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beansprean · 6 months ago

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WHAT WE CLUE IN THE SHADOWS: A FINALE CONSPIRACY BOARD

So. WWDITS may have the actual balls to do this to us. and I for one am INCREDIBLY excited for the possibility. If you're a WWDITS fan and haven't seen Clue (1985), I highly recommend taking 95 minutes to do so before the finale. Just in case.

Clue is my favorite movie, I have probably seen it upwards of 100 times for real, and I can recite it from memory with 90% accuracy. I also have the pleasure of owning and playing the WWDITS-themed Clue game, which is centered around finding out who stole the witch's skin hat and where in the house they hid it. I don't know if that will play into the finale at all, but it's something to think about.

The thing about Clue (the film), if you aren't aware, is that there are three different endings. On the vhs/dvd, you see all three in a row between 'that's how it could have happened, but what about this?' title cards. In theaters, there were three versions of the movie (labeled A, B, and C) that were dispersed to different theaters, so depending on where and when you went to see it you would see one of 3 endings. (It's kinda unclear which letter corresponded to which originally, so my labels will be assuming a 1:1 comparison between the order of the home version of Clue and the airing order of the WWDITS episodes.) The Clue endings are not all made equal, and on the home version, the final ending is announced as 'what really happened.'

So allow me to take a moment to talk about how the different endings work in context to each other and the film, and how that could translate to three different endings for WWDITS.

CLUE SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT (for real, go watch it)

(last chance to watch Clue go)

Ending#1: "Communism is just a red herring"

In this ending, the first one that plays in the home version, Miss Scarlet is revealed to be the murderer. She is a snarky, sarcastic madam who runs a "hotel and telephone service to provide men with the company of a young lady for a short while" and has policemen on her payroll. This is what I would consider the expected ending, the one that makes sense for most viewers. It's not shocking, but it's funny and well acted and it makes the most sense. Miss Scarlet has the right personality for murder, was in the most convenient area of the house to commit them, and had Yvette (the maid, formerly one of Miss Scarlet's call girls) committing some of the murders at her direction, so she had enough alibis to not make her too obvious. Many people watching this movie for the first time will have her high on their suspect list.

This ending also dismisses the idea of 'dangerous communism' that had been a thread throughout the film (as it is set in 1953 during the second Red Scare) as a misdirection. Miss Scarlet isn't stealing government secrets to betray the US; she's doing it to make money. The real danger all along was capitalism, something that s6 of WWDITS has said repeatedly.

So, to recap, this is the Standard Ending. The Second Best ending. Version B.

Ending #2: "Mrs. Peacock did it all."

This one, played second in the home version, is in my opinion the weakest ending. It reveals Mrs. Peacock, the neurotic, hysterical, and allegedly politically corrupt wife of a senator, as the murderer. She's hilarious and fantastic to watch throughout the whole film and I love her, but this charm drops after the reveal and she becomes cold and drab as she threatens her way to safety. She committed all the murders herself, which would be very difficult to achieve with the tight timing and her position in the basement during the search.

She ends up being caught outside the house by a police inspector, who had earlier shown up disguised as an evangelist telling her to "repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Interestingly, they originally filmed him immediately shooting her dead without provocation, but they thought that was too dark and edited it into an arrest instead (which is why there is such a quick cut after he pulls his gun, and we only hear her rather than see her after that). This is the 'repent for your sins' ending. You do bad things, bad things happen to you.

The obligatory "it's always who you least expect" ending. The Still-Good-But-Not-The-Best Ending. Version C.

Ending #3: "You're Mr. Boddy!"

This is "how it really happened" - the twist ending! The hero was the villain, the villain was just a pawn, and everyone committed a murder in the house to cover their own asses. Prof Plum killed the fake Mr. Boddy, Miss Scarlet killed the cop, Mrs. Peacock killed Mrs. Ho (the cook), Mrs. White killed Yvette, Colonel Mustard killed the motorist, and Wadsworth/Mr. Boddy killed the singing telegram girl.

Mr. Green, who reveals he works for the FBI, kills Wadsworth/Mr. Boddy and arrests the rest of the cast. Understandably the best and most exciting ending (though not without some plot holes) that everyone loves. We get a surprising reveal from two of our main characters that not only changes the context with how you view them, but informs aspects of their character that have been there throughout the film! Now we understand why Wadsworth retained control of the house and the timeline of events, why he was so familiar with the house, and why this entire thing was orchestrated in the first place. We also understand why the cowardly and clumsy Mr. Green was consistently the first to jump to help and defend the other characters, even when it meant putting himself if physical danger. Unfortunately this ending also suggests that he was only pretending to be gay (wouldn't that be a twist for Guillermo lol), but he could also just be in a lavender marriage which is what I choose to believe.

This ending also has the iconic 'flames on the side of my face' scene and repeats 'communism is a red herring', this time in the context of Mr. Boddy's intention to continue blackmailing them all now that they have taken care of anyone who could have pointed the finger at him.

This is the True Ending. The twist you didn't expect but are delighted to find. The 'nothing was as it seemed' endng. The ending that is the most intentional and complete, where everyone gets to shine. Version A.

So what will we be doing in those shadows?

We can assume that e11 will not revolve around finding a murderer, but it does, from what we've seen in the trailer, revolve around making a wife for the monster. Do we get three different wives? Three different actors to play her? Three different superhero identities for Nandor and Guillermo? Three different levels of nandermo: one with a handshake, one with a hug, one with a kiss? Three different explanations for the origin and/or purpose of the documentary? (this is my personal favorite) Or is each ending entirely divorced from the other? Only time will tell.

What I'm leaning toward is that each episode will come up to the same turning point - a decision, a reveal, etc. The first two versions will have reasonable possibilities, the first less surprising but more enjoyable than the second, and the third... The third will be what really happened, and pull a twist no one saw coming. Perhaps even a character will reveal a hidden identity. Maybe, just maybe...we get Simon the Devious.

I only hope the order of the episodes doesn't change between channels or time zones because that will make things very confusing when liveblogging it in the group chat lmao.

#wwdits #wwdits speculation #clue 1985 #wwdits season 6 #wwdits s6 spoilers #wwdits series finale #my post #not art #what we do in the shadows #what we do in the shadows fx #id in alt text #me continuing to make everything about simon the devious i just miss him

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virtualtadpole · 8 months ago

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A BL viewer's guide to Thai school uniforms

(This is an older one, originally posted at Reddit in 2022, but it should still be accurate. Hope you'll find it useful, as uniforms in Thai shows often provide context that international viewers might not recognize.)

To begin, here's a summary of the Thai school system. There are twelve years of basic education (after kindergarten): six years of primary school (prathom or P.1-6), and six years of secondary school (mathayom or M.1-6), the latter of which is divided into three lower and three upper years. The age range roughly corresponds to the US system, so the years P.1-6 will often be translated as grades 1-6 and M.1-6 as grades 7-12. Most stories set in school will take place during the upper secondary years, which is often translated as high school (though this is rather approximate as it spans three years rather than four). Students typically enter M.4 aged 15 going on 16, and graduate at the age of 18 (or nearing it).

School uniforms are almost universally compulsory, used by all but a few alternative schools (university will be discussed further below). They mostly follow a very distinctive form, which has barely changed since the end of World War II, as there's a default format that's mandated by law and followed by most schools (though schools may elect to specify their own style of uniform). There are official industrial standards that govern the material, thread count, etc. of student uniforms that can be sold, and an entire industry is built around them.

For boys, the (default style) uniform is mostly the same across all levels, and consists of a white short-sleeved button-up shirt, shorts (in either black, royal blue, navy, or khaki), a belt (brown or black), socks and shoes (brown with khaki shorts, white socks and black shoes otherwise). The shirt will have the letters of the school's abbreviated name embroidered at the right chest, in red for private schools, and navy for government schools. It's common for schools to also require student IDs or names be included likewise. In many schools, the upper-secondary uniform will also include the school insignia/logo as a metal badge pinned above the school's initials, or also embroidered.

The colours of the shorts typically reflect the school's status. Private schools will normally use blue or (less often) black, while government schools will use black or (less often) khaki, with very few exceptions. Navy is quite rare, mostly used by certain schools with historical royal connections. This colour-coding serves as a rather convenient tool for series creators to convey the social background of the characters. Blue shorts signify that they go to a private, presumably expensive school. Black is the default that tells the viewer that it's a regular, average school. Khaki shorts used to be the default long ago but have declined in use, and are now mostly seen as belonging to rural or temple schools (though there are also some famous schools that use them). You'll rarely see them in TV or film, unless the creators are purposely saying that the setting is rural, poor, or retro.

Let's look at some examples.

The school uniform in Bad Buddy is pretty much the bare minimum, with just the school's abbreviated name and no pin or ID. With black shorts and navy lettering, it's clearly meant to be a regular government school (though TBH the filming location doesn't really fit). The dot on the collar is a symbol used by some schools to indicate the year the student is in, based on the number of dots. One dot would mean they're in the first year of either lower or upper secondary, which might be differentiated based on colour, shape, or being on the left or right side. Here, Pran is clearly not 12/13 years old, so the year must be M.4.

In The Yearbook, the school uniform also includes the students' ID in Thai numerals below the school name, also quite a common thing. The navy lettering and the black shorts indicate that it's a government school, and the filming location and the teacher wearing the civil service uniform also hint that it's a rather provincial setting. The haircuts of the characters are also more realistic, as schools usually require a short tapered cut for boys.

The characters in 'Cause You're My Boy also attend a government school, in line with the working-class background. Mork is in upper-secondary, so his uniform as the school symbol embroidered above the lettering, while Gord and Morn's, who are in lower-secondary, don't.

Another example of a government school uniform with black shorts is found in Dew. This school also has the student's name embroidered over the shirt pocket. Dew's oversized shirt and long baggy shorts reflect the fashion trends of 1996, when this part of the story is set.

On the other hand, Hormones follows middle-/upper-middle- class kids at a private school. The uniform was directly copied from that of Assumption College Thonburi (ACT), where the series was filmed (so that its students could blend in as extras). As a private school, the lettering is in red, and the student IDs are in Hindu-Arabic numerals. As in the above example, the stars on the collar indicate the student's year (here, dots are used for lower-secondary and stars for upper). Also note the belt buckle with the school logo, which tends to be seen with fancier schools.

The uniforms in Love Sick are also copied from real life, though this was done not for production convenience, but to pay tribute to the source novel, which was inspired by student life at Assumption College (AC), one of the country's oldest boys' schools (AC and ACT both belong to a network of schools operated by the Catholic Church, hence their names). The novel's full title, Love Sick: The Chaotic Lives of Blue Shorts Guys, reflects its focus on the inside world of the school, of which it paints a semi-imaginary image that makes multiple references to actual teachers, locations and customs, stopping short only of referring to the school by name. This is toned down in the series, though the coat of arms and uniform are nearly direct copies of AC's, minus the belt buckle (which was a relatively recent addition and not part of the uniform when the novel was being written).

Notice how Noh's school badge is pinned on the corner of the shirt pocket just like baby Peak and Ohm's real-life AC uniform, which is unique to the school. (Beam is a junior of Peak and Ohm's by a year, and was probably in M.3 when the photo was taken, so didn't wear a badge.) The school also requires leather shoes, unlike most schools which allow either leather or canvas shoes (in which case almost everyone will wear canvas shoes).

As mentioned in my previous post, the current trend of students having their school uniform shorts modified to be very short probably originated with AC students, and spread more widely from the late 2000s. Naturally, the style is shown in Love Sick, though this is also generally well represented in BL media.

Make It Right, by the creators of Love Sick, used the same style for its student uniform, except the shoes (though pinning the badge at the shirt pocket didn't really make sense now that it wasn't meant to refer AC's real-life uniqueness). It's also a bit strange seeing student IDs running into the 60000s, as even the oldest real-life schools don't have numbers that high.

The use of blue-shorts school uniforms to signify wealthy characters/environments is a pretty common trope in BL (and also Thai series more generally). It's also seen in 7 Project, in a more typical appearance with the pin in the usual location, and the student's name over the shirt pocket.

In My Gear and Your Gown, the uniform (quite unusually for private schools) doesn't have any lettering other than the school's initials. It's most likely a cost-saving measure by the costume department, sacrificing a bit of realism to avoid the need to create individualized outfits for every character (though it does use leather shoes).

The uniform in My Dear Loser: Edge of 17 is rather confusing. It's clearly meant to be a private school, given the blue shorts, but this is contradicted by the navy lettering on the shirt. Looks like a mistake, unless it was a deliberate choice to introduce some sort of ambiguity (though this is unlikely, and even most Thai viewers probably won't notice anyway).

In Only Boo!, Moo originally goes to a private school with a blue-shorts uniform, but is sent away as punishment for neglecting his studies. His new uniform, with khaki shorts, emphasizes the provincial nature of the school.

Often, different-coloured uniforms will be used to contrast the characters' backgrounds. This goes back to The Love of Siam, where the blue shorts and leather shoes of Mew's school uniform reinforce its presentation as a Catholic school (and closely echoes AC, which also served as the school's filming location), while Tong's black-shorts uniform may have been a reference to Bangkok Christian College, a nearby school popularly seen as a rival of AC's. BCC is one of the better known private schools to use a uniform with black shorts, and The Love of Siam is one of the less common examples of this. (Note again the school badge, which isn't worn by some of the members of Mew's band, indicating that they're in lower-secondary.)

The colour contrast is also used in Love's Coming, though it doesn't really convey any significant background.

Somewhat amusingly, creators don't always try to be particularly creative with the school name abbreviations, and they will often be that of the production company's name. So here we have ม.ม. and ม.ม.ป. - MM and MMP for Mungmee Production. Above, there's จ.ท.ว. - GTV (GMMTV) in My Dear Loser, ค.ซ.ม. - CSM (Cosocomo) in Make It Right, and น.ด.บ. - NDB (Nadao Bangkok) for Hormones, the last of which is also the actual in-story name of the school.

I Told Sunset About You uses a very unusual colour pairing: Navy and Khaki. Oh-aew's school (and Teh's formerly) is private, while Teh's is the province's main government school. The colour choices are mainly aesthetic - while some main provincial schools do use khaki shorts (and private schools navy), they are quite uncommon. White shoes worn with the regular student uniform is also practically unheard of (they're usually for PE uniforms - more on these below).

Note also how the year-indicating dots above the school initials are differentiated by colour: navy for lower secondary, red for upper. So when Teh shows up at his old school wearing a uniform with three navy dots, that's him squeezing into his old uniform from M.3 to sneak into the school.

Sometimes actual existing schools serve as the setting of a work, and its uniform is used. For example, My Bromance (2014) is set at Wachirawit School in Chiang Mai and uses its uniform.

The Best Story likewise takes place at the Demonstration School of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. Demonstration or "Satit" schools are pretty much a class of their own. While they're technically government schools, they're operated by universities for their teacher training programmes, and have a higher degree of freedom in their operations. They also often have uniforms that don't follow the usual format, with no school name on the shirt. This is the case with Satit Suansunandha, which has its logo embroidered on the shirt pocket and pinned above the student's name instead.

Some Satit schools also use an unusual colour, charcoal grey, for their uniform shorts. This is seen with Praram's uniform in EN of Love: This Is Love Story, indicating that his school is attached to the university. Having just the student's name and no school initials isn't unusual in this case (though not having any logo at all kind of is).

On the other hand, the lack of any embroidered lettering at all, like in The Shipper, is very unusual. In real life this is unique to Triam Udom Suksa School, which is commonly regarded as the country's top school. GMMTV previously did this in The Gifted, which kind of made sense as it conveyed that the school was unique and special, but this isn't true for The Shipper, so the stylistic choice seems a bit lazy.

This is also the case with 55:15 Never Too Late. Even stranger is the uniform from Nanon's storyline, which has khaki shorts signifying a provincial setting but the top is just a plain shirt with no markings or pin at all. It looks rather like an error in the production process that they had to roll with due to some limitation.

Girls' uniforms are much more varied, as private schools follow a variety of different styles. The standard style is mostly only used by government schools. For the upper-secondary level, it's a white button-up shirt (or blouse? I'm not sure of the terminology) with short sleeves that are pleated at the cuff, a navy (or, uncommonly, black) skirt with three pairs of wide pleats at the front and back, a black belt, white socks and black strapped shoes. The shirt will have the same markings as the boys' uniform. We see Pa wearing this in Bad Buddy (and also Tarn in the ITSAY pic above). Note that they made a mistake with her collar dot, as she was in M.6 in this scene and should have had three dots instead of one. (The same mistake happens with the younger music club students in episode 10. I guess the costume department just created one style based on the main characters and forgot to factor in the others.)

I won't attempt to list examples of all girls' uniforms here, as they're harder to keep track of in BL, but if it's a high-school setting and you see a different style of uniform than the above, it should be quite safe to assume it's a private school (especially if it's long-sleeved, with a necktie, or a blue, red or other brightly coloured skirt, like in the 7 Project example above), or a Satit school.

International schools usually have a different style of uniform altogether. They may be variably coloured, use shorts or trousers, include neckties, and the shirts won't have the usual lettering but commonly feature the school logo. Girls' skirts will commonly have a plaid/tartan pattern. Bilingual schools - private schools featuring a bilingual curriculum, with mainly Thai students - will also often use this style of uniform to some extent. We see it in Brothers, where the setting is supposed to be an international school.

While schools may have a full uniform with blazers and all, they'd only be used on special occasions. If characters wear them on a regular basis, it probably signifies a fantasy setting, or one somewhat removed from real life. This is fully utilized in Great Men Academy, which is as fantasy as you can get with magical wish-granting unicorns.

A similar effect is achieved with sweater vests, as seen in Second Chance. However, this is to emulate the Japanese/Korean uniform style, giving the show something of a J-/K-drama aesthetic while moving it away from the grounded reality of Thailand.

Sometimes, as in Friend Forever, a novel style is created that doesn't really carry any inherent meaning but is presumably done mainly for aesthetic reasons.

In real life, the standard-style boys' uniform (with embroidered lettering) may also use trousers, but this is only done in Islamic schools and the vocational education system, which are pretty much outside the realm of BL stories, so you won't likely come across them. (Update: This is no longer true with the existence of Don't Touch My Gang, but it didn't feature regular uniform, only the workshop shirt, which is covered below.)

Apart from the standard school uniform, most schools will also have a PE uniform, used on days with PE (gym) class, typically once a week for upper-secondary students. These aren't legally regulated, so they come in a large variety of styles, though many government schools will follow the same basic style of a coloured polo shirt made with a woven fabric, usually with the school logo on the pocket. We see Teh wearing this (though with the school initials instead of a logo) in ITSAY, with his usual uniform shorts. Most schools will have students wear the PE top from home and change into the PE bottom (typically sweatpants) just for PE class. Don't expect to see school showers, though, as they're not done in Thailand. Different classes mostly have PE on different days, and in meticulously written shows like ITSAY, where everything fits into the calendar, you can tell the day of the week from the PE uniform (it's Monday if you see Teh in his blue PE top).

As mentioned above, white canvas shoes may be required for PE uniforms, as seen again in The Love of Siam. This is mostly a feature of girls' uniforms, though, as boys' uniforms will more often use the shoes that are already part of their regular uniform, but schools which normally use leather shoes are a natural exception. However, they will more typically have students wear white shoes from home together with the PE top rather than change shoes at school like Mew apparently does. The shirt style here, a custom-patterned polo shirt with a knitted fabric, is also common.

We see another example of the style in Dew. Except for shoe colour, PE uniforms are usually identical for boys and girls.

Since there aren't actual limitations to PE uniform designs even in real life, creators sometimes have a field day with them. In Make It Right, the PE uniform is quite obviously a piece of fan service. (There are real-life schools that do use shorts, though they're not quite that short.)

Another uniform you might encounter is the Territorial Defence Student uniform. In Thailand, men face military conscription at age 21, upon which they will have to draw a lottery to determine whether they must enlist for two years. But there's an alternative to that. By completing three years of military training as Territorial Defence Students (often referred to as ร.ด. - Ror Dor (R.D.)), which is offered to upper-secondary school students, one avoids the need to face the lottery completely. Naturally, most middle-class boys will take the training. It takes half a day a week for 20 weeks each year (which is half the school year), plus up to a week of field training around January-February. For the weekly training days, if the session is in the afternoon, school will typically have only morning classes.

The need to attend Ror Dor is probably the most universally hated aspect of high school life for Thai boys, not because of the training itself, which is hardly intensive at all, but because of the military haircut requirements. Naturally this is never portrayed realistically, and many works ignore the existence of Ror Dor altogether. What's kind of funny is that the above storyline concerns Tee needing a haircut to pass Ror Dor inspection, but none of the characters except Mork come anywhere close.

The Ror Dor uniform is a khaki green combat uniform, with the student's name on the right chest and the school patch on the right arm. The Thai numeral on the left collar indicates the student's year. Here, it's ๒ (2), indicating that they're in the second year of training, which means M.5. The green T-shirt worn underneath is often worn casually by some.

In stories that go down to the lower-secondary or primary years, you may also see the Boy Scout uniform. In most schools, participation is mandatory for students up to M.3, and takes place once a week. Here in The Love of Siam, we see young Tong in the Scout uniform, indicating that he's in primary school, while Eiw and Cake in My Only 12% are wearing the Senior Scout uniform (with the maroon shoulder boards) of lower-secondary students.

That's pretty much everything regarding school uniforms, I think. Onto university...

In Thailand, universities have uniforms for undergraduate students. Unlike school uniforms, which are very specific, university uniforms are more loosely defined. In most cases they will be a white dress shirt and black (or navy) slacks for males, with black dress shoes, and a necktie and a belt buckle bearing the university symbol. For females, it's usually a white shirt/blouse with the university symbol pin, a black (or navy) skirt, shoes, and also a belt buckle bearing the university symbol. Some universities will also have metal buttons with the university symbol that have to be attached to the shirt.

While most universities will have defined uniforms, in practice, the requirements vary across universities (and across faculties within the same university). Many require that uniforms be worn for attendance of all classes, but some don't, and expect them only on exam days or special occasions. Strictness and adherence also varies. Often, people won't bother with the belt buckle, sneakers may be allowed (or turned a blind eye to), and jeans may even be permissible. This gives creators more leeway in designing the costumes to a varied visual effect.

In the above scene from Bad Buddy, Pran's upright collar (GMMTV does seem to like these, though I don't quite recall seeing them in real life), Wai's short sleeves (some universities officially have them as a uniform option, some don't), Safe's jacket (which is totally normal, by the way - they do blast the aircon in some lecture halls) and Louis's workshop shirt (more on this below) combine to provide visual contrast. The costume design is also often used for characterization. In Love by Chance, the timid and deferential Pete always wears his necktie, while the brasher Ae is never seen with it, nor does his shirt ever seem to be tucked in. (Untucked shirts are also used for characterization with school uniforms, though it's pretty much the only option.)

Even where uniforms are more strictly enforced, the necktie is usually not worn outside of formal occasions. Some universities have a tradition of requiring them only for freshmen, and similarly female freshmen may be required to wear below-knee accordion-pleated skirts (and for some universities, white shoes) for the entire first year. All of this is shown in SOTUS, as the entire series revolves around these hazing traditions. As freshmen, M and May wear the full university uniform (May with pleated skirt), while the sophomores are seen wearing pencil/mini-skirts and jeans with no necktie. The necktie doesn't have a printed logo, though it's attached as a tie pin - some schools do this. (Quite a lot of series, however, don't bother with having any sort of logo on the tie or belt buckle at all, which is a bit unrealistic, but in some cases could be explained away by the above-mentioned variability in strictness.)

Also famously depicted in SOTUS is the workshop shirt/smock/overshirt, which isn't really an official uniform, but a protective garment meant for practical classes. In some schools, there's been considerable drama over their use, as students often use it as a cover for casual clothing instead of wearing the regular uniform, which the staff disapproves. As so many series show, it's indeed quite commonly seen as an engineering-school symbol.

And that's pretty much all I can think of. If you've made it this far, thanks and congratulations! :p Let me know if I've forgotten anything.

#thai bl #thai culture #bl meta

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rebel-hunk-enjoyer · 2 months ago

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I don't think Kallus is a great spy!! Here me out, though :)

I like the idea of him being fairly competent at spying compared to your average rebel, because of some of his experiences in the ISB, but the ISB isn't exactly an intelligence bureau in the traditional sense. They're law enforcement and internal intelligence, they are the not-so-secret police who are internally investigating things like treason, disloyalty, thought crimes, etc within the Empire.

To get into the gritty details: the ISB is a part of COMPNOR or the Commission for the Preservation of the New Order. This commission grew out of the Clone Wars Era COMPOR or the Commission for the Protection of the Republic, a hard-line loyalist group that lobbied the Galactic Senate to give more authority to the Supreme Chancellor and promoted wartime propaganda that aligned with their agenda. When Palpatine became Emperor, the New Order absorbed COMPOR and reorganized it into a government agency that served as the Empire's propaganda wing. The Imperial Security Bureau is a part of that because it used to be the Internal Security Bureau of COMPOR. They were already shady af and trying to root out disloyalty within their ranks during the later stages of the Republic and just shifted that over to rooting out disloyalty within the Empire at large through the ISB.

Which means that the ISB is ultimately tasked with making sure the New Order's agenda is advanced: enforcing the state-sponsored political religion to maintain control, order, rule of law, uniformity, Imperial civic pride, and so on. COMPNOR supported xenophobia and the Empire's humanocentric policies, advanced the human 'natural right to rule' nonsense, minimized the accomplishments of alien species, and pushed anti-alien xenophobia to the point of sowing distrust throughout the Empire. The ISB is their agency that does all of that in the name of security. In fact, the ISB has an entire division for interrogation and another for re-education, just to underscore the New Order's dedication to the bottom line of thought conformity and the role the ISB plays in that. They aren't just the not-so-secret police, they are the not-so-secret police who have the authority and means to brainwash loyalty into Imperial citizens.

Now, Kallus worked within the enforcement, investigations, and internal affairs divisions of the ISB throughout his career and by the time we see him in Rebels, he's clearly operating as a part of the enforcement division. He specifically states that "as an agent of the ISB, [he] follow[s] the letter of the law" and I imagine that he has the ISB Loyalty Manual memorized backwards and forwards. But knowing the letter of the law when it comes to hard-line New Order political religion conformity doesn't automatically translate into knowing everything, right? He's ignorant about larger scale operations to the point that he seems almost disinterested in them on Bahryn while talking to Zeb about Geonosis, actually.

This, I think, is what makes Kallus very interesting as a defector. He isn't just some guy who changes his mind when presented with new information, he's some guy who has dedicated his entire career to toeing the party line and rooting out the mere suggestion of anyone, anywhere within the Empire not doing the exact same. He's the thought cop and he's suddenly thinking thoughts he has never had before, he's suddenly doing things that he's only ever seen done by people who were arrested and re-educated if they were lucky, he's suddenly the thing that he's spent his entire career trying to stop.

But that's also why I think he wouldn't be a good spy specifically in S3 against Thrawn. He's used to finding traitors to the Empire, that's what all of his skills are honed toward. Now he's the traitor to the Empire, surrounded by a bunch of hard-line Imperials who are all focused on stopping the rebels, and he's ... trying to get information from them? To pass along to the Rebellion? With a repurposed MSE and some sleight of hand with Lyste's code cylinder? This isn't to say that he didn't give the Rebellion valuable information, he did that on several occasions, but when it came down to the wire, when it came down to the actual spycraft of keeping himself safe, he did not perform well. He got the job done, he covered his ass, but he did not cover his ass in such a way that he was able to fool Yularen or Thrawn. They were onto him immediately, they left him in his position with the intention of using him against the Rebellion, Thrawn even waited until he had Kallus dead to rights, caught him right in the act of sending a message to the Rebellion.

All of this is to say that I think Kallus might have been a better spy if he hadn't been ISB and that being ISB maybe set him up to be terrible at spying on Thrawn. Because I can't imagine spending nearly two decades hunting down people for non-conformity, then suddenly finding yourself on the other side of that and not being really, really nervous? He probably saw accusations of treason on his own face every morning in the mirror, he was probably sick about it constantly, worried that he might slip in a way that would be meaningful to an ISB agent, thinking more about his performance of being an Imperial than on the actual spying itself, than the MSE or the code cylinder or whatever else. I imagine him worrying so much about his Imperial Mask and not thinking as much as he should have about the rest.

Because first and foremost he was a cop who policed loyalty, not actually a spy.

Now, of course, this changes once he gets into the rebellion at large, because I do think a lot of his ISB skills would be adjacent to spycraft, but I think before that he was more backed into a corner like a wounded animal about it than anything else because of the political atmosphere surrounding the Empire and how it polices loyalty.

#alexsandr kallus #agent kallus #idk just some thoughts about the ISB as I have been rewatching Andor #the history of the ISB/COMPNOR is stupidly fascinating to me #that moment when you realize the ISB looks military but they're actually the party's literal thought police #now of course there's room for interpretation of his ISB career and skillset and all that #there's room for him to be a GREAT spy who was just up against a much more analytical mind than usual with thrawn #but gosh I'm really really compelled by the idea of him being a nervous chain smoking wreck who hasn't slept in a week -#- or eaten a proper meal in two because he's haunted by the idea that he's being incredibly obvious with his disloyalty and defection

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gladiatorcunt · 1 year ago

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FIND YOUR LOVE | CORIOLANUS SNOW

summary: modern!coriolanus snow thoughts

cw: crack treated seriously vibes, typical coryo warnings, possessiveness/obsessive behavior, piss kink mention, period blood mention, spit kink mention, slight impact play mention, coryo and reader both have double majors because they’re overachievers, plus sized reader implications, drake mention, reader has bunny teeth & hip dips & glasses, talks of carving letters into skin, spying mention, overstimulation mention, images used in social media elements are not an exact represtation of the reader’s gender or image & are more about the vibes, “wife” usage but he’d feminize you no matter what, implications of sejanus playing the long game, 18+ minors dni

word count: 2.4k

requests are open (read the rules first <3)

block & move on if uncomfortable.

do not repost or translate!!

Unaware rich kid because while a tragedy did happen in the family (his mother dying in childbirth according to his politician father who was later assassinated) nothing happened to really set them back to square one like in canon. He never really has had to claw himself back to the top, he’s just always been on a steady elevator ride to it.

Clumsy in the beginning in the way that he tries to be intimidating. He’s never had to starve so how can he understand its usefulness as a weapon?

Meets scholarship student double major classics and archaeology (minor in philosophy) reader who has only ever struggled.

The type to violently beat someone to near death on a whim and smirk as he’s escorted out of the police station with apologies because his family’s amazing team of lawyers were called.

Definitely part of some Saltburn ass family where you visit and you’re just like “what the fuck?” the things the 1% normalize (there are rumors of his family being cannibals back in the day, they might be a crime family, his high school principal fucked his mom AND his dad) never cease to disturb and confuse you but the gardens are very nice!

Strolls with you through them to seem romantic but also to brag about his family on your second date that he insisted be at his house (he was kind enough to let your first be at his family’s vacation house in the south of France)

Piss kink (creaks the bathroom door open to hold your hand or he leans against the door and stares you down if you take too long), period sex (more the type to eat you out on your period though) spit sharing and smearing, etc. Because of his carefully manufactured image, when he’s in love he just wants to completely let go and be gross and have that he accepted by the person be loves (plus it scratches the possessive itch in his brain by marking you and knowing you’d be too embarrassed to do it with anybody else)

Really only hand spanks you when you’re actively fucking and he’s so caught up in it all, he just grips the flesh of your ass and furiously jiggles it in his hands in between brisk strikes of his open palms and gets caught on your hole accidentally, it gets to the point where you’d want him to hit harder even if you thought you wouldn’t be into it because it’s just so unintentionally teasing.

Unlike the stereotypes, wouldn’t really be into drinking (other than wine because he thinks he’s above the beer drinking peasants) or drugs (other than the occasional line of cocaine 🤭) thinks keeping a clear head while you’re doing evil plotting is important. Typical white college rich boy hypocrisy (keeps you away from it though, even weed because it can kill your brain cells and he likes his bunny smart.)

He WILL carve his full government name onto you like a womb tattoo if you answer his texts 5 seconds after he expects you too. You CANNOT play with him.

Asked you out by leaving a bouquet of roses on your desk every morning with a note like “these are my grandma’am’s roses, and their beauty could only remind me of you 🥺🥹” (he threatened your roommate to deliver them and made sure they did thanks to the hidden camera he also had them put in)

Double major Political Science and Latin, minor in Philosophy but he likes ancient/older philosophy more. #1 “um actually 🤓👆” offender (hell is hot but his body runs ice cold, so he does not care <3) someone says they like philosophy and he goes “name three philosophers other than Nietzsche and Camus. I bet you’re the type to read Kafka too huh? whore.” (/j)

So hot though like modern Coryo has the curls but a touch shaggier. Everyone on campus turns their phones to the side and takes “discreet” pictures and makes those whisper posts like “need me an unhinged crazy jealous psycho possessive bf” but they’re not you so that wish will never come true :)

Say you’re going to McDonald’s, and he will kill you (if you’re from the south and you try to feed him anything traditional you’re used to, his charcuterie board and caviar eating ass will implode)

Another student in class asks you to borrow a pencil & his brain genuinely goes haywire so without looking he sends them the “let’s play a little game I made” TikTok (by the time you look back at him, he’s warmly smiling as he makes sure you see his hand sliding up his thigh)

If you think you’re working after getting your degree (he could’ve made you drop out, be grateful you get to spend more time together this way) then you’ve got a big storm coming (hope you can accept being baby trapped mwah)

He’s your little chihuahua named sparkles that bites people.

Emotional drake listener

The type where if you 99.7% (he will allow some wiggle room) give into his delusion and insanity, it’s nothing but smooth sailing (for you) and sex would still be passionate but never rough. Sometimes he slips a bit, but you just get more family heirloom jewelry and 5 billion sessions of oral as apologies.

On the swim team and runs track (somehow still looks hot no matter what doing those sports, wants you lick all the sweat off his body after he’s done. (he’d do that for you.) has a private yacht and does polo with Sejanus.

You once sat down, opened a package of cabbage leaves and went to town & Coryo knew in that moment that love is not a choice, it’s a curse.

Buys you mountains of clothes (the softest sweaters or the tightest evening wear because he loves how nothing about your body is hidden from him and one of his favorite ways to wind down is to soothe the marks left by the tight clothes digging into the chub of your tummy with his tongue) also loves how much bigger your thighs get when they spread out as you straddle him in one of his buttons up that reaches just under your ass.

Has a garage full of classic cars that he fucks you in and takes you on drives in.

(Insp. by that one video) fucks you on your stomach while cradling your jaw and when he’s done, he’s kissing down your back and all over your ass while hold a hand on the back of your neck. Eats you out upside-down kneeling straight up on the bed, the skin of your thighs spilling between his fingers as he grips them and nearly bends you in half. You don’t really ride him because he uses you like a fleshlight.

Tits guy no matter the size, prefers jerking off over them and covering them in cum over a boob job.

He won’t let you out in it, but you can be his bunny for Halloween since your front teeth remind him of a bunny, he already has the ears and tail waiting for you. That tweet where it’s like “okay everybody my bf’s about to walk in you all have to clap or I’m blowing this whole fucking building up” but that’s him when it comes to you.

Canon era snow is a girl dad, but modern snow is a boy dad, I fear.

Met you when you had just finished checking into your dorm, you were scrambling all over the place and without looking you bumped into the it boy of the school. His hands suddenly curved like shackles around your hips, his fingers subconsciously stroking your hip dips being the only reason you both didn’t careen to the floor from the collision.

“You should be more careful, wouldn’t want you to get a nasty bruise now, would we?” said with an unreadable yet playful tone and a snake’s smile, lips slightly curled up in the corners and a little too many teeth showing to feel truly comforted. His tongue flicks over his canines for a split second.

Smells like Maison Francis Kurkdijan’s baccarat rouge 540 (buzzcut Coryo gives Dior Sauvage vibes)

Matching airpod max sets and lets you put little bows on his.

Impeccable cable management, phone wirelessly charging on the nightstand or kitchen counter until it’s at 100% and doesn’t charge it again until it’s at 1%

Teaches you how to swim if you don’t know how, with a hand curled under your neck and another under your thigh to help you float. But has no problem just lounging with your back on his chest on the deck of his yacht or laying his head on your chest while you read together on the private beach he booked during your trip.

Slowly fingers you while making out with you and massaging your throat with his other hand. His chunky rings make clanging sounds against your pussy, and he smiles into your lips when you whine. He rests his forehead against yours & slowly spits in your mouth when it falls open as he makes you cum over and over until you’re too tired to leave the apartment he bought for the two of you.

Jiggles your tummy rolls when you’re fucking but sometimes, he’ll just casually bite them, loves laying his head on your stomach and when you sleep. He likes to have a firm grip on the chub of your tummy. He also just plays with it, pulls it, and kneads it but occasionally he’ll gently smack it.

NUTS ON YOUR STRETCH MARKS LIKE HE’S ICING A CINNAMON ROLL

Anyway, his grandma’am owns a fleet of flower shops across the country as well as managing the snow family’s gardens, and luckily enough the one closest to campus was hiring when you enrolled!

Pisces sun Capricorn rising Aries mars, stay strong.

Has to look you in the eyes or he can’t cum.

Always keeps glasses cleaner and a microfiber cloth on him so the second he sees you rub your eyes in frustration because you can’t see through them anymore (because in your mind that would somehow fix it) and reach to grab them off your face, he’s snaking his hand out and snatching them up. He doesn’t even give then back to you; he tenderly tucks your hair behind your ears and slowly slides them back on your face. literally booping the center of them with a grin. Also has your custom designed glasses case (with his initials) in one of his bag’s front pockets.

You asked him to buy you the Gojo skin in Fortnite and he grumbled “you already have my information.” But in his mind, he’s like “what does he have that i don’t?” 💀 (he’ll lose his mind when he finds out you like Geto more). Will play with you on a team consisting of the two of you and Sejanus. (so, he can keep an eye on you two)

Has very pretty cum, pearly and so thick you get jump scared when it leaks out because your pussy tries to weakly clench to keep it inside and it just pushes through. Cums less often but when he does its huge continuous loads, humps against whatever part of you he can like a dog and lays his head on your chest.

You could almost argue he likes anal more than anything else. When he eats you out, you run an extremely high risk of him “getting lost” and starting to eat out your other hole. When his dick slips out, he makes you watch while he slaps it against your clit and drags it through your slick to teasingly act like he’s going to push it into your ass.

Kisses his camera when you fall asleep on facetime if you’re apart from each other. wipes his lips afterwards though for sanitary reasons.

For sure the type to go overboard when someone says they want honest advice. Then when they’re on the verge of tears and he’s made everything worse, he goes “that’s just me though, who am I to judge yk? take it with a grain of salt.”

Museum dates but he’s pointing at depictions of goddesses and saying, “that’s you.”

Will drop kick those annoying Sephora kids if you need a certain product that they’re going after.

Y’all are battling for who has more products, your bathroom so is huge but every time you move something’s always falling off the double vanity sink.

If you need an inhaler or an EpiPen or anything like that, he’ll always have one on him. when you need it, his reaction is so fast you almost can’t see it and he tries to hide how his hands shake slightly even if the attack you're dealing with is more minor.

You could tell him you hate coconut and when you go on your fancy little dates to 5 stars restaurants, if your plate has even the tiniest hint of coconut, he’s sending that back with the harshest glare on his face imaginable (“They asked for no pickles!” *Gunshots* vibes)

Gets jealous of fictional characters, you show the slightest interest in a man who’s literally not real and his eye nearly falls out from how much it twitches.

The possessive bf coded TikTok trends you’d make him do would go crazy though like the nails on his dick through his pants one, any princess treatment one, any one where you’re dancing and he has to cover you, “hey daddy” & other text ones.

Alarms every five minutes, not only for him but he wants to be awake at the same time as you for a bit before you have to go your separate ways during the day. (kisses your temple when you slump against him while you try to wake up)

“What’s up, Petal?”

“What’s up, Coryo?”

While he acts like he’s been doing you a favor all this time, he would get you that engagement ring that has a spike going through the finger bone in it, and he would get a matching one <3.

Double penetration with a dildo that’s a replica of his cock 😻😽

Closet bi (childhood crush on Sejanus, who btw has been eyeing you too much for his liking lately.)

Scars on his back from An Incident. shaved his head and dropped out of school for a bit but it wasn’t hard for his family to get him back in

Gives you the worst side eye when you ask him to play Roblox total drama island with you but when Sejanus offers, he’s galloping to his pc (he absolutely kills it, like he’s undefeated and he’s not afraid to bully whatever kids are in the game)

Vibes:

a/n: this is lowkey so cringe but i am free. i hate him (i'd tell him i love him on the first date.) will definitely do more with this verse but have this brainrot for now. hope you enjoyed anyway! btw i'll actually be opening comissions next month. so i'd really appreciate it if y'all would keep that in mind! talk to me about modern coryo or any version of coryo lol.

#dividers by cafekitsune and pommecita #dark fic #coriolanus snow x reader #coriolanus x reader #snow x reader #coriolanus x you #coriolanus snow x you #tbosas #hunger games x reader #tw toxic #mdni #⚰️.deaddove #tw dark content #yandere themes #yandere x reader #modern!coriolanus snow

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softlypaintedseafoam · 2 months ago

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Character Remix SJR: Portgas D. Ace Life Timeline

It took a minute to set aside some time for it, but I've finally finished translating the official timeline of Ace's life provided in the SJR novel! I'm definitely not JLPT N1 levels of proficient in Japanese, so I definitely apologize for any inaccuracies in advance. Still it's nice being able to share One Piece information with my fellow fans! If you've been following this account then you know I've been looking forward to translating and sharing any info I could scrounge from it so let's goooo!

All info provided comes from the SJR Ace compilation manga, specifically the timeline. And while reblogs are definitely appreciated, please don't repost on or outside of tumblr!

Age 0

Ace is born in Baterilla, South Blue on January 1st

Is named after Roger's cherished sword the "Ace"

Ace is left in the custody of Mount Corvo's Dadan

Age ? (Anywhere between ages 1-4)

Ace meets Sabo

Age 5

Ace and Sabo begin their pirate savings together

Age 10

Ace meets Luffy

Ace and Sabo take down Porchemy to save Luffy

ASL exchange sake cups and become sworn brothers

Ace fights Bluejam with Dadan

Dogra tells Ace and Luffy he witnessed Sabo's death

Ace reads Sabo's letter

Age ? (Likely 11)

Makino helps Ace learn proper greeting ettiquette

Age 17

Ace departs from Mt. Corvo's coast

Ace eats the Flame Flame Fruit

The Spade Pirates are formed

Either 17 or 18

Ace rejects the World Government's offer to join the Seven Warlords

Ages 18-19

Ace washes on to Wano's shore and is taught by Otama how to weave kasa hats

(It was revealed in vol. 11's SBS that Ace defeated Hanafuda at 18 so I'm tacking that here too)

Ace battles Yamato on Onigashima and afterwards they hit it off and have a party

Ace meets Shanks

Ace fights Jinbei for 5 days but there is no winner

To protect his crew, Ace fights Whitebeard, losing

Ace tries to take Whitebeard close to 100 times, failing

The Spade Pirate crew officially become part of the Whitebeard Crew

Ace defeats the Doma Pirates

Becomes the 2nd division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates

Age ?

Ace makes Oars Jr a giant kasa hat as a present

Ace wants to go to Wano but is stopped by Whitebeard

Age 20

Blackbeard kills Fourth Division Commander Thatch and Ace leaves to find him

Ace leaves a message for Luffy in the former Drum Kingdom

Ace reunites with Luffy in Alabasta and gives him his vivre card

Ace blends into the Buggy Pirates' party

Ace meets Moda in Lulusia

Ace infiltrates the G-2 subdivision base and successfully obtains classified information on Blackbeard

Ace loses his fight with Blackbeard on Banaro Island and is handed over to the marines

Ace is placed in Level 6 of Impel Down

Ace is transferred from Impel Down to Marine Headquarters Marineford

Sengoku reveals Ace is Roger's biological child to the public

Luffy rescues Ace during the Summit War

To protect Luffy from Akainu's onslaught, Ace sacrifices his life

Ace is buried in the New World next to Whitebeard

#nyla translates ー 📑 op #one piece #portgas d ace #sabo #monkey d luffy #curly dadan #gol d roger #portgas d rouge #monkey d garp #masked deuce #whitebeard #edward newgate #marco the phoenix #asl brothers #nyla translates ー 📑

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rewvyu · 1 month ago

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Latest Update on Infinity Nikki CN Stylists protest

It has been more than 12 hours since Papergames put out an statement on the protest and the many issues in 1.5. On Infinity Nikki's official Chinese social media channels; Weibo, and Xiaohongshu, comments have reached more than 78,000 as of this afternoon, 12PM UTC+8 Beijing time.

General consensus among CN stylists is that Papergames statement was a word-play aimed at normalising 220 pull max pity and that they have brazenly ignore many issues raised by stylists.

While some may argue that Papergames have been generous and all with the free gifts. CN Stylists real fight is for a fair and reasonable max pity and to protect consumer's right of fellow stylists. Since the launch of Infinity Nikki in December last year, what started out as a 180 pull max pity 5-star outfit have grown to what is now 220 pull max pity for a complete 5-star outfit. Many CN stylists that are loyal fan of the Nikki series knows all too well that Papergames are trying to push the line to make higher max pity a norm, as most of them have already seen it happened in the past Nikki games.

CN stylists have come out with a boycott plead for stylists to unite together and protect consumer's right, and fight against Papergames corporate greed.

Translated from a Xiaohongshu post : (note: I aim to do my best to provide the most accurate translation, but there may be some error here and there. For some parts, I have translated in a more appropriate wording to provide better context instead of literal translation. If you have any question, feel free to ask in reply or reblog and I will answer to my best ability)

Dear whales, dolphins, spenders, stylists, please once again hold your ground! Since the launch of 1.5 we have fought against the bad practices by not spending, writing negative reviews on steam, send our feedback to customer service, and reported them to the relevant government authority department. Yet, we received a perfunctory statement from Papergames. They are not acknowledging the issues, they are admitting that they are in a bad situation. Our protest has yet to success, we need to unite together and boycott by not spending any more. This version is still have long way to go, we have to force them to make changes, you will still be able to pull your outfit banners & buy store items closer to the end of the season. If we accept and let Papergames to keep releasing such perfunctory statement, giving perfunctory compensation; just 20 pulls, just only enough to pull for the new socks they added. If we don't fight back now, this will become a norm and in the future they won't even compensate the cost of the socks. If we, the stylists, forgives Papergames so easily then there will still be a next time and it will only get worst. Papergames apology statement translation into simpler terms: 1. We know the game have a lot of bugs, apologies, fixing, don't rush us, be understanding for the sake of Nikki. 2. Both 5-stars banners are pretty, it is so pretty we decide to add a 11-piece, not informing stylists is our fault, we won't make more than 11-piece for 5-star. (CN stylists take: you know they can add 6-stars or more with more than 11-pieces in the future) 3. Mira Crown, revert back to 14-days with a +1 to 2 extra days on top. Basically, two Mira Crown per month. 4. Workshop: future plan promises, we heard your feedback etc etc... (CN stylists take: they don't even address the colour palette unlocking issues) 5. Enough already, we are gonna take money from you and return it to you as compensation, now go play the game, and we have apologised, for the sake of Nikki let's not talk about it any more.

Other issues:

6. Don't forget they can even misspell Nikki's name! In the apology letter they say they love Nikki, it is just an excuse to say they love money. 7. They made changes to the Terms & Policies in-game with bolded red text without pre-informing us. 8. Cold-shoulder treatment to issues raised: Spending event issue, 68RMB bath tub, not splitting up the mermaid's tail, colour palette is still not universal unlock, no fixed max pity system, changing UI at will.

Clearly there should be a fixed max pity, more reasonable pieces (my understanding: they probably meant things like the mermaid tail), extra pieces can be given out for free when reached max pity pulls, opening gift boxes should reward everything (my understanding: they probably refer to the spending event issues), playing dead (not listening to stylists), do they not understand at all?

They know, they are just doing it on purpose so that they can create a new baseline. In the future when stylists complain about why there is only 11-pieces, they will use the argument that we complained about 11-pieces back then so they won't split any more pieces and continue to disgust stylists. (my note: CN stylists are not fighting against more pieces, they are fighting for a fair and reasonable max pity ceiling as part of consumer's rights)

For those that love Nikki, and those who hope that Infinity Nikki continue to thrives for a long time to come, no one is satisfied by the apology statement from Papergames.

Our Nikki is such a nice person, why should we take a step back and let such disgusting plan and marketing continue.

#infinity nikki #infinity nikki protest #nikki cn

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therosielord · 5 months ago

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What's happening on Xiaohongshu (aka Rednote, the Chinese tiktok-like app) is legitimately so amazing and beautiful and has given me more hope about the state of the world than anything I've seen in years.

Things could have gone so badly. Americans very quickly flooded a Chinese app that previously only had Chinese people on it and wasn't even in English. The Chinese users could have rejected us and told us to get out of their space. The American users could have been super obnoxious and racist. I'm sure that's what both of our governments expected would happen in a scenario like that.

But the exact opposite has happened. The Chinese users are, for the most part, absolutely delighted to see such a huge influx of foreign users. Because they can't use Tiktok, they don't get to see nearly as much content from the rest of the world. We're bringing foreign content to them that they normally don't get to see. And many creators on Xiaohongshu woke up to find that they had gained like 20k followers overnight. They've been nothing but welcoming to the new American users and have been making jokes about how we're free to stay as long as we pay the cat tax (show them pictures of our cats) and help them with their English homework.

And Americans have been incredibly respectful. Most of the Americans I've seen on there have already started captioning their videos in both English and Chinese, and when people only caption their videos in English, other Americans show up in the comments to remind them to please caption in Chinese because we are guests here. It has become common practice for Americans to write their comments in English and add the translated version as well. Many Americans have started actually learning Chinese. We've been making jokes about how we are making sure to take our shoes off at the door of Xiaohongshu.

We have been learning so much about each other. Americans have learned that a lot of the things we've been told about China, like their social credit system, are made up. And they've been learning a lot about us, like how our healthcare system is awful and Americans aren't actually all wealthy like the movies make it seem. We have a lot of struggles in common. College graduates in both countries are having a really hard time finding good jobs right now. Housing is expensive and hard to find in both countries. We are both dealing with censorship from our governments, although it takes different forms.

And of course, we love so many of the same things. Food, travel, fashion, crafting, cat pictures, music, etc. All of the things that most humans enjoy. Both of our goveernments have tried to convince us that we are so different from one another and that we should be enemies, but it's so clear that when people from across the world come together and can speak freely, the natural human instinct is to bond over the things we all love.

There is so much kindness and genuine curiosity and willingness to learn about one another happening there. I've literally been brought to tears multiple times seeing the types of things people are saying to one another. One video that really got to me was this Chinese woman explaining that in many Chinese schools, they would do English homework assignments that had the prompt "Pretend your name is Li Hua and you are writing to your penpal in America." So there have been millions of these letters from "Li Hua" written to imaginary American penpals over the years. And she said that after all these years, Li Hua is finally starting to get letters back.

Even if tiktok doesn't get banned, I'm staying on Xiaohongshu as well. Who knows if our governments will allow this connection to last. The Chinese government apparently showed its support for the Americans coming to the app to learn about China, but who knows what our fascist government will do. But even if this doesn't last, this moment has been beautiful. It's proven to so many of us that the Chinese and American people are so similar and that we have a genuine desire to connect with one another. In a time when so much of the world is full of hatred and fear, this completely organic connection between the people of two countries that are supposed to be enemies just blossomed overnight.

To me, this is proof that the natural instinct of many, many people all across the globe is friendliness and curiosity. We have such a strong desire to connect with one another. We will find each other wherever we can. I'm so happy to have this.

#blah blah blah #xiaohongshu #tiktok #tiktok ban #china #chinese #hopecore #hope #wholesome #positivity

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spocks-kaathyra · 2 years ago

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thoughts about the Cardassian writing system

I've thinking about the Cardassian script as shown on screen and in beta canon and such and like. Is it just me or would it be very difficult to write by hand?? Like.

I traced some of this image for a recent drawing I did and like. The varying line thicknesses?? The little rectangular holes?? It's not at all intuitive to write by hand. Even if you imagine, like, a different writing implement—I suppose a chisel-tip pen would work better—it still seems like it wasn't meant to be handwritten. Which has a few possible explanations.

Like, maybe it's just a fancy font for computers, and handwritten text looks a little different. Times New Roman isn't very easily written by hand either, right? Maybe the line thickness differences are just decorative, and it's totally possible to convey the same orthographic information with the two line thicknesses of a chisel-tip pen, or with no variation in line thickness at all.

A more interesting explanation, though, and the one I thought of first, is that this writing system was never designed to be handwritten. This is a writing system developed in Cardassia's digital age. Maybe the original Cardassian script didn’t digitize well, so they invented a new one specifically for digital use? Like, when they invented coding, they realized that their writing system didn’t work very well for that purpose. I know next to nothing about coding, but I cannot imagine doing it using Chinese characters. So maybe they came up with a new writing system that worked well for that purpose, and when computer use became widespread, they stuck with it.

Or maybe the script was invented for political reasons! Maybe Cardassia was already fairly technologically advanced when the Cardassian Union was formed, and, to reinforce a cohesive national identity, they developed a new standardized national writing system. Like, y'know, the First Emperor of Qin standardizing hanzi when he unified China, or that Korean king inventing hangul. Except that at this point in Cardassian history, all official records were digital and typing was a lot more common than handwriting, so the new script was designed to be typed and not written. Of course, this reform would be slower to reach the more rural parts of Cardassia, and even in a technologically advanced society, there are people who don't have access to that technology. But I imagine the government would be big on infrastructure and education, and would make sure all good Cardassian citizens become literate. And old regional scripts would stop being taught in schools and be phased out of digital use and all the kids would grow up learning the digital script.

Which is good for the totalitarian government! Imagine you can only write digitally. On computers. That the government can monitor. If you, like, write a physical letter and send it to someone, then it's possible for the contents to stay totally private. But if you send an email, it can be very easily intercepted. Especially if the government is controlling which computers can be manufactured and sold, and what software is in widespread use, etc.

AND. Historical documents are now only readable for scholars. Remember that Korean king that invented hangul? Before him, Korea used to use Chinese characters too. And don't get me wrong, hangul is a genius writing system! It fits the Korean language so much better than Chinese characters did! It increased literacy at incredible rates! But by switching writing systems, they broke that historical link. The average literate Chinese person can read texts that are thousands of years old. The average literate Korean person can't. They'd have to specifically study that field, learn a whole new writing system. So with the new generation of Cardassian youths unable to read historical texts, it's much easier for the government to revise history. The primary source documents are in a script that most people can't read. You just trust the translation they teach you in school. In ASIT it's literally a crucial plot point that the Cardassian government revised history! Wouldn't it make it soooo much easier for them if only very few people can actually read the historical accounts of what happened.

I guess I am thinking of this like Chinese characters. Like, all the different Chinese "dialects" being written with hanzi, even though otherwise they could barely be considered the same language. And even non-Sinitic languages that historically adopted hanzi, like Japanese and Korean and Vietnamese. Which worked because hanzi is a logography—it encodes meaning, not sound, so the same word in different languages can be written the same. It didn’t work well! Nowadays, Japanese has made significant modifications and Korean has invented a new writing system entirely and Vietnamese has adapted a different foreign writing system, because while hanzi could write their languages, it didn’t do a very good job at it. But the Cardassian government probably cares more about assimilation and national unity than making things easier for speakers of minority languages. So, Cardassia used to have different cultures with different languages, like the Hebitians, and maybe instead of the Union forcing everyone to start speaking the same language, they just made everyone use the same writing system. Though that does seem less likely than them enforcing a standard language like the Federation does. Maybe they enforce a standard language, and invent the new writing system to increase literacy for people who are newly learning it.

And I can imagine it being a kind of purely digital language for some people? Like if you’re living on a colonized planet lightyears away from Cardassia Prime and you never have to speak Cardassian, but your computer’s interface is in Cardassian and if you go online then everyone there uses Cardassian. Like people irl who participate in the anglophone internet but don’t really use English in person because they don’t live in an anglophone country. Except if English were a logographic writing system that you could use to write your own language. And you can’t handwrite it, if for whatever reason you wanted to. Almost a similar idea to a liturgical language? Like, it’s only used in specific contexts and not really in daily life. In daily life you’d still speak your own language, and maybe even handwrite it when needed. I think old writing systems would survive even closer to the imperial core (does it make sense to call it that?), though the government would discourage it. I imagine there’d be a revival movement after the Fire, not only because of the cultural shift away from the old totalitarian Cardassia, but because people realize the importance of having a written communication system that doesn’t rely on everyone having a padd and electricity and wifi.

#if I read over this again I will inevitably want to change and add things so I'm refraining from doing that. enjoy whatever this is #forgive my very crude recounting of chinese and korean history! I am neither a historian nor a linguist #but I will NOT apologize for talking abt china so much. that's my culture and I'm weird abt it bc of my family history #and it's my GOD GIVEN RIGHT to project what little I know abt it onto all my worldbuilding #also I've never actually read abt any of the various cardassian conlangs but I'm curious if this contradicts or coincides with any of them #I still want to make my own someday. starting college as a linguistics major (in 2 weeks!!) so presumably I will learn how to do that #narcissus's echoes #ds9 #asit #star trek #cardassians #cardassian meta #a stitch in time #hebitians #lingposting

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thedwarrowscholar · 21 days ago

Note

Let me preface my ask with a big Thank You! for all your efforts over these years! I recently discovered the language of Dwarves and your dictionary and online resources have been so helpful to me! Now for my question: in regards to the multiple words/translations for the noble words "King", "Ruler" and "Lord", what circumstances would they be most appropriately used? Is there a difference between a Dwarf Lord of Ered Luin vs King of Erebor, Queen vs Noble Lady, Prince vs Dwarf Lord's son, etc?

Well met ravnarieldurin! Thank you so much for the kind words. Your question touches on both linguistic nuance and structural realities of Dwarven kingship, and I'm glad to dig into both.

🪓 Neo-Khuzdul Terms for Kings, Lords, and Nobility

Many rulership terms in Khuzdul are built from the root ZBD, associated with authority, leadership, and command:

Uzbad – Lord, King, or Commander

A formal title, used for both clan kings and local lords, depending on rank. Example: Uzbad Khazaddûmu - Lord of Moria

Also used in a military sense (more info on military ranks here)

Zabad – Lord (more general)

An honorific or descriptor and respectful form of address, not a title as such. Used in phrases like "'Ala Zabad Uthrâyin, Uzbad 'Urdu" (“This is Lord Thráin, Lord of Erebor.")

Zabdûna – Lady or Queen

The wife of a lord or king, not a ruling title in itself.

There are many, many more terms in Neo-Khuzdul related to royalty and nobility. Here is a non-exhaustive list of related vocabulary:

adshanamrâdul - (adj.) died while in service to nobility or royalty

akandum - mountain hall that has more than one clan lord living in it

Asjâruthrag council of lords from the seven dwarvish clans, that assembles on demand, concerned with commerce and craft

'azghahrâm - mention by a Lord of a praiseworthy act of a warrior in wartime

bahafaklihlêt - repeal of privileges (often trade privileges) granted to a dwarf by a lord

bazrabab - ordinance or decree of a dwarf lord, family leader or clan elder

bunmûfsak - dwarf lady who is influential within the royal sphere

êrâsiziz - yearly tribute paid by a lord to his king

fabsbulku - right of presentation to dwarven royalty

ikrêsifzudnu - land under the power of a lord owing allegiance in turn to a higher lord or king (fief)

kalmudammûn - person of noble rank or birth (noble)

kidizbâha - close, trusted friend and confidant to the head of a dwarvish family, one who acts as an adviser or counsellor to the Lord, with the additional responsibility of representing the Lord in important gatherings.

kuzrûlgab - mediator between the king or lord and the people of a realm

mahizbêdmakargul - (adj.) honoured by a king, queen, lord or lady

nidlugulbulku - excuse or exemption, especially from attending court of a dwarf Lord

radnubsan - person who runs errands within the hall for a Lord (usually a young dwarf)

Ulnaznê - honourific title (acronym meaning "my light in the darkness") given to an adviser (often of a king or lord) whose guidance is often regarded to be of practical value and grounded in wisdom

undukhudsh - person bound by feudal alliance, either as a lord or a vassal (liege)

uzbadishmêz - seeking support of a lord or royal (the act of)

uzbadkayal - royalty

uzbadmahd - letter of appointment from a king or lord

zabadablâg - food good enough for royalty

zabadadmâs - right of the lord of a hall to try and to punish a thief caught within the limits of his hall or realm

zabadashmârul - (adj.) under royal protection

zibdîn - general term for the hall (or noble estate) of the Lord

zudrâdum - town hall; mansion of the Lord

zudraisjêrra - managing royal affairs (the act of)

A "bunmûfsak" at the Royal court.

👑 The Structure of Dwarven Kingship

There is no “King of the Dwarves.” There are seven Dwarven clans, and each has its own king.

When Tolkien wrote “Seven Rings for the Seven Kings of the Dwarves,” it wasn’t poetic—it was literal.

Each clan king rules over various halls and holds, each governed by local lords (uzbad) who owe fealty to that clan’s king.

For instance: The King of Durin’s Folk (Longbeards) rules Erebor and its direct (and near) satellite holds.

But the Lord of the Iron Hills, while sovereign within his territory, ultimately still answers to his clan king. (but more on the special "Iron Hills-King of DF relation" below).

⚒️ Kings Among Kings: Hidden Hierarchy

While each clan king is independent, not all Dwarven thrones hold equal influence.

A notable case: Khazad-dûm during the early Second Age.

In S.A. 40, the Firebeards and Broadbeams migrated (after the destruction of their Halls at the end of the First Age) to Khazad-dûm—originally founded and ruled by the Longbeards (Durin’s Folk). They didn’t merge into one kingdom, but retained their own clan identities and kings, as evidenced by the “Seven Rings for Seven Kings.”

Thus, Khazad-dûm came to house three kings:

The King of the Longbeards, ruling Moria itself;

The King of the Firebeards;

The King of the Broadbeams.

These were co-sovereigns, but not equals. Within the bounds of Moria, the Uzbad Khazaddûmu—Lord of Moria—was the senior sovereign. The others may have ruled over their own clans, but the throne of the Silvertine took precedence.

It is likely that the geography of the region reflected this arrangement, seeing that Khazad-dûm was carved beneath the roots of three titanic peaks of the Misty Mountains:

Zirakzigil (Silvertine) – westmost, under which the Longbeards founded Khazad-dûm (and - even by the third age- would have housed the vast majority of its halls)

Barazinbar (Redhorn) – northmost;

Bundushathûr (Cloudyhead) – eastmost.

Map from The Encyclopedia of Arda showing Moria and its surroundings. Certain elements of this map are conjectural.

It is not inconceivable that each of these mountains may have housed one of the three clan halls:

The Silvertine range (Zirakzigil) held the oldest and greatest halls—those of the Longbeards, including the East-gate and the grandest delvings - of that we are certain.

Barazinbar and Bundushathûr may have served as the respective centers for the Broadbeams and Firebeards.

Together, these three peaks formed a tri-crowned kingdom, with the Lord of Khazad-dûm as the central, if not exclusive, authority.

Afterall, when dwarves (such as Gimli) talk about Moria, they speak of these three Mountains, while we know the vast majority (if not nearly all) of the known structures were build under only one of these mountains, so why refer to "the Three Mountains of Moria" then, why not simply to Zirakzigil? Well, I believe that each of these Mountains housed these three clans, as such all an integral part of Khazad-dûm.

In this structure of three Kings in one location, allegiance may have been practical rather than ceremonial—each king ruling his own folk, yet deferring to the Longbeard sovereign in matters of shared defense and even law.

So yes—even among kings, there was a pecking order.

The Dwarves may not speak of “high kings,” but in practice, certain thrones—like the one beneath Zirakzigil—stood higher than others.

Zirakzigil, one of the great peaks in the Misty Mountains. On its peak stood Durin's Tower.

[Note in Hindsight:] This reply turned out much longer than I had initially imagined—but then again, so do most of my replies. The nuances deserved the room, and if you’ve made it this far, you’re exactly the kind of reader who’d appreciate it. Dwarves may at times take shortcuts, but I rarely do.

🛡️ On Local Power and Autonomy

Even beneath clan kings, local lords (also an "uzbad") could wield immense power—especially those far from the central court or ruling over resource-rich regions.

Dáin Ironfoot is a prime example:

At just 32 years old (barely of age for Dwarves), he defeated Azog in the Battle of Azanulbizar.

He then refused to lead his people into Moria, despite his king’s command—and his judgment stood.

Though his grandfather Grór was still official lord of the Iron Hills, Dáin was already acting with unquestionable authority.

This demonstrates that autonomy, military strength, and ancestral legacy could raise a local lord’s standing even above what his title might imply.

As such, a Lord of that standing could even have other Lords reporting to them (in a manner making them a High Lord). For instance, considering the distance between the West and East parts of the Iron Hills, it would not be inconceivable that many of the more distant mining colonies would have their local Lords, which would in turn fall under the leadership of the Lord of the Iron Hills. They would all bear the same title—Uzbad—but not the same authority.

Thráin said: ‘Good! We have the victory. Khazad-dûm is ours!’ But they answered: ‘Durin’s Heir you may be, but even with one eye you should see clearer. We fought this war for vengeance, and vengeance we have taken. But it is not sweet. If this is victory, then our hands are too small to hold it.’ And those who were not of Durin’s Folk said also: ‘Khazad-dûm was not our Fathers’ house. What is it to us, unless a hope of treasure? But now, if we must go without the rewards and the weregilds that are owed to us, the sooner we return to our own lands the better pleased we shall be.’ Then Thráin turned to Dáin, and said: ‘But surely my own kin will not desert me?’ ‘No,’ said Dáin. ‘You are the father of our Folk, and we have bled for you, and will again. But we will not enter Khazad-dûm. You will not enter Khazad-dûm. Only I have looked through the shadow of the Gate. Beyond the shadow it waits for you still: Durin’s Bane. The world must change and some other power than ours must come before Durin’s Folk walk again in Moria.’

Dáin Ironfoot after the Battle of Azanulbizar, commanding his King Thráin II not to enter Moria.

⚔️Note on the aftermath of the Battle of Azanulbizar

Tolkien writes:

“And those who were not of Durin’s Folk said also: ‘Khazad-dûm was not our Fathers’ house. What is it to us, unless a hope of treasure?’”

At first glance, this line seems puzzling—particularly given that the Broadbeams and Firebeards had called Khazad-dûm home for over five millennia. That such clans would dismiss it so readily appears, on the surface, inconsistent. One might view this as a rare oversight on Tolkien's part.

But there are other possible explanations:

Perhaps “those who were not of Durin’s Folk” refers not to the other six clans as a whole, but to the four clans of the east that had no ancestral tie to Khazad-dûm.

Alternatively, by the time of Azanulbizar, Khazad-dûm had already been abandoned for over 800 years, its halls darkened by the Balrog. The Broadbeams and Firebeards, though long settled there, had since established new realms elsewhere. And unlike the Longbeards, Khazad-dûm was not the home of their First Father, nor the seat of their current king.

Thus, by the Third Age, even if the Broadbeams and Firebeards remembered Khazad-dûm fondly, it may have no longer held the symbolic weight it did for Durin’s Folk—especially when reclaiming it would mean war with a terror still engraved in their memories through story.

👑 Princes, Heirs, and the Line of Succession

Neo-Khuzdul provides precise terms for various levels of noble succession:

uzbadyand – prince (used chiefly in Erebor and among Durin’s Folk) Lit. "lord-son", using the Ereborian form yand = son. As seen in "Yanâd Durinul" (sons of Durin).

uzbad-dashat – prince (as used generally)

rayad – heir A designated successor to a throne.

sanrayad – crown prince (lit. “perfect heir”) A specific title used for the heir apparent of a Dwarven clan king. Here the prefix san- implies formal recognition.

More details of the succession of Dwarven Royalty (and if Dís could have been Queen, amongst other related questions) can be found in an older post HERE.

👑 On Nobility and Royalty

Among the Dwarves, nobility and royalty are distinct.

Nobility refers to those who hold hereditary lordships—the lords of halls and regions, along with their spouse and direct descendants (sons and daughters). These are Uzbad (and their immediate families) in service to a clan king.

Royalty, by contrast, refers to those of direct kingly blood—the immediate family of a reigning king within one of the Seven Clans. This includes not only the king’s children, but also his siblings, first cousins, uncles, aunts, and grandparents. These royal houses form the core bloodlines of the Dwarves’ ancestral thrones.

While both may be addressed as Uzbad or Zabdûna, the difference lies in scope and proximity to the clan kingship.

As an example: At the time of the Reclaiming of Erebor, Gimli would have been considered nobility—as he was second cousin once removed to the King, both descended from King Náin II, Thorin’s great-great-grandfather. However, Dís and her sons (Fíli and Kíli) would have been considered royalty.

🧠 Summary

So yes—there are clear and deliberate distinctions between kings, lords, princes, royalty, nobility, etc... Even among kings, not all thrones sit at the same height, and even among lords, some carry more than a hall’s worth of power.

Thank you for reading through to the end. Dwarven matters are rarely simple—and even more rarely brief.

Ever at your service, The Dwarrow Scholar

#neo-khuzdul #durin's folk #royalty #dwarves #succesion #long post

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