#i probably forgot about so many things but those are the Essentials

[imamuzansimp-oldblog-seoseoya]

types of kisses the uppermoons would prefer from this list

cw: kissing, fluff, morning kisses, forehead, nose, cheek, neck, lip kisses, pda, pinning against wall, jealousy (if u squint), lap, slight suggestive (mostly in muzan and dōma’s part), slight ooc (especially for muzan but it’s my hc muzan in private that we should all be well acquainted with), simpery bc have you met me, manga spoilers for dōma

a/n: this has sat in my apple notes app for wayyyyyyyy too long now

the list (creds to a tumblr i forgot the name of i saved this a long time ago):

Kibitsuji Muzan

5, 1, 4, 7, 10, 13

5 (in secret kiss): this is muzan we’re talking about. no way is he showing you his affection in public. i know i have my whole ‘softie in private™️’ muzan thing (really have to think of a better name), but key word: private. the day he shows affection in public is the day i stop liking kpop (jk i’ll never stop).

1 (good morning kiss): since muzan is a softie in private™️, he will gladly shower you with good morning kisses as soon as he wakes up. if you are asleep it does not matter, he’s waking you up.

4 (kiss on the neck): he’s a demon, who i believe has a side of him that’s very flirty and spicy. if you’re a human and you give consent, he’s kissing, biting, licking your neck and feeding off the blood from there. if you’re a demon, he’s still going to kiss, bite, lick, and suck your neck. he is not picky

7 (against a wall kiss): muzan + secretly very into steamy stuff + very dominant = muzan who loves a place where he can cage you in and watch you get flustered 

10 (jealous kiss): as an extraordinarily possessive person, muzan would get jealous A LOT. which leads to a lot of jealous kisses.

13 (lap kiss): especially when he’s jealous or horny. let’s be honest we all know he’d do this if you were an actual object of his affection.

Kokushibo

3, 5, 7, 8

3 (kiss on the nose): let’s be honest, besides lip kisses, this is the only place on his face that you can kiss. his forehead is almost nonexistent and his cheeks are just eyes, unless you’d like to kiss those.

5 (in secret kiss): i feel like since kokushibo is so loyal to muzan, he wouldn’t want to kiss you in public since he’d either be in front of muzan or in the human world. besides, he’s more introverted and a demon so i don’t think he’s big on kisses in public for your reputation especially

7 (against a wall kiss): i don’t even know why, i just feel like he’d like to flex his height on you if you’re shorter than him (which is likely, he’s 190 cm/6’3”). since he’s so tall, why not flex the height while making it intimate?

8 (top of head kisses): again, on his head there are only so many places to kiss since you miss two facial features. he’d like kissing your head, but since he’s likely so much taller it makes him feel secret butterflies when you manage to kiss his head

Dōma (istg i hate this man yall dōma simps better be glad im writing for him)

i’m tempted to include everything but i’ll just put: 4, 7, 10, 12, 13

4 (kiss on the neck): this guy is the most thirsty demon (second only to karaku obvi) and we all know it. he’d probably get grumpy if he couldn’t kiss ur neck at least 10 times a day (separately. the 20 something neck kisses he gave when you woke up only count as one).

7 (against a wall kiss): dōma is……… well it’s dōma, the same guy who says akaza might get stronger if he eats women, the same guy who wanted to make inosuke’s mother his wife, the same guy who forms a crush on the people he kills. using that logic he will gladly pin you up against the wall and kiss you until you’re essentially a tomato. he will not stop even then, he won’t stop unless a

pressing matter appears (aka nothing).

10 (jealous kiss): he gets jealous easily, so why not kiss you out of jealousy too?

12 (accidentally witnessed kiss): using the same logic as 7, he loves showing you off, unlike the previous two demons. he will “accidentally” leave the door wide open when he pins you on the bed and kisses the breath out of your lungs (a common occurrence) and sucks a lot of the blood right out of your veins (another common occurrence. did you ask/want/let him? i don’t know, but i doubt it. sorry)

13 (lap kiss): do i need to explain more? 

no. 

will i? 

yes.

this man… chances are he’s not keeping it in his pants for that one.

Akaza (ITS THE BASKETBALL! *said with love*)

2, 8, 9, 13

2 (forehead kiss): since he actually has one (looking at you koku), he’s kissing yours and you’re kissing his. that��s how it’s going to work and chances are he’s going to be a blushing mess because he is weak to even a woman’s glance *watches him sip respect women juice*

8 (top of head kisses): idek why i just feel like he’d enjoy them.

9 (shy kiss): he’s shy boi with women. we all know this. when you two are in private and he’s not busy punching dōma’s face off (i love it when he does), he is with you. with you while somehow being shy even though ur dating

13 (lap kiss): he’s a respectful demon, so he’s not going to drink your blood, but he is going to act like it with the way he’s kissing your neck roughly

Sekido

4, 6, 7, 10

4 (kiss on the neck): let’s be honest, his name means accumulated anger and he quite literally has anger written on his tongue, he’s being rough with his kissing and trying (and failing) to let off some steam. absolutely the roughest out of every uppermoon, if you thought muzan and dōma were biting a lot get ready to meet this guy. he will not stop until your neck is quite literally all red. props to you for not passing out, although you probably already did

6 (public kiss): he is angry in public, and he will kiss you to try and calm down (not like it works)

7 (against a wall kiss): probably pushes you a bit too hard since he doesn’t know his own strength.

10 (jealous kiss): i don’t think i need to explain, just look at 6

Karaku

4, 7, 12, 13

4 (kiss on the neck): ……… if it’s not obvious i’m sorry for you. the kanji on his tongue is literally pleasure

7 (against a wall kiss): again, i don’t need to explain

12 (accidentally witnessed kiss): like with dōma, the kiss is only “accidentally” witnessed. he totally didn’t leave the door wide open as he pinned you up against the wall

13 (lap kiss): ………………………….. YES

Aizetsu

5, 8, 9, 12

5 (in secret kiss): shyer than akaza 🥹! (he’s so precious im sry) every single time he kisses you it’s a shy kiss.

8 (top of head kisses): chances are he’s taller, so he kisses your head when he feels lonely. most of the time you’ll also be cuddling in bed

9 (shy kiss): just read 5

12 (accidentally witnessed kiss): unlike dōma and karaku, it is a genuine accident. he didn’t mean to leave the door open when he wanted to cuddle with you and shower you with kisses, he just did

Urogi

1, 6, 7

1 (good morning kiss): loves these. more specifically, loves receiving these. he doesn’t necessarily need sleep, but when he does wind up falling asleep, it’s next to you. you’ll usually wake up before him and wake him up with the good morning kisses he adores so much

6 (public kiss): his name means sky joy and ur telling me he wouldn’t get so happy he starts making out with you in public? he also just likes lowkey showing you off

7 (against a wall kiss): signature move: gets so happy he pins you against a wall and makes out with you

Gyutaro

2, 3, 4, 11

2 (forehead kiss), 3 (kiss on the nose), 4 (kiss on the neck): please give this poor man some love. he grew up only living for his sister and everyone else turning up their nose at him. forehead, nose, cheek, neck, everything kisses are a must

11 (first kiss): your first kiss with him was magical, whether it was also your first kiss is up to you, but it was definitely his and he relished in every moment of it.

[fuckyeahisawthat]

Re-skimmed through a bunch of Dune Messiah last night because why not and now I am having thoughts:

The thing that sticks with me most is the tone. It's melancholy, it's eerie, it's unsettled and weird. Cannot think of a more pitch-perfect director for it than Denis Villeneuve. He's gonna nail it.

There is...not that much...actual story? Denis has referred to it in interviews as "a small book" and I'm like my guy it is 350 pages. But there are actually not that many plot beats. It's just that every. single. scene. is WILDLY overwritten. The real challenge of adapting Dune is not the giant worms or the dense complicated worldbuilding or the fact that actors have to say the name "Duncan Idaho" repeatedly with a straight face. It's that there are pages and pages and PAGES of internal monologue that have to be externalized somehow for film.

After a re-skim my gut instinct for "how much story goes in a feature film" is that if you just wrote out the dialogue and action that happens in every scene in the book in screenplay format you'd end up with...maybe about an hour of material? Which is great, actually, because it means there is room to add stuff. Like a whole new independent plotline for Chani if they decide to do that.

It may seem insane to add things to an adaptation of what's notoriously one of the wordiest series in classic sci-fi but it's worth remembering that they added quite a bit to Dune Part Two. Most of the first hour of the movie--almost everything before the worm ride except for Jessica drinking the Water of Life--is stuff that isn't in the book. And it's the best part of the movie essential to making the movie work as well as it does. Yes, they also cut elements from both parts (the dinner scene, the whole plotline where Gurney thinks Jessica is a Harkonnen spy, Thufir Hawat's fate, Leto II the Elder, murder toddler Alia) but I understand why each of those elements was cut or changed in the service of cinematic storytelling.

There's an interview (can't remember which one) with Jon Spaihts, the other co-writer of the scripts along with Denis, where he talks about how Dune is like a stage play, with so many of what would be the big action set pieces happening off-page. I kept thinking about that comparison while reviewing Dune Messiah because in addition to the scenes that do exist being wordy and internal as fuck, an absolutely insane list of major events/reveals/emotionally significant moments happen off-page. The list of things that we don't actually see in the main action of the story, that we're only told about after they happen, includes:

Chani finding out Irulan has been secretly dosing her with birth control for YEARS

People trying to capture a sandworm and take it off planet

Chani and Paul finding out Chani is pregnant after 12 years of trying to conceive

Paul flying an ornithopter carrying his extremely-about-to-go-into-labor partner while blind

CHANI DYING (first time reading I did NOT know this was coming and damn near threw my Kindle across the room at the way the information was delivered)

Alia executing a bunch of people including a Bene Gesserit Reverend Mother

Paul walking into the desert at the end

You could add all these moments into a scene-for-scene film adaptation of the book and probably still have room to add more material.

The other thing that jumps out is that Paul doesn't really...govern...much. Like there's this whole subgenre of post-Dune/Dune Messiah-era fic that's just some combination of Paul, Chani, Irulan and sometimes Feyd traipsing around the palace having feelings while vague politics happens in the background, but I forgot that Dune Messiah is actually kinda like that??

There is a whole thread of Paul feeling kind of abstractly bad about being Space Hitler but he does not, in fact, actually do anything about it. And like yes both bureaucracies and religious movements can grow to have a life of their own that seems beyond the control of any one person. But also my dude you are the Emperor of the Known Universe. Someone is signing those space checks for the Endless War budget. You are not powerless here.

The one thing that really, clearly drives Paul to actively do things in the plot is not feeling guilty about having unleashed catastrophic religious war on the universe. It is protecting his family. Chani, Alia, his unborn children, and you could probably throw in Duncan by the end. That is what motivates him to act at key moments, and to want to hold on to power. And hey, y'know, if I'd experienced almost everyone I'd ever known getting murdered in a single night, I would probably get a bit intense about that too! It makes sense from a character point of view!

I'm very curious to see how these threads interweave with each other in the film, because the Villeneuve films put a lot of emphasis on Paul's agency and the fact that he may be constrained by shitty circumstances thousands of years in the making, but he still makes choices within that context. I can't see the narrative allowing film!Paul to get away with the same Poor Little Dictator routine as in the book. There are a few ways they could play this but I think the most interesting one is kinda the way they started going at the end of Part Two. Which is that as soon as you start reaching for that kind of power, then power becomes its own end and you will end up doing increasingly horrific things to maintain it. I think it would be quite interesting if the film shows us Paul not just being like "woe is me" but actively choosing to make the world worse because his trauma-driven fear of losing the people he loves makes him cling ever more desperately to power for its own sake.

If they went this route I think it would make Paul's decision at the end hit even harder. FWIW I actually really like Paul walking off into the desert at the end of the book. I think it brings things full circle with his relationship to the Fremen and creates this beautiful arc going back to the duel with Jamis. He first won a place among the Fremen through respecting their customs even though he really did not want to fight and kill someone he had no beef with. And by respecting the Fremen custom of the blind walking off into the desert, he proves himself to be fully Fremen and protects his children not by making them heirs to the throne but by making them Fremen.

And yeah, to a modern audience here on Earth it can look like "Paul conveniently fucks off and doesn't have to raise his newly-motherless children." And we can have a whole discussion about the unexamined ableism of the idea of someone who's gone blind voluntarily choosing death so as to "not be a burden" on their community. But neither of those readings is really the point here. Within the logic of Fremen cultural values, where the survival of the group as a whole is more important than the life of any one individual ("your water belongs to the tribe" etc.) Paul's choice is a willing and intentional self-sacrifice (see also: fedaykin) that wins him huge respect. There's a line in the book about Paul that's like "He would be one of them forever now" and damn if that didn't give me shivers. Like!! The political-symbolic implications!!! Which maybe I'm particularly attuned to because I just wrote a whole fic about what does it mean for an outsider to become Fremen but hmm something something Paul's final* act not being an exercise of Imperial power but an expression of kinship with an oppressed group and that being the thing that's needed to keep his family safe even if he is not physically present with them...IT IS RICH SYMBOLIC TERRITORY.

(*Yes yes I know about events in the next book. Shush.)

This kind of stuff is why I tend to think Chani may start out in a very different place in the story but the end will still be pretty close to what's in the book. It's too thematically powerful and tragic to go any other way.

But also...if they change things around enough that she is still alive at the end of the movie...I won't be sad about it.

[paraphwrites]

16, 26 and 36 for the ask game?

16) how many fic ideas am i nurturing, share one?

"nurturing" is such an interesting word. i have a list of all my fic ideas (there are 28) then the requests i have to finish. of my 28 ideas i love them all so fucking much you can't even imagine. i do have 2 favorites, though (my greek mythology saga au, and a 1700s au epic). i'll share a different idea though because those two are special

1800s asylum au. edwin has epilepsy, and his upper class parents, unable to care for him as his seizures worsen with age (and also none too pleased with how this reflects on their family), send him to an asylum. there, he meets charles. charles had been committed by his parents for sodomy. charles and edwin really really hit it off, in a way that's more romantic than not. however, charles still asserts that he is now heterosexual, because he is trying to leave the asylum. in fact, he's so heterosexual that he is having an affair with a nurse, crystal. edwin doesn't understand this, because, a) charles IS gay, and b) he genuinely believes that the best treatment for his epilepsy is at the asylum. at very least, he knows he WILL die if he leaves, and he'd rather not. anyway i could totally keep going but that's the idea :)

i don't know if i'll ever write that because it would require a lot of research but i might! you never know

26) which of my fics is the wildest ride?

this is such a funny question. i don't think any are that unhinged?? but probably recovered in 1999. i know i forgot about that one too. it's a blair witch au and it gets batshit really quickly and we just never recover

also yes it did take me until this ask to remember to maybe fucking link the fics of mine that i'm talking about sob

36) how do i write kissing scenes?

i generally treat it like any other scene. i try to draw everything out, give it the emotional dues it deserves, as i always try to do. but i also try not to give it more time than it deserves. it's a kiss, and it's just a kiss. it's not there to be exaggerated, i'm not a smut writer (it isn't bad to be one, it's just not what i am). like any other scene, i try to make it visceral with details - that cross between physical details (what the kiss is like), sensory details (things happening outside the kiss), and mental details (how the character is thinking/feeling). and the mental details impact how they kiss, and what they notice.

spoilers for Manuscript below. it's easier to describe it case by case, i think

a lot of it depends on the tone of the scene, but more broadly what it represents for the characters. for example, Manuscript:

when edwin and the cat king kiss, they are drunk. so i focus on that. because the context of this scene is that they have to be drunk in order for it to happen. it's sexual, it's rushed, it's delirious. there is no emotional core to it beyond unaware self-discovery and oblivion so i focus on the oblivion of it all. juxtapose vivid sensory details and no dialogue. are they too incoherent to speak, to wrapped up in the pleasure, too apathetic to one another? all three. and more, that we can't quire understand because they don't, either

when edwin and monty kiss, it's unexpected. it's not exactly pleasurable, but it's not exactly unpleasant. so i describe it as such - "pliant" "tight" "pink lips and clutching fingers." and with this we can extract how the characters are feeling - monty is desperate, and as the kiss goes on trying to essentially make edwin want to kiss him back. edwin is trying to be a good friend and not entirely sure how to do that. the emotions of the characters are leading how they kiss and how they react

when edwin and jason kiss, it's more for show than anything else. edwin lets himself "be kissed" but he does not kiss himself. he is passive in the situation so i use passive sentence structure. until he hears crystal and charles at it, and then he gets pissed, so then he starts putting effort in. it's only a few paragraphs because time is flying to them.

tl;dr it's a normal scene so describe things

[shadowknightapologist]

how would your mystreet rewrite be impacted by your mcd rewrite? you said they’re in the same universe right

your writing is really cool :))))

thank you so much!!

(tragic how huge this thing is, but i guess that's the price i pay for self expression.)

also i'm so sorry this is late, i forgot i started this ask </3

WARNINGS FOR: potential inaccuracies, a lot of this is probably subject to change but it's a general idea!

GWGFGD (MCD) spans entirely over two eras in myverse history—"B.P" and "D.D"—and then a very small portion of the current era, "A.G". currently, GWGFGD contains at least 850 years of history, as well as a number of crucial developments within geography, religion, government, society, and of course, the final defeat of the true king/shadrach. a lot of these changes were done or at least started by eurydice and co., including:

de-stigmatization of magik and its users;

reduction of species-based stigma/discrimination;

reduction of religious dominance;

actual abolishment of monarchy and development of democratic systems;

development of states, cities, etc. and infrastructure;

genuine unity between countries;

etc.

because of this and magik enhancing technological advancements, the beginning of A.G is about the 18th/19th century in real world equivalents (i say this because the current world year when the MCD storyline is over is 1350). politics at any point are largely underdeveloped but i feel i can solidly say about a century after GWGWGD, people are not going to war. bc actually i don't like war and i think it's largely, if not entirely, unnecessary. but anyway.

at this point, everyone knows that the divine warriors existed and most are also aware that massive portions of their mythology is incorrect (i have an eventual religion post that'll explain this more). because of this, religions surrounding the divine warriors become less about the warriors themselves and more about the themes and ideals people associated with them. for example, "solusism" during GWGFGD is about worshipping eirene as the sole goddess—and even creator—of the world, while solusism in myverse is centered more around the belief that all creatures deserve to live uninterrupted from start to finish (so a solusist may practice vegetarianism/veganism to uphold this idea).

now presently, things aren't awful, but there are some misconceptions, flaws, or gaps in the history that would still have the GWGFGD cast rolling in their graves, like:

shadow knights being rebranded as demon subtypes (like imps, succubi/incubi, etc.), and eventually completely replaced by those subtypes (only the most dutiful of history/theology nerds can find information on shadow knights; trying to explain the difference to the masses usually kills the soul, though).

many characters, especially shadow knights, are forgotten or removed from most historical accounts despite eurydice and co.'s best attempts. this includes characters like vylad, dante, lucinda (who's only known as "the White Witch"), several of the lords eurydice befriended, etc. essentially, anyone dubbed "unimportant". this is a persistent issue with myverse history, as they did this with the divine warriors as well. maybe one day they'll learn.

relic holders are assumed to have been reincarnations of the divine warriors, which is almost entirely false.

eurydice gets "mother, maiden, crone"-d and largely stripped of the individuality she fought very hard for. later, in the actual myverse roleplays, aphmau also ends up struggling with this and is believed to represent the maiden (eirene = crone, eurydice = mother).

lastly, i'll discuss some of the bigger changes to the myverse roleplays.

the biggest one is probably going to be names. a majority of the myverse cast will be descended from GWGFGD, so instead they more "represent" the OGs rather than being them. this means almost no one has the same name because it would make me tweak. the exceptions to this are the shadow knights and travis.

an example that's already come up is aphmau. she's actually born with the name "elissa", but adapts "aphmau" from final fantasy and eventually it catches and it becomes her preferred name.

the myverse cast is also supposed to look different—probably still recognizable, but individual. once again, the only exception to this is shadow knights, but this is because (as briefly stated before), shadow knights are sentenced to an automatic, reincarnation-adjacent fate. i say adjacent because instead of being reborn as something new, shadow knights are always reborn as, well, shadow knights due to the way their soul is corrupted. their reincarnations are supposed to be opportunities to live as they should have been, but there's always a chance they'll end up the same as they did in their first life (that is, a frightful husk of heated armor, boiling with fury all the time). afterlife never is and never will be an option for them. they're reborn again and again, filling in the holes where their soul belongs, and when they die they do it all again.

(how aging and death work for reincarnated shadow knights, i don't know yet.)

(the only shadow knight who doesn't follow this system is shadrach. after GWGFGD, he's employed as "judgement". when his time is served, he'll join the rest of the divine warriors, save one, in the afterlife, where they will never be reincarnated.)

[jeannereames]

Dr. Reames, a simple question from someone interested in history but who is not part of the academic world: in order to study Alexander the Great and Ancient Greece in general, how much Ancient Greek does one have to learn? Would you need to learn Demotic Greek or the many other dialects, such as the one from Macedonia? As in, you’d need to learn one or more versions of Ancient Greek?

Thank you in advance! I always enjoy your responses!

How Much Greek Do I Need to Read about Alexander?

It depends on how far you want to go…what’s your end-goal?

If you’ve no desire to make it a profession, the good news is you need very little Greek.

Most ancient Greek and Latin texts are available in translation in the major languages of (European) Classical studies: English, French, German, Italian. Now, if you want them in Polish, or Japanese, or Bengali, you’ll have more of an issue. But the Loeb Classical Library (and LOEB ONLINE) has English translations of virtually all extant (still existing) Greek and Latin sources, and if you’ve got access to a (larger) college library, they probably have them, even if you have to ask them to get things out of storage. Latin is red (PA6156); Greek is green (PA3612). Budé is the French version of Loeb, btw.

Loeb texts also have Greek and Latin on the facing page, but I mention them because they’ve got translations of (almost) everything. One can find cheaper versions without the Greek/Latin from Penguin, Oxford, et al. But those don’t have, say, Aelian, or Athenaeus, or the obscure texts of Plutarch’s Moralia. Loeb does. That said, the Alexander histories (Arrian, Curtius, Plutarch, Diodoros, and Justin) are all available in relatively cheap translations. Much earlier, in answer to a different ask, I listed our main sources on Alexander, extant and lost. It’s a longer read, but perhaps of interest.

(See below for more online sources in translation.)

So, no, you don’t need Greek. But, if you’re at least moderately serious about reading beyond pop history, you will want to learn a few Greek words to better “get” Greek sensibilities. Say, timē (τιμή), which means honor/public standing/esteem, but has all these attendant connotations. If you start reading the Serious Stuff (articles and academic books), authors will throw these around so it’s useful to know them, as they tend to carry an entire freight of meaning we don’t want to explain every time we use them. These are words I make my students learn in my intro to Greek History class (2510), so there aren’t many. (Undergrads put up with only so much, ha.) For Alexander, it’s also useful to know the Greek names of some units, such as the Somatophylakes (the royal Bodyguard of 7), or the Hypaspists (the specialist hoplite phalanx, not the same as the Foot Companions), or even the name of the long pike (sarissa). But you can make do quite well with a vocab of maybe 30± Greek terms.

It's only if you want to pursue research at the advanced (graduate) level that you’d need Greek. Even then, it’s mostly Attic Greek. The only time you’d need dialects is for quite specific study and/or epigraphy (inscriptions). Epigraphers are language specialists. Most of us, even the “pros,” don’t work at that level. But yes, if you’re getting into extensive examinations of passages, it’s good to understand the language for yourself, not have to trust a translation. Translations are, by definition, interpretations.

I hope that encourages some folks to embark on reading the original (primary) sources. Of more import for these is to understand HISTORIOGRAPHY. Even those who can read the Greek, but lack historiographic training, tend to take stuff at face-value when they shouldn’t.

Go HERE for a discussion of historiography (with regard to Alexander). Again, it’s part of a specific ask, but I explain why we need to know something about the historians who are writing our texts, in order to understand those texts. It’s another longer read, but essential.

Almost forgot! If you prefer video, I've also talked about the sources on TikTok: Part I: Intro & Lost Alexander Sources and Part II: Extant Alexander Sources

Some Useful Online Sources to Bookmark:

Perseus (at Tufts.edu): clunky as hell because it’s old (in internet years), but indispensable. English/Greek/Latin/other texts in translation and original language, plus all sorts of other tools, including an image bank. Pitfall: these are translations outside copyright, so old and sometimes problematic. Still, it’s free, and so-so much stuff here. Every person dealing with the ancient Med world has this one on speed-dial. (You can find other online sources with various texts, but Perseus has, again, almost everything; it’s the online Loeb.)

Stoa Org Static: a version of the original where you don’t have to sign in. Takes you to various super-helpful pages, including the Online Suda (a Byzantine encyclopedia you can search: look up “Hephaistion” there. *grin*) Bunch of other helpful links.

Wiki Digital Classicist hypertext list of topics ranging from the Beasley Library (of pottery) to the Coptic Gnostic Library and various online journals. Just click around, see what’s there.

Topos Text: clickable map of places which includes all references to them in ancient sources. So if, say, you want to know where X places is, mentioned in Arrian, you can find it on the map.

PHI Searchable Greek Inscriptions: I have used the tar out of this. It’s much easier than Inscriptiones Graecae, and comes with English translations.

More Online Resources: more links. This is just one of various collections out there.

Again, ALL this stuff is free. Even when you may have to pay (like Loeb Online), the amount of material you can now lay hands on even without a uni library is fantastic.

JSTOR: requires a subscription, but, if you’re a college student or can get access via a uni library, you can look up material for free. Problem: JSTOR has different subscription packages, and only the really big Class-A Research schools have large holdings for Classics. I’m regularly foiled in things I need, as my library is smaller. I use ILL (Interlibrary Loan) a lot. If you can’t get what you want via your school JSTOR or ILL, sometimes you can purchase a solo copy of an article via JSTOR Google Scholar. But (hint) always check the journal’s website itself. It might be cheaper there! (The Ancient History Bulletin, for instance, is super-cheap; check their archives. Karanos [Macedonia only] is FREE.) Same thing sometimes with books. Certain publishers have rental options, Open Access, etc.

Also Academia.edu first: Your savior…if the author is a member, and has uploaded the paper you want. We frequently face restrictions on what we’re allowed to upload, and when. Yet we may list an article we can’t yet release publicly. That doesn’t mean we won’t send it to you privately via email if you message us and ask nicely. 😊 Especially if you’re not providing an entire wishlist, or asking for a book for free. It depends on the person, and whether they have a PDF.

[trans-luis-serra-navarro]

I remember there was a headcanon about Luis attending a school that had secret connections with Umbrella. Now I can't help but think if Leon and Luis have a kid, they would do extensive background checks on schools their kid would attend, because they'll want to make sure none of those schools were associated with Umbrella/have ties to corrupt companies/organizations.

Thank you so much for sending in an ask!!!!!!! But yesyesyesyesyes I know the headcannon you’re talking about!!!!!! From memory I think either @geddy-leesbian or @hamartia-grander made some pretty extensive posts going into this idea??? Either way its really fascinating to think about!!!!

For those of you who don’t know, the headcannon/theory basically revolves around the fact that Luis was able to graduate school seemingly pretty quickly/was considered a ‘child prodigy’, and that in-universe theres a few characters who attended schools created specifically by Umbrella to essentially indoctrinate them; one of the most notable being the Umbrella Executive Training School that William and Wesker attended.

Umbrella has a few random facilities like this (like the Rockford Prison) And considering the fact that Europe seemed to be a relatively big hub for Umbrella, it DEFINITELY wouldn’t be much of a stretch to say that they’d have a similar school with the intent of training/indoctrinating ‘child prodigies’ to work for them in the future, and it’d be even less pf a stretch to assume that Luis, who came from a VERY sheltered religious background, would be a very easy subject to pick (cuz! yippee!! capitalist grooming am i right or am i right!!) It’d also absolutely lend a hand to why Luis grabbed as many items as he could and just BOOKED IT immediately after finding out what their plans for Nemesis REALLY were (I could talk about that part of his life/that realisation for HOURS oh my GOD)

EDIT I FORGOT TO ADD: Umbrella on some level does work quite like a cult. I’ll link a post that does a MUCH better job explaining it than I could in the replies of this post, but creating facilities for the sole purpose of indoctrinating already vulnerable young people into being on board with your project and isolating them from friends and family is like. Cult behaviour 101 BFNEHENDJDJ which is VERY painful to think about how Luis got roped into cults THREE times. Valdelobos before Saddler showed up wasn’t EXPLICITLY a cult, but considering it was isolated from modern society and heavily Catholic theres a strong argument to be made- then of course theres Umbrella- then of course he was blackmailed into working with Los Illuminados. I’ll make a post going deeper into that SOMEDAY, but like,,,, just the tragedy of his life being one big cycle he cant break is just. So devastating man are you KIDDING ME

I’m not like. SUUUUUPER knowledgeable on super obscure lore stuff like locations/facilities etc, so if you have a question about that specifically @highball66 would probably be a better person to ask!!!!

But again we know like. NOTHING about the inbetween time between Luis running away from Valdelobos as a child and him popping up as one of Umbrella’s top scientists other than the fact that he was a child prodigy and he excelled in college- hell even the dates/ages get kinda wonky at times BHFNEHENEUDNSIS but also this is Resident Evil where things get wonky a lot of the time so!!! Eh!!!!!!!

I have my own personal theory on what he did during that time inbetween I would be SO MORE THAN HAPPY to ramble about HDNEHENDJDN

BUT TO THE POINT OF YOUR QUESTION!!! YES!!!!!!!! ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!! Plus just in general with Leon having a lot more enemies than friends, doing background checks on teachers or whatever would probably seem like paranoia to an outsider but to them?????? Nah you can NEVER be safe. Plus Leon’s like, a government agent- he obviously doesn’t have a TON of autonomy but I can imagine he at least has SOME power to dig up information on people. AND, the both of them literally went through hell and back to save Ashley, who was kidnapped right under the presidents nose- So like!! Hell yeah they’d be paranoid abt where their kids going man!!!!!!!! Rightfully so I think!!!

[hcfiles]

Why is he struggling financially? I'll give you an example. Well, maybe two (and this isn't meant to make anyone feel stupid, just fyi).

Let's take Witcher season 2, he made 1mil per episode. 8 episodes, 8mil in total. Sounds like a lot until you factor in that he doesn't take home 8mil. 60-80% of that goes to: agents, managers, taxes (A LOT goes to taxes, actually) and staff. While agents can only make 10% managers can claim 30% or more, or even charge a commission scale. His staff from what I've observed can be anywhere from four to six people, at least, who are either being paid the bare minimum for their industries or they're being paid very well. The revenues from streaming are so dogshit they might as well not be counted as much more than coffee money. Then you have to factor in his personal expenses, bills and whatnot. After he pays out the essentials that 8mil gets whittled down to 3.2mil or 1.6mil, and given how richly he likes to live that doesn't go very far. Fans assume he invests and is smart about his money but in truth we really don't know that. Another example was his last cameos for Superman. We know he got paid $500k for both in total. He probably walked away with anywhere from $100k to $200k before his personal expenses. Again, I know it sounds like a lot and for us average folk it would be. But this is the guy who shells out money for things like gifts and pizza for a full filming crew, who stays in luxury rentals that are not always paid for by studios and always flies privately. He like many other celebrities has all the hallmarks of someone who spends it as soon as they make it, and now he's not making as much as he used to. I would wager he's being kept afloat by family money right now, or those investors he met in Jeddah. For his sake, I hope it's not the latter.

And you forgot to include expenses he has supporting the entire family of his brother. There you go. It's explained why he's broke.

[somewhat-insane]

Idk if you’re doing requests right now (or at all), but could you maybe write a MK x male! siren! Reader? Like, MK just found out that his new friend is a siren? Can be head cannons or one shot, I don’t mind either way.

Not forced ofc, just thought it’d be fun to see! Have a good day/night :3

Sorry this is so late! In general requests are always open since there aren't that many people requesting anyway, but I might take a bit to get to things. I promise it's not that I forgot! I just tend to pick up and drop things at random times. I digress. I decided to do a oneshot because I haven't done as many of those and I want more practice doing them. I also didn't know what version of a siren you wanted soooooo I may or may not have spent time researching various sirens only to kind of do my own interpretation anyway. (I ended up choosing to do the more aquatic siren that would work kind of like the sea monsters in Luca instead of the bird sirens from Greek Mythology. If you want me to do another oneshot with the bird version, I might.) Regardless, I hope you enjoy and have a good day/night too! (P.S. I stole the title of this from a movie-)

~Song of the Sea~

Tags: MK x Male!Siren!Reader, oneshot

Warnings: Mention of sirens eating humans but no details

The sea is a dangerous thing. Essential to life yet destructive in nature. Many have disappeared into the salty depths. But the power held within the waves is not the only thing to fear, that much MK knew. 

Growing up, he heard many stories of monsters that lurked in the watery abyss and would drag their unsuspecting victims deep into the water where the pressure alone was enough to crush your skull. The cautionary tales did their job well.

Too well, perhaps.

These stories, despite being told with good intent, created such a fear in the young boy that he never actually learned how to swim.

Even as he grew out of his fear, he was too busy to take time to learn.

He used to joke that it was just one more thing he had in common with his mentor.

It seemed a lot less funny now, as he sunk deeper.

One moment he was training on his cloud and the next…

Well… The water had rushed around him before he knew it, muffling the sound and filling his mouth with the taste of salt as he sucked in a startled gasp. 

Everything was blurry and green and his eyes stung. Just before he could close them though, he saw a strange glimmer in the water, as though the warped image of the sky tore away into crystal-like scales that swam just out of his peripheral vision. Before he could consider it further, he felt strong arms around him and he was being tugged back up to land. 

His back hit the sand and he sputtered and coughed, turning over to heave the saltwater out of his lungs, grimacing as it stung his throat and coated his taste buds. Once he was able to blink away the sting in his eyes and his vision cleared, he looked up, ready to thank his savior, only to freeze at the familiar—albeit scalier than he remembered—face staring back at him, concern etched in the man’s familiar incredibly handsome eyes.

“You-?” MK wheezed, sitting up to get a better look at the man and confirm what he was seeing wasn’t just some trick of the light.

“Surprise…?”

///

MK was used to having unusual friends.

Even before he knew he was some weird monkey demon, he wasn’t unfamiliar with the various demons that resided in Megapolis.

Which is probably why he didn’t think anything of it when he met someone new on the Flower Fruit Mountain beach a few months ago.

If he had been thinking about it at the time, he probably would’ve realized that most regular humans or demons aren’t able to pass the flaming mountains safely without some kind of magical assistance, though his mentor had mentioned creatures that lived in the water surrounding the mountain.

“Skittish things, they are,” Wukong had grunted in response to MK asking about a scroll he found while sifting through the remaining treasures in the cave. (He had initially been hesitant to touch it, remembering the last scroll incident in that same area.) The scroll depicted half-human-half-bird creatures in the skies and half-human-half-fish creatures in the water, “incredibly intelligent though. Not unlike Huli Jing. Tricksters. Though it’s mostly just so they have easier access to prey, they don’t seem like the type of creatures to screw with people just for fun.”

Wukong had continued on to explain that he let them stay because they pass through an underwater cave under the flaming mountains and lure poachers astray before eating them, which is a load taken off his shoulders. (He grumbled something else about wishing they would clean up the remains so skulls would stop washing up on his beach and nearly give him a panic attack.)

MK wasn’t thinking about any of this though when he had seen a strange man sitting upon a plant covered rock, looking out at the water with a thoughtful—if not entirely forlorn—expression.

To be fair, he was a bit… distracted by the man’s handsomeness; the way the setting sun cast beautiful hues over his distant expression.

And, of course, MK was definitely very elegant in his introduction and he definitely didn’t fall face first into the sand which made the man, who was originally alarmed by MK’s sudden appearance, laugh. The jovial sound made MK smile against the ground.

///

“So… this entire time…?” Mk starts, looking at you with wide eyes while taking a sip from the warm cup of tea you made for him. He wasn’t sure where you got the tea kettle and mug but he supposed it didn’t really matter all that much.

“Mhm,” you hum in confirmation, your scales slowly retreating as the fire dried the water off of you. The sun had fully set a few minutes ago, the stars now glistening above as you sat across from MK, the campfire blazing between you and obstructing your view of each other. You could tell this made MK anxious as he couldn’t read your expression, but you didn’t really want to read his, scared that he would be mad you hid this big part of yourself.

“Cool,” MK responded casually, taking another sip of tea before asking, “and you didn’t tell me because…?”

“Didn’t seem important,” you shrugged, averting your eyes from the fire to watch the way the moon’s reflection rippled on the surface of the ever-shifting water.

MK huffed a soft laugh at that, “I’m pretty sure species is at least one of the top five things you find out about a new friend within like... the first week.”

You rolled your eyes with an amused smirk, hiding it by taking a sip of your own tea despite the flame between you ensuring he wouldn't see it anyway, “says the guy who didn’t even know he was a monkey until he was twenty-something.”

You tensed up when instead of laughter his reaction was to unexpectedly stand up and walk over to your side of the fire. For a moment you feared you had upset him but then you saw the fond glint in his eyes as he settled beside you. You relaxed. Only slightly.

“Fair,” MK said, taking a sip of tea as he stared into the flames with a contemplative expression. After a moment of silence you said, “I… didn’t know how you would react.”

“Hm?” MK raised a brow.

“To learning I was a siren… I’m not sure how sirens that live closer to the mainland act, but I imagine we’re definitely more… traditional than them. Our only interactions with humans have either been us being hunted by them or us killing them,” you were quiet for a moment, leaning back on your hands before adding with a slightly sheepish grin, “I probably would’ve eventually tried to lure you to the others for a feast if you hadn’t spilled your entire life story within seconds of meeting me and told me you were a monkey demon. The Monkey King’s successor, no-less.”

“Eh,” MK chuckled with a shrug, “I’d probably have been able to escape, I’m used to fighting demons.”

“Oh, sure, you definitely wouldn’t be able to be seduced into the water mr. ‘tripped in the sand because distracted by a hot man,’” you tease, earning a scoff and a playful shove.

“Shut upppp. You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Nope~”

MK rolled his eyes fondly before resting his head on your shoulder. You tensed for a moment before sighing and wrapping an arm around him.

Sirens; enchanting beings whose beauty and song lure unsuspecting sailors to their doom. These creatures utilized the mortal nature of curiosity and the allure that accompanies danger and the unknown. Whether they offer you knowledge or intimacy, they seem to know exactly how to weave their songs into traps for their unsuspecting prey.

Meetings with such creatures, however, don’t always lead to an untimely and sometimes poetically ironic demise, MK's learned.

Sometimes they lead to something even better than what is promised.

~

Thank you for reading!! I'm sorry if this was boring, I still haven't really figured out how to write anything interesting- I tried though! Constructive criticism is allowed!

[obsidianpen]

Hi, I hope you're doing great! I originally suggested that video, and I'm really sorry I forgot to warn you about its length… While watching it, I drew parallels between its themes and those in No Glory and most stories in general…

It's fair to say that these narratives reflect socially constructed power imbalances that have been passed down through generations… The video's narrator pointed out that most romance stories are actually about becoming more powerful, even though it's not noticeable at first...

Readers get more than just dopamine hits from anticipation; they can sense intense emotions often lacking in our repetitive lives…

Well, for many, it's easier to express hate and dislike than understanding and kindness… I might be projecting here...

Personally, I recognize my obsession with two fictional characters' complex dynamics as an escape or addiction from my emotionally stunted life… Although I'm not a robot, I do express emotions—a lot, actually… Still, novels provide emotional doses that might take months or years to experience in real life…

Sorry for going off on a tangent, and don't mind me; this is what "speaking my mind" means, I suppose, as sentences are patched together in hopes they'll make sense in the end… Again, massive respect for the writers out there and what you do… It's sad that words are now just codes that could be taken as inspiration for others who won't realize or appreciate the actual contribution ever… Reality sucks sometimes...

I just wanted to appreciate your writing in a different way after getting a dose of self-awareness through that video...

So for both protagonists in your stories, Harry and Hermione (this new chapter added something that wasn't there before in her character—she is mysterious which makes B&G a lot more anticipatory, in my opinion) it's probably a quest for power, but there are more emotional subtleties, as your stories amazingly showcase almost all forms of love like,

eros (sexual passion)

philia (deep friendship)

ludus (playful love)

agape (love for everyone)

pragma (long-standing/committed love)

philautia (love of the self)

storge (family love)

and mania (obsessive love)

That's what makes your stories so beautiful. Especially Hauntingly.

(Reference: Cosmopolitan, not GPT… I deleted my chatGPT account recently because I realized I need the friction to learn, even though I'll miss the quick solutions for college work or study help…)

Ending this ramble with a thank you, and I hope I was coherent enough… ❤️

more than coherent enough! 🫂 I’m almost done with the video, and it has been a really enjoyable thing to listen to. I half expected the narrator to mention bell hooks when taking about all the kinds of love! One of my favorite parts, that was the central focus of my art thesis. But yeah I loved it, 10/10, if only everyone who gets so butt hurt when fics don’t include “top” and “bottom” tags would watch and listen to it too!

and thanks so much for all the kind and lovely words. Love is always the point in my fics too; what else could it be? All the kinds of love.

re: chatGPT. Good for you for deleting it. You are infinitely better off without that in your life, particularly as you’re working on your education. The friction is essential. 💕💕💕

[m1ckeyb3rry]

SitH thoughts under the cut for the roughly two people that have read that story:

- why is Y/N so shippable with EVERY character EXCEPT FOR COLT (literally the main love interest)

- like the conversation with reiner on the bridge??? so romantic and for what…wdym you wished you knew each other in a world where you weren’t both terrible people. wdym you’ll meet each other in another life some time. WDYM YOU’LL FIND HER IN THAT NEXT LIFE HUH REINER 🤨🤨🤨🤨

- her and hadrian have a narrative reason to be shipped so ig i can’t complain about that but i still can’t get over the impact that he has had on everyone reading the story. bro was there for 1.5 chapters max and he’s still on everyone’s minds even now. those pseudo-italian genetics are strong i suppose

- i have actually tried to figure out why it is that friedrich seems like more of a love interest than colt at times though (besides me being the BIGGEST victim of second lead syndrome) and i think i’ve finally got it!!

- the story is essentially Y/N’s life story, and while it was inspired out of a love for colt, the story more so focuses on the effects of things like war on a person (in this case Y/N), and how “cool girl boss beating up and killing people and getting no trauma from it” is a trope that just doesn’t make sense. so Y/N was created first and foremost to be a way to depict these impacts and to be a character that does questionable things and is faced with real consequences for them instead of just being hailed as a hero

- meanwhile colt is a character i’ve borrowed from isayama, so i can’t do much about his base characterization (although i’ve certainly pushed the limits on that), but i was the person to make friedrich, and as his writer, i can say that he was quite literally created just to love Y/N. of course he does other things and has other relationships and (hopefully) seems like a character that has more to him than just ‘being in love with Y/N’, but that doesn’t change the fact that at his core, being in love with Y/N is his narrative purpose, just like showing Y/N the other sides of war is hadrian’s. this is especially hard for me to navigate when writing because i have to show that while also trying to make sure that he doesn’t take over the story (which is after all a colt fic).

- i would say that in the beginning, her and colt were closer due to their more compatible personalities, but her during (and post) war personality is much more in line with friedrich’s just because he’s a lot more cynical and blunt. i’m somewhat limited by the canon in terms of how things like athyae affect colt because he does have a generally kind and almost naive?? personality in the small crumbs we get of him in the show, so i have to balance that with also making sure that everything he goes through does have an effect on who he is as a person the way it does on friedrich and Y/N

- this story is going to be so sad in the end. like it’s already probably my least happy work just because of the grim stuff that it covers, but i would like to reemphasize that Y/N’s life…is not that great. i think she’s my most tragic Y/N because everything that happened to her was brought about by a choice she made — to be a warrior candidate, which is not something she was forced to do. the L/Ns were decently well off, her parents loved her, and she was generally happy if not bored with her life pre-candidacy. but then she made that one fatal mistake and now she’s become what she is and she can never really leave and it leads to a general life of pain anguish and suffering (although i will say that my best friend heard my plans for the ending and said that it was relatively happy compared to what i normally write, so take that as you will)

- i forgot how self-aware the characters are at some points. there’s this one scene where friedrich and colt literally make fun of how many guys like Y/N (because at the end of the day she’s still Y/N duh ofc she’s beautiful everyone likes her) and it’s so unserious…even despite how heavy the fic can get there is some levity here and there which i forgot about tbh. but the story will literally go from Y/N having a crisis about something to friedrich and colt saying some bs like “i really admire [him] for not being one of the many men to instantly fall in love with you” “true seems like he really had remarkable self-restraint” “what a commendable fellow”

- i love marek and i am very sorry for what i put him through but would i do it again?? yes. also he and Y/N are rlly cute together

- at this point i’ve gotten so attached to these characters that i could genuinely write fics about them. like fanfics about a literal fanfic. fanfiception.

- atm i think writing one of those otome isekai stories (they are my guilty pleasure) with Y/N from this fic specifically would be so fucking funny and honestly i might do it just for personal enjoyment but idk if i would ever post it because it would be such a derivative work that anyone going into it expecting an aot fic would be angry and disappointed because the only aot character in it would be colt and idek if Y/N would end up with him in such an au

- okay most of these were about Y/N’s relationships with every character BESIDES colt but her and colt honestly are really sweet together

- he cares about her so much and honestly there are many times where i’ll be writing and i’m like “nah colt deserves better” because he is SO patient with her it’s insane

- on a similar note i think it’s crazy how we’re almost at 150k words and there’s been ONE kiss (which barely even counts because it WASN’T WITH COLT)

- but at the same time the lack of romance is kind of on purpose because Y/N is NOT in a mental state to be in a relationship atm and i hate that whole trope of ‘getting a romantic partner and getting over your trauma immediately’ as that’s just not realistic. colt and friedrich are there to love and support Y/N but all three of them know that the way they are currently is not conducive to being with someone long term. there’s a lot of trauma there that needs to be resolved and spoiler alert it will not be for a very very long time

- there’s so many interesting dynamics that Y/N will have with future characters that i’m excited to write but they’re all like 200k-300k words away which is killinggg me

- ship in the harbor will definitely be my longest story and i’ve changed a lot both as a writer and a person since beginning it, so it’s super special to me. thank you so much to everyone who reads it and comes up with theories about it and falls in love with its characters — i know it’s such a niche fic and it’s been rough at times and i’m so spotty with updating it, but i really do love this little version of the warrior candidacy program and what was going on in marley while the scouts were busy doing their own thing. here’s to many more chapters (but hopefully not too many more years) of me stealing what i want from isayama and filling in the rest as i please, so that this entire mess of a story comes together into something that’s somewhat comprehensible and makes at least one person cry

[uniquethingtastemaker]

Diasomnia and Mulan Parallels in Chapter 7

We gotta talk about Diasomnia and the subtle Mulan motifs because I haven’t seen many people talking about it in relation to chapter 7 and I’m seeing the signs everywhere.

So obviously Twisted Wonderland has dropped hints and has referenced Mulan multiple times, especially when it comes to Diasomnia. The first time I remember it being extremely prominent was in the Halloween event. The relationship between the two being dragons, which makes sense. However, there’s a lot more connections than just that.

Silver represents and is twisted from a lot of things, much like Lilia, but one of those things is the silver sword used by Prince Philip to kill Maleficent. Now there’s also another movie where a sword and physical fighting is important and you guessed it, it’s Mulan!

Let’s talk about the parallels between Mulan and Diasomnia especially when it comes to chapter 7.

Lilia and Mulan’s dad are in the same position. Both fathers are getting older and have lost their prowess and power they once had.

Silver and Mulan are also in the same position. When the war comes to China and the draft is announced, Mulan steps up for her family and father, who’s too old to go to war, and goes in his stead despite her family’s disapproval and devastation. When Malleus overblots and Lilia is too weak to counter him, Silver steps up to save his family from this sleeping curse despite Malleus’s active disdain and outrage. Both of them choose to do the harder thing. Mulan had the option to stay home and just act as a good wife in order to help her parents and Silver could have decided to stay in his dream with Lilia because that’s what he wanted most of all, but neither of them do that. Mulan goes into the military to protect her father and her family, while Silver opposes Malleus because he wants to respect and honor his father’s last wishes and knows that this isn’t what he wants, and it’s not easy. Mulan desperately struggles to stay in the military and is only barely able to make it (I’ll Make a Man Out of You). Silver has to give up his dream and desire to be together with his father and then fight one of his closest relatives essentially on the matter, which is emotionally taxing.

Mulan is also the underdog, the least likely person to save China, and much like Mulan, Silver is too. Mulan is a woman, who's often considered weaker than men. Similarly, Silver is a human surrounded by fae, who’re known to have more magical prowess and power and long life spans. They’re the unexpected ones who will defeat someone who’s considered an impossible enemy.

Now Silver’s Unique Magic is a foil to Malleus’s Fae of Maleficence. You could consider Silver a mirror to Malleus, a reflection. Which could be connected to Mulan, as she sings Reflection and ends up seeing her reflection in the sword before deciding to cut her hair off and go to the military.

Now, while not 100% confirmed, I’m inclined to believe that Sebek has heavy aspects of Shang incorporated into his character. Much like Shang’s actions of kicking Mulan out of the military when he finds out she’s a female, Sebek parallels this by believing that fae are stronger than humans and discriminating against them. Now, Shang comes around to the idea of Mulan, a female, saving all of China and is pretty cool with it and seems a bit proud of her. Now, I have a distinct feeling that Sebek is going to do the same in terms of coming around to humans. The first year gang is gonna show him that humans are just as powerful as fae. Maybe not in the exact same way, but they do have their strengths. Just like how Shang might have been physically stronger than Mulan, Mulan was more creative with her environment than he was.

Malleus is probably acting as the Hun’s leader whose name I forgot and I also forgot his motive for going to war too so can’t say much about him.

I also have a distinct inclination that the first year gang, or at least ADeuce is gonna play a part in this because of how they inducted Ortho into their group and how they’ve been grouping them together so far. I’m thinking that in terms of story roles, the first year gang is gonna act like Mulan’s besties in the military who dressed up as beautiful women to get inside the palace along with Cricket and Mushu. Defeating the Huns was a team effort in Mulan and I have a feeling it’s going to be the same for defeating Malleus. I mean, defeating Maleficent was a team effort in Sleeping Beauty. The fairies helped Philip escape, gave him weapons, and buffed him in order for him to one shot Maleficent. I can see that happening with Ortho being the striker.

Also if my thought process is correct for Sebek, that means that he’s going to end up bonding with other humans besides Silver and who’re better candidates than the first year gang? Besides, Ace hasn’t gotten his unique magic yet, so it’s probably going to happen in Chapter 7 and if not, chapter 8. I’m not exactly sure how Twisted will end, but that’s not the main concern at the moment. We gotta survive chapter 7 first and I’ve already cried over these characters two times already.

[enchantra35]

Reflections on V4 & V5 of RWBY by a first time watcher

(Lengthy post ahead)

Hi, it's be again, back on my bullshit. First of all, I'd like to say that I didn’t expect my first post to get that much attention LOL. I'd like to clarify (again) two points:

First, I agree with most people's explanations. I didn't mean to sound like I was accusing fans for not thinking that bumbleby would become canon. My intention was to point out to some earlier hints, and I realize now that I could have used some better phrasing. As I explained elsewhere, when rwby aired, I was too young to know anything about the state of queer representation in media at the time. Now of course I know better, although I never got to experience that kind of anxiety - at least, not to that extent. My second point is that I was mostly referring towards homophobes and incels who were trying to persuade shippers that bumbleby wasn't happening, and not to fans who couldn't be certain due to the overall circumstances.

With that said, the aim of this post is mainly to discuss some things I've noticed while watching volumes 4 & 5. There wasn't much I wished to comment on after finishing v4 as I found it very transitional, so I decided to do one unified post for both volumes, especially since someone suggested to watch these volumes as one. Let me now get to the main points I'd like to mention.

-Edit: I forgot one of the most important motifs imo; the moon. I noticed how each volume it looks bit by bit more ruined, showing how the world below is also falling it chaos and society as it is known is destroyed. Also, it's eventual (potential) complete destruction will make the nights darker, symbolizing the triumph of evil. I love subtle details like that.

- Ozpin's and Crow's dynamic really reminds me of Dumbledore and Snape. Ozpin in particular reminds me very much of Dumbledore - and I definitely don't mean that as a good thing. Although he clearly has good intentions and he's a "good guy" per se, sometimes it feels like he's using his students as sacrificial lamps for the greater good. Personally, I'm not exactly font of the idea of pushing the fate of the world onto the shoulders of a bunch of teenagers. Oscar is still a KID and all he's ever known is how to be a farmer and suddenly he's sharing a body with one of the smartest and most powerful people to ever walk the earth and their fates are suddenly intertwined. That's so insane. And on top of everything, Ozpin isn't 100% honest with him. I'm glad that Yang confronts him about keeping secrets. I will give it to him however that he's honest enough to admit his mistakes.

-Raven is probably one of the most fascinating characters. Can't say whether I like her or hate her, but there are so many layers to touch upon. It's interesting how she's constantly trying to prove to others - and essentially to the viewers as well - that she's cruel, smart and calculating (and she definitely is all those things) and that she doesn't care about trifle things, but ultimately she fails, as it is evident by the end of volume 5. She does care about Yang (although she has a very strange way of showing it) and her tribe most of all. She's also smart enough to see Ozpin's shortcomings.

- I liked how they explored Yang's trauma from loosing her arm and how she copes with the loss. "A part of me is lost" is such a powerful statement and it points to how everything has changed, but Yang accepts it.

-At the same time, that girl has no chill with that prosthetic arm. She straight up dismantles it off her shoulder just to win the wrestling against Nora (and later on to elude Mercury. I bet that if anyone asked her to give them a hand, she would just toss it on their feet then laugh her ass out. She's so silly, I love her.

-With that said, I wish they could have explored a little bit more of Jaune's trauma, but still I think we see well enough how Pyrrha's death has affected him. But why the FUCK did they have to give him more trauma in order to unlock his semblance? Another of his friends almost dies before his eyes, give that boy a break, good Lord.

- Ren and Nora 👀. I love me some good childhood bestdriends to potential lovers. Their background is so tragic but there's something about then growing up together that makes me feel things. I love their dynamic and I think it's pretty hilarious (collected, quiet guy and loud, silly, powerful girl). It was nice how they gained some catharsis when they finally killed that monster. And the symbolism when they hid under similar building where Nora tried to calm Ren down? Literal tears.

-"I was struck by a lighting and I lived. What a Wednesday" GIRL WHAT, LMAO

- I really enjoyed Blake's and Sun's dynamic, whether someone sees them romantically or platonically (for me personally it's the latter, but that's besides the point). Sun has always been a great friend, and although he can be really annoying sometimes, he is there for Blake and he's able to make her see things clearly and persuade her that isolating herself isn't a good thing. I feel like without him around, things for the Belladonnas would have been very different. He's a bit of a himbo, but I love him.

-The angsty Bees got me really well this season. Yang's anger is definitely justifiable and she has every right to be upset.

-"What if I wanted her to be here for me?" BITCH-

-Weiss pulling the "what's that supposed to mean?" every time the Bees are being angsty will forever be funny to me. The OG Beekeeper.

-That said, I think that she explains Blake's point of view really well and I liked how she reached out to Yang although "they aren't that close" (her words, not mine) and seeks to comfort her.

-Did I say that I hate Weiss's family? (Except maybe Winter, but the rest can go burn in hell). I'm GLAD Weiss realizes that ream RWBY is her true family. You love to see a good found family trope.

-Genuinely CANNOT stand the Bees this season /j. Blake seeing her team again and the only person she calls out for is Yang? And Yang's puppy eyes when she sees Blake again? WHY ARE YOU GAY?

-One of the funniest lines was when Crow was like "How can six children make so many noise while having dinner?", like BUDDY, you just answered your question. Tired uncle Crow for the win.

[creative-jackalope]

*chanting* Ford Pines ! Ford Pines ! Ford Pines !

(for the headcanon game LOL)

HI THIS WAS SENT TO ME A REALLY LONG TIME AGO AND I FORGOT TO POST THE RESPONSE,,, This has been in my drafts for like a year I think oopsie. Aaaaaaaaaaaanyway--

---

[Send a character’s name to receive four different headcanons!]

OH BOY do I have many a thought about this man. Picking just four is tough and these are going to be so long so I’ll place them under a read-more.

Heads up - significant Gravity Falls spoilers!

Headcanon 1 - Canon-Compliant:

This is a relatively common headcanon already, I think, but Ford is absolutely covered in scars from his time in the Multiverse. He also already had some from his years in Gravity Falls. If you can name an injury, Ford's probably experienced it at some point - bitten, stung, broken bones, shot, stabbed, fallen from a height, poisoned, burned, he's seen it all. (Thankfully he's managed to keep himself away from fatal or debilitating harm, but there's still time! :D His common sense and self-preservation instincts leave something to be desired and his hero complex never quite went away.) He isn't too fussed about others seeing the scars, usually, but he tends to be evasive if asked about them - he prefers not to think about his time in the Multiverse in too much detail.

Headcanon 2 - Hilarious: 

Ford is resolutely convinced that, throughout his time working with Fiddleford, he did an astounding job at hiding Bill and their partnership. He is 100% certain that Fiddleford couldn't ever have known, not in the least! It does, however, turn out that Ford is a terrible liar and has about as much subtlety as a fork in the garbage disposal. That's not even counting the moments (that Ford is unaware of) when Bill would talk directly to Fiddleford, making no pretenses but never telling Fiddleford exactly who he is other than a 'friend' looking after Ford and helping build the portal. At one point Bill even tried to directly tell Ford that Fiddleford knew, hoping they'd get to stop the charade - Ford just laughed and brushed it off, saying, "Don't be ridiculous, he doesn't suspect a thing!" Bill didn't care enough to push the topic.

Headcanon 3 - Painful:

[CW: Substance misuse, life-threatening physical illness, mental illness, paranoia] Being possessed repeatedly by Bill had serious effects on Ford’s body which neither of them expected. Towards the end of their partnership, his body essentially began to treat Bill like a parasite - his immune system began attacking his nervous system. This caused swelling in his brain, accompanied by fever, hallucinations, chronic headaches and light sensitivity, and just in general an awful time all around for him. After the betrayal, it didn’t matter if Cipher was actually tormenting him or not; hallucinations of him were enough to fuel Ford’s paranoia, and depriving himself of sleep to 'protect' himself from these hallucinations did extremely little to help. The one saving grace is that Ford began to self-medicate with steroids in an attempt to keep himself awake and alert for longer periods, which had the (accidental, on his part) side-effect of slowing/reducing the swelling and suppressing his immune system's attack on his body - and likely saved his life by keeping him going until he finally ended up in a hospital. He has long-lasting damage from this, though thankfully things have improved with time, and he has learned to live with and work around the lingering symptoms. He's still not certain how much of the torment in those years was actually Bill, and how much of it was his own paranoia and illness... If he's honest with himself, he'd rather not know.

Headcanon 4 - Canon Is Dead:

Stanford Pines likes poetry and I will die on this hill. I know this directly contradicts Journal 3 (”I never understood poetry, to be honest") but, in my eyes, Ford loves self-expression through written and visual mediums. He is a man who has always struggled with expressing things like emotions verbally, which is part of the reason he ends up using his Journals more as a diary than as a record of research methods and discoveries, and so art as an expression of things you can’t otherwise put words to fascinates him. The written word, in general, is something he loves - whether fiction or non-fiction, poetry or prose. Poetry in particular is something that helps him with recognising his own emotions and understanding them. As such, I explain the Journal 3 comment either as “-plugs ears- he didn’t say that” or “he’s being deliberately snarky because he knows what the Hand Witch is implying and he doesn’t like it or want to admit/acknowledge it”.

...

Now I’m. Stretching the rules a bit lmao.

Here are some in-depth extras that are important ones to me, but don’t particularly fit the above categories.

Bonus Headcanon 5 -  Trauma, coping mechanisms, and the importance of social support after so much isolation:

[CW: Discussion of PTSD symptoms] Basically implied in canon already, he has some pretty serious PTSD as a result of his years spent paranoid and alone in the Multiverse, and suffers from frequent nightmares as well as occasional flashbacks, amongst other things. One of his biggest coping mechanisms for the related anxiety is being armed so he can defend himself at a moment’s notice. At first after returning, Ford never went without his weapon belt, not even at the Shack, and all it took was an errant floorboard creak for his hand to fly to his gun. After a long while, he steadily got used to the idea that he was home, and he was safe, and started to forgo the belt more and more whilst in what he felt were safe places (ie. in the Shack or on the Stan O’ War II). Despite that, he still feels the need to be armed for reassurance whenever he goes out, even if it’s just to the town - and there are days where he will, without explanation, carry a weapon in his safe places too, something that Stan tactfully doesn’t mention. However, later on those same days Stan will usually a spot a new anomaly and insist they need to stay home so he can tell Ford about it, then spend all evening spinning a grand tale of how terrifying and fantastical it was in great detail, until Ford either is listening with complete awe or is terribly unamused and poking holes in the blatantly fabricated story - either way, the gun often ends up on the table, forgotten.

Bonus Headcanon 6 - Probably the most important one to me and plays a massive part in how I characterise Ford as a whole - I apologise for how LONG this one is but I have so so so many thoughts about it:

Ford is autistic and was diagnosed as a child, in the 60s. He grew up masking a lot of the more “obvious” traits, like repressing many of his body stims, because of bullying and family pressure - he was already “weird” and this just made him stand out more, so he tried to hide it. Big traits he had as a child that carried over to adulthood were his bluntness, difficulty in relating to others, sensitivity to sensory input (noise and texture were the main ones), and how he would focus intensely on particular topics that interested him. Behind-the-scenes he also received a lot of support from Stan (who I headcanon as ADHD and autistic, though his traits present very differently to Ford’s and he was never assessed or diagnosed, instead just treated as a ‘problem child’), and as such, began to struggle a lot more than he thought he would once Stan was no longer in his life and couldn’t secretly help him through things. As an adult, since he started living alone and had embraced his polydactly and made it his, Ford steadily started unmasking and just let himself exist in all his “weird” glory; including being more vocal about his own limits and needs, both personal and social. He stims a lot with DD&MD dice (which he is an avid collector of) as well as whatever little desk toys he can find (especially physics-based ones), and also has several hand-based stims like tapping or rubbing his fingers. One of his anxious stims, picked up during the nights where he was trying to keep himself awake, is tapping his thumb against his fingers sequentially and counting along “one, two, three, four, five”. Counting is general is an action he finds very soothing when he’s stressed or anxious. Finally, one thing that has never, ever changed about him is that once he gets focused on something he Will Not Stop - he’ll forgo food, sleep, and anything else because he simply forgets he needs it once he gets into the zone, and he’s terrible at reading the signals from his body informing him he is hungry or tired. Having others around, like Fiddleford and Stanley, to prompt him to look after himself is something he benefits from heavily.

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

Wow, I'm mad at myself for being late to the favorite fic subject coming up /j

Personally, I'm a huge sucker for cya and have itysg as a second(however, if we decide to count your other fics then... itysg would be third while your smile makes me smile would be second). I think it's the amount of world building that makes it so interesting for me along with the fact that it takes place before the archon war. Like, there hardly passes a day where cya doesn't just... scoot right over into my thoughts making it kinda hard to reread cause it know it so well </3.

I am sad to say that I haven't checked out BitA yet. When I first saw it while looking for some other fic of yours to read, I didn't really like apocalypse stories much. I might check it out though cause I'm a lot more open to those kinds of stories now. I also remember starting every good intention, but I don't remember why I stopped... I think I had to get off my phone for a bit and just... forgot to continue? Idk I really should check those two...

You really get me Sprinkles- those murder mystery fics are so good! I remember reading one of genshin that was also mixed with a time loop and I just ate it up-(it was sadly discontinued and then deleted from ao3, but not before I managed to download it for future offline reading-) I'm honestly interested in those wriolette ones you mentionned, may I have a few recs if you don't mind? I need more wriolette in my life.

i do in fact have some wriolette murder mystery / cop mystery recs

A Match Made in France by oooohscar - not a murder mystery per se but it does contain mystery investigations. it's basically furina trying to matchmake neuvillette and wriothesley and she quickly discovers they work well as investigation partners? and so she starts trying to get them to investigate things together, but then shit gets out of hand. it's so fucking good and so fucking funny. like it's pre-reveal furina but i can forgive the mild ooc and- y'know, furina portrayal pre-trauma-reveal (?) just because it's so well written and hilarious (and also she's not portrayed entirely as a brat, i find her more absurdly histrionic than anything). also it's not just furina pov, it switches between all of them. it's incomplete but updating, and absolutely worth a read

The Gambler's Debt by Marsrevale - much more serious than the one above, this one is a murder mystery through and through. the mystery is still only starting, so it probably has a long way to go, but i'm patient so i'll keep up. it's basically neuvillette and clorinde going to investigate a series of murders in the fortress of meropide (this is a sort of modern au so meropide is a gambling house / hotel i think) and wriothesley is the main suspect, but there's also stuff going on between neuvillette and wriothesley bc they knew each other long ago but only wriothesley recognizes him. idk how else to describe it, it's really intriguing so far, i hope the mystery pans out nicely

Hold my hand, never let me go by Jinnmi - also a proper murder mystery, this one is about what is essentially a branch of fontaine's police force for criminal investigation led by wriothesley and the many interconected cases they have to solve. neuvillette is sent as a consultant to keep an eye on them, but ends up basically joining the team as they all try to solve a big case that seems to threaten the country whole and is also somehow connected to wriothesley's past. this one is very good, the murders might be a bit too gruesome for sensitive people? but still, really nice. i love the unsettling vibe of whatever the one behind this all is planning, the suspense is also really good. still updating and i rush to it every time a new chapter comes out, it had me in a chokehold when i first found it.

hope those sound interesting!

[snobgoblin]

oh my god you guys have no idea I've just been exploding to tell you this one all day

(warning this one's a little dark, think the darkest elements present in both fnaf and Gorillaz)

OK GOD OK SO. fnaf Gorillaz au. BUT. it's a bit more complicated than that, it's not a 1-to-1 theyre the same for like, anything, it's basically "Gorillaz characters and their backstories are essentially the same except theyre in a completely different setting mirroring the events of fnaf"

OK SO. I'll try to make this as short as I can

-Murdoc is William Afton

-Russel is Henry Emily

-Noodle is an amalgamation of those two's children who died in accidents

-2-D is a nightguard

(I thought Russel and Murdoc would be perfect for Henry and William because they're both really into robots)

OK. so. in this, Murdoc and Russel are partners. they adopt this kid, Noodle, together, and realize that like them she really loves technology and music. (it's easier to combine William and Henry's families into one since there aren't many gorillaz characters) they just think the world of Noodle, they love her more than anything, so they build two springlock suits to entertain her. 1 (Spring Bonnie) Cortez the Raven and 2) (Fredbear) Katsu the Cat. Noodle loves these things to death, and one day she decides that she wants to try on the springlock suit, and she died (kind of mirrors both El Mañana and the tragedies that struck in fnaf)

well understandably, this destroyed Murdoc and Russel. so they opened up a pizzeria (known for their off the walls flavors) to maybe, hopefully fill the void of making that kid happy with their animatronics. this time, with a different Cat animatronic with sunglasses, Mike the Monkey, and a new, colorful Cortez the Raven, as well as an unnamed Pig (also I'm not entirely sure if Golden Freddy and Fredbear are one in the same tbh but there would be a fifth)

well Murdoc decided he just couldn't stand it anymore and he wanted to make a deal with Satan. if he sacrificed five children, he could get Noodle back. so he killed these bullies that frequented the pizzeria

those bullies being, the gangreen gang. well Russel just felt awful about this, I mean his friends were killed, he's gonna have strong feelings about these kids being killed. so he tried everything to bring them back, taxidermy, prosthetics, but he found out that stuffing them in suits did the trick, but because their souls then went into the animatronics, the deal did not work

well anyway I forgot a lot of what I was trying to remember today but shit hits the fan in every way imaginable, Murdoc gets springlocked and then Russel has no friends, no family, no partner, and really no reason to live so he burns down the pizzeria with him inside

I also want to do something with Cyborg Noodle- like, in the books, Charlie was a robot the whole time and had no idea the real her died as a child

OH I forgot to mention 2-D becomes a night guard bc he heard some freaky shit went down and he wants to know All The Secrets he's very curious about it. like a real life horror movie. he probably would also be like Phone Dude from fnaf 3 (really excited about the murders to the point of salvaging everything from the fire to make it a horror attraction)

[s10127470]

What If One Piece had an LA-Based Dub? (Part 2)

Hey there guys!

I'm pretty some of you remember a post I made last month: What If One Piece had an LA-based Dub?

It did decently fine, and since I'm kinda bored this week, I figured I'd go ahead and do a part two.

But before we start, I do want to mention a few things.

-I completely forgot to mention Makino! Well in this AU, she would be voiced by Kath Soucie.

-For Luffy, I've decided to make Kari Wahlgren his official voice for this AU.

-As for Usopp, I've settled on Jason Marsden.

-Just wanted to talk about the dub from a meta standpoint real quick. After finishing The Roguetown Arc, the dub would go on hiatus for about three months, officially returning on November 3rd, 2003.

Well now that we got that out of the way, let's get started!

Reverse Mountain (November 3rd-4th, 2003):

Laboon would have his vocals provided by who else?, but Frank Welker.

Crocus would be voiced by Daran Norris, essentially sounding like a more serious version of Jack Smith.

Mr. 9 would be voiced by James Arnold Taylor, using a slight British accent.

Miss Wednesday aka Vivi would be voiced by Mae Whitman.

Whiskey Peak (November 5th-November 10th, 2003):

Karoo would have his vocals performed by Dee Bradley Baker.

Mr. 8 aka Ingram would be voiced by Clancy Brown.

Miss Monday would be voiced by Cree Summer.

Mr. 5 would be voiced by Gary Sturgis, using a similar voice to Ebon.

And Miss Valentine's Day would be voiced by Colleen O'Shaughnessy.

Diary of Coby-Meppo (November 11th, 2003):

Initially, I was gonna have Garp by voiced by Clancy Brown, but I feel like he would've sounded too similar to Zeff (who if you remember from reading the part 1, who be voiced by Clancy).

So instead Garp will be voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.

Little Garden (November 12th-November 21st, 2003):

Mr. 3 would be voiced by Rob Paulsen, essentially sounding like an evil version of Donatello.

Miss Golden Week would be voiced by Grey Griffin.

And the giants Broggy and Dorry would be voiced by Brad Garrett and Jess Harnell respectively.

Drum Island (November 24th-December 12th, 2003):

Wapol would be voiced by Maurice LaMarche, doing a Russian accent like in the 4Kids Dub.

Dalton would be voiced by Phil LaMarr.

Dr. Kureha would be voiced by Tress MacNeille.

And finally, we come to the sixth member of The Straw Hats, Tony Tony Chopper.

Out of all The Straw Hats, Chopper was probably the hardest one for me to find a voice for.

I definitely wanted him to be voiced by a voice actress.

But one that was able to pull off a cute voice without it coming off as overbearing.

So after many years of thinking, I've decided that the perfect VA for Chopper would be the aforementioned Kath Soucie.

Not only does Kath have experience with voicing young male characters, but also ones with cutesy voices.

And those characters strike that perfect balance of having a cute voice without coming off as annoying.

I think the best way I could describe her performance as Chopper would a slightly older Tuffy from Tom and Jerry.

Hiruluk would be also be voiced by Maurice LaMarche.

Which is just the purest definition of delicious irony.

Like, the person who was Chopper's only friend and his father-figure is being voiced by the same guy who had a firing squad blow him to smithereens.

Chess would be voiced by Jeff Bennett, using a similar voice to Mr. Smee.

And Kuromarimo would be voiced by Tom Kenny.

And to wrap this all up, we've come to the big bad of the next arc and one of his operatives.

Crocodile would be voiced by Mark Hamill, using a similar mob boss voice to the 4Kids Dub.

As for Mr. 2 aka Bon Clay, he would be voiced by Jess Harnell.

Well that's all for now, folks!

Shorter than the last one, but that's because I covered seasons 2 and 3, which age a combined total of 30 episodes.

Which is about half of season 1's 61!

But anyway, I hoped you all enjoyed this second part!

Also, there's something really funny to note about this dub.

Already, this dub has reached the half-year point (6 months), running from June 2nd to December 12th of 2003.

And within the span of those 6 months, the dub has already covered the entirety of The East Blue Saga and nearly all of The Alabasta Saga!

Contrast that to The 4Kids Dub, which at their half-year point, had only reached The Baratie Arc.

But then again, they were airing new episodes every Saturday while this dub is airing new episodes (for now) every weekday.

Also, I'd love to hear some suggestions on who should voice the characters I've yet to cover!