#and like i’m already trying to work on better communication w my father bc he said some out of pocket shit to me two weeks ago

[boytoycowboy]

my mother just asked if she could sit in on my therapy session tomorrow. so my therapist “knows how bad i am”. like that’s going to make it better.

[neotrances]

I just want to say that I love every single drop of parousia lore (esp stuff related to the mechanics of how your world operates/the religion and various gods of the story) and I was wondering what helps you come up w the ideas & details for the story I started writing down stuff for a comic I want to draw & uve been a huge inspiration for me bc of ur in depth anecdotes of parousia along w ur accompanying art rlly scratches the fantasy world itch in my brain that I want to do the same vibe as u

thanku!!! it’s a bit hard to put into words bc i’ve been ��working” on parousia since middle school and it is essentially an entire religion that happens to have story plot on the side, gonna put the rest under a read more !

my best advice would to keep notes / songs / images that relate to what you’re making and how it ties into ur world, it’s a bit hard to help bc i’m not sure what ur comic is about but for example relating to parousia id just ask myself simple questions as if i’m already in that world, what is common belief? where is the nearest store? do i have to make my own clothes / food? is it normal to use money in this world? what does average transportation look like? is their a explanation for why the sun and moon exist in this world? do people in this world know why waves rise and crash? parousia for me is also the result of my psychosis and id often “go” there during delusions but it helps a whole lot to try and mentally put urself inside ur world and basically get rid of any preconceived ideas u have, try to make urself a blank slate! that and also think about how u want others to CONSIME ur comic, usually people make things and cant control how ppl take them in but if u think of how someone (fandom brained ppl) would approach ur content u can usually get flaws out before they become “fanon”, i want others to see parousia as a slightly off putting tale about abuse and the power of community and self sacrifice, and my main character syr has to grapple with the cards he’s been dealt and address his own cold tendencies as he unlearns what his abusive father instilled in him, for an outsider they might label syrs character as a “innocent cinnamon roll” or something to that effect, which would deeply bother me bc that is not who he is and is not the point of his character, he is supposed to represent actively working to being a better person and putting in the work to be kinder to others, he isn’t 100% innocent and he isn’t naturally pure person whose never done any wrong, but if i don’t drive that concept in thru my story people could very very easily misinterpret him and those are the kinds of things you should watch out for, u don’t want to preach thru ur characters obviously but you SHOULD make them speak for themselves and show clearly how they operate / leave little room for misconception, um anyways this is long but yeah !

[river-bottom-nightmare]

I loved your post about how Dick's height should, really, only be 5'7 MAX. It's just so fun to imagine Tim and Damian growing up and then, one day, realizing they have to look DOWN to see their older brother. Even if Tim and Damian aren't too tall themselves, they're not, what, 5'3? 5'4? (I'm 5'0 so if that seems a little too short sue me.) They probably wouldn't say anything but would give eachother looks whenever Dick starts lecturing them and they notice his heads tilts up a bit. Jason never really registered it since he was gone for 6 years or something and when he notices he's just like, "Huh." Because it's not just an inch or two, it's AT LEAST six. And he used to look up to Dick. All of them did. What was this madness? (1/4)

Bruce would never notice since Dick has always been small to him and he himself is a freaking giant. At least not until one day, Dick is side by side to a villain, decked out in his Nightwing suit, and his protective father instincts come in and go, "He's so SMALL. Has he always been that small?" And then it just hits him that... Yes. Dick has always been that small and he wasn't gonna get any bigger now that he was officially done with his growth spurts. And then the guy just spends the next few weeks or so being overbearing towards all his kids. Alfred, meanwhile, had always been aware of Dick's height since initially he assumed the boy wasn't eating enough. But a quick check in with the doctor assured him that no, it was just genetics. (2/4)

And then all the other superheroes start taking notice of it. A select few of the Justice League have always been aware of Dick's size, but it was just kind of normal after so many years. It's the newer heroes that make a deal out of it. Because... he's such a good leader, he's so well respected, he's a great detective and teammate, and- oh wait, he just jumped off of that ledge and he barely reaches my chin, how is no one else seeing this? The same goes for the villains. Nightwing spends so much time in the air, leaping over their heads and across their bodies, that when they do notice his height there's always a second of confusion. (3/4)

The day someone DOES confront Dick about how tall he is in some offhand comment, he just shrugs and says, "I'm an aeriaist." If the guy/gal was rude he invites them to a spare and then proceeds to knock them out.

Short-Dick Grayson is just too fun. I mean, I also enjoy the thought of a Tall-Dick Grayson just making things work and then smaller heroes being like wtf? How did that work? He's trying to defy gravity AND the rules of his own body? Better if someone like Wally tries to copy him being all like, "Well our body types are pretty similar"- but that's not what this was about. Thank you for the content! (4/4)

hiya babe i need you to be my new best friend because i agree with every single part of this

here’s the link to the little meta i wrote on dick’s height. it’s not so much as this ask, which is an incredible set of hcs on how dick being short is in the hero community. it’s more of a meta behind dick’s height and the relation to his aerial. but all of this AHHHHH YES

while i’m not sure he’ll ever be shorter than tim, since both of those two are Smol, but damian, cass, steph, and jason? DEFINTELY. them just suddenly realizing, while dick is lecturing about not using proper grip holds and how bad that is, that dick is tipping his head up to yell at them.

and people are always so shocked because dick’s constantly flipping and moving and jumping and climbing so it really doesn’t set in that he comes up to your shoulder until he’s staring you in the face and they’re like w h a t bc on one hand they’ve seen nightwing take down some major players before and he can beat most anyone at hand to hand combat and he’s a certified badass but on the other hand oh my god he’s t i n y.

tbh i’d ramble about this more but you already touched on most of it feel free to come into my inbox any time i need more drabbles like this

[ziracona]

Do you have any post ilm Myer sibs (Quentin counts too 👀) hcs? I live for your Myers sib content and it is so gooooood I loved the little tidbits at the end of ilm :)

Sure! I love them so muc TuT. I’ve posted some before, but I can’t remember off the top of my head always which things I have and haven’t said already when it comes to post-ILM headcanons, so apologies if I repeat myself a little.

Michael takes a while to be comfortable around other people in general, but gets there pretty well eventually, and becomes a normal part of the gang. Philip is especially helpful (both to him and all the other past-killers) in working out ways to get through that past.

His cat almost dies the first year he has it, but Claudette is visiting the day it happens and saves it, and he and the cat both love her after that.

Michael has a really weird relationship with Nancy bc her introduction to him was not as The Shape but as “Oh this is Laurie’s weird brother,” but somehow they turned that weirdness into a really great mechanic and vibe well together.

Since Michael thinks Quentin is biologically his brother, then half-brother after he meets Alan Smith, he considers Alan kind of a weird step-father and Anna kind of a weird step-mother. Luckily for everyone involved, he doesn’t think about this much.

Laurie and Michael go mma on each other sometimes after the first few years just for old time’s sake and it’s kind of amazing to watch.

Everybody in the group gets pretty fluent in sign language after a while to communicate with Michael easily. It’s much appreciated by Laurie.

Michael is successfully able to learn how to read and write at adult levels after a few years with Laurie’s help and she is unbelievably proud of him and not afraid to show it, which he finds both embarrassing and enjoys.

Both of them come to stay with Quentin a lot, and it’s really nice for all of them. Alan does a very impressive job of being welcoming to the two murderers his kid has made part of his personal life 🤣 (poor Alan, without context getting Michael and Anna—thank God he has his kid who will give him the world’s most in-depth and sympathetic explanations). Michael gets interested in art by the stuff Nancy keeps/makes out in the shed, and she talks him into trying his hand a little. Sometimes they go do that together, or talk Quentin & Laurie into joining and do a group drawing party while talking or listening to music.

The headphones were a good gift, and listening to music/tuning things out is very helpful to Michael sometimes he finds, when dealing with psychosis symptoms. Sometimes if he’s having a rough time, he will go sit out on the porch in silence and listen to music, and Quentin started going to join him when that happened if he was visiting, and would just sit beside him in silence, listening to his own headphones as a move of solidarity. One time a month or so later, Quentin was having a really bad week and couldn’t sleep, and got up and was just chilling downstairs on the couch, listening to headphones, and Michael came over wearing his and sat with him. Now they regularly both do it as a solidarity act together if either of them needs a break from life. They never really talk about it—just go sit on the porch together and listen to their own music—but they don’t have to. They know. :’-]

Laurie & Quentin have both physically attacked strangers more than one for stuff they said to Michael.

Quentin takes Laurie (and Michael, if it’s a kind he could enjoy, which is unfortunately rareish) to concerts, and does insist to her dismay on bankrolling stuff for her whenever he can once he’s eventually a doctor. Laurie gets this with both barrels, because David constantly does this too, and she appreciates it, but is also low-key stressed sometimes.

Laurie: I’m gonna grab a smoothie real—

David&Quentin, shoving handfuls of money her way: “Here, for the”—“I’ll pay”

Laurie: O_O

Its a little weird for Michale when David & Laurie start dating, and he feels threatened because the man had less than nothing in the entire world before his sister and he worked things out, and he does not want things to change back, but he is assured by both Laurie and David that nothing will change, and after experiencing that/seeing it is true for a few weeks/months, he calms down about it. Eventually kind of likes the idea of having a 2nd brother, as Quentin puts it to him. Already liked David pretty well and gets to know him even better, now that he has a level of personal interest in him, and they get along pretty well. It’s weird, because they are incredibly awkward @ each other, but that gets better and all four of them (sibs + David) have a lot of fun doing things as a group.

Michael got to see like, none of the world at all most of his life, so he greatly enjoys travel/sightseeing, and is interested by most of what is out there to see. The first time he went boating was a really great day for him, and kind of a fantastic experience. David took them out on a lake (p early on, year 2) and it was one of the best feelings he’d experienced. Since age 6, all he’s really gotten to see or do was walk around and stab people in small realm cages, or sit still in a white room from age 6-21, and the world couldn’t be a lot more full of wonder. Laurie takes to casually explaining how things work a lot out loud when they go places as little fun “did you know?” Kinds of facts, so that in case he doesn’t know, he won’t have to ask or feel embarrassed about it. Several of the others start doing this too after a bit.

Laurie plays piano, and Michael is fascinated by that, so Laurie teaches him how to do that too. Sometimes he and Quentin, who is still learning guitar, will practice together. Laurie tries to pretend she doesn’t love listening as much as she does but it kills her w happiness when they do.

After quite a few years, Laurie tries out teaching literature, history, and philosophy at a local high school. She’s incredibly nervous. Technically she doesn’t have a college education and is using forged documents, and just has private study and some courses in those areas specifically out of love for the topics/interest, and she’s afraid she won’t be good at it. Her friends try to talk her up and reassure her. Quentin and David throw a celebration for her first day when she gets back, and all her friends/the realm fam & extended family (Nancy, Alan, etc) come. The biggest help is Michael, though, who just goes and stands outside all day near the school where she can see him through the window—which should be horrifying, all things considered, but actually helps. It’s just incredibly funny to her, because it’s visually so similar and contextually couldn’t be more different from the last time he stalked her at a school, so she chills out and gets through the day fine. Runs outside and hugs him at the end of it. Michael is very proud of himself. Then Laurie has an amazing surprise party when she gets home.

Laurie does not stay a high school teacher for that long, but she really enjoys it while she does it.

While Quentin is at school with Nancy and Claudette and Philip, Laurie and Michael come to visit quite frequently, and sometimes the whole group of six has game or movie or book nights, or goes off on a mini trip or night out.

After a couple years of their tradition with Judith, Michael and Laurie start to invite Quentin along too and he is both touched and nervous, but goes, and comes to quite a few of the picnics regularly, because he’s a sibling of the family too. Michael is excited to introduce him to her. :’-]

[andrcs]

hey  friends  waddup  !  i’m  jen  ,  just  turned  23  (  n  am  already  feelin  it  )  ,  from  the  gmt-2  tmz  ,  n  i  go  by  she/her  pronouns  .  i  had  about  ,  like  ,  half  an  hour  of  sleep  today n  i’m  actually  redoing  this  entire  intro  because  as   i  was  editing  the  finished  version  to  post  it  ,  i  accidentally  deleted  the  whole  thing  n  tumblr  wouldnt  let  me  have  it  back !  it’s  fine  i’m  fine   :-)  anywho  i’m  gonna  let  yall  go  n  learn a  lil  more  about  our  friend  andre !  hopefully  u  like  him  but  if  u  don’t  thats  ok  bc  sometimes i don’t  either !!

𝐈.    𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐒  :

𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞   :   andre  harris  solomon  .

𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞   :   n/a  .

𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲   :   august  fourth  ,  1991  .

𝐳𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐜 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧   :   leo  .

𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧   :  cco  of  solo  conglomerate  .

𝐈𝐈.   𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃  :

during  the  solomon’s  dynasty  ,   the  family  had  its  fair  share  of  tumbles  and  quite  a  few  scandals  .  great  uncle  abel being  arrested  after  trying  to  steal  half  his  brother’s  fortune  was  one   was  a  big  example .  may  god  bless  the traitous  bastard’s  soul  .  also  cousin  denzel  ,  declaring   in  the  middle  of  thanksgiving  dinner  he  wanted  to  be  a  opera  singer  ,  of  all  fucking  things  ,  and  giving grandpa  harrison  an  almost  stroke  ,  could  be  counted  .  no  matter  what  ,  though  ,  nothing  prepared  the  family  to  watch  the  solomon  fortune’s  heiress  coming  home  on  her  christmas  break  during  her  freshman  year  in  college  with  a  baby  bump  and  no  father  to  claim  the  child  she  carried  . 

in  the  following  years  ,  with  the  slightly  judgemental  help  of  all  of  her  closest  relatives  ,  but  most  of  all  ,  the  never  ending  support  of  her  parents  ,  gaia  solomon  managed  not  only  to  get  her  college  diploma  ,  enter  the  family  business   and  help  solo  grow  into  the  biggest  media  conglomerate  of  the  western  hemisphere  ,  one  that  had  a  solid  hand  over  pretty  much  all  aspects  of  media  and  entertainment  .  chances  are  if  you  wanted  to  publish  or  sign  a  record  label  deal  or  be  on  a  tv  show  ,  sooner  or  later  you  would  encounter  someone  from  solo  .  but   she  had  also  manage  to  raise  with  the  utmost  love  and  care  ,  no  lack  of  sacrifices  ,  and  a  healthy  amount  of  ear-pulling  ,  a  man  she  can’t  help  to  be  most  proud  of  .

andre  solomon  never  knew  who  his  father  was  ,  or  cared  to .  and  as  far  as  his  mother  was  concerned  ,  he  didn’t  have  a  father .  as  a  child  ,  he  never  felt  like  he  was  missing  anything  in  life  ,  there  was  no  angry  void  aching  to  be  filled  ,  no  painful  moments  to  remember  his  childhood  by  .  he  had  been  happy .   no  matter  how  busy  his  mom  was  ,  she  was  always  loving  and  attentive  whenever she  was  around  ,  played  baseball and  football  and  soccer  with  him  whenever  he  asked  her  to  ,  and  grandpa  harrison  was  always  available  if  the  boy  ever  needed  a  guy  figure  in  his  life .  of  course  ,  there  were  some  bumps  and  bruises  along  the  way  ,  and  a  pinky  finger  he  never  fully  got  the  feeling  back  , but  it  was  a  beautiful  ,  fulfilling  childhood  .

as  a  teenager  ,  recently  acquainted  with  a  never  seen  before  freedom  ,  and  just  out  of  puberty  ,  andre  grew  more  acquainted  with  getting  in  trouble  .  thankfully  ,  nothing  like  cousin  gina  , who  had  to  cut  off  a  part  of  her  ear  after  piercing  it  by  herself  with  her  tenth  grade  friends  .  while  rambunctious  and  mischievous  ,  he  was  always  to  smart  to  get  caught  doing  something  that  could  get  him  in  any  kind  of  real  trouble  ,  and  by  then  ,  the  family  knew  that  they  could  trust  andre  to  not  be  too  irresponsible  ,  and  even  if  they  didn’t  ,  at  least  he  had  both  ears  intact  .

 a  full  grown  adult  ,  after  getting  his  marketing  degree in  northwestern  university  ,  andre  followed  his  mother’s  footsteps  and  worked  hard  to  climb  the  organizational   ladder  and  reach  the  cco  position ,  becoming  one  of  his  grandfather’s   valued  advisors  along  the  way  .  these  days  ,  he  works  hard  to  keep  his  image  clean  and  his  professional  life  very  well  separated  from  his  private  one  ,  being  very  succesful  at  it  thus  far  .

𝐈𝐈𝐈.   𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘  :

andre can  definitely  be  considered  a  little bit   too  cocky  in  his  confidence  .  he  knows  his  strengths  and  doesn’t  believe  in  fake  humility  ,  always  eager  to  be  praised  by  whatever  actions  .  also  very  focused  ,  he  feels  as  if  he  knows  exactly  what  he  deserves  in  all  aspects  of  his  life  ,  and  doesn’t  hesitate  to  work  for  it  until  he’s  satisfied .

he  is also  ,  however  ,  a  very  fun  loving  individual  .  andre  believes  in  the  motto  work  hard  ,  play  hard  .  and  you  can  definitely  find  him  going  on  expensive  trips  to  exotic  locations  or   some  rich  person  adventure  more  often  that  he’d  like  to  admit  .  is  constantly  surrounded  by  a-list  celebrities  or  clout  chasers  who  attach  to  him  due  to  his  connections  into  the  industry  .  and  as  being  the   center  of  attention   is  one  of  his  favorite  things  ,  he  absolutely  adores  it  .

very  ,   extremely  sarcastic  and  definitely  not  the  most  outwardly  affectionate  person  ,  it  takes  a  lot  to  get  him  to  soften  up   ,   but  andre’s  also  extremely  loyal  to  those  he  knows  are  his  real  friends ,  and  always  makes  sure  that  they  are  with  him  no  matter  where  he  goes  and  what  he  gets  .

is  known  to  be  quite  the  ladies’  man  ,  and  often  lives  up  to  the  reputation  ,  even  though  he’s  settled  down  quite  happily  a  few  times  during  his  adulthood  .  he’s  not  averse  to  relationships ,  per say  ,  but  also  doesnt  want  to  jump  in  carelessly  ,  specially  when  he’s  not  felling  the  situation  .  is  frequently  engaged  in  some  sort  of  drama  with  the  girls  in  his  life  and  even  though  he  claims  to  dislike  it  ,  he  loves  all the  attention  he  gets  from  them  ( ew , i  hate  him  ,  he’s  gross  )

𝐈𝐕.   𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒  :

childhood  best  friend  /  chicago  native  ( 1 / 2 )  :  people  who’ve  known  him  since  before  he  hit  puberty  and  became  cool  and  who  are  with  him til  this  very  day  .  they  might  not  be  best  friends  for  whatever  reason  but  still  are  closer than  most  friendships  out  there . ( pearl , )

flings /  could  be  past  or  present  :  could  also  range  from  the  silliest  to  the  most  angsty  stuff  ,  andre  definitely  has  the  repertoire  for  it .

ride  or  dies  (  2 / 6  )  :  truly  ride  or  dies  ,  his  closest  group  of  friends  ,  the  ppl  that  are with  him  no  matter where  he  is  and  the only  people  outside  his  family  he’d  do  whatever for  . ( devin , watson )

exes  /  chicago  native  (  2 /  2  )  :  i  have  some  ideas  about  them  but  lets  just  say  one  would  have  ended  in  decently  good terms  and  one  would  not . ( vera , aurora )

friend  with  interests  (  0 / 2  )  : andre  has  a  lot  of  ins  with  the  media  industry  ,  and  this  person  would  definitely  have  an  ulterior  motive  to  hang  around  him  ,  whether  he’s  realised  it  yet  or  no  .

flirtationship   (  1 / 1  )  : first  of  all  i  hate  that  word  my  GOD  but  also  ,  would  be  a  kind  of  thing  where  they’d  both  be  feeling  each  other  but  for  some  reason  things  just  wouldn’t  progress ? ( elissa )

there is a  lot  more  but  i’ve  just  written  this  thing  twice  in  a  row  n  my  brain  is  currently  just  2  neurons  barely  communicating  so  i  should  probably  quit  while  i’m  ahead  ?  but  pls  message  me  bc  if  u  want  to  know  some  more  about  andre  or  come  up w  plots  or  just  talk  about  how  hot mbj  is   n  how  unfair  it  is  that  the rpc  doesnt  gif  him nearly  enough  ?  or  we  could  also  talk  abt  something  i  might  be  delusional  rn  so  i  have  a bunch  of  interesting  topics  ok  bye  thanks  for  sticking  around i  love uuuu

[flowerrpetaled]

( olivia holt, demi female, she/they, fire emblem: awakening ) * &. i know it must be scary for you, olivia after surviving the takeover. to turn into someone like orion “ori” monroe, a twenty-five year old clerk at amy’s, right here in castle town. just remember that you are as artistic as you are self-conscious, and to be wary, be safe, be true to who you are : neutral through and through. ( hylia )

                yes i gave myself awakening rights again bc this is,,, best girl,,, i love olivia sm n im so excited 2 write here bt like owain - all of u be warned bc i haven’t played awakening in a long long time so i’m bound 2 be rusty with her !! / tws : death , kidnapping ( ment ) , anxiety

BEFORE THE SNAP . /  O L I V I A

so OKAY. prior to the events of the game , Olivia was a dancer that traveled around the continent of Ylisse with a theatre troupe -  unfortunately , bc of her popularity , a plot to kidnap her into her career had been set into place , and the west khan of ferox basilio prevented it. this would start off their friendship , which would eventually lead to olivia’s involvement in the plegia-ylisse war. 

her involvement was firstly to rescue chrom’s army post emmeryn’s death , to where she escorted them back to ferox via a carriage convoy. and then afterwards , before facing off against gangrel , she joined chrom’s army as a dancer to invigorate and inspire troops ( aka , if you’re not familiar with the dancer class in fe , olivia’s ur only dancer in awakening and she can basically make ppl move twice one turn )

BTTTT YEAH that’s rly about it ?? my olivia’s not married 2 anyone in particular - kinda just leaving that open ( only flat no is chrom bc chrobin rights ) bt she has her son inigo n she loves him dearly !!

but okay so like ,,,, character-wise , olivia is graceful & considered a perfomance genius. she dances divinely & her singing is gorgeous - however , she possesses extreme stage-fight & anxiety as well as incredibly low self-esteem. she’s very sweet & kind & a lovely person , but she’s also ,,,, honestly this poor girl thinks so lowly of herself n modern-day olivia would probably be behind so many self-deprecating memes

poor baby is startled v easily by surprises and/or strangers - a lot of her supports help her find ways 2 cope with this in one way or another and some of them are ,,,, incredibly sweet ?? like. one of my personal faves is her support w/ stahl where he respects her comfort zone & communicates her with notes bc he knows olivia gets incredibly anxious around confrontation. virion also volunteers to teach olivia a dance from across a room i believe for these same reasons just to respect her comfort zone n it’s INCREDIBLY sweet

one thing For Sure is that her confidence raises as she performs - but almost immediately after , the adrenaline fades n olivia goes back to her shell - n that’s okay. i honestlyyyyy really love olivia sm bc like , i deal w/ a LOT of what she deals with n it was rly cool to see a character like me bc i uh. yeah im an anxious fucker.

i also always feel the need to explain myself n am incredibly shy n need assurance even if my actions were entirely valid.

bt yeah i’m so excited 2 write her n give ini his momma !! she’s my babie,,,, il uv her,,,,

AFTER THE SNAP . /  O R I O N  M O N R O E

SO ORI. ori is an interesting story in itself bc again in some ways it’s a lot of what i dealt with bt also,, you’ll see.

so i’m 90% sure she’s like. the third character i have born to famous parents bt ori was a case where she was the fourth child of a dancer mother, an actor father, and her siblings were performers + producers + directors and ori was expected to fill the same shoes.

however, she didn’t excel like they did - she didn’t excel and was always seen as the “odd one out” and the “disappointment” even tho she was just as talented as the rest of them. she just... didn’t get lucky in her career like they did, and her parents, instead of helping her or pushing her to keep trying, kind of just... used her as their token disappointment bc ig “every family has one” and all that bullshit.

so she was the one who led a more quiet life and for that reason couldn’t take the constant weight her family put on her to succeed when they already accepted she couldn’t. so that’s when ori moved out to castle town, just bc it was quiet and nice and off the map.

and also nobody... connected the dots. nobody saw her as the odd one out that didn’t fit into a family of celebrities. ori was just ori and while ori wanted to pursue her own things, she was made to feel comfortable in her own skin again.

still as shy as ever and definitely quiet & anxious, she’s an aspiring dancer but doesn’t really want to go onstage again just yet. she survived , so yes she remembers, but she’s more comfortable right now dancing in an empty room by herself than in front of other people. bt she’s defo choreographed like a hundred dances just by herself buuut she’s still gotten the “i’m not meant for that stuff” thing stuck in her head when she watches the dancers at ct centre of theatre & dance and she’s scared to audition for those reasons.

she currently works at the makeup counter at amy’s !! bt also on bad days she sometimes works in the stockroom instead w/ permission n it makes her feel better.

so she’s still,,, babie. n she wants to find inigo more than anything even tho she’s honestly scared he won’t remember her when she does : (

ANYWAYS I LOVE HEERRR IM GONNA HOPEFULLY START THINGS ON HER SOOOOOOOOOOn

[dillydedalus]

what i read in may

how is it may lmao... anyway i went thru a bit of reading slump this month and i’d like to pretend it’s bc i had a lot of uni stuff to do (i did) but tbh it’s bc game of thrones infected me with Vintage* ASOIAF Feels & i didn’t really care about reading anything else

celestial bodies, jokha alharthi (tr. from arabic) quiet and evocative novel about a network of families in a village in oman, told over three (?) generations, but centred on three sisters, mayya, asma and khawla (but not as focused on them as i would have liked). interesting to get some insight into omani society, class relations (& especially slavery and the now-free slaves), gender, tradition and westernisation, but it’s also really lovely and sad. ultimately a bit scattered and vague tho. 3/5

the taming of the shrew, billy shakes (uni) academia and assorted shakespeareans like bending over backwards to explain why this is not misogynist but actually subversive/farcical/ironic/meta or whatever and that’s a fine & worthy endeavour i’m sure but the only valid reading of the taming is that kate is actively plotting to murder petruccio in every single scene so... that’s that on that. misandry stars/5 

vinegar girl, anne tyler (uni) y’all i don’t have high expectations for hogarth shakespeare entries (tho shylock really won me over last month) but fuck this was bad. staggeringly BAD, both as a book and as an adaptation of shrew. it starts out with a completely declawed & detoothed kate, who on the scale of ‘timid wifey’ to ‘shrewish firebrand’ is uh ‘apathetic & slightly sour’.... which is a choice i guess. in the beginning i hoped we were seeing a kate who was repressing her rage (and there is one genuinely great line where the bianca annoys kate while she’s gardening and ‘kate stuffed a snarl of vine into the trash bag’ like okay anne that’s cool) and that the taming would be reverse, i.e. would free kate to feel & act on her rage. but instead... honestly i can’t even tell you what the arc was instead? there’s no real taming, kate (who is very stuck in her life and job) just chooses this green card marriage to become a little bit less stuck and i guess pyotr (petruccio) likes her the way she is, that is sour and Not Like Her Dumb Blonde Sister. and then in the end we get a speech about how men have it really hard bc they never learn how to deal with feelings (when kate throughout the book has herself struggled w/ social skills). can’t wait to rip this apart in class. 1/5 (ALSO how did hogarth have atwood on their roster and not give her the shrew wtf)

doctor wooreddy’s prescription for enduring the ending of the world, mudrooroo (uni) for my postcolonial australia course; it’s about the colonisation of australia and genocide against indigenous australians from the pov of tasmanians and an englishman who’s never seen a white man’s burden he didn’t immediately pick up (all based on real historical people). lots of interesting stuff in there (i’d love to read something about gender roles/gendered spaces in indigenous australian culture) but tbh it’s a bit of a slog (at 200 pages...) 2/5 embassytown, china miéville cool scifi novel about weird alien languages (the ariekei, who speak with two mouths at once and cannot lie - apparently their language doesn’t signify so...uh. linguistically not particularly sound at all but a) it’s a cool concept, b) they’re aliens so like whatever) and what happens when humans, not possessing two mouths and very much capable of lying, communicate with them. there is a lot of really original & fascinating concepts here but some problems w/ the execution (pacing/characters mainly) - not as much as with city&city tho. 3.5/5

the little prince, antoine de saint-exupéry (tr. from french) i wanted something short & bittersweet & this is it. anyway i have these vague & but very vivid memories of seeing like. a slide show of this w/ narration at the berlin planetarium when i was a kid & that is the best way to consume this story. 4/5

the year of the death of ricardo reis, josé saramago (tr. from portuguese) took me nearly 2 months to finish this & it’s under 500 pages which should already say a lot. i enjoyed this while reading mostly, and saramago’s style is beautiful, but it is a bit of a drag & reis honestly is not particularly sympathetic or interesting. the undercurrent of the rise of fascism is the best thing about the novel & makes the end really work but there’s too much tangential meandering about how old dude ricky reis is obsessed with a mucher younger girl and like... yawn. i will try again w/ saramago tho. 2/5

follow the rabbit-proof fence, nugi garimara (uni) story about three young girls with indigenous australian mothers and white fathers escaping from the residential school they were abducted to as part of the stolen generations, based on the author’s mother’s own life. it’s an impressive story of resilience and survival, but perfunctorily written. we’re also going to watch the film & that should be interesting. 2/5

everything under, daisy johnson i find it quite hard to talk about this bc there’s something quite vague and uncertain about it, something elusive. some things i will say: vivid, lyrical prose; the setting (oxford canal boat community) is great, the monster is genuinely creepy, and i really like the three (or 4?) narrative strands and how they interweave. i kind of wish i hadn’t known which greek myth it was a loose adaptation of (so i won’t say here) bc i definitely spent too much time trying to map the myth onto the book - and the ‘reveal’ might have been better w/o that knowledge anyway. 3.5/5

the sparrow, maria doria russell wonderful wonderful warm & human & tragic scifi novel about JESUITS IN SPACE!!! told in two timelines: in the first, set mainly in 2019 (which is great) music from another planet is transmitted to earth and emilio sandoz, jesuit linguist + multilingual (@hbo or netflix: cast oscar isaac please & thank), and his closest friends are chosen (by god?? MAYBE) to go on a secret space mission to make first contact bc jesuits.... have a lot of.... experience... with that. everyone is hopeful, curious, excited, and our guy emilio is literally radiant with god’s love or whatever. in the second timeline, 2060, emilio has been sent home by a second expedition, who have since gone radio silent, the only survivor, disturbingly (!) mutilated, broken in mind and body and unwilling to talk. all we know: the 2nd expedition found him in a brothel & he immediately killed the alien child who led them to him. so... what went wrong? (how could... first contact.... possibly go wrong...?) what did emilio do? was whatever happened god’s will? sorry i’m not super coherent about this but IT’S GREAT MY DUDES. also between this & canticle my scifi subgenre really just is ‘scifi but make it religious’. 4.5/5 

on the whole, not a great reading month, but the sparrow... *chef kiss* & i’m currently reading the artifical silk girl (relatable hot mess in weimar berlin) which is.... AMAZING... alfred döblin who???

[raijinhasverybigpecs]

What I want to hear more than anything is any and all of your thoughts involving Kushinada? Because I LIVE of them I need all of your ramblings about her and every AU she is currently apart of. You could type out thousands of words and I'd still want more.

since you did write about that hot fenrir X kushinada stuff in your latest fic (which was the most adorable thing btw omg) i figured i might provide a few scenarios for that (a few meaning 1000+ words of cute stuff oops! never mind it’s 2000+ hahaha fuck)

high school au

i know i said it in the dating sim route for fenrir but him giving his leather jacket to kushinada when they go out and it’s cold??? that’s one of my fav tropes omg

also kushinada accidentally comparing fenrir to a loyal dog when talking to aphro and light hel and him overhearing that and being all embarrassed about it bc he can’t deny that he’s literally a dog in human form

he has a very strong sense of smell, always noticing all the flower perfumes that kushinada wears and he always compliments her about how nice she smells even when she’s come back from her garden (he likes the smells of nature hehe)

also he’s very protective of her and gives people the nastiest stares if they say anything remotely negative about her. when kushinada opens up about having an unrequited crush on cu chu and her past with relationship with susano she has to drag away fenrir and get him to promise not to fight those two on sight

also it’s a lil nsfw but i think he’s totally into leaving hickeys around the place so when kushinada shows up at school on a super hot day with a scarf aphro is like “so things must be moving nicely between you and fenrir huh?” and kushinada is just a blushing mess and silently nods

oh, and him just resting his head on kushinada’s when she’s gardening and wrapping his arms around her UwU

so when they start dating i really like the idea of fenrir learning how to grow stuff with kushinada (and him actually having a decent green thumb after learning the basics)

also i couldn’t get the idea out of my idea about fenrir trying to grow kushinada roses/or forget-me-nots/camellias(they all mean love apparently?? that’s cute n sappy hehe) and trying to keep it a secret from her

so while he’s checking some plants during club time, fenrir just snatches a seed packet from her collection and takes her gardening equipment and other materials when he needs them

bc he’s just a beginner he fails pretty badly and goes around asking for help from tyr (as he’s been talking about kushinada w/ tyr who serves as a sorta personal confidant and a father figure who is more stern w/ fenrir than loki). tyr’s all for this as that’s how he wooed ullr over on their first date (and promptly got laid as well) so they both read a few gardening books and search the internet for info…

…unfortunately tyr’s pretty shit w/ gardening as well so they ask chiron for help and, although he’s got the knowledge, it somehow doesn’t work out either…

…so they ask for inari’s help which who suggests that they just hire a professional gardener or just buy some really expensive and rare flowers for her(which they’ll pay for; inari is all for fenrir trying to be romantic and trying to cater to kushinada’s interestseven if it doesn’t turn out)

fenrir eventually decides to come clean and presents her with what he’s got and kushinada kisses him for all his effort UwU. she really appreciates the effort even if she was aware that he was stealing from her the entire time (she’s gotta keep a tight budget with the club, the school only gives her a certain amount of money to run the place and it’s she may be forgetful at times but her equipment disappearing every time fenrir was around was a lil convenient)

also if we’re going full cheese then i want fenrir to confess his love to kushinada all anime-style w/ cherry blossoms and everything :’^)))))) like kushinada would be the first to say that she loves him but it’s really hard for him to say, like he’ll just say “i do too” and avoid saying “i love you”

also just in general they’d probs both like going out to parks, botanical garden or go hiking and have peaceful walks when kushinada points out all the plants while fenrir listens, he likes hearing her ramble on bc it’s cute seeing her so excited about something

so they’re at some botanical garden place and kushinada is really excited and basically dragging fenrir by the arm to point out all the different flower types but all he can think about is how much she’s changed him for the better, how he doesn’t deserve her at all. he’s just smitten with her, with how adorable she is when she’s ranting, even if he’s heard all the information before - he just wants to listen to her beautiful voice. and, wow, she looks so stunning amongst the blooming flowers and he thinks, no, he knows he’s in love with her and how he wants to marry her and that sorta mushy stuff hehe

kushinada snaps him out of his thoughts by asking if she’s boring him with her explanations and then he just blurts out that he loves her and it’s just silence between the two for a moment before kushinada, as the sappy bitch she is, starts crying tears of joy and leaps into his arms :’))))))) (yes i’m the world’s softest bitch, what about it)

mafia au

fenrir stumbles into kushinada’s bakery after a street fight with a rival gang, all bloody and bruised and telling her to not touch him before promptly passing out. kushinada tends to his injuries while he’s out and drags him into her beroom falling asleep beside the bed bc she was so exhausted from work + this incident

fenrir wakes up with a nasty headache, only made worse by him not knowing where he is - he’s still alive, probably due to the beautiful japanese woman uncomfortably lying on the side of the bed with bandages in her hands. he knows he could snap her neck with ease, but something in the back of his mind tells him not to - tyr’s words and actions ring in his ears

also on a side note i’m imagining that fenrir has a rough childhood bc of loki being involved in shady gang operations and that fenrir was preened by him to succeed him but fenrir was betrayed by the norse gang and left to get caught by the cops during a major heist. i imagine that tyr, a cop (duh), went onto the scene and tried to communicate with a scared and furious fenrir. fenrir probably lashed out at him, scarring tyr’s arm (and then it later being infected or something? i’m not here for arm severing lmao) and then breaking down in his arms while tyr comforted him.

fenrir spent some time in prison after that and got out due to tyr lobbying for him and he’s trying to separate himself from his family and old ties to his gang although it obviously catches up with him here :^)

the attack was probably bc in the past fenrir was an asshole and very cocky, brash and abusive to others and he made a lot of enemies bc he thought we was untouchable as one of the norse gang members with really high connections bc of his father

anyways fenrir explores the small apartment before hearing the ring of the bell downstairs (i imagine the bakery to underneath a small apartment like this). he walks to check that out, hiding on the stairs just in case the gang members have found where he ended up

fortunately (or rather, unfortunately) for him it’s not the gang members - it’s inari, wanting to get a pastry and tea from her favourite bakery. when they can’t see kushinada or smell anything being made that’s when they decide to check on her

fenrir makes a mad dash for kushinada’s room, pretending to sleep once again while kushinada is in the shower. she gets out and greets inari, trying to nicely introduce the topic of the strange and ruggedly handsome man resting in her room (it just hit me that this is essentially just that scene from tangled but inari isn’t an evil hag lmao)

inari is really annoyed - they don’t want kushinada to get further involved with any more gang acitivity than she already is and they know about fenrir’s past and what he’s done. they fight for a bit before inari relents, knowing that coddling kushinada and treating her like a defenceless child isn’t going to help her out any.

fenrir is shitting himself - he never expected to get so close to the elusive and destructive inari and it doesn’t help that inari ends the conversation with “if he does anything to hurt you i’ll make sure to put that mangy mutt down and make him regret ever stepping out of prison” before asking kushinada to have a cup of tea with her

after they’re done, kushinada comes up while fenrir pretends to wake up for the first time. she checks on his injuries and she asks about what happened to him but he shuts her down before she has to chance to speak and tries to leave - of course, in his injured state he just makes things worse and falls over. kushinada scolds him for trying to move in this state, and says that even if he won’t co-operate that she’s still going look after him just to prove inari that she can handle looking after herself when dealing with the mafia business.

she leaves for a bit and brings a breakfast tray for him. he wolves it down, reluctantly saying thanks and apologising for his manners - kushinada finds him kinda cute when he’s all blushing and red (although she won’t admit it). she tries to more subtly ask what happened to make him so ravenous but he brushes her off again. fenrir asks for some coffee instead of the tea she’s brought and she makes sure that he uses his manners this time.

she goes down again, leaving fenrir to his own devices. he eventually walks around the apartment for a bit, taking special notice of all the greenery around the place. she pops up behind him while he’s admiring some lillies. he asks how she gets the plants to look so nice - she says that you can gorw anything as long as the conditions are right

then their usual routine sets in - kushinada will get up before him and they’ll eat meals with each other while she runs the bakery downstairs, popping up whenever she has the time to see him.

when he can walk without major discomfort again then kushinada gets him to man the counter and when his arm heals she starts teaching him about how to bake to tend to her plants - he’s not half bad at either activity and when he’s polished his skills enough he makes breakfast for her UwU

of course y’all can imagine as many fluff moments as possible while they fall in love and that cute stuff like

fenrir talking about his tats and what they mean

talking about his past, maybe a lil bit of angst and comfort bc i’m a sucker for emotion support scenes

cute baking moments, fenrir licking the spoon and kushinada getting on his case about that

i’m sure you can think of a few dramatic situations to progress the plot but i’m just here for fluff hehe

or maybe something about fenrir running into some old gang members and them giving him shit about losing his edge and how pathetic he looks manning the bakery - he’s barely keeping himself together but he does for his and kushinada’s relationship together but he snaps when one of the group starts talking about kushinada and threatening to attack her to coax the old fenrir out. it probs gets into a bad back alley sprawl with the gang needing a large ambulance as a result of his anger (i like to imagine that inari was watching around the corner ready to back him up and they’re like “good job kid”)

and maybe fenrir’s family comes to see him?? at the very least i want light hel to work for kushinada at the bakery bc i want Dramatic™ family reunions yo and she’d fit the role p well

[survivor-mesopotamia]

Ep. #2 - “Shit ain’t over till the fat lady sings and I didn’t warm my pipes.” (Cameron)

Day 4: Well. I survived my first tribal council of the season, and even though it went exactly according to plan, while I slept my entire day away, I'm still really hesitant to tell myself that I'm doing well on my tribe. I'm really nervous that my tribe mates are playing me, and that I'm really boo boo tha fool here. I called Megan post-tribal, and I was finally able to get some closure on something that happened between us in our personal lives, which felt really good. After that, she asked me about the idol, to which I had responded "Wait, Julian didn't tell you?", which hopefully sows some seeds of doubt in Megan about Julian. Ideally, if the Enlil tribe has to go back to tribal council, the four of us can bear witness to a Megan vs. Julian war. Because unfortunately, the connections I have outside Enlil, are shared with either Julian or Megan. If Megan and Julian are going after each other pre-merge, or during a swap scenario, I don't have to share those connections anymore. After that, Megan and I just talked about the nudes we received during quarantine ~ I then promptly ran to Will to tell him about the potential crack I just formed between Julian and Megan, which was met with genuine excitement. I think I'm really gaining Will's trust, and I think we vibe so well together. Love that guy! Overall, it wasn't a very productive day because I woke up at 4:30p PST. Love that for me, thanks for shading me @ Tribal Bodhi.

going into this scavenger hunt as the tribe that went to tribal last is worrysome. It's a challenge that's fully dependent on our activity, so we are at a serious disadvantage against the other two tribes that get to choose someone less active to sit out. We don't have that luxury. The point/life system eases the blow, however, since we can get less active players 1 life while more active players can get 3. In case we lose, I'm trying to connect with everyone on the tribe. I really don't want to vote anyone out though. I have an alliance with Julian and JJ, and one with Will on the side. Chrissa wants to work with Julian, JJ and myself, and I think Megan and JJ have something on the side. I'm nervous for who would be the target in the vote, and any vote would hurt all of our games collectively. Hopefully we win because the next vote will not be easy AT ALL.

Done w typing this sheet

jj and zachary are so fucking annoying to this challenge and if i vote for you first at the swap, its probably because youre typing too much during this challenge sorry not sorry xoxo - sincerely johnny a month from now

let me be clear with andrew I was not calling his hosting unfair i was calling the fact that a majority green item giving him a point unfair not the hosting but lack of yellow, also i have a headache i don't feel that good. and I just don't think zach should have had a point for it nothing against hosting obviously i watch a movie trivia thing where literally they have a challenge to challenge any questions that are unfair, that doesn't mean they are calling the question writers or the answer writers unfair. 

Zach just won the tribal challenge for us which is fantastic. We can maintain the illusion of a unified tribe longer, which keeps us together in a swap situation, and Zach has clearly painted a challenge target on himself over the last two challenges which will make him go before me if our Triforce ever becomes the minority. I'm really happy with my position in the game right now

me and monty trying to find the idol and decode this annoying ass video https://imgur.com/a/lu7sbMu

Forgive me father for I have sinned it's been approximately three days since my last confession so far can't complain really we be winning they hating we be riding pretty damn clean I've got a majoritu alliance I didn't start so odds of it falling around me and being the first voted out slim to none thank the sweet baby jesis and all that good shit. Oh well that's all for now

JULIAN’S HOST CHAT GUEST, ZEE:

I am filling in a confessional because you told me to. I am in front of my fan because it's hot. I'm thinking that it seems pretty stupid to ask me for a confessional. Julian's prod chat isn't very interesting because he's distracted.

also just threw out madison's name to johnny. if this shit backfires on me ill be ):

https://youtu.be/Pqck1gayfJU

https://youtu.be/FMay7NycsPw

yo yo yo homies!!! fuck the scavenger hunt and the mobile Skype app !! Lowkey scared but I think I’m close with everyone on the tribe except madi soooooooooo that’s probably who will go tonight. I’ve connected a lot with Monty and am hoping we can work together closely moving forward 💕not sure how useful my relationship with Zach is going to be come swap/merge bc it seems like he’s ALREADY making himself a target like the big doof he is. More later 💋

https://youtu.be/Qg47yupj1bQ

https://youtu.be/vUK8A1qWVoA

Hello tumblr survivor world! Sorry I didnt confess for episode 1, I was going to but i accidentally exited out of the page when i almost finished writing it. Anyways, it was just a cast assessment for my tribe so tl;dr everyone on my tribe is great and its really sad that we have to vote someone out now. So this whole weekend I was away so I was REALLY worried that I would be voted out since I sat out of the challenge. But after talking to Johnny and Isabelle, it seems like Madison will be voted out tonight. Which is so bad bc this her first game in a year, but hey it's our first vote and it's not me so it's not really the time to make a stand. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Okay I took a break from writing this confessional and there's moreeeeeeeee so part 2 I guess. So I had a call with Johnny and we came up with an alliance of me, him, Isabelle, and Benji. What an iconic alliance, right? But also while Johnny and I talked we got onto the topic of idols and why it is that there hasn't been an idol post yet. I brought up that wayyyyyy back when in Malaysia and some other games around that time, some of the idol hunts were less clear cut. We ended up looking at the blog and clicking the "idol system" tab and it brought us to some weird crab video with audio that sounds like a pokemon cry? Idk part of me thinks its just a joke but I also have to consider that it might be SOMETHING. It said remember to like and subscribe so I sent a screenshot of me liking and subscribing to see if that would do anything but nope. Johnny said he'd do some thinking about it and get back to me later if he figures something out. Also tribal seems super clear cut so I'm a bit less worried now but y'know how it is I can't not worry about tribal.

i just spent $8 on a spectogram and STILL cant find this fucking idol im gonna kms... monty im sorry im steam rolling ahead looking for this thing without telling you, but thank you for the first clue xoxo... if i get stumped in the future ill reach out for SURE (but idt you trust me that much so this seems kinda valid to me) ((FOUR HOURS LATER: i told monty lololol)) ALSO FOR FUCKS SAKE I think madison is gonna go, and truthfully, im fine with it because it's the easiest thing to do due to her poor performance in the past few challenges and just being the least AROUND the tribe, but i know that it'd probably be better for me long term to get rid of abby because i just dont see her as a long term ally for me. i think she's close to JJ and Megan on the other tribe, and she's becoming much more acclimated to the tumblr survivor community that i just BET that she maybe has an additional connection on the rookie tribe. If I can attempt to break that up before we get to a swap, I think that's what im going to have to do figure out if we lose another challenge before a swap... i dont really want to see ANYBODY else go besides abby if im thinking about a second boot. i bet it wont be easy to take her out tho also, if madison goes, this is like...... lowkey vindication for game changers???? last night i talked about this with monty and i was like hmmmm "is it ugly to bring up past game history?" and his response was "not if it's within the same series" .... so. vindication

---

omg i just told madison how to find the idol system thing i hope she doesnt tell anyone i told her about it LMAO........ this almost seems too easy.i got added to two alliances today. why do i not feel safe? is it me going? WTF IS GOING ON

excited to be first boot because no one will TALK TO ME! 

Things haven’t changed much since my last confessional! As far as I know the tribe hasn’t started into alliances and we’re all riding some excitement at having so far avoided tribal. I think the rest of the tribe and I are all feeling good and just focusing on making the tribe switch without losing any members.

from round 2 https://youtu.be/fk002uG2HoI

Hi sorry I forgot to do a confessional this round so this will be short imma just say a few things 1. I don’t trust julian one bit he can stop being shady to me 2. I can’t believe we aren’t going to tribal I’m so fkn happy i was able to pull out the win for our tribe because I didn’t want to lose anybody else 3. I love and adore will with all of my being and he’s my number 1 ally right now 4. I find it highly doubtful that there’s only one idol in this game and that you can’t find it until merge but that’s as far as I can get in the idol search for now so I guess there’s nothing I can do about it 5. I’m still having fun can’t wait to fuck up another flash game yay!!!

My Purple edit is amazing right now. But having played more games than most of these newbies, I have decided to take on the role of teacher and becoming more of a "role model" for these newbies. I feel like I have the closest bond with Zach, and I need to get a little closer with Collin. I have Grace from past games, and then there are the others who I do not really have any strong bonds with at the moment. I guess I need to start going to them more and show that I want to work with them.

https://youtu.be/yhwXzqrTcsA Confessional 2 for round 2

https://youtu.be/TVnpwqc8XLY

Madison voted out 6-1

[feignedperfect]

How do you feel about Hal

   SUCH A GOOD QUESTION i have so many thoughts on hal omg . like at first i was not a fan at all bc he comes off like a total tool and at first glance it seems like he and alice really don’t like each other much . i got the vibe that they might love each other on some level bc they have kids together and they’ve spent so long together & definitely care about each other at least but they don’t like each other at all ?? like any time she does anything that’s remotely  ’ alice like ’ he’s so put out and its just like ‘ why did you marry her then ?? ’ to me it seemed like a lot of the pressure she puts on herself must be from him and that perfection was a big deal to hal and then ofc the stuff with polly but actually since i’ve been rewatching i’ve changed my mind a lot .

like he still isn’t my favourite character or anything but i’ve been trying to look at it from a different lens and i’ve decided he’s not that bad. like obviously he still has a lot of faults but almost everyone on the show is an asshole so how harshly can we really judge at this point ?? lmao

we haven’t got to see too much of hal yet really, so i may end up being wrong but rn i think he’s a decent guy who loves his family but is also very stubborn. i think from what we’ve seen of him its clear he places a lot of value into FAMILY LEGACY, which was likely instilled in him quite young, and that’s what influences a lot of his poor choices. he didn’t tell alice or the kids about being related to the blossoms because he’s been told its a shameful family secret , one he may have intended to die with him . like - dumbass move dude get your shit together but idk maybe he was trying to protect them from it in a way ?? idk but srsly bro if you wanted your kid to stop dating her cousin - maybe yk tell them they’re cousins ?????

and then booking the abortion the way he did was obvs about the incest which he eventually copped to and you can see when it dawn’s on alice and she’s like ‘so that’s why’ and he’s just ‘yeah alice, THAT’S why’ to me it felt like there was a lot unspoken there and that was his way of letting her know that he never would have had the circumstances been any different. which actually makes me pretty curious what his reaction might have been had she gotten pregnant to anyone else - maybe he would have supported her keeping it after knowing how much it hurt alice losing their son ? who knows man

and then on to he and alice :  i think their relationship is honestly the most complicated and layered on the show and needs to be explored more for sure bc they have such a big issue with communication to the point of being heartbreaking, but they also seem to have this incredible ability to forgive at the same time ( if not completely then at least enough to move forward ) and this weird dependancy on each other i find really interesting.

it’s easy to write them off as a marriage of convenience but it just doesn’t make sense to me for alice, being who she is to marry/stay with someone she DIDN’T LOVE, its not in her character.

like what happened with polly —-  she was DEVASTATED to find out he’d done that after all they’d been through. she was actually ready to walk away even though she’d been able to forgive him enough for doing it to her to marry him and have two more children.

then she finds out the reason and how the two of them were cousins etc and you can see her face when he says it, this wave of understanding goes over her and you can almost see her decide to forgive him and after that they go get polly and he’s moved back in. and it can’t just be for the sake of keeping up an image,  she had kicked him out already, the illusion of perfect was over so there was no reason to take him back unless she GENUINELY loved him.

and while some of the things he does have me side eying him hard af i’ve started to see the way he talks to alice ( not when they’re fighting, just in general ) as them just being MarriedTM lol like yes he rolls his eyes at her a lot but i don’t think its about him not liking her anymore, i think its just that they’ve been together so long now that he’s just like ‘ omg not again really pls ’ lmao but not even in a bad way . and i love that when she starts going overboard he’ll be like ‘alice’ or touch her or something and she’ll calm down and then like when they were in that city hall meeting he’s just sitting with is arm around her, not touching her but theres that closeness. then in the deleted scene after the meeting she has her arms linked around his which i think was really cute.

or like the scene where penelope slaps her , i loved seeing them interact there because he just puts his hand on her and he’s making sure she’s okay and talking her down, etc —-  mostly, i feel, because he knows if she does hit penelope she’s gonna hate hearing people gossip about her etc bc she’s so conscious of that.

i’ve also been trying to think of why tf she would stay w him after he had her give up their first kid, which she views as her biggest regret and i feel like he probably visited her a lot at the sisters and just sat w her and talked to her about whatever she wanted / about what their future would be like / helped her study so she didn’t fall behind bc she probably would have wanted to get a scholarship for college and just tried to be there for her however he could and maybe that helped her get through it IDK

the only thing i can think of is that she honestly really loved him and she knew he was right about them not being ready for a baby even though he handled it badly and at the time she was just young and thinking more about her own future. maybe it wasn’t until later that she started to regret it? like maybe when she had polly that she really started to regret not keeping him

i’m sure she felt some regret before that of course. felt that pull to him as her child but she was still a child herself really and i think it would’ve been seeing polly and all the milestones that come with having a child that would have made her realise what she missed out on with her first / would have made her wish she had have kept him.

i think when she was pregnant it would’ve felt like the end of the world and she would’ve had to give up all her dreams to have him and she was probably scared she’d end up living in a trailer park etc in the lifestyle she grew up in , but then after polly she thought differently. she realised well i could’ve had him in daycare or gone to a community college that would’ve been more lenient so she could’ve managed both etc.

i feel like I’m not even answering your question anymore at this point lmao

i think his parents would have played a huge part and you can tell by the way he told that story about his grandfather he’s very family orientated so pressure from his parents probably influenced him A LOT but i also think had she decided to keep the baby he’d have stuck by her.  i think it was his parents offered to pay for an abortion and probably paid to have her go to the sisters. and i think it would have meant a lot to her if he came to visit / kept coming back hat in hand trying to make amends and keep their relationship going bc she probably assumed he’d want nothing to do with her after. i feel like he’d have been really apologetic about the whole thing though.

i also feel like his mother is probably really intense and thats where alice takes on a lot of her 'perfect wife/mother’ act bc a lot of the show centres around the becoming your parents sort of thing but for alice i feel like it was mother-in-law. you can tell all perfect Mrs. Cooper posturing is very very put on so she has to be getting it from somewhere. and i feel like hal definitely became his father unintentionally with the way he’s holding onto old family feuds and offering to pay for polly’s abortion. i don’t think he would have been like that as a younger man.

i’ve also been thinking a lot about how alice and hal might’ve gotten together in the first place and i like the idea that it was because of her writing that he took a real interest. like he would’ve taken notice of her already bc she’s beautiful but probably wrote her off bc she was from the southside and idk maybe one day they’ve all had to read their own piece to the class or their work has been passed around etc and he’s realised theres a lot more to her than just the southside.

i’m really curious why he originally took interest in her bc we can pretty much guess her reason at least originally would’ve been this hope of having a better life but i think there must’ve been a lot more to him as well we just haven’t seen yet bc otherwise i think she could’ve easily had her pick of northside boys.

and from what i can tell they seem to be a marriage of equals for the most part, which i’m sure is something thats really important to her and that makes me like them together.

[shiikadai-archive]

here it comes (the unavoidable sun) | voltron

i realized i would never write this bc i’m a Lazy Fool so i thought i’d just post my somewhat in-depth outline of shiro and allura throwing themselves back into the tournament so that they can rescue matt bc he’s obviously still there DUH (also i’ve conveniently chosen to assume shiro comes back bc, to reiterate, obviously he does DUH) 

after ages and ages of searching for Matt, the squad (read: Pidge) discovers that he’s still stuck cycling through the tournament

since only the winner of the tournament is allowed to dictate the terms of their imprisonment, Matt has essentially been stuck in limbo

Shiro reasons that, as the previous Champion, he has a shot at winning the tournament and renegotiating the terms of Matt’s imprisonment if he wins again

Allura, however, refuses to let one of her Paladins go on such a dangerous mission unsupervised and insists that she tag along

Shiro and Allura land on one of Galra’s satellite moons in a small pod

Allura disguises herself using her shapeshifting abilities

Shiro grows a beard ?

Allura masquerades as a dealer wanting to get in on some cash and negotiates with another dealer to sneak Shiro and another contender (read: herself) into the games

a subtle and sentimental moment follows where Shiro assures the princess that they’ll make it through this before the two are separated and taken to their holding cells

there are two objectives at play here:

Shiro’s primary objective is to make it through the tournament so that they can negotiate Matt’s terms

Allura’s primary objective is to find Matt and garner as much information about the Galra’s plans for the future while they’re here, as well as somehow survive the tournament

finding Matt is relatively so much easier now that they’re in the tournament, but his head is a little lost and he’s having trouble remembering how he got here and where he was before

Shiro not only has to focus on the tournament but on jogging Matt’s memory because it is absolutely not an option that he brings back an amnesiac brother home to Pidge  

the fights are definitely harder this time; there’s a new overseer in control and he’s much better at calculating which prisoners to pit against each other so as to keep a constant flow of competitors but to not let anything get too out of hand

Allura comes back beaten near bloody from one of her fights and Shiro is almost tempted to yell at her but he sees this fierce look in her eye and she wipes the blood from her lip real easy

and the thoughts in his mind fracture for a moment, because he thinks of how he nearly lost her to Haggar when they broke the source of the quintessence

she’s in reach of his arms this time but he’s still unable to do more than look on and hope for the best and watch her fight like hell to grow stronger than she already is

sometimes they pass each other while their respective groups of cell mates are on water or bathroom breaks and there’s this look that they have for each other

even while they’re murmuring quietly to each other about how things are progressing, Shiro’s fingers brush over her knuckles and there’s a catch in her breath and he asks if she’s okay and she just whispers “yes” while refusing to look him in the eye

it’s a few weeks before the semifinals of the tournament roll around and Allura has been eliminated by this time but she is still made to watch the matches and every time she sees Shiro she can’t help but cringe

because here’s the thing - he’s so used to the pain, to every blow to his shoulder or abdomen or jaw, that he hardly reacts and just pummels back at his opponent with equal force

and Allura thinks of how someone so gentle with her can condition himself to be so hard given a particular situation

her eyes lock with his as he comes out of his match, the winner and the first contender for the championship title, and the smile he sends her way makes shivers run down her spine

of course, you’re probably wondering where Matt fits into all of this

it’s surprisingly a combined effort that helps jog his memory a little at a time; Shiro and Allura will stand on either side of him on water breaks and just talk about Pidge as if it’s any other day and Matt will remember some tidbit from his childhood and his heart will lift and for the first time, he’ll feel like he can actually make it through the day

in fact, the day before Shiro’s final match, Matt says that if Pidge has made herself into someone new for the sake of getting back to him, that he’d like to show her he’s tried to change to get back to her, too

his hair has grown long by this time, but Shiro uses the heat from his Galra tech arm to shave off Matt’s hair from the sides and cut it a little short and shorn a Jewish prayer into one side of his head

and then, it’s the final day of the tournament; Shiro wins, as expected (and desperately hoped) by Matt and Allura, and all seems good as he files into the overseer’s office until a paper is held in front of his face and all it is is his reflection staring back at him

Shiro doesn’t even realize until too late that he’s being injected with the serum and it’s a splitsecond before everything goes Galra purple but he sees Allura’s face, and the scar on her left eyebrow or under her jaw and the short, jagged cut to her hair, and the cracked skin of her lips, and then he has to close his eyes

he comes out to the crowd with the overseer holding his hand aloft and announcing that the Champion has returned, and Allura is down in the prisoners’ box wondering what the hell is going on

but then the overseer is calling for a challenger to battle the recrowned Champion and Allura has to find out where the hell they are in all this so she tugs her hand from Matt’s - he holds on for so, so long, and it pains her to let go but she has to, if they’re going to get out of this - and marches up to one of the guards at the gate and says that she’s the one going into that arena

the guards, of course, are amused that some girl who got beat up in the first few round is daring to challenge the Champion, but they call the overseer anyway

and of course, in the overseer’s eyes, this makes for the perfect bloodbath, so he gives the okay and Allura steps into the ring and starts running through how best she can communicate with Shiro while still making their fight look good

but then she’s fighting him and she barely has a chance to talk before he twists her arm so hard and Allura sees stars, feels the pain rocket up her spine as she tries to catch air

her head twists in an effort to meet Shiro’s eyes but all she sees is black, and then the overseer hanging above them in the box with a disgusting smile on his face and it all sort of sucker punches her at once

Allura blacks out from another hit and before she knows it she’s waking up in the cell, Matt’s hand on her arm and his questions running past her mind as she fits all of the pieces together

there’s so much anger and anguish filling her up and Allura just clutches at her hair and screams for a second before tucking her head into her knees and breathing heavily for several long minutes

it takes her a few days, but she regains her composure and formulates a plan and the first part of that plan is to disguise herself and get Matt out because not only is it what Shiro would want, but after being here for so long, it is what Matt deserves

so she gives him the instructions that Pidge had given her for sending the signal and waiting for Keith to pick them up while Lance provided cover, and it takes a while for her to convince him to go, but she tells him that Pidge needs him more than she does, and that’s something he can agree on, so he goes

and then, finally, it somehow comes to the point that Allura hadn’t been expected to anticipate but did anyway, because she is a princess and a leader and this is what she does, is foresee and plan accordingly so she can get things done

every waking minute in the holding cell is spent utilizing any opportunity to strengthen herself or train so she can throw herself into the tournament again

she makes small talk with the other cell mates and works herself into a position where she can practice on others and collect information all the while without giving herself away

and when the tournament begins again, Allura doesn’t spare herself any time to watch Shiro the way she used to when he battles, with concern or agitation; the look in her eye is always calculating and observant of angles and trajectories and weights

she’s building herself into a mirror of Shiro, or at least she’s trying to, and every battle that she goes into she comes back out from bloody but not beaten, because she’s stronger each time she shows her face in the arena - she has to be

and somehow the weeks go by and she doesn’t know how she’s lasted this long without smile-cringeing at Lance’s jokes or fussing over how best to get along with Keith now that he’s part Galra or trying to talk to Hunk about Altean food or recounting memories of her father with Coran or trying to learn more about Pidge’s likes and dislikes or seeing Shiro genuinely smile, but it hurts, it hurts, it hurts

the semifinals of the tournament come along and it’s a miracle but she makes it, kicking and screaming because she has to get to Shiro before he loses himself to them, and as she’s walking out she notices there’s a small patch of hair missing from her forehead, but for some reason she doesn’t even care

the day of the final round her hands hardly shake and she runs her fingers through what hair she has left, brushes her thumb over the scars that mar her skin on every possible surface

his eyes are black when she looks into them before the battle but as soon as the siren sounds Allura is screaming and she’s yelling at him about how Keith is probably dying to see him and Pidge is worried sick and Lance can’t handle being without someone to look up to or to have guide him and Hunk just needs everyone to be okay or his anxiety will skyrocket

there’s no sign that he’s listening but she claws at him, doesn’t think twice about resting her eyes on the scarred bridge of his nose or the nice shear to his undercut or what used to be a hard but gentle jaw  

everything at this point is about clawing past the black and into the soul, and there’s a moment near the end where she thinks it’s all over, because it’s Shiro, and really, how can she face off against him?

but when she throws her arms his way for one last punch, her wrist slips into his hand and their eyes meet and it’s so quiet for a second, she swears the world stops

and it’s ages and ages, but a fleck of gray comes back into his pupils, and then another, and another, and pretty soon Allura of Altea is staring at Takashi Shirogane, and her eyes are welling with tears upon tears

he whispers to her to kick his ass and drag him through the dirt because he deserves it for being so optimistic and letting himself get caught, and she throws him down to the ground, and Shiro’s face is as composed as ever but she can tell that on the inside, he’s just laughing and laughing

they’re a lot better about dealing with the overseer now, and because Allura is feeling a little bolder with each day that passes, she doesn’t hesitate to reveal herself to the overseer and promptly threaten him if he speaks a word about their deal or who they are

she and Shiro sneak out the way they came in, make it to the dropsite, and send the signal, and while she has come to appreciate Keith, Allura is so happy that it’s Hunk who comes to get her and Coran who covers

she dissolves in Hunk’s arms and starts to cry, and when Shiro asks from within Coran’s arms if she’s okay, she can’t bear to respond it’s all overwhelming her so much

they get back to the castle and the others are ecstatic, Pidge rushes for the infirmary and with Matt’s help - she’s so happy to see him, she’s been lively enough as it is but with her brother around it’s like she’s a walking lighbulb - washes the blood off of Shiro and Allura and properly sutures and bandages any of their open wounds

it’s a long time before they’re alone together, but Shiro is lying in his infirmary bed and he can’t sleep and he asks her, “How did you do it?”

Allura smiles, gets up from her infirmary bed and walks over and talks it through - the strenuous training, the detailed observation, and the continuous struggle

he’s so proud of her he can’t help but hold up a hand to cup her face, and it nearly takes the breath out of him when she leans into the touch

in fact, his voice is so hoarse that when he finally says “Princess” it sounds like a plea, and Allura just opens her eyes and says, “Allura”

“What?”

“You called me ‘Allura’ when you were worried about me”

“I’m not worried about you right now”

“Of course not, but you were worried about me, at least once”

Shiro nearly cries from the thought, but he pinches his nose and keeps it in, tucks his forehead against hers and wraps his arms around her waist before pulling them back down to the bed together

and neither of them has to say anything but Allura closes her eyes and smiles soft, tucks her head into the crook of his neck and doesn’t startle when his lips meet the patch of skin where no hair lies anymore

it’s well past midnight in a galaxy a dozen light years away and it’s been who knows how long since they were home, but they are, and home is her body tucked under his arm while she closes her eyes and drifts off to sleep

Shiro thinks to himself, “I love her”

and for the first time in a long time, his eyes close, too

[historic-homosexual]

Pls pls pls do all the oc questions!!

jokes on you I was already doing that and planned on just putting it out there but now I can use this as an excuse,,hah someone wants to know thisI’m sorry for how long some parts got, I noticed how much I wrote on Célestin and tried to keep it down from then but that didn’t completely work,,,And actually I dare/tag you to do these too. I know that ain’t normal proceedure w ask memes but I do a thing called what I want

1. Your first OC ever?

I think my first oc was your typical mary sue, named Angel, whom I used for basically every fandom I got in then. I’ve since reworked her because I couldn’t leave her the mess she was lmao

2. Do you have a personal favourite among your OCs?

Not really, tho I have to admit I have some that I’m especially fond of, but that’s still like half of my ocs

3. Have you ever adopted a character or gotten a character from someone else?

Not a full character but a friend of mine made the design for Charlie years ago

4. A character you rarely talk about?Sadly that’d also be a couple of em, for example Eleonore or Otávio or my monster ocs

5. If you could make only one of your OCs popular/known, who would it be?

That’s a difficult one…Brist is pretty worked out and good so maybe him, or Eligos bc I’m proud of their design

6. Two OCs of yours that look alike despite not being related?

I’d never noticed it before this but Seth and Elijah oh geez

7. Are your OCs part of any story or stories?I have a bunch of ocs that are part of my own work, which I refer to as ‘Golden Empire’

8. Do you RP as any of your OCs? If you do, introduce one of your RP OCs here!

I privately rp w @spokoystviye, namely our ocs Regulus and Adelais. We used to do Gregory and Jason too but ever since we worked on the time it plays in that’s stopped lmao.

So Regulus it is: Regulus Whitlock, living in France during the French Revolution. He’s originally from England, where he grew up the son of a Blacksmith. Regulus is exceptionally tall for the time he lived in, very soft hearted and believes in “dressing like a gentleman,behave like a bastard”. Most part of his life he works as a Blacksmith from his shop, that he took over from his father after the man died. Regulus took on a ‘side job’ as a hunter, smart, a good shot and with a great need to help people. But he’s of too good nature, ending up taking in a Vampire of all things, despite better judgement, not able to leave the woman to her death.

9. Would you ever be willing to give any of your OCs to someone else?

I don’t think I could give an oc to a random person, that is one that I’ve worked w a lot. Just making a design and such for the purpose of giving it away in the first place would be fine

10. Introduce an OC with a complicated design?

Gerwyn is relatively complicated to draw solely because his base design is full body armor lmao. Besides him maybe Susanna and Nathanael since their design is hard to make it look accurate especially without colouring it

11. Is there any OC of yours you could describe as a “sunshine”?

Seth, definitely, he’s the most positive and sweet of all my Ocs

12. Name an OC that isn’t yours but who you like a lot

Both @bruhchantite and @spokoystviye have ocs I love, like Bruhs Arcana Oc Nien, whom I like a lot, and Leander has Adelais who’s a sweet baby deserving protection [also Adelean is hot shit]

13. Do you have any troublemaker OCs? There are quite a few I’d say lmao

But most of them I’d consider more violent than troublemaker, so Jonathan probably (whos still violent but who was a troublemaker even before that)

14. Tragic Backstory

Gregory and Annora have a tragic backstory as well but I’m gonna go w Célestin rnTw: Rape, Abuse, Homophobia

Célestin Villeneuve grew up in France to very religious parents with strict views.  Célestins mother had unhappily carried out Célestin, having gotten pregnant at a very young age. Both her and her husband being strong believers, they considered abortion a sin and kept the child. Her own parents threated it like a shameful secret, making their daughter and her boyfriend marry, despite them being 16 at the time. They moved to the next town, where they were unknown and had everyone belive that they were both adults, their child concieved properly, after marriage and willingly.

Not having finished their education properly, Célestins father lied in order to get a job, his wife mroe than willing to keep up his tales, in fear of being ridiculed by the community. Appearance and what others thought of them became the most important thing to Célestins mother early on, drilled into her by her own parents.Célestins father craved to be popular and keep his image in the town.

They were active in church and his father insisted on going to every sunday mass, prayers before lunch and his child confessing his sins to him.Punishment often consisted of simple bread and cheese and water for meals, a swat ont he back of his head if it was particularly bad in his parents eyes.

Célestin had always been a perfect child, smart and following his parents wishes, sitting in church, firm in prayer.He considered his parents treatment right, and, as he kept from sin, was confident it would never get any worse.However, he was gravely mistaken.As he got older, Célestins parents would get worse in their punishment, afraid their child would sully their image, as they themselves had, with the early pregnancy.

Things reached a peak when Célestin discovered he was gay. Knowing it to be a sin, he told his mother, asking her for help to free him of this condition, telling her he’d accept the punishiment if it’d only make him right in God’s eyes again.

His mother was shocked, less so because of her sons sexuality, but more so because she had seen the violence raging in her husband and was well aware that he would no longer keep the punishment to a few slaps.Talking to her husband that night, when Célestin was asleep, she attempted to sway her husband, who was as she had expected, beyong angered.

He however knew of her fear for being casdt out of the community and explained that not punishing and correcting such behaviour would result in Célestin believing it was normal and flaunting it around for everyone to see. Riddled by fear, Célestins mother accepted her husbands preposition as what would happen to her son.

While Célestin had expected punishment, nothing would have prepared him for what would come for him as his father would drag him out to the field each day anew, whipping him until his back was bleeding. His wife was fobidden to tend to her sons wounds and was often standing by staring into nothing while her son begged for forgiveness.

Célestin learned how to poorly tend to his own injuries, some getting infected at the lack of proper treatment. To his own shock no beating did help to cure him as he had desperately hoped to happen to stop the violent treatment. Unsure where to turn, and why God would have him suffer like this, despite all attempts and prayer, Célestin went to the church to confess and ask a pastor for help.The man was shocked and appalled at what he heard and even more so at the fact that Célestin was under the impression that this was right.

For the first time Célestin was told that he was treated terribly, and that he had done nothing to deserve this. He went away with odd feelings in his mind and the first seeds of doubt. Attempting to help, the pastor went to talk to Célestins parents a few days later, when Célestin himself was in school, trying to sway them in their ways, telling them that they surely had to know that he had to report such behaviour.

When Célestin returned from school, he found his mother crying adn his father angrier than hed ever been. They’d not taken the pastors warning to take their son away to their heart, seeing their fault in their actions but instead saw nothing but the ridicule they were about to face, as well as the authorities coming up. Célestins father feared to loose his job, and face, more than he feared for his sons life. He beat Célestin again before dragging him into his parents room, where a middle aged woman was waiting that was known throught the town for offering any kind of intercourse for the right money.

Saying that there was only one way to truly fix him, Célestins father forced his son to have sex with the prostitute, watching with a belt in hand to make sure the intercourse was actually carried out. During it he would often ask his son if he was still filthy, wanting to do this with ofther men and woulod generally insult and hummiliate him. Whenever his son would answer with crying or begging his father to stop this, he would simply pay the woman for yet another round.

When it was finally over, Célestin was left laying in his parents bed, listening as his parents were having dinner in the kitchen.Filled with shame he declined everything when the authorities came knocking at their door the next day, nodding of his fathers claim that he had made it all up.

The pastor attempted to speak to Célestin but when he asked to see the boy the evening, he and Célestins parents found his room empty.Célestin had ran away.

15. Do you like to talk about your OCs with other people?

Gosh I love it I wish I could do it more. I feel if u actually have some else to chat ocs with it leads to ur oc getting more and more fleshed out

16. Which one of your OCs would be the best at biology (school subject)?

I think Helva would take the cake on that one

17. Any OC OTPs?

Regulus/Adelais, Caspian/Nadia, Hunter/Piper and Araan/Dorian,,,,If I can be honest, I hardly have the amount of Oc ships as I would lmao,,,my ocs do function on their own but there are so I’d just love to ship lmao

18. Any OC crackships?

Not really any, I shortly thought about just taking a random oc from u/Leander and pairing them randomly w one of mine for the laughs of it.But then I felt it would maybe be inapropriate to do that lmaoo

19. Introduce an OC that means a lot to you (and explain why)

While all my Ocs mean a lot to me I chose Brist for this because he’d the first Oc I made for a game, fallout new vegas, which I love a lot. He pretty much develpoed all by himself while I was playing, and is really fleshed out now. I’m super fond of him somehow.Here are a couple of things about him:

Brist was born 2225, the son of  caravaneers, somewhere on their travels and therefore does not know where exactly he was born. Deciding that raising a child at such young age while traveling would not work well, they settled near the ruins of Ashton and Hopeville, where a small community was build.Brist spend his childhood in the Divide and soon began traveling alongside his father, keeping the community flourishing as the only connection between it and the rest of the land. When the Divide and the road paved by Brist came to attention of the NCR, they cooperated to protect the supply line and keep it open for other traders. With that done and his home taken care of, Brist left the Divide to travel further, exploring New California as a drifter.  

Brist came to enjoy the life of a Drifter, occasionally taking small jobs and living from day to day up until returning to the divide a last time, making a delivery that would cause his home to be destructed.Not knowing of what had happened, Brist returned into the Mojave desert, further traveling New California before joining the Mojave Express.2281 he was hired to deliver another important package, once more without knowledge of what it would cause, and was shot in the head by Benny in Goodsprings.

He doesn’t sleep too much, and he’s not at all picky about where. He prefers having some sort of mattress but if he’s tired and there’s none he’ll sleep on the floor.

Brist is an Courier and Explorer at heart, determined to finish his jobs, power through them. Even if that might result in physical pain or poisoning. Brist has the constant need to be on his feet all the time, traveling, looking around or doing things for people and he often does not sleep, eat, shower or talk during these travels. Sometimes he’s so focused on the road ahead that he misses the explosive traps right in front of him.

He notices that he is doing this, and he can sometimes be heard muttering to himself how he’ll see a doctor in the next town and so on, but those good intentions always get lost along the way. Brist hates missing traps and such, but he doesn’t quite see that those thigns could easily be avoided if he’d be more careful.

He is suffering from Radiation Poisoning, he could easily be treated for it at the early stages but he literally does not care enough to see a doctor or get some RadAway. He keeps delaying it in favour of missions and traveling and stuff

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Charlie sings, more for herself actually, than for anyone else but she’s quite good at it. She’s constantly humming when she’d focusing on something and sometimes doesnt even notice when she starts singing along to songs. She simply loves music a lot and lets herself be taken along by the songs. Has no real preference for genre but she likes happy go lucky songs most

21. Your most artistic OC

Richard aka Dick. He’s at tattoo artist and leaves cool little doodles everywhere. Especially great with colours. The most colorful the better

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

There aren’t really any, since my ocs arent popular or anything. Someone did sometimes, but it was more forcing their ideas or their own thoughts w their own ocs on mine,,,

23. Introduce OC that has changed from your first idea concerning what the character would be like?

Gregory, as you see below has changed quite a bit. While the overall design is the same, now he looks  as nasty as I imagine him to be, a lot less soft.Character-wise my ocs didn’t change drastically

Only the fact, in Gregory’s case, that he got more fleshed out, and the time he lives in changed, to the 50sI’m trying to not write to many long things here lmao.Especially since just u and Leander will read this and Leander knows himst and Regulus already.

Dr Gregory Thomas Landon was born 1911 to Sybill and Raphael Landon. While the first world war almost went by without having any impact on the family, Raphael was pulled into war when America joined in 1917 and died in combat.

With her husband gone and her son just 6 years old, Sybill took a job as a secretary to make sure of her and her sons survival.Sybill had grown up the youngest child (of those who had survived) out of 5, always too smart and abitious for a woman in her time. Her father was Doctor and she would often sneak into his office room to look through notes and books on human anatomy and patient records.She had written down what she believed could be links between illnesses,behaviour and anatomy, finding the greatest interest in the still very new field of psychology. Of course her father wanted to hear nothing of it, Sybills oldest brother being the one ment to inherit their fathers office and place as a doctor.

But Sybill had never stopped being interested in psychology, following the work of Edward Titchner, whod brought psychological studies to America, as well as the rise of ‘structuralism’ ,as close as possible.Unlike Titchner, who excluded the study of children, Sybill wondered if it was the childs mind that should be studied to find the roots of all things. Perhaps it was bitterness above all that drove her to the treatment of her son in the following years. Sybill had lived her life knowing that she had no possibility whatsever to porperly study psychology and work on her theories. But hearing about Margaret Washburn, the woman that had been able to become a psychologist, Sbyill turned anger and disappointment to her son, whom she viewed as the reason she had to stay at home and be a mother isntead of trying to achieve what Ms Washburn had.

Quickly she realized however that she did not need a title or be thought by a Doctor to test her theories, deciding to conduct them on her son, who had kept her from fullfilling her dream. While Gregory was not the perfect research object, already six years and not a infant, who Sybill believed to be the ideal stage, she attempted to see if continous infliction of pain would change her sons behaviour.

She was especially curious if such pain inflicted on the brain would influence Gregorys personality, perhaps causing of curing misbehaviours and such. Gregory would grow up very intelligent but withdrawn, hardly finding kinship with people his age, spending his time reading. Like his mother before him he became interested in the human mind and, unlike Sybill, was able to study, earning him a Doctorate in both psychology and psychiatry

While he remained living with his mother he would sometimes roam the university campus, especially after long nights of studying, observing the people around.

It was there that he, at age 19, that he met a young woman that had been wandering around, lost and visibly pregnant. Seeing her caused a deep shock in Gregory as she resembled his mother in looks like no other woman he’d even seen before. Unbeknowns to his mother, Gregory had suffered great damage from her treatment of him, which had lead to violent thoughts and great apathy. Had the girl not approached him, she would have lived but she decided to ask him for help, ending in her death.

This remained the only unplanned murder commited by the Doctor, who hid her body, laying awake at night, working out what to do with her. He had carefully opened her up, not focused on her death as much as on causing her pain for as long as possible, but as he hadn’t been very ecperienced yet he had made quite a mess. The young woman would turn to the first in a row of women that caused Gregory to perfect his work and disposal of the bodies.

World War Two brought a sudden end to the Doctors murder streak. Age 30 when America entered the War he was pulled into it as a medic, despite not being properly trained as a Doctor 

However his talents that he had perfected during his murders had been of great use during the war that had only led to Gregory becoming even more cold to death and gore. Returning from the War he was offered a position at a instiution, as the need for Psychologists arose.

However Gregory saw no great interest in treating shell shocked patients for too long, he instead chose to focus on the psychiatric field, working in an asylum from then on. Gregory is, while extremely smart, speaking four languages and being a Doctor, unable to form any bonds with people.

He’s terribly arrogant and aware of his intelligence, viewing it as a superiority to other people. He suffers from antisocial personality disorder/ psychopathy and is addicted to nictotine.

He’s a very cleanly person, almost to a point of it being an obsession. He smells of Nicotine, Disinfectant and a neutral perfume.

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Oh geez, well I’d rather meet an oc of mine thats like, one of the chill ones. Maybe someone about my age.

Someone like Friedrich or Violet. It’d be easiest to talk to them, and I know they are super nice. Meeting Brist, Araan or Caspian would be cool too tho, so many stories and questions there

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

There used to be the joke that Friedrich is basically a tall, muscular version of me. Funnily enough I now have the chin beard as well, and I’ve discovered that I’m as much of a nerd and work focused person as he is. Still while we share some similarities, we’re p different still lmao

26. Have you ever had to change your OC’s design or something else about them against your will?

Not really, only changed things to be more accurate and stuff but that aint against my will or anything

27. Any OCs that were inspired by a certain song? Nope

28. Your most dangerous OC?

There are a couple, such as Cenric (being a crazy, megalomanic, narcisstic, manic Emperor), Gregory and Jonathan (literal serial killers), Crya (cannibalistic monster) and Eligos (p much does body disposal). 

29. Which one of your OCs would go investigate an abandoned house at night without telling anyone they’re going?

Eddy and Dick, they would tell each other because they’d go together lmao. Paula would want to and just before going there she’d chicken out of it

30. Which one of your OCs would most likely have a secret stuffed animal collection? Quinn, he’s tall and grown up but he loves small and cute things

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Friedrich II:Would have a super cool layout that he coded himself, and would offer the theme for people to use, as well as giving people tips on how to easily do cool things w their themes.

His icon would’ve been fairytale themed for a while until he posts his first selfie for pride month, then it’s a picture of him with a pride flag. He’d reblog peoples art of fairytales, and he’d especially love peoples new interpretations of them

Would reblog thing about rats and post pictures of his own rats with cute captions. Reblogs peoples selfies during pride and other pride days ( like trans day of visibility n such), always adding super nice things in the tags.

He posts his first selfie during pride and it gets quite the reblogs and people asking to see more (half of them are thirsting after his body) Declines the request to post full topless pictures because he says that his blog is sfw and he doesnt want to mix fairtales, rats and codes with nudes.

He would have a nsfw blog tho,,,hes horny He’d give it to those over 18 that’d ask, reblogging gifs and stuff there and yeah thats where he posts topless pictures.

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

I’d like to say Brist because that would be funny as hell and he would actually explore everything, pretty unfazed by what is going on. But honestly Annora is already living a horror game pretty much, that is with loosing her parents, fighting for survival,being used by the revolution group as a ‘chosen one’, and especially because she has to encounter the wandering twins, which are creepy as heck. She’s a fighter against will but she pulls through and shes careful enough not to do something stupid.

33. Your shyest OC?

That’d be sweet, pure Charlie

34. Do you have any twin characters?

Oh yes, Eddy and Dick; Jae-Eun and Jae-Hyeok; Nathanael and Susanna

35. Any sibling characters?

There’s a lot coming your way

Cenric and his younger sister Annora

Sadira and her older brother Arshad

Gregory actually has a halfbrother that’s not really developed, named Maximilian 

Charlie and her younger sister Paula

Olivia and her older brother Bill

Arthur and his younger brother Jonathan

36. Do you have OC pairs where the other part belongs to someone else (siblings, lovers, friends etc)?

The above mentioned Adelais who belongs to Leander, is let’s say semi-paired w Regulus

Established girlfriends Sadira (who’s my oc) and Elizaveta (who is his)

Violet (mine) and Cole (his) sweet young love

And an AU Version of my oc Echo is the ex of Ninas OC Crem

Charlie used to be w the oc Amy of a friend but idk if that’s still a thing

37. Introduce an OC who is not quite human

There are a few, like Myka, Viida, Amodis,Brist, Rovhen and Araan but I think I’ll go with Cyra

Cyra, or ‘Venus Cyra’ is not as developed as some others here so not to worry about too long of a text,,,,I hope

Cyra is meant to exist around the 50s funnily enough, just like Gregory, which I really didn’t intend lmaoShe is,a s the question suggests, not quite human, despite maintaining a relaticely human appearance for most of the time. Cyra lives in a house in the fictional Bloomstreet, which has been declared haunted decades ago because of a man living inside of it that took great joy in messing with his neighbours.

Crya believes herself to have lived in the house all of her life, with no memory as to how she got to come there and why she can’t leave it.In truth it’s told that she moved in with her grandmother when Cyra was just a baby, having lost her parents. If you were to believe the whispers and legends the old woman was very poor, hardly able to keep the small house for her and her granddaughter.

She would wear the same old clothes she had arrived in, the young girl wearing a worn out dress with a pale blue bow. Legends say that they were so poor that the grandmother couldn’t afford to buy much more than bread and water.

A police man came to their door one day because the old woman hadn’t been able to pay for her house anymore. Desperate, it’s said that she hit the man across the head as he had bend down to say hello to Cyra, who looked famished and sick at that point.

Not sure what to do with the body and knowing that her granddaughter needed more than bread to survive and grow, she went to butcher the man and cook him into stew for herself and her granddaughter to eat. As she saw that Cyra became more healthy and stronger at the meat consumption, the old woman, desperate and hopeful to keep her beloved granddaughter alive, fully turned to cannibalism.

It’s said that the grandmother died a couple of years later of old age but legends have it that she is still in the house as well, a half dead monster. Cyra, having eaten human flesh all her life is said to have turned into a wendigo like creature,fully turning into a gruesome beast during the nights, to feed on the flesh of people that dare to enter the haunted house.

She is called Venus in some tales because a man claimed to have seen her one day, watering the roses in the lawn of the house, more beautiful than anything he had seen all his life, calling her ‘a sight like the goddess Venus herself’

Cyra isn’t fully aware of these legends, but she is aware of her monsterous nature, that she is unable to control. She believes she was cursed to stay in this house, a monster taking her place during night, leaving her with the remains of peoiple and the ravaging craving for human flesh.

She loved taxidermy and moths, and tending to flowers.

38. Which one of your OCs would be the best dancer?

Irina is a professional ballet dancer so I’d say she’s the best out of my Ocs

39. Introduce any character you want

Alright, because I’ve tought about them recently, I’ll cheat a bit and introduce two ocs: Susanna and Nathanael, whom I mentioned somewhere above briefly as ‘The Wandering Twins’

They are part of my Golden Empire universe and are the heads of one of the groups that build after the collapse of most of what we know of the Earth.

They play a part in Annoras journey to find her brother as both a danger to avoid/defeat, as well as potential allies. Susanna and Nathanael are twins that are both about 1,90m tall and are constantly veiled, having stapled veils to their faces and necks.

That adds to their ghostly,creepy appearance. You could describe their group as a cult,as it is religiously motivated and their followers are devoted to Susanna and Nathanael, who they call ‘Mother’ and ‘The Priest’

That could come fromt he fact that Susanna wears the traditional headwear of a nun, while Nathanael looks somewhat like a Priest and carries a bible around. Christianity is considered an old and outdated religion in the times that GE plays in, practiced by a very small amount of people before the collapse. It’s generally thought of as outdated and outlandish, with stories too wild to be real.

However some of the old text have been recovered or been carried on over generations by those that remain firm believers in the Christian God. Susanna and Nathanael were raised by such a family and spread their belief to vulnerble and scared people after the collapse that latch onto it as a form of explanation easily.

The Twins view the collapse as a sort of apocalypse brought by God to punish Humanity for their sins, they believe that they must attone and suffer now as Earth was made their purgatory. If one is firm in belief and enough suffering is done, so they say, Heaven will open up and they will be taken by God to heaven, forgiven and able to forget the horrors they went through on Earth.

They expect that suffering to be done by their followers, who all walk barefoot, some of them having blinded themself in order to see nothing but God in their lifes. Susanna and Nathanael as well as their group wander in order to spread their message, taking in new followers if they prove their faith by stripping themselves of their footwear and walking through the ruins of cities with them until their feet bleed.

Only if they are willing to shed blood for their sins will they be taken on and be bathed and baptized in a river and dressed in simple gowns.It is considered the highest honour to be veiled just like Susanna and Nathanael. They seem to be able to appear out of nowhere and have a settlement in the woods that they return to.

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

I love developing oc things w my friends, its always a lot of fun and I wish I could do that more. Especially nice was cosplaying Gregory and Jason w Leander,,,cosplaying ocs is rad af, would love to do that again

41. Has anyone drawn fanart of your OCs? If yes, maybe show a picture or two here (remember sources & permissions!)

Yeee, mostly you and Leander actually, but a couple of others too. Let me see if I can show u a favourite oc art from u and from Leander

@bruhchantite listen,,,this is so fucking cute, I love seeing our kids all together. All art of them is always so happy and positive. I love every piece u did of em but this one especially bc,,,bringing star wars into it??Power move

@spokoystviye okay listen you made soo many great pieces but this one,,,this one idk maybe its because I love Brist so much but,, this is simple yet amazing. I love the small light play u got in here and just how u drew Brist,,,thats me boy!!!

42. Which one of your OCs would be the most interested in Greek gods?

Cenric, I’d say. He thinks of himself as a god after all. I think he’d like the imagery of it all

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

Oh geez well,, I generally make my ocs older than me, like most of them are in their late 30s/40s, I have more ocs heading 60s than I have heading 20 lmao. My ocs are more often male than any other gender and more likely to be lgbt than straight. I like nice and clean looks, Leander can tell a great deal about how much I care for a clean look lmao. Most of my ocs have their life in order, and most of them are on the taller side

44. Something you like about your OCs in general

I put thought into my characters,so I think that makes them interesting and fun. And I try very hard to havbe them make sense and be time/lore appropriate.

45. A character you no longer use?

I did drop some Ocs a bit ago that never got much work and that I didn’t think interesting enough to work on. Sadly enough I don’t do as much w my ocs as I’d like to generally.

46. Has anyone ever told you that you treat your OCs badly?

Nope, I’m generally kind to my characters lmao

47. Has anyone ever (friendly) claimed any of your OCs as their child?

both Nina and Leander did and I think it’s v sweet hell yeah

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

Charlie and Caspian, truly good and pure, and positive

49. Which one of your OCs would most likely enjoy memes

Seth would definitely love memes. So would Kylan but he’d like the really weird ones best. Eddy and Dick would constantly send memes to each other, effectively annoying everyone else. Paula would like memes when they are already outdated

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want

Generally special universe oc seem to be more interesting than like,,basic universe ones but I wannt quickly talk abour my OC WilliamI love him okay? He’s from Russia, where he grew up in a tightly knit family. He’s a childrens Doctor and was married to Nahia, who’s an ER Doctor. They met in med school and got along super well, they both were used to the whole early marriage idea and marrying someone you like so they did just that. They both always wanted to have children and kid. It’s very important for them to be there for thgeir child despite their jobs. William is such a dad, he loves his child so much, he’d do anything for em. He and Nahia are best friends, even after the divorce, which happened after long talks because they had noticed that something was off. It led to William confessing that he thinks he might be gay and they ended up divorcing because it turns out yes he is. William probably would’ve stayed w Nahia, also for their childs sake but she wouldn’t hear anything of it. He’s a very kind man, calm and I love the thought of him being able to explore who he is even at his age. He’d be so new to everything,,sobs,,angel

[artlessictoan]

How I’d do Naruto Next Gen

okok I’ve been wanting to do something more in depth and organised than my usual ranting about how everything is terrible now, so here we go! (though lbr this is just my usual ranting but 10x longer)

for the sake of brevity ha and my own piece of mind I’m not gonna go into how unnecessarily hetro the ending was and how everyone should’ve been gay and hey not every couple absolutely had to get married and/or have kids and also nart should’ve gotten the opportunity to realise that becoming hokage wasn’t necessary to achieve his real goal of becoming someone loved and accepted by others and he deserved so much better tbh and why isn’t sak just running the whole show and why isn’t there more sand sibs, bc let’s face it none of that was ever gonna happen, so these ideas are mostly built with the premise that all the canon couples stay canon and all the kids are still around and the product of those ships and the big plot things that happened (like nart becoming hokage and the like) stay roughly the same

forewarning bc else someone’s bound to say something; if you enjoy the next gen stuff? not a problem! that’s great, people enjoying stuff is a good thing! I wish I could enjoy more stuff, bc enjoying things is far more fun than not enjoying things! everyone has a different taste though and for me – and a lot of other people – the way that the next gen has turned out has been a disappointment, this post is for those people, so we can talk about why we think it’s failed and what we would’ve like to see instead, if you don’t feel that way about it.. well just scroll on past this post and keep enjoying the things you enjoy! have an absolute blast, you’ve earned it!

under the cut bc I am apparently incapable of keeping my rambling concise, there’s 2000 words of only vaguely coherent thoughts and tangents, so maybe get yourself a cuppa and a snack before trudging through it (some of this I’ve said in other posts before but w/e)

---

first off lets change some of the kids’ personalities, there’s nothing intrinsically wrong with any of them, but like….. 90% are carbon copies of one of their parents (and mostly their dads but I won’t get into that issue rn) which is ridiculous, bc personality traits aren’t genetic?? like my mum is super chill and sensible and my dad is short-tempered, but I’m an anxious mess and my bro is an anti-social control freak.. we didn’t get any of that from either of our parents

while it’s certainly true that you might be influenced by them (me and mum share a lot of interests and tastes), it’s not a hard and fast rule and I don’t find it realistic that EVERY kid takes after their parents, though I probably wouldn’t have such a problem with it if they were more a mix of both parents than just their dads, so here’s some potential alterations:

Boruto. good fucking lord, no, we did not need a clone of Naruto heading another series, if we wanted to see a rambunctious scamp who gets into trouble but loves his friends a whole lot and has a knack for giving inspirational speeches, then there’s already a whole 700 chap manga for that! one with a far more likable and interesting rambunctious scamp tbqh. so how about we make a few alterations, maybe instead of taking after Nart, Bolt takes a bit more after Hinata? a little quiet and a bit of a pushover, but someone who’ll quickly stick up for a friend and has an ease of communication that’s a bit more Nart? not shy so much as laidback and composed, maybe he isn’t all that interested in being a ninja too, like he’s quite skilled but is a pacifist and would much rather get a civilian job as idk a baker or gardener or something

Shikadai. only a few minor changes here bc I really do like the kid as he is, I’d just like to see him using Tema’s abilities too (and maybe also being just a bit more snarky and unyielding like his mum)

Inojin. I’m kinda torn on this one, bc I do like that he’s a lot like Sai (at least in the anime, he seems to have a pretty different personality from what little we’ve seen of him in the manga???), but I think it’d be pretty interesting if he was just not like either of his parents, maybe if he was very quiet and subdued, but also the mastermind behind all the kid’s pranks, has a mischievous streak that often shocks people, but his friends always love hanging out with him bc of it. also why doesn’t he have Ino’s powers? let’s give him Ino’s powers too

Sand Kids 2.0. ok so at this point we haven’t seen nearly enough of them to say much either way but I have negative faith in kishi and ike so I’ll just say that I want them all to be Gaara’s adopted kids (since it’s still unclear if it’s just Shinki or all of ‘em atm) and I want them to be exactly like this shameless plug for me and @spellfire01‘s versions of them which are the best fucking versions and I will protect my children with my life

now some changes to the original cast (this is where I’m gonna get proper bitter, prepare yourselves):

OH NARUTO MY POOR CHILD WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU I’ve already talked about this but let me just reiterate in as eloquent a way as I can; Naruto would never become a neglectful father. N e v e r. not after the childhood he went through, no matter how much work he had to do as kage, don’t dare fucking try and tell me that Naruto – "It's almost unbearable, isn't it… the pain of being all alone. I know that feeling; I've been there, in that dark and lonely place, but now there are others, other people who mean a lot to me. I care more about them than I do myself, and I won't let anyone hurt them… They rescued me from my loneliness" – Uzumaki would EVER neglect his kids. just fucking don’t. in this version Nart is a doting and involved dad (perhaps a little too much, to the point that his kids find him kinda exhausting and have to ask him to leave them alone sometimes) who sends his clones to work at the office while he hangs out with his family.. I honestly don’t know why he doesn’t already do that

let all the girls out of their houses to do some ninja work for the love of god

poor put-upon Shino-sensei is alright.. but we’ve already had that with Iruka, I’d honestly much rather see the Cool Sensei who keeps all the kids in line without even doing much of anything and has a knack for inspiring them and always has a line of students trailing after him asking to hear more of his awesome ninja stories and everyone always trying to show off when he’s around, bc Shino is literally The Best

have Sauce and Saku be divorcees. seriously, are even the people who ship them happy with how their relationship has turned out? they barely see each other and apparently it’s been that way since chap 699, so why not just have them split up? it really wouldn’t change much, just say that, at some point after Sarada was born, they realised that they were both gay incompatible personality-wise and they were both so busy with their individual work that there wasn’t much of a relationship to lose. not only would this be good for both their characters (there’s no reason they couldn’t still be good friends) and just more sensible all-round, but it would also be a nice way to show that not every childhood romance/first love works out and that’s perfectly fine and normal and they can still live happy, full lives afterwards!

speaking of Sauce, let him spend at least a little bit of time interacting with his friends and family in Konoha, even if he’s still mostly travelling around on important missions he should at least be taking every opportunity to visit his daughter when he’s in the area, seriously, c’mon

Temari got done so dirty in that one episode.. here’re some much better words than I could ever muster but generally I’d want her to be less the ‘scary, overbearing, harsh’ mother and more the ‘strict but cool and sneaky’ mother, like she’d honestly be the type to use reverse psychology and gentle manipulation, she’d make her boy do some seemingly meaningless task that somehow makes him have an epiphany and come back to her when he’s done like “I know what I did wrong now and I’m sorry” than just shout at him and refuse to make dinner (also I just really like to hc that she’s a terrible cook so it’s Shikamaru who does all the cooking anyway)

it’d be really great to see Hina either being the new clan head or at least otherwise involved in Hyuuga clan politics, so we could actually see how she’s working to destroy that whole slavery thing they’ve got going, rather than that plotline just being dropped somewhere around the end of the chunin exam arc and never picked up again (I mean I assume that it’s all supposed to be fixed by now, but that’s not the kinda thing that should happen entirely off-screen) and so we can see her life revolving around something other than Nart and her kids, she’s remarkably capable and had so much potential but she’s been denied every opportunity to really exist as her own character by the writers

Kiba…… what the hell is going on with Kiba? where is he? what is he doing? how’s he feeling these days? is he supposed to be married to that nameless cat lady we saw for a single panel? these are things we shall never know I guess. tbh what I’d really LOVE to see would be Kiba-sensei, just imagine him and Shino both being teachers who work in completely opposite ways, Shino is the quiet, inspiring, lowkey scary one and Kiba is the gigantic fucking dork one who cheers his students on way too loud and makes the classes super fun and joins in the kids games, him and Shino have a class rivalry and Kiba is constantly roping students into joining his attempts to prank Shino (they’ve never once succeeded but oNE DAY)

Ino should be the next head of Konoha’s intelligence division, I will fight kishi on this one

why the actual fuck is oroch still happily living it up in his penthouse lab?? kill the fucker. or at the very least imprison the fucker. just say that Mitsuki was an old project of his that somehow kept developing in his absence, or was a product of research carried out by some lackeys’ years after he’s gone, anything that means I don’t have to accept that everyone has apparently forgiven him for everything and knows that he’s still experimenting on kids but just don’t care

and on that last note: Justice for Yamato 2k17

right now let’s get onto the actual plot/story for this very self-pandering au

make Sarada the main char. while I can see why they would choose to go with Boruto, honestly Salad’s more interesting a character and! A Girl!! Main Character!!!! I NEED IT!!!!!! focus on her goal to be hokage and her struggles with her parents and follow up on that ‘restoring the Uchiha’ plot thread that just.. dropped right off the map somewhere between 699 and 700, her reconciling what her clan was with what she wants to make it

get rid of that weird demon-sensing eye thing that’s going on. and the demon thing in general. and also that jarring post-apocalypse future thing they’re building up. I didn’t slog through over a decade of kishi’s bullshit just so my kids didn’t get to live long, happy lives. make the plot just slice-of-life fluff, nothing more dangerous than a bully, just some kids trying to be awesome ninja in a world that doesn’t really need ninja anymore bc peace and all that

waaay more of Chocho, Himawari and Inojin (at least enough so they all get equal billing)

show how the ninja world has grown and developed since the end of the original series (not just technologically), what do ninja do now that there aren’t any wars and international relationships are at an all-time high? have missions completely gone from being combat and intel based to more about construction and assistance? are ninja numbers actually dropping, favouring civilian jobs in these more peaceful times? how well are people – ninja or not – adjusting to these changes? is learning ninja techniques still encouraged but in a way that’s more about culture and traditions than actual use in combat (in the same way that swordplay today is mostly practiced for performance, fun and sport, rather than out of any real-life practicality)? there are so many interesting things to explore that you don’t even need to be adding in new threats to keep the series entertaining

I’ve said this before, but I think it’d be really cool and cute if after the end of the war and with some drastic changes to the ninja world’s politics, this next gen is less about becoming ninja, than realising that they’ll never be ninja (at least not in the way that their parents were) and how they react to that. maybe they’re frustrated because they hear so many cool stories about the grand battles of the previous generation and they want to be able to do those things too damnit! so the kids are just going around trying to be super-awesome ninja in a world that doesn’t really need ninja anymore, picking fights and trying to make their boring d-rank missions seem more important and dangerous than they really are, maybe at some point they learn a bit more about how hard and traumatising that life was for their parents and why the world had to change, until they eventually decide that if the role of a ninja has to change, then together they’re gonna discover what that new role will be, what will being a ninja really mean in this new, peaceful world?

and, a final ending note: fuck ike’s sickening treatment of Sarada with regards to her sexualised presentation and the disgusting reveal that someone taught Boruto (a young child!) the sexy jutsu. Let The Kids Be Kids 2k17

[cnisms]

ok wow... here are some v basic intros for beck, aja, veronika, bella, angel n natalya ! they won’t be super detailed bc... theres fricken 6 of them... some are longer, some are shorter, they are all ugly. but i do know my muses inside out so if u ever want me to expand on anything or fill in any gaps, just lmk. no stat pages for any of them yet, so i’ll list the basics in here. plotting ? yk what to do ! im me or just punch me in the face ! n ofc if theres specific plots u have in mind already just lmk bc as yall know... im always gonna snatch them up anyways (also ONCE AGAIN sorry for never replying to ims, i’m just a lot of foul moods these days n obviously it’s got nothin to do w yall so i wait... aka i get five minutes of peace a week... but i 100% always wanna plot n be friends !!! i WILL reply... eventually...) v brief mentions of miscarriage, drug addiction, neglect, murder n obviously death.

i lied i actually did start this ugli’s stats !! barely, but they’ll be here.

you will never met a bigger nerd than beck ever im tellin u now

had a nice childhood, parents are both scientists n lowkey hippies, v v v smart household. they were always more friendly than parental with him due to the fact that he’s always been (not super mature but) very intellectual.

grew up interested in everything. studied hard n fast. has graduated too many times. thought maybe the goal was to be a lecturer ? couldn’t pick on what tho. ended up staying to hang around his last university and instead tutors literally everyone in literally any subject. if ur muse is studying @ imperial college ? beck is their favourite tutor. srry it’s law !

just a nice guy ? unfortunately doesn’t have very many negative traits to him bc that’s just the way it worked out but he does talk a lot n has trouble effectively communicating anything he hasn’t studied so he may not always appear to be the nicest guy but ? he rlly is just a ugh jesse mccartney vc beautiful soul.

barely getting by bc how much can u charge uni students ? the answer is the minimum. he’s never been super materialistic or anything so it’s not a rude shock to him but his social life suffers (i mean he could find plenty to do himself but he is always rejecting invitations) due to lack of funds.

so boring.. so vanilla..

has to told be told to shut up or he will go for two days n yes it does hurt his feelings xx

megan ajala parekh (goes by aja), 22, cisfemale, panromantic, pansexual, listens to too much usher

was raised between the city n a farm a lil while out of town. had to deal w all of the divorce drama worse than either of her parents. they all cut each other off when she was 16 and she’s fake af making jokes abt it, acting like it was the best decision ever but she wasn’t prepared at all ? she was just couch surfing n surviving on birthday money from her grandparents n she was scared but v “no goin’ back now ig!” about the whole situation/

big mess ! also had no idea what she wanted to do but she was actually a huge flop education wise (no offense gf, me too) n ended up in a government programme n through that she just did whatever was recommended so she ended up in aged care n she loves it !

to be fair she loves everything tho so ? that’s not really sayin much. 

super excitable n ott. is always goin’ head first into everything.

as a result she’s also always exhausted n grumpy. one or the other. she can’t calm herself down n maintain a healthy lifestyle. it just doesn’t work.

lives in a disused hospital bc why not. she’s savin’ up for a nice van... to live in... that’s rlly where she sees herself.

except she’s not really saving up bc she’s the definition of headassery and is spending all her money on fast food and expensive sunglasses n hats that she will lose that same week.

i’m falling asleep but naomi scott is a goddess so whom cares 

veronika erikson, 40, cisfemale, biromantic, bisexual, old as mc’heck so she’s actually got a life for me to talk abt

born in denmark, was scouted at 16, lived between paris and new york after that, had massive success as a model. made money, set trends, still pops up in every other #goals pinterest board and #mood instagram tag. was an entire it girl back in the 90s but ! it was never fulfilling.

literally all she wanted ? her entire life ? was to be a mother ? nothing else ? modelling was a good way for her to make money bc realistically she wouldn’t have been happy doing anything that wasn’t raising her own children but she was never satisfied.

NEVER GOT HER BABIES ! despite marrying very young (she was v keen to start a family but she was also super in love) n immediately gettin into it and giving up her career at 23 to be at her prime health-wise, she had no success. suffered a LOT. the fact that the problem could never be identified was obviously super frustrating n stressed her the frick out ? the miscarriages my dude... she’d been through it n would tell herself not to get her hopes up but it was obviously always worlds worst heartbreak every time.

grew to resent her husband bc tho she knew he wasn’t to blame, she needed to put it on someone. never adopted or looked at other options out of (irrational) fear that she’d have the same kind of feelings towards any children that she didn’t birth herself so ! shit didn’t get better. it literally started 10 yrs ago... and it the negative feelings changed in intensity over n over but they somehow managed to survive 10 years n only recently separated so ! she got rid of everything n moved to london for a fresh start where she now flips houses bc she can ig n it gives her smth to do !

honestly would make the best mother ? she’s aunt to the yates siblings (hey huns) and always did the most for her fricken mini-me imogen. beautiful vodka aunt who brings gifts and gushes about u n is here to gossip but is ready to go off on ur ass if u force her to. won’t go around babying people but... if u give her the chance... 

that... that’s her personality... ideal mom in every way.

separates her private n public life very well but doesn’t share her important thoughts or feelings at all. generally a nice but passive person. 

courtney love tweeting about riverdale vibes.

arabella gomfrey, 23, closeted pan princess (literally a princess (cici is shaking)), sofia coppola’s marie antoinette

the whole gomfrey situation will be developed eventually but for now here is this.

they may not be, but bella is a v affectionate person. is wedged firmly up her entire family’s ass. loves her parents n lets them n everyone else know. rlly thinks they’re right about absolutely everything. will agree to n do anything they say.

will do anything anyone says honestly ? as long as it doesn’t come in conflict with what her parents want for her ? tell her to walk off a building bc it’ll make her parents happy n she’ll sit there stressing and considering it for hours.

won’t think for herself but still manages to be a major fake. only tells u what you want to hear, excessively sweet, will not be the one to deliver bad news ever hell nope she’s paying someone to do that for her. 

v cliquey n judgemental. her inner circle is literally just other pretty rich girls. 

loves the whole situation she was born into n has no shame. milks it. does the most. will throw a tantrum when she doesn’t get what she wants. entitled brat !

idk how but she’s the most catholic person you’ll ever meet ? the pope is jealous.

models bc she knows can do whatever the hell she wants without trying ig. just likes the applause.

angela (angel) rosado, 24, panromantic, pansexual, loves girls, Is Beautiful .

yea rosado as in the resort aha... nbd ... was adopted by the rich old rosados when she was 10 n has lived the good life ever since but before that . it was p ugly.

she was literally left on her neighbour’s doorstep when her parents got evicted from their home when angel was 6 months old ? they took her in but ! they struggled ! so a year later when angel’s mother was pregnant again n sorted herself out for a min n came back to claim her so they could be a family or w/e, the people who had been caring for her were obviously like um we rlly should not trust this bich with a baby but we’re abt to be kicked out ourselves so ... they basically forced this image of angel n her mother n the next baby livin happily ever n let her go.

her mother had another girl n angel loved her even tho she was tiny herself... she was (and still is dw her sister is thriving still) crazy abt this baby. she rlly could not love her sister more. their mother wasn’t clean for long, but their father was much worse. when he died 2 yrs later, she quickly worsened too. she was ill n not fit to parent at all but the girls lived with it for 4 yrs before they were taken away. they were told their mother passed away a few months later but neither ever looked into it.

it did not get any better ? in foster care they were bullied ... so bad. they would sneak off everyday to avoid it n then they got in trouble from their carers for doin that like ig you can’t win ! so they were gonna split the sisters up n angel was so ,,, dependent on her lil sister (n got teased for this bc her sister was literally tuckin her in and singing her to sleep every night as if she was the baby) n was not feelin too good about the situation my dudes !

anyways they snuck off to the library soon after n ig hit up The Google for a solution ? n they accidentally ended up reading some story on wtvr gossip site abt these hotel tycoons adopting for the fifth time. angel’s sister.. literally found rosado resorts’ business email . ASKED THEM TO COME ADOPT HER N ANGEL TOGETHER N TAKE THEM AWAY TO LONDON...

n it worked ? luv a (kinda) happy ending

obviously becoming part of a big, rich, sober family in a different country was weird n difficult once the excitement wore off but they made it work. her sister fit in better than her n their parents saw that ? n they noticed she was p much living off of her sister entirely ... but they were v good abt it, they put a lot of time n effort n love into angel n she grew to be THE daddy’s girl of the bunch. like he was good w all of the kids but they always had their (jealous) memes abt angel being the favourite. everyone grew up n moved on, still all v supportive of eachother. angel ? still living near her parents, checkin’ in everyday, still getting everything she wants handed to her.

doesn’t even pretend she’s effectively dealt w the bad memories of her childhood, just straight up acts like she remembers nothing except for her sister singing her to sleep. remembers everything n struggles with it everyday but that’s her business apparently.

likes to let u know that she knows she’s better than u ? better than everyone ? except maybe her sister n her father. doesn’t even like her other siblings. loves them yea, but she doesn’t like them n always starts drama crying to her parents abt how they don’t like her either.

kinda just a real snob yk what i mean ? she’s lit abt her work and her like.. total of 2 friends but otherwise likes to act real unimpressed all the time. 

u would think w the shit she’s seen she would be an understanding person but nope if she doesn’t like it, she doesn’t see it.

her parents bought her .. a gym .. for her 20th bday n she opened a few more in the yrs following that and now has celebrities up on instagram posing in angelfit activewear, pretending to drink her protein shakes, u know the deal. she’s v proud of herself.

UM OK WOW its 8am i’ve been working (slowly) at this whole post for 6hrs now n i just forgot i was keeping these short but i can’t pick which details to remove so u know what ? this one stays meaty. thats it tho i think !

also peep her nameless sister in case anyones lookin for muse ideas in the future :P x

N FINALLY... natalya nikolayevna belyakova, natasha works, 27, demiromantic, demisexual, cute ! dont know if u noticed but she’s russian !

these muses just get more n more extreme as u go down the list o wow n still none of them get a coherent introduction. especially natasha bc ? ok so she was raised by dirty money but ... criminal organisations in moscow ... lets not even get into it. let’s say they were big in weaponry.

anyway ! it was just her, her brother n her father. v close. they were weird, everyone knew this. she had no friends, even when she was living out of home to study. her social life was literally whatever dangerous dinner parties her father invited her to n that was it.

it was never that deep (AKA IT WASNT GROSS LIKE EVERY1 MADE IT OUT TO BE) she's literally just shy n angery pup meme. she’s the pretentious smart girl in every story ever who is like “i hate ppl... books cant stab u in the back” like ok relax who asked NERD but she rlly could not escape her family so might as well love them !

um ig her father had her mother killed when natasha was abt 8 yrs old. apparently she was havin an affair. her brother spilled the beans to her yrs later when he was mad at their father. she wanted to be horrified for a second but thought it would change nothing so there was no point. she rlly stanned her father huh ?

he dead too now rip. while natalya was away studying, every1 in their home... her brother, father, everyone workin’ there ... all ... got killed n then the house was torched quick. she knew business had been gettin uglier but this ugly ? [ mari vc ] ruined her fricken LIFE.

one of her father’s creepy old friends eventually had to let her know what happened n how everyone saw it coming or whatever like ok thanks buddy ! natasha’s rlly sad obviously ? doesn’t last long. now ... she’s mad ! now... She’s pissed.

so she’s come to blame this gang that’s heavy in london. she REALLY drops outta school, comes on over, worms her way into their major rival gang n WAITS. she’s been here . for yrs now . and is yet to do . anything ... despite being obsessed with the idea of revenge. she’s playing the long game and making sure she’s getting all the details right bc she’s like Well this is a suicide mission might as well make it count ! its sad but -.- what are u gonna do ? (rival gang subplot coming soon btw whew!)

keeps her desire for actual bloody revenge to herself bc she doesnt wanna look like she’s gonna cause trouble for anyone when she DEFINITELY IS. she only acts angry enough to have her >.> allies >.> belieb that she’s loyal.

obviously committed . obviously she needs some milk .

not a fun person ? unless u tryna die also. but she’s very put together, v professional, cultivated, charming ig when she wants to be, unfortunately adorable, v organized, um what else ? nothin. that’s that. thanks !

THIS IS SO UGLY I CANT BELIEVE I EMBARRASS MYSELF LIKE THIS BUT U KNOW WHAT ! [ CHRIS TRAEGER VC ] LITERALLY ! A MEMEY INTRO POST IS BETTER THAN NO INTRO POST ! GOOD LUCK WITH UR LIVES ! LOVE U ALL !

[gethealthy18-blog]

Benefits of Inversion Therapy (& How to Do It at Home)

New Post has been published on http://healingawerness.com/news/benefits-of-inversion-therapy-how-to-do-it-at-home/

Benefits of Inversion Therapy (& How to Do It at Home)

Chronic pain is, unfortunately, all too common. From sitting at work, to carrying heavy objects (or toddlers!), to pregnancy, our bodies can get out of alignment. This (combined with a weak core) often leads to lower back pain. Inversion therapy with an inversion table or other inversion tools can help relieve back pain and has many other health benefits too.

What Is Inversion Therapy?

Gravity can cause vertebrae to compress, contributing to back pain and poor circulation. Inversion therapy is when a person’s feet are positioned above their head in order to reverse the effects that gravity has on the body.

As early as 3000 BC, yogis have used inversion to rebalance the body and improve system functions. Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, also used inversion to help his patients. In the last half-century, inversion has been used to help patients with back pain and other gravity-related ailments.

Benefits of Inversion Therapy

Whether or not inversion therapy is really beneficial is under some scrutiny in the medical community.

The 2017 clinical guidelines from the American College of Physicians (ACP) state that there is little quality evidence to support the use of inversion over other therapies (though it’s not harmful to most healthy adults).

On the other hand, the clinical evidence that is available, along with the anecdotal evidence of practitioners and patients who have seen benefits (and my own experience), makes me think there must be something to inversion therapy.

Here are some of the ways that inversion can benefit the body:

Improved Lymphatic Drainage

The lymphatic system is vital to the health of the body, especially the immune system. Gravity and muscle contractions move lymph fluid through the body, sweeping away toxins and bacteria. Because many of us sit at desks all day (I’m guilty too!), there are fewer muscle contractions to move lymph fluid through the body. That means the only force that is moving lymph fluid is gravity and the lymph fluid stays in the lower part of the body.

Inversion helps move the lymph fluid through the body by using gravity in reverse. Instead of gravity moving lymph fluid to the feet, it moves it away from the feet and toward the upper body. Then, when you are no longer inverted, gravity helps move lymph fluid again.

Inversion can also improve circulation. A study published in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation found that inversion reduced muscle tension which can improve circulation and lymph movement.

Reduced Back Pain

Reduced muscle tension is a benefit in its own right, but it can also be helpful in reducing stress and pain. The late Dr. John E. Sarno of the New York Institute for Rehabilitation Medicine believed that most pain was rooted in psychological stresses. He believed that tension in muscles (due to stress) can trap waste and cause pain.

Many studies also show that inversion therapy can reduce back pain. A 2010 study that found decompression of the disc reduced back pain in patients.

Improved Disc Health

As mentioned above, inversion helps increase the space between vertebral discs. This allows the discs to rehydrate and increase in nutrients. It also helps increase the shock absorption ability of the discs.

Gravity compresses the discs, making them less healthy (and even reduces your height!). When we lay down to sleep at night, the compression is reduced and we regain our height and disc health (unless there are misalignments that prevent this from happening). Inversion is another way to help regain the space between discs.

Reduce Nerve and Joint Pain

The space between the vertebral discs is where nerves live. When the discs are compressed, we can experience pain, pinched nerves, or sciatica. Increasing disc health helps avoid pinched nerves and the pain they cause. Additionally, improving disc health and the space between them can be beneficial in reducing pain from sciatica. In one study, using inversion reduced the need for surgery in 70 percent of patients with sciatic pain. In comparison, only 20 percent of patients found relief in the control group.

Realign the Spine

Many of us have misalignments from daily activities like sitting at a desk, sports, pregnancy, and carrying heavy objects. A misalignment is where a vertebra is out of place and the bone structure is no longer supporting the weight of the body. Soft tissues like ligaments and muscles have to pick up the slack.

Once a vertebra is out of alignment it can be held out of alignment by the muscles and ligaments around it. In this case, even laying down doesn’t reduce compression entirely. But inversion can reduce compression to zero, even when there is a misalignment. A study by Dr. Alf Nachemson found that inversion allowed discs to move back to their proper locations.

Inversion also improves flexibility. A 2013 study found that inversion improved lumbar (low back) flexibility and muscle strength. Both of these help keep the back in alignment.

Turn a Breech Baby

Inversion was one technique my midwife recommended to try and turn my breech baby. The idea is that you give baby a chance to pop back out of the pelvis and turn over. Of course, if you are worried about baby being breech you should only try this per your midwife’s or doctor’s orders. If you aren’t 100% sure baby is breech, inversion could actually cause a breech baby!

How to “Do” Inversion

There are a few ways to use inversion therapy. Here are some of the ways you can reap some or all of the benefits of inversion:

Inversion boots – Also known as gravity boots, these attach to a bar (often in a doorway) and allow you to invert. You strap your feet in and then hang upside down. However, you must be strong enough to lower yourself and lift yourself back up. It’s also best practice to have a partner nearby even if you are strong enough to lower yourself. We used these before getting our inversion table.

Inversion yoga – Inversion positions like headstand can give you many of the benefits of inversion therapy. However, like the inversion boots, you must be relatively strong to use this technique.

Lying on the floor with feet on a couch – This technique is not a full inversion but it can give you some of the benefits of inversion by raising the legs above the heart to move fluid out of legs. It’s easy to do for most people too.

Lying on the floor with feet up against the wall – While not a true inversion, this can provide some of the benefits of inversion therapy. It’s a little more difficult than putting your feet on a couch but is still relatively easy to do (and doesn’t require any equipment).

Fitness ball – You can use a fitness or peanut ball to get some of the benefits of inversion therapy. Sit on the fitness ball and roll your hips forward. Lay back on the ball (and roll if needed) until your head is lower than your hips.

Inversion table – My husband used to have trouble with back pain so we have and use this Teeter inversion table which is easy to use and FDA approved. This tool allows you to fully invert even if you’re not strong enough to lower and lift yourself. It can also be used without a partner and gives you the full benefit of inversion. I prefer the inversion table because it is safest for most people and provides the full benefit of inversion.

While there aren’t any studies to support this claim, I have personally found that I sleep better after a session with the inversion table.

Inversion Precautions

While inversion is safe for most healthy people, there are a few exceptions.

Inversion raises the pulse and blood pressure so it’s not appropriate for those with heart issues.

Glaucoma patients should not use inversion because inversion can cause pressure in the eyes.

Inversion may not be safe for children or pregnant women. (Just the thought of being on an inversion table pregnant makes me cringe!)

It also can cause headaches and blurred vision in some people.

Every person is different, so it’s always best to talk with your healthcare provider about whether inversion would be helpful to you or if you should avoid it.

Is an Inversion Table Worth It?

If you have chronic back pain and already pay for chiropractic care, physical therapy, or even medication, an inversion table may be a better investment (and has benefits for things other than back pain too!).

I always feel great after using my inversion table and feel like it helps improve my health. I also think there is good science to support its use (even if those studies are small or need more research). Because inversion is harmless for most healthy adults, it’s worth a try!

Have you tried inversion with an inversion table? What was your experience?

Sources:

Qaseem, A., Wilt, T. J., McLean, R. M., & Forciea, M. A. (2017, April 04). Noninvasive Treatments for Acute, Subacute, and Chronic Low Back Pain: A Clinical Practice Guideline From the American College of Physicians. Retrieved from http://annals.org/aim/fullarticle/2603228/noninvasive-treatments-acute-subacute-chronic-low-back-pain-clinical-practice

Nosse, L. J. (1978, August). Inverted spinal traction. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/687049

Conner-simons, A. (2017, June 24). Dr. John Sarno, 93, Dies; Best-Selling Author Tied Pain to Anxieties. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/23/science/john-sarno-dead-healing-back-pain-doctor.html

Apfel, C. C., Cakmakkaya, O. S., Martin, W., Richmond, C., Macario, A., George, E., . . . Pergolizzi, J. V. (2010, July 08). Restoration of disk height through non-surgical spinal decompression is associated with decreased discogenic low back pain: A retrospective cohort study. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20615252

Teeter. (2018, August 24). Inversion Table Benefits | FDA Registered Inversion Tables. Retrieved from https://teeter.com/blog/benefits-of-inversion/

Prasad, K. S., Gregson, B. A., Hargreaves, G., Byrnes, T., Winburn, P., & Mendelow, A. D. (n.d.). Inversion therapy in patients with pure single level lumbar discogenic disease: A pilot randomized trial. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22263648

Intravital Dynamic Pressure Measurements in Lumbar Discs. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.energycenter.com/grav_f/studies_nachemson.pdf

The effect of inversion traction on pain sensation, lumbar flexibility and trunk muscles strength in patients with chronic low back pain. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264742284_The_effect_of_inversion_traction_on_pain_sensation_lumbar_flexibility_and_trunk_muscles_strength_in_patients_with_chronic_low_back_pain

Heng, M. K., Bai, J. X., Talian, N. J., Vincent, W. J., Reese, S. S., Shaw, S., & Holland, G. J. (1992, January). Changes in cardiovascular function during inversion. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1544738

Weinreb, R. N., Cook, J., & Friberg, T. R. (1984, December 15). Effect of inverted body position on intraocular pressure. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6507552

Gianakopoulos, G., Waylonis, G. W., Grant, P. A., Tottle, D. O., & Blazek, J. V. (1985, February). Inversion devices: Their role in producing lumbar distraction. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3155939

Source: https://wellnessmama.com/395622/inversion-therapy-benefits/

[firstumcschenectady]

“A Choice of Three”based on Exodus 1:22-2:10

All the way back in October, we talked about the Hebrew midwives of Exodus chapter 1, Puah and Shiphrah.  Those two subversive women had pulled out all the stops. The Pharaoh told them to kill Hebrew boy babies at birth.  Puah and Shiprah disobeyed direct orders from the Pharaoh and used his biases against the Hebrew people to justify it. Their courage and wisdom had saved the boys!  But only for a moment, after they refused to follow unjust orders, the orders changed.  

And that's where today's story starts.  Pharaoh is said to be worried that the Hebrews are going to overtake the Egyptians (a common way that oppressors justify inhumane treatment).  Since the midwives won't kill the baby boys at birth, he orders that all Hebrew baby boys be thrown into the Nile at birth.  As I mentioned when discussing the midwives, “It took me entirely too long to figure out why the boys were to be killed.  I was thinking of males as especially strong laborers in the fields, and wondered why you'd want to have fewer of them.  If you wanted fewer descendants, I thought, why not kill the girls who have the babies and leave the workers? Our Bible Study participants responded that the death of the male babies meant that the females would be sexually available to the Egyptians, and they'd presume that as half-Egyptian – the next generation would be more pliable and 'better.'  The participants in the Bible Study figured this out by considering American slave history.”1

This story is an old story.  Order than even the version we have. Scholars say this story about the birth of Moses is an adaptation of a story that was already ancient in his time.  Sargon of Akkad, believed to live in the 23rd or 24th century­ before the common era, was a ruler of the Akkadian Empire.  According to Wikipedia (which is sometimes much pithier in explaining things than any other format),  “A Neo-Assyrian text from the 7th century BC purporting to be Sargon's autobiography asserts that the great king was the illegitimate son of a priestess. Only the beginning of the text (the first two columns) are known, from the fragments of three manuscripts. The first fragments were discovered as early as 1850.”2 So this story was ALSO written down many centuries after it happened, which means we can't be certain what it sounded like in the time of Moses, but it is the best piece of comparison available. The text is found the book “The Ancient Near East” and reads:

"Sargon, the mighty king, king of Agade, am I. My mother was a changeling, my father I knew not. The brother(s) of my father loved the hills. My city is Azupiranu, which is situated on the banks of the Euphrates. My changeling mother conceived me, in secret she bore me. She set me in a basket of rushes, with bitumen she sealed my lid. She cast me into the river which rose not (over) me, The river bore me up and carried me to Akki, the drawer of water. Akki, the drawer of water lifted me out as he dipped his e[w]er. Akki, the drawer of water, [took me] as his son (and) reared me. Akki, the drawer of water, appointed me as his gardener, While I was a gardener, Ishtar granted me (her) love,"3

It seems likely that the myth of Sargon's birth was adapted to explain the birth of Moses.  The similarities are pretty obvious, including naming that Moses came from a family of Levites, the holy tribe from which later priests would emerge, while Sargon was the son of a holy priestess.  The whole thrown in a river part is obviously similar, as is the emphasis on “drawing out” the child from the water, and raising him as the son of the one who drew him out.  The Sargon story explicitly states that he was loved by a powerful goddess, the Moses story is the opening to a long narrative about being specially chosen by YHWH.

However, when we have likely source material, the interesting part is not the similarities, it is the differences.  The differences here are astounding.  Of course, the Moses story feels more complete, for one thing.  It is since the stone on which the Sargon birth story is written is incomplete.  But we also have a reason for Moses being put in the river (the decree of Pharaoh), and a masterful turn at the end that the one who decreed that baby Hebrew boys be put in the river is the one in whose household the baby is raised.  The format of the story that we have now was polished over many years into an excellently crafted final form.

Also, the Sargon birth story has a more limited role for human women: his mother gives birth and puts him in the basket.  The Moses birth story is an intricate weaving of the actions and intentions of THREE women, and of whom could easily be “the” subversive woman of the today's story.  Moses's mother is not just the woman who birthed him.  She is the one who notices he is an especially fine baby, and decides to try to save him. She keeps him hidden at home for three months.  And then she carefully crafts the waterproof basket she lays him in.  To this point the story is similar enough to Sargon's, but at the same time, the story seems to want us to believe that God takes care of where the basket floats off to, and wants us to deduce that God put the basket in the sight-line of the Egyptian princess. Personally, I think that loving mother who risked her own life for her son and carefully crafted the basket ALSO would have tried to make sure the basket went to a good place, but I do think the faith tradition tells it so we think of it as God's hand at work.  On a related note, I think this proactive mother might have instructed her daughter to watch over it!  

The story doesn't tell us if babies in waterproof baskets were often floating down the Nile, but the constraints of the story (that is, the command from the one in charge to put baby boys in the river) seem to make it likely.  It seems like the other women would have taught her how to weave the basket and how much tar to use.  It even seems likely that for the first 3 months Moses's mother pretended she'd had a girl and everyone just played along.  I don't think the story really believes that Moses was the only baby whose mother tried to save him, even though the story is designed to help us believe that Moses was specially cared for by God.

Whether instructed to or not, Moses's sister (maybe Miriam) stays at hand and watches where the basket goes.  I imagine her to be at a very good age for this: young enough not to be noticed by grown ups and to be free to play as she wished, yet old enough to understand the importance and be able to convincingly play her role.  And she played her role to perfection!  Nothing like this is in Sargon's story.

Meanwhile, in Moses's story one of the princesses has gone down to the river to bath, attended by handmaidens.  She sees the basket, she sends a maid to get it, she opens it. She sees a crying baby, and has compassion for him.  I'm told the Hebrew word for compassion connotes the womb, so this may have some connotations of “and her womb leapt.”  She knew what was happening, what her father's decree had been, and she decides to ignore its intentions.  She uses the power she has to adopt him, bring him into the palace, make him a part of the Pharaoh's family.  She has money that she controls in order to pay for a wetnurse.  We spent some time in Bible study wondering if she was her father's favorite, or if there were so many princesses that no one really noticed her, if she was defiant, if she was above the law, or if she had special circumstances.  By her presence in the palace, I think it is likely she was unmarried, and that may well imply she was quite young as well.  However, there are other explanations that might also suffice.  Her story is mostly missing, but her actions are direct and subvert the law of the land. That's unique to this story.

Moses's sister steps back in with the most brilliant possible solution, asking the princess if she'd like the baby nursed by a woman of his own community.  Then she brings her brother back to their mother to be nursed!  In fact, it makes me wonder if the whole family moved into the palace.  (maybe, maybe not).  But Moses gets fed by mother's milk and fed by his family's story and identity at the same time.  He also gets the privilege of being in the royal family and the knowledge of how the political system works.  The way this story is used to explain Moses's identity and compassion for his people AND his insider knowledge of the Pharaoh and his political system is a unique part of the Hebrew story – as is the attention to nursing the baby and the brilliant move by the women of his family to keep caring for him while also making money to care for their own needs. All of this is in the portion of the story the Hebrews adapted.

In fact, given the way the story is adapted, and given the dominance of human women in it, I've started to wonder if it is implied that they are all working together.  Perhaps many people thought the Pharaoh's decree was immoral and were working together to subvert it.  Maybe these women had devised this all as a plan, and made it flow so seamlessly because it was well-rehearsed.  Maybe they thought that the care of babies was more important than decrees of politics.  Or maybe it doesn't go this far, but maybe there was just a lot of winking involved when it really happened, and that princess knew EXACTLY who she was hiring to feed “her” baby.

This is, after all, a story about saving the baby who would save the Hebrew people.  It is also a story of interdependence.  No one of the three women in it could have pulled off saving Moses alone.  The choice of heroine is any one of the three, but perhaps it isn't much of a choice when they all need each other and Moses needs all of them.  The story the Hebrew people tell also says that they needed Moses, and his cross-cultural competencies, to be free.  That means they needed all three of these women – including the Egyptian one – to be free from Egyptian oppression.

So, the Hebrews took an old myth and reworked it in genius ways.  They added several heroines, more intrigue, and a broader context.  The premise that the Hebrew people benefited from the skills Moses had as someone stuck in-between worlds strikes me as interesting.  I hear a lot about the struggles of being in-between: particularly for people who have two or more racial identities, or for those who live between the values of different countries due to immigration in their family's recent past, or even those whose social class changes over their life times.  Many people are in-between and it is often very uncomfortable. Is also a position that enables translations between groups to be possible, and it can be a position of incredible power when circumstances emerge in particular ways.

The liberation of the Hebrews is a meta-narrative of the Torah, and a story with resonance well beyond the Hebrew people.  It was a primary narrative for African American slave communities in this country, and is often source of hope for oppressed communities seeking liberation.  I love that it took collaboration, rule breaking, deep compassion, and connections between unexpected partners to make it all happen.  May we keep noticing the strange ways God is up to making liberation happen – including by connecting unexpected partners and using people who stand in in-between places!  Amen

1  Sermon 10-6- 2017.

2https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sargon_of_Akkad#cite_ref-46 accessed July 20, 2017

3 J.B. Pritchard's The Ancient Near East, Volume I, page 85.

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Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/ https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

July 30, 2017