#so a lot of the things that were commonly said throughout the game

[ethan-acfan]

So we all know that the reason their speech in ac1 was so unnatural was because the animus was translating Arabic to English (also, it was over 1000 years ago, so there's that) but I like to imagine that they were a lot more casual when they spoke to each other, like within the context of the language, and they sounded more like a group of guys in military barracks (if you've ever heard a guys in basic training talking to one another, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about). And I always accidentally incorporate this without warning beforehand. So a lot of my ac1 fics read really out of character, but trust, I know what I'm talking about. (My credentials come from being in a military family and growing up around war vets/military personnel)

[wildemaven]

life and loss | joel miller

pairing: dave york x f!reader / joel miller x f!reader word count: 1k content warnings: 18+ blog; death, grief/loss, major character death (no description of said death), AU and crossover universes, kind of fluffy, navigating loss, reader is non descriptive/blank slate. notes: this randomly came to me yesterday on my walk. It was meant to be just a moodboard and a small blurb to go along with it… and then this happened. Oops! Tried to pack a lot into a small thing so hopefully it makes sense.

Momentos of him, your late husband, have remained tucked away for the last year following his unexpected death. As you settle into your new widowed life and new home over a thousand miles away from the life you created with Dave, all the beautiful memories reside in cardboard boxes out of sight. 

Word travels quickly through the small neighborhood about your arrival and marital status— or lack thereof. Welcoming introductions turn into unannounced check-ins and flowers. Uncomfortable small talk on your front porch is sprinkled throughout the following weeks, a hand on your shoulder accentuates their let us know if you need anything. Sympathetic casseroles finally dwindle allowing you to finally ease into this new season of your life. 

The hammock left by the previous owners becomes your sanctuary most evenings. Searching for the brightest star in the night’s sky, then asking Dave how he’s doing before reading aloud to him the words from your latest book. 

It's days later when you’ve read the final word that a small voice from over the fence manifests as a quirky teenage girl sitting at a table you’ve set up on your back patio. She has a million and one questions about the book and is filled with theories about what happens beyond its ending. The side gate is never regularly latched closed now, eagerly awaiting Ellie’s return. She navigates most of your late night conversations that follow, including personal stories and the history of her life. My grump of an old man is in construction. He’s single by the way— not by choice, but life happens. 

His voice is calloused the first time he makes his presence known to you. Goddamn it, Ellie! I told you to leave her alone! They exchange brittle words back and forth through the shared barrier, before you insist he join the two of you. The crunch of his boots on the ground stall when he towers over where you’re still seated. His hand engulfing yours, warm and gentle as he tries to determine where his gaze should fall— you, the ground, the smirking teenager sitting across from you. Joel. Joel Miller. Uh, Ellie n’ I live next door. Not sure how long she’s been botherin’ you, but I’ll be sure it doesn’t happen again.

It’s weeks later when you run into Joel at the mailboxes. The clanking of keys and squeaky hinges fill the space between you before you’re both retreating back to your respective pathways. Your hands fidget and twist the bills and letters from your parents when you bravely initiate a conversation before he’s able to reach his front door. She’s the first person since moving here who wanted to talk to me about something other than the death of my husband. I don’t think I’ve laughed as much as I have with her in a long time. She’s welcome over here anytime. 

He reeks of nervousness as he stands on your doorstep the following evening. The ambered hue of his eyes absorb the warmth from the front porch light, adding a brightness to them that they seem to be commonly lacking. His words waver a bit as he begins to speak, starting and stopping, scrubbing his hand down his face before he attempts to start again. You offer him nothing but patience, sensing the mournful energy radiating off him— similar to the one you’ve been carrying. My wife and older daughter— they were both in an accident on their way to Sarah’s soccer game. I was pickin’ up Ellie from her counseling group for adopted kids. We were headin’ to the soccer field when I got the call. Some days are harder than others. And everyone wants to help, however that may be— lots of food as I’m sure you know. It doesn’t ever really get easier, but you learn to live with grief. Anyways, if you ever need anything or just want to talk— you know where I live.  

He accepts your impulsive invitation to join you for dinner, offering him the open seat across from you in the same spot as your timid first meeting. The crickets orchestrate the evening ambience as you share stories you’d tucked away, too painful to revisit until now. You find you laugh just as much, if not more, with Joel. Even among the tears shed, the conversation is filled with a hope and optimism that you longed for. 

You still feel his wholesome embrace long after you’ve called it a night to seek out much needed sleep. But much like the nights that ensued after Dave’s death, loneliness and the weight of your grief rear its head. 

The black ink glides over the surface of the paper. Line after line formulated a year’s worth of unsaid words that had been bottled up and blockaded by the rigid walls you’d built around them. Joel was right about the therapeutic effect of getting rid of the burdensome thoughts that come with loss, finding it’s hard to stop now that you’ve started. 

You convey the love that you still carry for Dave, something you’ll never willfully ignore or regret. It feels wrong but you touch on the hatred you feel towards his death; you hate him for leaving you, hate that you miss him, hate that some nights you forget the small details that you cherished about him. You tell him about Joel and the kindness he’s afforded you in a short time of knowing him and that there’s life beyond losing the love of your life. To look for the light even when shrouded by darkness. 

Pictures and trinkets find their way out of the cardboard confines Joel helped pull out from the guest room closet. The bare walls now filled with familiar faces and shelves adorn with colorful memories that you tried so hard to keep hidden. 

Joel and Ellie being a constant presence in your life allows you to see that life can surprise you when you least expect it and there’s room for new love. 

[dailydemonspotlight]

Skadi - Day 115

Race: Lady

Aracana: Empress

Alignment: Light-Chaos

September 27th, 2024 (Posted Sep 30, 2024)

Among the most unique figures within Norse mythology, the most famous aside from the Æsir themselves are likely the jötunn. Many of the ranks of the frost giants have risen to pop-cultural infamy, such as Ymir or Grendel. However, one of the most baffling of the morally gray bunch of giants has to be today's Demon of the Day, and a fan favorite for many. This incredibly curious figure is none other than Skaði, commonly anglicized as Skadi. Of the many jötunn, Skadi is one of the most confusing, with a web of history and translations connecting her, somehow, to the Irish figure Scáthach, so without further ado, let's delve in.

Skadi herself is a rather simple figure, which is funny given how bizarre her portrayal in SMT is. As a jötunn, one could assume this giantess to be an antagonistic force, but she's a far friendlier face- she's a representation of hunting and the wilderness, as well as being the wife of Njörðr, the Norse god of the sea. Not much is said about Skadi, outside of her representation as a goddess of hunting and that, though she does have a major myth, being in the form of her heading to Asgard to get revenge for the death of her father, Þjazi. Now, if that name sounds somewhat familiar to you, I'd be surprised- but if you saw the name Thiazi, it might make more sense, as he was the giant who kidnapped Idun, who I went over in her own analysis.

While, predictably, kidnapping an Æsir will get you on the bad side of the rest of the gods, the younger Skadi didn't care- she marched all the way up to Asgard, tow in battle armor, and was met by the gods, who decided to play a game with her rather than entertain her quest for revenge- they offered her a husband in exchange for her condition of not attacking them, being to make her laugh. The thing is, Skadi wished to marry Baldur, but she was only given the ability to look at the feet of the gods who were set to be her spouse. She, naturally, thought the best looking feet would belong to Baldur, but, lo and behold, they belonged to Njörðr, a guy who just wanted to be left alone and hang out in the sea.

Displeased, Skadi went on to the next offering- to make her laugh- and Loki had an idea, as he always did. He tied a rope around one of his testes, and another around the beard of a jumping goat, and every time the goat would jump he'd yelp, causing her to laugh as he'd eventually fall in her lap. Finally, as a last thing to please her, Odin tossed Þjazi's eyes into the sky, where they became stars. The stars they became are somewhat disputed, but a common consensus seems to be that they were Castor and Pollux. Regardless, satisfied, Skadi eventually went to marry Njörðr, though the marriage went off with many hitches, and the two eventually went their separate ways.

Now, what does this all have to do with Scathach? Well, Scathach and Skadi both have similar names, similar roles, and lots of other similarities, being both representations of hunting in their respective cultures. This, eventually, led to a strange amount of conflation between the two, mostly led by one Barbara G. Walker in her book, the Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. The book drew a connection between Skadi and Scathach, claiming the two to effectively be the exact same figure, and while her claims have been disputed, this idea has permeated throughout culture (as seen with Fate Grand Order) as well as throughout SMT itself, wherein Skadi's design takes clear inspiration from elements of Scathach's. Overall, a pretty strange source for a stranger claim, but one that SMT took inspiration from regardless.

[thelikesoffinn]

Hi friend! I have an question because of your DID post. I read a lot of stuff about DID end I watches something on Youtube to learn more about DID and now I'm agreeing that Astorian really don't have DID. But now after learning I'm thinking that maybe Durge could? What do you say?

Both spoilers and talks of DID symptoms ahead!

Oooooh, hiya babes!

I love that you went and looked up some stuff after reading my post so that you could come to your own conclusion. That's exactly what I want to achieve! I want to encourage people to learn more about the things I mention instead of taking them at face value, so I'm happy to hear that it works for some of you!

Also: Bad anon! Very bad! *posh people "nonono" finger shake* Please do not drag Durge into the DID community. They already have many a homicidal bastard in their rep ranks, and they do not need one more.

(Tone: Humorous but also really, please don't! For those who haven't yet: You can read a rough why here!)

But, as always, let's treat this as the discussion you meant it to be and chat about it!

With Durge - as opposed to that wildy idiotic Astarion tiktok theory we've talked about before - I can actually kind of see why you reached this conclusion.

Now, that doesn't mean I agree with the take that Durge has DID, but alas, I do see where you're coming from.

Durge actually does show some symptoms that we do commonly associate with DID as opposed to Astarion, who doesn't really show any.

There's the ever-present mood swings we see - some of them left to the players' choice - which are a common symptom many DID systems deal with. (As do patients with all sorts of other disorders, but let's stay on topic for the sake of brevity.)

One example of that would be barking at Isobel like a rabid dog and then immediately changing your tune and apologising straight after.

Disordered sleep is another symptom that is rather common in DID and also something we find in Durge. I don't think there's much to be said, we can see how restless their sleep is every long rest and, later on, Astarion even mentions that he hasn't seen them "sleep through the night once in the past days".

Lastly, and probably the most "glaring" symptoms we could potentially find are fainting spells and, mostly connected to those, fugue.

The fugue is most obvious after Durge first slaughters Alfira, seeing as they wake up bloodied and next to a corpse and don't even remember how it got there or what happened to it.

The fainting spells are shown a little later in Act 2, after we fail to kill Isobel and Sceleritas, the little chum!, tasks Durge to kill whoever they love the most. Durge barely manages to wake their beloved and inform them of what is happening before fainting and turning into that rabid beast we see throughout the night.

Oh, and one thing that is definitely there, but I'd still like to kind of push aside is Durge's headaches. I know they mention it A LOT - "I have such a headache." 'nough said. - and that it is a common somatic symptom in DID, but we have to keep in mind that Orin pretty much scrambled Durges' brain AND that they have a tadpole worming around in there.

Both of those are likely to cause headaches, so I'm hesitant to count them.

So now, with all of these symptoms that can serve as potential indicators, would I say that Durge has DID?

No.

I do think that you could easily headcannon that into your own character design if you were so inclined, since there's some bases that are covered.

I won't stand in anyone's way in that regard! It is your game and your creativity, but I don't believe that Durge has DID for multiple reasons.

Firstly, the symptoms are just too lax. They're really spread out, they shift like the tide, they're often untriggered, and they really only revolve around murder and mayhem. Nothing else.

While we have what we could generally mistake for a shift of conscience, it's less an actual shift and more Durge being overcome by their murderous urges. That is a really, really big difference.

Durge has these Urges all the time - often displayed as some sort of intrusive thought. It's just that in the few moments we see, they win.

It's like rice or kitty litter. You walk past those giant bags at the shops on a day to day basis and something in you just WANTS to slap that bag. Just a good smack. You can see yourself do it and that little voice is there every time you see those bags.

You resist most days, but on a random Tuesday, you give in and slap that bag.

With Durge, it's similar. Only instead of slapping a bag of rice, they kick a squirrel against a tree. That's not a shift in conscience. That's simply an Urge winning.

Plainly stated: There's no evil Alter that comes to and randomly goes off to kill innocent Bards and Clerics. It is still all Durge, and, for the most part, Durge can remember what they did.

I say, for the most part, because the Alfira incident seems to be the exception to that. We have no other incident where Durge can't remember what they did. It is only with Alfira, as far as I'm aware. (I suspect this is done for suspense rather than because Durge is plural.)

So there's apparently no amnesic walls between the mad dog and normal Durge and amnesic walls are pretty much why DID even exists since without those, there can be no Alter.

As I said in my other post, DID is the result of intense early childhood trauma. Amnesic walls are the protective measure the brain takes to keep the child alive.

It serves to separate the child from their trauma by basically shoving that trauma into one specific part of the brain and locking it away, which then creates an Alter since the child has yet to develop a set personality.

So the missing of those amnesic walls is pretty much the biggest indicator that there is no DID here.

Then there's the fact that Durge is immediately cured of everything once they are disowned by Bhaal, and that is, unsurprisingly, not how DID works. The creation of Alters becomes a third addition to the natural fight or flight. From then on out, it's fight, flight, or dissociate, which is why people with DID can develop further Alters later in life.

And lastly, my absolute favourite hill: Narratively, it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. DID is a very specific disorder that holds a lot of storytelling potential, tragic as it is. In fact, the tragedy behind that disorder is where the potential often comes from - that and its rarity - since tragedy has always inspired creative minds all throughout history.

No one would go through the trouble of implementing that and then just discard it and never mention it.

So, to sum it up, I would say what Durge suffers from is called "Bhaal" and not DID! But once again, I do see how one could come to that conclusion, so there's no shame there.

(Also, I do hope everyone can now see why I said Astarion really doesn't show any signs of DID. Really none. If Durge doesn't have it, he doesn't either. Stop that tiktok nonsense, please.)

Anyway, babes! You have a lovely day now, and feel free to hit me up whenever you want to chat! Even if you have a different opinion or take on this, I'd be happy to hear all about it!

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Number two from the OC worldbuilding ask game for Sydari! Tell me all about them languages >:)

2. How does your OC communicate? Are they monolingual or multilingual? What is the linguistic environment they’re in? If they’re monolingual, is there a social penalty for only speaking one language, or is it the norm? If they’re multilingual, which of their languages or sociolects has the most/least prestige? Is there a separation between written and oral forms of the language? Can your OC blend in or does their language mark them in some way? What are their levels of fluency, and how do they feel about them?

Sydari primarily speaks Cyrodilic, she grew up in Windhelm, and her native tongue was heavily repressed, particularly after the Great War. Ulfric's ascension saw a city-wide crackdown on all cultural practices that deviate from Nordic tradition. You'd think that would mean she picked up Nordic? No, her people were mostly confined to the Gray Quater with a few exceptions, Dunmer were not permitted to speak Nordic. They are not permitted to engage in their festivals or freely hold their own. So Cyrodillic, as the lingua franca of Tamriel became Sydari's first language. It's the only language that she can read and write in. And even then, her literacy leaves a lot to be desired. She coasted by with semi-literacy until she couldn't hide it any more. Dunmeris, though heavily repressed as of 4th Era 199 was freely spoken in the Grey Quarter just long enough for Sydari to pick it up. These restrictions came in slowly throughout her childhood, ramping up with the outbreak of the Great War, around the same time she fled the city. She's semi-fluent in the Windhelm dialect, though she never learnt how to read, let alone write using the daedric alphabet. Her father was no help, though he did speak exclusively in the Vvadenfell dialect of Dunmeris, it was often slurred, mumbled monologues that she only half remembers. She never really thought much about it. It's not a language commonly used in Skyrim, and though some of the Dunmer in Riften spoke a similar dialect, it was never the language anyone used to address her. Her husband knew even less, so she had to teach Brand-Shei a few key phrases. (The journal Sydari finds in the Pride of Tel Vos was translated for her by Enthir for a few favours). She was always mildly bothered by the fact she couldn't read or write in Dunmeris, mostly due to an old note she was given as a child, something secret she kept as good luck. She's had multiple opportunities to have it translated, it's just something she's built up in her mind over the last half a century. It's almost better to not know what it says. There's a scribble of an eight-legged creature she later discovered was either a netch or silt hopper, the drawing was kinda crude. Sydari hadn't really planned on visiting Morrowind, her life was in Riften, she had a home, and was attempting to build a family. But things go wrong as they always do and she found herself alone pursuing a job on Solstheim. She found that she couldn't really understand the version of Dunmeris that was spoken in Raven Rock, she had the basics but there were intricacies, phrases, implied context that she just did not have the background to understand. What makes it worse was that her knowledge was just assumed, most Dunmer that live there come from Blacklight. Sure a handful lived in Windhelm but that was before the more obvious restrictions. When she first arrived, it was hard to get anyone to speak to her unless she switched to really basic Dunmeris, Skyrim-born Dunmer are somewhat pitied but not coddled. If she wanted to speak to them, she had to use her mother tongue. Sydari is pretty good at bullshitting, so she's been able to bluff her way into acceptance. Geldis was willing to speak to her in Cyrodillic right off the bat. The guy is usually pretty open and wouldn't disparage her for not understanding half of what was being said to her. Being a tavern owner gives him more experience in dealing with outlanders. Teldryn spoke to her using Cyrodillic pretty early on, though he still assumed she was more fluent than she let on. He writes to her exclusively in Dunmeris and it's begun to cause issues. She's asked Geldis for translations on several occasions but she's embarrassed by her lack of knowledge. She mostly just switches to smiling and nodding. Only getting the letters translated if he brings them up. The letter form is familiar but she hasn't made the connection yet.

[calebscalamity]

So... the critic scores for the Mario movie are finally coming out, and to say that there's been a less-than-favorable response would be an understatement. Usually don't delve too deeply into topics like this, but with all the misinformed takes going around I think I gotta throw my own hat into the ring, ya know? Before we start the match, Obligatory disclaimer that ya'll are entitled to your own opinions regarding the Mario movie and don't have to engage with every criticism thrown its way, nor should you. Don't let what some random internet stranger says online deter your enjoyment of the film and whatnot. With that being said, some misconceptions definitely do need to be cleared up.

Starting off small, it seems like a lot of people don't actually understand how sites like Rotten Tomatoes work. They'll pull up critic reviews from other media seen as bad by the vast majority as evidence that the critics don't know what they're talking about, but it's not so black and white. RT works as a reference site for viewing different critic reviews. They add up different assessments from multiple professional critics on a specific movie and spit out a general percentage of the amount that rated it positively vs negatively. When RT says a movie got a 53% rating, what they really mean is that only 53% of the critics who reviewed it rated it positively. It's never the exact same people reviewing different movies, which is likely where the disparity comes from. Jumping off of the critics themselves, the arguing points many of them bring up regarding the flaws of the film are met with plenty of scrutiny from others. I've seen a lot of backlash and mockery over the flaws that they do mention. However, looking at some of the reviews myself, I don't think a lot of them were being too unreasonable, and they're likely just the result of them having different expectations as critics. For example, the most commonly cited critique I saw was the overall plot of the movie. The general consensus seemed to be that they found the story to be far too formulaic and uninteresting to have any significant appeal, and that most of the entertainment came from the abundance of easter eggs and game references found throughout the film. While this on its own has incited a lot of backlash from fans of the movie, I think the enjoyment factor from critics vs audiences is an overall interesting talking point that I unfortunately don't see spoken about much. At the end of the day, this is a film targeted towards children and fans of the Mario series. While that's not necessarily a bad thing depending on who you ask, it does have potential repercussions on how people outside that demographic will react to it. I'm sure the two groups I mentioned before will probably have a blast with this movie and see it as a pretty great outing, but would a person who isn't familiar with the games or isn't even a gamer feel the same way? I mean, I've dabbled with a few Mario games from time to time and did enjoy them, but I don't really hold any significant attachment to the franchise in general, and it doesn't seem like I'd gain a whole lot from this movie as a result.

Comparing it to the Sonic Movies, while I did indeed naturally enjoy the first two films as a fan of the Sonic games, I can also acknowledge that I personally find the story on its own to be well-structured and easy for others to follow regardless of their relationship with the Blue Blur. This movie in contrast is likely made especially for the fans to enjoy. As a Mario movie? It's probably a solid outing and a delight for the people within that fanbase. But as a movie on its own merits? That seems to be what a lot of the critics are judging it as and many of them aren't finding much substance within it.

And I know that people will come in saying that I shouldn't be expecting some super deep story from the Mario series and that the games are known for having simplistic stories, but that's precisely the problem. You can usually excuse a bare-bones plot in a video game because most people are there for the actual gameplay, the story is just a nice bonus. But when it comes to such a radically different medium like film work, you can't get away with having a non-existent story in such a way, and there needs to be a tight structure of some sort to garner people's interest. Furthermore, I also don't think we should be overlooking these critiques with defenses such as the source material or younger audience. Something being made for kids shouldn't be an excuse to not try, and I feel like the best kids media are the ones that don't talk down to children and feature genuinely good writing in their stories that other demographics can naturally also come to enjoy simply because it's good writing. The Lego Movie and Puss in Boots were also marketed toward children, but they both also had good writing that many other demographics were able to appreciate. Like I said before, I don't think the Mario movie primarily being aimed at fans of the franchise is necessarily a bad thing, but it can certainly leave a lot to be desired for someone who might want the movie to be able to stand on its own detached from the source material.

All in all, I feel like people are massively misinterpreting information and the job of critics in general when it comes to debates such as these. I won't deny that critic scores alone shouldn't be your only indicator of quality when it comes to media like video games and movies (The aforementioned Sonic movies are sitting in the mid to high 60s on RT, but lots of others hold them in high regard), but I think it is worth analyzing their problems with said media and how that might impact your overall enjoyment. Let's just try not to see things so black and white all the time. To anyone planning on seeing the Mario movie, I hope you guy's have a great time and fully enjoy yourselves!

[delusional-cryptid]

OH!

HELL YES. I’ve been waiting to talk about this thank you so much for giving me the opportunity!! <- said with the vibrant enthusiasm of a thousand suns

So, when I said this would be an essay I Meant it- here we go!!

 I’ll get into why I love the phrase so much in a minute, but for now imma explain where in the game it comes from and why it's significant (in my heart). The phrase “stars, stars, stars,” comes from Isabeau’s friendquest, unlocked in act 3, when he goes stargazing with Siffrin! The dialogue initially (in act 3) is “Stars, stars, stars, all around you. You inhale sharply.” and then, in act 4 it becomes “Stars, stars, stars, all around you. You want to crush them all.” The change being reflective of Siffrin’s ✨emotional/mental deterioration✨, as well as how he essentially feels… abandoned. By his faith, his home, and the life he knows but can’t remember. I’ll get into this more in a minute!

Part of the reason that I love the phrase itself is because of the repetition, I tend to really like sets of threes (as the human brain is inclined), and space is one of my special interests so I just find the word “stars” to be very aesthetically pleasing. One of the deeper reasons is that Isabeau’s friendquest was my first interaction with In Stars and Time, because the friend who recommended the game to me let me play it on her Switch! The scene as a whole has a special place in my heart just because it was my first impression of a game and characters that mean a lot to me as it is! (Isabeau specifically, I adore him!!)

Now that we've been over why I like the phrase, let's go over why I think it's textually significant! First we have to go over Siffrin and the Forgotten Country. So, we know a few important things about the Forgotten Country and its culture. I’m gonna bullet point these so it makes more sense:

-Wish Craft was popular/commonly used enough that the proper rituals were taught to children.

-Siffrin says, in the secret library, that an important part of the ritual is to repeat the wish three times, but it doesn’t have to be three, it should be however many times feels right. All this to say, repetition is important to Wish Craft rituals, and the faith as a whole.

-Another important aspect to the Forgotten Country’s faith is the Universe and the stars. 

For example, the orrery, the star charts, the fact that “stars” is a swear word (which indicates religious significance, such as how Odile says “Gems” or how people under Christianity will use “Jesus Christ” as a swear).

So while we don’t learn much about the Forgotten  Country, there is a lot that we can infer from Siffrin as a character. One of the things that stuck out to me most is their frequent use of repetition. They tend to do things in threes quite often, and I think they also sometimes use sets of five as well (because of their party/family having five members). I don’t have evidence for the latter, but the former is evident every time Siffrin interacts with Dormont's Change God Statue to get a blessing, and when they sharpen the keyknife (notably, Siffrin says “please be sharp” three times, and then Isabeau, Mirabelle, and Bonnie mimic him, making the phrase said 6x). Point being, Siffrin repeats things often, and most commonly does so in sets of three. Not just in happy moments, he also does the whole self deprecation thing and calls himself “stupid, stupid, stupid” in various points throughout the game. However, he never does this flippantly, only when there’s emotion behind his words, which indicates that there are definitely some strong emotions behind when he says it during Isa’s friend quest! Which- I mean of course there would be! He’s desperate to be seen, loved, wanted. And Isabeau does this in a way that ties in something that inherently means a lot to them! In this case it seems perfectly logical that, when looking up to the stars, Siffrin would repeat the name of what is essentially their saint.

In regards to the Act 4 addition of “you want to crush them all,” I just love that this simple line expresses so much. For example, Siffrin knows that their home faith is the Universe, the stars, but he can’t remember learning this. He can’t remember his home, but he can see the stars and the Universe and even the island. All around them is evidence that it existed, even if it’s just in the form of a splitting headache or a sore throat. Also, and I could be wrong here because the lines between acts sometimes blur together for me, Act 4 is where Siffrin begins to learn. Everything from Wish Craft, to his language, to details of rituals that they didn’t even know were foreign. All the while, Siffrin is forgetting parts of the new life he’s made, no doubt leading him to feel like he’s trading one for another. To Siffrin, it feels like they’re giving up important memories to the Universe, in order to regain something that was stolen from them. And it’s cruel, it is, for the Universe to do this to them. It’s plain as day that Siffrin deals with a lot, especially in act 4, because that’s… the whole idea of the game, isn’t it? So he has to deal with the secrets, the repetition, the ugly feelings of wanting but being unable to ask. All the while, the Universe looks on and laughs- at least that’s how Siffrin sees it. 

Overall it’s a beautiful representation of three things: Siffrin’s faith and rituals, his feelings toward Isa and... his whole situation, and their speech patterns as a whole. Isn’t it cool that so much can be inferred from so little?? 

also I have a tiny aside that I wanted to include but couldn't find a spot for: Humans naturally LOVE threes! They’re Everywhere!! Especially in fairytales, religion, and art. There’s something called a triptych, which is a set of three art pieces in conversation to one another that are displayed next to each other. All in all, threes are like crack to the human psyche <33

Anyways THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME RAMBLE ON ABOUT THIS!! I’ve been thinking about it for a while now and I hope it makes sense because I’m so excited to put the thoughts down that it very well could be incomprehensible :3

Has anyone prompted you yet

https://www.tumblr.com/delusional-cryptid/756805408476348416/more-collage-content-he-deserves-joy-methinks?source=share

- @siffwinning

:O!! Hi!! And No, not yet!! I’m not sure what you mean tho, could you elaborate mayhaps? (/genuine)

[ladymarycrawley]

Mummy was mine first - Mason Mount

Request: I have a request of a drunk Mason with his newly pregnant girlfriend - him getting all emotional thinking the new baby will take his girl away from him. Stuff like lifting her shirt and talking to his baby saying things like “remember your mummy was mine first 🥺”

Warning: Mason may sound like a prick in this but it was just for the sake of the story 💔

Tag list: @masonxomount @chelsealover @masterclassbaby​

The moment you told Mason you were pregnant with your first child, he swore he couldn’t have been happier. He was literally on cloud nine, eager to live that unique and special experience with you, the love of his life.

As most of the things we have to deal with throughout our lifetime, it wasn’t all fun and games as expected. Actually you had to deal with a lot of changes that would come as the result of your newly found condition: the mood swings, the cravings, all the shopping for the baby, all the readings on how to teach things to your baby, how to grow him up perfectly and, at last but not least, all the potential dangers you had to be careful of.

It was a hell of a ride but it was worth it in the end, or that’s what you hoped at least.

He was absolutely crazy for you and he wanted to remember that image of you forever. Mason grabbed his Polaroid and took the most beautiful pictures of you naked, with your hair dishevelled on the pillow, the white bed sheets covering your lower body as you let your hands caress your baby bump.

In that moment the English footballer swore he never saw a woman as gorgeous as you, he really meant it when he said that the pregnancy made you even more beautiful than you already were. He thought it turned you into a goddess, as he couldn’t care less about the commonly called flaws you always complained about such as your stretch marks, your swollen feet, the extra weight you gained. He took every chance he got to make you feel loved, to give love to every inch of your body.

You sighed and shook your head as you got seated on the bed, looking for your t-shirt.

“Mason, stop it”

“You’re stunning, come on!” He giggled, holding the camera with one hand and lifting your chin up with the other, holding then your face in place to kiss you on the lips.

Mason shot a couple more pictures of you before putting the camera to the side and starting to kiss you passionately.

He was standing before you, balancing himself with his right leg bent over the mattress, at the side of your thigh. 

The ardour that inflamed your kiss was so strong he straddled you, hovering over you, always being careful of your bump.

He gently led you towards the soft surface beneath, so you could be in a more comfortable position while he made you feel his love.

You didn’t have the slightest intention to move, you just wanted to stay there basking in the relaxing yet exciting feelings only he could give you. Your legs were loosely wrapped around his middle as his right hand was delicately keeping your thigh up while the left one was holding your arms back on the blanket, above your head.

A moan escaped your lips as you felt his fingers fiddling with your knickers.

During the pregnancy, even if it was something common for most women, you started developing a sense of discomfort towards your body: it was inevitably changing but, since you've never been that self confident, those major changes were only increasing the doubts about the beauty or the attractiveness of your curves.

Mason was willing to do everything that was in his power to make you enjoy sex without making you feel guilty, embarrassed or in pain. That's why you spent a whole afternoon on a website the ob gyn suggested you to have pregnant sex safely, to learn all the pros and cons of such a pleasurable activity during a time where things might have gotten a little more difficult.

Whenever your mind took you back to that afternoon you couldn't help but smile, both because it was a funny memory and because seeing Mason so careful and attentive towards you to make you feel better, filled your heart with more love. But reading advice and theories was a thing, putting them into practice was another, even more so since your belly was getting bigger, leading you through the third trimester.

“Mase, the -”

“Yep, the belly is in the way, I know” You both giggled, Mason was really caught up in the moment he didn’t think about the six (nearly seven) months belly you had to deal with.

He sighed, sitting on the bed again.

"It's not just that, my back hurts a little more today"

Mason helped you up, careful not to hurt you, massaging your aching muscles. 

"I just ruined your sex drive" You let out in a low voice, feeling kind of bad.

"Hey hey, you didn't ruin anything, that's okay" He kissed your temple in the sweetest way. "Here, let's see if this one is more comfortable" Mason gestured for you to lay back on the pillows he put there to ease your back pain so your body was resting on the edge of the bed while his body was standing before yours, a little bent over.

You smiled at each other until your boyfriend's lips moved upwards to kiss your forehead, tracing your jaw next and ending on your neck.

In order not to weigh on your stomach, Mason kneeled down on your bedroom floor as his hands were on your hips and his mouth was leaving little hot kisses and bites against the soft skin of your thighs.

You would have liked to have sex with your boyfriend so bad but apparently your body didn't have the same intention: apart from the back pain, there were also those hateful little voices in your head the kept on saying you were embarrassing, that you didn't deserve the hot man which was your boyfriend to to make love to you because you were obscene, which wasn't the truth of course.

"I - I can't do it" You placed your hands on Mason's shoulders to make him stop.

He raised his head, frowning at your sudden halt.

"Sorry babe, I can't do this" You sniffled in the attempt not to burst out crying.

"That's okay" Mason said in a low voice, getting back on his feet and helping you up.

Various thoughts were beginning to crowd Mason's head too: he started asking himself what could have possibly gone wrong, weren't you really okay or was he just underestimating some signals he should have been careful of? You weren't attracted to him anymore??

He tried to fight all that brainwork while helping you get your clothes back on, doing the same with himself some minutes later.

"I'm sorry Mase, I really wanted to do that but -"

"I know, I know. Don't worry, it's fine" He faked a smile and left a gentle peck over your lips before leaving your bedroom and going to his game room. He needed to distract his mind a bit and maybe you needed some time alone too.

You huffed and went to the bathroom to fill the bath tub with some hot water and a rose scented water bomb to relax your sore body and your tired mind all the same. Warm water would also reduce some of the weight your spine had to sustain whic was a huge relief, making bath time something you had been really looking forward to at least once a day.

The last thing on your mind was upsetting Mason but you were sure he would have understood how you were feeling during that delicate moment. 

In the other room, Mason’s attempt not to dwell on what happened an hour ago didn’t work as he was there, with his headphones on, his fingers shifting over the controller, his stare fixed on the screen before him but his mind was still on you. He knew a thing as big as the arrival of a baby would have changed your priorities but it didn’t want you to change the way you looked at him: he still wanted to be your hero, your everything, he was afraid he wasn’t ready to leave hthe place in your heart for the baby girl who would have been there in a couple of months.

Maybe he was just a bit moody, maybe he was being childish but that concern was something that had been keeping him awake for a whole week now.

Mason turned off the console, putting away all the other devices he used during game time and started wandering around the house looking for you as he came to the conclusion that the best and wisest thing he could do was sharing what his real thoughts were with you, the love of his life and the mum of his daughter.

“Y/N?”

The first room he checked in was the right one as he pushed the bathroom’s door ajar open and the image of you, standing applying some moisturising over your legs, welcomed him. 

A small smile appeared on his lips as he entered the room wrapped in a cloud of heat reminding him you liked to take your shower and bath in hot, very hot water.

“Why didn’t you call me to help you get out of the tub?”

“Didn’t want to disturb you plus I’ve managed to do it myself” You say, a small note of pride in your voice.

Mason’s eyes roamed over your body, taking in your every movement and passing you the clean underwear and pajamas (that is to say a pair of joggers and one of his t-shirts) for the night.

"This may sound weird but... I don't like thieves"

"What?" You stopped massaging your face with the night lotion in order to understand what Mason was meaning with that apparent nonsense sentence he just spoke.

"Yeah I don't like people that steal things from me"

"Mason, are you okay? Who stole you what?"

He scoffed, somehow annoyed. He blankly stared down at his feet, as a child would do once getting scolded over something.

"The baby"

"Mase baby, sorry but I'm afraid I don't follow you"

You really were clueless about what he was complaining about, feeling a bit powerless too as you wanted to help him but it seemed kind of hard doing so  with him not being clear about what his problem was. You noticed there was something weird in him that day but didn't understand what.

He huffed, getting closer to your body leaning against the basin, looking in the mirror in front of you reflecting both his pout and your frown.

Mason looked down at your exposed collarbone before moving a strand of hair behind your ear. He then laid his head where his glance was, uttering against your skin. "I don't want her to take you away from me"

"Oh Mase" You cooed. He was the cutest human being ever in that moment. He didn't seem like a man who was about to become a dad at all, he felt like a kid who's about to become the older brother and doesn’t want the newcomer to steal his parents' affection. 

You started scratching the back of his neck affectionately, placing lingering kisses on the top of his head.

"I can assure you nothing bad will happen. She won't take me away from you, no one will ever. You two will be the most precious humans in my life, I'll love you more than words can express and I'll cherish every moment with the both of you"

Your lips took the place of your fingers, leaving kiss after kiss on his nape, where his hair was the shortest.

Mason sighed, a sad but relieved sigh, as if your remarks comforted him but he wasn't sure enough, as if he needed some more encouraging and endearing words from you.

"You know I love you, right?"

"I don't know"

"What does it mean you don't know??" Your tone feigning shock and disbelief.

"I don't know if you'll love her more than me"

"Oh…you're more of a child than the one I'm carrying in my belly, I swear" 

He rolled his eyes at the sarcasm you were using to answer his apparently silly worry. Your reaction made him feel unappreciated, as you didn’t care enough about what caused him that sense of uneasiness.

Mason left you there standing in the bathroom as he let his stressed limbs lay on the soft bed in your bedroom.

“Mase? Are you serious?” You followed him in your room.

“Nevermind, don’t fell like talking now” He uttered, his words muffled as he was keeping his face flat against his pillow.

“Oh my goodness” You closed your eyes, stroking the bridge of your nose back and forth with your finger. The way he was acting was becoming rather annoying, to be honest, and you were too tired to fight for a useless cause with a grown man that was just, in your opinion, throwing a tantrum. “Okay. I’ll be on the sofa eating ice-cream and watching Netflix, if you wanna talk you know where to find me”

You left him there and went to take your spot on the grey sofa downstairs, ready to binge watch the latest season of Derry Girls while scoffing down what was left of your beloved brownie and cookie ice-cream that became a must of your pregnancy by now.

If there was something you hated dealing with was discussing with Mason especially now, where the smallest of inconvenience would bring tears to your eyes.

The moment your view was interrupted by the sound of his footsteps approaching, you sighed under your breath, determined to act as if you hadn't heard him. Until when he took a seat beside you and you felt his eyes burning through you.

“Do you want a spoonful?” You asked him to break the ice.

“Nope, I’d never steal my baby mama’s favourite ice-cream”

That line was supposed to bring a smile to your face and it succeeded in doing so.

“Stop talking about stealing”

You averted your sight from the screen only when Mason placed his head on your thighs, making the butterflies in your stomach come alive.

With your one free hand, you started stroking his cheeks, moving them to massage his scalp.

“What’s troubling you, Mase?”

After you heard him emitting a loud sigh you knew the thing was getting serious so you just paused the tv to have your full attention set on him.

“It’s just - I’m afraid the miss here will steal you from me, that you’ll give her all your love and attention and when it comes to me you’ll be too tired to even look at me”

“Mase -”

“I’m so worried about this, Y/N. I know, this may sound as something childish or immature but I don’t want anything to change between us, apart from changing nappies and things like that”

You let out a soft chuckle and shifted in your seat to face him, as he had gotten up from your lap to seat properly.

“Look, I didn't mean to be harsh earlier, I’m sorry, but you hurt me when you said you weren’t sure whether I loved her more than you. I meant it when I said I’ll love you more than words can ever say. The baby will need all our attention and love and maybe yes, it’ll arrive a moment when we’ll be too tired to even kiss each other goodnight but it’s part of the process”

“I know but…I’m sorry, I wasn’t the one talking, it felt as if someone just took over me and spoke words I didn’t mean to say. I know it’s not easy having to deal with that ever growing belly but sometimes I just feel like I’m not doing enough to make you feel good and I hate that. I know she’ll need all our love, I’ve started loving her the moment you told me we would’ve become parents but sorry...I’ve been feeling weird lately” ”

The promise you made yourself not to cry, failed miserably and your orbs started getting watery with tears.

“You have nothing to reproach yourself for, Mason, really. It’s just - oh great, I’m a mess and she started kicking like a fucking footballer”

Mason chuckled and he promptly put his hand over the hump she formed pressing her feet against your belly.

“She learnt from the best” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“The fact is that…I appreciate every little thing you do to make my pregnancy a little more bearable and I’m so grateful for you, every single moment of my life but the truth is I don’t appreciate my changing body as much as you do and I always feel hideous, I’m really embarrassed of myself... the thought you want to make love to me feels absurd to me” You burst out crying and Mason had to hug you tightly to calm you down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make all of this about me”

“That’s okay and stop feeling sorry for everything. I love you so fucking much. I’m the one who has to be sorry” He let his lips linger against your forehead, detaching from your body when he felt your baby’s kick against his ribcage which was where your belly was leaning against.

He lowered himself further so his face was now at the same height as your stomach, lifting your t-shirt up so your bump was on full display. The moment Mason’s strokes met your swollen skin, your daughter calmed down a bit, giving you a rest.

“I think she’s a bit angry” You said, adjusting yourself against the armrest of the sofa so you could spread your bent legs more to let Mason make himself comfortable against your own body.

“Oh, daddy made you angry? I’m so sorry, sweetheart. Daddy didn’t mean to make his little princess angry, nor your mummy... it’s just that he loves your mummy so much…remember she was mine first, okay?”

“If I didn’t know you, I’d think you are drunk”

“I’m drunk in love”

“Oh Mase…”

“And now please baby, behave and don’t hurt mama cause she and dada have things to do”

“What kind of things do we have to do?”

“The ones where dada helps mama to love herself more…”

[aurathian]

things that have stuck with me as a woc in (the zelda) fandom

Hey all. This post is mostly about the Gerudo and my own experiences in fandom as a Middle Eastern woman (will be using acronyms such as MENA and woc), because the longer I stay here the more insane I become. This post is mostly about a lot of horrible stereotyping, misogynistic, racist, etc. headcanons, and just downright horribly offensive comments I've witnessed that have stuck with me throughout my time here.

There are a lot of other problems in this fandom with a lot of other aspects of the games (the Zonai...) which I won't touch on, as the Gerudo resonate closest with me and I feel I have the authority to speak on these issues as I am MENA, and they are based on MENA stereotypes.

TW for racism, misogyny, xenophobia, abortion... it's just strange.

The most notable thing I've experienced during my time in this fandom is being spoken over, as a woc talking about woc issues, by white people. White people who were MY FRIENDS.

One instance that sticks out to me is when someone shared their art of Urbosa in a Zelda server. It was really sexualized, and her waist was EXTREMELY tiny. Below the art, the artist said, "her waist is snatched because she got an abortion." She didn't say this about the other characters she drew. Only the woc.

Do I need to elaborate on why that is a horrible, disgusting thing to say?

This really upset me. What upset me more, however, was that nobody spoke up. Nobody said hey, this is wrong, and what you said is gross. When I spoke about this with my friends, they continued to bash the art style or whatever and ignore the fact that what was said was disgustingly racist. Then, after repeating about 5 separate times the impact this had on me as a woc (because nobody was listening to me and the most action that was taken was hug emojis), I got asked: Are you MENA?

They chose to ignore the racism they were witnessing and then questioned my (already stated) credibility. To question my capacity to be upset, hurt, and angry. These were people I called friends.

This next instance was not me being spoken over, but it was... weird. In a Zelda server, someone shared their headcanons for their personal AU. One of these headcanons was:

The Gerudo stop aging until they meet their significant other.

The Gerudo stop aging until they meet their significant other.

This was to justify the person's pedophilic ship with Riju, which... yeah. Self explanatory. So not only that, but you are tying the life and worth of WOC to their partners which, in-game, are men. The Gerudo do not continue their lives until they met their partners. The woc do not continue their lives until they meet their partners.

Be real.

This person ended up getting called out (after MUCH convincing from me to do so...).

These are two specific instances that have stuck with me during my time in fandom, but now I'll touch on more general stuff.

The only way people speak about Urbosa or other Gerudo characters is sexually or violently. It seems we only have the capacity to say "yes mommy Urbosa step on me! Crush my bones!! Yes!!" which is actually extremely harmful. You can like the Gerudo. You can think they're sexy or hot. But you need to be more mindful about how you speak about them, because if the only way you can express your feelings about these woc is through acts of violence, that is a problem. Because you cannot see the Gerudo as characters beyond being man-hating lesbians to satisfy your own fetishes. By acting this way, you also contribute to the idea that Gerudo women cannot be feminine because they are brown-skinned. No other race in Zelda is spoken about this way.

The Gerudo are often attached to other characters, as mentioned previously. I think this is most commonly and easily seen with Urbosa. Whenever she is discussed, it is in relation to Zelda (mother-daughter relationship) or Zelda's mother (having an affair or whatever other headcanons there may be). It is rare that Urbosa is written on her own, outside of her relationships. Not like she has an entire society to run or anything.

Let's also not forget about the sexualization of Link in his Gerudo vai outfit. Yes, it's cute. Yes, it looks good on him. But so many of you borderline fetishize him wearing it. However, I don't think I know enough to speak on this specific issue, so I will stop there with that.

I will never forget the time I came across a post saying that the existence of Ashai, a pale Gerudo, is racist.

Here is Ashai. She teaches the dating lessons in Gerudo Town. As you can see, she is paler than a lot of the Gerudo.

However, contrary to the westernized belief that all Middle Eastern people are literally brown-skinned Muslims, the Middle East is extremely diverse. Middle Eastern people are pale, dark, brown, tall, short, Muslim, Christian, Jewish. We are not carbon copies of each other like this poster wanted the Gerudo to be. In fact, this same exact identical-ness is what made early versions of the Gerudo so racist. The one thing Nintendo did right was having a diverse range of skin tones for the Gerudo in BOTW, and by saying Ashai's existence as a pale Gerudo is racist, you erase all of that progress.

Race is not just in your skin tone. It's in your eyes, your nose, your mouth, your ears, your body. That is why, despite being pale, Ashai is Gerudo. Ashai is a WOC.

This post is not intended to stir up drama, because if you believe racism = drama, that is not on the poc calling it out.

If you are a white person who is friends with POC, this doesn't make you exempt from contributing to the harmful stereotypes or racism.

Sit down. Listen. And reflect.

[guqwrvte]

quote game - "you're cute when you blush" jimin or taehyung please :)

⨽ pairing: jimin x reader (soulmate!au)

⨽ genre: fluff

⨽ warnings: none that i can think of :)

.

You let out a sigh as you averted your attention from the book you were reading to look out the window. Doing this was the norm for you. Sitting in a small cafe, enjoy your cup of coffee or tea while reading a book.

You sadly smiled as you watched the many couples and happy families walk past. You envied them. They were able to find their soulmates or were able to find the ones they wanted to be with for the rest of their lives. You looked at the small tattoo on your wrist, wishing you had found your soulmate.

Finding your soulmate wasn't easy, not when the thing that tied them to you was a small matching tattoo of their name on any part of their body, most commonly on their wrist.

The only indication that you got when you've met your soulmate was when that tattoo glowed. It would shine when you would've locked eyes with them.

For someone like you, it wasn't the best way to find your soulmate. You weren't a big fan of eye contact. In fact, you hated it.

"Caramel macchiato for Park Jimin, and __ y/n!" a worker called, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You got up from your chair and made your way to the cashier. You looked at the cups and frowned. They were two different sizes, and you suddenly forgot what side you had ordered. You weren't sure if you had requested the large or the regular.

"Mine's the large one," the man next to you chuckled. You nodded and picked up both, handing him the large. "Thanks." He said, taking the coffee from you.

"Your name's y/n, right?" he asked, and you nodded, staring at the cup you were holding in your hand. "For some reason, your name seems familiar," he said, your eyebrows to raise. You raised your head to look at him. "Do you-" you cut yourself off once you locked eyes with him.

The sudden bright light coming from your wrist caused you to gasp in surprise. The man rolled up his sleeve, looking at the glowing name on his forearm.

"Oh my gosh, Maria, they're soulmates!" You heard a cashier squeal as she witnessed the scene unfold in front of her.

Once the names were back to normal, you looked back at the man. He was already looking at you with a smile. "That's why your name sounded familiar."

.

"So... tell me a little about yourself?" Jimin asked you, starting a conversation. "I'm your average struggling student who likes to spend her time in cafes enjoying a cup of tea or coffee while reading a book," you said, not looking up from the book on the table.

"I major in Art and Literature, so it's either I'm always drawing or always reading, one of the two," you said with a soft chuckle. "I also spend my time in libraries, reading again. Wow, I just realised I do a lot of reading."

Jimin chuckled. "I read a bit too, so hopefully we can sit together and read," he said, and you smiled. Throughout the conversation, you avoided his gaze. Looking at everything except him. "What do you major in?" "I major in Design and Technology and take Dance as my second major."

You only nodded, taking a sip of your coffee. "You don't like eye contact do you?" he suddenly asked, catching you by surprise. "I mean, you've been looking everywhere except at me, not that I have a problem with it or anything. It's just easy to pick up."

You were slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, I'm not a big fan of eye contact." "That's okay. I wasn't a fan of it either. But I find it cute how you're trying so hard to avoid looking at me." Your eyes widened at his comment.

He wasn't wrong. You wanted to sit there and admire him, but your anxiety wasn't letting you. "It's okay. You can look at me all you want. I'm yours, after all."

You snuck a quick glance at him, your cheeks beginning to turn red. Jimin let out another laugh causing your cheeks to turn redder. You just wanted to run away and hide.

"Stop laughing! It's not funny," you whined, and he only laughed harder.

"You're cute when you blush," he commented, beginning to admire the red that was spreading across your cheeks.

You were happy you had finally met your soulmate. You finally had someone who would make your world brighter. "I'm glad I met you today, Jimin."

"Me too."

.

sorry for taking long to respond to your requests. i’ve been studying for my final exams and stuff.

i’m sorry if this isn’t as good as my other work. i took a mini break from writing at some point so yeaaaaa :/

.

part of quote game , submit request here

[dailydemonspotlight]

Dormarth - Day 105

Race: Beast

Alignment: Dark-Neutral

September 6th, 2024

Many mythological dogs fall into a set of strangely similar tropes, even beyond just the idea of them having multiple heads, as observed in the Orthrus analysis. One that I find particularly interesting, though, has to be in their common connections to death. Likely stemming from how dogs were, and still are, seen as intrinsically connected to hunting, many dogs in mythology are connected to death, the spiritual realm, and many such things. We've already seen this with the Inugami analysis earlier this week, but another curious example, and a personal favorite of mine, has to be in the Celtic Wild Hunt's goodest boy, Dormarth.

While the Wild Hunt is a demon itself in SMT, its intrinsic connection to death and the afterlife makes it a very curious topic in connection to Dormarth, also known as Dormarch, a hunting hound that joins in during said hunt. Originating in Wales, Dormarth is a beast that accompanies the riders during the Welsh version of the Wild Hunt. The Wild Hunt itself is a common motif throughout many different European mythologies and cultures, with many cultures offering their own spins on the general concept. This, naturally, leads to differing figures throughout the recurring motif, and the Welsh version has its own fair share of unique ideas, with one of them being the collection of souls of warriors to join in on the hunt, and who else does that collection than Dormarth?

The games' recollections of Dormarth are somewhat inaccurate, from what I can tell- for the most part, they paint the dog as being a guardian of the Celtic version of hell, but most actual historical references of Dormarth seem to split that between many other concepts regarding death and the afterlife. In fact, we don't really know much about Dormarth, given that the dog only appears in one passage throughout old Welsh literature, being in The Black Book of Carmarthen. The name Dormarth is also rather controversial, as the original text is somewhat fragmented, missing a letter in the name that could be either Dormarch or Dormarth, both of which carrying wholly different meanings. To quote the only reference we actually have of Dormarth,

My hound is sleek and fair, The best of hounds; Dormach he is, who was with Maelgwn. Dormach rednose – why stare you so? Because I cannot comprehend Your wanderings in the firmament.

A lot of controversy has surrounded Dormarth for years, but that's beside the point. Dormarth, as a name, seems to roughly translate to mean an 'embodiment of death,' giving light to the idea of Dormarth being just that. Combine that with Dormarth's connection to the dead due to being in the Wild Hunt, a hunt made up entirely of spirits, and one can easily draw a connection between it and Cerberus or other such guard dogs of the underworld. On top of this, though, its connection to death may also be it guiding lost souls to the underworld, or even collecting dead warriors to join in on the Wild Hunt. Language is fun like that, no?

Given that its natural habitat is described as being 'among the clouds,' being associated with the Wild Hunt, it's commonly believed that Dormarth accompanies the Wild Hunt, and observations in the Black Book of Carmarthen by one John Gwenogvryn Evans in 1906 seem to also give a physical description of the hound as being a two-legged dog with swirling fish tails behind it. Its overall role is rather unclear, as I've gone over in extensive detail, but Dormarth does seem to play a rather interesting role in the Wild Hunt overall, whether it be a guardian of the gates of Annwn (the Welsh underworld) or a hunting dog that accompanies the Wild Hunt, to even one that collects new hunters for it. With all of that, though, how's it portrayed in SMT?

I love Dormarth's design, but given everything related to the dog, it's really hard to see where a lot of the elements came from. Like, come on, where's the fish tail? Where are the only two front legs? Why is she bipedal, and why is she a girl? As strange as it is for a Dormarth design, though, I do like how it looks. She is incredibly gender, and I like the spike collar- it plays well into the whole themes of death- and helmet, which ties her (though vaguely) to the Wild Hunt. Overall, a pretty good design, though not one I quite understand for the hound of the hunt.

[audreydoeskaren]

History of Chinese standing collars (part 3: post republican era)

Quick recap: I was debating with myself whether “Mandarin collar” should be a thing because standing collars throughout Chinese history looked different. I went through the Ming and Qing dynasties in part 1 and the republican era in part 2, now I’ll look at what comes after that. I numbered the styles in parts 1 and 2 but they’re only guidelines so you don’t have to remember anything.

So in this post we’ve kind of reached the end of the era where fashion consisted of a single silhouette in any given year and all hell ran loose. I’m having a lot of difficulties classifying things as Chinese or Western because the distinction is really blurred, and I also ran into problems explaining why certain historical European things looked so similar to Chinese ones so there will also be a lot of confusion. 

1950s & 60s Chinese application

Summary of 1950s fashion, mainland and others.

Because of the communist victory in the Civil War, fashion in the mainland was different to other (capitalist) areas populated by the Chinese diaspora such as Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan etc.. Let’s look at capitalist area fashion first; I’ll be referring to Hong Kong because Hong Kong was the center of cheongsam making at the time.

Collars on 50s Hong Kong cheongsam grew taller on the basis of collar style 10 but retained the rounded, tapering edge, resulting in a v shape gap down the middle that weirdly recalls collar style 6 from part 1 and part 2. It’s basically completely identical to collar style 6 but stiffened and extremely form fitting. It’s usually closed with one pankou at the base but because of westernization, 50s cheongsam often had no visible pankou----everything is closed with snap buttons, zippers or hooks and eyes/bars. An important aspect of collars of 50s and 60s Hong Kong cheongsam is that they left out the binding around the neck. All cheongsam prior to this point were bound around the exterior edge, the side closure, the slits and the collar seam (on the bodice not the collar), 50s cheongsam collars purposefully neglected the binding at the collar seam for some reasons. This makes the collar look like it’s one continuous piece of fabric with the bodice, which it isn’t. A lot of modern representation of cheongsam or any Chinese inspired clothing (in video games, books and anime etc.) do this, even if the character is from before the 1950s. It REALLY bugs me. If you are an artist or writer and designing costumes for Chinese characters prior to the 50s, please include binding/trimmings on all three seams, it’s an easy way to bump up historical accuracy. With that said, completely plain collars without any binding or trim was actually the most common. Let’s call this collar style 13.

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1954 photograph of Li Lihua and Clark Gable. Collar style 13 with stiffening and no collar seam binding. You can see how firm and neck hugging the collar is, contrary to a lot of modern cheongsam collars which are saggy and loose.

The popularity of collar style 13 continued into the 60s. When the cheongsam fell out of popularity, it ceased to exist as well.

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60s cheongsam with collar style 13. I’m really not a fan of the nude/light lipstick trend of the 60s, like, as a person with no lip color definition it makes me look like a potato.

Now moving on to mainland collars. In the 1950s, cheongsam with the 40s collar style 12 were still occasionally seen, but the fashionable collar shape also became taller and was similar to the Hong Kong collar style 13. Interestingly, some 50s mainland cheongsam retained the binding around the collar seam, making them look more “traditional” in a sense. However, collars both with and without collar seam binding existed and it was just a matter of personal preference.

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1950s photograph of a mainland lady in cheongsam. The collar is taller and closes with one button, much like Hong Kong collars of the era, but the neck binding is present.

Aoku robe collars from the 1940s onward mostly had the 40s style low collar, although in the 50s and 60s they rose in height very slightly.

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1964 poster showing a girl in aoku, the robe has a low, rounded collar.

However, garments with a standing collar became worn a lot less frequently in the 50s and 60s in both mainland and non-mainland areas, since a lot of people adopted Western fashion.

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1950s photograph of a group of mainland people wearing jackets of Western construction. Some of them seem to be wearing informal military jackets, commonly known as “Mao suit” or “Zhongshan suit” nowadays, with folded collars.

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1950s photograph of some women in Malaysia, some in cheongsam and some in Western New Look dresses.

Western application

I think it’s also quite important to discuss how Chinese standing collars were perceived by Western designers, because the Western fashion industry does hold a lot more power globally and also reverse influenced Chinese collar designs in the post 1960s era. So, in the 1950s and 60s Western designers thought cheongsam was really cool and produced a lot of affordable sewing patterns for their versions of cheongsam. I think this is also because pre-1950s cheongsam didn’t use the Western construction method and patterns needed to be individually drafted so it was difficult to make mass produced sewing patterns. From all the sewing patterns I have seen personally, the super tall standing collar popular in Hong Kong was not really appreciated by Western designers at all?? Western cheongsam sewing patterns all had the very low 1940s style collar, combined with an hourglass silhouette New Look bodice and skirt, looking rather anachronistic. These collars also didn’t have binding/trim around the collar seam, in line with fashionable Hong Kong cheongsam of the day. 

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1950s Advance sewing pattern for cheongsam. The collar is low and has rectangular edges, something about a decade out of fashion in Hong Kong and Shanghai. No collar seam binding.

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1950s Simplicity sewing pattern for cheongsam. Likewise with super low 1940s collars. Collarless cheongsam died in China in the mid 1920s, yet it lives on in the imagination of Western designers. By the way, the frog closures with a quatrefoil shape are not Chinese, I’m gonna write another post about this. I love the look in the middle it’s very glam.

1970s and later

The post 1960s era is what ultimately created the confusion around standing collars nowadays. Around this time Western and Chinese fashions started to merge and become one, and garments made completely in the historical Chinese method were more and more difficult to come by; Western construction techniques reigned supreme. 

From the 70s onward, most “Chinese collars” had the 40s rounded edge shape but were either medium low or medium height. The lack of collar seam binding persisted into the current day, which is something I kind of lament because without this binding collars easily read as Renaissance doublet... (more on that later)

I usually avoid calling any standing collars from the 1970s onward Chinese/Mandarin because 1) standing collars were never a uniquely Chinese thing to begin with 2) since cheongsam was no longer fashionable among actual Chinese people, designers who made cheongsam pulled all kinds of shenanigans without any historical precedent whatsoever. Also, since clothes with structured/stiffened standing collars stopped being a staple in the average Western person’s wardrobe, white people started calling everything with the most remote hint of a standing collar Chinese to further stir the pot, emboldened by the cultural appropriation craze of the 60s and 70s. Ok that’s very loaded, but it’s true that in the 60s and 70s there was a lot of Western clothing designs that took inspiration from other cultures without permission. Westerners could totally design and wear Chinese style clothing given that the intention is respectful and they know about the garment in question, but a lot of times the accuracy of the designs leaves much to be desired. There was also a lot of Orientalist inspiration in the 10s and 20s but the borrowing back then wasn’t so... literal. When I look at so called cheongsam sewing patterns from the 70s onward, I sometimes seriously have trouble identifying if something is meant to be Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Polynesian or any other region/culture...

I’ll just find pictures of Chinese inspired clothing from the 70s onward with a “Mandarin collar” label and point out their source of inspiration.

Source here

1972 Simplicity sewing pattern for cheongsam. It’s the same Western collar from the 50s and 60s just slightly taller. Oh and the closures used on the two designs in the middle are again likely not pankou. After the 60s, this neck design with a oval shape keyhole cutout became quite common and that persisted to the current day. Don’t know what the purpose of that was, just because you show 5 square centimeters more skin doesn’t mean your cheongsam is sexier?

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The description of this 70s Simplicity pattern says “Mandarin collar” but the source of inspiration is obviously Japanese military/school uniforms, AGAIN. The collar’s height and rectangular edges, combined with the placement of buttons above the waist on the bodice, everything about this reads as Japanese. The frog closures on the left are once again European and not Chinese pankou (sheesh I really need to make this other post). The original designer probably meant for it to be Japanese but the seller mistakenly labelled it a Mandarin collar design. 

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70s Teresa Teng (rest in power legend) in a theatrical cheongsam with a similar collar, either a stretched version of the 40s collar or a shrunk version of the 50s/60s one.

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Google search result for “Mandarin collar dress”. Same Western low collar from the 70s. A new problem with modern mass produced cheongsam is that the collar oftentimes doesn’t fit the wearer and appears too baggy. Or maybe it’s not mass production, just that people nowadays are very unaccustomed to wearing tight fitting standing collars so they assume there needs to be some extra space? As someone who wears stiff standing collars on a regular basis I have to say it actually isn’t uncomfortable at all and elongates your neck a lot better. This is what most cheongsam collars nowadays look like, even the self proclaimed “traditional” ones, they literally originated from 1950s/60s Western sewing pattern companies’ interpretation of contemporary Chinese cheongsam collars.

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Baidu search result for “Mandarin collar suit”. This, is, literally, almost a replica Japanese uniform. The seller is also using the tag Zhongshan suit lmao (I’ve explained in my 1950s mainland post what a Zhongshan suit is not supposed to look like), delusion is not a fragrance I guess. Why is it so hard to let Japan be Japan and China be China??

Conclusion & afterthought

Another thing I need to mention is that standing collars are by no means unique to Chinese historical dress; they were also widely used in European historical fashion, long before standing collars became worn with uniforms of “Mandarins” or Chinese officials, which further proves my point that “Mandarin collar” is not a valid term. Also, standing collars in Europe have always been stiffened/structured, whereas Chinese collars only started to become stiffened around the 1890s, possibly due to European influence as well. For example, the 1950s collar with rounded edges and no collar seam binding reads as European Renaissance doublet very easily. To be fair though, a lot of the collar shapes seen in early 20th century Chinese womenswear had been done before in European Renaissance fashion and during that time period in China only the OG Ming Dynasty collar mentioned in part 1 was used sooooooo

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1630-40 English doublet. The collar looks mighty similar to 1930s Chinese women’s ones. I know next to nothing about Renaissance fashion so I’m not sure how it’s constructed, but it proves the point that collars like these were not a uniquely Chinese phenomenon.

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Meanwhile the Mandarins in China. He’s wearing a crossover collar robe underneath a round collar robe, no standing collar here.

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1780s French men’s coat with a standing collar.

Standing collars were also commonly used in Victorian and Edwardian women’s everyday fashion without any connection to China whatsoever.

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1860s fashion plate for a gown with a low standing shirt collar peeking underneath. 

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1887 fashion plate from the Journal des Demoiselles. Bustle gowns with standing collars.  

Bonus rant

I have come to the actual point of this series of posts, to answer the question: should “Mandarin collar” be a thing? In which case I’m gonna have to go with no. In the three posts I made on the topic I categorized a total of 13 collar styles, each distinct from each other and some being inspired by Western clothing, and showed that the use of the term “Mandarin collar” nowadays is very vague and ambiguous. I don’t understand why people in the fashion industry give my ancestors all the credits for a design feature as basic and common as a standing collar... Maybe it’s a marketing gimmick like how Sternhalma (a German board game) is advertised in the US as “Chinese checkers”?? Or maybe it shows that a lot of fashion designers lack a basic understanding of historical fashion? Either way it makes no sense. I think the concept is also slightly offensive since it simply ignores the diversity of actual historical Chinese standing collar designs, kind of reinforcing the racist stereotype that non-white fashion histories are static and never changing.

If I do have to pick a most traditional/iconic style of Chinese standing collar, I would go with either the original Ming Dynasty soft collar with metal buttons or the 1940s short collar with collar seam binding used on aoku, cheongsam, changshan and magua. In the mainland Chinese countryside, the 1940s style collar was preserved and actually still made today, but in the post-Mao era it became increasingly seen by the mainland population as 土 (a derogatory term for Chinese folk stuff meaning tacky or cringy) compared to the exciting new Western fashions being imported at the time. As a result, more traditional items of clothing like aoku for women, changshan and magua for men were neglected in favor of more westernized cheongsam designs, leading to some cursed contraptions.

Maybe this is a hot take, I personally really don’t vibe with the concept of 土 because it’s very loaded and usually the gateway drug to massive internalized racism. I’ve heard so many people bash aoku and magua constructed in the historical method and put post-60s Western inspired cheongsam on a pedestal even though the former is grounded in history and the latter is an Orientalist mess. There is nothing wrong with making aoqun, aoku, magua, changshan, cheongsam or any other historical item of clothing in the historically accurate method, they’re charming in their own ways and don’t need to be “modified”. In my opinion, the puckering under the armpits caused by the lack of a shoulder seam and the rounded shoulders are what makes historical Chinese clothing beautiful to begin with :3 I think there’s something inherently modern and authentic in the pedantic, antiquarian pursuit of historical clothing, like you know how whenever a revival happens it actually brings something new to the table? It’s not problematic to wear modern cheongsam designs per se, it’s just important to keep in mind that it doesn’t have much to do with actual Chinese history and represents more of the status quo of Chinese fashion nowadays.

Ok I’m going off the collar track but it’s time to finish this post. Thank you for reading, and as I mentioned, the next post will be about Chinese pankou. I’m almost finished with that one as well and I’m really excited with what I have planned next :D

[bwbatta]

four - believable

Abstract: Draco and you are just friends so doing him a favour and pretending to be his girlfriend wouldn’t effect your friendship right?

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader

Warnings: this is super fluffy beware

Word count: 3944

A/N: well, I’m back and BOY do I have a good one for you! Christmasy vibes are at 100% as I’m struggling to believe Christmas has actually been and gone, hopefully this will fulfil your Christmas Draco cravings! 

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist | Part 3

If you thought people gossiped too much about the rumour of Draco and you being in a relationship before it was even confirmed, the gossip that was instigated from your kiss in the middle of the Great Hall was on another level.

No one said it to your face but everyone thought the chemistry between the two of you surely couldn’t have been faked.

Little did they know though, right?!

Whispers died down after a couple weeks of seeing the two of you walk around holding hands or with Draco’s arm over your shoulder pulling you close in his grip.

In fact the two of you touching in some way became such a constant that it almost felt odd when his hand wasn’t resting on your leg while you were together.

The one thing that wasn’t so weird to come from the game you two had going on, was how Pansy had dialled down her desperate attempts to seduce the blonde Malfoy heir.

Sure she still tried when you weren’t around, but it was a lot less than before and all her attempts were rebuffed and ignored by Draco.

After about a month, her attempts had dwindled and come to a halt.

Not that the two of you noticed that much.

You both had to admit, you enjoyed how things were with each other right now, not that you’d tell the other.

“Hey Sweetheart”

Broken out of your thoughts you looked up to see the familiar blonde approaching you with a grin on his face.

The two of you saw each other earlier that day for breakfast and then later for Potions, but since you both chose different courses, you didn’t have the time to cross paths again until later that evening.

You had been flicking through an astronomy textbook, attempting to finally finish your essay in the Library. Christmas was fast approaching which meant so were final deadlines for the term. Mostly you were fine with the workload you had, thanks to a specific muggleborn Gryffindor who had kept you on track, yet astronomy was kicking your arse.

As hard as you tried, you couldn’t tell your constellations apart from your galaxies.

“Hi” you sighed in reply causing the boy to frown

“That doesn’t sound very happy”

“That’s because this Astronomy essay is making me want to knock myself out with a telescope” you rested your head on your arms dejectedly. “It would be less painful.”

Draco didn’t stop the snort escaping his lips as he rolled his eyes at your dramatics and grabbed your excuse of an essay. With a snicker he shot you an amused look at the last line you’d written on the parchment, aka when you’d really given up all hope.

“’The Sirius constellation looks like a dog but you can’t really tell which breed’?! You’re honestly going to give this in?!” he laughed 

“You can’t tell though!”

“Well first, Sirius is a star not a constellation and second the constellation it’s in is obviously a terrier.”

“How helpful” 

His grey eyes shot you an amused look before gathering up your books and papers and put them away in your bag. Grabbing your hand he pulled you up and out of the Library which you groaned at, complaining you needed to finish your essay.

“I know” he just responded, pulling you close to him by your hands before detaching them and dropping his arm around your shoulder, pressing a kiss to your forehead in the process as he saw a gaggle of Ravenclaws pass you on their way to the Library. “Let’s grab some dinner and then I’ll help you with your essay.”

The kitchens weren’t as busy as usual as dinner was already happening, but still busy enough to have three house elves approach the two of you asking what they could get you.

“Two plates of roast beef, one with extra roast potatoes, the other with extra yorkshire puddings.”

Immediately your stomach growled at the thought of the food to your embarrassment. You really hadn’t realised how hungry you’d gotten.

Almost in no time at all, two steaming hot plates of food were given to you and the two of you made your way to the astronomy tower, taking a seat on the floor so you could take in the view of the setting sun.

“Why are we here? I thought we’d go back to the Library or common room to finish the essay?”

“How else am I gonna teach you the constellations if you can’t see them?!”

You were taken aback a little.

“You’re teaching me by pointing them out? How do you know astronomy?”

“The entirety of my family are named after stars and constellations on my mother’s side. It was something I just knew growing up because she taught me from when I was young.”

“So there’s a star called Draco?”

“A constellation actually” he mused, “it’s suppose to look like a dragon.”

“Suppose to?”

“Looks more like a snake if I’m honest”

The subject changed over dinner to other things you’d each thought of or heard throughout the day, when you hadn’t seen each other. Apparently the head boy and head girl had been caught by McGonagall in a broom closet getting frisky.

There had also been a fight which had broken out in the Herbology greenhouses which resulted in a mandrake pot being shattered and everyone fainting because of the screams from the young plant.

The real highlight of the day however, was the rumour of the Ancient Runes professor showing an interest in one of the sixth year Hufflepuffs.

“Contrary to popular belief, those Hufflepuffs aren’t as innocent as everyone might be led to believe” Draco snickered as you slapped his arm jokingly.

“I can’t believe a professor here would do that thought!”

“We’ve had worse teachers, lets be honest” he laughed. “Lets recall our last five years shall we?!”

“First one was killed by Harry after having You-Know-Who on the back of his head, the second was a complete moron and obliviated himself- one was a werewolf! Then lets not forget the disguised death eater and then finally this year we’ve been delighted to have the pink toad as a teacher.” 

“I feel like we’ve really lucked out if I’m honest” Draco snorted as you snickered at the humoured sarcasm you shared.

A cold breeze shifted through the open tower when the sun finally set, causing you to shiver involuntarily. Deciding to only wear a thin jumper, forgoing your robes whilst you studied earlier may not have been the smartest idea once the two of you decided to eat at that destination.

Draco noticed and immediately leaned back against the wall, holding his arms out to you.

“Come here”

With a shuffle, you were under his arm, pressed against him as you settled into his side, his body heat being a welcoming factor.

“Merlin, you’re freezing” he frowned pulling you closer before conjuring up an emerald green blanket.

“Winter doesn’t really agree with me,” you joked “now tell me about these bloody constellations.”

“Well you’ve got the northern constellations and the southern ones. The northern include some such as Andromeda, Cassiopeia, Lyra and Pegasus. The southern have ones like Ara, Orion, and Canis’ Major and Minor.”

“Which one is Draco in?”

“Northern” he grinned down at you as you reciprocated his smile. “You then also have the zodiac constellations which are the 12 most commonly known ones.”

“Like Sagittarius, Aquarius and all that?”

“Yep. Within all those constellations, you’ve then got your stars.” 

The blonde boy explained the basics of the stars to you almost effortlessly as your gaze flicked back and forth from him to the sky, when he pointed out which section he was talking about.

He talked non stop about the stars and you couldn’t help but admire the Slytherin as he spoke of the subject. Draco wasn’t arrogantly top of the class like Hermione was, but he was in no way lacking in knowledge when it came to subjects he knew about like it was second nature.

Time passed you both by like the cool breeze that surrounded you, and before you knew it, hours had passed just being in each others company as he easily gave you enough clarity to finish off your essay, without even having to resort to drastic measures.

You also learnt so much more than any astronomy professor had taught you in all your years at Hogwarts.

Maybe that was just because they weren’t as captivating as the blonde beside you.

You wouldn’t say it out loud, but you knew exactly what your favourite constellation was after that evening, and it just so happened to look like a dragon.

Christmas drew closer and Draco was adamant on sticking to his side of the deal, so with a sigh he set off to Hogsmeade in search of the extensive list of Christmas gifts he had promised to get you. 

He had to appear like the perfect boyfriend after all.

Something was nagging at him though and it was constantly circling his mind as he trudged down in the frost to the village. 

It had been that evening when the two of you were in the astronomy tower and he was teaching you about the stars, when it had happened.

In the midst of his talking, he pointed out the Orion constellation before glancing down at you and pausing a second to catch his breath, not because he was chatting too much, but because in the vivid light of the moon, you were ethereal. 

He had whole heartedly planned to carry on talking, but the sight of you, curled up against him, with the moonlight highlighting your features, his breath was stolen from him. 

Almost in a trance he brushed the back of his fingers against your cheekbone causing you to snap your gaze to him, eyes wide at the delicate gesture.

Your wide eyes shocked him out of his state and immediately he paused awkwardly, racking his brain for some kind of excuse.

“Um... eyelash” he murmured, grey eyes not breaking from your own.

“...thanks.”

His mind was screaming at him to just carry on talking, yet no words came out of his mouth. 

Instead, almost like his body had a mind of it’s own, his fingers continued to move to brush away the lock of hair which had fallen out of it’s place.

Finally gaining control of his actions again, he dropped his hand and pulled you closer to him, effectively breaking your line of sight. Draco began to talk about Orion again but his mind wasn’t 100% paying attention to the facts that came out his mouth.

What the hell was that?

Shaking those questions from his head, he pressed his lips to your temple and continued his rambling about stars.

It had been quick, fleeting, but Draco hadn’t missed it and he really hoped you had. The affection which was suppose to be scripted for everyone else’s belief had reared it’s head like it was second nature to the pair. 

You hadn’t said anything or brought it up so Draco definitely wasn’t going to. 

He agreed with himself it was probably best left unspoken about. It was a slip up, something which felt right to do at the time but it wouldn’t happen again.

Attempting to convince himself, he muttered about how you probably didn’t even notice. It was nothing. 

After all, whatever was happening affectionately between the two of you wasn’t real.

In short, you’d noticed. 

Draco showing you affection was nothing new, yet Draco showing it when no one else was around, okay, that was new.

The kiss he left on your temple could of course be in a friendly manner, right? The brush against your cheek? The way he looked at you?

Friends are affectionate to each other, it was probably nothing more than a friendly endearment. Like a hug.

So why did it feel like there was so much more unsaid?

With a groan of annoyance, you shut it from your mind. There was no use in overthinking something as small as a simple affection. You were smarter than that. 

The truth was, the two of you were so hellbent on making everyone around you believe you were in a relationship, you failed to noticed how neither of you denied how believable it was to each other.

Your stomach grumbled loudly, catching the attention of the witch opposite you who eyed you with annoyance.

“Are you just going to sit there, starve yourself and annoy me, or are you going to get some food and leave so I can work in peace?”

“Merlin, Hermione, it’s almost like you don’t want me around.”

“I don’t when you’re distracting me”

“Charming as ever, I see”

With a huff, the bookworm turned her attention back to her books.

Completely bored with your homework, you fidgeted with your quill between your fingers.

“Hey, Hermione? Are you going home for Christmas?”

“You couldn’t ask me this later?” she sighed as she paused in her writing and shot you an irritated look. At the shake of your head, she rolled her eyes. “Yes, My family and I are planning on going skiing again. Are you heading back?”

“Not this year, my parents are off visiting my cousins in America so I said I’d stay at Hogwarts.”

“You’re staying here for Christmas?”

A new voice entered your conversation from behind you and at the look of Hermione’s scowl, you knew immediately it was your blonde boyfriend.

Turning in your seat, you greeted him with a smile. Pecking a kiss to your lips, more for Hermione’s purpose than your own, he took the seat next to you, placing his own stack of books on the table next to you.

“Yeah, like I said, parents are going to America, it’s just easier if I stay.”

“Not many others are planning on staying though, not even the Weasleys” Draco frowned.

You shrugged at his insinuation, knowing exactly what he was getting at.

“I’ll be fine, might actually get some peace and quiet to be honest.”

He didn’t look convinced. 

“I’ll write to my parents and tell them I’m staying for Christmas”

“Draco-”

“Nope, I’m not going to let you spend Christmas alone,” he was adamant, “Can I borrow a piece of parchment, I’ll write to them now.”

“Go ahead, I’m not using it” you replied which earned you an exasperated look from the Gryffindor opposite you, which you ignored.

Hermione took the time to observe the two of you and how effortlessly you interacted around each other. It was like a cleverly choreographed piece.

You looked down at your work, Draco looked up at you. Draco looked down at the letter he was now writing, you looked up at Draco. You rested your hand on his arm when you were talking, he leans into your touch.

The Granger witch couldn’t help but almost admire the chemistry between the two of you and how easy it seemed it was to be with the other. Sure, she had doubts at the very start when you’d just begun dating, yet getting a front row seat to seeing the two of you bounce off each other, Hermione Granger believed wholeheartedly the two of you loved each other. 

Even if you didn’t know it yourselves yet.

Draco had followed through with his promise and as it seemed every other student had journeyed down to the train a couple days ago. The two of you were sat happily in the Astronomy tower, basking in the silence of the castle and embracing how relaxing it was. 

Since the first time the two of you had sat around the tower before, it seemed like this was the place you both chose to come every time when it was just the two of you. 

Neither of you had brought up the small affection from the previous time, but acting like it didn’t happen seemed like it was working for the two of you.

“What’s the best Christmas gift you’ve ever gotten?” Draco asked you after a few moments of silence.

You had to think for a moment before a grin rapidly grew across your face at the exact present you knew you loved. 

“Snitch socks,” you chuckled “I was given a pair by my grandma when I was like 10 or something and they were the fluffiest, comfiest pair of socks I ever owned where there was a little charm with made the snitches fly around the design. They must’ve cost a knut or something as they fell apart after I only wore them for a few days! Young me was so heartbroken about her socks, she cried for three days!”

“You cried over socks?!”

“The best socks! I don’t think I’ve even known real joy since”

Draco snorted out a laugh into your hair as he wrapped an arm round your shoulders.

“That’s so stupid”

“Don’t be such a jerk, I was 10” you scowled at him playfully “besides, my grandma passed away a couple years later and I have no idea where she got them, so I’ve made my peace with it.”

“Would you still wear them now if you got another pair?”

“Oh 100%, but either way, like I said, I’ve made my peace with it.” You shrugged nonchalantly before turning to the boy next to you, “go on then, what’s been your favourite Christmas present ever?!”

“A pocket watch” he grinned reaching into his pocket and pulling one out, passing it over to you to look at. “It’s a Black family heirloom - my Mother’s side of the family, and it’s suppose to keep you on time for everything. It used to belong to one of my great uncles or someone but I’ve never been late to anything when I have this on me.”

“Really?” you asked sceptically 

“Really”

“What about that time you were late to potions?!”

“Left it in my dorm accidentally. Actually that whole day was kind of a disaster. Bloody Pansy and her love potion.”

You snorted as you admired the watch and flipped it over in your palm to examine the back. Cursive words were engraved in the back in another language- probably latin, which had something to do with keeping the owner on time, all the time.  

It was silver and about the size of a large golf ball in diameter, yet surprisingly light as you played with it between your fingers. 

“It’s pretty”

Draco hummed in agreement as he watched you trace the intricate details with your fingers before smiling and handing it back to him. With a fond look at the watch, then you, he slipped it back into his pocket.

“I just pray I don’t lose it, wouldn’t hear the end of it from my Mother”

“For good reason probably” you snorted, “if it’s a family heirloom it probably means a lot to her.”

Draco hummed once again and pinned his warm gaze on you. He wouldn’t say it out loud but he rarely let the things that meant a lot to him out of his sight.

“God rest ye merry hippogriffs-”

“I’m begging you to stop”

“-ye are A BIRD OF PREY!”

“Y/N-”

“We come in all our splendour, to lead ye ast--”

A hand covered your mouth as you laughed heavily at Draco’s attempt to quieten your singing. You had purposefully tried to make it the worst edition of the Christmas carol possible to annoy the blonde that Christmas morning, yet you hadn’t planned on being tackled into the Slytherin sofa as an attempt to be shut up.

“Did you just lick my hand?!”

You shook your head innocently, not fooling Draco for a second. 

The two of you had gathered in the Slytherin common room, as most of the house had gone back for the holiday.

Only a couple of students remained, but after the wizard had glared at the couple of second years, they scattered somewhere else for the time being.

“Okay, presents!”

You almost dived under the tree as you caught sight of a carefully wrapped gift with your name on it. However, finding the label attached to a rather large bundle of Honeydukes chocolates, the smile you shot Draco was almost blinding.

“You did get me the chocolates!!”

“I promised, didn’t it?!”

Draco watched you with a fond grin as you rifled through the basket picking out a couple of chocolate frogs and chucked one to him. He caught the small packet quickly, thanking his seeker reflexes as he did, and looked at you questioningly.

“What, you didn’t think I’d be able to get through all these myself?! Plus I know chocolate frogs are your favourite.”

Draco felt his smile grow wider.

“I got something for you too” you matched his smile

“You did?”

“Of course!”

Pulling out a long rectangular box from under the tree, he kneeled down next to you as he pushed it along the floor so it wasn’t obstructed by anything.With a wary look towards you, he paused slightly.

“It’s not anything that will bite, right?”

“Oh shut up, of course not, now open it!”

With a roll of his eyes, the Malfoy ripped off the wrapping paper and pried open the cardboard box to see the broom he had been envying Harry Potter over for the last year.

“You got me a Firebolt?!”

“Couldn’t have you whining about Harry’s broom any longer, could I?!”

“Merlin, Y/N! This is fantastic, thank you!” He grinned at you before his eyes snapped to the tree and back. “There’s some other things for you still under the tree.” 

It was your turn to pin him with a questioning look, eyebrows pulled together in a frown. 

Turning back to the tree, you pulled up a few branches and spotted another large box at the back. With great effort, to which the Malfoy just found great entertainment in, you managed to retrieve the box. Pulling open the top flap, the boots and jacket he had also promised you, sat inside.

With a laugh you pulled the boots out first and then the jacket, before spotting a smaller bundle at the bottom. Reaching in, your fingers came in contact with something soft which you pulled out, only to gasp at what it was.

A pair of fluffy green socks sat in your hand as golden snitches whizzed round the design. Not being able to find your words, you looked up at Draco with the softest look you were sure you’d ever looked at him with. 

“Draco... you got me snitch socks?!”

“I may have mentioned about the socks to my Mother and she just so happened to know where they were sold. I picked the green ones because I couldn’t have you wearing red ones now, could I?”

“Merlin, they’re perfect! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Pretty much launching yourself at him, you pulled Draco into a warm hug, arms around his neck, as he instinctively wrapped his own arms around your waist in return. 

“You are the best boyfriend ever, oh Merlin!”

“If I knew it was this easy to please you, I would’ve bought you them ages ago” he snickered.

You pulled away, only to move to put the socks on as you chatted non stop about how great they were, and in turn, how great he was. Seeing your entire face light up because of a pair of socks made Draco smile even more. 

Again, he wouldn’t admit it out loud, but seeing that smile on your face, which he had 100% been responsible for, made his entire Christmas so much better.

[cockroachmotherfucker10]

PRIDEFALL UPDATE: real or fake?

What is Pridefall?

Operation Pridefall, also known as Project Pridefall or simply Pridefall, refers to an attack planned by /pol/ (a political discussion board on the anonymous website 4chan) for all of June, AKA Pride month. The original 4chan thread, which has since been deleted, was primarily focused on “redpilling,” i.e. spreading queerphobic propaganda to make people question the LGBTQ+ community. However, now that it has spread outside 4chan, there are threats of harassing, doxxing, and outing queer people (especially minors) on social media, spamming gore and rape videos in private messages and Pride tags, and even kidnapping, assaulting, or killing queer people in real life.

Specific targets include Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and dating apps. The goal is to go after smaller accounts so the queerphobia isn’t lost in the comments.

Is Pridefall real?

Yes and no.

I searched “pridefall” on 4chan last night. Apparently any new threads on it are being deleted, and anytime someone mentions it, everyone calls them slurs and says no one is doing it.

However, Pridefall is gaining some traction on Instagram--I have seen it for myself. I don’t have TikTok or any dating apps, but I’ve heard that some people are spamming homophobia on TikTok. As for Twitter, I only looked briefly, but I saw some Pridefall accounts there, as well as a lot of warnings and blocklists from people who are worried about it.

I’ve also heard that there have been a few Reddit and Discord raids, and that there is an Operation Pridefall Discord server (someone who spied on them says they have been banned on Discord as well as a platform called Riot before, so very few people are left on the Discord server now).

What do you think, Lia?

This is not coming from 4chan. No one on 4chan is interested anymore.

Most likely, people outside of 4chan heard about it and decided to take matters into their own hands.

The original 4chan thread wanted to make Pridefall “normie-palatable” by avoiding Nazi imagery or other overt unpleasantness, but I have seen a LOT of both on Instagram. This reinforces my belief that 4chan isn’t doing this.

A lot of the people behind this are young, or at least unsophisticated. Most of the Pridefall accounts on Instagram engage in very childish trolling, and one of them said they were a minor. Some of the threats I’ve seen are so outlandish that I can only imagine they came from a fairly young person.

My guess? Most of these people are around 13-19.

There are also very few of them and some of them probably have multiple accounts. Anti-Pridefall accounts outnumber them by far.

However, on Instagram I’ve seen Pridefall accounts following each other and commenting on each other’s posts, so there may be a few groups working together.

A lot of this shit is going to get deleted. I know Instagram is working through reports very slowly right now because they have fewer people available due to COVID-19, but most of the worst accounts I saw last night were deleted by this morning. I saw some more accounts deleted today.

Most, if not all, of these Pridefallers are just trying to scare us. Because they’re probably quite young, there’s very few of them, their accounts keep getting deleted, and law enforcement can track online activity, there is no way they have the balls or resources needed to coordinate major attacks.

There is a very, very slight chance this could spill over into real life, but as long as you practice basic online safety, you will be fine.

That being said, if you are threatened or doxxed by a Pridefall account, PLEASE contact the police. Better safe than sorry.

I do think that the threat of being doxxed or outed is more real than the threat of being attacked. I have already seen one Pridefall account who posted a trans boy’s address on Instagram (he is okay, he posted recently) and another who posted someone else’s address.

There is little chance this will last throughout Pride month. Apparently the goal is for Pridefall to worsen until the end of June, but given that this is most likely just some vastly outnumbered teenage trolls who are bored in quarantine, I seriously doubt they’ll be able to stay interested for a whole month.

This might not be as big on Tumblr. Tumblr is a lot more anonymous than, say, Instagram, which will hopefully deter would-be doxxers. It’s also known to be a highly liberal and queer-friendly site, so any Pridefaller with half a brain cell should know that A) their content is sure to be outnumbered and reported (only us Tumblr users know how bad staff is at deleting questionable stuff), and B) anyone with the original goal of “redpilling” is sure to fail here. Plus, I only remember seeing few, if any, mentions of Tumblr on Pridefall planning threads.

Still, expect to see some Pridefall activity here. Unsurprisingly, not all of these Pridefallers have half a brain cell. Some of them will definitely be unable to resist the lure of a community as openly queer as Tumblr, and we’ve all seen or heard about doxxing, harassment, gore, Nazis, and queerphobes on here. Also, 4chan has historically had some beef with Tumblr, so young teenage boys who idolize 4chan may target us for that reason.

How can I stay safe?

If you have any social media accounts where you A) have posted identifying personal information, and B) are openly supportive of the LGBTQ+ community (especially if you’re queer yourself), put them on private for June. Any other accounts are probably fine to stay public.

If you need a private Tumblr, you can make a password-protected secondary account and only share the password with mutuals you trust.

It is probably okay to be openly queer on a private account (e.g. have pronouns/rainbow emojis in your Instagram bio), since a private account is not likely to be doxxed. But if you want to be extra careful, remove queer identifiers from anything that is publicly visible.

Use Pridefall blocklists. They’re all over Instagram and Twitter. I may repost some here.

Report any Pridefall accounts you see. This is VERY important because this is how we can actually get rid of Pridefall content.

DON’T RESPOND TO ANY PRIDEFALLERS WHO PERSONALLY INTERACT WITH YOU. I know it’s tempting to give a snarky reply, but if they message you, comment on your post, etc, just block them. Seriously, don’t feed the trolls. It's exactly what they want.

Make sure your password game is strong. Use a different password for every site (I know, I know, it sucks), and use passwordmeter.com to test their strength. Write them all down on a piece of paper.

Make sure your username game is strong. Don’t use the same username for multiple sites, and avoid putting personal information in your username, such as your name or birthday.

Do NOT open random links!! Pridefallers could message you links that will give you viruses or track your IP address.

Don’t accept DMs or follows from people you don’t know. Pridefall accounts don’t always look like Pridefall accounts. Some of them are undercover.

Use a VPN. This is probably a little overkill unless you’re particularly at risk of being doxxed, but it will hide your IP address.

Be careful who you interact with. A lot of queer people on Instagram are DMing Pridefall accounts or commenting on their posts, but this could make you a target. As helpful as anti-Pridefall accounts are, you might even be targeted for following those.

Be wary of Pride tags. Unfortunately, a lot of Pridefall accounts plan to infiltrate tags commonly used by queer creators during Pride month. Use discretion when looking for queer content.

Be safe IRL. Lock your doors, lock your windows, be aware of your surroundings, don’t walk alone in poorly lit places, know basic self-defense, etc. Again, I absolutely do not think people will be attacked in real life, but you should be doing this shit all the time, not just in June. Thanks to COVID-19, you’re safer inside anyway!!

Make yourself hard to dox. Even though I have a very unusual first name (it's not really Lia), I am extremely hard to find online. I just went into an incognito browser window and searched my first and last name in quotation marks, but I didn’t find myself until page 4 of Google (and that result wasn’t even posted by me). I’m only half as careful as I could be, but here’s some of the things I do:

-I never use a picture of myself as my profile pic, except for Facebook and Instagram, which are both on the highest privacy settings possible.

-If I post identifying information on a public account (my college, my age, etc), I use a pseudonym or my first name only.

-On Instagram, I only use my first name, and I used special characters to type it, so you won’t find me if you search my name.

-On Facebook, I only accept friend requests from people I know. Most, if not all, of my Instagram followers are IRL friends, friends of IRL friends, and trusted Internet friends.

-If I’m really being paranoid, I’ll make a brand-new email account to sign up for a site. That way, my accounts aren’t all linked through one email address.

-Before I post a picture online, I delete the EXIF data with verexif.com, since EXIF data can hold GPS coordinates.

🌈 Stay safe, everyone.

You will not be harmed. You will be okay. Like cockroaches, we are survivors, and we will get through this!! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

-Mod Lia

[kaypeace21]

What's in a name? (Analysing all the names in stranger things)

*I'll be repeating some names more than once as I break down categories .

Show , book, and tv easterggs

Alot of character names may have deeper meaning but some are also refs to stories they liked. The stranger writers twitter posted a list of movies said to inspire s4 (which I’ll be referencing).

Dart- dustin names him this after d'artagenean (a 3 musketeers book character) and one of Dustin's fav candies (3 muskateers). Similarly his pet turtle yurtle is implied to be named after the dr Seuss’ story 'yertle the turtle'.

Brenner- main character from 'the birds', which was on the st s4 list.

Byers- john byers from x files. The duffers mentioned x files was an inspo for the show. Although John byers (from x files) resembles Murray as an unhinged conspiracy theorist. The documentary paradise lost was also cited as inspo for st- john byers and his son, terry, Michael, and Steve were names in said film

Jim Hopper- in Predator (another st inspo) he was a soldier who was flayed to death in the woods. Another character in the film with a similar fate was “Hawkins”.

Detective Wheeler and elle Holloway- from silent Hill franchise. Another ref mentioned by the Duffers. Holloway was the surname of st's Heather. Elle (is el) and Wheeler is Mike's surname. Wheeler was also on the ep of twiglight zone (another cited ref by the duffers) . In the ep 'mute' sheriff wheeler takes in a mute psychic girl as his foster daughter. So some hints at hopper too . Hopper even mentions el-anor (gilipse) in s1. The surname of a main character in the silent hill series.Lt. Colonel Sullivan (s4) could be a eastergg of silent hill 4 which had a Sullivan character.

Henderson- st twitter mentioned how all the bond films were on the s4 inspiration list . So Dustin's surname being the same as one of the bond characters is a nod. Duffers also mentioned ‘freaks & geeks’ as inspo- and 1 character’s surname was also Henderson (another nod).

Mrs Driscoll (from s3) - a nod to invasion of the body snatchers which was mentioned as inspo by the Duffers. And clear inspo for s3.

Powell (cop and partner of hopper ) - diehard films also on s4 list. He's named after the cop powell.

Callahan (cop and partner of Hopper) - father Callahan ref. He shows up in many of Stephen King novels. The Duffers have cited over 10 novels and books from him as inspo for st

Nancy- she's called ‘Nancy drew’ (from the novels). And the duffers have mentioned they are fans of elmstreet - who's main character was Nancy. Nancy also references 'Oliver twist" ,and that book has a character named Nancy in it. Nancy was also a first Lady in the 80s similar to her friend Barbara- who was also a first Lady in the 80s.Nancy's name might also be inspired by "Nancy Wheeler", a secondary character in the 1970 book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret written by Judy Blume.

Fred (s4)- apparently a high-school journalist who may be friend or foe. This one is a stretch but given nancy maybe being an elmstreet ref- and her enemy being fred-die kreuger. Fred may have animosity to Nancy and that's why his name is Fred. I mean ... they even cast a new s4 character with Freddie kreuger's original actor.so...

Jason (s4) - is in the 1986 Nancy drew novel (when s4 takes place). He is similar to the duffers description. In the novel he's a rich, popular, arrogant jock and blackmailing students at the high-school . S3 even named one of its episodes after a nancy drew novel- so wouldn't surprise me.

Christie carpenter (s4/reffed in s1 by hopper)- christie is the main character in the hellraiser series (which is on the s4 st list). Carpenter is the surname of the director of 'the thing' name dropped in s3. (The flesh monster in s3 also resembles the thing) , and in s1 mr clarke watches it ,and mike has the thing movie poster in his basement.

Argyle (s4) - die hard 1-2 were on the s4 st list. And is a name of a diehard character.

Max- her name is 'mad max' like the 80s film. But since the Duffers like videogames. Her name may be a ref to max caufield from the ‘life is strange’ game as well. She has a 'never Maxine rule' similar to max in st. But the game character is similar to jonathan as she is a teen photographer and says similar words to jonathan in s1 saying she would rather watch people through a camera than interact with them.

Eddie munson (s4)- not going to lie. I have no proof of this but I immediately thought of the TV character Eddie Munster (the friendly monster ).

Possible comic book easteggs

The duffers are no stranger to comic book references. The duffers have already directly reffed xmen, wonderwoman, and green lantern. Kali's place also has a comic book ref to 'the invisibles' on the wall. While the s4 movie list mentions thor ragnock , age of ultron, and 2 batman films. Some of these refs will go over your head if you haven't read my DID theory. But a lot of this analysis will still be enjoyable. :)

Jane st ives (jane ives aka el). marvel. (jane st ives sees her dad k*ll her mom and vows revenge against him.Sort of similar to what brenner did to terry).

Stephanie harrington (Steve harrington)- 80s marvel comic. DP.7. Will DID ref. Antibody, is a medical resident who can project from his body a dark figure of himself (also called an "antibody", a word play on the medical term) that flies, can become intangible, and transfer its memories to another person by physical contact (mindflayer).  He later merges with the antibody. like how susie refs ‘wizard of earthsea’ -the novel where the young wizard Ged releases a shadow monster (said to be an ancient evil) but it turns out to be the dark aspects of his personality and the only way for the chaos to stop is to accept his darkness and merge as 1.

Barry bauman (Murray bauman) . marvel comics - Will did easteregg.Bauman lived in never ending darkness. He felt, that there was a realm outside the darkness and started to explore the entire content of his brain thus using now more than the usual 10 % .Also had telekinesis.He turned his attention to the stars in order to exact revenge on the human race which spends billions of dollars to kill each other, but wouldn't spend the mere million or so it would have cost to cure him. For his vengeance he transported the suns near our galaxy into his omnipotent brain. As the people of Earth would learn of the disappearing of the suns they would panic and feel Bauman's loneliness before he would destroy Earth.Despite the death of his physical body, Bauman's consciousness somehow survived and began hopping from body to body throughout the galaxy, his powers growing until the Star Thief was recognized as a major threat to galactic society.

Sinclair- last name of xmen rhaine.  Will Did ref. storyline Rahne Sinclair is mentally bonded to Havok against her will(Will/mf).She is subsequently manipulated by the Shadow King. Her bond with Havok causes her to act irrationally, sometimes threatening teammates, sometimes by flirting with them.  She undergoes more than one attempt to undo the bonding, with varying results. Her instability also manifests in many odd dreams, in which her identity is merged into pop culture figures. What’s funny is charlie heaton (jonathan byers) was just in an xmen movie with this Rhaine character.

Victor creel (s4)-sounds like mutant victor creed of the xmen comic. x men Mutant with ab*sive dad and poor socioeconomic background. He had a "birthday tradition" of ab*sing his young relatives on their birthdays. Which reminds me of Lonnie making jonathan cry for a week (because he forced him to k*ll a rabbit on his b-day). Not to mention Lonnie is prob coming back for Will’s b day in s4... so... the name is prob a ref to that ‘birthday tradition’. Could also be a stephen king reference -since Duffers love him. The Creel family was in sk’s book “pet cemetary’-which fun fact (the actress who plays El’s aunt is in the recent remake)!

Yuri (s4)-Yuri Topolov (Russian: Юрий Тополов) was a Soviet scientist and the first foe of the Hulk. 

Dimitri (s4)-Dmitri Bukharin was born in Kuibyshev, Russia (some sources say Moscow).  First appeared in Iron man.

Peter ballard ( s4 character) may just be a hellfire ref . since I guy with last name ballard was a double agent for the hellfire club (name of st s4 ep 1). And ballard means bald which the actor is certainly not lol. I don't think he's literally associated with hellfire but its just a ref. And because its implied in his st character summary despite working for the mental hospital-where brenner is most likely at- he's horrified by the treatment of the psych patients. So that may be where the double agent aspect would come into play.

Ian Hargrove (billy hargrove)- batman comics. had a history of mental health problems dating back to childhood, which his parents were unable to afford treatment for. His brother John hargrove tried to keep him out of trouble but Ian developed an uncanny talent for explosives (will the wise fire powers). He ends up at Archam asylum. Cough billy is Will's alter. Why he has the name billy (a nickname for William) . Jonathan in s2 mentions how he likes the writer vonnegut- who wrote slaughter house 5- the main character was Billy. Already mentioned how it connects to my did theory .

Jason carver (s4)- carver is the last name of the comic hero thunderbolt (in the flash)-the first name of thunderbolt is Will and his brother is named Lonnie. There was also a John carver in the comic.

Holland (barb's last name) last name of Swamp thing. I think its plot has quite a few s4/5 spoilers but Im not diving into it right now.

Names associated with religions or mythology 

(if you’ve read my DID theory- some themes will appear relevant in relation  WIll’s alters or to WIll’s past/tr*uma).

-‘Kali prasad".Kali  is the name of a Hindu goddess . Kali’s iconography and mythology commonly associate her with death,  violence, s*xuality, but also paradoxically -motherly love. In myths ‘she only k*lls demons’ and is described as  ‘overflowing with incomprehensible love for her children’ - (aka ST’s Kali k*lling people from hawkins lab for hurting kids). Her third eye stands for wisdom (like Will the wise).Kali is called at times ‘ the bright fire of truth’ (will the wise/fire powers).The devotee makes her image in his heart and under her influence burns away all limitations and ignorance in the cremation fires. This inner cremation fire in the heart is the gyanagni (fire of knowledge), which kali bestows (cough Will the wise-fire powers). The goddess also could create a darkcloud of lightning (similar to the mf). The phrase “brilliant as a dark cloud” is a snippet of one such prayer dedicated to Kali.The name Kali is derived from the Hindu word that means “time”. Kali receives her name because she devours ‘kala’ (Time)- like clocks ticking when El sees demogorgan/clock being wonky when Will see mf/clocks in s4 promos.’ After devouring time she resumes her own dark formlessness. “This transformative effect can be metaphorically illustrated in the West as a black hole in space” (cough mf cough hopper blackhole/time refs). Kali’s s2 butterfly-“Kali is the Hindu goddess associated with eternal energy. ... The cocoon, butterfly and the karmic golden wheel reflect Her deep connection with life.”And Prasād (her last name) is a material substance that is a religious offering to gods in  Hinduism .

-While, EL is the name of a Cannanite (male) god associated with “salt water “ (pool filled with salt in s1) who “dwelled in a tent” (in s1 Mike’s blanket fort) .And his gray-beard was described as " "full of wisdom.” él’  in Spanish means ‘he’- which could be a nod at her ( androgynous) presentation in s1. El can also be translated to "God" or 'god'. The el character has various mythologies depending on which culture/ religion is using the term 'el'. In the post-biblical period, "el" became a regular element in the names of angels such as "Gabri·el," "Micha·el," and "Azri·el," to denote their status as divine beings.And Jane translates to " Yahweh (god) is gracious/merciful". The cannanite god El was also dubbed “Compassionate God of Mercy.”  Earlier, a ninth century B.C.E. inscription  identifies Ēl- the name of the Babylonian water god Ea, lord of the watery subterranean abyss (cough watery  dark void in st). Terry (el’s mom-aka Teressa) was originally used in the Middle Ages for a “child baptized in holy water” (El in the sensory water tank/Terry used it too,according to Becky in s1). Eleanor (called this in s1)- can mean "sun ray" (possible the opposite of the ‘shadow monster’ or Kali who can represent a “black hole”). 

-Will-the s4 st movie lists (‘red dragon’, gods of monsters, & ‘blade runner’ ) mention the artist and writer William Blake  (specifically his painting of the angel michael fighting a dragon in revelations - reffed in st s1). He was one of many painters part of the exhibition of “ The World Turned Upside Down: Apocalyptic Imagery.”The World Turned Upside Down explores the myriad ways that artists in England visualized the apocalypse in a period fraught with political, religious, economic, and cultural change. 

During this period Blake was commissioned to create over a hundred paintings intended to illustrate books of the Bible along with revelations .  He also drew illustrations for the novel Dante’s inferno. Blake’s brutally satirizes oppressive authority in church and state.He said those who proclaim restrictive moral rules and oppressive laws as “goodness” are in themselves evil. Hence to counteract this repression, Blake announces that he is of the “Devil’s Party” (cough hellfire club ref-and dissing the satanic panic of the hellfire club and other marginilised groups) . He also says “men forgot that All deities reside in the human breast.” So Instead of looking for God on remote altars, Blake warns, man should look within.He produced a diverse and symbolically rich œuvre, which embraced the “imagination as “the body of God.” He wrote his own stories based on biblical writings- one includes the fire wielding character of Los (will the wise) who represented jesus. Los (like jesus does in revelations) causes the destruction of the world and the second judgment unfolds. The poem ends with Los’s unfallen state rising up and shepherding in science and removing the dark religions. I also talked about  how this story ‘book of los’ hints at the DID theory-but this is getting long-so you can just read the explanation here if interested. Also, hellooo Both names are William B(yers/lake). Billy (a alter of Will-sharing the name William) in s3 he even wore “lady of pillar” medallion- i.e about jesus/mary.

JOHN (supposedly Jesus’ blood relative- who wrote ‘revelations’.) In scripture John was called “the disciple whom Jesus loved as a brother” .Fire is the most typical element associated with the Saint John's Eve celebration (Jonathan did light the demogorgan on fire). Many scholars consider John & Jesus ("apocalyptic prophets"). Jonathan itself translates to " yahweh (god ) has given" in Hebrew.

Michael- Similar to kali, he’s a religious figure known for killing demons. He’s the arch-angel from the book of revelations (Apocalypse). A evil Beast (with seven heads usually translated to ‘satan’ or ‘dragon’) appears .“it was a 7″ causes Will to be attacked by the demogorgan ( which in d&d is a demon with multiple heads). The Archangel MICHAEL fought and defeated this 7 headed beast/satan. Corresponding with Mike at the end of s1 writing a fictional d&d story for Will (based off defeating the demogorgan) which was about helping kill a 7 HEADED MONSTER! Michael is also the archangel who oversees on Earth the natural element of fire (Mike telling Will the wise to use ‘fireball’ to defeat this same 7 headed monster in the game, at the end of s1)! Ironically though Jesus /Christian god is also associated with 7s a lot (he has 7 angels and during the apocalypse causes 7 plagues , he has 7 candles etc .)cause the number seven, represented ‘perfection’ according to ancient numerology . Will’s b day is March 22- (3) +2+2 =7 (“it was a 7”). Will’s bday even falls in what christians call “the holy week”( the week immediately preceding Easter.)  At the end of s1 they even defeat this 7 headed monster because Will rolls a 14 (which can be broken down into two 7s). Michael & William also have 7 letters in each of their names respectively- equating to this 14. This dragon biblical story (of Michael) is also William blake’s most popular painting. Also, random fact in revelations god has a rainbow throne (with thunder /lightning -will the wise powers- coming from the throne, and seven lit torches next to it ) . He also wears a rainbow halo. Lol. Michael also roughly translates to  ( 'Who like el?' The answer being roughly translated to ' no one like el' ... which i mean literally is saying there is no one similar to her. But I still think its a linguistic pun/ burn that Mike is not actually into El romantically).

Jim (James) hopper- According to the s3 script Hopper’s real name is James. JAMES (JIM) was an apostle to jesus- brother of john. And in the bible was called a ’son of thunder ’. Will’s powers/ hopper being an alter of Will's so technically brother of jonathan and thunder powers. Not to mention David on Instagram saying hopper has " he has risen. like bread" is a Jesus ref to 'he has risen"... even the bread ref could be a catholic ref to the last supper.

  Martin Brenner/marsha holland-  have their first name reference the roman god Mars who was originally a ‘thunder or storm deity’ (will the wise/mf powers). EL (in cannanite mythology) also allowed Baal the storm god to rule the entire earth.

ROBIN- was the God of Thunder’s- Thor’s- favorite bird. And Dustin also means ‘Thor’s stone.’The red belly robin is also an important bird in Christianity. Legend has it that the robin got its red belly from a fire in which it was trying to protect Jesus. Robin also name drops the greek god prometheus- the god of fire (will the wise) who brought human beings life and knowledge. And Steve looks at Robin and says "let there be light" a biblical passage. The robin represents selflessness for a higher truth. 

Barb- Saint BARBara- dad kept her locked away from the outside world (like el/brenner) . He tried to k*ll her when he learned she didn’t believe in his religion- so the dad was punished by “god” who electrocuted him with lightning/lit him on fire. (Will the wise powers).

Nancy- is derived from a medieval diminutive of Annis, an English form of Agnes.  There’s the christian saint Agnes- who was beautiful and from a wealthy family. She was the Christian saint of girls and v*rginity . And the duffers subverted this along with the problematic horror movie trope of the ' v*rgin female heroine surviving while her more se*ually liberated female friends are punished by the villain' ( by having her survive specifically because she decided to have s*x).Agnes was also led out and bound to a stake, but (allegedly) the bundle of wood would not burn, or the flames parted away from her (will the wise fire powers). Also people claimed that any man who tried to r*pe her was struck blind.

Hopper's wife’s name -Dianne- is also the roman goddess of ,nature, hunting and wild animals( and greek equivalent to Artemis) .Becky  means ‘snare’ -for hunting animals .Teressa (Terry) means ' huntress'.  The name was originally used in the Middle Ages for a child baptized in holy water . Name of 2 saints-Teresa of Avila and Therese of Lisieux. Lonnie’s gf (Cynthia) was originally an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, as well.

Power couple Angela & jake (s4) - Angela means 'messenger of God". And Jake (also means ”supplanter”) is derived from jacob. Jacob was the son of Isaac and Rebecca in genesis. El’s aunt,Becky (Rebecca) is wife of isaac.Other theories claim that Jacob is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like יַעֲקֹבְאֵל (Ya'aqov'el) meaning "may God protect".The name jacob is also where the names James/jim is derived from.

couple Steve spies on in s3- Anna Jacobi & Mark Lewinsky. Anna ( name of the mother of the Virgin Mary) Jacobi ("he who supplants"-aka same meaning as jim since both names are derived from jacob). Mark (”the god mars”-same meaning as martin brenner) .Lewinsky (lion-same name meaning as Lonnie). Also derived from the Hebrew root לוי‎ (leví, “priest”)

Joyce means "lord". Could also be a ref to the ('unofficial') saint Joyce who gave up wealth to live in poverty.

Ted-is the short form of the names Theodore and Edward. Theodore is a Greek name meaning "gift of God", Edward has an English origin and means "wealthy guard." Eddie (from s4) also means ‘wealthy guard”

Holly (nancy and Mike's sis)- Holly meanings are 'One who is pious' or 'sacred'

Karen- can be short for Katherine-one of the first christian saints.”Saint Katherine of the Wheel “(er). A 4th century martyr who suffered t*rture on a spiked wheel.  Wheeler does mean ‘occupational name for a maker of wheels’ after all. 

Gospel of LUKE (lucas?) , or simply Luke, tells of the origins, birth, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ.

Sinclair- Catholic saint of computers and TV screens (i mean... he is in the av club).

MAXimilian was deemed a saint in the 1980s- saint of journalists and radios. (Both aspects of s3)

Saint stephen/steven ( STEVE)-an early disciple and deacon . Considered one of the first m*rtyrs of the church.Stephen is first mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as one of seven deacons appointed by the Apostles to distribute food (lol icecream) .According to Orthodox belief, he was the eldest and is therefore called “archdeacon”.

Sara- Her name is a feminine form of sar (Hebrew: שַׂר‎), meaning “chieftain” or “prince."  She was the wife and sister of Abraham (ew -given her being an alter of Will though, such a name doesn’t surprise me). Similar to st Barabara’s dad - Abraham tried to k*ll his son isaac in the name of god. Becky (El's aunt) - is derived from Rebecca - wife of Isaac.

Claudia (Dustin's mom)- Christian woman of Rome greeted by Paul in his second letter to Timothy (in the bible).

Sam mayfield (max's dad) -  Short for Samuel or Samantha, from the Biblical name Shemu'el, which means "God has heard", from the Hebrew shama, meaning "heard" and el, meaning "God". Samuel is rumored to be argyle first name.

Marsha Kelly (s4)- Kelly means "frequents churches" or " bright headed". Given she's a counselor the bright headed pun makes sense. But maybe she's not to be trusted if she frequents churches during a satanic panic arc which was fueled by Christian religious extremism . Or she's someone who contrasts the rest of the religious people in town since she's not originally from hawkins...who knows. x files’ main character was catholic but in one ep she criticized a small town for the satanic panic occurring-and says how accusing these kids who listen to rock as satanic or being k*llers is ludicrous.

Peter ballard (s4) - Peter was also the name of an apostle. 

Tina (side character s2)- like christy (s4) it’s short for Christina which translates to "follower of christ" or 'stream'. Tina was the gal who hosted the t halloween party and also the name of one of Erica’s friends in s3.

Samantha (goth girl jonathan talks to in s2 party) translates to "told by god".

Tommy (s1-2) "God's gift" or "twin".Thomas is the Greek variation of the Aramaic name Ta’oma’. It came about because there were too many apostles named Judas; Jesus renamed one Thomas—meaning "twin"—to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot and the Judas also known as Thaddeus.

carol (tommy’s gf)- Carol is the short form of Caroline and the meaning is derived from the English vocabulary word for “song” or “hymn". A hymn being a religious song or poem.

Benny ( who helped El at his dinner) - originally derived from latin bennedictus which means "blessed"

Stacey (s2-3 ) rejected dustin at dance. Stacey- "resurrection "

Grigori (the guy following and tracking hopper, Joyce, and alexi)- The name was adopted by early Christians heedful of the Biblical passage located in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be sober-minded; be watchful."grigory now means 'watchful and vigalent'

Alexi- prob based on the russian folklore story of alexy. A clever priest's son who tricks a dragon.

Harrington- similar to Robin's religious animal iconography. Harrington means 'he goat'.The most popular image of the Satanic goat dates back to the ever-mysterious Knights of Templar, who were accused of worshipping an idol known as Baphomet (a 1/2 human 1/2 goat man). Roman Catholic society decried it as a demon that demanded human sacrifice — but it would take a few more centuries before the goat became a truly occult symbol.Anton Lavey adopted Baphomet as the sigil of the Church of Satan in 1966, and it has appeared on countless metal album covers. But, Baphomet isn't the lone source of inspiration for our goat-like depictions of Satan.it's also believed that early Christians, seeking to demonize preexisting Pagan traditions, drew comparisons between the Devil and the Greek god Pan (god of nature), who happened to resemble a goat.Some cited how in revelations- during the apocalypse- Jesus separates the 'lambs from the goats'. ( supposedly Good vs bad)

Given the fact s3 alluded to the satanic panic. A Christian movement in the 80s that demonized and said d&d ,rock music, homosexuality, other religions, stephen King,horror films, wearing black,and non conservative ideology were 'satanic.' I wouldn't be surprised by this possible ref. Heck even William Blake criticized similar religious movements in his own time period. Several movies from the s4 list allude to this. The most obvious being the documentary paradise lost (named after the fictional retelling of satan/adam and eve story) - the documentary directly focuses on a witch hunt of rock loving teens (wrongfully accused of m*rders) in a small town during the satanic panic. Not to mention ironically s4 is hinted to be around easter. So Using such symbolism to address religious fundamentalism and the bigotry/hysteria it can cause isn't surprising. No i’m not lumping all religious people into this negative category- obviously.

Other Names with similar definitions

*Hunting /forests woods, nature, animals

Hunters and people in forrests

name meaning : becky - snare (a trap for catching birds or animals). Teressa-huntress. Dianne/Cynthia (Hopper’s ex wife/Lonnie’s gf) - is a roman/greek goddess of hunting and wild animals.  Rhadaghast- Will's password for cb is a lothr wizard who protects forests/wildlife.martin/marsha- previously god of agriculture/plants.As an agricultural guardian, he was believed to directed his energies toward creating conditions that allow crops to grow, which may include warding off hostile forces of nature (pumpkins rotting in s2). El in phoenician culture was called Elus and its Greek equivalent Cronus (god of agriculture) steve- he goat- associated with pan- god of fields, groves, wooded glens . brenner- ‘someone who cleared forests by burning’. the blond women, Brenner worked with,  Fraizer-  “of the forrest men”

* FUN FACT: Kali’s name originally was going to be ‘Roman’ (which is derived from Romulus-the son of Mars... aka Martin Brenner) .

Trees

Ives and owens- ives means 'yew wood' while Owen means 'yew tree. ' bauman- nickname for someone who lived near a tree.comes from the German word "baum," or "boum" in Middle High and Old German, meaning "tree’. Jennifer hayes- Jennifer  derived from Old English words "jenefer", "genefer" and "jinifer", all of which were variants of Juniper used to describe the juniper tree.Lonnie means "oak tree; or lion". Lion plushie in cb and the lion el has along with the tree establishes a connection between all 3 maybe? Oak groves were especially sacred to  the goddess dianna too. Buckley (it has many different translations) - Old English "boch ley" (with boch meaning beech tree and ley meaning wood, glade or clearing).

Nature

buckley if translated from "bok lee," means meadow, or field. mayfield- open country (field) where madder (mæddre) grows. Holland- wood land, Bruce (who was also possessed) - means WILLow lands . Keith (s2-3) : woods or forrest.Hargrove- meadow filled with rabbits (Jonathan’s hunting story).Holloway is a topographic surname, which was given to a person who resided near a physical feature such as a hill, stream, or type of tree. Tina means 'river' . Burness (guy who claimed he jumped into quarry)-stream. Neil- cloud. Lowe (Bruce's last name)-This surname is derived from a geographical locality 'at the low,' i.e. the hill. Hayes means "hedged area'.

Flowers

Flo (hopper's secretary)- means flower. Suzie-  lily flower. Susan (Max’s mom)- means lily, lotus flower or rose. Karen (in Japanese can mean)- flower, lotus, or water lily. Heather is also a variety of small shrubs with pink or white flowers which commonly grow in rocky areas.  Erica is a type of "heather" plant. martin/marsha: in the legend of Mars,his mother become pregnant with him using a magic flower- which was given to her by the goddess flora.

Bright (aka intelligent)

Bob- nickname of Robert . Both Bob and Robert mean 'bright, shinning or fame'. Aka smart -he's called ' Bob the brain ' for a reason.

Robin- is also diminutive of Robert . And we all know robin is smart too. Being multilingual/ cracking the code.Robin (like Robert) also means 'bright, shining , or fame.'

Lucas- means "bright" or "shinning" aka he's also a smart cookie. His firework plan saving the day.

Lonnie and Larry (the mayor) can both be nicknames for Lawrence which also means ' bright one' or 'shinning one'. Well... both are cunning I'll give them that. Lonnie is unfortunately ...smart. I think this detail had other foreshadowing. Joyce to Will about Will the wise ' if he's so wise why does he need the fireballs? can't he just outsmart the bad guys? " Will: " yeah. Usually. BUT sometimes the bad guys are smart too." I never understood why on earth Joyce would be with someone as awful as Lonnie in the first place- than be with his literal opposite Bob- but maybe she just found intelligence attractive?

Names associated with thunder/lightning/fire (Like Will/mf/Will the wise)

Byers-reprsents Greek Zeus (god of thunder/lightning). Martin - references the roman god Mars who was originally a ‘thunder or storm deity’ .ROBIN- was the German God of Thunder’s- Thor’s- favorite bird. And Dustin also means ‘Thor’s stone.’Jim- “son of thunder”. Christian god- has throne (surrounded by thunder /lightning). Kali- could summon thunder storms.Nancy/Barb-both saints associated with fire. Kali-is called at times ‘ the bright fire of truth’ /and bestows the fire of knowledge. Robin also name drops the greek god prometheus- the god of fire. Mars -the keeper of Rome's perpetual flame . The Robin bird in a Christian story myth protects Jesus from hell's fire. William Blake- wrote about a fire wielding character of Los who represented jesus. Jesus during end times wields fire. Michael is the archangel who oversees on Earth the natural element of fire. Fire is the most typical element associated with the Saint John's Eve celebration (Saint John- called Jesus’s brother).

Animals (and their symbolism)

Byers- means ‘ cattle shed’.The Greeks considered the bull animal totem to be a symbol of Zeus (god of thunder and lighting - will the wise powers). He is the head of the gods and the almighty ruler of Olympus.  I”n hinduism, Shiva is known as Gorakhnath, means the lord of the cows.  And is also known as, Pasupathinath, the lord of all animals (similar to Rhadaghast). According to some scholars, Shiva’s association with cows and bulls might date back to the Indus Valley period. Cows have a special significance in Hinduism, as aspects of Mother Goddess and as symbols of selfless service. Mahatma Gandhi declared the protection of cows a central feature of Hinduism.Hindus worship cows as the Mother Goddess and symbol of motherhood, kindness and forbearance.”

Tigers: (Sarah’s plushie/ Hawkin’s macott/ Will & Mike have tiger posters in their rooms): The goddess Kali & God Shiva wore a tiger skin (this fact was actually mentioned by Kali in the prequel novel ‘suspicious minds’ ).”In many tribal traditions of India, the tiger (or lion) is worshipped as a god. In some Hindu hymns the domestic fires are compared to the tigers that guard the house.Tigers also figure prominently in many Indian folk-tales, Jataka-stories, and the Panchatantra.”

Lions:(Lonnie means ‘lion’ and el and Will have matching lion plushies)- In the Bible, the lion has two opposite meanings: it is compared to the Devil (1 Pet 5:8) and to Christ (Rev 5:5). Aka: Lonnie is the devil. The kids are the opposite. Nancy also compares the demogorgan to a lion. “In many tribal traditions of India, the lion is worshipped as a god.One of the ten incarnations of Vishnu is Narasimha, who has the head and shoulders of a lion, but the torso of a human.Goddess Durga, a fierce form of Parvathi or Shakti, has a golden lion as her vehicle, while Rahu, a planetary guard, rides upon a black lion as his vehicle.Lions form an important part of Hindu religious art. The face of the lion (simha-mukha) is used in images and sculpture in many Hindu temples to decorate the doors, walls, arches, and windows.The memorial pillar at Saranath  contains four beautifully carved standing lions at the top on a round abacus representing the imperial power. They now constitute the official emblem of the government of India.”

El almost k*lling a cat- “Some superstitious beliefs are also associated with cats in Hinduism. For example, killing a cat is considered a grave sin, for which one may have to offer prayers and give in charity at least seven golden images of the killed cat. “

Harrington- he goat. Buckley- has various translations. Anglo-Saxon: ‘bucc and leah’ meaning goat and wood respectively. And obviously there’s the robin-bird. And I've already discussed their symbolism. Goat= baphomet/pan. 

Robin- thor's fav bird/ helped Jesus from hell's fire.

Buckley- can also translate to " field filled with deer" (like the deer attacked by the demogrogan or the bambi film jon reffed in relation to the hunting story about lonnie).And Karen ( when from it’s Hebrew origins) can mean- antler or horn. Also the caananite God el was usually depicted with animal horns on his head.Diana in Roman art usually is accompanied by a hound (demo dog) or deer.  Because of the story of her turning an attempted r*pist-hunter into a deer/ and then causing dogs to attack him.  Deer is also one of the symbolic animals accepted since early Christianity as an allegory of Jesus Christ and the Christian Disciple. And when associated with Shiva (kali's husband) in Hindu iconography, the deer omen denotes sovereignty over nature and symbolizes the lord of all animals, humans, and the King of the Forest. In many visual and written illustrations, human beings and deer appear as close companions and in some cases, humans adopt the face or antlers of a deer, in images more common in stories of human strife. Deer also have a supernatural significance and appear as apparitions of divinity and in legends of spiritual awakening.

Hargrove- meadow filled with rabbits (like the rabbit lonnie made jonathan k*ll.) Hopper sounds like thumper the rabbit- which jonathan mentions in relation to bunnies . And ... idk... Hopper did make that pun in s3 about bunnies to Larry (lawerence) ? We also have rabbit refs elsewhere like with- el in Benny's. They play the song 'white rabbit' a song referencing Alice in wonderland and in el's room at Terry's house is the white rabbit from that story. Also paralleling to jonathan- el was almost made to k*ll a cat by her father (Cheshire cat aka Alice in wonderland ref + cats are associated with magic powers/witch craft).In Celtic folklore, the rabbit is seen as a supernatural being from the Otherworld.The rabbit symbolism in Christianity has found its way through the Germanic deity Eostre from which the name Easter came to be (s4 will most likely have the Easter holliday).One tale describes the rabbit as the pet of Jesus Christ. And rabbits were often inserted into art of jesus' mother .

Creel- basket or container of fish.fish is taken as symbolizing Christ’s faith, charity, and abundance. A biblical story goes how Christ fed his disciples with 2 fishes and called them “fishers of men.”  The Christians made an acrostic from the Greek word for fish, “ichthys” as early as the first century and it is, “Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter”, meaning Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.

Names hinting at character traits (which are very literal)

Mr clarke (science teacher)- clarke means 'scholar'

Dottie (in kali's gang)- she was in an insane asylum . And ‘Dotty’ is a very old British slang term  for 'crazy'

War (usually relates to ‘villains’)

Troy- means ' foot soldier'. Martin brenner: Martin means 'war like'. Lonnie is diminutive of Alonzo or Lawrence. Alonzo means 'ready for battle'.

In contrast to Lonnie, Will can mean "desiring peace. " Axel  who is part of Kali’s crew (who i think Will created along with others ) even means "father is peace."

Twin

Tom (Heather's dad) and Tommy mean ‘twin’. Robin's crush Tammy ('twin') Thompson ( 'son of tom’).

* Besides similar/identical name meanings.There’s also a lot of other repeated names that go into this whole twin/mirror imagery which i find strange... makes me wonder about @strangertheory ‘s version of the did theory. If not...maybe it’s just a allusion to the whole Will vs Will the wise arc (possibly) coming up?

Jennifer hayes (popular girl) & Jen (Mr clarke’s gf). Tina (highschool gal) & Tina- erica’s friend- Tina & christy are also nicknames of christina (s4 character). Susie (dustin’s gf) & susan (max’s mom). Sam (max’s dad) and Samantha (girl at party)/ samuel (possibly argyle). Billy Hargrove, Bill (dianne’s new huband),  and Will-all being nicknames for William. Robin & Bob-nicknames for Robert. Lonnie & Larry-nicknames for Lawerence. Ted  & Eddie being nicknames for Edward.James (Will’s bully), Jim Hopper (real name James), jacobi, and jason- all 4 are derived from jacob . Marsha Holland (barb’s mom) and marsha kelly (therapist s4)/martin relate to mars. Tom (reporter), tommy (highschooler), thompson (other highschooler).

it’s definitely peculiar to repeat names like this in a story. Unless it means ...something... I talked about how David was mentioning alot of doppelganger/twin imagery recently-here. So the name mirroring could just be an allusion to the Will/WW arc coming up ...possibly?

[redux-iterum]

RiverClan: Culture

VALUES

Despite their challenging hunting habits - and because of it - RiverClan cats have an incredibly easy life compared to the rest of the Clans. Because of this, their priorities have shifted from protecting their borders and chasing away rogues to preserving the widespread culture of warrior life. It is far more valuable in their eyes to be a skilled storyteller than a well-built fighter. Some scoff at RiverClan overall, but the truth is that an immense amount of stories and lessons would have been lost to the ages if it wasn’t for these otter-cats. 

It’s not just old tales that are treasured; creativity in the modern day is celebrated as well. Cats of all ages love to recite fables they came up with themselves, as well as the unusual art known as thruu-fer, which covers a variety of patterns of speech that are used to express feeling or a joke or, of course, a story. Inspiring strong emotion in the heart of the listener is the end goal of thruu-fer, whether during some kind of ceremony or just for fun when the night is winding down.

HABITS

Things are quite lax in RiverClan. There is almost no set schedule beyond what time everyone tends to wake up, and even that varies season to season. Patrols are more improvised than planned, with one cat going out to check on things or hunt and being joined by some bored Clanmates. Nothing is really taken too seriously, which causes action on RiverClan’s part to be pretty slow and done over long periods of thinking. Being patient with RiverClan is a skill one must learn, and ThunderClan in particular cannot comprehend their way of life.

Prefixes are very “poetic” here - while fitting to the cat’s pelt, there is always a special reason of some kind behind the choices the mother made. Themed litters are common, such as naming all the kits after trees, or fish, or the night they were born. Because these cats are almost always bicolor, all prefixes are open to use, even if they don’t usually reference white in their definition (Night- can be used for a black-and-white cat, for example). Beyond that, unusual phenomenon are also popular for names (Lightning-, Fire-, Blizzard-), as well as the Three’s prefixes (Lion-, Leopard-, Tiger-). 

VERNACULAR

While not exactly drawling, RiverClan speaks fairly slowly and with a lilt to their enunciations that is not quite standard to most cats. It has not incorrectly been compared to speaking with a songbird. Wordplay is common, as are joking statements said so casually and with such confidence that outsiders may think they’re being told the truth. All the more fun for these swimmers to build on the lie and escalate it until it becomes too ludicrous to be real. It’s become a game to mess with visitors this way and see how far the joke can be taken. 

Despite their lackadaisical nature, conversation etiquette is taken very seriously. Interrupting someone is extremely rude and will incite genuine anger from a RiverClan cat. It doesn’t matter if they talk slowly or not - you will let them finish their sentence. Along with this, speaking aggressively, even as a joke, is not allowed in a friendly exchange. There is some leniency if one has to call out from a distance, but in general, avoid talking loudly, as that also invites aggression and robs the conversation of its fun. 

CHARACTERISTICS 

RiverClan is commonly stereotyped as being lazy, overly-open, difficult to bother and constantly joking. This is a completely accurate summary of their character.

Because of the simplicity of their working life, they are very relaxed and spend time dozing throughout the day or sitting around telling stories. They don’t quite get why everyone else is so serious about everything, even with their vague understanding of how much harder the other Clans seem to have it. They are friendly with outsiders (except ThunderClan, of course) and are the most welcoming to cats transferring into their Clan. Their life is, weirdly, the hardest to adjust to, as it requires a cat defying their instincts to avoid the water, often having to stand in the open for hours to dry off, since their coats are not meant for swimming. Not to even mention the amount of fun-poking at a newcomer until they’re fully immersed in RiverClan life.

With all of this said, RiverClan is not as stupid or thoughtless as it may have been impressed. No one thinks much of them as a threat, which suits them just fine. Their strength lies in their understated cunning and ability to reform their plans around unusual circumstances or sudden changes. With their skill for unorthodox problem-solving, it may be easier to attack once, but it’s going to be a lot harder to keep up a continuous advantage, as ThunderClan has learned over time.