#the author keeps using the epithets

[momo-de-avis]

I'm now reading about duchess Teresa and do you guys have any idea of the naming conventions back then. Literally every dude is named Roberto, Hugo and Henrique, I am so goddamn lost

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

the girl next door 5

Warnings: this fic will include elements, some dark, such as age gap, manipulation, chronic illness, noncon/dubcon, coercion, and other untagged triggers. Please take this into account before proceeding. It is up to curate your online consumption safely.

Summary: A new neighbour moves in and upends your already disarrayed life.

Author’s Note: Please feel free to leave some feedback, reblog, and jump into my asks. I’m always happy to discuss with you and riff on idea. As always, you are cherished and adored! Stay safe, be kind, and treat yourself.

This lewk but silverfox

As your mother waits in her chair, watching the window, dolled up in her nicest skirt, with her hair pressed and her eyes lined, you follow the directions on the containers of the premade grocer meals. Roast the potatoes, veggies too, and heat up the chicken. It’s very easy, even for you.

You set the table as the oven warms up and put out the nice plates you never touch. You fold napkins under the cutlery like you’ve seen on television and in restaurants, not that you ever go anywhere by the drive thru. It looks nice. Sort of.

You hear the recliner creak and your mother get up. The doorbell rings and you jump. You rush into the entry way as your mother looms in the front archway. You look at her and she sends back and expression with deadly venom. You go to the door and steady yourself, slowly turning the latch.

You pull it open and muster a smile which must appear closer to a cringe, “hello, uh, hi.”

“Hello,” Steve smiles, a bouquet of sunflowers in his hands. “How are you?”

“Mm, good,” you mumble.

“Great, I brought you ladies some flowers,” he looks between you and your mother as she steps into the hallway. “Something to brighten up the place.”

“Oh my, thank you, Steve,” your mother rushes forward, her left foot thumping a bit heavier than the other, “that is so sweet of you.”

As she snatches the bouquet, a petal flies loose from her tremor. She brings them to her nose, nearly crushing them into her face as her cheek quivers. She’s overexcited and her symptoms more obvious. You step aside as she beckons in your guest.

“You two look nice,” Steve comments as she stops to remove his shoes. His hair is combed tidy back and he wears an oceanic button-up with khakis. He is indiscernible from any other suburban dweller.

“Thank you,” your mother preens and you echo her softly. “Please, come in. I think dinner’s almost ready.”

She glances at you and you nod, “yes, uh, I’ll... go do that.”

You feel Steve watching you. You shrink down and cross your arm over your middle and back away. You turn and shuffle down to the kitchen. You feel how the skirt and sweater let in the breeze around your thighs and reach to tug the hem.

“Grab a vase for the flowers too, honey.”

You let her words trail after you. Honey. The epithet isn’t dripping in her usual poison. You go and open the stove, letting out the aroma of seasoning. It should be almost there.

You search under the sink and find an old mint green vase. You wash it out and fill it with cool water. You bring it out to the dining room and set it on the table. You can hear your mother and Steve in the next room.

She shoves the flowers at you before you can say a word. You take them as she keeps her attention on your guest.

“How’s the house coming along?” She asks in a singsong, “you’ve been doing so much work, I’m surprised you could make the time for us.”

“Of course. Nice to have a few friendly faces around. Not gonna lie though, I do have fridge full of casseroles already.”

You go back to place the stems in the vase. You linger there, safely away from their conversation. You have nothing to add anyway. You’re best to keep an eye on the food.

“Ugh, really? Let me warn you about this place, those bleach blondes aren’t as chipper as they put on,” your mother sneers as you wait for the gravy to simmer.

You don’t think the people around the neighbourhood are bad. They’re just different. Besides, you can’t blame them for their judgment. You might feel the same if you were like them. If you were pretty and perfect and rich.

You hover by the stove and stop the timer before it can buzz. You take out each pan and transfer the contents to thick porcelain serving dishes. You bring them to the table, one at a time.

“Mom, er, Steve?” You peer into the front room, “dinner is ready.”

“Oh, finally, I’m starving,” your mom sighs.

“Smells good. What are we having?” Steve gestures your mom ahead of him, waiting patiently as she moves stiffly. You can see the struggle in the stitch between the brows as how she stops herself from bracing her hip. She’s embarrassed.

“Roast chicken, potatoes, and grilled broccoli,” you explain, watching awkwardly as he pulls out the chair for your mom.

Your mom sits and Steve tucks the chair in. He surprises you as he rounds the table towards you and slides out another chair. You stare at him and your lips part.

“The gravy,” you squeak.

You quickly retreat to the kitchen. You pour the gravy into the spouted dish and balance it by the handle. You carry it carefully through the door and trip on the slightly crooked divider on the floor. The contents slosh and a splatter lands on your white sweater.

You frown and put the grave dish on the table. Steve lingers as he was. You look down at your sweater and he reaches for one of the spare napkins, holding it out to you. You thank him and sit, letting him push the chair in under you. You dab at your sweater but the brown stains remain.

As he sits, just by your mother, she was sure to sit where she would be next to him, you put the crumpled napkin by your plate. Your mother arches her brow at the front of your sweater. You raise your shoulders and give an apologetic look as you slip the cardigan off. You untangle your arms from the fabric and let it droop to the seat.

Steve smiles at you again. Your face is on fire, your chest too. The dress really doesn’t fit right.

“You made all this?” He asks.

“Heh, she bought it and put it in the oven,” your mom tuts. “She’s not the most gifted cook and... and my hands aren’t steady enough for that anymore.”

“Ah, well, food is food,” he shrugs, “regardless, it looks delicious.” He reaches for the plates of chicken and catches the tongs before the can fall, “may I?”

Your mother’s lips curl and she nods, “by all means.”

He puts a piece on her plate, then his own. He sets it back before he grabs the bowl of potatoes and scoops up a heap besides the marinated breast. Finally, he shovels on the broccoli.

You meekly fill your own plate, though you leave it sparse. Just a piece of chicken, a tiny bit of potatoes, and some broccoli. Your stomach is uneasy. You’re not used to company. You poke around with your fork.

“You know, Holly, I finally got all the furniture where I want it but I don’t know,” Steve begins, cutting into his chicken, “I think it needs something... a woman’s touch, maybe?”

“Mmm,” your mother nods and squints.

“I wouldn’t mind picking your brain. Maybe you have some suggestions. I got all these paintings but not really sure where to put them, you know?”

“Right,” she put a sliced potato in her mouth and chews thoughtfully. She swallows and takes her napkin, shakingly blotting around her coloured lips, “well, suppose I could give you a few tips.”

“Really?” He asks, “that would be amazing.”

“Not a problem at all,” she grins, “I could drop by tomorrow.”

“Yeah, that will be nice,” he agrees.

You sit quietly, keeping your face blank. You won’t mention how your mother complained when you tried to hang some of your drawings just in your same room. She always said art was a waste of time. No, you’ll say nothing. You’re better off that way.

“And uh, you’re welcome too,” Steve offers across the table and your eyes flick up to meet his, “if you want. Don’t want to leave you out.”

You glance at your mother. Her eyes narrow and you gulp, nearly choking on the potatoes. You take a breath and push your shoulders up, “actually, I was planning on... uh, I’m busy.”

You can’t even come up with a lie. Not a solid one. Just busy. Busy being alone. Busy hiding.

“Ah, that’s too bad. Well, how about once I get the barbecue fired up, you both come over for a cookout?”

“Lovely,” your mother chimes. “But tomorrow, I’ll swing by,” she squeezes her fork as it tings against the plate. Her tremor is getting bad. “Be nice to get out.”

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

The State Birds Initiative: Connecticut (#5)

Hoo boy, it's been a minute! But hey, here we are again, after taking some extra time to figure stuff out. Welcome to the fifth official poll of the State Birds Initiative! Before the poll, though, one thing real quick. My suggestion is that you read the post below before voting in the poll below. That's especially important if you're lacking any context about the birds being presented as the new (or old) State Bird of the Nutmeg State, Connecticut. This is to be fully informed as to why these are being presented, and to make your choices appropriately. Lastly, some of these birds, you will notice, may go against some of the rules listed in the introduction post. All is explained after the jump where the explanations are, I promise you that. And apologies in advance, the spiel before the actual bird selection is...long. But with that...OK! Here's the poll!

Welcome to the Nutmeg State! A small state, mostly known for being between Boston and New York City, this is one of the foundational states of southern New England, while also having a somewhat...divided identity, we'll say. So, I grew up in CT, for part of my childhood, in both the classic upscale suburbs, and in the middle of the goddamn woods, right on the Connecticut River. For the record, the name "Nutmeg State" is based off of salesmen from the state known for peddling nutmegs. However, there's some speculation that the nutmegs sold were actually made of wood, but that's also probably from people who didn't know that nutmegs were supposed to be grated, and instead assumed they had to be cracked like walnuts. They tried, that failed, and they accused Connecticut Yankees for selling fake nutmeg as a result. So, yeah, a confusing legend at the root of the state's nickname.

You'll notice my use of the word "Yankee" there. Well, despite New York's domination of the term, it should arguably be most associated with Connecticut. "Yankee Doodle" is literally the state song; people from CT were previously and historically referred to as Yankees (which was also an epithet applied to northerners in general, to be fair); and it's actually possible the word was first used by the Dutch in reference to Connecticut settlers, according to multiple theories and historical references. But maybe most prominently, Yankee was used as a demonym for people from CT by one of its most favorite residents: Samuel Clemens, AKA Mark Twain.

Twain is, of course, Connecticut's most famous author, having written some of his most famous works while living with his family in Connecticut in his West Hartford house (which every central Connecticut middle school kid has been to at least once, I guaran-goddamn-tee it). Fun fact, though! Did you know...uh...ah, fuck it. Why keep stalling at this point? Look, as much as I love talking about Mark Twain, he was nothing to do with this post. Fact of the matter is...this was a hard one.

Look, I love Connecticut. It was the first state I remember living in, having moved there when I was a kid from the United States Virgin Islands, which I had been really looking forward to for a bunch of reasons. Admittedly (and unsurprisingly), a lot of that was because I was looking forward to seeing the birds! As a kid, I was also obsessed with birds, and I had never seen the birds in the US mainland before. It was an exciting time for me, and I honestly enjoyed growing up in CT, for the most part. I'd be there for almost 6 years of my life, and I have a lot of fond memories of the state. But, uh...ironically enough...finding State Bird nominees for Connecticut has been HARD AS HELL.

We will, of course, talk in GREAT detail about the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), as it's an important bird for more states than just Connecticut, but I'll give you a spoiler now: this is a boring choice for a State Bird. For any state. Don't get me wrong, I love robins! They're an extremely charismatic and iconic bird, and everybody has seen them at least once in their life if they live in the USA. They're also most likely an early bird (pun slightly intended) for people to encounter on a personal standpoint. Again, we'll get to them, but they're a notable entry in this list. And if one of the states kept the American Robin, I would understand. But, uh...is that state Connecticut?

OK, let's look at the state in the same vein as we have others. I'm sure this won't be the last difficult state to examine in the future of this project, so why not do the same here? Starting with habitat, Connecticut is another state placed within the Northeastern Coastal Zone, with a ton of deciduous forests dominated by oak, chestnut, hemlock, and white pine. There was a lot of clearance during early settlement and beyond, but succession has taken over in recent years to grow the forests back. The state's cut in half by the Connecticut Valley, with large floodplains dominated by maple and cottonwood, with the large Connecticut River right in the center of the valley. Finally, the Berkshires in the northwest corner of the state give us some classic New England flair with sugar maple (Acer saccharum), ash, beech, birch, oak, and hemlock trees on higher-altitude slopes, creating a hilly area that turns beautiful colors in fall. Man, I love Connecticut autumns. And the rest of the year, for that matter.

OK, what are Nutmeggers most known for, culturally and historically? It's a diverse state with a lot of mixed culture, partially as a result of its proximity to New York City. A lot of people tend to joke that Connecticut is just New York City, especially people from elsewhere in New England. And having been to NYC a lot when I was a kid, with a mom who worked there part of the week, and an aunt who lived there all of the week...yeah, fair. But Connecticut has a much more detailed culture than that. It's the home of the cotton giiiAAAAAAH, bad place to start that list. Uh, let's see, it's the home of whaliiiiiiing. Jesus. Uh...home of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe? OK, that's better. It's a major seat of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, leading to it being a production hub for textiles, clocks, typewriters, machining, sewing machines, steam engines, aircraft, and honestly, women's rights to a certain degree. After all, it's the home of the Radium...Girls. Huh. OK, CT's history has some bumps in it, but what state's history doesn't?

As for modern Nutmeggers, they're industrious, generally well-educated, and honestly quite a bit eccentric. I've gone back to the state a few times in the last couple of years, and I forgot how honestly weird people are there. In a good way, not in the fucked-up MAGA sense of the word. It's a state whose people are unafraid to express themselves, from my experience. Probably a result of the diversity in the state, and the diverse perspectives that result. Its political atmosphere is a bit complicated, but overall pretty liberal. Which...doesn't translate super-well into birds at first blush, but hey, we'll see what we get!

OK, with that, let's jump into the selection of the birds for this list. Real talk, if anybody has a suggestion that I hadn't brought up here, send it my way! I will absolutely add another poll if there are entries I think could bear fruit. But, in the meantime, read on if you're interested in the possible choices for the State Bird of Connecticut!

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

I think you'd be hard-pressed to find an citizen of the United States of America who hasn't seen a robin. This is, by far, one of our most iconic songbirds, and is certainly one of the most common and widespread. For some of us, they're a sign of spring. For others, they used to be a sign of spring, until global warming prompted some individuals to stick around through the winter, shifting their diet to frugivory a bit more and brightening the snow as well. They're prolific breeders with bright blue-green eggs (which are iconic in their own right), and can have up to three broods in a given season! Extremely successful and very common. And that...is a problem, for our purposes.

See, Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin have the American Robin (Turdus migratorius) for their state bird, and none of them actually have a good reason for that choice. In Wisconsin, it was chosen by schoolkids because it was recognizable. That was also the reason for the Michigan Audubon Society to choose it as state bird. And Connecticut? Absolutely no goddamn idea. It's almost certainly for the same reason, but there is no real recorded reason for the choice of the American Robin as a state bird, as far as I can tell. For literally all of those states, it's a pretty bad choice by virtue of not being a good choice, at the very least. But that said...I mean, it's not the worst possible choice for a State Bird. For one state, anyway.

Robins, for the record, were named after a different robin entirely: the European Robin (Erithacus rubecula). Another red-breasted and beloved songbird, the European Robin was an immediate thought when American settlers saw the American Robin, hence why I keep saying "American". The two are so often confused in pop-culture, even Mary Poppins was guilty of it! That GIF above comes from the film, and in case you haven't realized it yet, that's an American Robin in England. Yeah. Wrong bird to use as a model for your animatronic, Disney. That has bothered me since I was a little kid, I swear to GOD. Erroneous film biogeography is one of my biggest pet peeves...but that's a separate conversation.

Back to the American Robin. Personally, I love robins of all species, and even recently did some genomics work with them (DNA extraction is fun). They're a commonly seen species, and a great entry-level bird for kids to get into birdwatching and nature. As an American icon, I genuinely think these guys should get some recognition...but I'm hard-pressed to say Connecticut needs them as a State Bird. We'll see what people think, but there's not a great case for them to get the title. To keep it...like I said, we'll see. Maybe the others won't be deemed as good a fit for the state. For now, let's move on from a popular backyard bird to a MUCH less popular one.

Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora cyanoptera)

Here's the eBird pick for Connecticut, and for good reason! The vast majority of the Blue-winged Warbler's (Vermivora cyanoptera) breeding population is in...Wisconsin. Wait, what? Hold on...yeah, actually, Wisconsin, New York, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia all have higher shares of the population that Connecticut, with 5% overall. That's still a lot better than the American Robin's share in CT (0.2%), but still...seems like that eBird article is SEVERELY outdated, or I'm using the database wrong somehow. Either way...huh. Well, let's make an argument for the Blue-winged Warbler, anyway.

Blue-winged Warblers are a species of some conservation concern, making them automatically of interest. They're also extremely interesting to geneticists and ornithologists because of their relationship to other members of Vermivora, especially the Golden-wined Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) and extinct Bachman's Warbler (Vermivora bachmanii), with having documented hybrid offspring with the former that's of interest for various reasons. But outside of that, they of course breed in Connecticut, and represent an interesting bird to look for and find, with a recognizable song and appearance. It's also prized by birdwatchers, and would be a good bird for any aspiring or experienced birdwatchers. It also inhabits shrubland, which is of some conservation interest to CT government and environmental officials. But other than that...not too much else.

Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis)

No. Look, I'm just gonna say this now: no. The Connecticut Warbler (Oporornis agilis) not only doesn't breed in the state (and possibly has never bred in the state), but it's pretty much not found there. Like, at all. This is not an easy warbler to get anywhere in its range in the US, but Connecticut isn't included in that distribution. "But lonelywretch," you scream at your computer screen, "why is it called the Connecticut goddamn Warbler if it isn't even from the state?" First of all, not to police your emotions, but stop screaming; way overboard for this situation. Second of all, it's called the Connecticut Warbler because its describer, ornithologist Alexander Wilson, first saw it in a fly-by during migration while in Connecticut. And...yeah, that's it. They do fly through the state very occasionally during migration, but it's definitely not a reliable bird to count on for local birders there. Honestly...bad bird for the state.

Side note here: there's a lot of talk about renaming birds that are named after people, and I agree with that in almost every case. But here's a hot take to elaborate on in another series: location-based names need to be re-examined. Not all of them are bad by any means, but the Connecticut Warbler is a great example of a bird whose name makes NO FUCKING SENSE. Rename this bird, I BEG of you. If anybody has suggestions for a renaming of this bird, throw them in notes for something! Keep in mind, Gray-headed Warbler is taken (by Myiothlypis griseiceps), so come up with somethin' else. Warranted inclusion in the list for its name, but we're gonna move on.

Osprey (Pandion halieetus)

It's at this point in the list where we get into some interesting candidates...and where I had the most trouble. But I'm fairly satisfied with what I've come up with, so let's move forward! This entry's a somewhat controversial pick for a few reasons, but an interesting one for a bunch of reasons. Now, I don't know about you, but I love Osprey (Pandion halieetus) a whole bunch. An iconic raptor, as well as a very unique one, they're a pescivorous bird found throughout the entire continent. And in Europe. And Asia. And Africa, Australia, and South America. Yeah, they're a cosmopolitan species, found in every continent except for Antarctica. That automatically should make them a bit dodgy of a choice for a State Bird, since they can be found in every state (yes, even occasionally Hawaii). So, why Connecticut?

First off, Connecticut has an intimate connection with the shore and rivers, especially the Connecticut River. Seemingly a loose reason, but the Osprey, AKA the river hawk or sea hawk (we'll get to that later) is an iconic riparian raptor, and a common sight in Connecticut. Having grown up on a river in the state, we used to see Osprey all the time, and it was awesome every time. But their commonness in the state is an important story in and of itself. And, if you know anything about Osprey at all, you know where this is headed. And Connecticut is a great example of this story.

The Osprey is one of the most iconic victims of the DDT crisis that hit the country, as well as a symbol of the environmental success story that resulted from its banning. I won't go into the full story if you haven't heard it, but the short of it is that the pesticide DDT was inadvertently ingested by fish-eating raptors, especially the Bald Eagle (Halieetus leucocephalus) and the Osprey, causing the eggs they laid to have weakened, soft shells. This caused a massive decrease in these and other species, nearly driving both into extinction. However, once environmental movements prompted by Rachel Carson and her book Silent Spring advocated for its eventual banning, the populations recovered. And in Connecticut, they've recovered A LOT.

In 1940, somewhere near 1,000 nests were recorded for Osprey between New York City and Boston. By 1970, the number in Connecticut was down...to 8. Jesus Christ, that's a hell of a crash! One of the worst in the country, in fact. However, today in Connecticut, there are 688 active nests in the state. Which, yeah, doesn't seem like the ultimate success compared to previous, but what's interesting is the rate of increase. Because in 2014, according to the Connecticut State Audubon, there were only 210. In ten years, the number of breeding ospreys known was more than tripled. That's incredible. This has quickly made the Osprey a symbol of conservation in the state, because of a massive amount of monitoring increase. There are states with more of a population, but Connecticut has a pretty good argument for having the Osprey. But that said...other states could also claim this species. Florida and Maryland definitely have claims on it for population size alone, not to mention, well...the most iconic state of all when it comes to having ospreys as a symbol. But we'll get to that one WAY later. just keep that in mind before you vote for Connecticut to have the Osprey.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)

The Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus OR Astur striatus as of recent taxonomic proposals), on the other hand, is another bird of interest. The smallest hawk in the United States of America, this already seems a fitting choice for one of the smallest states in the country. It's listed as endangered in the state, immediately making it of interesting conservation focus. The reason for this status is likely because of window-strikes, which are common for the species in Connecticut, meaning that there's some public outreach needed to protect it. Protecting the forests they nest in (which are in danger) is one thing, but putting up protective window decals to help the species is another. Definitely a cause for focus.

However, there is one...minor detail that makes this a harder fight for public opinion, as well as a potentially ironic one. This is the first species we've discussed whose diet is basically exclusively birds. If you're in the Northeastern United States, and you've seen a bird get attacked and taken at your birdfeeders, it's almost certainly this guy. Which is cool, and important for the species' survival, but the average person being asked to protect a bird that kills other birds, especially birds like the American Robin, is...a palpable irony. Granted, it genuinely needs protecting, and has monitoring programs in the state, and it is a genuinely interesting raptor! But, this is a slightly harder fight to win because of that noncharismatic factor. But hey, it's a cool bird in genuine trouble in the state, it's a scrappy bird for a small state, and it's an interesting species to highlight!

American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)

This is another difficult bird to fight for, but one that needs attention, for God's sake. The American Black Duck (Anas rubripes) is a rapidly disappearing duck species, and not for the reason you think. Let's get to Connecticut representation first. It was the first bird to be used for the Connecticut Migratory Duck Stamp in 1993, the first one issued for the state. It's one of the few states in which it breeds (although it's not the primary state of focus, detracting from its candidacy). And, it's a controlled bird by Fish and Game, meaning hunting of the Black Duck is extremely limited. There is, surprisingly, a point to that statement, but I won't be elaborating here. We'll see how the vote goes, and I'll address it in the Results post.

So, why is this a potential issue? Well, Maine and New York arguably should get this bird instead, as they have a higher population. And the breeding population of this bird is incredibly important to promote, because it's disappearing. Why is it disappearing? Well, some of you may have looked at that picture and asked yourselves: "Wait...isn't that just a female Mallard?" And the answer is, no! But a lot of people think that. A lot of birds think that. Mallards think that. Which means that hybrids between Mallards and Black Ducks are incredibly high. SO high, in fact, the species is being bred and hybridized out of existence! They're so similar to Mallards on a genetic level at this point, that they'll be subsumed if their individual populations aren't preserved. So, yeah, these guys deserve some focus. Do I think they're a great Connecticut symbol? Well, to be fair, the state is regularly assumed to be either greater New York City or greater Massachusetts by outsiders. And it's not; it has its own identity that deserves to be preserved for what it is. So, yeah, maybe a good fit for Connecticut after all.

Also, it's the state in New England with the highest proportion of Black Americans (yes, even more than Massachusetts), so...I dunno, that's also something? Probably not, but as a black dude that grew up in CT, I felt the need to bring that up.

Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)

OK, sing it with me now!

Yankee Doodle went to town, a-riding on a pony; Stuck a feather in his hat, and called it "macaroni"! Yankee Doodle, give it up! Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mind the music and the step, and with the girls be handy!

Ooh, that last line aged a little rough, but Yankee Doodle! The Connecticut state anthem! Yes, really. Most Americans in the Northeast know this song, but it's got a unique resonance for Nutmeggers, seeing as it was allegedly based on the son of a Connecticut mayor! The state chose it as their song in 1978, and it's been a beloved symbol ever since. But, for the uninitiated (and probably to most school kids like I was), there is one weird word in there that needs a little explanation: macaroni.

Now, this does not, of course, reference the easy cheesy favorite of every child (and college student). No, this is a reference to an old 18th century term for a form of fashion back in the day. It's what the 2000s called "extra", or bourgeious (pronounced "bougie", of course). Basically, it's somebody who dressed WAY over the top in high-designed clothes and accessories to the point of looking...well, extra. Another applicable 2000s term would be "metrosexual", I guess. The macaroni became a satirical character in British culture, and would later become another character known as the "dandy". It's sort of a class-related satire, to be honest. In any case, the macaroni was known for over-the-top fashion, including...wigs.

So, what does literally any of this have to do with the Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)? More than you'd expect, actually. First off, the egret has a pompodour-like crest of feathers that makes it look quite like a stereotypical macaroni, in my opinion. Secondly, it does breed in Connecticut, albeit extremely rarely, sparely, and barely. Its population in the state used to be a lot greater...until people came around and starting hunting it down. Why, you ask?

Let's just go ahead and call that macaroni now, while we're at it. To be clear here, quite a lot of birds were used in millinery back in the day, but the Snowy Egret (and the Great Egret (Ardea alba), for that matter) are special. Those long white feathery plumes were heavily prized as hat decorations, enough so that the species nearly went extinct from hunting them for the hat trade. As a result of that, people began to turn their eye towards conservation of the species, and the protection of birds in general. Two women, Harriet Hemenway and Minna B. Hall, got a group of women together to protect the birds. They rallied the troops, and their organization became fairly popular. Eventually when they sought to name it, they did so after one of the most famous ornithologists in American history at the time: John James Audubon. And from there...well, you can guess.

The Audubon Society is one of the premiere bird conservation organizations in the world, and especially in the United States, and is well-known to the public sector. And it was born right here in...Massachusetts. Oh. Wait, have I jumped the gun on this one? Maybe a little, yeah. But, in my defense, the macaroni is linked to Connecticut through its state anthem, and the Snowy Egret is linked to the macaroni, as mentioned. But, OK, maybe this is a better proposal for Massachusetts, not Connecticut. But, uh...there may be another contender. Kind of.

Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)

OK, here me out on this one. Look at this picture of a classic macaroni character (on the right, for the record). Does that hairdo not kinda look like the crest of the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)? Like, just a little bit, at least? I dunno, I can definitely see it. But OK, outside of that, is there another reason for the Tufted Titmouse to be the State Bird of Connecticut? Well, they're extremely common, they've got some charisma to them, and they're definitely found breeding in Connecticut. But...I don't know. I think they're plenty charismatic, but I'm not sure that makes them a great contender.

Still...they should be represented somewhere, right? I mean, the species breeds entirely in the USA, even though it can be found in Canada as well. Plus, other than being very recognizable, they're also an easy bird to find and support with backyard birdfeeding. And, if you want a fun fact about them, they're prone to kleptotrichy. That means, they pluck the fur from mammals to use as insulation in their nests! Yeah! They actually pick the winter coat off of dogs, and use it for their nests! Adorable. But yeah, does this really count for a good State Bird of Connecticut? I doubt it, but I'll let you vote! And I swear to God, it better not be just because of the name that it gets votes.

There you have it. Some complex and controversial choices. I miss any that you think are a valid choice for the state? Do let me know, and I may just issue another poll if this one isn't good enough. We shall see. But, for now, I think it's time to move onto the next state. And lemme tell you, I'm real excited about that one, since...well, I live there! And I have some ideas, lemme tell you. And some people will...disagree with me. For sure. Anyway, see you next time in Boston, kid!

See you soon, and happy birding!

Introduction to the State Birds Initiative

1. Delaware - Poll | Results 2. Pennsylvania - Poll | Results 3. New Jersey - Poll | Results 4. Georgia - Poll | Results 5. Connecticut - Poll | Results 6. Massachusetts - Poll | Results (upcoming)

[tossawary]

When writing both original fiction and fanfiction, it's my personal preference and style to remind people who characters are in the narration when I feel it might be needed. It's especially handy when bringing OCs into a fanfiction. Example: "The person calling out to them was [Character's Name Here], the baker they had met earlier that morning." This quirk of narration often reads to me as the POV character internally reminding themselves who someone is.

Sometimes, a character is quite bad with names or wasn't given one, which is where it's handy to refer to this other character by a fixed epithet. Example: "The person calling out to them was the square-faced man from yesterday, who had given them those bad directions." OR: "The person calling out to them was the mayor's daughter." This reads to me as though the POV character is distinguishing people by a particular feature or remembers them by their relationship to someone else, which is a common way to remember people, until their own name becomes more fixed in your mind.

I also think it's important to keep an epithet / title the same across a scene. Epithets are best used, in my opinion, when that particular feature or quality is actually relevant. It's a little weird for a POV character to suddenly think of their own husband as "the tall man" unless his height is suddenly important in some way, and it might confuse the audience into thinking another person is in the room. If a character doesn't have a name, then "the square-faced man" or "the mayor's daughter" effectively becomes their name, and it's confusing to have a character's name change too much with every other paragraph. (It would be fine to also refer to "the mayor's daughter" as "the girl" or "the young woman" as long as there aren't any other nameless girls speaking in the scene.) Keeping the same title allows it to blend in in the same way that the word "said" does, rather than break up the flow of a scene.

Not every person or character is bad with names and remembering people, of course, or is inclined to give them funny little internal titles. There are people who are very good at names. There are tricks to use to get yourself to memorize names as you're introduced to someone. Narrative styles are going to be different by author and by the current POV character. (Sometimes, you might want the audience to be confused and disoriented!)

In fact, thinking about how different characters think about each other is one of my favorite starting places for crafting a perspective voice. A single character might be referred to in the narration as "His Majesty" by one character, "my husband" by another character, "the king" by a third character, "the usurper" by a fourth character, and "Dad" by a fifth. The name that a character calls someone else by will often say a lot about their relationship and their opinion of that other person. If the prince appears to think of his father as "the king" rather than "Father", that implies something about their relationship.

But back to introducing character names, you as an author, in my experience as a writer and reader, generally can't rely on the audience to easily recall very minor character names unless they're very distinct or the character was introduced in a particularly memorable way. Like, if you introduce a character as the protagonist's best friend, Mary, and immediately start refering to her as Mary because it's followed by a conversation between the protagonist and Mary, that's fair! It's reasonable to expect the audience to just learn Mary's name here! But then if Mary disappears after Chapter 1 and doesn't show up again until Chapter 10, I think it's reasonable to subtly reintroduce her to the audience again. Example: "It was Mary smiling at me from the doorway, and I jumped up to hug my best friend immediately."

Like, there's no one way that you have to refer to characters and introduce them and reintroduce them, of course. Characters have different levels of importance and sometimes we don't really need to know who they are. Sometimes, an author wants an audience to feel grounded, to recognize people, and sometimes they want their audience to feel lost and scared. It's all situational. Style is a thing.

But because it's all situational, this is something I like thinking about and I think it's something worth studying when you're reading original fiction. It's interesting to pay attention to how characters enter and exit scenes in different forms of media, and how the narrator introduces them and how other characters greet them aloud. (Shakespeare comes to mind as a neat thing to look at, to see how theatre does it. Comic books and films and visual media will do it differently to a text-only story.) The audience doesn't have the background that you, the author, carry around in your head all of the time, and you often need to give them a helping hand in keeping your cast of characters straight. Even in fanfiction, without including OCs, not everyone in the audience has the whole canonical cast perfectively memorized, and not every character in any given cast actually knows every other character! It's not just OCs who need introductions, whether those introductions happen subtly or a character enters the story with a bang.

Kind of another side note:

One of my favorite character introductions comes from the book "The Princess Bride", in which Princess Buttercup is kidnapped by three men who are referred to only as "the Spaniard", "the Turk", and "the Sicilian". You don't know their names for quite some time. Buttercup doesn't know these people.

You only learn the Spaniard's name when the Sicilian leaves him at the top of a cliff, tasking him the Spaniard fighting and killing "the Man in Black" who is pursuing their kidnapping. When the Spaniard is about to fight someone to the death, the book pauses to tell you that his name is Inigo Montoya, and then there is an ENTIRE CHAPTER dedicated to Inigo Montoya's long and tragic backstory, in which you learn about his decades-long quest to find the six-fingered man who murdered his father. And then the book abruptly dumps you the audience back out onto that cliff, where Inigo (no longer just "the Spaniard" and no longer just some random kidnapping thug) is about to fight for his life.

I think it's a terribly fun piece of whiplash that suits the comedic style of the book really well. (The book is a little different to the movie and there are things about it that I don't like, the movie gets across a level of a sincerity and love through the acting that the book misses in places, but there are lots of really funny elements to the book that the movie sadly couldn't cover.) The transformation from "the Spaniard" into "Inigo Montoya" is really neat to me.

[audreyscribes]

PJO ROMAN DEMIGOD HEADCANONS: ⚡ JUPITER/JOVE: KING OF THE GODS, GOD OF (DIURNAL) THUNDER AND THE SKY⚡

Author’s Note: Alright, when I was writing the Greek demigods h/cs, I did keep in mind some of them and their Roman counterparts (i.e. Hera demigod), so when that one anon asked about doing Roman demigods, I got curious and this is my attempt. I do understand why there isn’t a lot but I gave it a shot. It’s not going to be the same for the Greek version and it’s not going to be very detailed since Camp Jupiter and New Rome is more limited than the Greeks, and there are some overlaps between the two, so that’s why. Hope you like it and enjoy! ROMAN DEMIGODS H/CS MASTERLIST LINKS: [TUMBLR] // [AO3]

You’re going to be held in high regard since your godly father is Jupiter Jove himself. The King of the gods, chief deity of the Roman state, Central member of the Archaic Triad, Capitoline Triad; guardian of the state with Juno and Minerva, and the Dii Consentes. You’re respected based on the premise that Jupiter is basically head honcho of the Roman state. However, this brings a lot of pressure as people expect you to be a leader and be just like Jupiter, and be the embodiment of Roman values. 

You’re probably either more composed or learn how to be more composed with your emotions and actions; not only reflecting how the Roman gods are more strict, disciplined, responsible, and calm; but because of your environment. You’re the child of Jupiter so they automatically look to you as a figure of leadership which means they’re always watching you.

In terms of power, between Greek and Roman demigods, I have this idea that Greek demigods have more broad and abstract range while Roman demigods have a more limited yet technical use with more accuracy. So compared to a child of Zeus whose powers have lightning and thunder which means general electrokinesis; as a child of Jupiter your powers are more refined, so you can pull off more tricks and technical control. Hey, that means you can fly more in a barrel roll, breaking the sound barrier while the children of Zeus can just generally fly. 

Another power as a child of Jupiter may have is light based powers; based on one of Jupiter’s epithet as Jupiter Lucetius (Of the Light) where he was esteemed as purveyor of the universe. It makes sense if you consider lightning having the word ‘light’ and lightning does produce ‘light’, so unlike a child of Apollo, your light is more lightning in nature then the rays of the sun.

On a more not so serious note, you find yourself saying “By Jove!” more often than not; not only as a sign of exclamation of surprise or emphasis, but also because Jupiter is also called Jove, so you’re basically required to say something like “my god! or “good god”.  Then again, everyone else says that, aside from “by gods” or some variation of it, so you’re constantly on edge or wincing because they’re basically yelling “Your Dad!”

I have a feeling that the people of Rome see the Gods more as figures while the Greek see the gods as representation of their domains. So you’re going to be seen as either Jupiter himself or the representation of Roman values and rites; which makes you being pushed into the head of politics, management, and the such.

Following above, it feels like a very high school drama; where you’re the Prom Monarchy, the popular kid. I mention about the pressure but it also extends to your social life; there’s going to be unspoken and spoken words of who you should be hanging out with, who not to associate with and whatnot. In terms of your love life, like Jason and Reyna being expected to be together romantically, you also have the same treatment. Either it’s someone of your station or above it, in terms of respect to your parentage, and so forth.

In terms of demigods or legacies, you’re often pushed together with a child of Venus, due to Venus being the ancestor of the Roman people through her son Aeneas who survived the fall of Troy and fled to what is now Italy, and Julius Caesar as well. And when there’s news of a child of Hera/Juno? Oh Jove.

If it’s a child of Hera, all of the senate immediately begins to plan a political debate on how you and the child of Hera get together, or should they send a word of decree or plan a war to seize them. If it’s a child of Juno, I’m so sorry but you’re definitely forced to be with them because the two of you are the living representation and figures for the people of Rome, and the two of you existence together is a sign from the gods.

Despite this all, what Cohort you get into will depend on the reference letters and your honours. Just because you’re a child of Jupiter, doesn’t mean you’re exempt from placement. Much like Jason Grace, if you’re not put into the 1st cohort, expect a ton of criticism. Unlike being a child of Zeus, you have less freedom of existing with every aspect of Jupiter and his associations being placed upon you.

If you’re a legacy of Jupiter, which is more likely then not, you’re not that entirely unexempt from the same problems nor benefits then a direct blood of Jupiter. Maybe less so or not, but the pressure is still there. Of course, with being a legacy, your powers and aspects you have with Jupiter become more individualistic and specific, but nonetheless, the powers that you do have are very strong.  

[iliyad]

As a Hellenist, I've recently noticed a trend among various PJO fanfictions which in the big scheme of things isn't a huge deal but something I wanted to set right. And it's to do with Poseidon.

(EDIT: By Hellenist, I am referring to my degree in Classical Studies and Ancient History. I am not referring to Hellenic Polytheism.)

@percabeth4life - ATLOP: Trial By Fire, c. May 2020

@izzymrdb - And I Will Swallow My Pride (In the hopes of a final goodbye), c. August 2020

visiblyuncomfortabl - My Soul Opposes Fate, c. December 2021

@mrthology - Long Ago, That Current Caught Us, c. April 2022

@ditesfavorite - Child Surprise, c. 2022

I couldn’t find any earlier examples, but starting with IzzyMRDB’s fic, several fics make reference to Poseidon possessing a gift of prophecy or, in the case of percabeth4life’s fic, suggest that there was some sort of abundant connection between oracles and the sea. And it’s simply not true.

Poseidon has variously been associated with or considered a god of: the sea (Hom. Il. xv. 184), earthquakes (Hom. Il. xv. 190), and horses (Hom. Il. xxiii. 307), along with being referred to by various epithets connecting him to springs (Κρηνούχος), seaweed (Φύκιος) and bulls (Tαύρειος). He has never, in any primary text, been referred to as having any connection to prophecy himself.

He has, however, been attributed as the father of beings with various connections to prophecy. In some traditions the Greek sea-god Proteus, described as tending Poseidon’s seal flock by Homer (Od. iv. 365), is instead described as a son of Poseidon and king of Egypt (Apollod. ii. 5). Further, the Delphic Sybil Herophile (a prophetess) ordinarily considered the daughter of Zeus and Lamia (Pausanias 10.12.2; which also describes Lamia as a daughter of Poseidon) has been conflated with a sea-nymph daughter of Poseidon and Aphrodite bearing the same name by Scholiast (on Pindar’s Pythian Ode 8.24) which was carried over by Riordan who subsequently conflated Herophile with the Erythraean Sibyl in the Trials of Apollo series.

So, yeah. Obviously, fanfic writers don’t have to stick to historical/mythological accuracy in their works, but something I found equally strange and hilarious while reading these fics was how this particular connection between Poseidon and prophecy kept popping up. I have no idea how it’s happened, but if any of the authors (or others in the fandom) do have an interest in accuracy, keep in mind in the future that there is no direct evidence of Poseidon himself having any connection to prophecy. Even taking Proteus (and arguably Herophile) into account, that’s only one or two children of well over 30 attributed offspring who have been described with any connection to prophecy at all, which statistically doesn’t point to their existence being evidence of their prophetic gift having anything to do with their father.

[thewebcomicsreview]

The Webcomic Reviews Mini Reviews Masterpost, Part 1

People always ask me what I think of various webcomics, so I decided to start collecting my thoughts in one place! Click the images to go to the comic! Comic titles with a ⭐ after them are recommended, but even if I don't give a comic a star, that doesn't mean you won't like it.

[un]Divine ⭐

What is it: A highschooler sells his soul for a big titty demon gf, and now has to have anime battles against angels who keep trying to eat him.

The Good: Excellent art and monster designs, some of the better fights in webcomics.

The Bad: Danny is kind of a bland protagonist. The comic keeps threatening to veer into femdom porn, which may be a good thing for some of you. Comic is on permanent semi-hiatus and updates very infrequently

You should read it if: You wanna read a comic with big fights, big angels, and big titties.

Ava’s Demon

What is it: A bunch of kids possessed by demons have space adventures and are sad

The Good: Extremely good art. Occasional "high production value" moments with music and limited animation. The single-panel page format really highlights the art.

The Bad: Bland writing, weak characters. The single-panel page format really slows the flow of reading it.

You should read it if: Learning that the Wrath demon is named “Wrathia” doesn’t strike you as comically dumb

Awkward Zombie ⭐

What is it: It’s a comic that makes jokes about video games

The Good: It’s the best comic that makes jokes about video games

The Bad: If you haven’t played the game in question, you might not get the jokes. Awkward lack of zombies.

You should read it if: You like jokes about video games. I don't....it's not a complex premise.

Camp Weedonwantcha ⭐

What is it: A bunch of kids are left at summer camp forever by parents who’ve abandoned them to die. Wacky comedy and feel-good moments ensue.

The Good: Cute adventures with kids, reminiscent of some of the better Nicktoons from the 90s. Surprisingly emotionally effective when it wants to be.

The Bad: While the ending is satisfying in its own way, many plot threads go unresolved

The Terrible: Nickelodeon bought the rights and is sitting on them.

You should read it if: You like slice of life adventures with blasts of dark humor and feels

Cloudscratcher

What is it: Ducktales, with Genocide!

The Good: Cute and generally likable characters. Decently paced

The Bad: Doesn’t really excel at anything. Weirdly insistent about totally not being a furry comic even though it obviously is.

The Terrible: The author is a white nationalist, and the lack of link is intentional.

You should read it if: You like 80s cartoons and hate minorities

Cornucopia ⭐

What is it: A ninja is sent on a mission to literally steal candy from a nation of morons, fails.

The Good: Good art and well-paced storytelling. Clever use of different types of word balloons. High joke-per-page ratio

The Bad: Doofy tone may not be your cup of tea. Seems to have died young, though the first chapter is still a complete story

You should read it if: You like JelloApocalypse’s videos on YouTube, or his series Epithet Erased, since he made this

Dresden Codak

What is it: A genius inventor has wacky adventurers, then goes to a flying city and spends most of the comic’s run embroiled in a conspiracy run by evil anime villains.

The Good: The drawings are pretty. The early comedy adventures are quirky and charming.

The Bad: Panel layout and composition, especially early in Dark Science, is atrocious. Presents the comic as a feminist power fantasy, but the main character usually has her tits out and has had her clothes burnt off on multiple occasions.

The Terrible: The author is a notorious jerk. As of this writing, The Dark Science storyline has been running for eight years and has yet to reach a triple-digit number of pages, even though it’s a full-time job for which Diaz earns $4,000+/mo on Patreon.

You should read it if: You thought the best part of Ghost in the Shell was the lesbian orgy boat.

Drop Out (NSFW) ⭐

What is it: Two girlfriends go on a road trip to kill themselves in style

The Good: Short enough to be read in one sitting. Surprisingly good visual storytelling for a first comic. Realistic dialogue and high tension keeps you engaged even when not much is happening. Subtle details that don’t become apparent until a second read reward paying attention.

The Bad: Heavy subject matter. Lettering can be tough to read in early pages.

Content Warnings: Drug Abuse, Suicide, Mental Health Issues, Detransitioning….a list of all the difficult content in this comic would be so long it’d look like I’m making a joke. This is a heavy comic.

You should read it if: You like arty dramatic comics that deal with uncomfortable topics

Dumbing of Age

What is it: College students obsessed with late 80s-early 90s pop culture have relationship troubles

The Good: Of all the popular comics it’s trendy to shit on, this is by far the best. Solid gag-a-day strip with plots that move at a decent pace.

The Bad: Realistic depictions of abusive parents co-exists in the same comic as a literal superhero, leading to some jarring tonal confusion.

You should read it if: You like newspaper-style drama comics.

Everything Is Fine

What is it: Maggie and Sam are a normal married couple in a very strange world where proving your loyalty is the key to winning, and the best way to prove your loyalty is to show someone else is disloyal. And also everyone wears mascot suit cat heads all the time.

The Good: Well-written characters, a novel premise, and excellent pacing. I’m not the biggest fan of the webtoon “really tall page” format, but it’s taken advantage of at times for nice transitions

The Bad: The webtoon format can be irritating, and the worldbuilding is toeing the line between “compelling mystery” and “If there were two astronauts on the moon and one shot the other wouldn’t that be fucked up?”-ism.

Content Warning: Gore, Suicide themes. Every page with such content has a warning on it (which works better in Webtoon format, actually)

You should read it if: You liked the dystopian fiction fiction books you had to read in high school.

Gunnerkrigg Court ⭐

What is it: A girl attends a scientific school in a magical world that’s honestly not even slightly like Harry Potter but people say it is because they think J. K. Rowling invented British schools

The Good: Good art and fantastic panel composition. Slow-burning dark fantasy mystery.

The Bad: Takes a little while to find its groove. Starts feeling rushed and confusing near the end.

The Terrible: Boxbot

You should read it if: You like dark fantasy stories, or stories in general.

Homestuck ⭐?

What is it: A kid wants to play a video game but it’s downstairs and he doesn’t feel like talking to his dad yadda yadda yadda the universe explodes. Was briefly ungodly popular.

The Good: High production values, many updates are music videos with excellent music. Great character writing, especially in Act 5. Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale, did a lot of the music, and arguably isn’t even the best musician featured.

The Bad:The early part of the comic is brutally slow-paced, and is an impossible hurdle for some.

The Terrible: The ending is widely considered a major disappointment, and attempts to turn the comic into a franchise have been met with mixed reviews. The prose epilogues are deeply divisive.

Content Warning: A lot gorier than you might expect, mitigated by the cartoony art style, abusive relationships, the epilogue is just generally gross.

You should read it if: You want to see what the hell all those kids in grey face-paint at anime conventions were about

You should also consider: Just getting the music off the bandcamp, it’s really good.

Homestuck 2

What is it: A “dubiously canon” sequel to Homestuck, following from The Homestuck Epilogues, made by a different creative team. Follows two intersecting future timelines

The Good: The art is quite nice, and the new characters are fun and likable. Very bold in its ideas, for better or for worse it’s rarely boring. One of the few webcomics to be able to integrate trigger warnings clearly while remaining non-obtrusive with them. Faster-paced than the original Homestuck (low bar!) and has a few clever presentation ideas. Willing to be its own thing. If you’re worried it’s just “Homestuck 1 but more of it”, this is not that.

The Bad: Not at all a stand-alone comic, Homestuck 2 is completely incoherent if you’re not familiar with Homestuck 1 and the Homestuck Epilogues. Does not have the big multimedia productions Homestuck 1 was known for. Beloved characters from Homestuck 1 can come off really badly, which upsets a lot of people. If you’re looking for “Homestuck 1 but more of it”, this is not that.

The Terrible: At times, this comic is actively trying to piss off the readership by dragging out unpopular plot revelations. I actually like this about it, but unsurprisingly a lot of people don’t.

You should read it if: If you have to ask “Should I read Homestuck 2?”, the answer is probably “No”. This is a comic for people who are riding the Homestuck train to the bitter end.

You should also consider: Reading my Liveblog of it 

Kiwi Blitz ⭐

What is it: A precocious young girl gets a Kiwi-shaped robot and decides to become a superhero ridding the world of nefarious furries. More of a cute character drama than a superhero comic, and more of a superhero comic than a mecha one.

The Good: Cute artstyle. Not without dramatic stakes, but fairly light and fun throughout minus a few people getting shot. The android 42 is stand-out great character.

The Bad: Prone to long hiatuses as the author's main comic is now Sleepless Domain.

You should read it if: You liked Sleepless Domain, and are looking for a somewhat lighter comic by the same author.

Latchkey Kingdom ⭐

What is it: A girl goes on adventures in a magical land of idiots

The Good: Good but not overbearing comedy. Tight chapters. Strong side characters

The Bad: Thanks in part to Patron-backed stories in between the “main” chapters, can feel like an episodic series with no main character or driving plot

The Neutral: Willa is a semi-silent protagonist, and often gets overshadowed by the wacky people she meets. Cerberus Syndrome, executed well

You should read it if: You like adventure, silly characters, and jokes about Dark Souls.

Leasebound

What is it: Two lesbians are contrived into sharing an apartment, then the comic becomes a polemic about how trans people are evil. The second-best TERF webcomic on this list

The Good: This comic has no redeeming qualities

The Bad: It’s hella transphobic, and not even particularly interesting about it the way Sinfest can be. Everything that’s not hateful is boring, and the comic is practically going “Go on, be offended, blog about me, give me atteeeennnnttttiiiiiooooonnn!”

You should read it if: You really shouldn’t, and I’m not linking to it

Least I Could Do

What is it: Rayne Summers is the best at everything and you should listen to him

The Good: This comic updates on time regularly. Sometimes it updates without word balloons by accident, making it surreally funny

The Bad: Poorly thought-out political rants; few jokes, severe overuse of beat panels, copy-pasted art.

The Terrible: Designed to go viral, not to be entertaining; makes panels wordless just so they can be used as preview images

You should read it if: You have committed horrible sins and wish to atone

Legend of the Hare

What is it: I wrote this! A white trash loser girl is peer pressured into becoming a magical girl by a pair of pushy rabbits. A spinoff of the print comic Blade Bunny, written and drawn by the current creative team of Saffron and Sage.

The Good: Bouncy and cartoony art. Strong and memorable characters. Very weird and freewheeling.

The Bad: The plot is an absolute mess, stalling out and even going backwards at times, though it mostly comes together at the end. The tone is wildly inconsistent.

The Terrible: Kind of South-Parky in its humor sometimes

You should read it if: You like Saffron and Sage and want to see a comic by the same team when they were less experienced.

Nan Quest ⭐

What is it: In this spiritual sequel to Ruby Quest, a goat girl electrician sets out to fix a broken fuzebox and ends up ensnared in a psychological horror conspiracy.

The Good: Much more effective use of the simple MS Paint art style, with more color and some simple animations (animated panels being marked [A], a convention Homestuck would later adopt for its [S] sound panels). The characters are better fleshed out than in Ruby Quest, and the horror is more effective as well, with less gore and more tension.

The Bad: Though used effectively, the art is still MS Paint doodles. The story mechanics behind the mystery are much more ambiguous, which can be a plus.

Content Warning: Gore, threatened sexual violence.

You should read it if: You like Ruby Quest and/or psychological horror comics that can be read in a few hours.

Moby: Back from the Deep

What is it: A zombie killer whale attacks a small town.

The Good: The art is nice

The Bad: Egregious overuse of narration.

The Terrible: It’s a beat for beat ripoff of the movie Jaws, down to some characters having their names only marginally changed from their Jaws counterpart (e.g. “Alex Gardener” is the name of the Alex Kintner analogue)

You should read it if: You can’t find a Jaws torrent.

Mokepon ⭐

What is it: A dickhead teenager is forced on a Pokemon adventure, and learns a valuable lesson about friendship while being dragged into a criminal conspiracy. A Pokemon fanfic that’s somewhat darker than the source material (though not really “grimdark”)

The Good: Good action scenes, nice manga-style art. Notable improvement in art and storytelling over time. Atticus’ slow-burn character growth is satisfying.

The Bad: The early chapters are almost a completely different comic, and it takes a little while to find its groove.

You should read it if: You liked Pokemon Special

Monster Pulse ⭐

What is it: Kids’ internal organs become sentient external organs, and they have to keep it a secret from an evil orginization.

The Good: Cool twist on the surprisingly rare monster pet genre. Not afraid to upend the status quo

The Bad: No real obvious flaws, but if you don’t find the premise interesting, you probably won’t like it.

You should read it if: You were a fan of monster-pet stories like Digimon Tamers

The Monster Under The Bed

What is it: A teenager finds a demon girl under his bed, rom-com ensues

The Good: Cute anime-esque premise

The Bad: Gets progressively hornier to to point where I'm not sure if I should even leave it on this list. Egregious use of photos instead of drawing backgrounds, making outdoor scenes look awful

You should read it if: You like trashy Japanese animes

Narbonic ⭐

What is it: A shlubby loser gets a job working for a mad scientist. Mad sciencey things occur, and the comic experiences an incredible jump in quality in the back half

The Good: Short comic, comfy and easy to read. The best and most satisfying ending arc of any webcomic ever.

The Bad: Some “LOLRANDOM” humor, especially early on.

The Terrible: The first few comics are almost literally unreadable due to messy handwritten lettering and low quality scans.

You should read it if: You love seeing a story build to a proper conclusion, and you don’t mind a rough start.

Octopus Pie ⭐

What is it: Slice-of-life dramedy where twenty-somethings try to become adults and/or get laid while navigating New York life. Completed comic.

The Good: If you direct your attention above, you will see the incredible coloring. There are other comics that have better plots and even better characters, but Octopus Pie is uniquely good at hitting a mood. Occasionally does some infinite canvas stuff that’s neat.

The Bad: This is a comic about exploring ideas and kind of drifting around through life, and isn’t a big plot-focused comic with a lot of big dramatic reveals. Which I don’t think is bad, but it might not be your thing.

You should read it if: You liked stories about adults trying to figure out how to grow up, and like seeing characters age.

Out-of-Placers ⭐

What is it: A human man is turned into a female rat creature, and has to navigate a low-fantasy world while learning their incredibly stupid ways and trying to get himself back to normal.

The Good: Really good worldbuilding, with interesting, fleshed out, and unique fantasy races. There are licensed Dungeons and Dragons books with less cool ideas for a campaign in them.

The Bad: Can get kind of edgy in ways that don’t always work, and occasionally gets a bit gross. If the premise made you think it was a furry fetish comic, it’s not, but it keeps threatening to become one if you don’t whap it with a newspaper and say “No” very firmly every now and then.

You should read it if: Your favorite DnD race is kobolds.

Paranatural ⭐

What is it: Kids bust ghosts in a parody of shounen anime tropes

The Good: Good banter, creative panel layouts, and characters you want to root for.

The Bad: The story rapidly increases in scale, causing the pacing to slow down somewhat. The story later transitions to an illustrated prose format, which some people can't really get into.

You should read it if: You liked Bleach before it became Dragonball

Prequel -or- Making A Cat Cry: The Adventure ⭐

What is it: An Elder Scrolls fanfiction, in which an alcoholic catgirl heads to a new land to try to make a better life, and generally fails.

The Good: Inventive use of the web as a storytelling medium. Great character writing. Lovable protagonist. Excellent payoff to years or life kicking the protagonist in the face.

The Bad: Years of life kicking the protagonist in the face. Can thus be depressing, especially early on, sometimes to the point of being offensive (see Content Warnings)

The Terrible: Very slow and irratic update schedule

Content Warnings: Alcoholism, Depression, the protagonist gets blackout drunk and wakes up in bed next to strange men several times, which is played for comedy.

You should read it if: You like slow burn character development. You like stories where the protagonist has a hard time

Problem Sleuth

What is it: A detective tries to leave his office using user-submitted commands, and gets in a few tangents along the way. Mostly known now as “The thing Andrew Hussie did before Homestuck”, but it was a popular comic in its own right.

The Good: Much better art than most reader-driven comics, bizarre and clever, with a dramatic finish.

The Bad: Holy shit, you thought Homestuck meandered? Problem Sleuth will do nearly anything and everything readers asked him to do, and this is a veeeeeery convoluted comic that has thus aged somewhat poorly.

You should read it if: You thought Homestuck was best before the Trolls got involved.

Questionable Content

What is it: Humanity achieves a technological utopia in the background while hipsters in Massachusetts complain about their dating lives. Later begins focusing much more heavily on all the robots.

The Good: A rotating menagerie of quirky cute girls. Had a major trans character before it was cool.

The Bad: The comic kind of transitions from being about one thing to being about another thing several times, to the point where onetime protagonists show up less and less or even get dropped altogether in favor of the New Thing the comic is.

You should read it if: You want a comfy and diverse slice-of-life comic.

[too-antigonish]

Morse: Fathers & Father Figures

What we learn about Morse's father in the Dexter's novels can seem a bit surprising in light of the way their relationship is depicted in Home.

According to a piece written by fellow author Mike Ripley, however, Dexter was, "...just about the only crime writer I know who has never bitched or complained about television adaptations of his work. He once told me that his philosophy was: “Books is books, telly is telly.” Only he probably put it more grammatically than that."

In Death Is Now My Neighbor, Dexter finally revealed Morse's first name: Endeavour. The chapter in question begins (tellingly?) with the epithet:

They fuck you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had And add some extra, just for you. (Philip Larkin, This Be the Verse') 

A bit into the chapter we arrive at a moment where Morse is strolling around Bath with his new love interest, Janet, and the following conversation takes place:

It was late morning, as they were walking arm-in-arm down to the city centre, following the signs to the Roman Baths, that she asked him the question:  'Shall I just keep calling you "Morse"?'. 'I'd prefer that, yes.'  'Whatever you say, sir!'  "You sound like Lewis. He always calls me "sir".' 'What do you call him?'  '"Lewis".' 'Does he know your Christian name?'  'No.'  'How come you got lumbered with it?'  Morse was silent awhile before answering:'They both had to leave school early, my parents - and they never had much of a chance in life themselves. That's partly the reason, I suppose. They used to keep on to me all the time about trying as hard as I could in life. They wanted me to do that. They expected me to do that. Sort of emotional blackmail, really - when you come to think of it.'  'Did you love them?" Morse nodded. 'Especially my father. He drank and gambled far too much ... but I loved him, yes. He knew nothing really - except two things: he could recite all of Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome by heart; and he'd read everything ever written about his greatest hero in life, Captain Cook - "Captain James Cook, 1728 to 1779", as he always used to call him.'  'And your mother?'  'She was a gentle soul. She was a Quaker.' 'It all adds up then, really?' said Janet slowly.  'I suppose so,' said Morse.

This conversation eventually leads to Janet convincing Morse to send Lewis a postcard in which he reveals his first name. The card reads:

"For Philistines like you, Lewis, as well as for classical scholars like me, this city with its baths, and temples must rank as one of the finest in Europe. You ought to bring the missus here some time. Did I ever get the chance to thank you for the few (!) contributions you made to our last case together? If I didn’t, let me thank you now – let me thank you for everything, my dear old friend. Yours aye, Endeavour (Morse)"

Spoiler: It makes Lewis cry.

One last note about Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome. The most famous poem from the collection is Horatius. It is quoted twice in Exeunt—first by a don, second and most memorably for me, by Thursday.

"Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: "To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his Gods."'

[bakawitch]

Captain of the Jigsaw Pirates

Name: ??? Atem

Epithet: Gold Heart

Bounty: 777,750,000 Beli

Devil Fruit: Kin Kin no Mi (Gold-Gold Fruit)

The Kin Kin no Mi is a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit that grants its user the extraordinary ability to create, control, and transform any matter into solid gold with a mere touch. With this power, the user can manipulate gold in various forms, from intricate structures to defensive barriers, making the user a formidable force in both offence and defence.

Haki: Conqueror’s, little Observation and little Armament Haki

Weapon: Aurelian Staff (bo staff)

Fight Style: Atem is a masterful martial artist who combines his Devil Fruit powers with his Aurelian Staff, displaying elegant and precise movements. He uses his staff to guide the flow of the gold to create barriers and constructs. He also often forms different ends for his staff from gold to adapt to different situations. Atem often relies on his Conqueror’s Haki to enhance his aura of authority, allowing him to assert his dominance over his foes.

Personality: Atem, the captain of the crew, is regal, enigmatic, and commanding. Atem has a unique blend of spontaneity and brashness that keeps the crew on their toes. He possesses a strong sense of justice and a deep concern for his crew's well-being. Due to his unquenchable thirst for adventure, Atem's spontaneous decisions often lead the crew into unexpected but thrilling situations. Despite his arrogant tendencies, his puzzling aura and unwavering sense of responsibility make him a captivating leader, inspiring loyalty and trust among his crewmates.

Favourite Food: Fruit salad

Dream: Atem’s dream is to achieve true freedom, but he seems to have hidden intentions he’s still yet to share with his crew.

Why do I always stay up late to finish my flipping drawings 🙃

Tried to kind of merge one piece's and yugioh's art style for this, but I think it mostly just ended up looking yugioh

Anyway, if you're wondering if I spent my whole weekend writing a bio like this for every single character in the au, the answer is yes. Yes, I did. Do I regret it? Oh, absolutely, I put way too much effort into this XD

[devout-of-the-elder-scrolls]

Bumori Cail Quick Start Guide

Note: This is an unrecorded/non-canon Prince I worship. You're not gonna find them in canon.

A guide for beginning with Bumori Cail, intended to help you begin your practice. I highly suggest asking the Prince in question or Hermaeus Mora for more information before beginning a relationship proper.

Keep in mind this whole post is UPG, based on my personal experiences with this entity. It may directly contrast the experiences of others. I am no authority on these Princes, so while I am open to questions, I shouldn't have my voice put above others and especially not the Prince in question.

* Banners are by saradika-graphics.

BUMORI CAIL

( boo-more-ee cail ) (cail is like pail, but with a cuh sound) aka. Bumorz ◦ Cail prns. it / ze ( ze / zym / zeyr / zeyrs / zymself ) domain. Cullslaire date. December 23rd

Bumori Cail is the Daedric Prince of Death, Rebirth, and Magick. It rules over magicians and the dead, being a haven for both. It also claims ownership of the stars to a degree, mostly of the constellations in the sky.

Bumorz has a rough and tough personality, being quite calloused. It would not describe Itself as caring or soft, and acts like a tough-love, but still genuine love, teacher. Ze will not abuse followers, or generally treat them with cruelty, as It means well for followers, but It can be quite harsh. 

Working alongside Cail is a sometimes harsh affair, with many tests and tribulations for followers to test their strength and capabilities. It guides well, being clear and concise, with a good understanding of Zeyr followers and what they need and are capable of, and never oversteps these.

Bumori Cail is a difficult Prince to begin the Daedric Path with, due to a very rough and calloused personality. It can be hard to get to know and begin worship of, and the tests and tribulations can be hard to adjust to out of nowhere if you’re not already used to the Daedric Path.

🜚 terms of respect . . .

Term – Prince • neutral or otherwise non-gendered terms Prefix – Liege • Great • Powerful • Strong Titles – The Prince of Death and Rebirth • The Magical Prince • The Great Magician • Monarch of Autumn • The Travelling Prince • The War-Forged Epithet – of Magic • of Souls • the Powerful

🜲 rulerships . . .

death • rebirth • magic • constellations • art • power • enchanting • alchemy • astral journeys • gemstones • precious metals • weapons • warfare • the dead • autumn

. . . HELPS WITH . . .

casting spells • being reborn

🝰 commandments . . . This part especially is bound to be different from person to person.

Embrace your end, and then be reborn.

Understand the power of magic, and use it well. You don’t have to do magic all the time, but you should acknowledge its power and what it can do for you at the least.

Face trials with a strong face.

Be strong, be powerful, and be destructible. As in, don’t aim to be completely undefeatable. It’s okay to be defeated, it’s okay to get hurt. But be as strong as you can be while acknowledging you can’t be indestructible.

Be ready to fight when necessary.

When on astral journeys, respect where you are.

⛯ main tarot cards & other signs and associations . . .

Tarot Cards — 

I the Magician • XIII Death • XVI the Tower

V of Cups

III of Swords • V of Swords • VI of Swords • VII of Swords • X of Swords

V of Pentacles

V of Wands • VII of Wands • X of Wands

Other Signs & Associations — 

soul gems • constellations, esp those of warriors

vulture • asphodel • rotting flowers • fungus • mold

❂ devotional acts . . .

create art

become powerful

embrace your pain as a crucial part of life

enchant your jewelry or other items

use a wand or athame in spells

perform alchemy

sleep with gemstones under your pillow

talk to and honor the dead

perform ancestor work

talk to spirits in cemeteries (don’t disturb them rudely!)

visit graveyards

get a grave cleaning license 

invite It to magic you cast

honor Zym on the autumn equinox

sit under the warrior constellations

grow asphodel

keep freshly cut flowers and permit them to wilt and die

use beans in your magic

invite It to divination and other forms of -mancy

meditate

go on astral journeys

develop emotional strength

develop spiritual strength

donate to vulture conservation

embrace the autumn season

make a graveyard-in-a-box (a way to get graveyard dirt and honor the dead from your own home)

talk to wandering spirits

visit haunted places (safely) and talk to the dead

help the dead move on or find peace

. . . offerings ❦

↘ natural ; 

clear or purple gemstones

flowers in general, real only. they have to be allowed to wilt and die. don't need to be fancy, a dandelion counts too

fungus

alder

asphodel

yew

↘ foodstuff ; 

red meat

beans of all sorts

ginger

salt

apple

↘ items ; 

wands and athames

star shapes

art pieces, esp ones you make yourself

fake gravestones

fungi figures

art of the constellations, be it the stars themselves or things drawn around the stars to show what the constellation is

↘ music ; 

breakcore

noise

melodic stuff

↘ etc ; 

black and orange candles

autumnal colors

charged gemstones

soul gems, gems that are used to contain a soul, either literally or metaphorically

🜾 altar building . . .

This is all suggestions. Please build it however you can, if a physical altar is even possible.

As always, you can use offering items to build an altar.

nearby where you honor the dead

black candles

a gravestone themed altar cloth

autumnal colors or decorations

fake gravestones

🝊 identity . . .

Bumori Cail has a rough personality, deeply calloused. Ze is harsh and tough. It is just generally more aligned to be serious, more rough and tough. 

However, Cail never really directs this towards followers very much. It's still very obvious, but followers are safe and won't be harmed or hurt by Cail, not on purpose anyways.

Ze typically presents Itself as a tall AMAB individual, with long, flowing black hair that reaches the small of the back. Ze has bright golden eyes. Ze presents as clean-shaven.

It is usually seen dressed formally and cleanly, well groomed and neat. Sometimes, the scent of cologne follows Zym.

Cail has a deep, rough voice. It speaks cleanly and clearly, putting thought behind every single word. There is a monotonous twang in it, though it isn't completely monotonous.

☉ domain . . .

Cullslaire (culls-lair) is Bumori Cail's domain and realm, where Ze lives and thrives.

It's a mostly wasteland, with Lymix City being a giant oasis full of fauna and flora. The city is quite large, providing everything that any visitor or resident would require.

⛮ working with . . .

Bumori Cail is a difficult thing, because of all the trials and tests that Ze puts followers through. However, It can be a freeing Prince, who understands Zeyr followers very well and their limitations and needs. It makes followers strong and powerful.

Benefits are that Ze helps a lot with magic and casting, being present during the spells that followers are performing.

Slighting Cail is not an easy thing to do, but Ze is vicious and harsh when enraged or deeply slighted. 

It can be mended with a proper apology and offering.

⚜ holidays & festivals . . .

Bumori's summoning day is December 23rd.

♡ prayers . . .

⛤ 01 . . . Bumori Cail, Prince of Death and Rebirth,  Great Magician, War-Forged, I worship You, I revere You.  You who protects me, You who aids in my spells, You who fights for me. I revere You, I worship You.

⛤ 02 . . . O Liege Bumori Cail,  I call upon Your spirit now,  to join me here and present, for I require of Your presence.

⛤ 03 . . . Bumori Cail, Travelling Prince! I leave this humble offering upon You, and I hope and pray You accept it well.

⛤ 04 . . . O Bumori Cail, great Cail,  I honor You and revere You! Blessed be, You, great traveler of the spirit realms,  great magician and magickal Prince.

⛤ 05 . . . Cail, Monarch of Autumn, I honor You this season.

⚿ evoking, invoking, summoning . . .

EVOKATION &&° 

wear autumnal colors

— ☆ — 

Things in [] are for making it a summoning. This is just a suggestion, you can do it any way you like.

WHY AND WHEN &&° 

when you're about to do a spell

when you feel in danger from a cruel spirit

when you’re about to visit a cemetery

INGREDIENTS AND OTHER TOOLS &&° 

black and/or orange candle(s)

autumn leaves, fake count

clear or purplish gems

flowers

Bumori's name written in Daedric Script

IDEALS &&° 

Time – nighttime

Location – near where you honor your ancestors, or conversely, where you sleep

STEPS &&° 

[Carve the word Cail into the candle, this can replace any other written form of Its name.]

Set down your candle(s), autumn leaves, and gems.

Light your candle(s), and recite: Bumori Cail, great Daedric Prince of Death and Rebirth, I call upon You and Your spirit now, to join me here and present.

Do your business.

Blow out your candles.

NOTES &&° 

Like all others, Cail might come to just Zeyr name being called.

𝌁 other vettable information . . .

When meditating on Its presence and name, Cail brings:

visions of: rotting flowers • vultures • mold

smells of: asphodel

sounds of: vulture calls

feelings of: someone looming over your shoulder

❡ notes . . .

As an aside, Bumori Cail seems especially drawn to living humans who believe they have died and/or been reborn in any way, including metaphorically.

Unlike Azura who is associated with astrology and the Zodiacs, Bumori Cail is simply associated with the constellations and art among the stars. 

Cail quite likes Samhain and the Samhain season.

[wander-wren]

small things to stop doing in your fics

(or any kind of writing, but i live on ao3. we begin with flat-out crimes and then slowly start moving into things that just bug me personally but aren’t wrong)

epithets. if i’ve said it once, i’ve said it a thousand times. you should only be using epithets for characters whose names we do not know. they can also be used VERY rarely to break up the repetition of names/pronouns or to emphasize characters’ relationships/viewpoints, ie “his boyfriend” or “the asshole.”

writing out accents. please stop. you can include a couple of small things, like “somethin’” or “ya” (for “you”), but even keep that to a minimum. specific turns of phrase/references go way farther imo to establish a character’s culture/background/etc. a little goes a long way, and doing it repeatedly can make sentences hard to parse. this also! applies! to children and babytalk! have you ever listened to a child speak? toddlers can enunciate pretty well!

not enough commas. put commas before names and titles. it’s not “Hey John” or “I’m on it captain,” it’s “Hey, John” and “I’m on it, captain.” also, put them after discourse markers/interjections such as “well,” “so,” and “now.” you should be writing “So, how are the kids?” not “So how are the kids?” even if your character is speaking quickly, you still want the commas because of grammar. it can occasionally be acceptable to omit them if you want to indicate extreme excitement/panic/anger/etc, but use it sparingly.

too many commas. i’m a comma fiend like the rest of you so i’m guilty here too, but we gotta at least stop with the comma splices. commas split and independent and dependent clause, meaning that one part of the sentence cannot grammatically stand alone. if all parts are complete sentences on their own, that’s a comma splice. try splitting it into two sentences, using a semicolon, or rewriting. this is usually fine in dialogue, though, that’s just how people talk.

also, using a lot of commas to denote panic is something i used to be HUGELY guilty of and now i hate it. instead of, “I, I, I don’t, I don’t know,” you can try, “I-I…I don’t—I don’t know!” probably not that much punctuation that close together, but for the sake of example. emdashes and ellipses, my beloveds 🫶

roleplay speak. i don’t know what else to succinctly call this? i’m referring to the tendency to be redundant and over-explain, especially in dialogue. it’s a phenomenon i see constantly in rp circles, usually because of post length requirements (and i have little issue with it there, it’s just the culture). things like:

“Surprise!” Adam shouted, popping out from behind the door.

“Oh my god!” Scott screamed, having been completely startled and not expecting Adam to be home yet.

yeah, we can guess that Scott is startled, right? because of the screaming? and clearly if Adam is surprising Scott it stands to reason his presence is unexpected? why are we stating this twice?

i believe this also comes from the mistaken idea that every line of dialogue needs a tag attached, which is….horrible. you can let the dialogue exist on its own sometimes, friends. you can also include an action beat without a tag. like above, i could have just said “Adam popped out from behind the door” and omitted the shouting altogether. we can assume he is being loud because that’s usually how people do surprises. anyway. moving on.

condescending to readers. this isn’t so much about writing as it is author’s notes and the like, and “condescending” may be a strong word, but i’m trying to be succinct. at any rate, please stop telling your audience to not read your fic? “do not read if sensitive to [blank]” or “if you have [disorder] skip this fic!” is a horrible way to trigger warn. people know their own boundaries. tell them what the work actually contains and let them self-select.

i also find “rest stop/check-in” type notes condescending, like “if you are reading this between the hours of 10pm-4am, go to sleep” and “STOP! have you eaten/drank/walked around in the past few hours? go do that!” again, we know ourselves. i’m not your kid, don’t tell me what to do. i don’t mind a polite, casual little “thanks for reading, remember to drink water and take your meds, bye” note, though.

the others in this category? i will straight up not read the fic over that on some days. ESPECIALLY because, in my experience, the people who are most intense about warning for every little thing are the ones with the mildest fics, and that’s not what i’m here for.

complaining about your own wrong tags. this is, admittedly, such a nitpick, and it definitely is more common in certain communities than others. but as longtime followers may know, i’m a bit obsessed with ao3’s tagging system and it drives me BONKERS when people use the wrong tags and follow it with “not actually but there’s no tag for xyz.” here’s the thing: you can still look at all the works that have ANY tag, just the non-canonized ones can’t be filtered on. and the best way to get a tag canonized is, guess what, to USE it! imagine that. also, if you’re using the wrong tag, you’re just going to clog the filter results and get people who don’t actually want to read your fic. just stop.

[khaire-traveler]

No it's absolutely fine! I'm happy to answer ^^

I don't have any experience with Greek paganism nor Hellenic Polytheism, and I think I'm most interested in Hermes but I'd be happy to seek out any other Gods and Goddesses alongside him.

And I do have a bit of experience with paganism, having interacted briefly with Frigg and Loki before :3

Thanks for your help!!

Hey there, sorry for the delayed response!

Read more because this is quite long. 💀 Also, just a reminder that I am not an authority or professor or anything like that. Always, always, always double-check information if possible. 🧡

So, unfortunately, covering all of Greek paganism/Hellenic Polytheism is virtually impossible, but I can try to give you beginner tips based on your experience with Norse paganism.

There are two "types" of deities: Ouranic and Chthonic. Ouranic deities reside in the Heavens on Mount Olympus, whole Chthonic deities reside in the Underworld and are often closely connected to death. There are also deities who roam the earth and seas, but as far as I know, there isn't an official title for those deities.

Oftentimes, burning an offering (if safe to do so) was a practice commonly done for Ouranic deities, as it was believed that the smoke would travel to Mount Olympus. Burying an offering (if safe to do so) was typically done for Chthonic deities as a means of "returning it to the earth".

Fire is sacred; my advice is to make use of it when you can. Incense is also sacred and makes for a great offering for Greek deities. Water is also also sacred, especially salt water (literally just mix salt in the water; it doesn't have to be from the ocean); salt water was seen as cleansing, and if you add herbs (laurel leaves are great), it makes for a great and respectful way to clean your altar and your hands (washing hands before interacting with altars was a common practice, but you don't have to do that).

Just like Norse deities, Greek deities are extremely complex with many facets to their domains and personalities. Although modern media often depicts them as petty and one-dimensional, always keep in mind that they are far cooler (and much more mature) than that.

Many Greek deities share sacred animals (and even symbols sometimes) in common. Hera and Persephone share pomegranates, Apollo and Dionysus share snakes, Hermes and Apollo share hawks, etc. It's very common for Greek deities to have overlaps in worship and symbolism.

Greek deities often shared altars with each other in ancient times, so it's ok to do so in modern times as well. That said, it's still respectful to ask first if you can, but if you don't have the means and they need to share, that is almost always ok.

The arts were heavily important to the ancient Greeks, so as you can imagine, they are a great way to worship Greek deities. Carvings, poems, hymns, drawings, knittings, etc. are all wonderful ways to show devotion, although they are not required.

Food offerings were commonly given to Greek deities, such as bread, wine (often watered down), rosemary, laurel, olive oil, fruit, pastries, and water. Thankfully, these are relatively common these days!

Festivals were extremely common amongst the ancient Greeks. Celebrating the gods in all their forms for different occasions happened pretty much everywhere. You're more than welcome to participate in these festivals, but you don't have to. There aren't many celebrating Hermes from ancient times, but you're able to create your own if you want!

Epithets are a great way of invoking specific aspects of a Greek deity. They're similar to titles, such as Odin having the title of "All-father" or Loki having the title "Father of Lies". For Greek deities, epithets can help immensely when you need help with something specific. For example, "Hermes Eriounes" means "Hermes Luck-bringer/Ready-helper" and is specifically invoking Hermes' domain of luck and helping others.

There is an overwhelming amount of information about many Greek deities out there, but unfortunately, not every source is trustworthy. Be wary of where you're getting your information from.

There are multiple versions of many myths because worship of Greek deities was not the same in every part of ancient Greece. Some places had festivals that didn't exist in others and even worshipped deities that didn't seem to be acknowledged even just a city away. Myths vary, and sometimes, depending on the area, they were also laced with heavy bias towards deities, such as many existing myths of Ares being from Athens - a city where Ares was often openly disliked in favor of Athena. Worship was extremely diverse in ancient Greece, so myths, festivals, and even traditions tended to vary significantly.

Just because a myth pins a deity against another does NOT mean those deities hate each other in actuality. It also doesn't mean that, even if those deities do dislike each other, they won't be mature if you're worshipping them at the same time.

Myths give us a lot of great information, but just as you likely wouldn't do in Norse mythology, don't take the myths as a Holy Bible. There is no specific set of rules to follow or ways to do things, and the myths are not the end all, be all for the deities they depict.

-

The above is just general tips, not specific to Hermes. Regarding Hermes, though, here's some tips I could give based on personal experience:

Coins, frankincense, crocus flowers, sheep, turtles, hawks, snakes, hares, cows, caduceus symbolism, strawberries, lyre symbolism, winged sandal symbolism, winged helmet symbolism, souvenirs from personal travels, handwritten letters addressed to Hermes, family heirlooms, divination tools, and candles are all great offerings for Hermes!

Hermes offers his help freely to his worshippers, and he takes great care of his people. If you need help, even if you don't have something to give in the moment, ask for it. I think he honestly enjoys helping people. c:

His domains are many. You don't have to focus on each and every one, but don't forget to utilize his many areas of expertise.

I've found that Hermes will sometimes play little jokes on you. Make sure to establish boundaries of what things are and are not ok, although he is pretty considerate and doesn't mean to intentionally cause harm, in my experience.

Hermes is more than happy to help you curse a bitch, in my experience, if you ever need help with that sort of thing. I've found he's also helpful with spell creation, bringing up loopholes and things that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise. This is obviously witchcraft-specific.

Hermes, in mythos, was said to have been taught the art of prophecy from Apollo. He is FANTASTIC with divination, and even better with helping beginners. Throughout all my divination with him, he has always been the easiest deity to communicate with, giving very clear and concise answers that are fairly easy to interpret. If you ask for his help with interpretation, he WILL deliver.

If dreams are important or relevant to you, Hermes is great at communicating through them. In my experience, he has even helped keep nightmares at bay. I highly recommend asking his help if you struggle with peaceful sleep.

As a guide to human souls to the Underworld - a psychopomp - he is extremely helpful when you've lost your own direction, even in life. He can be an invaluable friend when you need someone to point you back in the right direction. In my experience, he typically encourages you to listen and stay true to yourself. I've found he's helped a lot with gaining confidence in one's own judgement.

His reputation in other online spaces is typically that of Silly Mail Guy™, but remember that he is extremely sharp and witty. He is one of the cleverest deities I've interacted with, and his wisdom far surpasses his reputation. Trust me, if you need advice, he's a great deity to ask.

He is extremely compassionate. Something I consistently hear from other worshippers is how kind, considerate, and compassionate Hermes is. If you ever make a mistake, he tends to be very forgiving, and if you ever need emotional assistance, he can be such a great ally. Genuinely, he is so sweet, and I assure you that he's wonderful to turn to in times of need.

He's a god of thievery and trickery, and I'm just going to say without saying, that domain can be immensely helpful if you find yourself in a difficult situation. *wink wink*

Hermes and Loki, in my experience, team up often when you worship them simultaneously. They are almost guaranteed to come up with a lesson to teach you or a silly prank at some point, in my experience. They seem to get along very well lol.

This is all the information I can think of, honestly. I don't think there's an easy step-by-step process of getting started with Greek paganism or Hermes worship, so I just focused on giving tips and information that came to mind. These are obviously not exhaustive lists, but I'm hoping they can give you some useful information that you might not have had before.

I hope these things are helpful to you. I wish you lots of luck on this new spiritual journey. You've got this. c: Take care, and have a great day/night! 🧡

[sanddusted-wisteria]

Qi and names

A really, really random thing I've been noticing as I'm doing a second playthrough: Qi almost never calls anyone by just their name. Unless he's talking directly to someone, he almost always uses a title or a stand-in...nickname? Epithet? Not sure what to call it.

[VERY long post below, contains some act 2 and mild act 3 spoilers]

Grace: The frycook

Elsie: The rancher's daughter/ranch girl

[pardon the text mine, i don't have screenshots of some of the act 3 quotes and it's not up on the wiki yet]

Catori: The entrepreneur

Justice: The sheriff

Also combined with Unsuur: The lawmen

Pen: The homunculus man

Yan: "Your director"

X: The bird

Bronco the Kid: "The person seeking Logan"

Pablo: "Our local barber"

Here are the ones with titles:

Trudy: Mayor Trudy (but also sometimes just "Mayor" or even "Trudy")

Fang: Dr. Fang

Nia: Assistant Nia

You/the builder: Earlier in the game/at lower relationship levels, he'll only call you "Builder". But later on, he'll always use your builder's name.

(at Buddy level)

(at Good Friend level)

And last but not least, those who Qi always refers to by name:

Mint (but he also calls him Sleepyhead, of course)

Zeke

Logan

Matilda (though she's only ever referred to once and she's been de facto stripped of her minister title at this point, so I'll gloss over her)

So uh...what's the takeaway? Well, I think it's an insight to Qi's idea of respect. All the people in the first section have nicknames, which are mostly light jabs at their character/job.

Contrast to the people in the second and third sections. If they have an established title of authority, he'll use it. And for those he refers to by name directly, it's someone he personally respects. Think about it:

Trudy is the mayor, the highest authority in town (and also probably singlehandedly responsible for his funding lol)

Qi's no quiet admirer of Fang's work, as shown by their few interactions

He respects Zeke as a fellow man of science, and a very persistent one at that

Nia is part of academia, advised by a reputable professor

Mint is obvious; he's his closest friend

And you! Take another look at his dialogue with you as it progresses through the main quest, especially after you build the mobile suit. He comes to respect you and your work.

Logan is an interesting exception, but I picked the above quote for a reason. I think he knows straight off the bat that the Logan situation is more complicated than other people say, and he sympathizes with him a little bit (even though he'll promptly hole himself up again and keep working after any Logan event happens).

I made another very long post a while back that touched on why Qi insists on being called "Director" all the time, and I think that's only compounded by this. It's a golden rule type situation, yk? You respect his titles, work, and time, and he'll do the same to you.

ETA: you could also interpret this as Qi viewing people as their occupations first. He's not the most sociable person in town, and he'd like to keep it that way (maybe). So he keeps a veneer of over-professionalism on by default.

[fatehbaz]

The New York State Urban Development Corporation saw in the piers a sacrificial milieu of impurity and devaluation. Rivera described the event as follows: “It’s called a sweep. Not even a fucking eviction. A sweep, like we’re trash.” [...]

The clearance operation of the piers took place under the New York Slum Clearance Commission and Law and its frothy utopian verbiage of “sanitizing” an environment [...] unsuitable for human life. [...] The demolition of the piers showed the violent clash of two confronting forms of urbanism. [...] [Manhattan’s] working class industrial base was transformed into a corporate and service-based economy and New York State Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, together with city planners, implemented policies to frame Manhattan as a place for work, but not living. [...] The rhetoric used by public and private officials to get rid of the piers was embedded in medical metaphors, [...] "blight" [...]. At the same time, these discussions were imbricated with racial depictions and xenophobic targets: most of the constructions beleaguered in this operation were inhabited or used by black people, Latin Americans, migrants, and displaced communities. [...]

---

The piers thrived with life. [...]

The notion of the piers as insalubrious areas that needed to be wiped out gained traction in the 1980s - during the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis [...]. This narrative concerning the piers was active in New York City until the early 2000s, until Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Governor George Pataki opened the Greenwich Village segment of Hudson River Park on May 30, 2003. The highway was finally demolished [...] and a series of gates were erected to keep Pier 45 closed after 1am [...]. The previous residents of these spaces were just routine casualties. The new proposal opted for a unitary, straightforward, apparently open but constantly surveilled set of facilities, where constant circulation (by car, skate, bike, foot) was central, and framed the conception of the piers as a passing point. This contrasted the labyrinthic and fragmented former setting, with multitudes of hidden spaces that provided a sense of privacy and safety [...].

---

The history of the piers runs parallel to the history of the LGBTQIA+ movement in New York. This is where Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson decided to locate the first installment of [...] (STAR) in 1970 [...], a year after the Stonewall riots. [...] [D]uring the 1973 Gay Pride Rally [...], [Rivera] asked the movement to support [racialized, trans, gender non-conforming, homeless, and incarcerated people] [...] instead of just focusing on cis "men and women that belong to a white middle class club" [...] [which entailed] the negation of alternative forms of living [...].

Members of these groups were ostracized and deprived of typical considerations during the outbreak of an epidemic: protocols of announcement, transparency in information, research, and measure-taking. Meanwhile, the communities that congregated around the piers, and the piers themselves, helped spread information about AIDS, made transparent the available data, and offered care among affected communities. Groups and associations like STAR, Gay Men's Health Crisis, and Gran Fury were essential in this effort. [...] This environmental activism, where kin was formed [...], happened in places like the piers. [...] They were an escape from the constant scrutiny of authorities and from homophobic attacks [...].

---

AIDS' first name, GRID (Gay Related Immune Deficiency), as well as the common “gay plague” and “gay cancer” epithets, strengthened the idea of a specifically gay disease related to a certain environment-specific villain. Journalists, following the views of public health authorities, blamed the epidemic on [...] the places gay people frequented. [...] Physicians thus described a spatial configuration located in downtown Manhattan [...] which [...] posed a threat [...]. This claim had terrible consequences for the activist spaces and urban fabrics that confronted the epidemic [...]. The remnants of Pier 45 were demolished. The activist history of these places was “cleared.” [...]

---

When Sylvia Rivera shouted to the authorities “stay away from my house!” while being evicted, “house” not only referred to the physical construction of her home. She was confronting teleological progress with the project of a[n] [...] assemblage based on [...] mutual caring [...] and defying colonial narratives of race, sex, gender, and nature. The territorialization of epidemics, identities, and citizenship not only shape the built environment, but the built environment shapes them in return. Architecture thereby assumed the form of an expanded spatial practice [...].

When Rivera was trying to save her home from demolition, she said, “there’s so many fucking buildings in this fucking Manhattan.” What New York City was losing with the demolition of Pier 45 was not just a series of dwellings. It was losing a complex ecosystem of coexistence.

---

All text above by: Iván López Munuera. “Lands of Contagion”. e-flux Architecture (Sick Architecture series). November 2020. [Bold emphasis and some paragraph breaks/contractions added by me.]

[jimmycarterghostland]

WRITING TIPS: EPITHETS

Epithets.

For those who don't know what those are, here are some examples of some: the blond man, the blue-eyed girl, the farmer, etc. They're basically non-pronoun descriptors. And a lot of inexperienced writers use them badly.

If your character is referring to his brother in his inner monologue, do you really think he should think of him as "the blond-haired man"?

Save most of the epithets for when your character doesn't know the name of another character. Like, if he just met a guy, he can keep referring to him as "the man" in his thoughts. Because the character doesn't know his name. And don't vary the epithet, either. Use one. So, in this case, you would use "the man" until the character actually learns this man's name.

In some cases, epithets can be used well, even when the character already knows the name of another one. Like, if he just got saved by a character whom he already knows, he can refer to the character as "his amazing savior". Because he appreciates him for saving his life. Use this sparingly, though. Definitely don't overuse it. Most of the time, epithets are only necessary if a character is referring to someone whose name they don't know.

Another way epithets can be used well is if you want to point out that a character will be in trouble because of what they are.

Example: A scenario where some people are hunting down and killing blond people for some reason. Imagine a character is blond, but he's with a bunch of his non-blond friends. The blond people hunters can show up, and you can refer to the character as "the blond" to remind the reader that he is blond and in danger. Using an epithet can be great if you want to point out that a character has a certain descriptive trait, like being a man or being blond, for plot reasons. But I would use this method sparingly, too. Because epithets are typically unnecessary unless a stranger is being referred to.

Another example of the epithet method above: Have a character refer to himself as "the murderer" when he's feeling guilty about having killed someone. I think this is a better example than the blond hunters scenario. Remember, don't overuse this method.

It's tempting to use epithets in a scene where you have two or more characters of the same gender talking. I know. I tend to have scenes that involve female characters and no male ones, so I know what it's like to want to use epithets to avoid using the characters' names too much. But that's when characterizing your characters well can help you. Like, if one of your male characters curses like a sailor, it should be obvious which man said "F*** you" when he's in a scene with a male character who never curses. This is another reason why your characters shouldn't talk the same. You could also have a character use certain slang in dialogue that no other character uses, to let the reader know which character is speaking.

Another way to avoid pronoun confusion is to have the characters address each other more. Example: John and Ted are in a scene together.

"What the heck, Ted?" he said.

In the above example, it's obvious that John is talking. Still, you don't want to have your characters address each other by name so much. It will definitely be seen as clunky and bad writing. I've seen stories before where the author had the characters address other ones by name way too much, and it took me out of those stories. Ruined the reading experience. That's another bit of clunky writing: characters calling each other by name too much.

When an author uses epithets badly, it's noticeable. Back when I didn't even know what they were called, I kept noticing clunky epithets in a fanfic I was reading. They would show up even when a character was isolated, when there was no confusion of which character was doing what, because there was only one character in the scene. It frustrated me. I didn't know what epithets were called back then, or why they could cause bad writing, yet it frustrated me. It broke my reader's immersion. Reminded me that I was reading a story. I didn't like it.

There were other fanfics I read that were like that, but the one I mentioned above was the one that made me realize epithets can ruin a great story. The bad epithets in that fanfic took away a chunk of my enjoyment. That's why it's important to know what they are and how they could be used badly.

I remember one story where the writer used more than one epithet for a therapist character in one scene. Like "the doctor". It was irritating. The epithets were bad enough, but then the writer had to go and vary them. That made it worse.

Sadly, epithets aren't a well-known aspect of writing. And I don't think most writers know what they're called. When I tried finding that out, I was searching "pronoun replacements" and other variations of that term, but I wasn't getting any luck. So I couldn't find writing tips to help me avoid using epithets badly. To my luck, I stumbled upon a post on the Fanfiction subreddit one day, where someone mentioned epithets. When I had stopped trying to find out what they were called. I ended up doing some research on them afterwards. I was grateful.

You can always improve your writing. Remember that. I used to overuse epithets too, doing things like adding them when a character is isolated, when there was no need for an epithet at all. Or using them to distinguish my same-gender characters so the reader wouldn't be confused, when I should have been finding other ways to better distinguish them. Now I find myself deleting epithets during editing, and only using them when absolutely necessary.

I'm writing this post to help other writers become better writers, and to avoid more stories being created that overuse epithets. If those fanfic writers I mentioned had read a post like this one before writing their stories, I would have enjoyed those fanfics more. Because those clunky epithets wouldn't have been there.

Unfortunately, many amateur writers(and experienced ones too, probably) are dishing out bad writing because they don't know they're using epithets badly. It doesn't help that a lot of people don't know what they're called and why they can ruin a good work of literature.

Those fanfics I mentioned? Some of them were written pretty well, but the epithets in them ruined my enjoyment. Clunky writing can ruin a story or novel that is otherwise great. Reading stories like that is like eating a cake that had some dirt sprinkled over it.

Don't write a piece of fiction that makes the reader feel like they are eating a cake with dirt sprinkles.

[practically-an-x-man]

Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?

Thank you bestie!! <3

40 Questions - Meme for Fic Writers

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Answered here - short answer is AUs like Hanahaki or Soulmate AUs

3. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Also answered above - short answer is Omegaverse

14. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

I don't know that I have one particular piece of bad advice, but I can't stand advice that just starts with "no". For example:

"NO epithets, just use people's names!" - okay, but... epithets are fine as long as you don't overuse them, and it gets annoying (at least for me) to see character's names repeated over and over just to keep track of the action. And what if the character doesn't know the other's name, or doesn't want to use it for some reason? I think people can get carried away with epithets, but I don't think there's anything wrong with saying "the doctor", "the older man", "her sister", etc. once in a while to break things up.

"NO dialogue tags, use 'said' because it disappears!" - okay, but... how do you get a sense of a character's voice or tone? Doesn't "said" get repetitive too? There's a big difference between "said" and "yelled" and "whispered", and even a difference between similar tags like "shouted" and "snapped" and "screamed". It really affects how you read the character's voice, and again- moderation. This isn't My Immortal, but you also don't need to try so hard not to write My Immortal.

"NO adverbs!" - why? They provide context and detail. Moderation.

"NO explaining a character's traits in one block, always space out the descriptions!" - what if that's how a character thinks? What if the action is moving quickly and spacing out the description would seem out-of-place? What if the character's appearance is important to the plot, and you want the audience to be aware of it from the beginning?

The list goes on...

I know that type of advice is mainly meant for new writers as a way to get them out of their comfort zones and expand their skills, and that "never" is really meant to mean "be careful/don't overuse", but it annoys me so much. People hone their writing skills when they're given the tools to experiment and explore, not when they're outright told they can never do something. Hell, the best books I've ever read break all of those rules at some time or another! It's all about the author's voice!

24. Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?

I did delete my extremely old AHS Roanoke fanfic that was one of the first things I'd ever posted - I abandoned it after about 7 chapters, basically nobody read it, and the writing just grew to embarrass me. I still have the document and maybe someday I'll revisit the story and give it some new life, but it's not published anymore.