#first animated series from India

[seraphinitegames]

Hey, Mishka!!!

I've been replaying TWC over the last couple of months, and must say, it's been an entirely rejuvenating experience for me. Like, I was reading it the first time, although I've replayed the series quite too many (worrying number) of times already. And it still manages to amaze me, EVERY SINGLE TIME.

I've repeated this in the past, and I'll repeat it again. The Wayhaven Chronicles is a blessing for me and I'm sincerely thankful to have come across it when I did. And I'm grateful to you for making this lovely world a reality (and of course, the four beautiful vamps)! Really eager for Book 4 and have already player the demo; can say it's gonna be worth the wait. It every time is.

Replaying the series in the last few months, I had a certain uncontrollable urge to drop and ask a few questions to you. Apologize in advance for the long ask and message, but it had been bottling up inside of me for SOOOOOO LONG.

1. In Book 1, when we're to lead the investigation in one of the three directions, is there any way to get success in any direction without Bobby making a big joke out of our investigation in the newspaper?

2. In Book 2, when Nicole and Max Salinas come to report their incident, can Tina actually find out anything unusual? If so, what is actually needed to explain that?

3. In Book 3, I noticed if we choose to go the final mission alone, depending on the route chosen, Boddy/Doug will end up tagging along as well, jeopardizing everything. Is there still a way to complete the mission successfully and rescuing everyone like it happens when we go along with Rebecca?

4. Less of a question, but more of a plea. Please tell me we can get a pet anytime in the series. I was just curious if we can get one.

5. How powerful is the big baddie in Book 4 compared to Unit Bravo? You don't need to answer if this verges on spoiler-y territory.

Really sorry to overwhelm you with this, but it's just months and months of joy, happiness, and sheer ecstasy making me blabber on about this world like this. Thanks once again, for making this truly beautiful story, world, and the vampires a reality.

Have a good day!!!! Lots of love from India!!

You can never play a game you love too many times (I keep telling myself that as I gradually burn a hole into my poor old console playing Dragon Age over and over, lol!)! If it brings you happiness, then that's what is important! :D

Ok, let's see about the questions...it's been a whole since I've gone through the older games without being in editing mode, hehe!

I don't think so...Bobby is, well, Bobby. And that scene was there very much to establish their character and show the player what type of person they are.

I don't think so, again. If there's anything unusual or odd, then I usually like to let the MC find that instead of it happening 'off-screen' so it's more impactful for the player—unless it's Verda discovering stuff, because that needs to happen for…reasons.

Iirc, in the Bobby/Doug routes, you get the auction scene, so a lot of that branch involves focusing on saving yourself! But the other team that joins Unit Bravo will help in saving a lot of the captives in that version.

I would love that being a massive animal companion fan myself, hehe! But likely not, just because the MC is away a lot from home, and that's unfair on the pet, even a fictional one, lol. I was tempted to give the MC a supernatural pet that hung around at the facility—that was definitely a strong idea at one point just so I could write a pet in the series for those that wanted it (me, I was the one who wanted it, hehe!) :D

**BOOK FOUR DEMO SPOILERS AHEAD** It's not just that Book Four's villain is terrifyingly powerful (or will be. They are, thankfully for the MC and UB, in a weakened state for a while due to what's happened to them and what happened in Chapter Two) but it's a lot to do with the fact that their power specifically counteracts and weakens Unit Bravo's. So that's a double whammy!

Thank you SO incredibly much for the amazing message! It means more than you can know <3

[tamblr]

Intro to Tantric Shaivism

Shiva as a god is someone who has been deeply influential in my personal spiritual journey. From watching both Lord Ram and Ravana pray to him to seeing the relationship between Shiva and Shakthi, I was always intuitively fascinated by him and that led naturally to intellectual curiosity. In the previous write up I had summarised the meaning of Tantra, this is a small introduction to Shaivism. 

Shaivism is the worship of Lord Shiva as the supreme being. It is an ancient Hindu sect that is an amalgamation of pre Vedic and Vedic traditions. As such, some scholars have dated the sect to the Indus Valley civilisation at 2500-2000 BCE. 

Shaivism has many schools of thought, two of the most popular ones being: Saiva siddhanta and Kashmiri Shaivism from which we will draw most of the metaphysics, philosophy and cosmology from but first…

Who or what is Shiva? 

The answer to this question itself could be a series all on its own but here’s two etymologies from two of the most ancient languages: Tamil and Sanskrit.

I was reading this incredible novel called Kottravai where the author describes the etymology of the word, Sivam, this is my very rough translation of the tamil text, “from the word meaning, life (Siivam), the people named their lord sivam”. From sivam comes siivan, more predominantly pronounced as jiivan meaning soul or living being. 

Indeed, one of the most ancient names of the lord is pasu-pati, lord (pati) of animals (pasu). In Saiva Siddhanta, pasu is has a further meaning of soul so the lord of souls. 

According to Monier-Williams, the Sanskrit word "Shiva" means "auspicious, propitious, gracious, benign, kind, benevolent, friendly". The root words of shiva in folk etymology are śī which means "in whom all things lie, pervasiveness" and va which means "embodiment of grace”.

While the Tamil etymology talks about who he is, the Sanskrit one gives a description of his characteristics. 

But what is he? 

He is sat-cit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss). Or more succinctly, the universal consciousness. Kashmiri Shaivism talks about the universal consciousness as having two characteristics: prakasa (light) and vimarsa (reflective awareness) and talks about the universal consciousness as being the efficient cause whose effect is the vibration of consciousness (spanda). Here it should be noted that cause and effect are reciprocal processes where cause leads to effect and effect back to cause.

While we talk about Shiva as masculine, it is important to note that Shiva and Shakthi are a dual principle, like two sides of the same coin where Shakthi is the instrumental cause whose effect is pure energy (kundalini Shakthi). Symbolised in Ardhanadishwara.

Similarly, while Shaivism and vaishnavism are at odds with each other in many aspects, the old name for Visnu in the Tamil was Mayon, the personification of Maya (material reality, illusion) and Shaivite traditions agree that Maya is another aspect of Shakthi. The duality of Shiva and Vishnu is symbolised in Hari-Hara.

Proof of existence 

Saiva siddhanta, a school popular in South India is a philosophical school that is based on theistic realism and therefore offers a rational argument for why the universal consciousness should exist. The proof first begins with 3 laws:

All existing things have arisen and must at some time be destroyed. 

Law I, to the thesis that the world in its entirety must have been created at one point of time, and, again at one point of time, will in its entirety be destroyed; the world has a beginning and an end. 

Everything that gets destroyed must arise again; something that exists cannot become a nothing. 

Law 2, that the world's history will not end with its destruction, but that after a certain time it will be created anew out of itself; a new world-creation will follow a world- destruction. 

Whatever arises must have existed before; a nothing can't turn into an existent something

Law 3, that an eternal living something must form the basis of this world, out of which it was created, and into which it will at some time be resolved, and from which it will at another time again be created.

But why Shiva?

Why is Shiva the personification of the universal consciousness? The answer given is quite simple. 

There is a popular Tamil saying: ‘Anbe Sivam’ which means ‘love is Shiva’ or ‘shiva is love’. To quote from Saiva siddhanta: “You must worship what engages your love, you disciples of advaita.” Advaita means non-duality of subject and object and talks about the relationship between the individual soul and the divine. So from their perspective, anything that fuels your love is your personification of the divine and for Shaivites due to the history, culture and religion, Shiva is who engages their love and hence their devotion.

This is where the idea of Tantra comes into play. ‘The exploration of the inner cosmos is Tantra that helps one discover the inner architecture of one’s self and its relationship with the outer world.’ Tantric Shaivism is essentially the exploration and recognition of the soul and its relationship to Shiva, the personification of the universal consciousness.

Why use a personification?

the soul has three faculties: knowledge, will, action 

it needs something to lean on, which it then imitates and assimilates

its faculties need to be set in motion by some impulse from outside.

When you love something, you desire to understand it, be with it and you immerse your thoughts in it. In other words, you develop devotion. This is what you lean on. The qualities of the personification of the universal consciousness as being auspicious, benevolent, full of grace enable the soul to be able to imitate it and assimilate with it. This love is fuelled by culture, mythology and other personal experiences unique to each individual so theology helps set in motion the faculties of the soul. 

Knowledge - Knowledge can roughly be of two types: intellectual knowledge and instinctual knowledge. Instinctual knowledge is brought about by faith and the faith is strengthened through intellectual knowledge gathered from reading scripture, philosophy etc. Sometimes instinct can give rise to intellectual curiosity and other times intellectual exploration can give rise to a deity that is instinctually recognised by the soul. 

Will - the will is simply the ability of a person to concentrate completely on the divine and is fuelled by devotion and resilience of one’s faith and this initiates action.

Action - action is the performance of inner (meditation, chanting mantras) and outer (puja, yoga) rituals acting as a symbolic union from which the actual union with the divine occurs

One of my main resources was the book Saiva Siddhanta: An Indian School of mystical thought in addition to other resources which I would be happy to link if anyone is curious.

[your-old-sins-tournament]

12 YEAR OLD OCS; SIDE A

hạt dẻ hạt phỉ [@tboyblogger] (she/her sister, he/him for brother)

theyre a pair of twin beasts, middle schoolers! i have no idea who is hazelnut and who is chestnut i kept calling them both names like that, theyre they/them in the way there are always two kids. these kids are beasts(?) that look like human but with magic and animal ears and tails. theyre adopted by a desi family of wizards so they do witchy spellcasting stuff. their names are in vietnamese cause. well im viet, and theyre kind of a ripoff of a vietnamese early 2000s tv show about a family of wizards (LOL) coming to the human world and try to blend in, except mine is just about the family trying to take care of these two beasts and the shenanigans revolve around them! if i were to continue writing them now i'd probably do the sitcom format, something like old d*sney channel series like wizard of waverly place (wait i think i also stole from this LMAO) or good luck charlie where the focus is on the interpersonal relationships of everyone in the family and how they are to the kids, growing as they learn to take care of them? idk. but this was 2012, i was 12, so i ripped from cardcaptor sakura and ben10 and pokémon or other similar video games to make them into mahou-kodomo shounen protags going around different worlds capturing creatures-of-the-week but theyre all in the back of my head now </3 vote for them if you like little animal freaks that would crawl on the floor chewing furniture and bite each other then cry to mom

Excavator [@enjoliquej] (he/him)

Behold, a mere mortal man, born with the name Excavator, destined to become part of one of the most fantastical endeavors known to man: Archeological Excavation.  Being gifted with a genius and brilliant name as Excavator, and having a career that shared the same name gave him some trouble with introductions.

A bold and thoughtful quote from our hero:

"My name is Excavator, and I am an excavator."  --  Excavator

Follow Excavator, the world's WORST and luckiest archeologist as he embarks across the world to different locations that his 12 year old writer was learning about in history class. Watch as his boss constantly fires and re-hires him on account of Excavator's stupidity and luck at finding rare artifacts. Embark on his first adventure when he accidentally hurled himself into a tar pit from clowning around and found the Rosetta Stone buried deep beneath. Join him on his trip to China where he gets thrown into a basket and is forced to float the Pacific Ocean for days until he discovers ancient Chinese scrolls hidden in the basket with him, narrowly escaping being fired by his boss yet again. Follow him to India where he believes he traveled to the 1800s and is mistaken for a butler and cleans precious furniture with bleach which ruins everything until he realizes he was just staying at some guys house the whole time and he didn't time travel to the 1800s.

All this and more on The Silly Adventures of Excavator, The Indiana Jones Wannabe!

[magicaldragons]

ugramm (vs. salaar)

for @noisywolfwagonpeanut-blog

so, Ugramm takes place on a much smaller scale than Salaar, where:

Khansaar = Mughor Devaratha = Agastya Varadha = Balaa Aadhya = Nithya Krishnakanth = Prabhakar Vishwa = Bilal Shivarudra, an MLA, and his son, Dheeraj who are equivalents for Khansaar's leaders

the plot, with comparisons:

the movie starts with an animated backstory, telling us that the reason Nithya's dad is in so much trouble is because he was asked to make a shipment (since he owns a shipping company) for Shivarudra's smuggled goods, and he refuses, due to which his wife is killed

before the men can kill Nithya, who is a baby at the time, Prabhakar promises to make the shipment, but he steals most of the materials, selling them himself. He tips the police off about Shivarudra, and runs to Australia with Nithya.

this is particularly interesting because the reason that Krishnakanth is in trouble hasn't been revealed yet in Salaar, but it's the first thing we find out in ugramm i highly doubt the reason will be the same in Salaar though, since it's implied Aadhya's mother dies in Australia and never got a chance to visit India.

Twenty years later, Shivarudra is out of jail, though he has been keeping the syndicate active through his son, and he still craves vengeance on Prabhakar.

he's in a state similar to Radha Rama, which probably means that Krishnakanth is the reason that Radha Rama had to leave Khansaar, and does not really show her face anywhere, choosing to operate instead through obulamma, vedha, and the others.

In the present day, an older Nithya comes to Bangalore to visit her mother's grave (not with ashes), and is kidnapped by Dheeraj's men, but Agastya comes for her after receiving a call from a friend (Vishwa) and takes her to his home afterwards

therefore it's Agastya who saves her (without violence, specifically), and develops a rapport with Nithya, rather than how it is in Salaar, with Bilal doing most of the work, and minimal involvement from Deva.

Starting here, there's a whole series of events that bring Agastya and Nitya closer, and MANY motifs and themes that recur, as a symbol of their feelings for each other.

this is a section, that even though it gets major importance in Ugramm, is completely skipped in Salaar, with prashanth even going as far as to not show any chemistry between Aadhya and Deva whatsoever. there's also much more comedy and lightheartedness in Ugramm, which prashanth has cut out of Salaar, which really drives it home that he means for Salaar to be very dark and undeniably gritty.

some of these scenarios include:

Agastya teaching Nithya the names of various vegetables in Kannada, because she's temporarily responsible for the cooking and other housework (since Agastya is hiding her true identity from his mother).

Nithya bothered by people in the market place, which is when Agastya's mother gives him permission to save her. [he draws a line around her in the sand (with an umbrella) and says: "the line is drawn. everything in this circle belongs to me"]

a whole montage telling us that, Agasthya will be everywhere Nithya is, just a step behind her, and as long as he is there, no one will dare to touch her.

Agastya sheltering her from the rain. with an umbrella. several times

he saves her from Shivarudra's men, and finds where she's hiding based on the fruit she describes to him over a call, because she doesn't know where she is (it's a gooseberry)

he takes her to her mother's grave and when they reach she says: "do i look pretty? (for my mother)" & he's just awestruck by her beauty

basically, prashanth really builds a meaningful relationship between Agastya & Nithya and makes us root for them.

there's this scene where Agastya's tattoo is revealed to Nithya, and she has a whole phase where she's kind of scared (unlike Aadhya, who is immediately fascinated by Deva's violence), but it still serves as relationship development for the both of them.

in Salaar, on the other hand, Deva and Aadhya barely get a chance to talk, and Deva doesn't really form the best of first impressions which makes me wonder: if prashanth intends on putting Deva and Aadhya together, would he really save all of that characterization and plot, just to dump it on us in part two?

Eventually, after observing how mysterious Agastya has been at times, and hearing rumors from the neighbors, Nithya asks Vishwa about Agastya's past, which is then shown to us in a way that's not as elaborate as what we see in Salaar.

an important point to note is that throughout the course of Ugraam's flashback, we know that Agasthya is intensely loyal to Balaa due to a promise made when they were children, but we see no proper reason for that fealty. We are never told why Agastya goes so far for Balaa, so there's no emotional quotient tied to any of Agastya's actions. Balaa especially is shown to be a bit smug when people witness the power Agastya holds, which makes it feel a little like Balaa is using Agastya as a weapon, and not as if Agastya is offering it himself.

Agastya saves the women of Mughor from a man like Vishnu (but imagine without the theatrics), which gets Balaa put in jail, and the way Agastya storms the jail to get Balaa out (which takes two minutes) is extremely anticlimactic compared to what happens in Salaar.

after getting Balaa out of jail, Agastya promises to conquer Mughor for him, and there's a specific scene where he gives Balaa a map and says:

"whatever you point at, will be yours"

this is the point in the plot at which Salaar: Ceasefire ends.

Following this, Agastya goes on a rampage, capturing areas of Mughor for Balaa, which gains both him and Balaa several enemies. Politically, things become heated, and it doesn't help that some people, including Balaa's brother, want credit for some victories.

Balaa's brother is irrationally aggressive at times, and this reaches a limit when Balaa's brother threatens an innocent women, whose husband they have just killed. Agastya disagrees with hurting her, since she's not involved, and helps the woman. Balaa's brother, feeling humiliated, says something about hurting Agastya's mom, and that turns out horribly, leading to a fight. This then ends with the brother's death, when he actually attempts to find Agastya's mother.

There is a chance that Deva will be responsible for Baachi's death for different reasons (and an even smaller chance that Baachi might not die at all), especially because Amma isn't in Khansaar when Deva returns, after 25 years. He returns alone. In, Ugramm, Agastya and his mother only escape their hometown when Agastya is well into adulthood. Ugramm does not have Salaar's childhood plot whatsoever, which changes the circumstance around Deva's return to Khansaar. This means that, if Deva invokes Varadha's rage by hurting/killing Baachi, it might be for something other than Baachi threatening his mother.

Agastya decides to leave Mughor, knowing that what he has done will be unforgivable for Balaa, and Balaa stops him right before they leave, intent on killing him. Agastya's mother, worried for her son, begs Agastya to make her a promise that he will never enter Mughor again or commit violence.

Agastya makes the promise at the last moment, and Balaa decides not to hurt him, before they part ways.

Fast forward to the present, Nithya's dad comes for her from Australia, and Agastya lets her go, (due to the classic 'she's too good for me' syndrome) which disappoints her, but she is then kidnapped and taken to Mughor, compelling Agastya once more, to step foot into that place.

Agastya fights to save her, killing Dheeraj in the process, but just before leaving, Balaa finds him. Agastya refuses to fight, willing to accept whatever punishment Balaa deems necessary, as long as Nithya is spared,

but Balaa, after consideration says:

"I won't fight a man who won't fight back. Even if I win, it'll bring me shame to attack a man who is already weak from fighting."

Before Balaa lets him go, he makes it clear that he has somewhat moved on, and acknowledges their friendship once again, calling Nithya "sister-in-law".

The movie ends with Agastya and Nithya outside of Mughor's borders, where he tells her to let him go, because of the way he is. She refuses, drawing a line in the sand around him as a callback to the first time he fought for her, and tells him that "everything in the circle belongs to her," ending the movie with the both of them together, and their prospective futures ahead of them.

this is where many things can go wrong if prashanth decides to put Deva and Aadhya together in a similar way, because he has not set them up for that. with the way he's laid out the plot and characterization, it is legitimately impossible to imagine: 1. Deva choosing anyone over Varadha, even if Varadha dies by the end of part two or 2. Varadha letting Deva go after they meet again, especially if he is able to move on from whatever Deva did that hurt him

All in all, Prashanth has made many minor changes regarding detailing, for the story to flow better, and he's scaled Salaar up to seem grander than life. It's evident that he has put more care into explaining every facet of the story, so that there's no plot holes, and been able to use Ugramm as a stepping stone to make Salaar that much better.

The major differences include showing us Varadha and Deva's childhood, and taking out all of Deva & Aadhya's relationship development, along with giving many of Nithya & Agastya's parallels to Varadeva, which suggests a different ending for Salaar: Shouryaanga Parvam, than that of Ugramm.

[demonslayedher]

Genya's Favorite: Watermelons

After having written at least one Kimetsu Kitchen entry for every other official favorite food and then some, I could not leave out Genya’s favorite, watermelons! Since people read my blog for meta, I couldn’t leave it at just an art piece—

I shall not leave him alone. I have a mission to complete. There is more below the cut.

While the precise origins of human consumption of watermelon are not certain, they are thought to have been used at least 5000 years ago in the deserts of southern Africa. Originally, they’d have been quite bitter until they were later cultivated to bring out their sweetness. Actually, you can do all kinds of fun things with watermelon genetics to bring out all sorts of different attributes—

Alright, fine. It’s easy to find articles in English about the worldwide spread and development of watermelons, so I will focus specifically on their history in Japan, for the sake of KnY meta. Because that’s totally relevant. For sure. Totally.

The watermelon was likely cultivated in India by the 7th century, and then in China by the 10th century. The earliest possible record of watermelons existing in Japan can be found in the 12th or 13th century “Chojugiga” picture scrolls of caricatures of animals acting like humans. This a pretty ubiquitous series of satirical doodles often called Japan’s first manga, and academics have lot enjoyed deep-diving all the little scenes of animals dressing up like self-important monks or chasing after thieves. As you can see here, one of those panels has a rabbit carrying fruits, and among them, there are some round, striped fruits. It’s not entirely clear if these are watermelons or not, but there’s a pretty good case to be made for them having been brought over from China at some point in the Heian period.

Another possible early mention of them, by their modern name “suika,” can be found in some poetry written by a monk in the 14th century.

The first very specific mention we get of watermelons and their cultivation is in a 1696 text about farming records. It seems that at that time, they had both yellow and red varieties, and a long standing culture of raising watermelons already. By the time we get to 1702 records, we see watermelons being referred to by what was sort of like brand names, and then from the mid-Edo period on, there’s a whole lot more proliferation of brand-name varieties based on their rind, shape, color, etc., with certain areas of Japan being closely associated with the brand of fruit they produce. This is still a major element of fruit cultivation culture in Japan.

So, watermelons were already widely available to commoners (good news for a poor family like the Shinazugawas). The West started sailing into ports around Japan, and by the late Meiji period, this brought more American and Russia varieties of watermelons into the country. Throughout the Taisho period, Nara Prefecture in particular would go about as crazy developing new watermelon varieties as they do goldfish, but based on timing, my guess is that Genya wouldn’t had gotten exposure to a lot of the new Taisho varieties.

Thank you, I now feel satisfied having put watermelons into some KnY-relevant context.

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results: Fekthrud

Happy Liminalmas, everybody! We've got fewer results than usual this week, which I would speculatively credit to a variety of factors:

Weird liminal space at the end of the year

It's Another Bird

Not a ton of fun details

It's easy to guess what the animal is

Anyhow, if you want to see the context for this, the page where I collect these posts is here: https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting. (Hmm -- looks like I forgot to update the page last time around. Maybe that's part of the issue too.) And the entry that people are working from is here:

So, our results, roughly chronologically:

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) has given us these very well-rendered pheasant-like creatures. They've given their Fekthrud a head like a Pachycephalosaurus*, which I think is a great way to interpret the whole business about the hard skull; like, that had not occurred to me when reading the entry, but now that I see it, it makes perfect sense. In general these are excellent birds here, and you can see some brief notes on design decisions in the post linked above. I like the justification that a ground bird makes the most sense if they're adapted for falling on rocks and/or running into stuff head-first.

*Proud of myself for spelling "pachycephalosaurus" correctly without looking -- being a former Dinosaur Kid pays weird niche dividends.

@coolest-capybara (link to post here) continues to impress with her medieval-style drawings. (And to provide alt-text, thank you.) I really like how colorful and generally very pretty she's made her Fekthrud. I also appreciate the decision to show them attacking someone who is trying to take that "iron rod" advice. Very correct response -- get 'em, birds. If you click the link to her post above, you can see some discussion of design decisions.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) has made the excellent decision to pose their Fekthrud like it's giving a speech. (And the generous decision to provide alt text, thank you.) This bird absolutely looks like it's saying "Ave!" -- I can clearly imagine it addressing the Roman Senate. Cheapsweets has also taken inspiration from Pachycephalosaurus, and I love that two of our artists got there independently -- like I said, it's an idea that makes perfect sense once you think of it. The post linked above contains a detailed discussion both of their design decision and of their artistic process, including an image of their tools and materials. Go read it.

@pomrania (link to post here) has decided that, rather than make the actual bone of the Fekthrud's skull thick. it should have a thick cushion of feathers. I don't know much about birds, but I feel like that makes sense: thick and heavy bone might be a weight issue if this thing is supposed to fly, so a feather cushion might be more practical protection. The goofy look with the tongue lolling out is also quite charming. In the post linked above, you can see some brief notes on design and process.

And... that's it for this week. Like I said, not a lot of people did this one. So, the Aberdeen Bestiary version:

Yeah, so, of course this one is the parrot.

The medieval illustrator is actually pretty close, I think. And they've used one of my favorite styles of Generic Medieval Plant, even though it doesn't look like it can support the parrot's weight.

The entry is broadly accurate, except for the bit about the skull and the iron rod. There are parrots in India with the coloration described -- multiple species, actually, as far as I can tell. They do talk, though I can't speak to the tongue anatomy thing.

Moreover, if you were a parrot trainer in India who wanted to impress medieval Europeans with your talking birds -- maybe so you can establish demand for them in a new market -- of course the first thing you'd do is train your parrots to greet people in Latin and Greek. Latin is the obvious catch-all, and Greek is the majority language in Constantinople, which is the trade hub you want to target. So I bet all the parrots from India that medieval Europeans saw really did say "Ave!" and "Kere!" (And we do know that people in the Byzantine Empire had pet parrots, so I guess it worked.)

I've never heard the thing about parrots having a hard skull and beak. I kind of wonder if, at some point, someone saw a parrot being struck by its owner (or the aforementioned hypothetical merchant) and asked if it was really necessary to beat the poor bird like that -- and got a line like "oh, they have really hard skulls, it doesn't hurt them as much as you think"... and then that just stuck.

Anyway, that's it for this week. Hope y'all are enjoying Birds because you're getting another one next week.

[rarepears]

So how do you think Will &/or Hannibal will react to SQQ & SQH being transmigrators? because they definitely still either talk or write in english in order to disguise what they're talking about, which is both a language Hannibal learned and Will's NATIVE language. So, it's highly likely they will find out. How are they reacting to this? also do you think SQH & SQQ are a) from the Hannibal universe as well, b) from a universe that has the show/movie/book series Hannibal or c) don't have any of that (boring). I just think it would be funny if either SQQ obsessively bing-watched the show (because you know he would) or like airplane actually recognized the Chesapeake Ripper purely thanks to some random google searches he did while trying to come up with a knew villain-of-the-week for bingge to save the girl from. Or both (just replace the show with a podcast/tattlecrime).

But would Will and Hannibal realize that Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu are transmigrators though? We got swords that enable one to travel through various dimensions, the two cultivators being known for being creative (ahem author Shang Qinghua and his well known acerbic editor Shen Qingqiu) on top of their vast knowledge of all sorts of various cultures - cultivation, demonic, and mortal cultures - and most importantly... the HUGE cultural and social differences between modern America and China.

The slangs, the memes, the customs are all different! So incredibly different! Plus Shang Qinghua and Shen Qingqiu have been in this PIDW world for so many decades that they have also adopted a lot of the local customs. They've traveled to various mortal kingdoms (the ancient equivalents of India, Japan, etc.) and hundreds of demonic clans. Maybe they even hopped over to Medieval Europe for funsies (and then left when they realized how not fun it was).

Shen Yuan's English would be better than Shang Qinghua, yes, but his grammar would be beyond crap. They string together some English words in between Chinese in this Chinglish mixture that is honestly 85% Chinese and 15% English. And with only each other to talk English with and no proper English speakers to reference, their English evolves into a whole new dialect of its own of mispronounciations and weird accents and just...

Can it even be called English anymore and not a secret language between the two?

Add in their original Chinese accents in their English speaking skills and Will and Hannibal are not going to really be understanding much of the English in the first place. What little they do understand, they are going to brush it off as a coincidence - or maybe the origins of some English words haha.

As for Shen Yuan, he wouldn't had watched Hannibal NBC - I'm not sure if the show was available outside of the US and it's even more unlikely that it was available in China. In which case, he would had specifically went out of his way to hunt down the show... and Shen Yuan already has so many other shows and animes to watch!

[More in #hannibal lector reborn as Shen Yuan and Luo Binghe's firstborn son AU]

[disneytva]

Lucasfilm Spotlights Animation for Star Wars Celebration with Star Wars Visions Vol 2 Trailer.

Star Wars Celebration in London offered up a hefty bounty for fans on the hunt for exciting new animated content set in the Lucasfilm universe. Panels featuring filmmakers and cast from Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Visions Volume 2, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and more offered updates, including a new trailer and full cast list for Visions

To close out Star Wars Celebration’s animation panels, on Monday afternoon there was a Star Wars: Visions panel. The panel was filled with an abundance of reveals ahead of the series’ May 4, release — including first story details for all nine shorts, the full cast list, the trailer and key art.

The second anthology will continue to push the boundaries of Star Wars storytelling, with nine new shorts from nine studios from around the globe. Employing an array of animation styles from a variety of countries and cultures, the Volume 2 offers a dynamic new perspective on the storied mythos of Star Wars.

To kick off the panel, host Amy Ratcliffe introduced executive producers of the Emmy-nominated series, Josh Rimes, James Waugh and Jacqui Lopez, who discussed the success of the show’s first season and its unique concept featuring a collection of animated shorts that stretches beyond any one form of animation and serves as a broader framework for Star Wars storytelling.

The Vol. 2 cast list includes:

“Screecher’s Reach”: Eva Whittaker

“I Am Your Mother”: Maxine Peake, Charithra Chandran

“Journey to the Dark Head” (English Dub): Ashley Park, Eugene Lee Yang

“The Bandits of Golak”: Suraj Sharma

“The Pit”: Daveed Diggs

“Aau’s Song”: Cynthia Erivo

After revealing the cast, Ratcliffe introduced the series’ filmmakers, who took to the stage in groups of three to reveal the first details about each of their shorts:

Rodrigo Blaas, writer/director of El Guiri’s “Sith” from Spain

Paul Young, director of Cartoon’s Saloon’s “Screecher’s Reach” from Ireland

Gabriel Osorio, writer/director of Punkrobot’s “In the Stars” from Chile

Magdalena Osinska, director of Aardman’s “I Am Your Mother” from the United Kingdom

Hyeong-Geun Park, director of Studio Mir’s “Journey to the Dark Head” from South Korea

Julien Chheng, director of Studio La Cachette’s “The Spy Dancer” from France

Milind Shinde, founder of India’s 88 Pictures and executive producer of “The Bandits of Golak”

LeAndre Thomas, writer/director/executive producer of “The Pit”

Arthell Isom, founder of D’ART Shtajio and executive producer of “The Pit”

Nadia Darries and Daniel Clarke, co-directors of Triggerfish’s “Aau’s Song” from South Africa

[nishayuro]

Hello love! I saw you wanting to write for Sai and since my boy deserves all the love in the world I have a request. I totally see him going to like video game/anime conventions so can you write hc on how he meets his s/o at one of them? Thank you !💓

Dr Stone Sai Nanami with an anime/game convention goer S/O

A/N: OMGGGG I had fun writing this because, fun fact! I go to lots of anime conventions and I do cosplay!! I can deffo see Sai going to these!

GN!Reader

Warning: None

Alright, so… Sai is someone who LOVES gaming, it was his escape from when he was still in the Nanami estate when he was forced to study hard math when he was young. 

When he grew up, he began to enjoy gaming a lot more, as well as making his own games. 

When he has free time, he likes going to events. Whether when he was still in Japan, or when he moved to India. He’d sometimes even fly to a country where a big event takes place and he wants to go.

Sai goes to these in normie mode, he isn’t one to dress up as characters.

Maybe wearing merch of his fave game/series.

He was at one of the big conventions he goes to yearly.

That was when he spotted you! 

You were cosplaying as his most favourite character, so he didn’t want to pass up the opportunity.

Shyly asked for a picture with you.He told you that your character was his favourite and you responded that the character/franchise was one of your favourites also. 

He then asked for your socials so he could follow you, you found his shyness and enthusiasm endearing and cute so you exchanged socials.

You two have been talking with each other on social media for a while.

It started with you both talking about your favourite franchise, then it evolved to a friendship where you talk about anything.

Sometimes you’d invite each other to conventions where the other one will be going to.

Over time, he began to enjoy your company, even small updates from you got him smiling. He was falling for you.

Unbeknownst to him, you were facing the same situation. 

One time, Sai lost a dare to you and was forced to wear a costume to one of them. 

You chose to cosplay the character who was usually shipped with his character. 

“See! It suits you sooo much!” you exclaimed, fixing his wig. “It’s so weird, I’m not used to being the one in the costume…” Sai answered. You were both at a convention and many people have already asked for photos with you both. Many have complimented on how accurate you both portrayed the characters. 

“Hii! Omg, may I take a photo with you both?” a girl asked, phone in hand. “Oh, sure!” you answered, pulling Sai near you so you both fit into the frame, posing as the girl takes the photos. “Thank you so much! I am such a huge fan of (character ship name)! May I ask, are you two dating? Because the chemistry between y’all are so good!” The girl says excitedly. This makes you and Sai widen your eyes and look at each other. 

“Oh- uhm..” He stutters, “Oh… no, no, we’re just friends” you answer, afraid that it will get awkward if you don’t. “Oh, is that so? My bad then, anyways, thank you so much for the photo and you both look so amazing. Bye, have a nice day!” The girl left, leaving you and Sai a blushing mess, unable to look at each other. 

“Soo… There’s a merch stall over there with stickers of (your favourite character)... wanna go see?” you try to break the tension. “Oh, yeah sure” he whispers a bit, still very embarrassed. You walk around a bit and take more photos, the tension easing up. When it was time for you both to part ways, he decided to do the first move. 

“Hey, Y/N?” Sai muttered, looking anywhere but at you, “yea, Sai?” you asked. The night air was cool, and the faint glow of the city lights surrounded you both, still in costume, he looked you in the eyes, staring directly at you with determination. “I…” He started, you waited for him to continue. “I like you.” he finished, releasing a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. This was something out of the fanfics you read, but it was right here in front of you. 

“Sai… I like you too.” You answered, a smile appearing on your face, and in extension, his. It was a cute scenario for whoever got to witness it, seeing two people in costume confess as if roleplaying, not knowing that the ones speaking were the people themselves who yearned for each other. Since that day, you and Sai started dating, you’d both go to cons together. He’s usually not in costume, but there will be some times when you’d convince him to do couple cosplay with you. Sai never thought he’d find love at a place where he escapes to. He never thought he’d find love because of a character he likes. He never thought he’d find love like that, yet he found you, and you were his best find at any convention he could ever go to. 

masterlist

navigation

[am-i-obsessed---maybe]

Revelation (Shadow Of A Bluejay Ch.8)

Wordcount: 2.8k

One of the longer chapters. though now I'd like to take a moment to humbly brag. I've been dealing with both usual depression and an unusual stomach ulcer (which is the most fanfiction author thing that's happened to me yet) so this chapter took way longer than expected. Either way we're slowly creeping towards the end of the season!

Series Masterlist

Mount Justice October 1, 18:12 EDT

You met up with Artemis outside the Happy Harbor zeta-tube. You hadn't seen each other in almost two weeks so you decided you'd hang out on your own for a bit before joining the rest of the team. That meant that when you got to the cave it wasn't through the zeta-tubes but through the main entrance.

"Hey, where are you two coming from?" Wally asked, greeting you both at the entrance.

"Blue here was finally ungrounded so we thought we'd have some BNACT" Artemis said. Wally looked confused.

"BNACT?" He asked.

"Blue and Artemis civilian time" You supplied.

"Right" He said, coming up to walk beside you. "You know you never told me what you were grounded for" Wally said and you smirked. "Sorry, classified" You said and he groaned.

"Come on! Mx. I do as I'm told rule follower did something bad for once and you won't tell me?!" He complained.

"What can I say, it's classified" You told him, floating up just a bit above the ground to be taller than him, smirking before flying off to find the rest of the team.

Artemis leaned in next to Wally's ear, "They went on a secret mission and Canary found out" She said and Wally's eyes widened.

"They told you?!" He practically yelled and Artemis smiled.

"What can I say, I'm their best friend" She said cheekily.

Wally grumbled, "I thought I was their best friend" He said.

Wally and Artemis joined you, Robin, Kaldur, M'gann and Connor along with Zatara and Captain Marvel (who had been taking over as Den Mother after Red Tornado attacked the team the day after you got back from your mission with Roy) in the training room just as Batman zeta'd in.

"Computer, national news" He said and the computer brought up a projection of GBS news.

A slender blonde woman whom you recognised as the reporter Cat Grant was telling the viewers about an attack of a giant plant monster on Metropolis. "Despite the intervention of Superman and the Justice league there seems to be no end in sight" She said.

"Should we get out there?" Robin asked but Batman shut him down.

"No. The League will soon have the situation under control. That's not why I'm here" Batman said.

"Then why are you here?" You asked. You weren't Batman's biggest fan. Between his harshness and his lack of positive reinforcement for both Robin and the team as a whole, you didn't like him very much.

"According to your intel, Sportsmaster supplied Cadmus Blockbuster formula to Kobra" He said and Wally jumped in to continue.

"Who combined it with Bane's Venom to create Kobra Venom" He said. "Which the Brain then used to create his animal army" Robin continued.

You'd been informed about their very interesting mission to India. It was the first day you were grounded and you barely managed to convince Dinah to let you keep your radio earpiece with you. She was very strict about no patrol and no Team as long as you were grounded. She really wasn't happy about your mission with Roy, even though she barely knew the half of it. In the end you reminded her that in an emergency that radio was your best way of communicating with both the Team and her. She let you keep it and you got a full recap of the mission after they finished.

"Batman, is it possible that plant thingy's on Kobra Venom too?" Artemis asked.

"I had green lantern run a spot analysis. The vine's cellulose does contain trace amounts of a Kobra Venom variant." Batman explained.

"These cannot be coincidences, unrelated criminals cooperating with one another worldwide" Kaldur added.

"Exactly" Batman agreed, "It's now clear our enemies have formed some kind of secret society of supervillains. The attack on Metropolis is only the beginning." He said.

"Got that right. Plant creatures have sprouted in Gotham City, Paris, Star City, Taipei—" Robin was interrupted by the screen becoming staticy. You'd never seen it do that before.

"Dude" Wally said.

"It's not me, someone's cutting into the satellite signal— All satellite signals!" Robin exclaimed.

The static stopped and a single face covered the screen, supposedly all screens. The Joker's sheet white face and horrid smile was projected to the size of the computer. It was at least as tall as you and you couldn't help but make a face.

"Ladies, gentlemen and viewers of all ages, we interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this important announcement from the Injustice League" He said in that slow drawl that made his presence all the creepier. The camera slowly panned to show the rest of this so called Injustice League. Wotan. Atomic Skull. Ultra-humanite. Count Vertigo, Black Adam and Poison Ivy, along with of course the Joker himself.

He laughed as the camera slowly zoomed in to the Vlatavan count.

"We are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them a ransom of ten billion american dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations. There is no time limit, but the longer your governments wait..." He trailed off and the Joker took the liberty of filling in the blanks.

"The longer we get to have our jollies" He said and once again the screen was covered in static.

Robin reset the screen. He was recording the message and stopped on the image of the Injustice League as a whole. He listed them all of, all were heavy hitters most likely behind everything the Team has faced until now. Every mission and ever villain you fought came back to these seven. At least that was Robin's theory.

"There's your secret society" Wally said.

"Not so secret anymore" Artemis added.

"But what good is revealing themselves now? I understand taking responsibility for the attacks if they want a ransom but why reveal their hand?" You asked out loud.

"Perhaps after India they realised that we would deduce the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer" Kaldur suggested and that was a possibility though it didn't sit completely right with you. They were missing a League Of Shadows representative. The team had far too many run ins with Sportmaster and the his like for the shadows to not be involved. Not that you expected to see Ra's Al Ghul among the villains but someone working for him, maybe Sportmaster himself.

"What about Sportmaster though? He works most often for the Shadows and he isn't here, or anyone else we can connect to the Shadows?" You said.

"The League Of Shadows don't usually ally themselves with others. They work with mercenaries like Sportmaster but they wouldn't ally themselves as an organization. Those were most likely one off meetings" Batman said and you nodded. He was right. You were probably just a bit paranoid after the mission with Roy.

"Back to the important stuff" Wally said, "I say we go kick some plant creature butt!" He exclaimed.

"The Justice League will handle the plants. I have a different job for this team" Batman said and Wally immediately deflated.

"Oh man" He said.

"With the plants attacking so many locations simultaneously there must be a central control system. Your mission is to destroy it." Batman instructed.

Zatara turned to him, "You realize what you are really asking them to do" He said and Batman nodded.

"They're ready" He said and you hoped for once he was right because it wouldn't be easy taking on the Injustice League without the help of your mentors.

Bayou Bartholomew October 1, 18:52 CDT

The team flew through the air in the Bioship in silence. Robin reviewing his batarangs, Artemis going through her quiver and you adjusting your new batons. They were a parting gift from your mother. Extendable batons, small enough that that could fit in a pouch on your utility belt.

"Those are new" Robin said, looking at the shining new weapons.

"Yeah, GA was tinkering" You lied and Robin smiled.

"You know how to use 'em?" He asked and you nodded.

"Like you wouldn't believe" you replied. You were trained in many weapons and though your speciality with the Shadows were double short swords, batons were similar if slightly less lethal.

Behind you M'gann groaned, holding her head.

"You alright?" Conner asked.

"Dizzy" She replied.

"Martians get air sick?" Robin asked.

"Not me, her" M'gann replied.

"I feel fine" Artemis said.

"Not her the Bioship. She's trying to shield us but—" Suddenly your very calm and steady flight became erratic and out of the corner of your eyes you saw Count Vertigo.

You went flying, well the ship went flying, someone had hit it from the bottom flinging it out of control and causing it to crash in the bayou.

Of course that wasn't all as plant creatures began pulling the Bioship under the water.

Black Adam forced a hole the top of the ship and while Superboy punched him away, stopping him from getting in he couldn't stop the water that was slowly filling the ship.

"No. No way I am nearly drowning three missions in a row" Artemis said, putting a rebreather over her mouth and shoving one into Wally's hands. The two had become more friendly, even playful with each other in your absence.

You took out your own rebreather.

"I guess I missed quite a lot didn't I" You said and Artemis nodded, unable to talk with the device in her mouth.

M'gann opened a hatch at the bottom of the Bioship and you all swam out, managing to escape the ship just in time.

"She's in shock. She'll need time to recover" M'gann said. That wasn't good. It meant you couldn't rely on the Bioship to get out in a pinch. What was worse was that you didn't even get a moment to breath. As soon as M'gann finished an all too familiar psychic force forced you to the ground.

"Vertigo" You sneered, searching the area until you found the offending count.

"Count Vertigo to you peasant" He said and you slowly pushed yourself up.

"I see all the times Canary and I beat you weren't enough, you had to come back for more" You said, giving your teammates time to recover while you kept Vertigo's attention on you.

Kaldur used his water bearers to channel the water from the bayou and knock Vertigo away.

"Robin, Miss Martian disappear! We will keep them busy, you two fulfill the mission objective" Kaldur ordered through the mind link and Robin nodded, jumping off somewhere while Miss M went into camouflage mode.

You ran at Vertigo, slowed only by his psychic force and even still not completely. You managed a few hits before you were thrown aside.

"Without Canary to counter my attacks you are nothing little bird" He said, hitting you with another attack that knocked you out.

You woke up before the others only to quickly remember where you were and what happened. You decided the best course of action was to keep your eyes closed, pretend to still be out and see what you could overhear. Of course that didn't work because as soon as your teammates woke up they made it known.

"They awaken, you are certain this will hold them?" Vertigo asked and a different voice answered.

"The cage is impenetrable. Even the Superboy has no chance of escaping" Wotan replied. He was keeping you in a magical cage while Black Adam flew you all back to the Injustice League's base.

This wasn't bad. So long as you kept their attention on you and your group long enough for Robin and Miss Martian to destroy their base you were good.

"You are not the only one trained in the mystic arts Wotan!" Kaldur exclaimed, grabbing hold of the bars and charging mystic force through the tattoos along his arms.

Kaldur released the bars as if they burned him but nothing else happened.

"Please Atlantean, do not pretend you are in my league" Wotan said and you put a careful hand on Kaldur's shoulder.

"You okay?" You asked and he nodded, turning his attention back to the group. Without M'gann there was no telepathic link so you had no way to communicate without your capturs overhearing.

They'd taken your weapons and your utility belt. There really wasn't anything you could do until you found a way out of this cage.

You knew Robin and Miss M haven't completed the mission yet because the huge plant that you assumed was controlling the plant creatures around the world was still standing, breaking through the roof of what you assumed was the Injustice League's base of operations.

You were racking your brain, trying to think of ways to get out of your predicament when the Bioship appeared, knocking over Wotan and disrupting whatever spell he was using to create the cage.

It took you a moment but you kept yourself in the air, unfortunately with nothing holding you up your teammates fell down to the ground.

Superboy and Aqualad would be fine. They both had super strength and durability (at least to some extent) but you flew down and grabbed both Artemis and KF's hands, bringing them safely and more slowly to the ground.

"Thanks Blue" KF said and you smiled.

"Anytime KF" you said.

Both you and Wally turned your attention on Count Vertigo and Black Adam.

"You think you can still pack a punch without your new toys blue?" Wally asked and you smirked.

"Enough for this mission" You told him and with a jump, flew high into the air while Wally took a running start at Vertigo. "Atom, after them!" Vertigo said as he focused his attack on KF and Black Adam took off after you into the sky.

Black Adam was strong and fast but not the brightest and you managed to get in a few sneaky hits in the sky before a loud explosion rocked through the bayou.

"Yes!" You yelled only for Adam to take the moment you were distracted and fling you back into the ground, painfully.

To your advantage you fell into mud so while it wasn't pleasant it also wasn't lethal. You made it back just in time to hear Count Vertigo's orders.

"Kill them. Kill them all." He said.

You wanted to get up, you really tried but Wotan was using a spell to keep you, Kaldur and Robin (who had tried to run to you and make sure you were alright) in place.

Soon he turned his spell to the rest of the team and beside you as kaldur tried to shield M'gann you heard him quietly tell her the worst possible thing.

"Plan B."

Plan Bs were never good.

M'gann's eyes glowed green and she brought the Bioship above the two of them, opening a hatch and dropping Kaldur's duffel from the ship and into his lap.

You'd seen the duffel on the trip to the bayou but you hadn't seen what was inside it.

You watched carefully as Kaldur opened the bag and held up the single item inside.

Wotan stopped, "The helmet of fate" He said.

He wouldn't. Kaldur knew the dangers of using the helmet he wouldn't use it now.

You could barely call out no as you saw him put on the helmet and become Dr. Fate.

Wally tried to protest but Black Adam knocked him into a tree beside. you.

The both of you slowly stood, using each other to stay up.

"Oh dude" Wally said, looking at Kaldur.

You didn't know what to say.

Wally turned to you, "are you okay? You stayed down for a while" He said.

"Yeah well, Adam threw me almost a thousand feet. I'm just lucky I landed in mud. What about you? You're holding your arm like it's painfully" You said and he shrugged.

"It's fine, come on, we can't waste the opportunity Kaldur gave us" Wally said, running to help Miss M and Artemis.

You stayed back, you'd had enough concussions to know you had one, even with your softened landing. Your head was buzzing and you knew that if you tried to walk you'd fall. Not that your help was very needed.

Kaldur took on Wotan, Robin was busy fighting the Joker and Wally, Artemis, M'gann and Conner were holding their own against a combination of Vertigo, Poison Ivy and Ultra Humanite.

They didn't have to hold out for long, because the Justice League soon joined you all.

"It's over" Batman said and the villains raised their hands in surrender.

At this point you could barely stand, instead leaning on the tree trunk beside you.

You could hear people talking around you, you heard the Joker's deranged laugh and saw plants rising out of the bayou but you couldn't understand what was going on.

I'm about to pass out, you thought as your vision blurred.

Dinah noticed your increasingly worsening state and managed to make it to you just in time to catch you as you collapsed.

[0iam0]

Team Chandora, redesigned a lil cuz it's kinda insulting how boring their designs are lol. I maintained their colour scheme in clothes but changed it to be different from one another. Ig it was intentional for them to wear similar clothes so I let that be. Idk if ppl even remember them so, there're the characters that battle wild fang once. They also fell victim to Masked Bull's "speech" that embarrassed everyone in Japan, maybe something that people would remeber. They are minor one off characters only to be seen once again as a single frame. This post is basically Indian bladers across generations, cuz, I Indian.

I love this guy and his adorable snake friend.

what are they

Below is just me overanalyzing and comparing the generations.

So, mfb. Team Chandora. It's the best in terms of giving them a personality and also screentime. The character names are most probably just slightly altered versions of some really popular Indian actors/celebs. Salhan - Salman (Khan); Vridick - Hrithik (Roshan); Aniel - Anil (Kapoor). Neither of their names are familiar to me, nowhere near a common name in India and, mean nothing actually. So this is how I think they named them. Salhan is the hot headed guy I'm assuming. His design is just as basic as you can get. Even tho he's the leader, I can't say much about him. But he's probably a good starting point in building a character. Which will never happen he's a one-off character. They all pretty much have the same height too, so I gave that a variation in my drawing. Vridick is the tallest. Ok, the first time I saw Vridick I thought "wtf is wrong with him". Like, his eyes. I realised it's just a "animators drawing characters weird in low budget episodes" problem, his design is probably the best of the three. Simple yet cute cuz idk if anyone else has noticed it but he has a little catness about him. The eyes and :3 mouth. It's subtle, but it's there. Just because of that he's my favourite of the trio. (I didn't realise this before but I'm a fan of his corresponding celeb lol) Aniel, is the one I was "wtf" about till the very end. His design is just horrible 😭 like, it SHOWS they really tried making a design look even somewhat distinguishable, but failed. Like with them "eyes that are different from the first two" and "hairstyle that isn't short like the first two" naw. So I just redesigned him to have, pretty much the same hairstyle but doesn't reveal the weird hairline. They are all the snake beyblades, cuz India snake charmers yadayada. Tho their designs don't really reflect the snakey thing; so I just added a dupatta/scarf to reflect that. (I originally just added it cuz it looked cool actually).

I can't help but notice how badly they were disregarded in their episode. Like not even in a way that would teach them to not be so full of themselves, but in a way like they are not even considered to be a proper opponent but an obstacle on the way to defeat the protagonist of the series (I'm talking about kyoya). They get overshadowed by kyoya and ginkas battle. It's actually kinda sad (

I ALSO can't help but notice the Blader DJ of India is based on Gandhi. Lmao. It's actually funny asf. Where did the battle between wild and fang and chandora take place, the Taj Mahal? Idk how many people don't know this but Taj Mahal on contrary to it's name is not actually a palace, it's a mausoleum. You would wonder where the tombs went. Even worse they might be battling ON the tombs. lul (edit: I don't really know lmao. The thing they built seemed like it was based on taj mahal. It's actually pretty neat if they designed it themselves. It's beauty :>)

Now on the bsb, first season bsb Indians we meet are the Charming Princes. They have the weirdest designs of all like wha. The unnamed blader is probably the most normal of them all. But the rest, idk what to say. I kinda like Ronnie's glasses ig, even tho they are impractical. Tho they are the weirdest in terms of design, they are the best in terms of beyblades, as in, a team quirk. That their beyblades are as big and heavy as one can be allowed to have. Makes sense cuz they are all princes of some place. They don't get much screentime either, just some guys the bladebreakers defeat. Robin gets overshadowed (annihilated) by Driger coming back to Ray and his rivalry with Lee.

Next in beyburst, it's Dhaula Giri. So, he's the best in like, overall. He's the best in design, he's not bland or weird, just a normal guy from India. He has a normal generic beyblade (same Suoh's original bey). Nothing crazy and I think that's a good thing. Oh oh, and a cute lil Snaker, I just love him for having a snaker just hang out with him, it's goofy but I actually like this idea, it's way better than giving them snake beys. I think he and Hae Jin would be homies. He's not much personality wise, prolly just a nice guy. Not much plot or screentime either but Hae Jin getting over his fear of his snake friend was neat enough. His name is good too, not entirely random names like Robin or Ronnie, or just jumbled celeb names. Out of all, I like him the best. Tho I'll have to say, if I build upon Team Chandora, I'll probably like them more.

[sugaaz]

TAG GAMES!

i’m so behind on all of them so i’m putting them all together

mention your ten favorite characters from any media - tagged by aki @tanchirou ♡

sugawara koushi (haikyuu)

nakahara chuuya (bungou stray dogs)

yor forger (spy x family)

kuroko tetsuya (kuroko no basket)

roy mustang (fullmetal alchemist)

kugisaki nobara (jujutsu kaisen)

hyakuya mikaela (owari no seraph)

chigiri hyouma (blue lock)

fushimi saruhiko (k)

nagisa shiota (ansatsu kyoushitsu)

choosing was hard gdi. i limited myself to one character from each series and even then i couldn't choose aaaaaa

15 questions for 15 mutuals - tagged by aki again ❣️

are you named after anyone? nope

when was the last time i cried? last week (i was very emotional about my uni ending even though i was cursing it's existence before)

do you have kids? noo thankfully

do you use sarcasm a lot? just a normal amount

what sports do you play/have you played? i have tried many sports but the one i played the most is basketball (before it ruined my life fsgsj)

what's the first thing you notice about other people? face expression

eye colour? brown

scary movies or happy endings? happy endings (i would never choose scary movies lmao)

any special talents? i'm good at remembering dance choreography

where were you born? india

what are your hobbies? watching/rewatching anime, listening to music, organizing stuff

do you have any pets? my catmom era hasn't happened yet

how tall are you? 5 feet only :(

fav subject in school? MATH!

dream job? no job XD but in seriousness, i always dream of working in a cute cafe

currents tagged by tobias @kokushibe 💕

current time: 4:30 pm

current mood: in pain

current activity: listening to music

currently thinking about: upgrading my pc

current fav song: QUEENCARD by (G)I-DLE

currently reading: fullmetal alchemist

currently watching: just finished mdzs yesterday. im choosing what to pick up next

current fav character (if any): wei wuxian my beloved!

current wips (if any): there is a sarumi sketch i should colour

picrew tagged by emma @crimsonrosee , tobias @kokushibe and oroshi @silversoulsociety 🥰

i need people to know that i had to use a vpn to make this, why was it blocked for me have no idea. on the other hand, this is a cute picrew so it was worth the effort

tagging (no pressure): @mx-sinisters @ghostbkg @kimdokjas @yyh @princesskazuya @alphonseelriic @fangrui @natsutakashi @yooasobi @nobasmaki @apparently-artless @upperranktwo @kanbayashis @liliumdragomir @vivianvivvia plus anyone who wants to do any of these❤️

[elxgantcaptain]

Captain Hook's crew

Throughout the movies (and some of the book) we learn about the different members of Hook's crew and even reveal some of their names. Each seem to have a LITTLE bit of a backstory? (somewhat)

I'm fairly sure Hook has had many more crew members before, to run a ship isn't a small deal, he needs plenty of men to run it and you DO see more crew members in the films though these names belong to the pirates that make regular appearances.

These reoccurring pirates are Smee, Mullins, Wibbles, Turk, Black Murphy, Bill Jukes, Starkey, Cecco, Skylights, Noodler, Sharky and Bones.

Smee: Self explanatory, we all know who Smee is! Though it would be incorrect to properly assume that Smee is his first mate, technically, in the books, Smee is Hook's boatswain, aka, the man in charge of the sails and is an expert on the subject (wind, furling, etc) Though we also see Smee's other talents too, in various aspects he's shown to be cooking a lot (despite the fact the ship is mentioned to already have a cook) although its proven in the series that his cooking skills are to be desired. Smee is also a little bit of a medic and of course, a caretaker, mostly to Hook.

Mullins: Not much known about him, although, in book, he gets stabbed and killed by one of the lost boys. In the second movie, he's the first to fall in the water to try and grab the diamond.

Wibbles: He doesn't appear in the book at all, but he's usually seen either with a dagger or a gun or both together. He seems to be adept in dual combat and in the first movie, he is the one to say that 'we should be in the business of plunderin' ships' when the crew are growing bored of chasing peter.

Turk: In Epic Mickey his 'real' name is apparently revealed to be Damian Salt. He also doesn't appear in the books, in the films, its implied that he is either from Arabia or India and its backed up by the fact he's one of the only pirates we see wielding a scimitar.

Black Murphy: Seen in the first movie, he often is seen with a dagger and talently at using one too, able to shoot it from his mouth to hit a target.

Bill Jukes: Perhaps the one we see the most with a gun in hand, or even a blunderbust, he seems to favour the bullet rather than the blade, though we do see him with one. In the cut song 'I'll give you one guess' its revealed that Jukes joined the crew when he was just a kid, when he was a boy and Hook taught him the life of being a sailor and a pirate, therefore, we can say that there are others in the crew that have been taken on from a young age.

Starkey: In the book its said that Starkey was Hook's butler and also a gentleman, as well as a first mate. For continuation reasons, I dumped the idea of him being gentlemanly and a butler. Starkey is still, however, the first mate, being the one that always is seen steering the ship in Hook's absence from the wheel. By no means is he smart, but he is strong and knows his way around a ship, which deemed him well as first mate. He also always seems to have a dagger in his mouth.

Cecco: Not named in the films, but appears in the book as an Italian man in the crew, its said that he cut his name into the back of the govenor at a prison before being taken in by Hook. He's killed by pan in the book. The first image is from the 1904 version, from this, I've picked out pirates who he COULD be in the disney version.

Skylights: Also not offically appearing in the films, he appears in the book, being the one that Hook kills for bumping into him by accident. We can only deduce that Skylights is always the pirate in any of the movies that Hook himself kills, so in the Disney version, Skylights is the man singing, which Hook cuts short with a bullet.

Noodler: Not really appearing in the films, but in the book, Noodler is said to be a pirate with his hands on backwards. Although he never makes an appearance in the Disney animated version, he does in the 2003 live action.

Sharky and Bones: These two only appear in Jake and the Neverland Pirates, although you can possible link them to one of the other members of Hook's crew in the movies. In the Neverland Pirates series, they seemed to a couple of musicians, always singing and playing instruments for Hook.

So there you have it! uwu thats the best rundown of the crew I can give!

[20kmemesunderthesea]

My Thoughts on the Russian 1975 three-Part Miniseries, “Капитан Немо” (Captain Nemo).

First Episode: “The Iron Whale”

I’m not going to lie: I found the first episode tedious. I almost changed my mind about watching this series because the first episode was so slow moving. What I hated most of all was Professor Aronnax got married at the beginning of the episode to an insipid woman named Jacqueline who proved to have as much personality as a sack of flour. He then was immediately called away on this wild adventure, leaving Mrs. Aronnax alone at home…pining. 🤢

It added absolutely nothing to the story. Just like in the book, in this film series Professor Aronnax would later be tempted to stay onboard the Nautilus. In the book his feelings were totally understandable, but here, considering he had a wife at home, he seemed more in love with science/adventure than his wife. (Although I admittedly can’t blame him considering what a dull character Mrs. Aronnax was.)

Other things which didn’t make sense were that Captain Nemo had been sending Professor Aronnax packages (some of which contained live animals) for at least a year prior to the events of the story.

And then Captain Nemo drugged Professor Aronnax, Conseil and Ned Land as soon as they arrived on the Nautilus, and it was never clear why. Conseil hallucinated vividly during that incident which made for a trippy dream sequence. 

As a matter of fact, there were several trippy dream/hallucination sequences throughout the series, which I hated. I hated them very much indeed.

If the film makers had cut out the trippy dream sequences, the whole "There's a Mrs. Aronnax and she's sad" subplot, and some long, irrelevant close-up shots of people making stern facial expressions, I think they could have made it into a two-part series.

(⬆️ Actual footage of me trying to survive the first episode.)

Despite all this, I continued watching…and I’m honestly very glad I did!

I knew I was in for an emotional rollercoaster when it came to a scene of Captain Nemo pacing back and forth in front of the portrait of his late family...

Second Episode: “Prince Dakkar”

SIGNIFICANTLY more engaging…it atoned for the sins of the first episode. Episode two backtracked to the events of India’s 1857 rebellion, and what lead to Captain Nemo’s exile. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time! In this version, Captain Nemo told Professor Aronnax of the capture of his family, how they were held hostage and how the English tried to coerce him into being their puppet. It was a very compelling and believable story, elaborating on Captain Nemo’s (aka Prince Dakkar) tragic past disclosed in June Verne’s book, “The Mysterious Island.” 

It wasn’t super clear to me, however, what exactly happened to Captain Nemo’s wife and children. In the book, they were killed by the British. However, in this version when Captain Nemo is rescued from the hands of the British by his followers, they mention that his family was relocated. Why, then, is Captain Nemo grieving them? If they’re alive, why didn’t he go find them? (If anyone knows what was supposed to have happened in this film, please enlighten me!) That being said, I do appreciate that they didn't show such a tragic event on screen, or else I'd have been traumatized.

(⬆️ EEEMOTIONAL DAMAAAAAGE)

Also In this version, Captain Nemo willingly told Professor Aronnax about his past, which made the professor much more understanding and sympathetic towards the Captain. Ned Land remained unmoved, however, which I also didn’t understand. 

Overall, I found this episode to be really interesting and exciting: it’s my favorite out of the series. 

Third Episode: “The Nautilus Continues the Fight.”

This episode was grabbing as well. Unfortunately, there was no epic kraken battle, but a giant squid was implied to have attacked a French Nautilus crew member during an underwater expedition. When Professor Aronnax expresses grief that they couldn’t give him a proper burial, Captain Nemo says, “The most lasting memories aren’t locked away in marble or granite: they’re locked away in people’s hearts.” 😭

At the very end when Professor Aronnax and his friends escape and make it back to civilization, Professor Aronnax says about Captain Nemo,

“I’m sure he’s sailing now in the vast expanses of the underwater world…

“The brave people who were helped by the captain will always remember him with gratitude, for his generosity of soul, his humanity and kindness. And if sometimes he became violent, history will judge Nemo and his enemies.”

I found it to be a much more touching and satisfying ending than the Disney version, not to mention more true to the book.

Overall impressions:

-The way the Nautilus operates in this film adaptation was not much like the book at all.

-That being said, I definitely got the sense the writers of this series had read the books throughly. The characters were portrayed well, and a significant amount of dialogue was direct passages from 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I appreciated that immensely.

-The only character I didn’t really get was Ned Land. I always imagined him to be impulsive, grumpy-yet-lovable lug. In this version, however, he woke up every day and chose violence. 

-There was no organ in the drawing room! I was hoping for dramatic scenes of Captain Nemo’s signature angsty musical revelries. I was disappointed to be deprived of that.

-The soundtrack was hauntingly beautiful. That was another aspect of this film series which captivated me.

In conclusion, “Капитан Немо” wasn’t as fast-paced or high-budget as Disney’s “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea,” nor would I say it was as aesthetically pleasing, but in my opinion it captured the overall spirit of Jules Verne’s books better and was a little more faithful to the story. It’s available on YouTube with English captions (auto-translate) if anyone else is interested in watching.

[girlwithnosense]

ASSAM FLOODS – DISASTER AMID NATURE

Assam, a renowned state with picturesque landscapes, is known for its natural beauty and rich culture. It is home to various hills and mountain ranges, from the Patkai Range to the Khasi Hills, adding to its beauty. The state is also home to the Brahmaputra, one of the largest rivers in the country, popularly known as the "Sorrow of Assam." Describing the river in such a vague term carries significant meaning for many people that most of us tend to overlook. The beauty of the Brahmaputra also brings with it a never-ending array of destruction and sorrow. Each year, the river swells and overflows, leading to widespread floods that wreak havoc across Assam. The floodwaters submerge villages, farmlands, and wildlife sanctuaries, displacing thousands of people and animals. The relentless floods result in the loss of lives, homes, crops, and livestock, leaving behind a trail of devastation.

The human toll of the Assam floods is immense. Thousands of families are forced to evacuate their homes and take refuge in relief camps. The loss of shelter and livelihood plunges them into uncertainty and despair. The floods also disrupt access to clean water, food, and healthcare, exacerbating the suffering of the affected communities. Moreover, it also results in the closing of schools and colleges as they either submerge or are converted into shelters for affected people.

Addressing the issue of Assam floods requires a multifaceted approach. Improving infrastructure, such as building more robust embankments and dams, is crucial. Additionally, implementing effective early warning systems and emergency response plans can help minimize the impact of floods. Sustainable land and water management practices, along with reforestation efforts, can also play a significant role in mitigating the effects of floods.

I cannot say that a lot has been done, but I can surely say that the government can do a lot or has to be done. Both the central and state governments need to take action at the moment to save the beautiful landscape from drowning in the hands of nature. Most of the dams are poorly built, and even though the Chief Minister belongs to the ruling party, the state lacks proper infrastructure in flood-affected areas, with muddy roads and bamboo bridges that fail to stand before the deadly floods.

To quote the 2024 budget, the total receipts other than borrowings and the total expenditure are estimated at ₹32.07 lakh crore and ₹48.21 lakh crore, respectively.  The finance Minister announced a comprehensive financial package worth Rs 11,500 crore to bolster flood management initiatives and irrigation projects in various flood-affected states across the nation. We have to wait and see how much of this money actually goes for flood management practices and how much of it goes in the hands of greedy politicians and contractors.“Assam grapples with floods every year by the Brahmaputra River and its tributaries, originating outside India. We will assist Assam in flood management and related projects,” Sitharaman said in her Budget speech in Lok Sabha. The death of thousands is reduced to a mere sentence. Are they being oblivious? They can’t be if we are together.

There are divergent paths that can be taken by the government as well as by people to tackle this age-old problem. The first would be the development of the infrastructure by constructing embankments and dykes. Community preparedness would be a secondary choice if the state had basic infrastructural facilities. The government should also develop and regularly practice community evacuation plans, ensuring everyone knows the safest routes and emergency shelters. For example, in 2022, the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) introduced the "Flood Preparedness Index" to enhance flood management. This tool involves creating scorecards for each district to evaluate disaster preparedness. District disaster management officers manually answer a series of "yes/no" questions to assess administrative compliance with predefined actions required before the monsoon season. While these parameters are essential, they only measure preparedness and do not account for comprehensive data on losses, needs, or vulnerabilities, nor do they consider how these factors vary across districts or contexts or what actions are necessary to mitigate the worst impacts of floods on people.

The Flood Report as of 03-07-2022 stated that 26 districts were affected: Bajali, Barpeta, Biswanath, Cachar, Chirang, Darrang, Dhemaji, Dibrugarh, Dima-Hasao, Goalpara, Golaghat, Hailakandi, Hojai, Kamrup, Kamrup (M), Karimganj, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Morigaon, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sivasagar, Sonitpur, Tamulpur, Tinsukia, Udalguri, Dibrugarh. Rivers flowing above the danger level included Kopili (Dharamtul), Disang (Nanglamuraghat), Burhidihing (Chenimari(Khowang)), and Brahmaputra (Dhubri; Tezpur; Neamatigha). The Assam Flood Report as of 05-08-2024 stated that only three districts – Sivasagar, Golaghat, and Dhemaji – were affected. But in reality, more than three were affected, as there was no mention of my home district, Nagaon, where many old artificial mounds were broken, leading to loss of lives and property.

The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) observed in the first installment of its Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) that was released on 9 August 2021 that “…the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation events have increased since the 1950s over most land areas” and that “human-induced climate change is likely the main driver.” Thus, as climate change tips toward a full-blown crisis, northeast India faces the prospect of more extreme rainfall. The ongoing floods in Assam should be seen as a wake-up call that finally galvanizes action on adaptation. Although engineering solutions such as embankments still have a role to play in mitigating floods, they are no longer sufficient. Nature-based solutions, therefore, have an obvious place in Assam’s flood defense toolbox and provide a powerful complement (or alternative) to engineering solutions. Working alongside engineering solutions, nature-based solutions will boost the overall resilience at all levels of flooding.

The floods of Assam highlight the fragile balance between nature’s beauty and its devastating power. It shows how nature can quench your thirst and drown you simultaneously. Addressing this requires more than just infrastructure; it calls for innovative flood management and community preparedness as well as the voices of the people of this land. As climate change intensifies the challenge, urgent and collaborative action is needed to protect Assam's people and preserve its rich heritage.

[luislosing]

I have a theory

about Kwazii's backstory.

This one is a bit of a stretch so buckle up kiddos.

SO: who is our favourite orange, boot wearing, adventure loving cat?

You thinking what im thinking?

[Edit:] I found these photos after i posted this but i think it's pretty important] He has a sword. This is from the Sword fish creature report.

Backstory about Puss in Boots: (from wikipedia) "Puss in Boots" (Italian: Il gatto con gli stivali) is an Italian fairy tale, later spread throughout the rest of Europe, about an anthropomorphic cat who uses trickery and deceit to gain power, wealth, and the hand of a princess in marriage for his penniless and low-born master.

The first written account of this tale is from 1550 by Italian author Giovanni Francesco Straparola, who included it in his The Facetious Nights of Straparola. Other texts were published in 1634 and 1697.

If you look at these dates carefully, you may see that they line up pretty well with the Golden Age of Piracy:

Coincidence? I don't think it's a coincidence that a story about a sword wielding, thieving cat would be very similar to the acts of real-life pirates.

Puss in Boots originated in Italy, although it has been translated, adapted changed to fit themes in Asia, Africa and South America.

Here is a little trivia about Kwazii:

It's hinted that he is from somewhere in East or Southeast Asia, although it's largely been irrelevant to the franchise.

In the Philippines version of Puss in Boots; - ...the helpful animal is a monkey "in all Philippine variants", according to Damiana Eugenio -(Wikipedia)

A monkey? Did you mean:

Paani?

Who is from India.

And India is in Asia. Specifically South Asia. Next to Southeast Asia.

Hmmmmmm. Still a coincidence? I still have more evidence.

(From Wikipedia) - It was also adapted by Toei as anime feature film in 1969, It followed by two sequels. Hayao Miyazaki made manga series as a promotional tie-in for the film. The title character, Pero, named after Perrault, has since then become the mascot of Toei Animation, with his face appearing in the studio's logo.

Hmm, an orange cat, from Japan, based off the story of Puss in Boots? Where have I heard that before?

Kwazii...

Another thing. Why I mention Paani is becouse he is very similar to Kwazii. They both have a 'mysterious' past that we dont know much about. (An excerpt from the Octonauts Wiki) - In general, he shares a lot of qualities with Kwazii. Physically, he has a similar pale, light grayish gamboge palette and a long tail. Personality-wise, he seems just as if not more daring, along with being impulsive and rather acrobatic. He even gets stopped by Captain Barnacles before he does something without thinking and runs off before the other characters can catch up with him in a way that intentionally mirrors Kwazii doing the same thing. They also have a shared love for cooking, eating snacks (such as pudding), and telling stories.

You know who else is an orange adventure loving cat?

Calico Jack, who is the oldest Octo-agent, Kwazii's grandad, and a pirate. Who wears a funny black hat and boots? (Technically one boot and a peg leg) Who wears a belt and (i think) has a sword?

(Excerpt from the Shrek Wiki) - he [Puss in Boots] is a smooth-talking cat with a Spanish accent, usually wearing a cavalier's hat, a belt with a sword, a small black cape, and small Corinthian boots.

[Edit:] Although the Puss in Boots movie solely starring Puss was released in 2011, that specific adaptation of Puss in Boots first appeared in the 2004 Shrek Movie.

You know what else appeared in 2004 and was released in book form in 2006?

THE OCTONAUTS

Which Brings Me to My Final Conclusion:

I think Kwazii is somehow related to the story of Puss in Boots, whether it be himself, Paani, or Calico Jack.

We dont know enought about Kwazii's past to determine his backstory, or what happened to his parents, (as they are never mentioned). However, i think this might be a decent speculation into Kwazii's Mysterious Pirate past.

And one more thing:

Dont think i forgot that kwazii is based off Meomi's one eyed cat. (From the wiki) - 'Kwazii was based off of Meomi's late one-eyed cat, Eco.' Im gonna make that fit this theory somehow.

Again, this is just a theory, probably isn't true but i love to speculate. Lemme know if you want to see more Octonauts theories.

Sorry for the long post lol <3