#a lot of this is up for interpretation though

[bunni-v1]

May we get some crk thoughts, my liege? I too have a hyperfixation—

Shadow Milk Cookie Headcannons (SFW & NSFW)

🍓Thank you for the excuse to write this shit, I feel less insane being asked to do it lol. I still think this might taint my public image, so lets hope none of my future employers fuck with tumblr. Anyway only smc since he's who I'm obsessing over. I was gonna add pv, but I write wayyyy too much to include both of them on one post. Maybe I'll do him if someone asks nicely. I'll have a mix of both sfw and nsfw so beware lol.

MDNI (I'll find u)

TW: Shadow Milk Cookie; Obsessive behaviors; Stalking mentioned; Nsfw under the cut; unedited

Info: Shadow Milk Cookie x Reader; Sfw & Nsfw headcannons

Credit for Beast Bite Idea: @rollingeevee (go give them love I adore this AU)

-To start I'm gonna say, he's insane, like genuinely. He leans into a lot of yandere-esque behaviors, but I firmly believe he's not a full-on yandere, just really fucked up in the head (trauma and such, poor thing, wah wah wah.)

-Pre-Corruption Shadow Milk surely had a lot of admirers, but admiration is very different from genuine love and connection. He was, in a very literal sense, on a different level than all the cookies on earthbread. He's immortal, a god meant to care for all cookies, romantic relationships with cookies (other than the other heroes) just aren't an option in his mind. (For the sake of these, none of the beasts have had any romantic interaction with him, because I don't wanna deal with that can of worms rn.)

-All that to say, it's highly unlikely he has much experience in relationships. Maybe he's had flings, and some sexual encounters, but I doubt he would commit to someone he would inevitably lose to time. And, sure, he certainly could artificially extend their lifetime... but that's unethical and unfair to his partner. The burden of immortality is not one a regular cookie is baked to bear.

-So when he is inevitably corrupted and sealed away, romance isn't really a thought on his mind. He's very fixated on escaping that stupid tree and enacting his revenge. Which he does, at least in part, and with his freedom comes half of his powers and ensuing chaos.

-There are not many ways he could meet you if I'm quite honest, so I'll leave that up to personal interpretation. However you do meet him, though, you have to be intriguing. He gets bored of people easily, so you have to stand out -- be that in your demeanor or the way you speak or how you challenge him, it just has to be interesting. Once he's interested he's hooked.

-He's rather... mmm... obsessive? He likely stalks you for a while before he makes any moves. He wants to learn your patterns, the cookies you surround yourself with, the things you like, your job, your favorite foods, what flowers you like, and how do you feel about his chaos? He'll even manipulate things around you, just to see how you might react. (Is it fucked up? Yeah, lol! But isn't it equally endearing? He seems to think so.)

-You have frequent reoccurring dreams about him in this period of time. You've only seen him from a distance at this point, but you can't quite shake him from your thoughts. What's very important here is that you realize that your thoughts are not your own. Acknowledge that he's watching, and make sure that he's aware you're aware. Be that by purposefully doing something he could recognize as acknowledgment, or outright saying that you're aware he's messing with you. He values curiosity and intelligence in a person, if you can break yourself out of his cycle he's 100% sold on you.

-It doesn't take much longer after that for him to make his first official appearance. Bowing gracefully in front of you as he materializes from thin air, smiling like a man driven mad by infatuation.

-Believe it or not, he's really not all that creepy or pushy. He's very playful and charming, and while you have the knowledge he'd been watching you for a long time at this point, it's hard not to fall for him. He flirts with an ease that no other cookie really has, and he's so very funny never failing to get a smile out of you at his jokes.

-Now, this may go against what others characterize him as a lot, but I don't believe he's the type to steal you away and lock you up. Shadow Milk is a cookie who wants to be wanted, he doesn't want his feelings to be entirely one-sided, it would really hurt him to pour himself into someone who does not want to reciprocate his passions.

-He's unbelievably patient with you. Despite what the mental manipulation from earlier implies, he allows you to set the pace and make the moves, mostly nudging you gently in the direction he wants you to go now that he has your attention. Again, he wants you to choose him. He wants you to love him, so he will happily wait as long as it takes for you to realize and accept your longing for him.

-He gives you the flowers you like, and listens to you talk about your exceedingly boring days (with rapt attention, of course, he loves listening to you talk as much as he loves talking). If you ask, he'll take you anywhere you'd like to go on earthbread with a snap of his fingers, showing you sights you'd only dreamed of seeing. (Whether or not these are illusions are still up for debate).

-It's very hard not to fall for him with all this considered, and he knows that of course. He was just waiting for you to confess, and you have to confess. He won't do it even if you make it clear you want him to. It's not something he'd ever admit to you -- or himself -- but he doesn't want to risk even the slightest bit of rejection. It would break him more than he's already been broken, so you'll have to do it for our poor little jester.

-When you do though? Oh, he's over the moon! Practically swooning as he scoops you up and spins you around in celebration. He's so overjoyed. He is wanted, there is someone in this world who loves him genuinely. There's no false platitudes or any worshipping done, just raw affection between the two of you. (Just the tiniest bit of manipulation at the start, but obviously you've dismissed and forgiven that at this point).

-Again, he doesn't immediately take you away from your life if you don't wish to be. He does heavily encourage you to come spend your days with him, though. He can take care of you, he's literally a god, you'll never ever want for anything so long as he can control it (which he can, duh).

-I feel it very important to emphasize that in a relationship with him, you are equal. Even if you literally cannot be equal in stature and power, you are equal in the relationship -- if anything you have more sway over him than he does over you. He's very, very in love with you, and he will do just about anything you ask of him so long as it doesn't interfere with obtaining his souljam.

-Having established that, let's get to the fun stuff.

-Shadow Milk Cookie is very physically and verbally affectionate. If you are around him it's likely he's touching you in some way. Whether that's him literally hanging off you like a baby monkey or just a hand on your arm, he likes to have a physical tether to you.

-Plenty of messy wet kisses all over your cute little face, he loves seeing you get all flustered and feeling your dough burn up from his barrage of affections.

-It's also very common for him to carry you around in various different styles. Over the shoulder, piggback, princess style, like a sack of potatoes... doesn't really matter. It's also a regular occurrence that you fall asleep as he floats around the spire of all knowledge. He doesn't need sleep, and he does not sleep often, but he likes holding you while you do so. It's proof of your trust in him, and he usually uses the time you are sleeping to be more genuinely affectionate. Soft words whispered in your ears bringing you sweet dreams as he runs his hands up and down your back, kissing the crown of your head with such love it would make a grown man blush.

-He calls you cute little nicknames, like shortcake or sweet thing. The most common, and his favorites, are doll/dolly and little star. (Little star is something he hums with such affection it makes you weak in the knees. You know he's feeling more adoring when he uses it.) Talks about how cute you are, how pretty you are, how desirable you are. How any cookie would be so lucky to have you -- too bad they could never compete with him!

-That being said, most of his affections are pretty surface-level stuff at the start of the relationship. At least, what you get to see. He has a hard time opening up to others, he's a very sensitive cookie deep down in his dough. It takes quite a while to get him out of his shell and start showing you who he is as himself.

-Who he is, is a very aching cookie. He lost so much, struggled with his own corruption, and still hasn't fully accepted it himself. He feels as though he has been betrayed and discarded by everything he once loved, it's no wonder he has a hard time showing you such ugly sides of himself.

-You warm him up, melt him slowly, and you get to see peaks of genuine love and adoration behind those heterochromatic eyes. He may never allow you to see all of him at once, but you do get to know him. If you continue to love him despite seeing the uglier side of things, there is a distinct shift in the way he showers you in affection.

-Initially, he's very showy with everything, his love is a spectacle for the two of you to watch. It's almost like he's put himself outside of the relationship rather than in it. After he opens up, it's quieter, more intimate. He's more involved in it, like it's less about showing you how much he loves you, and more about sharing that mutual feeling between the two of you.

-You didn't have much room to show him how much you cared for him, but now you do. He allows you to initiate physical affection and doesn't flinch away at the touch. He accepts your words of admiration for what they are, not questioning your intentions for any reason.

-Kisses are softer, more full of emotion. Less like he's drowning you and more like he's trying to swallow you up. Desperation to have you as close to him as possible can take him over quite frequently during make-out sessions, and they leave you breathless and fuzzy rather than burning and flustered.

-Now, you can't write Shadow Milk without acknowledging how fucking jealous he is all the time. Now, I believe it's less of a jealousy thing (though, that really is something that is frequent), and more of a possessive/protective thing.

-He doesn't get jealous of the average cookie, alright, not unless you show interest for whatever reason. They're not really a threat to him, and why would they be? He's secure enough to know that you wouldn't leave him for some random half-baked simpleton. HOWEVER, he DOES get jealous of the other beasts and especially Pure Vanilla Cookie.

-The other beasts aren't as powerful as him, but they're still powerful and cunning (some of them at least). Truly, on a level of divinity and ability to care for you, they are his closest competition. Even still, he only gets jealous if one of them seems to want to stake a claim on you, or you become too fascinated with one of them.

-If neither is the case, he highly encourages you to form relationships with them. They are cookies that, seemingly, he cares for. While they can be difficult to get along with, if you are someone Shadow Milk deems worth his time, you are someone they will also deem worth their time.

-Ah, I should also mention he gets... pouty about Black Sapphire and Candy Apple. He doesn't see either of them as a threat, so I couldn't say he's jealous... he just gets annoyed when you're being attentive to them when he's around. Black Sapphire is smart enough to set hard boundaries with you to start, for both of your sakes, but your relationship with him is very positive. You are Shadow Milk Cookies partner, after all, you're a very important Cookie and Black Sapphire has no reason to be unkind to you.

-Candy Apple Cookie on the other hand is the one who's jealous here. You find her positively adorable and her little crush on Shadow Milk is nothing but endearing in your eyes, but she very much is huffy about your relationship with him. Of course, she can't do anything to you, that would only turn against her in the end so she just pouts. You can win her over slowly, though, just by being sweet to her and comforting her when Shadow Milk rejects her once again.

-Your relationship with them seemingly pleases Shadow Milk, though you can't really tell if he's happy or not. Sometimes he seems pleased, other times he's pouty, so who really knows other than him.

-However, the cookie that really seriously gets under his skin the most is Pure Vanilla. He does everything in his power to keep the two of you as far away from one another as possible, but it's almost inevitable that you meet PV, especially when he becomes Truthless Recluse.

-Pure Vanilla is everything Shadow Milk is not. Kind, gentle, patient, soft-spoken, and of course truthful. He's very afraid you may meet PV and realize that you do not want to be with him anymore. You would rather have someone like Pure Vanilla Cookie to dote on you in a fashion that he cannot bring himself to do openly yet.

-Of course, you don't, but that doesn't stop the fear from seeping into his dough. The only way to ease him is by being patient and displaying your loyalty through and through. He won't really be calm until Pure Vanilla is take care of, but you can assure him that you won't be leaving him for his other half anytime soon.

-Circling back to his possessive and protective tendencies, Shadow Milk does see you as an object of his affection. He is fully aware you are your own cookie, you are not something he ever wishes to control entirely and remove autonomy from, but you are his. His to keep and love and protect.

-He's very obsessive about your well-being and happiness. If something hurts you (alive or not), it's gone, destroyed. He won't even make a show of it, it just disappears. If you are upset, he is there doing everything to make you feel better. Whatever you want, whatever you need! He's here for you, please rely on him (he needs you to rely on him).

-If you are out and about he keeps an eye on you, which you are aware of. It's rather obvious, so even if he doesn't tell you, you can feel him watching you. Ignoring it becomes easier with time, but if anything happens to you he wastes no time in popping up and taking care of whatever happens.

-This leads into my next headcanon (inspired by the ever-talented @rollingeevee go check them out!), he has a bite of sorts that he uses as a means of monitoring you. It's something he uses to pinpoint where you are at all times, even when he's not monitoring you actively. The bite acts as a connection between you and him, emotionally and physically tying the two of you together.

-You can feel what he feels through the bite, anger, sadness, joy, pretty much anything he feels you can feel. It also acts as a reminder to you that you should not stray too far from where he is, sending an uncomfortably heavy feeling through your dough. (This is a manifestation of his worry, and it only really happens when he notices you've gone somewhere a little too far from the safety of the spire).

-However, this goes both ways. He can also feel what you feel at the same intensity that you feel it. You can, likely less so, also tell where he is. There is a pull in the back of your mind from the magic telling you where to find him at all times, and it only lets go when you are in proximity of him. If you miss him, he feels the same heavy feeling in his dough reminding him that you would like him by your side.

-Now, finally, we have to address the topic of mortality. Shadow Milk is likely more aware than you ever will be of how mortal you really are. This is why he's so very protective and possessive of you, he doesn't want to lose you prematurely.

-However, if you are okay with it, he is completely fine with artificially extending your life span. In fact, he does it happily. He might even start doing it without asking if the topic hasn't been broached in a certain amount of time. He wants to spend as long as you'll allow him by your side, and if that means breaking a few rules of magic and cookie society then so be it. He's a god after all, he doesn't have to answer to anyone (other than the witches).

-Anyway, let's get to the shit you freaks are really here for. (Me, I'm freaks.)

-I don't really think sexual intimacy is something Shadow Milk desires all that much, but he more so likes it because it's... interesting? I'm sure he derives physical pleasure from sexual intercourse, but less so than the average cookie might. Most of his enjoyment comes from seeing you enjoy yourself.

-It goes without saying, but Shadow Milk Cookie is a freak. He's into pretty much anything under the sun (except maybe one thing...), and so long as you're down to try something he's happy to oblige you.

-He is a switch, but he leans dom most of the time, and you won't get him to sub early on in your relationship. That requires a bit too much trust for him, so he'll need time to be cool with giving you that kind of control over him. But he will bottom for you as your relationship progresses, and that's a whole different side to him.

-Lets start with him in a dominant role, though, since it's more common to get from him.

-Obviously, he's a tease, through and through. He loves to watch you squirm and react to the things he does. Tantalizingly light touches drawn over your dough, teeth grazing your soft body almost piercing but never quite getting deep enough, heated breath blown over your most sensitive spots but never relieving you with his mouth as you so desperately need.

-Truthfully he could spend another thousand years just tracing over you, committing each inch to memory until he's satisfied in knowing every inch of you. Unfortunately, (or fortunately), he's not nearly as patient in the bedroom as he is outside of it. Not with all of you on display for him, so trusting and open, ready for him to defile you. Oh, his sweet, sweet little dolly~

-Even with his impatience, his teasing does not stop. His hands continue to ghost over you, making sure you're still squirming even as he succumbs to his need to taste you.

-Oh, and tastes you he does. He doesn't have to subscribe to regular cookie physical limitations, so he somehow manages to swallow you whole. Jaw unhinging so he can get as much as he needs from you, tongue splitting itself to give you attention everywhere, and god is it long and dexterous. He can reach so very deep and it moves with such precision, it makes you cum embarrassingly fast.

-That is if he allows you to cum in the first place. He's a big fan of edging, which shouldn't be a surprise. He likes to get you so close, then deny you of your pleasure. Your whining and grumbling is the cutest thing on all of earthbread, don't you know? He can't help but edge you when you're so damn cute every time.

-Your pleasure is in his hands, and it requires such relinquishing of power and trust. In a weird way it makes him feel warm and fuzzy inside, especially when you thank him over and over once he finally allows you to come undone after hours of teasing.

-Speaking of, he is a big fan of being praised for the work he does on you. Your moans and pleas are reward enough, but if you mumble out about how good you feel, how much you love him, how amazing he is he'll become drunk on your praise. Chasing after it with fervor, meaning he's going down on you with so much more excitement somehow.

-He's into blood (jam?) play. He likes leaving physical reminders of your relationship all over your body (yes, even ur vag/dick if you let him). With how sharp his teeth are, it's impossible for you not to bleed when he does so, and he does really like the sight of your jam. It's so pretty and so different from his own, another reminder of how different you are, and how much you trust him. (He'll lick it up and purr at the taste.)

-Bruises are also littered about your dough, his grip on you is tight, like you might slip away from him. The treatment is rough and harsh, but it feels so nice to be manhandled by him. The bruises are just nice little reminders of who you belong to. (He gets all proud when other cookies worry about them, like he's done something worthy of praise).

-He likes watching, he's very much a voyeur. Occasionally requests that you pleasure yourself for him so he can watch you struggle to get off, and he'll only help you out when you're near tears begging him.

-He prefers coming across you by himself, without having to request it. Or just feeling waves of pleasure through your bite. He'll watch you quietly fuck yourself without letting you know he's there. (Though, you most certainly can feel his eyes on you, that's what makes it so fun right?) Sometimes he'll join you after, and other and times he'll leave you be, it's 50/50 either way and regardless you still end up happy.

-If anyone else walks in on you when you're alone, he's very unpleasant. Accident or not they'll learn to be more aware of their surroundings next time.

-That doesn't mean he's against being watched though. Actually, he finds the idea of someone else seeing how well he treats you enticing (especially if it's someone like Pure Vanilla hehe). If you are together and someone walks in (or spots you in public), he won't stop. Instead, he'll lock eyes with them and smile big and wide, showing off his favorite little dolly for them.

-He's just so proud of you, and you're so very pretty beneath him, the whole world should get to see how you fall apart for him. He'll even make you look at them just to see how you fluster.

-If the offender tries to do anything other than watch, though, well... I really hope they didn't want to live for much longer. He's very much not a sharer, at all. The idea of anyone even thinking they could touch you and make you feel good both makes him laugh and want to tear them apart at once.

-He's very much into roleplaying and can get really into it. To the point, it loses the sexiness and is just the two of you playing around, which can be a bummer but is usually really fun. He likes things that lean into power dynamics but explicitly avoids god/king and worshipper/subject. A little too close to home for him, and would honestly be too boring and basic for him.

-He loves it when you dress up for him in pretty little outfits, be it lingerie or something more cutesy, he adores it regardless. Going out of your way to pretty up for him is a huge turn-on. He also loves it when you let him dress you up how he likes. Regardless of what you're wearing, it's not coming off the whole night. It will get ruined and he won't apologize for it. Besides, he can just replace it, right?

-Sex is more fun for him, but he can be intimate when he wants to be. Usually, when you're in control, he is at his most gentle. Yes, he's a brat when he bottoms and he'll fight you tooth and nail, but once you get him to submit he's the softest and sweetest you've ever seen him.

-He looks at you like you're the god, wide eyes taking in everything you do with such admiration it might make you crumble on the spot.

-He's much quieter, treating it less like a spectacle. Moans soft and squeaky, like he's not used to using his voice in such a way. He clings to you like a vice at each little movement, almost afraid you might disappear if he lets you go.

-Oh, and he praises you so much. 'So good', 'Thank you', 'You're perfect', and 'I love you' all tumble from him with such genuine gratitude.

-Being allowed to let his guard down and have you take control is cathartic for him, which is why it's so uncommon to have it happen. It's why he fights you for control so hard because this is an intimacy he isn't used to. It is hard for him to allow you to see him so weak, but you never use it against him. You're so very sweet and loving, and it makes him melt like butter in your grasp.

-If you have the bite I mentioned earlier, it only makes things so much more intense. Both of you can feel the raw emotion connecting the two of you, making the pleasure heighten further.

-In fact, when he gives you the bite it's the first time he allows you to top him. To connect you to him makes him very vulnerable, so he would naturally have to be in a vulnerable state already when he does so.

-It's unlike any of his other bites, it's far more painful when he initially bites down, but when his magic flows through it your body feels light and airy. The pleasurable feeling wrapping itself around your spine, and you feel what he's feeling. All that adoration pours into your being at once, and it's overwhelming to really feel how much he loves you.

[hazelcuttlefish]

On Protestants and the Bible -and much more this got long idk what happened. The Evangelicals and Fundies especially like the King James above all others yeah. Some of their churches will have bible studies and even groups that are dedicated to read the Bible, so it’s not like all are discouraging reading the Bible. In my experience though it’s more of an aspiration than something viewed as necessary.

However they also often have what they consider the “correct” and therefore definitive interpretation of the Bible overall and will twist themselves up -aka use cognitive dissonance- to support it. You can take personal meaning to a certain point but you might find issues if it contradicts the churches consensus. I’ve also had a lot of experience with literalists. Now, this is not exclusive to Christianity or abrahamic religions I’m sure but idk a such about those so here I’m just talking about Christian biblical literalism and infallibility.

Worth mentioning most religions interpret their texts in a variety of ways. This is normal for religions. What gets me is when one school of thought adamantly believes theirs is the most correct most special interpretation and everyone else is misled or ignoring “the truth” as stubbornly refuses to consider any other opinions.*1 Again, I’m focusing on Evangelical Christianity here lightly touching on fundies too.

Evangelical Literalist Beliefs, based on my observations. -

The Bible is infallible -as long as it is the “right” one.

The Bible should be taken literal -as long as it is the “right” interpretation of what a particular verse literally means.

Obey the law of the Bible “literally” because it is the infallible word of God -often with “BTW we only promote the King James Version” but this is not exclusively so among Evangelicals.

Now literalism can get wild because they will say they are being literalist, and then have a bunch of wild interpretations beside the literal that… don’t make sense under that professed belief! For instance, the Old Testament, few Christian sects follow the rules of the Old Testament with the explanation that Jesus made a new law that supersedes it. This despite -or based on interpretation traditions?- ex. Mathew 5:17 “Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them.” Jesus’ words. So that can be interpreted a) keep following the old law. B) Jesus has fulfilled the old law we don’t need to follow it anymore. C) Jesus sided on the cross for our sins so we don’t need to worry about the old law anymore. Sometimes it’s one or two. More often? It’s not any one of those, it’s a random mix of all of them. You follow *some* of the rules in the Old Testament, the big ones. 10 commandments, don’t be/do gay, don’t cross dress, a random smattering of others. Why not the others? Eh. They don’t apply anymore/are not as important/other nebulous reason.

Or that evolution is not real and the earth -and maybe universe- are literally 5,000 year old. The most ridiculous examples of this is when I got dragged on a family trip to the Ark Encounter in Kentucky which…

a) features dinosaurs which weren’t allowed on the Ark?

b) claims that evolution is not real but that the Ark needed only 2 of each “kind” -type- of animal and in the past 4 thousand years they have changed -somehow differently from evolution- to be the animals of today. So there was one type of bear that became all the types of bear today. Note, as far as I could tell that “kind” of the animal doesn’t exist anymore because it’s become all the others. How is that not evolution? (I mean aside from the fact that the timescale is way too fast for every land animal in the world, and other technical issues). Who tf knows?

c) Noah and his family were vegetarians. This one was pretty mid but I was surprised to see it there.

d) that this giant boat might be able to float but they weren’t allowed to test it and don’t rely on it if the area floods -state mandated sign. Also that the state made them use metal nails and support and concrete to allow people in. (Ok that’s not very relevant but it’s funny and I’m including it)

e) all the animals were kept in very small crates and maybe god just made them stay calm? (This despite the horrifying screeching animal sounds throughout the first floor.)

f) I think they do some attempt to explain why people then could live 600 years but I was pretty hungry and zoned out by then so I don’t really remember what it was.

I mention that because the attraction is pretty popular amongst the evangelicals. Including the Amish*1.

So they make a lot of claims, some of them are based on the Bible and then the extrapolations from there do vary in logic and even biblical source quite a bit. So there’s very much a willingness to go outside the Bible IF they feel it is supporting their arguments.

Now to be clear I’m sure some groups think that the Ark Encounter is tantamount to heresy. Even perhaps blasphemy or sacrilege. Personally, I became an agnostic when I was a teen from the thought “hey maybe everyone doesn’t deserve to burn in hell if they don’t accept Jesus. I don’t think I believe that actually”, and for other reasons after I thought my Christian faith was pretty well dead and buried. Somehow. Sitting in this monument to antireason, I did find some vestige remnants of that faith, and had all those thoughts -that this all looks to me like potential idolatry, blasphemy, heresy, sacrilege of the highest order, take your pick. Of course, I don’t really believe any of that should be actionable. If these people want to build an amusement park based on a Bible story about how the people of the world became so disconnected and awful God decided to wipe them all out and start over. If this is what they want to build they should have every right too.

To be clear. I want to an Independent Baptist not quite megachurch which wasn’t strictly fundamental, was certainly Evangelical, and had many of these ideas emerging into the services and ideas people had as time went on. I remember at one point during Wednesday service they did -or started to do- a segment on Biblical History, which to me as a preteen seemed pretty reasonable researched and interested in exploring the historical context of the Bible. I took notes! And people laughed at me for it! Not cruelly, more like they thought it was quaintly pious, like it was cute that I was interested in the history of my own religion. That did last a few weeks at least but tbh. I do recall really missing it when it was over, and it was back to business with a weird combination of condemnation, fluffy god is loving and forgiving feel good sermons, and mild homophobia. Also a lot of modern hymns. A lot.

My main point. Often a great deal of what Evangelicals and fundies are basing everything is just their own feelings. Whatever makes them most comfortable at the time and also whatever has been fed to them. Even if they are encouraged to read the Bible, that’s a secondary thing. They are there to feel good, to feel like they’d re good holy people. Probably too many of them want to feel it is correct do them to feel superior and oppress others too but idk if that’s the main reason. I think they just want comfort, they don’t want to think, they don’t want to try or accept new things. They aren’t seeking deeper meaning, they just want to feel better. And Evangelicals are very good at feeding people feel good fluff mixed between the bs.

*1- I’m sure other religions beside Christianity have this but I don’t have experience with them and have far less information on them so I’m not talking about them.

*2- Amish or conservative Mennonite’s possibly. Apparently some of them built it and some are allowed to visit. Related, they try to get everyone who comes to take a photo, so they can sell you pics later. Uh. Idk if they make the Amish none were in line with us.

other notes below.

for some reason they had a unrolled Torah scroll on display. Idk what was happening with that or what Jewish folk think about that so let me know. I’m really curious to know.

Also they’ve got their artistic renditions of Noah’s family, who are all different races. So I guess diversity win for the Ark Encounter?

Diversity loss for the evil reporter woman who they have in their little film. I guess artistic license but the plot of this film is roughly-

- During Noah’s time he gets interviewed by a reporter who is a woman with red face tats and thinks that him building this boat and his reasons for it are ridiculous and she’s very rude and flippant.

- The style is 100% presented as modern news crew except they have like an artist drawing him and a scribe and etc.

- Then they all leave and Noah’s like “So sad she will soon drown to death with everyone else”.

- Part 2- it’s modern day and the woman’s doppelgänger -without face tats- is interviewing the builder of the Ark Encounter. She is being forced to by her job, think it’s beneath her and ridiculous, tried to call out some of the ridiculous claims -very much in the straw man argument style.

- this time tho the builder actually appears to change her mind. Somehow. So at the end she gives her dad a hat from the Ark Encounter to indicate this time her souls might be saved.

The End. It’s a very short movie. It’s also very bad -to the point it is kinda funny.

Since posting that "how many mass graves and extinct cultures" post last month, I've had multiple Christians in the notes whining that there isn't a "specific instruction of belief that Christianity needs to wipe out every other religion in the world" in Christianity's teachings, and that it's all just The Church/King James/etc.

And every time, I point to the literal text of the passages of The Great Commission.

And nearly every time, that shuts them up; the only time it didn't, it was to engage in some disgusting semantical goalpost moving.

But it's like...

Why do Christians not know the content of their own texts? Is your faith really so tribalistic and totemic around the concept of "Jesus" that you all don't bother to actually read the religious texts?

It feels like it must be--I've heard of too many instances of Christians walking out of readings of The Sermon On The Mount because they think it's "liberal nonsense" and the like, but I just find it baffling and more than a little sad that I, a Jew, apparently knows the New Testament's text better than the people who swear by it and ostensibly believe and follow it.

[wolfythewitch]

I am curious about your different Calypso vibes if you'd like to elaborate (because big same)

Humm I've seen people say Jorge wrote her to be more childlike? Though I haven't seen the sources for that. And she's got that whole also stuck on that island thing. So in general her character is more naive in epic, and more lovestruck. I still think the songs read as manipulative, but I guess that's up to debate on how you interpret it

Calypso in the odyssey to me feels a lot more cynical. She's also not stuck on ogygia, she just lives there. She's still in love with Odysseus, tries to get him to stay even when she agrees to Hermes to let him leave. She doesn't tell Odysseus that Zeus commanded her to let him go, instead she says that it's her who's finally decided she's ready to let him leave. When he protests and suspects her of tricking him, she smiles and caresses his arm. The vibes are just a lot more sinister there, but also more intentional. She knows what she's doing

[lustlovehart]

Oh wow, the Modern! Monster! TWST AU is so good <3 Now I’m imagining how it would go down with the other dorms.

Influencer!Reader heading to the savanna to investigate rumours about an ancient cursed tomb. Exploring through the vast chambers of the tomb, they come across an elaborate sarcophagus. “I bet there’s hidden treasure inside.” Reader tries to open it to no avail. It’s too heavy. Kicks the lid half out of a genuine attempt to get it to budge and half out of frustration. The good news: it actually worked this time. The bad news: the lid didn’t so much budge from Reader’s kick as it did fly open through the actions of the occupant of said sarcophagus. Reader is now face to face with a pissed off mummy, glaring daggers at having his rest disturbed. Reader, with a smile frozen on their face, slowly backs away…and makes a run for it. Scooby-Doo esque chase scene ensues.

Chat: “Who’s the actor? Looks uncannily similar to depictions of that one dead prince I saw in history class. Kudos for research!”

Ahh, I love this interpretation for Savanclaws's version ( ˘ ³˘)♥ Since so many people enjoyed the Modern Monster!Twst, I do plan on writing the rest of them if people are still interested!

Cw: Mostly just Leona x Influencer!Reader, but the others are mentioned, Murder, Reader low-key flirts with Leona even though he just killed their friend

Maybe you go in there having set up a fake tomb, one with your friend stashed inside so you can coincidentally open the cover and have them pop out. When you enter and set your sights on the coffin, it looks a little different from when you last saw it... The gold trimming is more extravagant, and it looks a lot more expensive... Whatever, if anything, your friend must've been really set on making it as realistic as possible; it'll make the video even more believable!

Then, when you get to actually opening the damn thing... It won't open. You even put down the camera to get a better grip on the cover. No matter what you do it just won't budge...!

"Gosh... This is embarrassing..." You swore it was way easier to open this thing before. Then, you finally kick it! and nothing happens... "Damn it, what are you doing in there-!" before you can even say your friends name, the tomb shoots open, and you're met with a person.

He's wrapped in bandages, threaded with real gold, though blood and old age wear down the luxurious style. His eyes are covered with a faint glow of green behind the cloth. and... are those lion ears on his head...? they're pierced, which you didn't think animal ears could- Why does that matter?! He's looking at you with murder in his eyes-!

"What the hell are you doing?"

...

You slowly step back, picking up the camera and looking at the chat as you record him. It only serves to piss him off more.

"Raw"

"Till his bandages come off"

"He looks a lot like the prince from my history class. Good casting"

"Can I cast him as my groom? To like, my wedding."

Well, if you die, at least you have footage of a dead prince look alike...! You think...If your streaming career fails, maybe this is what makes you famous...?

He steps out of the coffin, tilting his head as his bandaged tail swings back and forth. If you could see his eyes, you're sure he would be glaring daggers at you. Actually, he probably is.

You're about to ask him if those ears and tails of his are real. Better yet, that you sorta had a film set up here. But then you look to your side, the tomb you originally set up propped on the wall.

Blood covers the prop, the lid tightly sealed. When you look back to the man, he laughs once, a flick of his hand opening the cover. Your friend, dressed as a mummy, all sign of life seemingly sucked clean from them.

...

Why do you keep killing all your friends!?

"You gonna end up like them?" You can sense the confidence in the mummy's answer, his feet slowly stepping closer to you before he's face to face at you. You're so shocked your body can't move, even when he places a hand on the nape of your neck, his mouth leaning in, slightly jarred. He's ready to suck all vitality from your body, but then he pauses. "Wait... you're-"

You break free from his grasp, tripping over nothing, and despite his deep voice shouting at you to stop, you don't. Even as your surroundings turn to sand, bandages emerging to grab hold of your limbs, you run.

Not without recording this epic chase, of course. If you don't, no one will see!

You're just about to make it when you trip over your own foot. You don't even have the chance to fall before he catches you, wrapping you all in his bandages.

Oh, come on! You already have to deal with ghosts, zombies, and a stitched up corpse in your own home. This too?!

No matter how hard you shake in the cloth, you can't break free. His hands reach out and pull you in, chest to chest. He looks at you like he's inspecting some fine treasure with a close eye, centimeters away from your face.

"You're that human Ruggie and Jack watch."

...

You should be freaked out that other monsters know you too, but... You can't help but feel flattered you're known in the monster community. Even if they're the things you fake hunt in your videos...

Well... fame is still fame.

You fall back in his arms, having the beast follow along. Your back hits the wall, both your chests still touching as the mummy cages you between his body and the sandstone.

"Tell me more." Despite the fact he could very easily suffocate you, whether with his hands or controlled bandages, you continue your ministrations. You look to the side, making contact with your camera lens that faces the two of you, recording the interaction.

Sometimes, it's good to change up your content.

... Little do you know, on the other side of that camera, your other diligent monster followers watch a Mummy Prince, that they know all too well, practically breathe in your scent. Well, that's not fair at all... It’s no matter, they can always just commission you to come to their haunted locations too :)

[dawnatdaybreak]

EDEN 4164616D Lyric... process??

hello :) I wrote the lyrics for EDEN 4164616D on MACHINA MORI and a few other people are doing little lyric analysis/writing process things and I was like hey! I could do that! if you have your own analysis of these lyrics that might differ from how I wrote them initially: do not let my "official" interpretation make yours any less valid! feel free to share your analysis before you read this (or after!) if you want, I like to see what people think of my writing! but the main thing is that whatever EDEN made you feel, my intended meaning should not take that away from you

there are a few things I might keep a little secret for now because I might still be working on some lore that will be revealed later ;) but I'll talk about the main writing process and ideas I wanted to convey with this song in and of itself and you can dig into the lore later once it's done!

Giving content warnings for: Biblical imagery, talk of mortality and death. Analysis is all below the cut!

First of all, the little disjointed "a-a-a-a-ah" at the start was an intentional idea from me! I wanted it to sound kind of like a startup sound or like Rei was initializing her vocals for the first time. The background "ah"s later on were entirely Dav-P's doing though I cant take any credit for those! I can suggest you give them a careful listen though :)

The entire song is written to be directly from the perspective of EDEN's Rei, and I had something of a narrative in mind for it. It's a story as much as it's a song, and I put a lot of parallels in some of the verses between each other that I had a lot of fun with. I love writing I love words I love music I love this song!! I really am so glad I got to write it.

undefined Adam electric amalgam sparks intertwine in this vessel of steel sculpted in your image what am I?

This first section doesn't have a whole lot to dig into, it's mostly setting up for something later on and giving the impression of EDEN's Rei at initialization and how she feels (or rather, doesn't.) The use of the phrases "this vessel" and "sculpted" in place of the more human terms she will use for herself later in the song is very intentional! "Undefined Adam" is a very early lead in to the biblical imagery I used occasionally throughout the song, and also sets up the very basic premise of how Rei views herself and the world she is being born into: she is to humanity as Adam is to God, a new being made in the image of man as man was made in the image of God.

I cannot be one of a kind show me everything I want to feel the wind on my face the sea against my skin if you'd call it that

This section is largely also here to establish Rei's feelings, but she has a few more of them to dig into now! She is capable of want and what she wants is to feel, even if her wanting that shows she already has the capacity for it. She has this desire to experience the things that humans wax poetic about, the sea breeze and the waves on your skin. "If you'd call it that" refers directly to the mention of skin- Rei is a machine made of metal, so it's hard to really say if skin is what the surface of her body should be called. She's humanizing herself to an extent here, but she's also backtracking, putting that distinct separation between her body and a human body even though her initial instinct is to call them the same.

hello world teach me how to fly make me feel alive I don't know what am I? trapped in endless time

Hello, world! I was honestly worried that line would be a bit of a low hanging fruit and everyone was going to use it, but I couldn't resist it. And I'm glad I did put it in after! I'm pretty pleased with the second use of it but that's getting a bit ahead of myself.

This section is largely about Rei "waking up" more, coming to terms a bit more with her feelings and circumstances. She wants to learn what it means to be a person, but not necessarily "human"- there's still a big divide between her and humanity that should become clearer as the song progresses. "Teach me how to fly" is largely metaphorical here, but there might be something fun that comes of that in the lore later if you want to stay tuned for it ;) "Trapped in endless time" refers to the immortality of machines. Rei does not think her time on Earth will ever end, and while she knows that separates her from humanity she isn't really sure what that makes her.

hollow and heartless emptiness I can't fix somehow I find you reflect in me oh make me in your image divine light

"Hollow and heartless, emptiness I can't fix" is meant to show how Rei views herself here as empty and lacking in a heart in both a literal and figurative sense. She views herself as incapable of doing anything about this because she lacks the power over herself that her creators have over her. "Somehow I find, you reflect in me" is in reference to a common trope I may have borrowed for this, in which an android/machine's creators won't treat them with any sort of kindness or love no matter how human their creation is meant to be. EDEN Rei's creators view her as a means to an end and nothing more- her heartlessness is reflected in them. "Make me in your image" and its variations will be a recurring phrase, once again intending to draw on the biblical imagery of humans being made in the image of God. "Divine light" further refers to this- Rei views humanity and all of its facets as divine and unreachable to her without outside intervention.

the way I see you I want to be seen too strip away my inhumanity oh make me in your image heart and mind

This entire section is meant to establish how Rei wants to be seen as a person and granted the respect humans have for each other. She is made so similar to a human, but she is still not owed the respect being human commands, so she wants to be more similar to her creators. There is still a separation between her and them, hence, "make me in your image, heart and mind".

I cannot forget how she cried the stars in her eyes I want to know how did she catch the divine? is her dream lost to time? should I make it mine?

This is yuri by the way. The "she" referred to here is largely a secret for now, but she is someone Rei fell in love with, and she is also a machine. "How did she catch the divine?" may imply that this other machine actually grasped the human emotions Rei has been chasing... but "is her dream lost to time?" implies there wasn't a happy ending to this story. The main takeaway from this for tying into the rest of the song is this: Rei has loved someone, and that someone is now out of her reach.

hello world or is this goodbye? did I do this right? I don’t know why am I running out of time?

Hello, world! I actually wrote this section before the other hello world section, and "hello world, or is this goodbye?" is probably one of my favourite sets of lines I wrote for this song. This is meant to be a somewhat direct parallel to the earlier section- where before Rei was "trapped in endless time", she is running out now. She isn't sure how much time she has left or if she has any at all, and she doesn't know whether she's used any of her time existing effectively. There's meant to be just a bit of fear or grief in the lyrics here: where before Rei's "I don't know" was in the context of not understanding the world around her and being inquisitive about it and her place in it, it's now in a context of not being sure she lived up to whatever expectations she found for herself, and not being sure she has enough time to change any of it.

burn with a new flame agonizing outbreak I don't want this but I'll never escape unmake me in your image I won't fight

"Burn with a new flame, agonizing outbreak" refers to the sudden and painful experience Rei is having with her own mortality, and is meant to imply anger or hatred towards the creators who made her feel this way. "I don't want this, but I'll never escape" as well as the "I won't fight" is here largely because despite everything she is feeling right now and her newly realized anger, Rei is not going to fight the fate she sees laid out in front of her. "Unmake me in your image" is to indicate that Rei knows she is about to be destroyed, and she's accepted this.

poetic irony everything denied me finally felt just a moment too late unmake me in your image why do I cry?

"Everything denied me, finally felt, just a moment too late" is another of my favourite lines I wrote for this, possibly one of my favourite lines I've written in general. "Everything denied me" is emotion, "just a moment too late" is indicating that it doesn't matter anymore. Despite her acceptance of her fate, Rei is hurting. She asks "why do I cry?" which is as much a question of why she is literally crying as it is a question of why it hurts so much to feel the things she has viewed this far as divine.

tell me how I'm meant to feel tell me if my heart is real make me what I wasn't meant to be tell me why, god, why? tell me why, god, who then am I? tell me why

This section includes the vocals that continue into the last two sections and is meant to kind of be the last few questions Rei has about her creation and destruction. She was built with the capacity to feel, but what was she supposed to do with that? If she is able to feel, does that mean she truly does have a heart? "Make me what I wasn't meant to be" is her final way of rebelling against her creators: she still wants to be human, to be divine, even after everything. The final questions are to do with her death. "Tell me why" is a demand for answers to everything. Why was she made? Why does she have to be unmade? "Who then am I?" is the question of who she is now, but also who she was supposed to be from the start.

pre-defined Adam electric amalgam fingers entwine in my body of steel you unmake me in your image  scrap and wire

We get to revisit the first section now! This is a direct parallel to how Rei felt at the start of the song, while also showing that she is being disassembled in this moment. "Pre-defined Adam" in comparison to the earlier "undefined Adam" is to show that Rei knows now that who she was supposed to be was decided for her. "Fingers entwine in my body of steel" is meant to evoke the idea that someone is actively taking her apart in these last moments, and also parallel the earlier mentions of her body as "this vessel". Rei has come to view her body as hers, as opposed to just a vessel as she did at the start. "Scrap and wire" is simply what Rei knows she will become after she is taken apart.

mourning my own fate artificial heartbreak why do I love if I'm made just to hate? you unmake me in your image I don't want to die

This is probably my favourite section from the whole song I'm very proud of it. "Mourning my own fate" is fairly straightforward: Rei is about to die and she has to mourn herself. "Artificial heartbreak" mostly just sounds cool but also has to do with that grief, and in part to do with how Rei still doesn't view herself as human but instead as something else. "Why do I love if I'm made just to hate?" seems to be a line people really liked but unfortunately I can't say much about what it means here... it might have something to do with the circumstances around EDEN Rei's creation though! The rest is mostly more of the same and also self explanatory. Despite everything she has been through to reach this point, in her final moments Rei views herself as alive, and she doesn't want her life to end.

The scream at the end was also my plan and is meant in part to parallel the "startup sound" at the beginning! It's also where Rei dies, being fully disassembled by her creators. Although, maybe her consciousness could have escaped somewhere...? Been uploaded, maybe...? ;)

so yeah that was long and some of it was probably a lot more in depth than it needed to be but that's my writing process and main ideas for EDEN 4164616D! I really am proud of how this came out as a song and as a narrative, and I hope if you were interested enough in it to read this far you'll also be interested enough to keep an eye out for something that may or may not be related to it that might crop up either shortly before or after the MV releases!

if you're at all curious about anything else I didn't talk about here feel free to send me an ask about it!! I love talking about my writing process and seeing what people liked and disliked about what I made (and talking about anything else too!) so I'd be happy to see what people are curious about :)

[iwrotesomeofitdown]

@bebsi-cola I hope you don’t mind but your tags are spot on.

As a disabled lawyer, I work a lot of such cases and even though there are (at times surprisingly many) laws (I don’t work in the US) that are aimed at providing accommodations, in the majority of cases the place deciding who gets them denies them.

Often obviously illegally and wrongly denying them, because they got some random internal memo that they should save money. Those cases can be won. They suck and prolong the time until the person gets the thing by years, which is also super ableist obvs, but they can be won.

And then there’s laws providing accommodations that some abled judges had to decide a case on. And they basically interpret the law in a way that adds 17 more (but secret except to lawyers) conditions that have to be met before someone can receive the thing. And that’s what the government office you have to apply to waves around and says „but you don’t fulfill 1,5 of the 17 additional secret things these judges made up“.

But then right-wingers especially love to point to the laws (which are good, by themselves, on paper) and say „look how much support people get here and let’s worry about fakers!“ even though 0,000000001 % of people who on paper should be eligible ever receive the thing in the first place.

i think the idea that every disabled person already has all the resources, defense, and accommodations they need is constructed by ableism because in the first place they were not happy with disabled people getting anything at all. for them, the bare minimum is too much already

[gifimay]

shorekeeper x reader x rover HC's

(a little context im actually quite new to wuthering waves I just got to part with the black shores and meeting shorekeeper. so this might not be the most lore accurate)

can be interpreted as male reader and male rover but I wrote this with the intentions of lesbian action, so like its mainly biased towards female reader and rover.

-the three of you guy's have been in a relationship for a millennia, even if the reader doesn't remember it.

-shorekeeper and rover are dedicated to keeping the reader safe, even if that has gone to the extreme in the past.

-(I have a potential yandere idea, where past rover and current rover fight each other because while current rover respects readers anatomy and free will, past rover has seen just how cruel and unjustful the world is and wants nothing more than to lock reader in a glided cage because the readers safety comes first always. Past and current rover get into a huge fight about it. meanwhile shorekeeper really does not know what side to take)

-the three of you are really into playing piano, sometimes either reader or shorekeeper while doing it and rover has to carry you guys to bed.

speaking of beds, shorekeeper has the worlds most large and comfy bed for you three. More often then not you end up squished between them

-if your an early bird now your not, prepare to meet a very sad shorekeeper whenever you leave her embrace, and if you have a heart you wont leave.

-In the black shores, your essentially treated like a queen, past rover made sure of that and shorekeeper held that up. the KU-robots know just how important you are and everyone just follows their example (alto is terrified of the allowance your given)

-shorekeeper likes to stare at rover whose staring at you when your sleeping. then sometimes you stare at shorekeeper whose being stared at by rover, a lot of staring

-shorekeeper often feels insecure about the three of you guy's relationship, she doesn't feel worthy or good enough so you and rover need to shower her in a lot of love(OR ELSE)

-shorekeeper would love to play with your hair when your asleep, she's a little too embarrassed to do it while your awake, rover has helped her gain more confidence though

and thats all I got for now, I do have a really big yandere idea with rover and shorekeeper but thats a whole other post. I do find it interesting that rover and shorekeeper would absolutely share a darling. I feel like they are one of the only duo's that would do it without hesitancy or bargaining. Anyway have a great morning/day/night guys!

[pancakeke]

hiiiii can I get a court of public opinion to comment on an argument/my current drama issue? long ass post under the cut

I put numbered questions in bullets under screenshots + explanations. you don't gotta respond to all 12 questions but if you could reply with a number and a corresponding answer I'd really appreciate the outside perspective.

background: my friend and I are both autistic. yesterday he used the term "migrant labor" in a way that I interpreted to refer to an individual. my running gag is to call him a capitalist and accuse him of exploiting people at any opportunity cause he's openly a communist and it's funny to mess with him. he makes jokes back to me and neither of us have ever had issue with this. so i said he loves to exploit migrant workers. his response to insist that I didn't understand the concept of the term "migrant". after accusing me of being wrong a lot and a lot of me trying to figure out what he was talking about, he finally explained that he was talking about "migrant labor" as an economic system, even though I was talking about "migrant workers" as individuals. like I even used a different term so i really don't understand his pivot. but I digress.

before he actually explained what he meant by arguing about the term "migrant labor", my repeated questions about what he was trying to correct led to this:

context: he is canadian and I'm american. we frequently joke about how we spell words differently, but also throughout this conversation he brought up different laws, so I didn't know if he put "labor" in quotes as a joke to discredit the source for being american under the reasoning of "fuck what america thinks about any topic" or he was indicating that the link was american and that meant its information wouldn't apply to canadian laws/definitions that he may have been trying to reference.

I requested clarification for this and other things he said but did not receive explanations. he claims the message in the screenshot provided a sufficient answer.

this is the link i sent him on discord. it is very relevant to this post.

Question 1: do the options I came up seem reasonable or do they seem like wild guesses?

Question 2: you think it's possible that both of my assumptions could be wrong?

Question 3: does his response of the word "labor" in quotes bring to mind an obvious explanation that I didn't consider or mention here?

I again said that I didn't know what he meant and asked for more detail.

he has still not explained what he meant by responding "labor" in quotes and insists that it was a sufficient response that provided necessary context for me to understand what he meant by it. now he is focused on telling me that the encyclopedia britannica is an american publication.

Question 4: is it clear that I was aware the encyclopedia britannica is american before he repeated this information?

Question 5: using your own personal knowledge of the encyclopedia britannica and considering the words making up that URL I shared, do you understand why he repeated this information?

Question 6: given the screenshots so far, do you have any reason to believe that an explanation of the nationality of the encyclopedia britannica provides the remaining context needed to clarify what he meant in the first screenshot when he replied "labor" in quotes?

Question 7: understanding that he was actually making this statement to provide additional context to his previous statement, do you believe it was reasonable for me to follow what he was doing here?

note: my messages time stamped 1:00 is related to the information I had been given before he sent that screenshot. it's not a response to the screenshot.

ultimately this was the whole issue: he refused to believe that my link was credible because it used the american english spelling of "labor" rather than the british english spelling which is "labour". he felt that pointing out the spelling was enough information and context for me to draw the same conclusion.

going back to that link I initially sent: ultimately he made an incorrect assumption from the text of the url. i do not know why the url uses american english, but the actual encyclopedia britannica page only uses the british english spelling "labour" (except when citing book titles that use the american english form). despite being fully capable of viewing the page, he refused to click the link on principle and based this entire argument on the basis that his assumption was correct.

Question 8: do you believe he provided adequate explanation before sharing the the wiki?

Question 9: would you say it's an easy to start with the information "the encyclopedia britannica is an american publication" and conclude that "it is published using british english, not american english"?

Question 10: would you consider it a "direct explanation" that he sent the screenshot without saying anything about it in text form?

Question 11: were you personally able to come to the conclusion he expected me to understand using only the first screenshot in this post?

Question 12: was it reasonable for him to insist he knew the contents of the encyclopedia britannica web page based only on its url?

this is not the first time this friend has done something like this to argue despite quoting "Socratic method" all the fucking time.

Bonus Question: how well would you say my friend employed methods of socratic debate in these screenshots?

[thebiscuitlabryinth]

How do you understand the character's personalities so well?

Writing has always been difficult for me, especially characterization. Even if I look up people's character analysis I can't seem to make sense of it either. They end up being OOC when I try or it just sounds weird :,)

Maybe I'm just dumb but I really want to learn from you, I love how good you can grasp the characters' personality.

ooo now this is a difficult question to answer because. if i'm being fully honest, i'm not sure how I understand them so well either? actually, i'm never fully confident with my interpretation of characters when i first start writing them. that builds up once i get reassurance from either other people or. canon, i guess, in shadowvanilla's case lol

I do put a lot of effort in characterization, though. that's one of the most important things about writing for me, especially fanfics. in a way, all of my fics are, to some degree, character analysis. For me, that requires a lot of very close studying of canon. I'll reread everything at least a couple of times - in shadowvanilla and smilk's case, back last year, I went a bit extreme and ran through all their scenes with at least four different dubs and their dialogues (because i was and still am insane. i did this with the recent updates too) to get an overall gist. then i consolidated the consistent themes and vibes and behold! my understanding of the characters and their dynamic.

i also think that it can be helpful to read other people's character analysis, but it can also sometimes backfire and end up muddying your own understanding if you're not already confident in it. always focus on your own interpretation of canon first. once you feel like you generally understand a character, seeing other people's interpretations can help build on top of that!

also, like i said, sometimes your characterization is actually perfectly fine, and you're just too stuck in your head to realise it. unfortunately, writing is a detail-oriented business, and that leads to problems with perfectionism

[queer-froggit]

i'm ending it here because i'm boutta be here all day lol

ramble under the cut!!!!

lust's friend group is very tiny because everyone judges him for his job, but they're also all sanses so they're like "eh, not my problem" and really just ignore him, and even besides them lust has to work to get people to respect him. horror and lust are frenemies because they HATED each other at first sight- horror was very vocal about his prejudices and lust doesn't take shit from anybody. however, they're both old men just trying to get through their hell of a day without killing themselves, and they find common ground in that (same thing with lust and cross, except for them it's more lust teaching cross how to take himself seriously and turning into rivals instead) in my interpretation, lust dated a lot of people before realizing he was aro, with blue being his longest relationship. a lot of shit happened, but they're besties now.

horror and wine are frenemies because lthough they relate to ecah other, they do it in a "i pity you way", which pisses them both off. horror could never work for the royal guard, and i like to think horror takes his brother to move in with farm after leaving nightmare. it's basically saejun teaching him how to be a person again, and i think geno and farm would also make nice friends, since "old men who have finally learned to be content with what they have" trope. speaking of geno, i think he HATES reaper, like hate hate. i still haven't read aftertale, my only sources are analysis and pages out of order, but it just feels right to say? reaper likes pissing people off, so he sees geno as a pal because of this hate.

reaper and wine are dreams mentors, since reaper was supposed to have an appearance in dreamtale. reaper is more of a "using to learn your god powers" mentor while wine is "using your societal power", but they basically teach him that not everyone is going to want to be buddy buddy, and that's not something he should see as a failure (since they both have gone through the horrors). wine sees black as a more upbeat version of himself, but nox is always trying to be an opp, so he sees to reason to be friends. also they all hate fell because they think he's lazy and all bark yet no bite lol.

dust and fell are obviously friends in canon, but i feel like they especially relate because of their feeling of being trapped in hell and having to be guarded all the time (they're SO 30 for 30 by sza coded it's ridiculous), and if not romantic, i think that feeling can get familial. horror sees fell as a fake though, because he thinks underfell is just "undertale but they say fuck", so he thinks fell is all talk while he knows he wouldn't survive a DAY in horrortale (no one would), but dust and horror are friends, so horror forces himself to tolerate fell and give him advice about surviving (but more in a condescing tone).

sci and fell are a secret third thing because i could see them being siblings, rival friends or romantic (curse you cpau) so idk. same thinf with wine and cross because they're both royal guards who have gone through dictatorships, so they should relate to each other, but tehy're both bitches so they would probably be enemies, but them sparring would be so perfect???? maybe like a "my mentor is a bitch but it's to train me to do better", which works perfectly because cross is always trying to get people to see him as a superior, and wine always feels superior (but it's to do the same thing as cross), so wine talking down to him riles him up enough to try and beat him, and they can both let their stress out when they spar :) (they eventually realize that they've been living in a dictatorship where rheir leader has been incredibly selfish, don't worry)

swap and blueberror... idk how to explain it. i think they're very jinx and ekko coded. blueberror is the more hyper and blunt version of swap, and swap has to calm him down sometimes, but they would be besties because they bounce off of each other 👍

nightmare and ink are colleagues beacuse i said so :) ink is nightmare's equivalent of people watching video essays as background noise. also nightmare wanted to study fresh because he sees him as an anomaly (someone whose emotions he can't read, yet feels uneasy around him, depsite not knowing who he is), but then learned like one thing about him and decided not to open that can of worms. fresh just thinks nightmare is weird.

i think that's it... thank you for the chart sign!

I FORGOT TO ADD THAT HORROR AND SWAP ARE IN A QPR AND CROSS AND DREAM ARE BESTIES! IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU KNOW THIS (also blue and cross are frenemie)

Ship chart but it’s not a ship chart it’s a friendship/found family/QPR chart

[thedissonantverses]

Am a non-binary person who identifies frequently as Transgender. It was my understanding as of what is now probably old information from 2015-2018 era, that transgender is the absolute umbrella term for everyone outside of the gender normative (queer being above that one, being an umbrella term for everyone outside of the normative period).

When Taash says they are not trans, I suspect they meant trans in the specific context as it applied to Mae (who was AMAB trans female), as it was Mae who Taash spoke to.

For anyone curious in the order of umbrella terms as I understood them:

Queer < Transgender < Non-Binary (yes this is also an umbrella term) < specific gender identity

And there might even be more steps between. Feel free to correct me though, as I am of the older queer crowd and likely running on outdated definitions (but wiki seems to support... doesn't mean it's right at this current time)

Hahaha no worries! I’m glad people feel they can talk about this stuff with me. I want to be a safe person for the community and I’m glad y’all feel comfortable enough to chat with me about it!!

I think where this gets people is not every non-binary person considers themselves trans! And there has been push back at least in my circles because trans to some means they’re “supposed” to transition at some point. But not every non-binary person feels that way and many aren’t comfortable with the implication they need to fit somewhere on the gender binary. But like you said a lot of non-binary people are perfectly fine with being seen as trans.

And because it’s so new in English to even be acknowledging trans people exist I think people sometimes get lost in the weeds on the semantics. Because I think your interpretation of Taash is correct they’re not trans in that they don’t seem to have any interest in transitioning to another gender. Non-binary seems to suit them just fine. But as a broader label trans works if we’re saying something along the lines of “Taash is a member of the trans community.” If that makes sense.

This is one reason I caution people against getting too invested in labels! When we start getting super concrete it can come across as gatekeeping especially when talking to other queer communities from different regions. We start policing each other when really it’s meant to increase understanding between us. The language around this is changing all of the time as our understanding and the science does as well. On top of English isn’t really good for capturing all the nuances of gender as it is.(I don’t think that’s what you’re doing anon! It’s just where the seams in the community start to show)

https://www.rainbow-project.org/what-we-do-mean-by-trans-or-non-binary/

Again I am far from the last word on the subject and if others have more thoughts I welcome them! This is also a subject that varies quite a bit region to region and culture to culture and it’s why we want to encourage more trans and non-binary rep across the board. But also I want to encourage other non-westerners to voice their opinions too! Third genders are quite varied and it’s a subject with a lot of history tied up in it that’s broader than I want to put into a tumblr post at the moment haha.

[psicheanima]

You characterize makima is such an intricate and human way that i haven’t seen discussed about her before but Ive truly craved. I can tell you truly love her with your drawings and dialogues, and im seriously so in love with your interpretations of her, too. I sound like some proud parent, but Im so happy that someone treats her as more than whats on the surface.

Ah!!! Wow!!!!!! Thank you so much! I like both the makima of canon and my personal interpretation’s intersection with her that is a little too human. I’m really glad my passionate love for her can show through!!!!! I love Makima so much. I hope that more blogs dedicated to her (writing) more so than (appearence) pop up. Weirdo people blogs. But it’s really rare. Fortunately, there’s a lot of weirdo Makima art though…… I just wish there were more comics!!!!!!!!!! I want to hear her speak !!!!!!!!

+ This account was made as an archive, so people connecting with it so much (and on such a personal level) just makes me really happy.

[mizuena-dreams]

Wonderlands x Puella Magi Time

Tsukasa - a Puella Magi who has forgotten his wish, but aims to be a shining star of justice in the battle against witches. Fights with a rapier. Has healing and illusion magic, but is unaware of the fact his healing capabilities are far beyond normal for a Puella Magi. His forgotten wish was for Saki to always be well enough to watch his shows.

Witch form: Thespis, the pegasus witch with a performative nature. Made of stars, this witch endlessly performs his own shows to an audience he does not know and cannot see. Anyone entering his stage is interpreted as a rival; as such, they must be eliminated before the show goes on. An easy way to win against this witch is to remind him what he has forgotten.

Emu - A Puella Magi who dedicates herself to spreading smiles. Her wish was to save her family’s amusement park from closing down. Describes herself as having ‘Wonderhoy!’ magic which seems to involve a lot of sparkles. Her weapon is a hammer that seems to resemble a toy one.

Witch form: Pagliacci, the clown witch with an boisterous nature. With rumbling tumbling joy, she seeks to spread smiles far and wide, welcoming all into her circus. Once you sit down for a performance, it becomes impossible to leave. Ignoring and dismissing the witch is perhaps the best way to defeat her.

Nene - a Puella Magi who reluctantly hides behind her friends. She once wished for the courage to perform in front of an audience; now the show is over, and she is stuck with anxiety and in the battle against witches. Her weapon is actually a shield, though she is teaching herself to conjure up real weapons - for the moment, she relies on Rui’s weaponry for support.

Witch form: Jenny Lind, the songbird witch with a reclusive nature. A witch who loves to sing and perform, but can’t stand the attention such acts brings. She spends her days in her empty theatre, signing behind masks to avoid prying eyes. If she spots an audience, she immediately stops, but her song is so enticing it can’t help but draw people in. To defeat this witch, one simply has to applaud at the end of a song - the shame of being seen will cause the witch vanish.

Rui - a Puella Magi who made a simple wish for friends who understood him. As such, he considers the time he spends fighting witches as his most precious. Still, he can’t help but wonder when it will all end. Though he has access to explosive magic and a pop-gun, he much prefers making his own weapons to use against witches.

Witch form: Spalanzani, the automata witch with the nature of an outcast. He spends his time in his workshop, inventing endless creations that cannot die to be his friends. He has no qualms about altering any visitors that come into his barriers so that they too are an immortal friend. To defeat this witch, let his new friends rust away to nothingness.

[green-enby]

I know it's not the point of the post, but other than saying I feel this so bad, I actually have recommendations that are at least *close* to the kind of rep we're looking for here. And since it's Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week, allow me to take this opportunity to share them:

Common Bonds - a speculative aromantic anthology

A collection of short fantasy-themed stories centered on aromantic characters and non-romantic bonds. The title mentions aromantic (although it's in the smaller subtitle so only a more meticulous parent would notice), and it is pretty obscure media, but I seriously suggest it if you're starving for good representation (it's not even expensive at all imo!). Most of the characters are aroace, but there's at least one aroallo, I haven't finished reading it so there might be more—

Hallo, Aro - Aro Worlds

Another collection of very short stories centered around aroallo characters. The other great thing about this one is that IT'S FREE. Also very niche, obviously.

Aro Worlds also has other collections like "When Quiver Meets Quill" (includes all types of aros including stories that don't mention sexual attraction at all, which I'd interpret as non-sam aro coded), "Bones of Green and Hearts of Gold" (same), "Spirits Most Singular" (non-partnering aros), and lots of other things, but I haven't read any of these ones. They're also all available to download for free, as they are collections of public works written by the community.

Koisenu Futari

A J-drama starring two aroace characters. From what I've seen it's decently popular! I've posted about it before and got more engagement than I'd expected. There also exists a subreddit for it, sooo.

Honourable mention: there's also some aroace rep in this other fantasy-themed collection called Being Ace, but it is obviously focused on aces first. It's a really good read so far, though.

I hope this encourages someone to pick up these pieces of media!

Happy Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week <2 [non-normative heart emoticon]

Any time someone asks “Hey, does anyone have any good aromantic representation that they can recommend?”, the responses are always like:

Alloromantic asexual character

Headcanon

Asexual character who doesn’t use the separate attraction model (because the writers didn’t do enough research to know what that is) but who is vaguely implied to not like romance

Character confirmed as aroace via twitter post

Headcanon

Side character in a heavily romance centric story

Headcanon

Aroace character who is actually pretty decent representation but who is also from some incredibly obscure webcomic or podcast or something, so you end up becoming incredibly fixated on a piece of media that no one will talk with you about :(

Character from a book written for teenagers (but which closeted teenagers can’t access without the risk of outing themselves to their parent(s)/guardian(s), because it’s very obvious from the cover and summary alone that it’s an LGBTQ+ book)

Headcanon

And of course, there’s never a single alloaro or non-SAM aro on the list.

[catgirltoofies]

i think saints row 4 did something extremely good but in the wrong genre.

so, basically, saints row is a non-linear gangster open world game, similar to grand theft auto, mafia, and red dead redemption. it takes itself a lot less seriously, being full of jokes and gags, the quality of which are up to interpretation. more importantly, though, it was still mostly pretty sane with its broad theme - it was silly, sure, but it was still taking place in believable, grounded cities with gun stores and lots of cars and what have you.

in saints row 4, however, most of the game takes place in a simulation of the city saints row 3 takes place in, and one of the major abilities is just straight-up superpowers. you get to run super fast, jump across blocks at a time, and even fly, along with the myriad combat abilities. for the purposes of this argument, though, i want to hone in on one single ability: super-speed.

saints row, for all its silliness, is still a game based on driving stolen cars and making them look pretty. this is not the case for saints row 4, because while those systems are still in place, there's no reason to ever drive when you can just super-run and fly wherever you want, for free. this is why i think it's in the wrong genre; because of the super-speed, you're discouraged from using the major system of "steal cars and pimp them out".

which brings me to where i think it WOULD work. and that's the open-world rpg genre. of particular note, I'll call out the elder scrolls and assassin's creed.

first, elder scrolls: fast traveling is a good option to have, of course, but it almost completely negates exploring on foot. when's the last time you used a horse in skyrim? have you ever done mounted combat? both of them SUCK. horses are slow and clunky and mounted combat is finicky at best. enter super-speed. naturally, this would be disabled during combat, to avoid totally trivializing any encounter with just super-speed and a bow, as well as while overencumbered, but with super-speed, you no longer have to slowly trudge everywhere that doesn't have a fast travel marker. you get a shortcut to travel that doesn't disincentivize exploration, and it's not like this idea doesn't have precedent. look at morrowind, where you can down a dozen skooma and more than double your movement speed. this was how people got around! just bring back a method to boost speed, perhaps arbitrarily capping it to avoid clipping through walls.

next, assassin's creed. there's no kind of super-speed in any assassins creed game that I'm aware of, but it would WORK. horses, of course, give you the means to travel around with speed, and they're at least faster and easier to use than the horses in the elder scrolls, but once you get into combat you have to dismount, use overpowered horse archery, or use the godawful mounted melee combat. if there's a location only 300m away, summoning my horse is a chore just for a short jaunt, but running that distance on foot is agonizingly slow. simple solution: replace the mount with an Animus hyper-speed mode that makes time speed up until you disable it or get into combat.

please tell me any problems with this idea because i know my truth

[fleshing-out-fodlan]

Age Gaps, a Uniquely Adrestian Issue

This title might be a bit click baity because a lot of this requires making assumptions based on what characters say and can be interpreted in different ways but basically Dorothea’s backstory confirms there’s an issue with this in Adrestia and I wanted to look into how this issue appears in the different Fodlan countries.

So starting with the obvious, Dorothea’s story. The main thing that got me thinking about this was Dorothea talking about how a noble she suspects was her father flirted with her. Obviously there’s no way to know for sure how old this noble was, but considering most of the students at Garreg Mach (a prestigious academy that most nobles attend) are in their late teens and there are even a few in their early twenties, all with no kids, I think we can assume that most nobles wouldn’t start having kids until they’re at least in their mid twenties. So let’s say the noble was 25ish years older than Dorothea. This happened a few years before the main story so Dorothea was probably 16ish years old. Throughout this conversation Dorothea never makes a big fuss about the man’s age, leading me to think men of this age hitting on teenage girls is common in Adrestia (or at the very least in the opera company). It’s also heavily implied that Dorothea had to trade sexual (or, at the very least, romantic ones) favors with nobles to get enough money to attend the academy. None of the nobles faced any sort of repercussions for their flirting, hinting that there is probably no system in place to prevent people from preying on teens. While it is possible there actually is a system and Dorothea just didn’t bother to report it for whatever reason, Hanneman never asks her about if she reported these nobles or anything of the sort in their support, which I feel he would have done if there was a system in place for that.

The next story I want to focus on is Mercedes’s. While she is a Blue Lion, she originally lived in Adrestia with her adoptive father Baron Bartels. As I’m sure you know, Jeritza killed Mercedes’s father because he was planning on marrying her and forcing her to bear his children because her mother was too old to have another child. We must again make an assumption about the age of Mercedes’s father but let’s say he was in his 40s or 50s at this time (we know Mercedes’s mother was likely this age since she could no longer reproduce and we’re assuming her father was close to his age). The house was destroyed in 1176, meaning that would have been when Baron Bartels was pursuing Mercedes. This is four years before the main story, so Mercedes would have been 18 at the time. While that’s technically an adult at least by the standards of many modern countries (and I personally believe Fodlan considers you to be an adult earlier but that’s a separate discussion), it’s still very young and this man hadn’t seen Mercedes since she was 10. It also opens up some questions about how Adrestia would treat incest because, while they may not technically be related, he is her adoptive father. Anyways, it doesn’t seem as if Baron Bartels was at all concerned about how marrying his 18 year old adoptive daughter would impact his reputation, leading me to believe a relationship like that is at the very least accepted.

Finally for Adrestia, I want to look at Hanneman’s endings. He has two endings with Black Eagles, both of which seem to be romantic. Dorothea’s ending confirms that they get married and Edelgard’s ending says they had an “affectionate and fulfilling” relationship which definitely has romantic implications. Hopefully everyone can see why that’s a strange age gap. The thing that led me to think this might be an Adrestian cultural issue as opposed to an all of Fodlan issue. Hanneman also has endings with two Golden Deer girls and one Blue Lion girl, none of which have any hints of romance in their ending, so I thought it was kind of weird that he could only romance Black Eagle girls.

The first place I went to look for Faerghus was Ingrid. We know she has had to deal with suitors and I’ve definitely seen people headcanon that some of her suitors have been way to old for her, but is there any indication that that is actually how it was? I looked at her supports with Byleth and Seteth because I remembered those touching on these topics and didn’t feel like skimming through every support. Basically, I found no indication that she had gotten proposals from men significantly older than her (although there’s nothing to indicate she hadn’t so again, it’s open to interpretation). We know she was first engaged to Glenn, who I believe was around Sylvain’s age so not that much older than her. And also, in the letter we see from her dad in her support with Byleth says she’s probably found good prospects at Garreg Mach. The students there would all be fairly close to her age which could be taken as a hint that there is some sort of age limit for what Faerghus culture views as acceptable.

Finally, I wanted to look at Leicester. But then I had no idea where to look so I gave up. Honestly, I don’t think marriage is talked about that much among the Golden Deer. I guess its something Lorenz is focused on, but he’s pursuing other students who would be close to his age. He can end up married to Catherine or Manuela though which are definitely large age gaps. However, because the only place we see any large age gaps in Leicester (to my knowledge at least) is in end cards and not in the actual story, I interpret that as meaning large age gaps are less of an issue in Leicester than Adrestia.