Magna Mater

Finally, the angels.

Shimmer of Chaos has silver hair, green eyes, and feathery wings that are as soft as freshly-fallen snow. His hair would be as glorious as his wings if he cared for it properly. He didn’t know what trans people were during his childhood. “Tomboy” was the best word he had for himself. There’s a better word for what he is now: man. Not just any man, he’s a transgender, angelgender man!

“I’m butterflygender, honeybeegender, and hornetgender, too!”

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go with others.

African proverb.

His first family disrespected women and femininity so much that he suppressed all the feminine interests that he had because he hated being a woman so much, on top of being trapped in this type of family and his own body. He’s older and wiser now. If folks are going to call him a girl, he’s going to enjoy it. He wears the sparkliest nail polish and jewelry you’ve ever seen!

“I don’t care if it’s fake. Kid’s jewelry is more affordable, more durable, more colorful, and more sparkly! I’m glittergender, too!”

It has to be durable, you know why? He’ll start a fight with anybody.

“‘Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!’ Muhammad Ali!”

However, unlike Muhammad Ali, Shimmer’s terrible at picking his battles wisely! Peridot wants him to become what “angel of the battlefield” actually means: a healer.

Another thing Shimmer’s bad at is singing. This angel should not be heard on high…

Maybe what he needs is new teachers!

He cares for Peridot’s three Persian cats: a golden one named Goldilocks, a silver one named Silvilocks, and a bronze one named Bronzilocks. They purrfur to purrfurm pawcapella!

Shimmer grooms those cats better than he grooms himself.

“Well, of course I groom them! Most cats can groom themselves, but these cats need some backup! They have a lot of fur to groom!”

“Sometimes, accepting help is harder than offering it.”

Star Wars the Clone Wars Season 2, Episode 7: Legacy of Terror.

Wildstar is a Chocolate Tordi Burmese cat whose eyes became golden due to a powerful old man’s influence with them. They used to be blue. He has only has two tails right now because he hasn’t been here as long as his mom has, even though he was stronger than her in his last life. Maybe he’ll grow wings, too!

He’s Nkosana’s new best friend. They’re not literally twins, they’re twin souls. They’re a little too perfect for each other, but maybe that’s exactly what they need. Neither of them were able to heal from losing their mothers. They both grew up to murder everybody, including children and their girlfriends. Wildstar died without even knowing he had a daughter. His kids and his girlfriend will be just fine, we’re focusing on him and Nkosana. Both of them were assigned a Balhamarth (cruel fate), I’m giving them an Arnamarth (royal fate) with Magna Mater.

He doesn’t have to do warfare things anymore, he can build all the robots, ships, and whatever else he likes. If he wants to fight something, he can fight Shimmer instead.

“Wow! There’s finally a guy who’s even more hotheaded and warfare-crazed than me!”

Between the two of them, Wildstar is the strategist… That means they’re freakin’ doomed if Nkosana goes down.

“Hey! I know things! Ori’haat!” (It’s the truth, I swear—no bull) Mando’a term.

All three of these angels are going to be terrible influences on each other.

“A wise leader knows when to follow.”

Star Wars the Clone Wars Season 2, Episode 16: Cat and Mouse.

Nkosana (isiXhosa: Prince). He’s a tall, proud man who most often has his hair in medium dreads and a fade. He also likes putting them up in a bun. His facial hair clings close to his face and extends to his side burns. He also has a cool-looking ‘stache too―unconnected to the rest of his facial hair. It brackets his upper lips.

He’ll swagger on in anywhere, including up to Christian God the Father in order to say, “What do you mean my mom’s not here!? I know she’s not in Hell! She better fuckin’ not be! Or I’m killing you, your son, and as many angels as it takes to get her out of there! She prayed every day, she went to church every time the doors were opened, she cooked potluck for the entire neighborhood! No way in hell she’s not good enough for you!”

Christian God the Father explained that the reason she wasn’t in Heaven is because, yes, she was more than good enough for him. But she’s also more than good enough for me! I offered her a job being one of my angels, and I’m offering it to Nkosana too! I know what it’s like to have your childhood squandered away by your parents’ terrible decisions.

“He wants me and my mom to be angels? Awww, that’s really sweet! I’ll take it! What do I need to know?”

Christian God the Father’s angels gave him a crash course on nonbinary power, transgender power, and intersex power. He may have already known this from his travels, but we’re just making sure he knows how properly respect Shimmer, Peridot, and Magna Mater. “Cut down on the small dick jokes when daddy’s around, got it!” Shimmer loves those jokes, Peridot does not. He doesn’t appreciate puerile humor as it is; that branch of puerile humor adds insult to injury [1] [2]. And as for Magna Mater, well! She’s a goddess. Jest at your peril.

Nkosana was very physically well-traveled in his last life, whereas I’m very sheltered. The best I can do is watch movies about other places, and listen to what marginalized people on social media have to say about their lives [1] [2]. I’m doing my best for him and his mom, but at the end of the day, I’m white, and so are the other angels. That’s going to affect their interactions whether anybody likes it or not [1] [2].

“I don’t care how white it is. My mama’s there, that’s where I’m going, too! We’ll complain about how white it is together, as a family! Mama’s the only lion queen I need [1] [2]! Besides, Christian heaven’s pretty white too, if you think about it. At least here, we’ll stand out.”

Another thing we can offer him is this: Wildfire and Wildstar are real in Redania. “What!?” Yep! They’re real! And Wildstar can teach him how to fight with an aurora sword! “I grew up watching those movies any chance I could!” He prefers the prequels, though. One of the villains in the original trilogy has the same voice as the man who killed his father. That soured those three for him.

Christian God the Father also warned him that his girlfriend said they’re through.

“Yeah… I understand why…”

Nkosana’s dad actually was a prince, but he was so obsessed with freeing slaves that he didn’t guide anybody in his family home. While freeing slaves is a noble goal, he should’ve had a plan in place in case he died. He knew what could’ve happened to a Black widow and a fatherless Black boy. If Thranduil did the same thing to Legolas, Oropher would be absolutely furious! This is why I gave him the name Nkosana. Only Elvish names have power in Middle-Earth, but all languages have power in Redania! I want him to have the power to be a prince, a power his father never gave him…

He goes by Amandi (Igbo, trust no one, one who doesn’t trust easily) when he’s undercover, because that’s what he became due to his father’s terrible sense of priorities. His mom died wrongfully imprisoned, and Nkosana chose to die at sea, like his ancestors who were enslaved rather than joining the kingdom he had every right to join.

Nkosana never considered that village his home, and nobody in that village was able to convince him to stay. Why would he trust the royal family after what his uncle and his bestie did to his dad? And thus, he burned down that village.

A child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.

African proverb.

Nkosana and Ndiliswa deserve a better home than that shabby apartment! Let’s give them the coolest home ever: Gratitude!

“Mama, why are you cooking? The tech can make food for us.”

She knows that, she just likes having things to do. One thing she missed during her time in prison was making potluck for her neighbors. And plus, all the food-making tech was programmed by white people. She has higher standards than that! She lets the food-making tech make the ingredients―until she gets a garden going. She’s got plans for this place. There’s barely any color here at all! White isn’t just a color of purity, it’s every single color. That being said, Gratitude needs some more colors than white, gold, and silver. Gratitude needs to stop operating on survival mode and start operating on sur-thrival mode!

While Nkosana’s done being a war dog like his father, he’s noticed that Shimmer collapses once any battle between him and his father hits the three-minute mark. He’s conferred with Wildstar, he’s noticed too. Nkosana’s gonna get to the bottom of this. Maybe Shimmer doesn’t need to surrender, maybe he just needs some backup!

“If Peridot gets to cheat, so do we!”

Wildstar’s in!

Unlike Shimmer and Wildstar, Nkosana actually is a spymaster, and can butter up folks who like that kind of thing. That’s another reason we kept those two boys in Gratitude, they need someone who can cover for their terrible social graces. As previously stated, they’re all going to be terrible influences on each other. However, they understand the power of cooperation.

“Who my father was matters less than my memory of him.”

Star Wars the Clone Wars Season 2, Episode 20: Death Trap.

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