#i keep seeing that referenced but not once actually sourced where it's from

[epickiya722]

If you ever heard the line "Big Raga, the Opp Stoppa", just know it's from Rabsopetty on YouTube from this video here at precisely at 9:44.

EDIT: By the way, there is a full version of this HERE! As well as an extended version of the Sukuna vs. Mahoraga fight HERE!!

[what-even-is-thiss]

Since people ask me a lot how to research this or that type of mythology or religion I'll just tell you how I go about researching mythology and religion I'm not familiar with in general.

Keep in mind I'm not an expert. I'm just a guy who reads a lot about mythology.

So first, know what you're looking for. What culture's belief system are we looking at? Because you can't just look at a broad region. If you wanna know about "African" or "Asian" mythology generally that will not help you. You need to be looking at something specific. A specific group or religion.

So let's say, as an example, you want to research the stories and beliefs and history of Tibetan Buddhism. Because that's something I'm looking into researching right now, so I'll take you through my process of getting started on it.

So the first thing I do is... google Tibetan Buddhism. Now this is a still-living religion that has continuously been practiced since it's founding, so I scroll past the Wikipedia and Encyclopedia Britannica entries until I find something by the people currently practicing it. In this case, I found an article by the Sakya Monastery in Seattle that gives a basic overview of their beliefs and different types of the religion that is currently practiced. This is what I'm looking for. I want to give myself a fairly good foundation of understanding of what's going on here before I start digging past the surface.

After this, I look for more articles and videos by monasteries explaining the basics. If this were from a religion that is either dead or has not been practiced continually since its founding I would skip all this and just go to the next step. Watching YouTube videos made by outsiders.

So after I give myself an idea of how people who practice the religion present themselves, I go searching on YouTube for overviews. I'm specifically interested in videos made by people that regularly make videos about this kind of thing and take it seriously. Sometimes this can take some digging. Something to look for is people who cite their sources, people who present the facts without outward judgement, and people who acknowledge their own biases while they explain these things.

A lot of these videos often give me ideas for books and primary sources to start referencing. With Tibetan Buddhism there's a lot of the regular Buddhism texts, along with a few others. I'm not looking to become an expert in this religion or convert to it, so I'll settle for reading about these books. I'm fairly familiar with Zen Buddhism specifically and the history of Buddhism more generally so this helps me a teeny bit here but Tibetan Buddhism is very specifically its own thing so I start googling specific stories and types of practices mentioned in the videos and articles I've been using.

Once I have been reading things from various different perspectives and feel comfortable enough to the point where I feel like I could explain the basics to someone who knows nothing about the mythology or belief system, this is the point where I start looking into books. This is also the part where I actually start combing through various Wikipedia articles, following chains and looking through reference sections to see if there's any good sources I should be digging into.

When I look to buy or borrow books, it depends on how in-depth I want to go. As is, I'm probably gonna buy a couple of different books on a beginners guide to Tibetan Buddhism and perhaps something on the history of it. With each book I consider I look up the author. Are they an expert in this subject? Do they practice this religion? Would I rather buy a book by someone that follows the religion or someone that's a scholar of it? Because you will get very different results depending on who is writing it. Things written for spiritual purposes are very different from purely educational books, so what do you want to get out of this research? Are you just looking for entertainment? Do you just want to be more knowledgeable about the world in general? Does someone you love find importance in this subject? Are you doing research for a project? Are you looking to incorporate aspects of this religion into your own life? The types of books you buy or borrow will heavily depend on your intentions and you should be careful about actually reading the book descriptions and reading the backgrounds of the authors to make sure you're buying the correct one for what you're hoping to get out of this.

My purpose in this case is simply feeding my own curiosity, so I'm leaning towards buying Essential Tibetan Buddhism by Robert A. F. Thurman. It's a bit old but it's written by someone that's a professor of Tibetan studies and has translations of some essential texts in it, so it seems like a good starting point for me, and possibly also an ending point. Because like I said, this is mostly about my own curiosity.

If I wanted to dig further I'd probably start looking into the reference sections of various books for other things to read, start digging into lists of primary sources, possibly find free to watch lectures online by people with doctorates in this sort of thing, and read into primary sources I find referenced in the various secondary sources I've been consulting up to this point.

Basically, start on the surface and follow the rabbithole down. And always remember that the perspectives of people who study something in a secular way for a living and people who actively practice a religion will be different from each other. Pick and choose what sources you use depending on what your intentions are. Reading something about Orphic hymns for scholarly reasons or for other research purposes and reading Orphic hymns because you're a Hellenistic pagan who wants to incorporate them into your personal practice are two extremely different things. Both are valid reasons to buy a book on Orphic hymns but the two books that the two hypothetical people here would buy are very very different from each other.

Good luck out there and always be respectful while you're poking around.

[fantastic-nonsense]

Thanks for your reply. And, yeah, I definitely agree that Robin is first and foremost Dick’s legacy, and that he chose Damian as his Robin for important reasons that he expresses to Tim later. And, his blessings to both Jason and Tim previously were also extremely important. But, I was thinking about it more in terms of how the transition was handled. I know that Jason and Dick, despite popular belief, had a decent relationship when he was Robin, but Dick didn’t react well initially because he had been completely blindsided by the news, nor had he given his consent. I thought that Alfred was sort of repeating Bruce’s mistakes here, so Tim might have been blindsided by it as well (not that I think he would’ve given his consent either way at that point). You saying that it was a crisis decision on Alfred’s part puts it in perspective though, and it makes sense since Alfred’s generally more sensitive than Bruce. I do think, though, that seeing Damian in a Robin suit (with Alfred’s blessing) would have probably made Tim realise that there was a real possibility that Damian could be Robin.

[referencing this response on how the transition from Tim to Damian as Robin was handled]

I think two things can be true: Tim would be blindsided and hurt by Dick's decision to make Damian Robin regardless of the circumstances, but it was particularly tough for him given the situation that it occurred in (the issue you're talking about and I mostly discussed in my original response), and it was the obvious decision to make based on where all three of those characters were in their character arcs.

Tim during the BFTC/early Reborn era honestly needs to be viewed in the context of him clearly being ready to take the same steps Dick took at his age to become an independent vigilante but wanting to cling to Robin because it was the only sense of stability he had in an incredibly unstable period of his life. Tim had been operating semi-independently for years and had just spent the entirety of Battle for the Cowl telling Dick that if he wouldn't put on the cowl Tim would do it himself…and then he actually did put on the cowl to go fight Jason. It's not like Tim wasn't signaling that he had moved beyond Robin's role as Batman's non-independent protege.

And Dick could see that, especially since Tim had already been the Robin to his Batman once, back in Prodigal. He genuinely meant it when he called Tim his "equal" in Red Robin #1, and I think that's important to understand where both of them are coming from.

Ultimately Tim's problems with Robin "being taken away from him" were not Dick's problems, and Tim's hostility and hurt comes from a fundamentally different place than Dick's did. Dick voluntarily gave up being Robin to become Nightwing, and the rocky transition from Dick to Jason was less about the mantle and more about Dick's personal insecurity about his place in the family and Bruce giving Jason Robin without his permission. Tim's place in the family was very solid during BftC and his RR #1 freakout was mostly about the perception that Dick was taking away his sole source of mental/life stability and choosing Damian (a potential hostile) over Tim to watch his back and keep him alive.

Dick's issues were about insecurity in the face of a father apparently replacing him with a new son and a new partner in his absence. Tim's issues were about feeling unmoored in the face of yet another loved one dying, his civilian life going up in flames (again) and being pushed out of a tenuous stability back into instability, and the percieved lack of trust in his ability to properly fill the role he was already occupying.

So honestly I think Tim's feelings on that transition need to be viewed as an entirely separate thing from how well or poorly the transition itself was handled, because I genuinely believe that Tim's reaction only was what it canonically was due to the unique intersections of events going on in Tim's personal life. Dick could have (and should have) handled the transition with more delicacy, but Tim was always going to react badly because of how hard he had been leaning on the mask to give him a sense of normalcy and balance. That's not really something Dick or Damian (or Alfred) could control, even though the transition itself was rockier than it could have been on their ends and poorly handled out-of universe.

[taduki]

Lucio with an MC Who’s “Definitely” Not Morga’s Family Favorite…

This is Lucio route btw. Very much inspired by @iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia’s headcanon about the M6’s families with permission.

She denies all such claims. Actually, no. When Lucio whines and points out there is clear favoritism, Morga just replies, “Know your place, boy.”

Lucio begging you for your secrets.

(From the referenced headcanon, courtesy of Vesu) If your hair is braidable, she will braid it as often as she sees you with it down and scold Lucio for not taking better care of you. His response is, “But you keep yours down all the time!”, and she just huffs.

She told you a story from her childhood while braiding your hair once. When she was a little girl, she and the other girls her age used to braid each others’ hair during their free time, and on a day after they practiced how to tie knots, one of the girls accidentally knotted another girl’s hair and they had to chop it off…

Morga probably takes a liking to your magical abilities. Normally, she’d be a bit skeptical after Lucio’s Biggest Temper Tantrum, but after spending more time with you, she observes how you use it in your day to day and eventually comes to respect it rather than simply not care.

Ever since you started cooking for Lucio on some days, you’ve kept a vaguely written recipe book of your best work and Morga was a little unsettled how you took it out while cooking so close to the fire. When you explained you kept a fire resistant charm on the book, you might have grown a little on her. Not that it was obvious. With Morga, a huff could mean a yes or a no, and it seems like only Lucio knows the difference…

Morga on her way to scold Lucio for making you cook anyway.

She tells you many embarrassing stories of Montag’s ventures, including the one where he fled a sick bear. She’ll tell the occasional cute baby story that she knows he hates. Oh, but she does NOT leave out her experiences of her pregnancy with him. It’s a source of humiliation for him, one that he cannot justify. Lucio trips over a branch? His legs must be weak from all that kicking back then. He feels a little sick? Get up, boy. I withstood the plague AND having you in my stomach for nine months.

If you’re feeling sick, she won’t do anything unless it’s really serious and she can actively help, but will demand Montag take care of you as he’s groaning that he already knows. It does unadmittedly please her when he shows he can hold his own and properly care for you at the same time.

Her frigid heart hurts a little when she sees you two fall asleep together. It reminds her too much of the past, and she is stubbornly unwilling to accept that Montag can change so drastically for another person.

If you give her a gift, her reaction is deeply based on what you gift her. She has no need for fashion or luxuries, but if you gift her things she can utilize, she’ll gladly accept, and she might even return the favor. Her gifts are always hand-crafted by herself.

You haven’t even brought up the idea of starting a family yet but she’s already lecturing you about children. “A word of advice. Pray that you receive a girl.”

[delta-pavonis]

I would love to hear more about Raspberries and Rum?

*cackles*

OKAY. So this came from a conversation that I had with @wordsinhaled in, no joke, NOVEMBER 2022. And I still haven't written all of it. BUT some of the bits from our conversation are goddamned SOLID GOLD and I am cracking myself up all over again reading the transcript. [Important background science here (just read the title).] Here is me just copy-pasta-ing from Discord with no indication of who is saying what:

hob getting wasted on dream’s jizz because he tastes like a good mixed drink suddenly a thing i need to see Hob as New Inn bartender keeps trying to make a new rum cocktail with raspberry flavor and no one understands why referencing it makes Hob blush, it is just a reference to that cool space data, right? now suddenly need a 5+1 where hob keeps making dream trial raspberry rum cocktails until they find the Perfect One and dream is very bemused Gotta keep going back and comparing to the actual source material apparently raspberry season in the UK starts in june where he’s like fucking. up handmaking raspberry simple syrup in the middle of the night and dream is like “ah, offerings” Because, honestly, he is technically trying to figure out a way to have everyone who orders the drink get drunk on something that tastes like his husband's jizz? And I find that fucking hilarious? Definitely deranged Hob humor mainly because he’s like, do i want everyone to suck your dick? this is reserved for me but do i want everyone to know the JOY of this taste? perhaps However, first time a university student of his orders the cocktail, once it is on the menu, Hob has A Moment of Regret™️  just a moment though i wonder if dream is aware he tastes like this or if he just. came up with the most reasonable taste he felt he would have when composing his physical body, which of course would be nothing like human and of course some esoteric shit like didn’t even think about it once so he keeps trying this drink and being like yes my very competent bartender husband perfecting his fancy raspberry drink i am so proud but hob is looking perpetually more glinty around the eyes each time he gets closer to the mark and dream is like, cottoning on that Something Is Up eventually dream is like “there is some... significance here. that i am missing.” and hob has to turn around and hide his face in his hands because somehow he never thought he’d have to Explain what he was doing especially because i feel like this would be some shit hob would try to do one time in the middle of the night while planning the summer drinks menu and then somehow he’d be neck deep in recipes from google weeks later but then dream is fucking. super out of left field when he finds out like... “you are crafting a libation. to me.” and hob is like uhhhhhhh no???? not actually???? am i??? I mean... just... based... on you? Hob will argue semantics on this dream is like you’re distilling my essence into a drink that all your patrons will imbibe and hob is like uhhh maybe? uuuhhh... maybe I am? okay but dream like THAT’S KIND OF HOT and hob is like I WASN’T TRYING TO BE HOT I WAS BEING STUPID and dream is just. yes. my husband can be very stupid. and very hot "These two things are not mutually exclusive, my dear Hob." of course this has to culminate in “you mean to tell me you don’t know you taste like raspberries and rum? you just made yourself taste all... lovely and you had no idea?” “i had not the faintest idea, indeed.” “you’ve never...?” “i have had no occasion to... sample myself, as it were.” “sample... jesus. alright. what are you, an hors d’oeuvre at the department party?” “no. but it seems i could be its signature drink.” DREAM IS A LIL BITCH hob’s inner exhibitionist cackling at forcing his staid ass colleagues to drink this drink while dream broods in the corner indulgently eyeing his antics everyone like “wow robbie this is a GREAT cocktail mind if i nick the recipe off you” and hob is like “ah no actually, it’s a bit of a jealously guarded secret” NO. Dream overhears and that's how he introduces himself, the little shit "And you are?" "Oh, I am Hob's Jealously Guarded Secret."

Here is the first chapter of the 5+1 that is in that WIP file (under cut because NSFW - cw for drunkenness and blowjobs):

One: May

It starts as a joke. A joke in Hob’s head that he doesn’t tell anyone. Because he knows that after this many years walking God’s green Earth that he can have a slightly warped sense of humor. 

So Hob keeps his motivations to himself and dusts off his bartending skills, back from when he had just opened The New Inn and was still getting the staff up-to-snuff. And then he sets to work. 

He has to figure out the rum first. Actually, Hob knows exactly which rum he would like to use, the second batch of ron miel honey rum by Destilerías Arehucas produced shortly after they opened on Gran Canaria island in 1884, but as far as he can tell there are only three bottles of it left in the world and they are all in his personal collection. 

So Hob called some friends and obtained as wide a variety of current lines of Canary Island honey rum that he could manage. He bided his time until the next Friday night, poured out a shot of each in a row on his coffee table, and proceeded to get fantastically pissed.

(Could Hob have sipped and spit out the liquor as he tasted them? Sure. Was this more fun? Absolutely.)

It was only after Hob was well toasted that Dream sidestepped into his living room. 

Hob was off the couch and on his knees in front of Dream before he even really decided what to do with his drunk-ass self. He was nuzzling into the fly of familiar black jeans and Dream was letting out a surprised hiccup of a moan and Hob was pretty sure his brain had dissolved into giddy bubbles of lust and want.

Long fingers wound into Hob’s hair and held him there as he rocked forward, purring, “Why hello to you, too, Hob Gadling. I did not expect ah!” A gasp when Hob started peeling away the clothing. “Expect quite this manner of hospitality upon my arrival.”

“Gotta…” Hob had the single-minded determination only liquor could provide. “Need to check…”

Dream made a curious hum of an inquiry at that, but Hob didn’t have time to explain. The taste of the rum was already being diluted by all the saliva pooling in his mouth and he needed to compare them. 

It had been just over a year since His Stranger had walked back into his life. Slightly less than that since they realized what absolute idiots they were for each other. It was enough time, given the many many repetitions Hob had to practice, for him to get really fucking good at getting Dream off with his mouth.

Hob, in his infinite need to stroke his own ego, had timed it once. Well, more than once. Many times actually. The current record was 143 seconds from first press of lips to spend. Hob drunkenly thought he could do better than that. Not that he had his phone handy. Ah well, that wasn’t a good reason to not try.

Dream finished getting hard in Hob’s throat, sobbed as Hob swallowed repeatedly. His lover was shaking with it already, Hob preened distantly, and moved to press the tips of his fingers just so into Dream’s perineum. Another press and stroke behind Dream’s balls, this time while Hob sucked with his entire lung capacity as he backed away, and then the Lord Morpheus was coming with a strangled shout right onto Hob’s tongue.

Hob savored it for a moment, eyes closed, cataloging the taste, before swallowing and scrabbling away from Dream to the table. He grabbed the bottle of what he thought was the best flavor match and took a pull from it.

“Oh yeah,” Hob’s ass hit the floor with a thump. “That’s it.”

[lucerocosplay]

Break down of my melon soda float prop for my Sailor Jupiter Bunny Suit build. You could easily tweak this for any other drink prop and the majority of materials were sourced from Daiso, including the tray it velcros to so it's fairly low budget.

Materials:

-Desired cup/glass for drink (I would advise sticking with plastic versions for weight and safety reasons) -Plastic ice cubes -Masking or Washi tape -Clear seed beads or Caviar beads in multiple sizes -Clear craft glue -Super glue -UV Resin & alcohol dye OR Stain Glass window paint (Gallery Glass would be my rec) - Some sort of thin, clear plastic sheeting I used part of a salad container -*Muddle spoons or straw or similar decor (polymer clay sprinkles, glitter, any sort of inclusion) -*Foam clay & an ice cream mold or scoop if you want to make a float -*Acrylic paint -*Velcro or Magnets if you would like to stick to a prop tray that you can also remove for photos

*= optional materials

‼️ SAFETY ADVISORY ‼️

If you choose to use UV resin for this you must have proper PPE. That means gloves, respirator with appropriate filters, mixing cups, well filtered workspace, and knowing how to properly dispose of scrap. Do not pour it down drains, please cure all runoff or extra fully before disposing of in household waste. Resin that is still in it's liquid state must be disposed of in chemical waste, this includes paper towels or anything else used to "clean up". You can take a moment to read more here or do your own googling for proper precautions before getting started.

The first thing I did was make my ice cream scoop since it needed to cure for a few days. I found this great little scoop mold I shaped the foam clay too and froze for a bit. Once it was firm enough to remove I set it by a window to dry. Then worked on making a clear plastic base that would fit inside my glass and act as the "top" of my "liquid".

When the base was done and fit snugly to my glass I primed my dry ice cream scoop in glue. This was partly to keep a barrier over the blue foam so the color didn't leach, and partly to give the acrylic paint something to bite into without being absorbed by the foam. Then it was painted a nice shade of vanilla and glued to the plastic base with craft glue. I poked two holes on the underside to also add a pair of short metal flat head wire supports to make sure it didn't peel off. The supports themselves were set with super glue, a bit overkill I know.

Between my paint layers drying I was also puzzle piecing in ice cubes in the glass to see what combination looked the most appealing. However, it also needed to accommodate that clear plastic base so there was constant test fittings. The trick here with fit is you want the cubes to fit snug vertically but not touching the sides of the cup too. You need that wiggle room for the UV resin/window paint. If it rattles around on the sides a bit that would be ideal.

When I found a composition that worked I carefully super glued each cube only where it touched the other cubes. Sometimes superglue oxidizes a little funny on clear surfaces and it can leave a sort of foggy buildup. In those instances you can wipe it away with an alcohol swab to keep things looking clear. As with the step before I keep checking the fit to the glass to make sure I have proper clearance to keep the base level.

When my cubes were one weird unit the fun began! I mixed some different sized clear seed beads (you can also use caviar beads) in some clear pva glue. You want a more dry mixture so it helps to let it set up a bit and get sort of gummy. The idea is replicating how bubbles accumulate in carbonated drinks, so keeping it at points where you would imagine they would get trapped under cubes helps. Of course so does referencing an actual drink lol. I just piled on and semi sculpted the beads in chunks and waited for them to cure.

Of course this same bubble detail was added to the clear base under the ice cream scoop as well. This time just around the perimeter of the scoop. At this point I realized I was forgetting something, the cherry! It is actually an earring I lose the pair to lol. I also cut out a small slot in the plastic base to fit a straw through. On the right you can see how everything looks at this last and final test fit before the "soda" portion was added. The washi tape was used to keep the inner lip clean of UV resin later, but also to mark where my base should be resting.

Putting the cubes and top layer to the side I got to mixing my UV resin. As a point of reference I used just under 1 jumbo tube of the Daiso clear resin which is around 20g or .70oz of product. I mixed some liquid pigment to the shade of green I wanted and got to pouring. Keeping the tape on I poured all of my resin in and kept turning my glass for even coverage. Once that was good to go I sat outside for about 5 minutes slowly turning the glass in direct sun until the resin set enough to stop moving. At this point the washi tape was peeled off. Then I left in on my porch to finish curing in the sun until the following day. The cup will get warm to hot depending on the volume of UV resin so please be mindful. If you were to use window paint I would build up the color over a few days in thin coats and like a silicone brush. When the cup was fully cured I fit my cubes back in and the clear base, and added the straw to the little divot to make sure it all fit well. It did so I went ahead and removed the straw and added some super glue to the top most cube that laid flush against that little sheet of plastic and pressed the ice cream scoop on the base firmly into place. Once it was in I slipped the straw through the divot on the side and mixed a little more green resin that was poured around the ice cream scoop to seal it all in. Then it was once again left on my porch for a full day. If you were doing this in window paint a thick layer on top and texture it to look more like a drink. Though do to it's want to self level there may be some mild resistance until it starts to set up. When my prop was fully cured I added some velcro to the base so it would stick to my drink tray and be peeled off for photos not pictured lmao. Badda bing badda boom it was done!

Lightweight, fun to make, and fairly low budget this is a prop you could make with things from most dollar stores not just Daiso. Personally I think the dollar tree two part acrylic champagne flutes would be perfect for this.

[thesherrinfordfacility]

I mean Neil said once that the sequel involved Jesus arriving in America on a plane with secret service agents, and the S2 opening sequence shows a plane, so I'm... fairly confident that he's an adult? Jesus died when he was like 33 right

afternoon anon!!!✨ see i recall this (ask on neil's page?) and remember the response but cannot for the life of me find it anywhere (and im pretty good at Finding Stuff), do you - or anyone else reading for that matter - have a link to this? just so i can save it for future reference.

now, i hope you don't mind if i do this, but i would like to use this opportunity to parse out a more coherent rationale on the second coming, if that's okay? yeah? cool.

(previous incarnation of this theory).

thing is that the premise of the baby swap in s1 is based on the omen, right? takes at least a huge chunk of inspiration from that as the origin of how the antichrist came into the story. but it goes wrong, obviously, and there's a third baby thrown in the mix. makes a cursory wave to the omen, but isn't a carbon copy of it.

now i can't help but feel that narratively it would make sense to bookend this and have the second coming be a bit bollocksed up too. seems to be a theme in GO. and actually, when i thought about it (with extreme bias, granted, because im chomping at the bit on this theory), the second coming was potentially already fucked up anyway.

now, disclaimer time -

i completely get that people will look to the bible in reference to parsing out the second coming (or indeed any other theory). obviously i do too, for references to certain verses etc. in order to draw the relevant parallels. but there are multiple instances in GO where it is based on the bible or other texts, but doesn't follow it exactly; how GO portrayed the book of job, for example. it takes these texts, and distorts or reimagines them slightly or completely.

the way i see it, we are reading/watching GO as if this is in fact the true telling of those texts, as if (and not trying to be diminutive here) the bible is an inaccurate telling of GO, not the other way around - because, of course, we're seeing GO from the angel and demon that were 'actually there', so to speak.

im not saying that this - or any - of my theories are indisputably correct, far from it. but to me, with the information i have from the narrative as first source, and then looking at the referenced texts that inspired it, what i come up with, and write, is what makes sense to me. and it might make sense because it would be poetically apt, is in-keeping with how i interpret the characters, and/or is just plain funny or ironic (GO is after all, a comedy).

so whilst i fully anticipate people to duly correct me on how it all goes down in the bible (as they should, i love being educated!!!), please know that im not trying to deliberately misinterpret anything, but more trying to think outside the box, from the viewpoint of the GO story itself, and what direction would make the most sense in which it will reimagine these texts.

- exit disclaimer.

anyway! theory time!

so we have the imagery from the s2 sequence of the "thy kingdom come" plane, and this is obviously a reference to the resurrection as you've said, anon: that jesus arrives by plane. i truly love this imagery because if we take matthew 24:36 (KJV): "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.", the concept that in the great plan the date and time might finally be revealed in the form of a flight number, airport, and ETA is frankly hilarious to me. furthermore, "cometh with clouds" (revelation, 1:7 KJV) being reimagined as a literal plane landing again sets up the comedic backdrop so well.

now wherever the plane lands, whether from the US or to the US (again, don't have the original neil answer to refer to, but going based on your ask, anon, it's the latter), it regardless involves americans. this is where i feel it would be a perfect narrative symmetry opportunity to refer back to s1/the book, and reintroduce the dowlings.

and you might be wondering, "well no because GO set up the dowlings to be involved only insomuch that they were meant to be custodians of the antichrist - why would they also be involved in the second coming?" well, i wondered this too. the only conclusion i can come to, frankly, is GO!god having a very warped, twisted and ineffable sense of humour. they saw what satan had planned for the dowlings in inadvertently raising the antichrist, possibly did a bit of shifting around in the mystical threads, and decided that actually - just to throw in the wildcard of chaos - they should instead be the bearers of the second coming. this degree of mind-boggling ineffability, to me, would be comedically on-brand.

regardless; whilst just a theory, the whole thing makes sense to me - that in any case, the dowlings are going to make a reappearance. and with them, or on his own (if we follow the biblical telling that jesus was resurrected as he was from the crucifixion, at age 33yo, and therefore would suggest a timeskip from s2, but this isn't necessarily guaranteed - ie: might not be how GO chooses to portray it!), comes warlock. now we know that warlock was meant to be the antichrist, before crowley and the nuns managed to bugger it all up.

but heaven wouldn't necessarily know that its the dowlings arriving, right? presumably they'd just all gather on the tarmac awaiting the arrival, and lmao SIKE, it's bloody warlock. heaven hasn't met warlock, and therefore still think he's in fact jesus resurrected... but aziraphale has met him. he helped bloody raise him. and he knows now that he is essentially a normal kid/adult (albeit a very stuck-up one) and definitely not the second coming.

well then, if jesus was meant to be on that plane, according to the great plan, a plane being used by the dowlings... then why isn't it warlock? well, because the dowlings' actual baby isn't warlock. lets go back to the baby swap in the book/s1:

*apols, editing to correct this somewhat because it isn't quite right and lateral thinking is not my strong suit*

ANTICHRIST was meant to go to: the DOWLINGS. instead, went to: the YOUNGS. this is Adam.

YOUNG BABY was meant to go to: stay with the YOUNGS, but got mixed up. instead, went to: the DOWLINGS. this is Warlock.

DOWLING BABY was meant to go to: adoption/something nefarious instead, and indeed did. this is... Greasy Johnson.

and i love this for all sorts of reasons. now im lifting this next bit, essentially, from another ask of mine, but to keep things all in one place:

"greasy is posed as the antithesis of adam/antichrist, has a gang surrounding him that you could infer are loyal disciples, and is a mirror to adam in that adam on the whole seems to be a well-adjusted and morally-upstanding young boy.

i further think the fact that adam is the antichrist put against greasy being the second coming is a well positioned reflection on the nature vs nurture argument. ultimately adam grew up in a largely loving and supportive environment, and as the literal son of satan, you'd expect his nature, the circumstances of his birth, to rule out every other influence.

ultimately it does for a short time, but adams narrative iirc is that it is reflective of his desire to save the world... he wanted to get rid of things that were Wrong, and naively (he is still an 11-year old boy after all) thought that destroying the world and restarting it would do just that. his friends however reinforce in him that destruction and reparation are not the same thing, and so his upbringing, the nurture, wins.

greasy? we don't know a lot about him, only that he is a bully and represents the opposite of adam and the them... [and there exists] the whole [sic] analogy that greasy and the johnsonites vs adam and the them are meant to represent the hell vs heaven war..."

and then we have this small, relatively innocuous detail from the book:

as i said, possibly something of nothing. but the deliberate wording of 'breeding the fish', which is left out of s1, is - i like to think - a bit of a clue.

and before anyone comes for me on this, i am aware that this is based practically on fuck all of jack shit; im painfully aware of that. im aware that it deliberately misinterprets certain passages (not going to do the soapbox speech again, promise), but i just like to have fun. i honestly do not care if this is wrong; whatever happens in s3 should and will be better than anything i can come up with. yes, it's fun to get a prediction or speculation correct, of course it is, but it's not the endgame here. i get that others will have conflicting schools of thought, see things differently, or just plain think it's crap - that's okay! but, if that's the case, just move on from this post with a shake of your head. im not here to do anything other than have a good time, lads (gn)✨💓

edit 21/08: additional reading because now i feel vindicated: here from amuseoffyre, and my tags on this post too.

[offsidekineticist]

I (finally!) finished my first OC Kiss Week fic! A little familial bonding between Theoven and @silversiren1101's wonderful OC Minovae for the prompt "Lost."

CW: Grief-driven depressive episode, implied child death, referenced chronic pain, reference to an angry outburst resulting in violence against furniture

You were not expecting visitors, so it takes you a moment to get to the door. The second it swings open, you are blinded with an explosion of sunlight shining past the silhouette in the door. Wincing, you raise an aching hand to block the sunlight from your eyes, but it’s no good. Even if you weren’t blinded by the flaming ball of gas in the sky, you haven’t been able to find your glasses since you threw them at the wall in frustration about ten minutes ago.

“Agh–damn. Sorry. I left my glasses inside–who is this?” you ask.

“It’s Minovae,” the figure replies, and you’re at once confused, concerned, and horrified. Confused, because ever since you reconnected with your brother, Gilly has been adamant that he not be allowed to know where you live, lest he and his wife tell the Order of the Rack where you are. You pushed back by pointing out–several times–that the Rack could probably find you on their own, given that you live in the apartment above Gilly’s alchemy shop; his name is literally written on the side of the building. Nevertheless, Gilly was insistent, and everyone involved thought it better to humor him than waste time arguing. For Minovae to be here, either he finally caved or–and this is the source of your concern–something has gone very, very wrong.

On the other hand, you are horrified because you stayed home for a reason! You are not in any state to be seen today, especially not by Regill or his wife. Your hair is unwashed and clumped together from greasiness; you haven’t shaved in days; you probably smell awful; and you don’t even have the energy to bother with proper facial expressions. You’ve been absolutely miserable to be around the past few days, constantly holding yourself back from snapping at people, including the kids (thankfully you haven’t slipped–yet), and so you chose to spare everyone that experience. Let Gilly take the children to a picnic with Aunt Mino and Uncle Regill. Give your family a break from walking on eggshells around you. Nobody was supposed to come to your house in the middle of your temper tantrum.

“Is everything alright?” you ask.

“Oh, yeah, everything’s fine. Giliys just found these in his pocket and thought you’d need them. I volunteered to bring them so he wouldn’t have to cut the outing short.”

‘These’ were a pair of black fingerless gloves she was holding out close enough for you to see. The very gloves you’ve been raging about not being able to find. You remember now–Gilly had dragged you out of the apartment for a walk a few hours before the heatwave finally broke, so it felt too hot to keep the gloves on. The children had taken your bag at the time, and your usual clothes don’t have pockets, so you gave the gloves to Gilly for safekeeping.

It would have been nice of him to remember that before he–

You cut off the thought. You’re being unfair again. It was an honest mistake, one that he immediately took steps to rectify. You would have preferred Minovae not see you in this state, but you know Gilly doesn’t trust her or Regill enough to leave the children alone with them, and you’d rather suffer a little embarrassment than cut short the children’s fun.

(Though you’re not sure that leaving Regill and Gilly together unsupervised was a good idea. Hopefully Harper will be able to keep them in line–your daughter has them both wrapped around her finger)

You reach out with a shaky hand and take the gloves. “Well, thank you. I appreciate it. I won’t keep you any longer, then. I’m sure you’re eager to return to the picnic.” You begin to close the door, but Minovae’s arm shoots forward and holds it open.

“Actually, it was a pretty long walk here from Kite Hill. No shade the whole way, and I forgot to grab a waterskin. Could I come in and sit down for a second? Maybe get a drink of water?”

She expects you to believe that she’s tired and thirsty after walking–without armor–for less than two miles in pleasantly warm weather. You want to slam the door on her arm for her obvious excuse to stay here any longer, but that would be rude. You step back into the apartment and gesture for her to enter. You almost close the door on her tail because you can’t see it without your glasses, but it (thankfully) springs forward at the last second and (less thankfully) almost slaps you in the face. It takes your eyes a moment to readjust to the darkness in the apartment–you’ve closed the curtains trying to reproduce the heat of the last week to stop your hands from aching–but your heart sinks when they do. This floor of the apartment is a single room, with a kitchen and dining area in the half nearest the door and a den area in the other half. Minovae is staring at what used to be the den. You can’t see it very well, of course, but you don’t need to be able to see it to know what she’s looking a: chairs overturned, books strewn across the floor, a bookshelf on its side, broken glass scattered by a pile of copper pieces, toy blocks spread across the floor. You know it’s all there without having to see it because you’re the person who made it like that.

“Oh. Yes.” You pause as you consider how to explain, and settle for understatement. “I was a bit overzealous while looking for my gloves. I was going to clean that up before anyone came home, but…” you gesture towards her. “Anyway, you wanted water.”

“Ah, yes, that would be lovely. Is it alright if I sit here?” You think she’s pointing at the dinner table, but she could be pointing at the bookshelf you knocked over. You don’t care which it is.

“Oh, that’s fine,” you say, moving towards the sink and taking a glass from the counter to fill it. When you turn around, a full glass in your aching hand, Minovae–or at least a large blob you assume is Minovae–is, indeed, sitting at the kitchen table. It’s a comical sight once you come closer. You have furnished your apartment with furniture made for smallfolk, so she is sitting in a chair too small for her, her knees poking above the top of the table. “Here you are,” you say, sliding the glass towards her before retreating to the wall opposite her.

“Thank you,” she says, taking the glass and taking a long sip. “Oh, that’s nice after a long walk.”

You stare at her flatly. You’re fairly sure she invited herself in because she found your appearance concerning. Now that she’s probably even more concerned, you’re morbidly curious as to what excuse she’ll make for why she still can’t leave.

“So, you did all that just since Giliys left with the kids?” Minovae asks, gesturing towards the den.

Ah, so she’s dispensing with subtlety entirely. Then you can do so, as well. “Despite my appearance, I am not so senile as to need a minder. You should go back to enjoying the day with your family.”

“You’re my family, too. And…” she hesitates “...I’m worried about you.”

“Because my face is blank,” you say. There are other reasons, you’re sure–your appearance, the den, your missing glasses, your absence from the picnic–but you’re not willing to discuss any of them, so you ignore them.  “Believe it or not, this is my natural level of expression. After the bleaching, my emotions became…muted, but also disconnected. My face doesn’t naturally express much emotion. People find that unsettling, of course, so I learned to put on a face for them. Best not lend any credence to the idea I didn’t have emotions anymore.”

“Don’t tell me people believe that nonsense!” she exclaims in disbelief.

“One of my childhood best friends became completely hostile towards me because she believed it. Tried to get me fired several times. Even tried to steal Qweck away from me once,” you say, and while she does a good job of keeping it from her face, the way her tail is squirming in agitation tells you she’s furious on your behalf. 

“So you learned to put on an act for them, because otherwise they would treat you like a pariah,” Minovae says, and you think you hear a note of bitter sympathy as she does.

“It’s not exactly an act–I think of it more like speaking a foreign language. My thoughts are in my native tongue, but my native tongue won’t be understood. So instead I speak as the locals do. Through facial expressions.” You briefly put on a wry, if somewhat melancholic, smile before again dropping the mask. “I just don’t have the energy today, I’m afraid. The change in the weather aggravated my hands. Better I stay home and rest for the day.”

“It’s not just today, though, is it?” she asks with a gentleness that feels patronizing. “You’ve been feeling…off…for awhile. Mayhew let me look at his sketchbook. And I accidentally saw–”

“His artistic impression of his father moping at the kitchen table,” you say, and you are glad she can’t see how exposed you feel by that.

Mayhew’s style is unusual, especially for a child of his mental age. He senses people’s emotions as naturally as you hear sounds, and that colors the way he sees the world to such an extent that “realism” to him means conveying feelings even at the expense of physical form. He usually does this through his use of color, choosing colors based on the mood. Mayhew’s most recent portrait of you, however, was more than just a recolored portrait. He drew your face, shattered and distorted like a broken mirror, against a dark red background, with black seeping through the cracks in your face like some kind of anti-light.

“He said that he made it to show you that your feelings are lying to you,” she continues.

“Did he now?”

Of course he did. Mayhew is a child–your child–and he’s idolized you since the day you met. Gilly calls him Junie–short for Theo, Jr–and it’s not just because of the resemblances in your coloration and mannerisms. Mayhew thinks the world of you, dreams of being like you, and this is the time of year when you remember just how unworthy you are of his esteem. Of course he thinks your feelings are lying. 

You hadn’t realized that was what he was trying to show you, though. It felt like a very correct portrait to you, so you had assumed he finally saw through you.

“He’s worried about you,” Minovae says. You lean back against the wall with a soft sigh through your nose.

“I know. I know he is.”

“I’m worried about you.”

“Well, stop that,” you say, almost immediately kicking yourself for it. She isn’t used to deadpan Theoven. “That was a joke,” you clarify.

“I’m serious. You don’t seem alright.”

You close your eyes, bracing yourself. Clearly, she isn’t going to leave until you've given her some kind of explanation. You choose your words carefully before you open your eyes and speak. “It’s nothing permanent. It’s just a few bad days–entirely expected. It should subside sometime next week. Anniversaries of mistakes prompt reflection. And reflection is not always a nice experience.” You force a friendly smile to cap off the reassurance. “But I’m sure you don’t want to hear about that.”

“I want you to be alright.”

“My dear, you are several years too late for that.” You can’t see her expression from where you’re standing, but the lack of reaction tells you the joke fell flat. “That was also a joke,” you clarify.

“One that you believe.”

“Of course. Those are the best kinds of jokes.” 

She sighs heavily. “Just…is there something I can do?”

You shake your head. “No. It is too late for anything to be done. I checked. It can’t be helped now.”

“I meant to help you.”

“I know.” Because what else could help you? You are like this because you are guilty. The only way to get rid of the guilt is to pluck out its source–and that can’t be done.

“Are you sure nothing can be done? I’m willing to help–there are things I can do that most can’t.”

“Yes, things such as running the first successful Mendevian Crusade in decades, closing the worldwound, and convincing my brother to marry. But even the great Knight-Commander herself can’t resurrect a soul that’s already been judged.” The bitter words slip out before you can stop them. You stop to center yourself before–

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Do not patronize me!” you snap, and you immediately regret it. You close your eyes and breathe in deeply. Balance, you remind yourself. She is tearing open old wounds. She is trying to help. Both can be true. Both are true. Let that guide your words. “I’m sorry. That was rude. And uncalled for. I just…I don’t like that phrase. It…” 

You search for words to explain safely, but can find none. There is no safe way to explain the way it grates for other people to apologize to you for a loss that is entirely your fault. 

“Would you like to talk about it?” she asks.

“No.” Of course you don’t want to talk about it–you haven’t even told Gilly about it. He assumes this annual pity-party is about your arrest. He’s right, partly. It’s just that it’s not the arrest itself that haunts you.

Leave Mister Theo alone!

Minovae doesn’t hear the cry echoing through the years. She only hears the silence that rings after you say no. Perhaps now she’ll understand that you want her to leave.

“You’re going to need help if you’re going to clean this mess up before Giliys and the kids get home.”

“By the gods, do you ever stop?” you demand, fixing her with an exhausted glare. “What do I have to say to make you go? Are you going to stay until I tell you about her? Is that it? Gilly gave you our address, so now you’re entitled to see me bare my soul to–” you cut yourself off. You’re putting words into her mouth, expecting her to read your mind and know you want her to leave when you haven’t told her that’s what you want. “I’m sorry. That was unfair of me. What I’m trying to say is that I need to be alone today.”

She doesn't answer right away, seemingly needing a minute to deal with the whiplash of your outburst and immediate apology. You can’t blame her. 

“Would it be alright for me to clean up while you rest?” she finally asks.

You stare at her, trying to search her face for sincerity but unable to make out her facial expressions without your glasses. She seems to have gotten her tail back under control, so the only clue you’ll get to her intentions (without squinting and moving closer like an old man in the comedies, at least) is her tone. “Why?”

“Because Mayhew is worried about you, and I think coming home to something like this will make it worse. And I don’t think you’ll be able to do it by yourself in the state you’re in.”

She’s right. She’s absolutely right. You’re a mess, and it’s hurting the children, and you can’t fix it yourself. And even if being alone is what you want, it’s not what’s best for your children.

Maybe it’s not even best for you.

You lean your head back against the wall and do your best to swallow the lump in your throat. “I’m sorry,” you finally say. “You shouldn’t have to spend your day off cleaning up after me. This is why I didn’t go today–none of you should have to put up with this. Especially not without warning.” 

She gets up from her comically undersized chair and approaches you. She’s short for tallfolk, but you’re so small that she still towers over you. She puts her hands on your shoulders and looks down at you with an expression of earnest care.

“I understand if you didn’t have the energy, or if you didn’t want to be seen like this. But if it’s for our sakes, I think both Regill and I would rather that you let us help you.” She hesitates, and then says “I would rather that you let me help you.”

You don’t want that. You don’t want to be a burden. But you also know that mentality isn’t healthy–and how many times have your attempts not to be a burden hurt the people you were afraid of inconveniencing? You take a long, deep breath and remind yourself: when you feel the urge to do something self-destructive, do the opposite. 

You bow your head, staring at the floor. “I think I will work on the mess. I don’t think lying in bed will help me much.” You have to fight yourself to get the next words out. “If you…want to help…I would appreciate it. Just…” you pause, wanting to make sure you say the right words, wanting to be fair but firm. You raise your head, looking her in the eye as you speak. “Do not ask me about it anymore. I don’t want to discuss it.”

She leans over and kisses you on the crown of your head. “I understand. I’m sorry for pushing.”

You take another breath. Breathe. “You were–are–worried. I can’t hold that against you.” You turn your head towards the mess of blurry shapes that used to be the den. “You know, without my glasses, it looks much less intimidating from here. We should consider cleaning from here. And if we find my glasses it might be effective to re-lose them. It may be easier.”

There’s a moment of silence, and for the third time you’re kicking yourself for forgetting she’s not used to picking your jokes out from the rest of your words without tone markers. You’re about to clarify–“that was a joke”–when she snorts.

She isn’t fluent in your native tongue, but you think she might be learning–and that means everything.

[twstedpometea]

Tracing, Copying and Referencing: Ugigiugi and Artist Transparency.

As I've said in my previous posts I was going to go over the differences between tracing, copying, and referencing and explain what is wrong with Ugigiugi's artwork. This is going to be a long post so if you have the time and hit the "Keep Reading" button..

To start, I'm going to provide an visual explanation of this subject to clarify what counts as tracing, what counts as copying, and what counts as referencing. I will post both the original Instagram link and repost the the examples. Thanks to Chihiro Howe for putting this visual aid together: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJZP2McJU4M/ by Chihiro Howe

With this in mind, let's go over the issue with Ugigiugi. I'll be providing further examples of the sourced/traced art we have here on Tumblr. Mahoukarp’s animals Vs. Ugigiugi Twst-Character animals.

Here is an overlay of Mahoukarp's croc VS the one Ugigiugi drew:

As you can see this is tracing with the only minor changes being the addition of a white outline, adding Sebek's bangs, and changing the eye color. Even with these tweaks, the majority of the artwork is still the same in both pose and style. This is still tracing. Let’s move onto the next sample. 村上 comic panels Vs. Ugigiugi’s comic panels.

This is one I originally sourced when this situation began to unfold: This is actually a mix of both tracing and copying. Certain sections of the comic are traced and altered in certain areas so they are not 1 to 1 (e.g the lose of details on Azul's bowtie and the fingers, the "shading" and the Altering of some expressions). Let’s look at one more sample. メディ image Vs. Ugigiugi’s Image

Again, despite the fact that some details have been altered, replaced Yuu with her self-insert, altered the scaling, and shrunk down Crowley, it's still more tracing. Now comes the issue at hand...

As I stated in my previous post, a number of Japanese fan artists Ugigiugi traces from have strict rules of no reproduction/tracing.

No matter what type of artist you are, it is important to respect each other and the boundaries people set on their art. Some of us create resources to help others. Some of us create for fun. Some of us create to make a living off our skills.

That is not the case here. These artists Ugigiugi takes from all have rules regarding their artwork that she continuously steamrolls over for the sake of her own selfishness. It is not only the mark of a poor artist. It is the mark of a dishonest person.

I've spent the last couple of days mulling over this whole situation, researching and checking messages, mentions, and general inquires related to her most recent update post where she states that she is "stepping away" from social media and issuing two apologies (one on Tumblr and one on Deviant Art).

 Uggiugii’s Tumblr apology   Ugigiugi’s Deviantart Apology. I've read both and I have a response to these apologies. I do not believe Ugigiugi is being sincere. At all. She mentions numerous things in the apologies but my main focus is on the initial sentences and the lack of admission of wrongdoing. 

1) Even if English isn't her first language we have to talk about the fact that she continually refers to her actions as "mistakes". I'll be very blunt here. You can't mistakenly see another person's artwork, copy it to your heard drive, then trace over it and publish it. These aren't mistakes. These are the deliberate decisions and actions of someone with zero accountability and with clear intentions to take something that does not belong to them and repost it for attention and validation. You can be misinformed. You can misunderstand. But that doesn't absolve you of personal responsibility when you are called out, even if you're unaware of the harm you're causing. Intentional or not, Ugigiugi has violated the rules and boundaries set by other artists. Repeatedly. 2) Not once in either of these apologies has she ever acknowledged that she has traced artwork. Not once has she linked an original source she copied. She keeps it vague and undefined as a "mistake" without ever stating directly what it is she is apologizing for. Given this, I can only conclude that she still does not see what she did was wrong or is avoiding the addressing the issue entirely because if she admits guilt, that will call everything she's ever posted into question. When it comes to apologies you need to demonstrate both honesty and transparency for your actions and the steps you will take to make amends. For reference, this is how an apology should work: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-art-of-a-heartfelt-apology-2021041322366 Ugigiugi's apologies do none of that. There is nothing but excuses and accusations and deflections everywhere. There's no acknowledgement of the core issue and nothing but griping for sympathy. And it rings entirely hollow in my ears. When it comes to art, there is no shame in starting at the bottom and working your way up the ladder. You can use online resources, credit other creators if you use things like bases, open resource tools, and tutorials, and you can even ask for feedback to improve. But one thing you need to understand is that every artist has their boundaries. Respecting rules they set is important, especially when they explicitly state "no copying/tracing". You can't build your own skills if you're constantly stealing from others. It weakens you as an artist and it doesn't make you look good to others. As fans of this game, we should be creating for the right reasons, not blatantly taking what doesn't belong to us. The Twisted Wonderland community has already lost a number of fan artists who have closed/deleted their profiles and accounts due to people like Ugigiugi. It is very sad to see talented fans give up and quit because of this reckless selfishness. In the end, I can't tell any of you what to do and if you choose to continue to support her, that is your prerogative but moving forward, I and many others will be blocking her to protect ourselves. That is the price to be paid when you are caught tracing artwork. At the very least I hope this post has given anyone still on the fence something to think about. To make one final thing very clear: While this post is critical of Ugigiugi, it is NOT an endorsement to dox or harass her or any of her followers. I hate that I have to repeat this but I have seen some things in the tags and I can't abide by it. In conclusion, I do hope that the TWST community does take this as a lesson and comes away with a better understanding of what tracing/copying/referencing are and of how to be respectful of artists and fandom spaces. -TwstedPomeTea

[teeth--thief]

I would be interested in so called “hater diaries”.

- Rodka

[Referencing this post] Of course you would, you absolute angel... Imma tag you now that you have a blog @atomshchik ☆

The channel I was talking about is Chernobylite (yes, as in the Chernobylite - the game one). Listen... if anyone should be able able to criticise this guy, I think it should be me. Pole on Pole violence 👊💥👊💥

Let's get cracking... under the cut.

One thing you have to keep in mind when watching anything on the internet about Chernobyl: if they bring up HBO's show as a credible source, quote it, use mostly stills or photos of the scenery or actors instead of of the real stuff etc etc - that is a flag more red than that of the Soviet Union, okay? HBO in thumbnails? Unless it's a "this show is extremely inaccurate" kind of video, that's most likely due to a) the lack of knowledge about actual credible sources or b) need for profit (monkey sees, monkey does clicks - the show is incredibly popular, putting imagery related to it means a higher chance people will choose your video).

To keep it short and (not at all) sweet: this guy is like the evil brother of That Chernobyl Guy. This is That Bare Minimum Chernobyl Man, though. He uploads a video at least once a week and they always JUST BARELY hit the 10 minute mark. But they always do. Hm... I wonder why... I sure do wonder what the number 10 and YouTube have in common... oh. Oh yeah. It starts with MONETI and ends with SATION Need a hint? Mhm, I didn't think so. Speaking of time, the intro is usually almost 2 minutes long, the outro a minute and, there you go, suddenly there's actually even less content than expected.

He has some genuinely bad takes sometimes, too. I don't know if I'm just sensitive about Toptunov specifically (I very clearly am) or if his video on him is just especially offensive to me... and it's 12 minutes 😍😍 two more than usual! And so, I'll use this video as an example. (edit during drafting: he had just released a video on N.M. Fomin which... I'll watch once I'll have some time to waste and we'll see how bad that one is...)

>Not even 20 seconds in and he just HAD TO hit us with that ThAt Is ThE cOsT oF lIeS, of course, you know it brother 💯🔥‼️ Oh get over yourself. Find another quote. And stop putting pictures of my favourite operator next to his blonde twink counterpart from the show. I'm offended on his behalf.

>I like how he just takes random pics off of Google Images or something. The photo he uses at 2:00 is from a Reddit post on r/chernobyl, and it's a picture of a picture - didn't feel like looking for a better one, huh? Someone's a little lazy?

>The video ACTUALLY starts at 2:30. Girlllll (gn) you are so slowwwww, pick up the peace, we're all getting old waiting for you to start.

>The picture slideshow we're getting is almost never relevant to what he's saying. He's saying where Toptunov was born and all we see is the reactor after explosion. Like, okay brother, I didn't know that's how SuMY, in BuRYN, as he says, looked like then. A map from Wikipedia wasn't available? That's the best you can do? Not to mention a few of his videos literally have the same b-roll. It feels like the same video over and over again.

>He claims that "his father's connection probably were useful" when it came to him pursing a career in science... would you like to show me when exactly they could have been useful? When he was taking an entrance exam for uni just like everybody else? Or was it when he had to work his way up from the very bottom of the NPP food work chain? Unless you were a child of someone real high up and wanted to pursue a career of doing fuckall then your nepo baby status wouldn't help you all that much. Your party connections would help you move up faster, sure, but you wouldn't be able to not pass the necessary training and/or exams.

"(...) no good scientist could dream of a good job in a nuclear programme without being somewhat involved in local politics." We don't even know if Toptunov himself was in the party. We know that Akimov was quite the dedicated party man, sure. But Stolyarchuk wasn't in the party at all and Dyatlov wasn't cool with the party and the party wasn't cool with him. How many more times can I say party? Too many parties. I hate parties. He also goes on to say that, after graduation he could only get an entry level position because "He would need really good connections to acquire higher ranking job without any previous experience" I am very sorry to inform you but that's just not how real life works. Maybe if you have a good degree, you can immediately become the CEO of all the janitors in the building but that's about that when it comes to the seriousness of the job.

>Now, the part that made me audibly GASP starts at 6:30:

(...) many power plant staff were dismissed, including those from the night shift at unit 4. Including Toptunov, many were labelled non-essential personnel and sent home. That was probably a part of managing the disaster from a propaganda perspective. Fewer people on site, fewer witnesses.

This is an actually DERANGED take. This was my breaking point... like, you cannot be serious right now. Not the evil Soviet scientists and their evil propaganda...! The evil propaganda of safety...! I'm sorry to inform you but ever single person in charge there wasn't immediately thinking "By Lenin, how can we ensure these horrible bottom feeders, also known as our colleagues, we're employing at our power plant don't say a word to anyone outside?" They were most likely thinking "If this part of the personnel is literally useless, why would they stay in this potentially dangerous zone? Let's get them out - for their safety and liquidation organisation's sake."

>"As he later stated (...)" We don't know what he stated. We don't have a single word that came out of his mouth recorded anywhere. It's all they said that he said. Or the authors of books want to show how much they think they know (look no further than Medvedev's "acording to Toptunov..." yes, I'm sure you know exactly what he thought about everything. Surely. You must have spoken to him. Through a Ouija Board, clearly). We'd need the statements from the KGB and whatnot to actually determine what any of them said or thought.

>"(...) During that time when he felt better, he had spoken multiple times to both Akimov and Dyatlov (...)" Acording to some book, I'm sorry, I don't remember which one, he was one of the few people that actually didn't get up from his bed to participate in the discussions, probably because his legs were already in a bad shape. Take this with a grain of salt, though. Nobody explicitly said he NEVER hang out with anyone at the hospital. It's just that worth noting that there's a possibility he at least didn't do that as much as the rest of the guys.

Overall grade: read a book. Change the boring ass b-roll shots. Change the stock sounding "creepy" music. Put some effort into everything. Stop relying on HBO's Chernobyl.

Conclusion: you'll never be That Chernobyl Guy xoxo That Chernobyl Guy for the president

[blankerthought]

since i'm already thinking about it and for once, don't plan on writing an essay on it, i'd like to point out to rpf-hating people that ideally, the point of rpf at no moment inlcudes or implies that you want the real life people you're creating this about to see it. it's real person fiction, something created for and by fans to enjoy, and ideally would never reach the people you're basing it on unless they're specifically searching it out.

nowadays, with online celebrites spending so much of their time, well, online, interacting with fans constantly, some nudging against fandom spaces should be expected, but to imply that simply creating fiction is immoral is very much something borne out of purity culture. thought crime isn't real, and most of the time, neither are any of the things we write on paper, asides from maybe the people we're referencing.

the other half of this, the argument that will be brought up over and over, is that of us showing it to them. to that, i say: well, i sure as fuck didn't. most of us writing it didn't. it was those who wanted moral outrage who brought the works written out to spaces where they'd find solidarity in shunning them- and in doing so, most of the time brought them to the attention of the actual people in point.

i cannot speak for those who did write it, did show it, did delight in discomfort. i do not know why they would do that, and i don't plan on arguing on their behalf either.

i also cannot speak for those celebrities who read their fics, liked their art, and for some reason also informed the rest of us fans that they'd done both and were actually delighted at this all. (yes, this is about dream. and also everyone else. what the fuck, gang.)

also, i'd just like to point out that according to my sources (aka: trust me bro) there's three levels to rpf:

Celebrities who nobody wants to see rpf of, much less them

Celebrities who many people want to write rpf of, with them not particularly enthused on the matter

Celebrities who loudly and enthusiastically want rpf written of them, preferably having passionate gay sex with their friends.

which can be caracterized with argentinian ex-president mauricio macri, whose fanfic i had to glance past once or twice and subsequently wished i could scrub my own brain off with sandpaper; markaplier, who Does Not want to see fanfic of himself, and dreamwastaken, who regularly likes pictures of himself and his best friend about to have sex.

so keep this in mind for rpf works, and act accordingly.

[rivangel]

ok this has been bothering me for ages and i wanna talk about it but no one i know irl wants to hear me rant about levi so here i am

so here's my question: can levi read???

like, there probably weren't any books around when he was little, right? do you think kuchel would have managed to get a pen and paper to teach him how to read/write or was she too focused on keeping them both alive? did kenny teach him? can KENNY read? how high are the illiteracy rates in AoT? could furlan or isabel have taught him? did erwin teach him or was levi too stubborn to admit it to him? maybe hange taught him? i mean, i bet all the commanding officers have to know how to read and write, but have we ever seen levi read anything??? i'm so curious to hear your headcanons (also sorry for the million questions lol)

i AM a doctorate holder of aot lore i am happy to answer.

tldr: yes levi can read.

the underground is like. the pinnacle of poverty. you would NOT have any scholars or ppl of even minimal education down there bc EVERYONE is simply trying to stay alive. like they don’t even have sunlight. reading and education doesn’t even appear on the average citizen’s list of priorities.

similarly, i doubt kuchel could even afford proper toys for levi to play with. not even a cradle for when he was a baby, unless the other women chipped in as an act of kindness maybe. more likely he had woodchips or beads from old jewelry… or maybe some of his babysitters or kuchel let him do their makeup and vice versa okay im getting off track

seeing how kenny got aboveground, and w his later role as captain of the secret MP squad, he probably learned how to read and write at some point. it can be deduced that kenny and kuchel also grew up underground, so they probably didn’t get schooling themselves either.

(i mean grandpa ackerman is KENNY’S grandfather. so for three generations at least, levi’s portion of the ackerman family has been underground after fleeing persecution. where mikasa’s side fled to the countryside. i’m getting off track again.)

kenny had gone aboveground by the time he found levi. maybe he did know by that point, but it would’ve been pointless to teach levi since that had nothing to do with survival. i think it’s more likely he taught levi the bare minimum of bookkeeping / math tho. the basics.

seeing how aot is set in a standard medieval setting, there is an obvious division of class from nobles to farmers and menial labor jobs, etc. becoming a soldier is encouraged as far as the garrison and MP are concerned even. so there’s no way literacy rates (as far as before they found the sea and technology drastically changed) are high at all. below average. i feel like it’s a privilege to know how to read or write, and if you live in Sina you’re much more likely to learn than if you lived in rural wall Maria for example.

isabel and furlan were born in the underground too. it seems like furlan would be good with numbers and record keeping (they ran a criminal enterprise after all), but i don’t think any of them had any literacy.

it’s canon now that erwin taught levi things (in a previous post i made i referenced the source) and specifically classroom stuff levi didn’t understand. so: reading and writing included. that said i don’t think levi trusted hange enough to admit it to them or ask for help at that point.

if you rank as at least a squad leader, reading and writing has to be mandatory. levi is the SECOND MOST IMPORTANT officer so he must know how (like i said, it’s canon erwin taught him). at least once levi was promoted to squad leader. anyway lmao we’ve seen levi read lots of stuff like the newspaper and wanted poster in s3p1 with the drawing of his face + opening the book in the basement in s3p2. in s4p2 in the forest, he read the report from the two messenger scouts. actually as early as the ilse langar(?spelling) ova, when they discovered her body, i think he took out the journal and opened it before hange so. yes definitely.

[distort-opia]

social media encourages not engaging with the primary source. fandom spaces, in our want to change the canon, pushed it to the point where it is not even important anymore to read the text you keep on referencing.

how many fans today have not even watched the show, read the book, the article, and are still writing " literary analysis" based on second hand fandom interpretations given in the form of a viral funny post, fan art, fan fiction, tumblr tags and comments.

this goes hand in hand with wanting to fit in. it doesn't matter whether you read what you are talking about or not, as long as you share a popular belief.

once upon a time altering canon and fitting in our own social ideas was done because of lack of representation. it still, sadly, had and has bad consequences. because if you've ever been on any booktube, book twitter, film twitter tags... my god... your average reader doesn't know how to look for universal themes, how to analyse a character as a narrative device and by their type, refuses to understand there are genre conventions, parrots what they already heard without giving their own examples... it is as if we are living through the dark ages of literary criticism based only on second hand first impression.

not to mention disrespect to the actual writers. sure, DC writers fuck up, and sometimes they fuck up BAD. but why are you dismissing their capabilities and putting them all in the same box just because you hate a character.

and this doesn't even matter in the grand scheme of things. what matters is these same ways of " reading" when it comes to the news, to political and social studies, to the propaganda. some called this the era of anti intellectualism and i do think the wording can be a bit harsh. we are all looking for escapism, and i get that. problem is when you claim your personal feelings as some objective statement, call it an analysis, try and hunt other fans for your version of a media that you didn't even explore yourself.

This is an excellent analysis of this phenomenon in fandom spaces, especially in recent times. I barely have anything else to add. The rapid pace of consuming "content" in social media platforms like Tiktok, Instagram or Twitter has done a lot of harm; people seem to quickly cycle from one show to another, from one book to another, have this sense of "what's the next trend? what's the next popular thing?" and this obviously doesn't allow for slower analysis or a genuine attempt at understanding the material. This sentiment of "I gotta watch/read/listen to this now because it's popular" or genuinely seeing people apologize when they talk about something old and saying "I know this is from years ago, but..." is disheartening.

[sigh] It's just a saddening thing to see, even if we understand the factors leading to it.

[gay-for-frog]

Hi, I'm the anon who gave you a compliment about how it's good to admit you were wrong and that you're learning, and some sources for further learning.

The thing is, like i said, you have to keep doing those things. You're not done when you do it once. And when you continue to make claims based on your limited experience, it makes it seem like you don't care about the truth.

It seems like, when someone criticizes the criminal justice system, you continue to disagree due to your personal experiences. That would be like if a cis/het guy who says to an lgbt person "I've never had problems at work, getting married, etc so i dont think lgbt discrimination is an institutional problem." And the lgbt person tells them a lot of information how people are suffering every day due to the system's laws and practices. But he continues saying "i ignore/disagree with those facts because they don't apply to me or people i know. And if lgbt people face problems they can just appeal, and the system will help them like it helped me." Does that guy sound very sensitive to the many difficult issues lgbt people face? Does he sound like he's willing to learn about or to support them?

If you don't want to learn about this stuff, then just honest and say "I'm not interested in learning about these topics." Because saying "in my experience the justice system is going fine, i hope someone fixes its rare mistakes <3" just makes you sound like an uneducated fake ally.

But you said you wish things were better, that you want there to be more justice, and you referenced the "be the change you wish to see" quote. If that's true, then then best thing you can do for that goal is to use the information, names, and sources that we have given you to learn from. In the meantime, you can always say, "i don't know much about this outside of my personal experience, but I'm learning."

In all actuality, I am configuring my relationship with The Law, because I want to work in [a place] law where laws are reinforced. I am thinking about being a lawyer. I do disagree that I sound uneducated, but I have not been to law school to study law, where I would learn more, anyhow. (And have more of an ability to formulate opinions.) This is exactly why I am asking myself whether or not that I believe in criminal reform. Believing in such, would turn my opinion on its head. But the law school, of which, I have looked into is heavy on the criminal reform, and is, also, heavy on environmental law. I still need to decide whether, or not I want this occupation (or where I want to go to school to pursue this profession). But usually, a law student needs to formulate their own opinions, as well as be subjective about them. I feel that I can juggle both. Opinions mean no harm. We're taught at an early age that "opinions are good". They mean that we can have a place in this world, even if someone disagrees with us, which, is also what we are taught at a young age.

IF I believed in criminal reform, that WOULD be better for you, though, because I would nearly halfway agree with you. Having a change of opinion is good, too. It means that you're listening.

[spider-xan]

I know what mean. At least with Hulk the point was that he's a Composite of Hyde and Frankenstein's monster, but it's not supposed to be how Hyde is normally portrayed.

Okay, I'm admittedly not sure what the context of this is, but I'm guessing it's the Jekyll and Hyde post where I was bitching about the fandom complaints about how all adaptations portray Hyde as being the Victorian Hulk when that's not true and it's limited to literally two movies from twenty years ago?

Once again, I am begging people to understand the purpose of adaptations and how they are not supposed to be exact 1:1 translations of the source material - you don't have to like the choices made, but if you are going to criticize divergences from the source material, you need to actually understand the change beyond 'It's different, so it sucks!', and in the case of Hyde, I stg everyone keeps forgetting that it's actually RIGHT IN THE NOVELLA that Hyde was growing in size over time, and that's important in terms of the themes and what Hyde represents! We can definitely debate what the extent of growing in stature would mean exactly bc a giant monster is not the only possibility, but portraying Hyde like that years after the end of the canonical story is not actually in contradiction of the novella.

And it's funny you bring up the Hulk originally being inspired by both Frankenstein's Creature and Hyde bc that is exactly what Alan Moore was referencing when he re-imagined him as a Hulk-like monster in the League comics! The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen isn't just a Victorian superhero comic - it's also meta commentary on superhero comics themselves, so Hyde being what he is, in addition to an extrapolation of the lines in Jekyll's final statement about his growing in stature as he indulged in his vices and sins, is a callback to the Hulk being partially inspired by Hyde, who in turn is now inspired by the Hulk, bringing that history full circle.

The actual problem with Hyde in the League comics is the anti-Black racism in how a white man like Jekyll becomes a dark-skinned violent monster who looks like an ape right out of those Defend Our Great Empire Against the Brutes!! propaganda posters of the 19th century with Africans portrayed as ape monsters carrying off white women, not that oh no, but he is supposed to be a little guy or whatever, and it's honestly weird how I almost never see people rightfully criticize that.

Anyway, neither the LXG film nor Van Helsing are adaptations of the novella itself, but stories that take place years after the source material, so why should they be bound by the constraints of Hyde within the novella timeline, especially when Stevenson himself set up the idea of Hyde growing in size over time?

[hraunwyf]

if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? if a universe begins, is, and ends, and no one is there to bear witness, did it exist?  if your perception has to encapsulate time, what is a beginning, a being, an ending?

an apocalypse and a genesis are the same thing. one iteration ends and births another, and from the great yawning void of potential all of destiny is unleashed—the frameworks of space, time, energy, and matter set forth in the infinitesimal calculus of living. but nothing is eternal, and eventually the unstoppable force of universal inertia must meet its immovable object.

existence needs a psychopomp, an epitaph embodied, and it writes one from the outset and calls her loki. she has to be catechismic, she has to be eucharistic: she must be mortal and divine, she must be body and spirit, she must be mother and childless, and in exchange for the burst of light and joy that will herald the coming of the ninth iteration, all sorrow and pain will be in the ending of the eighth.

in clearer terms (i have adhd and i got tired of words):

loki was spiritually conceived by the first magic, more properly known in the current iteration as the asgardian nexus, meaning she also serves as the nexus being of asgard (or the point through which all mystical energy passes for the asgardian plane). 

—re: the above: asgard has been shown multiple times to be extraplanar or extradimensional to the remainder of the eighth iteration, so yes, it has a separate nexus.

since magic is a fundamental universal force and the source of it is therefore extracosmically linked to other iterations, loki has access to more magical power than any other entity in the eighth cosmos. makes sense, if you have to destroy a universe, that you have to be able to wield more power than is physically present within it.

yes, everything you ever heard about loki causing the ragnarök was true, and keeps being true, and won’t stop keep being true.

loki was born into corporeal form at the point in time and space where she was in order to shape her perfectly to her purpose—only odin could have laid the groundwork for her so exquisitely and cruelly.

loki’s suffering and trauma have been cosmically predetermined, as a matter of duality, down to the smallest detail. awaiting her in exchange for her suffering is a final death from which she cannot return, once she has been permitted witness of the ninth cosmogenesis. (and [she] looked upon all that she had made, and saw that it was good).

her brand of cosmic awareness is a little different from that of others who have the gift; it’s retroactive and prescient, as well as concurrent. however, loki often does not successfully utilize cosmic awareness, due to the overwhelming psychic burden it would be to just know all things that have ever been, are, and will be. it takes an immense toll on her to properly navigate it.

what we know as loki’s gift of prophecy is in fact a carefully supervised conveying of prescient cosmic awareness; she cannot reveal information about the future in her own voice or at her own choosing, and must be utilized by eternity, the tribunal, or one-above-all in order to foretell to others.

a well-known (blog-canonical) prophecy that loki has given is what you’ll see referenced as the prophecy of the lifebringer, which was a very nice lil bit where loki reassured the world-eater galactus that for all his suffering, pain, and hunger, he would eventually transform into a being of light and creation and restore all that he had destroyed. this prophecy is important because loki didn’t only foretell the lifebringer in that moment: she was foretelling herself.

loki is actually incredibly high in the cosmic hierarchy, though goddamn you cannot get her to act like it. she is in the same tier of authority as eternity, infinity, death, and oblivion, but will most often submit to the will of eternity, given its nature. loki is also not typically considered a ‘celestial’, given that she has a profane destiny to live through as well as a sacred one.

in her capacity as the holy witness of the eighth iteration, loki is sometimes summoned by the living tribunal to serve as a single juror or adjudicator, due to having both impartial extracosmic knowledge and being deeply connected to the physical and ethical laws of the iteration itself.

hhhhhhhh

i will... have to return to this post later and work out some things because i’m burning my brain. but will go ahead and publish anyway. dont @ me.