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saturrnss · 1 year

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YOUNG, DUMB, AND RICH (chapter 1)

Shuri x poc!fem!royalty!reader

(please repost)

Summary: It's 1625, Your from the powerful nation of Avalon (ave-a-lawn). Your nation made an alliance with the nation of wakanda, you and one of your brothers need to marry somebody within the wakandan royal court to solidify the alliance, most people think that you will get with prince t’challa, but somebody else keeps your eye

The aesthetic of avalon:

(Basically Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola mixed with a bunch of irl p.o.c tribes)

Warnings: swearing, drug use, worrying for a little bit, corny writing

a/n: I was working on my royal dr script and watching that movie and I got an idea, if you see historical inaccuracies, no you don't!

Avalon is 100 percent a poc nation. no white people, no race wars or diaspora fights, just peace between the different people.

you wake up to the light tapping of one of your servants. "Princess y/n, the queen would like you to join thee rest of the family in breakfast please" "5 more mintues" of say grouchy, putting a pillow over your face

"I don't really think the queen would accept that answer, princess y/n" "but i want to sleeeeep" you groan as you lazily get out of bed. More servants come into the room to help you with your daily routine

Taking a bath, brushing your teeth, doing your hair, over dressing because you can. they assist you down to the dining hall, you could smell the food from a mile away. when you finally get there all you see is the most Delicious, mouth watering, heart bursting food you've ever seen (it was like this every morning but it was always something new)

your mother, Queen Felix- sitting there stone faced, lost in her own thought. and your 2 annoying brothers, prince mali and power were already half-way done with it (mostly your brothers inhaling their food and surprisingly not choking).

All of them were there except your Buba, King Amari. The last time you saw he was going on a trip but he didn't tell you where, you pestered him about it but he was being stubborn, telling you to wait till he gets back to see where he had gone

You sit down on your designated seat with a plate of already prepared food, it has a little coolness to it but that hasn't stopped you before. There was a band of live music playing for entertainment In the back of you all,

It was vibrant, something to wake you up in the morning. Your younger brother Mali tried to steal a bit of your food but you fought him for it back. "Give it back to me it's mine!" "It's literally just food I'll get you more!" Mali says.

You start to pull on his lips as he pulls on your hair which made you even more angry. "Come on now break it up" Power says slightly irritated

and when the both of you don't listen to him, he tries to pull the both of you apart, the people playing the live music look concerned to say the least, Felix tried to ignore it at first, hoping that it wouldn't go further but eventually she just snapped.

"ENOUGH" all you immediately quiet down and quickly look at your mother. she didn't get mad often but when she did--- oh dear.

"We have people who took time out of their day to come here and entertain us, I ask you one simple thing, TO BEHAVE, and YOU CAN'T EVEN DO THAT!?! GO TO YOUR ROOM AND COME BACK AND YOU CAN ACT LIKE YOU WEREN'T RAISED IN A BARN" all of you can't even look at your mother without overwhelming shame

"UNDERSTOOD?" "understood" you all say simultaneously and scurry to your bedroom. on your way back, mali flicks your ear "butthead" "fartface" you say back "don't. even. start you two" power says as he gets to his room and slams the door.

When you get too your room and belly-flop on your bed, you feel angry that you're the one that got in trouble when it should have been only mali, but you also why your mother was a little more harsher that usual.

Your dad had been gone for almost a month and she had to take care of all the political and social issues that were happening, we've only gotten two letters from him, we don't even know if he's still alive of not.

You hear something outside your window, you ignore it at first. you hear it again, and again. you go to your window to see that your two best friends Jennie and Maddy were outside, throwing rocks outside the window.

You open the window to a light spring breeze filling your room, "I thought the both of you were in India what are you doing here?!' you said quietly so no one would hear you. "catch!" Jennie says throwing you a bag a white powder, and a box of cupcakes, you almost drop it on the ground but by grace, it falls into your room

"Help us get up!" Maddy whisper yells. You run to get your unusually long ladder from one of your walk in closets and chuck it out the window for them to get in. First was Maddy and then Jennie, Jennie flops on a one that one random couch on the side, Maddy sits on your bed.

"y'all body guards are scary as hell" She says

"What's this?" you say looking at the strange green stuff. "I got It in western China, This is the most I could get cuz my parents would flip the fuck out if they ever saw." She walks over and takes the bag. "We still got enough to share." she says while smiling.

She walks over to your vanity your grandmother gifted you, and empties the bag. "do you have a cigar wrap?" "I have some" Jennie brings some out of her dress pocket, tosses them to maddy and she rolls up 3 individual blunts for each of you.

"You took one, still a little bit weary because you have never tried it before. "Any side effects?" "Don't know" You took one, still a little bit weary because you have never tried it before. "Any side effects?" "Don't know, guy just said that it would "relax you" or some shit like that" She lit a match and lit her's up

Lit two more matches up and lit you and Jennie's. 20 minutes later it felt like you were in a whole different world. a pleasant sense of relaxation and euphoria over took your body, all you 3 could do was just sit and talk about whatever came to you.

"You know what we should do?" you said to both of them. "what?" Jennie said. "We should go horseback riding" you said. "Do dragons exist??" said Maddy. You hear a knock on your door, turns out that knock is your mothers. "y/n?" you all sit up.

"what was that?" Jennie said as she tries to listen again

"can you open the door for me??" you all get up and both of them look for somewhere to hide. "are there people there?!" "NO MOM I JUST NEED A MINUTE" you open one of your closet doors and signal them to get in.

You run to the door and open it like nothing happened. "Yes mommy?" she looks you up and down to find something wrong but she can't seem to find anything. "I've been thinking, and I decided that you are lifted from punishment, you better not act like that again." "I'm sorry mom."

That was the best thing about your mom, When you actually wronged her you WRONGED her, but she doesn't really hold grudges or punishments for that long

she comes in for a quick hug but gets an overwhelming smell of weed instead "What's that smell?"

"Uhhhh...." you look around for any ideas. "my Cinnamon candle!" you say enthusiastically. "Cinnamon...Candle...?" "Yeah! I got it from....england!" you nod your head while closing your eyes, trying to convince yourself that that's a good alibi. "well if it was just a candle you wouldn't mind me going into the room-"

"Na!" you put your hand firmly at the room door. "I-I. Have an awfully dirty room You would trip." She stops trying to get into the door and takes a good long look at you.

"Why are your eyes red?" She says with suspicion. "I was sleeping until you got here" "sleeping....." she slowly turns around and walks away all while looking at you.

A big sigh of relief escapes your mouth as you close and slide down the door. "Can we come out now??" Jennie says quietly "yeah" they both come out and spray the room with a random perfume they found.

"We should do this more often"

maddy says with an ignorant smile as you look at her with bewilderment.

A/N: I have to write chapter 2 and 3 now 😖 I'm gonna make a wattpad so i could put my stories there too.

#marvel #shuri x fem!reader #shuri x you #shuri #princess shuri #shuri headcanons #black panther 2 #poc!reader #royality #shuri udaku #shuri imagine #black panther #bpwf #black panther wakanda forever #princess!reader #Spotify

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wumiings · 11 months

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Okay but what if Merlin had openly used his magic in 1x10??? That would have been so great actually because like. The others in his village have always been so wary of him both because he’s a bastard and because they suspect he has magic, so for him to turn up and deliberately use the very gifts they shunned him for to save them would absolutely shake up their mindsets a bit. Now instead of a Heroic Prince (from a different kingdom) swooping in and saving the day, proving that royals can be Good Actually, it’s reinforcing the idea of magic as the great equalizer — something that allows common folk to look after themselves and grow less reliant on monarchy.

Let’s say Arthur is still There (though a version of this where he doesn’t come along also works). Merlin is initially hesitant about using magic in front of him, but after his talk with Will, he’s resolved to not hold himself back on Arthur’s account. Will still gets injured; Merlin heals him and explicitly takes credit for the sorcery. When Arthur get pissed about it, Merlin reminds him that they’re in Cenred’s kingdom and Arthur doesn’t have the authority to execute him (since he technically has no proof that Merlin used magic in Camelot). In the end, Arthur banishes Merlin from Camelot but makes no other move to harm him.

So now Merlin is free. He has his family, a community that’s more welcoming than its ever been before, a book of spells to study (and potentially teach others), and nearly a year’s worth of wild stories about what the fuck goes on in Camelot. Gwen and Morgana both know where he is and can send letters/come visit if they want, which also means that when Morgana’s powers starts manifesting, she knows at least one person she can reach out to for support who isn’t affiliated with the Pendragon regime.

Maybe he travels. Maybe he seeks out the druids for more education on magic and/or the prophecies. Maybe he tracks down Lancelot, or runs into some of the other errant knights (Gwaine, Elyan, etc). Maybe he meets and frees Freya, or finally gets some answers about his heritage and tracks down Balinor. Literally any of the above are on the table.

Eventually, Uther dies. (Actually, it probably doesn’t take that long. He would die like two episodes later.) Arthur is king— untested and vulnerable and far too young, but with so much potential if he can just survive long enough. And at some point, there is some magical attack on the citadel because of course there is, and Gaius once again tells his king that the threat can only be defeated with magic. And after all else fails (because there’s no one to secretly solve the problem with magic and let everyone think it just resolved itself somehow) and all hope is nearly lost, Arthur gives in and reaches out to the one (1) sorcerer he knows who may actually be willing to help him, if only for the sake of his other friends in the city.

Naturally, Merlin agrees, but he outright refuses to keep his involvement a secret. The people of Camelot are going to know that it was a warlock who saved them, not the renowned Knights of Camelot. They’re going to have to think about what that means regarding everything they’ve been taught to believe about magic. And, of course, they’re also going to know that Arthur was not too proud to turn to sorcery if it meant protecting his people, even though it calls into question his father’s legacy of magical persecution.

The Golden Age is built on the open negotiation and collaboration of magic and non-magic, not to mention nobility and peasantry. And the “union” of Albion isn’t about conquest but rather strong alliances built between nations as the benefits of maintaining a healthy relationship with magic become obvious to more and more people.

Yes, one day Arthur will die and be laid to rest in Avalon to await an age when his strength and wisdom is once again required. Yes, Merlin will live through the centuries, traveling and learning and watching humanity grow, assisting wherever he can instead of endlessly grieving and waiting for Arthur’s return. For now, though, they can all just take life one challenge at a time.

#bbc merlin #au #the moment of truth

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ktenvs3000w24 · 4 months

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Mistaken Point

The prompting for this week’s blog post involves reflecting on the following quote.

There is no peculiar merit in ancient things, but there is merit in integrity, and integrity entails the keeping together of the parts of any whole, and if these parts are scattered throughout time, then the maintenance of integrity entails a knowledge, a memory, of ancient things. …. To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it.

(Edward Hyams, Chapter 7, The Gifts of Interpretation)

What I believe Hyams was referring to with this quote is not that ancient things do not hold value, but that they are only valuable in context. This made me consider a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage site at Mistaken Point in Newfoundland and the implications of historical and scientific context.

Trail to Mistake Point UNESCO World Heritage Site, photo by author. To get to the Mistaken Point UNESCO site one follows a long and winding road from the Edge of the Avalon Interpretive Centre in Portugal Cove South. At the interpretive centre we were assigned a guide, paid our fees and given a pair of socks to wear. The socks they said were for when we got to the fossil site. We park at a small dusty parking lot where there are outhouses. It doesn’t really look like much, though the scenery is beautiful in the rugged coastal way that Newfoundland is known for. There are small streams that trickle under the dirt road, grassy knolls all around, and you can see the ocean. If you are lucky, like the day we visited - the sun will be shining and whales will play in the bay as you walk the trail to the fossil site. I say lucky because Mistaken Point gets its name from the fact that, in bad weather (which is often), sailors can confuse Mistaken Point for nearby Cape Race. The sailors would turn north, expecting to find Cape Race Harbour, but would instead run into rocks. This repeated mistake led to 94 shipwrecks between 1864 and 1904. (Groat, 2019)

Fossil bed site at Mistake Point, photo by author. The rocky shores are made up of large flat pans of rocks, they are fun to climb and jump on. Within the tilted and cleaved sequence of mudstones and sandstones are fossils of the oldest, large, complex life-forms found anywhere on Earth. Known to scientists as the Ediacara biota, these creatures lived from 580 to 541 million years ago, when all life was in the sea. (Government of Newfoundland and Labrador [Gov NL], 2024). When we got to the site after a 3km hike, we were asked to take off our shoes, put on the provided socks. We were allowed to walk on the rocks where the fossils were, we were even allowed to touch them. It was incredible to feel the impressions of creatures that lived before animals had evolved to develop skeletons.

Close Up fossils at the Mistaken Point site, photo by author.

What makes me consider Hyams is that these incredible fossil beds of Mistaken Point were known to local hunters and residents of nearby communities in the 20th century. It is said that children playing on the exposed beds would comment on the ‘flowers in the rocks’. (Gov NL, 2024) The tour guide told us that folks used to picnic on top of the site without knowing what the impressions were. These fossils were not scientifically appreciated until in 1967, when Shiva Balak Misra, with his field assistant Paul Thompson, were mapping Precambrian rocks along the coastline, discovered the fossil beds and realized their enormous significance. This was the first record of an Ediacara-type fauna from the Western Hemisphere. (Gov NL, 2024) It took another two decades before the Newfoundland government protected the site in 1987 (Groat, 2019) and another three decades after that before in 2016 the site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Gov NL, 2024)

Without context, knowledge, history of these fossils they would be little more than pretty rocks on a shoreline.

Whale sighting on the day of the hike, photo by author.

References: Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. (2024). Mistaken Point Ecological Reserve and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Retrieved on February 14, 2024 from https://www.gov.nl.ca/ecc/natural-areas/wer/r-mpe/

Groat, C. (2019, October, 16). Mistaken Point. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on February 14, 2024 from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/mistaken-point

#ENVS3000 #ecology #mistakenpoint #unesco

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keyboardthenerd · 7 months

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DMC OC Week 2023: Day 3 - Past, Future, and AUs

Finally, some things from Day 1 are about to make a bit of sense.

Vigilex: The Fish Man

Past

Vigilex’s soul belongs to a fish; a small fish not too dissimilar to an earthen piranha. It dwelled far beneath the waves of Hell’s most major ocean, feasting on the corpses of sinking demons until they fell too far and the water became too dense, too heavy, too salty for Diaboli Dente Piscis. It lived with its school as most fish did, and would have lived a long yet uneventful life most likely. This particular fish and its particular school had nothing special that set them apart, they were simply in the wrong place at the right time. The soul that would later become Vigilex was similarly unremarkable. Wrong place, right time.

It took quite a couple years for the kinks between cross-wiring a fish soul to a clay body and the server memories to communicate. A fish does not know how to move arms and legs, nor does it know how to see the world as a human might. It took much trial, and many errors to preserve both the body, mind, and soul. A fish cannot process humanoid demon memories. There were many times the body began to deform on itself, and the memories became corrupted. Eventually, the entity known as Vigilex was able to sustain itself.

The soul, when not in use, was kept in the fish, who lived in a water tank with the rest of its school, the water tank was properly regulated to simulate how life used to be. The memories were, as always, kept on separate server ranks, and the body kept in a tank of much saltier water, hooked up to various magical devices to regulate its demonic energy.

Vigilex as an entity slowly came into his own, and never falls apart nowadays. The more Vigilex seems to remain as Vigilex, the harder it may be to separate the pieces again.

Future

In most timelines, Vigilex’s future is bright. In those he shares with Avalon, it may be wrought with mourning, but surrounded by friends. In lieu of Dante, Vergil, Nero, and Roman finally putting an end to Mundus’ reign, he gains his independence from both the king and the hivemind, granting him the autonomy he always wished for.

It is a mysterious future, but one he looks forward to discovering. What might his purpose actually be? And what would he do, if he could go back? Could one even impart life-changing assistance… onto a fish?

AU: Reboot Vigilex

Much like in his canon iteration, Vigilex’s soul is not his own. It is that of a damned prisoner in the sea of souls; the teal expanse that sits under the dream-like sequences where Dante unlocks and tests out new abilities, around the statue of Assiel. This soul had most likely spent its last years being wrung thin by the Central Penitentiary before being discarded into the ocean when it no longer provided enjoyable suffering.

Vigilex is a demon known as a Siren, an infectious idea that is placed on a soul, where it festers and manifests, reanimating into the body of which that soul belonged to. Sirens are spies that, but like their name suggests, lure folks back to the same sorry existence that plagues the rest of humanity. Vigilex was created to watch over Avalon; a conspiracy theorist who seems to be getting too close to the truth, not that anyone much cares for a disgraced raving lunatic.

Everything goes to plan, for a while. Vigilex’s body belonged to that of an indie rock artist with a taste for rebellion, which is quite a strange sight to see, especially when said rockstar wishes to listen very intently to one’s findings.

Vigilex observed and listened, making notes on what exactly Avalon does and doesn’t know, does and doesn’t get right, and promises to see him again very soon. And that time is very soon, which is when the previous plans begin to seem… infeasible. Perhaps there is a wisp of the prisoner that still lingers within this body; perhaps it's the sudden burst of emotion that Avalon shows compared to the rest of humanity, but he can't... stop... looking at him. Listening to him. Vigilex is just... enraptured by him.

To compensate for the length and the intensity of the watches, Vigilex somehow managed to plead his case to King Mundus that becoming Avalon's boyfriend will make him more manipulatable and vulnerable. Which... technically it will, but the last thing Vigilex wants is to put Avalon at risk.

He even revamps the prisoner's old band. It's just Vigilex though. The Band is called "The Guardians", and the logo is a front facing fish skull with deer antlers and it's mouth open.

#dmcocweek #dmc oc #dmc

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velvet-cupcake-games · 2 years

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How would our LIs react to a 'genius ditz' MC? Suppose she was very charming and utterly considerate but had a reputation for being pretty but stupid? Her tutors and family alike despair of her because she did horribly with her lessons (due to hidden dyslexia and dyscalculia) but she can be very insightful despite her struggles?

Man, this one hits home. As somebody with dyscalculia myself, I know how it feels to be smart but be discounted for being unable to do math in my head and making use of adaptations like counting on my fingers. In some ways, our canon Marion is the opposite - a very traditionally book-smart lady who can struggle socially because she doesn’t live up to her culture’s gender standards. This one would simply reverse that struggle.

Robin: He’s much more insightful than he seems. It might take him a bit longer to feel the attraction to Marion, but their situation helps. Participating in a woodland-based political rebellion brings her strengths to the forefront.

John: He has a strong internal belief in the inherent worth and dignity of all people, so he would see Marion’s strong points and focus on those, rather than her weaknesses.

Will: As a “gifted kid” to whom academics always came very easy, he has a hard time relating to Marion at first. But he understands the frustration of being underestimated and put aside, so once they open up to each other, he’ll become very attached to and protective of her.

Meissa: They’re the love interest who figures out what’s actually up with her (in a way consistent with contemporary science, which is more advanced in Nibiru than Avalon), and they delight in helping her find alternative ways to learn. They will read aloud to her and teach her to use an abacus to help with her math.

Alanna: She’s a bit surprised that a noblewoman like Marion seems to have literacy issues, but it doesn’t bug her. She didn’t learn to read until she was an adult herself, after all. She notices that Marion retains information well when it’s in the form of music, and helps her out that way.

Geoffrey: Like Will, it’ll take Geoff some time to understand this Marion (and he’ll be frustrated with her gaffes at first), but her skills in the social areas in which he’s lacking prove to be a boon. He proposes to her and hires a household manager to take care of the things with which she struggles.

Gui: He finds her rather fascinating, and decides that her struggles contain their own kind of beauty. In his own indirect way, he encourages her to nurture her strengths and he secretly assists her when she struggles.

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talesofsonicasura · 1 year

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Dancer of Destiny

Yup! Another Trollhunters AU but with a rather delightful twist when it comes to Jim. There are gonna be two flavors: one human and one full troll! I can forget the dash of Monster Hunter inspiration either. Don't need to know about MH for this as I'm keeping it simple and limited.

Trolldancer

A seven year old Jim begins having very strange yet very real dreams of another world. One where monsters and people unlike anything he ever seen tend to collide. Jim is taken in by a Monster Hunter by the name of Val'tah Choso alongside his monster ward Buena, a Will o' Wisp Magnamalo. (Old drawing)

In the waking world, he lives a normal life with his mother and friend completely unaware about what happens when he sleeps. Jim learns to dance under Val'tah's tutelage upon discovering his caretaker's personal hobby but also former dream. Although the lessons of monster hunting doesn't fail to sink its claws when the young boy turns 13.

Nor the domino effect when Jim soon learns about the world underneath his feet but also his dreams hold more influence than he thought. Sometimes a dance can change destiny just like any blade.

Jim isn't the Trollhunter but he will assist them whether it be Kanijar or someone else. Young Lake bears magic that is tied to not only the dances he was taught but also his experiences in the Monster Hunter world. I will tell you at least two parts of Jim's magic.

Offensive Style which is summoning weapons and armor he acquired to apparitions based on monsters he fought to his aid. When it comes to his apparitions, think of Bending from ATLA mixed with ROTTMNT Raphael's magic in how they operate. If the monster has an element or specific nature such as being venomous, then his apparition shall have that same ability.

Wild Style can cause various effects such as empower allies, debuff enemies, healing or even change the weather. It just depends on what he performs especially if it encompasses a monster.

Example: Scarlet Feast, Malzeno

-Every successful attack drains bits of the victims' strength and heal Jim. Any beneficial boosts can also be stolen. Once a certain amount of damage is done, "Bloodening" mode triggers boosting Jim's power and speed for a short time.

Jim's unique magic definitely put him in the line of fire during one earlier clash between the Kanijar and Bular(not the canon battle.) Something that leads to him being called 'Trolldancer' as his current clothing made him look like a troll from a distance. Trust me when I say both sides are looking for Jim and it drags the dancer's companions into the madness too.

Protector of Dancing Souls

A mysterious crystal gives life to a troll whelp immune to sunlight. He is raised by a mysterious tribe of Felynes and given the name Avalon. (I couldn't resist a Troll Jim being raised by cats, well, cat based monsters).

He learned not only from his tribe but also the people he tends to spy on, especially hunters. Avalon took the role of a protector, at first leading others to safety until an encounter with a dangerous monster gave him reason to fight. This earned him the Monster name 'Petronion, Dancer of Souls' and the Fanged Beast classification amongst the hunting world.

On one fateful day, a teenage Avalon crashes into Arcadia, badly injured from a fight with a dangerous unknown monster. (10 years before the events of the show.) He is found by Barbara and nursed back to health while given the name Jim. Ends up meeting Toby two weeks after his arrival as the child had a scheduled visit the nurse accidentally forgot.

Over the years, both help the misplaced troll become accustom to this new world and he shares his knowledge in return. It isn't much longer before one midnight run goes wrong as Jim encounters a battle between two certain trolls. Remember that our troll boy has no knowledge about what he is nor if there are more like him.

Jim only interferes when Bular's temperament marks him as a major threat and chases him off. He flees before Kanijar could stop the young troll who is facing an existential crisis. Everything Jim knows about himself has been flipped on its head and now he struggles to understand his origins.

It doesn't help when certain Trollmarket denizens seek out the clearly young troll before the Gumm Gumm Prince with his forces find him first. Or for Jim's new family to get dragged into the crossfire.

Now the young troll doesn't have a human disguise and it'll probably take halfway through the first maybe second season before he gets one. Jim uses the Dance of the Ancient Phantom, Chameleos, to wander Arcadia without being seen. Like his human counterpart, his magic functions the same way.

-Makes the wielder invisible for long periods of time unless hit. Jim can create thick mist to shroud his form and even forge poison clouds.

He often uses this to spy on people, wander around, observe Barbara at her job or follow Toby in school. Jim may have tripped his human friend's bullies and mother's harsh coworkers. He is quite protective of people he sees as kin. A lean yet firm body type, similar to Angor Rot albeit with more muscle, makes stealth stupid easy.

Also I can't resist imagining this particular Troll Jim being horrified to learn that trolls like to eat cats. He was essentially raised by cat people so the idea would probably make him hurl. Jim definitely bonded with Toby over the whole feline topic in general.

That's it for now! Until next time folks, I'll see you back in Arcadia!

#tales of sonicasura #sonicasura #dancer of destiny au #tales of arcadia trollhunters #trollhunters au #toa trollhunters #trollhunters #toa #tales of arcadia #james lake junior #james lake jr #jim lake jr #jim lake junior #troll jim #troll!jim #mentioned fandoms #monster hunter

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zablionsea · 1 year

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I went on the tangent in the shower of trying to decide what Puzzle & Dragons Z teams NOISZ characters would have. So… yeah?

(NOISZ Ignition and re:||VERSE spoilers ahead)

(Puzzle & Dragons Z main story and post-game spoilers ahead)

Remora

(Leader) Stormy Sea Dragon, Levia (Water) - Levia is a recommended lead for defensive mono-Water teams. Why a defensive (basically) mono-Water team, though? Besides the fact that it fit Guivre Chimera well? After what happened with Stornel, Remora has to be cautious. Considering the devastating consequences for upsetting Gaius or Arietta too much, she can't afford to act ethically until the end of re:||VERSE. She has to prioritize her survival over doing what she feels is right. So, I think a defensive team fits well for that reason.

Dark Blue Skydragon, Nirai Kanai (Water) - A Skydragon given life by cursed technology and filled with hatred? Hmmm, that kinda reminds me of Void Beasts.

Guivre Chimera (Water) - I hope it's obvious why I'm giving Remora, the character who transforms into a chimera when you fight her, the chimera monster.

Death Scissors (Water) - Death Scissors was used by Team Paradox members, and Antiphon gives me a Team Paradox vibe. Plus, we've already got a few water monsters going on here, so why not complete the mono-Water defensive team?

Guardian Dragon, Avalon Drake (Wood) - Avalon Drake, formerly protecting the Skydragons, was defeated and manipulated by the Dragon King Avalon. In this evolved form, it was forced to absorb energy from Orbs extracted from the earth. The process of obtaining these Orbs destroyed the lands greatly. The Orbs granted Avalon Drake twice its former power, but it broke its spirit. Being manipulated around by a defeat and forced to hurt people? That sounds familiar…

Its lack of synergy with the other monsters on the team? Of course, that just happened to be that way, but it could represent the conflict between wanting to help her friends and being under blackmail.

Beyond

Beyond seems like the kind of person to try to have a well-balanced team (like, 5-color) and then pick what monsters based on personal preference.

(Leader) Mui-Mui (Flame) - Beyond is the character associated with Dancer Style, which is an assistive style meant to help those who struggle with timing the shot/shield inputs or pressing buttons repetitively for long periods of time. Mui-Mui's skill shows you how to make combos, providing somewhat equivalent assistance.

Tree Dragon, Kukunochi (Wood) - Morigon, one of its preevolutions, is described as having a big appetite (note Beyond's seemingly infinite metabolism and love for sweets). It's a bit of a daydreamer but very reliable, like how Beyond, according to the re:||VERSE art/lyrics book, is a bit naturally silly but shows a colder, tougher side of her personality in tricky situations. Kukunochi is a kind monster, seeking to uphold peace in the woods and bring new life wherever it goes. Beyond wants to bring peace to her and Arietta's chaotic lives.

Deep-Sea Dragon, Abyss (Water) - Another True Dragon whose preevolution is described as kind-hearted in some way. Abyss is rather reclusive, living far out of reach of any human being. This reminds me of the RE:||PARATION ending of re:||VERSE, in which Beyond becomes extremely isolated, shutting people out for days at a time, and even for someone she cares dearly like Remora, shuts her out occasionally too. (As well, Abyss pairs nicely with Remora's Levia, I think. The two are, like, halfway to being considered a couple. They deserve matching monsters at that point.)

Viciousdragon Helheim (Dark) - This monster is very frequently used by Dogma, the leader of Team Paradox, the villainous organization of Puzzle & Dragons Z. It turns out that Dogma was ultimately being manipulated by Enigma, who uses what Dogma set up to seize power and return to his role as the Dragon King Avalon. Although, he was separated from his body long ago and inhabits a different form.

I feel like that has some parallels to Beyond's getting manipulated by Alpha in the form of Arietta's body and being so insistent upon her goals that she didn't realize something was wrong until far too late.

Dark Shining Divinegon (Light/Dark) - Representing Beyond's tragic, misguided heroism in Ignition and re:||VERSE. Someone whose light that pierces through the endless darkness has been steered into darkness itself. Beyond, so desperate to help her sister achieve her dreams, put their lives in danger. And desperate again to right that tragedy, followed a heartless, callous being without even realizing the sister she loved so much was no longer in control.

(or, instead of Divinegon) Life Skydragon, Zerclea (Light/Light) - I think it fits well with re:||BIRTH. Plus, it pairs nicely with Arkvelza. I can't have Zerclea in the same team as Divinegon because that's not allowed in PaDZ.

Arietta

Although her color scheme works great with mono-Fire, I'm actually going to have to go with mono-Dark for a few reasons.

(Leader) Dark Night Skydragon, Elysium (Dark) - Elysium's skill grants a turn of invincibility, which reminds me a lot of Arietta's Crash Style. Plus, she fits well with a few other dark monsters. Dark Elysium's lead skill multiplies attack for Dark monsters, being attack-oriented like Arietta's Mega Style. Dark Elysium was created with terrible technology, like the Void Beasts. Arietta was the one who insisted on using the NOISZ Beast technology on Noise Beasts, after all.

Immortal Dragon, Cursed Wyrm (Dark) - Cursed Wyrm's skill does more damage at higher HP, which fits well with Crash charged shots doing more damage at higher combo.

Anubisis (Dark) - Enigma uses this monster. Enigma has some parallels with Arietta in terms of their roles in the narrative. Also, its skill deals 4,444 damage. Haha, funny STARLIVHT number. And Arietta's the person that recruited them in NOISZ SL. Anubisis is the Producer theory confirmed/j.

Drawn Joker (Dark) - It has a mischievous look to it that fits Arietta's playful and impulsive personality well. (I would also like to add “Arietta is Joker character” theory as a justification for this)

Lightning Dark Tiamat (Dark/Light) - Representing Arietta's redemption arc in re:||VERSE. She's someone who's done terrible, horrific things who's now trying to correct those mistakes. A light finally breaking through a sea of seemingly never-ending darkness. Plus, a Dark orb changer is an essential member of a mono-Dark team. It's no good not to have enough Orbs to clear. You need those for damage and skill points.

(or, instead of Tiamat) Death Skydragon, Arkvelza (Dark/Dark) - Pairs nicely with Zerclea, which I think Beyond has. Arkvelza's skill lowers foes HP by a set percentage. But I mainly picked Arkvelza for theming. I can't have Arkvelza in the same team as Tiamat because that's not allowed in PaDZ.

Leader Monsters Only

Unfortunately, I didn't have enough ideas to make full teams for these folks. My apologies.

Stornel

Dimensional Guardian, Hellgate (Wood) - Stornel's soul guards one of the NOISZ's most powerful secrets: imprinting souls. He acts as both the gateway and guardian of imprinting, similar to how Hellgate is both a portal and monster.

Immortal Dragon, Cursed Wyrm (Dark) - It's a deceased dragon who was reanimated by dark magic and trapped in the shell of its body. “Now I'm trapped inside this shell, the world has turned to black around me” as Stornel might say in Quicksilver, I suppose.

Sora

Phoenix Knight, Homura (Flame) - It goes on with its blue flames? Yeah, sounds like Sora in his beast form.

Garuda (Flame) - A very powerful phoenix that requires the rarest evolution material in the game (Ifrit Chip).

#PaDZ #Puzzle & Dragons Z #Puzzle and Dragons Z #NOISZ #NOISZ re:||VERSE #Look I spent way too much time trying to figure this out you all are going to see it #(but you don't have to read it if you don't want)#but I feel justified in tagging it #ok? cool #Doing this for STARLIVHT? not right now but maybe in a few weeks #id in alt text

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raitrolling · 10 months

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Ancestor Famousness(tm) for my mains cuz I've been thinking about it and I don't think I have this written down anywhere

Krasic Rissah / The Advocate: Basically lost to time, though her rebellion is mentioned in The Swindler's journals

Lycori Pharom / The Haruspex: Basically lost to time

Kiyana Bathre / The Beloved: If the name wasn't already an indication, she's been relegated to nothing more than The Malefact's matesprit, who assisted in his research and then tragically took her own life

Silque Tselao / The Martinet: The name may be recognisable if you know your Alternian military history, as he was well-regarded by those he trained during their early Fleet days. He tends to get credited as the troll who helped mould soldiers into the decorated heroes they came to be (or so they say in their autobiographies)

Siilas Giacho / The Whiteout: More likely that one who knows their Alternian military history knows of Codename: Nuclear Winter, but it's not as well-known that this weapon of war belonging to the Fleet was actually a troll

Canade Avalon / The Luminous: The name is known in Vernrot Harbour, but the story behind how he tried to save the residents from becoming influenced by Those Who Slumber In The Deep has been twisted, and nowadays there's still a mistrust towards the Avalon bloodline for their involvement in this part of history

Pavlov Espino / The Swinder: The name would be familiar for those who know their military history, as he was a rebel hunter who was a part of one of the Empire's elite soldier groups (The Hunting Dogs). However, he deliberately filled his journals with inconsistencies and fabrications in order to obscure his movements, making it difficult to ascertain his exact story. The Espino name also has a reputation in the Fleet as having strong associations with assassinations, as the bloodline is typically raised to follow in Pavlov's footsteps

Bathym Elliss / The Countess Antumbra: Her whole story as a cannibalistic serial killer who may or may not have connections to the occult has made her a very popular subject for True Crime podcasts. Nightfall Manor does get its occasional visit from true crime fans wanting to check out the scene where Bathym tortured and then ate her victims, only to be disappointed when they find Glasya living there

Ondrue Reyleh / The Malefact (Her Inquisitive Malefaction): A well-renowned scientist in the Fleet during his time. His research into the development of mutations in grubs and wrigglers, as well as troll biology in general, was a large scientific breakthrough at the time, and his works are still cited to this day. However, his research is also controversial in nature, as the experiments he conducted on young trolls are considered to be highly inhumane

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atangledfate · 1 year

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Gwynevere AU Amy

1: While most know Gwynevere for sweet smile and kind heart, make no mistake. She Leads her own sect of Knights known as the Knights of Gwynevere. These Knights devote themselves to the Light, Justice and Righteousness. While she rarely dons her armor and spends her days in Court entertaining Nobles. Make no mistake about it---if you come to Camelot expecting the Queen to go quietly into the night. You'll find only the business end of her Maul.

2: She is the Queen, Wife to Arthur and though she loves him dearly and would give him the world. She is fond of Lancelot, and her love for him can't be denied. She feels torn between her duty to the kingdom and her love for Lancelot... all to often her will fails her and she finds herself giving into Lancelots advances.

3: She knows healing Magic, and is one of the very few people in the whole kingdom that can utilize it. She was taught, this magic by the Church of Avalon and only she and her knights are privy to its secrets.

4: She and Percival are very close friends, and can often be found talking about the courtly affairs. Percival is Gwynevere's council, and she will often come to her for complicated or touch subject matters advice. She trusts her judgement, and it is said the two even can be found sparring on occasion.

5: When Arthur is away, or should anything befall him. Gwynevere Is ready to step up and rule in his place. It is said she is the real ruler behind Arthur, and it is her kindness and Just heart that keeps the kingdom together. Though do not mistake her kindness for weakness, she will always do what she must.

6: She dislikes conflict and always prefers diplomacy, often going to great lengths to cool hot heads and prevent a conflict. However, her ideals can often blind her and she rarely sees the layers of grey between the lines.

7: Nimue or the Lady of the Lake will sometimes use Gwynevere's Likeness to speak to the nights as it is a familiar visage. Someone they can trust and respect. Gwynevere isn't fond of her doing this but she doesn't know how to tell an ancient being like the Lady to stop so she just doesn't comment on it.

8: Gwynevere HATES her position as Queen, despite knowing its her duty, despite taking it very seriously. She wants nothing more then to escape the chains of her position. It is why she often falls into Lancelots arms wanting to escape her purgatory. yet they both know its impossible.

9: Her Hammer is enchanted not only to be immensely strong and near unbreakable. But it will come to her instantly teleporting to her location upon her beckons. She is also adept at throwing it, and recalling it instantly to her hand. No one can pick it up but her, any who try will find it is impossible to move. This is because only one worthy my touch it, and to be worthy you must have great love in your heart. Are very few who qualify, and those who do are rarely warriors.

10: Gwynevere like all knights has a young Squire who assist her. Gwynevere Chose her because like her, she possess the power to use the Light, and heal the wounded, and cure illness. She took her and her mother away from the quiet village they lived in and now, both serve her within the Ranks of the Knights of Gwynevere.

#Black Knights AU #Gwynevere #Queen of Camelot #Art by Toonsite

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sekhisadventures · 2 years

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(Artist's Rendition of Dareley by xHyperwolfx )

Dareley Steelhammer, Paladin of the Silver Hand

Important Stories:

Steel in my Hammer: Dareley helps guide a group of survivors to Ironforge following the fall of Lordaeron City in the Third War.

The Forge and the Forest: Dareley and Shalandrae meet during the War in Northrend.

To Ashes, to Dust: Dareley tries to figure out how to help Shalandrae following the destruction of Teldrassil during the War of Thorns.

Race: Ironforge Dwarf

Class: Paladin, Holy

Age: 162

Eye color: Blue

Birthplace: Kharanos, Dun Morogh

Residence: Stormwind City, Old Town District

Abilities:

Paladin of the Silver Hand: Dareley is a paladin, a holy knight of the Silver Hand. He is very devout in his beliefs and is able to channel the Light in both an offensive and defensive manner to great effect in combat. He is also skilled at wielding martial weapons, mostly favoring a sword and shield. His weapons of choice are a Kyrian forged spellblade (a souvenir of his time in Bastion) and a well worn shield embossed with the symbol of the Silver Hand (a relic of the Second Great War.)

Military Veteran: Out of all their allies, Dareley has the most experience in military matters (save for perhaps Savage United's newest member, Laurelgosa the Dracthyr.) He is a talented tactician and is able to identify troop movements or tactics much quicker than his allies are. If given time to plan before an attack, he can assist greatly with ensuring his allies have an advantage. For a list of his (ahem) trophies of war, click here.

Blacksmith: As Dareley once said "Ye think me name is just a fun little play on words? Th’ Steelhammers have been blacksmiths in Ironforge fer generations!" Dareley is a capable metalworker, skilled in armor crafting most of all but adept at weapon smithing and repair thereof. Before the order was disbanded following the fall of Lordaeron and the death of most of it's members in the Third War he was often called upon by his fellow knights to do armor repairs for them. These days he hammers for his allies in Avalon and Savage United instead.

History

Dareley is an older dwarf these days, already well into adulthood when the Dark Portal opened and the Orcish Horde first invaded Azeroth. He was part of the Ironforge Milita when Dun Morogh was occupied by the forces of Orgrim Doomhammer and, when they were routed by the Alliance, including the recently founded Order of the Silver Hand he found he felt moved to join them. The noble knights who drove back the orcs and healed the dwarves who had been injured by them were an inspiration to him… thus he became one of the first dwarves to become a Paladin.

He traveled with them to the Burning Steppes and was even there the day that Doomhammer was defeated and dragged away in chains to face his fate, and after several years of military service he was stationed in Lordaeron City to help defend their people from a burgeoning death cult, the Cult of the Damned.

Here is where Dareley's fate turns grim however. He was there when Arthas came back from Northrend, he even got a glimpse of Frostmourne when he used it to kill his father King Tirinas… the paladin was all set to charge forth to bring righteous vengeance upon the murderous traitor prince until he heard screams erupt from the city around him, and remembered who else was in the city with him.

Dareley fled the castle and raced through the city to return to the Inn they were staying at, only to find that his worst fears had been realized. Grief and despair almost took the Paladin then, but after dealing with the undead horrors in the inn he saw the survivors huddled in the corner… and remembered his oaths and his duty. The dead were dead, worry about the living.

He rallied as many survivors as he could and forming a militia they fought their way out of the city as the Scourge overran it, fleeing into the Lordaeron countryside and, eventually, to Dun Morogh and the safety of Ironforge Mountain.

Dareley spent the next several years doing his duties as one of the surviving Knights of the Silver Hand as best he could, but he felt as if his heart had been broken that day. It was only a miracle that his faith hadn't shattered with it. When the call to head to Northrend following the return of the Lich King came some years later he was among those who joined with Tyrion Fordring's Argent Crusade.

He almost died to a Scourge ambush in Zul'drak, the undead aided by a traitor within the Crusade's own ranks, but for the intervention of the druidess Shalandrae Deeproots. She had been flying overhead and saw him pursued by the undead, landing and aiding him long enough for the Crusaders stationed at the Argent Strand to recognize the signs of fighting in the wilds nearby and send a squad to investigate.

After this the pair met up in Dalaran and, over drinks, decided to form their own group of adventurers to watch each other's backs. Thus the group Avalon was born.

#warcraft #warcraft fanfiction #warcraft roleplay #dwarf #paladin #ironforge #ironforge dwarf #adventures in azeroth #warcraft oc

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borntobecheap · 28 days

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“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN… THE NICEST KIDS IN TOWN!”

IF I HAVE one regret in life, it's that I wasn't a Buddy Deaner. Sure, as a teenager I was a guest on this Baltimore show. I even won the twist contest with Mary Lou Raines (one of the queens of "The Buddy Deane Show") at a local country club.

But I was never a Deaner. Not a real one. Not one of the Committee members, the ones chosen to be on the show every day—the Baltimore version of the Mouseketeers, "the nicest kids in town," as they were billed. The guys who wore sport coats with belts in the back from Lee's of Broadway (ten percent discount for Committee members), pegged pants, pointy-toe shoes with the great buckles on the side and "drape" (greaser) haircuts that my parents would never allow. And the girl Deaners, God, "hair-hopppers" as we called them in my neighborhood, the ones with the Etta gowns, bouffant hairdos and cha-cha heels. These were the first role models I knew. The first stars I could identify with. Arguably the first TV celebrities in Baltimore.

I'm still a fan—a Deaner groupie. I even named some of the characters in my films after them. So you can't imagine how excited I was when I finally got a chance to interview these local legends twenty years later.

"The Buddy Deane Show" was a teenage dance party, on the air from 1957 to 1964. It was the top-rated local TV show in Baltimore and, for several years, the highest rated local TV program in the country. While the rest of the nation grew up on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" (which was not even shown here because Channel I3 already had "Buddy Deane"), Baltimoreans, true to form, had their own eccentric version. Every rock 'n' roll star of the day (except Elvis) came to town to lip-sync and plug their records on the show: Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Fats Domino, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon and Fabian, to name just a few.

You learned how to be a teenager from the show. Every day after school kids would run home, tune in and dance with the bedpost or refrigerator door as they watched. If you couldn't do the Buddy Deane Jitterbug (always identifiable by the girl's ever-so-subtle dip of her head each time she was twirled around), you were a social outcast. And because a new dance was introduced practically every week, you had to watch every day to keep up. It was maddening: the Mashed Potato, the Stroll, the Pony, the Waddle, the Locomotion, the Bug, the Handjive, the New Continental and, most important, the Madison, a complicated line dance that started here and later swept the country.

Although the show has been off the air for more than twenty years, a nearly fanatical cult of fans has managed to keep the memory alive. The producers of Diner wanted to include "Buddy Deane" footage in their film, but most of the shows were live and any tapes of this local period piece have been erased. Last spring five hundred people quickly snapped up the $23 tickets to the third Buddy Deane Reunion, held at a banquet hall in East Baltimore, to raise money for the Baltimore Burn Center. Buddy himself, the high priest, returned for the event. And more important, so did the Committee, still entering by a special door, still doing the dances from the period with utmost precision. I was totally star-struck and had as much fun that night as I did at the Cannes Film Festival. All on tacky Pulaski Highway.

IN THE BEGINNING there was Arlene. Arlene Kozak, Buddy's assistant and den mother to the Committee. Now a receptionist living in suburbia with her husband and two grown children, Arlene remains fiercely loyal, organizing the reunions and keeping notebooks filled with the updated addresses, married names and phone numbers of all "my kids."

She met Winston J. "Buddy" Deane in the fifties when she worked for a record wholesaler and he was the top-rated disc jockey on WITH — the only DJ in town who played rock 'n' roll for the kids. Joel Chaseman, also a DJ at WITH, became program manager of WJZ-TV when Westinghouse bought it in the mid-fifties. Chaseman had this idea for a dance party show, with Buddy as the disc jockey, and Buddy asked Arlene to go to work for him.

On the air "before Dick Clark debuted," the show "was a hit from the beginning," says Arlene today.

The Committee, initially recruited from local teen centers, was to act as hosts and dance with the guests. To be selected you had to bring a "character reference" letter from your pastor, priest or rabbi, qualify in a dance audition and show in an interview ("the Spotlight") that you had "personality." At first the Committee had a revolving membership, with no one serving longer than three months.

But something unforeseen happened: The home audience soon grew attached to some of these kids. So the rules were bent a little; the "big" ones, the ones with the fan mail, were allowed to stay.

And the whole concept of the Committee changed. The star system was born.

If you were a Buddy Deane Committee member, you were on TV six days a week for as many as three hours a day-enough media exposure to make Marshall McLuhan's head spin. The first big stars were Bobbi Burns and Freddy Oswinkle, according to Arlene, but "no matter how big anyone got, someone came along who was even bigger."

Joe Cash and Joan Teves became the show's first royalty.

Joanie, whose mother "wanted me to be a child star," hit the show in early 1957 at age thirteen (you had to be fourteen to be eligible, but many lied about their ages to qualify), followed a few months later by Joe, seventeen. Like many couples, Joe and Joan m* through the show and became "an item" for their fans. Many years later they married.

"I saw the show as a vehicle to make something of myself," remembers Joe. "I was aggressive. I wanted to get into the record business" —and years later he did.

Joe started working for Buddy as "teen assistant" and, along with Arlene, oversaw the Committee and enforced the strict rules.

You received demerits for almost anything: Chewing gum. Eating the refreshments (Ameche's Powerhouses, the premiere teenage hangout's forerunner of the Big Mac), which were for guests only.

Or dancing with other Committee members when you were supposed to be dancing with the guests (a very unpopular rule allowed this only every fourth dance). And if you dared to dance the obscene Bodie Green (the Dirty Boogie), you were immediately a goner.

"I got a little power-crazed," admits Joe. "I thought I was running the world, so they developed a Board, and the Committee began governing itself." Being elected to the Board became the ultimate status symbol. This Committee's committee, under the watchful eye of Arlene, chose new members, taught the dance steps and enforced the demerit system, which could result in suspension or expulsion.

Another royal Deaner couple who met on the air and later married was Gene Snyder and Linda Warehime. They are still referred to, good naturedly by some, as "the Ken and Barbie of the show." Gene, a member of "the first Committee, and I underline first," later became president of the Board. Linda reverently describes her Committee membership as "the best experience I ever had in my life." They later became members of the "Permanent Committee," the hall of fame that could come back to dance even after retiring. "That was our whole social life, being a Buddy Deaner," says Gene. "It was a family: Buddy was the father, Arlene was the mother."

Even today Gene and Linda are the quintessential Deaner couple, still socializing with many Committee members, very protective of the memory, and among the first to "lead a dance" at the emotion-packed reunions. "Once a Deaner, always a Deaner," as another so succinctly puts it.

The early "look" of the Committee was typically fifties. And although few will now admit to having been drapes, the hairstyles at first were DAs, Detroits and Waterfalls for the guys and ponytails and DAs for the girls, who wore full skirts with crinolins and three or four pairs of bobby socks. Joe remembers "a sport coat I bought for $s from somebody who got it when he got out of prison.

I was able after a while to afford some clothes from Lee's of Broad-way" (whose selection of belted coats and pegged pants made it the Saks Fifth Avenue of Deaners).

One of the first ponytail princesses was "Peanuts" (Sharon Goldman, debuting at fourteen in 1958, Forest Park High School Chicken Hop), who went on the show because Deaners were "folk heroes." She remembers Paul Anka singing "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" to her on camera as she did just that. She became so popular that she was written up in the nationwide Sixteen magazine.

"On the show you were either a drape or a square," explains Sharon. "I was a square. I guess Helen Crist was the first drapette: the DA, the ballet shoes, oogies [tulle scarves], eye shadow—eye-liner was big then—and pink lipstick."

Helen Crist. The best little jitterbugger in Baltimore. The first and maybe the biggest Buddy Deane queen of all. Debuting at a mere eleven years of age, taking three buses every day to get to the show, wearing that wonderful white DA (created by her hairdresser father) and causing the first real sensation. She was one of the chosen few who went to New York to learn how to demonstrate the Madison and was selected for the "exchange committee" that represented Baltimore's best on "American Bandstand." She was the only one of the biggies who refused to be on the Board ("They had power; a lot were disliked because of it").

Helen's fans flocked to see her at the Buddy Deane Record Hops (Committee members had to make such personal appearances and sign autographs). "I got all these letters from the Naval Academy," Helen remembers, "so I went there one day, and all the midshipmen were hanging out the windows. It was a real kick!" Her fame even brought an offer to join the circus. "This man approached me, telegrammed me, showed up at the show. He wanted me to go to a summer training session to be a trapeze artist. I wanted to go, but my parents wouldn't let me. I was really mad. I wanted to join the circus."

Two other ponytail princesses who went on to the Buddy Deane hall of fame were Evanne Robinson, the Committee member on the show the longest, and Kathy Schmink. Today they seem opposites.

Over lunch at the Thunderball Lounge, in East Baltimore, Kathy remembers, "I could never get used to signing autographs. Why?' I'd wonder." She wasn't even a fan of the show. "It was a fluke. My mother wanted me to go; she took me down to the tryouts. At first I was so shy I hid behind the Coke machines."

But Evanne "used to come right home and head for the TV. I had always studied dance, and I wanted to go on (the show]. I'm the biggest ham." Although she denies being conscious of the cam-era, she admits, "I did try to dance up front. I wasn't going to go on and not be seen." But even Evanne turned bashful on one show, when Buddy made a surprise announcement. "I was voted prettiest girl by this whole army base. I was so embarrassed. Buddy called me up before the cameras, and I wasn't dressed my best. The whole day on the show was devoted to me."

BEING A TEENAGE STAR in Baltimore had its drawbacks. "It was difficult with your peers," recalls Peanuts. "You weren't one of them anymore." Outsiders envied the fame, especially if they lost their steadies to Deaners, and many were put off by boys who loved to dance. "Everybody wanted to kick a Buddy Deaner's ass," says Gene, recalling thugs waiting to jump Deaners outside the studio.

"It was so painful. It was horrible," says Joe. "I used to get death threats on the show. I'd get letters saying, If you show up at this particular hop, you're gonna get your face pushed in?" And Evanne still shudders as she recalls, "Once I was in the cafeteria.

One girl yelled 'Buddy Deaner' and then threw her plate at me. My mother used to pick me up after school to make sure nobody hassled me."

The adoring fans could also be a hassle. "I must have had ten different phone numbers," says Helen, "and somehow it would get out. There were a lot of obscene phone calls."

And the rumors, God, the rumors. "They all thought all the girls were pregnant by Buddy Deane," remember several. "Once I was off the show for a while, and they said I had joined the nun-nery," says Helen, laughing. "It was even in the papers. It was hilarious."

Some of the rumors were fanned on purpose. Because "Buddy Deane's" competition was soap operas, the budding teenage romances were sometimes played up for the camera. "One time I was going with this guy, and he was dancing with this guest I didn't like," says Evanne. "Buddy noticed my eyes staring and said, 'Do the same eyes.' And the camera got it." Kathy went even further. "I was with this guy named Jeff. We faked a feud. I took off my steady ring and threw it down. We got more mail: 'Oh, please don't break up!' Somebody even sent us a miniature pair of boxing gloves. Then we made up on camera."

Romance was one thing; sex was another. Most Deaner girls wouldn't even "tongue-kiss," claims Arlene, remembering the ruckus caused by a Catholic priest when the Committee modeled strapless Etta gowns on TV. From then on, all bare shoulders were covered with a piece of net.

Other vices were likewise eschewed. If a guy had one beer, it was a big deal. Some do remember a handful of kids getting high on cough medicine. "Yeah, it was Cosenel," says Joe. "They would drive me nuts when they'd come in the door, and I'd say, 'Man, you're gone. You are out of here. You are history.' "

Although many parents and WJZ insisted that Committee members had to keep up their grades to stay on the show, the reality could be quite different. With the show beginning at 2:30 in some years, cutting out of school early was common.

"I'd hook and have to dance in the back so the teachers couldn't see me," says Helen. "I had to get up there on time. My heart would have broken in two if I couldn't have gone on." Finally Helen quit Mergenthaler (Mervo) trade school, at the height of her fame. "The school tried to throw me out before. I couldn't be bothered with education. I wanted to dance."

"We had a saying: "The show either makes you or breaks you,'" says Kathy. "Some kids on the show went a little nuts, with stars in their eyes; they thought they were going to go to Hollywood and be movie stars."

Yet Joe was a dropout when he went on the show and then, once famous, went back to finish. And according to Arlene, Buddy encouraged one popular Committee member (Buzzy Bennet) to teach himself to read so he could realize his dream of being a disc jockey. He eventually became one of the most respected programmers in the country and was even written up in Time magazine.

WITH THE 1960s came a whole new set of stars, some with names that seemed like gimmicks, but weren't: Concetta Comi, the popular sister team of Yetta and Gretta Kotik. And then there was teased hair, replacing the fifties drape with a Buddy Deane look that so pervaded Baltimore culture (especially in East and South Baltimore) that its effect is still seen in certain neighborhoods.

Some of the old Committee kept up with the times and made the transition with ease. Kathy switched to a great beehive that resembled a trash can sitting on top of her head ("I looked like I was taking off"). And Helen, Linda and Joanie all got out the rat-tail teasing combs.

Fran Nedeloff (debuting at fourteen in 1961, Mervo High School cha-cha) remembers the look: "Straight skirt to the knee, cardigan sweater buttoned up the back, cha-cha heels, lots of heavy black eyeliner, definitely Clearasil on the lips, white nail polish. We used to go stand in front of Read's Drugstore, and people would ask for our autograph."

Perhaps the highest bouffants of all belonged to the Committee member who was my personal favorite: Pixie (who died several years later from a drug overdose). "You could throw her down on the ground, and her hair would crack," recalls Gene. Pixie was barely five feet tall, but her hair sometimes added a good six to eight inches to her height.

But by far the most popular hairdo queen on "Buddy Deane" was a fourteen-year-old Pimlico Junior High School student named Mary Lou Raines. Mary Lou, the Annette Funicello of the show, was the talk of teenage Baltimore. Every week she had a different "do" —the Double Bubble, the Artichoke, the Airlift -each topped off by her special trademark, suggested by her mother, the bow.

"We really sprayed it," remembers Mary Lou today from her home in Pennsylvania. "The more hair spray, the better. After you sprayed it, you'd get toilet paper and blot it. Sometimes you'd wrap your hair at night. If you leaned on one side, the next day you'd just pick it out" into shape.

Mary Lou was the last of the Buddy Deane superstars, true hair-hopper royalty, the ultimate Committee member. "We have a tele-gram," Buddy would shout almost daily, "for Mary Lou to lead a dance," and the cameraman seemed to love her. "When that little red light came on, so did my smile," she says, laughing. At her appearances at the record hops, "kids would actually scream when you'd get out of the car: 'There's Mary Lou! Oh, my God, it's Evanne!' Autograph books, cameras, this is what they lived for. They sent cakes on my birthday. They'd stand outside my home. They just wanted to know if you were real. I was honored, touched by it all."

Mary Lou was aware that in some neighborhoods it was not cool to be a Buddy Deaner. "Oh sure, if you were Joe College (pre-preppie), you just didn't do 'The Deane Show.'" "Did you ever turn into a Joe College?" I ask innocently. "No!" she answers, with a conviction that gives me the chills.

But as more and more kids (even "Deane" fans) did turn Joe College, many of the Committee made the mistake of not keeping up with the times. Marie Fischer was the first "Joe" to become a Committee member-chosen simply because she was such a good dancer. As with the drapes and squares of the previous decade, she explains, "there were two classes of people then-Deaners and Joe College. The main thing was your hair was flat, the antithesis of Buddy Deane," she says, chuckling. "I was a misfit. Every day I'd come to the studio in knee-highs, and I'd have to take them off. You had to wear nylons. Before long I started getting lots of fan mail: I think you're neat. I'm Joe, too.' There was a change in the works."

Part of that change was the racial integration movement. "I had a lot of black friends at the time, so for me this was an awkward thing," says Marie. "To this day, I'm reluctant to tell some of my black friends I was on 'Buddy Deane' because they look at it as a terrible time."

Integration ended "The Buddy Deane Show." When the subject comes up today, most loyalists want to go off the record. But it went something like this: "Buddy Deane" was an exclusively white show. Once a month the show was all black; there was no black Committee. So the NAACP targeted the show for protests. Ironi-cally, "The Buddy Deane Show" introduced black music and artists into the lives of white Baltimore teenagers, many of whom learned to dance from black friends and listened to black radio. Buddy offered to have three or even four days a week all black, but that wasn't it. The protesters wanted the races to mix.

At frantic meetings of the Committee, many said, "My parents simply won't let me come if it's integrated," and WIZ realized it just couldn't be done. "It was the times," most remember. "This town just wasn't ready for that." There were threats and bomb scares; integrationists smuggled whites into the all-black shows to dance cheek to cheek on camera with blacks, and that was it. "The Buddy Deane Show" was over. Buddy wanted it to end happily, but WJZ angered Deaners when it tried to blame the ratings.

On the last day of the show, January 4, 1964, all the most popular Committee members through the years came back for one last appearance. "I remember it well," recalls Evanne. "Buddy said to me, 'Well, here's my little girl who's been with me the longest.' I hardly ever cried, but I just broke down on camera. I didn't mean to, because I never would have messed up the makeup."

IN 1985 THE COMMITTEE MEMBERs are for the most part happy and healthy, living in Baltimore, and still recognized on the street. "They kept their figures, look nice and are very kind people," says Marie from her lovely country home before taking off for the University of Maryland, where she attends law school.

Most are happily married with kids and maintain the same images they had on the show. "We are kind of like Ozzie and Harriet," says Gene Snyder as Linda nods in agreement. "I'm a typical middle-class housewife," says Peanuts, "Girl Scout leader, very active in my kid's school." Mary Lou is still a star. That she has an affluent life-style surprises no one on the Committee. In her home, near Allentown, Pennsylvania, she serves me a beautiful brunch, models her fur coats and poses with her Mercedes. "When I get depressed, I don't go to the psychiatrist; I go to the jeweler," she says.

Oddly enough, few of the Deaners I've talked to went on to show biz. Joe Cash has Jonas Cash Promotions ("my own promotional firm—we represent Warner Brothers, Columbia, Motown-eighty-five percent of the music you hear in this market")-and Active Industry Research (a "research firm-I'm chairman of the board"). Evanne and her brother run the John Brock Benson Dance Studios and have a line of dancers who appear at clubs all over the state. But most have settled down to a very straight life.

And none are bitter. Although the Committee was a valuable promotional tool for WJZ at the time, and belonging was a full-time job, no one (except teen assistants) was paid a penny. Even doing commercials was expected. Mary Lou laughs at the memory of doing a pimple medicine spot on camera. And who can forget those great ads for the plastic furniture slipcovers that opened with the kids jumping up and down on the sofa and a local announcer screaming, "Hey, kids! Get off that furniture!"? Or the Bob-a-Loop? Or Hartford Motor Coach Company? Or Snuggle Dolls? The Deaners didn't mind. As Marie puts it, "The rewards were so great emotionally that you didn't have to ask for a monetary award."

Many had difficulties dealing with the void when the show went off the air. Gene calls it "a big loss." "It was living in a fantasy world," says Helen, "and later on, growing up, it was a definite blow: reality." "I still have a whole box of fan mail," says Evanne. "If I'm ever depressed, sometimes I think, 'Well, this will make me feel better,' and I go down and dig in the box."

Holding onto the memories more than anyone is Arlene Kozak, who is by far the most loved by all the Committee members. (They gave her a diamond watch at the last reunion.) "Do you miss show biz?" I ask her. "Not show biz," Arlene answers, hesitating, "but the record biz, the people. Yes, I miss it very much. I don't think I'll ever get over missing it, if you want to know the truth."

Many of the Committee members' spouses faced an even bigger adjustment. In "mixed marriages" (with non-Deaners), many of the outsiders resented their spouses' pasts. "At twenty-one I married a professional football player," Helen remembers, "and he made me burn all the fan mail. I had trunks of it. He was mad because I was as popular as he was. He just didn't understand."

But some have dealt with the problems in good humor. When Mary Lou's husband gave me the long and complicated directions to their home on the phone, he ended with, "And there you will find, yes, Mary Lou Raines." He later confided that when he first started dating her, he had no idea of her early career. "Everywhere we went, people would say 'There's Mary Lou.' I wondered if she had just been released from the penitentiary."

THE BUDDY DEANE phenomenon is hardly dead. Each reunion (and a new one is in the works) seems bigger than the last. Deaners seem to come out of the woodwork, drawn by the memory of their stardom. Buddy returns on a pilgrimage from St. Charles, Arkansas, where he owns a hunting and fishing lodge and sometimes appears on TV, to spin the hits and announce multiplication dances, ladies® choice, or even, after a few drinks, the Limbo. Some of the really dedicated Committee members get tears in their eyes. Was it really twenty years ago? Could it be?

Why not do "The Deane Show" on Baltimore TV again? Just once. A special. The ultimate reunion. From all over the country, the Deaners could rise again, congregate at the bottom of Television Hill, and start Madison-ing their way ("You're looking good. A big strong line!") up the hill to that famous dance party set, the one that now houses a talk show. The "big garage-type door" they remember would open, and they'd all pile in, past George and "Mom," the Pinkerton guards who used to keep attendance, and crowd into Arlene's office to comb their hair, confide their problems and touch up their makeup. Buddy could take his seat beneath his famous Top 20 Board, and the tension would build. "Ten seconds to airtime. . . . three, two, one. Ladies and gentlemen. . . the nicest kids in town!"

John Waters (Crackpot: The Obsessions of John Waters, 1986)

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