#Posts that are INCOMPREHENSIBLE to anyone but a very specific group of people

[banana-breadses]

fr tho Flanders Fields is SO Luminescencecore

[nicollekidman]

THE WAY YOU BACKTRACK no its just a conspiracy people seeing antisemitism with their own eyes? abby get a grip, you apologize and then you reblog a "actually its just a conspiracy to discredit palestine" like these theories havent been around for millenia

i at no point have backtracked???? you guys have to calm down and like either read the words i’m typing or accept you’re just dying to scold me for some reason and to stop engaging. like i know a disconcerting amount of you are zionists hanging around to just randomly accuse me of antisemitism (there’s a reason i haven’t been publishing those over the last few weeks lmao) but if someone comes to me and says “what is your reaction to this stuff i’ve been seeing” and i say “idk i haven’t been seeing any of that, here is my reaction to what i HAVE been seeing” and i get like six more people saying “no actually we have been seeing this stuff and if you don’t more obviously say you don’t Love Osama Bin Laden then we’re going to assume you love antisemtism!!!” then obviously my first reaction is going to be like. well damn i didn’t realize you guys were seeing this, i better get rid of an upsetting response i made off the cuff based on different information, and apologize for upsetting anyone by the disconnect.

but then the most recent post i recently reblogged is about the VERY SPECIFIC PHENOMENON we’re all currently discussing, where overnight, a prominent grifter twitter journalist wrote about a “viral” tiktok trend where the youth are apparently “praising” a terrorist which again. from the beginning, i have said i have not seen evidence of myself (which is true!!). and if you take a second to step back and ask yourself why on earth this would happen out of nowhere and be reported on like it’s a sweeping trend taking hold of america’s youth (after like 24 hours), on a platform that for weeks i have seen literally only videos from/by young palestinians and young jewish people educating their peers and others…. then maybe those videos are not truthful and organic thoughts from real people.

idk why it’s easier to believe that a platform that has been a huge source of information for the palestinian cause in a way that zionists and other invested groups cannot control is, i cannot emphasize this enough, OVERNIGHT filled with kids who have decided after reading one letter (that has been PULLED by the website citing this specific trend!!) that they love the thoughts of osama bin laden…. rather than accepting that our disdain for both tiktok as a resource and young people as a general group makes us accept that insane idea much more easily than we normally would!!!

i think that young people are capable of rational thought! i also know that writing about tiktok as a breeding ground for concerning trends/incomprehensible viral videos is a sure fire way to get everyone up in arms in a way that i don’t accept as reality! i also know that this whole thing has probably been very concerning for jewish people who don’t want to see antisemitic bigoted hateful vile people given a platform. but what i’m saying and what that post is saying is that insofar as these videos of kids apparently being “on board” with osama exist and are being spread (again. i personally have not seen a single one, so my original post is deleted was not reacting to this type of video) are very likely being created/spread with the intent to discredit tiktok as a platform and bury legitimately educational content.

if all you take from this is that i ❤️ antisemitic conspiracies then fine, i feel like i’ve been clear and at this point engaging further feels like adding fuel to a fire i don’t have any interest in spreading. if anyone feels like im being ignorant and wants to talk to me about it im obviously always open but this particular line of questioning? ive made myself clear and im not buying into the hysteria. young people are, in larger numbers than i have ever seen in my lifetime, mobilizing in their schools and cities and local government to make their voices heard and pressure their politicians for change, every day i see extremely brave people on my tiktok both spreading information and doing their best to get educated responsibly, and my attention and energy is with those kids, not with a likely manufactured hysteria over terrorist lovers that i haven’t seen myself at any point.

[somelazyassartist]

I'm. Not going to go into a huge ramble right now because I've done it before and I'll probably do it again later but I am running off of zero sleep and a sonic the hedgehog g fuel so if I talk a lot now it WILL end up incomprehensible but. Just a tiny post since I am thinking about it.

[Edit: it became a huge incomprehensible ramble anyways. It's under the cut if you want to see opinions on the TAZ graphic novel (and sorta the fanon) versions of Taako. But please dear Istus do not think I'm talking about the entire fandom it is just one specific brand of fanon-interpretation I'm talking about, NOT the fandom as a whole please I know enough about Tumblr's reading comprehension to know I should probably put a warning here now that I am talking about a specific trend and not an entire group of people who all have different opinions and also that this is ALSO just my own opinion myself. Oh and also this isn't meant to be like an attack on anyone it's just a personal peeve so if I sound frustrated that's just a Me Thing not me being like mad at anyone in particular Thank you very much genuinely for reading this and understanding]

But like,,,, does it bother anyone else or is it just me that the fandom's perception of Taako has become like. WAY more of a stuck-up ass than he ever really was in the podcast ever since the graphic novels came out? Like don't get me wrong he is a dick but he's never been, like, cruel for the most part.

But like, putting on HtbG (podcast) and then putting him next to the gn version of him is like.... Almost not the same character to me? It's like most people forget podcast Taako started out as the "dumb but sweet joke character" who was constantly slow to pick up on social cues and who the other characters repeatedly would take pity on and make fun of for being "the idiot of the group". And again he is a dick but he's not, like, Seriously a Mean Person!!

Also a decent chunk of the "antagonistic" stuff later on is still a continuation of him not getting social cues like in the beginning (for example, his bit where he threatens Angus for potentially becoming a better wizard than he is, realizing afterwards that his tone didn't come across the way he intended and that Angus interpreted that as being serious, and backtracked to try to clear up that he didn't mean to come off as serious and only meant it as a joke. And also says very explicitly in the same episode that he intends for most of his "mean" behavior throughout the series to come off as joking between equals and he doesn't mean for other people to take it seriously. He just says that.).

And he has, like, unspoken morality about what "harmful" things he does too, especially when it comes to like stealing stuff. If you listen to the podcast he (with very VERY VERY few exceptions) only ever steals from people who are dead- who will no longer be using those items and would be letting them go to waste unmoved- and people who have directly wronged him or his loved ones from his point of view. He actively tries to stop the other two from stealing from innocent people!! There's a whole scene where he establishes he isn't comfortable taking from people who don't deserve it and who need that money!! And then you go into the exact same scene in the graphic novel and.... He's exclaiming that he's going to steal a bunch of shit. Not just any shit, the exact shit he was trying to STOP the others from stealing in the podcast.

Which just doesn't feel like Taako at all!! In fact when he stole and sold Angus' grandfather's silverware and realized Angus really didn't deserve that, he felt guilty about it and tried giving some of it back for him and making up for the rest with quality time and magic lessons! but now when I look at fandom stuff (at least what I've come across) it seems a lot more people lean towards the more kleptomania-fueled dickhead Taako than the much tamer original version, and I have to say I prefer the original more!! He has so much more dimension to me in the podcast- not even because there's more time to flesh him out there than in the gn- but because while he is rude and foul-mouthed at times he has pretty explicit limits and will get upset if people try to force him to cross it! (Also seen with his elevator-related PTSD and him having a very reasonable breakdown when his emotional limits were repeatedly crossed with fair warning from him he'd freak out if forced into going in there..... which got cut from the graphic novels as well because of course it did).

And going forward, with gn Taako being so much more selfish and inhospitable than the original version, I feel like they might cut out his "I'm not a piece of meat" scene in TSG, because if they DO keep it in there's no way to me personally that it'll feel earned in any regard- tell me when in the graphic novels has he pretty much ever shown the genuine humility that the original version carries under his standoffish persona. I don't see it, and I don't think whatever happens between Crystal Kingdom's gn and The Suffering Game's gn will be enough to make that scene feel genuine to me. I really, honestly believe that.

Of course there's some things I do like about the graphic novels and I'm more than willing to give the next ones a fair shot (Crystal Kingdom was a lot better than I expected it to be!) but I really, really, REALLY don't like how the graphic novels (and to a small extent, the fandom) really over-emphasize how mean he is to people when if you listen back to the original in a lot of cases he's much more mellow and kind or is just not picking up on other people's tones/social cues and is being misinterpreted (both by other characters in-fiction and/or certain listeners) because it's established in the text he's bad at picking up that sort of thing

[sassyteatimeinquiries]

The Unfillable Wish for a Soft Epilogue

I just watched something that made this thought I have swirl around my head. A thought that brushes past then stays awhile. About Kae and her species immensely and incomprehensibly long lives. I'll proceed in her words, maybe they will settle into the bones right.

I remember this post with these words that go along the lines of "I hope we can have a soft epilogue." And they hurt. They always hurt. It's like a happily ever after, it has a meaning. And a requirement I can never fulfill or I can't unless I meet some very specific requirements. Ones that will not happen for a very long time. A happily ever after, or a soft epilogue seem to always imply that the two people involved grow old and die, together. So, how is it a soft epilogue if only one person grows old and dies, and I. I am the same as I was when all of this began. How can it be a soft epilogue for two people when only one gets it. Let alone if it is for a group. What is it worth when I begin alone and end alone. How? What is it worth to love someone or anyone outside of my species when the only guarantee is that I will outlive them all.

[curedeity]

It’s anniversary day!!!!!!!!!! It’s anniversary day!!!!!!! Gonna put a readmore here because its gonna be a long post.

If I’m being honest, I’m struggling to feel like celebrating today. While this year has been amazing, its also taught me that I’m not ready for a lot of things, and these last few months especially I’ve struggled to be happy with what I create.

But I don’t want that to stop me from celebrating what I’ve already accomplished, because my god, I have fucking written!

So, to start, just wanna shoutout all the friends I’ve made over the past year! Yall are amazing, awesome, incredible, showstopping---I’ve learned the wonders of online friendship, at long last.

Second, I wanna shoutout Bladies Week! This was an event week I hosted celebrating the women of beyblade, and I wanna thank everyone who participated with me! That week was... rough... but seeing other people contribute was the highlight of it, every time! If you havent checked out the bladiesweek tag to see that art, I dunno what to tell you, it’s amazing! The fact anyone else participated with me is something I cherish

Third, I wanna mention Fanfic Friday! It’s a weekly event each Friday where I draw art of other beyblade fanfics, and everyone is welcome to participate by doing the same or going and commenting on a fic! I have lots of ideas to continue with for this day, and I’ve been really enjoying it!

On that note, it’s onto the main event! Fanfic!

As of two years on ao3, I have 471,878 published words. Just so you understand, 50,000 words counts as a novella for nanowrimo, I have written a whole lot. A loooooot. It’s kinda incomprehensible to me, tbh.

I have 115 published fics total.

55 of those fics are Beyblade fics. I’m going to be honest, I probably need to create a collection for some of my shorter fics, just so people dont get the wrong impression of what I normally publish. The length of my fics has gone up the past year, by quite a lot, and there are tons of fics from this year I can shout. The Hikaru’s Adoption Agenda series was all this year, and I also have last years Mayblade that still falls in. I would like to specifically shoutout my Bladies Week submissions though, specifically Hikaru’s, Mei-Mei’s, Sophie’s, and Ren and Maru’s.

Aquario’s Cracked Fist is 3,142 words long, and Hikaru’s focus fic. Hikaru was probably the character I was most comfortable writing, and it shows in the ideas I’ll explore with her. I don’t know how to describe this fic without some spoilers, but it focuses on Hikaru’s trauma and how violence intersects with her thoughts.

When We All Fall is 6,036 words long, and it’s Mei-Mei’s focus fic. Honestly, the premise of this fic is super simple: I throw Mei-Mei off a cliff. It’s hopefully structured a bit like a shonen episode, where we focus on one hurt character having to survive alone and make their way back to the group. I really enjoyed drawing on those structures and tropes to write a story centered around Mei-Mei! 

Cetus Bouquet is 8,337 words long, and Sophie’s focus fic. This fic is about me trying to narratively write all the things I get to learn in gender studies classes. I’m just quite proud of the dynamics I wrote in this fic. Sophie is a very charismatic character to write, in a way, she has this sort of gravity and confidence that I wanna explore more.

Stolen Rivalry is 9,018 words long and the fic focused on Maru and Ren. This fic honors my brand of “why don’t I try to narrativize the sexist attitude of the show and my critique of it.” Focusing on Shogun Steel, I really tried to dig into how this show makes me feel, as a woman, and how Ren and Mau would react to the sexism Ren constantly experiences. You don’t need to read any other fic I’ve written to understand it, and it only deals with the first half of Shogun Steel (up to Ren vs Takanosuke actually, but you wont be fully pissed at the show until Ren vs Sakyo).

Beyblade is probably my main fandom at this point, and I’m very proud of so, so, so many of the works I’ve written for it. I have... a lot to say about future fanfics for this fandom, but right now, I’m going to celebrate what I’ve done.

Onto Pretty Cure, my other main fandom! I have 20 Precure fics written in total, and most of them focus on Futari Wa. I’m always happy to have a Precure fanfic idea, the reception I receive is always quite nice, but I wanna focus on my big project in that fandom right now.

Watashi Wa Pretty Cure! Seed is a Futari Wa spinoff focusing on Misumi Ryota (Nagisa’s little sibling) and is probably a fancure season at this point. It’s about Ryota becoming a Pretty Cure, discovering her gender, and having to care about life. It currently has 3 published chapters (I’m halfway through writing the fourth) at 20,909 words.

I’d just like to thank the warm reception this series has received, from the art and designs I made to the fic itself. Its really hard to get people interested in a fancure series, I think, so I’m very grateful to all the attention my series has gotten, and I hope I don’t disappoint!

I don’t have many published Madoka Magica fics, only 4, but that’s because Madoka Magica fics are some of my favorites and hardest to write. I really try to lean into stylism in these fics, and I want them to present an idea.

Once I Was Her was probably my favorite fic to write in this fandom, coming in at 3,553 words. It’s a post-rebellion Madoka focused fic dealing with the possible fallout of her tearing. I’m still so proud whenever I think of this fic, being able to actually stretch my wings as a writer always makes me feel good.

Also, quick apology to the Winx Fandom.... I’m sorry I do wanna finish Daphne’s Ascension! Someday, probably.

But, basically, I’ve really doubled down on my fanfic writing this year, and I’m so proud of a lot of the pieces I’ve put out. I’m really glad I came back to fanfic, as it gives me a new way to interact with the fandoms I’m in and contribute. I hope you’ve all enjoyed reading my fanfic, because getting to know people like my fanfic... well... it means a lot. I love getting to see that people like something I’ve done.

Thank you if you read all this self-indulgent post, art will be coming soon, I’ll try to finish up a fanfic for today, and thanks for sticking around! I’m honestly surprised any non-beyblade follower stuck around after the ask games-

[deviantartdramahub]

Before I begin, I just want to say, I've recently been hearing/seeing a lot of instances here where you have the following exchange go on.

Person 1: *explains a situation that happened, using only mildly vagueness*

Person 2: *says something like "wat" or "are you drunk or high" or "come back when it's not jibberish" or "I found the lost ChatGPT", stuff that implies they claim to speak for an audience who they say doesn't understand person 1*

Person 1: "What part don't you understand?"

Person 2: *dodges the question*

Person 1: *speculates more and more about whether people are claiming not to understand them to escape a burden in an argument*

Don't people know there are AI stuff anyone can access that can determine if something would be comprehensible to a modern audience?

There are three kinds actually, 1) a regular AI made specifically for measuring comprehensibility 2) word counters and other autocorrect tools which can tell you if something you're saying is structurally sound, and 3) things like Siri, Cleverbot, and PI, who, by virtue of being inevitably programmed that way, won't respond to you as intended if you aren't being comprehensible (with similar technology made to determine if people have a similar enough speech style as each other to determine if they're one another, with the technology never giving a yes answer because it's false "science" like horoscopes are and thus a stupid question).

Recently I tested this out with specimens and a control group. I repeated the two messages we often talk about here that are most called out for being incomprehensible in all three methods and they turned out to be completely and correctly understood. I then proceeded to put four of the most incomprehensible passages from different political manifestos, two from the Communist manifesto and two from the Libertarian manifesto, and they all were deemed incomprehensible.

The proof is in the pudding, people who claim to not understand someone are just being fallacy-loving babies who can't choose between necessary alternatives, full stop. Or in the very least, understandability should be seen as relative, though I've noticed this has become a problem ever since pot became legal here. Coincidence?

One example anyone can see is a gem from an earlier comment in reply to a certain other gem (and you can probably guess who posted it, wink wink), which inspires me to take back what I said before, with the bots just doing a little exploration and looking out for me based on such non-logic from the other end which is getting more and more tiring. Nevertheless, I continue to get responses in this back-and-forth going on in the form of vagueposts. Responding to these now, with another reminder that simply saying someone is being manipulated into doing something or that someone is a certain gender doesn't make it or anything else true, as an individual is the authority of their own intentions in the same way an individual owns their own body, and (I don't see an Adam's Apple on any pictures presented of being of Tri for one thing, and everything else seems to check out both in her photography which she has a method for and me chatting with her at events, which side note also allows me to confirm her underweight self doesn't qualify to be a sad bloated fish) and that only I've been concerned with alts because you carry a persona in all but name, with Triagonal being more cautious, not that the person I'm addressing has been, or most people (consider people are still outed for merely resembling something Triagonal would sign up as even by the likes of the former second mod of r/DeviantArt who was banned from Reddit by Triagonal which caused her to be banned from r/DeviantArt in delayed fashion), though most people don't have an obsessive nature that drives them to this, especially the kind that has ramped up with the banning of DABewareHub and their senior spokesperson.

Neither of them being new, my response to them is more or less similar, though a more complete version of my message has already been said in my links above. Nobody reading this is some kind of championed dragon slayer because nobody cares enough to idolize you, and people are less recruitable than many give them credit for. And that's how it should be. Club-Dreamiverse, GellyGirl, and Triagonal, in all sites they're in, show every adaptibility and satisfaction in simply being friends with people, unlike the antagonists at play.

You typoed with the "and" and then the parenthesis and didn't notice until I got the second message what you were saying (not that I didn't figure). Extremely small mistakes like these might be what causes big comprehension issues. Which is why it's good to ask about.

[peonycats]

Any tips for making arab/indian oc?

Personally, I don't think I'm the best person to ask this given I'm neither Arab nor Indian but here are some good tips I think anyone looking into such endeavors should know-

1. Avoid Orientalist Tropes

How timely! But avoid tropes that stress the “foreign-ness” and “exoticism” of your arab and indian ocs, especially ones that deal with sexuality and sensuality, as sexual stereotypes of MENASA (Middle East North Africa South Asia) men and women are very pernicous and harmful. There’s a lot of tropes I could go into, but I’ll link to this excellent WritingWithColor post here and here that also links to additional resources!

2. Arab /= Muslim and Indian /= Hindu

There’s so many minority populations that exist in the Middle East and South Asia that practice a wide variety of faiths (and even within the dominant religion there’s so much diversity in culture and practice) so you really shouldn’t automatically equate entire ethnicities with religion. (I’m like. skipping out a lot on the politics of ethnic identity and religion in specifically the middle east so forgive me haha)

(I would also advise you to not try to put your religion hot takes in ur characters and stories esp if ur not really familiar with the religion in question dsjkfjkdskj)

On a similar note, get specific with your ocs’ identities! Researching a specific region and time period’s culture will help you avoid a generic, orientalist stereotype of vaguely MENASA inspired regions.

3. Treat them like normal people

Okay, this is both informed by my experience as an East Asian as well as an extension of the first tip, but please bear in mind not all of my experiences of orientalism can be transplanted onto MENASA experiences of orientalism.

So, I find myself really uncomfortable when people describe some aspect of “East Asian culture” as “so exotic” or “completely incomprehensible” (esp in cases where they’re trying to say easians are easily submissive to authority/prone to authoritarianism) to westerners.

It’s true that we have cultural differences, but we’re still people at the end of the day, and you should really avoid language and tropes that others/exotifies us or stress our differences from “normal people.” You should apply this advice to Arab and Indian characters, making them complicated, fully realized people, as well as avoiding making wide, generalizing statements about entire groups.

These are only the tips I had off the top of my head, so if any Arab and Indian people want to chime in, please do!

[yamayuandadu]

The Two (or more) Ishtars or A Certain Scandalous Easter Claim Proved to be The Worship of Reverend Alexander Hislop

Once upon a time the official facebook page of Richard Dawkins' foundation posted a graphic according to which the holiday of Easter is just a rebranded celebration of the Mesopotamian mythology superstar Ishtar, arguing that the evidence is contained in its very name. As everyone knows, Dawkins is an online talking head notable for discussing his non-belief in such an euphoric way that it might turn off even the most staunch secularists and for appearing in some reasonably funny memes about half a decade ago. Bizarrely enough, however, the same claim can be often found among the crowds dedicated to crystal healing, Robert Graves' mythology fanfiction, indigo children and similar dubiously esoteric content. What's yet more surprising is that once in a while it shows up among a certain subset of fundamentalist Christians, chiefly the types who believe giants are real (and, of course, satanic), the world  is ruled by a secret group of Moloch worshipers and fossils were planted by the devil to led the sheeple astray from the truth about earth being 6000 years old, tops. Of course, to anyone even just vaguely familiar with Christianity whose primary language isn't English this claim rightfully seems completely baffling – after all it's evident in most languages that the name of the holiday celebrating Jesus' resurrection, and many associated customs, are derived from the earlier Jewish Pascha (Passover) which has nothing to do with Ishtar other than having its origin in the Middle East. Why would the purported association only be evident  in English and not in Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Spanish, virtually any language other than English and its close relatives – languages which generally didn't have anything to do with Mesopotamia or early christianity? Read on to find out what sort of sources let this eclectic selection of characters arrive to the same baffling conclusion, why are they hilariously wrong, and – most importantly – where you can actually find a variety of Ishtars (or at least reasonably Ishtar-like figures) under different names instead.

The story of baffling Easter claims begins in Scotland in the 19th century. A core activity of theologians in many faiths through history was (and sometimes still is) finding alleged proof of purported “idolatry” or other “impure” practices among ideological opponents, even these from within the same religion – and a certain Presbyterian minister, Alexander Hislop, was no stranger to this traditional pastime. Like many Protestants in this period, he had an axe to grind with the catholic church  - though not for the reasons many people are not particularly fond of this institution nowadays. What Hislop wanted to prove was much more esoteric – he believed that it's the Babylon known from the Book of Revelations. Complete with the beast with seven heads, blasphemous names and other such paraphernalia, of course. This wasn't a new claim – catholicism was equated with the New Testament Babylon for as long as Protestantism was a thing (and earlier catholicism itself regarded other religions as representing it). What set Hislop apart from dozens of other similar attempts like that was that he fancied himself a scholar of history and relied on the brand new accounts of excavations in what was once the core sphere of influence of the Assyrian empire (present day Iraq and Syria), supplemented by various Greek and Roman classics – though also by his own ideas, generally varying from baseless to completely unhinged. Hislop compiled his claims in the book The Two Babylons or The Papal Worship Proved to be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife. You can find it on archive.org if you want to torment yourself and read the entire thing – please do not give clicks directly to any fundie sites hosting it though. How does the history of Easter and Ishtar look like according to Hislop? Everything started with Semiramis, who according to his vision was a historical figure and a contemporary of Noah's sons, here also entirely historical. Semiramis is either entirely fictional or a distorted Greek and Roman account of the 9th century BC Assyrian queen Shammuramat, who ruled as a regent for a few years after the death of her husband Shamshi Adad V – an interesting piece of historical trivia, but arguably not really a historical milestone, and by the standards of Mesopotamian history she's hardly a truly ancient figure. Hislop didn't even rely on the primary sources dealing with the legend of Semiramis though, but with their medieval christian interpretations, which cast her in the role of an adulterer first and foremost due to association of ancient Mesopotamia with any and all vices.

Hislop claims that Semiramis was both the Whore of Babylon from the Book of Revelations and the first idolater, instituting worship of herself as a goddess. This goddess, he argues, was Astarte (a combination of two flimsy claims – Roman claim that Semiramis' name means “dove” and now generally distrusted assumption that Phoenician Astarte had the same symbols as Greek Aphrodite) and thus Ishtar, but he also denotes her as a mother goddess – which goes against everything modern research has to say about Ishtar, of course. However, shoddy scholarship relying on few sources was the norm at the time, and Hislop on top of that was driven by religious zeal. In further passages, he identified this “universal mother” with Phrygian Cybele, Greek Rhea and Athena, Egyptian Isis, Taoist Xi Wangmu (sic) and many more, pretty much at random, arguing all of them were aspects of nefarious Semiramis cult which infected all corners of the globe. He believed that she was venerated alongside a son-consort, derived from Semiramis' even more fictional husband Ninus (a mythical founder of Assyria according to Greek authors, absent from any Mesopotamian sources; his name was derived from Nineveh, not from any word for son like Hislop claims), who he identifies with biblical Nimrod (likewise not a historical figure, probably a distorted reflection of the god Ninurta). Note the similarity with certain ideas perpetrated by Frazer's Golden Bough and his later fans like Jung, Graves and many neopagan authors – pseudohistory, regardless of ideological background, has a very small canon of genuinely original claims. Ishtar was finally introduced to Britain by “druids” (note once again the similarity to the baffling integration of random Greek, Egyptian or Mesopotamian deities into Graves-derived systems of fraudulent trivia about “universal mother goddesses” often using an inaccurate version of Celtic myths as framework). This eventually lead to the creation of the holiday of Easter. Pascha doesn't come up in the book at all, as far as I can tell. All of this is basically just buildup for the book's core shocking reveal: catholic veneration of Mary and depictions of Mary with infant Jesus in particular are actually the worship of Semiramis and her son-consort Ninus, and only the truly faithful can reveal this evil purpose of religious art. At least so claims Hislop. This bizarre idea is laughable, but it remains disturbingly persistent – do you remember the Chick Tracts memes from a few years ago, for example? These comics were in part inspired by Hislop's work. Many fundamentalist christian communities appear to hold his confabulations in high esteem up to this day – and many people who by design see themselves as a countercultural opposition to christianity independently gleefully embrace them, seemingly ignorant of their origin. While there are many articles debunking Hislop's claim about Easter, few of them try to show how truly incomprehensibly bad his book is as a whole – hopefully the following examples will be sufficient to illustrate this point: -Zoroaster is connected to Moloch because of the Zoroastrian holy fire - and Moloch is, of course Ninus. Note that while a few Greek authors believed Zoroaster to be the “king of Bactria” mythical accounts presented as a contemporary of Ninus, the two were regarded as enemies – Hislop doesn't even follow the pseudohistory he uses as proof! -Zoroaster is also Tammuz. Tammuz is, of course, yet another aspect of Ninus. -demonic character is ascribed to relics of the historical Buddha; also he's Osiris. And Ninus. -an incredibly racist passage explains why the biblical Nimrod (identified with – you guessed it - Ninus) might be regarded as “ugly and deformed” like Haephestus and thus identical to him (no, it makes no sense in context either) - Hislop thinks he was black (that's not the word he uses, naturally) which to him is the same thing. -Attis is a deification of sin itself -the pope represents Dagon (incorrectly interpreted as a fish god in the 19th century) -Baal and Bel are two unrelated words – this is meant to justify the historicity of the Tower of Babel by asserting it was built by Ninus, who was identical to Bel (in reality a title of Marduk); Bel, according to Hislop, means “the confounder (of languages)” rather than “lord” -the term “cannibal” comes from a made up term for priests of Baal (Ninus) who according to Hislop ate children. In reality it's a Spanish corruption of the endonym of one of the first tribes encountered by the Spanish conquerors in America, and was not a word used in antiquity – also, as I discussed in my Baal post, the worship of Baal did not involve cannibalism. This specific claim of Hislop's is popular with the adherents of prophetic doomsday cult slash wannabe terrorist group QAnon today, and shows up on their “redpilling” graphics. -Ninus was also Cronos; Cronos' name therefore meant “horned one” in reference to Mesopotamian bull/horned crown iconography and many superficially similar gods from all over the world were the same as him - note the similarity to Margaret Murray's obsession with her made up idea of worldwide worship of a “horned god” (later incorporated into Wicca). -Phaeton, Orpheus and Aesculapius are the same figure and analogous to Lucifer (and in turn to Ninus) -giants are real and they're satanists (or were, I think Hislop argues they're dead already). They are (were?) also servants of Ninus. -as an all around charming individual Hislop made sure to include a plethora of comments decrying the practices of various groups at random as digressions while presenting his ridiculous theories – so, while learning about the forbidden history of Easter, one can also learn why the author thinks Yezidi are satanists, for example -last but not least, the very sign of the cross is not truly christian but constitutes the worship of Tammuz, aka Ninus (slowly losing track of how many figures were regarded as one and the same as him by Hislop). Based on the summary above it's safe to say that Hislop's claim is incorrect – and, arguably, malevolent (and as such deserves scrutiny, not further possibilities for spreading). However, this doesn't answer the question where does the name of Easter actually come from? As I noted in the beginning, in English (and also German) it's a bit of an oddity – it  actually was derived from a preexisting pagan term, at least if we are to believe the word of the monk Bede, who in the 8th century wrote that the term is a derivative of “Eosturmonath,” eg. “month of Eostre” - according to him a goddess. There are no known inscriptions mentioning such a goddess from the British Isles or beyond, though researchers involved in reconstructing proto-indo-european language assume that “Eostre” would logically be a derivative of the same term as  the name of the Greek Eos and of the vedic Ushas, and the Austriahenae goddesses from Roman inscriptions from present day Germany  – eg.  a word simply referring to dawn, and by extension to a goddess embodying it. This is a sound, well researched theory, so while early medieval chroniclers sometimes cannot be trusted, I see no reason to doubt Bede's account.

While Ushas is a prominent goddess in the Vedas, Eos was rather marginal in Greek religion (see her Theoi entry for details), and it's hard to tell to what degree Bede's Eostre was similar to either of them beyond plausibly being a personification of dawn. Of course, the hypothetical proto-indo-european dawn goddess all of these could be derived from would have next to nothing to do with Ishtar. While the history of the name of Easter (though not the celebration itself) is undeniably interesting, I suppose it lacks the elements which make the fake Ishtar claim a viral hit – the connection is indirect, and an equivalent of the Greek Eos isn't exactly exciting (Eos herself is, let be honest, remembered at best as an obscure part of the Odyssey), while Ishtar is understood by many as “wicked” sex goddess (a simplification, to put it very lightly) which adds a scandalous, sacrilegious dimension to the baffling lie, explaining its appeal to Dawkins' fans, arguably. As demonstrated above, Hislop's theories are false and adapting them for any new context – be it christian, atheist or neopagan – won't change that, but are there any genuine examples of, well, “hidden Ishtars”? If that's the part of the summary which caught your attention, rejoice – there is a plenty of these to be found in Bronze Age texts. I'd go as far as saying that most of ancient middle eastern cultures from that era felt compelled to include an Ishtar ersatz in their pantheons. Due to the popularity of the original Ishtar, she was almost a class of figures rather than a single figure – a situation almost comparable to modern franchising, when you think about it. The following figures can be undeniably regarded as “Ishtar-like” in some capacity or even as outright analogs:

Astarte (or Ashtart, to go with a more accurate transcription of the oldest recorded version of the name) – the most direct counterpart of Ishtar there is: a cognate of her own name. Simply, put Astarte is the “Levantine”equivalent of the “Mesopotamian” Ishtar. In the city of Mari, the names were pretty much used interchangeably, and some god lists equate them, though Astarte had a fair share of distinct traits. In Ugaritic mythology, which forms the core of our understanding of the western Semitic deities, she was a warrior and hunter (though it's possible that in addition to conventional weapons she was also skilled at wielding curses), and was usually grouped with Anat. Both of them were regarded as the allies of Baal, and assist him against his enemies in various myth. They also were envisioned to spend a lot of time together – one ritual calls them upon as a pair from distant lands where they're hunting together, while a fragmentary myth depicts both of them arriving in the household of the head god El and taking pity on Yarikh, the moon god, seemingly treated as a pariah. Astarte's close relation to Baal is illustrated by her epithet, “face of Baal” or “of the name of Baal.” They were often regarde as a couple and even late, Hellenic sources preserve a traditional belief that Astarte and “Adados” (Baal) ruled together as a pair. In some documents from Ugarit concerned with what we would call foreign policy today they were invoked together as the most prominent deities. It's therefore possible that she had some role related to human politics. She was regarded as exceptionally beautiful and some texts favorably describe mortal women's appearance by comparing them to Astarte. In later times she was regarded as a goddess of love, but it's unclear if that was a significant aspect of her in the Bronze Age. It's equally unclear if she shared Ishtar's astral character – in Canaan there were seemingly entirely separate dawn and dusk deities. Despite clamis you might see online, Astarte was not the same as the mother goddess Asherah. In the Baal cycle they actually belong to the opposing camps. Additionally, the names are only superficially similar (one starts with an aleph, the other with an ayin) and have different etymology. Also, that famous sculpture of a very blatantly Minoan potnia theron? Ugaritic in origin but not a depiction of either Astarte or Asherah.

The Egyptians, due to extensive contact with Canaan and various Syrian states in the second half of the Bronze Age, adapted Astarte (and by extension Anat) into their own pantheon. Like in Ugarit, her warrior character was emphasized. An Egyptian innovation was depicting her as a cavalry goddess of sorts – associated with mounted combat and chariots. In Egypt, Ptah, the head god of Memphis and divine craftsman, was regarded as her father. In most texts, Astarte is part of Seth's inner circle of associates – however, in this context Seth wasn't the slayer of Osiris, but a heroic storm god similar to Baal. The so-called Astarte papyrus presents an account of a myth eerily similar to the Ugaritic battle between Baal and Yam – starring Seth as the hero, with Astarte in a supporting role resembling that played by Shaushka, another Ishtar analog, in the Hittite song of Hedammu, which will be discussed below.

Shaushka – a Hurrian and Hittite goddess whose name means “the magnificent one” in the Hurrian language. Hurrian was widely spoken in ancient Mesopotamia and Anatolia (and in northernmost parts of the Levant – up to one fifth of personal names from Ugaritic documents were Hurrian iirc), but has no descendants today and its relation to any extant languages is uncertain. In Hittite texts she was often referred to with an “akkadogram” denoting Ishtar's name (or its Sumerian equivalent) instead of a phonetic  spelling of her own (there was an analogous practice regarding the sun gods), while in Egyptian and Syrian texts there are a few references to “Ishtar Hurri” - “Ishtar of the Hurrians” - who is argued by researchers to be one and the same as Shaushka. Despite Shaushka's Hurrian name and her prominence in myths popular both among Hittites and Hurrians, her main cult center was the Assyrian city of Nineveh, associated with Ishtar herself as well, and there were relatively few temples dedicated to her in the core Hittite sphere of influence in Anatolia. Curiously, both the oldest reference to Shaushka and to the city of Nineveh come from the same text, stating that a sheep was sacrificed to her there. While most of her roles overlap with Ishtar's (she too was associated with sex, warfare and fertility), here are two distinct features of Shaushka that set her apart as unique: one is the fact she was perceived in part as a masculine deity, despite being consistently described as a woman – in the famous Yazılıkaya reliefs she appears twice, both among gods and goddesses. In Alalakh she was depicted in outfits combining elements of male and female clothing. Similar fashion preferences were at times attributed to Ninshubur, the attendant of Ishtar's Sumerian forerunner Inanna – though in that case they were likely the result of conflation of Ninshubur with the male messenger deity Papsukkal, while in the case of Shaushka the dual nature seems to be inherent to her (I haven't seen any in depth study of this matter yet, sadly, so I can't really tell confidently which modern term in my opinion describes Shaushka's character the best). Her two attendants, musician goddesses Ninatta and Kulitta, do not share it. Shaushka's other unique niche is her role in exorcisms and incantations, and by extension with curing various diseases – this role outlived her cult itself, as late Assyrian inscriptions still associated the “Ishtar of Nineveh” (at times viewed as separate from the regular Ishtar) with healing. It can be argued that even her sexual aspect was connected to healing, as she was invoked to cure impotence. The most significant myth in which she appears is the cycle dedicated to documenting the storm god's (Teshub for the Hurrians, Tarhunna for the Hittites) rise to power. Shaushka is depicted as his sister and arguably most reliable ally, and plays a prominent role in two sections in particular – the Song of Hedammu and the Song of Ullikummi. In the former, she seemingly comes up with an elaborate plan to defeat a new enemy of her brother - the sea monster Hedammu - by performing a seductive dance and song montage (with her attendants as a support act) and offering an elixir to him. The exact result is uncertain, but Hedammu evidently ends up vanquished. In the latter, she attempts to use the same gambit against yet another new foe, the “diorite man” Ullikummi – however, since he is unfeeling like a rock, she fails; some translators see this passage as comedic. However, elsewhere in the Song, the storm god's main enemy Kumarbi and his minions view Shaushka as a formidable warrior, and in the early installment of the cycle, Song of LAMMA, she seemingly partakes in a fight. In another myth, known only from a few fragments and compared to the Sumerian text “Inanna and the huluppu tree,” Shaushka takes care of “Ḫašarri” -  a personification of olive oil, or a sentient olive tree. It seems that she has to protect this bizarre entity from various threats. While Shaushka lived on in Mesopotamia as “Ishtar of Nineveh,” this was far from the only “variant”of Ishtar in her homeland.

Nanaya was another such goddess. A few Sumerian hymns mention her alongside Inanna, the Sumerian equivalent of Ishtar, by the time of Sargon of Akkad virtually impossible to separate from her. As one composition puts it, Nanaya was “properly educated by holy Inana” and “counselled by holy Inana.” Initially she was most likely a part of Inanna's circle of deities in her cult center, Uruk, though due to shared character they eventually blurred together to a large degree. Just like Inanna/Ishtar, Nanaya was a goddess of love, described as beautiful and romantically and sexually active, and she too had an astral character. She was even celebrated during the same holidays as Inanna. Some researchers go as far as suggest Nanaya was only ever Inanna/Ishtar in her astral aspect alone and not a separate goddess. However, there is also evidence of her, Inanna and the sky god An being regarded as a trinity of distinct tutelary deities in Uruk. Additionally, king Melishipak's kudurru shown above shows both Nanaya (seated) and Ishtar/Inanna (as a star). Something peculiar to Nanaya was her later association with the scribe god Nabu. Sometimes Nabu's consort was the the goddess Tashmetu instead, but I can't find any summary explaining potential differences between them – it seems just like Nanaya, she was a goddess of love, including its physical aspects. Regardless of the name used to describe Nabu's wife, she was regarded as a sage and scribe like him – this arguably gives her a distinct identity she lacked in her early role as part of Inanna's circle. As the above examples demonstrate, the popularity of the “Ishtar type” was exceptional in the Bronze Age – but is it odd from a modern perspective? The myths dedicated to her are still quite fun to read today – much like any hero of ancient imagination she has a plethora of adversaries, a complex love life (not to mention many figures not intended to be read as her lovers originally but described in such terms that it's easy to see them this way today – including other women), a penchant for reckless behavior – and most importantly a consistent, easy to summarize character. She shouldn't be a part of modern mass consciousness only because of false 19th century claims detached from her actual character (both these from Hislop's works and “secular”claims about her purported “real”character based on flimsy reasoning and shoddy sources) – isn't a female character who is allowed to act about the same way as male mythical figures do without being condemned for it pretty much what many modern mythology retellings try to create? Further reading: On Astarte: -entry in the Iconography of Deities and Demons in Ancient Near East database by Izak Cornelius -‛Athtart in Late Bronze Age Syrian Texts by Mark S. Smith -ʿAthtartu’s Incantations and the Use of Divine Names as Weapons by Theodore J. Lewis -The Other Version of the Story of the Storm-god’s Combat with the Sea in the Light of Egyptian, Ugaritic, and Hurro-Hittite Texts by Noga Ayali-Darshan -for a summary of evidence that Astarte has nothing to do with Asherah see A Reassessment of Asherah With Further Considerations of the Goddess by Steve A. Wiggins On Shaushka: -Adapting Mesopotamian Myth in Hurro-Hittite Rituals at Hattuša: IŠTAR, the Underworld, and the Legendary Kings by Mary R. Bacharova -Ishtar seduces the Sea-serpent. A new join in the epic of Ḫedammu (KUB 36, 56 + 95) and its meaning for the battle between Baal and Yam in Ugaritic tradition by Meindert Dijkstra -Ištar of Nineveh Reconsidered by Gary Beckman -Shaushka, the Traveling Goddess by Graciela Gestoso Singer -Hittite Myths by Harry A. Hoffner jr. -The Hurritic Myth about Šaušga of Nineveh and Ḫašarri (CTH 776.2) by Meindert Dijkstra -The West Hurian Pantheon and its Background by Alfonso Archi On Nanaya: -entry in Brill’s New Pauly by Thomas Richter -entry from the Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses project by Ruth Horry -A tigi to Nanaya for Ishbi-Erra from The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature -A balbale to Inana as Nanaya from The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature -More Light on Nanaya by Michael P. Streck and Nathan Wasserman -More on the Nature and History of the Goddess Nanaya by Piotr Steinkeller A few introductory Ishtar/Inanna myths: -Inanna's descent to the netherworld -Inanna and the huluppu tree -Inanna and Enki -Enki and the world order -Inanna and Ebih -Dumuzid and Enkimdu

[aniseandspearmint]

I've been seeing this one post going around, that's very critical of all the Mandolorian culture ascribed to the clones. And there's aspects of it that makes go yeah, okay, good point, but there's a big part of it that makes me go squinty eyes and wait no that's not how people (in the case humans) work.

Let me preface this by saying I am NOT an expert, merely someone who has read and retained a LOT of random information over the years.

So, people can't not culture. Humans ARE culture. Humanity is a huge ever evolving ball of cultures blooming and growing and dying, and melting together and thrusting apart only to twine inseparably together 500 years later.

If, somehow a group of children aren't given a culture? They're gonna make their own. Iirc, this has actually been done, sorta. Some king (cannot remember who sorry) stuck a pair of twins on an island with a caregiver that wasn't allowed (or able?) to speak to them bc he wanted to see if they would start speaking the 'original' language, whatever that meant. The twins grew up speaking their own language that was wholly incomprehensible to anyone else and only that for the rest of their lives. Presumably they had their own individual micro culture to go with the language.

So like, even if the Kaminoans tried to threaten and punish and kill the clones for forming their own culture, it wouldn't work. Humans gonna culture no matter what. It just would have become more secretive, and probably sign or body language based.

There's actually basis for this in EU canon with a group of humans/near humans. Lorrdians where enslaved at some point in their history and expressly forbidden from communicating verbally with each other, so they developed a truely amazing and complex subvocal and movement based language. They eventually overthrew their enslavers but kept up the language they created and continued to develop it as a point of cultural pride.

And it's worth pointing out that children mimic and pick up EVERYTHING adults do around them. Like, everything. It's the main function of a child. Learn how to person from the adults around.

The first batches of clones learned almost exclusively from Jango and the first trainers, who were almost all Mandolorian, right? And they clearly taught those clones SOME mando'a, based on the clone specific war chants that exist (I admit to not having read the Karen Traviss books, having been warned away by others that she pretty much LOATHES the Jedi and does a piss poor job of writing them) and then those clones taught the younger generations of clones.

So it's a reasonable supposition that the clones would develop a Mandolorian based culture. Is it all Mandolorian? Doubtful.

There's probably bits of the cultures of other trainers mixed in, and a fair bit of Kaminoan culture too. The clones probably have their own accent, and their own pronunciations of the passed down mando'a, and their own created words filling in linguistic gaps for concepts the trainers never bothered to address.

Their pictorial and color symbolism is probably it own thing too, though they clearly take some things from Mandolorian symbols (the jaig eyes several clones sport).

There's probably batch/unit and generational specific subcultures even, as there are millions of clones spread out across a whole city. Think about how different parts of where you live are from other parts, and how different you are from people five or ten years younger than you?

As to the idea the clones would pick up Jedi culture, sure! But probably only AFTER the war starts.

Non-jedi are continuously shown to have pretty much no idea how Jedi actually act.

Magic monks, child stealers, wizards, emotionless, tools of the senate, 'peacekeepers and diplomats', etc. Who are they beyond that? *Universal blank looks* They wear robes? Carry lightsabers? Use The Force?

And Jango probably didn't talk about Jedi much either, and all the Kaminoans had to say was the 'you were created for the Jedi' spiel, and I really doubt Dooku left a primer on Jedi culture, sooooooo- Yeah.

I do think the cadets after the war started to have Jedi culture mixed in with their own after Shaak Ti was assigned to Kamino. It's probably the biggest cultural shift the clones had, and I will be forever sad that their entire culture was snuffed out like an oxygen starved candle before it got to grow further.

[r6shippingdelivery]

Hi kiki :) Hope you're doing well. I was wondering, since it seems you've been in the R6 community for some time, what do you think of the fanfic/fanart part of the fandom? Do you think it changed a lot? Is it more, or less active than before...? What about the content, are there some trends?

I’ve been here a while, yeah 😄 I’m going to talk separately about the fanfic and fanart parts, cause they’re definitely not the same in terms of activity and popularity, and because I know less about the fanart side of things.

Art wise, there seems to be as much activity as always or even more, but you have to look for it on Twitter, if you just look in Tumblr you’re getting only a tiny fraction of it. I personally hate how Twitter became the central hub of fandom and how it’s dreadful for keeping content alive for a long time, but that’s a rant for another day. About the type of content, nsfw seems to be harder to find, since most people will post that in different accounts, often locked ones you can’t see (and know what you’re getting into) unless you follow that account. Back before the nsfw ban, it was quite easy to find nsfw art in Tumblr.

As for the fanfic side... it’s interesting. I think (or maybe I’m looking through rose tinted glasses at the past) that back when I joined in 2018 there was more fic being writted, but we were a very small group of authors. Nowadays there seems to be more people writing and the AO3 section has grown incredibly, but at the same time it feels like fics come in more slowly? Anyone else feels like that or is it just me? That’s not exactly a bad thing, though. The frenetic rhythm from before is unsustainable for long periods of time, and people slowing down but remaining in the fandom and being active is the ideal outcome once that mad passion of the starts slowly evaporates, imo. Don’t be fooled, it’s still a pretty small fandom and content isn’t exactly pentiful, but we’ve grown quite a bit! A year and half or so ago there was a little dip overall in activity and interest, in my perception, but having ups and downs is totally normal. We “lost” some terrific writers along the way, and while that’s sad, at least their works will always be on the archive and people can still enjoy those. Remember, just because a story is old doesn’t mean the author forgot it exits, smash that kudos button or let the author know you loved their fic, it will put a smile on their faces!

I haven’t seen specific trends about what is being written: there was and still is a lot of smut, reader insert fics (I see those on AO3 but I ignore them so idk if there’s more or less than before), writers sticking to their otps as you can find in any fandom, etc. From all the new operators that have been added, I did notice a greater interest for Ace (and later, to Nitehaven in general) than to any others. It’s totally incomprehensible to me, but to each their own, right? 😂

And events! There’s now more events than ever! We used to have Siegemas, Valentine’s and Pride. And that was it. But now we have enough writers to hold more events at dualrainbow​ - both small and big ones -, and on the fanart side there’s two classics that each year seem to gather more attention and particiaption, Siege-o-ween and Siegemas (both of those run on Twitter, cause again, there’s where most of the fanartists are). I think it’s a good sign that we have recurring events, it really helps make the fandom feel more connected and like we have traditions, and ofc those always yield a lot of enjoyable content for both the pariticipants and the ones who don’t paritcipate, so it seems like a win/win to me.

[laneofpennies]

ok so i’m just gonna get all my thoughts about wkm and folklore out in this post so i can stop being incomprehensible

and yes, this has ego shipping. i couldn’t stop myself.

the 1

Damien and William. I’ll start off like that. I feel like this is a melancholy ballad about a couple who didn’t work out due to maybe distance or misunderstanding- or in this case, being gay in the 1920s- and looking back on their childhood and regretting never taking that step. Also, the addition of meeting someone else and taking them home makes me think of Celine. And the singer seems successful, much like a mayor of a small city.

cardigan

Actor!Mark is written absolutely all over this song, albeit before he was entirely corrupted. But the plot, about someone still being in love despite the other having cheated and being hurt so much time after? That’s Mark, babeyyy. We know his mental state was not great after the divorce- maybe even before that. Celine was his rock.

the last great american dynasty

This tips more into my own canon, I’ll admit. But I always thought Celine and Damien weren’t exactly from the same social class as Mark. So when the marriage between the two happened, people talked. But Celine was always a badass. Even if after the divorce she was persecuted by the media, she kept her head up. Also this song makes me cry and so does Celine so I feel like that’s enough of a connection.

exile (Ft. Bon Iver)

THE MOST Celine and Mark song, well, ever. Miscommunication. References to acting as a career. The longing to make things right. Two perspectives. The third guy, who in this case is William, swooping in. Mark not having seen any of the signs of her discomfort in the lifestyle she led, and Celine just feeling shut out. I also feel like Mark was often worried about her offending other famous actors and she felt suffocated whenever they went out together.

my tears ricochet

Actor. This one might seem like a stretch, but the Mark we know is not the same from before the divorce. He was hurting, and confused as to why this had all happened to them. We know the divorce was messy and ended an entire friend group, and Celine seemed to have taken it much better, leading to the current circumstance. The fear of being home all alone- in this case because of a literal demon.

mirrorball

Since this song is revolving around someone that blends in, changes, can show a million different faces, I think it’s perfect for the DA, aka the viewer. This character had to be written so that we could all see ourselves in them, whether that be for WKM, ADWM, or AHWM. Also the metaphor about broken glass...? That’s just too perfect.

​seven

More of my slight headcanons!! William and Damien growing up as friends must have been very close to this song. There’s talk about haunted houses, best friends, secrets, keeping in the closet, strict parents... I feel like they would be really cute in this song. They’ve been friends for ages, and even now, though they both look a little different. Overall, this song about childhood innocence slowly eroding fits the colonel and the politician.

august

This song is the second in the story about love affairs, excluding Illicit Affairs. This one always struck me because of how soft and tender it was, despite this being from the view of the other woman. There is a hint of regret and sadness that they can’t be publicly together, but you can tell there was genuine love between them. I like to think that William did love Celine, and saw the darkness within that house and within Mark. The affair was where it crossed the line, and he knew they couldn’t go back.

this is me trying

This one I see as mostly just about Damien. He had been the glue in this friend group for so long, and was so eager to see them all back together, it only made sense he would take the affair and divorce just as hard as those directly involved. I can imagine him pleading for reconciliation and attempting to help Mark through everything while still staying loyal to his sister. It must have been a struggle, and one he never let go of.

illicit affairs

Oddly enough, this song isn’t directly attached to August and Cardigan, but I feel like it fits perfectly for how Celine felt throughout the entire affair. She lost her love for Mark. She knew it was wrong, but she did truly did fall in love with William. The pains of being in their secret relationship and how useless she feels is perfect for how she wanted so strongly to be out of this situation even if she couldn’t be without either of them.

invisible string

Since the overall theme of this song revolves around the individual lives of two strangers having always been weaved together by fate, I feel like it fits the story Mark is building with all of these characters. Though this song is much happier, haha. This can also point to Mark now wanting us to be the love interest and trying to convince us we had been meant to be from the start, him being the hero and all.

mad woman

OBVIOUSLY Celine. She has her flaws, but she genuinely was a tough character who cared about her family. Even if she had been put down for her fieriness and her hobbies especially being a woman at the turn of the century, this madness is almost a freedom for her. Actor wasn’t the best husband, at least we can assume, and William wasn’t perfect either. And she never confided in her brother until it was too late. So all of this points back to her not trusting anyone in her life other than herself, and being trapped with her own anger and passions. I could write a whole essay on this one, guys-

​epiphany

I guess this one might be fairly obvious. William. The Colonel who served more than his time. Who’s seen horrors that he still has yet to overcome. I imagine this song is specifically about him in the war, fighting to stay alive for his friends, and then him having to adjust and rely on them once he first returned home and had to deal with consequences of everything he saw overseas.

betty

gay and yearning. damien and william. next question.

peace

ok ok hear me out- The viewer about Damien. They’re life partners, whether that be romantic or platonic. Working together, studying together- it’s obvious there’s a really strong connection there. Also, the lyrics describe someone I really feel like fits Damien- honorable, has integrity, kind. Maybe this is self-indulgent but it seems like it really fits them.

hoax 

This song is about a toxic relationship. Taylor knows it won’t work out, but she needs the other. The undertones of standing on the cliffside, the mentions of heroes and scars and the overall theme of faith and dependency make me, again, come back to Actor, thinking about Celine. Say what you want, but he was codependent. 

[iliveinprocrasti-nation]

Hi! Wanna share your research on cannibalism? I literally know nothing on the subject. So if you have time, I’d love to learn more.

hi!!! i absolutely do want to share my research because this has been fascinating me for days. this is also likely not edited and just comes from my brain, so if something is confusing/incomprehensible/incorrect please tell me and i’ll do my best to fix it

to anyone who might see this: please don’t hesitate to tell me if you want a tag or another trigger warning on this post or the other (although i might end up making a blog for this type of stuff? my friends can only hear so much about epidemiology and cannibalism science and all that so tell me what you think about me making a sideblog for my interests). trigger warning for cannibalism, death, sickness, ulcers, necrosis, pus

The biggest issue with cannibalism come in the form of prions. Prions are made of a protein called PrP, which is found in perfectly healthy people. PrP^C is the normal protein that’s found in cell membranes (we don’t really know what PrP does, but it might have to do with the brain’s cell to cell communication). The infectious form of PrP is PrP^Sc (called a prion). Prions happen when PrP proteins fold over themselves, which messes up how the proteins connect to each other. Usually, your body will use enzymes to break down proteins, which would fix this problem, but prions are very much resistant to them. Prions also don’t have nucleic acid (DNA/RNA). Prion diseases can be hereditary, infectious, or sporadic (so they can run in the family, or you can contract them, or your PrP just decides one day to fold itself into a prion).

Cannibalism has to do more with the infectious prions. Prions, once they happen, start affecting other proteins like some really messed up game of group tag, causing them to fold and become prions as well, causing clumps of misfolded proteins in your brain (remember how I said they might have to do with brain communication? what we do know is that prion diseases really mess up your brain. i think prions can also be found in the nervous system as well so do with that what you will). From what I remember, these prion clumps can also damage and/or kill nerve cells, which leads to your brain getting these small holes, and becomes somewhat akin to a sponge when looked at under a microscope (prion diseases are also known as “spongiform encephalopathies” for a reason). The thing is, spongy brains with holes in them also means majour brain damage, which is seen in the symptoms. 

Speaking of prion disease symptoms, they are very much not fun (i looked these up btw, i haven’t memorised the specific symptoms yet). They progress, starting smaller and creating minor inconveniences, to progressing enough to be debilitating. There are:

Memory issues and dementia

Difficulty walking/balancing

Behaviour/psychological changes

Hallucinations

Muscle stiffness/loss of muscle control

Seizures

Vision problems

Confusion

Fatigue

Insomnia

Difficulty speaking/swallowing

I know what you might be thinking. “I want a specific example of a time cannibalism lead a prion disease enough to be an epidemic like you said in one of your other answers to an ask.” Well, welcome to kuru (which means “to shake” in the Fore language), a disease that ravaged through the Fore people of Papua New Guinea (who had a cultural practice of funerary cannibalism) and their neighbours. This epidemic peaked in the 1950s, when 2% of all Fore deaths were because of kuru (hitting women and children the hardest). At this time, it was the leading cause of death among women in the Fore. The fact it was only 2% of all deaths makes it seem small, but some villages “became almost devoid of women” (this quote is from an article from medical news today that i used to get the kuru symptoms and information, and it’s a really interesting read! https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/311277#Symptoms-of-kuru). The reason it hit women and children the hardest was because they were the ones who would prepare the bodies; also, men believed that, during conflict, eating human meat could weaken them, so they consumed less than women and children. Kuru has a pretty long asymptomatic period that lasts years, but once symptoms present themselves they progress much faster and can kill in only a couple months (symptoms can be present for up to two years before death, although that’s still less than half the time of the incubation period, if not 1/10 of the time). Once symptoms appear, there are three stages of symptom progression a person goes through. 

1. When symptoms are inconveniences:

Headaches

Joint pain

Shaking

Loss of balance

Speech deterioration

Loss of muscle control

2. When symptoms have bigger effects:

Inability to walk

Loss of muscle coordination

Severe tremors

Emotional instability (depression with outbursts of uncontrollable laughter)

3. When symptoms become severe

Inability to sit without support

Little to no muscle coordination

Inability to speak

Difficulty swallowing

Unresponsive to surroundings

Ulcerations (which will have necrosis, which is tissue death, and pus)

Symptoms lead to death, though the cause of death is usually pneumonia or severely infected pressures. This is no longer an issue for the Fore people, as the the practice was reduced. Kuru is likely extinct, and the last person is thought to have died from it in 2005.

So prion diseases have only had one epidemic, and they’re relatively rare, so why are they an issue? It’s because they can’t be cured, and (at this point in time) will always be fatal. They can be slowed, but symptoms will continue to progress. Remember how prions don’t have nucleic acid? This means they’re also resistant to radiation that would normally destroy/inactivate these types of things when enzymes might not be able to. There are usually about 350 new cases of prion diseases every year, so all things considered, they’re not common. However, cannibalism would almost certainly up the numbers. Cannibalism being a cultural practice is of course a more difficult subject, but I’m more here for the science. 

Note to people who might read this and might want to comment about how “cannibalism would fix overpopulation tho” or “oh cannibalism is so horrible and bad how could someone do that”: personally, the morality behind whether or not cannibalism is “good” or “bad” doesn’t especially matter to me since science has shown negative effects, so please don’t bring any of that onto this post.

[allenwalkerbitch]

D.Gray-man characters and language

So this is by no means an original idea for a post, but I wanted to share my own headcanons for what accents/languages the DGM characters speak in because I've been thinking about it a bunch lately.  Long post imminent, so it's under the cut.

I accidentally deleted this post earlier so please give this one some love :(

I bring up details of stuff with the fourteenth once or twice, so here's a spoiler alert just in case.

Allen

Of course, we all know Allen is British, but that still leaves a lot of variety in accents.   Now as far as I'm concerned, it's pretty much canon that Allen speaks in a stereotypical "posh" received pronunciation accent most of the time.  He speaks very formally/politely in Japanese, and I feel like that's the best translation.  But! that sure as hell doesn't cover young Allen, or what he starts to slip into getting a little bit casual.  For that, I've always liked to imagine him as sounding very northern, or maybe Scottish.  At first, my only justification was that it would be a fun contrast between his two voices, but I've since realized that Campbell is a Scottish name, and since we don't know how the hell Allen was tangled up with the Campbells way back when or where they met, I'm using that as my excuse.

Also, since he spent so much time traveling around the world with Cross, I imagine that he probably knows a few key phrases in a lot of different languages, but he's only really fluent in English.  

Lenalee

Since Lenalee grew up at the European branch of the Order, she probably also speaks British English with an accent pretty close to Allen's received pronunciation, just because that tends to be what's in dictionaries/what gets taught in schools.  But, since she spends so much time around people from all different parts of the world, I imagine that there's a lot of miscellaneous words that she's learned from specific people in their accents, so her vocabulary sounds a lot more varied than Allen's.  

I don't think she'd have a Chinese accent since she was brought to the order so young, but she can still speak it decently well.  Once Komui joined her at the European branch, the two of them began to have some of their private conversations in Chinese, just for the sake of keeping up with it.  

Kanda

To be honest, I'm not really sure what Kanda would sound like.  On one hand, he grew up in the Order like Lenalee, so you could make a pretty good argument for him sounding the same as her.  

On the other hand, though, he seems to have been born knowing how to speak rather than learning slowly like a normal kid, so his accent/dialect might depend on whoever he was in his past life.  And if that were the case (assuming that his past self had a Japanese accent), would he keep it or would he lose it over time as he spent all his time around Europeans?

OR, since he has an artificially generated body, would his voice maybe also be programmed in from scratch?  And if that were the case, would it be standard received British received pronunciation like what Lenalee was taught, or would it be something else?

In other words, I have no idea what the fuck Kanda would sound like.  The only thing I can say for certain is that he speaks English and probably knows a few miscellaneous phrases in French from spending so much time with general Tiedoll.  Other than that, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Lavi

As part of his Bookman job, Lavi would have to be very good at chameleoning his speech.  There's no telling what accent he spoke in as a child in the same way that there's no telling what country he was born in or what his birth name was.  I'd bet he's fluent in about ten languages, and he knows some basics in many more than that.  He speaks however he needs to in order to blend in with whatever group he's with.  At the order, that probably means something similar to Lenalee.  Just a nondescript, textbook sort of British accent with whatever extra words and phrases he's picked up on his travels mixed in.  

Bookman would, of course, be much the same, but even more advanced in his adaptability.  He's been doing this for eighty some years.  

Miranda

Miranda is German, and you can hear it.  I imagine she learned English growing up, but she never had much reason to speak it, so she wasn't really what you could call fluent before joining the Order.  Due to this, her accent was very thick at first.  Over time, though, her vocabulary and accent both improve, and she's pretty fluent by this point, since she now has to use English for the day to day.   Still, I imagine she's relieved on the rare occasion that she can speak to Link or Marie in German like she's back home.  

Marie

Marie grew up in Austria speaking German, but he's also been with the Order for at least a decade.  He's a pretty smart guy, so he's quite fluent in English at this point, but he still has a bit of a German accent.  In a way, though, it kind of suits him.  

Krory

Given his affluent but secluded upbringing, I imagine that Krory learned to read and write in English growing up, but he never really spoke it before meeting Eliade.  As such, his accent was pretty thick for a long while, to the point of being almost incomprehensible to many people, and his speech wasn't very smooth/fluent.  However, between speaking English with Eliade and at the Order, he's gained much more confidence speaking and his accent has been reigned in quite a bit.  

In addition to English, it seems likely that he would have also learned the textbook version of another language, maybe Spanish or French.  

Timothy

Timothy speaks French, but he was taught English as part of his schooling.  He wasn't what you'd call a great student, though, so his English was pretty crummy until he was brought to the Order.  He can speak it decently well now, but he'd still much rather speak French when given the chance.  

Running with the Krory knowing a little French thread and the fact that he tends to big brother younger exorcists, I imagine that he probably goes out of his way to speak it with Timothy.  Reviewing a language that he used to study gives him something to think about besides concern for his friends, and it gives Timothy a way to feel a little more at home there.  

Chaoji

Seeing as he worked as a sailor in a big coastal city, I imagine that Chaoji was used to dealing with people from all different places.  He knew enough English to get by in simple conversation before joining the order, but he wasn't quite what you would call fluent yet.  He's been working hard on learning since joining, however, and though he still has an accent, he can keep up with just about anyone speaking nowadays.  

I'm stopping for now with just the exorcists done, but expect sequel posts to this in the future.  

[sensoriella]

CANON DIVERGENCE: CRIME SORCIERE’S PARDON.

disclaimer: please note that this analysis does not necessarily reflect any personal out of character opinions. people who have murdered and committed violent crimes are obviously bad and deserve punishment. whether i think people like that can be redeemed in a realistic setting is a concept i don't even feel like fathoming in a casual roleplay setting. it’s simply incomprehensible to me because well, i don’t know any murders or criminals in real life. and if i did, i would probably pick the sensible answer and say no, or that it would take an immeasurably long time and probably lots of psychiatric council. ( much longer than the span of the fairy tail series ) BUT, i didn’t major in human psychology or criminal justice unfortunately, so i’m going to work with this pardon thing in a fictional sense the best i can.

it’s difficult to understand how exactly the justice system of fiore works. but given the amount of excused ‘crimes’ and disregarded acts that have occurred for other mages ( not in dark guilds ), the crime sorciere pardon isn’t that hard to believe. also please consider the fact that fiorian royalty isn’t exactly clean of non-violent acts themselves. i mean, they have a group of mage executioners than kill people ( maybe brutally, for all the royals know ) on their behalf! 

mind you, crime sorciere is not pardoned easily. per plotting with other crime sorciere muses, these former dark guild wizards participate in a series of ethic / criminal trials to answer for their sins and past crimes. their trials go on for weeks to months. after the alvarez war, they were held under strict probation ( via magic resistant trackers ) and were not allowed to leave the city of crocus during those trials. their pardon does not occur absent of conditions. so be aware that their freedom doesn’t come without a price, and their lives do not necessarily become easy nor more peaceful.

so how did this become possible ? why were ex-criminals and former fugitives allowed to walk free ?

firstly, why would crime sorciere wizards agree to the pre-trial terms at all? why would they all consent to magic trackers and even bother facing the trials ? they could’ve ran again, fled the country even, in the smoke of post-war chaos. yet it’s hard to believe that a guild who took arms against an enemy in support of fiore would abandon their home now. they could’ve just left the country ages ago, before the war got ugly at least. i personally theorize that they want their voices to be heard. they want to be forgiven in the eyes of the public in pursuit of a better future, because they do not enjoy the fugitive life! isn’t it the main purpose of crime sorciere to atone for their sins and find peace within themselves–––to be able to lead lives where they don’t have to feel shunned and hated by the world? one could argue that defeating zeref was the main purpose, but i truly can’t see that being a strong enough reason for them to risk their lives for years in service of fiore, when they can just leave and forget everything–––let the dark wizard be the light guilds’ problem! it’s always been about a bigger picture for them, whether it be survival, redemption, or just simply being able to live with themselves after all their lives hit rock bottom. it’s also possible that many, if not most, of them had no intention of returning to jail if things went sour. they are tired of running nonetheless. 

going into the trial period, they’re smart enough to know that their participation in the war helped the country immensely ( yes, i do believe they helped. even if most of what canon shows us is members being K.O.ed by august. ) every action, every collaboration, and their appearances at the war, some members making a bigger impact than others, made a difference in bringing down the common enemies. members of crime sorciere are smart enough to know that fiore can’t just ignore that.

so let’s go back to the beginning, to remember the extent of their past transgressions. jellal deceived fiorian leaders, abused his council authority, kept a slave operation afloat, murdered, and attempted to destroy many lives–––all under the influence of a higher manipulator. ultear did . . . most of the same, on top of her allegiance with grimoire heart who were involved in the destruction of various villages and mass killings. meredy was associated with grimoire heart, and it’s likely that she too took part in violent crimes. ( whether she personally killed mages or not ) the oracion seis also participated in the destruction of various guilds and mass killings. the oracion seis members, and this is canonly mentioned, killed for money or as a result of completing jobs. were those deaths warranted? does that make things better? not really, but it makes them slightly more manageable than the others, i’m sorry to say, with the proper conditions. the problem with the oracion seis, is they haven’t been freed from prison for very long, so they appear more unpredictable than jellal, meredy, and ultear. whereas, the original crime sorciere members proved that they are able live ‘peacefully’ in fiore for at least seven years. again they didn’t attack innocents only dark guilds, and they exclusively carried out their work in a non-public manner, for their own sake.

now, breaking convicts out of prison is definitely frowned upon. ultear and meredy participated in the prison break of jellal, freeing him well before the end of his sentence time. in regards to the oracion seis ‘prison break’, please note that one wasn’t even a prison break! the oracion seis was set free per official order of a man of the magic council. if anything, he should’ve been penalized for the same crime that ultear and meredy committed. but he wasn’t because justice is twisted in fiore. so these crimes are also hard to overlook, but with enough persuasion and the right ‘connections’, not impossible.

crime sorciere was always meant to be a stealth operation. they were quiet and lived under the radar. they didn’t disturb the innocent public, or interact with anyone else unless it was absolutely necessary. there main targets were always dark wizards and dark guilds, which provided more help than harm through the council’s eyes. meredy and ultear watched the grand magic games from a mountain, because they didn’t want to be within sniffing distance of the rune knights. it’s clear that they probably spent most of their crime sorciere years that way. while in crime sorciere, the oracion seis didn’t commit violent crimes under jellal’s rein. not just because of jellal watching their every move, but because they were smart enough to keep their heads down. given that fact, one of the platforms that they used to argue is that they have not truly committed any illegal acts after ‘disbanding’ from their original designated dark guild, under their original leader ( re: jellal participating in the gmg. since that act more so involved the grand magic games society, it’s not really within the jurisdiction, or concern, of the magic council. basically, cheating is bad, but it doesn’t warrant incarceration. ) this is assuming that it’s not necessarily an imprisonable offense to be an unofficial guild, so long as they don’t accept illegal jobs or disturb the innocents. which they hadn’t. i assume it’s not warranted to arrest to be in an independent guild, because crime soricere operated for seven years, while the council knew of their existence, without being caught. either the rune knights are terrible at their job ( probably ) or they didn’t care enough if said guild wasn’t bothering anyone innocent.

a huge argument that can be made in favor of their freedom, is their ‘community service’ to fiore that extended for up to 2 years. ( 7 years for some members ) yes, their actions were very ‘vigilante’ like, but their acts were more annoying, yet helpful, to the council than wicked. they also argued on how it would be unjust to criminalize them for being quiet and non-destructive as an independent guild, when some legal guilds are capable of demonstrating unethical and destructive results of their behavior, without receiving arrest. ( tips hat to fairy tail ) 

when it came to past transgressions, some could argue that they had received punishment. most of them were imprisoned for seven years. others were forced to live life in solitude, forcibly exiled from fiorian cities and towns. is that a suitable punishment? not really, but something is better than nothing. 

during their trials, individuals may have testified against or in favor of the pardon. it's safe to say an array of opinions came flooding in.

parents of children, whom which erik had saved from human trafficking, were in favor of the conditional pardon. human trafficking is a huge issue in fiore and often slips under the council’s nose. some found that this was an example of demonstrated acts of good will and capabilities of change. 

those affected by the nirvana incident, were not in favor. nirvana’s awakening specifically affected three official guilds. blue pegasus and lamia scale took the most damage at the hands of the oracion seis. unfortunately for them, some could say that having the original proprietor and mastermind of the nirvana plot, Master Brain, left behind bars was sufficient justice ( hey this headcanon where Brain was left alive came in handy! ) especially since many of the other oracion seis members were under the age of 18 during that crime. ( i’m not saying this is adequate justice nor does it excuse the oracion seis of their crimes. trust me, it’s a brutal situation and many people would’ve been rightfully angry. but it's a small detail that helped them down the road to granted redemption. )

some fairy tail members were also in favor of the pardon, due to personal / professional ties with certain members of the guild–––and due to lack of suffering by the guild. yes there’s biases were involved unfortunately! but this happens all the time in fiore canon, so why can’t it work here too? fairy tail may have fought all of these members at one point, but since they didn’t receive grave injuries ( and some even bonded with / forgave them after ) they simply didn’t feel the need the vote against a pardon. and unfortunately for some, fairy tail is a very powerful guild both physically and politically. fairy tail’s guild master has pulled enough strings in the past to make their voice exceptionally influential.

villagers, non-mages, mages, and anyone else who suffered as collateral damage at the hands of grimoire heart and the oracion seis would not have been in favor. it might not have been personal for the dark guilds, but it was personal to them. but given the amount of many years that have passed since their conflicts with those guilds ( both of which were disbanded, guild masters either dead or imprisoned ), and it’s difficult to place designated blame on ex-guild individuals. those witnesses may have to settle for probationary terms and certain pardon conditions. 

other guild members personally affected by some crime sorciere wizards like kagura, who have valid reason to hate jellal for the death of her brother, for example, may have also taken part in the trials. complicated opinions may have been made in favor or opposition of the pardon. ( i will not go into too much detail about this, as decisions of certain character opinions rests with those who write as them. ) 

unfortunately for anyone else who didn’t favor the pardon, most enemies of members of crime sorciere and the oracion seis were also dark guild wizards, or dead. so their input could not be presented before a judge as reliable input. yes, this is a loophole that really benefited crime sorciere the most. 

after the rigorous trials and ethnic screenings, crime sorciere was granted a conditional pardon. several terms had to be abided by for this to come to pass. the independent guild of crime sorciere, under the rule of jellal, was forced to disband. the council just couldn’t bring themselves to allow a guild, run by a man who betrayed the council in the past, to exist. per a idea thought of by jana and marcy, the crime sorciere members had to participate in a reintegration program. following disbandment, former crime sorciere members were made to enter this program if they wished to remain in fiore, otherwise leave the country in exile. the reintegration program was a means to encourage those ex-convicts to learn to live in the fiorian society as model citizens. members were not allowed to pursue jobs without supervision of approved s-class mages of legal guilds. the ex-cons of crime sorciere had to demonstrate ethical behavior and were forbidden to accept jobs without a ‘mentor’ consent. this probationary period may last between months to years, depending on the behavior of said member. crime sorciere ex-members were not allowed to pursue any independent jobs, until the probationary period was complete. of course, the mages of crime sorciere were not happy with this arrangement, but the outcome would far benefit the possibly of incarceration and, for some, banishment. crime sorciere ex-members were also held financially responsible for any transgressions they caused in the past ( ex: medical expenses of mages they harmed ). another condition would be that psychiatric / cognitive counsel ( aka. therapy!! ) is also a necessity in order for the ex-crime sorciere members to be confidently released independently back into society.

after the conditional period was completed successfully by all members, a new crime sorciere was eventually allowed to be legalized, providing a more trusting and suitable master ( in the eyes of the council ) would lead. meredy, a former crime sorciere / grimoire heart member with mostly misdemeanor crimes ( all of which occurred under the age of 13 ) was permitted to reform the guild under certain guidelines and close monitoring. meredy would present the idea before the council ( perhaps a year or so later ) and inform them of the benefits crime sorciere could have on the country. it was meredy’s goal, inspired by jellal and ultear, to rebuild the guild so that it would be recognized by the council to help reformed convicts and troubled mages to rehabilitate and integrate into society. most new members would most likely be those who recently served their debt to society, but were not trusted enough to be left alone. it would be the renewed crime sorciere’s aspiration to help future problematic mages become functional members of fiore. while other wizards may have been suitable for the role of acting master, meredy would demonstrate the most ethical improvement in character, the cleanest record ( of previous crime sorciere wizards ) and pose as a model mentor for mages who previously strayed from a moral path.

[cosmicallynightmarish]

Important Notes on the Speaking of Nightmarish Visions:

I will publish this on my own blog, now; it developed into something quite long yet again, and so I will save our eyes the pain of reading ramblings italicised.

Adding on to my last post, though not in a way that requires that be read to understand this post, I have a few things to say on the speaking part of Nightmarish delving. Advice on a word to begin, more generally, then, on the importance and practice of always speaking. As I said, this is quite long, so I shall put it neatly under here.

There is a checklist of sorts at the bottom regarding things to look for in visions, one that may be of use to anyone seeking visions. In fact, if you can distill the essence of universal eyes from the blood of the Nightmare, this may all be of some use.. But I am here to talk of my experience with Them. After all, what are Nightmarish visions, but potent mixtures of information to be dissected and rearranged into useful knowledge? Apart from pure fun, of course.

Advice, yes.

First, to get it out of the way, the thought that sparked this post: Do not label things “incomprehensible”, simply speak on as much as you can, chase the ropes as far as you can possibly go, until you hit a wall of absolutely no information. It more than likely will not lock the gate in front of you if you do label things as such, at least not permanently, but it may very well prevent you from progressing. All that there is can eventually be comprehended by the mind since we all exist beyond this human brain. If another human can sustain consciousness and project themselves into the Astral, then you are able to wrap your mind around the deeper Nightmarish concepts. It will take time, but to label things as off-limits is to deepen the divide between you and the truth. It is better to stop talking, or make note that what you wrote may be off, than to say “No, I cannot do this, the information is impossible to ever understand.”

Second, to get back to the more general advice: When it comes to speaking, every detail is important, every detail speaks of something. Like reading tarot cards, if you find that you cannot decide or distinguish two details from one another, there is a large chance that there is a reason behind it that is not related to your skill. Tarot cards may be not obviously or definitively picked from the bunch, may be hard to distinguish between which card you should and you should not pull out, and that may mean that they are similar cards, give similar emotional responses, etc., or it could mean that the deck is reflecting your own or your client’s inability to express yourself, and so on. Simply put, tarot cards refusing to come out easily may mean that the information they represent is refusing to come out easily, not that you are not skilled enough to pull them. In the way of visions, take as an example seeing a figure whose hair is hard to distinguish from the rest of the house they are in, which would be seen in the background. Is their hair really the colour of rich wood, or are you simply not seeing correctly? Is your vision filling in a blank where the hair should be with the background's colour? Write it down regardless: “I cannot distinguish their hair from the background, because they seem to both be the same colour, and there is no line between them.” Note that that line is three pieces of information, not one. It gives you the indistinct/ill-defined/not entirely present nature of the person, it gives you the hair colour, and it gives you the fact that there is a specific connection between their hair and where they are. There is a high chance that it is shown to you like this on purpose in the vision to say, for instance, that this person is in a state of Communion with the world, that they are not fully attached to lucidity, that they have a deep connection to this house, that they passed before what you are seeing took place - and as such are supposed to be dissolving into the background - and so on. Just like tarot cards will give you the wrong card if you understand it in a way that gets the information across, such as giving the Death card to mean literal death to someone who believes it means such and will not look it up, the Nightmares do not only give you clear, explicit information. It is more important that you get the complete message, even if the means through which you get it is seemingly incomplete. The gaps in the Nightmare of Mensis speak in absence, your visions will too.

You do not need to dissect and label all the information now, you do not need to understand why the hair blends with the background, you do not need to "get it", you need to be the medium through which your future self may see what you have seen. A vision with a lacking detail has diminished worth, and, if it is lacking a key detail, it can be literally worthless. There is no worth to a vision of “a man within a house, wearing white robes”, when you come back to it and that is all you have to go off, but there is worth to a vision of “a man in a house, wearing white robes, whose head is blank of any details (or perhaps I cannot see them) and whose hair is as rich as the wood around him, specifically the wood beams, not the house itself, almost as if his hair were the wood itself. He is not fully defined beyond his white robes, as his hair, the other vibrant detail of this vision, is blurred into the background; only his robes seem to actually be in the picture.” The first example is a man in robes a house, something utterly mundane and quite common for Yharnam, nearly worthless information by itself. The second example is someone who is connected to wood, possibly trees, who is likely not present in the scene literally, and whose white robes seem to have more of an impact on the world around him than he himself does - likely, that means whoever he was personally is gone now or simply less important, and whatever group those robes were from and whatever outward acts he performed in those robes (or for the cause they represent) has lingered strongly in the world. It also tells me that if I see another image of someone whose hair is blending into the background, that they are somehow related and a key may lie in their intersection, and that if I see another person in white robes with that colour hair, they may be the same person.

Third, carrying on from that: Visions will not last forever. There is a sizeable chance that you will retain images you receive from the Nightmares, to a certain extent, after they are witnessed. However, like all memories, they are destined to fade. Even if they weren’t going to fade, once you begin to have similar visions or visions of the same place and people, they will begin to get muddled within your mind’s space; and if you begin to explore what you have seen in your mind - by walking through it or dissecting it - or in art through putting it to paper, those explorations can, and likely will, overwrite the original visions. That is not even mentioning the fact that some visions are on loan to you, and will be taken back once you have received the message or moved away from that connection, something that has happened to me numerous times, making it so you can no longer see any of what you were shown. Oh, and things that aren't meant to be spoken can be wiped from your mind if you attempt to speak them publicly whilst receiving them. Again, something I have experienced. Incidentally: You need not take this as a terrible thing, a failure, sometimes this is but the only way They can ask you to keep it quiet. Continuing on, your records of visions are your library of Nightmarish information, are your personal reference book for Nightmarish symbolism surrounding every entity and every place and every concept, and there is no use to incomplete records in the Nightmare. The knowledge that you saw a pentagram vividly is nearly useless compared to the knowledge that you saw a pentagram vividly when you looked at a picture of the Moon. The Nightmare is symbolic and richly layered, and as such, one missing detail can render something absolutely worthless. Do not panic, now, because even I get perhaps half the details - and I am the one writing this post, as if I were some authority - but the best thing you can do is write down everything. Take this post not as a warning, not as something negative, but a long, long reminder that “I will remember this, I do not need to write it down” is said by all, and works for none. I am of the Shards, we do like to extend talk.

So, all that is well and good, but what do you write down? An example checklist of sorts follows, not everything here needs to be checked off, and your own intuition will tell you what you do not need to write down, but if you struggle with identifying information to be written, this may help:

Context:

What were you looking at when you saw this, or before you saw it?

Was it brought about by listening to a certain song, or watching a video, or hearing a bell, or something similar? Check the name of the song (if it was a song), on the off chance it is related.

If it is caused by staring at something too long, leaving lights that morphed into something different, what was it that was originally burned into your retinas? I have seen text form into lines on water, an image that was very significant in a channelled vision of the Moonside Lake, for example. This is not always relevant, but may be, either now or in the future.

If you see something significant upon returning to reality, such as a related post here on Tumblr as soon as you are done, note that down.

Your Feelings:

Is there unease in the scene? Does it feel celebratory, awkward, uncomfortable, happy, peaceful, etc.? “I feel like I’ve walked into a room where everyone was awkwardly silent”, “the house itself feels like it is looking at me, and I shouldn’t be here”, “the river feels like it is mourning”

Speaking of - should you be looking? Is anyone looking back at you? Someone looking at you is vital information, indicative, possibly, of their Communion. “I feel as if I shouldn’t be in this place”, “I feel someone looking to me in the crowd, and if I turn around, there is someone who stopped walking to look right at me”

Do you know this person/place/thing personally? Are they familiar? - “I feel like I know them from somewhere”, “they remind me of my father”, “I feel like I would’ve gotten along with them as a child”

Are you present in the scene, either in an external body you can see in the scene or looking through your own eyes in your body? “I see myself/myself in a past life on the floor over there”, “I feel like I am a small spider on the wall looking down”

On feeling as if you shouldn’t be there: Do not continue looking if it is a serious enough feeling. Genuine apologies, if someone has spotted you, spoken through the vision to them before you leave will likely go a long way. People in crowds, anyone looking towards you with wonder, etc., likely should not be spoken to, but you may nod or otherwise present a calm and loving energy, it is up to you. They are quite possibly waking up and beginning to see presences in the world, and as such will likely be seeing just a glimpse of you or your energy or such, it is fine. When you approach certain people to gain information on them, however, and they stop you or you feel you have stepped into a room with them, that is the time to back out and apologise. I have made a post on this here, but to give a quick example: I would avoid looking at the Queens, Great Ones, and the Nightmares' consciousnesses directly, as these are near-guaranteed to see you looking at them. People in Communion, and the Nightmares Themselves, as well as things that live or otherwise dwell in the Subcutaneous/sub-Lucid Layers.

People:

Can you tell how old they are? “I think this is Master Willem, but he is unrecognisable in how young he is”, “this is something that took place in Bloodborne, but this person is much older/younger in this vision than they were in canonical content”

How are they feeling? Right now, but also in general? “They feel like they have been on a downward spiral”. “they feel like they are close to giving up”, “there is a sense that they are close to snapping violently in this scene” “it feels as if their fist is clenched tight, though I am not sure with what emotion”

Are they real, a lucid person, or are they an illusion? “They feel like background figures in a dream”, “two people stand out in the crowd as real, while the rest look more blurry”

Do you know who this is? Are they a person you are familiar with, a character, a deity, for example? “This person looks nothing like them/a bit different to them, but I am quite sure they are _____”, “this human figure feels like (inhuman character)”, “this is ________ as a child”

Are they human? Are they changing form? 

Are they presenting in this vision in one way so that you recognise them or learn something about them, when in reality they are not this form?

Is someone motioning to something, or outright trying to show you something?

Lacks of Detail:

Is someone having thoughts or emotions regarding something or someone else in or outside of the scene?

What is their expression like? Oftentimes I will be given a separate vision that is just their face to see the expression, not necessarily congruent with the original vision, perhaps a different expression entirely, but it speaks to their mental state or hidden feelings.

Speaking of, if you see a separate vision of their face, are they haloed by anything such as robes, hoods, and so on? This is also a good opportunity to look at their hair, for anything like freckles or unnatural skin, scars, etc.

Is anyone half present, blurred into things?

Is anyone lacking a face? A body part?

Is there a solid floor, are there solid walls - including behind you? “This place appears to be real, but it feels like behind me is just a long tunnel into the Nightmarish depths”

Is something supposed to be there, but it is absent? “There should be a key here, I feel, but there’s nothing there”, “this is the Grand Cathedral’s altar, but there is no skull upon it”

Uncertain Detail:

Is a detail, such as stars, difficult to pinpoint, as if it may be on two different things at once? “I can’t tell if there are stars reflected in the lake or if they’re just waves”, “the fire seems like it may be surrounding the person, or it may be inside their silhouette symbolically instead”

Is it hard to tell which of two (or more) things is in front of the other? 

Does someone feel as if they’re walking out, or otherwise wanting not to be seen? “There’s a silhouette here with less detail than everyone else, and it keeps fading away”

Environmental:

Is there a part of someone or something that could be two different things at once? “I can’t tell if their hair is sticking up or they have horns”, “I’m not sure if they’re holding a staff or a snake”, “the chalice could be either on a table or a decoration on the wall”

Is something changing when you look at it, or when you try to see or judge it? When you address it perhaps? When you say that it is one thing, and therefore it changes into something else?

What time is it? Does time even exist here? “This place feels detached from linear reality”, “the sky seems to say this is sunset, but it is descending into an unnatural time/something unnatural”

If you are listening to music now, in reality, do any of the voices or sounds feel as if they are a part of the scene?

On that, is there any music or sound coming from the scene itself? Laughter, external carriages driven past, music (happy? Sad?), babies or children making noise, crying?

If there are sounds, can you pinpoint the source? Does it feel like it is coming from someone lucid, or from the Nightmares Themselves? “I hear crying, as if the Nightmares were weeping for them”, “there is laughter coming from someone walking in the walls”

Basically, it boils down to this: If you feel it, write it down. If you feel you’re intruding, write it down. If you feel like the wall behind you doesn’t actually exist, or that there are horses outside, or that every star in the sky is staring at something despite not having eyes, or the air feels heavy, or that you are a family member of someone you’re seeing despite not knowing them in reality, that the Red Moon is present despite not being there in Bloodborne, that you are with someone you have never had a connection with looking at something utterly absurd.. Write it, it is all useful. Just do not write that you cannot understand something definitively or that it is incomprehensible. “Incomprehensible” is a great big brush for a piece of art that is to be made of intricately small words: It is to be used only when you are absolutely certain it is needed, and, even then, it likely is not, not unless you are painting the background upon which you wish to transcribe the tiny details.

These questions - this checklist, the ever-looming need for More - can become overbearing, heavy, too pressing. I'll put my answer to that fact like this: There is a reason I do this. When you begin addressing, you begin seeing. When you realise that person in the house in those white robes may be blurring into the house itself, suddenly, you realise it isn't simply you, he has no face. You realise he has no face, and suddenly, you feel something odd, he feels as if he has no face because he is slightly.. Disillusioned. With what? What is he doing in this house like that? Well, he seems like he has to be here. You realise he feels disillusioned, and suddenly you are aware that that is why his robes stick out so much, he is presenting them to cover something - oh, no, that is wrong, it is not pretention and pretend, he is trying to cover something up not to trick, but like bandages cover a wound, cover shifting skin. What is he hiding? Well, that will be yours to uncover. I have rather invented my own vision here, but I have woven it with what I know of this figure, and who that figure is will be your information to discover. When you shed light upon a scene you shall see more, luckily for us, Light and Consciousness are the same, at least in terms of what the game suggests.. It is all a great game of pulling at strings. Be as a cat, revel at the way the yarn unwinds and extends then splits into more strings then more strings again, then be as your owner and roll it up neatly and away for your records. Endless fun. All for free.

[galaxae]

3, 7 and 18 for as many as you can answer; btw do you still have an ocs page? like with introductions and all that

wow this took forever oops!

tysm for the ask!! i’ve been meaning to make a carrd or something with oc intros, but i have so goddamn many ocs and so little time now that i’m in college and all that. and i have the code saved from my old pages before i remade, but those are kind of outdated and incomplete

that being said i’m probably gonna end up making that carrd regardless of how busy i am cause special interest indulgence and all that, so i’ll post about it when i do

anyway! i’m putting the actual oc answers under a readmore because i’m gonna try to do all the ocs i listed and it’ll be kinda long lol

3. What does your oc’s voice sound like? (Or, if you have one, what’s their voiceclaim?) Can they sing, whistle, or roll their rs? Do they have any speech impediments or notable dialects/accents?

how does one even describe voices... ok here goes

avani: she’s my character for a ttrpg campaign, so her voice sounds basically like mine (which might not help much cause you don’t know how i talk lol), but when i’m talking as her i pitch my voice up a bit and make it a bit more nasally. she’s not much of a singer, nor can she whistle, but she can roll her r’s pretty well. also, since she’s autistic and hard of hearing, her tone of voice often comes off the "wrong” way

farhan: he’s another ttrpg character i play lol, or at least he will be next semester, so his voice is again kind of like mine. but when i talk as him i pitch my voice down and it’s a bit hoarse. ig his voice would also be more “masculine” than mine but whatever. he can sing and whistle but has a pretty small vocal range (since he’s, like, 13 right now and will be 16 when i rp him next semester)

carter: i imagine his voice as low and on the quiet and raspy end, with a tiny bit of a lisp. he’s way too insecure to try to sing or even whistle or anything like that, though if he practiced at it he’d probably get pretty good

calira: she’s mute so n/a i guess. but she talks pretty formally in her dialect of elvish sign language, which is definitely unusual

sam: they have kind of a low voice that’s also raspy, but with quite a bit of pep and variation in their tone. they can even sing pretty well and they like to whistle constantly while working. that creates some kind of whiplash cause sam comes off as a typical edgy teen a lot of the time

jizoriel: high-pitched with lots of voice cracks, peak pretentious preteen/early teen jerkass. he can’t really sing or do anything similar, nor does he want to very much

victoria: so quiet and raspy that you can barely make out that it’s low and has a soothing and pleasant tone to it. she can sing well, or at least she could once upon a time

rowan: just! the happiest and most cheerful voice you can imagine! so much love behind how she talks! her voice fills up her whole head and the whole room!! and she whistles sometimes while she walks

ace: defies any masculine or feminine labels, smooth and cool in theory but they stutter quite a bit

charity: gruff but with a hint of cheer and clarity behind it that comes out when she’s startled. she loves to sing but can’t whistle and can’t roll her r’s either

jamal: i actually have a voiceclaim for him! it’s this (the voice that sings from 1:51 to 1:58)

kimberly: her voice is a bit high and a bit... idk how to say it exactly... i guess shrill would be the word?

fabián: his voice seems higher-pitched than it actually is cause he talks higher when he’s anxious, and he’s always anxious. it’s a bit hard to describe his voice otherwise tbh. i can hear it in my head but i can’t quite put it to paper oops. oh yeah also he has a great singing voice but never uses it sooo

7. What song reminds you of this oc? Does this match up with the type of music your oc likes to listen to?

this question opens up a wormhole cause i have playlists for many of these guys but instead i’ll just provide one (1) song for each and vaguely describe their music taste, how does that sound

avani: honestly “mr. capgras encounters a secondhand vanity” by will wood is a “her” song to me. her music taste leans a lot more toward older music though (like some classics from the 70s and 80s and such)

farhan: he’s still very new so i haven’t really found a song for him yet. but i know he absolutely loves peppy and energetic pop music and also sappy gay love songs

carter: (slaps my hand away when i try to type another will wood song) “fantasy island” by the shins always launches me into daydreams about him. which kinda roughly aligns with his music taste, he listens to a lot of those “mainstream indie” artists. he’d also listen to will wood because he’s gay and mentally ill <3

calira: one of my favorite songs on her playlist is “maximillian von spee” by dirt poor robins. but the music she listens to is basically all invigorating church-loving stuff with medieval-era instruments lmao

sam: “sometimes” by nick lutsko is an absolute bop and very much a sam song. sam actually doesn’t go out of their way to listen to music though, but when they do they listen to either the most soothing and relaxing stuff or to the angriest metal emo music. no in between

jizoriel: i’ll go the less emo angle here and say a song that reminds me of him is “upside down” by jack johnson. jizoriel’s music taste is like. old choir music and shit plus incomprehensible magical music that doesn’t even sound like music. if he was from earth he’d like my chemical romance

victoria and rowan: i’m grouping these two together here because a song that reminds me very strongly of both of them/their relationship is “human” by dodie. which actually fits very well into both of their music tastes!

ace: again, going the less edgy angle here, “auntie earth” by walter mitty and his makeshift orchestra. but ace mostly listens to uh, classical flute music and flute covers

charity: absolutely “dance and cry” by mother mother, that’s pretty much her theme song. it’s among her favorite songs in canon too

jamal: “tire swing” by los elk, since his arc is about letting go of childhood and all that jazz. he’s more inclined to listen to fun. and other pop artists and rappers and such. he likes janelle monae

kimberly: “best tears” by the happy fits for sure. in terms of her music taste though, her taste is pretty similar to jamal’s. they bond over being janelle monae fans

fabián: by god does “heal” by so much light fit him. his taste is that he rotates through three (3) specific obscure indie artists lmao, so theoretically i guess that specific song is included in there

18. How does your oc see themself? How does this compare to the way other ocs see them?

i am gonna do my best to keep these short cause this is a loaded question for all of them hoo boy

avani: how she sees herself: honestly the worst person alive. unless she spends every moment of her time trying to make up for what she’s done, she’s worthless, and she doesn’t deserve to love herself in any capacity how others see her: her brother (farhan) really looks up to her! most of the time. the superhero team she’s on (other people’s ocs) all think she’s generally smart and capable enough, and her boyfriend in particular thinks she’s incredible

farhan: how he sees himself: as of right now? a misunderstood emo middle schooler who’s still kind of cool i guess how others see him: his sister (avani) thinks he’s quite an impressive and charismatic young man

carter:  how he sees himself: 1/10 awkward and annoying how others see him: carter reminds calira too much of her old self, so she love-hates him. sam thinks he’s weak and cowardly but admires his kindness. and jizoriel clings to him as a caring father figure and loves carter’s passion for natural studies

calira: how she sees herself: it goes back and forth between “i’m the greatest chosen one ever im such a strong warrior” and “wow i’m literal trash why did the gods pick me for this” how others see her: carter is a bit intimidated by her but appreciates her attempts to vibe with him, sam thinks she’s an annoying pretentious self-important bitch (but their opinion softens over time), and jizoriel sees right through her facade and feels comfortable around her because of it

sam:  how they see themself: evil and in need of redemption, kind of similar to avani ig but with 10x more confidence in their skills and also much more violent how others see them: carter knows theyre doing their best even if theyre kind of an asshole, calira is a fan of their strength and determination, and jizoriel Hates Their Guts (at first) because they baby him too much

jizoriel: how he sees himself: a fucking fraud of a prince. all he has going for him is his abilities as a mage, but even then those are shaky how others see him: carter knows he’s very insecure and wants to comfort him, calira admires his magical prowess and noble air, and sam thinks he’s a snarky little pretentious douchebag but also he reminds them of their late brother and they want to protect him at all costs

victoria: how she sees herself: basically dead. only good for interacting with ghosts. not worthy of the human world or of friendship how others see her: she reminds rowan of her old self. rowan sees a glimmer of love and hope in her and wants to bring it out

rowan: how she sees herself: a fucking mess but she’s trying her best and that’s what counts! how others see her: victoria very much appreciates her cheerful air even if she doesn’t act like it

ace: how they see themself: way too weird to be human, way too weak not to be. their self-image changes constantly. theyre very confused about everything please help how others see them: charity is literally dating them lol she thinks theyre the cutest person alive, jamal appreciates how hard they try as a friend, kimberly thinks theyre an alien invader whom she can study and use to get further in life, and fabián knows more about ace than anyone else and loves them for it

charity: how she sees herself: a Teenager who’s struggling. she desperately wants to be young without the burden of her trauma but whether she thinks of herself as emo and sad and angry or not depends a lot on her mood how others see her: ace adores everything about her, jamal loves how cool and fun and sociable she can be, kimberly is annoyed with her rebelliousness, and fabián worries very much for her well-being and can’t shake the image of her as helpless (oops that’s gonna cause some drama)

jamal: how he sees himself: just a chill guy trying to get by. unremarkable. how others see him: ace is grateful for how forgiving he can be but is still terrified of him being angry over [spoilers], charity loves how sociable and fun he is and how protective he can be of his friends, kimberly secretly envies his carefree nature, and fabián sees him as a solid acquaintance to whom he did not give a good first impression

kimberly: how she sees herself: not good! if she can’t grow up fast and do science well then she’s useless how others see her: ace wants to be friends with her but doesn’t know how to do that, charity is annoyed by her rule-bound-ness, jamal thinks she’s cool but should unwind a little, and fabián resents her at first but would still like to play chess with her sometime

fabián: how he sees himself: he has a moral responsibility to help people Or Else. way too anxious and stuck up but he doesn’t know how to change that how others see him: ace fuckin Loves this guy, charity loves him too but she gets pissed when he tries to help her with anything, jamal genuinely thinks he’s a great guy and wants to get to know him better, and kimberly is actually impressed by him and envies his apparent confidence and charisma

ok ok that’s it i promise. sorry this is so long and tysm for reading if you made it this far!! feel free to ask more oc questions literally whenever, that goes for anyone reading this <3