#section: book transcripts

[the-weaving-cryptid]

"There's an age-old superstition that a cat is conjuring up a rainstorm when it washes its face. So what did the mountaineer do? He got it to wash its face! Usually a glob of bacon grease, butter, or ice cream was smudged on a cat's nose or cheek for them to wash off. They'd get the cat to wash its face at least three times that day, and it's said rain would come three days after."

- Jake Richards, "Backwoods Witchcraft"

[nimata-beroya]

Note: Since my old masterlist is getting notes again (and I'm hosting @tbb-appreciation-week this year), I thought it's a good time to release a new version with a lot more resources. If any of you know another site or thing that it's missing from the list, let me know and I'll include it!! [Altho, I'm getting this close 🤏 to the hyperlinks limit on this thing 😆]

Note 2: To avoid tagging the 3 people from whom I got multiple resources repeatedly, I've placed 1-3 asterisks between square brackets after the links, depending on the OP. I give the respective credit to them in a legend at the end of the post.

PLACES / TIME

Interactive Galaxy Map by Henry Bernberg

Map of the Galaxy

List of planets and moons [Wikipedia /needs expanding]

Planet Name Generator 1 [SciFi Ideas]

Planetary System Generator [Donjon]

Tatooine Location References [*]

Various locations Cross-Sections (Jedi Temple, Palp's office, Tipoca City & more) [**]

Republic - Separatist - Hutt space during the Clone Wars

Hyperspace Travel Times (to calculate how much time would take to go from point A to point B within the GFFA)

Standard Calendar and Holidays [including month names!]

Galactic Standard Calendar [wookiepedia // including week day names]

Date converter according to SWTOR [Google sheet]

Dated Star Wars Chronological Order (Movies + live-action shows + animation)

TCW Chronological Timeline by @mauvrix

Estimated date for: shared by @spectres-fulcrum

Partisans' attack on Onderon

Siege of Lasan

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

General

Star Wars Name Generator 1 [Donjon]

Star Wars OC flow chart by @thefoodwiththedood

Star Wars Name Generator 2 [FantasyNames]

Star Wars Name Generator 3 [FantasyNames]

MetaHuman [Unreal Engine]

The character creator

Droid Name Generator

Star Wars Randomizer by @aureutr

Character Picrew [Twi-leks, Zabraks, Torgutas and Nautolans] @/megaramikaeli

Jedi

Taking a Closer Look at the Jedi Order in Star Wars Canon [Meta/Reference Guide] [**]

Jedi Order Structure Flowchart by @rileys-nest

Mandalorians

Mandalorian Armor design by MandoCreator

Keepers of the Way (Mandalorian Lore) [*]

Clones

Complete List Of Named Clone Troopers shared by @propheticfire (Organized by Unit)

Clone Creator [MandoCreator]

Clone Picrew

Star Wars Character Templates by SmacksArt [the ULTIMATE battery of template for any human/humanoid original character in any era. From troopers to droids, from Jedi to Sith, from KOTOR to the sequel Trilogy. 100% RECOMMENDED]

Basic Guide to Clone Trooper Armour by @odekiisu

GAR structure summary by @intermundia

The Clone Wars Republic Military Hierarchy Flowcharts [***]

Clone Trooper Lore [*] [Ranks, Culture, Training, Organization, etc.]

Clones and Kamino [*]

The Bad Batch Characters Concept Art shared by @shadowthestoryteller

MISCELLANEOUS

Star Wars Character Age Comparison Chart by @the-yearning-astronaut

Tusken Raiders lore by @snarwor

Materials (fabrics, leathers, silks, plastics, construction, metal composites, etc.)

Materials in Star Wars by marvel_dc_heart_throbs

Star Wars Fashion [*]

Leisure, Art, Musical Instruments, Ethnography [*]

Political and Criminal Organizations in the GFFA [**]

Financial reference about credits by @thecoffeelorian

List of TCW Opening Quotes

Transcripts of all the TCW episodes shared by @book-of-baba-fett

Star Wars Crawl Creator [not exactly writing-related, but just for fun]

HEALTH AND MEDICINE

Canon Medical Lore [*]

Real World reference for Field organizational structure for corpsman (medics) [*]

Kaliida Shoals Medical Center (Republic Haven-class medical station) shared by @clonewarsarchives

GAR Battalion Aid Station [*]

GAR Clone Medic Q/A [*]

More combat medicine, shipboard medicine, veteran issues, and military culture [*]

SHIPS AND VEHICLES

Ship Generator 3D

Ship Name Generator

All Terrain Tactical Enforcer (AT-TE) shared by @stairset

Republic Vessels Reference [*]

Low Altitude Assault Transport/Infantry (LAAT/i) [*]

List of GAR Flagships in the Clone Wars by @meandmyechoes

Layout of the Havoc Marauder

Dimensions of various ships from the Clone Wars [**]

FOOD AND DRINKS

Star Wars Menu Generator

In-Universe Alcoholic beverages

Canon Cocktails (recipes) [*]

Another In-Universe Drinks list shared by @systemic-dreams

Teas in Star Wars by marvel_dc_heart_throbs

Foodstuff [*]

Canon Star Wars Holiday Recipes [*]

Trask Chowder Recipe (from The Mandalorian) [*]

LANGUAGES; PHRASES AND SLANG; VOCABULARY

Languages of the Galaxy [*]

Script of different languages in the GFFA by @lucif-hare-blog

In-Universe phrases and slang [Google sheet]

List of phrases and slang [wookiepedia]

List of equivalents to real-world objects [wookiepidia]

Talk Like a Clone Trooper shared by @archeo-starwars

Aurebesh Translator [Aurebesh.org]

Learning Aurebesh Tools [Aurebesh.org] Reading - Writing.

Mando'a Database [Mando.org]

Mando'a Transcripticon [MandoCreator] (Create your own text in the Mando'a script.)

@project-shereshoy (Blog that collects and posts sources for Mando'a from all over the internet.)

Mando’a Categorized Spreadsheet

Learning Mando'a Tools [MandoCreator] Reading - Writing.

Setting Thesaurus Entry: Spaceport [Writers helping writers]

Fan-created Conlangs

@dai-bendu-conlang (Jedi Culture Explored) (This blog is the home of the Dai Bendu Conlang, invented by the Archive of Our Own Users aroacejoot, @ghostwriterofthemachine, and loosingletters for the Jedi Order in Star Wars.)

Lasana Lexicon by Anath_Tsurugi (fandom lexicon of the Lasat Language)

HELPFUL BLOGS & SITES

The amazing @fox-trot, who not only makes astonishing art and write an amazing fic, she also responds to medical questions and gives all kinds of references for writing medic characters. Check her #medicposting tag and you'll find tons of information. Also check #star wars reference and her art tag while you're at it.

@writebetterstarwars, which seems to be inactive, but there are a bunch of references there.

@howtofightwrite The place to find out how to write a good fight scene.

@scriptmedic no longer active, but it has a great deal of useful information.

@scripttorture for your whump needs. Major trigger warning for all its content.

@sw-anthrobiology A blog dedicated to collecting headcanons about the biology and cultures of Star Wars species.

@archeo-starwars In-universe sources on culture and history.

@clonewarsarchives Resources & Concept Art Blog for The Clone Wars animated series.

Wookiepedia If you don't find something in here, it's probably because it doesn't exist, neither as a canon nor legends reference.

Star Wars Databank: The official Star Wars website's reference guide. All canon.

WRITING IN GENERAL (For those who don't want to die like Stormtroopers)

SlickWrite: Completely free; online. Checks grammar, punctuation, flow, and writing style according to different settings (including fiction writing).

ProWritingAid: [RECOMMENDED] One of the most thorough online proofreader I've ever used. Although when using a free account gives extremely thorough feedback, with +20 different in-depth reports, for only the first 500 words. However, you can earn a premium account license (for a year or for life) if you get 10 or 20 new users signing up for free; (if you wouldn't mind doing so using the link above and help me earn mine, please). The settings allow you to check your writing according to your needs, from general to formal to creative. It has a bonus that you can check depending on the genre you're writing. For example, in creative, you can choose romance or sci-fiction (there are 14 sub-genre in total). And just like google docs, you can share a document, and people can view, comment or edit it too.

LanguageTool: [RECOMMENDED] Another excellent proofreader. It also has a word limit in free accounts, but if you use the add-on for Google Docs, it counts each page as a new document, so hitting the word limit is nearly impossible. It helps you to rewrite a sentence (3 a day), even if it doesn't raise any flags; it's very useful for when your sentence is grammatically correct, but it doesn't feel quite right.

Grammarly, Hemingway Editor: No so great, but they do the basic job.

Legend

[*] Shared by @fox-trot [**] Shared by @gffa [***] Shared by @cacodaemonia.

[yuurei20]

Summarized transcript of the Twisted Radio episode with Scarabia (plus Ace) voice actors!! 🥳 (all is just paraphrased, not direct quotes, and Book 7 spoilers removed!)

Highlights: ・They sound so much like their characters when they talk. ・Kalim's VA does kickboxing and jujitsu ・Jamil's VA will style his own hair when he goes to hair salons ・Cater and Ace's VAs were able to record together for Book 7 Chapter 12, which is rare

Ace’s VA Yamashita (❤️) is the host, opens by asking if Jamil’s Futaba (🐍) and Kalim’s Furuta (🦦) haven’t been together for Twst for a while.

🦦 confirms, saying that they do all their recordings separately. They talk about how 🐍 and 🦦 have both appeared separately on Twst Radio.

Opening Talk: Something that has happened since 2025 began. 

They say it has only been two weeks (as of time of recording) so there hasn’t been time for anything to have happened, so they change the question to anything that went on around the end of the year or new year’s resolutions.

🦦’s story is on January 2nd he went to Enoshima and saw a matching keychain to a dragon sword keychain that he already has. And he wanted to get it, but then he didn’t. And that is the story ww

🐍 says he had a job at the start of the year where he had to appear somewhere as a guest. He met a senpai from a musical he’d been in before but when they started talking he realized that the senpai didn’t know anything about him (he knew he was a twin but thought he was the older brother, thought he was from Shizuoka even though he has a strong Kansai accent, etc.). And that was his story, a strange conversation with a senpai.

❤️ says he went for an overnight stay to a place with an onsen where also a friend lives, and his friend’s house is an inn. He didn’t stay at the inn but they prepared a special crab cuisine for him. He said it felt awkward going over to a friend’s house and meeting with their parents and everything as an adult.

Fan Letter 1 (there are two)

The letter says they have been playing Twst since 16 years old just the same age as Ace and Deuce and they want to know if the cast also has things that they have been continuing for years.

🦦 says he has been doing martial arts since he was 3. He did karate until graduating from middle school, and has been doing boxing as an adult. He does kickboxing and jujitsu now.

🐍 says his mother gave him a hair straightener when he was in middle school and he has been straightening his hair ever since. He thinks he is really good at it now. When he goes to hair salons for hair cuts he will ask to borrow the straightener from the hair stylist and style his own hair for himself.

❤️ says he was in track and field in middle school. He is good at marathons, he likes them. He loves running.

🐍 says he used to play baseball in school and hated running.

Fan Letter 2

The letter says they have been playing since 6 months after the game’s release and they were surprised by Book 5 with the singing, and how Jamil sang so well. They want to ask 🦦 and 🐍 about singing for the game.

🦦 “Kalim did not pass the audition for main vocals 😒” www

❤️ says he was nervous about being able to keep up with 🤖 and 🦦 for RAVE-UP! UP! and he heard 🦦 ’s recording of the song before he recorded and was very impressed.

🦦 says he imagined that he was singing to an audience of 2,000 people.

🐍 says he had to be careful to remember Jamil’s calmer demeanor when singing and keep a calmer tone. He struggled with the English pronunciation of the lyrics for “This is Halloween.”

🦦 tried to say the name of the next section together with 🐍 but 🐍 had the wrong page of his script open and panicked ww

Now they are going to talk about their impressions of their characters and about portraying them and the characters in the main story.

🦦 says his first impression of Kalim was of someone who has a bright personality and his high energy, but now he recognizes how he is able to draw people to him and his big heart and his elegance. He has to be careful so as not to portray Kalim as a bright character only, who doesn’t have anything else going on.

🐍 says that his first impression of Jamil was someone with a complicated personality, considering his situation. He thinks that Jamil’s growth is one of the great things about the character as he interacts with other NRC characters and learns. 

Recently Jamil has become a more comical character, which 🐍 did not see coming at all. The way he interacts with the other characters and the prefect is changing a lot, and he has to be conscious of all that when portraying Jamil.

🦦 says that Kalim’s brightness is what makes him unique. There are times when actors want to insert a bit of their own personality into a character, but he thinks it’s important that he doesn’t do that, which emphasizes Kalim’s personal individuality. He doesn’t want to add unnecessary flair just for his own ego and risk compromising Kalim as a character.

🐍 says that he did the famous DOKKAN part of Book 4 (localized as “Whoopee” on EN) in one take. They mention Jamil’s growth in Book 6. 

Now goes into conversation of non-EN content, removed from this post for spoilers~

And review of the schedule~

NRC Exam, Chapter 12 (2/3) on JP, Trey’s Book 7 card, Cater’s birthday campaign, Lantern of Wishes event, Azul birthday campaign~

❤️ says that he and Cater’s VA Kobayashi Tatsuyuki (🔸) actually recorded together for Book 7-12 (2/3), so they got to discuss together all the depth of what is going on in the story. 

🦦 says he enjoyed recording the episode and he wants to come back sooner than a year and a half, like last time.

🐍 says he is glad that they were able to discuss Kalim and Jamil together in depth.

The Opening Talk topic they set for next time is: What do you buy when you travel?

🐍 says he got a wooden sword once when he was in elementary school and his mother was not impressed and took it away from him. 

🦦 says he wants more companions for his dragon sword keychain.

[adieutristana]

Could you write something about Jinx helping Reader study for her university entrance exam?

of course! thank you for the request <3

idk if this is something you’re actually going through but i wish you luck with your exams! :)

summary; jinx ‘helping’ her girlfriend study for her college entrance exams. she's got a unique way of helping.

characters included; jinx

tags/warnings; fluff, very lighthearted all around, r is applying for piltover’s academy, r is a top student, author doesn’t understand calc, r is in high school (18)

men dni.

"come on," she grumbles. "this is booooooring."

"i didn't say it would be fun."

pen scratching against paper and grunts of frustration are the only other noises present. you'd already gone through several workbooks and practice exams, mostly on the literary portion of the test. now, you're at the math and science section- and you know you're fucked.

you've been a top student your entire high school career. you studied diligently, took extra credit on every exam, stayed for school fundraising events, led clubs, even gotten involved in volunteer and charity work so your transcripts would stand out that little bit. the only thing you hadn't done was student government.

the academy was your top choice, your only choice since you were a kid. every boring homework assignment, every group project, every night spent volunteering was completed with the promise of the academy in mind. you knew entrance exams would be difficult, you knew that the academy very rarely admitted students from the undercity. but a part of you was convinced that you were the exception. your merits could charm the admissions officers.

so here you are, hunched over a table with stacks of textbooks beside you, scattered papers, empty pens, and a girlfriend who seems to want to do anything but study. transcendental functions. you'd never fully grasped it in class, but now you wish you'd studied harder. your teacher told you it wouldn't be on your midterm that year, so you didn't bother. stupid, stupid.

you barely understood the trigonometric functions, and now you're supposed to solve these during a timed exam? one that decides your path for the next four years?

"what's all this?" jinx asks, lazily toying with the edges of one of the pages. you've splayed out your workbook, scribbles in various colors around the words. highlighter and drawings of each model described.

"transcendental functions."

"huh?"

"transcendental functions."

an exaggerated huff escapes your girlfriend. she rolls her eyes and places her hands back on the edge of the table, peering over your shoulder at the words on the pages.

"i heard you. just dunno what the hell that means."

"i don't either, really." the pen falls from your grasp and onto the paper, but you don't stop to pick it back up. you've been at this for hours, and you're now at a standstill. a standstill. something so rare for you, that you don't know what to do when you're in the middle of one.

jinx seems to notice, at least. she leans back a little in her chair to look over the book, a bit more carefully now. rosy eyes skim over the words and equations, her nose scrunching. you'd think it was adorable if you didn't feel so damn defeated.

"let me look... i might know somethin'." jinx mutters, maybe more to herself than you.

the girl didn't exactly have a formal education. next to nobody in zaun did. you were one of the fortunate few who got the opportunity to go to school, and to do it long enough to graduate and have a chance to go to university.

still, jinx is a right genius. she'd figured out how to use hextech by herself before it was even established in piltover. she'd built several weapons without any outside help, she's unintentionally started a mini-revolution with her ideas. she'd invented several new contraptions out of pure boredom.

maybe jinx would see something that you're not.

dark brows knit together, and her eyes continue scanning over the pages. she makes little 'hmm' noises when she takes the time to really absorb the information on the pages. your heart is beating rapidly in your chest, and your eyes are fixed on the girl beside you. you trust her judgement and confidence, but there's a sliver of doubt. and you hate doubting jinx.

"right! so," jinx pipes, flipping back to the page you started on. "it says that you can't use algebra to solve for these... no addition or subtraction, yadda yadda."

a few notes of her own are scribbled down beside one of the models. she turns back to you, pursing her lips. "and they're used for growth and decay. you understand all that stuff?"

"kind of," you huff. you understand it in the context of algebra, but this doesn't use algebra.

"well, i don't- so we'll skip that part. but i'll try and help anyways." jinx has an amused lilt to her voice, almost as if this study session couldn't be the key to your future. "babe, this is serious."

jinx drums her fingertips on the open book. shaking her head in that way she does, so self-assured. ever the ego, jinx has.

"i know it is, toots! you've only told me a million times how important this is, that it could 'secure your spot in the freshman class' n' all that. but relax, okay? you're not gonna get a damn thing done if you're all... wound up."

your lips press together into a thin line. while jinx usually isn't the most rational person, she's right this time. maybe you are stressing a bit too much. you try to unclench your jaw and let your shoulders relax, a habit you've fallen victim to way too many times.

"you're just gonna worry yourself sick. no point in that." she mutters. jinx drives her words home with a little smack of her lips against your temple, and turns back to the textbook. "yeah.. you're right."

"i don't understand most of this, honestly," she says. though the girl leans against your shoulder, twin braids splaying out, and lets out an exaggerated hum. "but you're smart. you'll figure it out... nerd."

"shut up." you grumble. this only elicits another chortle from jinx, and she pokes you in the side.

"that tickles! stoooop!"

"nope!"

a few more minutes of jinx tickling you, peppering kisses across your face- and you're left breathless. spent. but you're much more relaxed than you had started out, and that's gotta count for something, right?

"alright, let's get back to studying," you sigh, and jinx rolls her eyes dramatically. but there's no actual annoyance to her, only fondness. she's always admired your dedication, even if she makes fun of you for the all-nighters you pull preparing for exams. even if she calls you a nerd and places herself in your lap while you're trying to do required reading for class. even if she turns your head and steals quick kisses from you while you type away, telling you that you're just so cute when you're concentrated.

looking over the words on the page again, it comes as a surprise that the words make a little more sense to you now. the models still look foreign, and the formulas are something you don't even want to think about, but you can at least make out the basic gist of these functions.

it isn't ideal, but it's a start.

"huh. it's making a little more sense now," jinx perks up at this, and lightly elbows your arm. "see? i told you that you'd figure it out! just had to relax a lil'."

you shake your head in amusement at the words, and nod. you pick your pen back up, and start jotting down your own notes on the sides of the pages.

"yeah, just had to relax a little. who would've thought?"

[slowd1ving]

Hello can u write a Dokja x Medusa!male!reader please

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR GORGON ゜゜・KIM DOKJA

'You listening, Dokja? Maybe if you followed the guides for dealing with intelligent species like this one, you wouldn't be in such a stupid mess.' yall think aegis can be used as a different sort of barrier?!?! sorry anon this is less mythology centric than i planned icl art by @ 1L9l2Aa8UCL0IGJ (blackbox) on x! pairing: kim dokja + male reader warnings: canon typical danger, mentions of self-sacrifice wc: 2.9k

ORV MASTERLIST

MASTERLIST ・゜・NAVIGATION

There exist several unspoken rules when interacting with the particularly volatile species integrated onto Planetary System 8612. Most ‘monsters’ are unable to effectively communicate with the main intelligent species in the domes, thus are doomed for imminent slaughter. However, exceptions like the catalyst behind these reports must be treated with particular regard. 

Guidelines will serve you well in the coming days, reader. If you’ve accessed these reports, it probably means the days are bleak and you’ve encountered one of these species. One thing is for certain; if you are reading this, you will survive your encounter with a gorgon. 

< Observation log, section 1 > (Relative Earth time 21/◼◼/20◼◼)TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDING

‘Rule number one: if possible, do not engage with a gorgon. Though, considering your perusal of these records, it seems this was not successful on your end. Better luck next time!’

‘Sooyoung-ah, don’t be ru—’

Avoidance was always a good policy when it came to the apocalypse. It saved time, toil, and lives—much like a vaccine helped one bypass a virus. But one couldn’t rely on it entirely; neither vaccine nor evasion was infallible after all. 

‘If they were, these records would not need to exist.’

And for humans, their biggest hamartia was their ignorance. Nerve cells could only do so much to detect dangerous stimuli and trigger a reflex for flight. If the hazard was less obvious, much more innocuous, then the poor human would only be wading into quicksand if they weren’t smart enough. Right before getting devoured. 

‘Of course that squid was the blind one who got us into this mess.’

Just like these unspoken rules, it was de facto that Kim Dokja was unlucky. Unfortunate. Ill-destined. However you chose to put it, the man was born under a cursed star, which meant that the stranger sitting across from him in the park was naturally part of his jinx as well. 

“What are you staring at?” Unlike the squid wearing his stupidly pristine coat, the man sitting on the bench facing him appeared to be a student: civilian wear and a lanyard still around your neck, like you’d frozen in time these past few months. Glasses rested on your nose, which you pushed up each time they slipped—even if they moved only minutely. 

Perhaps you were nervous, but the caustic indifference in your tone suggested it was an unlikely possibility. 

“Ah, sorry. I have a habit of looking at interesting people,” he laughed your question off, but the lack of information on you, coupled with the fact he didn’t recognise who you were, gave him the answer he needed. You weren’t a part of the original novel. “Uh, it’s a nice park, isn’t it? Lovely statues.”

You glanced at the reader, unimpressed. Just like that handsome bastard, there was that same impassive scowl plastered on your face. But as soon as he’d mentioned the sculptures scattered around this surprisingly lush pocket of Seoul, your face had softened somewhat. 

“Art major?” he probed, for there was something about your gaze that drew words from his mouth. Or perhaps it was just how surreal this scene was: someone enjoying the park like anyone before the paid service began, just some guy taking a breather from classes with a thick, bound book beside him. 

A ballpoint pen, rather than a sword or any other weapon. Blue ink, instead of bloody atrament. 

You were a part of this world, yet detached from it all. 

“No, chemistry,” you said. Deadpan, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m specialising in geochemistry. Rocks, soil, minerals. Humans do so underappreciate what goes on beneath their feet.”

Specialising. Present tense. Not specialised. 

Humans: like you were utterly detached from anyone and everyone. 

His breath caught in his throat.

The urging of constellations reminded him of just the situation he was in—about to run out of time in this sub-scenario, where hordes of monsters would soon swarm. Right in this very park. 

“Listen, you’ll need to get out of here soon—there’s going to be swarms of insect-like creatures here in, uh, five minutes give or take. You’ll be in danger if you can’t fight,” he swallowed. A look of disdain flickered in your eyes, and his head throbbed with how much your expressions resembled that sunfish bastard’s. You’re the idiot, your brows indicated, while the set of your mouth held only one question: who said I couldn’t fight? In the same strand of thinking, the sudden curdle of your shoulders—hunched, guarded—seemed to gesture and who are you to tell me that?

‘If only you knew back then.’

In short, you could fight. You could fight, and you were absolutely terrifying to watch. 

“Aegis,” you whispered, and the statues seemed to continue in susurration with you as the air warped in on itself. Dokja was thrown back by the shockwave as the space rippled—all in time for the main guests of the sub-scenario to arrive. 

Insect mutations. 

They crashed right into the distortions. A barrier. You’d set up an impenetrable defence in less time it took for him to draw breath, only for him to keel over behind you instead. Wow. Okay. He could still work with that. 

“What are you—”

“Silence.” It would’ve stung less if you just told him to shut up instead, but from the very get-go you were never particularly nice. Kind? Somewhat, in the sense you’d viewed him as some useless, bumbling fool that would be better off behind the translucent shield you’d conjured. But nice? No, from the very beginning, you were never nice. 

‘Deserved.’

That was fine. Bearable. Still in the realms of believability. 

For Kim Dokja, the shock came after watching your hand raise to your face to slip your glasses off. From the back, he could no longer see the stern expression you no doubt wore. But he wasn’t focused on your face, but rather the warmth of the day instantly seeping from the molecules. 

Time itself froze, and the insects did too. 

No one breathed, and not a singular sound rang out—save something hissing. A tire, perhaps, but nobody was fool enough to simply drive cars during the apocalypse. 

Then came the stirring of your clothes. It was a breeze only you felt, rippling and undulating until your hair moved too. Except it wasn’t the wind that hissed, nor was it the wind that wafted the coils. No, they twisted into thicker, scaly locks—snake-like, except these were snakes suddenly attached to your head. It was no longer a simile, nor was it a metaphor. 

You had fucking snakes in your hair. 

His breathing was shallow; in the sudden frigid climate, those puffs crystallised and condensed in small white clouds. 

And what of those insects?

His eyes flicked back to the ground shakily, to where the arthropods lay crumbling. Statues, like the ones he’d complimented brief minutes ago. Pearlescent marble—no, stone. Your glasses were still grasped tight in your hand, and he knew if you turned to meet his wide-eyed stare he’d be next. But, alas—

“Who… are you?” 

‘And this is how Kim Dokja put his foot in his mouth and demonstrated his exceptionally poor luck.’

< Observation log, section 2 > (Relative Earth time 24/◼◼/20◼◼)TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDING

‘Rule number two: do not stare into the eyes of a gorgon. Don’t even look, except for when there are protective measures in place. Case one: a blindfold. Case two: glasses, which he literally wears every minute of the day save for when he’s sleeping. Dokja, do not sneak up on the man when he’s sleeping.’

‘Dokja, you suck.’

It wasn’t often you let down your guard, with writhing, clawing humans nonetheless. Pointing fingers to find the monsters under their beds and threatening their cities—when in fact it was their bellicose faults that doomed them. A self-made end, a fitting conclusion for the snake that bites its own tail. If you had ever been human once, these people shared more blood with the beasts than they thought. 

Point was: you didn’t particularly care for those who appeared to be like you. Bodies, soft and squishy from a life coddled in cities; smiles duplicitous and more monstrous than any snarl; and their thoughts, often more heinous than any demon. And despite their sins, they’d meander in life wrapped in the bliss of self-ignorance. Dead in their varying morals like shrouds of far-too different cloths. 

In this, no human was the same. This was the philosophy that alienated yourself from your sisters. 

This was also the philosophy that landed you in a warm, damp place—completely dark with something poking at your cheeks. Correction—even through the thin membrane and slightly thicker skin that covered your eyes, there appeared to be a dim redness seeping into the edges of blackness. It seemed your blood vessels were alit by some foolish beastling. Almost like the golden chariot was prancing afore your eyes, except only Aeos of the Dawn was trotting along your lash line with a proud toss of his shrunken head. 

Your fingers twitched inside your sleeping bag, but you forced a deep breath in before you could hear any hissing. 

Actually, you knew exactly who was prodding at your cheek with a frigid index finger; the faint brush of his scent gave him away almost instantaneously. 

“Kim Dokja. Are you an idiot?” you ground out, eyes still tightly shut to avoid turning this fool to stone. “I’ve already agreed to travelling with your circus, so I’d prefer you refrain from getting petrified.”

“You really do sound like him when you’re irritated,” he let out with a suppressed snort. 

“Aegis,” you whispered, and the impertinent hand ceased its movements. 

The barrier was not, in fact, activated. 

“Gave me a bit of a fright there,” he swallowed. “I just wanted to say, it’s fine if you open your eyes.”

“No,” you deadpanned. Though you couldn’t see the expression, you could feel your facial muscles twitch into an impassive wall. “Don’t involve me with your stupid plans to kill yourself off.”

“That’s not what I mean,” he corrected himself. Were all humans like this when you lived as one? “It just won’t work on me. Me alone, which is why I locked the door so no one could come in.”

“Why?” He was a fool like the rest of them—risking peril for a glimpse of cursed eyes. Like all of man, his hubris rested heavy on his shoulders. 

“I just want to see your smug face without any glasses.”

“You’re looking at it presently,” you argued. Though your ire was evident with your furrowed brows, he didn’t relent. Where was that puny man who’d trembled behind you at the sight of insects? More importantly, how had he changed so quickly?

“With your eyes open,” he clarified. He was more insane than anyone you’d ever met. 

“Does it really make a difference?” you stalled. “How can you be sure you won’t suffer the effects as every other human and beast does?”

“You care about me that much?” 

It was a quiet question. A tentative venture into teasing, yet strangely vulnerable. 

“You worried?” he echoed. It was a weak aegis of his own, already prepared to accept your scoff and firm no. 

“Fool.” Both the skin eyelids and the thin membrane unsheathed haunting irises. You already knew what you’d see in them—a milky sort of quality to their natural colouring, even without the extra membrane. Slit pupils dilated minutely at the sight of him, and his breath caught in his throat as you gazed upwards, unblinking. 

Fool. The word echoed in his mind, an answer to his question but not at the same time. 

I’m not worried. 

Peering, your claws gently grazed his face: almost a kiss, if a kiss left a slight sting behind.

“I’m always worried about you, Kim Dokja,” you murmured, and it was perhaps then that his heartbeat grew erratic. Staring into those pretty eyes of yours with your thumb tenderly swiping across his flushed cheekbones, it was no wonder he could taste his very pulse. “Remember our first meeting?”

“How could I forget?”

A back facing his hunched form, more dependable than the shield spreading and curling beneath your mighty palms. Snakes coiling down your back, but there was nothing scary about how they swayed like ribbons in the sunset. And finally those eyes, directly protecting him from the swarms of insects. 

No, perhaps it was then when the thrum of the organ grew somewhat more rapid. 

‘Glad you realised.’

< Observation log, section 3 > (Relative Earth time 03/◼◼/20◼◼)TRANSCRIPTION OF RECORDING

‘Rule number three: do not feed the snakes. Do not feed the snakes, Dokja. DO NOT FEED THE GODDAMN SNAKES.’

“Is Kim Dokja a masochist?”

The question, like most questions, came out of the blue. Such an innocuous, casual tone veiled your usual clipped syllables that Han Sooyoung found herself seriously internalising your words, before—

“What— koff— huh?” she spluttered against the sudden taste of her lemon candy, expression turning troubled, then incredulous. 

“Does he take pleasure in torturing himself?” you clarified, as though it were a matter of comprehension rather than tact. 

‘I knew what a masochist was! Why would he ask that?’

“If it’s Dokja, probably,” she coughed finally. Honestly, she’d pondered this very question herself—staring deadpan at the numerous deaths he’d experienced by his own plans. “Uh, just so we’re clear, why do you ask?”

“Is it normal to try to feed my snakes?” Definitely not.

“That… idiot did what?” she stared at the resident gorgon with quite the perplexed expression, but soon regained her composure. “No, not particularly. Are they… venomous?”

“Yes. Very much so. Please tell him to quit.”

Yet, despite all the half-hearted chidings of you and Sooyoung alike, your little snakes were beginning to grow fat and affectionate towards the man. You could feel something fundamental begin to shift, and it wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling. 

< Observation log, section 4 > (Relative Earth time 14/◼◼/20◼◼)TRANSCRIPTION OF RECORDING

‘Rule number four: gorgon venom should not be ingested. If you are Kim Dokja, this applies perhaps most poignantly to you. You may be immune to its effects for whatever reason, but the venom is a nightmare to get out of clothing. Thanks.’

“An experiment?” 

Kim Dokja’s face didn’t change from his usual, vaguely blurred visage; but it wasn’t like snakes had particularly good eyesight regardless. “Yes. Would you be up for it?”

You’d agreed on a whim. Why the experiment was to take place in a closed room, you didn’t particularly know. Maybe humans encountering an apocalypse had special customs to adhere to. “I am familiar with experimental protocol in laboratories and practicals.”

“Would you like to help me upgrade my poison-immunity skill?”

You’d initially refused outright—struck dumb at how recklessly he treated his life. Every time you thought he was a fool, he proved himself even more foolish—a crazed endeavour if you ever saw it. 

Gorgon poison. Released in more diluted doses from the snakes on you, concentrated particularly in the bone-white fangs in your mouth. Like a vampire, Yoo Sangah had excitedly noted: much too excitedly for your liking. 

Bite me, he asked you. 

A pale wrist was held out cautiously in front of him. The air was no longer mere air, but an ancient altar dedicated to this sacrifice. Thus, you were the priest for this rite once more, but this time the ram carried the bronze knife itself. 

He’s an idiot, you seethed, yet you were too. 

For you suggested a less painful way of transferring venom, but he agreed. For you gently clasped his chin with razor sharp talons skimming the dermis of his throat, but he melted pliantly in your hands. For you leaned in with softened eyes, but his own simply fluttered shut in anticipation. 

You surged, pressing him against the cold cement of the wall. Air was robbed from his lungs as he gasped, but rather than pulling back his warm, human hands merely wrapped around your nape to meld your body against his. 

Why did his hands shake so? Was this not just an experimental procedure dedicated to strengthening a human? 

Despite your analytical mind, your eyes closed too—both membrane and skin—and you savoured the lingering taste of the meaty dinner he’d eaten, and the underlying flavour of him. Hot blood pumped beneath his fragile oral mucosa; your greedy, long tongue prodded his own to find just where his pulse thrummed the strongest. 

Ah, fuck, he thought dumbly; sloppily making out with you in a forgotten room was not how he’d envisioned this night, but he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

Even as he winced with sharp pain when your fangs cut his lips, he couldn’t pull back—objective achieved but long forgotten. Those pesky, wandering hands of his clung onto your body when his head canted: deepening the kiss rather than wrapping up his poison exposure. 

Iron tainted his mouth. Dripping past the seams of desperate lips was the crimson mixture of blood and venom, dripping onto his sweater and corroding the very threads—yet Kim Dokja both did not notice and did not particularly care. 

But all good things came to an end. The two of you were met with an extremely exasperated Han Sooyoung at the door as she gave you a look, one that implied I expected better from you. For Dokja, the reserved expression was I expected this, to be honest. 

‘PDA is not appreciated during the apocalypse. Take that shit elsewhere.’

‘Thus, these reports can be summarily concluded in two points of advice: 

1. Unless you are Kim Dokja, do not attempt any of these activities with a gorgon. 

2. Simply don’t do what Kim Dokja does.’

[hemi-demi]

Hey! So I mentioned a while ago that I have a custom workskin to make my Magnus Archives fics with transcripts look more like the transcripts at The Magnus Archives Transcripts Archive, and never got around to showing how. So now I am!

With this workskin, you'll turn transcript fics that look like this:

Into this!

Link to my fic "Just a Rumour" to see the live example, no content warnings in these first two chapters, but rating may eventually change.

Here's how you can apply this to your own fic. Steps are listed below the cut:

1. Make a workskin.

For this step, I'll refer you to the ao3 guide on how to create workskins. Make a new one, or add the following code between the dashes below to your existing skins.

---

#workskin .transcript {

font-family: "Libre Baskerville", Baskerville, "Book Antiqua", Georgia, Times, serif;

color: #586e75;

background: #fdf6e3;

padding: 1em;

width: fit-content;

margin: 0 auto 35px;

font-size: 120%;

}

---

Once you've made your workskin, follow the steps in the included link to add that workskin to the fic you want to apply this style to.

2. Tell the fic where to apply the style

The document above also explains this, but just so you can see the actual steps here:

In your fic, under the html editor view, add

<div class "transcript">

To the front of the text that will be in this format (it may not be the entire fic! You can have it in the middle of regular prose if you like).

At the end of the section that will be in the format, close it off with

</div>

Now just save your draft and confirm that it's working! If it looks off, double check your html, make sure it took and didn't delete itself or isn't misspelled.

And btw, readers who may not like this format can turn it off themselves with the Hide Creator's Style button, so this is optional for readers! It also works well with screen readers as-is.

Enjoy!

[oldenglishtextposts]

hey do you have any resources for learning old english?

yes! i have so many!

The textbook I used is Introduction to Old English by Peter Baker and I found it to be very helpful. It has a large section explaining some basic linguistics concepts that will be helpful if you haven't learned a language with declensions before. It also has a nice selections of texts to practice with. It manages to be both dense and vague at times, but what academic text doesn't.

That textbook also has a companion website, oldenglishaerobics.net (ignore the stuff about logging in you don't need to do that). It has some exercises to practice with, and a large selection of texts with full glosses.

I haven't used any other textbooks so I can't offer any insight on those, but I've poked around a bit on oldenglish.info and it also seems like a good resource!

For reference sources, my go-to is bosworthtoller.com . It's not always the most functional website, but it is definitely the best online dictionary I've found. The magic sheet linked in the resources section of old english aerobics is also wonderful for quick grammar reference.

If you're interested in learning how to read manuscripts, oepoetryfacsimile.org is wonderful. the UI is a little funky, but it has tons of scans of manuscripts and carefully annotated transcriptions of them!

If you want book that isn't trying to teach you the language, but is still very fun and interesting, I suggest the Wordhord by Hana Videen.

if anyone has other suggestions, please feel free to add on!

[euryalex]

Sera's letter to her inky :'))

transcript under cut

Notes from the Inquisition

(An artistically doodled journal page presumably from the Inquisitor's partner, Sera.)

Keep this as close as I need you. (A drawing of a pile of flowers, with lines like it's moving, an arrow pointing to it labeled "us.")

-North again, Mini-wrathus still stuck up its own pucker -Magiturds are scared of us. They don't even know -We work with Maevaris, right? She's wow. -So many Friends! Jennies in all the walls! -We kill him this time. He took from us twice! (A drawing of a cracked egg scribbled out, with "can't even joke" in letters that tore the page.) -Still thinking of you sideways. -Never mind the Dalish, here's the Veil Jumpers! Tempest-kin! (A drawing of a tall, shorthaired elf (Sera?) and Irelin brandishing two fingers, backflipping as a tree explodes in runes.) -The memory thing makes my head spin. If that Rook doesn't take it, throw it out. -Tell Morrigan ppbbth! for me. -I'll also tell her ppbbth! She knows why. -Tell them to Stripe. Him. Up. I wanted more books. (More heavy scribbles that tear.) -You meet. I'll keep you safe. Then I'm your time off, and you're my time on.

(The last section has different colored inks, like Sera has returned to it several times.)

New naked names: -Sweet-tits (scribbled out) -Bested (scribbled out) -Loverly (scribbled out) -Lovey (scribbled out) -My-for-always-and-ever - name's not too long, time's too short -But "Sweet-tits," though (scribbled out)

[justafewberries]

I'm obsessed with your philosophical analysis! Can you do Plutarch? I knew he wrote Parallel Lives before SOTR, but now that we're seeing all the parallels on full display I want to know more!

Yes! Hi! There’s so much here. This took me forever, so stick with me. I made it as concise as I could, but Plutarch spent his life writing.

This post won’t be a deep dive into the character Plutarch Heavensbee, as I feel he embodies so many different schools of philosophy. I can’t possibly fit it all in one answer, so this will be more of a comparison between Plutarch (Historical figure) and Plutarch Heavensbee (book character, from now on referred to as “Heavensbee” for clarity). I’ll cover Parallel Lives then Moralia. It’s bound to be a long post.

In order to understand Plutarch, you must dive into his philosophy. While I won’t include extensive detailing into his ideas on the soul and rationality, I did comb through most of his works to find values that I think align with how Heavensbee acts. I’ll start with a brief synopsis of Parallel Lives, and then I'll talk about his much lesser known philosophical works. 

Keep reading for my essay on Plutarch and Plutarch Heavensbee

Parallel Lives

Plutarch’s most famous work is indeed Parallel Lives, commonly known in short form as just Lives. In this collection of 48 works, he juxtaposes biographies of two comparable figures, one of whom is Roman and the other Greek. He compares the lives of prominent figures both in times during the decline of their nations, Greece having already fallen and Rome in the contemporary process of decline.

The most notable aspect of Lives is how the juxtaposition presents the impact of choices. In the comparison of Coriolanus and Alchabedies, both men are extremely successful generals, but both were, in a sense, exiled due to their choice to commit immoral actions. In the comparison of Theseus and Romulus, both men are very powerful socially and successful in battle, but they let their compulsion rule.

Every person in the history of the world must at some point in their lives make a choice. In the case of Lives, Plutarch emphasizes how choices in conduct lead to different outcomes. 

To give you important context, Plutarch was a big fan of Plato. In his argument on the soul, he even alludes to Plato’s allegory of the chariot. He values virtue in a similar way to Plato and Aristotle. In very brief terms, Plutarch believes virtue is found between two extremes. It’s a middle ground between reason and emotion. 

I can’t cover all recovered twenty-two pairs and four individual biographies in this post. If you want to read all of them, there are wonderful, accessible transcriptions here. Keep in mind there are different translations and transcriptions, this is just a source where most of the biographies are accessible.

Please also note that Parallel Lives is more so a historical work than a structured philosophical essay. Plutarch himself is not considered fully credible by many historians. He would notably embellish his works, and at some points, likely make things up. He’s often the only source we have for some events, so his works have become crucial to the histories of Rome and Greece. Still, be conscious that a lot of the information he provides is disputed. Funnily enough, in this way, he’s similar to Heavensbee. 

In this section, I’ll examine a few pairings: 

Coriolanus and Alchabedies 

Theseus and Romulus

Lycurgus and Numa

Coriolanus and Alchabedies 

Just like President Snow, Coriolanus lost his father at a young age. He was known to abstain from pleasures of life and dedicated himself to his studies, and the Romans had “admiration upon his insensibility to pleasures, toils, and mercenary gains, to which they gave the names of self-control, fortitude, and justice; but in their intercourse with him as a fellow-citizen they were offended by it as ungracious, burdensome, and arrogant." 

After receiving notoriety for his valor in battle, he became a consul to the senate as a general. Marcius (the name Coriolanus preferred, thus I will henceforth refer to him) did not want the senate to listen to the mob of people who claimed the rich were withholding grain from the poor. He thought that conceding to the demands of the mob would show weakness of the senate, and he was beloved by the rich senators for this sentiment.

During his rise, Rome was experiencing a grain shortage. When it began to purchase grain, the commoners, or plebeians, began to demand a fair price, as the rich were withholding it. During a heated meeting in the senate, Marcius “rose in his place and vehemently attacked those who favoured the multitude, calling them demagogues and betrayers of the aristocracy, and declaring that they were nourishing, to their own harm, the evil seeds of boldness and insolence which had been sown among the rabble; these they should have choked when they first sprang up, and not have strengthened the people by such a power­ful magistracy as the tribunate.” He advocated for getting rid of the tribunate, as it empowers the commoners. This proclamation turned many statesmen against him, but gained the approval from the rich.

Skipping forward, he was eventually tried under multiple charges and sentenced to banishment. He fled to Volsci where he became a general. He laid siege to neighboring cities, and upon camping outside of Rome, his mother, Volumina (like Dr. Gaul) talked him out of his intended siege and he called off his troops peacefully. He valued no one more than his mother.

Upon returning to Volsci, he was assassinated in a plot by his friend Tullus, who resented him.

On the other side, Alcibiades indulged in vices. He was said to be beautiful and had many lovers. Alcibiades was a great orator, but, like how Marcius hated plebeians, he was corrupted by his hatred for Nicias. Nicias was a general that was credited for obtaining peace and freeing some men. Alcibiades believed it was his doing that freed the men, not Nicias, and thus conspired with the enemy to have them invade, all to make Nicias look bad. It worked, and after a rousing speech, Alcibiades was appointed general. 

He had a long and very successful career in war, but he wasn't loyal. He fell to his vices, often living lavishly, partaking in excessive drinking and partying, and he was easily corruptible. He would switch sides to whichever offered him protection, valor, or more wealth, often to take refuge from those he had wronged. He'd return to previous allies in a cyclical manner, going anywhere that would take him. According to Plutarch, his death came when Lysander, a spartan general, sent soldiers to surround his residence. They set it on fire, and when Alcibiades fled, they shot him down with arrows.

Both of these men made choices out of spite and resentment. Their choices were often self-serving. As Plutarch summarizes the morality of the parallels, he writes: “Neither course, then, is to be approved; although the man who seeks to win the people by his favours is less blameworthy than those who heap insults on the multitude, in order to avoid the appearance of trying to win them. For it is a disgrace to flatter the people for the sake of power; but to get power by acts of terror, violence, and oppression, is not only a disgrace, it is also an injustice.” 

Theseus and Romulus 

Plutarch summarizes these biographies best: “Both Theseus and Romulus were by nature meant for governors; yet neither lived up to the true character of a king, but fell off, and ran, the one into popularity, the other into tyranny, falling both into the same fault out of different passions. For a ruler's first aim is to maintain his office, which is done no less by avoiding what is unfit than by observing what is suitable. Whoever is either too remiss or too strict is no more a king or a governor, but either a demagogue or a despot, and so becomes either odious or contemptible to his subjects. Though certainly the one seems to be the fault of easiness and good-nature, the other of pride and severity.” 

Lycurgus vs. Numa 

Lycurgus, a Spartan King, banned money, trades, and craft to shift the focus of the population to training for war. In Plutarch's words: "allowing the true citizens no implements but the spear and shield, the trade of war only, and the service of Mars, and no other knowledge or study, but that of obedience to their commanding officers, and victory over their enemies."

Whereas Numa, second king of Rome, sought to make his territory more peaceful. He did not outright ban the military, but he began to encourage the arts and trades of his people. According to Plutarch, it lead to great and unrestricted hoarding of wealth: "allowing free scope to every other means of obtaining wealth; nor did he endeavour to do away with inequality in this respect, but permitted riches to be amassed to any extent, and paid no attention to the gradual and continual augmentation and influx of poverty".

To interject, this parallel set reminds me most of Peeta and Gale. Neither king had a great outcome. In the end, Sparta fell, just as Rome does. It lacked the virtuous middle ground. 

Upon their deaths, the enforcement of their legacies differed greatly. Lycurgus's legacy continued for hundreds of years/ Interestingly, Plutarch cites indoctrination via education: "The obligation of oaths to preserve them would have availed but little, if he had not, by discipline and education, infused them into the children's characters, and imbued their whole early life with a love of his government." 

Numa's lasting effect was short-lived. His ideas about peace crumpled upon his death. Plutarch specifically cites the fact he lacked the enforcement of education, thus dooming his attempted culture to fail: "and thus that best and justest fabric of things was of no long continuance, because it wanted that cement which should have kept all together, education."

Plutarch poses an important question which I believe lends itself well to Heavensbee: "What, then, some may say, has not Rome been advanced and bettered by her wars? A question that will need a long answer, if it is to be one to satisfy men who take the better to consist in riches, luxury, and dominion, rather than in security, gentleness, and that independence which is accompanied by justice." He follows it later with: "[Numa] by mere force of wisdom and justice, established union and harmony amongst all."

Moralia

Moralia is a collection of Plutarch’s essays. The best source I found to read them is the Perseus Digital Library. I’ve taken screenshots of different passages I think encompass the conduct of Heavensbee. I apologize for the difference in the screenshot sizes, as some essays are best found from other sources. 

On Moral Virtue:

In De virtute morali, Plutarch argues the value of emotion in making virtuous decisions. He argues exactly what Heavensbee argues in SOTR: people use reason after their emotion. 

He goes further to compare reason’s desired effect on emotion being like a gardener pruning a plant. Heavensbee, although he doesn’t necessarily do this in the intrinsic sense, most definitely uses emotion to grow the rebellion through propos.

He also claims that passion can rally, which is Heavensbee’s ideas behind the propos in the first place:

How a Man May Become Aware of His Progress in Virtue:

In Quomodo quis suos in virtute sentiat profectus, Plutarch argues emotion and “manner of diction” that allows people to become “intimately connected with the character” encourages people to be more receptive to higher order thinking.

In this same essay, he argues it is most virtuous to act, not just speak.

Plutarch was a firm believer that philosophers should get involved in politics.

Whether Vice Is Sufficient To Cause Unhappiness:

In An Vitiositas Ad Felicitatem Sufficiat, Plutarch argues vice is stronger than a tyrant. You can endure the hardships of tyranny and oppression, but you cannot control your vices, which Plutarch sees as negative.

On The Fortune Or Virtue Of Alexander:

In De Alexandri magni fortuna aut virtute, Plutarch admires the unionization of cultures under Alexander the Great. Just like Heavensbee, he subscribes to the idea “we should consider all men to be of one community and one polity and that we should have a common life”.

Plutarch also believes that fortune does not outweigh virtue. He writes man should seek to be virtuous. While in this case he likely means fortune as in luck, I think it applies well to the actual wealth of the Heavensbees. 

He also writes about how virtue is what made Alexander great outside of his luck. His self-control and avoidance of pleasures is what kept him so great.

On Stoic Self-Contradiction:

While De Stoicorum repugnantiis is more so a response to popular stoic writers, there is an interesting argument about God that lends itself well to how Heavensbee and Panem are supposed to see Snow. 

Plutarch argues how God gets a pass for evil and bad things happening when a king in his position would not. He continues to chip away at the stoic’s argument by saying if there’s a necessity for evil and bad things, then God does not have power over them, and is therefore not omnipotent. 

Seeder makes this same argument in Catching Fire when in her interview, she mentions how the people of district 11 consider snow to be all powerful. If it’s true, he should be able to stop the games.

Interestingly, Plutarch has formidable thoughts about free will. He sees the importance of free will on the morality of man. While there may be other factors that affect us, we can control our reactions, interpretations, or way of coping. In his argument again against the Stoics (he had beef genuinely), he says:

Fate is deficient if we have free will. However, if free will is indeed all encompassing, we cannot be held responsible for our actions. Nothing is our fault, only fate’s.

In summary

Plutarch believed education and upbringing (such as seen in Lives) can lead to being a more virtuous person, which is something we see in Heavensbee’s extensive library. He argued fortune is “petty” without virtue, which is similar to how, despite the luck of being rich and capitol, Heavensbee’s desire to free the districts lends itself to his developed virtue. He also believed in emotion being a genuine asset to reason, to the point where one without the other is less valuable than having them together, such as his quote in SOTR. He wrote about harnessing emotion, making changes based on your beliefs, and that we have the ability to use our free will to make choices-- no matter if you’re under Snow’s thumb or not.

[gh0st-0f-luke]

mdzs epistolary au masterlist

since i (livinginaworldofnoise on ao3) have written a probably absurd number of wangxian fics with bizarre formats, i am going to make a list of all of them to pin so i don't forget they exist!

mdzs fully epistolary fics (no normal prose):

if you ever feel alone, don't: college group chat

i don't trust nobody and nobody trusts me: among us game chat log (unfinished)

you gotta help me; i'm losing my mind: reddit posts

cookin' up a storm, piece of cake: baking blog comment section trolls

whether i'm gonna curse you out or take you back to my house, i haven't decided yet: neighborhood HOA online forum posts

whether i'm gonna flip you off or pull you into the closet, i haven't decided yet: HR violations via work emails and slack messages

everybody thought you were so insane: ratemyprofessors posts

even if it's handcuffed, i'm leaving here with you: traffic court transcript

darling, all of my wrongs led me right to you: college newspaper corrections emails

dear reader, if it feels like a trap, you're already in one: tax evader vs. tax collector letters

my flight was awful, thanks for asking: college study abroad program student essay excerpts

could end in burning flames or paradise: couples counseling therapist notes

you could write a book on how to ruin someone's perfect day: misuse of the library reference desk chat for mischief and mayhem

me and my ghosts, we had a hell of a time: multimedia hockey au told through broadcast transcripts, social media posts, news articles, etc.

mdzs fics with an epistolary element incorporated:

don't threaten me with a good time: great british bake-off au with social media reaction chapters

we're dancing around the kitchen: worst cooks in america au (crossover mdzs/tgcf) with social media reaction chapters

other fandoms:

i know he's crazy, but he's the one i want: tgcf reddit posts

you make me a complete mess: tgcf group chat

he really knows me, which is more than they can say: tgcf newspaper articles

no one understands the chemistry we have: word of honor reddit posts

your endless nights deserve a loud ovation: stray kids college newspaper chatfic

[schmergo]

If you think I was a kid who loved to read, you’d be right, but that doesn’t just mean I was reading, like, Newbery Award nominated prestigious children’s novels. Because in my experience, most kids who love to read are more gourmand than gourmet. I was also reading:

* Class rosters. I begged my teachers for these. I wanted to try to memorize everyone’s middle names.

* Similarly, old yearbooks. I liked judging whether people’s names matched their faces and making up different names for them if they did. I also loved reading baby name books and making lists of names I liked.

.* The personals section of the newspaper. I liked picturing the people as they described themselves and imagining which combination of people on the page might like each other.

* The ingredients of food packages. Not even for any real informational reason, I just really liked certain fantasy-sounding words like thiamine and riboflavin.

* An old World Book Encyclopedia from the 1970s. I would sneak out of bed to read it because the bookshelf was near my bedroom door and I could crawl to it without making the floor creak. My favorite entries were the ones about Hawaii and tigers. I kinda developed a ritual of rereading the Hawaii article when I had read a scary book before bed and needed to calm my brain down.

* My dad’s Dave Barry and Woody Allen humor books and also transcripts of all of the Monty Python’s Flying Circus episodes. This is probably why my sense of humor has been so weird from such a young age.

* The part of the church hymnal with ceremonies for baptisms, weddings, and funerals. I liked to imagine them.

* Wine catalogs at friends’ houses. The descriptions of the wines seemed so poetic and abstract. I also liked when they said “fruit on the nose” because I pictured a dog balancing a whole piece of fruit on its nose.

* My parents’ parenting books. I liked to see if I was exhibiting developmentally appropriate behavior. I am not 100% sure if doing that is, in fact, developmentally appropriate behavior.

* Those little brochures advertising various roadside attractions and tourist activities at rest shops. I would grab as many as possible when we stopped to use the bathroom on a road trip. Also, travel guides in general.

* I checked out the entire “unexplained” section of the library over the course of third grade. (Dewey decimal 001.9.) Ask little me about Project Blue Book, I guess.

* I LOVED party planning books, especially ones with highly specific themed parties that seemed impractical to put on in real life like a whole chess-themed party culminating in a game of human chess, complete with lemon chess pie for dessert.

* Seed packets. I find the writing style of these very endearing. It always sounds so affectionate toward the plants.

* My grandma’s Reader’s Digest magazines, which felt like Russian roulette because they sometimes published disturbing articles that gave me nightmares. (Reader’s Indigestion?) I especially vividly remember a feature on adopted kids who need to wear Ilizarov apparatuses to straighten their limbs because they became malformed due to severe neglect at orphanages.

* For some reason, I loved reading restaurant menus and imagining what kind of food different fictional characters would order from there.

* And last but certainly not least, because I think this is a relatable one: the AMERICAN GIRL CATALOG! No, I never had an American Girl doll, but getting the catalog was a source of much excitement.

[the-weaving-cryptid]

"Most people treat ancestor work like it's a trade, a transaction: they help us, we give offerings, and that's that. Lord, if that ain't further from the truth. In this work you will meet ancestors who weren't very good in life, who bring to light the sins of your blood, and you will be faced with the task of healing these generational wounds."

- Jake Richards, "Backwoods Witchcraft"

[rainforestakiie]

i am a bit stunned by the amount of misinformation going around? and people are now accusing Eve of replacing Lilith in the later transcriptions… ?

let me try to share some of my knowledge? English is not my first language so this might not come across well?

the first ‘bible’ to speak of Adam was the Tanakh. specifically, he appears in the Book of Genesis, which is part of the Torah, the first section of the Tanakh. Genesis describes Adam as the first human, created by God. the story of Adam in Genesis is believed to be dated back to ancient Israelite oral traditions, around the 6th to 5th century BCE during or after the Babylonian Exile. this makes the Tanakh the first surviving document to tell the story of Adam and introduce him as the first human.

the Tanakh is made up of sacred Jewish texts written primarily in Hebrew, and it forms the canonical scriptures of Judaism. the easiest way explain the Tanakh is to think of it as being similar to what Christians refer to as the Old Testament…

Eve is the only named wife of Adam in the Tanakh. She is introduced in the Book of Genesis as Adam's companion, created by God from one of Adam's ribs (Genesis 2:18-25).

Eve is described as the "mother of all living" (Genesis 3:20) and is central to the story of the Garden of Eden and the "Fall" narrative.

Lilith is not mentioned in the Tanakh. her story comes later in the Alphabet of Ben Sira, written sometime between the 8th and 10th centuries CE. the Talmud and earlier Jewish texts mention Lilith as a demon or night spirit, but she has no connection to Adam and isn’t considered to be human at all.

the idea of Lilith as Adam's first wife became prominent in medieval Jewish mysticism and later folklore, but she doesn’t appear in the canonical Tanakh texts themselves.

the Tanakh is ancient scripture, the Alphabet of Ben Sira is a later work that reflects medieval folklore and ideas that expanded on and reinterpreted some biblical themes and figures. Lilith being Adam’s first wife is not considered biblical accurate and can be considered insulting suggesting otherwise ??? (from past experience!!! )

…sooooo Lilith actually replaced Eve and not the other way around.

[yuurei20]

Summarized transcript of the Twisted Radio episode with Heartslabyul (minus Trey) voice actors!! 🥳 (all is just paraphrased, not direct quotes, and Book 7 spoilers removed!)

Highlights ・A lot of industry talk!

Last week’s opening talk that was set was “How do you want to spend New Years?”

🌹 I will have finished work by the 27th so I will be relaxing and listening to this show at home. 

♠️ Are you sure? You’re really going to listen at home?

❤️ Listen with your whole family.

🌹Yes, I will have my kids listen to it, too.

♠️ I’m going to contact you on the 27th. “🌹-san, are you listening?”

🌹 Reads a fan letter: they are being asked about things the cast learned when they first became voice actors.

♠️ Says he never went to a technical school or training school or anything so he just learned on the job. He said he learned that new hires are expected to sit near the door to open and close it for others. He didn’t know this at first and would sit in the middle or the back and other new people would tell him that he needed to be near the door. 

♦️ says he also never had any formal schooling/training and he learned by watching everyone around him, which is how he learned the shorthand that is used in the industry, and everyone talks about how shorthand can vary by person.

❤️ starts talking about an unnamed project that he did with 🌹 (they can’t say what it is). ❤️ says his character used a sword and he became interested in it and went to a trial lesson. What he learned is that that skill is not only about strength. And also the swords are very heavy.

🌹says when he debuted he was given a rehearsal video to watch on VHS instead of DVD, but he didn’t have a VCR so he had to go buy one from a recycle shop specifically to watch the total of two VHSs he would be given before his agency shifted to DVDs.

Next section:

About Riddle

🌹 He can’t speak too kindly or it departs from Riddle’s character. He’s been doing this for 5 years now and he likes everyone, but that much time hasn’t passed in the game yet. So he will be directed to be less kind. He feels that his voice has changed, too, since it has been so long, getting deeper, so the director will ask him to sound younger.

There are also what he calls the “system voices” which are maybe voice lines? He says that since they have to be accessible to everyone no matter what point it is that they start playing the game, he has to record them as how Riddle was at the start of the main story, and how strict he was. He says he has been watching Alice in Wonderland a lot in order to properly portray the angry queen. 

About Ace

❤️ He says that like 🌹 new challenges have been appearing over the past five years. There is also the change in Ace from thinking that he was better than Deuce but then Deuce got his UM first. ❤️ Ace doesn’t know his UM, and ❤️ himself is looking forward to it. He says he really doesn’t have any idea what it is going to be, he hasn’t been told.

♠️ says that fans will often comment on how well ❤️ is able to mimic other voice actors. He asks how ❤️ himself is at imitating people and ❤️ says he’s bad at it.

🌹 says that maybe ❤️ being so good at it is why Ace has been imitating people so much in the game. ♠️ says that if ❤️ was bad at it then they might have started asking him to do it less.

About Deuce

♠️ references how all of Heartslabyul recorded together for Book 1 which never happens for mobile games, and he had never recorded with that many voice actors in the same place for a game before. It was the very start of his career so he was grateful, and now they all record alone.

They talk about Deuce’s struggles in Book 5. ❤️ says he is empathizes a lot with Deuce, so he adapted his line readings in order to be really annoying. 

Now they are talking about Book 7 things, redacted for spoilers 💦

About Cater

♦️ says that Cater hasn’t really changed that much from Book 1, unlike other characters. He is always showing the same mood, with only occasional whispers of his true feelings. He is still treating everyone the same way he always has, and ♦️ 's portrayal hasn’t really changed either.

♦️ says that when he is going through a script he will ask the staff, “…but what is really going on?” beyond the words that he has been given to read. 

More Book 7 things, redacted for spoilers.

About Trey

♣️ isn’t here in person because of scheduling conflicts but he provided a comment to read on air! His comment is on the impression he gets from Trey: a dependable and kind senpai, if you have been brushing your teeth properly. He can seem mature beyond his years because of his supportive role in the dorm, and you can sense the mental strain he is under sometimes. At first glance he can appear untrustworthy but he doesn’t seem to have hidden intentions behind his words, so do not worry.

❤️ talks about Trey in Book 1 and his childhood relationship with Riddle and 🌹 says that the scenes with Trey and Riddle towards the end might have turned out differently if they hadn’t been able to record together.

Comment from ♣️ on voicing Trey: he says he tries to portray Trey’s calmness but it is difficult to do so while simultaneously not making him sound older than 18. Part of Trey’s charm is how quick-witted he is, so he tries to suggest a hidden complexity through his line readings. He reiterates that there aren’t any actual bad intentions though.

♠️ comments on how, since the characters are villains, they all have villainous-looking expressions that they make sometimes, and Trey’s in particular looks very villainous. 

❤️ says it’s funny how ♣️ is actually the youngest voice cast member in Heartslabyul, but the character he is voicing is a calm and collected senpai.

❤️ shares another comment from ♣️ asking how much Trey expects people to brush their teeth before he will be satisfied.

❤️ wonders if Trey and Cater will be graduating and ♠️ says “no I will not let them”

About Main Story

Book 7 talk~

About In-Game Schedule

Lilia birthday, Sam’s New Year Sale, Malleus birthday, Main Story Content~

Twst Fes DVD on sale~

Anime is coming~

End!

[midnight-chevy]

Hi!! I’m Aria (she/they) and I have a mild obsession with making things on Google Docs lol

I’ve linked a couple pdfs below that are constantly being updated, so feel free to check them out!!

F1 2024 Things

i'm on this one like every week lol

i was honestly just bored while waiting for the semester to end so i just started adding a bunch of random things and now it’s like 18 pages long (and still growing)

contents: - 2024 constructors and drivers - constructor profiles - pre-season driver profiles - updated driver profiles - race calendar (all timings are in est) - my championship predictions - bingo - season in pixels - allotted tire compounds for the weekend - press conference tracker - qualifying tracker - podium tracker - sprint tracker - points per race - fav team radio transcriptions

F1 2024 Season Overview

the first ever F1 doc i made

definitely evolved the most lol

i update this one every race weekend

contents: - every single race overview + preseason testing - track + stats: circuit name, number of laps, track length, track lap record, race lap record - allotted tire compounds - session results - fastest lap - driver of the day - top 5 in the constructor’s championship + points - top 5 in the driver’s championship + points - weekend/race notes

if i ever miss smth in my weekend/race notes section pls let me know!!

i also post these every race weekend under the #f1 race weekend overview tag

Group The Grid

my cousin and i like to go through the grid + some and figure out which driver is which thing/belongs in which category

it’s basically just f1 drivers as _____

- hogwarts house | godly parent - villain parent | royal/rebel - candy | fruit - board game | httyd dragon - disney song | desi song - bending element | superpower - animal | wild cat - dog breed | bird species - mythical creature | fictional world - us state | us city - college | major/minor - movie | book - barbie movie | earth pony/unicorn/pegasus - family archetype | wizard101 school - weather | breakfast food

F1 2023 Season Overview

the second F1 doc i ever made

i made this second but i used it as like a test subject to figure out formatting and everything before the season started

pretty much has the same stuff as the 2024 doc minus a couple features

contents: - every single race overview - track + stats: circuit name, number of laps, track length, race lap record - session results - fastest lap - driver of the day - top 5 in the constructor’s championship + points - top 5 in the driver’s championship + points

[alastheswarmleaderhasescaped]

BIONICLE music fans, I need your help

Remember that I once wrote a funky BIONICLE Suite using themes from multiple movies/games etc., for an assignment? If not, it's here:

(here is the post on my dedicated music blog @transcriptions-of-unknown-music btw)

This suite is very dear to me: I scored top marks in my Arranging class with it, and later won a conducting audition with it. And now, in about a year or so, I will be getting the chance to perform it with a professional symphony orchestra. Like a full orchestra instead of the weird ensemble it was originally written for.

BUT

I need to reinstrumentate it, of course, but that also means that I can update it. The original assignment had a time limit of four minutes; this time I don't have that restriction, so I can basically do whatever the fuck I want.

And this is where I need the fandom's help.

I have a pretty solid base idea of what to do with it, but I want to put in as many nods to the width of BIONICLE as possible. The original suite was based on the music of the first three movies with motifs from mostly the MNOGs thrown in, because those are what mostly marked my personal BIONICLE experience, but BIONICLE is more than that. It's also the GBA games, the console games, the songs, the commercials, the online episodes, the later flash games, the Piraka rap, the singing squid, and so on. Which brings me to what I need you all for:

Please let me know your favourite BIONICLE music!

It could be literally anything; from an entire game soundtrack to just the drum rhythm during one specific section of a game. I'd love to know what BIONICLE music you love or is important to you!

What will I do with this information?

Currently I'm already working on gathering motifs and soundtracks into one musical book, transcribing them into notes and bringing them down to their core elements. This will serve as my vocabulary, of sorts: if I have a collection of themes at my disposal, it will be much easier to see if and how they fit together.

Here is an example of a piece from the Templar episodes that I 'collected': (it sounds off because it's MIDI, but what I did here was write down the actual notes so I can transcribe it for other musicians)

Please don't hesitate to let me know your favourite BIONICLE music (and also feel free to tell why a certain piece is important to you)! There is no time limit to this; you may always reblog or reply to this post, and my ask box is also open!

Hope you all can help me make this a real community thing, showing our Unity!