#Note Hierarchy

[recsspecs]

A good structure is something you can trust.

It relieves you from the burden of remembering and keeping track of everything. If you can trust the system, you can let go of the attempt to hold everything together in your head and you can start focusing on what is important: The content, the argument and the ideas. By breaking down the amorphous task of “writing a paper” into small and clearly separated tasks, you can focus on one thing at a time, complete each in one go and move on to the next one . A good structure enables flow, the state in which you get so completely immersed in your work that you lose track of time and can just keep on going as the work becomes effortless (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). Something like that does not happen by chance.

- How to Take Smart Notes (Sönke Ahrens)

[mintaikk]

LOOK AT THIS IMP/HELLHOUND HYBRID

[creatingnikki]

when you're feeling disregulated, you do not need people. even though in that moment there is this restlessness and everything feels ugh and you feel like life sucks and there is no saving anything, what you really need is what you need when you were a kid and you got cranky because you were physically tired:

you either need to eat, sleep, throw up, or cry. or all of them.

that's what you really need. sometimes the disquiet, the void, the not feeling okay? it doesn't have to be existential. it just has to be listening to your body. and I know, I know, you don't really know how to do that, you feel like you disassociate so brilliantly from your own body.

which is why: eat or throw up. cry and then sleep. or eat and then sleep. or throw up and then sleep. whatever combination works.

and then when you wake up, make yourself some nimbu pani (lemon water) and add some pudina (mint) leaves if you have them at home and tell your mother you love her.

and that boy on your mind? just go work, now that you feel better. because he doesn't have you on his mind anyway. no matter what he says. actions>words, right?

[falmerbrook]

Snow Elf culture?

*pulls up a chair*

Perhaps...

A wee disclaimer that I'm not particularly good or creative with developing cultures or societies, but my brain has just latched on to the snow elves in a way where I can't stop myself. But anyway

I developed a lot of this because of a big ass draft for a fic I've been writing on and off about Gelebor and Vyrthur, so a lot of my headcanons are religion heavy. I'll start there:

Gelebor seems to place Auri-El and the Chantry of Auri-El as having significant importance to the Snow Elves over the other gods/temples. He's probably got a bit of bias in that regard since he's devoted his life to Auri-El, but in order to differentiate their religion from the other elven ones I like to think that their religion in general worshipped Auri-El as not even just as the figure head of their pantheon, but almost monotheistical, while the other gods (Trinimac, Syrabane, Jephre and Phynaster according to Gelebor) were like minor divine figures or just legendary heroes even more than in Altmer myth, depending on the interpretation. My idea is that if their culture had been allowed to continue on, it would've eventually become monotheistic, but by the arrival of the Nords they were in a bit of an awkward transition period with it.

I also like to lean into the sun motif with Auri-El that they established in Dawnguard and with Auriel's Bow, partially because it's another thing to make their depiction of him more unique, and in part because it makes some very juicy irony for Vyrthur. Some ideas include:

- The more religious folk tend to pray at noon when the sun is at it's highest. - The two biggest snow elf festivals happen on the summer and winter solstices. As far north as they are, the summer solstice is during a time of year where the sun barely sets and the winter one is during a time of year where it barely rises. The summer one is more jovial and celebratory, with a grand feast. With almost 24 hours of daylight, the festivities last up to three days straight, with folks commonly staying awake for over 24 hours. Most of it is spent outside, with the celebration being focused on making the most of the weather and daylight hours to spend as much time in the sun and the light of Auri-El as possible. The winter festival is as large scale but lasts longer and is lower-key. It also involves a feast but features more winter foods and meat and alcohol. It is more pensive. At this point in the year, there is no full daylight, and so this season is seen as a test of one’s faith and mental fortitude. This festival acts as a break from this trying time, taking time to relax, build community (a strong community will allow them to make it through the winter and strengthen their minds), and bond with family and friends. It is about a weeklong break, where leading up to the festival everyone works harder to prepare for it and allow themselves to have the break. There are activities and festivities, but they remain indoors for the most part and are smaller. - I've referenced this before, but with long winters with little sunlight (due to harsh weather and short days), they see that time of year as a reflective test of will and faith.

Due to their proximity to dragons, it was hard to miss the connection between Auri-El (/Akatosh) and dragons, and so their depiction of Auri-El is either much more influenced by the iconography of dragons, or is a dragon (although their depiction of dragon Auri-El is much more benevolent than the Nord/Atmoran one). I got the idea for this one from this Reddit post (i know I dog on Reddit a lot but this one has got some fun stuff in it, even if it's a bit out there)

^On that note, later in the timeline (post Dragon War (the timeline is very fuzzy on when this and the Night of Tear happens. They are both sometime vaguely in the late Merethic Era I believe, but it's unclear which happens first or how long each conflict is)) some Snow Elves see a sort of unreturned, unofficial comradery with dragons, seeing themselves as both on the receiving end of the Nord's/Atmoran's brutality (disregarding whether it was warranted or not in the context of the Dragon War).

Ok here's some more general cultural ones:

I mentioned my reasoning for this in this post, but I like to think their general settlements were not as permanent, with a larger focus on wood and building into the sides of hills (good for warmth), while their temples tended to be made of stone and much more permanent. This is why there are so few identifiable Snow Elf ruins across Skyrim. Their cities and towns were easy to wipe out, scavenged for resources, or were in good places for Nordic cities (perhaps Bromjunaar was originally the site of a Snow Elf city?), and their temples were either very hidden (e.g. the Chantry of Auri-El) or eventually converted to Nordic temples.

I love this journal in general for gleaning ideas for Snow Elf headcanons for, but one interesting this is the use of "Old Ones" and "Young One". They're treated like established titles. From that I like to think they place a lot of emphasis on the respect of those older than you. The social hierarchy and whose opinions are most valued is heavily influenced by age. Folks call anyone older or more revered “Old Ones” as a term of respect, and anyone younger than them “Young Ones”. Old One is almost never used in a demeaning way, but Young One can be (not always). Typically, “Old Ones” is used in the third person (e.g. you wouldn’t refer to someone directly as “old one”) whole “Young One(s)” can be used as an epithet for someone directly or in third person.

When thinking about death/"burial" customs (needed for some scenes in the fic I'm planning), you have to consider that there probably wasn't a lot of land in a place like Skyrim where someone can be buried. Nords intern their dead in crypts or burn them to get around this, and I like to think Snow Elves participated in something akin to sky burials (at least sometimes). After preparation, the departed's body is left outside on a ledge, cliff, or the temple balcony to be scavenged by birds. This is seen as a metaphorical return to Aetherius, while their soul literally returns to it. They do this even in poor weather or deep winter. If it doesn’t thaw and rot/be scavenged until months later, so be it. The length it takes to rot is considered indicative of how long it takes for the spirit to let go and move on (not in a bad way though. It’s interpreted more in the way of the soul or body grieving). It's seen as if they may wish to wait until spring to finally rot if they want to experience one more warm, sunny day.

Food (I mostly wrote this in my notes in the context of the Forgotten Vale and Chantry of Auri-El, but I think it could work elsewhere as well to an extent): Plant-based food is grown in gardens in the spring and summer, and that that is able to be stored is carefully preserved through the fall and winter. Winter foods include some nuts, dried vegetables, and dried and preserved/fermented grains (like wheat, barely). These foods must be eaten slowly throughout the winter to last, and winter diets are more meat based. Summer foods include apples, cabbage/lettuce, leeks, tomatoes etc. Snowberries can be found in the wild out of season of most other fruits, and provide fruit in very early spring. Occasionally, fungus from caves is harvested, but this is seen as a delicacy (foreshadowing).

Ok, that's it for now. I gotta go to bed. Thanks for the ask!!!! :D

[mikodrawnnarratives]

Dragon!Maggie/Princess Evie and Prince Max my beloved

the concept has my heart, has no backing in canon, and i don't care

He's her treasure hiss go away insert cat growling noises

[amelikos]

Friede being that bridge between generations and the beloved student of Liko and Amethio's parents, to the point Liko's mother entrusts her daughter's safety to him and that Amethio's father acknowledged his work and kept his ID card long after Friede left Exceed and trusts him enough to let him know he always has a place with him..

Something something, once a student, now the mentor guiding their kids.

[abitterberryblog]

the will of the many, major major spoilers 

( a really really stupid ramble i have during my twotm reread that i needed to scream into the void for under the cut lmfao )

One thing i can applaud Vis for is his amazing ability to be so inherently, ridiculously bisexual.  Like we have him describing people like “yeah this one’s a scrawny short guy, and this one’s a really buff dude who i, at first, thought was a grown adult just chilling at the school tables” and then he randomly goes along describes some other people like he got assigned to do poetry on them for school. And the funniest part is he ends up having more chemistry with just about everybody BESIDES his love interest (who may not be his love interest anymore due to complicated events that involve attempted murder).

For men we have Vis mentally describing Indol as handsome in almost every scene he appears in. Through Vis we learn how handsome, charming, brilliant, and amazing Indol is. How thoughtful and how genius and how capable and how he's the smartest and makes smart plans and whatever the fuck. Almost every line is some form of admiration. There is quite literally a line where Vis calls Indol “the closest thing Caten has to a prince”, which is quite the compliment considering Vis is. You know. An actual prince. And then there’s a line that goes like “I know I’m not supposed to, but I can’t help myself from liking him.”

(AND THEN YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT VIS IS A STRAIGHT MAN??? WITH THAT LINE?? Yeah, no. Not possible. It's so funny to read this, because lmfaooo hello???)

And then for women  we have the sheer amount of stuff Vis mentally says for Aequa, ranging from “dark wisps of her hair catch golden rays of sunlight from behind her” when her first meets her to a whole ass paragraph about how brilliant and “fiercely hardworking” and intelligent and radiant about how she truly deserves her top spot in class four and blablabla. and then a whole other line about how she’s smiling radiantly and “practically glowing” when she’s at the festival and sees a bunch of foundation games or something. And then another line about how Vis "genuinely doesn't get why people dislike her, because she's so greaaat and intelligent" (Lmao though I enthusiastically agree, Vis, she's my favourite) and how he finds it "inexplicably annoying" when those said class four students make throwaway jokes about her.

May be a hot take but i’d probably rather ship Vis with either of them than Emissa (even if she gets a really badass villain/well-written arc that I really badly want for her 🤡🤡🤡). Or literally anybody else. Callidus. Eidhin. Indol and Aequa, for gods sake, since apparently Vis can’t get enough of those fuckers.  It’s hilarious though and I love this book. As a bisexual I can confirm that he’s one of us.) 

I know he likes Emissa for a huge chunk of the book, but I find it funny that compared to the sheer amount of chemistry and compliments that Callidus (“he’s so smart and genius and awesome and I trust him sooo much he's great”), Eidhin (“he’s so smart and quick-witted and a marvel of physical specimen (???)”), and Indol who’s basically both a prince and a model in Vis’ eyes, and then Aequa who basically glows in Vis’ vision, and LITERALLY EVERYBODY BESIDES EMISSA gets this treatment, because the lines Vis has for Emissa sound either forced or bland or both. Like, yeah. We know her eyes are green. Thanks for speedrunning your whole scene with her though. Totally not suspicious.

(here's a link to Emissa Over-Analyzation's post where i excitedly ramble about her and her potential arc for an overly long time.)

Tune in (or not because if then please ignore my antics) for when I analyze each Praeceptor and why I really really like their different personalities and characters, and an uncomfortable close look on their teaching styles (or, in terms of Dultatis, their annoying asses).

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

hmm liu bang being a verified member of the baby-tosser's club is not as cut and dried as i thought, apparently it's only mentioned in xiang yu's biography but is omitted in his. that's a conflict of interest if i've ever seen it. that being said, u gotta admit nothing about han gaozu make this seem at all out of character for him.

[toupee-or-nottoupee]

sometimes it hits me that Bilbo, Frodo, Merry and Pippin are all heirs to their clans like ??? like i love the comedic exploration of Bilbo is the grandchild of Old took, the Thain, the effective "leader" for matters of the shire and tho not direct line really, it does makes Bilbo a prince to an extent if u wanna go royalty terms and thats funny to pair with Thorin and Company. But then u peel back and like,,, oh,,, sam is literally the only with the humble background and like its not that Frodo Merry and Pippin are just "nobles" and gentlehobbits no no, they're heirs to their clans, literally the two big shot families with some of the biggest smial (hell theyre two different regions entirely. we talk abt hobbit settlement as The Shire but Buckland is its own thing too!!) like the entire fellowship is just a bunch of princes and a gardener like guys *head in hands*

[cakesandfail]

Just realised one of the Cool Goths™️ at uni tried to bully me and it totally backfired because I was too autistic to notice, I thought she was just rude

It also backfired because I was just being entirely genuine about being a Halloween dork who loved Terry Pratchett and TTRPGs, so nobody wanted to join in when she tried to pick on/exclude me because it would have been like kicking a puppy

I don't even know why she did it, except for maybe I wasn't the right brand of goth (my local scene was mostly cybergoths and I'm somewhere between a mad scientist and a Black Ribboner) and she thought it was cringe? Who knows. All I knew at the time was that she kept asking me if I was new at every single social event and then physically barging me off the dancefloor. I was legitimately concerned about her memory lmao

[sketchehm]

look farfa can be the alpha of the pack. Sapnap doesnt fit as an omega nor alpha so beta with anxiety. Farfa didnt wanted this beta in the pack, one day after he's growling at anyone who gets close to him.

Also shadoune is a soft alpha and Cris for me is an alpha too. Goncho and different as betas are perfect

Omg!

Sapnap who has no scent really cause he's a beta, maybe some lingering of shadoune but barely really.

The rest of Team Mafia dog piling him once they allow him to join cause ya gotta scent a new member ya know? Make him Familiar:tm:

Farfa is like....this guy smells like Pack I guess he's mine now smh no one Mess with him or I will be Upset:tm: (very much that Rosa Diaz meme)

Shadoune and Cris being soft alphas has my heart, both of them trying to teach sapnap Spanish hehe

Goncho being a beta with Sapnap and everytime sapnap does his Goncho bit it's just some beta bonding hehe

[n7viper]

god where's that fucking hierarchy of needs meme with the whole pyramid just being like "a man sitting in your lap while you tell him how pretty he is" because I am. y'all I am in it rn

[cabeswaterdrowned]

There’s something about Adam defending Gansey to Blue while also kind of defending him from himself, but also he’s probably glad to have Blue there partly because she’s like him enough to share some of his criticisms of Gansey and Ronan but because she’s less encumbered by performance she’ll just say these things and he gets to kind of play the opposite role while taking satisfaction that someone is saying them if that makes sense. Kind of goes along with him relishing Ronan’s shock when he invited her, yes he wants to go on a date with her regardless but like I said he could choose to do something else with her, but as someone hyper aware of power dynamics he wants her here to sort of be a barrier that keeps him from giving into being ‘one of Gansey’s things’ (him tightening his grip on her hand when Gansey’s looking is so. interesting) while also making himself seem more similar to / equal to them by comparison to her. There are posts I’ve seen mostly in older fandom that took Blue to task for kind of using Adam as an in to the group while also a barrier between her and Gansey / the fate she’s resisting and they aren’t incorrect that it’s unfair of her but I never find the sentiment of ‘pwoor Adam being used by Blue’ sympathetic because like, they’re pretty equal in that regard consistently. For reasons that make perfect sense for two inexperienced teens with a lot of baggage in their first relationship + … unconventional complications lol. 

[creatingnikki]

On a rainy evening when your eyes pour as you leave someone’s home, it’s okay to hold yourself together with the warmth of a latte and the silence of your company as you occupy yourself with work. It’s okay because maybe by the time you finish the food you ordered with your coffee you will realize that you were very hungry. And as you get more of your work done, you will realize that you were lowkey stressed about getting it done at the back of your mind that whole time. And as you keep quiet and not force yourself to articulate anymore you will realize that you were just done with socializing and your social battery being below red was what was making you feel off when you were leaving that home earlier. And by the time you are done at the café you will realize that this evening you successfully overcame a bunch of the cognitive distortions that fuck with your mind like emotional reasoning and jumping to conclusions and all-or-nothing thinking. And then you can realize that the last six months of therapy have helped. And you may also realize that you are simply like a child who gets cranky when they get hungry and tired and that instead of some sort of emotional outburst which is unnecessary and confusing you just need to step away, feed yourself and rest and recover. And if even after that you feel off or low, we can investigate and confront. But first, let’s just check in with the first level of your Maslow’s hierarchy needs - your physiological need to eat food and nourish yourself in a timely manner, your need to keep yourself hydrated with water, your need to use the loo (even though you hate using any restroom outside of your home’s), and your need to sleep and let your body and mind rest. And now, we can leave this café on this rainy night with a smile and more confidence in our ability of taking care of ourselves, of understanding ourselves better, and of improving and healing. 

[mangled-by-disuse]

talking to friends about The Horrors, specifically the Trumpian Horrors, and, like

the more I consider it, the more I think that the best thing we outside the US can do - for ourselves, for the world, and for America as well - is to just holler to the fucking rooftops that AMERICA IS NOT THE WORLD.

By which I mean:

we do not let politicians, media, and our own social circles convince us that American issues are the only issues worth discussing;

we challenge politicians, media, and our own social circles on the politics of appeasement;

we challenge ourselves on the assumption that laws passed in the US affect us directly, and we do not place ourselves in American shoes;

we focus on our own shit. Not because it's more important, but because we need to remember that it still exists. Our eyes cannot be on the USA while the legislative and political rights in our own countries are eroded from under us.

we look to the rest of the world. We get used to viewing people who don't look like us, talk like us, or even like us as an equal and crucial part of the political landscape.

WE ARE LOUD ABOUT THIS. In politics, in activism, in social contexts, in our own assessment of our own politics, we remember and hold up that America is NOT the centre of the world, and that American hegemony is NOT inevitable.

This is not because I'm trying to undermine American struggles. This is because the Trump administration is strengthened and bolstered by every other country that chooses to suck the cock of American supremacy in the desperate attempt to maintain the last remnants of the old imperial order.

It is up to everyone in the world to challenge that, and to say: yeah, this fucking sucks, and we want America to be better, but we don't need America.

There are other markets. There are other allies and potential allies. There are other global powers (Personally I think we should try to dismantle global powers entirely, but, you know, one battle at a time) and there are other political shifts.

So much of the current rightward swing in the UK, at least, is directly modelled on MAGA to the point that it's the same movement, to the point where the branches of that movement feed power and influence to one another. You know what has consistently been one of the more successful tactics? Fucking reminding people that they are not, in fact, offering solutions to the problems Britain faces, because these are American solutions and we are not America.

idk it feels stupid to say this. it feels stupid to have to point out that Not Everywhere Is America, and it feels even stupider to think that this is something that needs pointing out to the systems of power. But the more I think about it, the surer I am that one of the tentpoles of American power, and therefore of Trump's power (in the US as well as beyond it!) is just... the willingness of so much of the world to say: yeah, sure, everything is America.

WE ARE NOT AMERICA.

AMERICA DOES NOT HAVE TO CONTROL US.

idk. maybe it won't change shit. but maybe yelling that at international power structures loudly enough - making noise about issues that are not American, focusing our efforts outside America, challenging American supremacy on the global stage - is, in fact, the most useful thing we can do.

[amelikos]

Amethio's scene with Hamber really displayed interesting aspects to their dynamics in this episode. Hamber didn't seem surprised that Amethio kept operating on his own, and it almost seemed like Amethio was the one having the upper hand during their conversation as he was demanding to know things (asking about Terapagos as his early mission was just to retrieve a pendant, which now turned into a Pokemon, so he wanted to know more about it), being the one to provide information (telling Hamber about where the Rising Volt Tacklers were headed and showing him footage of Terapagos), and getting Hamber's approval to continue acting on his own (by making a point to show that he knows where Liko and the others are headed so it would be a shame if he were to be removed from the mission).

Amethio even cut off Hamber as he was trying to warn him about reporting before taking action and hung up on him as he had enough of his complaints! (They really conveyed well Amethio's rebellious streak w) So, Amethio is in a position that allows him to talk back to Hamber and be stubborn and get away with it (despite being younger and probably not on the same level as Hamber in the hierarchy), since Hamber was mostly nice in his warnings and didn't really scold him. And Hamber is perfectly capable of showing displeasure towards others when they are being disrespectful or protesting orders as he called out Sango and Onyx when they were complaining about having to work together. So the fact that he is letting things slide with Amethio is interesting... I feel like it gives more weight to the idea that Amethio might be related to Gibeon somehow. Amethio seems to operate differently from the others so far and can contact Hamber directly as well.

Either way, it's interesting. Amethio only seems to behave when it comes to Gibeon as he seems more controlled around him and doesn't protest his decisions, but he talks back with others and challenges them (Spinel and Hamber, for example). Despite that, he is genuinely benevolent towards Zir and Conia and thanks them for their work. He thanked them again in this episode, even though they lost track of Liko and the others, and encouraged them to look again and joined the search too. He doesn't blame them. I like their relationship and I wonder how they came to work with him in the first place.