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cimmunist · 3 years

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I did Cimmerian, now it's time for Clef! Like before, the one on the left is my main interpretation and the one I use in mine and my friend's, @bluethepearldiver, AU Gods and Pawns. The one on the right is the @ask-dr-cimmerian version. I put a more detailed overview under the cut, feel free to skip the blog version if you don't want spoilers.

GaP/Main interpretation of Clef:

Species: Immortal human (in most of the versions of the AU)

Age: Unspecified, really fucking old

Gender/orientation: Doesn't use labels, but if I have to specify he's non-binary, on the acearo spectrum and mostly prefers men

Pronouns: Any, prefers he/they

Ethnicity/nationality: Middle eastern, comes from Eden

Job: Department Head of training and development, an O5 or field agent in some of the versions of the AU

Appearance: 5'7'' plus size man, though weight fluctuates during the story, as he forgets to eat during a lot of stress. Two eyes, right is green, left is blue and hazel. Has sharp teeth, covered in scars, the biggest one being the x shaped scar on his chest, later on, gets a snake-shaped scar carved into his right arm. Naturally black/dark brown hair that's greying, uses his reality-bending to make it blonde because he's too lazy to dye it. Always carries around a star-shaped pin.

Personality & health:

Outgoing, charming loudmouth

Lies quite a lot, likes to tell clearly exacerbated stories (people just got used to it)

Cheerful and easily excitable

A huge bastard, loves to tease his friends and coworkers

Not afraid to speak his mind when needed, can be quite abrasive

Avoids confrontation when it comes to personal matters

Doesn't get angry easily, but when he does he gets quiet and stern

Will never cry in public, usually just in private or in front of people he trusts

Struggles a lot with PTSD (which is a problem when you can literally bend reality around you) and later on depression

Relationships:

Love interests: Bright, Kondraki and Cimmerian

Exes: Lilly (abusive + a God, bad combination), Kushim (friend's oc)

Friends: Aaron/Administrator/O5-1A (work acquaintance), Joseph Tamlin (brief old friend), Etienne Baudelaire (old friend, friend's oc), Lilith (best friend), Sophia Light (close-ish work friend), Maveth (friend, oc), Dory (old friend, oc), Lucy (old friend), Raphael (old friend)

Family: Brother to Eve/O5-1B and Kineret (oc, deceased), brother-in-law to Adam, uncle to a bunch of kids including Abel/076 and Cain/073. Had a daughter, Rut, with Kushim and a daughter, Meri, with Lilly.

Trivia:

Mostly known for two things: his great distaste and disrespect to gods, and his talent to almost dying but somehow getting away still alive (lovingly called a cockroach by the grim reaper for it)

Has literally fought gods 3 different times and survived, this list keeps on growing, somebody stop this man

Favourite hobby is probably annoying the death itself

How his immortality works: after he dies his body heals and he comes back to life

Loosely followed the 4231 canon, with some big changes to fit his backstory

Deathly afraid of deep water and drowning (ironic for an immortal)

Literally considered a Saint in one of the religions? Absolutely despises that fact

Real name is Abishai, but doesn't mind going by Abby or any of his many, many nicknames

Actually physically fought Adam Bright before, wouldn't mind doing it again

Very close with his sister

His other sister, Kineret, died saving him. He has major survivor guilt over it.

Actually helped create the foundation, since his sister is the founder, but dipped almost immediately after and started working for the GOC

Rejoined many years later, in exchange for protecting Meri and letting him see her from time to time

Meri was born around the time ancient rome still existed and he was actually able to raise her, they're very close

Met Jack sometime in the 1920s-30s, he was Clef's first real friend in the Foundation

Actually the reason Kondraki got recruited

Contrary to popular belief, he can play on his ukulele very well and can write songs, he just chooses not to

Knows a lot of languages

Both a reality bender and a reality anchor, unable to be affected by other reality benders

Actually is a lot more powerful reality bender than he lets on

Got his X shaped scar on the chest from Lilly

Used to travel a lot and didn't liked to be tied to one spot

Blog version of Clef:

Species: Nephilim, half-human half-angel

Age: 98, looks ~40

Gender: Non-binary/genderqueer

Orientation: Oriented aroace/ ace demi-homoromantic

Pronouns: Any

Ethnicity/nationality: Mixed middle eastern, raised in Cornwall

Job: Liaison for the Ethics Committee

Appearance: 5'5'' plus-sized man. Has three eyes, one right green one, two left ones, one blue one hazel. Has sharp teeth, is covered in scars, the biggest one being an x shaped scar on his chest. Has burn scars on his feet. Has naturally black/dark brown hair, dyes it a lighter colour. He usually keeps his hair in a braid. Flowers grow out of his hair.

Personality & health:

The loud, annoying yet charming bastard of the ethics committee

Has generally a laid back, jokester personality

Very devoted to his family and friends

Not the type to get mad easily, when he does get angry he just gets quiet and stern

Never cries in public, just in private

Little bastard man, loves teasing his coworkers and husband

Struggles a lot with PTSD and paranoid delusions, but is slowly doing better

Relationships:

Love interests: Cimmerian, later on Bright and Iceberg

Ex: Lilly

Friends: Kondraki (old friend), Bright (old friend), Tiffany Okely (work friend)

Family: Bastard child of an angel, raised as an only child of a single mother. Had Epon with Lilly, later on, had an "accident" named Melody with his husband, adopted a step-parent role to Cimmerian's older daughters May and Eliza

Trivia:

Roughly follows the events of 4231

Raised Epon for the first few months to year's of their life before they were found to be anomalous and forcibly taken from him

Regularly checks up on his kid and leaves her small gifts

Semi-omniscient, ever since he was born he could just see and know things others couldn't. Perfectly aware of the fact Cimmerian is a demigod, even before their husband finds out himself. Uses his omniscience to check up on Epon and make sure they're okay.

Used to be very close with Bright before Cimmeriam swooped in and stole the man, slowly rebuilding that relationship

Cannot play the ukulele for the life of his and has no intentions of ever learning

Had a lot of bucket and cowboy hats but gave them all to Melody

Cimmerian made the mistake of allowing them to pick out Melody's clothes when they were little, now they have Clef's sense of style, oh no

Is afraid of water, shouting and slamming things is a major trigger of theirs, they also dislike deer and antlers for obvious reasons

Suffers from chronic scar pain in her legs

They have exactly 0 respect for any of the o5s

One of their hobbies is gardening

Pretty much majority of their scars were caused by Lilly

Alto Clef is their chosen name and god help you if you deadname them

Loves cats, they're her favourite animal

The platonic marriage with Cinmerian was their idea

Child of 001 /J

#scp #scp foundation #spooky arts #dr alto clef #dr clef

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marvelslut16 · 4 years

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I missed you, Doll

Prompt number: 13 “I missed this”

Fandom: Marvel

Paring: 40s!Bucky Barnes x reader

Rating: G

Word count: 1.7k

Warnings: mentions of arranged marriage, spinsters, and

A/N: Like always, I procrastinated so this isn’t really up to my standards. I really wanted to use a lot more 40s slang but I was running out of time. Either way, first time writing for 40s Bucky, and Bucky in general, but I absolutely love 40s Bucky. Also slight AU I suppose since Hydra and the serum don’t exist in this story.

Growing up being best friends with Steve and Bucky caused many in the neighborhood to look down upon you, the older women in the neighborhood found it unbecoming that a young lady was spending her time with boys. Their distaste for you only seemed to grow when you started to wear trousers in your teenage years, that way you could keep up with Bucky and you could move around easier to defend Steve. Now in your early twenties your neighbors consider you to be a spinster.

You were about to practically beg Stevie to marry you, your parents would never approve but at least that way they would get off your back, but they arranged for you to marry a man fresh out of the army. His name is Bernard, he’s in his early forties and with just a few chaperoned dates you could tell he had an alcohol problem, a souse. He made it very clear that he didn’t like pants on a lady and if you ever wanted a proposal from him that you would have to wear skirts and dresses only. Your parents heard the ultimatum and burned every pair of trousers in your possession, leaving you with no other option than the flowy garments. After your parents forced you to say yes to his proposal Bernard forbade you from seeing Steve, your best friend and last connection to Bucky.

Every night you would cry yourself to sleep to the picture of Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, the edges frayed from how often you clutched it. The picture was never far from your reach, always keeping it by your side tucked into a pocket of your handbag. Bernard didn’t know of the photo and neither did your parents, Bucky would send your letters to Steve’s apartment knowing they wouldn’t be intercepted by your overbearing parents that way.

Bucky Barnes was a dream boat, he had women practically throwing themselves at his feet, even the married women. He would flirt with you constantly, but he flirted with every woman so you didn’t let it get to your head, especially when he started to date Dot before he was deployed. Much like every other woman you fell for Bucky and his charm, especially the caring side only you and Steve saw first hand. You had hoped that over the years his feelings would grow to match your own, but he never seemed to want to settle down, especially with you.

Your father is throwing a party today, one where he officially announces to your relatives that you're engaged to Bernard and to be married by the end of the year. You can’t help but hide in a quiet corner and cry, you imagined this day since you were a child and none of it was how you imagined. Your father wasn’t announcing your engagement to Bucky, Steve by his side- he wasn’t even invited to the party. And neither was Rebecca Barnes, your best friend besides the boys and practically your sister.

A knock on the door pulls you away from your silent tears, figuring it’s another guest for your party. You stand and flatten your blue dress with white polka dots and wipe your eyes with your gloved fingers, before faking a smile and opening the door. The figure on the other side of said door is the last person you ever expected to see again. Standing before you in all his glory is Bucky still in uniform, he looks stronger and even more handsome than when he left almost a year ago.

Before you can say anything he swoops you into a hug, lifting you from the ground and spinning you around happily. When he sets you back on your feet he keeps his arms wrapped firmly around your waist, burying his face in the crook of your neck. You bury your own face into his strong shoulder, trying not to shake and alert him to the tears falling from your eyes.

“I missed this,” he murmurs into your hair, strong arms pulling you impossibly closer to him. “I missed you, doll.”

“I missed you too, Bucky,” your voice breaks, Bucky tries to pull away to see what’s wrong when he hears this. But you won’t let him. You just want a few more moments of bliss before you're never allowed to see him or be in his arms again.

“You stopped writing to me doll, why?” hurt laces his voice, causing your shoulders to shake as tears stream harder and faster. This time Bucky successfully pulls away slightly, right hand reaching up to caress your face, his calloused thumb wiping the tears away as they fall. “Steve and Rebecca both told me I needed to come see for myself when they picked me up from the station earlier. But you look fine, beautiful even, even if you aren’t in trousers. I wrote to you last month hoping you’d be there to pick me up.

“(Y/N), sweetheart, who’s at the door?” before you can tell Bucky of the new developments, Bernard’s voice pulls you away from Bucky. You take a giant step away from the man you love, his face falls as his hand slips from your cheek, you look at the ground in hopes to calm your nerves and stop your tears.

“Who are you?” there’s malice in Bucky’s voice as Bernard rounds the corner and into the front room with you and Bucky.

“I’m Bernard, (Y/N)’s future husband,” Bernard glares up at Bucky, turning to you and kissing you on the cheek, the stench of alcohol rolling off of him in waves. You try to pull away from his chapped lips but his arm snakes around your waist to keep you close, hand too close to your rear for your liking. “Who are you?”

“Sergeant James Barnes,” Bucky straightens his back and squares his shoulders, towering over Bernard in hopes to intimidate the older man. “I’m (Y/N)’s best friend and I was hoping to speak with her, seeing as how I just got home.”

“Seeing as she’s promised to me,” you let out a yelp as Bernard’s fingers dig painfully into your hip bone. “I’m afraid that’s inappropriate and I cannot allow it.”

“(Y/N) who’s at the door?” you father calls, too busy squirming trying to get out of Bernard’s hold you don’t answer him. He soon rounds the corner, eyes widening as he sees who's at the door.

“Mr. (Y/L/N),” Bucky’s voice is strained as he glares at your father, his face softens as he turns to look at you. “Doll, tell me he’s treating you well and I’ll be on my way.”

“He’s not,” Bernard's grip so tightly you're surprised he hasn’t broken your bone or his fingers. “I can’t marry him Bucky, I tried to say no. No to marrying him, no to going on dates, but they forced me to.”

Bucky’s jaw ticks as he grinds his teeth down hard. He reaches forward, roughly grabbing Bernard’s hand and removing it from your waist, and gently pulling you into his arms. The sergeant’s deadly glare leaves Bernard and lands on your father.

“You knew of my intentions with your daughter,” you know he’s fighting to keep his voice low so as not to alert the guests in the other rooms of the house. “And you still tried to arrange her to marry someone else while I was gone?”

“What are you talking about,” you rest your hand on Bucky’s chest as you stare hopefully into his crystal blue eyes.

“I would like to know that too,” Bernard glares at both men in the room.

“Before I left,” Bucky pushes a stray hair away from your eyes, talking to you as if you're the only in the room with him. “I made my intentions clear to your father that when I got home, if you’d have me that is, I wanted to marry you.”

“You do?” tears start to well up in your eyes, but for the first time in a long time they’re happy tears. Bucky nods, calloused thumb caressing your cheek again. “What about Dot? You two seemed to be going steady before you left.”

“She was in love with her milkman, and I was in love with you,” Bucky rests his forehead on yours. “I wanted to keep it a secret, ask you to marry me in person. But I couldn't wait any longer so I asked you in a letter, but then you stopped responding and I was worried I scared you off.”

“You could never scare me off Buck,” your hands slide up his chest and into the short strands of his chestnut hair. “I love you too much for that. Why else would I put up with you all these years?”

For the second time today, Bucky lifts you off your feet and twirls you around. “You’re making me the happiest man alive,” Bucky murmurs as he sets your giggling self down. “So doll, (Y/N), the love of my life, my best friend, would you put me out of my misery and be my wife?”

Bucky drops to his knee and pulls out the ring Steve brought to the station with him earlier, the ring Bucky bought for you before being shipped off, the ring that he wanted to give you before he left but he didn’t have your father’s permission. The diamond glints on the rays of sunlight streaming in from the picture window in the room. “Yes! Yes, of course!” you nod happily, and Bucky grins up at you as he slides the ring on your finger- it’s a perfect fit.

You can hear the protests from Bernard and your father behind you, but both you and Bucky choose to ignore them. You don’t care about what either of them have to say, all you care about is the future you’ll finally get to have with Bucky, the man you’ve always loved. Bucky stands up and pulls you in for a searing kiss, your first ever kiss. Sparks shoot from your lips down to your toes, causing them to curl in pleasure. It’s a kiss you’ll remember for a lifetime, one you'll tell your children and grandchildren about. And there was no one you’d rather share it with than one James Buchanan Barnes.

Permeant tags: @crimson-knuckled-queen @rexorangecouny

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krissysnow · 3 years

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My thoughts on Christmas Detour

It’s that time of year again, the time I look forward to every year…Hallmark movie time! It only comes twice a year, once for Christmas in July and then again in October-December. Four months to wet my appetite for over the top holiday decorations, unlikely romance and twenty versions of Pride and Prejudice but then disappears like a mirage in the dessert as soon as January hits. Why do I love them so much? Maybe it’s the wholesomeness in a troubled duplicitous world, the reminder of a joyous time when hope and rebirth can begin in the new year, or maybe it’s because I have the same taste in movies as an 80 year old woman surrounded by her cats sipping Darjeeling tea. But I think what I really love is that they are so deliciously wrought with ridiculousness that breaking them apart adds to the joy and allows me to pretend I don’t enjoy them as much as I do and that I am a sane person and not some hopeless romantic.

So, on my very first post I am going to delve into one of my favorite Hallmark classics, that yes, does reside on my DVR and that is Christmas Detour. There are many staple Hallmark actresses and becoming the grand dame of them all is Candace Cameron Bure. She hasn’t aged since her last days as DJ Tanner and her generic approach to play every role the same invites us into each Hallmark movie because she is so familiar and we fall instantly into the new plot like putting on those Christmas pajamas we only take out once a year. In this movie she plays Paige Summerlind, a writer for a wedding magazine. Which is at least a welcome departure from the usual careers of our Hallmark heroines as party planners and interior designers. How she makes enough money to not only afford a place in LA but then also offers to buy a bridal magazine for a future bride perusing the magazine rack at the airport is beyond me but I’ll buy into it since weddings are a billion dollar industry.

We immediately get the sense of Paige’s high maintenance and lack of travel knowledge when she tries to bring her vision board on the plane as she books her seat. What is a vision board? This is equivalent to the bulletin board you had in college that took up half your wall behind your desk. However, instead of pictures of boy bands, ads for wine coolers, dated mottos and an occasional post-it of a due date from the previous semester, her vision board is filled with frilly ideas for her upcoming nuptials. Cakes, dresses, flowers, and maybe a tiny picture of her betrothed. Which brings us to a view of her fiancé, Jack Collins. We first see Jack at his parents house in what may appear to be some snooty Hampton vacation home with his uppity mother Susan and her husband Neil. Susan is more interested in her next martini than she is with her stodgy husband. I adore the actress that plays Susan (Barbara Niven) since she is also featured in many Hallmark movies as the quirky but lovely towns woman. This is such a departure that I love to see her snark and smirk and booze it up in this holiday flick. But despite the boozy mom and dad that looks like he’s walking around in overly starched undergarments Jack at first glimpse seems like a devoted fiancé. As time goes on we realize that Jack has as much personality as a salty olive floating in his mother’s afternoon martini. That probably the sharpest thing on him is his chiseled chin.

Meanwhile, at the airport and ready to take off for parts of unnamed downstate NY we are introduced to Dylan, an airport bartender that clearly didn’t get picked up for pilot season in LA and was forced to shovel salty snacks and pour weakened drinks for weary travelers. He’s on his way home to see his family after a hiatus. He drags his heels like an 8 year old going to church to board the flight and we are intrigued to find out why he would not want to visit a Hallmark haven like we have come to expect. Next up is Frank and Maxine, a 40 something couple that have been married for twenty years that have grown to have a clear distaste for each other. Hold up Hallmark, say it isn’t so, you expect us to believe a Hallmark couple has grown apart and share a life less than bliss? Have you taken a momentary lapse into the Lifetime channel?

As luck would have it, Paige and Dylan are seated together and begin the Hallmark push pull relationship of hard to get. We need to stick with the Hallmark formula of first encounters and wrong impressions and mixed messages ultimately resulting in whirlwind romances making the Bachelor reality show look like a long relationship. After trading barbs Paige puts on her ear phones to no doubt dream of her picket fence life with Chiseled Chin. Unexpectedly, a snow storm on the eastern seaboard in December (shocking) forces an emergency landing in the magical land of…Buffalo.

Now, if you’ve been to western NY, Buffalo really isn’t your Hallmark destination, and being from upstate NY myself my half frost bit ears perked up. Incidentally, Candace’s sister-in-law is from Buffalo. I know this because there was a flurry of rumor spreading through the mall I worked at in the 90’s that Candace, her brother Kurt and his girlfriend were walking through on their way to visit the girlfriend’s (now wife) family. Alas, they never visited the Limited store I worked at, they probably had enough stirrup leggings to last a lifetime. But here we are, in cold Buffalo, waiting for the weather to clear up for the planes to take off again. First of all, airports in western NY rarely close and snow doesn’t last an hour, it lasts longer than a Hallmark movie season.

Paige frantically calls Chiseled Chin to tell her of her bad luck and ever the devoted fiancé, Chiseled mentions that perhaps she should’ve checked the radar before leaving. Perhaps the rocket scientist could’ve looked out the window at his place to maybe warn her they were up to their cummerbunds in snow? Nevertheless, he warns her that she better make it in time because she would miss meeting his parents who were leaving for an extended cruise the day after Christmas. They were old fashioned after all and needed to lay eyes on their future daughter in law before the wedding in the spring. That’s some lengthy cruise that they never make landfall before May to rejoin their chiseled son and his bride. How is it that they work to maintain this lavish lifestyle? Some Bernie Madoff pyramid scheme? Just what kind of family is our Paige marrying into? Our heroine is crushed and begins to lose hope as the bitter married couple try to cheer her up.

Dylan rents the only SUV left in western NY (he’s so resourceful that Dylan) and offers to drive them all to their down state destination. It’s here we begin to see a glimpse into the lives of Frank and Maxine that have been married for 20 years. Hallmark tries to pass off this 20 year marriage as if it’s 50 years and the stuff of legends. Considering an average courtship and engagement only lasts 3 weeks in Hallmark time I guess it is an eternity. But for crying out loud, I have underwear older than dear Frank and Maxine’s marriage. We also find out that Frank and Maxine are on their way to visit their newly married daughter and husband for Christmas in what is going to become a new tradition. It’s clear Maxine is not liking venturing into the snow and cold and out of her LA comfort zone and is as resentful of her travels as she is of Frank. This is where I become confused at Hallmark’s settling on their being married 20 years. Why not 25 or 30? I’m a stickler for numbers and timing so this is where Hallmark got sloppy. Are we to believe that Frank and Maxine lived in sin with an illegitimate child before they were married, or that their daughter was married at 19 and landed in a gorgeous Long Island million dollar home as some famed rich youtuber or marrying someone older? Perhaps nailing her professor from Sarah Lawrence? I for one am still reeling from the shock of this reality.

As roads sometimes do in NY in winter, they iced up and became too much for the SUV as Dylan swerved to avoid hitting a rabbit Paige thought she saw and they crashed. Not an end up in the hospital type of crash, but a we’re conveniently stranded for the night kind of fender bender. I can’t tell you the times I drove in NY blizzards and wished that damn rabbit hadn’t jumped out right in front of me. Those NY rabbits sure love a blizzard and boy are they easy to see in snow. Looks like we’re sidelined again from getting to Chiseled Chin and Maxine and Frank’s daughter’s youtube mansion. But as luck would have it there is a quaint Christmas town somewhere between Buffalo and Albany! If this town exists in upstate NY it’s as imaginary as that rabbit. Our foursome have no choice but to hunker down in a Christmas Inn and stroll the quaint imaginary rabbit town. As they dine on stale rolls and wander the town that doesn’t seem to realize there is a blizzard going on, Dylan informs Paige he is reluctant to return home because his brother is with his once fiancé. First an illegitimate daughter and now a sibling tryst, what is Hallmark coming to? I hope there’s a music montage soon to lead us out of this sordidness.

After having to oblige by the sacrosanct rule of kissing underneath the mistletoe in a Christmas movie, Paige is starting to have feelings for our salty snack bartender and less for Chiseled Chin. She needs to get out of Christmas town before she encounters any more ill placed mistletoe. Dylan, disappointed, drives Frank and Maxine to their daughter’s youtube love nest she shares with her 65 year old Sarah Lawrence professor. Maxine gifts Dylan not only with a picture of he and Paige but an address where she will be having dinner. Once out of the car Frank takes a stand and demands Maxine either get on board with a Hallmark marriage or skirt on over to Lifetime or worse yet, TBS. Maxine appreciating Frank’s boldness agrees and takes the luggage up to whatever hell awaits in the youtube illegitimate daughter’s love nest.

Meanwhile, Paige finally meets her boozy starchy future inlaws. Boozy immediately insults her off the rack dress that in reality probably set the costume department back a half a Hallmark store. Boozy and Starchy have plans for the wedding that Paige is not digging. She clearly has her dream wedding as depicted on her vision board. She should roll it out with the martinis and see if it flies. Where is that vision board? Chiseled can’t understand Paige’s reluctance to go along with the Hampton wedding plan and is beginning to wonder if he picked the right woman to share his Hampton beach life. He asks her to make sure she is prompt as she is to change into yet another cocktail dress to go to dinner at the club. Why does she need to change out of one four thousand dollar dress for another? Is half a Hallmark store frock not good enough?

Dylan finally makes his way to his hometown and goes to the door of his house where he is greeted by his mother. A woman probably only three years older than the actor portraying Dylan. Are they against employing older actresses or does Hallmark just have a really good botox plan? Everyone always looks the same age. Before coming to the door we are treated with a treasure trove of Hallmark products strategically placed, all getting their own close up. If only I could have the item numbers displayed as well, my house could look like Rudolph took a crap of merriment in my house! But alas, this movie was made in 2015 so it I’ll have to be on the lookout on Ebay. Looks like casting goofed again when we are introduced to Dylan’s brother and fiancé. Dylan’s brother is about half his height and a few inches shorter than the fiancé the brothers fought over. And she’s no Lacey Chabert either, they could’ve found a more beguiling actress or at least put her in flats. Dylan asks mini to join him to get things out of the car. Dylan offered his congratulations as the brother finds the forgotten vision board. After seeing the vision board and the not so desirable fiancé, Dylan knows what he has to do.

At the club Paige helps herself to a hot roll and notes how fresh it was unlike the stale roll Dylan had the previous night. Ugh, how uncouth, she touched the roll. Where is the waiter to place it on her plate with gold tongs only fit for such wonderous pastry? This Paige is trash. Boozy offers to have her dress made by none other than famous wedding savant David Tutera. But Paige has no idea who he is. Wow, Paige is looking ditsy too. She works in the wedding industry but knows nothing about David Tutera? I guess his show didn’t appear on Hallmark so we’ll forgive her. Maybe she blew some neurons trying to squeeze into her second cocktail dress. Boozy warns her about picking a dress that doesn’t make her look too busty. Paige looks down as if to see her bosom overflowing in her second cocktail dress. Now Candace is pretty fit and I’d like to have that rocking bod but busty has never been synonymous with DJ Tanner. Oh thank goodness, here comes Dylan to make an awkward moment even worse by dragging that dumb ass vision board with him. Paige seeing the picture of them together on the hideous vision board makes her realize it wasn’t the wedding she was after it was the happily ever after. Seeing she couldn’t make that happen with Chiseled Chin she hands back the ring and goes after Dylan, leaving Boozy, Chiseled and Starchy to gawk at that eye sore of a vision board. Classy.

Dylan and Paige arrive at his mother’s house. Hopefully, Paige was able to pick up her luggage at the mansion to avoid any awkward moments. I’m sure the help lowered their music and stopped their celebrating while Boozy was out of the house to hand Paige her Walmart luggage. Our last scene has our couple entering the house that Christmas threw up in to meet the cougar mom, mini and his dowdy fiancé to settle in for a Hallmark tradition. I’m glad they had those two days to really get to know each other, probably a day longer than Frank and Maxine had and they made it twenty years.

#hallmark #christmas detour #candace cameron bure #holiday #christmas #winter #buffalo #ny #snow #hallmarkmovies #when calls the heart #myfirstpostbenice full house dj tanner

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cirocchio · 3 years

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AU details 01. royalty etc.

( still pointing at tsun as the instigator for this post )

‘royalty AU’ is too vague for me though so this is going to be a more all-encompassing general description of possible ideas for ‘AUs that all can take place in a political/ court setting��. No fancy introductory story-like excerpt.

Some things to note:

Firstly; because I like to keep Ciri’s Roma heritage I’m more inclined to make her a bastard child that may or may not be legitimised by her father. Usually not. Her uncle, as always, dotes on her. He’s also the more popular of the duo, the heir of the throne, etc. Another idea is that she accompanies Remo/Silvan to court as a child, as Remo would want to lobby for more rights for Rroma/ commoners in general. She can be as high or low-ranking as is deemed suitable for the plot.

Secondly: Ciri will never be a happy ruler. The responsibility of such a position weighs her down and restrains her and has never been something she wants to live with; Ciri both fears and hates power so her having that will make her incredibly uncomfortable. She doesn’t have the talent for scheming and intrigues nor does she command enough respect for her advisers to listen to her: she’d be a puppet at best, a scapegoat or victim of an assassination plot at worst. Ideally ( and even realistically ); she never gets stuck in the position of ruler/heir to the throne in the first place, but if she somehow did, she would work on a way to abdicate or even get banished without too much commotion or sending the country in chaos.

Ciri’s reputation ( aka the one thing I can talk about with almost utmost certainty ): Regardless of her position (low-ranking noble or royal blood), she’d be a bit of an oddball at court. She’s sensible and pragmatic and has plenty of interest in languages, culture, and music, promising traits. Yet when it comes to other matters she is bored, unmotivated, and dreamily stares out of the window during important lessons and meetings. She has no tact and will tell nobles, teachers, and missionaries alike when she does not like them, something they say or do, or disagrees with them without any regard for whether it’s appropriate or not. Being a bad liar Ciri quickly gives up on trying to play with and figure out the different masks people put on and stubbornly stays true to herself, demonstrating her distaste for the two-faced behaviour at court. She spends more time reading books and playing with her birds in the gardens than she does attending festivities, banquets, or councils ( and if she does attend either of those it’s to listen to or talk with the bards and poets and whatnot ). She has proven herself a terrible fighter and tactician at an early age, and actively avoids war generals or soldiers – making her dislike for them obvious. On the other hand, she is known to slip in the kitchens ( is surprisingly resourceful when it comes to this, even though she later confesses her mischief ) at night and speak informally to the servants.

While teachers find her temperament easy to manage, her select interests are frustrating. When she’s not motivated she will not put effort in her tasks, unless perhaps Remo convinces her to, but he’s known to be lenient with her. She openly talks about her fantasy of meeting magickal bards who will steal her away for marriage ( or just adventure ). Rumours circulate that she talks to her birds and kisses them in the hopes of turning them into fairies. In many ways she is a child, yet sometimes she seems wise beyond her years.

She’s passionate about introducing literacy for the common folk, and purposely lets her maids listen in on her classes or gives them ‘homework’ to practice writing, but other than that does not have an active interest in the welfare of the commoners and is thoroughly unhappy with the responsibility to care and decide things for them. She also has romantic views on what it’s like to belong to the common folk and often says she wishes to be one of them, unaware of how limiting, inconvenient, and difficult poverty can be.

The general consensus is that she’s better avoided as her lowborn mother’s traits show in her boorish behaviour and clumsy movements, proving that she has no place at court; wouldn’t want that to rub off on you. Some people enjoy her company and soothing voice, though. Mostly lower-ranking nobles of little consequence, girls a few years younger than her, and the servants she befriends of course. She’s also, obviously, seen as bad wife material. This might make her sound like a rebellious child but Ciri is not the type to throw a tantrum over things, purposely upset others, start fights or otherwise and would endure gossip and humiliation with a meek smile and, or if she reacts her words would lack subtlety and ‘intellect’, aka it makes her come off as an idiot and wouldn’t be too insulting to the person who insulted her first. She minds her own business and so long as others mind theirs she’s happy, as is also the came in most of her other verses. In other words, it all really comes down to her presence at court being very misplaced. Remo thinks it’s endearing and ‘gives the people something to talk about’, so he doesn’t scold her – protects her where he can. Silvan tries his best to ignore her existence altogether, though that’s a bit more dependent on the plot that’s decided on.

Possible situations, place at court:

Remo & Silvan are of royal blood, Remo being the crown prince. Ciri is Silvan’s bastard child, raised at court but not acknowledged by Silvan. Remo takes her under his wings and raises her as an important member at court, using her as a pawn ( to make Silvan seem more sympathetic/ involved/ as a spy under the guise of her talent as a (travelling) court musician/ to strengthen political bonds by arranging a marriage ). Little is Ciri aware that her position is a direct threat to her younger half-sisters; her being older, does she not have as much right on the throne as them? Whether her half-sisters see it the same way is up for discussion.

Similar as above but Remo dies at some point, leaving her back in Silvan’s awkward care. Silvan, convinced and aware of his own limitations as a ruler, would appoint her as his successor so he may abdicate quickly. Ciri resents him for this, ignorant as he is that she’s every bit as unsuitable and unwilling to lead a nation as him. Cue her trying to weasel her way out of it, or early assassination plots, or manipulative leeches trying to make a puppet of her; this would be a scenario where it’s advisable to look for a different successor.

In the event that Silvan/Remo are nobles or even just wealthy merchants who bought their way to court, and have come there to voice their grief about their village/ the Rroma etc. and thus lobby for better conditions, Ciri would mostly be left alone and treated with little interest by others, although she is still in danger of being an assissination victim, as it’s not in everyone’s best interest that Remo convinces the king/court of his right.

Another for if Remo passes away (whether by accident or assassination), better if he’s no heir but just nobility trying to improve the conditions of Rromani; here are actually some options for Ciri to want to actively partake in politics, if only to honour his memory & ‘fulfil his wish’, or even to uncover who murdered him. She’d still suck as before though and would need to rely on others to actually achieve what she wants: it’d be an incredibly dangerous undertaking for her.

Of course she can also be the servant or maid or musician appearing at court and take it from there, but then it’d be your muse’s royal au, not Ciri’s.

Anyway there’s a lot that can happen, catch me coming up with 25 more ideas depending on your muse.

Other things to consider ( on my side of the plotting ): - the position of roma in the society this would take place – are they accepted, outcasts, does it take place in a fictive court where they are a well-represented; is her heritage openly known or kept secret? on the other hand, could the roma try to use her existence as a means to get more rights and visibility in this land? - whether her gender is an issue or not. I’m a fan of not, of using a fictional setting where female monarchs are as common as male (meaning female soldiers and diplomats etc are also equally common), but either way works. - the stability of the country: is it peaceful? on the brink of the war? is there civil unrest or not? how important is it to have a stable ruler? How divided is the court, how many enemies are there? - Ciri’s popularity among the common folk largely depends on what they value/need. Because of her mousy appearance she’s not impressive as a strong leader who guides and unites the people, but her gentle demeanour can be useful if the people value benevolence and mercy - she will always suck and want to get out just know this. would also need help in getting out. - will never care much for a difference in ranks and loathes the titles and formalities that ought to be used.

#( au info. )#( verse: 01. )

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theliberaltony · 5 years

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via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

A few weeks ago, the Democratic National Committee formally acknowledged what has been evident for quite some time: Nonreligious voters are a critical part of the party’s base. In a one-page resolution passed at its annual summer meeting, the DNC called on Democratic politicians to recognize and celebrate the contributions of nonreligious Americans, who make up one-third of Democrats. In response, Robert Jeffress, a Dallas pastor with close ties to Trump, appeared on Fox News, saying the Democrats were finally admitting they are a “godless party.”

This was hardly a new argument. Conservative Christian leaders have been repeating some version of this claim for years, and have often called on religious conservatives and Republican politicians to defend the country against a growing wave of liberal secularism. And it’s true that liberals have been leaving organized religion in high numbers over the past few decades. But blaming the Democrats, as Jeffress and others are wont to do, doesn’t capture the profound role that conservative Christian activists have played in transforming the country’s religious landscape, and the role they appear to have played in liberals’ rejection of organized religion.

Researchers haven’t found a comprehensive explanation for why the number of religiously unaffiliated Americans has increased over the past few years — the shift is too large and too complex. But a recent swell of social science research suggests that even if politics wasn’t the sole culprit, it was an important contributor. “Politics can drive whether you identify with a faith, how strongly you identify with that faith, and how religious you are,” said Michele Margolis, a political science professor at the University of Pennsylvania and the author of “From Politics to the Pews: How Partisanship and the Political Environment Shape Religious Identity.” “And some people on the left are falling away from religion because they see it as so wrapped up with Republican politics.”

Liberal Americans are less religious than they used to be

Over the course of a single generation, the country has gotten a lot less religious. As recently as the early 1990s, less than 10 percent of Americans lacked a formal religious affiliation, and liberals weren’t all that much likelier to be nonreligious than the public overall. Today, however, nearly one in four Americans are religiously unaffiliated. That includes almost 40 percent of liberals — up from 12 percent in 1990, according to the 2018 General Social Survey.1 The share of conservatives and moderates who have no religion, meanwhile, has risen less dramatically.

The result is that today, most people’s political ideology is more tightly tethered to their religious identity. The overlap is far from complete — there are still some secular conservatives and even more religious liberals. In fact, the majority of Democratic voters are religiously affiliated. But the more liberal you are, the less likely you are to belong to a faith; whereas if you’re conservative, you’re more likely to say you’re religious.

To be sure, religious belief and practice can still exist without a label. Many people who are religiously unaffiliated still believe in God, or slip back into the pews a few times a year. But liberals are also cutting ties with religious institutions — since 1990, the share of liberals who never attend religious services has tripled. And they’re less likely to believe in God: The percentage of liberals who say they know God exists fell from 53 percent in 1991 to 36 percent in 2018.

Politics is shaping how some liberals think about religion

At first, it wasn’t clear why so many Americans were losing their faith — and of the available explanations, politics wasn’t high on the list. After all, there are lots of reasons why any individual person would stop attending church that have nothing to do with politics. A church scandal might spark a crisis of faith. You might begin to view a religion’s hierarchies or rules as antiquated, restrictive or irrelevant to your life. You might not have been that religious to begin with.

Social scientists were initially reluctant to entertain the idea that a political backlash was somehow responsible, because it challenged long-standing assumptions about how flexible our religious identities really are. Even now, the idea that partisanship could shape something as personal and profound as our relationship with God might seem radical, or maybe even a little offensive.

But when two sociologists, Michael Hout and Claude Fischer, began to look at possible explanations for why so many Americans were suddenly becoming secular, those conventional reasons couldn’t explain why religious affiliation started to fall in the mid-1990s. Demographic and generational shifts also couldn’t fully account for why liberals and moderates were leaving in larger numbers than conservatives. In a paper published in 2002, they offered a new theory: Distaste for the Christian right’s involvement with politics was prompting some left-leaning Americans to walk away from religion.

It was a simple but compelling explanation. For one thing, the timing made sense. In the 1990s, white evangelical Protestants were becoming more politically powerful and visible within conservative politics. As white evangelical Protestants became an increasingly important constituency for the GOP, the Christian conservative political agenda — focused primarily on issues of sexual morality, including opposition to gay marriage and abortion — became an integral part of the the party’s pitch to voters, but it was still framed as part of an existential struggle to protect the country’s religious foundation from incursions by the secular left. Hout and Fischer argued that the Christian right hadn’t just roused religious voters from their political slumber — left-leaning people with weaker religious ties also started opting out of religion because they disliked Christian conservatives’ social agenda.

At the time, Hout and Fischer’s argument was mostly just a theory. But within the past few years, Margolis and several other prominent political scientists have concluded that politics is a driving factor behind the rise of the religiously unaffiliated. For one thing, several studies that followed respondents over time showed that it wasn’t that people were generally becoming more secular, and then gravitating toward liberal politics because it fit with their new religious identity. People’s political identities remained constant as their religious affiliation shifted.

Other research showed that the blend of religious activism and Republican politics likely played a significant role in increasing the number of religiously unaffiliated people. One study, for instance, found that something as simple as reading a news story about a Republican who spoke in a church could actually prompt some Democrats to say they were nonreligious. “It’s like an allergic reaction to the mixture of Republican politics and religion,” said David Campbell, a political scientist at the University of Notre Dame and one of the study’s co-authors.

Granted, the people who were leaving weren’t necessarily at the center of their religious community — they didn’t attend religious services often, perhaps dropping in once or twice a year. But the numbers began to add up, opening a rift between conservatives and liberals. According to Margolis’s research, while young people across the political spectrum tend to drift away from religion, liberals are increasingly unlikely to return.

Liberals seem likely to become increasingly secular

As a result, views about religion and its role in American society have become increasingly polarized. According to surveys by the Pew Research Center, the percentage of liberals who believe that churches and religious organizations positively contribute to society dropped from nearly half (49 percent) in 2010 to only one-third (33 percent) today. And according to 2016 data from the Voter Study Group, only 11 percent of people who are very liberal say that being Christian is at least fairly important to what it means to be American — compared to 69 percent of people who identify as very conservative.

And although the people who have left religion could return, it seems more and more unlikely. For one thing, conservative Christians are still a key part of the Republican coalition, where their agenda on issues like abortion and religious exemptions remains a high political priority within the party. This means liberals’ views of the association between conservative politics and religion could be hard to shake.

These patterns are self-reinforcing in other ways, too. Recent surveys show that secular liberals are more likely than moderates or conservatives to have spouses who aren’t religious. That’s critical because these couples are then often less likely to pray or send their children to Sunday school, and research shows that formative religious experiences as a child play a crucial role in structuring an adult’s religious beliefs and identity. It’s no coincidence then that the youngest liberals — who never lived in a political world before the Christian right — are also the most secular. “It’s very, very unlikely that a kid raised in a nonreligious liberal household would suddenly consider going to church,” Margolis said.

The political implications of this shift are already evident. As more liberals become nonreligious, the Democratic Party’s base is growing more secular, complicating the party’s efforts at reaching more religious voters. But what it means for religion is less clear. Paul Djupe, a political scientist at Denison College, said that the impact might be blunted by the fact that the people who are becoming nonreligious mostly weren’t that involved in religion to begin with.

But Campbell warned that this shift is already reducing churches’ ability to bring a diverse array of people together and break down partisan barriers. That, in his view, threatens to further undermine trust in religious groups and make our politics more and more divisive. “We have very few institutions left in the country where people who have different political views come together,” he said. “Worship was one of those — and without it, the list is smaller and smaller.”

#IFTTT #Politics – FiveThirtyEight #politics #538 #Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux and Daniel Cox

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the-blueberry-jellyfish · 5 years

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Icejin HCs- Societal Norms

These are the hcs @yourfriendlyneighborhoodspork and I use in our rps and when developing our characters. You don’t need to agree with them. If we’ve missed anything that would fall under this section, let us know and we’ll gladly add it in. Expect more hc dumps like this in the future because we have a lot more sections in the works (funerals, marriages, their religion, ect.) Under a cut because there's a lot of information down there😂💙

•Overall, icejins are peaceful people. With anything, there's exceptions to this, but overall they're incredibly tolerable and kind, and raise their children to be the same way. Violence is something that's very much looked down upon in their society, even in regards to media and games. The one exception would be the military members. They're treated with the utmost respect and are automatically higher class citizens if they make the cut to join. Their main purpose is to protect the planet and its people, so it isn't seen the same as senseless violence. Military members and doctors are some of the most well-paid jobs the common people can have. The royal family's palace is located at one of the highest points on the planet and is at the center of the capitol. The most well-off, rich icejins live here, while the middle class and poorer icejins tend to live further away. Farmers are very removed and keep far outside the cities. It's considered highly respectful to attend the royal family's announcements in person, but this is obviously much harder the further they're away from the capitol. The poor who aren't able to attend are looked down upon by some because of this.

•Partnerships can range from very serious to incredibly casual. None are necessarily viewed less than others, at least with the younger generations, so long as everything is done responsibly, LGBTQ+ couples are no exception to this and are very common and normal. While not all parents stay together permanently, it's highly looked down upon for them to not stay together at least long enough to raise the child they created. After the child is of age, however, they're welcome to do as they please. Most established families will have one or two children. Having three or more is considered quite odd and some of the older generations even think it to be irresponsible. It isn't uncommon for extended families to live together in one home and help raise the children. Icejins usually regard elders highly and take their opinions on family matters very seriously. All genders are treated equally, so the head of the household is typically the eldest couple or person. "Gender roles" don't really exist and they don't associate any certain clothing or color with any specific gender. Makeup and clothing is universal.

•There are a few prejudices in icejin society, but most of their harsher judgements are reserved for other races, rather than their own, and they tend to be wary of outside people until they prove themselves trustworthy. Many icejins have started to see other races as lesser than their own and would rather not associate with them. As far as prejudices against their own, excessively dark biogems are seen as an undesirable trait and are often lumped together with individuals who have dull or dingy biogems, which are signs of poor hygiene, despite hygiene not being a factor in biogem color. They prefer colorful, bright, shiny biogems. Opinions on the more pastel colors and white vary based on individual. Preference on horn color, texture, and size all vary on an individual basis, but for the most part, large horns are regarded as an attractive trait. Horns aren't to be cut or altered unless the icejin is very old. Long ago, horn carving was a common practice, but in modern times, it's seen as distasteful. Most icejins prefer bright, colorful skin on their potential partners. The one exception to this would be incredibly light colors, creams, and whites, which are more rare and are viewed as beautiful occurrences. Gray or black icejins sometimes have a difficult time finding partners, unfortunately. But by far, icejins' most harsh prejudice against their own is in regards to symmetry. Symmetry is not only visually appealing to them, but is also associated with blessings and luck from one of their gods, Gola. Icejins with asymmetrical armor, horns, etc. are seen as unpromising, untrustworthy, and highly unlucky. Many parents with asymmetric babies will have their children altered from birth to try to deter the negativity. Usually though, news spreads about how the baby originally looked and then backlash hits the whole family, as surgical body altercations are frowned upon in their society. Thankfully, asymmetry in icejins is so rare that most will never encounter someone with it in their lifetime. So, to them, the perfect icejin would be someone healthy with colorful skin and biogems, dark, full lips, red eyes, black nails, thick, powerful tails, large horns, and of course, proper symmetry.

•While it's completely acceptable to walk around naked, many icejin choose to wear clothing for personal and fashion reasons,though it is usually minimal. Skirts and light, flowing dresses are common choices and can be dressed up or down. Incredibly casual clothing is as simple as a large scarf or poncho. Their casual wear is usually colorful. Sheer clothing is commonly used for nicer occasions. Pants are hardly ever worn, only in important settings, and it's usually a sign that the person is putting in effort to impress who they're seeing. Wearing jewelry is a very easy and effective way icejins show off status. Horn and head decor, as well as upper arm bands and anklets are common. Often, their jewelry will contain the color blue. It's considered a lucky color because blue represents Gola, the god of good fortune. While some save specific blue jewelry for special occasions, such as unions, highly superstitious individuals keep blue gems on themselves at all times.

•Icejins are very welcoming people and, overall, they aren't opposed to helping strangers, as long as they're other icejin. They make great hosts and try to do what they can for their guests. It's impolite to have guests and not feed them while they're over, so large meals are a must. It's also impolite to be the guest and not eat all of what you're given. It's a sign that the person is unappreciative of what's been done for them, and it's also a waste, which is frowned upon in icejin society. Names are highly important to them, as they usually carry a lot of meaning, so icejins work to remember the names of all they meet. If someone doesn't remember your name or chooses not to use/acknowledge it, it's seen as a sign that they think very little of you and see meeting with you as a waste of their time.

•Holidays and birthdays are very big on Arcose. Even the most poor of families will save up so they can splurge, if only a little, on these days. They have six main holidays, one for each of their planet's gods. The festivities vary depending on which holiday. (What each holiday entails will be elaborated upon in another section.)

•Icejins claim to be big on mental health, and while this is true to some individuals, the planet as a whole would rather not discuss it. They have plenty of resources for those who are struggling, but they're a very prideful race and much of the older generations don't like to acknowledge those that are “weak” in such a way. They would prefer the person silently seek professional help on their own, and usually don't have much desire to offer much emotional support. The newer generations have realized that this mindset isn't very helpful to those who are in need of help, and actually can push them away, so they have started to break away from the older mentality.

•Since their planet is on the smaller side and they need to be mindful of their waste and resources, traditional disposable diapers aren’t used for potty training. Instead, they use a method called Elimination Communication, or EC. Elimination Communication is when timing, cues, and signals are used to encourage the baby to use the toilet instead of disposable diapers. EC is a highly effective method, especially when applied to icejin young, as they develop rapidly and are able to take in a lot of new information. However, there are still reusable cloth diapers available on Arcose.

•Icejin children start school shortly after being able to fully communicate. They move through their “grades” and classes as quickly as they're able to grasp the subject. Once they pass a specific milestone, they're able to move up into their next set of classes. It’s all on an individual basis. It’s done this way because icejins grow and learn at an accelerated rate as children, and then their growth slows incredibly right before maturity.

#icejins #icejin hcs #part one of many lmao #this section was really hard bc it's so.. open lmao #Spork and I are also open to discussion and questions c:#but a whole lot of stuff is still on the way #hopefully soon

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marius--lestrange · 7 years

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Marius Lestrange: The Biography

Early Years

Marius was coddled from the day he was born, and will probably be coddled until the day his mother dies. It was an open secret, really, but one that Marius knew: he was officially Gabrielle Delacour’s first child. Although he grew up with an older brother, his mother, for the most part, ignored the fact that Romulus Lestrange already had a son from his first marriage, making Marius the second Lestrange child. Not that he noticed the blatant favoritism; Marius had a tendency to believe the best in people, especially his family, and Gabrielle had always insisted that she loves all of the Lestrange children equally.

Most of Marius’ childhood was spent in France, where he and his siblings, an older brother who goes by Avery, and a younger sister named Vivienne, became fluent in English and in French, with the expectation that they would be attending Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. Their magical education from Gabrielle started at an earlier age than most families, due to what Marius believed was the power and influence of their family.

The Lestrange children lived in near-isolation, save for any of close friends of their family; the family name had gained notoriety in the United Kingdom before Marius was even born, and it was hard to predict what it would be like if anyone had gained knowledge of the fact that a new generation of Lestrange existed. But this was the norm for years until Gabrielle sent Avery to school, then Marius two years later.

While Marius was aware that his mother had a sister and that he had some cousins in a different country, it never really occurred to him why they had never met. While Fleur fell in love, Gabrielle married for wealth and power, attempting to gain the most out of her relationship with Romulus and upkeeping the decorum required of her now that her sister had betrayed the family for the Weasleys.

In School

Gabrielle almost changed Marius’s last name to Delacour when he started at Beauxbatons, but decided against it: her children would be better off with the name that was feared than the name that was losing its power. Marius, however, did not live up to the hype that the name supposedly had; he came across as shy due to the fact that he only ever talked with his brother Avery, and wrote his mother more often than his peers did.

While Marius never knew of the choice between Lestrange and Delacour, the repercussions of Gabrielle’s decision was immediate from the day he stepped foot in school: he was avoided by those whose families were aware of the Second Wizarding War in Great Britain. He was lucky in the sense that there were families who shrugged away the war as a thing of the past and as a thing that occurred elsewhere, but it was clear that he had enemies he had to avoid.

The few people that befriended him were the ones that were impressed with the amount of magic he already knew from before coming to Beauxbatons, and used him as a means of getting ahead. Marius was unaware of whether or not he was being taken advantage of, because for the most part he was happy to help anyone who asked for it.

If the Lestrange name was ever feared at any point in history, Marius was the one who could potentially erase that association as he grew older. To the surprise of many, Marius became close friends with muggleborns, which was due to the fact that they were unaware of what the Lestrange name actually meant. Any distaste from his family about who his friends were and who his enemies were went unnoticed. It was not a surprise that Marius did well in wizarding arts from what he was taught prior to his formal education, but because of his connection with the muggleborn population, Marius also excelled in Muggle Studies.

His relationship with his brother slightly deteriorated as they attended school, with Gabrielle praising his achievements over Avery’s and Vivienne’s, still unaware of the favoritism. The eldest and youngest Lestrange siblings formed a closer bond with each other than with Marius, due to the fact that both of his other two siblings felt a degree of isolation from their mother. While Marius made his own set of friends at school, he trusted his siblings far more than anyone he knew. The only thing was, he didn’t have any secrets yet that needed to be kept.

Present Day

Marius moved back to his home in France, only to be lectured about opportunities to get him employed high in government. Because Marius was never the talkative one, all of the meetings that had been set up for him with family friends and potential allies were never fruitful because Marius made himself out to be particularly uninteresting. He never understood the family’s need to climb the wizarding social ladder; his siblings were much more involved in that, though he doesn’t understand that Avery does so in an attempt to appease their mother and Vivienne is forced into an arranged marriage.

Gabrielle attempted to groom Marius to carry her legacy, but failed to express her disappointment towards him and directed that towards Avery’s few successes. Therefore, if Gabrielle was ever upset that Marius amounted to almost nothing, he never knew about it because it was manifested as disdain for his brother that he never quite understood.

Although Marius was mostly unemployed while the family still lived in France, he at least considered himself useful by being well-read; he kept himself occupied (and isolated) by reading what was in his father’s library. While he never practiced the Dark Arts himself, he became knowledgeable about the history of Dark Magic as well as how to perform curses with lasting effects on his opponent. This may be the only time Marius had a question about his family that he was afraid to ask: how did his father come by so many books on the Dark Arts and why?

The family library, however, did spark a slight curiosity in forbidden practice. Marius doesn’t consider himself a bad person, and anyone who had met him could say the same, but he had a bit of an identity crisis once the family moved to England. The name Lestrange there carried a much less inviting connotation, and he became much more wary of what he studied in his free time since being associated with the Dark Arts was the last thing his family needed.

He didn’t quite know why the family moved to England, but it was in England where Marius found his first job as a receptionist in the Muggle Relations Office. Despite the misgivings due to his last name, his quiet countenance almost made his employers feel like he was faking being a Lestrange. His high marks in Muggle Studies from Beauxbatons and his fluency in French earned him the position, or so he believes.

It was also in England where Marius met the love of his life Beatrice, first meeting through his brother Avery and perhaps the best thing that happened to him. He found someone who enjoyed quiet company as much as he did, much so that Marius found himself to become more outgoing knowing that Beatrice will listen to what he would say. Marius proposed to her several months after their first meeting, and they soon moved into their home at Maida Vale near London.

#bio

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