#pull in IRL history if that's relevant or useful to you

[rudolphsb9]

Seriously, the fanfics that get their serial numbers filed off and published as original books are a) almost universally shitty, and b) so wildly canon divergent that filing the serial numbers off is both possible and easy.

I think I dislike ‘fuck canon fanon rulez’ takes because time after time I see how boring and predictable fanon is and how often it reinforces racism and misogyny etc. in ways canon never did

and I think having to work around canon and with canon to make something new usually ends up pushing people to make something weirder and cooler

[i-suc-at-art]

DpxDc prompt #2

Full prompt from this idea

Tim and Danny are apart of an online RPG which is basically DND but anonymous and online. (it’s mainly for secret nerds who don’t have anyone irl to play with)

Danny plays as a changeling rogue who will often swipe things from players they don’t like

Tim plays a Variant Human, monk who wields a pole staff (my guy is not subtle) and will often give back the things danny (who’s known as wraith) (Tim goes by Scarlet Redpoll (mainly just Scarlet though)) stole

Rules of the RPG:

Everyone remains under their game handle (so there’s no doxing) NO REAL NAMES

You can interact with other parties who are using the same campaign as you, however when interacting with main story plot your party will go into its own private server

You can have a party of any size however it’s recommended to have a party over 4.. However you can make it with two or three or solo (but that’s just kinda sad..)

There is a chat feature and call feature in the game, however no hate speech, or bigotry

You can’t join a call unless your apart of the party

ofc this doesn’t stop it from happening but that’s not really relevant to the story

There are Dms (dungeon masters) but your team can also just use the computer for your Dm

Your character can be completely customized, and you’ll move around on a map

Ok now to the fun stuff

Danny and Tim (Wraith and Scarlet) have been playing together for about 3 months, and have made a commitment to play every 2 weeks on sunday (ghosts tend to take a break every 2 weeks on sundays (and B forced Tim to take a break from everything including cases every 2 weeks on sunday) Although sometimes each will get pulled away from the game and they’ll have to end early.

Anyways their campaign doesn’t super matter, only that they are online friends. Ok so one day Tim texts Wraith (they use online name bc y'know tim’s like uber famous) that he can’t make it to their session today bc his dad is forcing him to “bond” Aka he’s going to a gala with Bruce and Dick to stop a heist team that has been rampant across socialite and high society events. Wraith tells him it’s alright, and that coincidentally he’s busy too and was just about to cancel.

As Tim surveils everyone he curses Bruce for making him come. Tim had gotten into the habit of getting a night off from everything. He’d also not gotten a chance to do ample research on the guests beforehand because he’d been working on researching the thieves. He’d heard some chatter about the group looking into a possible haunted vahz, that was on display for the night. Tim had been surveying the party staying near the vahz making sure everyone checked out. Dick had texted saying that he’d cornered a possible thieving candidate and that he needed Tim to run an face ID check, on the picture he’d taken. The photo was of a young woman, her red hair caused Tim to think of Babs, but the woman’s simple teal evening dress couldn’t be further from her style. He’d done a quick search of the woman, she seemed to be some sort of rich young socialite, definitely Dicks type.. Her name was Kelly Jankins, no criminal history, or past arrests, she had a couple of parking tickets that were waved from her late teens. But nothing out of the ordinary. Tim texted Dick the information (save for the part about her being Dicks type) before stuffing his phone back into his pocket and moving from his post to go and get a drink. About 20 feet from his post he bumped into a nicely dressed guy, his hair black and suit tailored.. He also wore a Vladco pin on his left breast pocket.

He’d apologized and Tim told him it was no big deal, his eyes were blue.. But he could have sworn they were green when he first looked up. And his voice.. It sounded so familiar. Why did it sound familiar..?

As Tim walked away it hit him like a truck.. Wraith.

—————

Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Jazz had been stealing for some time now, after Danny had been outed as Phantom to the whole town by his parents. Him, Sam, and Tucker had decided to all leave Amity since all of their parents were unaccepting.. Sam’s parents had gone so far as to write her out of their will.. Danny had told her and Tuck to stay in Amity and fix their relationships with their family, but they’d both said ‘that if Danny wasn’t in Amity Park then they didn’t have their family.’ So they left. The three stayed with Jazz for a bit but she was a broke college student that barely had enough money for food and rent. So the three started stealing food.. It was out of necessity at first, and only from big companies, but when Sam got an online invitation to a big gala that was showing off some old artifacts from a rich guy’s private collection, Danny felt a pull toward a particular item from his core. The item belonged to someone in the ghost zone.. and he needed to have it. He needed to return it.

So they stole it. Danny was to be Sam’s plus one as he’s basically a haunted item metal detector. Sam would steal the item and Tuck would turn out the lights and secretly system. Then Danny would get him and Sam out of there. Most of their plans would be similar to this format. Sam would also grift from the other patrons, only stealing from the ones who seemed to have a shit ton of money. Eventually even teaching Danny how to do it too, she’d told him that ‘using his ghost powers were a cop out’ when he brought that up.. and that ‘anyone would be able to feel the chill of it.’ Which Danny was sure that that was untrue.. But he learned how to steal a wallet, or a phone Sam’s way.

Jazz had been against the thefts at first saying that all of these items belonged to the original owner. But soon she was persuaded when Danny told her that they were stealing stolen items. Stolen ghost items. Some of the items even had a ghost core attached to it. So Jazz became their planner, she’d make sure they’d have all the info they needed and that no one got caught.

Danny ends up in jail after being caught trying to lift someone’s wallet.. Jazz was there to legally get him out and pay the bail. Tucker got caught in a backroom of a place they were stealing from. ‘Oh yeah that’s her brother who would often get himself trapped in closets looking for the bathroom.. She apologizes profusely..’

So when Tucker had found their newest item, a haunted vase that had a shit ton of death and destruction attached to it, Jazz had thought up the plan. She’d heard whisperings that Vlad had gotten invited to the party but Danny was going to go in his place since Vlad would never go. Then they had a plan. A plan they were meant to stick to, until someone ran her face and Danny started being followed. So they abandoned the vase opting to get out of there instead of getting caught.

[maehwajuuuu-chu]

ough got overwhelmed asf and just yeeted out the Natlan rewrite plans I've been doing the past few months and put it in a scrap bin, I— (a long ass vent abt Natlan below - I really don't like complaining at all, but man) (also personal thoughts ig - if you disagree, please just ignore lol)

Asides from the colourism and whitewashing, the really modern high-tech stuff the playables use really makes me feel iffy. The problem isn't that its high-tech, its just poorly designed and doesn't fit in with Teyvat in a sense. Fantasy can be advanced in tech, but it's usually made to fit in the world and also seem quite seperate from reality (e.g Sending stones in dnd — they're kinda like phones, but in a fantasy setting and definitely do not look like an irl phone, they're a pair of stones that can be used to call someone — the Akasha is another example of advanced tech done well). Mavuika's bike, Chasca's flying gun and etc are often explained with the availability of Phlogiston and the inability of the Natlan people to leave Natlan, which is why its contained inside Natlan. But, there's still people from other nations visiting? There's still trade and merchants, which would cause tech like a motorbike or flying guns to expand across Teyvat — you'd only need a blueprint and instructions on how to make it. Natlan is not a contained nation at all - in fact, they're regularly welcoming people from other nations. Which brings up the problem of this tech not being spread across Teyvat. Then there's the issue of Xilonen being able to make pretty much everything, but there's nearly none of this tech shown anywhere else in Natlan other than the playable characters. Which makes it even more jarring — it causes the playable characters to be unable to fit in their own nation (specifically pointed at Mavuika and Varesa's designs).

Moreover, if she could make a flying gun, why isn't there a plane already? If there is a motorbike, why are there no cars speeding around Teyvat already? Sure, it's knowledge from the dragons that used to be around Natlan — but if they have access to that, this kind of tech would have more variety as well. Honestly, they could have made the aesthetic of the tech be less immersion breaking and made it fit inside the Fantasy genre more. My point is that Natlan's tech can be 'explained' by lore, but it was still executed poorly.

Another design issue that I came across was how little the Natlan characters had any of their relevant lore or daily jobs reflect in their designs and playstyles. I get told Xilonen is a blacksmith, but she just looks like an average DJ girl to me - she just skates and pulls out a DJ board - there's nothing that tells me who she is or what she does. I mistook Mavuika as a commentator for the pilgrimage in the first Natlan trailer, because of her underwhelming design, and I wouldn't have known Citlali was a shaman unless I read her lore, because of how she only floats around her pillows in her playstyle (I'd be honest, the pillows suit Mizuki a lot more). Natlan was a nation where I'd have expected to see designs and playstyles that were a lot more serious and heavily leaning to fantasy, and honestly, super cool - but it feels like its rather corporate and made to just sell in a sense?

Another issue I came across was the multitudes of cultures just mixed into one nation in a way that's considered quite lazy (a problem that Genshin has in nations that are not Liyue). It reminds me of China, Japan and South Korea being mashed into one country cause 'eh, they look similar enough,' but the thing is they are actually really different? It's also just plain damn difficult when I'm trying to do a rewrite and end up having to research 30 different cultures at the same time by myself (I look at everything from traditional clothing, food, traditions, languages, history, music, people and etc — I generally adore doing this, it's my favourite thing to do, but not when its in the double digits, cause it's a lot). It's also a bit sad, cause all of the cultures they used are really beautiful and awesome — I often paused just to admire and appreciate ngl. But, they lost a lot of potential by not focusing on one or two and not going really in-depth — like they chose quantity over quality. Honestly, the whole nation turned out to be a lot more difficult with each update in terms of doing a rewrite and it's quite frustrating, cause I had planned quite a lot ngl — but, oh well. I'm still gonna yap about my Natlan ocs in the future and do redesigns cause those are super fun — but a rewrite is definitely off the table now KJHDKJHDKJ (and besides I have more time to focus on my own oc fics hehe)

[3liza]

babe im not calling you out but this is exactly what i mean.

i'm going to type from the hip here, so if i misspeak or say something that sounds weird or obviously wrong, it could be a phrasing error so please dont yell at me. but here we go anyway.

so vhs is not y2k. y2k, as an AESTHETIC, is fully CDs and digital files. and not laserdisc either, but bluray vs hddvd. "what about a clear plastic VHS in a funky color" yeah fine they did make lots of Spongebob VHSes but there were a million articles at the time about how the industry was dying. VHS dying is a feature of the era. blockbuster slowly collapsing etc. yeah we all physically owned vhs in our houses through the year 2000 AD, but they were left over from the last decade. the motivation and the core statement of the y2k aesthetic is in fact to move AWAY from vhs into digital. and not to start moving away, but rather to finish moving away, because y2k represents the summation of the "movement to digital" as an aesthetic trend and image of the technological horizon that was swallowing up the world at the time. vhs is not even really "analog" but thats a different convo. y2k is mp3 players. vhs is fully seated in the first half of the 90s, starting to hit its stride about ~1982. the actual introduction or invention of the technology is irrelevant, we're talking about household saturation, the assumption that someone would have something. by about 1997, the feel and the character of american culture was already strongly shifted away from VHS. if i was more motivated i would pull up some sales trends graphs to illustrate my point.

i think what everyone who has been to formal institutional discussion settings vs everyone who hasn't keeps butting heads about is half of us are working off of assumed definitions about the field of aesthetics as a formal study, and half of us are Posting. and that wastes a lot of time with stuff like acknowledging that "we all"¹ had Jurassic Park on a shitty old beat up VHS in the TV hutch in 2003 so TECHNICALLY y2k is still VHS. no it isnt, thats not what we're talking about, thats not the discussion we're having. we're talking about broad themes, cultural movements. it would be fine to have a person in a story set in 2003 be owning or using VHS, but you would have to justify it with the same exceptions from an assumed "norm" that we are all aware of and taking for granted here, like being poor, living in a small town, living in non-USA locations, etc. all of us check some of these boxes, i had ancient technology way into the 21st century (as mentioned) and i just used it alongside the new stuff and still do. i ordered a new battery for my thinkpad t440p YESTERDAY. but it's not relevant except in the specifics of something like, would this character still own The Little Mermaid on VHS in 1999? or is it an anachronism if the story is set in that time? what are we spending from the Credibility Budget to make this creative decision. thats a random example, i havent seen that situation specifically in analog horror.

so if you or i personally did not experience these cultural beats as they happened, that's not a refutation of the boundaries of the aesthetic, it just means we're outliers. the majority of civilians in every era of fashion did not represent what the prevailing or desirable aesthetics of that era were. the flapper, the gibson girl, the mod, the beatnik, the hippie, etc. these are all archetypes that were in their times in the extreme minority, they just came to represent their times and places through the lens of history. at the times they were active, normal well-adjusted people were dressing and actiing much more conservatively and much less futuristically than the fashionable hellions. in 2001 people were NOT dressing like TLC in No Scrubs at high school. we all thought it was cool, and a tiny minority of us dressed like that at the goth club, but y2k as an aesthetic barely existed irl anywhere. it was extremely ephemeral.

my point in the first post is this person was using fully 1970s sci fi aesthetics to tell a story about 1999. and it didnt make any sense, which distracts the viewer from the story you're trying to tell, which means you can't tell your story, which makes your piece of art bad and careless.

to all the people repeating my line about "raised in isolation from your parents": youre not supposed to be isolated from your parents. thats not the ideal state of a child. if you dont have a relationship with your parents where you know at least generally what things were like when they were kids, it means you've never had those discussions with them, which we are supposed to. im not saying thats normal or obligatory, im saying the correct and ideal parent-child relationship involves familiarity, knowledge sharing, and most importantly an inquisitive exchange where you ask them questions and they teach you things. thats the entire point of having children. if they dont teach you things thats fucked up. it constitutes dysfunctional childrearing actually. if your parents suck or they were bad at childrearing or its better for your health if you dont speak to them or interact with them, thats not your fault and you dont need to defend yourself, im just saying it sucks that you dont have that resource in your life because we all fucking need it, badly. if gen z is, as a group, not close enough to their parents to have this kind of exchange, thats bad. in terms of their mental health and attachment. im not making a judgment im just writing here the stuff ive read about child development in books.

i dont have kids, i dont know how hard it is these days to exchange ideas and teach skills to your kids, but i question why anyone would have children for any other reason except bad reasons (obligation, couldnt get an abortion, cultural pressure, etc). and obviously i know LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of people whose parents never taught them shit and dont talk to them about anything that matters, its not unusual. GOOD parenting is whats unusual. it just seems like there is a lot MORE benign neglect at the moment than the amount of neglect, nbenign or otherwise, that i am used to seeing in the general population of parent-child relationships.

FOOTNOTES:

again, definitionally, i am not talking about you in specific, im addressing a Common Shared Cultural Experience that influences you personally whether or not You Personally or your family owned that copy of Jurassic Park in 1999 and your dad loved it so much it just wore out and ended up at Goodwill (did you know VHS tapes just physically wear out if you love them too much? like the velveteen rabbit?)

theeres just one footnote, i ran out of steam

made the mistake of taking a recommendation to watch an "analog horror" series again and ended up in the exact same pit of despair watching a story supposedly set in 1999 that features zoomer visuals of red wireframe CGI and brutalist fonts through a filter because they dont have a single person in their entire lives that remembers 9/11. i am begging you on my hands and knees

[writingwithcolor]

“Fantasy Names” for Non-English Languages; One Language Per Continent?

@corrupted---minds​ submitted:

In my story there are different continents inspired by sections of our world; fantasy Europe, fantasy East Asia, fantasy Middle East, ect. And each continent, for convenience, speaks one language. Cantonese is fantasy East Asias language, for example.

Now on to naming conventions. While in fantasy Europe people have average european names, about 30% have fantasy names like Illumina or Crystal or Raten Firewalker. I want to try to keep the same naming ratio for the other continents, but I’m not sure if it would be offensive for me, as a white woman, to cut apart a language to make a cool sounding name for my characters that are POC.

If you have any insight, suggestions, or just flat out think it’s a bad idea, please let me know. I dont want to unintentionally offend anyone.

On the Issue of Worldbuilding

The salient point is to avoid using languages from real life outright. Already, I sense that your language and coding categories are too broad. It’s never a good idea to reduce such large regions containing so many ethnicities to a single language group/ setting. Think more granular and use single ethnicities instead. Rina has already written on naming conlangs, including pertinent resource links, that I think would be very helpful information for you. Please read her comments here. 

Furthermore, as a reader, I think it is more realistic and dynamic when the characters have names that mean something in their own languages. Most people already have such names IRL. I think in many Western cultures, some are simply too removed from the original root languages to know the word origins of their names. My pen-name here on WWC happens to mean “Jasmine” both in Sanskrit and Japanese, but Marika is a lot more culturally relevant than “Jasmine” as it expresses my bicultural identity much more effectively. Thus, I am curious as to why you wish to stick to this arbitrary 30% rule. Not only does it strike me as rather boring, but it also generates a lot of dissonance for me as a reader in conventional fantasy when a person “randomly” has a conventional fantasy name with no context given. 

If people are given atypical naming schemes, I’d much rather there be a sensible reason for this choice. It both provides context and lays the groundwork for world-building information that the reader can draw on unconsciously at a later time. For example, as I continue my role as this blog’s Tamora Pierce evangelist, the author has two such examples of atypical naming in her universes. In the Tortall series, the Shang warriors are given titles that reflect their prowess, with more legendary animals indicating higher levels of mastery. Thus, the reader automatically knows that Liam Ironarm, the Dragon, and Kylaia al Jmaa, the Unicorn, supersede Ida Bell, the Wildcat, and Hakuin Seastone, the Horse, in terms of skill. In the Emelan Universe, dedicates of the Living Earth religion choose names associated with plants, animals and natural phenomena ( e.g. Rosethorn, Frostpine, Moonstream) and lack last names. Academic mages, on the other hand, have last names that demonstrate what kind of magic they are proficient in (Goldeye, Ladyhammer, Glassfire), allowing us to immediately discern who is a dedicate in the Living Earth faith, who is an academic mage, and who is neither (whether they be from a different background or are still in training).  

Lastly, as a caution, we would like to warn many of our readers that words commonly associated with imagery used in Norse mythology are now often dog-whistles or outright references to white supremacy groups/ movements (Thanks Neo-Nazis!). Thus, particularly for white/ Western-coded characters, please check any name meanings against the following databases created by Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League (viewable here and here).

- Marika.

On Colonial Implications

I would like to emphasize how flattening it is to summarize any large region down to a single language: British Columbia and some of Washington State have 7 mutually unintelligible language families within a few hundred square miles. That’s an incredibly saturated amount of linguistic diversity in a very, very small region. And it’s not the only linguistic hotspot in the world.

Europeans often have an artificial sense of how many languages are natural in a region, because Europe is one of the least linguistically diverse regions in the world at about nine language families, with 94% belonging to a single language family. Meanwhile, China alone has at least nine families, and India has at least six. In North America, you have dozens if not hundreds of language families across the continent.

Note that these are language families, not languages. Each language family can have anywhere from 2 to 50+ languages within it. The aforementioned language family with 94% of Europe is Indo-European, which covers everything from French (the Romance branch) to Punjabi (the Indo-Iranian branch) to Russian (the Balto-Slavic branch).

Convenience should not come at the expense of linguistic diversity. Language destruction is one of the targets of colonialism, and doing such a flattening would leave an extremely sour taste in my mouth at the implied history of this world. Many, many Indigenous languages are extinct because colonial languages were forced upon the populations of the Americas (English, Spanish, Portugese, French), and this isn’t counting non-European colonialism. 

Widespread single languages across huge landmasses often come with an extremely bloody history (unless it was purposely crafted for ease of communication among groups, such as Plains Sign Language), and for your marginalized readers it will be unignorable. You don’t have to create a continent’s worth of languages, but you do have to acknowledge the diversity is there.

As Marika said, focus on individual ethnicities instead of such broad land masses. Doing your current track would pull anyone with even an ounce of linguistics education, or anyone who has had their access to language suffer because of colonialism, right out of the story.

~ Mod Lesya

I agree with Mod Lesya, especially when it comes to their point of language destruction being one of the targets of colonialism. East Asia already has a history of this, with languages being banned and punishments for speaking them, and even now in mainland China Mandarin is being pushed as the only dialect to speak vs. Cantonese, Hokkien, Sichuanese, etc. A suggestion I have is to perhaps have one common language for diplomacy/trade purposes that is used alongside other languages and dialects in certain regions. 

--mod Jess

[papirouge]

Ok I got curious and went through that “brown bandaids = wokeism” twitter and I’d assume it was a troll but she seems real. Fisting her supposedly Christian life in every tweet as a “Titus 2” woman, while believing diversity and any mention of black people = bad because that’s a satanic liberal agenda 🥴 so I guess focusing on black issues is the same as the trans agenda to her. And yes, before you say anything she is american

LOL Sorry but I want to keep faith in humanity and refuse to accept that that woman isn't a troll 😭

I literally can't wrap my head around why someone would be bothered that much about BROWN BAND-AID 💀

Even conservative are starting to realize they look like clown overusing that word so they're pulling out shitty made up definition that don't even make sense.

De Santis said woke sas "anti truth", well I'm waiting to hear what anti truth there's in a tone on tone band-aid. I'll wait.

Someone once said that the anti woke brigade saw (racial, sexual, social, etc.) minorities as unworthy of visibility UNLESS it was for a imperious reason.

Don't you find interesting that they never complained that hard about movies starring Black people as long as it featured something related to race, rap, slavery or Africa? (those idiots still had a issue with Black Panthers though which makes me believe that part of this outrage was definitely racist. But I also think that BP was special in that it promoted & elevated Blackness in a positive and light hearted way which was inadmissible for racist White that are used to see Blacks representation in the gutter. They felt threatened BIG TIME 🥴). Same with gays, that are "tolerate" either through caricatural tropes (the gay male friend) or movies about the gay community, AIDS History, etc.

But they cannot stand someone from any of those minority in a role or position not remotely relevant to their race, sexual orientation, etc. Because they will always see whiteness as a default. So if they're not a White male, they are bogus and therefore have to justify their visibility. I'll never forget a scrote seething at the latedt Jurassic World just bc the main character (Chris Pratt) had a female buddy who also was Black, calling that an agenda... To them, the sole presence of non White non Male non straight in media is political somehow (regardless of the plot of the show/movie). The Jurassic World female buddy skin color or femaleness was pretty irrelevant to her character but just bc she wasn't a White male, it was a problem, an agenda, wokism, anti White, etc etc 🥴

The bar has gotten so low that scrotes are now calling feminist agenda video game characters not sexy enough.... And I can't help but think about how they view women IRL and whether they seethe over them not looking like pornstars on the regular..... 🫠

[acerace]

...you have opened my eyes to a vast universe of VintageBeef lore that I was unaware of. I knew about the New Hermit Order, of course, and the UHC invention, and I've watched a few of his CTM things but -- I will take all the info and lore you feel like giving out because Beef is amazing and my knowledge is so small.

Vintagebeef my beloved <3

So the thing is, right, until about 2016 I only watched two (2) youtubers- Vintagebeef for Minecraft and aDrive for Pokemon (and funnily enough both of them are named Dan irl). So I've watched most of Beef's videos over the years and have a general knowledge of most of his stuff, except because it's been like a decade I don't remember where most of the lore comes from XD

The thing with him is that he doesn't do Lore tm the way other mcyters often do lore- he doesn't have an extensive RP series to draw from like Grian, doesn't have a solo world with steadily increasing amounts of lore like Etho or Zisteau, and while he's played on SMPs and been involved in storylines before it's not really the focus of his episodes unlike with Evo or Legacy or Empires

So where does that leave us?

IRL, Beef always has multiple series running at the same time. Often he's playing on an smp while doing a singleplayer, often modded, series as well as a CTM or modpack with a group of friends. For example, right now he's playing on Hermitcraft, doing weekly Pixelmon and Building a Zoo episodes, and a CTM map with Slip. And to me, this translates to one thing: Beef is an adventurer. He travels frequently- he explores a world and when he decides he's done, he leaves for the next one. That's the basis of my personal interpretation of his series and his character for my writing.

Ok so reading this back, this got extremely long and didn't explain much in the way of lore, somehow? If anyone has any additions to add please do so, I am very definitely leaving out a lot and would love to see what other lore people remember and are using for Beef! I didn’t include the Hermitcraft stuff since my memory of season 4 is blurry (his base was themed after the Martian, that much I know, and he and Iskall were buddies :D) and most of the s5 NHO lore is best watched from Bdub’s perspective from what I remember, and the only s6 stuff is a single line in Hermitgang and then the Area 77 arc with its possibility of an NHO reunion which we did not get rip. And s7 of course had the cloning machine and also the Podzol Party as the main lore. So all the original rambling is still below the cut though it is very long, and I'm gonna bullet point the main stuff here instead:

Actual canonical things:

Invented UHC and was the only survivor of the first ever uhc (Mindcrack UHC s1)

Married to an ender dragon (one of the UHCs I think), later father to a different dragon (Mindcrack season 3? I think?)

Might not have legs if you choose to take that joke as canon (Mindcrack s2)

Was a wizard (RAD)

is a zookeeper (Building a Zoo) 

Had a wife and kids (Sims in Minecraft)

Part of the Trial of the B Team court case (Mindcrack)

NHO founder, founder of the Podzol Party (Hermitcraft)

Created a cloning machine that sort of works (Hermitcraft)

Played the Forest which is I believe the first time he and Keralis played together (look up the trigger warnings for this one, it's a horror game)

Was the creator/owner of Sourceblock SMP (featuring some familiar faces if you know Legacy, Empires, or MCC) and there is literal magic from a mysterious sourceblock of water that teleports people and summons mobs and probably more stuff that I haven't seen yet since I'm still watching it myself

Things you can infer:

Good with animals (Life in the Woods, Pixelmon, Ark)

Is a car nerd (irl and all of the car games he's played)

Is a highly experienced adventurer who has traveled through dozens of worlds both vanilla and modded, across multiple dimensions (Twilight Forest, the Aether, the Betweenlands, Limbo), completed dozens of monuments, fought in blood sports, survived apocalypse after apocalypse, tamed dinosaurs, and played a lot of prop hunt and golf with your friends

If you're looking for what to watch for lore purposes, I'd say the Mindcrack UHCs and Team Canada's RAD series are pretty good, definitely Sourceblock and HC s5, plus the Diversity CTM maps and Ruins of the Mindcrackers maybe? And Mindcrack Prank Wars for the chaos and the origin of Team Canada. And if you can handle horror than the Forest is fun and if you don't do horror you can watch the Pojkband play golf or prop hunt they're hilarious I love them sm I want a Pojkband reunion So Bad 

Beef's first series was a singleplayer series in beta 1.4_01 though he had played the game extensively before that, and was a big fan of Guude, having watched his own Minecraft videos. The series was functionally a hardcore one where if he died Beef would delete the world and start again! I haven't actually Watched this series so idk if he died or how often lmao. When Guude made Mindcrack, which was btw one of the very first Minecraft SMPs, he also hosted a competition for people to join, and Beef submitted a video (which is still viewable on his channel I believe!) and won, and was added to Mindcrack in season 2 :D (fun fact, Guude said that even if Beef hadn’t won he would have added him anyway) 

Two running jokes emerged from Mindcrack- pulling a Vintagebeef and Beef doesn't have legs. The first is a reference to Beef dying of fall damage (I believe the exact instance was him trying to jump into his swimming pool and failing spectacularly) and after the incident, every time someone died of fall damage they were pulling a Vintagebeef. The second joke comes from Guude, who joked that the reason Beef wasn't going to a convention was because he didn't have legs, and then he pranked Beef's base by building a giant pair of legs at the entrance to his castle so you had to walk between them to get into the base. This joke has long since died and both Beef and Guude feel pretty bad about it iirc because there were people who genuinely thought Beef was disabled and were emailing him supportive messages and stuff oops. So if you go looking on the Salad or find old Mindcrack fics, you might see references to Beef having prosthetic legs!

Mindcrack also brought about the creation of several Player groups- Team Nancy Drew, Team Canada, and GOB to name a few relevant to Beef. Team Nancy Drew consists of Beef, Pauseunpause, Guude, and Baj, who formed to investigate a prank on one of the members but I forget who. They're named Nancy Drew after the detective! Team Canada also formed in retaliation to pranks, with it consisting of Beef, Etho, and Pause, the three Canadian members on the server (not including Adlington who moved to Canada but never joined the group). There was also a Team America who pranked them with American flags everywhere. GOB is Guude, OMGChad, and Beef, who played stuff like the Ragecraft, Pantheon, and Monstrosity ctms together but that's way down the line lol

Team Nancy Drew is also notable for inventing UHC. It was Beef's brainchild but it was the four of them who first played it! The first UHC had the four of them working to kill the dragon with no natural regen, with everyone dying but Beef, who "won" the UHC. The second uhc was still dragon focused and iirc is where Beef married the dragon? Memories are hazy but they do kill the dragon in this one I think. UHC was then revamped as a pvp event and became a regular Mindcrack game every few months, featuring most of the Mindcrackers and several special guests, including Dinnerbone, who as we know Thanos-snapped Doc's arm out of existence as a result of Doc killing him in one of them

In one of the seasons of Mindcrack, Beef invited swedish Mindcracker and good friend Anderzel to go caving with him and invented ABBA Rules caving, where the winner takes it all. ABBA Rules is a game where each ore (and also dungeon loot like nametags) is assigned a point value and the person with the most points at the end wins and gets to keep all the stuff collected from the game.

In Mindcrack season 3?, Beef punched the ender dragon in an... awkward area, so when the dragon died and left the egg behind, Guude said Beef was the father of the egg XD I don't remember if I watched s3 so I have no idea if anything Happened with this concept but *history of the world voice* you could make lore out of this!

So Team Canada has played a Lot of CTM maps (which fun fact were pretty much invented by another Mindcrack member, Vechs, with his Super Hostile series! Super Hostile has a bunch of things called "Zistonian", which are references to another Mindcrack member Zisteau, who has a very wild singleplayer series with even wilder lore but I digress). In Ruins of the Mindcrackers, they had a running joke that Beef was Etho and Pause's mom, which is a joke we can leave in the past actually /lh. They also played all the Diversity maps, Sky Factory, Terra Restore, Uncharted Territory uhhh and a couple more ctms and adventure maps! Each map kinda has its own story so in Diversity 3 for example they were trapped in a simulation? I think? Team Canada also recently played the Roguelike Adventures and Dungeons modpack, aka RAD, in which Beef was a wizard with a magic staff that could do anything from summon lightning to control hostile mobs.

Sourceblock SMP is a vanilla survival 1.14 series that ran for one season and the series starts with each of the Players being drawn to a strange sparkling water source that, once they touch it, brings them to the Sourceblock world. It also summons a giant zombie at one point. There's probably more lore for this series but like I said I haven't watched it all the way through yet 

He has a Patreon server called VintageCraft and has done a series or two on there as well, and played a few UHCs with them, so lore that how you will! 

Beef also played a few popular mods, notably Pixelmon, Life in the Woods, and Feed the Beast, with LitW being singleplayer and the other multiplayer. He's also recently played the Zoo and Wild Animals mod a lot. He did a short series with the Minecraft Comes Alive mod where he married one of the villagers and had two children, so that's canon now :D he’s played a Lot of Pixelmon starting when the mod first came out iirc (he chose Turtwig in his first series and built a Grass gym, then made a Normal gym in another series in uhh 2016) and he still plays to this day. Quite a few Hermits played on his Pixelmon servers with him, like Wels, Etho, Iskall, Stress, Slip, Zueljin, and also Guude and Phedran (a Mindcrack adjacent player and creator of the LitW modpack) and a few Mindcrackers on the older servers 

Mindcrack and friends played a lot of other games too- 7 Days to Die, Ark Survival Evolved, Unturned, to name a few, so you can pull a lot of lore out of these as well. Speaking of friends and non-Minecraft games, Beef teamed up with Pause, Keralis, and Slip (a former Hermit) to play the horror game the Forest, which saw them stuck on an island trying to survive against terrifying mutated human... things. They played it a few times as the game updated but as afaik it's the first time Beef played with Keralis and possibly Slip and since the game starts with the Player's airplane crashing, that could totally be how Beef first met them in-universe 

I... think? that’s everything I mentioned in the tags? There is probably way more stuff I’ve forgotten that stems from inside jokes and things that happen within each series, but I hope that was a) helpful and b) at least somewhat comprehensible lmao 

[tevinterdays]

Was anybody going to tell me Thedas has two moons or was I supposed to find that out while trying to research trade routes myself?

Anyway, I have thoughts about that and spent far, far too much of my night on this.

Laying it out:

We know the second moon is named Satina, but since we don’t know the name of the other, I’m going to call them the primary moon (big boy) and second moon (little guy) when I do refer to them directly. They would have different orbital periods (which should affect the calendar more, but whatever) and both have an equatorial orbit (like our moon does!). These are presumptions, but they’re also how things usually work. Especially considering that Thedas is habitable. That’s important to maintain.

Also, whenever I look at maps of Thedas in detail, I’m reminded that this has to be a teeny tiny planet. That’s not really relevant to this post, but it’s weird to think about.

The main thing covered here will be the effect of this on the tides, but first:

Flavor:

There are two moons in the sky! That’s neat and cool to look at! They would both reflect the sun’s light, so that would make nights brighter. This would have evolutionary effects, potentially, but that’s enough of a technicality in the fast and loose world of Thedas that I’ll pass it by right now. There would be more eclipses, which is also neat. Unfortunately, we never see both of them at once in the games, but here’s a mod to have two moons overhead in the Hissing Wastes.

Tidal effect:

This part is really long. Under the cut!

The primary moon, which we see in the sky in the Hissing Wastes, is either very large or very close in comparison to Earth’s moon (proportionally). Since Earth’s moon is improbably large, it’s more likely that it’s very close, which actually has a more significant effect on its tidal pull than size would (proximity > size; we see this IRL with how minimal the Sun’s affect is on Earth’s tides). The second moon is presumably smaller and further away, but its proximity still has a significant effect on tides.

Most of the time they would balance each other out to a relatively normal cycle, but high tides would be higher on average. Not catastrophically, but higher – and dramatically so when the moons enter orbital resonance (same place in orbit at the same time) and both of their gravitational pulls have affect at the same time!

Initially I thought that that would greatly impact coastal settlements and trade hubs, and it would, but not many that we’re super familiar with. Tides are greater with greater bodies of water, and a lot of the trade centers we see are around the Waking and Shining Seas (Kirkwall, Highever, etc.). They’re just little guys. Western Thedas is mostly landlocked as well, and all of Thedas is sub-equatorial; tidal pull with an equatorial moon decreases the further you are from the equator, since you’re further from the moon(s).

Let's look at some maps! Mostly using the map from Tevinter Nights for reference here:

Cities that aren't named are marked by little symbols that look like houses. I'll give crops of each location for a visual as we go, because everything is small.

Other major coastal regions:

- Tevinter is predominantly coastal at this point in history, but the Nocen Sea isn’t enormous; Seheron is quite close on the other side; and the coast around the Arlathan forest isn’t populated.

- The eastern Ander coast is paralleled across the Colean Sea by a Tevinter peninsula, if they actually make use of that coast.

- Antiva isn’t notably populated north of the White Spire (the Antivan mountain, not the Orlesian Circle Tower, which has given me some grief); its coastal population is on the Rialto Bay.

- Eastern Ferelden has a significant amount of coastline, but the Brecilian Forest blocks most of it off, and Gwaren (city south of the Forest) is far south enough that it’s probably bordering the planet’s Antarctic circle.

- Those little northwestern Fereldan islands don't have coastal focuses. Image from the wiki used because Alamar's tiny.

- Northern Seheron would be affected. We don’t know the concentrations of Seheron’s population. Much of Par Vollen would also be affected and the same holds true for them, but their technology (extremely seaworthy vessels, extreme perseverance, etc.) and cultural mindset lends to the idea that they would use the tides to their advantage strategically, as well as take advantage of the major boons spring tide would have on fishing! When the tide is coming in to its highest, it shakes things up and brings in all the fish.

- Rivain isn’t notably populated east of its dominating mountains. Its major population centers are in the Southeast, on the Rialto Bay. Except Llomeryn. Rivain, as descendants of seafaring islanders, would have a long cultural history of being able to deal with this anyway. Why is Llomeryn (little house icon on the east coast of the southern island) on that side? I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense. It’s fine.

- I’m sure that Estwatch is doing just fine. They can handle themselves.

- Wycome is a major fishing hot-spot, taking advantage of the fishy boons the tides provide.

- Hercinia is coping, I guess.

In regards to coastal port cities on the Amaranthine ocean – the largest body of water on the map – a special situation may exist where they have ports designed to accommodate the very high high tides when they come in (how often would depend on the moons’ orbital periods and how often they are in orbital resonance). I’m sure there are examples of docks and ports designed like this from real life, and if anyone has info on that, hit me up.

This concludes the post about the implications of two moons in Thedas that nobody asked for!

Huge thanks to @feastforworms and @unshatters-your-teacup for science and input and humoring me on this.

[phoenixyfriend]

Random tips for writing fic:

Tumblr is mucking about with nested bullets, so I’m futzing around with hyphens to deal.

Vary paragraph length. Large blocks of text can be hard to read, and too many single-line bits can be jarring. If you err too far to one side, the fic ends up clunky.

Use a different sentence structure for spoken dialogue, internal narrative, and external narrative. -- Sentence fragments are great in dialogue, and acceptable in internal narrative, and uncomfortable in external narrative. ----“It’s just like, you know, a thing. A real hell of a thing. Couldn’t be more of a mess, really. Utter shitshow.” - dialogue ----“And he thinks to himself, well, this is kind of a shitshow. Just, like, a real hell of a thing.” - internal narrative ----“Later, history books will record the incident in a variety of ways. Right now,  however, everyone chooses to describe it as ‘one hell of a thing.’” - external narrative ----I don’t know if I’m using these terms the way other people do so, hey, examples.

Sometimes run-on sentences are good for stylistic reasons. Sometimes, you just forget how long it’s been going on and don’t realize you need to cut it off. If you don’t have a beta, give it a day or two without looking at it and then come back with fresh eyes.

“I mean” and “You know” in prose can be jarring in the middle of a third-person narrative unless the story has already made a habit of addressing the reader. Reserve these for dialogue unless you’re playing with the fourth wall, doing epistolary, or something similar.

If you can’t figure out whether the character is OOC, think of the canon and try to imagine them saying it. Can you hear that line for Snape in Alan Rickman’s voice? Great! It’s not a perfect tool, but it sure is an option.

Check your line spacing when you post on AO3 so you don’t end up with triple-spacing.

If you don’t know how to describe your character to the audience, don’t worry. Every author struggles with that. Don’t pull an Enoby Darkness Dementia Raven Way and you’re probably good.

No swearing is easy to ignore, even if it’s unrealistic, because we’re all attuned to censored TV and the like. Too much swearing can actually be jarring because it feels forced, especially if the source media doesn’t use swears. This one is very trial-and-error.

Figure out your endgame by chapter three if you can.

Crossovers are difficult to juggle, but when in doubt, adjust power levels to be roughly equal in terms of range, unless dealing with literal gods (and even then, try not to do too much) or non-magic/scifi worlds. ----If the fic is an intrusive crossover, and characters are jumping from one world to the other, power levels usually err on the side of the intruder, by virtue of the element of surprise and/or later observation.

Not everything has to be plot-relevant, but the story will flow better if you can figure out a way to tie your ‘things I added just because they make me happy’ scenes in as a way to advance either plot or character.

Breather chapters, plate-spinning chapters, and filler chapters are all different. (Feel free to swap out ‘chapter’ for ‘scene’ depending on your chapter length.) ----Breather chapters: a chapter following one or more heavy chapters to allow the readers room to decompress. It’s there for pacing, because if Everything Is Happening All The Time, you can lose readers to drama fatigue. The breather chapter still has things happening, but in a less dramatic way. It’s the “we should talk about last fight” chapter, the “let’s move into a new apartment” chapter, the “everyone gets to go to the spa” chapter. It’s a moment for the readers AND the characters to take a breath and recharge. ----Plate-spinning chapters: overlaps with breather chapters. There are no BIG plot events in a plate-spinning chapter, but you touch on a whole lot of relevant threads where you can. Side-characters that are cooking up a new weapon for your main, romantic subplots you couldn’t address while the big moments were happening, training scenes. It’s things you need to keep in motion and remind the reader about, but can’t bring into the plot in full yet without throwing off your pacing. ----Filler chapters: not actually a mistake to include, but use sparingly. Any filler chapter is really just ‘a chapter in which nothing plot-relevant happens at all.’ They can have scenes that elaborate on characters, but they generally don’t advance plot or character. These are the chapters where, if you removed them from the story, the readers wouldn’t even notice anything wrong with the plot.

Use dialogue tags. You can get away with not using them for a few lines if there are only two speakers, but for the love of all that is good and holy, dialogue tags.

Said isn’t dead, but it’s not the only word out there either, and you don’t need to use a speaking verb. Rewrite the same line a few times to figure out if the patter suits what you’re going for, and if the verb works for the tone. Half of writing fic is erasing what you just wrote because you realized it messes with the Vibe and need to phrase it differently. -- “I just don’t like it here,” she said, refusing to meet his eyes. -- “I just don’t like it here,” she whispered, refusing to meet his eyes. ---“I just don’t like it here.” She refused to meet his eyes.

Honestly, just read your dialogue out loud sometimes. There’s a good chance you’ll realize if it sounds too forced or wooden, and you can work on making it more natural. ----That said, if you write exactly the way people talk, you might end up with irritated readers because the way people talk IRL isn’t always... easy to follow.

It’s okay to just abandon a fic and start something new. Just make sure you label the fic as abandoned (not complete) and move on. Shit happens, you lose inspiration, and it’s not the end of the world.

[the-gayest-tree-you-ever-did-see]

i feel the betraying culture thing so hard. like it hurts to keep parts of it away from me but it’s something that my ancestors fought so hard to protect i feel like a traitor if i don’t continue on with it. so much of our history has been stolen away it feels wrong to lose any more of it.

as for your new name i think it should be whatever you want it to be! i don’t think it’s fair to feel like you have to choose an indian name that has history you don’t want to be associated with. or even for the fact that it’s hard to pronounce- the way white people say indian names is horrifically painful. also lots of cis indian people still choose to shorten or even change their names to be easier- so you shouldn’t be the only person burdened by this!

you would so be cool enough to pull of arjuna or something from hindu mythology! my irl name is fairly rare-ish or at least it used to be and i’ve been lucky enough to end up likening it. I don’t know if this is particularly relevant but my name had to start with a specific letter based on the zodiac or something, so maybe that could give you a few suggestions :)

that being said i think a good consideration your name should be Ashwat just cause it literally translates to tree (of knowledge) and it’s where budha mediated (mythology plus points). but whatever you end up choosing will be lovely and often names grow to be more comfortable with time!

me too! it’s been over a year since i read chain of gold so i would definitely have to reread it first lol. also author besties!! 🥺🥺

much brain empty but i absolutely loved the fan interview and it made my heart so happy. tyler oakley was a perfect choice and abigail’s moment made me instantly cry like an insufferable twink. phil’s cameos were beautifully awkward and i don’t want to talk about teenage dan cause that literally broke me. 10/10 i loved it and kind of wished dan edited it himself.

i hope you know that every time we talk about tiny children i’m imagining little bean sprouts (and it’s slightly endearing and horrifying).

also i love you too to that anon sprout that knows who they are *blows kiss*...someone write that fic rn- i would guess the angst would be our first fight and me burning down our wedding venue (what can i say i like a bit of dramatic flair).

gives you the biggest hug ever tree because you always know what to say and i loved that you were upset too- it made me feel less insane cause nobody had any type of reaction to the above other than me. (also love how you knew it was me) alec lightwood described causal homophobia the best way possible- “it’s like a million paper cuts ever day.” i don’t have any queer friends irl and have been wanting to fit perfectly into one of those diverse friend groups but life’s not written by becky albertalli. but what i do have is so many wonderful queer and accepting online friends and i’m so thankful.

i love you so much and you know that <3

mwah!

- indi <3

no exactly, ive literally been raised surrounded by people telling me to hang on to my culture like my life depends on it and watching people i love scramble not to lose it so when i make a choice that takes me away from that, even slightly, i feel like such a fraud and a betrayer even though I Know that doesnt make Any Sense but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ unfortunately i have a brain

thats true, i didnt even think of that! its not even about the history for me, bc sooo many people have had literally every name i could think of, so i have all of those bits of people in me and that would balance out the bits of, say, Arjuna the Petty Forest-Burner Who Has Three (3) Friends. or something.

aw thank youuu <3 yeah my name is pretty rare too, and i did have to do the whole zodiac thing 😌 the letter it had to start with was saa, which has cool female names, but idk Sanjay and Sarath give off stupid-engineer-drunk-friend-in-movies vibes so

oooh Ashwat seems like a cool name, ive always loved names with sh sounds in them, so ill add it to the list! ive always like Mahesh as well (steal mahesh babu's gender bc he clearly doesnt know how to use it) and ofc Arjuna, but also Ajay seems cool. i have so many friends named Ajay though, that would probably not be fun. i also looove the name Chandra bc i love the moon <3 and hes literally so sexy in every depiction of him so like *greedy little grin* and i mean if youve got 27 wives you must be doing something right

lmao, the entire time i read chain of gold i was just *static* and have literally no recollection of it. no rereads we die like men

the fan interview was arguably the best part, they said everything that i wouldve wanted them to hear and it was so wonderful 🥺 we've come so far, im so glad we could all come together in some way to acknowledge each other's growth. and gods, abigail made it so peak, genuinely would not have worked the same without her 🥺 your hand in marriage? but yeah, the only way it wouldve been better is if dan edited it himself, and also they didnt use such white lights lol, phil was literally eyes and hair and dan had no features whatsoever

little tiny baby plants with googly eyes and TEETH. terrifying but theyre our children so yada yada unconditional love youre all beautiful in my eyes etc (i love you all)

im like 99% sure that was em! @curldisease 🔫 where is the fic?? 😤

omh i forgot about you burning down the venue 😭✋🏽 our photographer mustve had one hell of a time (and we'd get one hell of a photo album) lmaoo wait i threw your engagement ring at you bc i was gonna propose at the same time 😭 why are we such disasters??

😊🤗 *hugs you back* thank you 🥺 and yeah, thats exactly it i forgot about that line, but gods, it really does feel like that. i would rather be stabbed once than cut a thousand times, but i would MUCH rather not be hurt at all. the world sucks, but at least the majority of people in it dont. i love you too indi.

"lifes not written by becky albertalli" is somehow the funniest and also the most profound thing ive heard, like gods, i wish it was!! at least i'd know everything would be okay in the end! now im just floundering around hoping things go slightly along the lines of my plan. one day you'll find your people in real life and everything will be great, but at least for now you have online queer friends so hold you over <3 and me :)

i love you too, and you better know that <3

mwah! ily indi <3

[historyy]

The Oxbridge Applications Masterlist✨✨✨

I’ve had a ton of people both online and irl ask me for this, so here it is. I’m sorry its a month or so later than I initially promised but I’ve been pretty busy. This is basically a breakdown of the application process, some advice, and my experiences as an applicant for History and Politics to Oxford in 2018-19; because of that its pretty Oxford / humanities specific. I was lucky enough to have some great resources available at school but applying for Oxford was still daunting, so I wanted to demystify it and give some advice. Hopefully you find it helpful!

Personal Statement

How you write it: 

My main advice with the PS is to get started early, because Oxbridge is early entry so you’ll have months less time than your friends. Do a first draft of your personal statement in summer Y12. Mine was pretty much done by September and it made that early deadline much easier to reach.

Keeping a list of everything relevant you’re doing will be useful when you come to write the PS, as well as for developing your ideas for interview. My list was split into Books, Academic Papers, Extracts, Documentaries, Podcasts, Lectures / Online Lectures, Other Publications, Courses, Newspapers, and Extracurriculars. I also had a list of my particular interests related to my subject. 

It will need lots of editing, but thats what teachers, friends, and former applicants are for! I edited so many personal statements for people in my year, because they knew I was a writer and thus good at cutting words and finding shorter ways to express.

With your first draft, write big. Go way over the character count and put everything you want to in it, then cut. A few tips for cutting: 

Don’t waffle on about irrelevant anecdotes 

‘Such as’ ‘like’ ‘indeed’ ‘including’ are useful but overused 

Rearranging sentence structure can cut lots of characters and make your syntax snappier. E.g I interviewed a civil servant which showed me… versus Interviewing a civil servant showed me…  

Semicolons will save your life.

It will hurt, but kill your Oxford commas 

You don’t need to give each author / source a bio, assume the reader knows their stuff, and you don’t need to use full names / titles 

What you write in it:

With the PS, a catchy opening is vital; you need to show why you’re interested in your subject and why you’re the right choice. Mine was:

The 2015 Leaders’ Debate sparked my interest in politics and the language surrounding it, when I realised I was focussed both on what the debaters were saying and how they were saying it.

The best advice I got is to treat your PS like you’re narrating your journey with your subject. Start with why you got into your subject, show what you did following on from that sparked interest, then how you built on that action, and so forth. You might want to map this out before you start writing. An example might look like this (this isn’t mine, but assume its for HistPol):

Saw an exhibition on Renaissance artists - interested in social and political context of the art - researched Italian city states focussing in on famed patrons of the arts who were politically eminent  - read Machiavelli’s The Prince as is based on Cesare Borgia - interested in other theories of rule and governed/govt relations - read Locke and Hobbes to compare later theories and the development of these ideas - entered an essay competition about the development of the state citing Locke’s ideas on the social contract

Then you build on this journey, talking about your reading and research. Cite specific papers / books / articles you’ve read, and engage with them. Did you agree with everything they said? Or not? How do they link to other things you’ve read? For example, I wrote:

D’Ancona’s ‘Post-Truth’ with its discussion of disinformation and the collapse in trust also influenced me, though I disagreed with his assertion that the post-truth era only began five years ago (Orwell springs to mind).

Don’t just name drop books etc, actually engage with them, or you might as well not have read them.

In terms of what to include, Oxbridge don’t give a damn if you do Grade 5 piano or were the lead on your ballet show; you should focus your PS on the subject you’re applying for. When I mentioned extracurriculars it was in relation to the subject; I was editor of the school magazine, and I interviewed a senior civil servant on Brexit’s impact for it, increasing my understanding of current affairs and I gave a presentation on sexuality in the Weimar Republic at our LGBT society, exploring oft forgotten facets of history.  

I would suggest that only 10% of your PS should be about extracurriculars, and even those should be related to your subject, or linked to transferable skills.

You should end your PS with a brief concluding statement or paragraph which summarises why you want to study your subject.

Aptitude Tests 

I did the HAT so this is skewed towards that, but other tests are similar.

The aptitude tests are stressful but formulaic, so once you’ve worked out the formula and done as many practices as you can, you should be fine. You don’t need to get a high mark, only pass the benchmark to secure an interview, so it won’t be perfect. No one gets full marks; I think the benchmark for the HAT was 60% last year. 

My main advice on the tests is to go to all the sessions on them with your teachers that you can, and if your teachers don’t offer sessions ask them to hold some, or find a former applicant. Do lots of practices, starting not in timed conditions and work up doing them in time. Talk through your completed papers in detail with your teachers. If there are other applicants doing the same test, talk with them — orally write the essay together and bounce ideas off one another. 

Learn how to pull together an argument in a way which will grab the reader’s attention and show that you’re interested and engaged, and that you think outside the box and are different to the other candidates. For example in our HAT, the source was on a 16C woman’s relations with her servants, and I talked about her household as a microcosm of a class stratified and hierarchical society with moral expectations of servitude.

Basically, its an exam paper, treat it as such! 

Interview

The interview is, on the whole, more important than the PS. If you’re lucky enough to get one it means you’ve already done better than most people. I found the experience to be a mix of absolutely terrifying and weirdly enjoyable. 

I had two interviews, one for History and one for Politics, but you can be called to interview at other colleges. I know someone who had six…

The interview is basically like a tutorial will be if you get in, and there are different types (this is a bit humanities specific, sorry). You can get asked about your PS and reference, though this is rare. Extract interviews are common, for my Politics I was given an extract about citizenship. You can also get asked about your submitted work, as I was for History. 

In terms of prep, make sure you’re familiar with your submitted work and PS, as well as all the stuff you say you’ve done in your PS and your reference. You can get asked about any of it. Bring copies of these and your reading notes with you to interview so you’re familiar with them. Also look into some other key concepts of your subject, for example I looked at a lot of historiography, and in the interview talked about the concept of history as teleology and how I disagree with it. I think I was actually asked if I agreed with the Idea of Progress, having read on that a lot I felt equipped to answer it. 

Do as many practice interviews as you can. I got lucky as we had teachers who could do these, and I also did one at my sister’s school. However even if you don’t have that access, ask a friend, parent, teacher, a previous applicant, or even someone online. Even just talking about your subject helps. On the flip side of all this, don’t do so much prep your answers are stale and formulaic, you need to show you’re thinking on your feet. 

Both my interviews were only 20-25 minutes. My Politics interview was really chill, I had an hour reading time before in which I made notes on an extract and basically wrote a script for myself. The questions I was asked were actually given to me in this time so I had lots of material to work with. The man was really nice as well, and I enjoyed the experience. In contrast my History one was a disaster and I felt like I was being interrogated by the two women the whole time, though they were nice.

Don’t be scared if you screw up, in my History interview on my Tudors essay on Tudor parliamentary changes (which I’d been studying only 2 months), my interviewer was an expert on Tudor parliament, writing a book on the subject. This one question about groups of people represented strongly in parliament really threw me, and I went through three answers before I found the right one (lawyers). At another question I blanked for thirty seconds before speaking. I came out in tears and was certain I’d failed, but clearly I did okay…

General advice

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Go chat to that scary teacher who told you your essay was too journalistic and not historical enough and just because you want to be a journalist you can’t write like one in academia (personal experience? me?). Ask them for advice and just talk to them about the subject! 

Leading on to: JUST TALK ABOUT THE SUBJECT. Talking nonstop about History and Politics helped me know my interests inside out and it gave me a way to develop my speaking skills as well as my love for my subject.

Also, read. JSTOR is your bff for academic articles and Niche Stuff here, but you can find plenty of good books at libraries and shops. The A Very Short Introduction series is amazing for this, as they’re all really short and written by Oxbridge academics, I read tons of them. You can even just dip into longer books or collections of articles. 

Keep asking yourself And so? — take your ideas further. This was my History teacher’s advice for essays, but it works for PS, tests, interviews, and general critical thinking. 

For example in the HAT (I’m making up this example, it might have asked you what you could learn about social norms of a time from a source): You could say: The woman bosses her servants around but is subordinate to her husband so we can learn about gender and social roles. Or you could say: The woman commands her servants, yet remains servile to her husband, indicating the prevalence of hierarchical gender and class relations in the society of the time; her role as wife is clearly interlinked with her position as ‘head of the household’, which she is unpaid for. Viewing this through the lens of feminist theory, one can infer that an unequal sexual division of labour exists in this society, and women’s contributions to society are not appreciated, as when the husband ‘dismisses’ his wife. While her command of the servants shows she is elevated by her ‘great wealth’, her subordination to her husband suggests that a woman in this society was unable to further her position as easily as a man could. 

Don’t fret about choosing a college on the form, 1/3 of people (including me) get pooled. 

And finally, don’t set your heart on Oxbridge. They’re by no means the only good universities out there, and they’re not for everyone. If you’re not enjoying the research for the PS, or are finding the aptitude tests unbearable and the interview style uncomfortable, it might not be for you. But if you do decide to apply, good luck!✨

[a-mountain-girl]

alright it’s venting time because I think better when I write and I can’t find anyone irl who I could talk to about all of this.

But before I begin if someone could bring me a gigantic bar of chocolate (milk pls I’m so sick of dark chocolate that’s all “santa” gave me for Christmas like... did mom forget I don’t like dark chocolate?) or a pint of peanut butter, pistachio, or moose tracks ice cream that would help.

Like, I understand that this hasn’t been a bad day necessarily just a bad hour that has since spiraled into a several bad hours and I’m more upset about underlying issues than I am about what happened. So what happened? 

Well it all seems innocuous enough. I went to my senior capstone class and met my classmates (all of whom I know from other classes) and the professor (who I’ve taken a class from before, this is important). We talked about the syllabus and class structure and I exercised an admirable amount of self-control in not excusing myself to go scream in the snow. I really, really wanted to go do that. 

The problems are 1) This is the only professor I have ever given a bad rating and for good reason. I don’t want to spend too much time on this but at first I was thinking “this guy seems pretty chill if a bit annoying” and then when he was talking about his education and specialty I realized... this is That Professor. This is That Guy. This is the one I actually called a dick in the course evaluation. Because I took the required survey of american literature from colonialism to the civil war course from this guy; this was online which made things worse. Now this was supposed to be a LITERATURE course, a SURVEY of LITERATURE. His course design was literally 50% ART, another 30% was dense paragraphs about history (I’m ADHD I absolutely cannot get through gigantic blocks of dry, useless text within a reasonable time frame), another 20% was bits of literature and media that was not relevant to the time period because his big thing was “How are these things influenced or developed from early American literature and/or history?!” Like.... I DON’T KNOW BECAUSE WE HAVEN’T STUDIED IT DIPSHIT! Then to add to it his expectations were that C is Average bullshit like, you’re setting your students up for failure when you set it up like C is the grade you expect to give them and to get an A a student has to go above and beyond like no, if a student meets expectations they should get an A. You’re just an asshole. Then his expectations for regular coursework were buried on a completely different website and never repeated, they also didn’t make sense. They were not clear. And then his idea of “feedback” is to ramble for paragraphs on a tangent and NEVER TELL ME WHY TF HE GAVE ME THE GRADE HE DID! Feedback needs to include an explanation of what the student did right and wrong so they can improve in the future. His rambling along with the lack of clarity in instructions made it impossible to get good, much less consistent grades. I’d try to follow all the instructions, even put in extra effort and get excited and I’d get a poor grade on an assignment in spite of doing everything right according to his incomprehensible instructions and then I’d half-ass a discussion post, turn it in late, and get an A and three paragraphs of this guy rambling excitedly in the comments. Like, it was impossible to figure out what he actually wanted us to do and then I was already mad enough about the lack of focus on what the class was actually supposed to be about and all this led to me throwing in the towel and either half-assing everything or just skipping assignments because I couldn’t care anymore. I have no desire to study under this buffoon’s “guidance” again.

2) One of the classmates is Obnoxious Man, who I will point out isn’t even graduating this spring and therefore really doesn’t need to be in this class and I think he shouldn’t be. I’m uncomfortable enough with the professor but I would be willing to give him a second chance in light of his whole thing about it being “student-led” and it being easier to communicate in person. But Obnoxious Man makes this impossible. The professor wants us sharing and working together all semester. I am not comfortable sharing anything remotely personal such as a reading I find fascinating or working with this man. I will not be giving him any access to me outside of the classroom. He will not be getting my phone number or my email. His vibes are disgusting and I’ve been dealing with boys and men just like him since kindergarten. I don’t care if he hasn’t actually done anything to threaten me, based on previous experience I won’t even take a chance. The second to last guy like this spent weeks harassing me because he wanted me to date him, the last guy would steal my stuff and stalk me. I had to get the school equivalent to a restraining order which he still found every excuse to violate. I can’t do this but I also can’t just drop the class because I, unlike Obnoxious Man, have to graduate this spring. I thought I could tolerate him after last semester but there’s a big difference between having to put up with him in discussion-based classes during half of the week and him having access to me.

3) I was thrown by the actual expectations laid out in the syllabus. I thought I would be doing a whole new, intensive project. I had a great idea and was actually getting excited. Instead we’re supposed to do group projects (see above for issues with that) and a personal project which will be revising an old paper like... when I finish a class I am done. D O N E. I never want to see that crap again. I don’t think I even still have half of that material! There isn’t one of those papers that I want to look at, much less expand! And how is this really challenging? The professor, Mr. Dickhead, went on and on about how important revising is to critical writing yada yada yada but maybe I don’t care?! Maybe I’m only in this degree as preparation for grad school in a different area? I hate writing critical analysis 99% of the time. It’s like pulling teeth. That’s not a great metaphor because I’m now expected to drag all these papers I want to forget about back into the horrible light of day. And I don’t know if these expectations were invented by the department or by the professor so I don’t know who to be mad at or if I could possibly request some sort of independent project.

4) Because of this and some things said by other students in their introductions (all positive things btw) I started into a reactionary spiral of feeling inadequate, childish, stupid, helpless, etc. etc. Like, one of these classmates is a finalist for a Fullbright scholarship which apparently had to be applied to in October and I didn’t know any of this?! Like that stuff is important but nobody tells me things and I don’t know how people know about all these scholarships and awards and programs and stuff that is helpful. It’s hard enough just making it through the day and doing a mediocre job on my assignments. It took me months to get up the courage to ask professors for recommendations. Filling out graduate applications has been hell and I had to tell my advisor yesterday that she’s not finished with the recs because there’s on in her inbox she missed and I still have to submit one more application that I was feeling good about yesterday and now am about ready to give up on. And the writing center isn’t open and I don’t want to be a burden on my advisor and talk to her about any of these issues...

[geminijackdaw]

Fanfic Author Asks

Tagged by @bereft-of-frogs​! 

I... have a really hard time being positive about my own writing, but I tried OTL 

Author Name: I’m KiwiMeringue pretty much everywhere! I might change it to this one sometime? But I’ve changed it before and I don’t want to keep like, switching all the time OTL I should probably just have called it like KiwiWrites or something, but the thing about this username is I just thought it was cute and unintentionally led a bunch of people to assume I was from New Zealand which is patently false advertising and very disappointing when it turns out I’m Canadian xD; 

Fandoms you Write for: I’ve got stories published for the MCU, and Naruto!  Uhhh I’m blanking on things I’m famiiliar enough with to write for but there are a bunch? Critical role, the adventure zone, Good omens, netflix she-ra., maybe? Homestuck, but more @mr-alice and I’s fantrolls and kids, who still have a huge place in my heart, more than canon.  

Where you post: I’m kiwimeringue on AO3 and FF.net, and then any like small prompt fills I’d probably leave here, 

Most Popular One-shot: Hands down, it’s Therapy Dog.  In which a young Hatake Kakashi deals with grief, survivor’s guilt, or PTSD by acquiring an irresponsible number of dogs. (Disclaimer: this does not work irl if you’re not a magic dog whisperer with a large property out of town) 

Favourite Story You Wrote:  This is as far as I got and this has been sitting in my drafts for days because I really, really struggle with this. I have a hard time being proud of anything I write. I guess it’s Therapy dog, becuase it’s definitely the one that’s resonated best with people, and probably my best example of “Look, I wrote a fanfic!” without having to qualify it with a bunch of asterisks. 

I have given myself a self-imposed deadline of from October 1st to halloween to finish a prompt that I got from @portraitoftheoddity​ in her discord server, (it’s not SUPER spooky, but it’s tenuously thematically appropriate enough that I’m making it my project for the month xD) if I can pull this off, it will be this one. It should be fun. 

Story You Were Nervous to Post: ALL OF THEM. Time I had some Time Alone (TIHSTA) is like a self-indulgent au of a self indulgent au, and I;m amazed anyone enjoyed it xD It got more of a response that Undying Fidelity (UF), the fic from which is is derived, did, for a while, which surprised me. I sort of what to qualify that I started this before I found the incredible corner of the MCU writer’s fandom that I currently frequent, so uh... this is very much Disney Grandmaster. This is Jeff Goldblum in space. Which is what I’m comfortable writing, but feels really pale and inconsequential in contrast to the horrifically vivid and rich dark carnival of twisted Grandmaster fan content that exists, like welcome to fucking weenie hut Jr’s, population: me. 

How Do You Pick Your Titles: With great difficulty and much waffling! Kintsugi is named for thematic relevance that... I haven’t actually gotten to yet but it’s about to become stupid literal anyone who read version 1.0 knows how I mean this. But the idea of things history, and damage being inextricably linked to them, but that the thing can go on anyway, changed but not ruined, there’s recurring imagery and points of fault lines, places where things have been weakened, but that these are important and necessary. 

I don’t feel like I have to explain Therapy Dog xD it’s about coping with grief... with dogs. 

Undying Fidelity is like, painfully obvious, but it’s what I had started calling it, and it just. stuck. Obviously from Loki’s like... second last line in IW, and Sigyn’s title in the Marvel Comics. I’m kind of wishing I’d chosen something else, because there are definitely other fics with the same title, and it’s the name of a song from the IW soundtrack that is... less than fun. For obvious reason. I mean it’s perfect for what it was used for, but it’s not a “ahhh gonna pop this one on for a listen” kind of piece. I still can’t think of anything better, though we’re kind of in a weird place because I don’t quite have all the cards on the table, yet. On Loki’s end though,I’m hoping that I’ve sufficiently established this like... tenuous vestigial little flicker of affection that he’s been able to more or less ignore, but that simply would not go out, despite how much easier that would have been, that’s been given a little room to breathe now. (I could definitely go on trying to justify this for paragraphs, so I’ll stop now xD). Thematic chapter naming is another thing I love to inflict on myself and I always regret it, though I love it so much when other people do it, ahhh. UF’s chapters are all named after cards of the Major Arcana in the Tarot. I’m going to get to one eventually and you’re all going to see why I did this, and you’re all going to hate me and I deserve it xD 

Time I Had Some Time Alone is the thing that’s repeated at the end of REM’s :”It’s the end of the world as we know it” and does sort of describe our reluctant hero’s state at the beginning xD Thriving in his completely self centered backstabbing Littlefinger party hellscape. (I went off on a huge tangent here that I have removed, I may make it its own post). Anyway, more thematic chapter naming, everything’s based on some apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic story. So 21 Days later (since for Loki it felt like three weeks) instead of 28, and chapter two is now titled “beyond thunderdome” because of course it is. (it was “the man come around” for like, THE ARRIVAL OF DEATH  but that uh... that’s going to be a later chapter now). 

Fic-in-planning stages will be called some variant of “Again, from the Top”? Take it from the top? ugh I’m trying to evoke like... redoing a scene. 

There was also Errant, my NaNoWriMo story from like 2012 or something? xD It was about a bunch of idiots that were basically an RPG party in a shitty High fantasy bullshit setting. So like, as in, “a knight errant” wandering in search of adventure, but also in the sense of like like... they’re a bunch of dumbasses making mistakes. 

Do you Outline: Yes! I definitely need to be more organized about it because my outlines are like these stupid irreverent event sequences that involve me remembering nuance way too well. Like for Kintsugi especially I’m scared I’ll have forgotten important minutia that I didn’t bother including becauyse oh pfft, of course I’ll remember that. And then I ...dont. My initial outlines for UF were an excel spreadsheet with scenes in various tiem periods that I dragged and dropped all over the place xD It was SUPPOSED to be thematically relevant paired scenes, with one part of each chapter being zset in the past and one half on the statesman and it just... did not work out that way. 

How Many of Your Stories are complete: One! And it’s the one-shot! FML!

In-Progress:  Undying Fidelity: Currently working on chapter 10 out of 22 TIHSTA: 2 out of... probably 4+ epilogue? Kintsugi: 13/Mayyybe like 30 something?

Coming Soon: From the Top is in its planning stages~! 

Do You Accept Prompts: Absolutely! I can’t guarantee that a prompt is going to like... spark writing? in me? But I’m always open to the idea. And that doesn’t mean that an idea is bad or anything! Just like, can I, personally, take this idea and run with it somewhere. 

Upcoming Story You’re the Most Excited For: Probably from the top, though I am two chapters out from part of of UF I am reeeeeally looking forward to writing :D 

Tag Five Fanfic Authors to Answer These Questions: I don’t know who’s been tagged already, I’m so bad at this, so uhh~ If you have been already, or if you just don’t feel like it, please disregard this! And if I don’t tag you but you feel like it, go for it!  @teleris-night @malicemanaged @cosmicmewtwo @not-so-terrible and @ramblingredrose 

[erhiem]

Until a few weeks ago, Jordyn Dalah didn’t have to deal with any of the hurdles that most of the budding designers we’ve talked to have gotten married in the past 18 months: production drama; Has to do without in-person fittings; Dealing with everything from pattern cutters to printmakers on Zoom. “I think my experience has been very different to that of a lot of designers in the UK, for example,” he reflects on Zoom from his home in Sydney, Australia, a city he recently passed by. More or less entirely through the pandemic. “We are actually in lockdown right now, but we are not there for most of the entire COVID period. I’ve felt really lucky to be able to go into my studio, and the producers I work with in Sydney haven’t really taken off at all. ”

Jordan has made good use of his advantage. His SS22 collection was his most comprehensive collection to date, with 43 looks, cementing his reputation as one of the most playful silhouette innovators of his generation. What’s more, it was presented on the IRL stage that the commanding clothes she created are worthy – an all-out runway show in the opening slot of Australian Fashion Week, with a live audience, a cast including Georgia Fowler and Eveng Chuol. And everyone was involved.

It was a change for the Central Saint Martins alum, which traveled to showrooms in Paris and Milan last season. Take a look at the dramatic, inflated forms of his work too – scarlet leather coats and satin shift dresses, with hawking, flared flared shoulders, stuffed hoop hems – and you can understand why these demands To be seen in motion on the catwalk. “What I call the silhouette I love the most is ‘wimpy bottoms,'” Jordan says, “it’s no doubt raising the eyebrows of the filthy psyche among you.” “It’s a really top-heavy shape, with a puffy bodice and a really thin stocking-y kind of bottom. It looks a bit like what Tudor men would wear,” in part, evoking Holbein’s famous portrait of Henry VIII. doing. However, this does not mean that these are clothes that are associated with history. “I think it’s really relevant to the way a woman would dress now,” says the designer, “and in my work, it often translates to something like a mini bodice dress with a distorted sleeve. ”

We’ll admit that, at first glance, Jordyn’s clothes might seem a little flashy. Seen on the runway, some of the more eccentric looks—particularly those donned with a bulbous donut bustle at the hip—can seem like the sort of thing that it takes a particularly daring personality to pull off. “I find it difficult for people to digest my work,” he says. “People think I love what I do, but they often see it as this dramatic act of self-expression rather than serious fashion. It bothers me because, yes, it’s totally expressive.” But it’s not intended as ‘wacky clothing’. For me, it’s as strong as ready-to-wear.”

Sure, these may be clothing infused with the spirit of performance, but there is no compromise when it comes to their wearability or the quality of their construction. Those busty dresses, for example, are far more versatile than they appear on the runway—their fluffed forms can be easily removed to reveal free-form, flaky drapes. “Sure, the voluminous proportions of some pieces are sometimes very dress-y, but the styling emphasizes that,” he says. “It’s up to the wearer how they want to wear it, really.” Among the 43 looks she’s shown on the runway, there’s no shortage of more immediately ‘accessible’ silhouettes—a merino jersey top, and button-down smock dress with cropped puffball sleeves, for example.

While there are faded historical motifs and the space and attention that certainly commands it, can lead audiences to view his work as costume. As we’ve seen throughout fashion history, however, in the cases of designers from Rei Kawakubo to John Galliano to Gareth Pugh, the line dividing the two disciplines has always been blurry. “People ask if it’s a ready to wear or dress, and for me, it sits in the middle,” Jordan says. “When you watch a play, for example, the pieces are always a little exaggerated, and the characters are often created through their costumes to be enhanced versions of what they would be in real life. If this one The man has a coat, for example, the shoulders are brought forward and the stitching really accentuates. For me, it’s about keeping those kinds of details ready-to-wear.”

In bringing this conscious-yet-subtle performance spirit to fashion, Jordan’s work provides a welcome reminder that taking fashion seriously doesn’t have to be completely cool; It’s not just about a perfect cropped leather bomber or pair of selvage denim jeans. Flair, pomp and — in careful measure — comedy are all part of what attracted so many of us in the first place, and the ability that allows for the expression of exaggerated versions of ourselves is one of fashion’s most powerful, One of the liberation is the symptom. To paraphrase Jacques in Shakespeare as you like ItIf the whole world is a stage, and we are only players, then the dress is certainly in its best fashion.

credit

photography donny vandevelde Image courtesy of Jordan Dalah

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The post Jordan Dalah is the Australian designer warping the body with radical silhouettes appeared first on Spicy Celebrity News.

[fantasiavii]

I feel like Akielos, at the least, almost hedges on an oligarchy? They stress how important the Kyroi are, so I mean. Maybe their politics are a bit more complicated. Vere could be considered one too, considering the council, but while it was kinda stressed how important Kyroi support was, I get the vibe that the Council are really just glorified advisors with no real pull.

Yeah you’re right!! I def feel like Vere is more of an absolute monarchy than Akielos (which would make sense if it’s based off France/I think there was some inspo from the Byzantine empire (architecturally)??? Idk I remember something like that on the original website).  I definitely think there was a high risk of Akielos breaking apart if the king couldn’t gain the loyalty of all the Kyroi.  And I agree about the Council.  I feel like kings always have councils but that doesn’t necessarily translate to political power, it would depend on the king (as in, how easily he can be lead) or the institutional power distribution in the gov and as there seem to be no constitutional checks on the king’s power in Vere (unlike the Kyroi in Akielos which could arguably be a check on the king’s power), I don’t think the Council in Vere has much power.  But like…do either of them actually have written constitutions is still a question (I mean not that it was relevant/necessary for the books but I wonder about these things).

Anyway I probably think about this too much haha bc I study religion and poli sci and in monarchies those two are usually closely related but not in capri which is super interesting! But I also wonder if Pacat avoided creating a fictional religion(s) so she didn’t have to deal with its views on same sex relations, prostitution, and slavery and then she could make those things all cultural, you know, to make things a little easier which I’m fine with.

Also when I first read capri I did have a mini-crisis about one of my favorite trilogies of all time being about monarchies and kings because I really hate monarchy irl (like…I mostly did just on default bc I was raised in the US and you know we love our democracy here (crying) and I also adore Les Mis which made me more serious about it and then after taking a French Revolution history class last semester I’m really serious about it) but you know what fiction is fiction and I’m allowed to love my fictional kings.

[avechonneur-blog]

i’m pulling out some of the bits from my last headcanon post which are more generally relevant to all chevaliers, just as a sort of meta or reference for anyone who might like it, or want to reblog it for reference, or whatever else!

so basically, it seems likely that the reason only nobles are supposed to be to be chevaliers is that only nobles are wealthy enough to own good horses, and thus would have originally been the only ones “eligible” based solely on the fact that they had horses and the leisure time to train those horses and learn to ride them. that’s likely been twisted and changed over the years, of course, into something more like “only nobles are good enough or worthy enough to be chevaliers,” because, well. orlais.

this theory is at least somewhat supported by irl history; I won’t bother piling too many references on you for this, but I do have them. here’s one very relevant paragraph, from Science and Technology in Medieval European Life:

“While the majority of medieval people walked, the wealthiest rode horses. A horse cost as much as two simple peasant wattle-and-daub homes and large warhorses even more than that…. At the highest level of society, the horse was an obvious display of wealth and signaled its owner’s military action as a mounted knight. An armored knight and horse were an imposing battlefield tool, and the combination has been described as a “moving castle.” Although horse ownership was a crucial ticket of entry into the aristocracy, how one handled one’s horse was just as important as the possession of one. The long hours needed to become a proficient horseman meant that one had to be free from other duties of life, such as farming.”

so your average chevalier will know a lot about horses – riding them, handling them, tending to them, etc; and they will be expert riders. they’re also trained to ride warhorses, which is very different from just riding for daily transportation; fighting from horseback is a skill in and of itself, and not an easy one to learn. in addition, all chevaliers would be trained to be able to tend to their own horse and tack, even if usually a page or stablehand does it for them. a knight’s horse is one of their greatest weapons, and just like they’d know how to tend to their sword and armor, they know how to tend to their horse.

all chevaliers would own at least one horse. in many cases, this would be a courser, which is a highly trained variety of warhorse also used in hunting. they’re less expensive than the larger and heavier destriers, and thus likely to be more common. but the wealthier chevaliers would certainly have destriers in addition to coursers, of course. and some chevaliers might also keep palfreys, which are casual riding horses not suitable for battle.