#also if i were to add a symbolic meaning to the bird thing i would say her parents were really strict and restricted her freedom growing up

[cyb-organ]

happy lesbian visibilty week to her. i gave her a little bird

[hanafubukki]

White Day with Diasomia

[White Day is when the person who received a gift on Valentine’s Day returns the sentiment one month later.]

Malleus Draconia: He's heard of what White day is from Lilia. He thought about his gift to you. The finest gold necklace adorning your neck would bring him the greatest of joy. It would tell others you were his and his alone, but maybe that would have to wait for another time. He didn't want to scare you off. So, instead, I can see him get you a charm bracelet. The first charm would be of a gargoyle that he had especially made. It's cute and he hopes it makes you think of him. As the years go by, he hopes to add more to it. To symbolize his never ending love for you.

Lilia Vanrouge: You know you should run dearest, don't you? You know Lilia is going to cook you something for White Day. You might as well give up now and wait for your demise. With Lilia, I can see him go many ways when celebrating White Day with you. From the traditional way to the more chaotic ways. In the end, it is all Lilia's way of romancing you. My personal favorite is his old fashion way mixed with modern methods. He gives you letters speaking of his love for you in the cheekiest flirting, but also you find him outside serenading to you at night. Good thing you don't have neighbors.

Silver Vanrouge: Did you ever wonder what it would be like in a Disney movie? Well, now you know. Silver can be both Prince Charming and the Princess. Okay, I'm joking. Kind of. I can see Silver's animal friends coming to you and leading you down a path. No point resisting, they are persistent. At the end of the road, you see Silver asleep on what seems to be a picnic date set up by him. He has a wrapped gift in his hand and a flower crown on his head. It seems so do you if the matching ones placed by his bird friends on top of your head means anything. Now Prince Charming, won't you wake up your Sleeping Beauty?

Sebek Zigvolt: I can see Sebek bringing you flowers and chocolates. He's passionate when it comes to those he cares about. While it might take awhile for you two to become harmonious in your relationship. Never be said that he wouldn't be cute in his way when dating you. Plus, he has hobby of reading. I can bet you he researched way to court you. You have his heart and he's your trusty loyal knight. He knows your niche and wants and he'll be there for you. Does this not speak of the highest regard he has for you?

Happy White Day Everyone 🌷💜🌺

[creature-wizard]

Info For Beginner Witches!

This is basically a masterpost for content relevant to new witches. A lot of it of it's stuff I wrote but I'll also link to material written by other people if I think it's useful.

Practice & Technique

Magical Correspondences 101

Closet Witchcraft: How To Get Witchy When You Can't Come Out Of The Broom Closet

How To Practice: Divination With Dice!

An approach to deity/entity work for the sort of people this sort of thing would work for

Manifestation Without Woo (a compassionate psychological approach to manifestation)

Non-Competitive Affirmations

No, you can't tell anything about a person from their natal chart.

A Brief Introduction to Energy Work

Energy Work On The Body: Hittin' The Right Spots For Tension Relief

Research & Critical Thinking

Information Literacy Basics

How to research

Distinguishing Fact, Opinion, Belief, and Prejudice

Critical Thinking: Definition, Examples, & Skills

Caution & Critical Thinking In Divination

10 Questions To Distinguish Real From Fake Science

Search for information on any witchy topic here!

"A weird thing just happened, does this mean anything? Is it an omen?"

Practicing discernment: Some ways of testing and ruling out the mundane

Research Tip: Remember the Five W's!

How conspiracy peddlers and cult recruiters make you feel like you're "thinking for yourself" when you're actually not

Remember a Previous Life? Maybe You Have a Bad Memory

Why fighting pseudohistory matters

Scams, Hoaxes, Conspiracy Theories, & Cults Everyone Should Know About

On people who assert "things are done this way for a reason!"

Dogmatism is not the solution to cultural appropriation

Some beliefs you might have to deconstruct as an ex-Christian

Avoiding Harmful Stuff & Staying Safe

Recognizing the difference between real history and pseudohistory

Is the spiritual person a conspiracy theorist? A list of red flags

List of red flags to watch out for when joining a coven or online group

Beware of charisma mirrors

When your right to say no is entirely hypothetical

Dog whistles and symbols to watch out for

Eugenicist and bioessentialist beliefs about magic

What is spiritual eugenics?

Toxic Individualism In Modern Witchcraft

New Age beliefs that derive from racist pseudoscience

The Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis is Racist and Harmful

Allyship does not mean seeing yourself as worthless

The rules about responding to call outs aren’t working

History

Debunking the Pervasive Myths About Medieval Witch Hunts

Debunking Myths About Easter/Ostara

Just How Pagan is Christmas, Really?

The Origins of the Christmas Tree

No, Santa Claus Is Not Inspired By Odin

Why Prehistoric Matriarchy Wasn’t a Thing (A Brief Explanation)

Why Did The Patriarchal Greeks And Romans Worship Such Powerful Goddesses?

No, Athena Didn't Turn Medusa Into A Monster To Protect Her

Who Was the First God?

Were Ancient Civilizations Conservative Or Liberal?

PODCAST RECS - Debunking and Fact-Checking for Witches & Witchcraft Spaces

Angela's Symposium (YouTube channel about modern esotericism and witchcraft by Dr. Angela Puca)

ESOTERICA (YouTube channel about the history of Western esotericism by Dr. Justin Sledge)

ReligionForBreakfast (YouTube channel about religion run by Dr. Andrew Henry)

Let's Talk Religion (YouTube channel run by Filip Holm, lots of Islamic content but also lots of other stuff)

OceanKeltoi (Norse Heathenry)

Jackson Crawford (Norse Heathenry)

Conservation & Ecology

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Explained (all USian witches should read this, it most likely affects you)

How the Rage for Sage Threatens Native American Traditions and Recipes

(This post is unrebloggable because I plan to use it as a reference post to link, and may add/remove things to it over time.)

[bookqueenrules]

The Strawberries and Bananas Conversation Might Have Revealed Beth's Location

Warning... Spoilers for Season 2 and Season 3 Speculation Below!

I had seen the "oops release" of episodes 5, but without the translation, I missed how important this conversation is.

I posted here that episode 4 was the "second Coda" episode complete with coda symbols and the coda-like death of a petite blonde who is Daryl's love interest. @frangipanilove posted this theory about how episode 5 is the story of what happened to Beth's body after Grady. I won't repeat what she said, but I believe we also might have discovered where she is right now in the conversation between Codron and Laurent.

Consider that is a strange conversation between the two. Really out of place as they could have started talking about their feelings with out all the fruit references. In TWDU, that usually means it has some symbolic significance.

First Codron, who has become a one-eyed Sirius character, picks a strawberry. Strawberries are tied to Beth due to her using them as currency at Grady and to Daryl as they are the only thing he "claimed" when he was with the Claimers.

Then, Laurent mentions them having vitamin C and that you can get scurvy on land. I am not sure what all the symbolism is here other than the last time Daryl, Carol, and Beth all lived together it was in cellblock C and that there will be a sea voyage soon. Maybe, Daryl has been deprived of his strawberry, Beth, and his vitamin C?

Then, Laurent randomly asks about bananas mentioning that he has "never have I ever" eaten a banana. That is sort of red flag that he will get to eat one soon. Stay with me here.

The strawberries symbolize Beth in the past or season 4 and 5 Beth.

The banana symbolizes her now. Still "sweet", as Codron says, but barely remembered.

So, knowing that S3 is in Spain, I decided to look up banana production in Spain and found this:

How do the Canary Islands connect to Beth? During the final season of FTWD there was a mid-season "Coda" where Madison, a "dead" for years character who returns in season 8, is calling out coordinates over the radio. A mysterious figure with a blonde braid is listening to the coordinates and starts to pack-up. At the time, TD thought this could have been Beth due to the blonde braid. It turns out it was a one-eyed, bashed repeatedly in the head with a hammer and presumed dead character, Troy.

Two oddities of this coda are that, when Troy returns, he doesn't have blonde hair or a braid and one set of coordinates were not in the US. Where did those set of coordinates lead? You guessed it, the Canary Islands. @twdmusicboxmystery and maybe @wdway were the ones to discover and posted about this at the time, but I can't seem to find the post now to link it. If someone has it, please send it to me, I would love to link it here.

I could add a whole lot more about the canary connection to Beth. Most obviously they sing and are yellow. Beth had an empty bird cage in her cell in cellblock C. I could go on, but this post is long enough.

For reference, the Canary Islands are off the coast of Africa but are part of Spain.

Thoughts?

[katyahina]

Burial Blade and Blade of Mercy are made out of meteorite, but WHY? Inspiration and context behind them (+ the source of snake infestation)

This one is a reply on ask from @bobbyzombiegg that I decided to put here because I really keep forgetting to use THIS blog for lore and not my personal/shitposts one...

I know, and this is such a good observation! I am glad that you've noticed what else connects Burial Blade and Blade of Mercy! Even better - whereas Burial Blade severs the ties of a person with the Dream, Blade of Mercy, in a way, helps to create it!

The interesting thing about these blades is that, of course, they must have been created before the conception of the Hunter's Dream! It makes it oddly coincidental that both weapons are useful for the cycle of Dream and Hunt, doesn't it? Blade of Mercy is at least believed to contribute to this as of now; the more we hunt the more messengers get added in the Hunter's Dream, so, perhaps, Blade of Mercy is not necessary! My personal interpretation of this is as Paleblood Hunter, our character has the privilege otherwise special for these weapons! Regardless of which weapon they use, they can send those they killed to be messengers (or add them in the cycle of the hunt, like how Henryk or Yamamura will become summonable after we kill them)!

Still, it starts to look like too much was planned ahead? Blade of Mercy said to be made in an old workshop would imply Old Hunters, likely created by Gehrman himself, from the same material as his own weapon! But I think the answer here is that Messengers, something akin to Hunter's Dream and similar weapons existed since Pthumerian times!

Starting with the weapons observation here! Pthumerian Descendant, interestingly, displays the similar style of transforming their blade into two same as how Blade of Mercy does it! Meanwhile, Gehrman's blade is fashioned similarly to Mergo's Wet Nurse's blades! In isolation, I would not think this means anything.. but crows, according to Hunters of Hunters lore, ARE connected with taking the souls and passing them into Dream realm, which is also Nightmare realm!

(Link to my other post explaining why Vilebloods descend from Pthumerians ( x ) in case someone who doesn't know already finds this post)

Wet Nurse herself is very bird-like (crow-like, specifically), and very coincidentally, Baneful Chanters pray to those who "have no blood" as those who'd have enough power to curse the hunters (which is to ensure they go in the Nightmare realm). Wet Nurse not only coincidentally fuels at least one section of Nightmare by nurturing Mergo, the center of it, but also, Nightmare realm has Winter Lanterns whose heads are made of Messengers!

So we have: Wet Nurse already being quite Pthumerian with her accessories and fighting style, Pthumerians and their descendants (down to Cainhurst!) honoring symbolism of crows, Yharnam (a city named after Queen Yharnam, after all) having depiction of BIRD-like Messenger in its oldest part, superstition about crows taking souls of the murdered in Hunter's Dream, people praying to "bloodless ones" to take the souls into Nightmare instead + evidence of it happening with Winter Lanterns.. In my opinion it is fair to assume that the weapons Gehrman created had a pre-existing inspiration and their similarity to pre-existing Pthumerian weapons is not coincidental!

Alright, first - I want a Bloodborne prequel where I could make a Pthumerian Paleblood Hunter. Second, as you can see, concept of the Messengers, the "Hunter" symbol/rune (depiction of the hanged man of course), and even the MOONLIGHT Sword were a thing since Pthumerian times! (It is safe to assume Ludwig found this sword somewhere in the Dungeons, as obtaining Radiant Sword Hunter badge is what lets you buy Tomb Prospector set!)

^ The note already mentioning Laurence associating with Moon Presence, THE Great One of the Hunt and the Dream, is found in Byrgenwerth already! Basically? Without maybe predicting that he would be trapped in the Hunter's Dream one day, Gehrman already knew what he was doing with the weapons.

Conclusion: there was the clear idea in mind! Blade of Mercy, intended to kill people from the start, immortalises the hunters as the HUNTERS and brings them in "Heaven" of Moon Presence, before they turned into beasts, whereas Burial Blade, initially intended for hunting everyone that was no longer human (for example, poor Fish People), ensures they, on the contrary, never go to "Heaven". What later serves to sever a Hunter from the Hunter's Dream initially intended to sever non-humans from it, in a way sentensing them to "Hell". :) Gehrman is a fun person.

+ Also some bonus observations regarding the topic of Yharnamites still continuing Pthumerian traditions, likely brought back because of Byrgenwerth, and then Healing Church, diving into dungeons:

(Context for those that didn't play Bloodborne because Sony hates you and you in particular: both this trap in the dungeons and this bath in Yahar'gul warp you in another area, connected by the circle of candles)

Forbidden Woods, surrounding Byrgenwerth, are full of formations that resemble the Tonsil Stone very much! However, when you examine the woods, you will see that sometimes there are body parts near these "heads"! This could be another case of petrification upon strong arcane impact, similarly to petrified body of Rom near Ebrietas, to petrified bodies of other Kin in Upper Cathedrals covered by fabric, bodies of victims in Yahar'gul, all that!

Were they people living in the woods that started to turn into Kin (like Garden of Eyes that are also found in Byrgenwerth) but didn't live until petrification, or were they baby Great Ones born only to instantly die? I am not sure. Both can work.

But, snakes are an interesting clue here. Besides Forbidden Woods, they are only also found in Hintertombs - a dumping ground for corpses of Pthumeru Ihyll that became venomous! Forgotten Madman, who is a former Choir member as he uses A Call Beyond, is found in these dungeons + getting Cosmic Watcher Badge is what lets you buy Poisonous Knife. Doesn't it look strange for Choir members to pick so much interest in this? Snake infestation might be a strange result of burying cosmic Kin in the ground, a corruption of what would normally be a process of multiple parasites/phantasms settling in a corpse of a cosmic being, OR someone affiliated with one! We do have precedents:

Cosmic creatures, "downgraded" and "filthied", becoming something eartly instead, such as snakes! One of them was able to raise human children (Madaras twins), so sure they are unusual!

So, what I am trying to say is, it is possible that Tonsil Stone is a result of burial of a dead (and rapidly petrifying) cosmic Kin, one that was yet not rotted like what we see in Forbidden Woods! Maybe even more directly so, it is a petrified skull of a cosmic Kin, most likely of Amygdala's kind, and a "meteorite" in the sense of them coming from space! So, creating weapons both of which are connected with burial ritual from the buried Kin is appropriate! This or similar technology maybe also was discovered by Pthumerians long ago, so examining Hintertombs was a great help with figuring what material to use for Burial Blade and Blade of Mercy!

^ These disturbing dead cosmic Kin fetuses are found in Byrgenwerth in two forms: one depicts a petrified corpse, something we already knows happens with Kin, such as Rom and eldrich creatures in Upper Cathedral. Another is dead, rotting, showing horns, and has multiple tiny skulls on its head! The latter one gets my point about corpses of Kin, or maybe anyone touched by Kin, sprouting smaller life forms from within. People infected by snake virus sprout several snakes from their heads, rather than turning into a snake or something!

It is entirely possible that Byrgenwerth used to bury creatures like this in the grounds around the college, and that those gigantic graves in Forbidden Woods were for much larger Great Ones: "Hunt the Great Ones. Hunt the Great Ones." note is found in Byrgenwerth as well! They might have been able to resist the full rotting that results into snakes due to their size and development, hence their graves still show sluggish phantasms. Burying other ones, on the other hand, was a big mistake. Or, should I say.... a GRAVE mista- *gets sniped*

_________________________________

These are my thoughts on the topic! You kinda got two theories at the price of one here, but snake infestation was somewhat relevant in the context of burial and my idea of what IS this "meteorite"! Thank you so much for prompting me to tie this theory together at last!!

[cyphyree]

bestie what did you call those fucking parrots??? "bloodthirsty parakeet satirical caricatures of the Mussolini facist regime" like... what?? genuinely confused, could you explain it to me?

Yeah! Tbh I read this post that made the connection, and thought “damn that made sense actually.” They explain it really well:

(Og post for ask context)

To add on:

The parakeets carrying Himi to the great grand uncle were passing through the world of their ancestors and were tearing up about it. It relates to the above post about fascists glorifying the mythic past

The parakeets held up signs with “Duch” when rallying around their king. This might be a reference to the Italian word “Duce” (meaning “duke” or “leader”). Mussolini is known as Il Duce (“The Leader”), and the term is virtually inextricably associated with him

Parakeets symbolize a variety of things, but in this case may symbolize mindless herd mentality

The culture of the parakeets is very militaristic—even the way they walk is a march—as well as nationalistic. It parallels the show of Japanese nationalism at the start of the movie

When Mahito wakes up in the parakeet kitchen, the chef is gleefully preparing to cook him. It’s almost as if he expected Mahito to celebrate the fact too, but regardless the parakeet doesn’t care about the massacre of others because the victims will serve their regime. Someone I know has a more personal reading of this scene, and they connect it to how, historically, oppressors would celebrate their atrocities as some great deed while the oppressed watched and suffered. The parakeets only cared about their own “greater cause”

Ive seen people also say that the parakeets are stand-ins for the Japanese fascists, German fascists, or human fascists in general—but whatever the specifics may be, the parakeets do seem to represent fascism.

Maybe when the parakeets escaped the underworld and turned into normal birds, it’s their wish being fulfilled: they’ve become their ancestors they glorified so much. They returned to the “great mythic past,” but as it turns out, the “great mythic past” is a great big lie, and probably different from the glory they imagined.

Alternatively, they coveted the peace and simplicity of their ancestors, but they were trying to achieve that through violent and militaristic means, and felt justified in doing so

Alternatively, the parakeets like the pelicans were trapped into this fantasy world, and forced to play roles to parallel the wars of humanity. When they finally escaped, both they and Mahito are free to live as themselves in the real world.

Maybe I’m wrong about some details or missed something, but yeah, that’s where “bloodthirsty parakeet satirical et cetera” came from

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Miscellaneous Birds

So! This is the first in our six-week wind-down of Bestiaryposting, where we run through the Honorable Mentions that appear in the Aberdeen Bestiary but didn't get their own post here because the author of the Bestiary and I have different goals.

If you don't know what any of that means, you can find out at https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting.

To see the entry our artists are working from, click here:

To see the entry people are drawing now, so that you can potentially join in, click here:

Art is below the cut, in roughly chronological order.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) decided to do Literally All of the birds. I am fascinated by the detail here; I particularly like the pose on the Hreakgleav, and the feathers on the Klethghrom. I would direct anyone trying to figure out which is which to the linked post, which contains a key and brief descriptions of each.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) has also given us a tree full of birds. The explanation in the linked post of which is which and what they were inspired by is illuminating (pun not intended), so check that out. I especially enjoy the interpretations of the Klethghrom and the Lokfotreag. (And thank you for providing alt text.)

@wendievergreen (link to post here) has drawn three of the birds in their always-charming style. For explanations, close-ups, and individual treatments of each, please see the linked post. I really like the tail on the Hreakgleav and the... frankly insane look of the Klethghrom. (Also thank you for providing alt text.)

All right, we're going to identify these rapid-fire because there are a bunch of them and I'm not going to hand you a whole-ass essay here. Readers are encouraged to add their own commentary.

Tluftasong

The manuscript identifies this one as "night owl", but I've seen other sources refer to this entry as the "night heron". I'll leave that one to people who know birds more.

Lokfotreag

This is the hoopoe. Which, as listeners to the podcast know, you can trade to demons for perpetual access to great parties. The illustration is very cool, and seems to show the young birds rejuvenating their aging parent.

Hurrashbeg

Really love the Stylized Plant, of course. One of the things that really strikes me about medieval manuscript art is how particular things that Definitely Don't Exist keep cropping up in different manuscripts, looking pretty much the same. Like, unless this is by the same artist who did the Rutland Psalter, it shows an interestingly consistent artistic tradition -- I swear that's the exact same plant, and in a couple other places in the manuscript they have the exact same wyvern.

Anyway, those are clearly magpies. I don't know why they're being shot at.

Konchilkuk

This one didn't get an illustration, but it's the woodpecker.

Wobrahfmet

Yep, that sure is a raven. They actually have a really long entry, but it's mostly about what they symbolize.

Hrongnewit

This one is the kite. Yeah, that looks pretty believable.

Klomurgrae

This is... apparently the ibis. Also, from the context of the entry, I think it's intended to be standing on a snake. Neither of those look like the things they are supposed to be.

Zagsmenrok

This is the blackbird. I have no explanation for why it's brown. The illustrator clearly has access to black ink.

Hreakgleav

Yep, that's very clearly an owl.

Wahrembeag

It tickles me that these are right next to each other, because there's a moderately-well-known Middle English poem called "the Owl and the Nightingale". This is pure coincidence; they're not together in the bestiary, there are a few birds in between.

Oh yeah, this is the Nightingale.

Sarbrufeat

This is the heron. The illustration seems broadly correct, but do herons come in white? That's an egret, surely.

Keltrumram

This is the coot -- doesn't look like one to me, but maybe the artist and I are familiar with different species of coot. Readers may recall its cameo in the Eagle entry; its own is unfortunately rather shorter.

Grozfarwat

Meet the quail. I was initially confused, but apparently the plume thing I associate with quails is not actually common to all species of quail. So... yeah, good quail.

Mortelgeng

Very definitely a crow.

Burngraega

Also very identifiable, here's the swan. Head and beak seem a bit flatter and wider than I would expect, though.

Klethghrom

This was basically the poster child for "too obvious to get its own entry". Here's the peacock.

And that's it for this week, it's late. Talk amongst yourselves, or tell me what you think about all these birds.

[lychee-angelica]

ashwini nakshatra 🍯

please do not plagiarise or copy my work, thank you my loves

ashwini nakshatra occurs at 0.00° - 13.20° of aries, ruled by ketu and influenced by mars. it is the first nakshatra of the twenty-seven lunar mansions, in a sense marking itself as the original ascendant point. planet sun becomes exalted in ashwini specifically and funnily enough the sun rises on the eastern horizon - where all of our ascendant signs are calculated from. ashwini is the dawn of the sun x

the word ashwini literally means "horse-woman" or "a beautiful stallion". despite the yoni of this nakshatra being a male horse the word ashwini translates to something quite feminine. a horse is the main symbol of this nakshatra, making it very important when understanding the qualities of ashwini. horses are a symbol of good health, vitality, beauty and opulence. the quality of ashwini is light and swift, aligning well with horses characteristically speaking. this nakshatra is fast, powerful, wild yet elegant and graceful.

additionally, the bird that symbolises ashwini nakshatra is an eagle. a bird that represents a kind of fierce beauty, proud independence, freedom and strength.

i would also like to add that just as how not all aries people are the same, not all ashwini people are the same either. the padas distinguish the nakshatra further into fourths. each pada essentially is a sign that planet falls within in our navamsa charts. the pada will indicate certain traits attributed to the sign in our navamsa charts.

ashwini pada 1 falls in aries - lively, pioneering, energetic

ashwini pada 2 falls in taurus - materialism, down to earth

ashwini pada 3 falls in gemini - light-hearted, witty, friendly

ashwini pada 4 falls in cancer - emotional, compassionate

mythological significance 🍯

wife of suyra

the ashvini kumaras are the gods of ashwini, they are twin horse headed deities. their mother was wife of sun, suyra. she had once fled her husband due to his immense heat, taking on the form of a female horse, venturing far away into the woods in order to recuperate. she had casted a shadow of sorts or a clone of herself to take care of her affairs at home. although, suyra eventually figured the reality of the situation, from there he swiftly took form of a horse and ran after her. upon reunion the two made love in their horse forms and the ashvini kumaras were then born.

this story portrays many things, the first being a tendency to run-away from our issues in life whether literally or metaphorically. this can manifest in someone's life through forms of escapism and even deception. although this theme of running away from our problems tends to be for the purpose of regaining our own vitality and peace, finding ourselves once more.

the second key message in the story is that of loyalty and devotion. suyra's wife did not wish to leave his side, she temporarily distanced herself from her husband for her own health and well-being. this is why ashwini individuals tend to remain loyal in love despite their apparent independence, boldness and awareness of their own needs. for this reason, sun becomes exalted in ashwini nakshatra, specifically occurring at 10° of aries - pada four. ashwini pada four resembles the most softest and compassionate side of ashwini as it falls in the sign of cancer in our navamsa charts, this is why suyra thrives best here. ashwini is the true wife of sun.

another note is that suyra's wife married a man of high status, he is literally the hottest. this is why ashwini is often times attributed to opulence and luxury. additionally, horses are symbolic of wealth in society which has been quite a timeless association. although money and fame is not the motive of ashwini women, just a little side note.

miraculous healing

the asvini kumaras are celestial physicians to the gods. there are copious amounts of stories told of the twins performing medical miracles for others. they most notedly cure blindness specifically, but also regenerated the health, well-being, youth and beauty of others. the twins were knowledgeable on the sciences, medicine and art of surgical practice but had a thirst for divine and occult knowledge in order to 'cut to the chase' so to speak with their miracle workings.

the fact that the asvini kumaras primarily cure blindness is quite significant. when we think of eyesight, visible perception and light, suyra's exaltation within ashwini provides deeper reason. ketu on the other hand, resembles a dark force of ultimate nothingness, metaphorical blindness. it is just like to say that our literal pupils are just twin black holes of empty space, with those same eyes all that can be taken in is the immense light of suyra. the story portrays the act of curing blindness as miraculous, meaning attributed to divine working, acknowledging the divinity of our own vitality. in ashwini nakshatra health and well-being is expressed as something divine with a sense of regenerated youth. ashwini individuals are able to peer through beyond the veil so to speak, entwined with the affairs of tangible and internal realties, the seen and unseen.

characteristically the asvini kumaras are painted as youthful and delightful deities, even a mischievous and cunning pair with good intentions. they are interested in the secrets of divinity and are willing to take short cuts or loopholes in order to learn quickly. they are highly compassionate and in tune with the needs of others. ashwini people tend to be very light-hearted and don't take things too seriously. their cunning and intelligent nature ultimately negates any mistaken nativity in their character.

appearance 🍯

when discussing the physical appearance, it is important to note that our other placements will garner influence over the appearance in our charts too - specifically speaking our moon, sun and ascendant. i believe too that first or second house lord placed in ashwini will result similar features.

one of the most notable traits of ashwini women is their lips, they are usually wide, if not they'll be quite moderate in length, along with moderate plumpness. the cheekbones of these women tend to be high set too along with a moderately pointed chin - the face is usually tight in structure despite the overall length. the most common eye shape i have seen with these women is slightly hooded and large eyes, especially with ashwini ascendant and moon. overall these women physically possess a quite youthful and elegant kind of beauty.

suyra ashwini (sun) - gigi hadid & anya taylor-joy

chandra ashwini (moon) - selena gomez & zendaya

personality sun, moon & ascendant 🍯

when either sun, moon or ascendant is placed within ashwini the traits of course become personal. these individuals are independent and bold, they are the types to value their freedom and will prioritise their health and well-being. they have a quite cunning, playful and even mischievous side to them too. they are light-hearted, sweetly-spoken and don't take life too seriously. they are also very loyal and devoted to their loved ones.

people born under ashwini may have a tendency to become quite impatient, they may even speak or walk pretty swiftly too. they may love adrenaline and adventure. these people likely have a thirst for divine and occult knowledge too.

planets in ashwini mercury, venus, mars, jupiter & saturn 🍯

mercury in ashwini people are very friendly and good at communicating with others, most people will often find these individuals highly likeable. they can be quite witty, cunning and have good sense of humour. they are highly intelligent, skilful and have the ability to learn very quickly. they may also speak in a quick yet delightful and persuasive manner.

venus in ashwini people are highly compassionate and devotional lovers. others may perceive them, particularly the women as worthy of a very valuable or even high status partner. there is also something beautiful when it comes to their light-hearted and playful natures - especially when relating to love interests.

mars in ashwini people may be very self-made types, very strong independent streak can be seen. people with this placement can have a very stunning physique too, they may appear very healthy. similar to sun, mars in ashwini can indicate someone who possesses the characteristics of a pioneer or leader.

jupiter in ashwini people may be very intrigued with the bigger, over arching questions in life. they most likely have a thirst for divine and occult knowledge and refreshing perspectives and beliefs. they also tend to grasp these topics quickly, even through some sort of spiritual loophole. they are like pioneers when it comes to spiritual and existential ideology.

saturn in ashwini people may be quite impatient, they can be frustrated when it comes to their karmas and struggles in life. although saturn is not debilitated in ashwini, he still struggles within the sign of aries. unfortunately saturn's slow paced and patient nature is quite uncomfortable within ashwini.

© lychee-angelica 2023

[hugsandchaos]

Okay, I know I said that Danny + dark crystal = Eldritch Danny reflex transformation, but this is separate from that. Let’s take a quick step back for a quick second, because I thought this was a good idea.

Danny accidentally touches Twilight’s dark crystal, or maybe he does it on purpose not realizing that’s the thing turning him into a wolf, and becomes a giant space bird. He could either be a raven, crow, or magpie, and here’s the explanation!

Raven or Crow: Ravens and crows are known as symbols of death or something like that, so that would be a reference to his status as a halfa. His dark wings would be perfect for glowing spots or swirls of colors like stars and distant galaxies on a clear night, and they wouldn’t really affect his hair color once he’s back to normal since the feathers are dark. Unless you want to add a few small random spots of white that eventually fade back to black.

This form would also have a ghost form, which looks pretty ethereal. The “living” form has dark feathers, eyes glowing like you took the moon, duplicated it, and put it in his eye sockets with a hint of blue, and several glowing white spots on the under-view of his wings. The ghost form has white feathers, eyes so dark that it looks as if light itself can’t escape it and somehow with a hint of green, and the white spots have turned black.

Magpie: I just noticed that when Danny had bird features in a lot of fan AUs, they’re usually magpie features, which I think is pretty cool! I mean, you can just switch the colors of the feathers when you go from “living” to “ghost”, and you get the best of white and black feathers in both forms! With this one, Danny could have a few stripes of pure white in his hair when he changes back, but his entire hair color doesn’t change like Legend’s did because his feathers were both black and white.

Both ideas could have a few of the same things. Here’s a list of them!

•White spots and streaks in the black feathers to resemble stars and comets, the patterns switching colors depending on which form Danny’s in.

•Under-view of the wings reflects the night sky, even during the day. Looks really odd in ghost form, though.

• ⬆️ Both ideas are for two reasons; To symbolize Danny’s obsession of space and blending in during night flights.

•While in his living form, Danny flies just like a bird. A giant bird, but still a bird, which is a bit of trial and error given how he used to fly. While in ghost form, his core does most of the work, but he can still use his wings to push himself even further.

•Living form eyes glow like the moon, ghost form eyes are dark like black holes.

•Eyes stay the same color? Blue in living, green in ghost.

•Danny is able to mimic sounds and voices just like a crow/raven/magpie. He has fun with it.

•Giant space bird form is 25 feet tall.

Scenarios with Corvid Danny!

•Twilight tries to calm Danny down, but after looking over himself and moving around a little, Danny actually gets excited and starts showing Twilight his new space wings. Danny will want to go back to normal sooner or later, but for now, he wants to stay in this form for a bit. Still, he knows the crystal belongs to Twilight, so he asks him if he can stay in the form for “a bit” to enjoy being a giant space corvid. Twilight was a little confused by Danny’s enthusiasm, but he agreed.

•Explaining it to the group. Twilight explains that the giant space bird is Danny, and when Sky offers to turn him back, Danny refuses and explains again that he wants to see what this form can do first. And then he shows off his space wings, because that’s his favorite part about the whole situation. He has no idea why his form is a giant space bird, but he’s not complaining! Twilight says that he’s letting Danny borrow the crystal for a bit, but there’s obviously going to be a few rules.

•Danny’s not allowed to go near civilization, he’s to avoid travelers, no flying too far, no fighting until he gets used to this form to avoid mishaps, and no jumping off cliffs to practice flying! Get down from there, space nerd!

•Danny carries them and lets them mess with his feathers as long as they don’t pull. I think Sky is most likely to ride on Danny’s back for fun and anyone can climb up onto his head to get a vantage point of the area, but who’s the first to actually ask? Danny suggested it, actually! He wanted the others to see the view he did and lowered his head, then told them to climb on. Then his lifted his head back up, slowly so he wouldn’t drop them, and let them watch the view with him.

•It’s snowing. The group can’t find shelter to get the fire started and they’re tired. Corvid Danny uses his wings to make a tent for them! His wings are really big to support his weight and size, so it worked! Oh, and don’t worry! The temperature wasn’t actually bad for Danny. 1; He has feathers. 2; He’s used to these temperatures and lower. 3; His ghost half.

•Danny practicing flying whenever he gets the chance. He picks up on it pretty quickly! Half of it is from closely watching normal ravens/crows/magpies flying and copying them, and the other half is trial and error.

•Normal corvids flock to Space Corvid Danny and talk to him. They think the strange, giant bird with wings like the night sky needs investigation, and they ultimately decide that he’s friend material!

•Space Corvid Danny copying all sorts of sounds and even the group’s voices. He thinks it’s really funny, and he’s right! The group asks him to copy certain things, sometimes to make fun of each other, and it’s great.

•Space Corvid Danny VS Big Flying Monster!!!

•Space Corvid Danny talking with Twilight about how much he loves learning to see the world in this new perspective.

•The Links spotting or even making constellations in his wings. He gets really hyped up about it, and if they’re making up new constellations, they’re now obligated to make up stories based off it with him!

•The others got “animal habits” or something from their forms, and so does Danny! What are these habits? Let’s brainstorm! Definitely developing a fondness for shiny things, but his space obsession urges him to organize it into a constellation or some other space related art project… That’s all I can think of. 🙁

•Space Corvid Danny going ghost would be pretty interesting! The night sky patterns being inverted would be quite the otherworldly sight!

•He 100% gets Wild to take a few pictures with his phone.

•Danny either going to Twilight and Sky and says he’s had his fun and is ready to turn back, or he’s asked for it back and he agrees. Then he hugs Twilight and thanks him for letting him have such a fun opportunity. Twilight thought it was interesting that Danny didn’t freak out and immediately search for a way to change back, but rather want to explore this new perspective.

•As I’ve said, if it’s a magpie, Danny could have a few stripes of pure white in his hair when he changes back, but his entire hair color doesn’t change like Legend’s did because his feathers were both black and white.

•He might get the chance to be Space Corvid Danny again someday. Who knows?

Little bonus bit!

•Sam and Tucker think that Danny’s Space Corvid form is pretty neat and ask if he can still become a ghost, and he happily shows off! They climb on him, go for a flight, mess around with mimicking sounds, and overall have a great time together. Some of the Links think it’s sweet.

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

Any tips on creating monsters? Especially if these monsters are simply some of the native life forms of an isolated location our heroes find themselves on? I mean sure, I think of whatever creepy and scary idea you can think of and chuck it in... but there would probably be reasons they evolved that way naturally and it isn't to terrorise outsiders.

Also, if I have one of those monsters secreting a toxin, how possible is to to have one of my humans someone be immune to it, or otherwise has minimal effect on them?

Addy: If you're looking to make something fit an ecological niche, start with what already exists and work from there. Not necessarily a cut-and-paste, but take inspiration from it.

For example, there's something to be said about the simple bear. Bears are scary. They're big, they're tough, they're pretty fast, they can climb trees, they're reasonably clever, and they're very hard to kill. The word "bear" basically means "the brown one," as people used to be so scared of bears they wouldn't say their name, in case a bear got summoned.

Also wild boars. Pigs are freakishly big, and wild hogs are worse. Boar spears have a crossguard to keep the hog from just running the spear through its whole body as it runs at you. You also get into jaguars (they're like IRL drop bears in the shape of cats), crocodiles, and all sorts of kinds of things. Even hippos.

You want somewhere to start? Take a large, bulky predator (or omnivore or big herbivore) and give it some weird traits. Adapt it to the demands of your local environment. Give it a niche to fill, with a lot of the basic premise/heavy lifting done for you by nature. How about a giant bat? Or a coyote with mange (likely the origin of the capybara tale)? Or a cannibalistic giant lizard? Then add spooky and scary stuff, go for it. But remember - some of the creatures that we find very normal and commonplace? They were once considered monsters too.

For toxins... it depends on what the toxin is. If it shuts down specific metabolic processes, then your characters could be totally immune, as they have different biology. Or maybe it's like how alliums (garlic, onions, and leeks) are super toxic to most pet and livestock species, but not us. Our blood is just a bit different in a way that makes n-propyl disulfide (the compound that makes alliums toxic) wayyyy less toxic. The toxin could also be intended for birds or reptiles or whatever else, and therefore have a lesser effect on mammals. Or maybe humans are just special.

Also, threat displays are very much a thing. They're big, they're flashy, they're scary. You can have a critter that hisses and growls and blows up a neck pouch for intimidation, and the intended purpose of that is to scare off creatures that would try to steal its food.

Feral: I’m gonna take a slightly different approach to monster making than filling an evolutionary niche. Classic horror monsters often derive from thematic or symbolic exploration. Vampires are a seductive Other; although they come from older folktales, the vampire of today was born in the early 19th century to explore the racist, xenophobic, and homophobic anxieties of English society.  Werewolves also have much older origins than the common version in modern media but have always blurred the line between a civilized human and a primal beast. 

Looking to the horror King, It fed on fear, taking the shape of the children’s fears - monsters from B-movies like werewolves, a clown, a woman from a creepy portrait, a syphilis-infected homeless man, a zombified Georgie - which the narrative used to explore more abstract fears - leaving childhood and going through puberty, not to mention the overall terrorizing effect of racism, misogyny, and homophobia on the population. The Shining doesn’t even try to pretend it’s not about alcoholism and the effects of substance abuse on a family.

You mention that this story will take place in an isolated setting. Isolation is terrifically thematic. How can you lean into it? What if everyone who dies seems to be totally alone when it happens? And even after they realize they’re in danger, they keep putting themselves in a situation to be alone? Pair that with your monster’s evolution to better survive. Does the monster have some way of peeling one person off from the pack as part of how they hunt - maybe they have some form of vocal mimicry like some birds or a cat that makes the person think they are going towards a crying baby or wounded animal? Does it have exceptional camouflage so no one suspects they are not alone when they’re in a vulnerable position? You mention there being a toxin - instead of killing, can it produce hallucinations or paranoia that would cause a person to split from the group? These could all help the monster hunt whatever its normal prey would be while still tapping into much more abstract fears that you want to explore.

[starzgaze]

Hai Haii!

Random question: you know the Types of people as Animals?? ie. The black cat, golden retriever, golden cat, black lab, ext.

Okay so what type of person do you think Jinwoo, Thomas Andre, Liu Zhigang and Cha hae in are? (Add any other character too if you want)

Also here's a link to a uquiz that started this decent into madness ahhdbd :

https://uquiz.com/quiz/Hg8xGo?p=3738430

Or you can search -> Are you a Black Cat or a Golden Retriever? By miacathart

(I got Golden Cat as a result btw if your curious.)

Honestly no pressure. You kinda seem like your going through it so I thought this could be a silly thing to cheer you up, even for a moment.

cheers,

✒️ nonnie

HII ✒️ NONNIE and erhrhrh dw about me im just err... going through it TOT but nice to see you again www also you're a golden cat?? so like... orange... right... u and me r twins

anyway yeahh!! i know about that and i think i got like... golden cat or orange cat in some quizzes and i meaan yeah I'm low-key air headed something is in my head and its not my brain nonnie!!

oh I've thought about that i think like wayyy way back i think it's like widely accepted that jinwoo is a black cat and i mean... i also agree but not the fact his whole fashion sense is just black black black but there's symbolism here and there such as black cats are seen as a symbol of death or bad luck is looming over you, mostly negative symbolism or ties with death which is fitting for our shadow monarch

not to mention have you seen those cat videos in the internet? especially the black cat videos where sometimes they're basically liquid and merges with their surroundings if it's reallyyy dark? yeah that's jinwoo can't convince otherwise, also the attitude?? jinwoo is a teeny weeny atleast sassy atleast, it's funny though.

also he fits it over all vibe too, he seems pretty distant at first but once he warms up and garners affection for you he wouldn't leave you alone even if he seems a bit distant.

for thomas I personally think he would be a dog type but not particularly a golden retriever or black lab either, probably a different breed of big dog that's purposely high maintenance and difficult to take care but also fiercly protective and loyal just how he is. probably a great Pyrenees or dogs that's mistakened as a lion or some big animal lmfaoo

he's huge and wild bro!! a bit violent here and there but it was mostly out of survival for him and his guildmates. other than that though i imagine he's a lovable guy like probably really nice to hug and hang around with like a big dog, not to mention he sort of has the attitude of one if you squint.

okay listen to me with zhigang. that man is not any of the listed animals if I'm being fr... zhigang would be a rooster... hear me out

actually not really a rooster only i had some other ideas or for other animals but none of them were mammals and mostly birds soo, he would be a bird. zhigang's personality is PROBABLY extroverted and a bit loud but it's fine because its liu zhigang

he seems to be a morning person to me, being a martial artist enthusiast and all. it's part of his routine to wake up early and drag any unfortunate person to his morning exercise and stretches that is soul crushing from how painful it is. also don't even try to sleep through his first call out to you for the morning exercise, he will become your personal rooster so just you can accompany him.

cha hae-in.... i honestly think she's a white cat just to contrast jinwoo but she's more of an angel to be with in general or I'm just biased to girls... anyway she seems more aloof and quiet compared to an orange cat or any dog breed except for a few probably but to me she's a cat from just how she strut in those panels lmfaoo

she seems to be the type to just space out or listen to you quietly before giving her own advice. hae-in is also elegant like a white cat bro have you seen her move or act? she's so poise and pretty especially when fighting with a sword.

but also she acts like a cat with her quiet... judging eyes or maybe out of the blue truthful words like cats that literally just swats you for no reason, just like how hae-in is with her advice that sometimes seem too blunt at times. (probably a reason why jong-in doesn't let her deal with conferences) but she's a great friend to be with! gentle and kind like a white cat heuughh i love her cutie patootie she's a girls girl

okay last one i talked about this one with some people and I'm sure about jinchul being a dog type but i have some thoughts on what type he would be or what breed. now that I've thought more about it, shiba inu would fit him ya know? intelligent dogs that's known for saving it's owners from danger and calamities just how jinchul save hunters and try to protect them and alsoo sort of has a resemblance to them lmfao

but he also fits being a border collie! that dog breed is known for herding sheep and protecting stuff! the breed is alert, loyal, and intelligent soo yeah i can also see jinchul being this type of dog too lmfaoo but probably an older one too just seeing how low-key tired he is judging from in game dialogue you can see whenever you meet him inside of the lobby

he's protective and attentive so what's not there to love? he's soo pookie I'm gonna squeeze him into a pulp someone stop me

also extra my sister told me she sees jinwoo as a ferret and i mean.. i see it actually and all this animal personality talk made me wanna do a hybrid au with these cutie pies i have ideas running in my head now

[werewolfcave]

Erza Headcanons:

Transfem Butch Dyke, She/Her + Ze/Hir pronouns

Starts out canon on the thinner side but post canon she is fat just like her mom. She's about 5'10", likely would have been 6'2" if not for childhood malnourishment. She's definitely fucking jacked, but it's hidden a bit under the fat.

Married to Jellal and Mirajane, and eventually lives with them.

She is also dating Lucy, and is rather enamored by her. A very knight and princess type relationship.

She has a huge soft spot for pretty women and for a while she had an accidental reputation for being a womanizer (she didn't mean to be she just was weak in the knees and awkwardly flirting with girls).

She has Autism, ADHD, and OCD. Her love of sugar is largely in part due to her ADHD.

She's half dragon from her mother's side and this results in horns and slightly pointed ears.

Due to being the child of a dragon and developing mostly in the womb of a dragon (she was likely frozen in time during the first trimester and meaning Irene carried out what is likely the second and third trimester while physically a dragon, yet enchanted to appear human) she is not at risk of dangerous dragonization. If she were to ever transform into a dragon she would have free ability to fully transform back to her human form without the repercussions Irene experienced.

She is Mixed Māori-European, specifically Māori from her mother's side, and German on her father's side.

Her large armor, blade, and clothes collection is her pride and joy, and often when she's feeling unwell she will get something to add to her collection. It's like those people that feel sad and go order something from Etsy.

Her hair is EXTREMELY important to her, partially due to it was the first thing she had control over after fleeing the Tower. Cut it at your own peril.

She can figure out the ingredients of a meal by taste and texture alone.

She is blind in one eye, her glass eye has no magical properties other than mimicking the movement of the other eye.

Has a slight limp post GMG due to overuse and heavy injury. It worsens post her fight with Irene as the bone viciously rebroke. By the time she's in her 50s she ends up needing to use a cane.

She has 4 birds in flight tattooed right below her collar bone, one for each member of Team Natsu.

Additionally she eventually gets two swallows tattooed on her back, one on each shoulder blade. They are a symbol of how far she has traveled by boat (each swallow represents about 5,000 nautical miles, and due to her sailing to and from Tenrou multiple times, sailing to Alakitasia and Guiltina both of which are entire other continents, sailing to Galuna, and likely much other quests that have required sailing that happen off screen or post-100YQ, I think it's safe to say she has sailed far). She was encouraged to get them by the pirates she befriended during the Galuna Island arc, who she still keeps in contact with.

[snowdice]

Little Kestrel (Part 55) [Birds of Different Feathers Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan & Patton & Virgil (future Virgil/Patton but not in this story)

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton, Virgil

Appear: Thomas

Mentioned: Janus

Summary:

It was supposed to be a quick job either way. Either Virgil would assassinate King Thomas of Prijaznia or he’d be caught and get executed. Yet, when Virgil gets the wrong bedroom and gets caught by Prince Logan and his future royal advisor, Patton, the job ends up getting way more complicated for the 14-year-old. He also ends up sleeping in a (actually pretty comfortable) closet for a few weeks…

Notes: Implied/referenced child abuse, assassination attempt, knives, torture mentioned, captivity, teenagers being really dumb, sexual coercion of minors implied, a minor offering sexual favors, fire

This is a prequel to Kill Dear. I wrote it 100 words at a time on my blog, but this is the edited version. If you want to see how it was crafted (and possibly some future content), look at the tag proofread stories.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53 Part 54

Virgil was beginning to be able to read some of the common instructions in magic books, but Logan still made sure to read out the instructions to him at least twice before setting him loose. He’d started to jot down notes to himself about things, though these notes were not words, but various symbols that only made sense to the boy himself.

Logan had asked about their meaning at one point and received an answer that, while earnest, was unintelligible. The symbols were mostly just pictures of things to represent certain steps in spell casting, but they were filtered through Virgil’s rudimentary penmanship and often bizarre perception of the world.

Though, despite the fact that Logan could not often decipher his chicken scratch, it did seem to help him produce more and more quality charms even as Logan began to introduce more complicated processes to make them. He was a very good student even if he didn’t have the best foundation for learning.

“I add lavender for the next step, right?” Virgil asked, his finger on a word in Logan’s magic book.

“That is correct,” Logan confirmed.

Virgil looked back at the book and mouthed the word ‘lavender’ to himself before turning back to his potion. He grabbed a few sprigs of lavender and threw them into the cauldron.

The liquid popped and bubbled violently, but Virgil didn’t flinch as he once would have, prepared for it now.

After the lavender, Logan knew that it would have to simmer for 5 minutes. Virgil looked down at the boiling liquid, contemplating it for a long moment.

“Can I soak a knife in it?” he asked.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Can I soak a knife in the potion once it’s done?”

“In that potion?” Logan clarified. “In the emergency hand warmer potion?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I think a hot knife would be useful,” Virgil said.

“For what?”

Virgil shrugged. “Cooking food on the road,” he said, “burning wood, stabbing someone and immediately cauterizing the wound.”

“That is… not a standard use for this potion,” Logan said.

Virgil titled his head at him. “Would it work though?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Logan contemplated. “Perhaps. The potion can cause burns if one uses too much of it or if it is used without an appropriate layer between it and the skin. If one were to pick a knife with enough surface area and let it soak long enough, it could in theory get hot enough to do as desired. Hmm…” he thought about it. “There would perhaps be the problem of the potion not sticking to the knife very long as it is intended to soak into fabric. However, cardamom could solve that issue as long as it doesn’t interact with any other ingredients. Let me see that spell.”

Virgil stepped out of his way so he could study the page. “Yes,” Logan said after scanning through all of the ingredients. “I think cardamom would work for something like that. Let me go find some.”

He turned to walk towards where he kept his supplies of potion ingredients. Virgil followed on his heals.

“Can we use a serrated knife?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Virgil,” Logan said, nodding as he searched through the cupboard that should hold the coriander. “The knife being serrated would help keep the potion stuck to the blade after many uses and would increase the surface area.”

“That was certainly my intention,” Virgil said smoothly. There was something odd about the tone that had Logan turning and blinking at him. Virgil just smiled at him innocently and Logan turned back to the cabinet finally locating the cardamom.

“So how are we going to use that?” Virgil asked.

“We’ll put it in right before the last step and let it sit for about 3 minutes,” Logan said. “If it doesn’t quite work, we may need to make another batch. There are options other than cardamom, but that’s the first idea that comes to mind and it’s a lot simpler if it works.”

He continued to speak of the many other options they could try as they returned to the caldron as well as how they could test the hot knife. It was already about time for the next step and Virgil did it without interrupting Logan’s rant.

Virgil listened to his suggestions with interest all while still making sure the potion he was making was progressing well.

Logan did eventually take over to finish the potion with the revised steps he’d come up with and they ended up with a potion that looked perfect except it was a few shades darker than the one they’d originally been planning to make.

“Well, it looks good,” Logan declared. “We will need to acquire a knife to test its effectiveness, however.”

“There are a few good ones in the kitchen,” Virgil pointed out. “I especially like the one 10 inch one with the black and white handle.”

“You have been eyeing up the kitchen knives?” Logan asked.

Virgil rolled his eyes as though that was not a perfectly reasonable question to ask him. “We should steal that one,” Virgil said.

“Do you think we’ll be able to sneak past Ms. Heart to steal a knife from her kitchen?” Logan asked.

“We can’t,” Virgil said. The ‘but I can’ was implied.

Logan almost didn’t believe him… and then he remembered the water pouch incident. “It’s the dinner rush,” Logan said. “We should probably wait for a bit.”

Virgil was shaking his head. “The dinner rush is the best time,” he said. “Everyone will be distracted, and all of the knives will be out and in prime stealing position.”

“And if Patton’s mother catches us messing around in her kitchen during her busiest time of day, she will have Father ground us for a week.”

“Then we just won’t get caught,” Virgil said.

“I’m not sure if it’s that simple,” Logan said with a frown.

“You can stay here if you want,” Virgil offered. “I’ll just go by myself.”

“No, I’ll come too,” Logan relented, though he did still have some reservations about the idea.

He let Virgil lead him towards the main dining hall. By now, Virgil knew the kitchens and dining hall very well.

“Stay here,” he said. They were in a hallway a few feet down from the staff entrance to the main kitchen. “I’m going to do some reconnaissance.”

“What type of reconnaissance?” Logan asked, but Virgil had already vanished before his very eyes. With a blink, Logan looked up and saw a dark figure disappear onto a balcony overhead.

Well, Logan really had no choice but to wait there for him. It wasn’t like he could follow him. He could hear the clatter of silverware on plates from the dining hall down the corridor as he impatiently waited. It only took Virgil a bit over five minutes to return. He dropped suddenly from above and landed in front of Logan in a crouch.

“Well?” Logan asked, letting a bit of irritation into his tone so Virgil knew he was displeased. Virgil did not seem to care.

“Got it,” Virgil said with a wide grin, brandishing a large kitchen knife.

Logan flinched back at the unexpected sight of a weapon.

“You said you were doing reconnaissance!” he sputtered. “Not…” he trailed off remembering that while they weren’t in eyesight of anyone right now, they could be in earshot of someone. He lowered his tone, “stealing the knife already.”

“I was doing reconnaissance,” Virgil said with a shrug, “and then I used the information gathered by that reconnaissance to steal a knife.”

Logan narrowed his eyes at him.

Virgil just smiled. “You would have gotten in my way.”

“I would not have,” Logan insisted.

“How many times has Patton’s mom caught you stealing food from the kitchens in the past?” he asked.

Logan pursed his lips. “That is Patton’s doing,” he said.

“Sure,” Virgil said with an eyeroll. “I’ll have you prove it some other day, but for now,” he twirled the knife around in a way that made Logan cringe even though he did seem to have an expert handle over it. “We have a knife.”

“Right,” Logan agreed with a nod. “We should continue the experiment.”

Virgil stored the knife away… somewhere on his person, and they snuck back to Logan’s rooms.

When Virgil handed over the knife, Logan did have to admit it was a perfect specimen for their project: long and saw-like with a heatproof handle.

Logan carefully set it in a shallow dish and proceeded to pour the potion they’d made onto it. They let it sit for a little under half an hour before carefully pulling it out of the concoction with tongs and letting it airdry. Meanwhile, Virgil suggested they set up a testing area with various old sheets and clothing. They’d even found and decorated an armor stand with an old suit that Logan particularly disliked.

“Well,” Logan said once he’d tapped the handle and had not gotten burned by the potion. “I think we can test it now.” For safety, he made Virgil put on thick heatproof gloves before handing him the knife.

“So how do I make it work?” Virgil asked.

“The original potion works through light friction,” Logan said.

“So just start stabbing things?”

Logan went to respond, but before he could, Virgil had already twisted around and sliced through one of the sheets hanging in Logan’s potion room. There was a sizzling noise as the knife cut through the sheet like it was tissue paper leaving two aflame halves flapping about.

Logan leapt forward to tear the pieces of sheet down and the two of them stomped on the flames to put out the fire.

“It’s perfect,” Virgil said with a grin once the charred remains of the sheet were extinguished.

“It does seem to work as intended,” Logan agreed.

“Let’s do it again,” Virgil said.

“Er, well, perhaps we shouldn’t…,” Logan started, but Virgil had already set his eyes on the armor stand they’d set up. That suddenly seemed like not such a good idea to Logan.

He stabbed the armor stand viciously. It went up in violent flames. Logan’s eyes widened as the blaze only seemed to get bigger as Virgil drew back the knife.

Virgil did not seem to share Logan’s worry as he turned and stabbed another piece of hanging clothing, setting it ablaze as well.

“Virgil, no! You’re going to burn the room down!” Logan yelped.

The armor stand, at that very moment, decided to fall to the ground. They had, perhaps, not set the testing area up as well as they should have because it fell directly onto one of Logan’s rugs and set that on fire as well.

“Oops,” Virgil said, eyes wide.

Above the sound of crackling fire, Logan heard a tapping on the door between his bedroom and work room. It opened slightly after a moment and Logan’s father’s voice called out as he was sticking his head into the room, “Um, what do you mean Virgil… is burning the room down!”

The moment Logan’s father fully processed the presence of the flames, he was bursting into the room. He at least remembered that there was a fire extinguishing powder stocked in Logan’s work room even though that fact had slipped Logan’s mind in the chaos. (Perhaps Logan should have thought to set it out when they were testing a fire knife, but Logan would just add that to his growing list of regrets.)

The king managed to put all of the fires out within 30 seconds of poking his head through the door, but the fire left in his eyes when he turned to look at them afterwards was perhaps more dangerous.

Virgil slowly hid the knife behind his back. It was probably a bit late for that.

“What were the two of you doing in here?” the king asked.

“Nothing,” Logan said. Virgil shot him a look that told Logan what the boy thought about his lying abilities.

Logan’s father put his hands on his hips. “‘Nothing’ set the rug on fire?”

“We may have been doing a small experiment,” Logan said.

“What experiment?” the king asked.

“…I do not wish to say.”

“Logan.”

“Virgil wanted a fire knife.”

“A what?”

Virgil frowned over at Logan. “Your resistance to interrogation techniques is deplorable.”

Father turned to look at Virgil and obviously spotted the fact that Virgil was holding something behind his back.

“Give it here,” Father said, though his tone was a bit gentler with Virgil than it had been with Logan.

Virgil debated it for a moment, but then offered over the knife with a pout on his face. Father gingerly took it and the fire-resistant gloves from him. “Where did the two of you even get this knife?”

“You can’t tell her,” Logan said.

“You stole a knife from the kitchens?!” the king asked.

“We borrowed it,” Logan said.

“Can it be used for cooking anymore?”

“…Well.”

“In the intended manner.”

“No.”

“Then you stole it.”

Logan just frowned and looked away.

“I’m going to go put this in a secure location,” Father said, grimacing at the fire knife in his hands. “No more experiments for you two for a month. I’ll sic Patton on you.”

With that, he picked up what was left of the fire extinguishing powder (just in case) and turned to exit the room.

“Well,” Logan said once he was gone. “That was irresponsible.”

“I could steal it back from him.”

“N-no don’t do that.”

“I definitely could though,” Virgil said.

“I did not hear you say that,” Logan said, putting his hands over his ears. “I am not responsible for any more of your actions in this matter. I am going to the library.”

He walked out of the room then and Virgil followed him to the upstairs library. He said nothing more about the fire knife, but Logan would be a fool to suppose he forgot about it.

[plague-of-insomnia]

Expansion In Black Butler, Public School Arc Anime: Stained Glass

One of the things that absolutely delights me with the new anime is how they’ve used expansion to bring the world to life. I hope to do more posts on this when I am able to get better screenshots, so for now please accept these poor quality ones I took with my phone.

What is “expansion” in this sense?

Essentially, when you adapt something for the screen, you often have to add stuff to fill space, both in the physical sense of what’s on the screen, but also in terms of time. A scene might work fine on one manga page, but if you kept the view fixed like that for an entire scene in an anime or live action, the audience would quickly lose interest.

The anime has done a good job of expanding to fill these spaces in a way that can be charming and clever.

~#~

Something I noticed while rewatching the episode for the twenty millionth time, I realized that the stained glass window that is featured so prominently in the opening scene has been expanded into something with far more symbolism than the original manga page:

The basic design of the room and window is retained, but far more detail has been added, including the fact that the window has two halves, each with a person depicted on them, and they frame Ciel on both sides.

He’s quite literally trapped in shadow between two people, and to me, this is representative of how he is caught between Sebastian and Undertaker/His twin. (Or perhaps one is meant to be RC and one UT, with Seb the shadow in between.)

But there’s more. The top window has a flower motif, but the central flower looks a lot like a star, or perhaps a lily if it were spread out flat?? Additionally, the four flowers of the Weston houses appear in each corner.

Additionally, the window has distinctive doves above and below the saints. While ofc that is a common animal in Christian iconography, the fact that the reapers use pigeons (doves) to communicate, and the fact that UT is a former reaper, could mean this was a very deliberate choice. Perhaps representing how reapers communicate to their superiors (there are images of a man and woman at the top I assume is meant to represent Jesus and Mary)?

The images of the saints feel very familiar to me, but I’m such a lapsed Catholic that I’ve been struggling to identify them.

I thought perhaps that the one on the left could be Frances of Assisi. He’s the patron saint of animals, and is often associated with birds.

The other, I am really unsure about. I thought about things like St. Paul or Augustine, but those don’t fit.

Perhaps St Lazarus? For those of you unfamiliar with Christian mythos, Lazarus died and came back to life, so he’s associated with resurrection. That would certainly fit kuro and Undertaker, wouldn’t it?

A few depictions of stained glass windows featuring St Frances and St Lazarus:

[akysi]

I've had a few ref sheets in the works lately, and I got another one done today. :D Even after I decided to add her to Columba's pirate crew, I'd been stumped for a LONG while on what direction to actually take with the design in general and FINALLY I have one that I really like, especially after giving her a more harpy-ish treatment to add more variety to the many bird constellations. Pretty proud of the symbol integration on this one too, some are easier than others! She's the first I've fully completed of this group so things are bound to get tweaked later on, but this is a good start.

The name Apus means "without feet", as apparently these birds were once thought to not have any, and I thought that would fit perfectly into a double peg-leg to match the pirate theme. A bird-of-paradise could be any number of species under that name though, so I've incorporated attributes from several here, particularly the sicklebills and the various species that have those distinct tail feathers, of both the long and curly varieties. Colour wise, she predominantly resembles the ribbon-tailed astrapia.

Columba's crew isn't exactly evil per se, but they have lost their way a bit after losing their former captain and their ship. Apus loves combat, not for the sake of the outcome, but for the act of combat itself. If you were to lose your weapon during a fight with her, she'd gladly give you one of hers just to continue it! She'll also use her long talons to fight with, but only if she has no other weapons left. Hope you like her. :) ------- The constellation symbol for Apus was originally designed by Denis Moskowitz and released to the public domain.

[sapphire-weapon]

Hi! Sorry if this counts as shitstirring... But you got me thinking... Do you really think that someone really needs to play the games in order to fully understand the story? Or is watching them and reading up on them enough? Thanks, and sorry!!!

Don't be sorry. This is a valid question that deserves an honest answer.

There's nuance to this. This isn't just a simple "yes or no" question.

Do I think that you need to play the games to understand the story? No, I don't. Resident Evil's story is not difficult (though, you'd never know that, looking at the fandom). It's very easy to watch the games and movies, go "ok I got it", and move on.

Do I think that you need to play the games to be considered an authority on the canon? 100%, absolutely. And I'll tell you why.

We spend a lot of time talking about narrative direction and storytelling devices and the use of tropes and cinematography here on this blog, but the one thing that we really need to keep in mind at all times is that Resident Evil is a game first and a story second. This has been the design philosophy since the series's conception. This is why RE4 OG's story was slapped together in three weeks. This is why RE5 was the way that it was. This is why RE7 is what RE7 turned out to be.

The narrative of Resident Evil is not something that exists separately or divorced from its gameplay. In fact, the opposite is true. RE's story is not only influenced by its gameplay, it actually -- in some cases -- is directly written as a result of its gameplay.

I've talked about the story behind RE4's development before, but.

Was RE6's story borderline incomprehensible, and did it jump approximately sixteen sharks? Yes. Was that the main reason why RE6 failed? Absolutely fucking not. Not even close.

RE6 turned out the way that it did because RE6 was developed and released during a time in which the biggest moneymakers in the AAA game space were brown & bloom multiplayer shooters. Capcom wanted in on that gravy train.

RE5 sought to take the award-winning formula that RE4 developed and add a multiplayer element to it in order to initially chase that trend, and RE5 for a very long time was the highest-selling Resident Evil title ever made.

Capcom looked at that and took it to mean that it was RE5's added multiplayer element that made it so successful. They weren't exactly wrong, either. RE5, for a lot of people, was like a version of RE4 that you could play with your friends.

Wesker was not killed in RE5 because Capcom thought it was an appropriate time narratively to kill him. Wesker's death was a symbolic one -- it was the death of the "old" Resident Evil -- the death of the slow, plodding, single player experience that the entire AAA industry had convinced themselves was no longer viable monetarily and not what players wanted. This was especially true for RE, after the unprecedented success of the more action-focused RE4 changed the entire third person shooter genre forever.

By the time we reach RE6, Capcom is all on on this. Three campaigns, all with co-op, all of which play differently. Chris's story is what Chris's story is in RE6 because Capcom knew that most players were probably going to reach for his campaign first, considering he was the protagonist of the most recent release and, therefore, the most recognizable to players who maybe weren't necessarily super familiar with RE. They specifically wanted Chris's campaign to feel like a traditional third person shooter in order to get new players hooked, because Capcom was convinced that that's what a majority of gamers at the time in general wanted.

Leon's story is what Leon's story is in RE6 because it was designed specifically to cater to people who loved RE4 and would reach for him first over Chris. So, they gave Leon a female partner (Helena in place of Ashley) and a slower, more traditional horror setting (while still being action-oriented), and they tried to kill two birds with one stone by having Ada running around and also being the damsel in distress, so to speak, to replicate the "save the princess" plotline from RE4.

But the biggest issue with all of this was that it turned the design philosophy of the game into "how can we sell this?" over trying to just make a good horror game -- and it showed. Capcom cut a hell of a lot of corners in terms of pacing and level design and enemy design and enemy variety in favor of focusing on the combat system (which was never adequately explained and had its nuances lost on approximately 80% of the playerbase), the netcode, and making the game's story as easy to consume and digest as possible while chasing specific market trends.

RE6 didn't go super hard on Aeon because the writing staff was just so ~dedicated to the ship~. RE6 went hard on Aeon because they wanted Leon to look heroic and save the girl just like he did in RE4 but didn't want to create another Ashley after how universally hated she was. Knowing that is how I say so confidently that Remake is retconning Aeon -- it's because the ship itself was never the point. They used it as a gameplay contrivance that they thought would help sell RE6, and it blew up in their faces. So now they're trying something new.

The actual experience of playing Resident Evil 6 was downright miserable to a vast majority of the fanbase because it was a soulless, hackneyed mess that didn't even have the decency to bother giving itself a spooky atmosphere. It was an uninspired series of long hallways filled with bullet sponge enemies and literally nothing else.

So, when the story was stupid and fan favorites like Leon felt like they got screwed over on top of all of that because the same design philosophy of "make this as mass marketable as possible" bled into the story from the gameplay, that was just the shit icing on the shit cake.

People probably would have been much more forgiving of RE6's story if the game design itself was better. Or, conversely, people would've been much more forgiving of RE6's game design if the story was super compelling.

But RE6 was neither.

And so RE7 was Capcom's way of trying to re-learn how to do pacing, level design, and atmosphere. The gameplay was the most important thing. That's why they didn't even bother using the legacy characters and created Ethan and the Bakers. The legacy characters would've been a distraction. They had to fix things one step at a time: gameplay first, story second.

That's why RE7 is RE7 and why we have only seen Leon in CGI movies and not games since 6 (Remakes not withstanding). RE7 fixed the gameplay, and Vendetta, ID, and DI served to reconfigure and redefine Leon's character, and I'm more than sure that they're going to try to finally blend those things together in RE9.

And if you don't play the fucking games, and if you don't fucking understand how the games industry works, you're not going to have any of that fucking context going into your meta analysis.

That's why braindead motherfuckers in this fandom look at that stupid remark made about how the one director thought that Leon and Ashley holding hands during RE4make's gameplay made them look "too close" and they read way too much into it -- it's because the spoken words of the directors are all they have to go off of, and they don't realize what a bad gameplay decision having Leon and Ashley hold hands would have been.

If you don't play the fucking game, you don't know that the half-second it takes for Leon to switch from his knife to his gun can mean the difference between taking a hit or not -- and so you would have no reason to think of how annoying it would be to add yet another half-second delay to Leon drawing his gun if he had to disengage from Ashley first. If you fuck with the normal gameplay loop with something that only happens when Ashley is with you, it will make the player start to resent Ashley, and that's the opposite of what the devs wanted to do -- which is what the fucking conversation in the interview was about in the first place!

That is far more likely the reason why the handholding was cut. And while that decision was being made, it was probably pointed out that having them hold hands made it look like they were on a date -- and that's absolutely not the tone/atmosphere that this game was going for. That is far more likely what was meant by "too close."

It had nothing to do with ensuring that the players perceived Leon and Ashley's relationship as platonic. It had everything to do with tone and atmosphere and the pacing of the normal gameplay loop. It's just that "*juts a thumb in his direction* This guy thought it made them look too close" was a way fucking easier explanation of what they probably thought was a really fucking unimportant anecdote about a character animation that didn't matter.

But if you don't play the games, you won't know that.

If you don't play the games, Word of God is all you have to go on. That's why people who don't play the games insist on all Word of God being explicit canon. It's because they can't use the games themselves as a baseline -- and that gives them a skewed, fucked up perspective of what Resident Evil is trying to do and be and accomplish.

This kind of shit is constantly in my head when I'm writing my meta and trying to predict where a game's story will go next.

I pull my meta directly from the games, because that is what Resident Evil is. It is a series of games that are trying to be good games first and interesting stories second.

And if you don't understand that, you have no business calling yourself an authority on the canon.