#but i find this very interesting - and observable across different cultures

[go-river-flows]

The Lone Hunter

Summary: Jake’s kids are still wide awake from a day of playing, so he tells them the story of The Lone Hunter to get his little children to fall asleep.

Part 1 of 3

Next Chapter –>

Jake was huddling his young children to get sleep, but finding it difficult as his children were a rambunctious bunch, always full of energy and all over the place.

“Come on kids, it's time to close our eyes now,” Jake held his sons and daughter, with his wife and newborn daughter next to him.

“Aw, but we’re not tired,” little Neteyam whined.

“Tell us a story!” Kiri bounced.

Jake sighed, chuckling at his children, “okay, one story.”

“Yay!” the three children exclaimed.

“What story are you going to tell?” Neteyam asked his father.

“Hmmm. Have you heard the one about how I met your mother?” they nodded, “About how Uncle Norm and I became friends?” they nodded again, “What about the lone hunter?” The three kids’ ears perked up, they haven't heard that one before.

“No, what’s that one about?” Kiri chirped. Jake lightly chuckled at her question.

“Oh this one is an interesting story, and it involves Grace and Uncle Norm too…” He began to tell them the story of the lone hunter.

Many years ago

  Norm and Grace were out in the jungle taking some samples of flora, meandering through the thick jungle floor. They had their GPS just in case of getting lost and they found themselves at a beautiful spring, the clear water and rushing waterfall entrancing them. Norm was still whining about how Jake was at Hometree, annoyed that he didn't get a chance to go there yet.

“I can't believe that Jake is at Hometree and I'm stuck out here doing sciency stuff.”

“Yeah, but this ‘sciency stuff’ is important too, Norm. There is so much to research and we barely scratched the surface. Did you know that the Omatikaya clan is one in over forty clans around Pandora, all in different regions, in different environments. That means different adaptations through evolution, different flora, different fauna. Different, but similar cultures…The list goes on,” Grace emphasised.

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” Norm grumbled in annoyance, keeping his head down already used to Grace’s speech after hearing it one too many times. He could practically recite it off by heart at this point.

  Grace was annoyed at Norms grumbling, trying to keep his spirits up as he trudged ahead. They had been walking for nearly five hours at this point, looking and taking samples of all the flora they came across. The sounds of the jungle gave them a sense of adventure, as were the noises of creatures, the light breeze, the fresh Pandoran air filling their lungs. 

  But suddenly it got very quiet, very quickly. Grace was first to notice as Norm was bent down collecting samples of an identified herbal flora. It was like all the sounds were sucked away, as if there was a predator nearby. They looked around, staying as silent as they humanly can. Their bodies felt heavy as their feet were frozen in place. Unsure of what to do, Grace reached for her small knife but was startled by a low hiss behind them in the brush. Norm started to vibrate next to Grace as he was still crouched with his head down, the sight of a black paw just mere inches away from him terrified him. He recognised in that instant, that it was the paw of a thanator, however it did not pounce at them or attack. His shaking intensified in a heartbeat. A slight movement caught their ear, a shifting movement from upon the thanator. However Grace did not turn, nor did Norm look up.

“Who are you?” a woman's voice caused them to flinch, Grace and Norm could feel eyes on them, “Are you demons?” the palulukan growled louder.

“M-My name is Grace. The na’vi next to me is Norm,” Grace mustered up her courage to say. The na’vi woman paused for a moment.

“If you are na’vi, why are you wearing demon clothing?” the woman questioned, she had looked Grace and Norm up and down, observing their strange coverings. 

“Uhh…” Grace didn't have an excuse for that. Her eyes fall on Norm, who by now looks like he is about to shit himself. His shaking was vibrating the plant in front of him, as sweat started pouring down his face. 

“We are…na’vi, from…the Jar–head clan,” Grace hesitated, the air getting caught in her throat, “Our clan wears clothes like these,” she partially lied. The na’vi behind them hummed in consideration before speaking.

“Turn around– slowly,” the na’vi stated. Grace gulped as she started turning to her right, grabbing a hold of Norm’s wrist and slowly pulling him up from his crouched position. Finally facing the painted Na’vi sitting on a midnight blue thanator, her queue connected to the beast. Grace silently gasped, concluding that the na’vi was a Palulukan Makto. Bonds like these were rare and majestic. Grace had heard that there were only one or even more rarely two of these riders in one clan. The Na’vi was painted in shades of green, which allowed her to blend in perfectly to the thick jungle surrounding them, to which an untrained eye could completely miss her. Grace was still holding Norm’s wrist, feeling his racing pulse and now much violent shaking. She though he was going to pass out.

The thanator sniffed them, taking in deep inhales of their scent, took a step back. Then planted it's bottom on the grass, snorting out a huff.

“My Hona will not hurt you. We are just not used to strangers in these parts,” the na’vi woman said, still perched on her thanator. 

“Your…palulukan… is beautiful,” Norm shook as his voice kept getting caught on his throat. Scared to look at the Na’vi in front of him. 

“Thank you, Norm,” the female Na’vi thanked warmly. Norm elicited a nervous smile and a strange noise, which the thanator reacted to, perking up and moved closer to Norm’s terrified face. It’s face cocking to the side, as if inquisitive, suddenly licking the man’s face. 

  That was it for Norm who fainted, collapsing onto the dirt. Grace was in complete awe, her jaw dropped as the rider stifled a laugh at his reaction. 

  The Na’vi brought Grace and the unconscious Norm a distance away from the Hell’s Gate Avatar facility. Grace sat behind the Na’vi and Norm flung in between them. Grace concluded that Norm had disconnected the link in fear as his avatar didn’t regain consciousness. Though Grace had a lovely conversation with the painted lone na’vi. Learning that her grandparents were once part of the Omatikaya clan, then banished for committing treason. Her mother met her father before the banishment and they too were thrown out. The lone female na’vi was born outside her clan and grew up in the wilds. Learning everything from her parents to survive.

“I cannot go any further from here,” the Na’vi told them as they came to a stop. 

“Oh, okay. Thank you very much,” she climbed off the thanator dragging Norm’s avatar off it's back, her hands under Norm’s armpits trying to get a better grip. 

“I see you, Grace,” the female Palulukan Makto finally greeted, extending her palm from her forehead. Turning her thanator around they took off into the darkening jungle.

That was their first encounter with the lone hunter. 

  The second time they met her was again near the spring they had found, a week later. This time Norm didn't faint at the lick of the thanator. Hona had taken quite a liking to Norm, especially after he made the strange noise, which Norm learnt was a sound used to call a thanator for affection. He also learnt the sound used to command an attack, in the same vein if the rider is not bonded. Grace was intrigued by the tamed thanator, learning from the lone na’vi that thanators have incredibly enhanced hearing, smell, sight and speed. The senses can be accessed through their tsaheylu, and that the rider and creature have an everlasting bond. They can mark their scents on familiar na’vi, as Hona has already marked Grace and Norm as friendlies, so that they are not to be attacked by other creatures, as a form of warning and protection. With that Grace and Norm could freely walk without the fear of being attacked.

  Much like ikran riders. That even children can bond with the cubs of a thanator, their bond even deeper as they grow up together. Grace took many notes. As days passed, Norm and Grace would go about their day in their avatars humming calmly as he collected samples which caught the attention of Jake. Who could smell the scent of a thanator but not see one, keeping him on edge. Later learning that it was coming from Norm and Grace themselves as he kept a distance from them. The scent of a thanator growing more pungent for the days to come, Jake now avoided meeting them.

  When they moved their research to Site 26 in the Hallelujah Mountains. Without Jake’s knowledge, Grace and Norm had been visiting the lone na’vi. They would return to Site 26 with bundles of leaf packaged food, enough to feed a family of na’vi. Jake became suspicious of the two. And one day when he wasn't training, he followed them. Neytiri, out of concern and curiosity, went with him.

  As they arrived near the spring, Neytiri was begging Jake to leave as the smell of the thanator grew stronger. As they peaked through the treeline, they saw Norm with a na’vi standing at the top of the waterfall. Norm was topless and Grace appeared behind them, wet from head to toe with a wide smile. Then Norm and the female na’vi leapt from the top into the lake below, excitedly shrieking as they plunged into the cool water. When suddenly a thanator leapt into the water from the top, Jake and Neytiri’s were jaw slacked from shock. When the thanator resurfaced with Norm and the na’vi it made what sounded like a snickering, before smelling the air it honed in on Jake and Neytiri’s form hiding in the treeline, letting out a loud hiss, it speedily swam straight at them. As soon as Hona’s feet touched the bank, it took off after them chasing them through the jungle, nearly pinning them to a fallen log.

“Hona! Return!” a female call ripped through the air, the palulukan slid to a halt snarling at Jake and Neytiri. It let out a deep growl before turning tail, kicking dirt from underneath it's paw at them as it ran to the voice.

*

The children’s breathing had evened out, their eyes clamped shut. Jake smiled contently, as his children slept. He eventually fell asleep to the warmth of his family.

Next Chapter –>

[bonefall]

are amphibians like newts and frogs considered aquatic? i know crustaceans & mollusks would be

Yes they are! Generally, the more time it spends on land, the closer it will be to 5 calories than 4. The estimate was actually based on frogs and tadpoles, I had to make an educated guess.

My best source was a feeding chart from a reptile food website which sells whole small prey for consumption by snakes. It perfectly lists out the values of dozens of small animals, but no fish. So I took a note of the 4 calorie estimate, observed that an adult frog increases in calories compared to tadpoles (bucking the trend with the others on the list where younger animals are worth more caloric value) and went on to do more research

I couldn't find a source that broke down WHOLE prey caloric value like the chart, so I ended up comparing caloric value between rabbit fillets, chicken fillets, and fish fillets on human-centric nutrition websites. My hypothesis was mostly consistent, even with more species added. Fish (perch, flounder, pike) < Wild Mammal (rabbit, squirrel) < Poultry (chicken, turkey, quail). There was overlap between "classes", certain fish getting over the 100 hump, but generally there was a trend I boiled down into 4/5/6

This is consistent with how a lot of fish meat is actually water. In fact, cats quench a lot of their thirst from the food they eat. I also learned some very interesting stuff about the fat distribution in fish which is going to blow a bit of a hole in some of my Clan culture stuff lmaoooo, but I'll furiously swim across that obliterated bridge when I get there

But funfact! Fish oil is rendered fish fats and it is the form that unsaturated fat takes, whereas lard is what saturated fats become. I need to do more research into this topic to understand what kind of difference it would make in a wild cat's diet.

There was one big bucked trend though: salmonid meat was WAAAAY higher in fat and calories. Like, absurdly high. Like 150 cal trout fillet vs 110 cal of rabbit fillet vs 88 cal of perch fillet.

I do not know why that is. My guess is that maybe it's because they were taking the number from farmed salmonids? Maybe it's because they're particularly fatty fish? Perhaps this is just the raw power of salmon slammin'.

Anyway, at one point I was trying to estimate exact caloric value per popular prey species, but decided I didn't have the "backing" to get so exact with the numbers since I was doing estimates with the fish. I'll do the work if it comes down to it, but for now, 4/5/6 is a quick, easy guideline you can use for just about any WC project.

[canonsinthehead]

so hows the night life in the villages? which is the best and worse? 😸😸

Glad you asked... there are few topics ni the answer ill go deeper in another post but i hope yall get the picture...

Naruto Headcanons - Ranking Nightlife in Different Villages (from best to worse)

1- Kumogakure (THE Party City)

Obviously Kumo takes the first place for its unmatched nightlife culture. It is alive at night and very welcoming of foreigners, some people make a whole trip to Kumo just to party.

There are sooooo many nightclubs of different types. Hip hop, Pop or Western etc. Kumo is known for being the only nation to have stripclubs. other countries, always claim to be more conservative in that area. it ties into the more liberal/accepting expression of sexuality (especially from women).

everything is intertwined when you look up the country's music history. Many famous artists strated in nightclubs.

The city lives at night, many sports clubs are operating during dark hours and inviting the night owls to join in. Along this, you can take all types of classes/courses taking place at night if clubbing is not your cup of tea.

Kumo is so diverse, there is a district/area or stores/businesses for all types of preferences, interests or way of life. Are you LGBT, plus size, disabled, a salary man, vegan, emo, a sneaker head or whatever it is, you will find a place for taste.

it has become a challenge some residents (and tourists), to make a 6PM to 6AM Challlenge. where it consist of staying awake and indulging in the nightlife until sunrise. it was popularized by an episode of Killer Bee's Showtime where they came up with the concept and has became a legit tourist attraction since theres so much to do

2- Konohagakure (6 to 9 Heaven)

In Konoha, a lot of people have a 9-5 schedule so big part of the village nightlife is centered around "after work" activities. When you go out on weekdays, you will mostly encounter employees trying to unwind after a long workday

regardless there are so many activities to do after the sunset. the most popular are karaoke, hot springs and street food stands.

Konoha's foundation being a mountain, there are many hidden spots hidden in its complex foundation. when look over it, you can observe spots of hundred of spotlights all over the city because small goups loves to meetup in various places and just chill together

the largest cinemas are located in Konoha. it one of the few places where you can go watch movies from other nations to the exceptions of Kiri for their heavy censorships laws and Suna for being in a different language.

Cabaret clubs are huge in Konoha.

you can find many 24/7 ramen shops and Internet Cafes

The comedy scene in Konoha is big. off course it doesnt match Kumo's but Konoha produced many well known comedians. All the "Comedy Open mic nights" are to die for.

Konoha scored high also for being a welcoming nation and embraces tourist/foreigners with open minds.

3- Iwagakure (Rock 'n' Roll)

if you are looking for a good music concert to attend. especially for rock and indie music.

it scored lower because many of those locations (to party) and the culture surrounding them are sometimes hard to find

mixed with the nightlife, Iwa has a strong adult entertainment industry. There are countless soaplands and burlesque show, again only if you can find them

(Honorable Mention) 3.5 - Modern Kirigakure (Work in Progress)

On the way to become like Konoha (along with their own sauce) but is not there yet

outside of the capital, they still operate like the previous system like the rest of the country of water.

4- Sunagakure (Organized Events)

The nightlife of Suna is more made of organized events where mass of people attent. The largest venues happen on Fridays since there are a lage diversity of shecdules among the population but everthing stops from Friday night to Sunday morning.

A typical night activity is enjoying tea, there are hundreds of tea stands across the country, sometimes even in the middle of nowhere for travelers during their long journey in the desert. they along serve flavourful whiskeys and tasty snacks. It is the #1 socializing spot.

The food is to die for. The culinary scene of Suna is unmatched, with all the ingredients natives to the regions it gives unique meal you cant find anywhere else. there are many restaurants of all types open until the early hours of the morning.

Live performing is a very prevelant part of Suna's nightlife,

A lot of night activities are meant to be enjoyed in large numbers especially among families since many of them are large.

the problem is that Suna is really weary of tourists/foreigners, so accessing certain areas, restaurants or pubs may be denied because they require invitations. That would limit your acess to tea houses and restaurants in the main city/touristic areas where the inflation is crazzzzyyyyyyy for outsiders. Also the language barrier doesnt help...

the best deal would be to be invited among someone's familiy and celebrate with them, it's just as good as going out

5- Old Kirigakure (Dangerous Territories ahead...)

It is advised for regular citizen (especiall women and children) to stay inside as soon as the sun sets. They say the freaks come out at night, all criminals and gang members come out after nightfall. they occupate various pubs and bars. The city is dual face because it is literraly re-birthed at night for a whole different aura to plague the city at night.

most illegal activities take place at night.

there are a lot of brothels operating under criminal leadership. along with illegal/dubious boxing matches and fight clubs where gambling happens.

Gambling is no joke, it is a serious widespread practice where you can witness (and participate with) players with dices on street corners.

At all time, territories are clearly separated, either by criminal affiliations, ethnicities or caste levels. cross it and will likely pay it with your life.

as a foreigner, if you fit the physical attributes of the local men, you could go unnoticed for some time but it adviced not to even try since you may be cooked when people ask for your paperwork to enter certain spaces. also even if you make and get "accepted", the wrong gesture, word could lead to a misunderstanding and escalate into violence

Kirigakure is male centered society. 90% of the people outside at night are male. many levels of society caters to them hence why a lot of adult males without criminal affialition have no problem going out at night to drink their souls away.

you can witness public intercourse

going on the previous point, there is a deep (but hidden) male LGBT culture running in Kiri. many of them are affiliated with various gangs or crimelords like Gato. Some would suggest that homosexuality is lowkey normalized among gangs (do the homie) but it will never be confirmed. So if you know where to look, are determined (crazy) enough, and looking for a hookup with a tattoed muscular dude with a questionable (dead) body count, then go ahead.

Ironically, the gigolo scene industry is as large as female adult entertainment/prostitution in Kiri. they are not going to tell you that most of them are gang members who fell from grace/punished for making mistakes or literal human trafficking.

6- Amegakure (DO NOT TRESSPASS)

RAVES. The rave culture is unmatched. If you are looking for hardcore parties with moshpits and loud eletronic music you are looking at the right place.

The night culture is really the bulk of what there is to do in Ame, its residents uses thoses parties and alcohol to escape for the reality of their daily lives.

Like everything in the country, it is so hard to acces and it doesnt like outsiders not even a little bit. most of them are not allowed to even enter the city's walls.

There you can find the HARDEST drugs in the entire world. Addictions is a real issue in Ame but when i mean hard i mean amnesia (you forget your life before you consumed it) type of hard

if you go there, you 10000% getting robbed.

thanks yall for your request, that was fun to do. hope the formatting is not too much.

shoutout to @getyourmindrightson, @oceanjenna! thanks for the support.

[charlottesbookclub]

should we talk about the interlace on gwayne's horse's armor?

since I spend altogether too much time looking at stills and gifs of gwayne anyway, I figured I might as well share some observations I have about the really interesting visuals that are happening with his horse's armor

this is part art historical analysis, part gwayne meta, and part "let's look at some gorgeous images under the guise of doing visual analysis" so if that's your thing, please read on! if not, that's also totally fine – I get that this is hyperspecific and also a symptom of my very serious gwayne brainrot, so I'm putting everything else below the cut! 💚💚 (also it's quite long – sorry! 😅)

okay I want to be upfront about my qualifications and my shortfalls here: I'm an art history phd student and so basically all I do is visual analysis of objects. I've studied a number of medieval manuscripts that feature interlace (which is where I'm going to draw most of my knowledge from here), and I've taken a seminar (an advanced graduate course) specifically on medieval manuscripts, for which I wrote a research paper entitled "From Kells to Celtic: The Aesthetics of the Book of Kells Illuminations as a Marker of Irish Identity." HOWEVER I am NOT a historian of armor, so I will be taking my knowledge of interlace on other objects and applying it to the armor we see in the show

a short intro

so, the first thing that struck me about gwayne's horse's armor is that it's really different than the other equestrian armor we see, even amongst the other men who came with him from oldtown. to be honest, my guess is that this was likely done in the show to help him stand out and also show that he is a special and precious princess (which he is btw 😌😌) who needs fancy armor for his horse. I'm not sure if further thought went into it than that (but maybe it did! I'm happy to stand corrected here!)

however, the catastrophic levels of brainrot I've developed over this man have compelled me to read much further into it than that, which I shall now proceed to do with great enthusiasm! ☺️

first, let's look at the armor:

it's hard to find really detailed close-ups, but it's clear that the armor is incredibly intricate. not only do we have this very complex interlacing, but certain designs are marked out with different colors and internal patterning, making the whole thing even more visually interesting and complex

while interlacing is used across a vast range of time, cultures, geographical regions, and artistic mediums, given both the visuality of this armor in particular and knowing that westeros is based on medieval europe, seeing this interlace instantly called to mind a style that we today call "insular fusion" (I'm not going to go into all the specifics of it here because that's a post all its own lol 😅). it's a style perhaps most famously exemplified by The Book of Kells, but it is found throughout many different objects of the same period (ca. 700-900 CE)

now let's look at some fucking interlace hell yeah!!!!!!

from The Book of Kells (ca. 750-810 CE)

from The Lindisfarne Gospels (ca. 698-721 CE)

and two non-manuscript examples:

Animal Head Post from a Viking Ship Burial (ca. 825 CE)

and a later example, but one of my favorites:

Wooden Portal of the Urnes Stave Church (ca. 1050-1070 CE)

do we see the vision??? are y'all picking up what I'm putting down???

"okay, charlotte, I see the similarities, but why does this matter?" you may be asking yourself (or maybe you aren't idk), and the answer is: this type of interlacing had some super fascinating meanings and uses, some of which I think we can apply to gwayne! 💚💚

let me break it down from least to most potentially related to gwayne:

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

use of interlace in a religious context

interlace as a status symbol

the protective potential of interlace

and now let's go into detailllllllll!!!!!

the aesthetics of interlace as an identity marker

I bring this one up because it's what I focused on in my personal research on the topic of interlace, but I also think it's the least relevant to gwayne. my argument in my paper was that the aesthetics of the interlace in the Book of Kells have been thoughtfully and intentionally re-used throughout history and into the present as a clear visual marker of identity that draws a narrative back to the production of the Book of Kells. however, in terms of the show, we have very little indication that the particular style of interlacing we see on gwayne's horse is associated with any larger identity concepts. it doesn't seem to be associated with house hightower, as none of the other men with gwayne seem to borrow this motif, nor do we see it associated with alicent (as far as I can tell from the little looking I've done, but I'm more than happy to revise this!). for it to make sense as some form of identity marker, it would have to be clear what identity he's visually referencing, and since his use of interlace seems unique, I think it's doubtful that it's part of a larger visual invocation of identity

use of interlace in a religious context

part of what makes insular fusion so interesting as a style is that it is indeed a fusion of a number of different regional styles, including vine scrolls from the mediterranean, triskeles from the northern british isles, and zoomorphic (meaning "in the form of animals") interlace from northwestern mainland europe. although insular fusion is used to decorate christian objects (like gospel books and churches), its component parts are much much older and have connections to various pagan religions that significantly pre-date christianity. obviously it's impossible to be 100% certain of the exact significance of interlace in any of these religious contexts (there are no written records explaining it), but scholars have a few guesses

one suggestion is that interlace in some way represented the spirit world/the world of the gods, or perhaps even a point of connection between the human world and the world beyond. although the religion of westeros is obviously different than any of the real-world religions that used interlace in this manner, I do still wonder if there could be a religious connection here. it's pretty clear that gwayne's mother was quite religious, and alicent is as well. although we don't totally know gwayne's relationship with religion, we could certainly guess that it's at least a little bit important to him, given the beliefs of the women in his life. I know that the most common religious symbol in westeros tends to be the seven-pointed star, which is not something I see on the interlace on the armor, so I'm not sure how far I would want to take this hypothesis, but I did want to put it out there for anyone who might have further thoughts!

interlace as a status symbol

as I mentioned to in the beginning, I do think it's likely that this particular type of armor was chosen for gwayne's horse because it does come off as a bit ostentatious. the manuscripts with interlace that I mentioned above were hugely expensive and time-consuming projects, and only the most affluent religious communities could afford such luxurious gospel books. given the level of detail on the armor, I have to imagine that the same is true in the world of the show. in some ways, it's a mode of conspicuous consumption; a demonstration of the hightowers' wealth and influence. there's a reason gwayne's horse's armor stands out: because it's meant to. it's meant to set him apart, even from the other soldiers who came with him from oldtown

now this next part is just my own conjecture, but I also wonder if the armor is meant to speak to a more artistic sensibility on gwayne's part. after all, equestrian armor is a very functional object with a very clear goal: to protect the horse. from a purely functional standpoint, the interlace does nothing to serve this purpose (and may actually hinder it a little??), it simply adds a complex visuality to the armor. aside from just flaunting the wealth that must have been expended to commission such a piece, it also suggests that it was crafted by artisans who had both functional and aesthetic goals in mind while creating it. whether it was gwayne himself who directed the commission or not, it seems significant that he chose to use this armor that doubles as a kind of art piece. he does seem to be someone who enjoys the finer things in life, so it wouldn't surprise me if he had an artistic appreciation too, and was using this armor as a way to demonstrate that (or perhaps even just as a way to show his own personal artistic taste/preferences)

the protective potential of interlace

technically, I think "interlace as a status symbol" is the most likely reason for the armor being the way it is, but this one is my favorite theory, so I'm putting it at the top. circling back to the religious uses of interlace, another theory of its religious significance is as a mode of protection. some scholars think that its creators believed that the weaving, intertwined lines of the interlace would confuse and trap evil spirits. building on this theory is the fact that complex interlacing was often used at transitional or liminal points, such as the beginning pages of a gospel book or on the doors of churches. the idea here is that the interlace wields its protective powers at these key entry points against any evil entities that might try to enter sacred or protected spaces

interlace as apotropaic (a fancy technical term meaning "protective," often used in reference to magic or magical practices) seems particularly poignant for an object that was literally going to be worn into battle. now, I admit once again that there is little canon evidence to suggest that interlace is thought of in this way in the world of the show, so I'm running with this theory more because I like it rather than because I think it's legitimately based in canon. but I just think it's very sweet that gwayne's horse would be adorned with this complex interlace that seems to be woven with protective powers. even if gwayne (or others) didn't literally believe that interlace had those kind of powers, the fact that he still made the choice to invoke the idea of protection against harm and evil is a lovely thought. (it makes me think of how people today still might carry a rabbit's foot or have charms against the evil eye, even if they don't actually place stock in the beliefs surrounding those objects. I just think it's cool that generations of cultural belief still imbue these objects with a kind of magical aura). I just like the idea that he (or someone else?? otto? alicent? his mother?) chose armor that might have been associated with protection against harm

and now I'll finally wrap up!!

whew that was a lot! if you've read this far – thank you so much!! I'm honestly not even sure if these thoughts were coherent, but I kept thinking about this when I looked at that interlaced armor, and I just had to get the ideas out of my head lol

but I'd love to hear what others think about this topic! I'm certainly not an expert on the matter, and I'd be super open to hearing if others have different interpretations!

if nothing else, I hope you learned something cool about interlace! (and also just how far I have descended into madness over this man that I am writing pages-long analyses of his horse's armor 😅🤪)

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

I'm not a "ship" person whatsoever but I do scroll character tags on occasion and see quite a bit of Vox and Vel together as well as what seems to be a lot of what I'm assuming is female original character stuff. I've even seen some Charlie and Vox too. So it's out there, but unless you're scrolling through character tags I can see how it might be hard to find. Personally, I also block/filter a lot of the big "ship" tags so maybe that also makes it easier for me to stumble across this stuff that "slips" through since I don't know if those pairings have names.

I get your point though. I do think many are inclined to erase his bisexuality when it's convenient. Interestingly, they also erase Valentino's pansexuality too. The same with Husk as well, but I check his tag a lot less so who knows.

What disappoints me, and I know I'm about to come off as nit-picky right now lol, is the lack of research people put into their "sexuality" headcanons for the characters with reference to their different eras. When reading some of them, you'd think the idea of "gay rights" was a completely new and foreign topic that only emerged after the early 2000s. I get people want to go for the simplistic "repressed and doesn't know what being [insert identity here] is" for some of the older characters but that completely ignores a fascinating and rich tapestry of queer history that could create far more interesting (and still accurate) stories for the characters/their backgrounds. I would really encourage those who haven't already or are generally unfamiliar to dive into this history as it might inspire their character ideas while also educate them on the work, art, and activism our queer elders have contributed to the community we have today.

I think this may partially relate to character ages being under explored as well. While I've seen debate on what is canon/has been decanonized many of these characters, as far as we know, died in their late 30s and beyond. That's a lot of life to live and experience. While certainly many people throughout history (and even today) kept their sexuality hidden from the public due to culture, shame, and safety that doesn't mean there weren't many incredible private venues/spaces that could be utilized to explore those feelings/identities in secret.

I could go on and on about this but I've totally strayed from your original point (I'm sorry!) and I'm very tired haha. I just think there are multiple factors coming into play here with these character interpretations and, for me, the biggest missed opportunity is the lack of historical research. But end of the day people should have their fun! Just an observation.

Completely agree with this! I doubt my response will be as long since I just woke up but other characters doing certain things or not knowing about sexualities is interesting, it just seems like a lot of people think older people don’t want to explore any of that like it only just happened recently as you said. I like to joke about Angel being shocked about gay marriage and not knowing a bunch of current terms but thats about it. With him being in the mafia when he was alive makes it much more interesting as well, I’m pretty sure around his time the mafia was blackmailing men in gay bars but dont quote me on that I might be wrong.

Anyway for Husk and Valentino pan erasure I see that a bunch too. Not exactly erasure but just… ignoring it? Moreso erasure on Valentino’s end because Ive seen people get mad at people for shipping Valentino with a woman and was like “hes gay dont do that” no he isnt. Also dont ship Valentino with anyone for the love of god. But like people are super used to just making up headcanons that they dont bother to look up actual canon stuff. I know Hazbin isn’t the best but if you want canonically LGBTQ+ characters use what you have and add on later. Or headcanon a background character, thats what I did with Molly.

People are very focused on modern day queerness and forget that this stuffs been happening for decades and it’s a bit sad. Also I seem to have strayed from my own question as well?? Anyway ty for mentioning this! Its very interesting 🩷

[lurkingshan]

How many non-BLs do you watch in general, and why is it good to mix up your media intake?

Look at you forcing me to admit I watch more than you on main. As you know, the answer is: a lot. You don’t become a drama scholar by slacking!

My MDL right now says I’ve completed about 350 dramas, and that’s across a wide variety of Asian media. I watch stuff from Korea, Japan, Thailand, and China very regularly, as well as whatever I can find from Taiwan, Philippines, and Vietnam (some of this isn’t even tracked on MDL so my total watch number is always higher than whatever it says). I also watch Western media but not nearly as much. By my count I’ve watched about 85 dramas this year, and the bl to not-bl split is about 50/50.

I try to watch at least a few bls live week to week at any given time for fandom participation reasons, because it’s fun to take part in the discourse. And I’m always also working through a long backlog of non-bl dramas, which I binge one at a time (unlike some people who try to simultaneously watch 20 things one episode at a time, ahem). And I do think the variety is important for a number of reasons.

I am truly a lover of stories, and I always want another one. I usually also have a book going on top of my drama viewing.

I’m analytical by nature and very interested in narrative structure, characterization, plotting and pacing, and all the other components of good storytelling. You learn these things best by studying and observing what works and what doesn’t in the media you consume.

Watching dramas from different countries gives you the chance to learn about a variety of cultures and draw connections between cultural norms and values, how stories get told, and how each industry interacts with audiences both domestic and international.

Having a well-balanced media diet also affords you the opportunity to learn about differences between cultures and how these countries’ media speaks to and influences each other.

Fiction is a great way to process your emotions and get to know yourself. Varying the genre, style, and tone on your watch list opens your mind to so much creativity and allows you to find affinity and connection with things you didn’t even know you liked. If you’re not willing to venture out of your usual patterns and safe zones, you may never know yourself entirely.

Consuming too much of any one thing is bad for your brain. If you only watch one kind of story over and over again, you will lack perspective and capacity for critical analysis, because you lose touch with the wider context of the media landscape. Comparative analysis keeps you sharp and helps you learn.

To put it simply: There’s a great wide world of stories out there, and I want to see and learn from them all.

[hunxi-after-hours]

danmei reading challenge 1.0

I had so much fun coming up with these discussion questions in this post that I thought I’d make a more streamlined post for folks to make it easier to track! it is however a very long post so I shall throw the discussion questions under the cut. here are the challenges:

read works by three (or more!) danmei authors

read two different danmei novels by the same author (if you can wrangle it, try to read novels in different genres)

read a danmei novel that is not wuxia, xianxia, or xuanhuan

read a danmei novel set in modern day China

read a webnovel that was not serialized on JJWXC

read a webnovel by a danmei author that is not danmei (e.g. 言情 / heterosexual romance, 无CP / no romance)

read a danmei novel with 2+ adaptations into other forms of media (e.g. audiodrama, donghua, manhua, live action)

read a danmei novel with no adaptations in other forms of media

read a traditionally published work of Chinese speculative fiction

read a novel written by a Chinese diaspora author

(also I did some math and if you read for maximum overlap you can do this challenge in just seven books ;)

read works by three (or more!) danmei authors

what recurring themes, character traits, narrative tropes, or cultural aspects to you observe across works by different authors? what differences do you notice? do you think these similarities/differences are hallmarks of the genre, coincidental stylistic choices, authorial interests, or wider cultural trends? how do different authors address certain issues, or avoid them altogether? how do these choices affect the content and style of the text, as well as your perception of and/or response to these texts?

read two different danmei novels by the same author (if you can wrangle it, try to read novels in different genres)

what recurring themes, character traits, narrative tropes, or thematic commonalities do you observe across an author’s works? how do the different narrative or genre contexts of each novel affect characters and themes in each work? do you observe changes in an author’s perspective, views, or opinions on common themes and/or social issues from novel to novel?

read a danmei novel that is not wuxia, xianxia, or xuanhuan

how do aspects of worldbuilding differ across genres? what new aspects of culture, character, or language do you observe in a different genre setting? how much character or worldbuilding do you think is attributable to genre convention, and how much isn’t? what do you think readers find attractive about wuxia/xianxia/xuanhuan settings? what do you think readers find attractive about other genres?

read a danmei novel set in modern day China

how do the emotional and narrative stakes of novels change depending on time period? what were you surprised by? what similarities or resonances did you recognize between the text and your own life? how does the fabric of the setting in this novel differ from novels set in other time periods and settings? in what ways do class and power factor into character conflicts and relationships? how do these differ from the way class and power are addressed in historical novels? what is the role of tradition and history in this novel? do you find the text more realistic because it’s set in modern day? why or why not? how important do you think “realism” is to the text and the readers? why might this be? how important is “realism” to your reading experience? why might this be?

read a webnovel that was not serialized on JJWXC

there are many other Chinese internet literature platforms, such as 长佩文学 and 奇点文学网. explore one (or more!) of these literature platforms and note any observations about differences, similarities, or things you’re surprised by. how does this inform your understanding of the larger scope of Chinese web literature? in what ways are literature and genre organized differently from what you’re familiar with? compare and contrast your experience reading a non-JJWXC novel with a JJWXC novel. what was the same? what was different? do you think these similarities/differences are influenced by the different audiences of these websites or larger societal trends in media and culture, or something else entirely?

read a webnovel by a danmei author that is not danmei (e.g. 言情 / heterosexual romance, 无CP / no romance)

what similarities do you observe between this novel and a danmei novel written by the same author? what differences do you observe? how do narrative reflections of gender and character dynamics differ? what other themes, issues, or narrative aspects do you notice coming to the forefront when the focus has shifted away from male/male romance? what were you surprised by? what weren’t you surprised by? has your perception of the author’s views on gender/gender dynamics changed? if so, how? if not, why do you think this is?

read a danmei novel with 2+ adaptations into other forms of media (e.g. audiodrama, donghua, manhua, live action)

what do you think about this novel generates wider media attention and interest? how do the characters and narrative change from text to adaptation? why do you think this happened? how did the popularization via adaptation affect the original text, if at all? how did you come to discover this text, and how many platforms did it have to jump to get to you? why do you think this text received attention on the platform you first heard of it? in what ways beyond the content of the text itself did this novel draw wider attention?

read a danmei novel with no adaptations in other forms of media

why do you think this novel hasn’t been chosen for adaptation yet? in what ways would this novel be challenging to adapt? what medium do you think this novel would be best suited for? how would an adaptation of this novel change your perspective and experience of this text? what would you hope to see in an adaptation of this novel?

read a traditionally published work of Chinese speculative fiction

how does a traditionally published work of Chinese fiction differ  stylistically and narratively from the web literature you’ve read? what  does the wider field of Chinese speculative fiction look like? how do  the imaginations and concerns of Chinese authors manifest in their  worldbuilding, setting, characters, themes, and conflicts? how do  subgenres of Chinese speculative fiction resemble and differ from genres  you’re more familiar with? what did you like about this work? what puts  you off about this work? did this work raise any questions or themes  that you haven’t thought about before? what aspects of the novel seem  rooted in contemporary Chinese society, and which themes seem more  universal? if reading in translation, did you identify any moments where  context was lost between languages? were there footnotes in the  translation, and if so, how did they affect your reading experience? if  not, did you ever wish there were footnotes? what kind of additional  context did you wish you had? how do you think the translation  influenced your reading experience? how high-profile is this work of  Chinese speculative fiction, and why do you think this is?

read a novel written by a Chinese diaspora author

how do characters, themes, settings, and worldbuilding differ from the perspective of a diaspora writer? what aspects feel the same? how does translation on linguistic, cultural, or metafictional levels factor into the text? what is the role of tradition and reception in the narrative? what other influences can you spot in the text? what Chinese work would you put this text in conversation with, and why? how are different cultures portrayed in diaspora works vs. non-diaspora works? based on this text, have cultural values shifted in diasporic reception? what is the relationship presented in the text between identity and nationhood, tradition and ownership?

[goonlalagoon]

Dot the i's & cross the t's || Hilda

A selection of excerpts from the records, reports and miscellaneous communications of Alfur Aldric from his time as Elven Observer of the City of Trollberg. Note to the reader: Whilst the contents of certain of Aldric’s Trollberg Reports may seem extremely unlikely, even fanciful, it has been independently verified that they are, in fact, true and accurate.

Edited to tag @hilda-appreciation-week as forgot despite the day 1: favourite character prompt being the reminder to post this. Not sure I have a single favourite, but I do enjoy Alfur as a character.

Read on Ao3

Report one: A preliminary report on travelling from the Elven Northern Counties to the human settlement of Trollberg via car

Like many Elves of the Northern Counties, I have restricted my travels thus far to that which is well-mapped and within a reasonable days travel by foot from my home village, with the occasional trip further afield with an overnight stay in order to assist with vital census updates and independent verification of records.

I therefore begin my records as the Elven Observer of the City of Trollberg with information collected before I entered the city, with observations on travelling the far vaster distance between my home county to the city itself. As expected, the interior of a human car is highly spacious, with an interesting array of safety features for the comfort of the driver and passengers. Sadly, these did not extend to anything suitable for an elf, and I on several occasions found myself sliding across the dashboard as we went around a corner until Hilda invited me to instead sit on her shoulder, where I could hold onto the collar of her jumper. I am pleased to report no injuries beyond a moderate bruise to my elbow, for which the appropriate paperwork has been filed.

The road in places was poorly maintained, a sad state of affairs for a piece of public infrastructure, but my companions seemed well used to the occasional abrupt clatter as the wheels caught in a crack in the road. Once we reached the more heavily used roads this became less common, suggesting a resource prioritisation effort may be the culprit. We passed an interesting array of signage, some of which was quite obvious to me and others which were inscrutable. Some were even directly contradictory - "Road works ahead", it transpired, meant not a reassuring statement on the continued availability of a road, but in fact was flagging that the road ahead was out of use for major repairs! Despite how illogical and potentially confusing this was, I admit to finding a certain charm in such differences compared to Elvish culture*.

The majority of the journey passed quickly; regrettably, as we drew closer to the gates to Trollberg we encountered what I was informed is a commonplace element of travel via car or other motorised road vehicle - the so called "traffic jam". I am yet to be able to find a reliable source for the origin of this term, but would posit based on observation thus far that it is a colloquialism  based on the ability of a large volume of vehicles attempting to utilise the same subset of roads causes you to slow as if caught in a vast swathe of sticky jam**

Once through the gates of Trollberg, late in the afternoon but fortunately before the sun was due to set, we took a meandering route through the city. I commented that the layout seemed somewhat counterintuitive, to which Joanna kindly informed me that city planning was rather ad-hoc, rather than the layout of the city as a whole being considered at the outset. While quite foreign a concept to one used to the clear zoning laws and building regulations of the Northern Counties, one must I suppose account for the necessity of limiting building to within a constrained space (i.e. within the encircling walls) and the impacts this would have on opportunities for building and restructuring. Human buildings, it would seem, are deeply attached to the very bedrock rather than being simply held in place via magic (which is, of course, not available to the vast majority of humans) which further complicates any attempt to impose logical order on their street layout.

Nevertheless, our driver was well aware of where she needed to go and we soon arrived at our destination with no diversions. We left the car on the street outside, with much muttered complaint about "parallel parking" and lamenting the lack of a "driveway", a statement I am yet to receive adequate clarification for. Joanna has promised to find a driver's theory manual for me to investigate to expand my understanding rather than being reliant on her or Hilda's ability to answer my questions.

As they appear to disagree quite drastically on some points, I will be pleased to verify my learnings with the approved instructions before submitting further details to the records of the Northern Counties.

* Statement intended as a positive observation on a novel culture and to indicate an open-minded and non-judgemental approach, not in to be considered in any form as a suggestion for adoption by the Elvish Council **Hilda, one of my two hosts in the city, has kindly offered to locate a scale model car and drive it through several varieties of jam in order to test the accuracy of this comparison; Joanna is insistent that any such experiments be done with suitable preparation, as is only correct for any scientific investigation. I have included a draft of this proposed experimental design with this report for reference.

-

Report one, subset A: A packing list

Shirts x 3 Reading glasses Underwear x 7 Towel Toiletries Books x 3 Woolly hat x 1 Scarf x 1 Mittens x 1 (pair) PJs x 2 Slippers Winter coat Notebook x 2 Pens Sleeping bag

Note: had I more time to prepare for travel I would perhaps have expanded my packing to decrease frequency of laundry, however there was limited time and a hard deadline for transport, necessitating a rather restricted research period to prepare for my travels.

-

Report one, subset B: A preliminary proposal for investigation on the coherency of "traffic jam" as a colloquialism 

Hypothesis A: Attempting to drive a scale vehicle across a surface coated with jam will result in a noted slowing of movement Hypothesis B: There will be no significant impact of variety of jam on the deceleration noted

Experimental materials required:

Scale model car with some mode of propulsion

A disposable or easily cleaned surface with sufficient texture for wheels to grip

A disposable or easily cleaned surface larger than the experimental set up

A stopwatch

Measuring tape

Jam (three or more varieties)

Cleaning wipes to clean wheels between trials

Knife or spoon (for spreading jam on surface)

-

Report one, subset C: A note on light and sound pollution

Residents of the Northern Counties will be well familiar with the historic conflict with the former residence of the Big People, largely revolving around what was long considered to be unacceptable levels of noise and light during the evening and night. Whilst that situation has been recently resolved, I must note that it is abundantly clear to me quite why the past residents of the cabin would have been fully unaware of this, in counter to one of the the more conservative objections that even if they had not yet completed the required paperwork to be able to interact with their neighbours their behaviour was clearly unruly and unacceptable in any case.

Quite simply, by the standards of the city of Trollberg our neighbours have been at worst consistent in their behaviour with their social norms, and in my experience thus far seemingly were frequently positively accommodating and considerate.

Outside of the windows of the room in which I am attempting to sleep is a light that seems set to be on throughout the night, one of several lining the street. Cars drive past at irregular intervals despite the late hour, throwing more light into the room (despite the drawn curtains) and splitting the night with the rumble of engines. Though at the time of writing this noise has ceased, until several hours after it became dark I could hear music coming from the flat below. While not unpleasant or offensive, it was nevertheless distracting to an elf used to the quiet of the Northern Counties.

I am not alone in finding this all rather jarring; Hilda is sitting up with me as I write, peering out of the window and mourning the peace and quiet left behind. She has just uttered an impatient declaration of "how does anybody get any sleep?" - I hope that we soon discover the answer, lest my reports quickly become unacceptably insensible.

[bottomoftheriverbed]

Cabaret in the west end review/observations @steeple-sinderby-wanderers

Full disclaimer: my previous exposure to cabaret is limited and I also had no idea who the cast were (self esteem and the guy from scissor sisters) I have read Goodbye to Berlin though and am very interested in the period.

If you are in the stalls, particularly if you are at a table, it is quite an immersive performance, the ensemble are literally up in your face at times. I did not sign up for that, it just happened to be where the wheelchair seats were and it's not necessarily my favourite way of doing theatre, I find it takes me out rather than brings me in, but it is a necessary part of the show particularly for 'if you could see her'

The atmosphere is incredible, though part of that may have been where I was sitting (I don't know whether all of the pre show is available to people in the galleries) but it did do a lot to build up the setting. The cast is fantastic.

The costumes are extremely stripped back (as in they're literally underwear for the majority of the cast). Though it does change in the second half to evoke lederhosen and drindls in reflection of the changing atmosphere of Berlin (I suspect it and the bavarian sounding 'tomorrow belongs to me' is because the stereotypical german is (somewhat ironically) bavarian but I think it can be interpreted in regards to the Nazi's attempt to appeal to and create a german folk culture that isn't nearly as uniform as it is)

Emcee was brilliant. Like I said I had no idea who he was, nor the actress playing sally and I think I preferred it that way. Obviously he's at the centre most of the times he's on stage but you still struggle to take your eyes of him. They went very hard on the idea of Emcee as the spirit of Berlin. His costumes get more and more Nazi like as the play goes on ending in a brown suit and very 'normal' looking.

speaking of, Ernst is extremely affable even after it's revealed he's a Nazi which really hammers the purpose of his character home.

Fraulein Schneider and Herr Schultz almost stole the show. They were magnificent, their romance was so sweet and tender and very much felt like the heart of the show. It's reluctant break up is gut wrenching and is even more so by the fact that it's so obviously inevitable due to Fraulein Schneider's firmly established pragmatism.

Sally was very brash and confident, she had a sturdiness to her. She kind of had a private school horse girl vibe if you get what I mean, kinda Clare balding like in her mannerisms. I don't think she was played nearly as naive as she can be played. Many of her actions came off far more as a single minded almost desperation to just keep going and surviving and living how she wants to. She's not really succeeding and there's a real vulnerability to her but hey fake it till you make it.

I think this makes Sally's decision to stay in Berlin a little less selfish and naive. In their confrontation before her abortion, Clifford is almost violent towards her and combined with the androgyny of the cast and costumes, including Sally's costume for 'Cabaret' (a brown trousers and blazer over her lingerie) makes Clifford come across as, to Sally, just another controlling, oppressive force. Sally is clinging onto the ruins of Weimar Berlin because it is the only place she can be free and independent. Of course there is still a lot of selfishness and naivity in that but it's framed slightly differently if that makes sense. Her ignorance is exceedingly deliberate, just as much as Herr Schultz's or Frau Schneider's pragmatism.

Clifford also seems naive, if not politically per say then personally, particularly because his and Sally's relationship is actually presented as almost asexual. They never even kiss but Clifford does kiss one of the Cabaret boys with whom he has much more chemistry and it perhaps suggests that this life with Sally Clifford wants is as much a manifestation of his internalised homophobia as anything else. I find the more I think about it the more this makes me a little uncomfortable, for all this is an apparently queer production it still reduces bisexuality to an erotic spectacle without actually engaging with it while playing into the idea that all bisexual men are actually gay

Clifford himself remains very much an outsider. His costume for example remains very masculine and quite formal to the point where it's something of a visual indicator of his outsider status even as it conflicts with his actions and what we're told he's doing.

Overall it was amazing and I highly recommend it (in the galleries as good as it is 200 quid (not even the most expensive seat) for one seat is a bit much)

[and-a-pidgey-in-a-wepear-tree]

good [insert time of day here] i realised i never thought to ask you amid my delight of you being the most interactive follower i have that isnt an irl friend do YOU have ocs or blorbos. i wish to know. for reasons.

OH hello yes thank you for asking!!! I have several OCs but most of the time I simply Do Not Explain on here; I have lots of ideas and doodles but I make it mostly for myself and don't think to share — doesn't mean I don't want to tho! exhibit A: this absolutely massive post I'm about to make lmao. putting it under a read more bc Oh Boy, the floodgates have been opened

most of my OCs are for two different projects I have: The Visitors and my D&D Dark Star Campaign.

The Visitors is just a lil worldbuilding project I've been chewing on for.... oh wow, over a decade at this point??? I love all the OCs I have in there very very much, but they're definitely never intended to go in an actual story, I just enjoy the speculative biology and character / world building process.

Val is one of my oldest OCs, and she's changed SO MUCH over the years! nowadays, she's a sort of insect/dinosaur mashup alien who uses gravity warping magic and a very large axe to hunt demons. a huge issue for magic users of her species is keeping cool, as magic generates heat and can literally cook you from the inside out, so you'll notice the multiple vent-like spiracles across her body for this purpose. she was born blind and so relies heavily on her best friend, Django, to be her eyes and keep her safe. fortunately, Django has Too Many Eyes. he's a dragon genetically engineered by those in Val's species to be the perfect vessel for storing and releasing massive amounts of mirror-based magic. this kind of magic gives him many abilities, including seeing around corners, creating illusions, or multiplying attacks when applied in different ways, and he acts as Val's seeing-eye dragon. in battle, she likes to get up in the action while he holds back and gives her cues on what's happening, only jumping in himself if she's in major trouble. she's very friendly and excitable, and loves to get into the culture of whatever planet they're visiting, while he's more interested in observing and snooping. there's a lot of espionage and hijinks.

these are some of my most recent sketches of them, tho I'm sure the designs will changes in the future. specific colors don't matter at all, it's all about vibes! not pictured in the halfway colored one is Val's big iridescent black cape thing that has a slit down the middle for her rigid tail, nor her weird arms since I wanted to figure out where the torso vents could go.

Duke is another Visitor who visits planets and solves problems, but his path to get there was a whole lot different! I made him up as a coping mechanism when I was 12, and I'm still very fond of him.

he started life as a human video game speedrunner and modder prodigy. in a "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" situation, a devil (very distinct from demons!) struck a deal with him, challenging his gaming abilities with his soul as the stakes. he won despite the devil's cheating, but that's where the resemblance to the song ends. in this world, a devil winning your soul allows them to fuse with you and gain total control over your body, mind, and actions; but if YOU win, the control is reversed! and like any 14 year old who suddenly has the power to rival minor gods and a chaotic creature living in their head.... he goes off the rails for a while. Val and Django eventually find him and help him cope. his powers include electricity, glitching reality, flailing his glaive around, and being a menace to evil overlords.

you can't see it very well in this picture, but his eyes and the segments between his tail glow lime green! I'm not a fan of drawing clothes, but in my head he's relatively fashionable for a teenager and refuses to wear anything other than black. also, he decided to tell me he was trans a couple years ago, thanks for letting me know buddy 😂

my other project does actually get to see the light of day, if very slowly — I'm running a homebrew D&D campaign for my irl friends called the Dark Star Campaign! none of em use tumblr so WHEEEE I get to post all the spoilers I want! there's a kinda staggering amount of lore behind it and a ton of minor OCs, but the two I rotate in my head the most are Anya the Timekeeper and The Master, aka Armageddon.

Anya the Timekeeper is a chronomancy lich from an alternate universe! she used to help Armageddon travel the multiverse and gain power, but she's decided she's tired of being evil, and now hides in a mansion on a tropical island where she breeds dinosaurs for fun. though she's now very determined to help the party, they'll eventually have to kill her past self to prevent a paradox. her familiar is a little archaeopteryx named Trix who steals hats!

(I commissioned this art from @/goodlouse a while ago! highly recommend checking out his blog!!)

Armageddon is the BBEG and he's SO EVIL and SO MUCH FUN. he's an ancient amethyst dragon who, up until a while before the campaign's beginning, was steadily finding alternate universe versions of himself, killing them, and eating their souls to gain Unlimited Power™. unfortunately, his partner in time (hah) Anya told him to fuck off, so the quest for Unlimited Power™ has been kinda slow lately. fortunately, a D&D campaign started, and he cheated his way into existing at the players' table as The Master! my players can ask to talk to him sometimes, and I'll put on a mask of his head I made specifically for this purpose — very useful for not breaking character when the character is supposed to literally be the one sitting at the table talking to the players. I don't try to hide the fact that he's evil and they all know it, the fun is in giving them little hints and tidbits of lore to munch on. right now he's being very docile and helpful but things will get very very interesting eventually as more of his nature and plan is revealed..... =)

I'm still playing around with what he looks like as The Master, but I really like this recent design I did. his eye glows dark and menacing. I haven't found a design for his dragon form I'm really pleased with yet tho :/

okay wow thanks again for the ask, I have many many ideas in my head and it felt pretty nice to get em out!!

[dojae-huh]

Hello! Just want to say again that I'm glad I found your blog, your down-to-earth commentary, especially about the business side of it all, is very much appreciated :)

Hi. Thank you for letting me know, I'm glad you find some more down to earth posts useful. In part, I run this blog to offer an alternative in fandom experience.

Thing is, we, as k-pop fans and as people who don't work in showbusiness or South Korea, don't have enough knowledge, experience or inside information to have a strong educated opinion on most of things when it comes to idol companies and their executives. We can have opinions as customers - I like this music, this promotional strategy works on me, these outfits are ugly, this concept rocks -, but not as business analytics. Especially considering how much media play, false information and difference in cultures we face.

However, nowadays everyone has the illusion that they know better, that their opinion and feelings are valid when it comes to any topic. And spread and defend their opinion like it is the ultimate truth.

I've recently come across a twit starting with "it appears that" and ending with "for sure". In a span of a few sentences the fan offered an imaginary scenario and finished with a "this is truth". Of course to "prove" that SM is evil, heh. Such baseless statements easily play on fans' love for their biases, evoke an emotional response, call to arms, they give an answer to "Who is to blame?!", provide a target for unleashing frustration and anger.

When one solo-stan blames our bias, we can call bullshit because we know how things really are. When a fan blames Chris Lee or SM, other fans are ready to accept the words as believeable. Either because they share the sentiment, or have no own opinion on the matter, so any will do. If everyone around says the same thing, it should be true, afterall? That's how our brains are wired: follow the majority, agree with the tribe, mirror everyone's current emotion.

We can't see the inner works and we don't know the inner rules, but we can see the results of labour and sometimes a reflection of things.

When I came to k-pop, I knew SM as the company that overworks its artists, has lawsuits with them, is super strict. Broken in two halves TVXQ and EXO with half of its members gone weren't a good representation. So when I started to get to know NCT better, I started to wonder if I was lied to or that something had changed in SM (the latter). Neos were taught how to songwrite, SM persisted with good quality music for NCT despite the group not taking off right away, artists not looking slavelike, there was SMstation and interesting projects.

Sure, I can observe bad work: poorly prepared concerts (Link), constant failures with album production (omitting Doyoung's name, boring designs for 127), tasteless stylists, etc. However, I also see good work: artists flying first/business class and living in 5 star hotels, being given opportunity to go to the beach, museums, to enjoy sightseeing in new countries; opportunity to explore one's creativity (soundcloud, NCTLabs, solo performances for Link); SM giving artists second professions (MC, variety host, model) that will aid professional longevity (Doyoung hasn't finished school and doesn't have a degree, but I'm not worried for him, even if SM collapses, he'll always find a job. Same for Taeyong, he came as a blank page, now he is a songwriter and a producer, he can even become a choreographer); neos progressively being given more choice and say, their opinion being consulted and their ideas being implemented once they gain enough experience (Golden Dust story, Taeyong making his own setlist for his concert, Doyoung saying Unity should not have solo-stages, Ten choosing the mood and genre for his solo, etc).

Most importantly, I can see many friendships between neos and producers/managers, and that Haechan and Doyoung, who experienced all of SM's downsides personally and not once, continue to like the company. Meaning, the good should outweight the bad. At least for now.

Fans learnt the name of Chris Lee and continue to blame him for everything to this day, although he doesn't own any shares in SM and has stopped being a CEO a year ago. He is a token scapegoat.

Should I blindly trust fans or should I go read Wikipedia, interviews and listen to the guy himself? In situations like these I always choose the latter.

Sure, I can't tell if he evades taxes or participates in shady business, and what neos think of him (aside from Doyoung calling him "hyung" in public and not being afraid of getting punished for it), but I can see he was the person who overlooked all the early NCT songs (we have "Limitless", "Cherry bomb" thanks to him); created SMStation and SMClassics (say thank you for "Try again", "Star blossom"); found Dem Jointz ("Kick it", "Punch", "Sticker") and multiple other songwriters who now work for SM; brought to Korea the idea of songwriting camps, in which Kun participates nowadays and where he befriends foreign creators; invested SM money into a publishing company (and not a winery or a hotel business), which means SM artists will be secured to have a lot of songs to choose from in the future, and Korean young producers will have access to the global market. He has been with SM close to 20 years, and he is evidently a music nerd, ergo he understands artists and their love for music. So why should I hate him? I have no proof of him taking money away from neos, but I have evidence he was very essential to formation of NCT and the quality of SM sound being maintained. On the contrary, I'm inclined to suspect the quality of albums (song setlist, production) is raising again because he is back to supervising A&R in SM.

[ittybittybeastiebuddy]

BUCKLE UP FUCKERS CAUSE IVE GOT SOME BUG RELATED THOUGHTS

Aight So,

I've been interested in raising/cultivation isopods this year, so I've done a lot of research, got several cultures started, etc. And recently I've noticed an interesting population of Armadillidium Vulgare at my college campus near the art building. Well, seeing as I have no self control, I started collecting a few individuals to add to the culture I had at home, where I'm aiming to attempt and breed a color morph with high-contrast, high-cover yellow markings. However, I came to notice that to A. Vulgare at my college have a specific color morph ratio within their population that is significantly different from those in my own backyard, namely the appearance of more reddish/orange/golden individuals, with lighter coloration overall.

At first, I didn't think much aside from "hell yeah more colors", but after a gathering spree this morning, I've come to the hypothesis that the reason for this color disparity is the fact that, in the environment surrounding the college art building, the isopods are traveling over a wider range of lighter-colored terrain, namely orange-red brickwork across the ground. With this in mind, the color morphs of the population make much more sense; the lighter colored isopods have an easier time blending in to the brickwork, which likely helps them to avoid predation. Meanwhile, the darker isopods still find ample space to shelter among the various mulch-filled garden beds in the area.

I mostly wanted the share this because I thought it was a very interesting observation of natural selection and adaptation at work in an environment where most people don't even notice it, and because it means I get to share photos of the isopods I collected under the cut

There's some absolutely Lovely golden individuals and I'm very excited to set up a dedicated culture to try and breed for more of the color morph!

[omgkalyppso]

For the 30 questions ask meme:

5, 9, 11 for étoile!!!

And 4, 5 for whoever is your most recently played bg3 character 👀

Thank you for the ask!! (:

Étoile

5. Describe their idle animations!

Elbows to knee crunches. Meditating cross-legged (+ Mourning Frost laid across their lap after it's reforged). Reading cross-legged. Playing their flute (aaaabcbd. aaaabcbg).

9. What’s the significance behind your Tav’s name?

Étoile is the child of my skyrim dragonborn oc Wylla and the skyrim stolen-npc-now-oc-adjacent Aranea Ienith, who worshipped the Daedric Prince Azura and had a quest to cleanse Azura's Star. It is for this star that Étoile was named in that setting and in my thought process. In Faerûn, Étoile was named for the stars that Aranea would have come to love after having spent her youth in Menzoberranzan in the Underdark.

11. What is your Tav’s go-to comfort food?

You may be interested in the answer to their Favorite Foods from last night.

But I'll say something new.

I think when Étoile is tempted to seek out comfort food that they want something rich in different textures — so it can't be a homogeneous soup or pie. Still, this might be just an excuse for me to say some kind of tacos / taco-like dish, with crisp vegetables and soft fruit, protein and sauce, and something to hold it together.

Inithray

My most recently played Tav is for an ongoing evil multiplayer campaign with some of my usual dnd friends. They can't know about my full concept for him because they haven't even reached Act 2 in their personal playthroughs, but I like to think that Inithray is some manner of undead — and an experiment of Vlaakith's, to see how long such a creation of hers can "live" after an initial interaction of her magic, or how far her influence extends in the Great Wheel cosmology as he's sent to different planes.

He is magically and culturally, her creature. Nothing she could do would shock or shake him.

Inithray has resulted in the deaths of Damays and Nymessa so far. I asked the party if they wanted to save Arabella because if so they didn't want me / Inithray leading the conversation; and they decided that the way their characters want to be evil might extend no further than stealing the idol of Silvanus and killing the druids but not aligning with the Goblins. We'll see.

Anyway!

4. What would your Tav’s romance scenes look like? How many would they have?

A lot of the githyanki specific dialogue options demonstrate their isolation, which will be more appropriate for my solo (probably not evil aligned) Tav, Yar'sul, but don't exactly suit Inithray. I think Inithray would need githyanki player characters to demonstrate their aptitude / knowledge of their own culture at the very least, if not an understanding of the world. He's attracted to power, but he's interested in someone who can carry a conversation with interest or experience, rather than simply charm.

Regardless of player race, Inithray will doubtlessly also come on (too) strong like the other resident githyanki once his interest's been captured. His bluntness will be more about visions / fantasies about what the player character might look like in ecstasy rather than scent.

His Act 1 romance scene would include an observation about how cool / clammy he is, with a question as to whether that's because he's a gith from non-githyanki or if it's because he's from the astral plane from a githyanki. He'll say yes either way, with an Insight check to see that he's lying. If you press into his mind then you do not fully find your answer, but from Inithray's perspective you remember hands burning with the fire-ice of divine energy reaching into your heart. The player character can decide if this kills the mood.

If it doesn't, then I think the player character is given two opportunities to use force in their intimacy; maybe a default choice of pulling his hair / shoving him against the ground and some class specifics. With visible confusion (/disappointment?) if the player character is gentle with him.

His Act 1 romance scene can no longer trigger once the player character has confronted Vlaakith in the crèche.

Inithray's Act 2 romance scene does not trigger if the player character was gentle with him in Act 1 but it opens him up to being willing to reject Vlaakith in Act 3. You cannot use power (or logic) to alter his allegiance / worship while his romance is active.

His Act 2 romance scene includes a(n optional) challenge. I won't step too far on Lae'zel's battle's toes; it can be a race. Either from one landmark and back to the starting point, or up a mountain. If it's to a landmark and back then when you get to the landmark he gets to use his githyanki psionics to jump like a grasshopper back to the starting point, and if you're racing up a mountain then he does the same from the beginning. A Perception check to see that he's about to jump lets you use a spell or a rock on his ankle to set him off balance, or as a githyanki, to do the same.

Making it through the race gets him out of breath and half laughing, reaching out to run his hands up the back of the player character's head (falling to his knees to do so for shorter body types) to share adrenaline high kisses.

One of the options to reject his challenge includes an accusation about how he just wants to show off, and Inithray declares that if he wanted to show off then he would do something altogether darker, and call upon his warlock magic to coalesce in blue-black shapes and smoke around his hand and his temple, and the player character can respond "Show me." to still pursue the night rather than reject him outright.

His Act 3 romance scene would require me thinking up a personal quest / how to account for whatever the player decides to do about Vlaakith, but either it can be tentative and sweet where he confesses that he's confident that Vlaakith need only look at him for him to fall to pieces; or full of dark promises where he will see the player character's power secured and the city razed for its transgressions against them if they wish it.

5. Describe their idle animations!

Reading a book. Reading a slate. Juggling a ball in one hand while counting his fingers up and down on his opposite hand, "It's good for coordination." Dicing ingredients at a little alchemy table at his tent.

[infernaleikon]

Pleeeease talk more about Anicow and how obi-wan deals with having to watch him walk around naked. And you KNOW anakin used it to his advantage to tempt obi-wan into sleeping with him 😏

i feel like anakin isn't even aware, at first, that his nakedness is so distracting to obi-wan because he grew up in a community where naked bodies are the norm, they're not sexualized, it's just who and how they are. and yeah, anakin finds some bodies prettier than others but that's just an observation and doesn't necessarily come with attraction. he finds it very curious that humans cover themselves up so much but he accepts that there are cultural differences. and i feel like even once he gets older and matures and figures out sexuality and desire, he's not particularly interested in obi-wan's body as such. like, yes he wants to be close and he wants to curl up against obi-wan's side, and he wants to touch and be touched, but still it comes from a different place.

and so once he gets together with obi-wan, anakin doesn't understand why obi-wan is so exasperated all the time and wants to put clothes on him. meanwhile, obi-wan is driven to distraction because, well, he's allowed to kiss and touch now, to run his fingers over anakin's warm skin, bite at his neck, squeeze his ass and fuck him good, and anakin is just so gorgeous, the soft arch of his back, the width of his shoulders, the swell of his ass and the curve of his biceps, and his cock, too of course. and honestly, it's not even a new sight, obi-wan has seen him like this plenty of times even before they got together, but it's driving him insane now because they're together now.

anakin realizes eventually, that humans view nakedness differently; that a naked body can be very tantalizing, especially between partners, and he starts watching obi-wan a bit more closely to gauge his reactions. obi-wan's eyes linger on him when he works outside, trail across his arms and his chest, and anakin looks behind himself when he bends over to catch obi-wan staring at his ass with dark eyes; hears him exhale roughly when anakin stretches in the sunlight.

he starts doing all of this on purpose, all the time, just to see how far he can push obi-wan. and anakin learns, pretty quickly, that trying to turn obi-wan on like this, turns him on as well, because obi-wan's gaze is heated and appreciative and so very dark. all the anticipation is exciting and it leaves him tingling and hot, his nipples stiff.

it's safe to say the first few months after they get together, they probably don't as much done around the farm as they want or should, but honestly, the sex makes up for it.

[archaeocommunologist]

The Talmud is a record of discussion and debate across centuries were contributors recorded on the same folio might be writing centuries apart, not to mention the commentary and the source reference/topic being discussed.

The Talmud is not a record of legal decisions or interpretation, though it is studied to inform legal interpretation. The most authoritative set of legal interpretations are the Shulchan Aruch and the Mishneh Torah, but Jewish law is always evolving.

But!!! Jewish Law is tribal Law, not religious law... Sometimes the law pertains to religion.

If you study a folio a day of the Babylonian Talmud, it will take you almost 7 and a half years, understanding the structure of the Talmud folio is a craft in itself.

There is no stream of Judaism in the world that endorses those who worship Powers other than HaShem as a part of the tribe. It is the first and most foundational principle of our people. We are happy to be one people of many. We can accept and even celebrate that our G-d might not be the only god, and that others worship differently. We accept that our people doubt or disbelieve, or have conflicting concepts of the Shekinah. An atheist Jew is no challenge to Jewish culture, Atheists lead our synagogues and contribute to Jewish cultural philosophy.

But WE do not have other gods, and to have other gods is to be something other than a Jew. It is Foundational to our culture.

Look, I find it difficult to respond seriously to you. You must recognize, on some level, that citing 12th and 16th Century religious law is not particularly persuasive to a person who has already identified himself as a militant atheist. Why not just quote the Diamond Sutra, or the Hadiths, or the Summa contra Gentiles? These are all equally nonsense. Interesting as a subject of historical study, interesting as cultural artifacts, but totally out of place in the modern world and no basis for any kind of ethics and certainly no basis for a legal system.

Now, I am perfectly happy to grant that you are allowed to bar non-believers and idolators from your particular branch of religion, or to exclude them from your religious services. I have absolute contempt for this kind of religious person, but I don't think this is a problem. But as you know, Jewishness is not defined by religious observance alone. Jewishness is an ethnicity and it is a culture, just like Irishness is, and unfortunately for you, you don't get to ban people from their ethnicity or their culture over differing opinions.

This is all boils down to more special pleading (the favorite activity of the Zionist). You are claiming that, unlike all other ethnic cultures, Jewish culture is defined by a specific, religious belief: there are no gods other than HaShem.

This makes you no different than somebody claiming that you can't really be Irish unless you're a Catholic, or claiming that you're not really an Arab unless you're Muslim. It makes you a run-of-the-mill bigot. It makes you just another religious fundamentalist among all the others.

And the kicker! Is that the Israeli government doesn't even back you on this. The Israeli government does not define Jewishness according to halachic law, since they allow people to trace descent from either the mother's or the father's line. You're really going to tell me that you believe some large portion of those who make aliyah are fake Jews? I haven't been able to find an avodah zarah exemption in the Israeli citizenship laws, but maybe I just haven't looked hard enough.

You don't actually believe any of this, of course. This whole digression over idolatry and Seder Nezikin and avodah zarah is secondary to your true conviction: that anti-Zionist Jews are fake Jews. The fact that your stance very obviously contradicts the entire Israeli project of Jewish settlement doesn't matter, because in that context you'd never think to even raise the objection. A Zionist Jew practicing Wicca is perfectly fine.

It's only when it comes to anti-Zionist Jews that you reach for the rationales to discredit them. It's the same way that Norm Finkelstein can be discredited for transphobia or "Holocaust denial," but you'd never dream to try and discredit Yair Golan for openly calling to starve Gaza. Zionism, no matter what, is the defining feature of Judaism in your eyes. This is obvious to the rest of us, even if you keep it hidden from yourself.

There's nothing much to respond to in your second ask, other than more outpourings of dark age religious bigotry, so I'll end here. From the river to the sea.