#drawing my own symbols for these terms now ^^

[serasol]

Seafoam Punch: a beverage presentation term for any queer person who presents their gender through the color seafoam!

[jessamine-rose]

*lovingly tackles Aine*

Read my Yandere! Pierro longfics first ♪( ´▽｀)

Last week, my beloved mutual @ainescribe surprised me with Savior! Darling fan art and AHAI9232@2-!/! CRYING SCREAMING I WANT TO LOOK AT THIS ART AND WORSHIP YOUR VERSION OF SAVIOR THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BLESSING ME WITH YOUR ART—

*clears throat* Anyway, now that I finally have the time to properly sit down and comment on the fan art, I’ll do just that. Feedback will be in the tags and it will be unhinged. Once again, thank you so much to Aine for drawing this <3

[fading-event-608]

A fig tree for pixel dailies.

"Figs are planted in most Palestinian cities. However, it is most common in two districts, Nablus — especially in the village of Tell — and Ramallah — namely in Silwad, which became known as Im-Qutteen (mother of dried figs). Other villages also have names relating to the fig, such as Teeneh (fig). There are also flat areas called masateeh referring to the places where figs are dried to produce qutteen.

The fig has long been linked to Palestinian cultural heritage because it is nutritious and filling, and thus a staple of the Palestinian diet. It was known in Palestine as far back as the Canaanites. Palestinians have their own terms for the fig: while it is forming, the fruit is taqsh, then faj and then ‘ajr. Other used terms are nafal and thbeel.

Old traditional sayings reflect the importance of figs in Palestine. For example: ‘I tasted the first fruit, I hope my life has a long route’; ‘Eat the figs from the early season and the grapes from the late season’;* and ‘If we have qutteen (dried figs), we are safe from hunger.'"

-from The Palestinian Museum which took that info from 'A Garden Among the Hills: The Floral Heritage of Palestine'

Trees, would it be olive trees (which I also have a drawing of) or fig ones are important in Palestine. Just like in other countries, they provide shade, fresh air and produce. But in Palestine, they are also a symbol of resistance - as long as family's tree is growing, they are growing too; as long as the tree is alive, they are alive too.

When Israeli occupiers takes Palestinian's homes that they've built over multiple generations, they take their trees that they groomed too. When IOF drops bombs on civilians, they take trees with them. They uproot the trees, they burn them - because those trees remind them of people they've killed and whose land they have taken.

It seems like the world is slowly growing numb to cries for help; it seems like people are closing their eyes and covering their ears to not see the Palestinian blood on their screens, to not hear them scream. And Israel sees that and continues it's aggression on Lebanon. After all, if they can get away with a year (76 years) of genocide, why not start another one?

Please take any action you can. Protest, boycott, keep your eyes on Palestine and please, please, please donate to Palestinian fundraisers. I have spotlighted one fundraiser, for Falastin's family evacuation funds from Gaza that she organized in late June - it is still very far away from it's goal.

There are 24 family members that depend on that fundraiser. They need not only evacuation funds but also money to buy basic necessities like food and medicine that are very expensive in Gaza right now. Recently Falastin started hearing them talk about waiting for their fate because the funds this campaign gets daily are not enough to ease their suffering and cover evacuation.

Please, do not let it happen. Please, donate and check conversion rates before you do as:

10$ = 103 SEK

25$ = 257 SEK

50$ = 515 SEK

100$ = 1,030 SEK

I've talked about this fundraiser before numerous times, a lot of info can be found on this post [here] or [here].

Vetting info: #282 in El-Shab-Hussein and Nabulsi's spreadsheet [here], #957 in the Butterfly Project spreadsheet [here]

I do semi-regular art updates (last one [here]) and accept commissions for proof of donations, please dm me for info as my art blog was terminated recenty.

[sk3lliebones]

Sometimes I hate gays.

Genuinely though, there is soooo much hidden symbolism in this one! Comment what you find please :))

ALSO THOUGHTS BELOW THE CUT BECAUSE I JUST REALIZED SOMETHING!!!

Okok so I might be over speculating things but someone has to agree with me on this right?? And of course if this is the implication then call me TF OUT because media literacy is truly dead if I missed this.

If you've been following my page for a minute I assume you can remember the ADHD Kokichi headcanon post that I made last year (if not go check it out here 🙏) but REGARDLESS I have something new to add onto that. I wish I could do a video rant to something about this because I'm livid I didn't notice it before. But I believe that Kokichi's absolute worst fear is being boring.

Now hear me out for this. Of course, referencing my ADHD Kokichi hc, we all have a deficit of dopamine which is why it makes it hard to focus on things we find boring. I can BET YOU ALL that most people you approach that have ADHD can agree that they'd rather keel over than be bored (because me too), and the same applies to Kokichi. The reason why he bothers people is because he's bored, and that's frankly one of the worst feelings in the world for him. But if we reference basically all his interactions with the rest of the DRV3 cast, they can all be tied back to, in one way or another, with the fear of being boring. BECAUSE QUITE LITERALLY, ONE OF HIS LAST LINES OF THE GAME WAS "at least... I wasn't boring, right?"

Now why would he say that? If he was really that flamboyant for the sake of saving his classmates, and went out with a big final show, why would he say this in his very last moments when he was most vulnerable? In fact, aside from the fact that he bothers or annoys people for the sake of a dopamine chase, why does he bother to put on such a show? Because all of it is compulsive. His lying, his crocodile tears, his entire personality is literally compulsion in every sense of the word because he cannot stand the thought of being forgotten. Of being someone boring, who isn't worth remembering. In fact, I could even go as far as to say the reason why he crafted his plan like he did was BECAUSE he wanted to make a lasting impression so big that literally no one could forget him. Because he didn't have to go through making that huge of a show at the end when he was claiming to be the mastermind, which eventually led to his death. He could have absolutely kept quiet about his intentions until the very last second because he always intended to die. He was smart enough to have done it that way. So why big and boisterous?

"Well he was trying to draw attention to himself" you might say. EXACTLY. That was always in his benefit. He was smart enough to have revealed Tsumugi as the mastermind without all of the extra everything. It was his plan. His idea. His influence on Gonta, which ended up in both Miu and Gonta's deaths. His dying by his own terms. His effect that it had on the remaining cast. Even if his plan had to speed up in the end, he made an impression on everyone. Which was his compulsion all along.

I could literally go on and on about the implications of his actions throughout the entire game, but in the end I'll limit it to this. Please interact! Repost with your own ideas, comment, anything! I'd love to see what you all have to say about this idea.

[writingsbychlo]

MIDNIGHT MAGIC | TOM RIDDLE

SUMMARY: tom doesn't always get it right, but he tries. WORD COUNT: 2515 NOTES: happy valentine's day, my lovelies!

Your fingernails drummed against the hard, cold stone surface of the large protruding boulder you’d perched yourself on almost two hours ago. New nails, freshly done with little pink hearts painted on to make yourself feel the romantic energy of the holiday a little more. 

Your good luck charm, you’d deemed them. Some kind of enchantment, you’d thought. Because as you’d been returning to the castle six days ago, admiring the glittery pattern of pretty pink hearts that reflected under the torch lights, Tom had stepped into your path. That small twitch of a smile was on the corners of his lips, the one that he reserved only for the occasional use, and only with you. 

“You’ve been out all day.” He’d mumbled, blunt and to the point in that direct way you loved about him, and your own smile had grown. 

“I’ve been in Hogsmeade, getting my nails done.”

He’d hummed. His eyes flicked down to them as you held your hands up between you both. He’d shuffled his folders between his arms, talked for five minutes about the project notes the two of you had been working on for the last two weeks, handed you his half, and then turned to leave. Only two steps had been taken, before he’d turned back to you, a flurry of dark robes and a hushed voice as he asked you whether you’d want to join him for some late-night magic practice out in the woods on Friday night. 

It wasn’t the first time he’d asked you to hang out outside of your scheduled study sessions, but this Friday was supposed to be different. 

Today was supposed to be different. It was Valentine’s Day, for Merlin’s sake. 

And yet, here you were. Sitting on a rock, cold and bored in the middle of the Forbidden Forest, wrapped up in a coat against the bitingly cold February winds, because the little dress you’d put on for the session was clearly an error in judgment and the warming charm you’d cast was failing you. 

This was, by no uncertain terms, not a date. Tom hadn't spoken for twenty minutes, mumbling to himself as he took notes, swirling patterns in the air and practising spells that weren’t exactly illegal, but weren’t strictly legal, either. The frowned upon, not curriculum friendly, spells. And had it been any other circumstance, you wouldn't have minded. 

Godric, your friends had thought you insane for months now. Pining after the lonely, grumpy Slytherin boy whom people whispered about as he walked by and cowered out of his way when he walked towards them. But they just didn’t know him, didn’t know how fascinating and wonderful and curious he was. 

But today, you were mad. You were sad. And most of all, you were embarrassed about the way you’d obviously read into things. There was no romantic moonlit picnic, there was just the mud and the stretching quiet. The hardest part was, that he genuinely didn’t seem to get it. As he laughed quietly to himself at another successful spell, an irritated huff escaped your lips, and you hopped down from your seat into the damp grass. 

“Tom.”

“Did you see that?” He said, spinning to face you with a grin on his face as the tip of his wand smoked from the explosion of sparks that had emerged from it. He didn’t seem to take notice of your mood, or the arms crossed over your chest, as he began drawing runes in the air between you both with the lit tip of his wand. 

“Do you really not get it?”

“Get what?” Tom muttered, tone belaying his distraction as he focused on the series of glowing symbols in the air before him, the tip of his wand spitting small sparks that floated away to the ground like burning ash. “I did that spell perfectly. I—”

“It’s Valentine’s Day, Tom!” You snapped, and his eyes connected with yours, his face illuminated by the glowing, incomplete symbols hovering in the air before him. His lips pressed together, and a few beats of silence passed, before he uttered a single syllable. 

“Oh.”

“Oh?” You repeated, following it with a miniature scoff as he just fixed you with that intense, unwavering stare, and shoulders set. “Right.”

Turning on your heel, you gave up, letting the disappointment swallow you whole, succumbing to the consuming sadness of a failed Valentine’s date, and a wasted evening. Before you could even fish out your wand to light the way, you were hardly a few steps from Tom’s little set-up when your inappropriate footwear caught on a slippery rock, and you felt a horrendous drop in your stomach as you slipped. 

Before hitting the ground, in a scene that would have truly topped off your humiliation for the night, familiar hands caught your shoulders from behind, steadying you as he rounded your body. Those hands slid down, holding your wrists lightly as Tom came to stand in front of you. He was a man of few words, only when it mattered, and always concise, but right now, you could tell he was speechless. His lips were parted, short breaths and inhaled like he was about to speak, but almost a full minute passed before he finally spoke. 

“I didn’t know.”

Your brow, perfectly manicured for the evening, just like every other part of yourself that you’d put effort into for the night, rose slowly. “You didn’t know it was Valentine’s Day. Despite all the propaganda around, and the buzzing excitement of all the couples, and the fact it’s the same day every year?”

“I truly didn’t. I don’t keep track of that sort of thing. What’s the point?”

“What’s— What’s the point? It’s an annual, globally celebrated holiday, and it’s also one of the most magical days in the Wizarding World, for Divinists and Seers. I would’ve thought you’d at least know the magical lore.” He shrugged, and you rolled your eyes. “It’s the day of love, Tom.”

“I suppose, but… not for me.” He spoke softly, tone one of the softest you’d ever heard him express. “If this day means that much to you, why did you agree to come?”

You stared at him incredulously, anger melting away into confusion and adoring pity, as his gaze honestly searched yours for an answer, as though it wasn’t obvious. “For someone so smart, you can be really dense sometimes.”

His thick brows furrowed in puzzlement, processing your words for a moment, two, and then they shot up in surprise. His cheeks took on a faint glow of pink in the torchlight. “Oh.”

Your lips pressed together, warmth rising to your face too. 

“You thought this was a date.”

Smoothing your hands down over your dress, you cleared your throat. “Well, yes.”

“And… you agreed to come?”

“What?” Your head snapped back up to him, and his head had tilted to the side, one of those rare small smiles playing on his lips now. 

“You agreed to a date on Valentine’s Day with me.”

His blunt statement of the obvious made you want to cower under his heavy gaze, but you held your head high, arms crossing protectively over your front. “Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?”

“Why would you?” He snorted, in a way so unlike himself that it caught you off-guard. An unforeseen moment of self-deprecation, a crack in his usual unwavering self-assuredness, “I’m not deaf, or blind, or ignorant. I know that I am not well-liked. People don’t enjoy my company, they find me strange and unsettling and too ambitious. They laugh behind my back. You could’ve had a date with anyone you wanted, I know for certain that several people asked you.”

You weren’t aware he knew that, you’d never spoken of such things to him, it never felt right, to tell the man you were interested in about the other suitors you’d turned down. Your heart was breaking for him as he spoke, voice sure and analytical, as though he wasn’t talking tragically about himself. “I didn’t want any of them, Tom.”

Your whisper sat heavy in the air between you both, and his throat bobbed. When you slid your hands up to cup his cold cheeks, he sucked in a sharp breath, his shoulders stiffening. 

“I like you just fine. I think you’re smart and witty and funny, and I love your ambitions. You’re going to be Minister someday, or you’ll solve magical maladies in a lab, or rediscover forgotten ruins. I just know it. You have so much to offer the world, Tom. The people here are just too short-sighted to see it. But I see it, I see you. I happen to love your company, but I’m glad nobody else does because it means I get you to myself. Don’t you know I’ve been flirting with you for months now?”

“You have?” He asked, an uncertain waver to his voice that made you grin. It’s not often you got to teach him something, to specialise or know more than he did, but romance was where you’d be taking the lead from now on. “How?”

Your giggle made his hands jump to sit on your hips, shifting a fraction closer on his next breath as his hands flexed on your waist. Rubbing your thumb over his cheek, you smirked coyly. “Well, I hate studying, but there I was with you three times a week and Saturday afternoons, far more than our mandated once-a-week sessions. In my short skirts and my best perfumes and my leaning over with little touches. Asking you for things from high shelves I couldn't reach, batting my lashes at you, all the usual tricks.”

Tom cleared his throat, his hands twitching like he had the urge to scratch his neck or hide his face, but resisted pulling his touch from you. “I noticed all of those things,” He confessed quietly, “I just didn’t think they’d be for my benefit.”

You slid your hands down his neck, to sit on his chest, as you closed a little more of the gap between you both. “Trust me,” You murmured, feeling the beat of his heart, thudding rapidly under your palm, “It wasn’t for anyone else.”

Your words brushed over his lips in a hushed breath, and he didn’t respond, his lids sliding closed slowly. 

“Tom, do you like me?” You spoke the words so quietly into the air he’d have missed them if you weren’t so close, the gap shrinking between you until your nose was brushing his. “Because I like you. So, either stop me, or I’m going to kiss you.”

You gave him a pause, time to react or pull away, but only a shaky breath left his parted lips, before your mouth brushed over his. Once, twice, and then you were sealing a kiss to his lips that made his hands clench and his heart skip a beat under your hand. His hands curled into fists in the side of your coat, gripping you tightly and pulling you closer as he stumbled his way unsurely through the kiss. 

Tipping your head to the side, he copied your action in the opposite direction, allowing you to kiss him deeper as your lips parted. Licking lightly at his lower lip, he groaned gently, a sound you swallowed down as you licked your tongue out, teasingly against his one, before retreating. He didn’t dare to copy that, only sliding his arms further around your waist as deep kisses were shared, mingled between giggling pecks and needy collisions of lips, bumps of noses and playful gasps for breath. 

He was a quick and skilled learner, and you were just as flushed and dazed as he was when you finally parted, resting your forehead on his as you both panted quietly for breath. “You taste like raspberries.” 

“I know,” You beamed at his confession, “I picked this lipgloss out specifically because you said they were your favourite.”

He leaned in again, kissing your bottom lip and sucking on it lightly until a shudder ran along your body, and a raspy chuckle left him at your response. Damn him, for being such a quick study. 

As the two of you parted a little more, his arms still around you but looser, a comfortable silence washed over. You smoothed down the fistfuls of his sweater you’d taken at some point, the fabric pulling as he glanced over his shoulder at the activities of the night. An unsatisfied noise left his mouth, and he tugged out his wand as he turned back to you. 

With a few muttered words, Tom summoned some flowers from the tip of his wand. Or, he attempted to, but the abandoned magic of his previous activities was clearly still present in the ancient wood, as a smattering of sparks popped out noisily, followed by a bouquet of burned stems and petals, and smoke that smelled of burning greenery.  

“Crap.” He muttered, shaking the incinerated plants off, and trying again. When the same result occurred, drawing a low growl from him, you tucked your face into his chest to hide your laugh. Placing a hand on his wrist, you lowered his wand before he could butcher any more innocent flowers. He sighed in agitation, “I’ll make that up to you.”

“Don’t worry. They were perfectly you.” You teased, rising on your toes to press a fleeting kiss to his lips. 

He returned it in kind, arms tightening around you once again, “I’ll get you the biggest bouquet I can find, tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“I’ll take you on a proper date somewhere.” He said, speaking between your kisses and interrupting the affections you were trying to give him.

“It’s fine, Tom.” You nipped at his lip, in hopes of shutting him up. 

“And I’ll—”

“Tommy.” You cut him off with a huff of his name. “I don’t want you to do any of that, I like you just the way you are, don’t go doing things that aren’t you. Just… next time you bring me out to the woods for a night of watching you master runes and ancient curses, bring a blanket, and some roses. Maybe some snacks.”

“A midnight picnic would be enough for you?” He asked with disbelief in his voice.

“You’re enough for me.” You promised, hearing his underlying words, and emotion seemed to clog in his throat as he failed to respond, but instead gave a slow, delayed nod in acknowledgement. Brushing one hand over his forehead to sweep a stray curl from his face, you caught his gaze for the words you were about to say, “You’re enough, Tom. You’ve always been enough. You’re all I want, just as you are.”

His jaw tightened, lips pressed together into a thin line, and something in his gaze melted. “I’ve wanted you since the day I met you, doll, but I never expected you’d return those feelings, or even look my way.”

“You got me now.” You smiled, 

“And I won’t make the mistake of losing you. I can promise you that.”

[exclusively0ccupied]

(SPOILERS+FW WARNING!!) finally finished this woo!! i really like how it came out so please dont let this flop :[ comments are super appreciated!! lmk what your fav part is (ʘ ͜ʖ ʘ) some yapping about this under the cut!!

in the 'shes on the go' scene, with sou, its supposed to be him making an attempt to escape after the ch2 main game, when following the emotion route and keeping kanna alive. he hasnt got a collar in this scene, having previously taken it off. (thats def not me just being lazy and forgetting to draw it. def not.) i tried to make the lyrics sync with whats going on onscreen, like 'flowers for the sinking dead' gets kanna and 'with hospitals' is qtaro. for the yabusame siblings part, 'way too fast' was alice's since he, in his rage and grief over the ranger's taunting, acted way too fast and let his anger get the best of him. reko's was 'way too slow', since if she had acted a bit faster, maybe not let the fake get the knife or something similar, she may have been able to stay alive. 'shell turn to stone' refers to nao finding out she's the sacrifice, more or less bound to die or to kill everyone else. she hasnt got much of a choice, stuck where she is as if she were stone. 'somebody sighs who is not in disguise anymore' can work with several characters, but i chose kai and joe. they both in a way end up losing their disguise and have nothing better to do than sigh, knowing their fates were now set and anything they did would be impractical at best. kai lost his disguise of being a normal participant of the death game, having been revealed to have some connections with asunaro and also having been revealed to be the sage. joe lost his disguise of being the sage, having been revealed to be the sacrifice. the failure of their disguises is what inevitably led to their doom. for the end part, the joe and kai parallels, in the part with the hands the backgrounds have some significance. the joe one features sara's hand, holding the clicker given to her by miley. the background is dark, while a ring of light circles her hand. this was meant to symbolize how her action held hope, hope shed be able to save him, hope there was still something she could do, but ultimately she failed. she wasnt going to be allowed a chance in the first place, hence how the majority of the background is dark. the hope born by desperation, the light born by dark, ultimately failed and was proven to be purposeless. whereas kai's, the majority is light while the hand itself is surrounded by darkness, symbolizing how his action held despair and anguish, but was also a beacon of hope, his way of resistance and stopping the organization from taking away their freedom fully. he chose to die, on his own terms, and that action, although born from a sense of futile desperation, also gave him a chance to fight back in his own way, however measly that chance may be. ok i think im done thanks for attending my ted talk everyone, hope yall enjoyed!!

[meetmeinanotherworld]

Things that helped me believe in shifting other than my own personal experiences...

This will be a loooong post so grab a snack for this one.

Shifting tattoos- the fact that so many people have gotten the shifting symbol permanently tattooed on their bodies despite how ridiculed the shifting community is. Tattoos are expensive and painful and to get them removed or covered up is even more expensive and even more painful. People get the shifting symbol tattooed onto their bodies knowing people will probably ask about it. They would not put themselves through that if shifting wasn't real.

The gateway process aka the cia documents- no, this document is not about shifting. However, the topics in the gateway process can certainly be tied to shifting realities and the fact that the cia even explored this shows that it's not a crazy concept. Of course the cia is not exactly a great source or a group to look up to as they are a terrible unethical organization, I think we can still appreciate the fact that there's a whole long document about the power of human consciousness. "It may not be the brain which creates consciousness, but rather the consciousness that creates the appearance of the brain" -a direct quote from the gateway process.

Old experiences- the fact that shifting has been documented long before 2020. Long before the internet even existed, actually. It just wasn't called shifting back then. That's a relatively new term, but the practice has always been around. Neville Goddard was sharing his experiences way back in the 50s/60s. The idea of exploring other worlds is also something that has been touched on in Hinduism and Buddhism and I believe some native tribes.

The ganzfeld experiment- again, not shifting related. Just really fucking cool. I recommend looking into it but to simplify it, it was an experiment testing for telepathic communication. Essentially, one person would be in a room with ping pong balls over their eyes in a red lit room and white noise played over headphones to block out external stimuli, while another person would be in another isolated room looking at different images. The receiver would have to describe the images. Approximately 835 ganzfeld sessions were conducted through 28 studies and they achieved telepathy 38% of the time. While that seems low, it is statistically a huge deal because in order for it to be "chance" it would have to be 25% or lower. The fact that our brains are capable of that makes it difficult to believe shifting isn't real and that's where the line draws.

Lady wonder, the psychic horse- I know that sounds fucking insane and once again is not shifting related. But lady wonder was a horse from the 20th century that was super smart and could spell things out. Not so crazy, right? WRONG. People started believing she was psychic because of how smart she was so they would ask her questions or even had her help solve crimes and she had a super high success rate. They even ran a test where they had scientists try to debunk it by having one person in another room write stuff on a notepad and lady wonder was in a separate room and spelled out everything they wrote down. She even helped find a little boys body that was missing. I'm sorry but if we live in a world with psychic horses, I'm going to believe I can shift to be with my crushes.

Communication through dreams- Researchers at REMspace have been studying lucid dreaming for a long time now and last year in September of 2024, they were able to successfully have two participants communicate to each other through a lucid dream for the first time. They tracked their brainwaves and when person a was in a lucid dream, they generated a random word to him through his earbuds. When person b became lucid, she was able to also receive that message and repeated that random word when she woke up, confirming successful communication through the lucid dream. If someone tried to suggest communicating through dreams five years ago, people would've scoffed at it the same way they do with shifting. This is a very recent discovery that shows what our brains are capable of and communicating through dreams doesn't sound much crazier than being able to shift our awareness to different versions of ourselves.

What we know now vs what we knew in the past- it feels very, very silly to act like everything we know now is all there is to know. Yeah, there haven't been really any studies into shifting realities. All we have are theories and people's shared experiences. But it's difficult to prove something that's not physical. We're still studying dreams and what they mean and how they work and we're still learning about the human consciousness. We may know a lot now, but we certainly don't know everything. Think about what we knew 50 years ago vs what we know now. We've learned a lot over the years. Now think about what we know now vs what we'll know in 50 years. It feels like we know a lot because we don't know what we don't know. But truthfully, in the grand scheme of things, we really don't know a lot. We're still learning new things about our universe and this planet every day.

People still sharing things about shifting today- if it was just a trend, it would have passed by now. It would have passed before 2020 even ended. The internet is horrible about keeping trends alive. Remember that fake TikTok movie thing that became a joke and people would make up lore and stuff about? It lasted like two weeks because people can't keep up with things like that. Trends and inside jokes do not last on the internet. But it's still going strong because it's not just a trend. It's real. Which leads me to my next point

The people that said they were lying- I know this is going to be a strange and unpopular opinion, but honestly, the fact that a small handful of people have come out as lying is very motivating to me. Hear me out. I used to have the mindset of like "oh no these people are lying is it all fake after all???" But in actuality, the fact that there has been a handful of people that have said they were lying and it wasn't real and even a couple that went super viral and yet people are still standing strong tells me no, it's not fake. They just didn't try hard enough and gave up. There have been so many opportunities for people to be like "ok yeah it was fake and I lied" but they haven't. If it was just an inside joke it so easily could've wrapped up by now. When TikTok was getting banned in January, so many shifttokers who knew they were losing their platform and had no reason to lie anymore still stood by the fact that it is real. Although I am not trying to give any credit to those antis that came out as liars because they suck and are horribly disrespectful and give shifters a bad look, it's still motivating knowing despite the liars, we're still standing strong.

People shifting without knowing they shifted- I've heard so many stories before shifting even became popular of people having these experiences. I remember a Reddit story that went viral years ago of a person who got injured or something and ended up living like an entire life with a wife and family and thought it was real until they noticed something was off and then they came back and all of that was gone. There are a bunch of stories of people having near death experiences and they see themselves die but end up being okay in actuality and they believe they shifted timelines. I heard a story someone shared completely unrelated to shifting where they were at a ski resort and somehow got separated from everyone and suddenly there was nothing there. Only snow and trees. No people, no resort. She was gone for hours and eventually saw this bright light and followed it to a subway and eventually made her way back to everyone but to them, she wasn't gone long at all. She said everything felt off and when she got home things were still feeling off like stuff in her room was in different places. She believes she shifted timelines and I believe her, especially because she didn't even frame it as a reality shifting experience.

The diversity in the shifting community- the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of us in the shifting community and we're all different. There are people of different ages, races, nationalities, gender, sexualities, different religious backgrounds, etc. There are people that have been shifting long before shifting blew up. There are people that have shifted that don't even post about it. We're all so different. Idk that just makes it more real to me.

The universe as a whole- the fact that we exist on this planet right now and that we are such a tiny spec in the universe is insane. The universe is constantly expanding and we will literally never be able to explore all of it. We have no idea what all is out there. What is the universe expanding into? How is it expanding? What existed before it? Obviously we know we're here because of the Big Bang but how did that even happen and align the way it did? Like of course I know science and stuff and I understand the theories, but it's just the fact that everything aligned the way it did. The universe is so massive we'll never be able to comprehend it. We came from tiny little atoms and evolved into human beings. I feel like we don't appreciate how insane that is enough. Energy can't be created or destroyed so we're all literally made of the universe. Oh, but shifting is so insane? Sorry, the existence of the universe and the fact that we even exist the way we do and somehow turned a planet made of dirt and rocks and water into what it is now with skyscrapers and airplanes and Bluetooth makes me believe we're capable of a lot more. Also the fact that it's proven that the fabric of space and time can bend..... right.

Tarot reading- another thing that is completely unrelated to shifting. It's more so the fact that tarot has existed for hundreds of years, since the 15th century, and is a pretty well respected practice. Of course there are scammers out there that give tarot reading a bad reputation, but it's been around so long and is amazing when done right. The fact that a deck of cards can be used as a tool to answer questions and look into the future. I have a friend who doesn't believe in tarot or really anything sort of "witchy" or anything like that. But he and his friends had tarot readings just for fun and he was so shocked and confused when the things the tarot reader said all started coming true. Like it truly shocked him. How is that more believable than just becoming aware of another version of ourselves? Like we already have all these capabilities within ourselves so why is shifting crossing the line?

Witchcraft and manifesting- kind of tying into the first point, witchcraft and manifestation are things that have been around for centuries. And even today, while shifting is something that is ridiculed, people are more open minded toward witchcraft and manifestation. There's still a lot of people that don't believe and think it's ridiculous, but there's also a lot of people that do believe even if they don't believe in shifting. And what is shifting if not just a more advanced version of manifestation? Yet so many people think shifting is ridiculous and made up because people are choosing to go to hogwarts while they still spend their time manifesting their desires. It's two sides of the same coin, babes.

This picture-

ALL OF THOSE ARE GALAXIES WE'LL NEVER EXPLORE!!!! And you wanna tell me it's crazy to think there's other realities out there???

Shiftblr- of course like many of us, I discovered shifting through shifttok right at the very, very beginning of it. I know many people hate shifttok, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. Despite that, the existence of shiftblr has solidified my beliefs way more than shifttok. You don't get clout or fame or money posting about shifting on tumblr. You don't gain anything posting on here. Yet the fact that thousands of people do, and most of them don't even get much attention from it at all tells me people are doing it for themselves. Because they believe. Because they've experienced it. And while I don't think people on tiktok are all liars and I don't think they're all trying to get clout because they also have to deal with horrible antis harassing them, there's also more of a possibility of people just trying to get attention or money. Again, I still enjoy shifttok, but tumblr feels more authentic. On tumblr, you don't even get to see how many followers people have.

Honestly, there's more I could get into but I have yapped long enough. This isn't even including my own personal experiences. I could ramble on about shifting and all the ties there are to it for so long but I think I hit the main points I wanted to get into. There's just one last thing I want to say before I wrap this up. If shifting didn't get popular from people going to hogwarts or the mcu or these "fictional" places that we perceive as fictional because they're just tv shows/movies/books in this reality, more people would believe in it. If it got popular because of more mundane things such as visiting a deceased family member or going on a dream vacation or reliving childhood memories, more people would be on board with shifting. But instead, they saw teenage girls talking about going to hogwarts and scoffed and rolled their eyes instead of considering all the possibilities.

[xx-riffraff-xx]

𓇼 ~ The Sea Swallowed Him Whole ~ 𓇼

premise; It's the anniversary of Lemuria's fall. Rafayel isn't handling it well. Companion piece to 'Forsaken Treasures of the Sea.'

warnings; suicidal ideation, kind of suicide attempt, heavy angst, hurt/some comfort, bittersweet ending, VERY sad, potentially OOC, timeline inaccuracies, drowning or hope of drowning, attempt at symbolism. neither you nor rafayel are harmed long-term or die.

a/n; once again, i have no idea where this monster came from. my brain told me "hurt fishboy." and i said "okay guess we're hurting fishboy now." might wanna prepare the tissues. hope you enjoy!

Rafayel is on the beach again. Lukewarm waves curl around his ankles, pulling the sand beneath his feet to drag him back to the depths of the sea. The saltwater soaked through his clothes up to his waist where he sits. The moon is drawing the tide in. His shirt is sticking awkwardly to his waist.

He can’t keep his thoughts away from the day Lemuria fell. How could he pick between you and his home? They were linked, connected, one could not exist without the other. In his hesitation to tear Mo apart, he lost both. The evacuation was swift, but not swift enough. Lives were lost. It is his fault. The waves washed away the blood on his hands, but he feels pieces of their souls stuck in his teeth.

Rafayel is on the beach again. The darkness hadn’t claimed many of his people, the response was quick enough. The people closest to him were able to swim away. Now, it’s his job to aid in protecting everyone on the mainland. He’s never wanted responsibility, always swam in the opposite direction as fast as the current could take him. Maybe he’s grown into it.

He’s so tired. It’s late. The sea has drawn him deeper, she demands justice. Heavy cotton hangs from his shoulders. Sand melts into glass underneath his fingers. Time-softened seashells bear his marks. He skips a smooth seashell sculpture across the water’s surface. The ripples bear the name of each Lemurian he couldn’t save.

The sea swallows him whole. Rip currents are common around this time. His body could be miles from shore before anyone could think to look for him. The sea will punish him as she wills. She is a caring, violent mother. Her children are no stranger to her wrath. She knows what he deserves.

Rafayel feels the current yank at his feet where he floats at the same time he feels warm hands pulling him from the water. The tide had taken many hours to swallow him, marked by the moon’s position above the horizon. The salt dampened the angry flame in his heart. Its absence feels like burning alive.

Gentle hands guide him out of the sea. A trail of pearls leads away from the shoreline. Soft towels dry his vessel. Slowly, he dresses in the dry clothes given to him. He is surrounded by warmth. It is too hot with the fire burning under his skin. Under the covers, his back is pressed to someone’s chest. The hours spent waiting for the sea to claim him feel like a dream.

“Rafayel?” Your shaky voice breaks the silence. He feels your worry like his own. He uses your name when he answers. “Why did I find you catatonic in the tides?”

“It was... a momentary lapse in judgement. Today is an anniversary.” He responds tonelessly. He does not intend to answer any more questions. After all, you don’t remember anything from all those years ago. If you did, the guilt would consume you, your compassion weaponized against you. He fears he’ll reach for your hand to find your skin grey and lifeless, the scavengers brought in by the tides feasting on your long-dead corpse.

You don’t ask any other questions. Unlike you. Instead, you take Rafayel back to the beach. The soft sand slips beneath your feet. Warmth from your hand spreads up his arm. Smells of brine and salt and Mo waft in on the sea breeze. The draw to the sea holds him hostage, trapped like Jonah in the mouth of the whale.

Your warmth fades as you roll up your pants. Without pausing, without hesitation, you wade into the tide. The waves wash up to your shins. The wind tussles your hair, humidity and salt frizzing it into curls. Rafayel’s throat closes, his lungs squeezed of all air. The sea is a caring, violent mother. The sea will take your heart after he could not.

He rushes into the waves after you. “What are you doing!?” He demands, pulling you out of the clawing reach of the currents that threaten to take you from him. You splash out of the ocean’s reach willingly.

Once out of the lapping water, you resist Rafayel. You draw his forehead to your own, holding his face in your hands. “I want to understand you.”

Something dark and ugly rears inside him. His shoulders curl to contain it. “Lemuria fell because I would not sacrifice you. The ocean demands its retribution.”

You fall together to the soft sand, clinging desperately to a fading reality where everything will be okay. “I don’t understand,” you whisper. A deep sigh burdens the space between you. Rafayel does not elaborate further. A soft, alluring hum starts in his chest. You know this melody. You hum along. Your voices mingle against the backdrop of the ocean’s waves.

Rafayel holds your hands in his own. Your bodies drift closer together until neither of you can define where he ends and you begin. Rafayel hums until he cannot anymore. His caring, violent mother will have to accept his voice over his body for retribution this year. The sun rises. The tides retreat in acceptance of Rafayel’s offer.

Rafayel holds you to his chest. You had fallen asleep at some point during his siren song. Your even breaths wear away his jagged edges.

It will be different, but it will be okay.

A little note on Rafayel's references to mo in this fic: I can't remember where I found it in canon, but I believe it means "home" or "motherland" in Lemurian! Hope you enjoyed! (edit: it came from the "Omnipotent Perception" card. thank you to @\irandial for the info!)

[ghostymarni]

Hi I had no caf today.

But uhh… OC lore pls?

no caf???? How??? 😂✨ do you prefer tea or perhaps you can run on juice?

I need it to function in the mornings. I either need that first brew or an ice cold energy drink to get the gears turning ♥️✨

I hope you mean how Aev started cause that’s what imma share haha!

Aeviririn is my main, self expressed, self insert. I wanted a way to express my presence on the holonet in a way I both saw myself, adding my hair + design style of expression, as well as overall expression of interests + communication. Her design has lots of symbolism in how I designed her.

with the loss of my late husband (it’s been 10 months already) I turned back to art knowing it’s the truest way of communication for me.

I know I started her as a self presence on “this is the artist” drawing myself with my designed mandalorian bucket. But it evolved to who she is now. I’m learning as I go, I’ve never had a public oc before in an active fandom. And it’s all new to me being so involved <3

I’ve learned + continue to learn, the difference between fun lingo usage + fandom RP, which I feel is a very thin line. But just balancing responses between me and using Aev confused myself sometimes because Aev is literally me hahaha. I don’t see myself starting an RP only account because my ADHD is too inconsistent.

my late husband + I called ourselves a mandalorian family, he was a long time boba fett fan even before I met him, and unknowingly we always initiated the keldabe kiss with our son and personal moments. He was into the bad batch before I was and he’d quote things to me not knowing their origin. Making TBB so much more personal. so the grief I felt, felt like I was exposing me to my true feelings and evolving aeviririn to who she is now, feels just as much healing as it is expression. Almost like I was recreating myself as I fell apart.

arm wraps - symbolize how I feel like I’m always fighting through life. Losing my partner I put the wraps on knowing i have no one to help protect me. To keep fighting forward.

long mohawk - it’s my actual hairstyle. I haven’t cut it in almost 8 years, and I shave the sides every other week.

left leg blaster - my late husband taught me how to shoot, helping me overcome my fear of weapons. I like the rifles/snipers not just in games but I lock in when I shoot them. As well as having a blaster for a sniper is essential for close range, but also I keep it as a reminder that my left handed partner always reminded me to be prepared for anything.

Aev is so much of everything I’ve grown to be, and who I strive to keep being. Her attitude is so much of my own as well as my inner confidence. Tomboy + femme, so much of my own desires and interests, and life experiences.

my obsession with the marshal commander actually started a long time ago. Denial cause I had a convo with my late husband talking about what clones I’d connect with before I was deeply immersed into clones as he was. Refusing the 501st because it felt basic hahahaha (he had a captain Rex tattoo) and I was like, I kinda like the red guys, it’s kinda cool.. referring to the coruscant guard. And he was like “oh they’re like the cops of the city�� which made me cringe at the time because i wanted to find my reason for it on my own terms. Ironically after he passed I stumbled back onto fox and I hyper fixated on him. Which the fandom at the time was very minimal (from what I saw), about fox being mean grumpy and often disliked. But I couldn’t help it. I liked that hahaha thanks to @eobe for her forwarding me commander caf escalated post which sparked a whole cup of chaos that im so glad I jumped on. And connecting with @lonewolflupe finding out we had so much in common which sparked the chaos twins, initiating a whole new chapter of Aev and creativity <3

I truly appreciate everyone that’s drawn Aev, includes her, and supports my innuendo to myself. I can’t wait to see how she (and I) grow.

[apolloarting]

Alright i finished hans, I like the way he turned out much better the Henry so bow i really gotta re-draw Henry, but only after the others 👹

Ok favorite part, headcanons ✨

Hans has a pony tail. The demons told me to so, so i did. I almost gave henry one but i decided nah, but yeah he looks pretty with one.

Also Hans has pierced ears. In my opinion he is absolutely the type of person to have small gold earrings. Maybe he doesn't get them until after the divorce arc or after he goes to the devils den. Actually that would be cute. I might have been on something but i got that idea from referencing his character model and what i think i saw were earring holes. It might have just been me.

He likes to sing, particularly sea shanties. I have been listening to shanties, shanties and more shanties for the past 4 days so he can too. Also the bird symbolism <3

When out on the open waters he tends to spend half of his time in the crows nest. He also hates being below deck after a certain naval battle (Maleshov). Even if he has some small quarters, he prefers sleeping up in the crows nest.

Instead of Poaching he got arrested for Piracy. So after 'the divorce' 💀 he found himself a ship to sail with, and didn't realise until it was way to late that it was pirating. Nothing too extreme, and they never murdered anyone, but just stealing from small merchant ships etc.

Henry does eventually find him, trying to catch those who are or are suspended of piracy. Hans tries to make it better than it seems by saying it's privateering but henry doesn't buy it lmao.

Hans had this ugly, big ass hat. He left it behind when the pirates raided his and Henry's ship. Henry is happy about this.

Though obviously completely different, he also shares some minor similarities to Elizabeth Swan in my opinion. Especially with the rich upbringing, witty, impulsive and of course the relationship with a blacksmith.

If there was a pirate court I would think it would be kinda cool if he became pirate king. Either him or ziska.

Also a bit more Hansry because fuck yeah. This AU i am absolutely pairing them together, it's my duty to myself and the fandom. Kathrine is with Ziska. While researching for a school project i found a cool bit of information, same-sex unions between two pirates are called a matelotage, which is the base for the now common pirate term, "matey". They might not be the type to go through with it, but i think the prospect of matelotage with a man he truly loves is way better than an arranged marriage to some girl for hans.

Also for marriage, he has to get married back in Europe.

Also i have no clue if they are going to be English or apart from the Habsburg dynasty. Because on one hand the majority of the voice actors are from the UK but on the other, the actual characters would be in the central european part of the habsburg dynasty. The habsburgs did have lots of territory in the Caribbean, but it was Spanish and did not have much to do with Bohemia. If anyone has opinions on this please do share

I do take your own suggestions btw :D I like working together with other people on things like these

[viaviv124]

STUFF TO MY WONDERLAND AU THING

This is Lethia, the lamb for this AU :3

I have no idea if i will draw the others. Maybe Aym and Baal? A very rough Narinder design? But no promises.

Here's the tidbits of lore concepts i have thus far:

- Narinder lured Lethia to wonderland to have them slay his siblings.

- Lethia is referred by everyone as "Alice" who isn't part of Narinder's group. If Lethia forgets their own name and adapts "Alice" they will begin losing their mind and identity so Narinder makes sure to keep an eye on that.

- the crown is a brooch for easy transport. It allows Lethia potential combat but also for Narinder to watch them whenever he can't physically be there.

- Narinder put multiple precautions that Lethia physically cannot stab him in the back, the bracelet being one of those.

- the dark spots caused by the bracelet will expand as time goes on. It's basically semi-corruption, allthough not painful and mostly harmless. Probably.

- the bracelet also makes the wearer pretty much immune to outside mind control, meaning even stuff like menticide mushrooms have no or very little effect in terms of brainwashing. (the mushrooms here have a second function that the bracelet does not block out)

- Narinder is lowkey dumb because while he's smart in some aspects in keeping himself and Lethia safe, he's also lowkey a wanted criminal and he made the decision to put his symbol on Lethia. Which- okay man.

-Narinder was kicked out because he was too powerful, essentially. It depends who's story you believe, as Narinder claims he did nothing wrong but his siblings claim he started it and became dangerous. It's argued that Narinder's symbol already demonstrated his power as the colors would make a card game unfair. Narinder's responds to that is that that's bulshit and he didn't do anything, that they're paranoid of an illusion.

- Card symbols belong to the royal court. They're born with theirs. These symbols have different powers but a big part of it is being able to mark people as theirs/on their side. That has many advantages as well as disadvantages. It could protect someone but also out a target on their back.

Set Character roles:

Alice - Lethia

White Rabbit (/borderline Jabberwock) - Narinder

Tweedle Dum & Tweedle Dee - Aym & Baal

Caterpillar - Sozo

Cheshire Cat - Fox

Madhatter - Ratau

March Hare - Forneus

Red Queen - Shamura, Kallamar, Heket, Leshy

Everyone else is random NPCs but these are important as things are now.

Card Symbols:

Shamura: Diamond (Purple/Red)

Kallamar: Heart (Blue/Red)

Narinder: Star (Black/Red)

Heket: Spade (Yellow/Black)

Leshy: Club (Green/Black)

That's all i have for now. I think. I dunno. Still need a name too so that'll be fun.

Feel free to send asks and such because that helps me develop this! If you have ideas don't be shy to present them!

[twinwound]

It's hard to escape the conclusion that Ovid's stories of mothers who engage in son-slaughter are graphic fulfilments of the patriarchal fantasy which asserts women's causal contribution to man's death as well as his birth. Their inner psychic turmoil, leading to a renunciation of a maternal 'love' in the service of paternal power, is yoked symbolically by Ovid to the unconcealing of all that was supposed to remain inside, repressed, hidden from view (...) it is as if the body's inner uterine spaces, the viscern, are turned outwards to engulf and reconsume the men who emerged from them. The monstrous wombs of Ovid's murderous mothers seem to epitomize (by representing in reverse) the abjection of the maternal body as irredeemably, terrifyingly "other". The abject, for Kristeva, is an inassimilable or excessive component of the superego that is radically excluded and draws me to a place where meaning collapses', where insides and outsides are terrifyingly conflated. The original object of abjection is the maternal body, on whom we existed in a necessary, but potentially overwhelming dependence (...) In Kristeva's account, the abjection of the maternal body is a process that is necessary for the formation of human subjectivity in Western culture.

And yet I want, perhaps improbably, to resist such a determined conclusion, even though Ovid's text clearly flirts with and is seduced by the fantasy of demonic, dismembering mothers, and the supposed necessity of their abjection. Alongside their viscerality and bodily interiors, I've drawn attention to these women's internal dilemmas, articulated through rhetorical debates with themselves, debates which are contrary to the model of maddened maternal speech usually perceived by critics in Roman epic-rational, eloquent, thetorically coherent in their own way. They may be frenzied, but these women do not at least at this point 'wail'. Their debates are particularly Ovidian reflections on agency and the limits of language: "I want to act and I cannot," as Althaea says, "now pietas and the name of mother break my resolve". The primary metamorphosis in the cases of Procne and Althaea is thus not of shape but of psyche: they experience a radical switch from joy to grief to rage, but express this painful metamorphic process in terms of a certain loss of self and the struggling emergence of another. Split between words and action, conjugal and natal identities, Procne and Althaea engage in projects of self-fashioning, exploring a notion of the self in progress or flux. Which should come first, sisterly or motherly love? Passion or reason? Living kin or the dead? Like Medea, Ovid's mothers who kill their kin are radically unsettling because they do not so much reject their motherhood outright as choose, according to social and rhetorical context, to generate another identity out of what they perceive as their degraded maternal bond. The causal relationship of maternity and death is presented here not as inevitable and 'natural', but as the anguished offspring of masculinist violence, patriarchy's guilt coming back to haunt it.

'Matermorphoses: Motherhood and the Ovidian Epic Subject' from Reproducing Rome: Motherhood in Virgil, Ovid, Seneca, and Statius by Mairéad McAuley

[faeruy]

Tarot Time - Agatha All Along, Episode 7 - "Death's Hand in Mine" Part 1

HOLY FUCKING SHIT THIS EPISODE. There's so much to talk about with regards to the Tarot used in this episode. I had to take a couple of days and watch it a couple of times to catch everything. First off, all of the kudos to the writers - their use of tarot is inspired, the way they connected it throughout the show was BRILLIANT, and I honestly didn't see the reveal that Lilia was seeing her final reading coming. I am legitimately in awe of these writers.

So lets talk about it, as this is mostly going to be me trying to wrap my head around everything that happened. As always, I'm an amateur, so I may get things wrong. I'm also splitting this up into two parts because there's A LOT. First part is Lilia's Reading, the Second part is going to be all of the other cards drawn in the episode.

First up; Lilia's True Reading. I'm starting with this one because I've already talked about a number of the cards and what they mean, although even they take on some new aspects now that they are revealed to be part of the final draw. If you haven't read my earlier posts, there's links at the bottom of this one. This is also going to be tough for me, because while I have a decent familiarity with what each card symbolizes, I've never been particularly strong when it comes to layouts, and how to take in the cards as a whole reading instead of individual pieces. But also, someone can correct me if I'm wrong, "Safe Passage" is a layout that - while visually is based on the Celtic Cross - is made up for the show.

The Traveler is The Queen of Cups - Lilia. She described this card in the show - Full of intuition, but also calm, compassionate and nurturing. Warm hearted in tune with those around her - though in this case not consciously, since earlier callouts of the cards were done involuntarily and out of time. She has some aspects of a Reversed reading; her gaps and out-of-time phasings indicate a bit of emotional insecurity, and by her own admission she's bottled things up so she doesn't have to deal with the pain of seeing the future. But the Upright has been stronger with her by far. The fact that she put a sigil on Billy to give him time to come to terms with who he is speaks volumes about her compassion. It's a card that fits her to a T. I also love the modified card - for the most part, they're using a bog-standard Rider-Waite Deck, but most of the cards are in this drawing are modified. The Queen is usually depicted sitting in a throne, but this deck has her in front of a table - ready to divine and interpret and intuit. Less above her people than the normal card, and more of an equal.

What's Missing - Three of Pentacles - The Coven. I talked in depth about this one before. The only thing that changed is who the reading is for - in the first episode it showed up, the reading was for Agatha. But she wasn't the only one who lost her original coven, Lilia lost hers too. She needed them as much as Agatha did; after all, what is a witch without her coven? And as much as they bicker and lack trust in each other, they have become what they've been missing. This card is modified by making the figures standing in a group look like the Coven - Lilia, Agatha, Jen, Billy, Alice, and yes, even Rio. Oddly enough, not Sharon, suggesting either a) the art department didn't have enough room to fit her in, b)she was never a true witch, therefore not part of the Coven, or c) she was close enough to death even before the Road that Rio was essentially following her - metaphorically.

Path Behind - Knight of Wands - Alice. I talked a lot about this card in episode 5, and I don't know that there's a lot to add here. Lilia goes for the simple definition; a knight full of fire and energy. She leaves out the impulsiveness, but probably has to do with sentimentality and choosing to remembering her heroism. Path behind is obvious; her death was significant, and affected the Coven strongly. Since this is Lilia's reading, I think Alice's death is maybe the catalyst for her to start really confronting her own mortality, and her own Path. Again, the card is modified, depicting a knight holding a staff (interchangeable name for Wands) in the same stance Alice was using to save Agatha. Normally it's a knight on a reared-up horse, with the staff held upright. Both versions of the card indicate a very aggressive, action-oriented person, which Alice very much is.

Path Ahead - The High Priestess - Jen. This one is making me FERAL. So the card here is barely modified - the only difference is the High Priestess looks like Jen. And I've talked about what that means in the first post I made about tarot in this show. What it means HERE, however, is super interesting. First of all, Lilia uses the phrase "unwilling or unable to use it" which specifically refers to a Reversed reading, even though the card itself was drawn Upright. And we know that while Jen succeeded in her Trial, all it really did was help her feel confident in her knowledge of the craft; her origins as a root-worker. It didn't remove her bindings. So in some ways, she's not yet the High Priestess Upright, But given that this is the Path Ahead, I think it means she will be. But what does it mean that she is the Path Ahead? I have a guess, but stick with me here. First of all, The High Priestess is the master of the unconscious and spirituality. Secondly, the Path Ahead is for the Traveler, meaning it's specifically LILIA'S Path Ahead. Also, There's a line in the Ballad about "Spirits as our Guide." So my guess, is at some point, Jen is going to be unblocked, and when she is, she's gonna call on the spirits of those who died on the Road - including Lilia. There's a reason Lilia was okay making the sacrifice she did, and why she was so insistent on Jen specifically getting out of there. I could be wrong, but I think the signs are there, and I cannot wait to see if I'm right.

Obstacles - Three of Swords - Agatha. Interesting, this one probably has several implications. Three of Swords represents heartache and grief. For Lilia specifically, one of her biggest obstacles has been her grief over seeing everyone she knows and loves die well before they do, and being unable to stop it. It's stopped her from using her power to it's full potential and kept her from connecting with and caring about people. She's needed to let that go, accept that Death comes for everyone, and that her visions having meaning and purpose, even if she can't change them. The card is mostly the same, they've just put a figure in the foreground that doesn't normally exist, aka Agatha. So it also kind of implies that Agatha, specifically Agatha's own heartache, has also been a giant obstacle to Lilia, and probably the coven as a whole - continuing the theme that actually, Agatha is her own worst enemy, which tracks.

Windfall - Tower Reversed - William/Billy/Teen. I've already talked about how this relates to Billy, but this reading is for Lilia. So the personal transformation is HERS. Violent and disruptive, but she'll become something new. What will she become? A spirit, maybe? Something else, something more? Or is it that in her final moments, she becomes the strongest, most complete version of herself? I'm inclined towards something beyond - she looks almost ecstatic when she draws it, and tied together with her Path Ahead being The High Priestess, I think she realizes while she may die, she's not done, and she's gonna be GLORIOUS. The card here isn't significantly modified, I believe it might be, but it was so quick I couldn't catch exactly how.

Destination - Death - Rio. And we get the (highly telegraphed) reveal that Rio is Death. Normally the card is Black Knight on a White Horse, but here it's just Rio in Grim Reaper guise. Makes sense, given that in this universe she predates Tarot, so in this deck, the card is based on her. Reading superficially, it's just that all roads lead to Death. But the card is more complicated than that and Lilia knows it. Because the Death card isn't just about physical death. It's about embracing the endings and accepting fate so that something new can begin. The personal transformation promised as the Windfall cannot happen unless one is willing to let the old self end. And Rio is the original Green Witch. A flower cannot grow without nutrients, and soil is enriched by what dies in it. So Lilia knows at this point she has to die. But it's okay now, because it's not an end, it's a new beginning. And I'm crying as I'm writing this. And I think the writers were SO CLEVER that the last shot we see of Lilia is of her as young girl, with her mentor saying "Let's Begin".

I think overall the writers have been very good with their use of tarot, and their layout is very cool. I also think it's very smart that they've associated certain cards with certain witches, and that the words Lilia was using in association with the cards were their basic definitions only. It makes sense; we're talking about a visual medium, and the way she did it was punchier, and more dynamic than doing an in depth interpretation of the cards. But what it didn't do was give us the reading as a whole, and almost tricked the audience into forgetting or dismissing the idea that the reading was for Lilia alone instead of the coven, and that the cards are working together to paint a fuller picture. But this episode has also shown that somebody on the writing staff knows their tarot, or at the very least did a lot of research. And I think there's a deeper interpretation to be had; Lilia's died, but she is not done.

I'm so excited for the last two episodes. I don't know if we'll see more cards after this, but I'm not ruling it out as a possibility. I also have the rest of the cards that were drawn this episode, which I'll go into in Part 2 of this (maybe 3, who knows, there were a LOT of cards). It should be up soon, but I need a bit of a break after writing this one. hope you all enjoyed it!

Here's the Links to Past Episodes

Episode 1-3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Part 2

[starry-907]

Animation vs Life SMP

alright so i said in the tumblr community if we got new life series and influencer arc ep 3 on the same day i'd post my (currently very minimal and disorganized) thoughts for animation vs life series! and uh. we did indeed get new life series today soooooo yeah.

thoughts below the cut cuz it will likely be a bit long shgsldjf

Explanation of life smp

so! for those of you that don't know what life series/life smp is, it's basically hardcore but you have (usually) 3 lives instead of just one (there's been 2 seasons that don't follow that exact idea). when you hit your last life (referred to as your "red life") you get to be hostile and kill others outside of specific circumstances. last person alive wins! there's been 5 seasons so far (and a vaugely canon april fools ep), with the 6th season starting today, leading to me writing this here.

a lot of folks also add in some additional lore with these beings called the watchers, with the lore being that they're the ones organizing the games and kinda keeping the players locked in this loop of death games. i think one of the content creators has his own lore involving the watchers, martyn inthelittlewood.

if you want an explanation of ava/avm i can't type that here or we'd be here all day so instead i'll just link this post i made a while back that should help explain some stuff

The foundation

essentially this au starts with the idea of what if instead of mcyt-ers, the watchers decided to nab some silly sticks for their death game instead? the current lineup that they grabbed is:

Vic, Chosen, Dark, Second, Green, Blue, Yellow, Red, Purple, and Mango. i might add the mercs if i want more people for more complexity, but i'm still in the baby stages of ideation here.

thing is though, the watchers want to have a pawn member actually in the games, so they can manipulate events the way they want to, whenever they need to. so.....

(yeah that's right i made drawings to go along with this explanation)

ok so it isn't just because they're also purple, it's because they seemed the best candidate in terms of skill and such. cunning and resourceful, but still desperate for approval in a way, so just breadcrumb some praise and you should be able to get them to do what you need them to do right?

i mean purple does eventually realize something's up and doesn't listen to the watchers as much (when they can get away with it).

purple's changes

of course, being made a watcher does come with some changes, external and internal.

external, they get these floating eyes around their head, and the watcher symbol on their back. both of them are usually not visible, only really showing up in low light (light level 3 or less) or when under extreme stress. somehow no one's really questioned it? i mean if you're stuck in a death game (that you don't know is a loop of death games), your friend suddenly getting a bunch of eyes isn't a major concern.

what does garner attention (esp cuz these can't be hidden), is the fact that purple's elytra have turned into full on feathered wings (also with the watcher symbol). they don't allow for flight in the games (unfair advantage), but they do serve as a more... permanent reminder of where purple's ultimate loyalties should lie.

(in case you can't tell, i'm working with majority morally dark watchers here. there are some that don't like the idea, but most of them are more than down for it).

ok jumping ahead a bit we're talking curses!

what's a life series without some curses and patterns, eh? i do not have many right now, but i do know what the biggest one is, i'll do that last.

mango gets a curse to always fail to protect a close ally from death at least once

vic is cursed to always have one death that was preventable

blue has sort of a reverse of mangos, she will have at least one death protecting an ally.

ok starry but what about the canary curse?

i'm glad you asked. who's the one that always runs into battle first in ava, and is therefore the one to always die first?

THAT'S RIGHT. HECK YOU *CANARIES YOUR RED*.

i realize there's other characters that could've fit but at the same time canary red just hits so much more to me. granted the watchers didn't know for sure who their canary would be during the first game, but once red died they just collectively went 👀 and hit him with the curse.

after the first game, the ends of red's bandana become stylized to look like wings, and anyone who knows how to look can see faint images of canary wings on his shoulders. only purple knows the exact reason why.

hey so are they just stuck forever or what

uhhh haven't fully thought this part through. HOWEVER! i do know the main focus characters of this au! purple is clearly one of them, since they have a connection to the watchers (kinda against their will). the other primary focus character... well a lot of folks headcanon that the winners get to remember the past game(s) as a reward for their victory, and the first winner is someone who's more than used to dealing with having an urge in the back of their mind to kill.

basically woe, platonic bugduo upon ye. dark wins the first game, learns about the watchers and stuff, and decides to work with purple on trying to break the cycle. also! for those of you who know how third life ended take that but instead it's chosen and dark. tragic siblings.

(i guess dark did wind up fulfilling their code to destroy the chosen on- *gets exploded*)

other misc things/the scenarios imagined

they would go through all the current games, i don't have many ideas for limited life though (i've only watched all of third and secret life, i need to catch up on the others)

i realized that the boogey curse session from secret life could be very interesting to deal with (blue would be the one to start with the boogey curse), i might write that one if i ever write things for this

purple realizing at the start of limited life that everyone had their memories of third life erased (except dark, they realize dark knows but maybe by that point the alliances are already made)

purple gets to go feral at least once as a treat. is it the boogey curse? red life urges? the watchers? who knows but they get to go feral

as i said, dark is able to resist the red life urges a bit better due to experience with the mission code (which is somewhat suppressed by the watchers, they don't want to let their game be ruined by something like that). also remember how scott didn't kill anyone while affected by the boogey curse in limited life yeah dark does that and it's actually the worst

red notices the wings, he knows about canaries but he doesn't know the full significance of them.

idk what associations the winners would get (i'm still thinking about the different winners at this point anyways). I think yellow would win one, maybe also chosen or second...?

unlikely alliances, unlikely alliances as far as the eye can see. double life especially

PLEASE if you have any ideas or questions come yell at me in my ask box, i would like to talk more about this and i'm curious what thoughts y'all might have

[hamspamandjamsandwich]

The animators were Kurahi shippers and you can’t change my mind: exhibit A

Enthusiastic reading-too-much-Kurahi-but-not-really into the animation~

From episodes 68 & 69, “Setting the Trap” and “The Power of Taboo”

So anyone creative that writes or draws or what have you can tell you that everything actually is intentional, and by that I mean, every word you pick to write and every design or illustration you make is a choice. We make choices, we decide, and then those things are up for interpretation.

All of that is to say: I think these animators were kurahi shippers or something man, there's an interesting visual in these two episodes that happens repeatedly. pls don’t judge me for my intense meta bullshit that’s about occur lol

When Kaito is about to take Hiei’s soul, he looks down at him, and we see a violet colored flash in his glasses.

After he takes his soul, it’s encased in that same shade of purple. We know from earlier episodes and later on when their souls are returned that souls don’t have a color, they’re just white/translucent, so that means Kaito color-coded the souls by his own volition. Purple for Hiei, blue for Botan, and yellow for Kuwabara.

What’s interesting is…this purple color/flashes of purple light don’t go away. They’re present during Kurama’s battle of wits with Kaito and their negotiation of the terms.

Now someone might say, “well Hiei’s soul is positioned on the rightmost side and the purple visually stands out better, it makes sense it would show, it doesn’t mean anything.” And perhaps they’re right, but I don’t think so.

Again, these things are intentional choices, regardless of whether or not what they mean is agreed upon. They chose to make Hiei’s that color, they chose to position it to the side, and they chose to use it for this visual effect.

Most important to note: this visual choice is only done for Hiei’s color, purple. There’s no ambient light in the room and it’s the exact same color, ergo very intentionally done. They don’t rotate between colors, they never show flashes of blue or yellow or all three—it’s only purple.

⬆️ here for example. Arguably we should be able to see the blue and yellow reflected in his glasses, too. But we don’t. Just that fuchsia color. Just Hiei’s soul.

So what does it mean (to me)?

I think it means that Hiei is most important to him, and somehow Kaito has clocked that. Hiei’s soul is the one reflected in Kaito’s glasses while they negotiate the rules of their game.

And it’s only reflected/shown in his eyes when he’s looking at kurama (other than Hiei prior to the soul stealing!), not anywhere in the room, which is what makes me think that Kaito knows how significant the relationship between Kurama and Hiei is. He (literally in a visual sense) can see it. These flashes happen the most/almost exclusively during this scene—as if he’s dangling Hiei’s soul specifically to bait Kurama into playing his game.

It’s symbolic of how meaningful the relationship is to him, because it’s shown like it’s the bargaining chip to make the game happen. When he taunts Kurama that he still hasn’t made his choice, the reflection is there again. The significance is only emphasized by the fact that it doesn’t happen with anyone else’s soul/color.

Additionally, I like that Kaito’s hand is hovering over Hiei’s soul when Kurama threatens to erase him from reality. I don’t think this is strong evidence or anything, but it compliments my theory here quite nicely lol.

Bonus (aka this doesn’t really have evidentiary support but hey it rolls with this pretty well): look at how mad Kurama is after Hiei’s soul is taken. Angry husband.

TLDR: they knew wtf they were doing with this man YOU CANT MAKE ME BELIEVE OTHERWISE

[shandrapann]

So I finally came up with an idea for ancient arlathan!asha.

A high smith under June whose primary directive is to help the spirit born create a physical form. She hand crafts their body’s from pure Lyrium and then guides their spirits to their new homes.

I imagine she’s a spirit of Purpose that June sought out specifically for this role. To give Purpose to this new world.

I have a lot of cool visual ideas floating around in my mind palace for this: I think her hands are bound in front of her at all times, since she’s working with pure Lyrium and spirits, touching them with her actual hands would be a terrible idea. Instead, she has these spectral fade arms - four of them for the aesthetic and efficiency - that handles her materials. I think her hands are specifically bound and entirely covered up for another reason: to symbolize the blind obedience to June and her lack of freedom outside of her role.

I love the idea that she also can make adjustments to the spirit born's already formed bodies? Like body mods! Slap some extra lyrium on there and now you’ve changed your gender, height, eye colour, and vibe >:))

In terms of her and Solas, I think they’d meet when he accompanies Mythal to June’s workshop. It’d be an offhand comment on Mythals part of:

“Solas, wouldn’t you want something changed? You made your own form, aren't you tired of it? You know they have spirits that do it for you nowadays.”

And then Solas sees Asha there, working quietly, and the sight of her permanently bound hands makes him uncomfortable. This could be one of the first things that sparks that need for rebellion within him.

I also have a cute, intimate idea of Solas finally removing the bindings from Asha’s hands as an homage to removing the Vallaslin…

I’m going feral I need to draw all of this :scream: