#im very great at answering questions concisely!

[notedchampagne]

What makes a tlt au work for you? Do u have any favourites out there/that you’ve thought of?

its hard because it can go down to the writing! i have a huge bias for things that put focus on the characters acting awful and driving the story forward- if a story has a plot thats great, but its the difference between "gideon and harrow keep meeting up at parties and fall a little bit in love every time" and "gideons angry she lost her childhood to the cult so she attends a party with the tridentarii to shotgun adolescent experiences, and harrowhark, frustrated that gideon is pulling on her metaphorical leash, follows to stalk her". the former retains a 5+1 fic format and is more bite-size, while the latter puts more focus into their growth as characters. im not great at articulating what i like specifically, but ill put my favorite fics below:

what if nona was dogs tugs at my heart: its post-canon, slice-of-life, and has a unique concept (said in the title). i judged a book by its cover because i thought the premise seemed too silly at first but ive been made a fool and its pet clown. it feels so true to nona the way its about all the things nona loves and how she gets to explore the world through new eyes. i love the way it explores characters softening up and getting hurt through a third person pov

we have always lived in the apartment by @thatneoncrisis i keep saying this but for the love of GOD guys this au is so good it makes me cry and feel such a deep catharsis from it. it takes gideon and harrow and the ninth as a cult and explores their struggle to adapt to a modern society when noone ever gets a break (WOW ITS JUST LIKE IN REAL L-). quinn writes the sides of griddlehark i think go overlooked in fanfic often: their codependency, their tendency to lash out when theyre defensive, their mutual paranoia and different coping mechanisms, harrows psychosis and gideons bitterness, their relationships to each other as being the only other person who really understands what the other suffered through. god. i feel lightheaded.

"but SAM, i dont like angst but i want to see this writing!" read gap between a tragedy and a comedy

"SAM, i also like when gideon and harrow are horrible because theyre maladjusted teenagers! but i want more antics where the characters drive things forward over angst!" read whats eating gideon nav

you just aint receiving is one of my FAVORITE modern aus of all time (and i heavily recommend the authors other fics as well!) if you really want to see how much i love this fic the fact that my comments take up the entire phone screen probably says a lot. its hard to put it concisely: it keeps harrows air of misanthropy and cruelty but redefines it as the result of her upbringing and personal struggle to live in a university while dealing with a backpack of mental illness and frustration. it changes gideons personality as the daughter of john gaius in a way that makes sense having her grow up with johns middling parenting skills and getting everything she ever wanted (connecting it back to kirionas personality in ntn!). it brings in side characters (specially palamedes. my beautiful boy palamedes) in ways that compliment harrow and gideon but not so obviously that they only exist to be supports. they have their own lives and ideals. its a modern au that brings in the boiling politics of johns cult uprising once again in a really novel way

semi charmed kinda life by @griddlebait. jesuchristo and all his middle names this fic is GREAT for you if you want a slice of life, coming of age type modern au that explores what its like for gideon and harrow if they actually got the space to see who theyd become outside of the stifling fate tlt has for them. as far as modern aus go im usually very hesitant to read them because im afraid modernizing the characters takes features away from their core but i really love and respect the way the author treats the 69ers with care and draws distinct lines that shows me how their grow and change while keeping a line to the anchor. also they write HIDEOUS (complimentary) PINING. DISGUSTING. some of these chapters were so chock full of dyke drama that they made me nauseous and whimsical. i think once a friend said this fic felt like if gh could be reincarnated and i like that descriptor a lot

til the cows come home is another postcanon fic that made me feel sick and crybabyish about it- i would definitely recommend it if you want to explore a happier ending with griddlehark! with this and what if nona was dogs the thing i like most about them is that they mix up vulnerability with pain and fear, so it feels more lifelike that way if that makes sense. i lost my taste in fluff fics over time but when its interspersed with struggle and characters causing problems because they cant cope with themselves it feels much more earnest and raw

this became very long. im not sorry

[listenheresweaty]

Ok uh here goes

Can I get revivedbur headcanons for a reader who was very hurt by his betrayal? Like all rev wants to do is be nice to reader and love them but they want nothing to do with him?

-roses 🥀

ohhh boy my first ask

first off i wanna say that i absolutely love this idea. perfect angst fodder mmm

im not that great at writing angst. when im not sure what to write i add a lot of insignificant details until i get motivation. so hopefully this is satisfying :) If not, i'll try to come up with some more concise headcanons for wilbur trying to regain the reader's affections.

-----

First off, I'd like to point out that Wilbur right after revival and Wilbur a couple days after revival (especially after the events of hitting on 16) are quite different

When he's freshly revived, Wilbur is ecstatic. He's alive, rejuvenated, and ready to cause mayhem in every conceivable corner of the server.

Ever the ambitious man, his first concerns are with gaining power--- or, rather, interfering with power. He wants to become relevant, involved in the incessant, political push-and-pull of mankind that has interested him since a young age.

Eventually, though, the adrenaline wears off and he starts thinking about the people in his life. Tommy, who he had immediately recruited for his expeditions to Las Nevadas. Phil and Technoblade, who he visited gladly. And you. You're there, just a short 5 minute walk from Technoblade's house.

Wilbur's sitting at the table with Phil, making small talk about the weather or something when you walk in, throwing open the door with a huff and brushing the snow out of your hair. You look a mess, hair wet and plastered to your cheeks and your nose red and sniffling.

God, how he's missed you.

You freeze when you see him, your voice dying in your throat.

Wilbur smiles oh so sweetly, opening his mouth to speak.

Phil accidentally interrupts him, standing up and explaining the situation to you--- yes, the rumors were true. Yes, Dream is on his necromancer arc. No, he's not Ghostbur.

Wilbur tries his best to speak with you, but it's hard with Phil and Techno there. And for some reason you won't speak to him directly, asking all questions about him to Phil, such as "When was he revived? Was it really dream who revived him?"

When you do address him, your answers are clipped, polite but distant.

He figures it's just because it's awkward with Phil around.

But even when he manages to catch you alone, you try to push him away, glaring at him before stalking off with your jaw clenched and your face hidden from his view.

ouch.

That doesn't deter him for long: Quackity had brushed him off with an eye roll and a dismissive wave of the hand, and yet their rivalry is still underlined by a vague sense of respect and friendliness. (keyword: vague). So, he'll just act the same as he does with Quackity!

But as soon as he starts pestering you too, popping up in your house to nick a few items and smirk at you, the look in your eyes stops him dead in his tracks.

"Get out of my house, Soot!" Your tone of voice catches him off guard. There isn't a trace of amusement or playful exasperation. Your annoyance is so profound it borders on disgust.

All the lighthearted mischievousness that had been previously dancing in his rib cage is extinguished in a heartbeat. His smirk fades, and he stands in silence.

"Didn't you fucking hear me? Get out!"

"Darling, I-I.. " He laughs nervously. "I was just joking, you can have your stuff back---"

"I don't care if you steal, leave or burn them. I want you out of my house."

"But--... I don't--"

"---And don't call me darling."

"I don't understand."

"What? What don't you understand?"

"I didn't.. I just want to talk." He raises his hands in surrender, exhaling slowly. "I just wanted to talk."

"I don't want to talk." You say, quiet and composed once more. "You aren't welcome here. Just--- get out. Please."

He wanted to stay and argue, but something about the way you were looking at him was almost more suffocating than Limbo. He turned tail and nearly bolted out of there.

---

He doesn't visit you for a while after that. It's even worse if you had been attached to Ghostbur--- because of course you were attached to Ghostbur.

And after hitting on 16? When he goes on his apology arc?

If people don't accept your apology, Phil had said, you need to let them go.

And so Wilbur does the same thing with you as he did with Tommy: avoiding you like the plague in fear of having to inevitably let you go.

He still spends his time thinking about you, of course. Whenever you two accidentally end up in the same area, he stands to the side, glancing at you from the corner of his eye.

The only way he's going to end up talking to you is if Eret sets it up, not revealing it to either of you until you're face to face.

You've calmed down since your last encounter with Wilbur. Although your opinions haven't changed, you willingly sit down to talk with him.

He, too, is less insistent with his apology. "Listen, I-I.. I know this won't fix things. I don't expect them to."

Wilbur pauses, and you raise an eyebrow for him to continue.

"But you-- you mean a lot to me." He says, wincing at the immediate scoff from you. "You do. You mean the world to me."

"Months. Months you lied to me, in Pogtopia. Months we all spent slaving away to get L'Manburg back-- and I did it all for you! I fought for that country because you loved it like life itself. You watched us fight for it, you let us bleed and sweat and shed tears for it, all while knowing all our efforts would be in vain because you'd be blowing it to pieces regardless. And then you up and left! You left us all, left us to pick up your pieces and drag your body to be buried. "

" ______." Wilbur said your name, quietly.

"-- And you proposed to me! The day beforewe were about to fight to get back L'Manburg, you got down on one knee and proposed.--"

"______." Wilbur repeated.

"You promised we'd have a life after the war. You looked me in the eyes and promised me this, knowing damn well what would happen the next day."

Wilbur doesn't say anything. His shoulders sag, deflating.

You sigh too. "And then you're revived. Months go by, I don't hear a word from you--- not that I was asking to--- and now you're apologizing."

Wilbur falls silent. "I'm selfish."

You purse your lips and move to speak, but he cuts you off.

"I'm not saying that to provoke pity or fish for compliments or serve an excuse. I'm just stating the fact. I am, at heart, a selfish person. I-- that's why I proposed to you that day. I-I knew it would hurt. I thought it would.. keep you closer, wanting to avoid you leaving me. Even though I was the one leaving." He exhales, running a hand through his hair.

The brutal honesty has you dumbfounded, searching for any traces of trickery or manipulation-- but not finding any. He seems genuine. Incredibly self-depreciating, but genuine.

"..And that's the reason I haven't apologized to you until now." Wilbur continues, seeing that you weren't going to speak. "I didn't.. I couldn't bear to hear a formal rejection."

You don't know what to do, having exhausted yourself with your outburst earlier. So you just nod in understanding.

"I-I'm going to be honest. I really, really don't want to let you go. But I've promised myself that that's what I'll do if you don't accept my apology. If you want me to leave you alone, say the word. You won't have to see me again. But if there's anything I can do, anything to earn a second chance for myself--- I'll do it." He rambles on. "I don't need you to love me. I want you to--- I really want you too-- but I don't need you to. I just don't want you to hate me."

You chew on your bottom lip thoughtfully. "I don't hate you."

He looks relieved, hope lighting up his features.

"...But I don't know if I'll accept your apology."

His face falls.

"I know I don't accept it right now. And I think that's understandable. I want to accept it sometime in the future, Wilbur, I just.. I need time."

Wilbur nods, mouth twitching as he works up the nerve to speak. "Would you.. prefer if I stayed away, during that time?"

"I don't want you to outright avoid me." You admit. "If we happen to end up in the same place together, I´ll talk to you. But I think some distance would be helpful."

"Yeah." He manages, clearing his throat. "Yeah, I'll... I can wait."

Wilbur looks back up at you. "I'll wait for you." He promises.

and then he leaves for utah

[ava-of-shenanigans]

hihi i just have a question!! what books do you use to study hieroglyphics? im looking for more books to add to my arsenal :3

Thank you for the ask!

To learn Middle Egyptian I’ve mainly been using Middle Egyptian Grammar by James E Hoch. It’s generally really easy to understand, my one tiny problem with it is that not all the exercises in it have answers in the book, which can make it hard to tell if you're correct sometimes if you're using it on your own instead of in a college course (like I am).

Both of the dictionaries I use are available on the internet archive for free, because I’m real cheap like that.

Dictionary of Middle Egyptian in Gardiner Classification Order. This dictionary is organized so that you can search for words by their hieroglyphs (using their sign list numbers) instead of transliterations. It doesn't have every potential spelling, so sometimes it is better to search the words by transliterations, but is very convenient for figuring out words that have been abbreviated down to just their determinatives. You can search the transliterations in it using Manuel de Codage as well. This dictionary is really great because of how searchable it is, but the drawback is that the definitions in it aren't that full. Like, the verbs don't have explanations of what they mean when they're used with certain prepositions.

I use this dictionary a lot more for figuring out what words I'm looking at than for defining words.

A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian (Modernized). This one has full definitions! You can also search it by Manuel de Codage, but there is an issue I've noticed where, because the transliterations in the book aren't Manuel de Codage and proper nouns are capitalized, sometimes searching for place names or god names with match case on doesn't work, or you will need to change the first letter to a capital. Like, "wsir" or "iwnw" won't get results, but "Wsir" or "Iwnw" will. But then neither "stX" or "StX" will get results. Also, as the name says its "concise," which means all the words aren't there, just the ones that are the most common an useful.

I haven't gotten too deep into learning hieratic yet, but I have been at least trying to teach myself what shapes signs generally had in the Middle Kingdom, and I really like this website! It has scans of a bunch of different hieratic signs from various eras, and it will let you search for glyphs by their Gardiner sign list number.

In the 1,000 years it took for me to answer this ask (sorry) my mom got me a copy of Alan Gardiner's Egyptian Grammar for my birthday, but I haven't looked at it at all yet (also you probably already knew about this one).

[genshin-impact-redesign]

hiii again! Connected to my previous ask about Natalia, I read the advice and it sent me down a whole redesign rabbit hole that I exited with a few questions about how to add some elements.

Despite Natalia’s design being inspired by military nurses, she is a doctor of prosthetics and a battlefield medic. In her current design, I took inspiration from ww1 VAD nurses’ uniforms but swapped out the apron for a lab coat with a belt. I also ditched the nurse veil/cap.

However, as Natalia’s character has developed I think an apron like the nurses she is inspired by and adding a nurse veil or cap would help her design. She does take on a lot of duties that a nurse would do as well as doing doctor duties. She’s very burnt out and overworked to say the least lol.

An apron would hold her tools for designing prosthetics in easy access and give her a place to wipe her hands on. The veil or cap would keep her head warm, we all know how cold Sheznayah is.

The tricky thing about adding any elements signifying her status as a doctor is that nothing can really be added around her chest because it would be covered up by the harness for her extra arms.

My question is what elements could I add to her redesign that would still let people looking at her tell she is a doctor while not having them be covered by her harness?

oo!! Im glad you took the advice to heart!! Also i love being able to put my studies to use :)

If we look at the differences between a nurse, and field medic, we can combine elements of these to get the fem look a nurse uniform gives while also getting the doctor vibe.

I'll add a tldr & more concise answer to your question at the end because I'm about to YAP

(Advice under the cut)

If we look at war-time nurses, we see that they wear aprons and head covers to keep themselves clean while working with patients. They don't have to perform any medical care outside of a tent or dedicated place, so there's less need for them to carry tons of equipment on them! Maybe pockets to transport stuff easily when moving between stations.

Now, field medics have to carry a LOT on them, since they don't have access to a stable supply of medical equipment - anything they need has to be on their person. So, they have giant utility belts, pockets of various items, bags, satchels, toolkits. The reason an apron doesn't work is because items could easily fall out of the big pockets when they're moving about.

Doctors who aren't on the field would standard army uniform and some sort of scrub/covering/apron to keep themselves clean. So similar to a field medic but without the need to carry so much as anything needed would be stored where they worked.

So! In order for her to look more like a field medic, she has to be carrying a lot more readily available on her. A belt around the waist with pouches and a satchel, or more secure pockets on her dress/apron might help with that :D

Also, there can be stuff attached to the harness that secures her arm. Harnesses are great places to add extra design elements.

AND stuff CAN cross over eachother, as long as it remains clear and readable. See here:

He's got a lot of bags, belts, harnesses, etc, but the straps on his shoulders still have a clear shape and design, and thus remain visibly different from the harness across his chest.

A beret, military cap, or a hat of that sort might read as more "doctor" or in command compared to a nurse's veil. Keep the structure of the nurse's dress, including the apron, because it looks nice and feminine, has a good bottom-heavy silhouette, and just makes for good character design. I'm especially fond of the high-neck flat collar on the nurses in the photo I shared :D

Lastly, what might help is making a reference board! We have a specific way of laying them out in my Comic & Concept art class.

find a mix of references; some for utility (e.g functional bags, clothes), some for design (can be entirely unrelated to what you're drawing, doesn't need to be medical!), and some for form (things that give you nice ideas for the shape of stuff).

as well as a mix of real world references and a mix of what other artists are doing.

organise each category (utility/design/real world/drawn/etc) into its own area on the board, just roughly

you can zoom in on sections and just doodle ideas based on what you see

It's a good way to almost randomise the ideas you're getting, but still have it be specific.

This is a moodboard I made for an assignment where we had to design edo-period objects of modern things. I had to make a plant pot, phone booth, and a traffic light. There's a mix of utility (the actual items I had to draw), form (interestingly shaped items) and design (actual edo period artifacts, items, etc) :D

I'd zoom in on an area and just mix aspects of what I saw to see if it worked.

TL;DR

What elements could you add to her design to keep her appearing like a doctor?

wartime beret/cap instead of a veil

more bags, satchels, pockets, etc, which can ALSO be added onto her arm harness to give things extra utility

chunky belt (this'll also be nice for bringing in her waist and making her dress look more flowy <3) for extra pockets or storage

additional layers for pockets, can be added to her apron/an extension of her apron basically

additional CLOTHING layers (coat over dress, dress over shirt, etc) because that can just imply bulk, which implies she can carry more without need to draw it

And for a reference board:

gets IRL examples of both wartime and modern doctors

get IRL examples of clothes you just like, hats, accessories

examples of genshin characters to be inspired by

examples of fellow artist's interpretations of fantasy doctors, wartime doctors, etc

Mix that together and I'm sure you'll get what you need :D

[nightlight-rising]

4 & 26! :3

thank u so much for the asks ^o^

4. an outsider to the community

Royal is a treasure bounty hunter and regular at the Whale's Head Inn. He's a flirty pretty boy but also manipulative, toxic, and extremely vain -- his charming front works up until people actually have to work with him. He's not technically a part of the main Clan, which is why I decided to feature him for this ask.

He's also dead set on bankrupting me for the damn flatfin apparel. the question is whether i hate him enough that i won't get them, or myself enough to actually spend my money on him (JOKE)

26. how magic is used for evil

My lorebuilding is canon-compliant for the most part, and i consider my magic system pretty standard as far as the average worldbuilder goes. Magic of all sorts can be used for both good and evil, and I don't really have dragons I truly consider evil. however since im allergic to giving concise answers to anything, i bulleted several relevant items under the cut for anyone who wants to read

Curses attach themselves to a dragon's soul and can only be lifted after certain conditions have been met. Some dragons have learned how to manufacture their own curses and sell them for a price, but this is a crude practice at best. True curses may only be performed by powerful dark magic users, either as a direct spell or indirectly through cursed artifacts. there are also divine curses that can only be brought on by invoking a god's wrath or punishment.

Depending on the source and nature of the curse, it may change the dragon irreversibly even if they manage to lift it. (Or, in Seager's case, a curse cannot be lifted, permanently entwined with the very fabric of his being...)

Poison and harmful potions in general- a couple of my dragons do specialize in potion-making and poisons, like Dry Bones

I think necromancy is generally considered taboo in my lore/world-- not because it's like black magic or anything but just that it goes against the natural order of life and death. Being a Nature clan with the whole "the strong will be resilient" philosophy, I imagine my dragons take the natural order pretty seriously

Some dragons can get malevolent spirits to do their bidding, mostly through pacts or exchanges involving souls something of equally great value. Others have powerful magic/artifacts that grant them authority over spirits,

Psychic-based magic like mind control and possession (among other things) is also a thing. Possession only works on mortals by spirits though

i could also talk about the Shade and its influence on dragons but i think ive talked enough abt my lore now lol

[cryptid-amongst-the-cosmos]

never really thought about it but saw that post now im curious. how does being otherkin work (at least in your opinion) ?

thats actually a great question, and not one that is answered concisely or easily.

how us nonhumans feel about our nonhumanity differs wildly from person to person (or creature to creature, i guess). my experiences are not universal. i just felt that i should point that out before going into this.

to me at least, being otherkin is a feeling of being other. of knowing that this form, this body, this species, is not yours. i guess.

the problem that ive been having with trying to answer this is that i feel a bit detached from the otherkin label despite using it because ny nonhumanity is... complex, to say the least.

so the main thing that pushed me towards initially identifying as nonhuman was my own perception of myself. almost everytime i would try to daydream i would inevitably conjure up a self-insert character that is very much nonhuman. and it felt so much like... me, i guess.

for me right now, id say that one of the biggest factors in my nonhumanity is this massive feeling of species dysphoria, as well as not feeling like i belong in this body. its almost unbearable, given how often it occurs. even small things like taking a shower or getting ready in the morning can sometimes trigger it. and if im being honest, if i didnt have my earbuds and my playlist, i dont think i could make it through the day.

i also do get phantom limb sensations. basically, theyre sensations from body parts that dont exist. i most commonly get these in the form of phantom wings. sometimes ill just be sitting there and i can suddenly feel them open and stretch and i have to lean forward in order to not be uncomfortable from being compressed against the chair. other times ill be talking to people and try to gesture with my wings only to realize multiple seconds later that they're not there.

i also do get other kinds of phantom limbs, but they come far less often and are usually relatively tame.

i also get the instincts to do creature things sometimes. like in bed ill try to curl up into a ball only to remember i cant do that. or sometimes ill just get an incredibly strong urge to bite something or someone. or i feel like i all of a sudden need to become one with the shadows or just be on the ceiling or just be formless.

its noting that all of this is really tricky to talk about since its not something that can be put into words easily.

so i guess what im trying to say, if im saying anything at all, is that im otherkin and nonhuman because i just feel and act other, i guess. i just dont think of myself as being human.

theres also a lot of stuff that i havent mentioned such as being homesick or belief, however this is long enough as it is and my attempts to explain this have resulted in 14k+ words and no end in sight.

so yeah. its complicated, i guess

[butchstalinist]

im russian and seeing that reply you made on stalin being a great man was so so surpising to me because never before have i seen an american.. thinking that? i didnt even know americans were able to think that. i know socialism is on the rise in anglos online but never before ive read that on STALIN. he is indeed held as a great man with shortcomings (at least by the older people i know). i still cant believe it. i just wanted to express how much that (positively) impacted me. i wanted to ask how does one bypass the most core beliefs of ones country and reach to your conclusion?

I wish I had a good answer! I often still feel like I'm fighting to unlearn a lot of things that go unquestioned here, and I'm definitely not alone in these views (although they're certainly not popular here).

It's hard to fully describe how I reached my current perspective, but my defense of modern Chinese Socialism had a major effect on my view of Stalin. To quote Deng Xiaoping: "We think that Stalin's merits and contributions to the revolution exceed his mistakes. Using our Chinese habit, the grades for Stalin are 30 percent for his mistakes and 70 percent for his merits." Then, reading Lenin & Stalin directly (although I still have a lot more to read) gave me a deeper admiration. Plus, being a heavily assimilated indigenous person in this country, reading Stalin's "Marxism and the National Question" gave me a lot of clarity.

It also helped reading W.E.B. Du Bois', "On Stalin" which worded in a very concise way a lot of what I felt from my readings.

Stalin was a tremendous man who lead his people valiantly against Nazism, and I truly believe he was correct when he said: "I know that after my death a pile of rubbish will be heaped on my grave, but the wind of History will sooner or later sweep it away without mercy."

So, I'm here to be a small part of that wind blowing away the rubbish!

Thank u for such a sweet anon you made my day tbh ; - ;

[itsybitsybatsyspider]

i have found your star was/dbh au and im very interested but i dont have the energy to read all about it right now pls can i hear a summary of what you have on it so far? honestly make it as short or as long as you want and put in whatever info i'd just like to hear what's in in thank you in advance if you decide to do so it's ok if not :D

of course id like to chat about this with you! And yeah there is a lot i know. I will do my best to keep it as concise and short as possible, but no promises ;), i tend to get carried away.

okay so in short: Connor, Nines, and Sixty were experimental clones during the end of the Clone Wars and then Order 66 happened and they got separated and lost. Each of them assuming the others to be dead, that is until they find each other years later.

The part that made their batch experimental was because the man who commissioned them, Elijah Kamski, wanted to see if it was possible to create an artificial Force-Sensitive. The experiment was cut short however because of the rise of the Empire and Kamski assumed that all evidence of his experiment was lost when the main cities of Kamino were destroyed.

but nah.

Hank Anderson is an old Jedi General from the former-Grand Republic Army and lost everything when Order 66 was executed. He lost his Padawan when the clone troops he fought beside for years turned on them without reason, and has spent the last seven years bitter over it and encompassed by his grief. That is until he meets some idiot Force-Sensitive kid in a bar, and what's Hank supposed to do? They've lost enough of their own as it is and the galaxy is so dim now because of it. Why not try to save at least one. It's what Cole would've wanted anyway.

Nines was caught during the Order and was turned over to be Force-Sensitive by the person who was put in charge of overseeing their batch development, Amanda Stern. He is quickly inducted into the Inquisitorius Program where he spends the next seven years walking the fine line of being just loyal enough to the Empire to get by but also planning on escaping when the opportunity presents itself. One day he is assigned the mission of hunting down an old Jedi general and his Padawan who the Empire had thought had been killed but apparently not. It's a surprise to say the least when he comes across someone he long thought to be dead.

this is essentially the main plot i have, but i did post other ideas for it as well and talk some more about Gavin and Tina and Markus's place in the au. And at some point i will link all of the asks that the wonderful @austinsdead has sent me together. They've asked great questions and have really got me to think more about the world-building for this au! And feel free to send any other questions you have about it! I'd be happy to answer them!

here's part 1 for the art and you can also find more content by looking up 'star wars dbh au' in my blog!

[absolute-flaming-trash]

not a request, but since it's my birthday (no joke i really was born on april fools lol) and you're like one of my fave hisoka/illumi writers, I wanted to ask what you think they'd be like on their friend's birthday. Well I mean, as much of a friend as illumi can have haha. or their darling's birthday? I feel like illumi would have a very different approach depending on which they are. and omg im running out of characters to type the rest haha

A fellow aries, welcome to the thunderdome and happy birthday!!

If you ever run out of space, feel free to split the ask into two parts, and I'll put them together to answer in one concise post.

This is actually an interesting question to ask, because I hadn't thought about it beforehand.

Illumi... I don't think would be someone who gives gifts. We all know how he was raised, and he is incredibly isolated socially speaking, so the prospect of birthday presents wouldn't be something he'd really think about and wouldn't understand the point of when brought up to him. If he gave his darling a gift, it would be very much as a form of appeasement - even if they didn't ask for anything. I agree with you in the sense that the things he would get would be extremely personal to the darling themselves, for example if his darling was into history, they would receive a book on the topic - but it would be one that would be very hard to get.

Hisoka is also the type who doesn't understand the point of birthdays, but it's more because he doesn't care for them rather than not understanding the social construct behind them. He is, however, the type to catch onto subtle clues on things you're attracted towards. For example, if you pause in front of a window of a jewelry shop, the necklace you were looking at will soon be given to you. That sort of thing. The gifts won't be as personal as the ones Illumi would get, but it would be enough to trigger just a little more of stockholm syndrome in you if it hadn't taken root already.

As a small tidbit for you personally, since your birthday is April 1st, there is an absolute guarantee that Hisoka would either make your gift a gag gift, or his presentation of it would be very mischievous. The opportunity would be too great for him to do otherwise - and if he presented it "normally", your high suspicion of him would be enough to toy with you.

[foilfreak]

I really love how you write Moreau. I was wondering if you had any tips for writing his character?

Aaaaaah thank you so much I really appreciate the wonderful ask!!!!! Oh gosh, I don’t know if Im in any position to be offering my own writing advice to people necessarily, but Ill do my best! Im a little confused as to whether you mean how I write Moreau as a character in general, or just in dialogue, so I guess Ill do a little bit of both.

When it comes to Moreau as a character, he can more or less be broken down into a few key characteristics that make up the bulk, if not all, of his personality, and when I do my writing, I find it really helpful to have these key terms on hand, or at the very least in mind, when im writing characters because its a lot easier for me to describe and manipulate a character and their actions when I have a concrete idea of how they are likely to respond and react to certain things based on their respective personality traits, the key characteristics i mentioned earlier, rather than vague, abstract ideas that give me an end goal but no reliable or consistent way to get there, if that makes sense. For example, we know that Moreau is a very self-loathing and pitiful character, so i make sure to add lots of scenes where Moreau is taking pity on himself and his situation, actively insulting or berating himself whenever he does something wrong too, and even wishing for death at one point, because at his core, and due to mother Miranda’s horrible influence on him, moreau hates himself and believes that he is a worthless monster who deserves to die a slow and horrible death and then rot for eternity in hell, so it would make no sense for him to be a socially strong and confident individual or even particularly chipper, when we’ve been shown countless times that he couldnt be more opposite to that. Now, that being said however, humans are not one dimensional, and although we know that Moreau is capable of being very naive, overly-devoted, self-loathing, and pitiful, that’s not all that there is to him, not even close. If youre leaning into the tragic aspects of Moreau’s character when writing him, then you definitely want to go heavy on the self-hating parts of his personality, but the point of my fic isn’t to lean into the tragic aspects of his character, its to say “I see Capcom implying that Moreau is hideous, disgusting, and undeserving of love or kindness from anyone, and to that I say FUCK OFF, YOU CAN’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO!” (Lol). In all seriousness though, If you’re aiming for something a little similar to what Im going for, which is to explore the sides of Salvatore outside of just the self-loathing and pitying, that are still there, deep down, but maybe only come out around certain people, or need a bit more coaxing before resurfacing after being dormant for so long following the cadou mutations, then you’ll want to add key words like “intelligent”, “witty”, or even “crafty” to your bank of key words that make up your overall understanding of Moreau’s character... if that makes sense (i hope it does cuz idk how else to explain this).

In terms of writing Moreau’s dialogue, there’s two ways I could phrase this answer: the simple way and the complicated way. Im gonna try and do the simple way and hope it actually turns out simple enough for people to understand what tf im talking about. Anyways, due to Moreau’s mutations, his brain has been heavily impacted, resulted in a great many mental and physical process having been potentially fucked up in the process, including but not limited to: speech difficulties, memory issues, motor issues, visual impairments, cognitive processing, etc, etc, the list of things that could be wrong with Moreau is literally endless when you know as much about the brain, and more importantly all the ways it can go wrong, as I do (and I don’t even know all of them). But long story short, ive more or less chosen a few of these issues and decided to highlight them, implicitly, when writing him. In terms of his dialogue, Moreau likely suffers from some sort of speech and/or language disorder (the distinction between these two concepts is incredibly important in my field of study and the fact that i will be lumping in them together as one thing for the sake of a simpler explanation pains me and my bachelors degree greatly, but I wont bore you with that drivel today), meaning that his ability to both produce and comprehend language is probably pretty fucked up and you can see that reflected in the way I write how he talks: lots of stuttering - on letters, as well as syllables, words, and even entire phrases in some cases, rephrasing sentences halfway through saying them so that the end result is more clear or accurate, as well as lots and lots and lots and lots of pauses, so many pauses for this man because he’s a bit of a slow talker and he needs a lot of time to compose his thoughts and turn them into concise sentences compared to most people. These are all just my own personal details that I like to add to my writing because my actual field of study is speech, langauge, and hearing sciences, so I know a lot about the brain and how damage to it can impact ur speech, language, and communication, however if you’re not interested in going all out like a crazy person, then my best advice would be to, at the very least, add little touches of stuttering or pausing here and there. Maybe instead of every line of dialogue, you lonely put it every other line, enough that its present and recognizable as moreau talking, but not enough that its “too much”.

Idk if any of this made sense but I did my absolute best to try and answer your question to the best of my ability, even if it turned into more of a lecture and explanation than just a simple list of tips 😅. Hopefully you got something out of this, even if it was just a quick view into the hurricane that is my brain at all hours of the day. Thank you so much for the amazing ask, it was so much fun to answer and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day!!!

[ninakaina]

why do you like maria kaina so much? ì'm just really curious.

this is the most exciting question i’ve ever gotten in my life

[image id: a screencap from the pathologic wiki, which says “personality: femme fatale.”] 

EDIT: im gonna make this into a video essay sooooooo read it if you want or stay tuned for a video in like a week and a half

first of all, i’m a lesbian and she’s a goth girl. secondly, she combines many of the tropes that i adore in female characters, and i’ll try to get into some of it as concisely as i can. in short: femme fatale, magic woman, scary woman, cassandra, sublime. i’m going to draw some concepts from the essay “the woman in the red dress: sexuality, femmes fatales, the gaze and ada wong” by jenny platz in the beginning here.

in the scope of their function as femmes fatales and the ways they transcend the typical boundaries placed on femmes fatales, ada wong resident evil and maria have a lot of similarities beyond obvious similarities in design (you can see patterns forming in my interests but also if you don’t know anything about ada this should still all make sense). so we’re all on the same page, a femme fatale is a woman of dubious morals and unknown or false motives who uses her sexuality and wit to get what she wants from men. the femme fatale has a long, uncertain, and pervasive history, and a love-hate relationship with the misogynistic writers/audiences/societies that create her, but ada and maria break free of many of the tropes that allow the femme fatale to be part of a misogynist power fantasy. together they have functionally very similar relationships to their male protagonists, although i wouldn’t say maria cares about daniil half as much as ada cares about leon if at all, in which they’re more than willing to lie to the men and put them in harm’s way to achieve their own unclear ends, while serving an essential function in keeping them alive, often without their knowledge (in the changeling route, maria sends daily letters to clara to keep daniil from getting murdered by artemy).  they add an element of unease verging on horror to their games through their sheer power - which stems from a weaponized womanhood, the player’s unfolding understanding of the vastness and nature of their power, and the fact that you have no idea what they’re going to do with it. the weaponized womanhood is relevant here because in theory, to a male audience, it adds its own level of horror, but to me it adds a level of love.

like ada too, and unlike the typical femme fatale of books and movies even in the modern era, maria is never purified or punished; in fact, she only becomes more powerful over the course of the game. her death can only come via the plague; there are no plotlines where she may die. even when she’s caught red-handed by artemy in patho 2, he has two options: to tell her father, who is unlikely to stop her and even less likely to punish her, or to note that this is maria’s world and we’re all just living in it and move on. in classic she can get married at the end, but not for love and it’s made explicitly clear that her husband’s role is to serve her, like victor served nina; instead of finally conforming to a patriarchal mold like the archetype would predict, she again uses a man to advance her agenda. (she still deserves better though. killallvlads2020)

another similarity between maria and ada that’s also the biggest way they diverge, is their expanded power of body over the typical femme fatale. where typically the femme fatale is just a wickedly smart, sexy woman (good for her), she has little power beyond the sexualization of her body, and little recourse when she’s in danger besides getting a man to help her out of it. the way this is subverted is the most obvious in ada, so it’s a good lead-in; her power of body also translates into fighting skills greater than that of most of her peers-- she uses acrobatics and melee attacks more often than other characters, making her distinctly equipped to survive without anyone’s help and destroy her opposition. maria, obviously, is not a fighter, and she’d die immediately if she was locked in a police station with zombies, so at first glance she seems to fall more into the wicked damsel aspect of the trope. but thematically and functionally, pathologic is not a game about physical fighting or even physical power. in a game world where guns and bullets are exceedingly rare while information (as well as picking truth out of lies) is the form of power that gets characters to the end alive, maria has, in herself, the access to more information than any male character. aside from mark’s (and grief’s) special role as the fool, clairvoyance and particularly mistresshood are specific to women, and come to maria from the steppe. she’s also “sensitive to lies and deceptions” and “can instantly see one’s true colors”. she is shown barefoot in pathologic 2, which symbolizes her personal and physical connection to the wild earth, a power of body in itself. maria and ada are both apex predators, perfectly suited to their particular environments and narratives- on that note, maria is never endangered at all, aside from typical plague mechanics and distress in her issues with aglaya.

okay, enough about ada wong. beyond her connection to the femme fatale trope, maria’s narrative in itself also draws on a really compelling archetype. i mentioned that maria is never purified or punished, nor really endangered, but  that doesn’t mean her story is without tragedy. instead, her tragedy is more personal and psychological, as she’s one of several characters who deal in the theme of lost childhood, and maria’s particular refrain has a hint of lost humanity. these are characters who are forced to grow up, often too fast, and for whom growing up carries an inherent trauma where some aspect of who they were or who they could have been is ripped away from them. i would also call maria and capella’s stories lost girlhood, since there’s a lot of... you know, it feels like stuff that mitski would sing about. i could talk for ages about “i can hear [your mother’s] voice [in you]” and how effectively it’s played for a bittersweet horror. in classic we are very clearly shown maria changing from who she is at the beginning, acting completely differently, and it’s left unclear as to whether this is simply the new maria or her mother’s spirit is literally possessing her (again, some obvious metaphor here). in pathologic 2, they make a change that i really love. maria has already taken up the mantle of mistress or at least claims she has and is in the process of change-- “a mistress in the making”, but it’s mentioned that artemy remembers her from before he left the town. 

he says “i remember when you were just a kid. who would have thought you’d grow into-- this?” if you read my writing, you may have picked up that i seriously fixate on this piece of her narrative. from when she was a girl (16 at the oldest) to when she’s 21, she’s changed so much as to be almost unrecognizable, and more than unrecognizable, she’s become a complete mystery, a nightmare. this is a tragic horror, in the sense that tragedy is horror that’s already happened. from the uncanny valley of the familiar turned unfamiliar, the creature-that-was-once-maria, the not-quite-nina, to that same sense of loss as someone who was once just a girl is forced to be more grown than she is and more grown than any person should be expected to be. as anna angel wears willow’s hair, maria wears her own. that one haruspex line asks a thousand, unsettling questions to which we can expect no answer. who was she before? who is she now? what happened to her? when did she change? what has she lost? what has she gained? is this who she wants to be? did pressure from her mother shape her, or grief over her mother’s death, or something else entirely? is this who she was always going to become, or could she have been something else? all of these and more lead into the central questions that define both the dark/scarlet mistress and monster movies: what is it?, what is it capable of?, and what does it want? these questions are, naturally, never answered, although it’s likely we’ll get a little more insight into her motives in the bachelor route of patho 2. 

stepping back from the specifics of mistresses, this again carries strong themes of coming of age and lost childhood/girlhood; the idea that in order to ascend so to speak and to take on role greater than you are, you have to either destroy yourself or be yourself destroyed. maria’s version of this story is, again, a tragedy. she is plagued by the stress of her destiny, haunted by nightmarish prophetic visions (which fucking DANKOVSKY doesn’t even BELIEVE), and completely alone, so much so that to express her love physically would destroy the object of her love, and yet she is still the incredible femme fatale i was talking about before. this is where i end up with the quote i captioned my painting of maria with: “a girl burns, and the sublime blossoms.”

i used the word sublime to describe maria twice in my writing, in that quote and in “her eyes are fierce, dark, sublime.” this is literally the best word i can come up with to describe the scarlet mistress, and the sublime is a big concept in aesthetic theory, but one which is hard to describe in itself. i try to portray elements of the sublime whenever i write or draw her although i’m not THAT good yet lol. it doesn’t have any physical or functional criteria except the feeling it causes (for a good example i think of the earthrise photo). this quote on the sublime, by edmund burke, feels very reminiscent of the way nina is described in game: “the passion caused by the great and sublime in nature, when those causes operate most powerfully, is astonishment, and astonishment is that state of the soul in which all its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror.” it’s awe-inspiring, it’s scary, it’s a force of nature, both refined and wild and personally impersonal, and it’s pretty much the only word i have for the iconic maria quote.... you know the one. “and you know, mother, that forge is me. sometimes i wake up with a burning in my chest, and the sky becomes crimson. in that very moment, if i kiss someone, they can see it too. it’s true.” 

one last thing i LOVE about maria is the power of self and autonomy she retains, especially in 2. in the diurnal ending as the utopians are planning to cross the river (which was her plan in classic), maria says she doesn’t want to; she wants to stay and create, not art or buildings but people, to bring them into the sublime. her cruelty is how she nurtures those around her, as opposed to capella whose nurturing is in many ways cruel. and it’s in the diurnal ending that we first hear the title “crimson mistress”; where in classic, nina was the scarlet mistress and maria became the scarlet mistress, in 2 nina was the dark mistress and maria becomes crimson. there is no question that she’s not her mother. after all she’s endured, she forges herself into something new, not necessarily brighter but more visceral, takes her mother’s legacy and makes it her own.

so i guess tldr: what’s not to like about maria kaina?

[hayjeon]

Practical Tips on getting your fics out there!

I’ve gotten an influx of these types of questions here recently, and the more i thought about what i was gonna add, it became really long :(  

disclaimer: a lot of the things i bring up are just from personal experience as a writer on this site, what my followers have told me they appreciate, and what i tend to look for when im looking for fics to read! If you don’t like these tips then pls move on :) 

although i’ll mention them, i’m also not going to be focusing on cliche tips like “write for yourself” or “grammar issues” cause those are pretty obvious!

1. accessibility of your blog 

when you’re trying to get your name out there, make sure that you’re creating an inviting experience for any potential followers! this includes:

a memorable url! be creative!

have some fun designing your blog’s aesthetic! (i love cute blogs because it reflects a bit of the writer’s personality), and (i prefer blogs with white backgrounds because it’s easier to look through/read, say, in contrast to a pitch black one where the words need to be white!) 

put your masterlist link in your bio (even better if you can link most recent fic! found this most helpful when i revisit authors that i like and can easily see if they’ve updated or not)

an organized and easy-to-navigate masterlist (personally, i prefer masterlists organized by band, instead of types of fics ie. i hate when i have to choose between drabbles, oneshots, and series masterlists; i really prefer to see them altogether!) --> see section 3 

organized tags (if you’re going to be posting a lot of non-fic-related content like pictures or videos, tag them properly so followers can sort through and find your fics easily!), or (if you’re going to be writing in different mediums like drabbles, or answering asks, make sure to use a unified #mine or #writing or #fics to centralize your content) 

2. get your name out there!

write write write! once you have some fics that show your talent, don’t be shy! 

join writing groups: when i first started out, I joined a bunch of groups that would reblog my fics in the midst of the content of much bigger writers; these blogs developed a following, and as a result of my content mixing in with bigger blogs’ content, so did my own tumblr! there’s been a stigma recently with these groups, but im sure you can find one thats supportive and not clique-y! 

send your fics to rec pages: what’s the harm? the only bad thing that can happen is that they ignore you! who cares! get out there! 

if you can do the above, i really encourage you to ask your fave writers for advice/to read your fic: again, the worst that can happen is that they say no or don’t respond or don’t have enough time, but it’ll be a good opportunity to get some feedback! i for one read (or try to read) every single rec that falls into my inbox. if i like it, i’ll #rec it, and if i don’t, unless the writer asks me for feedback, i move on!! 

utilize your tags!!: i’m not entirely sure if this is still the same or not, but from my memory, it’s the first 3-5 tags that matter the most? so utilize them well; push back the tags that aren’t really relevant (ie. #writing, #fics) and push more the main subject line of what you wrote (ie. jungkook fluff, bts smut, namjoon angst). these will populate your fics into the tags better!

headers!: when i’m scrolling through an infinite page of fics, the headers catch my eye the most; try being creative! you can find a lot of info out there on how to make ur headers super aesthetic, but i can share my tips too! --> see section 3

3. your masterlist 

here are some practical tips! 

organize by band, not type of fic/member/centralize your masterlist: i went onto a blog recently and clicked their bio mlist link to find a page full of 20~ish “JUNGKOOK MASTERLIST”/ “JAEHYUN MASTERLIST” and when i clicked on each one, they only had like 2 or 3 fics per member. i think it would’ve been better if she’d centralized all her fics! that keeps whoever is looking interested and more likely to click on another fic while browsing

add info about the fics!: when scrolling through a masterlist, it’s easy to get lost; try to add some snippets of info (ie. a short sentence you liked from the fic, a quick summary, a description of the au/scenario, or even a header!) this all gives some info about the fics you have tagged! 

headers: this isn’t a requirement, but i personally love a good header on fics i read and i love making them myself as i finish up a fic and get ready to upload it; here are free sources: unsplash for HQ stock pics, crop/edit/filter in VSCO, and then add aesthetic script with fontcandy) 

try to fill it up!: after i visit a blog after reading one good fic, i usually browse through their mlist to see if there are any more that i’d be interested in. if there’s a lot to look forward to, i’ll almost always follow; try to write as much as you can in the first few months to try and fill up your mlist and give blog viewers a reason to visit your blog again, follow, or even reblog your content!) 

4. try not to reproduce cliche fics: 

honestly tumblr’s writing community (and armys) has grown insanely these past few years and, unfortunately, even from my perspective, in the past 3-4 years, all the writers have sort of become blended together in my brain. but, i can say that the ones who consistently stand out are the ones who produce consistent content and think outside of the box! 

i tend to gravitate towards fics that have really interesting plotlines (ex. btssavedmylifeblr’s VOID is always a surprise to read because it’s sO unique! i usually don’t read ot7 fics but this one is legit my fave) 

I know it’s tempting to try and just write typical smut fics to try and gain some traction, but tumblr is already too overloaded by that kind of content; try to write something that’s special and unique! this will set u apart from the thousands of other writers here --> see next section

5. create unique fics: 

this is also personal to my writing style, but i get so bored writing just casual fics about the members, and it affects the fics i choose to read too; i prefer unique fics which you can achieve through: 

circumstance/au: create a fun au!; don’t just create an arranged marriage, create an arranged marriage in joseon dynasty, or between a werewolf and a hunter! (shameless self plug); don’t just give me friends to lovers, but give me spiderman!jungkook friends to lovers! (ie. cupofteaguk’s exchanges)

jobs: give them out-of-the-ordinary jobs; don’t just give me enemies to lovers, but give me rival!anchors who end up loving eachother! (ie. jimlingss The Newscasters)

fun dialogue: create good back-and-forth, (something i’m still working on!)! this will help your characters develop personality, and that way, readers will start to develop that themselves as well (ie. dad!yoongi from insemination wars by prolixitae is such a specific character that i love so much!, or obiwrites’ garden characters were so memorable!)

create memorable personalities: don’t give me a flat character, try to develop 4d personalities in all of your characters! (im still working on this too!) this way you can really make an impression on your followers! a great way to practice/recognize this is: “Ask my Character.” Can your followers ask a specific character a specific question, and would you be able to deliver an answer that is very specific to that character’s tone/voice/personality? If yes, then ur doing well! If not, try to think of ways that you can make tht specific character from a specific story, really unique and separate from your other characters.

6. some practical writing tips

be yourself, write for your own pleasure, blah blah blah; yeah you know already haha but here are a few more practical tips! 

grammar check: if you can, try and hone your grammar! makes for an easier read 

write like you: i personally LOVE this by obiwrites, but even the way she writes exudes her personality and is so specific; try not to be caught up in adding hundreds of synonyms and exquisite language; in fact, simpling it down and being more concise and honest with your writing is better than a superfluous sentence; this will also give ur characters so much more dimension and funk

use those commas/sentence variation: try to use more commas; this will feel like you’re the narrator to your own story; it also makes it more fluid to read in my opinion, over those short. clipped. sentences. (ie. “he came over, sitting down on the corner of your bed with an expression you’d never seen before” over “he walked over. he sat down, looking sad.”) 

half-half dialogue/narration: a fic with too much dialogue can get confusing, and a fic with too much narration can get dry; try to balance them out, and weave in and out of each! 

quality over quantity: don’t feel burdened to write a 30k word fic. in fact, i think some of the shorter fics (ie. any of versigny’s stuff) made a bigger impression on me over the longer fics because they were short, left me wanting more, and were just so high-quality in such small quantities. try out your hand at drabbles and one-shots, and don’t feel too burdened to try and develop a series right off the bat! 

abandon pigeon-holes: i’m guilty of this; i start series and then end up with no vision for the stories and they end up giving me writers block. its okay. just stop or discontinue them or leave them on a hiatus; it’s okay. your priority is yourself, and if abandoning certain works are part of that, then go ahead. it’ll help you progress more. 

and finally.......

i’ll add more as they come up! but if you liked this, then pls lmk! i’d love to give more tips and tricks; i think i started this blog 3-4 years ago when there weren’t as many writers here, but im glad you’re thinking of starting out/wanting to grow more! don’t feel intimidated! it’s not all about the notes/followers but creating a blog you’re proud of. 

so write what you’re proud of, or interested in, and keep going. i truly thoroughly had so much fun writing this post. if there are any writers who read through this and have some more advice, pls msg me! 

all the best to you! 

[hakurasakura]

hi new follower here and i absolutely love your blog! <3

i was wondering if you’re still talking about charts?? if so i’d be so grateful if you could do mine! thank you if so :)

hello and welcome! and im glad you love my blog!

im sorry that this took a while (and that it is super long). everything is under the read more (disclaimer: i only did the planets and their positions. im still learning about the asteroids and the degrees)

taurus sun (12 H): when taurus natives work, they work hard. they do it with a steadiness that may rarely be considered quick–rather it’s a dependable and steady effort that has its payoffs. security is immensely important to taurus. although hard-working, their comfort-loving nature sometimes makes them appear lazy. this is only because they separate work and leisure so well. when they work, they work hard, and when they play, they don’t really “play” as such…they relax. solar taureans like to own things (and sometimes people). a nice home, a piece of land (this can be modest), a paid-off car, a couple pets, maybe a solid business…in love and relationship, there is an earthy kind of possessiveness that may be considered jealousy by some, but there is actually quite a difference between being possessive and being jealous. taurus sun natives are rarely jealous and petty. they do, however, think of the people they love as theirs–it adds to their sense of security.

the sun in the twelfth house indicates a desire for perfection. these people usually do not get full recognition for their abilities and efforts, but they do not mind. they are satisfied with their simple, quiet life in solitude. if they become managers, they will do their job inconspicuously and with modesty. their services to other people are an area in which they are likely to achieve recognition and satisfaction. these people are usually interested in psychology and research of psychological phenomena. even though they may feel the need to interact with others, they often feel alienated even in the middle of a social event. it gives them the opportunity to observe, make sense of things and understand.

capricorn moon (9 H): people with this placement see safety in being useful to society and you look for justification in the outside world. they may underestimate what they want from themselves and for themselves. shyness may be accompanied by resentment of the fact that others ignore you. they shouldn't seek approval from the outside, it will not get rid of their doubt and it is harmful to them. they have to trust their inner values, otherwise, it may happen that they succumb to external pressures. the need to cope with adverse reality since childhood may give them the ability to "survive" difficult periods. their talent for business can bring them success but they may be missing some carefreeness.

the moon in the ninth house creates an understanding and imaginative mind. these people are great dreamers and thinkers who have novel ideas. their views are solid and sincere, but they change their minds easily. they have a variety of interests and hobbies; they like to lecture other people. the Moon gives these people inner self-determination, which gives them the energy to lead and direct those who lack the same degree of awareness.

gemini ascendent: very curious, very observant, and analytical. always looking to expand their social circles.  love asking questions and mingling with others. can appear as restless as gemini rising people have an air of impatience even though they do not mean it. gemini rising people often seek a certain amount of personal freedom and space. and they enjoy intellectual debates and exchanging ideas. from my personal observations, gemini rising people can either be 1. bubbly, changeable, talkative and a little quirky, or 2. quite witty and clever, cool and intellectual (presenting themselves in a less cheerful and changeable way).

taurus mercury (12 H): they may take their time to arrive at a decision, but they get there — they are actually quite decisive, even stubborn with their opinions. mercury in taurus may be slow to start a new project, but they see it through to the end. they may need to poke them to get them going, however. they have much common sense at their disposal. these people rely on their senses when it comes to processing information. smells, noises, and mood are all employed. their communication style may, at times, be slow and measured. they are quite deliberate in what they do. when it comes to learning, mercury in taurus natives prefer demonstrations, concrete answers, and basic concepts. these people learn best when they see real-world uses for the theories they’re trying to absorb. not that they wouldn’t be able to comprehend the abstract–they simply process information better when they can personalize it (what use is it to me?) and attach it to the practical world.

mercury in the twelfth house represents the subconscious mind. thinking of these people is influenced by their subconscious and past experiences. Their decisions are based on emotions instead of logical thinking. these people have a tendency to be secretive and they do not like to express their opinions, especially in the public. they lack self-confidence but they are good at hiding it. this position also suggests difficulties in learning new things and it is an obstacle to developing the potential of the person.

taurus venus (12 H): love for venus in taurus centers on the physical world and creature comforts — they revel in sensual surroundings. these people project themselves as solid and comfortable. they need a certain measure of predictability and dependability in their relationships. venus in taurus can be possessive in love, and they are threatened by fast-paced, high-energy situations in the context of relationships and love. these are sensual partners who require lots of “hands-on” expressions of love. their lovers may complain that venus in taurus can get a little too comfortable and settled. it’s true that they resist change in their relationships, but even when they seem stuck in a groove, however, they are constant partners.

venus in the twelfth house suggests secrecy and solitude. it points to the introspective aspect of character and the need to spend time alone. it creates socially withdrawn people who are a bit lonely and disappointed in their romantic relationships. they are very emotional but they can subconsciously control their emotions. this position usually creates a significant degree of compassion for oppressed people and all those who are in a bad position.

virgo mars (5 H): these people are productive, goal-oriented, practical people. although they can be a little scattered at times, simply because they are doing so many things at any give time, mars in virgo natives get things done, and quite well! they have a knack for handling a wide variety of tasks at once, and a tendency to take on perhaps too much at the same time. these natives are not particularly aggressive by nature. although they can be a little hard-nosed and critical at times, they rarely resort to pushing others around. these people are protective of their “system” of how to get things done. there is a perfectionist at the heart of all people with this position.

mars in fifth house natives are fun, romantic, active and creative. Also, courageous and always eager to take risks, they're often sure of themselves and look only to have as much fun as possible. Mars in this position suggests they love to love and pursue romantic relationships everywhere they go.

aquarius jupiter (10 H): jupiter in aquarius is most lucky when they’re allowed to break the rules. they need complete freedom to try out their creative ideas, for they often payout in the end. this placement isn’t afraid to take risks as they offer great rewards. they bring in good fortune through their inventive thought process. they are out to change the world for the better, and they reap the benefits of their humanitarian efforts.

jupiter in tenth house keeps luck on people’s side in most situations in life. it makes natives with this placement very lucky when it comes to their career. however, they can also count too much on their good fortune and end up reckless or too relaxed when the situation would require them to focus. these natives are usually very open to making new friends, self-confident, charming, and very convincing. people will love and honor them for all these traits. they give a lot of importance to social status and want to be as free as possible.

aries saturn (11 H): saturn in aries realizes there are times when even they are not ready to handle a situation with unknown consequences. it’s a struggle that causes conflict with other people, and they have a hard time controlling their temper. saturn in aries tends to look more closely at them and decide whether or not it is in their best interest to steamroll ahead. this person is not as much of a trailblazer as other planets in this sign, but that doesn’t mean they hold back all the time. the people tend to be more rational and thoughtful. this can be used to their advantage when they’re actively trying to get ahead in life. they can rely on their powers of persuasion to get their point across in a concise and effective manner to get what they want.

people born with saturn in the eleventh house in their birth chart have lots of acquaintances but no too many close friends and these are likely to be older than them. their oldest friendships will last a lifetime. they're drawn to people who are serious and have a purpose in life.

aquarius uranus (9 H): uranus in aquarius is in its own sign and it creates inventors and people who like to apply new, untested methods and procedures. they like to fight for moral values and they love freedom. they do not let their emotions and feelings to restrict them. they are open-minded and open to radical reforms. aquarius is known for its humanity, and uranus further strengthens these tendencies.

with uranus in the ninth house, these people believe in freedom of beliefs, religion, and liberty in your way of life. more than any other placement of uranus, this makes someone interested in the truth of the system. in fact, uranus revolutionizes and changes their worldview quite dramatically.

capricorn neptune (9 H): neptune in capricorn gets their drive and ambition. this helps them to come up with new ideas. for them, inspiration comes from logic, reason, and the practical uses of different theories to better society. as a conservative personality, neptune in capricorn doesn’t often get “struck” by creative thought. they develop their ideas more slowly and thoroughly, as they do everything else in their life. they would rather work on things at their own pace and in their way. they don’t like to work together with others when brainstorming. more times than not, they would rather sit by themselves in quiet reflection. they are often obsessed with status, so neptune in capricorn tends to focus on ways to increase their wealth and influence. they like power and are always thinking of new ways to acquire more.

a natal neptune in ninth house suggests a very strong faith in life. with neptune here, there is a strong connection with the divine. these people are strongly aligned with their higher self. many neptune in ninth house people are very religious.

sagittarius pluto (7 H): plutonian sagittarians are understanding and philosophical. personal transformation can occur especially through philosophical searching. pluto in this position strengthens their innate (not learned) religious consciousness and feeling. one can expect them to create a new spiritual or mystical direction, and attempts to merge existing religions and churches.

pluto in seventh house natives are connected to the concept of a good family, a close and loving atmosphere at home. relationships are especially emphasized here. after all, they want to fulfill their sense of belonging as well. if it’s affection and intense emotions that drive them, everything is good and the prospects for a long-standing relationship are blooming. this placement of pluto makes people crave deep emotions and display a sense of responsibility that is rarely seen, plus lead their lives by their own very specific values.

[profanetools]

context is ur post about people being unduly critical of almalexia but not the rest of the tribunal. (the tribunal are ultimately all very flawed but interesting characters who have done great, amazing things as much as they’ve caused problems, not to mention their misuse of kagrenac’s tools and the heart of lorkhan) You being a dwemer blogger is why im curious about that choice of words lol cause yeah i’d expect u to be more like “that decision didn’t turn out so well but i’m still on their side” or something, instead of directly saying they misused the heart, ykwim?

i really appreciate you coming back to clarify and engaging in good faith (i have had people who have used anon to use my ask box as a soapbox for their shit opinions and then never return, which is why i often get cagey and generally am not as nice when people send things on anon)

i found the post for context:

the tribunal are ultimately all very flawed but interesting characters who have done great, amazing things, helped their people flourish, resisted invasion again and again, as much as they’ve caused problems and ultimately helped create a hostile, xenophobic climate where religious oppression is practised, not to mention their misuse of kagrenac’s tools and the heart of lorkhan.

if i’m honest with you? this is definitely an over-simplification and perhaps even a misrepresentation of my actual opinion, deliberately done so that i could make a more concise post, because the point of that post was really much more to do with how the audience’s misogyny mean they over-vilify almalexia (even considering the way the narrative tries to vilify her) compared to the rest of the tribunal. in my defence, it’s over-simplified largely because that post is about misogyny and i do not want to get into an argument about what the tribunal did vs. what the tribunal didn’t do on a post where the central point is misogyny (not that it stopped people from being fuckwits and trying to debate about whether the tribunal were evil for the 5974th time and not understanding that my post about misogyny is not the appropriate forum for that). if i could rewrite it now (it’s actually two years old, dates from 2019, though someone reblogged it recently) i might change it.

to answer your initial question though (”how exactly did the tribunal misuse kagrenac’s tools and the heart of lorkhan?”), I do think, regardless of your intention, to use a precious religious object - even if it pertains to a god/a religion you do not personally follow - as a means of attaining power for yourself is always going to be a misuse of that object. it is always going to be extremely insulting and demeaning to the people who follow that religion and shows a profound lack of respect*. this is, of course, before we even touch on the debate about whether lorkahn is alive/dead, in what sense is lorkhan still alive, should one use the heart of a still living being to such ends? etc. it’s arguably unethical on several fronts. on reflection, i don’t think exactly it’s wrong to say they ‘misused’ the heart, though i might try and find a better verb to capture that the act of using the heart / tools was in some sense unethical. 

obviously, the nords are awful, the nord conquests were awful, and the question of whether they are worthy of respect is probably running through many people’s minds in 1E700. i think while their history might justify its use to some, i do think, personally speaking, using a religious object in such a fashion is just fundamentally unethical. what i will say is that i do feel strongly that we can recognise facets of things that are wrong, unethical, hurtful, damaging etc. while also recognising the benefits, the ways in which their actions helped, healed, and made things better, and that we’re capable of seeing things with that degree of complexity. (which is exactly the central point of that paragraph quoted.)

personally, i also think we can divide ‘how the tribunal attained godhood’ and ‘what the tribunal did with their godhood’. if i’m honest with you, my issues with the tribunal are much more to do with the latter: they failed to outlaw slavery, they failed to prevent imperial occupation, they failed to deal with dagoth ur, they preside over a hostile, xenophobic environment, and there was a great deal of religious oppression. some of these things can be attributed to dunmeri culture more broadly and come much more from the great houses (although, imo, when one takes the mantle of godhood and presides over a country as a ruler, in some fashion, one should expect to take some degree of the blame). some of these issues I think are better talked about from an out-of-universe perspective - for example, why do the TES writers thinks adding slavery makes for more interesting world-building? why do they consistently defend and valorise imperial colonisers, that we are forced to aid, while they make the anti-imperial dagoth ur advocate for ethnic cleansing? these writing decisions are not apolitical and speak to an imperialistic perspective when it comes to fantasy worldbuilding. but to go back to the point, i think to link these so directly to the use of the tools & the heart somewhat misses the point as i think these questions are to do with rulership - i.e. they would be failings of the tribunal were they merely kings/queens, though as gods I think it’s fair to have much higher expectations of what they can achieve - and less so with divinity and attaining divinity.

so to answer your questions:

“was there something inherently wrong in making themselves gods even if they did so to protect their people?”

no, of course not. what they did wrong was not inherent to the concept of attaining divinity. my issues are with how they did it, and then what they did/didn’t do once they had cemented their power.

“are they not justified because of the people who suffered under their rule?”

not justified in their decision to use the heart and become gods, because people suffered? as explained above, i don’t think those two things are necessarily connected. i think using the heart presents a different type of moral quandary.

anyway, i hope this is clear.

[whookami]

Im curious to know what you thought of the Spree trailer 😁

Warning: This reply somehow got super long. I couldn’t be concise with a gun pressed to my head. 😓

Joe plays it so upbeat and with such a smile. I feel like the trailer is a little misleading, in that the IG has really made those of us watching just how awkward Kurt is. So, we are catching flashes of Joe’s natural charisma. Now, as a way to get butts in the seat (proverbially speaking) this is a great tactic. If the wider audience knew just how awkward Kurt is it might be a bit harder sell to those who don’t know much about the film, or about Joe.

I think it’s a really great cut, interspersing these moments of charm with horrifying death, and Kurt being very upfront about poisoning bottles of water. It’s not pulling it’s punches, even a casual viewer is going to get the message that this film is gonna be darkly satirical and tongue-cheek black humour. That’s good. Too many films misrepresent what genres they really fit into, trying to seem like genres that have a wider mass appeal. The Spree trailer eschews this, being honest, but at the same time I think they do focus on Joe’s more charismatic moments to lure people in a bit more. Or maybe he is more charming than the IG account content leads us to believe?

Either way, I think it’s a good trailer. It’s pretty clearly designed to lure in people who aren’t really familiar with it. People like Joe’s tumblr fans already know a lot of basics, and we’re prepared for some truly cringe worthy moments of awkward. This general audience sees a slightly less awkward guy (and many might recognize him as Steve, who does have a certain charm even to the casual ST fan), someone they might be more inclined to watch, or at least expect a slightly more Steve-esque level of cool confidence, but I think once they’re actually watching the film they’ll get used to how Joe manages to balance just a touch of charisma with the subtle sense of being slightly off, and really buy into the plot as they watch Kurt devolve more and more rapidly.

The one and only fault I think the trailer has is that, from what I understand reading reviews post sundance, is that the ‘viewer’ comments are a lot more ubiquitous in the film, way more present than the trailer suggests. That kind of thing might discourage some viewer from seeing the film, and that’s their right if they don’t like that format/stylization. I think the trailer should have probably emphasized that gimmick a bit more, but that’s a minor gripe that might not even be as relevant as the reviews led me to think.

All in all, I think the trailer is great. It really gets across Kurt’s obsession with being online and taking videos constantly. It shows that his Spree vehicle is basically his ‘set’ for his foray into murder as a means to gain followers, and he get hints of him slowly sprialling out of control in pursuit of the high he gets from being watched. We also get glimpses of Sasheer encountering Kurt and even fighting back in one quick clip.

I’m even more excited than ever now, because we get to see some of Joe’s natural charm, and how it sloughs away to this shallow obsessed young man who doesn’t understand how lives have value even without likes and views, and just how far he’s willing to dehumanize himself to get that approval. It’s a scary thing to consider, and I think it’s perfect material for a dark satire. And honestly, it’s looking more than ever like Joe’s gonna hit this outta the park. This is the kind of movie I want to watch with friends, but none of mine are into this stuff. I think the movie will only be having a limited theatrical release. For those of us in the boonies we should have watching parties when it hits a streaming site, watch it together and have an open chat over discord or something. It’s just a thought!

Thanks for asking, anon! I love answering these questions!

[amorecleverdevil]

@shiftingsupport​: 1 and 13?    ↪︎ ask the mun about writing. [ 𝔄𝔠𝔠𝔢𝔭𝔱𝔦𝔫𝔤 ]

         𝔬𝔲𝔱 𝔬𝔣 𝔥𝔢𝔩𝔩. Oh hell yeh! Question time! I threw your answers down below a lil read more because I’m what the kids like to call?? A rambler.

1). What does your writing process look like?

A mess?? Lmao nah;;; So, honestly it depends on what I’m writing, how long I’m going to be continuing the story revolving around it, and what my current mood is. In general, I am a person who has a hard time sticking to one particular style or approach because I just get bored of it a lot. I find it a lot of fun to come at writing in many different ways and I’ve found that it’s helped me really explore what I do and don’t like for each genre or character that I attempt to tackle.

That being said, though, I tend to have at least a couple consistencies. Basically, when I’m writing replies, the most important questions I ask myself tend to be;

What is my character’s reaction to what just happened?

What have I written that actively engages the other writer and/or their character?

Have I actually described the scene or merely provided dialogue?

Will this thread carry for at least two more replies and, if not, should I end it or can I add something to make it keep going?

I’ll go ahead and give you some examples using writing that I’ve previously written to paint what I mean with each of them. For the first point, that’s the one that most people I’ve seen tend to have the best grip on, obviously. People who do roleplay tend to really know their own characters and can write them really compellingly. Most of the time, this part of the writing comes from the other player setting up a question or scenario and my character basically engaging with it. Typically, reactions tend to be the first thing I’ll actually be the first thing I put into a reply and I think that they are really important to keeping a fluid transition from one character to the next. 

In the above example, you can kinda see what I’m talking about. Basically, Izzy made Gwen say something and Billy here gave a very basic response to it. Most of the time, I find dialogue or verbal responses are the best because usually the other character should pick up on them, but I like mixing in physical reactions and more internal monologues alongside those verbal responses. Sometimes, if two characters are in tune enough with each other, it actually can be really rad to get away with only physical reactions and internal dialogues, but that often requires a certain connection and history between characters to make accurate conclusions about what might be going through their head. Here is a great example between one of my mains and Nay from my old blog.

Basically, Nay notices that Oswald is probably getting emotional over the fact they’re standing in front of this grave and looks down to get a better idea of who Oswald is getting so upset over. Oswald then follows his line of sight to the headstones, themselves. It’s a more sad scene, so not only is the lack of actual verbal responses very fun to play with, it’s also much more appropriate for the tone of the thread. This is something I love to try and play with a lot, but I avoid doing it as much with people who I have not already threaded with a few times.

After that, I then have to try to actively engage the other writer or create an opportunity for them to add to the thread as well. Especially when writing with someone new or for whom you may not have an immediate chemistry with, it becomes very important to throw them a bone, so I usually will do this as a follow up. I personally don’t love using questions to carry a thread, but it can be a good way to give an explicit indication of how the other person can contribute to it and it can be a lot more comfortable for people who are new to interacting with me and may be hesitant to just throw new ideas at me without having an extensive conversation about it. Here is an example where Naomasa responded to a question that Oboro poses and interacts with a nonverbal. 

These first two bullets are what I usually consider the meat of the reply, so the most work is put into them. Everything else is filler and tends to be what actually makes the replies prettier and more interesting. In many cases, adding the last two can even happen naturally when you are trying to come up with ways to do the former, but it’s still something I keep in mind to look out for when I’m writing. Of the four points, I think that the one I probably struggle with the most is the one that revolves around describing the scene and I think that has been what’s kept me from reaching that multi-para/novella goal that I really wanna be able to do when writing threads, but I’ve been putting in more work to try and get on top of that one. 

The final point is basically just thinking about what I can add to try and keep a thread engaging. This is when I really tend to bring in that plot and start advancing it. Introducing a conflict or a new activity in the scene that might not have otherwise been relevant before now can really revive a thread and I tend to do that a lot if I feel like a thread is dying out too quickly. Sometimes it takes, sometimes it doesn’t but it’s basically just my way of jumpstarting an interaction I feel like didn’t have enough substance to get off the ground in the first place. The example for this one is between Naomasa and Jasper - Yes, I know it’s the same person, again, but it’s because Fabgen is ridiculously good at doing the whole “yes and” thing and really we should all just take some time to appreciate them - in which the two of them are both responding to a crisis of some kind. I had felt the nature of the thread hadn’t given them a concrete way to continue to interact with each other, so I made up a random conflict that they both could work! In this case, it was some random kid running into danger.

After ALL of that, basically the last thing I tend to do for a thread is proofread and format. In a perfect world, I’d actually do the whole proofreading thing more often, but lmao nah. Basically, tldr, my writing process when doing threads is:

1). Respond to what the other person says. 2). Give them something to respond to. 3). Introduce a new plot point as necessary. 4). Fill in scene details and revise as necessary.

If you read back on my old threads, you’ll probably notice most of them follow this linear outline. Sometimes I’ll switch a couple things around, but 95% of the time you can literally cut my replies pretty into these parts without too much trouble. Also yall should go check out the people in these example threads because they’re all very talented and worth interacting with!! 

13). What do you look for in an RP partner?

Hmm.... An excellent question let’s see...

Typically, these are things that make or break rp relationships:

Have concise rules/ooc pages that includes information such as their name, their pronouns, their age and their triggers. For certain fandoms, I also tend to look for stances on certain major discourse points.

Have the ability to para or multi-para threads and 3rd person POV. We don’t have to always do this, but I do really prefer this kind of RP.

Have the ability to participate in joke/crack posting

Read my character info or at least my rules before interacting with me. I know they are long and tedious and that I tend to ramble, but there are some important things in there that may vastly differ from many other people in the RPC and it’s important to me that everyone takes those things into account when engaging with me.

Have discord for OOC conversations and extended plotting or, at the very least, be comfortable chatting regularly via IM.

Follow me. It’s not necessary to interact with me and I 100% will interact with people who are not mutuals, but I typically tend to assume others around me are mutuals only regardless of whether or not they actually are and it’ll often put most of the responsibility on the other person to come interact with me if they want to thread.

I tend to main with people who will have OOC conversations with me about our characters and who are willing to adapt to fit into the settings / verses which I have already created for my characters. I am always seeking out familial relationships of ANY kind and will usually be quick to main people who do these kinds of threads with me. I do have ships for many of my characters that I tend to indulge in, but my mains tend to be people who actually get me to start shipping something because the characters just ended up vibing so well. I actually really love shipping my bi male characters with women, but there just really aren’t enough ladies in any of the RPCs to have lasting ships ;;y;;, so if we are able to get one going, I’d probably consider maining with ya’ll

I tend to like people who like continuous threads and verse building. I tend to like people who don’t mind having a million unfinished threads. I tend to gravitate to people who do formatting and icons, but I do not require it. I tend to shy away from people who are too self-concious about doubles or who tend to prefer being exclusive. 

Overall, I’m open to at least trying to rp with everyone! And I’ve definitely formed lasting friendships with people who did not meet many of this criteria, but in terms of what I look for this is probably a pretty good list.