#I may post a part two of names I've found while reading history books but that's for later

[bijoumikhawal]

Im too damn tired to cross post this on a site that doesn't have enough Copts for a minyan, but I've been working on this for several months so I can't not link it

[lovee-infected]

twisted wonderland theories part 3 : Opening explanation and parallels

Well well , hope you guys enjoyed reading the previous two parts of twst theories so far

Anyways , this is the third part . I decided to go through the opening and original disney animations and also black Butler anime references one more time so this is the combination of all I've found this time , together with some stuff you might've missed

Twst's official opening was pretty mysterious and is most likely giving us hints of the upcoming adventures during the storyline . Well here's the link to opening with eng sub and also the summary of the main character references that were given to us:

1) Ace and Deuce's rivalship : We talked about this one a lot back in (part 2) so let's skip this one

2) Leona's sadness and pain : Leona's tearn falling to the ground and the Ruggie and Jack coming for him ; that's just how he always is : mentally sad and broken with a horribly frustrating past , but will avoid expressing himself and letting anyone see his pain anyway . Not really weird that these two are always around him , Leona does really need to be looked after ...

3) Azul's seek of power : He just looked...mad in this scene . Ursula's shadow on his fave and that creepy smile totally freaks anyone out. It really explains how great his desire of power is . His neglected self in the childhood and pretty poor talent got him to this point...

4) Jamil's cold and kinda confused self : Well this one isn't really clear yet since ch 4 isn't out . But perhaps depression has this guy... spending his whole life serving the the nasty Kalim he might've grown the same characteristics as Jafar , who was so long sick of being the second one in everything . But still his ideal of life is much different from Jafar's . We saw him hypnotizing Kalim in order to make him force students to do better at school . He's trying his best to leave up to his promises as the vice dorm leader but still , having the nasty Kalim as the dorm itself is making it a lot harder for him so he's got no choice but to hypnotize him...

5) Idia's severe anxiety and his protectiveness toward Ortho : This one was mentioned in s rather old re blog but here e go again : Well with how the rumors of the "cursed Shroud family" , Idia's anti-society self might be a bit explained . This guy's overblot is surely going to be EPIC ... we just know very few about him and yet that's more than enough for him to overblot at once . Also the mention of the process of bringing Ortho back to life was a bad hit...His family curse might've been the reason of whatever thst has happened to Ortho

6) Vil's anger of not being the fairest and breaking the mirror: This one's been pointed out a lot . His anger being the same as evil queen's and also the fear of him actually poisoning someone to become the fairest one more time....**

7) Malleus' isolated self and his hidden evil aura : This one's being shown too obviously . The lonely dark prince exposing his evil side under the full moonlight . All alone , beyond the forest of thorns (Lol how ironic) while the others are running to save him before it gets too late...***

(note : **,***: Vil and Malleus' description will be continued undercut)

Very well these were the general hints found on the opening , but don't miss the final seconds which included the biggest hidden facts you could've missed

Firstly , the splitted ink (This one was previously discussed on part 1 but still...) : We talked about how in the "Epic Mickey", Mickey accidentally splits the magic ink over the kingdom and which led to the creation of "shadow blot". This sight seems to be much similar to what we had here in the epic mickey

Well this parallel might be more than just an accidental one and finally and it might actually be that overblot is kinda Crowley's fault , too

Crowley crosses the mirror , turns into an actual crow and flies away...(DaMn YoU bIrDiE wHERe ArE yOu gOinG I'M noT doNe YeT-)

Well the reason he suddenly runs away isn't clear yet but being a fan of black butler for years , I was suddenly reminded of how Undertaker disappeared all of a sudden at this scene from the movie :" Book of Atlantic "

pretty similar , aren't they..?

In Book of Atlantic , Undertaker revealed his original identity as a reaper and the mastermind behind the "Bizzare dolls' " project after pretending to be a just a crazy cookie lover for so long . And at once , he comes up with his stunning sudden self-reveal , leaving everyone in the room speechless

Now now , what do we have with Crowley?

A principal who keeps hiding his face (remember that Undertaker hid his eyes , too?) , telling everyone "how kind he is" many times ... also:

1) In the opening , he was standing smiling in the mirror hall while the seven dorms were burning through seven mirrors

2) He didn't ever try to stop anyone from overbloting ; even Riddle whose overblot occurred right in front of him

3) In the beggining of the game, he asked the mirror to choose the right one and then! and MC was chosen ! MC took the hand of the one appearing through the mirror (seemingly Dire Crowley) and came here. With all said , so why did the mirror reject MC afterwards?

Also , how couldn't he help MC return to Their own world and didn't know about it if he himself brought MC here..?(Could it be that...MC doesn't remember how she/he was brought here?)

4) If he literally is THIS useless and can't ever stop or help anything, then why would he be the principal.....?

Sooooo enough with Crowley ; but what's with these two....?

The spindle wheel & the poison apple ; Sleeping beauty and Snow white

Well it seems that Diasomnia and Pomefiore are going to play a greatly important role in the storyline . We were kinda sure of Diasomnia's but Pomefiore's...? What's so special with it?

(A few hours earlier)

(Me : Hmmm ... the black mirror...where have I seen this before..? *googling - searching Snow White- going to the magic mirror scene* Me : Uh...)

Well... here it is : The Crowley's beloved flower of evil , back at his days with evil queen

feeling old yet ...?

Btw , just how important is being "the fairest one of all "to him ? How 'far' would he go to be the fairest...? With the bitten apple in the last few seconds of opening , it most likely seems that he IS gonna 'kill' to be the fairest again ...Who would he kill ? We don't know . But how about our pretty small guy Epel? Could it be him ? The stubborn freshman who refuses following Vil around and is usually mistaken with a girl......?

Also , why would the original mirror be so important to Crowley? If Vil's supposed to represent evil queen , why isn't 'he' the one owing the mirror...?

And now , the spindle wheel .Great maleficent's legacy , in the hands of Crowley...Well well this is 'too' much . Malleus' family treasure being kept hidden in NRC... pathetic

Also , the mirror which Vil broke in the opening . Well well seems like he isn't having the original magic mirror , afterall....

But wait , if there's the spindle wheel , who's gonna be the evil witch to pull the sweet princess to eternal sleep..? Right , there's only one who might be...

Well we talked about all we'd got so far , but what about Grim ? Isn't anyone going to mention his importance or why he was also mentioned in this chaotic final seconds of opening ???

So... this is what we had in the final seconds :

1)The apple

2) Crowley

3)The black ink

4)Grim

5)The spindle wheel

We talked about all of them except nu 4 . But before that , I've got the same question as before : Why is it "Sleeping beauty" & "Snow white"..?

We discussed the "overblot Grim " hints in (part 2), but here's another thing :

Very well , ever heard of "Grimm brothers"...?

In the case that you don't know who they are , here' the point : They are the authors of 'original' versions of sleeping beauty & snow white; two of the darkest , deepest and possibly creepiest stories of their own throughout the history

I believe that most of you are familiar with the original versions , but you may like to take a look at these two if you haven't yet heard of them check the two of these stories out : (note: I'm aware that there are darker , deeper versions of these too but I'm not gonna mention any of them because : 1)They aren't written by Grimm brothers & 2) They include overly sensual and inappropriate content which has no place in my posts . If you care to know about them , check them at your own risk)

Alright , if you ever wondered who was Grim named after , I guess we've got it now . Mentioning Grim , Snow white and Sleeping beauty together at once is too direct to be a coincidence ...but it's also terrifying ...

Thinking that Disney is actually referring to the original books written by Grimm brothers is a bit too dark... Original stories are really horrible and a great way to ruin one's childhood , but all these hints fit each other way too great and now , they may no longer be just a coincidence...

[what-goesaround-comesaround]

Let's talk about some Irish newsies-

Hey! So I thought it'd be cool to look into the research I've found indicationg that some of the newsies might have Irish ties! (I'm Irish so that might explain my interest) I'm not an expert at all or anything, this is just the research I've collminated while scouring through newsies facts.

Oh course this isn't set in stone, this is just information I've found so if I've got anything wrong, please tell me! I was inspired by this post to do my own research. (A lot of my research has to do with the original movie but stick around for some fun facts about surnames?)

And now, onto Jack Kelly :

^This is David's description of Jack in Newsies : a novel by Jonathan Fast which can be found here on pg 9. Both surnames "Kelly" and "Sullivan" have their roots in Irish history.

^on pg 27 of the same book David describes Jack again as "an Irish boy". I just thought this would be worth noting, seeing how David wants to make it obvious to us, the reader that Jack appears to be Irish or of Irish descent.

"Kelly", originally anglicized from the Gaelic "Ó Ceallaigh" meaning 'descendant of Ceallach', an ancient Irish personal name, originally a byname meaning 'bright-headed' or 'troublesome' (fitting huh?) Source found here.

Fun fact for you livesies fans, the reigning chieftain of Ui Maine (mid Galway, South Roscommon, sometimes referred to as "O'Kelly's Country") O'Ceallaigh (c1351), was a renowned patron of the arts. Source found here.

Another fun fact : Jack means Seán in Irish.

Bet you weren't expecting that. Or maybe you were. Anyway, source is found here. I also remember it being a topic of conversation in 3rd class Irish class. Wonder how Spot and Jack would feel about that.

^On pg 23 of the original 1992 movie script found here Jack describes himself as a "mick" which was a commonly used derogatory term used against those of Irish decent/Irish immigrants at the time. However this line was not included in the movie. Source found here.

Now for "Sullivan". The original Irish for the surname Sullivan is O'Suileabhain, however the actual derivation of the name is debated. There is no doubt that the root word is 'suil' meaning eye, but whether it is to be taken as 'one-eyed' or 'hawk-eyed' is usually left an open question. Sources found here and here.

The surname is associated with the southwestern part of Ireland and was originally found in County Tipperary before the Anglo-Norman invasion. Source found here

Also, in both movie and stage versions Jack tells us his father "taught me not to starve" indicating his father may have taught Jack about the horrors of the Famine/An Drochshaol/The Great Hunger that plagued Irish families for years after. Source is found here.

Okay! On to Spot Conlon :

^This is David's description of Spot Conlon from the same book, pg 51 (okay he may not outright say he's Irish but they really said "throw all the stereotypes at him like red hair". But seriously in the Hard Promises script and the Newsies script he's described the same way. I guess they really invisioned that red hair huh?)

Spot is interesting seeing as he is the leader of the Brooklyn newsies, Brooklyn being an infamously known place for Irish immigrants to live due to the Great Hunger/An Drochshaol (translated meaning "Hard Times") or as it's more commonly known as "the potato famine" between 1845-1852. Source found here. At least 1 million people died from this and another 1 million immigrated, a lot to America (although the exact numbers are disputed.) Around this time New York becoming the busiest port city in the world. There was labor work to be had in Brooklyn, in the manufacturing and loading and unloading of goods to be sent around the country and around the world. Irish immigrants who had been left poor and malnourished by the famine had no other option but to take on this manual labour to earn money. Many took jobs by the ports and settled by the Watershed i.e. near the ports. This could be a reason to why we're first introduced to Spot and his "cronies" at the port in the movie. Source is found here and here.

Supposing Spot was born between 1880-1886 (he's quoted to be 14 in real life in this article however it's stated in the Newsies Novel on pg 51 to "be around Jack's age" and it's stated in original script before Newsies was rewritten to be a musical and was still a drama, "Hard Promises" he's quoted to be 19 on pg 28. So take this with a grain of salt.) the U.S. census, which counted both place of birth and parents’ birth place as well, estimated that one-third of all New Yorkers were of Irish parentage. By 1890 as Brooklyn neighborhoods were expanding east and south, the amount of people with Irish stock is at 196,372. Source found here.

Also how people will usually use the name "Seán" or sometimes "Patrick" for Spot (one of the fandom wiki pages cites it as his real name here but admits to having no proof of it). Both of these are traditional Irish first names, Patrick being popularised by the patron saint of Ireland St. Patrick/Pádraig. Might have heard of it-

Now for his surname.

Conlon is an Irish family name, it being a variation of the anglicised version of Ó Connalláin. The name may be derived from two Irish Gaelic words "Con" (the genitive case of Cú, meaning "hound") and "Lón" meaning lion - thereby implying a person who has the characteristics of a lion born of a hound - strength and speed. Source found here.

Conlon had a Gaelic form of Ó Conallain or Ó Coinghiollan in Connacht however it's Ó Caoindealbhain in Munster and Leinster. Fun fact, Connal or Connall is claimed to be a pet name for a sprout or little sprout. Source found here.

The history regarding the Conlon surname is complicated to say the least- however it can be traced back to County Meath, where the Conlon descendants are from an important sept near Trim, which traces back to Laoghaire, King of Ireland circa 432. O'Coindealbhain was also anglicised 'Quinlivan' in Munster. Source is found here and here.

This post isn't letting me include the video of Jack, David and Boots going to Brooklyn to negotiate with Spot and the Irish traditional music in the background but I'll make a separate post about that.

Now, onto Racetrack Higgins.

I'm going to keep this kind of brief. We know Racetrack is described as "tall, skinny gambling Italian beanpole" in the Hard Promises script on pg 1 and he's described as "an Italian beanpole" on pg 5 of the Newsies Script. However the surname "Higgins" is Irish as far as my research has told me, not Italian.

The real Ed "Racetrack" Higgins lived in Brooklyn and is quoted to be the real leader of the Brooklyn union, and was elected vice-president of the general union after Kid Blink and David Simmons were accused of selling out. Source found here. I haven't been able to find much information about Racetrack Higgin's life after the strike or his family life which could connect him to Ireland however I thought it would be interesting. If anyone is curious about the real Racetrack Higgins this source has been really useful!

'Higgins" is an Irish family name with ancient royal connections. It is an anglicisation of O'hUigin, from the Irish word 'uiginn' meaning Viking. The original holder of the name was a grandson of Niall of the Nine Hostages, High King of Tara, and all of the O'Higgins claim a common descent from him. Ancient records show that several members of the O'Higgins claimed a hereditary right to be file or poet in the courts of the Irish Chiefs and Kings. Source is found here and here.

Because of their loyalty to Gaelic culture and religion, the Higgins suffered under the English Crown in Ireland and had lost all their lands in Sligo and Westmeath by 1654. Some of them remained in Ireland as tenants on their own lands, but many of them migrated to Spain where they achieved high office in the service of the King. Source is found here.

Fun fact, Racetrack has the same surname as the current (9th) President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins!

Lastly, on to Crutchy/ie Morris!

^This is from the 1991 original script of Newsies when it was called Hard Promises and was written to be a drama. Obviously this wasn't the movie that we have today but I thought this would be a cool add on. I couldn't find a lot of information about the real Crutch Morris, whom Crutchy/ie is based on. The surname Morris isn't strictly Irish, it's a popular surname throughout the British Isles however with this piece of information I thought it would make sense to research it anyway.

"Morris" (Ó Muiris in Irish) was introduced to Ireland by the��Normans, along with the variant Firzmaurice (Mac Muiris). A branch of these Morrises moved to Galway in 1485 CE and later became one of the Tribes Of Galway. The name may also have been an abbreviation of Morrissey (Ó Muireasa), a branch of the Uí Fiachrach clan. Sources found here and here.

The ancient Irish name Ó Muirgheasa (variant Ó Muirghis), a personal name thought to derive from muir, meaning "sea" and geas, meaning "taboo" or "prohibition." Source found here.

The Morris family does have an Irish family crest/coat of arms which I'll post at a later date, further cementing themselves in Irish history.

This is most of the information I have regarding the origins of the characters and their surnames however I could go on about the music in Newsies, the family crests, the housing circumstances of poor Irish immigrants in New York at the turn of the 19th century ect.

If you want to learn more about what life was like for Irish immigrants in New York I recommend reading the non-fiction book The Gangs Of New York (or watching the movie. It isn't completely historically accurate but give a decent overview of what was life) or reading this article by the Irish Times.

I've barely scratched the surface of this topic and hope to go into it father in the future!

May I leave you with this gif of the boys doing some Irish (inspired) dancing and David with his twirl combo!

Ps. If the links aren't working for you I'd be happy to provide a list of the resources I’ve used throughout my research on a separate post if needs be.

pps. @maggs-is-a-muppet @annihilatedthenightstalker @newsies-bun @letter-from-the-refuge thanks for the motivation last night 😌

[buzzdixonwriter]

I've Told You A Million Times To Avoid Cliches Like The Plague

Recently a year old re-print of a 1959 Writer’s Digest article by Donald Westlake started circulating on social media.

First off, if you don’t know who Donald Westlake is, go find out.  You like rough edge crime stories, try his Parker books published under his Richard Stark pseudonym; you like funny crime, dig up the Dortmunder series under his own name; you like odd ball history, check out Under An English Heaven “being a true recital of the events leading up to and down from the British invasion of Anguilla on March 19th, 1969 in which no one was killed but many people were embarrassed.”

Second, Westlake was a serious writer in that he took the craft of writing Very Seriously indeed, no matter how light hearted and funny some of his books could be.  He wrote a blistering letter (later turned into an essay) in the fanzine Xero (starts on page 97) where he excoriated  the sci-fi field of the era as being neither artistically nor commercially viable.*

So who am I to challenge this master’s assertions?

Well, I take the craft of writing Very Seriously indeed myself, and to quote a late, lamented friend:  “Fools rush in, and there we are…”

The Writer’s Digest article is a mixed bag, partially a quick off-the-cuff job for a few bucks, partially a valid observation on pitfalls in writing popular fiction in September of 1959.

Bear the date in mind, it’s crucial to this discussion.

This was an era when Americans read a lot.  Millions of people subscribed to The Saturday Evening Post or dozens of other slick magazines (not to mention the digests, which are what the form the old genre pulps mutated into), and this meant each week dozens of new short stories or serialized novels were available to them (and that’s not counting non-fiction).

Westlake in 1959 was commenting on an over saturated market, one where too many writers and editors simply replayed old tropes over again and again because they knew a significant portion of their audience felt comfortable with them (this is particularly true in the slicks, more so than the digests).

Westlake divides his 36 plots into three groups:  Mysteries, science fiction, and slicks.

My first quibble lays in what Westlake means when he says “plot”.

From the original article:

“A plot is a planned series of connected events, building through conflict to a crisis and ending in a satisfactory conclusion. A formula is a particular plot which has become stale through over-use.

“My own working definition of plot is what I call “5C.” First, a character. Anybody at all, from Hemingway’s old man to Salinger’s teenager. Second, conflict. Something for that character to get upset about, and for the reader to get upset about through the character. Third, complications. If the story runs too smoothly, without any trouble for the character, the reader isn’t going to get awfully interested in what’s going on. Fourth, climax. The opposing forces in conflict are brought together. Like the fissionable material in an H-bomb and there’s an explosion. Fifth, conclusion. The result of the explosion is known, the conflict is over, the character has either won or lost, and there are no questions left unanswered.

“5C: Character. Conflict. Complications. Climax. Conclusion.”

All well and good, but in his article Westlake provides almost no examples of same.

To me, a plot is a quick summary of a story that lays out beginning, middle, and end:   G.I. Joe captures a Cobra secret weapon but doesn’t realize what it is.  Cobra needs to get the weapon back without alerting the Joes to its potential, and the Joes must figure out what Cobra is after before they can get their hands on it.

(There’s a lot you can do with that plot.  It can be a slam-bang action oriented story, a techno thriller, or a slapstick farce depending on your angle of attack.)

What Westlake presents are more along the lines of story springboards:  ”What would happen if…”

A lot of the situations Westlake presents are rife with potential: “John Smith is sitting in the park, feeding the other squirrels, when a beautiful girl runs up, kisses him, and whispers, ‘Pretend you know me.’”

Okay, let’s list the possibilities, shall we?

She’s being stalked by a creepy guy and needs protection…

She’s been hired to set Smith up for some reason…

She’s mentally disturbed from trauma in her past…

She’s a flipping psycho intending to kill Smith…

She’s a secret agent slipping a secret code in Smith’s pocket…

She’s a silly college girl doing this on a dare, unaware Smith is a serial killer…

Six stories right off the top of my head, and each one could be played in several different ways, from deadly serious to over the top farce.

That’s a lot of potential in a single trope.

Here’s another: “John Smith, private eye, is sitting at his desk, when Marshall Bigelow, thimble tycoon, trundles in waving thousand-dollar bills and shouting, ‘My daughter has disappeared!’”

Well, d’uh, isn’t that what private eyes do?  Find missing people?  Or uncover who committed a crime when people don’t want the police involved?  Or find out if a spouse is cheating?

Name a private eye story that doesn’t play off some variant of this.  From Murder, My Sweet to Harper to Shaft, hiring a private eye to find a missing person is a perfect way to get a story started.  “You find my Velma.”

Of the dozen story springboards he offers in his mystery section, none are unworkable, though two remain overly familiar to this day and probably are best avoided unless the writer can provide some incredible new spin.  

The science fiction section is more problematic, and here’s where I suspect Westlake was slumming (there ought to be an article on the type of articles one shouldn’t write for Writer’s Digest that includes articles like the one Westlake wrote).

Seven of the eleven clearly reference classics of the genre, and if this wasn’t a deliberate dig at those authors on Westlake’s part, one can only argue that while they may be shopworn now due to retreads by the untalented, these ideas remain strong enough to support a good story.

The other four remain headscratchers.  Two -- Adam & Eve and “atoms are tiny solar systems” -- are indeed hoary old ideas, burned off by EC comics earlier in the decade. 

I can’t say there weren’t thirteen year old aspiring sci-fi writers who submitted these to publishers and editors back in the day, but they seem more likely to have been found on the pages of fanzines (i.e., what sci-fi geeks had before the Internet) than a professional slush pile.

We know Westlake was active to some degree in sci-fi fandom of that era; could those two tropes have come from seeing those stories in the pages of amateur magazines?

The remaining two ideas represent a ribald attitude I don’t recall seeing in sci-fi digests of that era.

Oh, sex was starting to rear its beautiful head in science fiction, and there were a few cutting edge stories, but these two seem more like set ups for smutty fanfic, not genuine submissions of the time.

Again, something I’d expect to see in a fanzine, not a professional market.

Like I said, I think this tips off that Westlake is having us on, that this whole article came off the top of his head in a matter of minutes instead of being carefully thought out.

On the other hand, his critique of slick magazine fiction seems pretty spot on and devastating.

While he covers several sub-genres, his primary focus seems to be on stories written for a female audience, the type found in McCall’s and Ladies Home Journal.  He doesn’t come close to a dozen examples, however, as several (even those labeled as sub-examples) are just the same story springboard in different settings.

Two of his bad examples, however, stand out quite clearly as a dislike (whether personal / professional / aesthetic, I can’t tell) aimed at a specific series of stories found in The Saturday Evening Post, i.e., the Alexander Botts, tractor salesman stories of William Hazlett Upson.

One of Westlake’s verboten plots isn’t even a plot but a literary device: “Any story told in an exchange of letters”.  The other one that ties into Upson’s oeuvre is “Joe Doakes, a traveling salesman for a paper clip company, gets involved in some pretty unbelievable adventures in a small town in the Midwest. The other participants are a local belle and a salesman for a rival paper clip company.”

The two combined describe Upson’s Botts stories to a T.  The second one is richly ironic since Westlake eventually used the same basic premise for his Dortmunder series (the only change being Dortmunder is a thief, not a salesman; po-tay-to, po-tah-to).

Finally, Westlake left himself a huge out with “If you can take one of the 36 clichés listed above, and give it a brand new twist, so it doesn’t look like the same story any more, you may have a sale on your hands. If you search hard enough in the magazines on the stands today, you’ll find one or more of these variations currently in print.”

Look, I get it.  I’ve faced deadline doom before myself, and more than once have fired off a short piece that contained all the depth of a dixie cup.

This isn’t the worst writing advice I’ve seen, but it’s far from the best, and Westlake coulda and shoulda done better.

  © Buzz Dixon

   *  He wasn’t alone in his opinion, though ironically the 1960s proved to be one of the most fertile eras for the genre.  Yet Westlake and other writers such as John D. MacDonald, Frederic Brown, and John Jakes left sci-fi for other genres because it couldn’t support them either as artists or professionals.

[insomni-snacc]

Mx. Shoggoth, I Presume? Pt 4

Warning! Sexual humor and heavy swearing ahead.

-----------------------------

It's Showtime!

You two stood there, shuffling your feet for what seemed like hours. You'd never been proposed to before, even if it was fake. What came next? You had an old ring you had picked up the day before. The etched silver band reminded you of him, the carvings almost matching his signature stripes. You supposed you ought to give it to him now.

"Ah, by the way doll." Beetlejuice cut through your thoughts, "I uh… well since we need this gaggle of breather kids to see me it'd be best if…" he trailed off, barely audible as he mumbled "I'd like it if you'd summon me."

"Pardon? Sorry, I didn't catch that."

He raked his hands through his violently pink hair, "Just read this, dammit." He handed you a business card.

"... A matchmaker? Beej I don't think I need this right--"

"TURN IT OVER."

You did so. "Beetlejuice… Beetlejuice…"

He had to lean against the side of the house to steady himself. He was way too happy with the way his name sounded coming from you.

"Beetlejuice." You finished. A familiar cloud of green smoke formed around the two of you as the demon launched himself into the air. He did a flip and summoned up some fireworks, sending a wink in your direction. What a showoff.

"It's showtime, baby!" Being summoned, let alone by such an exceptional human, gave him the high he needed to get past the last few awkward minutes. He glided down to you, grabbing your hand to give you a quick twirl before pulling you off of your feet and dipping you backwards. "Thanks for callin' on me, tootse. What can I do ya for?"

"What just happened?"

"Well," he pulled you back up to your feet and swung you through a few dance steps while he explained, "I haven't really felt like I could ask Lyds to summon me after what happened last time, so I've only been here in SPIRIT, you might say." He chuckled at the pun. "You can only see me because you're a bit strange and unusual, like her. For normal folks to see me, and for me to be physically here, I gotta be summoned - and guess who just summoned their first demon!"

"... I did?"

"You did!" He nearly leapt around you as he continued flinging you about. Where had this man learned to dance? Was the instructor on cocaine?

Flustered by trying to keep up with his quickening dance moves (and, admittedly, by all of the physical contact with your attractive demonic friend), your thoughts went back to the ring burning a hole in your pocket. "Ah, here." He (thankfully) stopped dancing as you pulled the ring unceremoniously from your pocket, thrusting it towards him. "Gotta have the matching set, right?"

Gosh. You were just so smooth. Cool was your middle name. The demon across from you definitely didn't notice your palms sweating, right?

"Ah… yeah. Yeah I guess so…" His earlier bravado fled from him like a frightened bird. He picked up the ring and fiddled with it for several moments, avoiding eye contact like one look could strike him re-dead.

"Y/N! Beej! C'mon! We're gonna be late!" Lydia shouted from the driveway, pulling you two from your stupor.

"Shit, right. Uh… let's go wrangle some children?" Beetlejuice said, attempting to sound suave and totally unbothered (and failing).

"Yes, let's shall!" You two were going to set a record for the smoothest not-couple in New England.

Lydia, itching to test out her provisional license, insisted on driving the three of you to the school where you would be meeting the other students. Saving you from making any further cool-headed and completely normal conversation, she took the liberty of walking you and Beetlejuice through the rules on the drive. "Beej, I'm going to need you to shapeshift. Can you make yourself look, you know, alive?"

He slapped his cheeks, turning his skin marginally pinker and wiggling his eyebrows at you as if he'd just built the Eiffel Tower in front of your very eyes.

"Can you put in about 1% effort, at least?" Lydia deadpanned.

He huffed and shook himself, emitting a puff of green smoke. The man who emerged looked like your demon friend, but cleaner and a bit… suburban. His hair was a muted brown with emerald green streaks at his temples, the moss and soil that usually clung to every crevice was gone (though the earthy scent remained). He even swapped out his signature striped suit for a casual black button up and dark wash jeans. He looked… well he still looked really damn attractive, especially when he used your staring at his new appearance to give you that cocky grin of his.

"Like what you see, tootse?" He said, running his left hand through his hair. Your eyes snapped to the ring, your ring, on his finger.

"Yeah, life suits you." You smiled sincerely. "Could do without the grave smell, though."

"Hey, that's my natural musk you're talking about. Drives my lovers crazy, if you know what I mean." He leaned towards you, craning his neck to give you a good angle to take a whiff.

You fought the urge to take an exploratory inhale. You were failing. Thankfully, Lydia literally snapped you out of it, before you could embarrass yourself a third time today, by clicking her fingers in agitation. "Let's focus, lovebirds. We're almost there. Y/N, you remember the backstory I gave you?"

"Yup! I moved here one year ago looking for a quiet place to write my book, (and God, do I wish the quiet part were true) and met BJ while I was working on my laptop in the diner on 7th. He told me he'd help me through some dialogue I was stuck on if I took him to dinner. The rest, as they say, is falsified history" At least the reason you moved to New England had been true, though you hadn't exactly found much quiet time for writing in the last few months.

"We snuck out and fucked in the alley behind the diner, right next to that graffiti of those two cartoon cats. It was hella romantic." Beetlejuice slung an arm around you, "you told me right then and there you couldn't live without me or my amazing penis. Of course, I have standards, so I made you wait a few months before I popped the question, but--"

"Beej." Lydia warned.

"What? You didn't give ME a rundown on OUR backstory, so I've gotta improvise."

"I gave you the notes three days ago, it's not my fault you drew dicks all over them, Just let your lovely, responsible spouse do the explaining, ok?" She said, pulling into a parking space in the back of the school. There was a bus waiting there to take them all to the airport, already full of kids. She quickly jogged up to the doors, taking a seat with two kids in the back that you assumed must be her friends. You wasted no time in hauling your luggage inside and addressing the crowd.

"Hi! I'm Mx. Shoggoth, call me Y/N. I'll be your guide--"

"That's my bit!" A disgruntled Beetlejuice complained, pushing you aside. "Hey kids, who's ready to party it up in the Big Easy? Maybe get your voodoo on?"

"We're here to make sure they DON'T get into trouble, BJ."

"Ugh, lame."

"Right. Anyway, this is my husband, Lawrence. You can call him BJ" You gestured to your partner in crime, whose cheeks were tinged with that familiar pink you were used to in his hair. "We're here to make sure y'all don't get mixed up in any voodoo or, you know, die in any fashion."

"Booooo." A teen moaned from the back of the bus. You could hear Lydia chuckling, as well.

"See? You're lame, the kid agrees." Beetlejuice smirked, shoving you aside and taking a seat at the front of the bus. He patted the seat next to him, glancing at you as you finished up your safety spiel.

"... and we'll be meeting your music teacher at the airport, so til then I've been told you should be looking through your sheet music." You ended your speech, taking your seat next to Beetlejuice.

"So professional. Keep that up and I may lose my libido forever." He snickered.

"Yeah well, your sex life isn't any of my concern." You hissed.

"Oh, isn't it? Is that any way to talk to your loving husband?" He grabbed your hand, grazing your knuckles with his lips for good measure. It seemed, once there was an audience, Beetlejuice transformed back into his needy perverted self with no issue.

You, on the other hand, were still easily flustered. Perhaps, you noted as you felt your cheeks practically light on fire and your breath catch in your throat, even more so with an audience. You contemplated jumping through the bus doors just as they closed, sealing you into your fate.

https://insomni-snacc.tumblr.com/post/189284584571/mx-shoggoth-i-presume-pt-3

[rudjedet]

Hi! I always thought of Ra as the head/creator of the gods, but as I've read more recently I've encountered others that seem to occupy the same role like Amun, Atum, and Ptah? It seems they mostly have different area where they were mainly worshiped? I think Amun was big in Thebes after the Hyksos? As for Atum it looks like he was "older" but I don't know what differs between him and Ra? I know both were combined with Ra at some point. Ptah I just have no idea. Help lol

Sorry this took me a while, I was at work a lot this week and I didn’t really have the energy to write a reply after getting home!

Okay, so. You’re right that Re, Amun, Atum and Ptah all occupy the same role in the Egyptian “pantheon”, that of creator god. I’ll try to condense the complex nature of Egyptian religion into a reasonably brief answer. This answer exists in parts, and to discuss these there are a few things you have to keep in mind:

There were different cosmogonological traditions in different areas/times of Egypt

Religious beliefs shifted over time and Pharaonic history covers several millennia

Syncretism is an aspect of Egyptian religion/mythology where two or more gods become associated with each other

Cosmogonies

In general we recognise four “main” (in terms of respective importance) creation stories, which we call cosmogonies.

The oldest and most well-known is the Heliopolitan tradition (Old Kingdom). In this cosmogony, Atum emerges from the waters of Nun and masturbates or spits to create Shu and Tefnut. Shu and Tefnut couple and give birth to Geb and Nut, who in turn birth Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. We call these nine gods the Ennead of Heliopolis. 

Then we have the Memphite theology, which most likely dates back to the Ramesside Period (New Kingdom). Here the creator god is Ptah-Tatenen, who created the world according to his heart/will and the performative power of his words.

Third is the Hermopolitan/Theban tradition. In this case the divine primordial entity sprang from the Ogdoad - four couples of gods, each existing of a male personification of an aspect and his female counterpart. They are Nun and Naunet (primordial waters), Kek and Keket (darkness), Heh and Hehet (spatial infinity), and Amun and Amunet (that which is hidden).

Lastly there is the tradition of Elephantine, in which Khnum fashions the world and everything in it on his potter’s wheel, using silt from Nun. 

There is some overlap between these cosmogonies. The Ogdoad of Hermopolis, for example, may have existed from the New Kingdom onward, possibly earlier, and thus coincided at least with the Memphite Theology. The Heliopolitan tradition is the oldest and “longest-running”, so to say, and thus overlaps with many of the other traditions. 

Shift of religious beliefs

Part of the emergence of different cosmogonological traditions can be attributed to the passing of time. Over the centuries, Egyptian religious thought developed and changed. They did mostly attempt to fit their new ideas into the old mold, but sometimes a god who started out as relatively obscure found new importance. 

Over the millennia of Pharaonic history, the chief god, for example, cycled from Neith, to Osiris, to Amun. This was a natural cycle and wouldn’t have affected the regular Egyptian populace all that much: in villages and settlements the people generally worshipped local gods, if they worshipped to any degree at all. 

The sun god Re has been an important figure throughout Egyptian religious thought - or perhaps more specifically, “Re” was the most well-known name of the sun/creator god, since the creator god was usually anonymous.

That brings me to syncretism. 

Syncretism

What you called “combined with”, we call “syncretism”. When one god syncretises with another, they merge into a divine entity that combines aspects of both while the original gods lose nothing of their individuality. So in essence, 1 + 1 = 3.

One of the most well-known examples is Re-Khepri-Atum. The obscurer solar gods Khepri and Atum became associated with/considered aspects of Re later in Pharaonic history. In this triad of sorts, Khepri was the morning sun, Re the midday sun, and Atum the evening sun. 

Syncretism happened for a variety of reasons, for example because there was an overlap between aspects of the divine entities in question, e.g. isis-Hathor. Syncretising a more obscure god with a far more well-known one if they had an overlap of aspects was also a way priests could try to give their minor god more importance. Through syncretism we get gods such as Re-Atum, Amun-Re and Re-Harakhty, while we also still have the individual parts Re, Atum, Amun and Harakhty.

Now as for some more specific answers:

Re, Amun and Atum are all creator gods as well as solar gods. They co-exist throughout most of Egyptian history, all in various and fluctuating levels of importance. In later periods Atum becomes the evening sun aspect of Re. 

Ptah is a creator god in his “own” cosmogony. He also plays a part as scribe to the (creator) god(s) in the Heliopolitan tradition, and in general is considered the patron god of writers/the writing art. 

Locality and passage of time both play a big part in the worship of certain gods. Chief gods and traditions could, and did shift. 

I hope that clears up a lot for you! I can definitely recommend you pick up Gods and Men in Egypt by Françoise Dunand and Christiane Zivie-Coche for a far more in-depth discussion of the above information. It’s a very accessible book, both in terms of writing style and price.

TL;DR: Welcome to Egyptian religion, where everyone is also everyone else!

If you read this post and enjoyed it, please consider donating to my Ko-Fi (rudjedet) so that I can fund my continued research efforts. :) Link in my bio because Tumblr dot inept lessens the visibility of posts with hyperlinks.

[thebesthallyuscenarios]

ajfxjb2efkhcvfe I've officially been obsessed with your blog for almost two yearssssss. Finally reaching beyond showing myself as an anon, I am posting this through my actual account ! How about a scenario for my Taekwoonie where there is a very scary thunderstorm (you are scared of them) and you are all alone at home (he's at work) then he gets worried at work noticing that there is a storm and rushes home to comfort you. flufffffyyyy pleaseeee sorry for my ruun on sentancess

So glad to see you brave yourself! Also, thank you for the ship a while back, I really liked it! Sorry, you were so fast and I am not……

I also felt it be right to publish this around when Leo drops his new mini album, so let this be an extra on top of his promotions!

This is a caring Leo scenario, fluffy and short in length

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Superhero

‘I want to see you in the same spot when I get back from work; no expectations.’ You know he was thinking of your well being, but it was starting to feel patronizing. You could still take care of yourself; it was just a high temperature and a runny nose. It’s not like you were dying. You hoped he was just joking but it seemed like he was serious.

‘Taekwoon, it’s not that serious. You don’t need to baby me. ’ You saw his face fall a bit, almost feeling bad for doing so much. Again, you knew he meant well, but it was too much attention for what it was. He knelt down in front of you while you remain on the couch, him trying to meet at eye level.

‘I just worry about you, you know? I hate leaving you alone, I don’t want something to happen and no one is there for you. I’d rather it be me, but at least someone. ’ There he goes, being all dramatic again. You could be by yourself; you lived alone this whole time, some time off of work should be nothing.

‘I know you do, but it won’t be for long. Just finish the shift you have left and then you’ll be free. I’ll try to stay in this spot as much as possible. ’ A smile grew on his face since he still got his way, in a sense, and kissed your forehead as he stood up.

‘Be safe, and I can leave my work at any time, so please tell me if you need me. ’ You brushed him off and told him you’d be able to take care of yourself and he finally left. In the living room, there was a window showing to the outside, like the driveway and the across the street neighbors. You saw his car pull out and go toward the city where he worked. You felt awful that you might have him miss even more work, so you made a promise to yourself that you wouldn’t call in case if a total emergency. You set your phone away so you couldn’t be bothered at the moment. You took note of outside; someone sunny, looked breezy and overall calm. You wanted to take advantage of the calm and get some reading done. You picked up a book you had bought a long time ago but never got around to. It was an interesting premise, but you never had a clue where it was going.

There was a small crackle sound that caught you off guard, but it didn’t seen to persist, so you just turned the volume up on the TV a notch or two to drone it out and give some more background noise as you continues to read. As you read on, something just felt off; but you couldn’t tell what it was. You kept trying to get yourself lost on your book, but there was something keeping you out of it. The story was keeping you on your toes, but this unnatural feeling kept you from enjoying it in full. You looked up and it seemed darker than it was when Taekwoon left for work. It hasn’t even been all that king maybe a couple of hours at the most; it shouldn’t be this dark yet. You closed your book and let the TV play to calm your nerves, but you couldn’t help standing up to look out the window for more context. You walk up to the window, nothing changing with each step. You put your hands on the sill to support yourself, since you still weren’t feeling so well. You looked up to see if the sky would give any hints, but there wasn’t anything there to see. You tried to pan outside, and it seemed no one was outside, which seemed weird.

Then it happened

Light blinded your vision, making it hard to stand up anymore, and you fell to the floor. You felt your body begin to curl up. You tried to move your body even a centimeter, but it was working against you. You wanted to just stand up and get back to the couch, but you didn’t feel your body respond to what you wanted it to do. You feel your body just lay against the carpet and despite the comfort it feels against your skin. You then heard the thunderous boom immediately after and you felt your body shrink up even more. The sound shook you to your very core, making your body even more stiff in its place. You found your eyes glued shut in an effort to make the scary part go away, but there was another thunder boom right after. You body began to shake, but the calm came right after and you felt normal again. You forced your eyes open and you saw the familiar living room looking…. the same. Your arms relaxed and you felt them get yourself up and back to your feet.

Looking around, you came back to your senses and saw that your living room hadn’t changed; it only had gotten darker outside. You rushed over to your phone; there was one notification.

A Severe Storm Warning is scheduled in _______ until ______.

You clenched your phone in your hand, worried that you would be stuck for the night. If there was a warning, Taekwoon may not be able to leave work until it passes over. Will you be stuck all alone? Will you be left to fend for yourself in the storm? You couldn’t even think of it. You looked back down at your phone to dismiss the notification, and you saw Taekwoon’s eyes poking out over the top of the notification box. You wanted to call him so badly but you remembered what you told yourself; no contacting unless absolutely necessary. And nothing serious has happened, so you had no reason to call him. You felt your fingers impulse to just dial him, but you know you couldn’t. It was just one of those things where you knew you had to keep this to yourself; you don’t want to be more of an inconvenience more than you already were. He had to leave to take you home from the sick spell you were feeling and driving you around all day. You wouldn’t dare pile on more to just make it harder on Taekwoon. The thought almost brought a tear to your eye, feeling more hopeless than the storm already had. You had to be braver than this. You had to pull yourself together. You put your phone down and looked back up at the T.V. There was a storm warning scrolling across the bottom of your screen.

Storm Warning in the following areas:________, _______, ________….

You saw all kinds of names scroll by, but your town eventually showed up. Taekwoon worked in the next town over, and that name had shown up already. So that was that; you had to stay put and he had to stay where he was. It was for the safety of both of you. You had to hammer it in your head instead of begging him to come back. As much as you’d love for him to come back and rescue you, he still had his responsibilities. And you hope that, if nothing else, he stays safe out there. You looked back at the screen and nothing seemed familiar, so you went through and tried to find light-hearted movies to watch and kill the time away. Your senses began to dim, but then you found yourself falling to your side and tugging a pillow under your head. The characters were still going on screen, but you felt yourself going in and out, not even really paying attention. You just couldn’t get your mind off of the storm; how much it intimidated you, how scary in nature it was a,d how it felt like it was creating a divide between you and Taekwoon. Your eyelids were drooping down, and you couldn’t fight against it…..

-

‘________-ah? What’s wrong? Please be ok!’ You felt your body being shaken and it woke you up real quick. You slugged to open your eyes, and you saw a frantic Taekwoon. His eyes were riddled with fear and he looked like you had just died. There was a wave of relief on his face when your eyes opened and he stood up, sighing. Your eyes were squinting and trying to make sure it was him, but you could recognize his lean figure any day. He was pacing back and forth, seeming to calm himself down. You looked around and it looked like it was still somewhat light outside, so it couldn’t have been that long since the lightning. How did he even get home at this time?

‘Hey, what’s going on?’ He was facing against you, but turned around really quick and knelt down to your side. His hands went straight to your face, cradling you.

‘ I’ve been trying to contact you all night, and I couldn’t handle it so I came home. They were letting us leave anyway due to the stroms being so severe. I had to rush home. I was trying to call you all night and you never picked up, I was so scared something happened. It just made me rush here even quicker.’ You were still confused, you didn’t think he could get out so easily, but if they let other people leave, then maybe it actually happened. He stood up when he noticed you were more awake, and walked into the next room.

‘Wait, when did you call me? I was holding back trying to call you all night.’ You looked at your phone. It was facing down, but you felt it vibrate as you turned it over. There were 3 voicemails and 10 missed calls. Your face sunk, given how shitty the situation was. You looked up and saw that Taekwoon was coming back with cups of some warm liquid. He sat next to you, placing his cup on the coffee table and giving you yours. You looked through the call history; the calls were all in succession, making you realize how panicked he was even more, all the while feeling worse.

‘You won’t be missing much, but those messages might be the most frantic I’ve ever been. Might give you a laugh.’ You took a sip as he giggled nervously. He was never really one to get all nervous; he normally had a good control of his emotions. He reached for his cup as you played the first message out loud.

“Hey, I’m not sure what’s going on, but it seems really crazy outside. I really hope your safe, I know how you get in times like this. If only I could get out of here to help you. But please, just try and keep yourself occupied. It should go away soon, and then I’ll be there as soon as I can.” It was so sweet, and seemed more typical of what you expected him to say, so you looked over at him in disbelief.

‘How is this you acting out? It seemed pretty normal to me. 'He already had his cup, and he had this smile of him trying to hide something. You knew it, and he was cornered; he had to fess up.

'Oh trust me, the farther along the voicemail, the crazier I got. Just listen for yourself. ’ You brought the next one up and played it out loud.

’____-ah, I don’t know why you won’t answer me, but I have to know how you’re doing. All I hear is booming and I’m scared for you. Please be ok, I wish I could be there to comfort you. Please, call me back if you have the chance, I’ll take the risk of getting in trouble, I just have to know you aren’t suffering. ’ His voice was definitely more vulnerable and quivering, but it still seemed like a rational response in its core message. You could tell he was beginning to lose it a bit, but he was always good at keeping his cool. His voice was going into different pitches when he said he wanted to comfort you and was scared for you. You felt your heart beat a little bit as more yes ran down your throat. You looked over to him, but he just held up 3 fingers. So you prepared for the last voicemail.

‘Baby, you won’t answer me, you didn’t get hurt are you? You’re already sick, I can’t have you physically harmed on top of that either! They are letting people go back to their families, so if they give me th OK, I coming to you. I’m coming to save you from the storm. The storm is no match for my driving; I’ll keep you safe!’ You looked over to see his heads hung down, his cheeks all flushed from the embarrassment. You put your home and cup down and threw your arms around him to lift his spirits. You sunk to leave his cheek a kiss.

‘You were trying to be my superhero, why would I think of that as a bad thing?’

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I know this one has been sitting for a while, but it felt right to publish it when Leo was promoting himself, so even more extra feels on top of his new mini! Also this is my first written piece back, so please bare with me as I get more stuff to write, I hope to do better in the future! I know you were a big fan back in the day, so I hope this isn’t a disappointment. Anyways, I hope you liked this scenario and I hope you have a good day girlie!