#also i need advice on how to make sure the history of the post is gone if i have to change the tags

[kaiserin-erzsebet]

I would LOVE to hear more gripes about accuracy of portrayal of historical monarchies!!!

I have been wanting to do this for a while, because there is a lot that irks me. And this ranges across board from big budget period dramas to how people write royalty AUs, which means this isn't one specific thing I'm pointing at. And if it is helpful on a writing tips level, I'll be happy with that.

Long post under the cut:

Disclaimers:

I research 19th century European history, which has a lot of questions about what a monarchy is and why they continue to exist. That's the perspective I am bringing to this.

I probably shouldn't have to say this, but: this is not about modern monarchism. This is about history. I don't want to debate whether you think certain countries should continue to have their monarchs be public figures who are only nominally head of state.

The short version:

Monarchies are institutions. They are part of how the government functions and that should have implications for how someone writes them. A monarch is a person with a built in job that they were born into.

Monarchies are not all absolute. They can exist in a multiple forms with very different structures, and often discontent within a monarchy wants to reform the system not replace it.

My biggest advice would be this: figure out how your fictional or historical monarchy is structured. You don't have to exposit about it, but you do need to know it.

The long version:

The King has a job and there is a right and wrong way to do it.

Fantasy monarchies that draw upon history seem to have Versailles in mind in terms of an aesthetic space and royalty with a lot of power over the people around them. This also includes a lot of lounging around and looking pretty and doing lavish things. However, the issue is that this is a mental image of the dysfunction in the French monarchy close to the revolutions. You can't "Après moi, le déluge" through several centuries of government.

A King (or Queen) has a job, a really important one. They are the head of state, the highest authority in the country, and the highest judge on legal matters. At least in the platonic ideal of absolute monarchy, those jobs being concentrated into one person means their responsibility and good judgement will give the state stability and consistently.

Enlightened absolutism was exactly that: monarchs staunchly holding onto the ideals of the Enlightenment and making reforms from the top down. People who read texts about ideal government and natural rights and put it into practice.

A lot of fiction takes that and goes: Oh, so they have unlimited power and can do whatever they want. Being king means you can do what you want without oversight? That's why someone would want to be king?

And yeah, sure, in theory. But the problem with having a job is that you can do it poorly and people will object to you doing it poorly. If someone is not fulfilling obligations, it is noticeable because the state functions poorly. The premise of Robin Hood is that the king is doing his job poorly. He's overtaxing, the officials are corrupt, there's disorder. The solution? Bring back the true king who is good and fair, and thus functional.

Ludwig II of Bavaria gets ousted from his throne for being more interested in opera and extravagant building projects than ruling. Again, it is a problem and people notice.

Historically, if you want to protect from someone being bad at the job you can support the idea that there should be more oversight and safeguards: Other bodies that control parts of the government alongside the king's ability to approve or disapprove. This tactic takes away the ability to be arbitrary since laws and such are not just coming from the crowned head of state. That would be a constitutional monarchy.

Not everyone needs to be Franz Joseph, waking up at the crack of dawn and working on governmental papers and meetings until bedtime. However, if a monarch is shown in fiction lounging around or talking to courtiers all day but never doing any actual governing, I'm going to assume they are very bad at their job.

2. You're probably understanding Courts and Ministers wrong.

I run into the issue quite a bit that courts are flattened to random servants, ladies-in-waiting, and people trying to be the king's sole advisor (for malicious power grabbing reasons).

The first problem: Being at court isn't an easily accessible thing. You're probably nobility or a scion of an important family. Your presence is built on family prestige and your own skill. Yes, even people in service to the monarch. There are no random people here, because proximity heightens the likelihood of greater promotion.

For example, I'm currently doing my research on a prince from an important dynasty in the 19th century. His secretary is a Baron.

It's not impossible for someone not of noble birth to get to be at court. They could have risen up the ranks of the army or be an exceptionally skilled civil servant promoted to the rank of minister. Though depending on the time period, expect these "new men" to get pushback from nobility by blood.

Ministers also matter.

Unless your fictional monarch is one of the few people who decides (to mixed results) to do all of the thinking about government on their own, there is a cabinet and ministers.

These are skilled people whose job is to think about aspects of government and be knowledgeable about them. A monarch might have many of them that argue and balance each other.

Or, you can write a particularly skilled statesman in a leading role that makes them just as prominent as the monarch if not more so. There are many historical examples of ministers who define their period:

If your monarch character isn't a strong person politically, but is intelligent, having them find a minister to take over most of the governing is a good idea. This person is promoted based on merit, even if the monarchy is hereditary.

I have rarely if ever seen fiction do a good job with a prominent minister as a character (except A Royal Affair, which everyone should watch).

Think of monarchies as whole institutions of government. They have people within them who do all the jobs of governing. But the structure of the government and the personality of the monarch can determine whether it is one person (Joseph II, Peter the Great, etc.), a prominent minister (like a Metternich or Bismarck) or a counsel or congress.

The structure can support a person not doing a lot as monarch, but you as a writer need to think what structures are around them allowing that.

3. Revolutions are scary.

There is a common trend in fiction to make your good guys pro-republic. They're revolutionaries who want to get rid of the king, so they must be good.

But here's the thing: Revolutions are a step into the unknown and have historically happened rather rarely and with very mixed results. That's because the system has to be really broken for something totally new to sound better than what you already have.

A monarchy can create a sense of stability: A fixed head of state who will be there until they die. Historically, people aren't seeking to change that. More often, the call is for a change within the existing structure. The Magna Carta or a written Constitution. Firing of Bad Ministers or the abdication of a bad king in favor of their heir. Creating elected bodies under the sovereign. These are all shifting the monarchical paradigm but keeping the monarchy intact.

And historically even the most liberal of people wanted to place restrictions of some sort on voting, especially property and gender restrictions.

There is a myriad of ways to change the system, the person at the top, or both while maintaining a monarchy. You can have a monarchy be elected as the best person among the nobility (though it didn't go that well for the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth).

Completely throwing the whole thing out means risking all stability vanishing. That could be anarchy. That could mean a charismatic strongman who is also bad at governing in power. You could end up with a guillotine and rivers of blood in the streets. You could end up with a restoration eventually because Cromwell or Robespierre doesn't actually produce something people want to live under and they want the old certainty back.

People have a sense of inertia about changing government. What you have is better than what you don't know, especially if there can be internal reform. Making your character a Republican (in the Jacobin sense, not the US politics sense) means that they are a radical in most times and places and will likely be in the minority.

If there is one thing I would say is the point here is that monarchies are government systems, and thinking through how someone exists in that system in fiction is important. Being king isn't actually much of a fun job unless you're very good at delegating or very irresponsible. Unless you want to be celebrity, president, congress, and moral center of the state all in one, being king isn't a great deal.

[raccoon-in-the-danger-room]

Logan, Laura, Russell, and Wade are such a wild found family combo wombo.

Wade is the dad who's always wanted kids but doesn't know how to actually handle them and would gladly encourage the kids to disembowel or burn their high school bullies, no questions asked. He forgets to pick them up at school most of the time, but always shows up at PTA meetings because he remembers that one teacher they off handedly complain about. Whenever he packs them lunch, it's definitely not healthy, but he makes sure there's a lot of it so they never feel hungry. When he hears that they have a crush on someone for the first time, he pulls them aside to have the most insane and cringey but thorough sex ed class they've ever been in -- it ends with him giving them both condoms, dental dams, and a coupon to Adam and Eve. He absolutely loooooooooves being a Karen when it comes to school. Every staff member there thinks he's the worst parental figure they've ever met, but they can say whatever they want. Cause when he does manage to pick them up on time, Laura and Russell have the biggest smiles on their faces as they bum rush him into a big group hug.

Logan is the dad who never really wanted kids but is so good with them because he wants them to be better than him. Also helps that he was still a teacher in The Worst Timeline. Whenever they need genuine advice, they turn to him. Sometimes he rambles or tells a weird anecdote before getting to the point, but he gives his honest advice about whatever they're going through mixed with some wisdom from Charles. He's really good at observing his kids -- knows their tells when they're lying, knows the signs of when they're hangry instead of actually angry, can tell the difference when they're silent or when they've become nonverbal because something really bad happened -- and adjusts accordingly. When Laura starts speaking in rapid, rabid Spanish he'll grab her hand and squeeze it gently so she can calm down from an anxiety attack. When Russell starts impersonating Wade (more than usual) and deflecting questions about how school's going, he'll take him to their favorite burger joint to eventually talk about his bullies. He stays up late, wearing his old man glasses, to help the kids with their homework because he "has insomnia anyways" so he might as well double check their work. He's especially good at history.

I think they all really love each other so much. Don't even get me started on Laura and Russell's sibling relationship. I could write a whole separate post about them and how Russell has such a HUGE big brother complex, is always hyping Laura up at her sport matches, or how Laura always protects Russell at school and he doesn't even know about it.

Anyways, I love found family and I think they're the wackiest bunch of them all.

[traegorn]

Everyone i know is terrified of like, outright like dictator take over public execution stuff like stop posting liberal stuff publicly kinda scared. But I'm like, I've got over a decades worth of "evidence" publicly, if they're coming they're coming for my ass anyways. But like, should I also be expecting this? I don't want to accuse anyone of overreacting but if we all go radio silent how does anything get better? They have our voting history, we're fucked anyways. No one is going to believe we all magically changed our minds January 2025. There's no hiding i think. But I don't know how much of a threat that really is.

I mean, they know you voted, but they don't know who you voted for.

The people actively in danger in January are the immigrant communities. Trump has literally said he's coming for them first, and that includes legal immigrants. I don't know how to protect that community, but if anyone has any advice there, let me know.

The rest of us, it's hard to say what we'll be looking at. Anti-queer legislation will likely look similar to what we've seen in places like Florida at the state level. It's hard to say how much of a priority they'll make it -- but we can be sure it's coming.

I don't think going radio silent helps, but we do need to remember that violent rhetoric is going to be on the rise. It's not so much the government that will be the danger, but its supporters. Make sure you don't have revealing information like your legal name on any of your public profiles. Don't post what city or state you live in unless you have to, and never show imagery that could be used to locate your home. That's standard "be safe on the internet" advice, but I think it's very much going to apply in the short term.

So don't shut up, just be safe when you speak.

[fairyhaos]

How To Fucking Write: a guide by fairyhaos

this post details:

ENEMIES TO LOVERS

hi gays and gals! "how to fucking write" is back after a longgg hiatus ^^ this time we're discussing enemies to lovers which is, i think, a universally loved trope! please do send an ask if you have any requests for what i should write advice for next, and do reblog this post if it was helpful for you :)

# - HOW TO WRITE ENEMIES TO LOVERS.

.. bullet point one : choose your e2l

the most important thing when starting is figuring out what type of enemies to lovers you’re writing about. this is mostly semantics: lots of writers/ advice givers will tell you that there’s only one real enemies to lovers (when they’re literally enemies) but personally, i believe that “enemies” can be used as an umbrella term for loads of different relationships.

figure out what kind of “enemies” your characters are. this is by no means an extensive list, but enemies to lovers can include:

literal fighting enemies

(academic) rivals

2 people who snipe at each other a lot

betrayed(????) by one another

…and many other types.

figuring out in which way they’re enemies helps write out their dynamic, and also setting. 

for example, you’ll often see type #1 used in historical, fantasy, battle or mafia settings, where there will be two “sides”, either due to family feuds, country/ kingdom feuds, etc., so their dynamic often feels more serious and more emotionally charged due to history and/or ancestral beliefs that they’ve grown up with.

it’s often seen as the “truest” form of enemies to lovers, because the characters interact with the intention to genuinely hurt each other. this will therefore affect the way you write them, since it has to seem like there is genuine, mutual animosity between them.

example : [court of lies on ao3] — taegyu, enemies to lovers

(holy fuck this is such a bad example but) as you can see, enemies to lovers works well within historical settings, since themes of betrayal, bloodshed and battles lends itself nicely to the trope.

knowledge of how to write fight scenes can be quite useful (fightwrite.net helped a lot with writing mine), along with making sure that dialogue uses action tags that showcase the characters’ emotions. 

type #2, on the other hand, most likely takes place in universities, high schools, and sometimes in offices, where academics are important and it’s less about trying to hurt one another, and more about being royally pissed off by the other person’s presence.

there are certain nuances to how the characters interact depending on what kind of enemies to lovers situation they’re in, which is why it’s important to figure that out first.

.. bullet point two : figure out the why .

next, try to find out the why. why are they enemies? 

it is imperative that you explain their situation to the readers and make them understand why the characters are enemies, and most importantly, why they can’t get together right now. enemies to lovers often goes hand-in-hand with slow burns for exactly this reason.

are they enemies due to clashing beliefs? a certain incident that happened between them, or to someone they know? maybe it’s just repressed feelings?

for every type of enemies to lovers, and for their subsequent settings, there’s often a set list of reasons that most writers use to explain why they’re enemies. 

historical settings often have some sort of feud taking place, or a betrayal. academic rivals focus on, well, academics, but social factors of popularity are often used. and “enemies” who snipe at each other often have very superficial reasons that they dislike one another, such as a bad first meeting or a misguided impression of personality.

the reason doesn’t particularly have to be something as dark and deep as convoluted morals or someone killed someone else’s father. they still need to overcome their enemy relationship and become lovers, after all.

but having a reason helps your readers feel more comfortable that the story will go somewhere and that there truly is an obstacle that’s preventing your characters from getting together at the very beginning. and if that reason is an interesting one, then… well, all the better, i suppose.

.. bullet point three : the friends part

for a good enemies to lovers that has your readers truly invested in the story, the lovers potential has to be there too, even when they’re enemies.

the characters also have to have respect for each other, above all else. if the situation becomes dire, they need to be able to understand one another’s views and work together, or at least recognise that they share some ideas and have moments where they get along.

this will a) make the transition from enemies into lovers more natural and b) create the tension that makes e2l so popular.

the best ways to show these moments are by having scenes where the characters have no choice but to work together, and in that time, begrudgingly admit that the other person isn’t as bad as they first thought.

it could be a group project, them fighting for the same cause for once (against a corrupt/ unfair policy), having to get along briefly due to mutual friends, or any situation where they have to act amicably for once and, most importantly, learn a little about one another in the process.

okay, but yena, how can i write those scenes? what can i do to create that tension?

describe certain actions, mannerisms, and the way that they speak to each other that showcase acceptance and positive emotions. this can come in the form of:

lingering eye contact

them agreeing on something

smiles!!!! 

a pleasantly surprised inner monologue 

dialogue being more lighthearted

A doing something for B without being asked

(this is extra hard mode but) creating an inside joke

…and whilst it is a little shallow, an acknowledgement of the other person’s attractiveness always works really well, too.

example : [my other e2l taegyu fic on ao3]

as a rivals to lovers fic, their dynamic already started off more playful than in the other example i showed, but you can see that their conversation is more teasing, as they become more comfortable with talking to each other normally.

the term “enemies to lovers” always felt a little weird to me, because it’s important to remember that it’s often more like “enemies to friends to lovers”, because the characters need to develop a liking of one another first before they can think of themselves in a romantic relationship.

.. bullet point four : the oh moment

why do they become lovers in the end? 

what is the tipping point? what makes a character realise that they’ve fallen for someone they once believed to be their mortal enemy? do their feelings hit them all at once, or is it a slow build up? and what are they going to do about it?

enemies to lovers lends itself very nicely to the feelings-hit-me-like-a-truck trope and the iconic oh moment. writing the inner monologue is a good way to showcase the exact momene the penny drops. for example, i have a loose “formula” that i like to use when writing oh moments (whether they’re in e2l fics or not):

[dialogue/ action of B as A watches them]

[inner monologue of A showcasing fondness for that action]

[inner monologue of A recognising how their feelings changed over time]

[action from B that solidifies overwhelming fondness and has A surprised by their feelings]

[the oh / oh no moment as the penny drops and A realises what this means]

this is by no means the only way to write out a “feelings realisation” scene, but it works very well, because the inner monologue can use varying sentence structures and a bunch of metaphors and figurative language to build anticipation.

example [venus and sun on ao3] — seoksoo, friends to lovers

this extract essentially follows the outline i described, and seokmin’s acknowledgement of joshua as sweet refers to how he had previously known little about him, merely referring to him as “nice” before their relationship gradually built up to that moment.

for a really effective oh moment, the characters need to have a chance to reflect on how their relationship has developed. they need to be able to notice their growth and draw their own conclusion from there.

.. bullet point five : be careful . 

finally, some precautions.

with enemies to lovers, the whole attraction is the tension between the characters, the original animosity that is actually hiding their repressed feelings. but they still have to fall in love at the end, despite what they put each other through.

do not make them do something that they can’t take back.

this is quite important with enemies that physically fight each other. giving near-fatal injuries, or paralysing or physically disabling them (again, fightwrite.net is useful in giving info in this) is definitely not good lover-material. 

unless the injuries were given when the character was (maybe magically) influenced by someone else, or your characters are traumatised enough to be able to accept each other despite everything, then it’s a good idea to stay away from severe injuries that they inflict on the other and focus more on tense dialogue and opposing beliefs.

however, it’s still equally as important to be careful with emotional hurt that characters cause one another too. don’t make a betrayal too unforgivable. 

as a writer, you have to be empathetic: think from your character’s point of view. constantly ask yourself if character A will be able to forgive character B if they do something. ask if they can still fall in love with character B if they hurt them in some way.

if they can’t, then you know you’ve gone too far, and you need to dial it back.

and as a somewhat obvious but still just as important sidenote: e2l based on stockholm syndrome (captor x captive situations) or bullying to lovers is never okay. the power imbalance along with the trauma that can be developed from that means that it is not a healthy, viable, good relationship in the slightest.

never have your characters do something that you’d feel uncomfortable being the receiving end of. they’re meant to be lovers, remember? even when they’re not there yet, the characters should still treat each other with respect.

…unless, of course, you’re looking to write a somewhat toxic/ unhealthy relationship. in which case, by all means.

... and that's it ! if anyone has anything else to askt hen just shoot me ask, because i'd love to help however i can :)

taglist (send ask to be added!): @mesanthropi @stqrrgirle @weird-bookworm @blue-jisungs @eternalgyu @yumilovesloona @lvlystars @luvjoshuahong @kikohao @maesvtr0 @cxffecoupx @bleepbloopbeee

[the---hermit]

oral exam tips

I have at least one other post on exam tips, but they were mainly focused on giving tips on history exams. To me oral exams in academia have been the norm since high school, but I know that in other countries that might no be the case, so I decided to write down a list of advices coming from someone who is quite used to this kind of tests.

If you aren't used to having oral exams, you might need to change your study method, or at least add a few steps. I recently made a post entirely dedicated to my study method, which might be useful for this, but what I suggest is to add a step in which you review things out loud. What I would do is to just sit down with your notes or your materials and pretend to give a lecture on everything. Even better if you have a friend or family member to listen to you, because by having an active listener you will be forced to not skip stuff and have clear explainations, and they might ask you questions or clarifications. Those are always good because that might happen during the exam as well, but also it will help you memorizing those things. I recommend reviewing out loud multiple times. This way you will get more comfortable with the exposition of the topics you will be tested on, and you'll have a chance to find your own "voice".

by finding your own voice I mean finding a good compromise between using your own words to explain things, while still using the correct specific vocabulary of whatever topic you'll be tested on. This is fundamental. You are not there to recite a poem by heart, you are there to show you have understood the topic, that you sat with it and made it yours. You have to show you know how to clearly explain things but also reflect on it, making links with other things, and so on. At the same time there's some academic and specific vocabulary you want to include, because you are not in fact discussing the topic with a friend. So practicing out loud before the exam is good to find a good compromise between these two things.

I kind of mentioned it already, but it is absolutely fundamental to show that you understood the topic and not just memorized it. Whatever you do do not learn things by heart. It's better to be slightly insicure about a specific date, than to repeat your book word by word. And if you practice enough, and are comfortable enough with the informations in general believe me you can work around those things you can't remember perfectly well as you are being tested. Moreover your mark on the exam will be much higher than if you just learn things by heart.

on the very delicate topic of not remembering something specific you have been asked. Don't panic, you can still kind of save it. Whatever happens do not stay silent. There are several things you can do depending on whatever the question is, and I will later tell you a very specific example of something that happened to me. As I said do not panic, surely you will remember about some context on the topic so start by talking about that. As you are giving the context you might start to remember additionals informations, or you might build up enough informations to be able to logically guess whatever you are not remembering correctly. If you are half sure about something go for it, even if it's the wrong info if you contextualise it well enough you'll show you knew about that and it might just be read as a slip of you confusing two things. Now there might be situations in which the question is so direct that you can't do much, it happened to me once during my Greek history exam. I was asked the specific date of an event, and I could not for the love of the gods remember it. You know what I did? I told the professor, I cann't rememebr the exact date, but giving certain informations (that I then explained) I can tell you it was more or less in this half of this century. What I did was admit a fault, but while doing that I showed her that I knew what we were talking about it, I had enough informations on the matter to logically place it on the chronological line and contextualize it, and showed her that I can in fact work with the informations I studied. And at the end of my exam the professor complimented me on those exact things, saying she appreciated seeing me use my brain instead of midlessly memorizing informations I didn't understand.

So whatever happens do not stay silent. Anything is better than that.

Another potentially bad thing that might happen, and believe me it happened to me multiple times, is panicking so bad that you cannot get the words out, or confuse things. You know what happened everytime I found myself in that situation? The professor clearly saw me panicking, and told me to calm down, wait a couple of minutes, get my ideas in order and try again. And I got good grrades despite that in the end. You are under a lot of pressure, because you are giving an exam, and you have to be quick and ready instead of being able to reflect like with a written exam. Professors know that, and they keep it in mind, and they can tell when you are mixing things up because you are nervous, and not because you don't know things. I once had a professor look at me in the eye after i mixed up numbers on two dates twice in a row, and told me I know you know them take two deep breaths and try again. And I did. I have so many personal stories from my previous degree in which professors saw I was nervous and told me that it was okay I just needed to take a minute and breathe, and honestly that was exactly it. It was okay and I really needed to breathe, and then the exam when well.

The best tip I can give on answering questions is to balance the actual answer of the question with additional informations. You want to give context and add more infos to whatever has been asked to you, but you should also try not to lose focus on what was being asked. My personal way of doing this is to structure the answer in three parts: 1. general context that works as an introduction to the actual direct answer 2. the actual answer 3. further additions like more context, comparaisons and links with other topics or informations you had to study. This way you show off you know things, you make sure to show the professor you are not just rambling because you don't know the answer, and finally show you are comfortable enough with the informations to reflect on them and link them to other things. Ideally the professor will stop you while you are speaking, that in my experience is the best possible sign, because they are satisfied with your exposition and want to move onto other things.

So always build up on the answer to the question you have been asked. Never stop at just the information that serves as an aswer. You studied, it's your time to shine and make yourself proud.

Contextualizing your informations is absolutely fundamental no matter what, again because it shows you have a clear idea about what you are talking about. This can mean making a small introduction on the time and place, if you are an historian like me, or maybe give an introduction on the person you are talking about (whether they are an historical figure or a scholar you are talking about). Adding the little informations you weren't asked about is great. You are briefly mentioning an even and know the date? Add it in. Everything is a good addition.

Again I have definitely already mentioned in previous points but showing you are capable of reflect on the topics you are talking about is always a bonus. Make sure that when you are giving personal options or personal reflections you are stating this is your thought, but that is usually appreciated. After a good exposition of a topic you might even get the professor asking you your opinion on certain things. It happened to me multiple times, often I was asked to give an opinion of books I had to study for the exam, and that always prooved as an oportunity to add more informations and as I said show that I could make reflections of my own.

Last thing, that again kind of came out from other points, is that you want to show you are comfortable enough with the topic to be able to jump from one point to the other while reflecting on things or making comparaisons.

I am pretty sure I have forgotten something, but once again if you have specific questions I am happy to help, my inbox is always open. I know people who aren't used to oral exams are very scared of them, but as long as you try to approach it like a normal conversation on the topics you had to study, and you have practiced, things will be fine. To be quite honest with you after years of experience I'd say I very much prefer oral exams to written ones, because you can in a way shape the conversation and bring it to the topics you liked the most, know best. I hope this post was somewhat helpful to someone out there, and good luck if you are about to take an exam!

[scragon]

Webcomic interview

How did you get into making webcomics?

I just jumped in expecting to make a few chapters and it turned into multiple years of my life.

Consider drawing Short comics about ideas and throw them out there. My current official webtoons were short comics that I posted inconsistently in between other projects. They eventually got their own following.

Who inspires you?

I was very inspired by the comics I saw on early comic sharing platforms. Opening my mind up to self-published comics made me realize the possibilities beyond mainstream works.

Erri Pi on webtoon canvas is one of those early creators I felt inspired by. 

I am also what I would call ‘anti-inspired’. There are many very common tropes that turn me off from media, so when I write, I love to subvert the expectations of those tropes.

What are the best and worst aspects of your work?

The best aspect is creating my own story with full control and allowing it to write itself. I do not find myself getting hung up on the constant lore and rules and history of the work. I just write and allow natural progression. I consider myself an artist over author but you find yourself focusing less on art to make sure the story is good. If the story sucks, nobody will care about the art.

This makes the worst aspect also writing. It takes a long time letting words come to you and it takes more energy than the drawing.

What is the most important thing people should know about when working in the webcomic industry?

Whether it be today's financial climate or how much artists are undervalued, it is still brutal. You have to work fast. It is the only way I've been able to continue a social life, paycheck, and sleep. Learn to only put 30% effort into your comic art. Seriously. As you develop a consistent schedule and style, you will know when to put more effort. You will know.

I understand you created multiple series on and outside of Webtoon. What did you learn from those experiences?

For works like comedy, less is more. You don't need to have more than 4-6 panels to set up and execute a punch line. Sometimes you need even less. Also make sure your jokes are specific to your comic and characters. If any other characters are able to tell your jokes, your comic will become stale fast.

For romance, I've just learned to write what I would like to see more often. I don't care for lots of emotional and relationship mismanagement and it seems like many other people have agreed. So if you want it, chances are, a lot of other people want it as well.

What is your advice for someone planning to enter this industry?

Draw a lot. Write down all of your ideas. Come back to them. Just start drawing one. You learn so much by just doing it and realizing how things look on the page. Simplify the idea. Don't start off with a huge project. Just gesture a 10-page story in a sketchbook. Comics are a language.

The industry can be as professional as working with a publisher, or as casual as having a following on Patreon or social media to fund your work. Both require being fast and able to speak this language.

[bao3bei4]

ON THE TSHIRT METHOD TO WRITING ESSAYS IN YOUR OWN TIME: 

i have had a couple people mention to me that they would like to write essays too, but they are a little out of practice. so i thought i should gather some scattered thoughts into one place. this is not a systematic guide. i am young and inexperienced and still working out things for myself, but this is my basic process and some things that have helped me, summarized. 

my biggest single piece of advice is to write with your proverbial pussy. you are not writing for a grade so don't act like it. forget rigor, forget academic style, etc. read what you're interested in, and write following up on the threads that you're interested in. don’t sweat the details. just do you.

if you still need more advice..... here’s a long winded post. 

step zero: if you have no clue what you want to say yet 

read. and read a lot.

but be realistic. be kind to yourself. your attention is a precious resource, and it is getting eaten up by shit out of your control all the time. if you’ve had a busy day, you may still have the brain power left to read. i almost never do. lol. so make sure to carve out time on a day off, if possible. otherwise you might end up completely fried, reading the same sentence over and over, and ending up scrolling on your phone LMAO. <-- painful lesson also to this end, if you haven’t picked up a denser book in a while, start with shorter articles, especially ones written more recently. if your attention wanders, try getting a physical book instead. the most important thing is just starting things you’ll actually read.  i’ve seen a lot of people (and been that person) who was like. “oh i’m going to start with THE canonical text in a subject i’m interested in” which makes sense right? but that book is inevitably long and dense and convoluted and boring. you can come back to it later. this shouldn’t feel like a chore! 

genuinely this is the most helpful thing you can do is just. read anything. it may be difficult at first (or always), but it is still the easiest way to engage with the foremost experts from around the world and the entirety of written history on any subject you are interested in. there’s not really a substitute to this. 

note: you may say that people can and do come up with brilliant ideas independently of their access to written works. this is true! but if you are one of them, you should skip this section/post, because you already know what you want to say.  okay that was a little too facetious. let me revise: when i say that, without reading, it will be hard to come up with more complex ideas than what you have now, that isn’t necessarily pejorative. maybe your current ideas and impulses are original and meaningful and complex. if they aren’t, however, you don’t have to resign yourself to it.  your experiences in real life are the most valuable thing you can bring to the table, but it can be very difficult to articulate and contextualize them without community—whether that be irl, or the simple textual company of other writers. you can let other people help you and teach you.  basically, this is a long winded way of saying something extremely simple: reading is not the only way to gain knowledge, or even the best. but it is an extremely consistent and relatively egalitarian way.** **scihub and libgen and sometimes the public library are your friends. (my local library’s book coverage is spotty) who cares about piracy. LMAO. 

you may surprise yourself by how nicely you fall into little spirals. you read one thing. and you are enamored with the way the author approaches their subject. so you end up reading everything else they’ve written, and then you start on the authors they list that inspire them in their interviews. maybe you just read one article that’s a little dry but it cites something else that seems far more interesting. read that next. and so on. 

if you are struggling to read that’s okay. you have options. start a book club (or just get a friend who also wants to read more). if that sounds like too much work, pick a friend to keep updated on all your new facts. you just want to get used to reading something, and telling someone your favorite parts again. skim books. skip the boring parts. drop them entirely and find a more interesting one. no one’s going to quiz you. this is for your own enjoyment. 

also important here: read books that make you want to write. sometimes this is because the methods and/or prose of the author are so exciting, you want to do something just like that. sometimes it’s because the content is so exciting, you want to say something about that too. sometimes they speak so powerfully to your own life, you want to tell people this is me!! i see this!! there are books i just enjoy reading, sure, and i do read them. but you know how, like, a good movie makes you want to tell stories too? good theory should do that too, in my opinion. 

step one: you have some ideas now. 

these ideas don’t have to be set in stone. but you should have an idea now of what you might talk about. personally, for me, i have two interconnected types of essay ideas. 

interventions. this is like [tumblr voice] Why Is Nobody Talking About This. i see some sort of hole. maybe i know how to fill it, maybe i don’t. 

free associations. basically i read one thing, or some analysis of one thing. and then it reminded me of another thing. and i’m like. i want to tease apart their connections, their similarities, and their differences. 

there are more types of ideas, i’m sure. but these are the ones i consistently have. with me, the second kind is more common. very rarely do i find that my thoughts are that original. rather, i’ve found that one of my strengths as a writer is being able to make connections that other people haven’t made, or haven’t made in depth before. IN MY OPINION. 

so i find it quite flexible. maybe i watch a movie, and it reminds me of my own life, because i think two women in the movie could be sad queer freaks. and i’m a sad queer freak. or it could be that i think scum villain could be analyzed through the framework of freudian psychoanalysis. you get the idea. 

at this stage of the process, i don’t have a thesis, necessarily. but i have a couple phrases i’m drawn to. i have a bullet point or two. i have vibes. 

to use an example from this blog, one of my friends hui once mentioned that that one fan image was going around again. we were going ughhh it’s victorian not chinese! together and they said “you should write a meta on it.” i wasn’t sure quite yet what i had to say. but i knew a couple things. 

this is, incidentally, because i had done some research into chinoiserie before, because i had cited the zuroski book for a paper i had to write for an english class some years before on pride and prejudice and its use of descriptions of material culture, an essay that in turn was inspired by my random yet deeply felt conviction that jane austen hated me personally and wanted to kill me.  this is why i encourage reading a lot. i think. 

to work on this stage, make lists. lots of them. i have a .txt file where i keep every essay idea i have. a lot of them are a sentence. or they're lists of books or theorists i think i could make something out of. or they're theses that feel true, but i’m not sure why yet. 

it took me a while to get to this point. just like with writing fic, there was a period when i first started where i was like. i only have one idea. i’m going to write it, and then i’m never going to write again. and then i had just one more idea. after a while. eventually you will find you have so many ideas and the world is full of possibilities. it’s a muscle you have to flex. like reading. and telling people about what you’re reading. 

actually, i feel like there was a step 0.5 here that i completely skipped. 

step zero point five that i skipped: how to generate ideas

my very truly complete “first time writing something semi-academic that was original” (with a loose definition of the word original) was literally just me reading literary criticism of one book, and saying “i think this author’s thoughts can be applied to this other book” and found some textual evidence that supported that the process could be replicated. 

this is like, writing with training wheels on. eventually i got better at it (see aforementioned chinoiserie essay. i hope you agree.). but that was a good place to start for me. it made the proverbial blank page less intimidating, knowing i had a scaffolding. 

i suggest trying this. see how it goes for you. read around until you find some piece of criticism, or just some theory about how something works, that you like. and using your newfound hammer, go look for some nails. 

note: i know this expression is meant to like. be a negative thing. but you do have to start somewhere. it’s okay if it sucks. it’s just for your practice and your enjoyment. 

be cautious of stances. weak writing (in my OPINIONNNN) tries to unilaterally defend or condemn a behavior. what you need to do is treat your writing as a bit. and then you need to run with it. you need to take it farther than what is reasonable. if this bit is truly actually deeply true, then what does it mean about yourself? it’s like using a new set of pronouns as a joke or something. you know what i mean? (that was an example of what i’m trying to communicate here)

what else is key to look out for... look for oppositional pairs or tensions. look for perverse incentives and vicious circles. look for embarrassing ideas. that is, what would be extremely embarrassing if it was true? (or to admit that it was true) you may go—tshirt, here you’re just describing things that are sexy. yes, exactly, that’s the point. you want things that thrill. 

just keep reading and making notes until everything echoes with something else. now you’re ready for step two. 

step two: refine your ideas further. 

let me do this by demonstration. once more extending my earlier example of my chinoiserie essay, i knew that i really wanted to take zuroski’s points and basically... steal them. this is called “citation,” i guess. but i thought the following insights were useful to me: 

british women were invested in chinese material objects 

they incorporated them into their own subjectivity

past a certain point, they no longer “consumed” these signifiers, but these signifers became theirs 

critique of one was able to stand in for critique of the other

and from being on fandom twitter, i already had the following insights: 

people deliberately blurred the lines between china and england when it came to fans and tea

people also liked talking about victorian modesty when it came to china 

so it seemed like victorian england and china had a privileged relationship, in a lot of people’s minds in fandom. 

so it didn’t really seem a stretch to say... how can we look at one history, and apply it to our present? 

it was a bit of the combo of the two: i saw something i didn’t see people were talking about, and it reminded me of something else i’d read before. 

something that helps me a lot is tweeting about my essay ideas. if you have me on my private account, you already know this. it forces me to explain myself to someone who doesn’t know what i’m talking about in a very succinct way. oftentimes, i tweet something out while i’m brainstorming, and then i steal the phrasing back into my essay. see? tweets can be writing too. 

this is microdosing on step zero’s “read something and practice telling a friend about it.” now you’re writing something and telling a friend about it. 

step three: okay now you can like. open a google doc 

make an outline. i know i know i know. i’m sorry. you can start just barfing thoughts if you want, but eventually everything that was on the top of your head will be out. and now you can start thinking about structure. the reason the outline is important is because it makes clear the logical progression from one idea to the next. 

i know i usually bounce around in my writing (a tendency which has been magnified here because this is so casual LMAO), but i always want to make sure that my points are substantiated. if we want to talk about how a causes b, we should prove a, we should prove the causal link, and only then can we infer b, for instance. it doesn’t really matter what order that happens in (or even that we set about it that way), but the more complicated your idea is, the longer checklist you need. it’s just a checklist. that’s all. 

as you start writing, you’ll probably need to read some more. you’re going to want to say something you think is true, but you’re going to realize that you haven’t proved it (or you can’t). go look to see if someone else has proved it. 

maybe you’re right. add that evidence in. maybe you’re wrong. now your essay has a new direction. there is a living thing beneath you. actually, on that idea— 

i tend to structure my outlines (if i’m not sure yet what my point is) by pasting a bunch of quotes in a document, and reorganizing them until they make sense, they seem to flow. and then i start explaining why, until i realized i have begun to walk off in a new direction. always embrace that new direction. eventually you will find that you have not been taking twists and turns, but actually you were dizzily walking along a straight path. (unless you have been unfocused and you are trying to say too many things at once. ask a friend to read your essay if you’re not sure which is the case.) 

quotes are the smallest unit of your analysis. work with evidence. or, at least, i do. it makes writing an essay like solving a mystery. the idea of just spontaneously generating something new fills me with terror. rather, i want to autopsy something, trace its steps, and then discover how it came to be dead. this may not be true for you. but it’s true for meeeee and this is my post. 

tl;dr

0. read something and tell someone about it/post it out

0.5. come up with a bit and run with it

1. think "why is no one talking about this" or start free associating

2. come up with weird connections and tell someone about it/post it out

3. collect all of your posts and ideas into a gdoc and organize them.

anyway i like reading posts like this because i’m incredibly nosy. so i tried to write out the sort of thing i like to read from other people. i don’t suggest you actually try to replicate it (if anyone would even want to.) practically basically i just encourage you to try any single part of this that you think was interesting or relatable or helpful. personally, i suggest reading a book and posting your favorite lines from it. if you do this a couple times, i think you will find the seeds of an essay waiting for you in your own posts. 

[bots-and-cons]

*⁠.⁠✧Hiii!! Happy Pride and Men's Mental Health Month⁠!｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

I want to say thank you so much for doing that angst request!

Now I came here for something warm.

May I please ask for headcanons of any Bots and/or cons of your choice being father/mother/parental figure for teenage gn!human?

Once again biiig thanks for doing (Almost) all of my requests and enjoy the Summer!

(⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

A/N: I wanted to write this during June, but I was kinda busy, so I didn’t really have time and my motivation was also low, but hey happy disability pride month! I decided to do only autobots, since it seemed easier. I have these HCs about KOBD being like adoptive parents to a human teen (the other parts are linked in that post too). Also there are these scenarios of reader being in need of a father figure and going to Optimus and Shockwave, another father figure thing here and I’ve got these HCs about the reader being sort of like a parental figure to some bots. You're very welcome, and I wish you a good summer too :D

~Arcee~

•Arcee would not in any way consider herself a parental figure, but it’s not really for her to choose is it

•Your relationship with your mom is rocky to say the least, so when you met and got to know Arcee, she was what you imagined a mother could be

•She’s strict, but she also lets you do things as long as you’re responsible and smart about it

•Arcee doesn’t have unrealistic expectations for you, nor does she berate you for every little mistake

•She listens when you talk, and offers advice IF you want it

•Of course the way she grew up and the environment she grew up in are nothing like the situation you’re in, but you two can always find some connections in your situations, even if they’re really weird and sort of far-fetched sometimes

•Arcee doesn’t consider herself your parent, and you haven’t told her how much you look up to her and how important she is to you

•She’s always there for you when she can, be if for happy things or sad things

•She does eventually sort of accept the role she ended up in with you and it does make her happy you would think of her like that

•There was a moment when you told her she was like family to you, when she thought it wasn’t a good thing because she’s aware of how bad your relationship with your parents is

•You assured her that no, it’s not like that and you saw her as someone you wished you had as your parent

~Ultra Magnus~

•Magnus is super strict, but he also provides the sort of structure you need in your life, unlike your parents

•He’s not exactly there to help you with homework, but he does make sure you always get them done, and you can ask him if you need help with something

•He’s not much help with things such as history, biology, languages or health ed, because he doesn’t really know anything about those things since they’re so human related

•Magnus isn’t the best at reading or expressing emotions, but when he does notice there is something bothering you, he will ask you about it

•He’s pretty awkward when it comes to relationships, but he aims to be honest and just tell you his opinion, with some limits of course

•He doesn’t belittle you, but he does tell you if you’re doing something wrong in his opinion, and you talk about how you could possibly fix it

•Most talks you have with Magnus are very constructive and solution-oriented and not there isn’t really much emotion involved on his side

•He does learn to notice what causes your mood to shift and stuff like that though, and he does ask about it if you seem to be feeling a particularly strong emotion

•It’s a very rare treat to hear him chuckle, and it’s usually because of the stupidest jokes imaginable

[caustinen]

omg i love how ur hollywood au is coming along, i need moreeeee

hii i’m so happy you like it!! here are some domestic headcannons requested by another user, it got hits of spiciness at times so hope that’s okay <3

hollywood au domestic headcanons 🦋

Bucky brings out a softer side from Gale who has been hardened by life and put up some walls when it came to intimacy/trusting others and their love, and he’s so thankful to have found someone who makes him see the world as a gentler place. Bucky is passionate with everything he does, but with Gale, he found new ways to put all that energy to in a positive, inspiring things that helps him along in other aspects of his life as well.

John loves buying Gale flowers and his / later their apartment is always filled with beautiful boquets that make it alive (I’d think Buck would have stylistic but quite simple/Scandinavian style home). Gale keeps telling him he doesn’t have to buy him anything but as long as he gets that soft smile to his face as John presents him with yet another bunch they will be coming in.

Another big thing for John is physical touch, he always has an arm around his boyfriends shoulders or waist. Gale on the other hand is a great listener and gives wonderful advice, countering John’s temperament. And while he’s more careful about physicality in public, he’s surprisingly clingy when they’re home by the two of them which John absolutely adores, he might never ask for closeness with his words but he’ll find ways to seek physcal touch in other ways. Both of them value quality time over everything.

They have to strategize their dates well which sometimes threatens to suck the romance out of it, but when they manage to work around it that makes it even more romantic. Night walks by Seine when they’re travelling in Europe, small local venue concerts where no one cares about them… The rarity of those moments give them extra spice.

That being said, they do love a quiet night in just as much. There’s comfort in having the world have them as completely separate individuals during the days, the nights are theirs to share.

They both love to read and often read great parts aloud for each other. John could listen to Gale read for hours, finding it easy to stay put unlike usually, even if Gale is barely aware he’s even there when he gets really into it.

Gale doesn’t particularly like going to parties and he sometimes worries John will get tired of him because he’s not as outgoing but John is actually really content, he can party with anyone but he can only have these moments of peace with Gale ❤️ It also helps to throw all eyes off them because like noted in the og post Bucky being photographed with others keeps media off track.

Gale’s office is a good place to meet — John being seen there is ”likely place for him to be” since he has business there, and Gale’s office has seen both date lunches as well as John being bent over his table (…he on the other hand prefers to have Gale against the big windows since they’re so high up no one can see.) The fact that they weren’t caught by anyone else but Curt (Gale’s client and Bucky’s best friend who already knew) is a miracle.

John actually told multiple stories about their adventures together/about Gale in general in interviews before they went public but they made a joke out of it because John always tells about him with ”my friend Buck and I…”. After the relationship goes public fans love going back and trying to find all the clues from over the years.

They travel a lot too between Bucky’s filming schedules, they’re both really into history and love to see different sights all over the world (at times it’s the easiest to hide in plain sight in busy tourist destinations). Sometimes John drags them to beach resorts too tho if Gale seems extra stressed out — he always protest and wants to rather do city vacations but he always ends up loving it anyway.

(Their honeymoon is in a summer house of their friend on a private island and they sure make the most of it despite being public at the time — the privacy feels even more inviting because of it)

They are sometimes forced to stay apart long periods of time if John is filming somewhere and Gale can’t leave LA because of work but they always call and text goodnight, and because of their busy professional lives the time they do spend together is always precious and they never guilt the other about having to be away, they have a similar understanding of the importance of their careers.

They also go to the gym together which isn’t always the greatest because they are 1) competitive af and 2) chronically horny for each other, and the display of physical strength/beauty can be dangerous. Espescially if they’ve been busy layely; espescially if John happens to be bulking up for an action film and Gale is torn between wanting out-bulk him or let him carry him away from there.

Gale couldn’t care less about watching sports (he does go to some games every once in a while for Bucky but he’s always bored out of his mind) but he loves playing them, and they sometimes manage to arrange some friendly soccer or baseball or tennis etc with other friends too.

I kind of referenced this in one of the instagram things but it would be fun to imagine Gale getting pretty creative when seeing Bucky in different costumes/roles, like maybe he wouldn’t mind John bringing the uniform home one day. Bucky sees himself in the costumes for months but Gale might only come to set once or twice and be Thinking Thoughts later when they get home about it too.

I also hc that this Bucky would be very into fashion and style and loves shopping while Gale couldn’t care less, he’s wearing suits to work and something simple on his free time but John keeps dragging him along and making him suffer for hours in malls and boutiques as he tries go get him to try something on. After their relationship goes public Gale wants to present himself well and thus starts to wear more bold looks (he doesn’t have to worry about getting attention anymore either, so it’s actually kind of fun). John thinks it’s so over because the little he was able to concentrate on these things before is GONE (thinking about that Bikeriders premier cropped jacket and wide pants, Bucky would be nosebleeding and staring while some poor media people try to interview him)

Imagining them cooking each other midnight dinners when the other has to work late and slow dancing, bare feet in pyjamas in the kitchen in each others embrace were the first two images that came to mind so we’ll end with them 🖤

hope you keep liking this stuff!!

linking the other additions in case you missed something: john’s insta / gale’s insta / media+friends instas / first meetings / first i love yous 💘

[gomzdrawfr]

want to join the fandom cause it seems fun seeing fanarts and you and others interacting but I don't know how...and with the whole ai thing im scared...

my advice: just do it

really! sometimes all you really need is a leap of faith, and that was exactly how I dropped into the cod fandom. When I joined the ghoap discord server I talked to one of the artist I really like and respected from my lurking time (hi @bressynonym) aaaand the rest is history

I didnt know how to draw properly, nor digitally, all I did was scribbling on OneNote (yeah!) and rambled about cod characters, it is daunting and it is scary to interact but after a while? you may just be able to find someone to brainrot together with

start small, like commenting, reblogging, talking, chatting- doesn't have to be towards artist/writers, it could be the art/fic enjoyers!

you need to put yourself out there if you want something

as to if you want to start in the fandom as a creator, here's some more tips (which are all based on my experience, I am no pro at doing this, hell Im still learning myself, and I am by no means speaking these on behalf on others!)

establish a goal: what are you making? fandom based? original creations?

as with starting new, everything may take a while for stuff to happen, you'll feel like you're speaking to the void at times (esp with original arts, but do know that your stuff do get perceive by others as time goes, I would advise to draw fandom stuff as a beginning to get that boost going if you want! or else it's going to be quite hard to get things rolling)

imo this is hardest part of any new creator, you'll have to bear with it and try not to give up (but I understand how incredibly demotivating it could get, there were times when I stopped posting about Raven entirely, but eventually I post it anyway cuz surely someone out there will like them, it just takes a lot of patiences and perseverance)

btw, engagement can also vary from time to time, you may be booming for a bit, then suddenly you dont, it is a cycle that will bound to happen

take rest regularly, and I mean a break from social media because numbers, discourse and everything can get to you, very quickly (I cannot emphasise this enough)

the numbers are not worth it over your mental health (comes with practice to really solidify this thought)

study the algorithm (pain): see what other creators are doing to get where they are, what tags are they using in their post? what features/niche do people like?(this is, if you really want to grab some form of engagement, bcuz reminder in the end you are creating art for yourself first!)

example: I think posts would get more reach if you tag it with the ship name first, followed by the characters' name (doesn't work all the time tho)

that's the thing about algorithm, it is ever-changing, and you'll have to learn to adapt with it when it does!

expanding on that, studying algorithm could be about ships (for example, ghostsoap is most popular in the fandom), or really good rendered art/flashed out fic that leaves your jaw on the floor, or ships that gets lesser attention in general which puts you, who make content about them, easier to be brought into the light (like Faralex)

bUT, it can also be personality!

(again, not saying this is meant for everyone and strictly from my own experience + what I observe) for me, I made up the lack of my art by establishing a personality: a wild panda who yaps about price and their oc and also kinda everywhere in the place (just like this post LOL), OR you're the person who named themselves after Soap's ash particle number OR you're the one who likes bottom Ghost- literally anything goes, you want to make an impression in different ways, some more funny/goofier than others but it works (be mindful and stay respectful tho, dont wanna be the asshole in the fandom now do ya?)

efforts ≠ engagement (not all the time, but most time) and this is a fact. Sometimes, you can't expect a piece you did for 10+ hours to get thousands views and likes, especially in a fandom space. You need to understand algorithm is that wonky. (very disheartening, but again, you make the art for you and the few others who genuinely likes them, and those people can go a long way) be mentally prepared for such events, and try not to beat yourself up too much for it

ultimately tho, do it, do it scared but do it anyways and again, draw the things that bring you joy, I hope these could be helpful in some ways!

[daylightdabbles]

Teyvat Omegaverse Headcanons (Act 1)

This is apart of a collection of headcanons for the genshin characters in my Teyvat Omegaverse AU. I would recommend reading this to add some context to this post. I do use some personal headcanons and ideas for omegaverse. SFW Feat: Faruzan, Heizou , Venti, and Xiao

Faruzan, The Enigmatic Machinist

In a country that values betas over omegas or alphas, praising their ability to not be effected by pheromones that may get in the way of the pursuit of knowledge, Faruzan applied scent blockers diligently to show she was different from other omegas. 100 years ago, being an omega or an alpha meant banging on a glass ceiling in order to be heard the Akademiya. Faruzan has had to adjust to a lot of things in her homeland. From losing her place in time, her research no longer being the jewel of Haravatat and everything else that changed, one uncomfortable idea she had to shed was that her outdated views on being an omega.

In the past, Faruzan felt the need to hide her status as an omega in order to advance her research. The Akademiya was crueler than, often passing over funding requests made by alphas and omegas, citing their natural responses to pheromones leaving it likely they would have to 'pause their research in order to engaged in debased behaviors.' This attitude shifted over the last 100 years, the Akademiya becoming less prejudice towards non-betas. When Nahida formally claimed her place as the Dendro Archon, the Akademiya started working extra hard to remove these bias from their practices and regulations. A joyous moment, but one that left Faruzan having to reconcile her past with the present.

It is well known Madam Faruzan does not like being treated like an omega. When Kshahrewar students seek her help, they make extra sure to treat her like a beta, often forgoing gifts they would normally bring to try and ply omega researchers for a crumb of advice. Her standards for respect is well known and she will not hesitate to fight tooth and nail for it, honed from years of having her work discounted because of her secondary sex.

Faruzan is also oddly protective over the alpha and omega students in the Akademiya, offering often unsolicited advice to them on how to get grants and other resources. Her advice is a little dated, and she can be overbearing at times, but it all comes from a place of kindness. She is dismayed by the current standing of Haravatat and struggles to get students who appreciate her teachings, but she is thankful that they don't have to struggle with the same barriers she had.

Her writings also have an interesting history around them. The book made from her writings was used to establish Kshahrewar and caused quite a stir in the Akademiya. Her work was brilliant and was a key point in the arguments against funding discrimination against omegas and alphas, citing that their work was just as impactful as their beta peers.

Madam Faruzan doesn't like to be touched. She spent 100 years locked in a ruin away from others, so shes extra sensitive to touch even for an omega. While most omegas find cuddling and hugs very calming, its way too much stimuli for Faruzan. This tends to be something that makes it hard for her when socializing. She used to be very touchy with the people she held closest to her, relaxing her guard around them, but now they are gone. She thinks about the last time she had a hug that didn't hurt during late nights in her office.

She does secretly partake in things like nesting, even if they are hidden. Her nest is small, tucked away in what used to be an office. Unlike most omegas, Faruzan keeps puzzles near her nest. The blankets are soft and help her stay calm in heat, but she needs some sort of mental stimuli else she gets nervous. It provides her with a sense of a control during a time when her hormones are making her disoriented. She also doesn't cover the windows and her nest is rather open, preferring to avoid dark or tight spaces during her heat.

As an omega, Faruzan doesn't have an identifying scent, or a scent unique to her. Instead, omegas adopt the scent of places they feel safe or of their home. Faruzan's scent is old parchment and metal, mining the scents of her workspace.

Shikanoin Heizou, The Analytical Harmony

Shikanoin Heizou, the number 1 detective in the Tenryou Commission, is an alpha. It's not unexpected: he's confident, smart and plays by his own rules. Despite the fact he doesn't adhere to the expectations of him being a proper Tenryou Commission Doushin or an alpha, Heizou's work speaks volumes about him.

Being an alpha something Heizou take any particular pride in. Inazuma favors alphas, with them traditionally carrying on the family line . Inazuman culture expects omegas to be strong, powerful, dominant leaders of their 'pack' who guide through example, commanding respect from betas and omegas. Heizou gets frustrated when its commented upon that he should be more responsible or and how he should be taking on a leadership position amongst the Doushin. He's happy as he is and doesn't see a reason why he should be considered superior over betas and omegas according to older Inazumans.

He is, however, protective like a stereotypical alpha. Its not uncommon for him to check in on his friends through out the week to see how they are doing. He makes sure to walk people home late at night, in particular omegas. This stems not from a place of viewing omegas as weak, but from knowing just how often they are targeted by criminals.

While Heizou does use his enhanced sense of smell to help in track down criminals and link evidence to certain individuals who touched it, he's content to pursue justice his way and thumb his nose at the expectations for alphas in Inazuma. The only time he takes advantage of Inazuma placing alphas on top of the social hierarchy is when its needed to get information on a case.

Beyond its use in detective work, he's cheeky about being able to pick up on an omega's emotions through scent or tracking someone down. Heizou loves to tease people, popping up by them to see if he guessed where they would be right based on other clues, or poking fun at serious individuals when he catches them being flustered even though their face is stoic.

Heizou really dislikes how the Tenryou Commission building smells. Its part of the reason he spends as much time away from the headquarters as possible. As an alpha, he can smell just how thick with fear, desperation and grief the air is in there. Even the very walls of his office, which he stopped letting people into, is soaked in these scents. It makes it hard for Heizou to focus, even if other alphas in the Tenryou Commission don't seem to be affected by it. He cares about the people he arrests, having empathy for them and the people they leave behind. To be surrounded by such fear makes him feel sick to his stomach.

Heizou is needy when he is in rut. He is almost inseparable from his omega, only leaving their side when its absolutely necessary for the comfort of his S/O. It is the only thing that can cause Heizou to stay in one place for an extended length of time that doesn't relate to his casework. He's soft, fulfilling any need to ensure that his partner's heat cycle passes safely. His rut also makes him more defensive as his hormones make him more anxious, searching for any threats to him or his omega. If he's forced to be separated from his omega, he'll dreams of a familiar alley with two people leaning against the wall, hand in decayed hand.

Heizou's scent smells like vanilla, black pepper and patchouli. Its a complex scent with sweet and spicy layers to it.

Venti, The Windborne Bard

As the Anemo Archon and a wind spirit, Venti doesn't have a secondary sex. This does not stop people from assuming he is an omega, seeing him as a gentle if mischievous traveling bard. Venti leans into this, playing up the act of a simple omega bard here to play music and offer advice at just the right moment.

Mondstadt doesn't place an emphasis on one's secondary sex, instead treating all as equal. Ultimately, it doesn't affect Venti too much to be seen as an omega vs. a beta or an alpha, so he lets people have their assumptions about him. If anything, it tends to help him charm people into giving him more money for his songs.

Venti does find it amusing to see how alphas, betas and omegas act around each other. He chuckles when he sees the bafflement betas sometimes have when an alpha tracks them down or when an omega curses Celestia for making them extra sensitive to Dragonspine's chill. Kaeya, in particular, has the most colorful curses whenever he has to track up the mountain to get Klee from Albedo

Venti's scent helps let people assume he's an omega. Omega's adopt the scent of their home as their personal scent and Venti smells like Mondstadt. He smells like the apples growing in Starfall Valley, the windwheel asters in Bright crown mountains and every other scent the winds of Mondstadt carry. He carries the scent the wind picks up as it travels through Mondtstadt, which makes his scent actually the closest to a real identifying scent of all the archons.

His favorite game to play when he has way too much time on is hands is 'mess with alphas'. He smells like a omega, but he doesn't produce the range of pheromones an omega would. This confuses alphas who try to key in on his emotions through his scent, often leading to them making guesses that are wildly off. All it takes is a pout or a misleading smile to make them flustered. Diluc has taken revenge for this a few times by purposely luring a cat into Angel's Share.

Most of the Church of Barbatos assumes he would be an alpha based on how protective he is of people in the scripture, so pretending to be an omega helps Venti avoid detection. It also made his attempts to gain access to the Holy Lyre Der Himmel harder because people didn't believe that the tiny omega bard could be Barbatos. Every time he is forced to reveal his identity, he has to deal with the double take. He knows he's short, but come on? He doesn't need to be a big scary alpha to care for his people!

Xiao, The Vigilant Yaksha

Despite being a Yaksha and not having a secondary sex, Xiao has been referred to as an omega by humans for centuries at this point. It developed through a combination of stereotypes, mistranslated of stories and his protective nature that led to this. Early art showed that Xiao was smaller than other Yaksha and his zeal in protecting Liyue has lead people to believe he's an omega who has claimed the whole of Liyue as his nest, his area to protect.

Xiao had mixed feelings once he caught on to this happening. He figured it out when he started to notice pilgrims leaving soft blankets, pleasantly scented balms and even gifts usually associated with alphas courting omegas in Liyue. After some investigation, Xiao was a little miffed that Liyuens assumed he was someone who didn't spend every night of his life fighting to keep them safe, mostly because omegas in Liyue tend to be stereotyped as fragile, delicate humans who shouldn't see the battlefield. Poets wrote lamentations on the Conqueror of Demons, forced to defend Liyue after his pack died as there was no alternative.

Xiao stewed over this for a while. He did lose his fellow Yaksha and mourns in his quiet way, but felt like this view of him was reductive. He defends Liyue to uphold his contract to Morax, dedicating his life to fighting demons to honor how the Geo Archon saved him. It wasn't done out of grief, nor something he was saddled with. It was a choice he doesn't regret, even as his karmic debt hangs over him.

After meeting the Traveler and spending more time around Liyue Harbor, Xiao starts to learn the nuances of this view of him. He originally only knew about secondary sexs through flowery poetry or hearsay, so it was pleasantly surprising to learn more about why people associate him with omegas. He doesn't discriminate over those he protects, guarding Liyue as an omega guards their nest. Its a softer view of him that most people actually hold, one of a caring protector. There are even people who invoke his image in telling stories of hurt omegas, claiming him as their protector in stories.

The Vigilant Yaksha is still mostly confused by secondary sexs, such as why omegas are viewed as 'emotional' and alphas get pushed into roles of leadership, often being pressured into ignoring their own emotions. Its a little silly to Xiao, to treat humans differently based on something given to them as birth, but he's content to be seen as an omega, the guardian of their homes and a figure they can draw strength from in dark moments.

Xiao doesn't have an identifying scent, but he smells like qingxin and almonds to most people. However, alphas can detect the nearly invisible scent of blood that clings to him like a leech.

[malcolm-reeds-pineapple]

Are you looking for a gift for your dad? Here is a gift guide for Weird Dad Genres

Brought to you by the child of a Weird Dad with low/no cost options. I’ve noticed that a lot of people with good dads they like a lot don’t know what to give their dads because all the gift guides around require a man to have a baseline level interest in sports, beer and cars for them to be usable. Disregard this post if your dad sucks or use this advice for a person you like that falls into one of these sub genres.

NPR/CBC Dads

I’m Canadian and have a CBC dad so I’m hoping there is overlap

Tickets to a live taping of their favourite radio show

Merch that supports CBC/NPR and their favourite radio show

Teaching them how to use a podcast app if they don’t know already

History Dads

MASH related literature

Civilization 6 on PC

Book/audio book about their favourite historical era, particularly on a niche topic by a professor of some variety

Researching their favourite era enough to have a meaningful conversation about it with them/being willing to listen to them talk about it

Stoner Dads

Lighters, papers, doob tubes, pipe cleaners, other disposables

Weed lol (depending on regional availability don’t get arrested buying a Christmas present lmfao)

One hitter, a nice pipe, a grinder, a tray, anything like that but shop around to find something they’d actually like.

Randy’s Black Label glassware cleaner and some vase beads!!! I cannot stress this enough!!! This combo leaves glassware SPARKLING.

Cleaning his glassware for him or degunking a grinder (do NOT empty the keef catcher or I’ll kill you myself)

Music Listener Dads

Physical copy of an album they like or one you listened to together

Needles from their turntable if they have records, or alternatively a Kallax shelf from Ikea for storage (actually the best record storage I’ve ever found)

Year subscription to Spotify

Some sort of merch for their favourite artist that goes with their vibe (ie: my dad doesn’t wear band shirts so I give him coffee mugs)

A playlist of songs you listened to together. If you wanna go crazy silly haha you could also get a record out of a dollar bin and draw a cover for it and put a QR code to the playlist inside or you could go old school and do the same thing but actually have a mixtape or burn the playlist onto a CD

Music Playing Dads

Varies a lot depending on skill-level and instrument, but I’m gonna do this as if they were a hobbyist as I’m sure there are gift guides out there for professionals

Any sort of disposable they would need (reeds, picks, strings, sticks etc) but make sure you find out what they prefer (ie pick weight) or if give them a few different options when they’re just starting out to help them figure out what they like

Larger peripherals that they might not want to buy for themselves (NOTE: don’t buy anything too expensive unless you know they want/need it. If you’re not sure, you can always wrap up an IOU in a cereal box so you can go on an adventure later with them and make a day out of it)

If they play piano you can pay for a tuning however this can be pricey and requires planning

Sheet music/tabs printed out in a binder with lyrics. You can also decorate the binder if you’re crafty like that

Nature Dads (rocks/geology)

Idk how niche this is but my dad is a rock dad

Rock tumbler and/or accessories like grit and media

A vug of some sort of crystal if you’re feeling incredibly wealthy or in the likely case that you’re not, get him a few points of a crystal or a few tumbled stones for them to add to the collection

A nice cabinet for display purposes (depends on the size of the collection of course and availability, but my dad has a vintage China cabinet for his rocks that we got at auction for like 100 bucks.)

A map with local areas of geological interest for them to check out with a little blurb about each one. Bonus points if you go on day trips with them or make the map cute if you’re skilled like that

Pop Culture/Sci Fi Dads

If they have trinkets, a display cabinet (like in the above section) is a good idea if they don’t have one

Coffee table books with behind the scenes stuff in it

If there’s a convention nearby and they’re that type of person you could get them tickets

I’ll be honest sci fi/pop culture people are pretty easy to buy for imo but my best advice is to prioritise practicality over dust collectors unless you know for sure they want something else in their collection. I’d also caution to stay away from buying Funko Pops where you can unless they collect them

General Dad Gifts and Advice

Some sort of nostalgia thing that’s personal to them. Examples: snack from their youth that they talk about a lot, a board game they played growing up that they can’t find anywhere, a book he read you growing up (I gave my dad Just Me And My Dad from the Little Critter series one year and he welled up and still maintains it’s one of the best gifts he’s ever gotten)

A good joke gift like my family have been giving each other the same copy of The Search For Spock for 14 years and it’s hilarious to us. Alternatively you can wrap up one of his own possessions and give it to him but make sure that it’s obviously his so he doesn’t think you just gave him another one.

Drill bits never go amiss if a person already owns a drill btw like drill bits are Good and Righteous Things

Always try to write an inscription in a book you’re giving as a gift with a small blurb about why you picked this book and the year and occasion.

I try to stick towards practicality and sentimentality in my gift-giving since for the most part we all have enough dust collectors. Consumables that are part of a hobby/interest are always a great option since they’re something you go through fairly regularly that can add up price wise

Never underestimate the power of a home made gift or a box of little treats. If I gave my dad his favourite peanut butter and a few cans of Fresca, he would be just as happy as if I bought him a brand new stereo. As dumb as it sounds, it really is the thought you put into a gift that counts, even if they’re little coupons someone can cash in for an afternoon of manual labour.

Even if you’re broke, try to give what you can. Thrifted gifts and homemade gifts are just as valuable as brand new gifts if the person you’re giving it to is worth giving a present.

Also while we’re on the topic, don’t give gifts to anyone who doesn’t appreciate you as a person like if you’re dad’s not good to you then either don’t give him shit or give him 20 bucks if you feel like it

Please feel free to add onto this if you have advice for gifting to a niche sub genre of dad/person.

[coffeeman777]

hi pastor kreg! i have two questions.

can you explain the Isreali-Hamas war a bit? because the news and the media are so conflicting about everything. I know its not a black and white issue, and on the one hand, I agree with Isreal in the fact that they were the ones who gave up their land for the Palestinian people in the first place, and Hamas attacked first. I understand that the Isreali government feels like it has to push back harder than it ever has before, because it is such a small, young nation, and they KNOW that their persecution will not stop because the Bible (both old and new Testments) say so (not to mention that there are a slew of countries whose agenda is to destroy Isreal). but on the other hand, there is so much news about Isreal doing horrific things, like rumors of death camps and hurting civilians. and that Hamas, the terrorist organization, is not the same as Palestine, but Palestine has also *allowed* them to take over their country politically, economically, and socially. I just don't know what or who to believe, and what other gray areas I need to consider in my choices.

i keep getting asks to support Gazan refugees. like on the one hand, OF COURSE I support all of the civilians who have nothing to do with this! but by giving them support, whether financially or just by posting about it, I support ALL of their agenda to free Palestine, which I am pretty sure in don't agree with, but I'm not positive yet. so far ive just been not answering these asks but they're getting harder to ignore, especially when a lot of my mutuals do support Palestine. not in a ultra crazy way like most do, but they're just reposting some of the expose stuff.

im just having a hard time with answers (cause a lot of these people don't know what they are talking about) and wanted some sort of advice. thanks.

Heya!

So, I'm very much on Israel's side in this whole thing. To state it simply, Hamas has been attacking and killing innocent Israelis for decades. Their goal is the complete eradication of Israel. Hamas isn't interested in peace or a two state solution; they want Israel gone, wiped off the map.

Hamas terrorists are cowards. When they attack Israel, they run and hide behind women and children to prevent Israel from retaliating. They whine and cry to the leftist media about how horrible Israel is and generate ridiculous anti-Israel propaganda. So many times, desiring not to kill innocent civilians and being under the weight of intense pressure from the international community, Israel has backed off and let Hamas go. Hamas then regroups, stockpiles weapons, makes new plans, and attacks Israel again. This cycle has been going on for as long as I can remember.

On October 7th, Hamas invaded Israel and butchered a huge number of innocent Israelis, raped many Israeli women, took a bunch of hostages, and even shot and beheaded Israeli babies. This was by far the worst Hamas attack in recent history. Israel said enough is enough, we're taking Hamas out and rescuing our people who were kidnapped. Hamas has done the same thing they always do, but this time Israel isn't backing down. And they shouldn't. Israel has a right to exist in their own land and defend themselves.

Israel is doing everything they possibly can to save civilians in Gaza. All the stuff you hear about death camps and the like is completely false. If Israel wanted to kill everyone in Gaza, including civilians, they could easily do it. They could glass the whole Gaza strip if they wanted, kill every living thing there. But they haven't done that, and they won't. Israel has continually put their own people at risk to provide help to the Palestinian civilians. But they're committed to bringing Hamas down. They have to be.

It is heartbreaking that innocents have died in this conflict, but their blood is on Hamas, not Israel. Even after everything, Israel has offered numerous ceasefire agreements to Hamas, but Hamas has rejected them all. If Hamas would release the Israeli captives and surrender, the fight would be over tomorrow. But Hamas won't play ball. Israel has no choice.

I don't believe anything I hear in the news from leftist outlets. I don't believe the horrible things they're saying about Israel, because in my experience, it's always half truths spun to make Israel look bad, or else just outright lies about what's happening. The same sort of tactics the leftist media uses to discredit and attack conservatives here in America.

As for supporting refugees, if it can't be done without also supporting the anti-Israel propaganda, then I wouldn't do it. Seek the Lord about other ways you can help.

I hope this post is useful to you. My personal conviction is to stay on Israel's side and be a blessing to the Jewish people as much as possible. I think this is the correct position for all Christians to take.

Take care, be blessed!

EDIT:

I apologize, I forgot to make a correction. I'm not actually a pastor, just an ordained minister. The difference is that, while I have credentials to preach and teach, I'm not serving as the head of any congregation of Christians.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

I have some questions abt hellenic polytheism and how its practiced. I myself have been practicing it for a while, but something I noticed while researching about it is a distinct lack of actual greek people in online social media spaces. It was first brought to my attention after seeing a reddit post and youtube video explaining how using “hellenismos” is considered cultural appropriation. After that, Ive noticed how the main sources Ive used about hellenic polytheism isnt really from the people whos culture were trying to practice. AKA non greeks.

I would like to know your explanations on the basics of hellenic polytheism like altars/shrines, khernips, prayers, devotees, tarot/oracle cards, pendulums, kharis, and offerings. There might be some knowledge that I got wrong and need to change, like maybe the way I give offerings needs fixing and I need to give more perishable offerings like food than handmade crafts like art for apollo. And maybe theres a spicic way to do it and not just place it on the altar. Other than websites like hellenicfaith.com, r/hellenism is usually my main source with a grain of salt because of the strange lack of greeks in discussions, and although my friend who is also practicing hellenic polytheism gives me a lot of advice, their main sources are tiktok and. Well, I dont think I need to explain why thats a bad source. (Their main justification is “of course tiktok isnt that serious” and “it comes from the pagans themselves”)

Also, Im also curious on your thoughts about people who practice in secret.

I hope this isnt too long, I just wanna make sure Im using a better source than reddit because, well, its reddit. Not the most reliable source.

Hello! If you don't mind I will also address two more questions I got on the matter, since I feel they are related to yours. They are the following:

Hello all! You did very well to seek Greek sources because you are essentially dealing with a foreign culture and it's not right to assume it looks just like your local one. I will guide you as much as I can but I am very open to being corrected by knowledgeable Greeks and xenoi alike because I am not an infallible scholar. As always, my posts are open to additions in case I missed something.

Let me start by saying I believe it's important to focus on the living Greeks as well, in parallel to your studies of ancient religious texts. Not only were our ancient people diverse with various opinions but... they are also dead and cannot speak anymore. So, it's the alive Greeks who now handle and pass down the culture. If something gives the ick to modern Greeks, it probably goes against what the culture considers appropriate or strange.

Greeks will get "the ick" even if they are not well-read on ancient Greek customs, because the Greek culture largely holds its philosophy when it comes to worship. Disclaimer: This is not an unbroken rule, as some of our cultural elements have shifted or changed, as it happens to all cultures around the globe, and also because a Greek does not know everything. But it's good to keep that general statement in mind.

An example of a practice not seen favorably by Greeks nowadays is some Western women practitioners covering their heads because of Hellenic Polytheism. The ancient faith may demand it but the veil was forced a lot on Greek women and collectively we believe it doesn't make any sense to wear it, even in scenarios of faith tied to our culture. Now, that doesn't mean that it's any of our business if a Hellenic Polytheist wants to veil but it'd be good for this person to have knowledge of the history and rights of Greek women, and really evaluate why they want to veil beyond "the ancients did it", since Greek culture is largely disagreeable to that practice now. Find a larger discussion on veiling here.

Also please capitalize the first letter of Apollo's name because this shows proper respect ;)

Let's dive into specifics a little bit. Our culture was and is practical and anthropocentric. It takes into account reality and environment, as well as human nature.

For the anthropocentric aspect: Yes, there are general guidelines because we are talking about a tradition here but no one will take your head if you do it a bit differently. As for the practical aspect: if you give non-perishable items to the gods by putting them on their altar, in 10 years you won't have a space in your house to stand. If they are non-perishable you have no reason to remove them. Because if you remove them is like taking back offerings that were meant for the deity.

The offerings of Greeks in Polytheism and Christianity included perishable items such as food, candles/oil lamps, flowers, incense, libations, etc. And since they go bad you have a reason to remove them. But you also don't want any waste on the streets or in your house. Even the sacrificed animals were meant to be eaten, and the Greek communities believed that the smell of roasted meat made the gods rejoice. In some cases, offerings that were left outside were meant to be consumed by the homeless and travelers. Everything has a purpose and a reason within that specific community. (Flowers not so much, they are just ornamental)

It's not that you cannot or should not offer non-perishable items to the gods. I'm sure a few don't hurt anyone. Just keep in mind that if the offering is a non-perishable item it is/was usually offered to the temple, so the priests can sustain themselves and continue doing their religious service on behalf of the community. We are talking about coins, clothing, jugs, animals, or whatever else.

Continuing on the matter of offerings. A small rant on how clueless some people seem to be about offerings. It would be weird to knit a winter scarf for a god and then wear it yourself because that's not how dedication/devotion works in the Greek context. Also, leaving that winter scarf on the altar doesn't make sense either because it's just… impractical in the Greek sense. You are wasting a scarf, to put it plainly. But if you make something for one deity then give it to the deity, don't wear it yourself.

I'll tackle a few more specifics now. I think you already know what they mean so I will give my opinion on them rather than explaining them. I think my opinion is shared by many Greeks.

hellenismos -> I am not sure if it's appropriation but it's surely inaccurate. Here is why, for those who wonder, with some suggestions on how to call yourself. (hint: Hellenic Polytheist is fine)

on how to be respectful and accurate: I always recommend reading as many ancient Greek texts as possible the view of the gods directly from the ancient worshipers themselves. You can read whatever texts interest you, including plays. Plays are my favourite source, to be honest. Understand on your own what the text says. The Hymn to Demeter is focused on the pain of a mother, which is pretty obvious, you are under no obligation to hear Kate the TikToker who insists on something different. You don't have to hear YouTubers who tell you Zeus is an asshole when ancient texts show us the opposite, and give a good context on why he does what he does.

altars/shrines -> The altars I've seen are usually fine, so I think western polytheists have this down. The ancient ones would be more homogenous but in our era the religion is unorganized so it's up to the individual to create an altar. Greeks still have altars in their homes as a continuation of our polytheist practices and they also have some variation. Generally, all good here.

khernips -> χέρνιψ literally translates to "washer of hands". It's a Greek practice to have clean hands before touching any sacred objects, either in Dodekatheism or in Christianity. We do not always follow it but it's important. Our old custom is also to wash hands, face, and feet before entering our Christian temples (that's why there are κρήνες outside many of them) but that's not practiced anymore because our hygiene is overall better and we already visit the temple while clean.

The cleansing part will feel natural for most Greeks and not unfit for the whole procedure. You can also cleanse items with water if the purification ritual says so. Don't lose sleep over it. Remember practicality. Khernips is just water with which you wash your hands and you can do it before a meal, like we do today. It is meant to keep you clean but doesn't bear any spiritual force - it's not like the holy water of Christians which is imbued with divine power. It's just water included in a practice that helps the religious person get ready for spiritual time.

Also! Khernips doesn't mean that you wash the whole body! It's second part, νήβω / nivo = rub is connected to cleaning body parts. For the cleanliness of the whole body we used/use "λούω / λούζω". Fun fact, on of the greatest christian temples Hagia Sofia, had a reminder outside the gate with the same verb, and it was an anagram. "ΝΙΨΟΝ ΑΝΟΜΗΜΑΤΑ ΜΗ ΜΟΝΑΝ ΟΨΙΝ", meaning "wash your sins, too, not just your face". This anagram is found in other Christian sites, as well.

prayers -> Any prayer is good. There are only a few ways a prayer can go "wrong", since there's not a subscription for that. For example a prayer has to usually praise the magnanimity of the deity, even if you are just doing it to ask something, but words from the heart are also fine. Zeus won't smite you if you include him in a phrase without praising him first.

devotees -> Afaik this was a rare phenomenon in antiquity and it's only nowadays that Westerners decided that everyone is a devotee, which looks weird to Greeks because being a devotee doesn't work exactly like Westerners do it. You don't get to pick one god, talk 99% of the time about that god, or worship just them and not recognize the whole pantheon, or just give little attention to them.

Ancient Greek towns and people had gods they were closer to, for sure, but from what I know they didn't have the same concept as modern foreign worshipers today. They were not "αφιερωμένοι"/devoted, unless they devoted their life to a deity by serving in their temple. The devoted/devotees were not everyday people.

The everyday people felt closer to some gods in the way someone can have a saint or a prophet that they align themselves with, that they feel like they can see themselves on them, or that these gods see them, or that they are related to their struggles, or have given them some sort of protection. A cultivator of vineyards will probably feel closer to Dionysus, while a fisherman to Poseidon, and a warrior to Ares. It's the same for Christian Greeks, since each of the saints has one domain and we call on them depending on our needs.

I mean, it's okay if modern people want to make new things, but we should also be clear on the nature of the ancient practice.

tarot/oracle cards, pendulums -> They are unrelated to the practice. They are just recent elements of western spiritual fascination, and the ancient Greek religion is already complete without them. If Apollo chooses to reveal himself through tarot he may as well reveal himself on a toaster xD A toaster is as related to the ancient Greek religion as much as tarot cards.

kharis -> Some Westerners overhype foreign words that are, in reality, very simple terms. Kharis is just "the grace of god" and the concept is similar to the grace spoken in Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Kharis is not lost if you forget to wash your hands once, or if you are afraid that the item you placed on the altar is not good enough. You don't have to tiptoe around it, it's not something incomprehensible and mystical.

miasma -> Nobody asked for it but I am delivering it anyways because I see many new people to the religion treat miasma like they are 5th-century Greeks who will be punished by the plague if they menstruate too close to the altar. I've seen endless discussions online about what miasma is and all the detailed ways that you can avoid it, and how to cleanse everything and... as a 21st-century practitioner you are not supposed to be that fearful. In the Πλυντήρια festival, the statue of Athena goddess was washed clean but also cleansed metaphorically by people's sins. And you can cleanse your statues as well of course but not with the mindset of considering yourself unclean. Do not follow every advice from ancient people who thought women unclean when menstruating. Ironically, this post and this post from r/hellenism have a good approach to this. As one user says:

people who practice in secret -> I don't have particular thoughts for them. If they must hide their spirituality for reasons beyond their control, it's natural for them to do so. I wish them the best in their spiritual journey.

Take a look at my F.A.Q. page, and more specifically on these questions:

Can I worship the Greek gods as a xenos (non-Greek)?

What do Greeks think of people outside of Greece worshiping the Greek gods?

Reading List / Book recommendations on Greek Mythology

Are the Greek gods assholes? // What’s up with gods coupling with mortal women?

Also, when it comes to the practices of the ancient Greek religion, Google Scholar is your friend. Read a variety of scholars and please include Greek ones on your reading list. Western academia focuses a lot on what the myth means to The West today, while Greek academia focuses on what the myths meant in their time. Some classical students report that studying classics in Greece VS in the US can be night and day, and they got a more authentic feeling from the knowledge they gained from the Greek classes.

For gods, festivals, and rituals in Greece, I have some recommendations below, if you’d like to take a look! (The links open directly to them so you can read them for free)

Let it rain’, or ‘rain, conceive’: Rituals of magical rain-making in Ancient Greece, a comparative approach. In Roca, Z. et al. (eds.): European Landscapes and Lifestyles: The Mediterranean and Beyond. Lisboa: Edições Universitárias Lusófonas 2007: 285-304.

Cosmos 17 (2001), 197-251 Rituals of Magical Rain-Making in Modern and Ancient Greece: A Comparative Approach by Evy Johanne Håland

http://en.arch.uoa.gr/fileadmin/arch.uoa.gr/uploads/images/evy_johanne_haland/cosmos_17-2_haland.pdf

p.s., I call Christian temples "temples" because that's how we call them. We use ναός very frequently for our religious buildings.

I hope I covered your questions so far 💙😊 See you around, and have a great day!

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If my posts have helped you in any way, consider buying me a coffee or giving a Paypal donation. I spend many hours per day on questions and posts, so that would support me a little.

[accirax]

Mr. Showtime 2DMV Theory

The release of Mr. Showtime full and its 2DMV... oh my god. I’m back on my Tsukasa bullshit, so please allow me to talk about what I thought was the most interesting part of the 2DMV:

This part, with the jester boy on the moon with balloons. Please ignore the YouTube time bar I don’t know how to get rid of it While the entire 2DMV is gorgeous and bears rewatching one million times, it’s this part that stood out to me in conjunction with the lyrics. Specifically, the strings of the balloons stood out to me, after reading and participating in this post by @/getwonderhoyd. It discussed the symbolism of Tsukasa and the marionette strings in comparison to Mafuyu, and how their tight wind around his fingers implied the tight grasp he has on controlling his situation.

He has that same winding grasp on the balloons. But what are the balloons?

While not all of them are direct depictions of the Wonderland Sekai, many of them also are. The ones that aren’t all seem to be related to stories Tsukasa is featured in, specifically a lot of the girls’ events for some reason? The presents seem to be from On This Holy Night, I Sing; the mermaid tail from Mermaid Adoration; and the tropical climate from A Desperate Situation?! Island Panic!. The plane, I would imagine, is from their travels abroad in Popping In My Heart, and the candy clouds balloon could either also be that event or resemble the clouds in the Smile of a Dreamer cards. I don’t remember where the scary face could be from-- I would posit either a spooky Halloween face for It’s On! Wonder Halloween or the checkered pattern could imply the phantom thieves of A Gentleman Thief’s Thrilling White Day?!. 

Anyways, Tsukasa is clutching on tightly both to the sekai and his memories with his friends. Typical. But could it go deeper than that?

Again, the balloons are his memories. It’s good that he has them, considering his past history with memories. But here, we get some more interesting insight-- these memories are carrying the travelers. The travelers/stars are surely his troupemates, and Tsukasa believes he is carrying them with his memories. Sure, he’s carrying them with him through what he remembers, but as the leader, I think he believes that he’s the one carrying them forward. Not in a totally vain way, of course-- he loves his friends and thinks they’re all super talented, too. But there is one way that he specifically is undeniably carrying them... and that’s through the existence of his very own sekai.

That’s why his memories of prior events and the memories of the sekai are so combined. This other post which I adore by @/wondahoiii discusses how sekais are based off of repressed feelings. This makes the Wonderland Sekai, and the fact that it’s a neverending paradise based off of solely Tsukasa’s childhood memories, kind of terrifying.

Wonderlands x Showtime has had a lot of events recently about how much they don’t want their time as a group to end, even though it inevitably will. All four of them have lyrics here about wanting to avoid an ending, while Tsukasa is the only one shown acknowledging its arrival. But, down to the name, Wonderlands x Showtime and the Wonderland Sekai are connected. Since Tsukasa and Rui would have never made up without Kaito and Miku’s help, you could argue that Wonderlands x Showtime couldn’t exist without the Wonderland Sekai. So, in a way, when the members say they don’t want “it” to end, they could also be talking about how they don’t want the Wonderland Sekai to end.

What happens when true feelings are resolved?

If Vivid Bad Squad becomes a tight foursome without envy and insecurity and surpasses RAD Weekend, would they need the Street Sekai to practice in anymore? If Kanade really does write a song that can save Mafuyu, and all the members of Nightcord become mentally healthy, would they need advice from Miku, Meiko, or anyone else anymore? Someday, More More Jump will retire from being idols, right? Would the Stage Sekai still exist, even then?

And what about Tsukasa? If he became a mentally healthy person, one who could retain and potentially regain all of his memories, and make people like Saki smile... what would happen to the Wonderland Sekai?

There’s a certain fear in being the one-man show that fuels an entire universe.

Tsukasa will do anything to make the people he cares about smile. It’s literally the basis of the Wonderland Sekai itself. So, if the Wonderland Sekai makes Emu, Nene, and Rui smile, of course he would keep it open with all his power. Not to mention that, as reminded by the event story balloons, the Wonderlands Sekai is making his friends better people. Emu has people who unshakably care about her, Nene is overcoming her stage fright, and Rui feels understood and appreciated for the first time ever, thanks to the Virtual Singers inside the sekai. The Wonderland Sekai is making them better.

But at the same time, there’s a problem. As stated, the Wonderland Sekai consists of every happy childhood memory Tsukasa has repressed. For the Wonderland Sekai to exist, Tsukasa has to repress these memories, or else they wouldn’t be “emotions never expressed.” While I would never say that Wonderlands x Showtime was unhealthy for Tsukasa, it’s possible that, to a point, the Wonderland Sekai is. If he wants to reclaim his memories, he has to let the Wonderland Sekai go.

He has to be the one to bring about the catastrophic end.

It’s not just that Tsukasa wants to keep up a happy attitude so that no one will worry about him, or through some sense of pride at being the unshakable leader with masterful skills of pretending. It may be that Tsukasa is worried that if he shows even a crack, so will the world they’ve come to love. You know-- the one that Hasn’t Even Started Yet.

Which is why Tsukasa will never let go of those balloons. The ones that only contain memories of recent events; nothing about elementary school, or middle school, or even Saki and her heart-wrenching hospital trips. Living in the present, keeping things going, ignoring the past, is the only way to keep the Wonderland Sekai alive in his mind. Until closing time comes, Tsukasa and virtual singers like Luka will share this secret. Just like how Luka is constantly falling asleep, Tsukasa, too, will fall asleep on his own needs to ensure that he’ll keep the never-ending merry-go-round spinning. He’ll give up his own happiness for the betterment of others. He refuses to express his memories in words so that he can bear the burden of carrying the travelers by his side.

For the ultimate sacrifice... the show must go on!

[illuminatedquill]

Sabine x Ezra/Anakin x Padme:

It's Like Poetry, It Rhymes

I'm already falling I couldn't help it, didn't think of the risk I got a problem, problem when I look in your eyes You're mine and you know it I'd still do it even if we were cursed Won't you be my problem? It's okay with me if it hurts - BANKS, Under the Table

George Lucas has a phrase that I always come back to regarding his work: "It's like poetry, it rhymes."

He said this in reference to Luke's battle with Vader in the Emperor's Throne Room aboard the second Death Star. During the climax of the duel, Luke faces the same choice his father did so many years ago.

And Luke chooses differently. Instead of killing Vader, he tosses aside his weapon and chooses to stop fighting. He wins the battle without violence and claims the mantle of Jedi Knight, which helps Anakin return to himself fully and turn on the Emperor.

For this post, I'm using this phrase to another interesting similarity within Star Wars: the relationship between Sabine Wren and Ezra Bridger having echoes of the doomed romance of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala.

There's no way that Filoni is not aware how he's setting these two up.

Sabine, clearly, has resemblances to Ahsoka's former master; it doesn't surprise me that Ahsoka immediately cut Sabine's training short after the Purge of Mandalore.

Sabine is messy, angry, reckless, impulsive, and obviously depressed after experiencing so much trauma in her life. Despite her efforts to keep up appearances that everything's fine with her, we can tell in the Ahoska premiere that she still keenly feels the loss of Ezra and her family.

Anakin was the same way. We know his story; I won't re-hash it here.

Because of Sabine's inability to reflect on her problems - much like Anakin - they tend to influence her decisions. She can't focus on what needs to be done, versus what she wants to be done.

Love versus duty. The age old conundrum.

She should have destroyed the map to Thrawn. She didn't. She could not face returning to a galaxy without Ezra Bridger in it.

Anakin prevented Jedi Master Mace Windu from finishing Palpatine because he wanted the knowledge to save Padme from death.

Anakin's decision, I also want to remind, led to Padme's death being realized. In doing what he did to prevent it, he ended up causing it to come true.

Sabine's decision to save Ezra . . . well, we've yet to see how Filoni plays this out. But I think there might be a similar outcome here; some sort of consequence for Ezra due to Sabine's actions.

The galaxy - both times - shifted on its axis and began to spiral towards darkness. The Empire rose. Thrawn returned.

The seeds of darkness have already been planted in Sabine. Her decision to hand over the map to Baylon was a failure of temptation. And once you go down the path of the dark side, it's incredibly hard to turn away. Yoda told this to Luke and he failed to heed his advice until it was almost too late.

Lucas, with Luke and Vader, had them face the same dilemma in their respective journeys to show how different their choices would be and how their characters, despite being so much alike, were ultimately different.

So Filoni, with Sabine and Ezra, is - at least in my point of view - doing the same. He's going to have these two reckon with what Sabine did only for them to choose differently than what happened with Anakin and Padme.

We never really saw Anakin and Padme reconcile after his fall. That's the tragedy of their relationship.

But with Sabine and Ezra, there's still hope. They can choose better and not end up cursed like their predecessors.

For one, Ahsoka is literally right there. I'm uncertain as to how much she knows about the reason for Anakin's downfall but if she does know (or Anakin's Force ghost reveals it to her) then she's perfectly armed with the knowledge to make sure Sabine doesn't follow the same path.

Sabine and Ezra also have much more of a personal history with each other. Their foundation is built on stronger material than Anakin and Padme's. There's a lot of trust and respect and love already built into it.

But, admittedly, Sabine's actions threaten to unmake that relationship. I've talked about it before in a previous post; that she could end up losing Ezra due to her selfishness.

And that's not even mentioning the reactions from Hera. Hera, thinking of her son, Jacen, and her desire to raise him in a galaxy not at war. Now it's being threatened by Thrawn's return.

All because of Sabine's need to save Ezra.

I really don't know how, but I'm excited to see Sabine and Ezra work it out. Because we've never seen a proper redemption arc in Star Wars. Anakin was redeemed, yes, but he died shortly afterwards.

Sabine has to put in the work to make up for what she did. She's already started on the path by staying behind with Ahsoka instead of going home with Ezra, but being open to the Force now means that there's only more trials and temptations ahead.

I can't overstate how worried we should be for Sabine. She messed up so badly before being able to tap into the Force. And now she has it.

I know she's on the path to set things right but that temptation will never go away. It will only be amplified, going forward, and I'm sure that there will be more opportunities for abuse considering the inevitable conflict between Thrawn and the New Republic.

And then there's Ezra, of course. Her desire to keep him safe.

Because he wouldn't sit on the sidelines, even if he wanted to. Sabine's actions, like it or not, have involved him in ways that he cannot understand. He'll be at the center of this fight.

I expect Sabine is going to experience some troubling visions soon. I'm thinking similar to what Luke faced in the cave on Dagobah, or even what Anakin saw during his encounter with the Mortis gods.

There's nowhere to hide anymore now that she's stuck on Peridea.

The Force, I'm sure, is going to have a lot to show Sabine about herself that's been hidden away. I hope she's ready.

Much as I want to see these two together and living happily, it can't happen until Sabine and Ezra work through these issues together.

Because if they can't, well . . . we've seen how that story ends.