#Super nice people doing super nice things...

[dragonagitator]

What are the non-Tumblr roleplay websites? I had no idea that people roleplayed as MCU characters online (the only roleplaying I knew about was OCs in games like D&D) before I stumbled across some roleplay blogs in the tags I'm subscribed to, so this is entirely new to me. I've been having a lot of fun even with the PG-only stuff -- I'm one of those people who shouts at the characters on my TV, so being able to finally tell "them" all that pent-up advice and encouragement has been a nice outlet -- so if there are other websites that specialize in this sort of thing then I'd really appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction.

I will definitely be asking ages from now on, but as a middle-aged woman, it never occurred to me that a minor would want to run a roleplay blog for a character in his 50s, much less do a convincing job it! Learned my lesson and apologized profusely after they reached out on their main (whom I knew is in the British equivalent of high school) and let me know they were the one behind those blogs. We are still friends but I keep it strictly PG now that I know how young they are.

Totally my fault, not theirs -- I should have asked -- I just tend to default to assuming everyone I interact with online is an adult because back when I was a kid, the internet was only accessible to people in academia, government, or high tech. I had to visit my dad in his office and use his work account to read and post on rec.arts.startrek because there was literally no other way for me to get online back in 1991.

Then, even after the internet became available to the general public, parents used to be super restrictive about what sites their kids could access, and their restrictions were relatively effective because everyone used the same family computer in the living room.

Kids having their own smartphones or computers and the privacy to access primarily adult spaces without their parents having any idea what they're up to online is a relatively new phenomenon, so I'm still surprised every time it turns out the person I'm conversing with is a minor. I don't necessarily want them to get off my lawn, I'm just confused how they ended up there in the first place lol.

you dont want character ai you want to roleplay with someone

[lazysoulwriter]

coffee stains & meet-cutes ── pedro pascal .✦

requested! thank you.content: meet-cute / strangers to lovers / super fluffy / clumsy pedro / reader doesn’t know who he is

The first thing you register is heat. Then wetness. Then the slightly panicked sound of someone whisper-cursing in Spanish.

You blink down at your white shirt, now freckled with coffee stains, and then up at the man who just bumped into you.

“¡Mierda! I’m so—ah, crap—I mean, I’m really sorry,” he fumbles, his hands hovering awkwardly as if he’s about to pat you down and realizing that would make it worse. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

You shake your head, still a little stunned, not just from the spill—but from him. Disheveled curls, apologetic brown eyes, and a voice that could melt butter. He’s wearing a hoodie under a denim jacket and has this anxious, boyish charm that makes it hard to stay mad.

“It’s okay,” you say, holding the front of your shirt away from your skin. “It’s just coffee.”

“Just coffee?” he echoes, still horrified. “This is a tragedy. You were wearing white. That’s like—fashion Russian roulette.”

You laugh. “Guess I lost.”

He gives you a sheepish smile, already pulling napkins from his pocket like he expected this. “Let me pay for your dry cleaning. Or laundry. Or a new shirt. Or—do people still carry those stain pens? I should carry one.”

You take the napkins from him gently. “Don’t worry, really. I promise I’ve survived worse.”

He watches you blot the coffee with such earnest guilt, you start to feel bad for him. “You’re sure? I feel like a walking hazard.”

“Positive,” you grin, then pause. “Though… if you’re offering coffee as an apology, I wouldn’t say no.”

His whole face lights up. “Really? I mean—yeah. Absolutely. I owe you a coffee. Two, actually. One to replace yours and one to replace the one I dumped all over you.”

He offers his hand. “I’m Pedro, by the way.”

You blink. “Nice to meet you, Pedro. I’m—uh, sorry, is this where I should know you from? You look kind of familiar.”

His ears go red. “Oh. Uh. Maybe I just have a very common face?”

You arch a brow but let it go with a smile. “Well, Pedro with the maybe-common face, lead the way to my apology coffee.”

And as he guides you into the coffee shop, glancing back with a bashful, relieved grin, you have no idea your new coffee buddy is a world-famous actor. But the sparks are instant, and the coffee? Absolutely worth the stain.

✦ please do not copy, repost, or translate this work. © lazysoulwriter // i write with a lot of love and care, so please respect that.

taglist: @sarahhxx03 @lloydmustache @lolareadsimagines @greenwitchfromthewoods @silksepia @pascalswiftie @itstokyo-cos @mani-pedro @llsister @authorbriannarae13 @introvrtedjellyfish @aj0elap0l0gist @spencercmlover @cixrosie @cherrqbaby @cup-half-full-of-anxiety @joelmillerpascal @freakbobcult @sunlightpleasure@barnes70stark @mooniscrying @ohnaurshayla @croissantbakerylws @nellispunk @kasienka @taylorswiftsrep-blog @emerencedaily @byzyz @noovaarq @kristend512 @alltounwell @libbyaller @beaagiannelli @broad-shouldrs @oceanmcu @kysosa @melloispunk @jollycupcakeblizzard @angvlicsoulll @needz1nk @daddypascal17 @agustdpeach @mrsbilicablog @k4t13ispunk @hotdadlvr95 @lnnysnts @pedropascalfan221 @queenofklonnie22 @christinamadsen @ilovecheriies @stvr-bloom

[umbrace-rambles]

TBHX Top 10 Character Info

Actually let me just do a text version of the whole thing so I can easily edit it w more info in the future <3

As of Year 41 after Commission (Lin Ling's arc)

01. X

Real Name: ???

Age: ???

Birthdate: 6th of June (???)

Sign: Gemini

Height: 190cm [6'3"]

Weight: 75kg [165 lbs]

Blood Type: 0

Agency: None

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Gathering information, sweets (strawberry milk, carbonated drinks), piano, magic

Abilities: ???

02. QUEEN

Real Name: Liu Yuwei

Age: 27

Birthdate: 18th of October (14AC)

Sign: Libra

Height: 180cm [5'11"]

Weight: 62,5kg [137 lbs]

Blood Type: 0

Agency: DOS

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Heavy metal, horse riding.

Abilities: ???

03. DRAGON BOY

Real Name: ???

Age: 23

Birthdate: 14th of February (18AC)

Sign: Aquarius

Height: 178cm [5'10"]

Weight: 69kg [152 lbs]

Blood Type: B

Agency: Mighty Glory

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Classical music, local volunteer activities.

Abilities: ???

04. GHOSTBLADE

Real Name: ???

Age: 41

Birthdate: 28th of August (0AC)

Sign: Virgo

Height: 180cm [5'11"]

Weight: 76kg [167 lbs]

Blood Type: AB

Agency: Mighty Glory

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Assassination, cooking, general housework.

Abilities: ???

05. THE JOHNNIES (Little Johnny)

Real Name: ???

Age: 28

Birthdate: 8th of August (13AC)

Sign: Leo

Height: 170cm [5'7"]

Weight: 60kg [132 lbs]

Blood Type: B

Agency: DOS

Hobbies, interests and special skills: The internet, latest technology, asset management (which he has repeatedly failed at)

Abilities: ???

06. LOLI

Real Name: ???

Age: 18

Birthdate: 1st of December (23AC)

Sign: Sagittarius

Height: 160cm [5'3"]

Weight: 45kg [99 lbs]

Blood Type: 0

Agency: FOMO

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Mechanical engineering, work, long distance running

Abilities: ???

07. LUCKY CYAN

Real Name: Renamed Cyan. Original unknown.

Age: 21

Birthdate: 24th of March (20AC)

Sign: Aries

Height: 166cm [5'5"]

Weight: 53kg [116 lbs]

Blood Type: B

Agency: DOS

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Singing, playing instruments (especially guitar)

Abilities: Has absolute luck and can transfer it to others.

08. AHU

Real Name: ??? (assuming same name)

Age: 13

Birthdate: 4th of April (28AC)

Sign: Taurus

Height: 30cm [12"]

Weight: 10kg [22 lbs]

Blood Type: -

Agency: FOMO

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Sunbathing, patrolling, cat food evaluation

Abilities: ???

09. E-SOUL

Real Name: Yang Cheng

Age: 27

Birthdate: 11th of November (14AC)

Sign: Scorpio

Height: 185cm [6'1"]

Weight: 80kg [176 lbs]

Blood Type: A

Agency: Mighty Glory

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Bicycling, stage performance

Abilities: Various skills such as super speed and the ability to release electricity, condense it and fire it like a bullet. Can inject it into objects

10. THE COMMONER

Real Name: Lin Ling

Age: 21

Birthdate: 22nd of May (20AC)

Sign: Gemini

Height: 180cm [5'11"]

Weight: 75kg [165 lbs]

Blood Type: A

Agency: Treeman

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Creating PPT presentations and planning ideas

Abilities: Can punch real good

--. NICE

Real Name: ???

Age: 25

Birthdate: 11th of July (16AC)

Sign: Cancer

Height: 180cm [5'11"]

Weight: 75kg [165 lbs]

Blood Type: 0

Agency: Treeman

Hobbies, interests and special skills: Real state and stock investments, redevelopment projects

Abilities: Has all the abilities people believe a "perfect hero" should have

[multiheadcanons]

MERCS AND PET PEEVES

scout: scout wouldn’t say he has a lot of pet peeves. but he really can’t stand loud chewers. or gum smackers. there’s a difference between chewing normally and actually just smacking your lips. and people who just listen to conversations and not actually add any input to them piss him off, surely they have an opinion, right? so why not state it? what, you think you’re gonna get beat up or something? and prisses piss him off. get off the high horse. speaking of high horses, when the doctor starts getting on his case, he can’t help but roll his eyes. he knows the medic of all people isn’t getting onto him for shit. really, that goes for the whole team. aren’t they all killing people here? not pyro, though. pyro’s cool.

soldier: soldier is a morning person and cannot stand anyone who is vocally a morning person hater. it will sour his mood so quickly, he’ll just be ready to argue. he also can’t stand people who yell at him. he is the only person in his vicinity allowed to yell at anyone, including himself. and maybe the exception of the team, depending on context. but do not yell at soldier for nothing. it puts him on edge.

pyro: pyro is excitable, and hates to be dampened. they do not mesh well with negative nancies. they handle skepticism with a modicum of grace, but they really don’t like it. its a permanent frown behind the mask the second they start hearing second guesses. and pyro doesn’t think they’re a super genius or anything, they just like to have a good time. and they like to either have someone along for the ride, or be left alone while they do it! they also can’t stand the feeling of burlap. nasty nasty nasty.

demo: tavish was not raised on shame. and he is an aggressive defender of his peace. if you don’t have anything nice to say, shut the fuck up. he also does feel some type of way when he tells people that he’s from scotland— which, to him, is incredibly obvious, and they ask when he moved there. and he’ll say “oh, you mean when i moved here, from scotland, right?” and they say no. he has an inkling of what they mean. he won’t play into it. but he takes a note of who says it. they’re on probation for his shit list.

heavy: if you do not know heavy for a minimum of a year and have regular conversation with him, you are not allowed to use his name. you do not know him. it pisses him off when people try to manufacture false intimacy by using his name. he will ignore you. and he hates shit being left on the floor. he will hurl it full force at the owner, be it a shoe, a gun, or an empty bag. pick up your shit. and half the english language pisses him off. what is this “i before e except after c” nonsense. why are half these words from other languages. and most of these idioms and sayings are stupid. the english language is stupid.

engineer: please don’t touch his things. i’ve said this before, i always feel a need to reiterate it; if you can respect engineer’s space, the man is fine with you. he will allow you into his space, or place himself in yours when he is good and ready to. but his skin starts to crawl if you get too close too quick. he really doesn’t think anyone should be in his space like that. and he might have a drawl, but the man is not stupid. if you aren’t sure of what you’re talking about, and he is, he will tell you he knows more than you. he didn’t go to school for nothing. he didn’t bribe anyone for those degrees, he earned them.

medic: i’ve said this in a post long ago. its time to reiterate it. if you speak to this man on an academic level, know. your. shit. like his mechanically gifted brother in arms, if you did not go to, or complete college lower your tone when you speak to him. you don’t get to talk to the doctor like you have authority in anything if he can’t see the papers to prove it. and he’ll demand to see the papers. and just know, even if you did go to college, the only people he rolls over for are veterinarians. and anyone who gets bubbly in the heat, get away from him. he doesn’t want to hear about how 115 degrees fahrenheit is a lovely day to you. he doesn’t care if you lick hot pavement for fun. shut up and get him some sunscreen.

sniper: snipes is generally a pretty chill guy. snipes doesn’t want trouble, doesn’t give trouble, and is an all in all respectful man. there are three things you are not allowed to do. these are less pet peeves and more “sniper is your guaranteed hater until he decides wants you dead”. one; don’t follow him. he is a busy man, he takes care of his business, and if you follow him you will see something you did not want to. two; leave his stuff alone. he doesn’t have much, he acknowledges that, leave it all alone. and three; for the love of god, if you need something from him, can you bother to make some small talk? a hello, how are you, go fuck yourself, anything? he hates being made an errand boy. he does the groceries because he cares.

spy: most everything annoys spy, to some degree. it’s honestly a shorter list to name what doesn’t irk him in some form. but slow movers annoy him the most. and people who can’t be quiet. they just set him off. and most large hairy dog breeds. and flat faced cats. the breathing is too much. and when he can’t shield his eyes from the sun, it gives him a headache. and creaky floors make his ears ring. and when he stubs his toe on nothing, literally nothing is there and somehow he rams his foot into the floor too hard. and he doesn’t like when the team starts to poke at him. he works too hard to be made fun of. and he can’t stand half of those people who work at mann co. pauling’s fine, though.

[pap03]

Have you seen the updated scene for the Ch.4 weird route? spoilers Toby replaced the rose with something else.

The long and short of it is that the Broken Glass is more direct than a wilting Rose

It loses a lot of the metaphor for me, but it is more clear on its intent

Which isn't wrong to do, arguably Im glad Toby did it

But the initial misinterpretation was people being dumb

Or, more accurately, assigning the meaning they wanted to the scene.

Anon, idk how long you've been following me, or if you know me beyond Tumblr, but I was, and still am, a devout Kriselle shipper

And the thing is about the Snowgrave version of events is that we see a piece that has been missing in Kriselle to make it super viable as a ship

Being a scene that shows that Kris cares and longs for Noelle just like Noelle cares and longs for them

And that scene on Snowgrave (especially if you allow the Route to abort before taking back control of Kris) is exactly that, Kris showing that above all they care about Noelle, and don't want her to be hurt, or in pain, or distressed

Thing is, being in these circles for as long as I have, people have been arguing that Snowgrave is an allegory for Sexual Assault for a long, long time, extending to the ship as a whole

So to have any kind of confirmation it's SA, like a Wilting Rose being a "deflowering", (the Damned Puritans) was perfect to run with

And Toby, by changing the Rose to the Shattered Glass, gave justification to that wrong interpretation

So I'm sure I'll be dealing with that until Suselle crashes and burns (different post)

In the end, I'm fine with the change, but it would've been nice to have the original too, as the Rose was a super neat symbol to associate with Noelle, and changing it is going to have people say some dumb things for a while

[allthingswhumpyandangsty]

Do you think fanfic has become clique-y. I mean that in the sense of people only kudos and comment when it suits them or on a fic that's written by one of their popular fandom friends or who fandom decides is a popular writer that all their followers need to read. I just get the feeling that it's only certain stories that are wanted from certain fic writers which is why they seem to be more popular and the rest gets ignored especially if you aren't in the fandom circle of the popular girls.

Lately I've been thinking that fic kudos, comments and hits are just a fandom popularity contest that doesn't mean your fic is bad. I've read bad ones and wondered why it's got so much kudos/hits/comments and great ones that have very little kudos/comments. Recently I read a bad one and it got a load of kudos and comments all because that trope is popular. Also I think if you aren't in the popular circle of fandom then your fics get ignored with very little kudos and no comments.

Just wondered what your thoughts on it were because I'm at the point where I feel like I should stop writing to completely or just not sharing anything anymore and keeping my writing to myself.

I’m afraid I don’t have any strong opinions about this because it seems to be an issue within specific fandoms and not an entire fanfic space? because I don’t experience anything like this in the fandoms I’m in. either that or I just don’t care enough to notice how many hits/kudos/comments a work has and if it’s “enough” compared to others.

however, while I do encourage people to give kudos and comment on works they like, I also don’t like the idea of guilt tripping anybody into leaving comments or giving kudos. because, as much as I know how loved kudos and comments are as an author, I also know people can just read fanfics for fun. if they don’t have enough energy to leave comments, if they’re only comfortable leaving comments on works whose authors they know or are friends with, or if they’re not comfortable having their username attached to a fic by leaving kudos for whatever reason, they should be allowed that without being shamed. and I as an author should write for me, not for validation from strangers.

fanfic, in my opinion, should be about the joy of getting to write and read.

yes, kudos and comments are super awesome, but you lose that joy of writing and reading the second you write mainly for kudos and comments as an author or read mainly because you feel like you then have to say something nice to the author as a reader. because that feels more like a job — a task — and less like something we do out of love for fun, something that should be our escape when things irl are hard.

so as an author, I’ll always encourage readers to give kudos, leave comments, but they don’t have to if they don’t want to. I’m not gonna demand reasons from people who don’t kudos or comments, or why they comment on others’ works and not mine. that’s not what fanfic is about.

fanfic is just a fun little thing. anybody can read whatever they want. anybody can write whatever they want. anybody can give kudos/comments — or not give kudos/comments — on any works they want (as long as they’re not being a jerk, of course).

what you’re feeling is valid. though I’d like to ask if you write because writing is something that brings you joy, or because you’re looking for kudos and comments — because if it’s the latter then, with all respect, I’m afraid you’re only going to be exhausted constantly trying to chase validation from strangers.

as an author and a reader, I’m not gonna compare any works (be it my own or someone else’s) to others, because getting to write what I love and read what I love is enough.

[tumbleofwires]

This is oddly validating, not because I'm experiencing menopause, but because I feel super weird sometimes after unmasking last year. I didn't even realize I was doing it, I just kind of did it more and more as I learned about neurodivergence and how other neurodivergent people acted. It wasn't a conscious change, and I accidentally stopped doing a lot of the people-pleasing habits I learned in my youth. I did that, I think, because I finally learned to accept myself. I finally understood my 'weirdness,' as other people called it when I was growing up (thanks guys). And while I think that's largely a good thing, sometimes it would be nice to be able to draw upon those social/people skills just as easily as I could before in certain social situations, and I'm just like "what, no, how do I go back—" But we're working on it. Building up our social confidence from the ground up this time, not just out of survival. So that's largely good, too. I also vocal stim a lot more, and it makes sense as to why I do it. A lot of things make sense, and I like it, and it's good. And I can recognize neurodivergent behaviour in other people now, and I like that, and it's good.

Also good advice for when I do eventually go through menopause, along with a healthy dose of self and others acceptance. Thank you.

Just so you younger ADHD people know this, it's pretty accepted that the hormone shifts associated with menopause exacerbate ADHD. Looks like a lot of uterus-havers realize or get diagnosed then, because the coping skills they'd developed stop being enough. My memory is much worse than it used to be, and it's really upsetting, but we're all working to help me find coping skills. It'd be nice if we lived in a society where this didn't blindside quite so many people.

On the other hand, when I'm reasonably content I now vocal stim way more, which is silly and wouldn't fly in some households, but I think it's kinda fun.

[permablind]

um so hi my names chloe im new to the rq community. sum of my " friends " offline started trashing rqs recently so i looked up wut they wer talking abt annnnd umm....... ive been lurking for about a week or maybe two idk??? and i funally feel like im ready to make a account and meet some people and become a actual part of rq tumblr. um if you don't like me plz block me.

do not ask me for my main account or to post pics like i said my " friends " are super anti and i cant avoid them we share classes n stuff... but theyre also not nice people so i cant be super out to them and i cant to my family either so well um... i wanted a place i could come out and be myself... even if some people hate or dont get it thats ok if im not alone anymore...

so sum of my ids r!!!

transfem... permateen...cistrans14...cis visually impaired... trans severity for visual impairment... permablind (duh).... transbpd... transdpd.... cistransautistic... cistransdeaf.... cis non epileptic seizure... cisTBI.... cis disabled....trans service dog owner... transgamer...

um and a couple other things i dun really have the words for. but im gonna reblog stuff and hopefully mebe figure some more stuff out abt me and make sum friends :D

oh n my prns r: she/her. shx/hxr. xe/xir. and fae/faer.

[hanna81024]

Why do people never interact with fics anymore?

This is something I noticed with my latest fic ”the albatross, my violet skies”. It hasn’t been this apparent with my previous fics, so this seems to be a recent thing.

Out of 8000 hits, only about 8% of readers left kudos, and roughly 3% left a comment. When you look at the numbers themselves (640 kudos and 230 comment threads) it doesn’t seem as big of an issue, but when you actually do the math it becomes super obvious.

I know this might come off as arrogant, but as someone who primarily gets their motivation and also a lot of validation from interactions, seeing these small numbers really suck. Because it does suck, that only 8% of my readers left kudos. It does make me wonder if this fic that I’ve spent the past month pouring my heart and soul into wasn’t something people liked, or if it wasn’t good, or if they just didn’t bother interacting. My comments are pretty much 100% positive, so I’d like to believe it’s the latter, but even still it makes me wonder.

If the reason is as simple as people not bothering to interact — please try to change that. I can’t stress this enough. If you like a fic, let the author know. This stuff is so discouraging. What I’m about to say has been said many times, and you’re probably sick of hearing it, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Because it doesn’t have to be a lengthy comment. A kudos or even just a ”good work!” is enough, and I’m 100% sure other authors will back me up on this. We’re taking time and effort out of our day to give you these stories — often entire books — completely free of charge. I think, as both a reader and an author, that the least we can do is show up for each other and give each other the support and love we all deserve.

That’s all from me. Have a nice day/night, and let’s try to do better <3

Edit: I’ve been informed my ratio isn’t bad at all, which is nice. I am new to uploading, so that’s my bad. But I still think my point stands. Why is it that only 10% of readers bother interacting? Why is that the norm? I think we should try to raise that number. Of course, fanfic writing isn’t just about stats and interactions, but it still goes a long way, and so many people in this community deserve it.

[sephiquehearts]

another very important thing to add is, myths were all written by man, and I don't mean human, I mean man, the male human, and at a time where being a shitty husband was normal, you could go and cheat on your wife all you wanted, no one would punish you for that, so ofc that would reflect into myths that man decided to write

yes, it is a good source to take as a base, but only that

people are so used to reading the bible and taking everything that says there as the most powerful true (even tho it was also written by man and changed A LOT throughout the years) that it seems so hard to not do the same with other religions

another complain about people who take the myths literally is how for example, Zeus is married to his sister, Hera, but you guys also need to remember that they're (as said by the person on this post) spiritual energies, they're far to different from us humans, they don't have to same morals and principles as we have

I have a book about mythology that explains that, it says that even tho gods might have relantionships with family, they do not approve this type of action for humans, and again, they're not humans like us, you can't expect them to follow the same things that we do

myths are only myths, something for you to have some basic things about the gods, how they relate to each other, how they act, and things like that, but it's not supposed to be the only very truth about them

"but then how will I know how they really are?" if you really feel connected to the religion, you'll know

you'll know bc when you build kharis with the theoi and start feeling their energy, you get to know them, in same way you do

so if you're out there saying you follow the religion but still taking the myths literally, then you should rethink about it

yes it is hard at first, I was obsessed with greek mythology and seeing epic was what made me remember "omg people still follow the religion nowadays" (yes, from epic, you don't ever need to feel ashamed for getting in the religion bc of their media like epic, percy, or any other thing, what matters is that you can tell what is media and what isn't) and getting that bad vision of some gods out of my head took time, but as I said, once u get that connection, once you start to feel their energy, you'll just know

yes at first I used to say Zeus was a bad father and husband, I used to see Ares as someone who only cared about violence and bloodshed, my only thoughts about Hades were from disney's Hercules movie, but by studying the religion I got to get free from those thoughts and understand what they really are and represent

Zeus is the father of the sky and gods, he would never be bad to any of the other gods, especially to Hera, his wife

Ares is the god of war but he's also the protector of woman, yes he enjoys war but he's also so so sweet (if you ever get to go on a walk with him and get to feel his energy there, you'll realize this, also super recommend that)

Hades is not the villain disney pits him to be, and it's so tiring that people see him like that only bc he's related to the underworld, also people who worship him with Persephone know how sweet he is to her

all the gods have a good and sweet energy to be around if you are nice and respectful to them, and even when you fuck up, if you recognize that and apologize correctly, they'll keep that good energy

I ended up taking way too much here, this wasn't supposed to be that long 😭 but anyways, just a little contribution to this 🫶

MYTHS VS HELLENIC POLYTHEISM : What’s the difference? What to actually look out for?

I’m going to start this blog off very blunt at first and then I’m going to dive deeper in, first off:

Mythology ≠ Religion.

That’s as blunt as I can actually get. Now, to dive in deeper,

“How are they different?”

Well, we first need to take a look at the actual definition of mythology.

See how it says “exaggerated”? Yeah, exactly. Myths are a collection of stories that are often made over the top and fictitious to often serve as a “moral of the story” and a lesson to people reading them, to show aspects of humans and how their live and act and what their ethics are. How does that work? Well, usually when you read myths (I’m going to put the story of Icarus here because it’s the most famous one), they tend to deliver a certain message to the reader, for example with the Greek myth Icarus who got too close to the sun despite the warnings given to him, depict a lesson on the consequences of not listening to someone/disobeying. Usually, it just serves and life lessons and are NOT supposed to be taken so literally. Like no, you aren’t gonna make wings and fly up to the sky and fall in a LITERAL sense…

You can take Alaska Native story telling as a reference who use these stories to teach the community, or serve as lessons for their heritage. (Or in my culture what we have is called “Zārb Ol-Māssāl” which are a series of poems or stories that tend to deliver a message to the reader on their actions.)

The whole point of myths is to tell a story in hopes that the reader or people passing down these stories will understand them on a deeper level instead of looking at it in a literal and surface sense. It allows people to connect with these stories on different aspects like love, loss, grief, etc… and to use them to create a path to share these stories with future generations. Believe it or not, myths actually serve as a powerful tool to keeping a culture alive. Why do you think Greek myths and Nordic myths are so popular?

Now, here comes the question on,

“Well why is it so bad to take these myths literally when it comes to religion? Aren’t they stories from these religions?”

Myths - although do share a purpose to aspire and teach - become way too mixed with the concept of religion at times and messes up the whole narrative. And in Hellenic Polytheism, it’s very VERY common for non-HelPols to mutter a “But Zeus was a 🍇ist!” Here or a “Hades kidnapped Persephone!” There. And this can be VERY damaging to the religion as a whole.

Now say it with me:

The gods are NOT their Myths.

Read that again. It’s exactly what’s written there.

During these myths, the gods are depicted more as characters instead of spiritual and natural beings. Think of the gods not as people, but as energy. A force of nature like spirits. Shoving these energy forces into a corner and labelling them as this and that is extremely disrespectful because you’re just throwing their spiritual depth away like it’s a cartoon show. The gods aren’t your characters you can headcanon. They’re actually forces of nature.

Most literal readings use the myths as a way to corner people who genuinely practice this stuff and force them to explain the “cheating” and “affairs” that they’ve seen from these stories, which creates a stigma around these people to explain themselves and it makes them view this practice as absurd and disgusting. What’s even worse is that the myths usually make people completely block the theological interpretation and place the gods as being only this and that. Hellenic Polytheism is a RECONSTRUCTED religion. Say it with me now:

RE. CON. STRUC. TED.

Which means it has evolved through studies and modern day practice. Basically let’s say back then the Greeks had their temples to worship the gods but now, modern day HelPols don’t actually HAVE those huge temples to go to since most are destroyed, so we make our own small, roomy altars for the gods since we have no other choice. Get my point?

And not to mention, most people who name Hellenic Polytheism as an absurd religion full of people who defend 🍇, are often conditioned by Abrahamic religions and use THEIR teachings into Polytheistic religions like Hellenic Polytheism. In Abrahamic religions, most stories are actually taken literally and seriously so when you see myths from another religion trying to tell you about the consequences your actions have on yourself and others and it’s not ACTUALLY what the text LITERALLY says then they lose their shit. These misinterpretations can often lead to memes and pop culture references that are harmful stereotypes for a VERY REAL religion

(Cough cough looks at Lore Olympus COUGHHHHHHHH)

So yeah, generally not so good.

But then you must be asking:

“If they’re all myths, then how are the gods related? How is Apollo the son of Zeus if it’s just a myth?”

Great question! And I’m here to explain the concept of “branches” to you.

Let’s place Zeus and Apollo as a point here. Who is Zeus? Well, Zeus is the “Sky Father” of Olympus. He is often seen as the highest order of the Olympians. What about Apollo? Well, Apollo being his “son” often shares the divine authority with him for example with music and prophecy and the sun. Which can all also be traced back to Zeus like an archetype relationship, like a branch. They share things in common and cosmic functions to be connected to each other on a more spiritual basis rather than “blood”.

You can also see them as metaphors! Like how Zeus is Apollos “father”. But what they really mean by this would be something like:

Zeus is … -> order and kingship. A divine authority.

Apollo is -> prophecy and light. Shares a piece of that divine authority with Zeus.

It’s a symbolism. And not only does Hellenic Polytheism use this but other systems like Egyptian, Norse, Hindu, etc… use these as well to connect divine authority and spiritual power.

Yes the gods are “related” but not in the way us humans actually think of when the word “related” comes to mind. It’s more of a spiritual thing connected by forces of nature.

Have a wonderful rest of your day. 🤞🏻

[miainbetween]

( 💡 👜 🏛 🍨 ) for the ask game <3

AHHH okay this might be a hard one because I haven’t been scripting enough for some of these but I’ll try my best. (Actually it was super easy… how knew?) {the ask game}

I’ll be answering for liverpool/better cr.

💡 : what was your first dr and what is currently your main dr? How and why have you made this switch?

I just wanna say: don’t judge me. I know that we’ve all had hogwarts phases because of dracotok and shifttok back in the day aka 2020 but my case I feel like is worse because my first dr was crossover between Hogwarts and the vampire diaries where I was a Michaelson and Klaus was my dad… 🦗🦗 HAHAH, yeah, so I was a tribrid or something. My CR family was some magician family that I think were supposed to help Caroline, who was my mother, to get pregnant with me… I don’t even know anymore. it was all so confusing and so complicated and so unnecessary and I don’t even remember who was my significant other. It might’ve been either Draco or Mattheo. And I remember that I had scripted the abandoned house from the Greatest Showman movie. I still think that was a cool idea though. Actually, now that I think about it, I think I was friends with the malfoys. I honestly don’t remember anymore. It was a very interesting one but it was so complicated and it felt like just a story or like a fantasy in my head and that’s why I chose to not shift there for the first time. Maybe I will in the future but when I have shifted where I wanted to, first.

With Liverpool i’ve tried to be more intuitive with scripting. I haven’t really scripted that much which has kept it within reach? I feel like the only thing that is keeping me a little bit anxious is that I haven’t exactly figured out when to shift first as in how much would our relationship have progressed at the time? But I feel like the trick is to just imagine the moment when I’ll wake up without thinking about the backstory and my subconsciousness will figure everything else out. 

👜 : what’s your house look like? Do you have any roommates or people who live with you? What’s your favorite aspect of your house and why?

Okay, so I don’t know if I should answer this for my own apartment or for max’s because I spent most of my time at his apartment, but I’ll probably answer for both.

For my apartment it’s pretty small one. In a Victorian terrace kind of building. It has a bedroom, living room, kitchen and a bathroom. Everything is very small and sweet almost like inside a doll house but it’s so functional and comfortable. I think that my favourite part of that apartment might be the TV section in the living room because it has a lot of shelves and I have a lot of pictures there and plans, books and other things and it just feels like it holds all of my personality in one place.

For a max apartment I don’t even know where to start. his apartment is this industrial style with a lot of plants (thanks to me) and a lot of natural light. It’s mostly brick, white and grey with some little black accents and maybe dark wood but I don’t know. It just feels so nice and homey there. I think my favourite thing about his apartment is—there are a lot but—the natural light, the authentic artistic feel (he’s a music producer) with the plants as well. And also if we have to talk room-wise it’s probably the bedroom. For no other reason besides the slow mornings, the pillow talk at night and also the breakfast in bed. Now that I think about it.. I probably spend a lot of time in his bed. 

🏛️ : what do you do in your free time? Who are you with? Where do you go?

In my free time when I’m not studying and am not all over max, I am probably reading, exploring a park or a bookstore or a coffee shop or I’m trying to think of new ways to annoy or tease max. I also would be writing or rearranging flowers and plants and watering them.

Sometimes I would go out with my friend Kalina. She is my best friend who is also studying in Liverpool. She’s there for the first time and (the story is long, but I went on the exchange to Liverpool so that she wouldn’t be alone and it was also extra points for me because I’ve always wanted to go abroad) she’s going to stay there but I am on an exchange for only a year and I don’t know how this exchange thing will go because I probably won’t want to go back because doing long distance would kill me but it is what it is. I’ll figure it out later.

🍨 : what are your socials like in your dr? Followers? Username? What do you post?

Honestly, I am not big on socials. I don’t think I would have over 1000 followers. My username is probably the same one that I have here: maria with the initials of my middle and family name. Though I may grow more active or try to be, i’ll probably post just some scenery sometimes. maybe selfies. sometimes maybe Max‘s feet. capturing moments. that kind of stuff. and my little sister would probably slide into my dms and be like “why the fuck did you post that???” but that’s just part of the charm!

this was so fun!!💕

[cricky-butspicy]

I was reading some creature au asks and got to the one about sun and moon giving reader food I made me wonder how would the creatures react if reader had a pet cat

A previous ask has a little about the Creatures with dogs and cats, but I can answer more of that for you!

In one of my asks here I put this little blurb about cats and dogs with Creature Sun and Moon!

"And they don’t really like catching cats and dogs. Dogs remind Moon too much of Fae like the Black Dogs, and he’d never eat a Fae. He might kill one, but he’d never eat one. Plus, dogs are so loyal and they speak well with him and Sun. They have agreements. You’ll notice a lot of people with dogs in the town don’t get harmed or messed with by Sun and Moon. It’s because of their dogs. It’s similar with cats except it’s not so much the Fae thing as it is a respect thing. Cats have spunk. Sun appreciates that. Moon is annoyed by it, but accepts it. People with cats still get messed with, but they never die or get severely hurt.

Sun and Moon sometimes regret those agreements they have with those little animals."

So, with cats, they have agreements, and they will make an agreement with your cat! Though they speak better with dogs, they can still speak pretty well with your cat and will try to find common grounds with them.

Sun will probably try to befriend the cat and try to play and be nice with them! He wants a tiny friend! (plus your cat can give him inside details about you, in a cat- like way though, like "Oh, they feed me on time, but they do funny movements in the kitchen while yowling to noises coming from a box when they do it. It's strange, but the food they give me is yummy.")

Moon doesn't really try to befriend your cat as much as he tries to understand where he and your cat stand with each other. He honestly might get a little irritated if you are super close with your cat. He feels like his position is getting stolen by a creature he could easily swallow in one go. You might have to assure him that he is different than your cat thus different roles are being fulfilled. (He is still wary of your cat. They look too smug when you cuddle)

But they find it good news if you have a pet and you are good to them. It shows your ability to love creatures with how you love your animal in a way. If you treat your dog or cat well, it assures them you can love them as a mate in way that you won't be harmful or potentially strange with them. If you mistreat animals, especially ones you are supposed to love like a dog or cat, it's a big red flag. They don't trust that and they will question The Calls of Destiny for making you their destined mate.

[thelostgirl21]

Definitely missed that poll too!

Yeah, I'm kind of really sad about it, because I'm the one that had asked for a version of the poll specifying if it was for the TV show or the videogame character, back in September.

Since then, I had periodically been checking on the @foundfamilyadoptionagency blog to see when submissions would reopen, so I could submit Radovid with a picture and description of the character, specifically from the TV show this time, and was planning to rally other fans (especially those that I know have a large number of Radovid/Radskier fans followers) of the character to reblog the poll so fans of the TV show and the character would hopefully see it.

I'm thinking of one person, in particular, that tends to make the notes on my own Radovid posts soar whenever she reblogs them.

But Destiny apparently had other plans, I completely missed it (therefore didn't vote, nor did I get the chance to increase its visibility among fans of the TV show and the TV show character) and, at some point, it would be ridiculous to just keep insisting for it to be reposted again and again, expecting a different result.

That being said, I was extremely surprised and very touched that they'd remembered it, though!

I was not expecting they'd be doing a second version without a reminder, or someone giving a proper submission, so a part of me went "OMFG! They're so sweet!", while at the same time face-palming that most fans I know seemed to have missed it.

I have a feeling that a lot of Radovid (show version) fans tend to check out the Radskier (Jaskier/Radovid ship) tag more often, too, since that allows us to avoid posts about the videogame character (and most Radovid posts are also connected to Jaskier and their relationship anyway).

Or they simply follow the few main blogs that keep creating and reblogging content about Radovid and Radskier directly to get their fix.

But yeah, given said main blogs did not appear to notice or repost the poll, I'm actually not at all surprised by the results.

Because "The Witcher" 's fandom is a bit of an eclectic mess of clashing ideologies, values, and extremes.

Including hardcore videogame fans that were expecting the TV show to religiously follow the narrative of the games, rather than create their own adaptation of the books.

So, while you will get people disliking Radovid for the usual (and perfectly valid, BTW) fandom reasons, such as:

They simply fail to emotionally connect or relate to him,

They feel like the show had been building a romance between Geralt and Jaskier for the first 2 seasons, only to instead pair him up with another newly introduced character in season 3.

You also have some videogame fans that are having a hard time treating these two characters as two completely different persons, and will even readily admit that they have an irrational dislike of Radovid based on his videogame counterpart.

Again, a fairly reasonable thing to happen that does affect the character's overall popularity, but usually those fans are pretty laid back about it and don't mind that people that only read the books and never played the games, or have only been watching the TV show, fell in love with the show's version of the character.

Videogame Radovid and TV show Radovid, are essentially two very different original characters that were created to serve very different purposes, that were vaguely inspired by a few lines from the books.

One is a villain people love to hate.

The other basically Netflix's version of a Disney Prince.

But then, you also have a very passionate and extremely vocal group of gamers (type "The Witcher" on YouTube, and get ready to enter incel territory!), that will be losing their shit over the fact that they made Radovid a super gentle and sensitive gay prince that admits to being scared, huddles and weeps in a corner when he finds out his guards have all been slaughtered, has a romance with Jaskier on the show, and is ready to leave his life at court behind to go chase after love; instead of the cruel, paranoid badass hypermasculine dictator king that was written for the 3rd videogame.

And then, there's also the argument that: "Jaskier is straight in the books and videogames! How dare they make Jaskier queer by having Radovid be written as Vizimir's adult younger brother instead of being his 12 y.o. son? They aged up a character just to make the show more woke and gay! It's so wrong! " we keep getting from queerphobic audiences.

Basically, TV show Radovid has been getting a large amount of hate from toxic subgroups of the gaming community ever since Jaskier was announced as being in a M/M relationship with him.

It's not even an issue they have with Radovid specifically, but the show in general.

There are entire YouTube channels devoted to hating on the show, it's creators, and everything they deem to be wrong with it, such as the way it focuses too much on Yennefer and Ciri when it's supposed to be called "The Witcher" (not "The Sorceress" or "The Child of Surprise"), having chosen to cast women with healthy and diverse body types (and ethnicities) to portray sorceresses that are described as the most beautiful women on the Continent in the books (when the videogames gave them more "conventionally attractive looking", and often white, in animated form), etc.

And that sort of general resentment towards the show for wishing to explore its own themes, being more inclusive, and taking their adaptation in a different direction than the games (and the books, at times, like most TV show and movie adaptations will do), means they'll take any opportunity they have to express their discontent.

I remember a poll, at some point where the "Radovid's character was screwed over on the Netflix show" option was winning, until the fan I'm talking about earlier reblogged it, and then the "He was treated just fine!" option won (I think the "he was screwed over" ended up with only 15% votes after it was reblogged by fans of the TV show).

So, you have gamers that hate everything about the show and the way it's different from the games... that are sharing the same space/tags as people that love the show, and either have no interest in the games, or are able to appreciate each as two very different takes on the same shared source material.

Of course they positively hate the way the TV show ignored the King Radovid from the 3rd game and created their own character. So they'll wish to "ditch" that version.

And, of course they hate videogame King Radovid, given he's meant to be hated on! He's an awful human being!

Radovid might stand a chance in a context where the fans of the TV show and of the new romance with Jaskier are given a chance to mobilize on their voting.

Otherwise, the fact that he got close to half the votes without help from any Radovid/Radskier centric blogs is actually... rather impressive!

He's actually more popular and beloved than I thought! 😆

So, don't worry too much about it. It's already extremely nice and considerate that you (the poll creator) were willing to give his TV show version a chance, so that it was clearer which one of the two characters we were voting on.

But yeah, "The Witcher" 's fandom itself is a very strange and sometimes scary place to navigate.

[girlfriendoftheyear2024]

the line between the republican and democratic parties was literally drawn along pre and post millennialism (i.e respectively: do u believe that Jesus hasn't come back yet, the day of reckoning is upon us, and we should all be scared and start locking into the Bible NOW or do u believe that Jesus already came back, we are in the good place, and now we can just work on improving the world). in early America (like even before independence I think) there was soooo much beef between pre millennial calvinists and post millennial protestants because calvinists believed in a wrathful god and that would preemptively select a few people to go to heaven while punishing the rest, so you might as well stay holy in case you were predestined, and to avoid further punishment if you weren't. meanwhile postmillenialism (which was associated with protestantism) was getting popular so fast because they were like "what if god is actually nice and instead of predestination he judges us based on our actions?" Then after independence the world was tapping into this hot new trend called "economic policy" and the girls were fightingggggg. the premillenialists (who later became known more broadly as evangelicals) thought that because judgement day was yet to happen, the best thing to do for those who are struggling was to introduce them to Christ (kind of like the whole "teach a man to fish" parable). meanwhile (most?) postmillennialists were super into welfare policy because they saw helping the less fortunate as a godlike and loving thing to do. so the premillennialists thought welfare was reinforcing the root issue of poor people not Locking Into God while postmillennialists thought welfare was almost a religious duty. as our economic climate developed and we saw the growth of the upper class, they obvi saw how reducing welfare could benefit them and started lobbying, and it was super easy to appeal to premillennialists who were already fundamentally opposed to policies that could hurt the upper class. this led to an association between premillennialism and political conservatism that (imo) has only gotten stronger over time. the idea of "trickle down economics" is so deeply rooted in the Republican Party because it checks all the boxes: the rich can keep making money, and any opposition can be addressed through a religious angle. even tho TDE has never worked anywhere in practice it is still hyped up here because these values are so deeply rooted in the American psyche. the arguments made against welfare today still depend on the idea of being "self-made" and hardworking which mirrors old premillennialist values.

so evangelicalism in america is actually fundamentally based in others' perceptions because the belief in a vengeful god, the fear of the day of judgement, and the idea of predestination leave practitioners with little control over their religious fate, outside of how their piousness is interpreted by others. even if you have no way of improving your chances of going to heaven, you might as well lead everyone else to think that you are one of the chosen few. the difference though is that arguments made for policies that adhere to these root values can only be justified through a premillennial interpretation of the Bible, while a postmillennial interpretation that would support more expansive social policy can also be supported with widely accepted moral codes (e.g. "giving to the needy is good")

honest props to evangelicals pivoting towards "you will feel morally superior to those around you, you will have the aesthetics of someone who has it together" instead of "you should act morally correct" they definitely read america as an audience with that one

[arsenicflame]

Bonus round! Do you use a queue tag?

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

Danny Fenton, aka Phantom, has been given a new task!

In short, literally no one in the Ghost Zone/Infinite Realms wants their mostly peaceful afterlife to be rocked by a certain Gotham rogue named Joker. Which, when he dies, is almost sure to happen because of whatever the hell was in that vat he dropped in included ectoplasm. So, yay, he’s also a little ghostly too, meaning he *is* pretty hard to kill. Unfortunately, there’s also a certain vigilante that is quite keen to murder him in recent years.

So now Danny has to keep the mass murderer trauma clown alive for as long as he possibly can while attempting to keep the Joker from. Well. Being the Joker.

Oh, and naturally, Danny got this assignment AFTER Joker got out of Arkham. Again. And entirely blew up the asylum. Time to join the Goonion, he is NOT doing this without getting PAID, thank you.