#may or may not be based off real life.....

[nyxelestia]

Tacking onto all of this, I do find it off-putting that a lot of fics ignore that he had a life before HYDRA and before the war. It only ever seems to come up in relation to Steve but not his own sense of self.

If he is going to define himself by consumer choices, why not explore what it means that he actually does have a sense of self within that paradigm...but all the things he wants to choose for himself are gone, lost to the passage of time? Why is his sense of self and identity less valid just because the ravages of time and capitalism have rendered all his preferences and choices unavailable? Is he really free to define himself if his options are limited to what is available today, but do not include what feels true to him and his live experiences?

I will add that I also suspect a lot of these fics are being heavily informed and biased by the personal experiences of the community that they were written by and for. In short, this community has way more survivors of sexual abuse and domestic violence that it has survivors of war and multigenerational poverty, and it shows. The way fandom in general tends to understand and write PTSD has less to do with war -- even the specifically American military-industrial version of it -- and more in common with surviving abuse.

I think some of that is an understandable product of the story. Most survivors of war and soldiers with PTSD were not in a long-term, on-going psychological manipulation that systematically and intentionally deconstructed their sense of self; yet that description, while extreme, is very applicable to what it feels like to be in and escape from an abusive relationships (whether a family dynamic or an intimate partner relationship).

There are many significant differences between "abuse/assault survivor PTSD" vs "war/external conflict PTSD," but I think one of the most relevant differences is the nature of the cause of trauma denying victims autonomy, agency, and self-determination.

This may not be easy to see at first because the military is so conformist. Everyone has the same uniform, code of conduct, and often the exact same lifestyle or schedule. But that's relatively superficial; it's almost a stereotype that as soon as soldiers with their first military paychecks get off base for the first time, they make a lot of bad but self-determining purchases like fancy cars and high-end consumer electronics. One of the reasons why the military as an institution is so enduring is because after this initial period of intense conformity and trauma, it's often a path of self-determination (or at least marketed as such): loans for housing, support for education, multiple career paths, etc. (The flipside being, of course, that the military can just as easily lock you into a career you don't want, or the trauma from it can make achieving any semblance of life after violence anywhere from difficult to impossible.) Meanwhile, abusive families and relationships are often exactly the opposite: superficially giving victims all the freedom in the world or only very few restrictions (at least as compared to the military), yet in practice locking victims into a specific lifestyle or path preferred by the abuser.

This manifests in the way a lot of fanfic authors write Bucky recovering from the Winter Soldier ordeal. He exercises a lot of autonomy and agency in his superficial consumer choices, yet often exercises very little real agency in the course of his life. Either he remains a superhero / supersoldier of some variety, or he has to take the extreme measure of completely dropping off the grid (and out of public eye, and often well away from everyone else in the world) to achieve any sense of peace.

A lot of Bucky Recovery fics don't really feel like a traumatized veteran or even traumatized abuse survivor moving on with their life or recovering anything significant. Instead, they have the same vibes as a military fresh recruit making dumb high-interest big purchases off-base while rushing back to base in time for PT, or someone in an abusive relationship celebrating a fancy haircut their partner likes while putting their education and career on hold for said partner. A lot of these fics feel like they make Bucky celebrate superficial appearances of autonomy and agency to obfuscate just how little self-determination he really has even after escaping HYDRA.

In a weird way, this feels like an apt metaphor not for the character but for the authors. Much like Bucky post-Winter Soldier, they cannot fathom a life of true independence from capitalism, and so envision the closest thing to it they can imagine while still remaining under the umbrella of capitalism and calling that freedom.

I am still pretty buried in work, but dropping in to comment on a trope I’ve seen popping up again and again in CA: TWS fic, which is: the horror and totality of Bucky’s deconstruction as a person is shown through the revelation that he doesn’t know what [food, clothes, music, coffee, etc] he likes, and a significant part of his reconstruction involves correcting this. 

This is very attractive trope. I enjoy reading it! But I want to turn a critical eye on it, and on my own enjoyment of it. This will surprise no one who’s been reading my blog for a long time, since I’m persistently and heavily critical of the selfist/consumerist ideology that underlies Western capitalist society. And that’s what’s going on here, really, I think: this trope is an expression of our understanding of what it means to be a person, and our anxieties about person-ness.

Keep reading

[cupidastrology]

how to manifest money into your life with asteroid money #7782 ٩(•͈ ꇴ •͈)و ̑̑❀$$$

please do not repost or copy.

In a previous post introducing this money asteroid, I expressed the meaning of what it takes to notice where, how, and what brings in the cash into your life through the birth chart.

It all comes down to the details; how can I manifest money into my life?

Can an asteroid help me to understand how to engage with the value of money energy, and take charge of it in my financial lifestyle?

⋆⛧┈┈┈┈﹤୨♡୧﹥ ┈┈┈┈⛧⋆

Let's break it down; asteroid mony 7782 is the asteroid that holds all aspects of gaining cash, money, deposits, and rules all the ways of having multiple numbers in the bank account.

When looking to the birth chart, the sign, degree, aspects, and house position points to where you're able to make money in your life.

Here are some quick tips involving the elements of the signs that are involved with this asteroid:

Asteroid Mony in the Fire Signs (Aries ♈︎, Leo ♌︎ , Sagittarius) may make money on the go; they are able to greet their finances within moments, with impulsivity, and may take on various different jobs or hobbies that can bring them to the bag with their passions, phases, or hobbies. Involving in jobs or events that have to do with travel, trying new risky situations, or involving shock value into their passions can invite monetary opportunities.

Asteroid Mony in the Water Signs (Cancer ♋︎ , Scorpio, Pisces ♓︎ ♓︎) are able to to use their emotional forms of expression and outlook on possible spell work to bring in money for needs, wants, and desires for caretaking. It is important these signs have money, because everything is a temptation for them.

Asteroid Mony in the Earth ⊕ Signs (Taurus ♉︎, Virgo ♍︎, Capricorn) are able to use long standing , stable, and long term connections/networks that can bring in cash steadily over time. When they are more engaged to the real world and off the internet, they can find themselves making money that can build into community over time.

Asteroid Mony in the Air Signs (Gemini ♊︎, Libra ♎︎ , Aquarius ♒︎) have to engage with the collective through the digital, technical, and online based communities in order to bring in the money. Being a figure that can inspire others through new ideas, discussion, taking in new forms of inspiration in art, and engaging with research of the world can help them to gain opportunities to the big dollars.

[directactionforhope]

Actually, making a bunch of assumptions about someone based on how/when they sleep is ableist, and also often classist, and I'm respectfully serious about this, as someone officially diagnosed with a severe sleep disorder (not that I'm anti self-dx in any way but yes, I do have an official diagnosis and am in the range classified as "severe")

Because of my sleep disorder (and more recently one of my jobs), I work nights. Night shift jobs are almost - if not actually - exclusively working class jobs (though I'm not going to go into class issues because I feel far less qualified to speak on them).

But sleep habits are so, so conflated with morality, work ethic, and even competence and intelligence in mainstream US culture.

(I blame in large part the Puritans. Having a culture founded by the remnants of a strict and fundamentalist religious sect will do that to you.)

Things that people (including my clients and my coworkers), have done or assumed about me because of my sleep disorder:

Went to HR and told them I was skiving off at least two hours of work every single day (I wasn't, I was staying two to three hours late every single day to make up the hours, because I had an accommodation from my boss. I was almost always the one to lock up the office. I ended up in a meeting with HR who didn't even bother to check with my boss first and ask anything related to the literally abundant proof I was working late)

I later learned multiple people were talking about it behind my back, so for all I know like half my coworkers believed/suspected that about me

That I'm lazy

That I'm not in control of my life

That I'm disorganized

Kept forgetting/Refused to believe me that I just wasn't trying hard enough to keep a normal sleep schedule, until I found studies showing that trying to keep a ""normal"" sleep schedule with my level of severity had a 100% long-term failure rate

Required me to tell almost all of my repeat/regular clients details of my medical history to avoid them making a ton of assumptions when I send work messages/emails/project submissions at 4 in the morning (unfortunately several of the platforms I use professionally don't have any kind of message scheduling add-on or feature)

Lost out on jobs because I was unable to reply soon enough (this morning I may have literally missed out on an interview slot because I didn't reply to a message by the end of the workday)

Was unable to go to the bank/post office/grocery store/dmv/other time-sensitive errand for days at a time due to my sleep (and work) schedule during open hours

Real difficulty texting with new people because 2/3rds of my regular waking hours are considered a Loaded or Extremely Weird time to text someone, and sometimes spoons don't appear at convenient times of day

Constantly late to school when I was younger, sometimes in trouble for it

That I don't care about my family/family events when I struggle to do a whole week of vacation on 2-4 hours of sleep

A lot of this has gotten better since there's been more research on my sleep disorder (delayed sleep phase disorder) and I've been able to educate my family and explain things to my friends, and as disability/accessibility concerns/awareness have grown a lot over the last two decades

And I'm extremely rare and extremely lucky because I've had a sleep disorder diagnosis almost my whole life (since I was 11, I'm now 30ish). Most people with sleep disorders, especially severe sleep disorders, spend years and years exhausted and believing something is simply wrong with them, that they're some kind of a failure, because they just can't ""try"" hard enough to ""fix it""

Anyway if you struggle with sleep, especially if it's a sleep disorder, I believe you and I believe that it's real.

And if you find yourself relating to this post, or are tired all the time because you can never get enough sleep - or can only get enough if you sleep half/most of the day - I really recommend looking into sleep disorders, especially delayed sleep phase

Oh also working during a time that your circadian rhythm says you're supposed to sleep is so hard that for a person with a ""normal"" sleep schedule, working night shifts can literally give you a diagnosable sleep disorder. It's literally called "shift work disorder"

[princsstwilightsparkl]

saying "if aroace people can date, then can lesbians date men?" is absolutely aphobic narrative btw!

[the-busy-ghost]

Me normally: Let people love what they love

Me, after a Test Match Special commentator expresses their belief that the new All Creatures Great and Small is somehow "better" than the 1978 version: This is pure insanity and TMS can no longer be trusted on anything, how can they even be trusted to know about cricket, do they have no TASTE

[doginurbloodstream]

i am bive from regretevator!

i dont particularly miss the regretevator universe.. i do enjoy the game though

i know two infected fictionkins, one of which is also unpleasant gradient and poob!

id say im a 3/10, i tend to be a very rational person (i think)

bive is unlabled mspec but wlw and im aroace transmasc

my fictionkin identity doesnt really effect daily life, if at all. it has to be triggered by specific bive related things. the closest its gotten is wanting to yell out "me" whenever the npc me entered the elevator while i was playing with my friend, who does not know im a fictionkin, so there was like an awkward pause where i stopped myself, and then yelled bive. there are random bits of dysphoria i guess, i dont like talking in third person, but its mild and i can get past it.

my fictionkin experience is mainly unpleasant (gradient) unfortunately. shifts are euphoric but also stressful. i tend to have to consciously ground myself a bit, because i have felt like im being watched in the past. i knew/know i wasnt, i just couldnt shake the feeling. i mean coming up with theories for the game where i can just completely let lose is fun, however it is saddening that i will probably never come up with a real one.

death note, touch tone telephone (i was based on that song so its not surprising), and i recently realized the backrooms does too. theres more im not thinking of

im not sure, its not psychological and i think dont believe in most spiritual things. its probably a multiversal thing, but i dont know from there so i usually just say unlabeled.

i do experience shifts! they are always triggered tho, thankfully. i dont get them too often. the first two shifts i had were me being paranoid abt things (the very first one was very out of control, but i was sleep deprived and depressed at the time). the second time i talked about two questions ago. i didnt have any shifts for awhile after that until i my plushie arrived, and i stayed up quite a bit just missing mediamates. that was rough. my later shifts were triggered by trying to come up with theories for the game, altho i wasnt aware i was shifted, until later, i thought i was just excited. the theories were really unhinged, and i thought i was a genius. it was rly fun tho. harmless shift. today i had a brief shift, i was looking at a bive fictionkin stimboard, and there was like a liminal space gif + music was playing, and it looked.. all too much like the lab. i started crying a bit, even tho i do not think have kinmemories, but it ended pretty quickly cuz my friend msged me a joke and the shock value got to me lol. ive also had phantom shifts, but not much recently. i may have had tail shifts, but its difficult to differentiate between kintypes

my media is regretevator on roblox! i do cringe at it sometimes tbh.

when i see fanart, it sort of feels like it was made FOR me specifically lol. what i know abt my canon heavily aligns with the fanon designs so thats cool. when it doesnt align i do feel a bit off tho- like no, that isnt me. you got it wrong. ironically this happened with a recent canon update, when they added melanie WHO IS DEAD. she was supposed to BE dead and STAY dead. and then also, why do i welcome her back?? why am i so friendly?? i mean i get that shes like friends or smth with split, but i just dont trust her. i have no reason not to, i just dont. that is WRONG. you. NO. get OUT.

ooh ooh! i like this question. i have a large, reptile-like (but hairy) non-prehensile tail! my hands and feet are clawed, with only 4 digits. for my feet i have like thumb things coming out of my heels, similar to a bird. i likely am very similar the upcoming remodel, but i cant confirm as i have not seen it. i just know im not a roblox character, and the previews of splits remodel feel very familiar.

ah.. ships. i dont see much of them outside me n split. if i do i just think its a bit weird, and move on. i wish i was seen as more than just someone who likes her. theres more to me. the majority of bive fans are mainly spive fans. i decided to look myself up on tumblr and i was just flooded with shipart. there is MORE TO ME. I AM MORE THAN HER. PLEASE SEE ME FOR ME.

in current lore me and split have feelings for each other (cant relate, im aro, but spive is in my canon tho) and are GOING to confess but that has not happened yet. i feel kinda weird abt it since i have very mixed feelings on romance, but i think we are a thing in my canon, because MY GOD I MISS SPLIT SO MUCH. I MISS HER.

Alex's fictionkin ask game!

(mostly for fictional characters)

🌲 - what is your fictotype?

🪲 - do you miss your home? Or maybe you're happy that you're here?

🐸 - do you have any sourcemates? If yes, who/what are they?

🌳 - in scale 1-10, how are you similar to your canon?

🌿 - does your fictotype have a different sex/gender identity than your body/you?

☘️ - what aspect of life does your identity affect the most?

🪴 - is your fictionkin experience unpleasant or enjoyable for you?

🍃 - what reminds you of your fictotype? (E.g.: a figurine, a doll, a tv series)

🌄 - on what level is your identity? (E.g. spiritual, psychological, psychical)

🐢 - do you experience shifts? Of yes, how do they look like?

🥝 - what is your source?

🐛 - how do you feel about fanarts of you and fanfictions?

🌵 - do you look exactly like in your source or do you look different? If you do, then what is different?

🥀 - what do you think about ships with you?

🦕 - do you have/had a loved one in your source?

♪♪♪

So, yeah, that's all! :D

Reblog this, so the others can ask you questions or answer them all right now, if you want to :>

[floralembarrassment]

hi! i love your writing, and wanted to ask if you'd like to write some wolfstar with fem/genderfluid sirius? have a nice day/night!

So not only did this request come in but today I followed a car blasting the Killers "somebody told me" and because I am in so deep in this fandom all I good think was wow this is incredibly wolfstar coded. Anyway, this is what the combination inspired - enjoy! with love

The Bit (1/1) (wolfstar)

It didn't really matter where they went, they were often the best dressed couple. Remus looked sleek in formal wear, a shiny black suit with velvet lapels. His soft curls in a mop on his head, and a confidence now that drew much more attention than any of his scars.

Remus was a perfect contrast to Sirius, whose shoulder length black hair was flowing, effortlessly smooth and wavy at the same time. Sirius had a sheer black top that hung just off the edge of their shoulders, and matching not-so-see-through pants that waved with every one of her steps.

All eyes were on them as they walked into the restaurant.

"Hello, Reservation for Lupin please," Remus said. His tone sauve, but husky and low, a sound that generally made Sirius go mad. Remus knew it was working, as Sirius gripped his arm tighter.

The host nodded, ran his finger down list, and then turned to grab two menus. "Please follow me," they said.

They were led to a small candlelit table, one Remus had asked for specially, as it was the table where they had their first real date. Sirius noticed immediately, and reached their hand across to intertwine her fingers with Remus'.

The waiter came shortly after, reading them off the specials. Then the waiter turned to Sirius then Remus and back, "anything to drink for the lad... lady?"

Sirius eyes brightened, and a matching smirk appeared on Remus' face. He squeezed Remus hand before pulling away and addressing the waiter, "I'll have a cosmopolitan," they said, voice deep but sickeningly sweet.

It was Remus and Sirius' favourite joke to watch others try to figure out Sirius. Mostly because it took so long for Sirius to figure themselves out, and for her to be okay with who he was. And partly because everyone was still so daft that Sirius never got gendered the same twice.

Remus' chuckle brought the waiter back to reality, who turned away from Sirius quickly to ask, with a very politically-correct pursed lip, "and a drink for you?"

"The house red will do, thank you," Remus said and nodded, dismissing the waiter who was struggling to keep a blank expression.

Sirius used to get upset about it, and she still will when it's people who they care about or who should know better by now. But Sirius is long past worrying about what strangers think about them, and he loves how much joy Remus gets when Sirius fucks with the ignorant.

Remus took Sirius' hand back, turning it over to splay their fingers open and kiss her palm. Sirius swooned.

"Moony," Sirius whined, shamelessly.

Remus looked up and caught his gaze, "my lovely lovely boyfriend, you look absolutely beautiful princess, and I am endlessly thankful that you let me in your life."

And as Remus spoke, the pair fell more and more in love. But Sirius couldn't help but burst out laughing as the waiter shakily placed the drinks on the table after hearing the whole encounter, and then rushing away. Remus joined in the laughter as they watched their favourite waiter, a trans man, smack the current waiter with his order pad.

[starbula]

Felis catus

prompt: parents rating: G (except for a tiny profanity at the beginning) for @starbulaweek, day 4

“This is bullshit. She’s my cat.”

Peter was whining again. This was becoming a daily conversation and Nebula was growing bored of it. “It’s really not my fault, and for the record, she’s our cat. Just because you found her doesn’t make her yours.” 

Peter glared at the cat in question, who was curled up in Nebula’s lap, purring loudly. Too loudly, if you asked Peter. The cat was mocking him, he was sure of it. 

Peter grumpled, “She was playing with me for the past hour, but as soon as you show up I’m chopped liver.”

Nebula smiled down at the cat and scratched between its ears. Peter could have sworn he heard her whisper “Good girl”. 

“I can’t help it if I’m her favourite parent.” Nebula said, “maybe you should try being nicer to her.”

“Nicer? I found her on Earth and gave her a home. I feed her every day and clean out her litter–and let me tell you that girl can do some pretty big things for her small size.” Peter made a gagging noise. 

“I don’t know what to tell you.” Nebula was laughing now, “If it’s any consolation, I’m 75% sure Cosmo likes you.”

☆

[phregnancy]

Thank you so much for your depression post. Also the vegetables stuff is too real I feel so much guilt over having to buy precut vegetables.

listen. you and me? you and i and whomever else? same. we deserve vegetables. it is so great that some people are able to buy vegetables from farmers markets or buy vegetables in whole no plastic without a second thought bc cutting veggies is so easy for them! but it’s not for us. if precut vegetables is the difference between you eating vegetables at all vs not, get your precut veg. you deserve food that makes you feel good, who cares who cut it. you deserve it nonetheless.

[alec4hardy]

I easily get distracted, and English is not my first language, but I will try my best to stay on topic.

I think it might be difficult to pinpoint the exact location of Sandbrook in real life because, like Broadchurch, it is a fictional place made up of several different locations — this is in the style of Thomas Hardy. Hardy's Wessex countryside is made up of various parts too.

Broadchurch was mainly filmed in two places: Clevedon and West Bay. While there is an official map based on West Bay in the novel, Sandbrook’s filming locations are more scattered.

The missing girls' home was filmed in the Jennett's Park residential area in Bracknell, and Alec took Miller to meet Tess at Munchees Café & Restaurant in Reading.

These two locations are quite close to each other, so if I had to set it, I think it might be somewhere around there?

But some scenes I know were also filmed in Dudley and at John Nike Leisuresport during Season 2.

Regarding the mentioned Thomas Hardy style:

(The following content may have incorporated the work of many people, and I cannot list all the sources. A distant thank you to all the Broadchurch nerds! Especially thank you to Penfairy, I know you’re no longer on Tumblr, but most of my Thomas Hardy-related content is copied from her.)

Chris Chibnall lives in Dorset and is a passionate Thomas Hardy fan who has probably read a lot of Hardy’s Wessex novels, and as a writer, he was influenced and inspired by Hardy. He consciously and openly incorporated many of Hardy’s ideas and themes into his writing.

Thomas Hardy often mashed up two existing town names, and Broadchurch is no exception. Broadchurch is a fictional town, named by combining “Broadoak” and “Whitchurch.” Axehampton sounds like it could be a blend of the real places Axminster and Southampton. There are many others that I can’t list right now.

Chris Chibnall’s Broadchurch also directly borrowed many fictional place names from Thomas Hardy's works.

For example, Kingsbere: Kingsbere is Thomas Hardy’s Wessex name for Bere Regis, a small town in Dorset about 28 miles from West Bay. Kingsbere is the ancestral home of the d’Urberville family, and the name “Kingsbere” looms over the entire novel. It is somewhat inevitable that Tess and her family end up in this place. In Broadchurch, this is the road sign Jocelyn sees before she runs off the road in S02E03, and in our promotional material. 

Another example: Budmouth, which appears in several of Thomas Hardy’s novels, and in Broadchurch S3, there is Budmouth Taxis.

Flintcombe, where Trish lives, is a reference to Flintcomb-Ash, a barren farm in Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

And most importantly! Wessex!    

Alec and Ellie are said to work for the Wessex Police.

Thomas Hardy first used the name "Wessex" from the ancient Saxon kingdom in his novel Far from the Madding Crowd. Hardy's Wessex actually covers most of England, including counties like Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire. However, most people believe his hometown of Dorset is the true Wessex, or what is often referred to as "Hardy’s countryside." As Hardy continued his literary career, he used this name in subsequent works, creating the concept of “Wessex novels.” 

Oh, and regarding the mention of South Mercia Police in the repost, I think it refers to a broader area that includes Wessex Police? In Season 2, since Alec Hardy and Ellie Miller are no longer working for Broadchurch Police and need to go to Sandbrook for the investigation, they used a more general term. I'm not sure if that’s valid.

Alec Hardy is from Glasgow, which comes from a clue on the killer betting wall in the crew's behind-the-scenes video from Season 1.

You can find some maps on the website of map designer Gavin Lines, but the image quality is quite low, making it hard to discern much: https://gavinlines.com/new-broadchurch

There are also some maps that I should probably translate into English and edit later (post here

Hiya Broadchurch people,

Anyone know whereabouts Sandbrook could be? I think somewhere more northern because they pass the Angel of the North?? But I'm not sure.

Thanks!

[quaranmine]

gods i fucking wish i could do that for ashes au but since its a fantasy world i opted to research japanese and indian geta for two days before writing my chapter instead

L

no but really it is sort of nice for once to have actual concrete things to research! like, my questions have...answers? real answers? that i can just look up? i'm used to doing similar to you. i always have a desire to make things scientifically accurate and omg that just does NOT play well with minecraft sometimes. [stares at moon big]

so. shakes your hand. but it's still fun to try to borrow from real-world cultures and things and try to reimagine them into canon or a fantasy environment. it's like a puzzle...that requires a LOT of thought. i've been there with empires worldbuilding before, i was looking up all kinds of stuff for the cod empire regarding wetland construction, water pollution, etc. i also end up looking at a slightly disproportionate number of NASA JPL webpages sometimes...mcyt fic taught me about the roche limit ldjsfklsfjslfj

[drowninginthoughts27]

Sirius and James would 1000% get the slightest bit tipsy and randomly start doing the Rasputin dance,,, it’s one of their many party tricks

[maked-artyshenanigans]

So, I saw this image on Facebook, and it was supposedly showing what Queen Nefertiti would have looked like in real life:

Now, I thought this AI generated garbage was just truly terrible on a number of levels; first off, she looks wayyyyyy too modern - her makeup is very “Hollywood glamour”, she looks airbrushed and de-aged, and as far as I’m aware, Ancient Egyptians didn’t have mascara, glitter-based eyeshadows and lip gloss. Secondly, her features are exceptionally whitewashed in every sense - this is pretty standard for AI as racial bias is prevalent in feeding AI algorithms, but I genuinely thought a depiction of such a known individual would not exhibit such euro-centric features. Thirdly, the outfit was massively desaturated and didn’t take pigment loss into consideration, and while I *do* like the look of the neck attire, it's not at all accurate (plus, again, AI confusion on the detailing is evident).

So, this inspired me to alter the image on the left to be more accurate based off the sculpture’s features. I looked into Ancient Egyptian makeup and looked at references for kohl eyeliner and clay-based facial pigment (rouge was used on cheeks, charcoal-based powder/paste was used to darken and elongate eyebrows), and I looked at pre-existing images of Nefertiti, both her mummy and other reconstructions. While doing this, I found photos of a 3D scanned sculpture made by scientists at the University of Bristol and chose to collage the neck jewellery over the painting (and edited the lighting and shadows as best as I could).

Something I see a lot of in facial recreations of mummies is maintaining the elongated and skinny facial features as seen on preserved bodies - however, fat, muscle and cartilage shrink/disappear post mortem, regardless of preservation quality; Queen Nefertiti had art created of her in life, and these pieces are invaluable to developing an accurate portrayal of her, whether stylistic or realistic in nature.

And hey, while I don't think my adjustments are perfect (especially the neck area), I *do* believe it is a huge improvement to the original image I chose to work on top of.

I really liked working on this project for the last few days, and I think I may continue to work on it further to perfect it. But, until then, I hope you enjoy!

Remember, likes don't help artists but reblogs do!

[lorei-writes]

Live reading...

The element of mental warfare(?battle?) at the beginning of the fic is interesting to read -- Ava's narration gives us clues about her personality and the overall setting, while also building the atmosphere of "this is going to be tough. Two dominant people may clash". Ha! Nobunaga is in for a surprise, or at least at this point in the story, I as a reader am very inclined to believe so. They both have their own cards to play.

"On either side, some of the greatest men in history were lined up, all leading towards the dias where a lone figure sat imperiously above the rest." <- This is such a strong image. A beautiful sentence.

“Now the nickname of Tiny Terror makes sense.” <- HER NICKNAME IS TINY TERROR?! HAHAHAHAHA. YES. GET THEIR ASSES, LADY!

The following dialogue has a good flow; doesn't sound mechanic.

For the context, I haven't read the first two parts of the prologue. I do not know whether what happened to Ava has been explored there, but -- but -- even if somebody was to start from part 3, the way I do now, I believe they'd get really intrigued by their relationship. What a reunion!

"Sasuke gave me one of his signature small smiles. It was barely a twitch of his apparently weak facial muscles, but it was no less sweet than if he had a huge grin. " <- Vivid, very in-character for Sasuke. Again, it gives a very good impression about the type of a character he is -- and based off your other things I've read, you're good at that, you know? That consistency is very tempting to break at times, after all.

"It was honestly hard to believe that this was my life now. I mean it was a series of crazy and unbelievable events, yet it was all real. It was MY life…yet I had no idea that it was about to get even crazier." <- sweet warning, ohoho. This makes it feel almost like a diary log? It's also a solid ending line -- it draws my attention to the next chapter, while also closing this one completely.

Overall, there was a good amount of plot progression done here in this chapter. It may not be action-heavy, but my gosh, the tension is delicious, as is the release of it.

All's Fair In Love and War Prologue- Pt 3

Once we crossed the gates of Azuchi Castle. We were dismounting, our horses being taken by attendants to the stables. Ranmaru was smiling brightly at us. Servants were taking the things we had brought with us to the guest rooms we would be staying in while Ranmaru led us to the audience hall. Once we had reached the city gates, a messenger had already gone ahead to the castle so that Nobunaga and his inner circle could prepare to meet us right away.

I was smiling to myself as we made our way through the halls. I wouldn’t expect someone like Nobunaga to greet us at the gates. Though it would be customary since HE was the one asking ME for an alliance. Not to mention, it would be polite to allow weary travelers to freshen up a bit. Then again from what I remember of history, he bucked tradition in many ways and many times. Not to mention it was a good strategy.

He asked me for an alliance, but we meet on HIS terf and on HIS terms. Though that was fine with me. As far as I could tell, Ranmaru hadn’t been able to communicate that the new Lord Yamada was in fact a woman. That would naturally give me my own element of surprise in these negotiations as well. Two could play in this game. I hadn’t come as far as I had by not playing my cards right.

We were soon standing in front of a set of large ornate sliding doors. Azuchi Castle was definitely grand…and allowing me to see just how grand on my way here, smart move I had to say. An intimidation tactic. One that would work on a lesser warlord…but then again I do come from a world with technological marvels that would make these men’s heads spin. Though I did admire the technological feats that such grandeur is at this point in time…as well as appreciate the beauty of the craftsmanship of everything. There was something hollow about modern designs and recreations with their mass production.

“Alright, just through here.” Ranmaru said as he reached to open the doors.

Jiro, Sato, and I followed Ranmaru inside. The room was definitely beautiful. Of course, the beauty of the room wasn’t the only thing I had noticed. On either side, some of the greatest men in history were lined up, all leading towards the dias where a lone figure sat imperiously above the rest.

By descriptions, I could guess the men who sat in the room. Masamune Date was an easy one to figure out, as he had an eye patch, one of the reasons for his moniker of the One Eyed Dragon. He wore a smile on his face as his one blue eye took in me and my vassals.

I could also recognize the ones who must have been Hideyoshi Toyotomi and Mitsuhide Akechi as they were sitting to the right and left of the dias. Then there was a grumpy looking blond who must have been Ieyasu and a rather beautiful man who must have been Mitsunari.

By the time we reached the end of our walk, we were soon before the man himself, Nobunaga Oda. Ranmaru came into a bow before him. “My Lord, I have brought Lord Yamada as requested.” He announced before moving out of the way.

I stepped forward from my group, bowing politely, though not as low as Jiro and Sato did. “Lord Nobunaga, it is an honor to meet you.” I greeted him, my gaze meeting his carnelian eyes.

Nobunaga looked at me curiously, though he wore a smirk of amusement. “YOU are Lord Yamada?” He asked.

“I am.” I answered. “Lord Ava Yamada. Daughter of Riku Yamada and his wife, Kaede.”

“Now the nickname of Tiny Terror makes sense.” Masamune spoke with a chuckle from his place to the side.

“I had thought I recalled rumors that Riku had adopted a daughter.” Nobunaga said. 

“Indeed he did.” I replied. “Though I am no man, my father did train me well.”

“Clearly he has since you have suddenly taken so much territory after his death.” Nobunaga replied.

“The Ishihara thought eliminating my father would weaken the clan.” I replied. “I had to show them and their allies that they were wrong.”

“Wouldn’t taking the Ishihara out have sufficed if that was all you wished to accomplish?” The man to Nobunaga’s right spoke. He must have been Hideyoshi.

“One would think, but had I stopped there, the surrounding clans would have thought me weak and that I was just out for revenge.” I replied. “I had to make a show of force that I am no weakling. That I will not allow anyone to trample on my land or my people. I will not roll over and show my belly in the face of danger.”

“You are clearly a force to be reckoned with.” Nobunaga said. “Though having allies would be even more beneficial to you…strong allies at that.”

I smiled. “I am aware.” I replied. “And your goal of unification would be easier when someone with as much land as I have would agree to ally with you rather than battle over it. It would be a waste of resources to battle, even if you did win, it wouldn’t be without a great cost.” I knew my words were daring…and impudent, but I had to make sure that Nobunaga knew I wouldn’t just bow down to have strong allies. I had to make sure he respected me.

“How dare you speak to Lord Nobunaga that way…” Hideyoshi began to protest.

Nobunaga lifted his hand and waved Hideyoshi off dismissively. “Hideyoshi, enough.” He scolded before turning back to me. An amused smile graced his lips. “I admire your audacity. Coming into my castle and speaking to me so.”

“YOU invited ME.” I replied. “YOU are the one asking ME for this alliance.”

“This lass doesn’t pull her punches.” Masamune spoke from his place, leaning over to Mitsuhide. “I like her.”

“This is amusing, indeed.” Mitsuhide agreed.

“Very true.” Nobunaga replied. “And you accepted, which means you are considering the alliance.”

“One can never have too many allies.” I replied, wearing my own smug look.

“Does this mean you wish to discuss terms?” Nobunaga asked.

“If we can reach an agreement, I believe it would be acceptable.” I answered.

Nobunaga smiled. “Then let us discuss terms.”

We spent the next several hours hammering out the details of our alliance before signing and making it official. Right or wrong, I was now going to be making history with the Oda forces.

It was decided that we would stay in Azuchi for the next few days to rest up and that the next night we would have a banquet to celebrate the alliance. Masamune declared he would be fixing something special for the occasion, a gleam in his eyes. We were then given leave to head to our guest rooms to freshen up and rest up for the night.

After washing up and slipping into my night robes, I made myself comfortable in the room I had been given. It was a rather luxurious room and decorated with extravagance for certain. I was getting ready to settle in for the night when I heard a knock…but it was coming from my ceiling rather than my door.

I was reaching for my sword and holding it up in a defensive position as I stared up at the ceiling. “Whoever the hell you are, you had better get out of that ceiling right now.”

I watched as a single ceiling tile moved and then a man was soundlessly jumping from my ceiling. He was then looking up at me, a black mask over the lower half of his face and glasses on his eyes…modern glasses. He was holding his hands up in surrender. “I come in peace.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. There was something that seemed familiar about him. “Who are you?” I asked, still holding my sword defensively.

“It has been a long time…and I am sure it will help when I remove the mask.” He said. He was then slowly moving his hands, his eyes on me as he pulled his mask down. “After all this time, I was starting to think I was never going to find you, Ava. I was beginning to think the worst had happened.”

“Wait…Sasuke?” I asked, blinking in surprise, as I slowly lowered my sword.

He gave me a small smile. “I know I must look a lot different than when we last saw each other, considering we were still kids…and you have definitely changed.”

“I can’t believe it’s you.” I replied, smiling at him. It was hard to believe, but one of the few friends I had back in the modern day was Sasuke. We had gone to the same school since elementary school. He had been an odd kid…and well unfortunately odd can make you a target for other kids. I had been a troubled and angry kid…neither of us fit in with the others, but we had managed to stick together in school.

We were soon sitting down on some cushions in the room and sipping some tea I had quickly brewed. “We have a lot to catch up on.” I said.

Sasuke nodded. “After fifteen years, a lot has changed.” He agreed. 

“So…were you…were you looking for me?” I asked him.

Sasuke nodded. “Yes. I knew exactly what had happened when you disappeared that night on the school trip.” He explained. “You know my love of history and of the Sengoku especially…and of science.”

I nodded. “Yes, I remember you talking about all kinds of crazy things that…well they didn’t always make sense to me, but it didn’t annoy me when you talked.”

“Well, I had a theory even back then about wormholes opening up under the right conditions and being able to transport us back in time.” Sasuke explained. “And I knew that when I went to find you at the Hono-ji monument and…well the aftermath of how things looked…I knew one had to have shown up. It took me a long time to figure out the calculations and figure out what the exact conditions were, but I figured it out and managed to find one again…it was actually at Hono-ji once again.”

“Wow…so you’ve really been looking for me all this time?”

Sasuke nodded. “Yes…and furthering my research on wormholes and time travel at the same time.” He answered. “It’s been four years since I arrived. Which is nothing compared to your fifteen years here.”

“That’s still insane that you’ve been here this long…and you’re a ninja now?” I asked, gesturing to his attire.

“Just a useful skill I have picked up here.” Sasuke answered. “Though look at you…you’re a warlord.”

I felt my cheeks reddening a bit. “Well…things happen sometimes…”

Sasuke nodded. “Especially when you get adopted by a warlord.”

“So…you’ve done your research?” I asked.

“You could say my employer has.” Sasuke replied.

I could tell by the way Sasuke said that and averted his eyes…his “employer” must have been an enemy of the Oda forces, which would explain why he was sneaking around in the ceilings. Though I wouldn’t voice that thought. I don’t think it was needed. We both knew, but because of our friendship in the past…we couldn’t acknowledge we were on opposite sides of a conflict now.

“Lots of information nets around here.” I replied with a nod. “So, what are your plans? I mean now that you found me?”

“Well…originally I was going to see if you wanted to return home…to the future…” Sasuke began, “But I can already tell your answer would be no.”

“I have a life here…and people who are counting on me.” I replied. “I have a purpose here i never had back in our time.”

Sasuke gave me one of his signature small smiles. It was barely a twitch of his apparently weak facial muscles, but it was no less sweet than if he had a huge grin. “I am happy that you have found that. I will admit, when you disappeared and I thought about you being here…I was always worried, but it seems you found your way.”

I nodded. “I really have.” I said smiling at my friend. “And what about you? What are your plans for yourself?”

“I’ve made some friends and a life here myself…some people I truly care about.” Sasuke replied.

“So, you’re staying too?” I asked.

Sasuke nodded. “Yes. I hope you don’t mind me dropping by for chats and visits once in a while?” He asked.

“Of course, I don’t mind.” I answered. “You’ll have to come visit me in my home sometime when you have a chance and I’m back there.”

“I would like that.”

We chatted for a while longer before Sasuke was declaring a need to leave. He leapt back up into the ceiling and replaced the tile. It was as if he had never been there. I quickly cleaned up the tea before going to bed. What a truly eventful day I had. An alliance with Nobunaga Oda himself (not to mention meeting the man as well as the other great unifiers of Japan) and reuniting with my friend from the modern day.

It was honestly hard to believe that this was my life now. I mean it was a series of crazy and unbelievable events, yet it was all real. It was MY life…yet I had no idea that it was about to get even crazier.

[lumenblou]

dedication is making a religion for your silly little world, carefully developing deities, and writing not one but two holy texts; one being the inaccurate version distributed to the public and the other being the accurate rendition of events…

send help please