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kimkymury · 4 years

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Blue Rose Tears - Chapter 8

Hey everyone, another chapter of Pascal x Carl fanfic is here, I hope you like it!

I’d like to thanks @depressedoverdrawings for for reviewing the history and help fixing grammatical errors.

Warning: Just a little warning, some characters have distorted views about sexuality, and those views do not represent what I think in real life. This was written on purpose to suit the environment and the time that the story takes place, since at that time people were more closed minded.

The Portuguese Version of this story is avaliable on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/955909044-as-l%C3%A1grimas-da-rosa-azul-cap%C3%ADtulo-8

Under the cut!

Chapter 8

P.O.V Narrator

The moon was shining in the sky during a dark night at the Lacombrade Academy. It was the only source of light that illuminated the rooms with open curtains. It was past midnight, the silence was deafening. All the students were already in their rooms resting after another day. The nights of the school used to be very different than its mornings, which were always busy and noisy. The corridors that were full of students running during the day now were empty and dark. There were few boys who dared to go out at night in the middle of that darkness.

In the midst of all that peace and silence, someone was having trouble resting peacefully. Carl's expression was no longer tired or relaxed as in the early evening, it was more like discomfort. His blankets had become messy and tangled because of his unending tossing, it was as if the boy was being disturbed in his sleep. His expression was frowning and agonized, his breathing was more intense.

Inside his head, he dreamed that he was alone in a blank space that had no beginning and no end. The place was empty and quiet, and of a shade of white so bright that it made his eyes hurt. The silence was agonizing, he always walked in a straight line but it was as if he did not move. Despite being an empty place, it gave him a feeling of sadness, or even of being trapped. But it was at that moment that the tranquility of the blank space disappeared.

Carl kept walking, but as he stepped ahead, cracks appeared on the floor. The seemingly infinite white floor began to crack and break, causing pieces to fall into an endless dark limbo. The boy was scared and started running in the opposite direction from which he came, only to see that more and more pieces of the floor were breaking and falling. What would happen if he fell into that chasm? The answer was uncertain, and it scared him. There was nowhere else to run, the only blank space was gradually being destroyed, the sadness and emptiness he felt before had turned to fear.

Now only a small piece of the ground remained, where he could barely balance himself to keep from falling. It was inevitable, the last piece broke, taking him to what he believed to be an endless fall. But Carl didn't feel the impact of the floor or the sensation of falling, the only thing he felt was something holding him by the forearm. The boy had his eyes closed preparing to face the abyss, and after feeling himself being held by the arm, he raised his head to face what prevented him from falling. It was someone's arm, probably a fellow student, as the jacket's sleeve was easily recognizable. However, he had no idea who could have saved him and even how that was possible, his first impulse was to ask.

"Serge?" - The dark haired boy asked without thinking, to him it seemed a little obvious that the pianist would be the one with the attitude of so readily helping him.

He received no answer, and that's when he looked more closely at the hand that held him. It didn't look like Serge's hands, its skin color was lighter, and it wasn't thin and delicate as the Gypsy's hands. Carl had no idea who it might be, he tried to recognize the mysterious figure, but the more he looked up, the blurrier his vision became.

The only thing that he could see were unclear shapes, only colors were recognizable. The last thing he saw in the fog was the dark blue of the school uniform and some warm colors just above, they looked like orange or red. That feeling was excruciating, Carl's vision was slowly fading as he heard his name being called several times, the distant sound seemed to be getting closer and closer. He felt something on his shoulder, like a shaking that tried to wake him up.

"Carl, Carl, wake up!" - A voice called him, making the eyes of the boy still in bed shoot open, leaving him with a frightened expression.

The dark haired boy was breathing fast, he felt every quick heartbeat. Standing next to him was Necroix, who was already ready for classes and was carrying some books in his hand. Carl quickly sat up on the bed, while his breathing slowly returned to normal.

"The alarm clock went off and you didn't wake up, what happened?" - The boy standing beside the bed asked, surprised from never having seen his roommate in that state before.

It had been just a nightmare, that relieved the boy who had just woken up, bad dreams were common when he went to bed worried about something. The fact that he had a nightmare didn't bother him, he was more concerned with the possibillity of being late for breakfast.

"I'm fine, I think I was just really sleepy...What time is it?" - Carl replied reassuring his friend, who did not believe much in what he heard, as he'd seen Carl's agonized expression before waking him.

"It's twenty to six, I went down to breakfast, but as I didn't see you I thought I'd better come back and wake you up." - Necroix said as he went towards his desk, setting the alarm clock to the next morning.

"Thanks for waking me up, I'll be going soon." - The dark haired boy thanked his roommate, getting up from the bed to make it up.

Carl couldn't believe he was almost late because of a dream. If he said that the reason for being late to the first class was a dream, he would be punished for presenting such a stupid excuse. The blankets were folded in the correct order, it was as if they were not messed up. But he couldn't waste time thinking about it, probably his friends were already waiting for him and would be worried about his delay. He was the Class Representative, his reputation and credibility could be affected if he was late.

"I'll see you later." - Necroix says before leaving the room, leaving the boy who was still in pajamas alone in the room.

The hands of the clock were moving. He changed his clothes quickly, taking care that he was well groomed and not seen as sloppy. Carl opened the cabinet that had a mirror on the door. He looked at himself at first to comb his hair, but ended up staring at his reflection longer than he should have. He was looking intently at himself, analyzing every little aspect of his appearance after running the comb through his dark hair. He did not consider himself handsome nor ugly, he had a normal appearance, so normal that he found it tedious to look at. He did not have a very striking physique, but he was not considered strange. How could anyone be so normal in every possible way? By what criteria was he considered normal?

He quickly closed the closet door and took the books he needed, he would only waste time by thinking about nonsense. After leaving the dormitory, it was possible to hear the voices and footsteps of several students, Carl went quickly to the Dining Hall and hoped they would not notice his delay. Unfortunately, that's just what happened, in the way to the Hall he could hear comments from other students who realized that he was in a hurry. Ignoring them was the only thing he managed to do, he had neither the time nor the courage to confront them.

The dining hall has less students than usual, probably due to the time, since most had eaten breakfast and now enjoyed the last few minutes before classes started. After entering the Hall, Carl grabs the meal of the morning on a tray; he would have to eat quickly to get to class in time. He imagined that he would eat alone, since his friends wouldn't have been able to wait for him for so long, but he was mistaken. At a table with few people who all sat some distance away from each other, the red-haired scientist sat alone with a somewhat bored expression. It looked like he was waiting for someone. Seeing this, the dark-haired boy decided to sit with him, wondering if he too woke up late. Carl placed the tray on the table and sat across from Pascal, who was happy to see him.

"I heard you had trouble waking up. Let me guess, you kept thinking about what happened yesterday, right?" - The redhead asked ironically, starting to eat together with his friend.

"How did you know that?" - The religious boy asked a little confused, since he had not discussed it with anyone.

"Necroix told me earlier, everyone was worried that you were late. The class representative is always so punctual.” - The scientist responded, before taking a bite of his slice of bread. As with almost everything he said, he used irony as a way to add humor to any situation.

Carl was a little surprised, he had already imagined that his delay would generate a little concern, but there was still something that he wanted to ask.

"At least I wasn't the only one to arrive late. Did you stay up late studying again?" - The dark-haired boy replied, indicating the fact that his friend was still having breakfast.

"Not this time, I woke up on time and I thought you wouldn't want to eat alone." - Pascal replied, this time without sarcasm, explaining why he was there.

Simple words that meant a lot to Carl. To think that his friend had waited for him so he would not be alone was a gesture of kindness. He knew that the other boys wouldn't do that, in fact he couldn't imagine anyone doing this but Pascal, not even Serge ... That simple and ordinary act was enough to brighten up his day, even if he didn't show it much. The two continued to eat in silence, until Carl asked a question.

"And the others, where are they?" He asked, before taking a sip from the cup of tea, wondering where his friends would be.

"Kurt and Neka went out to play football before class, Serge went back to his room to try to get Gilbert to go to class, and Necroix joined Liliath to do something, I think your brother was with them." - The scientist replied, easily remembering the details.

Carl had expected all that, the boys always did the same things, so their routine was already etched in his mind. He was only bothered that Sebastian was hanging out with Liliath, he knew it was not good to leave his brother with older boys, especially those of questionable reputation. The concern in his eyes was visible, he feared for his brother's safety in a place like Lacombrade, but he had to accept that he would not listen to his sermons.

"Don't worry so much about him, Sebastian is young but very independent, he'll be fine." - Pascal reassures his friend, who felt as if he could guess what he was thinking with just a look.

"I know that, I just wanted him to interact with the boys his age." - The religious boy says, exposing the real reason for his concern, just before taking the last bites of the slice of bread.

The two boys finished eating quickly, soon the bell would ring and they should go to the first class of the day, which would be the same for both. With great effort Carl convinced Pascal to attend the first class, which was the one he liked the least: Latin. He knew that his friend did not care about his grades, as he had the hobby of repeating grades, but Carl worried that he would be punished for excessive absences. The way to class was ordinary, there were no signs of their friends, who were probably in other classrooms of Lacombrade. When they entered the room, there were already some students, most of them having conversations or trying to stay awake.

Although the night before was cold, the sun shone and illuminated the room, the large windows created a friendly, inspiring atmosphere. That room brought a certain nostalgia to Carl, he still remembered his first years studying there. As they went up the steps of the room to get to where they wanted to sit, Carl observed the place and felt happy, in a way.

How can a place as beautiful as this have such a sad atmosphere?

It was true that Lacombrade had excellent teaching methods, but that school gave him such a sad feeling in his heart, he'd felt it since the first time he stepped into the school. Maybe it was due to its cold walls or its secluded location, or it could also stem from the horrible things that happened when no one was around. His thoughts are dispersed when the boys sat down side by side while they wait for the class to start; Pascal looked bored and unwilling to be there, going to class only because of Carl's requests. Some students were surprised to see him in class so early, especially in one whose subject he couldn't stand. Carl knew that Pascal saw no sense in studying Latin, its words and grammatical rules could confuse even someone as brilliant as the redhead. It was precisely in this aspect that they differed.

The dark-haired boy turned to look at the friend who was sitting on his right, he calmly flipped through the pages of a book, as far as Carl could tell, it was something related to Biology or Chemistry. He then noticed a detail so simple that he had not noticed it before: Pascal's red hair had a shade similar to the one he saw in his dream, before waking up. He spent a few more seconds watching his friend, no words were exchanged. Oddly enough, the situation was not awkward. They could stand side by side for hours without talking and would be fine with it, just enjoying each other's company without worry.

That was a quality present in the best friendships, wasn't it?

It was only a few minutes before class started, and Carl found himself thinking again as a form of distraction. His first thought was of Pascal, his best friend, who was right beside him. He analyzed and remembered all the times they were compared with each other for being extremely different. Pascal was certainly nothing like the ideal model boy that people admired, he was just the opposite. He didn't care about grades or a good reputation, his appearance was considered careless, he didn't care about fixing his hair nor was he bothered by his eternally wrinkled clothing. He was constantly late, missing classes to do experiments, and he was kind but did not behave like a gentleman. As much as it was considered a defect, the dark-haired boy admired the fact that his friend could always be so detached from the opinion of other people and be focused on his goal.

He had no more time to think about it, the class had just started and the whole class was silent. Some were concentrated, and others were frightened by the possibility of being punished if they did not know how to answer a question. Carl opened the book he brought with him on the page ordered by the teacher; he followed the explanations carefully, trying to memorize each verbal conjugation. On the other hand, the boy who was sitting next to him did not take his eyes off the scientific book, he did not bother with the possibility of a punishment, and seemed very focused on what he was reading.

A few minutes passed and the scientist calmly closed the book that made him so interested, the truth is that he'd already read it so many times that he'd memorized the whole thing. Pascal, bored and with no interest in continuing to listen to those explanations about Latin, decides to turn his attention to Carl. He seemed focused on what he was learning, although the source of his concentration was the desire to get a good grade, not genuine interest in the subject. But Carl's attention is taken from the book when he sees a small piece of paper folded a few times being left close to his hand by the boy who sat beside him. Pascal gave the paper to him discreetly, without raising any suspicion. While he was curious to know what it was about, he was still afraid of being discovered and punished for not paying attention.

Continued in the next chapter.

Written by KimKymury, thank you for reading!

#kaze #kaze to ki no uta fanfiction #kaze to ki no uta #Kazeki #the poem of the wind and trees #the poem of wind and trees #la balada del viento y los arboles #la balada del viento y los árboles #Keiko Takemiya #takemiya keiko #pascalxcarl #carlxpascal #pascal biquet #karl messier #Serge Battour #gilbert cocteau

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moonlit-nest · 4 years

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I got our Wizard a gift

So I play 5E with all of my school friends, right? Quick background of our party makeup: Our DM, of course, and then me, a Paladin (don’t worry, I’m not the “Lawful Stupid” Variety) Sorcerer multiclass named Sunn. Additionally, you’ve got Fib the Rogue, Kepesk the Bloodhunter, Lotë the Druid, Edgar the Fighter and Minthe the Wizard.

So, my character, Sunn, is a pretty nice guy. At least, he tries to be. He thinks about others and likes to handle party talking and social skills, due to Charisma being his primary stat. Not always, but usually. He’s kindhearted, charming, and passionate about the people he cares for. Then you’ve got our Wizard, Minthe... complete 180. A Necromancer who tends to front a cold shoulder, and doesn’t seem to really care about other people. At least, not at first (there were backstory reasons as to why she acted the way she did at times, though that’s for another tale). She raises the dead despite the social stigma behind her specialized magic, and tends to take a no shit attitude, and an all or nothing approach. I guess in a way you could say she and Sunn both took the role of joint “Speakers” for the group, since Sunn was the lighthearted “let’s go, team!” Type of guy who rallies his comrades, and Minthe opposed this by keeping the group on track and focused, and was surprisingly level headed, even during times of crisis. You’d think they wouldn’t really get along, right?

Well, as it turns out, they actually clicked, and surprisingly well! Maybe it was that they were both dedicated and experienced casters, maybe it was that Minthe found my strange character interesting (he’s a Furry, which is almost basically unheard of in our setting by the DM, unless you count established races like Lizardfolk or Arakockra under the furry umbrella term. Buy and large though, Sunn was pretty unique), but they grew to have a slightly antagonistic but genuine friendship the first chance our group got to chill and roleplay in an inn. To get an idea of what their relationship looks like overall, Minthe’s player and I often joke about situations the two could find themselves in, and how, generally speaking, Minthe and Sunn make jabs at the others expense frequently, but always in good fun, as they know each other well enough to not take it so far as to hurt one another’s feelings. In fact, when things get serious, they work surprisingly well together! Admittedly, that may be in part due to the fact that Minthe’s player and I (we’ll call her... Sam, for the sake of privacy 💛) have a pretty good relationship outside of D&D, and we both are very experienced D&D and role players, so we just mesh easily. So, with that context in mind, we come to the story part. Our party had recently traveled underground (long story short, it was a more secret route into the castle of the city we were under, we were rescuing an innocent woman from execution). There was a puzzle we had to get past involving the guard of said underground path (Sam did a great job here, as she had to tell the guard a story that would entertain him in order to pass, and she rolled very high along with her very good roleplaying, which was more than enough to let us pass), and then we were in the stretch towards the underground criminal base that would allow us passage to the castle from the inside. As we make our way through the narrow cavern, which slowly filled with water, insuring we didn’t lag behind too much, we made our way to a... very... peculiar area. The walls seemed to end, and all around us looked like a night sky, even below the semi-opaque stairway that seemed to slowly crawl downwards. We had outpaced the water in this point, so we were free to carefully observe our surroundings in this otherworldly zone... I’m not exactly sure what this was to be honest, but my current theory was, at some point, we failed to perceive a portal of some kind that connected us to this magical hallway, a limbo between the cavern to wherever the underground criminal zone was. Anyway, no point in delaying, we begin proceeding downwards into the abyss, dimly (and I do mean dimly) lit by artificial star lights.

I should mention that, at this point, we concluded this session. A week passed us by, and we were hyped! Unfortunately, Sam was unable to proceed with this week’s session due to family business I believe, so we agreed to proceed with the session and edify her on the events immediately once the session concluded. As for Minthe, we felt it would be wrong to do her the disservice of just pretending she was there but not letting her do anything, so, despite our lack of a character sheet, we agreed to let someone use her character. I took that role, since I had the relative most experience with both 5E and Spellcasting out of the rest of the players at the time.

Now, resuming the in game events, we’re traveling through this odd realm of darkness, faint light, and downward stairs. Eventually, we begin to worry a little, so we all decide we’ll be making perception rolls to keep cautious. The dice were rolled, and every single one of our characters heard a strange series of noises as we listened... it sounded like... chittering...

Naturally, we’re unnerved. This was the first thing we had in this campaign that even felt reminiscent of horror themed, so we weren’t sure what the DM had planned... we get our vigil, and remained stalwart, proceeding further below. Eventually, we see the outline of a massive set of doubled doors, complete with large handles that were probably higher up than Lotë, who I wanna say was the shortest member of the party. However, the doors aren’t all we see. Above, we see multiple lights flicker in the darkness. One, two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty... tens... hundreds. Blinking in quick succession. They were a slightly different color than the stars surrounding us. These, as was obvious, were no stars. From just above the door, an incredible and mortifying sight revealed itself - a monstrous, gargantuan, opalescent Spider, the starlight now reflecting off of its revealed form, its razor sharp fangs, needle pointed legs and gemstone-fortified body sparkling in all of its death-foretelling glory. Then, as if things couldn’t be worse, the seemingly infinite eyes of above closed down towards us - hundreds of smaller twinkling spiders, raining down upon us.

Roll Initiative. Our Bloodhunter Kepesk went first, activating his crimson rite on his weapon and charging for the spider. Then a small group of the swarm attacked everyone in a small enough zone, dealing minimal, but still noteworthy, piercing damage. Keep in mind that the fact that this battle takes place on a stairway limits our mobility, lest we risk falling off of said stairs into who knew where...

The orders continue, Sunn strengthening the party with his magic, Lotë hurling spells and supporting friends when needed, wisely using fire to help ward against the webs that the many abominations sometimes used to keep us in place, Edgar bravely defending his friends with his viscous morning star, Kepesk distracting the leader of the creatures and dealing significant damage with his ice-coated scythe, Fib narrowly dodging and weaving through attacks and cleverly using the darkness to pass checks (presumably for being able to disengage and hide) before returning to the fray with impressive sneak attack damage, and Minthe channeling her most powerful spells at her disposal to decimate the army of spiders. Now, Kepesk, he’s a... cocky son of a bitch. Well, mayhaps not cocky, but I lack a better term. He’s absolutely chaotic, as is his player, though in the best way possible. He only does nonsense when he knows it can benefit the group, or at least himself and not harm the group, and it always makes for a good laugh! This boss fight would be no different, as he evades and disengages from the giant spider, and attempts to use her own weapons against her - by charming one of the spiders. Not, you know, magically charming them or commanding them. Just... you know, trying to tame it. In the middle of the fight. While also dodging the flurry of swipes and jabs from the boss. It may sound ridiculous, but we just thought it was as hilarious as it was badass, and we were dying of laughter, even the DM was into it (despite the fact that she later described never in a million years anticipating it, so good on her for being awesome about improvising shit). Now, he did, admittedly, have to earn it. A check to learn more about the spiders, a check to calm the spider, and then a few other things to make sure it didn’t die, fall, etc etc, since we were trying to kill as many spiders as possible, and he was sandwiched between the horde and the boss. He definitely suffered some hits and had to earn his pet gem spider, but, he did! Now, I see this, and I’m laughing while I think of a way to help. Maybe I have a spell that can make his checks easier, or buy him some time by getting the boss spider’s attention with a Divine Smite from Sunn, as I still had one last spell slot for him. But, I realized, Sunn rolled less than adequate on his initiative, and he was out for more than a few rounds, at least six or so. Minthe, however? She was next.

Now, for whatever reason, my thoughts lingered on Sam. “Man”, I thought, “what would Sam think if she were in this situation with Minthe?” Well, quickly, I had an answer. I smiled to myself, now giggling quietly. “She’d want a pet of her own, right?” I thought to myself. I mean, I wasn’t sure if she had a familiar or not at the time, but I knew the idea was humored by Sam and our DM. Maybe, just maybe, I could actually pull it off! A check to figure out what these things are, how to tame them, just get Sunn or Edgar to protect her from some spiders and boom, should be easy, right? Yes, it was. Just... not as easy as I thought it would be. “DM?” I ask, politely. “Wassup?” She asks in return, awaiting my response. “Minthe notices Kepesk not fighting with one of the spiders, and reasons that she’s away from most of the enemies... can she try to tame a spider as well?” She thinks on it for a second, and asks me to explain my reasoning, which I do. Minthe was known for being a little strange, since she was a Necromancer and didn’t really give a damn what people thought about her, so it’s not like it was out of character. I also add that it would be a nice surprise for Sam, since she had thought about getting Minthe a familiar before, and maybe this would be a way to ease that desire until a real familiar could be obtained (she ended up getting a... raven, or maybe a crow, as her legit familiar. He’s hilarious and can communicate using telepathy, he’s surprisingly eloquent with common, if a bit snarky)! The DM rules that I can certainly try, and to roll an Arcana check to learn more about these creatures. Minthe, being a wizard, had a very high score, and I rolled decently, between 10 and 15, so I was safe, and learned all of the information Kepesk had. Then, I roll another Arcana check to try and tame it (the reason I rolled Arcana and not Animal Handling, as I recall, was that Minthe was using her knowledge and actual facts of how to tame the creatures as opposed to intuitive care for the animal). I pick up my D20, shake it with both hands, and mumble “pleeeeaaase work..” to myself. I let go, and a few clacks ring out. People were curious if I could do it. Natural 20. I was pumped for the rest of the night - not only was the spider okay with chilling with Minthe, it fell in love! With two new allies on our side, we defeated the rest of the pests and took down the Massive Spider herself! Victory was ours, and the session ended as we pushed open the heavy metal gates, greeted with the sight of relatively civilized society. It was full of crooks, but at least there was an inn, so we felt pretty damn good. I eagerly texted Sam the report of the session that night once I was in my car on the way home (wasn’t driving, lol), and told her the tale of how she would have a viscous, dangerous little crystal spider to roleplay with as her character in the next session. To this day, both Minthe and Kepesk still have their spider kids and they honestly love them very, very much. The End! 💛

#dnd #d&d #dnd storytime

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hammen-eggen-chiz · 4 years

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DC Titans and Teen Titans idea

To kill some boredom, I've thought of reworking on the Titans and Teen Titans roster. I'm referring to the DC Rebirth Comics not the TV Series or the anomalous Cartoon. The current run of Titans is kind of a Cliffhanger and the Teen Titans run just became so infuriating partly because they made Damian Wayne a unchanging Rouge Bat-Brat again, but don't get me wrong these runs were great compared to Scott Lobdell run. (That was a wreck but hey I like it because I was a still a teen back then.) So I'll be writing about my ideas for the Titans and Teen Titans.

Side note: I'll be talking about the current timeline, that is DC Rebirth, so I'll push away from the New52 era. These are just my ideas and does not insinuate anything about DC Comics.

First lets go back and recall the brief history of the Titans. If you're familiar with the animated Series that composed of Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy, then I suggest you read the Teen Titans Year 1.

The OG Titans were:

• Robin/Dick Greyson

• KidFlash/Wally West

• Aqualad/Garth

• Wonder Girl/Donna Troy

• Speedy/Roy Harper

• Lilith Clay

These were the founding Titans also known as the "fab five" with Lilith Clay acting as a their Psionic counselor. They later adopt new personas and became Nightwing, Flash, Tempest, Troia, Arsenal, and Omen.

Jumping into their current situation, after the Dark Troia saga, where a dark Donna Troy came back to the timeline and almost decimated the Titans and almost kiling Wally West , the Justice League suggested to disband them, however after the events of No Justice, Nightwing/Dick Greyson persuaded Batman to reinstate the Titans but with Miss Martian acting as the JL Liaison. So Nightwing rounded up Raven/Rachel Roth, Beast Boy/Garfield Logan, Steel/Natasha Irons, and Donna Troy, a few issues later Nightwing took a bullet to the head courtesy of KGBeast and fell into coma, then got amnesia, became Rick Greyson, manipulated by the Court of Owls into joining them, and now he fell into the Hands of the Joker for the upcoming The Joker War Arc.

Now what happened to the OG team members? Well to be blunt, Wally West/Flash and Roy Harper/Arsenal were sent to the Sanctuary, a clandestine Psychiactric Ward for Superheroes (Read Heroes in Crisis) leading to Wally accidentally killing Roy and other Metahumans. Garth/Tempest got lost during the Drowned Earth Arc, and Lilith Clay, (along other characters) are in what readers call "Comic Limbo". The Team got lost into space but founded by Green Lantern/Kyle Reiner, rescued Raven's trapped soul-self in UnEarth and defeated Mother Blood. And after that it gets cancel, ending in Issue #36. That was a handful, so if you're curious into finding out what happened to them, I suggest reading the Comics.

So, with this I want to present new candidates from the existing pool of young Superheroes:

The current Team, composing of Donna Troy, Steel, Raven, Miss Martian, Beast Boy, and Green Lantern/Kyle Reiner is astounding. I loved how they faced their insecurities and inner turmoil during the Lost in Space story. But I think with their team they are a bit a short of hand. I want the Teen Titans West to be rebuild, with Omen/Lilith Clay in it.

For the first member its FlameBird/Bette Kane taking charge. It wouldn't be a Teen Titan without a Bat Kid in tow. I mean every Teen Superhero is lead by a Bat Kid. Bette Kane is the cousin of BatWoman/Katherine "Kate" Kane. Well she's been in DC Rebirth, appearing in Batwoman (vol. 2) #1 and Detective Comics #967. She's been training as a cadet. During the New52 Era, she was an Olympic Level Gymnast and trained under BatWoman. Batwoman even hinted that she might be drafted in the Bat Family if she do well. So, Bette Kane/FlameBird as part of Titans West.

Next is the power duo, Hawk and Dove. Hawk and Dove was created by Steve Ditko and Steve Skeates. They were inspired by emerging political divides of the 1960s between pro-war hawks and pacifist doves.

Hawk's name is Hank Hall and Dove's name is Dawn Granger, originally it was Don Hall, but he got killed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Hawk was also replaced by Holly Granger, Dawn's robust British sister. But I like Hank Hall better.

Hawk and Dove powers is "Danger Sense Transformation" which augments their natural abilities, having enhanced strength, speed, durability, agility, and healing factor. Dove can also fly and suppresses Hawk's boundless rage. There is a catch though, They have to be in actual danger to be able to transform. So without danger, they can't transform. I loved their objectivistic characters. I think they will bring a bit of challenge in the Team, with Hawk being brash and impulsive at times, but Dove counters that. They appear in Titans Hunt Arc and Doomsday Clock.

So, Hank Hall and Dawn Granger, Hawk and Dove in Titans West.

I wanna wrap things up with this last character, so I won't go into full details.

Next is Blue Bettle/Jaime Reyes, he's a latino superhero that was possessed by a blue alien scarab beetle. The beetle latched in his back is a Reach Scarab suit that gives him a cyborg/alien-ish powers. To put into short, he has powers like Cyborg but of Alien (Reach) Technology.

He can be the Team's conscience similar to KidFlash. He can spit truth albeit with clarity to bring the Team when they needed to be Grounded.

So, Blue Beetle/Jaime Reyes in Titans West.

Omen should take part in this reiteration of Titans West, she was in the OG Teen Titans West so it would be fair to put her. The OG Titans has Miss Martian and Raven already as their Psionic counselors. She can be the Team's link with the OG Titans and as well as their second tactician. She can be reluctant at times but her other teammates will make up for it.

There you have it, this is my reiteration of Titans West. Feel free to take it down if it infringes some rights. All the photos above are from Comic Vines and DC Wiki Fandom. I don't own all of these photos.

Next time I'll be writing about the Teen Titans Boot Camp next.

#DC Comics #teen titans #philippines

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filmista · 7 years

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The Virgin Suicides (1999)

“What we have here is a dreamer. Someone completely out of touch with reality.”

'The Virgin Suicides' Sofia Coppola's film debut, adapted from the novel of the same name written by Jeffrey Eugenides, is at once her most beloved and critically acclaimed work along with 'Lost In Translation'. But also one of her most heavily criticized.

Heavily criticized for what's considered a lack of substance or a romanticizing of teenage suicide, but this criticism in the end always tends to trace back to one place: her films are too pretty and too feminine for some.

And yes Coppola's films have a feminity to them that predominates like a force of nature that can't be ignored, but I've always loved her films exactly for that reason: The woman loves making films about women. And I’m all for it!!

And while she's at it, at first it might look like it's all pretty without much going on. But every time she paints a fascinating psychological portrait of the woman or women that are the subject of her films in question.

Though sometimes you've got to scratch the surface a little, her films sometimes seem almost like a painting or a fairytale fantasy, whether she sets it in the past or in modern day life.

There is always something slightly unreal, not quite of this world, well by definition any film that's not a documentary is technically unreal...

'The Virgin Suicides' has that same ethereal, ultrafeminine touch, for me, the film has always underneath all that melancholia, had that nondescript feeling a summer you had in your childhood, that seemed to go on forever had, but that in adulthood through the lens of nostalgia has become overly glamorized and idolized.

Perhaps the music of that particular summer was in reality not as good, the lemonade not as sparkly and refreshing and your first kiss not as sweet and smooth.

That aesthetic in a film is one I can't precisely put into words, a number of films have it 'Stand By Me', even 'The Breakfast Club', but instead of a summer it's a Saturday, that will seemingly never end, rich with endless possibilities and glorious 80's music of course...

All these films usually make you want to be there: share that happiness, it's something that's more typical in American films: the typical suburban streets, lined with regal trees, green lawns, a kid on a bike passing by.

But in a handful of films, that seeming happiness acquires a creepiness: in 'The Virgin Suicides' because we know how it will end, and it's as if that image of the house and the street is saying: look isn't this a glorious place to live? And a glorious place to die...

Ir's even what makes 'Nightmare On Elm Street' (the original one) creepy, stuff, terrible stuff goes down in that street at night, the stuff of nightmares quite literally in this case, yet by day you'd welcome living there.

That also happens in 'The Virgin Suicides', that family, the Lisbons looks lovely but that couldn't be less true.

The entire film relies on making everything prettier and happier than it is, because it is, in fact, one big male fantasy, the fantasy of the neighborhood boys obsessed with these girls.

There are even people that have questioned whether you can even tell a story that's supposed to be feminist from the male gaze? Sofia Coppola does that; but she doesn't criticize or even judge those boys, she simply shows us that they see the Lisbon sisters, as "beautiful creatures".

A debate that there's often been is, whether those boys loved the girls in both the book and the film, there's a lack of substance and in the characterization of the girls that at first infuriated me; I wanted to know who they were and why they did what they did.

But for the boys, that lack of depth, represented a mystery, to decipher, a code to crack. If only they could get through to those beautiful creatures, girls, with a sea of unknown thoughts and secrets in their mind.

One of the boys ultimately gets through to one of them, through her body but not at all likely did he access her mind. When Lux and Trip make love (if you can call it that) on the football field, he's finally gotten what he wants, you can't physically get much closer.

Yet he hasn't (I know this sounds wrong), penetrated her mind. Tripp could get any girl he wanted, even the one he couldn't get, she is the one that haunts him, even when is he no longer young, and only a ghost of the stud he once was remains.

He still wonders "why did that beautiful girl kill herself?", "Why couldn't I save her?"

When the boys knew the Lisbon girls they seemed very happy without a care in the world, yet these beautiful creatures while each girl in the film has an all California girl kind beauty, straight, shiny blonde hair.

They had problems like all of us, problems, that no one grasped or even suspected the depths of, because they never asked, the girls it seems only have each other to depend on, and their parents, who are the primary cause of their unhappiness.

They're seemingly at first glance, the killers, the villains. But they act out of overprotectiveness, their way of showing love. Yet anyone would become depressed if they were always contained in the same room, like a bug in a jar.

The girls are granted small victories, going to a dance, having a party, but they are still "othered", for instance, are not allowed to throw the same kind of parties their peers do.

And when something goes wrong for one of them, after the suicide of the youngest sister Cecilia, the others are punished more severely, but they become even more dead inside because of it.

There is a game people traditionally like to play when they're watching 'The Virgin Suicides', it's trying to determine why they killed themselves and who's to blame.

The why is to me at least, plenty clear to see. Everything and everyone is to blame. Their death is tragic because their situation, would have changed and ended eventually, their parents couldn't lock them up forever but to the girls this unbearing present reality, they saw no realistic escape.

They're all if different, somewhat the same because no individual expression is allowed, makeup is evil and their records are burned.

Their parents can't accept the girls are becoming women, so they try to suppress that, but if you suppress that, you suppress an entire individual, a woman's sexuality and her feminity are a part of what forms her, no one has the right to take that...

One of the girls says: "I feel like I can't breathe in here", it's Lux Lisbon the one that makes this statement the only one in the entire film to not remain a virgin.

Sex is a way in which she rebels; she wants to live life and experience all its pleasures and that includes sex, but she doesn't get the biggest pleasure out of sex itself, but out of knowing that it's what upsets her parents the most, it's her way of saying "fuck you", "you don't control me"...

But of course, they are the ones keeping her locked in, Lux sleeps with various men throughout the novel and in the film, she's certainly promiscuous. Promiscuity is something that we tend to shame, especially in women, but sometimes there's an emotional reason.

No one will ask "why do you sleep with so many people" often as, in the case of Lux, it's an attempt at escape and happiness or even cry for help and attention.

All the girls feel much the same as Lux: like they can't breathe, that they're being suffocated, not allowed to live, and that's what they wanted to do more than anything, to live.

It's not something you achieve through suicide, but then the Lisbon girls didn't really feel alive, they felt like they were in a limbo of depression and captivity, waiting for the end of yet another day.

Perhaps the girls are also too smart for their own good, and could already see the flaws and hypocrisy in the world, but didn't have the will to wade through it.

They also seemed to want deep human connection, but those around them didn't seem ready for that. The Lisbon sisters no doubt are loved, but they wanted understanding, but only received deeply flawed love.

It again brings us to the question of whether the boys loved the girls or had a teenage infatuation, I'm inclined to say they loved them in their own gawky teenage boy way...

They're perhaps the lesser evil in the film, they meant the girls no harm. When they found out they weren't allowed out, they tried to cheer them up, tried to make them feel better, but still barely made an attempt to understand them.

So again to some degree, I'd say everything and everyone is to blame for their death, everyone part of the society around them contributed to their unhappiness in a way. You can be loved even admired, but feel still irrelevant like you don't exist, both are feelings that can push people to kill themselves.

As I've said earlier 'The Virgin Suicides' is often criticized for a lack of substance and an overdose of feminity, well I ultimately found the novel even more feminine and detailed in it's telling.

The book, if it weren't brilliant, would be somewhat unreadable, it's that poetical and lyrical. Coppola retained the beauty of the words, the images they described but toned it down a bit and instead chose to focus slightly more on the girls and their feminity.

Which for the boys in the novel is fascinating one of the boys, is even literally fascinated with a tampon that's still got fresh blood on it because one of the girls threw it away minutes or seconds earlier, and says "it's like an abstract painting".

They're as much intrigued by the infinite little trinkets that can be found in a house where a woman lives, even more, if there's multiple. All part of a lifelong performance of sorts that few men like will ever fully grasp.

One of the characters I felt most sympathetic toward, was Mr. Lisbon, the man's not a monster, he just doesn't want to go against his wife, he would want them to go outside, there's a brilliant passage in the book in which he's sickened by hair and various hair clips laying around, saying that it reminds him of a zoo exhibit.

And in fact, that's what that house is a living and breathing exhibit.

But Mr. Eugenides since he is speaking from the male perspective of the boys, glorifies that feminity mostly, something that intoxicates the boys because they don't understand it, just as they don't understand the girls.

Coppola goes for the same exuberant feminity, but the dream, the fantasy has a hint of a nightmare. It's almost shown in a horror like way, even the image of a cabinet full of boxes of tampons has something inexplicably squirmy about it.

There's always something sickening and oppressive to that feminity, and in the air, that makes you feel locked in like you can't breathe underneath all the prettiness.

It's how the Lisbon sisters felt in their pretty yet stifling exhibit, all the feminine trinkets have a profound sadness: the world is never to see the girls wearing them, they're soulless objects, belonging to soon to be corpses.

There's that same sadness in Los Translation: Charlotte applies lipstick for a husband that doesn't care...

'The Virgin Suicides' is one of the films I like a lot, but don't watch often, it's too good, it makes me uncomfortable, and brings me to close to that same lethargic, depressed state, even if I can go out after I feel like I too was locked in there, in that room that's a waiting room of death.

Yet I like many others come back to it because as much as that world is sickening it's also beautiful.

Coppola carefully crafts a teenage dream that's also a nightmare: every image is seemingly beautiful and calm and that's where the scariness is, the stillness and inactivity of it all.

Even during a party or a family evening, no one is alive, you have ghosts watching TV if you add to that the almost visibly stifling hotness and humidity of summer.

The sheer claustrophobia of that house, and the hauntingly, ethereal soundtrack, you've got something that is equally as beautiful as it is mesmerizing, yet deeply uncomfortable and nauseating: everything is too pretty and perfect.

Every teenage girl wants that bedroom, the one the Lisbon girls have, if only they were allowed to leave it...

"Do we seem as crazy as everyone thinks?" "Who thinks that?" She didn't reply, only stuck her hand out the door to test for rain. "Cecilia was weird, but we're not." And then: "We just want to live. If anyone would let us." ― Jeffrey Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides

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abaddonian-blog · 7 years

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T E L L M E, WHAT’S YOUR-

– WORST FEAR?

Agoraphobia. Do you know what that is? It’s a generalized fear of any place or situation that might cause helplessness or panic – and in short, it’s a fear of everything and anything. Those who suffer from agoraphobia live in limbo perpetually, never stepping foot outside of their homes for fear. It is, by all means, a cursed life to fear everything.

But she thinks that maybe it would be preferable to what she fears. She fears nothing, and it is a whole new level of fear by itself – she lives a half-life, a shadow existence; without fear, there exists nothing that she can ascribe value to.

When she quashes a bug – not for fear – but for the disgust she feels when its exoskeleton cracks under the pressure of her foot, she fears no fall-out, no consequences, nothing. When she extinguishes a human life, there are consequences. But she fears it no more than than she fears the lack of retribution; what stops her from equating an arachnid to a human life?

What stops her from equating an arachnid’s life to her own?

Nothing.

And oh, what a cursed life it is to fear nothing.

– GREATEST HOPE?

In 1895, an American philosopher and psychologist named William James coined a term called multiverse and she can spend the better half of eternity blathering on about its hypothetical set of finite and simultaneously infinite possible universes.

Within these hypothetical, infinite and possible universes, there exist, at any given moment, a colorful myriad of universes where she is a saint, sinner, martyr, messiah, happy-healthy-sane-normal-human, you name it. There would theoretically exist universes where she ends up with someone she missed simply by the misfortune of being created in this specific universe.

So, God is dead. So, she’s dying. So, the apocalypse is coming. So, the world is ending.

This universe is reaching its infinite possible end, and here’s hoping that destroying it clears the way for another universe that is far preferable to this one.

May the bridges I burn light the way.

– DEEPEST DOUBT?

She has always been Abaddon as far as her memory serves – but the Ancient Greeks called her Athena. One moment out of all the infinite moments in eternity, she was just a thought, and then she rioted into existence, created out of the nether, summoned by ideas, crafted by cognition.

An argument can be made for Eris, superficially for her strife, for her chaos, but to mistake her for Eris, when Eris was born (and not created) of god-flesh and ichor – with the unique experience of life – is to fundamentally misunderstand her.

She was created in a new age, under Lucifer, and she is considered part of the new-age demons, in her existence post-Baal. But the real new-age demons, like Babylon, like Crowley? They have lived out tortured lives and died ruinous deaths, given the gift of connection, of humanity, something her ether-bones and nether-flesh will never understand. Divinity after humanity is a gift; divinity with no knowledge of anything else, a meek existence.

She will never know the taste of humanity as long as she lives; it’s doubtful she will know the very uniquely human connections and relationships that come with it.

And when she dies (voracitosis reminds her, tick tock), she will be there one moment, gone the next, reduced back to cognition and thoughts and the abstract without ever knowing any of it.

– MOST CHERISHED MEMORY?

One minute he’s there, and the next he’s gone, banished from existence, doomed to live on as a stray thought, an errant memory. She wonders if that’s her fate as well, but anything Samyaza has done, she has done ten times better so she files that thought away.

He had tried to kill Lucifer. A smart thing to do, considering your right hand is Lucifer’s first creation. A smart thing to do, considering said creation deals extensively in gossip. A smart thing to do-

Well, no, Samyaza was always more brawns than brain, and she crushes a black glass pawn from her chess kit in his honor. His death serves a lot of purposes though – it lets her know her little songbirds sing rumors in perfect pitch, and it opens his position as Prince of Chaos to her. Lucifer dotes on her in his promotion speech, always a hungry for a taste of the theatrical, and well, she figures her own mile-wide dramatic streak had to have come from somewhere.

It ushers in a new age of warfare and empyrean relations; welcome to the French Revolution.

#( challenge 21. )#( here's the thing about being feral; no one wants to get too close. )#chvrchesrp #chvrchpoint #including psych references counts as studying for your final right?#this got long

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