#nin the greater good

[iamtryingtobelieve]

Happy birthday you twisted little masterpiece

[egg-emperor]

my new icon and header fucks

my bro took some cool free cam Eggmanland shots for me and I love making glitch edits like that

[asherashedwings]

PICOS SCHOOL DESIGN DUMP

Pico

So, I decided that my previous designs for a lot of these characters are going to be more-so their designs during the events of the Pico’s School games. So when they were kids. Like, some will be a bit different, but for the most part, that’s how it is. So then these new designs are them as adults.

When trying to figure out Pico’s design, I didn’t know how I wanted his outfit in this new design to differ from his previous. Cuz like, that’s already the perfect Pico fit. But then I realized “omg, it’d be so much funnier if I DIDN’T change it.” Cuz he is definitely the type of mf to be wearing the same clothes he’s had since middle school.

Like, Cass or Nin come back for a rematch, and they both look super different, and then they look at Pico and he looks NO DIFFERENT than last time they saw him.

Darnell

I immediately broke my rule with the previous designs with Darnell, cuz I just really liked the previous design’s outfit and was like “eh, imma use that for his adult design, and just change the kid design.”

I imagine he got that varsity jacket like, custom made, and it was like super fuckin expensive. But like, when he got it, he decided “wait, I don’t want the sleeves” and just ripped them off 💀

Can’t have long sleeves when you’re always working with fire ig.

Nene

I think Nene is the one I’ve drawn in alt. outfits the most. What can I say, I just really like drawing her and messing around with her clothes. So I had a lot of previous pieces of mine I could look back on for reference.

The main change that isn’t outfit related is her hair. I just decided to dick around and see what looked good, and landed on that. I think it looks pretty good, idk.

Also, gave her a WWJD bracelet cuz sometimes I forget she’s Christian and I thought it was funny.

Reminded me of this one stupid idea I had, featuring my very headcanoned version of the G-Squad:

Like, the G-Squad are doing their whole cult thing, worshipping the Peniliens, when the Pico trio burst in, and Nene says something like “THERE IS ONLY ONE LORD AND SAVIOR, AND HIS NAME IS JESUS CHRIST.”

And then they kick their asses, idk.

Also, here, them as kids. Pico just got spikier as he got older

Okay, time for some antags 💥💥💥

Cassandra

She was actually the first redesign I made in this batch.

Main change: Beard. I just sorta wanted to make the Penilien duo more androgynous. I imagine that they don’t really care about transitioning that much, since they don’t have the same gender roles and stereotypes as humans. Just “I’m [insert gender here], that’s it.” Also, I just think Cass slayed with a beard.

I also wanted to incorporate shapes from their alien forms more into their human disguises. So I gave Cass these big sleeve things to sorta emulate the big bulky arms she has in her true form.

One of her pincers is also chipped. This comes from the fact that in Pico’s School, one of her horn-hair things is shorter than the other, and I wanted to find a way to incorporate that.

Damien

I don’t think there’s much to say here that I have already said while talking about Cassandra.

I imagine Damien does less to hide his alien features, since he has a huge superiority complex and thinks Peniliens are superior anyways, so like, why hide his true colors? Why hide what makes him greater than everyone around him?

So yeah, that’s why he keeps his tail out.

Nin

YIPPEE, HEAVYILY HEADCANONED CHARACTER TIME‼️‼️

So Nin differs with the whole “previous design is them as a kid” thing, cuz he doesn’t really age past his age in Pico’s School. Cuz bro dies.

(Also, quick HC timeline: Pico 1 and “Pico 2” (the conflict with the robo-kids) both take place in middle school, while what I call “Pico 3” (the conflict with the G-Squad) happens in high school. So that’s why Nin appears less child-like; he’s a high schooler)

So like, I hc that when Pico killed Nin, Nin pulled some necromancy bullshit and revived HIMSELF. Cuz idk, that feels like some bullshit Pico’s School would pull.

So now he’s undead. His hair also sorta resembles horns cuz it’s sorta to symbolize his devotion to the Peniliens. If y’all are interested in hearing all the HCs I have for the G-Squad (or just PS in general), I might share more at a later date.

That’s all for now tho.

Bonus:

My color palettes for these fuckers. They’re all named after the MSI songs I associate with each of them. I do not support MSI, I just really like the music and it reminds me of Pico’s School for some reason, so I always listen to a lot of it whenever I get sucked back into this fandom

[pasteilian]

Full Potential Ninpo

In my AU, FPN is a state where the powers of Ninpo are fully unlocked, granting the body divine power and evolving their abilities into their complete form.

A good example is Raph's full potential, which gives him the power to take on the forms of greater and lesser beasts to aid him in his fights. When combining his great beasts, he takes the form of a dragon.

However, these powers can be dangerous if used recklessly. This is why "Nin," the creator of Ninpo, usually doesn’t teach this method unless the student is their chosen one. But since all the brothers, especially Mikey, have an unusually large amount of raw power, "Nin" has chosen to teach them all.

The only other two Hamatos she has ever taught this to were the first Hamato and their grandmother, Karai.

Raph is nins chosen successor so they hold him to a higher Standard —tho they doesn’t seem all the hopeful for Leo who lacks power unlike the other brothers this has made their relationship strained

Ok, that’s all for now. Bye bye.

[thedevilsoftruth]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YEAR ZERO BY NIN!!! 🎉🎉🥳🥳

Happy 18th birthday to the fifth studio album by NIN! Now, this my personal favorite album by NIN for a lot of reasons.

I'm going to be talking about the story behind this concept album in another post soon. But we can all agree that Trent is a genius, but teasing your new album worldwide by putting hard drives into the bathrooms with mp3s of your new songs and static that gave us a phone number and the presence ( the hand on the album cover ) when tagged into wave form is just... beyond genius. And not only that but the hundreds of hidden websites and emails and phone numbers. All to piece together this dystopian, apocalyptic, end of the world story that's just--crazy.

Meet your master, God Given, The Good Soldier, these are all some of the greatest songs ever by NIN and my personal favorites. God Given is such a good song. Such a good song. From the intro to the beat drop when Trent begins singing, I think I actually came a little bit when I first heard it. Literally, my mouth kept dropping the first time I heard it and I legit could not stop screaming. I would like to add, that if you listen to The Greater Good, towards the end you can heard what seems to be a siren of some sort. I just felt like adding that because I thought it was interesting.

Anyways, this is an incredible, amazing album. The best of the best. Please listen to it if you haven't, and maybe check out what it's about because there's so much to cover from it. Happy birthday, Year Zero!!!!

[macabrevampire]

Your top 10 NIN tracks of all time. Go. (Sorry I know this is an evil question)

LITERALLY SO EVILLLLL DUDE.... OF ALL TIME??? HOW AM I MEANT TO ONLY CHOOSE 10...... and so definitively as well </3

Lights In The Sky! This is really predictable of me but I adore tracks that are downbeat and mellow, n this song especially is so special to me <3 His whispery vocals almost put me in a trance. Listening to it feels like someone sitting with you in your depression, comforting you but not forcing you to feel any other way. "Watching you drown / I'll follow you down / and I am here right beside you"

We're In This Together! Okay, to be completely truthful with you, This has to be my ultimate favorite Nine Inch Nails song if only by instrumental alone. Seriously, I'm obsessed with the background music for this one. It's difficult for me to describe the ways in which I adore this song because of how numerous they are <3

The Great Below! Another track where his vocals are kind of whispery LMAO maybe there's a pattern here... I'm probably going to say this about each song lol but this one is so special to me. The background in this one especially stands out to me, specifically around 3:10 to 4:00!! "Is there hope for me after all is said and done?" is something that repeats in my head a lot

Copy of a! It'd be remiss to not mention this song given how it's been special to me for quite literally years…One of the most iconic Nine Inch Nails songs, in my opinion ^_^ "I am just a shadow of a shadow of a shadow / Always tryin' to catch up with myself"

In This Twilight! I fucking ADORE the weird kind of pig-like(?) noises that you can hear repeating in the song, particularly around 0:18 to 0:35 and 1:46 to 2:00. It scratches an itch in my brain, honestly

God Given! I'm gonna sound so stupid LMAO okay but well I love how this song is (what I believe to be) a commentary on religion or, in particular, the way cults seem to use religion as a means of control. Might be way off base with that but like. that's how I perceive it. Anyways this song is really cool n I love it ^_^

Me, I'm not! One of my latest obsessions when it comes to NIN but this song is positively superb...screams out loud <3 Struggling to express just how much I really enjoy this track. Honestly I think all of Year Zero is phenomenal, most every track is a favorite of mine. "I can swallow it down / keep it all inside / I define myself by how well I hide" <- sooooo me...

The Greater Good! This track also has very quiet, whispering vocals… the pattern is there LMAO. Positively adore the background music, It plays in my head a lot. It's kind of cute? idk how else to put it, especially around 0:47 to 1:00… there may be something wrong with me but well <3

Satellite! Haven't got a lot to say when it comes to this track, I just think it's one of the more fun ones to listen to ^_^ The instrumental/background music for this song is SO catchy, particularly around the chorus. Listening to this is kind of a pick-me-up lol, I find it really enjoyable

Adrift & At Peace! Including this one to honor baby Leo, given that he was a huge fan of it and it would feel a betrayal to myself to not put it somewhere on the list. Very calming, one of the first instrumental tracks of NIN that I got obsessed with :3

SORRY FOR THE LENGTHY ASS POST OMFG... Most of these songs can be switched around, though regardless of order these are all among my favorites ^o^ Thank you kindly for asking!! literally means the world 2 me <3

[ircn-mvn]

Alpha/Alpha 3

Note: I'm back! Also I'm not sure where I'm going with this tbh...

TW: Omegaverse, obvi. Questioning (Secondary Gender)? Potential Dysphoria?

The whine did escape him in the end. Kakashi felt mortified for all but two seconds before he felt Iruka’s body against his. Strong arms brought him toward a firm chest and it was the best feeling in the entire world. He couldn’t remember the last time he had experienced this level of safety. Was it before his father’s death or while on Minato-Sensei’s team? 

It sure hadn’t been the case since he had become the one in charge. 

Kakashi had never dreamed of becoming a Captain or Jonin-Sensei. He wanted to be good. To be better than his father, and that was all. Being responsible for his own life was more than enough pressure.

Being an alpha had been convenient — expected of him on some level — but if acting as an omega brought him such comfort, he would keep doing it. Gladly.

Kakashi realized he was way past caring what his peers thought of him. 

Omega Kakashi couldn’t be worse than Friend-Killer Kakashi.

And, also it wasn’t a fully conscious decision on his part, Kakashi wasn’t the type to do things by half. He always had greater control over his scent. He could erase it without patches and only used them because it was still safer and a way to keep quiet. It didn’t take much effort to turn his fresh pine scent into a sweeter one more akin to pine resin. 

Syrupy was a word used to describe omegas’ scents, right?

Iruka smelled of black tea, paper, and… driftwood. It was a homey scent and nothing like their peers who usually smelled smokey and/or bitter. Kakashi wanted to cover himself with Iruka’s scent, or better yet, have the other alpha actively cover him with it. 

Kakashi pressed his uncovered nose to Iruka’s left scent gland while avoiding rubbing his own scent on the other’s skin. He didn’t want to ruin it.

They stood like that for a short while and months — years — of tension progressively left Kakashi’s body. He trusted Iruka to carry more and more of his weight. 

His alpha wouldn’t let him down after all.

***

Iruka didn’t know what to think. He had somehow managed to coerce Kakashi into following him to the hospital. Well, more like he had dragged him by the hand. 

His face was still flushed from the public display when Shizune ushered them into a room, Kakashi, Kurenai, and him. The others had been rebuked by the med-nin’s glare and were waiting — more like pacing — in the corridor.

Shizune had Kakashi and Iruka sitting side by side on a bed. The other alpha’s scent kept peaking up and down, and he had once again gotten rid of his face cover. Iruka watched, concerned, as Kakashi took openly deep breaths as if he couldn’t quite get enough air in his lungs. 

Kurenai stood silent in a corner, only there because of Iruka’s pleading gaze.

Tsunade arrived soon after and she frowned as she noticed Iruka.

Great. He knew this was going to come back to bite him in the ass one way or another.

“Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you an alpha, Sensei?” Tsunade asked.

“I am.”

Iruka swallowed past the lump in his throat. He knew something was wrong with Kakashi but was mostly worried he had somehow made it worse. 

Genma had mentioned Kakashi wasn’t smelling right. His normal scent was fresh, not sweet, and yet the alpha’s scent had gone from pine resin to butterscotch — sycamore syrup, Kurenai had called it — seemingly trying to entice Iruka into resuming their previous embrace. 

Anyone who didn’t know any better would have pinned Kakashi as an omega if crossing their paths as they were on their way to the hospital. 

Tsunade didn’t add anything at first. She put on a pair of gloves before turning her attention to Kakashi. He didn’t budge nor showed any sign of aggressivity as she moved closer. She touched his shoulder first, then moved up to his neck. He tensed and Iruka squeezed the hand that had remained in his all this time. 

It didn’t feel right. Kakashi would probably hate that Iruka had seen such an intimate episode of his life when he got better but, if he got comfort from his presence, then Iruka wasn’t going to chicken out.

“His scent glands are swollen,” Tsunade said. “He is pumping way too many hormones into them to modulate his scent.”

She sighed.

“Do you hear me, brat?” She was looking Kakashi straight in the eyes now. “If you have a problem with being an alpha, you come to me. You don’t fuck up your hormonal balance even more than it already is.”

Kakashi didn’t answer but Iruka could tell he was listening and thinking. Calculating even. 

A small eternity passed before the alpha tilted his head at a forty-five angle — a familiar dog-like gesture. 

“Can you really do it?” he asked. His voice was rough from misuse. “Change my designation?”

Iruka bit his lips to silence any noise that threatened to escape his mouth. 

He shouldn’t be hearing this. They barely knew each other. Granted every time they interacted tended to be life-changing for one of them if not both but still. 

Iruka’s only consolation was that the other three seemed as surprised as he was… except they recovered faster and soon looked thoughtful.

“If it’s about your aggressivity problem, we don’t have to go that far,” Tsunade said at last. “I could give you something to lower your testosterone… or we could target your problem at its root and try scent therapy.”

Kakashi wrinkled his nose at the mention of scent therapy.

“I’m not spending my days plastered to some omega,” he said.

Which, rude. But Iruka guessed it wasn’t a statement against omegas per se. 

“Who said anything about pairing you up with an omega, brat?” Tsunade replied. “I was rather hoping Iruka-Sensei would agree to let you keep cuddling him.”

Wait, what?

[animaltestings]

year zero lowkey might be my favorite nin album

[sasukeparagraph]

Wait since I'm here I should probably clarify what I think about Sakura.

Okay so since I'm a Sasuke liker I'm obviously not a big fan of her but it's More Complicated than that. She's not like well written or anything but I think a lot of the hatred towards her is over the top and chronically Misses The Point.

A lot of criticism of Sakura fails for me because it focuses on taking her down as a person, not as a character. Go onto blogs, even blogs whom I think are, otherwise, mostly correct and have good takes, and you'll find itemized lists of why Sakura is a bad person, posts explaining how her entire being is based on selfish, one sided feelings, how she's useless, unlikable, etc. This is all well and good, but from a Doylist perspective, could, in theory, be fine. A character being a bad person, or otherwise unlikable, is not necessarily a bad writing choice. Sometimes, you just need a character to be like that, and that's okay. Her characterization being primarily built on a man is somewhat obnoxious no matter how you slice it, but, again, would be fine in isolation. The real problem is that pretty much every Naruto woman is like this (except for Granny Chiyo, shout out to Granny Chiyo), so it feels like it says more about the manga's attitude towards women in general than about this particular character. Similarly, I wouldn’t necessarily be against her being an unskilled combatant, in isolation, if there was a good purpose and justification for it, and if it also wasn't symptomatic of how this story treats women. That aside, however, my point is that characters being bad people, or even just grating people, does not necessarily make them bad characters.

Sakura, however, has no good reason to be like that. She serves no greater narrative purpose, never meaningfully contributes to the themes, and even her flaws never really go anywhere. She simply is. I think she has her fleeting moments of being charming, typically when Sasuke is not involved, but even still, she falls flat for me, on account of just not having a good reason to be there. She seldom changes and seldom affects the story.

She does, however, get an arc in the Chuunin Exams. She seeks to grow out of her over reliance on Sasuke (and, to a lesser extent, Naruto). She must, to succeed in the exams, actually train more, and drop her saccharine little lady act (rip Stepford Smiler Sakura it was a nice idea). Her falling behind Naruto and Sasuke is represented as her "staring at their backs", and Sakura's long hair, which she grew out to try and impress Sasuke, obscures her back. When she's caught by the Oto Nin, they pull at her hair, and mock her for it, because "any good kunoichi wouldn't have the time to keep their hair so well". She cuts it off to free herself so she can fight back. She manages this fight in a way that is distinctly inelegant and rough, even biting one of the Oto Nin at one point.

This is quite possibly the most obvious piece of symbolism ever. With her hair cut, her back is now unobscured. She has rejected her desire to perform femininity in favor of being a good shinobi. The logical conclusion is that, after this, she would grow and develop significantly as a character, no longer held down. It also stands to reason that she'd let go of her crush on Sasuke, considering it's kind of pathetic, and her long hair is very tied to it. The story beats here are clear as day, no?

Yet, even after this, Sakura doesn't really change. She doesn't develop as a person or as a combatant, and this is even highlighted at the beginning of the Sasuke retrieval arc. Most importantly, she's still "in love" with Sasuke, and it continues to hold down and stagnate her character. This is bizarre and dissonant, because her scenes in the Chuunin Exams were framed completely earnestly. It was treated like a genuine victory and change, only for it to not have any effect long-term. This means that her stagnation is not just a character feature, but observably messy writing.

When Shippuden rolls around, she's gotten better at fighting, at least. Some people like to whine about how her Kazekage Retrieval arc fight doesn't count, on account of her being puppeted by Granny Chiyo for the majority of it, and while I find this take understandable, I also find it kind of stupid, because her own personal prowess and knowledge does come in handy, and seeking unity as a means of breaking The Cycle is pretty heavily emphasized that arc, so it works for me that it's a 2v1. The parts that really count, though, her actual characterization, are more or less the same. She still remains thematically and narratively insignificant, and she still remains obsessed with Sasuke to the detriment of her development. If anything, I actually think she gets less interesting, because Inner Sakura is dropped (rip Stepford Smiler Sakura, you were a nice idea), and also, she's less rude and goofy. Basically, she's less fun overall.

She plays at being interesting again in Gokage Summit. She lies to Naruto and goes behind his back to try to kill Sasuke, which is terrible, but it's fun to watch! It being extremely improbable that she could actually kill Sasuke, not to mention morally disagreeable, does not make this any less fun to watch. She's still obsessed with Sasuke, though, holding her character down and in place, preventing her development. It's really hard to emphasize that you wish Sakura had tried to kill him out of genuine contempt, here, because most people on that train of thought bitterly despise Sasuke and think he deserves it. I do not, obviously. I like Sasuke. However, it doesn't make any sense for Sakura to be holding on to her grade school crush she hasn't seen in four years and only ever had a tenuously friendly relationship with at best. She doesn’t have Naruto's complicated relationship to him and absolutely desolate childhood to justify it, so it just comes off as weird and unnecessary. Having Sakura lose that interest in him wouldn't even really change the story— it's not like she can kill him by herself, anyways, and even if she could, it wouldn't make any god damn sense for Sasuke to die here, narratively speaking, and Sakura, again, does not do much for the story.

That's Sakura. A character with little relevance and stagnant development in the places she does get relevance. She commits a far greater crime than being a bad person or an unlikable person— being a bad character, and unlike a lot of her male counterparts, does not have the genuinely compelling writing to allow me to see past the flaws in that writing. I certainly don't hate her, that seems like far too exaggerated of a claim, but I'm far from liking her.

[yamayuandadu]

do you know why bats and owls absent from any of ancient mesoptamia's Mythologies and arts??

i know owls are associated with the deity "kilili" (and i think that's about it) meanwhile bats don't seem to have any Attestation what so ever.

i assume these two animals would be associated with the Underworld and the night?.

I do not know why owls and bats played limited, if any, role in Mesopotamian culture, and I do not think there is a single person who can answer that question. Truth to be told, I feel like even if we could ask the ancient Mesopotamians themselves they would not necessarily have a good explanation to offer. A summary of what little we know about the perception of owls and bats in ancient Mesopotamia under the cut.

There are dozens of terms referring to individual birds in Sumerian and Akkadian, but many of them remain poorly understood since they only occur in lexical lists, in enumerations of birds, or in other contexts which are not exactly helpful. In some cases it’s not possible to translate bird names more precisely than “waterfowl”, “edible bird” or “bird of prey”. Even in the case of deities who have clear links to birds like Nanshe we often cannot tell which bird exactly is meant. To illustrate this problem in a specific example, let’s look at the terms which might refer to owls, or which were mistakenly thought to be related to owls.

Kilili is commonly held to be a term referring to a type of owl, and there is indeed a minor deity (or a demon, in the neutral sense) named after that bird, attested as a member of Inanna’s entourage in the god list An = Anum, specifically as one of her many messenger (kingia) deities (not to be confused with a sukkal, even though this term can be translated as “messenger” too). We know she was actively worshiped, in one case  unexpectedly in association with Gula for reasons unknown. However, there isn’t much to say about her individual character. The presumed owl association led to the proposal that the “queen of the night” relief noted for its presence of owls might be a depiction of her. I think this theory is sound, not least because the iconography does not match Inanna/Ishtar (bird feet would be unusual for a major deity) while the other frequent identification, particularly widespread online, Ereshkigal, was hardly ever worshiped, and as such likely would not be portrayed in religious art. She lacks the bird and lion connections too. Note that ultimately the importance of owl imagery in this case is uncertain though, and since the relief has no clear parallels and sometimes even its authenticity is doubted it should not be treated as particularly important.

As a regular bird name, kilili actually serves as the Akkadian translation of two Sumerian terms, udgiš and nin-ninna, and while the former is plausibly interpreted as a type of owl indeed, the latter might be a hen harrier instead, and it’s typically described as a bird of prey which hunts other birds (ETCSL translates this term as “owl” in the Nungal hymn but this seems to be inaccurate in the light of subsequent studies). Most owls which can be found in Iraq hunt rodents, invertebrates and lizards, so it is hardly plausible that an owl would be characterized as primarily bird-eating.

A bird which might be a type of owl, the “night bird” (Sumerian ge6.mušen, Akkadian iṣṣūr mūši) is mentioned in an Udug Hul incantation, but the context does not indicate any greater importance. It sure is a bird that flies at night, as the name indicates. Another possible term for owl is ḫamun (Akkadian lallartum) or “mourner bird”, but this identification is regularly questioned because proverbs associate this animal with malt, and owls are not exactly known for their fondness of cereal. The iriḫula (Akkadian qadû) bird was mistakenly interpreted as yet another type of owl, but this was the result of misinterpretation: as we learn from an Old Babylonian letter, a sad lonely person could be compared to a lone qadû, but it seems that this does not indicate that the bird was solitary, but rather the opposite, ie. that appearing alone was uncommon for it. Therefore, sandgrouse is now considered preferable as the translation of this term. A further argument is that the contemporary Arabic name of this bird, qaṭā, seems to match Akkadian pretty closely.

None of these really hint at a link between owls and the underworld in Mesopotamian culture. Funerary associations are attested for owls in Phoenicia and possibly in pre-Islamic Arabia though.

As for bats: we know that they were regarded as a type of bird by the Mesopotamians, since the terms referring to them are glossed with the same determinative (sign used to indicate types of nouns). This idea was so strongly rooted in Mesopotamian scholarship that a single unique Middle Babylonian text records the belief that bats laid eggs. Note that flies and locusts could be referred to as “birds” too, though, so clearly the definition was more flexible than in modern zoology.

The basic term for bats in Sumerian was sudin, loaned into Akkadian as sutinnu; in a single case sudin refers to a sea animal (a fish regarded as bat-like, perhaps), and a “bat plant” also referred to as sudin is known too. Other terms for bats included arkab (arkabu) and sudin-arkab. Additionally, the buru habrudda (“buru of the hole”) might be a type of bat since it is described as nocturnal and insectivorous, though this might only be a late reinterpretation of an old term originally referring to a different animal. There are dozens of species of bats in Iraq but I’m not aware of any attempts at linking specific ancient terms to any of them.

The archetypal traits of the bat from Mesopotamian perspective were its swift flight and its fondness of unapproachable hiding spots, as commonly pointed out in poetic comparisons, especially in laments. You can see an example in the well known hymn Inanna B: “My lady, the great Anuna gods fly from you to the ruin mounds like scudding bats” or in the royal hymn Shulgi D: “Like scudding bats, [...] arrows fly into the mouth of battle”.

There isn’t much other evidence for cultural significance of bats in Mesopotamia, save for a single text suggesting eating them is ill advised and for possible hints at occasional ritual use. To my best knowledge, no deity was associated with them.

Bibliography:

On Some Terms for Bat in Mesopotamia by Miguel Civil

Kilili (RlA entry) by Wilfred G. Lambert

A study of Sumerian faunal conception with a focus on the terms pertaining to the order Testudines by Jeremiah Peterson

The Owl in Phoenician Mortuary Practice by Philip Schmitz

Religion, Literature, and Scholarship: The Sumerian Composition Nanše and the Birds With a Catalogue of Sumerian Bird Names by Niek Veldhuis

Some Demons of Time and their Functions in Mesopotamian Iconography by Frans Wiggermann

[barrenclan]

for your next music recs post i got a few:

1. “rabbit heart (raise it up)” by florence + the machine is a good one for rainhaze imo. it might work a little better if he was a girl just bc the singer refers to herself as such in the song but other than that it’s a pretty good fit

for the next two, i remember someone tried to recommend an ethel cain song for corm that ended up not being a good fit, BUT i feel like her music in general does match up with the vibes so here’s a couple songs off that same album (preacher’s daughter, def give it a listen if you get the chance) that i feel would fit:

2. “thoroughfare” would be a good one for hush puppy, wild rose, or even slugpelt depending on the context you take it in; lyrically it’s about a girl who falls in love with a smooth-talking guy and they plan to go on the run together. however, if you take it in the greater context of the album (bc it’s a concept album), the guy later turns out to be a serial killer/cult leader sooo you can imagine how that turns out

3. “ptolemaea,” which is a couple songs after the previous one, and sort of serves as the climax of the album; while i’m not sure if there’s a specific character it fits, it ABSOLUTELY fits the overall mood/themes of the story. i wish there was more i could say about it, but this is one of those songs where it’s best if you go in blind. trust me

Eh, I never care too much about the gender of lyrics unless it's actually relevant to the character's meaning. I like it with Redpelt, too, though! Since Rainhaze and Redpelt did have a relationship to each other, maybe they can both be singing the song.

"Here I am, a rabbit hearted girl Frozen in the headlights It seems I've made the final sacrifice" (Redpelt)

"This is a gift, it comes with a price Who is the lamb and who is the knife? Midas is king and he holds me so tight And turns me to gold in the sunlight" (Rainhaze)

2. I did listen to a bit of the Ethel Cain album, though it's not really my taste.

The specific song sounds really great to work with Wild Rose, in the context of the rest of the album. I have described her as a character with wanderlust before, so I imagine she'd want to leave Defiance with Deepdark.

"I met you there in Texas, somewhere on the thoroughfare On the side of the road in some torn up clothes with a pistol in my pocket I didn't trust no one but you said, "Baby, don't run, I'll take you anywhere"

"And then you turned to me and stared into me deep And said, "Well, maybe not, 'cause look at what I've got You might not be my love, but baby, I doubt it"

3. Oh, what an intersting song this is. If I had to assign a character to it I'd say Deepdark, with certain other lyrics in the song as victims of his throughout the years. Specifically the phrasing of "I am the white light" and "[the] wolf, crawling to thee" are very relevant to some imagery surrounding him.

Good old The Moss! I like this song.

"Well, we can all learn things, both many and a-few From that old hunched-up woman who lived inside a shoe Or the girl that sang by day and by night she ate tear soup Or the man who drank too much and he got the brewers' droop"

"Come listen, all ye fair maids, to how the moral goes Nobody knew and nobody knows"

If that song's not on Rainhaze Hell, it prolly should be. He's got a couple of NIN there already I believe. Any angry, edgy, upset song is very Rainhaze. I like the motif of the days feeling like a constant endless drag in this one.

"I think I used to have a purpose Then again, that might have been a dream"

"I can feel their eyes are watching In case I lose myself again Sometimes, I think I'm happy here Sometimes, yet I still pretend"

Never Love an Anchor is actually Slugpelt's theme song, which you can find on the official PATFW playlist! It fits her terribly well.

I could see I Bet on Losing Dogs as a representation of her and Cashew's relationship, where she's continually convincing herself that he'll stay despite knowing in her heart he won't.

"Will you let me, baby, lose On losing dogs I know they're losing and I'll pay for my place"

"My baby, my baby You're my baby, say it to me Baby, my baby Tell your baby that I'm your baby"

Aw, yeah, good call.

"If the rashes sprang to life, would you just let me down? Would you leave those kids again and kick 'em outta town? I guess we'll never know, I'll just be here wondering What made you choose to go? The day you went down to Mexico"

"Now there's time to mend, every broken heart that you left In your gust of wind, no more little ghost I keep around"

[trentreznorsmeshshirt]

Ranked the NIN albums I’m most familiar with. Tell me your opinion, destroy me in the comments lmfao (can u tell I’m a music major with all the instrumental tracks I put above lyrical tracks (especially in the fragile))

NIN albums ranked

Pretty Hate Machine

Terrible Lie

Head like a hole

The Only Time

Down in it

Sin

Sanctified

Kinda I want to

Get down make love

Something I can never have

Ringfinger

That’s what I get

Broken

Last

Happiness in Slavery

Physical (You’re so)

Wish

Gave up

Suck

Help me I am in hell

Pinion

The Downward Spiral

Ruiner

Heresy

March of the pigs

The becoming

Mr self destruct

Reptile

Eraser

The downward spiral

Closer

A warm place

Hurt

Big Man with a gun

Piggy

I do not want this

The Fragile

Even Deeper

La Mer

Just Like you imagined

The Great Below

Into the void

The Big Come Down

The day the whole world went away Pilgrimage

The Wretched

We’re in this together

Starfuckers inc

Somewhat damaged

Where is everybody

The frail

The mark has been made

Complication

Ripe (With Decay)

Underneath it All

I’m looking forward to joining you, Finally

Please

The way out is through

With Teeth

Beside you in time

The line begins to blur

Love is not enough

Getting smaller

All the love in the world

Sunspots

Every day is exactly the same

Right where it belongs

You know what you are?

The hand that feeds

Only

With teeth

Year Zero

Meet your master

God given

The beginning of the end

The warning

Me I’m not

The great destroyer

Survivalism

Capital G

The good solider

HYPERPOWER!

My violent heart

Vessel

The greater good

Zero sum

In this twilight

Another version of the truth

[dark-elf-writes]

Maybe the time loop guy is a missing nin from Konoha/a shinobi from another village banking on Naruto giving into the Kyubi and causing destruction on an even greater scale than what happened over a decade ago. But this time, with no convenient sealing master there to lock Kurama up again.

If that happened, Konoha would loose a great deal of its shinobi/resources and be forced to rely on whatever allies they have. With Suna planning an invasion and Ame affiliated with the Akatsuki, those allies are limited indeed. This would make them very vulnerable and that would be taken advantage of. Quickly.

Hell, I would suggest it being a plan put in place by Sand itself (w/o Orochimaru’s knowledge). It would be an interesting move to force Konoha’s jinchuriki to destroy their own village and people, thus protecting their own jinchuriki while also saving face with the other villages (nvr good to look like traitors in world of backstabbers and assassins). It would also have the added benefit of forcing Konoha to rely on Suna and putting them in their supposed debt for swooping into save them.

I suspect they might even use this as a way to double cross Orochimaru because if Gaara is that powerful with the one tail, a mad 9 tail jinchuriki would surly be enough to end Orochimaru. And if not, at least either him or the hokage is bound to die. A win-win for Sand either way.

No reason to put in more effort and lose your own shinobi when you can traumatize a supposedly unstable demon container into insanity and make them do the work for you. Too bad for Suna that Kurama would rather get revenge on the ones killing him and his container than use the opportunity to break out of an admittedly good seal.

I actually adore this and I’m absolutely feeling this being the background.

For my own brain and my love of the sand siblings I could see this being a need to know type of thing between the at the time Kazekage and the missing nin he hired to put in the job. They left to infiltrate the leaf village before the Kazekage was killed and so Orochimaru never knew.

It’s rather fitting that the kazekage ends up dead and Naruto ends up overpowered and traumatized with an equally overpowered traumatized and incredibly protective Hyuga backing him up

[lunatih]

i’m shy sorry for the anon

i like your art it’s very similar to mine. do you have any fan fiction recommendations for me??i’ve been getting into the breath of the wild fan fic’s recently but idk where to look i feel like you might know of some??? i also want to explore different fandoms so anything you’re reading right now? thank you, mwah x

Oh boy fanfic recommendations! 

You've asked and you shall receive!

I haven’t read a lot for botw but I can recommend these:

The Curious Minds by AllTheGoodUserNamesAreTaken The story is amazing and I’m pretty much obsessed with it. It’s a BL (Link / OC), slow burn. It’s still in progress but Holly (all hail Holly!) updates it pretty regularly.

Another BL (this one is finished) and also Link/OC is Something Greater by busket. It has quite a bit of humor and is much more lighthearted than The Curious Minds. The OC is also pretty interesting.

If you are a Link/Mipha fan then there is A Fish out of Water by JamesYorke. It’s an old story, still unfinished but it’s very good.

If you want some other fics from different fandoms then below is The List. Divided into fandoms so you can decide what you want. (some of them are from fanfiction.net ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Surprise surprise, most of it is BL xD

-- Naruto --

Doing the Work by MarbleGlove [ The mc is an adult female and not a ninja. Amazingly interesting for something that follows a housekeeper life]

The Medic-Nin's Guide to Casual Revolution by spideywhiteys [BL,  male medic OC, haven’t read all of it but the gay panic at the beginning is funny]

Making Lemonade by Meeceisme [male OC is not a part of team 7, no parings for now, wip, very much not welcomed daddy Kakashi]

-- For Trash of the Count's Family --

[very good story btw, got a manhwa adaptation last year]

After-Thought by Mango_to_sleep [if you know this fandom and want to feel pain this is a story for you, no pairings]

Silver Lining by RUNA_HADES [female OC, wip, humor, the romance is slowly starting]

-- I Was a Teenage Exocolonist --

If you know this game I can recommend this little story. It’s cute af.

Like a Fairy Tale by MaetheEllen 

-- SK8 the Infinity --

If you know this anime and like Langa and Reki then this fluff is just the fluffiest. It’s my comfort fic.

go and grab your sweater (the one that you like) by tiedbows [BL but nothing graphic, completed, seriously fluffy vibes]

-- Star Trek  --

Atlas by distractedKat [BL, Spock/Kirk, completed] It's an amazing story, that will have you yell at the end ‘Ah that’s why he does it!’. I think it keeps both Spock and Kirk very much in a character and I highly recommend it

--  Miraculous Ladybug --

Obsession by Kryalla Orchid [completed, 3 parts + an extra!, everyone’s favourite fake love-square and an interesting take on the main villain] 

-- Inuyasha --

All of these are Kagome / Sesshōmaru

Frivolous Sentimentalities by Tally Mark [humor, one-shot, a bit of Inuyasha bashing]

Beside You in Time by RosieB (oh so much not humor, slooow burn, dark and with a lot of incorporated history]

Unspoiled by forthright [cute humor, cute romance, also baby Sheshomaru]

-- Harry Potter --

The Chronic Hero Perspective by niklitera [BL] I’m in the middle of reading the first part and it.is.AH-mazing. The main character is an OC and a new professor in Harry’s third year. It touches a lot about growing as a person and about mental problems and it’s rather dark but very worth it

-- The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System --

Metagaming by esama [tagged as BL but nothing happened in the first two parts yet, humor, part 2 is already written and it’s just as good]

Qiong Ding's Littlest Shidi by Araceil [BL, between OC and Binghe. It’s tagged as Harry Potter crossover but I’ve seen nothing connecting it to HP and consider the mc as an OC instead of Harry’s reincarnation. It’s abandoned but the author posted a summary of the rest of the story at the end. I love it for the wonderful portrayal of YQQ and SQQ and the way it shows them actually explaining their past and making up. Also, it’s a FOUND FAMILY and I dig this shit]

If you know the Scum Villain then you also probably know Modao Zushi. Then I present you with:

-- Modao Zushi --

And Time Is But a Paper Moon by sami [BL, time travel, a lot of very diverse characters and load of family interaction, also very funny take on redoing the Water Abyss arc]

I’ve said that I have a lot of BLs , haven’t I? xD

Hope you will find something that you like here ^^

And send me your favourite fics - no matter the fandom. If you want to of course ;)

Anyway, thank you or the ask!

If you ever feel like sharing you art I’d love to see it ^^ No pressure though. Glad you like mine.

[iamyewonlee]

[KNU WEEK 3 Homework]

Here is a poem by Anais Nin called "Risk":

And then the day came, when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

This poem is related to the reading assignment that I asked you to read for this week, which is the Charles Bukowski poem "Roll the Dice" that I posted below.  

1-How do you feel the two pieces are related?  Explain your answer. 

>> I think both poems can be seen as a common meaning of life like randomness. If I understand, "Risk" is about taking risks in the face of danger, and "Roll the Dice" is about patience in negative situations. No one knows what will happen when we live our lives. I think the two poems are good poems related to this.

2-Do you think it is better to take risks in life or do you think it is best to play it safe?  Explain your answer.

>> I think it's good to be safe when I spend my life. Of course, it is difficult to ensure safety in all situations, but taking risks recklessly can lead to greater risks. Why would there be a saying, "First is safety, second is safety." Safety comes first. I don't think it's bad to be careful.

[zerofragileteethmachine]

my favvvorrrriittteeeee nin songs from each album 😋😋😋 not counting ghosts sorry i still have not listened to ghosts that is so much 😰

pretty hate machine:

hardddd to choose cus its a top 3 favorite nin album for me…. terrible lie, sicnh, or thats what i get

broken:

happiness in slavery

the downward spiral:

RUINERREERRRRRR if we are counting disc 2 tho then also probably closer to god

the fragile:

tdtwwa, we’re in this together, the great below, and starfuckers

with teeth:

ough my god impossible to pick this is a no skip album but i think if i absolutely had to it’s between only and the collector

year zero:

MY FAVORITE ONE OH MY GOD EVERY SONG ON THIS ALBUM IS PEAK OHHH MY GOD OH MY DEAR GOD uhh but i do have an obvious favorite its zero sum…… the great destroyer is also phenomenal….. and the greater good…… and capital g……. and obviously god given

the slip:

lights in the sky ouuhaghhh

hesitation marks:

copy of a and various methods of escape. i do also love the all time low remix thoooo

the trilogy:

NTAE

the idea of you RAAAAHHH my fav from the whole trilogy

add violence

the background world

bad witch

wasnt assssss big of a fan of this one but probably im not from this world especially the ending i like the ending a lot