#having characters with a birth year after 2000 feels weird lol

[little-mad]

Little Details of the Big Picture Pt. 2

~ Previous Part ~ Next Part ~

Being in the human realm was strange. Rael doubted if it was possible for any alteon to ever become accustomed to standing in a world that felt as though it were one of the military’s battle strategy models.

It had become an even stranger experience now that his view of humanity had shifted. Now he felt as though he could see Gavin in every human that he saw, even when the only trait they shared with the thief was species.

Of course, Rael could not treat these humans the same way he treated Gavin. Plucking them up or carrying them on his shoulder was completely out of the question. Doing so would likely result in him getting fifteen of those tiny gray weapons pointed at him. Even all fired at once, Rael doubted the weapons would do him much damage. The real danger would come when he returned home and the Emperor learned of his actions.

“Sorry for making you wait, you got here a little earlier than I was expecting.” Rael was pulled from his thoughts by the voice of a human woman who was now striding across the roof.

The human had skin of a dark brown color with a reddish undertone. Her deep black hair was fashioned in a tight bun behind her head. She seemed vaguely familiar to Rael, and after a moment of pondering he realized she was the one who had been in charge of Gavin’s extradition.

“It’s alright, I ended up arriving a bit earlier than scheduled,” Rael called down to the human. Despite being on the top of a three story building, the humans still barely stood higher than his knees. Were this Gavin he were dealing with, he may have just scooped him up to hold him closer to face level. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a viable option with this human.

“We met briefly during your last visit, but allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Agent Taani Sunder.” Rael caught the woman’s right arm twitch slightly as though she was about to offer her hand to be shaken but realized her mistake at the last second. “I am here to offer you whatever assistance or resources you may require in your investigation.”

Rael bowed his head downwards slightly. It was quite difficult to be properly courteous when he was looming over the humans to such an absurd degree. “My name is Rael, a soldier of the Imperial Guard, and your aid will be appreciated.”

For the most part, Rael preferred to handle things on his own. He wasn’t altogether fond of having to rely on others. Unfortunately, the nature of this job required him to have human help. As a result of his size, Rael was unable to go most places in the human realm. Certainly any place indoors was out of the question. Therefore he needed humans who could do that groundwork for him.

The woman, who had called herself Agent Sunder, gave a polite nod. “We’ve taken the liberty of printing out the essential information of the case to a size we hope will be readable for you.” She turned over her shoulder to gesture behind herself just as a group of agents filed out of the door which led into the building below.

The agents were holding what appeared to be small scraps of parchment–except in relation to human size, they were actually quite large. Each piece of parchment was wider than the human carrying it and nearly as tall. As the agents came closer to where Rael stood, he took note of the incredibly neat writing scrawled across the pages.

When the first agent reached the edge of the rooftop he held his piece of parchment out to Rael. The little man held it high up above his head, making very little difference in height than if he had just held it out in front of himself.

“Um thank you,” Rael muttered. He suddenly felt quite a lot like some kind of giant monster that was being offered sacrifices by a group of defenseless peasants.

The size disparity between Rael and the humans became painfully obvious as he pinched the page of writing between his thumb and index finger. What had been a vast thing in human hands looked to be nothing more than a small chunk of parchment in Rael’s. The text written on the surface was only just large enough for him to decipher without squinting.

Before Rael got a chance to fully look over the writing on the first piece of parchment, he was being handed another, and another, and another. After six agents had unloaded their cargo, Rael finally had what he assumed to be an overview of the Lady Elyth robbery.

Rael found most of the file’s contents to be information he already knew. He skimmed quickly over those parts. But when he came upon a profile of Gavin Stone, he paused. The first section of the profile seemed to provide general details about Gavin.

Name: Gavin Stone

Sex: Male

Age: 20

Birthdate: 06/15/2001

Birthplace: Hoboken, New Jersey

Rael’s eyebrows lifted as he realized he had gone this entire time without knowing Gavin’s age. He had been aware the human was on the young side, though certainly not young enough to be considered a child. However, Gavin had neglected to ever tell Rael his specific age, and Rael had neglected to ever ask.

Alteon and human lifespans were similar for the most part. Like alteons, humans had approximately eleven years of childhood and seven years of teenhood. But unlike alteons, humans' aging process did not begin to slow once they reached adulthood. Therefore a human of forty years looked a fair bit different from an alteon of the same age. Were Gavin alteon, his aging would begin to slow in a couple more years. Rael, who was twenty-three years of age, had already reached that point.

The next item that caught Rael’s eye was the birthplace. Of course, he knew very little about the geography of the human realm. He had only been taught the very basics prior to his first venture here. What he did know was that the city he was currently on the outskirts of was called “Washington D.C.” It was also the same city in which Gavin had been caught stealing from Lady Elyth.

Charges: Grand larceny, first degree burglary – suspected of others

Date of Arrest: 04/21/2021

Place of Arrest: Washington D.C.

Arresting Office: Anthony Orville

The next section of the profile confirmed what Rael had already known. Although he wasn’t familiar with human criminal charges, he was intrigued by the little note which indicated that Gavin was suspected of even more crimes than he had been charged for. Maybe one day he would ask the little guy about it.

Height: 5’10

Weight: 132 lbs

Eye Color: Hazel

Hair Color: Light Brown

Build: Slim

The final part of the profile appeared to be a record of Gavin’s physical appearance. Unfortunately, the first two categories meant nothing to Rael; he had never learned the human system of weights and measures. The other categories were all things he had already observed himself. Though, he did have to hold back a smirk at the bit which described Gavin’s build as “slim.” It seemed he was small even by human standards.

“Of course, if you need any details not included in that file, I can look them up for you,” Agent Sunder put in.

Rael glanced up from the parchment. The small woman was standing near the edge of the roof. Meanwhile the rest of the agents collected on the rooftop were keeping their distance. Each of them was noticeably tense. Clearly they weren’t especially comfortable in the presence of an alteon.

“What do you know about Gavin’s connections with other criminals?” Rael inquired. He felt a little guilty poking around in Gavin’s past when he realistically could just ask him to his face. But once again the top secret nature of this job prevented him from doing so.

“Sadly not as much as we’d like,” Agent Sunder replied. “Mr. Stone refused to give up any of his associates.” That wasn’t surprising to Rael. Gavin didn’t really strike him as the disloyal type. “But we did happen to nab someone who claims to have worked with him before.”

That caught Rael’s interest. In all likelihood this individual would know nothing relevant. In fact, it was possible they didn’t actually know Gavin at all and had only claimed to in an attempt to save their own skin. However, if there was a slight chance they had some information on who had contacted Gavin about the Lady Elyth job, Rael felt he had to pursue it. “And who is this person?” he asked Agent Sunder.

“His name is Jack Hampton–or at least that’s the name he’s currently going by,” she explained. “D.C. police caught him fleeing from the scene of a jewelry store robbery. After he told detectives he knew Gavin Stone, he was transferred to FBI custody.”

Well, Rael supposed the fact that this “Jack Hampton” person was a thief lended itself to the idea that he might be some kind of colleague of Gavin’s. “Would it be at all possible for me to speak to this man?”

Agent Sunder smiled. “You’re in luck, he’s being detained in this building.”

[waitingona-mirabel]

MIRABEL FERNANDA VALERA MADRIGAL – CHARACTER SHEET

Nicknames: Her family calls her Mari (short for “mariposa” because she loved butterflies as a kid) but other friends and people outside her family often shorten to Mira. Also if she’s in a situation where she needs an alter ego she says her name is Bella lol Archetype — The Everyman Birthday — October 6th, 2000 Zodiac Sign — Libra sun, Capricorn moon, Libra rising MBTI — ENFJ Enneagram — Type 2: The Helper

OVERVIEW

Mother — Julieta Constanza Madrigal Valera Father — Agustin Ramón Valera Sepúlveda Mother’s Occupation — kitchen witch! Father’s Occupation — InterPride Family Finances — Moderate Birth Order — Youngest Brothers — None Sisters — Isabela, Mirabel Other Close Family — Abuela, Tia Pepa, Tio Felix, Dolores, Camilo, Antonio Town or City Name(s) — Encanto, Isle Silvia, Avalor What Did His or Her Bedroom Look Like — Mirabel’s bedroom was never intended to stay her bedroom-- it was originally designed for the kids before they got their gifts, but Mirabel never got her gift, so she just stayed. It’s a relatively small room, with teal walls that she thought looked cool when she was a tween and she’s been wanting to paint a more muted shade for years. The walls are covered in posters and pictures, and lately she’s been putting motivational quotes up. A lot of embroidery hoops, too. Sometimes, casita rejects her design ideas. It’s a constant battle.  Any Sports or Clubs — Before they had to leave Avalor, Mirabel was super involved in a ton of different activities, even stuff that she wasn’t very good at or didn’t care for. She fell behind in school after getting to Swynlake, though, and didn’t have time for extracurriculars. She was super involved in the church, though, helping with Sunday school and leading the teen retreats. Any opportunity to get people talking about their feelings lol.  Favorite Toy or Game — CHARADES. Also she has a super beat-up doll that she made when she first learned to sew. It’s literally horrifying looking but it’s sentimental.  Schooling — Had to leave Avalor part of the way through her first year of high school and ended up repeating the year. She was a good student (not a great one, but a good one) prior to the coup, but struggled after arriving in Swynlake and never fully caught up. She always managed to keep her grades up enough that nobody was seriously worried, though, until her second year of uni when her mental health took a hit and she couldn’t finish her finals. Now, she’s taking the semester off and considering transferring to Pride U-- or maybe she’ll go back to Bristol. Favorite Subject — Science! Engineering type stuff. She is always curious about what makes something work, taking things apart, that sort of thing. Really liked history, too, back in Avalor, but when she got to the UK it was full of references that everyone understood but her. and it made her really frustrated. Popular or Loner — I would say popular but in a weird-girl-everyone-likes-because-she’s-nice-and-inoffensive kind of way, like nobody was aspiring to be her or anything and she didn’t have a lot of close friends, but she was generally well-liked. Making friends was kind of hard when she first got to Swynlake because of the culture shock, but she was pleasantly surprised by how many people from different parts of the world lived there. Important Experiences or Events — When she didn’t get magic, when Antonio did get magic, when she had to leave Avalor, when she graduated secondary school Nationality — Avalorian Culture — Colombian, Avalorian, Sorcerer (culturally) Religion and beliefs — Catholic culturally, but her actual religious beliefs are kind of in constant question. Something she thinks about a lot.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Face Claim —  Alejandra Cardona Complexion — Tan Hair Colour — Dark Brown Eye Colour — Brown Height — 5’2 Tattoos — None Piercings — Ears Common Hairstyle — Short and curly Clothing Style — Granola girl/VSCO girl/Camp counselor core Usual Expression —

HEALTH

Physical Ailments — Do glasses count? Lol Neurological Conditions — Nothing that has been diagnosed, but she still has unaddressed trauma from the coup situation that took an intense toll on her mental health this past year Allergies —  None Grooming Habits — She takes care of herself generally but she doesn’t have a skincare routine or anything lol Sleeping Habits — Morning person! But she had to pull a lot of late nights/all nighters to keep up with school this year which really messed with her balance  Eating Habits — Not a picky eater at all, kind of compares everything to her mom’s cooking though lol. Likes to snack a lot. Exercise Habits — She loves dance workouts! She’s not a great dancer but she’s pretty good at staying on beat, and some of her favorite memories are dancing with her family. So dancing always makes her happy. Sociability — Very outgoing! Likes kids more than adults Drug Use — Tried weed once and had a bad reaction. Alcohol Use — Drinks socially! Not excessively but she doesn’t feel strongly about it one way or the other

YOUR CHARACTER’S CHARACTER

Bad Habits — Passive-aggression, being nosy, judging people (privately), sticking her foot in her mouth/causing a scene Good Habits — Being inclusive and making people feel welcome, the type of person to always make room for you in the circle or walking down the sidewalk Best Characteristic — See above-- she makes people feel included Worst Characteristic — Moral high ground Worst Memory — Probably being scared for her family’s safety during the coup but also not getting her gift Best Memory — Just general happy memories of everyone together in Avalor Proud of — Her family’s magic! Embarrassed by — Her own lack of magic :/ Driving Style — Chaotic but she’ll get you where you need to go Fears — Letting down her family and ending up like Bruno (she doesn’t know what happened to him, but she doesn’t want it to happen to her), something happening to her family while she’s away from it Secrets — Probably her resentment toward Isabela (and a lot of people in her family, but she won’t even admit that part to herself).  Regrets — Ruining Isa’s quinceañera  Feels Vulnerable When — People ask her what her magic is Pet Peeves — At this point she knows they mean well but her family’s comments about her lack of magic (trying to make her feel better) kind of get on her nerves sometimes. Also whenever people pay attention to Isa lmfao (which is often) Conflicts — Beefing with Isa over petty stuff, feeling like a disappointment to Abuela (and constantly being clumsy and weird around her) Motivation — fitting in, keeping the attention off of herself, trying to please Abuela Short Term Goals and Hopes — get a job, get back to school, stop feeling so stressed and scared Long Term Goals and Hopes — Finally feel secure and like she knows where her life is going. Help people, somehow.  Sexuality — She’s pretty sure she’s not straight, but she’s never really had the opportunity to figure it out because she’s been so stressed out and busy. Also never really explored it because she doesn’t want it to be a Thing (even though she knows her family will be chill with it because of Dolores-- honestly the idea of bringing ANYONE home is just a terrifying thought lol). Day or Night Person — Morning person! Introvert or Extrovert — Extrovert! Optimist or Pessimist — Optimistic but in a kind of self-deprecating way Greatest Want — Fitting in Greatest Need — Being more gentle with herself <3

[guyinlovewitheremika]

Oooh could you expand on why you liked the op?? I honestly don't know what to make of it yet, especially since it felt so different from other ops, but I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Absolutely will do!! This took longer than I wanted cause everytime I sat down to write I started getting distracted from the OP and just listening to it on repeat lmao

To start this off, I should add that throughout the week leading up to release date, I was following a couple of leakers on twitter who did drop some info on the OP; mainly that Shinsei Kamattechan were returning, the title, that it wasnt gonna feature any characters and instead be a metaphor for the “cruelty of war”. Knowing all of that had me pretty excited but also gave me the right expectations, so it wasnt too jarring to see at first. 

But, to jump into this, first of all, I just loooove the visual style in general. It mostly just being static shades of white and light grey, with these very washed out colors exploding and flowing onto the image...it’s absolutely gorgeous! Like I just really dig this color scheme. And it’s highlighted even further by the gorgeous, fluid animation...these explosions look so good! I’m also just a big sucker for familiar characters/entities being represented in a sort of timeless way...be it a portrait, a statue, a monument, whatever (think smth like this), so seeing Eren and the other titans at the end there was just an absolute treat. Whatever that thing is, I want some kind of print/purchasable piece of merch of it because that heap of titans looks amazing. 

The song also just bangs tbh. It’s such a weird agglomeration of instruments and vocals but I find it comes together really well. The childrens choir, the piano at the beginning, the distorted vocals and most importantly that E-violin!!! so fucking good! Honestly I just love the way this song sounds and Im more hyped for the full version than the ost release atm (even tho I love what we heard so far from that too). The combination of the visuals with the music too is great here...I’ve never seen a flamethrower used in combination with the beat of a song before (outside of mad max fury road I guess lol?) but goddamn its just such a cool fucking combination I cant get over it. 

I have some thoughts on the imagery and the symbolism and my interpretations of it all, and I wanna get into those too, but really, the main thing I absolutely love about this OP is how different it is. Just as the marley arc is probably the most different of all in the manga, just as the new studio has made a show that, in many ways, looks feels and sounds vastly different from the old Attack on Titan, the OP encapsulates all of that by just being this new thing and succeeding at it

I love WIT’s OP’s, I love Linked Horizon’s work on the show. But honestly, the “Linked Horizon hype OP” genre pretty much peaked with Guren no Yumiya for me. I still like all the others, but overall, OP 1, 2, 3 and 5 just feel a bit too same-y for me, especially given that I honestly don’t think any of the follow ups surpass the original. Heck all these other songs even reference GnY in some capacity--I cant help but feel like they could never let go of Guren’s success and never tried something else. Except for Red Swan of course, which is also my 2nd favorite WIT OP. It’s slower, it’s sadder, it’s melancholic, and vastly different from all the others, and I really appreciate that. It tries to be its own thing and it succeeded for me. And “My War” even more so feels like it has a very distinct, unique vision, goes all out in that way, and it just works beautifully.   

And it’s that distinct, unique vision that I wanna dig into lastly here, because, just as the marley arc does for this manga, I find that out of all the OP’s, My War most explicitely depicts and visualizes many of the core thematic ideas of Attack on Titan and brings them directly into the forefront. I’ve seen a bunch of cool interpretations of the song at this point, and someone may have somewhere already said all this, but I wanna throw it in here regardless

After countless battles, sacrifices, victories and losses, Eren and the survey corps were able to win the war against the titans that their walled world was stuck in for a hundred years. Their gigantic enemies were defeated, and freedom ought to lie ahead. But no, beyond the shores is just more...more oppression, more war, more death and more sacrifice. The history their king to from them is one of war and oppression, a never ending cycle of violence, spanning back 2000 years, continuing forward. One oppressive regime falls, only for the next to take its place. This has been the history of mankind since the dawn of man, and it continues on and on and on. 

This is what this episode shows us, another military battle around another walled encampment, and this is what this opening shows us...a world perpetually at war. Man’s hatred for one another leads to conflict, to war: it’s continued existence in history and continued technological advancements are the perfect visual representation of this. Man’s capacity for war breeds more war, and it takes lives and it takes freedom and it doesnt stop, it just keeps consuming. 

The Opening starts off with battleships, artillery fire, mortars, flamethrowers, nuclear explosions and a titan spine forming among them all, until the birds of freedom fall dead out of the sky. Neverending armies of soldiers march the streets, airships rule the sky, but all the soldiers, all the military craft, the marleyan military and the paradisian soldiers all fall to pieces and get destroyed. War and conflict rage on and all the pieces fall to the ground, littering the earth in nothing but death and destruction. And at the end, atop this mountain of corpses and mayhem, the titans arise, reaching forward, attacking. They are born from mankinds neverending cycle of destruction, the physical manifestation of our inner demons that lead us to kill each other. 

I thoroughly believe that this sequence of events most perfectly encapsulates all of attack on titan. Look at the marley arc: the years of their attempts to wipe out Paradis island lead the island and the attack titan straight to them, delivering a terrible blow to them during their declaration of war. 2000 years ago it was the warmongering, slave hording king fritz who had a girl hunted for sport who brought about the era of the eldian empire, creating a system to eternally maintain the titan’s ability to wage war and rule the lands that would wind up ripping humanity apart. Look at the final arc: all of humanities hatred towards the island devils birthed the final attack titan and his horde of demons who have come to trample the world underfoot. The titans have always arisen as the consequence of man’s tendency towards conflict and death. Eren’s titan first formed from inside a titan who just killed him, his last titan was born out of his own death yet again. Titans are man’s desire to kill given shape, and the more man kills and fights, the more titans arise. 

It’s a bleak and terrible look at the cruelty of the world, that I think the OP highlights immensly well. It’s a gorgeous looking and sounding 90 seconds, and despite its contents being essentially horrifying, its fun to look at and listen to. Isayama once said about Eren’s attack in marley that “what eren does here is the worst thing. but if you were able to feel just a little bit of excitement from it, then it was worth drawing manga all this time”. Somehow, one way or another, we’re drawn to conflict, despite how terrible it is. And I think this opening manifests this beautifully 

[thefloatingstone]

We’ve gone from Self-Isolation to Quarantine and in some places to gradual relaxation phases, but that doesn’t stop the need for more nonsense you can watch on youtube while you wait for things to get back to normal. And recommending things and making lists are some of my favourite things to do but I have not yet figured out how to start or structure a video myself, you guys get another rambling tumblr post of things you can watch on youtube.

This time I’m once again just gonna recommend individual videos rather than full channels like I did in part 2.

Part 1

Part 2

In no particular order; 

LOCAL58: The Broadcast Station that Manipulates You

I recently started watching the Nexpo channel when I went on a binge of creepy youtube videos. Most of his videos are really good although the ones where he himself goes into theory crafting can be a little asinine. However, this video is REALLY good. And before you get nervous, LOCAL58 is not a real TV station. LOCAL58 is a youtube channel created by the same guy behind the Candle Cove creepypasta. This video by Nexpo covers the various episodes of LOCAL58 and discusses them. Just be aware going in that this is abstract horror, and will probably get under your skin regardless if you’re unaffected by certain topics or not. although cw for suicide mention.

I also recommend most of the rest of this channel, although be careful where you tread. I don’t recommend his series “Disturbing things from around the internet” as it can sometimes include real life crime, abuse and such caught on security cameras. Everything else is really good tho. (although I was really annoyed by his 2 videos on KrainaGrzybowTV)

The Search for D.B. Cooper

LEMMiNO has a new video out covering one of the most unexplained crimes in the past century of the US. LEMMiNO is the guy I’ve recommended before who did videos on the Universal S. He is very down to earth and not someone prone to conspiracy or even really that fanciful of thinking. (He’s like the one person I feel covered the Dyaltov Pass incident and was confused by why this was even a mystery because if you read the Russian Autopsy reports and documents associated with the case it’s all pretty logical and easily explained)

D.B. Cooper is the name given to a man who, in 1971, hijacked an airplane with a bomb, asked for a large sum of money, and after receiving it, parachuted from the plane and was never seen or heard from again.

The Austrian Wine Poisoning | Down the Rabbit Hole

Down the Rabbit Hole also has a new video out, this time covering the Austrian Wine Poisoning event from 1985. A scandal that involved literally the entire country of Austria, affected multiple countries, and forever changed the way wine was made world wide. As someone who is generally pretty allergic to most artificial substances this one made me personally very angry. But luckily, it has a happy ending and a better world for us all... if I could drink wine which I can’t do anyway.

The Turbulent Tale of Yandere Dev - A Six Year Struggle

The Right Opinion is another channel I only recently subbed to after watching his cover on Onion Boy. I put off subbing to him simply because of his channel name and I thought it meant he would come across as smug and elitist. Luckily this seems to merely be one of those “I chose a bad channel name and now I’m stuck with it” type of situations. (IHE has a similar problem).

Anyway, I have a weird interest in bizarre internet personalities, so I’ve been enjoying his channel as he simply discusses and presents a timeline of events of certain individuals. In this video, he covers the developer behind the much maligned Yandere Simulator. It’s a tale of hubris, arrogance, immaturity, and an unwillingness to accept your own shortcomings due to ego.

Oh and there’s a meme game about Japanese school girls with anime tiddies in there as well.

The Most Relaxing Anime Ever Made | Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō

Kenny Lauderdale is a youtube channel which is slowly becoming bigger which I’m very happy to see. He exclusively covers anime and live action Japanese television no younger than the mid 90s (as is the case with YYK) and which usually never saw a release outside of Japanese Laserdisc. I do wish his videos were a little longer, but if nothing else his videos serve as an excellent starting to point to find some older and underappreciated shows... or hot garbage fires. In this episode he talks about the 2 OVA episodes made based on one of my favourite manga, Yokohama Shopping Log. A Post apocalyptic anime about an android who runs a coffee shop outside of her house, and the quiet solitude of living in a world of declining human population, brief encounters with travelers and other people, and just... existing. The anime was never released outside of Japan and is only available on Japanese VHS and laserdisc.... but hey guess what!! Somebody uploaded both episodes, subbed, to Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2HCVOH6DtA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqSTwfkobME

YMS’ slow descent into madness as he uncovers just how bullshit the Kimba Conspiracy is

I’m linking a full playlist for this one.

YMS is busy planning his review on the “live action” Lion King remake as the original 1994 movie is probably his favourite movie all time (and also self declared what made him a furry). As part of the 2 hour review, he decided to what all 2000 hours of Kimba the White Lion just to mention how The Lion King potentially stole the idea. ....until he actually watched all 2000 hours of Kimba and realised that if you actually WATCH Kimba, it has VERY little to do with the Lion King at all apart from having the same animals in them because AFRICA. Watch as one man slowly loses his mind as he realises just how stupid this conspiracy theory is, just HOW DECEITFUL and straight up LYING people can be. People who write BOOKS. People who teach LAW AT UNIVERSITIES. Because NOBODY bothered to actually watch the entire show and just parroted the “Disney stole this” lie which got started by like 2 salty fans on the internet.

The man set out to just mention how Disney stole an idea, and uncovered one of the most infuriating rabbit holes on the internet. Screaming for SOMEONE to provide him with sources or evidence.

YMS will be publishing his full Kimba documentary this month which he has said is around 2 hours long before he continues to work on the Lion King one.

Science Stories: Loch Ness eDNA results, Poop Knives, and Skeleton Lovers

TREY the Explainer has a video giving us some updates in Archeology from 2019. In this video he discusses the findings of the eDNA results conducted on the Loch Ness to see what animal DNA the lake contains which will tell us what living animals currently inhabit the lake, ancient knives made of poop and if this is a real thing that could have existed, and a skeleton couple found buried together which were at first thought to be lovers, then revealed to be both male, and then how in this instance we cannot let our modern sensibilities dictate what we WANT this burial find to be, but to look at the evidence as presented to us and place in context finds of this nature. The worst thing an archaeologist can do is look for proof to a theory they already have.

The Bizarre Modern Reality of Sonic the Hedgehog

Super Eyepatch Wolf is back and he’s here to talk to us about the very very strange existence of Sonic. a 90s rebellious “too cool for School” answer to Mario, a lost idea as the world of video games changes and culture shifted, a meme and punching bag amplified by a unique fanbase and poor quality games, a transcendence into a horrific warped  idea of what he once was, and modern day and where Sonic and his fans are now. As usual Super Eyepatch Wolf knocks it out of the park.

Kokoro Wish and the Birth of a Multiverse: A Lecture on the Work of Jennifer Diane Reitz

I don’t even sub to this channel as I’m not entirely sure what Ben’s usual content is about. But every now and then he has a “101″ class, where he explains to a room full of his friends in a classroom setting (complete with Whiteboard) an internet artist and oddity, the timeline, and what it is they have created. (wait... didn’t I say this already?). Unlike TRO however, the 101 classrooms are not a dark look into disturbed individuals (although the CWC 101 is debatable) nor is it a “lol look at this weirdo” dragging. Instead, of the 3 he’s done so far, it’s usually a rather sympathetic look at some of the strange artists on the internet who through some way or another, left a very big cultural impact on the internet space through their art. Sometimes they may not be the best people, but their work is so outside of what we’re used to seeing that just listening to him run you through these people’s internet history is fascinating.

In this episode he talks about Jennifer Diane Reitz. And although it is titled Kokoro Wish, the lecture is more about Jennifer’s larger work back in the early internet when being a weeb was unheard of, how being trans influenced her stories and characters, and her world building that is so rich and in-depth with it’s own ASTRO PHYSICS it puts any modern fictional world found in games or movies to shame.

Jennifer is not exactly a nice person... and in many ways can be seen as dangerously irresponsible, but she created something truly unique in a way that you kinda struggle figuring out if it’s terrible or a work of genius.

Anyway I think that’s enough for now

[elliepassmore]

Tithe Review

4/5 stars Recommended for people who like: faeries, fantasy, urban fantasy, Changelings, Unseelie Court, switched-at-birth, quick reads, multiple POVs I'll say this from the get-go: Tithe definitely reads like an early-2000s book. I don't know if I can pinpoint exactly why it reads like that, but even without knowing the exact year it came out, I could tell it was probably pre-2005, definitely pre-2010. Just something to keep in mind when opening the book. I liked the eerie, small beach town setting Black has going on in this one. There was a good mix between creepy and woodsy and normal that I liked about the town Kaye is living in, at least for the time being. When Black described the Glass Swamp, I could really see the creek and trees and scattered bottles to the point where I wanted to draw the scene. I also really enjoyed the description of the Unseelie Court, the setup of it being filled with roots and stalactites and weird veins of crystal made the place seem that much more Other. Kaye was...I don't necessarily want to say trashy, but...there are ways to write characters who drink and smoke and stay out late and party and drop out of school, all from a young age, while still having them come across as classy and someone you'd want to sympathize with. I've read books that set this up quite well, so it's nothing against that (I get it, school sucks and sometimes vices are the only thing that seem to help in life), it's more of how Kaye's characterization comes across. Clary from TMI drops out of school (and Simon does too, for a time), and actually, so do most fantasy/sci-fi MCs. Likewise, most MCs in YA novels drink or smoke or do drugs or are around those kinds of things and the authors pull it off because they write the characters and those scenes as being more than just about that. The problem, I think, is that Kaye still feels like a child for a good bit of the book, and it isn't until that passes that those qualities of her that were poorly setup in the beginning begin to seem like they fit into a scene as something other than the starring role. Aside from her initial immaturity, I really liked that Kaye just... believed in Faeries from the get-go. She'd grown up with them, believed in them, and there was none of that shock and catatonia that can sometimes come from reveals like that. Black did a good job of having a character new to the world without making her completely green. It also gave us a good reason for whyKaye trusts some of the people she comes across and the things they say. It isn't just out of nowhere or out of a lack of anyone else to turn to, it's been setup so that we know that she knows these people and has known them. *SPOILER* Though the length of time it takes to finally reveal that Kaye's a changeling was a bit much, half the book, by my estimates *SPOILER END*. Corny was a good side-character. He started out as being the surly, obnoxious older brother of Kaye's friend, Janet, but then he ends up being more integral to Kaye's journey and to the plot than Janet is. As surly as he starts out being, Corny actually turns out to be a pretty cool, accepting guy. He's the first to actually see Kaye and he pretty much just rolls with it, accepting everything she says no matter how weird or out there it seems. He's a great friend for Kaye and even has some of his own arc in this one (I believe he get's more of one inIronside). I feel bad for what he endures at the hands of other Faeries, and am uncomfortable with some of the insinuations of what occurs between him and Nephamael on that first night (and really the ones after, but it comes closest to being explicitly stated then), and I'm not entirely sure how I really feel about it beyond 'uncomfortable.' Roiben's an interesting character and I wish we got to see more of him in this book, or even more of him from his POV. He seems like a character with such internal divisions, but we don't get to really see this explored in this one (again, from what I understand, he, like Corny, has a bigger role/arc in Ironside). In this one he seemed, for the most part, to be around to be Kaye's love interest. This may be one of the parts that really feels like an early-2000s book to me, since the romantic aspect of the book wasn't built up too much. It was very much a case of girl-meets-fantasy-boy and they argue some, have mixed allegiances, they kiss a little, they argue and have mixed allegiances some more, girl's a little jealous, more mixed allegiances, and then suddenly they're with one another. I can see where the romance could've been built up, there are traces of it that I think should've been amplified more, but as it is, there's not really a lot of sense to Kaye and Roiben, no matter how cute they are on the last page. Overall it's a pretty good book, even with the heavy early-2000s vibes it has going on. Kaye and Corny were solid characters, and the other faeries were intriguing enough to make up for most of the rest of it. Likewise, I thought the settings were great and I really enjoyed the way Black turned the 'new to fantasy world' trope on its head. I'm also going to pop in here and say I also really enjoyed Kaye's mother, Ellen, as a side character. She seems really chill and open-minded and, though she cares deeply for Kaye, also acknowledges that Kaye needs to be able to make her own decisions in life (though, for the sake of reality, kids really can't drop out of school until they're 15/16, not 14, even with parental permission, which I know because I considered it in 9th grade too, lol).

[pacificwanderer]

Super Salacious B. Crumb Sunday Headcanons!

Here’s my weekly roundup of headcanons and other fun stuff. Send me your happy SW thoughts if you’re interested in having a little fun with me (either anon, or off, whatever you’d like). This week, we’ve got some music recs as well as some cute/funny headcanons and some speculation about who might have played the ST cast if this movie was made in the 90s and dreams about fig newtons! 

Gravity by EXO. This song is more about Ben’s perspective and feelings when Rey left him at end of TLJ. This song sounds very happy, funky and retro but the lyrics are very angsty. “You said I was your future, Am I now just your past?” “I gave you my everything And now are you leaving me?” “You left me behind you, falling apart And I'm scared I’ll be left to drift without you”

‘Serendipity’ by BTS Jimin and ‘For Life’ (Korean and English version) by EXO

Nonnie’s doing their best to get me into K-pop and I can’t do it, Nonnie! I already have one all encompassing obsession and I’ve seen how hard people fall for this! LOL. Great songs and thanks for the recommendations!

Pregnancy/baby mentions below!

I watched TLJ today with my best friend. She likes Star Wars but she never really talks about the characters. When it got to the end of TLJ and Kylo told Luke he will destroy Rey. My friend started cracking up. Curiously I asked what is she laughing about. She said " At Kylo. He's going to destroy Rey." She snorted some more. I'm sure my eyes was huge with worry. "Of course he's going to destroy her. Tall as he is, she's going to end up with a 11 pound baby." I brought her Starbucks after.

 LOL. With all the birth, rebirth, and yonic symbolism in TLJ, it doesn’t surprise me at all when people end up with thoughts like this haha. Sounds like a good friend, Nonnie!

I just remembered a weird dream I had some time ago: I was watching IX and Poe was on a mission on a FO ship when he saw Kylo about to cheat on Rey with another girl. Since Poe was one of Rey's best friends (don't ask me why or how did he know about Reylo lol) and he knew Kylo was doing this out of spite because Rey had "betrayed" him and not because he loved this girl, he was about to stop him (don't ask me how lol). He even said: "Rey's my friend, I need to stop this before it's too late." XD

Haha good times, Nonnie! I’m a fan of the idea that Ben Solo and Poe are at least aware of each other from their shared pasts (though there’s been no indication that this is true), but that’s a pretty funny dream. We’ll have to see how things really go when the Force bond, and everything that happened on the Supremacy, gets revealed DUN DUN DUN. I have a feeling it’s not going to go super well for our girl!

I feel like Rey is the type who will be showering kisses to Ben

Cuuute! I agree! I think, once they get used to showing affection with each other, they’re going to be one of those couples that’s just disgustingly in love with each other. Ben will look for excuses to hold her hand or touch her while they’re close and Rey will use those opportunities to just get close and places kisses anywhere she can reach (everywhere). Can’t wait for these two to have their happily ever after!

If the Sequel Trilogy was made in the 2000s, who do you think will play the main characters? I got the feeling that JJ would have casted Keri Russell as Rey. I honestly can’t think of anyone that will do Ben justice.

Hey Nonnie! That’s a fun question! I definitely agree about Keri, if JJ was directing (because he loves her lol). As far as Kylo, sheesh. Maybe JJ would have gone the George route and cast Leo DiCaprio in a role. I think he makes a great fucking villain and god, you couldn’t turn around without seeing him in the late 90s/early 2000s. Oo or maybe Joaquin Phoenix? Maybe Mekhi Phifer for Fi//nn?

I ate a bunch of fig newtons before I went to bed. I had a dream that Ben was obsessed with fig cookies and that is what Rey had to save him from. Not the dark side but fig newton cookies lol. Like wtf? Most random thing ever. She was saving him from cookies x'D But here's the plot twist. After she saves him. She took what was left of the fig cookies and ate them. I woke up laughing so hard that later in the day it felt like I did a million sit ups. 

Haha that’s pretty strange, Nonnie! I only remember my dreams if I go to sleep and wake up and go back to sleep, and then write down what happened immediately, otherwise I pretty much always forget. I do envy people who have vivid dreams that they remember, though my sister used to suffer from night terrors as a child, so not that vivid lol. This kind of makes me hungry for a fig newton, but I haven’t had one in years. If the only thing Ben had to worry about was the power of fig newtons, I think Rey’d have no problem helping eat through that particular problem. 

[prodigal-ezreal]

Nach Little Box of Hopes And Fears: Ezreal rework edition.

Let’s open this Pandora box, okay?

So, The Ezreal rework is probably hitting live somewhere at the end of the year after Worlds and the PBE during them, which gives us two months to sit, twiddle our thumbs and think. And Oh Boi! Have I thought! More under the cut because this Got Long.

This is all VERY subjective. Please take it with a grain of sea salt.

Let’s start from the beginning, as all organized matters should: What has Riot been doing with their reworks and Lore updates lately?

In my opinion, is give everyone and everything a place in the world, connecting characters and things that might have not been connected previously and retconning a few things along the way— With various degrees of success. The Darkin in Shurima are probably one of the biggest offenders here. While it gave them a place in Runaterra other than ‘Maybe aliens from another dimension/Old As Hell Demons’, Aatrox’s rework, Varus’s music video and Rhaast’s release never tied their designs or origins to anything Shuriman, from there the whiplash I got at least.

But that’s beside the point I’m trying to make. What’s Ezreal’s current state in the Lore?

Well, Ezreal has always been kind of in a weird spot post-institute, he’s from Piltover but has never had any strong affiliations or associations with the City State other than the place in which he spent his childhood, and now with the Piltover/Zaun and his own lore update, he has little ties in design as well! Back in the day, belts were all the rage in Piltover, now it’s more of an Art Deco thing —which I love— but Mr ‘I could probably go a week eating only the leather in my outfit’s belts and I still wouldn’t go hungry’ doesn’t fit anymore aesthetically. Shurima is still important to his character, since that’s where he got his gauntlet from, but as we can see from Elixir of Uloa, he’s not limited to exploring the desert, and to be honest? he never was.

Talking about design, it’s not that his design is horrendously bad, even if a bit ridiculous for his job (leather is not a breathable fabric), it just grew old. And it could have grown older! But the disparity between League’s current aesthetic/lore direction and Ezreal’s would have grown way too large for a champion so played. That’s why I reason they chose him, and not fiddlesticks or Udyr, for a VU/VO right now.

And here is where the box gets opened: let’s go first through the fears to have hope be sitting nice and pretty still inside at the end, okay?

I think everyone that follows me knows that, while I eat up any and all canon Ezreal content, I really don’t like the most recent approach Riot has had with his art: That Cutesy, Pixie Boy aesthetic that gets in my nerves and is present both in Star Guardian and the most recent World Championship skins. (Not to mention, they have gotten really lazy painting/modeling his face? I’d argue Ace of Spades has a prettier face than SG/SSG). Were his rework to take that direction for the sake of the good old ‘Ez is a girl’ joke, I’m going to be really sad about it. And Mad. Smad.

Not because I have a probelm with Ezreal not being your traditional hypermasculine fantasy male character, I quite enjoy that he isn’t, and if they were to tilt the scales in that direction to overfix the same joke, I’d still feel weird about it.

I think its easy to understand the fear of my favorite character being changed into the joke that has plagued him for years because of the homophobic fanbase that birthed it. My beef of course isn’t with male aligned people who don’t fit into the expectations of the gender, and it’s not my intention to imply that if you like the joke/ship, that you are contributing to your own oppression by reclaiming something they named as shameful— of course not. My beef is with the fact they claimed it shameful and that Riot is Not Woke Enough to pretend like it was their intention all along and they aren’t playing into the vices and prejuices of its fanbase. Let me explain.

Tar/ez or Eztar!c exists only because of the powerduo they used to be all the way back in Season 2, and persisted as an intracommunity joke because people just loved making fun of characters that didn’t quite fit with the usual Male Archetype(tm), Ezreal with his assumed ‘pretty boy’ looks (assumed because tbh no one was pretty back then) and lithe physique, and Taric with his ‘affeminate’ liking of gems. This joke, rooted in homophobia, turned both of their characters into jokes that Riot despite its best efforts because I mostly liked Taric’s rework, shut up, still l can’t completely overcome to this day, when the usage of ‘lol that’s so gay’ is not as negative as the beggining of the decade. It’s not like I think that it’s going to go away, I just fear it’s gonna get worse.

Not to mention! The wildly original, very alive horse that is the ‘Ez is a girl’ joke, comes from people forcing heterosexual roles into same gender relationships which, ew! That and his “Pretty anime boy” archetype, since those are also popular in yao! media (double ew). AND from the misogony that any male aligned person, or in less serious cases like this one, character, that doesn’t fall into line with the expectative of its gender, it’s marked as lesser. You might see this issues and think ‘I barely see that anymore’, which, fair. It has been in decline in the general Internet Population since the second half of the decade, but all of these problems stem from early 2010’s gamer culture so— Yeah. That’s another can of worms I am NOT opening.

TLDR: I feel like the the recent art direction comes from toxic places and I’m fearful Riot is gonna play into that instead of ignoring it.

It may be something else behind those decisions, but this is what my confirmation bias looks like.

Enough of unfounded fears I have now struck into your hearts because if I’m going to hell worrying about this, I’m gonna bring you all with me. Let’s think about hope.

My highest hopes for the update is that Riot plays into Ezreal’s lack of strong links— Not only do I think that it makes sense for a explorer to never truly belong in one place, it’s just easier and doesn’t force anything too alien to his character. I’d really like if they went for a ‘citizen of the world’ kind of deal. Make his design something based on Piltover but obviously worn and foreign, pepper his language with words from Shurima, Freljord, Ionia! Hell, with how big Noxus is, he’d have to learn to speak the language if he wanted to cross through it. I feel like he’s a wonderful opportunity to represent how diverse, yet interconnected Runnaterra is. I also feel like it plays into his fantasy of being a dashing —pun intended—young man who gets in and out of trouble, from adventure to adventure a la Indana Jones.

But going back to Riot’s Lore direction, we still need to tie him with somewhere, or at the very least, something.

Enter the world rune.

‘But Nach’ I hear you wail as I use either 50’s sellsman tactics or early 2000’s fanfic writer interrumptions to catch your attention, ‘World Runes are Ryze’s thing!’

Which, Fair. They are. I’m not saying Ezreal is gonna ‘prove himself to be able to let go of a World Rune’ since that is Ryze’s exclusive thing (even if the thought of that happening and Ez outright rejecting it cos Adventure sounds very appealing to me) I just want him to be tied to the missing World Rune because it makes sense for League’s token explorer to accidentaly stumble into the World Magic Battery.

Also because of the promo, but who knows. Maybe he wasn’t in the Ryze short precisely for that, maybe because since it had been so many years on the making, Ez wasn’t even in the Update Radar then and they just didn’t include him/made reference to him. It doesn’t matter, we don’t know. Time will tell.

Plus, him being tied to the World Rune would make Zoe’s fixation —as creepy as it is— make a bit more sense. If the Aspect Of Change that damned The Darkin is the same one we have today, It’d make her have more secretive, ulterior motives and connect her happy go lucky and childish personality to that mischeveous, manipulative persona we got to see in the Darkin story. If it turns out they are different, it still makes sense with Zoe’s Color story and IG characterization since she can’t seem to get serious about/remember what precisely she was supposed to omen.

TLDR Hopes: Just tie him to the world rune, it’d be cool. Also make him a fucking tutti fruti of cultures.

To tie it all up, I know there’s not much I can do but wait, since I am not active in the forums or the reddit community— but If I could feel in my heart Zoe was gonna have a crush on Ezreal when we got her ig teaser, then I do dare hope.

[earthbison]

I’m really starting to wonder about my mental health. ((More unnecessary personal rambles lol))

My mother has Borderline Personality Disorder, and while that isn’t necessarily given to children through either nature or nurture, traits of BPD can develop in those raised by a BPD parent. My sister, for example, has extreme narcissism that she’s unaware of. She can’t hold onto a conversation if it’s not about her. She has poor listening skills for other people, and tends to always bring the conversation back to herself. She does honestly mean well deep down, but is so blinded by her own personality flaws, that she can’t see how destructive she’s been with family and her past relationships.  My brothers on my mothers side also suffer to a large extent. Two of them have an alcohol problem, and the other has extreme social anxiety as well as disassociation issues.

I was raised by my birth mother for about 9 years of my life. I’ve been told I don’t reflect any of her negative qualities but I think the true reality that I’m starting to see now is that I’ve had those traits but have hidden them fairly well, all except towards one person. Only one person truly saw who I was right down to the roots, the rawest form of my positive and negative traits. A 10 year friendship that has been fucked up very badly. Her experience aside, though, if I reflect upon my elementary and junior high years I’ve had similar problems socializing at a younger age. Most people in my life have attributed this to my “shy disposition” but I was actually anything but shy in school. I had a way of throwing my “wild card” at people and letting them “deal with it” because it was ‘who I was.’ This behaviour didn’t really stop until I started working at about 18. I remember yelling out the circumcision information of a student down the hallway because I thought it was funny and he “shouldn’t care about who knows about it or not.” From what I can tell by analyzing my past self, anything that I labelled as nothing to “stress about” I didn’t take seriously, and therefore deemed it as okay to laugh about. I only ever thought of my perspective on an issue. I never considered what it may mean to another person, and if they did take a matter more seriously or differently than I did, I would rationalize that they should just, “shake it off” or “roll with the punches” because I was just “teasing” and if I didn’t take it seriously, then they shouldn’t either. Apparently I “knew” best. *eyeroll* But, that’s not how life works and.. that’s quite selfish. Looking back, it all seems like a fuck load of inconsideration from my end. 

I bullied others, pants’d my friends, scared people on purpose, made fun of teachers and students to the point where I was almost expelled (and was suspended for three weeks) I mocked others ideas if they didn’t match mine. Like when a guy in our class did ballet for the talent show, I was brutal, calling him a faggot and such (whoops, 10 years later and I’m a shining rainbow myself)

I guess I’m just worried that most of my life I’ve been inconsiderate and selfish. I’m a child who was raised in abusive households for 13 years of my life. It’s not an excuse though, and I’m still hurting people around me. I’m really trying to break it down to understand the true cause of it all. And well, childhood is always where to start. BPD traits include: - Fear of Abandonment  - Unclear or unstable self-image.  - Impulsive, self-destructive behaviors.  - Self Harm  - Extreme emotional swings  - Chronic feelings of emptiness.  - Explosive anger  -Feeling suspicious or out of touch with reality

So, obviously self diagnosing is bad, but I do have concerns. A lot of my life has fallen apart and I feel like I need to rebuild myself from the ground up. About 7 out of 8 of those traits have been huge parts of my childhood thus far; with two bleeding into my adult life.

Here’s some interesting things I’ve read about BPD:

“What would you expect to see in a mother (or a dad) with borderline personality features?  ...you would see narcissism, that is, inability to attune to others' needs, including her child's.  Instead of attunement to the child's needs, whatever happens would be experienced as 'all about her.'

Here's a classic example of a borderline parent in a situation that most dads or moms would react to with an easy hug.  Mom and child are walking on the sidewalk.  Child falls.  Mom erupts in fury. "How could you fall like that here where everyone can see you?  You are making me look bad!"  The child's concerns would be irrelevant.  The mother's reaction to the incident would be all about Mom.” -Psychology Today

“Children whose parents meet the criteria for BPD are at five times greater risk than other children in the general population to acquire this personality disorder” (APA, 2000). 

“The main traits of the disorder include emotional deregulation, impulsivity, and difficulties with interpersonal relationships i.e. fear of abandonment and unclear boundaries” (Paris, 2007)

“Frequently, parents with BPD experienced cognitive distortions when at a level of intensified affect, producing a gap in memory.”

“Susceptibility to psychopathalogy consists of two factors “cognitive vulnerability factors,” such as low-self esteem, ruminative tendencies, high self criticism and pessimistic accrediting and “interpersonal vulnerability factors,”  like reassurance seeking, dependency and insecure attachment styles. Combined, these two factors create an even greater risk for children with parents with BPD to not only have an episode of depression, but to also develop BPD (Abela et al.). “ - Scholar Works.

I suppose, at the very least, I DO have more self awareness over these things than before. It’s unfortunate that it’s been so long before I realized it though.  That being said, I wonder (and will be mindful of from now on) if the awareness of this behaviour, will actually help it cease to exist.

All in all, I’ve had more of those traits on that list in my youth, rather than within the past 4 years. Lying out of fear of abandonment, and general selfish behaviour have been the main concerns over the past little while. BPD is technically something that can be overcome from what I understand, so if I do have these traits then perhaps with an increasing level of self awareness, I’ll level out as a person. After all, it would be just the traits, not the actual disorder itself.

Before last July, I hadn’t realized the extent to which I make things about myself. In all honesty I’d even dubb it as an INFP (Fi) thing back then, since introverted feeling is about being yourself and refusing social roles despite risking making yourself look socially rude or selfish. The reality is though I’ve been ridiculously cunning and manipulative to avoid abandonment/confrontation for over 3 years. Lying, preparing, planning, avoiding conflict, hiding, etc.

It’s been much more than me “following my heart” or keeping my “moral principles” It’s become a distorted BPD-esque version. Perhaps Fi but unhealthily so. I cared about people but was willing to disrespect their characters to sate my insecurity. To the point where both were taken for granted immensely.  Either way, I did have the revelation of this pattern of destructive, self preserving behaviour while out for a deep thinking walk. Thank god for nature, always helping me be grounded again and again throughout life.

So idk, weird self analysis ramble over. I should really just start putting these in a journal or something lol but I guess a blog is a blog for a reason?