#a few years ago I was looking at the wiki page about the book and it quoted a reviewer who criticized it for being unrealistic

[woozapooza]

Well ladies. Looks like I'm gonna have to read Red White & Royal Blue

[dirtydragonthoughts]

I'm finally getting around to reading Transformers: Exiles and

omg. It is so bad. Like, bad on multiple levels.

I read Transformers: Exodus a few years ago. It was... OK. Definitely not a great work of literature, and there were some "huh" moments in it, but it was fine. But now I'm starting on the next book. I didn't look at the TFWiki entry for Exiles until last night, but just the Errors section is absolutely sending me. (The idea that the book was panic rewritten by Hasbro just before publication would explain a LOT of the issues I'm seeing.)

As someone who loves the franchise, it physically hurts that this guy was paid to write this. It is completely phoned in. Now, I'm sure he was writing on spec, and was probably handed an outline or specific plot points/characters that needed to be included, but even with that limitation it could have been a LOT better.

Anyway I'm going to jot down some of my impressions in this thread because I want to make sure I remember why I didn't like this book, years down the road when I see the book still sitting on my bookshelf. (If I even keep it, that is up for debate.) I'll even keep away from the things mentioned in the Error section of the wiki entry, since that's low-hanging fruit.

(If you enjoyed this book I'm glad for you, but I am down to just hate-reading it now. Sorry about that.)

Impressions will be behind cuts in case you don't want to spoil yourself for this masterpiece. XD

I've finished Part 1 and some of the things that stuck with me have been:

There's a thing in fiction writing that's often bandied about, how you should show and don't tell. It's hard to explain to new authors what this means, and why it's a bad thing. Well, this book has about a million examples. Instead of showing how a character is feeling, it just tells us. Optimus was stressed. Optimus was worried. Prowl was irritated.

Related to the showing/telling thing, this book loves just giving a laundry list of things that happen, regardless of how important it is. For example, we got a whole paragraph on what happened after a race on Velocitron. None of these details mattered to the story in any way, but we still got a whole half page of detail about it:

We got a multi-page scene of Prowl cultivating an informant. He gets named (Armco). A few chapters later Prowl brings him in saying "Here's someone who can keep his mouth shut" and then IMMEDIATELY someone tries to blow up the Ark, and Armco falls out of the plot, never to be seen again. RIP Armco, we never knew ya.

Weird character note: The Autobots show up on Velocitron and discover there's a schism in the leadership there, with factions forming on both sides. While the Autobots are preparing to leave the planet, the "bad" leader says something relatively innocuous to Optimus, who then punches the Velocitronian in the face. This sets off a giant battle between the two factions, whereupon the Autobots dip and go through the space bridge. Brilliant.

More when I finish part 2.

[spacebarbarianweird]

headcanons or a one-shot of astarion x gn!tav baking cookies and/or doing other wintery things? thank you for the bonus prompt! i love domestic wintertime vibes 💙❄️

Hi! I fucked up with your last prompt, so here is your bonus one! And Merry Christmas!

Prompt ✶New Beginnings✶ for BG3 Winter Holiday Challenge

The pieces of the book Tav is reading are taken from Forgotten Realms Wiki.

Got inspired by this amazing piece of art by @demiesop

The Sea of Moving Ice

Synopsis: Astarion returns too early with a confession.

Tags: fluff, comfort

Read on AO3

Masterlist

Headcanons

Nestled by the fireplace, you find solace amidst the raging blizzard outside. The crackling flames cast a comforting glow, kissing your face and enveloping your arms in their gentle warmth. You slowly turn pages.

The Sea of Moving Ice is located west of Icewind Dale and northwest of the Cold Run. Almost completely uncharted, the ice masses set wide enough apart for a ship to pass.

You shiver. Well, as it wasn't cold enough. Now you can't stop thinking about the freezing hell stretching far to the north.

The domain of ice dragon and unimaginable horrors!

You wrap yourself in a fur blanket. You never had a chance to learn how to read and Astarion always teased you about that. Whenever you wanted him to read for you, he would try to sit you down and teach but you knew the dance. You would make puppy eyes and praise Astarion's voice and the vampire would give up and read any book you want.

But the end of autumn met you far in the north, in the town of Firesheer. You got sick and, by the time you fully recovered, it was already too cold and dangerous to keep travelling.

So you decided to wait until the beginning of spring. In the meantime, Astarion finally made you learn to read.

Along with seals, walruses and polar bears, the Sea of Moving Ice is also home to other dangers. Lairs of ice trolls can be found in errant shipwrecks, and white dragons often make home within larger icebergs.

White dragons! For some reason, the idea of seeing those creatures fascinates you. You turn pages further trying to find a chapter about them.

Adult white dragons have several abilities well suited to their arctic habitat: they can climb ice cliffs with ease, fly very high and fast, and are exceptional swimmers.

The door to the room opens and you see Astarion.

"I thought you wanted to walk around till sunrise?" you ask. 

He doesn't say anything and sits behind you wrapping his hands around your chest and pressing his face against the crook of your neck. 

"Astarion, is everything all right?"

He doesn't move as if frozen. You suppress a desire to stand up to hug him, to make him tell you everything. Maybe, a year ago you would have done it, but now you know better. Sometimes it's best not to pay attention.

You caress his knuckles. 

"I've read a few chapters already. Well, of course, you would have finished the whole book, but I am trying my best."

Another page. The picture of a fortress captures your attention. It looks like a giant skull adorned with a crown.

Grimskalle.

No matter how much Far North scares you, your innate desire for adventure craves to see all these places.

Astarion is silent and motionless. He wraps you tightly not allowing you to move. Maybe something triggered him? Reminded him of his recent past? Or is he just overwhelmed? He almost never spends nights inside, even if there is a snowstorm like that.

"Thank you for having patience with me", you say. "You were right. Being able to read feels so nice."

Silence. You listen up. Astarion has a very unsettling skill of being able to cry without making almost any sound.

"I love you."

The words return you to reality. Astarion holds you tightly and presses his lips against the nape of your neck. You feel as if you were submerged in warm waters. 

"I love you too, Astarion" You smile.

Expressing his feelings doesn't come easy for him. While he's become adept at discussing negative emotions, fears, and traumas with you, simple confessions are still quite rare.

"No, you don't understand," he muffles. "I love you. If I were alive, my heart would skip a beat every time I see you. You are so warm and kind, I can't believe you are real. Your sole presence is enough to wash away the nightmares from my mind. I feel new with you. I feel innocent. I feel … redeemed."

You finally set yourself free and turn to him. Tears prickle in the corners of his eyes but he smiles with this sincere goofy smile you saw on the graveyard for the first time. 

The real him.

You cup his face and kiss his forehead. Then you proceed kissing his cheeks and lips, making sure no part of his face is left untouched. 

"So, you’ve returned earlier to tell me all that?"

"Yes. You always tell me good things. How much you love me; how much you care. You bath me with affection and I just wanted to reciprocate."

You shake your head. "My love, we agreed on that. You don't need to reciprocate. You don't owe me anything…"

He sighs. No his face looks serious. "Isn't love always about a fair exchange? One-sided affection sounds awful. I owe you and you owe me. That’s the deal, isn't it?"

You reluctantly agree. Yes, if Astarion never returned any love, you would probably have lost any interest in this relationship months ago.

But, gods, he loves you!

There is so much love and care in him! Somehow, Astarion managed to conceal them deep within his undead heart that he forgot about their existence.

But yet he found access to them as if finally obtaining the key from an intricate locked box.

Ability to love.

Ability to care.

Ability to laugh and enjoy life to its fullest. 

When you wake up, the first thing you see is his eyes. He watches you sleeping with such adoration it makes your heart skip a beat. He cares about you so much; you can fully give yourself to him and not worry about anything. 

Astarion, your beloved. 

"You know... I lied"

"About what?"

"That nothing bothered me when I came back"

"Oh? What happened?"

He turns away collecting his thoughts. "You know... I've never really thought about the nature of our relationships. The very idea someone could love me the way I am seemed ridiculous. When I confessed to you, I expected you to break up with me. I couldn't understand what you are to me. My love? My partner? My significant other? I didn’t know. To this day."

The conversation takes an unexpected turn and you wait. 

"I walked around the town and bumped into a woman - she was closing her jewerly store. She started bothering me with all these stupid questions. Where we are from, where we are heading. Who you are. Who I am. Who we are to each other. And, well… I ended up buying something."

"Buying? Not stealing?"

"We are going to spend here at least two months. Wouldn’t be smart to steal from locals. Close your eyes."

You oblige and in a second you feel something cold on your palm.

Two rings.

"W-what is this, Astarion?"

"She was trying to find out if you are single. Or if I am single. She probably couldn't decide which of us she liked more. I just… threw her money saying "We are going to marry so fuck off."

"Oh?"

"Listen... if you don’t like this idea... I..."

"I do."

You take his left hand and without hesitation put the ring on his finger. Then you kiss the knuckles and it seals the deal.

Astarion's hand is trembling as he puts on the second ring on you. "I want to see the world with you, Tav. I want to see all these weird and scary places. I want to be with you. I want to be with you in every possible form."

You lean for a kiss. "And we are going to see the Sea of Moving Ice !"

--

Tag List

@tugoslovenka @marcynomercy @wintersire @vixstarria @not-so-lost-after-all @ashiro20 @theearthsfinalconfession @herstxrgirl @starlight-ipomoea @micropoe10 @astarion-imagine-archive @veillsar @elora-the-slutty-songstress @fayeriess @lumienyx @astarion-beloved @tallymonster @caitlincat-95 @tragedybunny @valeprati

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

I'm not sure if this problem is still prevalent but is anyone else weirded out by ppl calling darkstalker sexy? Back in my WoF fandom wiki days i saw those type of comments all over his page as well as forum threads. I mean??? is calling a QUADRUPED dragon from a CHILDRENS/PRETEENS book series sexy not iffy to any of you?? idk i've just not seen anyone talking about this. Yes, i know most of those are children making "jokes" but I've seen ppl insinuate what they want him to do to them and frankly I don't think those are jokes....

Talking about calling dragons sexy I might as well go on about the zoophillia issue in the fandom. So much art reposted in yt videos and near the top of google searches are by out and open zoophiles (*cough cough darkenstardragon and rhynobullraq). Worst part is no one really talks about it, I've seen a beware on darken once a long time ago and that's it. Not only that, instragram is a minefield of nsfw WoF art, like once every few months a new account with like 20 followers posts nsfw WoF art. And before anyone in the notes says its because I'm looking for it, about 2 years back as I was scrolling through #/wingsoffire sorted by new I got flashbanged by nsfw WoF art, zero intention to see that whatsoever. Oh and also theres a couple of small-ish (?) (well they have a decent following for WoF fandom standards) accounts thats post their disgusting zoophillic art on twitter on the down-low, if you know you know :)

When it comes to the wiki, the majority of the people on it are around 13-17, the age range his age is written for, so I can see why some people on there would say things like that.

But that isn't an excuse for other people, like darkendragonstar and most of the fandom. It isn't an excuse to spread really lewd stuff either, even for people around his age range of course.

I had no idea rhyno was like... that. I always knew they had a muscle fetish though when I was younger, as it is pretty obvious looking at their art.

[yarrowleef]

im sorry but your note about felidae makes me intensely curious on why you dont want to talk about it, can you summarise your dislike in a sentence maybe?

well, in sentence, the author is unbelievably bigoted

[extreme content warning for racism discussion, particularly against muslims, if you look through any of the links]

I looked him up again to make sure I was remembering it correctly, and it's somehow worse then I recalled.

In more than a sentence, when I say bigoted I don't mean ignorantly bigoted, I mean like all he does now is write right-wing anti-immigrant and anti-lgbt propaganda. One of his other books is called "Germany Gone Mad: The Crazy Cult around Women, Homosexuals and Immigrants" and I don't know the exact contents of this book but I think the title is enough. Made a comment about how it's a shame that concentration camps aren't in use anymore at an anti immigration rally. This rally was set up by a xenophobic anti-immigration group, and even that group had to later apologize for this guy being just a little too racist in public, and he had to get kicked off the stage for going on his frothing tirade too long. These were comments he later got sued over. Most of his wiki page is just listing his controversies and now he is most known everywhere in Germany as a local right-wing shit-head first, and cat book author as a foot note

A few years ago I was wondering why it was so hard to find his book and why I had never even seen the many sequels Felidae supposedly had anywhere, and it turns out it was because both his german and U.S publisher (penguin random house) kicked him out of his book deal for his awful behavior and refused to distribute any more of his books in the U.S. And traditional U.S publishers will look the other way about a lot of shady behavior from their authors, so you have to really be off your shits for them to publicly kick you. Hell, apparently even amazon removed his books from many places, most noticeably kindle (I don't know if this is still true, but it was as of a couple years ago)

He's still alive and still probably receives book royalties so, yeah, Would Extremely Strongly Suggest never paying for any of his work

[iantimony]

this tuesdaypost was drafted on monday, please clap

we are cookin with Gas this week

listening: listened to antimai a few times through, favorite track i think is 'ring 5: middle class'. dorian electra - man to man: really fun video too charasho (benny friedman): was linked in jew chat. very charming and funky. 5 Old French Dances: No. 5. Le Basque (arr. for 2 recorders and harpsichord): i heard this a billion year ago on the radio (my wakeup radio station on my alarm clock is classical) and i finally got around to saving a link for it. very bouncy very cute. makes me think of rabbits running in circles a la beatrix potter.

EDIT TO ADD: i also finally listened to beyonce 'cowboy carter'!! i know im late! it's good i like it! not a revolutionary opinion! obsessed with her jolene cover! that's all!

reading: big one this week! i FINISHED 'the left hand of darkness'! i really liked it! still marinating on the themes etc. i started 'the dispossessed', also by le guin, and am devouring that as well. there's some stuff in there that oof ough. existential. but i'm liking it so far, i'm around chapter 5 right now. physicists!

fanfic: imposter syndrome (mikkeneko): i might have already linked it but i can't be assed to go back through a few weeks of tuesdaypost to see if i already have. so if i did, here it is again. really charming premise, gut-punch of an ending, cool twist on the doppelganger setup from dungeon meshi with svsss.

the articles, some of which were actually read a while ago but i forgot to link and am now cleaning out my phone tabs: how will the golden age of 'making it worse' end? (david roth) new canada policy lets indigenous people reclaim their names (emma bowman) what happens to the stay-at-home girlfriend after a breakup? (erika w smith) unschooling is the parenting trend that's pissing everyone off (ej dickson) in defense of 'coffee badging' (monica torres): if i had a job that was all zoom calls i would literally go insane over being made to go into an office to take zoom calls. fuck that what my mother's wardrobe taught me about style and grief after she died: thinking a lot about all my dad's shit will semen destroy your shower drain? granny davis' geocaching page: found when i was looking at some reviews for caches near my apartment. im kind of obsessed with her. she also has a facebook page called 'granny's geo page' if you don't have a geocaching account. literally she is everything to me. she has found So Many fucking geocaches good god. wedding trivia questions: used as reference to create some wedding trivia for a bridal shower! similarly, the wikipedia page for morganatic marriages my fight with a sidewalk robot (emily ackerman): my school has these. hate them. my boyfriend just linked this to me and im obsessed, laser etched paperweights, i am not a huge paperweight girlie but wowwww prettyyyyy. the electron orbitals!!!! i had a search open for "anti mega #1 cray street". i have no idea what this is.

special edition: the link dump from my trip to the uk last month! some very related to the trip itself, a few random extras! top of the poops, an architectural firm bc i saw a sign with their logo and thought it was cool but now i can't find their logo, waring ader space invaders because i saw someone's shirt with the little space invader guys and was like ooh the tate museum joel meyerowitz (and another page about him) wikipedia on gratin dauphinois, wikipedia page on doncaster for some reason i did not go there list of artworks at the national portrait gallery of scotland wikipedia page on the jacobite uprising of 1745 washi tape that would match the edinburgh one i bought there, tintin in the land of the soviets postcard that i didnt end up getting wikipedia for a quaich which is a traditional scottish bowl, a wiki page on the geology of arthur's seat, a book in the scottish national galleries that i thought about purchasing but didn't want to try and fit in my luggage (she is definitely one of my new favorite artists though) wikipedia page on lauryn hill for some reason not sure how i got there, wikipedia page on salome halpir this post was on tumblr and i tried to find the item in the victoria and albert museum but it was sadly not on display, one of the audio guides i listened to a bit of in the v & a, a scarf i almost bought in the v & a a google search for the fabric library at harrods because my mom mentioned that it existed but i could not find it search for blinq (apparently spelled that way) blossoms because of a cocktail my brother's friend ordered that had one as a garnish wikipedia page on the mechanical explanations of gravitation

watching: from wool to cloth using a historical weaving technique (jillian eve): oughhh colors

emma in the moment/made in the moment: a deep dive into the chunky boy crochet lore the crochet stardew valley pillow drama untangling the shocking tale of mystical creations yarn i tried red heart's new all in one granny square yarn

some crochet tips videos from play hooky with me

tiffanyferg: 'personal style' discourse hgtv is a gentrification masterclass cleantok villains and the morality of messiness

playing: a teeny bit of wizard101

making: fallow. well i guess i drew on some cards for my friend's bridal shower. but generally fallow.

eating: made deb smittenkitchen's delicious carrot cake recipe. mine was a little ugly but really really delicious. i bought a bag of preshredded carrots and just sort of roughly chopped em up a little smaller because i couldn't be assed to grate them. i also couldn't be assed to trim the cakes, i did two smaller round pans and stacked them up but because i didn't trim them they were a little wibbly. oh well.

i'm going to bake another cake for my brother's birthday next weekend and i'm between her chocolate olive oil cake (looks really easy) and bittersweet chocolate and pear cake (a little more involved but highly recommended by bee)

misc: my mom wanted to take a sailing class but didn't want to do it alone so she offered to pay for me to come. sure, said i! i have never sailed! i like learning new skills! reader, it is So Fucking Hot Outside. the wind died and we had to get towed back to shore. the sun was so strong. there are so many ropes with all different names and they all Do Something. sunday's class got cancelled/rescheduled because the weather was That Bad (hot as fuck and no wind) so we're doing it probably friday instead (and saturday. and sunday. it's two weekends in a row of both days at 9am yayyyyy) but i just hope the weather is. better.

[greengargouille]

A correction on Karasuma’s career

(...And Takaoka’s too I guess)

A fandom wiki can be a fickle thing. Sometimes helpful. Sometimes, straight up misinformation. Some time ago, I woke up in the middle of the night, pondering something about a character’s past that I immediately needed to check- as one is bound to do when they should be asleep. Said character? Karasuma Tadaomi of Assassination Classroom (as some mutuals will have cleverly guessed from the title). ...Except. Something was wrong. I’m not talking about his description as a ‘handsome young man’, because it’s supposed to be true within canon (despite visual evidence to the contrary). I’m talking about facts that are harder to disprove just by a glance- especially since the source isn’t written. “I’m... pretty sure Karasuma never was in the Air Force, that doesn’t sounds right.” “Warrant Officer? ‘According to the manga, Karasuma’s dress during his career-’ where. Which panel is it and where can I compare it to an actual uniform.” “Uh, Takaoka’s profile doesn’t help much more. ‘Takaoka and Karasuma were in the same squad in the military but were in different sections.’ That’s not possible, as a squad is part of a section. And unsourced too.”

So. Even though I don’t participate in the fandom. I had to do something. Edit the wiki? Well I don’t know if I need permission to do that, so no. But, there’s something much easier I can do, one thing I’m pretty used to. Complain about it on Tumblr! 

So, I looked up what I could. The official French translation, the English scans. His Graduation Album’s profile just in case, though it was unhelpful. Hunted down his tankobon’s profile, and, bingo, a career path! ...With a few differences from the French translation. Hmm. At this point I would need to look at the raws. Thankfully, I do have Roll Book Time, in paper format, a gift of years ago from my good friend and sweetheart. Unfortunately, I don’t actually read Japanese- but as if that stopped me in the past! By now I’m an expert at painfully looking over radicals to search for accurate kanji on jisho.org, one at a time. It’s long and tedious and in the end I still rely on Google Translate, but at least I’m going somewhere. So, without further ado! Let me show you what I’ve got!

[Alt: Photo of a half page from the Roll Book, describing Karasuma’s career. The text is in Japanese, and illustrated by two panels from the manga. One shows Karasuma in camo uniform training recruits, the other shows him at the start of the manga, presenting himself to the 3-E. ] For those of you who wants to read the Japanese text, but it is too small or the pic isn’t showing, here the transcription:

烏間先生の経歴ファイル 

自衛隊入隊

第一空挺団 配属

自衛隊の第一空挺団では、他者を寄せ付けない成績を収め、教官としての才能も目覚しかった。

統合情報部ヘ異動

諸外国の軍事、政治情情報などを収集し分析する諜報部員としても活躍。事務能力でも一流だ。

臨時特務部ヘ異動

これらの実績を買われて現在の特務部ヘ。迢破壊生物の暗殺・監視、E組ヘ技術提供に勤しむ。

As for some sort of translation, here’s a little something to get the gist of it, but don’t consider this as a totally accurate translation.

Karasuma-sensei’s background file Enrolled in the Self-defence Forces Assigned to the 1st Airborne Brigade In the SDF’s 1st Airborne Brigade, his talent was unmatched. His talent as an instructor was also remarkable. Transferred to the Defense Intelligence Office He had been active as an intelligence agent who collects and analyses military and political information in other countries. His office ability is also top notch. Temporary transferred to the Special Services Office Due to his past results, he was brought into the Special Affairs Department. He works with the monitoring / assassination of the “destructive creature”, and teaches his technique to Class E.

So, the first point of this. The Japanese Self-defence Force (which I will abbreviate in JSDF) is, like most if not all armies, divided into ground, air and naval forces. You would think the 1st Airborne Brigade is part of the Japan Air SDF, since there’s ‘airborne’ in the name. And you would be wrong! It is part of the Japan Ground SDF, and my, what a part it is. They’re considered among the toughest soldiers of the JGSDF, deserving of their “The Matchless Elite Second To None” motto. While the JSDF are supposedly defensive, as the name said, for legal reasons (they technically can’t call themselves an army because Japan can’t have one), this brigade is considered as one of the few with an offensive capability. Yeah, fitting for Karasuma! (And yes, this means Takaoka has been part of it too. Which... kinda explains why he underestimated Nagisa so much. If you’ve been in an elite troop for years, you can let a scrawny teenager with a knife get closer to you a few steps further, just to prove a point.) Then, we have what the tankobon profile’s translator chooses to translate as “Information Bureau”, but I choose Defense Intelligence Office. You see, the original text was 情報部. Now, Matsui has been known to slightly modify the name of actual places/schools rather than reference the actual thing (dunno if he’s required to do it or it’s a personal choice). And, if you take 部 (office, bureau, department- I prefer ‘office’ since it’s found in the translation for some Ministry of Defense’s extraordinary organs) and add 本 to make 本部 (headquarters), you get 情報本部, which is the Japanese name of the Defense Intelligence Headquarters! Which is still part of the Ministry of Defense, so it makes sense the transfer could be done. (As for Takaoka- The first page of chapter 38 shows us a shadowed Takaoka, with his chief going ‘It’s a hidden ball trick, courtesy of our Information Bureau’. So I guess it’s either a natural advancement career, either he followed Karasuma there, or this guy has the worst of luck.) Finally- Special Services Office- or Division, as per the English scans. But the tankobon profile translation talks about ‘Special Forces’? Well, I can disprove that. The Special Forces Group of JGSDF is 特殊作戦群 in Japanese. Meanwhile, 特務部 is... nowhere close from that, except there’s 特(special) in their names. Furthermore, we do have an 部 again at the end, which implies an office/department/division/etc. Given the explanation in Karasuma’s profile, I would assume this office was created specifically to deal with Korosensei, and various agents were transferred to it temporarily? Notably, Karasuma and Takaoka. --

Now, that solves it for the Air Force misunderstanding. What about Karasuma’s rank, though?The fandom wiki mentions his uniform in the manga. Which turns out to be one panel. It... makes sense, since Karasuma is no longer part of the JSDF, having transferred, and so wouldn’t be able to use a military uniform on important events ; the French translation of Karasuma’s chief’s words in his flashback from chapter 38 even says “After you abandoned your military uniform [...]”. What is this famous panel, then?

...Well, that’s going to be tricky. We don’t have a view of the arms themselves, though he doesn’t seem to have a patch. Then we have the notch lapel insignia, but those meant for rank are put on the upper notch- the lower notch is for the branch of service, from what I gathered in photos. (And I mean, it would be ridiculous as a rank insignia- it seems to have three dots in a triangle, so either a captain or a colonel, can you imagine this, a colonel? A guy in mid-twenties? Ridiculous) What about the shoulders, then? Well. Let me tell you a thing. ...Finding things about Japanese formal dress military uniforms is super annoying. US uniforms? Sure, no problem. French uniforms? If you type in French, sure. Japanese Uniforms? Oh, did you mean WWII Imperial Army uniform? No? You’re sure? Because this is what you will get. Oh, sure, Wikipedia has a page on the ranks and insignia of the JSDF. But it doesn’t seem to account for those formal epaulets, which are only used in ceremonies. But! There’s a silver lining! Typing 陸自 儀礼肩章 (JGSDF formal epaulets) in a pic search, we can then click on the ones that interest us and look for the grade. (Though, some of them seem to come from Yahoo Auction, and are unavailable to me). So, on our manga panel, we have three dots on the knot, plus a little one at the end to pin it to the uniform.

Something like this. Now those specific ceremonial shoulder insignia are for a 一等陸佐 (or 1等陸佐), which correspond in the US Army to... uh. Hm. Wait. Let me check. Gotta be a mistake. He can’t be a colonel.

...A bit smaller but that will do. Notice how the knots have one less... wire? Thread? Look, I’ve put way too much energy into this post to start worrying about words. Anyway, the number of stars might be the same, but the whole epaulet is different. And we even have the less formal insignias on the side! Those are for a 1等陸尉, which corresponds to... Captain. ...No, seriously. I mean, you can check on other sources if you want. Wikimedia even has this photo if you don’t believe me.) As for Takaoka (as well as every man present in the panel), it’s small but you can see two stars on his shoulders, so he has the grade just below- 2等陸尉, which corresponds to first lieutenant. But hey, maybe Matsui and his assistants took a random uniform as reference! You know, the anime tends to have interesting background details in the classroom, so maybe they would also have been careful with this!

...Ah, yeah, not really. What about Takaoka?

...Well. Not very helpful either. It does show us he has the service ribbon for the Medal with Blue Ribbon, a Japanese medal of honour awarded to individuals who have made significant achievements in the areas of public welfare or public service. As for the weird infinity sign- this pin badge is likely the same as Karasuma’s in the manga, which is not quite clear on the scan, but I can confirm on the tankobon that it’s the Ranger Courses pin badge. The fact it is golden means he specifically completed the Fuji School one, which is needed to be a course instructor or an officer. ...So, I have no idea where this Warrant Officer rank came from. It would make more sense, but it seems like somehow, Karasuma reached captain rank. Despite being in his mid-twenties (he’s 28 by the time of the manga, which is to say, after he spent time at the Defense Intelligence Office). Seriously, is it too much to ask for a bit of realism in my supersonic giant yellow octopus manga? ...One mystery remains, though. ...Where the hell did Karasuma find the time to get a valid teaching license? Because he does tell Gakuhô he has one early on, and being an instructor for military recruits certainly doesn’t require the same license as to teach middle-schoolers. Did he get a special rush training between the time Korosensei said he would be 3-E’s teacher and whenever chapter 3 happens? Or did he just happen to have one before? He probably entered the JSDF as soon as he got the minimum age, so I can’t see how. Matsui please show us your notes.

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia

I'm curious, do you enjoy reading fics with trauma recovery as much as you enjoy writing them?

And is there anything you enjoy writing but hate/dislike reading? And vice versa?

Hi anon!

I do enjoy reading fics with trauma recovery! It's mostly what I read when I'm looking for something longer, however, I don't like trauma recovery just because it's trauma recovery? It needs other stuff too. A lot of folks assumed I'd like the Steve/Bucky Marvel pairing because Bucky has PTSD, but I actually can't stand that pairing (though I like both characters) and don't care as much about those specific narratives of PTSD (interpersonal trauma recovery interests me more than military or natural disaster trauma recovery, for example).

I don't know if I enjoy reading fics with trauma recovery as much as I enjoy writing it. In fact I'd say that's not true anymore because I've read very few fics with trauma recovery since I started writing Falling Falling Stars and I kind of realised I could write exactly what I wanted. Ever since then, reading the fanfiction of other folks doing trauma recovery is a harder sell to me personally, though I still do look for hurt/comfort etc.

I do still reread old fics I love, and old novels with trauma recovery / hurt/comfort that I love. But I don't... reread that content as much as I write that content, so if we're talking about 'time spent reading trauma recovery' vs. 'time spent writing/editing trauma recovery' alone, then I would definitely like writing it more.

Most of the original novels I've recced here and on Goodreads, particularly in romance but not always, generally have trauma recovery as a centralised theme or major part of the story.

As for stuff I like writing but hate/dislike reading:

Horror and supernatural horror (can't watch it, don't love reading it, really enjoy writing it)

Stories that are too long (lol)

Probably other stuff I'm forgetting.

And for stuff I don't like writing but really like reading:

Like, too much to list! I don't like writing nonfiction novels but I read a ton of nonfiction novels, lol. I don't really like writing high literature but I still read it. I don't like writing plays for the stage but I'll read 'em.

I mean isn't this true of most writers? Most of what we haven't written and/or don't enjoy writing is often what we're still going to really love, because we can't do everything. Idk, I have no interest in writing The Great British Bake Off, but I really like watching it. I have no interest in writing police procedurals but I love watching them.

Specifically in terms of romance fic, I'm not sure. Probably areas where I'm extremely concerned about the level of work involved in making a slightly accurate fanfiction - like getting terminology, customs and costumes right in certain fandoms like say, Natsume's Book of Friends or Mo Dao Zu Shi, and the actual process of writing seems extremely intimidating but I like reading (or have liked reading) stories in those fandom/s where other people are willing to do that work. I've definitely been thinking about researching this a bit more with an intention to writing fic going forward though.

I can be a really lazy writer, but I'm also a writer who can really appreciate when another writer has done the hard yards in areas of fandom where I want to read, but writing fills me with :/ feelings. Like, I really respect when you can see an author's care and research, but it's not weighing down the page and I don't feel like I'm getting a lecture that feels like a Wiki page that's been condensed down. Some of my favourite fandoms for like weird random niche knowledge included Dragon Age: Inquisition, and that was a fandom where I ended up doing a ton of research myself (i.e. what did horses eat 200 years ago, how did you prepare and store their food).

In terms of genre, there's not a ton of difference honestly. I don't love writing or reading gen. I don't love writing or reading fluff in the absence of hurt/comfort. I don't love writing or reading hurt-no-comfort. Maybe the biggest one is that on the very rare occasion I'll read a heterosexual PWP that has a kink I'm really looking for, but I don't intend to ever write het again.

(Finally pressing post on this after forgetting I had it in my drafts for ages!)

[rk-ish]

Nathalie Chapter 1 - Extended Author's Notes

This one will understandably be a bit different from the other extended authors notes I will do so lets just get into it!

[link to fic]

So the first question (if you didn't read the wiki page) is 'who is Nathalie?' or 'Is that an OC?' and those are all fair questions-

About a year ago I stumbled upon the wiki page of a scrapped protagonist for DBH and I remember finding it interesting and also thinking that I could find her and North cute together, though I don't remember the exact reason for thinking that anymore-

Regardless, when i then a few months later started to think about this AU i immidiately decided to bring the fourth protagonist back. Not only did I think that there was an interesting potential in her, but I also prefer stories that have something like a 50/50 split between male and female characters.

(later into the story you'll find that Nathalie isn't the only character I found on the wiki that I decided to bring back)

I did many versions of this first chapter, and it was the first one that i showed my friends and my sister because I really really wanted feedback on it.

First, my version of Nathalie was supposed to be as similar to Maddison Page from Heavy Rain as possible, since having played both HR and DBH and having seen the similarities in characters, it did make sense to think that would've been what Nathalie would've been in DBH. And I was initially really interested in speculating and trying to make her as close to what she would've been in DBH. I replayed HR to look at Maddisons chapters again.

Then, the last person who I showed one of the earlier drafts of the chapter to asked 'will we ever find out why she chose the name Nathalie?'

My initial plan was to google 'famous Nathalies', maybe find a journalist and mention that person offhandedly as some sort of inspiration.

This was however how I found myself scrolling trough a list of Nathalies/Natalies and noticed a pretty portrait of a blonde woman, and the text underneath it indicated that she was married to an another woman. I was ofc immidiately interested in this person and started doing further research.

That person was none other than Natalie Clifford Barney. Born in the 1800's, she was a lesbian who published the poetry book mentioned in the chapter in 1900. I wish that I could say more about it but I don't know any french.

I became a bit obsessed with Natalie Barney and ended up reading non fiction books about her for fun over the summer-

So the end product ended up being heavily influenced by Barney and the salons she hosted.

Though there is still some influence from Maddison, like the surname she chooses for herself, that one is probably borrowed from a famous journalist-

Also, Echo and Ripple and the Eden Club chapter was a big inspiration for this chapter ofc, even if they have been replaced by North and Nathalie in this

Anyway, I hope some people will enjoy this character or at least don't mind her too much, I was a bit nervous about this since well..people are a particular way about female characters in fandoms..but I do try to not write for an imaginary audience that is judging me and this story, even if I do hope that someone does ends up reading this series

The absolute best thing that could come out of this is that someone else takes an interest in the scrapped fourth protagonist and does something with the character! I think that if we as a fandom can come upp with literally everything about nines, we can start doing similar things for other minor (or straight up not in the game) characters!

Originally I had planned to make a map of the Star Park with GIS but I didn't have time, so maybe I'll include it sometime later!

Lastly, I wanted to include a link to this article that sums upp what I've learned about Natalie Clifford Barney pretty well [link]

[scattered-winter]

YOUR OPINION ON. ahem. the following

why certain characters have powers and others specifically don’t in ur newsies superhero au of which i miss Dearly & Every Day

dresses yay or nay

comic con. what’s your go-to plan if u were to go to one

kyle rayner. and maaaybe explain him to me like i’ve only read two sentences of text from him previously

best musical/worst musical

comic icks asf

i would ask u a voltron question but man i rly… i actually know nothing besides red guy and blue guy and jeremy shada. anyway ily -@jack-kellys

OHOOO

uhh tbh for this one it was based purely on vibes. im sure there was a thought process there but that was the me from like a year ago and so i have no idea what that thought process was

HARD no unless i have somehow fucked with the dress to make it Wearable (To Me). i have a few that i've cut up a bit and i also wanna go thrifting to find some that i can play around with (dresses w combat boots + fishnet leggings ...... iconic look of all time)

i have never been to comic con BUT IF I DID. i would want to maybe diy a costume for a comic book character (idk WHO) or maybe do a funky au version of a character ?? like steampunk spiderman or something (i like mixing and matching and also messing around w outfits so it'd be a fun challenge methinks)

oh he's SO. he's a goofy goober he's become an all-powerful narrative-changing god twice he likes making constructs with big boobs because he's a nerd he's an artist he wears his heart on his sleeve he's theeeeeeeee guy ever

best musical is newsies (SHOCK AND AWE) and worst musical is probably hamilton. idk i like some of the songs (the chorus in wait for it............................oughhh) but personally getting through that musical the one time i watched it was like pulling teeth. 0/10 will never watch again

my biggest comic icks are when female characters are Romantic Accessories who get passed around their specific superhero group like a coin (which unfortunately happens so so so so so much i hate it here), and also when a specific pairing is written together so much that their personalities kinda get thrown out the window because theyre not individual characters anymore theyre A Couple, and also when writers very clearly obviously haven't even read the wiki page on the characters they're writing. and also when people who haven't even touched a single comic book in their entire lives write fanfic about the comics

ask me my opinion on random things!!

[jade-green-butterfly]

Time for something different and inspired me by own nephew back in 2016~ :3 Whenever he came round, he liked to watch a  show called 'Octonauts' (for those who don't know about it, click here -> octonauts.wikia.com/wiki/Octon…) and I sometimes watched it with him, when we were having dinner ^w^ It's really good show because it teaches children about the creatures of the sea and their natural habitats. The TV series is based on the American-Canadian children's books, written by Vicki Wong and Michael C. Murphy of Meomi Design Inc. So, being the mermaid and deer lover that I am, I thought, 'why not make a character of my own for the show out of two of my favourite things?' 0v0 And I did just that~ ;D This is 'Fawna' (get it? ;p) the Merdoe, who is one of the last remaining merdeer in the sea. They are gentle but cautious creatures, so you'd be very lucky to see one. Merdeer like to explore the seabed, where they watch over other sea creatures and craft their own pieces of jewellery. They can also swim pretty fast through the waves. This sweet young merdoe Fawna, upon hearing the exciting adventures of the Octonauts, decides to have a closer look at their home - the 'Octopod'. However, she gets pursued by a hungry, cunning bull shark and instantly caught in a tangle of seaweed. Luckily, overhearing the commotion, the Octonauts come to her rescue and the bull shark is fended off by Kwazii Cat (octonauts.wikia.com/wiki/Kwazi… my fave character in the show 💕 ^.^) The Octonauts help Fawna safely back to the Octopod, where they remove the tangled seaweed from her...only to find an actual mermaid's tail underneath, much to all of their surprise, especially Kwazii's for they believed that mercreatures only existed in stories and fairy tales...until now. Fawna stayed with the Octonauts for a few days to recover and grew very close to Kwazii, who visited and checked on her, before and after his missions. And feelings for one another began to develop~ Fawna is very grateful to the Octonauts and likes to visit them, and help them on their missions if needed. She also possesses a special shell bracelet with a pink pearl, which magically turns her tail into legs when out of water, and allows her to walk on dry land. She will instantly change back to her true merform when entering the water again. However, if Fawna takes off her bracelet, she'll remain or change back into a merdoe, no matter where she is (land or sea). Fawna can also help others see and breathe underwater. In the near future, she'll become a member of the Octonauts, one in-training~ I posted this cutie on my dA page, six years ago and she was so much fun to do in both forms~💖 Hope you all like too! 💞😄

*~Reblogs are also deeply appreciated as well, so please do reblog as well as like! Thank-you kindly!~*

Fawna (c) @jade-green-butterfly​ (Me~!) Octonauts (c) BBC's CBeebies

[noahfuckingdies]

About 2 years ago, you were showing the pages of the Trolls World Tour art book, but by the looks of it you stopped at page 70. When could you (maybe) continue showing the pages f that book? I would love to see the info on the funk trolls.

I did stop at page 70, I'm pretty sure many of the TWT Art Pages are on the wiki if you're curious. I saw most of them on there a few years back. While I'd love to finish up posting the book I'm much to busy to do so with my job, animals and college. I can attempt to post a few funk troll pictures/pages after August 7th, but no promises.

So sorry in advance!

[princessmadafu]

My kids don’t do woke

One day, about 45 years ago, I was in A Level French class. The teacher (call him Mr Smith) dished out some practice exam papers and we began reading. Then he quickly recalled the papers, saying they were the wrong ones, scooped them back up and gave us different papers. Papers about insects. After class, myself and my best friend Rozzer (short for Rosemary; not an alias, Rozzer knows who she is!!!) we lingered - being Francophiles and loving French literature - and we asked Mr Smith what the "other paper" was. He showed us, and it was about the death of a man. Knowing that one of our class (I'll call her Jane) had recently and unexpectedly lost her father, Mr Smith pulled the paper quickly in case Jane got upset.

That was kind and caring of Mr Smith, who knew each member of his class and took the trouble to accommodate personal circumstances. The class read the "other paper" three months later when Jane was in a better place; and we all went on to Uni the following September, 1980-ish - though myself and Rozzer took a gap year. It was the olden days when you had to fill up a few months after 7th term Oxbridge.

Now our schools and universities seem to operate like wokey businesses, afraid to expand their students' minds in case they lose lots of money when they inadvertently make unknown students cry and demand compensation. There is no Mr Smith who knew Jane's deceased father personally and wanted to give her space and time to grieve.

Now it's all "Let's Not Teach Anybody Anything in case Jane gets upset and sues us."

And now, yet again, I'm reading about trigger warnings on literature. All literature. Including fairytales like Beowulf.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11078663/Monstrous-Old-English-classic-Beowulf-gets-slapped-trigger-warning-monsters.html

I have Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader in front of me. I studied English at A Level too, and was more concerned with de-cyphering all the words than I was about who did what to a fictitious monster.

What? You mean English Literature students only study modern translations of Beowulf? Not the old weird language with squiggly bits? Wtf...

Wait, I have a 1912 first edition of Ebbutt's Hero-Myths and Legends of the British Race... Beowulf, Beowulf, ah here it is, page 16! And written in 1912 English - with a nice picture of Grendel getting his arm ripped off. Other illustrations available, including variations on the theme of decapitation.

There was a fashion in the 19th century for Bowdlerising books; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expurgation

"The term derives from Thomas Bowdler's 1818 edition of William Shakespeare's plays, which he reworked in ways that he felt were more suitable for women and children."

I mean how much more patronising can you get!

OK, protect small children from the yucky bits of Shakespeare, but women? Women? Honestly? Do I need protecting from Shakespeare? And don't even try and protect Mad from Shakespeare; she may have metallic purple hair and look like an eccentric granny whose perm has gone wrong but I've seen her subdue an out-of-control Rottweiler at the Rescue Shelter and she's not someone to be messed with.

Infants: newborns and wobblies; they cry, eat, poop and sleep

Toddlers: toddly with a desire to eat mud and put wasps in their nappies

Children: walking, running, massively curious and dangerously inventive

Teenagers: eat pizzas, want to learn how to snog and be an influencer

Young adults: not as stupid as you think but they still like to annoy old people

Women: adult females who deserve respect and who get a bit cross when other adults try and infantilise them

It's the infantilising bit that bugs me.

Regardless of your gender and all the other things we are ordered not to talk about these days, if you are not an infant or small child who needs to learn that worms aren't sweeties, why do you need trigger warnings? If you're old enough to be at University, you are old enough to be responsible for yourself. You don't need other people putting nappies on your head so you don't hear the yucky bits where Beowulf finds severed portions of Aschere in his path. It's just a story.

I refuse to believe that students are now so useless.

Could it be that the useless ones are the tutors who don't want to help our next generation of students grow their minds and live like adults? Is it a minority of activists who want to hog-tie our students until they agree with all their Ridiculosities of Wokedom? Is it just idiot journalists reeling me in for clickbait?

Fairy stories? Read the real Brothers Grimm and realise that life isn't a Disney cartoon full of bluebirds and snuggly rabbits. Read Beowulf, red in tooth and claw. Here's Beowulf finding Aschere's head...

And if anybody is still reading, would you like a quick look at the story of Laegaire and Uath...

[deberiaestarescribiendo]

Honor him. Younger Mercenary Oberyn Martell x f!reader fanfic. #Writer Wednesday 05/26/2021

Summary: You receive the worst news, Oberyn Martell died, your first lover and the first adventure you lived.

Once when you were younger you ran away from your house escaping an unhappy engagement and the promise of a dull life. But your family hired an elite force of mercenaries to find you not knowing that their leader is a Prince of Dorne.

Word count: 6,5k (ups sorry)

Warning: Blood, violence, Oberyn’s death is mentioned as canon in the book and show, Ophidiophobia(fear of snakes), unhappy arranged marriage, alcohol. +18 SMUT (it means no minors, pls) virgen f!reader, oral sex (f¡ receiving descriptive, male receiving mentioned) p in v sex (unprotected cos there’s no durex in Essos BUT USE PROTECTION IN REAL LIFE PEOPLE) grieving.

A/N: I'M SORRY I'M LATE this is for #Writer Wednesday, the challenge created by @autumnleaves1991-blog

I read the books a long time ago, yep, I’m one of those people that said “I’ll finish them when George publish them all” so I got ASOIAF wiki and run with it, so buckle up for some bad geography from Essos and inaccurate cultural stuff. I think this is the longest thing I’ve written and the smuttiest, so sorry if it’s cringy.

Honor him

“Apparently he won the combat but the wounds were too severe and he died”

You raise your eyes from the book. One of the young servants whispers to another collecting the dead leaves on the ground.

“What is it?”

They rise from the ground nervously expecting that you will scold them for gossiping

“We heard the news from the world. A bard was chanting them on the market, my lady” she approaches the fountain; you’re seated on the ceramic tile, feet inside the water, refreshing from the blazing sun in this part of Essos.

“And what did he say?”

“He said there was a trial in Kingslanding. For the death of king Joffrey, and it was his cousin...”

“His uncle, the imp” clarifies the other and the other girl rolls her eyes

“Yes, his uncle was on trial for his murder. And Prince Oberyn from Dorne was his champion”

“The imp asked for a trial by combat, you see, my lady” adds the other

“He battled the Mountain; he crushed the prince’s skull apparently”

“But! but! His blade had poison on it so the Mountain died too” says the other girl excitedly

“Oberyn died?” you mutter, your hands are limp and you don’t realize that you have drop your book until you hear the “blop” sound in the water and it splashed your tunic

Your mind travels to years past in an instant: A journey through the vast empty lands of this continent and how you loved for the first time.

The pages of your book are getting more and more transparent while the black trickles of ink disappear in the water. You wish to scream, to rip your clothes and your hair out of your scalp but you do nothing.

“Are you alright, my lady?” the girls look at each other when you don’t move or try to retrieve your book from the water.

You always thought the greatest pain he gave you was leaving you at your father’s door many years ago, but now he’s gone forever. You always thought, while looking from your window at night, that you will see him one day, coming back on his dark horse ready to steal you away again, but now that he’s dead that small hope, that tiny flame that you kept in your heart is gone.

Your childish hopes and dreams of reviving your first love are shattered. It’s true that your life has changed, you’re a grown woman now, wiser and experience but you still fantasize over him, seeing his face and his hands on your lovers.

“We should call physician” you heard them whisper, but so far away

“Where is he anyway?”

“At his clinic, you silly girl, run”

“You do not need to call him” you mutter “I’m fine. Excuse me”

Not caring for splashing water all over the house, you run to your chambers and collapse into your bed. Buried in the soft pillows, you cried, muffling your howls with them so nobody could hear. Late in the night the moon and stars shine bright casting bluish shadows in your room.

Your body is tired but restless and in the night shade a timid ray of white light illuminates that small scar in your forearm in the shape of a half-moon. And you kiss it, at least you will always have something of his carved in your skin.

Many years ago. Essos.

“You’re cheating, boy” the big man slams the table, the wooden pieces and the coins that all the players have laid at the center fall down. He points at you spitting from a mouth full of crooked black teeth “Show me your arms, boy, I know you’re lying”

“I’m just lucky, sir” you raise your blouse’s sleeves and your arms up innocently and somehow it makes him angrier

He insults you in whatever language he speaks and slams the table up, the players run and the loud tavern suddenly gets quite, waiting for the next movement. You’re an ant in front of that enormous giant, when he stands tall and walks menacingly towards you, you freeze, he doesn’t listen to you when you apologize, it doesn’t matter anyway, you just did to gain time and look for an exit but the room is too crowded.

“Here, boy, I’ve also many tricks under my sleeve” he has a dirty bag hanging from his belt and takes it and throws it at you. It lands at your feet and for a second you smirk not knowing what a bag could do to you, but then it moves and in a blur you see a green and yellow thing twisting until you feel it pressing and slithering over your body. The snake, a beautiful, shiny creature with vibrant colors faces you hissing and shows its fangs. Everything happens to fast. Out of instinct you protect your face with your arms and the animal understands this as a threat and it bites. The pain rings like a bell all over your body every nerve in your body aflame.

In a second, cold blood wets your face and you gasp when you see the snake’s head slide to the side separated from its body with a clean cut.

“I’m sorry for the demise of your little friend” A tall lean man stands beside the giant. You can’t see his face, since he’s covered with black turban and his body is in full armor. One of his arms still holds a curved sword that has snake blood on it; the other has a dagger pointed to your enemy’s neck.

“That viper was worth more than you or your little friend and you will pay for it”

“I doubt it. You know my little friend here” and he points his sword to you “it’s worth a lot and if I don’t tend to her wound rapidly she will die and that’s a shame. So, decide now, do you want to be a setback or do you want to keep living your stinky life longer?”

By brute force, the giant decides his fate and tries to disarm the man who in a swift movement cuts his throat and his blood and destiny joints that of his pet.

“You’ve been quite difficult to find, child” he opens the fabric covering his face. His eyes are dark, dark beard covers his defined jaw line and an amused smirk graces his handsome face. “Let me see that arm” he lowers his weapons, shamelessly cleaning his dagger on the back of the dead tall man and walks to you until your back is pressed against one of the tavern columns. Sheathing his sword, his hand takes yours and raises your arm, evaluating the wound and he hums deeply “Oh, sweet child”

“Am I going to die?” you cry

“Probably”

“If it’s my father who commands you to find me, I beg you to let me die; I do not wish to go back. Death is better than that dreadful place” you shake your head determined but terrified at the same time. He looks at you with his brow troubled

“Death is never better than anything” and he drags your arm to his face. His dark gaze fix on you while he sucks on the wound so hard that for a moment you think he’s drinking your life away. But then he lets you go and spits to the ground “Let’s hope that’s enough. You will come with me so I can give you the antidote”

“I told you, I have no desire to return to my home”

“It’s a pity, then, that I don’t care about that” he grins.

He gave you so many small jars to drink. Some tasted sweet some bitter and some other made you want to vomit and not drink or eat ever again. But you’re alive. A few hours passed, and then a day, then two, and you’re irrevocably getting back home.

You’ve learnt that your father, in an attempt to find you, has commissioned this elite group of mercenaries to retrieve you; and he’s the leader. It’s a small company but that doesn’t make them any less dangerous. All of them seemed to have many different skills, weapons hidden at every corner of their body, they speak languages you don’t know and you ride your horse tied to it watching each one of them with a suspicious look. After two days riding with them you have decided that there’s no way you could escape now. There’s always one of them standing guard and just a small glare your way gets every thought of escaping out of your head. So, even if it’s dramatic, you decided that your best option is to die. A few days in the desert without water and food and your father will receive a corpse.

“Drink, little girl, you’re withering like a flower” the leader, the man that saved you, says handing you the waterskin

“No, thank you” you turn your head, seated under the shadow of a very thin and dry bush. The orange and violet light announces the immanent sunset where you have stopped for the day.

“You’ve been refusing water all day. You have to drink” he says and pushes the waterskin to your face once more.

“No, thank you” you repeat and he sighs. Thinking you’ve won as he throws the waterskin by his side, you smile subtly until he’s close, crouched down, knees over the sand, looking at you.

“Maybe being a spoiled little flower works for your father, but not to me. Drink or I will make you” He takes your chin and raises it to meet his eyes

“I’m not thirsty” you say, your lips are already dry and they hurt, your tongue is thick inside your mouth and your body screams for just one drop.

“Don’t challenge me, child” he lowers his voice and you gulp

“I’m not a child” you protest, he keeps calling you that and honestly you don’t think he’s much older that you

“Then why do you behave like one? Drink, for the last time” His mouth is a fine line now and his grip on your chin is a little bit firmer

When you don’t answer he opens the waterskin and tucking on your lower lip he pours a small trickle of water in your mouth. The liquid taste sweet, your body works on it own and you open your mouth to drink more with desperation.

“So you weren’t thirsty...stubborn girl” he smirks and you want to slap his smug and beautiful face

He stops pouring water and laughs when you rise up drinking the last drops before he puts the cap on it.

“Look at you, not a withering flower anymore” the mercenary brushes his knuckles over you cheek and you feel them burn “What else do you want?” his thumb caress your chin gathering the small drops of water on your skin and spreads it over your lower lip.

You feel your bones burning, a tension in your lower belly that you haven’t feel many times and that makes you ask for something you don’t even know, so you just answer a timid yes and let him guide you to the fire and the rest of the company.

One of the mercenary is skinning some rabbits, methodically pulling the skin off with blood hands and a deathly gaze fix on you “So she decided to join us” she says

“Oberyn can be really persuasive” another, a big bald man with a beard tinted in blue, adds

So his name is Oberyn, where have you heard that name before?

“Remember that her father is paying for the whole of her, untouched he said” a lean blonde woman, with her face full of black and blue tattoos, is lounged over the bags sharpening her knives

“Well, I hope he doesn’t see her arm, that viper left her with a beautiful scar” Oberyn sits down and helps the mercenary skinning the animals and impales them and puts them to roast on the fire

“I’m not talking about that kind of viper...” she says and the company laughs

“I’m right here” they stop laughing looking at you as if you have done something they deem impossible

“So she speaks” the bearded man says

“She does but it may take some convincing” Oberyn smiles at you over the flames that illuminate his striking and sharp features “If you wish to eat, sweet flower, why don’t tell us how did you escape? We love a good story while we camp”

“Your father was convinced some ragged boy had stole you from your palace” adds the blonde woman

You smile, feeling some kind of pride for your plan, that, looking at it from perspective, did not grant you what you wanted but at least you had a good run. You tell them about how you disguised as a ragged boy lurking a few nights prior your escape so that the servants suspected about somebody being guilty of your disappearing. And how you ran away the night of your betrothal and made it look as if somebody had kidnapped you.

“I ran out of money in Lys so I had to beg, or steal, or gamble for a few coins. And then you found me” you finish your tale, sucking on your fingers, the meat is the best you ever tasted but yet again it must be the hunger from this days refusing to eat or drink.

“I’m almost tempted to let you go, young one, you seem a very resourceful girl” the beard man that you now know as Uhlan smiles at you proudly

“Think about the money” the blonde woman, Rikan, chew on a bone and toss it to the fire

“I’m always thinking about it, why do you think I’m a sellsword?” he jests

“Because you were a street rat with a broad back as broad as your stupidity and it’s the only thing you can do” Rikan spits and Uhlan laughs, a deep and low chuckle that resonates as a thunder.

“She’s a little princess, she couldn’t have survived much longer” the other woman, Shifa adds, the rest of the company has changed the way they look at you, but her. She still squints at you

“There’re princes that have survived worse” Uhlan counters and suddenly there’s a heavy and uncomfortable silence over them. You look at all of them trying to understand and you see Oberyn looking at his feet until he claps his hands together “Let’s get some sleep, we have a long way ahead”

It’s surprising what food, water and company can achieve. You’re smiling more, you almost forget that you will be delivered to your father and future husband within days, Uhlan tells you about his many adventures, how he almost die in Yiti, how he rode once with a Khalassar and that he had seen the great shadow in the East. Rikan has gifted you a knife “a girl needs to defend herself” she said and proceed to show you how to kill a man in many different ways “If you want to kill your husband though, you must ask Oberyn, he’s the one that knows about poisons and how to kill somebody without raising suspicions”

“How does he know that?” you ask, leaning to the right so you get close to her horse, Oberyn rides beside Shifa before you; both of them speaking in a language you don’t understand

“He has studied many things; he’s been all over the world. He was almost a Maester once, but preferred to travel, fight and fuck the world before he gets back to his duties”

“Duties?”

“He’s a prince” she whispers a mischievous smile on her lips “he doesn’t want to talk about it, because it makes people treat him differently or underestimate him. So don’t tell him it was me, blame the big rat”

“Did somebody call me?” Uhlan screams at the back

“You do have a sharp ear when you want, my friend”

You arrive to Myr at dusk. The city is still vibrating, the merchants offering everything you could imagine and the streets smell like thousands spices. And you absorb it all with wide eyes and open mouth.

“It’s a beautiful world, my sweet flower, and you wanted to end your life” Oberyn raises his voice over the people chatting and selling stuff

“If only it could always be like this” you answer, your smile dies in your mouth remembering this is a passing thing. The adventure will be over soon.

“Life gives us many opportunities to dwell in its pleasures; you have only to acquire a keen eye to recognize the perfect moment to seize it”

“Are you implying that I will have another chance to escape?” you scoff

“Maybe...if that is what you want or maybe to enjoy your life as a married woman, who knows”

You sigh deeply trying to ignore the thoughts about your future husband, that drunken bastard, boring and dull that your father chose.

“Or you could run away and avoid your responsibilities; you can create your own destiny, my sweet flower”

“And that’s what you are doing? Avoiding your duties?” you stop in your tracks and he watches you for a moment, chewing on his lower lip

“Maybe” he answers finally

“I’m tired of being treated as if I was overreacting being a spoiled child while you are here doing exactly what I did, ran away, from the duties of a noble life. I’m not overreacting; all I want is to decide if I want to live my life bearing children for my fool husband and maybe die giving birth or out of boredom and disappointment or try my luck in the wild world. Isn’t that what you are doing? Travel, fight and fuck the world? What’s the difference between me and you?” The people surround you, the company has already enter the tavern in front of you knowing they shouldn’t meddle

“Travel, fight and fuck the world seem a pretty good title for a book. Maybe when I’m old I will write my adventures under that title” he laughs

“I’m glad I amuse you” you spat with your arms crossed

“I apologize if I made you feel that I was underestimating you. Do not confuse my laughter with mockery, I know how you feel and I understand.” He comes close to you, each hand on your arms, pressing them lightly “Believe me, I wouldn’t have accepted this job if your father didn’t pay so well. I have to get back home and I want to leave my company with enough resources so they can continue on their own” he explains, he bends his neck so you are so close you can smell his scent, leather, horse and the dessert. “But that doesn’t mean we cannot enjoy ourselves while it lasts” Oberyn smiles and passes his arm over your shoulders “Have you tasted the wine from Myr?” you shake your head “It’s the sweetest”

The wine is starting to play with your mind, your smile falls languidly over the corner of your lips and you don’t know why you’re laughing but whatever song Uhlan is singing is the funniest thing you’ve heard. Rikan laughs by your side, her laugh is actually sweet and high making her look less menacing. Shifa is the only one that doesn’t look amused at all and he drinks from her goblet eyeing the tavern, especially you, with hatred.

“C’mon, Shifa, we know you can smile” Uhlan grabs her in a bear hug but she squeezes herself out of it

“Let me alone, you brute”

“You haven’t talked much since we retrieve the little girl over here, tell us what’s going on in that little twisted mind of yours?” the man jokes and the other mercenary glares at him

“I’m going to my chamber” She drinks the rest of her drink and strides to the rooms, pushing the drunken people in her way

“Leave her, Uhlan! She’s just jealous that her prince is not directing his attentions only to her lately” Rikan says winking at you

Oberyn has been absent having a conversation in another table until he comes back with a serious expression

“I’m partially offended that you think our company it’s not worth your time” Uhlan says sliding to give him enough space to seat by his side

“Huh, so I guess Shifa is not the only one jealous” Rikan drinks looking at him over her goblet

“Shut up!”

“Where is she?” Oberyn asks

“She went to her chamber” Uhlan serves him wine “So what was about those ugly bastards that got your attention; I thought you had a very refined taste”

“Those are Westerosi men; I wanted to get news of the world. Some of us still appreciate the pursuit of knowledge, my friend” Oberyn taps on his big shoulder

“I appreciate the pursuit of a good fuck better, my friend. Let’s see if those Westerosi want to share some news with me, Rikan are you coming? I’m always lucky with you around”

“I don’t like Westerosi” she snarls

“I don’t care, I just need you to be there so they take a good look at your ugly face and they get convinced that fucking with me is the good option of the two of us” he jokes with one of those thunder like chuckles

Rikan laughs and she follows him, waddling towards the men’s table.

“I should go to my room” you say, rising too fast and the whole room twists and turns

“You liked the wine, I see” he observes you grab the wooden table for your dear life until you find your balance

“Too sweet, I haven’t noticed it until it was too late”

“Let me guide you then”

Oberyn grabs you by your waist and helps you climb the stairs to the second floor. People gather around the aisle, laughter and moans fill the air and the heat of Oberyn skin over yours and the boldness giving by the alcohol make you pressed your body against his a little tighter than its necessary.

“This is you” he says opening the door for you

“Is it true what you said about creating our own destiny?” you collapse on his firm chest, your hands brushing over his neck

“Yes, sweet flower”

“Sweet flower” you mimic his accent “Say it one more time” your glossy lips, sticky with wine, leave a kiss on the tan uncover skin of his chest. His laugh makes you raise your head

“You need to sleep, child”

“No, no!” you slap his hand away when he tries to push you inside the room “Don’t call me that, I’m not a child. I’m a woman” you try to fix your posture to seem taller but you body stumbles to one side almost falling down

“What you are is a very inebriated girl. Good night, my sweet flower” he says closing the door

“Are you going to Shifa’s room?” the words escape your lips before you can think and he lingers on the door with an eyebrow raised

“Why do you ask that?”

“I don’t want you to go to her” again the words are out before you process them

“And what do you want me to do?” Oberyn closes the door behind him. And you breathe deeply a mixture of excitement and fear.

“Stay with me” you mutter

“Believe me I would, but you don’t know what you are asking. It is the wine speaking”

“No it’s not” you pout again falling into his arms, hearing how you sound like a spoiled little girl, you cough “It’s not” you repeat

“Right, let me take you to bed then”

You gasp looking at him with wide eyes. Oberyn hugs your body and walks towards the simple bed at the corner until you both fall down on the soft mattress

“Oberyn” you whisper “I have to tell you something before we...”

“Tell me, sweet flower” He lays beside you, posing his head over his fist

“I’m...I’ve never...” you stutter

“No need to worry” with his free hand he starts to brush his index finger from your brow to the tip of your nose so slowly and softly that you feel your eyes closing down

“Are you trying to make me sleep as if I was a puppy?” you slur

“Shh” he continues until the room goes dark and you cannot open your eyes for much that you try

“Sweet dreams, sweet flower” you hear before you blank out.

The sun pierces your eyes as if its rays were daggers. The company laughs at your expense, but yet again, Shifa hisses and insults you in some language but it’s evident that she said something nasty because Oberyn glares at her.

“No more Myr wine for you, little girl” Uhlan laughs helping you get on your horse

“Never” you murmur

The pain in the back of your head and the unstoppable thirst you have makes you moody, and it doesn’t help that you know you’re one day away from your home. But everything is worse with the hard sting of jealousy. It’s not that Oberyn does much, but he rides along side her, speaking in that stupid language you don’t understand, and she makes him laugh, he watches with attention whatever she points at during the way. He looks at her, talks to her. All you want is to rush your stupid horse and take her place.

It gets worse when Shifa sees you observing them; knowing damn well what you feel, she becomes softer, leaving touches on his skin, whispers things on his ear. And you can see the intimacy, the camaraderie that they share and that you will never have. And she’s a woman not a little girl, fierce, independent, and strong; and you cannot stop comparing yourself to her.

You arrive to a small town in between the domains of the two free cities, just hours away from the gates of Pentos.

“We will spent the night here, we need to be presentable for tomorrow”

The town has a small and humble bath house. The simple exterior made of red brick doesn’t show the beauty it has in its interior. The garden inside is made of brick and ceramic creating beautiful arches that frame the pool in the middle; green vines crept over the walls and the tender murmur of water is the only sound you can hear.

“We have rooms to accommodate you for the night once you’re done with your baths” the lady, owner of the house, announces and snaps her fingers towards the servants so they get everything ready.

“Thank you” Oberyn says bowing his head “Wash away the dust of our journey, my friends. Specially you, Uhlan” he jokes, slapping the big man’s belly

“You’re as stinky as me, my prince, but the Gods didn’t give me a beautiful face”

The company strips shamelessly, you think that they’re so comfortable around each other that they don’t think twice before submerge their naked bodies in the fresh water.

You stay by the side, taking off your shoes and rolling your sleeves so you can wash your feet and face. You avert your eyes when you see that Oberyn’s armor is on the floor. Your eyes fixed on the water and the blue tiles at the bottom, but you cannot stop from raising your eyes just a little.

His magnificent, strong, and tight body, his beautiful golden skin is marked in scars in some parts, you see the muscles on his legs tensing and relaxing as he gets in the pool. Your eyes travel through the room to avoid seeing him in his full grace.

“C’mon child, you don’t want to be stinky when you meet your father” Rikan splash water at you

“I-I”

“Let her be, she’s scare of my big cock” Uhlan laughs

“That thing that you can barely get up? C’mon, child, it is harmless” The blonde mercenary swims towards you and grabs your hand to pull you in

“Rikan, leave her, let’s finish and we will leave her some privacy” Oberyn says under the small waterfall brushing his skin with a small piece of soap

“Your husband’s eyes will be the only ones that will see you naked” Shifa says and she swims towards Oberyn. Her body is toned and muscular. She joints him under the water stream and when she tries to touch him, he moves away.

You don’t want to smile, but you do, until you remember that he refused you the other night and tonight is the last night you’ll spend with them. Shifa will have him for whatever time she wants.

Eventually they leave the pool, putting on some fresh clothes and rubbing some scent oils on their skins and they look different, less mercenary and more like elite warriors with a thousand adventures to tell. You will miss them; they are the only friends you have ever had.

“Thank you” you say stopping their banter over who’s going to take which room, they look at you confused “Thank you for rescuing me” you say with a trembling voice

“It’s nothing, child” Uhlan says and you see his big eyes shine

“We will give you some privacy” Rikan nods

When they are away you take off those stinky clothes you’ve been wearing since you escape. You moan feeling the water soften your muscle and you enjoy the strong cascade of water hitting your back until your bones feel like liquid inside your skin.

“I never expected you to thank us for getting you to your father” his voice gets you out of the trance, and you don’t open your eyes when you hear the soft sound of clothes hitting the ground and the splash of water when he gets inside the pool again.

“I didn’t thank you for that, but for rescuing me” you answer still your eyes closed under the waterfall “And saving my life” you pass your hand over the now healed wound, a moon shape scar where he suck the venom out of you.

Oberyn fingers grab your wrist, raising your arm towards his lips and planting kisses alongside your veins until he arrives to the thicker skin of the scar, sucking again on it.

“Do you still believe that it was better to let you die from the snake’s bite than to be back home?” he whispers against your skin, his beard tickling you over your pulse

“I still can run away” you open one eye. Oberyn looks amused at you

“Will you?” he asks saving the distance between you

“I don’t know. Will you come get me if I do?” You approach him, intertwining your hands on his neck

“The world is big and beautiful; it will be a shame that a sweet flower like you rots in a place like this all her life” he turns his head and leaves a kiss on each of your arms

“So that’s a no” you laugh but the pain in your heart is real

“I have to leave Essos soon, I guess the time for adventures is up” he exhales deeply

“Just the last one then” you’re surprised of your boldness when you rise on your tiptoes to kiss his lips

It is soft at first. Just tasting him, tempting him to show you more, and he does. Oberyn opens his mouth and sucks on your lower lip and when your mouth is open he savors you with his tongue. He holds your face on his large palms guiding you softly until the kiss deepens and your hands leave his neck roaming through his back and he reciprocates. His hand caresses every inch from your neck to your arms. You moan in protest when he breaks the kiss but then his kisses move to your neck nibbling your skin. He pampers every part of you with his attention, soft kisses and bites over the top of you breast.You cry out laughing when he grabs you and rise by the waist so he can access your tits. You circle his waist with your legs and you hold yourself on his shoulders.

Any good sense in you, any coherent thought gets lost one his mouth sucks on your nipples and you kiss his head trying to control your panting. The sounds that come out of you seem so far away, his low grunts and moans over your breast melt you and you feel the heat gathering between your legs.

“My sweet flower, you have the sweetest tits” he moans and he lowers you so he can kiss you one more time. You run your fingers over his dark hair, his impossibly close to you but you need more. You need him like those drops of water he poured in you the first time. The hunger, the jealousy and desire you felt these past days have reached its peak and you think your heart will collapse. You repeat his name on his lips like a plea.

Oberyn carries you to the side of the pool, and you feel your cheeks burning, your body in goose flesh feeling exposed and at his mercy now that the water is not covering you. He takes his time admiring you, his brow eyes eating every pore of your skin. Kissing your legs he parts them grabbing you by the hips he positions you just at the edge of the pool. He palms your breasts one more time, gracing each nipple with a small pinch that makes you moan loudly. You get flustered, gaining a bit of your conscience back

“No need to be shy, my love, let go. I wish to hear every sweet moan, drink every drop of this sweet cunt” he plants a kiss on your navel, before lowering his face. His first lick between your lips makes you marvel of the unknown sensation. His eyes are fixed on you while he licks faster and sucks between your small lips, when you tense, every single fiber of your body burning, he changes his rhythm, lapping languidly all your sex and back again, fast and slow, and never too much. Until you’re gasping for air and pushing him away

“Please, it’s too much”

“Let me show you, trust me” his wet mouth bites you inner thigh before he starts again. This time you reach the point of no return faster. A wide abyss before you where you skin burns and you heart beat faster until you fall, crying his name. And he holds you, planting kisses all over you body, every part he can reach. The gasps lead to laughter

“What happe...how?” you ask

“I have many things to show you my sweet flower” he smiles

Oberyn lets you in his room. The warm night breeze moves the white curtains and the moonshine casts its rays so you can see him get on top of you with the warmest of smiles.

“Do you still want this, my flower?” he asks

You grab him by the neck and let your lips answer for you. Lowering your touch you push his back so he presses his body against you even tighter.

“Please, please” you beg on his ear

He reaches between your bodies and brushes the tip of his cock on your lips coating it in your arousal, before pushing gently. You gasp at the intrusion; it’s not pain what you feel but definitively a bit uncomfortable at first

“Let me in, my sweet, relax for me” Oberyn bends his neck to kiss and bite your tits. The pleasure turns your body into a withering mess until you’re full of him.

He moves lazily at first letting you grow used to his length and width while he observes your face

“Is it alright my love?”

“I need more” you murmur

“More?” He rises, pressing the weight of his body on his knees and opens you wider grabbing the soft skin on your hips “Like this?” he thrusts deep and fast with each word and you nod biting your lip. His pace is unforgiving, and you cannot think, all you can feel is him, and his sweet words and praises combined with the slaps of wet skin and the creaks of this old bed. Your fingers scratch softly on his chest trying to hold into something when you feel that abyss again, but this time you let it go and it hits you harder. Oberyn collapses over you letting your cunt squeeze him even tighter, slowly dragging himself in and out until he sense his release coming and he pushes harder once, twice until he spills his warm seed.

You kiss his brow, wet from exhaustion and the pool, in a way the cage he’s forming with his body pressed against the mattress is the freest you have ever felt.

The dawn wakes you up, many years later, a harrowing pain in your chest remembering how he kissed you a thousand times, how you slept caged in his arms for a few hours and then woke up with his face between your thighs

“Does it hurt?” he asked and you flinched, feeling the swollen and sensitive skin “I will kiss it better” he said. And you made love again, he moved you in the bed showing how to touch your body and how to touch him, how to pleasure him with your mouth as he did to you. Until the sun invaded the room and crashed your safe space between the shadows. You could no longer hide from your destiny, it was time to go.

He left you, a small and decent kiss on your hand and bid you farewell wishing you a happy life.

You remember running, not paying attention to your father’s complaints and your mother’s cries while you soon-to-be husband drank wine unbothered by the whole thing. You ran to the balcony watching his dark horse taking him out of the city.

He never looked back, and with his parting figure you promised you will live your life happy even if you have to run for it. That you will live adventures on your own until life gives you the last drop of its joy and pleasure. In a way you promised to honor him without knowing one day it will come true.

So you woke up, older, wiser, in your own house, after many adventures lived, and after a sleepless night mourning him, you grab paper and ink and write:

“Travel, fight and fuck the world: the Adventures of an Unusual Lady”

[eirikrjs]

Whilst this may not exactly be a direct source, I believe it is where yubiyubis (sorry if I got the name wrong) may have first heard of that theory about YHVH:

https://megamitensei.fandom.com/wiki/Talk:YHVH

Under section 'If YHVH isn't the real problem, what is?'

I did look for that interview before, but regretfully I never found it. Would be awesome if someone did.

Please have a nice day

Damn, nice catch.

Kazuma Kaneko has gone on record saying that God (or YHVH) is not the source of all evil. In fact, I've heard that it's implied that YHVH's evil-doings are a symptom of something wrong with the bigger picture. But what could that be? Is it possible that part of Man's conception of God is responsible that part of God's character, and in turn responsible for the evil acts? Or is it something else entirely? 20:15, November 3, 2011 

And 10 years old. The interview in question is on Megatengaku. It’s the Q&A session from the Doublejump Nocturne guide and the particular question, about “why is the Judeo-Christian God the prominent villain in the series,” is the second to last. Here’s Kaneko’s answer:

This is a delicate question, but as mentioned in the last question there are many mysterious common motifs, like the flood legend, in mythology, so I like to investigate mythology from all around the world. For instance, the aforementioned flood legend, the creation process at the beginning of the universe, a hero going on a journey to overcome trials, and sights at the end of the world, etc etc.

 And when I thought about which mythology served as the basis, I concluded that it was the Old Testament. Which means YHWH, the god of the Old Testament, is the basis for all the gods around the world, from a folklorist’s standpoint. Now, I would like you to know that in Megaten, YHWH is not portrayed as the embodiment of evil.

I cut some out but Kaneko begins by talking about comparative mythology only to introduce the “YHVH is the basis for all gods” puzzler that we’ve found has certain corollaries to JJCAT (see Hachiman) and his other comments about Mesopotamian religions. But that’s veering off-topic.

So after not really answering the person’s question, Kaneko abruptly ends with the infamous statement that YHVH is not the embodiment of evil. And... there’s nothing more to it. From Kaneko’s perspective, YHVH is just who he is, the embodiment of Law. That YHVH needs to slaughter all of humanity to get his way may seem extreme, but that exact thing happens in the Bible. You know, the Flood and, eventually, Armageddon.

But on the wiki talk page, notice that Kaneko’s actual “YHVH is not the embodiment of evil” quote has been telephone’d to “YHVH is not the source of all evil.” Thus the onus is on finding a source of evil in the series (of which there isn’t one). And thus immediately after, there’s speculation of “something wrong with the bigger picture” that came from another, currently unknown, source. And this is where I’ll speculate: the idea that YHVH could act so mercilessly and cruel is difficult to reconcile for people living in predominantly Christian countries, where the “loving” God is the cultural standard. Example: the Giant Bomb YHVH page that’s mostly my work from a decade ago, including the deck at the top EXCEPT where someone else added to it “an evil version” and “whose true name is YHWH” (lol, what the fuck) which, as I’ve explained and will continue to explain, misses the point:

Thus, something has to be “wrong” about how this JAPANESE game portrays him (even if the largely Old Testament/Hebrew Bible version of Yahweh they use is somewhat obvious). And I do think that low-key racism has something to do with it. “How can ‘they' understand 'our’ religion?” says someone who doesn’t understand Japanese religion or Buddhism and has never set foot in the country. Alternatively, there’s the more common “why is God always the villain in Japanese RPGs, hur hur hur” line. 

But it’s very easy to understand why Japan doesn’t have the most positive views of Western monotheism, which can be traced to the Portuguese Jesuits who arrived on the Japanese islands in the 16th century. They had some limited success but, uh, let’s say things didn’t end well. So there’s the historical angle plus the fact that monotheism is simply antithetical to Japanese culture; (simplified) the Japanese worldview depends on spirits populating everything which informs everything from the veneration of nature to cultural festivals to views of death. Modern Japanese can be fascinated by the monotheistic religions but few actually adopt one as their own.

And think of how silly Christianity would sound to someone unfamiliar with it: the only God in existence had to manifest himself as his Son who had to be killed so that people could avoid eternal suffering before God himself in the end times brutally tortures and destroys all those who don’t accept his form as the Son. Now think about that but there’s white guys brandishing guns at you. Thankfully, Japan managed to avoid colonization.

Anyway, one problem I see in the western fanbase that leads to these types of theories is not fully understanding that most of SMT’s content is adopted from elsewhere (mythologies). Like it’s obviously commonly understood where the angels and YHVH are from but inversely most other demons can be unfamiliar and perceived as general RPG monsters (or caused if the writing is bad, like in Apocalypse), and existing religious explanations for, say, YHVH’s behavior are eschewed in favor of original theories. The game script becomes the only text that is studied or scoured for information and that’s how we get corrupted YHVH and stuff like Hijiri-Aleph. This is when “multiverse” thinking can become distracting and miss the forest for the trees.

Speaking of YHVH, there’s text of his cut from SMT2 that I think offers some pertinent advice in this situation:

Wow, uncanny, huh? But I agree that the official word is the most reliable source of information for SMT that we have. We’ll never know more than the actual creators; like, I would have never known JJCAT was relevant without Kaneko and the others talking about it. And even if Atlus recommends bad books, those books genuinely explain what happens in the games. Speculation is fun, but I think both knowing about and having access to these interviews & more could nip a lot of the wilder theories in the bud.

[i-imade-a-thing]

Amphibia: Fixing Frobo & Anne-sterminator

Ok wow, Amphibia continue bringing us some banger episodes! They somehow make me care about Frobo and Polly's relationship even more and continue making Anne's parents being one of best character so far. Anyways, here's some details I noticed in these episodes!

Fixing Frobo

This seems to be the first episode where Anne is seen with yellow hoodie

Keyboard cat, no need for explanation

"I hate responsibility" drawing from New Normal can be seen in background

Polly's pupil is purple

Grunkle Stan head...container thing can be seen on the shelf

Mr. Boonchuy was carrying amazon prime box(rip controller)

Frobo's eye have skull symbol before being turn off

The wiki on robotics is similar to real life counter part

Final Fantasy and Jojo reference

The figurine is reference to Keroro

Also, in the same page: "perfect collectable for the adult child residing in your home."

"Best of Angry Gamers Sept 2020" seems to be reference to game grumps

the angry gamers post the video 5 months ago, the video should be upload in early october...wait does this mean its currently march-

FORKNIFE and TIGTOG *wheeze*

Wait is that boston dynamic dog with sonic hair

One of the video titled "Robot's are cool. I'm 5 years old" description read "Hey guys my mom said if I get 500 views I can go to froknife convention please subs.." he currently got only 5 views

The IT girls are officially girlfriends

Its around 2AM during this scene

There's couple of Star Wars DVDs on the table

"I hate gravel", a reference to "I hate sand" from Star Wars Prequel

HP AND SPRIG IS PREQUEL FAN

Anne being concern about Polly shows how far Anne's development come

Anne's dad got a game of "Vagabondia(marcy's fav game) Online"

Some of the books on Anne's dad's shelf include "Anne's 1st birthday", "Wedding", "Business 4 Premises", and "Food for thoughts"

Anne's dad is drinking √-Fuel, reference to g-fuel

RIP gamer dad

Frobo's serial number is F0-R1

Wait how did IT girls know where Polly live-

Anne's dad continue being bullied lol

Anne-sterminator

"Cynthia Coven and the Prisoner of Boca Raton Vol 3." is reference to Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Andrias said "Olms have mercy", in last week ep they said to seek "mother of olms"....

Andrias winking which show his playful yet twisted side

Fumigator, referencing Terminator

Anne wore an apron with muffin that look like a frog

"Change the grade in report card irresponsible", continuity from Hop Til You Drop where Anne said she used to intercept report card at the mail box

Cloak-bot seems desperate since he doesn't care about being seen anymore

Some of the statue in Anne's mom "workout" room include Anne getting diploma in law school, Anne getting scholarship, Anne recycling, Anne getting A+, Anne getting gold medal, and Anne being a doctor

Also: ET reference poster in background

The poster where she count Anne's disappearance day only stop at 89 days, which is around 2-3 months, this mean she stopped counting sometime

The lady who's walking the dog from intro make a cameo here, but different dog

When they're getting out of the car, Anne's dad wait for Anne's mom and hold her hand while running away(wholesome!)

Anne's full name is Anne Savisa Boonchuy

During Anne's confession scene, Anne's theme played

When Anne powered up, the same(similar?) instrument as Anne's Power ost is played in background

The building FBI is in is "Conspicuous Inc."

The pacing of this episode feel fast, just like how Cloak-bot is racing against time

Annnd thats Fixing Frobo and Anne-sterminator! Both of these are solid episode! They really make me care more about Frobo and Polly's relationship, and Anne finally told her parents the truth! Cloak-bot is also such a threatening antagonist in this and the past few episode, rest in pieces you magnificent chuck of metal.