#and can probably provide context for how i'm going to be writing her

[icearts]

Nobody is talking about how Angeal and Sephiroth are exact opposites in EC and it's making me unwell so I'm gonna dump it.

Have some pictures of their 2D renders for fun

Prepare yourself, this rant is a little long (but don't worry there's visual aids)

There's more obvious tells out there, like their body language and overall postures, Angeal is generally more open and Sephiroth is generally more guarded.

However, notably, this carries into how they hold their weapons throughout all of their appearances, even in Crisis Core

Fair warning, my source is multiple Google articles so prepare for some inaccuracy and uncertainty. Feel free to correct me.

Sephiroth carries his sword in an ox guard, which has the purpose of intimidating your opponent while also having the sword protect your vital organs.

Angeal's sword is held in a plow guard, which operates a bit like a fool's guard (I actually thought it was one at first), making yourself look more open to attacks to Provoke an enemy into coming in. Unlike the fools guard, the plow guard gives you a quicker maneuverability to strike first once the opponent comes in.

This is really important for their fighting styles, as Sephiroth is quick and deadly, meanwhile Angeal (i think the game refers to his character type as a Provoke Tank) always stands somewhat in front of Seohiroth and tries to draw in hits, acting as a shield. They have the sword and shield dynamic

BUT ITS ALSO RELEVANT TO THEIR PERSONALITIES you see Sephiroth acts cold and bitter, trying to keep people at arm's length, especially raw after EC Part 1 where he and his past friends had a Not Great Time (I won't give the recap sorry it'll take too long and I'm laser focused rn). Anyways, Sephiroth, much like his stance, tries to intimidate people into staying back. He will not let himself look vulnerable to attacks.

Meanwhile, Angeal is more open and friendly, taking Sephiroth's briskness and impoliteness in stride. He's open and welcoming even when Sephiroth's defense is his offense.

They're also both well trained with swords, so they can probably infer a lot about each other's personalities through how they hold their blade. Angeal seeing Sephiroth as someone who is guarded and closed off, avoiding getting hurt by being the first to lash out. Sephiroth views Angeal as being too open and vulnerable, and may even have a presumption that, like his fool's guard, Angeal is baiting Sephiroth into getting close enough that he can attack him the second he's open. It's good shit.

Next up: the weird purple-vignetted dreams they get in EC

So there's some spooky shenanigans going on in this story. I have my own predictions as to what's going on, but for future's sake, at the time of writing this is am only 2 chapters in. I'll try to be more direct to context and then provide my future game predictions at the end. Cool? Cool.

So we know based on canon that Sephiroth's dream isn't a memory, or an event or anything like that. So by process of elimination, Angeal's is the same way. Plus

Little confirmation here that Angeal always felt unable to care for his parents, which hurts me so bad btw. Anyways, analysis time.

Sephiroth fantasizes about being cared for and reassured. He wants to know what it's like for someone to love him unconditionally, he cannot even imagine the possibility. This dream shows him exactly that, his mother making him food and telling him she's always been there for him and they've always has this. In the dream, he believes it although is confused by conflicting memories. She's momentarily able to convince him that he is cared for and loved by her. In reality, he's never met his mother (her name isn't Jenova either, but that's a story for another day).

Angeal fantasizes about being to care for others. He wants to help his village, create a strong community, care for his parents and make it so they do not have to work so hard. He wants everyone to feel safe, secure, and rested and he is willing to carry all of the work on his shoulders to the best of his ability. His dream shows him doing exactly that, which based on the falsehood of Sephiroth's dream, means it's a false memory and he never was able to care for his parents for whatever reason. Really hopeful the game will tell us soon. Maybe he did try but it wasn't enough. Maybe he was weak because they didn't have enough food. Who knows.

Also, for context, Tetsuya Nomura (FF7 director) did confirm that Angeal's father has a chronic illness and died shortly after Angeal joined SOLDIER, after having worked himself to death. So Angeal dreaming of these memories of helping his dad to support his grateful but guilty mother is likely very much influenced by a sense of grief or guilt.

Then in the next chapter, these dreams happen again.

The Banorans obviously either did not make this promise or did not act on it, seeing the state Angeal's family is in in Crisis Core, his dad having worked himself to death when he was a young recruit and his mother being in a very grief-stricken and detached state.

So this plays into how they view the world. Sephiroth longs for someone to protect him from the world he's observed to be cruel and cold. He mentions this in dialogue talking about how they world views anything different as a monster. Even SOLDIERs to which Angeal promises himself that he'll help Sephiroth see that people are not all like that.

Sephiroth is jaded and distant to protect himself, as he thinks the world will turn on him in a moment's notice. Angeal, however, holds an optimistic worldview. He believes people want to help each other and everyone wants to help each other to the best of their ability.

So they're very much opposites, but they're also exactly what each other needs. Angeal needs to feel needed and helpful, protecting people who trust and depend on him. He is friends with every SOLDIER, able to recognize them at a first glance (ironically he does not do this for Alissa but I may wait to share my theories about her). Sephiroth is guarded but secretly longs to be cared for. See where I'm going with this?

So based on how these dreams are going, they're definitely being influenced by some kind of force or another. Personally I think it's Jenova itself, as Jenova has the power to do this and to transform things into projections of loved ones in order to garner their trust (much like Kadaj does in The Kids are Alright). My prediction for where the climax of this story is gonna go is that Angeal is going to have to protect Sephiroth from these visions, and Sephiroth learns that unconditional love can come from friendship and camaraderie, not just maternity. It's gonna be great. I have entire scenes mapped out in my head about this.

They're a sword and shield, Sephiroth being quick to strike and Angeal always being there to defend. It's one of my favorite dynamics ever. Their appearances also contrast, most notably in their hair color.

They both have a resigned acceptance about the implausibility of their fantasies. Sephiroth does not have a mother to care for him, and Angeal cannot save everyone. The foil of their dynamic is so magnetic it hurts. I will scream if I see Angeal make pumpkin soup for Sephiroth in the future.

My rants getting distracted so I'll cut it off here. Merry Crisis

[windvexer]

Theme and Action: a tarot method for brainstorming plots, setting, and characters

I find a lot of story brainstorming spreads to be clunky and rigid, so I did a little experimenting and came up with a method I like a lot. I haven't done a ton of testing yet but I thought I'd share what I have.

Basically, it's a two card draw from a deck split into majors and minors. Each draw always has one major card (theme) and one minor card (action).

When you have a question, like:

What are some ideas for the next scene?

Why would that character behave that way?

What's the defining characteristic of this vampire clan?

What do the people in this society fear most?

Why is this scene dragging?

What does this character need to feel more real?

You would draw one major card and one minor card!

Themes and Action; what it's about vs how it manifests

We could call these cards a bunch of different things depending on exactly how the question is framed, but Themes and Action are good enough.

Basically, the major arcana card gives subtext or context, and the minor arcana card provides specific incidents. Like this!:

"In my vampire setting, what is the most important thing in vampire culture?"

Theme: Death

Action: 10/Pentacles

Interpretation: (Theme) The most important thing in vampire culture is the process of dying and the equalizer of death itself. (Action) This has resulted in cultural rituals where death is treated as a sacred adoption or initiation into a new family/estate.

(I really drew this test spread and it really was death lol)

We can swap out the Action card to see a different outcome:

Theme: Death

Action: 5/Swords

Interpretation: (Theme) the most important thing in vampire culture is the process of dying and the equalizer of death itself. (Action) the horror of death and loss has never been overcome in this society, and it must be dealt with as an individual - because vampires process the pain of their own deaths by taking it out on each other.

Here's a different example. In an urban fantasy book where a witch solves ghost mysteries, pacing is dragging and we need our next scene to be exciting. But despite a foot chase after a suspected ghost poacher, the scene doesn't feel fast paced or exciting. The question is, "how do we spice this up?"

Theme: Hermit

Action: King of Cups

Interpretation: (Theme) instead of a crowded street, the character will be isolated and without normal support. (Action) she'll be trapped in a closed space with the story's main villain, who most closely connects with the King of Cups

Another swap, this time switching out the theme card:

Theme: Empress

Action: King of Cups

Interpretation: (Theme) the scene feels boring because it's action without development. Show the main character's personal development and give her a 'level up' moment. (Action) have the ghost poacher lead her to a premature showdown with the main villain, whom she faces bravely for the first time.

This is already long so I'm not going to go on and on with examples but so far I've found this method to be pretty versatile.

Try interpreting Theme and Action as literally as you can within the context of the story!

If you're writing a story about a flower princess who sleeps on a dewdrop in the mystical Gnarlwood Forest, the Sun card will mean one thing.

If you're writing a story about vampires, the Sun card probably means something very different.

Major arcanas can be literary themes, like the moon representing deceit within society, but they can also be literal; in a werewolf story, the Moon card might represent the celestial body that controls the lives of certain people.

The most important thing for me is to avoid interpreting the cards in a general self-help sense.

The cheerful villagers of prosperous Splitsky Castle are waiting for you to invent a festival so a mysterious stranger can come to town and get the plot going.

The question is, "what kind of festival gives me the right setup to pull off the plot point I want?"

The theme card is the Magician, so ideas for the festival could be:

A festival honoring magic users (if they exist in your setting)

A festival honoring the resourcefulness of the villagers

A festival of stage magic and trickery

The action card is the 6/Cups.

Probably, the festival is not about healing your inner child with Jungian shadow work. More contextual ideas might include:

A festival where children are chosen to be trained in magic

A festival celebrating teaching the next generation important skills

A festival meant to delight and entertain children with stage magic

Developing related factions or foils

Draw a major arcana card to identify a certain Theme, maybe along the lines of:

What do they hold to be sacred?

What do they not care about, or hate?

What is their most cherished virtue?

What is the defining feature of leadership?

When they sing about home, what is in their songs?

This theme will be the same for both entities.

Draw different minor arcana cards to show how each entity expresses that theme.

Conversely, work in the opposite direction: keep the minor arcana card for both entities, and swap out the theme card.

Finding Action cards when you know the Theme

Holding the deck so that it's facing you, thumb through the cards until you find the major arcana card that describes your theme. The most recent minor arcana card that was on top of it, even if separated by other majors, is the action card.

Reversals

I tend to read both cards as upright and reversed, and just apply whatever meanings are most relevant. In my experiments using reversals ended up being too finicky and specific, and limited my creativity.

Complex Concepts and Plots

For a complex reading, like plotting an entire novel or building an entire character, I have found more utility in doing many pair readings rather than doing one large spread with many pairs.

My tests so far have suggested that the most creative freedom is found in asking specific questions, like "what is this character's driving motivation," and "what is her quirky hobby," and "what makes her put up with her annoying best friend," rather than trying to build a giant spread that includes all of these things at once.

As a caveat, in plot spreads, I will sometimes put pairs down without returning them to the deck, and then connect Theme/Action pairs with single action cards to suggest events that connect the dots.

[tallerthantale]

Neil and Amanda's Fake Therapist

I originally gathered information relating to Neil's fake therapist in a bit of a messy hyperfocus flurry that included some initial errors, followed by various erratic updates, so I wanted to put the main points together into one coherent place. Some of what I'm putting together here was found by others on the subreddit post.

I once again find myself skirting the edges of my typical rules for myself about analyzing public figures, so disclaimer: this is personal opinion, I'm not scientifically or clinically evaluating anyone based off public appearances / statements, I am commenting on what personal impression I am getting off things, and leaving most speculation about internal states out.

Man does this guy make it hard to stick to that though.

The person I'm talking about here is the supposed 'therapist' that Scarlett interacted with while Neil was (allegedly) pressuring her to say the allegations weren't true. His behavior there (with a paper trail according to Tortoise), and what I was able to gather from Amanda Palmer's podcast made it clear to me that he was not operating within the acceptable behaviour of a therapist, so I decided to see if I could prompt a review of his license. All indications at this time are that he does not have one. But it gets worse.

He claims to be a minister, but like the therapist claim cites no qualifications or organizations in his website's bio. This combination of therapist who isn't a therapist and minister who isn't a minister potentially creates a legal nightmare scenario. I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, but I'm going to give you my best estimate of the situation, which has involved looking up the law and reading some cases.

As long as he isn't claiming to be a mental health professional, he may be protected in calling himself a nonspecific 'therapist.' He can probably argue it as some kind of spiritual therapy. But because he isn't actually a mental health care provider, he is not subject to mandatory reporting. Generally therapists have a legal obligation to proactively report when someone is a danger to themselves or others. He does not have that requirement. He isn't bound by professional ethics, since he is not a member of any organizations and has no licenses. Moreover, it seems to be the case in New Mexico that if a person reasonably believes you to be a minister, that kicks in clergy-penitent privilege whether or not you actually are a minister.

The origin concept of clergy-penitent privilege is that the law cannot force a priest to reveal what was said to them in confession. The First Amendment means all religions get it equally and it doesn't have to be part of a specific Catholic ritual. In New Mexico, it covers anything that was not said publicly or intended to be passed on regardless of the surrounding context. That means anything said to or by this guy that is not said in public or explicitly intended to be forwarded cannot be used by the legal system for any purpose, no matter how documented or incriminating it is to the client or to him personally. There is no mechanism to remove that privilege form him for being misused because it is derived from his representation of himself as a minister, not his actual status.

According to his linkdin he received a Bachelors degree in creative writing from the University of Rochester, in New York. He then got a Masters degree in Divinity in Organizations from Harvard Divinity School, 1982-1985. These are the only points of education claimed anywhere we have seen. He lists no psychology or mental health qualification anywhere, and is most known as an author. His bookselling success might be due to a claimed promotional appearance on Oprah.

His personal webpage has a long 'client list' or list of 'collaborators' who have hosted speaking engagements. This list was last updated in 2012. The events on his calendar page have no year. I think I recall seeing a section of his website that was only accessible to those who were 'fully committed,' or something like that, but it doesn't seem to be there now. It's possible I'm misremembering, it's possible it got taken down when the reddit thread got popular, I don't have the right skillset to check. He won an award from the Institute of Noetic Sciences, which looks to be engaging in pseudo scientific spirituality in a manner similar to Scientology.

From what I can gather from the video's I've watched, the advice he 'preaches' is a mish mash of bits and pieces of metaphors and perspectives from a variety of religions and philosophies that he probably didn't fully understand. (My speculation.) There are pieces of genuine insight that are lifted from others and that can give the impression he knows what he is talking about to vulnerable people even if he doesn't really understand them himself. He doesn't seem to have any genuine religious beliefs or connections to any religious congregation or organizations. It is unclear if he is or is not technically ordained, but that is something anyone can just do online, and he doesn't even claim it.

Particularly noticeable in his talks are traces of Jungian psychoanalysis (which is the nonsense Jordan Peterson seems to have got caught up in, and it has antisemitic and fascist origins) some Buddhist resilience concepts that have been misused by westerners a lot, and Christian (I think) concepts about universal love and togetherness. They end up mashed together into a message that I believe will influence most victims who hear it to blame themselves and remain in toxic situations, while making perpetrators feel better about continuing to perpetrate. Not saying that was the goal, but if a person had that goal, this patchwork philosophy is what you would put together to achieve it. I'm not going to be specific because I don't want to be like, putting out a guide for people on how to do this.

Amanda says she met the guy before she had a child, but after she was married. That is somewhere between 2011 and 2015. Amanda says she met him at something resembling a TED conference, where all sorts of people got together to do various (rich people nonsense.) She had a mental breakdown in a horse paddock, and the fake therapist was the guy with the horse, teaching about horse whispering.

"And since then, he’s been my therapist, and he’s also become a true friend, to me, and to my family, and to many other people in my life that he’s taken on, and helped out, in some of their darkest hours of need, and he is my emergency phone call. And in a way, he sort of picked up where Anthony, my old mentor, left off, and I don’t find it a coincidence that Wayne walked into my life right around the time Anthony walked out. "

This is not what a therapist does, this is cult leader behaviour. This is pure speculation on my part, but I wonder if Neil might have known him first and orchestrated their meeting. He is an author with connections to an organization similar to Scientology. It might actually not be a coincidence. Again, pure speculation.

Amanda describes seeking advice from him whenever she was having trouble with Neil, and that talking to him would make her feel like everything was fine again. "Even just to have someone to talk to, to remind me what I’m struggling with, what’s going on, what is home, why does this feel so disorienting, what am I doing? And I can say right now, when I shifted my internal feeling within myself, within my relationship with Neil, around where I was, my feeling in my own house transformed. Because I went, oh, right, none of this fucking matters."

In June 2019 Amanda Palmer has the Portland, OR incident where she tells her fans they need to forgive their r@#ists.

In 2019 the fake therapist did a series of webcasts with The Santa Fe Center for Spiritual Healing over a few months. At times he is titled "Rvrd", and at times he is titled "Dr." there is no reason to believe he is either. In the first one, the host reads a bio she found online, that she says he asked her not to read (she appears to think he was being humble.) This version of the bio claims that he was a Senior Scholar at the Fetzer Institute. When he comes on after she read it, he makes odd comments about whoever might be watching the video online and appears very shaken. The Fetzer Institute has no mention of him on their website. That connection is not listed in his current bio.

In his last video for the Santa Fe Center he claims to be working on an upcoming project in D.C. with a co-facilitator who was famous for brokering a truce between the crips and bloods. He also comes across like he has been asked to stop working with the center and is being super passive aggressive about it. (My speculation.)

His appearance on Amanda Palmer's podcast is recorded in July 2019, about a month after the last Santa Fe Center webcast, in upstate New York. In the descriptor she says it was recorded after a week long retreat with him she set up for 60 of her Patrion supporters. There is a nearly two year gap between the recording and posting, which is not explained. She describes him as a minister, therapist, leadership mentor, and her personal therapist. In the episode itself, she also describes him as her and Neil's relationship therapist. In the description she promotes his books and his website, and says he is still readily contactable there, but to be patient right now because he is mid move. (The description was posted when the podcast was posted, in 2021. As mentioned earlier, there are features of his website that have not been updated since 2012.)

The fake therapist tweeted about Neil being a 'dear friend' in late 2020. He has under 100 followers, not really what you would expect for a best selling author / therapist / minister / community leader / mentor / horse whisper. While I make references to cult leader behaviour, a genuine cult leader would probably have a larger following. But somehow I don't think he lacks for money. I expect there is a market for pseudo-therapists you can freely talk to about the crimes you are actively committing. You can even involve him in the crime, and it still privileged.

The events of Scarlett's allegations date to 2022, about a year after Amanda posted the podcast episode. Sometime in March is when Neil manipulates Scarlett into saying the allegations are false with what is essentially a su!c!de threat, then asks her to repeat her assurances that it was consensual to the fake therapist. Amanda had recently received a scorching message from one of Scarlett's friends about what was done to her. It seems like Neil is doing this to win a fight with Amanda in their "relationship therapy." Scarlett gets a message from the fake therapist.

Tortoise describes it as him "saying he'd be happy to speak to her in complete confidence because he had heard that she found herself in his words 'in the midst of relationships, stories and narratives, not alas necessarily of your own making. Sadly, this is not a surprise. Two creative dynamic people can easily draw others into their orbit unaware of how powerfully the magnetic pull of their influences can have on others.'"

My perception of this message is that it plants the suggestion to Scarlett that her friends are brainwashing her to think she was r@ped by pulling her into 'narratives not of her own making.' I could see how people might interpret the later lines regarding magnetic pull as being about accidental power dynamics abuse, but I read it more as him saying Scarlett's friends are opportunistic manipulators looking to make a name for themselves by taking down a famous person.

Either way, there are a considerable number of things happening there that an actual therapist would not ever do, for a variety of very good reasons. Tortoise's attempt to call him to ask for comment was thwarted by the fact that his phone has been specifically programed not to accept voicemails. Not like, the voicemail box was full or something, he went out of his way to do that. Which means Tortoise can't quite claim that he didn't respond to requests to comment, because they couldn't leave a message. Other organizations probably run into similar difficulties establishing evidence that they have contacted him. It's not a smoking gun, but I don't like it.

A year later Amanda Palmer makes her post on the Russel Brand allegations, where she argues the solution to serial predatory behaviour is to try to get them to stop doing "stupid shit" by trying to heal their lacking and fear with love and compassion and forgiveness, because that the ONLY cause / motivation for abusive behavior. And some unarticulated hope for non-specific accountability vibes.

This post looks to me like the perspective of a person who has been continuously exploited, and manipulated into thinking it is their personal responsibility to heal people who have no interest in being healed. It reads to me like a person who has been justifying staying in a toxic situation to themself so long it has warped their entire worldview. It reads to me like the inevitable end result of this fake therapists preaching.

I don't think that absolves her of what ever her role has been in facilitating access to victims, or actively promoting these views to her audience, but it is something to keep in mind.

There is a broad rage of possibilities for what is going on with this guy. The spectrum runs from deeply misguided fool to deliberately exploitative criminal. Either way it looks like he is charging people money for the service of turning them into the "this is fine" dog. This is not fine. This is not ok. Unfortunately it probably is legal.

[heavenlymorals]

Hi! I really enjoy your posts and I was hoping to see if you can answer this question for me. I want to write an Arthur x reader fic, but I want to try writing a more canon Arthur instead of a fanon Arthur. So if you're able to, what do you think Arthur would be like as husband or partner? Thank you! 🩵🩵

Arthur as a Husband (Arthur x Fem! Reader)

Thank you so much ❤️ I'm glad you like my posts, that makes me happy ❤️❤️

And boy, that's kinda a loaded question considering how vast the Arthur x Reader side of the fandom is, so this might be a bit controversial but here we go:

Also, these are all of my thoughts based on my past posts on Arthur. None of them are actually canon as far as I know nor am I presenting them to be canon. These are all just my thoughts based on what I've noticed in the game.

I genuinely think that Arthur would be a great husband BUT he'd be a great husband in the context of the 1800s.

He would never lay his hands on you. He would never disrespect you. Any man try to do anything to you, Arthur would go ballistic. He'd always defend his wife from disrespect. He would always carry your luggage. He would always be a gentleman and assist you in getting on a horse or a wagon. He'd make sure you're comfortable in any way he can. He would never want you to over exert yourself. He would love you to the point of devotion and given how his devotion works for the gang, it'd be priceless. He'd make sure to treat you to the fullest on every date. He'd want to impress you. He would love you most ardently and most fully. If he had sons, he'd make sure to always set a good example on how men should treat their wives/partners.

Very sweet, I know, but again- this is in the context of the 1800s.

I think Arthur, give his attitudes regarding gender roles, would be suited with a woman who believes in the same thing, which given the time period wasn't rare.

Arthur would protect, provide, and do all the traditional things that men were expected to do and he'd do them well enough to where you would never have to worry about things like money, protection, or him taking care of you and honoring you. He'd love you to devotion.

But where he'd do a man's duty, he'd expect you to do the woman's duty, and just how he'd love you to devotion, he'd expect the same. He would never let you do "men's work" if he can help it, unless y'all are living in a super tough environment where you would need to help him here and there, but he'd still do the vast majority of the hard work, and he'd expect a clean place to live, food, and all that domestic stuff from you. If the both of you are able to connect with that dynamic, than Arthur would honestly be a phenomenal husband. He'd be the model husband in the traditional relationship.

I also think respect would be a big thing too. You'd probably both tease each other and love it, but there has to be respect and understanding otherwise he would go off. Note how quick he was able to go off and raise his voice at Mary when she started disrespecting his life style yet chooses to want to use the skills he attained from that lifestyle to help her with her father. He also does it in public where everyone could hear and he only stops when he sees that it was deeply distressing to Mary after she asks him to be kind to her. I realized pretty quick that Arthur is not as patient or pacified as John when Abigail chews into him.

However, I also think he'd be very understanding and open minded to you if you seriously want to talk to him. Communication would be key between both of you and he'd try to understand your thoughts as best as he can and try to make you happy if he could, but again, he'd also expect the same of you.

It's a two way street in different ways. That's the best way I can put it. He'd love you to devotion, given that both of you are comfortable and happy with that traditional dynamic. Arthur would protect you, provide for you, make sure you are always comfortable and never destitute, and in return, he'd expect you to be there for him.

Hope you enjoyed that ❤️ And again, these are just my thoughts based on what I've noticed in canon. Happy writing! ❤️❤️❤️

[insert-random-account-name]

Crappy Character Analysis, part 4

Thank you to everyone who has read my rambles! This was a personal project, since everyone I know IRL is sick of e talking about this game, so it's nice to see that I'm not screaming into the wind alone.

part 1 (Broken) part 2 (Skeptic) part 3 (Cold)

part 4 (You are here) part 5 (Stubborn) part 6 (Contrarian)

part 7 (Smitten) part 8 (Opportunist) part 9 (Cheated)

part 10 (Hunted) part 11 (Hero)

VOICE OF THE PARANOID

I feel like Paranoid is one of the fan favorites. People really seem to like his “Heart, lungs, liver, nerves” vibes. It’s probably because he is actually pretty rational (for the situation), and makes overall good observations and choices. The only bad call I can remember him making is suggesting you kill the Nightmare if you try leaving with her, and even then, it’s only recognizable as a bad call after the decision is already made. Despite having the label of “Paranoid”, his responses actually seem pretty rational compared to the situation on hand. While him raving about eyes watching you in the Nightmare would seem deranged out of context, there were actually eyes, or at least, you were seeing eyes. Him having a bit of a breakdown in MoC was also a response that matched the severity of the event you’d just witnessed. In fact, the Paranoid is actually quite perceptive, on two separate occasions (The Cage and the Apotheosis) he realizes how the construct functions, and makes efforts to take advantage of that. In the Apotheosis, he even notices that you seem to be the “textured nothing” all around you. He also is able to restart your central nervous system in the Nightmare, saving your life.

The Voice of the Paranoid seems in a constant state of panic. He makes multiple comments about not being able to think in these situations, and how frustrating that is. The way you get him usually involves the Princess killing you without even touching you (In the case of the Apotheosis and the Nightmare) or one of your voices killing you (In the Cage [Skeptic basically forces your hand, even if you technically chose to slay yourself] and the HEA). This makes him distrustful of everything: The ground beneath your feet, the Princess, the Narrator, and even your own thoughts. Once you start getting to Chapter 3’s, this distrust and fear makes him really focus on your environment, and his constant reassessment of your situation leads him to make realizations about the construct that would otherwise be missed. He is the only one to recognize Smitten in the HEA. Going back to his constant state of panic, I think that’s how he keeps your body running in the Nightmare. He basically spams you with adrenaline until your organs reboot, which isn’t a good long-term solution, but keeps you breathing. However, this task requires constant focus, so he’s basically stuck doing that for the whole chapter. This adrenaline surge he causes is also what can help you throw yourself into the void in the Wraith. Paranoid’s main flaw is overthinking. In the Apotheosis, he almost screws up your chance to attack her because he thinks he messed it up. In the Moment of Clarity, he is freaking out too much to provide any type of valuable input. His worst enemy is his own mind. One last thing that I find very interesting about him is that he seems to have a different view on death. He struggles so hard to keep you alive during the Nightmare, but once you slay her, he’s all for ending it. I think that unlike the Hero or the Skeptic, who were sure that there was something after, Paranoid was certain that you would die for good, and thought it was better than the misery you seemed condemned to. This was my favorite one to write, I think. Paranoid is one of my favorites.

[lynn-tged-posting]

tged webtoon ep 171 spoilers and thoughts but i'm mostly just going "YAY I LIKED THIS MOMENT" and more below the cut

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DEMON KING LLOYD HELLO. HELLO?? WHAT. WHY?? BUT WOW. HOLY SHIT. I REALLY REALLY LIKE THIS

I LOVE WHEN CHARACTERS GAIN WINGS AND HORNS AND . GHGHHGHGHHG AAAHHH ITS MY FAVORITE THING if you didn't already know dragon lloyd was like one of my favorite all-time panels so this is VERY AWESOME FOR ME YAYYY YAAAAYYY HAHAHA

LIKE SERIOUSLY LOOK HE GOT FANGS N SHIT AND. OH MY GODD THE SMOKE SLIPPING PAST HIS LIPS IM SO??? THAT'S SO COOL. I LOVE WHEN THEY DO THAT WITH SMOKE AND MONSTROUS FORMS OF CHARACTERS

genuinely i need to draw this asap. pacing issues aside i am obsessed with how sick this is. i love this a LOT

ok ok back to the top bc theres some stuff i wanna touch on from before demon king lloyd got revealed! because...

"master lloyd taught us". "master lloyd taught us". "master lloyd taught us". "master lloyd taught us".

EXCUSE ME WHAT

YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT OFF SCREEN, LLOYD TOOK TIME OUT OF HIS BUSY ASS DAY. TO TEACH THE KIDS HOW TO PLAY SOCCER. AND THEY HAVE PLAYED ENOUGH TO BE FAMILIAR ENOUGH TO PLAY ON THEIR OWN. WHICH MEANS THAT LLOYD . PLAYED SOCCER WITH THEM . AND WE FIND THIS OUT. NOW?? I. GGHH. THATS SO. CUTE. IM GOING TO BITE HIM. THE FUCKER. WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME

the fact that they go up to ask him im going to EXPLODE?!?!?

he looks so nonchalant abt it here im cryinf

AND LOOK AT THEM GO THIS IS SO SO SWEET IM VERY GLAD LYRA GOT TO PLAY WITH THEM I LIKE THIS A LOT

this scene, and the beginning scene where the adults were just so casual with her and treating her as a living person with feelings and someone that they can talk to was so so heartwarming i oooghhh my heart

AND THEN THERE HE IS. SMILING IN THE BACK. YOU ASS.

I SEE YOU BEING KIND AND EMPATHETIC AND SELFLESS LLOYD. YOU LOST THE NONCHALANT WAR. YOU CAN'T ESCAPE

christ. i fucking HATE him /j /aff

it is also VERY silly that they're so casual abt. destruction like that HELPPP they got it from someone sob sob, though i imagine since most of the estate consists of people who have done construction it probably isnt that big of a deal when things get destroyed every now n then

and lyra looks so damn happy,,, god im so glad she had a good experience, she really needed one :')

also i completely LOST it when the kid got mad at lyra for not responding with a yes or no HELPPP JESUS CHRIST

again they,,, got it from someone HAHA though honestly i think it tracks. kids can be straightforwardly brutal in their language, especially when they don't really have biases or cares for who they are speaking to. as crazy as this instance looks (LMFAO) i think this fits well with the context of the straightforwardness of children and considering the person who they look up to at the estate. i think it was good for lyra to meet a human child her age who can speak straightforwardly and not skirt past things, if that makes sense? i hope it does!

AND THE DEMON KING TRANSFORMATION i already talked abt it above but i wanna point out this blue system box here

a power outside of the system?!?? what does this mean for the protagonist of the new prequel bk_moon is writing?? is the weather forecasting included in this???

my first assumption right now is that the demon king power is just an in-world power system while everything else (ie the weather forecasting) is external, blue-textbox system. maybe? so lloyd got the demon king power which comes with skills separate from the ones that the system can provide? that would explain why there's no indication of lloyd trying to use the weather forecasting, he probably can't use it,,,? except i dont know why artanis can use it in that case. most likely i am overthinking it LMFAO

semi-related, i am a little confused as to why artanis did this? i guess she really, really trusted him w this power? or maybe her weather forecasting noted that this would be something good to do i have no idea,,, it Does feel a bit sudden i won't lie, i'm not sure how earned this is

also javier and everyone else not reacting that much to the demon king status. SENT ME HAHA "... nothing's changed." LOL

deadpan humor never fails to make me giggle ily javier

also loved the moment where the two of them were bein serious for a sec,,, they've got a job to do they've got people to protect. lloyd will stop fate and javier will be right besides him...

i think showing them at emily's wedding really cements how much they really, REALLY need to fight fate now. the novel events happening is very very bad, but it feels like now that so many people, emily especially, have found THIS much happiness in their lives,,, failing to stop fate will hit even harder. i really like the analogy of a taut bow that the dragon king used when he first described it, bc it's really REALLY showing how much the repercussions will hit if they fail. im praying they succeed,,, please,,, i need a happy ending or i will curl up and turn into an actual shrimp irl.

and now the demons have to build the pantara railroad,,, artanis's expression omfg

she really didn't,,, know,,, she trusted him that much,,,, girl,,,

but it's ok. it'll be a net positive trust! that's how lloyd does things!!! and then soon we'll get the happy ending where we can get the eye of summer and beat up fate and then silly fun times YAYY <- probably copium

some other thoughts of note that i had with a dear mutual (hi sprout :3) about this ep:

we were talking about how the plot seems to be paced right now, and honestly i'm of the opinion that while yes its Technically moving, the way they're ending each ep in this current arc makes it feel like it's going both very slow and very fast, that is to say it feels like it's not moving at all

bc they're like "okay NOW we're gonna do the build project" and it's been like that for several episodes now. pieces are moving but we're going past the point of it all too fast (especially the whole demon king thing. mentioned this before but while cool, doesn't feel as earned simply bc we're both tackling each point and yet blowing past all the points, so it's a lot less satisfying than it should be (despite how awesome it is,,, oh lloyd you give me so much internal conflict </3))

it does make me a lil worried that they're gonna timeskip the hell out of the pantara railroad build. however this episode, although it still has a weird pacing/movement issue, does feel a little bit better than the last two imo, so i have hope that it'll turn out okay, that it'll start heading up! i'm actually really excited to see where they go with this and i'm sure that even if the pacing is still goofy i'll have some kind of fun with it (seriously the panels this ep were wonderful HAHA)

anyway that's all for this week! extremely excited for the next ep,,, ill see yall then,,, lets go pantara railroad arc!!!

[cyanocophrenic]

What are your favorite aspects about blueberry inflation?

lmao I'm so sorry, Anonococcus, you probably don't deserve this, but it's happening anyway.

👆 That's basically the question that prompted me to create this, an entirely separate tumblr from my normie one. I figured I'd write a couple of horny stories, get no attention whatsoever, and look at What I Had Done, and I'd see some patterns, and I'd be like "Ah Okay Now I Understand What's Wrong With Me" (fun fact for y'all homestucks, I'm a diehard Kanaya main. best girl. i miss her. do with that what you will.) anyway and having that analytical understanding of my weird fetishy ways, i'd then dissolve those desires back into the raw psyche-material and integrate them into more realistic, normative sexual expressions irl. i been thinkin' bout berries alone for a long time, and i got really tired and sad being that alone.

anyway, i have at least one fursona now, and i've made some cool friends (with more on the way?), and i keep finding good ideas for stories, and people seem(?) to enjoy the ones i've published, so... you can see how well that worked. and i love what i have now. working toward accepting these things about myself is (and was) the only real way forward, and i'll fight tooth and nail to keep what i've found here.

so, *big boss voice* favorite aspects of blueberry inflation, huh?

Gonna put this under a cut because it's gonna be nasty and weird and vulnerable and I don't wanna just drop that on anybody. Not suggesting that anyone will want to, but maybe don't reblog this if we're not mutuals, or if you don't Get It. And knowing me, Getting It will be a rare occurrence.

And once more, for the people in the back: MINORS DNI !

Favorite blueberry inflation aspects, go:

Well, first of all (and I mean this very literally):

it gets me soaking fucking wet.

I've kinda stopped trying to understand why. I have vague ideas, but I don't know that I'm ever going to be able to explain my needs to someone in a way where their lightbulb clicks on and they get it, and... I could be using that time to look at yummy smut instead, tbh.

It cuts straight through my skull, grey matter, every real and imagined barrier i've put between the outside world and my deepest vulnerability. It hits me dead-center-bullseye in the heart and the mind at the same time. That's a favorite, for sure.

Like... I kind of love everything about it? Even the depictions I don't care for, or the interpretations that don't resonate for me. I don't know if I've just spent too long fermenting alone and maybe I've gone a little crazy, but... I don't think I have. I think I was always like this, but it's been hard to tell without anyone else to provide context. Now I've gotten to talk with some people, and feel a little seen, and see them (i think? a little?) for who they are, and we're so different while still being the same. I knew there were other people like me, but now I Know, y'know? It's a wild feeling.

It's pretty cool how it just haunts me like a shadow, too. I mean that.

Not often, but every once in a while, I'll catch myself in the mirror, avoiding eye contact for some reason. I'll just kinda like... watch myself: long two-tone hair, pronouns, frankly great boobs, muscles, tattoos, long legs... no lie, I'm lowkey a hottie irl. T4T candy, at the very least. It's taken a while to get there, but I can see what other people have seen, sometimes. I have a few really-good things going for me. Not the ones I would choose for myself (get me a rouge the bat bbl STAT), but good nonetheless.

But I digress (a lot).

Anyway, I'll just watch that reflection and think "You think you're supposed to be a blueberry, don't you?" and after a moment, it'll reply "So do you, beloved."

How can I hide from that?

I know this isn't what you wanted this answer to be, Anon, and I'm a little sorry about that. I just can't really answer your question in a fun or hot way at the moment.

I don't think I have favorite aspects of blueberry inflation, disappointing as I know that answer is. I don't know that it's accurate to say I like it, or want it. I'm somewhere else with it for the time being. Hate to say this, but-

Blueberry inflation isn't something I just enjoy. Blueberry inflation is what I am.

[sayakxmi]

I finally got myself together to finish the trolltags/lands I have for the dancestors, that I overthought to hell and back, so why not share. Explanations under the cut!

(Also, I probably should mention that it's all in context of an AU, so if some things are confusing, that's why.)

KANKRI:

vendicateThumomacule [VT] Kankri's original trolltag is, well, grey to hide his indentity, and is actually a small nod to John/June. Hence the letters are VT, absolutely taken from VanTas. Mostly, because ectoBiologist has EB like EgBert. You know how these letters are taken from the genetic code, but John/June ended up breaking from it? Well, Kankri's the opposite here. The very first mutation, someone who didn't belong there, but inserted himself there anyway.

Vendicate means to claim for oneself, whereas Thumomacule comes from two words - thumomancy (divination by means of one’s own soul) and macule, which can be either a) (in printing) to blur, as from a double impression in printing, or b) (in anatomy) another name for macula (a discolored spot on the skin). The second definition refers to his mutation, while the first, I'm kind of thinking about blur/double impression as a reference to The Signless, and seeing visions of another world. Personally, I love the idea that Kankri's always had these visions as well, so that's what I was going for here.

As for constructiveGrievance, I'll be honest, I've seen it once upon a time, I don't know where, and internalized it as his trolltag. He has a lot of grievances, and tries to be constructive about it. (Whether he succeeds is up for debate, lmao).

As for his land, the Land of Conduits and Valves: Conduit: - a pipe or passage for water or electrical wires to go through - reference to Mituna (as I am a huge Captor&Vantas whatever the fuck they have going on enjoyer) - a way of connecting two places - the aspect of Blood - someone or something that provides a way of passing something such as information or payments from one person to another - role of a Seer, but also a small reference to The Signless again, passing information about different worlds between each other Valves - a device that opens and closes to control the flow of liquids or gasses, or a similar structure in the heart and the veins that controls the flow of blood - pretty obvious aspect connection.

In general, thinking about the Seers' lands, they all have somewhat... liquidy feel to it. Rose's has literal rain, while Terezi's land has these thought river-like things on the sky. So I was also thinking about something fluid, and, well, blood.

Kankri's land is pretty similar to Dave's, except there's no cogs or lava, only endless red-and-blue pipelines that are meant to let the blood flow, but the valves aren't letting it, and empty void beneath your feet. It's an extremly unpleasant land.

It's a bit of a theme, actually, that the lands are pretty hostile towards their players here - since the game was tampered wth, Skaia knew early on that this session had no chance at succeeding, so it was quite literally trying to get the players to make The Scratch faster. F.

It's actually quite evident since the get-go, Kankri's land is LOCAV. So. Random fact: I'm Polish. In Polish the way you read V in English is the same as we read W. So I could write it as CAW. A sound made by a crow. And, well. One Crow: bad luck, loss, unpleasant catastrophic changes.

From the very moment Kankri got into the game, it was already lost. RIP.

Also, I've meant what I've said. I aggressively overthought it, lmao.

DAMARA:

acroamaticAcicutie Acroamatic - esoteric - “intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest” - I was thinking about her ability to speak & control ghosts, a medium, but, yeah, honestly, it can also allude to the fact that as far as we know only Rufioh actually understands her speech. Acicula - One of the needlelike or bristlelike spines or prickles of some animals and plants; also, a needlelike crystal. Connected with cutie.

Land of Ponds and Shimmer, well, when it comes to Shimmer I was thinking about light reflecting on crystals, since her Scratch device looked like these music boxes on Aradia's land, so there had to be Some crystals in there. But it can also be the shimmer of the ponds. With ponds, I was kind of thinking about koi ponds? Who's stopping me from there being koi fish, tbh. The ponds are also a reference to Meenah, because, well, water. But also small one to Rufioh, I guess. Also, ponds and reflections (When will my reflection show who I am inside).

In general, Witches lands are, imo, pretty, colorful, and dangerous if you aren't careful. And that's also what I thought about Damara's land - looks very pleasant, but crystals can have some sharp edges, ponds be deeper that it has any reason to etc, etc.

But since all their lands make things difficult for the dancestors, the catch of this one is that it makes Damara homesick. :)

Ah, but here's my favorite part. PAS. Pas is Polish for fold in poker. "Folding simply means to let go of your cards and surrender the pot to another player". Or another set of players. ;>

RUFIOH

agromaniacalTauroboly Agromania - intense desire to be in open spaces Tauroboly - the ritual sacrifice of a bull. I like to think about is as a contrast to Tavros' trolltag, in which Tavros is a bit more of plot’s sacrificial bull, but his trolltag relates to bulls fighting, whereas Rufioh would wreck people’s shit if it wasn’t for his non-existent self-worth & confidence, but his trolltag relates to sacrificing a bull.

The Land of Breeze and Hills has a somewhat simple etymology. All the Breath player we know had some specific type of wind in their land's name (literally Wind for John/June, and Zephyr for Tavros), so I went with something similar. And boy oh boy, is Breeze a reference. Obviously, Breeze relates to water, and that way it references three pretty important gals in Rufioh/The Summoner's life - Damara (ponds), Meenah (a seadweller), and Aranea, or more specifically Mindfang, who was a pirate. As for Hills, Rogues tend to have some rises, like Roxy's pyramids, or Nepeta's... sugar cube pyramids? So I thought about hills for Rufioh to more or less fit it in, very much thinking about"a hill to die on".

BAH is kind of weaker, but at the same time, it gave me some ideas for the land. In several languages it means flood, but in a few others it's an expression of disbelief, disdain, resignation & scorn.

LOBAH is flooded, which is a huge pain for Rufioh, whose wings aren't really good for damp environments. His mobility sure is limited, which kind of sucks. He could probably ask some imps to help him out in travel, but that'd mean using his powers, and he's not a big fan of them. }:(

MITUNA

technicolorAlytarch Technicolor - a vivid or bright color “Alytarch in ancient Olympic games was the leader of the police force who assisted the Hellanodikai to impose fines on athletes who did not follow the rules” "Hellanodikai - literally meaning Judges of the Greeks - were the judges of the Ancient Olympic Games, and the success of the games was attributed to their efforts". I like the idea of it referring to more than one character, but ofc I thought of Latula first.

Land of Screens and Skyscrapers Skyscrapers as in heights & danger, at least that’s my association. Something about falls, especially when you're very high... Screening - concealing, protecting, sheltering. But also screening, as in “checking for disease when there are no symptoms. Since screening may find diseases at an early stage, there may be a better chance of curing the disease”. Also, fun fact, SAS is a group of highly trained British soldiers who work on secret or very difficult military operations. SAS is an abbreviation for 'Special Air Service'.” I wonder if it's relevant.

Heirs' lands tend to be really dark for some reason, but it's a bit difficul to say if it's a theme for them, because Equius' aspect is literally Void, so of course his land is dark. But I went for it. I'd say LOSAS resembles Dirk's land a bit, but there's also a shitton of giant screens on the building, all of them not working properly. The land is dangerous in it's nature, and generally not the most pleasant place to be in (ah, Doom players), but it sure gets worse after Mituna's accident, now that he has trouble seeing, and his balance also got quite bad. F.

MEULIN

acuteCardiograper Acute: - causes severe problems or damage; - pain or illness is one that quickly becomes very severe; - aware of or able to recognize small differences between things, or being accurate in judging something; The first two are more foreshadowing, whereas the last one is the actual intent. Since she's an amazing matchmaker whose speciality is the Hreat. Cardiography - the use of a machine to record the beating of the heart. So. You know. Hehe. Meulin's trolltag is an ad. Bonus a cute cardiographer.

Land of Lily Pads and Wisps Lily Pads are literally there in Openbound, but also I like the general symbolism of lilies - purity, innocence and rebirth. I think it describes Meulin very well. Wisps - of smoke, of light, but also will o' the wisp - a person that is difficult or impossible to reach or catch on (OR aurora). Of course even Meulin can't have nice things. Her land mocks her for being "useless". (Note: I'm not saying that she is, but that's how she feels). LOLPAW is not exactly deep.

PORRIM

gallivantAvantgarde Gallivant - to visit or go to a lot of different places, enjoying yourself and not worrying about other things you should be doing. Avantgarde - the painters, writers, musicians, and other artists whose ideas, styles, and methods are very original or modern in comparison to the period in which they live, or the work of these artists. Porrim's attitude, essentially.

Land of Threads and Frogs Threads like fabric, but also thread/fabric of the universe Also thread as in “to move forwards, often changing direction in order to avoid people or things”. Which is, well, what she was supposed to do. Another land that isn't exactly dangerous, but feels more like a mockery. Cluttered, soft & pastel. You could say ""girly"". She hates it here.

Maid's lands are pretty nice, though they tend to lack the aspect the Maid is supposed to create, at least that's what I've understood.

TAF - a substance, consisting of protein and nucleic acid developed in a malignant tumor, that stimulates the formation of capillaries for nourishing the tumor and carrying off its waste matter. A connection to Kankri, and especially The Dolorosa's role in The Signless' life.

LATULA

I'll be honest, I'm not exactly the proudest of hers, but this grl was giving me a headache at some point. Mostly when it comes to her trolltag, because I like the name of her land, but oh well. I was tired.

galiantCaballerial Galiant - “Galiant is a mixture of two words; Valiant (Possessing Courage and Determination), and Gallant (Grand, Fine). This is what you call someone who excels at anything they play, mainly videogames.” Urban Dictionary. I'm not sure it's the most believable source, but you know what, why not. If it's not really a thing, what's stopping me from headcanoning that it is on Beforus? Or add a small backstory that Liltula found that term & loved it, used for his trolltag & only later found out it's not a real thing. Now she's living a lie. Caballerial - a trick invented by Steve Caballero in the early 1980s in which the skater performs a 360-degree ollie in a ramp while riding fakie and without grabbing.

Land of Smoke and Mirrors Smoke and Mirrors - the obscuring or embellishing of the truth of a situation with misleading or irrelevant information. Other than the obvious, it's not a big discovery that the Knights' lands are filled with danger and even things they personally hate & fear. Mirrors for somebody as self-conscious and obsessed over her presentation? And also smoke. There might be fire somewhere, but she can't smell it, she won't know she's in danger until she gets closer to it. F. No cool meaning for SAM :(

ARANEA

amasthenicGraphomaniac Graphomania - a compulsive urge to write Amasthenic - uniting the rays of light into one focus, as a certain kind of lens does (in photography)

Land of Swirls and Candles Swirls - I was thinking about the weather, so connection to Breath, but also whirlpools, so connection to water. Extreme weather. Hella important in sailing. Etc. Also swirls & cherubs. Candles - light. Quite simple. LOSAC is essentially a gorgeous dark forest lit by candles, and Aranea is blind as shit in there. Did I mention that Skaia doesn't want them to keep going? :) Other than that: - Candle Queen by GUMI is such an Aranea song, you won't tell me otherwise. - one of the definitions of a SAC is "a covering that surrounds a tumor" i WoNdEr If It'S rElEvAnT

HORUSS

compoundTegument Tegument - natural covering of an animal or plant body Compound: - a thing that is composed of two or more separate elements; a mixture - make (something bad) worse; intensify the negative aspects of But Also - compound bow - A hand-drawn, hand-held bow that for similar poundage at full draw, stores more energy than a recurve bow through the use of two cables and two eccentric wheels

Land of Copper and Bolts Copper can be used in making steam engines. “Brown coins of low value made of copper or bronze”. And making electrical wires. “any of various small widely distributed butterflies of the genera Lycaena, Heodes, etc, typically having reddish-brown wings: family Lycaenidae” h u h Can mean “policeman”... Law reinforcement… Executioners… HMM. Bolts - well, bolts, but also arrowheads (in crossbows), also to quickly escape, and also (lightning)bolt, also A bolt is also a part of a gun that pushes the cartridge (= container filled with explosive powder) into position to be fired - I wonder if it its *gets shot* CAB - besides the obvious - “the enclosed compartment of a lorry, locomotive, crane, etc, from which it is driven or operated” - trains. steam. it’s all coming together “the glass-enclosed area of an airport control tower in which the controllers are stationed” listen, it works for me, but I can’t explain Why “first cab off the rank” - the first person, etc, to do or take advantage of something - like. the first person to take advantage of somebody’s malleable and passive personality…?

Steampunk land. What can I say. Downside: them damn bolts everywhere. You can hurt yourself :<

KURLOZ

tumultuousCaduceator Tumultuous - chaotic or disorderly; full of noise, commotion, or turbulence. Caduceator - herald; messenger Also similar to Caduceus (prolly related), so a relation to Mituna who is a Gemini - Gemini is ruled by Mercury (Hermes’ Roman name, the Caduceus belonged to him) So it’s a mixed bag of relations to others: tumultuous is a relation to Caliborn (there’s even a wholeass Sign of the Tumultuous - Caniborn). Herald/messenger is akin to Kankri’s role of a prophet. Except he’s heralding Lord English’s arrival rather than another Signless’. And, well, the Mituna connection. It’s also a Doom connection, lmao.

Land of Pits and Thrills You have this huge never-ending theme park with random pits where you least expect them, cartoonish experience. In general, Princes' lands tend to be extremely dangerous in ways that relate to their aspects, and, well, cartoon-like traps break the immersion a bit, really makes you think about everything being fake. Plus a theme park doesmake one think about the HS clowns a bit, right? Another one of my faves, PAT means a stalemate in Polish - a situation in chess where one of the players can’t move according to the rules, but their king isn’t in check - it ends the game in a draw. Technically, they haven't lost, and yet they cannot progress :o)

CRONUS

corbanAlluvion Corban - offering to God in fulfillment of a vow / kinda thinking abt it regarding Cronus wanting to fulfill his “destiny” Allivion - effect of water impacting on shoreline (eg. deluge) Was I tempted for Cronus to have his trolltag as cronusAmpora? Yes. Absolutely. But in the end I decided to pretend that I Am A Serious Writer.

Land of Tides and Rows Tidal island - a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide Also changing tides. Row - well, rowing, so water travel. This land looks quite nice on the first glance, but once you start to travel you find out, that the further you go, the darker and more dangerous it becomes. Oh no. Also, the water is definitely tainted. TAR - a dark, thick flammable liquid distilled from wood or coal, consisting of a mixture of hydrocarbons, resins, alcohols, and other compounds. It is used in road-making and for coating and preserving timber. But also as a verb: blame or damage the reputation of (someone).

MEENAH

cerescentConqueror Conqueror - obvious Cerescent - a typo she didn’t care to correct; crescent is a phase of the moon (halfmoon); Ceres is a roman goddess of harvest etc.

Land of Passages and Harvest Passages as literal passages, but also in: passage of time, or passing = death, so a relation to Damara. And Harvest is, well, harvest. In general, the only other Thief we have is Vriska, and her land is essentially "things that help in stealing her aspect" and "something that represents her aspect". In this case, then, you need to let the time pass for harvest to begin. Also, I love the idea that all Life Players have some representation of the other players on their planet, just like Jane's lamps. In this case, Meenah has flowers. I have yet to finish it, but I did assign some already. PAH - used to express disgust or contempt. Aka Meenah's reaction when she first saw her bright colorful land full of flowers.

Final notes: - ok, so, the idea for LOLPAW, Thrills in Kurloz's land & Avantgarde for Porrim's trolltag are from kanmeu, Caballerial is 100% an accident, though, when I've found that word I thought it looked familiar, and Oh. - I might fix the formatting tomorrow, idk, but it sure ain't gonna be now.

[dreamerdrop]

Saw your Abscess-verse timeline and now I'm very curious if you have any thoughts on what an 'If Wishes Were Horses' AU for it would look like 🧐

Oooh, I’ve been puzzling over that episode for a while now, lol.

I’m kind of torn, between there’s so many ways it could go in this ‘verse. Like, if Julian imagines Sloan, is there even anything I can do with that? Not REALLY, not unless I specifically want to write a threesome lmao, so what else can we do with it…

If he still imagines Jadzia, that gives me a couple problems. While it would obviously trigger Sloans’ jealous nature, and it would provide a good context for Sloan in guilting Julian into distancing himself from her more. HOWEVER. As far as this ‘verse goes, Sloan doesn’t really see Jadzia as much of a threat. He doesn’t think she reciprocates ANYTHING for Julian, but her friendship with him is something he dislikes… I mean, she’s a threat because she’s smart and competent and a nice person and she likes Julian as a friend, so if she notices that anything is up with Sloan and how he treats Julian, she’d intervene, yes, but…

At this stage, Sloan is still largely playing “good boyfriend”, and while he does want to create distance between Julian and everyone else for possessive personal reasons, he doesn’t actually think Julian having FRIENDS is a big problem right now, because he hasn’t done anything that he thinks would cause them to dislike him, so it’s not like he’s pulling Julian away from everyone else on a CONSCIOUS level.

On the other hand, Sloan is already annoyed by Julian’s relationship with Garak, since he perceives it as being MUTUAL. I mean, he’d have to be blind to not recognise that Julian and Garak are both attracted to each other, and that does piss Sloan off, because that’s a direct threat to his relationship with Julian, and he’s not really a sharing kind of guy.

And well, he probably does try to be cool about it most of the time, he doesn’t fully freak out over their relationship until Cardassians and he thinks that there’s absolutely gotta be something up with how ridiculously calm Julian is about having Garak in his bedroom in the middle of the night. (And his jealousy and conviction that Julian is cheating on him with Garak is indeed entirely genuine, he really does believe that, and it obviously does not make any of it better.)

So I can’t really have him imagine Garak either, because that would throw the rest of the timeline off lmao.

I could take a page from some other rewrites of the episode, and consider that because Sloan has been filling Julian’s head with weird hypotheticals about how many lives are worth losing for the sake of the greater good and Julian does (I think?) have a stated focus on pediatrics, that y’know, maybe he’s preoccupied with his own childhood that day, and in a striking horror of bad luck, he accidentally manifests a version of Jules, which causes all kinds of awful problems.

And that could slot in to Sloan’s suspicions about Julian having a deep dark secret that Sloan wants to find out for totally benign reasons… (I mean, he isn’t deliberately PLANNING to use it as a threat or blackmail or anything, he just wants to be close to his partner, y’know? And sharing secrets is part of being close to your partner and trusting them, that’s all.)

But, gah. That would involve rewriting massive, massive chunks from the episode entirely, and it would be annoyingly convulted and complicated, and it would feel kinda forced to me, like I would feel as though I were actively shoving a confrontation in where it doesn’t quite belong, instead of letting things flow more organically…

So I feel like it WOULD end up being Jadzia he imagines, as per canon, but that the atmosphere of that is changed radically instead. Julian is guilty and nervous because, well, he kind of feels like he’s sort of cheating on Sloan by imagining these things, and Sloan is ALSO one of the senior staff that gets called to Ops for that episode, so he gets to SEE Julian with an imaginary and agressively overtly sexual Jadzia hanging off him and—

Oooh, wait, wait. That version of Jadzia is pretty much constantly refusing to take no for an answer from Julian too… Sloan might well take that as implied permission to be more and more forceful because hey, apparently Julian is into that stuff, right?

Jadzia’s responses would probably be different, but not by a lot. I think she would think it’s a funny thing to tease Julian about, but she’d also be a little put off by Sloan being so agitated by it… which would contribute to her guilt later on about not realizing sooner that something was wrong in that relationship…

… There’s also the potential for what someone like Sloan would imagine as well, which quite frankly, I think if one of Sloan’s fantasies came to life, it would be, idk, something like Julian with a puppy tail butt plug in a leash and muzzle and cock cage on his knees in Sloans’ quarters, desperate to hump his masters leg.

Nobody would ever find out about that one, of course, because Sloan has SOME dignity and he’s a little in denial that he even has those kinks to begin with, so Imaginary Puppy Boy Julian stays locked in his quarters all day, and Sloan is little disappointed he’s gone by the end of it, because having had to spend the whole day watching Julian with an imaginary Jadzia slobbering all over him, he was kinda hoping he could work out some of his frustrations on the Puppy Julian instead.

It’s fine, though, since Julian clearly WANTS someone to force themselves on him, he’ll just give Julian what they both want anyway. :D

[craycray-wolf]

*I*

Would like to make fanfiction of Minecraft Story Mode 😎

I plan on writing my own ideas as well as my version of events/own twist on the game's story itself! By this I mean the choices I like to make and adding some of my own events as well. I know these are common I just think I personally have something to offer! Plus the more preservation of the game's overall story we have the better ^_^ I love these games so much and I don't ever want them to die!

Then of course I have my own original stories for MCSM, it's just that my version of the games' stories provide context.

(Also it's probably going to be rated teen/PG13 and possibly even mature for some chapters, though for the latter I'm going to try to make them not necessary for the story when I can! I know the game itself is E10+ and meant for a general audience but I'm too much of a freak tbh. I like making intense content)

I plan on making 3 different universes:

Red Suspenders Jesse (and Jesskas) <= currently working on this one

Red hairclip Jesse (and Jesstra)

Red pants/peach sus Jesse (Jerkesse. No hate to any Jesse variants- I love them all!)

I also have a few short stories about red sus already written that I plan to integrate into the greater narrative once it's done. I have them already published on Wattpad and plan to publish them on AO3 and Fanfiction too.

Now this is gonna take a while to write so uh- feel free to ask any questions! I'm also going to share some tidbits about each universe real quick below.

SPOILER WARNINGS FOR BOTH SEASONS JUST IN CASE 🚨🚨🚨

You have been warned! I highly recommend experiencing the game for yourself if possible or watching a playthrough!

Okay let's experience a sampling of my chaotic brainrot!

Red sus: This Jesse is the most cinnamon roll of the 3 Jesses, but he's still savage as that is a classic Jesse trait. He's also the most honest of the 3, his mindset here is probably best encapsulated by the phrase "honesty is the best policy." He tends to relate more to Olivia than Axel, but he deeply loves them both. He takes Hadrian's deal without hesitation.

Jesse particularly likes the Ender Defender armor and uses it during S1. He also thought the best way to keep Magnus' armor would be to care for it and it not be damaged. He decides to branch out in S2 and wear the Shield of Infinity armor, then Please Don't Hit Me. He takes Romeo back with them home with no hesitation, even if he's p.o.'ed at the man. He told Petra he'd be right beside her as she found herself at the cabin, and follows through on his promise once Beacontown is rebuilt and stable enough (and he works on some personal business). He turns down Stella's offer as he thinks Lluna and her are meant to be.

During their travels, Jesse realizes how much he missed animal companionship due to Lluna. He keeps an eye out for his new companion, and comes across a bat in a cherry grove. The Order had troubles with bats previously whereas now they're turning over a new leaf. This new friend symbolizes new beginnings. Because of this and the fact that she was found in a cherry blossom biome, Jesse names the bat "Bloom." I love Bloom so much y'all. I hope you will too 😊

Red hairclip: She's less optimistic than red sus Jesse, but still a fair amount so. This Jesse still appreciates truthfulness but it's not a core feature she has or one she seeks like red sus Jess. She's less trusting than red sus Jesse so she doesn't take Hadrian's deal (though she's willing to sacrifice herself for her loved ones no question).

She thinks the best way to keep the armor is to wear it, killing the Witherstorm in honor of Ellegaard. Briefly before their Portal adventures though she tries wearing the Dragonsbane armor and falls in love. In S2 she wears Star Shield and Golden Apple.

Since Jesse chose to leave Nurm behind she has a stronger bond with Lluna, and takes Stella up on her offer to keep the fashionable llama. She is torn between adventuring with Petra and staying to keep leading her beloved town. She ultimately stays in Beacontown, at least for quite a while. That is until Jesse realizes how much she loves Petra and goes out to search for her.

Red pants/peach sus: And then there's THIS asshole. Tbh he's not as developed as the other two yet, but he's not the funnest guy to be around. He still cares on some level for his friends, but he sees them more as a means to an end. He's incredibly selfish and egotistical, soaking up all the glory from his "heroism". All of his actions are motivated by things that'd benefit him. Therefore he sure as heck doesn't take Hadrian's deal.

Not sure whether he takes Magnus' or Ellegaard's armor. S2 he wears Tim's armor because you know. Fancy and diamonds and stuff. He gets no 2nd animal sidekick, he didn't treat the first one right!

Also here, a link to my fanart of the New Order (S1 style) thx: https://www.tumblr.com/craycray-wolf/736076088473731072/these-dorks-in-my-artstyle-i-love-them-too-much?source=share

Thanks for reading Fam! It's been lit.

[fandom-susceptible]

What Is Done (TDP Rewatch Liveblog, S1E2)

Having the Book One context of "the other assassins wanted to kill Rayla outright for her mistake" adds something to this opening scene. I find it interesting that Callisto insists they should bring Rayla anyway, with that bit of canon, though, and Runaan is the one who refuses. Makes me wonder if Callisto wasn't on board with killing her - or if Runaan believed they would kill her anyway in the confusion of the attack no matter what he said, if he listened to the suggestion.

We never do get any information on who Andromeda left behind. Ram's dad comes up in Season 7 (Ram's background is also interesting since he's shown with a bow in this preparation scene, but is shown using knives everywhere else), but Andromeda wears the same sort of wedding cuffs as Runaan does, and her family is never addressed. Andromeda was also the first of these assassins to befriend Rayla seven years before (Bloodmoon Huntress), so this must sit really heavy for her.

"The Crazy Jerkface Dance" "A dance of stupitude and sorriness!" god this is such good sibling writing.

I'm. Gonna just watch this whole scene with Runaan and Rayla and then go back over it because hooo boy.

"I thought you could do it, Rayla. But I was wrong." The way his voice just drops when he says he was wrong. This is why I'm convinced he's already feeling guilty about this, because he doesn't blame her for her mistake. Even in the middle of this scene where he's pulling her from the mission, he is taking all of the responsibility for what she did, and that's something I kinda missed when I was watching it as a kid. He admits he knows she's never taken before, that he brought her for her physical ability (I think he's obfuscating a bit here; Tiadrin and Lain were his friends, not just her parents, and I'm sure he knows very well that her success here will go farther towards redeeming Rayla in the eyes of the village than anything he could do for her), but he knows this isn't something she can do. Her heart is too soft for it. I had forgotten that he directly refers to her as a child here, though, which is an interesting story note. So she is still a minor, or close enough to it that he feels guilty for expecting her to act as an adult.

I think they probably made him so much larger than her in this scene for effect, but then they made his sheer size canonical, and now there's a very adult part of me that very much appreciates this character design.

"You will wait here, quietly!" we didn't even know he was her dad yet but this fucking moment was such intense dad energy, this is why no one was surprised. That said . . . Runaan, when has this girl EVER just waited somewhere quietly when you told her to? She literally unlocked Moonshadow form at eight years old to disobey that exact order like two months after moving in with you.

His instruction to go home is also a loaded one. He has to know that if they're not back by sunrise and the mission isn't done, and she leaves alive, she'll be ghosted. My best theory as to why he does this is this: if they succeed in getting their targets but can't escape, and she does home, she'll just be a lone survivor, not a ghost, and while there might be some shame associated with it if she tells the village the truth, she won't be ghosted because she was obeying his direct orders. If they die before taking out their targets, but Rayla is alive, she won't be immediately ghosted because he'll never get the shadowhawk out, so they won't know what's going on until she returns, and again, she'll be acting under his orders. At this point, provided she listens to him, those are the most likely results. The problem is that she doesn't listen to him.

I do also appreciate how all of the assassins have eyeliner on. Runaan and Rayla's visual designs change slightly around the eyes when they're not actively on this mission, which I think is neat. Dark makeup around the eyes is a pretty well-known method of helping to reduce glare, which would make sense for moon-aligned elves used to working at night or in the shadows of an extremely dense forest.

See I don't know why everyone liked Claudia so much at first. Her teasing Callum in the library about his crush really just gave me creepy vibes from the very beginning. No judgment, I guess she is cute, but like. I don't get it.

I love Harrow in this episode. That low, dangerous "Call it, what it is." and then the venom in "Dark magic." Viren was so unsettled he pulled his hand off of Harrow's shoulder having it directed at him. The "I don't understand." "I know you don't." exchange hits though, because that tells me that Harrow is facing both his death and the realization of just what kind of person his best friend is at the same time, and he doesn't like it.

I don't like Viren or Claudia as people, but they're very well-written characters and I adore how well-written the family dynamics are. "Not everyone speaks CLAUDIA, Claudia" is such a genuinely dad moment.

Oooh the crossing the river moment was so much harder than we knew for Rayla here.

Oh, this scene with Harrow and Callum fucking hurts. I love that Harrow doesn't try to dodge responsibility for what he did. He calls them choices, not mistakes, when he talks to Callum. There's genuine love in it from both of them, and neither of them will say it even when Callum turns back to hug him.

Honestly what if some guard had seen Rayla climbing up the side of the castle or clambering all the way over the ramparts. This could have gone real badly for you sweetheart. Baby. Honey. Moonberry. There is a reason your dad is waiting for nightfall.

I predicted Rayllum in the very first scene they met when she goes "Oh, ye don't like my ears?" All smug and Callum stammers "no, I - I do!" I'm not complaining but that was obvious. Also this whole chase and all the tricks Callum pulls only worked because they're both teenagers and I love that.

Harrow just sassing Viren constantly gives me the life Harrow won't have in two episodes. Also though, "Moonshadow elves are dangerous, elite fighters." All this buildup to how they're unstoppable and I've said it before and I'll say it again, even with having virtually no time to prepare, Soren's Crownguard did in fact manage to stop them. They would only have been able to eliminate one target regardless, and if Soren had had more time to prepare or more forces to prepare with, they might not have gotten through to Harrow either. Also though, where is this reputation coming from? I'm genuinely curious if there's been that many assassinations across the border that we just haven't been told about, or if it's stories filtering over from Xadia through maritime trade (Tidebound elves interact with humans fairly regularly, apparently, even during the worst of the tension, out at sea). It sort of paints a picture of the cultural place of Moonshadow elves post-Mage Wars, hidden in the perilous Moonshadow Forest with even other elves telling stories like this about how they're all killers.

Mmm. Stories filtering from maritime trade or just Viren's expeditions into Xadia. He has way too many magical creatures - and their parts - in his fucking dungeon later, and I frankly suspect he didn't get the serpent on his and Harrow's trip to kill Avizandum. If he'd done it then, I feel like Harrow would have noticed a LIVE TWO HEADED SOUL EATING SNAKE IN A BASKET at some point during their return trip. That'd be kinda tough to miss. He wouldn't even have to be overly observant.

"Because you're with a girl?" I love Ezran so much. He barely even acknowledges the swords being pointed at them.

The shouting match between Viren and Harrow over the serpent had to be so goddamn awkward for the guards. I love that they were animated exchanging glances and fidgeting while it was happening because this would be an awful moment to be in the room, it's got me giggling so much.

I love Harrow quoting Sarai when he tries to make Viren see the problem. Viren just refuses to hear him, he's being so stubborn and full on gaslighting Harrow trying to get the king to turn it around on himself. He's angry because he's confused that it's not working this time like it always has before. Props to Harrow for overcoming this emotional abuse and turning it back around on him. "Would you, Viren?" "I - hm." "Get out."

Once again, brotherly dynamic, nailed it. These writers have siblings.

Walking into Viren's workshop would really just be like walking into an absolute horror show for Rayla here, huh? She looks up at a shelf and sees a collection of horns she would recognize as belonging to elves - Moonshadow, Earthblood, Skywing, possibly Tidebound, Sunfire, all of them, plus possibly dragon or drake. One set is still attached to a skull. The jar next to it holds the preserved corpse of a small dragon. The preserved bodies of other animals litter the shelves. No wonder she's so intensely disturbed.

"Runaan's right - there's nothin' in humans worth sparing." is an interesting line, considering that's not an opinion we ever see him actually spout. Even when he talks about what they do in Bloodmoon Huntress, he never says anything about humans specifically, and he also doesn't make judgments on his victims. As Rayla said earlier, assassins don't decide right and wrong - just life and death. They take their targets and eliminate them, choices made based on the judgments of others. So, I'm wondering if in Rayla's mind these were two separate statements. "Runaan's right." meaning he was right, she can't afford to hesitate, and then her own opinion, "There's nothin' in humans worth sparin'." That statement originally had me bracing for Runaan to be as racist as Viren, actually, but with how we see his character play out later (and earlier, in the graphic novel) it doesn't really make sense that way. Of course, it could also be a retcon like Aditi showing up in the intro of Echoes of Thunder, the writers deciding to make Runaan more sympathetic later on. Either way, interesting line.

Also, can't help but point out, he was right. She insisted she could do this. She's determined, she's decided that Ezran deserves his fate. But when it comes down to it, again and again in this episode, she has chance after chance to kill the boys - and she keeps hesitating. Which is a good thing! Sets off the whole plot! Just also adds depth to her family's development later on, because . . . yeah, Ethari was right. So was Runaan, when he came around to that opinion. And it turned out to be the best thing for this situation.

[cantareincminor]

⭐ tell us what you've been DYING to talk about regarding a fic of yours!!!

Thank you dear for the open-ended question! It's funny that I solicited this type of ask and now that you've asked, I had a tough time picking something to talk about! Because I want to make sure it's interesting.

Two things about Orpheus that I look back on fondly:

Yor's feelings of denial.

I took my time with resolving all the information asymmetries for the first half of the fic, starting with Yuri's fate, then the identity reveals. On Yor's side, I really enjoyed trying to flesh out her past and how her grueling childhood and training with Garden shaped her personality and naivete. Shopkeeper told her not to ask questions and harbor doubts while on a job, because hesitation will get you killed. The time to ask questions is before you accept the job. But she took this so deeply to heart, as a psychological shield against having to murder people starting from her teenage years, that she avoided asking questions about almost anything that she didn't understand or made her afraid. When she starts to suspect Loid is not who he says he is, she stops herself from diving deeper. She tells him outright that she doesn't want to know. This is also in the context of the immense grief she's in over her brother's comatose state. Loid and Anya are the only anchors she has, and she can't stand to let Loid go and shatter their fledgling relationship and the safety it provides.

This is rather personal, as I look back on periods of denial in my own life (as I'm sure many others have also experienced as well). Times when I was so infatuated with someone that I couldn't let them go, even though we only had limited time staying in the same city and would soon have to move halfway across the world from each other. Choosing to turn a blind eye to that to savor the time we have left, even if it'll cause both of us more pain in the long run.

After Yor gives up this attitude of denial, she matures as a character, gains more confidence and isn't as afraid to ask questions anymore. This is of course with Twilight's help too, with his strengths complementing her weaknesses. I hope that this journey out of denial helps sell her character journey as a believable one.

Melinda's character

While I was writing in the first half of 2024, we didn't know all that much about Melinda other than her "strange aura" that Yor observed, and her conflicting thoughts toward Damian after the bus hijacking. Canon will probably diverge a whole lot from my characterization of Melinda as a conniving, temperamental woman who wields her power for her own ends. But still, it was so fun shaping her character, and Yor and Twilight's perceptions of her.

She's bitter at heart, resentful toward her husband for pushing her away after his life-altering operation. Resentful toward her children because she wanted more for her life than merely bearing heirs for the Desmond bloodline. She sees herself as capable and intelligent and deserving of more power and authority, but as a woman she is only able to work behind the scenes, and is still ultimately under the rule of her husband.

Privileged people like this can be a godsend if they're on your side, wielding almost unlimited resources in connections, money, and political power. It affects almost every aspect of their lives, where they tend to assume any obstacle can and should be cleared away at their orders, regardless of what their underlings have to do to take care of the problem. But when they're actively against you, you're in a very dangerous spot indeed.

When I began to assign titles to every chapter, one of my favorite chapter titles was Medea (chapter 47, a rather explosive one). I love Greek mythology and reading about the different tragic characters and trying to understand them. Medea was a witch and the wife of Jason. She bore him two children, but he was unfaithful and was probably never truly interested in her to start with, only agreeing to the marriage because she helped him on his quest for the golden fleece. He eventually left her to marry a princess for political gain. In revenge she killed her own two sons as well as the princess.

I thought this was fitting for Melinda and her resentment of her husband and children, especially her menacing attitude toward Damian. She literally wishes that he didn't exist. That she could be free of this burden. We don't know exactly why yet in canon, but such thoughts are extremely frightening.

---

Thank you again for the ask Rach! And thank you to whoever managed to read this far!

[genericpuff]

Does anyone else wish that more Hades x Persephone stories made use of Despoina, the daughter of Demeter and Poseidon? Some accounts have her as a goddess of winter and it would have been interesting to see how that would have played out.

So I actually have a lot of thoughts on this and it goes beyond Despoina a little bit, but bear with me here because I still think it's worth talking about. Note that I'm obviously not an authoritative figure on this topic, this is simply my two cents based on the research I've done on Despoina, the Eleusinian Mysteries, and the context of The Hymn to Demeter as a whole.

Frankly, I think the reason that the modern retellings of Hades and Persephone don't make more use of Despoina is because we still don't really know a lot about her. Even in my own research of her, from what I've gathered (i.e. I could totally be wrong on this so if I am please send me resources if you have them!!!) the claim that she was the 'goddess of winter' is pretty much on the same level as claiming there's source material about Persephone going down to the Underworld willingly - i.e. it seems like something someone said maybe 20-30 years ago and people just kind of went "yep, that's canon!" and claiming there were sources surrounding it while never actually being able to provide those sources... probably because they don't exist.

In reality we don't know much about Despoina - and thus she tends to not be depicted in these modern retellings - because she's affiliated with The Eleusinian Mysteries which are, well... a mystery! The Mysteries itself was an initiation process for a cult dedicated to Demeter and Persephone, the members within were sworn to secrecy so all of the writings we have about it are pretty minimal and theoretical aside from knowing for a fact they were associated with Demeter, Persephone, and Hecate (and in some versions, Aphrodite). So unless someone who was actually there is able to appear and tell us what the actual fuck was going on behind closed doors, all we have are the word of mouth stories and depictions told through Greek poets such as Callimachus.

By extension, we don't know all that much about Despoina who was strongly connected to the Mysteries. We know she was the offspring of Poseidon and Demeter, we sort of know she's an actual tangible goddess but there are also other works that claim "Despoine" was simply a title within the Mysteries (as it means "the mistress") used to describe certain goddesses such as Persephone, but when it comes to her as a goddess affiliated with winter specifically, really she seems to only be mentioned as a consequential footnote in Demeter's search for Kore (which led to the drought / winter season) and frankly from what I can glean, I think that's the only real 'connection' there is that people tend to conflate as "goddess of winter", because she was born the same time Demeter would have started winter.

But why would there be a goddess of winter, really? In the Mediterranean where it doesn't traditionally snow aside from on mountaintops and at higher altitudes? It does get colder, yes, but Mediterranean winters still tend to be mild and wet, you wouldn't find blistering cold "Canadian" winters in Athens as we imagine them to be when we think of Demeter and the creation of the seasons. Even the notion that Demeter used winter to kill the mortals is told in such a manner to describe the seasons but they don't necessarily mean snow literally, they mean drought, the lack of summer harvest, when Greece would go through periods of drought where harvests were minimal and mortals were at a higher risk of starvation. Remember that these myths still come from a specific regional context so what we call 'winter' isn't precisely the same as what Ancient Greek poets like Homer called 'winter'.

If there was a goddess of winter, it would technically be Demeter, but again, not exactly because it's more the absence of the Mediterranean heat and sun needed to grow the plants they traditionally consumed. The closest thing we know to be a "goddess of winter/snow/frost" with actual text and sources is Khione, a mountain nymph whose name literally translates to 'snow' due to snow being more common in, you guessed it, the mountains of Greece.

Anyways, I'm digressing now, but my point is that a lot of modern retellings frankly struggle to depict Despoina because there just isn't enough on her to know who she was like we have with Demeter and Persephone. She was an enigmatic figure spoken of within cults that kept their information behind closed doors. And a lot of the research that is out there is muddied with made-up headcanon stuff. None of this is to be argumentative, but I did want to talk about it because in all my readings of Despoina (which there are , again, not a lot of!) there just doesn't seem to be anything backing up the claims that she's the goddess of winter and frost, it seems to all just be "well I read it somewhere" only for that 'somewhere' to be a poorly-made Wiki page with no scholarly sources or references, Tumblr posts that also don't have scholarly sources (or are using sources from those aforementioned Wiki pages), or to just not exist, period.

But hey, I'm very aware I could be entirely off base on this; again, if there's actual writings about her being the goddess of winter that I've missed, please by all means send them my way. I'm just really struggling to pull up anything tangible that has her cited as such that isn't rooted in modern day hearsay or fanfiction.

[theskeletonprior]

Writer Q&A

I was tagged by both @vacantgodling and @void-botanist -- thank you both! The last question involves mentioning some other writers, so if I tagged you, you're it! If it moves you, feel free to respond and tag me. If you're a writeblr and you're reading this, I also welcome you to respond and tag me, even if I didn't mention you! As ever, I'll talk about RAVENOT. But here's the pitch for the uninitiated:

After a near-death experience which leaves her able to speak the language of the Dead, Senai joins the Order of Balances, an ancient organization that preserves the peace between the living and the (un)dead. There she meets RAVENOT, an immortal skeleton knight who travels the realm to ensure that Life and Death remain in balance, that those subjected to necromancy are willingly exposed, and that no violent or mindless undead ravage the lands unchecked. For a year and a day, Senai will travel with Ravenot as their witness, and learn what it means to walk the path alongside the Unmade. You can read my pilot chapter here, if you like.

What is the main lesson of your story?

I don't write to be didactic. There's probably something to be learned from my work, but that's not really what I'm here to do. Not every story has a lesson, but that doesn't mean that there's nothing to learn. But RAVENOT is surely not a parable.

What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding?

The Abhorsen trilogy was a massive influence on this work. Honestly, I owe a lot to Garth Nix. I'm not sure I'd be the same writer if I had never read his work. Vampire Hunter D is also a big one for this piece. My longstanding fascination with death and dying (and thus the undead) finds a home in this work, so books like Smoke Gets In Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty, and Stiff by Mary Roach. But also the way mycelial networks communicate with each other and their surroundings gave me a lot to set my teeth into, and my jumping off point for that was Merlin Sheldrake's Entangled Life, which I highly recommend.

What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, or help the reader grow as a person?

I don't think of my characters as vessels for achievement, either. Honestly, Ravenot is just out there doing what they do--he isn't an inert protagonist, there's something which drives him, but it's more the way a force of nature is driven. They live on the very edge of personhood. If pressed, I think I would say that what Ravenot is really trying to do, is just to be good. Me? I'm just here to have a good time and write dialogue in Early Modern English because I like the way it rattles along. It's rhythmically satisfying, and I think a lot of the words and phrases that have fallen out of common usage are a delight. If someone gets something deeper out of my Ravenot, that's dandy. Honestly, all I hope for is that my readers like him as much as I do.

How many chapters is your story going to have?

As many as it takes.

Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

All original. I'll probably take it to .epub/pdf and host it on my own website, once I've got the hang of all that.

When did you start writing?

I honestly think I was telling stories even before I could write them down, but I don't remember when I started writing, or the first time I thought I might write a whole book.

Do you have any words of encouragement for fellow writers of writeblr? What other writers do you follow?

Do it badly first! All your first draft has to do is be there. My other piece of advice is if you are posting your work out of context, you should provide some. I like to include the basic pitch for my story as often as I can, so if someone hasn't seen it before, or if it might be difficult to keep track of my WIPs, my reader can remember which one it is, and what could possibly be happening. I try to follow lots of other writers, so if I didn't mention you, and we're mutuals, my apologies, it's all off the top of the old dome: @alexanderflowerbird @/void-botanist @ceph-the-ghost-writer @cream-and-tea @inkspellangel @karolinarodrigueswrites @lvsifer @/vacantgodling @writingsfromspace

[beryllineart]

How2Draw Comics: Story

Last time we learned about conceptualizing our characters, settings, art style, etc. Now we actually have to put our characters in a situation, drive them from point A to point B through a story.

There are many different ways to do this. I'm assuming you have, if not an outlined story, a situation you want your character to experience. If you don't have a story, make your character order pizza but something happens and they have to rescue the pizza (and the delivery guy, I guess.) The first method I'll discuss is my least favorite- the Script Method.

You write a script for your story, listing pages and panels as you go along. I hate this. It feels too limiting, and panels are actually one of the most limiting and intimidating things to a beginner comic artist. Yet most tutorials encourage you to draw your panels first and then squish or stretch your drawings to fit, and that's what the Script Method is based off of. I draw my panels while I do my drawings, or even after I do them.

If pacing your comics is one of the most difficult things for you (what size do I make my panels? Is there too much dialogue on this page?) then I suggest the Storytelling Method.

You do not have to make a full short story or book. Usually I just say something like, "boy is making cake. girl walks up behind him and hugs him, kissing his floury cheek. she walks away, licking her finger. she has stolen some cake batter and he didn't notice." In my head I can see a more detailed story there, but you can tell a story without a bunch of flowery prose.

You may be wondering how this helps with pacing your comics. Well, I have actions associated with dialogue, meaning I know which drawings will have which dialogue, automatically creating a nice balance. Additionally, I know what to prioritize. I know that the panel introducing the manor will be large, because I used the words "large and imposing" to describe it. I know that when I set the ballroom scene in this story, I also need to set the scene in an establishing shot. And I know that I'm going to have Bernice's appearance on the food table be surprising, taking place after she tugs his shirt or something. (This will probably make more sense once I actually make the comic)

The final method is a very flexible one for those who aren't into words and just want to draw- the Children's Book Method.

This particular example is mind-mapping, but you can also do a more organized version by storyboarding (placing each drawing in a square and giving a short description for context). I call these collectively the Children's Book Method because the basic idea is that you don't repeat your drawings like you would in a comic. Instead, you draw those things that feel the most interesting and most dynamic, the things that are most important. (like keyframes in an animation) Children's books illustrate one scene at a time, providing context for many different moments in one picture (and some text). They are less sequential than a comic because they only have one picture per page.

I usually have a mix of the storytelling method and the storyboarding end of children's book method. And usually I tell myself a story only in my head, without writing it out, because that's all I need. And I'll admit, sometimes the stories play out in my head like a movie, which is probably why the script method works for people. Sometimes you don't know which is the most effective way to tell yourself a story until you try to draw the comic and see what is giving you the most trouble.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask me! I know I'm kind of rambly and don't make much sense, so if you need clarification or other tips, I'll do my best to help.

Next is Panels and Pacing: Drawing the Comic (which will probably happen in multiple posts, but this art block will make it nigh impossible for a while, why doesn't it just go away?)

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

I've got a lovely idea for a story ❤️ and too little time ❤️

Anyway.

This is gonna be all over the place but.

For context this is inspired by a scene from Hazbin Hotel when the angels learn about what's heaven doing to hell and yeah. MC (princess of hell) "...You didn't know?" To which the younger seraphim turns to the older one and in absolutely heartbroken voice asks her "Please tell me you didn't know"

That's about it tbh

Now imagine this scene for AKs learning that there are, in fact, VKs on the Isle.

How they learn that?

Well funny story.

The Facilier sisters casually pop off from the Isle via Shadows and go: „Do you have any - stop screaming it's just me - Do you have any fire extinguisher? Father run out and someone's trying to set the school on fire again. We think it's Frollo.“

„WHO ARE YOU AND HOW DID YOU GET THERE?!“

(entirely justified reaction if you ask me)

Later, when FG learns of the Facilier girls casually popping off the Isle her reaction is largely „Oh goodness me, I thought I fixed that bug fifteen years ago.“

That's about the time Dr F decided to fund a school cos the other Villains didn't wanna deal with their brats and would owe him for babysitting them. He also came to the conclusion that several Villains would off him if he didn't provide Quality Education, very painfully. So jumpscaring FG for decent textbooks it was.

Anyway.

I was thinking that the Facilier sisters jumpscared Jane; she could call for Ben. (Audrey could also come on scene)

The AKs were like, VKs?? Do you think you could like. Give us some proof??

Yeah sure they can do that.

They told the de Vil cousins to get a camera and go wild.

CJ stole the camera at one point. You can tell exactly when cos that's when the tape became a running commentary of her siblings love lives.

The death threats she recieves upon being discovered are not by far the most concerning part of the video.

Oh and since Diego is canonically a singer of Rotten Apples or whatever it's partially a music video too. He's having fun.

The Tremaines are not having fun. He and Ivy broke to the salon after hours to get a cool background probably.

Last scene I can kinda imagine is a sweet & deeply concerning encounter of Diego's with Ginny.

(he tells Ivy to stop filming. She doesn't.)

Oh yeah Freddie sings too doesn't she? Music video it is. The lyrics are also deeply disturbing to Auradon audience.

However the most disturbing part would probably be when Ivy was left with the camera unsupervised ngl

Anyway I'm struggling to come up with a format for this cos this kinda doesn't fit the third person limited POV I'm usually writing in.

Like it could but the narrator would be Jane

And she's just too sweet for this.

Plus she wouldn't recognise the VKs so I couldn't use their names.

And I don't wanna write emotional turmoil. I mean I do wanna but I want to write the chaos more so it'd need to be switched up somewhere?