To finally round off the Council of Warlocks I got a commission done by @pespillo (who is still taking comms!) for Majikus, their leader! Love the colors for the fire I initially had a generic hue in mind but thisā¦ Sheās looking fanatical like youāre the only person between society and unity.
Or sheās caught two employees arguing because one of them was a reactionary twat and that pissed off his sister enough to fuck his coworker out of spite and now both coworkers are beefing about it instead of saving lives by taking over the world. Whichever!
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I've noticed that for three GEverse arcs, I have this 'lens character' with their own storyline parallel to the main protagonists. They're someone who's living with the main antagonist(s) when they're not out and about doing evil, and they act as a way to see this antagonist from a different angle, exploring the villain's motives, worldview, their issues, etc.
This lens character doesn't really meet the protagonists until like, the very end or climax of the story. Pretty late, at least. They might know of the protagonists and vice-versa. And they all have this parallel beat of seeing the villain as a friend and/or someone they can at least reason with, sympathize with... But inevitably, the true colors are revealed, and the lens character realizes that the two sides they're seeing, the 'good and bad' aren't contradictory; But the presence of the 'bad' kinda eliminates any relevance the 'good' might have in the end.
Because what does it matter, if you're still hurting people? Horrifically dehumanizing them? Going out of your way to be awful? You were nice to me, so you CAN be nice to others. You just won't be. How am I supposed to tolerate that?! My sympathy's dried up real fast. And so they're kind of like, the other side of an ideological argument at times. The villain is of course disappointed that the lens character doesn't see their side, and does no self-reflection in shunning them. The lens character might encounter the main protagonists later, maybe even bring them up as being right just to piss off the villain.
So there's Esther for Shogaken, a recently-deceased soul turned into a Skull Kin by him; We see how he rules his domain within the Spirit Currents, where the Skull Kin come from and operate. She does research and learns Shogaken's past, that this place of torment was supposed to be a place of healing... And despite her softening and offers to be more sympathetic, he just continues to be a mediocre, unimpressed prick, and eventually Esther realizes there's nothing she can do to change his mind; Shogaken doesn't actually want help, he just wants to do whatever he wants and take his anger out on others because it's easy.
And she gives up on the guy, especially since by the end of the day, Esther's main priority was making things better for her fellow Skull Kin; She hoped showing compassion to their tyrant might help with that, but alas, people who do that sort of thing are gonna be committed, they have to be. And when Shogaken is reduced to a skull thanks to the protagonists, he's left at the mercy of his Skull Kin, who opt to take agency into their own hands and run the place together. Shogaken is buried, just as he buried dissenting Skull Kin, with plans to eventually dig him up and keep him around in a weakened state. But for now, his once-tormented subjects let themselves be vindictive.
There's Kita for Majikus, whose mother is the warlock's sister. After years of pestering her sister into letting Kita come over, Majikus somehow pulls it off and it seems like an initial rags-to-riches, discover your hidden heritage in a magical world sort of adventure! Kita learns magic from each warlock and sees how they operate, what their motives are, etc. But she also notices more and more the atrocities that her Aunt Maj is willing to commit, how she's obsessed with creating 'order'. And there's a lot of pressure on Kita to continue that legacy when the role inevitably has to be handed on, and Kita realizes she doesn't want this power, to be special; She just wants to live her own life.
And Majikus takes this badly, with Kita beginning to understand why exactly her mother was on such bad terms, why she hesitated to let them visit. Deep down, Kita had a feeling that Majikus would kill her (exaggeration) for not living up to her expectations, for not being a tool to further her dictatorship; She isn't sure now if Majikus will actually do that, but she knows Majikus will kill a lot of innocents minding their own business. So what difference does it make? She stands up to her aunt despite being so hilariously out-classed, but her defiance does prove vital to the Monster Fighters, whom she is aware of and hopes will prevail in the end. And Ruby, later, thanks Kita personally. They may not really have 'known' each other at all up until now, but in a way they're kindred souls.
And then we have Emily Walker, whom I'll elaborate more in some future posts about her relationship with Maerco. But at this point, you probably get the idea.
Point is, I wonder if I should do something like this for the rest of the arcs; With a pattern established, it could be a lot of fun. But I also consider that it might get repetitive. But then maybe I just need to find a way to mix things up? But it might still be the same at its core, and thus still repetitive. I'll think about it, esp since I don't exactly, necessarily have pre-existing characters to choose from for this role, with the exception of at least one for the Escapees; That could be the fourth. So I might make some up, we'll see.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Meet Majikus. She is the wielder of the Purple Magestone, the most powerful; It amplifies any and all magic. It represents Magic itself. Majikus is the first Warlock, the leader, the founder, the visionary and standard.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Majikus and her sister survived the feudal wars of the Monster Realm, and while one managed to recover, the other remained bitter and angry. Maybe this is Majikusā reason for all of this. This is why she seeks to unite the Monster Realm and bring forth its full potential, and all else who disagree are obstacles to this peace.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Majikus parted ways with her sister, who desired a more peaceful life. But Majikus dabbled into unlocking her latent magical talent, which had saved the two of them. She learned of the Magestones and their origin, and saw a figure that could capture the hearts of all monsters. Thus she set out to unite this power, with herself in command.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Majikus is a fanatic, a fascist, and a dictator. She has an almost childish, black and white form of thinking; My plan and ideas make perfect sense, itās so obvious! Why doesnāt anyone else see or get it? You must all be ignorant. It frustrates her deeply, and agreement is like an echo chamber, the validation sheās desperately craved. It can be a little pathetic, even humorous, but Majikus is also legitimately dangerous. As a dictator in the making, she can snap and justify atrocities like the kind she suffered.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā It should be blatant hypocrisy to her, but Majikus just ignores it because in her eyes, itās different; Sheās using these atrocities to end them entirely. This is preferable to just letting atrocities committed by others go on forever; Itās simple mathematics. An obvious equation.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā She can be overwhelming in her enthusiasm and belief, and this can be endearing. This can be charismatic. So while Majikus may not be as socially clever as others, this almost earnest attitude can make her feel trustworthy. And indeed, she has a sense of honor and righteousness, as brutal as it can be; She honors her deals. She seeks allies, and is willing to welcome others, forgive them, if it means seeing her vision. Itās almost delusional.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā But when people keep disagreeing, at some point she feels angry and helpless, and lashes out, almost like a tantrum; Itās like her childhood, her traumatic past, all over again. Why canāt people see, why canāt they just listen and help?! How can you turn a blind eye, how could you!? And yet she turns a blind eye to her atrocities. The Purple Magestone has the Eye of Horus, but Majikus is quite blind.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Majikus found six other Warlocks to master and channel the other Magestones, as part of the half-formed equation to resurrecting Magic. She knows she is not enough, it must be someone all can respect; In the end, she is just too much of a nobody. Majikus does not believe in destiny, nor that she is chosen; She did it because it had to be done and someone must step up to do it. It was for everything that her sister parted ways, not willing to support these endeavors.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Majikusā sister was also reluctant to let her daughter Kita meet her aunt; She feared Majikus as a dangerous influence. But by the present-day, Majikus has finally gained a concession through her overwhelming persistence, and now her niece is getting to study abroad with her aunt and her co-workers, the Warlocks. Majikus will fiercely defend her niece, and punish any Warlocks who insubordinate in this careful project.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā But she's also excited to introduce two families to one another, and believes her niece Kita to have great purpose and potential in leading the Monster Realm one day. In fact she is too eager to push Kita into this role, and does not seem to consider that she may not want nor consider this good. Majikus loves her biological family, but doesnāt understand what drives them apart. Can she understand what sheās done to other families, she would never do to her own? Will she do the same to them even, if she has to?
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Majikus intends to lead a new age, restoring the glory of the Monster Realm and help it recover from a recent age of feudal conflicts. She trusts her fellow Warlocks and sees them as close friends, and they trust her too; They would have to, to risk so much, to invest so much in this. Many find her brilliant, others find Majikus a lunatic.
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā She puts up with the eccentricities of the other Warlocks, often being annoyed and exasperated and acting as the voice of reason commanding everyone to shut up. Yet deep down she is perhaps the most unreasonable out of all of them for starting this operation. Is Majikus betraying one family for another, if she chooses one side over the other?
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā She has obligations to her followers as well, and canāt let them down after everything; That is the pressure she has put on herself too, and it may make her snap because she DOES care, and there is simply so much to worry about that it is overwhelming. But Majikus also has so much anger and pride, and it is tempting to just tear it all down as a final solution; Like a toxic relationship she does something to someone, only to want to take it back. But then she does it again despite the remorse.
At the same time I want to consider another idea that really recontextualizes that whole incident between Majikus and Spelaris where after the backstory is recited, at the end of the series, we learn some new context: Before Spelaris herself was raped, Majikus herself had a similar incident and never spoke up about it.
This could add a new layer of nuance to Majās whole deal because she felt too ashamed to admit what happened to Spelaris at any point of her life, and that need to feel strong just isolated her sister of emotional support she couldāve otherwise provided so itās kind of selfish.
For Majikus, investing herself into Spelarisā trauma and making it about is herself is because it kind of actually was about herself too. She sees a way to fight back against people who make her feel that way without having to admit to having been ādefiledā like that and so sheās using her sister as a buffer.
And when Spelaris refuses to go along even after Majās rhetoric that itāll be a good example for other victims to speak out, it really hurts her because to Maj, Spel has admitted that she wouldnāt do it for her own sister. That she wouldnāt stick her neck out if Majikus chose to confront her own rapist about this.
I am concerned about how this could undermine a point I was making about Majikusā character, where itās that she presumes to speak on behalf of others despite missing some key distinctions. And I feel this reveal would ruin that by showing she actually does have a place to speak. But then again Majikus can only get away with looking at things from a collectivistic perspective; In the end, Spelaris is still her own individual who has chosen not do the same and she already said sheās not judging those who would engage in a fight.
In the end itās still her incident and her trauma and Majikus was not there when it happened anyhow. Plus the context of how I reveal it could also help because it would come probably around the final battle where Spelaris admits that she helped Khemh and the Monster Realmers by setting up that barrier spell as she urges Maj not to go through with the ritual.
Majikus tries to appeal to Spelaris and admits that Yeah, she herself was assaulted before Spelaris and that played into her being so invested. At which point Spelaris snaps because Fuck off, are you actually trying to make me feel sorry for you?! Maybe if they were still kids but theyāre well past that after everything else Majikus has done!
And in the end she points out how the hypocrisy, the cowardice. How Spelaris was used as a convenient buffer for Majikus to attack her trauma without truly facing it. Spelaris is supposed to expose herself for the sake of justice against all others who would do the same but Maj is allowed to hide her rape because it makes her look bad, when this wouldāve added to an allegation?!
She had her own trauma all along to work with she didnāt need Spelarisā. Let herself be inspired once she realizes she couldnāt allow the same to happen to others after accepting it for herself. But the way itās okay for Maj to hide itā¦ Does she really think so lowly of her sister?!
And Majikus tries to pivot the discussion to how this all wouldāve happened with or without the incident because this is bigger than them. People like Mammon still wouldāve cast cruelty just as readily and easily and they needed to be stopped and they were and it felt good to Maj. And so hypocritically she pivots the discussion to this subject just to say they need to pivot away when it doesnāt work.
Basically, this could work if itās not about feeling bad for Majikus but instead backfiring on her to do the opposite as it exposes how much it sucks and how self hatred actually does loop around to being cruel to other people.
Idk I do think one idea I want for Majikus is that sheās consistent and upfront. She doesnāt like Narellusā idea of false flag attacks, she prefers to wear her heart on her sleeve and states to her fellow warlocks before confronting Hydrownus alone when recruiting him (and later reiterates to Viracious about the topic of taking out his sister as a liability, which she proves) that she doesnāt make people do what she herself is not willing to do.
The hypocrisy would still make it meaningful like itās all Majikusā way of trying to make up for that crucial omission without actually confronting it; Again, projecting onto a buffer. So when she murders Spelaris right after this she reaffirms to herself what she shouldāve done a long time ago about being consistent, about facing stuff head-on or whatever.
But I guess it all boils down to what direction I want to go because both could work. Thereās the hypocrisy but also Majikus operating from such clueless privilege and how the latter is arguably more common and thus hard-hitting for a satire. Any thoughts?
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By the end of the day Majikus is autistic to me. She has a very rigid, black and white morality that makes her perceive things as righteous or not. And that unyielding energy also plays into her struggle to conceptualize her emotional response on a proportional level and so she gets nuclear about things.
And so when you loop that around to the whole incident between her and Spelaris and how the latter was raped by a peer, Majikusā empathy backfires because she thinks about how she would feel and what she would do and makes what Spelaris actually went through about Majikus herself. Sheās gonna feel real bad about hurting her niece Kita but in the end she blames Kita for making her feel this way.
And so it kind of is about empathy causing Majikus to subsume otherās emotions into herself and it plays into that flaw of claiming a solidarity, a commonality, that she actually doesnāt quite possess. Yes youāre also a girl like your sister but you were never actually sexually assaulted yourself so you kinda have to learn to sit down and listen to the actual victim here Maj. You can try to conceptualize about what other victims may need but in the end youāve forgotten to look at this from an individual perspective and last I checked, your sister wasnāt trying to pass judgment on anyone who wouldāve done differently than her.
Another thing I want to do with the Warlocks is having a moment where each one of them doubles down, they commit, and any second guesses they have are eliminated, which makes it hit way harder when it finally does fall apart at the end.
Majikus murders Spelaris, her own sister: In spite of what guilt and what meagre gestures she made to make up for what happened way back when, in the end she has not learned anything and is ignoring her sisterās wishes to make this about how she has been berated and let down. When her niece Kita attempts to stand up to her, she beats Kita within an inch of her life until Kita, terrified, relents and surrenders.
Iāve already explained Narellus and Hydrownus: Narellus was always Ride or Die for Majikus because sheās amoral and sheās looking for anything that will make her feel powerful and important and like sheās actually having an effect on the world. But when Majikus admits that she intentionally paired Narellus and Hydrownus together under the hopes that theyād vibe, and they finally haveā¦ Narellus has this awestruck moment of just how amazing Majikus is, that she devoted herself to this rando and was rewarded with this position, and now someone who understands, and sheās like. Iāll never doubt you again. Your brilliance is everything. Iād die for you. Iād kill for you!
Hydrownus is when he kills the last of Narellusā coworkers from when she was a maid. He sees that coworker has become a mother with her own little boy and when Narellus realizes what the comparison is and begins to do it for Hyd to spare him, he doubles down by slaughtering the mother and child for her to spare Narellus, and commit himself to this. The past is dead, this is his life now; Heās with the warlocks, heās with Narellus, and even before he regained his memories he chose this. Itās meant to be him having hope that he can move on and finally be productive and build for once, not be an inherent mistake.
Megarusā¦ Iām not entirely certain, but I kinda like to think itās like that bit from The Boys where The Deep kills his octopus girlfriend and spaces out overnight only to snap to it when receiving an unheard order from his megalomaniacal boss as he doubles down to doing whatever ruthless thing he must, thereās no turning back now! It might be a bit funny is what Iām saying. The point being in that Meg finally comes to terms, after doing something reprehensible for the warlocks, that this IS what he chose, that he cannot run away from it, that this is who he is and he just has to live with it now. Heās someone who ultimately does think of himself as a nice dude and is realizing he isnāt really that nice when heās a warlock at the same time.
Viracious is definitely going to be a lot more sobering. Iāve already mentioned that Majikus murders Spelaris, her sister: After stating before that sheād never make the others do something she herself would not, and reiterating this when Viracious suggests hypocrisy in Majikus presenting Thanasia as a potential liability to eliminateā¦ She really truly proves it when Spelaris admits she helped set up the barrier spell that cut off the warlocks from one another so the Monster Realmers and their allies could successfully divide and conquer the council during the attack on the mansion.
The warlocks initially prepare themselves to take on Spelaris when the truth is revealed, but Majikus reiterates her point, looking at Viracious especially, when she holds them aside and makes the move to face Spelaris on her own, and wins. Afterwards as she regroups with the warlocks, a spiritually crushed Viracious admits to Majikus that yeah, her will IS superior. When Thanasia confronts him separately and admits her visit was to set up the nodes for Spelarisā barrier spell, she more blatantly begs Vir to stop this; Letās run away, just the two of us together, like in the good old days! She appeals to his reactionary nature.
But a defeated Viracious canāt even meet her eyes as he admitsā¦ Sometimes, the best thing you can doā¦ is just look away and let it happen.
I realize I generally prefer to not spell things out if I can avoid it and let ideas be shown and not told. In this case, I really want to convey the idea that Viracious began to secretly regret turning in that reactionary terrorist group. I initially planned to do so with that shot of him just silently glancing down at some reminder of them; But maybe this is all thatās necessary.
Either way, Viracious is kicking himself. He realizes he had the perfect way to get the society he wanted, that his father wanted, without bloodying his own hands, and all he had to do was look the other way; In an even more ideal world, heād have never met them, never found out, and thus never been responsible nor liable for looking the other way.
The point being: Itās happening again. He is NOT repeating his mistake and doing this shit all over again, heās trying to change thingsā¦ Which is funny, given the warlocksā fates are about being cyclical. Though in Viraciousā case he actually breaks the cycle, or might not; I may or may not change things so he remains stagnant like the rest.
But yeah, in a way Viracious admires Majikus for this. He has his doubts he wonāt speak to her face (most of the time), heās a cocky snobby idiot. But in the end he craves a certain strength of will to do what needs to be done but canāt, so he tried to work around it by carving out a reactionary space where others outside of his society lived. And now hereās Majikus, who proves she has the will to do anything, even beat her own niece within an inch of her life and murder her if Kita hadnāt given up. Viracious needs someone like that because he canāt do the same.
That leaves Kisonus and Editaurus, whose moments I have yet to devise. Kisonus is meant to be a goofier evil so Iām not sure how necessary it is, while Edā¦ Iāll figure it out. It might be some variation of Screw the Haters but I fear thatās redundant with her backstory. But for now, we have what we have.
I swear Spelaris is such a stupid name. I needed a name for Majikusā sister and decided to do something that sorta fit the theming of the name so theyād feel like actual siblings from it. And I thought I liked Spelaris at first but now I am having second thoughts and at this rate it might be a placeholder.
The funny thing is that Majikus is also probably a very stupid name but Iām desensitized because I came up with it as a kid when I had more whimsy and so I got used to it. And by came up I mean I just took it from a Lego game named as such. Of course if Magik is a beloved X-Men character then maybe Majikusā name isnāt so bad but. S P E L A R I S
