#(albeit maybe not the specific depictions of them)

[primoresplendens]

So I was in the Gardevoir "fandom" during my HS years, f!Gardevoir my best girl, m!Gardevoir were mostly aroace(self-projection) but also my oppa, Gallade were the domestic Ken for f!Gardevoir (my actual favorite characterization of one, and my main OC was like that)

So you can tell how well THAT went already 🫠 (AMAB Gardevoir are still my oppa, gender neutral tho)

I could go on lengths ofc about the dudebro selfships and their lowkey appropriation of furry discrimination while doing so, but that's not what this is about

That shit I can pass over as pathetic. What still gets me came from the non-dudebro side of the fandom, and that was the rampant trophy-wifeing of f!Gardevoir

I could understand OTP mindsets, and the monogamy mindsets they come with. I could understand the "pokemon species as a character" mindsets. I TOTALLY LOVED AND COULD GET BEHIND MANY OF YOUR SHIPS THEMSELVES. What I resented in the end was all of them when combined though. And how it looked like I was the only one who cared about the girl character's side of things, for the girl character's own sake and merit, and tbh I could not care less if she was paired up with whichever one of your masc pokemon species of choice, or with all of them at once, as long as she was handled as the center of them, and with some actual "this is about HER" mindsets... but I felt like the only one feeling that way until the day I finally bailed 🫠

I hope it got better since then. I sincerely do.

[androdetective]

As a poc, I have a complicated relationship to vbros. On one hand, the world is really immersive and the characters can be really great, on the other hand it is a very white show and has a racism problem. Many of the white characters have done racist things when characters have gotten punished or killed for less. There's also barely any side characters of color. And even then, many jokes get made at them regarding their races, because they're not seen as the norm. Also because it's an adult swim show made by white guys.

Off the top of my head, there are 4 side characters of color (Orpheus, Jefferson, Kano, and Dr Z). If we want to be generous, we could include Al. Maybe even Triana with her being biracial, albeit entirely passing as white. Even with those characters, Orpheus became whitewashed over the years.

However, ironically enough, he's the best written character of color. He's a very nice, multifaceted character. He's even become a fan favorite. He's also had no racist comments made towards him in the show. Which was a pleasant surprise. Especially since he lived on the compound with Rusty of all people. As happy as I am with that, it feels off because why did they spare only him but not others? I'm not sure if his race was ever figured out as the writers. It never got brought up, unlike other characters. I won't lie, that gives me a feeling they didn't write him as a brown man in mind. If they did write him with that in mind, he probably would've been written worse. It feels like they could only relate to him and made his character good by thinking he's white like them. Hell, they even projected their weird breakup feelings onto him.

With Jefferson, his character is a mixed bag. He's a cool character and very capable. He's a solid character, all things considered. It's just that he gets racist jokes thrown his way. And just, the show has one black side character, and they can't even act right. Why is racism, the hatred and otherness of one's entire existence, so funny. I noticed that each episode except one that he was in had at least one antiblack joke. That's an insane ratio. The worst joke was in the Halloween episode, where he was at the party. They specifically made his character open the door to a side character, red mantle, doing blackface. It was to make a shitty reference to some niche movie and just oh my god, can you stop being shitty white nerds for a second? People who think shit like this is funny makes me want to project years of racial trauma into their brains so that they could finally Get It. Again, this is the best black character they have, but they to make him go through cheap antiblack jokes.

At least with Kano and Dr Z their skin tones stopped being yellow. The other times we see characters of color are when they're background characters. They're either there to make a scene feel full or they're labor workers. The worst is when they were what I'd describe as background antagonists. One-off antagonists that aren't really villain villains. Moreso regular criminals. These tend to be depicted as black and latino. This was more common in early seasons and stopped happening over time. Which obviously great albeit bare fucking minimum, still doesn't change that it happened.

For a world that critiques the old mentalities from previous generations and even specifically denounces generational toxic masculinity. They don't say shit about the blatant racism of the Johnny Quest times they parody. And the times they try to, it's just showing racism and doing nothing about it. Princess Tinyfeet is the worst example of this. She's a blatant racial stereotype. Who for whatever reason, used to be married to Sgt Hatred, an American soldier. And Sgt Hatred is a whole can of worms.

With Dr Z who was apart of the Quest era, at least they tried to give him a character. The thing I will say is that he's voiced by a white guy (Publick) doing a stereotypical vaguely Eastern Asian accent. Something I wished when watching the show was for Dr Z to mention the old racist era he lived through, and maybe even how the present is still rough. The toxic masculinity of the era got mentioned, so why not that too. It would've been so obvious too.

I won't lie, a part of me is glad they didn't try to handle the racism because it would've been a horrible train wreck. I can get why they didn't delve too into it, they're white after all. I just wish there were more poc in the team and sensitivity writers because they were desperately needed. But for a show that can't even handle white women, I'm not surprised they can't handle people of color. For a show whose best thing they were able to tackle was toxic masculinity, I find it ironic how misogynistic they still were. Like quick, why were the side effects of misogyny that affect you 🫵 handled the best.

The thing is, if they did try to critique the racism, they'd alienate the audience, and it'd also be strangely hypocritical of them. Venture Bros'/Adult Swim's main audience is white cishet men. The ones least affected by bigotry. They're able to laugh at bigoted jokes, and they're the most marketable people. White guys will appeal to other white guys. In the early 2000s, white creators were able to get away with much more. Not because it was alright but because it was easier for them to shut down minorities calling them out. Despite how "normal" it was, that doesn't change how that fed into a very toxic, bigoted culture. Despite today still being hellish for minorities, it was even worse just a couple of years ago.

Venture Bros obviously did not invent racism/bigotry. The show is very much a product of their time and environment. And whenever I think about that, it feels draining. Especially having had to live through the 2000s. The show can be amazing when it wants to be. There's so much potential and a lot of charm and character. I really enjoy it, and that's why I'm so critical of it. Not only because I want it to be better but because I want something better for fans of color. We barely get anything, and the least we should get are characters that look like us and are respected. Just like their white counterparts. It's like, how am I supposed to feel when Sgt Hatred gets redeemed and made a main character before we got a character of color that didn't face racist jokes/got whitewashed. Or even before we got a female character whose existence didn't hinge on their relationship to a man. Obviously, the show doesn't hate people of color. They've tried to better over time, which again great. But it barely felt like they respected poc enough.

With the movie, despite its own problems (not helped by Adult Swim screwing them over), you could tell they were trying. And it was really appreciated. Jefferson had a big spotlight, and there weren't jokes against him. We even got to know a bit more about him. It was genuinely his best. Ignoring Orpheus still looking like he's in a perpetual state of winter, that aspect of the movie was alright.

I'm very glad to see fans who are critical of these aspects. It makes me more happy seeing them vouch for poc. However, there's still a large majority that ignores or even excuses the racism. Unsurprisingly, these tend to be the white dude bro fans. But I've seen even the more liberal fans excuse/ignore stuff. The fanbase is very white, just like a lot of other fanbases. I can get why a supportive white person feels they wouldn't be best to call out the show's shit. I just wish they'd mention it more with a simple "oh there's xyz in this episode and it wasn't alright." Something as simple as that carries a lot of power in very white environments. Also, of course, uplift other fans of color, especially when they talk about or face racism. Things as simple as that make me breathe sighs of relief. It personally encourages me to interact with communities more.

I'm unsure of how to close this off. This feels like a topic you could talk about all day. All I wish is for things to be better, you know? Hopefully this all makes sense. I just wrote shit off the top of my head. I'd love to hear thoughts expanding or adding on to stuff. Really hope this reaches the right people

[demilypyro]

There's a thought/theory/whatever I've long had about a specific pair of episodes from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ever since I was a teen, and I'm putting this post out there to see if anybody else had the same thought.

I think Julian Bashir from Deep Space Nine, especially his plotline about having been genetically altered at a young age, is a commentary on neurodivergency.

Bashir is characterized as being highly intelligent, albeit lacking in social insight. He excels in academic matters but frequently finds himself floundering around women, being led by the nose by more charismatic people, and not picking up what other people are putting down. This alone would make him the average stereotypical TV depiction of an autistic person, but what I want to focus on is the episode that provides a canonical reason for these traits: the season 5 episode Doctor Bashir, I Presume.

In this episode it's revealed, or retconned really, that Bashir owes his intelligence to genetic tempering. Bashir originally suffered from a learning disability. He was not as intelligent as other children his age, falling far behind his peers, and his parents resorted to illegally altering his genes to "cure" that disability. As a result he instead became exceedingly intelligent. In essence, it took away a symptom that made his life more difficult, and traded it for one that made him more functional.

That episode on its own isn't a super strong nod towards autism. Though it does establish that Bashir is at least neurodivergent, it's more a discussion on eugenics and the theoretical ethics of removing disabilities through genetics. What I really want to focus on is the sort-of-sequel to this episode, and the only other episode that really focuses on these themes: the season 6 episode "Statistical Probabilities." In this episode, Bashir sets out to help other people who underwent genetic alteration, but for whom the treatments didn't go as well. The people he meets all display symptoms of one neurodivergency or another. One of them is very hyperactive and lacks empathy, another is very childlike despite being an old man, and another is entirely unresponsive.

For me, as someone who grew up in special education, I couldn't help but recognize some of the people I knew. To me, the metaphor was clear: "genetic alteration" was really just sci-fi talk for neurodivergency. Julian was the savant, the high-functioning autistic person who successfully integrated into society, because his neurodivergency gave him intelligence and insight that made him useful. And the others weren't as lucky, struggling to lead normal lives because their symptoms impeded their ability to function by themselves.

Bashir spends the episode trying to prove that the other genetically altered people have something to offer society, that there is a place for them. It felt very on the nose to me. But no one I've seen talk about this pair of episodes ever seemed to have taken from them what I took from them. I can't find anyone else online who interpreted the episodes the same way. Maybe my perspective is very particular, as someone who spent so much time in special education growing up, and who has personally struggled with finding a place where I can offer something to others. But idk. Am I seeing allegories that aren't there? What do yall think?

[genericpuff]

Oooh, I love that you're actually using Withy (and maybe Krokos as well?), so I can't wait to see where this storyline goes! Ngl though—and this is a problem I have with Rachel as well, I know Withy comes from there—but I kinda wish you had taken the opportunity to use a more Grecian name instead. Withy is another word for willow stem, so something like Helike or Itea could've fit very well.

Funnily enough, a Helike actually is associated with the abduction of Persephone, albeit according to the Roman Ovid in his Fasti, though in this case. If I remember correctly, she'd originally been a nymph (specifically one of Zeus's nurses) and eventually became Ursa Major as a reward, according to Aratus' Phaenomena.

Two Bears wheel together—wherefore they are also called the Wains. Now they ever hold their heads each toward the flank of the other, and are borne along always shoulder-wise, turned alternate on their shoulders. If, indeed, the tale be true, from Krete (Crete) they by the will of mighty Zeus entered up into heaven, for that when in olden days he played as a child in fragrant Dikton (Mount Dicte), near the hill of Ida, they set him in a cave and nurtured him for the space of a year, what time the Diktaioi Kouretes (Dictaean Curetes) were deceiving Kronos (Cronus). Now the one men call by name Kynosoura (Cynosura) and the other Helike (Helice)

"You Arcadian stars (since you can see all things, Never plunging beneath the watery wastes) Show this wretched mother, her daughter, Proserpine!"

She spoke, and Helice answered her in this way: "Night’s free of blame: Ask the Light about your Stolen daughter: the Sun views, widely, things done by day."

Sorry for the weird ask, I just found it's a bit of a pet peeve of mine when names aren't consistent with a certain culture. Again, I have this problem with Rachel too and even some retellings I really like, so nothing against you personally.

Anyway, I really like that you made her be associated with music! The painter Polygnotos depicted Orpheus as having brought willow with him when he went to the underworld, and if I recall correctly, willow is a common plant to be associated with poets. He also encounters a willow nymph in the Argonautica, while Homer tells us in The Odyssey that willows (and black poplars) are sacred to Persephone.

Orpheus sobbed as he prayed. But the Nymphai were still at hand, and they took pity on the suffering men. They wrought a miracle. First, grass sprung up from the ground, then long shoots appeared above the grass, and in a moment three saplings, tall, straight and in full leaf, were growing there. Hespere (Hespera) became a poplar; Erytheis an elm; Aigle (Aegle) a sacred willow. Yet they were still themselves; the trees could not conceal their former shapes--that was the greatest wonder of all. And now the Argonauts heard Aigle in her gentle voice tell them what they wished to know.

When you have crossed the stream of Ocean, you will reach the shore, where willows let fall their dying fruit, and towering poplars grow in the forest of Persephone.

So yeah, the fact that Persephone—future Queen of the Underworld—encounters a nymph essentially named Willow twice, first while said nymph is playing music and now in the underworld, is a really neat reference, intentional or not lol!

Not a weird ask at all, that was actually one of the few things from LO that I kept that I still kinda go (ノωヽ) on as well haha Although my biggest worry wasn't so much Withy, but Krokos, because in the original myths Crocus/Krokos was a man (and supposedly one of Hermes' lovers though the sources on that are a bit muddier) who had nothing to really do with Persephone.

The inclusion of Krokos and Withy is definitely one of those times I've ultimately decided to keep an element from LO despite it being out-of-place. Some things I changed for the sake of correcting the course Rachel put LO on, other things I kept in spite of the inaccuracies for the sake of storytelling, Krokos and Withy being one of those inaccuracies. The Act of Wrath plotline was one of my favorites from the LO storyline so when Krokos and Withy got swept under the rug, I wanted to use Rekindled to give them an actual spotlight and role in Persephone's story as unique characters, especially for readers and critics of the comic such as myself who wanted to see more done with them. I thought of changing their names at one time, but I felt like it would stray too far from the goal of redrawing/rewriting LO in doing so. So that's one of those "bear with me" things while I work with LO's ingredients (a challenge I'm fully open to taking on LOL) while also trying to respect the original myths.

What I will say without spoiling is that the Withy Persephone saw in the opening parts of the comic and the Withy she's seeing now are one and the same ;) So have fun with that fridge horror thought (•̀⌄•́)

[helenadurazzo]

Searching the Records

Here is another story dedicated to the family of my HPMA MC, Genna Raleigh. This time it is told from the perspective of Glenna Golding and takes place right before she runs into MC outside Honeydukes.

Glenna sat in her chair by the fire place as she read through the final pages of her book. A muggle detective book she had found during her last visit to London and one she did not have in her collection. It was just as thrilling of a read as she had hoped as she closed the book with satisfaction. She would have to remember that author for future reference, for she certainly enjoyed the style of writing and story of the novel that kept her on the edge of her seat.

“You seemed quite entranced with that novel Mum.” Glenna’s son, Nyle, chuckled as he handed her the daily prophet, “Figured you might want to give this a read as well.”

“Thank you.” Glenna smiled as she took the newspaper from Nyle, “Would you like to stay down here.”

“I would but I need to work on another puppet upstairs.” Nyle apologized, “Maybe another time.” And then proceeded to make his way up the stairs

Glenna shrugged it off with a smile, after all, her son was quite invested with developing his puppetry skill and she was not about to stop him. She opened up the daily prophet and glanced over the headlines. For the most part, there were just your typical headlines and events happening at the ministry. However, as she continued flipping through the paper, she discovered another section, one dedicated to giving the names of the students who were representing Hogwarts for the Intercontinental Wizards Cup.

She had heard of it briefly back when it was first announced and noted how it seemed quite similar to the retired Triwizards Cup, albeit with much more safety precautions put in place so more students could participate without worrying about their lives being endangered as much. The report was divided into three seconds, the first was for the group of second and third years representing Hogwarts at Ilvermorny, the second was the fourth and fifth years representing Hogwarts at their own school, and the third were the sixth and seventh years representing Hogwarts at Mahoutokoro. Glenna had initially intended to skim over the section since she did not assume she would know anyone who was representing the school. Yet while she did not recognize anyone per se, there was one students portrait who her blue eyes lingered on for a considerable amount of time.

It was the picture of a fair skinned, strawberry-blonde and green eyed girl dressed in Gryffindor robes with an energetic and friendly smile on her face. The caption informed that her name was Genevieve Raleigh and that she was a fourth year. While Glenna did not recognize the name or even the girl’s appearance, it was who the girl looked like that left her perplexed.

She placed the daily prophet with the specific page still facing up at her and then grabbed a collection of family pictures that were stored in one of many albums at the Golding House. It held many pictures of the Merriweather family, including ones that depicted them in their Hogwarts days. She stopped gently yet quickly flipping through the pages upon coming across of an old picture of her father in his Gryffindor robes, likely around the same age as this curious girl in the Daily Prophet. Her suspicions were correct as she took note of the similarities between her father and this Hogwarts students. The two had very similar face shapes and the same shade of green eyes. They also both had hair of similar colors although her father’s was more reddish auburn like Glenna’s own rather than strawberry blonde. There were too many physical similarities for it to be a coincidence.

“What are you plotting now?” The voice of her ghostly ancestor, Morven Merriweather, sounded through the lower level of the house as he floated through the wall.

“Morven.” Glenna called him over as she motioned to the photographs, “Don’t you think this Hogwarts student looks remarkably like my father?”

Morven floated over to her with an unimpressed look on his face as he examined the photographs, “I suppose, but it’s foolish to make such a comparison. It is likely just the way that photograph is taken.”

“But don’t you see.” Glenna insisted, “What if this girl is related to-“

“Nonsense.” Morven shook his head, “It is too far of a reach.” Before he muttered something to himself and floated off onto another area of the house leaving Glenna alone once again.

She tried not to mind Morven too much, he did have a habit of having a bad memory or disinterest in such things. She often wondered if he was fond of her son or not since he often contradicted himself. Perhaps he had a point, after all, the girl could have very likely not been a Merriweather descendant. Yet there was something about her that Glenna remained curious by. She may have been young when her sister left, but Glenna remembered her kind green eyes, and could have sworn that this girl had the same ones. Hungry for answers, she quickly deduced that there was one place where she could certainly get an answer.

Glenna carefully folded up the daily prophet and slipped out a picture of her father in his schooldays and put in carefully in the pocket of her robe just in case. She was never the best with apparating but it was certainly the quickest way to get to the Ministry of Magic. Glenna did not feel like going to a fire place connecting to the Floo Network and using that, she reminded herself to connect her own home’s fire place to the network at some point as it could certainly help with transportation. Glenna was skilled enough with apparation to avoid splinching but not so much in coming into an area without knocking someone over.

As she got up off the floor, she looked over at the person she had knocked over in her Apparation. Luckily for her it was the exact person she had hoped to find. Ophelia Pritchard was her close friend from her Hogwarts days and an alumni of Hufflepuff House. Similar to Glenna, following Hogwarts she decided to pursue a career in the Ministry of Magic. While Glenna selected one in the Muggle Worthy Excuse Committee, her friend chose to pursue a career in records.

“You have got to watch where you are going Glenna.” Ophelia lightheartedly scolded her as she stood up.

“Sorry.” Glenna awkwardly apologized, “My Apparation has gotten a bit rusty it seems.”

“What brings you here?” Ophelia wondered, “It’s been a while since you visited the Ministry.”

“I need a favor.” Glenna got to the point rather than deciding to stall as she pulled out the Daily Prophet, pointing to the student she was intrigued by, “I was wondering if you might be able to look up this student in the records.”

“Why do you need that? Do you know her?” Ophelia raised an eyebrow with suspicion.

“Not exactly.” Glenna admitted, “It’s just, I think she might be related to my sister.” She then pulled out the picture of her father in her schooldays, “This is my father when he was younger, don’t you see the similarities?”

“Now that you mention it…” Ophelia was luckily seeming to be convinced, “She actually also looks like you when you were younger, if you had green eyes.”

“So can you help me?” Glenna asked again.

“Well it should be pretty quick to figure out if she is a relative of yours or not.” Ophelia concluded. “If she is a muggle born witch, or if one of her parents is a muggle in general, then there is a chance. Come with me.”

“Thank you.” Glenna expressed her gratitude as she followed Ophelia through the ministry and to the records room.

Glenna had only been in the records room a few times, usually whenever she came by to visit Ophelia and some of the other friends who worked there that she knew just from working in the ministry for years before she took her leave of absence that she had never chosen to return from. The records room gave the feel of a library with the amount of shelves and cabinets that were used to store everything from birth records to past editions of the daily prophet, albeit in different sections, but still, it was quite the expansive space with loads of information of the past.

“Luckily this girl shouldn’t be too hard to find since we know that she is a fourth year and her name.” Ophelia explained once more as Glenna took a seat at a nearby table while her friend used her wand to sort through some files and find what she desired. “She would have had to have been born somewhere between 1996 and 1997 to be that age so that narrows down the search.” She added as she looked at the correct year range and slowly looked at each name, “Hopefully it has not gotten misplaced. Many records of muggleborn births had to be hidden in the latter years of the second wizarding war, a way to protect the most innocent who would not even have a wand to protect themselves.”

Glenna’s eyes widened, she had heard many horrific stories from the war both during it and after it. Yet she still seemed to learn more gruesome facts as the years went on, “So the death eaters and snatchers were planning to go after muggle born children who were not even of age for Hogwarts?”

“It was a fear, yes.” Ophelia nodded as she smiled, finding the right file at last, “Here we go.” Ophelia pulled out a file that matched the name of the Hogwarts student and brought it over to table Glenna was sitting at and took a seat next to her. She opened it up so both could see it but read it out regardless, “Genevieve Grace Raleigh, born on October 8th 1996 to Andrew and Eleanor Raleigh.”

“That’s it?” Glenna concluded after a period of silence. “That’s all you have here? Surely there is something else about her family further than her parentage?”

“Muggleborns are typically recorded this way due to their lack of magical heritage. It would be a waste of parchment to include every family member until you hit a magical one I’m afraid so there is no family tree to reference.” Ophelia enlightened her, “But I wouldn’t say this is the end of the path. You know full well we keep more than just birth records of magical individuals here, we also keep any records of when the ministry sent in obliviators to obliviate muggles. If we are lucky, we might be able to find more about this girl that way if either of her parents were obliviated, especially in a massive event.” Ophelia explained as she headed back towards the collection looking back again at that big guidebook but quickly shook her head, “Looks like we have nothing about an Andrew Raleigh in our collection.”

“And her mother?” Glenna wondered.

“Well, I don’t see anything about an Eleanor Raleigh here either.” Ophelia revealed, “However, if she was obliviated at any point before she was married, it would be under whatever her maiden name was.”

“So you have to look at every first name?” Glenna concluded.

“It’ll be time consuming, but I won’t know for sure if there is anything until I try.” Ophelia expressed her goals, “I better get started.”

Glenna wouldn’t have imagined how many Eleanors were in the numerous records. Sure, they went back quite a while and Eleanor was far from a rare name but it still astounded her. The amount of material in the Records section of the ministry was truly remarkable and it would certainly take an eon to get all the way through. Or at least for Glenna since she would be so fascinated by the various connections as if she was the one solving a mystery, perhaps she was in this case.

“Here’s an intriguing one that might solve your queries.” Ophelia pulled out a few files, one of which was labeled as Eleanor Murdock, and returned to her seat next to Glenna as she opened it, “Eleanor Hermia Murdock, aged eight, obliviated after the Hebriddean Black Dragon Accident of 1979.”

“I remember that.” Glenna realized as she recalled her earlier days working at the Muggle Worthy Excuse Committee, “A different, more experienced, member was assigned to figuring out a proper excuse but it was the talk of the whole committee when it happened.”

“My father worked in the Improper Use of Magic Office and back then I remember him talking about the harsh words Martin MacFusty had received after the incident.” Ophelia added her own story and explanation, “That rouge dragon killed two children, Martin’s own son, and a muggle girl, Eleanor’s own sister most likely given that the surnames match. And since it was such a big event, Eleanor was far from the only one who had memories altered by obliviators sent by the ministry.” Ophelia explained further as she placed another piece of parchment on top of the last, a list of names. “And right there.” She pointed with a quill, “Is Nolan and Bridget Murdock, the girl’s parents by the looks of it.”

“That’s got to be her then.” Glenna’s eyes widened at a true lead to her sister and where she went off to after leaving Hogsmeade. The closest before she ever gotten was a rumor that her sister would be returning for the funeral of Hermia Kautz. Yet now that Glenna thought about it, there was quite a close coinciding with the dates of when she would have passed and the Hebridean Black Dragon incident. “Thank you so much for doing this.”

“Not a problem at all, happy to help out.” Ophelia smiled at Glenna as she neatly put the files back where they belonged. Simultaneously, Glenna beamed with hope as she stood up and made her exit out of the room.

~~

Glenna sat at the writing desk in her home and dipped her quill in an ink pot as she worked on writing up a letter, trying to formulate sentences in her head. Trying to figure out if she was being too hesitant in her claims or not. The house had been quiet, with Morven already heading off on his daily stroll rather early and Nyle being up in his room working on his puppets since breakfast ended. It didn’t mind her though, the less distractions there were, the better she could right such an important letter. And as she finished right the last sentence, she recited it silently in her head.

Dear Genevieve Raleigh

I know you do not know me now but I believe I am your great aunt. Your maternal grandmother, Bridget, was my older sister. I live in Hogsmeade not far from the Three Broomsticks if you wish to visit or discuss things further. I do not know the full story myself, but perhaps we could learn together. I hope to get a chance to meet you soon.

Sincerely,

Glenna Golding

p.s. I read the report about you representing Hogwarts in the recent tournament, congratulations for receiving such an honor.

Perhaps a relatively short and sweet letter was the way to go, Glenna decided as she carefully placed it in an envelope once the ink dried. Then she properly addressed it and used sealing wax to carefully close it.

Glenna held the letter with care as she stood up. Her light blue eyes traveled over to under the dinning room table where Marlowe was playing with a ball of yarn. She smiled at the sight, “Marlowe? How would you feel like a walk to the Post Office? If you behave I could get you some treats.” An offer to which her kneazle purred positively to as she walked over to her. Glenna chuckled, “All right now, come on, and try your best to behave yourself.”

And so she made haste to the Hogsmeade post office, eager to send off her letter with the first owl she saw. This was it, this one letter was going to be her chance, her and her sister could perhaps, just perhaps, be a family again. It was an opportunity that had alluded her for years. Yet she pondered on if the muggle born girl knew of her magical heritage or not. Glenna didn’t see a reason to why her sister wouldn’t eventually open up, maybe not if the girl was a first year but she was a fourth year, so it had been years to let the news settle in.

She tried to soothe her mind by taking a deep breath and taking in the atmosphere that Hogsmeade took on even more so during the holidays. Glenna may have not gone to many places, but she could confidently claim that Hogsmeade had to be one of the most magical places to be during the holiday season, with the snow on the roofs and the twinkling lights. Although as much as she enjoyed the snow, Glenna did appreciate that it was a minimal amount that had not made the roads and paths icy.

“Hello Clarence.” Glenna greeted the postmaster outside of the post office. The man with sandy blonde hair was dressed in multiple layers of warm clothing, and a brown and beige scarf that covered his mouth and neck. His typical postmaster hat of similar coloring to his coats and other layers, added to the look.

“Uh yes hello.” Clarence awkwardly replied, “Do you need something Glenna?”

“I have a letter to be sent to Hogwarts.” Glenna handed over the envelope.

“Alright.” Clarence took it without further explanation, it was probably a destination he heard often considering many people in the village had kids or other relatives who attended the neighboring magic school. “I can send it off with today’s batch of letters.”

“That’s wonderful.” Glenna beamed as she looked at the owls resting on perches outside, ready to be sent off with letters, “How have the owls been?”

Clarence’s glassy eyes widened with surprise, “Well uh they have been-“

Somewhere during his words, she wasn’t exactly sure when, Glenna happened to glance down at the ground below her and noticed that Marlowe was no longer around her. Typically Marlowe always rested by her or walked within a reasonable distance, but neither was the case. To her somewhat relief though, she did quickly spot her black and white kneazle nearby, noticing him outside of Honeydukes, interacting with a girl with strawberry blonde hair.

“I’m sorry Clarence maybe another time.” Glenna quickly excused herself before hurrying off towards where Marlowe was. As she tried to rehearse an apology in her head. She certainly needed to get that kneazle under control these days and prevent him from wandering like this.

“Marlowe!” Glenna called to him as she hurried along across the square, “Come back here Marlowe! Bad Kneazle!” She took a second upon reaching him finally to catch her break from her sudden movements, “I thought we agreed no more mischief in public.” She scolded him while looking down at him as he purred innocently to which Glenna playfully shook her head to. Glenna soon enough raised her eyes and got a closer look at the girl, likely a student from Hogwarts given her age despite not wearing her school robes but instead much more casual winter clothing. “I’m terribly sorry.” She swiftly apologized to the strawberry blonde girl. “Did Marlowe frighten you?”

“Not at all.” The girl responded to Glenna’s relief and she seemed rather gleeful than startled. “Don’t worry about it. I do appreciate lively and energetic creatures, always adds a bit of fun into life.” She finished off with a small laugh.

Glenna looked closer at the girl in silence. She wondered why she looked familiar before but now, looking closer at her green eyes, she figured it out. It was the same girl from the daily prophet, it had to be. She could certainly buy this girl being a fourth year at Hogwarts given her height. And she did note a variety of Merriweather traits that she noticed in the picture that now translated to this girl.

“Are you alright?” The girl’s voice sounded with concern.

Glenna awkwardly looked at the girl again, trying to prevent her staring, perhaps she was silent for longer than she intended. “Y-yes sorry.” She stuttered out quickly to not promote suspicion, reminding herself that she was still a stranger to this girl. “It’s just… I couldn’t help but notice… are you Genevieve Raleigh?”

[luckycheesefoodie321]

SANJI’S MAGICAL GIRL TRANSFORMATION WAS EVERYTHING

I AM THRIVING I AM DYING THE RAID SUIT. THE RAID SUITTTT

Franky and Usopp is me fr

BUT OK CAN WE COMPARE SANJI’S RAID SUIT TO BOTH THE OTHER VINSMOKES AND THE COMIC DEPICTIONS OF GERMA 66???

Like I’ve said it in a post before. This raid suit is a suit made specifically for Sanji. Specifically for ADULT Sanji.

All the other Vinsmokes have their key colours as the dominant colour in their raid suit. Except for that bitch Judge who wears orange and grey which is drastically different from how he is portrayed in the comics. But Ichiji has red hair and a red suit and a red comic character. Same with Niji and blue, Yonji and green and Reiju and pink.

BUT HERE WE HAVE SANJI IN AN ALL BLACK SUIT (which never forget is his OG look from East Blue) with touches of yellow and red.

Like you can suggest that this raid suit is just a prototype they had lying around that they had been planning to give to Sanji before he escaped as a child. Or you could argue it’s an extra they had prepared and just put a number 3 on it.

And given how each of the Vinsmoke kids have a number, maybe whoever made the comics naturally inserted a number 3 character to make it make sense. So yeah there’s a yellow one so this raid suit need need not have been yellow bc the character was called “Stealth Black” despite how it’s depicted in the comics bc no one was ever going to WEAR this suit.

But it’s been how many years since Sanji escaped???

Why would they, as teenagers/adults/an organisation ever give the World Government the impression there was another one of them? On their capes they have their numbers but like. Why? Yes it would be weird to them if YONji suddenly had a 3 but then why bother numbering yourselves at all?? Like why bother showing to the world that you are a numbered super force?? Why leave that gap?? Yes amongst the Vinsmoke family you are aware there is a third son but you don’t need to let the world know that???

Why would Stealth Black ever need to be created?

Why would they casually have an extra raid suit lying around that ISNT coloured according to their respective themes? And if it were a suit they originally made for Sanji before he escaped, why would it not be full yellow?? All Sanji’s flashbacks, he followed his theme. Like the others. So it can’t be a suit from the past. It is a NEW suit.

Tell me there wasn’t some strange errant hope or subconscious desire to have all the Vinsmokes reunited? Tell me there wasn’t something in the design of all their raid suits where someone was like if we number ourselves, won’t it be weird that 3 is missing? They went however many years and never thought about that?

And then they meet Sanji again. Things happen, they end up on the same side and there is a brief few hours where the Ji’s and Sanji are separate from each other before reuniting as Sanji tries to escape with Luffy.

And all of a sudden they have a ready made raid suit that Niji of all people has snuck into Sanji’s person.

Given all the Ji’s are genetically similar in all areas except Sanji’s “normal” body, it wouldn’t have been difficult to hazard a guess at his sizes and measurements.

EDIT: I let this post marinate for a couple days and kinda lost the rhythm of what I was saying but my point is. The Ji’s (bc we damn well know Reiju and Judge never wanted Sanji back, albeit for drastically different reasons) saw Sanji alive and literally kicking out in the world and started constructing a suit. Then they met up with him again and finalised that suit.

Despite all the harassment and abuse they hurled at him. We cannot forget that BUT somewhere deep inside what semblance of a heart they have, whatever that lil speck of humanity is that saved Sanji and his crew, is the same lil speck that pushed them to make a suit specifically tailored to Sanji’s style. And the same lil speck was like “hey what if we give this to Sanji? But we can’t let him know it’s from us so we will sneak it onto his person while we’re helping him escape”

LIKE COME ON

[michichi69]

MAAF & The Stolen Generations

It’s NAIDOC week y’all which has reminded me of that busted ass comic page, ‘MAAF’, specifically chapter 9. For the most part I’m sure this comic is a cool exploration of Indonesia and Australia but chapter 9 (in the author’s own words) includes a part regarding the Stolen Generations wherein, “Yolngu (Australia) became white and lost his memory”. I may sound a little harsh towards this author but I think they did have good intentions and poor execution of this concept. For context, I myself am the grandchild of a stolen child and so I do take issue when this subject is handled poorly.

Warning: This may include the images and names of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have since passed.

This is a fair warning that this will be long but I’m going to share some information on the subject to hopefully convey my grievances with the comic chapter. This will be upsetting and triggering at times so keep in mind this involves the kidnapping and abuse of children. To start, below is a summary of the philosophy behind the Stolen Generations.

This image shows how the Stolen Generations was intended to work. You take an Aboriginal child from their home who has a white parent, referred to as the dated terms ‘Half-Caste’ or ‘Half-blood’. Then that child goes on to procreate with a white person to produce a child with more ‘white blood’, then that child is usually taken themselves and repeats the process until you end up with a child who is of ‘white blood’. This process was often referred to as ‘breeding out the black’ or ‘breeding out the colour’, which was heavily based on blood quantum and phenotypical features. Western Australia’s Chief Protector of Aborigines (1915-1936) and Commissioner for Native Affairs (1936-1940), A. O. Neville (also known as ‘Mr.Devil’ by Aboriginal people), is pictured below.

He is quoted as saying:

"[T]hey have to be protected against themselves whether they like it or not. They cannot remain as they are. The sore spot requires the application of the surgeon's knife for the good of the patient, and probably against the patient's will."

This epitomises the justifications of ‘biological assimilation’ that the orchestrators and supporters of the Stolen Generations often used to continue this cycle (officially) for almost one hundred years from the mid-1800s to the 1970s*.

(*Indigenous children were also unofficially wrongfully taken by child services and placed in white homes or institutions beyond this date, I recommend watching After the Apology (2017) for some of this.)

But where were these children taken to exactly?

They were called missions and were typically Catholic but could be run by other Christian denominations such as Lutherans. Children essentially grew up being forced into practising the religion of the institution they were placed in. The abuses that happened in these institutions were prolific and entailed the attempt at a total loss of connection to Indigenous families, cultures and languages. Specific examples of the conditions of many of these missions include stories of harsh abusive punishments, maggots in the food, and sexual abuse. Many children were taken in infancy or at very young ages, some taken directly from hospitals they were just born in, either never knowing their families or knowing very little of them and being subjected to these abuses their entire lives leading up to adulthood.

I would recommend watching The Rabbit Proof Fence (2002) for a little more of an introductory ‘visual example’ of how missions typically looked and ran, albeit much more watered down than what the lived reality was. For that, I suggest seeking out the stories of former stolen children.

Now maybe just with that background you can see my grievances with chapter 9 of MAAF but I’ll just spell it out. I take major issue with depicting Australia as literally turning from Yolgnu to a white man as a result of the Stolen Generations - taken children were and always will be Aboriginal and taken children still always belonged and continue to belong to their family’s language groups. Tangentially, just to cover all bases here, I also take issue with implying light skinned Aboriginal people aren’t Aboriginal because of the same history but MAAF quite literally TURNED A YOLGNU MAN INTO A WHITE MAN? As stated by the author themself - so I don’t believe they were making an astute commentary on how really light skinned Aboriginal people will always be Aboriginal, I think instead it’s exactly what it looks like. I can’t control what content people choose to make, and I’m not necessarily totally against using the medium of Hetalia fanworks to discuss historically sensitive subjects either. However, I will just say this - Please consider the work you make public, because these sensitive issues have affected real people who might come across that work. I've seen a similar handling of Canadian residential schools in the Hetalia fandom which was a very similar concept to the Stolen Generations in Australia, and of course, these depictions have also fallen short by depicting this as a literal 'white metamorphosis' of Indigenous children. To convey just how much this has bothered me, chapter 9 of MAAF is frankly my version of one of those probably well meaning but still super insensitive 9/11 America fanfictions that just come off gauche. I suppose I just hope people now have the tools to look at these depictions a little more critically than the fandom historically has?

Anyways, that's mostly it. See ya. EDIT: Some text got lost when I copied it over from another document so I've added the missing text again. EDIT 2: I've also seen a lot more stuff from MAAF and the artist even regarding some questionable choices regarding the interpretation of SEA Indigneous peoples and North American Indigenous peoples, so yeah, MAAF and the artist themselves probably aren't the most reliable sources out there in terms of the interpretation of Indigenous peoples GENERALLY speaking... 😅 ANYWAYS - Thank y'all for showing interest in this post, I'm very passionate about sharing information on the Stolen Generations and hopefully using my unique perspective for some good.

[professoruber]

Theory on Meridian | Birds of Prey (2023-)

Spoilers ahead for Birds of Prey (2023-) #5 - Along with general spoilers for the series as a whole

So Birds of Prey (2023-) #5 released; and so I am writing this post both as a follow-up to my pre-release speculation but also to discuss a specific theory on Meridian. While I may be focusing on this one specific character a bit much; I think its worth considering how she's kinda been a major driving force of the plot despite her limited appearance and revealed motivation. So there is plenty of potential for some discussion here.

Namely; what is Meridian's true nature and motives?

So far we have not seen a direct detailed explanation from Meridian regarding her motives or why she has specifically excluded who she excluded. We do however get a bit of a hint at some stuff, which in turn also supports the idea that she is indeed from the future as she claims...

"Where the final battle always is" - Meridian.

Quite the intriguing word choice, which Cass also picked up on as being concerning. This does imply that this is not the first time Meridian has gone through this; and that in turn implies the Birds of Prey have failed in previous timelines. This could be used to explain why she did things the way she did; perhaps telling the Diana or Barbara has backfired in some manner before.

I still would like some specific reasoning for her information security choices and why she didn't provide more information apparently, but it'd still be a decent handwave at least on the part of the writers. Assuming Meridian is on the up and up of course, because...

Meridian might be evil (possibly)

I have seen it pointed out on Reddit that Meridian's speech bubbles...

Have the same reversed (black background & white text vs the typical white background & black text) colouring as Megaera...

Granted; the reversed text for Meridian appears to be a sign of her voice getting distorted by the mask (her speech is coloured normally both when her helmet is off and occasionally even when it's still on), and her speech bubbles' edges are not drawn the same as Megaera... but it's still an interesting coincidence.

And that comparison got me noticing another strange similarity in their colouring.

Both appear to have a sort of black/green/yellowish colour scheme, especially in the cover art. Those controlled by Megaera are also depicted with green eyes...

So overall it is a strange series of coincidences I think.

These panels do have Meridian helping out Cass and Zealot by fighting the mind controlled Wonder Woman, which could go against the idea she herself is under control.. but on the other hand, she's also doing it to get Cass and Zealot to go where she's telling them to; so if she does have ulterior motives this may be orchestrated to push them in the direction she wants?

Hard to say; especially since the mind controlled Wonder Woman is also shown with the reversed colouring in her text bubble as Meriden (albeit still with rougher edges) and Megaera. Her little comments like "Crap. That felt less scary in my head" also do provide support to her being genuine ("Crap" was also something of a signature expletive for Maps in Gotham Academy for that matter).

Still, I can't deny the odd coincidences. Especially since they chose to design Meridian's costume and 'aura' in a way which is oddly similar to the main villain despite the fact that I don't think think Maps has been associated with such a theme before. And if Meridian is evil or being controlled, then it could better explain why she excluded Diana and Barbara and also why things have gotten so out of control despite her foreknowledge and implied previous attempts.

All very interesting stuff.

Or maybe I'm overanalysing all this stuff and Meridian's just time travelling hero and Future Maps.

(Imagine though if this ended up being a sorta 'backdoor pilot' kinda thing for Robin!Maps; introducing her a villain the form of an evil future her? Maybe not but still).

In conclusion

I got some mixed feelings about Meridian. On one hand, scattered comments by her do admittedly point to her seeming genuine and not being controlled. And the fact her bubbles are drawn without the rough edges of Megaera and those controlled by her, and also are coloured normally when her helmet is off, could point towards it just being a coincidence; they might've just used the same technique to depict 'distorted' speech for both.

But still... this is quite the number of coincidences; between the colouring of both her costume and speech bubbles, as well as the oddly sparse information we've gotten from her and her limited appearances. The possibility of some kind of twist regarding her is something worth considering I think.

Still do hope for Present!Maps getting involved in the Birds of Prey though, that would be cool. And hopefully more Cass and Maps interactions, those are cute.

[thevoiceofthebard]

Chapter 13 - Uthgerd IV: Bleak Falls Barrow

Middas 20th of Last Seed 4E201 Late Evening

Uthgerd

"I still can't believe how... Messy that trap was."

Talao, head still in the journal we lifted from the... Remains of the bandit, looked queasy still. "Can't say I disagree with you on that one." The sight of a man pinned against a wall, impaled by wooden spikes was... Gristly, to say the least.

He sighed, turning a page. "Shame. I did try to warn him there could be more traps, albeit subtly. I suppose I'll have to be more direct in the future."

"You did?"

"When I mentioned the puzzle trap from earlier."

"Ah." Frankly, the coward was asking for it, barreling through a ruin the way he did. Who wouldn't expect something to happen? He might've been able to outrun Draugr, but one dead end and he would have been helpless. Not to mention his obvious attempt at escaping. Served him right. Talao grunted, distracted again by the book in front of him. For some reason, I found myself comparing the two of them, what little I knew at least. They were both small and skinny, obviously, with no talent for fighting, but that was it. The dark elf had run at the first sign of danger, where Talao had stayed, despite his weakness. No to mention how he saved me at the entrance earlier. And the bandit was fool enough to run into a trap despite being warned, whereas Talao...

Hang on. Talao was smart enough to realize there would be traps, and to warn the bandit about them. Was he naive enough to just tell a possible enemy that, and expect him to not take the selfish route of taking the treasure for himself? Or did he do it to give the elf a choice to stay with us, safe, or run off and die? It seemed at odds with the peaceful presence he usually put forth. Seems there's more to this man than first I thought.

"We're here."

My thoughts cut short, I look up at an imposing wall. Nordic designs cover it, and there are large circular plates with pictures on them, as well as an odd dish in the center, with three holes set in it. But most importantly, it was a dead end. "So where's the door? You sure this is it?"

"Yes. The 'Hall of Stories.'" Rather than the wall ahead of us, Talao stares at some of the murals on the side walls. "Fascinating bas-relief sculptures. Very early Nordic, nearly Nedic. I suppose it is a Hall of Stories, after all. I wonder what this one tells of."

"Which one?" I look. "Seems to be about a local Dragon Priest."

"Really? How can you tell?"

Something the 'bard' doesn't know. What a novel experience. "Well, see this figure here is the Dragon Priest. They all were depicted as having some special mask, which supposedly held great power within them, and were part of the source of their own powers. The first panel shows him performing some feat of magic, and the Nords below are cowering in fear. This second one shows them worshiping the Priest, and tithing gifts to him. And this last one," a picture full of the screaming and dying, "shows those same people being destroyed by their supposed deity."

"Huh. I'm impressed."

"Really?" Is he making fun of me?

"Well, the Dragon Cult isn't the most widespread of stories. Few have heard tell of it, or its adherents."

"Maybe not in High Rock, but all of Skyrim was once under their rule," I say, gesturing to the wall. "You bards sometimes seem to forget that all stories have some person's history wrapped up in it."

"I would never..." he stops.

Did I just render him speechless? That'd be a first, and I feel quite a bit of pride for it. For all Talao's bluster, he's human too. "Come on, let's get this door open. Does the journal say anything about it?"

"Um... Ah yes. The bandit, Arvel, writes about 'the power of the ancient Nordic heroes,' as well as the man he stole it from - a Lucan Valerius? Let's see," he ruffles the pages again, as if searching for a specific spot. "Key, Bleak Falls Barrow, Hall of Stories, legend... A test to 'keep the unworthy away." I'd desperately like to know where he heard all this. Ah, here. 'When you hold the golden claw, the solution is in the palm of your hands.'"

I wait a moment, until it's clear no further information is coming from Talao. "Well that's frustratingly vague." And therefore probably accurate. No one would call the Nords a subtle race, but we're as fond of our wordplay as any other. I hold out the claw, talons pointed away from me, inspecting it against the wall. Three nails, three holes. Clearly where the "key" goes, so I try placing it within, and twist it as if it were an actual key. No response. It doesn't budge at all. However, I notice that the gold of the claw isn't completely smooth. "There's a bunch of odd runes on it. Nothing I can understand."

"Let me see. Hm, it seems to be late Nedic. All traits they valued, I suppose. This one says 'pride,' and this is 'valor.' Nothing about a door."

"What about those carvings on the door itself? What do those mean?"

"Odd... These aren't runes at all, but pictographs. Just animal murals with no deeper meaning."

I'm stumped, and so is Talao, if the strange look on his face is anything to go by. What did that bandit know that we don't? "'The solution is in the palm of your hands,'" I mutter.

"The palm... Wait. What if it's meant literally?" Talao exclaims. "We keep holding it like this, with the talons pointed away so we don't stab ourselves. What if the solution is in the palm of the claw, where our own palms have been?"

He turns it over, and we both look. While Talao is translating more of the runes, I notice something out of place. "Look there, in the middle. Three of those pictographs, hidden in the runes."

"By Y'ffre, you're right. The empty space makes out the animals. Good eye, Uthgerd. I see... From top to bottom a bear, a... Butterfly? Maybe a moth? Then an owl."

I look at the wall again. "The pictures up here are out of order, though."

"They probably move or rotate." He's right; the large circular segments run along some kind of rail, grinding smoothly, despite their age. "So... Bear, then moth, then owl." Each one clicks into place. "Now, try the claw."

Again I insert the claw into the central disk, pushing it in. I feel something catch, and it twists to the right. I expect some kind of door, but instead the entire wall begins to slowly descend into the floor. "Amazing."

"Magnificent." It's quite exciting. But, oddly, every inch the wall falls, I feel more... Fearful. As though I'd forgotten something. Something... dangerous.

"Uthgerd." Talao says. "You don't suppose... Might there be a Dragon Priest interred here?"

Now that was a frightening thought.. "The mural."

"Aye. It suddenly occurred to me how simple getting here was. The traps were definitely to deter intruders, but this wall... It seems built more to keep something in rather than out.

"And maybe the 'ancient power' buried here is not some artifact, but a being of power instead."

CLUNK

We both jump, as the wall hits the floor. Beyond is a cavernous chamber, muted moonlight flowing in from holes in the ceiling, illuminating a large, stony structure in the back. The awe-inspiring sight is spoiled by the sudden tension in the air. After a moment's hesitation, I draw my blade, and Talao holds his staff in front of him. We move slowly into the cavern. An underground brook gurgles by. A colony of bats screeches by after we startle them. The structure, a semi-circular wall, stands upon a worn podium. Along with an ornate treasure chest. A table.

And a coffin.

My heart jumps. Something is here. I can feel it. Nothing happens as we mount the stairs. The coffin remains still. Don't plan to let it out of my sight, though.

"Did you hear that? Talao says.

The wind. The stream. A falling rock. "...hear what?"

"I can hear... It's like it's both within and without me at once. Bum... Bum bum. Like drums."

Bum... Bum bum

Faintly, I hear it. Or... Feel it. Everywhere at once like Talao said. I could feel it in my bones, in my lungs.

Bum... Bum bum

Where is it coming from? Every step I take, it builds, louder and louder.

Bum... Bum bum

"The wall," I say. "Look at it." The moonlight falls directly on it, standing like a monolith. But it seems to glow brighter than it should. Magic?

Bum... Bum bum

"These markings..."

They don't look like the ones on the claw," I say. We move closer to the wall, the drums pounding through my body. "Just... Scratches."

BUM... BUM BUM

"No. This isn't a human language at all. Or mer, or beast. It's much older." He looks at me, eyes wide with wonder.

BUM... BUM BUM

"It's dragon."

...

"The drums have stopped." Talao ignores me, set on the wall in front of him, even more than with the journal. We're close enough to touch it, but it feels... Irreverent to do so, somehow. "Dragon, you said?"

"Aye," he responds. His eyes move back and forth in short bursts. "The oldest language recorded. Except for perhaps the Elder Scrolls themselves."

"Can you read it, then?"

"Words here and there. I've never actually seen the language written properly, only glossaries or dictionaries. Dragons never wrote on parchment, after all."

"Why?"

"Why?! He scoffs incredulously. "Do those markings look to be written in ink? No. They were carved into the stone by claw. This... This is a living testament to the existence of dragons. One stood, once, right where we stand now. And it left this. For us."

By Ysmir. I can hardly wrap my mind around the idea. "So... What does it say? Is this the 'Dragonstone'?"

"It'd be rather difficult to return to Farengar if 'twere. But no. I don't see any... Directions or anything related to burials. Except maybe this line. 'Het nok faal vahlok.' Here lies the... Something, but it's not 'dragon.' 'Deinmaar' is keeper, or holder. 'Dovahgolz,' dragon... something. Maybe stone? Yes, it must be 'Dragonstone.' 'Unslaad' I know means 'unending' or 'innumerable.' Rahgol ahrk vulom'... Anger and black? Dark?"

"Well, that's not foreboding at all." Sounds like our treasure is here. But where? And what is "keeping" it? Oh please, please, please don't be a Dragon Priest.

"Hang on, there's another word here... It's like my eyes slipped over it before. Hmm. FUS."

It happens quickly. The gentle breeze becomes a whirlwind, screaming through the cave, blowing me off balance. I see Talao, standing tall within the wind, as though it were focused around him. And then I see the wind, full of energy and colours somehow, stream into his nose and mouth, as he breathes in so much, I fear he may burst from the volume of it all.

And then it ends. The air falls silent once more, and Talao falls to his hands and knees with a mighty gasp. But only air.

"What in the..."

He breathes in.

A loud crash echoes behind me, and I turn to see the lid of the coffin fall aside. A hand reaches out, pulling with it a large Draugr, blue eyes glowing beneath an ornate helm. Well, at least it's not a Dragon Priest, thank Kyne. Small victories.

I can hear Talao breathing raggedly behind me as I size up the enemy. The good thing about Draugr, to me and anyone else, is that they're slow. All I have to do is dodge its swings, and strike while it recovers. They might fight on without legs, but so long as...

"FUS!"

I stumble backwards, barely avoiding catching myself on the wall. Did that thing just... shout at me? And force me back? It staggers toward me much quicker than I anticipated, but its attack is so widely telegraphed, I avoid it with ease. A shower of sparks flies from where his blade meets stone, and I regain my bearing, carving into its left arm. The wound does nothing. It doesn't bleed, or feel pain. Nothing short of cutting body parts off will do anything to stop it.

So, that's what I do. I close distance, keeping it from using its strange magic upon me again, and keep hacking away. Its left arm is first to go, dropping to the floor. Then I sever its legs. I few more swipes and I disarm it as well, then behead it with one fell swoop. The blue glow flickers and dies. Anti-climactic, maybe. But I think I've had enough thrills for the day.

I turn back to Talao. He sits, back against the wall, staff lying by his side. Staring into the distance, and quieter than I'd ever seen him. His breath has gone back to normal. "Talao? Are you alright?"

He looks at me, and I nearly flinch away. I feel... Utterly intimidated. There is a power behind his gaze that wasn't before. "I am. Alright, that is. At least, I think so."

"What happened? I mean... What... happened to you?"

"I'm not sure. I read that last word and then... It was like I was being filled with... I don't know. Like potential... Fus." He stared back into the darkness, his eyes unfocused. I wonder if he's in shock.

"Fus... The Draugr yelled that at me as well. Wonder what it means."

"Force. It means force."

I looks at him oddly. "How do you know?"

"I don't know. I just... Know. Or maybe I always knew, and I remembered it just now."

"Well, is that all you 'remember?'"

He rubs his face, then covers all but his mouth and recites:

Here lies the guardian, Keeper of the Dragonstone. A FORCE of unending Rage and darkness.

"The writing on the wall?" I ask.

"Yes. It's like it's imprinted in my brain. The knowledge. Maybe FUS was like a key that unlocked it."

I stand, running my hand along the word that Talao had touched. It wasn't only because I was feeling uncomfortable keeping eye contact. Fus... It resonates in my toes, sends a shiver down my spine. "Why didn't it happen to me as well, then?" Not that I was terrible interested or jealous in the same thing happening to me.

"Who know? Maybe only the first person who touches it is granted the knowledge. Someone who already knows some of it. Or some other criteria unbeknownst to us. This is beyond my stories."

A moment of silence. Talao stands up and moves to the now empty coffin stepping over the re-deceased corpse "I'll wager our treasure was interred with our dead friend here. A-ha. A bit bigger than I'd imagined." With a heave, he lifts a large five-sided stone tablet from within the coffin, and places it on what I suppose is (or was) an embalming table. "Yes, it's an actual physical map of Skyrim," he says as I lean in beside him. "Not to scale, clearly, but you can see the relation between the burial sites and nearby landmarks. Probably not exact in order to keep it somewhat secret, were it to fall into the wrong hands. Such as ours, most likely."

"Fascinating, I'm sure." It wasn't much to look at. But valuable enough to Farengar; he can have it. I open the chest I'd noticed earlier - I'd killed the guardian of the ruins, so by right of trial by combat, its treasures were now mine - but it was disappointingly sparse of any valuables. A handful of old Nordic gold and silver coins. Not Septims, but they might fetch a decent price from the right person. An old axe, corroded beyond repair, and at the bottom, a horned helm, similar to the one worm by the Draugr. A trophy fit for my victory, if nothing else. Talao had better have been truthful about the Jarl's reward.

"We'd best be going, Uthgerd." Talao scans the back wall. "These ruins usually have a secret exit that leads to the entrance or out the back. With luck, we can make it back to Whiterun, and our reward, within two sundowns."

Well. That sort of zeal is new. But welcome, compared to his usual sober pace. I shoulder my pack, heavier one Dragonstone, and catch him up near the back wall. All in all, our trek seems to have been a resounding success, and I'll be glad to return to Whiterun to tell everyone of the tale.

But...

I glance at Talao again, his eyes shining with confidence. Things have changed by our being here. I wonder if it will be for good or ill. I suppose only time will tell in the long run.

Even considering the accepted idea that the Dragon Claw keys were only meant to keep the Draugr IN their tombs, I always found the puzzles overly simplistic; I sincerely doubt the Dragon Cult or their imprisoners wanted the Lords/Priests released by any Joe Schmoe. So I made them slightly more interesting, at least in my mind. Putting the solution within the negative space created by the runes gives the Claws a bit more substance as a ritualistic or decorative piece, and makes it actually quite easy to overlook. I will hold off on any commentary regarding the Word Wall for now, but hope you enjoyed the scene; it was one I was very much looking forward to and, as Uthgerd unconsciously notices, marks a significant turning point in Talao's development. Suffice to say, "game mechanics" will be very much different in my fic.

Chapter 12 - Arvel I: Bleak Falls Barrow x Chapter 14 - Farengar II: Dragon Rising

[theneighborhoodwatch]

I was thinking about Julie-rella today. And I think it's an interesting role to cast her in, a fairytale heroine whose story involves running away from a bad homelife (which specifically includes siblings, albeit stepsiblings), when she's the only cast member with a well-defined sibling group (Howdy has siblings but they're not, like, actual characters) who she's explicitly stated not to live with anymore. And that feels kinda odd because the Joyful siblings are depicted as pretty amicable to each other in the art we've seen of them so far. Is the Julie-rella story's existence implying that maybe there was some discord in the Joyful family beneath the surface that caused her to leave? The sort of thing a kid's show would cover up with something as vague as her leaving to "seek out a life of her own?" It's probably not that deep, but it is something to consider, I suppose.

HI apologies for taking so long to answer - genuinely do not know what happened to me. anyways, i don't think the julie-rella story is necessarily indicative of any Hidden Strife within the joyful family (not yet, anyways. i could always be proven wrong later.) i think it's more that julie was simply the most convenient choice for cinderella on account of being A.) the most visibly Girl, and B.) the only character with siblings that have actual distinctive designs - it doesn't matter how those siblings are characterized normally, it just matters that they're there. that's acting, babey.

i do think there's an opportunity for horror in how the supporting cast we've seen so far (i.e. ms beagle and the joyful siblings) are regarded, though, in a way that i would say is almost the Inverse of the type of horror that the neighbors seem primed for? like, each neighbor has a specific Niche that they were created to fill, characterization-wise; while we don't know what the consequences of outgrowing that niche are just yet, given that this is a horror story, we can assume that they are probably Severe. meanwhile, the supporting characters... so far it seems like they just kinda Show Up whenever it's convenient and don't really matter the rest of the time. arguably, they don't even really exist the rest of the time. scary thought! but we'll have to wait and see if that's actually the case.

[eziocauthon89]

It's Hazbin Hotel Theory Time!

Alastor might be a Fallen Angel, and maybe even a very specific named angel

So, this little theory rant comes to us courtesy of the attached TikTok which I'll summarize before I add on to it (No idea how widespread this idea is, but this is how I first heard of it) (Also, putting it all under a Read More because, oh damn, it's a lotta words!)

To summarize, the theory postulates that Alastor is not just a Fallen Angel, but none other than the Archangel Michael

First, see the lyrics in the Finale song, "Once I figure out how to unclip my wings"

Second is his hair, in both style and color. Adam and the Exorcists bear a similar striping toward the base of their wings, and Vaggie has similar markings in her hair which resembles wings. Similarly, Alastor bears that two-tone striping and a vague wing-like shape.

Next, Alastor's outfit is strinkingly similar to St. Peter's, in general triangular shape, the use of the bow tie, and even the perpetual smile.

Then there's the clear tension between our favorite Radio Demon and the Ruler of Hell himself, Lucifer. Here, we start to veer more pointedly into Alastor being Michael specifically, as Michael and Lucifer have been depicted as natural enemies.

Additional details include both Michael and Alastor having X's show up, and Alastor's mic staff looking similar to a staff that Michael is often depicted with

Additionally, Michael is traditionally both the Warrior Angel, wielding his sword as he leads the angelic armies, and also as the Judge of Heaven, setting a soul's life on a scale to determine if they are worthy of entering Heaven. If Michael were to become absent from his post, then another would have to take his place in command (which we see in Adam), and in theory the others might be left unsure as to the exact requirements for allowing a soul entry to Heaven (which is effectively stated to be the case)

What if that's exactly what happened? What if the Archangel Michael left his position in Heaven and descended to Earth in the 1930's to become a human? Given the nature of the show as a whole, I don't think it's a reach to think that he might want a taste of sending souls to their Final Judgement even as a human, which then leads neatly into the established lore of Alastor being a serial killer, who was then shot and killed, and due to his abandonment of responsibilities in Heaven, this completed his Fall and he arrived in Hell.

So, that all is covered in the above TikTok, but while discussing the theory with a coworker today, I stumbled into further possible proof, albeit from a less connected and more coincidental source: Black Gryph0n's "Insane". Obviously, this is taking a sharp left turn into the incidental and "Cool If It Ends Up This Way", but still, I had to share with the class, ergo, this post.

First, let's look at that first verse...

Hello, it’s nice to meet you! Can you tell me where I am? I don’t know how I got here But I think I’m starting to understand. I don’t belong among the angels, and baby that’s just fine with me. The things I did up there were high school, but now I’m going for my degree.

Primarily, we're looking at the last two lines. "I don't belong among the angels, and baby that's just fine with me". If we assume that Alastor is Michael, then this can easily be read as him rejecting his once-held role among them, acknowledging that he turned his back on them. "The things I did up there were high school, but now I’m going for my degree." This could be a reference to his serial killing, before finding an entire new realm in which to hunt and murder. Or, it could also be him stating that his role as Warrior and Judge for Heaven was him holding back, playing by Heaven's rules, and now he has no such constraints.

Now, the second verse...

Wait a minute, do I know you? Weren’t an old pal of mine? Departed from us far too early, but now we’re meeting a second time. We used to have such fun together, and maybe you have what I need But first I have one tiny question; tell me, do you demons bleed?

Continuing with the lens of his being Michael, it's very easy to picture him saying this to Lucifer. Once compatriots in Heaven, before Lucifer left their ranks and Fell. Perhaps what Lucifer has that Alastor needs is his wings, that which he's seeking to unclip, and the lack of which would presumably limit the power of a Fallen Angel.

Finally, the chorus itself.

Sorry but you just got in my way I promise honey I can feel your pain And maybe I enjoy just a little bit Does that make me insane? Haven’t been the same since I expired Doesn’t mean that I plan to retire And now I have the power to bathe all of you in entertaining fire!

One common method often shown in fictional judges is the supernatural ability to empathize with those being judged, the ability to feel what they feel. It's not too far a stretch, then, to think that Michael might bear this ability, which would lend itself to Alastor being able to feel his victims pain. Then, that last line, "bathe all of you in entertaining fire". What was it that Adam said in his first song? That he and the Exorcists, those with "divine ordainment", viewed the annual exterminations as nothing more than Entertainment?

Now, shifting back to the canon proper for one last bit, this theoretical true identity might recolor Alastor's action in the final battle, particularly against Adam specifically. He was the only one to not wield an angelic weapon in that fight. There's two options I've thought of that might explain this, using this theory. A: Leaning into the acknowledged fanon that he simply wanted to see how strong he was when he directly faced angelic forces, he might now be wanting to see if he still stacked up against them, if he still had the power he once had over them. B: Or, perhaps, it was his own deal that kept him hamstrung. Perhaps the deal he's seeking a way out of prevented him from touching angelic steel, kept him from taking up the one weapon that would give him the necessary edge in that fight.

And that's what I've got! Just felt like way too nicely lined up to keep it to myself, and had to share it! And I'm horrible at figuring out how to close this kinda post, so...

[theblindinfidel]

Hey! Here are my Photobomb thoughts I posted as a response on Reddit haha!

Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS

Hi! Nice to meetcha! I’m glad you posted this because I’m curious to see what others will say as well!

When I first got into OMORI, I was actually not into any ships outside HeroMari and Sunburn. Sticking to the game and whatnot. It all started when I saw the cutest little meme on Twitter that Shrimp had posted and it featured photobomb. I thought:

“Hmm. I have never thought about this.”

And thus, I went down the rabbit hole and began to really enjoy it, even through watching my friend play the game. I really enjoy the childhood to lovers trope and I can get behind an enemies to lovers trope, though I don’t really see them as enemies.

So we can see the parallels between RW and HS. Sunny depicts a somewhat accurate representation of how his friends were in their childhood- (Aubrey and Kel arguing, Aubrey standing up for what she believes is right regardless of the consequences, Sunny always being regarded as quiet, Kel being goofy and oblivious but still a great friend with good morals, and Hero being the level headed member of the group.)

That being said, I believe there are definitely some truths in how the members perceive each other and their relationships to one another.

I really enjoyed how Aubrey was so worried about him in headspace. Even when his memory was being erased in Sunny’s mind, she would continuously get sad at his absence and grew distraught the longer he was gone. This is, of course, before she forgot him, alongside everyone else. She lamented about how she missed how he’d brush her hair and always gave him positive feedback. From this, it’s clear she cares a great deal about him as her friend.

When we switch into the Faraway segments, we learn she was actually the one to introduce Basil to the rest of the friend group. She grabs his hand and brings him along to introduce him. They are seen in the calendar art to work well together and you learn about them running a lemonade stand together and making fake plant decorations for the treehouse.

He calls Aubrey cute more than once which is neat because it shows he was much more outgoing when he was younger, albeit a little insecure. Now it isn’t specifically a romantic “cute”, but cute nonetheless. He could have been trying to push Sunny to agree or maybe he did like her a little but wanted to support Sunny. When he called her cute at the beach scene, his sprite turned away from her which I thought was a small thing that could be missed. Almost like he was a tad nervous to say it.

Those are all cute little things, but their dynamic is also intriguing.

Something people often miss about Basil is he is actually a relatively mischievous. You can see this from how he plays poker in the flashback, taking pictures of people when they least expect it (like Hero giving Kel some brotherly love), and a general humor in the way he lightly pokes fun but you wouldn’t expect it from him because he’s Basil.

He tends to cheer his friends on and genuinely believes in the best for them. He supports Aubrey’s cause to dye her hair pink which is also sweet.

Basil isn’t an angel, he has his flaws and issues, and he certainly isn’t an UwU flower boy by any regards. He could hold his own, he just doesn’t, he’s more of a pacifist. He DOES get angry and he DOES have moments where he is spiteful. (Bedroom encounter)

Then we have Aubrey. Aubrey in her youth was always nice to Basil and was quick to try and make him feel better about himself and he was receptive to her. It can be assumed or theorized they knew each other for awhile before they met the gang because they were neighbors, separated by a street, and she felt good enough about him to have him meet everyone. Aubrey isn’t the type to drag along some random Joe if she doesn’t feel right about it.

She and Basil both grew up in broken or weird homes and that is something only these two can really understand as opposed to Kel and Sunny (tho later on Sunny will understand the concept.) This is honestly a big deal as a kid because you feel comfortable with people like you. This is more of an emotional thing, a bonding kids don’t usually talk about, only feel. So my idea is they had a pretty solid friendship as kids built on trust and understanding. There was no judgement.

As time went on and the incident happened, Sunny, Basil’s best friend, went incommunicado. Basil, as we know, stayed out and eventually got the photo album back from Sunny even though it was ruined. That had to of hurt really bad. Regardless, he kept it with him and Aubrey eventually found it and BAM, bullying.

Lots of people have wondered why she bullied him so bad over that, but I think there’s a reason and it ties back to their friendship.

Remember when I said a lot of it was trust? That trust was murdered that day she found the album. It was shocking because Basil is Basil, how could he do that? It had to of hurt because she seemed pretty confident he would have at least told her of any anger he harbored. She felt abandoned and angry. Now this doesn’t make what she did right, it was really crappy, but she feels a ton of remorse as shown in the bad ending and to be honest, it takes a lot to apologize to someone when you are in the wrong, in front of friends and a friend’s caregiver at that! This shows she isn’t some demonic force who wants to belittle everyone. Aubrey has a heart, it can be in the wrong place at times and maybe even a little selfish at others, but when she sees she had done something wrong, she is quick to be angry with herself.

In the official art book, she is shown to be crying at the Lake Scene. She didn’t mean to almost kill him, she only wanted to push him away. This of course, parallels Sunny and Mari.

Their dynamic is interesting because Basil is really passive and hides his emotions and tries to stay gentle, although failing at times, and Aubrey being more loud with how she feels and failing when she goes too far. At their core, however, they both care a lot about each other, Basil going as far as trying to talk to her repeatedly while knowing the outcome, and Aubrey breaking down when something terrible DOES end up happening to him. She is shown in the hospital room visiting him which further indicates she really cares and is worried.

Also, big note here. It was Aubrey who recommended to everyone that they stay at Basil’s house the night Sunny has an encounter with him.

To summarize, there is a lot of cuteness and closeness in their friendship. Aubrey and Basil both come from a childhood of turmoil and have the depth to really understand each other in a nonjudgemental way if they wanted to try. The game has shown countless times how much they care for one another, and despite all odds, they end up friends again at the end. (Depending on how you interpret the end, but as far as the themes go, I’d say they do. Basil has been known to forgive quickly, as per the headspace version and pretty much everything else.) She would always stick up for him and would be taken aback by his teases and he’d be flustered and a nervous wreck, but it would be really cute.

They’re both also very nostalgic individuals! (Basil keeping the album, Aubrey then keeping it and returning to the hangout spot often)

In my experience a lot of angsty people take their angst out on the people they’re very close to if they feel they’ve been wronged by then. Hence her reactions to Sunny and Kel as well. She feels alienated in the same way Basil does, as though there is something innately wrong with them and that people won’t like them for them. They go about it differently but I think that would make them more comfortable with one another.

I like the concept of Aubrey having Basil branch out into things that he normally wouldn’t do and Basil just being a gentle person who can help her chill out. I think they’d set each other off or maybe be bad influences on each other, but more so in an innocent way.

I’m more of a timeskip person myself, I don’t think it could happen immediately after canon, but that’s just me.

Sorry for the ramble I’ve been meaning to write all this down anyhow!! Also it’s very late where I’m at so if something doesn’t make sense let me know!

[roobylavender]

im not sure your take on this but god now that age charts are being brought up it really fucking weirds me out the ages bruce pursues a relationship with talia and selina, its not necessarily the age gap but more so the maturity level. if it were later on in the girls life yet you keep the same age gap i’d be more okay with it but…idk the fact that selina is NINETEEN like to a 26 yr old would that not just be a. teenager to them ?? shes so young. same with talia

i mean to be fair to selina i think people get her timeline mixed up often esp because the long halloween is more prominent on batman reading lists than is her early post-crisis reading. the late 80s were used to revitalize selina with a new origin before she was inevitably thrust back into the present-day canon of tim's tenure. so there's a whole decade or so of her life after she first donned the costume that we were hardly privy to (with the exception of a few stories), but that was implied by writers to have been fairly isolated in the sense that selina's interactions with bruce were neither constant nor often. she led her own life and lived in her own corner of the world and survived, etc., and maybe a handful of times did their paths cross on the bigger heists albeit ultimately without much consequence (e.g., mindy newell's little bird story in the 80th anniversary spectacular). once 90s dc canon generally started to take on a more universal, event-focused quality writers integrated selina into the main batman storylines and began developing the romance between them consistently while they were both well into adulthood

what the long halloween did in comparison is make a mess of all of that progression because it not only rewrote selina's late 80s origin but also depicted her in reference to the more powerful character she'd become by the time it was published in the late 90s. so loeb's selina is less a 19/20 year old prostitute with a whole worldview to develop and more a seasoned socialite with a concrete goal and specific skillset honed presumably over the years. they're two entirely distinct characters and the 00s canon that followed increasingly took more from loeb than it did newell to the point that i think most new batman readers believe the long halloween is the definitive origin story even though it is very much not and only became heralded as such due to its overwhelming popularity. ultimately, on one hand you have the early post-crisis canon which set bruce and selina apart for a large part of their masked life and only began to concretely develop anything between them maybe ten or more years after the fact. on the other hand you have the long halloween canon which set them up as something akin to equals from the get-go and erased the existence of the original power imbalance entirely. and then you also have brubaker who tried to meld the two somewhat but like i said earlier ultimately pandered more to loeb's characterization even though he made his foundation out of newell's narrative skeleton. all of this to say: i don't think there are necessarily huge issues in their relationship as pertains to age if you distinguish the various timelines. but there certainly are issues as pertains to social class

talia in comparison is obv a lot trickier. i always go back and forth on whether i want to designate her as 26 or 22 upon debut. obv 26 would be the (somewhat) nicer option and there's plenty of evidence as to denny's research work being poor when it comes to the al ghuls. he may very well have believed that medical school is an institution you attend after undergraduate school in egypt the way we do here in the states. but the truth of the matter is that a lot of countries don't operate the way we do and actually allow you to attend a specialized / graduate school straight out of high school. such is the case for a career in medicine in egypt. and then on top of it all.. i honestly do think there is racist exoticization at play with the creation of talia's character. the older white savior paired with the considerably younger exotic heroine is a tried and tested trope across decades! one of talia's hallmarks upon debut was her universal sex appeal to the point that it's all people talked about in the comment columns at the time. and of course there was a very sexualized aspect to her relationship with bruce in general as depicted by neal adams. so it's hard not to come away with that reading of her character and even harder not to try to reconcile it with her very unforgiving treatment thereafter

which is why i'm as much upset by the age gap as i am honestly interest-piqued by it. bc it sucks on its face for sure. but with the right amount of care it is a really powerful lens through which to analyze talia as a character over time. her initial powerlessness to the two men in her life, her increasing emotional and physical isolation, her susceptibility to abuse, her constant experience with abandonment, etc. like would someone so young not become bitter over time at having to be left alone to fend for herself so often while the men simply get to go on? whatever the tragedy of their relationship bruce always gets to go back to a home. he always gets to go back to alfred or dick or jason or whoever else. but who does talia have? in a world where every interaction between bruce and her father emotionally bludgeons the latter to the point of delirious possessiveness, where does she go? who does she turn to? she has absolutely no one. and she has to be the one who finally makes the decision to break off on her own bc she's so tired of never feeling like she has any power. the fact that she goes through all that she does in pre-00s canon before she even turns 30 is so insane! and if any writer had bothered to dwell on that fact then we might have seen her receive far more empathetic storytelling than she actually does. i very much think a huge reason as to why her character assassination was so easy for writers to indulge in is bc they never recognized how much she was a victim

[bardkin]

while my dracionity turned out different in the end, this was still an important post for me to write!

<:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::{[xxx()o

when I see my draconic self in my mind’s eye, or become more aware of my phantom parts (because they're always present to a degree), there’s a consistent, distinct shape.

o()xxx[{:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>

- a long-ish mammalian muzzle, full of sharp teeth & fangs. also has a feline- or mustelidae-like nose-pad. (“padded nose”? idk the exact term for these types of critter snoots.) - brown fur of short-to-medium length. - unsure if i have scales or protective plating anywhere? might have some on the lower sections of my legs. - body is pine-marten-y in shape & length. - tail is also quite long. sleek, thick-ish, and is capable of corkscrewing around itself at least once. tapers off into a (albeit large) lion-like “tuft” at the end; like a traditional unicorn’s tail. (may be longer, and i’m just experiencing a length that’s relative to my human body???) - paws with five digits, paw-pads, & claws. unsure if said claws are retractable at all. overall very marten-esk. - ears are always in a “back facing” position, which seems to be their natural/neutral positioning. ears are large, almost fennec-like, and fuzzy inside & out like a donkey’s. - set of small nub-horns, teal in color, positioned like a goat’s or deer’s. - one of the closest placement matches i’ve seen are Trico’s (beast from The Last Guardian), but mine grow the opposite direction (i.e, toward my back).

- i do not have wings, and notably feel like i’d be incapable of (natural/non-magical) flight.

- i believe my species lived in, or at least frequented, a temperate forest environment of sorts. and/or potentially somewhere that feels like a mix of Alaska & California's wilderness? it's a jumble of fuzzy noemata that i'm still sorting through.

all this got me wondering; is there any example of this sort of dragon in wider media? in any known mythos or folklore? thus far, the closest examples i've found in these sources are Chinese & Japanese Dragons, such as the character of Haku from Spirited Away; but these aren't exacts. when i look up images & read about them in mythology texts (historical & fictional alike), i always think to myself "Kind of close, but... not it."

one fictional type i've found that sort of matches me is Imperial dragons, from Flight Rising.

however, many details just don't ring as "me." i lack wings, those prominent whiskers, full scales, or any kind of beard, my horns are much, much shorter, i could go on. bottom line, i'm not an Imperial dragon. so, i'm left with the same feeling: "Close, but nowhere near exact."

the absolute closest body-type/shape i’ve found (outside of drawing something myself) is from various original characters. there's a consistent handful of design tropes that make these characters distinctly this type of "fuzzy noodle dragon" — like a mosh-pit mix of almost "off-brand" depictions of eastern dragons. if you're in character/adoptable design circles, you may know what i'm talking about. you may even own a character like this, or be in the same boat as me.

i did briefly consider the idea i might be OC-kin, but... similarly to historical depictions & Imperial dragons, these designs feel like they’re just that; designs. not part of my identity.

"Close. Nothing more."

even this fursona/character concept i whipped up a few years ago, which has pretty much every visual aspect i described, doesn’t feel like me. that character still feels like just a for-fun-mascot or character; not a self-portrait, idealized or true-to-form.

which brings me to a label i've been ruminating over: Folcinteric (Nonhumanity).

i feel @who-is-page’s label of folcintera might really fit me, especially with the specific type of dragon i’ve described here. problem is, (and this is most likely just the imposter syndrome talking) i'm not even sure i have any mythos to begin with.

well. maybe i do. in a slightly more abstract sense.

as i said, this kind of design is not that uncommon; i'd even dare to say it's popular. popular enough that a lot of people will understand and have a fairly distinct image in their mind when you say “furry noodle dragon.” (i'm extremely curious about the origins of this design trend, and who might've kicked it off, or if this concept is a conclusion that multiple artists came to when making a lung dragon inspired design.)

so, perhaps my larger “mythology” — to potentially stretch the definition a bit — is from a subset of the dragon art & character design communities. something in me says that could count as a "lived mythology" of sorts.

and, i am still a type of dragon, one that varies in imagery/details and person-to-person lore, at the end of the day. one that is also very tied to my own personal understanding of "dragon."

dragons, in the larger scope of folklore, are typically an allegory for the wealthy, or the concept of "evil," or are simply more "neutral" symbols of power, wisdom, strength, and/or magic.

dragons were never something i feared / saw as universally "villainous," or even as strictly symbolic of any of the previously listed symbolism. my first exposure to dragons was within the Eragon/Inheritance Cycle series. due to the dragon and rider bond i saw there, "dragon" was cemented in my brain as a companion; protector, friend, but also animal. a fearsome one, yes, but not cruel or "evil by nature." not greedy, just naturally curious and drawn to "shiny" objects in the way any corvid is. sapient as any human or humanoid folk, but still as much of a beast as any wolf or bear.

publicly, i'll most likely just say "I'm a [species of] dragon," and leave it at that. the details of my identity are for me alone, and thus any further explanations or descriptions will be given voluntarily.

but even the things i keep private, i like to put names to. this is one such thing!

"theriomythic" felt somewhat like a hasty choice, though i don't mean that as a bad thing, at least for me. a bit of "my experiences fit here [within the therian label], but the species and my understanding of it doesn't [fit the definition of "only" earthen/nonfictional animals]... so i'll go with something that's close enough."

i do quite like the terms "draconity" & "dragonkind," since they're both very all-encompassing; but... i'm not sure how to articulate how that also feels like the problem (though i use the term loosely) that my brain has with them. "dragonkind," from my understanding, is more-so a label for the community itself rather than the individual. (it can be for personal use, i.e "I am dragonkind," but i don't know if it's widely used as such.) and "draconity" doesn't... quite ring the way i feel it should. it feels more like a general descriptor to preface my experiences and identity.

i could come up with my own term(s), and who knows, i might end up doing so. but at the same time, i don't want to reinvent where i don't need to. to me, the idea currently feels like calling that particular shade of lavender purple by another name, just because i can.

so maybe my flavor of dragon does fit the definitions for being folcintera. the term is supposed to be pretty much limitless within "lived mythos."

all that to say, i'm going to be trying out folcintera for myself. worst that happens is it doesn't end up fitting lol if that becomes the case, i'll find or make something new~

[scourgefrontiers]

opinion on zamasu (doesnt matter if its regular zamasu, goku black, fused zamasu, corrupted zamasu etc etc just zamasu in general)

oh now youve done it.

OK SO. like i said in my post abt supreme kais i really adore zamasu as a character bc he breaks the chain of supreme kai characters by being an antagonist/villain! he's a BAD supreme kai. a rotten apple. and we love him for that. he has morals, sure, but theyre not necessarily the right ones--theyre selfish and conceited and skewed morals that only really benefit him and his rightious ego to the point of where he's so in denial that theyre wrong that he refuses to believe anyone is correct about them except himself from another timeline. incredible

i do think that maybe if he had been given another chance early on to learn properly, maybe in a different way than how gowasu was going about it (to me it felt like gowasu was just like "this is wrong and thats how it is, we cant change anything" instead of maybe explaining Why things are the way they are and maybe try harder to help zamasu understand "justice" and "good vs evil" better in a way zamasu could better understand it) he could have been convinced to maybe back down from his extreme plan and come around to good again. bc i dont think he was always evil. he had a heart at one point, albeit one that grew clouded over time, and i think it was able to be tapped into before he went off the deep end. i believe in zamasu redemption arcs dont look at me

ok but goku black tho. i gotta talk abt goku black bc that mfer...is a lot. at his core he is zamasu, yes! but i think after swapping bodies and basically integrating with goku's body, he became a different person. maybe not entirely, especially at his core--otherwise i dont think future zamasu would have completely trusted him like he did--but maybe on a more surface level. as a saiyan, zamasu embraced the destructive and violent part of him. he embraced his bloodlust and even gave into it, and he enjoyed battle just as much as goku did, if not MORE... i like to use this reasoning to justify blamasu as a ship LMFAO. just to throw that in there. BUT ALSO some goku black headcanons that i like are that, being a supreme kai all his life, he doesnt know how to deal with a mortal--specifically saiyan--body properly. he doesn't know how much sleep it needs. he doesn't know how much it needs to eat to be healthy. all he knows is that it has unlimited potential for growth in terms of power. SO, i like to think he's very bad at taking care of goku's body and kind of lets it...for lack of a better word, rot. that's why i always depict him with heavy eyebags, sunken cheeks...he's HUNGRRY and TIRED and he has no idea how to deal with it so he ignores it and blames it on his "unruly saiyan body" :)

as for fused zamasu, i love that bitch. its like the perfect representation of how zamasu literally only agrees with himself and at the point of fusion he's completely engulfed in his own ego and ideals, past any sort of convincing otherwise. and the corruption of his form really seals the deal--he is so far gone he just turns into this ugly, ferocious monster. although back to some headcanon stuff, i like to think zamasu and black fusing was the ultimate form of self love for them, and when goku's attack clashed with him and turned his face goopy...that was part of him dying. the goku black part was dead. half of him was DEAD. he just had half of his body as a corpse at that point, because he was half mortal half immortal. and when that happened, he didnt know how to handle it, so he used the divine lightning to finish the job and completely rid himself of his mortal half, thus breaking down and becoming the hulking beast that was his corrupted form. i love it. i love seeing characters devolve into madness to the point of becoming monsters that represent their psyche <3

in super dragon ball heroes we see fused zamasu again but as a smaller version of himself, seemingly pre-corruption, but it's obvious that it's actually POST-corruption--i like to think fu took him out of his timeline just before he was destroyed physically and surgically removed the decomposing dead parts of him (the goop). that's why he has that armor covering his shoulder and right eye--those were the affected parts of his surgery! i like to think under his eyepatch piece he still has a purple bit of eye under there that fu left for one reason or another

anyway <3 those are my thoughts on zamasu thank u for activating my autism

[asknarashikari]

About Gotchard showing Spanner being dead wrong about the Chemy, despite being stubbornly set in his ways, I was actually glad that Geats (sorry) did that too to Azuma, they're displaying his edgy rival personality as a hindrance to him.

He stubbornly uses Water or Magnum as a club because it suits his style. He refuses to listen to any feedbacks about it (because distrust). Maybe this lowkey explains his character too on won't trying other solutions?

Other than obviously not giving best results for not fully utilizing what you have, being too stubborn to reason leads to Keiwa trading Boost and Magnum for Zombie. So his team gotta to cater to him for a chance of being better even if it 'weakens' them.

He shuts up anyone speaking to him, other than above, it's also about Keiwa figuring out the Concentration which leaves him pausing because Azuma can't be talked with, when it'd be the key. But of course... the naive newcomer can be what's blamed by fans for slowing down, when it's communication that is important in teams, not fighting ability.

In the face of cooperation being the key to survival and progress like how he advances the Concentration game, he still refuses to accept that he has done infinitely better when working together (Kaito also has this problem). He only wins later thanks to Beroba's offering while also backing him up throughout JGP.

Which shows later when he's potentially dying when he finds himself without a Driver fighting as human. He's only saved because there are others willing to cooperate including to him. Other characters specifically point this out to him too.

He also refuses to listen to others in dire times of him and others being powerless against the boss, and recklessly charges towards it. His personality actually killed him and only by sheer luck he survived due to Zombie living up to its name.

Gaim also had a minor early part where Kaito's anti-friendship and social darwinism view of obtaining and offering power bites him back by getting backstabbed by Jonouchi and Hase, and thus was bailed out by Kouta and Micchy, the people whose approach he looked down upon, though of course Kaito brushed it off as Jonouchi and Hase not worth something.

But of course, only characters like Keiwa (and by extension, similar naive characters) are the ones who got their traits blamed for their failure to win, that they must become cruel pos to survive or get ahead (how are those fanbase's views on these type of characters different from Kekera's early on?). While Azuma's traits aren't acknowledged as what hinders him and something he should change too to get ahead or survive.

I mean Keiwa'd be the likely more popular pick on who people expect to die in this situation, but Azuma's the one who actually dies... and this'd be depicted as "if Azuma can't, then newcomers like Keiwa and Neon would always do worse", rather than Azuma's traits being his downfall, for earlier elimination (rather than latter 2 being luckier). This also should show 'proof' that Keiwa won't win by becoming like Azuma either... and bad guys can be manipulated and taken advantage by others as well (e.g. Daichi by Beroba and Kekera for his tree).

I don't know what it takes to have the fanbase actually acknowledge that these type of personality as flawed and a hindrance not unlike "softness". They seem to tend to be viewed as just cool and independent to hold their own and resist instead, while those who cooperate got mocked for being reliant, regardless of overall results (albeit Spanner isn't well liked at least on Tumblr to you). Fanbase do really look down on power of friendship and cooperation even though it's how humans thrive....

In addition to above, Geats also had people like Kanato and Daichi, having their traits being their downfall as well. Kanato got eliminated due to his spite, while Daichi made too many enemies that led to his early eliminations (making him look like actual DezaStar, and pushing others' buttons)... but they too can have some people depict it as the series wasting them as villains, rather than acknowledging their traits as their downfall.

Sorry for this but I'm going to be chopping up this ask to pieces... It's just so lengthy I feel like I need to address it bit by bit

Honestly, Azuma doing these things just made me think he was a fucking idiot. Sure, maybe the Water Raise Buckle confused him because he had never encountered it before (Ace apparently hadn't either, despite how many times he'd been in the DGP) but Magnum? The one his self-proclaimed rival uses all the time? Give me a break.

Yup, Azuma's tendency to strike out on his own and distrust of others definitely bit him in the (Buffa)butt several times, though they did somewhat justify this with what happened to Tooru.

Of course, that just means that Azuma immediately equated every single Kamen Rider he encountered in the DGP to the couple of people who murdered his friend- emphasized by how he mocks people for trying to rescue civilians as just doing it for the extra points, rather than doing it because they actually want to do the right thing.

This could be seen as an extension of his stubbornness as well, in that he refuses to change his beliefs even when evidence to the contrary exists.

Of course to his apologists, Keiwa was the one in the wrong for dragging them both down, when it was Azuma who can't be bothered to have a proper conversation... Honestly, it's a bit of a miracle he was able to cooperate with Berobitch at all, though I doubt he actually trusted her per se. He just saw her as useful to fulfilling his wish. He probably didn't see the other Riders as useful, except maybe Keiwa during the Concentration Game (when it was apparent that Morio was pulling a fast one on him).

I think in this situation Kaito was also partially done in by his own arrogance. He seems to have a very dim view of some of the other Riders. (I guess this applies to Azuma in some sense as well, because of his aforementioned generalization of them)

At this point I'm not really sure what would convince those fans. Honestly, I wonder if those fans think Riders working with anyone at all is a strange concept, when of course that's been demonstrably false since the very first Rider himself.

There may also be a subset of fans who may think that KR is the "solo hero franchise" vs Sentai being the "team hero franchise", so while they won't criticize Sentai having friendship/teamwork as an emphasis, they will criticize KR for it.

To me, it's almost bizzare to think KR shows would say different things about friendship and teamwork than a Sentai show would. They would naturally reflect the views of the ones making them and ultimately approving what we the audience see... But behind the scenes they're worked on by a lot of the same people- same writers, producers, directors, etc. Why would one franchise denounce these concepts and the other exalt them?

Yeah, I don't really know what to say to these fans. I just don't. Sometimes characters are just there to be fucking horrible. Not everyone can be significant, and if your fave happens to be that guy... You'll just have to live with it.