#none of these blogs are ranked in any particular way | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sephirthoughts · 5 months ago

Text

Vincent's New Kid Just Dropped CH 10: More Deepground with Some Hojo Mischief

Rating: Mature

Warnings: hojo, canon-typical violence, referenced abuse and medical torture, two guys saying some misogynist BS, and i was gonna say nudity but it's just written, so it only counts as nudity if you imagine the character naked you dirty minded perv

NOTE: There's a scene in this chapter that was directly inspired by @siringadev 's beautiful artwork of Nero and Weiss and they gave me permission to post it with the story! Hit up their blog or twit for more awesome arts!

Unbeknownst to either of the brothers, Director Hojo had decided that now was the time to initiate his planned breeding program, for Weiss. The other scientists begged him to reconsider (out of fear for their own lives, more than any particular compassion for the twins), but he was adamant.

With Nero safely out of the way, for at least a week, including recovery, what better time to put Weiss to work servicing the various incubators he’d chosen to gestate his precious subject’s progeny (Hojo’s actual words).

That morning, after Nero had been taken away, a handler came to inform Weiss, who was grudgingly teaching some parrying moves to Rosso, that Director Hojo had selected a group of high-performing individuals, as potential entrants to Deepground, and that Weiss was to test them and choose the best candidates, after lunch.

When these ostensible prospective teammates were shown in to the arena, later that day, Rosso rolled her eyes and snorted audibly, at the transparency of Shinra’s intentions. All of them were female, and of a certain phenotype—small waists, round hips, and large breasts, with pouting lips and big, doe-like eyes. Most notably, none were mako-enhanced, which was the clearest indicator of their real purpose here.

As if it were a legitimate ranks inspection by their new commander, the young women lined up and stood at attention, then introduced themselves, giving their names, ages, and qualifications. They were all educated, accomplished, between twenty and twenty-five years of age, and despite their rather delicate appearances, combat-trained officers or elite troopers.

Naturally, they had been informed of their intended breeding partner’s age and inexperience, and had been quite expecting to find a gawky teenager. Thus, they were pleasantly surprised to see that Weiss was tall, hyperbolically fit, almost shockingly handsome, and in all ways looked like a full-grown adult male.

Their flushed cheeks and heated gazes were not lost on Rosso, who was a predator herself, and knew another when she saw it sniffing around her territory. She may not have had any interest in taking Weiss as a mate, herself, but he was her idol and leader. The idea of her leader having a gaggle of silly concubines following him around was an affront to her personal dignity, and got her hackles up.

Weiss, however, far from being enticed by the prospect of healthy, attractive females with which to mate, appeared entirely oblivious to their feminine charms. To Rosso’s endless amusement (and the flat disbelief of the observing scientists), he took the characterization of the situation as ‘vetting prospective teammates’ at face value, and proceeded to do just that.

When the introductions were got through, he ordered Rosso to test the candidates in hand-to-hand combat, then stood by looking bored, while she gleefully thrashed them, one by one.

To add literal insult to actual injury, Weiss ruthlessly rejected each one, as they were defeated, pronouncing them ‘weak’, ‘pathetic’, ‘worthless’, and so forth.

At the end of an hour, the fifteen bewildered and badly beaten young women had all been sent limping away, to complain to Director Hojo about that evil little harpy, who wouldn’t let them anywhere near Weiss, and beat them all black and blue.

“Well, the boy is young, and he’s not exactly versed in the ways of the world,” Hojo reasoned. “Perhaps he requires a more direct approach.”

When Weiss arrived at his quarters, that evening, two young women were waiting, lounging in a provocative pose together, on his bed. He stopped short, tense and wary, as the door shut behind him. Desiring to communicate that this was not an ambush (not that kind at least), the young ladies smiled and winked, sliding their hands invitingly up and down one another’s bare thighs.

Weiss’ silver-blue eyes flickered over their soft, curvy bodies, then he turned and slowly shrugged off his jacket, his ropy back muscles flexing and rippling with the motion of his arms.

This only encouraged the girls, and they redoubled their seductive efforts, beckoning to him and pressing their ripe, round breasts together, under the transparent lace of the lingerie they’d been dressed in.

Weiss hung his jacket on the hook, then approached the bed, with a beatific smile on his perfect lips.

At that point, anyone who was at all familiar with him would have been making peace with the god of their choice, but the two young ladies had never seen him before today, and took his placid demeanor for approval of their presence.

“I guess Professor Hojo sent you here,” he said mildly, looking down at them. “He really expects me to fuck this kind of haggard trash.”

At these unexpectedly harsh words, both young women bridled indignantly, jumping to their feet and dropping the femme-fatale theatrics.

“Hey, asshole! We don’t like it any more than you do,” one shot back. “We’re following orders, so just hurry up and fuck us, so we can leave, ok?”

Weiss summoned a blade to his hand. “You have polluted the bed my brother and I share, with your whorehouse perfume. Would you like me wash out the stench, with your blood?”

“Brother?” the first girl asked, confused. “Wait, what do you mean, you share a bed?”

“Please, Weiss!” the second girl begged, actually folding her hands in a supplicating pose. “If we don’t get your seed, Professor Hojo said he’ll use us as test subjects for his horrible experiments!”

“Oh—yeah, he did!” the first concurred, nodding vehemently. “You’ve seen the twisted shit he does to people, right? We’d rather die.”

Weiss lowered his blade and hesitated, furrowing his white brow. “It…would be cruel, to allow you to be taken and used for the professor's experiments.”

“Right!” the girls agreed. “So please, help us out, ok? We promise we’ll show you a good time.”

He drew a deep breath and then nodded. “Very well, I’ll help you.”

Neither of them even saw him move. But neither of them ever saw anything, again. Hojo later remarked, (far more admiringly than was strictly proper, given the circumstances) that not even a world-class surgeon could have done a cleaner, more elegant job of severing a human being’s brain stem, let alone two, and within a millisecond of one another.

Weiss, pleased with himself for his uncharacteristically charitable deed, dismissed his blade and went to the bathroom to shower, leaving the two young beauties lying on the floor by the door, neatly wrapped up in the bed linens they had lain in, which now stank of their unpleasantly heavy, floral perfume.

While he showered, he reached out to Nero, using their psychic link, only to find himself firmly rebuffed. He was so stunned, that he immediately tried again, from sheer disbelief. Once again, he ran into a solid wall. Weiss was dumbfounded, and immediately worried.

It was a shared ability, but Nero’s was far stronger, so he had the power to shut Weiss out, and Weiss would be helpless to do anything about it. Only, he never had, before. Why would he do it, now?

When he emerged from the shower, the bodies were gone, the linens were freshly changed, his supper was waiting, and there was a video call flashing on the monitor. He touched the screen to answer the call, and continued drying himself with his towel.

The face that popped up was a thin, weathered, middle-aged man, with long black hair, a hawkish nose, and round spectacles, which reflected light in a way that often concealed his eyes.

“I see you didn’t like any of the gifts I sent you,” His nasal voice said, in a tone of exaggerated disappointment. “Well, no matter. I have many more to choose from. Why don’t you tell me what you prefer, and we’ll go from there.”

“I prefer not to find your ‘gifts’ in my room,” Weiss returned, tossing his towel into the laundry bin. He was stark naked, but had absolutely no sense of bodily modesty, having been watched every moment of every day, since he was born.

The old man on the screen pushed up his spectacles, running his eyes over his subject’s flawless body, in undisguised admiration. This truly was the body of the perfect SOLDIER. Of all his experimental results, over the decades, there was only one who’d turned out better, so he had something of a soft spot for Weiss (as much as a eugenics-obsessed psychopath was capable of, at least).

“Fair enough, fair enough. There’s no need to send them to pester you in your down time. I can arrange for you to visit them during training hours, if that’s more convenient.”

“Not interested,” Weiss said flatly, as he sat down at the square, steel table, and began to eat his dinner.

“Don’t be difficult, my boy,” Hojo admonished. “You were always slated to be a sire for this breeding program. I won’t hide from you that the success of the project is depending entirely upon you, now. The other intended sire has turned out to be sterile.” He said the last part with an air of grievance, as if the individual in question had been infertile on purpose, to spite him. “Since the girls don’t appeal to you, tell me what incentives we can offer, to smooth the—”

“Professor, you are wasting your time,” Weiss interrupted, setting down his fork. “I will not be acting as a breeding stud, rutting with females at your command, like a pig in a sty. The prospect is as repulsive as it is insulting.”

Hojo was out of patience, now, and the mask of civility came off. “But it’s perfectly acceptable to you, to fuck your little brother? Who can’t even make use of the valuable genetic material your are wasting on him? Which, I might add, is proprietary Shinra biotechnology!”

“My brother is still a virgin,” Weiss replied tersely. “He’s not old enough for sex.”

“Semantics,” Hojo snorted. “Does it really require penetration, to count? Or is that just what you tell yourself, to excuse what you’ve been doing to that naïve child, who trusts his elder brother so much.”

If Weiss had the intelligence of a normal sixteen-year-old boy, or a much lower opinion of himself, this attack may have worked. However, he was neither stupid, nor plagued by paralyzing self doubt and ego shattering insecurity, like that certain subject that Hojo had been accustomed to dealing with. As such, the blow glanced off his hide like a wooden spear from the hull of a supertanker.

“I love my brother, professor. I will not betray him.”

Hojo waved hand irritably. “Oh, please. Don’t feed me that trite sentimentalism, it’s just copulation! Biology!! What does love have to do with it? Come, now. I’ve been more than reasonable, but I am growing impatient. Everyone has a price, so name yours.”

“There is none.”

“I see. I did not want it to come to this, Weiss. But if you persist in refusing to cooperate, I’ll be forced to use the stick, rather than the carrot.”

“Is that a threat, professor?” Wiess asked.

“I don’t have to make threats, my boy,” Hojo chuckled. “Don’t forget that I own you. And your precious brother. You have twelve hours to name your terms, or there will be consequences.”

With that, the video call disconnected and the screen blanked. Weiss sat perfectly still and calm, finishing his meal, betraying nothing of what was passing in his mind, through his posture or expression. Internally, however, his stomach was twisted into knots of anxiety.

Hojo’s message was clear: do as I say, or I’ll hurt your brother. But doing what Hojo said would hurt his brother anyway, and thus Weiss was chained between two unacceptable choices.

Agonized with indecision, and utterly lost without his other half to guide him, he tried to connect to Nero again, but that solid wall was still up.

What could he be doing, that would make him shut Weiss out like this? They’d always used their connection to comfort one another, especially when they were injured or undergoing some painful procedure or another.

Then a dark thought crossed his mind. What if the prototype prosthetic was an excuse, and they’d separated them for the purpose of making similar overtures to Nero, regarding breeding.

What if he’d agreed, out of concern for Weiss, and was with a woman, right now? What if he’d refused, but they’d drugged or restrained him, and forced him to…

No. That was paranoia talking. Nero himself had verified the information about the cybernetics specialist, from some handlers’ minds. He’d have known if he was being lied to.

That still left Wiess in this precarious position, alone, which was certainly Hojo’s intention, knowing the Nero was the brains of the operation. Now, it was up to Weiss to think of something, quickly. When Hojo contacted him, the next morning, he found the boy in a more cooperative frame of mind.

“Why does it have to be sex?” Weiss asked. “There are other methods of creating a pregnancy. Isn’t that how Nero and I were made?”

“Of course, in vitro fertilization is my preference,” Hojo answered. “Much cleaner and more reliable. Easier to control all the variables. But the costs for extraction and cryo-storage and implantation are prohibitive, on the scale I desire. Deepground’s budget is tight, and the board is already looking for excuses to slash it. They’ll never approve the extra expense.”

“That must be because they haven’t seen any results, yet,” Weiss pointed out.

Hojo pushed up his spectacles. “Ah, I see you’ve been using the enhanced brain I gave you. Well, go ahead. I’m listening.”

“Why don’t you let me show them that Deepground deserves just as much attention as SOLDIER. That it could be better than SOLDIER, like you always said. If we convince them that it’s worthwhile, they’ll increase the budget, which will free up funds for the in vitro procedures, and benefit the whole program, as well.”

“Interesting, interesting. But that’s a tall order. Just how do you plan to convince them?”

“Let me fight Sephiroth.”

Had the old man been sipping a beverage at that moment, he’d have spit it out, all over the monitor. “F—fight Sephiroth! You??” he sputtered, nearly choking with laughter, now that the initial shock had worn off. “You fool, he’d kill you six ways before you hit the ground!”

“I didn’t say I have to win,” Weiss returned, gloomily. “I just have to not lose badly enough that it’s an embarrassment to Deepground. He obeys you, right? Set up a match between us, for the executives. The board will love it, because it’ll be good PR for their poster boy, and it’ll also show them how successful the work you’re doing here has been. All you have to do is tell Sephiroth the plan, and that he has to beat me without making me look too bad. And get him to endorse the Deepground program. Unless…you can’t control him.”

“Tch, that child is putty in my hands. There’s no need to worry about his cooperation.” Hojo sat back, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “The tricky part will be creating a pretext for a sparring match between Shinra’s superstar and a total unknown, like you.”

Weiss shook his head. “That, I can’t help with. I’ve never even been outside. I have no idea how things like that proceed.”

“Never been outside,” Hojo muttered, absently removing his spectacles to wipe them with the sleeve of his lab coat. “Pity, too. You’re such a good boy. The only one who hasn’t disappointed me.”

“Except for Sephiroth, you mean.”

“I mean just as I say. Sephiroth may be well ahead of you, but it’s only because he’s so much older. If you work hard and don’t get lazy, you’ll surpass him, one day.”

This was news to Weiss, and happened to stroke his ego in exactly the right spot. “You…really think so?”

“Indeed. Your genes are purer, since his parents were chosen…impulsively, whereas yours were carefully selected. Most importantly, your mentality is superior to his. You are much less morbid and sensitive, and you have drive that he lacks. You’re ruthless and calculating, and you’re not ashamed of it.”

“Sephiroth seems fairly ruthless and calculating, to me,” Weiss hedged.

“Bosh. He knows how to seem cool and in control, for the public, but it’s all a façade. That boy is moody and temperamental and capricious, like a woman. Not only that, but he doesn’t enjoy success, at all, and spends all his time moping about killing people. And he’s always on about not having mother. You don’t have a mother, and I don’t see you crying about it.”

“What does he need a mother for?” Weiss asked, with a disdainful curl of his lip. “He’s the greatest warrior of all time. He should be proud of how he was raised, without the influence of a woman, to make him soft.”

“Ha! Try telling him that,” Hojo snorted. Then caught himself and cleared his throat. “Ahem. Well. I’ll take your suggestions into consideration. One way or another, we need to arrange a demonstration of your abilities to the board. It’s high time I got a chance to show you off.”

“Professor?” Weiss said, stopping Hojo as he was about to disconnect the call.

“Hm? What is it?”

“My brother. Is he alright?”

“Yes, yes, no need to trouble yourself about that. Dr. Ikari is the best in the world. I’m going to look in on him now, in fact. I’ll make sure everything is proceeding as expected. Is that all?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”

Weiss spent the next two days going through the motions of training, gazing absently off toward the surgical ward for minutes at a time, and letting Rosso follow him around everywhere, because it made no difference to him, if she was there or not.

He actually grew from grudging tolerance to tentative acceptance of her, during those few days, because she obeyed his orders without question, and didn’t try to talk to him, otherwise. Both excellent traits in a subordinate.

They were in the middle of a particularly intense virtual battle, when the simulated beasts and mountain landscape around them suddenly disintegrated, and the room went pitch dark. Then the flashing, red emergency lights came on, casting the room in bloody crimson. The floor shook, with the heavy clang of the reinforced blast doors coming down, over the top of the doors to the training room, as the alarm klaxons began blaring.

“Lockdown,” Rosso muttered. “But we’re both here, so—”

“Nero,” Weiss said, finishing the thought.

Rosso stood tense and ready, awaiting further orders, but after a minute had passed, and he hadn’t spoken again, she could no longer bear to remain silent. “Commander? What are we going to do?”

“Nothing,” Weiss said tranquilly. “They will come to us, shortly.”

Rosso glanced reflexively toward the doors, then back at Weiss, who was seating himself in a lotus position, with his long sword balanced across his knees.

She knew better than to question him further, so she did the same, swallowing her deep dread of being locked in a training room, in the dark, and forcing herself to take slow (though rather shaky) breaths.

Perhaps five minutes passed, then suddenly a voice came crackling loudly over the intercom, nearly startling her out of her skin.

“Weiss! There you are! Get the hell over here and control your lunatic brother!”

“Good afternoon, professor,” Weiss replied calmly, looking up toward the camera. “I’d like to comply with your order, sir, but we are in lockdown status. The blast doors have closed.”

There was rustling and some garbled cursing from the other side, then Hojo’s voice returned, sounding annoyed and impatient, but not particularly worried. “These imbeciles can’t lift the lockdown for that room, without lifting it for the entire complex. I assume you can get out on your own?”

Weiss’ eyes glinted in the red glare of the emergency strobes. “Not without causing damage to Shinra property.”

“I hereby authorize you to damage whatever you need to, just get to the surgical ward ASAP. He’s already killed three squads of guards and Hades knows how many doctors and scientific staff.”

“Yes, sir.”

Rosso was a bit confused by what she saw next. Weiss seemed to vanish, from his seated position, and almost simultaneously reappear, standing before the doors, amid multiple flashes of white light.

“Go protect Director Hojo. Stay with him, until I am sure my brother is safe,” he said over his shoulder, as the steel doors to the training room, and the three-foot thick reinforced blast doors outside those, collapsed to the ground, cleanly sliced into dozens of geometric fragments.

“Y—yes, sir,” Rosso answered.

Before the words were even all the way out of her mouth, Weiss had vanished again, displacing air behind him like a small explosion.

Rosso stood gaping, for a few seconds, before she dashed off to obey his orders. Her heart pounded and her breath came short as she sped down the hall, but it wasn’t from the running. It was from the adrenaline pumping through her body, at the sudden, staggering revelation of Weiss’ speed and strength, and the swiftly dawning realization of just how little of his power she’d actually ever seen.

She wondered if the Shinra people were even aware of his full power. They must not have been, if they thought that lockdown doors like those were enough to contain him.

Though, Professor Hojo hadn’t seemed to harbor any misguided notions. He hadn’t questioned for a moment that Weiss could break through those doors, and only told him to hurry up.

What was their relationship, anyway? The two spoke so familiarly with one another, and the professor seemed to have quite a bit of trust in his imprisoned test subject. Well, whatever it was, her orders from Weiss were clear. Find Director Hojo and keep an eye on him, under the pretext of guarding him, as insurance, in case Nero wasn’t alright.

She almost wished he wouldn’t be. Not that she wished Nero any particular harm (she rather liked the vampiric little psychopath), it was just that, in the case that Nero was killed, or even irreparably harmed, Weiss would certainly revolt against their captors.

Then she would be free to slash and slaughter to her heart’s content, as they fought their way out of this place. And then…and then she would find either her death, or the open sky. What a glorious day that would be.

Weiss reached the surgical ward, within two minutes of departing the training room, moving like a rush of wind, far faster than the human eye could perceive him, and blowing through the many layers of locked down security doors on the way, like they were nothing more than tissue paper.

The last set were the double-doors leading into the ward. He kicked them open with a boom, and surveyed the situation. The lights in the main hallway were out, and with the equipment and papers and things strewn all about the floor, and the place lit only by the red emergency strobes, it looked very much like a hospital from a horror film.

Weiss had never seen a horror film, however, and wouldn’t have been frightened by one if he had, and strode into the scene of pandemonium unconcerned.

The hallway branched left and right, and he didn’t know which way Nero was. The cameras and intercom were out, as well, so Hojo couldn’t tell him. The only way was to try their connection.

When he reached out, this time, he thought he’d hit that wall again, but when he tried to draw back, he found himself unable to do so. It wasn’t like Nero holding onto his strand, but more like he’d collided with a wall of thick, sticky tar and sunk a few inches in, and now it didn’t want to let him pull himself free.

Rather than struggle like a fool, he relaxed and let himself sink deeper and deeper into the cold, clinging slime, till suddenly, he popped through on the other side…into a lightless void, so black it was like swimming in ink.

He was pondering which direction to go, when he heard screams, suddenly, and looked over, to see faintly-glowing bluish shapes, being dragged deeper into the blackness.

Seeing his bright, white light, they reached out and begged him for help, probably mistaking him for an angel, come to save them. He ignored their pleas, only following behind as they wailed and bawled, struggling impotently against the inexorable force that was pulling them along.

This force that was pulling them along was actually thin strands of sticky, black shadow, like nightmare spider’s silk. Weiss knew this, because the strands kept brushing against him, but they never grabbed hold of him or even adhered to his body (or rather, his human-shaped psychic projection).

For what seemed a long time, he followed the doomed souls into the darkness, till at last, eight red suns rose in the black sky, a crown of immense, bloody jewels, emitting no light and yet bathing everything in their crimson glow.

Weiss realized with a thrill that sent shivers up his spine, that these things were neither suns, nor jewels, but titanic eyes, belonging to a spider the size of a planet.

It was a colossal beast of ancient power, impossibly massive in size, wreathed in writhing shadow, blacker than the abyss, as if the essence of its being was the negation of light, rather than simply the absence thereof. Its eight segmented legs reached out from its thorax, spread wide enough to encompass galaxies, had there been any stars in the abyss.

With careless ease, it consumed the microscopic souls, which passed in through its fanged jaws in the blink of an eye, and were no more. Then its eyes fell upon the tiny, silver-white star, that had descended into its domain.

Rearing up suddenly in defense, as high as a nebula rising into the reaches of space, it raised its enormous forelegs and snapped its mandibles, with a sound like the crackling of thunder.

Weiss, who alone had the strength to maintain a human form in this realm of chaos and annihilation, spread his arms in response, and a ray of light reached out from him to pierce the darkness.

The spider shrank back, curled into itself, drew its galaxy spanning legs in tight against its black bulk, and hid its eyes from the blinding light. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of black strands of web shot out and wove themselves into a defensive mesh of shadow and confusion, to disorient and keep the angel away.

To the behemoth’s disbelief, the light passed right through its barrier of webs, and the tiny angel kept coming, unhindered and unafraid.

The closer it came, the more the spider curled and shrank into itself, until it was hardly larger than a human child. A tiny, pathetic thing, trembling and quaking before a towering angel of light.

“Brother,” said a voice, as soft as a baby’s breath and as mighty as the roaring of the sea. “Why are you afraid?”

The spider shook harder, and tried to hide what it knew was its hideous, arachnid face, with fanged mandibles and eight eyes, but the angel reached out and took its head in his strong hands.

“Nero. You are so beautiful,” he said, gently stroking the horned, oil-black exoskeleton. “Never hide your face from me. You may conceal yourself in darkness, and hide away from all the world, but never from me.”

As he said these words, he leaned in, heedless of the huge, venomous fangs, and pressed his perfect lips to the spider’s horrific maw.

Lured by his warmth and softness, the spider reached helplessly toward him, with its black pedipalps, which seemed to suddenly look much more like human hands, where they touched his broad shoulders.

Slowly, very slowly, its eight legs uncoiled and wrapped themselves around the angel’s silky, silver-white body, taking care not to hurt him, with the sharp tips of the arachnid appendages. As the angel deepened the kiss, the spider’s fanged jaws spread wider and wider, and began to recede altogether. At last, they revealed the smooth, white, lower half of human face.

The angel laughed softly and kissed him again, holding onto his bulky thorax and pushing his lips apart, sliding his tongue into his mouth, eager and possessive, and infinitely tender. A kiss filled with a love so profound, it shattered the rest of the spider’s black carapace and fully exposed the tiny, fragile and vulnerable human body, that he had been trying so hard to protect.

But that didn’t matter now. Weiss was taking him in his arms and holding him close, against his big, solid, blazing hot chest, and Nero’s mind was filled with his strong heartbeat, that sounded in his ears like the music of life itself.

Nero buried his face in his brother’s neck and breathed a shuddering sigh. It was alright, now. Weiss had him. The spider could hide away in abyss inside, again. Weiss would protect him. Everything would be alright.

At that time, he had truly believed it.

LINK TO NEXT CHAPTER:

#nero the sable #weiss the immaculate #rosso the crimson #sephiroth #vincent valentine #cid highwind #valenwind #ff7 vincent #weiss x nero #weinero #deepground #final fantasy 7 #ff7 #deepground tsviets #dirge of cerberus #ff7 remake #the vincent family #dad!vincent #warning: hojo

14 notes · View notes

unironicallycringe · 2 years ago

Note

My semi-incoherent ramblings and questions:

“The colours of their nails signified their class. For example, black nails were considered higher rank whereas green fingernails... not so much.” a reblog from the tag TMM notes

Wait you made Ghost’s nails black. And Shenbar’s is green, G’otishmmar has none (it seems like G’otishmmar dislikes the class distinctions?).

Do you mind explaining which colour means what?

Why is the Goht from majora's mask listed as writing notes along with "the charging goat" tag, what are you planning to do with G’otishmmar. >:(

“#Surely There Aren't Any Complex Political Issues Depicted In This Mural And I'm Sure Gran Is Fine With It Being In Her Home”

yes I’m totally sure portraying Gran and the Lizarfos in a black and white way is fine. I wonder why she still stays? Other than because her children.

Caladbolg is heading south to Woodfall isn’t he? That sound bad, really bad. I wonder why Caladbolg decided to go passed the wall anyways.

Oooo Ghirihim has a bad relationship with the Igo-kana Interestinggggg. I smell drama.

“Garo were enemies of the Ikana Kingdom. Their nation sent several spies to investigate Ikana Canyon to gather intelligence” From the Zelda wiki

Masada is a Garo huh. The sheikah are or are involved with Garo. The Garo also took mini Ursang away. >:(

They’re trying to do something again >:((

(Mini demon Ursang and Ghost is very cute whyyy)

Do Igo-kana names change based on how they perceive themselves? In other words was Ursang always Ursang?

“Igos du Ikana” from Majora’s mask.

Huh, I wonder how long Ikana lasted. How prevalent is musicka in the current society and does it become more widely used overtime?

Also is it possible to explain which cultures influence the cultures in this world?

I have been currently shaking your tumblr blog like a tin of my favourite snack for the past couple days.

As you can see I very much love the world you are making (maybe a little too much), please tell me more.

Sorry if it seems overwhelming due to me spit firing questions like this but I’m not sure how to coherently put this thing together. (”- _ -)

Long Answer Post Incoming (Which Will Probably Get Built In My Drafts Over The Next Week Or So)

Regarding Nail Colors

Nail color being class-coded wasn't planned until I learned about its historical significance myself. Shenbar's being green was coincidental to her design, but it fit nicely with the class theme I'm going for in Orq'oten. So far, only green and black mirror the class-coding of real historical use of kohl. It's moreso a minor setting detail since it was unplanned from the start.

G'otishmmar does indeed dislike class distinctions, though that might not have always been the case.

Regarding G'otishmmar Being Tagged With "Goht" Sometimes

Regarding Caladbolg

They certainly headed somewhere, probably looking for their lost cargo...

Regarding the Garo and Sheikah Connection

You're pretty much there! There's one group of people missing in the equation, which you can find in the chapters about the Lanayru Distribution Center ruins.

Regarding Ursang & Igo Names

Ursang is this particular character's birth name.

It's not typical for an Igo to change their name as often as they change their face. I'd say the core identity associated with a name is kind of like a safe harbor to return to, especially for a culture of shape-shifters. Of course, that core might shift over time in natural ways (growing into a new life role, gender associations, etc), which could result in name change.

Regarding Ikana and Musicka

In my mind, Ikana spends a long yet indeterminate amount of time declining before becoming the ruins in Majora's Mask. The kingdom used to encompass all of what is now simply regarded as Termina, but it shrinks to only the area you find in-game.

Musicka is a niche area of study for demons since they grasp it less easily. In Ikanan society at the time of TMM, it's mainly used for entertainment as an art form, and rarely for serious spellwork. Most demons tend to overlook its potential in favor of the more useful Magicka. Musicka's prevalence increases after Ikana's decline.

Regarding Real World Cultural Influences

Ikana as a whole: Ancient Fertile Crescent (Babylon, Sumer, Akkad)

Boko-kana: Middle East/West Asia (They influence Ikanan culture as a whole because they're the most numerous peoples, so this ties into Ikana having the above cultural identity. Other demon tribe cultural influence sort of radiate outward from here in similar directions to their fictional map)

Gerra-kana: South and Southeast Asia

Igo-kana: Central Asia

Massu-kana: Eastern Europe and Asia Minor

Twili-kana: Northern Asia

The Hylians and Sheikah follow the general canon vibes of Europe and East Asia respectively. The Gerudo here are North African inspired.

Thank you very much for the ask, it got my creative bits working and put TMM on my spinning microwave plate too :3c I hope my answers satisfy in ways that also continue to intrigue you.

#answered ask #mask maker musing #zelda au #also feel free to correct me if i contradict myself #fanfiction being serially written means some stuff doesnt exist until i get there #and some stuff changes after ive already passed it #i sometimes think of longfic as a continually-sharpening draft

9 notes · View notes

marzistarz2002 · 2 years ago

Text

My life's escapade with Weetabix

So, all my life I have always loved Weetabix, and that's been my thing. Like how you have a childhood nickname that only your family members call you on very special occasion... that's me and Weetabix... its special. It's always been in my house, I've always eaten it, and importantly, I can remember all of it. When I ate it, how I ate it, why I ate it, where I ate it. So I decided to try documenting some core memories about my life when Weetabix has been in it.

This blog post will contain 7 main sections describing some of the memories I have with Weetabix, accompanied with a themed ranking with absolutely no explanation to my reasonings.

The First Time

Now, I don't actually remember the first ever time in my life where I ate Weetabix because I was probably a baby... but I do have a very vague early memory so I shall call that the first time. It was night time, supper time even. The diamond multicolour table cloth was covering the kitchen table, the smell of the plastic filing the air around me. A bowl of Weetabix was placed in front of me. Cold milk, raisins, and one Weetabix, waiting to be tiredly eaten. That little snippet of my childhood can't be dated, or refined in any way. All I know was that bowl of cereal was the nicest thing I'd eaten all day and I went to bed with a full stomach, happy.

Minatare? and chocolaty!?

This particular time holds a very special place in my heart... the first time I had mini chocolate Weetabix. I can't remember exactly where but I was in a campsite with my family and their friends. Their tent was green, our tent was blue. Us kids had just gotten into the rec. centre and messed about on the pool tables the night before. As an experience camper I knew the best way to eat cereal in the morning... curled up on one of our blue camping chairs right in front of the door... and if they were taken, on the floor inside the tent with the bowl on top of my knees. The bowl was a rich dark blue colour the cereal was beige with tiny bits of chocolate floating in the milk, it rested perfectly in my lap as I sat on the chair. Excited, I took my first bite when I heard the worst kind of sound that can come from any Weetabix... a crunch. How rude they are for making such a heavenly cereal so crunchy! But I kept going, intrigued by the chocolate and the size, as I went on crunching away, my prayers had been answered as the milk started disappearing and the Weetabix turned into mush... finally the ideal texture but 10 times better as there was chocolate... and I love chocolate. That experience, I'd say, was one of the most adventurous times I've eaten Weetabix.

The best kind

Plain Weetabix (includes branded and Tesco's own brand)

Banana flavoured Weetabix

Oatabix

Fruit and nut Weetabix mini's

Chocolate Weetabix mini's

Weetabix on the Go

The worst time

In recent years I have become someone who drinks oat milk, but in my youth I was strictly a green or at a stretch, a blue milk drinker. And sometimes I would steal my mums soya milk for a change up or if there wasn't any milk left. Now for this memory, milk is obviously the main topic. I have, at the time of this memory, drank only cow's milk and soya milk with my favourite cereal. However, one night before Harp lessons, I going to eat some Weetabix. I opened the fridge to acquire the milk... none. I call my parents to tell them there isn't any milk left... asking for my mum's soya milk was at the tip of my tongue. All of a sudden I am being told to eat this bowl Weetabix drowned in almond milk. never have I ever had almond milk, I hated the idea of drinking that, I hated almonds. But I was hungry, and that was the only solution my parents had. I fought it, I complained, I cried the entire time. From the second the first spoon full touched my lips, up until I couldn't stand it anymore. I was being forced, in the eyes of pubescent me, to eat this vile excuse for milk... this liquid that tainted the pure loveliness of Weetabix. Her bland flavour absorbed this liquid, quickly turning into an offensive mush in my bowl. The anger, the sadness, the frustration! All I wanted was to feel joy, to feel the heavenly, milky sludge that is a bowl of Weetabix. But that didn't happen and I had to live with myself for making the decision to ask for help, for not just taking the soya milk. I had to live with the fact that I had just eaten the worst bowl of Weetabix ever.

Ranking milks

Manx Green cow's milk

Oat milk

Cow's milk

Soya milk

Three at once?

As you might have gathered by now, I like my Weetabix a certain way. Throughout this collection of memories, I haven't mentioned the quantity of Weetabix that is desired. This is simply for the sole reason of this memory. All my life I was orderly, I followed the rules, I kept to the routine, I only ever ate one or two pillows at a time. One if I wasn't particularly hungry, or I was a small child, and two because it was the perfect amount to have after school or just before bed. Anyway, this story starts in on a little island called The Isle of Man, situated in the Irish sea, between my home country of Ireland and the countries of Great Britain. In a little house on the southern end of the island I was coming down the stairs from my cousins room, into her kitchen. We had just had a sleepover after the most diabolical day of my life. (I won't get into it as it adds absolutely nothing to the context of this blog) My aunt was there preparing breakfast, I get handed a very deep plastic bowl and to my surprise there was not one, not two, but three Weetabix pillows inside. I had never seen such a sight. Three...!? Three requires triple the milk, and so I filled that big bowl with the beautiful Manx milk. Sitting at the dining room table, the cold brown leather on my legs matched the cold milk in that transparent bowl. I crush the pillows to make my desired texture, I lift my spoon thats filled with the comfort I will forever seek, and I ate three Weetabix for the first time in my life.

The best bowls

Regular bowl that is suitably deep

A mug

That one fairy princess bowl in my Grandparents

Small blue camping bowl

Shallow soup bowl

… Liquid

Mornings. The bane of my existence throughout my school career. My bus picked me up at the bus stop at 8:15 every morning during secondary school. The first to arrive, and the last to leave I spent a significant amount of time waiting at school because of that bus. But mornings were always far worse that afternoons. I would set my alarm for a reasonable time but did I get up? of course not! I went back to sleep. I almost always jumped out of bed around 7:45 realising that I was going to be late, hurried to get dressed, and ran out the door, up to the bus stop. Not once during the mornings did I have time to eat... breaktime was my breakfast. That all changed one evening as I was helping my mum with the food shop. Turning the into the next isle, a familiar logo caught my eye, a logo I had seen often in my life. The words 'Weetabix' sprawled down a curved blue bottle, 'on the go' just below. All of a sudden it clicked, the best problem solving I have ever done. I don't have to skip breakfast just because I have horrible time management skills (undiagnosed and unknown adhd) . I proposed this idea to my mother, who wholeheartedly agreed. The next morning, I carried on with my unorganised routine, but before I left the door, I grabbed that special blue bottle. After running to my stop, I had some time to spare so I cracked open the bottle and started to drink. It was a strange texture... something I'd definitely have to get used to. But as I sat there, waiting for my bus, looking over the fields, down to the sea. The cows grazing behind me. I had, for the first time in ages, breakfast.

Stale...

Fun fact, Weetabix can go out of date. I learned that the hard way. This was another interesting holiday in the IOM, and bless my grandparents they are so sweet, but they kinda don't know how to chuck out food. I was visiting with my mum and sister during my holidays and stayed in my grandparents spare room. Which meant that breakfast was out of my control. It was the first morning my grandad put out some Weetabix because he knows how much I love it. Overjoyed, I made myself a bowl. Two pillows drowned in milk. But this was no ordinary bowl... this Weetabix had been open for so long that the milk took so long to absorb. It tasted like carboard, with the texture of cardboard... I didn't want to disappoint so I continued chewing away. Weetabix shouldn't be chewy. I couldn't bring myself o look at the date on the box. I had committed to the decision to finish the bowl. Never again did I have that Weetabix during that trip, toast and juice that was slightly the wrong colour got me through. What a learning experience that holiday was... and what I took away from that ordeal was to not eat out of date spaghetti hoops or I will throw up days later in front of an aeroplane.

My ideal Weetabix

This entire ting has led up to this moment. The moment where I reveal the most perfect way to eat Weetabix! I return to this way time and time again, and Weetabix is never as good when it isn't ate this way. So, the perfect bowl of Weetabix consists of: 2 Weetabix pillows in a decently sized bowl, oat milk, and raisins (or lele's as I call them). It's as simple as that.

Ranking different toppings

Raisins/saltanas

Bananas and honey

Grapes and apple bits

Nutella

Sugar

7 notes · View notes

theloverscardtarot · 3 months ago

Note

They don't want to look into other readings being similar because they don't want to think we might be telling the truth. They have a bug up their ass about us.

I want to add up to this; the readings about Evan’s soulmate / Future Partner whatever. and i mean all of em including the readings that been done on OG blog, another reader from Tiktok, plus the reading you shared a link of below from YouTube and others on YT as well, they described the same person lmaaaaao. It’s hilarious 😂 oh i know, but you cannot deny this because it’s proven that it’s not made up by a fan reader. Particular readers whom aren’t even his fans described this energy of this woman. So tweam ass kissers, whether you choose to believe it or not you can suck it, because trust me they are reading this blog and living rent free here just to get their ego fed up while jokingly sitting there and anonymously ranking out others just because, well simply the description doesn’t fit with you. Ironically that’s all what most of them do, sit in their rooms rotten and fantasize to be Evan’s gf, pretending or trying harshly to write good things about Natalie. “Oh i wish them happiness 😩🫶🏻” , “ Natalie grab his ass get preacher and tie the knot ”. Bruh! We know that you deep down wish it was you not her. Read it again ass kisser. Most of y’all are post Dahmer weirdos who believe they deserve to be his saver just because Evan mistakingly made y’all believe that he’s into normies. First learn to stop harassing others, learn to accept yourself the way you are not you being a brunette or a petit blonde is giving you the chance to be with him, sorry but not even 1.0 %. If you feed your ego on ranking out others. I’m 100% sure none of those anons and tweam dare to say that face to face in real life, that’s how weak people act up on social media just some sort of blah blah blah, behid the phone screen. I have stopped reading tea blogs in ages. Because it’s so irritating logging in to read some tea, smuts about your celeb crush. Ending up instead reading hate, cyber bullying against what others do, post whatever ; Y’ALL it’s not highschool thing !!!!!!!! This fandom is ruined ever since hate blogs came out. Admin you are doing God’s job 🤘🏻 keep it going, not about tarot. But for just being you level headed as a true fan should be. The Rest if you are reading my ask you can ALL SUCK IT!

Just want to add this note : I am shockingly going to say this ; what garbage Evan’s fandom is carrying ? Knocking on Frances’s job, style comparing it to Natalie ? SERIOUSLY ?????? What the hell is that ? Claiming that Fran isn’t on the same level as Nat to wear Prada ? Lmao comparing two women because of a MAN?????? Y’all are insane 💀 (“ I don’t tolerate hate on my blog”, once upon a time a tea blog owner said lmaaaaao) if yk yk.

THANK YOU anon! I'm glad that some people see through all of it. We are not trying to spread any hate here. And we can't help what the cards say. But, I do think it's so cool how everyone gets the same cards. And whoever is saying we are interpreting the cards wrong, obviously do not look at or don't care that non Evan fan readers are getting the same thing! Readers that are FAR more advanced than us are like "why are they together?" So either that person isn't very intuitive or they don't even read tarot! Cause come on.

Anyway thank you for reading our blogs. Feel free to call me out if this blog ever starts looking like certain others 😉 #iykyk

1 note · View note

argentilibrary · 4 months ago

Text

Summary, Stances, Submits (+ How To Contact)

Plaintext at the end of the post, after the four dashes and under the read more. This post is recommended to be read before interacting with our blog. This post was last edited July 22, 2024. SUMMARY: Argenti Library is a blog dedicated to posting informational resources of all kinds. (Carrds, Rentries, Websites, Organizations, Articles, Personal Research, or any other form of information that may be interesting or helpful for plurals to read)

There is a lack of aggregated information on the internet for these topics, causing there to be large amounts of "the telephone game," echo chambers, misinformation on every side, and general harm to most communities involved. Argenti Library believes that it is healthy for anyone on any side of an argument to read and understand the other side's arguments, be able to easily understand and recognize bias in information on both sides, and to be able to interact with those with differing opinions respectfully. We will do our best to keep any and all posts accessible to all users.

STANCES: Argenti Library is neutral on any and all stances. Anyone, regardless on opinion, is welcome to interact and submit resources they deem interesting or informational.

SUBMITS: To submit a resource to Argenti Library, use the Argenti Library inbox labeled "Front Desk" and fill out the form below to the best of your ability. To ask a question, refer to How To Contact. To Request an accessibility and/or risk addition or a change to the author's stance, you may use either the Front Desk inbox or contact us on our main at your discretion.

Submission Form: Resource link: Located from (optional): Stance of submitter on resource topic (optional): Post with ask attached or as a standalone post: Anything else? (optional):

HOW TO CONTACT: For questions, comments and concerns, contact us on our main, @endogenicentropy. To know more about the librarian's personal stances (though they will be kept omitted from this blog wherever possible), contact us on our main, @endogenicentropy. To debate us on our personal stances, contact us on our main, @endogenicentropy. To send us pictures of birds you took or other various completely unrelated commentary, contact us on our main, @endogenicentropy. We do not have another blog, and if we did, we would not associate it with this one. If we create another blog, we will advertise it on our main. (our main is @endogenicentropy) ---- [Plaintext:

Summary: Argenti Library is a blog dedicated to posting informational resources of all kinds. (Carrds, Rentries, Websites, Organizations, Articles, Personal Research, or any other form of information that may be interesting or helpful for plurals to read)

Extended Summary: Argenti Library is a blog run currently by one individual. It will post all forms of information, from any side of any argument, as long as they: 1. Do not call for the extermination of any particular group 2. Do not encourage individuals to commit crimes, harass individuals, or otherwise engage in harmful behavior 3. Are respectful to the mods and anyone who may interact with this account regardless of stance 4. Are, in some way, informational. These rules go for anyone who interacts with this account regardless of their stances on anything. There is a lack of aggregated information on the internet for these topics, causing there to be large amounts of "the telephone game," echo chambers, misinformation on every side, and general harm to most communities involved. Argenti Library believes that it is healthy for anyone on any side of an argument to read and understand the other side's arguments, be able to easily understand and recognize bias in information on both sides, and to be able to interact with those with differing opinions respectfully. We will do our best to keep any and all posts accessible to all users.

Stances: Argenti Library is neutral on any and all stances. Anyone, regardless on opinion, is welcome to interact and submit resources they deem interesting or informational.

Argenti Library labels every resource by: 1. Accessibility: Ease of reading, general screenreader compatibility, flashing lights, bright colors, or any other important to note comments on accessibility, including those requested to be added. 2. Credibility: Ranked by a 5 star system. Resources that cite credible sources (credible referring to a source that is either scholarly or popular, linked clarification: https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/c.php?g=83917&p=3747680) will receive the highest amount of stars, while resources with no sources have the lowest amount or none. 3. Risk (1): A color system (Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red) that corresponds with the likelihood an article contains content that could be triggering to the reader. (Blue being absolutely no risk, Green being very low risk, Yellow being low but possible risk, Orange being medium risk, and Red being high risk). 4. Risk (2): Any possible triggers listed. This includes most common and some uncommon triggers, if deemed necessary to add or requested. 5. Stance of author: If an author is pro neu or anti endo, pro neu or antiship, pro neu or anti radqueer, or any other stance that is relevant to the resource. Submits: to submit a resource to Argenti Library, use the Argenti Library inbox labeled "Front Desk" and fill out the form below to the best of your ability. To ask a question, refer to How To Contact. To Request an accessibility and/or risk addition or a change to the author's stance, you may use either the Front Desk inbox or contact us on our main at your discretion. Submission Form: Resource link: Located from (optional): Stance of submitter on resource topic (optional): Post with ask attached or as a standalone post: Anything else? (optional):

How To Contact: For questions, comments and concerns, contact us on our main, endogenicentropy. To know more about the librarian's personal stances (though they will be kept omitted from this blog wherever possible), contact us on our main, endogenicentropy. To debate us on our personal stances, contact us on our main, endogenicentropy. To send us pictures of birds you took or other various completely unrelated commentary, contact us on our main, endogenicentropy. We do not have another blog, and if we did, we would not associate it with this one. If we create another blog, we will advertise it on our main. (our main is endogenicentropy)

/End plaintext]

0 notes

dreamatia-stories · 9 months ago

Text

The Peggle Academy Gang

Way, way back on Bjorn's blog, tucked in a post he made about sequel ideas, he told us about an organization known as the Peggle Academy. As the years have gone by, the only member of the Academy that has ever come up is Fnord.

Considering the Academy is pretty important to the plot of OoD (and how EA doesn't give a damn about the franchise), I would almost definitely have to design my own evil counterparts.

Bjorn gives the description that "they look just like us, only with eyepatches, goatees, and hue-shifted color palettes", but I'll be real with you, if everybody looked like that it'd be boring design-wise and hard to take seriously. (Plus Fnord breaks two of those rules anyway when he shows up again in Blast.)

My design philosophy here is basically to pick a similar species to the Original 10, give them traits that clash with their counterparts, and do something with their eyes. (The eyepatch is Fnord's thing now.)

The Control "Group"

Fnord Unicorn: Bjorn's brother. The oldest of four, Fnord was once the heir to a noble and highly respected clan of unicorns, until a tragic Thunderball accident destroyed one of his eyes and cost him everything. Using appearance-altering magic to cast away his former self, he's since dedicated his life to destroying everything the culprit holds dear.

As you can see, Fnord's stake in this is just a tad more personal in OoD. I'll be the first to admit I never actually finished Blast (and probably never will with how broken it is now), so if Fnord DOES give a backstory in that game I'd be glad to hear it.

Fnord used to have a white coat and green mane (which makes it a LOT more believable that they could be related), which was altered into an orange coat and red mane by the time of Blast. In addition, if I do get the chance to draw him, I'd probably give him electricity scars behind his eyepatch.

The Most Complete

Lilah Nightshade: The first one I designed way back when, Lilah is all about fun, the nightlife, and most of all herself. Her sole interest is in her own pleasure, and she doesn't care who or what might be hurt by it; after all, who cares about the future if you're living in the present? Lilah joined the Academy's ranks to stick it to that uppity little Sunflower who works for the Institute, who won't stop whining about "consequences" and "keeping the planet healthy".

Since she's Tula's counterpart, I wanted to go with a plant that invoked the night. I went with the Nightshade, which is purple to contrast Tula's greens and yellows, star-shaped to invoke how she thinks she's the star, and famously poisonous to mirror her toxic personality. She wears sunglasses, both as a sort-of rejection of the sun and their association with being cool.

I don't remember which specific kind of nightshade she's based on, but since she's a super old concept I probably didn't actually bother distinguishing that. There's at least one drawing in my archive of her true form.

Ivan Roseberry: A mysterious plant who lives in the basement of the Academy building, and whose vines are embedded into its foundation. Unlike the others, Ivan has no particular ill will towards the Institute, merely doing what Fnord says because he's one of the few people who will actually talk to him. He cares for a rose garden on the Academy grounds, which he is fiercely protective of.

I'll be real, Ivan came to me in a dream, so he doesn't actually have any real-life inspiration; his name (both in- and out-of-universe; nobody at the Academy knows what he is either) is mostly just from the fact that he's a berry who tends to roses. Googling "roseberry fruit" brings up several different kinds of fruit, but none of them are light pink like Ivan. He's mainly a Magic Realm-exclusive species, like unicorns and dragons; which coincidentally gives him a contrast with Renfield, who is heavily implied by PvZ to have sprouted in "our" world. His powers also contrast Renfield's, with Ivan's being associated with life rather than death.

Ivan has blue rings around his eyes, which also were just there in the dream. So far, he's the only Academy member to actually have both of his eyes visible.

Less Concrete Characters

Doc Thunder: A smug guinea pig scientist who believes only the worthy should be allowed in STEM. He has no qualms with experimenting on others in the name of advancing scientific knowledge. Believes that Jimmy's own scientific pursuits are an insult to the field.

Doc Thunder is the first character I don't actually have a design for yet, despite him being kind of important. That said, he'd probably look pretty similar to the Fake Jimmy from Peggle 2, for plot-related reasons. I picked guinea pig both for the science ties and for the fact that I thought Jimmy was one for years. (That, and it's a similar size to Jimmy's ACTUAL species, the gopher.)

The Doc will probably wear opaque goggles, "because SOMEONE has to wear PPE around here and it CLEARLY isn't that pathetic excuse for a so-called 'biologist'-"

Count Ashheart: A former member of the Order of the Flame who disagreed with its rules and attempted to form a splinter faction: rather than controlling the Flame to ensure it lasts, Ashheart believed the Flame should consume all and burn as hot and bright as possible. As such, he decided he would become one with the Flame, immolating his body to serve what he believed was his higher power. Now undead, he continues to attempt to influence the Academy's students to follow his example, to Cinderbottom's anger and Fnord's annoyed chagrin.

Ashheart technically DOES have a design: a charred dragon skeleton, who occasionally wreathes himself in blue flame. But I neither know how to extrapolate a skeleton from Cindy nor how that's supposed to work with the Humanoid Filter, so I'm kind of at a loss for how to portray the guy. As a skeleton, he pretty obviously doesn't have eyes at all.

Jack Rabbit: Okay I'll be real I basically just have a name for this guy. My idea is that he's a con artist and a thief who grew up on hard times, who doesn't see any real difference between himself and the magician and treasure hunter Warren. But obviously, Warren is held in fairly high regard and Jack isn't.

"Jack Rabbit" most likely isn't actually his real name, and he's probably actually either a hare or a jackalope. (Or a hare pretending to be a jackalope.)

I don't have much for Kat Tut, Splork, Claude, or Hu. I can imagine KT's rival being an actual Ancient Egyptian mummified cat, and I did briefly float around the idea of Claude's rival being the old friend he winds up fighting in Nights, but that's about it on that end.

#design concept #peggle #peggle academy #fnord unicorn #lilah nightshade #ivan roseberry #doc thunder #count ashheart #jack rabbit

0 notes

billvaouli · 1 year ago

Text

Blog Post 4.1 (Moor's Account Materials)

Part One:

“Among the slaves waiting their turn, I noticed many who had two marks on their cheeks—one in the shape of a coiling snake and the other in the form of a cross. I ventured to ask an Andalusian woman, whom I had heardwhisper some words in Arabic to her daughter, what the brand on her face meant. It means esclavo, she said, peering at me with curious eyes. Looking around me, I noticed that none of the black people in the marketplace had been marked with the brand. In Seville, the color of their skin—the color of my skin—was a sign in itself” (109).

The author notes in this chapter that some of the slaves who are waiting have two unique markings on their cheeks, one that looks like a coiling snake and the other that looks like a cross. An Andalusian woman answers that these marks represent "esclavo," or slave, when she is asked what they mean. Notably, the author also notes that skin tone is a differentiator in Seville's slave market because only individuals with darker skin, including themselves, are identified in this way.

In this section, Mustafa witnesses slaves being branded according to the hue of their skin, the marks denoting their position as enslaved people. Given that Mustafa and his skin tone are similar, it's probable that he is uncomfortable with the way skin tone is utilized to differentiate people.

https://primo.seattleu.edu/permalink/01ALLIANCE_SEAU/3bmk5g/cdi_proquest_journals_2314790976

Part Two:

https://primo.seattleu.edu/discovery/fulldisplay?docid=cdi_proquest_journals_2296048999&context=PC&vid=01ALLIANCE_SEAU:SUP5&lang=en&search_scope=seau_rec_1&adaptor=Primo%20Central&tab=Everything&query=any,contains,dehumanizing%20slaves&offset=0

Part Three:

1. Keefer, K. H. B. (2019). Marked by fire: brands, slavery, and identity. Slavery & Abolition, 40(4), 659–681. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144039X.2019.1606521

The phrase "branding of humans" usually refers to the process by which people or organizations use different marketing and self-presentation techniques to establish a memorable and unique personal brand or identity. This might entail modifying one's look, conduct, and online presence to project a particular image or message, much as how businesses utilize branding to create a distinct and identifiable identity in the marketplace.

2. Crime and punishment in the British Army, 1815-1870. (n.d.). http://www.reenactor.ru/ARH/PDF/Burrougs.pdf

During the period from 1815 to 1870, crime and punishment in the British army were subject to strict disciplinary regulations. Harsh penalties, such as flogging and imprisonment, were common for various offenses, including insubordination, desertion, and theft. The military justice system aimed to maintain discipline and order within the ranks, but there were growing concerns about the cruelty of these punishments, eventually leading to reforms and a shift towards more humane disciplinary practices in the later part of the 19th century.

3. Exchanging our country marks: University of North Carolina Press. Michael A. Gomez: Preview. Flexpub. (n.d.). https://flexpub.com/preview/exchanging-our-country-marks

Michael A. Gomez's book "Exchanging Our Country Marks" offers a thorough analysis of the African slave trade and the cultural changes that enslaved Africans in the Americas went through. The book explores the ways African identity and legacy survived and changed in the New World, showing how slaves developed new forms of expression, adjusted to their environment, and kept a sense of self and community despite the sufferings of enslavement. It provides insightful information about the intricate and long-lasting effects of the transatlantic slave trade on communities of African descent.

4. DeLombard, J. M. (2019). Dehumanizing Slave Personhood. American Literature, 91(3), 491–521. https://doi.org/10.1215/00029831-7722104

The book "Dehumanizing Slave Personhood" by Jeannine Marie DeLombard offers a critical examination of the legal and rhetorical tactics used in the US throughout the 19th century to deny enslaved persons their whole humanity. The book explores how the legal system and popular discourse objectified and dehumanized those who were held as slaves, emphasizing the influence of language and the law on how people view themselves and how the institution of slavery is justified.

5. Dressner, Julie, and Edwin, Martinez. 2012. “The Scars of Stop-and-Frisk.” New York Times, June 12. www.nytimes.com/2012/06/12/opinion/the-scars-of-stop-and-frisk.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion.

In bad neighborhoods, fear of police officers is frequently the result of a complicated web of interrelated issues, such as racial profiling, a history of tough policing, and a lack of trust between the community and law enforcement. When dealing with the police, residents in these neighborhoods could feel insecure, exposed, and uneasy, which could strain relations and obstruct successful community policing initiatives. This fear can perpetuate a cycle of mistrust and tension, making it challenging to create a safer and more harmonious environment for residents.

6. Eastern State Penitentiary. n.d. “Timeline: 1829 October 25.” www.easternstate.org/research/history-eastern-state/timeline

Operating from 1829 until 1971, Eastern State Penitentiary is a historic prison situated near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is renowned for its avant-garde "penitence" system, which placed a strong emphasis on inmate solitude and introspection in private cells. The architecture and philosophy of the jail had a profound impact on correctional systems across the globe and were crucial in shaping the structure of the contemporary American prison system.

Part Four:

Slavery dehumanizes people by robbing them of their autonomy, dignity, and basic human rights. People lose their agency and become little more than objects, with no ability to make decisions for themselves. Forced work, physical and psychological torture, and frequent treatment as goods to be bought and sold are all commonplace experiences for slaves. Slavery creates an environment in which people are treated more like objects than like people, and their cultural identities, families, and general well-being are frequently ignored. This dehumanizing system weakens the fundamental foundation of what it means to be human and feeds a vicious circle of tyranny.

0 notes

seooptimizacija · 2 years ago

Text

Without SEO

Twelve months without SEO

The thinking of a webmaster from a few years ago, still relevant today:It's been over a year since I decided that search engine optimization (SEO) was, or was about to become, a waste of time. I had already, 6 months before, said goodbye to spending an hour a day working on getting reciprocal links. What led to, many would say, very reckless moves at the time? After all, cross-linking was still explained, by everyone and everything, as an essential way to achieve a good rank. And software tools were still actively advertised. Search engine positioning software was still heavily advertised and still is. Keyword density was a popular term that was branded as an essential science that all SEO-conscious webmasters would be concerned with. Getting back to the basics of marketing What I did was go back to the basics of marketing. I received my marketing training in the 1980s and have had practical marketing experience in my own business since the mid-1990s. I wasn't just born into internet marketing, so I could still see beyond the blinkers and hype. A very basic but important aspect of marketing is knowing your market. When it comes to search engine rankings, it is clear that the main search engines, Google, Yahoo and MSN, made up the bulk of that market. And Google was the clear leader back then. Spammer zone I started thinking 18 months ago that as far as reciprocal linking goes, it's becoming a spammer zone. Surely, I argued with myself, Google didn't really want to rank a website high just because the webmaster had the tools and time to chase around getting reciprocal links? It just didn't make sense. The same was true for buying links. Why should a website rank high because they spent money on buying links? What Google et al really wanted was to rank the best websites for a given search term. And it seemed only a matter of time before they would sniff out and shut down the abuses. Such as the obvious artificial link building, blog spam, scraping and extreme SEO.Launching new websites A year ago I launched two new websites without giving any thought to SEO. As a writer, I was happy to try to provide what the search engines wanted: original content about what people were looking for. Although I have provided title and description tags, everything else is simply written in progress. The key phrase for any page will come out in a natural flow. I could just write to my heart's content without using a keyword density checker.The first of these new websites 13 months ago was in the self-improvement niche, which is very competitive. I expected that I would be in the "Sandbox" at Google because of that, and that's how it turned out. But I just opted out, sticking to my no-SEO principle. Of course, none of us outside of Google know for sure if there is such a thing as a sandbox. But there is undoubtedly a waiting time before a new site is fully included in the ranking pot. Achieving a higher rank In the case of self-improvement, the last Google update brought my site out of the sandbox after about 12 months. So I could finally see if my non-SEO approach would yield positive results. Fortunately, several high positions were immediately visible, including several #1 positions. In one of these terms, Yahoo followed a few weeks later to the #1 position, while the site was #2 (now #1) on MSN (now Bing) . Now, it's early days for that particular spot, and there's a lot to do to reach an even higher rank. However, I am convinced that SEO is infinitely simpler than some experts lead you to believe. Especially those who sell ranking tools. Since starting that particular site, I've only made one major change, and that's converting all my web pages to CSS. Providing a content-rich website that is easy for search engine bots to index is the most important aspect of the new, streamlined SEO. In fact, all you have to do is follow Google's advice to webmasters, and it's free. Of course, those who have software products to sell will argue that I could do even better with their software. But if Google decides to blacklist that software as a manipulation tool, all my hard work could be undone. I'll leave the rest chasing shadows with ranking software and just enjoy writing content. After all, that's what basic marketing told me to do. Read the full article

#searchengineoptimization #seo #seooptimization #seooptimizationwebpage #siteoptimization

0 notes

financialsecrets · 2 years ago

Text

How to ResearchYour Blog with Google

Hello GmaKelly here with new and exciting information for you, so you can Make Money Onlne..

So far we have discussed: - What is a Blog - What is a Niche - How to Structure a Blog - How to Write a Blog that Makes Money Today we're going to talk about Best Research Practices for Your Blog. You will learn how to use Google to gather information that will assist you in defining a Title and a Topic for your Blog. Here We Go.... There are 100's probably 1,000's of ways to complete your research. But in order to build the Brand, we have to first Build the Traffic. You'll find this is a common theme in Online Marketing, Building the Brand and Building Traffic is your Ulitimate Goal. I try to write with the Reader in mind. Don't use technical jargon or words that are not common to the Target Audience. You will lose them with that kind of language. If they don't understand or know the words or terminology, how can they feel confident that your product or service is within their grasp?. I've read in many places that you should write to the 8th Grade Reading Level. I don't know if that's exactly true, but better to write in a manner that most of the population will read and understand. Research with Google Google provides you with all the information and Data you could ever need. - Google Adsense - Google Analytics - Google Site Console - Google Search Bar (drop down menu) - People Also Ask - Google has it all! I encourage you to download a Chrome Extension titled "Keywords Everywhere". Its an amazing tool and provides you with some valuable information you need to proceed with your Post. (Note: I am not an Affiliate for this program, and will not profit from it in any way)

Keywords Everywhere is a Chrome Extension that appears on the right side of my Google Search Page. I believe it can be left or right side, just FYI. It provides you with valuable keywords, long-tail keywords (more of a sentence really), and Pages to Review. It also contains data regarding a particular site listed in the search results. It lists the questions posed in People Also Ask (at the bottom of your Google Search results). For Instance; the following Keyword Titles were suggested after searching "How to Research a Blog". - research blog examples - how to research for content writing - how to research blog topics - how to write a research blog plost - blogger - blog research sources - blog topic search - blog writing Any of these suggestions would provide you with the information you need about your topic. People Also Ask (sometimes referred to as PAA) lists the top questions posed to Google Search regarding your topic. These can provide you with Research Material for your Blog. They can also pose as additional questions you can answer in this Post or perhaps a post solely based on that question. Either way Google has your back! I had a quick check on Internet Live Stats prior to writing this article and it informed me that 4,794,388,243 searches had been made on Google in the last 24 hours. Each one of those 4,794,388,243 searches is a potential keyword phrase. Each one is a potential article you could write. Each one has the potential to rank or not to rank. Each one of those searches can bring you a shed load of traffic or absolutely none. However, the article ideas you could come up with are mind-boggling. Google Tells You Everything You Need to Know There’s definitely no chicken and egg argument when it comes to Google and keyword tools. Google definitely came before the keyword tool. ParthaB/Wealthy Affiliate. Final Thoughts There are many ways to research your Niche. Pinterest, Quora, Tumbler, Google, Bing, they all have the same kind of capabilities to provide you with valuable and timely information. With the advent of the WWW we have millions of chances available every day to create a Blog that will answer a question. Provide your reader with information that is of value to them and answers to their question. My Final Thoughts? Search everywhere, look for questions to answer, look for the answers to a question. Research, use reputable sources. Verify your information with at least 3 sources. Your name and business is attached to your Posts. Your Brand. Yes there it is again. Protect your Brand by providing Quality, Well-Researched, Well-Written Content. If you enjoyed this article, please leave a message or a question below. Thank you for spending your time with me today. Have a Great Day! GmaKelly Read the full article

#Blog #Blogging #Google #MakingMoneyOnline

0 notes

ailuronymy · 3 years ago

Note

Thoughts on the new discourse? Warrior cats naming conventions and rank names being straight up stolen from native American people? So many people seem to be... Straight up leaving the Fandom or changing all of their fan content and it feels very performative and, people not actually thinking critically and just being scared of getting "cancelled"? I feel like your opinions on these matters are very informed and well written so I wanted to ask given that this blog main theme is, well, warrior cat naming system and that seems to be the main issue of the new discourse.

This is probably going to get long, since there's sort of a lot to say about it in order to talk about this whole thing fairly and constructively, because from what I’ve seen there’s a lot of hyperbole happening, and panicking, and disavowing this series and fandom, and so on, like you say, and also some people genuinely trying to have complex meaningful conversations about racism in xenofiction, and also probably some bad faith actors in the mix--as well as some just... stupid actors. Kind of inevitably what happens when two equally bad platforms for having nuanced discussions--i.e., twitter and tumblr--run headlong into each other, in a fandom space with a majority demographic of basically kids and highly anxious, pretty online teens. I don’t mean that as a criticism of fans or their desire to be liked by peers and “correct” about opinions, it’s just the social landscape of Warriors and I think it’s worth pointing out from the start.

If I’m totally honest with you, if not for this ask, I wouldn’t actually be commenting on it at all, because none of this is going to impact this blog or change how I run it in any way. But since you’ve asked and frankly I do feel some responsibility to try to disentangle things a little for everyone stressed and confused at the moment, because I know a lot of people look to this blog for guidance of all sorts, I’m going to talk about what I think has happened here, and how to navigate the situation in a reasonable way.

Quick recap for anyone blissfully unaware: from what I understand, this post (migrated over from a presumably bigger twitter thread) has got a lot of people very worried about Warriors being a racist and appropriative series, and now are trying to figure out what ethically to do about this revelation. The thing I found most interesting about this screenshotted conversation is that it makes a lot of bold claims, but misses some pretty surprising details (in my opinion). If you do look critically at what is being said, here’s a few things to notice--crucially, there are two people talking.

Person 1 says that a lot of animal fantasy fiction + xenofiction (fiction about non-human/”other” beings, such as animals) is frequently built upon stereotypes of First Nations and Indigenous people, and/or appropriates elements of Indigenous culture and tradition as basically set dressing for “strange” and “alien” races/species etc., and this is a racist, deeply othering, and inappropriate practice. This person is right.

I’ve spent years researching in this field specifically, so I feel pretty confident in vouching (for whatever that’s worth) that this person is absolutely right in making this point. Not only is it frequently in animal fiction/xenofiction, but it’s insidious, which means often it’s hard to notice when it’s happening--unless you know what you’re looking for, or you are personally familiar with the details or tropes that are being appropriated. Because of the nature of racism, white and other non-First Nations people don’t always recognise this trend within texts--even texts they’re creating--but it’s important for us all, and especially white people, to be more aware, because it’s not actually First Nations’ people’s responsibility to be the sole critics of this tradition of theft and misuse. Appropriation by non-Indigenous people is in fact the problem, which means non-Indigenous people learning and changing is the solution.

Person 1 offers Warriors as a popular example of a work that has this problem. Notably, this person hasn’t given an example of how Warriors is culpable (at least in this screenshot and I haven’t found the thread itself, because the screenshot is what’s causing this conversation), only that it’s an example of a work that has these problems. And once again, this person is correct. We’ll look at that more in a moment.

Person 2 (three tweets below the first) offers, by comparison, several more specious insights. Firstly, it’s really, really not the only time anyone’s ever talked about this, academically + creatively or in the Warriors fandom specifically, and so that reveals somewhat this person’s previous engagement in the space they’re talking into re: this topic. In other words, this person doesn’t know what has already been said or what is being talked about. Secondly, this person explicitly states that they “[don’t know] much about warrior cats specifically but from what I see it just screams appropriation,” which as a statement I think says something crucial re: the critical lens this person has applied + the amount of forethought and depth of analysis of their criticism of this particular series.

I’m not saying that using twitter to talk about your personal feelings requires you to research everything you talk about before you shoot your mouth off. However, I personally don’t go into a conversation about a topic I don’t know anything about except a cursory glance to offer bold and scathing criticisms based on what it “just screams” to me. By their own admission, this person isn’t really offering good faith, thoughtful criticism of the series, in line with Person 1′s tweet. Instead, Person 2 is talking pretty condescendingly and emphatically about--as the kids say--the vibes they get from the series, and I’m afraid that just doesn’t hold up well in this court.

So now that there’s Person 1 (i.e., very reasonable, important, interesting criticism) and Person 2 (i.e., impassioned but completely vibes-based opinion from someone who hasn’t read the books) separated, we can see there’s actually several things happening in this brief snapshot, and some of them aren’t super congruent with each other.

Person 1 didn’t say “don’t read bad books,” or that you’re a bad person for being a fan of stories that are guilty of this. They suggested people should recognise the ways xenofiction uses Indigenous people and their culture inappropriately and often for profit. My understanding of this tweet is someone offering an insight that might not have occurred to many people, but that is valuable and important to consider going forward in how they view, engage with, and create xenofiction media.

Person 2 uses high modality, evocative language that appeals to the emotions. That’s not a criticism of this person: they’re allowed to talk in whatever tone they want, and to express their personal feelings and opinions. However, rhetorically, this person is using this specific language--consciously or subconsciously--to incense their audience--i.e., you. Are you feeling called to action? What action do you feel called to when you rea their words, despite the fact their claims are not based in their own actual analysis of or engagement with the text? It’s, by their own admission, not analysis at all. Everything they evoke is purely in the name of “not good” vibes.

Earlier I mentioned that Person 1 is correct that Warriors is absolutely guilty of appropriation of First Nations and Indigenous people and culture. I also mentioned that they didn’t specify how. That’s because I think the most egregious example is in fact the tribe, which in many ways plays into the exact kind of stereotyping and appropriation of First Nations Americans that Person 1 mentions, and not the clans, contrary to Person 2′s suggestion. For instance, in addition to the very loaded name of “tribe”, there’s a lot of racist tropes present in how that group of cats is introduced and how the clan cats interact with them, as well as the more North American-inspired scenery of their home. It’s very blatant as far as racism in this series.

When it comes to the clans themselves, though, I think it’s muddier and harder to draw clear distinctions of what is directly appropriative, what is coincidentally and superficially reminiscent, and what is not related at all. Part of this difficulty in drawing hard lines comes from the fact that, on a personal level, it actually doesn’t matter: if a First Nations person reads a story and feel it is appropriative or inappropriate, it’s not actually anyone’s place to “correct” them on their reading of the text. Our experiences are unique and informed by our perspectives and values, and no group of people are a monolith, which means within community, there will always be disagreement and differenting points of view. There is no one single truth or opinion, which means that First Nations people even in the same family might have very different feelings about the same text and very different perspectives on how respectful, or not, it might be.

I’m saying this because something that gets said very often when conversations of racism and similar oppressive systems present/perpetuated in texts comes up, people frequently say: “listen to x voices.” It is excellent advice. However, the less pithy but equally valuable follow-up advice is: “listen to the voices of many people of x group, gather information and perspective, and then ultimately use your own judgement to make an informed opinion for yourself.” It means that you are responsible for you. The insight you can gain by listening to people who know topics and experiences far better than you do is truly invaluable, but if your approach to the world is simply to parrot the first voice, or loudest voice, or angriest voice you come across, you will not really learn anything or be able to develop your own understanding and you certainly won’t be making well-informed judgements.

In other words, one incomplete tweet thread from two people who are each bringing quite different topics and modes of conversation (or perhaps gripes, in Person 2′s case) to the table is not really enough to go off re: making a decision to leave a fandom, in my opinion. In fact, I think in responding to anything difficult, complex, or problematic (which doesn’t mean what popular adage bandies it about to mean) by trying to distance yourself, or cleanse of it, will ultimately harm you and will not do you any good as a person. It is better, in my opinion, to enter into complex relationships with the world and media and other people in an informed, aware way and with a willingness to learn and sometimes to make mistakes and be wrong, rather than shy away from potential conflict or fear that interacting with a text will somehow taint you or define your morality in absolutes.

So. Does Warriors have racist and appropriative elements, tropes, and issues in the series? Yes, of course it does, it’s a book-packaged series produced by corporation HarperCollins and written by a handful of white British women and their myriad ghostwriters. Racism is just one part of the picture. The books are frequently also ableist, sexist, and homophobic (or heteronormative, depending how you want to slice it, I guess), just to name some of the most evident problems.

But does the presence of these issues mean it’s contaminated and shouldn’t be touched? Personally, I don’t think so. Given the nature of existing the world, it’s not possible to find perfect media that is free of any kind of bias, prejudice, or even just ideas or topics or concepts that are challenging or uncomfortable. I think it’s more meaningful to choose to engage with these elements, discuss them, criticise them, learn from them, and acknowledge also that imperfection is the ultimate destiny of all of us, especially creators.

I’m not saying that as a pass, like, “oh enjoy your media willy-nilly, nothing matters, do what you want, think about no-one else ever because we’re all flawed beings,” but rather that it’s important not to look away from the problems in the things we enjoy, rather than cut off all contact and enjoyment when we realise the problems. That doesn’t mean you have to only criticise and always be talking about how bad a thing you like is either, publicly admonishing yourself or the text, because that’s also not a constructive way to engage with media.

As I said, there’s a lot to say here, and believe it or not, this is honestly the shortest version I could manage. There’s always more to say and plenty I haven’t talked about, but pretty much tl;dr:

I don’t find Person 2′s commentary particularly compelling, personally, because I think it’s a little broad and a little specious in its conclusions and evidence, and I also suspect that this person is speaking more from their feelings than from a genuine desire to educate or meaningfully criticise, unlike Person 1. That’s not to say Warriors isn’t frequently racist and guilty of the issues Person 1 is discussing, because it is, but I don’t think this tweet thread is a great source of insight into the ongoing history of this problem in xenofiction, or Warriors specifically, on its own. I would recommend exploring further afield to learn more from a variety of sources and form your own opinions. I hope this helps.

#just in case anyone sees this post and gets the wrong idea: i'm not inviting debate on this.#i am saying that first nations people are allowed to have ANY relationship with texts because that's how subjectivity works.#they are allowed to have negative neutral or positive experiences of texts--even 'bad' ones that have a lot of problems.#the people in this tweet are just talking about their thoughts and it's their bad luck the world's a public forum and it's spiralled.#the other thing i am saying is that if your approach to media is exclusively to cut out any problematic text like it's a cancer #that's not a great strategy. just straight up. you're better off developing critical insight and your own opinions and confidence.#by most parameters i can think of warriors as a series pretty much sucks really bad and i've been saying that for nearly ten years.#despite being so phenomenally flawed it can still have value--and much of its value in my opinion is IN these conversations about it.#so yeah tl;dr 2: i'm not here to slap-fight with teens which is what much discourse devolves to after 5 mins on tumblr so don't try it.

90 notes · View notes