#i'll probably do a separate post for some species notes and such on my original species

[jacethebeltsculptor]

Outer Wilds Expedition Log #3

Since I've discovered people find these tremendously entertaining, I figured I'd continue journaling my expedition into the Outer Wilds here on Tumblr. Where we last left off, I'd just made my first few runs to Space Florida (Giant's Deep), gave Frog NASA's resident slacker a scathing peer review, found some hints on how quantum objects work and how I might go about locating that ghost moon that allegedly exists. I also had some theories about what happened to the Nomai which didn't pan out that I'll get into in a moment. After my first few runs to Giant's Deep, I discovered that both my spaceship and space suit function as a submersible and diving suit as well. I'm not well-educated enough to know if the physics of that check out or not, but either way, I think I might've not given Outer Wilds engineering team enough credit. This was a game-changer to me, since basically the first thing I did when I booted up the tutorial was throw myself down a geyser in the name of scientific interest. Despite allegedly being aquatic, I drowned pretty quickly, but I noticed evidence of a camp being down there. This, combined with the dude on the moon mentioning that Feldspar's signal was broadcasting from Timber Heath, really piqued my interest. I spent a loop just exploring the geysers as best I could, but the caves didn't seem to lead down to the core of the planet or anything, and once I was down there, I realized Feldspar's signal was coming from somewhere on the surface. I did, however, find old Nomai writing which remarks on observing a nascent aquatic species, which dashes my theories that the Forerunners Nomai evolved into the player's species over millions of years, explaining their disappearance. I managed to do this without drowning, which is a rare show of competence from me. After that, I made me way up to the surface to look into that seed from DARBIS (Darkness and Relative Bramble In Space) that coincidentally seemed to have Feldspar's signal coming from it. Shockingly, it's bigger on the inside. So, gonna have to visit Dark Bramble at some point to figure that one out. Then, I took a nice cozy position on the observation deck to watch the supernova in peace- a lovely, sentimental gesture that I utterly screwed the pooch on due to the planet turning to face the other way. Despite having active investigations going on 2.5 different planets, I decided that I was done being afraid of the sun and decided to check out those two paired planets orbiting it. Once I was there, I noticed something closely orbiting the sun itself, so I decided to be a badass and land on that instead. I failed and got burned to a crisp. On my next loop, I went to visit the Twins. I originally landed on Ash Twin, but after finding nothing of note, I- in my endless foresight and wisdom- decided to just jump to Ember Twin. This led to me to breaking both of my shins and storing my femurs in my lungs, but did not kill me. Immediately, anyway. I started by finding the crashed escape pod below and working my way through the caves, before dying at the entrance to the safe zone by jetpacking my way straight into a cactus and losing the last of my blood. Now, I'm only about halfway through my last play session- you know, the part where nothing gets accomplished- but I'm apparently reaching Tumblr's character limit, so I'm going to have to split this into a whole separate post. Which is probably good, because there should and ought to be a legal limit to how much stupidity should be allowed in one post. Until next time, Tumblrites!

[duskforged]

self intro

Mostly just transferring my old side blog to its own separate account. Old mutuals, please make sure to hit me up so I can follow you back (again)!

I'm Ezra, an artist, writer, worldbuilder, gamer, and probably more besides! I'm trans/nonbinary, they/them, and aro/ace, with strong lean on the aro. My identities often influence my works, so don't be surprised.

Links:

Ko-fi: donate and/or become a monthly member for special posts

Bsky: hope to post more here soon!

Twitch: I stream every other Tuesday - mostly games but sometimes also art

YouTube: stream highlights and other projects (though video editing is something i'm still inexperienced with...)

Discord server: join the chaos crew! ko-fi members get special roles

(stream updates can be found on bsky and discord)

I love anything to do with fantasy, and do enjoy sci-fi as well (though I have a weird phobia about open space)! Found family, blood family, and friendships will always get me, as well as more complicated/blurred lines relationships, and non-romantic, non-platonic attraction between characters. I also love time travel and transmigration/reincarnation/isekai (within certain contexts).

More more more aromantic stories! Send them to me right away! Moreso if the protagonist/antagonist (or both) are aromantic, or if it's a story specifically about being aromantic in some way.

With worldbuilding, I adore non-European settings and would love to hear about yours. I also love conlangs and am a bit of a linguistic nerd. Cultures are always fun as well. I also enjoy stories or meta that explore non-human reproductive types for fantasy/sci-fi species!

I'm not much of a fan of romance, and especially slow-burn romance. I'll endure it if I really enjoy the rest of the story, but it just undercuts the experience for me. I'm otherwise fairly flexible, honestly.

My current 'main' projects are under the cut. There are SPOILERS!!

UNTO SUMMER KINGS (Book I of The Round Table) wip intro type: novel status: on hold

inspiration: Arthurian legends genre: grimdark (ish?) fantasy world: urathla - #urathla tags: wip: unto summer kings, wip: usk, wip: round table series, wip: trt

A single night sweeps Arthur, his sister Morgana, and their friends into the wind like so many dandelion seeds. Ash and blood choke the rivers of their home, and they flee towards the kingdom to the north, seeking sanctuary and vengeance. Guided by friend and foe alike, they each learn and grow, catapulted into situations far above their stations.

worldbuilding: extremely WIP. takes place several thousand years after WISC. meta notes: originally this was going to be a historical fiction/fantasy (as much as Arthurian legend counts as historical), but there were so many 'inaccuracies' that I wanted to include that I decided I might as well make its own fantasy world for it. sequel titles (because i cant help myself, apparently): By Dawning Glory (II), Within Sundered Heart (III), Through Haunted Crowns (IV)

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WOLF IN SHEPHERD'S CLOTHING intro post type: webcomic/graphic novel status: thumbnailing and character design

inspiration: Ancient Mesopotamia genre: fantasy world: urathla - #urathla, #ometeys, #avajra urathla is the world, ometeys is the region, avajra is the conlang tags: #wolf in shepherd's clothing, #wisc

Lahar is a shepherd who lives in the foothills of the northern Vhysurra valley, content to help raise their half-brother and tend to their flock. But with their memory loss, it's hard to say if they've seen anything that's been causing the disappearing livestock of late. And unfortunately for them, they're the harbinger of a brand new magic, and a brand new curse.

worldbuilding: plot-related 80% finished. meta notes: what if the first werewolf was a shepherd...? and what if it was inspired by the history and culture (ish) of ancient mesopotamia? of course, not everything from this is inspired by that, but it definitely set up a good basis. like USK, i wanted this to take place in real life mesopotamia at first, but i realized i wouldn't be able to make it 'accurate' enough to my tastes. so, they got put together! - hopefully i will start posting more on ko-fi (and maybe here too!) soon.

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THE VESPERTINE wip intro type: novel status: on hold

genre: medieval (?) fantasy world: moia - #moia tags: #wip: the vespertine

Aselhi is one orphan among many on the streets of Kestramore, eking out a living as a servant in a minor household. Unlike other orphans, they’re one of the vespertine, an alien people who ate through the cosmic Weft separating Moia from the other realms and setting the Causeways alight.

worldbuilding: extremely WIP. meta notes: plays with gender even more than my other fics. features a fantastical species with non-human sex characteristics, among other things.

[itslouisan]

Philza specific Headcannons: Philza Minecraft timeline.

Heyo Tumblr, back with my third post on C!Phil, this time I'll elaborate on my takes on some of my timelines for Philza since it's complex and full of detail I could analysis, MAYBE I'll separate this all in 2 posts: pre-DSMP and AFTER-DSMP, well let's go!

timeline for c!philza:

(nothing official, this is MY interpretation on his events and lore connecting and stitching everything together)

The beginning:

Okay this starts with the icarus animatic made OFFICIALLY for his lore by Maepletea

In this we can agree Philza was originally a human, however, in my interpretation, Phil always had a connection to crows, living in an isolated shack (which makes me believe he was always a isolated and introverted person wanting to stay away from any trouble and people), his obsession for flying, possibly in my view seeing he understood the crows just like they got him. Worth noting in the end of the animatic he was saved by Mumza and implied perhaps SHE granted his wings and avian side and supposed immortality, so you can say from HERE Phil is the one avian old man we know and love, before being just a plain human with nothing special or perhaps affinity with paranormal, crows, death and deities. Being alone but FEELING/SEEING something else and knowing the existence of something more such as The End (which would explain why Enderking has a liking to him, he is more than any other avian or human, he can see, understand and be in a equal foot with the deities having their favor).

Hardcore season 2:

Okay, let's start with season 2 since I think season 1 has no lore or hints we could use to this analysis, in season 2 we are introduced to the deities, but the most important is Rose and Enderking since they will be REALLY important to future events.

In here Phil is ALREADY an avian, we can see he can ALREADY interact with the deities and probably is already recognized as The Angel of Death, meaning in here in the middle of the season perhaps he got together with Kristin as a representant/warrior for her or Soul reaper, I think they'd only be together in season 4 (due to irl events where if I'm certain Phil married Kristin in 2020/2021, since it's CREEPY to assume when they started dating let's say mid season 2 they start to date AS CHARACTERS)

And before we finish for season 2 for now, we should mention Ender King was already attacking the overworld and nether in season 2, perhaps here being when Philza first made contact with him ON A NEGATIVE WAY, the end of season 2 I interpret death as Phil SMALL PIECE of his Soul being killed but Kristin helps him again to stay alive with immortality, but before that he stayed in a species of dream before recover which is

Season 3: the dream

The beach episode of Philza Minecraft, just a dream in transition from season 2 to 4

Season 4: the current moment

Okay I'll talk about EarthSMP and Origins in another post, what I need to focus is on QSMP and DSMP for this part

In here, the conflict between the deities rose, Enderking finally making a war against all others, resulting in Endlantis, we have flowerfall as well in a conflict between Ocean overlordand Enderking and the Nethervoid in conflict between Blaze empress and Enderking, what does Phil have to do with it? In one way or another, Phil sided and made allies with the deities, which would save his life later on, but also, this could be the moment the Enderking noticed how STRONG Phil can truly be and how he could make a good vessel because Phil even if slightly is a greedy person.

In here we also have Philza marriage to Mumza, and we could say it was in here that he adopted Techno, C!Wilbur and Tommy, next is a bit of a personal interpretation and hc, but Phil adopted Techno in the beginning of season 4 in the nether preparing for going to the end, C!Wilbur is the biological child between him and Mumza (proven with DSMP) and Tommy was adopted pre-pogtopia on the DSMP.

This shows the beginning of the SBI truly but also conforming:

• Techno is the oldest kid and probably the one most loyal to Phil due to seeing all Phil's struggles plus a "favorite"' due to Techno loyalty and never letting Phil down and vice-versa

• Wilbur is the middle kid, which only had a stronger bond with Tommy, wasn't THAT loyal to Phil but still got his approval and protection

• Tommy is just the youngest and lost kid, Phil probably loving him just as much, but not accepting Tommy actions towards them, especially Techno, and for being young and naive, Phil wouldn't hold back to correct Tommy, no matter how Tommy interpreted it.

We can also finish this section by saying in all this, this was the moment Philza perfected his war skills he'd use later on in his life, all thanks to seasons 2 and 4

Also worth noting QSMP is a Philza dream, but Q!Phil, C!Phil and Hardcore!Phil are all the same people, you could say only QSMP is a dream and DSMP was real, but that would mess stuff too much, for this analysis and finishing this post for now, let's divide this into 2 timelines, the REAL world timeline and the Dream world/alternative Philza timelines which could be real but only in a different universe, which leaves us with this order:

Real world: hardcore --> EarthSMP --> DSMP

Dream world/alternative universes: real world timeline then we mix and it --> OriginsSMP --> QSMP

Or, we could separate origins as something else entirely and make:

Dsmp --> QSMP

But FOR NOW, this is part 1 of my Philza timeline... WHICH IS A MESS BUT OH WELL

[clownishcliche]

A few updates.

the mlp infection au

art related posts

possible projects

MLP INFECTION AU

Alright, so starting on the first topic of the MLP infection AU.

its not been scrapped, i can promise that. I'm just currently figuring out the list of characters i wish to use. i originally had a few background characters like Octavia and vinyl scratch that i wanted to use. but, that was Plan A which is well on it's way to being scrapped. I'm more on the lines of thinking of using Plan B which is using OCs. it puts less limits on how i want the character to act vs. how i can make them act. because if i do a canon character i want to make them act correctly.

plus, i have 0 access to anything passing season 4 on MLP:FIM. i quite literally just checked all my streaming services.

but i have 3 OCs ready in case i decide to use Plan B which is most likely what I'll end up using. I'm currently working on character design and then ill figure out what exactly the infection will be. I've been brainstorming a couple of ideas for the infection so.. no worries on that bit i guess. watch me do all this and end up scrapping this :']

ART RELATED POSTS

There's not currently any Homestuck art related posts coming.. actually let me see what ive been working on real fast. bc i cant remember.

Ok so i have an OC introduction in progress which relates back to this post.

I have some old OC redesigns coming. 12 to be exact. maybe 13 or 14 if i can find some more old OCs.

on a separate note: I might start writing a few things... just stories and junk. i also might be posting some creepypasta art. if i feel like it idk.

POSSIBLE UPCOMING PROJECTS

Ive got a few possible projects upcoming.

I have a homestuck comic i want to make with my homestuck oc's but it would in no way EVER fit in canonically. plus ive probably got too many OP species that i wish to use.

on another hand i want to make a pages for diseases i have in my little world ive made. and i want to make a comic about that whole world too {which would likely end up in me mixing my homestuck AU with that to make things more interesting.} but either way id still need to flesh out some characters more and make sure everything makes... some kind of sense.

these are highly unlikely to ever happen because i get severely anxious about posting my works[especially my writing]. but hey if youd like to see any of this or give me some suggestions im willing to listen.

anyways. i think that about covers it all.

-byeeee

[lucalicatteart]

Finally finished my weird hanging painting thing (originally a secondhand partially-done 'paint by numbers' kit that I found at a thrift store and kept to repurpose lol)! Imagery somewhat based in my own worldbuilding projects, and text written in my constructed language for one of my fantasy species, but also vaguely inspired by old tapestries and illuminated manuscripts and etc. I've never been great at neat clean patterning or text, but it looks cool from afar, and I always enjoy making "props" or things that are somewhat like real objects that might could exist in my world. :0

(additional pictures/info under the readmore)

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Here's what it was originally! I probably didn't have to actually have a river running down the middle because it further makes the composition of the whole thing weird (various connected yet separate locations and things happening, instead of one unified event being portrayed), but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fully cover up the already existing paint that was there.. and I can also kind of justify it by going with a more "all the imagery is just symbolic so it doesn't have to make exact sense" approach lol.. How is one half of the grass green and the other is suddenly snowy? shhhh.. it's not literal.. shhh...

Made a vague sketch, then painted over it, and then added more distinct lines in black pen. Center image first and border second.

The very last thing was the text, which actually took forever to translate because my conlang is still only like.. partially done, and some of the grammar is not worked out exactly how I would like it to be, so a few sentences I had to think about for a long time before just going "eh, this is probably not how I would do it if I considered it more, but I'll go with it for now" lol . I also am not entirely satisfied with all of the characters for the writing system, but again, it's good enough for a quick project, it doesn't have to be 100% accurate and perfect because it's a fake language that nobody knows anyway lol.

I thought about breaking down the text and translation here like I have for some of the tidbits of Avirrekava (the language) in things I've posted in the past, but I think it would take too long and is not interesting to anyone but me ghghj, so for the sake of getting the post out quickly, I shall not spend an hour typing All That lol.

The general jist of the writing though is that it's just about the Avirre'thel being cast out from the other elves, after abandoning their magic for immortality as a means to truly attain perfection (an important concept in elven culture), the usual, blah blah blah, but how it's Actually A Good Thing, because the gods are wrong and immortality is Cool actually and they like the shitty frozen lands they were sent to, so it's fine that everyone else is being a Hater about it lol

Lastly, here's a few photos outside in the sun to TRY and show the gold detailing actually shimmering or showing up! It really doesn't come through in photos, but there's plenty of little golden spots to highlight light or Importance.

Mostly the fire, the pink sparkle that represents magic, the red drop that represents blood, the light behind Inaashi's hands and head (common symbol for the elven religion/one of their main gods, shout out to anyone who read the ancient elven religion post and recognized that lol), the sun, and the symbol for the Avirre'thel/country of Navyete at the very top. I did a few other gold bits, but they're not highlighted because they're Significant, more just that it looked more symmetrical to have some gold on the border too lol.

Other things of note: The animals are not actually significant to Avirre'thel culture really, I just wanted to put a cat and a bird because I like them lol. (I also wanted to have a few funny looking creatures, as I was slightly trying to go with the 'in some old medieval painting the anatomy and perspective is very weird' vibe, though I think some of the other parts of it look too Normal to pull it off entirely). Same with the four leaf clover, which means nothing in their culture - but these are the only areas where stuff was just added self-indulgently .

Bligabata (giant cabbage that grows along rivers in Navyete) making an appearance! The architecture of the building IS based on actual concepts for ancient elven/older Avirre'thel architecture and metalwork. The Avirre'thel who's turning away from Inaashi/elves/magic and collecting blood, is doing so in a Special Bowl, as is part of their culture (collecting it in the hands, or just in a normal vessel would be disrespectful, they have Specific Bowls which is the only thing blood can be kept in, etc.).

The figure that represents Jhevona (and thus, a closer connection to magic, celestial imagery, etc.) is in weird ugly teal, which is not necessarily a color or design associated with them, as I don't have much common culture (like clothing) worked out for Northern Jhevona (who the avirre'thel would have come into contact with) yet, BUT everyone else is in more Typical colors (a northern elf in green, Inaashi in lavender + white + blue, an Avirre'thel in darker purples and reds).

Some things, like the four figures in the corners, and the two people + fish in the stream, do not currently have a meaning, but in-world they would.. Like, I could make up lore for how they're culturally significant and it would be true because I am god of the world, but I don't have anything currently. But just know.. they DO mean something, I just haven't decided it yet, maybe kind of fill in as I go, come up with a meaning later lol. Probably along the lines of an old myth from the ancient elven religion, a story, etc.

-

I don't know, probably other stuff, but that's my Trying To Keep It Short rambling for now lol. I'm just glad I finally finished this! For how vaguely sloppy it is up close (everything being completely freehanded, only used rulers once when doing the initial sketch and lining where the border should be + my hands are shaky + the canvas is bumpy + my handwriting is scratchy and terrible + etc. etc.) it still took a REALLY long time, even when not trying to make it all perfect. Especially if including the text translation + writing, which took like 3+ hours itself.

Maybe all the asymmetry/lack of things being centered is NOT because I was too lazy to measure anything, but is actually because in-universe, it's a practice illustration made by some young apprentice who has to work on little canvases for years before he can be trusted will a full sized mural or tapestry. It's his first week on the job! of course he's uncoordinated! don't laugh at him!!! lol

[ladyfromaspookyforest]

ST Season 2 Wardrobe Analysis

Lucas, Max, & Dustin

Hello! I never talked about Lucas and Dustin in season 1, so I'll probably go back and do it at some point, but for now, I'm keeping my season 2 momentum. What we should note about season 1 heading in is that Dustin wears graphic tees and sweatshirts all the time. He also wore the same hat all season, which is also the same hat he wears for all of season 2.

I've talked a lot about characters having a specific color associated with them (Will, Mike, Nancy, Steve, and El all do) but Max, Lucas, and Dustin don't have this.

EPISODE 1

Dustin's graphic tees fascinate me because I feel like there's a hidden message in every one and I'm not smart enough to figure them all out. Here, in his first scene of season 2, he's wearing the periodic table. Dustin loves science. This isn't news to us. But this may or may not hint at the relevance science will play in his storyline this season.

Lucas wears a lot of shirts like this one with a white v-neck and rings on the sleeves. These shirts are a staple to his wardrobe, basics with a sporty accent.

Max is generally associated with bright colors. I know some people interpret this as rainbow imagery and read it as queercoding. Personally, I feel like Max's bright colors represent California. They mark her as an outsider. We do see lots of bright color in season 4 when we actually GO to California, and if you've watched the GQ interview with Amy Parris (costume designer), you'll know they established separate color palettes for their various locations.

Different seasons, different strokes (in both senses of the word). Season 2 and season 4 have different vibes, but also season 2 takes place in the fall while season 4 takes place in the spring. So the Hawkins colors above are bolder than what we see most characters wearing in season 2, but just like this, Max's wardrobe reflects a different color palette than the rest of the cast.

I actually have so much to say about this California color palette thing, so I'll need to cut myself off, but just think about the fact that Will was bullied from a young age for being visibly queer and in the original draft, Joyce mentions that his clothes are too colorful. Then in season 4, we see a girl flirting with him while he is wearing a bright red striped t-shirt. In California, his queerness is NOT visible. The brightness in Max's wardrobe reflects this same culture and now that she's in Hawkins, she is (like Will) standing out. And this is something that's never commented on within the show, but in real life, I can imagine that looking like Max (a tomboy) in Hawkins, she probably WOULD be pegged as a lesbian, despite not being one. But that was probably a bit much to work into a heterosexual love triangle, so it's understandable they didn't go there.

Regardless, the brightness signifies difference and standing out for both Max and Will in Hawkins and both Max and Will have relationships with California in which they would have LOOKED like they belonged, but did not necessarily feel like they did.

Dustin's dinosaur hoodie says "Brontosaurus/Thunder Lizard/The Science Museum of Minnesota." "Thunder lizard" is the loose translation of Brontosaurus excelsus, meaning that this hoodie specifically calls out species identification. Dustin first hears D'art in his trash can this same night. A couple episodes later, he attempts to classify and then name his species.

Also, "Thunder Lizard" makes me think "How do you know if it's not just a lizard?" This sweatshirt is a big nod to D'art, therefore causing my insanity in trying to uncover the meaning of all of his shirts.

I neglected to point out the similarities between Lucas's and Will's outfits in my Will/Mike post, but their outfits are stylistically extremely similar. They're in matching silhouettes, dark wash jeans, similar colors. It's quite obvious after episode 1 that Will is going to be a huge focal point for season 2, and there are a few cues that tell us that if Will is stepping into the spotlight, Lucas is doing it too.

EPISODE 2

I already talked about the Ghostbusters costumes in my Mike/Will post, so get the full scoop there! But I want to talk about the two Venkmans thing for a sec.

Lucas's refusal to be Winston purely because he's black, choosing rather to be Venkman is a big cue that Lucas is determined to no longer be a side character. Mike was established in season 1 as the Main member of the party. So the fact that Mike is the other Venkman tells us that he isn't the sole Main Character anymore. This is another one of those cues I mentioned before (yes, the two Venkmans thing has a variety of other meanings, but I'm not going to get into all those).

Max's tee is a soft yellow in contrast to most of the yellow we've seen from characters like Will, Mike, or Dustin. Her jeans are also a lighter wash than most of the denim we see in Hawkins. She wears either the same jeans or very similar jeans all season, so even when she's wearing a darker piece like this jacket, she still has brightness from all angles despite her tee being covered. Her sneakers are also a bright grass green, which does not match any of the colors in her outfit. This is something that happens often with Max's outfits. Her accessories don't match but rather add yet another bright color to her look.

EPISODES 3-4

This is another one of those shirts I mentioned at the start for Lucas. Something I find interesting here is that Lucas and Mike's outfits tell a cohesive story. Cover up Dustin and Max and we have Lucas's belt going with Mike's pants and the brown in his sweater, Lucas's pants matching Mike's sweater. Dustin fits less so.

Okay, listen. Maybe I just WANT Dustin's tees to be prophetic and they're not, but the brontosaurus one really was. This one has no text, just a green print of a hot air balloon. I'm creative. I can think of plenty of ways this could go and they all feel wrong to me, but I'm gonna spitball for a second:

Dustin is under the impression that D'art is his great discovery and he has big dreams of getting to classify D'art as his own species when he shows up in this shirt; his head is in the clouds (eh? eh?)

D'art is in his hat right now, so D'art's the one up high in an enclosed space.

Hot air -> freeing Will from the Mindflayer

But here's the one I'm going with if we're using the tees to foreshadow events of upcoming episodes: Dustin beginning to drift away from the party. As I mentioned before, Mike and Lucas match pretty well here. Mike, Will, and Lucas were all in the same colors in the episode before while Dustin was in purple. In episode 1, his bright yellow tee stood out against the others. He, like Max, doesn't really fit the color scheme. And he is about to embark on his two-season-long journey of feeling left out of the party.

Meanwhile Max is decked out in bright colors and she too feels left out or left behind. Mike is absolutely determined to keep her from party participation, her outsider colors not only applying to the school or the town at large but to the party as well.

Max's hoodie is once again this soft yellow and she's paired it with a blue ringer tee underneath. The color combo is very beachy and the sweatshirt has sailboat details on both the front and back (there weren't any particularly good angles to snap this from, sorry).

EPISODE 4

Okay, I'm sorry, but is this an owl? I have no idea. Pretty sure it's a bird with an eyepatch, though. The tee says "Pennville Pirates" which I'm fairly certain is not a real thing. I wasted too much time on a google hunt trying to find out. Pennville is a real town in Indiana, very possibly where Dustin could have moved to Hawkins from, but as for the pirates...P sure they don't exist.

I've thought a lot about why pirates? It's not like Dustin goes on a thieving rampage. The closest he gets to pirate behavior is his dishonesty by hiding D'art and his Attack on D'art in the cellar. But at the end of the day, I think the Pennville part is what really stands out. The fact that Dustin joined the party last was mentioned briefly in season 1 when he mentions to Mike that Lucas is his best friend. He clearly already has insecurities about being less a part of the party than the others and this only grows in seasons 2 and 3, though we never directly address the fact that he was last again. This tee therefore feels like a subtle reminder.

Lucas wore this jacket in episode 2 and he wears it again later. It's clearly a staple item of his wardrobe. He also wore a similar jacket multiple times in season 1:

Lucas is someone who likes a fairly simplistic wardrobe, owning a lot of similar items in various colors (Max does this too only in brighter colors). So when he's wearing these staple pieces, this is something I associate with Lucas being himself. I'll come back to this. The striped sweater has a little more color and character than we usually see on Lucas, potentially a hint at Max's influence.

Max is back in the jacket she wore in episode 1. And she may or may not be jean-repeating as well (they all look the same to me, I'm so sorry). She is an outfit repeater. I talked about Jonathan's outfit-repeating being a sign of his economic status and we know from season 4 that Max's mother has low-income, even after she takes on multiple jobs. But what she has now, financially, we can't really be sure. If the money is all coming from the Hargrove side of the family and Max's stepfather is a violent, controlling piece of fuckass garbage-fire trash, it's completely possible that Max doesn't see much of this money. However, she does appear to have a much more expansive wardrobe than Jonathan. And back to Lucas (and others) wearing the same jackets often, jacket repeating in particular is not necessarily a sign of how much money someone has.

However, a lot of Max's outfits have not seemed quite appropriate for the Hawkins weather. It doesn't look like she's gotten new clothes since the move. Again, this could be a consequence of her not getting much spending money or it could be a personal preference. But we do see her taping up her skateboard (presumably after Billy broke it off screen) later, so it seems likely that she is afraid to ask for things.

EPISODE 5

I couldn't decide if I should include it or not, but I actually do think this "outfit" poses some questions. Like, why does he own all of this stuff? He's clearly not a sports guy. So are these his belongings? Or were they his dad's? We don't know anything about Dustin's father. We don't know why he's out of the picture. We don't know if he's alive or dead; if Dustin's relationship with him was good or bad; if Dustin knew him at all/if he was EVER in the picture for Dustin or if his mother has always raised him alone.

All we know is that someone in this household at one point in time played hockey. Whether seriously or unseriously, poorly or well. Maybe Dustin's mother tried to get him into sports once and it didn't work out. Or maybe this stuff belonged to a father they don't talk about, but whose belongings are still around. But he grabs it from a very accessible location in an indoor closet (though we don't know if he's already put it there ahead of time for easy access). So while I can't draw any conclusions from this getup, I think its existence is curious.

This jacket is very like those tees he likes to wear with the stripe accents. It's also similar to the types of jackets Max often wears, but his jacket is more reflective of a letterman jacket, plus he's paired it with khaki pants. These details give Lucas's outfit a sort of sporty prep look while Max's style is skate sporty. Add in the plaid button-down and I'm actually just confused.

This is kind of a blend of different vibes we've seen from Lucas (i.e. his first outfit/third outfit being on the sporty prep side and his second/fourth outfits being on the smalltown fall vibes side. I'm not a fan. And Lucas is torn here, trying to figure out how to be honest with Max and also respectful of his friends. Maybe this outfit wasn't intended to be as ugly as I personally find it, but it feels like a visual representation of this internal struggle. The jacket leaning towards Max, the shirt leaning towards the party.

And while Lucas is sporting my least favorite of his looks for the season, Max is in my personal fave. She's in that soft, sunny yellow again and stripes, of course, plus a cozy grey sweatshirt. I don't have much to say about it other than that this is the warmest, most fall-colored of her outfits so far, potentially signaling her growing attachment to Hawkins.

EPISODES 6-9

How do we know shit's about to go down? Lucas has a bandana on.

This outfit feels much more comfortable than the last one. He's got his sneaks and his stripey tee and this jacket we've seen him in multiple times. He looks natural. And though I said that bandana thing like a joke, when Lucas puts on his bandanas, generally, we DO know that something dramatic is about to happen. We've been given a couple shots of him putting them on as a very intentional step in the preparations, for example, before he goes to spy on the lab in season 1. Lucas putting on a bandana isn't just a signal to the audience that shit's getting real, but it's something he does intentionally to prepare himself for conflict. I imagine this is a method of hyping himself up, boosting confidence, creating a visual for himself that he associates with bravery and triumph, likely a consequence of movies he's seen.

Max is in a striped tee and sporty-striped jacket again. Sorry for that second pic, but I wanted to get her jeans and shoes in the shot. Her shoes are red and blue and don't match, like at all. But Max is not a fashion girly and their vibrant color still fits her vibe. She and Lucas are both wearing orange striped tees as they grow closer to one another.

Similarly, Dustin is also wearing orange as he and Lucas make up. What is utterly bizarre to me is that the graphic tee Dustin spends the most time in (episodes 5-9), we can't see. His hoodie is zipped in all four episodes. The most I was able to read off it is "Race Yourself." The illustration is of a man on the moon, so this is presumably related to the Space Race, but the entire wording is never revealed. The message we are left with is "race yourself." Why. I don't actually have the answer to that. Try as I might, I am just not that smart.

Our girl wore pants to this dance (queen). And I don't think I'll ever be over the fact that her mom puts ONE barrette in her hair and says "It'll be worth it!" This outfit is low-key a mess, in my humble opinion, but that actually gives it some charm. The sweater has yellow cuffs, blue shoulders, a red waistband, and multi-colored stripes, and then she wore it with coral pants and that ONE barrette plus a watch in yet another shade of yellow. It's so colorful and it just screams Max, but it is not formal in the slightest. And this is an incredible contrast to pretty much all of the boys (and El) who all go out of their way to Dress to Impress.

ESPECIALLY Dustin. Dustin's outfit is actually my favorite out of the whole party's Snow Ball looks, but the effort he put into his hair shows how much he is trying to emulate Steve, a known womanizer, rather than being himself. His friends make fun of it, but god bless Scott Clarke for telling Dustin he looks snazzy. Dustin told Lucas he saw the connection (the "electricity") between him and Max, so he isn't trying to impress Max here, but he spends the dance hyper-focused on girls to the point that he ends up crying alone. Another contrast to note here is Will, who had no desire to impress any girls and yet got asked to dance by one calling him "Zombie Boy" which (first of all, rude) shows that she asked him to dance because he was being himself. Versus Dustin putting on an impression of a knock-off Steve Harrington, and getting laughed at.

This is another instance of Lucas and Mike's outfits looking kind of similar. They're both in grey and stripes with similar silhouettes with their jackets (open) and button-downs, going back to the two Venkmans thing with these boys both being leading lads/love interests. Lucas's shirt is slightly unbuttoned with no tie or bow-tie. His look is the most casual of all the boys, which fits with Max and the fact that after getting over the fear of trying to ask her to dance, he relaxes and these two manage to connect.

Other Season 2 Wardrobe Analyses: Mike & Will El & Hopper Nancy, Jonathan, & Steve

[clone-wars-retteyo-au]

(Reblogging this on my AU sideblog just because it captures all my thoughts so well) Giant response incoming.

You articulated all my thoughts on the clones' relationships with each other and death better than I articulated my thoughts on the topic. Perfect. No notes.

On the family dynamics side of things, I didn't fully go into it in my original reblog, but in my AU, the clones do find a way to continue cloning (which they do for a complicated series of reasons). And they choose to raise the next generation of clones in a style similar to that of the Jedi. They were never really raised with the concept of a nuclear family or "traditional" familial relationships, instead being raised as a community of "brothers" who all share the exact same DNA, plus the Kaminoan caretakers who are less like family and more just kind of there.

The clones are extremely communal and would definitely prefer to maintain communal/fluid family dynamics, which is exactly the kind that the Jedi have. They also would not really know what a healthy childhood looks like, and since the Jedi introduced them to the concept of being emotionally well-adjusted, I assume they'd look to them for childcare advice.

The thing I noted about found family vs blood relations is a bit complicated and I'll probably make a bigger post on it later, but it's perhaps (in my opinion) one of the most complicated and interesting aspects of being a clone just due to how unique it is to them. Perhaps it's partially the fanfiction getting to me, but a big thing that I noticed and found interesting was the type of loyalty the clones hold towards the greater clone "species." I think I first thought about it during "The Hidden Enemy" and Slick's betrayal. I started to think more about how the clones referred to each other as "brothers" on a collective level, even in reference to clones they've never met.

I think it is a very "brother in arms" kind of situation, but I like to think of it as having a couple of layers to it. One is the "brother in arms" layer, which is the most straight forward and can cause some of the tightest bonds. But there's also a layer of understanding of their situation and marginalization. They have a shared life experience (and existential dread) that is best understood by other clones. It's similar to how many marginalized groups will seek each other out and care for each other due to that shared experience with marginalization. They are clones, and while they may have natborn friends who they care about deeply, nobody will quite get it like other clones will. Growing up on Kamino, the only ones they could rely on were other clones, and even now, the people they can rely on/relate to the most are also other clones. There is a shared experience that is special to them, and thus there is a form of connection that can't exist with natborns.

Another layer is that they have a mindset that some big extended families have. I have a big extended family on my dad's side (grandma had 9 siblings and dad has 32 first cousins) and I barely know half of them. But despite that, we are relatively tight knit. There is this energy of shared understanding that despite not knowing each other, we are all related and thus should care about each other to a certain degree. Is that mindset always healthy? No. But would that exist within the clones? Yeah, probably. There is probably a sense of familial obligation, and sometimes that obligation can become a form of love. They may not all know each other, but they are brothers, so that must count for something, right?

And a final layer is that they are literally clones, and have the ultimate "we are blood related" thing going on. It's a collection of the other aspects wrapped into one big idea. They literally share the same DNA, which is probably a pretty big point of connection. It's a little like being identical twins separated at birth who reunite and are instantly best friends somehow. There is a specific kind of connection in this particular case that is hard to articulate. But it is so unique to the clones, so extremely specific, that I find it to be interesting in its own right.

I think I just generally noticed that the clones seem to view their dynamic with fellow clones differently than they do with natborns. There is a sense of community that is formed by life experiences/the whole military thing, but also in some ways by literal blood. They form that interconnectedness the same way that other groups may, but they are literally all related, and thus the loyalty to blood relations is created. Doesn't mean I believe that blood matters above all else (I have concepts for what beliefs and values the clone culture would have that I disagree with, but think would fit them well), but it could be what many of them think.

I don't know if I'm explaining it well, I just think it could be neat.

~~~~~~

The food headcanons continue. The idea that they are fusing foods together is actually kind of where I got part of the "oh god what did you make" concept from. They find foods that they life from all across the galaxy and end up thinking "these two things are good, so they must be even better together probably idk" and just end up fusing ice cream and baked salmon together. They are excited to try all the good things, and are trying to put the good things together in a way that makes an even better thing.

I've decided that Rex is the one who paints Kanan's eye mask with his bird of prey design.

Kanan's feeling pretty low still just after Malachor, he's still distancing himself from everybody, and Rex decides to go try to talk to him at one point and the first thing he comes up with to say is to point out that his new mask is pretty plain. It's awkward, he regrets it immediately, but then Kanan says that it gets the job done and Rex is abruptly reminded of himself so so long ago back at the beginning of the war.

He sits Kanan down and tells him a story about how, at the beginning of the war, only a few of the clones had paint on their armor, to designate things like rank and battalion in order to make it easier for officers to find them in the middle of a busy battlefield. The paint was practical and it was limited to a very select few. But the Jedi almost immediately started trying to encourage the clones to utilize the paint less sparingly, suggesting that maybe everybody could wear at least a LITTLE paint and use more individualized designs so that it was still easy to tell the commanders and captains apart from the others when needed.

Some of the clones had taken to it with gusto, but others had been more hesitant, and Rex remembers having been one of them. He remembers telling Obi-Wan that there was no real REASON to paint everyone's armor and especially not to come up with personal designs. The armor was practical and it served its purpose with or without the paint and special designs. But the Jedi had insisted on at least TRYING to come up with his own design and if he didn't like it, he could always take it off, so Rex had given in and chosen something to paint on the armor. And, somehow, it felt a little lighter the next time he put it on. It didn't erase the horrors of war or the pain of loss or anything like that, but it helped.

He tells Kanan that the mask right now is just a reminder of the pain of the injury and whatever other feelings he's still got all caught up in the Malachor mission (guilt over what happened with Ezra, grief over Ahsoka's loss). But if he puts his own design on it, it might turn the mask into something other than a constant reminder of something bad. Instead, it's a reminder of who he is, the combination of the person he once was and who he's become. He is more than just his injury or this mission and he can use the mask to declare that if he wants to.

Kanan says he never realized Rex and the other clones had cared so deeply about their armor and Rex says that the armor itself was meaningless. It's better than what's being handed out to stormtroopers, but not but a LOT. It was the design on it that had meant something and, more than that, it was what the design REPRESENTED: having a choice about how you were perceived by others.

Kanan asks why Rex had chosen his particular designs, the bird of prey eyes on his helmet in particular. Rex explains that he chose it because he liked birds and thought it looked cool, but he's kept the helmet for as long as he has because it's come to mean something ELSE now. It's not just a cool-looking design, it's a reminder of a better time in his life. It's a reminder of when he'd been a part of something greater than himself, with the other clones and the Jedi. It's a reminder of a time when he'd had hope that he and his people could one day come out the other side of this war towards a brighter future.

Kanan looks at the mask he'd grabbed from storage somewhere or something just to keep light from hurting his eyes as they recovered and to cover up the injury from other people's stares (even if he couldn't see them staring), then hands it to Rex and asks if Rex minds sharing that symbol because he'd like a reminder of that, too. Rex remembers the 332nd and their helmets that they'd painted to look like their chosen Jedi, almost blindly giving away their individuality in favor of that loyalty that had been stripped from them anyway. And then he looks at Kanan, choosing to make himself look LIKE REX, someone who had shared his face with millions once, because he wants to honor both the connections he'd lost as well as this new connection the two of them have built together now. And Rex says he'd be happy to share.

[obscuremechala]

testing testing 123

i just got here so i wanna test things out, probably won't keep this post in the long run but maybe i'll forget this is up or something idk

this is my profile pic, i drew it myself real quick and i don't feel like elaborating why. the url is a tad different bc i was thinking of sharing it on instagram (i didn't tho) and tumblr doesn't allow underscores apparently

but i digress

i don't have much to talk about but that's 'cause i don't have a prompt or anything this was just meant to be a test

one day i'll ramble about my story stuff bc there's a lot going on there but there's still a lot i need to figure out

hmm maybe ill do an intro or something

but probably not here i don't think it'll fit

ill test things in the meanwhile

italics? oooh yes

bold

[redacted] (huh would that be unredacted or what is this a paradox)

awelkhfas ooh different fonts too

point 1

point 2

there are no points

what am i doing

idk man

i just got here and want to learn and maybe interact

i tend to just lurk on socials but i am capable of interaction

i just usually don't

friends are nice, i wish i could interact with mine more

testing testing one two three

bigger

biggest

moths are cute, i like moths

one of my fantasy races/species are inspired by moths but that's for another time

i don't expect anyone to actually read this

tho i do expect it'll take me some time to get used to things here

ive seen a lot of posts on pinterest while looking for writing advice and character design inspo, tho now my feed is 1/3 transformers, 1/3 pokemon, and 1/3 misc. tumblr posts

i also like robots and transformers

what if moth robot

hmm lemme think

i could def make it work in my universe, i shall ponder

anyway more tests

ooo smol

wonder what this does

color text nice

this song is great i found it a few days ago and have listened to it several times on loop

however i don't have spotify i just have youtube music

sad that they deleted google play music, at least i could listen to music outside of the app and with my screen off without paying money

i haven't actually played undertale, i watched a neutral run playthrough and have played deltarune, if i get the game id probably do a pacifist run

undertale music is good tho

h

there is no 2

what did that do

i don't really get it

maybe it'll do something when i publish this

ooo i should post some art

i don't have a lot tho

maybe i should redraw my old art bc i looked at some last night and yikes

apparently i only recently discovered decent anatomy/proportions and that was via mostly guesture poses

i have recently been shown the way of shapes and im watching a lot of character design and redesign stuff along with my hermitcraft

i never really got into miraculous ladybug but for some reason watching people tear into it and redesign the characters tends to pull me in like a moth to a light

it's funny bc i have no investment in what people are complaining about but im interested in how they make things better/different

also taking notes on what not to do so

i wish i could draw my characters, a good chunk are robots and hard to design, 90% of the rest of them are homemade fantasy races/species i have to actually conceptualize, and then the humans are kinda just there

bc i do have humans there just arent a ton bc i must make everything hard for myself

dw its fun for me it just takes a long time to actually hammer out

i wanna talk more about them but im thinking of better ways to actually organize my thoughts that just vomiting words on a page that no one will see anyway

it's gonna take some tome to figure out this place

maybe ill make separate blogs for original and fandom stuff idk ill explore the features more and get back to

[akisata-moved]

a little bit of divine worldbuilding 🕊️

hi everyone! i said i would make a post about my angel worldbuilding and the lore surrounding it, so here we are. let's get into this!

(as a forewarning: this got really long really fast. sorry lol)

i. at the beginning of the universe: what's the deal with god, heaven, and hell?

you know... this guy. ...or, guys? i use they pronouns for god, not because they're nonbinary rep or anything but because the classic collection uses they pronouns for god because they are literally plural. so, multiple guys.

a. the universe's first inhabitants 🌟

we can't have angels (or anything, really) without god. so... what is god?

to put it simply, "god" is a small collective of beings that hail from a primordial race of creatures called aeons. contrary to popular belief, "god" did not create the universe as a whole.

that being said, they WERE the first beings to exist in the universe; gifted with near-immortality and the power of creation, they were essentially burdened the cosmic purpose of bringing the universe to life. think of them as... like, demiurges, really. despite being the first beings in the universe, they didn't really start popping up until ~370,000 years into the universe existing.

(whether or not there is a "supreme" being above them isn't something i've given TOO much thought to. my working idea is that the universe is quite literally a supreme being in itself.)

so, our "god" is not the only ones of their kind. there isn't a large amount of them, but considering the size of the universe and how it's ever-expanding... there's enough of them to go around, you know.

as the early stages of the universe progress, they start to become aware of the existence of each other. it's difficult to be what is essentially a god and be unaware of the presences that surround you.

the attitudes that they held towards each other varied from aeon to aeon. some of them worked in tandem, others remained solitary. some of them competed with others, and others dedicated themselves to watching over their corner of the universe and making it a home.

there weren't many "overstepped boundaries" in the infinitely expanding stretch of space they had at their disposal. in the early stages of the universe, there was no need for that kind of thing. they all mostly stayed in their own lanes.

during the early epochs, they mostly just spent their time experimenting, growing and changing, and learning the ins and outs of their little cosmic playground.

due to the nature and scope of their abilities, and their immortality, they were mostly aware that their exploits were relatively infinitesimal. they had a very acute awareness that every planet and galaxy they created would eventually crumble.

similarly to their attitudes towards each other, the attitudes they held towards their creations varied. some liked to stay disconnected, and hopped from creation to creation, moving on as soon as they finished working on their little project. others were more involved.

in regards to their abilities, they aren't omnipotent. in fact i wouldn't even really call them omnificent. if there was a way to describe what they were able to do, it would be... transmute? the universe provided all the materials for creation, and so it was their job to use their divine power to... make something with it, really. they can't create something out of absolutely nothing. there has to be something for them to make stuff.

they also don't really have any kind of set moral compass. so none of them are inherently evil, good, bad, whatever.

of course, given the fact that they mostly reside in space (we'll get to what exactly "heaven" is in a little), they aren't necessarily bound to one physical shape or form. we love shapeshifters.

b. the devilman "god", and the prison of light 🕯️

the devilman "god" is a trio of aeons who bonded over a certainty and awareness of what they wanted from the universe. they strove to create something perfect— something beautiful. better than every other creation out there. other aeons' work was... sloppy, imperfect, and quite ugly.

as stated before, the aeons aren't necessarily physical beings. that makes it really easy for them to fuse with each other, as they aren't really bound to any kind of physics or laws governing their consciousnesses and bodies.

"so are they a hivemind" not necessarily? they're all just... fused together. the pros of fusing together like that means that one single entity now has the power of three aeons, which lets them do a lot more than if they were all separate, and on a larger scale. god is a throuple

they probably aren't the only aeon group to do this, honestly.

fun note: the devilman "god" never refers to themselves as another aeon. they always refer to themselves as a "god", and it's mainly just because they think they're better than the rest of the aeons lol. i'll be referring to them as god from here on out just because it's easier.

so, then what? god decides that they need a place for themselves. a pocket of space only for them (+ eventually, the angels). they needed a home base of sorts, a place that represented their vision as they imagined it. and so, they created heaven.

so what even is heaven? it's essentially a sub-universe, or a pocket of the universe that god hid away just for themselves.... and for the angels, which were created afterwards.

once again, i doubt heaven is the only realm of its kind. i doubt that god is the only aeon who had the idea for a "home base" of sorts.

heaven started out as a home just for god, but as angelic society grew, it eventually turned into a whole kingdom. that being said, god still has a palace Just For Them at the very top layer of it!

people don't go to heaven. nope. that doesn't happen. mainly because it's not an "afterlife".

after god created heaven and the angels, heaven because a home for all of them. heaven was created to be perfect (in the eyes of its creator), or as close to perfect as god could manage while also having a species with (sort of) free will residing within it.

heaven is almost like a hidden galaxy, except a LOTTT smaller.

heaven is mostly made up of clouds and solid energy. there are actually five layers of heaven; one for each sphere of the angelic choir, one for the Archangels, and one for god.

that isn't to say that the angels are confined to one layer. they can freely travel about, it's just that they'll usually spend time in the layer dedicated to their sphere, unless they're stationed to work elsewhere.

the need for more and more angels became more important as time went on. god became more... power hungry, and they fell harder into the belief that they alone were the ones worthy of the universe. they eventually gained a very hostile attitude towards other aeons and cosmic societies. this wasn't unheard of, really, but considering how most of them stayed in their own lanes, having god be all... aggressive was a little bit of a shock. needless to say, this resulted in the formation of enemies... and other forms of cosmic politics.

heaven and angelic culture has a lot of emphasis on architecture! ...although, not in a way you would expect. the best way i can explain it is that it's very... suess-like.

lots of staircases, lots of columns, lots of... that kind of thing...

while we're on the topic of sub-universes, we can talk a little about hell, too.

hell was actually created by the universe itself, not by the aeons or god or anything. it has always existed, and is sort of a universal collection all life and souls. sorta like the universe's garbage can for all dead things.

it’s less of an eternal resting place and more of an intermediary location you go while the universe works to basically recycle your soul and convert it back to its original state.

ii. what is an angel?: a little on angelic society

a. the angelic choir at a glance📜

angelic society as a whole is referred to as the angelic choir.

the main thing about angelic society is that it's split into different spheres based on how much power an angel has/the specific task they were made to do.

why do angels exist in the first place? they were made to be servants of god, and basically do everything that they do... for them. so, deliver messages, be soldiers, do tasks and chores and watch over the things god makes... all that kind of thing.

angels have free will, but were created with an ingrained sense of duty that usually outweighs said free will. or perhaps it influences their free will. hard to tell. that being said, most angels will not do anything if it directly contradicts their purpose.

also, angels are not inherently “good” aligned. like I said, they have free will, which means they have choices. angels can be shitty people! whether or not an angel “falls” has nothing to do with what their character is like, and everything to do with whether or not they are defiant to God.

not a lot of angels do defy god, either. an angel being kicked out of heaven is pretty rare.

anyways, back to the angelic choir... there are three spheres of angel, each with three types of angel in them. the highest ranking angels are the first order of the first sphere, and the lowest ranking are the third order of the third sphere. yeah.

in the first sphere you have the seraphim, cherubim, and thrones. the first sphere angels are the only angels that tend directly to god.

the second sphere is made up of the dominations, the virtues, and the powers.

the third sphere consists of the principalities, the arches, and the angels (generic term).

Archangels are above the first sphere in rank. they're the most powerful angels, and there aren't very many of them.

b. archangels and the angels of the first sphere🔥

Archangels, as stated before, are the most powerful angels and the ones with the most important duties. they're mostly angelic supervisors that manage angels with different specialties. who are the archangels? before lucifer's fall, there were eight different archangels.

jophiel (archangel of wisdom and inspiration), chamuel (archangel of divine justice), gabriel (archangel of revalation), raphael (archangel of healing), uriel (archangel of truth and light), zadkiel (archangel of healing), and, of course, michael (archangel of strength and courage) and lucifer (archangel of love and empathy).

the first sphere angels are the angels that are closest to god, and the only ones that can interact where with them directly. they're the least... replaceable angels, except for the archangels. that's why they don't really leave heaven.

the seraphim are the bodyguards of the throne, and those who directly guard and protect both god's palace and the different layers of heaven itself. they're stationed just about everywhere on the fifth layer of heaven, and then scattered about in the other layers just to keep an eye on everything. they're also stationed at the entrances and exits.

they're busy a LOT of the time. they take their jobs very seriously.

the seraphim are the angels that interact the most with god. the cherubim and the thrones do, too, but not as frequently.

the tradition when interacting with god is to cover their faces and bodies with their wings when interacting directly with them. it's a sort of humbling thing, to show that they regard themselves as lesser than them. just out of respect.

the cherubim are the celestial recordkeepers of heaven, and the ones that really hold the knowledge of god and heaven.

they're known for their wisdom, and they keep records of everything that happens in their part of the universe. nothing goes undocumented, really. heaven's historians are also cherubim.

along with keeping records of events, they also keep track of all of the angels that are created, and those that come in and out of heaven. and those who go out and dont come back. yeah.

jophiel is the archangel who supervises the cherubim.

the thrones are some of the most intellectual angels and have wonderful minds. they serve as both teachers, guides, and counselors for the lower ranks of the angels.

they're the ones in charge of receiving orders from god and dishing out duties to the lower ranks (dominations, mostly) and explaining them. celestial teachers, really. they're very engaged with the rest of angelic society, and are always willing to offer an explanation or a helping hand to other angels.

they're also the head order that deals with cosmic laws and making sure everything that god makes works the way it's supposed to. god doesn't really have time to keep everything in check themselves, so it's up to the thrones and the virtues to make sure their creation... functions like it should.

lucifer was supposed to the archangelic supervisor of the thrones...? but, uh... that didn't exactly.... uh.... work out....

after lucifer was cast out, jophiel was put in charge of both the thrones and the cherubim. it's a lot of work for one angel, really, but she doesn't mind.

c. angels of the second and third spheres☄️

the first order of the second sphere is the dominations. think of these guys as... well, management.

they're in charge of managing the angelic kingdoms, and of regulating the second sphere angels in lower orders.

they help keep everyone organized. there's a lot of things to keep track of.

the dominions get their orders from the thrones (who receive orders from god), and pass along orders to the principalities in the third sphere along with the virtues and powers. it's just a big chain.

zadkiel is the archangel in charge of the dominations rank. he also deals with some of the stuff that the principalities handles, but mostly sticks to dominations.

the second order of the second sphere is the virtues. if seraphim are the guards and watchers of heaven itself, then the virtues are the watchers of the universe (well, god's part of the universe, anyways).

they watch over everything god creates, from planets, galaxies, luminaries, and other celestial bodies to make sure the cosmos are in order. and that nothing is going wrong.

they work closely with certain thrones angels for this reason.

it's actually very important to make sure shit isn't going wrong. especially considering how their god's... hostile attitude... attracts some not so friendly faces.

uriel is the archangel in charge of the virtues, and because of the close ties between the virtues and the thrones, he quickly became good friends with lucifer.

the powers are the third order of the third sphere, and they make up the angelic army.

can basically be split into two groups— soldiers and healers. the soldiers were originally led by chamuel, but the job was pretty much taken over by michael once he showed up, and chamuel instead switched gears to deal more with strategizing after that. raphael supervises those more geared towards healing.

running an army is hard work, turns out. there's a lot that goes into it.

the third sphere is the most populous sphere; they're like worker bees. they're very easy to replace, and are very expendable.

third sphere angels actually leave heaven a lot. they deal with intergalactic relationships.

in the first sphere, the principalities are the main managers of the lower-ranking arches and angels. they're very similar to the dominations in that regard, and they actually get their orders from them. like i said before... it's a big chain.

they're the ones that are stuck dealing the most with cosmic politics.

arches are celestial envoys, while your everyday angels work as messengers, running back and forth between heaven and other places in space. angel postal service!

the angels and arches are also assigned most of the mundane tasks not given to any higher ranks.

usually the angels go out in groups, because there's safety in numbers, and space is REALLY big. at least one arch will accompany an angel group, and on occasion, a principality will come too, depending on how important things are.

that being said, there have been many, many instances where angels don't come back. sometimes they get lost. this happens more often than it should.

gabriel is the head messenger archangel. he's the postmaster. angel. guy.

d. okay i'll bite. what are angels made of. aka, angel physiology 🌠

angels are special. lol.

they're made of photon energy (in the case of most angels) and thermal energy (in the case of seraphim).

(lucifer is an Archangel, so he is... as stated above, made of photons.)

as stated before, god can't create something out of nothing. the energy needed to create angels actually is specific to the energy emitted from dying stars. every angel comes from the death of a star.

so, this means a couple of things. first of all, as angels are created, not born, they don't actually have a functional reproductive system. because they weren't created with the intention of reproduction. the genitalia is decorative essentially tbh. also, every angel looks like this. it's definitely not a reproductive thing. it's entirely aesthetic.

"romance" is essentially nonexistent in angel culture. uh, they all see each other as some kind of equivalent of siblings, considering they were all made directly by the same creator. they all refer to god as their parents, and so they all see each other as siblings.

(that being said, it's not like they're incapable of love or anything. ryosatanlucifer retains his feelings for akira even after he turns back into an angel, so it's not like he can't feel love or anything like that. i mean, that should be obvious, but i felt the need to specify anyways)

the second thing this: angels lack all forms of physical sensation. their bodies are... kind of numb to all sense of touch, taste, smell, etc. they are, in some circumstances, intangible. what does that mean? well...

sorry for having so much stuff from go nagai world.... we never got to see satan in the actual ovas </3

they can float through stuff sometimes. their tangibility (on earth) is actually up to them. so, for example, if they wanted to, they could float through a door. or they could open a door by turning the doorknob. though, they wouldn't be able to experience the sensation of actually touching the doorknob.

anywho. there are actual a few variations of angelic appearance depending on what rank of angel they are! i have... erm... drawn a few examples of some of the angels, but not a whole lot? ahh.... there they are anyways. some of the descriptions are a little outdated bc i've changed into since then but YEAH!!

Archangels, at the very top of the angelic choir, are beautiful with 12 large snow-white wings— two on the head, two from the shoulderblades, two on the middle back, two on the lower back, on on each arm and one on each ankle. they’re all nearly identical- though, most of the angels within each order looks nearly identical. they’re identical in the way that cats of the same coat color and breed are identical. michael and lucifer are actually identical, though, because they’re like real life twins, and are born from the same star. yeah!

seraphim are made from condensed thermal energy rather than light energy. they’re super hot. Lol. they have 10 wings (head, shoulders, lower back, arms, and ankles) unlike the Archangel’s 12. They’re warmer in color scheme than the Archangels, which are usually a sort of yellow-white color? they glow. seraphim are more red-orange because they’re… heat. They also have the ability to manifest flames out of their body, though it’s kind of just for show considering how it can't really do anything.

the cherubim are covered in eyes. or, their wings are covered in eyes- they have 8 of them! wings, I mean (head, shoulders, lower back, and ankles). they have way more than eight eyes. Also, they can open eyes up on their bodies when they get really stressed or angry! it’s a fun neat cherubim trait. all the cherubim are so tired. let them go home please.

the thrones are the third order in the first sphere of the Angelic choir, and these are our ringy-boys. they're the angels with the most emphasis on halos- they can make them spin really fast and manifest more rings around them whenever they feel strongly or honestly just when they want to. they’re usually surrounded by them, just as a sort of status thing. they typically serve as messenger angels (delivering orders to the second sphere) and bodyguards for the cherubim. they have 6 pairs of wings (head, shoulders, and lower back).

from there on out appearance is mostly dictated by sphere— second sphere angels (dominations, virtues, and powers) have two sets of wings (on the head and the shoulders), while first sphere angels (principalities, arches, and angels) have only one set of wings on their shoulders, and look pretty similar to the standard depiction of angels.

e. some more about angel culture in general

i just wanted to share some more fun little details about angel culture, because there IS stuff beyond work for these guys lol

society is really easy to be sustained when there's no need for "hard labor", and when everyone is created with a sense of purpose. and the fact that they don't really need to eat or anything.

since there isn't much of a need for extra work outside of everyone's Assigned Jobs, when there is free time, it's mostly dedicated to the arts. there's actually a LOT of focus on art in angelic culture!

though, it's a lot less... genuine? than "human art". the idea of "perfection" is heavily exalted in angelic society, mainly because that's what god wishes for, and god is the One Real Authority in their society. a lot of angelic art tries to reflect this idea of perfect beauty that they've had drilled into their heads from the beginning of their existence.

of course, perfection is unachievable for the angels. so sad.

art that depicts any kind of "flaw" is entirely unheard of. angels are the ultimate perfectionists.

since none of the angels actually LOOK at god (the archangels and first spheres cover their eyes with their wings when they come in direct contact with them), a lot of art is actually of god. it's always sort of a contest to see how perfectly and beautiful they can depict god. it's a form of worship, really.

they do have a written language. but "novels" aren't really a thing. they aren't super big on fiction. what's the point of that?

instead, they use written language to keep historical accounts, archive events, and write PSALMS. so so many psalms. they really love to write music dedicated to praising their god.

"music" in quotes, because it's... not exactly comparable to human music. it's angel music, guys. cmon.

they also like writing poetry a lot.

because of the way they worship perfection in art/writing, things end up feeling a little bit... sterile? yeah.

obviously, since they are in space, they don't use any kind of timescale similar to days/hours/weeks/etc. there's a sort of "day" equivalent in which things are a lot... brighter? but that's really it.

angels don't age, either. they have no concept of age.

they do have another consistent method of keeping time, though, and it's based on how long it takes for angels (third rank of the third sphere) to be created. lower rank angels are really being produced at a constant rate, to make up for losses, so it's easy to divide time this way. the time it takes to make one angel = one angelic "day".

they don't really have any equivalent of years, instead naming longer periods of time (ages) after whatever archangel was created last. so, the age of gabriel, or the age of uriel.

when michael and lucifer were made At the same Time, the cherubim got into a lot of arguments over who to name the age after. it wasn't like there was any way to choose between the two.

so they just decided on both eventually. lol. they called it the age of lucifer and michael.

after lucifer well, a new Age started. so the age of lucifer and michael and the age of michael are two separate time periods.

michael is sooooooooooooo cocky about that, too. what a bitch.

anyways, like stated before, the idea of perfection is super important to angels. to them, god represents the ULTIMATE perfection.

and on that same note, talking bad about god, and going against god's will, is a very big NO!!!!!!. they REALLY do not do that.

.......okay!!!!!!!! whew!

that was a LOT, but if you read all the way through... mwah! thank you so much for listening to my thoughts!!!! i might make a separate post about lucifer's history/his relationships with the other angels/his fall later on. but for now.... here's just some basic stuff about angels and how they work!!! yeah!!!!!

[icykalisartblog]

I think you wrote the post about how the "Garak comes out" storyline would've likely played if it had actually happened on DS9 in the 90s, and I know you said you were inspired by Buffy, so I was thinking about an interview Whedon recently did where he said he had hoped to make Willow bisexual but was persuaded against it at the time because "people would see her interest in women as a phase." It got me thinking about the DS9 creators' reluctance to labeling Bashir as non-hetero relative (cont.)

Text version: (cont.) to Garak, since he so clearly shows interest in women in the show way more than Garak does, and also specifically labeling Garak as gay even though Andy Robinson seems to see him as bisexual. It's curious to me though that DS9 does have a canon bi character in the form of Jadzia, who even outside of "Rejoined" is hinted at being interested in women. And I think some of that hesitancy with G/B but not her is about male bisexuality in particular but then, what was going on with Willow then

Yes, that post was mine! I think there's a lot going on with this situation and they aren't equivalent. Here's a long list of my thoughts on this (this post will discuss homophobia, sexism, fetishization, and racism):

1) Remember that when we're talking about characters like Dax and Garak we're talking about aliens, but when we're talking about characters like Bashir and Willow, we're talking about humans (well, sort of, anyway). The ramifications are different. I'll get back to this is point four.

2) In addition to human versus non-human characters, there's also the subject of beauty standards. Behind-the-scenes Bashir was constantly pushed to be the conventionally attractive "ladies' man" character of the show from the start.

3) The writers never planned for Garak and Bashir to have a thing. If you read the shooting script for their first interaction it's actually quite bland genre description about Garak acting like he's "playing poker" and the attraction is not noticeable. The actors chose to portray it as an attraction. The reason the showrunner of DS9 has to acknowledge Garak's queerness now is because Andy Robinson never fails to bring it up and because it appeals to people, probably.

4) I understand why you're using the word "bisexual" to describe Garak and Dax but I'm not sure it's even the most accurate term. I remember reading about an interaction between Casey Biggs (Damar's actor) and Robinson that was like, "You're saying Garak goes both ways?" "No, no, Garak goes all ways!" and Robinson in the past often seemed to pair Garak's Cardassian-ness to his queerness, pointing out that he chose to play him as "omnisexual" and said he didn't see why an alien species would have the same standards about how to act on attraction. But I think it's important to remember that the way he's phrased these statements may be to separate himself from the character/make it seem more palatable to an unforgiving audience. Terry Farrell has said of Dax's sexuality (not like it wasn't already obvious from the show, but lol) that Dax is pan and that: “The only rule was ‘are you interesting to me, and do I want to know more about you?’” Personally, I would argue that if Garak is interested in women, that was not reflected by the final show, but I'd understand why fans might want to go with what Robinson has said about him.

Note: takes get progressively more cynical from here.

5) And again, about the alien nature of these characters, you ask why the WLW representation in "Rejoined?" I think part of it is definitely a double-standard about women kissing being seen as more acceptable by the writers, but another aspect might be that this romance was originally pitched as a romance between a Jadzia and a male ex. The writers did opt to make Lenara a woman in order to make the story adjacent to real-world homophobia and make the viewers think, but I believe the writers may have been more focused on other aspects of the episode. Also, I have to say, thank goodness Avery Brooks directed this episode because after reading what Nana Visitor had to say about the atmosphere when the Intendant and Mirror Ezri kissed I think things could have been extremely fetishized:

Q: My question is regarding the lesbian (inaudible) and if there was any sort of a negative backlash from doing those scenes because it was a different time then?

NV: It was a very different climate, very different. It was like a shocking thing to have a kiss between two women. The only thing that I noticed is that Nicole DeBoer and I, when that scene came up, I was the Intendant and we had to fight our way to the set. There were suddenly more men...

(Laughter)

NV: They came from other stages and other shows.

6) You know it, I know it, but one major reason the showrunners are more open to acknowledging Garak's queerness is stereotypes.

Now Bashir was also heavily queercoded, which I've commented on before, but once his enhancements were revealed in the show I noticed many of those traits vanished. We rarely had moments like this anymore:

7) You mention Joss Whedon (who TBH I don't trust about things like this) saying he was concerned people would see Willow's attraction to women as a phase if she were framed as bi, but regarding Dax... I'm not at all convinced that the showrunners would have cared if people had seen Dax's attraction to women this way, or as an artifact of having been both women and men (and people did indeed see it this way, I have read the old fanzines to prove it, sadly). Like, once Ezri was introduced to the show, Dax's attraction to women was seriously toned down, right? How do we know the showrunners wouldn't have been happy if people didn't take Dax's attraction to women that seriously?

8) I generally try to avoid public speculation about the opinions of the actors, but I think when it's about changes in statements they've made over the years it's probably okay to say this: when looking at statements made by them, I think it's important to examine the context. For example, Robinson has repeatedly said that he didn't think the "romance" between Garak and Ziyal worked, and in the episodes he seems to be portraying Garak as uninterested in her. But he still said this once:

Q: Did you enjoy working on the episode in which you fell in love with Tora Ziyal? jcsammon AR: I enjoyed the episode very much. I wished that they could have made up their minds as to what actor would play Ziyal — it was a relationship I would have loved to pursue.

What's going on here? Seems pretty uncharacteristic, right? In this same Q&A he talks about the extremely Garashir-heavy play he and Siddig wrote! Well, this was back in 2002 on the official Star Trek website, and I think it's worth noting that there is reason to believe that depending on context, the actors wanted to avoid saying certain things. I know this is probably a joke, but still, in an interview with Armin Shimerman from the same venue around the same time, he says this:

Q: Do you have any bloopers you'd like to share with us? cassiopia AS: Not while I'm sitting at Paramount. Star Trek Host Too: (Yes, folks, he's really here with us.)

9) In the same vein, Siddig in particular seems to make many more statements about Bashir's queerness when the showrunners aren't around, and has progressively made more and more statements supporting Garashir over time. It seems like he's always supported it considering old interviews like this one, but he also used to at least present himself as being fine with Bashir/Ezri and such in the past. Remember that Siddig is Black and has faced a lot of discrimination during his career, particularly early on. So if anyone is wondering why he seemed much more passive-aggressive during his time on the show when he felt Bashir was not being handled well, or if it seems strange that some statements of his don't seem as pro-queer Bashir as they are now, the precariousness of his situation was almost surely a factor.