#sort of an equivalent situation to how

[bestworstcase]

In general I'm far more partial to your thoughts on whatever Ruby & Yang's dad is up to than the fanon-consensus fall vault guard angle, though I do wonder about, say: Oz having the crown stashed somewhere outside said vault so whomever else is in on this could play keep-away with it. Of course that has no shortage of logistical drawbacks, though Raven sort of rejoining the fold does open up handy rapid-evac options so long as Salem doesn't catch her directly. Still, the 'dragon dad has totes noble rational Reasons, not that deep' conclusion does seem damn simplistic.

tbh i think the fanon presumption that tai MUST be guarding the crown is equal parts

1. the fandom completely failing to engage seriously with the (very obvious by now) factor of summer rose being alive – by which i mean, a huge swath of the fandom has grokked she’s still around in some capacity and treats this as little more than a trivial detail meant to twist the knife for ruby (and to a lesser extent, yang) in a shocking way, rather than, you know, the load-bearing pillar it clearly is in this given how her fate has been one of the central narrative questions since the beginning. which is to say that i think a lot of people are just brushing past the possibility that tai’s absence in vacuo is directly related to summer being at beacon, because they’ve either not added two and two to figure out where she is or they have but don’t consider that to be salient to the question of tai’s motives.

and

2. kneejerk backlash to the cyclical tai parenting discourse, with people who read him as a decent-to-good father getting defensive in reaction to the discussions that circulated after B4 revealed that his whereabouts are more or less unknown. it does in fact look Really Bad for tai to not be in vacuo for unclear reasons! which is why the subset of fans who read him as a good parent were predisposed to assume that he has a justifiable, crucial reason to stay in vale, namely guarding the crown. and then any other speculation on the subject of why he isn’t in vacuo was instantly conflated with the tai-is-neglectful reading and thence dismissed out of hand as "character bashing."

eyeroll. the point being, i think this defensive reflex toward tai resulted in a lot of people circling the wagons around the first snap assumption they made even though tai guarding the crown doesn’t make a whole lot of sense even if one accepts the fanon presupposition that he’s The Best Dad.

because he quit working for ozpin after summer disappeared (and to judge by the 9.10 flashback, didn’t have much respect for oz before that!) – we know this because,

it’s a notable enough change for ruby to comment on it when tai starts going on missions again; he’s been off active huntsman duty for over a decade, meaning he wasn’t taking any assignments from oz during this time (which is a point in his favor re: the question of his parenting and i think it’s really funny that people in the “good dad” camp were the loudest voices pointing out that tai clearly wants nothing to do with ozpin right up until the boba incident)

ruby and yang had no idea that ozpin had any particular connection to their family beyond having been headmaster when their parents were in school; they didn’t even know that qrow worked for him. tai kept him so much at arms length that he was just a random public figure to the girls.

tai is explicitly not involved in glynda’s effort to reclaim beacon, nor do port and oobleck seem to have any expectation that he should or will be once yang is back on her feet. they’re his friends, but there is zero professional or collegial relationship.

and frankly after tai watched his team implode and lost not one but two of his loves at least indirectly because of ozpin, why in hell would he want anything to do with that man ever again? did we forget him seething at qrow in v3? did we forget how palpably he wanted to just smack ozpin in IQ? hello?? if we’re starting from “tai is a loving dad who would move mountains for his kids” then i simply do not believe he’d stay in vale while qrow led ruby to round two with salem just because that’s what ozpin’s “in case i die” plan said he should do. like that’s flat nonsense.

the only way i could even consider that as a possibility with any seriousness is if i were convinced that tai straight up just Didn’t Care That Much about his kids, because that kind of coldly pragmatic decision-making—i’ll let my teenage children fight on the front lines while i putter around home keeping an eye on things for a dead man, because the crown is the most important thing—does not track with a man who gives a shit about his kids.

but i think tai does in fact care a lot about his kids, however dysfunctional the family relations may be, so like

the explanation that makes the most sense to me is that he figured out summer was alive and with salem in some capacity sometime in v2-3 and he’s been torn between the two sides of his family ever since. does he go after ruby or does he try to save summer? <- isn’t that a lot more balanced. a lot more understandable. potentially a lot more sympathetic, depending upon exactly what the circumstances are and how much he’s learned. for him to be Just Some Guy having to choose between His Kids and His Wife?

like?? i firmly believe that if the good-parent-tai crowd hadn’t immediately dismissed every other theory besides dragon-guarding-the-crown as hysterical character bashing then within a few weeks at most someone in that camp would’ve remembered that tai fucking hates ozpin and they would’ve eventually landed on “oh. duh. he’s staying in vale for summer” – because it is both obvious and casts him into a much more tragic, sympathetic light versus the stiff upper lip sorry kids it’s for the greater good crown guard angle.

[sqgeism]

so i recently read a post about how aglaea represents divinity through humanity's flesh and blood and anaxa represents humanity through the mask of a porcelain doll.

Soooo this has got me very curious, how would anaxa react to his partner (reader) literally being the human equivalent of a porcelain doll? glassy eyes, long lashes, pasty pale/white skin. maybe they even visibly crack in response to stressors/trauma!! ive totally developed this into my own oc and would love to read your thoughts! ty as always

𐙚 𓏵𓏵𓏵 𐙚 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥, 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 | amphoreus men x gender neutral reader

love mail — hii :3 i'm alive again! i had (married) femme reader in mind but honestly could pass as (still married) gn reader ＼(^o^)／ i suuper love this concept nd i hope it lives up to your expectations, anonnie :D kiss muwa ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ also anaxa's is rly long bc i intended for it to be standalone but added the others in the end ;p they're all (except anaxa) rlly short sorry LMAOAOA characters in order : anaxa, mydei, phainon

from the day anaxa met you, to the day of your wedding, and every moment after — he's learned to be careful. he's always described himself as 'experimental', ready to do it all for the sake of knowledge and further understanding. but when he met you, he couldn't be that. he was fascinated with you in seconds, your porcelain skin was delicate, the kind that shatters because of hands like his. you were his opposite, and ever since he fell in love with you, his treasure.

anaxa had built some sort of.. habit with you. when his sister was alive, she showed him different hairstyles that she wanted. anaxa, the loving boy he was, tried his very best to learn. unfortunately, as you've come to know, he never got to really do them. his own way of healing from that grief was through you, when you first allowed him to brush your hair for you — he found himself tying it into a beautiful braid. he won't forget the glimmer in your glassy eyes, thanking him so softly that he was sure even his cold, dead heart was touched. you had that affect on him, always have.

but that joy was short lived, as when you smiled- your face cracked. his face drops and so does he, falling to his knees right infront of you as his hands cup your cheek. "what happened? does it hurt? how can i help?" there's a noticeable shift in that indifferent demeanor that anaxa's always seen with.

and that makes you smile more, but the emotion is so strong that it causes you to shatter more. anaxa won't deny that he feels himself a little flustered at such a beautiful display that is your smile, but the cracking isn't stopping.

he eventually learns that you two are alike for different reasons. anaxa's nonchalance to most situations is caused by the fact he's lost all ability to care, he's lost everything that's ever mattered to him — why care about losing anything more? it'll make him just hurt all over again. he never wants to remember what it's like to drown in emotion ever again.

but your still expressions are the way they are because you feel too much. an overbundance of joy makes you smile, pressuring your porcelain complextion and causing it to crack. same with stress, sadness, any form of emotion makes you feel like you're breaking. but you wish to experience every single one deeply, you want to turn into nothing but pieces just to know what it's like to completely, and utterly, feel.

but around each other, there is a balance. while you were used to a disproportion of emotion, anaxa kept you calm in every situation, but still allowed you to feel. you wouldn't crack, no, but you still felt your heart race every time anaxa kissed your fingers or ran his hand through your hair. and so, you can come to the quick conclusion that you allowed him to experience what you have had too much of. you bring him comfort, unease, and affection all at once and he's willing to indulge in it. he doesn't want to completely experience it all, but you let him worry just enough to make something else but a thin line and an empty gaze in his expression.

he adores you, really. he'd punish the stars for ever trying to rival the beauty that is sparkle in your eyes.

mydei's in a similar position, but if you allow him- he'd love to bring you around to meet the children. if you're at all insecure about the way you exist as a person, he's sure that they can help. they're too young to understand or villainize you in any way, they're just.. in awe of you. the same manner that he was. a big, life sized doll? with pretty clothes and brushable hair? they're all over you in a moments notice. and mydei adores every second.

he has his head on your lap while they brush through your hair, humming a lullaby while you sit there, unmoving but enjoying yourself in silence. the breeze is cool, the grass is green and the flowers that surround you, mydei, and the little ones make the scene feel straight out of a painting.

a warrior and his muse, his weakness, his heart. everything that you are mends perfectly into an emptiness inside of him, and you fix the scars that have lingered for him to heal.

phainon's in a similar boat, except he's like the children. he ADOOOORES you. buys you outfits every week, learned to do your hair, sits by your vanity mirror with eyes of pure and utter admiration as you do makeup.. he's soo enamored by you, it's insane. though he does tend to worry that when he makes you laugh (which is a lot, he appreciates it), you start to crack. they do eventually heal, but he's noticed you've become insecure about it. growing a habit of wearing veils or large hats to hide that beautiful face he adores.

he likes to call your cracks 'smile lines', since they tend to happen after you laugh or smile. it's a human thing, but he's trying to describe the similarities to you. he'll tell you that when humans smile all throughout their life, they get smile lines.. and while some are insecure about them, phainon thinks they should be proud. that the aeon's have given them the gift of so many happy, special moments, that they make sure all of the world gets to see it. that they know they've lived a good, happy life. and you shouldn't be ashamed of yours either.

nothing could shatter how perfectly imperfect you are to him. to phainon, you embody his every need and want.

[cacoetheswriting]

I have a request. Bare with me new at this request bit.

Eddie wakes up hands cuffed to his bed with reader blowing him. Then has sex with him.

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader word count: 2.2k

content warnings: 18+, MINORS DNI: explicit and mature themes, smut, established relationship, cnc, somno, oral (m receiving), unprotected p in v, use of toys, adult language / dirty talk, use of pet names, a little pervy, more plot than porn tbh ‘cause i don’t know how else to write smutty content, slightly possessive!reader, jealousy, slightly dom!eddie but also slightly dom!reader - unedited - pls let me know if i missed any!

a/n: pls have your age / age range stated in your bio when requesting 18+ content. cleared here in the dm’s, but it saves a lot of back and forth when it’s in the bio - for any future requests.

He’s flustered. Stumbling over his words, cheeks a deep red. He’s avoiding your gaze. Staring instead at his beat up sneakers as he rolls a twig around with the sole of his shoe.

You can’t help the smirk that circles your lips as he stammers through the pros and cons of his proposition as if it’s a thesis and he’s aiming for top marks; or a close equivalent. If only he put this much care in his homework, you think to say but bite your tongue since he’s clearly nervous enough.

“What do you think?” He asks, finally meeting your eyes. 

The look behind the brown is hopeful, eager. Like a little boy waiting in line for a shiny new comic. Only, he’s not wanting a superhero book. No.

Eddie Munson has a request of a far different variety and you’d be lying if it didn’t excite you as well.

“You want me to suck you off while you’re sleeping?”

Eddie nods.

“If you think it’s too much, you can obviously say no and we can forget I-I even suggested it.” He’s stammering again. “I-I just thought it’d be a cool thing to try—”

“I’m not opposed to it,” you say, interrupting, and shrug your shoulders to showcase indifference although you’re feeling anything other than that.

You’ve been not-so-casually hooking up with Eddie for a little over a year. 

One would say — Robin — this situationship you have with the curly-haired metal-head is the reason you haven’t been able to find a real boyfriend, but what does she know about relationships anyway? Okay, harsh. She actually knows a lot considering she’s in one. Point being, it’s Eddie. And you’d forgo any connection just to hear him moan your name every single night: even if it means absolutely nothing the next morning.

“Are you putting a timeline on this, or do you want it to be a surprise?” You ask.

“Definitely a surprise.”

A week goes by.

You think about his proposition often. Sheer excitement mixed with a fuck ton of nerves. You’ve blown him before, numerous times. He says he loves when you do. Thinks about it afterwards. Jacks off to the memory of your lips around his dick.

This is different, however. He won’t talk to you. Won’t tell you how pretty you look on your knees for him. And you get off on his words.

You sleep over at the trailer twice during the week. 

The first night, you don’t want to seem too eager and make point to show Eddie how tired you are after he’s fucked you raw. He knows not to expect it then. Instead, he opens his arms and lets you cuddle him until dreams take over.

The second night, you sort of psych yourself out. His light snores ripple through the bedroom. It’s all you can hear, aside from the thumping of your heart. You think about this situation you have found yourself in with Eddie, and wonder if perhaps Robin is right about this whole thing between you and the metal-head. Maybe you should reserve the more kinky stuff for an actual boyfriend. Especially because there’s a lot of trust required to act on deviance when the other person is asleep and trust is often reserved for more traditional relationships, you think. What you and Eddie have is lust.

Then, one afternoon the following week, Eddie surprises you.

Unfortunately, not in a nice way. He’s talking to a girl. Flirting, actually. You can see them at the bar. He says something, which must be funny because the girl places a hand on his leather-clad shoulder and pushes him gently while throwing her head back in giggles. Eddie’s not funny. Okay, he’s hilarious but he’s not a make-a-girl-flirty-laugh funny. And your blood boils.

“A vicious thing, jealousy.” Steve mumbles next to you.

“Can you even be jealous if you’re not actually with the other person?” Robin asks.

You tell them both to shut up then force yourself to look away from the bar. From the guy that’s not your boyfriend, but rather the best hookup of your life, and the pretty girl he’s flirting with, who may one day very well become his real girlfriend. One could call this thing you’re doing now spiraling. Your friends do, they say it simultaneously because they see the look in your eyes. 

Wanting to save yourself from further embarrassment, you grab your handbag and your jacket, and tell your friends goodbye. They plead with you not to go, but only for a moment because Nancy is back with the next round of drinks and they forget all about your problems of the heart (and vagina).  

You push past the sweaty bodies of Hideout goers and slip out the front door, into the cool breeze. The sound of your heels against the pavement grows louder the further you get away from the dingy bar. Eddie was your ride home. He drew the short straw on being everyone’s designated driver for the night. He’ll have one stop less to make, you think, can spend that extra time with this girl he met.

Twenty minutes on foot and you’re home. You shed the night off your back. A quick shower, a fresh set of pyjama shorts. You down a cold glass of water, then another for good measure. And just like that, you’re feeling sober and ready for bed. Ready to forget the sight of Eddie and that girl.

The night however, has other plans.

There’s a knock on your door. Metal on wood. With a sigh, you cross the living room towards it and press down on the handle. Eddie’s standing in the corridor. His head snaps up as you open to reveal the inside of your apartment.

“What are you doing here?” You ask, crossing your arms.

“I came to see if you were okay,” he answers. “You left so abruptly. Didn’t even say goodbye.”

You shrug. “You seemed busy. I assumed you wouldn’t notice I left.”

Eddie’s brows string together.

“Why wouldn’t I notice?” He sounds genuinely confused, then recognition feigns on his features. “Is this because of the girl?”

You shrug again, because what else is there for you to do without completely spilling your guts.

Eddie rolls his eyes.

“You know there’s only you for me, right?” He says as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Dollface, I’m not interested in anyone else. That was just harmless flirting.”

You drop your arms and step aside, letting him pass. You shut the door behind him before turning to face him once more.

“Eddie, I’m not an idiot, okay?” You begin, “I know what we’re doing is casual and that one day it might end.”

“Who says anything about wanting anything to end?” He counters with a smirk and walks away, down the hallway, towards your bedroom.

By the time you join him, the metal-head has stripped down to a T-shirt and boxers. Wordlessly, he gets into your bed and lifts the covers up, waiting for you to join him. You drop your arms with an exaggerated sigh and he laughs. Smooth, music to your ears. 

Once you do, Eddie’s asleep in minutes. But not before he murmurs, “You’re the only girl I’d let anywhere near my dick and heart.”.

You giggle. “Aren’t they one and the same?”

He snorts. “Exactly, dollface.” And proceeds to place a kiss to the top of your head before sleep takes over.

Satisfied with how the night ended up — Eddie in your bed; the usual — you get comfortable in his embrace. Feeling safe and content, it doesn’t take long for you to also fall asleep. 

When you wake, it’s still dark, aside from the bedside lamp you left switched on. Eddie’s snoring next to you, but that’s not what your sleepy self is paying attention to. Your focus is on something hard pressing into your thigh and call it possessiveness or whatever, but suddenly you think to act on his offer from a few weeks ago. Make it that much more difficult for him to leave you for ‘the real deal’.

There’s a pair of fluffy pink handcuffs locked to your iron-rod headboard (from the last time Eddie stayed over). Tentatively, you reach for it and click the loose ring around Eddie’s wrist — the hand that’s so perfectly placed above his head, since he fell asleep resting on it.

Satisfied, a smirk circling your still sleepy expression, you run your hand down his chest, stomach, until you reach the band of his boxers. You glance at the metal-head, still sleeping, his erection now in your gentle grasp. So you sit up fully, pushing the covers aside.

Without further hesitation, you first circle your tongue around the tip of his cock, lick down his shaft, and then slowly drag it up along the underside. Lightly, you flick your tongue across the vein, just under the head. Eddie shivers underneath you, but makes no further indication that he’s awake, so you let your lips envelop around his head, taking him into your mouth.

Cheeks hollow, you suck, then swirl your tongue around and lick his shaft again. He moans in his sleep, shifts under you and the handcuff rattles. You glance at him from under your lashes and wet your lips before continuing. 

You slide his cock across your mouth, once, twice, then wrap your mouth around it once more. A moment passes as you hold him, erect. His cock fills your cheeks, nudges at the back of your throat, throbbing with need. Sucking, you slide your lips upwards, licking around the tip.

A groan escapes his lips. The sound is magical and it fuels your own desires further. You feel a little bit pervy, a pool of wetness pouring between your own thighs as your lips work on his release. You pick up speed, hands cradling his balls as you take him as deep into your mouth as you can.

“Mhmmm…” Eddie moans awake, “Baby, baby, baby…”

“Let me take care of you,” you say in a sweet tone, batting your lashes for good measure, although you know he can’t see, face buried into your pillows.

You take him back into your mouth, one hand now holding him in place. You slide up and down every inch of him, again taking him as far as you can into your throat while letting your hand do the rest. At the top of the stroke, you swirl your tongue around his head.

“Fuck,” he groans. “You’re making my wildest dreams come true, dollface.”

Flicking your eyes up to Eddie’s face, you find him watching, his own mouth open, his eyes glassy. He tries to reach for you, but the handcuff is keeping him in place and he groans — a mix of frustration and pleasure. As you work your magic, he braces his body on the bed, so he can jerk his hips up towards your face and you smile into his crotch, his eagerness fuelling your own.

“Mhm fuck, you’re going to make me cum,” he grits.

“Please do, baby. I need your cum in my mouth.”

And you increase your speed as he drops his lock of hair back onto the pillow below. You bop your head up and down his rock-hard length, encouraging him to give in and let go. Face a sticky mess of saliva and precum, you can feel him pulsing and throbbing in your mouth. Suddenly, his hips still and his cock swells between your lips.

He gasps. Chanting your name like a prayer, the metal-head shoots his load into your mouth, feeling more awake than ever. Rhythmically, you squeeze him and press your tongue against the back of his cockhead, drawing every drop out of him. Hot, thick, liquid splatters against the inside of your cheeks and runs down your throat as you straighten, satisfied.

Eddie sits up too, or tries to at least with the fluffy cuff around his wrist. On the elbow he can rest on, he does, looking at you as if you’re an angel sent from above, just for him.

“God,” he grounds out, “You’re unbelievable, dollface.”

A smile circles your lips while you lick them clean. You shuffle closer, hovering over his chest until your mouth finds him, capturing it in a deep kiss.

“I hope this is what you had in mind when you asked me?” You ask in a soft whisper.

He huffs out a laugh. “You exceeded any expectations. You always do.”

“Good.”

And you kiss him again, but not before freeing his wrist. He shakes it, cracks it, and reaches for your face. When his lips find yours for a third time, his dominant side takes over. The moment blooms. His hands work your body, over then under your skimpy pyjama set. Breathless, sweaty. Perfect. 

Unable to contain himself much longer, Eddie pulls you on top of him, one set of fingers digging into your hip bone as the other pulls your shorts aside. He’s smooth with his motions and settles you on his, once again, fully erect dick with ease.

“It’s only you for me, baby.” He says with conviction. “Never doubt that.”

His hand on your throat, squeezing gently as you roll your hips and moan his name until you see stars.

as always, thank you for reading & please support your writers by reblogging <3

[psychronia]

I've been rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender because why not and I'm losing my mind at Zuko's proper introduction. I don't know if it's hindsight, shifting characterizations, or just me not watching this in a long time, but this was amazing.

We start off showing he's an impatient and very angry kid. Reasonable, and the sort of flaw we might expect to see in a villain. Kinda funny that he expects to go up against an adult and fully 4-Element realized Avatar, but the kid is desperate and Iroh clearly expects his nephew to get the banishment-denial kicked out of him.

What's important here, though, is Zuko's introduction to the Southern Water Tribe.

Here, we have a very intimidating entrance where his entire ship just sails through the ice right up to the village's front door. It's quite ominous and this is our first proper introduction to how the Fire Nation interacts with a foreign people.

Sokka charges, I'm assuming fully prepared to die, and Zuko casually knocks him out of the way. Okay, so clearly the Water Tribe are entirely outgunned.

He asks "Where are you hiding him?" and the people of the Water Tribe go silent. I assume they're either just too scared to talk or actually protecting Aang.

Whatever the case, it's important to note that the Southern Water Tribe know the terror the Fire Nation can inflict. We have a whole episode dedicated to tracking down a division of raiders. Sokka was able to not only identify the ash-mixed snow as signs of an incoming attack, but estimate how many ships the amount of ash measures to. These are a people who have experience being terrorized and are probably expecting something terrible to happen.

And then, after they don't answer, Zuko grabs Gran-Gran. There was a horror sting to it, and everything the tribe knows about the Fire Nation suggests that Zuko is about to threaten or straight up hurt her to get answers. Classic "terrorize the elderly" bad guy stuff.

And then...

He goes "He's (the Avatar) be about this age and is a master of all four elements!?" and lets her go.

And all of a sudden, the tension that was built up is shattered as Zuko went "I know, I'll give them a reference for the person I'm looking for because clearly they're confused and I wasn't specific enough."

This went from a show of villainy to a show of Zuko being totally socially awkward and misreading the situation entirely. Not helping is that when he does try to menace them a moment later, his fire is slow and angled quite safely.

It still worked on the Water Tribe because they're understandably scared, but all I could think of is that this was the equivalent of a playground bully trying to make someone flinch with that fake-out lunge thing.

Because the fact-and something we'll come to learn-is that Zuko is TERRIBLE at being a Fire Nation oppressor. He's capable of doing morally dubious things and is a competent fighter. But he's lousy at terrorizing people and cruelty-that's kind of the point of his banishment.

And while we can see the story paint this picture of Zuko's true character as the story goes on with hints of good and conflicting loyalties, here we get to see just how bad he is at being "the bad guys". He's still unambiguously being the villain of this scene, and it makes no real difference to the oppressed themselves, but there is a comical gap between where Zuko thinks he is, where he actually is, and somehow it still puts him on the same page as his victims just because of how terrible the Fire Nation's influence is on everyone involved.

[redbean-nom]

thinking abt designs for the mythosaur and shriek hawk, because the canon mythosaur does in no way resemble a semiaquatic jungle creature, and the canon "shriek hawk" appears to either be some sort of dino-planet mutant population or somehow crossed with nevarro dragons, especially since it doesn't even match the silhouette of the vizsla shriek hawk- either way, the shriek hawk equivalent of those super squashed french bulldogs.

so. starting with the mythosaur:

disclaimer: this is pulling from both legends and canon, and also from the perspective of someone whose background is in general dentistry, not paleoart reconstruction

our only existing examples of mythosaur fossils are the skull insignias and replicas: the original cracked-skull signet from boba's pauldron, the stylized signet from jaster/the haat'ade, grogu's pendant, and the one on the armorer's wall in the nevarro forge.

this is further complicated by mythosaurs being sexually dimorphic at a skeletal level as well as the iconic sigil being apparently based off a humanoid species that resembles a male mythosaur:

the Jaing mythosaur seems to feature the binocular eyes/eye sockets seen most clearly in the boba and jaster signets, but broader-set and straighter tusks than almost all the attributed mythosaur skulls. assuming that basic features like eye/nose placement and mandibular structure aren't dimorphic, the Forge mythosaur is probably the most accurate representation of a mythosaur skull.

the Living

the only appearance of a nearly-complete mythosaur skeleton is in the form of a defunct theme park of dubious accuracy and proportions, depicted in one issue of a comic from 1977:

this is... certainly something, to say the least. the skull part features the same monocular eye placement (correlates with the Forge mythosaur), oddly-placed nose horns (and no nostrils, and also weird nose-abs), remarkably no tusks, some sort of unicorn-ceratopsid horn crest.

The vehicles for scale are unidentified transport barges, but they seem to be about a foot taller than leia in the back, so approximately 6ft? judging from the transport in the eye-door, the orbital socket is approximately 48 ft across.

in comparison, our other data points in terms of size demonstrate 1) at least one mythosaur (the Living Waters mythosaur) has a head at least twice as tall as din, so approximately 12ft of visible head in comparison to the 48ft-eye of the Theme Park mythosaur. 2) some number of mythosaurs were large enough and of a reasonable shape to be ridden. 3) mythosaurs generally have some large bones of a size appropriate for mythosaur axes, but most likely not so large that the entire axe could be carved from one bone (given the segmented axe shape). 4) all(?) mythosaurs have a sternum bone of a size reasonable for the carving of the mask of mandalore and presumably of a shape reminiscent of the bes'karta.

the Living Waters mythosaur also provides some valuable detail on its face: it appears to be a large reptilian with rough skin of a muted color, seemingly demonstrating the elongated facial structure and the separate tusks (so not a hippo skull situation).

it seems quite odd that the Theme Park mythosaur depiction would leave out the tusks, so given that the Jaing mythosaur resembles a specifically male mythosaur, i'll assume the female mythosaur has the unicorn-ceratopsid crest instead. i'm also going to assume the nose horns are a iguanodon situation, so i've moved them to points of the cheek ridge like ceratopsid cheek points.

looking at these examples, the weirdest thing that seems to stand out is the oddly vertical jaw- where does the mandible attach? how does it eat?? does it actually bite offensively if it has to smush its whole face up to where it's biting?? what sort of range of motion does it have?? the Jaing mythosaur/Jaing species and the Theme Park mythosaur both have more horizontal heads that would better facilitate eating in a hand-less predatory animal; however, the Living Waters mythosaur does have that weird vertical jaw (unless its mouth goes at a 90 degree angle from the rest of its face, like a goblin shark). then again, we can't rule out that the Living Waters mythosaur is just a weird individual with some facial deformity causing the impractical verticality.

that said, why does it have rodent teeth. where are the rest of its teeth. why does it have a huge gap in the side of its face.

i tried putting skin over it and now it looks like a sock puppet.

time to try again with a more forward-angled maxilla, instead of just continuing the angle of the upper face.

i... don't know if this is worse. it looks like some sort of horrible sauropod-rat. well, at least the canon version looks at least as unwieldy as this :/

possible solution for the vertical face: maybe it rotates like how gorilla heads stay facing forward when they're knuckle walking or bipedally walking? but like a weird reptilian version? but then their teeth would be horizontal :///

alright. take three, this time with a more humanoid vertical jaw.

it now looks like it ran facefirst into a brick wall. unsure if this is an aesthetic improvement from the sauropod rat, but it seems even less functional in terms of range of motion and durability. however, the occlusion is a bit better in the resting state?

looking at it again, how does it even fight. the tusks would seem like the obvious answer but they seem too close to the face? and the teeth are huge but they're weird flat skinny incisors that are way too vertical to be of use without smushing the entire face up against the prey.

not to mention these are supposed to be jungle creatures?? judging from the Living Waters mythosaur i'm going to assume they're some sort of jungle river creature-

-ARE THEY BALEEN FILTER FEEDERS

apparently baleen is a non-fossilizing soft tissue, which would explain why the Theme Park mythosaur doesn't seem to have any functional teeth, and those weird skinny incisors can either be some sort of baleen-like tissue replicated as "teeth" in the classic "mythosaur skull" (especially if the Jaing species and associated Jaing mythosaur actually did have teeth), or something like split rostrum whales.

that would also explain how such a huge creature supports large global populations

well, this still needs some work, but it definitely looks better than sock puppet mythosaur... except no, the nostrils probably wouldn't work if the baleen attach to the front of the skull.

going back to look at the front view, the Forge mythosaur seems to have some indentations between its eyes, kind of like where rancor nostrils are, that look similar to trunk attachment points. except the actual nostrils are lower on the Living Waters mythosaur.

wait

going back to rodent teeth

BEAVER. BEAVER TEETH

THATS WHAT HAS WEIRD LONG SKINNY INCISORS

irl, beavers have iron deposits in their enamel to prevent wear/stress during tree-gnawing activity. what if. beaver mythosaur. with BESKAR INFUSED TEETH

mandalore also has massive veshok forests - hardwood trees remarkable for their sturdiness. so it makes sense that something would make use of those giant veshok trees!

BEAVER MYTHOSAURS WITH BESKAR TEETH THAT GNAW VESHOK TREES

BEAVER MYTHOSAUR BUILDING A DAM UNDER THE LIVING WATERS

BEAVER MYTHOSAUR

beavers eat mostly wood and assorted vegetation; to maintain both the herbivore teeth and the reptilian appearance i've added marine iguana features to the mix. (conveniently, iguanas' parietal eye nicely explains the indentation in the middle of the Forge mythosaur's forehead)

it. it looks so dumb but a little more in a Weird Animal way and not a sad deflated sock puppet

...now on to the rest of the body (essentially, it's a 60-ft-long marine iguana with beskar teeth and beaver behavior) :

their reputation as fierce beasts/honorable foes can likely be attributed to Large Herbivore. it's a mandalorian beaver-iguana-moose. with beskar teeth.

[imadhatt3r]

Am I insane or are Joker and Akechi low-key equivalent to Adam and Eve in the 3rd semester

- Maruki's palace has some heavy "Garden of Eden" themes, with it essentially being a paradise where people live free of suffering and strife but also in a kind of blissful ignorance of themselves. The highest structure is LITERALLY named Eden, with a garden and an apple tree with a snake and everything. Maruki oversees everything as God, one who gave this wonderful place and unburdened lives to people.

- 3rd semester Akechi was born out of Joker's cognition thanks to Maruki, just like how Eve was born out of Adam's rib; There's also the fact that Joker wanted Akechi alive again so that they might try starting their relationship over and due to his regret over how their relationship ended up- which parellels Adam's desire for a companion. Joker and Akechi are the only two people in Maruki's reality who feel that something's not right (at least at first), making them truly uniquely cognicient beings, kind of like how Adam and Eve were uniquely intelligent among all the other life in Eden (given that they could talk and were chosen to be the caretakers of all other creation).

- In the bible, it was Eve who convinced Adam to eat the apple and gain awareness; In the game, it's Akechi who manages to convince Joker about the truth of what's actually going on around them.

- Once Adam eats the apple, he and Eve are banished from Eden by God, forcing them and all the other humans in the future to live on Earth, where they have to suffer from hunger, illness, pain, and all the other things they never felt while in Heaven. Joker and Akechi go after Maruki with all the other phantom thieves- their consciousness allowed them to disobey their "God" and destroy his reality, causing them and all humanity to return to the original world, where they have to suffer from heartache and other emotions they were free of in his "Paradise". Not to mention that they themselves will suffer too- Joker will have to live without Akechi, mourning the relationship they could have, while Akechi will literally stop existing. If they obeyed, they could still both exist together (even if it would be in a way they don't want).

- Adam and Eve are, of course, positioned as a "pair of opposites", given that Abrahamic religions see men and women as opposite "forces". Almost every aspect of Joker and Akechi mirrors eachother, from designs through personalities to places they occupy in their lives. There's also the fact that Adam and Eve were sort of destined for eachother, made for eachother by God, just like how Joker and Akechi were destined by gods to be rivals and opposites.

- "Rebellion" in general is one of the main themes of the game, and Adam and Eve can be seen as humanity's first rebels by going against their creator (or at least that's one possible interpretation). Joker and Akechi are P5's protagonist and deuteragonist, the two main thematic characters of the game; Them being united together AS A DUO (unlike during the Shido situation, where they had the same goal but mostly worked separately) against a shared God-like opponent who is trying to take away their free will is kind of like if God wanted to take Adam and Eve back and wipe their minds, and Adam and Eve fought together like hell to stay free.

- This is really minor, but there is a Mementos dialogue about Akechi eating a single apple for lunch every day... 👀

[psicheanima]

Rodya Linguistic Analysis

Do not mention any events after Canto 2 in the notes or tags of this post, thank you.

Rodya’s most noticeable feature about her language is her switches between a casual, almost theatrical register when she’s “playing a part” (always) and a more restrained, terse style when she’s upset.

Rodya’s sentences are mostly mid-length, often using ellipses and dropping subjects or auxiliary verbs. These omissions help create a conversational tone that feels intimate and offhand, as though she is speaking to people with whom she has established a rapport with no matter who the subject is.

Her speech is casual and free-flowing, more like natural conversation than structured prose. There’s a rhythm to it—almost musical, with interjections and rhetorical flourishes. Her loose, easygoing sentence structure makes her approachable. It reinforces her need to be liked, to feel included.

However, when the conversation starts creeping toward something painful, she breaks it up with childish phrasing, either steering things away before they can get too heavy or trying to dismiss the importance of her very own emotional involvement by dumbing herself down as she frequently does with Sonya. Note her inability to let the conversation end on a sincere note, diminishing both herself and him, and both the ideals that drove them apart in the same way.

[His idealistic self-important role (dweeb’s leadership) vs her impulsive hands-on-involvement (being a rowdy rascal).]

It’s the verbal equivalent of leaving home to avoid facing what she’s done—avoidance is second nature to her.

She doesn’t speak in clear-cut subject-verb-object constructions when dealing with difficult emotions. Instead, she hedges, leans on metaphors, and sidesteps direct statements or explicit emotional qualifiers such as “I feel”, “I’m upset”. Even when she tries to be honest, she can’t quite say it outright. By the end of her canto, die to her distress, this becomes heavily exaggerated.

Rodya frequently uses rhetorical compliment-fishing questions as a way to signal emotional distress without directly expressing vulnerability. These questions aren’t meant to solicit an answer but rather to create a sense of distance from the topic at hand and a sense among her peers that she thinks highly of herself. It’s a way for her to challenge the situation indirectly while avoiding exposing any deeper emotional reactions.

Similarly, Rodya often holds back information until she’s ready to release it, framing her omissions as strategic rather than due to a lack of trust. Her phrasing creates an illusion that her withholding of the truth is somehow rooted in a sisterly sort of “looking out”, rather than her over reliance on herself. (This cynical nature being what makes her “take things into her own hands” in District 25.)

Rodya uses diminutives for both people and objects as a form of pragmatic softening, disarming, and maintaining social dominance rather than a more straightforward, simple affection. This faux-friendless allows her to control interactions and maintain friendless while keeping others at a comfortable emotional distance. In this case, she switches to a dismissive “sweetie” rather than her usual “babe”. Both show camaraderie, but her true intentions for the nicknames aren’t related to that rather than letting her have a sense of it is without actually putting in the work of forming an open connection with someone.

She’s actually the harshest toward the people she cares about the most. Dante and Gregor, both of whom she has clear affection for (and in Dante’s case, respect), are the ones she dehumanizes the most in a light hearted, almost casually cruel offhanded way— exclusively when it comes to their deformities. But that disgust is performative. When she truly dislikes someone, her insults are ironic, distant, and impersonal— just as when she dislikes something, she avoids it.

This tracks with how she handles difficult topics. When forced to confront something serious, her tone shifts—she drops the embellishments, speaks in a more neutral, detached way, and keeps things short and to the point. Even when she uses metaphorical abstractions, it’s to create distance between herself and her emotions, not to add a flourish to her words like she usually does. Though her speech is still littered with contractions, it’s more of a street-wise woman than the immaturity she fakes.

The substance of her speech is secondary to the performance itself. She's not necessarily interested in whether what she says is deeply impactful, but rather in conveying an image of confidence, independence, and self-sufficiency. This reflects a deeper insecurity, a need to assert control over how she is perceived (as she feels Sonya has so deeply misunderstood her) without directly confronting her own vulnerabilities.

In conclusion: Rodya’s seemingly childish language is a deliberate choice, each word selected with care. Her True Tone is cold, and every sentence is purposeful—used to deflect, protect, or control. By minimizing her intellect or trivializing serious matters, she’s able to shield herself.

[howlsofbloodhounds]

I think my favorite “fanon” interpretations of nightmare have to be like cartoonishly evil and silly. Or like, old and powerful and grumpy about it and you best get off his lawn.

Peepaw Nightmare, he complains about his back and how “back in my day!” and he calls Killer “boy” when he’s upset with him. “Boy quiet.” “Boy quiet.” “Boy quiet now.”

Killer uses the movements of his tentacles to predict the weather like some older folk say they can feel the weather changing thanks to things like their “bad knee.”

And most of the time NM’s tentacles usually can predict the weather. Nightmare smacks killer over the head with his tentacle like an older man hitting the ankles of youngsters with a cane for being rowdy.

And like peepaw is really knowledgeable about a ton of things but also doesn’t keep up with modern technology and killer uses this to fuck with him for amusement. Convinced him a roomba is some type of highly intelligent pet.

And nightmare knows he’s being fucked with, but he’s just too stubborn and prideful to “get with the times.” And killer knows that he knows, so it’s like a game to see who cracks first.

Peepaw Nightmare uses the “it’s because you’re always on that damn phone” with killer a lot. Even in situations where it doesn’t make any sense. Killer threatens to put him in a nursing home frequently.

And nightmare has this big specific chair thats just for him and everyone knows it but it’s become a game to see who can sit on it for how long without getting caught. (Cross is the only one refusing to probably).

Killer frequently hears “why can’t you be more like cross and dust?” from the old man whenever he’s Had Enough of the antics.

And nightmare knits like cartoonishly evil versions of holiday sweaters for the group and has like the fucked up creepy doll equivalent of a beanie baby or porcelain doll collection. Dust feels like a sort of kinship with dolls and the other dudes have like a comical fear or aversion to them. Nightmare named every one like they’re his kids & the only ones understanding it r error & dust.

Everyone else refuses to call the dolls by name, besides cross who does it in a reluctant creeped out way.

Nightmare & error have old people beef over aus like old neighbors beefing over property lines & mowing the others lawn or something. & nm beefs with color about being a “good influence” on killer.

Nightmare calls dream at random intervals just to curse him out and insult him before hanging up and refuses to answer whenever Dream calls first. The “stars vs bad sanses” “negativity vs positivity” war/balance doesn’t actually exist or is just tipped enough in nightmare’s favor that he doesn’t worry about it so instead the twins just squabble over the golden apple though phone like its a custody battle over a beloved pet.

[supernovafics]

meeting steve at a bar

wc: 1k

a/n: here's something short because i can't seem to finish anything else lol

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

you sat in the first open stool you saw, and the second the bartender walked over to you and asked what you wanted to drink, you laughed and smiled at him like you two were long-time friends.  

given the fact that you actually did not know this guy at all, his immediate confused look at your antics made complete sense.

“i know this will probably sound so weird, but can you pretend that we’re having the best conversation ever right now?” you asked him, the same forced smile on your lips. and when the look on his face only became even move confused, you continued. “the guy on the other end of the bar has been looking at me for the past few minutes and i really don’t want him to come up and try to talk to me.”

the bartender finally started going along with what you were doing, throwing on a smile equivalent to yours, but he still took a quick look in the direction of the random guy and then said, “i can say something to him if you want.”

“no, i don’t wanna make it a big deal,” you said and then considered your words. “but maybe me doing this right now is making it a big deal too. sorry.”

“no, it’s fine. we’re having the best conversation ever, remember?”

hearing him say those playful words made a real smile tug at your lips.

“oh, yeah, exactly,” you nodded, playing along. “we’re like old friends. first time catching up in years type of thing.”

he let out a laugh. “well, i’m a shitty old friend because i don’t remember your name.”

“and i don’t remember yours either, so i guess i’m a bad friend too,” you responded, enjoying the joking banter happening between you two right then; you liked how easy it felt. 

“steve,” he told you and you nodded and then responded with your name. “so, what do you want to drink?”

you shook your head. “i’m okay.”

steve’s head tilted a bit as he gave you an amused smile. “so you came to a bar to not drink?”

“i didn’t wanna spend my first friday night in this town alone in my apartment, so i thought i’d come here and try to make friends or something,” you said with a shrug. “which, i know probably sounds like a lie because i did just fully avoid having a conversation with that guy over there.”

“no, avoiding him makes sense. he has creepy eyes.”

“right?” you said, laughing a little. “thank you for also thinking that.”

he gave you a small smile that seemed as real as your own one felt, which was nice to see. “so, you just moved here?”

you nodded and gave him a brief “rundown” of your situation— where you moved from, why you moved to hawkins, etc. 

“is it the coffee shop on oak street?” steve asked. 

“yeah,” you answered with a quick nod. “my aunt’s had it for years and i always loved going there when i was younger and would visit town with my mom. it was kinda the only thing i liked doing here. so, my aunt also figured that i’d love to be the one to run it when she retires at the end of the year.”

“do you wanna do that?”

“i didn’t think i would, but i actually do,” you admitted. “and i wasn’t doing anything special in indianapolis anyway, so when she asked me to come here, the timing felt kinda perfect.”

you decided against going into how your first week in hawkins had sort of felt the opposite of perfect. working at maggie’s was great, but it felt like the only good thing about being here in this new town. and maybe you were getting too ahead of yourself because it had barely even been a full week, but you were already overthinking everything. 

instead of voicing any of that to this guy you barely knew, you said, “so, how long have you been bartending?” 

“oh, this is kind of a fluke,” steve answered. “i’m just helping a friend out tonight because someone called out last second.” 

he then pointed to a guy with long curly hair at the other end of the bar handing over a freshly made drink to a customer. “eddie.”

you gave steve an amused smile. “so, i guess it’s a good thing i didn’t ask for a super complicated fancy drink, then?”

“a really good thing. i barely know how to make a long island iced tea,” he told you. “most people here order the basic stuff; beer, rum and coke, just a shot. it’s that kind of town.”

“how long have you lived here?”

“my whole life.” 

“okay, so if you’ve been able to be here forever, then i’ll probably like it here too, right?” 

he was about to answer your question, but then he was getting called over by his curly haired friend. 

“sorry, i’ll be right back.”

you were about to tell him that there was no need for him to apologize because he was just doing his job, but he was gone before you could say anything. 

you watched him talk to his friend for a second and then proceed to help him make drinks for the few people that were waiting. the bar only got more crowded as time passed, which in turn made steve busier. you had enjoyed your conversation with him, as short and brief as it was, and you wondered what he was about to say to you before he got pulled away. but with how busy things were, you didn’t think you’d get that answer tonight.  

a part of you wanted to wait and find out, but after ten minutes of sitting alone— surrounded by happy groups of people who seemed so settled with one another that it felt like there was absolutely no way you could break into any conversation— it felt right to just call it a night and head home to your apartment.

before you headed out, though, you grabbed a pen that you noticed behind the counter and left your number on a napkin because you really wanted to have a friend in this new town. and maybe you were only kinda lying to yourself by inwardly saying that you simply just saw steve as a potential friend.

[dresshistorynerd]

this might be the silliest question you’ll be asked. As someone who enjoys period dramas and studied history (though not fashion) so notices inaccuracies like fasteners and availability of dyes etc, I nonetheless can dive into the world presented.

I notice the wearing of outerwear the most. In a program set in Regency England, in outdoor scenes, a) you rarely see more than a Spencer jacket or a cape, and b) in a group scene the coverage varies wildly from lady to lady. As if I was out walking with friend wearing a tank top while I had on a turtleneck and fleece vest.

I get costumes tell a lot about the characters but wouldn’t a person look daft and either cold or hot and out of place?

This is not silly! This is actually a very good question! Regency media is often very much confused and inconsistent about what was appropriate in the given situation to wear, but to be fair, it was actually very confusing.

I have seen a lot of people, and I have repeated this before as well, perpetuate the idea that Regency Era had the same concept of casual and formal wear - split to morning, day and evening wear, where the earlier in the day it was the more the dress covered. However, the Regency concept of casual/formal wear followed much closer to the previous era of 18th century. Instead of morning, day and evening wear they had undress, half dress and full dress, which had a bit to do with how much was covered but not much. They were much less formalized than the equivalent concepts of the socially rigid Victorian Era. Which also makes it much more confusing. Undress was usually worn at home or during morning walks and it had long sleeves. Usually it was a pelisse or dressing gown, or could be a simple round gown. Though most garments were not inherently undress, half dress of full dress, since it was much more relevant simple or flashy the garment in question was. A simple redingote could also be undress for cold morning walks. Hair was often covered in undress as well, usually with a cap, but this wasn't necessary for young unmarried ladies. Full dress was basically ball gown - so the most formal dress, short sleeves etc. - and there fore easiest to grasp. Though sometimes other occasions besides balls were as formal and then full dress would be used as well, but not all evening occasions were as formal as balls. Half dress is basically everything else and easily the most confusing and unclear category. Half dress could have short sleeves or long sleeves, used outdoors or indoors, used for less formal evening occasions and promenade walks and visiting casually a close friend and picnic and so on. Basically half dress was anything more formal than the casual home wear and less formal than the fancy ball gown. It was a collection of several different types of gowns really, but the reason they were in the same category was that there was no hard rules on how they should be worn.

At some point I'll make a post on the Regency casual/formal wear etiquette where I go deeper into this.

What specifically sort of half dress someone wore had more to do with age, marital status and weather than the specific occasion (though that could still matter as well), since most garments could be styled in multiple different usages especially by combining them with different garments. Married women and older women were expected to use more covering clothing, while younger women and girls could use less coverage even on a more casual occasion. So for example on a summer outing an older married woman might wear a long sleeved round gown or a light pelisse, while their unmarried daughter might wear a short sleeved gown. But these were not hard rules either. It was sort of closer to how etiquette works today, much more vibe based than rule based. Here's couple of examples from art depicting different scenes, where women are wearing quite different sort of half dresses.

The first one here is from 1815-1820. I'm not sure what the setting is for this harp playing, since the women seem to be wearing outdoor clothing (all are wearing bonnets and one of them is wearing a redingote), maybe they are playing outside? Anyway, the two ladies have short sleeved gowns, one of them has open neckline, the other a chemisette covering her neckline, while the third has a covering redingote.

First image here is a painting named "A young person hesitating to play the piano in front of her family" from 1805. Here's a casual gathering among family on a terrace, perhaps after the dinner (the sun seems to be setting), where the young lady is dressed in short sleeved gown, while presumably her mother and grandmother are dressed on gowns with longer sleeves and covered hair. The second image here is painting of three teenagers preparing to play music on a casual musical evening from c. 1810. The girls are roughly the same age, yet one of them is wearing long sleeves and covered neckline, while the other is not, demonstrating how there was no exact rules with half dress.

The first image below is an illustration "In a cafe" from 1810. The ladies are out, two of them are wearing short sleeved and decollete revealing dresses, while their third (likely married) friend is wearing long sleeves and covered hair and decollete. The second image is an illustration from 1814, and depicts a casual gathering where young people are playing party games. Again there's a mix of long and short sleeves.

So it would not be inherently inaccurate to have Regency women in a group wear garments of varying sleeve length, but Regency media very rarely does it in a way that follows the nuances of the Regency social norms, because it very much depended on the situation. For example no lady would wear long sleeves in a ball. I don't remember every scene but what I do remember of the 2020 Emma they do the whole etiquette really well. And of course Pride and Prejudice 1995 nails it. Still after trying to figure out the nuances of Regency etiquette myself and still quite not getting all of them, I'm much more understanding of movies and tv shows for fucking it up. It really is very hard to pin down. Not that it prevents me from getting annoyed by very obvious mistakes.

[sunderwight]

So, with the latest developments in To Be Hero X, I'm starting to develop a theory about trust/belief value and how it works.

On the surface, it seems like the amount of believers creates more powerful results. We see Lin Ling get physically stronger during the livestream of Nice holding up Firm Man's statue, which sort of backs this idea up. It also makes sense. Number go up = power go up, number go down = power go down.

But, Yang Cheng managed to develop superpowers and beat up two bad guys just based on one believer. Considering that most people have a non-zero number of believers, usually consisting of their immediate family, it seems unlikely that such a low number of believers would typically correspond to just developing lightning powers and shit.

I think there are two obvious possible explanations for it here, not mutually exclusive, but I think the second option gained a bit more credence with the latest episode.

Option one is that people do tend to have natural superpowers, and having believers just amplifies or helps unlock what's already there in some way. High stress survival situations may also contribute. So Yang Cheng's fight to rescue Little Pomelo would have been a perfect cocktail of events, as he simultaneously unlocked his superpowers in a life-or-death brawl and gained a follower capable of boosting said powers.

Option two, however, is that the nature of belief is even more vital than the amount of it. This is already somewhat confirmed in how the nature of belief impacts a hero's downsides and limits, and the kind of abilities they have, but what's less clear is how the strength of individual belief compares to the number of believers. Little Pomelo did not just believe in Yang Cheng, he believed in Yang Chang as a manifestation of E-Soul. He believed that Yang Cheng could do what E-Soul, the image of a hero that exists in the public consciousness, could do in that situation.

So it's probable that the potency of Yang Cheng's abilities came from the potency of E-Soul's image and mythology. It's not just people believing in him, it's people believing in him as E-Soul, which gives him equivalent power to E-Soul.

It's like, if you believe someone you love can ace that test they're struggling with, you might count as their believer, but your belief is not going to give them superpowers. At most it will just help them find the resolve to study, or perhaps remember important facts at the right time. If a lot of people believe that someone can ace a test, it might rewire their brain to be better at test-taking, which is spooky, but still not necessarily awarding them superpowers. It would also depend on the conviction of your belief. Do you really 100% believe without a doubt that they're going to pass, or are you just optimistic about their prospects?

If you believe, sincerely, that someone can shoot lightning out of their hands, then your belief will give them the power to shoot lightning out of their hands. Even if you're the only person who believes that about them.

I think this second theory gained more credence due to the nature of E-Soul Prime's PR team freak-out about Yang Cheng, and specifically their accusations that Yang Cheng was infringing because his power could not and would not exist without him impersonating E-Soul, and that without infringing he wouldn't be able to produce the level of power he's demonstrated.

But the more interesting prospect is of course, combining the ideas. Yang Cheng could have just hit a perfect storm of being a good actor who chose to impersonate a hero whose skills his own hidden abilities would emulate very well. Contrast this with Lin Ling and Nice, where if Lin Ling really has precognition/visions/etc as his power, then his Nice-related powers were ONLY awarded to him via the belief system. Which is why they failed pretty spectacularly the minute he dropped that image. Whereas Yang Cheng could lose believers down to the single digits, but as long as someone like Little Pomelo still believed in him, he'd still be able to lightning punch a guy.

[apas-95]

Have you read Faggotization and The Extant Gender Ternary (https://thesizhensystem.substack.com/p/faggotization-and-the-extant-gender)? I'd like to know your thoughts on it

I have, and I think it's not a useful or consistent model of gender. I have three main issues with it.

Firstly, it fails to justify itself. It does not demonstrate the necessity and actuality of the terms it presents; it fails to demonstrate that there exists a division between so-called "legible" and "illegible" genders; and it fails to even discuss the division of labour in its supposed class structure. What relations give rise to gender? In the Marxist view, put forth by Engels, Kollontai, Zetkin, etc., the gendered division of labour is quite straightforward - as the first class division in ancient society, it separated between those people who were made to perform reproductive labour (that is to say, labour that reproduces the conditions of labour, such as cleaning, feeding, clothing, etc) and those that were not. The Marxist view also describes the breakdown of these gender relations, as capitalism does away with the domestic sphere of labour, and reproductive labour is increasingly socialised among the proletariat. In the supposedly "extant" gender ternary, what is the division? "Power" - power to do what? In this regard, the model of gender presented is vague and abstract, and lumps together various types of oppression through simplification.

Secondly, it is not a useful model in practice. The vagueness aforementioned does not lend itself to use in describing and critiquing oppression in concrete situations. Whether a trans man is the same 'gender-class' as cis women, or as trans women (and certain gay men, and sex workers) could be argued either way in the framework depending on the trans man in question. It has the problem of many 'theories of everything' - for instance, describing both the oppression of trans women and of sex workers with the same mechanism ends up weakening both. How are the categories of "faggot-subaltern", "not-power", and so on useful when organising? How do these direct practice, rally people towards doing away with these systems? The analytical model of transmisogyny, that which posits that trans women are oppressed because they are women, and because they are transgender, is straightforward and useful in practice. It is immediately clear where common interests lie, and with whom.

Thirdly, it represents a regressive trend in transgender theory. There is, at this point, a longstanding precedent in bourgeois academia of 'third-gendering' trans women. Generally, it is directed at the global south: a bourgeois academic notes the existence of trans women in a global south nation, notes that they are treated differently than both cisgender women and men, and declares that they are a 'third gender', which they name whatever the local equivalent of 'faggot' is. The newer development is opposition to this process - of transgender women in the global south rejecting the colonial claim that they are a third gender, and asserting themselves as women. While the supposed impetus behind the "extant gender ternary" is Marxism-Leninism, the 'class' system posited is almost anarchist in character; and, in its existence as applying imperialist sociology to the imperial core, it could easily, if inflammatorily, be described as approaching some sort of 'gender fascism'.

Overall, I do not think it is an accurate theory, nor do I think it is a useful model. I understand it is intended to be rudimentary, but its central issue is that it is working in the wrong direction, not that it doesn't go far enough.

[mscherub]

Right, so…you’re transported to a new world, and me being the science geek I am, I can’t help but think of all the bacteria you wouldn’t be accustomed to in Twisted Wonderland…so imagine how bad flu season would be, or just the spreading of sicknesses around the school in general

You better have a good immune system cause oml would it be put into overdrive. Anyways…here’s my twist on what the Diasomnia boys would do in order to be helpful in your recovery ❤️‍🩹

Heartslabyul, Savanaclaw, Octavinelle, Scarabia, Pomefiore, Ignihyde, Diasomnia

Warnings!:

Sickness, obviously

Mentions of vomiting, snot, etc

To start us off…

It’s flu season in Twisted Wonderland, well you call it the flu, they call it something else you don’t even bother to learn. With you’re immune so shot and not used to the illnesses that spread around, getting sick more often that you honestly should, you woke up with a headache. Ok…nothing too serious, but you thought it to be a good idea to just take some ibuprofen equivalent in their world and “thug it out,” which ultimately lead to your current situation. Currently, you’re in the infirmary, having passed out from a raging fever and a disgustingly congested respiratory system during PE and you’re bed ridden back at ramshackle, at least until your fever goes down. Sevens bless Grim and the ghosts as they try and get you things to feel better, but you need some sort of intervention, and here comes you’re favorite person at the right time. How do they help you out?

Malleus 🐉:

For one, he’s surprised you called upon him of all people, but hey, he’s not complaining. He’s been training for this day somewhat because Gao-Gao Drakon-kun has taught him how to take care of things and keep them alive, though, granted it’s a lot different in this case…but he can get an A for effort, at least. The thought that counts

He’ll sit by your side and ask you what exactly are your ailments, how he can help, all just to gauge what he should do…your very different from a tamagotchi—

Pillows, blankets, anything else? He’ll magic it right your way, probably casting some spell on it, possibly a relaxation one, which would be nice for your predicament

Of course he’ll also have food covered as well, what do you want? Eat it or don’t depending on how you feel, he won’t be mad at all, he’ll just be confused as to why you won’t eat, he's pretty sure humans need to eat to get better quickly, but he won’t pry

He’ll scoff at the medicines your assigned to take and he’ll go make you ancient and passed down remedies from Briar Valley, claiming they work better…and awkwardly enough they do perform a lot better than what you were taking before, so that’s a win because maybe you’ll get better even faster

He’ll let his magic do the work for cleaning.

He’s also not afraid to get sick, he’ll sit with you, he’s more than happy to. No being grossed out here, if anything, it’s quite peculiar how differently illnesses affect humans

He’ll be smug about taking care of you. This is the first time he's done this for a friend, especially as one as good as you.

Lilia 🧚‍♀️:

Bros gonna fuck around with you as soon as he sees you, sorry. But yet again, he does have that paternal side to him, and you just look so…helpless, and he’s not cold hearted, so of course he’ll stay and take care of you

Don’t let him cook, don’t if you wanna live!

If you refuse to eat what he makes you he’ll start getting snippy and uncharacteristically strict, saying how you need to eat to keep up your energy so your body can fight away this illness. Just keep refusing his food, if you’re not hungry then that should be fine and rather easy, but if you are, have him go buy you a little snack. Better than you not eating at all he’ll finally conclude to

He’s also a little iffy with the medicines, again with the cooking, he'll try to make a medicinal item out of herbs and stuff…probably toxic instead of the intended purpose, so don’t take it, trust me. “Oh? My, my…I didn’t realize it would turn out to be a poison! Silly me. Good thing you didn’t have any beastie.” he will laugh it off.

But, he’d still give you the medicines you need, don’t worry. He’s serious when he needs to be, and you’re recovery is important to him right now

He’ll mess around with Grim and the ghosts as you lie in bed, having a little fun himself, but if you need anything, he’ll change up quick and be by your side

Blankets, water, pillows, he’s got it under cover

He’s not scared to get sick himself so he’ll stay close to your side, most likely gently cooing at you and relishing in how you’re just so cute like this

Be warned he will randomly disappear at times, but if you call him he’ll pop up in front of you, upside down as usual. But, he’ll make sure Ramshackle is quiet while you rest, don’t worry

Silver ⚔️:

He’s honored to help you out, so he’ll do so without complaint

When it comes to those he holds dear, he’ll become more protective and do what he can to help them, and you just so happen to be in that group of people, and especially with your state, you’ll be pampered. Since Silver is tasked with watching over Malleus, he’ll do the same for you

What do you need? Well, he’s already on it, actually, so don’t worry.

Food he has under control definitely, man has to save himself from Lilia’s cooking all the time and he’s learned from a young age, so whatever you want he’ll conjure up real quick. Eat it or don’t, if you’re not hungry he’ll understand and save it for later

Do be patient with him, however, he has his sleepy spells and make sure Grim is with Silver if he’s cooking at that moment, though trusting Grim to take over if Silver does fall asleep isn’t really a great option, either-

Oh! He’s awake again, ok, medications, yea, right. If he doesn’t forget to give them to you after he falls asleep, then you’ll be fine. If he does forget, remind him, he’ll apologize and be right on it

When he’s not tending to you he’ll do stuff around Ramshackle, his pet peeve is idleness, so…

He’ll clean up and make sure the rest of the inhabitants are ok

After that, he’ll go back to your room and sit in the armchair, he’s not afraid to get sick, and he’ll doze off along with you

Sebek ⚡️:

Well…he’s going to chastise you severely while he helps you. He’ll say he’s only doing it because you’re Wakasama’s good friend, and that’s the only reason why, not that he’s actually doing this because he wants to and he feels bad, no, definitely not that. “Human! I shall only provide assistance on Wakasama’s behalf!”

He’ll belittle you every time he speaks, and if you have a headache already, just get good at ignoring him yap

Again just like with Silver, his duty is to watch over Malleus, so he’ll evidently do the same with you in a sense since that’s what he’s learned. He'll wait in your room, sitting in the arm chair, most likely reading.

He’s learned to cook well enough for himself, obviously, due to Lilia’s cooking, so he’ll provide you with more nutrient dense meals if you ask him to. He won’t do it unless you ask, he doesn’t wasn’t to assume

Sebek will make sure you take your medications religiously until you're better, it’s your duty, and he always follows his duties, you should, too.

He’ll clean up here and there, make sure Grim and the ghosts are in line, and he’ll grab you anything else you could possibly want, again, not without some complaint. “Humans are weak creatures!” He doesn’t really mean it in a mean way…he’s just being honest 🤷‍♀️

He’ll try and be quiet while you sleep, but forgive him if he yells at Grim at all and wakes you up-

Afterwards he’ll probably get sick himself, feel free to make fun of him then, KARMA

IM DONEEEE! Sorry I took my sweet ass time with Diasomnia, oh lord…

Also, I realized I made each one progressively longer for each character as I progressed through the dorms, so…whoops 🧍‍♀️(I yap too fucking much-)

But hey, now I can start on a new series, just gotta come up with one- or, someone could suggest one if anyone has any ideas!

Master list

Please don’t steal or copy any of my work! You may, however, reblog if you’d want to!

Pictures belong to Disney Twisted Wonderland but are edited by me :)

[sakanayasan414]

Interesting facts/possible mistranslation in Japanese translation of Sherlock Holmes

I thought people might be thinking I started my Sherlock Holmes journey by bbc or s&co and while there’s nothing wrong with that, I wanted to clarify that I’ve been Sherlokian since my mom bought me the adventure of Sherlock Holmes in 1st grade and I love the canon the most. Though I don’t really read it in Japanese anymore, I wanted to show my love for the translators and just everyone who made it possible for me to enjoy SH without having to learn English as a child.

Names Changes - The name Sherlock Holmes and John Watson once got translated/adapted to 小室泰六 (Komuro Tairoku) and 和田進一 (Wada Shinichi) because people in Japan at that time weren’t familiar with European names. I find this really fun and actually impressive because the names do fit their criteria; Komuro has that royal feel Holmes has and Shinichi is just one of the most common name in Japan like John.

First person pronouns - In Japanese there are many first person pronouns (I, my, me) to the point linguists don’t even know how many there are but main one being 俺 (ore) and 僕 (boku) for men and 私 (watashi) for women and men in formal occasions. So, deciding which first person pronouns characters use is one of the first yet important part of translation. Holmes in most translations use boku which is typical but has that upper class atmosphere when used by an adult which I think fits his personality and background. But one of the translations I read used watashi when he’s talking about his deduction and I feel like it shows how serious he takes his cases as it is almost solely used by men in professional settings. And also it sort of distances the speaker from the rest, meaning he is in his own world when deducing but he’s willing to interact with others when not in case.

Surname? First name? - in most translations, Holmes and Watson call each other by their surnames like in ACD writing but in one of the translations I’ve read put 君 (kun) after their surnames. It is used to show politeness but also affection in old times. I personally love this addition because calling each other by their surnames in Japanese don’t feel the same as it does in English. It feels too distant, not in Victorian men in way but just plain strangers feel. But then First names are too intimate so putting kun just feels right.

The speckled band - ACD played with a word band in this story but in Japanese it is straight up impossible to do so because we don’t have a word like that so what do they do? As shown below, they put extra words on top of words. (Characters on top (バンド) literally reads bando meaning band and characters below (紐 and 群) mean a string and a group so they both mean band) It is commonly done in literature to either suggest double meaning or just an indication of how to read certain Chinese characters because the characters on top are phonogram unlike Chinese characters. Having three alphabets in one language enables us to have that double meaning in other languages.

Possible misinterpretation of the situation - In “A Case of Identity”, Holmes expresses a deep angst towards Windibank by saying “But between ourselves, Windibank, it was as cruel and selfish and heartless a trick in a petty way as ever came before me.” Up until this point, Holmes called him Mr Windibank but he drops the Mr. However, for some reason some translations keep the Japanese equivalent of Mr (さん) , but then he takes out his whip after this conversation. I just don’t think it was a civil conversation that Japanese translators wanted to write as. I think Japanese translators just wanted to write Holmes as an always-calm-man but he is a passionate man when he needs to be.

Possible Mistranslation - From “A Scandal in Bohemia”, Watson talks about what the woman is to Holmes by writing “In his eyes she eclipses and predominates the whole of her sex.” In rather recently published translation, it gets translated to something like “From Holmes’ perspective, she surpasses all other women and makes their presence fade into the background.” Which i don’t think accurately expresses his view on her and women in general. But this might differ from other people’s opinions.

As time passes and many variations get published, translation gets more natural but sometimes they lose the atmosphere of the canon. So I love going back to reading all the versions I can read.

Hope you enjoyed this post! I have A LOT like this in my draft because I’m a language nerd in STEM that can’t find anyone to talk about this with. Also please let me know if you know any fun facts from your language’s translation:)

[waitineedaname]

In a wlwangxian situation do you think lwj would eventually become butch. Bcus I think she might

imagined butch lwj and had to stare into the middle distance for a while. whoagh... butch lan wangji...... I think this is a powerful concept. I approve wholeheartedly

I was about to put a whole essay in the tags but then it was getting far too long so I'm gonna put it here instead. when pondering genderswaps, I like to use it as an opportunity to examine a character's relationship to gender and gender roles and how they perform gender, and also a chance to see what might be part of their personality divorced from gender performance. so now im going to use this as an excuse to discuss how I think the mxtx couples would be performing gender in a genderswap scenario (presuming a cisswap, since if I get started talking about my trans headcanons I'll be here all day)

with bingqiu, the main narrative of svsss deals significantly with gender roles, which I have talked about At Length. I won't get into all that here but essentially it boils down to both of them adopting more feminine roles (bingmei's maidenlike behavior, shen qingqiu's whole milf thing). so in a genderswap, that would be reversed -- while canon bingmei is more feminine, genderswap bingdi should get to be more masculine, especially in a like. performing gentlemanly things, like opening the doors for sqq and giving sqq her coat or whatever lol as for shen qingqiu, the power of middle aged milf shizun is blinding me and it's very difficult to look away from. however, if presuming the same logic here, where canon sqq starts acting like binghe's mother, genderswap sqq would presumably decide binghe needs a father figure and it's up to her to provide, which is. also very compelling to think about. generally shen qingqiu's relationship to gender is so fucking confusing and complicated because sqq's brain is a full of tangled knots, so idk if she would fit neatly into femme or butch, but whatever she's doing, it's doing Some Shit to binghe's brain for sure

as for wangxian, canon lan wangji definitely seems to enjoy fulfilling the husband role for wei wuxian, but tbh it doesn't really seem like a gender thing to me? granted, I am not a lwj scholar so someone else might have a more complex take than me, but lan wangji just seems to enjoy providing for wwx, and gender doesn't really come into that as the motivation. so I think a genderswapped lan wangji would still enjoy playing the husband role and providing for wwx, and I could definitely see that turning into a butch thing for her. which I'm still fanning myself thinking about btw. wei wuxian on the other hand definitely seems more aware of how gender roles play into their relationship, but in a way where he seems to really enjoy playing with them and embracing both roles depending on the context, so I think genderswapped wwx would still be kinda genderfucked. wwx's gender to me is "whatever wei wuxian would get the most entertainment out of in that moment"

finally, hualian are sexually dimorphic birds to me. regardless of gender. honestly, swapping their genders I think would have the least effect out of all three couples, which is amusing considering they're the ones who could actually genderswap themselves any time they want in canon. I think genderswapped xie lian is butch simply out of practicality. performing femininity takes a lot of effort and xie lian simply Does Not Care. in my heart, a modern genderswapped xie lian probably performed femininity pretty hard in her youth (whatever the modern equivalent of the crown prince years would be) but she's gone through so much shit that she's just like "wow this does not matter to me that much. I'm just gonna focus on what's practical instead of looking pretty" and now she's like. really into cargo shorts because of all the pockets. that sort of thing. meanwhile hua cheng LOVES putting effort into her appearance. she LOVES the drama. this is true of canon hua cheng. his fashion is the equivalent of shaking keys in front of xie lian to get his attention, an effect that's enhanced by the fact that he literally jangles when he walks. so genderswapped hua cheng is doing some crazy high femme camp shit simply because she Loves Drama and Likes To Look Good. the most exaggerated makeup. ten million sparkling accessories. extremely low cut tops to show off her (flat) cleavage. hualian never look like they're going to the same event because hua cheng dresses with the energy of "I need to be so hot it makes everyone in this farmers market want to kill themselves" meanwhile xie lian has been wearing the same overalls all week

[vivicantstudy]

Random Phrases and Words in French that I like

1. Ça baigne ? – Equivalent to “How’s it going?”, stemming from “baigner” (to bathe). A casual way to ask if everything’s okay.

2. Arrête de te la péter. – Used to tell someone to stop bragging or showing off, friendly yet pointed way.

3. Tkt (T’inquiète). – “Don’t worry.”

4. Je me casse. – “I’m out of here,” often used when leaving an unpleasant situation.

5. Vachement. – Informal for “very” or “a lot,” though considered inelegant by some, it remains a widely used intensifier in casual speech.

6. Se faire des films. – Means “to fantasize” or “imagine things,” often said to someone who is overthinking or misinterpreting a situation.

7. Tarpin. – A Marseille-originated slang meaning “very” or “a lot,” now used more broadly to intensify descriptions.

8. Être dans le coaltar. – Translates literally to “being in coal tar,” used to describe feeling dazed, sleepy, or out of sorts.

9. Zapper. – A casual term for skipping something, whether it’s a part of a film, a conversation, or even a person.

10. Chiller. – Borrowed from English, it simply means “to chill” or relax.

I didn’t make this list recently, but I feel like I’ve been letting French fall behind a bit compared to the other languages I’m interested in. Sorry about that! I haven’t had much time for my study routine, but little by little, I’ll get back on track. You’re free to correct me, but please be respectful! Thank you!