#I'm guessing y'all can see a pattern here lol

[tadc-harlequin-au]

If kinger and Z are too big to fit inside the manor like the others, what's their living situation like after becoming sane?

They just like to explore the mansion grounds, or do whatever. Z does build a bigger quarters for the larger residents, since believe me: those two aren't gonna be the only ones LMFAO

Initially, Kingr wasn't all too happy about his living conditions, though he's still grateful for being freed from his physical and mental prison, so he's officially allied himself with the group.

Like Pomni, he was itching for battle --although, not as insistent or hot-tempered as the Harlequin was--, and Pomni suggested he should be her new training dummy; an idea to which, he was fine with, since he still owed her gratitude.

Caine does offer an ultimatum himself: a chess board to pre-occupy the oversized chess-piece when there's no training. Though reluctant at first, he's haven't had a loss since, especially because Pomni was not the best strategist, and Ragatha just ends up losing always (chess was never her best suit anyways).

But Caine does prove himself to be a worthy opponent to the King, so it's become a recurring thing for everyone to watch the two battle on the board, as the manor's number of residents grow.

As the story goes along, Kingr slowly regains his humanity by curiously exploring bugs in the mansion's forest one day, and after remembering his past life; realizing that not everything is militaristic and about winnings, and that he should take his time simply enjoying the ways of life, because even the most mundane things can be so much more pleasant and fulfilling to experience than the concept of wars, valors and victories.

And this is what leads him to regretting a lot of the things he'd done since his time as the more sane Skirmish General. (totally not gonna be a plot point for him and Pomni to begin bonding over something that's not fighting teehee)

He becomes wiser, and more easygoing.

(There's also Quinnie.... which.... we won't talk about that for now ;3)

Z is happy to not have much rowdy roommates as everyone else (there's always something crashing or breaking inside the mansion at least once a day and Z can only assume the worst on what's happening), and they're also pretty thankful they're not physically bound to one place as before and could explore if they wanted to.

Z just wants to create something, or move something, a part of their old directive clearly still being present in them. So Pomni asked them to make weapons for her, to which, the giant Figure obliges.

Caine also suggested sculpting as a side hobby, so once every few months they'll leave for a few weeks with permission from the Puppetmaster, only to come back with either a GIANT ASS TREE, OR A MARBLE STONE --that who knows where they got it from-- and start carving shapes out of them.

Caine actually advised that instead of relying on their body's special tools to get the job done easily, that Z took their time making their ideas with more traditional methods and equipment.

As the story goes along, their sculptures actually take more and more forms as they regain their humanity and remember their past life: from brutalist and sharp shapes, to smoother, actual humanoid and still-life figures that Pomni asks about.

Z becomes more open to socializing, and accepting.

(I think I also want Z to take up landscaping, it seems like something they'd do for this AU-)

[charlottesbookclub]

should we talk about the interlace on gwayne's horse's armor?

since I spend altogether too much time looking at stills and gifs of gwayne anyway, I figured I might as well share some observations I have about the really interesting visuals that are happening with his horse's armor

this is part art historical analysis, part gwayne meta, and part "let's look at some gorgeous images under the guise of doing visual analysis" so if that's your thing, please read on! if not, that's also totally fine – I get that this is hyperspecific and also a symptom of my very serious gwayne brainrot, so I'm putting everything else below the cut! 💚💚 (also it's quite long – sorry! 😅)

okay I want to be upfront about my qualifications and my shortfalls here: I'm an art history phd student and so basically all I do is visual analysis of objects. I've studied a number of medieval manuscripts that feature interlace (which is where I'm going to draw most of my knowledge from here), and I've taken a seminar (an advanced graduate course) specifically on medieval manuscripts, for which I wrote a research paper entitled "From Kells to Celtic: The Aesthetics of the Book of Kells Illuminations as a Marker of Irish Identity." HOWEVER I am NOT a historian of armor, so I will be taking my knowledge of interlace on other objects and applying it to the armor we see in the show

a short intro

so, the first thing that struck me about gwayne's horse's armor is that it's really different than the other equestrian armor we see, even amongst the other men who came with him from oldtown. to be honest, my guess is that this was likely done in the show to help him stand out and also show that he is a special and precious princess (which he is btw 😌😌) who needs fancy armor for his horse. I'm not sure if further thought went into it than that (but maybe it did! I'm happy to stand corrected here!)

however, the catastrophic levels of brainrot I've developed over this man have compelled me to read much further into it than that, which I shall now proceed to do with great enthusiasm! ☺️

first, let's look at the armor:

it's hard to find really detailed close-ups, but it's clear that the armor is incredibly intricate. not only do we have this very complex interlacing, but certain designs are marked out with different colors and internal patterning, making the whole thing even more visually interesting and complex

while interlacing is used across a vast range of time, cultures, geographical regions, and artistic mediums, given both the visuality of this armor in particular and knowing that westeros is based on medieval europe, seeing this interlace instantly called to mind a style that we today call "insular fusion" (I'm not going to go into all the specifics of it here because that's a post all its own lol 😅). it's a style perhaps most famously exemplified by The Book of Kells, but it is found throughout many different objects of the same period (ca. 700-900 CE)

now let's look at some fucking interlace hell yeah!!!!!!

from The Book of Kells (ca. 750-810 CE)

from The Lindisfarne Gospels (ca. 698-721 CE)

and two non-manuscript examples:

Animal Head Post from a Viking Ship Burial (ca. 825 CE)

and a later example, but one of my favorites:

Wooden Portal of the Urnes Stave Church (ca. 1050-1070 CE)

do we see the vision??? are y'all picking up what I'm putting down???

"okay, charlotte, I see the similarities, but why does this matter?" you may be asking yourself (or maybe you aren't idk), and the answer is: this type of interlacing had some super fascinating meanings and uses, some of which I think we can apply to gwayne! 💚💚

let me break it down from least to most potentially related to gwayne:

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

use of interlace in a religious context

interlace as a status symbol

the protective potential of interlace

and now let's go into detailllllllll!!!!!

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

I bring this one up because it's what I focused on in my personal research on the topic of interlace, but I also think it's the least relevant to gwayne. my argument in my paper was that the aesthetics of the interlace in the Book of Kells have been thoughtfully and intentionally re-used throughout history and into the present as a clear visual marker of identity that draws a narrative back to the production of the Book of Kells. however, in terms of the show, we have very little indication that the particular style of interlacing we see on gwayne's horse is associated with any larger identity concepts. it doesn't seem to be associated with house hightower, as none of the other men with gwayne seem to borrow this motif, nor do we see it associated with alicent (as far as I can tell from the little looking I've done, but I'm more than happy to revise this!). for it to make sense as some form of identity marker, it would have to be clear what identity he's visually referencing, and since his use of interlace seems unique, I think it's doubtful that it's part of a larger visual invocation of identity

use of interlace in a religious context

part of what makes insular fusion so interesting as a style is that it is indeed a fusion of a number of different regional styles, including vine scrolls from the mediterranean, triskeles from the northern british isles, and zoomorphic (meaning "in the form of animals") interlace from northwestern mainland europe. although insular fusion is used to decorate christian objects (like gospel books and churches), its component parts are much much older and have connections to various pagan religions that significantly pre-date christianity. obviously it's impossible to be 100% certain of the exact significance of interlace in any of these religious contexts (there are no written records explaining it), but scholars have a few guesses

one suggestion is that interlace in some way represented the spirit world/the world of the gods, or perhaps even a point of connection between the human world and the world beyond. although the religion of westeros is obviously different than any of the real-world religions that used interlace in this manner, I do still wonder if there could be a religious connection here. it's pretty clear that gwayne's mother was quite religious, and alicent is as well. although we don't totally know gwayne's relationship with religion, we could certainly guess that it's at least a little bit important to him, given the beliefs of the women in his life. I know that the most common religious symbol in westeros tends to be the seven-pointed star, which is not something I see on the interlace on the armor, so I'm not sure how far I would want to take this hypothesis, but I did want to put it out there for anyone who might have further thoughts!

interlace as a status symbol

as I mentioned to in the beginning, I do think it's likely that this particular type of armor was chosen for gwayne's horse because it does come off as a bit ostentatious. the manuscripts with interlace that I mentioned above were hugely expensive and time-consuming projects, and only the most affluent religious communities could afford such luxurious gospel books. given the level of detail on the armor, I have to imagine that the same is true in the world of the show. in some ways, it's a mode of conspicuous consumption; a demonstration of the hightowers' wealth and influence. there's a reason gwayne's horse's armor stands out: because it's meant to. it's meant to set him apart, even from the other soldiers who came with him from oldtown

now this next part is just my own conjecture, but I also wonder if the armor is meant to speak to a more artistic sensibility on gwayne's part. after all, equestrian armor is a very functional object with a very clear goal: to protect the horse. from a purely functional standpoint, the interlace does nothing to serve this purpose (and may actually hinder it a little??), it simply adds a complex visuality to the armor. aside from just flaunting the wealth that must have been expended to commission such a piece, it also suggests that it was crafted by artisans who had both functional and aesthetic goals in mind while creating it. whether it was gwayne himself who directed the commission or not, it seems significant that he chose to use this armor that doubles as a kind of art piece. he does seem to be someone who enjoys the finer things in life, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had an artistic appreciation too, and was using this armor as a way to demonstrate that (or perhaps even just as a way to show his own personal artistic taste/preferences)

the protective potential of interlace

technically, I think "interlace as a status symbol" is the most likely reason for the armor being the way it is, but this one is my favorite theory, so I'm putting it at the top. circling back to the religious uses of interlace, another theory of its religious significance is as a mode of protection. some scholars think that its creators believed that the weaving, intertwined lines of the interlace would confuse and trap evil spirits. building on this theory is the fact that complex interlacing was often used at transitional or liminal points, such as the beginning pages of a gospel book or on the doors of churches. the idea here is that the interlace wields its protective powers at these key entry points against any evil entities that might try to enter sacred or protected spaces

interlace as apotropaic (a fancy technical term meaning "protective," often used in reference to magic or magical practices) seems particularly poignant for an object that was literally going to be worn into battle. now, I admit once again that there is little canon evidence to suggest that interlace is thought of in this way in the world of the show, so I'm running with this theory more because I like it rather than because I think it's legitimately based in canon. but I just think it's very sweet that gwayne's horse would be adorned with this complex interlace that seems to be woven with protective powers. even if gwayne (or others) didn't literally believe that interlace had those kind of powers, the fact that he still made the choice to invoke the idea of protection against harm and evil is a lovely thought. (it makes me think of how people today still might carry a rabbit's foot or have charms against the evil eye, even if they don't actually place stock in the beliefs surrounding those objects. I just think it's cool that generations of cultural belief still imbue these objects with a kind of magical aura). I just like the idea that he (or someone else?? otto? alicent? his mother?) chose armor that might have been associated with protection against harm

and now I'll finally wrap up!!

whew that was a lot! if you've read this far – thank you so much!! I'm honestly not even sure if these thoughts were coherent, but I kept thinking about this when I looked at that interlaced armor, and I just had to get the ideas out of my head lol

but I'd love to hear what others think about this topic! I'm certainly not an expert on the matter, and I'd be super open to hearing if others have different interpretations!

if nothing else, I hope you learned something cool about interlace! (and also just how far I have descended into madness over this man that I am writing pages-long analyses of his horse's armor 😅🤪)

[mauesartetc]

Heya!

I was wondering what is your opinion on the Lucifer's "new" design for hazbin hotel. I really want to know because up to this point I have not seen a design get so much hate. At least on twitter that is. What makes the hate towards it a little weird to me is that you can see his design in a painting in the pilot and there wasn't any hate towards it. At least none that I know of.

(Also the fact that some of the people that dislike the "new" design call him Satan instead Lucifer. Even though they are supposed to be two different people in this universe lol. At that what I heard.)

Yeah, I try to avoid Twitter slap-fights as much as possible since I value my sanity and my limited time on this earth. I have been apprised of the Lucifer situation, though.

I'm wondering if the folks who are so incensed even saw the portrait in the pilot. Or maybe they did, but didn't know Lucifer was the one depicted in it. So this would basically be their first time seeing this design, and it's a huge letdown for them. Or maybe they're just sick and tired of seeing the same old design tropes reused over and over in the same show and this was their breaking point. Maybe a combination of the above.

Gotta say, though, I'd be surprised if anyone aware of the original were genuinely stunned that the team barely changed anything. This has been the pattern for, what, the past 2-3 reveals now? Are y'all really shocked?

But putting the hate train aside, blocking out the noise: How does the design hold up on its own merits?

I will say the snake on the new version’s hat looks more like a snake than a worm, which is a point in its favor. The crown is... an okay addition? I guess? It’s clear they’re trying to get the whole “king” thing across, but the crown/top hat combo feels too reminiscent of Stolas, and the very similar crown design doesn’t help matters. Here’s where some more visual research would come in handy: There’s more than one style of crown in the world, guys. 

A few historic crowns I found interesting were the UK’s Imperial State Crown, the Imperial Crown of Russia, and Napoleon’s coronation crown, which, funny enough, he called the Crown of Charlemagne (like Charlie Magne, the original name of Lucifer’s daughter in this universe). If we combine elements of these crowns and move away from the top hat, we can lean harder into that king shit.

I still agree with the person who asserted that pentagrams and inverted crosses are “basic” demonic symbols, but if they’re still running rampant in the Hazbin environment, might as well be consistent. (And at least the more unexpected symbols of the apple and snake balance them out.) It’s a first draft and my main concern with this version is the line mileage, but at least now the dude looks a bit more kingly.

(Also, yes, Lucifer and Satan would be two different demons in this universe. Helluva Boss making Asmodeus the ruler of the Lust ring suggests that this world operates on Binsfeld’s classification of demons, which links Lucifer to the sin of pride and Satan to the sin of wrath.)

[destinyc1020]

Hmm people were not there since the very beginning. The tomdaya fandom was built by Z stans first and foremost, that's a fact. She's the the most famous of the two, and she already has some pattern with her previous rs so her stans knew her yea and knew Tom was her bf and they supported that.

When they split a lot of them, especially on Twitter, stopped talking about Tom even tho the Cherry era fed us a lot of content behind the scenes etc. They took her side.

And overall people love the two but are more Z stans that Tom stans, I don't know who is anon following but it's def not the big Tomdaya blog out here. The large majority of the fandom are women,and it's easier to look up to Z and enjoy her content because she has other business next to acting in fashion, and is more present, so is more enjoyable to follow her than him who is way more quiet nowadays. I have nothing against people who are more Z stan, as look as they're respectful towards Tom too.

But the truth is that people like Z more and that's fine, Im convinced you could make a poll asking them "if you had to give up one person to unfollow from everywhere and not consume any content from them forever, which one would you choose" and I'm convinced most people in the fandom would choose her🤷‍♀️

Hmm..... I'm not sure what your last paragraph meant. 🤔

But anyway, grab a comfy chair, cuz this is gonna be long lol. 😂

Tbh? I'm really kind of feeling that some fans got divided after the breakup actually, coz what I saw during 2019 is that SOME fans took Tom's side, and SOME fans took Zendaya's side.

I almost got the impression with some Tomdaya fans/accounts that they didn't really care too much about Z's career or whereabouts unless it pertained to Tom or possibly them maybe getting back together after the whole Olivia fiasco.... but BEFORE the JE popping up in Greece with Z episode. 👀

I think after Greece, most Tomdaya fans lost hope that Tom and Zendaya were "getting back together" (at least, not THAT year lol 😆), and the focus on Z was less. It got even MORE less when Z and JE were spotted kissing in NYC, and some in the Tomdaya fandom really started to hate Zendaya after that cuz here she was out kissing JE who she had only dated for 6 months, and with Tom she was soooo secretive. (That right there should have been a sign that maybe she was rebounding lol? 😆)

Now that's just what I personally saw, but again, my life is busy, so I don't always see everything. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I do recall a LOT of Zendaya's fans being really cruel towards Tom however when Z and JE started dating. The height jokes were just crazy. They felt JE was a better option. All of it was just optics and how they physically looked together. I mean, the man is like 6'5 lol, so he's gonna be taller than MOST women AND most men put together lol 😆

I think some of her fans turned on Tom coz he was spotted with a blonde white girl while wearing her keyhole neck chain 👀, and that was like the ULTIMATE disrespect in their eyes (woc know what I mean), cuz fans felt he had cheated on Z. So then, all bets were off I guess. 🤷🏾‍♀️

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned rofl 🤣 Y'all know we as women can be ruthless if we feel a man has done us wrong lol. You KNOW it's true lol 😏

I think some fans were just angry on Z's account, but Z wasn't putting her business out there. If anything, she was trying to give off signs that she and Tom were cool. It's kinda hard when you denied for years that you two were nothing but friends to do damage control lol 😆

Anyway, I don't really like rehashing the past or talking about this time period honestly. 😔

I'll just say that it kind is seemed to me that BOTH sides of the fandom kind of took sides, and if one side prefers one or the other, then that's okay I guess? 🤷🏾‍♀️

I personally like them BOTH. When they broke up I just felt bad for them and just hoped that they would at least TRY again with each other since I didn't feel like their 1.0 rlshp was really all that conducive to a healthy, long-term rlshp. I didn't hate on either of them though, and I just felt like whatever happened in the rlshp was just their business. I don't like taking sides during a breakup when idk all the facts tbh. It's not my life or my rlshp. And unless someone puts out a tell-all book, idk the facts. And even then, that's only that ONE person's side of the story tbh.🤷🏾‍♀️

I obviously relate more to Z cuz I'm also a woman and a woc, but I really do like both of them, and I've said from the beginning that I don't like comparing them. 🥴

[mayabruhbruh]

Oh man oh man😭😭 Jonathan lying about college acceptances, Joyce and Murray lying about Alaska, ROBIN "LYING"(hiding, technically) TO VICKIE RAHHHH the list goes on and on.

I think what all of these have in common is that they're all of characters that are lying to the people most important to them.

If they actually meant for this to be a continuity within the season (eg. a theme that gets referenced by a larger plotline) I think it could very well be something they intend to address subtly next season. By sort of singling out Mike in this instance, giving us something to want answered, it really seems to imply that it will show up later. In this specific case, the truth, I guess, as opposed to the lie he led with this season.

(To be clear, it's quite obvious in s4 that the lie has something to do with El and his inability to say the L word. As a matter of fact, the lie may as well have been the confession itself, but for now we're under the impression that he is the odd one out for some unspecified reason LOL.)

An example of this happening in previous seasons is season 3, when everyone was sort of acting unlike themselves. El was going to the mall, wearing unfamiliar bright clothing, trying too hard to be like Max. Mike was also wearing brighter clothing, ignoring things he used to love, and being abnormally teenager-ish. All of the kids were being annoyingly teen-ish lol. But in that season, I think they most singled out Will. By showing him as still stuck in his old ways and wanting to be kids and getting mad about all of the change going on, it made him the character that was distinctly different. They later addressed it with the plotline about getting older and additionally the one about his sexuality a season later.

Basically: "hmm, everyone here is being weird for some specific reason. wait, what about this guy? why isn't he being weird/what is his reason for being weird that we can't see?" lol.

This is just one of many theories that simply state that Mike's internal conflict is not over yet. It happened with Will, where we/the general audience assumed the plot of his coming-of-age was simply having to grapple with growing up, only for it to come flying back at us full-force with the acknowledgement of his sexuality. Giving reason to the conflicts shown in the previous season. That's what I can only assume they might also be doing here with Mike. But then again, a lot of my recent posts' basic points stem back to the fact that everything we don't know yet will be addressed next season. So there are plenty of other ways to back this up, in fact, you can see them on my page lmao, but this is just one of many ways to interpret it.

There is always a reason for patterns. In the case of screenwriting and storytelling, and the use hidden meanings within a framework to tell, it's true that plenty of things happen by accident and just happen to work out for the story. Apparently, based on how many surprise hints and patterns we see in the show that aren't always on purpose, there's really no way of telling what is intentional or not when it comes to theories that are this far from the objective fact. The Duffers are smart, but they also have a lot of happy accidents, I'd say.

Definitely keep that in mind, whether you're developing theories or reading up about them, there's always a certain spectrum that ranges not-so-vastly between plausible and wishful thinking. In the case of this post, it is RIIIIIIIGHT on that line about to cross into wishful thinking territory. Sorry lol.

Me theorizing solely off the desire for it to be true:

To be clear, I try MY VERY BEST to avoid that LMFAO lmk if I'm doing a good job.

Thanks for reading!! Love hearing y'all's observations bc all perspectives are insightful and thought-provoking!! Feel free to drop your opinions/asks/etc. in my inbox and I'll offer my best response. LOVE YALL SO MUCH OKAY BYE.

thinking about that post i saw when s4 dropped about how every character was lying/hiding something during the season (lucas lied to jason, dustin lied about his grades, el lied about angela, will about the painting, max lied about her trauma, etc etc) and the only character who’s “lie” wasn’t ever shown directly was Mike’s

[kianlonart]

Realizing now I just. Straight up forgot to post a bunch of stuff. But, it's time for a quick update:

I'm still here and making art! It's just I've switched gears to fiber arts recently. I have a Ravelry account where I design knitting patterns and everything. I'll start posting some finished knitworks if that's something y'all wanna see. In the meantime, hopefully I can figure out what I have yet to post from my frankly ridiculous amount of Neopets brushswaps.

But yeah. School is certainly Going and with work and car problems and other fun financial stuffs I have to prioritize building craft fair stock and pattern design for now. Fortunately those things are Fun and also Art so I guess I'll start posting pics of every hat I finish here, because they're cute as hell and all unique thanks to the magic of double-stranded knitting with self-striping yarns.

Uhhh I guess see y'all tomorrow when I'm not about to get ready for bed lol

[nostalgiatrip2010]

So I'm gonna start off this nostalgia trip with introducing the stars of this madness, the two that started it all for my adventures in Humanformers; Shatter & Darkshadow!!

To start with a tad bit of context, these girls are clones of Starscream and Knockout. Ikr, how original?! But trust me there's a bit more to it, I don't wanna go too deep into that just yet, this post is to give you an idea of their appearance for now 😉

Until I can get my hands on a tablet, I've been experimenting with different art styles and looks for them. Still trying to get the hang of colouring and drawing certain features lol, so for now I'm gonna leave y'all with these sketches of my girls. With a few notes on my progress 😁

With Shatter's old design, it was very basic to say the least. Ash white hair, with a single Red stripe down the front cut into a bob, topped off with an undercut. Red bra-like tank top and matching pants, with a sheer mesh sweater.

Idk what I was thinking when I gave her this outfit, I guess my young brain just thought it was cute and it wasn't until I got older I realised, "isn't she, like, 9-10 y.o?" So yeah, probs not very appropriate to be having a literal child character getting around almost half naked.

I think the reason I had her dress like this is because in my head at the time, Shatter was the rebellious older sister type and I assumed thats how those types of kids dressed. Not to mention, going out on missions and training, it's loose, breathable and easy to move around the battlefield in.

Being Knockout's counterpart, I wanted Darkshadow to reflect that prim and proper side of him. Long red hair, often tied up in a ponytail and side part bangs. A cute little crimson dress with black puffed sleeves.

Darkshadow has a cutesy, almost cottage-core vibe to her outfit and you can't have a literal Knockout clone and not have her irrationally obsess over a certain feature she puts a lot of effort into, for this little lady that would be her hair and nails. Primus help the poor soul who dares mess up her perfect ponytail or chip her nail polish.

Much like Shatter's old design I kept it sweet and simple (and more age appropriate). But unlike Shatter's, I always liked Darkshadow's design and I haven't changed it much as you'll see in the next picture.

This one here is my most recent redesign of the two. As I said, Darkshadow doesn't change much in terms of her outfit. The most I've added is a gold bow in her hair, sometimes switched with a simple headband, and a matching belt. I don't know if these additions to her outfit are too much, so lemme me know what you think 😊 constructive criticism is always appreciated.

Shatter's outfit has changed completely. She's now rocking a spaghetti strap top, with different grey patterns and red accents. The only part of her old outfit I kept was the sheer mesh sweater, coz I know it's af cold on the Nemisis. I wanted to be more faithful to Starscreams actual colour scheme and robot pattern. Even her hair has changed into a slicked back pixie cut.

I can't think of anything else I can add to the girls for now but, as stated before, any constructive criticism and questions are welcome 🤗

[troglobite]

lakjdlfk

my favorite little phenomenon is

"you can't tell if someone is [queer/trans/autistic/disabled] just by looking at them!"

and then we can all spot each other anyway lol

it's basically just peak "recognizing the self through the other" type shit and i LOVE that

and i will say there are caveats! bc it's recognizing the SELF through the other! so if there are too many societal and cultural differences between you and the other person, good luck trying to clock them as anything, y'know? lol

like idk what queer subcultures look like in nairobi or eastern african countries and cities in general, y'know what i mean?

but i do know vaguely what queer subcultures look like in most of north america, even if i don't know all of the specifics, etc.

like idk what would be considered Weird or Abnormal behaviors in indonesian culture, so spotting a neurodivergent person might be a little more difficult

but spotting one in north america is a little bit easier

and so i really do love this phenomenon

bc it's like

"i know what we're generally like over here, and i see you, do you see me? i see you bc we are Similar. so i see you in ways that other people might ignore or misread or ostracize."

and i really like that.

it's nice.

it's also just funny bc i saw a comic today on an autistic fb page that was like

"...and i think it's bc i'm autistic that i relate to my students so well" - "oh you're autistic? i never would've guessed, you don't look it!" - "...what does autistic look like? no really." - [awkward silence, they leave] [autistic friend pipes in] - "lol yeah that's what i thought. there is no look." - [time skip] - "oh look one of us! that guy is totally autistic." - "oh absolutely, 100%"

and it's just. nice and true. it's sweet.

it doesn't come from stereotypes.

it comes from the kind of Seeing and observation that you can only get from being around other people and having a deep understanding of what it means to be these ways in your particular place and society and culture, etc.

the most that other people who fit the norms can do is just "oh that is Other."

but they can't get more specific than that

meanwhile here's a silly example

have y'all seen the big brunch? it's on hbo max. dan levy and sohla el-waylly are hosts and judge, and there's this third guy who's host/judge.

and my mom asked if he was gay

and i sat and looked at him and thought abt it

and i said

"mm. no. he's just one of those non-threatening straight guys who really loves his wife."

and so i looked him up to check and lo and behold he has a wife who's even more accomplished than him. lol

like THAT.

like she saw him being nice and having an "effeminate" voice and presence, and went. ? gay?

and i saw that and went "no not quite. he's this other type of guy."

and i was right. lol

i love pattern recognition i love SEEING people and not grouping them to minimize or flatten them but to lump lovely people together based on lovely traits and stuff.

i mean you can also do this with jackasses, bc being able to recognize complete bigots is also a life-saving thing/skill

but it's NICE to me, to look at someone and have an Idea of them quickly, not based on my own quick prejudiced born and raised biases, but through observation of other people and Learning.

sometimes you don't even realize there's a Category of person until someone asks abt a person who would "fit" in that category and you're like "oh yeah i know this kind of person."

and it's just one aspect of them but it's a nice little thing

okay i've strayed v far from this i'm just Thinking Thoughts out here

but my brain likes to categorize ppl in v atomized ways that acknowledge bits and pieces of their personality and humanity, and occasionally in ways that keep me, a person whose existence is the target of many bigotries, safer

but it's nice.

i always worry that i'm limiting ppl or assuming too much or being unfair or Stereotyping

but i never LIMIT those ppl to the various categories i "put" them in. i just like seeing that, while we're all individuals, there are "types" that line up, sometimes, and humans are all connected in that way, and it's NICE.

like i mean ffs what do we think the Category "himbos" means y'know? lol

and it is funny bc like, yeah i'd wanna be "gatekeepy" over categories bc they're supposed to SEE someone

so yeah ppl arguing abt who is ACTUALLY a twink, who is ACTUALLY a bear, bc societal perceptions around acceptable body hair and fat/weight and whatever are totally skewed and harm us, etc

okay i'm way off the original point

YOU FUCKING GET IT, OKAY. lol

[ashadowofburnedoutstardust]

Ok so I got bored and tried a rabbit hole about the star Sirius for this one because I can see it year round and its one of the few stars I can pick out. I've had a particular fascination with it since I saw a weird thing in the sky near the constellation back in 2018 near where the tail is located in Canis Major

Apparently Sirius was used to discern the beginning of the new year in an Egyptian calendar at some point which even more weirdly just happened on August 6 2024, even more annoying thats a life path day for me 🤦‍♀️ (24/01/1986 - yes I really was born the day that weird scientology founder dude died)

Apparently Sirius was used as the new year symbol but it also symbolised the upcoming annual flooding of the Nile river

If I were to guess at any reference to eyes? I dunno eye of Horus is an egyptian thing? Supposed to mean Protection, Health, and healing, its a popular tattoo. Theres a whole story about Horus losing his eye and it being restored

All I can day is my brain weirds me the fuck out.....but yeah I got distracted by this lol

I found these: one is called the Rosette Nebula, the other is known as the Cone nebula. I can't look at these next to each other and keep a straight face because apparently I'm 12 but.....

*ahem* Anyway......

I was reading about how Sirius is part of some kind of asterism triangle and signifies the beginning of the year in an ancient egyptian calendar when I came across a constellation called Monoceros or "The Unicorn" which is apparently where these two Nebulae are located. If I had a decent enough telescope I could look up at them from here right now

You can imagine why the word "Unicorn" would get my attention.....

I have no idea what this has to do with my dreams that tend to predict things - my brain could be processing things but I've never heard of these before so I'm still trying to figure out how I see the patterns of things before I see them 🤷‍♀️ or however this is supposed to work but the blue and pink tinges of colour from my dream just struck me when I saw these images

Again I'm not always able to discern things until after something has happened but sometimes its just nice to try and keep track of things for the fun of it as well

Also when I stumble across these things it does my head in a little and I need to put it somewhere

And since y'all decided to come along for the ride....feel free to be weirded out with me

I have absolutely no fucking idea what the message is here 🤷‍♀️

I'm going to allocate last nights dream to my own processing of the world around me but you never know with me, even I don't always know with me - so I'm going to write it down:

I would have to say the intensity that was felt throughout the dream was more than likely a side effect of consuming an entire tub of ice cream but honestly I'm on my way to bed again and its still got hold of mind nearly a day later

The Cosmic Eye

The colours were extraordinarily vivid throughout

There's really only three parts I remember clearly

I'm in the middle of a city by the harbour, the wharf I'm standing is almost flush with the surface of the water.

The surface of the water is smooth and I can see the reflection of the buildings in the water

My daughter runs along the wharf - she's much younger than she is now - and jumps into the water but it's a little too deep so I pull her out and carry her under my arm back towards land

The next thing I know I'm looking at pictures of various medical scans of eyes on a board, why eyes I'm not entirely certain but it tied a little bit into the next part of the dream

Im in the house I grew up in and I glance out the window looking up at the sky

There is a great expanse of clouds covering one half, and heavily populated great cosmic sea of stars on the other

Imagine if you could see all of the stars in the night sky from everywhere in our universe clearly no matter there distance

My mind can't shake the image of it even now while I'm awake........

I can see a nebula, it reminds me of the cats eye nebula except there are many more stars in it and the colouring more pinkish red

It's like staring into the eye of the consciousness of the universe itself........

I try to grab my camera to take a photo of it but the clouds begin to move across the sky like a curtain turning the sky an evening blue before I can

I look up again and see sirius in the sky above me as a lone shining star and a feeling of calm comes over me

[cynical-amphisbaenia]

Uh, hi? I'm sorry if I'm sending a ton of asks. I accidentally sent an unfinished one and didn't know there was a character limit?? Like I typed a lot on one and it never had a limit so I'm not sure if it's like a mobile vs desktop thing? I'm really bad at Tumblr lol. Uh anyway, my interests are almost entirely dnd and art. I mostly run games for my friends and do world building or plot stuff. When I actually play I always struggle between wanting to play something useful but then get upset when I get brushed off as "not a damage dealer" like yeah I can heal you 30 HP with a 1st level spell but I'm doing 4d8 minimum damage a round. I know basically every ability in the game and usualy use that understanding to work around my allies and make it so they can work as effectively as possible. But I feel like helping them be the best they can be takes away from me and makes it look like I'm not actually contrabuting? Like noticing that I'm the reason y'all are attacking more often would be cool. When I do play damage dealers I have a lot of fun at first bit get annoyed at their lack of non combative abilitys and uses. I'm a very talkative player and like to poke and prod everything and try to advance the plot or keep people on track. I tend to absorb as much information as I can about topics that interest me or just ammuse me so I can spout off that information at random or help people apply that information to whatever (like me the DM, telling my players how to make their characters even stronger without realizing I have to deal with them) I really enjoy art and I dabble in photography? I think my abilitys with photography are more of a natural inclination towards taking good photos more than actually knowing anything about photography? I was one of my photo teachers favorites even though I just winged everything and pretended I knew what I was doing. I do that a lot. Acting like I know what I'm doing just because it makes things easier when I have to put up with other people involving it. I'm a big fan of cryptids and I've been meaning to just do a deep dive and learn every tidbit I can but I haven't yet. Estheticaly I'm very drawn to crowns. I just adore them for some reason and I always have. When I took my friends senior photos he payed me by taking me to spirit Halloween and buying me a crown. I joke about it being my thinking crown and like to wear it while I work. A reoccurring thing that pops up in my life is bees? They're just a part of my personality at this point. I love those lil guys (did you know they can smell fear and do math?) Something I just remembered about myself is that I'm capable of beliving two entirely contradictory things. Like tarot? It's nonsense. But also it's literally never been wrong so I guess it's not? Same with how I feel guilty taking on any "main character" role in games but constantly joke about being all powerful and a being a book or cartoon character that I'm pretty sure I'm slowly trucking myself into genuinely seeing myself as a powerful entity. I'm really good at noticing patterns in the way people act and why they act the way they do and most of the time I just use that knowledge to "win" debates or whatever they just try to argue towards me. By win I mean I just intentionally misconstrued what they're saying to annoy them until they leave me alone (like "fuck you!" "No thanks I'm not interested") a lot of what I do is motivated by how funny I think I would be. Like tricking myself into kinning vriska? Hilarious. Getting into Homestuck so I can annoy my friends with useless trivia? Wonderful. Making my super friendly flower cleric and nicest character I've ever made also a raging anarchist and overthrowing two governments and killing a god through the power of friendship? God tier funny (in my eyes). I do a lot of things just so I can have a story to tell later (like killing the god) uh I think I've rambled for a while so I'm just gonna send this?

No worries about all the asks! I just want to say in advance that I really hope I don't confuse you further, but here's what I can figure out based on the information you've given me:

Your aspect is definitely Light. This is the clearest I've ever been able to determine someone's aspect so I don't think you need to doubt that. So much about Light is important to you - information/knowledge, your approach to stories, your focus on roles in reality (even if it’s fictional dnd reality). 

However, I don’t think you’re a Rogue. The classes I suggest you consider are Maid, Witch and Knight.

Maid might describe your relationship to wanting to be acknowledged as a contributor, but often being ignored. It would also explain why you constantly create Light for others, but desire to sometimes take on those roles yourself. You also appear to create situations for yourself to then create Light in the form of stories, as well as creating Light through plot/worldbuilding.

Witch is an option as you do sometimes appear to manipulate Light - intentionally misconstruing what people say, slowly changing reality by doing things because they’re funny, and using your knowledge to change things for your teammates. Poking and prodding at the plot is a very Witch-like trait. Witches also tend to be confident with their aspect. 

Finally, Knight might explain why you think you’re redistributing Light - perhaps you’re serving it instead. You do tend to use Light as both a weapon and to protect others when playing dnd. Joking about being a powerful entity and pretending you know how to do photography are both very Knight-like traits. However, Knights tend to only pretend to be confident in their aspect which might not suit you if you truly are confident with Light. 

I know I just gave you three new classes to consider! Probably not very helpful, sorry. Though with your own knowledge of classpects, you might be able to easily dismiss some of these yourself. Of course, my general advice is which do you feel you do more often - create, change or serve? Maybe there’s particular roles in dnd that you’re drawn to which would line up with one of these. 

Well, I really hope I’ve helped somewhat rather than confusing you more, but feel free to keep sending me asks if you need help narrowing it down. I’m sure you’ll figure out your classpect though, don’t worry. ^^