#I don't know anything about the documentary itself or how accurate it is

[charlesoberonn]

Tell me you know nothing about history without telling me you know nothing about history

[mamayura]

Revelator analysis: Marinette remembering the Umbrella scene incorrectly

You know what I find really interesting about the interview scene in "Revelator" where Adrinette retells how they met? Marinette is actually getting a few details wrong.

Mind you, no deal breakers. She got all the emotional beats down accurately. And I will only truly take this as canon anyway when the French original has her misremember things the same way. But for now, it's really interesting that MARINETTE is the one who gets a couple of details wrong about the moment she fell SO in love with Adrien, while Adrien himself is out here making no such mistake in the whole interview:

This is correct. Simple as that.

This one... is on very thin ice. In reality, Marinette had just left the building and noticed it was raining when Adrien started talking to her. Yes, she was ready to wait until the rain stopped, but she never truly got to the waiting part:

But, by all means, if this were only this detail, I wouldnt make this post right now. Even if, factually, she didnt wait, she just noticed it was raining and thought she had to wait.

But let's get back to this later because there is another layer to this that was the catalyst for me writing this. But for now, moving on:

This is correct again. Adrien, in fact, had an umbrella.

But here is the thing:

This is... straight up wrong. Objectively. What Marinette reacted negatively to was Adrien trying to be friendly and saying "Hi" to her:

He only offered his umbrella at the end, so Marinette claiming so confidently in "Revelator" that she at first turned down the umbrella is false. Adrien opened it for himself because he was the one standing in the rain for a bit while explaining his perspective:

I sure don't see any umbrellas being turned down here, Marinette. So what exactly are you remembering? Just saying.

From this point onwards, the Adrinette interview is accurate again because 1) it's about the emotional core of it, and 2) well, Adrien is then talking the most because it's about him and Marinette is mostly just adding to it. So, yeah...

Look, I don't wanna say that this is some deep betrayal of love and proof that Marinette's love for Adrien isnt real. Of course not. And again, there is still the chance that the line in question is right in the French original (though, I do gotta say, I doubt it because that would change the natural flow of the conversation)

I just find it interesting that the thing about THE Umbrella scene that Marinette gets wrong is the UMBRELLA itself and how and when it was extended to her.

Cause, well... This is not a documentary. Marinette is not a real life person who can mix some things up without it meaning anything. She's the main character and the main narrative tool of the story.

This is the moment SHE FELL IN LOVE WITH ADRIEN. Pretty much 80% of what she does in this show goes back to this moment. In story-telling practice, yes, her being the one who recalls that moment incorrectly should mean something.

Bad faith reading: it's a major indicator that Marinette is actually not as invested in Adrien and their relationship anymore as she was once upon a time. Her needs and desires have changed and that's causing problems now.

Good faith reading (and I genuinely mean good faith reading. Fucking BEST faith reading, in my opinion):

The details that Marinette gets wrong about the Umbrella scene actually correspond with the ending of "Strike Back" where Marinette's lightning moment happened with Chat Noir:

Cause if you combine Marinette's memories of the Umbrella scene with the Strike Back scene, then, yes, Marinette WOULD remember standing way longer in the RAIN before Adrien eventually came to her:

Not because that's how it factually happened in "Origins", but because she was alone in the rain for a solid bit before Chat Noir arrived in "Strike Back".

But the most important thing is that, if you combine the two lightning scenes, this objectively incorrect line actually checks out again:

Because the moment Marinette fell in love with Chat Noir was about him having extended his hand several times but her having pushed him away and held at arms length:

Marinette in the Umbrella scene didnt turn down Adrien's umbrella. Not only because that simply didnt happen, but also because Adrien only had the opportunity to offer it ONCE which she then immediately took. Chat Noir, on the other hand (is that a pun?), did offer the gesture she then fell in love with more than once, which she initially turned down, but eventually accepted.

So, again, worst faith reading: we were supposed to pick up on Marinette remembering the iconic Umbrella scene incorrectly which is supposed to subtly tell us that life has changed Marinette's feelings for Adrien for the worse because she's simply not the girl she was a year ago and the love she once wanted doesnt fit her needs anymore, so it's fading and getting drowned out.

Best faith reading: It's a subtle hint that the love she once wanted doesnt really fit her needs anymore, but the one that does more and more now is Chat Noir who, as we all know, is Adrien Agreste.

Though, no matter which one it is, one truth remains: Marinette remembered the UMBRELLA SCENE wrong and that means something.

[x-on-the-calendar-business]

ryan ross iceberg tier 3

tier 1, tier 2, tier 4, tier 5, tier 6, tier 7, tier 8

into the waters:

cricket and clover:

also known as the cabin album, this is the scrapped album that panic! wrote in 2007 when they locked themselves in a cabin in nevada (hence the nickname). according to a tweet from jon, 14 songs were written for the album, only 3 of which ever saw the light of day [i]. however, this tweet seems to have been deleted.

one song was folkin’ around, which of course made it onto pretty. odd.

another was nearly witches, which made it on vices & virtues, but the demo version is very different from the official version. you can listen to the demo here [ii].

the last song that we know of from this album is it’s true love. this song was performed once in 2007 at summerfest; unfortunately, the quality isn’t the best [iii]. however, this song still gives good insight into what the album would’ve sounded like, which is very different from fever but similar to pretty odd (although sources state the album still sounded very different from both previous and future works) [iv].

the album was intended to be a concept album, with each song leading into the next story wise. it would tell a love story between two people named cricket and clover [iv].

in 2018, jon also tweeted that he found some cricket and clover demos at his dad’s house, but it seems he does not have the authority to release them [iv]. genius also released a number of song titles, but jon also said that those names were not accurate [i].

we also have this image of ryan’s handwritten lyrics for songs unreleased from the album.

besides these small snippets of information, it’s safe to assume this album will remain lost to time forever, unless someone gives jon the permission to leak the demos (please).

i’m afraid that i:

on the 2006 summer tour, and specifically on live in denver, panic! covered karma police by radiohead. this entry refers to a part of that song in which ryan sings the line “i’m afraid that i.” ryan fans became obsessed with this clip and it’s taken on a life of its own.

you smell like a slut:

this also references a clip from the live in denver dvd. rather than explaining it, i’ll just let the video explain itself.

the moat:

in 2010, ryan tweeted at one of his friends that he could “float in [ryan’s] moat until he gets settled,” implying that ryan has a moat around his house [v].

i also found this panic! confession, but i’m not sure of the legitimacy of the claim nor of the house in the photo actually being the home ryan lived in (i hope it wasn’t) [vi].

eta: i think that actually is his house because in a podcast, he talks about how people have shown up to his house and made him scared to even open the door for the mailman :( with that being said, i removed the original image because i don't feel comfortable having a pic of his house in this (idk if he still lives there, but regardless). it is still in the source i linked if you're really curious, but it should go without saying that no one should show up to his house.

it’s the end of the electric guitar era:

this is a clip from the documentary, the calendar business, in which ryan says he was so frustrated with one of his guitars. so, he said “it’s the end of the electric guitar era” and burned it.

i’ll also link the full documentary here because it’s an interesting watch itself! [vii]

coachella:

for a few years, ryan went to coachella. i know he was definitely at 2015 and 2016, but also maybe 2011 and 2013 [viii].

he was also pictured with cristofer drew at one of them (nevershoutnever) which doesn’t mean anything significant; it’s just an interesting tidbit to me because nsn started my emo phase lmao

gabe saporta:

my king.

gabe saporta, formerly of midtown and cobra starship (both incredible bands that you should check out), was an absolute icon of fueled by ramen bandom. in the presplit days, he and ryan were buddies, as were most bands on that label, but after the divorce ryan got to keep gabe. they used to frequently post on instagram hanging out. we don’t really see them together much these days, but to be fair, ryan disappeared from the internet and gabe is the father of two kids. so i’m sure they’re still friends offline!

there is also this absolutely iconic friends or enemies interview that gabe did with ryan that everyone should watch here [ix] (also guy ripley saying “delicious” in the background at the end means everything to me).

eta: this post was made before gabe made all of those zionist comments about the genocide in palestine, so i feel i should clarify that he is no longer my king and it's free palestine and fuck israel forever :)

vicky t:

victoria asher, professionally known as vicky t, is another former member of cobra starship. she and ryan did hang out in the presplit days of course, but also some in the post split days. it seems she remained friends with all of panic! though.

however, vicky is extremely problematic and transphobic, which is detailed more here [x]. she also works with britney spears these days, and from what i can tell, britney’s fans do not have good things to say about vicky. but this is really not the place to dive into that.

keltie and jac podcast and books:

so kitty from glee and two of ryan ross’ exes start a podcast…

seriously though, keltie knight, jac vanek, and becca tobin run a podcast called lady gang, and ketlie and jac have discussed ryan on it before. in this interview from 2017, they say that they met because of a mutual ex, saying, “he was kind of known for a minute” and, “we don’t speak the name; it’s like voldemort.” [xi]. they also say they’re not sure if he’s still alive, and well…valid. in a tumblr post from 2018, an anon states that keltie talked about selling ryan’s clothes in an episode and that she and jac were saying mean things about him [xii]. also, in this podcast episode from last year, jac and keltie talk about ryan from about 05:25 to 08:10; they wonder if he has a girlfriend and what he is up to now, and keltie talks about how she regrets being messy in the relationship and writing her book, and how she tried to contact him when hobo died [xiii].

i’ve already talked about it some before, but in 2010, keltie released a book called “rockettes, rockstars, and rockbottom.” this book has an entire section dedicated to her relationship with ryan called “the dreamer” – the dreamer being the alias she uses to refer to him throughout. when describing the beginning of their relationship, she talks about how young he was very often, saying he was still a child and that he had a hard time passing for even 14, amongst other examples. as i said in tier 2, the age gap in their relationship was important because of the power dynamics, as evidenced in the book. from what i gather from the book, their relationship was messy, codependent, and, for lack of a better word, toxic. keltie is allowed to talk about her life, but it doesn’t sit right with me that she went into intimate detail about their relationship when ryan is such a private person. ryan was definitely not innocent in this relationship either, though; they both had their issues that they needed to work out on their own rather than keltie trying to fix ryan or him wanting her to. luckily, as i said before, keltie does regret writing the book at least.

if for some reason you’re interested in reading her book, you can find it for free here [xiv]. you just need to make an internet archive account and check it out hourly.

(also a side note that i did in fact listen to lady gang and read keltie’s book for this entry, so please at least give me kudos for that if nothing else)

5th member of 1d:

on march 25, 2015, zayn malik left one direction, and so naturally, people wanted to fuck with their fans. someone edited the official 1d wikipedia page and added ryan under their list of current members. 1d fans on twitter subsequently had meltdowns, exclaiming “WHO IS RYAN ROSS” (i mean c’mon they were in an emotional, vulnerable state). ryan ended up changing his twitter bio to say, “NOT in 1D” and made a tweet about it [xv].

scholarship:

when panic! was first getting its start, ryan received a full scholarship from the university of nevada las vegas for writing. however, he dropped out after one semester to focus on the band, which his dad did not approve of.

he talks about it in live in denver from 58:45 until 59:18 [xvi].

the boy who blocked his own shot:

this is song by brand new off their 2003 album deja entendu (fuck jesse lacey). it’s on this iceberg because ryan loved this song and posted about it on his lj a lot, along with the rest of the album. i know he specifically quoted another song, okay i believe you but my tommy gun don’t, as well.

blinkexists@aol.com:

when ryan was a teenager, this was his email. in fact, it is the email he used to communicate with pete wentz. pete talked about it in this interview with mark hoppus, starting at 02:00 [xvii].

moulin rouge:

this is a movie musical released in 2001 that ryan was obsessed with and one of his favorite movies. i don’t really have any other source for this than trust me bro, but i promise it’s true.

original singer for panic!:

when panic! first started, and even when brendon initially joined the band, ryan was the singer. however, they heard brendon singing back up during brand practice one day and asked him to be the singer rather than the guitarist.

ryan and brendon talk about it some in live in denver from 38:46 to 41:23 [xviii]. specifically my favorite quote from this is, “it felt right to have confident sounding lyrics behind a confident voice.”

(also i’m trying to be objective throughout this but let me just say this for context and transparency: i hate brendon urie LMAO)

guitarist ryan ross declined to be interviewed:

in 2015, billboard published this article for the 10 year anniversary of a fever you can’t sweat out [xix]. they reached out to multiple people to interview for the article, including brendon, jon, pete wentz, producer matt squire, manager scott magelberg, and bob mclynn. underneath this, it says spencer and brent could not be reached. it also says, “guitarist ryan ross declined to be interviewed.” people just thought it was funny because he would decline. he is living the hermit life for real.

so that’s all for tier 3. next we move onto a deeper layer, when i really feel like we get into some stuff the average fan wouldn’t know, which i am excited to delve into. gonna be honest though, it’s gonna be a long one.

tier 4

references:

[i] https://panicatthedisco.fandom.com/wiki/Cricket_%26_Clover

[ii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfsssP9lwII

[iii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNE4U5Yy-BE

[iv] https://lostmediawiki.com/Cricket_and_Clover_(partially_found_scrapped_Panic!_At_The_Disco_album;_2007)

[v] https://failross.livejournal.com/61466.html?thread=1787418

[vi] https://panicconfessions.tumblr.com/page/138

[vii] https://vimeo.com/164855487

[viii] https://twitter.com/search?q=ryan%20ross%20coachella&src=typed_query

[ix] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGe0fR5OM80

[x] https://ocalaghan.tumblr.com/post/157422369150/vickytransphobe-master-post

[xi] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEwgcmUJbkE

[xii] https://pathetic-at-the-disco.tumblr.com/post/171494458406/keltie-talks-about-selling-ryans-clothes-in-one

[xiii] https://www.podcastone.com/episode/LG-QUICKIE-Not-Gonna-Lie-Part-2

[xiv] https://archive.org/details/rockettesrocksta0000coll/mode/2up

[xv] https://www.altpress.com/one_direction_fans_think_ryan_ross_is_joining_the_bandand_theyre_furious/

[xvi] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWcbA2fhHI&t=3466s

[xvii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLD8sHVgEnA

[xviii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLWcbA2fhHI&t=2326s

[xix] https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/panic-at-the-disco-fever-you-cant-sweat-out-oral-history-pete-wentz-brendon-urie-6707864/

[grimmgrinningghouls]

Ugh I'm annoyed at paleoblr again sorry I have to bitch.

"arks bad because its the first google search result when u look up a dinosaur"

Okay well first of all hows that the game itselfs fault?? Like. the devs have zero control over that thats all google. And second of all thats barely even true!! I went ahead and googled some dinosaurs and here are the top results for those, and by top results I mean what appears when you first look at it WITHOUT scrolling.

Tell me. Wheres the ark dino. Where is it. Where are they where are these ark dinos you bitch and moan about CONSTANTLY. I'm not saying this is the case for every single dino in ark theres like 100's of them so I'm not going to google them all and provide a post with like a mile of screenshots.

and if your talking about the wiki or something being the first to pop up. Where. I actually had to go to page two to find the ark wiki for some of them.

"Little kids are being influenced by ark!!"

And? They're little kids. They are no more influenced by ark then they are jurrassic park/world or dinosaur toys. I can't really talk on the nintendo switch dino discoveries game as I haven't actually played it, dino discoveries is the only informational part of ark, and I am not going to pretend I know anything about that.

But are you seriously telling me you're getting upset at children not having accurate dinosaurs? at children being influenced by a popular piece of dinosaur media?? Dude. Chill.

"but people are treating it as a scientific resource!!"

Literally who is doing that. Anyone who does that probably puts their left shoe on their right foot. I extremely active within the ark community, as in extremely, and I have been since the game came out. I have talked to hundreds, possibly even thousands, of different people about dinosaurs on ark now and NOBODY. not a SINGLE person has ever claimed they thought ark was scientific.

Honestly most of us are well aware the arks deeply inaccurate. Its actually mentioned in game several times, most people don't stop to read the notes but one glance at them and the person whos writing them (a paleontologist btw) mentions that all the dinosaurs are wrong and will talk about the sizes being off or other things like that.

"Well they can't just say its not meant to be accurate and call it fine"

Yeah they can actually. Again, most ark players are at least aware of the games many issues and inaccuracies, its something that is regularly discussed amongst the fanartists and lore buffs actually. The most common people who are misinformed by ark are literal children. Get off your fucking high horse.

Honestly most of the stuff I see people bitching about isn't even arks fault. A lot of it is people ripping the models from the game and using them elsewhere, such as when a (very bad) dinosaur documentary stole arks models and used them to spread misinformation. This was not the fault of ark or wildcard, its not their fault other people take their assets and use them in improper ways. I'm fairly certain that if they can they send cease and desist letters to these people anyways.

[aike-territory]

Hi again! Not gonna lie, these days I've been thinking about our beloved Sovereign, and my brain just got that:

Also, yeah, I'm Mexican and live where all the Istmo is set. I spent some good years close to Juchitán, Oaxaca (and most of my school projects were about investigating the culture itself lol) so there's a lot of stuff that I automatically associate with most of Natlan lore.

There's nothing to be embarrassed, really! Your way to analyze the mythology of my country is very accurate, so I don't get offended by it.

The culture in Mexico is full of diversity, and most of the stuff said in one culture, can be similar/the same to other but with different names. A small example of it is with Quetzalcoatl (Mexica/Azteca) and Kukulkan (Mayan) same God, different names. Since Quetzalcoatl's name was known on the center of Mexico (Mexico City), Kukulkan was in southeast Mexico and central America (Península de Yucatán, Chiapas, Tabasco, Guatemala, Belice, Honduras y El Salvador.) So, yeah, it can be confusing sometimes for foreigners and some locals, but with a bit of analysis and searching, you're good 😊👍

The traditional clothing from Oaxaca are lovely coming from a state that has more than 500 municipalities😧 (cities, towns, etc.), and, just as I said before, the diversity is also in one state. Really, you can't see the same thing in the Istmo, and Mixteca, so that's why I only concentrate on one region, but if you want to check the differences more noticeably, you can go and watch the Guelaguetza on YouTube, a huge event to celebrate Oaxaca as a whole! And there would be documentaries in English if you don't understand Spanish, or you can ask me for translation or if you don't understand something without problem, I don't mind☺️

Going back to Xiuhcoatl and how I connect him to those clothes and the feminine symbolism behind it. Just as the women from Juchitán say: "En Juchitán, manda la mujer." The women are the pillars in their culture, the ones who administrate and do everything for the family and community.

So that means that the men don't do anything? They do! But they're always the ones who provides the raw material for the woman to take advantage of it.🤔

I like to link Xiuhcoatl to an Istmeña. The one who does everything by herself and doesn't need help, where her children and their wellbeing are her top priority, and is the one who everyone will follow her orders in a family. You know, it sounds very Xiuhcoatl-coded with his people🫣

About the resplandor/huipil grande, I see the similarities between the Virgin Mary's halo and the resplandor, but it has another meaning. At community celebrations, it is used to highlight the hostess of the party or the important person at the party, so everyone will know who's the center of attention. It also means the phases of a woman, mostly when they're adults, ready to marry and have children, so the motherhood meaning is not so far from the actual meaning!

With the thing that Xiuhcoatl may be inspired by Quetzalcoatl, it's something i find fitting on his character. Both Quetzalcoalt and Xiuhcoalt are seen as feathered serpents (mostly with a theory that, in reality, Quetzalcoalt was a dragon because his description fits with the one of a dragon.) They were mostly in a light/motherly side, with Quetzalcoatl, he was known as a pacifist god, when his battles were mostly because his people were in danger or close to that, giving his protective nature to humanity. But it might also connect that part to Kukulkan (Xiuhcoalt's brother, not the Mayan God in this case hehe) where he hoped for humanity, being seen as a traitor for dragonkind (I guess, might be wrong), just like Quetzalcoatl when he prohibited the human sacrifices, offending other gods and followers of said gods in the process. Hmm, both brothers inspired by the same God😼

With the drawing, I finished my small design, there he is! (+ Some doodles)

Ignore the lazy design of the huipil, I have a love/hate relationship with drawing those flowers lmao. I forgot to put the resplandor, but you can just imagine heh.

I have a small headcanon that his resting face looked like an annoyed/angry one, and his people were a bit intimidated by it, so when Xiuhcoatl noticed the change of behavior of the person, he just smiled, showing his teeth in the process just to be seen as friendly (and accidentally making others fall in love with him... Suddenly my name is "others"🫦)

Hi!! 👋

I've been reading a bit of your opinions of Xiuhcoatl, and I'm starting to think about him as a character (and since there's never enough information about him, heh) I wanted to know how you could describe him?

There's a lot of things that I still find confusing since part of his lore is tied to so many different names that I get lost while reading and analyzing, so I prefer to consult a professional the matter (you 😼)

Me??? A professional??? Jdndjdnd if posting deranged yappings about a character makes one a professional of the character, well, that makes me a pro I guess😅 what can I say, I just love Xiuhcoatl so much.

For starter, I gotta preface the history of our Lord Sovereign the best as I can, as in 5.5, so we all can start from the same page:

1. His History

Xiuhcoatl was one of the Dragon Sovereign, original rulers of Teyvat before the Primordial One coming. He presided over Pyro, and he was the first lifeform that emerged from the Primal Flame. He also had authority over Phlogiston, an advanced form of Pyro and the original form of the seven elements. He probably also the creator of the Iridescent Inscriptions, basically the code used the Phlogiston to do their commands, just like a computer code. According to Kukulkan, Xiuhcoatl was the one that transmitted knowldege, heat, and wisdom to his kind using his horn, an ancient version of the Flamelord's Blessing.

It's heavily implied that Xiuhcoatl aided Nibelung, the leader among the Sovereigns, in the construction of the three moon. The dragon civilization is rumored to have spaceships and space lift, so yeah, it checks. However, with the invasion of the Primordial One, everything went to shit for the Dragons. Nibelung left Teyvat to seek power that could help them fight the Primordial One, and he brought the Forbidden Knowledge a.k.a the Abyss. He and Xiuhcoatl became infected by it, the Primordial One recovered the Irminsul that Nibelung wrecked and turned its root, the ley lines, as "the girdles that protect the planet" as per Kukulkan's words. The Primordial One then imprisoned Xiuhcoatl in the volcano's lava for an unknown period of time, making it Xiuhcoatl's false death.

Xiuhcoatl later awoken, though his body and mind were eroding by the abyssal infection. Knowing his time was limited, he constructed the Tzitzimimeh (Astral Assamblages) that powered the Tollan city and possibly this next device, and the Huitzilopochtli, the device that could evaporate the world into nothingness, and according to Xiuhcoatl, evolve everyone. It's still unknown whether the white agony we could saw in the quest alternate ending is really Xiuhcoatl's intended aim, but we'll talk about it later. He also constructed the prototype Secret Source Servant, the biggest one, to manage the phlogiston flow and the city's information. The other little critters we see in the area are his descendant's creations, based on his.

During these devices construction, the Dragons managed to knock back the Primordial One's forces back to the "mountain valley", however, the Primordial One itself was sleeping, and could wake up and fight back later.

Yet Xiuhcoatl's mind and body eventually devolved enough to lost his memories and turned him into a 'walking corpse'. Kukulkan left the dragonkind and turned his hope towards humanity, giving them the knowlegde of the Phlogiston. The human forces then managed to invade the Tollan Volcano, killed the Dragonlords, and finally, Xbalanque fought Xiuhcoatl. Xbalanque managed to pierce Xiuhcoatl's eyes, one of which is the control hub of the Huitzilopochtli. They died together in the fight, but Xbalanque was revived, seemingly by Ronova. Xbalanque then stole Xiuhcoatl's Pyro Authority, ascended as the first Pyro Archon, and made a pact with Xiuhcoatl by splitting the eye used as Huitzilopochtli's control hub as to keep the peace between the dragons and humankind.

Several millenias passed, came the journey of our traveler. Natlan was in an all-out war against the Abyss, led by Gosoythoth. In the story's climax, Gosoythoth took the form of Xiuhcoatl by harvesting his leftover memories/conciousness in the ley lines. The traveler and Mavuika defeated Gosoythoth, and thus putting our noble sovereign to rest.

That's the end of Xiuhcoatl's story... for now...

Wowie that's a long-ass read😅 sorry if it's confusing to read instead. I tried my best😓

2. His Physical Appearance

We already have murals and the namecard of of his dragon form so I can't say much about it. (Why he looked similar to Nibelung is a whole another question.) But if you ask me how I imagine his human form... well... I imagine him to look... feminine.

"Radaedan are you a femboy liker-" jhdndnssjs I have proofs you know! You see, other confirmed Dragon Sovereigns have motherhood theming to them. Which makes sense, since they are the original rulers of the world, Teyvat's real "parents", in this post for more elaboration.

Also, we have to get his twin duality with his twin brother Kukulkan. Twins in mesoamerican cultures are considered holy. They represent duality of life, two halves of a whole, and it often manifested in their power, names, physical appearences, and/or gender. Take the Maya Hero Twins, Xbalanque and Hunahpu for example. The whole sun/moon aside, some experts speculate that Xbalanque's name has feminine connotation in it. In fact, there's a whole debate regarding the Xbalanque’s true gender. You can find it here. So, I like to imagine Kukulkan filling the masculine role, while Xiuhcoatl filled the feminine role.

And then there's this whole Tzitzimimeh and Huitzilopochtli. The Tzitzimimeh in the Aztec mythology could be described as star demons, devouring humans during bad time and such. But they are also protector of pregnant women, mothers, and children. One of the goddesses of these Tzitzimimeh is Coatlicue, mother of Huitzilopochtli, his sister the moon goddess Coyolxauhqui, and his brothers the star gods Centzon Huītznāuhtin. According to the legend, Coatlicue was impregnanted by unnatural mean, and thus was attacked by her daughter Coyolxauhqui and the Centzon. To protect his mother, Huitzilopochtli bursted from her womb already grown up and armored and defeated his sister and brothers. Considering his moon and stars theming (the creation of the Astral Assamblages, his namecard describe him as "awaiting beneath the moonlight", him probably aided in the moons construction) and him being the creator of the Huitzilopochtli to fight the Abyss (Abyss itself also has many stars and moon theming), it's safe to say that Xiuhcoatl is also based after Coatlicue. See this post regarding the Tzitzimimeh and Xiuhcoatl, though it's a little aged.

Now to the physical details... I imagine him to have long hair, having green feathers instead of ears like Kukulkan, and dressed with huipil, a common mesoamerican women clothing. During his prime, his human form would like to have elaborate hair-dos and lavishly colored huipilis, but when his mind and body degraded he would let his hair loose and his clothing more simpler and worn out. (Yk, Neuvillette treated his elaborate clothing as "inconvenient, but I must reflect my station", so I like to imagine that Xiuhcoatl genuinely enjoyed dressing up to the nine.)

[Aztec woman, Codex Tudela. Source: Mexicolore]

[Not Aztec but Tlaxcaltec, but you get the idea. Source: Kamazots on Deviantart]

[Source: above;Daniel Parada, Mexicolore. Below; Wikipedia "Mestizo". The yellow boxed above and below is my personal favorite. It's so cute (why tf tumblr fuck the image's quality oh my God I'm so sorry guys)]

Like, do you see the vision.

"All that I see is that you just exposed yourself as a femboy liker-" ItS jUst mY pERsOnaL OPinIOn!!!😠😭

Alternatively, please see this absolutely amazing design by @kajenus ! They're so lovely, and my king is so handsome I want to cry😭 please do check it. They also have a theory that the Sovereigns look similar to the first generation of archons, and I agree. (Haha imagine if Xbalanque saw my Xiuhcoatl's human form and gets a heart attack because Xiuhcoatl looks similar to his mother.)

3. His Personality

Now here's the most fanficky territory (I digress, the previous one is😅) get ready to get brain aneurysm from my wacky interpretations.

From what we saw from the wq, it's obvious that he loved his kin and people deeply, no doubt about that. And his resilience, ingenuity, loyalty, such and such. Sooooooo, I only want to focus on his flaws and bad traits here. Namely: (parental) entitlement and the "saviour complex" mentality.

"Entitlement? Wtf are you talking radaedan" shhh listen first. You know how the Dragon civilization worshipped him so much, even when he was reduced to nothing but a walking corpse? Do you think that kind of behaviour sprouted out of nowhere? No, I think, intentionally or not, Xiuhcoatl nourished that behaviour.

Honestly, when I read this, I kinda got reminded of my mom😅 have you ever got into a fight with your parents, you're trying to sound logical and cool, and then they slapped you with, "I'm your parent, how dare you talk back to me like that!" Or even worse, when they pulled, "Oh, just wait until I'm dead, you're going to regret this!"

I think, for all Xiuhcoatl's love for his kin and his people, he felt entitled for them to love him back.

With all his motherhood theming, I think it would be deliciously angsty if he had that parental entitlement. Yeah, he suffered a lot. Yeah, he sacrificed a lot for his people. Yeah, he loved them so much. But... for them to love him back, they have to be completely obedient and always worshipful of him.

Maybe that was an exaggeration, but you know, even Kukulkan complained about it. Heck, it was one of his driving forces to steer his hope to humanity instead.

A Somewhat Strange "Person": Instead, this is what I believe — that we dragons are too powerful. We are a race imprisoned by force. The weak worship the strong, sons follow their fathers, peons serve their sovereigns. A Somewhat Strange "Person": Races that by nature pursue power are bound by the very power that all too clearly orders their societies. A Somewhat Strange "Person": After the Pyro Dragon's [Xiuhcoatl] faked death, all that the descendants of the ancients knew was to kowtow before the throne, watching our civilization deteriorate by the day, marching inexorably towards decline. - "Moment of Awakening" Quest

Xiuhcoatl was the Sovereign. He was the top of the Dragon Society. Yet, he let this "weakness" of the dragon societies grew. The weak followed the strong. Then Xiuhcoatl was the strongest among them. And he wanted them to follow him without question.

You know, there's a term in feminist theory called "benevolent patriarchy". The term refers to a system that oppressed women while insisting they did it to protect women. The "strong" men occupied all important works in society and limit women's opportunities because women are more "fragile/special/in need for special condition". "It's a really hard work, so you know, you women have it pretth lucky because you don't need to lift a finger!" It's almost parental in its opression. Women are helpless children who must be protected by their parents (men), so it is natural that they don't have voice, sort of.

For the dragon society's case, it goes like this; Xiuhcoatl (and the dragon elites) was the "strong man". He mulled and beated himself to death to search a way for his kin to survive. It's a hard work, and it really is a mercy for the dragonborns that their Sovereign took the burden as his and his alone. They didn't need to think for themselves, needed not to seek the path for themselves, because everything had been decided by their "benevolent" Lord. So really, all they needed to do is just listen to him and do as he says.

Father did everything for them, so they better listen to his orders.

And where does it get them? A fractured society, obsessed to be the most strong and most loyal to their dying Sovereign. Who worshipped the zombie king in his altar instead of unifying their forces and seek the solution by themselves.

This heavily tied to Xiuhcoatl's another flaw (that I perceived); his "Savior Complex".

This is not the first time a lore character showcased that complex. I've mentioned once that the Narzissenkreuz questline foreshadowed Natlan. I want to elaborate more; I think Xiuhcoatl have many similarities with Rene de Petrichor.

Both are geniuses and having obsession to save everyone using the collective sea of conciousness. They did love their people/loved ones, but that love was twisted through their "I-gotta-fix-this-alone-without-anyone's-help". Rene's savior complex stemmed from his childhood. He often played the "dragon" to Alain's "knight". In a way, all the bullshit he did was a recreation of their childhood; Rene playing the part of the "evil dragon" so he could save everyone.

With Natlan’s heavy symbolism with stories... and how our Little One remarked during the final battle against the "evil dragon" of the 5.5 world quest (paraphrasing because I forgot to screenshot😭): "It's how the stories go; fighting the evil dragon in the end..." The connections couldn't be more obvious, isn't it?

Wowie this is a very long ass read. But tl;dr: I think Xiuhcoatl was a fatherly person, but too much for his own and his people's good, bordering on savior complex. He did love them, but that love mean imposing the burden of the dragon society upon himself without letting his people help him or discuss any alternate solutions with them. A self-made tragedy, in a way.

He was also a femboy- HUH WHO SAID THAT WHAT BLASPHEMY DIFAMATION OFF YOU GO TO JAIL-

Thanks for the ask! Hope this fit your intended question! Have a nice day/night wherever you are!

[gffa]

I do get that Star Wars fans can be quite anti-religious in their views of the Jedi, but I think that also might be because the actual religious aspects of the Jedi aren't really expanded too much on, so people fill it with what they know, and many people are just very familiar with Christianity,  even if they don't want to be.

I agree with this a lot.  Star Wars doesn’t really explicitly state very often that the Jedi are a religion and a culture, which is further confused by their connection to the Senate, and that we don’t really have a perfect real-world analogy to compare them to.  They’re not purely a government agency, but their culture is one that is tied to the government. It’s further complicated by that we’re primed by so many other popular media franchises basing their religions on the way Christianity works, both in terms of structure and in how we relate to it--like how we have the idea that, if you’re religious, well, your faith must be the same as your morals, which must be the same as your ethics, which is something that I don’t think the Jedi believe. They say, “Feel your emotions, but control yourself before you hurt someone.” and “We’re married to our Order, rather than to a specific person.” and they don’t believe these things are fundamental truths about the way the galaxy should work, but instead that it’s how they work.  We know they don’t believe this has to be true for everyone because they speak really warmly of people who leave to go live other types of lives--they defend Dooku right up until it’s undeniable that he’s leading the Separatists, they have busts of people who’ve left right there in their library, they get along with people who left to go fall in love (Star Wars 2015 ongoing), they talk warmly about how they can go on to be leaders or just quietly live their own lives (Dooku: Jedi Lost) and all of it is said with respect. So, because we’re so used to religious people framing their beliefs as morals and ethics, we’re primed to think the Jedi do the same, despite that they very clearly don’t. As well as most people default to Christianity because that’s what we’re primed to do, as well as there’s a fairly common thing in a lot of fandoms where influences are treated the same as portrayals of something.  That, if something is inspired or influenced by a real-world culture, then it’s meant to be judged by the idea that it’s a 1:1 relationship to that element.  Which I don’t think is fair--because the Jedi are influenced by Buddhism and Christianity both, but they are not meant to actually be either one of those, they’re not meant to be an accurate portrayal of them, they’re meant to be their own thing. George Lucas has talked about how Star Wars isn’t really tied to one religion, it’s an amalgamation of common themes throughout multiple religions, which I really enjoy, as it gets me to see the Jedi in and of themselves, not as a bastardization of this or that. But it doesn’t help that the movies, TCW, and even the supplementary material doesn’t really do a ton of worldbuilding, so we’re often left to fill in the blanks with assumptions and half-explained stuff, because the Jedi (and I actually really love this about them, but it can be super frustrating) seem to follow George’s belief that the way you teach isn’t to drill-and-kill (ie, rote memorization/over explaining) your students, but to let them figure stuff out on their own, to provide guidance, but let them work through it, so that they’ll remember what they learned. Which translates into the Jedi don’t really directly say a lot of stuff we might wish they would--they say stuff that’s strange to the audience (there’s an OT documentary where George talks about writing Yoda’s dialogue as deliberately wonky so that the audience would have to really think about what he said and parse it out for themselves), they don’t fire back with more plainly stated rebuttals to stuff.  Ie, the whole “brainwashing” thing could be shut down with a simple, “So, any culture who raises their children within that culture are brainwashing them, too, huh?”, but that’s not how the Jedi talk, look at Qui-Gon in the deleted scene from The Phantom Menace, where Anakin is beating up little Greedo and Qui-Gon interrupts to stop it, and asks if Greedo still thinks Anakin cheated.  He does.  Anakin knows the truth about himself, though, so he has to make peace with that Greedo disagrees.  I find that sort of sums up the Jedi a lot, they know themselves and so they don’t feel the need to snap back with retorts, even when I sometimes dearly wish they would.  (It has to get reasonably serious before a Jedi will go, “Hey, that’s not a fair accusation, back off.”) And that means it’s a lot harder for me to point out a specific thing and go, “Here’s what’s really going on.” and instead have to show a pattern of behavior and connect a bunch of WOG quotes together and it winds up being a lot of reading, even when I can make a pretty thorough case. But because we don’t have a ton of actual worldbuilding (seriously, we barely know anything about how Jedi life works), we’re left to headcanon things or make assumptions and because it’s not filled in very well, it gets easy to lean on what we’re used to seeing in other franchises and popular media. Hell, even all of the above is only really the tip of the iceberg when it comes to talking about this kind of stuff, because we’re not even getting into the way societal trends can influence us, the way sub-societal trends can come in waves, the way there’s a multitude of different groups coming in with different experiences that shape different view points, and a crapload of other things. Honestly, I’m not sure even all of the people who are creators (like of the comics and novels and such) really think of the Jedi in terms of them being a religion and a culture, rather than just like a long-term boarding school, because there’s precious little in the actual canon that states it plainly and, instead, it’s more about how you step back and look at the bigger picture.  That you see them raising children, you see them creating art, you see them with sacred rituals and history, you see them with traditions and prayers, you see them with an aesthetic that’s specific to them, you see them with their own words for the aspects of their culture that are unique to them, etc.  And you realize, oh, yes, that is absolutely a religion and a culture unto itself. (As a disclaimer, this doesn’t apply to everyone, SW audiences are not a monolith, I’m only speaking to my own experiences and progression as a SW fan and experiences in previous fandoms with some bigger inter-fandom trends.)

[theunmappedstar]

might i add! sophie has a 4k t.v. (don't ask how) and whenever her boys are sick, she finds new netflix shows to binge. keefe and fitz l o v e it. some of their favorites are stranger things, i am not okay with this, and love is blind. don't ask me why those shows. i don't know.

yes!! this is important!!

sophie would love being able to keep up with an aspect of human culture and everyday life – and fitz and keefe would love getting involved, too! human media and entertainment is drastly different from any elvin productions they’ve seen – by far. humans are a lot more… dark? and violent? but…. it’s intriguing. fitz isn’t keen on r-rated movies, though, because the violence gets Very graphic. keefe can only stomach a few. sophie’s kinda just Used to it

i feel like fitz would be into (some) documentaries and movies based on true events. he’s a knowledge sponge, guys! an adorable little nerd! he loves to learn about prominent figures in human culture and pieces of their history. it intrigues him. (and sometimes terrifies him. seriously, how are humans so violent?)

still, even if it gives him a bit of a stomach-ache sometimes, he always appreciates the effort put into the film.

think The Act, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, Miss Americana (Netflix), Gaga: Five Foot Two (Netflix), RBG, Apollo 11, Bohemian Rhapsody… 

also fitz watches Animal Planet and other series similar to it because he loves animals don’t @ me.

okay but fitz is also a sucker for rom-coms and coming-of-age stories

he loves the movies where teenagers find their way in life. he loves the movies where the characters find their soulmate. he loves the tropes and the cliches and the coffee shops. he loves the sweet and sappy movies. and honestly? the cheesier the better.

a few of those get on keefe’s nerves, but for the most part keefe also likes them. (yet, he won’t admit it).

think 16 Wishes, Mean Girls (keefe really likes that one, too), Eighth Grade, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (Netflix), Love, Simon, I Am Not Okay With This (Netflix)….

mystery/thrillers are also hella rad!! fitz loves picking out one and playing a game with sophie and keefe. they want to see who can guess the plot twist or killer first – and whoever can wins a favor (sound familiar ;) )

think Get Out, Black Mirror (Netflix), Gone Girl, Knives Out, Misery, Black Swan…

while fitz is into more psychological thrillers, keefe likes anything and everything generically dubbed ‘freaky’. (he thinks pennywise is pretty cool. he draws him once and sophie is both amazed and off-put by how realistic it looks)

sophie’s pretty into the horror category herself, so her and keefe can empathize on the interest. fitz is downright confused as to how they could enjoy something like that. (if it’s movie time and keefe or sophie picks one of those, fitz claims the Middle Cuddle Spot so that he’s cushioned between the two of them and can easily hide under the covers or their arms.)

keefe also likes comedy, action, chick-flicks, drama, (some) musicals… you know, this boy can basically roll with anything. does he have his favourites? yes. but can he settle down and watch something with sophie and fitz that he wouldn’t normally choose? also yes

think Megamind, Lost In Space (Netflix), Good Girls (Netflix), The Dragon Prince (Netflix), Into The Spiderverse, Pitch Perfect, Mamma Mia!, Easy A, Dirty Dancing, Us….

let’s state the obvious – keefe and fitz are both into disney. especially disney princess movies. 

and i’m serious about that!!! not as a joke, like, “oh, haha, they like the princess movies?”

yes bitch they like the princess movies

keefe’s favourite is probably Tangled. 

flynn rider is suave and has keefe’s charm/humor! maximus is tough and snarky when you meet, but he can soften up, and keefe relates to that! pascal knows how to put up a fight! and rapunzel herself is brave and adventurous and there for the people she cares about; and that’s all keefe has ever wanted to do. (also wielding a frying pan as a weapon is badass)

also, as much as it might hurt to say it, keefe relates to rapunzel, the abuse she suffered, and the trap she was in. the strong storyline and accurate depiction hits home.

fitz’s is probably Frozen. he loves the sisterly action they have going there, okay?? like how badass is anna? how badass is elsa? how badass are these women together?

sophie’s is Mulan. she’s such a strong and powerful role model to look up to! and the humor is PEAK.Mulan is also from sophie’s childhood, so that makes it even more special. the fact that she gets to share it with keefe and fitz…. magical.

also sophie lowkey wants to follow in mulan’s footsteps and slice her hair into a bi bob with a sword. see this post of mine ; )

sci-fi gets all of them. they like the adventure and the morals in the stories, the warnings for the future. they like the undiscovered planets, the tricky tech, and the general imagination that went into producing it. 

think The Matrix, Star Wars, Alien, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avatar, Tau (Netflix), Wall-E, I Am Mother (Netflix), Ready Player One…

they all have some shared favourite movies and shows, though, where their tastes align.

 think Stranger Things (Netflix) (they find it seriously freaky and amusing how similar it is to them/their situation), Once Upon a Time (these are the fairytales sophie grew up learning about?), Dark (Netflix) (does it get much better than time travel??), She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (Netflix) (again!! badass women galore!! it’s awesome!!), the OA (Netflix) (it’s shrouded with mystery), the Rain (Netflix) (this one is a big adventure!!), the Umbrella Academy (Netflix) (i mean, c’mon, they have to save the world from the apocalypse, isn’t that pretty rad in and of itself?), A Quiet Place (this one… fucking brilliant. they’re all dead silent as they watch it and it’s such a powerful movie that they feel weird making sound when it finishes… they watch it again and again and again.), Onward (it’s adorable as FUCK and keefe may cry a little everytime they watch it)…

so, yeah! keefe and fitz really appreciate human media (and it especially comes in handy when they’re sick)

but let’s all admit it…. sometimes human productions are extremely Stupid and low-budget/general low-quality. 

so, there’s always fun in picking out a movie or show to laugh/cringe at because it’s just that bad.

take this one chinese television series on netflix

it seriously looked good. it did.

but then they watched it.

it went well at the start but then?? the main love interest?? was just an asshole??

and why did the protag continue to put up with his bullshit?? he punched the wall next to her face until his knuckles were bleeding?? she was crying?? oh and he kissed her repeatedly when she said stop??? oh and now he threw food at her that she spent time making for him???? sophie??? what the absolute fuck are humans on????

the show’s called Meteor Garden (Netflix)

[edengarden]

Hello and if asks are still open may I have a regular match up for BNHA?

Name: Nox

Gender: FTM

Occupation: Student (16 almost 17 yrs old. Jan 4th is b-day)

Sexual orientation: Omniromantic Asexual (male/masculine leaning)

Quirk: Transformative/Mutant, "Zoologic shift" (This quirk allows the individual(s) to transform into multiple animals, but the individual has to have a emotional/special connection or feeling towards the animal and to know it's physical structure to properly shift into the said animal (mythical/made up creatures can be acquired but it is extremely difficult due to the fact of anatomy and bone structure). The user only has a limited time to be in their animal form before they start going feral, if the person is angry or has a different strong negative emotion in animal form, the fast they can become feral (once the user becomes feral they will not remember anything until they have calmed down or are somehow distracted), if the user becomes feral for too long they will not be able to transform back unless they are hurt tremendously or their hatred may take a physical form and eventually kill them from the inside (I guess look at the demons from Princess Mononoke to get an idea of what that is).)

Animals acquired: White Dire wolf, Raven, Orca, Clydesdale, Black Mamba, Barn Owl, Russian Blue House cat, Ram, Fire Dragon, Phoenix, Snake Basalisc

At least 3 positive attributes:

Empathetic (emotional and animal, riots and civil conflict bring me to tears as well as I can feel my friends' pain I and want to cuddle ever dog, cat, etc. I see)

Intelligent (at least in certain subjects like language, art, biology, and physical/hero training), serious (it may come off as intemidation but I just usually mess around)

Diplomacy (I try to avoid any physical fights that can but I will fight as a last resort)

Calm (in most situations I try to keep a level head and it works since when most people need serious help they come to you for advice or to vent)

Justful (kinda speaks for itself)

Soft Blunt and Soft Honest (I am honest with people as well as blunt, but I am not mean or hurtful when I say it)

At least 3 negative attributes:

Anger issues (even though usually calm and serious, when pushed over the edge I can become furious and using my quirk will not help at all)

Self sacrificing (since due to personal circumstances I have started to put other people above me (my friends mostly) and I would do anything, even get myself physically or emotionally hurt for them. It is sorta in a way for having approval for those I care about but mostly is just showing that I care for the people I care about)

Self deprecating with imposter syndrome (it's mostly a form of humor, but I take it far enough where people start to worry)

Dark humor (idk I just like it)

Confrontational (if someone confronts and tries to provoke me I will tell them off but never physically fight back)

Self Righteous (The righteousness is good but usually my self righteousness comes up when it comes to someone's safety or when revenge and anger cloud my judgement)

Children (I don't care for children, but I'm afraid my anger will get the best of me and I'll lash. So that's why I stay away from kids as much as possible for tr he fear of accidentally hurting innocence)

Hahahaha...daddy issues...

Hobby(ies):

Hiking in the woods

Drawing (it's usually vented or dark in some way, but sometimes I like drawing people and animals or characters)

Cosplaying

Cooking

cApTuRinG sOuLs-

Learning about Witchcraft/Supernatural/Celestial

Music Taste:

Lofi

Anti-Nightcore/Nightcore

Viking Chants

Sea Shanties

Celtic instrumentals

Death metal

Instrumental

Old Rock

Classical

Bands/song writers: Skillet, SKÁLD, Faun, Black Briar, MARETU, Steampianist, Temporex, Penelope Scott, Mirical Music, Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, Angel Maker, Forest Music, Panic! At the Disco, MESA works design, , Harrison (not too much into bands but here are the general ones I listen too)

Appearance

Eyes: Brown/Black has bags under eyes

Hair: Red (henna dyed), it's frizzy at the tips and it's long (cab length) and thick (I hate it's length, but parents...)

Skin: Pale (warm tone)

Body type: In between Skinny and overweight, wide shoulders, actually muscular

Anything else?: Teeth have tiny canines, sometimes can have wolf ears and tail showing, kinda thick thighs-, 5'6ish, usually wearing school uniform. Hero uniform includes a black Cape with under it being a black mechanical suit that is bullet and elemental proof, boots are sharp and steel toed resembling a wolf's paw, wears a head mask that looks wolfish as well in the front but in the back of the mask has fur in the back (look towards some reference of the princess mononoke headgear) (not completely like a wolf but sorta resembles one), the mask also helps with muffled hearing and sight because I am sensitive to those things.

Traits I look for S/O: Empathetic, kind, cooperative, someone who also finds comfort in darkness or the shade, someone that knows how to take things seriously but also having a humors side, trusting and loyal, someone that can work with others (I'm usually a loner but I try to work with others), someone that would at least like to have a relationship that includes physical affection (I am a touched starved peep-), I guess someone that works, likes, or even somehow resembles an animal, some that doesn't get angry easily and is patient, introvert an extrovert doesn't matter to be (I guess if I had to choose maybe someone in between the 2?), and I guess someone that just tolerates my presence and doesn't or call me a piece of shit.

Traits I cannot be around with a S/O: Anger...I can't be around angry people because they scare me to the point I become panicked, people that work towards apathy (I may be empathetic but with someone that can't or won't return the same comfort when needed, they exhaust me), untrusting, someone who is a dick to everyone except me (it just seems suspicious and hurtful), someone who is closed minded, someone that has joy in hurting other maliciously, someone who loves bright lights/areas/lives by the sun, guess someone who wants a 24/7 therapist (again it can become exhausted and I know how it is...it isn'tthat nice.)

Star sign: Capricorn (sun), Gemini (moon), Cancer (rising)

Personality type: INTJ, Lawful Neutral

HP House: Hufflepuff that isn't afraid to kickass

Fun facts!:

I'm somewhat of an animal whisperer

Obsessed with herbs and Crystals

I know it seemed edgy with my hatred towards light, but in all honesty the late does infact bother and irritate me, especially when it's hot

Intrested in the celestial and supernatural

I look at horror and nature documentaries

I've trained my dog to come when I howl

I guess if loving spicy food counts as a fun fact then count that in

Ehhhhh...switch sub-

cAndLe bOi-

I must apologize if this is a lot, I just wanted the matchup as accurate as possible, but again thank you for having the ask box open and I hope you have a good day!

Honestly while I read your description, all I could think of was Tokoyami!

I think it’s pretty obvious why?? You two share a lot of things in common. The two of you are very calm individuals, and I can see you both being voices of reason not only to the people surrounding you, but to each other as well. In a way, I think you can even tend to challenge each other and even push (to a healthy extent) the other to become the best version of themselves.

The VIBE you two have. It’s almost too good. And while Tokoyami isn’t affectionate in public, he’d be more than happy to indulge in your starvation for touch behind closed doors! Don’t tell anyone, but he’s a straight up cuddlebug. And I can totally see him digging the spiritual/celestial stuff?? Maybe he won’t actually know anything, but he’d be so hyped if you were willing to teach him omg I can totally see this as your go-to type of date, that’s so sweet 🥺

Songs!!

- Breathe (In the Air), Pink Floyd (I honestly see you and Tokoyami straight up vibing to Dark Side of the Moon like no other to be honest)

- In the Lap of the Gods, Queen

- Sense of Doubt, David Bowie (THIS VIBE IS SO DARK AND URGH I CAN SEE THIS AS A V I B E FOR YOU TWO - However, Neuköln could be a close second to portray this vibe!)

- Killing a Little Time, David Bowie

[lastsonlost]

When developer DICE revealed thatBattlefield V would feature playable female soldiers, depicting them as fighting on the front lines of World War 2, there was a swift and predictable backlash. Taking issue on the grounds of historical accuracy, there was a particular group of players who vehemently argued that women almost never served in regular combat on the Western Front.

Less predictable was the fact that Creative Assembly would make a point of changingTotal War: Rome 2, now several years into its life, to feature female generals. Again, a games studio found itself criticized by players who argued that women leading armies in the classical world isn’t historically accurate. What distinguishes these controversies in a landscape that too often features routine harassment of women working in games and complaints about feminist perspectives making their way into more and more corners of gaming is that, in both these cases, the complaints had a grain of truth to them. Both DICE and Creative Assembly were choosing depictions of history that were debatably ahistorical. In each case where we find appeals to "historical accuracy," however, we also encounter the flaws with historical accuracy as a concept. It's a term that supposes the existence of an objectively knowable past, a view which hurts more than it helps when it comes to understanding history.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance was staked much of its identity and setting on this idea of there being something concrete and quantifiable about the distant past. But in reality this was less proof of the game's commitment to historical accuracy than a refusal to question its own biases when it came to the ethnic and sociological history of Europe. In every case, we find an appeal to history as an objective source of truth and judgement about the past. This is naive. The fact is that history—how we view it, the stories we tell about it, the things depicted as normal as opposed to aberrations—is highly political.

The practice of history involves drawing from a pool of documentary sources to form arguments about the past. They’re always based on factual evidence, but these arguments are necessarily subjective. In other words, they’re profoundly colored by our politics. We’re all biased in some way, shape, or form. This explains why people often come to completely different conclusions after examining the same sources of evidence.

And that's where we tend to find backlashes. Consider Company of Heroes 2, which sparked an historical accuracy controversy when it came out in 2013. It wasn't a battle fought by transparently reactionary antifeminists, but was instead about some very real divergences in opinion about how historical evidence and statements should be interpreted.

Complete a few campaign missions inCompany of Heroes 2 and you’ll notice that soldiers are often shot by their own officers when told to retreat. Based on Joseph Stalin’s Order 227—the infamous "not one step back" directive that attempted to stiffen the resistance of a Red Army that was thrown back on its heels by the German invasion—this mechanic is definitely grounded in factual evidence.

The feature still presents a fairly problematic perspective on the past, though. Since retreating soldiers in the game are shot by communist commissars, the argument in Company of Heroes 2seems to be that Order 227 was the product of a political regime which failed to motivate its people. The systematic implementation of this mechanic also implies that Order 227 was routinely carried out. In this the game is echoing (sometimes explicitly) the most famous and dubious scenes in Enemy at the Gates, which depicts "blocking detachments" of Soviet machine gunners who massacre retreating soldiers There’s reason to believe that none of these assertions is entirely accurate. Stalin for example couched Order 227 in the language of patriotism as opposed to oppression; the passage about shooting soldiers for cowardice is one of a series of possible measures that the order allows for, along with more pedestrian measures like cashiering underperforming officers. Reports from the battlefield also indicate that retreating soldiers were rarely shot on the frontlines.

The developer behind Company of Heroes 2, Relic, was immediately criticized for this feature. Pointing to such debatable assertions, a particular group of players called on the company to change the campaign. Relic responded by claiming to have done its due diligence in terms of research. In other words, the developer believed that its game was historically accurate, and had its own evidence to back up its assertions. Who was right?

Though they drew different conclusions from the same sources, the fact is that both sides made valid arguments. The involved parties definitely saw things from opposing political perspectives, though, and wanted to emphasize different aspects of the story of Soviet resistance to German invasion. While some people saw it as evidence for an oppressive and inhumane regime, others took Order 227 as an appeal to patriotism in a time of desperate need, and argued that it was a disservice to the memory of the Red Army to depict its soldiers as being motivated largely by the constant fear of execution. Both views have evidence for them, and each view tends to diminish the valid points raised by the other. Your own interpretation may depend more on whether you're more interested in emphasizing the legacy of Stalinism or the combat performance of the Red Army.

What we choose to emphasize and what we tend to erase was at the heart of theTotal War: Rome 2 controversy. Creative Assembly decided to feature female generals in Total War: Rome 2 nearly five years after the game was released. Play with the latest patch, in other words, and you’ll soon see women leading an army. The change was purely cosmetic (and was itself a knock-on effect from how Creative Assembly revamped how family political dynasties worked).

Were there actually women in command? There are some cases: We know for example that Hatshepsut led an army in Egypt. Boudica did in Britain, too. While these were both powerful women, they were still members of what were probably patriarchal societies. But as an archaeologist with a background in Classics and Egyptology, I have to admit that female generals in the ancient world were probably few and far between. Convincing evidence to the contrary simply can’t be found. Women sometimes wound up on the battlefield, but they seem to have rarely taken up arms under normal circumstances.

The decision to feature female generals inTotal War: Rome 2 came under fire almost immediately. Players were soon calling attention to this nearly complete lack of evidence. Some of them wanted women removed. Responding to the mounting controversy, Creative Assembly stated that it saw the feature as being historicallyauthentic in a game that's never been exactly historically accurate. Since powerful women like Hatshepsut and Boudica prove that men weren’t always in command, there’s definitely an argument to be made that more female generals may have existed than we actually know about. Perhaps their deeds were simply never documented.

There isn’t actually much that we can say for sure about the past. History is mostly a matter of interpretation of available evidence (which itself is constantly evolving as new sources come to light). Some are better supported than others based on the available evidence, but interpretations of this variety are necessarily subjective. History is in, other words, political. It is under constant reconsideration as we attempt to correct blind spots and recover evidence or make hypotheses about what our sources don't tell us, or about what their own biases or blind spots may have been.

Does this mean that we can’t say anything about history? The fact is that we can only grasp at what actually happened by examining a variety of biased opinions and incomplete evidence about the past. This means that it can even be a good thing when games create a bit of historical controversy. Players just need to be open to seeing the past from a new perspective

There are also points where a more accurate depiction of a single aspect of history ends up fueling a legacy of erasure and indifference. If the choice is between a game in which women do not exist because historically they were largely excluded from playing an active role in a setting, and a game which embraces anachronism in order to include them, which is more important? Which depiction gets history "right"? It's also revealing that battles about "historical accuracy" so often about race and gender, and never about things like armies of Ptolemaic Egypt looking more like they belong in Age of Mythology than Total War, or the fact that Battlefield V shows V-1 rockets being used as tactical support weapons in 1940? What's being protected here is not the actual reality of the past (few players complain when ancient combat is made so fantastical it looks more like Lord of the Rings or The 300) but a popular historical memory that has consistently valorized Great Men and Martial Glory and ignored just about everything and everyone else.

The fact is that arguments about the past are often arguments about the present. Becoming a battleground for normative assertions about contemporary society, history stops being about what actually happened. We sometimes use and abuse it for our own purposes. In the case of Total War: Rome 2, the issue at stake was actually gender equality, and the way a popular game about the past has tended to depict the role of women (or not depict it). The same could be said for the controversy about Battlefield V.

Developers aren’t directly accountable to players for their political perspectives. They’re actually free to frame history however they like. Game makers have been doing this for as long as there have been games.

With its detailed depictions of the past,Assassin’s Creed is bound to come up in almost any discussion about historical accuracy in games. The developer behind the franchise, Ubisoft, creates incredibly realistic environments. Walk around Athens in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and you’ll soon see what I mean. The characters aren’t quite as convincing, though. Kassandra for example seems to reflect remarkably contemporary cultural values. Women may have been relatively empowered in Sparta, but there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that they were almost completely disenfranchised in every other part of ancient Greece. Could we call Kassandra historically accurate? This kind of question really misses the point.

Kassandra is a reflection of what Ubisoft wants the world to be—not the way it was.

[mushroomjawn]

Listen....... No one asked me to do this but I've been thinking about / discussingwhy I and many others find the good omens fandom uh.. let's say "inhospitable", despite enjoying the source content (somewhat. I mean lbr it was like fine).

Disturbingly, it seems to have been the perfect storm for ex-superwholocks to latch onto, thanks to:

The presence of David Tennant. Ppl who were in superwholock at the height of its popularity generally had a certain obsession with DT that lead them to basically follow him around from thing to thing, even if it had little or no relationship to Doctor Who, or didn't even remotely resemble Doctor Who. I know this bc I followed him to Broadchurch/Gracepoint and was scarred for life.

DT alone not enough to shift you to good omens? Well, then, SURELY the combination of DT and Biblical mythos will do it! Nothing better than, uh.... Bible.. fanfiction.

Okay, some of them are still puttering around in superwholock. Let's take the thing that everyone latched onto from Sherlock and toss it in there as well! What's that, you ask? A narrative that is queer adjacent without ever bothering to commit so as to have plausible deniability on both sides, of course!

So now we have all the superwholocks, and the ex-superwholocks. I know this because I was one, and this was enough to get me on board, even years after I had extricated myself from that nightmare. That's not enough to make a group unbearable, though!! Merely gathering the right ppl in the right place does not a nightmare fandom make. No, good omens had to stay true to its claims. It had to be certain it didn't rise above superwholocks, instead cruising along well within their grasp. Which brings me to...

The narration style. Supernatural, doctor who, and Sherlock don't have narrators, of course (except on rare occasions maybe? Who knows)... But the narrator of good omens (god) really does summarize exactly what made superwholocks insufferable. It's that particular brand of humor, common throughout Terry Pratchett's work, which I can't really put a name to exactly. But you know it when you hear it. The tone itself isn't annoying, it does have its moments, but on the show it is backed by. Actual jokes and irony. Like there's something funny happening... And it is delivered in this almost bored, matter-of-fact, documentary-type tone that makes it a little funnier. A little. The fans, however, seem to be under the delusion that the tone is funny in and of itself, and that anything said in it automatically becomes funny. This is... Not accurate. And it gets to be grating SUPER fast, because a lot of ppl ALSO misinterpret it as condescending, and then just repeatedly condescend to you and think you should laugh. Think about like... Any superwholock who started talking like the doctor or Sherlock bc they thought it made them sound cool or clever. Yeah that's how God talks in good omens

This isn't the end-all be-all analysis of the good omens fandom and why it has given me the WORST vibes since day one, but this is what I see. From my vantage point far, far away.

All I know for sure is that, from the second I hit play on that show, all I could think was "oh GOD I hope the superwholocks don't find this." And then they did.

can you imagine how bad it would have been on here if good omens had come out while superwholock was at it's peak? a terrifying thought

[datheetjoella]

if u r up for it Strength and AAAALLLLL those questions!!!! but if u don't want to do them all then 1 to 5!!;u; (i like.. almost always choose strength 'cause it makes me nostalgic fhsdgghj sorry about that!!)

Of course I’m up for all of the questions! ^^ Thank you for sending this! (And don’t apologise!! I’m very glad that you like Strength enough to ask me about it!)

Strength

1. What inspired you to write the fic this way?

I could summarise what sparked the idea of Strength in one sentence. However, I’m not going to tell you because it is a spoiler for a scene that has not been written yet and I’m really, really excited about that scene and therefore I don’t want to spoil it. So let’s just say I got a certain idea that sparked the concept of this fic.

2. What scene did you first put down?

The very first scene at the beginning of the fic: Makoto sleeping over at Haru’s house and Haru noticing that Makoto’s acting different from usual. I always write in chronological order so naturally that was the first scene that I wrote. However, the first scene that I imagined and crafted out in my head was the scene that I mentioned above.

3. What’s your favorite line of narration?

I am never able to answer this question. It’s simply impossible for me to pick one line that stands out, because most lines are pretty meaningless without the entire context and the other lines. Therefore, I decided to do something a little differently: I’m going to share one of my favourite lines in the wip of chapter 5. So, this chapter has not been published yet so it can still change, but it’s a tiny, tiny preview.

‘Although Makoto was usually more reserved in terms of physical contact as well, Haruka figured that he felt the same need, to have the closeness of someone he could build upon, someone to hold onto and be held by during the most difficult time of his life.’ 

4. What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

Same with the last question, I find it hard to pick a fav so I’ll show you a line of dialogue from chapter 5 as well. This is kind of a spoiler, but I’m confident that not many people will read this, anyway, so it’ll be a little inside spoiler for a few. 

‘“You really love Onii-chan, don’t you?”’

5. What part was the hardest to write?

Honestly, it’s not a specific scene but more the factor of tying plot-points together, if that makes sense. When I’m in the middle of a scene I know what’s going to happen and how it’s going to continue, but I always have difficulty ending one scene and starting another in a way that flows together nicely and doesn’t feel like it’s odd. I hope I succeed in it, haha.

6. What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

I’m not sure, to be honest. To me, for some reason, Strength just has a very special place in my heart. It’s weird to say this about my own fic and I’m not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but I think that Strength may be my “best” fic in terms of story and development. I’m sure not everyone agrees with this or likes it, but I suppose I’m kind of proud of it. I work really hard on it, even if you wouldn’t say that because I only update like twice a year. I just hope that other people like it, too. At least enough to stick around till the end, which I’m definitely going to write.

7. Where did the title come from?

I have no idea. Usually I find coming up with titles to be one of the hardest things to do, but for some reason, in this case I just knew from the start that it was supposed to be titled “Strength”. Because to me, Strength captures everything this fic is about. In order to battle with cancer, you have to be strong, physically but especially mentally. And when someone you love gets cancer, you want to be there for them and support them throughout everything. You want to be their strength - which is what Haru wants to be for Makoto. To me, “Strength” symbolises Haru’s unconditional love and support throughout these bitter times for Makoto. But I suppose it’s open to interpretation.

8. Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

Yes and no. I wouldn’t necessarily say that anyone or anything inspired the fic itself, but I’d rather say that I, as the author, was inspired by some people. Not any people I know, but I’ve done my research and watched documentary-esque tv shows about children with cancer and I suppose it sort of affected my view on the entirety of cancer. And with that, I can write this fic from my heart. So, indirectly I suppose.

9. Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Yes! I already told you but in case anyone else is reading this, I’ll say it again:

In the very first idea for Strength, everyone had cancer. Everyone. Haru gets diagnosed with cancer as a kid and is admitted to a hospital where he meets Makoto, who also has cancer. One by one other kids come in (Nagisa, Rin, eventually Rei and Ai) and the story would be about their lives at the hospital. In this version, at least one person died and that would be Nagisa - no spoilers on any other characters because that might spoil the real concept.

So I suppose you can all be glad that Strength developed into what it is now.

10. Why did you chose this pairing for this particular story?

It’s MakoHaru. Everything is MakoHaru.

11.What do you like best about this fic?

Pfft I don’t know. I suppose the emotional rollercoaster that the readers are subjected to. And the unsure ending, that is also fun.

12. What do you like least about this fic?

This fic is taking me a lot of time and therefore, my writing style changes throughout the fic. I’m not really much of a fan of chapter 1 anymore, for example. If I were to re-write it right now, it would probably be a little different not in terms of plot but in terms of style, I suppose. I don’t have time for that anyway so it’s just going to stay as it is.

13. What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

I listen to all kinds of music, really. But for this fic specifically, I listen a lot to ‘Save Our Last Goodbye’ by Disturbed. This song is about the loss of a friend but that does not necessarily mean that the story will go one way or another. It just really puts me in that sad, sad mood. For the more “happy” moments, I listen to ‘I’ll Be There’ by Hollywood Undead, and although this song is also about the loss of a friend which again, doesn’t have to mean anything, it has a more upbeat melody and that perfectly symbolises the tone of this fic for me; even in the happy moments, the sadness and agony is always hidden underneath. Next to that I’m a fan of Yiruma’s piano music, which is absolutely gorgeous and is great for writing anything in general.

14. Is there anything you want the readers to learn from this fic?

Not really; the main purpose of this fic is to entertain, not to inform. Although I want to give representation for both cancer patients and their loved ones in this fic, I’m not exactly the most valid source of information. Of course, I do my very best to make things as accurate as possible, but I wouldn’t blindly believe what I state because I’m just a writer-person and not an oncologist.

15. What did you learn from this fic?

I learned a bunch of stuff about cancer, acute lymphocytic leukemia to be exact. But I also learned that writing angst is so much fun and I love leaving the readers in the dark.

Thank you so much for asking me all these things!

Ask me about one of my fics

[mkarchin713]

Considering one of her “blasphemy’s” was refusing to stop wearing men’s clothing, would that mean the male Joan of Arc would wear pretty dresses?

Tell me you know nothing about history without telling me you know nothing about history

[stevviefox]

No one read history or Renault’s ‘the Persian boy’ ?

Oh well, folks are in for a fun surprise, several in fact.

Tell me you know nothing about history without telling me you know nothing about history