#how to write assignment

[crtastrophe]

the studious homunculus attends its homework most diligently

[blueskittlesart]

cinderella adaptation for my comics history class :)

[instant-star-59]

i don’t think we talk about Jesse being the real reason Xander hates Angel and Spike enough.

like, imagine being forced to kill your own best friend because what’s wrong with him is incurable and will harm others… and then a few weeks later, your crush is dating a guy with that same problem and everyone’s like “oh no yeah it’s fine because he was cured <3”

like. where was this whole soul thing when it was Jesse? vampires are too dangerous to have around? okay fine. oh that one’s good? when it happened to my friend, he was gone and i was staring at “the thing that killed him”. when it’s your friend, he’s still a person who can change.

that’s why he felt so vindicated when Angel lost his soul (and Spike tried to SA her). HA! you can’t pick and choose! if Jesse was evil, he’s evil too! maybe you should go killed a loved one for the good of the world and be over it in a few days :)

as for Spike, his crash out was even more reasonable (in relation to Jesse). it’s not even that he got an opportunity that Jesse never did; it’s just that he’s naturally better. Spike was soulless. he threatened them all daily. he would have killed them if he could’ve. but Buffy trusts with him with Dawn, and at one point, Joyce’s safety.

because, obviously, he can still care about people and form relationships. obviously, he’s not a mindless killing machine. he’s still a person, Xander.

…

then what was Jesse?

[tossawary]

With the disclaimer that I have read interesting Soulmate AUs that actively engaged with the non-consensual elements of the setup (ex: choosing to be alone or with someone who isn't your soulmate), the wide variety of totally normal exceptions that might exist to a "One True Love" story (ex: polyamory, platonic soulmates, no soulmates, second loves), and the tragedies that are an inescapable part of life (ex: abusive partners, mental health breaks, widows and widowers)...

Some of these Soulmate AUs have shallow worldbuilds that are so obliviously, oppressively, traumatically amatonormative, monogamous, and hideously non-consensual that - if they don't have easy access to divorce, then - I have to believe that the domestic abuse and murder rates in this society are insaaaaane. Like, uh, bud, am I supposed to be getting "cornered wild animal about to start chewing its own limbs off to escape certain death" vibes from your love story here? The disrespect for autonomy in these societies is horrifying and depressing.

"Oh, these people just need to be forced into couples therapy to work out their forced relationship!" No??? What these people need is simply to not be a fucking relationship with each other before someone dies, actually.

[that-faerie-in-the-corner]

hector is troy and achilles is the trojan war. hector who bore the crushing weight of the future of his nation, a duty he did not ask for but did his best to embrace, a duty that chipped away at his health and stole all his time, hector who knew his city would be damned to fall when he did. achilles who let his entire existence be swallowed by a war fought for a cause that he had nothing to do with, achilles who the gods did not want to let go back on his Choice of fate, achilles who had to die before the war could finally end. is this anything

[tommykinard6]

This is me putting out a desperate plea for someone to write BuckTommy mpreg with Tommy instead.

Please. I’m begging someone to break up the monotony of my dash. I don’t have time to do it all myself.

[buttercupshands]

have a transparent Loop because I actually put efford into this one out of allllll the sprites I did today just because.

[elodieunderglass]

Derek 📻

(OC musical ask meme - original character Derek, a nice gay American software engineer who probably paints gaming miniatures in his spare time)

Derek doesn't have his own playlist for some reason, and I tried quite hard to direct this to something else. Anything else.

But this guy just doesn't really care about being "cool" or "recent" or "having good performative taste in music." he likes what he likes.

SIGH.

I'm sorry. guy's got no sense of indie cool. "but it's so overplayed, derek," we say sadly, wincing, and he goes Yeah, that was me. It's overplayed because I played it too much.

and we're like "but you're gay, Derek, you can do better," and he's like: Yeah! but I like it. you didn't ask for your musical horizons to be expanded, you asked me for a random song.

The Magnetic Fields - The Book of Love

The book of love has music in it In fact that's where music comes from Some of it's just transcendental Some of it's just really dumb. But I I love it when you sing to me And you You can sing me anything.

I give up. I give up! I wash my hands of him.

[promise-of-soup]

Can you make out of the same Affection HC's with Taiga ?? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE !!??? pretty pleaseeeee

Yes of course! hehehe, I wanted to mention (I am being quite slow with asks and general writing because I am busy with doing academic stuff lololol) that I am doing this for all the characters, slowly lol. I was requested to do Obscuary a while ago, if the person who requested it sees this: Heya, I am working on it lololol :)

Anyhow, Taiga.

◘Summary: How does Taiga show affection? and also how does he receive affection? does he shoot you? with affection? well, let's find out...

◘Tags: Fluff, not inherently romantic but yeah?, non-spesific gender or descriptor for the MC, lots of swear words? idk Taiga is a person man.

╭┉┈◦ೋ•◦❥•◦◦ೋ•◦❥•◦

Taiga is regarded as one of the last Ghouls anyone wants to mess with, he can simply look in a given direction and clear it from any passing students or even staff members, just because he's unhindged to the point of being scary. That doesn't mean he is not affectionate though, not that he's affectionate in a standard, typical way either...

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚Showing˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

He's very rough. VERY.

No matter if he's happy or angry, he is always very rough, doesn't calculate how rough his movements are, and doesn't care to fix it.

So he just kinda grabs you(?)

Like, no warning either. You're just standing in his general proximity and all of a sudden he just grabs your waist and pulls you to his side to keep you there.

Will not say anything, he will just do this and keep doing whatever it was he was doing.

He's very hard to read, and he does not communicate any of his intentions or reasonings, but you can tell he likes you since:

1. he remembers your name more than other people

2. he does the grabbing you thing every time you're around.

He will do it in any situation, so even if you're on a mission, he will suddenly grab you and is hold your waist really tightly while pointing a gun at someone and laughing scarily. It can be frightening if you're not used to it, but if you spend a lot of time around him you're probably going to get used to it.

This is it by the way, this is how he shows affection: grabbing you. the end, but it does change slightly based on the situation...

If you're with him in the casino, he will pull you to sit beside him so that your thighs are touching and then he'll roughly grab your hair and keep his hand there. If he's feeling like he wants to make the other people around the table jealous or is just otherwise feeling posessive, he will put his hand on your thigh instead of your hair and make sure it is very visible to everyone else.

He might loudly ask you if you like it so everyone hears it, or if he's really feeling unhindged he will "whisper" something dirty to you...

HE IS VERY POSESSIVE. VERY.

If someone looks at you for too long you're now sitting on his lap and he's holding your waist roughly and telling you you're his, doesn't matter if you're actually together or not, he will just do this.

If someone was flirting with you or looking at you for too long, he will go stand very close to that person and tell them to "back off."

They will.

He will smile at you afterwards.

Also, if you end up in his room you are not leaving, ever. He will hold you in place if you try to leave, doesn't understand you have a life lmfao.

His only other form of affection is roughly telling you you're his.

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚Receiving˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

The only way to show him affection is to let him grab you. You have a single chance to escape his affection (when he just starts doing it) otherwise he will never stop doing it lol.

Believe it or not, he hates being touched, so if you try to hug him or hold his hand, or even just stand close to him, he will go away and he will push you back.

BUT, if he grabbed you, and then you do something like pat his head or hold him back, he'll be fine with it and will like it.

As I said, it is very hard to read him, so if you like him you just have to let him do whatever he wants pretty much and get as much out of it as possible.

He's also a reverse psychology guy as we see in canon, so if you want him to do anything tell him not to do it, and then he will.

Like "Taiga, don't hold my hand." and then he will say "Don't tell me what to do" and hold it.

Likes when you sleep over, again, as long as he's holding you, and will enjoy it if you play with his hair, BUT ONLY IF YOU ARE ALONE.

he has no shame about anything though, so if he's in the right mood (quite rare) and if he initiated it first, he'd be fine with you being all over him in public, and would actually like it just to show you off.

[grunklebongrip]

If you’re writing college age Fiddauthor and you get secondhand embarrassment, you’re doing it right

[the-impulse-to-love]

show me how to dance forever, arcadia, and greek mythology

this was initially gonna be a longer post with other things but i need to get These Specific Brainworms out of my head rn so. yeah

quick disclaimer i'm not a huge expert on greek mythology/culture so if anyone has any other comments feel free 2 discuss...

contains very vague teeth of god spoilers around the discussion of deities in relation to arcadia (pan, ceryneian hind)

(apologies if the formatting is weird still getting used to tumblr)

> arcadia

the shepherd’s monument from the hidden coords on the sight has references to arcadia, a region of greece. now, this can mean the real life history of the area, or the history with more mythological connotations.

arcadia also refers to a utopia in which the wilderness is undisturbed. it’s idyllic and peaceful. this is a common interpretation/subject for the area and its themes during the renaissance, which one such notable artwork being “et in arcadia ego," replicated on the mentioned monument (hence the connection) (this also warrants another post i'd say).

it’s also notable how arcadia, in terms of a utopia, is described as being unattainable (as per wikipedia anyways, there wasn’t quite an exact source for this. other sites just echoed the same sentiment.) this is a contrast from the biblical garden of eden, which instead was a paradise lost due to the original sin. (i don’t think i need to explain eden’s relevance to sleep token since. you know the entire third album and song)

in addition, the region of arcadia had religious significance.

1. it was the basis for worship for certain deities (in actuality)

⠀a. some temples around the region were dedicated to hermes, the messenger god and guide for the dead (psychopomp)

⠀⠀-- hermes has several wing motifs. he is often depicted with a winged hat, talaria (winged sandals), and a caduceus (his staff)

⠀⠀-> this can possibly tie into 🪶 feathered host, one of the two alleged factions from the emails which states “the cycle must be broken”

⠀⠀-- hermes' role as a psychopomp can also be connected to "show me how to dance forever." as i mentioned in this post there's likely a link between the teeth of god tour speeches in death "asking you to dance with [fear and hope], after all" and smhtdf. hermes guiding the dead and death asking to dance forever? yeah

⠀b. arcadia was a region of worship for despoina, a goddess whose name was lost due to being worshipped by the eleusinian mysteries (only those in the group knew her name, so it was lost)

⠀⠀-- the eleusinian mysteries were initiations done by a secretive religious group in who worshiped persephone and demeter in ancient greece

⠀⠀-> the loss of despoina's true name could tie into the fact that sleep's name canonically cannot be properly translated into modern language

⠀c. arcadians worshiped demeter, goddess of agriculture and the harvest

⠀⠀-> (bit more of a stretch i would say,) but she can be associated with gardens due to her role as a goddess of agriculture. gardens on themselves, of course, are a common theme in sleep token songs in addition to the garden of eden. they vary in symbolism/meaning from love to paradise.

⠀d. anytos was a titan who allegedly raised despoina and was worshiped in the area. not too much is known from him asides from this.

2. it was the place where mythical beings dwelled (in mythology)

⠀a. pan is a god of wilderness and shepherds who was said to live in arcadia. he was also worshipped in the area.

⠀-> his status as a god of shepherds could relate to vessel's staff that appeared for a little bit then vanished off the face of the earth. this can be interpreted as a shepherd's staff, used to guide and direct sheep. the shepherd's staff has it's own biblical connotations but that's not the focus of this post

⠀⠀-> one of the presale codes for a promo was "lambs." given how "arcadia" and "veridian" were both also used as codes, i wouldn't be surprised if this came up again as well. maybe vessel will herd flamingos...

⠀⠀-> "lambs" was also the name of the first chapter in the teeth of god novel in which we were introduced to the surface team and the climate on earth.

⠀b. the ceryneian hind is a swift and sacred deer who lived in ceryneia near arcadia. it was named after the river cerynites which flows from arcadia. in addition, it is associated with artemis, goddess of the hunt, nature, and moon.

⠀-> sleep can also be tied into this. if you believe the tentacles emerging from the moon are related to sleep, this would relate to artemis' relation to the moon.

⠀⠀-> goddess of the hunt could also tie into the teeth of god poem, specifically “i am hunting something, and in turn that same thing is hunting me”

⠀-> the ceryneian hind is likely the reference/basis for the “arcadian stag,” present on some merch and the teeth of god cover. hinds are female red deers which can be found in greece. another translation/name used for the deer instead of “hind” was “stag.”

i'm not really sure How Much (if any) of the album/lore is going to reference greek legends and stuff, but i will be Very Pleased if it does since this stuff was fun to look into...

like and subscribe and i'll yap about columns next idk

[airenyah]

Episode 6: FadelStyle vs. Beginnings and Endings

In the past one and a half-ish weeks we've discussed at length just how good the last scene at the diner is and how Style drawing tears on Fadel at the rock concert was foreshadowing to Fadel ending the episode crying real tears. What I haven't seen discussed yet, however, is how that ending scene is actually a counterpart to Fadel and Style's conversation after the rock concert. And I think that makes the scene in the diner even more poignant. And it also makes the scene at the rock pub even more painful as well. Because they are basically the same scenes, just flipped. And I desperately need to talk about it or else I'll explode.

Part 1: "Tonight I am very happy"

In this scene Style knows something that Fadel doesn't: This will most likely be their last chance to be happy together like this. Tomorrow Fadel will go on his mission where the police will be waiting and then Fadel will be taken away from him.

But Style already loves Fadel, he is already worried about him and he really does not want to lose him. So he keeps trying to subtly talk Fadel into staying home from the mission and spilling the beans about the mission so he can explicitly ask Fadel not to go. But Fadel keeps his mouth shut. And as happy as Style is together with Fadel this evening, he is also very upset. He doesn't want the night to end, but there's no way around it. For Style this is a goodbye.

And for Fadel? Fadel went from I'll tell her this will be your last job to Ruerat is the last jerk we have to kill. After that, we can live however we want. Even in this episode, right before he goes to the concert with Style, Fadel tells Bison "Once we're done with Ruerat, I'll talk to Mother again", when Bison says it's time for them to quit. Fadel is on the same page as Bison now. Ruerat is their last victim and after that Fadel wants out. For Fadel, this is the last night where he's still stuck in his hitman life, but once he is done with his mission the weight will be off his shoulders and he can finally truly be with Style. For Fadel this is the opposite of a goodbye.

In the words of my mother: For Style, when the night is over life will end. For Fadel, when the night is over life will begin. Style is ending something and Fadel wants to begin something.

And another thing my mom pointed out is how they're standing in front of a pink sky:

And at what time of the day is the sky pink? Either at dawn or at dusk. The beginning of the day or the end of the day. And for Fadel this scene is only the beginning of the day while for Style this scene is the end of the day.

Part 2: "I think I already love you"

In this scene Fadel knows something that Style doesn't: Style has played him, has made him lower his protective walls, has made him fall for him only to turn around and betray him.

Style told Fadel he hoped that Fadel wouldn't get any more scars and yet here Style is, stabbing Fadel right in the heart and jeopardizing his life. Here Style is, bursting Fadel's bubble that he's finally started daring to dream about, a dream of a future where he wasn't lonely, a future where he was happy and himself with someone, Style, by his side. But Style is a danger to him. Style can't stay. As happy as Fadel has been together with Style, he needs to let go of him. For Fadel this is a goodbye.

And for Style? He has just spent a full week worrying sick about Fadel after his mission went wrong and went completely MIA. Style has likely (definitely) spent a week checking the restaurant every single day for any sign of Fadel's return, not giving up hope of seeing him again. And then Fadel is back. Style is overjoyed. The heavy metal concert wasn't their last day together, Fadel is pulling through on his promise to have many more nights like that with each other. The concert may have been the end of the day, but now against all odds a new day has come. For Style this is the opposite of a goodbye.

And so we're left with the exact opposite situation from what we had at the concert: Fadel is ending something and Style wants to begin something.

Conclusion

These two scenes go together, they're flipped parallels of each other.

At the concert, Style is internally saying goodbye to Fadel because he thinks their relationship will be over when Fadel gets arrested at the mission and the police take him away. At the diner, Fadel is internally saying goodbye to Style because he thinks their relationship is over now that he "knows" that none of it was real on Style's part since in reality he was working with said police.

At the concert Fadel is truly happy, because once his mission is over he'll talk to mother and when he's managed to convince her that him and Bison will be out, then Fadel can go and start a new life, a new future with Style. At the diner, Style is overjoyed because he thought he was about to lose Fadel, but Fadel has come back and now Style gets a second chance at a future with Fadel.

At the concert, Fadel is happy and he can tell something is kinda off about Style ("What's wrong? You act like we're not going to see each other again."), but he has absolutely no idea that Style is in the process of bidding him farewell. At the diner, Style is happy and he can tell something is kinda off about Fadel ("You were just calling me out for being affectionate. Now you wanna be romantic?"), but he has absolutely no idea that Fadel is in the process of bidding him farewell.

It's brilliant writing, really. And both scenes were flawlessly performed by both boys.

[thaliagrayce]

Jason was headed to the Big House when he caught sight of Nico leading a trio of terrified-looking twelve-year-olds to where Mrs O’Leary lay napping in the strawberry fields. It had been Nico’s idea to introduce some of the younger campers to monsters in what passed as a safe environment. He’d argued that Mrs O’Leary could be a great tool for teaching, and for making the kids less likely to panic when they first met monsters in the wild.

Nico looked more and more relaxed as the group got closer to Mrs O’Leary. She lifted her head to give a sniff, and Nico went straight to her and leaned on her sun-warmed flank. Jason always liked watching Nico interact with her. He looked so much more at ease around the hellhound than he did around most campers.

“Spending a lot of time with him recently, huh?

Jason did not jump. It took effort. Leo had materialized on his left, and he was looking at Jason as if he expected a response.

“Yeah,” Jason said once his heartbeat had returned to normal. “Nico’s really cool, once he gets comfortable around you.”

“Hm.” Leo squinted into the fall sunshine to where an Ares kids had tentatively held her hand up for Mrs O’Leary to smell. It was going well until Mrs O’Leary sneezed, and the kid flinched hard enough to fall on her butt.

Jason could almost hear Nico’s laughter from here, if he focused hard enough. He felt himself smiling in response.

“Should I be, like, nervous?”

Blinking, Jason turned back to Leo. “What?”

“Di Angelo isn’t trying to replace me or anything, right?”

Jason snorted. “Of course not.”

“You sure? He looks like a man who’s gunning for the Jason Grace Best Friend title belt,” Leo joked. Jason rolled his eyes at him. Nico looked like a boy who needed to lean on his SUV-sized dog to stay upright when he laughed.

“Aw, come on. You know it’s not the same.”

“How?!” Leo’s tone was light, so he was probably teasing, but Jason still had a hard time differentiating sometimes. Leo was good at hiding his real hurt behind jokes, but he also told a lot of jokes with no substance to them. Whatever raised a reaction. Jason wasn’t sure how serious he should treat this line of questioning.

“I don’t know, it just isn’t. We mess around a lot, right? I’m usually nicer to Nico—”

“So what I’m hearing is it’s different because you treat him better! I’m too late!” Leo cried out, finally pulling free a wire from the walkie talkie he’d been messing with. He flashed a grin at Jason, showing off the disemboweled gadget.

Teasing, then. Jason felt himself relax.

“You wouldn’t want me to be nicer and you know it. Besides, we both know you can take it.”

“And Nico can’t?” Leo was already turning his attention back to the walkie talkie.

“It’s not that, it’s more like…” In the field, Nico reached out his hand to the kid who’d stayed in the back of the group up until now. Even from this far away, the kid looked scared. Nico supported them as they walked up to Mrs O’Leary, though. He held their hand through something that had obviously scared them. It was such a Nico gesture, Jason couldn’t help but smiling.

“He could take it, sure, but he shouldn’t have to. He deserves to be treated gently.”

There was silence for a while, and Jason only really became aware of it when Leo slowly leaned forward into his field of vision. His eyebrows had made a migration toward his hairline, and they didn’t look like they were dropping anytime soon. Jason thought back over what he’d said and blushed. When had he started looking at Nico again, anyway? He turned away from the strawberry field to look at Leo full on.

“Dude,” Leo said.

“Shut up.”

“I was joking before, but like, now I’m not sure. Do I legit have to be worried you like him better?”

“I don’t like him better, I just like him different. It’s totally normal.”

It was true, too. Even more than he’d even realized when he said it. Friendship with Nico didn’t feel like any other friendship he’d ever had. It was… quiet. Intense. It felt charged, but relaxing at the same time. It was contradictory and almost addicting, Jason couldn’t really describe it. He caught himself before his eyes drifted back to the strawberry fields and made himself focus on Leo, who looked dubious to the point of being borderline offensive.

“Different, or—”

“Different,” Jason insisted. “Just like I like you and Piper different. Not better or worse, just… Different.”

Come to think about it, though…

“Sure fuckin' hope you like me and Piper different,” Leo grumbled. “You’re my bro, but I don’t want you pulling your Loverboy moves on me. I mean…” Leo kept going, but Jason was too busy spiraling to pay attention.

He’d said he liked Leo and Piper different, but did he? The way he felt about Leo was a lot closer to the way he felt about Piper than it was to what he felt for Nico, if he stopped to think about. Remarkably similar, really. His palms started to sweat.

Oh gods, he thought. Do I have a crush on Leo?

[coalitiongirl]

Regina cuts her off, her stomach roiling. “You talk about me with Henry?” Emma shrugs. “You come up sometimes. He really does care about you. And I think you care about him.” “You think?” Regina demands, and her fists tighten. “You think?” Emma turns away from her, focuses on Henry on his swing. Regina follows suit, letting the sight of him calm her. He’s going higher and higher, and he kicks off his shoes when he’s at the top of the swing, sending them flying across the playground. It’s so normal, so much like a scene from a year ago, before everything had fallen apart. “I wasn’t sure,” she says. “I didn’t know if you…if you saw him as something to have. Or if you really loved him.” Regina seethes. Something in her chest withers and dies. She’s furious. She isn’t hurt, because she will never give Emma Swan the power to hurt her again. “This town still stands only because Henry is inside of it. And you think that I don’t love him?” Emma doesn’t respond to the threat, which had been stupid and will set Regina’s time with Henry back again, she’s sure. “You didn’t kiss him. When he was…after he ate that turnover. You didn’t even try to kiss him awake.” Regina had sat in the hospital room and wept, had felt the world falling apart around her, and no, she had not kissed Henry as Emma had. How arrogant it is, to believe that a kiss can work magic. How privileged it is for the laws of the world to break only for you. “I am no Charming,” she spits. “I don’t get beautiful fairytales, and I don’t expect them. Forgive me for being a realist.” Emma is silent. When Regina turns, Emma is watching her again, and there is a lingering something in her eyes. Not quite pity, not quite sorrow. But understanding, and Regina hates seeing it more than anything else. Hates the way that her heart leaps, and the next few breaths hitch and don’t emerge right.

[starrytoya]

seeing people be proud of being so overly dependent on chatgpt genuinely fucks me up because... the whole point of being human is to think for oneself, to enjoy creating and to have original thoughts. why would you be proud to outsource the one thing that ties us to our ancestors generations ago? why would you be proud to use something that causes so much ethical and environmental harm? are we collectively losing the things that make us human?

[avichor]

platonicism and found family being viewed as lesser in comparison to romance will always be my villain origin