#and not be particularily funny to them

[elbiotipo]

So when it comes to distance in a fictional setting, is metric king? I wrote some fantasy post-apoc recently where the protagonist measured it in Oranges and Aevums (the latter being their own name), but more generally speaking is it worth it to hash out bespoke measurement systems for fictional cultures, do you think?

Oranges as a measurement unit sounds so funny, and a measurement based in... yourself makes surprising sense, given all the measurements based on body parts. Why not YOURSELF?

Well, I would think in a real post-apoc world metric would be king indeed, scientific and technologic instruments are in metric even in the US and you could always get a ruler from a school or scales from a grocery store, so eventually you could get back on track to reforming the metric system. It would be interesting, though, if every society during isolation had slightly different measurements for the same units because of faulty equipment (say, ohms or amperes or even grays) and they had to make a congress to clear things up.

Returning to your main question. My perspective here is the same as conlangs. It's very, very fun to have them, but it's not fun to force your audience to read them. When I write something set in a fantasy or science fiction setting, in my head I'm assuming the characters are speaking different languages and I DO explain them and even give examples of them, but the story itself is written, for both the reader's and the writer convenience, in a language we can understand (Spanish in my case, and then it can be translated). Same with units of measurement. I seldom use direct units of measurement like writing "the ship was 110.3 meters long" (in science fiction, it's often a trap as they force you to stay true to them), when more descriptive language can be used...

In any case, you could do, for the kind of immersion I love, say something like "she was 14 oranges* tall, rather small for her age" and do an asterisk like "*A.N. : 1.39 meters tall". This is very fun when used sparingly, because it gives the worldbuilding obessed reader something to play with, you can do the conversion yourself and learn more about the world, without interrupting the story. Some understandably dislike this approach, but I think that if you know what you're doing, you can hide some pretty deep lore behind it. In one of my favorite retro games, The Ur-Quan Masters, there is an alien race called the Slylandro who live in a gas giant. When they tell you their ancient history, they use their own system of measurment based on the rotation of their planet with its own names like Dranhasa and Dranh. The game actually provides you with the rotation time on "Earth" time, so some dedicated fans did the conversion, and found out the dates fit with major events in the game's past. I thought that was an awesome bit.

But I digress again. Does this mean you should not talk about measurements in your story? No, it can do for very fun plots and digressions, as well as make things more realistic and beliveable. A fantasy world sharing all the same measurement units can be as unplausible as everybody speaking "Common". Let's remember that the current metric system is a modern invention which took a long time to be adopted (and some, well one, country, still resists it). Just take a look at the many, many historical systems of measurement:

This was especially prominent in places like the Holy Roman Empire, where every statelet, county, principality, free city, prince-bishopric, duchy, archduchy, etc. may and most often did have different measurements from each other. Just take a look at how measurements varied from each German region, it's crazy. The systems of weight where particularily important. Before the introduction of standarized coinage, coins also varied not only between kingdoms, but between regions, and even towns, and coins made at different times with different alloys had different values. Rather than money in our modern sense, you could think of them as some kind of 'asset' that could vary in value depending on the circumstances. What's more, those values had to be checked by people who knew what they were working with. Silver and gold content could be weighed, ah, but you need good scales and weights, and someone who knows how to work them! And these people could easily rip you off, or you could lose value accidentally if those scales weren't done just right or fiddled with on purpose. In fact, this is where the word 'Mark' comes from.

It wasn't as easy to take say a 100 something bill and get the change in 1 something coins. There is a very interesting subplot in the anime Spice and Wolf where Lawrence, the trader character, has been paid in gold coins, and he has to trade them into lesser denominations. However, he has to be REAL careful so that nobody scams him given all I told you above. Even getting 'gold' coins was a gamble before modern coinage and banking (another long topic). How much of that is REALLY gold and not an alloy with silver or other metal? Who can you trust to tell you how much your coins are worth? Are they compatible between borders or even time, is this version worth as much as the others? Things that characters in fantasy who have just plundered a dragon's hoard almost never think about. Except in Spice and Wolf.

(here is a gif of Holo to break the wall of text)

This all of course, as again you can see in Spice and Wolf, can make trade very tedious and even unstable. This was one of the reasons why the metric system was so quickly adopted in Europe and then elsewhere; consistent units just allow for easier trade. Lots of other things involving measurement can have a major impact on your story. For one, you NEED consistent and accurate measurement to create even the most basic industrial and scientific equipment. You can wing it for a time like alchemists (and even they knew their measurements) but eventually, you need to measure things to understand them. To have working steam engines, steel production, chemical industries and more, you need to know your temperature is. If you want to do electricity, you need measurements for current, resistance and charge. If you're doing engineering, you need to have lenght, weight and volume very, very clear, or people will die. They don't necessarily need to be universal like the metric system (though it has lots of advantages, being coherent between units and decimal so it doesn't jump between different denominations) but they need to be standarized and measurable.

Most of the above, unless you're writing some kind of encyclopedia about a fictional scientific revolution (BASED BASED BASED) will not affect your characters directly. But IT IS worth keeping in mind for what kind of world your characters are living in. The standarization of measurement units always means SOMETHING in the state of your society, the strenght of the state and centralized authority, the state of scientific understanding (one could say that trying to measure the world was perhaps THE scientific revolution, "Man as a measure of all things"), the capability for industry and the standarization of coinage and trade.

Even if you don't have your characters interact directly with those things, they will interact with them. It's also, like I've said in the examples, fun to imagine characters having to learn or deal with different units of measurement, just as it is fun to imagine them learning new languages or cultural quirks. It's something I've done in the past, in my space opera setting, the worlds descended from the United States STILL use the imperial system, much to the frustration of the rest of the metric human sphere. There is also an alien character who has a hard time to learn human measurements, and that makes her melancholic about her past, as they can't intuitively see the now-extinct measurements she does. Again, man as a measure of all things... this does include other thinking beings...

There's more I could talk about here regarding time, but I did a post about that, though I'm not satisfied with it and will probably redo it in some time at the future. In any case, there's lot to talk about why every calendar in science fiction has 365 days and 24 hours.

As always, if you found this interesting and helpful, I would be very thankful if you gave a tip to my ko-fi! And feel free to ask about anything you'd like!

[aeor-is-for-reccing]

Xenobiology: A Rec List

This week, we feature eleven fics with inhuman sexual characteristics - whether that's heats, eggfic, weird dicks, particularily sensitive ears on elves, or whatever else you might be interested in. Check them out under the cut, and if you like them, please kudos or comment!

the seahorse's mate by Capitola (5143, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Male Pregnancy, Oviposition/Eggpreg

In a world where drow's reproduction works much like seahorses does, Caleb and Essek decide to expand their family.

Reccer says: It's a fascinating mix of alternate gender dynamics, where a trans male character is impregnating a cisgender male character (who has chosen the bodily modifications), and is also shockingly sweet and domestic. A+ Xenokink

put your sweet lips on my lips by LadyOrpheus (15750, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek wants to experience a heat with Caleb. When it hits him Essek gets insatiable.

Reccer says: A lovely sappy consensual heat-fic! The wizards love each other so much

stay soft (get eaten) by 2manyboys (5472, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Drow have different physiology than humans and Caleb loves coaxing Essek’s dick out and making him cum multiple times.

Reccer says: It is so hot while still being sweet and funny at the same time!

breathe me in, exhale slow by MarsBar2019 (18344, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: None

Essek blows off some steam by selling sex and the mighty nein (who doesn't know him yet) arranges for him to meet Caleb.

Reccer says: It's freaking hot! Essek is still demi and his hookups makes sense, even with that in mind. Also - Amazing dirty talk!

go ahead, decipher me by lakisrot (2854, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Essek and Caleb are kissing when Caleb realizes how sensitive Essek's drow ears are.

Reccer says: First fic I ever read that entertained the idea of sexy drow ears. I'm also a sucker for the coming untouched trope, and Essek getting off on something absurd. And the writing is gorgeous of course!!!!!

The Thumping in My Chest by GayAssWizard (5309, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Caleb buys Essek a vibrator and edges him with it.

Reccer says: I liked it!

Indulgence by sumomomochi (5762, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Choose Not to Warn

Essek has an oviposition fantasy and shares it with Caleb.

Reccer says: It’s just really good egg porn. Love how Essek feels embarrassed but Caleb is such a loving partner and is ready to have Hot Weird sex

like the love that discovered the sin by bloodredribbon (4960, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

When the wizards meet up in Aeor, Essek is woefully underdressed for the weather. Out of concern for his Kryn-friend's extremities, Caleb offers to help, with unforeseen (horny) consequences.

Reccer says: It's a very fun, steamy, and surprisingly tender read

In Our Bed, Where Peace Is Whole And Quiet by Interrobang (1800, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: No Content Notes

Drow have more sensitive ears than most humans, and Caleb likes to exploit that in bed.

Reccer says: It's just very intimate, and you really get a sense of how it's just a quiet moment in the middle of the night, one of many.

it's easy, dear by lakisrot (2552, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: None

Essek's ears hurt and Caleb massages them, but drow ears are special and sensitive and they both get off on it.

Reccer says: Absurdly and sublimely sexy. Understands exactly what my brain loves about fleshy and organic xenobiological novelty. They're also very sweet to each other! And the writing is gorgeous!!!

And two recs for the following:

you can have my absence of faith by Anonymous (87745, Explicit) Reccer's Content Notes: Dubcon/Consensual Non Consent, Male Pregnancy, Oviposition

Caleb helps Essek play out a fantasy of being chased by a Drider and carrying it's clutch

Reccer 1 says: I love the dual role that Caleb plays of both the Drider and the helpful stranger! The unusual domesticity is super interesting. Essek bratting drider!Caleb is both funny and hot Reccer 2 says: The brutal, ugly, sometimes over-the-top fantastical monsterfucking scenes for Essek/demon!Caleb and the sweet cottage domesticity of scenes for Essek/farmer!Caleb work together to create an odyssey of kink that ebbs and flows in intensity. IMO it's just the right amount of weird, with a surprising amount of feels for nearly 90k of porn w/o too much plot. Even some character arcs get resolved.

Aeor is for Lovers is an 18+ Shadowgast Discord server. The above fanfic recommendations were pulled from our community for this weekly event. All fics, unless otherwise specified, will primarily feature Shadowgast. Have any questions about what this is? Check out the FAQ! Next week, we’ll be back with fics featuring Caleb or Essek being touch starved! Also hey, if you missed it, you've got a couple more days to fill out a survey!

[cremeriie]

i do not have any more funny osvald art to post right now (or any, like, serious art either.) BUT i have been rotating him and the other 8pathies in my mind for a month now and i must ramble about him + them or i will explode!!!!

so anyways, here are some various osvald being a Dad™ to the travelers headcanons, bc i have. many. (under the cut for your convenience.)

osvald isn't very a "touchy-feely" guy. but, on a particularily anxious day for the group, when agnea asks him so sweetly if she can braid his hair, he can't say anything but yes. how could he deny her, when the earnest joy that lit up her face reminded him so much of his daughter? when evening came and the travelers returned to the inn, it took everyone much internal strength to not mention the flowers woven thoughout his, surprisingly luscious, locks. they knew if they said anything he would pluck them out, and it was rare to see him indulge in something so openly beautiful.

in a similar vein, every one of the travelers has slept on his shoulder at least once, much to temenos' chagrin, who would kill deal with anyone that dared mention the time he drooled all over the only decent coat osvald owned. not like osvald cared, anyways. his clothes were simply a means to an end. temenos felt bad regardless and made sure to scrub extra dutifully when it was his turn to do the laundering.

ochette takes this a step further and jumps into his lap whenever she can. she always wants to hear about the books he's reading, the theories he's thinking up, or just about his day. castti finds them asleep like this, once, with osvald's arms wrapped protectively around ochette and her cheek smushed against his chest. the sight makes her smile warmly, but she cant help but feel sad at how he never looks at peace, even when at rest.

throné is prone to indulging in self-destructive habits. most of the time this manifests as reckless pick-pocketing but sometimes, on worse nights, she takes to the tavern. osvald finds her one night, already three deep, and sits beside her. he leans close and speaks quietly, but intently. the tavern keeper couldn't hear their conversation, but he was glad to see the two order only coffees for the rest of his shift, and the girl with a much more content expression.

hikari, fresh on the run from his kingdom, secretly confides to osvald during a night watch shift together that he doesn't truly believe he is worthy to be king. that anybody else could, should, do it, but not him. osvald is quiet for a moment. he suddenly begins to explain the basics of fire magic. how it's an element that anybody can tap into, but only few who are gifted with its blessing can fully master. since anybody can do it, there should be no need for these masters, and yet, who else do the people trust to warm their homes and light their streets? hikari takes in the information before letting out a small grateful smile. he thanks osvald for the lesson and they lapse into comfortable silence.

one eventful day, in the ever opulent merry hills, partitio and osvald found themselves trouncing (well, parti trounced, osvald stalked) through the town, stopping at any stall they crossed to try and find some rare herb castti had heard of. finally, after an hour of searching, partitio laid eyes on a single bundle of greens for sale, and at the very last stall too. he put on his winningest smile and approached the vendor. osvald watched, disinterested, from a distance. crowds were bothersome, and he was thinking how much he'd like to be back at the inn when he heard a sudden offended spluttering coming from the stall. it seemed like the vendor had offered her, frankly offensive, price and refused to budge on it. osvald was sure partitio could have handled it himself, but the thought of a haggle session exhausted him and he decided to end things before they started, by taking a long stride behind his fellow traveler and looming over them both. all he had to do was raise an eyebrow, before the vendor crumbled and offered the herbs for half off.

[valhallakonbi]

Have you read Off Season, Monster Season, and Family Season? If so, how do you feel about them? Any expectations about the anime adaptations?

i read all of those! sodachi fiasco stood out the most to me in orokamono, i cannot wait for it to get animated. i'm so excited that it's going to be the first arc to get adapted. it's gonna be so different from what we're used to, it doesn't even take place at naoetsu, there's so many new characters SHAFT are going to have to actually design and animate. there's no going around it. and sodachi is just superb. i love her.

more thoughts under the cut for every book

the first arc i had read after the anime was suruga bonehead because i love ougi and kanbaru. i remember thinking it was too bad i was reading a translation. i'm sure it held up a lot better in japanese, i haven't read all of the novels that were already adapted into the anime but i can tell it's kind of ougi's gimmick that you have to solve it before they give the answer, the way you would with a detective novel. likewise i can't wait for that one to get animated, the wordplay eluded me (i think i understood at the time because it was translated well) but i think the anime will do a great job at conveying the creepiness of the arc. it felt more like a comedy centered around a morbid puzzle in the middle when i read it. also OUGI IN CASUAL CLOTHES and tooe full design reveal?!?!?

tsubasa sleeping was fun now that i think back on it. i loved that we got to see dramaturgy again. i had also been waiting for someone aside from koyomi to become a vampire so it was exciting when it happened, even if it was temporary.

i absolutely adore the princess beauty arc but i don't think that's a secret.

i don't particularily care for either karen ogre or tsukihi undo. tsukihi undo was pretty funny but i don't think it was very memorable aside from that.

nademonogatari was awesome. i was still at a point after watching the anime where i actually mildly disliked nadeko. from watching the anime adaptation i had thought she was not such a good character compared to the other heroines ; i liked when she snapped in otorimonogatari, but i'm especially averse to yandere stuff that happens right after, and i thought the twist about her being delusional and breaking into koyomi's house was not well-foreshadowed in the anime at all. no clue about the novel though. but well. it turns out that not only is nadeko fantastic as a narrator (she's my favorite narrator), but she also becomes a specialist. this was another one of those things i felt might happen to at least one of the kids and i was so excited about it, especially since i did not expect it to happen to nadeko of all people. this novel marked the biggest shift in her character so far and god knows she's already had a LOT of twists and turns. also, this book features many character interactions that we'd barely seen or even not seen at all before, and nadeko's relationships are always interesting (when they don't involve koyomi). as usual the core message was very uplifting, and this one felt very on the mark.

now onto musubimonogatari. this one was a bit odd. i thought the monster of the week gimmick was pretty fun, koyomi ending up as a cop was hilarious. unfortunately i did not find the characters he helps and investigates very interesting. but i really i enjoyed seeing what everyone grew up to be. so, a bit of a mixed bag, but i would say i rather liked it overall.

i really liked yoimonogatari. it started off super gruesome until you thought about it some more. the twist was predictable but even so i had fun looking forward to it. it was also very touching, i was moved by the little girl's monologue and description of her home life. as opposed to musubimonogatari, this novel got me to care about a character we won't see again. this one also has information about the specialists' curses, and more nadeko, which was exciting.

shinobumonogatari was whatever. it felt like a cheap rehashing of yoimonogatari (edit: i probably meant another one, since yoimonogatari came after). the puzzle-solving in this one felt off. there was no way a reader could've possibly reasoned that one out. even without the answer to the cryptogram it was still fairly obvious that the culprit was not DVS, it felt like the difficulty of the riddle completely mismatched the end result. i was glad we saw her again but i didn't like this one.

i enjoyed amarimonogatari. that shit was crazy. it took a different direction from what i thought it was gonna be about but i was still hooked by how insane that development was lol. also loved yotsugi in this.

i did not read shinomonogatari as there is currently no full translation since nobody likes it enough to pick it up lmao?? i screamed when i read that covid is canon though

did not enjoy ougimonogatari either but part of that i think is that the translation was to blame. polaris has released a translation of their own since then. i was not very interested in the subject matter/overall theme. it felt weird to be "hooked" by the mention of sexual violence (something that was already explored as early as in hitagi crab) only for it to turn out to be something along the lines of "oh no i didn't mind so i wasn't getting raped but the perpetrator keeps apologizing and saying he raped me". the entity itself was whatever. whatever!!! bonus points for ougi though, always a delight, but still not enough to make up for the overall score. i loved the second half about nadeko's new mission though but was left hanging (ok i was reading a digital version so maybe that's why i didn't see it coming).

ikusamonogatari was pretty boring in the first half. it picked up a little late for my taste. i still enjoyed reading it but most of it felt like fanservice fluff, this was intentional since this was the first release in a while by nisioisin standards. still, the ending was cute!

ok that's it for my detailed review of every novel lmao

[curious-sootball]

Me: rewatching chapters 2&3 (Dead Man's Worth episodes)

Luke-as-Delacy: mentions that on the farm the working day would be half done by 6 am and calls Bellows lazy.

Me: I bet Delacy and almost everyone else on that farm got up with the rooster's first crow... wait a goodamn minute

Just imagine if someone dropped that phrase around Delacy in episode 2, and he just took his gun out and went "Hmmm". (Bonus points for an extra "almost-parental Don't" from Nate, because he's the only one in the group who certainly knows that revolver is named Rooster). Also, I'm surprised no one tried to make the punchline "Guess he was a night owl. Stayed up well past Rooster's first crow". (That would've been a Ellen's line if she was in that episode).

Also, the fact that Bellows tried (without much enthusiasm, but still) to recruit Garnet and Delacy is so funny as a concept: there's just something about those people that makes them irresistible for particularily violent Horsemen of the Apocalypse (relatively speaking: all Horsemen here aren't above doing violent things, War and Conquest are just the most direct about it)

[mephistopheleswasrobbed]

GMMTV 2024 part 2 thoughts

Ossan's Love Thailand: I'm excited! I have many thoughts for this so it got its own post.

Leap Day: It looked kind of interesting. Will almost certainly be watching for Gun. Pond saying "P'Gun plays my little brother" was funny.

The Heart Killers: Jojo with FK in some sort of mafia romcom was pretty much expected. JoongDunk was a surprise to me. It looks good so far and I will be watching but admittedly nothing really stood out to me while seeing the trailer for the first time. Maybe that will change when I rewatch it in peace.

Friendshit Forever: The title is killing me. I'm officially awarding it worst title of GMMTV 2024. The actual show looks interesting but I will wait for the official trailer to see if this goes on my watchlist. New was very good in the pilot but that on its own is not enough to get me to watch messy het drama.

Perfect10 Liners: Meh. I have since read that this will apparently be three connecting 10Ep series which explains that half of GMMTV was on stage for this one but the only of the main couples that soemwhat chaught my attention here was PerthChimon (unexpected)

Us: another one that many expected. I don't know the source material but the chemistry was definitly there and it gave pretty grown-up vibes. I look forward to this.

Hide & Sis: looks intriguing, has many actresses/actors I like in it. Will almost definitely be watching even though there's messy het shenanigans in it

Thame - Po: this looks surprisingly good. I'm not watching Only Boo because I can't be bothered with the idol stuff but this one has me kinda hooked. Still hoping for Lego side couple (don't even care with who, tho if Neo is available that would work)

Break up service: Off does well in comedy. I really liked Midnight Motel. Godji is always a win. Not sure how much romance there will or won't be between the leads, if it's not too much, like in Midnight Motel, I will almost definitely be watching

REVAMP THE UNDEAD STORY: it's been a while since I watched the original pilot trailer for this, I remember being very confused as to who was who and what was going on. This time felt less confusing but I'm still not entirely sure what's going on. Regardless, it's a vampire BL. I will be watching.

Sweet Tooth, Good Dentist: I'm not suuuper hooked on MarkOhm tbh (still clownishly hoping for the NeoMark sports BL of my dreams somewhere deep down) but they are cute together and Mark deserves a lead role. The plot seems somewhat by the numbers to me but Mark Pakin is playing a lead role so I will be watching. Also Poon and View. Basically this is a rare BL that so far is on my list more for the actors than the plot (this normaly happens to me with het shows)

The Dark Dice: I don't care. The plot doesn't interest me and apart from Aungpo I don't particularily care about any of the actors involved. Almost certainly a no-watch from me. (I'm hoping the GF stans are nice to Prim tho)

The Ex-Morning: This was the biggest surprise to me. I was skeptical about the KristSingto reunion but they gave them an interesting plot and it seems they can actually kiss now. Apart from Ossan's Love this might actually be the one I'm looking forward to the most

Scarlet Heart Thailand: Don't know the original and this was more of an announcement than a trailer so I don't really know what this is about other than its het and period. So far the only interesting thing about this to me is Tay Tawan. But I'm not watching het period shenanigans just for him. I reserve my final judgement until we get an actual trailer but it is a very probable no-watch for me

[chattegeorgiana]

I admit I didn't really like SasuKarin back then but I decided to give it a chance after reading On Sasuke Uchiha and his bonds with Itachi Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Karin Uzumaki and Sakura Haruno and your posts concerning them. I still don't ship them but my opinion has changed of it a lot and I actually think those two had a better chance at becoming a pair. But I think what raised my respect for it even more was their fan children. I have a soft spot for fan children so it's not really a surprise, but they are all so cute and beautiful! My personal favorites are Akari Uzumaki and the U-Twins! Speaking of the U-Twins, you and Pumiih did an awesome job on them! They look so cool and mysterious just like their parents and I love what they are meant to represent! They're hairstyles also remind me of Madara so that's funny to me lol. I also really like the idea of Sasuke growing his hair out into a ponytail to honor Itachi. The side shavings on his hair makes him even cooler in my opinion. I also noticed something. I don't know know how to properly explain it but I'll try. We see more male Uchiha clan members than female (despite there being some such as Naomi, Izumi, and Mikoto) and we see more female Uzumaki clan members than male (despite there being some such as Ashina, Nagato, and Naruto). It's almost as if those certain genders hold the more importance. So I think it's interesting that it's reversed with the U-Twins. Sorry if I didn't explain it well (couldn't really find the right words) but all in all, I'm excited to see what you'll do with them in the future, make sure you don't rush, take your time and rest, and again, awesome job! 💜❤️

Anon, I don't know who you are, but first of all THANK YOU for your kind and introspective message.

I want to say this is one of the messages that definitely won my heart because you SAW what I meant to do. You explained everything PERFECTLY! That's exactly what I wanted to do. A "gender roles swap" to show that change that is meant to bring in more ways than one.

Because while I do express these changes through my preferred ships, I never really forgot about the CORE elements of what made the Naruto story so beloved, and one of that is the clans & the shinobi system.

Their design have a thought about element from the very strand of hair to their overall design... I don't know if you know me for a long time or not, but one of the things I'm obsessed about is symbolism. So when I create something, there's a symbolic meaning behind almost everything!

When studying Literature, symbolism has been one of my favorite parts. I just love how one can transmit certain themes, ideas, beliefs etc in a symbolic way.

I feel as if this manages to stay with the reader/viewer better. It somehow enters your soul.

Being part of the Shinachiku Kosen team & doing Kaika myself, I can tell you that both Akari & the U twins have a great deal of symbolism behind them & were created with much love.

I know people don't taste SK that good, especially given how the great metas of the past about them has been lost. I only touched in that analysis you mentioned like a small, surface-level way.

If you would've been here in the past when Skania or Homusubi wrote their metas (both great known names in the SK fandom), you would've at least been able to understand where the SK fandom comes from. Or came. There aren't many left anyway.

You don't have to ship them, ofc.

I didn't particularily do it either in the beginning, but then when I saw the symbolism that was building up, Sasuke awakening such power to protect Karin and their similar backgrounds, I couldn't help but fall for the possibility of it. Plus, the comedic act of it. It was something different about them. But alas...

Once again thank you for your kind and introspective message! I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. And trust me, as a writer-wanna be, it lit my soul on fire to see someone properly getting the "underneath beneath the underneath" I was trying to show there. Gives me a lot of mood to keep pushing through this, even if I'm so late with how I planned for the project to go & all that. But hey, adulting will somehow do that with your plans lol. This year has been quite busy on a personal level for me. But now things start to look up, so I should be able to soon get back to it & bring about all this vision I had in my mind to life. So thank you once again for your message and your interest in Kaika! All the best,

Chatte.

[hoardingpuffin]

A Word on Muppet Media and Music

[this post is about the Muppet Show and Muppet Movie Media, not all Muppets, so it excludes Fraggle Rock, Sesame Street, Emmett Otter and pre-Sesame Muppets]

The Muppet films [excluding the 2011 one plus its sequel, I'll explain why below] have no fricking business having songs that are this good.

The original Muppet Movie's "Rainbow Connection" is obviously iconic but it's also a really beautiful song if you take it out if the Muppet context. Same with it's reprise "The Magic Store" - I mean, c'mon!

Life's like a movie

Write your own ending

Keep believing, keep pretending -

We've done just what we've set out to do.

Thanks to the lovers, the dreamers and you.

Then, in the same movie, we get "I'm going to go back there some day", Gonzo's song, and oh my goodness, it's got unironically one of the most beautiful lyrics I've ever heard.

There's not a word yet

For old friends who've just met.

Part heaven, part space

Or have I found my place?

You can just visit, but I plan to stay -

I'm going to go back there some day.

And it's not just the Muppet Movies either - think about "Muppets Treasure Island" and "Muppets Christmas Carol" - yes the songs are sung by Muppets mostly, but you wouldn't know so if you took the lyrics out of context. Treasure Islands "Shiver my Timbers" is a great pirate-y pseudo shanty, "Something more" is a perfect I-want-song; Christmas Carol's songs overall set the mood for each scene - "Scrooge" has a looming undertone, "One more Sleep" is longing, "It feels like Christmas" perfectly encompasses Present's personality, "Bless us all" has happy words but a sad undertone (also the fact that Present is the only spirit to sing, and the fact that all the musical numbers cut pff after Yet to Come shows up, amd then the next song happening only after Scrooge returned to Christmas Day... aaargh so good).

Which brings me to the 2011 Muppet Movie by Disney. Where other Muppet songs did have a muppet-y tone, the actual lyrics were pretty deep, with interesting and clever plays on words, and you could easily take the lyrics out of context and the wouldn't read as particularily muppet-y or at least like they aren't in their own way little lyrical works of art. None of them seem childish or shy away from big words.

Disney's Muppet Movie's songs meanwhile gave us

Am I a man or am I a muppet -

if I'm a muppet I'm a very manly muppet.

Am I a muppet or am I a man?

If I'm a man then I am a muppet of a man!

and

Everything is great, everything is grand -

I have the whole world right here in my hand.

The lyrics seem so empty in comparison. They aren't clever, they aren't deep and meaningful, they just exist to be funny and to maybe give minimal storytelling on the very surface. The melodies also aren't very inventive and all the songs kinda just... sound the same? Meanwhile the original Muppet films had lyrics with layers that fleshed out the characters, songs of different genres and styles and meanings.

I swear I am just time and time again disappointed by the Disney-ification of The Muppets. You can tell that whoever wrote 2011's songs did not try to make good songs that happened to be in a Muppet Movie, they tried to Just Make A Few Very Muppet-y Songs and ooooh my did that backfire...

[cuntstable]

mankar camoran or isabela dragonage for the character bingo?

i did both!! for you!! mankar on the left bela on the right

i dont think about mister camoran too much if im honest but ill always be delighted by a crazy ass elf wizard as the main antagonist of a fantasy story….. especially if he spouts crazy ass controversial takes about the world he lives in and the deadra and aedra…… i wish he got more screen time in the sense that id love to sit him down and just interview him on why exactly hes the right hand arm man silly rabbit to dagon (because does he imply that mehrunes is the inheritor of lorkhan or???) and also just in general about all the bullshit. i would like to know more!!!

but ISABELA!!!!!! is my favourite dragon age character right after zevran (who shes besties with funnily enough. WIN FOR ME). very dissapointed that the bingo card doesnt have any options for wanting to run away and marry the character because isabelas my number one wife forever. like i love her so much for so many things. shes so funny charming and cool… and her relationships to merril hawke fenris and even partially aveline (or… more like how that relationship could have been if the writers werent misogonists and if aveline was a good character also </3) are so good and alongside her actions (like her constantly looking out for other women!!) highlight how despite how she presents herself as selfish criminal shes one of the most compassionate people in the game, even if her moral compass is skewed and even if she does bad things too…..like the ”thief with a heart of gold” trope is very cliche ik but i do love to see it done on a woman i wont lie. and in general im a bit of a sucker for characters who dont let themselves be loved and dont think they DESERVE to be loved because of being hurt by people who should have loved them in their pasts and bela is that 100%. like just…. auugh. isabelas in my brain forever i love her.

all that being said she does get done dirty by both da fans and da themselves. like theres the constant whitewashing of her in the past for example, and as much as i personally think her being very very flirty is fun and likable theres the fact that its not particularily great that the first major black woman character in dragon age was heavily sexualised like that, more so than any other woman in the series, especially with how misogonistic the games can be too. sad!

[bogmommy]

I mean I am chronically online and it doesn't seem ironic too me

Like the 1830s thing is the exact kind of thoughtless attitude she has shown in the past (reminds me of the comments about capitalism in time's article, like so weirdly thoughtless)

And the tattooed golden retriever... again it's on brand for her. She says stupid stuff like that about weird men (travis being sweet and metal... we know he doesn't wipe his ass)

Like none of these lyrics feel like Matty Healy lyrics. They just feel like previous bad taylor lyrics dialed up to a hundred. It's like Me! But so much worse (or do you think that was ironic too?)

It seems a lot more likely that shes just surrounded by yes men and has no self awareness then shes doing a really bad job of parodying people like Matty Healy. Because her impression is a million miles off and just sounds like her on a bad day

Like I believe if she was making fun of him and guys like him, she'd do a better job

here is the full paragraph that that is from (taken out of context it sounds HORRIBLE, i agree) and i personally focused on "USED to play a game"..."everyone would look down cause it wasn't fun now" = the game stops being fun once you point out something that breaks the bubble of romanticism, in this case that the social conditions were horrible; both bc of racism, and in the next line she also acknowledges misogyny. idk how people miss the part where she says that in hindsight the "game" wasn't fun at all and that she would have hated it in whichever decade. nostalgia is a mind's trick = romanticisng the past makes you forget/ignore that "back in the day" actually kind of sucked (to put it lightly).

she has definitely said a lot of weird things and i'm absolutely not going to defend every single one of her actions, but which artist/celebrity hasn't? 😭 didn't matty healy have a scandal recently bc of his involvement with racist/violent porn? and he heiled on stage a few years ago, was that also ironic? personally that's a lot more icky to be than "you touch me as your boys play gta", it's obviously a shitty lyric but like? 💀 idk. that's just a bit cringe, not a fucking hatecrime. " I pissed myself on the Texan intersection" isn't particularily poetic to me either tbh.

i thought the tattooed golden retriever thing was a reference to that tiktok thing where people call their boyfriends "golden retriever coded" bc they're himbos. a LOT of people called joe alwyn that, and the whole song is making fun of him SO MUCH but again i guess you have to be a very specific type of chronically online find some of these things funny, otherwise it does sound stupid; when i saw an excerpt of that before i listened to it i was ready to HATE this album because it does genuinely sound SO bad out of context.

as for ME!, it's an atrocity and i try to pretend it doesn't exist ❤️ same with the entirety of reputation tbh and like half the songs from midnights, i hate it when she tries to be ~tough~ and ~cool~ and i don't think i will ever like those albums but i actually liked TTPD and it annoys me when people shit on things bc they don't understand them. i don't particularily care for her as a person, but i like a lot of her music bc i think it's just. fun to listen to? i like upbeat songs 😭 and i do find some of the songs to be relatable etc but i'm FULLY aware of the fact that some people just "don't get it" - i'm like that too with a lot of artists and that's completely fine! but i keep my opinions about them to myself :D

however at the end of the day i don't think she cares if people "get" the album or not; she probably did it for shits and giggles and it's not as if she won't afford to put bread on the table if this album flops lol. i don't even know why i got so worked up about this, i might be getting hangry tbh

[soldierwatch]

" The lily. " quiet / somber is one's tone; too much so. At a distance in the murky confines of the alley, eyes predominately make out the glint of other's glasses. She is not paying attention to anything but the sway of his physique, to be able to register whether or not he was reaching for his gun. -- it is all he is to you, no? A shape; the blank spot in-between visor & hairline where a placed bullet would guarrantee certain death. Ghosts / recollections / the lonely ballarina dancing behind alabaster glass are all matters she deems particularily hard to terminate & yet... " You know he loved roses. So why the mistake? " from Widow!

elite soldier ; special forces ; STRIKE COMMANDER - to threats, he's SNARLED in lieu of SHIVERED, experienced hands STEADY when circumstances urge him to CRACK--- he knows WELL how to hold composure,

             but this is the circumstance that does it .

naught but faintest TREMOR that rumbles within breast, heartbeat stuttering ; it's not the WEAPON that stalls him, but the WEILDER.

                                             ' woman like that - she'll be the death of you. '

                                                            ‘ he thought it was funny.’

        A LAPSE IN RECOVERY ; words register late.

teeth GRIT, fists clench, & jack makes no move towards his gun - amélie, he could never harm ; she never should have gone through what was forced upon her, all of which exists as his own damn fault.

           A MISTAKE ; he just keeps making them.

                                               maybe she'll be the death of them both.

                                               " i thought it was funny. "

[operafloozy]

Drone Footage of Bryant Lake Bowl by  jaybyrdfilms

[thewickedcrown]

me trying not to post all my TFOTA memes at once

[heartshapedbubble]

Soul Cather and Spring Heated Wine with a child reader who really looks up to them and is just absolutely clingy? Along with being just a ball of sunshine please?

this is such a cute ask😭!! here you go anon 💕

norton campbell soul catcher and luchino diruse spring heated wine hcs with a child reader🧲☠🦎🍷

art creds: @/w3w1w7ags on twt

norton campbell/soul catcher🧲☠

soul catcher nort is already well known in the town, especially by the kids - and they LOVE HIM

they're obssessed with chasing him down whenever he's running and jumping from roof to roof, point their fingers at him and yell whenever they spot his figure moving around, and always beg him to stay longer

norton finds it really cute, he just can't resist the puppy eyes of the local kids and always stays longer if possible

tbh soul catcher nort is one of the rare nortons (if not the only one maybe?) that knows how to deal with kids - he never had them nor does he intend to for now but he knows they're often better company than any other egoistic adult out there - basically peter pan of idv to sum it up

he actually named the group of kids and him "el escuadrón increíble"

quite literally the big brother of every child from the town :') think something like jack frost

so when he sees you shyly approaching him, your eyes twinkling, he knows just what to do

he finds you so cute and bubbly, a little being full of adrenaline lol

^you got yourself the nickname "fuego vivo" from him because of your energetic personality

always telling you to not feel so anxious and be more confident, he wants you to think of him as a big brother/friend rather than a mythic hero you may portray him as in your head

almost always notices you stalking him a bit longer than the other kids but never says anything, and he uses that opportunity to show off and do more acrobatics than usual

kinda nosy so he often just pops up behind you like "what are you doing :)" when he sees you playing with a toy or reading a book, it's all out of pure curiosity though! also he has all the time in the world to listen to you ramble about various interests

if he sees you being particularily upset, he's going to do any funny trick to make you laugh

as i mentioned in my other norton hc posts, he's very bold and daring, meaning he often does various risky acrobatics like hanging from balconies, climbing up houses etc.

...and he often offers to do the same with the kids! quite strong too so he can put two kids on his shoulder at the same time and balance of a railing or something

soul catcher loves seeing people happy, and you're no exception! he enjoys seeing a bright smile on every child that looks up to him :)

art creds: @/karunota on twt

luchino diruse/spring heated wine🦎🍷

there is not a (professor at least) luchino that's good with kids😭

i mean, he doesn't hate them in any way - he just has no idea how to properly deal with them - think of that "you want a beer? HE'S FOUR!" audio

the spring is reserved for adults only, so when he notices you sneaking in and swimming in some of the pools, he's quite troubled since he's scared of you getting hurt

tries to bait you out of there by giving you candy or offering you toys but to no avail

he's now stuck with a little gremlin beside him who runs into the ladies carrying towels and steals grapes from the serving plates

he IS annoyed as you embarrass him in front of the guests often but he just can't say no to you okay, he finds you really cute (and a bit annoying at the same time)

notices you inspecting his robes but doesn't do anything about it until one day you yank the long piece of fabric hanging off his shoulder with full strength, almost making him fall down (after that he started being way more careful and would even flinch if you waved your hand near him)

thinks he's not the best role model for a kid, both by his appearance and acting so he feels guilty - has no clue why you look up to him either since in reality he doesn't think that high of himself

keeps you hidden from the guests and main pools while they're crowded and when it gets late and people leave he lets you swim in them

one day you propose him the idea of playing water polo together since it's boring to swim around alone

at first he's like ???? since he's not a huge fan of sports and the springs are used for relaxing after all but eventually he gives in woo

you're always asking him questions about his scales and even called him a dinosaur once

steals snacks from the plates so he can give them to you once you arrive

you're basically glued to him 24/7 - either you beg him for piggyback rides or cling onto his leg as he's walking, and ask him soooo many questions. luckily he's a walking encyclopedia so he tries to provide you with every answer you need

shows you the frescoes on the walls of the spring while carrying you around and tells you various facts about them since he's also passionate about art!

realizes that the spring feels way less lively without you entertaining him with your shenanigans and is actually excitedly awaiting your arrival every day

[ruthlesslistener]

Y'know, something that I really feel we're lacking in the Hollow Knight fandom is sickfic where, after a recovery from the Infection occurs, a second plague (this one not divine in origin) sweeps the populace. This causes a mass panic, of course, but once its become evident that it's just the return of a normal mild bout of the bug flu vs your neighbor being posessed by vengeful long-lost sunlight, everything settles down, and bugs get to work quarentining and helping keep everything contained. Maybe it's only something that affects insects, too, so even if it's highly contageous, it can't spread to spiders or snails, so Deepnest, the Shrumgal Tribe, and the remnants of the shamans join in with the Pale Court's scramble to keep it from spreading to Greenpath + the Mantis Village, and that helps get rid of some of the lingering suspicions that all the different species have for each other (even if many are convinced the spiders are going to eat them, and several more are unnerved by shrumgal warriors passing off supplies with a 'waaaahh'). For fun, we can also have this be an au where the Radiance got disposed of by alternate means to canon, so Hollow's also involved in helping people out, and their somewhat creepy look gets softened by them wanting to help people. ...Which is a very long setup to say that I think it would be very funny to have a sickfic where Lurien falls ill after running himself ragged attempting to help document case illnesses, and then Monomon and Herrah have to team up to help nurse him back to health after his butler tips them off, because Lurien is a loner by nature and simply cannot fathom why they won't just leave him alone even after Monomon patiently explains to him that they're the only ones who can break quarentine to help him bc insect diseases wouldn't harm them, and refuses to sit the fuck down and drink his honeyed tea like a responsible adult (For bonus angst points, I hc that Herrah lost her family, husband, and infant first child to a particularily nasty bout of spider-sickness that ran rampant in Deepnest before the Infection started, so if anyone here's got anxiety/ptsd with illnesses, its her. Get ready to be ruthlessly mother henned, Lurien, you managed to befriend her through the power of bickering over the Pale King, she's not going to let you die on her yet)

[yandere-daze]

Could I please have the fool, the empress, and the sun with azul ashengrotto? Congrats on getting so many followers!

Sure you can! And thank you as well ^^

1400 followers celebration rules

Yandere tarot

tw yandere, obssession, the topic of having / raising children comes up but the reader´s gender is never specified. Please still proceed with caution in case of dysphoria ( reader is explicitly the one deciding if children is something they want or not, not the yandere), delusional mindset, implied kidnapping, slight self-deprecation

The Fool - How deluded is this yandere when it comes to their darling? Are they self aware on any level?

It´s kind of hard to explain. In a way Azul both is and isn´t delusional. On a fundamental level he is aware that this isn´t how a healthy relationship is supposed to work but he often forgets all about that when he´s with you ( or tries to push it to the back of his mind).

It´s like as soon as you´re in his general area his brain shuts off and all he can think about is wanting you to think highly of him and making up scenarios in his head where you´re both in a happy relationship together. And with every hint of kindness you show him, Azul grows more obsessed and delusional. You thanked him for some mundane thing? Oh, this must mean you´re warming up to him now! You hugged him that one time? Does that mean you feel the same way about him? He gets so excited over the smallest thing.

The more rational side comes with the Leech brothers, particularily Jade who often tells Azul that he shouldn´t let his guard down around you so much. That you might just be trying to get on his good side to try and find a way to escape.

Azul´s little bubble of delusional happiness burst pretty quickly then and he realizes what a lovesick fool he´s been in these moments of clarity.

So yes, I imagine him to switch between being hyper delusional and very aware about your “relationship”

The Empress - Would this yandere want to have children with their darling in the future?

Not necessarily, no. I don´t think children is something that has even crossed Azul´s mind before. I feel like, as sad as it may sound, he would be scared that you would grow to like the children more than him and start to ignore him. And yet it still makes him a bit shy when he thinks about it. If you ever wanted to build a family with him then he would warm up to the idea. As a dad it would be very important to him for his kid to grow up in a healthier environment than he himself did

Now just for the record because I´ve gotten the empress prompt a few times : Any and all yanderes I write would never force you to have and or raise children with them! Never! Take this more as something like if they would personally like the concept but what you think about it always takes priority!If you don´t want children then there won´t be any! Both biological children or adoptes ones. What you´re personally comfortable with is the most important!

The Sun - When would this yandere feel content with their situation?

I think this is very hard for Azul to achieve. His low self esteem just keeps hindering him from feeling content and sure about your relationship. Everything might be going “well” and then suddenly there´s a voice inside his head telling him that you would never want to stay with an ugly octopus like him

Extreme circumstances are necessariy for Azul to be relaxed. There would have to be no possible way for you to ever escape him. I´m talking: a contract you signed with him saying that you can´t ever leave his side for more than a minute, the eels flanking your side and making sure that you´re not up to any funny business when Azul isn´t aware and maybe even shattering the mirror you came through to make sure you can´t leave this world either.

He loves and needs you so you can´t ever go!