#SO THEY AREN'T REALLY COMMONLY USED/DOCUMENTED

[bbygirl-paul]

teeth blackening in house harkonnen

i was really intrigued by the practice of teeth blackening in harkonnen culture in dune part two, specifically because i recognized it as a historical japanese cultural practice. so here's a breakdown on what teeth blackening looked like in real world japanese culture, my thoughts on why denis villeneuve chose to bring this into harkonnen culture in particular, and the gendered implications of feyd rautha being the only male harkonnen shown with blackened teeth.

ohaguro, which translates to "black teeth," is a custom born in japan that reached peak popularity between the 10th and 19th centuries (it's first documented in writing in the tale of genji from the 11th century). this practice involved blackening teeth with a solution called kanemizu, which translates to "black water" and consists of iron shavings dissolved in vinegar and then combined with tannins to create a black liquid. the dye was re-applied daily or every other day to avoid the dulling or graying of the color.

ohaguro was originally practiced exclusively by member of the aristrocracy, mainly by married women, but also some men. ohaguro was commonly practiced when nobility came of age or when women were married. the practice only died out in the 19th century, largely as a result of western beauty ideals being enforced in japanese society through colonialism.

there are a few different reasons why ohaguro was thought to have achieved such popularity within the upper class. deep black was seen as a very beautiful color, and objects that were black were thought to be beautiful. the dye also possibly served to prevent tooth decay.

we see black as a dominant color in various aspects of harkonnen cutlure, including (but not limited) to the armor, ceremonial markings, and clothing of the upper class:

and i think this nudges us further towards this idea of black as a color of beauty, and the idea that teeth blackening was almost like a form of makeup that was seen to make someone more beautiful within upper class social circles.

considering that ohaguro originated with and remained most popular with noble women in japan, it's also very gender that feyd is the only harkonnen man we see with blackened teeth- his uncle the baron and his brother rabban aren't shown with blackened teeth. and the only others we see with blackened teeth are feyd's harpies, who are women.

tldr feyd rautha has black teeth because he's giedi prime's prettiest boy. also he's never beating the femboy allegations like this

[sophieinwonderland]

An Anti-Endo's Playbook

Hello! Are you an anti-endo looking to convert people to your cause? Well you're in luck because I have the guide for you!

As more studies come out supporting endogenic systems, arguing against pro-endos is becoming harder every day. But let me tell you a secret, people aren't perfectly logical machines. We're emotional and irrational. You don't need science or logic on your side. Instead, your job is to exploit that irrationality.

Let's start with something simple.

Argument by Assertion "Endos Aren't Scientifically Possible."

This is your opening and is possibly the most effective tool in your toolbox. Just say something and repeat it ad nauseum.

See, you don't need to be right. You just need to be confident and state what you want people to believe as a fact. Then repeat it again and again.

Propaganda experts might also call this The Big Lie.

People are social creatures and naturally trusting, so if you say something bold and confidently, they're going to be inclined to believe you. You don't actually need to provide any scientific evidence to support your case, or quotes from doctors, or anything else. Just keep repeating that endos aren't scientifically possible over and over again.

This might not sound effective, but there's a reason a third of the United States still thinks the 2020 election was rigged. If you're confident and don't waver for a moment, and keep repeating the lie, people will believe you.

But... what about the people that don't? What if an endo starts citing actual sources that contradict your claims. Normally, I might suggest finding sources of your own, but given the complete lack of support anti-endos have in academic papers, this may prove impossible. Luckily, we have more tricks up our sleeves.

Appeal to the Masses "Everyone Agrees That Endos Aren't Real."

As we all know, science isn't determined by scientists. Science is a democracy where anyone can vote. That's why even though scientists say we use all of our brains, we can know that the truth is that we only use 10% of our brains, because that's what most people believe and there have even been movies about it and stuff.

This is an the appeal to the masses.

Likewise, most people don't believe in endos. Or at least, that's what you say. See, you probably don't have any reliable polls on hand to back up that assertion, so we're kind of combining techniques here. We're appealing to the masses, but without evidence the masses agree with us, we just kind of have to assert it. As long as it sounds true, then people will believe it.

Like how I bet most people believed me when I said "most" people think we only use 10% of our brain. It SOUNDS like it could be true, and confirms our pre-existing biases that humans are kind of stupid, and that's really good enough isn't it?

What if this still doesn't work though? What if the endos keep demanding evidence?

Well, you can just give them too much of it.

The Gish Gallop: Source Overload

(Example)

You may be wondering, since I mentioned that there aren't any sources that support anti-endos, how this will work.

First, let's take a moment to understand the Gish Gallop. This debating tactic is most commonly associated with live debates where you throw out a bunch of nonsense claims that your opponent doesn't have time to answer because refuting them would take more time than you're allotted. Then when your claims go unanswered, it tricks spectators into thinking the claims are true.

This isn't generally as effective online where people can take hours to compose a response if they want... except...

The online equivalent of this is to overload your opponent with too many junk sources so that they can't debunk them all.

These do not need to support your point in any way. And you should NEVER screenshot them. Remember, your goal isn't to make the information accessible to your opponent. It's to keep the pro-endo occupied reading a 30-page document to try to figure out what it means and how it relates to what you're saying.

If the pro-endo does debunk your first paper, call them out for not addressing your other 20 articles too. Make them out to be ignoring evidence.

If they do call out this tactic and ask for a screenshot or quote of specific lines that back up your argument, respond by self-righteously telling the endo that it's not your job to educate them.

Speaking of education, what do we do about the endo sources?

Ad Hominems: Attacking the Researchers

Ad hominems are great for combating sources.

At the most basic level, you can get a lot of mileage out of throwing around the word "quack" a lot without finding any dirt on the researchers.

You might want to also claim the research is biased in some way. Say for example that a researcher has a hypothesis and they conducted an experiment to test that hypothesis. You can say that this makes the whole experiment biased and therefore should be dismissed because the research already had an expected outcome. Someone might counter and say that most scientists start with a hypothesis. But luckily, a lot of lay people won't realize that.

Let's say, for instance, that someone cites this paper on Vineyard Evangelicals who hear the voice of God as an example of non-traumagenic plural-like experiences.

Instead of addressing the merits of this paper or discussing whether hearing an autonomous and seemingly self-conscious voice identifying itself as God is plural or plural-like, you can look up to see if any of the 200,000 members of the Vineyard Church have ever reported negative experiences. Get one article with people calling it cult-like, and then accuse the endo of using "abusive sources."

Other Strategies For Dismissing Papers: Just Make Up Reasons Why Studies Are Invalid

For these, we're going to rely again on our argument by assertion, and assert some qualifiers for why a study should be dismissed.

First, accuse a study of being outdated.

Now, science doesn't actually have an expiration date. There is some research out there that may be outdated in the way that newer research comes out that disproves it. But in the absence of further research, old papers are generally considered useful, and it's not uncommon to see professionals today still cite sources dating back to the 80s or earlier.

But if you just throw out a number of years for research to expire, you can be sure that many people will take it at face value. But be careful with this. People might believe that 20-year-old research is too old. But it will be harder to sell them on something like "any research older than 5 years is outdated." That's going to be a problem when a lot of endogenic research is actually pretty recent, coming out within the last decade.

Another tactic you can try is to Attack the Domain.

As we're all taught in middle school in the US, only .gov and .edu sources are valid.

This is an oversimplification and is no longer applicable in higher education. But luckily, you're not targeting educated individuals. If you're making this argument, the ones you're probably trying to convince will be traumatized children between the ages of 14 and 17. And for this demographic, this argument is perfect. Not only have they never been to college themselves but neither have anyone in their friendgroup.

They have no concept of what counts as valid source in academic settings, and it's your job to keep it that way. Indoctrinate them young, and they'll stay yours forever.

Demonizing The Enemy: "Endos are Harming Real Systems"

This can take many forms.

At the basic level, you can do the anecdotal "endos are bad because they said mean things about me once." (Be sure to remove any context of things you may have said or did to them first.) There are plenty of endogenic systems out there in the world, and some are going to be cruel and abusive. Just like any other group.

These people are useful to your cause. If you ever had contact with abusive endos or pro-endos before, make sure that you write in detail about your bad experiences and specifically make it clear that they weren't an endogenic system who happened to be bad, but they're bad because they're endogenic. Also, if they're a traumagenic pro-endo, be sure that in your post you just refer to them as an "endo." The goal is smearing the entire endogenic community, and differentiating between abusive endos and traumagenic pro-endos will detract from that goal.

A well known example is the term "traumascum." Despite the fact that its coiner is traumagenic and most of the endogenic community dislikes it, it's important that when you make your emotional arguments to show why endos are bad, you only refer to it as being created and used by "endos."

If you really want to go all-in on this, something else you can do is...

Blame Endos For All Ableism

For this part, you want to try to convince people that any fakeclaiming or ableism they've ever experienced is because of this small niche group of systems on the internet.

In actuality, fakeclaiming DID systems has happened for a long time. The Imitated DID narrative was heavily pushed in all the way back in the 90s. And many of the people fakeclaimed today are TikTokers who are IDing as traumagenic DID systems.

Don't let these facts stop you though.

For the first part, the good thing is that, as I said before, many of the people you're trying to convince are children. If you tell them that fakeclaiming is worse today than ever before, who are they to argue? They have no frame of reference. They're usually younger systems who have only known that they're systems for a few years.

For the second, you can just ignore it. Or better yet, just label all the "cringe" systems as endos, regardless of whether they are or not.

Is calling traumagenic systems "endos" fakeclaiming their trauma? Sure.

But really, you fakeclaiming their trauma is really the endos' fault. If they didn't exist, then you wouldn't be able to call people endos, now would you?

See how smoothly that works?

All Anecdotes of People Who Thought They Were Endogenic Are Proof Endos Don't Exist

Anecdotes are your best friend. If you can find a small handful of people who previously thought they were endogenic and turned out to be wrong, you can weaponize this against all endos.

You can use these anecdotes as both proof that endos don't exist AND that they're harmful to real systems at the same time.

This particular tactic has also been used to great effect by anti-transgender groups, using a small handful of detrans people as proof that transitioning doesn't work and as a means of limiting trans rights. The success of these groups at spinning that narrative is how you can know that this tactic is effective!

More Ad Hominems: Attacking the Opposition

Yup. We're bringing in more ad hominems. This is one of the most important tools in your belt. If you feel like you're losing an argument, you can just attack the person you're arguing with. Actually, you should do this before the argument even starts.

Discrediting your enemy right at the beginning, making people see them as a bad person, will immediately make people not want to associate with them and even make them inclined to disagree with whatever they say.

So try to dredge up anything you can on them to weaponize. Or just casually accuse them of being something-phobic or something-ist.

Calling them ableist is easy. You can shout out ableism accusations right from the start just on the merits of being pro-endo.

If they're a spiritual plural, you can call them racist. This works easiest with tulpamancers since tulpa has a Tibetan etymology. (And don't worry; you won't need to pretend to care about appropriation outside of this context, such as the tulpa appearing in creepypastas or media like Supernatural or X-Files, or Genshin Impact's Hydro Tulpa boss. This is about winning an argument, not being morally consistent.) But it can work with any sort of spiritual system. If you're feeling particularly bold, you can actually claim that all possession states around the world are closed practices and anyone who claims spiritual plurality is appropriating these cultures.

Also, if they use the word "sysmed," because this is derived from transmed, be sure to call them transphobic because they're appropriating trans words. Pay no mind to if they're transgender themselves, or how little sense it would make to appropriate their own language.

Bully into Submission

If simple ad hominems don't work, dogpile and bully them into silence. Invite your friends to join in. Bombard them with constant hate posts and harassment.

The goal here is not to convert people to your side, but to remove them from the conversation. Keep the accusations going. Make up rumors about them. Try to falsely report them to get them banned. You want to make them suffer so much that they never want to post again. To ensure, one way or another, that there is one less pro-endo in the world.

This will work best on people who themselves are traumatized and vulnerable. Luckily, there are a lot of people like that in the pro-endo community you can silence this way.

Be warned though of the emotional tank.

These people have personalities that can tank a shocking amount of abuse and emotional damage, and even turn abuse they receive around and use it as a talking point against your side. They take the old adage of "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me" to heart.

If you try to harass an emotional tank, rather than silencing them, you're likely to only make them stronger and more determined.

Speaking of traumatized people...

Try To Make People Associate Endos With Trauma

Remember to know your audience. And your audience is a group of trauma survivors.

If you really, really want to ensnare them, play on that.

Use it to your advantage. One super simple way to do this is to throw around cult accusations. Just saying endos are a cult will immediately trigger cult survivors and make them want to avoid the pro-endo community.

A more complicated version of this can be done if an endo mentions that we don't have proof that DID or OSDD forms from trauma 100% of the time.

What you want to say in this situation is that "to prove all cases of DID come from trauma, you would need to traumatize children."

You can add a line specifically accusing the endo of wanting to traumatize children, or just let the implication hang in the air.

Now, someone paying attention might recognize that such a study couldn't prove what it claims to. Just like if you did a study where you hit a bunch of people in the arm with a hammer and broke their arms, you couldn't prove that 'all broken arms are caused by hammers.'

But you aren't saying this because you think it's logical. You're saying this because you're trying to get your audience of survivors of childhood trauma to think of endos as people who want to traumatize children.

If you can properly trigger them, then that rational part of their brain will just shutoff and they won't question your premise or logic too much.

How to Keep People Once Indoctrinated

Remember, the conversion process is only the beginning. After that, you want to make sure that they stay anti-endo. A good place to start is to...

Make Sure Friendship is Contingent on Them Being Anti-Endo

Pull people into anti-endo servers that have strict rules against pro-endos and even neutrals. Post "pro-endos" in your DNI to make it known that you don't ever want to interact with any pro-endos.

At the same time, encourage them to cutoff pro-endo friends and avoid pro-endo spaces. Ideally, you want the convert isolated from anyone who might be able to change their minds in the future.

Once you've cut them off from all pro-endos, their only system friends will be in the anti-endo community. And if they ever step outside of that box, they'll be instantly banned from their anti-endo servers and blocked by their anti-endo "friends."

With this, not only have you converted them, but you can reliably keep them on your side forever. Or at least, until they're willing to destroy all their relationships with other systems online in order to get out.

Just Let The Endos Do It For You

Endos thesmelves will actually be your secret weapon in this endeavor.

It's a well-known fact that hate breeds more hate. If you fakeclaim someone, they're going to be angry, and will likely resort to personal attacks. Once your newly-converted anti-endo has been successfully indoctrinated, get them to make some public anti-endo posts. The more hateful and invalidating, the better. Preferably where pro-endos can see.

When endos respond respond to the convert's hate post by sending hate of their own, it will only confirm that endos are actually hateful. It doesn't matter who started it. It only matters that you get an angry reaction out of the endos.

And the more the endos react to hate with more hate, the more the convert will double down.

The absolute worst thing for you as an anti-endo would be if endos stopped responding to hate with more hate of their own, and took a moment to consider if how they're reacting is actually in the best interest of their cause, of if they're just being baited into lashing out from hurt and anger themselves.

[xxc0mp4ctd1scxx]

I wish that who uses only "she/her" or "he/him" referring to Mizu kinda get the drip that Mizu isn't neither a man nor a woman.

That whoever is using only one of these pronouns is actually seeing that Mizu is kinda beyond gender shit, and any other category.

So when using those are all in a genderqueer/genderfuck way. When calling them girlfriend or man or bf is in an ironic way.

I really wish I'm not seeing people thinking Mizu is a woman just bc they are AFAB or bc "this trope is ant-women" terf's shit. Cuz I guarantee that Mulan (1998) and Blue Eye Samurai (2023) aren't being feminist in a simple "We Can Do It, too" way, but rather "See, gender roles are stupid and fuck you if you think that genderqueer people don't exist and people are only MAN or WOMAN."

Man, I really hate when people look at a genderqueer story and think only in binary. Adult Mizu could have been a woman if they really were one, cuz the point of they being perseved as a boy was only to be more difficult to find them as a kid, when their mom couldn't protect them with her hands or power, cuz she had none.

I think that when they were in the wife role, they weren't really performing it as a woman, but more like a duty commonly attributed to wife (more like my father being the cook in the house and a really good caretaker who is really considering and cute, and also being the dad figure, when my mom is in the finances business of the house and isn't the best caretaker of all times...) and for they mom respect and consideration, cuz they loved her and wanted to show their love, retributing by marry that guy.

But they were rejected by their mom and their husband, when being their own singular self. When showing they weren't the wife, neither the woman people thought they should be.

Yes, they suit a masc appearance and mannerisms, but it seem dehonest to call them a man. They really don't perform a man image.

Just like non binary transmasc or butches... We aren't really men just bc we are mascs. And we aren't really, by the book, women, solely by the fact we are AFAB.

Why? Cuz it is just like that. Gender isn't the binary we were thought and I wish everyone a really good search and thinking on genderqueer thesis and documents, already documented discussions and a read on "Butch Blues", a watch on "Tomboy", etc.

[void-damned]

The 'Worshipped Outsider' AU

This is the masterpost for the Worshipped Outsider AU, originally developed by me and one lovely person that remains anonymous for now. Additionally, thanks to these wonderful people for being interested and asking questions that helped me develop this story further, @no-light-left-on, @kg-clark-inthedark, and @astheturtlemoves Additional information will be added over time! Feel free to send asks about this - I will be using the Worshipped Outsider tag for people to keep track of the AU!

_______

The Outsider functions as the primary God worshiped through the Isles - he's a funky guy, honestly. Things are very religion-heavy - instead of being purist and violent, the Abbey preaches about His Intentions (instead of the Strictures), though it is merely their interpretation of the things the Outsider supposedly stands for*. They are still the Abbey of the Everyman, but the everyman here is dedicated to their God and behaves accordingly, denouncing any false God, leaving offerings, etc. But otherwise it isn't too strict about any form of worship. They are more oriented towards spreading faith and keeping it alive among the people, while the Oracular Sisters/Oracular Order are more spiritually based and focus on communicating with their God. 

The people carve charms and runes out of bones and antlers to leave him as offerings; everyone flies indigo and various purple fabrics decorated with gold. Households. commonly hold such cloth and hang it on their walls or drape them across private shrines. Even the Abbey's banners match the very same colour scheme. 

The Outsider himself scarcely appears, sometimes speaking to the Oracular Sisters, but there are many instances documented across the millennia - people speak of the Outsider walking among them, always in the same shape and same Void-filled eyes (but sometimes he appears with pale Pandyssian eyes when he is feeling like blending in more). They never talk about him doing anything big or remarkable, any miracles, nothing, really. He's just kind of there, though sometimes he's seen watching the whales or people in general. 

(Speaking of the whales, they would be sort of sacred but that does not mean that they aren't poached and used. The people believe their existence is a benevolent act of their God who wants them to use his gift. It's an Abbey made excuse, though*. )

Paloma used to be particularly religious and often took to carving charms, even as much as including pieces of carved bone in the clothes she would make; when Corvo was younger, she would make him kneel (even by force) at their makeshift altar and press a piece of singing whalebone into his hands for safekeeping - he was never as pious as his mother, nor as his sister - there was always with a streak of rebellion in him. 

Jess, much like his mother, had been an image of faith and as an Empress, she was an Avatar often said to be aided by the Outsider himself - she certainly had to be approved by him to reign; both her and Paloma would have often joined the pilgrimages across the blackened erratics that climax in the Shindaerey Peak where the Outsider had been made once. The pilgrimages happen once every 2 or so years as a 'celebration of suffering' or whatever the Abbey calls it. 

The Marked are respected for being blessed by the Outsider, no matter who they are and what they do; in fact, they are rather hounded and sheltered, considered too precious to be left wandering around freely, lest something happens to him. In a way, they are also seen as Prophets. Those like Corvo and Daud hide their marks, not wanting those to define them - neither could ever bear to live such a. lifestyle. Some tend to fake their marks, and such an act is often seen as offensive and punishable by the Abbey. So is worshiping false Gods and icons. Vera Moray was a Marked kept like a precious pet but the treatment had made her insane, leaving the Abbey to further isolate her and pretend that she's doing just fine. Meanwhile, Delilah yearns to be treated like a Queen and keeps threatening the Outsider, trying to take his position as a God.

That and either Jessamine never died of Daud's hand and Corvo had never been blamed, a different man held the blade and paid for his transgressions,or, well, honestly, the Marked are pretty much worshipped, though the way the Abbey goes about it is more or less forcing the other Marked people to hide their marks overall. Corvo could still get labelled as a false worshipper and framed for murdering the Empress as an act against their God. It is eventually revealed that his marking has been real this entire time and that he was framed by people who wanted to oppose the Outsider. Still not Daud's job, though. 

There is a potential connection here to be made, a parallel where the circumstances of the Empress' death also lead to the metaphorical death of the Outsider.

*Not to mention that the Abbey is still very much eh and often seems to hide sacred texts, preach about everything in the wrong way, and only ever interpret them the way they see fit. The shit His Intentions speak of are hardly anything the Outsider would have ever said/meant. Some bits do hold truth to them but the way they are presented indicates a lot being lost in translation or simply being translated falsely. Any runic expert who had been asked to see the scripts or tried to research them had been chased off in fear of translating things differently and therefore invalidating the Abbey and their preaching. 

There's still a lot of ground to be cover but this is the gist of it. And in case you're wondering why the Outsider doesn't correct them or do much himself, he absolutely refuses to speak to the Abbey or have anything to do with them.

[pyrriax]

hello here to ask about the seraphim au again lol

what are wisps? how is disability handled among seraphs? what is the most common way for them to get disabled? how fucked up is spoke exactly? like does he have abnormally long limbs? does he have limbs that he really shouldnt? is there a way for the ones in the fray to get up to the vesper esp with all the ruin? are there any other weapons of war lying around aside from centurions?

this au is really interesting and i love finding out more about it :D

Hello welcome back! I'm happy to answer your questions i love talking about this thing ^_^

Yet another long post ahead, but I've gone ahead and answered all of your questions in as much detail as I can without fully spoiling anything! 👍

What is a Wisp? (Where do they come from, what're they like?)

Wisps are another common creature, originating from cast magic. They vary in size, shape, color, and type, although the most common are ones which have a tendency to either cause small explosions, or light fires. Because of the way their bodies are comprised primarily of magic, they are constantly expending this energy, and thus don't accumulate it the same way that most things do.

These wisps are a common pest in the Vesper, a little like rats, but also a bit more potentially damaging, as they're drawn to places with a high magic content and flow. Although, they're rarely found at the pools in the Fray. This is mostly because Centurions have taken to killing them on sight, since they are quite fond of feeding off the energy which is used to keep them functional. It's a special thing, and it's their favorite.

Once upon a time, they actually had a use, but now they're just considered a bit of a waste product from magic casting.

(Although, that hasn't stopped some curious Seraphs from wondering if it'd be possible to domesticate them in a sense. They aren't inherently harmful, even if they have a habit of starting little fires or blowing cracks in walls. Some wisps simply sap energy and laze about, and though they become rarer later on, these are the ones that stick around places the longest.)

Certain wisps expend their excess energy with mimicry and shapeshifting, some of my references for them are birds like European Starlings and Superb Lyrebirds. Often times, their mimicry can make them even more of a nuisance, especially before the Seraph's extinction, as they were known to lead Seraphim astray by mimicking distress calls and even the sounds of clashing metal. Shapeshifting-wise, they tended to prefer creatures of a similar mass, so most often they'd take forms no bigger than medium sized cats, since anything larger is significantly bigger than any typical wisp. These ones didn't often last long after being created, but they were well documented.

They used to be kept out of important places in the Vesper with gates and small spells, but as those diminished, they began to creep in once again. Their presence sped up the collapse, but it couldn't exactly be prevented.

How is disability handled among seraphs? (Along with a brief explanation of some pieces of Seraphim culture)

Overall, it's treated as something to be respected, as it tends to be the result of actions not the Seraph's own, or of actions that were for the greater good of either the Seraph, or the Vesper as a whole. But, there are certain things which are much more looked down upon, and that is typically things like blindness or missing wings. These types of injuries, and related disabilities (stunted flight, limited vision [in cases where the blindness is partial], etc.), are viewed as almost childish, due to the fact they're especially common occurrences for Seraphim youth.

Older Seraphs commonly deal with lower mobility, at least in comparison to their younger counterparts. While Seraphs will snip and bite at each other (both literally and metaphorically), they are still a social species and care for their ill and disabled. Typically, any care being done for a Seraph will be done by those closer to them, mostly their inner circle and occasionally those associated with those Seraphs.

In cases of lost limbs, for any reason (regardless of how it may be viewed), if all the injury does is heal over and become more of a typical stump, the spot will be adorned with jewelry, and even tattoos or specifically dyed feathers, depending on the specific spot. Rather than being something hidden, these things are typically decorated, highlighted as a show of life and living. This is a bit of a remnant of an old myth which was lost long before anything was written, but it speaks of highlighting these losses as a triumph of life. It's a little bit of a "this is our gift from the stars [in reference to an almost-god] and we must show our appreciation, lest it be taken from us." Along with that, it's viewed as a way of warding off Wisps and other pests from these vulnerable spots.

Common patterns & symbols in these types of jewelry include but aren't limited to: ferns / laurel, flowers (varying types depending on the city, although the most common ones in Vesper are lily of the valley and bleeding hearts), spirals, and insects (again, of varying types depending on the city, the most common ones in Vesper are beetles or millipedes, although the latter are much less common.)

These pieces are made out of a variety of materials, but typically the basis is metals, either cast and shaped or twisted wire, depending on the Seraph's preferences. Pieces of the grown stars used for Centurions are also common place, along with common crystals. Everything used is subject to change, as these are personal to the Seraphs and will reflect their preferences, and even their favorite things. Over time, this jewelry may be reforged and adapted to better suit the Seraph, as time goes on.

What is the most common way for Seraphs to end up disabled? (And maybe a little hint of lore, as a treat)

So, I've mentioned some of the most commonly disabling things, but how the hell does that even happen?

Seraphs have their nasty habit of fighting amongst themselves, which is only more common with the younger of the bunch. While it isn't pleasant, it isn't unheard of for these fights to reach the point of weak points being clawed at/out. Which often entails wings being at the least taken out of their sockets, and at worst clawed off. In the same thread, eyes are also a common spot to be gone after.

But, as time went on, these types of fights became less common, so scars and marks from these fights are more often seen on the fully grown Seraphs. At least, this is the most accepted answer. Though, the truth of it is that usually, Seraphs lost limb and life to the fights which were so often instigated. While it's been most attributed to overly violent youth, it was much more an effect of war. At least, that was before the Centurions.

After them, however, things shifted. Without nearly as many Seraphs out actively participating in the fight aside from those that remained to ensure the Centurions' function, the most commonly disabling occurrences were related to either overexertion of magic over a long period of time (leading to effects a little similar to chronic fatigue & pain) and flight related injury. Though, that was tied with... Poaching related damage to stars.

Damaged stars? Poaching?

As I've already mentioned briefly here, Seraphim stars became a useful weapon due to their properties. While I won't elaborate much more than that for some mild spoiler reasons, let it be known that Seraphs were once revered as gods, but this began to turn into resentment over time. But, what does a damaged star entail for them?

A Seraph with a damaged star (whether it be cracked or chipped, both having different but lasting effects) doesn't often live more than a handful of years longer, as the magic that typically circulates through their body will begin to stagnate. This causes to formation of a sediment of sorts that accumulates in extremities and places like the eyes, mouth, and will even begin to seep into the keratin in their body, as well as their bones/marrow, coloring any new growth anything from pink to deep blues and greens.

While Seraphs are known for having a variety of colors which naturally and commonly occur in their feathers and flesh, these colors are associated heavily with this type of ailment, and those with these colors are often avoided by some of the more paranoid. (There is no risk to other Seraphim, this is a lot like how people will avoid those they perceive as ill / sick even when they know it won't affect them.)

Cracked Stars (All pieces present, but with slight separation or small fragments loose): Slower overall progression, characterized by weakness and general lethargy, along with sharp pain and numbness in extremities as time goes on, since the magic that Seraphs rely on doesn't flow quite how it's supposed to, along with the appearance of the aforementioned colors, since they tend to live long enough for it to completely change their appearance.

Chipped Stars (Pieces are missing, typically from failed removal attempts): Much faster progression, often to an almost violent effect, as instead of accumulating slowly, the magic which would form a sediment will instead begin to crystalize rapidly, making them only really able to live about a year after at most. This can also be the most sudden, as a chipped star likely won't be noticed until there are Wisps circling the Seraph, and sharp pain and complete loss of feeling (a side effect of the magic that's basically pouring out of them, which will make them much like the Centurions in this regard, as they cannot contain the magic.)

Malformed Stars (Not injury based, but included due to the relation and similarities): Some Seraphs are born with malformed stars and will have coloration associated with cracked stars from the very start. Although, it's entirely possible that they can live for a while longer than those whose stars get cracked, as their bodies are given the opportunity to properly adjust, as well as the lack of excess magic directly leaking into their bodies. Varying from Seraph to Seraph, they can have much more volatile magic, or that's less potent than is typical.

So what the fuck is the deal with Spoke? (Why is he like that?)

Spoke is a case of a potentially good thing being used in the worst way possible. Grown stars (or artificial stars, or anything to that degree) are perfect for Centurions, being able to be used as a baseline for the creation of pseudo-personage, a pseudo-soul, if you will. But, the problem is when they interact with another soul. Natural souls will eat away at artificial ones, and this lead to an extremely volatile reaction within Spoke. Along with the issue of souls, human bodies are not exactly made to regulate the magic that comes with these stars, and it causes... Complications.

Caught in an odd place where he both does and doesn't even physically exist at all, Spoke is a little like the ghosts that've taken to haunting the library in the absence of Seraphs. Varying even minute to minute, he can go from looking a little off (almost a little uncanny, in a way. Limbs slightly the wrong proportions, just enough to ring as odd, but not completely distorted) to being almost unrecognizable as human at all, practically surrounded by a thick layer of ambient magic, which can make him look like a bit like a shadow.

Although, as time goes on, this becomes much less varied, and instead, it manifests in the beginnings of Seraph-like features, including an additional set of non-functional eyes. As well, there is a certain dark-green-almost-black that makes his extremities look almost necrotic, although they aren't. This is just a manifestation of the excess magic, much like how it looks for Seraphim with cracked stars. For a period of time, he had grown the beginnings of an additional limb (although, it never got far, as it began to become excruciatingly painful for him), but it was removed.

Spoke is basically in limbo between being alive and dead, which has had its own interesting effects on his psyche, and really, if any true Seraph were there, he likely would've been mercy killed to spare him from this. But, he's happy as can be, despite the agonies. Much like any other human with a star place in them, there is most definitely a noticeable mark that resulted from it, something which has only grown over time. A little like what could've just been a scar at the start begins to morph into creeping vines, looking more and more like they've been struck with lightning.

(This is probably the most subject-to-change-as-i-write thing here, since I'm not 100% set on the primary appearance of it. There are major differences between Seraphim-stars and Grown-stars, and one of those major differences is that Seraphim-stars are much more stable, as they've had a long period of time to be refined and cultivated. Meanwhile grown-stars aren't given that kind of time, and are only an approximation of the real thing. While they can heal and prolong life, they lack the rhyme or reason that Seraphim ones will abide by. They don't know when to quit. They will form tumors and create what I can only describe as an excess of life, they make people sick, they shouldn't be used on organic things even if it's the only option. There's a reason Seraphs will sooner die than use one. They are viable for Centurions purely because of the lack of organic growth.)

Let's talk the Fray (and a little bit about the War, shall we?)

is there a way for the ones in the fray to get up to the vesper esp with all the ruin?

Really, it depends on the scenario! Before the death of the Seraphs, going between the two places was inconvenient, but possible. Typically it involved making some kind of trade with one of the Seraphim in order to be brought to the Vesper, although this was rare. The handful of human mages that did exist were able to move freely between the two places, but they disappeared not long after they began to be noticed. Though, they made a little bit of a resurgence as almost ghost-like figures, after the Seraphs' death.

Seraphim were able to go between the two places, as they never lost their flight, but even those who struggled with it were able to use their magic in order to go between. Centurions were unable to go between the two, as they were designated their places and functionally left to continue that task ad infinium. Humans were a rare sight, but on occasion human merchants were known to get up to the Vesper, usually using crude airships.

are there any other weapons of war lying around aside from centurions?

To be a little ominous for the sake of not spoiling too much: yes. Yes, there are, and they are only getting worse for wear, and even if their creators are long dead, they are not. They're still there, waiting to be called upon once again, to lay the world to even greater waste. Slumbering giants, if you will. I'll be elaborating on these especially in the main fic I have planned, so this is a "wait and see" kind of deal ^_^

Also if you've gotten this far I want to point you toward some art that vaguely inspired the baseline I have for wisps because I love this art and it fascinates me!

first piece is by ida lissner, second by tealnewcombart on etsy, third by tracy debenport!

i couldn't find the much more vibrantly colored type of almost psychedelic art that i've really drawn a fair bit of inspiration from, at least with the colors, these show a lot of the Shapes that i think of with them

[dogtoling]

Splatoon and dinosaurs are simultaneously stuck in my head with no signs of leaving anytime soon and after seeing the post about what inklings think of humans I feel super motivated to dump all my headcanons relating to paleontology in the splatoon universe I definitely think mammals, especially marine mammals would be the "dinosaurs" to inklings and other sea creatures, land mammals and other animals like insects reptiles etc would probably be more akin to like, aquatic reptiles and pterosaurs where they're still popular and iconic but not really on the level of dinosaurs and may often get mistaken as one. I do feel like fossils of species before the Cenozoic could still be getting dug up and studied to this day though I don't know how much of an issue inaccurate reconstrucions of animals would be for them, I mean it definitely would still happen but I don't know if it'd be on like, Jurassic World level with a lot of shrinkwrapping and maybe marine mammal fins are reconstructed as having fingers instead, because assuming it hasn't just completely been ruined beyond recognition there'd definitely be statues, pictures, drawings, etc of former life that could be referenced by researchers and used to help them with reconstructions. I think the problem that'd come up would be trying to identify those resources to a particular species which could cause a mix up like a statue of a tiger being confused for a jaguar. And with drawings, if they reference something more stylized they could end up with a few incorrect traits such as a dolphin's eyes being larger than they actually are, and there's a bunch of species that aren't as popular as tigers jaguars and dolphins that wouldn't have so many things of them made so they don't really have a lot of reference material if they even have any, but like considering we are still making reconstructions of prehistoric creatures and have been evolving with their accuracy when we didn't have a sentient species documenting their appearance and behaviors I don't think that'd be much of an issue Mammals would 100% be used like dinosaurs are in media, a movie where people are exploring an ocean then somehow this killer whale just appears and starts eating them or something is something I can see existing in the splatoon universe.. PLENTY of documentaries about life in the Cenozoic for sure, I think that killer whales would be seen as a T. rex I mean it's a huge and super cool predator what else could it be, other dolphins would be seen as other large theropods, leopard seals would probably be seen as velociraptors etc Yeah normally with larger pieces of texts like this my wording might end up being weird or I didn't really explain something in a way that made sense but I think I got it pretty clear

i dont even know if i'm going to add anything to this bc i agree with pretty much the whole thing. TL;DR i think it's pretty clear that some mammals and land animals that are iconic in our day are also still popular in the Mollusc Era due to appearing in some of their items; and yeah this is likely because humans created so much stuff OF those animals that there is no way a lot of that isn't being found, dug up, and associated with the creatures. Marine mammals are the most relevant in setting to most creatures in the Mollusc Era, so those are also the most popular (we literally see an anthropomorphized manatee on a sweater in Splatoon 3); also i really hope there's a lot of academic arguing on whether some popular commonly depicted creatures like dragons or gryphons or trolls are real animals

[crepes-suzette-373]

I want to vent out this crazy craaaaaazy total utter reach that have been haunting in my brain for weeks.

Unlike my previous analysis posts this is not really a logical theory with strong basis, and I absolutely don't think Oda-sensei is actually doing this on purpose. It's just an observation of "this has the same vibes" that has been bothering me for a while.

In my Germa theory post, sangerie mentioned "what if they used to be good, but is now evil + WG propaganda nonsense made it worse", which is relevant to my crazy thought, so I decided I might as well just let it out.

There... there is actually someone like that in Japanese history and pop culture. A very famous someone who even little 4 year old kids (in Japan) would know who that is.

As in. In his lifetime this person was maybe not as bad (I'm no historian so I'm in no position to say), but over time he gained terrible reputation and decades of fiction just outright turned him into a demon.

His name is Oda Nobunaga.

(different kanji from Oda-sensei's name, but I wouldn't be surprised if he feels conscious about the name sounding the same even with the different kanji spelling)

Nobunaga is evil/demonic in anime and games like Sengoku Basara and a ton of other media (movies, novels, other manga and anime, etc) too numerous to name. Sometimes literally not human at all, not just him using evil demon powers ("demon powers").

He was called Dairokuten Maou, or translated as "demon king of the sixth heaven" (hey look, number 6!!!!!), and this name stuck so strongly to the point that if you try to search just what is a Dairokuten Maou in Japanese you will just get pictures of Nobunaga all over.

But that's all just fiction. Not necessarily done out of malice, but maybe the original creators just thought "wouldn't it be cool if I do this", but the audience didn't know that and thought the fiction embellishments are real.

The true historical accounts supposedly says that he was, in history, someone who wanted to "conquer" the nation for the sake of bringing peace to the war torn nation (the Warring States/Sengoku period). His methods were extreme, even cruel, but the goal is "noble".

The story just gets distorted over time because of poor transmission of accounts, propaganda and fiction. Only recently do all these random ancient ancestral documents with more trustworthy accounts start popping up because now even the general public are helping to look out for them.

Again, I don't say Germa is consciously designed based on this, but gah, this is just driving me insane.

The reason why I started having this wild thought was that Judge's birthday is the date celebrated in Japan as "Nobunaga's birthday". Supposedly this came from a fan submission, but this is the one that sensei greenlit. Surely there must be others he could've picked? I just keep thinking, is someone just trying to be funny here or is this really purely coincidence?

Other vaguely thematic similarity is that Nobunaga's army was famous (in pop culture) for being the only professional soldiers of the time, when his rivals regularly have to conscript peasants for the wars (probably not actually historically true).

It's also (very erroneously) commonly thought that Nobunaga was more advanced-minded than his rivals, the first to utilise guns in mass scale in wars (this is also not true, but that's what a lot of people thought).

Compare this to Germa's advanced science and renowned military forces.

Judge hating Sanji's weakness/uselessness is also somewhat similar to the stories of Nobunaga also detesting worthless vassals. There were stories about how he mercilessly threw out vassals who have served him for decades because he thought they aren't useful anymore.

Like I said the connection is very flimsy, that's why I doubt there's relevance. Just thought I'd still mention it since I'm just throwing everything at the wall and hoping something sticks.

Also, the one vaguely relevant image I might be able to point to. Reiju's butterfly wings is the swallowtail butterfly. A rather iconic symbol related to Oda Nobunaga.

The butterfly could mean other things, though, that's why this is just wild flailing.

[walkawaytall]

For the fic ask game:

16. Is there a commonly held misconception about one of your stories that you’d like to correct for the masses? (I know of one and thought you might want an excuse to say it. 😎)

17. What does your editing process look like?

16. So, I think I actually may have touched on this answering number 20 (at least if I'm thinking of the same conversation that you are about Han's motivations in Purpose of Heritage thus far)? And, aside from that, I don't think there have been many widely-held misconceptions -- though there have definitely been different responses to certain things than I expected (like, more than one person saw Reconstitution as a bit of a downer and that was...the exact opposite of my intent with that story...but we all bring our own experiences to the stories we read, so I'm not going to say their reading is wrong per se, just that I intended for the ending of that rather melancholy fic to have a hopeful slant to it, even in the midst of life's imperfections).

Oh! Actually, I though of another one: there are moments in Purpose of Heritage specifically where Leia's straight-up wrong. Like, she is our heroine, our main character, our beloved space princes, but she's also 19/20/21 years old and traumatized and very specifically not dealing with said trauma in healthy ways at least 50% of the time (her eschewing therapy repeatedly is not supposed to be viewed as a super-great alternative to, you know, going to therapy), and there have been moments that people have clocked as Leia being a badass -- and they aren't wrong -- but I also see them as Leia's cool, together facade cracking in a way that isn't good technically.

Like, we love Leia, so the scene at the shooting range where she uses Varner Coy's blaster to shoot a line of bullseyes does feel badass and empowering and a little cathartic because that guy has been a jerk, but it's also Leia losing her cool entirely and giving into an impulsivity that I don't see as a good thing for someone in leadership to do. I didn't stick immediate consequences in there because I'm not writing an after-school special, but...just because Leia doesn't always have negative consequences for a thing doesn't mean that I included it with the intent that it was supposed to be seen as totally awesome, full-stop. Sometimes it's partially awesome, and partially a big red flag. And maybe I should be more obvious about this; I don't know. I just am not writing a morality tale exactly, so I don't want to steer the narrative into an area that makes it feel clunky or preachy.

17. For normal-length things like one-shots or Collateral, a multichapter with chapters that are a sane length (4K-6K words): I write the thing, I read the thing and edit as I read. I may or may not edit while I write; it depends on how long it is, how long it takes me to write, if any parts are giving me issues. (Like, if I get really, really stuck, I'll start on a fresh document and copy/paste different sentences and paragraphs until I can get back into a good rhythm, and in the midst of all of that, editing happens as well). I basically read and edit things several times until I'm either 1. Entirely happy with it (rare) or 2. Tired of looking at it and no longer debating about changing anything (more common).

For Purpose of Heritage, I did an unhinged and probably short-sighted thing where I wrote what was originally two chapters, decided I preferred them together, and combined them, setting a precedent for myself to write chapters that are 8K-10K words long (and that is legitimately where I've felt each chapter has a natural stopping point -- like, I'm not padding stuff to get to a certain word count. Most of the chapters, I suppose, could be split in half, but we're so far beyond that at this point, I'm just resigned to writing giant-ass chapters until this project is complete). I used to reread everything every time I set out to write a new chapter to try to ensure I didn't go off-the-rails tonally, but when that became too cumbersome, I think you were the one that mentioned having your phone read what you'd written aloud, and I use that not just to review past chapters, but also to edit (so, thank you for that suggestion if that was you, DP!). It helps me identify clunky wording and sometimes straight-up inconsistencies.

So, I usually write and edit as I write, then reread the whole chapter and edit, have my phone read it and mentally dogear what needs to be looked at and edit those pieces when I can, and then read it another time and occasionally have a beta reader (thanks for the times you've helped with this, by the way!) assure me that I haven't gone off the rails entirely if I keep worrying about one particular aspect, edit again with any beta reader suggestions in mind, and finally publish when I'm either as pleased as I'm going to be with it or I can't bring myself to read it again. I do usually try to make sure there is at least a night where I ignore the chapter entirely before doing one final editing pass-through before I post. Giving my brain a chance to not think about it helps me catch errors I missed on earlier read-throughs, and also usually helps me realize that I haven't, in fact, written a pile of garbage.

Thanks for the questions! Sorry these answers are so dang long!

fanfic writer asks

[katvonbirb]

📓 :3

I had to go browse my gdocs folders for an answer to this one, but here's a Transformers fic that is technically, like, half written, but I started it back in 2016 and the chances of it ever actually getting finished are pretty low. But I open the document every now and then, reread it, maybe add a few words, and it's still sitting in the back of my brain.

This one gets a little messy with different threads being pulled from canon and other fics and headcanons, but stick with me.

This fic has a title, partly because it I did, actually, start writing this: in the dark, a light

As for the setting and such: Transformers. Giant robots in disguise. Optimus Prime, Megatron, etc. This fic takes place on Cybertron, before the war leaves the planet, before the OG animated series, before the movies, before Earth. So no humans, just sentient/sapient robots.

There are some fics out there that play with Transformers and the occult, the Cybertron equivalent of ghosts and boogeymen. I don't remember now if spark shadows was something I pulled from those fics or if they just inspired it, but a spark shadow is kind of like a malevolent ghost that would roam around and kill a mech and eat their spark, their heart/soul, in an effort to return to life.

There is an Autobot, Jazz, who is commonly portrayed as a spy or saboteur. And he doesn't get a whole lot of screen time, though he's present in several of the various franchises, but he's very fun to play with in terms of background and such. So I thought, what if spark shadows are real, what if Jazz is a spark shadow, except that spark shadows aren't actually ghosts, they're an actual type of creature on Cybertron, just ones that live way down deep in the planet, near to the core, and they're an old species, old enough to have become a legend up at the surface of modern Cybertron. And so he's just kind of pretending to be a transformer like the others, but he's got additional senses and capabilities, things that lend well to him being a spy and saboteur.

And there is a Decepticon, Soundwave, who is often portrayed as the Decepticon spymaster, with casseticons that are small animal-type mechs that he carries around with him and also serve as spies and saboteurs. And there's nothing special about him, he's a normal enough mech, but he's the enemy.

And that's a lot of background for a fairly straightforward plot: What if, during a battle, a surface level of Cybertron gives way and Soundwave falls down, deep enough that he can't get out on his own, and he's injured? And Jazz comes down and finds him, only he doesn't kill Soundwave, he saves him and leads him out of the old, dead and unused layers of Cybertron. But along the way, Jazz has to use his spark shadow nature to keep them safe and it's his knowledge of the innermost sections of Cybertron that let him lead Soundwave back to the surface. And Soundwave is seeing this and making observations and starting to put together the clues into an answer that should be impossible, but clearly isn't. And the ending will be them getting back to the surface and parting ways, but now Soundwave is aware that Jazz is some sort of primordial creature that shouldn't exist and it's really all just one big what-if character study, lmao.

I'm not even sure if it's a shippy fic, it might end up being just gen, but I really love the idea and maybe someday I will poke at it enough that it will become a real, finished fic. Someday.

[clementine-kesh]

Yea, true, I didn't really consider alien programming languages, that's a good point, we have no way of even imagining what those might be like. Point taken, you were right lol.

That said, I defo wanna address some of the stuff mentioned by @a-girl-called-bob in their comment because it's pretty interesting.

Metaprogramming is an interesting one I hadn't considered. I haven't done much of it myself so I'm mostly drawing from what I've heard from others but it's probably even more relevant in the far off future. Again, I'm no expert, but I think it's probably likely it would mostly be done in one language (tho I doubt it'd be a descendant of Lisp by then, probably a new language created with metaprogramming as its core goal or a descendant of that) that, while potentially very different from other then modern languages, would likely be more commonly taught. But I may be wrong about that.

As for pointer access... I'm gonna be a little controversial here. I know programmers are notoriously resistant to change (tho at least in this case it'd honestly be unfeasible to update all existing code still running important systems within the foreseeable future but you know what I mean) and C++ has failed to deter even new programmers from using raw pointers in brand new code for decades, but I think that especially in a 'utopian' society like star trek, either some evolution of smart pointers or just straight up references (depending on which 'side' wins lol) would be the norm, making pointers obsolete. Again, I know this is controversial but I think it's realistic. Not necessarily better tbh, I do love being able to fuck things up as much as I want if I feel like it, but safer and more reasonable.

Monads... I'll just admit, I cannot say. I've not personally done any functional programming and the people I know who have I haven't discussed it with. So no comment there.

Object oriented features tho are already present in so many languages I doubt there's many (if any) programmers who aren't familiar with them so I honestly don't think it'd be much of a roadblock for anyone, today or in the far future.

Just as I wrote that last sentence I saw a new comment come in from @egg-tats and yes, that's basically the point I tried to make initially: learning a modern language with documentation and/or internet access is pretty easy, at least to about mid level proficiency. But yea, this would in no way be applicable to alien or otherwise unrelated ones and also not really to certain advanced concepts as some of the ones mentioned by Bob. Come to think of it, who knows how alien computers would even work, their concept of programming might be so fundamentally different it's not even recognisable to us.

But yea, long story short, y'all make some very good points, it would probably not be as easy as I want it to be 😔

Consider my mind changed.

-Levi

(including both replies for posterity)

to your other point the idea of alien programming languages is so fascinating to me. there’s this assumption that the way we build programming languages (and other data infrastructure) is based on some sort of universal logic when like… the way we conceptualize and classify things is so different even just across human cultures. just look at how many papers there are on integrating nonwestern conceptualizations of space into gis and other technologies built on western assumptions. really interesting and eye-opening stuff. i can’t imagine what that would look like for actual aliens, i need to hang out with some vulcan programmers for real

[mtghewillneverend]

Can you face him, Planeswalker?

Welcome to my new sideblog for the fanfic I've been working on that hopes to adapt much of what's happened in an RP between myself and my girlfriend, based on Magic the Gathering.

My lovely girlfriend is the one who mostly came up with this idea; she is wonderful, and her ideas are very fascinating, otherwise I wouldn't be putting so much effort into writing them out! I love her very very much, and she has given me permission to write about this story. I don't think she would appreciate much attention over it as she prefers her privacy on the matter, but if that ever changes I will be more than happy to link her here. Until possibly then, however, please don't ask. :)

In this story, Nicol Bolas has found a way to escape the Meditation Plane and begin making moves for domination once again, all while the threat of New Phyrexia looms, and the multiverse's heroes struggle to remain a united front.

Click the Read More to see more!

Basic Info

AO3: MagicTheScroll

Main: oops-prow-did-it-again.tumblr.com

I follow back/comment/reply from my main! So if you see me on that account, that is why.

The story is currently not posted anywhere, as I am still working on it. It currently has 61 chapters planned, with 5 mostly written, and the rest outlined. However, one arc has still largely been unplanned, so there will be more chapters. The work will be posted as a series, titled "He Will Never End," with the works "Nightmares Over Ikoria," "The Rebellion," "Fallen," and "Arisen" underneath it.

You can read (and comment on) the current up-to-date outline here.

I will be steadily posting the same content from that document to this blog, alongside my own rambling about the story, art, and everything in between.

I really love writing for this stuff, so I hope anyone that follows enjoys. :)

Note that though I do not want to get involved in anti/proshipper drama, know that my stories do not flinch away from harsher subjects. I do not have time for petty arguments over stuff like that. Please know that if you try to berate me or attack me for anything that seems "wrong" to you, I will simply delete/ignore/block it.

I wrote a Tibalt x Vorinclex fic. There is no bar :P

Commonly Used Tags

{ pinned } - For the current/past pinned posts.

{ story info } - For posts that are mostly just me rambling about story content, but aren't necessarily story content themselves. Frequently cross-tagged with { character info }

{ character info } - Posts that focus primarily on one or more characters.

{ story content } - Posts that include content from the story. Usually rough-draft versions. The final versions of stories will always be posted to AO3. May also be on posts that link to AO3.

{ other } - For posts that don't fall under any other tags.

[aberrantmood]

A little bit about me! (That isn't already on my carrd) WARNING: I'm a multi-paragraph texter. This introduction may be a bit longer than common intro posts you'd come across, which is something that some people enjoy more than others. With that in mind, if you aren't willing to read at least my opinions/stances or carrd, you won't have the best time here. 🍵 What's my general "vibe?" Grew up catholic, now I'm someone the priests I grew up with want burnt on a stake. I also often put my filter on the back burner when it comes to sexual topics. Although, because of that, I'm proud to say that various friends of mine have become more open with not only talking about their sexual thoughts and/or experiences, they've also become more comfortable and―dare I say―confident with themselves. I'm the one they come to if they're unsure of which toy to buy and if they're too scared to order/buy one themselves. I'm the one they come to if they need sexual advice, I'm the one they (specifically my writer friends) come to when they wanna ramble about their OCs sexual preferences and interests. Hence, I will absolutely be that same friend towards anyone who decides "Hey, her blog is pretty chill. I'll stick around."

🍵 Why am I on tumblr? To talk about sex and, hopefully, help break the stigma a little bit behind it. I'm hoping my frequent talk about it will help not only others out there feel more open―just as it did with my friends―but at least relieved to know that they aren't alone in any kinks they may have (and that they're completely valid, at that). I actually highly recommend Evie Lupine if you're looking for further and more in-depth kink education. She's asexual, too! Kinky asexuals aren't commonly known of nor talked about, and she plans to break that. So, despite not being asexual myself―she taught me a lot about the asexual spectrum community, and helped me immensely with fighting the common guilt that comes with being kinky. I highly, highly recommend her. I'm also here to spread education about LGBTQ+―specifically us Aromantic Allosexuals, which I am. "Aromantic Allopansexual," to be specific. I don't only post about sex and my sexual identity, though. I also may post about my personal interests/hobbies, which you can find on my carrd. Main topics might be about horror, as I've been a huge fan of it since toddler age.

🍵 What am I into (NSFW wise)? In short, I'm a "pillow princess" submissive. A sub is self-explanatory. For pillow princess though―to me, "pillow princess" means I'm all for receiving oral, but have an uncontrollable repulsion to giving it. I used to beat myself up for that, thanks to the common "give what you get" expectation when it comes to oral, but came to accept it. That I not only can't help my repulsion, but shouldn't "have" to do anything in sex I'm not comfortable with. That it does not make me boring or selfish. To anyone who's similar: I hear you. I understand you. And I promise you, there are many people out there entirely into it. Though I am curious to try out deepthroating a dick or strap-on, as I frequently do in my fantasies―a real dick would have to fit my personal bill of attractive to even want to touch it. As said before, though, there are people entirely into it. Hence, I prefer only sleeping with partners who don't want their own genitals touched. As I'll admit that giving-oral-repulsion guilt still lingers from time to time. But if I'm with a partner who doesn't want their genitals touched in the first place, it really shuts that inner guilt off. (Stone tops, we stand in solidarity). And as you can probably tell, I'm more than open with my insecurities. Please feel free to be on my blog as well. Kink wise and a more in depth list? Here's a document, if you're curious. 🍵 Tags? • #askLeda for my asks and answers. • #nsft for "not safe for tumblr/not safe for work" related posts. Mainly humerous/not so serious posts. • #sexualfantasy for, as it says, posts related to my fantasies. • #aromantic or #aroallo for Aromantic related posts. • #sexualeducation or #ethicalkink for, also, just as it says on the tin. Educational and encouragement, and potential ramblings/rants, of healthy practices when it comes to sex of all kinds. Be it vanilla or kinky. • #toyrec for adult toy recommendations and reviews.

• #Ledastunes for songs I'm either currently listening to on repeat, and/or just wanna recommend. 🍵 Some opinions/stances? • Sex and romance are not inherently bad. While the way that society, at large, interacts with them is flawed (e.g: toxic monogamy/amatonormativity)―completely getting rid of them is far from the solution. • Sex repulsion/aversion is not an excuse for sex negativity. (e.g: "Eww! People have sex?! Y'all are disgusting!") • Children shouldn't be sheltered from the topic of sex. And around teenage years, they should feel comfortable enough to ask you for a toy or advice. If your child grows up fearing you'll be disgusted by them, then I firmly believe you fucked up there. • As kinky and kink positive I am, kink should never be a replacement for therapy. • But with that in mind, kink (especially edgier/violent leaning ones) are far from inherently misogynistic and are a sign you need your head checked/of mental illness. Anti-kinksters and radical feminists tend to have this viewpoint. So, and I say this as respectfully as possible, leave my blog if you fit any of those bills.

• “Virginity” is not medically real. It’s not a medical term, and it’s not based on any scientifical evidence. Instead, virginity is a social and cultural concept that is more important in some cultures and religions than in others. Particularly, purity culture. • Doms using safe words/hand signs/etc is absolutely necessary. The sub isn't the only one in control―both (or all) parties are. Each person in a power play dynamic absolutely deserve, and need, a safe word/hand sign/whatever. Including sadists. Far too many people (especially newcomers) in the BDSM community either aren't aware that doms, too, need check-ins and tap outs. Then once some people/subs do learn about/experience that, they scoff. This all goes for aftercare, too. • You aren't "sex positive" as you may think if you're anti-kink. I don't care if it's for personal reasons (in that case, that's called projection)―if your argument is "I support x because x is better than y" then you actually don't support x, and should maybe reconsider your stances and views. "Oh, have as much sex as you want! That's totally great for you! So long as it doesn't involve any kinks like masochism or anything. That's for brainwashed and gross people who are just inherently harming their mental state or are inherently abusers, haha :)" We've been told that sex is degrading and takes away a person's value one way or another, and we recognize that that's a problematic way of viewing things. But instead of saying "no, that's not true" and instead saying "yeah, it's true, but not under these conditions" and you think you've made it better? Once again, I would highly recommend sitting back and listening to those with different experiences and thoughts. • You aren't supportive of aromantics and "all complex queer identities" until you learn and accept that not every aromantic is asexual. Neither that all aroallos are bi/pan/lesbian/etc―some are heterosexual, yet still absolutely belong in the community. Aromantic, in of itself, is a queer identity. 🍵 QUCK NOTE: Trans women, you are absolutely loved and welcome here, and it will be kept that way. I say that as not only a promise, but a threat towards any transphobes reading. Mark my words, I will not tolerate any hate towards my trans sisters on my fucking blog. 🍵 Rules for asking/interacting: Here.

[deathbydarkelves]

Hello! I recently discovered your blog and love your OCs and AU. I read almost all the lore bits you wrote on tumblr that I could find.

I think you've mentioned that several "canon" time spans in your AU have been adjusted and my clutter-filled brain just can't find the post again, but what are those in particular? ALSO! How do you feel about the fact that there are 15,000 year+ individuals that just... commonly exist for races like Night Elves? Even a century is a long time, let alone 150 of them.

Oh gosh thank you so much, that really means a lot ;w; I'm gonna put my answer below a cut because it got longer than I anticipated lol

I had to go check for myself, I admit, but I don't think I ever did post my adjusted timeline? Or I forgot to tag it in a useful way and now it's forever lost to the void lol.

BUT I've been working on a google doc 'master document' for the AU to consolidate all the info for it, and I do have the timeline in there. At least, from the First War (Warcraft I) to Dragonflight. The doc SHOULD be almost ready to post, but I'll just share the timeline for now.

(Note that I named the kaldorei nation "Kal'thalas" in my AU.)

-----

0-3 ADP: First War (Warcraft I)

4-8: Second War (Warcraft II)

20-late 22/early 23: Third War (Warcraft III)

25-28: “Vanilla WoW” happens.

29-30: The Burning Legion invades again (Burning Crusade).

32-33: The Lich King begins a new conquest (Wrath of the Lich King).

36-37: Deathwing attempts to remake the world (Cataclysm).

38-40: The mists around Pandaria dissipate (Mists of Pandaria).

40-41: Alternate Draenor’s timeline collides with ours (Warlords of Draenor).

43-45: The Burning Legion invades for the final time (Legion).

Tyrande does not denounce the shal’dorei. Instead, Suramar’s decision to join the Horde is motivated by a desire for more political freedom.

45: The Fourth War begins in earnest with the burning of Teldrassil, around midsummer.

After reclaiming Darkshore, Tyrande takes on the powers of the Night Warrior and leaves with Maiev to track down Sylvanas. She leaves Malfurion and Shandris in charge.

47: The Fourth War ends with the mak’gora outside Orgrimmar.

50: With his limited executive power, Malfurion increases taxes on imported goods and shuts down most exports from Kalimdor to the EK.

This is to put economic pressure on the Alliance and force them to pay more attention to his requests for more support for the refugees.

The kaldorei, pressed for resources themselves, don’t have the ships or supplies to bring the refugees back on their own.

52: Tyrande and Maiev finally track down and kill Sylvanas, who had taken refuge in Northrend.

53-55: Tyrande returns to the role of High Priestess and diverts every available resource to bringing the refugees in the EK home.

55: Tyrande and Kal’Thalas as a whole officially cut ties with the Alliance.

Kal’Thalas and the Horde reach a mutual agreement to not intrude on each other’s land and to not threaten the other unless this promise is broken.

The draenei, tauren, and shal’dorei offer aid to Kal’Thalas – each for their own reasons – and an alliance of sorts is formed between the four nations.

62: The Dragon Isles reawaken.

The kaldorei send their own ships and explorers to investigate. Beyond that, I have yet to decide on the exact changes I want to make to the Dragonflight plot.

-----

The major adjustments to the timeline would be that many of the canon 'expansion events' take place over 1-3 years, instead of each happening within a year, and that the time between the end of "BfA" and the start of "Dragonflight" is fifteen years instead of six years like in canon. And Shadowlands never happens <3

In more concrete terms, this means in my AU -pulls random canon character out of a hat- Thrall is 61 when the Dragon Isles awaken, as opposed to being 39 as in canon. And on the topic of ages...

This is a little pedantic but I choose to say there simply aren't any elves alive "today" any older than 11,000 years. They diverged from trolls 15,000 years ago, but weren't actually granted immortality until after The Sundering 10,000 years ago. I can buy they had unnaturally long lifespans before then (then-present but vestigial regenerative abilities + Well of Eternity fuckery), but only in the matter of centuries. The maximum expected lifespan would've probably been around 400-600, but you were more likely to get sick with something nasty, become something's dinner, or otherwise die in an unfortunate accident than actually make it that long. Early on the average lifespan might've been closer to 150-200, later climbing up to 300.

With that said, I still have thoughts on elves in the 10,000 years age range. In my AU, they are extremely, EXTREMELY rare. The longer you live, even with immunity to disease, the more likely you are to get into a fatal accident or encounter something that's too much for you to handle, or just get plain unlucky. So if you have been around since The Sundering, you are either going to be incredibly well-respected or incredibly feared. Or most likely both, depending on who you ask. For that reason, the only characters in my AU in that age range are the canon characters like Tyrande and Shandris and Maiev. If you're that old, everyone is going to know your name, because you could count the number of living people in that age range in one breath. There's already an air of respect around them because they're Big and Canon, so I just leave that as-is.

((That's just my personal approach to the subject, I have no issue with RPers with hella old characters lol))

And I don't know if this was also part of your question, but when it comes to writing immortal/very old characters, I approach that through the lens of "they may be very experienced, but they're still human (metaphorically)." No matter how long you've been around you still experience the world one day at a time, and thus you still make mistakes.

You've still got a mortal mind so you'll never be omniscient, and you will forget things. I also think ancient elves (especially those in political positions, like they often are) definitely slow down the "cultural progression" of their societies, but not to an extreme extent. People still change over their lifetimes and elves aren't a hivemind. But, like... the cultural taboo around magic usage might've been changed a lot sooner if Tyrande hadn't been the High Priestess for ten thousand years, y'know. With shorter-lived races, you know the ruler is gonna kick the bucket EVENTUALLY and the next rando is gonna have different ideas. Though, again, individuals change over time. Even with the same people at the helm, Kal'thalas during the Long Vigil was far from static.

Back to the memory thing: I saw someone in the comments of this video (good video, though not the end-all-be-all of writing immortals) say: "I always found it weird that no one ever calls out that memory gets distorted with time, that it fades, or shifts based on new beliefs, or has things added. Like, if eye witness testimony is suspect within a few days, what would centuries do?" I also take that approach to immortal memory. They just cannot remember it all, and they will never remember anything exactly as it objectively was. That's why historians are needed. That's why Kalassian, my AU "root" elven language that diverged from Zandali, is a dead language without a full translation. Even though people still live that used to speak and write it, so much time has passed that all its once-speakers may as well be gone. There are inscriptions in ruins that have been known for centuries and are still not translated.

(revision of a diagram I made a while ago)

(Don't let all the arrows coming off Zandali make it seem like Darn/Shalassian are uniform. They have dialects, just not the sheer variability of Zandali because their speaking populations are more localized.)

Anyway I do believe I've started going on a tangent that's not entirely related, so I'll cut myself off here HDJHFC

Thank you again for the ask and don't hesitate to send more :) I love any excuse to talk about my AU.

[mysticalpaintercollective]

What Will used cars in Tarporley Be Like in 100 Years?

Cons of buying an utilized auto

There are a selection of means to resource an utilized car-- including investors, suppliers as well as personal sellers. You can also acquire face to face or from another location (over the phone or online) so we'll break down all those choices so you understand which one ideal suits you. Buying an accepted utilized automobile from a franchised supplier is one of the most expensive alternative, but it's usually the most secure for a series of factors. Firstly, the cars and truck should've been with an extensive check. The largest worry for most individuals when acquiring utilized is unpredictability about the vehicle's background. Clocking, or tampering with the tape-recorded gas mileage, is a recurring issue. These could be hiding age-related problems that owners aren't aware of, especially with most of solution and also maintenance routines hing on mileage. A previously owned vehicle may also have been formerly written-off in a crash, without that being disclosed to you. Used cars with patchy solution backgrounds and also MoT documents are still prevalent, too. Normally, the larger business, the higher the prices. If you desire a secondhand car with the least amount of possible missteps, a franchised supplier or independent garage is best. Another bottom line to consider is that all traders and dealers legitimately have to comply with the Customer Civil Liberty Act. That suggests if your newly-bought secondhand car develops a problem and you bought cars for sale in Tarporley it from a dealer, it should be of a satisfactory high quality, suitable for function and also as described. Otherwise you're qualified to a reimbursement, substitute or repair service. Nonetheless, exclusive sales just have to be as defined.

Buying privately

You'll commonly obtain the most affordable rate if you buy from a private vendor, specifically as there's even more space for bargaining. Automobiles offered privately are 'sold as seen', though-- so you'll have really little legal return if things go wrong. Acquiring independently likewise gives you the chance to satisfy the previous owner and ask some inquiries, like why they're selling the car, how it's been made use of etc. However, cars and trucks sold privately won't have actually been through an extensive automobile checkup-- so you'll need to do more checks on your own to make certain everything is up to scratch. Keep in mind to examine the auto features both tricks, all the files, a full service background as well as you have actually examined the MoT background for things like gas mileage inconsistencies. Spending for a background check is additionally an excellent concept as it will notice points like outstanding financing.

[unadulteratedtriumphprincess]

Where to Find Guest Blogging Opportunities on cheap cars for sale Windsor

Disadvantages of buying an utilized auto

There are a variety of ways to resource a used car-- consisting of investors, suppliers and personal sellers. You can additionally buy in person or remotely (over the phone or online) so we'll break down all those choices so you recognize which one finest fits you. Purchasing an accepted made use of vehicle from a franchised supplier is one of the most expensive choice, however it's typically the most protected for a range of factors. First of all, the auto ought to've been with a comprehensive check.

The greatest worry for many people when getting used is unpredictability concerning the car's background. Clocking, or damaging the recorded gas mileage, is a recurring problem. These could be concealing age-related issues that proprietors aren't familiar with, specifically with most of service and also maintenance routines depending on gas mileage. A secondhand auto might also have been formerly written-off in a crash, without that being revealed to you. Made use of vehicles with patchy service histories as well as MoT documents are still typical, too. Normally, the bigger business, the higher the prices. If you desire a secondhand automobile with the least amount of prospective missteps, a franchised supplier or independent garage is best. An additional key point to take into consideration is that all traders and also suppliers legitimately have to comply with the Customer Legal Right Act. That indicates if your newly-bought secondhand automobile develops a problem and also you bought it from a dealer, it should be of a sufficient high quality, suitable for function and as explained. Otherwise you're entitled to a refund, replacement or repair. Nonetheless, private sales only need to be as described.

Buying privately

You'll Get more information commonly obtain the most affordable price if you purchase from a private vendor, particularly as there's more area for working out. Cars offered independently are 'sold as seen', though-- so you'll have really little legal comeback if points fail. Getting independently likewise provides you the possibility to meet the previous proprietor as well as ask some concerns, like why they're marketing the vehicle, how it's been made use of and so on. Nevertheless, cars and trucks marketed independently will not have actually been via an extensive vehicle checkup-- so you'll need to do even more checks yourself to see to it everything is up to scratch. Remember to check the cars and truck comes with both keys, all the documents, a complete history and you've checked the MoT history for points like mileage disparities. Spending for a background check is likewise a great idea as it will certainly detect things like superior finance.

[friedtravelerglitter]

A Look Into the Future: What Will the used cars for sale in Twyford Industry Look Like in 10 Years?

Cons of getting a used auto

The largest fear for most individuals when purchasing used is uncertainty about the vehicle's history. Clocking, or damaging the taped gas mileage, is a recurring problem. These could be concealing age-related concerns that owners aren't familiar with, specifically with the majority of solution as well as upkeep timetables being dependent on mileage. A secondhand automobile may even have been formerly written-off in a crash, without that being disclosed to you. Made use of cars with uneven service backgrounds used cars for sale in Twyford as well as MoT documents are still widespread, as well. Keep in mind that the older the design you pick, the a lot more costly the auto's upkeep might become. Most of cars and trucks over three years old are out of manufacturer warranty, yet few service warranties cover wear-and-tear things like brakes, clutches or tires anyway-- which are all parts that will certainly require to be replaced as the miles rack up. More recent cars and trucks use more advanced technology-- especially when it involves safety, safety and security and gas economic situation. An older cars and truck will certainly have extra maintenance costs tied to it, but it might additionally be dramatically less gas efficient, much less safe and also much less risk-free if it's a substantially older vehicle. Much less safety and also a reduced safety score could also enhance insurance rates.

Where to acquire a used cars and truck

There are a variety of ways to resource a made use of auto-- consisting of traders, suppliers as well as private vendors. You can additionally purchase personally or from another location (over the phone or online) so we'll break down all those options so you know which one ideal fits you. Getting an accepted used auto from a franchised dealer is the most pricey option, however it's usually one of the most safe and secure for a range of factors. First of all, the auto ought to've been via a detailed check. Accepted Made use of cars and trucks will certainly almost always have a complete history as well as feature an aftermarket guarantee (around year is common). If you're not really sure-footed about looking for as well as acquiring a used vehicle, a supplier is the most effective place to begin as buying independently commonly requires more car expertise. An investor can range from a bachelor buying and also offering autos on their driveway to a franchised supplier. It is necessary to understand the distinction in between an investor and also a supplier because you'll obtain much less aftersales sustain with a trader, for instance, yet prices will be lower as they have much less expenses (personnel, facilities and so on) to cover.