#idek if anyone actually sees this

[not-sure-what-im-feeling]

The Ivory Isle Pt.2

This post is about the different species that live in the Isle! I mentioned briefly in the last post about how some creatures have more magic than others, and I wanted to expand more on that. All beings do have some level of magic in them, but it's higher in others. This is why using magic comes naturally to some, but humans need more training and focus. It might also explain why humans fear them so much.

Speaking of the species, this is my crappy attempt to segway into talking about all of them. Here we go!

You'll notice I'll classify some as "humanoid" and that just means that they can learn human language and often are more hybrid-like species.

Humans- Low magic ratio, and they fear those with higher magic percentages. They can use magic, but it takes much more time to learn.

Harpies- You know harpies from Greek mythology? That's not this. They share a name and wings, that's it. Harpies have a higher magic ratio, but are essentially humans with bird wings and tails. You can also get harpies of any bird type, and while they are human sized, a hummingbird harpy is going to be much smaller than an ostrich harpy. Humanoid, and can disguise as humans with only slight difficulty,

Centaurs- Just a centaur. Also have a higher magic ratio than humans. They too have a few differences from "real-world" centaurs. Really just that instead of being limited to types of horses, it's horses and horse-adjacents! Humanoid, but disguising as a human is a nearly impossible feat.

Satyrs- Not just two-legged centaurs. They are their own species, but the rule about variety applies to them as well. Humanoid, and can disguise as human with ease.

Merpeople- Honestly just what it sounds like. Merpeople also have varieties of really any sea creature. Humanoid, and disguising as a human is not gonna happen?

Dragons- Dragons! Think of a dragon... and that's it! Not humanoid.

I might add to this later, but for now that's it! Stay tuned for more about the world in my head.

Part one (the basics)

Part three (the Carrows + the Guild)

Part four (characters)

[siriusly-the-best-bi]

wow so I have like 3 analysis in progress that touch on this topic but I really need to just talk about it rn with its own spotlight.

Aziraphale has this entire life that he's built for himself on earth, after armageddon he's thriving. When we catch up with him in Season 2 his first scene is literally him going to check in with one of his tenants, and throughout the season we see that he has a decent relationship with nearly Everyone on the block. He has an entire life for himself all hashed out and pretty.

Crowley... does not. His cold open in Season 2 is back in St. James park, checking in with Shax, finding out the gossip on Hell. He doesn't have his apartment, he only has his Bentley and the few plants he could fit in it. He doesn't have any other human friendships. His entire life and everything he loves to do is built entirely around Aziraphale.

This is something that I just find so fucking thrilling because when it comes to their characters and where exactly they are in their arcs right now, it's essentially like looking into a mirror.

Aziraphale knows exactly who he is when he's on his own. He nurtures his own relationships with humans he sees often, he's a nice landlord, he loves books and classical music, and hot cocoa. But, Aziraphale still holds onto the ideals of heaven. He still cares about doing good and being forgiving. He still cowers and jumps at the opportunity to help heaven, not because he wants to but because he's supposed to because he's still an angel.

Crowley has nothing. He has his car, which he drives to a secluded location to park every night, only to drive it right back in the morning. He's only even vaguely recognizable because people associate him with Aziraphale and this is fine for him, he could care less. He doesn't really need to know who he is or process his traumas, why would he when he can put all his attention and focus and love and care directly into Aziraphale? His friend, who has always been his friend, the one person who has always stood by him. Who cares about heaven and hell, he has Aziraphale.

When we finally see them on their own and without the influences of their head offices, we see the opposite of what we'd expect, and nearly the opposite of the outcome we see in episode 6. Crowley is the one constantly checking in with Hell (wether he likes it or not), and Aziraphale is the one who's living care free without even thinking about heaven. When he does something good that he wants to report, he just calls Crowley.

this whole dance of Crowley not knowing who he is without Aziraphale and Aziraphale knowing who he is fundamentally but not knowing how to break free from the confines of Heaven that stop him from truly embracing Crowley in the end, it's just so delicious.

[delusionaid]

So I've been listening to The Emptiness Machine approximately 39482 times by now. How is everyone else doing?

[venture-through-the-mist]

If/when we ever get the ability to replay The Lotus Eaters quest, I’ll probably just end up standing in the Sanctum for hours listening to Lotus sing.

That, and I’ll actually get pictures of my Operator/Drifter this time XD.

[marsixm]

ive actually put myself in so many situations and seem to come out doing socially well, youd think at some point i could get it in my head im not irredeemably bad

[pinkinsect]

i think one reason ryukaisae appeals to me so much is not how their very different methods of interaction/communication would meet but because it's the simplest way to rube goldberg kaiser into listening to pink spider

[rolandkaros]

reblog for sample size

[3416]

I'm here in your inbox. Mitch Marner is arrogant. Can't wait for him to be gone offt hockey team. Berube will make sure of it.

omg thanks for coming. LKFJDSKLFKLS, i actually laughed out loud seeing the ask notif BUT ANYWAY... berube is legit gonna love him though................... even mike babcock didn't hate the guy despite deciding to psychologically torture him a bit as a rookie and even THAT wasn't enough to run him off..... i'm not gonna argue mitch doesn't have an ego, as every talented pro player does, but i do think it's incredibly funny that you (and everyone that shares those opinions) think mitch isn't one of the hardest working or maybe THE most versatile player the leafs have. accountability isn't something mitch marner lacks, as much as that's the tone deaf narrative in leafs-uncle-land.

[voidsaber]

#3 you can (not) redo

[femboypussy420]

the enduring question: is that community you're not a part of really as cringe as you think it is, or is it just that the only time you've seen posts/videos etc from it are when someone goes viral for being cringe and they do not represent the majority of the community whatsoever

[bunnihearted]

hmm i like actually wanna kms

[skhardwarevers1]

lowkey. Not over my ex at all

[jewishcissiekj]

incidentally came across a Mike Chen tweet and decided to search up Asajj tweets on his twitter. which was a mistake because that man is doing nothing but pissing me off and his Asajj takes are infuriating and I most of all despise his take on Tartakovsky Clone Wars Asajj and Anakin Yavin 4 fight

is he like. stupid. did he even watch the show. I don't get it

[ittyybittybaker]

i made a post abt making playlists for aftg/the foxes and i know no one cares about this except for me but y'all i am So Serious abt this now 😅 the covers are just things i found on pinterest tho bc i'm not talented ...

i have: andrew, neil, andriel, kevin, the foxes/aftg in general, renee, matt, dan, and allison so far, but i plan to make ones for all of them eventually!!

there are some songs that appear on multiple mixes bc there are some characters that i think have parallels in their stories/they go through similar struggles but idk if i'm going to keep it that way bc i really want to make sure each mix has its own ~vibe if that makes sense???

idk it's definitely a work in progress but i'm having a lot of fun and i'm happy with how they're turning out !!! if y'all have any song suggestions pls send them my way 👀👀👀

[teapot-tyrant]

Something has occurred to me.

So if there's one thing people should know about me, it's that instead of taking notes in class, I like thinking about my interests and letting my brain take me places. And one of these places my brain took me today was "HEY! what if I sorted all of my friends into Twisted Wonderland Dorms?" and, of course, I decided to re-read/look up what the virtues that the different dorms embody were and I noticed something really interesting that I really didn't really think about before related to Savanaclaw and Pomefiore in particular...

Depending on where you're reading it (in game, translation, wiki, etc.), Savanaclaw will represent the spirit of the King of Beasts' Tenacity OR Persistent Spirit (or Indomitable Spirit) and Pomefiore will represent the spirit of the Beautiful Queen's Unrelenting (Persistent.) Efforts OR Tenacity (or Spirit of... Encouragement? This is just a pre-post addendum from a quick reread of the original JP text and a run of one or two unfamiliar words through everyone's favorite google translate [which is not great ik but bear with me])

Some screenshots from the fandom Wiki, the wiki.gg, and both the english and JP versions of the game (I did not. put translations on the images, but the 不屈の精神 in the one for Savanaclaw translated to "indomitable spirit" and 奮励の精神 came out to "spirit of encouragement". Please note that I am not an expert in speaking Japanese, I just happen to be learning it, so please feel free to correct me or provide suggestions if I am wrong).

This leads me to wonder: These two dorms embody basically the same virtue and yet are often kind of pitted as opposites from one another - Savanaclaw is the dorm full of jocks and muscleheads, whereas Pomefiore is the preppy fashion dorm (simplified for my own sake). On top of this, we know that TWO of our three Pomefiore characters, namely Rook and Epel, have some kind of relation to Savanaclaw, with Rook having transferred to Pomefiore from Savanaclaw in his first year after meeting Vil, and Epel having a strong desire to have been placed in Savanaclaw instead of Pomefiore.

It could be argued that Jack and Vil also have a connection to the other dorm, since they've at least been acquainted since childhood, but I don't think it ties into their character narratives nearly as much as Rook's and Epel's connections do, so I'm not really worried about them right now.

But this all kind of brings me to my point - With how both dorms are kind of shown as complete opposites despite having the same virtue, what exactly is the key differnce? My personal theory so far (I plan on rereading Books 2, 5, and parts of the prologue, 1, and 6, as well as related vignettes, so I could very well be wrong. Again, I'm writing this and thinking about this in a class rn instead of taking notes.) is that the main difference in how each dorm views power to be used TOWARDS meeting their goals. To rephrase: What is the main method by which one obtains the power to achieve their goals? With Savanaclaw, it's raw strength as power, whereas with Pomefiore, it's beauty and appearances as power.

It's probably stupidly obvious for me to say that because like it IS, but like. I still want to really get into that specific like. I dunno. Is that the ONLY key difference, though? Or are there other ways by which the members of these dorms embody their virtue that differ? Does this hold a deeper meaning for characters with those connections?

I'm basically rambling at this point, but like if anyone has some specific parts they'd like to point to as examples, I'll gladly take them! I love twst and just generally would like to be able to engage with it as a story on a deeper level. I already have a few vignettes in mind (like Epel's and Vil's ceremonial robes vignettes) for looking into, as well as the aforementioned points in the story.

[mbat]

okay, im gonna say something and i dont know if itll make sense to anyone but me but. us finally getting to see angel crowley as compared to current crowley... it reminds me of trauma

i mean, angel crowley was so expressive and full of joy and life, like nothing could go wrong!

and current crowley is stoic, sarcastic, jaded. its hard to believe theyre the same person, though even that part is up to debate depending on what you think about crowleys memories

and it makes me think of me and others ive known whove gone through stuff and how much it changes you as a person, and it makes me wonder just what the fall was like. i mean, at the very least it was an utter betrayal and terrifying, right? life changing, most of all to someone like crowley whos only """wrongdoing""" was asking questions, and not even bad ones.

i dont really have a point, im just sad. like, obviously we all love crowley in any form and such but its like... wow, he used to be so beyond happy and now a real smile from him is rare, and universe knows he likely will never smile the same way he used to ever again. all of this for asking questions.

plus like, the way that he just keeps getting reminded of it in every single way, especially the way that people from above and below wont just leave him alone to live his life.

it also makes me think of that whole last thing with him and zira. he didnt want the fate of a demon but sure as hell he isnt going to return to being an angel after what they did to him. i wonder if aziraphale even knows what it was like. has he ever asked? would crowley even actually answer?