about points had been thrown around, bringing the other kids to tears about how they were bad now.

Finally getting everyone somewhat settled, they started climbing up the ramp. Mando and Ro brought up the rear the chrome Mandalorian was fit in his armor again, his right arm bound to his chest. It looked uncomfortable, but if that was what his creed dictated who was Kaiyah to judge?

Mando seemed relaxed for the return trip, which would make sense. The hard part was over and now he could get on with his life. He looked like he was sleeping but with the helmet, you wouldn't know unless he said something. It was tucked into his chest and his free arm was crossed against his chest. Kebiin and the red woman Mando she had been calling Ret'lini were sitting on either side of the group of the kids, talking in low voices. Ro was organizing his various pouches and bag, Jax and Reeger were nowhere to be seen.

“Everyone ready?” Reeger’s voice came over the tinny loudspeaker of the ship. The kids jumped and some squealed as the hiss of the ramp came up and sealed the ship, thrusters engaging to lift them off the planet.

Ryloth was only two sectors over from Vlemoth Port, but that didn’t stop the journey from feeling like it took days instead of hours, even in hyperspace. Ro kept looking at Din from the corner he was sharing with Kaiyah, staring him down with this intensity he didn’t know the medic had. From the few hours of interaction they had, the man had seemed easygoing. That was until he got a look at all of Din’s scars.

Ro had needed to look at the entire shoulder, something about having a clear view of the field, so Din stripped off the jacket he wore under the armor. Sitting in his lightest layer as Ro did some kind of magic massage to pop the joint back into place, the Twi’lek started talking.

“You believe in soulmates?”

Din scoffed. Why would anyone believe in that? The Ka’ra picks your eternal partner to make two halves of one Mandalorian whole? The package complete with matching scars? Ridiculous.

Ro continued as if he hadn’t heard Din's very audible huff. “Arumorut does. It’s why Kaiyah hasn’t succeeded our buir yet. Can’t until she finds them. If she can be the perfect Mandalorian she won’t be motivated by greed and then she can lead our people how they are supposed to be lead.”

“That’s nice.” Din didn’t want to insult the way Arumorut did things, he was a guest in their town. His manners didn’t stop it from being a stupid rule though. There was no way Kaiyah did what she did as some long con to greedily run a town that honestly didn’t need her to.

“Not really. How’d you get this one?” Ro pointed to the nasty burn on Din’s left shoulder, it spanned nearly all of his left side, curling down around his ribs, across the back of his arm, and up across his neck. Without the cape it could be seen peeking out from his jacket collar, it was massive.

Din knew it happened during his first Guild mission. A burning, tearing, awful pain blinding him in the middle of a chase where there were no fires or explosions close by. The bounty had gotten away and nearly ruined his first mission, it had taken weeks to get the target back when it should have taken days. Din only got a pass from Karga because he was a Mandalorian. It was the strangest thing Din had experienced up until the mudhorn incident. No one knew what was wrong with him, the only response he got was to be grateful it wasn’t worse.

“Can’t remember,” Din grunted. Ro hummed, motioning to the other man’s right arm, “How about that one?”

It was a bite from something with teeth. It was only on the top of his arm, whatever grabbed him didn’t bite all the way through because of the vambraces he wore. It was the only logical explanation, even if he didn’t know when or where it would have happened.

“Got bit. What does this have to do with Arumorut and Kaiyah?”

Ro shrugged, “Nothing.”

Din knew. He knew exactly what Ro was talking about. Kaiyah had similar scars and now her brother wanted them to get together in some weird soulmate pact so she could lead Arumorut and he wanted nothing to do with it. Din wasn’t getting married to anyone, at all, anytime soon. He’d done a lot of crazy things in the name of being polite but marrying a stranger? Never.

As the ship touched down to the docks on Arumorut Din let out a sigh of relief. The kids had been fine, they had slept the entire trip, but between the surprisingly scrutinizing gaze of Ro and the tension in Kaiyah’s shoulders, he knew that the medic said something. Dank farrik. He’d rather fight the Wookie again than have to deal with whatever was coming next.

Kaiyah was amazing, the kind of person someone could call anytime and she would be wherever they needed her with no questions asked. He had seen it enough times in the town to know her offer from their first meeting wasn’t said as some nicety. She was great with her nephews. She had a laser focus on whatever was going on, directing all of her attention to a person or task. Nothing was more important than whatever she was currently doing, even if it was fun.

She was someone he considered an ally. Din knew Kaiyah had his back if anything went wrong, and they had only met two weeks ago. She was dedicated, compassionate, and generous. Maker, he didn’t want this to start something. The Covert was getting settled, he was earning credits again. He didn’t want to leave (or force anyone else to) because whatever was going on made the tenuous treaty go sour. Din already had the kid, he couldn’t follow whatever this was.

As everyone filed out of the starship a slender Zabrak man ran up to Kaiyah. Exclaims drifted out from the Arumorut side of the group, all of them asking what he was doing here.

“Kaiyah… Harbinger-“ the man didn’t get too far before she cut him off, snorting at even the mention of his name.

“What, Dagon? Harbinger wants me to lick his boots clean now too?”

Whoever this Harbinger guy was it was clear Kaiyah didn’t like him, which meant Din didn’t like him by proxy. Kaiyah was easy to like, she enjoyed helping the town and was almost always available if a problem arose. It was hard not to like someone good at their job.

A look crossed the Zabrak’s face as he reached out to hold Kaiyah’s hands, one of concern and pity. It was the look of someone who didn’t want to give the bad news but was forced to.

“Harbinger challenged your dad for Arumorut.”

Translation & Lore:

Kebiin: blue

dar'manda: someone who has lost their identity and soul

alor: chief, leader

Mando'ade: children of Mandalore

riduur: spouse

bes’marbur: shoulder armor, pauldron

di'kut: idiot

buir: parent

demagolka: someone who commits war crimes, real life monster

Ret'lini: just in case

Trandoshans and Wookies have a long history. Trandoshans worship the hunt and a goddess called The Scorekeeper, who in Legends, keeps track of jagannath points. Trandoshans can earn points through hunting, which is why a lot go into bounty hunting or slavery. They could earn more points for Wookie pelts, some pelts being worth more points than others. The Wookies weren't down for this obviously so they typically hate Trandoshans. If a Trandoshan was captured during a hunt they would lose all their jagannath points, basically condemning them in The Scorekeeper's eyes. They could only earn their points back if they killed their kidnapper.

#din djarin fanfiction #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandalorian x original character #din djarin x oc #the mandalorian x oc #din djarin x original character #din djarin #the mandalorian #tw slavery #tw kidnapping #star wars fanfiction #kaiyah awaud

[winnix85]

Harry Welsh's deeds included in 'Band of Brothers'

Publication:Citizens' Voice 

Location:Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Issue Date:Sunday, June 6, 1993  (with a photo of Harry and Dick in 1993)

They Jumped much too low from plants that were flying much too fast. Lt. Harry Welsh’s plane was at 0 feet "at the most" when he Jumped. As Welsh emerged from the C-47, another plane craved Immediately beneath him. The blast from the explosion threw Welsh up and to the tide. "That saved my We," he recalls. His chute opened in time to check his descent last enough to make the thump when he landed, painfully but not fatally. It was 1:20 a.m. (0120). The date: June 6, 1944. D Day at Normandy. 

...

"I wanted Dick (Winters) to serve as my best man. We had planned it for years (through the war)," Harry continued. "But, because Dick's a Protestant, I couldn't get the priest to agree. He served as an usher," Harry added.

Approaching the coast of France in lite early morning hours, the C-47s passed through a cloud bank causing their formation to break up. Some pilots veered their planes to the left, others to the right. As a result of the pilots' evasive action, the airborne unit's hopes for tight patterns in the drop zone dissipated. As Welsh reminisced, his company was scattered over a distance of 20 kilometers. And, so, in those frantic predawn hours in Normandy commenced the combat saga of E Company, 506th Kcgimcnt, 101st Airborne. Their heroic deeds are chronicled in a recently published book "Band of Brothers" (Simon and Schuster). Actually, Ambrose, who is the Boyd professor of history at the University of New Orleans (best known for his two-volume biography of Dwight Eisenhower and three-volume work of Richard Nixon) details the progress and achievements of the rifle company from its inception in July 1942 at Camp Toccoa, Ga., to November 1945 when the 101st was inactivated. They parachuted into France early D-Day morning and knocked out a battery of four 105 mm cannon looking down Utah Beach. 

Band of Brothers' heroes Harry Welsh and Dick Winters They parachuted into Holland. They were the Battered Bastards of Bastogne brought in to hold the line - although surrounded - in the Battle of the Bulge; then spearheaded the countcroffensive. Finally, they captured Hitlers Bavarian outpost, his Eagle's Nest, at Bcrchtesgaden. And, emerging as one of the heroes in the epic tale is Wilkes-Barrt's Harry Welsh, 577 Carey Ave., retired school teacher and administrator. Harry is the son of the late "Effie" Welsh, sports editor of the Times Leader Evening News when he passed away in 1951. His bravery as a platoon leader is well-documented in "Band of Brothers." Recounting the battle for the pivotal town of Carcntan (inland from Omaha Beach) where the 101st linked up with the 29th Division, author Ambrose writes: "A German tank started to break through the hedgerow on Easy's left flank. Welsh told Pvt. John McGrath to bring his bazooka and come on. They raced out into the open field, crouched down, armed the bazooka and Welsh told McGrath to fire. The shot hit the turret, but bounced off. "The German tank turned its 88mm cannon toward Welsh and McGrath and fired. The shell zoomed over their heads, missing by a few feet The tank gunner could not depress his cannon sufficiently, because the tank driver was climbing the hedgerow in an effort to break through. 

"Welsh started reloading the bazooka. McGrath was saying, over and over, 'Lieutenant, you're gonna get me killed. You're gonna get me killed.' But he held his place, took careful aim at the tank, which was at the apex of its climb, cannon pointing skyward, the huge vehicle Just about to tip forward as it broke through, and fired. "He hit exactly where he wanted, the unarmorcd belly of the tank and it exploded in a great burst of flame and fire. That was the critical moment in the battle. "German tank drivers lined up behind the one McGrath had hit, put their gear in reverse and began to back off." 

"I never ordered Harry to go face to face with that German tank," notes Dick Winters,  "That's the type soldier Harry was," Winters said over lunch the other day at the Carriage Stop Inn, Plains, where we were dining with the two old WWII warriors. Winters also told of Welsh's gallan try at Bastogne where he (Welsh) sustained shrapnel wounds in action on Christmas Eve (1944). Welsh was removed to a hospital in Paris, then transferred to London, but he eventually returned to the company. 

Indeed, there was no shortage of valor in Easy Company and it was Winters, holder of the Distinguished Service Cross, who was the inspiration for the men under his command. He led them  through the valleys of death. Still, today, he retains their admiration, affection and loyalty. "In combat your reward for a good job done is that you get the next tough mission. E Company kept right on getting the iob done throuch Holland - Bastogne -Germany. The stress through our training and  combat has created a bond between the men of E Company that will last forever," Winters remarked. 

As the end of the war in Europe drew near, Bcrchtesgaden site of Hitler's mountain lair, Alder-shorst (Eagle's Nest) - was a magnet for the troops of all armies. It was there that the high ranking German leaden had flocked to be near their Fuhrer. The palatial dwellings of Goering, Himmler and others were reputedly crammed with art treasures, jewelry and other valuables. Easy Company got there first. And, there was more than art treasures. Wandering through Goering's Officers Quarters and Club, Winters was scouting on his own, kicking open doors when he came upon a vaulted cellar - 15 meters by 10 meters. "Lord! I had never seen anything like this before. There were row after row of liquor racks stretching from floor to ceiling. The brand names covered the world. One estimate was 10,000 bottles," he recounted. 

Winters put a double guard on the officer's club entrance and another on the cellar. Needless to say, when Germany's surrender finally became official the 506th was prepared with the "spirits" of the occasion. 

And, finally, there's a touching footnote to the Harry Welsh story. Harry married immediately upon his return to the states. His bride, Kitty Grogan, wore a dress made from Harry's reserve chute he wore on D-Day. He carried it with him in his musette bag -through his entire 11-month campaign in France, Holland and Romany. "We were married in St. Ignatius Church (Kingston)," Welsh was saying the other day. "I wanted Dick (Winters) to serve as my best man. We had planned it for years (through the war)," Harry continued. "But, because Dick's a Protestant, I couldn't get the priest to agree. He served as an usher," Harry added. 

It's now a friendship that dates back 50 years to when Winters and Welsh were both lieutenants in Easy Company before the unit went overseas. They immediately became the closest of friends. The relationship was based on mutual respect brought about by an identical view of leadership. "Officers go first," as Welsh puts it. But, perhaps, author Ambrose puts it best in discussing the bonding of men ina rifle company. Prolonged exposure to the horrors of hand-to-hand combat forges bonds that are virtually unbreakable. As one member of the regiment told Ambrose, "riflemen would literally insist on going hungry for one another, freezing for one another, dying for one another." Their shared experiences creates "a closeness unknown to all outsiders." Their trust in, and knowledge of, each other is total.

#band of brothers #harry welsh #dick winters #real band of brothers #newspaper

[anon-e-miss]

If you still want to do that ask meme I would like to request "I'm not dead yet!"

“Autobots fall back to Alpha Grid.”

The order came as Jazz ducked behind some debris that had once been part of the plaza. He cursed as Seeker missiles spat rubble in all direction. His visor was cracked, his lipplate split. In the thick of battle, he felt none of it. Somewhere beneath Fort Scyk his friends were being held captive, and Jazz had no intention of falling back, and leaving them to their fate. He knew they  would not have left him if their situations were reversed.

He pretended he had not heard Prowl’s order. Jazz chose to believe it did not apply to him although knowing Prowl it most likely did. As the Autobots fell back, they drew the Seeker fire away the plaza beyond the Fort’s walls and he effortlessly slipped inside. The battle for Stanix played out at his back, and he paid it no mind. It was a mere coincidence that he had chosen this mega-cycle to launch his rescue mission. He had been operating on radio silence as HQ had been planning their attack. Prowl had ordered him to clear  the area, once the Autobots had taken up their position, Jazz had politely declined. The battle would be a good distraction. And it was, though it also served up a few complications.

As he descended down the many floors to the dungeons, the Decepticon base shuddered with Autobot shells. Jazz hoped they did not drop it down on his helm before he got Mirage  and Hound out of this Pit. He passed no Decepticons on his way down to the dungeon. The Autobots were giving them enough to worry about that every spark was out in the thick of it. Really, firefights did serve as excellent cover. The base shuddered violently and ceiling panels fell as Jazz covered his helm.

“Autobot Jazz, fall back,” Prowl spoke directly to him. “The Decepticons will not be held back.The mission has failed.”

“I ain’t dead yet.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I ain’t dead yet, so the mission ain’t either.”

Ruthlessly, he cut the commlink. Prowl was a great many things, and a great many of them admirable. One of the things Jazz found more confounding than admirable was his caution. As long as he was running free, his mission was not lost, and neither was his team. Though the ceiling above him continued to rumble, Jazz ignored it, and the growing danger. Within a bream he was at the door to his friends’ cell. In another two kliks, he had lock busted, and Mirage and Hound free.

They were battered, but they were alive. Jazz led them out from where he had come, scout and spy limping badly but still ambulatory. Ratchet would probably have a field day with them once they ended up in his tender mercies, but that would wait. The only blessing Jazz could say for his friends being tortured was that at least it had bought him a few mega-cycles to  get to them. When they slipped out of the Fort, slowed by their limping, Jazz reconnected his commlink.

“Retrieval complete. Falling back to Alpha grid.”

“Negative, the road has been cut. Fall back to Delta grid, the retreat will be from the south.”

“Gotcha.”

They had barely made it beyond the plaza when fire and brimestone rained down on the fort. The obliteration was total. So that was what Prowl had been waiting for. It had been generous of him not to just send in the bombers while Jazz had been climbing down to the bowels of the fort. Jazz imagined Prowl would have called that “acceptable losses”. It was a relief to see Trailbreaker, three breams after they had escaped the destruction of the fort. Mirage and Hound were quickly ferried away by a field medic. Jazz lent his blaster to the fight. He saw Prime. He saw the Twins.

“Prowl, what’re yer guardbots doin’ down here?”

“The Vanguard suffered heavy losses,” Prowl replied. “They are his guard now.”

“Sounds like it’s time for ya to  fall back.”

“It is too late. The road is gone and I am surrounded by Seekers.”

“Fraggin’ Pit.”

Jazz looked  north and west and saw Seekers circling the old observatory Prowl had taken over to be his tactical suite. He watched one of the vulture’s fall from the sky. They may  have scented death but their quarry was not  dead just yet. Jazz scanned the skyline and the terrain. With just a quick nod to Trailbreaker, he transformed and drove for Alpha Grid.

“Comin’ to spring ya,” Jazz declared.

“Negative. The roads are out and more Seekers are in bound. Find Optimus and keep the retreat orderly.”

“That’s yer job.”

“I am afraid I will be otherwise engaged.”

“Frag that, ‘m on my way.”

“Jazz, that mission is a failure. There is no logic in us both falling into Decepticon servos. Cut your losses, now.”

There was no arguing with the mech. Jazz continued his way north. As Seeker flew above him, Jazz shot them down, tried to at least. They were not bombing the observatory, it could have easily been done. Instead they circled the observatory, and shot out the windows as they got in close. Some got too close and fell to acid rounds, but the rest circled, and took their pot shots. They were not trying to kill Prowl, he realized, they were trying to catch him. A quick comm to Optimus saw the Prime rallying, and renewing their assault against their Decepticon foes.Faced with those canons, some Seeker trines were called back to the fight. Jazz grinned as he picked those remaining off, one at a time. Suddenly, it was quiet. The Seekers were dead or dying, or engaged with the core of the army. He saw Prowl look out a shattered window. They made optic contact.

“I ain’t dead yet.”

“What are you going on about?” Prowl asked as he stepped out of the observatory. He had suffered some shrapnel wounds at some point, but the Praxian was looking fit, and as formidable as ever.

“Mission ain’t a failure as long as ‘m ventilating.”

[valkyrisffvii]

Mentorship

Setting: Shinra Headquarters, Midgar

POV: 1st person (Mithra)

Summary: Angeal takes Mithra on as his second apprentice alongside Zack, and he introduces her to Genesis and Sephiroth.

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

I stood outside of the training room waiting for Zack to show up. A week had passed since I met him, and I was eager to meet his mentor, Angeal. We had been hanging out a lot as well, and he quickly became a good friend. Both of us had seemingly boundless energy and friendly personalities. We talked about our childhoods, or at least his childhood and whatever I had experienced before:

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

“So Mithra, where are you from?”

“I’m not exactly sure, but my earliest memory is waking up in the slums. I don’t know how I got there. What about you?”

“Me? I’m from Gongaga.” I couldn’t help but laugh at how funny it sounded. 

“Hey, what’s so funny? Don’t you know about Gongaga?”

“I didn’t know there were so many other places out there. The slums were the only world I knew for so long.”

“Gongaga’s pretty far from here,” Zack said. “There’s a broken reactor nearby, but it’s a pretty sweet place. You’ve gotta watch out for the frogs though. Some of them can turn you into one if you’re not careful. I know that from experience.”

“You got turned into a frog once?” I laughed.

“Several times, actually. My dad got really good at reversing the transformation,” he said, his face blushing slightly. I giggled, finally feeling that I’d found someone I could really relate to. Even though he wasn’t a former slum-dwelling thief, I had never met someone as cheerful and open-minded as him.

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

I smiled at the memory before hearing footsteps walking down the hallway. I turned my head towards them, and low and behold, there he was. Zack grinned at me as he stopped in front of me.

“Angeal’s not here yet. You wanna go in and spar?” I nodded eagerly. I had been practicing for hours every day, and my skills have been improving quite significantly. I had also spoken with the Director about scouting missions, and he told me that the three Firsts and he would test me on my skills in the coming weeks. 

Zack and I entered the training room, which was bare of any furniture. We stood opposite of each other, drawing our weapons. Aside from my standard issued Shinra short sword, I had a long bow and a quiver of arrows. If I was gonna be a scout, I might as well learn ranged combat. 

Zack made the first move, performing an overhead slash, which I shielded easily. I took advantage of his position and jabbed him in the stomach with my elbow, causing him to stagger backwards. We continued at it for a few minutes before Zack crumpled to the floor, panting heavily.

“Damnit Mithra, I still have training with Angeal! You’re wearing me out!” I smirked, my practice was definitely paying off.

Just after that, another presence entered the room. I turned my head to see a tall, muscular man. He almost looked like he was related to Zack, with black chin-length hair, a small beard, and the signature SOLDIER eyes. He was wearing a black SOLDIER uniform and holding a short sword identical to mine and Zack’s. The most noticeable thing about him, however, was the giant broadsword he had strapped to his back. He looked at Zack, smirking.

“I see the newcomer has overwhelmed you, puppy,” he chuckled. Zack rolled his eyes and picked himself up off the floor.

“Shut up, Angeal,” he retorted before turning to me. “Mithra, this is Angeal Hewley, my mentor.” Angeal held out his hand, and I shook it.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Valkyris. Zack’s told me about you, and you seem very promising in your abilities as a SOLDIER.”

“Please, just call me Mithra. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Commander Hewley,” I said nervously, struggling to make eye contact. 

“If you don’t need formalities, then neither do I. Angeal is fine.” He let go of my hand. “You’re a former thief, aren’t you?” 

I gulped. What was he gonna think of me now? I nodded in shame; I knew that my past would haunt me forever. Luckily Angeal noticed, and he did nothing that would embarrass me further. 

“I’m glad that you’ve decided to join SOLDIER, as we are always looking for new recruits that can be sent on stealth missions.” He drew his sword just as Zack had done earlier. “Give me a few hits.” 

I struck his sword several times, but on one, he managed to push my blade away with a fair amount of force. However, I took the opportunity to roll underneath him and get behind him, remaining directly behind him so he couldn’t swing at me. Taking care not to get cut on his giant sword, I swung the sword in front of his neck, landing it inches away from his skin. His eyes widened, thoroughly impressed with my performance. 

I lowered my sword, and he turned around. I bowed respectfully, hoping that I didn’t do anything wrong. He cleared his throat, and I looked up at him.

“That was very impressive. You excel at being unpredictable and disarming your opponent. I’m sure the Director will be pleased to know this. I also see that you are an archer as well.” He gestured to my bow.

“I’m learning, but yes, I also like to use some ranged weapons.” I replied. Angeal hummed to himself in satisfaction.

“Good. Adaptability is essential in the military.” He turned to Zack. “I’m gonna go and talk to Lazard about assigning scout missions to Mithra. We shouldn’t take long, and then I’ll train you afterwards.”

“I can’t complain about a training delay,” Zack said before doing squats. Angeal motioned for the two of us to follow him, and he led us out of the training room and to Director Lazard’s office. Zack smiled at me encouragingly the whole way.

We reached the Director’s office, and I instantly spotted two SOLDIERs standing in front of the desk, their backs facing us. One of them had rusty red hair and a reddish coat on, and the other had silver hair that went past their waist and a black leather coat. I was instantly drawn to the silver-haired one; wasn’t I the only female SOLDIER? Whoever they were, they looked absolutely beautiful, and I could not take my eyes off of them. Angeal cleared his throat.

“Director Lazard, I’d like to talk to you about Mithra Valkyris.” The two SOLDIERs turned around, and to my embarrassment, I saw that the silver-haired figure was a man. I did my best to hide the flush that came over my face. I thought he was a woman, a very tall one at that, and a very attractive one. Zack noticed my nervousness and squeezed my hand in support.

“Angeal, did you really have to interrupt us?” The auburn man asked in annoyance. “We were talking about something important. Couldn’t you have waited a few minutes?” Angeal rolled his eyes.

“My bad, Genesis.” Lazard turned his attention towards the black-haired First, and he glanced at me as well.

“Has she gotten a chance to demonstrate her skills to you, Commander Hewley?”

“Yes, and she’s very promising. She managed to sneak under me after I blocked her, and if she wanted to she could’ve cut my throat.” Genesis scoffed.

“Not as aware as you think you are, huh Angeal?” He laughed at himself, and Angeal rolled his eyes again. I wondered if he got headaches from doing that so much. 

“Very good,” said Lazard. “Are you recommending her for scout?”

“Yes,” replied Angeal, confidently, “she’ll do well on stealth missions.” Lazard smiled.

“Well then, Mithra, congratulations. You now have the title of Agent. I trust that you’ll do well in your upcoming missions.” He turned to his computer to type out his latest report. Angeal turned around to leave the Director’s office, and Zack and I followed him. Genesis and the silver-haired SOLDIER caught up with us.

“Angeal, how could you not introduce us to your second pupil?” Genesis asked, looking at me. I held out my hand.

“I’m Mithra Valkyris,” I said. Genesis smiled at my initiative, taking my hand and kissing the top of it.

“I’ve heard about you, Mithra Valkyris. The first female SOLDIER. Commander Genesis Rhapsodos, at your service.” I smiled at his charisma. Genesis let go of my hand before staring at the third SOLDIER. 

“Sephiroth, be a gentleman and greet the lady!” I looked at him and tried my hardest not to blush. I had crushed on him earlier because I thought he was a woman!

“I’m Sephiroth, General of SOLDIER,” he said quickly, shaking my hand. His eyes drilled into me as if he was searching for my true emotions. I felt intimidated by him, maybe because his pupils looked weird.

“I’m Mithra,” I squeaked. I could see the faintest hint of a smile form on Sephiroth’s lips.

“I’m sure we’ll become well-acquainted if you’ll be training under Angeal,” Sephiroth said calmly. 

“I don’t know how you’ll be able to train two rambunctious Thirds, Angeal,” Genesis snorted. “The puppy already stresses you out enough.”

“I’ll try not to be too much trouble for him,” I retorted. “Unless you would like to mentor me, Genesis.” Genesis held his hands up. 

“I have a tendency to set things on fire, so maybe I could help you with magic,” he replied. I laughed in response.

“And I don’t think you’d be able to keep up with me,” Sephiroth added. Genesis scoffed.

“Yes, no one can beat Shinra’s poster boy.” He rolled his eyes, and I snickered.

“Anyways, I’m gonna go to the simulator room and do some stealth practice. I can’t get rusty if Lazard expects me to do scouting missions.” I turned to head towards the simulation room when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked over to see Genesis.

“Let us accompany you. We haven’t gotten to see what you can do, and Lazard did say that we’d get to see it as well.” I smiled and nodded, and Genesis and Sephiroth followed me to my destination. Time to prove myself worthy of making Second Class.

#mithra valkyris #zack fair #angeal hewley #genesis rhapsodos #sephiroth #lazard deusericus #mithra thinks seph is a girl at first #that's why she thinks he's hot #this happens a little over a month after mithra joins SOLDIER #she is about 18 #she gets promoted to second class at age 19 #that story will be coming soon #final fantasy vii #fanfiction

[papermoonloveslucy]

Lucille Ball Reaches Top After Battle For Stardom

 December 4, 1953

When you see Lucille Ball cavorting about the Ricardo apartment in the CBS Television "I Love Lucy" series, you can rest assured that he expert comedienne is giving her all to the role of Lucy Ricardo. 

It is doubtful, in fact, that there is another TV trouper who gives as much of her physical and mental energies as does Lucille to the preparation of a comedy show. She gears herself up for each performance, works like a demon, and has been known to faint dead away after the director called 'cut' for the final scene. 

Being "on the ball" is no novelty to Lucille. At the beginning of her theatrical career in the role of a Broadway model she almost lost her life in an automobile accident, and was told that she would never walk again. It took her eight months in bed and three years of persistent effort to reverse the doctor's gloomy prediction. And from then on, her luck changed and she skyrocketed to the show business goal on which he'd set her eye since childhood. 

Lucille and Desi Arnaz were married in 1940, and it was 10 years later, when they were touring the country with comedy act, that she got word of an impending visit from the stork. It was also at this time that they made the audition program for "I Love Lucy," which was promptly sold, and made its debut Oct. 15. 1951. 

The daughter, Lucie Desiree Arnaz. was born July 17, 1951. And it is well known that a second child was on its way in the fall of 1952 when Lucille was doing 'enceinte" scenes for the TV show. And the newspapers made much of the fact that Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV arrived January 19, 1953 on a TV show day which presented the birth of the Ricardo's baby boy as the theme of script. 

Born in Jamestown, N.Y., August 6, the daughter of Fred and Desiree Ball, mining engineer and concert pianist respectively, Lucille was taken at the age of two to Wyandotte, Mich., and then to Jamestown, N.Y. Mrs. Ball started her daughter's music lessons at the age of five, then enrolled her in the Chautauqua Institute of Music for two seasons. 

At 15, Lucille entered the John Murray Anderson dramatic school in New York and was told at the end of the first year of study, that she'd be better off applying her energies in some ether field. Determined to show her teacher that she could make good in show-business. 

Miss Ball landed a chorus job in the third road company of Ziegfeld's "Rio Rita" and lost the job after five weeks of rehearsal. Three other chorus jobs followed, none of which lasted beyond the rehearsal period. Her "first real job on Broadway" was as a soda jerk in a drug store. 

A job as a $25-a-week model for a wholesale dress company led to a modelling job with Hattie Carnegie. Then came the tragic accident in Central Park, and three years and eight months of learning to walk again. 

Back to work as a model, Lucille was featured in magazine and billboard cigarette advertisements, and Hollywood scouts brought her to the film capital for a showgirl role in Eddie Cantor's "Roman Scandals." Columbia Pictures gave her a contract as a stock player, and Lucille, convinced that her luck finally had turned, sent for her mother, grandfather and sister to join her in California. But it turned out to be just another stumbling block. The morning after she'd wired her family, the studio decided to dissolve its stock company. 

When the family arrived, Lucille was working as an extra at Paramount. Bit parts and extra roles in a number of pictures kept Lucille busy but not prosperous, until she was cast in "Roberta." RKO officials, impressed by her work, gave her a contract. When not busy before the cameras, she was a mainstay of the studio's Little Theatre. 

Her performance in the second lead in "The Girl from Paris" drew Broadway's attention to Miss Ball, and she was offered a lead in the musical, "Hey Diddle, Diddle." After satisfying her yen to perform on the Great White Way, "Stage Door" and "Too Many Girls." In the latter picture, she was co-starred with Desi Arnaz. They were married Nov. 30, 1940, in Greenwich, Conn. 

Back from her honeymoon, Lucille walked into her first really big break, a role in "The Big Street," based on a story by Damon Runyon. Overnight, it made her a star. In it, she played a showgirl who was paralyzed from the hips down. Her own three-and-a-half years in a similar predicament enabled her to play the role so convincingly that she had every studio bidding for her services. 

She signed with MGM on her birthday in 1942. Her first assignment at MGM was the title role in the Technicolor production, "Du Barry Was A Lady." Stellar roles followed in "Best Foot Forward" and "Meet The People." 

After completing "East To Wed" with Van Johnson, she headed for New York to be with her husband, then out of the Army and on his way to success in the orchestra business.

Shortly after completing "Her Husband's Affairs," Miss Ball went on tour as star of Elmer Rice's play. "Dream Girl." Between pictures and stage appearances, Lucille and her husband live at Desilu, their five-acre ranch at Northridge, some 30 miles from Hollywood. 

Lucille, who is five feet, six inches tall and weighs 120 lbs. sleeps in a bed seven by seven feet. She likes spicy dishes and enjoys knocking around the house in dungarees. 

In her role as Lucy Ricardo in "I Love Lucy," she is starred as the feminine half of a closely-knit married couple. And that's the role she plays in real life. 

#Lucille Ball #I Love Lucy #Lucy #Desi Arnaz #1953 #Newspaper

[magiccallie]

Tomb of the Fifth Emperor 3.9k words

   "Did you take my ink?" Asked a smooth faced, reddish skinned, fit young man named Lelei.     "No, I have mine right... oh, sorry." The hand that returned the inkwell was much smaller than Lelei's. It had a sickly hue to its oaky skin that bespoke few meals and little exposure to the sun. The rest of the scholar reflected that assessment, nails bitten to nubs, a scrawny body in an ill-fitting tunic, hunched like a leering gargoyle in their chair, leaning over a set of freshly written pages with curls shadowing the eyes. This was Ross. "Hey, can you listen to my presentation?"     Lelei grimaced, "I don't know. I should really be studying for this astronomy test. Cherrygrove doesn't let you into expeditions on brawn alone you know." "Astronomy is the one class I never hear you complaining about you'll be fine. Come on, I need another set of ears to tell me if there are obvious errors."     Lelei looked at Ross's pleading eyes and sighed. "Fine, go ahead."     Ross cleared their throat and stood straighter. "The Tomb of the Fifth Emporer. We know many details about the life of the fifth emperor of Amar, Haorth Dimassa, but the location of his burial site is yet unknown."     "Oh is that who the fifth Emperor was?"     "You didn't know that?"     "I'm not a history major, I know the first Emperor and the current one."     "Luckily this will go over- no, best to give details now. This isn't part of the presentation. Haorth was born in a time of conquest for the nation. Back then they were still calling themselves kings."     "So why is it the fifth Emperor if he was a king? Wouldn't the first emperor be, you know, the first emperor?"     "Because they are-err-uh...it is a part of how Amar paints its history, and frankly sounds better than the fifth ruler. Anyways. He was the eldest of several children, and heir to the throne. His childhood was mostly unnoteworthy, though his mother died giving birth to his youngest sibling. It is his early adolescence where we start to get any sort of noted history. Records show he spent most of two and a half cycles traveling the lands of Amar, Miburnia, Gef, and Quibalk-"     "Where is Quibal-"     "We are not sure but there are ideas it is now Suintia, but he was traveling with an entourage to learn about the cultures. During this time he met several life long friends, including a Quibalkian by the name of Anju. When he finally came home to Amar to stay he was welcomed and well versed in the other cultures. His father had grown ill in his absence, and it was likely Haorth would take leadership. Of course his siblings were not all happy about that. The third in line for the throne in particular, though he was but four cycles old, had stayed at home and immersed themselves in politics and courtly intrigue. Our being able to see the whole picture lets us assume it was he who had sent numerous assassins after Haorth and he who had begun to poison the fourth Emperor. Perhaps he thought of his brother as easier to deal with, for the Fourth Emperor died not a season after Haorth's return. Thus did Haorth become the Fifth Emperor, and took many lovers, including Anju.     He renewed the war effort on a less violent tone, engaging in diplomacy while strong arming resistance, buying large swathes of territory for cheap honnied words. Meanwhile the second in line died under an ambush while traveling to one of these encounters, and many of his lovers were killed in 'accidents' as well.     In frustration and grief, he began to look inward to strengthen his people and loved ones. He was a mage you s-"     "Woah, the Fifth Emporer was a mage?" Lelei exclaimed.     Ross sighed and looked at the presentation, they would not be getting to that tonight. "Yeah it was not a big thing back then. The hate for magic in the country and world would not emerge until much later, and the Witch Hunters and current- look I'm getting off topic."     "What kind of mage?"     "They did not use the terms we do now, but he lacked the formal training and colleges there are now, but as I was about to explain had more training and outside resources than a shaman, so a warlock would be closest."     "Hold on, how do you know he was a mage at all?"     "Historical texts imply that-"     "Imply? So he might not even be a mage himself?"     "It is widely speculated that he was a mage."     "But you don't know." Lelei seemed to settle back down, Ross in turn took a deep breath, contemplating if it was an argument worth having and noting Lelei was not to be fully trusted.     "So back to the point, when the death-toll began to rise, he piled his time, money, and connections together and some powerful magical tools began to show up in history. He married a Gef princess, but Anju was still showing up every other seasons or so to spend quality time together. The division between Haorth and the third sibling had grown more obvious and public. Sides began to be chosen, and Haorth began to funnel a large amount of his new assets out with Anju.     It was not long before a short bloody war broke out, and in a single season Haorth, his wife, and those loyal to him were wiped out. But here is the problem, his body was never recovered by the Sixth Emperor Daz's forces. Rumors circulated for cycles about his survival, supposed sightings, and his gathering power to rerise. But also at this time, rumors of a large construction project in the Quibalkian lands drew many skilled workers from many countries. The location of it was never disclosed to Amar as a nation, and Anju and the gathered wealth were not found either, so my presentation is on it, its location, and the chances of it being the Tomb of the Fifth Emperor."     Lelei shook his head. "That's crazy. He had a wild life, I hope you're right though. You know what happens if you present an expedition that fails."     "Thank you, I have some back ups to make it not a total loss, but I am certainly nervous." Ross yawned. "I'm heading back to the dorm, I'm way to distracted to work more."     "I'll come with you. Sorry that I did not know about any of that."     "It is alright. If you tried to tell me about astronemy it would have been a roll reversal." ~     The institution of Hightop resides in the southern part of the Red Rock Mountains in the Amar Empire. While it is not known as a place of learning, and indeed does not advertise itself as such, it is known for its mastery and contributions of several arts and sciences. Among these being the study of numerous monsters and beasts, the shaping of certain rare materials into tools, weapons, and armor, and the creation of magical items. These contributions do not stay in the academic field alone, for the military and a secretive society both receive them as well.     It was nestled beside an old mining town on the summit of a mountain and it built like the rest of the town. Square, squat, ugly stone buildings built low into the ground with several stories leading deeper into the stone. Even getting up to it was difficult, with the snow and ice making the steep barren slopes slick. As one might expect the townsfolk and institution workers that resided in such an isolated location were suspisious of outsiders and visitors. The individual Ross was not supposed to be there, had not been expected, and had been taken deep below the surface to wait in a cold cell. They huddled deep in a fur cloak, shivering and watching their breath, thin though it that high up. In their hands was a sealed package of notes and a presentation on a possible location for treasure.     Two individuals in purple robes walked down the carved stone steps and to Ross’s cell. They had the hoods up, masking their identities, but they were both rather tall and wide set. “So, your proposal for an expedition was rejected by your college, so you decided to come to our little expedition house on the hill to try again.” The voice was feminine and condescending. “You are in luck scholar, the Foreman decided to call the heads together to listen.” Gloved hands opened the cell and stood Ross up. “Follow us, stray and you will be thrown back in there. If this goes well we might even let you join.”     “We don’t have as extensive a library as Cherrygrove, but I’m sure there will be plenty enough.” They strode down a maze of interconnected tunnels, ignoring dozens of side rooms. From all around was the semi-rythmic echoed sound of digging, hammering, talking, and grunts of hard labor. Finally they came to a dark wood door. The carving above it indicated it as a meeting room. “There we are. Step inside and good luck.” She opened the door and shoved Ross in. ~     A week later Ross found themselves riding north with two expedition members from Hightop, and a small caravan entourage of cages, feed, rations, wagon drivers, animal keepers, and other such forgettable things necessary to large undertakings. Suintia, the nation where their site was supposedly located, had a myriad of large ancient beasts and monsters, dangerous creatures that would be useful in a variety of ways to Hightop. To that end, they had sent a Wizard named Devod as their occult consultant and monster wrangler. Devod was of average height, had dirty blonde hair, was the color of a peach, and wore glasses. His team of wranglers and handlers seemed to respect him, but he was reluctant to do any work unrelated to the capturing of monsters.     In contrast their navigator Patter Bigprice was doing the work of three. Scouting ahead, cheaking and updating their map with Ross, and helping set up camp and with cooking. He was a short man of Ira ancestry, and sneaky and quick as a hare, but one could not go half a day before catching a glimpse of him.     While Ross was technically the head of the expedition, and the one they turned to for final decisions, the other two members each seemed to lead their own duties and groups without guidance. That suited the scholar just fine for the most part. Just as each of the official Hightop members had been given special equipment that they had not, so to had they not been given a responsibility in the daily affairs of travel and exploration. It gave Ross more time to study and double check their work. By the time they had entered what they were sure was former Quibalk they had fourteen days of supplies with which to explore before they would need to turn back.     Not much of the Quibalkan’s wooden forts would still remain, but the large burial mound they predicted would have the remains and ancient King’s lost wealth would be. Ross had hoped it would be simple to see given the relative lack of elevation variation but it was not to be. The further North they had ridden the trees around them had grown taller and thicker, until they were passing under almost constant shade and the trunks were wide as Patter laying down. Rumors from locals warned this part of the forest would be haunted, they had not seen any ghosts yet but there were several large animal tracks which had caught Devod’s interest.     Lacking firm direction besides vaguely northward, Ross felt no reason to not follow one of the tracks. Devod and Patter chose one they said should be a large hooved quadruped, and began to lead the way. Patter had a crossbow ready as he walked, even as he would check the small navigational tool the Hightoppers called a ‘compass’. At his side, tightly wound, was a length of rope tied to an odd hook made of the strange meteor stone Hightop used for some of its more valued creations. Devod by contrast, was not hunting with a weapon. He had a small whistle and that was it.    The rest of them trailed behind almost out of sight until they stopped and set up camp for the night. Though they had said it would be the next day before they found the beast Devod was jumpy at the campfire. Even without the many odd noises they had slowly grown accustomed to in their travel, he would look at the trees around them and start or shudder. Finally Ross asked, “what are you so afraid of?”    Devod gave them a hard calculating look, then said, “We are not alone, and I am trying not to let the incorporeal distract me from the possible real threats.” The other’s scowled, but Ross only nodded, “Let us know if something we should worry about happens.”    That night it was hard to sleep, but even when Ross finally did they were woken up by the slow, distinct sound of wood creaking and cracking, and it was getting closer. Not close enough to raise an alarm, but Ross didn’t get back to sleep either.    The next day they caught up to the beast and had their first taste of what to expect from the creatures of the realm. It was as tall as Ross, and indeed a quadruped. Thick brown fur covered it, and it looked almost like a particularly talented child had attempted to draw an elk. It was oddly lumpy, and thick, its face bulbous and long, and its antlers were cupped and almost hand shaped. It began to attack the minuet it got scent of them, but Devod quickly stepped in. With a gesture of haughty dismissal and an incantation in another language he wove a spell. Purple, glittering trails of smoke circled the charging beast’s eyes and around its limbs. The incantation continued, and the beast’s eyes closed, its charge becoming a stumble as momentum carried it to their feet. Devod broke the incantation for a moment to use his whistle, then stood concentrating. His crew came swiftly and placed it in a cage.    Finally the wizard was able to stop, and slumped down with a yawn. “Considering how quickly it defended itself it is probably an herbivore. Gather some local plants to make sure it has some feed.” Another yawn. “Being so amazing is exhausting, I think I’m going to nap.” He went to his wagon, got on, and promptly dosed off.    “So…which direction are you thinking now?”    “Are those more tracks?”    “Yes, looks like another beast like this one leading north.”    “Let us follow them then, how close do you suppose it might be?”    “We’ll catch up with it by tomorrow.”    “Good, with no sign of hill nor ruins that is our best bet.”    They went on for a time, but that night while around the campfires Patter heard a rustling of branches nearby. In a flash his crossbow was ready, and his eyes scanned the darkness before freezing. With his eyes narrowed he gestured with his head for Ross to look. There was something in the shadows, clinging to the upper part of one of the trees with one hand. It was hard to make out a shape, but it had two eyes that reflected the fire’s light, staring at them.    “Should we wake Devod to capture it?” Ross whispered.    “He won’t be able to pull a trick like that again until tomorrow.”    “Well set a watch to keep an eye on it.”    “Oh I will. Dealt with these plenty of times.” Patter spoke so plainly and with such confidence Ross was inclined to believe him.    Shaking their head they went to work on the map before sleep. That night the sound of creaking and breaking wood returned. They stared into the dark, no longer seeing the creature only the trees. They swore they almost saw floating dead people in the gloom, ghosts staring at them. They shuddered, and closed their eyes, telling themself it was just a trick of their eyes. Morning was a welcome sight despite their lack of sleep. The sound from that night had not stopped, and the expedition decided a packing quickly would be smart. While they worked, an eerie moaning howl of a noise, and a bellowing grunt of a scream cut short filled the air, chilling their blood more than the frigid dawn air. Still lacking further leads, they followed the tracks. The animals of the expedition were increasingly nervous, and that energy extended to the human members as well. Ross kept seeing long dead faces in the corner of their vision, darting shadows, and cold spots seemed to follow them. Once again Devod and Patter where keeping ahead of the group, and around midday Patter signaled the expedition to stop and slunk back wide eyed.    “It’s the thing from last night, looks like it killed and is eating another beast like we have in the cage. Looks slightly injured but dangerous, Devod is going to work his sleep spell while we minimize out chances of startling it. This thing will make the expedition worth it for sure. We-“    “Patter.” Ross interrupted, an uneasy feeling growing as they considered their situation. “If that thing from last night is there what do you think is making that noise?”     Devod’s whistle blew, then they heard him yell. Stumbling back towards the wagons he was motioning them to turn. “We need to move we need to run go!” Behind him were dozens of the ghosts floating about, almost mist like. Then it seemed as if the forest was moving. No, not the whole forest, but a singular giant tree. They were already moving away from it, but Ross tried to get a good look. The spirits seemed to stay near it, and some even swirled around it. It walked on two long thick limbs its bark had an almost fur like quality at parts, it had two arms that grew from the piney trunk, ending in claw like things one might generously describe as hands. They could not make out a face, but it seemed to know where they were and walked slow and steady their way.    “We should turn back.” Devod explained.”    “The expedition will be a failure.” Patter replied.    “My magic isn’t going to stop that thing. We have no direction, we need to cut our losses before lives are part of them.”    “We stay.” Ross put in. “Turn right and keep moving. This is my only chance. A creature like that, the ghosts, I think this is the defense the Quibalkans left the tomb.”    “But we still don’t know where it is.”    “We are explorers not go check on the thing we know the exact location of-ers.”    They were already moving deeper. Ross was unsure of what they had heard about them, but despite Devod’s reluctance no further argument was given. They had after all, been desperate and sure enough about this expedition to defect to Hightop, what else that desperation might drive them to do was best left untested. Their pursuer was not particularly fast, but it was relentless. Every stop, rest, and obstacle brought it closer again.    Eventually it was dark, the expedition and its animals were all tired and scared. Finally Patter saw an incline devoid of trees. They went round the mound until they found what seemed to be a large stone entrance and Ross ordered a great fire to be built. While the panicked group worked on that and making camp, Ross turned their attention to the stone. It was a door, covered in ornate design and with an inscription on top. Silently they wished they could trace it for future works, bu the sound of the tree thing was getting even closer. They pushed and shoved the door to no effect then scowled at it. “It is just too heavy, or does it need something. If only I could translate this, maybe… hey Devod.”    “Yeah boss?”    “Come here, see if you can get this door to react to you.”    “Better than moving logs I suppose.” The Wizard grumbled, coming to stand next to them. “What do you want me to do?”    “Try to push it with me, maybe try to put some magic energy in it.”    “That…isn’t how that works. But okay.” They pushed, and the door seemed to shudder, then give way. Inside the mound was cold musty air and shadow. Ross grabbed a torch and the pair went in while Patter prepped outside. It was huge inside, the floor sloped slowly downward so when they entered the main chamber it was cavernous. Gold, jewels, and stranger things glimmered in the dark, and Devod had to close his eyed so many magical things were around them.    “Go back out, anyone who isn't building the fire needs to come and gather this.” Ross ordered. Devod made a face but went back out, and the light of Ross’s torch fell upon a rectangle of a sarcophagus. Kneeling next to it, half on top of it in a position of grief, was a single skeleton. They cautiously moved towards it, scanning the stone while watching for movement. Finally with a sigh of relief they saw the name Haorth Dimassa written in the language of old Amar. “This is it. This is the tomb.” They whispered breathlessly.”    “It’s here! Are you planning on setting it and the whole forest on fire?” Pattern called from outside. Mind racing, Ross made another tough choice. Around the worked Devod had brought in had bags but looked ready to break. “Grab what you can we need to go. He’s right the fire would cause more trouble than help.” The expedition members nodded and scrambled to grab the riches around them before rushing back out. Ross pocketed a ring that tingled in their hand and was first out.    They saw Patter dodging the creature. The entourage was throwing spears at it, but it seemed whatever he had done had earned it’s full attention, or had until Ross had emerged. The tree thing turned to Ross and the ghosts crowded around them. Pattern used the rope and hook he carried to latch on to one of its legs, pulling as it began to step with the other one. It did not move, but seeing his intent others joined him. They pulled as one and the thing tumbled into the fire with a horrifying scream. The fire spread quickly even as it stood, cracking and popping as the smell of burnt fur and smoke filled the air. It tried to reach those exiting the tomb, but began to collapse in on itself until it was still. The ghosts stared a moment, then all rushed into the woods.    “Let’s hurry and gather the rest of this up. I don’t like that they didn’t fade away.” Devod suggested.    “Right. Good work all. Gather up, pack up, hopefully we have a few hours to give the animals rest before we move again. The sooner we leave these woods the better. ~    Something different than the tree had indeed come for them two days later, those who caught a glimpse of it claimed it was an oddly chimeric looking beast that stank of rotten meat and blood. Luckily once they left that part of the woods it stopped perusing them. They dealt with bandits and weather, but in the end they returned successful and Ross was given their membership.

#my writing #writing #fantasy #adventure #mana anthology #The Tomb of the Fifth Emperor #Tomb of the Fifth Emperor #short story

[elliepassmore]

Kingdom of Ash Review

4/5 stars

Recommended for people who like: high fantasy, strong female leads, friendships, hero's journey, multiple POVs Okay, I will be the first to admit I love this series maybe to the point of obsessing and that I bought and read this the day it came out....but this book is also entirely too long. There are two parts to this book, with the second part starting ~600 pages. The first part had some good content in it, but there was also a lot of space that didn't need to be there as well, descriptions and chapters and POVs that could've been cut out without really affecting the story or plot in any way. I especially felt that way when I hit part 2 and felt like the book should've ended there and Maas should've made part 2 a separate book (albeit a somewhat short one). The more I thought about it though, the more I realized that if she'd done it that way, we'd have a mostly boring 7th book and an action-packed, but shorter 8th book in the series....which is why I came back to the idea that she should've just cut scenes from part 1. There were so many scenes of the armies just moving or camping, and then there'd be a scene where an army was just casually mentioned as having been moved without showing us the movement, and I feel like if the book had done more of the latter it would've 1) moved quicker, 2) been less boring in part 1, and 3) been shorter. But I digress. The review will have some spoilers, I hide the major ones as always, but if you don't want spoilers, don't read below the cut. Non-spoilery review here.

The book opens with Aelin, who is not in a good place right now. Despite fears, it's only been two months since Maeve and Cairn got a hold of her. The scenes in the beginning are...dark. There's heavy mentions of torture and mind manipulation and death and all sorts of really horrible stuff. Some of the torture scenes get more descriptions than others, it's nothing I would call graphic, but it's enough to make your skin crawl and twitch. On the plus side, Aelin does escape *SPOILER* super plus, she manages to get herself out of Cairn and Maeve's grasp, even if there were other forces behind it *SPOILER END* and she teams up with Rowan, Lorcan, Elide, and Gavriel. The lot of them + Fenrys basically haul ass out of Wendlyn....which is where it gets boring. Reading several chapters of them traveling is not that interesting, even if some stuff happens during that time, there was definitely other ways to bring it about and/or ways to shorten the mentions of them traveling and bring them back to stuff that actually happens. Aelin really drew the shit-stick when it came to destinies the day they were handing them out, I'll say that. Before I get too off the tracks, I was really not happy when it was revealed that all of Aelin's scars were wiped away. Like...I get they had a lot of healing to do on her, but really, all of them? It's part of the trauma, everyone's horrified by it, but I wonder if it really had to be in there. Part of the draw of Aelin was that she was so scarred, that it could be seen, especially since a lot of her scars were testaments to her survival despite the odds. Having her skin just suddenly be scar-free felt....oily to me. Also kind of bummed that Aelin didn't really fight in the war that much. She was in two battles while pretty much everyone else was in a battle every ten chapters. I wanted to see her fight more than she did. In terms of development, Aelin has both internal and external development. On the one hand, she has to contend with the new round of torture she'd endured and raise herself back out of the depression she's in--I definitely appreciate the different ways Maas depicts depression, I'll say that, it's different for different people and situations, which true to life and nice to see. On the other hand, she also has to contend with the Lock and the throne and the coming battles. Throughout the book, she has to look at a situation and decide if it's worth stopping to help if it means more fall to Erawen's forces down the line when either helping or continuing on could mean Erawen wins. Sometimes she makes the right decision, sometimes, like with the Lock, she doesn't (*SPOILER* I still feel bad when people get mad at her about the Lock though, even if I understand and kind of side with them, lol *SPOILER END*). Aelin has to shed a lot of the stuff that's happened and the weight of every success and failure and destiny and god as she moves through his book and finishes her development. Aelin comes through strong in the end, despite her mistakes, and I think the way things end for her is perfect for her arc and what it's been building toward. When Elide said she was pissed with Lorcan, she bloody well meant it. I don't think the two of them are on good terms until several chapters into part 2. I'm kind of surprised she didn't kill Lorcan in his sleep for how mad she was at him. Aside from her being pissy, we also get to see more of her using her observation powers and calm cunning to outsmart their opponents multiple times. She's vital to getting Aelin back, and she's vital to the final battle in the book as well. I really enjoyed seeing her development in full-swing, especially when it came to confronting her uncle. Vernon is an ass, but he's not wrong that witch blood flows through her and it shows when she's making decisions regarding enemies and opponents. Elide's cleverness and cunning plays a huge role in some of the major schemes and events in the book, which was awesome to see. By the end of her development, she feels like a Lady more than she did in the previous books. Aedion and Lysandra are playing their parts as they get settled in Terrasen and prepare for the coming war. The interactions between the two of them are...tense, to say the least. I can see why Aedion would be angry with her, but I don't necessarily agree with it or with the way he handles the situation. Because he's honestly an ass *SPOILER* until Lysandra almost dies *SPOILER END* and if I were Lysandra, I wouldn't give him the time of day. Aedion is angry in this one, like, really really angry. He's angry at Maeve, angry at the Terrasen lords, angry at Lysandra, even angry at Aelin, to an extent. I felt like all the maturity he had in the previous three books just sort of disappeared and he just lost all perspective for first half of the book. There's an instance when Aedion is thinking about how Aelin should've conferred with everyone before making plans with Lysandra, apparently, conveniently forgetting that Maeve made a surprise!capture of Aelin and that Aelin hadn't sacrificed herself to the Lock. He was literally angry at them about something neither of them had planned nor had control over, but that Lysandra acted upon in order to help rally the troops....riiight. So, for most of the book I just really didn't like Aedion, and then he got miraculously better and was suddenly back to being himself. He basically pulled an Elide but for less good reasons. Obviously, this is the last book and so it's the end of the character development. For Aedion, I feel like a lot of his development in this book is on the emotional side of things. He deals with maturing a little bit when it comes to people making decisions he doesn't like. He also develops in that he realizes he can be fatally wrong. He was wrong about Aelin and the allies in the end of EoS, he's wrong about Lysandra in this one, and he's wrong about some of the strategies and maneuvers he tries as well. He's definitely someone, I think, that doesn't handle things Going Wrong very well, and so his development is mainly focused on improving that in this book. And, of course, part of that development is reconsidering his anger and resentment toward Gavriel. Once we get into part 2 of the book, we see him really doing a reversal and growing as a person (I definitely like him better in part 2). Lysandra is another character who gets the short end of the stick in this one. She has to juggle pretending to be Aelin while also shifting to go on scouting missions and fighting to help the army while in battle. The only person there who knows she isn't Aelin is Aedion....who is pissed to no end with her. I think it's clear from the get-go that Lysandra doesn't necessarily expect to survive the war, but Aelin's friendship and offer for a better world combined with knowing that if they win Evangeline will get to live keeps her going. It gets better in part 2 of the book, which is definitely the 'upward curve' part of things for just about every character. We get more Lysandra-narrated chapters in part 1 of the book, so there's not really a whole lot to say about the second part, but it did feel that the second part of the book, for her, was more about redeveloping her relationship with Aedion. There was just less of a focus on her going into battle and I wish Maas had expanded these more, since it was cool to read about her fighting in different forms and how they used those forms to their advantage. Manon, of course, remains one of my favorites and she was with the Thirteen trying to find the Corchans. So, uh, the Crochan witches are not as goody-two-shoes and nice as I was expecting. I mean, to be fair, I probably wouldn't be in their position either, but still, it is well established that if I were a witch I definitely wouldn't be the benign kind. Manon's arc in this one is mostly about tackling her new heritage and how to either pick a side or balance them both. Manon, quite literally, comes into feelings for pretty much the first time ever, so that was fun to read about. Her relationship with Dorian was just weird, though it felt a little more natural in this one than it did in QoS, though I still think she and Elide would've been good together. She was unbalanced in this book, mostly because of aforementioned feelings, but the inability to balance and the struggle to win over the Crochans while still keeping true to herself forged her. Manon is one of the characters who I think gets a pretty solid arc throughout Part 2 of the series (and technically Part 1, since HoF is in that part when I divide the books plotwise, but w/e). There are definitely some things in this book regarding her that I would change,  mainly re: the Thirteen and Dorian, but overall I think she has one of the strongest arcs in KoA. Dorian also undergoes a significant arc transformation in this book. I think multiple people in the books acknowledged that he still felt like a prince during and at the end of EoS, but as this book opens and develops, we get to see Dorian continue to struggle with the collar, his abilities, and the Lock, which in turn triggers the final phase of his development arc. He does get a bit of that cunningness and cruelty he marked in Manon and Aelin, and he is able to trick his way in and out of things. I kind of miss how soft he used to be, since almost as a necessity of this transformation he loses a lot of that softness--but not entirely!--and it kind of makes me nostalgic for when he was just a cinnamon bun princeling, but I think the changes are, for the most part, good for him as a character. Like Elide, by the end of KoA, Dorian actually felt like a king as opposed to someone who just had that title in front of their name. Yrene is an interesting character and I wish there'd been more of a chance for her to shine in the beginning of the book like she does later on. I also wish she hadn't been pregnant. Call me crazy, but she's a healer, she mentioned in ToD that she could brew something for Nesryn, and they're about to go into war but she somehow gets pregnant? Are you kidding me? But that aside, Yrene really does come through with her Valg-healing powers and plays a huge role in how things play out. A lot of her arc already played out in ToD, so her actions are mostly external and push the plot or other characters forward. I wish she had a bigger narrative element to her in this book, and while she does get her due later on, I feel like this is one of those areas that could've been expanded had extraneous scenes been cut. For all the traveling Chaol and co have to do, they certainly get into the thick of things faster than Aelin does. We finally get to close the loop with Chaol's father that was opened in the series' Part 1, which I think was the only unresolved part of Chaol's arc. Like Yrene, a lot of his arc was dealt with in ToD. He does, however, adjust to being the King's Hand, and having the power to forge alliances and give land and whatnot. I loved his reunion with Dorian. It took over half the book, but it did eventually happen and we later got to see them fight side-by-side! This is apparently the space where I complain characters aren't given their due, because I feel like Nesryn got shorted too. Again, in part 1 of the book, she barely gets any narration and the narration she does get is her worrying about Sartaq. Like, good grief, both of you have seen battle before, I'm sure you'll be fine. She also worries a lot over the role of empress and is a bit hesitant over it, but it's not really a major touching point. I feel like there was some development of Nesryn as a ruk rider that we didn't get to see in either book, yet somehow she was a good enough flyer and had adjusted enough to the difference between fighting on foot and on the back of a ruk that they let her fly in the aerial legions. It's not really something that needed a ton of focus, but a little more than it actually got would've been nice and would've rounded out the physical arc with the ruk riders she had going on in ToD. I feel like Rowan wasn't a huge narrative presence in this one, unfortunately. He was obviously worried for Aelin and was trying to be attentive, but he also had some of his own schemes up his sleeve that we don't get to see until the very end (Aelin clearly rubbed off on him in more ways than one). I think the major shift with him is that he and Aelin are more like a team again in this one, like they were in QoS, where they scheme together and apart, whereas in EoS they did more scheming apart than together. I have to say, I really like them being a team better than I liked their separate, but supportive schemes in EoS. Lorcan had all, or most of, his narrative chapters dropped, though we did get to see some of them. Lorcan's definitely not in a good place for most of this book. He realizes he fucked up by calling Maeve and that not only did he fuck up in calling Maeve, but he fucked up in ever serving Maeve as loyally as he did. Lorcan's arc is largely about redemption from that and coming to the realization that there are other options and the potential for a better world out there, as cliche as it is to say. A decent portion of his page-time is also dedicated to getting back into Elide's good graces, as pretty much everyone else gets over Lorcan's mistake pretty quickly, even Aelin, funnily enough. Evangeline got narrative chapters in this book, which I was happy to see. I can't really remember how old she is, 10 I think, but she's definitely mature for her age and clever as a whip. I think that, even with everything Aelin and the others do against Erawen and Maeve, Evangeline's the one to really convince Darrow to stop being stuck up about the throne and crown. I did think it was a little weird when she became his ward and heir without mention of whether she was also still Lysandra's ward and heir still. It just warranted more of an explanation than we got. Nox came back in this one, which was a nice, if not unexpected surprise. Unfortunately, he meets Lysandra!Aelin and then yeets into the distance and there is Absolutely No Resolution regarding where he went, what happened to him, or if he actually met the real Aelin again. Even if it was only a couple lines, Falkan did get to reunite with Lysandra, so we got the nod there. If we're talking about characters who got done dirty, the Thirteen and Gavriel are at the top of the list. I really like the Thirteen and wish they got more page-time individually. We know Asterin and Sorrel the best out of them, I think, but the others are sort of background names I felt like. They're such an interesting and complex bunch, and they have some of the only continually included gay characters and characters of color in the book that I really wish they got more attention. Not to mention, people Aelin and Dorian care about get chapters dedicated to them, but people Manon cares about don't? How does that make sense? I also really hated how their arcs ended [ they sacrificed themselves to take out the last witch tower. Like, it's poetic and broke the curse on the Wastes, but (pun aside) it was such a fucking waste to have that be the answer (hide spoiler)]. Gavriel was such a warm and caring character and he really only wanted to bond and spend time with Aedion, and then he's separated from Aedion for most of the book only to reunite in battle. He, of course, has a similar course to the Thirteen...like, almost exactly just with a different situation, actually. As much as I loved the book, I will admit that some of it was predictable. If you've browsed the fan theories since EoS and ToD came out, then you've probably come across some of the theories that turned out to be true. Maybe we just got really good at reading Maas' foreshadowing, but I do feel that some of the major elements of this book were more predictable than before. My least favorite theory that came true is the one where *SPOILER* Aelin loses almost all her power and is saved in part by her water and Mala, but remains at a low level of power; honestly, I can understand Aelin losing some of her powers, but for the supposedly most powerful female Fae in the world to be reduced to mere embers and some water, while she's surrounded by powerful male Fae like Rowan and Fenrys and Dorian, who end up being more powerful than her after she forges the Lock, is annoying (especially when it was said earlier in the series that power calls to power)*END SPOILER*. So, 4/5 stars overall. I really like a lot of the stuff that happens in the book,  it was great to see Nox again and seeing everyone with their powers out and fighting was awesome, and I think most of the characters get a good resolution to their arcs. However, the book is way too long, is too boring during certain parts of it to warrant it being that long, and definitely did some characters dirty. Combined with the fact my least fav theory came true--a little petty? maybe--and the fact that aside from the characters done wrong, no one really dies, I decided to drop a star despite the other interesting things that happen during this book.

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