#i appreciate you sending the ask!!

[alatismeni-theitsa]

This whole making of ancient Greek mythology series in books and movies Hollywood does goes waaaay back to the Renaissance period when the Italians longed for the glory days of ancient Greece and Rome. So they taught about the great philosophers and made art based on that, our plays and teachings were an inspiration for Europe. And that same inspiration was in US as well with all the immigrants going there.

Yes there was the Asian also culture that influenced, but the core was Ancient Greece so it remained on top even to this day. Especially nowadays with the popularity of our mythology it will not calm down, but I at least hope we Greeks can create our own pieces of media instead of hoping from foreigners to do it for us.

I mean, it wasn't just the Italians...But back then, if it was someone who had the closest connection to the Roman empire, this is the Italians. So I find it a bit natural they remembered those ideals and eras again and used them as they pleased. I think the Italians have our backs more than anyone else in Europe when it comes to how our myths are used because they are seeing the same shit from the New world countries and northwest Europe.

And the funny thing is that these western European countries tried to fight off the Romans at every chance xD It is great to get influenced by other cultures, don't get me wrong. But they went into such a large degree of fetishization that they consider themselves inheritors of the Greek culture even though they are not in the Greek culture.

Large parts of philosophy and medicine they also took from the Arabs and Persians, but they very conveniently forget them. Ancient Greece was an ideal they wanted to build their ethnic identities around, much more in the US, which needed a shared ground. That's why, at the same decades the Greeks in the US were segregated, suffering from police brutality, and called dirty rats, buildings inspired by ancient Greece and Rome were built all over the country.

There is a lot of appreciation in the beginning, but it has come to the point of misappropriation, and the Greek people never asked to be seen as "the representatives of the white culture" (or other racist bs). If I decorate my house in traditional Hindustani style and I don't give a shit about North Indians and their culture, am I really inspired by their culture, or do I just keep the elements that suit me and disregard what doesn't look "pretty" to me?

"We owe it all to ancient Greeks" my ass. They can't pronounce a Greek surname, name a Greek dish, or show Greece on the map to save their lives. They don't give a shit about Greece's history and its people after it became Christian. Because it doesn't suit their Catholic/Protestant-Evangelical propaganda and aesthetics. (If you ask them about Byzantium they are like "eeh what is that??")

As I say in a popular post of mine, if you see “Greek mythology” and your mind goes to North Americans and Northwestern Europeans, you haven’t decolonized your mind yet. (link)

[kimtaegis]

JIN HUGS JIN HUGS! for @jinstronaut ♡

cr. namuspromised, dwellingsouls, 0613data

[biblically-accurate-dca]

day 16: object head !

[littlecrittereli]

Wanted to doodle some comfort bros to balance out the angst of my recent posts lol

Hey pookies! Just wanted to say I really appreciate all the love and support I've been receiving lately for Decoded! I always love your comments/asks/fanart/memes, it genuinely has been bringing me so much joy and I'm so grateful for it <3

I know I said I had a lot of art to post (and then proceeded to post none of it LOL) I'm just a little overwhelmed rn with some life stuff so sorry for the wait! I also have a lot asks that I haven't gotten to and I apologize for that as well!

Trying my best to keep up, but I haven't had a lot of time recently. Art's gonna be a little delayed, but don't worry Chapter 8 is still gonna come out this Saturday as scheduled!

[cloudsofteeth]

uhhhhhhh wet beast satan?

(there was very intense sudden rain and he’s completely soaked. i have chibi in mind, but obv you can do what you want)

^w^ Wet bastard kitten

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

your art is absolutely amazing

i just went thru all of the poorly drawn mdzs and it was amazing seeing your art develop!

you just made my morning, thabkyou <3

Thank you so much for the kind words, and for cheering me on as I continue to learn!

[razrogue]

Folks should be mindful when engaging with Black creator's OCs through appreciation type stuff (gifts of fanart/fanfic/etc).

If you're unsure if you're capturing the essence/appearance/personality of their OC, ASK!

I understand wanting to surprise a creator with a gift because you want to show your appreciation for their OC. But that gift is harmful when the creator sees you've whitewashed their OC or applied stereotypes or tropes that aren't a part of the character.

When in doubt, ask

[loopdile]

( @isat-drawing-kid !! j

( You like Loopdile, right?? )

[loudclan-clangen]

Alright, now I'm curious, what are the rules of StarClan's Oneway Dunktank? Are there cats who can't touch it (mediators for sure but anyone else?) Do healers meet there every half moon? They can sacrifice a life to speak directly to StarClan but what about other times?

(Also you're not gonna believe this, I looked up effects of crude oil exposure and studies indicate it may cause Anemia and low white blood cell count, so maybe she got a bleeding disorder because she can't stay out of the Forbidden Jacuzzi).

VERY LONG, LOTS OF TEXT, SORRY I GOT EXCITED TO LORE DUMP

The rules/powers of the Black Water Pool and Starclan are intentionally very nebulous. 1. Because I think starclan is more effective as a mysterious force than a clearly designated entity, and 2. Because I would like to have some flexibility going forward in the comic regarding the powers/rules of starclan. Here's what's clearly defined:

Any cat can touch the oil, like physically speaking. They will not just drop dead unless something else is going on that is worsened by the experience. But something may be worsened by the oil, especially if they are deeply exposed to it, like swimming in it or ingesting it the way one might if they weren't specifically trained in how to interact with it safely (like a healer or a leader). This leads to rumors of cats being cursed with terrible visions (hallucinations), disease (coughs caused by respitory damage), or wounds (chemical burns from prolonged exposure) because they touch the Black Water without permission. These could be actual curses from starclan, or they could be biological reactions to the oil, but that doesn't really matter because the cats believe that they are curses. (If that makes sense). For this combination of reasons, (religious belief and biological evidence), cats with open wounds, bad coughs, or who are actively pregnant are absolutely not allowed to touch the oil and are encouraged not to be near it. (Excluding dried oil worn by healers, we've covered in an earlier post that that is a stable form that isn't going to pollute others). This is justified by the healers as being times when one does not want to tempt death, and that being near the pool brings one's spirit closer to the dead, which is good for communing with them or asking them for favors, but bad when you are fighting for/actively creating life.

All of the leaders and their leadership teams have meetings staggered throughout the moon. Leaders and deputies meet on a full-moon, healers meet on a half-moon, and mediators meet on a new moon. (Gatherings also happen on full moons, just later in the day/night. The clans meet the leaders at the gathering place.) Healers might meet at the Black Water Pool but they do not always. Specifically, the Freezingclan healers refuse to meet at the Black Water, so if they want all of the clans' healers to meet they have to pick another place, usually the gathering place for simplicity. Since the healers can only commune with Starclan by sacrificing a life, they don't do it on a monthly basis and not meeting at the Black Water isn't inconvenient for them.

The healers (and leaders) can only speak directly to Starclan by sacrificing a life period. One of my biggest issues with the actual books is that speaking to Starclan is so casual that they constantly have to justify the cats not being able to in order to maintain any form of mystery or miscommunication, or risk making beloved characters look like jerks for not telling the living cats something important/make the entirety of Starclan look less powerful by claiming that they just "didn't know". My very simple solution to this is to put a layer of separation between them. In order to talk to the dead you have to die. This means that characters will only do so if they feel it is VERY important and they are certain that Starclan will give them a helpful answer, which they will not always do. (Why doesn't Wildfirecry ask Starclan how to cure Rosehippaw? Because he knows that there is a very high likely hood that the answer is "you can't" and then he'll lose both his daughter and a life that he could have used to help his clan in a more effective way).

Circling back to how normal cats are meant to contact starclan if they aren't allowed to touch the Black Water Pool by themselves, we finally get to talk about Loudclan burials! (This idea has been rattling around in my brain since the bonus art for Moon 18!) Okay, so: When a cat dies, the ground on the mountain is too hard and shallow for them to really be effectively buried. Due to this, the body is placed into a shallow dip dug into the ground and then covered by a pile of heavy stones in a make-shift cairn. The cairn discourages larger scavengers, like foxes or ravens, who might carry pieces of the deceased away, but allows smaller scavengers like mice and insects to eat away the fleshy bits. After a few moons, (during which family and friends are encouraged to keep their distance and learn to live without the deceased) when the scavengers are finished and all that is left are clean bones, the body is exhumed and repositioned so that the skull is left exposed outside of the cairn that covers the rest of the body. This is meant to allow cats to speak directly to the spirit of specific dead clan mates, though there is, of course, no expectation that the spirit speak back. (This is what we see Fiercestripe do in the Moon 18 Bonus Art). All burials happen in a field of forget-me-nots (small, blue. five petal flowers) as they cover the scent of decay, and therefore the cairns/graves are often decorated with them, along with other flowers or plants that may have been special to the deceased. Less commonly, a family member may ask to take a piece of the deceased from the cairn, such as a small tail bone or claw that they will wear to "carry the deceased with them". This is only allowed if the cats are known to have a close relationship, and is very frowned upon if the requestor is not a close family member or lifelong mate.

The major exception to all of this "Starclan is nebulous and distant" stuff is when I draw ghosts (like Bluepaw talking to Owlstar, which, admittedly, I drew before I had a good grasp of what I wanted to do with spirits and starclan). I know that it sort of negates that distance but... I just think it's fun. I think it's more fun to see what the spirits have to say (on occassion) than strictly sticking to never seeing Starclan outside of the Black Water Pool. So for those instances just remember that you, as the audience are getting sort of a third person omniscient view. You can see the ghosts but the characters in the story cannot (unless it is stated that they can due to like ghost sight or something).

Of course, as I said at the beginning, I'm trying to remain flexible, and I'm sure I'm going to break all of these rules at some point, but if I do my job correctly, then moments when these rules break should be important, and not just because I'm disregarding or forgetting them.

On a completely different note: You're not gonna believe this but I actually did know that! I did a decent amount of research into the effects of oil exposure when i was thinking up the Black Water Pool and yeah! It absolutely has played a part in Eklutna's condition. She's had hemophilia since birth, (which very simply means that her blood doesn't clot very well (for all of you biology nerds out there yes i know that it is rare for a cis female to have full hemophilia but it is possible if both of her parents had it)), but that has 100% been worsened by her love of swimming in "the forbidden jacuzzi". As long as we are sharing fun facts: exposure to crude oil while pregnant, while not always, can occasionally cause birth defects like weak lungs!

[paintpanic]

I've mentioned this idea before on my blog, but I've decided to properly introduce you to my Resurrection AU!

The basic idea is that as Kirby and co. are returning from the New World post-Forgotten Land, they start to get reports of people coming back from the dead!

The Characters:

She's trying make it up to everybody she's hurt, especially Taranza, which is going to be a long and arduous process for her. She's determined to try and make things right, though.

In his search for ancient knowledge, Void enlists the help of Magolor, who's agreed to help him out and house him in exchange for a little help with his theme park.

Elfilin's staying with Kirby in Dream Land while he recuperates from everything. Much to his chagrin, Fecto Forgo is staying in Elfilin's head. These two have to figure everything out between them while adjusting to "normal" life.

Other characters are also relevant, of course.

This AU's nowhere close to being fully fleshed out. I've got bullet points for the main plot, but that's about it for now. I'll develop it more eventually. In the meantime, please feel free to send me questions or thoughts you have about this!

Thanks for reading!

[enden-agolor]

i love your art!! I'm not a big fan of jesskas but it's nice to see your passion in the ship, it gives me good vibes!! anyway, do you have fanchilds or have you considered them at some point? i like them because i feel like it's seeing a new type of connection between a ship :DD

It’s not exactly a fanchild (I personally don’t care for those) but I do love to imagine that in the far future once Jesse has coped through the loss of Reuben and found comfortable ground and the ability to move on from losing his best friend, then he’s able to open up the idea of adding a new member to fit that role in his life. It takes a long time to get to this point, and I feel like the reason Jesse is so awkward around other animals is because they remind him of Reuben. Eventually though he and Lukas do get a dog. Years prior, he would have been so put off by the idea of having a pet like this, but once the offer is up and he’s mentally ready to handle it, he takes the offer and accepts a new member to the family. He can’t help but hold on to his old ways in the beginning, kind of comparing her to Reuben but he very quickly stops that when he realizes this little puppy is a totally different experience, and very much gets a soft spot for her. Also Lukas loves to see their little family grow…

[moeblob]

Yeehaw ! (I couldn't stand Jakob thus I never met Dwyer and that is a regret to this day, he seems so well liked...)

[askblueandviolet]

[darqx]

Got an evil eye

In which there’s a small Demon!Rire Angel!Rire comparison.

❗️For commonly asked qs please see my BTD FAQ

😇 The lore of Angel!Rire is essentially:

Possibly rogue angel that kills people under word of God.

Word of God being debatable because his criteria for killing people changes a lot - (eg: might kill a bad person cos they’re “bad”, similarly will kill a good person to get them to heaven faster, similarly will just “mercy” kill whoever because humans are a plague to themselves and others etc) - EITHER WAY no one seems to be stopping him.

Also debatable is whether he believes in his justifications for his actions or if he’s just doing it for fun and purposely smoke-screening that fact.

I have described their main similarity before as deception since they both seem viable (as a normal human / normal angel) at first. Their main personality difference is that their modus operandi is flipped - Demon!Rire will often see how long he can con someone, but will eventually reveal his true nature and will match what he says with it. Angel!Rire is more blunt and will reveal his true nature almost immediately, but will continue saying things in complete antithesis to that reveal thus masking the reality of his intentions.

I do know what OCTs are! But I probably would never join one due to lack of time. They seem to be very large commitments and i’d be better off trying to find that time to do BP :V

There is no set location for BTD (considering that me, Gato and EP all come from diff countries LOL)...other than maybe “Earth” and “some city/town place that predominately speaks English”.

This is, actually, one of the more popular questions I get asked over time about Rire XD; Which makes me think I need to update my FAQ to include it. Anyway in my FAQ i put it like this:

CAN RIRE FEEL LOVE? I don’t know if you could classify what he feels as “love” in the same definition we are used to…

And from other answers to similar qs:

IF he becomes fond of someone for whatever reason, he will probably become more possessive. His methodology might not change so much, but there would be more aftercare (cos if you want someone to last longer...)

I never go any more in depth when answering these kinda qs even though i’m sure people would like me to XD

At first I was going to say “I don’t know Depeche Mode”, but when i looked them up on Youtube i saw “Just can’t get enough” and was like OH I KNOW THESE SONGS.

As for Rire it’s not super in line with his usual, but I don’t think he’d mind the music!

He’s gotten used to moving between different climates quickly so it doesn’t really affect him as much.

You would not be the first so go for it if you want lol.

[storm-of-feathers]

franticly googling how to be best friends with all my mutuals when i never answer dms and barely answer asks but i want to be best friends

[ruporas]

I have to say. I abso-freaking-lutely love your art. The whole reason I got Tumblr was so I could look at all your art. It is so lively and beautiful. Especially your Vashwood art. The way your draw characters interacting is so natural and domestic. Your rendering style is fantastic!! I also love your recent DunMeshi art!! I cannot wait to buy your Vashwood zine once I’ve got disposable income.

(Sorry this isn’t an ask, I just really love your art)

every part of this ask is just incredibly sweet and kind, thank you so so much for enjoying my art!!! it makes me weepy that people can like my art in many ways 🥹 here… 2 creatures for you