#the fact that there are so many things on this list is a real testament to how much consistent encouragement and positivity

[lestappenforever]

So, I’m like a realist, right? Sure, yes, I ship people from time to time but I know it’s just for funsies. So, I saw a lestappen edit last week and was like “hey cute guys, what’s up with these two? I better check it out.” and have fallen into a bit of a rabbit hole it seems. So I’m back in the real world now, where Max is in a long term relationship and Charles has a girlfriend, and am wondering: how does one explain Max’s behaviour? Does he just have a friend-crush on Charles? Has he always wanted to be friends with him since they were young and it was just hard since they’ve been rivals for so long? Does he envy him maybe since his father wasn’t a pos and he still turned into a great driver? Is it a “it’s lonely at the top” kind of situation, where he’s never been able to make many friends his own age? (I’ve seen Charles with a bunch of friends outside of racing, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Max with any, but that could be on me.) I mean, a blind person could see that Max takes every opportunity to talk to him or be close to him and he knows stuff about him I’d personally be too embarrassed to admit (like getting his “stupid” quote exactly right or knowing about the twitch thing with his girlfriend forgetting her keys, etc.). I guess I’m looking for the actual non-shippy explanation for this behaviour cause it fascinates me. What are your two cents on this?

Hi anon, and welcome to the world of Lestappen! We're happy to have you. ❤️

I will preface this by saying that shipping is solely for fun, and I don't actually believe Max and Charles are in a secret relationship or anything of the sort. The majority of Lestappen shippers on Tumblr are on the same page about this, with some exceptions, but there are exceptions to anything. And a big part of shipping is speculating, being delusional about them, and overanalyzing things.

Now, in terms of a non-shipping explanation as to why these two behave the way they do around each other, I think it's a combination of all the reasons you've already listed. And the thing about Max and Charles is that they have known each other for so many years. They have been in each other's orbit, in one way or another, for the majority of their lives, and there is no denying that they have seen each other as one of — if not the — biggest rival they've had since they were children. Despite the fact that a lot of the current drivers on the grid have raced each other at some point before F1, there doesn’t seem to be any of them that have the same sort of rivalry that Max and Charles have, which goes so far back. And that kind of bond is one that I believe sticks with you forever.

Now this is not a delusional take at all, as this quote by Armando Filini, manager of the Maranello Kart, the first team for which Leclerc raced, proves: “They were always fighting. It didn't matter if they were competing in a tie or in a final, if it was raining or if the track was dry. Once we were in Genk, Belgium, in the first free practice, and they went on track. Charles and Max met, began to push each other and almost hit each other, with the risk of being left out. Jos Verstappen and I were glued to the fence to look at them and he turned around and said to me: 'These two will fight forever. They will fight even in F1′. A prophecy”.

Even though Max and Charles obviously haven’t been best friends for the majority of the time they've known each other, and they've only started building what appears to be a genuine friendship in the last few years, they share a connection that has been evident to people around them since they were little.

Max's comment from last season where he said that he wasn't surprised both him and Charles were sitting in that press conference together because he always thought that if he made it into F1, Charles would too, is just another testament to how tied together they actually are. And Charles' fond recollections of their karting days in the past season shows that it's a mutual thing: that Charles feels that same bond with Max that Max feels with him. And I think this is the whole baseline for why they've never been able to be normal about or around each other: because they go so far back and their lives are so intertwined that I honestly don't think either of them is fully capable of treating the other as just any other colleague or friend, because they don't see each other that way. They're something more, and by that I don't mean they're secretly in love with each other — they just have this bond that goes beyond normal friendship, forged through years of rivalry, envy, conflict, mutual growth and respect, and eventual friendship.

I have a childhood friend sort of like that: obviously not with the rivalry and drama that comes with the surroundings in which Max and Charles met and grew up, but someone that I share a bond with that I don't share with any of my other friends, old or new, and it's honestly my most treasured friendship because it has helped shape me as a person in a profound sort of way. He's not my closest friend and not the friend I talk to the most since we live on different sides of the country and our paths haven’t crossed much in the past few years, as is often the case when you grow up and become an independent adult. But when I do talk to him and hang out with him, it kind of feels like coming home. And to me, it seems like Max and Charles share that same type of bond.

This is just my personal take as I obviously don't know Max or Charles, and this is all based off of watching their interactions and watching their relationship develop over the past few years, as well as deepdiving into their history in the past. But this is the explanation that makes sense to me.

[hey-heigo]

oh yeah i saw your reblog of togami fun fact and i think i followed you because you chew on him so well. do you have posts of your thoughts on togami's backstory? (you can answer privately btw)

i straight up don't remember if i've ever posted in length about my byakuya backstory headcanons (if i ever did they'd be catalogued under '#my thoughts' probably, that's the tag i use for my fandom posts) but! just for you i will list a few that i have off of the top of my head

i liked the concept of the togami novel and ended up perceiving the heir struggle as like. not a necessarily organized competition (what with heir prospectives trying to assassinate each other or otherwise blackmail, threaten, or force each other out of the running) but more a survival challenge with occasional tests of cleverness, strength, etc. and byakuya managed to win by manipulation and sheer force of will, and doing things that might be considered 'underhanded' or 'shameful' (see: polaris p polanski) -> testament to ambition

byakuya says something cringe in thh like 'im perfect in every way. wits, ability, and body' which always pissed me off but as a result i ended up seeing him as like. above average in athletics, maybe good agility and reaction time? and capable of self-defense, but definitely nowhere near professional levels, and not in a way that's obvious from looking at him

re: physical ability and 'perfection', i don't think he's an 'ultimate' anything aside from 'ultimate progeny'. like he's not the ultimate stock-broker or the ultimate viola-player, but he can do both things pretty well. more of a jack-of-all-trades master-of-none kind of talent. maybe that eats at him a little, the fact that he won't ever be truly outstanding in one single field until he becomes togami head

also re: physical ability, he gets his blue eyes from his mother's side, so he's more sensitive to light. but his mild near-sightedness and need for corrective lenses is from his father's side. he doesn't know this though, so he blames his mother's genetic for all of it

he was planning to get lasik after becoming head of the family but. well. lol

he's half-french. his mother is french. i dont think ive ever posted about mamagami but ive definitely made mention of her in my fic, though at this point she's more of an oc than anything since there's like, no canon info about her at all. but she's a french sculptor who did not want a child and does not want any relation to the togami family other than having them as like. art clients. a cool lady very dedicated to her profession and could have been the ultimate sculptor, but kind of a emotionally neglectful mother ngl

there probably is some more canon info on papagami , aka kijo togami's character but i haven't really bothered looking for it. instead i made him into a sad little man who kind of hates his role as togami head and would've preferred a more mundane life (like as an architect - i actually did make a post about this somewhere), but he won his generation's heir competition because he felt like he had to, not because he necessarily wanted to. for reasons yet unsaid

byakuya spent the first part of his vulnerable youth being emotionally neglected at his mother's villa/art studio in france (hence the bilingualism hinted in the canon). when he left to join the heir competition after one too many assassination attempts he got one of his mom's business partners and former exes (a guy named 'polanski') to shelter him

byakuya's impressions of his parents: his mom sucks (fair i suppose) and his dad lacks real ambition and isn't suited to his role. or at least, he could be surpassed very easily. byakuya plans to make himself the greatest heir ever seen because of his shit parent combo

byakuya's known pennyworth the butler since birth. i have this idea that each togami kid gets just one togami family servant to help shape them into their roles. pennyworth happens to be the oldest of the roster but also the most experienced, and is kind of a shifty old man (i.e: very cunning and more loyal to the family than the child he's been assigned to, though that changes as byakuya gets older)

byakuya's also probably a girl and bisexual but he''s trying to take over the world through his shitty family's conglomerate and then survive a murder game apocalypse so she doesn't really care about that rn

[guilty-gear-hot-take-hellhole]

tw: extension of the zato hateability discussion, using too many words to say something that could have been summarized in a single paragraph probably, extremely worrying implications that i've purposely left unsaid

invite to discussion. sort of

alright i'm still stumped on sources atm so I'm gonna real quick take the premise of 'millia was literally a baby when she joined' and run with it. i don't know much about babies aside from the fact that i have seen babies before so i know they're real

starting off point, two conflicting google sources claim that 1) an infant is at most 1 year old, or 2) and infant is at most 3 years old so i'm going with that second one

2173 is the year Venom and Millia are taken in by the guild to be assassins. kids health dot org says "By age 3, a toddler's vocabulary usually is more than 200 words. Kids can string together 2- or 3-word sentences. They can talk with you in a conversation that has at least 2 back-and-forth exchanges." so I'm going to assume that Venom is older than Millia in this because his whole thing is about holding a moral stance on death and murder and idk how to google the age range for that,,

(unrelated, but I'm left with the distinct mental image of Zato handing a baby a knife. so there's that)

2175 is the year Millia activates Angra. She would be 5 years old. according to cdc dot gov, cognitive milestones include: 'should be able to count to ten', 'write some letters in [her] name', and 'pay attention for 5 to 10 minutes'.

2177 Dizzy is born. Doesn't matter to Millia, but it gives me a weird idea for a theory

2178 "A high-risk mission goes bad after Millia Rage's defection, and Zato is captured by the authorities." (wiki timeline direct quote) This mission takes place after the events of the Night of Knives drama CD. Millia would be 8 years old. (cdc milestone is unfortunately listed as 'having independance from family'. she was a little early on that one)

2180 Missing Link tournament. 10 years old. Millia, not May. Maybe May. Also, if May is 22 in xrd like the english voiceline suggests, then she'd be 15 here.

2187 is the 'present day' of guilty gear, containing the events of Xrd to Strive. Millia would be 17 years old. Maybe 18 depending on her hypothetical birthday but we're really cutting it close. At least we can confirm she is old enough to hold a government job(?)

In conclusion: I don't know if i buy it, personally. Also I wanna keep imagining Millia as a 30-something for the sake of my sanity. But! I do have this cool new theory about Millia secretly being a lab-made gear like Testament, if we ignore the part of her story where she allows a gear-hating parasite to attach itself to her head

What…

[who-is-page]

Digital Bloodsports and Inked Paws: What I Love About the Alterhuman Communities

This is an essay from my website that I wrote in 2021 for my alterhuman NaNoWriMo project, about the things I appreciate and adore in the alterhuman community. I wanted to post the edited, finalized version on here, too. It's a little over 1,600 words long and about an 8-minute read.

It’s easy to talk about what I find aggravating or difficult to deal with in the alterhuman communities—complaints are a dime a dozen, especially since I’m rapidly approaching my ten-year anniversary of activity (is that the barest hint of salt-and-pepper I spy in my muzzle?) But even with all my criticisms, there’s a lot I love about the various parts of the alterhuman communities. There are more wonderful quirks in these groups than I think we ever realize or genuinely acknowledge.

And if there’s one thing that I don’t think the alterhuman communities are given enough credit and love for, it’s our collective ability to never shut the fuck up.

In these spaces, people are always doing, or saying, or creating something. In some ways it reminds me of college, with something always happening somewhere, no matter the weather, time, or day. Whether dead of night or coldest winter day, you’d always be able to find a party, or a study group, or a sportsball match—and in the same way, wherever you are in the alterhuman communities, there’s always something going on: a debate or discussion, a convention (big or small), a newbie asking for help with their identity, a bunch of older alterhumans shooting the shit, a new term being banged out, art and games and comics being created and commented on, collaborative projects or surveys or groups being advertised. The list goes on and on—someone, somewhere, is always dipping their paws in ink, it seems.

Our community thrives off our interactions with one another, and that’s fundamentally shaped both the subcultural elements—such as the way we so highly value content creators and writers, and people who have been in the community for long periods of time and can share stories and experiences that we might otherwise have no knowledge of—and the bizarre forms of (n)etiquette and discourse that we constantly see evolving and changing. It’s a beautiful thing to witness in real-time, watching the customs and terminology and language we have change and shift over the years, and watching the wheels of discourse turn their spokes into previously uncharted waters, a new subject to be written and examined by an invested collective.

It’s a testament to the diversity and fluidity in alterhuman experiences and identity, the fact that so many people with so many different experiences and different explanations can come together time and time again; space and space again; all to hash out their ideas and their thoughts and their differences and their similarities. All to share in the beauty of being other with one another. It’s a sight to behold, like an ocean of a thousand different blues all forming wave after wave of colors, and I get to be a lucky painter who’s too stunned to even figure out where to look first.

Our community’s perchance for debate (or, more accurately, for digital bloodsports) is also something I absolutely adore. Maybe I’m just a young hooligan who’s ready to fistfight the first person who comes through my door at any given moment, with my Ye Olde Discourse days still singing through my veins, but I love the willingness of so many people and groups in this community to throw down over what they believe and their opinions. It’s an admirable fighting spirit that I see in so many alterhumans and, whatever the reason for it, it’s something I feel a deep kinship regarding.

People in these communities care with their whole chest. It gets us in trouble often, but I don’t think these groups and subcultures and identities would be the same without it: we’re loud. We’re stubborn. We inevitably butt heads, but it’s what makes us, us. But it’s more than just our tenacity that I’m talking about here. Being alterhuman, at least in the spaces that I personally find myself in, is about being unabashedly yourself, in whatever wacky, interesting, bizarre, wild, feral way that might translate to.

It’s reminiscent of the queer spaces I’ve been in previously, both in how it harnesses a sense of aggressive pride sometimes, with attitudes of “Yeah, I’m not human—if that’s a problem for you, get lost!” and in how it just purely makes me feel unafraid and unashamed to be nonhuman. This is something I’ve experienced especially at Howls and other in-person group meet-ups.

When I spend time in-person with other alterhumans, it’d be silly to say there’s outright some sort of spark on connection or feeling of family—but there is a feeling of recognition. Of not an “us vs. the world” spark, but of an “we can all be ourselves here,” understanding. It’s so much less dramatic than some accounts I’ve heard, but it’s still a powerful, comfortable, enjoyable feeling. It’s knowing that you can go chasing after a squirrel with reckless abandon without getting judged, or can stop to roll in a pile of especially crunchy leaves just for the sensation of it, and isn’t that its own form of freedom?

And then there’s the beauty of individual identity. One of my favorite parts about my archival work is getting to learn and hear about identities that I’ve never seen before, especially if someone’s written a lot about the “how”s and “why”s. I love getting to not only see how other people experience things differently than I, myself, do, but I love getting to watch the gears in their brain turn as they explain how they got to one conclusion, or other possibilities they’ve considered, or any number of detail-oriented information. Getting to hear about shifts, especially shifts from identities we don’t often see like species-specific fictionkin, conceptkin, machinekin, and phyanthropes, is always such a treat. Hearing how it feels to experience phantom shifts as Southern Live Oak tree, or getting to read about mental shifts from an Alolan Marowak, or any other number of things I’ve been lucky enough to learn about in these communities, is sincerely, genuinely just the absolute coolest. Group experiences and concepts are amazing, but individual experiences are just as, if not more, spectacular.

And speaking on individuals…as a young, teenage nonhuman, I probably would have included a section about how much I admire or value the efforts and works of older alterhumans who are still in the community, and how much I especially enjoy getting to see their content in the communities. How they’re such “inspirations” for me and other such cheesy words. But that feeling has grown and changed a lot as I’ve gotten older: while I still appreciate all the greymuzzles and oldfruits in the community (shoutout to all you grey-furred and grey-scaled rapscallions out there), I feel like the individual age group I particularly appreciate is a lot of the younger folks and ‘new blood’ I’ve seen pop up in the communities.

It’s such a strange feeling to look at someone and go, “Oh man, you’re going to be an absolute force to be reckoned with when you’re older!” but that’s something I’ve definitely experienced. It’s a strange mixture of wistfulness, thinking about my own budding years in the alterhuman communities with probably rose-glassed fondness, and of before-the-fact pride, watching how passionate people are and already being proud of them: for achievements they haven’t yet made, and goals they haven’t yet realized, and selves they’re just now discovering.  It’s genuinely great to see the new, uncharted directions that a lot of the older teenagers are starting to pull and shove the communities in, bringing up old ideas in new ways or just throwing out new perspectives entirely. It makes me feel excited, filled with anticipation for what the future holds and how everything will look like in ten, twenty years.

It also does make me feel a little left behind and out of the times, admittedly, but that’s not a wholly bad thing: times change. Communities change. Our communities are based almost entirely on evolution, where they either continuously change, or they stagnate and die out. The fact that I’m feeling a little out-of-place more and more these days just means I’m settling into the aspects of my identity and the language that I grew up with for describing it is falling more out of use��it just means that I’m getting older and taking on a different niche than I inhabited when I was younger. When I was still a teenager in the community, I was the teeth-bloodied, hot-headed discourser who was willing to shout down and fight anything with a pulse, who was always in the thick of it no matter what “it” was. Now, I think I’m a lot closer to a scholar; jokingly a warrior-scholar, like my patron, if you had to reference the way I came into these communities, but overall, I’m a lot more content to sit it out on the sidelines these days and focus more on my own research and creation.

I wouldn’t stick around these community spaces if I truly didn’t want to be in them, but there’s so much I love wrapped in them that I don’t want to go, anyways. For every physical shifter that drives me up the wall, there’s a million more things that make me want to keep interacting with other nonhumans and alterhumans and that makes me want to keep being a part of specific alterhuman spaces. I love getting to be here, getting to watch how these communities evolve, getting to hear everyone’s stories; I’m glad I get to be a piece of it all, and I count myself lucky for any positive changes I can help affect just by being here. I would do better to remind myself of that more often.

[thetonethetollandthethunder]

Scythe chapter 11-15

You know the drill!! Cmon!!!

—

Chapter 11!!

-I always forget the conclave’s have names,,,

-The thing is, you can never blame these people for fighting back, it’s human nature, but OUGH the consequences of human nature are so devastating

-But just imagine the guilt you’d feel, your husband got killed and you get immune from the same fate for a whole year. That’s just prime for survivors guilt

-Also the fact that Faraday told the family the man didn’t resist is just testament to his kindness and compassion

-“The sanctity of the law…And the wisdom to know when it must be broken.” *Stares at Goddard*

-MILK SCENE, I unironically love this scene even tho I think it’s really funny

-Also I genuinely don’t know how ppl drink milk b4 bed, is that even a real thing? How does that make you sleepy??

-Also good on Faraday!! Don’t waste shit!!!

-Apparently all the Scythe Rings are white but I refuse to acknowledge that, they’re all multicolored and each color relates to the scythe in some way <3

-That ring security system Faraday has going on is sick as fuck tho ngl

-“Now let’s see how long it takes Rowan to go for the ring.” I love himmmm, he’s fun!!! He can be fun!!

-Tonist mention!! I love the Tonists <33

-Nice chapter!! Gives more depth to Faraday!!

—

Chapter 12!!

-Rowan and Citra’s test are approaching!!!

-The idea of having to hold yourself back in life because you’re afraid of being killed is actually terrifying—

-Also same Rowan, I hate studying too

-“Rowan concluded that not knowing was more terrifying than knowing.” If I remember correctly what the consequence is then that is CERTAIN true

-I LOVE Citra and Rowan’s banter here!! You can see their chemistry early on!!

-UGH I WONT LIST OUT ALL THE MOMENT BUT THEYRE SO CUTE!!!

-Cute chapter! Lots of Citran moments!

—

Chapter 13!!

-“I’m a human being, not a mole.” Faraday is soooo fun sometimes like so fun and endearing???

-“Destroyed back in the age of mortality by something called ‘terrorism’.” OKAY SO YES THIS DOES GIVE US A LOT TO THINK ABOUT IN TERMS OF WHAT PEOPLE HERE KNOW ABOUT THE AGE OF MORTALITY BUT ALSO THAT IS RLLY FUCKING FUNNY SOOO

-I too hate walking at 6:30 am (I go to public school in America)

-“I have found that with the Scythedom, it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission,” He is iconic yall

-“What’s the worst they could do?” Things said before disasters—

-“Running the gauntlet” Like walking the red carpet!

-“Scythes wished to be seen as the many faces of light, not of darkness.” And soon they will be! Yk, just right after the plague—

-SCYTHE CURIE OMG OMG!!

-OO now they’re seeing scythe goddard ohoho I LOVE HAVING FORESIGHT

-Citra would cringe at the fact she at one point dazzled by goddard

-Rowan don’t be fatphobic /j

-I like that the conclave’s are pretty boring for the most part, makes it feel more realistic

-I love how only when Citra becomes a Scythe does she begin to understand these rituals, shows how much she grows

-OHOHO we got goddards fuckin note bullshit! Citra is gonna hear allll about that when she becomes a scythe

-Love how Chomsky is basically described as “as white as anyone could be” lmaoo token white man

-also gun lobby, nothing to say about it just…Gun lobby

-Rowan starting to talk like faraday is GOLD

-Again I love Citra and Rowan’s banter

-SCYTHE CURIE

-The idea of the weaponsmaster being a infomercial salesman is SOO funny i need to use that in my scythe oc shit

-Also that digital poison sounds fucking TERRIFYING

-The Scythes not liking the term ‘victim’ is rlly interesting to me, shows they really think of themselves as these faces of light

-Neal I don’t think you know what feminine hygiene products sound like—

-Hand of midas shit but even MORE horrifying!!

-I am terrible with names I saw Scythe Mandela and thought he was Scythe Possuelo and I have no idea why

-Who names their child Ransom??

-VERY good and long chapter!! Two more to go!!

—

Chapter 14!!

-OOO the test scene!! One of my favorites!!

-SCYTHE CURIE

-Again what is with the shit names??? Jacory??

-OHH you do NOT interrupt scythe curie girl you are FUCKED

-Oh Citra you’re gonna revisit the worst thing you’ve ever done REALLL soon

-ROWAN LOSING ON PURPOSE FOR CITRA IS SOOOO!!!

-GODDAMN IT RAND I LOVE YOU BUT STOP

-AND THE TENSION THICKENS WITH THE ADDED RULE OF THEM HAVING TO KILL THE OTHER OH MY GOD ITS STILL GOOD MAN!!

-We all want a relationship with the thunderhead Curie

-Very good chapter that adds to the stakes of the story!! One more to go!!!

—

Chapter 15!!!

-God the shock and confusion and how upset they all are really captivates this conversation

-And you see that eventually Rowan is very willing to die at the hands of Citra, that’s how much he loves her like UGHH

-“Scythes were supposed to be above the petty,” oh citra you have no idea bby girl,,

-Hash pales!!!

-THE KISS SCENE

-Ive already went in depth about why I love this scene in my Citran analysis post but UGH I LOVE ITT

-Liar!! You are totally in love rowan!!

-GODDARD THE BASTARD

-God he is such a fucking dick i hate himmm

-Very good chapter :)

—

AND THATS THE NEXT 5!!! Next time we’ll do chapters 16-20!

[lutiaslayton]

Hi! I really love your timeline analyses and have been thinking about them a lot as I try to write my own Layton longfic. (I hope you don't mind me referencing your timeline and puzzle research for it ^^;) It's very well done! I have a hard time figuring out so many details at once like that, so it's been a huge help.

...I don't want to be annoying or overly nitpicky when I point this out, but I just thought I'd mention something.

We know that Dropstone was founded on August 12th (by the JP version) and Layton travels there on its 50th anniversary (also August 12th). In your deduced timeline you have that arrival date down as Wednesday the 12th, 1963. The year with a Wednesday on an August 12th is actually 1964. In 1963, the 12th falls on a Monday.

I don't know if the day being a Wednesday specifically matters at all, or if Layton's days of the week aren't in sync with ours, but from what I understand, your timeline might be 1 year behind. (Or that date was meant to be Monday the 12th...?)

I figured with SLS (one of my favorite fics ever, by the way!) being in 1953, a detail like this could be important to you, but you can totally ignore this ask if I'm wrong! I just wanted to let you know just in case.

Hi! The fact that you picked up on this is a true testament to your dedication and rigorous work, congratulations!!

I haven't touched this timeline in a long while for a number of reasons (far too many other projects + "um actually I think there might be multiple timelines and you can't put every single game/novel/manga/movie/other in the same chronology but it becomes soooooo much more interesting if you start placing them in multiple ones, also puzzle theory makes that not only plausible but also quite probable"), so sadly I have forgotten most of the details of how past me from over a year ago reached the conclusions that she did. From what I remember, however, the quick answer to your question is simple: yes, the days of the week in the Laytonverse are out of sync with ours.

(I kinda like how I take it as a bigger reminder that the Laytonverse really is disconnected from our world's History in a number of ways, from the mention in the novels of kings and queens that do not exist IRL to the simple logical fact that there is no way History happened the same way when mechas are a thing, the Azran happened, Targent happened, and also puzzles break the laws of physics daily. But that's just personal preference.)

I think what started it was the fact that London Holiday takes place on a Sunday and that I could not find any way to make the whole "a few days ago" for both Curious Village and Diabolical Box work alongside the "They arrive in Dropstone on August 12th." I won't redo the math right now because schedule and to-do list and other stuff (+ I trust you more to check it since your brain cogs are already warm and revving in the middle of it, so you would be more efficient at figuring it out as well as more critical than present me), but if memory serves, this was the best I could manage at the time, and I never went back later to recheck the math. I really just stopped at "Yes, there is a desync, so what? That's not supposed to be the real world anyway. Also huge kudos to whoever notices."

---

My mind is set on the fact that the Layton timeline places the original trilogy on the year 1963 because of the promotional UF artwork implying that UF would take place during the winter between 1963 and 1964, but that part is personal preference since I know (and stated on the timeline web page iirc) that in-universe, this date does not appear in the game. I know other people use for example the "Year 1960" unused artwork which had been datamined from Curious Village. I also know that the World of PL interview just says "There is no official date, it's inspired from the 1960s but we are never going to give a date because we don't want to." I also also know that some others, who consider the PLvsAA crossover canon, take the Ace Attorney timeline and thus completely yeet the "1960s" part into oblivion.

So the choice is ultimately up to personal preference, and you're free to choose a different one! The only reason I put 1963 in the timeline instead of "Year YYYY ; Year YYYY - 50 ; Year YYYY + 1" and such is for obvious readability reasons... and because past me had not thought that perhaps there could be a Javascript way to say "hey put here the year you'd like the original trilogy to take place in," have the user click on a button, and make the whole page do the calculations and display the new dates according to the user's chosen year of reference. darn it now I'm going to be nagging myself into implementing that but it would also be so tedious.

---

Anyway TL;DR yes I was aware of this, and past me either forgot to mention it or thought "Eh it's not like anybody will notice/care" hahaha. Rather insensitive from past me admittedly, I do now wonder why I didn't add that as a small paragraph in the preliminary notes... Most likely reason is that the thought just didn't cross my mind at the time.

Good luck on your own longfic, don't hesitate to send me the link (no promises on reading it the day it comes out because there are SO many fics already on my to-read list, but nnngnfhghh I wish I could read other people's works as well as continue working on SLS), and thank you for your ask! Even though I was personally aware of it, you can absolutely feel proud of having picked up on it, and don't hesitate to come back to me (and make me sweat cold bullets) if you figure out a way to make "1963" + "London Holiday on a Sunday" + "No week day desyncs with the real world" work. Thanks to you, other people can now be made aware of this detail which I had apparently forgotten to explain explicitly!

Lastly, I don't remember whether I mentioned it here or not because it's still far from done and isn't going to be truly useful before a LONG while, but just in case what little info is on there could still be useful to you or someone else in any way: among many other things, I'm working on a Lore Map. Imagine having the ENTIRETY of EVERY SINGLE CANON FACT we have been given, in a single web page, with a whole list of tags so you can filter only the trivia that is relevant to your fanfic research <3

---

(Now this paragraph is completely unrelated to your ask, I'm going to leave this here for a different person (or not? would be good luck if you're the same anon): I am so sorry to the anon who asked me if I considered the LMJ ARG event canon or not, I uhhhhh... got carried away and I don't think the answer will be posted anytime soon, because for the sake of answering it in an exhaustive way I wanted to re-read the entirety of what has been preserved of it + add every bit of trivia I could find to the Lore Map mentioned earlier. And I'm juggling between many other projects too so progress is very slow. TL;DR version of my personal opinion so far: as for everything else it is up to personal preference, but I could theoretically see at least parts of it being canon. The trickiest part I found by reading just the introduction of the ARG is the fact that Kat would apparently make livestreams. Which implies the existence of the internet or a similar technology, the existence of streaming platforms, and the fact that she would have a decent-ish enough following for her random viewers from all around the world to want to help her. And if we go with the hypothesis that there could be multiple timelines, I could see that happen in an Ace Attorney-based timeline such as the one in which the PLvsAA crossover is canon, for example! I don't know enough about AA to be able to speak about it with confidence, but I think that 20+ years after the original AA trilogy, internet technology is indeed quite advanced enough for this to be possible? anyway. Just thought I'd give you a first short answer so you don't have to keep holding your breath and/or think I completely forgot about you. I'm sorry :'D)

[randowwriter]

This is not saying that you aren't forgiven, but that there are results of sin that are negative even after you repent. Someone listed the example of if you repent from killing someone, the person still remains dead.

Another example, if you rape someone and genuinely repent, and she's pregnant, there is still a kid, that child doesn't cease to exist at your repentance, just as the person you raped still needs to heal from what you did to her.

As for a Biblical example, King David had Uriah killed after he had sex with Uriah's wife, Bathsheba, and Bathsheba got pregnant. God forgave David of his sin but told him as punishment for his sins (of having Uriah killed and adultery with Bathsheba), King David's son (the one Bathsheba was pregnant with) died. It is stated quite clearly that that is why that happened.

As for pitting Old Testament against New Testament in your post, the Old Testament and the New Testament are both the Word of God and are to be believed. The New Testament does not negate or contradict the Old Testament. In fact, the New Testament is hidden in the Old Testament, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament. (For a quick example of this, read the prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. There are some in Zechariah (about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey), the Suffering Servant prophecies in Isaiah, and Psalms. (And way more. There are a ton of prophecies about Jesus. The first ones happen in chapters one and two of Genesis actually.)

Also, read the Epistle of James in the New Testament. In particular James 2:26. (For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2:26) (For your convenience.)

2 Samuel 12 is where you can find the account of David's sin, his repentance, and the punishment that was inflicted upon him for his sin.

Also, while on this topic, yes, deathbed conversions can be real conversions and people can get into Heaven from deathbed conversions. The only thing is that one shouldn't rely on that. One should not go, well, I'll just convert on my deathbed and pile up a long list of sins in the meantime. To deliberately wait it out is to use Jesus as a get out of jail free card essentially, that isn't to have Faith, but rather to abuse Faith for one's own benefit. (If a deathbed conversion happens, a sincere and real one, of course God would be merciful and receive that person into Heaven. We should assume all conversions are genuine, actual conversions of the heart, body, and soul. The only people we can read the hearts of are ourselves. Each of us only gets one person to know the heart of and how sincere that person is.) Also, deliberately waiting it out is not a guarantee that it will happen. A lot of deaths are sudden, and there is no time to convert or repent in those deaths.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.’" (Matthew 7:21-23) These are some other helpful verses to consider on what it means to have Faith.

A misconception about the Christian faith that a lot of people (including Christians!) really struggle with is that forgiveness = no consequences for your sins. That's what people think Christianity preaches, and it is a major hurdle for them. They think that if a serial killer genuinely repents, that means that Christianity says they are able to get off scot-free with their crimes, or that it means they should be let out of jail, etc.

That is not true.

There are quite a few figures in the Bible who committed acts of evil, and repented for it. And God heard them! But oftentimes, their sins caused catastrophic damage to those around them, and they had to live (and die) with what they caused. The entirety of the Old Testament is a domino-effect of this happening over and over.

If someone genuinely repents before God, the forgiveness they receive from God is a perfect forgiveness. But we live in a fallen world affected by sin. Sin has consequences. Other people are often hurt by our sins, even if we aren't aware of it.

We have to live with the consequences of our actions in this world. Part of repentance requires accepting those consequences, otherwise it's not genuine.

[thequietmanno1]

Thelreads, MHA 290, Replies Part 1

1) “And boy, after the previous chapter that was basically “toga is having a shitty day, let us punch her in the liver for funsies” I suppose we shall continue the pain train. Oh wait, no we won’t, I just saw what the chapter name was in the folder. Oh boy.

Oh boy.

Let us get ready for Chapter 290: Dabi’s dance.

I hope its the flamenco.”- I’d say it’s actually the Rumba. After all, what is hate, if not the mirror of love, and Dabi’s entire endgame here has always been a twisted expression of his love and admiration for his father, which he aims to show by tearing down the pedestal that the world sees him on, just like it was torn down for him so very long ago. Time for the pain train pileup. 2) “…

uh… okay, so not only the heroes are fighting shigaraki but skynet decided to rebel today, and now we need to kill a tv. I see.”- Skeptic’s always been the IT guy for when you want the utilities of modern society to become weapons agaisnt your enemies….and Toya’s got a lot of enemies besides just dear old pops. 3) “OH NO

OH DEFINITELY NO

I THINK I KNOW WHERE THIS IS CHAPTER IS GOING

IS IT TIME TO REVEL WHAT WE ALL ALREADY KNOW?”- The flowers that Enji remembered Rei liked, in focus, a testament to the fact that there was genuine affection between them at one point, no matter how badly it soured. Sitting between Rei and the TV, that’s about to broadcast the biggest example of just how badly that relationship went astray. 4) “IT’S THE MOMENT GIRL

TIME TO SEE IF YOU RECOGNIZE THE GUY ON THE TV”- First thing the chapter shows: that Toya’s broadcast is going to cause untold amounts of emotional pain to his mother, after she’s been trying so hard to recover from her mistake with Shoto, all as collateral of his spiteful commitment to smearing mud on the family name to spite his father. Toya never even acknowledges Rei in his entire monologue, at best only alluding to the fact the family tried to move on from their painful past that he embodies, and how he won’t let them as long as he draws breath. His own mother, devastated by his survival, but he never even takes note of it in favour of tormenting his father. She’s not even collateral damage to him, she’s nothing.  5) “…

Dabi, did you had to start it like this? It looks like you’re about to make a public apology video”- He’s apologising to the public alright, for the fact that his father is not a true hero…. because there is no such thing as a “real hero”, just a bunch of people in costumes who’ve deluded themselves and others into thinking otherwise, and it’s time for a cold hard dose of reality to wake them all up. 6) “DAMMIT HORIKOSHI WE WANT TO SEE DABI TALKING, DO WE NEED TO CUT BACK TO THE GROUND ZERO OF HELL?”- There’s a lot going on in motion here, but I think Horikoshi does well in balancing the different viewpoints between characters to give an understanding of the gravity of the situation whilst also getting acrss the chaotic out-of-control frenzy that’s consuming the country with every moment. You really can’t blame the heroes for losing control of everything when there’s just so many different things to keep track of.

7) “now, please remind him to carry you alongside when he retreats, otherwise Machia is gonna take that order literally.”- That’s only if Tomura will give up enough control of himself to let that order be said, and I don’t think he’s in a cooperating mood, much less a loser’s mentality. He’s here to fight, and he’s sticking that fight out to the end….so long as his limbs still respond to him, anyway.

8) “Oh yeah, after what you did, Hadou is gonna fuck you up. No mercy at all. That girl is terrifying.”- Tomura’s already fucked up five ways to Sunday, one more beating to add to the list could be the clincher that puts him down, or it could just be another fatal thrashing that he overcomes to keep soldiering on.

9) “Oh are they gonna mix their quirks to maximize the fuck-him-up potential?”- They don’t have quite enough battle synergy between them to pull that off on the fly, but then again, their Quirks are so powerful, they don’t really need much more than “catch him in a crossfire and don’t let up till there’s a broken husk left”. Might even have put him down for the count, given how unresponsive he is to Machia’s arrival.

10) “Shut up Endeavor, you should be dead by now, let those guys have their fun killing shigaraki before Machia comes around to ruin the party.”- Too late, fun police is at the door. 11) “Also, glad to see you’re still alive Bakugo, and already talking shit. Ready to be thrown into the meatgrinder once again? I hope you are”- Technically, as it’s his sweat that’s explosive, and he’s drenched in the stuff after all his exertions, throwing Bakugou at the enemy and letting him self-detonate for a big bang attack is a valid tactic. “Absolute Victory” can still be achieved if the enemy loses in the end, even if you yourself are left in pieces.

12) ““ha… ha… fuck you… spinner…” -Shigaraki, right before he died for real.”- Real friends are the kind who talk shit to you even in front of the firing squad – in fact, it’s especially whenever the going gets tough that they double down on the smack talk, because then you’re motivated to live on just a bit longer for a rebuttal. 13) “Well Endeavor, you did already fight an overwhelming foe and almost died doing so, I think you can do that again. Hell you can even go the extra mile right now, but I suppose you won’t, because Dabi hasn’t revealed his super secret identity yet.”- If the one thing AFO ever feared was a hero that’d fight back no matter how hopeless the odds or their injuries, then all Dabi needs to do to take his old man down is wipe out his will to fight, especially in  this crises situation where one move could decide victory or defeat. Sure, it’s mainly for his own selfhish benefit, but revealing the truth behind himself to his family and society in one undermines everything that’s being fought for right now, and even in the aftermath, the cost will likely be unrecoverable. 14) “OH HO HO, HERE WE GO

NOW TIME TO REVEAL THE RED HAIR UNDERNEATH SO WE CAN ALL GO “WHAAAA- HE’S A TODOROKI? I WOULD NEVER IMAGINE!””- Toya just casually carrying around that bottle of hair-remover for his whole “dramatic unmasking” even at a moment’s notice- and he’s not even the league member who goes around wearing a mask all the time. The first time we saw him in the anime was even in front of a beauty salon watching the news broadcast of Endeavour fighting against the league’s Nomus, realising he knew where to look for public “allies” against his father, suggesting he’d just topped up his supply of the stuff to be ready to go with this reveal at a moment’s notice whenever it was most devastating.

Of note, if that stuff is actually bleach or equivalent, then Toya just dumped a bottle of it onto his visibly open wounds and stitched-together skin. He must be in absolute agony right now, but it’s totally worth it to this dramatic bitch if he succeeded in pulling off a reveal for the ages. 15) “WHAAAA- HE’S A TODOROKI? I WOULD NEVER IMAGINE!

…

WAIT THE FUCK, WHITE HAIR? I WAS SERIOUSLY EXPECTING RED, BUT ALRIGHT, OKAY”- Shoto’s red and white hair showcases his hot and cold powers, as well as his stoic personality contrasted with his passionate emotions buried underneath the surface. Despite taking after their father in ability, Toya’s white hair is reflective of him taking after Rei’s power in personality, his heart having become “frozen” and callous towards his loved one’s suffering in favour of his grand revenge plan. (MHA ch 263)

16) “And some more familiar faces on the villains side. All of them rushing towards the fight, although Dabi is going the other way, which is a bit worrisome for some reason.”-Dabi is not a good team player. Whilst this would normally backfire in a series that emphasises the importance of working together to overcome adversity, as it turns out, keeping your cards close to your chest and trusting nobody means that nobody’s ready when you make your own counter-plan to suit your own agenda, whatever it is.

(MHA ch 251) 17) “Oh god, Horikoshi planted the seed of doubt on my mind, I swear to god if it turns out that Dabi is just some nutjob that happened to have fire and hates Endeavor for other reason…”- No fear of that it seems, but if it helps, I was also second-guessing myself around about this point. The hook of a good mystery is being given vague enough clues that what you think is the answer might not actually be the truth and suddenly you’re going over everything in detail with a fine tooth-comb, overturning your assumptions and reconsidering all the angles…

(MHA ch 266)

18) “That depends on who you ask, we still have our doubts, but the general consensus is that he`s either a Todoroki, or he`s what happens when a flamethrower acquires a quirk. We`ll also never know.”- You’ll know when Toya’s ready to let everybody know.

(MHA ch 267) 19) “That was basically the same as confirming the theory without actually confirming it, oh wow, fuck you Horikoshi. 

Hawks was just thinking about Endeavor, then you have Dabi tell about who he was, and he Hawks wouldn`t be surprised if he was just a random nobody, no, he would only react if he knew the name that was said. And why would he need to keep both eyes on him more than anyone else? Homoerotic reasons aside, it would be because he`s the son of the person Hawks admires the most.”-  A 99% confirmed theory is still not 100% confirmed. But people sure were waiting with baited breath when Dabi was finally ready to cast aside all pretences. You know that analogy you made on Vigilantes with the oncoming train wreak? The entire mess we’re in is the result of multiple train collisions in a huge pile-up, and Dabi’s reveal here is but one of many that just adds to the chaos that readers had to experience week by week as the situation developed, anticipating each new development with excitement and dread.

20) “Now that we got confirmation of that, oh boy, now shit’s gonna get serious, because there’s way more questions than answers here.”- Unfortunately, Toya’s so caught up in the moment, and spiteful towards the heroes, that he’s only giving enough details to emphasize his “anti-hero” agenda, both to the beat family members before him and to the public at large. The deeper questions about how the hell he became this way will have to wait for the chaos to die down, if it ever does from now on…

21) “only 30? Jesus man, you really suck at this serial killing thing.”- He’s spit-balling, because he can’t actually be sure/didn’t really think too hard about the morality of those he’s killed, merely wanting to emphasize that he has murdered innocents, will go on to murder more, and that all of it should be blamed on Endeavour rather than his own choices. Not exactly an admittance of remorse or regret for what he’s done, merely emphasizing that he’s a horrible villain and then twisting the narrative the push the guilt that he’ll never feel for that onto his “creator” instead. @thelreads

[theviewfromthebooth]

The Mighty Mojo tracks of 2023: The Bubble List

Being ahead of schedule is a rare treat in any aspect of my life, and for that reason I am embracing my decision to release the Bubble List so soon into December, and so far ahead of the Top 50 that will still be released on New Year’s Eve. Some traditions die hard.

In past years I’ve taken my obsession with capturing the year in its entirety to unnecessary lengths. The speed of other actual publications to crown the year’s best everything was always looked on with disdain, as I scoured my regular channels for new music like a desperate man scanning his phone for dealers at 4am. The thought of missing a banger by going too early disturbed me, in large part to ‘The El Camino incident’, in which my favourite album of 2011 dropped in the first week of December. When RTJ3 appeared on Christmas Eve 5 years later with no warning, it seemed to confirm that I was right and everyone else was wrong. Well, this year, the darndest thing happened. 

I realised that NO ONE ELSE CARES. I have yet to have someone call me up for a song appearing on my list in the wrong year, in the 13 years I’ve been putting this thing together. I need to chill the fuck out. And so I have.

The other handy element to releasing the Bubble list now, is that it comes hot on the heels of Spotify Wrapped, and the annual debate around streaming royalties. I say annual because that’s when everyone gets involved, but there’s been a steady undercurrent throughout the year of artists rebelling against the system to speak out. I have always been supportive of their stance - it’s disgusting to see the disparity in profits between the people who own the platform (and due to many undiscussed deals, this includes most of the major labels) and those who literally power it with their artistic endeavours.

And yet, I’ve always remained within this crooked system, simply because I believed it to be the only place to find the depth of music I was looking for. Last I heard, Tidal was still quite specific, and a lot of the others were only marginally better. And then there was the library of playlists that I’ve built up over the years, an encyclopaedia that I lean on heavily on a day-to-day basis. There’s a playlist for nearly every scenario my mind could possibly imagine, and that has a worth beyond currency.

I can’t ignore the fact that Spotify’s algorithms have also been responsible for exposing me to many of the people on this list. The sheer amount of Aussies that feature is testament to that, and again that’s only possible due to the buy-in of the music community. There are ways that Spotify is helping young artists. But it’s just not enough.

It’s still a bit of an eye-roller to announce your departure from something, but in this instance I’m going to indulge myself. I’m looking at other options, and I suggest you all do too. If you want more detailed info on the reasons why and the best action to take, follow United Musicians and Allied Workers on socials https://linktr.ee/umaw 

*Steps down from soapbox* So, the music then. I really went deep into it this year, racking up over 120 songs in the long list by September. The best part of that is that it meant that I had a long time to live with these songs, sort them in my heart and allow the cream to rise naturally to the top.  Aside from the Aussie invasion there’s no real trends - except more of a push to the extremes of comfort in sound. There’s some mad bits in here, and some initially jarring sounds that eventually connect, and when they do it’s all the more thrilling having taken you to the edge. With so much to choose from it was easy to stay within the hardest boundary of the bubble list - outside the odd superstar feature, these are underground/new artists that aren’t widely known or available. In the wake of the streaming debate it feels more important than ever to shine this little light in their direction.

The full Twitter (Some traditions die hard) thread with links to socials and places to buy music/merch will come next week, and you’ll have the benefit of the whole of December to absorb it all before the next hit. 

See you in a few weeks.

[walkthroughtheword]

Reading for August 17th 

Ezekiel 32

Two things stand out to me when I read Ezekiel 32. First is the fact that specific dates are listed here. I love this. The Bible isn't something that happened "once upon a time." No... it happened at very specific times and dates. The people of the Old and New Testament are just as real as the friends and family you have today. Of course, there are those who would disagree with me here and say the Bible is fiction, but I refuse to believe that. Those who make this claim often say something like, "Where is the evidence? Where are the original writings of the Old Testament? How in the world can we trust something so old?" I understand their hesitance, but it's misguided. Do you document and take a picture of everything you do? And even if you did, do you have copies of all of these things? Or have some been lost to time? My guess is the answer would be, yes, many pictures have been lost to time. Does that mean the days and events that you participated in never existed? Of course not. 

As you read through our scripture today, on March 3rd some thousands of years ago, what occurred in our chapter ACTUALLY occurred. It's not some made up story. It's as real as what you are reading right now. 

The second thing that stands out to me in this chapter is the language. The words and phrases that God uses are beautiful and terrifying. Look at the way God speaks, even in a moment of condemnation for Egypt. We can learn a lot about our God that we worship when we read His words. They're descriptive, colorful, aware of our environment, and even relevant to the time. Our God is an active, present, and creative God. He speaks with emotion and authority. If you read the words of Ezekiel 32 there's no way you could ever say God isn't an active participant in the lives of His people. 

Today, let's be reminded of the reality of Holy Scripture and the majestic and powerful way God speaks. 

Heavenly Father, thank you for being active in our lives. You see the actions of our hands and you hear the words from our mouths. We are so grateful for your patience with us and we ask for forgiveness for what we do wrong. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen!

[eli-kittim]

Who Wrote the Gospels? Are They Giving us History? Is Luke 1:1-4 a Case Study?

Eli Kittim

I think we need to seriously reevaluate our traditional view of the New Testament. Almost everything we believe about it is wrong. Christianity is not a historical religion, and it doesn’t need to be defended through archaeology or historical apologetics (e.g. listing eyewitnesses, or proving the resurrection), as is often done. Similarly, the gospels are not historical documents that correspond to real historical events. One would be hard put to reconstruct the so-called “historical Jesus” through fictional/theological stories that are largely based on the Old Testament.

For example, if Luke wrote his gospel based on other people’s opinions (Lk 1:1-4), we are in big trouble! Here’s what probably happened. There was no oral Aramaic tradition.

As scholars are now saying, the New Testament was probably written by the Greco-Roman literati (i.e. the educated upper class/intelligentsia). That’s precisely why the New Testament was composed, for the most part, in Greece and Rome. And that also explains why it was written in Greek by highly literate authors who didn’t understand the finer points of Jewish life in first century Palestine.

The New Testament authors must have been members of the Greco-Roman upper crust and very well-known, and that’s probably why they didn’t add their names to the texts. Some of the potential candidates who may have had a hand in writing the New Testament are Philo, Plutarch, and Josephus. And that’s probably why Luke seems to be familiar with Josephus’ works (Steve Mason). At any rate, it was obviously more than one writer, and all the authors, without exception, must have had transcendent experiences of God. There were no interviews and no “memories” involved, as Luke suggests. Every word they put on paper was coming directly from God. The New Testament is basically written in the form of prophetical writing (i.e. the genre called “apocalyptic literature”) because it’s based exclusively on visions and revelations (see Gal. 1:11-12; 1 Pet. 1:10-11)!

But we have completely misunderstood and misinterpreted these books. The problem is not with the New Testament; it’s with us. If you carefully analyze the New Testament, you’ll find that the epistles give us the “real” Jesus (meaning the actual *timing* of the parousia), whereas the gospels only give us a literary, fictional/theological rendering based on Old Testament material (intertextuality). That’s what’s going on!

Here’s the problem with our traditional interpretation of the preface to Luke’s Gospel. If Luke 1:1-4 is taken as prima facie evidence, then we’re no longer reading the word of God, but a case study. It’s as if Luke is saying: I interviewed someone, who knew someone, who knew someone, who knew one of the apostles. In other words, Luke is basing his gospel on the memories (or false memories) of some individuals. Is this the inspired word of God that we must now accept as eyewitness testimony? I think not!

There are many problems with that view.

First, if Luke is giving us reports from interviews, then his gospel would certainly not be considered as the inspired word of God, but rather a case study which contains the questionable memories of second generation Christians, who may or may not know much, or who may not remember things accurately.

Second, the composite work of Luke-Acts is a fictional composition. The Book of Acts, especially, creates a head-on collision with the authentic Pauline corpus, particularly with Galatians. Not to mention that many of the details in the story are seemingly fabricated (e.g. Pharisees working for Sadducees, the Sanhedrin had no jurisdiction in Syria, Paul’s journeys are contradicted, etc.), and even the term “Christian” was not used until the beginning of the 2nd century. That’s why scholars like EP Sanders and Paula Fredriksen view Acts as a work of historical fiction. In fact, Dr. Fredriksen seriously doubts whether the author of Luke-Acts was Paul's companion. According to her, Luke doesn’t seem to know Paul very well. Bottom line, if you want to understand the actual TIMING of the Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus, read the epistles, not the gospels!

How Did God Inspire the Biblical Authors?

[xfindingtrouble]

'I'm weird, just deal with it.' (from Vax!)

It was a recurring theme within this motley crew. It seemed each of those he had taken up company with had their own quirks. Woven in their inherent strangeness were blaring testaments to the paths they chose to walk. It made Percy feel oddly at home, though he didn't have the resilience to share the sentiment. He could hardly remember the last time he dared enjoy himself so thoroughly, felt so properly alive... He had long since accepted that his life was relative. It's why it was so easy to throw it away in the name of vengeance, protection, Whatever reason was greater than his existence in this world. ( of which there were many )

There were uncomfortable moments, yes. But he smiled more in their company than he had in years. Nights like these seemed less cold when he had others, sprawled around their makeshift camp for the night. Still, trading sentiments by firelight was hardly one of his fortes. Perhaps he had come off as a bit abrasive; his social skills had dulled with time, it wasn't like he had been seeking allies in the past years. He had been otherwise occupied.

" You're not the only one. It seems to be a recurring theme. " Though his response is sincere, it is purposefully broad. Maybe a bit stern. It's easier not to distinguish a deeper meaning, rather than acknowledge the attachment he was facilitating. Still, there is a distant warmth simmering beneath his words. Percy is not eager to share his appreciation, to speak it would make it unbearably real. But it can't be hidden, especially not when the corner of his mouth twitches, lifting his lips into what could nearly be a smile. He tries not to delight in these things, he often had to catch himself before he could care too much in the moment despite the impending care he felt.

Vax was 'weird', yes, but it was only one attribute on an enthrallingly long list. The man sitting across from him was hard to read, often difficult to understand... but he was relentlessly strong. There was a kindness to him lurking around every corner of his being, something Percy was not sure if he should pity or admire. He preferred the latter, against his better judgment.

Not that he was able to feed such notions; he had to dismiss these new connections as convenience. Respect was all good & fun until someone took an arrow to the throat. ( perhaps he is catastrophizing; care invites fear. fear drives him to think ahead, theorize a grisly end. ) His voice settles into a more matter-of-fact tone as he leans back to look to the sky, swallowing his smile. The stars are oddly grounding & for that he is thankful, " It certainly keeps things interesting, I suppose. "

[haledamage]

Love Yourself Challenge

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 favourite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc. ) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

tagged by @queen-scribbles​, which is appropriate because a lot of things I’ve written lately have been directly because of her encouragement/ruthless enabling <3

I’m really glad this is narrowed down to only the last year, because otherwise there’s no way I would have been able to narrow it down to only 5. As it is, I still couldn’t do that and I’m kinda gonna cheat :P As such, we’ll start with:

Rhitober and Rhicember! 

While these aren’t just one fic (hence why it’s cheating), they’re both major writing challenges that I gave myself and completed! Rhitober was a challenge to write something every day for a month, and Rhicember was a series of winter/Christmas/holiday prompts I did over the latter half of last December. They are various pairings and fandoms (Pillars of Eternity, Dragon Age, Wayhaven Chronicles). I think I’m gonna do Rhitober again this year, but I’ll have a lot more characters and fandoms to choose from then!

I’m actually going to single out one in particular as well from the Rhicember stuff because it deserves special mention.

Smitten

Pillars of Eternity, f!Watcher/Rekke, 3300 words. Kai kisses Rekke, then spends the next few weeks panicking about it before they finally sit down and talk about it.

Boy, Kai/Rekke really blindsided me. I had a prompt (I think in Rhitober, actually) and they were so obviously flirting in the whole thing and then it just snowballed from there. I love writing terrible first kisses; fairytale, fireworks-and-true-love kisses are great, but so are the awkward I-don’t-know-where-to-put-my-hands kisses :D Rekke being so clearly in love with Kai and being much more emotionally wise while Kai is panicking because she has caught feelings and doesn’t know what to do with them is such a fun juxtaposition. Plus, considering Laura Bailey is my voiceclaim for Kai, the scene where she’s talking to Xoti is just “Laura gives herself relationship advice” and that’s fantastic.

The Officer’s Ball

SWtOR, f!Trooper/Aric Jorgan, ~9000 words. Havoc Squad are invited to a fancy dress gala and things don’t go as planned. Pre-relationship, sweet sweet UST goodness while in tuxes and ballgowns.

One of the longest things I’ve ever written that didn’t involve multiple chapters. I have always wanted to write something like this but never found the right setting/opportunity until Ves and Jorgan came along. The flirting between Ves and Aric, the banter between them and Elara, the way the three of them work together so well as soon as things go sideways, this was so fun to write.

The Last to Know

Pillars of Eternity, sometime after Deadfire, 1800 words. f!Watcher/Edér Teylecg. Someone makes an offhand comment that makes Kai and Edér rethink their entire relationship and realize things they probably should have realized a long time ago.

Two people who have been living together for years, who sleep in the same bed, who are raising a child together, who share household assets and list each other as next of kin and are wearing the Lovers’ Light rings, are shocked to learn that people think they’re married. Are even more shocked to learn that maybe they want to be. I love these idiots so much.

Home Sweet Home

Pillars of Eternity, also sometime after Deadfire, ~7000 words. f!Watcher/Aloth Corfiser/Edér Teylecg. Kai has to go visit her family and brings Aloth and Edér along for protection and moral support. Some spoilers for endgame events of both PoE games.

You know, I’m surprised it took so long for this OT3 to happen, but I think that’s because Kai and Edér were busy being oblivious about their feelings for each other. You have not seen the last of these three together, that’s for damn sure. This fic snuck up on me and possessed me and would not let me do anything except write it until it was finished. The end result is surprisingly cathartic, watching Kai finally face down her terrible abusive family and stand up to them feels like a culmination of several years of character development for her. This whole thing is pretty much Kai, Aloth, or Edér doing something badass and the other two looking at them like:

[rhythmantics]

The Secret Saturdays Iceberg

Original iceberg here.

Jay Stephens’ answers on the Toonzone Forums here, his Insta here, blogspot here. List of comics here.

THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS!

“I watched a couple episodes while it was still airing”

What most people know about Secret Saturdays from having seen it a couple times when it was on. It’s a children’s cartoon.

Doc and Drew have an exchange that goes “when have I ever done anything rash or irresponsible?” “I keep a list. It’s alphabetized,” which has plagued incorrect quotes blogs for years. Many people know the quote without knowing the show it’s from.

“I watched it through to the end”

This tier is about stuff you know about how hard the show goes once you watch it through the first time.

All cryptids in the show are based on real-life cryptids, mythological creatures, or prehistoric animals: true with a single-digit number of exceptions. The TSS wiki has done a really good job of cataloguing them.

Children die on-screen: both Zak Monday AND Zak Saturday die on-screen. It’s great.

Sneople: nagas.

Clone: Francis is a fucking clone! Holy shit!

Fisk has actual dialogue: This one actually belongs in the “I followed Jay Stephens” tier, as he has revealed that Fisk is written actual lines in the script, which are then translated to “Fisk-speak” by the voice actor.

Cheechoo is Inuit / Beeman is autistic / It’s the glasses: Cheechoo wears traditional inuit sunglasses, and also references the far north of Canada as being his “ancestral home” and having grown up there.

Beeman, meanwhile, has a hard time picking up on social cues (”he’s a little rude to everybody,” Jay once said on the Toonzone forums, confirming that Beeman isn’t acting like that because he dislikes Zak or anything -- in fact, he acts the same way even when he’s actively trying to bond with Zak over his fake UFO footage), has a really good time watching hours of (what most consider boring) footage related to his particular interest, and his glasses are probably tinted pink to deal with photosensitivity, a common symptom.

Wadi is Bedouin: The Bedouin are nomadic Arab tribes that live in the desert. So, like. Yeah.

Last will and testament of a guy who drowned: Zak and Doyle find the titular will in the episode where a lake is trying to hunt and kill them, left behind by someone that the lake has previously hunted and killed.

DNA brothers: Do you guys remember the episode where Zak, Fisk, and Komodo all get spliced together? Was that fucked up or what

Forgot to put this one on there but do you guys remember when Argost dressed up in an SS uniform look-alike to taunt the Saturdays in Once More the Nightmare Factory? Incredible.

“I read some character analyses”

This tier is all about realizing the full implications of the stuff they show in this children’s cartoon where they can’t say the word “kill.”

Serial killer that keeps trophies: I think Van Rook literally expresses disgust over how Argost kept trophies during his yeti era. Incidentally, this means Van Rook has ALSO killed multiple people, since at least he doesn’t keep trophies, lol.

Doyle has probably killed people and is definitely a felon: Doyle is cut short before he can elaborate on how many places he has a criminal record; he’s definitely stolen priceless cultural artifacts and other goods well above the felony limit, he has a story he doesn’t give Zak the full details of because “then things get messy. Let’s just say the bird and I took care of it.” Not to mention how many times Zak’s parents stress to him that Doyle has lived a dirty life, and he’s done many bad, bad things. Doyle has killed people you can’t change my mind.

Doc was Drew’s rebound romance: Drew dated Van Rook in college, presumably broke up with him when she realized he was studying archaeology so that he could steal artifacts to sell, and later wound up with Doc. She’s in her 30′s-or-so according to Jay (while Doc is in his 40′s-or-so) and her kid is 11 at the start of the story. She’s a “trained archaeologist,” meaning she’s probably got a PhD after at least 5, 6 years of college (she's a genius, so I wouldn't be surprised if she got it sooner than the usual 8 years We know she's an archaeologist from the Field Guide). So there’s a reasonable buffer of a few years between her dating Van Rook and her meeting Doc while mountain-climbing (Doc mentions this is how they met in the blue tiger episode), so he’s not necessarily her rebound romance exactly, but it’s funnier to word it that way.

Doc really thought Munya killed his family: In Once More the Nightmare Factory, when Doc reaches Munya after being separated by his family, Munya takes the tokens with Doc’s family’s faces on them and throws them in the trash to taunt him. Doc proceeds to go berserk and kick Munya’s ass (and nearly choke that bitch Argost out), while screaming that Argost took “everything” from him. So they can’t, like, have Doc actually SAY “you killed my family, you bitch!” but that is definitely what he was thinking. I also want to note here that part of Doc’s specific baggage throughout the episode is that he blames himself for the 43 secret scientists that died the first time they tried to assault Weird World - people who were his colleagues, if not his friends - so just keep that in mind when Doyle comes in later to rub in Doc’s face how easy it is to break in.

On that note, RIP the 43 secret scientists that died the first time they tried to assault Weird World.

The nagas were really gonna let them die: In the Legion of Garuda, Zak tricks the nagas into letting him into their sanctum by having his parents fight the Secret Scientists above the river, while pretending to the nagas that he’s decided to switch sides because the humans won’t stop coming after him. The nagas let him in and promise to help his family, but once Zak is out of earshot, Rani Nagi tells her guards to leave Zaks’ parents to their fate. “Give the boy a tragedy to avenge.” Bruh.

RIP Von Finster: RIP to the scorpion man, who was definitely killed after Argost caught him to silence him since he knew things about Argost’s past. This is what they meant when they said that people who know things about Argost were “disappearing,” and why Von Finster was so scared.

RIP Mizuki’s body: why does Mizuki in hibagon’s body cry out in rage when he sees his human body crushed under the rubble? Because that body is actually a corpse, man! On that note, RIP Ulraj’s dad, forgot about that one.

RIP xing-xing: so apparently the xing-xing shows up in War of the Cryptids so I messed up on this one. Just replace it with Ulraj’s dad.

RIP Dr. Basil: Yeah Doc’s father figure is dead. Old age probably, but also maybe he was killed as retaliation for scrapping the genetic human/cryptid testing research.

Argost’s body count is so high holy shit: 43 secret scientists, Ulraj’s dad, Von Finster, Drew & Doyle’s parents, Zak Monday, and Zak Saturday - and that’s just the deaths we KNOW ABOUT!

Forgot to put this in there but damn the Legion of Garuda guy was seriously gonna kill Zak, like holy shit. So many people want this 11-12 year old boy dead

“I followed Jay Stephens”

This tier is all fun Word of God stuff if you happened to follow Jay Stephens while he was posting on the Toonzone forums while the show was running, from his old blogspot, or while he’s talking to people on instagram. I have a minor and not exhaustive collection of such postings here.

Smoke mirror is NOT a mirror universe / It’s just a shittier universe: According to Jay himself on the Toonzone forums, and in line with actual Aztec mythology, the Smoke Mirror world is NOT a mirror universe. Aztec cosmology states that the world has ended and been remade 4 times, each stint being represented by a different god as the sun, and we're currently on our fifth sun. "The Smoking Mirror" is an epithet used to refer to Tetzcatlipoca (whose temple the Smoke Mirror was found in), who had the dubious honor of being the first sun, and his sun was black and only shed half as much light as our current one, possibly related to how he was missing a leg. Thus, the Smoke Mirror is not a portal to a mirror dimension - the fandom just kind of assumed it was because that's the common trope, but Jay has explicitly said that it isn't one. Rather, the Smoke Mirror is a portal a world inspired by Tetzcatlipoca's sun, a darker and twisted world where everything is generally much worse. This is further enforced by the fact that the Wii/DS/PS2 game is literally about this myth, as the game is called “Beasts of the Fifth Sun.”

Screwed by the network: The show barely ever had reruns shown and was constantly having its timeslot shafted by sportsball. It was insanely hard to keep up with the show as new episodes came out and even harder to catch up on missed episodes, which was death for a show with such tight continuity. On top of that, season 2 was only ten episodes, which is NOT standard (season 1 had 26 episodes and a half-season would be 13), which means they had to cut more than half of season 2′s contents. You can really feel how rushed it is in the last three episodes.

Dodo???:

The executives at Discovery Kids had spent many hours telling me that my original Tutenstein designs were "too cute" and "too Casper", so, stubborn jerk that I am, I made sure to make this one even cuter. For inspiration, I went over my old Floyd Gottfredson Mickey Mouse comics... particularly the Seven Ghosts and Phantom Blot stuff... excellent, classic work. My idea was to update the 'funny animal mystery trio' by incorporating my love of Cryptozoology into the pitch. It went a little like this:"CRYPTIDS features a crack team of globe trotting cryptozoologists uniquely qualified for the job because they themselves were once cryptids! OKAPI, KOMODO, and MEGAMOUTH, along with their nine-year-old human mascot, FRANCIS, serve as a sort of anti-detective team. Scooting across land, sea, and air in their fantastic CAMPERCOPTER, their never-ending goal is to preserve the mystery of the world’s strangest creatures before they are exposed by humans… or destroyed by the Cryptids' nemesis, MONSIEUR DODO."I pitched it to a bunch of studios and got some interest, but, ultimately this incarnation went nowhere. Nobody 'got' the design, commenting that it looked like a kiddie show but read edgier. When I brought up the classic Floyd Gottfredson Micky Mouse adventure comics, I got blank stares. Not even Walt Disney Television Animation knew who or what I was talking about. Sigh... back to the drawing board.

Doc’s design was based on Harry Belafonte: Said on Jay’s Insta.

Doc and Drew canonically straight but everyone else is open season: Said on Jay’s Insta. FWIW Doyle gives me really strong bisexual energy.

Viral Marketing: The show’s initial ads were found footage-style short videos of horrific puppets of the show’s cryptid protagonists. I think they’re still up on youtube.

List of “hundreds” of creatures compiled for the show: Said on Jay’s Blogspot.

I forgot to mention this one, but Jay Stephens says that in-universe, cryptids aren’t just “creatures unproven to science,” but rather, “creatures that share a common, mystical bond.” It’s never said in-universe but I figured I’d let you guys know that this is what sets cryptids apart from regular animals.

Can’t “stay on the side of good” if show didn’t end how it ended: This is referring to how, according to Jay on the Toonzone forums, Zak losing his powers was the only way for him to firmly stay on the side of good. This is a very contentious opinion in the fanbase, but honestly, I kind of get it. By the end of the show, Zak has enough power to destroy human civilization within a week, anytime he feels like it, just by thinking about it. And he’s 13 years old. Humanity wouldn’t survive if he had, like, an emo phase when he turned 16. As long as he has that kind of unchecked power, there’s ALWAYS going to be doubt as to whether or not it’s safe to let him wander around, there’s ALWAYS going to be people who either want him dead for the good of mankind or want to use and manipulate him to their own ends, and - as we see in Return of Tsul’Kalu - he’s not immune to despair, as he literally says “if even the good cryptids think I’m destined for evil, I don’t know why I should even fight it anymore.” Even assuming Zak is incorruptibly “good” (which, again, we have evidence that he isn’t), at some point he’s going to have to start thinking about whether it’s his responsibility to police humanity. If people are illegally burning down the rainforests, and the government won’t do anything, wouldn’t Zak be morally obligated to do something extrajudicial about that? Where does that slippery slope end? So, like, honestly, I kind of agree. The only way for him to firmly stay on the side of good is for him to lose his incredible power, because you know what they say about absolute power.

“I have done a lot of research into the show”

This tier is about doing a bit of extraneous googling into tidbits that are brought up in the show. The cryptids all being based on real things is pretty common knowledge, but there’s so much more in this show that’s based on real stuff than that.

Drew’s fire sword is Manjushri’s khadga: Drew’s fire sword is based on the blade (khadga is the specific type of sword) that the bodhisattva Manjushri wields. It symbolizes wisdom, which cuts through duality and ignorance. And there are ones from Tibet (where Drew was raised) that look JUST LIKE the one in the show.

Tetzcatlipoca’s epithet was “The Smoking Mirror”: Most of this is covered in the previous section, but did you know that Tetzcatlipoca was considered the rival to Quetzalcoatl? This is especially interesting given that Quetzalcoatl is the feathered serpent, and Kur was believed to be a serpentine dragon (more on that later). I will also mention that Tetzcatlipoca transformed into a jaguar after Quetzalcoatl struck down his stint as sun, by the way. For fanart purposes, you know.

Garuda is a mythological Hindu figure: Garuda is a demigod in Hindu mythology that is depicted either as a giant bird resembling a kite (sea-eagle), or a bird furry. There’s a myth where he eats nagas. This is why the Legion of Garuda is named after him, and why the wizard guy summons a giant eagle illusion to scare off the nagas.

Kumari Kandam, Lemuria, Shangri-La Real: Kumari Kandam and Lemuria are two names for the same proposed (and disproven) sunken land bridge between the Indian subcontinent and Madagascar, which would’ve explained how monkeys got to Madagascar and became lemurs (hence the name). Due to some Hippie New Age Bull Shit, the survivors of Lemuria (often interchangeably used with Atlantis) moved to the Mt. Shasta region of California, where myths and legends of “lemurians” persist to this day. Shangri-La (the Lemurian homeland in the show) is unrelated to the two and is instead a fictional earthly paradise located in the Himalayas.

Dead Sea Scrolls reference: The scroll Wadi finds is definitely a reference to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Related to that,

Methuselah Tree Real: In real life, the methuselah tree is the oldest tree in the world, and - like in the show - its location is a carefully guarded secret. Not because it’s the font of all water in the world (a clear reference to the Norse myth of the World Tree and possibly a reference to the Zamzam Well), but to avoid vandalism, as we all know what people are like.

Inaccessible Island Real: Argost briefly mentions that they’re on Inaccessible Island before he steals Zak Monday’s powers. This is a real, shitty little island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

Tomb of Kur Real: The Official Cryptid Field Guide lists the Tomb of Kur as the “Kohker Archaeological Site.” This is a real place, and is a temple dedicated to Shiva.

 Library at Alexandria Real: The Library at Alexandria was a massive collection of books - every book brought into port at Alexandria would be copied, the copy stored in the library, and the original returned to its owner. Such a massive collection... all burned down. Tragic.

Naga fireball phenomenon Real: There’s a phenomenon that happens along the Mekong River where fireballs regularly erupt. The family goes looking for the naga using this phenomenon in the season 2 premier.

Mines set on fire that stay on fire for years Real: The mine that’s on fire in the bunyip episode is probably a reference to Burning Mountain, a mountain in Australia that has a fire under it that’s been burning for 6000 years. There’s many other such long-lived fires in the world.

Judaculla Rocks Real: The rock Zak damages in Return of Tsul’Kalu is the Judaculla rock, which is in the show the same as it is in real life - significant to the Cherokee people and associated with Tsul’Kalu, the Master of Game.

“Kur” used to refer to the first mythological dragon: So we now know that “Kur” referred to a TON of different things - the mountains, the lands, the people who came from the mountains, the netherworld, etc. HOWEVER, at the time, the main person writing about Kur attributed the word to a serpentine beast living at the bottom of the Netherworld, which he then called the first dragon ever depicted in human mythology. This has been more or less debunked now, but it’s what the show was using. Serpentine symbolism is used in the show to represent Kur - there’s a set of snakes on some of the doors in Kur’s tomb, and Kur’s most dedicated servants are sneople.

“I have done TOO MUCH research into the show.”

This tier is about my descent into madness. It covers research that wouldn’t normally be performed, supplementary material that very few people know about, etc.

Men of the Saturday family have biblical names: First we have Solomon Saturday and Zak Saturday, with Zak pretty obviously standing in for some variant of Zakariya/Zechariah. The prequel comics also give us an Elijah Saturday and a Samuel Saturday, so this is a very deliberate choice.

Solomon = “peace” but also associated with the Lesser Key of Solomon: The Lesser Key of Solomon is a famous demonology grimoire that lists several demons, their ranks, what they do, and how to summon them. A little bit like a cryptopedia.

Zak = Zakariya = “God Has Remembered”: That’s what his name means. And, like... kind of spooky considering Zak’s the reincarnation of a god. Now, while lots of spellings of this name exist, I prefer Zakariya. I think Doc initially would've wanted Zachariah/Zechariah because it's more biblical, but I also personally believe Drew (who speaks Arabic and is a white mom) would go for something a little more unique, compromising on the Arabic spelling. Plus, it has the K in it. Which I like. Though it would be in character for Zak to be Zachariah and shorten it with a K on purpose himself to look cooler. Either way, Zakariya/Zachariah/any of its variants is almost certainly what Zak is short for. Zechariah is also, famously, the last of the martyrs. And martyr himself Zak did!

Drew and Doyle are Gaelic / Ginger confirmed: Drew is albino so she wouldn’t have them but we were cheated out of Doyle with freckles. This is, incidentally, probably why Zak has freckles in the Ben10 crossover that I don’t like thinking about.

Wadi = riverbed that sometimes dries up: Wadi, noun. A valley, gully, or streambed in northern Africa and southwest Asia that remains dry except during the rainy season. It’s symbolism about the whole Eterno thing.

Short hair Drew: You guys want some concept art?

Zak’s name used to be Francis:

Abbey sold plundered relics to museums for money: Also from the prequel comics; Abbey was Zak’s favorite babysitter because she used to take him on wild wacky adventures... robbing tombs. And then selling the artifacts she’d find there to museums. Van Rook shows up and does a “not so different” on her for this. And he was sooo right!

Divining rod = Shiva’s trident: This fucking thing HAUNTED ME FOR YEARS

Because that’s not any “divining rod” or “dowsing rod” I know about! Well, GUESS WHAT.

It’s Shiva’s fucking trident. It symbolizes many different trinities, like “past/present/future” and “joy/compassion/love” and stuff. YEARS IT TOOK ME.

Kur is associated with the Hindu god Shiva, known as “The Destroyer”: Kur’s tomb is literally a temple dedicated to Shiva, one of Shiva's symbols is a cobra coiled around his neck (and Rani Nagi famously uses cobras to chat), and the divining rod used to find Kur is shaped like Shiva’s trishula. Furthermore, one of Shiva's aspects is the King of Beasts. So, like, yeah. The cobra tends to symbolize how Shiva has tamed the venomous ego, and his dominion over all animals on earth, so... they are making a really obvious parallel here. Rani Nagi even calls Kur “the destroyer” at one point! The clear implication of this association is both to more strongly enforce the idea that Kur is something divine, or seen as divine, and to cast its destruction in a more ambiguous light - Shiva may be the destroyer, but he is also the preserver, and in no iteration of Hinduism is he treated as an evil deity. Creation, preservation, and destruction is merely a natural cycle, one of the trinities represented by Shiva's trident. But it sure sucks for the people who are getting destroyed, so it's natural a creature whose existence IS destroying things would be viewed as "evil" or "bad" by the unfortunate species getting their asses kicked.

“These questions plague me deep into the night”

These are just questions that haunt me. Someone save me from this madness

[dragongutsixofficial]

I noticed that some of the people that are Edelgard critical are also the types that usually stan evil pretty boys.

Hey anon ! Thanks for your insight ! ^^

 I think I should begin by telling you what happened just after I read your ask. I was wondering how I could make an articulate answer (because I’m a mess), and so I decided to seek the perspective of my dearest mutual @ninadove, who I knew would have something interesting to say on the matter. You see, apart from being a massive Edelgard fan, she also has a 10+ year brainrot on a evil pretty guy from the Professor Layton saga: Clive Dove.

(Don't worry, I know the legend is pretty confusing.)

What are this bad but sad boy's crimes, might you ask ? Here's a list :

identity theft

heavy manipulation

Building an entire replica of London ten years in the future right under the city without a permit

Kidnapping people to populate his fake town as well as scientists

Using said scientists to build a death machine to eventually destroy the entirety of London

Pretty heavy stuff, right ? So, I screenshot your ask and sent it to her because I knew she in particular would have interesting stuff to say on the matter. And she did !

But the thing is, she read it sideways at first and misunderstood. She thought that your observation was that a lot of people who liked Edelgard also enjoyed evil pretty boys. And she told me, “it makes total sense”, and started explaining why. I’m summing up the gist of her reasoning here. Don't worry, this is relevant to answering your ask:

There is a phenomenon of constant demonization of antagonists, especially pretty male antagonists -evil pretty guys if you will. This is interesting when you realize that that kind of character is often tailored to speak to a younger audience, and especially to appeal to young girls. Those fangirls are, in turn, often shamed for taking an interest in characters which are deemed unredeemable. However, liking said characters isn’t bad in itself.

Indeed, the real problem arises if said fans of a character are willing to excuse their objectively bad actions because the evil pretty boy is, well, pretty. But that isn’t the case in the vast majority of cases. Most of them actually appreciate the complexity of the character they root for. Would @ninadove condone someone trying to commit a mass murder irl? No. Does she understand that Clive had damn good reasons for turning evil in the first place (his parents and most people in his apartment building were killed in an immoral scientific experiment which only took place due to a considerable amount of corruption, so he feels the need to “purge” the city of it), and that the situation is not black and white? Yeah, absolutely ! Clive isn’t the Devil Incarnate; but just as with Edelgard’s, some aspects of an evil pretty boy’s narrative might talk to people more, depending on where they’re at in life.

According to her, the fact that so many people who were already attracted to evil pretty boys were also attracted to Edelgard's character is a testament to the fact that it isn't just because they're hot guys that they're so popular, but because of the themes in their story, the moral dilemmas their actions lead the audience to, and the potential said audience sees in them. The very fact that she misunderstood your ask in the first place is proof of that- it's just the logic continuation of liking a given type of character.

Now, this isn't to say that some people don't act towards Edelgard the way they did towards Daenerys- but that as a general rule, one can't extrapolate what a person's values are irl  based on their personal fictional likes. A ton of people who stan a pretty evil boy will stan a pretty evil girl for the exact same reasons.

In the same way, the bullet points just above list a few of the criticisms fans of evil pretty boys are subjected to:

 that rooting for a fictional antagonist means that the fans would be willing to justify the same kind of crimes if they took place in the real world.

that the only reason they like the character is because they're only attracted to their physical appearance

that there is only one way to read and enjoy a fictional work and going against it is wrong, thus you should feel ashamed/are a bad person if you see it any different. If your blorbo is an antagonist then you should only view them as a villain.

Do you recognize any of these lines ? Yup. They're usually the ones hardcore Edelgard criticals use when talking about her fans.

So, what can we conclude from this ?

In truth, the problem isn’t with liking or disliking a character in itself. People will always enjoy different things -and that’s what’s so fun about fandom culture! In the same way, people are allowed to criticize any given character and call them out on their actions. I’ve seen some very eye-opening posts from some Edelcrits who helped me understand why so many people feel uneasy about Edelgard, and actually made me think even more about what her motivations are and who she is at her core, making her all the more interesting to me. I might disagree with some takes, yes, but I don’t have anything against them as long as they are said respectfully.

To me, at the very least, the real issue is when people cross the line to reality, and start making assumptions about other fans based on fiction. Most of the time, one’s blorbos aren’t a viable way of determining what kind of person they are. For instance: I have seen a lot of people criticize Edelgard’s imperialism and explain that it makes their skin crawls. I love Edelgard and I admire her character arc in CF, as well as her iron resolve to do whatever it takes to achieve her goals. Does that mean I condone imperialism in the real world, especially the modern forms of imperialism? Heck no. No way in hell would I ever support that kind of thing.

You never have a right to bully other people into thinking like you, however misguided you think they are, be you an Edelgard or a Dimitri stan. I once made a post about this exact issue, calling out people who claimed liking Rhea (who I personally kinda dislike) made you an abuse apologist.

Reciprocally, that means no one should have to feel bad about liking a fictional character if that brings them joy. I know liking Edelgard made me a better, more accepting person, and she keeps inspiring me to speak up for myself and others. We should fight against that trend that consists in shaming fans of certain characters. They really do make you better, as @ninadove pointed out herself just how much liking Clive Dove did for her.

All in all, what I mean is that we should all just try to be respectful and mindful of other fans. There is rarely such a thing as manicheism when it comes to antagonists like Edelgard and Clive, and we must always be careful about who we apply that kind of black-and-white logic to.

So, yeah ! I hope that clears up my perspective of things at least.^^ Thanks for sharing!!!

Edit: fixed Clive's picture cause it was incredibly blurry and honestly sad

Second edit: fixed some typos and also added Catra because damn girl

[snow-in-the-desert]

Dramione Recommendations

Ok so, 2020 has been A LOT but on a personal note one of the most surprising things to happen was me discovering Dramione fanfiction and becoming unashamedly obsessed with it. I really didn’t see that coming but I’m here now and I’m here to stay. 

I think I started reading in the Dramione fandom around mid July last year?? (In all honesty I’ve lost any true sense of time’s progression at this point so I could be well off the mark with that) And I’ve decided to compile a list of all my favourite fics I’ve read so far. Why? I really just want to gush over all the amazing writers I have found through this fandom because y’all deserve it. 

Side note: If any of the authors actually sees this post just dm so I can buy you coffee or post you writing supplies or something idk I feel like that’s the least I can do for all your amazing work x

Remain Nameless by @heyjude19-writing

Ok I have to start with RN because this fic is pretty much the sole reason I decided to create an account with A03 or a tumblr or just decided to get involved with this fandom at all. 

I headcannon this story hard. But I think even if you aren’t a fan of Dramione you should just read this because it is so unbelievably good and well written and poignant and Draco’s sarcastic personality in this is truly a thing of beauty in this - I relate to his inner monologue’s on a deep personal level. 

I could rave about this story any time, any day of the week, just ask me. In fact, maybe I’ll just start a HeyJude19 fan club to fulfill that urge.

There are so many elements that I love but for the sake of brevity, RN is a beautifully told story of Draco and Hermione finding love and healing in a post-war HP setting. Heyjude19 had the very special ability of making me want to simulatenously laugh, cry and swoon with the power of her words. Just stop what you are doing and go read it now if you havent already, ok?  

I also really enjoyed reading Bells on a Hill, Beers, Potions and Unwise Notions and A Shift in Focus, if you are looking for smaller fics, definitely give these a go. They are all funny and heartfelt stoires that will make your tippy toes wriggle with glee. 

The Rights and Wrongs Series by @lovesbitca8

The Right Thing To Do, All The Wrong Things and The Auction are the holy trinity of Dramione writing. I have christened it thus, so mote it be. And frankly I’m not interested in any other opinion than that one, thank you very much!

After reading this series I don’t think I’ll be able to look back on the orginal HP books without thinking of Hermione’s and Draco’s memories of their time at Hogwarts in these fics as anything other than strictly cannon. 

So many things to love about this series but I think one of the major highlights was Hermione and Draco’s use of occlumency. LoveBitca8 created such beautiful visuals with how occlumency works as a magical practice and seeing Draco and Hermione so devoted to eachother to the point of safeguarding their inner most feelings to protect eachother was unbelievably romantic and poetic. 

Also the smut is divine ;)

Manacled by @senlinyu​

My heart will never be the same after reading this story. Like I actually can’t think about this fic without getting a lump at the back of my throat. I have never felt so emotionally ruined after reading anything, compared to the likes of this fic. Just please, please read it. To badly quote HP, reading Manacled will make you suffer but you’re going to be happy about it.

The flashbacks are a rollercoaster in of themselves but the way Hermione inadvertently refers to them when she is still in a state of memory loss was so heartbreaking to read. My heart still aches for them both. Also its a truly satisfying to see Draco and Hermione written in a way were they are both so fiercly protective of one another. They make my insides go soft. 

I also really enjoyed Snow Fall, Now Is A Gift and All You Want by the author but to be honest anything written by Senlinyu is always thoroughly enjoyable and worth a look. 

The Erised Effect by @adaprix​

Ada is QUEEN of dramione smut but ‘The Erised Effect’ is top tier. Its equal parts funny, romantic, sentimental and oh so sexy. Ada really knows how to build and build on sexual tension and doesn’t disappoint on the final delivery. I’m a big admirer of her writing style and just veraciously read whatever she posts but ‘The Erised Effect’ is just golden. A must read. (Also Pansy’s sexual fantasy in this story is a visual I don’t think I’ll ever be able to remove from my brain so thanks for that Ada)

Also quick side note: Adaprix’ stories were the first I read when I was looking into this fandom and it was enough to get me hooked on the pairing from the get go so I have that to thank Ada for too. I remember devouring all the stories she had posted to A03 and when I was done I was like... now what am I supposed to do with my life?? And that’s basically when I began to look deeper into the fandom and thus the course of my life in 2020 changed for the better. 

Some other stories I love by her are Break for Me, All My Sins, The Big 4-0, The Fucklust Series and The Flat in Bath. 

Clean by @olivieblake​

This 6th Year AU where Draco and Hermione work together on a class assignment and end up falling in love had me feeling all kinds of ways when I read it. I almost don’t know where to start but I think one of the stand out things for me was how immersed I felt in reading it. 

Hogwarts is captured really well, you get a good sense of class atmospheres, character nuances and behind the scenes of events that happen in HBP but from a Draco and Hermione’s perspectives. It’s well executed and intricate tapestry of a fic. With an excellent plot twist ending! 

Also Hermione and Draco’s relationship in this is equal parts fluffy and smutty and it just ticks all the right boxes that you want to see for those characters ;)

Breath Mints / Battle Scars by @onyx-and-elm​

The angst in this one is just *chef’s kiss*

God I love this fic. The way Draco is portrayed is very true to his defensive and tetchy character in the original books but he is also given so much more depth. The way his diary entries are written are just so well executed. It’s a true testament to the author’s creative writing skill. And I LOVE how even though Draco is clearly in such a messed up place, he still has a basic level of self respect and dignity that he won’t tolerate being used or undervalued in his relationship with Hermione. 

Yep, I really love Draco’s characterisation in this one if you can’t tell.  But Hermione is also well written too. Her stuggles and trauma of returning to Hogwarts after war is described in a believable and grounded way. And my heart definitely ached for them both. I just wanted to wrap the pair of them in a big fuzzy blanket and tell them that everything will be alright. 

WANDS OUT! by @persephonestone​

This murder mystery / Dramione / Theo x Harry / AU crossover is everything I didn’t know I wanted until I read it. I felt like I was picked up and plonked right into an alternative dimension where all the characters of HP are just living it up in an Agatha Christie novel. 

It’s a funny and clever story that I found refreshing to read amongst all the other fanfics that are usually cemented in the HP timeline or universe. Theodore Nott in this fic is perfection he should be written like this in every fic from now on in my opinion. I couldn’t stop giggling any time he had a scene in the story.

And the ‘only one bed’ trope in this fic is 10/10. I don’t want to give spoilers but ohmygod. It hits all the right notes. 

The One With Technical Difficulties by cassielassie 

Cassielassie has an excellent three part series of Dramone called ‘The One with...” but I have to give special credit to this story in particular for one main reason. ELEVATOR TROPES. I can’t get enough of em. I think I have my early childhood viewings of NCIS to thank for my obsession with elevator tropes they just do something to me that simply cannot be explained with mere words. The palpable sexual tension of being in a broken down elevator with an ‘enemies to lovers’ pairing, a heated arguement breaks out followed by a discovery of mutual feelings and a romantic embrace...

Eugh. It gets me everytime. And this fic is no exception. I loved it for all the reasons I’ve already stated above but also for the attention to detail in Draco and Hermione’s careers makes this one particularly immersive. The dynamics between them established in this one-shot are convincingly portrayed and the chemistry between them is so undeniably hot. 

The Light is No Mystery by @masterofinfinities​

Yooo if you want to read a dramione fic that is a deep dive into Pureblood culture and Post-War recovery but is also a perfect allegory for discrimination and today’s political landscape of moral grandstanding for votes then look no further than this one. 

This story has a bit of everything. Intrigue, mystery, ptsd and recovery, enemies to lovers / secret relationship, government conspiracy and humour, to name a few. I eargerly await every update to this story and am anxious to know how it ends!

The Eagle’s Nest by HeartOfAspen 

Finally! A fic that gives me the Ravenclaw representation I crave. I think I could recommend this fic on the lore depicted of Ravenclaw house alone. ‘The Stacks’ and Rowena Ravenclaw’s own ‘come and go room’ are just such cool details that I could see being real in the HP universe. 

This fic is so cosy and makes me feel like I’m just popping back into Hogwarts for another year. You get to see all the usuals like prof. Mcgongall, Nearly headless Nick, PEEVES, Hagrid, as well as learn more about minor characters from the other school houses. The story follows Hermione going to her day to day classes and there are interesting concepts about magic and alchemy that are explored. 

Draco and Hermione’s relationship in this one is of course very fluffy and heartfelt. But it’s the attention to detail that really makes this fic outstanding and the experience of reading it feels fleshed out and true to HP universe.

A shorter fic by HeartofAspen that I recommend is one called Set in Stone, it has an adventurous, Indianna Jones vibe to it, that I am so down for. 

Teachable Moments by @purplesugarquills

In this fic Hermione is an innocent little virgin determined to learn everything about sex. And Draco Malfoy is her tutor. If that isn’t enough to get you on board then I don’t know what is. Both Heartfelt and Steamy. PurpleSugarQuills writes smut so well but it’s the progression of their growing attachment and the nervous treading of new uncharted waters of romantic relationships for both of them that just adds a whole other level of feels to the story. Also chapter 9 is like reading poetry - its so good. Eugh just give it a read if you haven’t already.

Les Pèlerins by @pacific-rimbaud

This story is high art. It’s transcendent. Reading this story feels like the emotional equivalent of standing around a hundred glowing fairy lights, sipping hot cocoa and being wrapped in the loving embrace of a s/o. I can’t speak my praises highly enough or even become passably coherent in my words when I try to articulate a review. 

From the very first paragraph I felt like I was just whisked away on a Parisian holiday and I’ve never even bloody been to Paris but damn it if this story didn’t make me feel like I was there. The writing style is just so tactile and intense it’s like I could feel the cold winter air brush against me as I read it. Eugh I just completely fell in love with the story and the writer. 

New Year’s resolution. Read everything PacificRimbaud has ever posted online.