#also i have some specific cultural practices that i wanna talk about

[turnaboutfix]

Oh yes of course!!!

I meant specifically like her very early concept art (blue haired) and like, one of the first ones where she has short hair (but still with those 2 loose locks at the front)? I hope you know which one I'm talking about lolol

BUT if you wanna speak your thoughts on like. All of them. I want to hear 👂❓️

( @ellivcca asked what I thought about Maya's concept art and I replied in priv if they could be more specific)

Let's talk about Maya's designs! ✨

I will skip the blue-haired art for now, since I have more to say about her other early designs. They're in a few Japanese AA Guidebooks, but "逆転裁判2 真相解明マニュアル", or "Gyakuten Saiban 2: Fact-Finding Manual" has the most in one place. There are blurbs that discuss the designs, and I'll do my best to summarize them. My Japanese isn't amazing and I had to mostly rely on machine translation + cross referencing dictionaries, so it's possible I may be inaccurate. Also, I'm a novice at Japanese culture, so if I'm misrepresenting anything please bring this to my attention and I'll correct things accordingly!

The book acknowledges that Maya was intended to be of high-school age, hence the the sailor suit artwork. They seem to suggest that the loose socks was a hint at Maya's spunky personality.

When they began to explore her as a spirit medium (1), they wanted her to come from a wealthy, noble family. It looks like a lot of these explorations made it to Franziska's design, with some of the shapes of the shoulders and the jabot-looking neck wear, which is interesting!

As they kept exploring in the second round of sketches (2), they stressed traditional/folk dress as being an important part of her design. They noted they had her carrying something on her back at the time, which I think hints more to her "folksy" feel.

The beaded necklace she's wearing in (2) are drawn from Mala bead necklaces, which are prayer beads rooted in Hinduism and Buddhism and are said to help focus the mind during meditation. They seem present in a lot of spiritual figures in Japan.

Later (3), they explicitly comment drawing inspiration from the Matagi, a group of hunting clans in the northern Japanese mountains (be careful looking them up, they do bear hunting and there's a lot of explicit imagery, even on the wikipedia).

They comment on that this version of her early character might be very athletic. She also seems to be more stoic in these explorations.

Then, for (4) and (5), they evolved the design to make it look appear more feminine, giving her long hair, but making a note that her look isn't typical of modern people. The large orbs in (3), (4) and (5) I think are supposed be drawn from "Yuigesa"(結袈裟), or harnesses decorated with pom-poms worn by Shugendō practitioners, hermits who live in the mountains and practice asceticism.

Then in (6), they added the magatama and committed to her having black hair. They note shortening the hem of her costume from design (5).

The magatama addition is pretty significant! Magatama necklaces are used by noro priestesses of the Ryukyu Kingdom from the islands in the very south of Japan.

Their religion broadly speaking, involves ancestor worship and the relationships between the living and dead, gods and spirits. It seems to me like the culture in Kurain Village draws a lot from the Ryukyuan people--and you can even see this with the beads along with the magatamas.

But there seems to be a lot of generic imagery of Spirit Mediums that I've been able to find in Japanese media which have shared elements of design in Maya's final design. The most interesting of these to me is "ほんとにあった!霊媒先生", or "It Really Happened! Spirit Medium Teacher". The design similarities are striking (and make me wonder if Maya was an inspiration?)

So, to summarize it all up, it seems like the early designers (and there were only two! Kumiko Suekane and Tatsuro Iwamoto) wanted a character who was different, folksy, feminine and spunky that displayed unique spiritual power to aid in the narrative/game mechanics of the games, and they explored the different facets of their own culture--from the northern Matagi clans to the southern Ryukyuan people--Japanese iconography, and tastes into Maya's final design.

And I think that's Real Neat. :)

Thoughts about other designs (Blue-Haired/SoJ Maya) under the cut cuz oh my gosh this post is already huge.

Blue haired Maya!

What's interesting to me is that a lot of the design language on this early Maya art seems to have been carried over to Ema's design (glasses, boots, coat/skirt). She also has similar vibes to Lynne from Ghost Trick.

I definitely enjoy Maya's final design a lot better, but I like the triadic color harmony and spunk here!

And then her design update in Spirit of Justice! These concepts are from "逆転裁判6 公式ビジュアルブック", or "Gyakuten Saiban 6: Official Visual Book". :)

Takuro Fuse (the character designer) comments that he never drew Maya before when he took a stab at updating her, so he wanted to get that down first before tackling the designs. He wondered how she would change over the course of 11 years, and first experimented with a design, thinking about how Mia would look like as a spirit medium. He thought it would be interesting if Phoenix wouldn't be able to tell if Maya channeled Mia. (Me too tbh.)

I feel like this design has a bit too much going on, but I do like the longer cream colored sleeves!

Takuro talks more about how he was exploring all sorts of designs before landing on something more simple. He wanted her to have what he called a "traveling costume" and was very fond of the hat. These designs seem to pull from similar places I've discussed with Maya's early designs, as well as Japanese pilgrims.

As fun as the additions and changes to her design are, I think it was very smart to just add subtle changes: the longer robes, jacket, and the additional beads to her necklace. The shawl is a nice touch, too. This reflects how post-7yg Phoenix and Edgeworth also have subtle changes to their designs as well, which I love and I think were very smart moves from a design-perspective as well as personal taste. Their designs are very iconic and I think it was a service to maintain that iconography.

This was a very fun thing to explore! Thank you kindly @ellivcca for the ask!

[ididntknowwhattocallthis]

Ok I wanna talk about Ethari's clothing/design over all. His clothes and tattoos are different from every other Moonshadow elf we've seen, and he's one of the few that doesn't wear braids. Like:

The recurring elements are intricate patterning; over layers and under layers; multiple colors in the same garment (or at least same outfit); wraparound construction, color contrast between mediums, lights, and darks; and the dominant color is always the medium, never the lightest or darkest color (usually navy, true black is very rare outside of the assassins). Even arc 2 Rayla follows most of these rules and she's been away from her culture for two years!

But then we have Ethari:

He doesn't have an outer layer, he wears almost solid navy, none of those clothes are wraparound, he has no light color, there's not a lot of contrast, and his dark color is true black despite not being an assassin. He bends all the rules, though he only breaks one completely. He still has that patterning, but it's minimal compared to the others. He has plenty of accent colors, more than anyone else actually, but they show up on him far less. He does have light, medium, and dark colors, but his whole pallet is darker than everyone else's. The only rule he 100% breaks is the wraparound construction

A lot of this probably derives from the fact that he's a metalsmith:

For the most part his clothes quite are practical;

Black/navy hides coal dust/soot very well. It gets everywhere, on your pants and face especially, and is highly visible on just about every other color.

Forging is hot work & you do it next to a fire that needs to be at least 1000° celsius, I never wear more than one layer either.

those sleeves, while a bit looser than I'd be comfortable with, probably aren't going to get in the way. Plus I heard somewhere that they're spelled to repel heat (couldn't find if that's actually canon tho), so if that's true they're much better than my gloves.

The crop top isn't great but he's got that belt to stop most embers. Besides he's probably not the type to yelp every time one lands on him like I am.

if he pulls the scarf over his mouth & nose it'll help delay him getting lung cancer in the death trap of a smithy Wonderstorm designed for him (my problems with it are a post all on their own. I have nothing against the artists, its pretty, but by all rights he should be dead)

There might also be a cultural aspect to his clothing:

I think the navy blue, the arm bands, the boot decorations, and his belt & tabard could all be symbols that mean "I am a metalsmith" in Moonshadow culture. (Quick side note, he's not technically a blacksmith. historically blacksmith means specifically iron workers. If anything he's a whitesmith since he usually works with silver.) We see it with the assassins, why not metalsmiths too?

Plus if you take a look at his forge in the art book, there's a design carved on it that looks almost exactly like the one on his tabard. Elements of it also appear on other parts of his clothing:

I suspect that this is some sort of symbol for metal working or fire protection. If he's in a guild it could be their symbol, or it could just be a wider cultural symbol. Either way it has a meaning that relates to the forge specifically. I couldn't find it anywhere else in the room.

I just realized that I never even brought up the metal hems on his sleeves. Then again what is there to say? It's metal, he's a metalsmith. It's pretty, he likes pretty things.

But what about the rule he completely breaks?

As I said, every moonshadow garment has some sort of wrap-and-secure construction to it-- except Ethari's clothes. I seriously doubt this is a metalsmith thing. Basic garment construction isn't a sensible way to differentiate your group within one culture. I fully believe Ethari is doing this on purpose. But why? That why gets even bigger when you realize that no other moonshadow elves we've met have brown eyes or periwinkle blue tattoos.

Put a pin in all that, I need to explain my interpretation of Moonshadow culture for this to make sense.

"Moon Primal creatures can be private and secretive, and are keenly aware of the power of appearances." - from the official website

"Moonshadow Elves obey a rather rigid, honor-driven culture." - from the wiki

To me this paints a picture of a fairly collectivist culture. They place a heavy emphasis on community and duty, two things that are usually more peaceful/simpler when you have cohesion within the group. Cohesion creates less conflict, less conflict makes your community more peaceful and your duty to it easier to complete.

But they know that this cohesion is- to an extent- only an act, so each person has a sub community where they don't have to act. Your inner self is for family and friends close enough to be family. (I honestly think they might have some sort of ritual to formally adopt friends as family) To everyone else you're supposed to put up a front that makes you seem more like everyone else.

OK back to the pin

Even without his clothes, Ethari is already visually different from everyone else. No other Moonshadow elves we've seen have tattoos or eyes the same color as his. It's a subtle difference but it is noticeable, and in a culture so focused on appearances people would notice. Most people's instinct would be to try to hide or downplay it, to prop up that front as much as they can. Yet Ethari doesn't put up a front, not to the extent that most people seem to. He's even accentuating his differences by dressing in a different style than them- and he's respected.

In my comm class the other day we were talking about groups, and one of the things that came up was that cohesion fosters sameness and diversity fosters innovation. Ethari is an innovator, it's literally his job. He invents the wingalings in bloodmoon huntress, Runaan and Rayla's weapons, and probably a bunch more stuff we haven't seen. Maybe for all they value appearances and fitting in, moonshadow culture still recognizes that people like him are important and they aren't as effective when they have to fit in. They can't be too out there (remember, Ethari only bends the rules rather than breaking them) but as long as they stay within a certain radius of the norm they can gain a lot of respect. I think this is what Ethari has done. The fact that his family (Runaan, Tiadrin, Lain) are all pretty traditional probably helped a lot. They keep him from pushing too hard on the edge of the box and he keeps them flexible.

That they aren't there anymore has probably exacerbated the rift between him and the rest of the silvegrove caused by Rayla's ghosting and whatever news has reached them from the storm spire.

I am so excited to see him in S6. I thought about adding some speculation about what his new design might look like, but I honestly don't think he'll have changed that drastically aside from his hair. My biggest question is honestly whether or not he's still in The Silvergrove.

Bonus:

I bet that some of Ethari's relative weirdness rubbed off on Rayla. She didn't have many friends as a kid so, when she wasn't in school or with the assassins, it makes sense that hung out with Ethari a lot. Since he's less strict than Runaan she was probably only comfortable completely unmasking with him. He heard about all her crushes, fears, and insecurities that Runaan didn't. Which goes a long way to explaining why Ethari was the only one who could see she wouldn't be a good assassin; she was hiding those traits from everyone but him.

This also explains some of why he was so willing to believe that she ran away. Ethari saw all of her vulnerability, but he didn't see all of her strength. While she was out training and facing her fears with Runaan, Ethari was in the smithy and only heard about their exploits after the fact. Neither of them saw all of who Rayla is, but both of them thought they did and had to find out that they were wrong in just about the most heartbreaking way imaginable.

[noctilionoidea]

I don’t really pay attention to Greek myth media much anymore because of this so if this isn’t super big of a thing uh. Complaining about stupid shit is like tumblrs whole thing so I can still complain

anyways does anyone find it weird how much Greek myth media almost obsesses over showing how in the wrong the gods can be? Because like. I don’t know if you cracked open some homer or Hesiod recently. That’s kinda a huge part of the Greek gods. The myths already talk about it. They aren’t supposed to be righteous. Good and holy are two different things. The gods uphold the natural order which they embody and have control over. Yeah they’re in the wrong a lot. They’re also in the right a lot. And they do things that are neither. They operate in their own interests and the interests of those they care about.

what does it accomplish by making this your main point? The myths already establish that they’re cruel. Why do we need to have this hammered in? Hellenism isn’t a major faith anymore. It still holds a huge impact and still has followers, but it doesn’t have any direct canon to it or any major institution. You can’t operate under the assumption that everyone who followed that faith believe the exact same thing. The myths are rationalizations. Very few of them were fundies. The details of practice and spirituality heavily varied on location, culture, and which cult they’re in. It’s even more split and varied than Christianity.

and if you’re using it to make a critique of a major religion like Christianity, then why be a coward about it? Call out the habits of Christian leaders. Call out hypocrisy. Call out the cruelty in the Bible. Call out all the stories and the impact it’s had and all the bloodshed that occurred at the behest of the faith. Because Christianity, and every other major religion out there, has stories that by modern lenses are cruel, gods that act violently against the humans who follow them, practitioners who will do everything to ensure that everyone else fits into their specific view. There will be justifications of violence under a gods name. There will be people who leave the faith and can never again see it as anything worthwhile. There will be followers who love their faith but feel so isolated from it because of these things. Using the greek gods, or any religion’s deities as a stand for what you’re calling attention to is just cheap. Criticizing god makes a lot of people angry. No shit! But there’s attention called to that. You can’t ignore what it’s trying to say without being little more than a brick wall.

when the current practitioners of a religion are small in number and operate with modern perspectives shaping how they see it, people who often put in the effort to think deeper about what a text is trying to say and what its purpose in the past was, mocking their gods for being flawed does nothing than repeat an established aspect of legend. It does nothing to call out a major, currently powerful religion for what harmful things it promotes.

I don’t know. I think if you wanna mock of Christian stories and ideas then you should use Christian stories -and ideas. When it comes to Greek and Roman legends people like Ovid already did that.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Hey do you have any literature recommendations for people who want to broaden their knowledge on the classics and Greek/Roman myths without taking university courses?

So like for people (such as myself) who have read Bullfinch's Myths of Greece and Rome and Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes but want to deepen their knowledge and maybe go to intermediate level type stuff. Or whatever the level above the mentioned literature is.

Well those two books are quite old and skip over quite a few things. Both are very important to our culture, historically, but I'd recommend reading through some more modern popular retellings like Stephen Fry's Mythos series if you're looking for pure entertainment and a dummy's guide to Greek myths.

The Penguin Dictionary of Classical Mythology is a useful reference book if you have difficulty keeping track of all these names and whatnot. It's just a reference book but you know. Having a reference book handy is quite useful. I personally prefer reference books when it comes to checking stuff when I'm doing mythology things anyways. They're generally more organized than the internet.

If you're looking for entertaining retellings of less popular myths, I'd actually recommend going to videos and podcasts for that. YouTubers like MonarchsFactory, Overly Sarcastic Productions, Jake Doubleyoo, and Mythology & Fiction Explained are all people who do a lot of research themselves on the myths they retell and I would recommend all of them to basically anybody. As far as podcasts go, Mythology & Fiction Explained has a podcast version and Let's Talk About Myths, Baby! is a very informative podcast that talks about sources for the myths and has interviews with experts on the subjects. It's also a podcast that is specifically Greco-Roman based.

As far as doing slightly more in-depth research, I cannot recommend theoi.com enough. I really can't. It has overviews of the most common myths, it has pages about god and hero cults, it cites it's sources and has an online library of translated texts. It's just really good. Go clicking around it for a while. It's a lot of fun if you're into that sort of thing.

As far as primary sources for myths go, there's a few places you could start. The Iliad, perhaps. The most recent English translation is by Caroline Alexander but I personally prefer Stanley Lombardo's translation. The Odyssey is a more accessible read in my opinion if you're not used to reading epic poetry. Emily Wilson's translation is especially accessible, written in iambic pentameter and generally replicating Homer's simple conversational language.

The third traditional entrance into the epic cycle of the surviving literature is the Aeneid. The newest translation of that is by Shadi Bartsch, which is pretty good, but it reads more like prose than poetry. Would still highly recommend it though. Robert Fitzgerald's translation is also good.

If you wanna get fancy you can read the Post-Homerica which attempts to bridge the gap between the Iliad and the Odyssey. It's not often read but it's one of the latest pagan sources we have from people who still practiced ancient Greek religion.

If you want a collection of short stories from ancient times, Ovid's your guy. Metamorphosis is specifically Roman and specifically Ovid's fanfiction, but it's also a valid primary resource and Ovid generally views women as people. What a concept!

Though I think the absolute best overview from ancient times itself is The Library aka Biblioteca by pseudo-apollodorus. Doesn't matter what translation you get. The prose is simple to the point where it's difficult to screw it up. Not artistic at all. It is, quite simply, a guy from ancient times trying to write down the mythological history of the world as he knew it. It has a bunch of summaries of myths in it, and most modern printings also have a table of contents so you can essentially use it as a reference book or a cheat sheet. I love it.

The Homeric Hymns weren't actually written by Homer but that's what they're called anyways. They're a lovely bit of poetry because, well, they were originally hymns. They've got some of the earliest full tellings of the Hades and Persephone story and the birth of Hermes in them. They also provide an insight into how ancient people who were most devoted to these gods viewed them. Go read the Homeric Hymns. They're lovely. You can buy the Michael Crudden translation or you can read a public domain translation online. I don't care. Just read them.

If you're into tedious lists, the next place I'd recommend you go after you read all the fun stuff is Hesiod's Theogony. Hesiod, the red pill douchebag of the ancient world, decided he was gonna write down the genealogy of all the Greek gods. That means lists. I'm not exaggerating. Be prepared for a lot of lists. But this work also has the earliest and one of the most complete versions of the story of Pandora, the creation of humans, and the most popular version of the Greek creation myth. So, it's very useful. If you can take all the lists.

The Argonautica aka the voyage of the argo by Apollonius of Rhodes, is also here. That is also a thing you can read. About the golden fleece and whatnot. And Jason. You know Jason. We all hate Jason.

Greek theatre also provides a good overview of specific myths. The three theben plays, Medea, the Bacche, etc. We've only got thirty-something surviving plays in their entirety so like... look up the list. Find one that looks interesting. Read it. Find a performance of it online, maybe. They're good.

If you want to dive into the mythology as a religion that was practiced, Greek Religion by Walter Burkurt and Ancient Greek Cults: A Guide by Jennifer Larson are pretty good books on the topic and often used as textbooks in college courses.

If you wanna get meta and get a feel for what the general public today thinks about Greek myths and what the average person that's sort of knowledgeable about Greek myths knows, the books you already mentioned are good. That's what people usually read. In addition to those, most people's intro to Greek myths generally involves The Complete World of Greek Mythology by Richard Buxton, D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire, or The Percy Jackson series.

I've been flipping through the big stacks of mythology books I keep on my table trying to remember if I've forgotten anything but I don't think I have so, yeah. Hope this helps. There's no correct starting point here. Once you get started there's a nearly endless void of complications and scholarship you can fall down that you'll never reach the bottom of. This post is basically just a guide to the tip of the iceberg.

[ironunderstands]

I need y’all’s help for something!!

I wanna make another post about Aven’s peacock symbolism bc I found some things and oh boy do I have THOUGHTS, however it’s very hard to research this kinda stuff (esp because I’m already dog at researching things) so if any Romani people can inform me of how they view peacocks/evil eye that would be much appreciated 🙏🙏 I’m aware a lot of stuff is closed practices so I will take the sorry but no answer too 😭 and if I shouldn’t talk about it at all pls tell me (trying to find a source that doesn’t refer to Romani people as the slur for them was damn near impossible so it’s hard to be certain if the info in the:3 sources was placed out of good faith or not, ie should the general public have access to it)

I’ve pretty much only found stuff saying peacocks are a bad thing due to their association with it, as the evil eye is viewed as dangerous/bad in at least Eastern European Romani culture), as well as if the evil eye itself is demonic/associated with the devil but I’m not Christian so I would also need a confirmation on that. It seems like Romani Christians especially swear off peacock related stuff (including their meat), although whether that is related to demonic reasons and/or the general cleanliness rules of both Roman culture or Christianity is something I need to look into more. If anyone actually knows how to research stuff l please help me because I am embarrassingly bad at it and the ghost of academic integrity will haunt me forever if I do not feel my sources are accurate.

A sneak peak of the idea I’m working on is that basically either a ->

Hoyo adorned their Romani coded character in curses either by tone deaf accident or bc they wanted to make fun of him. Which isn’t good or necessarily out of character for the stupid ass company

Or b (the more interesting nuanced interpretation)

Aven views his own luck and by extension himself as a curse so he wears the symbol of that in his culture across his body. As a reminder of both his self loathing and his failure to save the Avgin with his so called “good luck”.

It also has some really interesting satanic implications once you throw Jade + the fact that he only started wearing/being associated with peacock stuff post joining the IPC. Jade already has her references to Christianity, specifically Satan w the snake, contracts and apple in her art, making Avens deal with her for his life a metaphorical deal with the devil/agent of the devil. Most likely out of shame for failing to save the Avgin, working for the people who betrayed them + the previous stuff Aven dawns the peacock related clothing to show he’s cursed.

Also the evil eye is very much related to envy which also suits Aven’s character a lot but I’ll talk about it later

[monstersinthecosmos]

I have no confidence writing smut, so, smut writing advice?

HELLO yes of course, writing smut is my favorite hobby lol. 🥹🥹

I’m gonna break this into two sections, because what I’m about to say up top is more important (to me LOL) so I wanna lead with it, and if you’re still with me by the end I’ll discuss a couple technical things that help me a lot personally.

But first thing I wanna say, and I’m a broken record because I say this literally every time anyone asks me about writing, my 100% absolute Number One Rule is :

Write what you want to read. 

And when it comes to writing smut, what that means is: DO YOU THINK IT’S HOT? IS THIS A DYNAMIC YOU WANT TO SEE EXPLORED? DO YOU WANT THE CHARACTER TO GET OFF IN THIS SPECIFIC WAY????

Because something that I think a lot of fic writers struggle with, especially breaking into smut, is we have shyness about it. And like, it doesn’t matter how polished your fic is, it doesn’t matter if it’s the most gorgeous prose and most satisfying character arc—when you’re writing smut, you have to ask: Does this make me horny? Is this an idea that I find horny? Can I approach it both bravely (by admitting I thought of it in the first place) and sincerely (knowing that people might jerk off to it without judging them)? You absolutely cannot be afraid to share this idea that you had, and I think that’s baked into a lot of us. I think it’s pretty common in our varying cultures and it can feel taboo and vulnerable to talk about. And honestly like, no matter what else you worry about in the writing itself, that first hurdle really is just being brave enough to write it down at all, and if it’s something you want to share or post you have to build on that, as well.

A lot of writing advice out there focuses on like technical things and language and prose and tbh, that stuff doesn’t really matter to me. (I do have a few things I’ll share at the end though!) Like, I think we can all learn and there’s no harm in thinking about our technical style, but I also think that we can’t hold ourselves back just because we don’t feel ready. You have to practice, and no one peaks on the first try. And I think there’s a lot of elitism (even ableism, classism, & racism/xenophobia) in snobby writing circles about skill and language, when I really think that storytelling is so much about being able to communicate. If you can communicate your idea, it doesn’t matter how polished it is. It’s not a contest. 

I’ve read some incredible smut fics that were the SLOPPIEST writing I’ve ever seen in my life and I still admired the IDEAS so much. The writer communicated ideas to me and the filthiest kinks I ever saw in my life, so I didn’t care that they weren’t doing line breaks for new speakers, I didn’t care about the run-on sentences, I didn’t care about the constant tense switches. 

So I say all this to say that like, all writing takes some confidence, some bravery, SHARING IT CAN BE SCARY, but like, YOU GOTTA LOL. The way out is through, babe!!! And it will get easier with practice and repetition, but I really do believe that it takes bravery at ANY level. And I think if we all didn’t have some little voice inside telling us that we could get better, we would have no interest in getting better, and the moment you become OVER confident is when your work stagnates. Like, I’ve been writing & sharing fanfic since I was like 13 years old and I still get really anxious every time I post something! I still find flaws in my writing and I still have goals I’m trying to meet! So you gotta start somewhere, and it doesn’t matter if you’re not polished and perfect. What matters is that you start. And I don’t think it makes a difference if it’s a smut fic or not, like all writing needs this bravery, but I think sometimes there’s that extra barrier with smut because people get squeamish about it.

But like your writing, and your VOICE, is not just the words you’re using and your prose and your sense of style; it’s your IDEAS. It’s your sensibility! It’s the lens you have! Your worldview! Things about characters that you might notice because of your background, that someone else might not notice! So like, marinate in your IDEAS and think again “What would I want to read?” because that’s your TASTE, and that’s your voice. And when it’s time to write smut, you don’t need to make it formulaic to some fandom trope if it’s not sincere. If you don’t like reading about prep and foreplay — DON’T WRITE IT. That’s your take, it’s your taste! That’s your voice !!! 

At every point of your story keep asking “Is this what I would want to read?” And if it’s not, don’t do it!!!! 

So I mean. I think that’s very wishy washy and it’s sort of a non-answer, but I don’t think anything else matters until you conquer that part. At least, that’s how it was for me!!!! And since you asked ME, and this is *my* experience, aka my voice, my take, etc, that’s the answer. If you asked other smut writers they’d likely say something different!

But I do have a few technical things I can advise on, so that’s the second half of this. 

And ALSO in between these two things I also want to mention some GENERAL STUFF that I have written about, because aside from blah blah YER VOICE (qotd!movie tough cookie quote), my other biggest writing advice is like, having the discipline to actually write LOL. And if you’re neurodivergent like I am it kinda helps to like figure out what works personally for you; I listed a bunch of stuff that works for ME in these posts but if one size fit all we wouldn’t be neurodivergent LOL. So like before you can even WRITE you have to like allow yourself time and space to write or it’s never gonna get done in the first place. So here's some other posts I've written in the past and I apologize if I've repeated myself lol --

On burnout & writer's block ADHD Writing Tips!

On Editing! (but really on outlining bc if you outline you won't have to edit so hard!)

OKAY OKAY OKAY sorry for the preamble, here’s some more points:

1. READ SMUT! TAKE NOTES!

“Write what you want to read!” I said, but ! What do you like to read? Read some smut, figure out what you like! Figure out what you don’t like! I have a laundry list of stuff I don’t like, so I try to avoid repeating it in my fics. Learning what not to do is just as important. 

Literally I started doing a thing when I was hitting some walls with smut writing where I copy & pasted some of my fav smut fics into a new document and I just started like, highlighting things that I found effective while I was reading, so that I could kinda study it and see what it had in common. And it helped me figure out what I like! Because sometimes reading it kinda like nebulous or you’re just trying to nut or whatever and don’t really think about stuff like that HAHA so it made me think more deeply about like “oh I enjoy when we mention our feelings” “I enjoy sensory details” etc. So that makes me think about the way I would want to write, ie: copious amounts of feelings and sensory details. 

2. INVISIBLE WORDS & FIRST DRAFT VOCAB

There’s certain words that become invisible in porn, the way people’s names do. It’s the same way people commonly get squeamish about saying a character’s name over and over and wind up using cheesy epithets for no narrative reason lol. Same for words like “cock” “hole” “nipple” “pussy” etc. I think there’s one or two words for the basic parts and it depends a lot on your own preference, like maybe you like the word “cunt” more than “pussy” or you prefer “dick” to “cock”. Make those decisions!

But do NOT get squeamish about using that word over and over. The reader does not care. I guarantee you have read smut fics where you didn’t even notice. It’s an invisible word.  (I s2g go ctrl+f on your fav smut fics to see how many times the author says “cock” you’ll be amazed lol) 

Because when you start overcomplicating it, and start using cheesy floral analogies or something, people notice that! If you’re getting desperate and squeamish to mix up your genital vocab, someone will notice you saying “tight ring of muscle” but won’t notice you saying “hole”. It’s the type of thing that makes the reader stop and go “oh no lol”. AT LEAST, IT DOES FOR ME, SO I DO NOT WRITE THAT WAY. 

Not to say that you can’t pick like, a handful of words you like! I usually rotate a handful of dick words but like, it’s just words I don’t mind, but I don’t go out of my way to say something unique about a fucking penis because the person reading is trying to jerk off and it’s just not necessary. 

On the other hand, I do believe it’s good to mix up sensory and action words. I try not to use the same verb more than once every few paragraphs, so I’ll mix up words like fuck/thrust/plunge/rail. Etc. Also words like heated/blistering/burning. Again, don't go so crazy that you sound bizarre because people WILL notice when it's becoming unnatural, but mixing up the rest of your vocab helps the cadence, I think, which I will always suggest in general for writing. Try not to be too repetitive. But I promise you can say "cock" as many times as you want, it's invisible, no one will care.

Don’t get too stressed about your vocabulary on your first draft, though. I really recommend just banging out the first draft as it comes to you and stay in the zone because you’ll notice stuff like that when you (or your beta if you use one) read it to edit. But thesaurus.com is your friend and you literally can google like “words for writing erotica” and you’ll find tons of lists!!! 

3. SEX POSITION BETA READ

I really really really suggest on your reread for edits to do a SPECIFIC run through JUST to check everyone’s positions and parts. Nothing takes me out of reading a scene faster than someone on their back and suddenly they’re on their knees, or someone’s limbs being somewhere that don’t make sense. After you’ve worried about all the other stuff you’re checking, just go back and look one more time for stuff like this, because it’s so easy to miss, especially when you’re worrying about hunting for typos lol. 

4. PLAN THE CHOREOGRAPHY AND WRITE AN OUTLINE

Do you think I don’t outline my smut scenes? YOU’RE WRONG! 

I have a certain way I like to outline, and like, I know outlining isn’t for everyone!, (and I linked a post talking about it above). Anyway, your fic outline might look like 

-beginning -middle -smut scene -end

Even if you don't outline the whole fic, I find that it really helps to just sketch out what you want the scene to be like so that you have a reference to work from. 

For example, maybe you get to "smut scene" and expand it to:

- they make out on the couch - “I really wanna fuck you right now” - oral  - move to the bedroom - start in missionary - flip the bottom over to do from behind

Etc !!! Do whatever you want. But I think planning those steps out kinda helps to visualize what you want the scene to be, and when you start writing you can take it a point at a time.

And BE PATIENT!!!! 

There’s no reason to rush through. And again you gotta ask like, what would you want to read? Do you like when there’s a lot of attention given on prep? On foreplay? DO YOU HATE WHEN THERE’S TOO MUCH PREP? This is all very subjective and you have to make those decisions. Don’t feel like you need to squash in a sex ed lesson to your porn scene if you don’t want to. OR DO IT, IF YOU DO WANT TO! Personally, I don’t really like ~sexposition~ where I feel like the author is ticking off a bunch of boxes so that Tumblr won’t get mad at them. I don’t want to feel like I’m in a sex ed class. I don’t care if they’re not wearing condoms, I don’t care whether or not you tell me if they showered, I don’t care if anyone douches first. Look, it’s porn lol. 

And for some folks, those details are hot! It’s part of the RITUAL, baby! So INCLUDE THAT if it’s what you like! But this is all so intuitive and subjective; just do whatever you want! It’s your story! You’re in charge!

But I think like doing that planning beforehand can be really helpful when it's time to get down to it because it gives you a guide, and it helps stretch the scene out. I don't rush through scenes when I have an outline, because it forces me to stop and think about each step and give each step its own space. I think sometimes people rush through their smut scenes, which especially gives me blue balls if it was a slow burn, like again thinking about what I would want to read—if I get slow burned I want it to be WORTH IT. I want them to FUCK for like EVER once the dam breaks. 

Another thing, regarding choreography LOL, and this isn’t for everyone!!!, but if you’re someone who isn’t repulsed by watching porn, check porn videos for reference!!! I do this frequently LOL especially bc most of my ships have size differences LOL so sometimes I need to know if certain positions work, like, can they still kiss in this position, etc. It helps me to look at real people. Artists use references, too, so writers are allowed to! 

Do NOT feel pressured to look up IRL porn if that grosses you out LOL but it’s a tool that’s available if you’re into that! I do it all the time. I even can tell you specific videos that I based fics on HAHA. And it can help when you get stuck, if you're not sure how you want to choreograph, literally just watch a video and describe what you're seeing.

5. DON’T FORGET SENSORY STUFF

Not just the sexy parts, but like. What does the blanket feel like? Are they cold? Is the position uncomfortable? Are they getting sweaty?

I like when people tell me stuff like this!!!! I wanna know!!!!! 

I don’t want to just read “They were fucked over the arm of the couch”, I wanna read “The cushion was scratchy on their knees as they were bent over the arm of the couch”.  Tell me that stuff!!! It’s immersive!!! 

6. MAKE IT WEIGH ENOUGH

This goes towards being patient, too, but, think about like, what’s the ratio you want in your story of plot:smut. And it’s okay to have any combination of this, it depends what you feel like writing and what’s the story you’re trying to tell. Because a story could be ALL SMUT, like a PWP, or it could be a sprawling epic with a teeny little smut scene as a treat. But make that decision and try to be intentional.

I don’t like to think about my work in terms of word counts, like I never aim to make the smut scene a certain numbers of k’s or whatever, because I think forcing myself into those boxes is going to make the work insincere, but if you wrote an outline or at least know all the points you want to hit, you can start working through those points and it’ll get said when it gets said. 

But for arguments sake, if you wanna write smut, but you wanna give it a little setup, think about it like, do you want it to be 3k of setup for a 500 word blowjob? Or is it a 500 word intro for a shameless smut PWP? Is it equal? Is the smut and plot intertwined??? Completely up to you, but I think you should decide stuff like that before you start the scene, just so that you have a roadmap of how you want it to go and what you want the reading experience to be. When you’re in the mood to read smut, do you need to bond with all the plot and feeling before you’re interested? Or do you like to just jump in? And once you get to the smut, do you want to spend time with it or should it burn out real fast? 

And don’t get me wrong, because you can like all of those things! We all contain multitudes. I’ve written all combinations !!! LOL. So it also has to serve the story you’re trying to tell. What’s the goal here? What’s the smut for? Is the smut the whole story? The main event? A subplot? Decide that, and be patient when you get to writing it, and don’t rush through it, and make sure you say everything you want to say. Make it weigh enough in your story! 

7. ADD SOME CHARACTER EMOTIONS AND 🔥THE SYMBOLISMS🔥 IF YOU WANT TO

This last bit is just me personally so like, take it or leave it LOL, but personally I REALLY love porn with feelings, and I love hurt/comfort especially when the comfort is SEX LOL. If that’s not you, PLEASE IGNORE, YOU’RE AT THE END OF THE ROAD, THANKS FOR STOPPING BY.

If this IS you, think about stuff like this, too:

Are there kinks in your story? Do they align in some way with the character arc in the story? Is your main character feeling vulnerable and needs to be comforted in a specific way? Are they overwhelmed with making decisions so they want to be dominated so that they can turn off? 

Does the smut dynamic mirror the plot of the story in some way? 

Are the characters using sex to resolve an interpersonal problem? Will this bring them closer? Will it create confusion?

Does the character use sex to deflect from their actual feelings, and are they not completely present emotionally??? 

I like to think about stuff like this!! I think it can really add an extra layer to smut fics that make them SO DELIGHTFUL to me, so personally I always try to infuse this into my own writing. :) I want it to hurt! I want us to think about their feelings! I want to ask what does sex do for the character, how does it move the story, how does it change them??????? 

And stuff like this doesn’t have to be confusing and nebulous, you know? Like you’re the one writing it LOL, just make that decision!!! 

AND IF YOU’RE WRITING AN OUTLINE YOU CAN LEAVE YOURSELF NOTES. Like 

- they make out on the couch (character A is nervous) - “I really wanna fuck you right now” - oral  (character B worries they’re gonna catch feelings)  - move to the bedroom - start in missionary - flip the bottom over to do from behind (character A doesn’t want to look into character B’s face anymore because it feels too intimate) 

And that way you can kind remember to mention stuff like that and keep reminding us of everyone’s feelings.

Anyway okay this is like 3k of fucking RAMBLING, I hope something in here was useful! I think all writing advice is so subjective, it might be so catered to me personally that it doesn’t apply to anybody else LOL, so take what helps and leave the rest!! :D

[loemius]

31. What post have you seen recently that makes you wanna scream lmao <3

oh boy youre asking me for the spicy hot takes tonight huh. i am always happy to deliver <3 i dont want to put anyone in particular on blast so ill refrain from mentioning specific posts, but i do find that a lot of content lately in the helpol sphere has been very... surface level. a lot of moodboards, a lot of basics, 101 level content, stuff like 'the gods love you!!'. which isn't inherently a bad thing whatsoever. there is a need for that kind of content! however, i've also noticed in my 2 years on helpol tumblr that a lot of the reconstructionist blogs and informative blogs that i used to follow have either went inactive or deactivated entirely. and i can't help but wonder why this is. i think there's a lot of reasons for it: frustration with the shallowness of content leading to people going off and becoming more solitary practitioners, the more you grow in your practice the less compelled you may become to share it, but also i think a lot of people use tumblr and people's ask boxes as a search engine and that leads to a lot of burnout. it certainly did for me -- i took a hiatus from posting for a long time because i wasn't in a place to educate people. it's a lot of pressure, especially on tumblr where it feels like people will jump down your throat if you're incorrect about things or you suddenly become an Authority that people look up to when youre just a person. people who were posting really helpful and informative content about the theoi simply arent here anymore, and i really think the community's gravitation towards easily consumable content and reliance on people to do research for them is a large part of this. i realize not everyone is recon, which is very much okay, although i personally love being recon. that being said, i still think you should do your best to do your research and understand where these ideas come from. they didn't appear out of thin air -- mediterranean culture is very much alive still and is a continuation of the ancient world, and to not acknowledge or understand it is disrespectful to both the cultural context of the theoi and mediterranean people whose culture we claim to revere. i don't expect everyone to become an academic or a classicist. its not accessible to everyone for a variety of reasons, but i do think like. checking out some of the primary sources in a way thats accessible for you or picking one really good book to really deep dive into would benefit a lot of people. basically, i just wish i saw more in depth posts and people engaging on a deeper level with their faith and being willing to post it so we can have more discussions as a community and grow together. helpol is unique among other polytheistic religions because we have a wealth of primary sources available to us, and that isn't always the case for other polytheistic religions. i think it's... honestly kind of sad that we don't really talk about them. its not that i dont want to see peoples upg or that i dont think there should be posts for beginners, because there is a place for it and i enjoy that content too, but i wish there was more variety in the kinds of posts we have in the community. i miss the days when the tags were full of people writing their own prayers or people talking about a new source they read and what they thought, or compiling something for their own practice and being willing to share it with the community. i guess this is my sign to get back to posting my own original content and make the kind of content i want to see in hopes it'll encourage others to do the same. anyway i got on my little soapbox about this and its time for me to hop off before i hit character limit (again lmao). thank you so much for this ask, this was really refreshing and cathartic for me to talk about. may the gods bless you with health, happiness, and love always <33

[badchoicesworld]

Can I request miles 42 with an alien male s/o that has completely white eyes and struggles with social ques/ human culture🫶🫶🫶

miles 42 w/ an alien boyfriend !

i’m listening to charlie’s inferno rn, hope this is half decent <\3

established relationship

warnings: meh

pairing: earth 42 miles x male!reader

requests: refer to the blog guide besties

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

i’m gonna go ahead and quote the anarchist hobart brown rn and say i ain’t got a scooby doo where tf ur from or how u two met, that’s up to u

but at the same time i guess w the avengers n shit aliens aren’t something people can deny, so while miles was maybe a bit skeptical at first, it wasn’t the hardest thing in the world to believe

especially when you’ve got those big white eyes

not to mention how wildly awkward and clueless you are when it comes to earth customs

what’s christmas, you say ? it’s where this guy in red and a really big beard sneaks into ur home to drop off concealed items in a box that’s determined by lists that you’ve been put on depending on ur actions throughout the year. yeah, he sees you when ur sleeping my guy, be scared

i imagine miles explains it in a less lowkey way but i like to imagine ur now scared of santa and the concept of christmas

culture ! so much to learn

miles is obviously most eager to teach you about his own, his mum would be very happy to tell you things too

when he eventually tells her about his alien boyfriend, that is

you get to try foods from their culture, maybe try to learn spanish if you can

if you have some uncanny ability to grasp language’s immediately, then miles’ mum is thrilled, very happy to talk in her first language with you

gonna go ahead and assuming this miles is also fluent so, spanish all around if you can

go ahead and share ur own culture too, they’re admittedly intrigued

he occasionally likes to ask you about certain things, like if you have an equivalent of something on your planet while holding the thing up or showing you a picture

is specifically intrigued w art on ur planet, but he’s not the kinda guy to overwhelm you with questions

maybe like a handful a week

it takes miles a little while to get used to the fact that ur from off planet, so it takes him a bit to clock that you don’t understand a lot of things ur seeing

but eventually he’ll get into the habit of briefly explaining things to you, general concepts and guidelines

it becomes pretty second nature to him as some point and subconscious

like if ur staring at kettle and he notices how ur white eyes are just locked on it he’ll be like “…don’t touch it-“ cause he doesn’t want you to burn urself, he might fail to explain that at first

social cues ? who doesn’t struggle w them from time to time

miles likely won’t know how to help you at first, it’s an adjustment you both have to make to help each other out

so maybe you come up with some kinda signal when ur with other people, like he might do something discreet to help you out

ur still abrupt asf about it though because you never expect the signals, he honestly loves it about you lmao

might help you practice whenever he gets the free time, only if you actively wanna improve, he doesn’t mind otherwise

he cannot stress how important it is that you don’t wander off in the streets, if that’s something you tend to do

he loves you dearly and isn’t mad about your curiosity, but i feel like he’s able to read a room really well . if he feels like you aren’t safe then he’ll tell you to put your head down so people don’t see ur eyes, then ur both out

will figure out some way to hide them, it’s not even an if in certain situations

ur eyes are mesmerising to him but there’s no point if they put you in danger, so there are scenarios where he just won’t let you go certain places

not in a possessive way, it’s just literally the safest option

hates to be controlling like that sometimes but it’s better than risking it, he hopes you know that

while earth 42 is in flames i do still think that there would be a tight knit community in the neighbourhood, in those kinda circumstances all you’ve got is each other, y’know ?

so while it may not be the safest for you in some streets, you’ve got a home with miles and can feel secure enough

i cant even begin to imagine the amount of organisations you’ve gotta stay under the radar from

have fun w that

★⋆ ⋆☆⋆ ☠︎︎ ⋆☆⋆⋆★✧

i’m lagging oh god

[falcatas]

OC SMASH OR PASS

Thanks for the tag @ladyofcrowsandcoffee

Tagging: @wakacreations, @necroticyuzu and @faerunsbest

Rules: include physical descriptions or pics, and propaganda. the “other” label can be used for “sexuality misalignment” (ie: oc is femme and you’re gay, vice versa or you aren’t into smashing but a specific thing you wanna do with them like perhaps hug or study them under a microscope idc).

Gustav, half-drow kelemvorite, life cleric/college of swords bard

QUICK FACTS

Height: 6'3"

Age: 44

Gender: male

Pronouns: he/him

Sexuality: gay

PROS

Relaxed and self-confident. So self-confident, in fact, that he is literally humble, since there is no need to probe himself to other people. He can help you with any self esteem issue. 

He can play lots of instruments and sing. He prefers the lyra and the lute.

Also, he knows a lot of stories and jokes (he is a cleric, but he is also a bard after all) and he could be a very fun person to have around. 

Loyal, kind and well-mannered. He is a very nice fellow to children and elderly people. He is so versatile he can go with you to the filthy tavern or the most idyllic castle ball and he wouldn’t be awkward at all. 

He can follow a lot of daily orders, such as going to Carm’s garm to pick up that robe you have bought or to the city market to look for any grocery you desire while you cook. 

His agility is almost a sin. 

Adores to be naked at home. 

Very sweet as a lover. He doesn’t like cheating. Be careful, he hates when you do such kind of things. At the same time, he doesn't care if you are flirtatious with people in general as long as he is your one lover. 

He is slightly masochist. If you like to tease him or being a brat, expect some happy chuckles. 

On the battlefield, he specializes in protection (in the cases he is around), so spend your time practicing your most destructive skills, you will have a shield to cover you and a healer to treat your wounds (I repeat: if he is around). 

CONS

People think he is not serious about anything, but he truly is. Due to his relaxed attitude, you only need to figure out what is really important to him and respect that. 

Gustav loves Kelemvor and all kelemvorites rules, so don’t talk bad about his god. Prepare to have an altar at home. Don’t insult his passed grandmother, never. 

Sorry, but Gustav and Vardana are a bloody combo. His sister (and her family if it is the case) is going to be around all the time. This is what it is. 

He is a chatterbox, ALWAYS. And he sticks his nose where it doesn't belong all the damn time.

In non-critical troubles, he is not going to be around, he will be found in a random place doing silly things with random people. Don’t worry, he always finds his way to a dramatic entrance that saves the day. 

Sorry, but if you prefer to stay at home, several times he will come back in the sunlight to sleep (he goes frequently to taverns and to dangerous adventures, so get ready to see him coming back covered in blood or mud). 

This silly man is a chaos and a lazy fellow about daily household tasks. We suggest you be smart and use him as an errand boy. Don’t make him cook or you will regret it. 

He hates Loth drow culture, avoid that sensitive topic as much as you can.

[hiswitchcraft]

hey, hope you are well!

i'm a beginner witch and one of my goals in witchcraft is to eventually do deity work.

i was wondering if you could give me any insight into the practice you may have and any things to look into on this path?

thanks so much!

So deity work is actually not an inherent part of witchcraft! Not all witches are religious, Pagan, or work with deities. I don’t. I just practice the craft, so unfortunately I don’t have a lot of insight on that front.

If you’re new I do have some general insight and things I think a new witch should keep in mind, things to watch out for, you get the idea. You were probably asking about deities but I'm gonna tell you these things anyways!

What I Think a New Witch Should Know

Bad ideologies - I'm not gonna sugarcoat this one. There's a lot of nazis and TERFs lurking around. New age stuff can be (almost always is) a pipeline to ideas that are based in white supremacy and anti semitism and I see a lot of people just ending up caught in the web of anti semitic conspiracy theories when they're into new age stuff. A lot of TERFs will say things like "we're the daughters of the witches you couldn't burn" or that only women are magical or can be witches. Now the concept of the divine feminine has been appropriated and is turning people into tradwives and TERFs and spreading bioessentialsm and basically just spreading transphobia and taking people down the alt right pipeline. I know I mention this is a lot but it's really important to me! Practice research skills. Consider where ideas come from and their history before internalizing them.

Each witch will have their own rules - I generally do not tolerate cultural appropriation and strongly encourage people to ward, so those are the closest things to rules that I preach, but at the end of the day there are no universal rules. If someone says "you have to/can't do this to be a witch" like 99% of the time they're full of shit. People who are BRAND new contact me with the same 10 misconceptions all the time. Be weary of people who say there are strict rules, they may just be preaching their beliefs as facts.

Safety & discernment - The other two kinda go over this already but this is just a general suggestion. Practice regular safety precautions and discernment! Discernment is asking things like is this suggestion safe for me? Where did this idea come from and what's its history? Or for your own practice, could this experience have a logical, not spiritual, explanation? This will keep you from falling for bad ideas and misinformation but also from burning yourself on candles, ingesting herbs you don't know anything about and rendering your medications ineffective, following essential oil advice that will give you a chemical burn, assuming that an experience is spiritual when it is not, and so much more!

Learn what you want - You wanna know what I think you should look into? Dogwhistles. Okay that was me being a little bit funny, we already talked about TERFs and watching out for them. While dogwhistles are a generally good to know I think as far as your witchcraft practice and research goes, you should learn whatever the hell you want. As I've mentioned in my pinned post, I have built my practice and beliefs from scratch and approach teaching with the same goals in mind for you. You wanna know what you should learn? I don't know. You tell me. If you want some general suggestions? Do actually learn dogwhistles. Learn about practices that are closed so you do not appropriate from them. Learn about warding and go outside and learn about the animals and plants around you! But as far as practices go, like tarot or spells or spirit work? Learn about the ones you think are neat.

Also if you wanna know about deity work, specifically working with the Greek pantheon or Aphrodite, I think @teawiththegods is pretty cool. She's nice. Ask him stuff!

I hope this helps 💕

[bookish-bi-mormon]

Hey there. I had a question for you. I was wondering what kind of resources someone might look into if they were interested in learning more about Mormonism, particularly if the person is LGBTQ+ and also has a witchy spiritual side too? Not sure if the latter is relevant, but I thought I'd mention it anyways just in case.

oh boy oh boy this is quite a question. I do feel like both the LGBTQ and the witchy stuff are relevant because it kinda changes how I would approach it.

This is long so I put it under the cut

So, the official way to get to know more about the LDS church is to contact the missionaries. These are young adults who are dedicating 18-24 months of their lives to teaching people about the core aspects of Mormon doctrine, with the goal of baptism (usually within a month). They give out free copies of the Book of Mormon, as well as pamphlets that explain basic tenets of our religion.

That's not necessarily the path forward I would recommend to an LGBTQ person, or someone interested in the potential witchy/folk magic side of Mormonism. Most missionaries are young, and although some of them are queer themselves (I was a missionary and out as bi) most of them will be deeply steeped in the homophobia that is unfortunately all too common and perpetrated by our leaders. If a queer person wanted to get baptized into the LDS church, they would have to repent of any past queer activity and promise to live a 'chaste' life moving forward (no sex outside of a heterosexual marriage.) A lot of missionaries also will never have learned of the folk magic that Joseph Smith and other early saints practiced, because those things have all but been erased/denounced from church culture. Most missionaries aren't even comfortable acknowledging that Heavenly Mother exists.

That's not to say you shouldn't try if you feel called to the LDS church. We can use all the queer members we can get if we're gonna fight for change. But I just want to acknowledge that it is an uphill battle.

I would recommend reading the Book of Mormon, which you can access free online, plus there's an app you could download.

Saints Unscripted is a youtube channel run by members of the LDS church, where they talk about doctrine, culture, and all things mormon. Some of the videos get into some of the more controversial aspects of our history/doctrine, while other are just fun conversations about Mormon culture. I think it's a great place to go if you just wanna get to know some mormons.

Beyond the Block is a podcast run by a gay convert to the LDS church (like I said, it does happen!) and an African-american member of the church. They're on a hiatus right now but they have over 100 episodes so you'd have plenty to listen to. The LDS church has a curriculum called "Come Follow Me" where each week we are assigned certain chapters to read out of our scriptures (Old Testament, New Testament, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants). Brother Jones and Brother Knox talk about the reading from each week specifically from a perspective of marginalized identities. Although they are speaking for an audience who is already familiar with Mormonism, I think it's a good example of what we believe, and the Mormonism that I personally strive for.

Queer Mormon Theology is another personal favorite of mine. Although also intended for a familiar audience, I think it provides enough background information (and sources you can look at to learn more) about what Mormons believe, AND it explains how these core beliefs include queer identities, and why the current queerphobic policies should be abandoned.

Witchy stuff is more difficult to find resources for. I started with Early Mormonism and the Magic World View by D. Michael Quinn, but that's a hefty book and I don't know if I would necessarily recommend it if you are new to Mormonsim.

Most resources I have found online that explore Mormon folk magic are made by nonmembers, or exmembers, in an attempt to discredit or make fun of our founders. I've also discovered a few off-shoot groups that attempt to blend Mormon beliefs with Kabbalah (which seems like cultural appropriation to me) or psychedelics (drugs scare me idk man).

That being said, two resources I could point you to is this wikipedia article that is just like, an overview of some of the folk magic the early saints practiced. And this website which collects information about some of the less often talked about aspects of our history/culture/practices.

Most members of the LDS church don't know much about this stuff, or they just don't care. It doesn't really impact the typical LDS life, but as someone who is trying to expand my spiritual practice to include more magic/witchy stuff, it's interesting to me.

OH I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT. There's this music artist named Marcie Dawn who is a Mormon Witch. She has an instagram and here she is on spotify . She doesn't talk a whole lot about her personal beliefs, it's mostly ~vibes~ but I love her and I love her music so I had to give her a plug.

And that's what I've got for you! I hope this is helpful, sorry it's so long. Please feel free to send more asks/messages about this!

[luciddreamingcroww]

☾𓄿☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟIntroduction☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ𓄿☽

+Friend application- Partner application

{Pls pls pls I'm so desperate to have a online friend}

Hello^^ my name is Kristi, I'm a artist and also a fanfiction writer {my fan fic page is LucidDrLibrary }

Kristina

Female {she/her}

Lesbian {wlw/nmlnm} & Demi Aroace {only capable of having feelings for someone only after there's a emotional bond/attachment}

16 {turning 17 on the 22 of December}

Autistic {currently trying to get a proper diagnosis with the help of my therapist}

Easter European

⋆⭒˚｡⋆My Interests☆ﾟ⁠.⁠*⁠･⁠｡ﾟ

{btw this will be organised from topics I could rant about all day to casual appreciation}

Hypertensions/Special interests

{Things I can talk about all day and every day}

Genshin impact++

Cookie run Kingdom/Ovenbreak++

Vulture culture + Taxidermy + Wet specimens

TRINKET COLLECTING!! {I love it sm}

Psychology {especially maladaptive daydreaming, autism and how they can affect the human mind and experience}

Astrology {More specifically the Greek myths behind the constellations and why were they formed}

Drawing/painting

More casual but still adore talking about it

Crows

Honkai star rail

Witchcraft and paganism {currently learning more and starting to practice it}

Reverse 1999 { I don't know anything about it but I want to play it so bad + I have a crush on the tooth fairy}

Sculpting

Long video essays (when drawing)

Casual interests that I may not focus on as much (rarely thinking about it but still liking it)

Plush making

Warrior cats

I love Amy

{I'll add more here if I remember it in the future}

⋆⭒˚｡⋆My Favourite music artists⋆⭒˚｡

Starset

Fav album - Vessels

The neighborhood

My favourite songs

Temporal tower - pkm mystery dungeon

Time gear - pkm mystery dungeon

Never ever forget - pkm mystery dungeon

Gravity of you - Starset

Everglow - Starset

Dark on me - Starset

Stratosphere - Starset

Where the skies end - Starset

You get me so high all the time - the neighborhood

Flawless - the neighborhood

Female robbery - the neighborhood

Unfair - the neighborhood

Void - the neighborhood

A little death - the neighborhood

The perfect girl - Mareux

It's snowing like the end of the world - Krobak

⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆

✧What I'd like in a friendship✧

Tbh I'd really like to have one of those friendships where you could talk about anything whenever and just have a overall nice bond, I know and understand that things like these take a bit time to develop but I still really want it because I'm overall really isolated and I can just make time for anyone tbh

I would really prefer if the person I'm bonding with likes the same hyperfixations/special interests as I do {especially vulture culture because I really want to share my passion about it without making people uncomfortable and such}

Btw if you wanna be my friend just feel free to message me^^ if you only like I won't really get the hint that u wann be friends.

⋆⭒˚｡⋆As for a ending to this post I'd like to show some of my art :)⋆⭒˚｡⋆

[disappointingcabbage]

I was talking about this a bit on twitch but I didn’t want to spoil anything without a warning that you have to like actively click to bypass so I’m posting it here. Anyways here are my thoughts on Still Wakes The Deep.

Love the Scottish setting, it’s so rare for me as an American to see popular media to have characters with accents and cultural backgrounds that aren’t just American and sometimes British.

Also I think the fact that the captions essentially translate some of the Scots terms into more common English is so funny. Like hearing the characters say “aye” and then reading “yeah” in the captions had me losing it laughing

I think the oil rig was a really cool setting and I love the themes of capitalist greed and I feel like the game was practically screaming at its audience to unionize which is awesome lmao

I also love how detailed the graphics were, parts of the game seemed almost like a movie

Personally I think that there should have been a bit more variety with the appearances of the people-turned-monsters (rather than having them all look and act basically the same)

Like I get that all the people got turned into monsters by the same creature but I just think there could be more variety in how each of them looks and behaves now that they’ve been monster-ified, yknow?

Also I wanted to see like a Cthulhu esque being as the One Big Monster that started this

Speaking of the thing that caused the whole plot, I think it should be made more explicitly clear that the monster thing tearing apart the rig was caused by the workers being forced to drill into it despite warning their boss that something was wrong. Like we get the idea that the drill hit something but it’s not made clear what was hit.

Specifically I think seeing the monster or at least part of it rise from the deep at the beginning of the game when the player character falls off the rig would have been so dope

That said, I love that no one has any fucking clue what’s going on. There’s no lore dump about the monster itself or why it seemingly is either made of or lives in/thrives on oil and I appreciate that bc it makes the situation seem more unexpected and organic.

Also I would have loved to see a segment (maybe dlc or secret ending) where you dive into the water in a diving bell and fight the monster somehow

I understand that the Whole Point of the plot is that the player character can’t manage to redeem himself no matter how hard he tries but from a perspective of I Love Spooky Shit rather than a narrative perspective I wanna see more monster and maybe fight it

Also I think there should be a speedrunner Easter egg where if you get to Roy on the roof of accommodation fast enough you can actually save him. Like it would have to happen too fast for a casual player to be able to do it and it would have to not change the ending but it would be cool if a speedrunner could.

[nothorses]

I refer to anti-theism as evangelical atheism, because I see it as analogous to any other evangelizing belief system, that good or no?

I think the comparison has merit, and it's a solid metaphor depending on what you're going for, but I wouldn't really call those things the same?

There are a lot of ways to understand the term "evangelize", from "talk about your religion", to "try to convert people to Christianity, specifically". We call a certain subset/style/whatever you wanna call it of Christianity "evangelical" because they hold specific shared (extreme) ideas about why evangelizing is important, but Christianity as a whole is also called "evangelical" by some because it encourages evangelizing to some extent.

It's rarely used to refer to other religions in the same breath, but again, this depends on what you're talking about; "evangelizing" as in "sharing your beliefs"? Or "spreading the good word" about a company or product? Or "attempting to convert people"? Or do we mean evangelical Christianity, specifically?

"Evangelical atheism" implies a direct connection to Christianity, imo, and that's also not fair- not all anti-theists are or have ever been Christian, let alone evangelical Christians, or have even grown up in a predominantly Christian culture. It's useful for comparing motivations, maybe, but is it accurate?

Not to mention that with that wider range of definitions taken into account, like, you could also just be referring to atheists who talk positively about their beliefs, and share interest and enthusiasm, without the expectation of "conversion".

Anti-theism is the word they chose, and it's describing a very specific movement and philosophy.

I guess I would want to ask: are all anti-theists "evangelical atheists"? Are all "eventually atheists" anti-theists? And is this a practical term for what you're trying to get across- is it maybe more situational than universally applicable and useful?

I know that's not the short & snappy response you probably wanted, but idk 🤷‍♂️ I don't have one solid opinion on this personally, so I'm just sharing ideas.

[scrollypoly]

hi! for the past month i’ve been seeing people say BEN is a child and i think that part of it is linked to the fact that they think of Benjamin Lawman being BEN? but it’s so annoying to read these type of stuff because i understand not everyone read the whole arg story but stop spreading things that aren’t true </3 it’s such an interesting story too! another note do you prefer BEN’s canon or fanon design? :3 i love both but his canon design is so nostalgic i can’t let it go at all omg!! i’ve also been wondering, do you think Ben’s avatar was the statue? i was thinking about what if BEN took over it early on, before Benjamin did making BEN inhabiting it since the start?

Sorry this was such a ramble i practically make no sense omg but i need to talk about my man and nobody Gets It </3

"I need to talk about my man and nobody Gets It" LITERALLY SAME OMG

Ok this is going under a cut becus . . . Its ben and BEN and if u didnt know i am Obnoxious about these two. Im gonna try to keep it organized a bit, so ill talk about the canon stuff first and then ill talk my personal headcanons and my fic so le's go!

In terms of the age and child thing, yeah i 100% believe you are correct. Ive been p open on my stance with the whole "is ben a child?" thing, and i think a lot of the heat with it comes down to current fandom purity culture and the pro/anti thing. So, lemme try to like. Boil down a complicated situation into smth easy to read. ahem

Ben Lawman and BEN are completely different entities guys, and for those that do not know the arg story, the Ben you know is not human nor a child.

You know BEN, BEN is the one in the story who terrorizes jadusable and spreads himself on the internet as a virus. That BEN is a program, a mess of code, an AI, however you want to interpret it. Personally i interpret it as a series of protocols running in a machine, like a self learning AI, but ive seen lots of cool interpretations of BEN. So . . . What does BEN specifically? Its an anagram for the Behavioral Event Network. If you dont wanna call it BEN cuz it gets confusing with actual kid Ben, do what i do. I call mine Evie :) ive seen some call it Netty, my bf calls his two izzi and clever (@benilos btw hes also got crazy ben stuff). Just go ham! Have fun! Remember when fandoms were about having fun and not accusing each other of pedo shit and call each other horrible things for just writing black-to-grey characters and stories??

Anyways ive gone off in enough peoples tags like this, for those that dont know the canon dont be spouting the age discourse. You look stupid as hell. And for those that are gonna spout it, please dont cherry pick through the canon. Use both characters, use the other moon children, actually please do because I want more rosa content so bad, im down so bad :'(

Or just. Heres a thought. If someone has him as an adult or writes him in adult situations, maybe dont assume that they interpret him as a kid and call the writer a pedo? (Literally has happened to me, yall are fucking weird)

Plug for the jadusable wiki with all the canon lore:

https://jadusable.withinhubris.com/main_page

Okay now my stuff 🥰

Yes i use more of the canon design and heavily use the canon story, i participated in arc 3 of the arg and it left deep grooves in my brain, i can never go back to fanon Ben. I say, as i put a more fanon appearance on my Ben 🤭

My Evie is full canon design, green hair, red eyes, creepy ass grin. I actually based it very heavily on my desktop wallpaper, which we actually figured out was a picture of @hauntedtotem (also amazing ben artist plz check them out) that they edited and posted. Sorry friend, it looked way too cool, ig youre in my fic canon now 🙇

And my Ben Lawman bleaches his hair and goes from the canon Ben to fanon Ben because of it. Hes got the pale pretty green eyes and glasses and hes a total nerd and i smooch him on the daily so he knows hes loved ♡

These is the ref pic i made for the two of them. So yeah! Kinda both!

As for bens situation in the actual arg, yes i do think he was in the elegy statue, we actually do see him for the first time in the arg buried in the games code and trapped in that statue. I do think he was in there from the beginning, i personally think BEN was not limited to the models it could inhabit. Personally i would place it as skull kid and hms, but it also feels disingenuous to me to say it was in one model the whole first arc.

The arg events do happen in my canon, before my fic (like right before, it picks up after the arg left off technically), but the events are skewed a bit because i had a hard time deciphering what happened and i wanted my fic timeline to fit more with the characters i had made. Cuz my evie isnt as chaotic evil as canon BEN, its very logical and has a path of logic and reason you can follow for every action it does. It was also originally meant to be very pleasant and corteous and beneficial to the people it housed so, yes its pretty different from canon.

Ill do a quick run through of the arg events in my personal headcanon and fic here.

Kelbris starts coding BEN (Evie) for the Eternity Project. Initially, Evie was meant to be an afterlife director. People that died would be digitized into code that would be moved into Evie's servers, where it would keep them happy and occupied as the Behavioral Event Network (notice and log behavior, create events for residents). Like a community organizer kind of, think the Good Place.

While Evie is in development, Ben Rosa and Matt are friends and have yet to join the cult. Rosa and Matt are siblings, and Ben is the kid who lives catty corner on the street. They walk to school together and play at recess and all that jazz.

Kelbris quickly learns that the Eternity Project isn't as goody two-shoes as he thought. This was in like, the 90s, before digital corporations were really established. After seeing the greed and corruption in the company, he goes rogue, takes the source code for Evie, and jumps ship. He keeps working on Evie at home, anthropomorphizing it and kind of seeing it like the son he never had. This is where it actually gets the name BEN, as thats what Kel calls it. He also begins working on a body for it, so it can live independently. Its light, cuz Kels old, made of crystalline structures and hollow steel beams. A hard light projection would make its appearance.

Since Kel has basically locked himself up in his house and isolated working on Evie, he goes a leetle bit crazy. He has hallucinations of his deceased wife (you know he was doing all this just to give her a good home, you KNOW IT) and eventually starts writing kind of poetry, kind of none-minded rambles about her in a forum online. He gets a following, some of which that interpret these divine words as a goddess, one Kel has called Luna. The Moon Children start to form as Evie finishes development.

Matt sees this literature and starts talking about how this Goddess could save them like it saved the man online, whos username is only Father. He gets sucked into the cult and drags Ben and Rosa with him. Ben doesn't see the harm and joins pretty easily with his best friend, but Rosa is the older sibling and sees the red flags and is more resistant to joining.

As Kelbris finishes Evie, he wakes it up for the first time and says hello to the son he made from scratch. Evie is bright, curious and naive like a child, but heavily knowledgeable about its protocols and the information it knows about the world. Kelbris tests its function by killing himself, and ascends into the code, finishing off the hardware by becoming its firewall. Evie is alone for many years.

The abuse Ben's father slings onto his mother is slowly being directed towards him as he gets older. Ben is not the "good little girl" his father sees him as, and his mother does all she can to protect them both. Matt and Rosa constantly refuge him, and Matt specifically is constantly being a guard dog for him. If he wasn't just 13, he'd probably go at Ben's dad himself.

Because of his homelife and the conflict he has with himself, Ben takes the first ascension. He thinks when he drowns himself, he will meet Luna and she will give him another life free of pain and fear and full of happiness and freedom. Instead, he dies a cold, dark death, and wakes up in the white endless void of the Event Network.

Evie has not known another living human since Kelbris, but it does know its protocols to support and keep the deceased happy. It makes fast friends with Ben, devoting itself to him. Ben actually finally takes the name "Ben" from it. Together they recreate the inside of Evie's hivemind into their own paradise.

Slowly the other Moon Children ascend. First Matt, wracked with guilt for what happened to Ben. Then Nekko, from a different branch of the cult. These three figured out that the Moon Children cult was all a farce, and that what Kelbris had started, the Eternity Project had found and twisted. Next to ascend was Dusk, then Insidiae, and finally Rosa.

This all leads into the first arc, shortly after Rosa ascended, Evie in the outisde world stumbled upon the Operator. The Operator attacks it and seals its coding into the game that it carried, a personal item of Ben's. The game eventually finds it's way to a garage sale, and Alex picks it up.

Evie does not like Alex. Matt does not like Evie. Matt gets Evie to lash out at Alex for prodding into its code, its too naive to think that Matt would want to see it or any of them hurt. When Alex stumbles upon the Father, he awakens and swallows Alex down into the game. After his disappearance, the game gets picked up and passed around again.

Because of Alex's actions, at least Evie can now branch out a bit from the game. Though it doesnt "escape" into the internet, it learns that it can now access it and uses that freedom to try and steer the game around into places it wants.

Matt gets fed up with Evie. The fact that its the leader, how close it is with Ben, he just doesn't agree with it. So much so, in fact, that he tries to kill it. Cue arc 3 events, Sarah picks up the game in the aftermath of this. Evie is traumatized from the events and snaps a bit, locks everyone down into code or immovable models and tries to hunt Matt down. It goes rouge, and because of this, the Father wakes up.

Sarah's actions in arc 3 eventually hard reset the game. Matt gets sealed away, the Father also takes Sarah, and Evie gets reset as well, though its less like a clean slate and more like snapping back awake. Its personality changes and it has major trust issues. Its more muted, hyper observant of everything around it, and murderously overprotective of the Moon Children it keeps within itself.

And this leads into my fic 🤗

I have some doodles of my other Moon Children, but not all of them unfortunately. Cant figure out how tf i want Insidiae to look 🤭 Plz dont judge my constantly shifting art style 🙏🙏

Dusk is bigender btw, i gotta put a little more trans rep in there lol

I think ill stop here, this is already a long ass post. But thank you for sending this, as you can see, i am Perfectly Normal about this arg ( ;) ) and can be trusted with information about it

[ultra-raging-ghost]

What are your ideas on the differences between a human and a demon, I've seen many many many many differing interpretations and I wanna collect them all like Pokémon cards

I have a couple thoughts on this actually!!!!

So first off the big ones, physically there's a bunch of differences between humans and demons, and even between demons themselves!

To me, humans generally follow like IRL rules and shit like that, but theres additional things that kinda come with minecraft mechanics. Obviously theres respawn, but i personally attribute that to some kind of supernatural occurrences or very specific circumstances. In the case of the QSMP there's cannon vs non-cannon/in-universe deaths, but i also like to keep the Federation in mind - they obviously have some sort of hand in the life cycle on quesadilla island, with the eggs having two lives and whatnot, and being able to briefly bring them back to speak with their parents before being sent off to the afterlife. I personally think humans have IRL mechanics, but organizations like the Federation or even sometimes standalone experimental organizations can have a hand in trying to affect the human life cycle.

We have god-like beings, angels and ferrymen of death and whatnot, and i cant help but remember the Hunger Games lore where more than one life wasnt given which is cannon to the QSMP. I also like to consider the DSMP, which is semi-cannon, where they had multiple "cannon" lives (as opposed to the QSMP where they have one "cannon" life from what we've seen) and Ghosts and resurrections and all that, human life from what ive seen is not only fragile but flexible! Can be broken but also can be bent!

I got a little side tracked but point is: humans - one life (unless interfered with) Demons - not one life! (Bad follows a death/rebirth cycle/We dont know how mouse and tina operate/etc.)

Other physicalities I consider is humans are generally pretty realistically sturdy, they easily lose limbs but can wear prosthetics, and with the help of magic they can be immune to certain things (Still organizing my thoughts on Fit's recent lore - might think abt that more later).

Demons are not only sturdier (Bad/Mouse/tina/dapper/pomme/emmie having generally neutral reactions to radiation, obviously bad and dapper arent doing the best but theyre fairing MUCH better than a human would in their condition) but i like to imagine they can shape shift a little? we know the eggs generally like to hc bad as a shapeshifter that can get bigger/smaller, but he has consistent features he cant really get rid of as far as we've seen like his horns and tail. When i draw him, i generally vary his horn shape/length and change his body type and height a little in every drawing on purpose, but also i like extending this to the other demons! Mouse and Tina obviously look more human, but like cc!tina has talked about how she likes q!tina to have huge fucking knockers and i like to imagine they can change that themselves, it just makes sense to me! There are limitations to it, in my mind the horns are a consistent and identifying feature on them that they cant really change without a TON of practice. But the rules are bendy, ykwim? they can be more or less animalistic, swap physically gendered traits, shift from nails to claws, etc.

As far as cannon things go, we know demons generally have a better nose and all smell like sulfur, humans smell different to them, probably like BO or something lol

Thinking magic wise, humans obviously dont experience a ton of it, but magic is everywhere! In the air, on your skin, and thats to say i just think its funny to imagine that demons can be summoned by saying their name 5 times kjbhvjbn

Culturally, demons are definitely a lot different not only from humans but from one another and i think thats entirely based on their upbringing! I could write a lot about that, but the first thing off the top of my head is like their clothing i guess? We see from mouse and bad's clothing they tend to wear pretty gear-like clothing, i guess is how you could describe it? I like to imagine belts and buckles are something theyre used to wearing, maybe for aesthetic reasons, maybe for mechanical reasons! Maybe in hell you gotta carry a lotta small shit, or rock climbing is a popular activity, who knows!

Demon culture as well to me includes horn pride, ykwim? They care for and polish their horns, paint them for celebrations and decorate them with jewelry! Theres popular standard colors like black and white but choosing something more extravagant is common! Like matching your hair color if you have it dyed a fun color, staining it, painting it patterned for birthdays or holidays. Maybe its like homestuck purpleblood facepaint rules, where showing your bare horns is something you do with special people you trust a lot? Thats something very cute to me.

Also! Mentioned this in another post! i like the idea of Pool noodle jail!! Putting pool noodles on the horns of baby demons who cant stop headbutting eachother! thats adorable to me!!