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elia-de-silentio · 3 years

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Recap on The Decay of Angels

Above, our introduction to the villains that have dominated the Bungou Stray Dogs manga for a few years as of now. It tells us two main things: that they are terrorist, and that they are five. Of them, two are known: Dostoevsky, already introduced in the previous arc, and Gogol, who debuts in this chapter.

As of chapter 88, all of the five members are known, and a few of these identities have been puzzling for the public at large. So, I want to try and recap what we know of them, and maybe make a little sense of it (spoiler, I didn't, but I found a few interesting facts).

We already met Fyodor in the Cannibalism arc, and gained an idea of who he is, how he operates, and what he wants. He's the leader of his own organization, but fights his battles mostly indirectly, by manipulating others into fighting for him.

He aims at destroying Yokohama to find the famed Book, the one to rewrite reality, for the purported reason if creating a better world, one without the 'sin' of ability users. Why he does think like that, or exactly what kind of different world he does envision, is unknown to this day.

Later, in chapter 56, we are shown the Decay of Angel's deeds, four in one week, which our resident nerd Kunikida explains are related to four of the five signs of the imminent death of an angel (or 'deva' in the Buddhist conception):

They skinned a legislator's torso, made a shirt with the result, and put it back on him, all in five minutes = the angel's robes are soiled.

They melted off the face of a deputy commander in the coast guard with a corrosive poison = the angel's garland melts away.

They stuck an air compressor in the mouth of the secretary of a general in the ministry of defense, causing his blood vessels to pop out = the angel's radiance fades.

Lastly, an official for the military police was injected a drug that caused him to kill himself = the angel's armpits start to sweat.

Moreover, they're suspected to have ties in the government; turns out, Gogol was cosplaying as a secretary in there.

He takes hostage a bunch of government officials, and threatens to saw them in two ("losing delight in their heavenly thrones")

The next chapters are dedicated to introducing Nikolai Gogol: an eccentric individual with a powerful ability and the most likely perpetrator of all the aforementioned crimes (since Fyodor was in jail at the time and, as we'll see shortly, the other members aren't particularly suited to these kinds of jobs).

However, he admits that he does feel guilt for what he does, and it's the reason he keeps doing it: he wants to free himself from the concept of morality, from his own conscience.

While this is a rather interesting philosophy, it doesn't expand much on why and how he joined the Decay of Angels. Was he a 'normal' person with particular ideas on morality that were brought to the extreme by the other members in order to make him useful, or was he already a murderer, and joined the Decay to have a wider choice of targets?

Boh. We'll only know quando Asagiri si decide a recuperare il suo arco porca pupazza with time. Still, the important part is that he doesn't seem to share Fyodor's objectives, nor does he say anything about the greater plan and his ideas on it. This is the first indicator that the Decay is a rather fragmented group, everyone is in for his own goals.

However, the last interesting thing is that the plan involved his own death: those in the Decay have no problems sacrificing their own members (even if I have a little theory that Fyodor might have planned for his survival, but I'll talk about it in another post).

Next, a wounded Taneda adds an information about the Decay of Angels: of the three members still in the dark, one has the ability to exchange knowledge he wants for information the person he touches wants. Namely, they're looking for a book, one that makes so that what is written on it becomes the truth - something already hinted by Fyodor. They managed to locate one page of it, and used it to frame the Armed Detective Agency to create a chaos and instigate a sort of Ability Civil War to destroy the city.

Their 'knowledge broker' is revealed to be Sigma; a reveal that is quite a surprise for the reader, since the manager of the Sky Casino has been introduced rigging a game to allow a person desperately in need of money to win; a very positive introduction, for a member of a 'murder association'. Later, it's revealed that he didn't even want to stab Taneda, only scare him off.

In fact, he hasn't even joined them because of some ideal: Fyodor found him when he had no past nor family nor anywhere to go, and offered him a place to belong in exchange for his services. When it turns out that his colleagues in the Decay have planned his demise (and two!) and Atsushi shows him kindness, he promptly cooperates with the Agency; or tries to, before one of Fyodor's lackeys shoots him.

It's also revealed that the group has created some explosive coins, released to the population at large to make some other acts of terrorism.

After some other shenanigans, we are introduced to their boss: Ouchi Fukuchi, officially the war hero who wants to save the world from the 'terrorists' known as the Armed Detective Agency by instituting an international police force.

Unofficially, a former torturer sanctioned by the government, traumatized by what he found himself doing. He wants to take down every nation, throwing the world into anarchy, because he believes countries and governments responsible for wars; and he also wants to stick it to his childhood friend who wasn't with him on the battlefield and got a found family he didn't have, and so framed him as the leader of the terrorists.

His actual plan was to terrorize the population and the government enough that they would gladly let him create an international armed force at his commands, which he would actually have used to break down the concept of 'State'.

Lastly, the fifth member: Bram Stoker. Another interesting case: like Sigma, he doesn't have any particular ideal that brought him to the group; on the contrary, he dislikes them. He used to be known as a calamity for his ability to turn others into vampires, and swore to never do such a thing again. He breaks this promise because Fukuchi threatened to kill him otherwise, and already keeps him in a state of prisony; personally, he has no interest in destroying the world, and thinks Fukuchi should do it himself. Considering that he interacts only with him, and doesn't keep track of the time well, I wonder if he even knows the other people in the organization.

Another interesting thing, is that he is the first British author to get introduced, except for Agatha Christie, who is hinted to be the leader of an organization of European Ability Users, but hasn't made an appearence since chapter 12/Dead Apple, and insofar hasn't had any impact on the plot. Maybe Stoker will be the element that brings the 'Order of the Clocktower' in?

Anyways, here they are: a group of people with vastly different goals and mindsets, ready to send each other to death and put dents into the others' plan (Sigma being ready to tell everything to Atsushi, Fyodor likely putting intentional mistakes in the Page he redacted to undermine Fukuchi).

Honestly ... it's amazing such a branco di disagiati group of people that want so wildly different things managed to last so long, let alone do this much damage. I mean ... how and why these people came together? What do they have in common?

To try and find answers, I did a little research.

First of all, the name 'Decay of Angels' comes, surprise surprise, from a book.

'The Decay of the Angel' by Yukio Mishima is the last novel in a tetralogy that follows the story of Shigekuni Honda, law student in the first novel and retired judge in the last, as he spends his whole life looking for the reincarnation of his deceased schoolfriend, finding them in people that seem to inevitably meet an early death, and ultimately destroys himself.

In the last installment, Honda decides that the reincarnation is an orphan, Toru, that behind a nice and normal facade hides antisocial tendencies. The interesting thing is that Honda notices them, but dismisses them as 'guile': what makes him decide that Toru isn't the reincarnation of his friend is the fact that he doesn't die on a certain date. And after all he had decided that he could be his friend after noticing a similar mole pattern; both very superficial things to originate and conclude such a fixation.

So what? I don't know.

Is a reference on how Fukuchi envied his childhood friend Fukuzawa for never dirtying his hands the way he had to do, and for having a found family, or a 'path in life', and decided to do a distorted version of such, with a few criminals and a plan to destroy the current order? Not sure.

Let's move to the artist, then!

Yukio Mishima was something of a conservative, and he strongly opposed the westernization of Japan, arguing that it left its people rootless. By this, I mean that he founded a private militia, the Tatenokai, composed of a bunch of students recruited with the newspaper, who until the 1970 did not much more than physical exercise and worship of the Emperor.

On the 25th of November 1970, however, Mishima plus four (!) of them briefly seized control of the Self Defense Force headquarters and tried to encourage the soldiers in a coup d'etat. They failed; Mishima and Masakatsu Morita, one of said four followers, committed suicide by seppuku, the latter despite his commander's wishes. The other three ended up in prison.

So, we have a strong believer in the traditional values of the State; quite the opposite of the 'anarchist' Fukuchi.

However, Mishima does not appear as a character, even if, since he was a writer, he could very well have. Instead, a bunch of appearently unrelated figures compose the terrorist group.

Fukuchi Genichirou was a translator, journalist, and playwriter. He, too, was a conservative: in his youth, he wrote an article criticizing the government and was subsequently arrested; he was released for the intercession of an influent friend, but this is remembered as the first episode of suppression of free speech in the Meiji Restauration.

He later founded a very short-lived political party that pursued the sovereignity of the Emperor, enforcement of a Constitution established by the Emperor and election among limited people. This party disbanded after one year.

Fyodor Dostoevsky is best known as a novelist, short story writer and journalist. He was also involved in politics: initially, he was interested in socialism, fluctuating among several groups due to an interest in social reforms in favor of destitute people.

The last group he joined (despite having been described by Bakunin as essentially a bunch of posers) got him convicted for reading papers that criticized the Russian government and religion, and nearly sentenced to death; the letter by the Tsar that commuted the sentence in prison and hard labour arrived just as the convicts were right in front of the firing squad, leaving them all free to enjoy this deeply traumatizing experience. He was considered one of the most dangerous prisoners (he read some books). Later in life, he moved towards more conservative beliefs (conservative for Russian standards: he criticized both socialism and capitalism, idealized the monarchy, and asserted that every social problem could be solved with Orthodox Christianity); but he didn't try to take an active role in politics.

Nikolai Gogol was a novelist, short story writer, and playwriter of Ukrainian origins. Despite costantly satirizing the government in his works, he was a strong supporter of the tsarist monarchy and criticized those who wanted a costitutional monarchy.

Fittingly for 'a character with no past', researching Sigma was a real pain. Shoutout to @gravitycantstop for pointing me in what is probably the right direction.

Sigma was a pseudonym of Russian journalist and writer Sergey Nikolaevich Syromyatnikov. Appearently, decent information about him is available only in Russian. Now, one day I'll speak every language in the world, but insofar my knowledge of Russian is limited to 'vodka' and 'syrniki', so I can't say much about him. If anyone who reads this speaks Russian and can provide information, please do so!

[Edit: thanks to @heydeliah , now we know about RL Sigma's political inclinations: he was a conservative who supported an authocratic monarchy, just like the above two]

Lastly, Bram Stoker: he had a keen interest in Irish Affairs, was a strong supporter of the Liberal Party, which favoured social reforms, personal liberty, and reducing the powers of both the Crown and the Church of England. He supported Home Rule brought about by pacifist means, was an ardent monarchist, and believed Ireland should stay in the British Empire, which he saw as a force for good.

So? I'm not sure what to make of all of this. The only thing I can say is that a bunch of real-life right-wingers has been turned into essentially a bunch of far left extremists? Sure, Stoker has been around for too little to express any ideology besides 'fanculo 'sta merda I want to sleep', and the lack of information on Sigma means that I can't make theories on him. But still, it's the closest thing I could find that binded them all together.

I admit I'm still unsure about what this could mean. Surely they weren't the only boomers ante litteram strongly conservative authors Asagiri could find, so ... I guess we have to wait and see? I literally made this post as I went, trying to find a common denominator, and this was all I could manage.

Anyways, I hope this can be somehow interesting.

Thanks to anyone who bothered to read my ramblings!

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd meta #bsd theories #bsd spoilers #bsd fyodor #bsd gogol #bsd sigma #bsd fukuchi #bsd stoker #bsd decay of angels #bsd doa #elia's recaps

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luwupercal · 3 years

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Palatine Phoenix: Notes and Analysis

In this post, I will be using passages from the novel Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix, by Josh Reynolds, to analyze the novel. My analysis will mostly be centered around the main character of this novel, the titular Fulgrim, and how this novel subverts the common pitfalls his characterization falls into, and gives him a depth of personality while setting the stage for the man he would become in the future.

A short foreword: in an earth-shattering record for a Horus Heresy/Imperium-centric book, I disagree with exactly two (2) sentences in this book, and no more. They are: (1) the one that calls Abdemon ugly, early on (he’s moe!), and (2) the one where Fulgrim is said to have purple eyes (they’re black, I’ll fight you).

This will contain spoilers for all of Palatine Phoenix, but it is nonetheless worth reading, because it’s a novel that works even if you see its twists coming a thousand miles away. Which is how you know it’s good.

Now. Let’s begin, shall we?

I will, unfortunately, have to add pictures of the screenshots I took of my notes later. For now you just get text and the quotes written out in italics. Sorry.

First off, brief plot summary for those who haven’t read: Palatine Phoenix is set in the early days of Fulgrim’s legion, only a few decades after he was first found. I don’t remember if Rogal Dorn or Roboute Guilliman is the most recently found primarch, but I remember there’s only seven or eight primarchs that’ve been found by the Imperium by the time this novel is set. (The second primarch hasn’t been redacted yet, and his personality is actually briefly described in the novel; it contradicts my OC, but I can rework him, it’s fine).

It follows Fulgrim’s ‘final test’ as a leader of his own independent legion, out of his brothers’ shadows: taking a planet, Byzas, in only a month, with only seven space marines, plus him (plus a regiment or so of the Imperial army, a diplomat, and her cadre, sent by the highest seat in the Imperial government and thusly unavoidable; said diplomat is the absolute girlboss Golconda Pyke, a very sharp older woman with a canonical Karen haircut who happens to be utterly badass).

Things are complicated by several factors: the planet’s lord, Pandion; his chancellor, Belleros Corynth; a workers’ revolt maybe being puppeteered by the upper class; and a lot, and I mean a LOT, of conspiracies working for and/or against... er, all of the above-mentioned.

Let’s start with the subject of my first highlighted text off this novel, and one topic that surprises me somewhat is headlining my essay on Fulgrim, of all people: religion in the Imperium.

I start here because there’s a neat little parallel — later in the novel, Fulgrim thinks this:

He flinched back from the thought. Worship was a taboo word in his father’s kingdom. There was no worship, for there were no gods. No demigods. Only the Emperor and His sons, and the Imperium they would rule together.

(all emphasis both above and hereon out mine)

But at another point, Fulgrim contradicts this:

“’We are wells yet untapped’,” Fulgrim murmured. A saying of Horus’s. They all had their secrets, their hidden passions. What was a man but a tangle of secrets? Not that they were men. But demigods were as entitled to secrets as the mortals who worshipped them.

This contradiction might’ve been unintentional, and I don’t blame Josh Reynolds if it is (because writing is really hard), but it also states something fairly clearly: the idea that there’s no religion in the Imperium is a blatant lie, and even the primarchs, when not watching their words, catch themselves admitting their semidivinity.

(Also: if the noun ends with an S, if it’s a proper noun, you say, for example, Horus’s; if it’s a common noun, like a plural, you say, for example, bees’. This has been English Grammar with Julián).

There’s also this, my very first highlighted text of the novel:

Fire and blood. Efficiency and speed. The watchwords of the Great Crusade.

“Efficiency,” Fulgrim said, making it sound like a prayer.

This is an interesting one, because it introduces something interesting about this book: it deals pretty directly with the Imperium’s Crusade being an utterly unmasked, thinly-justified conquering spree.

Here’s some passages. First off, an exchange between Fulgrim and his Lord Commander at the time, Abdemon:

Fulgrim quirked an eyebrow. “Oh? You didn’t think it was a bit much?”

“No, my lord. Just the right amount of jingoism.”

...For reference, “jingoism (n., derogatory): extreme patriotism, especially in the form of aggressive or warlike foreign policy.”

This is from the very beginning of the book, too, and frankly, it all sets its tone excellently. There’s no illusion that what the Imperium is doing is right (which is a running theme in Fulgrim’s books, of all people, interestingly enough; at the very least, in Fulgrim, by Graham McNeill, the way Fulgrim deals with the Laer is cruel and dehumanizing, inasmuch as the etymology rather than merely the spirit of that word can apply to the Laer, and we all know how that goes for him). Also, it’s very funny.

If you want to never forget what the word ‘jingoism’ means, I will openly shill to you Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, but also I’m pretty sure that a good chunk of the audience for this post will have read Discworld. Well, actually, I’ve found that the overlap between even semi-devoted 40k fans and people who’ve read Discworld is surprisingly small; I think it’s because if we had better taste we wouldn’t be here.

Another quote that I want to talk about here, describing I believe Fulgrim’s* POV of his first impression upon Byzas’s people, or at least the first impression he wants to leave:

He was the face of the Imperium. Benevolent, welcoming, gentle.

*Might’ve been Pyke’s, too, but it doesn’t change much.

Now, “he was [...] benevolent, welcoming, gentle” is a very innocuous compliment, but this is not what Fulgrim is. This is what the Imperium’s face is. This is the Imperium’s mask, so to speak; benevolence, gentleness, open-armed-ness...

And it’s a very terrifying set of sentences when you think about it, because, well, would you describe the Imperium as benevolent? Welcoming? Gentle? Even as far back as 30k — don’t forget how in I believe it was False Gods, Terran noblewoman and remembrancer Petronella Vivar has a mutilated slave she tortures routinely for a bodyguard, and it’s not just allowed, but commonplace. (Maggard is also Terran-born, if that, uh, matters to you) If it isn’t any of those adjectives to its own citizens, even the ones of its homeworld, what the hell will it be to those people it conquers? The answer this book provides is unambiguous: Nothing good.

And on a similar note: the Imperium, normally, is terrifying. It’s every derogatory adjective you can throw at it and worse. And in 40k, at the very least, the Imperium’s masking of this is paper-thin. So you know what’s absolutely fucking terrifying? The Imperium actually making an effort to appear like the “good guys”. Think of it this way: Villain? Bad. Villain with good publicity? Who can get away with everything it does underhandedly, as long as it keeps up the façade? Even worse.

Also, with this I bring up another trend in this novel: how Fulgrim is physically described.

Here’s the narration, off-handedly, speaking of Fulgrim’s memories of I think his homeworld:

A flash of perfect teeth, as he recalled the frustrations of those days.

Here’s Pyke talking about Fulgrim:

Fulgrim smiled, and Pyke felt her heart twitch. It was as if he were a sun, caged in flesh. Every smile, every laugh, was a flare of light and heat, striking to the very core of her. She would have to be more careful around him, more so perhaps than she had been around the others. Like the sun, he might reduce her to cinders and never notice.

Here’s some excerpts from the scene where the Byzan government gets their first peek at Fulgrim (Frazer, for reference, is the officer in charge of the above-mentioned regiment-or-so, and Firebird is Fulgrim’s personal, uh, think the little ship Darth Vader pilots?):

Fulgrim chuckled. Pyke glanced up at him. “What is it?”

“They think Frazer is me.”

She snorted. “They’re in for a shock.”

“Best to get it over with then, I suppose.”

The Byzan dignitaries froze halfway to the Firebird, and then milled about like startled birds as Fulgrim and Pyke descended. Silence fell across the plaza, and Fulgrim felt a small thrill of pleasure. The awe of humans was a heady thing.

Nobody can tell me I overdid people being three-fourths surprised one-fourth horny by Sanguinius in ’Finally Awake’ anymore.

Anyway, as you can see: the narration validates the belief that Fulgrim is extremely sexy and powerful(-looking).

There’s two things I want to talk about, with regards to these excerpts: the way transhumans are propped up, in contrast with regular humans, and Fulgrim’s pride (”The awe of humans was a heady thing”).

First off, transhumans; we’ll pick Fulgrim’s brain apart later. Here’s Pyke on Fulgrim:

This close, she could feel the weight of his strength. Here was a being who could tear mountains apart with his bare hands, or swim through seas of boiling metal. It didn’t bear thinking about what he could do to her, if he so chose.

Here’s Pyke on Lord Commander Abdemon and Fulgrim:

She recalled how carefully Abdemon had held her wine glass, and wondered if the whole world were like that for Fulgrim.

Here’s Pyke on the other primarchs (and hoo boy, do I wanna hear the story behind this):

She’d met primarchs before, and even berated one - an event she suspected had used up her quota of luck for the century.

Told you she was badass.

And to contrast, here’s I think either Fulgrim or Abdemon thinking about Pyke’s increased age (he goes on for a bit):

She had decided to lean into the curve and descend into obsolescence gracefully.

Sure, it’s a fittingly sharp and frank way to refer to old age... if you think older people are somehow obsolete. Which, uh, I hope none of us do, because that’s a really needlessly cruel thing to think. And, okay. It’s not new to any of us that the Imperium is on some serious eugenics, right?

Some other stand-out moments of transhumans demonstrating superiority occur in the novel that I didn’t get to highlight and thus save away, but notably: the marine Cyrius duels a baker’s half-dozen or so of people at the same time to show off, Fulgrim (instead of accepting governor Pandion’s offer to handle the situation) jumps off a window and onto a blimp-esque flying vehicle and kills every last one of its occupants for trying to assassinate him (also he survives being poisoned a bunch of times but so does Pyke so I’m not sure if it counts), a group of four or so marines killing everyone in like IIRC an industrial-sized mining facility on an asteroid, two marines being sent to make a group of striking workers stand down who tank enough bullets with their armor for them to decide to stand in the middle of the field (while actively shot at) to discuss what to do next and zone out while composing music with the rhythmic gunfire (seriously), and just... a bunch of other stuff. A bunch of other stuff.

And yet:

The others seemed to be handling things with more aplomb. Telmar had cornered some unlucky nobleman and was being politely menacing. Quin was studying the banquet table in obvious confusion, a tiny plate clutched gingerly in his massive hands. Alkenex and Thorn mingled silently, observing rather than participating. He heard the boom of Cyrius’s laughter, and an appreciative titter from the small crowd he’d gathered about him.

And yet!:

Fulgrim pinched the bridge of his nose. A startlingly human gesture, Abdemon thought.

And! Yet!:

Each of the Emperor’s sons was different. Some were, to put it bluntly, more human than others.

So it’s not an omnipresent thing, that they’re so... grandiose and great and, and all-powerful, and superior. Primarchs — and Astartes — are just like us, sometimes. Including the whole war crimes thing. We real-life baselines do a lot of that.

(Note here: I didn’t highlight any of it, I don’t think, but Fulgrim in this novel repeatedly acts impatient, petulant and immature; he makes rash choices; Pyke at one point describes him as having “the emotions of a child, with the analytical mind of a cogitant” (probably paraphrased). Not only is ADHD Fulgrim real, but he’s also very fallible!)

And Fulgrim, to some extent, is failing to grapple with his superiority not being absolute — and he is failing to grapple with it via his sons.

All throughout the novel, Fulgrim takes a very personal stake in the eradication of the flaw that killed most of his legion. There’s this bit, give me a moment —

“It is not an outside agent, but an... an internal flaw.” He fell silent. Fulgrim studied him.

“A flaw in the candidates?” he asked finally.

Fabius said nothing. Fulgrim turned away. The Apothecary’s silence had been answer enough.

And this other bit, from I believe Abdemon’s? third person limited POV:

Their primarch had shouldered the burden of their imperfections as his own.

And to boot, Fulgrim also feels guilty about not being there earlier for his sons.

The Emperor’s Children had earned the right to bear the palatine aquila for their efforts on Proxima. Another honour earned without him.

And this one, while musing on the battles the EC had before his arrival, and how much they cost the EC:

Sometimes, he dreamed of Proxima. Of Luna, and Jupiter. Battles where a primarch might have made a difference. Where the Phoenician might have led his sons to less costly victories. But such dreams were folly, and worse. To gnaw at the past was to threaten the foundation of the future. Best to let it lie, and get on with the work ahead.

So I bolded those last two sentences. Let me explain why.

Here’s another quote to clarify something:

Fulgrim smiled sadly. “Perhaps. But the past is the foundation for all that comes after. And its effects linger, whether we see them or not.”

Why am I emphasizing this? Because Fulgrim, knowingly or not, is talking about himself here; about himself, and about his own relationship with his past.

Fulgrim, despite being hyperaware of his failures, is also an intensely proud person — but not because he’s spoiled. Far from it: he is, I would say, even downright egotistical... because he feel as he has earnt it!

Let’s talk about Chemos.

His temper had become appallingly short in the years since he’d left Chemos. Decades of disappointment had frayed it to but a thin shadow of its former self. The weight of it all sat heavy on his shoulders, and sometimes he wanted nothing more than to return to the fortress-factories of his youth.

So, Chemos was easier for you to deal with than the Imperium, wasn’t it, Fulgrim? Can you tell us more about that?

The primarch sank to one knee and reached down to help Telmar’s victim to his feet. The man stared at him with mingled fright and awe, his mouth working soundlessly. Fulgrim smiled and stood.

“I came from nothing,” he said, fixing his sons with a steady gaze. “I scrabbled in the quarry pits, and down in the deepest mines, carrying buckets on my shoulders because the ascender blew a gasket,” he said. “I broke my fingernails on raw ore, and grew blisters from heat and labour. You look down on them, blind to the beauty of their struggle. Blind to what they might become, if only someone would scrape the filth from their faces.” He reached down and lifted a child onto his shoulders. The girl laughed and clapped, unafraid of the giant, even as her mother wept.

Damn, Fulgrim, that’s... a lot to unpack. I’m mostly interested in those two sentences, though, because... well.

Fulgrim clearly had filth on his face, according to his allegory, at some point of his life. But who scraped it off? His parents?

...Nnnooo. Not really. Here’s Fulgrim on his adoptive parents!

Corrin and Tullea had been capable parents, at best. Life in the fortress-factory of Callax had broken them early, and they withered, even as he flourished.

Oh boy.

Atop each plinth was a bust. One of Corrin and one of Tullea. Plain marble, with no colour or gilt to distinguish them. Almost identical in their expressions of weary acceptance, it was hard to tell which was which at times, even for him.

OH BOY.

“You did the best you could,” he said softly, in benediction. Their imperfections had been no fault of their own.

Oh BOY OH BOY OH BOY

And here’s another quote that I really want to hear an entire novel about:

There had been similar movements on Chemos during his rise. The Callax worker protests and the harsh, often brutal responses of the executive clans. He remembered clouds of stinging gas rolling through cramped streets, and the crackle of the Caretakers’ shock-batons as they met flesh. Unconsciously, his hands curled into fists.

He felt again the dull ache of a shock-baton slapping into his palm, and the look on its wielder’s face as he crushed it. The searing sensation of gas filling his lungs and burning his eyes as he fought his way free of the press of panicked humanity. Tullea had almost died that day, and Fulgrim had lost his temper for the first time. But not the last.

All of these quotes clarify that Fulgrim, himself, was the one who scraped the metaphorical filth off his own face.

And he scraped it off all of Chemos, as well. You see it above, where he raised his parents more than his parents raised him, really, but it’s not exclusive to them.

Chemos was a drab, silent world, but where the Phoenician strode, colour and sound flourished. He was a beacon of hope...

So that’s interesting!

And here’s the end of a quote I started earlier:

...and sometimes he wanted nothing more than to return to the fortress-factories of his youth. He had been content, then, and his strivings simple. It all seemed too big, these days.

Which invokes this question: he was content, and it felt simple. It was, therefore, something he knew how to do. How did Fulgrim know how to raise himself up from the so-called filth?

Well, there’s this:

Fulgrim crossed his arms and continued to lean against the veranda. It was a pose he’d perfected on Chemos. The Executive at Ease, as an artist of his acquaintance had called it.

Noice. How does this help?

Well, here’s also this, when talking about Fulgrim’s social skills:

Fulgrim had grown to manhood among such mechanisms of influence. He recognized them instantly, and the subtle danger they could pose.

Kickass. So he was well-practiced at everything involved with “uplifting” a world, but how did he gain the aptitude for it in the first place?

...Emperor. You don’t need to tell you it’s the Emperor.

I’m sorry for the calling so far back, but do you remember what Pyke said, in that quote above about “more human than others”? I wanna go over that.

Here’s the full quote, by the way:

Each of the Emperor’s sons was different. Some were, to put it bluntly, more human than others. Fulgrim was at once both human and not. Like a statue given life, but with a purpose all of its own.

So we’ve gone over Fulgrim being human with his fallibility, and to some extent his being not with his superiority. And with Chemos, we also get a nice answer re: his purpose — to “uplift” worlds. “Save” them from “themselves”, if you will.

I’ll talk more about this idea later.

It’s also interesting that Pyke brings up the Emperor in this quote, because it lets me transition rather nicely. :) Here’s a conversation between Fulgrim and Corynth:

“I’ve never seen anyone move that fast,” Corynth said, staring at him.

“I am one of the Emperor’s sons,” Fulgrim said simply.

That’s a very fascinating justification/response, Fulgrim. Care to elaborate?

Yes, of course. Here’s Fulgrim on the Emperor, and why he thinks the Emperor is allowed to let others misunderstand him:

And why should he have to? The Emperor was perfection itself - the ideal made flesh. If Fulgrim was the phoenix, then the Emperor was the fire that bestowed renewal. The Emperor did not lower himself to meet the expectations of lesser beings. So why should his sons? Why must the phoenix prove himself to those who might otherwise be prey to his beak and talons? Why must the Illuminator explain himself to the ignorant?

That is VERY fascinating.

This basically lets us know Fulgrim isn’t just baselessly endlessly motivating himself to be superior because he likes it or whatever, but is very specifically seeking to imitate the Emperor, which actually makes a lot of his later actions super significant — Fulgrim ascending to daemonhood after the pedestal he held the Emperor upon breaks for him, for example, suddenly becomes Fulgrim becoming that “fire that bestows renewal” himself. The Phoenix becoming independent.

Here’s my thoughts on that, circa May 2020, as a note:

“...he hasn't moved on from the emperor's impossible standards; [he’s] just reached them if that makes sense. so now he's putting on the laurels (...), like he finally reached the goals his situation growing up formed him to receive...”

Death, as they say, is absolutely nothing compared to vindication.

This transitions us into the next topic: Fulgrim’s pride. It’s a thing!

Still, a crude business, warp travel. Inefficient. Imperfect. Perhaps one day, he might turn his mind to improving it. For now, Fulgrim had other, more immediate concerns.

(caption below: “??? you absolute madlad”)

“I am magnificent, but even I cannot fight a whole world on my own.” He smiled. “Though, the temptation to try is almost overwhelming, I admit.”

“I designed and constructed her myself in the armourium decks. She’s the fastest gunship in the expeditionary fleet.”

“Is that important?” Pyke asked.

Fulgrim laughed. “Only to me.”

“I am a fine dancer,” Fulgrim said. “Acclaimed for my grace and agility.” He preened slightly, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

Fulgrim is an absolute showoff. I love him.

Also — remember how Fulgrim(’s third person limited POV narration), above, called himself and his brother primarchs “demigods”? Yeah, Fulgrim has a superiority thing. Understandable, but not great LMAO.

And, clinchingly, there’s also this quote at the end of the book, a borderline closing thesis statement, that talks directly about Fulgrim’s biggest flaw and failure as a human being, which isn’t his impatience, his impetuousness, or even his general fallibility — but instead, is very specifically his tyranny, and his sense of entitlement, which is textually part and parcel of his being a conqueror (and, IMO, all his brothers share — it just manifests in a way the book specifically condemns within Fulgrim). I’m going to redact who says this; please read this novel by yourself.

“The true duel is within. The battle between desire and purpose, between what you wish and what must be. And you lost, before you even picked up your blade.”

Incensed, Fulgrim took a step towards [REDACTED].

“What do you mean?”

“You desire to prove your superiority, above all else. You provoked a war, where you could have engineered peace, simply to root out any potential threat to your authority. To prove your might. That is the nature of your tyranny. And as long as we remain, we will have no choice but to challenge you.”

Remember what I said about how Fulgrim’s “purpose”, as designated by himself and the Emperor, is to “uplift” worlds, to “save” them from themselves?

YEAH PALATINE PHOENIX IS GOING THERE.

Another fun fact: the world’s chancellor, Corynth, turns out to be quite an idealistic (read: decent) man, re: what’s best for Byzas, and while I didn’t highlight this for later (I will someday reread this book, I swear), I went back in to check a thing and Fulgrim has a few lines (more than a few if memory serves) where he calls him a dumbass optimist. For having objections to Fulgrim’s actions.

Oh, another note about Corynth: Fulgrim repeatedly promises to him that he’ll stay in Byzas to “uplift” it, lying to Corynth’s very face. Classy guy.

Okay, so to transition to the next thing, I’m gonna drop a quote from earlier in the book, but before that, I’m gonna clarify that I think it doesn’t supersede that final assessment from [REDACTED].

Fulgrim was arrogant, but it was an assumed arrogance. It was a mask he wore, a part he played. Soon enough, it might become the real thing. For now, it was simply another piece of armour. A way to protect himself from a galaxy all too quick to take advantage of his flaws.

I have multiple reasons to believe this doesn’t supersede [REDACTED] being right:

“Soon enough, it might become the real thing.”

Fulgrim has an entire running theme across his books (created somewhat accidentally, but nonetheless) about the idea of playing a part until you become/embody said part. Faking it ‘til you’re making it, if you will. (Examples: the daemon possessing him until it turns out it’s him in there, him pretending to be still possessed but not changing to not admit he’s been possessed and thus becoming indistinguishable from said daemon... shit, even the whole ‘lying about the Angel Exterminatus’ thing fits). It’s actually kind of a Slaanesh-related theme — see the Harlequin Solitaires, for example. It makes sense, too, since they’re all about creativity, and this is functionally theatre. Makes the Harlequins a lot more ballsy, and makes it a lot more thematically appropiate that Cegorach survived.

And also, most crucially... well. Okay. Here’s something I wrote once, when, before I read this novel, I tried to give my take on what Fulgrim’s character is like — because it’s the clearest I can articulate my thoughts on this subject:

“I think Fulgrim’s deal, pre-Laer, is that he cares a lot about appearances. (I don’t mean this in a “he wants to look aesthetically pretty” way, but in a “he cares about being someone others have to look up to, and affronts to that affect him personally”).

And it is partially because he finds pleasure in being superior to others[...]. And Fulgrim caring a lot about appearances is also partially born out of finding pleasure in looking good, in multiple ways, i.e. appearing both aesthetically pleasing and also coming out of most situations the victor/always having the last word (though, who doesn’t?). And it is also, partially, because Fulgrim, who’s smart as hell, knows that appearances have an important, material beneficial aspect to them, though perhaps he overestimates their importance — and the reason why he overestimates their importance is what I’m getting at, so please be patient.

But: I think it’s also partially because Fulgrim depends on these appearances to validate his own [standards of himself, and] beliefs about perfection, which are basically, like, stilts on the house of his self-esteem to avoid it falling into the dark sea of having to actually confront all his goddamn trauma. [...] He didn’t stop defining himself through being a big fish in a tiny pond[, as he did in Chemos,] when he jumped into the “bigger pond” of the Imperium at large[...]. And that’s because Fulgrim depends on defining himself as superior [(through superior achievement)] because to admit otherwise would be to admit his past was traumatic and that it hurt him, which he’s scared to do because it’d mean he isn’t actually [transhumanly] superior (with “superior”, here, in Fulgrim’s personal definition, conflating his superhuman abilities with an imaginary invulnerability to trauma).”

I am absolutely going to go to hell for woobifying this evil, evil man, and I will accept it and be catholicly ashamed of it as I should.

Fulgrim’s fatal flaw is inexcusable, and makes him cause inexcusable amounts of pain and destruction, and it is also born out of a specific situation: the past. His past, which even he says “is the foundation for all that comes after. And its effects linger, whether we see them or not.” And I truly don’t believe he, himself, sees what I point out above. I don’t think it’s conscious at all.

Because the thing is, Fulgrim doesn’t realize that his pride, which unlike his brothers’ he developed even pre-Emperor due to the traumatic things he endured on Chemos — he doesn’t realize it can be broken. He thinks he’s invincible. Hubris!

...Okay, Fulgrim has nuance. What does this have to do with anything?

Well, it’s a really nice finisher to what I put up above about Chemos, and it also lets me transition into the last big topic that I want to tackle in this essay.

Let’s talk, first, about our last small topic: Ferrus Manus. Because he’s actually talked about significantly, in this novel!

Fireblade is mentioned multiple times, of course, and it’s also mentioned multiple times as a blade “made with a brother’s love”, which is so sweet. I love these two siblings so much, man.

Let’s see how Ferrus is characterized in this story. Here’s a neat description of Fireblade:

Fireblade, like all good weapons, had a mind of its own. There was something of its maker in it - a filament of anger, ever pulsing, waiting to be unsheathed and set into motion. The artist and the art were often inseparable, and there was always something of the one in the other, regardless of intent.

Sidenote here before we talk about Ferrus more: this sentence also gives more weight to Fulgrim, the McNeill novel. In it, Fulgrim keeps sculpting things which are uncanny — they’re so perfect that they become unsightly and disturbing. Think about that with the context of the above, babes.

Here’s a continuation of that quote:

He laughed to himself, remembering Ferrus’s look of incomprehension when he’d tried to explain it. His silver-limbed brother had an instinctive grasp of machinery, from the most primitive clockwork to the most advanced cogitating systems. But art was beyond him. Or so he claimed. Fulgrim suspected that Ferrus Manus’s creativity ran deeper than he thought.

Fulgrim clearly thinks highly of Ferrus, given the above. And it’s not for naught, because, well — there’s this one, uhm.

This is spoilers, just for this next quote and what it implies?

But there’s a bit in this novel where Fulgrim actually defuses a nuke. And this is what he says while disarming it—

“Ferrus, brother, I need your wisdom now,” he muttered.

And okay, so. It’s kind of obvious why Fulgrim would plead for Ferrus’s knowledge of mechanics in this situation, right. I mean, not sure how that’s going to help him, since Ferrus isn’t here, but—

The mechanism was ancient, and far more complex than any of the ones he’d dismantled in Ferrus’s workshop, under his brother’s watchful gaze. Those hadn’t been humming quite so threateningly either.

...FERRUS TAUGHT FULGRIM TO DISARM NUKES.

And, okay, one more lore bit before we finish. Because on the topic of Ferrus, I’d like to bring up a thought of mine about him?

I think Ferrus and Fulgrim are two siblings facing a very similar problem: they both want to be the very best, like no one ever was. But the way they approach it is entirely different.

Here’s the lore I wanted to bring up. In this novel, in the scene where we meet the busts of his parents, Fulgrim thinks about the Sulpha, a group of people he, uh… well, during his conquest of Chemos, even before the Emperor came to him, he lived among them for some time; but they refused to join those in the fortress-factories as one nation, as they had ever right to do, and so Fulgrim kind of obliterated their culture, and it’s implied killed a shit ton of them. The way he talks about them is also… absolutely Warhammer-standard god-awful, too. Yeah.

This is nothing new at this point, but every time I learn a new horrible awful thing he’s done I still feel a little disappointed.

Anyway, I didn’t highlight much about them, but there is something I did highlight for later: a sentence Fulgrim says while thinking about the Sulpha’s philosophy.

For them, imperfection was somehow turned into strength.

And, okay. Here’s how I describe the differences between Ferrus and Fulgrim’s philosophies re: perfection:

“Ferrus Manus and Fulgrim shared a common desire, as I mentioned above: constant self-improvement. But where Fulgrim fruitlessly chased an ideal of perfection, a state where he wouldn’t have to improve himself anymore, Ferrus Manus, as I gather it, understood that self-improvement is a constant effort. All things are flawed, and from flaws, we can regain strength; both of these brothers believed in excising your flaws, but Fulgrim saw flaws as something to cast aside and forget, a barrier through which to pass to achieve perfection, while Ferrus saw the same flaws as the very source of one’s strength, and thus something that, while not desired, still deserved a minimal form of respect. Think of it as seeing the flaw as a locked door vs. seeing it as a patch of land without plants, if you will.

This difference in ideologies meant something very important: Ferrus Manus was, to put it bluntly, moderately mentally stable, in his own way (setting aside his penchant for wearing his emotions — particularly his moodier Moods — on his sleeve). Fulgrim, despite externally appearing more serene and stable, was in fact the more fragile of the two. This is because, if a setback occurred, Ferrus did not take it as the end of the world, but merely as a further challenge; meanwhile, in the same circumstances, Fulgrim would feel personally offended[...].”

And there’s also this thing — okay. Again, forgot to note this, but it’s what [REDACTED] is talking about when talking about the whole “inner duel” thing: there is a school of philosophy in Byzas which combines swordplay with inner reflection, and Fulgrim studies it, briefly. He doesn’t come out of it with any lessons, except in swordplay. And I, again, failed to highlight this for later, but in that very same scene, [REDACTED] also tells Fulgrim that he failed. He failed because he learnt nothing from that school of philosophy, he learnt nothing of the inner duel, of the difference between what one wants and what one should have, between dream and concrete goal, between desire and settlement, between hunger and acceptance, between fantasy and reality, even, and for that, he will fail. [REDACTED], in general, whips ass and is right about everything.

(An interesting — and spoilery — note: just a few scenes earlier, another character who’s revolted against Fulgrim’s tyranny says he’d “rather die than see” the future the Imperium will bring to Byzas. He does indeed get his wish. It’s fucking badass and he’s right). (Why do I bring this up now? Read the novel to know!)

And this is. Okay.

I’m close to ending this essay, because all of this comes to one point, one point which is sort of the very point of this novel and the reason I enjoyed it so much, and the reason I wrote down all of this? So let me just roll one final quote, from Fulgrim, circa the end of the book:

“I am rarely what people think I should be. Instead, I am what I must be. Such is the Phoenix’s nature.”

This novel’s entire purpose is to write Fulgrim with the depths the lore implies, but other novels — and fans — deny him.

And it succeeds completely, beyond my wildest dreams.

Fulgrim, thanks to the removal of Slaanesh from the picture near-totally and an author whom I’d love to buy a newly-legal beer, is characterized through the thing that’s the least often considered when others write him: the bonds he shares with others, how he he learns from them, what he fails to learn from them, and what he teaches them. He learns pride and cruelty and superiority from Chemos and the Imperium, he learns ability and competition and fraternity from Ferrus Manus, he learns regret and fear and insecurity from his sons, and he rejects that last knowledge and seeks to repress it. He fails to learn acceptance of one’s limits and embracing of flaws and acceptance of oneself for who one is (as at least an unskippable step towards self improvement) from the Sulpha and Ferrus, he fails to learn moderation and kindness and humility from Byzas’ people, and he fails to learn anything at all from this novel, instead merely setting in stone his pride; and he only ever teaches his sons, and Byzas, and everyone around him, that power is cruelty, and all saviors are corrupt.

Please read Palatine Phoenix.

#wh40k #warhammer 40k #horus heresy #fulgrim #warhammer 40.000 #warhammer 40000 #warhammer 40 000 #emperor's children #primarchs #primarch #fuck you it gets all the tags.#i worked very hard on this.#analysis #*fulgrim

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wolffyluna · 3 years

Note

multiples of seven for the mdzs ask meme

7. Which Adaptations Have You Consumed

I have read the novel and watched a few episodes (...plus the [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS] scene...) of the live action show.

14. Weakest Character

I’m not sure what sense ‘weakest’ is being used here.

Taking it as ‘character that would not beat other characters in a phyiscal fight’: A-Qing

21. A Fanon You Like

I have a soft spot for “most of the major characters are gay or bi.”

Both because I am an inveterate multishipper and MDZS Sure Does Have A Gender Balance

But also because I think it ties nicely into the themes and the ways the cultivation world sucks if, even though most of the promininent people in it are queer, its still homophobic. It just fits well with [wiggle hands] societal expectations have created their own awful momentum that benefits very few people (or no one!) that no one can stop.

28. Most Underrated Character

Best! Boy! Wen! Qionglin!

35. Who Is The Biggest Disaster

Xue Yang: Somehow Less Self Aware Than Wei Wuxian!

It’s just like-- how goes your backyard barbecue, Xue Yang? Enjoying all those chickens coming home to roost?

I just-- how did it not occur to him that maybe he didn’t want Xiao Xingchen to die, and that him dying because of his actions isn’t surprising!

49. Is Nie Huaisang More Of A Goody Or A Baddy?

Whatever he is, he’s in the same category as Jin Guangyao. They’re pretty similar when it comes down to it, and I both like them for similar reasons! (It is. An Experience. Being a fan of both of them.)

Love my precious paperclip maximising sons.

Have we considered that every bad thing they did was very valid.

56. Who Would You Take On A Night Hunt?

Well, personally, I don’t think you should take me on a night hunt? I am zero percent qualified.

So I guess Lan Wangji? He could likely deal with most night hunt problems without my help, which is good, because I would not being able to help.

#premium original content #mdzs #mdzs spoilers #thou breath of autumns being #asks

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rpgchoices · 4 years

Photo

Sometimes I really want to read a short summary of what to expect from a game with a very particular description that CATER to my OWN SPECIFIC interests, so here we go.

(click here for other videogames)

what to expect from SALTING THE EARTH

lesbian orcs dating sim visual novel

modern fantasy, you play as Roo, a nymph hired to be a cook in a communal house mostly inhabited by orcs, some part of the military

urban fantasy and a lot of stuff about nymphs culture and orcs culture

classic dating sim visual novel, you choose dialogue options

three possible romances, all female and orcs

Eda, Dirrong and no spoilers, name is REDACTED (secret romance)

plus, you can have a fling with two other lady orcs

you can select the easy Eda path or Dirrong path, or the choose your own adventure to try to navigate a romance with Eda, Dirrong or REDACTED

After completing the REDACTED romance, she is also added to the easy path

Eda is mysterious and ambitious, but with a heart of almost...gold?

Dirrong is shy, cute and quite grumpy

REDACTED reads comics, is super nice and tragic

positive and negative endings

ANGST!

family issues

but also a cute cats

and Roo’s puns

beautiful art and lovely music

all the characters, a part from Roo, are orcs and women

amazing secondary characters, especially Ky and Quirri

among the endings there’s also a wholesome one where you all become lovely friends and a family

to get all the story you might have to replay the game (first time I played, I basically got 10% of the story and my whole playthrought was a happy love story about two people who love cooking together!)

military secrets!

be careful, it can end very very badly

tw medical experiments, violence, nudity, sex, death, mental health, PTSD, shame, scars

plot? You play as flirty funny Roo, a nymph and ex military, just hired to work in the kitchen for a communal house, mostly inhabited by orcs. Roo is also more than ready to date! (you can also choose the no-relationship ending). Choose between Eda and Dirrong, or another secret route. gameplay? classic visual novel, dialogue choices characters? Honestly I loved all the characters, even very secondary ones are absolutely lovely. Also, what you find out about them depends very much on your choices. sadness level? medium high death? under cut for spoiler

You can die immediately, if you choose to trust Eda too soon. Otherwise, you will help with Urnba’s death and you will condemned for having participated in it (and likely killed, at the end).

#orcs #gay orcs #dating sim #lgbtq games #salting the earth #what to expect #what to expect by lucre

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shadowsong26fic · 3 years

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Lavinia. PLease please please Lavinia. (And also Specter and Infernalis would be cool to learn a bit about.)

Full Name: Lavinia Palpatine Gender and Sexuality: Female; bi Pronouns: She/her Ethnicity/Species: Human; white. Birthplace and Birthdate: She was born on Coruscant, and she turns twenty a week or two before the Battle of Endor. Guilty Pleasures: Probably the closest thing is her baking hobby. It’s something that’s entirely hers. Phobias: As she puts it, she does not like walking into a room unprepared/without the information she needs to navigate through it. What They Would Be Famous For: Well, I mean. She’s Palpatine’s only child. That’s famous right there. And then she earns some fame in her own right once she’s in her late teens/an Adult and starts working towards her own agenda. What They Would Get Arrested For: [redacted for spoilers] or slicing/hacking. See above re: compulsive need for information; she learned how to get into classified databases pretty early on. Her father is aware of it; it’s sort of the...this may be apocryphal, but you know how Spartan boys were punished for getting caught stealing, not for actually stealing? This is in service of what he wants from her, so as long as she does it correctly/subtly/covers her tracks, she can get away with it. But if she got caught... OC You Ship Them With: ...I don’t actually ship her with any of my OCs, I don’t think. I ship her with a couple canon characters, but. Her tastes in men tend to run to older men who are Charming and Clever/sort of sideways thinkers and maybe just a little Devious, but generally good men underneath. Her tastes in women tend to run to women around her age who have vibrant/upbeat personalities and are a bit more straightforward in their approach to problems. ...not sure I’m explaining that right, but she definitely is attracted to different things in men than women. In all cases, though, she tends to be drawn to people who are more gregarious/extraverted/etc. than she is/complement certain aspects of her personality (she uh. Overthinks things. A Lot) OC Most Likely To Murder Them: ...hm, good question. I guess I’d say Druthi/Moonshot, except she’d be more likely to try and capture Lani alive. Favorite Movie/Book Genre: She doesn’t really read a lot for pleasure, more for Research Purposes--for example, to track trends or get a handle on how someone she’s trying to observe/manipulate thinks. But I think she’d like detective novels if she did. Make a game of trying to figure it out before the detective does. Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: Twist Endings for the sake of Twist Endings/Shock Twists that serve no other purpose than to be a Shocking Twist. That whole thing about not liking to be unprepared? If you hold back information to feel Clever that’s Cheating and Very Annoying and she Does Not Approve. Talents and/or Powers: She’s got a pretty good memory, and is very good at reading people and tailoring her approach to them based on what she observes and what she wants from them (at least, when it’s for Work, so to speak; she’s kind of terrible at people/making friends on her own). Also, she is a Force-adept, of course, though her training has been very carefully managed--she has not been taught to use a lightsaber and her telekinesis is minimal. In general, she tends to rely on more passive/observational abilities, supplemented by mundane manipulation and the occasional mind trick, rather than a lot of Active Force Use. I mentioned this in my last answer, about Padawan Reshti, but I have this general Concept about how a particular Force-adept’s abilities skew, with things generally grouped into three categories: manipulation/perception of space and/or the physical world; perception and/or manipulation of the minds and/or emotions of other beings; and perception and/or manipulation of time. Every Force-adept has at least some ability in all three categories, but most skew towards one or the other. By both training and inclination, Lani is heavily skewed towards minds/emotions; something like 10/80/10 or 15/75/10. Why Someone Might Love Them: Because she has a strong sense of Duty and is trying to survive in a pretty awful situation without losing all her mental autonomy and, for lack of a better word, humanity. Why Someone Might Hate Them: Again with the self-indulgent OCs, lol. Plus, she occupies a pretty central place in the story/as one of Luke’s closest friends in Precipice, and...well, we’ll see how people respond once her focus and priorities start to expand beyond her father and his expectations of her. How They Change: Without getting too spoilery...well, that sense of Duty I mentioned relates to the fact that she knows full well she was created to be a valuable tool in service of the government/galaxy/Empire. As she gets older and her priorities begin to expand as I mentioned in the last answer, her perspective on what that means starts to shift. Why You Love Them: Because she fits into A Lot of archetypes I love, lol. This kind of driven-by-duty, especially coupled with Politics and Spycraft as opposed to the more Action Girl type thing.

(ETA: I just remembered that a while ago--like...almost two years ago, lol--I filled out another meme about Lani. There are sort of...sideways/oblique/technical spoilers in that and it also talks about a bunch of AUs/spinoffs, but if you want more detailed information about her then you can check it out. ...and now I should probably stop editing this post for Clarification/additional details that you may not even see because it’s been...several hours since I first posted it...)

And a cointoss gave you Specter! So let’s talk about him.

Full Name: Darth Specter; I actually haven’t come up with his name prior to being recruited by Palpatine <.< Gender and Sexuality: Male; I honestly haven’t really thought much about him in a romantic/sexual relationship context? He strikes me as a disaster bi though. Pronouns: He/him. Ethnicity/Species: Togruta Birthplace and Birthdate: He grew up in either the Coruscant underbelly or a very similar slum district on another heavily urbanized planet. He was most likely born there. He’s about sixteen when Palpatine brings him in not long after RotS. Guilty Pleasures: He chooses not to feel guilty about his pleasures, lol. But, given his background and where he ended up, it’s probably something like candy/pastries--sweet food with an element of Luxury. Phobias: Not measuring up. What They Would Be Famous For: Being a Sith Lord/assassin. What They Would Get Arrested For: Theft and likely assault before being recruited; murder after. ...and probably also theft. OC You Ship Them With: None. OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Ooooh, good question. I mean, like...there are Many people who would probably murder him if they got the chance. But then there’s also a question of murder vs. death in combat, so...yeah, I’m not totally sure. Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Action movies. He’s kind of a cliche that way, lol. Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: ...you know, I don’t actually think he has one? But probably villains Wasting Time Monologuing. Talents and/or Powers: Stealth, theft, Violence. He skews slightly towards Physical on the scale I mentioned above, something along the lines of 50/35/15. Why Someone Might Love Them: He’s set up as a parallel to that particular blend of arrogance and low-self-esteem/Need for Validation that Anakin has, which can be either endearing or extremely frustrating. Why Someone Might Hate Them: See above XD How They Change: He...doesn’t really, sadly. He never gets a chance to grow out of this teenage intensity. :( He probably would’ve mellowed out some as he grew older, if he hadn’t died when he did. Why You Love Them: Because he is a clingy needy stabby Disaster with this earnest intensity and, like, I find it endearing, lol.

Ask me about my OCs!

#asked #answered #disneydreamlights #shadowsong writes star wars

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