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taradactyls · 3 months ago

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So I could be totally wrong but, I believe it was sort of expected that men/gentlemen lose their virginity before marriage in regency times. But I also there’s some fandom ‘debate’ about whether or not Mr Darcy would’ve had sex before getting married. So I was just curious about what your canon for Mr Darcy in T3W is. Is he a virgin or not?

I knew someone would ask me this eventually, haha. I've actually had really long conversations with my beta reader about this trying to figure it out. It sounds like this might all be stuff that you’ve already seen discussed in the fandom, but I’ve never thought about it deeply before and so these are new thoughts to me.

I keep going over the historical real-world likelihood, the authorial intent, and the text itself but I’m still not 100%. I’ll explain my thinking and what I find most likely, but here’s your warning that it’s not a clear cut yes/no.

Because on one hand, at that time period it was most common for men in his position to have seen sex workers or have casual encounters/mistresses with women from their estates. Though I do absolutely believe not all men did that, no matter how much wealth and power they had. To go back some centuries, William the Conqueror seemed to be famously celibate (no hints of male lovers either according to the biography I read) until his marriage, and there's no evidence of affairs after it either. The best guesses as to why are that it was due to his religious devotion and the problems that had arisen from himself being a bastard and not wanting to recreate that situation. Concerns over religion and illegitimate children would certainly still have been applicable in the regency to men who thought that way. And in modern times I've seen sex workers say that when an 18/21yo is booked in by his family/friends to 'become a man' often they end up just talking and agree to lie about the encounter. After all, it’s not like every man wants casual sex, even if they aren’t demisexual or something in that vein. But, statistically speaking, the precedent of regency gentlemen would make Darcy not a virgin.

On the other hand, just how aware was Jane Austen, the very religious daughter of a country rector, of the commonness of this? There’s a huge difference between knowing affairs and sex workers existed (and no one who had seen a Georgian newspaper could be blind to this) and realising that the majority of wealthy men saw sex workers at some point even if they condemned the more public and profligate affairs. The literature for young ladies at the time paints extramarital sex - including the lust of men outside of marriage - as pretty universally bad and dangerous. This message is seen from 'Pamela' and other gothic fiction to non-fiction conduct books which Jane Austen would have encountered. Here's something I found in 'Letters to a Young Lady' by the reverend John Bennett which I found particularly interesting as it's in direct conversation with other opinions of the era:

"A reformed rake makes the best husband." Does he? It would be very extraordinary, if he should. Besides, are you very certain, that you have power to reform him? It is a matter, that requires some deliberation. This reformation, if it is to be accomplished, must take place before marriage. Then if ever, is the period of your power. But how will you be assured that he is reformed? If he appears so, is he not insidiously concealing his vices, to gain your affections? And when he knows, they are secured, may he not, gradually, throw off the mask, and be dissipated, as before? Profligacy of this kind is seldom eradicated. It resembles some cutaneous disorders, which appear to be healed, and yet are, continually, making themselves visible by fresh eruptions. A man, who has carried on a criminal intercourse with immoral women is not to be trusted, His opinion of all females is an insult to their delicacy. His attachment is to sex alone, under particular modifications.

The definition of a rake is more than a man who has seen a sex worker once, it's about appearance and general conduct too, but again, would that distinction be made to young ladies? Because they seem to simply be continuously taught 'lust when unmarried is bad and beware men who you know engage in extramarital sex.' As a side note, Jane Austen certainly knew at least something about the mechanics of sex: her letters and literature she read alludes to it, and she grew up around farm animals in the countryside which is an education in itself.

We can also see from this exert that the school of thought seems to be 'reformed rake' vs 'never a rake' in contention for the title of best husband, there's no debate over whether a current rake is unsuitable for a young lady. And, from Willoughby to Wickham to Crawford, I think we have a very clear idea of Jane Austen's ideas of how likely it is notably promiscuous men can reform. This does not preclude the possibility that her disparaging commentary around their lust is based more on over-indulgence or the class of women they seduce, but it's undoubtedly a condemnation of such men directly in line with the first part of what John Bennett says so it's no stretch to believe she saw merit in the follow-on conclusions of the second part as well. Whether she would view it with enough merit to consider celibacy the only respectable option for unmarried men is a bit unclearer.

I did consider that perhaps Jane Austen consciously treated this as a grey area where she couldn’t possibly know what young men did (the same reasoning is why we never see the men in the dining room after the ladies retire, etc) and so didn't hold an opinion on men's extramarital encounters with sex workers/lower-class women at all, but I think there actually are enough hints in her works that this isn’t the case. Though, unsurprisingly, given the delicacy of the subject, there’s no direct mention of sex workers or gentlemen having casual lovers from among the lower-classes in her texts.

That also prevents us from definitively knowing whether she thought extramarital sex was so common, and as unremarkable, as most gentlemen treated it. But we do see from her commentary around the consequences of Maria Bertram and Henry Crawford's elopement that she had criticism of the double standards men and women were held to when violating sexual virtue. Another indication that she perhaps expected good men to be capable of waiting until marriage in the way that she very clearly believed women should. At the very least, a man who often indulges in extramarital sex does not seem to be one who would be considered highly by Jane Austen.

She makes a point of saying, in regards to not liking his wife, that Mr Bennet “was not of a disposition to seek comfort for the disappointment which his own imprudence had brought on, in any of those pleasures which too often console the unfortunate for their folly or their vice.” This must include affairs, though cheating on a wife cannot be a 1:1 equivalent of single young men sleeping around before marriage. However, the latter is generally critically accepted to be one of the flaws that Darcy lays at Wickham’s door along with gambling when talking about their youth and his “vicious propensities" and "want of principle." Though this could be argued that it’s more the extent or publicity of it (but remembering that it couldn't be anything uncommon enough that it couldn't be hidden from Darcy Sr. or explained away) rather than the act itself, or maybe seductions instead of paying women offering those services. I also believe Persuasion mentioning Sunday travelling as proof of thoughtless/immoral activity supports the idea that Jane Austen might have been religious enough that she would never create a hero who had extramarital sex.

So, taken all together this would make Darcy potentially a virgin, or, since I couldn't find absolute evidence of her opinions, leave enough room that he isn’t but extramarital sex isn’t a regular (or perhaps recent) thing and he would never have had anything so established as a mistress.

I’ve also been wondering, if Darcy isn’t a virgin, who would he have slept with? I’ve been musing on arguments for and against each option for weeks at this point. No romantasy has ever made me think about a fictional man's sexual habits so much as the question of Darcy's sexual history. What is my life.

Sex workers are an obvious answer, and the visits wouldn’t have raised any eyebrows. Discretion was part of their job, it was a clean transaction with no further responsibilities towards them, and effective (and reusable, ew) condoms existed at this time so there was little risk of children and no ability to exactly determine the paternity even if there was an accident. It was a fairly ‘responsible’ choice if one wanted no strings attached. In opposition to this, syphilis was rampant at the time, and had been known to spread sexually for centuries. Sex workers were at greater risk of it than anyone else and so the more sensible and risk-averse someone is (and I think Mr Darcy would be careful) the less likely they would be to visit sex workers. Contracting something that was known as potentially deadly and capable of making a future wife infertile if it spread to her could make any intelligent and cautious man think twice.

Servants and tenants of the estate are another simple and common answer. Less risk of stds, it can be based on actual attraction more than money (though money might still change hands), and is a bit more intimate. But Wickham’s called wicked for something very similar, when he dallies (whether he only got to serious flirting, kissing, or sleeping with them I don’t think we can conclusively say) with the common women of Meryton: “his intrigues, all honoured with the title of seduction, had been extended into every tradesman's family.” And it isn't as though Wickham had any personal duty towards those people beyond the claims of basic dignity. Darcy, who is shown to have such respect and understanding for his responsibilities towards the people of his estate and duties of a landlord, would keenly feel if any of his actions were leading his servants/tenants astray and down immoral paths. Servants, especially, were considered directly under the protection of the family whose house they worked in. I think it's undoubtable that Mrs Reynolds (whose was responsible for the wellbeing - both physically and spiritually - of the female servants) would not think so well of Mr Darcy if he had experimented with maids in his youth. It would reflect badly on her if a family entrusted their daughter to her care and she 'lost her virtue' under her watch. Daughters/widows of others living on the estate not under the roof of Pemberley House are a little more likely, but still, if he did have an affair with any of them I can only think it possible when he was much younger and did not feel his duties quite so strongly. Of course lots of real men didn't care about any of this, but Darcy is so far from being depicted as careless about his duties that the narrative makes a point of how exceptional his quality of care was. Frankly, it's undeniable that none of Jane Austen's heroes were flippant about their responsibilities towards those under their protection. I cannot serious entertain an interpretation that makes Darcy not, at his current age, at least, cognizant of the contemporary problems inherent in sleeping with servants or others on his estate.

A servant in a friend’s house would remove some of that personal responsibility, but transfer it to instead be leading his friend’s servants astray and in a manner which he is less able to know about if a child did result. That latter remains a problem even if we move the setting to his college, so not particularly likely for his character as we know it… though it wouldn’t be unusual for someone to be more unthinking and reckless in their teenage years than they are at twenty-eight so I don’t think having sex then can be ruled out. Kissing I can much more easily believe, especially when at Oxford or Cambridge, but every scenario of sleeping with a lower-class woman has some compelling arguments against it especially the closer we get to the time of the novel.

Men did of course also have affairs with women of ranks similar to their own, though given Jane Austen’s well-known feelings towards men who ‘ruined’ the virtue of young ladies we can safely say that Darcy never slept with an unwed middle- or upper-class woman. Any decent man would have married them out of duty if it got so far; but if he was the sort to let it get so far, I think it impossible Jane Austen would consider him respectable. Widows are a possibility, but again, the respectable thing to do would be to marry them. Perhaps a poorer merchant’s widow would be low enough that marriage is off the table but high enough that the ‘leading astray’ aspect loses its master-servant responsibilities (though the male-female ‘protect the gentler sex’ aspect remains) but his social circle didn’t facilitate meeting many ladies like that. Plus, an affair with a woman in society would remove many layers of privacy and anonymity that sex-workers and lower-class lovers provided by simply being unremarkable to the world at large. It carries a far greater risk of scandal and a heavier sense of immorality in the terms of respecting a woman’s purity which classism prevented from applying so heavily to lower-class women.

I think it’s important to note here that something that removes the need to think about duties of landlords towards the lower-classes or gentlemen towards gentlewomen is having affairs with other men of a similar rank. But, aside from the risk of scandal and what could be called the irresponsibility of engaging in illegal acts, it’s almost certain that Jane Austen would never have supported this. For a devout author in this era the way I’m calculating likelihoods makes it not even a possibility. But if you want to write a different fanfiction (and perhaps something like a break-up could explain why Darcy doesn’t seem to have any closer friend than someone whom he must have only met two or so years ago despite being in society for years before that) it does have that advantage over affairs with women of equal- and lower-classes. I support alternate interpretations entirely – it just isn’t how I’m deciding things in this instance.

I keep coming back to the conclusion that, at the very least, Darcy hasn’t had sex recently and it was never a common occurrence. It wouldn’t surprise me if Jane Austen felt he hadn’t done it ever. Kissing, as we can see from all the parlour games at the time, wasn’t viewed as harshly, so I think he’s likely made out with someone before. But in almost every situation it does seem that the responsible and religious thing to do (which Jane Austen values so highly) is for it to never have progressed to sex. I also don’t think it conflicts with his canon characterisation to say that he wouldn’t regard sexual experience as a crucial element of his life thus far, and his personality isn’t driven to pursue pleasure for himself, so it’s entirely possible that he would never go out of his way to seek it. So, I’m inclined to think that the authorial and textual evidence is in favour of Darcy being a virgin even if the real-world contemporary standard is the opposite. (Though both leave enough room for exceptions that I’m not going to argue with anyone who feels differently; and even if you agree with all my points, you might simply weight authorial intent/textual evidence/contemporary likelihoods differently than I do and come to a different conclusion).

Remember that even if Darcy is a virgin this wouldn’t necessarily equate to lack of knowledge, only experience. There were plenty of books and artwork focused on sex, and Darcy, studious man that he is, would no doubt pay attention to what knowledge his friends/male relatives shared. Though some of it (Looking especially at you, 'Fanny Hill, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure') should NEVER be an example of appropriate practice for taking a woman's virginity. Darcy would almost certainly have been taught directly or learnt through exposure to other men talking to make sex good for a woman – it was a commonly held misconception (since Elizabethan England, I believe) that women had to orgasm to conceive. It would be in his interests as an empathetic husband, and head of a family, to know how to please his wife.

Basically, I’m convinced Darcy isn’t very experienced, if at all, and will be learning with Elizabeth. But he does have a lot of theoretical knowledge which he’s paid careful attention to and is eager to apply.

#sorry for how my writing jumps around from quoting sources to vaguely asserting things from the books I only write proper essays when forced #if anyone has evidence that Austen thought a sexually experienced husband was better/men needed sex/it's a crucial education for men/etc #PLEASE send it my way I'm so curious about this topic now #this is by no means an 'I trawled through every piece of evidence' post just stuff I know from studying the era and Austen and her work #so more info/evidence is always appreciated #I had sort of assumed the answer was 'not a virgin' when I first considered this months ago btw but the more I thought about it #the less I was able to find out when/where/who he would've slept with without running into some authorial/textual complication #so suddenly 'maybe a virgin' becomes increasingly likely #But the same logic would surely apply to ALL Austen's heroes... and Knightley is 38 which feels unrealistic #(though Emma doesn't have as much commentary on sex and was written when Austen was older so maybe she wasn't so idealistic about men then)#but authors do write unrealistic elements and it's entirely possible that *this* was something Austen thought a perfect guy would(n't) do #and if you've read my finances breakdowns you know I follow the text and authorial voice over real-world logic because it IS still fiction #no matter how deftly Austen set it in the real world and made realistic characters #pride and prejudice #jane austen #fitzwilliam darcy #mr darcy #discourse #austen opinions #mine #asks #fic:t3w #I'm going to need a tag for 'beneath the surface' but 'bts' is already a pretty popular abbreviation haha #just 'fic: beneath' maybe?? idk

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serpentface · 1 year ago

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A typical example of a kulimane hunting dog, a prized animal in Imperial Wardin. They represent the most positive feelings towards dogs in this cultural sphere, an animal that otherwise has an often ambiguous or even disdained status.

Kulimane are the 'hybrid' offspring of domesticated sighthound breeds and the kuliku (colloquially called 'salt wolves'). Kuliku are not actual wolves, but rather the feral descendants of VERY ancient domesticated dogs that have been living wild for millennia in grassland, savannahs, and semi-desert, and are fully functional and efficient predators. Kuliku have slender builds, huge lungs, and long legs, and use bursts of tremendous speed to chase down prey. They mostly take small game, like rabbits, hares, birds, and hippegalga, though pairs are capable of bringing down mid-sized ungulates. They do not readily mate with fully domesticated dogs, but can be encouraged to do so in captivity, thus producing the kulimane.

The production of kulimane was introduced by the third Burri empire and has been fully adopted into contemporary Imperial Wardin. Kulimane are commonly seen as the best and most ideal of hunting dogs, combining the speed, power, and heat resistance and predatory instincts of their wild parents, and the loyalty and tameness, and other bred-in qualities of their sighthound parents. In practice, most Kulimane used in hunting will have been the product of several generations of breeding to produce an ideal animal (initial 'hybrid' generations are often still too wild). Their appearance can vary wildly, but the ideal form for a kulimane is to have a domestic-type coat (fully solid colors are preferred, but rare) and to retain the pointed ears and black tail tip of their wild ancestors.

Most kulimane are independent, intelligent animals that will form close and protective bonds with their handlers, but will be shy and wary of strangers. They usually retain strong territorial instincts from their wild ancestors, and can double as excellent guard dogs. Their disposition towards other dogs can vary- a well socialized kulimane can usually be introduced to new dogs with few issues, but some have striking tendencies to aggression towards strange dogs, and are often muzzled in public. Most are kept in same-sex sibling pairs, and away from unfamiliar or unrelated dogs. They are rarely outright cuddly, often preferring to sit at a distance than to sit on one's lap, but are appreciative of praise and affection from their owners.

Well trained kulimane make for truly excellent sighthounds. They can quickly adapt to changing situations in the field with little to no input from handlers, and quickly and instinctively dispatch most small prey. Their high prey drives Can be a problem for owners. They are frequently known to kill livestock and sacrificial stock, and have a tendency towards surplus killing. You don't want a kulimane to get in with your poultry.

Good kulimane stock is very difficult to produce and takes several generations of breeding, and the animals can be very costly to maintain and keep in good hunting conditions. As such they are VERY expensive animals, and function as status symbols. Sighthounds in of themselves have associations with wealth, and kulimane are specifically associated with royalty and the social elite. They represent the most venerated and beloved end of a very, very wide spectrum of cultural opinions towards dogs in the Imperial Wardi sphere.

The status of dogs in the cultural schema mostly depends on their perceived role. Working dogs tend to have positive cultural connotations- guard dogs and especially hunting dogs are seen as noble animals and symbols of loyalty, and herding and livestock guardian dogs are of great practical value in the rural sphere. Keeping dogs for pure companionship is fairly uncommon, though there are a few established companion breeds in the region. The practice of raising livestock dog breeds has decreased or become obsolete in parts of the region, largely due to Burri influence (which regards the meat of predators and scavengers as wholly unsuitable for consumption), but meat specific breeds like the salutachin are still valued in the city-state of Wardin as providers of an excellent, delicacy meat. The commonality between all valued dogs in Imperial Wardin is their utility, well-established roles, and sharp distinction from feral dogs.

Feral dogs are a fact of life around most settlements. Imperial Wardi cultural outlooks on them tend to be highly negative, characterizing these as uniquely greedy, cowardly, lowly pest animals at best and depraved corpse eaters at worst. Exact attitudes vary throughout the Imperial Wardi cultural sphere, but one near-ubiquitous element is regarding the excrement of feral dogs (and corpses of feral dogs) as potent sources of spiritual pollution that should never be touched with bare skin, and should ideally be removed and buried in barren ground (or their polluting influence should at least be mitigated with a blessing of the tainted location). Superstition holds that stepping in the feces of feral dogs can inflict curses, and the word for 'dogshit' is one of the most insulting terms available in the language.

Hatred of feral dogs is particularly acute in the city-state of Godsmouth. The core city experienced a collective cultural trauma as a result of a siege during the formation of the Wardi empire, in which civilians starved en-masse and descriptions of bodies being eaten in the streets by feral dogs (which were, in turn, eaten by starving civilians) dominate historical records of the event. Feral dogs are by and large hated in this part of the region and seen as outright vile animals and acute sources of spiritual pollution via their very presence. They are actively culled on a routine basis. The outskirts of the city of Godsmouth and some of the city-state's towns have unique practices of allowing semi-tame hyenas free movement through settlements, where they fulfill the dogs' function as refuse cleaners and keep dog populations in check.

While the keeping of feral dogs is generally frowned upon throughout the region, individuals caring for their local feral populations or adopting feral puppies is not unknown, and the distinction between feral and kept dogs (and stigma towards the former) is MUCH less pronounced in many rural communities, where semi-feral dogs may be valued as likable or useful village animals.

No dog breeds are standardized (or even technically 'breeds' in any modern sense), but there is usually great effort to keep working, livestock, and companion dog stocks wholly separate from feral dogs. The word that roughly means ‘mutt’ in this language does not refer to mixed dog breeds as a whole (or even crosses between different types of working dog), but specifically crosses between kept breeds and feral dogs, which is generally regarded as unfavorable (though not uncommon, both due to inevitability in a world without spaying, and practicality- these crosses may produce perfectly good working or companion dogs, and introduction of feral stock reduces inbreeding).

The dog is one of the constellations in the Wardi zodiac, found at the heel of the Hunter constellation and variously interpreted as either being a noble hunting dog trailing its master, or a lowly scavenger looking for scraps. The latter characterization tends to win out in terms of the characterization of its associated birthsign. Being born under the sign of the dog is mostly regarded as inauspicious, and a potential indication of a cowardly, stupid, lustful, and greedy character (though some positive qualities are ascribed, chiefly loyalty).

‘Chinops’ (literally ‘dog-born’) refers neutrally to the dog birth sign, while ‘chinmachen’ (‘dog-faced’) is an epithet given to those considered to have the associated personality traits, which is rarely anything BUT an insult. (These also spawn the purely derogatory phrases of ‘chisnops’, ‘chismachen’, and ‘chismache’, which have functional meanings closest to ‘son of a bitch’ ‘bitch/slut’ and ‘cunt’ respectively)

#GET EXCITED:::: DOG PARAGRAPHS #That linked post is a little outdated but the info is broadly still correct.#The domestication of dogs in this setting was a MUCH more ancient event than irl and their spread has produced #dog populations that are fully naturalized predators and can't really be considered feral on anything more than a technicality.#Janeys and Faiza each own a pair of kulimane. Janeys doesn't even like them but keeps them anyway for hunting.#Faiza IS fond of dogs and has an affinity for even feral dogs (which would be considered unusual but is sometimes interpreted as #having an exceptionally charitable nature- ie you care even for the lowest of the low of beasts)#This is a tangent but the 'mane' in Haidamane is the same root as in kulimane.#Haidamane is a Titen surname and 'mane' is a word in the Burri language (used in Bur/Titen/Kosov)#'-mane' is used to describe things that pertain to 'noble' hunting so will be used in words for appreciated predatory animals and #hunting breeds and is used in the name of a Burri hunting deity. It's not specific to this dog.#Also in case anyone is reading 'mane' as like 'a horse's mane' it's supposed to be pronounced 'mah-ney'. Like 'high- deh- mah - ney'#creatures #imperial wardin

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aureoboros · 4 months ago

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made yet another tav!

her name in-game is eurydice (it might change because I’m indecisive about names) she’s a cleric of kelemvor (grave domain)! before getting snatched up by the nautiloid, she was a healer of some renown. and for those she couldn’t save, she would to tend to their last wishes, and perform burial services (particularly for those who passed on alone). she has seen a lot of things in doing so, and is very calm in the face of the horrors because of it. also her main weapon is literally just a shovel. I love her

this is a very new playthrough, but I already have so many thoughts about her dynamic with a few of the companions… so I’ll be rambling a bit under the cut :]

another thing kelemvor's clergy does is protect people from dying before their time. they’ll cure diseases and protect people from monsters, keeping them safe until it’s time for the bell to actually toll. and so in here lies a conundrum for eurydice… karlach and gale are both so determined to doom themselves :(.

eurydice has a complicated relationship with death (this absolutely ties into her backstory but I haven’t written it yet haha). she's experienced a lot of it in her profession, and she’s always believed that it's simply a part of life. it’s a new beginning — one that should be celebrated, when it comes to someone naturally. it’s never been something to fear in her eyes. but it starts to feel very different when it's someone you care about, doesn’t it? and come act 2, she’s faced with two very complicated situations.

eurydice learned a long time ago that not everyone can be saved… she’s seen it herself, again and again. but karlach *can* be saved! she doesn't have to die! eurydice would be so upset that karlach refuses to consider going back to the hells. even if she understands that to karlach, it’s a fate worse than death. but it isn’t her time, is it? It can’t be. karlach hasn’t been able to live her own life in years, and she deserves that chance now, more than anything. it’s cruel and unjust that it can so easily be taken away. but how can you save someone when the one option you have isn’t something they *want*? karlach wants to live, but not in the place that tormented her. what right does anyone have to tell her what to do in this situation? what is the *right* thing to do, here? is there one at all?

and with gale, it seems more and more like there isn't much choice. he’s already living on borrowed time. the orb will kill him eventually, and potentially many others if he doesn’t find somewhere remote for it to explode. (which in itself is horrible, and eurydice finds it especially appalling that he’d have to die painfully and *alone*.) the orb can be temporarily sated, but not cured, not even by the most powerful of cleric. and then, a literal goddess tells gale that dying is *the only way to save the world*. there’s no way around that, is there? but maybe… the gods aren't always right. and maybe even the ‘morally good’ gods don’t care for their followers as they should. maybe fate isn’t something that’s written, and maybe it doesn’t exist at all.

so. yeah. there’s a lot to consider here for her!

also she hasn’t had astarion try to bite her yet… eurydice has definitely had her suspicions that he’s a vampire since the beginning, though. it’s obvious in general, but especially obvious to a follower of kelemvor lmao. technically, she should have to kill him once it’s confirmed that he’s undead… but we’ll see about that. eurydice didn’t fight very often before the nautiloid, and when she did, it was only ever to save people who were in danger. undead weren’t a common thing for her to battle, and the rare times she did come across them, they were always reanimated corpses. ones that didn’t have emotions, or any memory of life anymore. astarion, however — all she sees is a person who went through a lot of unfortunate circumstances. another moral dillema! hurray!!!

there’s so much interesting conflict this run… I don’t know if I phrased any of that well but it makes sense in my mind lmao. I just say things and hope some of it sticks

and yeah, thanks for reading!!

#she’s so goth who goes to cemeteries to put flowers on graves #and just sit there appreciating the quiet #i’m still coming up with her story as i play so there should be more info to come #i need to post my thoughts and stop being embarrassed about them #that’s the whole point of having a blog lmao #bg3 #bg3 tav #gale dekarios #karlach cliffgate #digital art #tav: eurydice

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catboythanatos · 5 months ago

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oh i just realized i never posted my stobotnik collages here ???

they took over my brain and my journal

created by me ♡ with scissors and a glue stick in my two hands and yaoi on my brain. using various magazines, ft some stickers from the dollar store, & the black n white images r printed from a thermal label printer !

the last one isnt technically stobotnik but the vibes are related i think so it gets to be included in the spread

#stobotnik #agent stone #yayyyyayyyyyy #junk journal #this isnt made from any 'junk' but they are in my junk/treasure journal w all my actual junk journalling #i need to feed my people.... fellow tag lurkers hi #its fun! its definitely an artistic creative activity but its not the traditional definition of art so i hesitate to call it art #but its fun and someone on here will appreciate it so <3 #i posted a couple on tiktok so if u saw it before thats why. i swear i made this with my own two hands and sweat and tears #danny rambles #danny creates #?#maybe that will become a tag #i have more info about what the magazines were and stuff if anyones interested #i get them from a local thrift store where theyre 50c a piece :3 so life is good #the thermal printer was an amazon purchase i confess unfortunately

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iwritenarrativesandstuff · 20 days ago

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I bring a sort of "flawed female characters can be fun and enjoyable blorbos - both flawed in terms of having character flaws and in terms of having occasionally flawed writing" that it appears many, many, many people do not like

#i'm sorry for all the annoyance lately. i've been tired.#and a lot of the media i'm enjoying right now has focal female characters so i'm seeing the most absolute stupid takes of all time #anyways. cyan did have a character arc actually and her arc's flaws are largely similar to my criticisms of lin ling and yang cheng's arcs #so i don't appreciate the double standard #tianxi is just as interesting as tianchen if you actually read into her character the way one would for any underdeveloped male character #we don't even know anything about shao yuanyuan yet either why does everyone shit on her. i mean i get it i'm unimpressed with #her leaving her son behind - that is undeniably shitty. but there are so many who just don't want to see anything more of her. why???#yes wang qing got less screentime and marketing than hhh. but we actually have just as much if not more concrete info about her #than we do for any of those three. why is it that i mostly just see people complaining about her lack of screentime instead of #making five million headcanons for her the way hhh gets? :/#and like. all the arcane female characters. i'll admit i never did get as attached to caitlyn as i wanted to. but man.#i don't make arcane posts or interact with the fandom for a reason. the only female characters people seem to like are jinx and isha #mel has been done a great disservice in fandom imo. she is wayyy more interesting than just being beautiful.#and mizi is not a manipulator. wtf is your problem #i legitimately have no idea what kind of female character it would take to actually be considered good.#people want flaws but then completely misinterpret her. bad character writing means she's bad female rep.#it doesn't matter that people would lovingly take a guy with mediocre writing and give him a better arc. she's just “boring”#a male character can have the same internal conflict as a female character and everything about how she treats it is wrong.#writers then “play it safe” by giving their female characters external problems to overcome instead of internal ones #thus making her... “boring”. again.#same general issue applies to any character with a slightly darker skin tone too. doubly so for darker skinned women.#anyways. i am really scared for queen's arc honestly. i've already seen people being more excited for X than her #and shitting on her for being a “nepo baby” (???)#meanwhile i am concerned that they are going to play it too safe with her writing thus making her “strong woman” whose problems are #all external #that most of her drive will be related to the two older men in her life with no nuance (i'm hoping not but this is always a fear)#or that they will delve into a messier internal conflict and everyone is going to hate her except for the handful of people who #actually have a baseline understanding of women's issues. lmao.#liu yuwei get behind me.#storyrambles

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literaryvein-reblogs · 7 months ago

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Do you use AI generators to compile or scrape this information?

#anonymous #ai has nothing on an over-caffeinated human being copy pasting & taking screenshots past 3 in the morning & queuing everything #no but on a serious note most of these is the product of years of compilations stuck in my drafts & old files as a student #been going through my old bookmarks as well (bc need more space) so there may be random study notes or tips sometimes #thats also why i have a lot of grammar related stuff that i used at school --- still handy notes though #as for the requests i usually do them in one sitting & queue them -- not claiming to be an expert on those topics #i just try to look for the best sources i can -- which is fun bc i learn a lot as well &#i always appreciate when people send me more info or corrections #this genuinely made me a bit self conscious of my posts tho like do they look AI generated #just shoved a lot of queued posts back to my drafts lol will try to edit them better soon i know its a mess here !#also acccidentally clicking the 'shuffle' queue messed up the chronology at one point -- so been trying to schedule posts #instead of adding to queue ---- but will reorganise when i find more time #but yeah most of these are my literal notes -- excerpts / literally copy pasted from my references that may be quite outdated #that i need to delete but still wanted to save elsewhere

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inthehouseoffinwe · 5 months ago

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So I was re-reading the Ainulindalë and honestly, I have a soft spot for the Valar.

Like these dudes came from a place beyond time, saw this beautiful future they really try to work towards for countless years, and genuinely do seem to be trying their best and working with what they know.

Cause idk about you but if I was a being from beyond time and space, I’d be a little lost what to do with these tiny Arda bound beings too. Let alone mortal ones. The concept of time would still make me go kinda ‘…what?’

I know we give them grief over their island making habits but I kinda see where they got the idea?

‘Arda is also a little island designated for certain beings so they have the best chance at living… so what if we did the same for similar reasons?’

Also on a side note we know there’s Ainur and Maiar who didn’t go to Arda, so it would be really interesting to hear from them. Like maybe Eärendil while he’s sailing gets to have fun conversations with them. Maybe they help protect him.

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raziiyah · 7 months ago

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Since you made that post about the Monster World and their Beauty standards

How attractive do you think Randall is by the monster world standards?

Obviously in Monster's University he's MEANT to be seen as this wimpy, scrawny geek and a loser 🤓

But what about during the Monster's Inc era?

Out of the 3 Main Monsters (Mike, Sulley, and Randall) we see that Mike is the only one who isn't "Bitchless" or "Maidenless" (as the Twitter crowd would say 🙄)

Which I find hilariously ironic considering Mike is the only of those 3 who wasn't a scarer nor does he really fit into any of the Beauty standards 🤔

(Now from a real life perspective I can understand why Randall and Sulley are single due to Randall's status as the villain and giving Sulley a love interest would've distracted too much attention away from his relationship with Boo)

But it is kinda funny from an In-Universe perspective because you'd think Randall and ESPECIALLY Sulley would both have an army of Women (and Men 🌈) trying to vouch for their attention due to their status as the 2 biggest Top Scarers

Tho with Randall I suppose you could argue that his personality was probably a turn off for anyone who actually might've tried to date him or get to know him (I love the dude but honestly he seems like he'd be kinda difficult to deal with in a relationship).

Not sure what the excuse for Sulley is tho lol

hi i will gladly talk about randall’s hotness 😋

okay for real though i think randall would actually be considered handsome (i swear im not biased) randall definitely possesses scary traits, from sharp teeth, big independently moving eyes, multiple limbs, etc., and has a general scary appearance, so i think it’s fair to say he’s considered quite attractive. also the fact he was in ror; the top frat in MU, presumably the most elite university in monstropolis, and is a scarer, the best career you could ever have (and with him and sulley being the two candidates to get the all time scare record, one of the best in the whole monster world??) probably helps too

another thing i want to mention that i’ve thought about is there are many round cyclops monsters like mike and big horned furry monsters like sulley, but there isn’t really any monster in the monster world (or in other media) that quite looks like randall.

joy has reptilian features but she looks very different from randall (though i’d like to point out that she was the number 1 scarer at fear co., which could be more evidence that randall is very scary and therefore more attractive) mr. crummyham bears some resemblance to randall, but he has smoother skin, a skinnier body, and a very different face

other than the fact that the vas in mi bear resemblance to their characters to me, randall has such a fine distinct design, so something i thought about is randall’s attractiveness could be compared to his va steve buscemi in our world. there are many people who consider buscemi as handsome, and i've also seen some people describe his look to be “unique”. with randall having a design so distinct from the other monsters and possessing scary/attractive traits, i feel like randall’s attractiveness in the monster world could also be described the same way

i definitely agree with the idea that they didn’t include any romantic stuff for sulley and randall because it would be unnecessary and distracting, but that aside,,

i’m sure there are many monsters who were attracted to sulley. sulley's been the number 1 scarer at monsters inc for a very long time, is the son of a famous scarer, and is shown to be very popular both in and at work. for one, these two in mu seemed attracted to him

in mi, on his way to work, basically everyone knows him and greets him, both on the street and at work. so in that way, there are actually a lot of monsters that vie for sulley's attention (including the fcking CDA 😭)

maybe some monsters are nervous around sulley and think he's out of their league. even though he is friendly, he does have a very high status so he may be intimidating to talk to; like look at how nervous needleman is here when talking to him hehe

on randall’s end, though he’s probably not nearly as social, he probably gets a fair share of recognition (though is probably very overshadowed by sulley) but there are likely some monsters that don’t like his personality and because of that aren't interested, or are scared/intimidated to actually talk to him. but they can admire him from an appearance and achievement perspective, though perhaps from a distance

but as you said, i definitely think that personality plays a big role into which monsters are considered attractive

first, mike is full of personality, being charming, funny and witty. he's shown to be a smooth talker, whether flirting with celia or distracting waternoose and randall with convincing lies. mike may not fit into the "scary" beauty standard, but i think some monsters don't really care. and i know that celia genuinely thinks mike is handsome :] mike was also very likely the smartest scaring student on mu’s campus. but judging by mike's locker in the credits for mu, celia may have started crushing on mike around the time when he was just a cafeteria worker and i like to think she fell for mike early on for both his looks and personality 🩷

sulley on the other hand is shown to be a bit clumsy and not as smooth with his words, so he probably has no rizz 😔✊️/jk (it's v cute though)

randall's personality is pretty self explanatory LOL, though interestingly, even though randall is a prick, his coworkers were genuinely happy for him when he became the scare leader and when they thought he broke the scare record. so i feel like he’s only directly mean to sulley, mike and fungus, while he just tolerates everyone else (unless they cross his path) like his coworkers are probably aware of his bitter attitude but may undermine it since he's not directly mean to them and randall probably has respect for being #2 in the whole comany, because i don't think all those monsters would be happy for him if he treated all of them how he treats the three i mentioned. and i mean he showed a liking towards johnny so we know he's capable of not feeling utter hate for everyone. though he may not always be directly mean to his other coworkers, i’m sure his attitude is still noticed and deemed undesirable for lots of monsters. i feel like randall would be viewed as skilled and attractive but a dick lol

but in the end i think a big reason why i think sulley and randall aren't in a relationship is because they’re so career focused.

sulley probably wasn't interested or focused on getting into a relationship since he was focused on his career and reaching the scare record. before he met boo, he didn't have much else going on for him outside of scaring. he does work out as a hobby but even that was scaring related; mike even calls him out for this

it was likely the same with randall, and between the scare record and the scream extractor, he probably has no time or desire to get into a relationship. and his commitment to his job and one-upping sulley could impair his attention in a relationship (you better believe this is something i incorporated into lia and randall's relationship but lets not get into that right now haha ☉‿☉) there may have been monsters who were brave enough to confess to him but he's likely rejected him because his priority is the grind 😤💯💰

in maw sulley may have lost some of his reputation by bringing laugh energy to mi, plus jill broadcasting to all of monstropolis that sulley cheated in the scare games, got expelled, and was associated with the convicted criminal who is waternoose, probably didn't help his popularity. though after the end of maw season 2 i know more monsters will warm up to him, not to mention there are probably many who admire him already

(where did they get this image 😭)

if anyone johnny is probably the pinnicle of monster attractiveness, from appearance, skills, demenour and status. i was cracking up over how much game this man had, like everyone wanted him 😭 he got with claire, then it was shown that jill, tylor's mom, and his grandma were shown to be down bad for him (not the generational thirsting) not to mention chet and randall wanting to get his attention, like fck this mf has game, he was probably on a magazine with "sexiest monster alive" on the cover LMAO

he was whole package, well until, you know

#monsters inc #monsters at work #monsters university #randall boggs #randy boggs #mike wazowski #james p sullivan #sulley #joy #mr crummyham #needleman #johnny worthington #steve buscemi #mi #maw #mu #pixar #disney #cartoons #analysis #ty for the question and giving me an opportunity to elaborate more on this topic!!#long ahh post #if you ever wonder why i take long to answer asks this is partially why 😔 i can't help but info dump #please ask me more monsters opinions questions and stuff guys i may not get to them right away but appreciate them 🫶#i feel like mu randy would still be seen as attractive to some but like in a cute way more than a hot way ya know #mike may be the least scary but he has the most rizz for sure #sulley doesn't need a partner he has mike to fill that gap lol #mostly men have been shown giving randall attention but not that he's complaining 😏 (insert gif of randall winking at frank here jkfhfgdfh)

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