#sometimes when im writing a post

[rincewinds-hat]

i think it's ironic and poetic that the first episode of spn that has an official title is called 'Faith'

Because literally everything revolves around that.

They have to have faith in eachother, in others, they gotta have faith that things *will* work out. They need that faith because sometimes that's all they got. As they say, hope dies last (but the Winchesters will outlive it)

I also like that it's the episode where Dean almost dies, and Sam won't let him go no matter what - even if it means someone else dies. Because, again, this is a repeating theme in the show.

Another recurring theme - people playing god/being worse then some 'monsters' the brothers hunt.

It's also the first time we see a reaper, as well as the first truly religion based case. Sure, before it was the Hookman, but that's more ghost/poltergeist thing, and religion isn't that big. In Faith however, it's just about that - they go to a faith healer, people have faith that God is the one doing this, they have faith they'll be healed if they pray enough and believe... Which is the base of any religion.

[inkskinned]

crows use tools and like to slide down snowy hills. today we saw a goose with a hurt foot who was kept safe by his flock - before taking off, they waited for him to catch up. there are colors only butterflies see. reindeer are matriarchical. cows have best friends and 4 stomachs and like jazz music. i watched a video recently of an octopus making himself a door out of a coconut shell.

i am a little soft, okay. but sometimes i can't talk either. the world is like fractal light to me, and passes through my skin in tendrils. i feel certain small things like a catapult; i skirt around the big things and somehow arrive in crisis without ever realizing i'm in pain.

in 5th grade we read The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-time, which is about a young autistic boy. it is how they introduced us to empathy about neurotypes, which was well-timed: around 10 years old was when i started having my life fully ruined by symptoms. people started noticing.

i wonder if birds can tell if another bird is odd. like the phrase odd duck. i have to believe that all odd ducks are still very much loved by the other normal ducks. i have to believe that, or i will cry.

i remember my 5th grade teacher holding the curious incident up, dazzled by the language written by someone who is neurotypical. my teacher said: "sometimes i want to cut open their mind to know exactly how autistics are thinking. it's just so different! they must see the world so strangely!" later, at 22, in my education classes, we were taught to say a person with autism or a person on the spectrum or neurodivergent. i actually personally kind of like person-first language - it implies the other person is trying to protect me from myself. i know they had to teach themselves that pattern of speech, is all, and it shows they're at least trying. and i was a person first, even if i wasn't good at it.

plants learn information. they must encode data somehow, but where would they store it? when you cut open a sapling, you cannot find the how they think - if they "think" at all. they learn, but do not think. i want to paint that process - i think it would be mostly purple and blue.

the book was not about me, it was about a young boy. his life was patterned into a different set of categories. he did not cry about the tag on his shirt. i remember reading it and saying to myself: i am wrong, and broken, but it isn't in this way. something else is wrong with me instead. later, in that same person-first education class, my teacher would bring up the curious incident and mention that it is now widely panned as being inaccurate and stereotypical. she frowned and said we might not know how a person with autism thinks, but it is unlikely to be expressed in that way. this book was written with the best intentions by a special-ed teacher, but there's some debate as to if somebody who was on the spectrum would be even able to write something like this.

we might not understand it, but crows and ravens have developed their own language. this is also true of whales, dolphins, and many other species. i do not know how a crow thinks, but we do know they can problem solve. (is "thinking" equal to "problem solving"? or is "thinking" data processing? data management?) i do not know how my dog thinks, either, but we "talk" all the same - i know what he is asking for, even if he only asks once.

i am not a dolphin or reindeer or a dog in the nighttime, but i am an odd duck. in the ugly duckling, she grows up and comes home and is beautiful and finds her soulmate. all that ugliness she experienced lives in downy feathers inside of her, staining everything a muted grey. she is beautiful eventually, though, so she is loved. they do not want to cut her open to see how she thinks.

a while ago i got into an argument with a classmate about that weird sia music video about autism. my classmate said she thought it was good to raise awareness. i told her they should have just hired someone else to do it. she said it's not fair to an autistic person to expect them to be able to handle that kind of a thing.

today i saw a goose, and he was limping. i want to be loved like a flock loves a wounded creature: the phrase taken under a wing. which is to say i have always known i am not normal. desperate, mewling - i want to be loved beyond words.

loved beyond thinking.

[doomedclockworkdotmp3]

heeyyy gaaanggg

the pose and the background of the album version (left) are based on oingo boingos only a lad album art. not cause i think he has anything to do with it but just cause ive been wantin to draw that pose for like. weeks and i didnt know who to put there. so why not my latest bug man.

[fatedroses]

Back when the Black Wolf and White Lion were nothing more than freshbloods recently saved from an overtaken encampment, a string of nightly mishaps leads to yet another fateful encounter with the garlean princes. (They're in the tent next to them, and Titus will always demand his beauty sleep when he can get it at this age)

[cervinae-canine]

It's always fascinating to compare Sniper's relationship with his parents in the 'Meet the Sniper' short with the comics. Personally, it's because of how it evolves from a brief mention to a sincerely satisfying character arc.

"I'll be honest with you. My parents do not care for it [it is him being a mercenary]."

In the short, it shows that either one or both of his parents disapprove of his decision to be a mercenary. Which no doubt, would cause strain in any relationship; regardless of the closeness. It doesn't particularly mean they're distant, however, as we see Sniper talking to his dad on the phone. (though it is shown via an argument).

I can argue that this was a subtle display that they both still cared about him enough to not completely cut him out of their lives, despite the understandable reason if they were to. I've seen some that suggest his parents might've disapproved of his mercenary work because they fear having to attend their son's funeral. Regardless of the reason, they kept contact with him, but their dynamic was strained.

Of course due to the short amount of time, this point was skimmed through and was fairly quick in pace. His complicated family issues were established and for a very long time, this was not explored until in 2014 with "Blood in the Water".

Sniper's specific arc in the comics revolves around wanting to find his birth parents after his adoptive parents passed away, or in his words; his "real parents."

Even in just the establishing scene with his birth parents, it already showed them mainly caring about themselves over the baby Sniper. And him ending up in the rocket that gave him safety was completely unintentional, as the two were bickering over who should use it.

By contrast, we see Mr. and Mrs. Mundy going to the crashed rocket and later implying to raise Mick as their own.

Throughout what we see of his birth parents, they're shown to be bumbling and drunken respectively; with neither really caring about each other. Let alone Sniper. Firstly in Bill-Bel's case, where he asks for money right after showing the rocket that ultimately saved Sniper's life.

And then in Lar-Nah's case, where she took the rocket to escape and abandoned both Bill-Bel and Sniper to potentially die as a result (excluding soldier and miss pauling).

Their presence doesn't have to be constant to infer that both of these characters are self-absorbed; only caring about oneself, anyone else be damned.

Despite the consistent displays of disrespect from both parents, Sniper still very much cares about them. Where he's completely willing to put his own life in jeopardy in order to get his dad to safety.

And to have that care be thrown in Sniper's face.

But despite even that, Sniper held hope and kept his expectation that he may potentially care in some capacity. He just wanted anything; any shred of assurance that his "real" parents cared about him. Something to call 'home' after his adoptive parents passed. Something to make this search for his ""real"" parents feel worth it.

You can see the genuine happiness on his face when under the impression that his dad came back; to save him. Only for it to dim when...

This part is not directly stated but after having his trust be disregarded multiple times by his ""real"" parents, he concluded one important thing: His adoptive parents are his real parents. He was their real son. He was a Mundy.

On top of that, it shows that his parents seem to develop as well. The disapproval, the arguing in the 'Meet the Sniper' short; is nowhere to be seen here. What we see are two parents that genuinely want the best for their son, even calling him a 'professional' and focusing on him staying alive rather than staying in heaven with them.

These were the exact words that Sniper needed to hear. There is no debate: Mr. and Mrs. Mundy are his parents.

I think his arc of finding his "real" parents already stood on its own but with the additional context that his relationship with his adoptive parents were tumultuous at best, it made the emotional impact of both, stronger in hindsight.

[feelo-fick]

I WANT ENDLESS BLISS!!!

HALF-AWAKE, HALF-DEAD, HALF-LIFE CRISIS

ALL NATURAL POMEGRANATE PULP.

FERMENTED TO PERFECTION, SAVOUR YOUR SAVIOR.

Q: What's your favourite food? A: THE ALE THEY SERVE AT THE TAVERN!

other versions : )

[sag-dab-sar]

📖 Myth & Sacred Scripture 📖

In Hellenic Polytheism and Mesopotamian Polytheism (and others but I don't want to speak for them) there is no sacred scripture where the words of a God are given to a myth writer and that writing is then declared holy by some form of religious authority.

The idea that myths are the literal actions of the Gods come from a concept of sacred scripture. Sacred meaning the words have holy implications or they have a fundamentally important connection to the divine. This understanding of religious writings is demonstrated in:

Protestant Christianity where the Bible is divinely inspired (usually derived from 1 Timothy 3:16 & 2 Peter 1:12). Additionally, in Trinitarian Christianity Jesus is God making his words in the Gospels the literal words of God.

Islam where the Quran are the words of God given to Mohammad via the angel Gabriel over the course of his life.

Judaism where traditionally the written Torah are the words of God given to Moses at Mt Sinai.

**There are more examples but I'm not going to try and talk about something I did not study.

This pervasive idea of scripture being the words of God embeds itself into a general view of what religion supposedly is because:

Christianity is the largest religion in the world.

Christianity is the dominant religion in English speaking countries, so when we have these discussions in English it tends to have that cultural Christian viewpoint.

Islam is the second largest religion in the world.

Islam considers the Jewish and Christian scriptures to also be given from God, but they have been corrupted in one way or another. This combination can put a mistaken emphasis on sacred scripture being a fundamental aspect of religion.

Even though Judaism is a very small religion the written Torah is considered part of the Christian Old Testament (first five books). Christians interpret the scripture completely differently but the idea of Moses receiving the Word of God at Mt Sinai continues into Christianity from Judaism.

In many "dead religions" the closest you can come to the "words of the gods" might be the writings of ancient oracles or those who communed directly with spirits & gods. However, in Greece and Mesopotamia there was no centralized religion or continuous tradition to overview and canonize them into sacred scripture. Additionally, those are not usually what people are talking about when they refer to myth.

Myth is extremely important, but mythic literalism is a misstep people make, often due to our preconceived notions of sacred scriptures and their connection to the divine.

-dyslexic not audio proof read-

-I hope this makes sense-

[grif-hawaiian-rolls]

something about trust

Writing below the cut!

“How… does it feel?” Locus asked haltingly. Lopez shrugged. “<Weird. But I expected that.>” Locus hummed, his brow furrowed like he was lost in thought as he scanned Lopez’s face. Lopez grabbed Locus’ wrists, bringing his hands to his throat.  “What are you--?” “<One way to test it. Take my head off.>” Locus’ eyes widened, his expression turning panicked. He tried to pull his hands away, but Lopez held him steady. “<You are the only person strong enough,>” Lopez said firmly, giving the other no room to balk any further. “<If this synthskin doesn’t fix the problem, I want to know now, not later.>” Lopez could feel the way Locus’s hands shifted, his fingers flexing as he fought some internal debate. Lopez couldn’t read his mind, but the flicker of those marble grey eyes was telling as Locus looked at his hands around Lopez’s throat, then to his face and then back again and again. “<It doesn’t hurt, if that’s what all this fuss is about.>” Not strictly true, having his head removed wasn’t exactly a pleasant feeling. But better to do it now, with some degree of control, than in the middle of a fight or an accident. The sensation of feeling everywhere his skin touched was strange though, the normally very localized sensors spread out across the surface of the synthskin. Was this how humans felt things all the time? No wonder they were so easily distracted. Neither of them moved. “You’re certain?” Locus asked finally, his voice little more than a whisper. Lopez raised an eyebrow and let himself grin just a little at being able to convey the sentiment properly. Maybe there were some advantages to the synthskin after all. “<I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t.>” A nod, then the pressure. Lopez knew Locus was strong, for a human, but the feeling of his hands tightening around his neck and pulling at his jaw, the base of his metal skull…  His head didn’t budge, and the pressure eased. Lopez clicked his tongue, releasing Locus’ wrists. “<Good. That is one problem fixed, at least.>”

[uhhlifeig]

Giving - Dec. 12th - word count: 729 - @wolfstarmicrofic

Remus Lupin sat down near the hearth of Potter Manor, holding a plate of pastries and a mug of hot chocolate.

Sirius Black was sitting right next to him in the little circle that his friends had made. Remus smiled at his boyfriend and passed him a Muggle store-bought croissant, grinning when Sirius wrinkled his nose.

“Moony, are you trying to poison me? What is this- this abomination?” Sirius asked, dropping the pastry on the floor. “How dare you hand that to me?”

“Well, Sirius, you were the one who suggested we get some Muggle foods to try over Christmas hols. It’s not my fault,” Remus shrugged.

“How dare you, Moony,” Sirius said, putting a hand on his heart and pretending to faint like a Victorian-Era lady. “That is pure lies and slander, and you know it.”

“Shut up, Sirius. We want to start the gift opening,” grumbled Lily from where she was nestled into James’s side. “Save the dramatics for later.”

“Fine,” Sirius pouted, righting himself. “Who’s up first?”

“Sirius,” Peter sighed, “If you had been listening then you would have realized that it was you first. But noooo, you had to go and faint over a croissant.”

“Hey! It was an utter travesty to all French food, stop defending that atrocity,” Sirius protested, getting up and walking over to the tree to get his gift. 

Lily had insisted on doing something different this year, so she had chosen some sort of Muggle tradition called “Secret Santa” or something like that. It involved slips of paper and also a lot of secrecy, but Sirius was great at secrecy.

Oh, and his gift was for Remus. It may or may not have been a stack of books, but that didn’t matter.

Sirius grabbed the bright red present with his name on it from under the tree and made his way back over to the group.

“Unwrap it!” cheered James, which caused Lily to smack him in the arm. 

Sirius did as told, and was surprised to see a bright red and gold scarf. He picked it up, trying to figure out who had given it to him. 

It must have been Lily, he figured, as she was able to knit and she also liked to make her friends gifts.

“Lily, was this from you?” Sirius asked.

“No, it wasn’t, actually.” She smirked and glanced at Peter, who sighed at her devious smirk. 

“It’s from me, Sirius,” Peter said. “I also charmed it to be durable and also to be warm no matter what, so that Padfoot has something to play tug with that’s harder to break.”

“Thanks, Pete,” Sirius said, pretending to blow him a kiss. “Such a thoughtful lad, you are.”

“Well yeah. It’s the season of giving, after all. Now,” Peter clapped his hands together. “Remus, you’re up.”

Remus made his way over to the tree as well, picking out a deep blue box and going back to the little circle that his friends had made. 

Upon unwrapping it, his eyes widened when he saw first editions of all of his favorite books. Who the fuck would have this much money- Oh. Wait. Sirius and James would.

Remus made a guess at who the gift-giver was. He did have a fifty-fifty chance, after all. 

“Sirius, fess up. Why’d you do this for me?” 

Sirius’s eyes widened, obviously not expecting his boyfriend to guess him first try. “I mean, you said you liked those books?” he said weakly.

“No, no. Well, yes, I do, but these are first editions, Sirius. I expect you know how rare and valuable these are, no? Why?” Remus asked, already doing mental calculations for how much he owed.

“Because I love you? You mean so much to me, and also that was, like, barely a dent in Alphard’s money. I’d totally do it again. When Wally and Onion die then I’ll buy you all the books you want., actually. Make them roll in their graves a bit, you know?”

Remus sat there, shocked, before regaining his senses and pulling his boyfriend into a kiss.

A good few seconds into the kiss, Remus heard James gag. “Get a room, you two. Please. You’re dirtying the pastries’ innocent dough.” 

They broke apart, shooting him a dirty look in unison before bursting into laughter. 

“The pastries? Seriously?” Lily said, looking up at him.

“Yeah, love. Siriusly.”

[tomlivingspace]

I'm curios about your take and opinions on the sisters, do you think the random treats them bad?

well let's just say im glad no one talks about the sisters anymore

i like the sisters basically on principle but obv they were created to display yet again how the lifestyle of the clans is superior to every other form of cat society. because in THIS society, WOMEN oppress MEN. unlike the clans where men and women are equal ☝️😌 and i hate that getting kicked out of the sisters is tree's tragic backstory because i hate tree.

ummm idk i dont think its invalid necessarily that a significant portion of the fandom interprets the sisters as gender essentialists or whatever but again... that implies the clans are not and that the clans would be super cool about trans people. which i doubt! especially since the sisters.... and ALL of warrior cats in general are written without trans people in mind. so really the criticism starts to take on a misogynistic tint. as per usual.

so tl;dr yes but considering they're literally portrayed as being bigoted women i cant make myself get too angry about it

[wackywatchdotcom]

on the subject of pomni and zooble im deeply invested in seeing how their dynamic plays out. theyve had like.... two proper interactions. one of which is barely even both people like zooble delivers Bad News to pomni and pomni doesnt really seem like shes noting whos saying it so much as the fact that shes being told things by a bunch of strangers and is panicking about it and then zooble scowls in the bg for the next five minutes before jax drags ragatha and pomni off. the most theyve actually interacted is in ep 4 when zooble asks pomni abt ep 3, pomni tells them and then they get deeply upset for a reason that revolves around 'why did caine think i would enjoy possession'

we generally dont really know what their dynamic even is they just kinda exist around each other. that said zooble tends to sound harsh like half the time but like... theyre not mean theyrw just blunt. i think above all else zooble is actually more concerned w the safety of the other cast members than one would assume. we see it best in eps 2 and 4 i think. in ep 2 theyre patient w ragatha, smth theyre not in the pilot. but the circumstances are different. in the pilot this is just another shitty day, that keeps getting worse. they dont even get to sit out the adventure despite being told they can. but ep 2 they get time to themself, and know ragathas probably not really handling things well

and i think abt it a lot but them being ragathas designated driver is like. really notable imo actually. because ragatha isnt in danger. its unclear where theyre driving or if theyre driving, but zooble goes oh, ragatha cant be trusted to drive. even though ragathas been pissing them off all day. even though if ragatha actually got herself injured it would be fixable and its unclear if ragatha would even notice. if zooble didnt care they couldve just left. if zooble was worried abt gangle theyd have stayed (theyre clearly concerned for her, but i dont think they read it as danger- so making sure ragatha stays physically safe becomes a higher priority. it also says smth abt the amnt of faith they have in gangle, even if it was technically misplaced here. i think they get worried about gangle but to them the highest risk member is kinger, not gangle. on some level i dont know if theyve been in the circus long enough to see any patterns in when people abstract). but they make sure ragatha gets back safe. because she pissed them off that day but could tell something was up, and that even if shed be okay in the end, they wanted to be sure that ragatha wasnt hurt

i think it speaks to the actual level of concern they exhibit for the others. theyre cautious. them and pomni ar ethe most visibly distrusting of caine. and i think it relates to zooble not having been here long. jax and ragatha in particular may ebe able to ignore the slapstick bullshit of the circus, may be able to walk off an injury just fine because its just part of life, but as far as zoobles concerned they want to avoid it if possible. i think they know its not normal for things to be this way and they cant change it but they can stop pointlessly harmful things from happening

i think their spiel abt the others in ep 3 is also very telling in that they actually have a really flattering description for ragatha and gangle. ragathas too nice, and i dont think thats obliviousness. i think zooble is one of the more emotionally intelligent characters, they just have little patience and arent 'sweet' about it. theyre extremely aware of the other characters imo. they just... genuinely think ragathas nice. i dont think ep 4 even changed that. and gangles too ahy to speak up. they say this not in a way thats critical. in fact its one of the calmest things theyve said in the whole show im pretty sure. they care abt her and know how she feels even if shes not confident enough to say it to caine

and getting back to pomni is that their assessment of pomni is that 'she looks traumatized everytime she comes back for one' (iirc some other translations are even more explicit in this description of pomni as being impacted by the adventures). implying theyve not only been very much paying attention, but q the way they say it they seem Genuinely Concerned. i think on some level theyre irritated by pomni, not on a personal level but bc pomni is The New One. she hasnt settled in, and i think zooble gets irritated by the song and dance of a person finding out that what they already have to cope with as being Their Life Forever, Now is also theirs. but its not personal, and i dont think its smth zooble holds against her. but i think zooble has definitely picked up on the fact that pomni is having a very rough go at it for her first days- esp since the harshest they get is before caine gives his spiel abt the fake exit door or before its clear that pomni saw kaufmo, too. and from the start of ep 4 its clear that they heavily dislike the measures caine is taking to appeal to them (and id argue that part of their response to caine is in part frustration at him putting the others at risk, but thats getting more into my personal speculation without a huge basis)

i think zooble is a person who largely expresses care for others through concern and, honestly to some degree, helping people. which now that i say it is fascinating considering ragathas whole deal. and the trajectory pomnis going in. or the fact that im not sure they know kinger all that well yet (they know a bit abt him but i think without talking to him in the dark a person would miss a large amount of context). or their deeply interesting dynamic with caine, a person who prides himself on his role as an entertainer for others and has no other goals at all. it creates an interesting contrast when i think theyre one of the few characters who even helps others successfully at all

anyway, this all got off track and wasnt what i actually even made this post to talk about. my intent was to mention that i dont think zooble has actually seen pomni when shes more stressed. i mean theyve seen her post ep 2, which is notable, and theyve seen her get panicked in the pilot and probably saw her Not Looking Well at the feast. but ehile the audience has seen pomni Freak Out and be jumpscared or launch herself at a gate (plus select members of the cast), zooble has certainly not. we also have that advert where ahe attacks jax that is noncanon but depicts a aide of pomni not seen super clearly in the eps yet, that of which being violence. all of this is to say im not sure zooble actually knows about pomnis capacity to attack things and i find it funny to imagine zooble finding out and getting startled because they knew pomni was nervous but they havent seen that side of it yet

(and to a lesser extent, i think gangle- and ragatha sort of- are the only characters whove actually seen pomnis capacity to be patient with people. gummigoo doesnt remember. its implied kinger forgot- even if its vague how much he forgot pomni was scared thru most of that and the brief moment of patience she had was VERY short-lived. ragatha got pomnis little apology type thing in ep 3 but thats it. i think gangle is the one whos actually seen the most of this from pomni. so i imagine gangle probably has one of if not the most flattering image of her of the entire main cast, despite the fact that pomni does actually say smth that upsets gangle too earlier- which ive been meaning to make a post abt how each of the cast members upset gangle in a way unique to that persons own issues but thats smth ill talk abt later- and i think gangle wouldnt blatantly state this in detail to zooble, maybe say that pomni helped her out, but i think if gangle told zooble abt this at all itd make zoobles image of pomni even more skewed. and way more likely that seeing pomni attack someone would startle them)

[actualbird]

.

[911bts]

I know nothing about contracts and who's coming back. Contracts are most likely all figured out at this point, but that stuff isn't (generally) public knowledge. You'll see who's back when they're on set/in promotional material.

[starry-sophrosyne]

me realizing i havent ever posted my initial designs for tox and leo/ive stopped talked about ttos as a whole:

[skitskatdacat63]

Happy One Year Anniversary to Boy King AU!!!! 🎉

Okay wait before I start talking, look at these close ups and the process!! Aren't they so beautiful aaaahhhh

Wow, can you believe it’s really been a whole entire year since my very first post about this AU? Well technically I first started talking about the statuette a day earlier, but the very first sketch was exactly a year ago!! Let us not forget the incredibly prophetic tag on that post: “also in the sense of this au i think the only ship that would work(historically accurate wise) is Vettonso.” Who knew that after that my entire life would devolve into vettonso, this specific period of history, and the lovely combo which is Boy King AU. Also wow this means it’s taken me almost a whole entire year to actually draw a joint portrait of them hahaha. I drew this sketch around the beginning of the AU, but never finished it. It’s fine though because this one is a lot better, and I’m in love with it. Took me a year to draw a couple portrait, and took me almost a whole entire month to finish said piece. 

Okay let me explain this piece, which I am very obsessed with!!! I dragged the process out more than I usually would, but I’m glad, because it was so enjoyable. But also look at that fucking crown, no wonder this took almost a month. Usually I’d write like 50 paragraphs detailing the characterization. HOWEVER! I’ve spent over a month writing little bits of characterization, mostly for fun, but also in preparation for this very post. A lot of the earlier ones, I had this drawing in mind, thinking on how I could expand on the ideas I was drawing. Though there’s definitely some things I could still write about. I’ll probably continue to write more Lore a Days, but yeah, they basically amounted to this drawing where you can actually see the characterization I was talking about displayed. Anyways, here are the explanations of bits in the drawing:

First of all, this is some part of the long process of their wedding. Look at the married couple!! Look at their rings!!!

Okay, but why are there two, almost identical looking pieces?? Because look at their hands!! I talked a lot about how Fernando is the one to give out affection more easily, especially in public, where he knows he can easily fluster Seb. He’s acting all grumpy and out of it, I mean to be fair, it’s probably been such a long ceremony across weeks. But he notices Seb is out of it too, just better at keeping his smile (let’s be honest, even if he’s distracted, he’s super smug.) So Fernando catches him off guard by squeezing his hand. Before that, as you can see, Fernando is just resting his hand on Seb’s outstretched palm, like that one scene from Succession. Very: yes I’m getting married, but I’m not happy about it. The combination of Fernando refusing to even touch him more than lightly beforehand but now going full force, them being in public, and Seb already being distracted catches Seb so off guard he has to try to cover his blush with his fan. He thought Fernando was being super impolite, but now he’s the impolite one!! Getting all blushy and giggly over a simple display of affection, perhaps even ha-

So. Their crowns. Seb’s wearing the crown of Austria, because he is in fact only a king still! Also, because I really wanted to try drawing it after I wimped out of it before in this drawing. Fernando’s a king as well by the point, but the fact he’s wearing only a tiara-like hairpiece is to represent how much of an outsider he still is. At this moment, he’s just Seb’s wi- ,I mean husband, to all these guests. Of course this bitch wears a black veil instead of a white one, to signal that he’s mourning the loss of his autonomy and personhood. Don’t worry too much about his mental state though, considering he’s not depressed enough to be able to resist teasing Seb. 

The fan, oh my god. Back in this era, people would gift/make fans for basically any occasion. To symbolize an event, to celebrate something, to show a story, etc etc. I wish I could have drawn something more narrative, but I think the bull vs. horse is good enough. Also you can see those same symbols on the pendants they’re wearing!! I’m so happy when I can fit irl, modern stuff like that into these drawings, it feels so clever!!

It’s so funny, I wrote a lore a day from a prompt about what they’d be like when doing a joint portrait, while I was already almost through painting a dual portrait of my own! So I got to explain some stuff like their clothing colors and poses before I even posted this. I feel very coy about that still honestly. 

Hmmm what else? It feels so weird to not expand on the characterization, considering I already did it for myself weeks in advance. I can’t imagine what it’s like opening this read more, and seeing more than 10 in-text citations. Happy reading!!!

 Happy anniversary to  this wonderful, crazy AU that makes me download 500pg German papers about 18th century etiquette. I drew a couple pieces of fanart before this AU, but I definitely think it jumpstarted my insanity about drawing/making AUs, and literally is what made me insane about Vettonso in the first place. Remember, if I hadn’t learned about Joseph I/Charles VI, most of my blog probably wouldn’t exist in it's current form. Thank you if you’ve stuck around since the beginning, or if you’re even just learning about it now!! It’s so incredibly niche but I’ve had so much fun researching and building this world and these characterizations, and I hope you’ve enjoyed what I’ve made in the process. I hope I can draw/write many more things in the future. I think next, I’m gonna maybe open up requests. I’d like to try to either write ficlets or draw chibi comics about specific Lore a Day posts on request. I think that’d be a lot of fun, but also will probably kill me. We’ll see!! Anyways. PPlease enjoy this absolute labor of love, which is a result of a year’s worth of work.

[sieglinde-freud]

Hello , I would be interested to know how you view Olivia , especially as Chrom's wife if you don't mind sharing it :)

hiii!!! thanks for the ask :3 i think to get into how i view olivia specifically in her relationship to chrom and also as the. what do they call it in ylisse. is chrom’s spouse a queen? i’ll say that. so, i think how i view her as queen of ylisse versus normal olivia (ie olivia who did not marry chrom!) is a little different mostly because of one very simple fact: ylisse is. a little racist! CW LONG

i think standard olivia is just. what u see in olivia in the game. but when u add on the fact that she’s suddenly the queen she’s suddenly a way bigger player (which is true of anyone who becomes chrom’s spouse) in a nation she’s not from! something that is also present with robin if they marry chrom but that one is a little different if only because robin doesn’t remember anything about plegia or their past (not saying that means robin wouldn’t face discrimination but it would be. different. also racism against plegia and racism against regna ferox are wildly different but not what the post is about today) which i think would honestly be a really fun angle to analyze chr*bin from but. theres like a million people way more brainrotted on that ship than i am so yk. someone else’s job. all this to say that olivia’s role as queen is unique to her in the sense that her experience would be completely different than everybody else’s (especially from chrom’s other three spouses who are all ylissean and maybe noble. is sumia a noble. i dont remember but the other two are!)

obviously, when you’re playing through awakening, ylisse is made to be the “good guy” nation who values peace and love on planet earth! what do you mean chrom’s father was an imperialistic war mongerer? whaaaat??? shove that one under the rug and never bring it up again! lol! no, seriously, why is no one bringing this up. but, it doesnt matter, he’s dead, and now chrom and emmeryn are heading ylisse and it’s fine they’re so good and peace and love and all that. but then, if ylisse so good, why constantly making racially stereotypical remarks about every other country????

plegia, regna ferox, chon’sin, the wholeeeeee continent of valm, the shepherds are lowkey. not. nice 😭 to any of them. sure, some of them become your allies, but the language chrom and co. use to describe them sometimes is very…???? i’d say that regna ferox and ESPECIALLY plegia get the worst of it, but we’re only with the shepherds during war time. who knows how the rest of ylisse views these people?

all that to say that i think if chrom were to choose a queen from regna ferox, it would be. interesting. and not only is his queen a foreigner from a country perceived entirely as meathead warriors who only know violence and nothing of diplomacy (insane coming from the country who’s past exalt did the. the. well you know), she’s also 1) a commoner, 2) a dancer, and 3) she has known chrom for probably not very long! how do you think this comes off to the general public who do not get to unlock the support conversations upon beating the game? not well, i’ll tell you that! it doesnt matter that chrom was just in love with her really fast, it doesnt matter that they are peak awakening romance (to me… 🥹), it doesnt matter that olivia is acting purely with good intentions, nobody can see that. and maybe chrom will come off okay, or at least recover quickly if his reputation drops, but olivia has had like. no time to garner good will with anyone outside the shepherds (even IN the shepherds honestly. sounds like a lot of people just kind of went home during the two year break) and its not like i’d call ylisse a super feminist/anti-misogyny nation so what do you think she looks like to everybody else?

olivia is a performer first and foremost, so even if all of this bothers her on some level, she can probably hide it decently well. i know that olivia can come off as kind of like… “airheaded” in some support conversations (not how i view her, ive just seen different opinions of her) but she’s not an idiot and she’s honestly a lot more self-aware than people give her credit for. so, i think she survives. but for someone like her that already has such a low opinion of herself, i’d imagine she’s not always in the best place mentally! and you know, she has a good support system—chrom is obviously there, and i’m sure people like lissa and maribelle would be willing to support her. but then, the problem: they’re all ylissean. as much as she might love them, they don’t get what olivia is going through and how fast of a transition it is to go from regna ferox servant (? what is her role to basilio. servant feels wrong but she works under him, no?) to ylissean queen because they’ve been there their whole lives! and after all that’s said and done, it’s just lonely.

i do NOT think that that means that olivia is doomed to life of sadness and depression if she becomes the queen of ylisse, though. most of that concerns the two year timeskip and the bad timeline. i think that post-awakening story, after she meets lucina and inigo and is able to get closer with the rest of the shepherds, especially characters like panne and lon’qu and henry who are also eternal outsiders, i think she’s able to cement her place in ylisse and become more confident in who she is and expand her circle of friends and confidants. one thing that i enjoyed about the very few queen olivia scenes that we see is that when chrom says he’s off to valm, olivia asks to come with, saying she could dance for their hosts, which essentially tells me that despite everything, that passion is thankfully still there. olivia is not beyond hope and she just needs time!! in that same vein, i think inigo specifically coming back to her is SO good because him existing the way that he is—half feroxi/half ylisse, going through ylissean politics (similar to how she did—and i like to think that lucina is visually more ylissean while he is visually more feroxi—another post for another day), and still dancing because she inspired him so much is just really so important to her. obviously olivia and inigo’s relationship is important to olivia regardless of whether or not they’re royalty and it really is one of the most beautiful mother/child relationships in the game (IN MY OPINION. i understand im biased…) but i just think if there’s anyone that can understand her completely in a situation like this? it’s him.

so i think, once awakening is over, queen olivia is in a really good spot! and as relationships with other countries and ESPECIALLY regna ferox improve, she’ll be fine. but i also like to expand this train of thought to bad timeline olivia who never got to have any of that. in fact, chrom fucking died. i dont know how the ylissean line of succession works exactly??? i think it’d go to lucina, but because lucina was so young, i’d imagine olivia did a lot of the heavy lifting for her. but don’t you think it’s a lot for one person to go through losing her husband, mothering two young children, and ruling a country full of people who still have not had a chance to warm up to you and have been openly hostile towards you before? well! yes! and then she dies. rip queen olivia, we hardly knew you