#this is just a really basic overview but if you have any other questions let me know! x

[dresshistorynerd]

So I got this tag on my answer to an ask about when it became acceptable for western women to wear pants, and you know it's all I need to go on a tangent.

I think the short answer here would be men have worn skirts as long as people have worn anything, so pretty long tbh. But since I am incapable of answering anything shortly, I think we can re-frame this question:

When did skirts stop being socially acceptable for men?

So let's start with acknowledging that tunics, togas, kirtles and such men wore through history were, in fact, skirts. I think there's often a tendency to think of these as very different garments from those that women wore, but really they are not. Most of the time they were literally referred to with the same name. (I will do a very broad and simplified overview of men's clothing from ancient times to Early Middle Ages so we can get to the point which is Late Middle Ages.)

Ancient Greek men and women both wore chitons. Even it's length wasn't determined by gender, but by occupation. Athletes, soldiers and slaves wore knee-length chitons for easier movement. Roman men and women wore very similar garment, tunics. Especially in earlier ancient Rome long sleeves were associated with women, but later became more popular and unconventional for men too. Length though was still dependent on occupation and class, not gender. Toga was sure men's clothing, but worn over tunic. It was wrapped around the waist, like a dress would, and then hung over shoulder. Romans did wear leggings when they needed to. For example for leg protection when hunting as in this mosaic from 4th century. They would have been mostly used by men since men would be doing the kinds of activities that would require them. But that does not lessen the dressyness of the tunics worn here. If a woman today wears leggings under her skirt, the skirt doesn't suddenly become not a skirt.

All over Europe thorough the early Middle Ages, the clothes were very similar in their basic shape and construction as in Rome and Greece. In Central and Northern Europe though people would wear pants under shorter tunics. There were exceptions to the everyone wearing a tunic trend. Celtic men wore braccae, which were pants, and short tunics and literally just shirts. Celts are the rare case, where I think we can say that men didn't wear dresses. Most other peoples in these colder areas wore at least knee-length tunics. Shorter tunics and trousers were worn again mostly by soldiers and slaves, so rarely any other woman than slave women. The trousers were though definitely trousers in Early Middle Ages. They were usually loose for easier construction and therefore not that similar to Roman leggings. However leggings style fitted pants were still used, especially by nobility. I'd say the loose trousers are a gray area. They wore both dresses and pants, but still definitely dresses. I'd say this style was very comparable to the 2000s miniskirts over jeans style. First one below is a reconstruction of Old Norse clothing by Danish history museum. The second is some celebrity from 2005. I see no difference.

When we get to the high Middle Ages tunics are still used by both men and women, and still it's length is dependent on class and activity more than gender, but there's some new developments too. Pants and skirt combo is fully out and leggings' are back in in form of hose. Hose were not in fact pants and calling them leggings is also misleading. Really they are socks. Or at least that's how they started. As it has become a trend here they were used by everyone, not just men. During early Middle Ages they were worn often with the trousers, sometimes the trousers tucked inside them making them baggy. In high Middle Ages they became very long when used with shorter tunics, fully displacing the need for trousers. They would be tied to the waist to keep them up, as they were not knitted (knitting was being invented in Egypt around this time, and some knitting was introduced to Europe during middle Ages, but it really only took off much later during Renaissance Era) and therefore not stretchy. First picture is an example of that from 1440s. Another exciting development in the High Medieval era was bliaut in France and it's sphere of influence. Bliaut was an early attempt in Europe of a fitted dress. And again used by both men and women. The second illustration below from mid 12th century shows a noble man wearing a bliaut and nicely showing off his leg covered in fitted hose. Bliaut was usually likely fitted with lacing on the sides, but it wasn't tailored (tailoring wasn't really a thing just yet) and so created a wrinkled effect around the torso.

In the 14th century things really picked up in European fashion. European kingdoms finally started to become richer and the rich started to have some extra money to put into clothing, so new trends started to pop up rapidly. Tailoring became a thing and clothes could be now cut to be very fitted, which gave birth to fitted kirtle. At the same time having extra money meant being able to spend extra money on more fabric and to create very voluminous clothing, which gave birth to the houppelande.

Kirtle was once again worn by everyone. It wasn't an undergarment, for women that would be shift and men shirt and breeches, but it was an underlayer. It could be worn in public but often had at least another layer on top of it. The bodice part, including sleeves were very fitted with lacing or buttons (though there were over-layer kirtles that had different sleeves that changed with fashions and would be usually worn over a fitted kirtle). Men's kirtles were short, earlier in 14th century knee-length but towards the end of the century even shorter styles became fashionable in some areas. First picture below shows a man with knee-length kirtle from 1450s Italy.

Houppelande was also unisex. It was a loose full-length overgown with a lot of fabric that was gathered on the neckline and could be worn belted or unbelted. The sleeves were also wide and became increasingly wider (for men and women) later in the century and into the next century. Shorter gowns similar in style and construction to the houppelande were also fashionable for men. Both of these styles are seen in the second picture below from late 14th century.

In the very end of 14th century, first signs of pantification of men can be seen. In France and it's sphere of influence the skirt part of the kirtle became so short it barely covered the breeches as seen below on these fashionable musicians from 1395-1400 France. Long houppelandes, length ranging from floor to calf, were still used by men though (the second picture, 1414 France), as were knee and thigh length gowns of similar loose style.

The hems continued to be short through the 15th century in France, but in other places like Italy and German sphere of influence, they were still fairly long, at least to mid thigh, through the first half of the century. In France at some point in late 13th century the very short under-kirtle started to be called doublet and they are just getting shorter in 1400s. The showing underwear problem was fixed by joined hose and the codpiece, signaling the entrance of The Sluttiest Era of men's fashion. Below is an example from 1450s Belgium of doublet and early codpiece in display. As you can see from the other figures, the overgowns of the previous century were also getting very, very short. In the next French example below from 1470s we can see the skirt shrink out of existence right before our eyes.

The very skimpy doublet and it's accompanying codpiece spread to the rest of the Europe in the second half of 15th century and it would only get sluttier from there. The Italians were just showing their full ass (example from 1490s). The dress was not gone yet though. The doublet and codpiece continued to be fashionable, but the overdress got longer again in the French area too. For example in the second example there's Italian soldiers in a knee length dresses from 1513.

But we have to talk about the Germans. They went absolutely mad with the whole doublet and codpiece. Just look at this 1513 painting below (first one). But they did not only do it sluttier than everyone else, they also changed the course of men's fashion.

Let's take a detour talking about the Landsknecht, the mercenary pikeman army of the Holy Roman Empire. (I'm not that knowledgeable in war history so take my war history explanation with a grain of salt.) Pikemen had recently become a formidable counter-unit against cavalry, which earlier in the Medieval Era had been the most important units. Knights were the professional highly trained cavalry, which the whole feudal system leaned against. On the other hand land units were usually not made of professional soldiers. Landsknecht were formed in late 15th century as a professional army of pikemen. They were skilled and highly organized, and quickly became a decisive force in European wars. Their military significance gave them a lot of power in the Holy Roman Empire, some were even given knighthood, which previously wasn't possible for land units, and interestingly for us they were exempt from sumptuary laws. Sumptuary laws controlled who could wear what. As the bourgeois became richer in Europe in late Middle Ages and Renaissance Era, laws were enacted to limit certain fabrics, colors and styles from those outside nobility, to uphold the hierarchy between rich bourgeois and the nobles. The Landsknecht, who were well payed mercenaries (they would mutiny, if they didn't get payed enough), went immediately absolute mad with the power to bypass sumptuary laws. Crimes against fashion (affectionate) were committed. What do you do, when you have extra money and one of your privileges is to wear every color and fabric? You wear every color and fabric. At the same time. You wear them on top of each other and so they can be seen at the same time, you slash the outer layer. In the second image you can feast your eyes on the Landsknecht.

Just to give you a little more of that good stuff, here's a selection of some of my favorite Landsknecht illustrations. This is the peak male performance. Look at those codpieces. Look at those bare legs. The tiny shorts. And savor them.

The Landsknecht were the hot shit. Their lavish and over the top influence quickly took over men's fashion in Germany in early 1500s. Slashing, the technique possibly started by them, but at least popularized by them, instantly spread all over Europe. That's how you get the typical Renaissance poof sleeves. They at first slashed the thighs of their hose, but it seems like to fit more of everything into their outfits, they started wearing the hose in two parts, upper hose and nether hose, which was a sort of return to the early Medieval trousers and knee-high hose style. The two part hose was adopted by the wider German men's fashion early in the century, but already in 1520s had spread to rest of Europe. It was first combined with the knee-length overdress that had made it's comeback in the turn of the century, like in this Italian painting from 1526 (first image). At this point knitting had become established and wide-spread craft in Europe and the stockings were born, replacing nether hose. They were basically nether hose, but from knitted fabric. The gown shortened again and turned into more of a jacket as the trunk hose became increasingly the centerpiece of the outfit, until in 1560s doublet - trunk hose combination emerged as the standard outerwear (as seen in the second example, 1569 Netherlands) putting the last nail on the coffin of the men's dress as well as the Sluttiest Era. The hose and doublet became profoundly un-slutty and un-horny, especially when the solemn Spanish influence spread all over with it's dark and muted colors.

Especially in Middle Ages, but thorough European history, trousers have been associated with soldiers. The largely accepted theory is that trousers were invented for horse riding, but in climates with cold winters, where short skirts are too cold, and long skirts are still a hazard when moving around, trousers (with or without a short skirt) are convenient for all kinds of other movement requiring activities like war. So by adopting hose as general men's clothing, men in 1500s associated masculinity with militarism. It was not a coincidence that the style came from Landsknecht. I may have been joking about them being "peak male performance", but really they were the new masculine ideals for the new age. At the time capitalism was taking form and European great powers had begun the process of violently conquering the world for money, so it's not surprising that the men, who fought for money and became rich and powerful doing so, were idealised.

Because of capitalism and increasingly centralized power, the feudal system was crumbling and with it the feudal social hierarchy. Capitalism shifted the wealth from land ownership (which feudal nobility was built upon) to capital and trade, deteriorating the hierarchy based on land. At the same time Reformation and centralized secular powers were weakening the power of the Church, wavering also the hierarchy justified by godly ordain. The ruling class was not about to give up their power, so a new social hierarchy needed to form. Through colonialism the concept of race was created and the new hierarchy was drawn from racial, gender and wealth lines. It was a long process, but it started in 1500s, and the increasing distinction between men's and women's fashions was part of drawing those lines. At the same time distinctions between white men and racialized men, as well as white women and racialized women were drawn. As in Europe up until this point, all over the world (with some exceptions) skirts were used by everyone. So when European men fully adopted the trousers, and trousers, as well as their association to military, were equated with masculinity, part of it was to emasculate racialized men, to draw distinctions.

Surprise, it was colonialism all along! Honestly if there's a societal or cultural change after Middle Ages, a good guess for the reason behind it is always colonialism. It won't be right every time, but quite a lot of times. Trousers as a concept is of course not related to colonialism, but the idea that trousers equal masculinity and especially the idea that skirts equal femininity are. So I guess decolonize masculinity by wearing skirts?

[tossawary]

Honestly, I don't think the Ents were scary enough in the LOTR Jackson films when they attacked Isengard. Like, it's great! It is great! It was amazing to see the first time; the effects are incredible for their time and they still hold up pretty well! I don't need to be told that they had various animation limitations. (More size variation in the Ents could have been nice. They could have been even bigger. But animation limitations and time constraints and such, I know!)

It's just that a lot of the camera shots were looking down on the battle (they're using bigatures and such, I know), so the Ents looked tiny, stomping on tinier orcs, or the camera is sitting with Merry and Pippin on Treebeard's shoulders, and that angle doesn't really get across how HUGE and NON-HUMAN trees are. I think the best shots in this battle sequence are the ones from the perspective of the orcs, where it's just utter chaos, and then some walking tree appears out of nowhere and it's ANGRY WITH YOU. Ideally, I think it would have been great if the storyboarding had leaned more into that bewildered and terrified human perspective more, getting more into the dirt of things, before then zooming out for the overview of the Ents overtaking Isengard for the end of the sequence. The boarding in the film does a lot of jumping in and out in regards to size and what's happening.

Like, have you ever been next to a massive tree in a windstorm? The sort that looms over the roofs of houses? When the whole tree starts swaying in the wind, hundreds of branches twisting like some kind of tentacled beast? And the rustling starts to sound like a dull roar? And you think to yourself, "Oh, if that tall tree ever goes down, it is taking that entire house down with it, cracking open the roof and bashing down the walls. It would smash that car flat. It would crush me easily and I don't even know how I would begin to get out of its way as it falls, because its branches and leaves would just swallow me."

And if you're ever in a heavily wooded area during a windstorm, it's even worse, because the old trees all around you are bending and shaking like they're about to pull up their roots and start walking. Like, you didn't forget that they're alive, did you? And it's beautiful, of course, but it's also dangerous. It looks like they're dancing in their own way, but the amount of wood being thrown around means that one good branch breaking could seriously hurt someone. And it's just a branch to the tree, the tree might be fine, it might just grow another, but that branch could easily be longer and heavier than a person.

It is cool to see all of the other Ents coming out of the woods to back Treebeard up and then go marching forward. But it does raise the question of "Wait, how did the other Ents get there so fast? Aren't they kind of slow?" (If there is lore explaining this, general movie audiences will not know it.) So, it would be fun if Treebeard made his call and the dramatic speech, all alone, and then we could cut away, so we have the plausible deniability of a time skip. There's also the tension of: "Oh, no, is Treebeard going to attack Isengard alone?"

And THEN we could pick back up with orcs on the walls of Isengard, boredly watching the industry below, before the ground starts shaking and the stone beneath their feet cracks. And a huge shadow looms over the wall as a MASSIVE TREE climbs over, basically falling over, and letting its sheer weight take down everything in its path. Followed by dozens more of these creatures. Making the machinery of Isengard look and all the orcs within feel very, VERY small.

If Ents are ever depicted again in any visual adaptation, even an illustrated version of the novel or a graphic novel, I feel like it should be a goal to really capture that feeling of being small and mortal by comparison. Some of the earlier interactions with Merry and Pippin and Treebeard get this feeling well enough. The LOTR films are over and done, obviously, and they did pretty well. But it could be better! I want to LEAN into those moments of smallness just a little more in future adaptations of Middle Earth. I would love to keep the camera LOW as much as possible and utilize advancements like more detailed models and better leaf animation. (Like hair, leaves are hard!)

We are not the Ents here. We are just witnessing them. You have to go out into a forest and ask yourself, "What WOULD it be like if trees walked around me?"

[yourabsolutemother]

At Sundown

poly task force 141

A/N: I’m not good at narrative writing. Give me a book and I'll write a 12 page essay in two days on it. But narrative? I'm screwed. So a little constructive criticism is welcome. Also I’m using a translator app for their accents, I’m so sorry if they’re stupid hahahah

CW: Military inaccuracy, accent inaccuracy, possible lore inaccuracy, typical a/b/o sexism and classism, cursing, slightly suggestive, reader almost has a panic attack, crying, Price is upset and gets a little mean, Simon is just his mean self, slight mention of PTSD

Chapter overview: Reader has a stressful day at her job and her beta roommate does little to help. Price’s instincts are going haywire and the pack can’t figure out why.

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It’s the end of your shift, you work as a waitress at a bar and grill that is near your house. You mostly work during the rushes, when the small restaurant is packed with a line out the door. The restaurant you work at is open until 4 am all week, that's when they kick people out so they can clean up after a long day and get ready for the lunch rush. It’s not the best food around, but the bartender is good and it is a popular spot for business meetings. The place is dirty, but for some reason, the patrons don’t seem to care. If they don’t care, you don’t care. You’re just here to make money to survive.

They don’t exactly like you here, mostly because you are an omega. No one here really talks to you, except sometimes the beta host, but he didn't want people to think less of him by seeing him talking to the only omega in the building. You wish you could get a better paying job, but this was the only thing that paid above five dollars an hour in a 30 minute radius. This place didn’t even really want to hire you, but you begged them. It’s your last resort and you don't regret it one bit. It's hard to get over everyone saying things like. ‘No wonder this is the best job omegas can get. It's all they can handle’. No matter what you do or how hard you work, it's never good enough.

You bust your ass everyday that you work, which was most days, always kind and never showing up late. You have hardly used any of your sick days or vacation days. The only time you call out is when you’re in heat, and no one works when they’re in heat or in rut. But every time you have to call out for that reason, you’re always met with groans and stupid questions like ‘can’t you just put it off for another week?’ As if you could control something that naturally happens.

You know how to do every job in the building, other than cooking, and you have worked in all of the stations at one point in the time that you have worked here. You’re certain that you did every station correctly and efficiently, but you still can’t get them to pay you more for everything that you do. You don’t know what else there is for you to do to make them like you, even a little bit.

You can’t complain much, you have it pretty good. One of your omega friends was telling you one day about how his work wouldn't let him take time off of work for his heat. They made him go to a pharmacy and buy heat suppressants with his own money so that he could work. And then they threatened to fire him if he didn’t continue to take them while he worked for them. He has a very privileged job and makes a lot of money, even if it's only at a restaurant, so he was basically forced to continue taking them.

You thank scent blockers every single day of your life, not knowing how you could manage without them and their seemingly magic effects. Sometimes you had the occasional table with the people who wouldn’t wear scent blockers, wanting to flaunt their status. You hate it, it makes it hard to do your job. The omegas and betas don’t affect you, it mostly just annoys you because of the smell lingering around you and the table for the next few hours. It made people complain to you like there is anything that you can do about the smell. You can’t really use scent blocker on a scent that's already in the air. But what would you know, you’re just an omega afterall.

But, when alphas came in, it was a whole other story. Their scent was always so strong, leaving no room for question or confusion. Their scent would stick around you, the tables, their menus, and really anything they touched for the rest of the day. You can’t blame any of them though, scent blockers burn your nose which is why you never wear them.

It’s easy to tell when you are doing good and when you aren’t. The alphas scent would make your legs weak if they were pleased, if you weren't so scared of them. But if they were upset about something, it was like a punch right to the gut. You always step up your game when you smell their scent souring, acting purely out of a panic response, but sometimes it wasn’t in your hands and there was nothing you could do about it. That didn’t stop you from trying your best, nonetheless.

Right now, you are carrying a tray of hot food across the dining room, eyes not focusing on any of the tables just in case there was an alpha sitting at them. You hate having to look at alphas, only doing it when you have to, like when you are serving their table. Their gaze was always so intense, making your head swim as it tried to decipher why they were looking at you. You aren’t as good as most omegas at reading alphas, some say you’re too naive and will figure it out once an alpha forces you to figure it out. That’s exactly why you avoid them, if you aren’t around them, then you don’t have to worry about reading them and them getting upset because you can’t. If you ever ended up with an alpha, you promised yourself not to fall for one that would treat you as second class. You didn’t want an alpha that thinks an omega is only good if their instincts are good.

Making it to the table without too much trouble, the smell of two sour alphas enters your nose. You hold back an instinctual whine, nervousness filling your chest as you set their food down in front of them. “I’m very sorry for the wait, the kitchen is backed up.” You explain, smiling to try and relieve some of the tension. On the inside, you are panicking, playing out scenarios of what could happen in your head. You can only hope they are accepting of your situation. You waited with shaky hands and bated breath.

The alpha on your left waves his hand dismissively at you, his hand almost hitting your arm as a scowl formed on his face. That action alone is enough to make your heart drop in your chest. “That's enough, omega.” He practically spits, his tone filled with venom. Your mind raced with possibilities, it made you wonder what you had done wrong other than their food taking a bit longer than normal. Of course they blamed you. It always ended up being your fault.

The alpha on your right tosses their collective trash at you, somehow you manage to catch most of the unexpected projectiles with your shaking hands. You bent over quickly, picking up the trash on the floor and placing it on the tray in your hand. “This is why no one hires omegas anymore.” The alpha spoke to the other, speaking like you weren’t standing right there. “Especially if it's a woman.” The other response, a stupid cheeky grin on his face.

You stand up straight, forcing a smile. “Is there anything else I can get you two?” You ask, watching as they both silently pull their wallets out, shoving their cards into your hand. You place them on the tray, holding back the urge to sock both of them in the eye. “Give yourself a nice dollar tip, Hun.” One purrs, intentionally putting you down. You’re an omega at the end of the day after all. You smile and bow your head slightly as a silent departure, turning on your heel and weaving through the crowd back to the kitchen.

“Thanks so much, alpha.” You practically growl under your breath, your hands starting to shake more now that they couldn't see you. “I’ll be able to buy that gumball I've been eyeing all day.” you continue quietly, sarcasm dripping from your voice as the doors to the kitchen come into view. They always say it like they believe that one whole dollar is going to get you anything. 

When you first started, you thought they were being kind and maybe were just down on their luck with money. But then you started paying attention to how much their bill actually was, most of them wouldn't have a hard time tipping at least three dollars. Most of the alphas that came into the restaurant ate a lot of food, they were big, strong men that needed a lot of calories to keep their physique. Their totals usually came out very large, a tip of three dollars wouldn't even be close to twenty percent.

You sigh in relief once you get back inside the kitchen, ignoring the kitchen staff on the other side of the window as they basically screamed at each other. Going over to the computer to start closing out their tabs, you feel a presence behind you. You immediately recognize the smell of the owner, who is staring down at what you were doing with a critical eye. His arms are crossed over your chest as he pushes his scent out to intimidate you. It works and you are practically trembling by the time he walks away, finally leaving you alone.

You continue to mutter annoyedly once he was out of earshot, closing out their checks and not bothering to give yourself that tip. You’d rather not get one then accept money from those pricks. You put their receipt in the holders and make your way back to the two grumbling alphas, probably complaining about how long it was taking you.

You force a fake smile on your face, trying to keep your souring scent low as you place their receipt in front of them. “Come back soon.” You wish them well. They just ignore you as they throw more trash at you and sign their checks. They stand up and head towards the bar in the middle of the restaurant, making a last minute decision to get a drink before they leave. You shove their small trash into the pockets of your apron and leave the rest for the busboy.

You get back to the kitchen shortly after, doing a few tasks you have to do before you leave. You couldn’t stop thinking about those two alphas, of course they had to come in right at the end of your shift and ruin the rest of your night. You walk over to the coat rack and grab your coat and purse, putting them on before clocking out. You walk out the back door and go to your car, trying to get out of there as quickly as possible before the alphas change their minds. The others can deal with it, you’ll deal with the fallout next time you work if they end up needing something else from you. Just another day in this hellhole of a job.

The parking lot is cold and dark, the ground wet from a recent thunderstorm. You aren’t paying much attention as you start to cross the street, not noticing the car coming right for you until the driver slams on its horn and zips right by you. You gasp out and hold tightly onto your coat as you watch the car speed out of the parking lot. They’re probably drunk. You didn’t sleep well last night because your new neighbor was up all night pacing in their room. You kept hearing people coming in to check on him, talking with gruff voices that you could hear muffled through the wall. Although, you could hardly hear what they were saying. You didn’t want to intrude on their privacy.

You are glad that it happened though, because you now realize that you can’t be as loud as you once used to be while in your room. That house has always been empty since you moved in not long ago, but on one ever came by or even visited so you assumed that it was just vacant for some reason. That was until you saw four big military men moving in, you assume they’re on leave for an unknown amount of time. Your room is the furthest down the hall from the stairs, a bathroom next to you separating you from your roommates room and an office across that ensured your solitude. You were used to being able to be on the louder side, no one was close enough to hear it. But now, your neighbors are and you have to be careful

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive home is quiet, only the sound of your car that is hardly running because you don’t make enough money to pay rent, buy food, and do literally anything else. Someone had stolen your radio, which you find odd because what is someone going to do with a beat up old car radio? Omegas were used to belonging to an alpha that took care of those needs so they never really needed money. Most jobs that omegas had were just so they had somewhere to be while their alpha was at work. But you are working for yourself, sometimes your roommates help you out, but you hate having to ask them. Omegas that didn't have a pack truly were lost, most benefit from being part of one. This being said, you didn’t have enough money to buy a new radio, so you sat in silence.

You are too afraid of alphas to even consider being part of a pack, only if there was no alpha. Packs with no alphas were a rare sight, hardly ever making it work in the long run. Alphas are natural born leaders, even if they are unsure of themselves, it’s their instinct to always do what they think is best. Sometimes, what they thought was necessary was cruel. Which is why you avoid them, they’re unpredictable and much more powerful than you.

Due to your status, alphas are able to control omegas in a sense. If they use their tone just right, it scratches something in omegas brains that almost forces them to listen. It's instinctual, there's nothing you can really do to stop it. But, if an omega is too scared of the alpha, too fearful for their own life, they can ignore the instinct. The instinct to stay alive is much stronger. Though, alphas hardly use their commanding tone, funnily enough because it strains their voices to do it.

It sounds like the gears in your car are grinding together, the sound becoming obnoxious as you drive. It always takes your car an abnormal amount of time to get going and it chugs up hills, not being able to catch the necessary gear to make it easily up them. You have to let your foot off the gas most of the time for it to be able to change gears, even though your car is an automatic. You gave up a long time ago trying to make your car smell nice, it always smelled like burning oil, meaning there was a leak somewhere. Probably an expensive one, wish is why you haven’t done anything about it.

There is not much you can do about it right now, you brought it to a mechanic and they gave you a quote that was astronomically out of budget. It was also probably a bit higher than it would be if you had been an alpha or a beta. Mechanics always give omegas a hard time because they’re easy to take advantage of. One time, you went to the mechanic with your roommate, who is a beta, and they charged her fifteen dollars less than they charged you for an oil change.

You can see your house from the entrance of your neighborhood, relief filling you as you get closer to your safe place. But as you pull into your driveway, the now familiar smell of alpha fills your nose, coming from the house attached next to yours. It was a mix of tobacco, patchouli, vanilla and mahogany. It makes your skin form tiny goosebumps all over your arms and legs. An odd mix of smells that somehow all complimented each other. But despite your body’s initial reaction, you can't help but feel panic rise in your body. There were two and it smelled like one of them was not in a good mood at all. It had been like this for a few days, you coming home to smelling angry alpha.

It hasn’t gotten easier in the days following them showing up, you are constantly scared out of your mind that you are going to end up meeting these scary smelling alphas. You wonder why they are constantly upset, you know they had at least one beta since you are able to smell him through your shared wall some nights. It only makes you more jittery with the uncertainty that you feel. You can tell that your scent is souring.

As you sit there in your car, trying to get your things together while moving pretty frantically, something catches your eye while you’re taking the key out of the ignition. Your eyes widen and the back of your neck tingles slightly as you see someone inside their car who was also, assumingly, coming home from work and about to get out of the car.

You’re frozen in place and all you can think about is what could happen, all the things that could happen to an omega when faced with an angry alpha. You could hear the blood rushing in your ears as panic filled your body. All you could smell were the two alphas, it felt like it was flooding every inch of your nose. You felt like you’d never be able to forget their scents. You can’t tell if the person in the car is someone you need to look out for or not, but you don’t want to stay long to figure it out.

It is a tall man you can tell, you can’t tell their status yet and you aren’t about to go up to him and ask. Your vision isn’t the best and you don’t have your glasses on, plus having to look through two windows. Actually getting a good look at him felt impossible. It looks like he has a mohawk, in his mid to late twenties. He looks like a rough guy, a five o’clock shadow covering his face. His muscles stretch in his shirt because of the angle he's sitting at. He seems distracted by a laptop he has in the car. You can’t help but wonder why he has a computer in his car like that.

You panic, looking away to gather the rest of your stuff quickly, you book it inside. The slam of your car door probably immediately gave away your location, but you can’t care less about that now that you’re close to the house. You already have your key out when you get to the door, quickly slotting in the key and twisting to unlock it. You push open the door, your breath quick, hoping that the man didn’t see you. Closing the door behind you, you scurry to set your stuff down, wanting to get as far away from the smell of alpha as you can get.

A sigh escapes you as you reach the safety of your home, relishing in the familiar scent of your two roommates. You take a deep breath as you try to rid your nose of the lingering angry alpha scent. You lock the door behind you and hang up your coat and purse, which you had thrown your keys in, making your way towards the living room where you can hear the tv going. There, one of your roommates, and long time friend, Jasmine sits watching some show you don’t care about. Her long body is splayed out on the couch seat as her arms rested on the back, facing away from you as you enter the room.

Today is one of her days off, so she is just relaxing. From what she tells you, her job is very stressful. She says that she has to deal with angry alphas all day who are constantly on the edge of fighting. Something about being a mediator of some kind. It makes you wonder how many times you coming up to the table has stopped a fight from breaking out. Or how many times the alphas weren’t actually mad at you, but at each other. Fights broke out all the time at the restaurant you worked in, nobody ever did anything after they were broken up, which is why a lot of business meetings are held there.

“Welcome home, Hun.” She calls out, looking over her shoulder to see you walking towards her with a relieved look on your face. “How was work? Smells like it wasn't too good.” She asks, the following words referring to the lingering smell of angry alpha coming from your clothing. The tone of her voice is soft, like she's trying not to break you. Her head and eyes follow you as you make your way around the couch, hands immediately reaching out when she smells how stressed you are. The beta instincts inside her head tell her to help calm you down.

You let out a sigh and sit down next to her, leaning your head on her shoulder, leaning into her comfortable embrace. You can smell her calming cinnamon scent, reminding you of the cinnamon rolls your mom used to make when you were younger. “Why does everyone blame me for the issues that the kitchen causes?” You ask rhetorically in a whine, trying to relax in her reassuring hold. You just want to be able to relax in the betas presence after a stressful day at work. It was almost like a ritual at this point. You come home stressed, she works her magic, and you go on about your day feeling a bit better than before. Tonight seems to be the exception.

 A laugh comes from Jasmine, making you whine in embarrassment despite her hand comfortingly playing with your hair. “Stop laughing..” You mutter, playing with the strings coming off a tiny rip in your black pants, smelling her scent getting stronger as she continues to try and calm you down “I’m sorry, puppy.” She says through lingering giggles, pushing her knee against yours to try and lighten the mood. “It's just that complaining about your waitressing job is such an omega thing to complain about.” She continues to laugh, her head falling back slightly and her hand in your hair stilling, making you pout. Her words felt like she only thought of you as an omega, not seeing the person below the status. Her scent does nothing to help your stressed mind, no matter how hard she tries to project it.

You stand up and let out a frustrated sigh, Jasmine's hold falling from you. Her eyebrows furrow slightly and you have to look away so you don’t feel bad for standing your ground. Jasmine was the only person you are comfortable enough with to do it. “You’re being mean,” You mumble, walking away to your room which resides upstairs. Jasmine turns her head to look over her shoulder at you as you walk away. “Aw, come on. You know I didn’t mean it like that.” She calls out, not receiving a response back to you. She lets out a slight groan, making a mental note to make it up to you later as she turns her attention back to her show.

Once you get upstairs, you walk down the hall towards your room while tears gather in your eyes. You just feel so stressed out and everything is so overwhelming, you just want to curl up in your bed. Just wanting to forget about how worthless you felt in a world that doesn’t appreciate omegas for the treasure that they are. You hope that you can keep your emotions under control until you are in your room.

You pass by Jasmine's room first which was obviously empty, then you pass your other roommates room. Their door was closed, you don’t bother asking them for help, they just moved in and you barely know them. You open your door and quietly shut it behind you, toeing your shoes off as you start to sniffle. You let out a few whimpers and shuffle your shoes with your foot off to the side and out of the way, starting to let the tears fall down your puffy cheeks.

You keep your crying down to whimpers and sniffles, occasionally letting out a sad whine. You remember hearing your neighbor last night, you don’t want them to hear you crying. Your room starts to really smell like sour oranges, like drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth. You took your shirt, pants, and shoes off, shuffling to bed and curling under the covers as you cry your stress away. Eventually your breathing evens out and you are reduced to sniffles as you slowly fall asleep. To be fair, you were still feeling the emotional side effects of your heat which ended three days ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Johnny sits in his car after having to go into a weekly training session, the superiors demanding they stay in peak physical condition even while they are on leave.  Their superiors make them alternate weeks doing it together and doing it alone. They say they want to make sure they can still handle themselves when they aren’t together. Dysfunctional packs aren’t welcome in their field of work, always being forcibly split even if they had been together before joining.

He’s filling out his activity sheet that they have to email to Price every week, so that he could send it to their superiors, when your sweet orange scent fills Johnny’s nose. He’d been smelling you since they arrived, through the wall of his bedroom unluckily. He thanks the gods that he isn’t an alpha and can control himself better. Your scent would have driven him crazy by now if he wasn’t a beta. There was a tinge to your scent, smelling like oranges that had been left in the car for too long. He glances over at you, seeing you quickly getting out of your car with a panicked look on your face. He watches as you slam your car door and book it inside, he can practically see the trail of dust that follows in your wake from how quickly you moved. He wonders why you were so stressed out.

He wishes he could have seen more of you, only being able to see a glimpse of your face before your hair fell in the way. You looked so small and fragile as you scurried away, Johnny felt his body tense at the sight of an omega in distress. He wishes for nothing more than to wrap his thick arms around you and wash his scent over you as you relax in his hold. But by the looks of how you ran away like that, it isn’t really an option. He wonders what's got you so worked up. His brain immediately went to the worst possible scenarios. The thought of you having an abusive alpha crosses his mind, making his chest tighten.

He knows that there are no alphas in the house attached to his, at least he’s never smelled one. He knew there was you, the omega, and there were two betas. He assumes you three are a growing pack since it was originally just the one beta and how there are two new additions. The three of you being roommates never crossed his mind, almost like his brain was keeping him from getting attached to you. He couldn’t have you if you already had a pack.

He wastes no time sending the sheet to John and gathering his things so he can head inside, he has little to no patience waiting for what's his. He eagerly gets out of the car and goes inside, he's excited to see his pack after a long training day. He pushes open the door and the first person he sees is Kyle, who is in the kitchen cooking up dinner.

He goes up behind the slightly shorter beta and wraps his arms around his torso, shoving his face into Kyle’s neck to breathe his coconut scent in deeply. It always made his mouth water, having to swallow a few times so he doesn't drool. Makes him crave a pina colada. Johnny feels his muscles relax as he watches Kyle cook, his chin and nose pressing against the crook of his neck. He starts to sway slightly, relishing in the feeling of his bonded beta being close. “Mised ye..” Johnny mumbled against Kyle’s skin. Kyle responded by leaning his head against Johnny’s.

A deep growl comes from the entrance of the kitchen, making the hair on the back of  both of the betas' necks stand up. “No’ going to gree’ your alpha?” A gruff voice grumbles from the archway. Johnny smiles and turns to see Simon, standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Simon is big on respect for alphas, though he isn’t too strict about it and is never mean about it. There is a dark glimmer in Simon's eyes as Johnny lets go of Kyle, Johnny placing a gentle kiss to the side of his head to soothe the whine that slips from Kyle’s throat. Simon tilts his head up and sniffs the air, only being able to smell coconut, this makes him growl lowly again.

Johnny practically bounds over to Simon, squeezing him tight in a bear hug despite how angry he looks.. “O course ah'm gaun tae, LT.” He holds back laughter at the older alpha's recent possessiveness. He purrs as Simon's arms wrap around him, similarly to how he had just done Kyle. “Ya smell like scen’ blocker.” Simon states bluntly as he buries his nose in Johnny’s mohawk, trying to catch a whiff of the freshly cut grass he is used to smelling. “Shower, now.” Simon orders, his tone holding authority as he pushes Johnny away gently by his shoulders. Simon may be rough and it seems like he isn't happy, but the pack has learned that it's just the way he loves. Johnny doesn't waste any time getting upstairs and to his bathroom, passing by John’s office.

“Pup.” A frustrated sounding alpha calls from inside, making Johnny turn on his heel to peak his head into Price’s office. “Whit’s botherin ye, alpha?” The scot asks, knowing exactly what the pack leader needed. Comfort from his beta. Price looked exhausted, dark bags under his eyes and cigar buds all over his desk. There was so much smoke in the air that his office was hazy, and it reeked of tobacco. His gaze lifts from the paperwork and meets Johnny’s, his eyes are fiery. It isn’t often that Price is in this kind of mood, but when he was it was for good reason.

Price’s nose cringes as the smell of scent blocker enters his nose instead of cut grass. The scent blocker mixes with the Patchouli and strong tobacco scent, making Price growl loudly. “Go shower firs’.” He grumbles, turning his attention back to the mound of paperwork on his desk. “Aye.” Johnny responds before slipping away. He could feel the frustration radiating from Price's office, leaving feeling a little bit worried for the alpha.

Johnny snickers slightly at his two alphas, finding it funny how much they hate smelling scent blockers inside their home. He hurries to his bathroom, now that he has orders from both of his alphas, stripping his clothes off so he can get in the shower. He knows better than to keep Price waiting when he obviously needs a betas touch.

His shower was quick, years of military training taught him to do so easily. He steps out of the shower and wraps one towel around his waist while he uses another to dry his hair. He leaves the bathroom to be met with the smell of sour oranges, almost causing him to double over when his instincts kick in. He lets out a strained groan and sits on his bed, holding onto his knees as he tries to calm himself. He can tell your crying, the smell of your stress seeping through the wall. Your scent was so strong, there was no reason he should be able to smell it as well as he can. His chest tightens knowing that there was nothing that he can do to help you, he wonders why your pack wasn’t doing anything to help you.

There is a sharp knock at his door and the scent of pine enters in nose. It’s Simon. Johnny knows that if Simon comes in here and smells an omega in distress, things won't go very well. Especially when that omega smells so close to his beta. “hold on noo, big fella. I haenae even had the chance tae put on ma clothes.” He calls out, having to hold back the panicked twinge in his voice. He stands up quickly and throws on the closest clean clothes that he could reach, the colors completely miss-matched.

“Hurry up.” He could hear Simon bark from the other side of the door, sounding like he is pressed right against the door and very frustrated. It bothers Simon when members of his pack don’t allow him access to their space, but he knows they deserve to be alone sometimes so he never pushes. Only sometimes when he’s being extra possessive and needy. Simon just needs to know what's happened to feel secure, to know that everything is okay and he has everything under control. But today he seems very pushy about it compared to other days.

Johnny goes over to the door and slips out quickly, not wanting to open the door wide enough that your scent would hit Simon too hard. He looks slightly up at Simon while holding, afraid of his reaction. A million things can happen in the next few seconds. Simon’s eyes darken slightly, his muscles tensing under the tight shirt he has on. “Ya still smell like omega.” Simon grumbles, pulling Johnny closer to sniff him. A slight growl left Simon's lips, his nose cringing at the unfamiliar smell and sour twinge to it.

Johnny fills with anxiety, hoping that Simon doesn’t realize that the smell is coming from his room. Or even worse, thinks that he’s hiding an omega from them all. His scent shifts from smelling fresh to smelling like it rained right after the grass got cut and it got all muddy and weird smelling. A low grumble emanates from Simon’s chest. “Relax, beta.” He almost snaps, his eyes shooting daggers into Johnny’s. “If you needed me to scen’ ya to finish up the cleaning, all ya had to do was ask.” He grumbles, his rough voice sounding softer now as he grabs Johnny’s wrists. All Simon thought of the situation was that Johnny trained near an omega and still smelled like them.

Simon rubs Johnny’s wrists against the scent glands on either side of his neck, his eyes sharp underneath the balaclava as he stares at Johnny. He always felt like Simon was staring into his soul, like he could read his mind. Simon takes his time, making sure by the end of this that Johnny would reek of him. His vanilla and mahogany scent covering his beta, just the way he likes it. He drops his wrists and leans into Johnny, doing his best to rub his scent into his neck and the side of his face. “Mine.” He growls lowly in Johnny’s ear, his hands moving to hold his hips. Simon pulls him closer, pulling him into his chest. “Can’ have ya smelling like a needy omega.” He grumbles.

Simon was weird about omegas. To Johnny, it seems like Simon thinks they’re too much work, not worth the trouble. But it’s not the case in reality, he just can’t see the benefits of having any one new in their already seemingly perfect pack. The truth is, alphas benefit greatly from having an omega to take care of. If you set expectations of your pack dynamic, like that there will be long periods of time that the omega will be without their pack, omegas aren't too much to handle. Alphas need to treat omegas with care for them to be happy and healthy, and Simon is not the most caring person. Johnny thinks that he’s scared and won't admit it, to them or himself.

Johnny rolls his eyes at Simon, which earns him a sharp smack to the back of his upper thigh. “Don’ be getting feisty now, Price needs to see ya.” Simon reminds the smaller beta, finally letting him go so he can take care of the pack alpha. Johnny can't help but notice the way Simon’s eyes watch him longingly, wishing he was able to command Johnny to stay with him.  Johnny can immediately sense this, shooting a smile to Simon. “Dinnae go thinking I forgo’ aboot ye, Si. A’ll come see ye whan A’m duin.” Johnny reassures the moody alpha, his hands resting comfortingly on his forearms before he slips away.

When Johnny got to Price’s office, Kyle was already coming out. He reeked of an alpha in distress. Johnny was immediately filled with dread. If Kyle couldn’t do it, neither can he. Kyle has always been better about this kind of stuff and now they were replying on Johnny to fix it. “Whit’s gotten intae him? Ye couldn’t help?” The scot asked, worry bubbling underneath his eyes. Kyle looked just as worried as Johnny was, scratching at his nose to help rid of the stench that Price was giving off. “I don’ know, he won’ calm down.” Kyle breathes, his eyes softening as he quietly closes the door so he can speak to Johnny a bit more privately. “He’s no’ righ’ in the head space righ’ now, I think there's something wrong with his alpha. Bu’ ya know how old military men are, he’s denying there's anything wrong..” Kyle speaks in a hushed whisper, not wanting Price to hear them talking about him.

Kyle's words don’t help to calm him down, it makes his head fill with endless possibilities of what could be wrong with Price. Kyle senses the stress on his fellow beta, his bonded beta, and pulls him closer. His hand runs though the hair at the base of his mohawk. “You’re gonna do jus’ fine, Johnny..” Kyle reassures him, projecting his calming coconut scent over the stressed beta. Johnny doesn’t know how Kyle is able to do it so well, but he is immediately calm. He takes a deep breath of the coconut and nods softly. “Aye, ye’re right..” He sighs out softly, filling the tension leaving his body.

Johnny pulls away from Kyle's hold and faces the door to Price’s office. He feels Kyles hand on his lower back as he takes a deep breath and reaches for the handle. He pushes open the door and slips inside, being hit quickly by the musky smell of tobacco stinking up the room. It’s hazy in the small space, cigar wrappers littering the ground. The smell of tobacco is so strong, from the cigars and from Price, that it makes Johnny want to cough.

“Alpha..” Johnny speaks softly, walking over to Price who was hunched over his desk. Johnny’s hands brush over his back and grip his shoulders. “youre puttin tui much stress on yersel, sir. war supposit tae be on partial lea.” He reminds the frustrated alpha, starting to roughly massage Price's shoulders. “This doesn't luik lik partial lea tae me.” He points out, letting his scent wash over the frustrated alpha

Price straightens out and lets his shoulders relax so that Johnny could get to his tense muscles better. “Somethings no’ right, pup.” He grumbles, his hand gripping the pen tightly in his large hand. It looked like he was about to break the plastic in half. Johnny imagines how it would set Price off to be covered in ink, so he gently takes it from his hand.

This causes Price to growl softly, a small warning. “Give i’ back, now.” He grumbled, his shoulders growing tense even under Johnny's magical hands. “nae can do, cap’. You're gonna break it.” The scot whispers gently in Price’s ear. “Are ye hungry?” He asks, pressing his front to Price's back as best he can with Price sitting in a chair as he changes the subject. “A smellit Kyle's cuikin whan A cam in.  A think he made soup.” He persuades, leaning down to place small kisses to the side of Price’s head.

Price doesn't say anything as he stands up and makes his way to the door of his office, roughly grabbing the doorknob and swinging the door open. Johnny is surprised by the sudden movement, not expecting it to be so easy to convince him to leave his cave. His hands fall from Price and he stumbles back a bit, being forced to make room for Price’s movements. The smell of his frustration fills the hallway as he stomps down the stairs, Johnny following close behind. A growl erupts from the living room as Prive passes by, coming from Simon in response to the intrusive scent. “Fucks up with you?” Simon asks, his bright blue eyes glaring at Price sharply. Simon tends to struggle when Price’s scent is as strong as it is, which makes it hard for him to remember they’re on the same team, on the field and as a pack.

Price glares back at Simon, huffing a little bit as Simon gets on his already agitated nerves. His fists clench at his sides, having to focus on not lashing out for no good reason. “Watch it, Ghost.” He almost growls, he tone commanding like he was on the field. Simon backs off when he hears his call sign, knowing not to press anymore. Sometimes, they struggle with their shared pack. There is a long silence as the two alphas stare at each other, both aware of the fine line they are walking

Price is the pack alpha, calling all the shots and making all the decisions for the wellbeing of the pack. Simon is an alpha of the pack, but does not have any proper authority as to what happens. The only thing Simon can do to have any say is to talk it out with Price, who always listens but can’t always promise Simon will get what he wants. While their relationship felt fragile, they still worked around it and found their own ways to be vulnerable around each other.

Johnny and Kyle look at each other, a similar look of worry. They aren’t used to feeling so unsure of everything, their alphas feeling so unsure of everything. All they can do is project their scent out to try and cover Price's burnt tobacco. “The food is already on the table.” Kyle broke the uncomfortable silence. “Your favorite, Alpha.” He continues, holding onto Price's arm as he guides him to the dining room.

They eat dinner in tense silence, Price’s eyes watching all of them as he eats, his gaze protective and observant. Simon meets his eyes everytime Price looks at him, realizing something together. Something is missing from their pack, they just can’t seem to put their fingers on it.

[tenebraevesper]

Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 1)

Welcome to the first part of my personal elaboration on the topic of why ''Prime!Shadow is peak Shadow!'', or in other words, why Prime!Shadow is one of the best written iterations of Shadow's character.

Will I try to make proper arguments for his character writing? Of course. Will I also be biased as hell just because he's my favorite character? Absolutely!

So, if you can handle both of that, we should dive in!

Before I start, I suppose I should give a brief overview of Shadow's character and how he had been handled through the years. The general consensus seems to be that Shadow was at his peak as a character from Sonic Adventure 2 to Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (as well as Pre-Reboot!Archie Comics during Ian Flynn's run), being someone who was deeply traumatized by the death of his sister Maria Robotnik, had his memories manipulated to get revenge on humanity, only to sacrifice his own life to save the world Maria cherished, losing his memories in the process and trying to carve out his own path, only to finally solidify his role as a protector of the world, even if his methods aren't always the most peaceful ones.

So, where does the idea of edgelord Shadow come from?

Yeaaahh... let's just say that Shadow's own game, Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), didn't do him any good in the character department, because it seems that all that people remember was that one time SEGA decided to give Shadow a gun and let him deal with an alien invasion. The confusing story routes didn't help either.

In time, Shadow's character went from a complex and layered character to something akin to Vegeta (no offense Dragon Ball fans!), much to the disappointment of everyone who understood character before he underwent this transformation. Also, I'm not counting Boom!Shadow in this because Sonic Boom is a different universe and its own thing, but I won't argue against the fact that Boom!Shadow's characterization as a complete jerkass didn't do Game!Shadow any favor either. That's not even mentioning the Sonic IDW Comics, where Shadow had many mandates tied to him that even the writers found it annoying to write him (although with the most recent arc where Shadow was shown, it seems that the mandates have loosened a little).

Of course, I might be missing out on some information, but this is the general gist of the history of his character. So, when Sonic Prime revealed that Shadow would be one of the major characters, you can bet that I was nervous about how he would be written and I decided to keep a close eye on his characterization; and honestly, I went from genuinely pleased to excited when I realized that Shadow was being written as a very compelling character. Not only that, but he also appeared to have gone through subtle character development over the course of the show.

Starting from the very beginning, I'm certain that you remember how Shadow's first appearance was basically him punching Sonic at the end of Episode 01: Shattered, a very impactful first impression that left us with more questions and headaches. The following episode, Episode 02: The Yoke's On You, gives us more details in regards to why he punched Sonic, seemingly out of the blue.

Shadow's proper introduction kicks off with him searching for the Chaos Emerald... and I have to ask, when was the last time we even saw Shadow genuinely smile? Was in the Mario & Sonic at The Olympic Games franchise? I don't really remember.

In any case, being clearly happy about finding the Chaos Emerald, he speeds off, only to suddenly sense that something is wrong and is met with a giant blue pulse of energy (released during Sonic's fight with Dr. Eggman) and a vision of Sonic using the Paradox Prism energy.

''Sonic!''

This expression just screams ''Something bad is going to happen and it's Sonic's fault! I'm going to kick his ass before he does anything stupid!''

We then follow Shadow as he searches for Sonic, clocking him square in the face for something he hasn't done yet. Eh, I'd say that this one wasn't really deserved.

Even before Sonic starts explaining his relationship with Shadow, we immediately get an understanding of Shadow's character. He is serious, works alone, quite fast and powerful, prefers to fight over talking things out, is willing to do anything to protect his home and clearly has a history with Sonic. Sonic proceeds to add how Shadow is his biggest rival, a buzzkill and that he totally roller-skates.

''They're air shoes!''

Did... Did Shadow just break the 4th wall? Did he just make a joke? Dude, not even Boom!Shadow got to do that and Sonic Boom was the epitome of wall breaking!

Yeah, let's just say that my jaw dropped when I heard this, realizing that Shadow's character in Sonic Prime will be different than what we got used to see.

So, after knocking the Rings out of Sonic (I mean that literally), Shadow questions him about what he has done, with Sonic pointing out how Eggman is the bad guy, clearly confused about why Shadow is attacking him.

''You literally shook the world!'' ''That's because I'm good! And powerful apparently! Jealous?''

After a bit of teasing from Sonic, he and Shadow get into a race, during which I had noticed something. While Sonic keeps teasing Shadow (and also having fun fighting him), Shadow tells him to stop and listen for once.

''Clearly you're angry, which is normal,... but I'm supposed to be on a bit of a mission here, Shadow!'' ''What mission?'' ''None of your business.''

Sooooo, have you noticed it too? Because there is something very telling in this interaction. If you haven't, I'll let it play out until the end. Anyways, to continue, Shadow knocks Sonic into a rock, with Sonic confirming another aspect of their relationship.

''Ughh, I know, we're fighting again. Don't worry guys, I'll calm him down.''

We now know that this certainly wasn't the first time they had a fight and it won't be the last time. Sonic points out that, whatever beef they have, they aren't going to settle it this way. While Sonic is right, I will admit, I had to gush over the excellent animation and fight choreography. X3

Sonic then hears an explosion from the cave where the Paradox Prism is and tells Shadow that he needs to get to his friends, only to get punched for his troubles.

''Learn to focus!''

Now that the flashback is over, what exactly is going on between the two?

First of all, the main thing I have noticed is that both Shadow and Sonic seriously have a problem with communication. Shadow knows Sonic is about to do something stupid, and from his actions (aka choosing violence over talking) he is trying to prevent Sonic from doing whatever he was about to do. It does paint Shadow as a bit of a jerk, but Sonic isn't completely innocent here either.

An observation I had made was that Shadow probably knows that if he tried to just talk to Sonic, Sonic would either blow him off and run away or just tease him back, which was confirmed when Shadow asks him on what kind of mission he is with Sonic responding that it's none of his business. I imagine that there were previous events where Sonic was doing something stupid and Shadow tried to stop him from making things worse, and that violence was indeed the answer to Sonic's antics.

If Sonic had explained to Shadow what the deal is, I'm certain that Shadow would help him out. Perhaps Shadow could've told him about his vision, but going by Sonic's behavior, Sonic would probably not listen to him.

This brings me to my second point - this moment establishes that, if there will be character development for Shadow, it will be mainly through his interactions with Sonic and them learning to work together and listen to each other, something I'm really excited to talk about in later episodes.

The flashback continues in Episode 03: Escape From New Yoke, where Sonic does the old ''Hey, look behind you!'' trick and Shadow falls for it, hook, line and sinker. Sonic knocks him into a wall and speeds off to where his friends are fighting Eggman, leaving Shadow to recover and follow him.

I do like how Shadow just shakes his head here. Even if he doesn't say much, you can clearly see what it is going through his mind. He's angry at Sonic, but acknowledges that this is just typical for his blue rival.

in Episode 07: It Takes One to No Place, we see that Shadow manages to reach the Paradox Prism cave, just as Sonic is about to shatter it.

''Chaos Control!''

Unlike Sonic's friends and Dr. Eggman, Shadow manages to use Chaos Control, preventing him from being shattered just like the others.

''Sonic!''

Instead, he finds himself floating in The Void. I'll leave what happened to him in The Void for the next part, but what is important to note is that he cannot enter the individual Shatterspaces, but he can communicate with Sonic every time the latter gains enough speed to use the Paradox Prism Energy.

''Sonic, it's broken! It's all broken!''

Sonic is at first freaked out, thinking he's just hallucinating. I suppose that explains why Sonic keeps ignoring him in any subsequent appearances, despite Shadow trying his best to contact him and trying to explain him what to do, like telling him how he's lost in The Void and for Sonic to keep moving and to not stop (which also leads Sonic to find out how he can travel between Shatterspaces).

I suppose this can also be interpreted as ''Sonic leaves Shadow on read''. X3

Once Sonic accidentally gets out of No Place in Episode 08: There Is No Arrgh In Team, he is confronted by Shadow, who is absolutely furious. Not that Sonic notices, given how he had a really rough day himself.

''Shadow? Ugh, I don't have time to deal with whoever you are. I just wanna go home.''

''Home? Home doesn't exist anymore BECAUSE OF YOU!''

Considering what Sonic had done, yeah, this punch was definitely deserved.

As I said above, the first eight episodes are here to establish Shadow's character, his relationship/rivalry with Sonic and his own flaws (mainly the lack of communication on his part, choosing to fight Sonic instead) and it is clear that in order to overcome those flaws, he will have to work with Sonic (calm down Sonadow shippers, we didn't get there yet), something I'm excited to explore in the second part of this analysis.

#Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic Prime, Character Analysis - Part 2)

#Sonic the Hedgehog Analyzer (Masterlist)

[aphroditestearsofjoy]

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 📜

Before my new schoolyear starts I want to write a guide on how I am going to keep up with all my subjects. I will also include my study habits for this year, since they make sure I have the time and mindset in order to properly study.

𝕊𝕥𝕦𝕕𝕪 𝕙𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕥𝕤:

🪷 I prelearn for every subject (except old Greek and Latin). That means I study the concepts before class, so I can use class for revision and ask all my questions.

🪷 Make a week overview of what needs to be done, then decide every morning what schoolwork to focus on. This way it's easier to adjust to unexpected plans.

🪷 When summarizing, I make sure I understand everything that I write down. If I don't, I will search for more information until I can explain it in my own words!

🪷 Nothing gets me in the mood to study, like making tea. I will make herbal tea or a matcha latte while grabbing everything I need to study after school.

𝕃𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟/ 𝕆𝕝𝕕 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕜:

🪷 The last few years I haven't studied a lot of words, to make up for it, I want to pay a little bit of extra attention to studying words. If I know more words, translating will go way easier since I won't have to search up every word in the dictionary. On school days and Sundays, I will study words for 10 minutes a day for either old Greek or Latin. I will study the words using Studygo (huge recommendation for other Dutch folks).

🪷 Another thing I lack with both subjects is my knowledge about grammar. And this is a HUGE problem while doing homework, translating texts and for finishing tests on time. I know how to use grammar, but I don't know most of it by heart. So I will study grammar for 10 minutes a day for both subjects on schooldays and Sundays until I've caught up. From then on, I will only occasionally memorize grammar. Studying grammar consists of literary saying it aloud like some song or poem until I know it well enough and then writing it down way too many times.

🪷 I also want to practise translating more. Since this is the most important skill for both subjects and I haven't done most of my work for the past years, I will make up for it by practising easier texts. Every Sunday, I will translate an extra paragraph for each subject that I will let my teachers correct the following Monday. I will do this until I am satisfied with my translating abilities.

🪷 This year I want to make all my homework for old Greek and Latin. Past years I skipped most of the work, and now I notice that I need more practise. I will study a few days before a test, but nothing more.

𝕄𝕒𝕥𝕙:

🪷 I love maths (controversial opinion, I know). But I believe that when you understand maths, you will love it! But how do you understand it? You should memorize the basics. When you study about a specific topic, watch or read an explanation and make notes. Make sure to make space in the notes for the basics, like concepts you've already learned that has a connection with your new topic. In order to make sure I know how to properly use the topic, I will solve or write down the solution of a practise question next to an explanation as to who I took that step. If I were to get really lost later on, I can follow these steps, but with the new question. Then the most important thing: Practise a lot! Even if it's hard at first. The more problems you solve, the more problems you get. You don't want to waste time when you don't know what to do. So read the question and start thinking what you need to do to solve it. If you genuinely don't have an any idea, look at the solution. But, you won't just look at the solution, you will study it, you look at the steps they take and ask yourself with every step why they took that specific step. When you are done studying the answer, make the question again. I personally write down the questions I struggled with most, to practise them again for my exam!

ℙ𝕙𝕪𝕤𝕚𝕔𝕤:

🪷 Physics is my favourite and one of my best subjects. I always start out with summarizing the concepts in my own words. The biggest problem I have with physics is understanding all the concepts that I can use them together. To make sure I get everything, I summarize. The parts I do not understand, I will watch a video about. Then I start with making exercises, I will look through the exercises and make at least one about every concept. I will make more about the concepts that didn't go well, until I get them right. To prepare for tests, I read through my summary and make lots of practise questions. I will revise everything that didn't go well and remake the questions that went wrong.

ℂ𝕙𝕖𝕞𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕣𝕪:

🪷 When studying chemistry, I mainly try to focus on practise. I would start out with reading the learning outcomes and then actively the entire text. I mark thing I find important, write the questions down that come to mind when reading, and connect information. Then I make a small summary in the format of a mind map. I write down only the most important concepts. Then I start making a lot of exercises about the concept, until I can do them comfortably and without mistakes. Afterwards, I make flashcards using the learning outcomes. By doing this afterwards I make sure I know the best way to answer, and with chemistry lots of question come up while doing the work. When studying for a test, I use the flashcards and remaking the questions I struggled most with.

𝔻𝕦𝕥𝕔𝕙:

🪷 This year I'm preparing for my Dutch finals. To work on my skill, I mainly have to make past finals. I really want to make a summary about all the concepts that come back on the finals. But other that, we mainly have exercises that I can't prepare in advance for. I do really want to expand my vocabulary, because it makes me feel fancy. I should start reading the news more, that way I will also be more informed about the world.

𝔼𝕟𝕘𝕝𝕚𝕤𝕙:

🪷 This year I am taking a Cambridge English exam. My goal is to score a C-Level (advanced). In order to do this I must work on my grammar, vocabulary, writings and listening. I will tackle each property with a guide on how to get better at them.

🪷 My grammar is pretty good, my only problem. I don't know the actual rules. When writing, having a grammatical correct structure kind of happens on its own. Most of the time, that's very helpful, but when I have to point out mistakes in high quality or older texts, I can't. In order to work on this, I would recommend using an actual book. The one I'm starting out with this year is "Advanced Grammar in Use with Answers' from Martin Hewings. I will work through it by reading the theory, using it on my own, and then making the exercises in the book.

🪷 To expand my vocabulary I will write down new words I see when interacting with English content and books and study them. The goal is to learn 30 words a week. I will add all the words to an anki list, so that I can keep practising older words.

🪷 During the proficiency exam it's expected from you that you are able to write formal letters, essays, reports and reviews. To practise, I will write one of these a week and ask my teacher for feedback. I will also use the writing site from Cambridge, where they I've you a writing a prompt, and you can submit your text and let them corrected by professionals. For people who are not able to ask their teacher for help, I would recommend using ChatGPT. Although this is not ideal, it will still help you improve.

🪷 By listening to a daily podcast in English, I will practise my listening skills. It's very important to practise your English listening skills without visual guidance. Of course watching movies will help you improve, but if you want to improve in the shortest amount of time, you need to listen to audios.

ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪:

🪷 I personally find history one of the easiest subjects to study. I study history by chapter and not by paragraph. I always read through the entire chapter and then make a timeline with all the information. So I will include all the concepts, names and everything else in my timeline. Then I will study it by talking through it like I am teaching someone. Every time I miss something while explaining, I will memorize it again. I write down all the most important concepts down a few times, so I will remember how they are spelled and don't make any mistakes on my test! I don't make many exercises since they don't really help me that much. But if I have the time and energy, I make a few of the questions that were asked on previous finals.

𝔹𝕚𝕠𝕝𝕠𝕘𝕪:

🪷 Biology is a very information heavy subject, and I find that it's pretty easy to get lost in all the concepts. I have a pretty strict guide for myself, so I can study biology in the least amount of time. I will start out by reading the learning outcomes for the paragraph, so I know what the most important things are. Then I start actively reading through the paragraph. I mark thing I find important, write the questions down that come to mind when reading, and connect information. Afterwards, I will summarize everything in a mind map. Not just one mind map for every chapter, but one for every group of concepts that fit together well. These mind maps are very big and have all the relevant information, that's why you should minimize the amount of topics on a mind map, because otherwise it won't fit. Then I make the most important exercises and start studying the summaries by pretending that I'm giving a presentation about them, everything that I forget to mention I will memorize again. The day before the test, I will write down the explanation of all the learning outcomes from memory and correct them. Lastly, l review all the concepts that I lacked in.

Be sure to like, comment and reblog! If you like my content, consider buying me a book. <3 Sending you all the love, ~ Pearl 🐚

[saltydkdan]

hey salty! i've been a fan of the channel for a little while now, and i just wanted to tell you that you've inspired me to get out of my content burnout (even though i've only made streams as of now but it's whatever). your videos are super funny, and it's made me want to get into editing more than ever. i just wanted to ask how you made certain aspects in your videos, like having the little characters pop up and make them super expressive like in the HYAAs and the friendlockes (the new one was super good btw!) or the way you edit stuff in general. i just like how much care and effort is made for these videos and i wanna do something like it. sorry for the long ask btw it's not intentional lmao

Thanks so much omg, and I’m glad your diving deeper into editing!

It’s kind of difficult ro fully dive into with a simple Tumblr ask, and I’ve been meaning to do some short form editing tutorials on the side channel, but I’ll try my best to make a brief overview so you can look up the proper terms on your own for now!

There’s 3 different ways I can make stuff move and shake.

The simplest are Plug-Ins. I use Adobe Premiere for editing, and you can use free templates and plug ins and drag them onto images/footage on your timeline to do pre-made edits.

For shaking, I use these plug-ins that were made for the original Deadpool movie! Really cool that these are available for free online, super cool and accessible for anyone! And while they are made for premiere, I’m pretty sure there are other software that can also use it!

https://premierepro.net/deadpool-handheld-camera-presets/

Then there’s Keyframing. This is a bit more complex and nuanced, but most editing softwares have the feature. It’s basically the manual moving of assets. The best thing about certain software, is for keyframing, all you have to do is set the points you want the image to move and the application does the rest for you and fills in the movement.

Like, if I place one keyframe on a picture where it’s on the left of the screen, and one keyframe where it’s on the right side of the screen, the software will make the picture move from left to right!

Finally, After Effects!

Compared to normal editing software, After Effects has a heavy focus on shorter visual edits instead of entire videos, but using it in combination with normal editing software can lead to some more complex edits! However in turn, After Effects can feel much harder to learn.

In After Effects, you can program/set a “Wiggle” effect on clips to get the sort of movement I have during “Have You Heard About” videos where the avatars wiggle around! I’ve made my own reusable transparent clips of each Avatar wiggling for ease of access and editing each episode.

Hope that this short break down points you in the right direction! Again, I’d love to talk more in specific about this stuff in some unscripted side channel videos, so I’d anyone has any questions on how to do stuff, let me know! I’m not a “massive brained” editor or anything, but I can def showcase how to do some stuff in the future!

Have a good one!!

[ellipse-society]

Ok so I did because I was curious to see what was actually there.

So first now of course we have the AI overview.

Firstly thought to form and typically strong word choice there very persuasive/sar. Secondly what do they actually link in the overview? Two blogs and WedMD. So I guess now what does WebMD say because I hope we aren't using blogs as our sources here.

Again with the weak word choices. Using likely then stating 99% instead of 100. What about that last 1%?

So now let's scroll down the page and see what we find.

Firstly we have did-research.org which has a disclaimer page stating not all information on the page is necessarily accurate and there is already some well known things on that website that are questionable in their accuracy when you look at the science on the topic. Also basically just one person's blog so not a reliable resource.

Next in the list one of the blogs linked in the AI overview. They seemed to actually be citing some good sources though...

...still that use of weak language.

Next we have "how do new alters form" asked on r/DID and I decided to check to see if anyone added a source to their answer to give it the benefit of the doubt. They didn't and I shouldn't have to explain why this is a bad source.

After that we have the othe blog from the AI overview the fact it cites did-research.org as a source immediately knocking it even further down in credibility and all of their other sources use that same weak language.

Then we have quora with "how are new alters in DID systems created? Can it happen randomly?" Again I checked for any sources and found none.

And finally after going through all those sources we finally get to a credible one which does actually support their argument until you read what it is about. "Formation and Functions of Alter Personalities in Dissociative Identity Disorder" It isn't talking about every case where alters are present just the cases where the individual has DID and nowhere does it say you need DID to have alters. It also starts to use the same weak language when it actually gets to the actual descriptions of alter formation.

I'm just wondering how they think the first thing that pops up is supporting their point when it takes me to the seventh to find anything. Also most endogenics aren't claiming to have DID and most don't. Most also don't use the word alters. So I really don't see why they think they have proved anything. If your sources aren't talking about endogenic plurality they are not evidence for or against it.

[athenacodes]

Okay so here we have the quickest of quick run throughs on how to utilize variables. Here's the basics:

Whatever --variable: ###; says, you can pull it with var(--variable) and it will keep you from having to repeat color codes, as well as make things easier to switch based on light and dark mode, text size changers, member groups, any and everything.

Feel free to check out the example I was playing with here but this comes with the same contingencies as the grid tutorial base I created which is: the template i’m using as an example is free to use as a base, without credit, same with all the others in my tutorials so far, so long as you are using it to actually make your own. With this one, please don’t use it with no significant changes and try to claim it as your own, that would be pretty dishonest. It's also really quickly and shoddily made so again, not something you want to use without changes anyway which is why I made it [Needs Permission] to denote this stipulation. If you do that, throw some credit in your guidebook or something, i don’t mind, just throw a bone on that one because at that point it is solely my template and not the tutorial itself you are using. But even then, you’re free to use it with credit.

Anyway! If I didn't explain anything well (I probably didn't, this is very quick, I recognize I could definitely be more thorough here but this was created as the most basic of basic overviews of variables and so you could see it in action) let me know your questions and I will answer them as best I can.

And, for anyone who cannot listen to the tutorial, here's a quick overview of what I was basically saying:

Basically, variables are shorthand. instead of ###, ###, ### for the accent color, you just put var(--accent1RGB) or instead of #hexcode you'd put var(--accent1) or however you name them, but the --accent1: #hexcode means that anywhere you are trying to pull that hexcode you'd put var(--accent1).

So for any color you're using, versus repeating it, you can just do something like --bg1: #dedede; and then you don't have to type #dedede ever again, it automatically pulls it in with var(--bg1).

Once you understand it, it's super simple, but again if you need anything further explained or you're more of a hands on learner and wanna walk through it with me, feel free to just reach out, I really don't mind.

Hope this helps! Have a great day, y'all.

[frodolives]

I've decided that I would like to understand what my mutuals see in the old man music cinematic universe. I have loved and supported their derangement from afar in my life and would like to dip my toes in, so to speak. so I come to you humble now and ask: where can I get information about the beatles that will make me think about old British boy band members exploring eachothers bodies? if it helps, I dont mind their more well known music, but I've never really dug into it properly.

Oh man. You've no idea how tough this is to answer lol. My derangement regarding the Beatles has been built up over 6 years now and I hardly remember how it even began.

I suppose that yes, if you're new, you should begin with listening to all their music because it's genuinely very good stuff. Their filmography is also good. If you haven't seen any of their films yet, it's a great place to start because the Beatles' looks, personalities, and sense of humour are just as important to understanding their appeal as their music is (in order: A Hard Day's Night (1964), Help! (1965), Magical Mystery Tour (1967), Yellow Submarine (1968), and Let It Be (1970) - most of these should be free to watch on Dailymotion).

If you're very serious about the Beatles and into the history on an actual academic level, this is a pretty good list of free resources to browse through.

My personal introduction into becoming an actual gay Beatles truther was a series of fan-made documentaries on YouTube called Understanding Lennon-McCartney. It's been a very long time since I've seen them, but I remember them blowing my mind and making me believe in the concept of soulmates. As fun as it is to make jokes about the Beatles exploring each other's bodies, there's something genuinely profound and beautiful about Lennon and McCartney's relationship that shouldn't be overlooked. Chris Evans said it best:

The Understanding Lennon-McCartney documentaries series is also just the most comprehensive overview of McLennon that I know of, even if it's semi-outdated now. I watched them in 2019 and even in just the last 5 years, a lot of new McLennon info has come out. We are truly living in the golden age of Beatles RPF.

One of the biggest recent developments was Peter Jackson's 2021 Get Back series. They're basically a revamped version of Let It Be (1970) and also required viewing at some point. I know a lot of Beatles fans who were introduced to the band via Get Back so I suppose it's not a bad place to start if you're so inclined, though since they chronicle some of the last days of the band, I think they can be best appreciated if you're already at least somewhat familiar with the boys.

After watching all of that, I think you'll have a pretty decent foundation of what people on Tumblr are talking about. Then oddly enough, I'd consider Tumblr the best resource for info. There's more in-depth Beatles talk on here than any other website as far as I know and, in my experience, I learned a lot just by freely exploring various tags and blogs.

There's also the Beatles biopic cinematic universe which is worth dipping your toes into if you like RPF and want an entertaining way to learn the gist of the band's history. There's a lot of low budget biopics out there about those boys. Even I haven't seen them all yet so I wouldn't say watching them is an absolute must, though there's three iconic "gay john lennon biopics" that are entertaining bc of how genuinely gay they are: The Hours and Times 1991 (about John's relationship to Brian Epstein), Backbeat 1994 (about John's relationship to Stuart Sutcliffe), and Two of Us 2000 (about John's relationship to Paul McCartney; the most iconic and revered of all Beatles biopics).

I don't really know what other reccs to give. If anybody wants to chime in with other suggestions, go forth! There's just so much Beatles lore and it's easy to become overwhelmed by it all so definitely take your time lol. And if you ever have any specific questions about the Beatles, I'd be very happy to answer them!

Happy RPFing!

[zombiepillarz]

I would love to hear an overview of what MIOD is if you have one! I think I've seen all the designs before and they look wonderful but I desire to know the plot if there is any :]

THANK YOU FOR ASKING THIS

I’ll try to explain it without any spoilers or going on needless tangents that I can do a post about…

Let’s set the scene

MIOD follows Marcel (Bee-Human hybrid with social AND anger issues) as he is taken out of his secure Navy position by his father, Zeppelin who runs the world organization called MIOD. MIOD (or Macrocosm Institution of Discovery) is an organization that handles all magic instances, whether it be rouge magical creatures or abuse of magic, but mostly all the world governments they work with mainly just want protection from their H-BOTS (a droid made to supervise towns and collect magic evidence and help in magical threat). MIOD in the current situation just researches, deals with national and foreign affairs and educates the masses on magic (and that they should just never use it) BUT THATS WHERE MARCEL COMES IN!!

Marcel is brought in by Zeppelin and he meets 3 other people, Jen Pham (A Freelance Mechanic who was hired after she fixed Zeppelin’s car at a record speed with perfection), Delilah Renee (An old friend of Marcel’s who used to be a child star for an educational tv show MIOD used to have) and Josefina Pond (a stay-at-home parent who mainly worked for MIOD from home, conducting research for clean energy and homeschooling), Marcel also meets Josefina’s 9 year old daughter, Stella but she is quickly sent to the MIOD daycare. Zeppelin explains that MIOD recently started getting slandered by a certain counter group called EToM for their not so clean image that was brought by the recent dangerous malfunctions of the H-Bots which is why he needs a human team to bring back trust and help out in situations that the H-Bots aren’t best suited to handle as the Discovery team!

Stella usually sneaks onto these missions, and no one knows how, especially in their first mission where they go to Europe and deal with an ancient fire breathing dragon (MIOD is a speculative fiction-)

Eventually in their first mission they end up meeting EToM. Even though EToM has hundreds of members all around the globe, the main 3 that Marcel and his team always run into are Elliot (EToM’s “team leader” who has robotic hands similar to an H-Bots), Anaya (the brawn of the team but the nicest one) William (a teenage vampiric bat who just follows his team around) and a hacked H-BOT (named a “E-BOT”, controlled by 2 people named Akrosa and Urvashi). Elliot especially holds a grief over Marcel for “choosing” to be a leader for MIOD, and they become enemies. MIOD wins in defeating the dragon, but they now have to deal with EToM now- (and that’s basically the start of MIOD)

That’s all I am going to explain FOR NOW, as I slowly start to roll out MIOD art, animatics and comics, as there are some things that aren’t what they seem by first read.

If you still have any MIOD Discourse related questions or you want to ask a specific OC, PLEASE ASK!! 

Here are their refs but keep in mind THESE ARE GETTING REDRAWN, but they are keeping their main elements

Yes furries (Marcel, Urvashi, William and Jaya) are normal members of society, not actual animals who live in the wild or captivity. They aren’t really magical creatures but some (aka all) are classified (By MIOD) as such since they “aren’t exactly human in physical traits or behaviors”, For Example, William needs to consume blood as a normal part if his diet, and Urvashi and Jaya have sharper teeth and great agility/flexibility (yeah you can see what is about to happen-) ask to know more (although it will be really hard to explain this whole system)

[litrumi]

(ADLN - Understand Me AU) Ability Compendium (??? Powers: Overview)

A brief overview of Catnap's and Dogday's special abilities in "A Drop of Light in the Night" (Catnap X Dogday) [ADLN] - Otherwise known as the "Understand Me AU". It's my currently in-progress fanfic on Wattpad.

PLEASE refer to this Overview/Synopsis post if you have no idea what this even is, but are curious nonetheless. Don't start looking here until you've caught up.

So !!! SPOILERS AHEAD !!! - You've been warned.

Figured I'd make a compiled list with explanations of how these abilities work. All "???" stuff will be replaced/updated when I reach those points in the publications of the chapters. So refer BACK to this whenever the story progresses with such topics, and feel free to ask questions if you wanna know something more specific! But I'm gonna try my best not to spoil much either if it hasn't been revealed.

*All underlined / hyperlinks on the abilities themselves are just a reference to the type of music/soundtrack I "associate" with the power when I'm writing about it in the story.

**This part is just for me to reference every once in a while.

Draft Made: (6/3/24 - 5:03 PM) First Posting: (6/11/24 - 8:24 PM) Last Updated: (6/11/24 - 8:24 PM) **

Right, so here we go!

-

(s.) Catnap's abilities:

Red Smoke: Something that's been with him for as long as he can remember. This smoke can induce a long, restful sleep. However, it comes at the cost of "having nightmares" and has the "potential to cause hallucinations." Yet, it may even have something to do with a certain "connection" he's well aware of. (Something he's able to "put two and two together" on, if you've ever heard that idiom before). Either way, Catnap actively hates this ability, preferring not to use it if he can help it.

???:

-

(s.) Dogday's abilities:

Thought Process: When Dogday touches his forehead to someone else's forehead, his sun-shaped pendant gives off a gentle glow. With great focus, he can listen in on someone's private thoughts. Anything the person thinks is something Dogday can hear, like if they were speaking it in their voice. Dogday's thoughts are not transmitted to the other person unless he "willingly transfers a thought over," letting him have great control of the internal conversation.

What Dogday realized is that people typically say stuff after they've figured out how they want to say it, allowing them to be well-guarded and sly/secretive. But, because people's minds are usually a safe haven for private thoughts, they have no issue (or much less of a problem) with thinking what they really believe. Basically, a person's mind is unfiltered communication! It's a lot harder for people to hide what they really think. (But not impossible...)

However, one catch to this incredibly useful tactic is that as long as a person so much as "thinks" about wanting Dogday to stop reading their mind (no matter how they phrase it, as long as it means it with the intention), then Dogday gets a small, static-like shock to the brain that cuts off the connection, disconnects their foreheads, and does not allow Dogday to listen in on their thoughts for a sizeable amount of time. (It doesn't hurt much, but it's like any ol' feeling of static electricity). *"?" Addendum:

???:

-

...Awakening... Transcendence...

-

[alfiely-art]

Alright chat here is my laundry tutorial WITH PICTURESS. Alfie washer and dryer reveal

So. Your washing machine is empty.

It may look something like this! This is a top-down view of mine, but your washing machine may have a horizontal door. That's okay! That doesn't change much of the instructions. Basically, what you wanna do is fill this thang up with clothes you want to wash.

I've chosen to wash my blankets. Now, very important- I haven't filled the washer entirely. Unless you're doing EXTREMELY light clothes, you do NOT want to fully fill your washer. This can overload it and cause it to break. Doing ONLY heavy clothes can also overload your washer- ex: a load of only bath towels. It's important to keep in mind what exactly you're putting into the load- if the clothes will get much, much heavier after getting wet, do less clothes. My blankets are all pretty light, so they're all good.

Next, you need to find where the detergent goes. This will be different for every washing machine, but it should be relatively easy to find- here's mine.

I don't use liquid detergent, I use the little crumbly dust shit. I'd recommend only using about that much detergent in a load- you don't want it to be TOO soapy. If you use liquid detergent, you don't want to use too much, either. I'd say about a third of a cap of the container. But, yeah! Just plop it in the part that says "detergent". If you have a softener to use, put it in the other part (assuming your washing machine has this seperation). Then close that, close the lid, and turn your attention to the buttons.

This is a lot of buttons. On a normal wash, you won't have to touch most of them, thankfully- just go to the water temp area and turn it to cold. I'd only recommend using hot water if the clothes Really need it- I only use hot water if a cat peed on my clothes or something similar to that nature. Hot water is more expensive and could be better used for washing dishes or taking showers or other things. So! Cold for normal loads. The little wheel can be turned for specifying what sort of load you're doing- though, I rarely turn it. That part is up to your discretion! Also note that it has an option for "tub clean". It's a good idea to let your washer clean itself every once in awhile. After you've chosen all the settings you want, just hit start.

Now, let's say your washer has finished. Now it's time to use the dryer! The dryer is pretty simple. Just put your clothes from the washer to the dryer. VERY IMPORTANT THING TO REMEMBER: the lint trap. When drying clothes, lint will accumulate, and most dryers have a lint trap to catch it. Lint is EXTREMELY flammable. Make sure to clean the lint trap each time you do a load of laundry.

Lint isn't sticky or gross but if you can't bring yourself to touch it or are allergic, that's perfectly fine! You can use gloves, a butter knife to peel it off, whatever. It's very loose and tends to all come off at once. No matter what, though, don't forget the lint trap. If you let it sit there you have a fire waiting to happen. On the bright side, though, if you collect it you have easy fire starters for camping and such. Woohoo!

Now, the dryers buttons.

You probably won't have to use most of these buttons. Hell, I've never used any of these buttons other than the Time Dry, Power, and Start button. But your load may need these. Either way, just hit what settings you need, and start the load. When you've just transferred your clothes from the washer to the dryer, I recommend having the load dry 60 minutes. It may need more or less time depending on what's in the load and how wet they are, but 60 minutes is a good place to start.

And you're done!! You did laundry. There's different ways to wash different things (shoes, for example) but this is mainly an overview of it. If you have any specific questions let me know, or look it up! There's lots of tutorials and guides online. I hope this helps! Doing laundry is an important skill to learn, I think, and I'm happy to help people learn how to do it 👍

[prouvaireafterdark]

Would you be able to give an overview of Marius and Armand’s full relationship? I think I got a little lost last chapter.

Okay I was typing this out on my phone and then the app crashed and I lost it all so let’s try this again lol

Putting this under a tab for spoilers for my fic Practical Ethics and also 'cause it got pretty long. Also TW for Marius being a gross pervert

Basically Armand went to Venice to enroll in school and indoctrinate other students into the cult to boost their numbers and resources (the art of manipulation is, after all, a skill of his). It was meant to be a final test, like a “go out into the world and prove how loyal you are” kind of thing since he'd been with them so long and had fully drunk the Kool-Aid out of self-preservation instincts.

When he enrolled in Marius’ class, Marius (who was a long-term visiting professor for research reasons) took an interest in him because he was attracted to him and sensed there was something going on with him.

After many conversations in and out of Marius’ office hours, Armand’s worldview started to shift. He began to question the things he’d been raised in and realized that there was another way to live that didn’t involve constant (literal and metaphorical) darkness and abuse. This revelation was as terrifying as it was incredible, but he thought it would be okay if he just stuck with Marius, who could show him how best to live in this world he didn’t really understand

And at the time, Marius seemed a much better alternative than the cultists. Sure he could be harsh and uncompromising, but he wasn't making him sacrifice animals and drink blood or beating him and starving him for days when he did something wrong. He also was the first person to make Armand feel like he was special, the first person to make him feel like he had someone in his corner looking out for him, so Armand latched on really hard.

Marius helped Armand work up the courage to leave the cult and when he finally did, he was, predictably, cut off financially. Marius offered Armand a place to stay (his bed) in his (one bedroom since the other bedroom was turned into an art studio) apartment and took over his tuition payments. Armand was a wreck emotionally at first and Marius gave him some sense of stability. He also took Armand’s education into his own hands, telling him what classes to take and which sorts of things were worth study and which were not. Marius praised him lavishly when he measured up to his expectations, but then he also started to punish him harshly when he did not (not unlike the cult). Instead of building him up and helping him gain some independence, he made Armand rely on him for everything, including physical/sexual intimacy.

Their relationship wasn’t ROMANTIC per se though, like Marius wasn’t his boyfriend or anything. I think Marius is just exactly the kind of creep to have convinced a naive Armand that the Ancient Greek model of the pederastic relationship (that is, the sexual relationship between a younger male and his adult mentor which was seen as part of their education) was normal and something that would be beneficial to him. Marius could teach him everything he needed to know and sex was part of the exchange. Armand was so starved for affection and physical touch he let Marius do whatever he wanted. He also posed for Marius a lot and served as his artistic muse.

When Marius’ term as visiting professor ran out, Armand assumed he would be going back to San Francisco with him, but Marius left Venice and Armand behind without much notice. Marius and Pandora hadn’t spoken much in the last three years, but they were still legally married and Marius never had any intention of choosing Armand over her. Marius also gaslit him into thinking it was his fault for misunderstanding their situation so he blamed himself for his own distress more than he blamed Marius.

Armand spiraled hard after that and had to figure out how to live without him basically telling him what to do. After some soul-searching, he decided to keep studying philosophy and religion, probably as a way to cope with what happened to him in the cult, and also because he was just interested in learning. He eventually completed a masters degree (probably part time because he had to support himself now) and then decided to pursue a PhD.

He reached out to Marius for advice on programs since he's a leading scholar in his field (Roman religion) and would know how best to position himself as an applicant. Marius seemed excited to hear from him again and Armand was hopeful that things would be different this time. He offered him advice on which programs to apply to and supported his applications with letters of recommendation. (What Armand still doesn’t know is that Marius also sabotaged him in those letters to ensure San Francisco would be his only option because he got off on the dynamic they used to have and wanted to see him again)

When he arrived, Armand thought Marius would treat him like an adult now that he was older and more self-sufficient and that they could have a mutually beneficial professional relationship, but he was still the same asshole he was back then. He may not be living or sleeping with him anymore, but he’s still abusive and acts like he owns him - hence why Armand is trying to get away from him throughout the fic

I’m sorry if any of that was unclear! I tried to reveal bits of information subtly over time (sometimes it isn’t about what Armand says, it’s about what he doesn’t say, or what he alludes to and then stops himself from thinking more about because those memories are too traumatic for him to want to examine too closely), but maybe some things got lost somewhere haha

If people want me to, I can make some of this more explicitly stated in the fic - just let me know if you think that would be helpful 💖 I didn't want to give Marius' crimes too much airtime, but I also don't want people to be confused lol

[saintqueer]

Ooh I’m very interested in how march will be different from February (if only because February was horrendous and I’m hoping for a slight reprieve from *gestures at everything*)

okay bestie everything is gonna be changing and ive been obsessing over the changes that are gonna be happening

so first of all, mars has been STUCK in gemini since august 2022 and mars usually only stays in a sign for like 6 weeks or so this is really stagnant icky energy which might be causing some pressure particularly for people with gemini in their chart but from here it only gets more intense

saturn has been in aquarius basically since march 2020 (yep you heard that right!!!) saturn only moves signs every 2 to 3 years so when it moves the energy shifts majorly. those born between 1991 and january 1994 have been having their saturn return (that includes me). so this period has been particularly challenging for a lot of millennials! saturn will be moving into pisces on march 7th so we will be experiencing a major shift in energy then which could bring a lot of relief to those who have their saturn on aquarius! but these multi year transits can be impactful to everyone especially now considering what the world has been experiencing since march 2020

and FINALLY we have the biggest one of all: pluto! pluto is a generational planet meaning that it only shifts signs every 20 or 30 years! pluto has been in capricorn for the last 20 years. but now pluto is slowly beginning it's transit into aquarius starting on march 23rd. now listen close:

pluto has not been in aquarius since the 1790s!!!! the time of the french and american revolutions and the beginning of the industrial revolution overtaking london. so we are beginning a complete shift of an age which will greatly impact not just personal energy but the energy of society, of politics, of pop culture, economics, technology, etc!

so combining all of this info: we are in for several HUGE transits happenjng all within just a couple of weeks which is pretty rare. it means there is so much energetic change to take advantage of if you are able to figure out how to use it!

if you have any other questions, let me know. but that is a big basic overview of the huge changes coming this month. february has NOTHING on march

[hozier-is-my-wife]

Take Me To Church

A yap session, straight from my silly little brain <3

cw: mentions of sexuality and religion, but nothing too bad really lol

word count: 1.1k

Here's the song to get you in the mood to read this yap paragraph. Warning, it is extremely long but I think it's pretty well thought out. If you have anything to add after reading it, let me know!

Also, I'm just making this/posting this as a little something to keep you entertained while I try to get the first chapter of that hozier x reader fic out. And just as a small disclaimer, some of the things may be slightly incorrect, but I tried to fact check everything. If I'm wrong about something, let me know and i will correct it <3

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Okay, so HOW did take me to church get popular in 2014 of all times? Another question is why did christians latched onto this song so HARD, despite it definitely not being a christian song? It topped charts and is even certified multi-times platinum. That is EXTREMELY impressive. But anyways, I've been thinking about this a LOT and it actually is kind of shocking. How the lyrics are written, the meaning of the song, and just the overall sound of the song are so different from all of the other chart-topping songs of that time. So how did this happen??

So to make this easier on myself and any possible readers, I'm separating this little yap paragraph into different sections. I'm also going to abbreviate Take Me to Church as TMTC to make it easier to type.

Here are the sections I am separating this into (I'll make sure to put headings so you can skip to certain places if you'd like):

Overview (just basic info)

It's popularity

The music video

The meaning of the song

The lyrics (which i will separate from the meaning)

His competition at the time/the state of music at the time in general

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Overview on TMTC

TMTC was released on September 13, 2013 and it was Hozier's debut single. It's also the opening track on his debut album, Hozier. It was first released in an EP with Like Real People Do, Angel of Small Death and the Codeine Scene, and Cherry Wine. The music video was then released on September 25, 2013. Still, the song didn't become widely popular until summer/fall of 2014.

TMTC's popularity

I'm putting all of its achievements (I guess achievements is a decent word for it) into bullet points to make it easier

Topped at #2 on US billboards charts, making Hozier one of the only irish singer/songwriters to top US charts

Topped at #1 in several countries (including Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic 2x, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and on some US charts)

Still appears on some charts now, nearly 10 years after its released

One of the most listened to songs of 2014 on Spotify charts

Certified multi-platinum in multiple countries

Was nominated for a "song of the year" grammy in 2015

Music Video

So the music video was actually pretty controversial for its time. It features a gay couple, which still wasn't widely accepted in 2013. Technically, gay marriage wasn't even legal in several countries at this time. So even though this is a small point, this really adds to the "how did this get popular?" question and even more to the "why did christians latch onto this song so much?" question.

The Meaning of TMTC

TMTC has several meanings. The main two meanings are sex/sexuality and violence from the church and several countries, especially against LGBTQ+ people. Hozier himself said, "It’s about sex and it’s about humanity, and obviously sex and humanity are incredibly tied. Sexuality, and sexual orientation, regardless of orientation, is just natural. The song is about asserting yourself and reclaiming your humanity through an act of love." It's also talking about how certain institutions, such as the church, force you to be ashamed of things such as sexuality.

The music video further pushes its meaning by featuring a gay couple who gets attacked after being caught together. Hozier openly talks about politics in his music, so having such a political song is completely expected from him. It was meant to make a change and it was meant to bring awareness to the hatred from several groups of people.

Now, the political aspect isn't the only meaning behind this song. It's also about love and devotion, comparing their lover to religion. In true Hozier fashion, it's about worshipping your lover in a similar way to how you would worship a religion.

I could go into more detail about each lyrics (like quite literally break down every line) but that would take absolutely forever, so this is like an overall summary. And that leads us to our next section:

The Lyrics

The lyrics to TMTC are insanely meaningful and written in a way that's comparable to poetry. The way that Hozier writes is always in a poetic way, so TMTC's lyric style is no surprise, but what IS a surprise is how people took the lyrics. Compared to popular songs of that time, not only was the overall meaning different, just the writing style was different.

Think of "Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift or "All About That Bass" by Meghan Trainor. When you take those lyrics and compare them to lyrics such as "If I'm a pagan of the good times, my lover's the sunlight/To keep the goddess on my side, she demands a sacrifice" or "No masters or kings when the ritual begins/There is no sweeter innocence than our gentle sin/In the madness and soil of that sad earthly scene/Only then, I am human, only then, I am clean."

Those lyrics are quite different, right? Like I mentioned, not only are the meanings different, but the overall style was so different as well.

His Competition and the State of Music in General

Imagine this...

It's 2014. You're riding around in the car and you turn on the radio. Dark Horse (Katy Perry), Happy (Pharrell Williams) , Timber (Pitbull Ft. Kesha), and Boom Clap (Charli XCX) are just a few of the songs playing on repeat. But then, Take Me to Church comes on. What a mood change, right?

That's because it was a huge change from most of the other music on the radio and on main charts. The music wasn't political and it was much more upbeat and "poppy." TMTC even sounds different, with its dark sounding piano and occasional deep sounding guitar. Even his vocals had a different sound.

Outro

So now that we've gotten through all of my points (unless I randomly decide to add more, which usually quite possible), why did TMTC get popular? With its controversial music video, political message, and different sound, how did this happen? I mean, even Hozier himself said he never expected TMTC of all songs to get popular.

Truthfully, a huge part of it going viral and becoming so popular is because of the music video. Once it blew it up, the song blew up, but I suspect there's a deeper meaning to its popularity. What's that you may ask?

Well, I suspect that people needed that change. People craved music that had that deep meaning and they craved change. At this point, politics weren't a huge part of mainstream music, even though art is inherently political. Music at this time had developed into a more fun, "everything is great!" vibe. Although this music is great, it needs to be balanced out. I mean, if everything was political, people would crave fun. It's just a matter of people needing that balance and TMTC is what gave that to them at that point. It was meaningful and had a different sound, which was what ultimately led to its popularity.

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thank you so much for sticking around and reading this entire thing, it means a lot to me. i love being able to have somewhere that i can yap about my interests (mainly hozier) and actually have people care. this may be a little messy, considering i wrote it at like 3 AM, so just ignore any typos or grammar mistakes. but anyways, that's all! thank you again for reading <3

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୨୧┇tags:

[konigsberg]

I've had a few people offer to beta/edit MO, or ask questions about it, so I guess this is my awkward beta/editor search post? Or more, a clarification post for anyone who might be interested. Just an overview of what it might mean or look like to beta/edit for MO specifically.

I think in fandom spaces "beta reader" and "editor" sort of end up blurring in a lot of cases. In more official publishing, the editor comes in first to do their thing, correcting grammar, spelling, etc. Once a work is pretty much done, as in finished and edited, you get in beta readers. They're meant to sort of give feedback as a potential audience member, basically, to let the author know how it reads as a finished product. I think the roles can sometimes have overlap even in official publishing, at least in the sense both are providing feedback, spotting errors that have been missed, maybe identifying things that read strangely as far as structure, plot, and the rest go.

In fandom, things are obviously structured a lot differently and they're a lot more flexible, given everything is unofficial and casual. I think it can really just depend on the writer and the beta as for what they want/need to do.

And as for MO, I have the story's plot of course, but I'm obviously writing as I go, so that inherently makes for a different sort of experience for anyone coming in to edit or provide general feedback.

The way I've done it in the past is to give someone access to the WIP document(s) through Google Docs so they could leave comments on anything that stood out to them, talked about the general plan for the fic in DMs somewhere, that sort of thing. I wouldn't ask anyone to directly change what is in the document just in case, it would just be like highlighting maybe a misspelled word or a sentence that you think I should break up, and leaving a comment about that there.

I'm a few chapters ahead of what's posted on ao3. I usually wait to really edit maybe two weeks before the chapter is going to be posted, so I have fresh eyes to look at it with and just leave the chapter after that to be edited/potentially reworked in that same every two week timeline. My biggest concerns are usually that I've forgotten some detail in the midst of 600k words, I keep repeating the same damn word every other paragraph that I don't mean to, or maybe weird grammar problems. In this way, I think my concerns are maybe more "beta reader" problems, ie. did I forget a plot point? But I definitely suck at grammar, don't get me wrong.

Given it's just a fic, there's not a lot of pressure to catch every single little thing, but it is very long and dense, obviously, so asking anyone to read over it is a lot even if there's not any pressure to do things perfectly. And I feel bad because I can't really provide much compensation for that work. In the past, friends were happy just to do it basically in exchange for the ability to read chapters ahead of everyone else, but it feels a little weird to have strangers do work with that sort of compensation when I do make a little money on p8reon. That might be something to work out on an individual basis, though, I guess.

There's also the fact that most people who might be willing to edit and/or beta are obviously people interested in reading the work, and I would feel bad if the task might make the actual reading much less fun for them. Like some might find it interesting to see the plot outline or something, but then for others that would just spoil the fun. Or if it came to feel like "work" that might take the joy out of it. I think it's possible to beta/edit like a chapter ahead of what's posted without needing to know what's going to happen at the very end, for sure, but I guess what I'm really getting at is I woulnd't want to make anyone feel like they have to be spoiled on what's happening next, bound to the task of working on something that I can't give a good timeline on re: how many chapters are left or how long I'll take writing it, or anything like that.

Also, of course, there are potentially upsetting topics covered in the story. I think anyone who has gotten through the whole of the fic so far is probably okay to get through the rest, but there are going to be more parts of the story involving all of the same topics, depictions, etc. already seen in the rest of the fic and potentially more upsetting things. I'm happy to provide any sort of warnings or clarification on chapters in general, even outside of the context of someone beta/editing the work, so I don't think this should be a big issue, but it's just something to keep in mind.

So I guess, if that doesn't scare you off, and as long as it's understood there's seriously no pressure on my part that you commit to this for a long time or do an extreme amount of work or anything (beyond the demands of... sometimes reading 15k word chapters lol... just reading a chapter over once and leaving any comments on spelling and grammar errors, maybe things that don't seem like they make sense narratively, or make it seem like I've forgotten something haha, that's more than enough)... if you would like to beta/edit MO, let me know?

Feel free to ask questions, too, because god knows I've forgotten at least a few things. I might end up adding to this because I'll suddenly remember something in an hour, honestly.

If you want to just reply to this post, that's fine. My inbox should be open here, as well as the whole tumblr messaging system. I often miss when people DM me on twitter because I just never get notifs for it, and honestly I think my notifs in general sometimes don't work for replies there, but I'll try to keep an eye on that, too. I'm probably going to be a little busy this week, but I will strive to get back to everyone reasonably quickly.

I'm not really sure if there will be a lot of responses to this, but... just in case: If you do reach out and I end up going with someone else, it's definitely not personal!

I appreciate everyone who has mentioned being willing to help out. I've just been a little overwhelmed because I obviously don't know what the hell I'm doing lol and I thought this might be the easiest way to quickly provide some more info to anyone interested.

Thanks for reading!