#no need to reply to this :o

[grendelsmilf]

thinking about how many times i’ve wanted to bring in “low brow” sources in my academic writing, and how such a mode of critique is so fundamentally foreign to the institutions in which i’ve been embedded that i never even considered it a possibility. i once wrote about how beowulf echoes in tolkien’s fiction (primarily using the hobbit to argue that both narratives employ rings) back in high school, but that was an exception because my history teacher was a massive nerd, and tolkien was a well-respected medievalist so the topic didn’t seem far-fetched regardless. but that has very much been an exception for me. i know that film and media studies exploring television, genre fiction, even memes and fandom culture, that there are spheres dedicated to analyzing these “low brow” works of art and social phenomena. but as a comparatist and shakespearean, my area has always been relegated to quote-unquote “high brow,” despite my abiding interest in many “low brow” mediums and artworks.

ANYWAY. this preamble was all to say: how would you guys feel about participating in a zine where we would compile a bunch of essays each exploring a topic through comparing a piece of “high brow” art to “low brow” art? for example, if i expanded on my post using satan and sin in paradise lost to discuss akio and anthy’s roles in utena, or using 19/20th c. existentialist philosophy as a framework through which to discuss adventure time. you could also take a theoretical approach to an internet phenomenon, such as exploring character criticism from a fandom perspective. (these are all ideas for essays i would write if i had the time, so obviously these examples are just templates, not workable suggestions.) this would obviously take a long time to compile and there would be no fixed deadline (i have way too much on my plate at the moment for that anyway), this idea literally just came to me because i was thinking about how fun it could be to work on an online collaborative zine, and how the broader topic could best reflect the discourse of the internet as a collaborative and (ideally) egalitarian realm (for media as well as people). mutuals (or nonmutuals) who are interested, dm me with a description of what you want to write about, and i’ll get back to you with the logistics once i have more of a sense of whether or not this is actually going to happen, and if so, how.

[fala-alfredo-pasta]

What’s your dream danganronpa blunt rotation?

pov you're about to get your kidney stolen

[pekoeboo]

another Ravenwood RP thing based on this concept I briefly touched on before. Antony ends up dead (again) as a result of this whole ordeal, as Melvin's undead form attacked him (it's kind of a long story but yeah. an undead/possessed Mel is the one they're fighting in all of this fdjkgdfg - he does get reverted back to normal eventually, don't worry).

kinda pushed myself out of my comfort zone a bit with this one, considering that like, "Mel" ended up going for Antony's throat and the idea is pretty gory in nature. but I'm quite squeamish so I couldn't really bring myself to draw much detail. still a super messed-up concept tho. ugh my poor boy;;;

this RP is always just really intense tbh, but I've been trying to get over my fear of sharing some of the more angsty or painful arts regarding the stories me and my friends come up with. these kinds of arts are usually the ones I put a lot of emotion into, so hopefully that comes through the most... even if I don't do a great job explaining things sometimes ><;;

please do not remove caption or repost. also on deviantart

[crossbackpoke-check]

it’s all the rest of what i want with you

connor dewar/brandon duhaime :: 8k

Summary:

“Brandon,” Connor says with a sigh. “There’s no baby in there.”

“Not yet,” Brandon says. Connor feels his stomach twist, almost like what he would imagine a baby kicking to feel like.

in these trying times of dewvorce, may i offer you 8k of pwp inspired by @stillfertile’s wonderful art which i had. several breakdowns about 🫶 anyway please enjoy!!!

[the-nysh]

Why does manga Saitama care about rankings (new manga original chapter) but webcomic says to Amai Mask it's insincere? Is it going to change in the manga?

In the recent ch where he was bothered so much by his terrible hero betting odds that it kept him up at night? And whether that'll affect his conversation with Sweet Mask about 'ultimate/ideal hero' stuff?

I feel Saitama's the type to say 'I don't care' (about thing affecting himself) while actually caring deeply about it. :'D He often immediately contradicts himself like that, heh. While either outwardly snapping or quietly conceding letting it slide, leaving the upset to fester inside.

Ideally he knows heroism is a thankless job--er, hobby, where perks like rankings, fame, and money were never part of his original goal. (Despite for ex how much he values money considering his poor lifestyle.) However, as a person he also really wants to be Noticed and Valued for what he's done. As part of that fundamental human need to feel accepted and validated. The fact that even after coming this far he's still treated like a worthless nobody (ex: his trash betting odds) is enough to deeply unsettle him. After all, no one likes to feel disrespected or wrongly treated like trash. :') (Same deal with his bad hero name in the wc.) Enough that Saitama had to check himself for how much it almost swayed him to the 'dark side' if he got sucked into gambling. It shows he's not perfect, when his basic needs and impulses start blurring his better judgement, but thankfully that means he's still human.

And just like when Sweet Mask offers him tempting benefits in exchange for producing him, Saitama will have to evaluate how much that'd make him lose sight of himself (ie: 'sounds like a puppet') and weigh what's ultimately more important, to himself both as a person and hero. If he learns more perspective from his manga experiences (like the recent betting thing) to expand his talking points with SM, then all the better.

[softquietsteadylove]

Hey. Had this idea of Thena being a billionaire and Gil being her private chef on her private little beach house in the Hamptons!

Maybe you can do something with that? 😊

Gil smiled as he plated the perfect omelette, gleaming yellow, nice loose scramble in the middle with a pristine outside. He sprinkled on some green onion for garnish; Thena acted like she didn't care about presentation but he knew she liked it when her food looked nice.

Thena was...interesting. She could be hard to read, maybe. He had been in the private cooking business for a while, and he'd had a variety of clients. But no one like Thena.

Thena had this old family house, basically a castle, way out here in the Hamptons--as antisocial as possible. She was in charge of her family's generational wealth, he was pretty sure they did business with historical...stuff. Or something.

Thena didn't talk much. The first time he interviewed for the position with her in the room he wasn't even sure if she spoke English. But her assistant - a very sweet man named Karun - assured him that 'the Madame' was perfectly nice. Just not to bother her.

But Karun was right: Thena was nice. Sure, she didn't exactly make small talk with him while she was eating or anything. But she had a nice smile, she was prompt with money, both for his pay and for any of the ingredients he needed. He always had transportation home, or he had a room ready for him if he was staying for a whole weekend.

Gil put the plate on a place mat at the opposite counter top. Thena liked eating in the kitchen instead of the cavernous dining room. She ate a a French style omelette, or if she was feeling adventurous, maybe a frittata, or he had even prepared omurice for her once. She liked fresh pressed grapefruit juice with a little natural sweetener in it. And berries picked from the gardens.

And he liked to add a little flower if there were any blooming on the strawberry plants while he was out picking.

Thena came in through the patio. She had already done her morning routine, then. A light workout, a shower, maybe a sauna. Her phone was in her hand but she famously didn't accept anyone speaking to her before 9 in the morning. She smiled and nodded to him as she took her seat.

She was in a good mood.

Gil turned around, carefully transporting the gold rimmed cup with his best cappuccino yet. He had even looked up how to make latte art to make a heart design in it.

Thena blinked, surprised as it slid into her view. She looked up at him.

He just nodded, encouraging her to take a sip.

She raised an eyebrow but did so. Usually he waited for her to ask for a specific coffee, since it could vary largely depending on the morning.

He shrugged; something about how beautiful the sunrise was had told him she would want something fun. It wasn't sunday, so she wouldn't want something as filling as a latte. But she only drank black coffee when she was already in a bad mood. Actually, now that he thought about it he ought to get more vanilla soy milk.

Thena sighed at her first sip, her shoulders lowering as she let the hot beverage soak into her. She really was in a good mood.

Gil just chuckled, keeping his comments to himself. He had come to respect the serenity Thena created for herself in the early mornings. He turned again to clear his dishes and fill the dishwasher.

He had to get soy milk, and a few other general weekend groceries. And he needed to get ingredients for a recipe he saw online, essentially a lemon cake tiramisu. Thena liked zingy, fresh flavours, and she enjoyed having something sweet on hand for if a craving hit her out of nowhere or after a hard day.

"It's perfect."

He tried to conceal the surprise he was feeling. But he couldn't help it; Thena had almost never commented on anything he made her, unless it was a brief line attached in an email. He turned, "y-yeah?"

She nodded.

He pursed his lips faintly. Back to silence--okay, sure. He peeked in the fridge to examine what else they had and what he needed. When he had asked Karun what Thena liked to keep on hand, he had merely stated that Thena was so bad at cooking, and so selective about food, that if left to her own devices she would probably just eat raw fruit forever.

"How did you know?"

He grinned. So, he was making progress! He had tried more actively in the beginning to get her to warm up to him. But he had come to accept that Thena didn't withhold her words deliberately. Still, he liked it when she did talk. "Just thought you'd be in the mood for it."

She raised her eyebrows at him from behind the cup being tipped up to her lips again.

He closed the fridge and moved back to the counter. "It's nice and mild out this morning, so I think you should have slept well. Stocks are looking good and you don't have to travel this weekend, right? I figured you would want something a little fun."

Thena smiled through his explanation. Maybe some of his observations of her would be a little much to some. But she nodded, looking down into her cappuccino, one leg bent and resting on her cushioned stool. "I assumed you would prefer when I travel?"

Gil blinked.

She set the mug down, as if this were a very important business meeting. "If I'm here, you don't get the weekend off. Or at the very least, you have plenty of work to do before hand."

"I don't mind," he shrugged easily. It was part of the job, and as far as clients went, Thena really wasn't all that demanding. She wasn't even that high maintenance, all things considered.

Food was easy to procure, either grown here or paid for out of her pocket. The only real stipulations of what he made was that she had to eat it. Karun was kind of like a worrisome father in that way. He had added specifically that she needed more vegetables, and that meant it was up to Gil to make them in such a way that Thena would actually like them.

"Do you ever think you may be too agreeable?"

"Hm," Gil ran his hand over his chin (he needed to shave). "I think it's more like...part of the job, y'know?"

"Hm."

Gil blinked at the new tone of the sound. She looked back at her breakfast. She sounded almost...disappointed. Disheartened, and now poking at her omelette like a dejected little kid. Gil leaned off the further counter and moved closer to her. "I just...wanted to do something kind of special for you."

She peeked up at him. She was awfully cute for some zillionaire old money type. Her hair was nice and soft from being gently blow dried, she didn't have any makeup on, fresh from the shower. Maybe all rich people were really, really pretty.

"You're not contractually obligated to be thoughtful," she smiled as she said it, but he got the impression that she didn't fully believe in her own joke.

He shrugged again, pushing the little flower closer to her, "call it my signature, then. Every chef has their own style--I like being a little sweet."

Thena smiled at the little white strawberry flower. She even reached out to it, but just barely let her fingers brush its soft petals, as if she would make it burst into flame. "Quite."

Gil inhaled, feeling better now that she was smiling again. She looked up at him, the sun behind her, making her hair glow. He blushed.

"Thank you, Gilgamesh."

He laughed faintly, feeling shy as she turned those siren eyes on him. He leaned back from the counter, sticking his hands in his apron pockets. "Hey, it's my pleasure, really."

"If you have shopping to do, Karun will call for a car for you," she added as he started slowly slipping - stumbling - out of the kitchen.

"Th-Thanks!" Gil squeaked out before reaching the hallway. He pulled his apron off and gripped it on his way to take it to the laundry room.

"You require transport, sir!"

Gil jumped at the sudden appearance of the man in question. "God, man, can't you walk a little louder!"

"My apologies, sir," Karun just chuckled. "The Madame walks lightly--as do I."

Thena walked around like a cat. She was silent, graceful, long legs...

"Sir?"

Fuck. Gil nodded, twisting his apron in his hands. He tilted his head as Karun shuffled closer, even waving him down so he could share something secretive.

"Excellent choice with the cappuccino, sir," he disclosed with glee. "The Madame has been trying to strike up a conversation with you for some time. I believe this was the perfect-"

"Karun!"

"I must go," he waved to Gilgamesh before dashing off to see to Thena's needs.

Gil felt a little stunned. It sounded like Karun was telling him that Thena had been wanting to talk with him. But that didn't seem right. Of all the times he had tried to chat with her, she had never bit, even once. And he didn't really think of her as the shy type.

He sighed, shrugging it off. He had groceries to get, anyway. Maybe he would try talking with her again, later.

[stealingyourbones]

In line with the whole carbonated mayonnaise.

Would you like to hear what is called “the spaghetti story” by those who know what I’ve done?

Oh absolUTELY I do!

[waveridden]

had a bad exhausting day so we're indulging in the waveridden dot gov tradition

besties. what's good with you

[ladyseidr]

Apologizing ahead of time, these will not be fully coherent thoughts, just a dump of them. Some are influenced by my personal practice / common modern pagan understanding of Loki!! Most of these are admittedly less headcanons and just Thoughts but lmao—

Thinking abt Loki's association with questioning established rules / the status quo and how this is so relevant in the way Atreus is portrayed in general

Chaos as a neutral thing, not inherently bad or good. Chaos that leads to pain, but also chaos that changes things for the better

I adore the game's take on the myths in the sense of like. I don't know how intentional it was (probably very), but the whole he makes a Major Horrible Mistake -> is directly involved in fixing it -> things change for the better as a result is very accurate to myths and I just !!

Fire association always goes hard in my mind. I know the association of Loki with fire historically is debated, but I've already decided it's canon in GO.W and nobody can stop me.

I am always operating on the belief (and hope ugh) that any following GO.W or GO.W-related games will be with Atreus as the protag, which means I have very big opinions on how I want it handled lmao

When outside of the Norse world, I feel he ends up going by Loki pretty exclusively. The exception would be in verses set among the Greek gods, where he probably switches it up considering Atreus IS a Greek name given to him by Kratos

I typically refer to him as a God of Chaos, given that seems to be what the games are getting at, but you will absolutely see me reference him being a trickster god as well. Even more so in post-game or adult verses.

I need to explore his ever-evolving ability to shapeshift. Given the myths, I think it's unlikely he can only shapeshift into a wolf and bear OR even only into animals. But also his developing god and giant powers are so, so fun to explore in general since I really can do whatever for now lmao

[fisheito]

friend fish!!! do you have any super specific headcanons for nucarni you'd want to post about? like from the serious to the silly. im talking from like how did little yakumo deal w humans and snakes hating him and then his grandparents loving him to who are the left handed mfs and who are the right handed mfs. how did kuya handle huey disappearing vs can garukaru wink. i like your brain and i like the very specific little things that come from everyone's brains and just wanted to see if you wanted to post any sillies or seriousies :3

why, friend anon, it seems like You are the one bursting with ideas... if u wish to share with the class i shan't object ohoho

MMM>....UUHHHHH boy ain't it just appropriate that once u hand me the microphone, my mind blanks hmmm........ ............(leaves ask and comes back in several hours)

OH I got one!! yakumo and chickens

s o one day, i wished to draw yakumo holding a chicken. just snekboi holding an absolute buff orpington orb of chicken, because it would be, how u say,... grotesquely adorable, yes??

but before i could, i wondered.. is that possible? do chickens like yakumo? or would they sense his snakeyness and hate him? was it ever discussed in the story?

my immediate thought was of those chickens who get hypnotised into a catatonic state when u draw a straight line in front of them. u know all those gifs of the chickens that just go [plop] with HARD FOCUS on the line? and as soon as line was erased, chicken blinked back into existence/Killer Peck mode?

i remember ppl hypothesising that it was bc the lines reminded them of snakes and the chickens were like shhhhh play ded the snakes will want nothing to do with us.

i can;t remember if they ever actually found the answer to that behaviour. i wish i knew. but i don't. so instead i imagined eiden placing a 🧍‍♂️yakumo horizontally in front of a chicken to see if the trance could be replicated

the whole thing made me think about yakumo's relation to animals, especially farm animals, bc idk if his grandparents ever farmed animals or if it was JUST produce. the story so far seems to say vegebls only but *I* want *FARM ANIMALS* and *YAKUMO* ***toGETHER*(*(***** so we continue the train of thought

yakumo has pulled Princess-Snow-White-shenanigans in the past (Idol Fest). those forest animals didn't have a problem rolling up to yakumo just to listen to him sing. i don't remember if exact animals were mentioned in the story, but i'mma assume it was lil guys like rabbits, birds, rodents, deer. i mean... snakes have been known to share habitats with these guys... so it would make sense for some of them to be scared if yakumo's energy is more snake>human.

but then KUYA??? he's a fox. yet he's got parades of adoring forest worshippers everywhere he goes, regardless of predator/prey status. so maybe the vibe of Yokai overrides whatever trophic chain dynamics are supposed to exist in this world. So instead of EEK! A SNAKE/FOX! the animals be like Yokai=cool nature powerbeing let's hang out ?

but then i wonder if the Yokai Vibe is moderated by Yokai expertise. bc kuya of course has way more experience as yokai... he's more likely to embrace his foxy traits than yakumo with his snakey traits (what is this.... a competition of self acceptance now??).. so maybe the animals all trail after kuya bc of his confidence,,, but would they do the same for yakumo who hasn't yet transcended to that Power Strut Aura?

which relates to childhood yakumo. to surrounding animals, what was his vibe? snakey? human? yokai? did it matter? he mentioned that the other snakes used to bully him .. and that people also used to chase him away... so his vibe was. what? like the king cobra who eats other snakes, and can bite people? at this point, it's not like yakumo has the self-control or self-acceptance to consciously manipulate his outward appearance. his vibe is his vibe.

so, in this unsure, untrained, scared snake-self stage of his life, he still appeared as a Threat to other snakes (and probably other animals that typically fear snakes). i imagine that if i were to introduce yakumo to farm animals at this point, they would react like they saw a potentially dangerous snake. chickens angy. cows might stomp u. goats might eat u

and yet Grandma and Grandpa , like many humans, promptly threw convention out the window and went [lol what threat?? he scared. let's give him some soup]] -> for further proof of ppl being like that, look at. any dangerous creature. cute as heck. i'll fawn over apex predators. angry bear incapable of empathy? deserves my respect. sure i'll share my room with a snake if it looks like it's crying . self-preservation? why would i care about that if i have the chance to make the snake less sad??

i mean, farm animals are domesticated so they're supposed to be pretty chill. i like to think that once yakumo spent more time on the farm with a loving family, his energy became more stable and more human. and surely with daily exposure, those farm animals would acclimate to yakumo's presence. maybe even grow to like him if he takes care of them.

THAT IS TO SAY even if the animals initially shun him or treat him like Danger... they eventually associate his energy with the good times. and yakumo would learn how to act around each specific animal so as not to upset them (just like any good zookeeper!!). As both parties build upon their experiences, the likelihood of positive interaction between yakumo and another animal goes up up 🆙☝!!!

IN THE END, ALL THIS MEANS is that, simply bc i like animals, i'm gonna pretend that yakumo's grandparents also farmed creatures (dang, an undertaking for 2 elderly ppl. i know. but this is gay fantasy isekai). ok, maybe more believably, a neighbour farmed animals and yakumo was the only young'n around to help. and because of all that, yakumo has experience dealing with animals.

according to my made-up timeline (😄) if i drew him at human age ~7, it would make sense if it was a pic of a cow chewing on his hair (being bullied by ungulates. he's crying), or chickens pecking him en masse

and if i drew him getting ALONG with those same animals, it would more likely be a yakumo at human age -- well- older than that. he's got some working experience at that point.

(slams fist on table) SO I CAN JUSTIFIABLY Draw A FLUFFY CHICKEN RESTING HAPPILY IN YAKUMO'S ARMS AND IT COULD BE IN-CHARACTER.

i crave interspecies friendships. humans do nonsensical things to befriend other critters. why can't the chickens override their snake fear for this one special boi. it is what i want to see and i will twistturn canon until i see it.

[fala-alfredo-pasta]

Fun fact: Hajime’s height in Japanese is 179 cm and in feet, 5’10.

Meaning that not only Mikan and Hajime would be the same height, but Hajime’s the tallest of the DR protagonists! Makoto (160 cm, aka 5’2), Komaru (163 cm, 5’4), Kaede (167 cm, 5’5) and Shuichi (171 cm, 5’7). RIP Makoto.

ok hold on hold on imma use this as an excuse to rant about cm to feet because when I started simping for Nagi and found out he was 180cm and everyone kept saying he's 5'11'' but when I converted it it came out to 5'9" I went down a rabbit hole of trying to get to the truth and found that EVERYONE IS LYING IT'S ALL A FUCKING LIE

I've used so many different converters online and it seems the most consistent number for 179 to feet is 5.87 which would translate either to 5'8"or 5'9" if you're feeling generous. ok ok but THEN you get converters like THIS:

That says it somehow translates to 5'10"?? a whole ONE TO TWO INCHES MORE??? LIKE I GET ROUNDING IT TO 5'9" OK THAT MAKES SENSE BUT HOW THE FUCK DID YOU ADD AN ENTIRE INCH TO THAT?? BUT THEN IF YOU DIVIDE 70.4742 INCHES BY 12 INCHES IT'S STILL 5.87 FEET!

Oh oh but THEN if you apply this to Makoto's height of 160 you get THIS:

WHICH YEAH MAKES SENSE SURE. I mean at least I can see how people would round up to 5'3" even though he's technically more closer to 5'2" since it's 5.24 but whatever I guess I GUESS

So then WHY does shit get weird with height around Hajime's and Nagito's??Well. I noticed something while trying to figure out Mikan's height since originally I had wanted to put her in CM since that seemed simplier but I couldn't gauge how much two more inches would be in CM thus I went back to the converters to convert once again from cm to feet (mistake).

Well interesting enough, when I put Mikan to 182 cm google converts it to 5.97feet:

which should be about an inch more than Hajime who's at 5.87 yeah? Then it implies that every inch is roughly 3 cm which google confirms as well:

ok ok the logic then would be that if I want Mikan to be TWO inches taller than Hajime then she'd need to be at least 185cm as 179cm+6cm = 185cm which should translate to around 5.8 feet + 2 inches = 5.10 feet

BUT THEN!!!!

if you put 185cm into google you get:

SIX FUCKING WHOLE FEET!!!!!!!!!

SIX!!!!!

WE WENT FROM 5'9" TO 6' A WHOLE THREE INCHES

and btw 185?? That's Byakuya's height. AND SOME BITCHES EVEN HAVE THE AUDACITY TO SAY HE'S TALLER

Here's the deal alright. Because 3cm is actually a bit more than an inch (1.18 inches), those extra inches start adding up and can add ALMOST an inch which is why we can get those sudden jumps. I acknowledge this and accept this as fact.

But I will NOT accept Hajime nor Nagito being 5'10" or 5'11" because really they're approx 5.872feet and 5.905feet and even if we're being kind and rounding up then really they'd be 5'9" and 5'10" on a good day. Though really Nagito should still be 5'9" because im sorry honey you juuuust made it to 5.9 and you're only 1cm taller than Hajime not 3cm not even 2cm. Hajime and Nagito have little to no height difference.

So thus, 5'10" Mikan would still, in fact, be taller than Hajime AND Nagito. Now, all that being said, what would Mikan's height be in cm? Well, for simplicity's sake we'll say she's 182.

TLDR: Converting metric that is based on the powers of 10s with the Imperial system based on the division of 3s, 12s, and whatever the fuck you feel like that day messes everything up and gives you wildly different perceptions of height and everyone is simultaneously correct but also wrong and Byakuya is 6 foot tall fuck you he's doesn't get to round up he has enough height already he needs to learn to share and be humbled. Thank you.

[transbeeduo]

ok kinda starting to get annoyed at this guy now can someone shut them the hell up

[crossbackpoke-check]

a junkyard dog ain't always pretty but you always love that toothless smile

[wonderloste]

i think i'm going to queue up longer replies i have this week since i'm playing catch up w drafts from being sick, so in the interim ❤️ for smth rly short. if u don't specify a muse u get the bnnuy boy (u get darcy).

[me-parkjimin]

*hugs him protectively* Jiminie, is the sweetest, most squishy, lovable, and sometimes cheeky and dirty minded son that causes chaos that any noona would love. He always makes me laugh and if ANYONE tries to harm a single hair on his head, I'll either get revenge myself or hire someone to do it for me. Cause no one hurts my Chimmy!

*chuckles, hugs noona back*

Well, I woke up and seemed to have missed some hate post…?

Nevermind that~ I know my noona will throw hands if anything happens to me pfff- Though what do you mean cheeky and dirty minded ahhh, am I not there to take care of you too ?

[selfshipping-haven]

it feels like i have no one to talk to about this