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lovenona · 4 years ago

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AVE MARIA.

contains: a crumb of explicit smut, praise, body worship, infidelity (reader cheats on her crusty husband), oral (f! receiving), mirror sex, italian renaissance au, catholicism, lots of sacrilegious themes, cisfem! reader, sweet and soft vibes ahead

based on this drabble.

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(florence, italy, the year of our lord 1485. the city sits at the center of the universe. with her dense, winding streets and her ethereal architecture and her aspiring masters loitering on every corner, florence is a city that does not listen, but speaks. she is where the sun rises and sets, where the gods find their inspiration.)

you presumed that florence would hold your heart, always. but when you first heard him refer to you and the blessed mother in the same sentence – that’s when you knew.

and later, when he looked at you like you were a deity come down from the heavens to baptize him alone – you knew then too.

you understood, instinctively, always, that you would follow nanami kento to the end of the world, no matter the price.

you always considered yourself luckier than some. you hailed from a respected family; you married rich and powerful and strong. your own husband frequently sat at the table of lorenzo de medici and drank his wine and caressed his lovers. each morning you wore beautiful, fine fabrics, and at breakfast you browsed frantic letters from the esteemed jewelers of venice who begged you to wear their craft. better still, you played the darling hostess of one of the finest houses in florence, guiding mindless housewives through your flourishing courtyard with ease and grace and fertility.

and on sundays – oh, sundays! you sat, poised and perfect, in the front pews of the florence cathedral, where all eyes watched you in envy: even god.

perhaps you were luckier than some. and yet.

and yet, still, when you studied yourself in the looking glass, you found you were empty inside, a hollow vessel, waiting in vain for something to fill you up and give you purpose and meaning. you were vapid and beautiful. you were not sure what you were supposed to be.

how could you? your husband never looked at you unless you were underneath him like a dog. your little circle of friends did not care an ounce about the literature and philosophy you read. and the strangers in rags carrying baskets and babies on the streets simply asked you to pray for them, to care for them, for you to put in a word to your husband about them.

perhaps you were luckier than some. but luck did not mean substance, did not mean feeling. you knew this better than anyone.

so you retreated into yourself, studied philosophy and gazed at florence’s greatest artwork and wondered what it would mean to be aphrodite or mary or zeus: what it would mean to matter to something. would it would mean to be seen.

(but nanami saw you – every inch, every crevice, every pore. he saw through you with the sharp gaze of the artist who knows exactly what he is looking for.)

the name nanami kento was no stranger to you. it was a sacred name, a revered name, whispered in tandem with giotto and ghiberti and and donatello. an artist from across the sea, he was florence’s greatest celebrity, a shining beacon that reflected the essence of the renaissance, the essence of florence’s great and powerful mind. even before his arrival, rumors circulated that back in rome the pope had commissioned him a project so vast and detailed it had taken the first eight years of nanami’s career to complete it.

so when nanami kento finally came to florence, the city was aflame.

nanami sculpted marble; he coaxed life from dirt, turned stone into feeling. many remarked that they had wept openly at the feet of his tragic pieta, that they would be more than willing to sell their children and their horses and their homes for him to craft them but one piece of heaven. nanami kento, with the grace and easiness of earth and water, created life where there was none. nanami kento, for all his stoic demeanor, knew how to make his audience tremble.

nanami kento was a talented sculptor, yes: but he was more notorious, still, for refusing many of his desperate patrons. he did not need money, the rumors said, because the pope had paid him enough florins to last a hundred lifetimes or more. he did not need the excess money, the rumors said, because he was a man who would always feel he had enough. nanami kento was a sculptor in high demand. he could pick and choose at will, and he exercised this privilege freely.

but your husband, proud man he was, fearlessly captured nanami in his silver-tongued claws. we need more artwork, he’d told you in bed one night, voice thick with drink and the orgasm he had coaxed from himself but not from you. our house looks too bare – that da vinci painting in the dining room just isn’t enough. imagine if we secured nanami, who turned down the medicis? we’d be the talk of florence. it enthralled him, then, the idea of being one of the few families in all of florence who could secure nanami’s trust, who could secure his godly talent like a bird in a cage.

you never found out what your husband had told him. one morning you simply woke to find the servants preparing nanami a room in the south wing of the house, to find servants with heavy blocks of marble in tow, to find servants moving tables and supplies into what your husband proudly called the greatest art studio in florence.

(your husband was a patron to many famous artists, and never had he allowed them to work in his own home. you wondered just what it was that made nanami so different. you wondered just how much you cared to know.)

and then, when he arrived, your axis shifted.

nanami kento was, to put it simply, the most beautiful man in the universe: golden hair that mimicked sunlight, a sharp and solemn jaw, a steady demeanor, a pair of intimidating eyes. he walked through your halls with the ease of someone who understood himself, of someone did not question who he was or what he was meant to be. he was not hollow inside, but cool and contemplative and knowing.

he reminded you of the stories your father used to tell about the construction of the florence cathedral. your father – younger, then, and leaner – used to stand below the cathedral, watching in awe as the men placed the bricks that formed the dome, waiting with baited breath for the dome to collapse on itself. and it never did, he told you, because the foundation was solid, because its architect, brunelleschi, had god’s own genius.

nanami, too, carried the confidence of one who knew he would never collapse.

he did not laugh at your husband’s table. he did not smile at the jokes, at the meal, at you. he maintained a cold composure that mimicked the stone he worked with, spoke in clipped sentences that never wavered. nanami did not ask questions: he supplied only answers. you did not know if you liked him, then, but it was the aura of security enveloping his being that kept you asking for more.

nanami kento was, bluntly, a block of marble, and you were desperate to discover what was underneath.

so when he arrived the next morning, you shamelessly begged to watch him at work, claiming that you had unrealized artistic passions and that your health made it difficult to work. a lie, of course, but when you begged and begged and said your husband would not care, nanami kento let you in, dusty and slow.

nanami explained, plainly, that your husband had commissioned a sculpture of judith slaying holofernes. to protect the house, perhaps, and to preserve the sanctity of florence. you listened with half an ear: your husband did not want another judith to proclaim his florentine patriotism. he only wanted to rival the medicis with their precious little donatello.

(an ugly rendition of judith, if you did say so yourself.)

and of course, you didn’t care about the artistic process, not when sweat broke out in a glorious sheen across nanami’s forehead in the late afternoon heat. not when his biceps flexed beneath the light shirt he wore, when his nimble fingers dusted away the imperfections on the stone. certainly not when he bit his lip in intense concentration, hard and studious but never enough to draw blood. you never cared, not when he tilted his head back after you graciously handed him refreshments, adam’s apple bobbing in sway with your heartbeat.

you could have watched him the rest of your life. you could have eternalized him in stone.

why don’t you become a painter? you asked him, once, as he studied the block of marble from across the room, still and stiff and confident and cold.

painting is not sculpting, nanami had responded, crisply, steadily. he always came prepared with answers; he never paused to think. when you paint, you create. but when you sculpt, you coax forward a life that was already there, latent and waiting.

he looked in your eyes, then. and you knew. it was like he saw through you: like he knew you had treasure inside.

after four weeks of your incessant curiosities, four weeks of small talk and curious conversation, nanami began to arrive each morning with fresh loaves of bread for the kitchen staff and bouquets of flowers that he would place in a jar before he began his work. and as he sat alone in the studio during the early morning hours, even he began to pray, plainly, that you would arrive in the doorway, eyes glistening with sleep, begging to watch him sculpt.

(he returned your gaze, now, studying with seeming indifference the way your dress shifted when you walked and the way your eyes crinkled when you asked him about rome.)

you danced around each other like clockwork, with the predictable grace of earth and stone. he pretended he did not care: you knew, hopelessly, that he did.

nanami told your husband nothing about these swift developments. he told himself that he was a responsible man who would live and die alone. he told himself that he simply enjoyed the silence of your company. that he would, and could, defy his budding feelings towards you.

and then, finally, on a still morning when from the marble judith’s head began to emerge, he told you that you had a face worth recreating.

judith has a strong face, a face that displays vigor, conviction, confidence, nanami explained to you, cradling the smooth marble beneath his thumbs. judith may be a widow, but she has been gifted by god the strength to save her people from destruction. there is delicacy in that faith, a power in that action. there are not many women in florence with such a face.

you complained, then, that he should not sell the women of florence so short.

you have the face, he admitted simply, as if you should have known all along. you contain multitudes.

and so you stepped closer, wanting. and nanami did not look away. for to create judith, a face with your face, it would have been in bad practice for an artist as careful as nanami not to memorize the curve of your cheeks, the shape of your nose, the taste of your eager lips. it would have been in bad practice not to learn you entirely, to take your aura and transcribe it onto the stars.

(nanami kento took his jobs more seriously than religion or love or money. and he would not, could not, leave this one behind.)

and so it hung in the air, festering, like an open secret. every morning, nanami silently brought you flowers. you watched, all day, as judith face’s – now becoming your face – emerged from the stone. and in return, nanami watched you, with unwavering discipline, as you roamed your cold halls, took your husband’s criticism like a martyr, traveled to and from the cathedral on sundays with the hollow faith of a perfect ghost.

and in the evening, when nanami returned to his own home, you waved him off with dutiful grace. and with every goodbye, nanami held your blooming knuckles to his lips for a moment longer. and with every delicate kiss, you became less hollow, and more real.

so you circled each other, doves in the night, prayers whispered in shadow with the fear of no reply.

until you caved and kissed him first, on a warm afternoon sickly sweet with the smell of cakes and lemons and tarts wafting from somewhere far within. and you knew then, too, that you would damn yourself to hell with invigorating enthusiasm if it meant you could kiss him again.

nanami kento, unwavering, steady, kissed you back, and it was like finally coming home.

nanami kento worked with unwavering precision. and to craft his judith in your image, he declared with finality that he needed to know your face like the back of his hand. and he said it with such seriousness, too, that you did not doubt that he planned to map every kiss to memory, that his tongue would not, could not, forget the curve of your mouth and the sharpness of your teeth.

your face, nanami admitted, it contains multitudes. it reflects your soul – you are so much, so beautiful. to forget this face would be a crime.

he did not understand what it was your husband could not love. in a world of science and philosophy and understanding, as a man of considerable routine and clearheadedness, nanami did not see what it was your husband could not appreciate. did he not know? did he not see that your face was a forever-face? that your eyes made art just by blinking?

he doesn’t pay attention, you’d said, bitter and angry. he never knows me. you bit your lip when you confessed it, eyes scanning anywhere else in the room.

beautiful, nanami repeated, losing composure, unwinding. you are immaculate. i would sculpt you forever. he did not doubt himself, so neither did you. because if nanami kento said you were whole and beautiful and seen, you would be a fool not to believe him.

on sunny afternoons when your husband was away, nanami made love to you on his workbench with the delicacy of a humble believer bowing at the foot of the altar. stern and steady, with the overwhelming adoration of the devout, he placed a kiss on every part of your skin. your eyelids, for their clarity: your neck, for its fortitude: your stomach, for its strength: your fingers, for their delicacy.

your husband’s uncaring touch scarred you, burned you; but nanami’s hands, like sculpting marble, coaxed you to life with the confidence of one who knows he will never falter. he worshipped the ground you walked on with faultless logic, drowning in faith.

nanami favored kissing your thighs, tracing the pattern of your hips, the swell of your breasts. he liked to hear you beg for him, too, in that silver voice of yours, sweet and precious like a choirs of angels. when you begged for him to fill you with those vulnerably glassy eyes, nanami became the center of the universe, and he could never deny you such pleasure. he could never, not once, say no.

he enjoyed, too, even more than the begging, the roses that bled from your eyes and the sugar in your heart when he praised you. he did not know, before, that there could be a sight as heavenly as your dilated, unfocused pupils and your messy smile when he told you how you were beautiful, my love. so good for me. he did not know there could be something so intimate, so profound, as your love when he loved you completely.

(even more than your looks, he loved how you felt, clamping down with vigor while running nails down his back. it grounded him, and you. but he would never say it.)

after eating his lunch, nanami would diligently eat you with a swift precision so terrifying that it brought you to the edge before you knew it had begun. he would place you on the table, push away your skirts, and dive in, as if you were a holy communion he could not afford to lose. he coaxed orgasms from you the way he coaxed masterpieces from marble: easily.

and if the house staff heard your cries, you wouldn’t know, because to be with nanami kento, his nose shiny with you, made your blood pound in your ears.

then, later, nanami would hang his rosary with hunger and piety around your neck before he pressed into you, claiming that you were the most blessed of the saints, that he was overjoyed to pray at your altar, that you had the face of god and a heart as pure. and he would watch, transfixed, as the crucifix bounced between your tits, as christ himself became voyeur to the party.

you wondered, briefly, if during your weekly confessions the cathedral priests would simply know the way you had willingly called nanami god when he fucked you this well, the way nanami would make you lick your own slick off his fingers with docile obedience before pressing your quivering fingers to the rosary beads. but then nanami would go harder, deeper, grunting profanities into your ear, and you realized with bliss that you did not care.

for how could this be wrong when it felt so immaculate? how could you deny yourself nanami’s love when it made you feel so whole?

and when he felt strict, on days his sculpture annoyed him, nanami would ask you with his stern tongue to pray the hail mary while he viciously kissed your folds, knowing full well your sanity had already left you. he took pride in reprimanding you sharply on those days, a swift hand across your ass or your cunt when you could not remember the our father as he expertly located all of the sweetest places that made you scream most.

if anyone had asked, nanami would have told them he was a religious man: if, of course, the idol was you.

look at you, blessed saint, he growled into your ear, once, peering over your shoulder, hands firm and bruising in your hair and on your hips. mary magdalene, whore for christ. he forced you, then, to watch yourself in the studio mirror propped against the wall as he thrust roughly from behind, as your face contorted in an unspeakable pleasure: or, as nanami would say, art in its purest form.

nanami kento took his job more seriously than god. a diligent worker, he was, and god be damned if he did not make your knees week and your brain tremble before the late afternoon sun. he would be damned if he did not make eternal artwork out of you, if he did not sculpt the shape of your moans or memorize the way your nails scratched scripture onto his bare skin. if he did not eternalize the fucked-out look in your eyes. if he did not let the universe know you were a sight to behold, a sight that could not be forgotten.

you didn’t bother apologizing to god for your behavior. not when god was tall and blonde and could fold your knees into your chest and fuck you until you saw heaven for yourself. you didn’t bother apologizing because nanami kento made you feel seen and real and meaningful: and that was not something you could regret.

and so the judith stretched into incompletion. and so, nanami would explain to your husband, it is quite difficult to get the nose and eyes just right. it takes time to create the dynamism necessary for seven feet of judith slaying holofernes. you must understand. perhaps within the next year.

your husband was greedy for attention. of course he understood.

and he never questioned it, not once, when judith would sit for days on end without completion. he would not question it, because he was never home when nanami fucked you with the rosary pressed against your throat, when nanami carved the shape and sensation of his being into your skin. your husband was never home when you opened the windows to air out the smell of sweat and sex, when you dressed yourself with a lazy disposition and a soft smile and a rose-covered glow. he did not see the way nanami spoke with you, the way nanami kento saw you as a person and not a thing. he did not know. he never would.

and your husband learned not to ask when one month turned five and a year had passed and still, still, the finishing touches were not yet completed.

a masterpiece takes time, nanami repeated. i spent eight years on one commission in the vatican city.

your husband, grand and desperate to be better than lorenzo de medici, obliged. and so nanami took his time and yours, onwards and onwards.

one night, then, as the judith commission truly came to a close, nanami told your husband over dinner, if you want more, i will give you more, as repentance for taking so long. a sculpture of the virgin mary, perhaps?

nanami gazed at you in subtle adoration from across the table, already shaping you into eternity with his eyes, placing the veil over your head and the blessed christ in your arms. your husband agreed, of course, because he could only see victory.

and the butterflies bloomed in your chest, a champagne knowledge that you would be seen, that nanami would see you, know you, memorize you. and when you returned his gaze, hungry, you knew, instinctively, always, that you would follow nanami kento to the end of the world, whatever the price.

(and you did. and you do, still, in your many marble faces that catch the sun.)

#idk y'all smth in me just snapped #this is real self indulgent and weird #alas #nanami x reader #nanami kento x reader #nanami #nanami kento #jujutsu kaisten x reader #adele writes #it's hot in here #nanami.kento

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tipsycad147 · 3 years ago

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Going to a faery festival? Costume tips and ideas

by Michelle Gruben

One of the best parts of attending any festival is putting together a killer outfit. Faeries especially love fashion, frivolity, and the art of disguise. But budget, weather, and travel concerns can have any faery feeling less than magickal. Costuming for outdoor festivals is challenging, but it’s worth it when you get to run around with other faeries in a beautiful natural setting.

Are you going to Faerieworlds? Glastonbury? Or another faery festival or Renaissance faire? Here’s some ideas to help plan the faery costume of your dreams.

Inspiration

Maybe you already know what kind of Fae you want to portray. A fairytale godmother with a giant updo and a poufy skirt? A lusty satyr with body paint and a loincloth? If you’ve already got the character idea in your head, start by drawing out a few quick sketches. (Don’t worry—you don’t have to show them to anyone.) Drafting out a plan will help you figure out what costume pieces you need to obtain. There’s no need to be too practical at this stage—let out your wildest ideas out on the page.

If you’re stumped, try looking at books, movies, and past festival photos for inspiration. Keep a folder of your favorite accessories and ideas. Borrowing like crazy is totally encouraged: Victorian, Gothic, Steampunk, Disney, Renaissance, Medieval, Lolita, D&D/LARP, Hippie, Psychedelic, Rave, Circus, Gypsy, Ballet, Carnivale, Tolkien and Tribal fashions have all had a notable influence on the garb that appears at Faery festivals. Look up any of these styles to uncover a wealth of inspiration--then combine at will!

Budget

In a perfect world, we faeries could just close our eyes, wiggle our nose, and (poof!) be transformed into a fantasy fashion plate. But we live in the (sigh) real world where money exists (and costumes cost a pile of it. A ready-made getup from a costume shop or clothier runs several hundred dollars or more, plus accessories. You gotta stay within your budget if you want to have any money left over for your ticket to the ball.

Fortunately, it is possible to put together a worthy costume without spending all the gold in Middle Earth. Faeries can be a scrappy lot, and nothing in the faery wardrobe need be shiny and new. What you do need is time. If you’re going to be scrounging, adapting, and making most of your costume, start early (like, several weeks before). Plus-size and teeny-tiny faeries may need even more time than that to find clothing in their size.

Thift stores and even your own closet can yield great base garments for your faery costume. Gypsy skirts, vests, sundresses, tunics and tights can all be easily modified or embellished. (Big tacky prom dresses are a great source for yards and yards of tulle!) Craft stores have fake flowers, ribbons, and feathers galore. Fabric scraps can be become appliques, junk jewelry can be taken apart and turned into faery bling.

It helps a lot if you can sew. If you can’t, take a class or have someone show you the basics. Faery sewing doesn’t have to be perfect—the messier, the better, really! But it sucks to have something fall apart the first time you wear it.

If you go the DIY route, be realistic. Some costume pieces take a lot of skill and are worth every penny. A circle skirt is relatively easy for a beginner to sew—a corset, not so much. It might be worth it to splurge on a purchase that will save you a giant headache. Plan ahead and build it into your figures—shopping at the last minute is a sure way to blow your budget.

Big multi-day festivals like Faerieworlds give you the opportunity to create multiple costumes and wear a different one each day. There are also various themed events (like Good Faeries/Bad Faeries). Obviously, this can get really expensive and cumbersome for travelers. A new hairpiece, overskirt, or bodice can freshen up yesterday’s costume (or last year’s) if a whole new outfit isn’t in the cards.

Transportation and Packing

While admiring your new 36” wings in the closet mirror, you realize that you have to get them to the festival. Oh crap. Make sure there’s enough room in your vehicle or luggage to bring the costume(s) you’re planning to wear.

Fabrics like rayon, silk, and cotton voile are wonderful for traveling faeries because they’re lightweight, compact, and wrinkle-resistant. With any luck, you can just shake them out upon arrival and be ready to go. But other accessories aren’t so forgiving. Pack flower wreaths and headdresses in boxes (if you can) to prevent crushing. Small wings can be folded and packed between two layers of stiff cardboard. A mesh cover is great for keeping wigs in line. One more tried-and-true faery travel rule: Anything with glitter gets its own bag.

Lost luggage is pretty rare on commercial flights, but of course that knowledge won’t help you when the airline loses the suitcase with your Swarovski-encrusted bodice. Valuable or irreplaceable costumes should be carried with you at all times.

Being Prepared

Outdoor festivals come with a special challenge for costumers: The weather. Over the years, Oregon’s Faerieworlds has been held in weekend-long rain, scorching sun, and plenty of fair-weather days.

You can’t exactly have a different costume for each weather possibility. But you can plan to dress in layers and still look the part. Toasty leggings and an elf cape are good things to have if the weather turns chill. A stylish parasol is handy if you’re not a dancing-in-the-rain type faery.

In addition to rain and wind, your costume will probably come into contact with the following: Sweat, perfume, sunscreen body paint, copious glitter, mud, sticky children, intoxicated adults, UV light, animals. Oh well. Your costume will definitely be tested for durability by the festival. So will your feet!

Live music and dance performances are a big part of many faery festivals, so don’t let your costume be a buzzkill. Accessories like stilts, oversized wings and headresses may block the view of the stage and keep you from dancing. Have a plan for ditching them so you can join the crowd, if you wish.

In case of an emergency, you should have a set of human clothes, too. (I know! Boo!) You can leave ‘em in your duffel bag until it’s time to go home.

Last-Minute Faeries

Okay, so not everyone is able to spend months planning a festival costume. If you’re down to the wire, but you still want to look faery-fabulous, there are options. Lots of stores have off-the-rack clothing that fits the general vibe: Sundresses, bohemian-style skirts, blouses, tunics and leggings. Top it off with a festive wreath or garland and you’ll be fit for the faire.

If you’re still feeling drab and human, try another accessory. A bright hair color, horns, mask or face paint can help transform you into a Fae creature. These things can almost always be found within the festival gates. In fact, if you’re truly strapped for time, you could do all your costume shopping at the festival—the vendors will thank you for it!

Have fun at the festival, and don't forget to take pictures!

https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/going-to-a-faery-festival-costume-tips-and-ideas

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nuagederose · 3 years ago

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most of my drawings of alex (so far!)

i started compiling this back in february 2021 when i started drawing him because i just knew it was going to take off from there. it all started when i finally caught his ig live stream from the very beginning: i caught him in january, after christmas, but it was later along so i missed him playing.

a year later and i have 0 intent on stopping.

i’ve always wanted an intelligent, well-spoken, diligent, sensual, earthy, charming sweetheart of a renaissance man to walk into my life at some point.

when i draw him, i feel something untapped with him, within those deep set eyes and those sensual lips and under that stripe, such that i feel something rather intimate within myself. so, my drawings of him tend to be rather… i want to say, voluptuous. i don’t consider myself sexy by any means, but the vibe between me and him is kinda hot (and i know he feels the same way as well—the silkiness and sweetness to his voice, the genuine smile on his face, and the soft look in his eyes when he talks to me on ig live is something you just have to witness firsthand to believe).

mind, i’m not including the drawings i made for inktober, huevember, the drawings for dead man walking, or the painting of him on my wall over my bed—or a particularly intimate drawing i made for pitch black.

nevertheless, there’ll be a “read more” break here~

(the one that started it all right there!)

#alex skolnick #alex #testament #testament band #lead guitarist #drawings #digital art #traditional art #artists on tumblr #badgalnirvhannahart

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astrallines · 5 years ago

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The Crumbling Tower of 2020

Notes on the Triple Conjunction

Hello friends. What follows is a short introduction to the incredibly rare and historical astrological conditions of the year 2020. This was written with the intention of accessibility first and foremost; I believe it’s important that people have some idea of this moment in a historical context, and the tools to evaluate the themes and stories that are emerging currently and in the near future. To my eyes astrology is at its most useful when it is neither prescriptive nor prophetic. It is foremost a tool of psychological midwifery; reading the meaning of the world and its events.

So it’s in my interest to be painting in broad strokes. If you want concrete predictions or exact dates for orbs of conjunction now and in history, then there is a vast field of mundane astrology for you to Google. The myths I’m unfolding here are only for context and consideration—I hope you find them helpful.

Also, there will be a major western bias in my evaluation of history, which sucks, but that’s the milieu I grew up in and can speak to, and it remains the information most easily available. But of course astrological conditions are affecting the entire world. We can still trace the vibe through western examples.

Our Axial Moment There are two incredibly rare astrological events happening this year. One event is the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the sign of Aquarius. These two planets come together routinely, mechanically, every 20 years. But the rhythm of their waltz is such that each meeting takes place in signs of the same element for 200 years at a time. So when they conjoin in Aquarius, in the last weeks of 2020, that will be their first time together in an air sign since the 14th century.

Since 1802, all of their conjunctions have been in earth signs. (Much more on the significance of this later, but some may already notice this 200 period’s coincidence with the industrial revolution and the age of capital). In the 200-odd years before 1802, they would join every time in fire signs—and for the 200 years before that, water. One waltz more brings us back to the 1300s and 1200s, the previous epoch of air signs. Returning to the present day, we should realize that since an age like this persists for two centuries at a time, it is essentially impossible for someone who witnesses such a transition, to have ever even known anyone who witnessed the previous transition. That is, the 100 year old person in December 2020—even if they had, as a newborn, shared a breath with a 100 year old person—would not reach far back enough in history to have even a dim, second-hand knowledge of the epoch of fire (1603-1801). These periods are effectively the frame edges; the curtains around the drama of the world stage.

Rare as it is, the other historical aspect of the year is much rarer: the fact that Saturn and Jupiter will also conjoin Pluto in Capricorn before they dance their first step together in Aquarius. Though these 3 will never occupy the exact same degree together, they will come very close, on and off throughout 2020. Of course a triple conjunction of planets will always occur in more unpredictable intervals than any pair of planets because of the 3 separate orbits. Famously—well, famous among astrologers—it last happened in the sign of Capricorn during the founding year of the city of Babylon, 1894 BCE.

History of the Elemental Epochs Because the Jupiter-Saturn synodic cycle is so regular, and because we didn’t know about outer planets til the 18th century, the dance of these two planets through the elemental stations is by far the oldest astrological tool for determining epochal periods. It has long been assumed to be the basic attitudinal/affective backdrop of the zeitgeist. (Now that we know about Pluto, we have a new vibecheck every 12 years! But isn’t it funny that generations didn’t have names until we noticed Pluto in 1930?)

I would be remiss not to mention that there are overlaps between these periods. For instance, Jupiter and Saturn were briefly conjunct in an air sign (Libra) for a few months in 1981. So toward the end of each epoch, humanity gets a little multi-month preview of the coming age. 1981 and the transitional period is a whole other topic in itself, but that’s all I’ll say here.

Even though these elemental ages have been observed for so long, we don’t have a ton of historical examples to draw upon to get a sense of the nature of a particular epoch. As for the air age that we’re entering into, we can refer to the high medieval period as the last instantiation, but to get a third example we have to go into history 6 centuries before that! Soon the world starts to look so different from the current day, that we have to stretch the imagination that much farther. So let’s just a get a brief summary of the previous cycle through the elements.

Earth 1802-2020

This is the epoch we are still in as I write this. It began during the industrial revolution, and the earth themes are undeniable. Human begins have had a resolutely atomic understanding of the universe; materialism is rampant; and it feels that capital and capitalism are catalysts of most human drama. We take things literally and concretely: instead of speculating about other realms, we want to drive our spaceships to big slabs of land like the moon and Mars. We have discovered how to build and make so much STUFF!

Fire 1603-1801

This period is famous for the enlightenment and the French and American revolutions. The time of great sparks! Reason, brilliance, luminance ... self-validation and self-determination. This is really when human beings began to appreciate the value of the idiosyncrasy of a particular thinker. “THIS dude’s contribution” etc. Rights, laws, freedom, were all in vogue. “Here I am!” say the fire signs.

Water 1425-1602

Just as materialist scientism was born out of the liberating thought of the enlightenment, so were the insights of the enlightenment enabled by the world-broadening discoveries of the renaissance. During the water epoch, everyone was sailing everywhere, being introduced to new cultures, and the “new world” was reached by the Europeans. At home, classics of antiquity were being rediscovered and the world was broadened in that sense. Shakespeare was poppin off in a big way. The concept of the stage is essentially water; water is the idea that there is an affective component to reality at all.

Air 1226-1424

Is it a coincidence that the least widely known stage of the cycle is the one we are now entering? Or is that just the nature of history, as it fades further into the past? This period was called, in the West, the “high medieval” era. It was marked by civic demarcations that more or less persist to this day—the previous few hundred years saw constantly changing borders, but now people grouped more firmly into ethnic or national identities drawn to territories. This is also where we got chivalry and the first real rights for women in a long time. And there was the discovery of an actual social life and leisure. “Hanging out” was invented, thank God.

Reality itself received a major patch update: we invented mechanical clocks, which caused people to relate to the passage of time in a totally new way. We used to just slice up the sunrise-to-sundown period into 12 equal parts; now hours were a constant length throughout the year. Common folk had glass windows in their homes for the first time, and the elite even wore glass in front of their eyes to correct their vision. Music became much more complex, as people had more time to take it seriously and form theories. People could go to libraries; for the first time ever there were more books in cities than in monasteries. Cities were finally the place to be. We invented the compass, the game of chess, and the printing press. The astrolabe, like the compass, allowed us to orient ourselves to something that was formerly hopelessly abstract (the stars). Most of this cool shit came from the Arab world, which was flourishing.

Air Epoch 2.0 That’s the historical overview. Obviously there is much, much more there for any anthropologist or history of philosophy ass person. But we are beginning to see some idea of the relation between the qualities symbolized by the elements and the respective periods. Now we can begin a more informed speculation.

The movement from the previous earth age to the previous air age seems to be one of dramatically more complex social relations. Less emphasis on the riches of a kingdom, and more emphasis on its culture, civility, and sophistication. Abstract things became the treasures. As we look to our own incoming air epoch, it is easy to envision a world that places more emphasis on networks instead of objects. Social media, gig economy, and blockchain all appear to be prefigurations of this. In terms of philosophy, it no longer seems very radical to conceptualize oneself as part of a universe whose essential composition is not defined by particles (nouns) but relations and processes (verbs).

What Was Babylon? I ain’t no student of ancient culture. Until a few months ago, I didn’t even know Babylon was where Iraq is. Of course I think it would behoove all of us to research as much as possible the previous instantiation of this astrological aspect, but I also think it’s valid to speak about its cultural impact through a layman’s osmosis. As far as I can tell: what is Babylon best remembered for? The miraculous hanging gardens, the Tower of Babel, and the law code of Hammurabi. Hammurabi’s code, inscribed onto a stele about a century after the founding of Babylon is celebrated as the first known written laws, some 190 edicts long—and by the estimation of modern scholars, supremely humanitarian for its time. What is the modern equivalent of the ancient innovation of codified laws? Hard to fathom, but something for us to consider as the new age dawns.

More famously, there is the story of the Tower of Babel. A persistent image of human hubris, even today people respond to the tower motif as a symbol of defiance of God or of nature, and it is routinely invoked when artists and pundits comment on the ecological folly of industrial enterprise. Human beings tried to use their intellectual capacities to reach the position of God. Without reading the Bible, I can tell you that the punishment for this was the diversification of languages. All of a sudden people couldn’t speak to each other, because there were so many ways to speak.

Today we take for granted the many languages of human beings, so what is the modern equivalent of this event? Taken as a metaphor, the variation of languages could represent a variation of worldview. Styles of interfacing with reality. Because the element of air is so closely associated with concepts like perception, the structuring of thought, communication, and virtual realities, we might imagine that in the new age we will begin to understand just how deeply diversified our mechanisms of interpreting reality are. Phenomenology seems like a pretty fringe field in our current world, but AI is certainly not; and content creators have increasingly brought phenomenological themes to the center of their work over the last couple decades. Just as the previous air epoch (12/1300s) saw the advent of movable type, perhaps we will soon develop novel means of recording our impressionistic realities.

Finally, Babylon was host to the famous hanging gardens. Supposedly built by king Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife who missed the natural beauty of Iran, it is still unclear whether this wonder of the world ever existed in physical reality. In any case, the story is relevant: a ruler, in the midst of tremendous infrastructural expansion, and with it the inevitable subjugation of nature, finds that his greatest cultural influence across the centuries is ecological restoration. Looking at these three legacies of Babylon together is rather interesting: the law code stele, though purportedly divine in origin, is unquestionably real to our materialist sensibilities—you can go and see it. The Tower of Babel, taken from the Bible, was probably not real in the same fundamental way; though there was without question a great ziggurat in Babylon, the Biblical account is not literal. The hanging gardens is the most mythological. So between the three we have different concentrations of myth and historical fact.

Second Second Life I write this in the first few weeks of social isolation during the coronavirus pandemic. There is much more to be said about the connection between this unprecedented social condition and the imminent radical astrology—maybe the subject of some other essay. But off the dome, we can see plainly the defaulting of Capricornian things: governments, businesses, economies, and social infrastructure. Without much of a choice, we are withdrawing our energy from the material to which we are accustomed. We’re cooped up in our houses, where the merciful currents of the internet continue to draw us on, to operate in cyberspace as normal. New social functions and vocabularies are already emerging as we are forced to reconsider the online networks that have seemed so toxic for the last few years. People find themselves operating “peer to peer” out of necessity. Some “inessential” products may no longer be available on amazon, but your neighbor might have them. More importantly, people are reaching out to each other for nothing more than human contact. We’ve been wringing our hands about the importance of human connection, but capitalism—through spectacle or stranglehold—has drawn us away from putting it first.

Social service is (along with certain essential aspects of the internet) ruled by Aquarius. Saturn, governor of concern, has already ingressed into this sign, but will retrograde back out in a few months; and then at the end of the year, it will be joined by Jupiter, who greases the wheels, expands the potentiation of Saturn’s concern, and affords prosperity to those who take social service seriously. And together they will inaugurate the new age.

#astrology #mundane astrology #great conjunction #jupiter #saturn #pluto #jupiter-saturn conjunction #saturn-Pluto conjunction #tower of babel #babylon #coronovirus #capricorn #aquarius #air epoch #elemental ages #jupiter saturn synodic cycle #triple conjunction

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dragonssparkle · 4 years ago

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a critical role s2 pining beau/jester college au concept I will never do anything with but planned extensively ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Beau: Sophomore. Already jaded. Doing her best. Plays field hockey very aggressively. (also does some martial arts club stuff) Everyone thinks she’s here on a sports scholarship but nope! she’s majoring in history and is REALLY smart actually and is here on a full ride scholarship cause her parents refused to help her pay through college after trouble she caused in high school. She wants no one to know this and would rather be perceived as ‘uncaring jock’

>> Classes: World Wars, War in Literature, Theater I, History of Musical Theater

Jester: Freshman. Bubbly. READY TO GO! She’s an art major and LIVING HER BEST LIFE! Her mom is VERY wealthy and putting her through college easily. Is trying to start a cult (but in like a joking college way... they think. they’re pretty sure.)

>> Classes: Drawing Fundamentals, Painting Fundamentals, Freshman Writing Course, Poetry Workshop Fjord: Freshman. Not sure what he wants to major in yet. Was going to do business but the RA keeps nudging him towards switching majors because he is VERY stressed and doesn’t like his major at all. it’s only been a month

>> Classes: Statistics, Freshman Writing Course, Calculus, Into to Psychology

Cad: Senior? They think... No one is sure and he refuses to give a straight answer. A lot of people seem to think he’s been around longer than 4 years. Calm. Religions studies dual major with psychology. Doesn’t do well on exams yet is very knowledgeable and doesn’t seem to actually be failing his classes? Help him. RA. All the freshmen go to him for advice. Sometimes he will come to them before they even realize they need advice. An enigma.

>> Classes: Thesis…. class? (man idk i’m only going in junior year and i’m an art major) Religion and Nature, Religion and Medicine, (some sort of psychology class)

Veth (nickname to certain friends: Nott): Junior. Chemistry major. Has been accused of stealing things from unlocked rooms multiple times. Has yet to be caught. Unsure if she’s actually done these things. Is always seen with Caleb and hanging around his classes. Does she actually go to her own classes? Unknown. Also an enigma but a different kind. Dating the intro to chem TA (first year grad student).

>> Classes: The Organic Chemistry of Polymers, Molecular Neurobiology, Chemical Thermodynamics and Kinetics, Theater I

Caleb: Junior. English major. Has an emotional support cat that is sometimes permitted to wander the hall. He’s not supposed to let it out of his room but Cad never tells on him. Doesn’t really talk to people much. Very diligent with class and studies. There are some whispers about some really bad stuff happening at his high school, but few people know what happened.

>> Classes: War in Literature, The American Renaissance, Poetry Workshop, Multivariable Calculus

Molly: Junior. Film major, theater minor. Transferred from another college and changed his entire vibe after. New place new face. (there are some whispers there’s more to the change. something about a bad accident. he doesn’t talk about it). Always seems to be around. Has defo gotten in trouble a few times.

>> Classes: Poetry Workshop, History of Musical Theater, Social Justice in Film, Musical Production Participation

Yasha: doesn’t actually go to school here. Stays in molly’s room when she comes by. Quiet. Big. Some shit went down a while back. She keeps the flowers in molly’s room alive. he’s bad at it. Oh this thing was WAY longer than I thought. More content under the cut!

Shared Classes: War in Literature: Beau, Caleb

Theater I: Beau, Nott

History of Musical Theater: Beau, Molly

Freshman Writing Course: Jester, Fjord

Poetry Workshop: Jester, Molly, Caleb Rooms:

Beau and Jester’s Room:

Jester’s side is decorated with frills and the walls are practically covered in clothesline ropes and clips for hanging doodles. So many plushies. Everything is more or less tidy and clean. There’s a photo of her mom on her desk. Shrine to the traveler on her desk. She is running a cult someone stop her. Jester put fairy lights all over the room. Beau’s side is pretty plain all things considered. She has sports gear and some other stuff. Blue covers. No photos. A bunch of books on her shelf and notes all over her desk. Beau is… messy.

Caleb and Veth’s Room:

A fucking disaster someone help them. There are books and papers everywhere. Veth’s bed can be better described as a nest. Where is her desk? is it under that pile of random things? Possibly. No one is sure. They have not cleaned the floor ever. At least they take out the trash? Has anyone ever seen them in the laundry room? Do they do laundry? There’s a cat tree in there. It’s the only surface without things on it. The cat runs the room. It has only been a month. Veth isn’t even always there, often goes to Yeza’s apartment

Molly’s Room (also sorta of yasha’s):

A surprising amount of flowers in pots. He has a bunch of tapestries on the walls. Fairy lights. Lots of fancy pillows. He’s taken over the other bed with pillows, blankets, and clothes after Fjord left to stay with Cad a month in. Lot of wild clothes everywhere. Makeup and hair products on the desk along with assorted jewelry. He has his schedule hanging up on his closet door.

Caduceus’s Room:

Started in the room alone before he let Fjord move over. So many plants. Including succulents and funguses. Some of them may be poisonous? Some crystals. A little shrine in the corner. He has a tank of pet beetles. He loves them very much but doesn’t seem to care much if one dies? He just puts them with the funguses if they do and makes little necklaces with the wing shells. Some glow mushrooms. His whole room smells like tea and he usually has a little pot going on a hot tray. The top bunk used to be for plants. Now it is for Fjord.

Plot points in no particular order:

Getting to campus

Meeting hall mates

when beau first gets to room jester is already set up and her first thought is “god damn it i’m suck with a girly girl”

beau listening to jester talk forever and ever about fjord. it is killing her

Meeting jester (and they were Roommates. my god they were roommates)

beau leads a ‘yoga class’ for her friends

beau gets in, like, an actual fight

molly gets really badly beat up. at one point because of something idk. probably was cheeky to the wrong drunk person. DOES NOT DIE FUCK YOU

Tattoos!!!!!

Beau talking with molly. he gives her advice

Caduceus just watching her closely. He doesn’t bring it up but has his eye on her. gotta love that high wisdom

Molly directs a musical theater show for a club he’s in

Veth comes to War in Literature with caleb every class. beau is confused to find out she is not, in fact, in this class when she doesn’t show up for an exam

Theater time with Veth and Molly

Confessing to Veth. who offers to do something but doesn’t when beau begs her not to

seeing jester get together with fjord and sad times

confessing and jester kisses her. jester has TWO! HANDS!

classes with caleb (veth is also there)

beau switches to a different room halfway through the year cause she can’t do this

meals with the crew

Jester birthday time!!!

Some sort of nightlife adventure

DRINKING TIME PARTY!

gay thoughts about yasha but knowing it wouldn’t work. not doting on it much. Yasha was her freshman crush, but has someone else

Beau goes to one of jester’s cult meetings. there is a concern

Haha. A lot. I’d as that if someone wants to do something with all (gestures vaguely) this please ask though ask or dm first. When will the hiatus end

#cr #critiacl role #cr2 #beaujester #jester lavorre #beauregard lionett #cr au #cr college au #college au #god is anyone gonna read this? probably not. but we like to scream into the void

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novaviis · 5 years ago

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Snaibsel Renaissance Fair AU

Read Part One

Part Two

So the next day Artemis arrives at the fair before opening, just as all the other employees are shuffling in for the day. She’s not the only newbie, thank fuck, so she doesn’t feel completely out of place, but she is the only new Knight, so there’s that. There’s a set of tents and temporary structures at the very back of the fairgrounds, shielded off from the main fair, where the employees can change and take breaks and generally be “out of character”. She heads back there to get into her costume for the first time.

There’s a tunic, a pair of tights, and leather boots and belts that she’d given to wear for most of the day. A little heavy but not too bad. They even give her a side bag to hide her radio and a flask for water. These people have thought of everything. She’s already sweating at that point, just standing in the tent and pulling her hair back off her neck – but then she’s given her armour. Actually fucking armour. It’s not a full suit or anything, but it’s chainmail, a gorget, greaves, plated armguards and gloves, and a helmet. By the time she’s helped into it, she can barely move let alone ride a horse, and suddenly she’s thinking twice about this whole thing.

Artemis is given a while to get used to it, try walking around, but not long after she’s been dragged off to the stable with the other Knights to set up. She’s told she’ll be shadowing some asshole called the Grey Knight at first, just until she’s learned how everything works and gets some practice in on the tournaments. She only gets a brief glimpse of the guy, already in full armour and practicing sword work on a straw dummy. No big, she figures. Once she gets used to the armour, she’ll have this in the bag. She didn’t go through years of fencing and martial arts to look like an idiot around a bunch of renaissance nerds.

She spends the morning getting used to riding her horse, a gorgeous paint named Alice. After a bit of practice, she gets a little more comfortable, and no longer feels like one turn on her steed is going to send her toppling off. She even manages to knick the hoops set up on the training course with her lance – though it falls out of her hand every time. That Grey Knight jackass laughs from the sidelines every time, but at least he’s offering advice (most of which Artemis pretends to ignore with a heated glare). Still, by the time she’s finished for the morning and is allowed to take a break from the armour, she’s completely soaked with sweat and every step feels too light, like she’s been wearing weight all day – which, of course, she has.

So, she’s getting use to how things work around here. Great. She’s sent off to explore and get familiar with the grounds. The place is basically set up on an obscenely large plot of land surrounded by forest with a small lake in the middle. Marquis tents, large wooden buildings, and a mildly convincing Castle have all been set up around the perimeter, the other laneways patches of greenery winding through. Artemis hadn’t gotten a very good look at it the day before, but it really did look like a full medieval village. They had a marketplace surrounding a wide square, and the stables and tournament area across a small field where visitors were setting up picnics.

This wasn’t exactly her scene. Artemis hadn’t applied for the job because she loved this kind of thing. She wasn’t a history buff, definitely wasn’t into LARPing, and had no other interest in the renaissance. To be honest, she hadn’t really applied for the job at all. Artemis had been in and out of Juvie as a teenager, and likely would have ended up in Prison by now had it not been for things taking a different course. Her mother won custody of her at 17, and although it hadn’t changed things overnight, she had definitely turned out better than she would have with her father. After a few more brushes with the law, she was given a choice, back to Juvie, where her sentence would have been long enough to transfer her to an adult facility, or she could take a shorter sentence and then be sent to a correction and therapy program. Naturally, she took the latter option.

The facility had been a ranch, where she’d learned some hard truths and got her ass kicked by reality more than a few times. She was all the better for it, though. Artemis still remembered the night she’d left, her mother holding her hands in her lap with tears in her eyes, begging her to give this a chance before she ended up like her older sister. Jade was already in Prison, having left her newborn daughter with her Ex. Artemis had vowed then and there that she was going to put the work in to turn her life around. It hadn’t been easy, and she’d wanted to give up more than a few times, but she was nothing if not stubborn. She made it through the program, took online classes to finish school, and had been working to catch up ever since.

One of the driving influences through all of this, aside from her mother, was oddly enough her Parole Officer. Even once she’d been released from the program, Artemis had been on a strict probation. She couldn’t so much as jay-walk without landing her ass back in jail. Dinah Lance had assigned to her even before Artemis had moved in with her mom, and had been calm and understanding while taking absolutely none of her attitude. She’d been the first woman Artemis had really looked up to.

Dinah and her husband Oliver were actually old school Renaissance Fair veterans themselves. They came every summer as volunteers, as a sort of Robin Hood/Lady Marion duo that was always a hit with the crowd. When Dinah had learned that Artemis was looking for a job for the summer, and with her obvious qualifications in fighting and horseback riding, she’d suggested her to the head of the Fair committee.

So, now here she is. Artemis knows that this isn’t just Dinah trying to keep an eye on her, waiting for her to mess up, but she has enough trust issues that the doubt is a lingering voice in the back of her mind. She’s determined not to fuck it up this time, though. She’s not a stupid teenager anymore, she’s a young woman in her 20’s and she’s got something to prove.

Artemis takes her time, wandering around the fairgrounds before heading to the stalls for lunch. She passes through a shaded lane just off the marketplace, and passes a shack that smells so strongly of herbs and incense that it immediately draws her attention.

The fair’s esteemed Sorceress, as she understood from orientation, runs a little shop during the week where she sells “spells”, herbal teas, and other “magical” novelties. She also does tarot, palm, and tealeaf readings, and entertained with magic tricks. From what Artemis had heard, she’s a pretty popular attraction, but the shop doesn’t look busy and – fuck it, she’s still curious. So, she walks in.

Zatanna is just wrapping up with a customer when Artemis walks in, placing some crystals in a small bag and handing it to a little girl who’s there with her dad. The whole vibe of the place seems to be leaning far into all that new-agey bullshit, but she gets points for having an actual cauldron in the room (holding what appears to be spiced lemonade).

The moment Artemis walks in, Zatanna smiles and points her out to the little girl. “Well, look who’s come to visit! It’s our newest, bravest night, Dame Artemis!”

As the little girl turns around to see Artemis, just in her tunic, tights, and chainmail, she completely lights up. Artemis is a little awkward, but she’s plenty used to being around kids like her niece, so she gives her a wave but doesn’t quite play along as enthusiastically as Artemis. The girl’s dad eventually coaxes her out of the shop, leaving Artemis and Zatanna alone.

Artemis reaches into her side pouch, and hands Zatanna the Queen of Swords card. “Figured you might want this back.”

“Keep it,” Zatanna smiles as she rounds the other side of her little counter. “Consider it payment for me dragging you out into my show last night. I didn’t embarrass you too much, did I?”

“Nah, not at all,” Artemis lies. She pauses for a second, slipping the card back into her pouch before crossing her arms. “So, how’d you do it?”

Zatanna mirrors her and crosses her arm, leaning back against her counter. “Really? You’re gonna go with that question? Have you never heard of a Magician before?”

Artemis narrows her eyes. “You had someone plant it while I was at orientation.”

Zatanna shrugs. “In your sock? Not unless you’re that unobservant, and you don’t strike me as oblivious.”

“Sleight of hand while I was walking on stage.”

“You saw my hands the entire time.”

“So, what was it?”

Zatanna grins and leans in, cupping her hand around Artemis’ ear. “It was real magic.”

Artemis pulls back and rolls her eyes. “Yeah,” she says sarcastically, “okay.”

“How about this,” Zatanna laughs. “I might tell you how I did it if…” she pauses, looking somewhere over Artemis’ shoulder, before her smile widens. “If you defeat the Grey Knight in the tournament by the end of the summer.”

“What,” Artemis scoffs, “that douchebag who never takes off his helmet?”

Zatanna snickers. “No, the douchebag standing right behind you.”

By the time Artemis spins around, nearly knocking over a jar of Mugwort in the process, the Grey Knight himself is clamouring into the shack. Artemis steadies the jar, already glaring at Zatanna for laughing, before turning back to the other Knight. She tries to stammer out an excuse, or to play it off like she hadn’t said anything, but before she can say a word, the Knight cuts in.

“In my defense,” the Knight begins as he reaches up to his helmet. “I was only doing it today to fuck with you.” He takes off the helmet, and standing before her is a model of a man. Anyone despite their preferences, can agree that this guy looks like he was taken straight out of a Vogue cover. Thick, dark hair, stunning blue eyes, chiselled jawline. Artemis isn’t even attracted to him and she’s attracted to him. However, there’s something unmistakably familiar about him that she can’t quite place until he smiles at her…

“Holy shi- Grayson?!”

She went to middle school with this kid. He’s a year younger than her and had been such a little dweeb. Puberty had obviously been kind to him.

Dick bursts into obnoxious laughter, with Zatanna echoing him behind her. He sets his helmet down on a nearby table and slips his gloves off so he can shake his hair out. “Long time no see, Arty.”

“Arty here,” Zatanna places her hands on Artemis’ shoulders from behind, resting her chin on her knuckles, “was just telling me how she’s going to completely obliterate you in the tournaments.”

“That so?” Dick raises a brow.

Now, Artemis could deny it. She could be honest and say she’d never agreed to that – but fuck it. “Please,” she scoffs. “I used to take your lunch money. I could still hand you your ass.”

Dick grins. “Looking forward to it, then. But, since you mentioned it, I think you owe me a Turkey leg.”

“…Fair enough.”

#snaibsel #ren fair au #young justice #young justice outsiders #yjo #artemis crock #zatanna zatara

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posthumanwanderings · 5 years ago

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alright so I’ve done a top 10 favorite obscure SNES games and my top games in general are real obvious / similar to others (all you need to know is that Chrono Trigger is the BEST GAME OF ALL TIME :) ) so I’ll do instead a.... ~Top 10 SNES Memories~

1. dat pre-launch Super Mario World hype at Sears (how I played SNES for the 1st time, then afterwards at a babysitter’s house cause we didn’t get one right away)

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2. witnessing the first RPG I’ve ever seen, Final Fantasy IV (FFII in NA). I didn’t actually know how to play it, was too young so my older brother would get home from school yelling at me thinking I fucked something up but I didn’t accidentally save anything luckily. so I watched him and his friend beat it from midway in the game, the underground cave of monsters part to be exact.

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3. everything about Donkey Kong Country, from gameplay to presentation and this video that came with Nintendo Power magazine:

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4. playing copious amounts of Super Mario Kart with my cousin all summer while drawing our own maps and character creations during game breaks. also truth be told, but I came up with a very Bowsette like character back then, with a very similar look but only differences were that she had red hair and was Bowser’s wife, not just the princess alter ego of him.

5. celebrating my 7th birthday at Pizza Hut while getting Star Fox as a present from my mom which came out a week before. for its time it was one of the best looking console games and it drove me towards loving much of the on-rails shooter genre.

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6. between the time Star Fox released and before Final Fantasy VI came out my parents got divorced, so I remember vividly how much FFVI and other SNES RPG’s around the time I learned to play from watching my brother helped me cope with it all, just immersing myself in another world and its story. no salty feelings about it now, but gaming definitely helped with my escapism from shit you can’t help in life. so, thanks Squaresoft : )

7. METAL WARRIORS head-2-head mode! I might’ve talked to one person IRL who knew exactly what was up when I mentioned MW, but I see other peeps on the net low key appreciate how intense those matches could get. made me wish the actual Assault Suits games had 2-player Vs. mode, or even co-op.

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8. Street Fighter 2 and each revision afterwards was HYPE. from playing it in the arcade to seeing a decent home port, only getting buffer and faster with each release which we got with no regrets. I still play this classic game (SSF2x) on Fightcade to this day, the perfect fighting game.

9. Super Metroid’s deep, desolate atmosphere is embedded in my mind as one of most mood inducing games I’ve ever played. all while still just a 2D game too. foggy, cloudy transparencies, alienating / suspenseful music, nice use of lighting in dark areas and ambiguous ruins that the Metroid series never fully explains until the Metroid Prime series and Zero Mission. on my top 5 favorite game list.

10. sometime in the early 2010′s I had what I call an SNES Renaissance, when I got back into playing emulators but wanted to check out games I never heard before thanks to the blogs at the time showcasing the hidden 16-bit gems. my list I wrote before were the games I beat then, and there’s still plenty more for me to check out, especially the RPG’s!

had a lot of fun fond memories playing the Mega Man X games, Yoshi’s Island, Mario Paint, and losing my mind with Contra III, but I think I wrote enough already for this. currently about to beat the PSP version of FFIV (then maybe check out FFIV After Years?) then play more SNES favorites from my past and some new ones before switching it up to the next system focused vibe (o you already know..) show dat grey and purp box some love for me, and feel free to post some of your own memories here as well : )

#snes #super nintendo #list #text #gaming memories

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ask-art-student-prussia · 6 years ago

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You’re one of the only Hetalia art blogs still active that I absolutely love! Do you know any more of them?

Actually!!! I spent the past week sitting on this question, but im finally able to compile (most of) i have a bad memory and theres just so many, you see) the hetalia artists ive admired. ill write up a little blurb on each so you can know what to expect

warning, this is super long

I’m going to list my fav Prussia focused artists first:

@theknoflook is SO SO SO good at capturing the worn/rough-round-the-edges Prussia and they’re 100% the BEST at drawing the aged feel of him. They draw a lot of characters with human imperfections, it’s just such a RAW emotion I feel from each drawing.

@maplevogel I’ve admired since I was like,,, 13. You have no idea how much I want to be able to draw like them. Their watercolour illustrations are KICKASS!! They have such a sense of mystical-ness to each piece, everything is so unreal in what they draw it gives me such a sense of calm-ness. Constantly they’re using watercolour to it’s full extent, im EXTREMELY floored and always have been.

@mieudiary is another person ive admired since i was a absolute baby. Their art teeters on anime-realism and their use of lighting, shading and blending is SOOOO GOOD. They’re able to make their characters so real yet overly gorgeous lol. They’ve got the best damn detail in form/muscles (flesh) ive ever seen.

@kisamesfacioplegia is LITERALLY DRAWING RENAISSANCE PAINTINGS OKAY. Their art is always refined and carries the same aura as those huge paintings you find in museums, with extremely good storytelling and illustrations. Best historical prussia and germany on this site imo.

@carnagekiid (i dont know if they do aph anymore but their recent work is JUST AS GOOD) has the cutest modern interpretation of gil and is my fav. i personally am not a fan of like,,, the “ideal” canon prussia, and the way they draw emotion/use of colours (for all their work) with prussia has that like,,, UMMF of character, yknow what i mean??? they focus on ruspru i think but idk lol

Okay those are just the best prussia’s ive seen, heres some more general hetalia artists that focus on other characters

@payadraws is quite possibly my FAVOURITE HETALIA ARTIST???? IF NOT AT LEAST IN THE TOP 3 BC THEIR STUFF IS SO GOOD AND STYLIZED PERFECTLY. their linework is stunning, and colouring has that tone over all of it that harmonizes the whole piece. The way their utilize their style in everything is PERFECt, idk how to use words for it, just take a look. Their austria/switzerland is deadass on-the-money.

@tomato-bird Literally how does one even manage to do this. theyre professional and it fucking SHOWS. Each composition, each stroke of their pen, it shows dude. Their art has like,,, the emotions, the feeling, is really well executed and they have so much attention to detail it blows my fucking mind. like ,,, this gives of hard renaissance level mastery vibes

@paperdrawsshit is SO GOOD at using that like,,,, the form/silhouette of characters. like,, the shapes they use, the flow of each pose, the hands, ALL OF IT SCREAMS PERFECTION. Each drawing has such flow and structure at the same time, and each character has such a pretty fashion sense. Excellent use of lighting and i strive to be as good as them in drawing people

@jackce THIS ARTIST HAS LIKE.,, SUCH A CLEAN CUT ART STYLE ITS GORGEOUS. Each drawing has the smoothest lines and the characters have distinct features. Their prussia, italy and germany styles stand out so much because of the way they draw the noses, jaw, features etc. Like they look like screenshots out of a professional 2d animated feature. Seriously.

@starstray (not sure if they draw hetalia anymore but i need to tell yall about them anyway) has such gorgeous like,,, composition. like if you dug through a collection of paintings from the renaissance you’ll find a few of theirs scattered in their. The use of like,,, linework paired with the way they colour is so perfectly executed. its so balanced im shaking

@amazing-prussia has the cutest, quirkiest style with what they draw. the hair/clothes are so stylized and fluid and i love them so much!! Each drawing looks so quick and perfected, every time I see one of their pruaus doodles i fucking DIE.

@glass-soda has such gorgeous illustrative style. It’s so unique and the way they colour and draw people have this wonderful POP to it. The colours are so balanced and bright, its so SO!!!!!! LOVELY. LIKE,, IDK HOW TO KEEP FROM RAMBLING ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVE THEM JUST LOOK.

@ask-risorgimento-italy (ack, dont know their main sorry) Their illustrations are so well done, you can see the thought and practice in each character!! and i love the “realistic” feel to it. I say that about characters who dont have like,,, idk “anime hair”?? but not only the hair, the clothes, the form, the ENVIRONMENT. THIS ARTIST KICKS ASS WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENT BUILDING. LOTS OF DEPTH. ABSOLUTE LEGEND.

@hetapolis !!!!! THEIR ART IS SO CLEAN AND SKETCHY AND BEAUTIFUL. OKAY. Shading/colouring is GORGEOUS. and the way they draw each character to be distinct and have unique features ITS SUPER PROFESH AND LOOKS AMAZIGN!! I admire their style so much yall got no idea

@thedisappointedidealist12 has REALLY GOOD LINEWORK/STORYTELLING. LIKE WOW. Every time i see something theyve drawn im shaking bc the pacing and execution is AMAZING. Everything about the way their art looks is super balanced and you can see the exact emotion each character is expressing.

@captainjellyroll OKAY. THIS PERSON. LEMME TELL U BOUT THIS. FIRST OF ALL. THIS IS ONE OF MY FAV ANIMATORS. THEYVE BEEN MY IDOL SINCE I WAS 11. Their work has so much energy, colour, and you can see the thought in each composition. I love them so much,,, each drawing has its own burst of energy!!! i want to be able to be like them when im older and live with like 5 cats.

@tea-artblog (they dont draw hetalia much anymore but their recent art is 100% worth looking at) OKAY. YALL. This is one of the people who’s art i looked at constantly when i first joined!! Their art is so like,,,, balanced and has just enough contrast and the colours???? EVERYTHING WORKS SO WELL. The eyes/expressions are SUPER CUTE.

@sully-s ANOTHER ARTIST WHOS STYLE IS ONE OF MY FAVS. It’s super fluid and the colours are perfect!! Each character has their own uniqueness I cant express my love of how perfect their lighting/colouring is. Their illustrations are straight out of a movie art book, its so GORGEOUS. and the environment REALLY has depth!!

@ask-victorian-austrian (dont know their main ack sorry!!), THE LINEWORK IS SO DETAILED AND CLEAN. I love the way they draw clothes/fashion, its all so detailed and gorgeous and you can feel the weight of the cloth and the lace and everything okay???? Seriously I love all their blogs, they have a bunch, and you should check out all of them!

@amoxesyoew HAS SUCH CUTE DRAWINGS!! The style in their characters’ hair is so flowy and the way they draw faces and eyes have this adorable quality to it!! the pureness of the emotions they draw are really prominent and i constantly just DIE because of it! I love love LOVE the gercan they draw too

@arschbiene THE WAY THEY DRAW FACES??? SPOT ON. The colours are SO spot on and i love the POP they give. The shading?/? SPECTACULAR. And each doodle is super cute and like,,,, when people say each drawing has a story behind it?? I FEEL THAT WITH THEIR ART OKAY. HIGHKEY.

@ekinoksin ???? HELLO??? THIS RENAISSANCE VAN GOGH MICHAELANGELO MASTERMIND OF AN ARTIST IS LIKE THE SAME AGE AS ME>????? I just foudn that out. BUT the way their art has so much depth!!!! THE BACKGROUNDS??? THE ENVIRONMENT?? ITs ALL EXTREMELY WELL DONE. And they have this texture to their art that makes it look just like historical paintings its so good!!! Im SHOOK.

@alfredtalia WORM. THeir characters all have structure and expression and everything about it has such like!!! UMFF. The way they draw certain things,, theres minor details!! and you may not notice them!! but they ADD SO MUCH!! Everything feels like it has attention to it, and it is so well balanced!!

@avlerie (again, not sure if they still draw hetalia but their art is really pretty) the way they add texture/detail to their art is SPECTACULAR. The hair???? the bodies??? It seems so structured and well drawn!! THE EYES THO. THE WAY THEY DRAW EYES ARE SO BEAUTIFUL I CANT GET ENOUGH

@elhuesoardiente DUDE IDK HOW THEY COLOUR/DO THEIR SHADING. BUT ITS SO UNIQUE AND GIVES THEIR ART THIS EXTRA LAYER OF DEPTH. The art is so gorgeous with the way they do their lighting, and everything about it has balance and harmony im just shook

@ask-2p-uk no idea how someone can even pull off art like they do. the lines/colours ARE REALLY WELL INCORPORATED to EACH DRAWING. The way they draw expressions?? is so unique??? like i love the hair too, it has this flowy-ness to it!! EVERYTHING about their style is so colourful and pretty and unique i just ghhghghg dont know how to explain it, just LOOK AT IT.

@lucerna-lunam the way their shading is,,, the “mystical”-ness of their art??? ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. IDK How they manage to draw stuff with such like,,,, sparkle to it. But their lighting is really well done, the EYES are so gorgeous! even the way each drawing is textured!! It comes together so perfectly!!

@suckmyicelandick THE WAY THEIR HAIR IS DRAWN??? SUPER SHINY AND GORGEOUS. I love the way their draw their characters, the hands/face/hair is so stylized the second you see their art you just KNOW its drawn by them. The eyes are super detailed and its so pretty im just sobbing i love their style

@aph-lithuania OKAY one of the first hetalia artists ive ever seen when i was new. THEIR ART IS SUPER PRETTY. The colours are really smooth and THE WAY???THEY DRAW BODIES?? THE FIGURES ARE SO WELL PROPORTIONED????!!! Everything about it is so cute!!!

@ask-mr-luxembourg BRUH??? HELLO?? COLOURING, LINEWORK, PROPORTIONS, EVERYTHING IS 10/10. Seriously they way they draw hair has such texture, and the way the bodies are drawn are so good. everything about them!! and the eyes?? DEADASS KILLED ME. Their art has seriously so much detail and i just DIE every time

@ellmovy HOW DOES ONE EVEN MANAGE TO DRAW CHARACTERS AS WELL AS THEM?? Each character has distinct features and like,,, the hair is always stylized and it looks SO GOOD????!!! The amount of detail they put into drawing small things like eyebrows and freckles add so much to the overall piece like WOW

@haeko9page THIS ARTIST. HAS THE CUTEST ART EVER. Their comic strips are seriously so adorable and has really good pacing! Each time they draw comic strips, the frames are so varied and it comes together SUPER WELL. Idk how to explain this, but like,,, the “camera angles” and the way they draw expressions/character interactions go together like peanut butter and jelly!

@kyotemeru-arts (they dont draw hetalia much but i love their art so much) dude the flow?? of the poses their characters have?? the flow of the characters themselves?? SUPER WELL DONE LIKE WOW. Also the way they shade and highlight things ?? like using more than one colour?? THAT REALLY MAKES THEIR ART POP. I LOVE THE WAY THEY CAN PERFECTLY DRAW FLUIDITY IN THEIR ART.

@frukmerunning GOLLY GEE DO I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY BOUT THEM. Just the way they draw faces, eyes and like,,,, bodies in general,, ITS ALL SO PERFECTLY BALANCED. The way they manage to make sketches look incredibly refined and capture the movement in each drawing???? LIKE IVE ADMIRED THEIR ART FOR SUCH A LONG TIME ITS BEEN 300 YEARS

@miss-ostrich-art BRUH how does one manage to draw ???? like them??? the way their characters’ forms and muscles can be seen but like not overly detailed??? they have the PERFECT amount of detail in each drawing, and the expressions!! the way they draw noses and facial structure and *italian hand gesture* PERFECT.

@maryluis THEIR EXPRESSIONS ARE SUPER DYNAMIC!!! AND THE POSES HAVE SUCH FLOW. Also did i mention the amount of detail they put into minor things?? like WOW. Seriously i think out of this list i like the way they draw expressions the best. Also this might be a weird thing to focus on, but the way theyre able to draw the interior/background/angles of things are INCREDIBLE.

@cioccolatodorima YOOOOOOO THIS IS LIKE THE FIRST ARTIST I SAW WHEN GETTING INTO THE FANDOM. ONE OF THEM AT LEAST. Their non-hetalia work is actually my fav and i want to do just what they do when im older! I love their illustrations, and their way of drawing characters/character design (ginjinka of mr.kitkat are my favs). The way their lighting looks, is SO pretty and the linework is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING. their art blog (not just hetalia) is @rainbow-taishi

@ask-badlydrawnseborga lemme tell yall about a thing. i love how funny their art is, and like,,,,, i know its “badly drawn seborga” but the way the hair flows and the proportions,, everything about it is SO nffhhklahjdj polished. LIKE IDK HOW TO EXPLAIN IT BC THEYRE SUCH A MEMELORD BUT I GENUINELY HAVE SO MUCH LOVE FOR THEIR SKILLL

@sabrow3 NOT ONLY IS THEIR ILLUSTRATIONS SUPER CUTE, IT HAS GREAT PROPORTIONS AND DEPTH. I love their attention to detail in clothing and historical things, and like,, the line work is AMAZING. Seriously, I want to be able to draw as well as them, its incredible how the amount of work and effort is shown in each drawing.

@buruzaitama !! The way they draw characters has like,,, this level of realism and the way they do their lighting just pushes that to the next level. I don’t know how people can pull off drawing realism yet still make it so unique that i can instantly tell that a piece is drawn by them, but this artist IS SO GOOD AT THAT. LIKE WOW

@inkodoodles Okay their “1 hour drawing challenges”? IM FLOORED ANYONE CAN DRAW THAT IN ONE HOUR. The have such detail and flow and movement in each drawing! And the lighting they have is so soft and calming, it lends itself to each piece REALLY WELL. Whatever emotion each drawing is supposed to give is conveyed to a tee

@heyheyartman BRO the style??? is so fucking UNIQUE AND ICONIC?? And the way they manage to pace comics and storytell is sO GOOD. Like,,, the way they can use shapes for each of their characters is so refined and stylized i love it. Their use of colour seriously KICKS ASS and im floored every time i see their work.

@merasgar their art is so detailed!! and the backgrounds/environments are so soft and gorgeous to look at! I have like,,,, no idea how you can pull off such beautiful hair and eyes in each drawing!! They draw a lot of rochu and like,, the features look so PERFECT for the characters ghhghghg

@yosb ALRIGHT LISTEN UP THIS ARTIST SERIOUSLY HAS ONE OF MY FAV STYLES. It’s so refined and you can see the distinct features of each character. The style isnt realism but the characters FEEL REAL. They have such a perfect way of paying attention to details and putting in proportions/facial features to each character im so amazed and love their work so much

and of course i want to include @paachubelle though theyre working on their own project ( @the-otwya-project ) now, they’re one of my like,,,, friends that i made on this blog through hetalia ask blogs and i figured id like to include them on this list. Idk how people can draw in pencil with such detail and everything but they do it EXPERTLY. The line work is always so clean and the shading is always so well done!!

of course, im very clumsy and forgetful so i know i forgot some names but i cant remember things!! Either way, these are some of my all time favourite iconic hetalia (and non-hetalia) artists!! I want to be able to draw as well as them one day!

#diamondsketcher #admin post #zonkeywave

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flying-elliska · 6 years ago

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Skam France End of S3 Questionnaire - my own.

I am so ready to enjoy Imane’s season, I will also never stop talking about s3 (I think we can all do both!!). Ever. It’s one of my favorite seasons of TV and media experiences and I can’t wait to analyze it to death. (I’m going to do the s4 questions in another post bc i want ppl to read them and this is already super long, fair warning)

Favorite “big” clip : I already said Jeudi 17h32 (the bus stop farewell) but it’s such an understated scene, idk if it’s a ‘big one’. Apart from that, I love them all but ‘Vendredi 20h27 “T’es plus tout seul”’ just...did something to me on an almost spiritual level, I will remember it forever. It also give me a push on a personal level to reach out and explain some stuff to people. It made me believe in Love as the most important thing in the universe. I felt all my misgivings about being mentally ill and being worthy of love fall through the basket of my brain for one moment. Yeah. Also the parallel between God’s love and the Church and gay love, and that song, and seeing Eliott like that, and Maman Lallemant, and Lucas’ epic run, and the flashbacks, and the whole Petite Ceinture thing falling into place, dark/light and and and...yeah. Never will be over it.

Favorite “small” clip : Several come to mind but I have such a soft spot for “Lundi 08h43 - Terre Promise” where they uncover the mural ? First of all that thing was much more beautiful than I thought it would be, aesthetics on point, and Lucas and Eliott being so open and unashamed like that made me feel so warm and fuzzy after all of Lucas’ repression of his own feelings and sexuality. The music and the filming are great in this clip, and I loved learning Imane knew Eliott already and seemed so happy for them, and the whole ‘you ask about politics on Christmas’ gave me such a family vibe. The whole ‘it’s a butt - yeah we gave it our all, body and soul’ was super ridiculous but in that way you don’t even care about when you’re so high on love. It was just super cute.

Favorite romantic moment : There’s so many but I just can’t get over Lucas buying flowers and croissants for Eliott in “Samedi 9h53 - T’es pas comme les autres” even though he knows he might not appreciate it because he just wants to bring color and beauty at the edge of Eliott’s life ? As a mentally ill person the constancy and care and tenderness of it just moved me to tears. And it represents so much for Lucas’ journey beyond toxic masculinity too, and not being his dad, and letting his caring side out, and just. uggh.

Favorite kiss : The first one, still. The symbolic of it is just...ahhh. It’s a kiss but it represents so much more - going beyond comfort zones, mutual recognition, stepping into each other’s worlds, understanding, the meeting of two souuuls. And the whole under the rain at night thing is cliché but it just works so well for them because it makes you feel all the relief and strangeness and right-ness of the moment. Their love is like a force of nature.

Favorite line of dialogue : ‘Lucas, je t’aime.’

Favorite (non-Elu) character : Alexia Martineau, absolute bicon, I wish she was more present in the end of the season tbh. I love how colorful and confident and funny she is. Her style is goals, and as a bi plus-size woman the whole character is just therapeutic to me.

Favorite set : La Petite Ceinture ! I just love the creepy-cool-poetic vibe of it, how well it is used as a character building tool for Eliott, how it shows a different side of Paris as a place, gives them a place of their own, how they go back to it later, what they did with Polaris, etc etc. I love the whole poetry of decaying secret places in general, it reminds me of places I used to take refuge in as a teenager, and now I really, really want to visit it.

Favorite frame : The candlelit dinner in 19h25. That clip is a punch in the face, but visually, it’s so on point. It’s incandescent. The whole aesthetic of the clip (and the next) manage to be both romantic, and unsettling as hell. The whole idea of the houseboat with the fairylights and the light reflecting on dark water and the sounds of the boat moving.The intimate scenes that make them look like renaissance paintings with that golden light. The shots of that table in particular, with the candles behind the glass, and the two of them with the shotgunning and the blown pupils and the champagne glasses full of golden bubbles. The aesthetic is almost like religious iconography with the dark/light contrasts, light through glass ( the candle motif is repeated in the church scene) and the way it frames their feelings - it’s so f*cking intense, exhilarating, almost too much. It makes you feel both Lucas’ awe at being loved like that, how in tune they are, and the fact that Eliott’s manic episode is really about to surface, the brief descent into darkness to come. It does so many things. It’s gorgeous.

Favorite Lucas character arc moment : Well, the whole of the season obviously, and things I’ve said above, how he cares for Eliott after his episode, the Remember scene, living his love out loud, etc. But in particular what sticks out to me is the articulation of the Jeudi 1h48 night scene, his coming out to Yann, and the Intervention clip because that’s where his self acceptance goes through the hardest point and makes it through. He lets himself come to terms with his emotions, and figures out that even though the reaction of the world might be hard, his own self expression is still the most important thing. He’s so brave in those clips, and the acting brings it to an incredible level.

Favorite Eliott character arc moment : Again, the moment he says to Lucas he loves him. Because this is him, seeing Lucas and reaching out through his insecurities and telling him that what they had was real. But it’s also him validating his own feelings, believing in them, letting himself have this after a whole season of going back and forth out of fear of messing it up. He’s putting his own fears aside too, fears of being seen and vulnerable and daring for something better than a relationship that is just ‘okay.’ He’s finally going for it 100% and accepting Lucas’ love and his own capacity for it. It’s just...wow.

Favorite other character arc moment : Daphné’s gaining confidence through the foyer made me super happy. But tbh, my favorite is Yann. He’s very underrated in general, I feel. He’s not as ‘ideal bff’ as Jonas or Skam It’s Gio, but his arc feels very important and meaningful to me. Seeing someone mess up and admit to his mistakes is super important. Because I feel there are soooo many straight guys who can learn from this - that casual homophobia is in the water of our culture and sometimes you just don’t realize what you are saying. And i feel, even though this isn’t directly adressed (and i wish it was) that Lucas also learns from this re: his words about ‘crazy people’ and what compassion and growing up means. I love Leo’s acting in general. Yann has a very compelling presence, calm (but a bit loopy at times), he feels deeply, and his betrayal at Lucas’ not sharing and subsequent realization he had messed up felt very real and mature for a 16 yr old. And how he embraces Lucas afterwards made me feel all fuzzyhearted. I wish we saw more of their friendship tbh.

Favorite Axel acting moment : ummm every single minute he was on, like. He never once felt false. That guy is going places. One of my fave things is just the look on his face in certain scenes Lucas has with Eliott - how it completely lights up, and the contrast with his more closed off persona in the beginning. It’s like he’s a completely different person - younger, wilder, more alive, daring, unafraid, and absolutely thrilled to have found his soulmate. It’s beautiful. And the crying difficult scenes, how he’s not afraid to ugly cry and just go there and make it a real gut punch. He just goes through such a transformation throughout the season, too. It’s nuts to me they didn’t even film in chronological order. Lucas just seems so much more grown up and at ease in his own skin at the end of the season. Mind blown. But if I had to pick one : the look on his face at the end of Jeudi 17h32 - sadness to see Eliott leave, but so much happiness, and also like he’s coming to terms with his own journey and breathing for the first time ? So much in one frame.

Favorite Maxence acting moment : tbh i was a little less sure of him in the beginning, but I feel like his restlesness and slight awkwardness and being a little too forceful at times (which some might have called ‘bad acting’) was actually a good acting choice ? Because Eliott feels so much, he’s so sensitive, and it would lead to feeling a little out of place around others, there’s so much emotion brimming under the surface he can’t always regulate it properly (I would know. it was painful to watch at times.) He really outsold it in the scene in “Lundi 17:21 “On verra bien.” where Eliott talks about his illness. That pain in his eyes when he says “I’m going to make you go through hell.” ? Ouch. He’s really good with his eyes in general, esp in the beginning when Eliott is the ‘mysterious new guy’ and the way he looks at Lucas at the end of ‘Not necessarily a girl’ ? Daaaaaaaaamn.

Favorite (non-Elu) acting moment : Marilyn Lima as Manon. She was so good in every clip she was in. It almost made me want to watch s2 even though I hate Noorhell plotlines with a fiery passion. She just sold how bruised and sad and let down she was and it was a doorway to Lucas’ own empathy and feeling his own feelings, and reflecting on how true love should be supportive in the dark moments. Especially in the night time clip, they were so good together.

Favorite social media moment : they were really good at it (we could have had more clips though) and my absolute fave is what they did with Eliott’s insta - the hunt for it at the beginning with the code, the cool drawings, the queer culture references, the somewhat alarming poetry, it all helped flesh out Eliott’s character in a way that we didn’t have with Even and made us fall in love so much more. The moment where we were all waiting for Lucas’ to discover Eliott’s insta (and the hilarity of the (probably made up) moment where Matteo/German Isak followed him first) with baited breath, was the most brilliant bit of intermedia storytelling I have ever seen. It was so cool. Also Emma and Alex’s insta stories made me like a Chriseva pairing for the first time, lol.

Favorite music moment : Remember, obviously. The chorus, timeless feeling, epic rythm ? Just perfect. And Fête de trop : so powerful, thematically on point, made me discover Eddy de Pretto. Also brilliant use of piano music and how it’s related to them. I want a social media vid of Lucas playing ‘I love you’ again for Eliott at some point.

Favorite bts/cast&crew moment : so many of them. But tbh I am especially grateful for Maxence’s openness about his own issues and his process on how he worked on the Eliott role. His Actor Factory interview where he talked about how mental illness can be so fucking lonely but life can still be beautiful had me cry like a little baby in my favorite café. It just made me want to be around creative ppl more, and dedicate myself to my own creative process seriously ? And his lives are also so cool. The dude in general is so effing relatable. (well, and cute tbh ahahaha). I also really, really loved Niels’ insight in the writing process. I haven’t stanned a cast this hard in forever and now I want to give everything up and try to write my own series lmaooo.

Favorite fandom moment : all the theorizing and staying up late and shit was golden. I love talking with ppl and sharing the love. And it’s given me a lot more confidence in my own writing. But special love to the @renewskamfrance team and the whole thing, it’s been completely nuts and I am so happy we started this.

…

Most romantic moment : I am realizing this question is a double but whatever, there’s no shortage of them. Eliott drawing Lucas as a hedgehog, the smooth artsy motherf*cker. And the insta in general. If someone made a cartoon animal version of me, that was also that fitting to my character, I would just ask them to marry me on the spot. I live for that artsy shit. I understand why Lucas was so into it right from the start. And of course the timeless cloud of queer intimacy that was Samedi 09h17.

Moment that made you fall in love with the season : The piano scene, because it showed so much more depth in Lucas’ character. We were all Eliott then, falling in love with him and the season, and their ability to mix things up compared to OG.

Most heartbreaking moment : Tied. “Samedi 14h32 Intervention″ - I don’t think I’ve cried so much all season. I’ve been there, too, and Lucas’ anguish at being ostracized and judged for something he can’t control, and his thinking that Eliott didn’t care about him, and Mika saying ‘you will have to keep coming out for the rest of your life’ all felt so impactful but the ‘fuck them’ at the end, so empowering. It was heartbreaking in a good way, incredibly cathartic. Meanwhile “Vendredi 23:37 Une putain de lubie” is heartbreaking in the bad way lol, it stomps on your heart, the contrast with how happy they were only moments before absolutely brutal, and Lucille’s cruel words on top of it. Watching Lucas lose it like that was so difficult to watch, the panic of it, the absolute despair. But it was so well done. And of course “Jeudi 01:48 Viens on en parle pas″. So simple, so powerful, and we were all so tired when we watched it, it was super effective.

Most funny moment : The ‘discovery of the butt’ moment was hilarious, also loved the boys’ reaction to Lucas telling them Eliott was his bf, the vodka sunday scenes, and the entirety of the scene in the second-hand shop with the scary dolls, but I just can’t get over Imane and the tampons in “Lundi 8:53 Quoi moi et Emma” , that was just pure gold but it also shows how good she is at embarassing nosy ppl and inventive and it made me want to know so much more about her.

Most enlightening moment : The season as a whole has made me think so much about my own relationship to my emotions and love and self-expression. After the ‘Remember’ sequence I really had this moment of....I can’t hate myself anymore ? It was so powerful. And episode 10 in general. But in earlier episodes, ep 5/6 in particular made me realize how much I was also repressing my own feelings and how unhealthy that shit was. The whole thing was just in general a process. And after the last clip I had such a feeling of general tenderness towards the show, the world and wanting to give love more of a place in my life.

Best aesthetics moment : Like I said houseboat scene. The use of light throughout the season, incredibly beautiful, But of course the painting thing. It was just such a perfect use of aesthetics to make a point in the story (i don’t really care if it’s not realistic). Now they are finally living out loud in all the colors of life. It was such a radiant affirmation of love and pride and joy. And the mural actually looked really cool, suprisingly (I was expecting a brown-ish mess lol).

Best change from OG: The show was at its best when it changed things up. I love especially that they made their own symbolism. I love the whole concept of the Foyer and how much more integral they made it to the story than Kosegruppa, how it comes to stand for togetherness and diversity. I love the girl squad being more present and the role they gave Alexia. I love Lucas being a pianist and taking more initiative in going after Eliott (it’s not a diss against Isak, his awkwardness was so endearing and it made sense) but it made them their own characters. But I think my favorite thing is how they changed around the sequence of events slightly in the last episodes - Lucas coming out to his mom after Eliott’s episode and Basile’s talk is tying it together better, it feels like he’s thinking about how he’s treated his mother in the past because of her MI and it makes it part more of the learning process ; his mother’s loving reaction is a perfect example of ‘you have to let MI ppl speak for themselves.” And them spreading the ‘minute by minute’ concept over several clips gave us a more in depth look into Eliott’s condition, which I will be forever grateful for, the talk with Lucille as well as Lucas learning he needs to take care of himself, too.

Best similar scene to OG : Overall I liked that they kept the story structure of the OG, because honestly, it just works so well - the Isak character’s trajectory from repression to openness to compassion. Sana/Imane’s speech about hate coming from fear, not religion. The few episodes that focused on Lucas’ self-acceptance more than the love story.

Best group dynamics scene : Intervention. Loved the complementary of Mika as queer guru, Manon as nurturing presence, and Lisa as comical outsider point of view being so out of it. But also loved the ‘vodka sunday’ dynamics with Manon, Lucas and Emma getting wasted, complaining about their love lives, the sadness but also the solidarity, Lucas talking about his love life so openly and making gay jokes about himself, Emma’s whole messy girl thing and ‘he’s just a p*nis”!!!” had me laughing for hours.

Best glow-up : Lucas of course. More in terms of character perception, Mika. He really annoyed me in the beginning of the season, he was mean and uncaring and lacking in boundaries, it was toeing the line of cliché, and I love how they showed us more depth to him, that they let him be deservedly angry, and how caring with Lucas he became, while still being slightly annoying, and their sibling dynamic in general, slightly antagonistic but super supportive.

Best social awareness moment : Mika’s speech, Yann’s apologies, and Lucille and Basile’s talks about mental illness.

Best symbolism : Polaaaris. Also God is gay now. And the first clip/end clip parallel, with them counting minutes.

Best editing/filming/technical moment : the Remember sequence, and how they made the scenes used in the flashback a little longer, giving us the impression that their relationship is actually so much deeper than what we’ve already seen ; the parallels with the priest’s speech, the sunny vibe of Eliott laughing vs. his face in the ending shots, the music, the acting, the running, all of it.

Best/most interesting cultural adaptation : The Foyer storyline and especially the sit-in moment. So French. It gave me flashbacks to my whole class staging sit-in protests in middle school (at 13!!!!) already for the wackiest of reasons, already practicing saying fuck off to authority and being rowdy little shits. It made me miss my country.

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Least favorite clip/moment : Mercredi 13:38 annoyed the shit out of me lol. It started out so well, with the summer of love aesthetics and Elu being all cute, but that lasted all of 40s and then we had an extremely unpleasant moment of Basile disrespecting Daphne’s boundaries and Arthur and Yann pressuring her to ‘give him a chance’ and how the misogynistic song he sent her is actually cute’ and we’re supposed to feel sorry for him ? I liked the end of season glow-up for him, but this scene was just gross. And I don’t mind having a POV that’s a little bit more loose than in OG but in this clip, it just felt jarring, how Lucas just flat out disappeared. I wanted to see Eliott interact with the squad more, and I resent the idea that seeing them just be happy and cuddly is not worthy of screentime for some reason. UGh. That was the one moment that the show pissed me off. Also, in the scene where Chloé offers her apologies (good) I feel like they validated her outing Lucas so he had to come to terms with his feelings. (which is a really bad message and I wish they’d written that with a bit more nuance.)

Least favorite change from OG : Overall, this remains my least favorite boy squad. The insistence on Basile’s gross, creepy humor felt overdone, and I feel they spent too much time on him. The idea that he’s been taught bad things by society about what a man is, fits the overal theme, but did we really need to know that he wanted to bang his cousin ? Yikes. And Arthur and the 35-yr old too, what the hell ? I just felt that their banter was a lot less natural and flowed less well than in OG.

Least favorite similarity from OG : Really don’t know about this one. Most of what they kept was good.

Most disappointing scene : the banter scene between the boys in 18:14, I always loved the banter between the boys in OG. Magnus saying stupid shit about gay s*x and being shut down felt educative without being heavy. Here there was way too much of Basile being gross again. And it just didn’t flow as well, the pacing was way too fast. A lot of the scenes that were a bit disappointing to me this season had to do with timing tbh, too fast.

Something you wish they’d added : I wish they actually had Lucas say he realized he’d say messed up stuff about mentally ill people.

Thing you wish the fandom would take away from this season : Chill a bit before drawing conclusions, wait for the whole season ahahaha.

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French word you will remember : I am French but I have never felt so validated in my overuse of the word ‘putain’. also saying mec/meuf a lot more.

If you could steal one item from the set : Eliott’s camel jacket, I want one too, what a look.

Scene you wish you could live in your own life : a lot of the romantic ones but also ? I wish I’d breaken into my high school to have a party at least once in my life lol. There’s a club next to my place in an old renovated school i reaaaally need to check out.

Character you identify the most with : Eliott in general, Daphné for her overenthusiasm and awkwardness and spontaneity and optimism and drive to organize things. Lucas because of the whole trying so hard to control his image, being spiky on the surface and soft inside.

Character you want to be like the most : Honestly, Lucas. Not in the beginning but his courage and his emotional intelligence and openness as the season progressed really are goals. It made me want to use my past painful experiences to extend compassion and be there for others, and learn how to be better at it. He’s going to grow into such an amazing man. And honestly his newfound pride in his relationship and pettiness are also goals lol. Imane as well, for how protective she is of her friends. And Alexia in terms of demeanour and confidence and funky vibe.

Most relatable character moment : Lucas’ eyeroll. Emma and her lava lamp. Lucas being so immediately smitten with Eliott, because like, same.

Fave fandom theory : lol I cracked up so hard at the whole ‘Eliott is a ghost’ thing, thx Billy Maier. I really don’t know why we were all so set on a bullying plotline, like why do we do that to ourselves lol ?

Whew ! Well, if you read through all of that, you’re one hell of a nerd, and I love you !!! I’m doing S4 questions in a separate post because this is wayy too long !!!

#skam france #elu #lucas x eliott #skam #review #my meta #skam questions meme #skamfr s3

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