#anyway happy new year! :D

[itznarcotic]

Syncretism rambling under the cut

I seriously hope Type Moon doesn't use Barbara Walker's The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets as a "factual and historical" source anymore than they already have. It was bad enough with the Norse-Celtic syncretism (of which was semi-popularized with Scathach-Skadi in SMT and used as basis for the entire Celtic pantheon in FGO) but some of the shit in this book is insane from a historical standpoint that you'd have to be a mental gymnastics olympic champion to get through those hoops of supposed logic.

Also, for the record, this isn't me bashing her because it's a feminist view on history and mythology. Honestly, that's an interesting fresh breath of air! But unfortunately, the contents of said book are incredibly bad regarding how much shit is made up/unfounded with what we actually have information on.

Some examples that I wish weren't actually in this book:

The excerpt on Aesir

"Asians," the Norse gods led by Father Odin, who invaded the lands of the elder deities (Vanir). The Aesir came from Asaland, or Asaheimr, meaning both "land of gods" and "Asia." Some claimed their home city was Troy. Such myths record the recurrent western migrations of Indo-European or Aryan peoples. The Norse word for a god was Ass, "Asian." The Egyptian god Osiris was formerly Ausar, "the Asian." Etruscans also called their ancestral deities Asians. Phoenician king Cadmus was "the Oriental," from kedem, "the Orient." The Asian invaders were aggressive. The Voluspa said war occurred "for the first time in the world" when the Aesir attacked the peace-loving people of the Goddess.

The excerpt on Aryans

General name for Indo-European peoples, from Sanskrit arya, a man of clay (like Adam), or else a man of the land, a farmer or landowner. The ancestral god of "Aryans" was Aryaman, one of the twelve zodiacal sons of the Hindu Great Goddess Aditi. In Persia he became known as Ahriman, the dark earth god, opponent or subterranean alter ego of the solar deity Ormazd (Ahura Mazda). In Celtic Ireland he was Eremon, one of the sacred kings who married the Earth (Tara).

Though there was nothing "pure" about either the name or the far-flung mixture of tribes it was supposed to describe, the term "pure Aryan" was revived in Nazi Germany to support a mythological concept of Teutonic stock, the so-called Master Race. Non-Aryans were all the "inferior" strains: Semites, N██████, gypsies, Slavs, and Latinate or "swarthy" people whose blood was said to be polluting the Nordic superiority of their betters.

The excerpt on Aladdin

Marco Polo described Aladdin quite differently from his mythic portrait in the Arabian Nights. As the fairy tale said, he was master of a secret cave of treasures, but the cave was real. It was located in the fortified valley of Alamut near Kazvin, headquarters of the fanatical brotherhood of hashishim or "hashish-takers," which Christians mispronounced "assassins."

Aladdin was an Old Man of the Mountain, hereditary title of the chief of hashishim, beginning with a Shi'ite leader Hasan ibn al-Sabbah, whose name meant Son of the Goddess (see Arabia). The later name of Aladdin was taken by several chieftains. In 1297 the region of Gujarat was conquered by a warrior called the Bloody One, Ala-ud-den. By means of drugs and an elaborate "paradise" staffed by human Houris, initiates into the brotherhood were persuaded that they died and went to heaven, or Fairyland, where gardens and palaces occupied the valley of the secret cave. Special conduits flowed with the Four Rivers of Paradise: water, wine, milk, and honey. Each candidate was drugged into a stupor, then woke and "perceived himself surrounded by lovely damsels, singing, playing, and attracting his regards by the most fascinating caresses, serving him also with delicate foods and exquisite wines; until intoxicated with excess of enjoyment amidst actual rivulets of milk and wine, he believed himself assuredly in Paradise, and felt an unwillingness to relinquish its delights."

After this period of bliss, the warrior was again drugged and taken out of the secret place, to fight in the service of the Old Man of the Mountain. He fought fearlessly, in the belief that death in battle would instantly carry him back to that heaven cleverly made real for him. Promises of sexual bliss were the real key to the ferocity of Islamic armies. The Koran said each hero who died in battle would achieve an eternity of pleasure among heavenly Houris with "big, beautiful, lustrous eyes."

Aladdin's sect worshipped the moon as a symbol of the Goddess, like the Vessel of Light associated with both the virgin Mary and the Holy Grail in western Europe. Eastern poets said the Vessel of Light produced djinn, "spirits of ancestors." This Vessel was simultaneously Aladdin's lamp, source of djinni (a genie), and the moon, source of all souls according to the most ancient beliefs. The moon was the realm of the dead, and also the realm of rebirth since all souls were recycled through many revolutions of the wheels of Fate. The divine Houris also dwelt in the moon, which probably was the light of Aladdin's secret cave. See Moon.

The Arabian Nights gave the password to Aladdin's cave: Open, Sesame. This was related to Egyptian seshemu, "sexual intercourse." The hieroglyphic sign of seshemu was a penis inserted into an arched yoni-symbol. Every ancient culture used some form of sexual symbolism for the idea of man-entering-paradise.

An excerpt on Cu Chulainn

The infamous excerpt on Skadi

[dykealloy]

ripple effect legacy // my tears are becoming a sea, M83

[glassgob]

[Image ID: Digital illustration of Chime from Counter/Weight. Cass is the focal point, piloting the Megalophile. Surrounding them are pop-ups of the other Chime members doing various tasks on an assumed mission. End ID.]

ringing in the new year. ting 🔔

[bluesolarflare]

I like them a lot

[sneez]

i love seeing everyone's interpretations of gwynplaine and dea so i thought it would be fun to redraw some friends' designs in my own style to compare all the differences! in order the artists are Meee, @elmorinn, @chiropteracupola, @castledock, @gwynsplainer, and @pizza-hats-of-the-world-1882 :D

[ID: Six pairs of portraits in an uncoloured digital ink style, each depicting Gwynplaine and Dea according to a different artist's design. In each, Gwynplaine is set against a black background and Dea against white. Detailed descriptions in alt text. End ID.]

[biscuitboba]

I've talked about this before here, once again thinking about how zoro and luffy have so much trust in each other, that oftentimes they don't even feel the need to worry about each other.

From luffy's side:

Skypiea

Or Dressrosa

However, having complete trust in each other ≠ having zero concern for the other person. You can have complete faith in another person but still worry about them and don't want them to get hurt.

Luffy and zoro are confident in each other's abilities, but sometimes (quite often actually) they just can't help but worry... Especially when the other person is right there with them, where they can see the exact moment when they are about to get hurt/already hurt. (Because sometimes it is easier to cling to your faith when the other person's not around)

All im saying is that i love when monkey d. "he (zoro) can pull through anything!" luffy shows his worry-wart side to his first mate:)

Orange town

Sabaody archipelago

And of course, Wano

---

Also while i'm at it, sometimes people use the moment in alabasta (when zoro's worrying about luffy) to question zoro's faith in his captain's strength. Once again reminding people that when you love/care about someone, you can both have complete utter faith but also can't help but worry about them at the same time. Sometimes one of the two is more dominant than the other one and that's OKAY. At that time it was kinda hard for zoro to suppress his worry-wart side for his captain, but that's FINE. Zoro's concern is VALID and it doesn't mean that sanji has more confidence in his captain's ability more than zoro (because believe me when i say, some people use that particular moment to shit on zoro's faith in luffy while praising sanji's faith in luffy a little too often for my own liking)

[neptunesailing]

even though im one of the last ones to say this HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! heres to a happy hiiai 2024 !!!

edit: you can see the full colored version here!

[goldensunset]

everyone told me she was terrifying but they didn’t tell me she was so cool and nice

[soulfullofstarx]

happy birthday ace🔥01.01

[crossbackpoke-check]

Dysprosium, Mary Soon Lee

dysprosium, AN 66, is a silvery-white rare earth metal. its name is derived from the greek dysprositos, meaning “hard to get at”, owing to the difficulty in separating and isolating this rare earth element. dysprosium is used to measure neutron flux, to fuel reactors, and to activate phosphors. terfenol-d is a magnetorestrictive alloy, meaning that it changes shape when a magnetic field is applied, and is used to manufacture underwater acoustic systems.

jason “robo” robertson, dallas stars #21 for @simmyfrobby’s nhl periodic table poems <3

[expelliarmus]

[nemmet]

question: how did you discover/get into scooby doo?

this is something i'm always so interested to hear, being that there are few people who don't have at least some small tie to the franchise. whether you would consider it one of your biggest current interests or it's just something nostalgic from your childhood, i'd love to know how you found scooby and what it means to you!

[karmaajr]

how I felt being held back in class by my english teacher, thinking she was gonna yell at me for not doing my homework (like other teachers, mostly my english ones) and then she somehow validates me without meaning to and actually speaks kindly to me?? like I'm sorry what??? I've never had a teacher actually see right through me like that? like, holy shit.. I guess I'm actually gonna like english this year >,<

[ourolite2]

hey guys, uh… happy near year and all, but i’m sure that post-timeskip luffy is somewhere sobbing in a dark room right now because it’s ace’s birthday. while the crew is celebrating, he’s mourning. a lovely way to start the year, isn’t it? it’s a shame that he could never have a fresh start. poor baby…

[duskholland]

i just spent three hours writing a 2k outline of a fic. am i back.

[megane-sama]

I want my last tumblr post for the year to be a kind of recap of my year in media. Sort of.

Noone asked but here are my top 3 books and top 3 mangas of 2023.

1. Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao.

This one honestly rewired my brain chemistry in the best ways possible because on God, bloodthirsty, traumatized, polyamourous bisexual revolutionaries is something that can be so personal to me. I can talk from now till tomorrow but I doubt I'll ever be able to fully explain how much I love this book so I won't bother, just know it's amazing. The sequel Heavenly Tyrant will be released in 2024 and y'all know I will be sat. Heavily recommend, read it if you haven't already or I will chew through your walls and devour your immortal soul :>

2. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.

AHHHSHDHHNSN THIS BOOK...Had me practically enthralled actually, I didn't even notice the length because of how badly I was hooked, lined and sinkered. I loved how human the characters felt, they felt real so I felt a lot for them in return, also the "you get cool powers for the low low price of your own mindscape being stripped away" was fun. There is so much in here I loved, especially the running theme of love in itself, a flawed family that only keeps standing because it's filled with nothing but love, the love between Vic and Lou and Vic herself as a character too. Its filled with an array of amazing characters (except Charlie Manx and the Gasmask man, fuck them) and it flows so satisfyingly. So yeah I also recommend.

3. Confessions by Kanae Minato

Now I love a good revenge plot, especially when it chooses not to go down either the "I've done this so now what more do I have to live for" pipeline or even worse for me the "if I go through with this I become just as bad as you" one. Confessions really scratched that itch for me and it's presented in such a simplistic yet really well written manner, watching the web that slowly being spun and revealed as the plot progresses and when it finally comes together at the end and catches the fly, ohhh it's so satisfying. Also even tho the perpetrators in question were teenagers Yuko Moriguchi said fuck them kids and fuck you too and I think she's an icon for that. Also heavily recommend.

Honourable mention to The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky because it came really close to being in my top 3. It took me 8 months to finish and I'm pretty sure I didn't get most of it but I enjoyed it. There's so much in it to be enjoyed no matter what angle you're reading it from. Its not an easy read but honestly if you think you're up for it, go for it.

My worst book of the year however was The Stand by Stephen King. And for a book titled the Stand I really couldn't stand it, which kinda sucked because I'm a Stephen King fan but my God did I dislike a lot about the Stand. I won't say much but maybe I'm not white or Heterosexual enough to enjoy it idk and honestly if someone tells me it's their favourite SK book I'm going to assume they're either white, painfully straight or a liar.

Now for Manga.

1. Jigokuraku by Yuji Kaku.

Honestly this should come as a surprise to no-one. If you know me, you know I have a terrible case of Jigokuraku brain, like that shit is chronic, literally my fave shounen right next to Haikyuu and JoJo. But yeah I was Jgkrk obsessed yesterday, am Jgkrk obsessed today and I will be Jgkrk obsessed tomorrow.

2. Rosen Blood by Kachiru Ishizue.

Honestly it was everything I thought Diabolik Lovers would be (don't get me wrong I like DiaL but in a very messy, that's the kinda shit you watch from a distance reality TV way). I would lay down my life for Rosen Blood and all its Characters, especially Gilbert (beloved). It also made me want to read more Shoujo so we'll see how that goes in 2024.

3. MADK by Ryo Suzuri.

Honestly I have nothing to say about this except I'm sorry, the voices in my head won with this one. If you know, you know.

Honourable mention to Boys Run the Riot by Gaku Keito tho. Gotta be one of my favourite genders.