#my stuff on things like the last two topics is still very limited

[aotoreiki]

What is the largest city? What is it like?

How do people get around? (ie trains, taxis, ride pokemon)

What do people from other regions think of this region?

Fan region development questions, but I’m answering them for the Ranger series regions

15. What is the largest city? What is it like?

In Fiore, the largest city is Fall City, which is located in the east on the coast. Fall City is a port town and is the central arrival point for people visiting the region, so it has a tourist centre sitting right at the harbour. Fall City is a pleasant place; it has a sort of older European aesthetic to it, and the people living in it enjoy a less rural life than those of the other three Fiore towns. There are quite a few places to go shopping, although no huge malls, and some prominent water features. The weather in Fall City is mild, and it’s named for the season autumn. Like all the towns in Fiore, it has its own Ranger Base, Ranger Leader and distinct Ranger uniform.

In Almia, the largest city is Pueltown. As you could get from its name, it’s a port town. (Spanish puerto = port.) Like Fall City, Pueltown is fairly old, and lagging behind development compared to other regions abroad, but there are many people living in it who find it beloved. It’s a trade point and has two harbours, one on the east coast and the other inland west, with a canal connecting the latter to the ocean. In-game, the topic of Altru Inc. building up and redeveloping the town came up a few times (but they backed off after Drama happened and only a very small number of npcs expressed disappointment over this, most were pretty happy with that outcome).

None of Oblivia’s settlements are really big compared to even the other two regions, but the largest settlement is the Aqua Resort, which is found on the coast of Sophian Island, the largest island of Oblivia. In contrast to Fall City and Pueltown, the Aqua Resort is actually very new, although it still maintains an old-timey aesthetic. It’s popular as a retirement location or a place for people from cities in other regions to move to, if they’re looking for a quiet life away from other things. It’s a very pretty place, with a lot of nice water features, paving work, and gardens.

(Side note - it seems to be a trend in the series where even the largest cities in any of the regions are still noted to be not very modernised, often with an older aesthetic about them, with a lot of paving stones and brick buildings. They also all seem to be port towns but this is pretty common irl too for towns to build up around ports/water sources so it makes sense ig.)

16. How do people get around? (ie trains, taxis, ride pokemon)

Many people travel on foot a lot! The people in all the regions tend to stick to their own towns, so there’s less need for travel if you’re not a Ranger or a tourist. Rangers travel a lot with the help of Pokémon; either wild or in Fiore via the Dragonite Bus service (though you need to be of a certain rank before you’re considered qualified to use it).

There’s also a lot of boat travel in Almia and Oblivia!

Going beyond in-game canon, I imagine there might be stuff like rail lines for public transport in Fiore and Almia. None of the regions’ environments is really friendly to car travel, and within the towns there’s probably less need for it if you’re willing to walk or bike, so I imagine there’s not much of that.

17. What do people from other regions think of this region?

This one I’m not sure about, since main series regions vs ranger series regions hasn’t really been touched on in the series beyond the occasional tiny bit of npc dialogue in the first game, and that was probably partly because it was still a brand new novelty concept at the time...

They’re known for being rural (making them an ideal place for people looking for a country life), having a lot of Rangers around, and having no Pokémon Trainers. Given how training Pokémon is central to most other places in the world, there would be some curiosity on that. They would also be known for their strong environmental focus and the higher number of rare Pokémon living in the wild there compared to other regions. Overall though, I think they’re probably a lot like smaller countries irl that lots of people might not even have heard of or know exactly what they are.

Oblivia is also noted for its archaeological significance, so it’s probably a little more well known in archaeological circles.

Dipping into geography and history headcanons a little... Fiore isn’t very far from Johto, and part of the reason it did develop to have a slightly foreign (European) culture was because of people being deterred from migrating to Johto or Kanto and landing to the west instead. It has a sort of exoticism about it that helps add to its tourist appeal beyond the Rangers and nature.

Almia has a similar thing going on with Sinnoh, except reversed, as Almia already had European influence from when the Almians came over years ago. Although Almia was right there on the southwest end of Hisui, there was already a cultural divide from earlier history that prevented the type of settlement like what the Galaxy Team was about. (I have headcanons and stuff about past conflicts and how southern Japanese region people have already tried to get into Almia first, since it’s actually closer and in theory easier to get to than Hisui, but they met with... a lot of resistance.)

As for between the three regions themselves, Fiore and Almia while not being super close by each other are well acquainted with hearing about each other in large part because of the Ranger Union influence in both regions. Oblivia is kind of isolated and sits by itself a lot.

[that-damn-fouth-chaosemerald]

I’ve been getting into life is strange and I was always curious. What if Mark Jefferson had a daughter and they moved because his wife just left him a note and ran off. His anger comes out and destroys the apartment. He manipulates his kid when this happens, wanting to maintain the little control he has. They move to Arcadia Bay and his kid adjusts well considering. Then he takes Nathan under his wing to help get his hobby going. Then he finds out that Nathan has been taking photos of his daughter when she’s not looking…….serial killer side of him comes out and makes it very clear to Nathan his daughter is off limits from their little hobby.

—❢ー

×A/N×

omg I really love the last sentence of this

I mean- I love all of this, but-

I know that it would be better if I would write an oneshot of this, but the last time when I did the same thing with a promised oneshot, the work was... pretty bad-

I hope you don't mind it! ^^"

Btw I'm happy about you're planning to join to the LiS community, or at least you're curious/interested about it! Unfortunately in my social group there aren't really people who knows the fandom, so I'm always happy about new fans! ^^

And sorry bc I didn't answer this inbox, I just wanted to get done with the Welcome Home headcanons :")

Anyway, in these hcs I will be a bit negative about Mark, but I still love him -//w//-

(I'm actually planning to write more x readers about him-)

×❢ About my work ❢×

fluff and definitely not fluff, dad moments, Mark is not the greatest father, there's also my thoughts in this, pls forgive him, this is not x reader, (bad) father-daughter realtionship, no pronouns used, but the reader is female, spelling mistakes, mention of kidnapping, mention of the Dark Room

Fandom: Life is Strange (1)

Charcter(s): Mark Jefferson, Mark's daughter|You| (Y/N) | The Reader, Nathan Prescott (mentioned), Warren Graham (mentioned), Max Caulfield (mentioned), Rachel Amber (mentioned)

Ship(s): Warren Graham x Reader (ex.), Nathan Prescott x Reader (ex.), Max Caulfield x Reader (ex.)

Type: Headcanons

—❢ー

𝐈𝐟 (𝐘/𝐍) 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧'𝐬 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫… (𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐜𝐬)

—❢—

𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈: Hayloft by Mother Mother

(A.n: 'Cause this is the next on my playlist and I love it so much lol)

“My daddy's got a gun

You better run”

—❢ー

Oki, let's start with some sweet ones:

• If he's not tired, then prepare for breakfast in bed

• "Did you sleep good, hon?"

• morning kisses 🥺❤

• while you cry on him, he would gently caress you

• "Shh, it's okay, sweetheart."

Now, some serious stuff:

• He wouldn't be the greatest father tho, I think

• still, I think he would be protective about his daughter

• 'cause of his hobby and about boys in general lol

• Seriously I think he would feel safer if you would chose girls instead

• but it's your choice ofc

• He will definitely talk about his job and of photography ofc

• If his daughter not interested, then he won't push it

• ofc, he will be a bit bitter

• but he understands it

• Although, he will mention or talk about it just a bit sometimes

• But if you are interested in photography

• be prepared that photography will be you two's first or at least second topic

• he's a real teacher, so you won't have problem to learn from him

• Actually I think he would be happy about that there's something that you both can talk about

• (at least the suspense will be less from you, and it helps him to keep you away from his crazy hobby)

• Don't mention Mom.

• You will see him less more, when you are old enough to be left alone

• He comes home late, and he does this more often

• "Dad?" you asked unsurely when he picked up the phone. You were worried, so you choose to give him call. Is teaching lasts this long? "Where are you?"

"Oh... Daddy's working right now, sweetheart. I promise, I will be home soon, okay?"

And he kept saying this after hours and hours.

• Get used to that you will be alone for a long time

• He will ask you teasingly about if you like someone

• but the real reason is that he wants to know who he has to deal with

• his reactions depends on the person

• If the person is Nathan (who is his... well, let's say partner of those insane things), he will be definitely more protective and will keep an eye on both of you for a long time

• deadly and serious threats ahead, if he still won't leave you alone

• he will be potective because he knows Nathan very well and the crimes that himself he commited, and other side bc he's a father and he wants to keep his beautiful daughter safe

• But if the person would be for example Max, he would be more relaxed

• (He would even think trough her kidnapping. There's a chance that he won't hurt her. Even if it's hard for him to conntrol his sick addiction)

• He still tests her if she's good enough for you, but he will be more easier on her

• OR let's say the person is Warren-

• "The geek?"

"Dad!"

• He doesn't know that much about him

• and bc of this he will definitely test him

• I mean he doesn't mind that you're with smart boys

• but you know, he has to make sure

• Now, I think we're almost there at the end of these hcs-

• You sat in the can uncomfortably. You tried to make yourself comfortable, but it didn't help.

"So, was the test okay?" you heard you father next beside you.

You nodded, even if you knew that he doesn't see you 'cause he's focusing on the road.

"Dad?" You spoke unsurely, don't know how to say out loud your thoughts.

"Yes, sweetie?" He glanced at you with a kind smile on his face, but it dissapeared when he saw how stressed you were. "What's wrong, honey?"

You tried to swallow the nervousness, but it was worthless and didn't help at all.

"So, you know those Rachel Amber missing posters? They're almost everywhere."

Mark could feel how his heart skipped a beat. Now he started to feel nervous as well.

"Yes, dear?" Focus on the road. Focus on the road. Focus on the road. Focus on the road.

"Did you know her?"

He let out a small sigh. He didn't want that his daughter notice that he's nervous. He tried to act calmly.

"No, sweetheart." he spoke as he hid away the frustration in his voice.

"Okay." you said quietly. You sounded convinced.

He carefully glanced at you again.

"Are you scared?"

There was a couple of seconds until you answered.

"Maybe... I don't wanna imagine what terrible things those people did to her. But my mind keep distracting me, even if I don't want to think about it."

You could feel the gentle touch of his warm hands.

"Don't worry, hon. I'll keep you safe."

And with that you were convinced that your dad is there and you're more than safe with him.

• Why would he be a bad father?

I think his psychotic hobby would be more important to him than his own daughter. He would be definitely overprotective about you, but also he wouldn't be there for you. Like there's no movie night, cause again, he has things to do in the Dark Room.

Yes, he would care about his daughter, he would also be a good listener, but you rarely meet him. He wouldn't be there for you when you need him.

I don't think he would hurt his daughter physically, but don't test him. He's enough stressed about his victims.

And he would pay too much attention about keeping you safe.

From his hobby, from Nathan, from everything.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Yanno, you're the person I thought to turn to first when confronted with this. We've never spoken, but hello, I love your lore dives to death.

So. Just. I'm trying to do some crazy shit with my fic. I've been deep diving. And well... The Second Sundering. Are we just... did that happen in BG3? XD It seems like a big deal that happens a few years before current day, which is during things like Blood in Baldur's Gate, and all the stuff with Durge and Gortash. And just... eh?

I'll leave it there for now and ignore all the smaller side questions I'd love your opinion on sometime.

Hi! So BG3 is very shrodingers canon, and FR video games - while official licensed products - have a very vague and loose relationship to main canon (are the events of, say, Hordes of the Underdark or Icewind Dale II canon, or no? Hard to tell though it mostly seems to be no. The outline of the original Baldur's Gate games is, for better or worse canon (most original players traditionally vote 'worse'), but the actual game 'Baldur's Gate' and the published canon 'Baldur's Gate' are different beasts.

So official canon says that we had the Second Sundering, the dead three are back, Torlin Silvershield became Chosen of Bhaal for a brief period of time before his murder, and the Dead Three are back together and walk the world Time of Troubles style in order to get around Ao's new restrictions on divine interference for [mysterious reasons]. Ed Greenwood suggests that despite being the self-styled leader, Bane is unlikely to have come up with the idea himself, which makes me wonder which one did.

BG3 seems to have had the Second Sundering: I'm pretty sure there's a book that mentions it in-game, and Bhaal and Myrkul are showing too much power for vestiges. We also have a line from Withers, if it's still there, that the three are walking Faerûn in 'mortal' form (which, based on the last time they did that is not to be confused with no longer being gods or being at all easy to kill, just means they're hanging around in physical form and their power and divine senses are limited).

But it says that and then doesn't actually seem to think about it. It's like the Sundering happened, but not necessarily exactly the way it happened in canon? Mmm I don't know.

The manifesting and power we see is a little to high imo.

Like Myrkul taking full avatar form through Ketheric requires a ritual and for him to sacrifice and burn through the souls of many of his faithful to start and sustain it, Ketheric alone shouldn't be sufficient I don't think? - and I'm not sure Myrkul can even pull it off anymore, because he may no longer have the requisite claim over the souls of the dead due to Kelemvor being in office.

(... random off-topic but honestly I'm now thinking that the Rite of Ascension would've worked better for me if it was trading 7007 souls to the Dead Three for fuel...)

I can kind of excuse Durge's (rather unnecessary in light of the Second Sundering) existence as Bhaal prefering to work from the shadows, so using his child as a figurehead works... But then Sarevok says something about how Bhaal lives again through Durge and they will enable him to walk the planes once again and... First, Bhaal is already resurrected, and secondly, he deliberately chose to leave the planes. None of that made sense! We can almost wave the first bit as metaphor (unless Bhaal is inhabiting Durge as a host-avatar 'he lives through you' makes no sense because he lives again as himself right over there in the corner) but the second bit nah.

Bane enjoys personally leading his own armies and such, which makes Gortash playing figurehead a little less likely than Durge doing so, but he has been noted to have learnt caution after the first fiasco... And/or the other two have put him on a leash or something.

There's also the possibility that the original Chosen are serving as hosts for the deities, which is a headcanon I'd enjoy being true, but the fact that their consciousnesses aren't being repressed while their gods assume direct control makes me think it's unlikely... Although the feral ending does kind of support the idea for Durge, at least. Technically hosting the Lord of Murder should kill you, but being not entirely mortal does give you an exuse.

As ever; basically, just make your own canon. 'Your realms' as it's termed. God knows I'm working from 'my realms' for the BG3 in my head and I'm still considering just porting the events of BG3 back to the 1300s where neither the Spellplague nor the Sundering happened so I don't have to deal with this headache.

[capn-twitchery]

do you have any tips for drawing expressions? it’s one thing that I always notice about your art, I love how expressive your characters are.

thank you so much!! it really means a ton bc expressions are one of the things i've focused & worked the hardest on over the years :D ♥

which ALSO MEANS--HA, YOU ACTIVATED MY SPECIAL INTEREST TRAP CARD i am now going to talk at you all for far too long about it >:) buckle up!

prefacing this by saying i Love animation, this makes me biased as hell with where i get my sources + how i study art. anyway!

i think my biggest #1 tip is don't be afraid to get goofy with it--characters don't have to look cool and stoic all the time, they can be silly! if an expression reads better, but looks a little off-model, do it anyway! make that guy look weird!

i draw little thumbnail expressions a Lot, whether for actual art or for just fun doodling. i don't have any recent ones to hand-- but here's some from a while ago. they help a ton to figure out what works quickly without worrying about actual facial features

they also help to see if i can push an expression further, it's easier to test out weird things on a tiny round doodle and then translate that into an actual drawing later on. pushing expressions To The Limits is a really good exercise in itself!

gonna put the rest under the cut bc it's getting long & i have a lot more to say

ok this in itself is a whole topic i can go on about for hours, but i'll try to keep it semi brief--i Love considering how different characters would show emotions! how one character would express sadness, how that would be different to another, how one character would smile vs. another, stuff like that!

related, giving characters individual expression quirks. twitch's :3 mouth & lazy lidded eyes if you could see them anyway & Very Smug Eyebrows, while grace has heavy low eyebrows & sad puppy eyes & usually looks at least 10% unsure at all times. it makes every single twitch smile look slightly not genuine and makes grace look. well. you know. the quirks are really fun to think of, and it makes drawing expressions feel a lot more fun when you personalise them!!

expressions can be easier to think of when you put characters in scenarios & consider how they'd react. it can also help to think of the character Moving/talking, instead of as a static image. mini comics or just adding dialogue to art helps a lot with this, i've only just started doing it and i'm having a blast!!

ok this one is weird and hard to explain and might only be applicable to me bc i can't see images in my brain-- but i'll throw it out there just in case! lots of artists make faces in the mirror to reference their own expressions, but it's never worked for me

i Do still act stuff out in my brain & make faces irl, but instead of doing it in the mirror, i just make the expression & consider how my face is moving in Words? ok for example This Comic, last panel for twitch--i'd run through the dialogue in my head and move around how i feel like they would, and list it off in Words--raised eyebrows, closed eyes, tilted head, etc etc. then i have a framework to base the expression on! and i don't need to stare into my own face in the mirror for reference. no mirror needed at all, actually. win/win. i do this for body language too

(yes this makes you look insane btw. sorry. if you do it too long best case scenario you get very dextrous eyebrows and worst case scenario you might start making cartoon character faces irl (or both) (i'm both))

not sure how much it helps specifically with expressions outside of animation, but it's a fun exercise--learning the limits of a character's face, animation calls it squash & stretch. drawing a face in the two most extreme states. so on character expression sheets you'll see weird faces like this⤵️ that's what that is

another exercise, i always have a ton of art saved that i like the expressions of. usually a lot of concept art for films. i'll do studies of them & redraw them, and/or take ocs and redraw them with those expressions! it's a great way to look at how other artists do stuff and yoink bits you like.

you'll hear this a lot if you look up Any art tips, but references & studies are great. i get a lot of inspo from disney concept art bc their artists are very talented people, but currently i hope disney studios' own hubris eats it alive. i want to see mickey mouse buried in a hole, the rat bastard. anyway some places i personally take inspiration from:

i look at a lot of animation concept art, some good sources are characterdesignreferences, livinglineslibrary, there's pdfs of animation art books all over the place too.

specific concept artists i like are jin kim & shiyoon kim !! they do Great expressions.

outside of film industry, tealin and tracy butler of lackadaisy cats are some inspirations! tracy butler has a great expressions tutorial here

if you find this stuff interesting & like reading, the illusion of life by ollie johnston & frank thomas is an incredible insight into the thought process behind stuff like this! there's a pdf here, unfortunately just a scanned copy but worth a read if you like this stuff!! specifically chapters 'character development', 'animating expressions & dialogue', and 'acting & emotions'

sorry that was an essay and a half but hopefully it was a little bit helpful!! i always love talking about this stuff so if you want anything clarified/just wanna talk about it more i am Always ready to go off >:3

[fernsnailz]

what’s your favourite version of shadow? like characterization-wise

i think my favorite instances of shadow characterization all come from various spin-off materials or games. they all have slightly different takes on the character that serve as an interesting insight into shadow, but i think these are my favorites:

Sonic X (season 3): i mean like. yeah no kidding. Sonic X feels like a very definitive and classic version of shadow, as it's very close to his characterization in Sonic Adventure 2. i really like season 3 because it raises the question of “what makes a hero?” shadow doesn’t consider himself a hero, and for good reason - he understands that he does some pretty heinous stuff for the greater good of the universe (namely trying to kill cosmo). and yet despite not being a hero, he still does heroic things. introducing the character of molly was one of the show's greatest ideas because it shows that some people DO consider shadow to be a hero, and his black and white viewpoint on the topic isn’t the only way to see things - plus, the comparisons between the two characters are a smart way to add some depth to shadow and lead to some absolutely heartbreaking moments. i dunno, Sonic X just has a really strong version of him and it’s fun to dissect his actions and beliefs. and also it makes me cry

Archie Sonic (post-issue 160): archie shadow pre-160 is one of the worst things in the world. but after that he’s pretty good! while archie shadow differs from his mainline counterparts, it’s in a very interesting way - archie shadow is surprisingly soft and a bit less subtle than most other versions of him, and this may be due to the fact that he never really went through the events of Sonic Heroes or Shadow the Hedgehog 2005. hell, he only went through like. half of the events of Sonic Adventure 2. while i don’t consider this version of him to be “definitively” shadow, he’s just so much fun. this take on him allows for some really great character work between team dark and a number of other characters. there’s a reason the treasure team tango arc is one of my favorite sonic stories ever - shadow goes through a very clear character arc in just four issues, and it’s really interesting to see how he gets there.

Sonic Battle: this one’s a bit of a wild card. i’ve never seen anyone talk about Sonic Battle on here, so for context it’s a 2D fighting game for the GBA that features a robot named emerl, an ancient battle android whose abilities grow when he comes in contact with the chaos emeralds. not only that, but emerl only gains character traits and his personality after interacting with the various sonic cast members. he’s a strange mix of sonic, tails, amy, knuckles, cream, rouge, and most importantly, shadow. this game’s version of shadow is really interesting - in terms of timeline it’s certainly debatable on where Sonic Battle fits into any sort of “canonical” timeline (i could make a whole different post explaining why). regardless, shadow has all of his memories back, but he’s EXTREMELY tormented through this entire game because Sonic Battle focuses directly on shadow’s feelings about being a living weapon. and it’s honestly amazing.

shadow spends most of the game trying to destroy emerl because the android is another weapon created to destroy the world, and there’s a number of good moments between the two of them and the other sonic cast members. i don’t really want to give much more away because the end of Sonic Battle is one of the most impactful endings i’ve seen in any sonic game - emerl’s last line in this game makes me cry every single time. if you’re interested, i’d suggest watching a longplay to see the cutscenes or reading the script online because i NEED more people to experience this game. it’s not perfect - the story is told entirely through video game dialogue and limited visuals so it’s a little clunky, but there’s so much good to be found in the character interactions. i love this game

[butmakeitgayblog]

Another anon here and regarding straights enjoying queer fiction, there's a perspective I think is worth sharing (for the record, I'm not straight).

So there's a huge fanbase consisting of straight cis women who enjoy mlm content. It's a thing to the point where there's gay shows made specifically targeting this fanbase.

I got to talk to one of my friends who dabbled in this stuff. I asked her why? What's the draw? She pointed out sth I thought was pretty interesting.

She said that for straight girls it can be pretty hard to enjoy straight pairings because they will always experience the story through the eyes of the female character, who is also limited by societal rules or even gender roles. By watching/reading a mlm, there's no female perspective, which takes away all the irl problems.

For example, take the "if guys get sex it's a flex, if girls get sex it's a shame" bullshit. By watching mlm instead of mlw and watching through one or both male characters, they can escape the whole stigma altogether.

To take a step further, since there's an inherent safety/advantage in being a guy in many situations. They can sort of experience that freedom through taking the female character out of the equation. It's sort of like getting gender euphoria but instead it's gender role freedom euphoria???

Theres also the male gaze problem. The majority of straight shoes have gender roles to varying degrees, which skewers the power dynamic within the pairing. This makes it hard for straight girls to enjoy pairings bc they will always be put into a position where they notice inequalities toward them. So again escape.

Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, I agree that this topic is pretty complex.

It is! It's very complex. But just to kind of comment on some of your points - a lot(not all) of the straight women who consume mlm media tend to consume it to the exclusion of everything else.

I could possibly understand the points your friend made better if they also consumed things like mlw media and fics written by women, or wlw fics/media at all. But they generally don't, especially not the latter. Often times a lot of straight women mass-consumers of mlm fic and commercial media, in my experience at least, tend to treat wlw content with disgust, ridicule, or flat out indifference. Perhaps not to the same vitriolic degree straight men tend to treat mlm content compared to wlw content, but it's still there. So that kind of... makes me question if they're actually being entirely honest with themselves as to why they're consuming the specific content that they do.

I'm just saying, straight women can be just as guilty as straight men when it comes to how and why they approach the specific queer media that they do, especially when it's to the exclusion of other kinds of queer pairings.

Because I pose this: if it really all falls down to power dynamics and releasing themselves from the male gaze, then why focus exclusively on a gendered pairing that just erases the woman entirely? Why a pairing that focuses solely on a basic personal sexual preference? Makes women irrelevant to existence? Why not gravitate toward more straight women writers who thwart or rewrite a lot of those societal gender inequities that effect women within their work? Why not give respect or audience to wlw content that makes the male gaze and male/female power dynamics irrelevant as well?

See what I'm saying?

That being said, it's still not my job to police that consumption for all the same reasons I said in that last post. And to reiterate, I'm not saying your friend is wrong for feeling how she feels or that she's making it up. I don't think that at all! People have a lot of complex feelings, which is why this topic is inherently complex. I just think two things can be true at the same time, even when we may not realize those biases about ourselves

[notafraidofredyellowandblue]

I've seen quite a few times that the Mutter era was bad but what exactly was going on there? What caused it and stuff

Hi! I'm sure someone else has already posted about this earlier, but i can't really seem to find it, so i'm giving you my view of things here.

(Over the years (especially between let's say 2002 and 2010) several of the Rammstein members talked about it in interviews and there are several videos and transcripts out there.)

What imo basically happened that while making and recording the Mutter album, the Rammstein democracy was stretched to it's limit. And it all boiled down to Richard's ego and feeling of self-importance becoming too big and he tried to control the band. He insisted that things were done the way he wanted it, wasn't open to critique by the others, wasn't willing to change music he wrote for the songs. A massive burst of workaholicness, fueled by an equally massive amount of cocaine didn't help either. It was his way or the high way.

Initially when the Mutter album came out (to many, including me, one of their best ever), these things weren't immediately clear to the outside world, but over time, it became clear from veiled (and eventually not so veiled) comments, that the atmosphere between the bandmembers was at an all time low, especially (but not just) between the guitarists there was no love lost. Although in some interviews there were hints that it wasn't just as black and white as Richard was wrong and all the others were right, and Paul i think also took some of the blame in saying that he wasn't always the most cooperative either, eventually over time also Richard himself acknowledged that the way he acted was the trigger for the fall-out and arguments.

In the Rammstein democracy it is almost never the case that it's always the same people on one side of the argument and the same others on the other side, the factions often shift depending on the topic at hand. But in the Mutter era conflict it is generally believed that only Till was still on speaking terms with Richard, and was likely the one who kept the band together. Till is not imo one to like heated discussions, and Till and Richard go way back, both professionally and in private. Paul is definitely on the other side of the argument, despite his sunny sweet easygoing guy image, Paul is a very determined person, no pushover and always ready to speak his mind and fight for his opinion. Schneider is generally believed to be on Paul's side during the Mutter years, although he is also known to be a mediator between the two guitarists when things overheat again in later years.

The argument had long shadows. With every further album the others feared Richard would start acting out again, and Richard feared the discussions and critique of the others. Some stated in interviews years later that they would out-veto or throw out something Richard made, just because it was Richard's idea. Not a healthy reaction maybe, but an understandable one. Richard often turned to Till and played the music he came up with first to him, knowing that if Till got inspired by a piece, and came up with a lyric to it, he would have a better chance of getting his songs past the Rammstein quality board. Powerplay really, but it is what it is, and the way it worked for years after.

They all lament after each album how difficult it is to work with the Rammstein democracy, but none more than Richard who after every single album stated in interviews that this would definitely be the last Rammstein album, because it was just exhausting. Fortunately he always changed his mind (that's the thing with Richard, he usually means it when he says it, but changes his mind pretty quickly), and there was always another album.

It wasn't until much later, i think in 2017 or 2018 that Paul mentioned in an interview the 'great chemistry right now and we love eachother more than ever', and the fact that in 2019 the Untitled album was released was a surprise to many, because many fans thought a new album would never happen. Ofcourse Richard still stated in some interviews that it would be the last, but traditionally we fans knew to ignore that and just rolled our eyes, and indeed by now we have another album, Zeit. Funny enough, of all the interviews that i read with Richard after Zeit, he didn't mention it would be the 'last' Rammstein album...and i've read many of them 🌺

The Mutter years, and Richard's huge creative drive to come up with new music, imo lead him to create Emigrate. In Emigrate it's all Richard's way, he decides everything, he chooses with who he wants to work. It also gave him a chance to work with other musicians he admired like Lemmy, but the urge to create and not be reigned in is at the basis of Emigrate. The others in Rammstein at first were weary; was Richard starting his own band and leaving Rammstein, especially when Richard wanted (and did) to invite Till to join on a few songs. But in the end it did help to balance things out. Richard gets his way in Emigrate and is more cooperative in Rammstein (still not an easy guy, but they manage it better now). Flake mentioned in one of his podcasts Richard being so prolific, coming up with so many ideas, it was just too much for one band; so i wouldn't be surprised if the others eventually felt the same.

again, my 2 cts, for what it's worth

[prosperdemeter2]

Teaser Tuesday - collision

Bianca tapped the corner of her mouth. “Unfortunately, I’m not exactly a family law expert, but my colleague -” 

“Oh, my, uhm,” Buck flushed. “Sorry for interrupting.” 

“No, no,” Bianca waved him on with a raise of her brows. “Carry on.” 

If possible, his cheeks flushed even more. “My dad suggested… he has a friend that works out here. He, uhm… he suggested we set up a consultation with him.” 

“Who’s that?” 

That was probably an important question but Eddie was stuck on one very important detail, “You talked to your dad?” Buck hadn’t even talked to his dad after he got blown up, suffered blood clots or stuck in a tsunami. Granted, that was because his parents didn’t bother checking in with him but Eddie had been under the impression that Buck’s specific way of handling the two of his parents was, at the moment, avoid until he could avoid no longer.

“Yeah, I, uhm…” Buck rubbed at his tattoo on his forearm. Eddie tracked the movement, he only did that when he was nervous. Why was he nervous? Did he think Eddie would be upset that he talked to his father? That his father had finally reached out and offered help instead of throwing money on a situation? “I called him last week. He’s the… the only lawyer I know so… I thought he could help.” He finished softly, sheepishly. 

His father hadn’t called him. Buck had broken his own embargo on contacting his parents first because… because Eddie needed help. The last time he had contacted his parents willingly had been to give them Maddie’s contact information and they had proceeded to do exactly what he had feared they would - failed to contact him at all in favor of contacting Maddie instead. Eddie had been dating Buck for two years now and he hadn’t even had one conversation with either of his parents. “You… called your dad?” He didn’t know whether to be touched or worried. 

“Who did your father suggest?” Bianca pulled them back onto the topic at hand. 

Buck scrambled for his phone again, “Oh! Uh… Chase Mackey? He’s… I looked him up. His office does a lot of employment law stuff but he’s done quite a few high profile custody cases.” 

“And he charges a lot of money.” Bianca slowly said. “Chase isn’t a bad lawyer,” she advised. “Not the best man, but he’s been known to get the job done.” 

“You don’t like him.” Eddie shook his head and turned back to the conversation topic at hand. 

“No,” Bianca admitted. “I don’t particularly think he’s been known to have his client’s best interests at heart. He’ll get the job done, certainly, but he charges an exorbitant amount of money for his time and tends to do some… less than ethical things. Not limited to taking what his clients may tell him in confidence and then… airing it out in an attempt to get a large settlement.” 

“But it would work.” 

“At what cost would it work, Evan?” Bianca posed softly. “I won’t tell you two what to do. If you want to have a consultation with him, pay the fee to have that consultation. He would certainly drag Shannon through the mud. But the rest of you… might get sprayed in the process.” Buck rolled his lips and looked away, the frown in his eyebrows telling Eddie more than he had to. He had called his father for advice because he hadn’t known what else to do, but his father’s advice had been the same it always was - vaguely unhelpful and typically expensive. It had made him feel comfortable for the time, but the time was up and now Buck was back to being lost in the ocean with no idea how to pull the three of them out. 

Eddie shook his head, “I don’t… your colleague?” 

“Tessa has agreed to sit in on the case with me. She works specifically in family law and she has a strong history of winning custody cases with little bloodshed.” Bianca leaned forward and tapped the back of Buck’s hand where Eddie still held it in his lap. “Evan, I know you just want to help. The two of you presenting a united front is helping, okay?” 

He nodded, although Eddie noticed he didn’t echo the okay back at her that he tended to do when he was really listening to what she was saying. 

Buck wasn’t used to being a passive helper. 

It was a learning curve for all of them. 

“For the time being… Eddie,” he sat up a bit straighter. “I have some suggestions for you.” 

“Okay.” 

“Get ahead of things. Talk to Christopher about what’s going on. You may want to do so with his psychiatrist in the room, to answer any questions he might have.” 

“So that means explaining it to his psychiatrist.” 

“You’re not going to be the first parent they have to vouch for.” Bianca teased. “Talk to the school. Start finding a pool of people around you that will be willing to testify in court of your fitness to take care of your son.” 

“This is going to go to court?” 

“Most likely.” Bianca said with a sigh. “I have a feeling Shannon will want to drag this out as long as she can.” 

“Can she even afford to?” Eddie asked desperately, sharing a glance with Buck and then back towards Bianca. “Her whole thing during the divorce procedure was talking about how she couldn't afford to drag it out.” 

“Does it matter if she can’t?” Buck asked quietly. “We can.” 

Eddie couldn’t. “We -.” 

“Eddie.” Buck told him with piercingly intense blue eyes. “We can.” 

He could. Eddie didn’t know how much Buck had in his bank account, he knew that he joked about being able to afford to send Chris to whatever college he dreamed of and still have plenty left over. He knew he had bought his last car outright and was just waiting on the insurance payment to bother buying another. He knew he didn’t really care about missing work because of the lack of a paycheck, but because he was just plain bored. Buck had traveled the country in his car and barely dipped into whatever allowance his parents seemed fit to throw in his bank account each month - guilt money, probably, a little nudge in a don’t call us for help category that Buck had followed through on even unconsciously. Eddie knew he paid bills without even really reviewing whether they were correct or not. He had even offered to take over the mortgage and Eddie’s car payment once they were down to just his truck. 

He didn’t want to take his money, let alone his parents’ guilt money. But… in this case? 

The security of just how much Buck had put aside had Eddie slumping in relief. “Okay.” He agreed softly. 

Buck’s lips twitched into the ghost of a smile. 

Bianca glanced between the two of them, made sure they were finished before she spoke again, in a much more gentle voice than before. “You need to start getting your PTSD treated.”

[sageswriting]

Azeal Lazarus

His Character Hub profile , go check it out to know more !! :D

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About ;;

Azeal is a 181 year old vampire, obsessed with reading and learning about new things. He's polite, but doesn't get along easily with new people, often feeling a sort of disgust due to the differences between them. How can people be so uneducated? Where's your love for knowledge? Calculative, and assertive, Azeal rarely sees failure in the horizon.

Azeal's thirst for knowledge is insatiable; he will spend hours reading books, from the very sunrise to the candle lighting hour, drowning himself in knowledge until he drops.  His goal is to know; to have knowledge more than anyone else, to know everything about everyone and anything possible - there are no limits to learning.

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Facts n stuffs ;; :p

Azeal doesn't care about his prince title. He acts like he's a regular vampire! He is indeed one of the MANY princes of Vampiria. He doesn't care at all!! just wants to be normal and treated like a regular vampire!!

He feels really shamed whenever he has to search up anything :///

He loves to relax and read books!! wew :0

Knows how to throw knives very well !! WHAT :OOO

Loves to write romantic poems and letters about/to people he will never approach first.

Threatens to take people to court over the smallest things (people always think he’s joking. But he isn’t.)

Loses things very often

Recently got a butler!

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Romantic life ;;

He isn’t looking for anyone. He swears. Yes, he might admire from afar, write poems and love letters and perhaps drown himself in knowledge about this person - but he is just too busy to give anyone affection. Not like he’s the kind of guy to give affection, anyways. His love language is definitely giving books and sharing facts.

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Lore ;;

This guy was born in a noble family (as you know), but he never really enjoyed or appreciated living in such conditions. The second he became an adult, he refused to live alongside his family and now lives in a large mansion by himself. He still sees his family often, even though he doesn’t want to, because he’s dragged by his family into vampiric events and balls to find a woman to marry.

He isn’t expected to rule at any point, because he rebuked such classes and refuses to show them any respect. He promised to never marry or get involved with anybody of such status.

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Azeal answers some questions ;;

If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would you present on?

“I would definitely present on Astronomy the most. It’s so beautiful. Did you know sunsets on some other planets are blue? Did you also know footprints on our moons can last one hundred million years?”

Do you act on your immediate emotions, or do you wait for the facts before acting?

“Wait for facts, all the time. You can’t let your emotions affect your judgement, no matter the topic and situation.”

What do you hate the most about yourself?

“I guess what I hate the most about myself is the fact I can’t read two books at the same time, and can’t take notes with both hands. My dominant hand is the left, by the way.”

How well can you keep secrets?

“I keep secrets very well. I remember everything, and refuse to share things that belong to others.”

What is 5+5?

“10.”

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Bold the facts ;;

((I am not sure who made this! I wasn't tagged to do this challenge but I wanted to do it anyways hehe))

Killed Someone Under Orders | Had Someone Killed On Their Orders | Killed Someone In Self Defense | Spared Someone's Life | Invented Something | Been Hungover | Kissed Someone | Slow-Danced | Been In A Long-Term Relationship | Had Sex | Had Sex And Regretted It | Had A One-Night Stand | Had A Threesome | Experimented With Their Sexuality | Had A Kid | Adopted A Kid | Wanted To Have A Family With Someone | Done Something On Impulse They Regretted | Gone Traveling | Had A Bounty Put On Them | Eaten An Insect | Been Dumped/Dumped Someone | Smoked | Gotten High | Flirted With Someone To Get Free Drinks | Put Someone In A Headlock | Won a Bet | Lost a Bet | Forgiven Someone Who Wronged Them | Indulged In Petty Revenge | Hallucinated | Has A Noticeable Physical Defect | Gotten A Noticeable Scar | Been Permanently Disfigured Through Injury | Kneed Someone In The Groin | Had An Unattainable Crush | Laughed Themselves To The Point Of Tears | Been Kidnapped | Been Brainwashed/Hypnotized | Had A Recurring Nightmare | Been Bullied | Bullied Someone | Experienced Survivor's Guilt | Been Tied/Chained Up | Given Someone A Massage| Received A Massage | Been Backed Up Against A Wall | Shot Someone | Stabbed Someone | Saved Someone's Life | Cheated On Someone | Been Cheated On | Been In An Open Relationship | Had A Friendship With Benefits | Been In A Queerplatonic Relationship | Had A Stalker | Been Betrayed | Been A Traitor | Been Possessed | Been In A Bar Fight | Been Thrown Out Of A Bar | Been Arrested | Broken Out Of Jail | Been To A Funeral | Been To A Brothel | Had Surgery | Broken Someone's Trust | Broken Someone's Heart | Had Their Heart Broken | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Anger | Broken/Damaged Something Out Of Spite | Gotten A Piercing | Gotten A Tattoo | Used A Fake Name | Been Beaten Up | Been Tortured/Tortured Others | Been Abused | Been Blackmailed | Gotten Away With A Crime | Framed Someone Else For A Crime They Committed | Shared A Bed Platonically | Been In Love | Suffered From Sleep Paralysis | Been Forced To Flee Their Home | Learned A New Language | Joined A Rebellion | Fought On The Losing Side Of A War | Fought On The Winning Side Of A War | Become A Godparent | Become An Aunt/ Uncle

[patternsinnoise]

can you elaborate on the stealth deradicalization unit you have to teach?

Okay, so, I've been a composition teacher since 2016. Up until last May, I taught at a small college in a rural area that serviced first generation and ex-military students. Many of them were relatively fine, leaving aside structural issues with the military.

A few of them weren't -- getting into Q-anon related bullshit. I didn't want to read that stuff, and I was a bit troubled like this. Given that critical thinking is part of my remit for these classes, I worked on this.

So here's the basics of the critical thinking unit I used:

1) I only rarely directly pushed back on anything. People clam up if directly opposed, especially if you're in a position of authority. Keeping them engaged is key.

2) I tried to frame everything that I use in practical terms, even outside of academia. For example, you should learn research skills to make smart decisions for voting and consumer choices. Critical thinking is useful not just in general, but specifically to counter moral panics.

2a) I might take a stop through talking about cults on the way to Moral Panics. I try to emphasize that it's often very intelligent people who fall for these: it's not about being smart, it's about learning habits of questioning -- I might prime them for this by fitting the afterword to J. Michael Straczynski's comic book Midnight Nation into a prior unit where it fits.

3) moral panics are fun and interesting to learn about, especially when the alternative is learning semicolon placement.

4) I run through the satanic panic of the 1980s, which is old enough that a lot of the people who I teach don't directly remember it and it seems ridiculous. However, we can point to wrongdoings by both conservative and liberal actors, so that also avoids alienating the largely conservative audience. It's also similar enough to Q-anon that it can begin to make them question it.

5) I limit this to one -- maybe two -- days, and then turn to discussing rhetoric soon thereafter. So, while they're beginning to question things, I can introduce them to common techniques used to manipulate people alongside the techniques they need to do their course work. For example, I can teach them how to recognize a motte-and-bailey argument or some of the more common logical and rhetorical fallacies.

This is... mostly it. I've got to go to bed so I can get up early to teach, but if you find yourself stuck with a position of authority, the trick -- as far as I can see it -- is to not engage them on the conspiratorial topic and then offer legitimate rewards for doing legitimate work that depends on skills and mindsets antithetical to the set of beliefs in question.

Evidence: I want to believe in UFOs and high strangeness, but I've been trained to teach research skills and all of that stuff is so poorly done that it offends my sensibilities. I'm still open to hearing about it, but I've been disappointed every time.

[unfunnyaceartist]

I love the internet

Its just some people on here that I dislike.

I think the internet was an incredible thing to happen that changed countless lives across the globe! It makes things easier. You can find people who understand you, share creations, share interests, share thoughts, buy, sell, show, perform, comfort people, help people, make friends, get support, start a business, spread awareness, and much more! Its a powerful tool that is often underappreciated. It is a PRIVILEGE. Not a right.

Now there are some people who use the internet to harm rather than help. Some choose the veil of anonymity to harass people. Some abuse and manipulate people. Some share hateful or inappropriate content, even though they're well aware of children on the internet.

With all of the amazing advantages technology brought us, came people who sought to use it in overall not good ways. Now more than ever its easier to come across something traumatic, inappropriate, cruel, scary, manipulative, illegal, and horrific things. All it takes is one wrong click for a child in elementary school to stumble across 18+ websites. All it takes is one typo to ruin a persons innocence. All it takes is one "prank" to traumatize someone. Im grateful my parents limited my internet access as a child. I know for a fact I would have stumbled upon some stuff that would have near irreversibly altered my mind. Lots of totally cool and normal things exist for certain audiences that arent really unethical, but the thing is, a lot of sites wont make sure of age. Most just have you click a checkbox that you are 18 or older. Its irresponsible in my opinion.

I'm going to make one example of my last point using a game im very familiar with that isnt a huge issue: Doki Doki Literature Club. SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! also this is so unlike me lmao. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I GOT ANYTHING WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IM BAD AT WRITING SO HFUKJSGJh

It is a FANTASTIC indie psychological horror game with many interesting aspects and dark topics. The problem? Its marketed as a dating simulator with a cutesy style. A kid who failed to read more or heard from a friend saying to check it out as a prank (the latter happened to me) can easily download the original free game. Well, no biggie, right? It has a warning at the beginning, so it should be fine, right? Wrong. Lets take a look at the disclaimers.

Do you see that? "This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed" and "Individuals suffering from anxiety or depression may not have a safe experience playing this game." Now Ive played this game more times than I can count. Ive done every route, ive gotten every ending, i've gotten every secret,I even used to have a lot of the dialogue memorized, so trust me when I say, yes, this game can be incredibly unsettling at times, but its not the worst thing one can encounter. However its easily accessible as its completely free. The issue with the warning screens is a few things. One, you literally can just click through them without reading them like many do. Two, people may only skim the text or not care enough to go to the link. Three, IT DOES NOT SPECIFY WHAT IS DISTURBING!!! Lets take another look at the first warning: "This game is not suitable for children or those who are easily disturbed". Well, this game is marketed as a a cute highschool dating sim. For all parents or children know it could just be a bit spicy, and I know from experience, kids usually think they're grown enough to handle these things. What if a child goes in expecting a makeout scene when they go to Sayoris room to check on her before the festival only to find her corpse? Now what about the other warning? "Individuals suffering from anxiety or depression may not have a safe experience playing this game." And then it gives a link for content warnings. yes, this is better than the first IMMENSELY but the problem still stands that for all they know it could just have high stress parts or mention things like abuse or breakups or intercourse which can be triggering to some, and lets be honest, how many kids do you think will actually go to the website to read the content? Probably little to none unless their guardian figure makes them. I played this game in late fifth grade, and I thought I was practically an adult. Oh how wrong I was, BUT THATS OFF TOPIC. It would be much more beneficial and logical to just say 'this game covers dark, disturbing, and triggering topics and contains graphic content.' or something along those lines, OR EVEN VERIFY THEIR AGE. Without proper research an elementary schooler who was pranked by their friends (like me) could easily be traumatized. Im very glad I did research on it prior to my gameplay.

MY POINT IS THE INTERNET NEEDS MORE SAFETY AND STUFF BUT NOTHING STUPID LOL OKAY BYE SORRY FOR THE ABRUPT ENDINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

[faerywhimsy]

Vamptember Day 24 -FREE DAY

I am a huge fan of book to TV adaptations, so much so that a portion of my Honours thesis was actually dedicated to that particular portion of media.

The Hunger Games books and movies offer a perfect example of so much of what I love about it; a series of books that are from a limited 1st person perspective, then expanded out into a series of not just three but four movies to make room for perspectives that are hinted at within the books, yet given no explicit voice given the nature of the perspective choice.

But even a faithful adaptations can turn sour is when enough of the central themes of a story get overturned over the course of a longer running series. I’m thinking Game of Thrones here. That first season was almost a play by play of the first novel. Things like the Red- and Purple Weddings later occurred more or less as expected, though timelines of surrounding events were fudged. There were some really cool graphics made on this topic back in the day.

And then... well, we got the last 3 seasons, didn't we? What a disappointment (sorry Jacob, you're an actor capable of doing things that are very subtle, but that show let you down).

Reimaginings can likewise be good or bad, but they have built into them a bit more leeway. Where these usually turn sour is around the time they fully abandon the source material. This is mostly your ‘loosely inspired by’ stuff. It’s putting a name on the door that’s generated to sell tickets. I’m trying to think of a good example of this, but the stuff I haven’t liked doesn’t tend to stick in my head because I’ve usually moved on by then. At their strongest, reimaginings bring well thought out and updated content to a fandom.

BBC's reimagining in Sherlock was innovative when they brought Conan Doyal's characters into the modern day. They succeeded in doing that because what they kept sacred, at least to begin with, was the relationships between the characters and the overarching themes that came from that. By doing only those two things, they were able to reinvent satisfying ways to touch on the main plot points of the original stories.

That team also, sadly, offered a cautionary tale of what happens when such a project deviates too far from its source material.

The reimagining in AMC's Interview with the Vampire is far more ambitious and therefore complex in what it proposes, with an equal half of its story existing in a space that will be close to what was written in the books. I genuinely hope they end up succeeding with their ambition. Part of that is that it's not pretending to be any sort of directly faithful adaptation.

The first hint? The entire premise of S1: It’s 2022 and Louis invites Daniel for a second interview. That just didn't occur in the books.

This one change brings the story straight into the modern day, which is easily arguable as something needed for a series that released its first book in 1976. While I love a nostalgic- or period piece as much as the next person, I’m not disappointed by this.

This is the kind of change that’s a deal breaker. It stands to give new watchers the introduction they need into the world at the same time as giving something entirely unexpected to old fans. In other words, it’s narrative gold to someone like me.

The reasons I love it are completely different to what draws me to a straight like for like with added scenes adaptation as outlined above in Hunger Games. By changing the timeline and beginning straight out of the gate, it means that you can change everything.

And, god, they do.

Okay, obviously not everything. Character names, places, even dates on their own aren’t enough to hold the narrative cohesion of a reimagining if it doesn’t hold tight enough to the central themes of the source material to maintain that the original plot points still make sense to come to pass. WHICH S1 DOES.

I have so much interest in dissecting how they’ve so far kept hold of (most of) the themes and yet, in only 7 episodes, have already told a story with so many different details. And, if I’m gonna be totally honest, TVC is perfectly primed for exactly this kind of adaptation simply because, as a collection, these books have never been consistent (thank you, Anne for this dubious and ongoing gift).

There has been a single possible inconsistency with themes that did give me some cause for concern, but it’s also not the one that most people seem concerned by. So, let’s get into the analysis!

Armand:

I’m beginning with this character, because a supercut on YouTube I finally got around to watching made me realise we got a total of 15 minutes of Assad on screen in the 7 episodes of S1, and less than 5 of those are of him in the named character. So it’s an easy place to start.

Obviously, there is little difference that can be pointed to in those fewer than 5 minutes other than the differences in physical appearance than described (17 y/o, red hair, brown eyes) in the books, and that’s what I’ve seen a lot of discourse on thus far. That, and what on earth this Louis had on him to convince him it was a great play to pretend to be Rashid in front of Daniel. (He is a theatre kid, I guess…)

There is however a short detail in The Vampire Armand after Armand goes into the sun, however, that briefly describes his eyes as being orange (maybe amber?) as he starts to heal, and therefore the choice on making Assad’s eyes this colour in the series becomes an interesting detail to me.

Also, let’s be honest – if you’re gonna make the creative choice to have both Sam and Jacob in these luminescent contacts, but leave Assad’s natural throughout… well, I mean, what is being said on that side of the coin if that’s the choice being made?

On the side of details they kept AND CHANGED at the same time, my favourite for this character continues to be the below image that shows the physical resemblance between one Assad Zaman and, yes, a different Botticelli painting than any referenced in the books, but ultimately a Botticelli painting all the same. We're good to go!

Louis:

I don’t really want to focus too long on the obvious differences between Louis the slave owner (books) and Louis the pimp (series) except to say they are there. As are Louis’ signature green eyes.

However, that is where the resemblance ends. And I’m not just talking about physical.

In Louis’ case, the biggest difference I clocked and remarked in DMs up till now that—as a fanfic writer of both books and series fandom—Louis’ was the voice that consistently gave me most trouble to move between. I literally could not convincingly write him in any series fic at the same time as I was writing my mammoth long fic How They Get to Trinity Gate.

And it was not the fact that Louis was white in the books that tripped me up.

Another big thing is the change to when Louis and Lestat meet. This changes things for Lestat's character a bit as well, but I think it's more clear at this point the ways in which Lestat being set up as that much stronger and older than Louis on first meeting has had an impact on their story. Armand will be that much older than Louis as well, but what's a difference of a handful of decades when Armand already was that much older than Louis canonically?

As a linguist, I remain most fascinated by the dialogue changes that have been given to Louis’ character, particularly in historic New Orleans scenes. When reading Interview With the Vampire, there’s not a great deal of difference to the voice of Louis in the present vs the past that he gives to the boy interviewer. In the series, however? The difference in character from past to present is as unavoidable as it is riveting. To me, that alone offers so many details about who Louis is as a person, the disparity between Louis and a Lestat who obviously still gets to keep his book canon French accent.

In terms of how these changes effected the story as Louis relates it to Daniel, however? I mean, for the most part, the Louis I watched was equally convincing as he hit the main plot points his character needed to hit to stay true to the source material. That makes it a successful update to me!

Daniel:

Daniel is a laugh, both in the books and in the series. But, though the series has held on to the aspect of his sense of humour from the books, that humour is depicted in a completely different way.

Self deprecating, for the most part, or actually laugh out loud funny is what we see of Daniel in the books. Occasionally his anger gets the better of him, but for the most part he’s more docile—or possibly just as drunk—as many of us would be in similar circumstances. Apart from, say, when he’s calling Armand an immortal idiot.

The humour we get from Daniel in the series, though? That’s cutting. Yes, aimed to slice others up, especially when he’s deflecting from himself, but also the stuff that's made to cut through bullshit.

He’s had another 50 years to hone it, and none of them were lost to madness or absence from himself. No, this Daniel has been present every year of the 69 that have been given to him, and it shows. His wit has grown up with him, because he has grown up in a way he never got to in the books.

Something else to consider, however, is the fact that this Daniel is half David.

Actually, it's more than half. We got less of Daniel in S1 than we got of Armand. When I say this, I mean the only parts from the book canon we've got were in a couple of flashback scenes and the recording Eric listens to, then plays in Dubai in Episode 1. Only Luke Brandon Field has so far shown me anything close to a faithful version of Daniel, and I've no doubt this actor is destined to continue to follow that trajectory throughout future seasons.

That leaves me with wondering who we've got in the present from Eric? And that's David Talbot who, it turns out, is another canonical interviewer within The Vampire Chronicles. You may remember him as the guy who interviewed Armand, a version of which we're also set to see in S2.

David, when we first see him in Queen of the Damned, is someone interested in vampires not as puff portraiture but as a reality. He’s an older man coming to acceptance he’s near the end of his life and career. And he does not want to be made into a vampire.

Louis: A still hand, time to watch your daughters marry. Daniel: And divorce. And die.

Sound familiar?

Let me explain something of what I suspect went into this decision behind the scenes: The character of Daniel is underdeveloped in the books to say the least, something I’ve written about already during Vamptember. There was never going to be enough of the book character of Daniel in AMC's version to satisfy every book reader. Anne simply didn't give us enough of him, and fandom remains wildly divided in how to interpret him.

By contrast, David was a character readers got far too much of because of Anne's attempt to shoe horn us into a different romantic interest for Lestat. He's just not as popular. Imagine for a second the reception if the early promotional material had named Eric as playing 'David' instead of 'Daniel'? It's a marketing mislead, and one that's paid off.

When setting up the core "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf"-esque central cast, the creative team over at AMC did something very clever, I think. They pulled over characteristics of another underdeveloped character from the same canon in order to flesh their version of Daniel out. We'll almost certainly see a body swap, and that's where the David, and Eric's, part of the story will end.

In conclusion, I will absolutely eat my hat if we see someone called David Talbot walking around in this series ever ever. And, when it comes to the eventual plot line of making Daniel a vampire, they've set up three good options in front of them (and another example where we old fans have no way to expect WHICH WAY IT WILL GO):

He'll be coerced into it (David, canonically by Lestat, but in this universe almost certainly Armand)

He'll change his mind and demand it again (Daniel in true Devil's Minion style)

He'll almost die and someone will have to turn him (Daniel, yes, but also Jesse)

Two of these methods of becoming a vampire from the early books canonically turn a Talamasca character, and I definitely have some on-a-tangent theories there, given the presence of Talamasca characters already in Mayfair Witches.

The only thing they’ll need to change from the books here is Armand being Daniel/David’s foil, instead of Lestat. And, look, they’ve already positioned Louis right there as the love of his life in the face of the love triangle that’s sure to follow in the series, as in the books.

Fareed (bonus):

This is further to my passing body swap comment in the last section, but I really wanted to add:

Why include this minor character front and centre as early as S1? Why then have him explicitly say he is not there not once but three separate times as part of his only dialogue?

Fareed: That is not my voice. And I'm not here. [...] I am not here. [...] I'm not here. [...] Pleasure never meeting you, Mr. Molloy.

Is this not explicitly designed to have the same effect as telling a person not to imagine a pink elephant? Not to mention, it's as meta as fuck. That's Schrödinger's Vampire right here.

So why do these things if not to bring to the front of people's minds not only that the entire of Anne Rice's canon is free game in this reimagining? But that Fareed in particular is a character who's the first of his kind in the Chronicles; a scientist who can and does invent a clone?

A clone that might just end up looking very much like Luke Brandon Field?

Why, also, spend so much time and promotional material on another actor we see for about the same short space of time within S1? Minute for minute, I reckon we get about the same amount of screen time here with Gopal Divan as we do with Luke.

That, and they both happen to appear for the first time in Episode 6. Just saying.

In terms of canon deviation, if there was a physical description of Fareed in the books, I honestly don't remember it. He was just one of Anne's many, many characters that were a) created to function as a plot point, and b) forgotten beyond the original purpose he was created for.

As long as they manage to keep Fareed interested in the vampiric sciences, I honestly don't see there being any problems.

Lestat:

Saving the best till last, am I right?

Lestat is Lestat is Lestat, isn’t he? The blond hair. The blue eyes. The arrogant swagger. Both the father’s anger matched with the uncontrollable laughter raging within him at all times. Completely out of control. Hedonistic, definitely to a fault. A Byronic hero in the package of an immoral vampire.

I hated Lestat and, when I read the books as a teenager, it was despite him.

I was ready to go into the series doing the same. The stories, the themes, the history, the characters (minus Lestat). There is so much richness to love in the world of the books, despite so much of it being told by Lestat. And there was no doubt we were gonna get less of The Lestat Show in a show that’s not told from his PoV and has three other main characters vying equally for that attention.

I will amend this statement now to acknowledge he does get less obnoxious by the time we hit the final trilogy, which were obviously not out when I’d made the judgement call of despising him. (Hell, Tales of the Body Thief wasn’t yet out…)

In Lestat's case, the changes that have been made aren't so much of appearance or characterisation, so much as moments. And I understand why. Lestat is iconic and, in many ways, impossible to change in any meaningful way because of it. So the choice of changing moments here and there becomes the perfect way to cast a new spin on Lestat's character.

ESPECIALLY when you have Armand right there behind Louis the whole time, almost certainly controlling the narrative.

Obviously, there was That Scene in Episode 5. That particular scene is one that never happened in any of the books. But Lestat’s aggressions, micro and otherwise, are a well known particularly in early canon, and Louis is certainly not exempt from them.

Nor is Claudia. And who among us haven’t put up with less when it’s aimed towards a person we love than what we’ll put up with aimed to ourselves?

Despite it not following an actual canon event, it held intact location, characters and central themes all together – the summation of most important aspects when we have an adaptation and hope it will continue to hit the major canon plot points in its reimagining.

We saw Lestat, Louis and Claudia all moving towards an event we all knew was coming, and what ended up being the climax of S1.

What I don't see being talked about anywhere near so much is the beginning of Episode 3, as Louis begins to commit himself to becoming a nuisance to the feline life of New Orleans.

Lestat: Say we come upon a murderer planting a flowerbed, thinking only of flowers. How long do we wait before his bloody deeds reveal themselves? Louis: As long as it takes. Lestat: You haven’t thought this through, Louis.

The charitable view, of course, is that Lestat is just not wanting, in this moment, to encourage anything Louis wants to say. If so, it would hardly be the only time Lestat shuts Louis down. Louis says he doesn’t want to feed on humans anymore so Lestat’s immediate response is to push as hard in the opposite direction. I would be satisfied with that.

Equally, I would be satisfied if, come S3, Lestat is revealed to remember this conversation completely differently. It would make sense. Of COURSE Lestat wants to feed on the evil doer and only the evil doer. What else are monsters like them supposed do? This would speak perfectly to their being many things in The Vampire Lestat that are different once Lestat takes the reigns of the books and supposed pen name.

The more I think about it, the more I won't be terribly surprised if they decide on one of these—or even a secret third option (Armand, I'm looking at you)—being the way this moment washes out later. The repercussions of deviating from Lestat only feeding from the evil doer are far too detrimental to the canon they seem intent to create.

Basically, their Lestat holding fast to this opinion for any longer than this scene would leave them struggling to hit more than one major plot point in future seasons.

Anyone who's read the books knows Lestat has already come across Marius before he meets Louis. He's heard Marius’ treatise on only eating the evil doer, and understands why his mentor holds to that tenant. Likewise, Lestat has prior to that come across Armand—something that has all but been confirmed for the series, again in the S2 trailer—and, after meeting both fledgling and maker, Lestat is able to pull together for himself an ethical stance he will take into the rest of his immortal life.

Lestat doesn't have to figure out what his code is gonna be, or whether he's gonna have one, like he way that's depicted for Louis in Episodes 2-3. This ethical stance informs him and carries through from there to the time in the future where Lestat’s made Prince of all vampires.

We'd have a very different looking future seasons ahead of us if Lestat were to abandon that code. It would make Episode 5 look tame.

But Sam knows those books. Rolin knows those books.

I love these monsters. As unreliable as Anne was with her famous lack of editing, this was something even she never flipped back and forth on. And a bunch of monsters with a code is still what we are seeing in S1 just from the fact that Daniel has survived this far into the interview in 2022.

They were and continue to be monsters, her characters, but they aren't that monstrous. There's a line for these serial murders. Honour among the thieves of mortal life.

That’s what makes them so enduringly interesting in all the variations we see for them.

@vamptember

[burnwater13]

Concept Art by Ryan Church of the Mandalorian flying the N-1 starfighter on Tatooine. Image from The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 5, Return of The Mandalorian. Calendar by DateWorks.

Well, Grogu's gambit to trick his dad, uh, er… convince his dad, that they should go to Coruscant hadn’t worked. Now he was in the N-1 with his dad and they were on their way to Mandalore, while Zeb was in the comfy, spacious, fit out with a privy and a preserver, Razor Crest, heading to the Core worlds without him. Dank Farrik!

It just wasn’t fair. Zeb needed a Jedi. Grogu was a Jedi. Zeb needed him. But his dad said ‘No. Zeb can ask Luke for help. He’s a Jedi.’ Uff! Luke was Grogu’s padawan! He’d never been to Coruscant! He had no idea what was in the ruins of the Jedi Temple. What if he fell into a Sith hole? What then? He had two lightsabers. Who was going to fight him? No one. That’s who. This was work Grogu needed to take up. 

“Buddy, you are my apprentice. Not Luke’s. That’s a choice you made. A Mandalorian keeps his word and you are a Mandalorian now. Not a Jedi.”

Wow. When his dad wanted to turn on the guilt Din Djarin was really good at it. Grogu had reluctantly agreed and told Zeb that maybe he should go to Ossus and find Luke and get his help. He was only a padawan and still had a lot to learn, but Zeb was a cautious fellow. They’d be fine. Right?

Grogu just had to hope that was true. He wasn’t going to Coruscant. He was going to Mandalore. He had no idea why they were going. It’s not like they had anything like a fully functional government in place and needed Grogu, or rather his dad, to become the planet’s marshal or anything like that. It was probably something simple like Bo-Katan forgetting how to be polite to people she didn’t agree with on critical topics like which color to paint the privies in the public arena. 

Fine. If he had to go to Mandalore then he needed to pack carefully. The Mandalorians he’d met the last couple of visits had been very boring. They wouldn’t play fun games. They had no curiosity about the places that were currently considered ‘off limits’. Some of them even questioned whether he and his dad were ‘real’ Mandalorians, like that was a thing. 

To that end he collected his armor. He didn’t wear it all the time on Nevarro because he didn’t need to. Between his dad, Greef Karga, and IG-11M, anyone who came looking for Grogu had to be polite or they would find themselves very cold. Then he made sure he had the silver knob off the flight control stick from the old Razor Crest. He gathered his art supplies, his data comp, his collection of 'Diggle and Daggle, The Fish that fish’ vids, and a comprehensive collection of snacks and beverages. And a change of clothes. He hated it when the coverall he was wearing got all sweaty and covered with dirt when he wasn’t actually having fun.

When he brought all that to the N-1 his dad gave him a cross look. You know the one. He puts his left hand on his hip and tilts his head and taps his toe like he’s just about a second away from delivering a scathing lecture on the benefits of polishing beskar armor daily. Grogu shrugged and picked the pack up with the Force and tried to position it in the N-1’s cockpit. 

“Grogu, you’ve brought too much stuff. It won’t fit. Come on. Let’s go through it and see what’s taking up so much room.” 

Before Grogu could protest or even whisk the pack away using the Force, the Mandalorian had taken it and dumped its contents all over the ground near the N-1. Dank Farrik!

Grogu began to race around, collecting the things he cared about the most, while his dad began to lecture him about how a Mandalorian apprentice needed to pack only the essentials. They traveled light. They had to be strategic. They couldn’t waste time or effort like this. Blah, blah, blah. Grogu had heard it all before. 

The robes Daimyo Fett had given him were set aside. The third set of regular coveralls were set aside. More than half the snacks and drinks he’d collected were set aside. Grogu was about to protest when his dad grabbed the silver knob, but fell silent when Djarin tucked that into his own pocket.

“Listen, Grogu. I know you don’t always enjoy the trips to Mandalore. I don’t either. But I am a Mandalorian and I am trying to teach you to be one as well. So please, put your armor on. That way you’ll be able to keep the data comp, the art supplies, and your Diggle and Daggle collection. Trust me, I don’t want you to be bored during the trip. I promise you.”

Wow. Now he’d done it. No guilt. Just facts. Grogu felt bad anyway. His dad wasn’t being mean. He was being thoughtful. He understood that Grogu only had so much to do when he was there and it mostly had nothing to do with exploring, taming a wild mythosaur or becoming Mand’alor, the things Grogu had told him sounded pretty cool, all things considered. Grogu nodded, sorted the snacks by size, rather than flavor, put another coverall on the ‘stays at home’ pile and smiled at his dad.

“That’s my boy. Don’t worry. We won’t be there very long. Apparently they want my opinion on a security issue. We’ll be back here in time for the annual harvest festival and fair. I’m sure everyone will want to watch you win the frog eating contest again.”

Grogu laughed. Who would want to miss that? No one. That’s who.

[wildkitte]

Let’s talk about Creusa!

Hooray @aeneiddaily has finally reached my favouritest blorbo of the Aeneid, Aeneas’ wife Creusa. I just finished my bachelor’s thesis about her (specifically what Maurus Servius Honoratus says about her character, also comparing to R. G. Austin’s commentary) and she’s been a special little brainrot of mine for the last couple years even before last schoolyear’s deeper dive into madness.

For now I want to just talk about some basics when it comes to Creusa, and then some more text based analysis later (probably tomorrow and the day after, I suppose?). Please note that my information on the topic is still limited - I only got as far as a BA thesis can go (around 33 pages overall), and I mostly used articles written in English and whatever was accessible through my university’s library.

Let’s start with a little introduction, and once Aeneid Daily gets to the Juicy Bits (aka lines 2.768–795) I’ll get to some deeper discussions of her character and what commentators, both modern and ancient, have said about her.

(And, uh… spoilers for the ending of Book 2? If that is a concern?)

SO, Creusa! Who is Creusa? Well, she is Aeneas’ wife and the mother of their son Ascanius, and she dies at the end of the Book 2, these are the basic facts. But are they? There’s actually some interesting stuff relating to her tradition.

Aeneas’ wife appears in earlier tradition, in both art and literature. In the famous depiction of Aeneas carrying his father and the penates out of Troy, he’s occasionally accompanied by a woman (or sometimes two) depicted with him, assumedly his wife. Sometimes she tags along with Aeneas to Italy, and in some traditions, she is saved and swept away by Venus or Cybele. To my knowledge she is never captured by the Greeks (like poor Andromache and Cassandra). For some reason Vergil decided to create a version where she dies (and I will get to the possible motives of this in another post), and that became the popular tradition after Aeneid was published.

One fascinating thing about Creusa (that drives me ABSOLUTELY INSANE) is actually her name – and specifically that it might not be her name at all.

She has been called Εὐρυδίκη (Latin spelling often Eurydica), and the name later changes to Κρέουσα (lat. Creusa). It is not certain when or why this change happens exactly. Pausanias talks about this in Hellados periegesis and explain that Creusa (Κρέουσα) is “naturally Aeneas’ wife” (εἶναι γὰρ δὴ καὶ Αἰνείου τὴν Κρέουσαν γυναῖκα) but that i.e., the author Leskheos has also used the name Εὐρυδίκη (Paus. 10. 26.1-2). But suddenly in the 1st century BC, Livy, Vergil and Dionysius of Halicarnassus start using the name Creusa – I have not been able to find an explanation as to why this happened. Austin speculates that it might have been some new finding of the antiquarians of the time, or perhaps one of the authors came up with the name first and it caught on (Pausanias certainly sheds no more light on this).

But hey why is the name important at all? Well, you might have picked up on the familiar name Eurydica there and maybe even made the connection to Vergil’s Georgics – and you would be absolutely correct to do so! While Vergil is partially creating his own tradition with Creusa, he references his own passage on Orpheus and Eurydice in the 4th book of the Georgics (4.453-527), down to direct quotes pulled from this previous work. There are some pretty obvious similarities between Aeneas and Creusa and Orpheus and Eurydice, which I found to be an interesting add-on to the character of Creusa (I’ll also come back to this later – let’s talk about PARALLELS BABY). In a way Vergil’s Creusa carries with her the earlier tradition of Aeneas’ wife, and Vergil is able to connect all these versions of her into one while also reinventing her for the purposes of the epic. (I am very normal about this) (trust me)

Her being Ascanius’ mother is actually something that has been contended as well. Servius mentions that it has been called into question – there are some who think Ascanius is Lavinia’s son (he mentions Livy as one; see Serv. Aen. 1.7) rather than Creusa’s. In Vergil’s version Creusa is very explicitly Ascanius’ mother, and this actually has a deeper reasoning than just a matter of taste. I probably don’t have to explain to anyone the importance of connecting Aeneas and through him Iulus to emperor Augustus, but it is indeed connected to that. Not only is Iulus of divine origin (being the grandson of Venus) but he is also descendent from the royal family  of Troy – Creusa is Priam’s daughter, Hector’s sister, and Vergil brings this up a lot (as does Servius, he’s really into proving the point). The Trojan royal family line brings even more legitimacy to gens Julia‘s right to power. Here Vergil creates a political myth (like Tarrant (1997) puts it) to emphasize Augustus' legitimacy and Creusa being Ascanius’ mother is an integral part of that.

But hey so, Creusa’s death, what’s up with that?

Once we get to her disappearance, I’ll talk about this a bit more because there is actually a lot of interesting discourse there, both in modern research as well as Servius’ commentary (Commentarius in Vergilii Opera, from c. 4th and 5th century (I include both Servius and Servius Auctus and use them interchangeably)). It all starts from today’s entry, lines 2.675-678, but I’ll talk about it more once we have full context.

So here’s my little introduction to Creusa, I have a lot more to say (I had 33 pages to say, actually, and would’ve had more if I didn’t have to narrow my research topic down, boo).

Oh Creusa, Creusa, you mysterious creature, most loyal of wives and yet another tragic female character who must die for Aeneas’ fate to be fulfilled. She’s a wife, she’s a mother, she’s chosen by gods and even… immortal? More to come tomorrow!

(Edit: the rest of my posts on her can be found in my creusa-tag)

[hartshorn-and-isinglass]

I didn't have a great deal of luck calibrating a dose of CBD for anxiety the last time I tried years ago but it is way cheaper than Trintellix, so by God I'm gonna try again.

For some years back in the day when they still had the very convoluted medical-use laws around CBD and THC in California it was actually hard to find a consistent supply of just plain ol' CBD edibles because there was so much less demand for it. Now that enough places are rather more relaxed about all this stuff generally there's been a proliferation of CBD-only gummies. I have a very low tolerance for THC taken internally; I only use it topically for my fibro pain. So I'm hoping that taking the THC out of the equation entirely makes this more straightforward.

Honestly, as much as I hate to admit it, especially since I feel like I get so little done on my limited spoons... I have been pushing myself waaay too hard as of late. I gave myself two deadlines way too close to each other (Dracula season plus one other thing for my slightly more-normie internet presence) and I've been dumping so much energy into trying to get the apartment where we want it to be... it's too much and I hate that it's too much. Violin-brain got me back in that overachiever mindset and I just... I can't pull heroics like that these days. I feel a little silly, finding myself grieving that loss of ability all over again after spending years in therapy doing just that.

This was supposed to be about sustainably exploring what was possible, dammit! I have to keep reminding myself this!

[obeymematches]

Hi! 👋 Could you please do a match up for me.

My Personality in few words :-

• Caring

• Loyal

• Protective

• Sarcastic

• Innovative

• Understanding

• Challenging

I'm a Ambivert. I'm a Realist if it counts, if not am a pessimist. I keep my emotions to my self and will rarely tell anyone how I feel. I don't judge a person by what I hear only after I interact with them and get to know them will I draw up a conclusion. I dislike being ignored when I am speaking. I tend to space off in classes if I'm not interested. I dislike being nagged constantly. If I'm given a task to do I will do it at my own pace if it's not urgent. In my day-to-day life I would describe myself as a easygoing person I will put in the required amount of effort based on the importance of the work I'm doing. I am a perfectionist only if the topic catches my interest other wise nope.

I can also be lazy at times. I'm naturally sarcastic and I don't really realize it at all so I can be sarcastically insulting at times. I also tend to curse 🤬 alot. I have a bad habit of subconsciously ignoring people when I'm engrossed with something. I'm Chaotic Good.

I like to read fiction or fantasy online novels, comics, manga, webtoons and occasional watch anime and k-drama . I love listening to music when I read or while doing arts and crafts, I'm good at drawing and painting and generally making things which interests me. Currently I have taken to Diamond painting. I like meeting my friends and hanging out. I like scrolling though insta but rarely post at all. I don't play video games just the phone games (if this makes any sense). I like to try new and different foods when traveling abroad and I occasionally cook and bake. I like spicy foods and my favorite is seafood 😋.  I like to grow flowers and plants. I like drinking Chai / tea. I also like sweets of any kind.

I dislike maths and anything related to mathematics. I don't like rainy weather and would prefer to stay in doors. I don't like being on stage and have stage fright. I have a phobia of spiders.

My biggest peeve is being told what to do or where to go. Over controlling and over possessiveness.

For me trust is very important and if you can't give me basic trust it will not work.

I'm a INFP. My zodiac is Cancer ♋ and it definitely aligns with my personality. I'm a Type 4 on the Enneagram. My Hogwarts house is Ravenclaw.

ahhhh wait a minute i still see you around in my notes hows it going bestie???💞

Honestly on first thought I was thinking of The Mammon but then I changed my mind 😅

I decided to match you with Satan!

yes i am aware those are 2 very different characters but listen.

All of the traits you bulletpointed are in balance with him; being caring comes in handy as he tends to be a bit forgetful especially when he is focused on a story of his interest, or when he is bustin with his studies.

Of couse being loyal is high on his priority list when he likes someone. He is pretty loyal himself it is understanable he wants someone just as loyal as himself.

Ahhhh the two of you are going to be the sarcastic duo at HoL. In my experience sarcadtic people get along well easily and almost instantly, though the muse of their sarcasm has to be similar. Thankfully you two are on the same team as you both despise being controlled!!

You mentioned you don't like possessiveness... well... he might be possessive if you are in the wrong company but otherwise he is not too bad? Like he definitely won't limit you or be jealous as a hobby as long as you keep boundaries (which you will) so that won't be an everyday problem.

He himself is a realist as well so there are no issues about your views!

He is pretty good at maths so I see a balance regarding this-

I feel like he also tends to leave stuff for the last minute if it's not his cup of tea, which means he won't be nagging you at all!

Now some story on how it started;

I'd think at first it was a slow attraction for you two. Like it was there but neither of you acted on it. After a while everyone knew you two have a special relation going, even if at this point you still didn't spend too much time together; you know the vibe was totally different with you two around, he became a little bit more shy... it was easy to tell.

That was until you started to open up to him too, step by step you spent more time together... he got himself thinking he needs to tell you something, he wishes he could spend more time with you, you know? He found himself genuinely curious about you!!

Some scenarios to think about;

He is pretty versatile regarding activities; if you prefer staying in this weekend that's fine, however for next weekend he already has a date planned for you! He would totally enjoy a picnic with you, or museum, library dates! He puts effort into planning these as you are very important to him 💘

Your chaotic goodness has to balance him on the regular; you know sometimes he is up to no good and it usually turns out rather bad for him. Pls be his vioce of reason if needed.

ahhh you could have a little garden with him? Okay he doesn't have a green thumb at all but he is more than willing to pick up some of the interests of his beloved other half and gardening is something he'd enjoy if he actually tried it. It is rewarding and calming!

Him baking just for you something special on a regular Thursday. ❤️‍🔥

If you ever have trouble with your studies just ask him, he is a good teacher! Well maybe not the most patient/empathetic one but at least he is pretty good at explaining.

One thing about you he is not a big fan of is your laziness. To some degree it's okay, he is not the most active either but the aim is to have balance.

a song that remind me of you two is patrick watson's je te laisserai des mots 🤭😇