#and relating them to the concepts were studying is wild
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Queering the Wild by Micha Rahder (2019) [final]
Queer Intimacy in Non-Human Animals
The author introduces several examples of ‘queerness’ across the animal kingdom—the ‘birds and the bees’, --a lot about birds since we have a lot of research on them. The study on zebra finches reminded me of the concept of ‘naturecultures’; they choose their mates and often do not stray, same-sex or otherwise and so this supports the idea that there is more to ‘bird life than breeding and that the social aspects of bonding might be just as important’ (02).
“The idea that sexual activity might be about more than just making babies is hard for people who were raised in contemporary U.S. American culture in particular, with its focus on abstinence-only sex ed and heavy legislation of uteruses and the people who have them” (02) but finches, bonobos, dolphins or ‘female fish that prefer males that have had sex with other males, all chip away at that anthropocentric frame’ (02).
“Because scientists carry their cultural biases into their work, most research approaches these kinds of queer traits and behaviors as problems to be solved” (02). Heteronormativity has made scientists ‘run in circles’ trying to explain why such ‘maladaptive’, ‘perverted’ traits appear throughout the natural world such as nutritional deficiencies, the stress of captivity, that they’re just ‘dumb’ and can’t tell the difference, it’s a ‘misfire’ attempt at heterosexuality, or they’re just ‘practicing’.
“Evolutionary biologists need to think about same-sex sexual behavior in non-human animals as more than just a problem to be solved” and “same sex sexual behavior is both a trait that is potentially shaped by selection and a force that shapes selection on other traits” or they should “consider how same-sex sexual activities shape ongoing evolutionary processes” (03).
Extending Our Chosen Family
Evolution has no “direction or purpose” and humans are not “the representation of the ultimate expression of life on earth” (03). If we look at microbiology, we can see true diversity. “Only recently have scientists started to pay attention to how much [microbes exchanging DNA] might be driving evolution” (03). Fungi are also an incredible example of sexual diversity; with one species alone having more than 23,000 documented mating types (sexes) and individuals can physically ‘merge or separate in different environmental contexts’ making it difficult to differentiate them.
‘Symbiopoesis’ or “how organisms can be intimately involved in each other’s development” (squid and light emitting bacteria, bees and pollination, acacia trees and ants, wasps and figs).(03) Again this reminds me of the Lakota concept of Mitakuye Oyasin—we are all related, all my relatives.
Competition//Cooperation is another binary that queer ecology can challenge.
“Queering nature means learning about our connectedness with all the living earth. Here, the classic queer recognition of chosen family extends beyond humans, recognizing our kinship and interdependence with our companion animals, the foods we eat, our microbes and others. It means taking pleasure in those connections, learning to recognize pleasure in others and understanding how our human identities, gender expressions and sexual behaviors are only a small piece of the wide, queer living world” (04).
Queer ecology asks us to be curious about the ‘magnificent overabundance of reality’ (Bagemihl). “Breaking free from the historical biases of science allows us to move forward together with other life on earth, rather than thinking ourselves as separate from or above it. That kind of hierarchical thinking has kept queer and other marginalized communities away from the benefits of being outdoors and has led directly to the tangle of global environmental crises in which we find ourselves now. Learning from non-humans is a great way to undo these legacies” (04).
#queering the wild#queer ecology#queer nature#ecofeminism#heteronormativity#queer theory#critical ecology#environmental politics#ecology#queer history#mitakuye oyasin#evolution#naturecultures#Symbiopoesis
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Odd thought, but what's your personal take on the vampiric weakness towards religious objects and places? Now obviously the myths, legends and folklore where our modern concept of a "vampire" originated, as well as the literary works that would popularize them in pop culture originated in deeply Christian Europe.
However distancing a bit from that context, I kinda like the idea that vampires as a rule are repelled by ANY religious object and place of worship backed with legitimate faith and belief. Could probably lead to a quite comedic scene where a Theistic Satanist of all things manages to have a better time warding off a vampire than a con man televangelist who doesn't actually believe a word he's saying.
There's a fair bit of debate about the cross thing, and I think it's important to separate the crucifix/cross repelling vampires in mythology and folklore from the depiction in pop culture.
Because pop culture vampires and folkloric vampires are quite different beasts, most of the time, and the underlying intent is different. And yes, pop culture does often query the "is it the power of the symbol or the power of the faith" and come up with different answers - the Netflix Dracula series as an example makes a big plot point out of this.
For Stoker, I think, his vampires are specifically demonic. They are not so much just the person they were in life but with fangs and blood hunger, they are a ravenous unclean spirit posessing the person's corpse - this is why Vampire Lucy is such a 180 from the sweetheart we knew her as - so the repulsion of the crucifix comes from that good vs evil thing.
And it's worth noting that whilst Jonathan is a Christian, he's Church of England and 'regards such things (as carrying crucifixes and rosaries) as in some measure idolatrous'. But the symbol still works for him, so it's possible that either his baseline Christianity still empowered it, Stoker (a Catholic definitely not a Catholic, my bad, but that makes this more interesting to me) was implying that Jonathan was wrong and the symbol DOES have power, or...the repulsion wasn't about the symbol or the wielder, but was on Dracula's end.
Because there's also the argument that perhaps the vampires repelled by religious imagery, many of them (like Carmilla and Dracula) being themselves from that Christian old world in life, are repelled by the holy symbols because the symbol reminds either the demonic spirit or the shreds of the person that was of all the faith they once had that is now lost, of their severing from God, of their eternal, damned fate, like Mephistopheles in Faust mourning being cut off from the light of heaven, it's too overwhelming for them to bear.
It's also plausible, of course, that both Carmilla and Dracula were not actually Christian in life, with Dracula having studied black magic at the Scholomance and Carmilla being born to the notoriously wicked and decadent Karnsteins, so then the implication would be that they were in life witches, devil worshipers, or dabblers in sorcery, and therefore find the whole Christian faith and all of its signifiers repulsive and hateful because of their own opposed faith (and may be afraid of the Christian God's power and judgment, in the context the authors are writing them in)
In that case, a vampire from a non-Western culture, or a vaguely analogous creature like say a jiangshi or a manananggal, would arguably only respond to superstitious or religious repellants related to its part of the world and specific to its folklore, and not be repelled by a symbol that meant nothing to that creature, regardless of the faith of the wielder.
On the 'mythology' end the cross, like the garlic and the wolfbane and the wild rose and mountain ash and all of the original folkloric vampire countermeasures are part of a much broader aspect of folkloric creatures being repulsed or warded off by specific symbols, rituals, superstitions or cultural practices. Some of these have connections to the religion of the culture they're from and some come more from local and community tradition. This is a very broad and complex topic, and it's hardly restrained to vampires - revenants, fairies, ogres, demons, witches, and evil spirits of all sorts have their specific wards and charms.
As always with myth and folklore, it's not about what is 'true' or 'canon', because such things get very, very blurry with oral traditions that are centuries or millennia old, it's about the people telling the story - the people the story belongs to.
Anyway, the question you're really asking is - is the vampire repelled by the holy symbol because of:
A) A spiritual power inherent in the symbol itself.
B) The wielder's faith and belief in what the symbol represents.
C) The vampire's belief in or fear of the power of the symbol or what it represents.
D) Something else.
I think there's validity in each answer and a lot of fun to be had exploring them in fiction.
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thinking about jasico feat. that soulmate tattoo sleeve concept i posted about literally six years ago now, this got so long i'm just putting it all under a readmore to save y'all from having to scroll through it
the tattoos appear bit by bit in real time as someone's soulmate grows up and develop as a person, which means shit's wild when jasico-flavored. nico and bianca both grow up never developing any tattoos the whole time they're living in italy – bianca because she was fated to die young, and nico because jason's decades away from being born. it's not initially odd since people have relationships with age gaps, but the older they get without anything showing up at all the rougher it gets. they both get teased about being forever alone, or future cradle-robbers whose soulmates haven't even been born yet. it's part of why they were so close growing up. but then nico's develops rapidly towards the end of their stay in the lotus hotel, and by the time they get out of the haze of it he's suddenly got a partial sleeve.
bianca can't help but be quietly resentful. she knows it's not his fault, but she's just a kid herself, and they were in this boat together their whole lives and then suddenly her little brother has someone out there and she still doesn't. it becomes part of why she jumps on the chance to join hunters of artemis, eager for some space and rationalizing to herself that becoming immortal would mean she wouldn't be way older than her future soulmate.
meanwhile nico was distracted from bianca's frustration by the excitement of his new tattoo. it means he does have someone out there, someone close to his own age, and he obsessively studies his tattoo's imagery trying to see if it could be linked to anyone he meets. he gets his hopes up meeting percy, but they're dashed pretty quickly – his tattoo is all stormy skies and wolves and eagles, and try as he might he can't justify any of it as being related to percy. it's even more obvious much later when he finally gets a chance to see annabeth's arm and it's so clearly percy-themed. for a while he confusedly wonders if the lightning on his arm could be tied to thalia, and the thought of it is a little suffocating even if it should feel good to know he's "normal". but none of the rest of his tattoo seems to match her, thankfully, and she doesn't have a sleeve at all pointing to him either. for a long time, he figures his tattoos must be the frustratingly metaphorical kind and dismisses the obvious zeus connection.
jason, however, has a fairly developed partial sleeve of tattoos from the moment he's born. it's a little weird that it never changes at all – nico's development as a person is pretty much frozen in the lotus hotel – but jason spends his early years comparing the imagery to all the older campers, curious but never quite managing to link anyone to it. he knows right away that reyna couldn't be his soulmate, because they're the same age and whoever his soulmate is has to be at least 5-10 years older than him. he's still the popular golden boy of new rome, so he of course has other kids crushing on him that try to see themselves in his tattoos. the boldest ones try to claim a connection directly, but he can always shoot them down easily knowing the ages don't line up. and then when he's around 12, his forever-unchanged tattoo suddenly develops rapidly out of nowhere. images of some kind of playing cards appear in it, as nico discovers mythomagic soon after leaving the lotus hotel. ocean waves show up one day only to turn black a few days later. a silver arrow sneaks in soon after. then the imagery starts getting macabre pretty quickly – skulls and bones and graves take over most of it.
nico has an idea of what's up before he even meets jason – from the moment he's told about new rome and lupa and hears they have a son of jupiter, a lot of things feel very obvious. but he's still fighting all that internalized homophobia and feeling the fallout of his doomed crush on percy, so he keeps his mouth shut. he always wears his jacket anyway, and makes sure to wear long sleeves when it's too hot for the jacket. he keeps his tattoos hidden away, and no one's really close enough to ask about it besides hazel, who can tell it's sensitive and so doesn't pry.
but jason remains oblivious for a good while. the newer imagery on his arm has obvious pluto/hades vibes, but hazel or nico are both clearly too young for his false estimate of how old his soulmate would be. he doesn't hear about the lotus hotel shit until he's on the argo ii hearing stories from percy, and that's when he finally starts wondering.
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FAQ
Q: Can primates be neurodivergent/have mental illnesses like people?
A: Mental illnesses and neurodivergency are human concepts and social constructs that were designed to specifically apply to people to explain perceived differences and issues that an individual may experience. While primates can exhibit signs of what we would label as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress, other labels such as ADHD, autism, OCD, bipolar disorder, and the like do not translate across species. It is important to consider as well that many of these labels are culturally dependent, so they do not even apply universally across human populations.
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Q: Can primates be physically disabled/use disability aids?
A: Yes, primates can have virtually any type of disability. There are primates with limited mobility, vision impairment, hearing impairment, diabetes, and any number of other health problems or physical challenges that may impact quality of life. The best way that caretakers for disabled primates in captivity can help them is to make adaptations to their lifestyle and habitat so that they can live the best and more independent life they are capable of. Primates will not use disability aids such as hearing aids, glasses, canes, prosthetics, or wheelchairs, so instead caretakers will install ramps in their enclosures to help them get around, will have care regimens that account for their limitations, and will provide them with diets and enrichment that is best for them considering their health.
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Q: What about primates as service animals?
A: Primates are wild animals. Only domesticated animals can be successfully trained for the use of serving someone who needs assistance. As established in the case of primates kept as pets, they have extensive care needs and require social time with appropriate peers. This does not change in the context of service animals. Only dogs and miniature horses are legally recognized service animals in the USA.
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Q: Have you guys heard about the game Gibbon: Beyond the Trees?
A: Yes we have! It looks great and we have yet to play it, but we hope to at some point.
Q: Do primates enjoy music?
A: Some do, but most are indifferent. San Francisco Zoo did a study where they played different types of music at different locations throughout their chimpanzee habitat and indoors and found most their chimpanzees preferred silence over any of the music provided. In mod E's personal experience, primates tend to enjoy videos much more than music.
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Q: Aren’t chimpanzees super violent and aggressive?
A: No. Chimpanzees are some of the most tragically misunderstood primates, and have a bad reputation based on a few high profile incidents. Aggression is part of chimp life, but most conflicts are able to be resolved without escalating to serious violence. By and large, extreme chimpanzee violence happens as a result of human intervention such as deforestation forcing chimp troupes into smaller areas leading to territory disputes, and chimps that have been kept as pets never learning appropriate outlets for their frustration. While chimpanzees can be violent and aggressive, they spend most of their lives working together and taking care of each other and form extremely close bonds with their loved ones. While it is important to consider aggression as part of chimpanzees, it is just one part of the total primate package.
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Q: I want to work with primates. How can I get into a career with primates?
A: There is no one route to a career working with primates, but there are certain things you can do to be a better contender for primate related jobs. It is important to consider that jobs working directly with animals are very physically demanding and because these jobs are desirable, there can be steep competition for available positions. This being said, if you feel passionate about primates absolutely go for it! Starting with volunteering is a great way to get into primate care taking, and can help you find a type of work that works for you. If you have specific questions about careers working with primates, mod E is happy to help.
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Q: Can I ethically be friends with a primate?
A: We feel that desire! The most ethical way to be friends with a primate that not only doesn’t harm them but actively helps, is to find an accredited zoo near you and go as often as you want. Primates are highly social and enjoy watching people as well as being watched, and if you go frequently enough the primates you see may start to recognize you. We also encourage volunteering for primate organizations that help them if you can.
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Q: What is a fear grimace vs a play face?
A: These two expressions can be used by social apes and monkeys but are most commonly expressed by chimpanzees and macaques. They can be easily mixed up or mistaken by humans.
A “fear grimace” features tense body language, eye contact or avoidant eyes, and the lips pulled all the way back to expose both rows of teeth (looks alot like a human smile). Fear grimaces are often paired with crying or screaming, and running away or otherwise avoidant body movements. The fear grimace can be used to express: “I’m not a threat! I don’t want to fight! Let’s be friends!”. Sometimes a fear grimace can be used when monkeys or apes are meeting for the first time to communicate a friendly, non-threatening, stance. In the past (and today, unfortunately) chimpanzees, macaques, capuchins used for entertainment would be trained to “smile” as part of an act. This muddied the public perception of the expression. A normal person would not know a “smiling” primate is a tense, fearful animal and the person may attempt to approach the animal, in which case the animal may defend itself, since the fear grimace was not responded to correctly. A fear grimace is not an expression of aggression: it communicates a desire not to fight.
A “play face” features an open, relaxed mouth that exposes the bottom row of teeth, soft (non-focused) eyes, relaxed body language and may be accompanied by panting sometimes described as a laugh. A play face is often being displayed during play, or “flirting” (friendly behavior to show interest before courting).
Please check the links below for visuals of the difference between the two.
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Q: Why do humans smile if a “smile” (aka fear grimace) is a defensive measure for other primates?
A: A fear grimace is a complicated expression. Typically, the grimace is a means of asking for acceptance; “I don’t want to fight. I’m friendly. Please don’t make me defend myself physically”. It does not only occur when the animal is fearful, but instead when they are anticipating potential conflict. A human smile (In western cultures) is utilized in a very similar way. Do you only smile when you’re truly happy? Do you ever find yourself smiling when you’re nervous, when you’re trying to fit into a new social group, when you see a stranger and want to appear friendly, when you greet a customer/worker, etc. These are all ways in which our smile is used to communicate “I’m not a threat. I’m friendly, see!” This is not to say all our body language is the same as our primate cousins, but to simply show how similar that can be in ways we don’t always notice.
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Q: Why are humans so different from every other species of primate?
A: A couple million years of evolution has sent us down a strange path, making humanity a very odd species in comparison to other lifeforms. While we tend to think of ourselves as the most evolved or developed species, the truth is that evolution abides by the principle of “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. While other species have settled into evolutionary niches, early human ancestors (hominids) struggled to find an edge on the competition for resources. We have never been the strongest, fastest, or most efficient species, but walking upright became our strength. Every development a species goes through is a trade off: walking upright gave us the ability to walk longer distances and left our arms free to carry things, but for this ability we lost speed, take more fall damage, have more back and joint problems. However, in a period of great scarcity being able to walk for hours to forage and collect the spoils to save for later/sharing was a great way to survive. Walking upright ended up being the catalyst for further development along the lines we now know as human: narrower hips to support upright posture made giving birth more difficult which meant that unlike other species which tend to give birth alone, birth became a group effort. The strengthening of our social bonds and increased interdependence allowed us to take more risks as a species and rely on each other, and as we gained cognitive function we became known for our intelligence (at least to ourselves). Human evolution has been a strange and unique path, and a big reason for that is that our niche shifts slowly, and so do we. Australopithecus Aferensis, the species commonly referred to as the earliest common ancestor, existed for 900,000 years– thats much longer than homo sapiens! So while we are very different from other primates, things could look very different in a few million years.
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Q: Does anyone else find great apes to trigger an uncanny valley response? Is it normal to be kind of creeped out by them?
A: It is absolutely normal. We never judge anyone for being scared, apprehensive, or off-put by a primate, it’s a good survival skill to be cautious! Lots of people find primates close to people to be uncomfortable to look at and while we hope that feeling will fade as you get to know our ape cousins and (hopefully) grow to love them, we totally get it.
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Q: What do you think about Kanzi the bonobo?
A: Yes, we get asked about Kanzi kind of a lot! We think he is a gorgeous and lovely ape, and though the Ape Cognition and Conservation Initiative has had a rocky history we are proud to support them at their current standards of bonobo care and ethics. Kanzi clearly lives a good life with his friends and family, and while we aren’t confident that he can communicate to the extent that he has complete understanding of human language, he does appear to possess recognition of some spoken English and symbols on his lexigram board. Neat guy altogether!
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Q: Why did Travis end up committing that famous attack?
A: Travis is perhaps the most famous pet primate in the USA. Travis was purchased as a pet for Sandy Harold and her family. He was raised more as a child than a pet. He ate meals with the family at the table, was trained to drive cars, and was discouraged from displaying his natural chimpanzee behaviors. When he started to mature, his strength and confidence with humans became a problem. Harold unfortunately lost her son and her husband, leading her to lean more on Travis for emotional support. They slept in the same bed together, she let him drive her into town, and the nature of their relationship was troubling and unsafe. Harold relied on Xanax to calm Travis when he would act out. She also utilized many unhealthy foods Travis enjoyed to appease him- which in turn made him extremely obese. The famous attack started when Harold had trouble soothing a distressed Travis. She called her friend Nash to come over and help her with Travis. She also dosed him with some Xanax (while Xanax is a depressant and commonly tranquilizes humans, primates can actually become more agitated and aggressive on Xanax.)Travis had taken the car keys and was attempting to leave the property when Nash arrived. She stepped out of her vehicle and Travis attacked her. Harold called the police and attempted to stab Travis with a kitchen knife. Police arrived and Travis attempted to enter the squad car, that’s when Travis sustained the fatal gunshot wound and he retreated to the house before he passed away. Nash survived the attack but required many surgeries. Travis is a tragic red flag in the American law-making system. Wild animals do not belong in out homes. Allowing humans to keep wild animals routinely puts the public at risk of attack when the animal inevitably escapes. May Travis and the Harolds rest in peace. Please do not soil their memory with unkind jokes, this is a topic we take very seriously.
The second link contains outside sources that go into some pretty disturbing details of the attack.
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Q: Could Koko the gorilla really talk?
A: She certainly could use some signs to get a desired response, but I wouldn’t say she could talk. The research methods used were not up to standard; the “signs” she used were not any other official sign language, videos of her signing were always in clips and full videos of her training sessions were never released. She was an absolute legend and her fame really helped gorillas as a whole receive public interest and support in a time they were seen as the stinky, dumb ogres of the great apes.
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Q: Why did the Harambe situation play out like it did?
A: Harambe was a western lowland gorilla who lived at the Cincinnati Zoo from 2014 to 2016, and previously at the Gladys Porter Zoo for 15 years. May 2016, a 3 year old boy climbed the wall of the enclosure and fell 15 feet into into the moat of the enclosure. Keepers immediately signaled the gorillas to shift to the indoor space, and the two females complied. Harambe though, approached the child. He grabbed the kid, propping him up and pushing him down when the child tried to stand. Onlookers were screaming which disoriented the gorilla, he was displaying “strutting” behavior where he walks tall with his chest pushed out to appear bigger. Because he was not responding to keepers and they feared the situation would escalate, the emergency team decided to use the zoo’s emergency rifle to kill Harambe and retrieve the child, who was unharmed.
On top of the grief of unexpectedly losing a beloved animal, the staff at Cincinnati Zoo were tormented with public opinions on what they should have or could have done. Making light of such a difficult situation, a coping mechanism for many, sparked alot of hot debate for keepers on their personal social media accounts. Animal Rights Activists protested the zoo and many felt the need to debate if it was an ethical decision. As sad as it is, human lives will always be the priority in situations like this.
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Q: How can I determine if a sanctuary or zoo is ethical?
A: This can be especially difficult, even for professionals in the field, doubly difficult for facilities abroad. When traveling, we recommend doing as much research possible about the destination and their entertainment opportunities. Heavily research the animal encounters you may see. If they allow/encourage you to touch or feed wild monkeys, that’s a red flag. If animals are restrained, that’s a red flag. The human populations in popular travel destinations know that animals are a great source of revenue. Keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities rather than paid experiences in order to support local sanctuaries and rescues! A proper sanctuary should not breed, allow for hands-on “playtime”, exchange funds for experiences, or encourage you to be in unprotected contact with the animals. Happy travels!
In the states, we recommend first checking the facility accreditation. Accreditation is a way for facilities to say, “hey, we all agreed to X standards and we check each other to ensure we are all meeting those standards.”. Accreditation is a membership. There are fees and politics involved so this is not the end-all-be-all of ethics. Typically, AZA and ZAA are accreditors who can be trusted. For primate sanctuaries, NAPSA is the largest and strictest accreditor. Next, we recommend going to the facility website and checking their encounter rules. Do they restrain their animals, or allow you to feed or touch animals? Do they contribute to conservation? Are they outspoken about ending the trade of animals into private collections and homes? These can all be clues about the standards of the facility.
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did you hear the latest scoop ? we’ve got a new student joining us ! a little birdie told me that they’re called CHAE SEORI, but they kinda remind me of BAE SUZY — don’t ‘cha think ? you’re probably thinkin’ they’re just another TWENTY-SEVEN year old in their FIRST year of some MASTER'S DEGREE IN BIOCHEMISTRY , but wait ‘till you hear about their POISON GENERATION ! nifty, huh ? they’re pretty PRINCIPLED on nullivi, but you should watch out for their VINDICTIVE just in case ! anyway — if you wanna check them out, i heard they’re staying at the YELLOW HALL. oops ! you didn’t hear that one from me ! ༊*·˚
hello, i'm liv and v excited to b here! im a sl*t for anything superpower related and im also still off that gen v high so very excited to be here! all i can offer is this intro post, which i hope covers all the Key Aspects of miss chae seori. if i may summarize, shes just trying her best to be a good person while making questionable decisions and internalizing everything bad that her family has ever said abt her ♡ a cate dunlap wanda maximoff dupe rly
do like this post if u would like to plot because i would LOVE to and i much prefer d*scord hehe
also tw for mentions of nausea
𖥸 ─ basics
chae seori (often seen with gloves and a mask)
scorpio sun, pisces moon, scorpio rising
born 12 november 1996 in a small town in the outskirts of seoul
currently a first year masters student, studying biochemistry & living in yellow hall
makes poison out of her fingertips & can infect those through physical contact or through air (if in close proximity)
there have been rumours going around that seori is able to give a kiss of death but she would like to debunk those rumors! her lips are harmless really its just the air around her
big on wearing patches but she wont tell you. will make u guess whether she has one or not. (justifies by saying shes just having fun)
𖥸 ─ personality
tl;dr morally grey girl, who's trying to prove herself as a good person (but it's hard when your powers are literal poison). a little bit of a manic pixie dream girl too
positive: principled, collected, intuitive, charming, inquisitive
negative: reticent, elusive, vindictive, temperamental, self-centered
alignment: chaotic neutral (the only principles she follows are the ones she sets for herself)
character inspirations: heavily inspired by gen v's cate dunlap, the hunger games' finnick odair, mcu's wanda maximoff, looking for alaska's alaska young, yellowjackets' natalie
archetypes: the vixen, the philophobic, the antihero
associated aesthetics: shades of gray, smiles that don't seem to reach your eyes, making questionable decisions but finding ways to justify them to yourself, dark eyes and darker nights, flirtatious touches with a hint of danger, red lipstick, unexplained headaches and waves of nausea
in control of her emotions but has tendencies to lash out. she is working really hard to be a good person!!! (by her standards) (she is thisclose to just saying fuck it and just embracing that she is a Villain tho pls someone enable her)
but she can get very resentful lmfao (example A: in her most recent biochemistry class, she told herself urself it was ok that the guy in class just mansplained a concept that she had already understood in middle school but then also gave him a wave of nausea once class ended because he was so fucking rude and deserved it)
keeps up a facade of being coquettish and flirtatious ( i never watched doona but that was the vibe i got from her gifs lmfao ) i think she can be quite charming tbh the queen of breadcrumbing ♡ keep them close enough, but never enough to touch. it's sort of a coping mechanism. safe space where no one can see what a shit person she really is and how she doesnt really deserve love
no one really knows much abt her and she intends to keep it that way
heavily motivated by wanting to know more! generally the kind of person who would conduct wild ass experiments or "would you love me if i were a worm" i kinda picture it like how finnick in catching fire is like he's paid with secrets!! same vibe with seori :D
𖥸 ─ background
pretty ordinary life growing up. parents are not particularly rich but they don't struggle either. happy small town family :)
shit hits the fan when shes twelve and her brother is fourteen and they find out hes an anomaly. superhuman strength and speed. finds out after he saves a dog from getting hit by a car
if it had been anyone else, perhaps, they would've been the town's outcast but because it's her older brother, all conventional good looks with conventionally lauded powers, they worship him. he becomes the town's superman, girls come up and take pictures with him, he even gets featured in the town parade and seori is just there in the shadows
it gets even worse two years later when she finds out shes also anomaly! but unlike her brother, seori causes an incident of projectile vomiting after a particularly envious moment where her family forgets her birthday and instead, spends the day with her brother. it is messy and disgusting and it happens in the town center. no one forgets. and seori is no longer there in the shadows, she's actively cast out, whispers about why she cant be more like her brother and this is why anomalies should not be given rights
it takes seori some time to figure out her powers but she gets the hang out of it. not that it matters lol shes the black sheep, the 'villain' because goddamn shes literal poison. even her family treats her that way
she doesn't believe those words until one day she gets into a heated argument with her family. tells her mum that shes a person too and wails her father that no one has called her by her name in years and she's nothing but a stain in their family. they don't deny it and in a fit of rage and hurt and anger, she manages to cause irreversible brain damage to her brother
and that is the moment seori realizes she is the villain everyone talks about and she is the monster (doesnt help that her pupils are dark and her veins are black) !!! not a pretty look (think the monsters in sweet home before they transform kind of vibe) and so she runs
runs and runs and runs to seoul where she gets by on illegal means. she is ashamed of the things she has done (e.g., disrupting the storeowners vision long enough to get food to eat, sent someone into unconsciousness and pretended to be their granddaughter caring for them to get a house to stay, batting doe-eyes to boys who will buy her a pack of ramen) and since then shes actively working on being a better person
swears to keep her feelings in control, only uses her powers when justified (although her moral compass is cracked)
𖥸 ─ wanted connections
thank you if you made it this far! ♡ ♡ mwah mwah i appreciate u also i love plotting and just brainstorming so here are some rough ideas but OFC always open to talk !!
friends ! or better yet, friends who only meet late at night and you talk about the stars and your feelings and in the morning you pretend you have no other who the other is
someone who's immune to her....
fellow individuals in #STEM
ok this is really specific BUT what if.. our muses were enemies... and they kissed... and seori's feeling INTENSE emotions and accidentally fucks ur muses' vision up and gives them a headache and she has to pretend like it didnt excite her
she doesnt believe she deserves to be loved, so i would LOVE an angsty first love breakup thing. bonus points if she broke ur muses heart
she accidentally poisons u (she swears its an accident)
u catch her doing some immoral shit and tell her shes not a good person
a sam/cate situation. someone enable her to just fuck it youre not a good person so embrace it!!!
i love angst and antagonism so lets beef (ic)
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My part for the trade with @imjustabeanie
Okay, so you’ve given me quite a task. Finally, I’ve settled on one. I fell asleep typing so I’m posting this now instead of last night. Second place belongs to Vox, but that’s a differed story. As for the official verdict, I match you with…
Lucifer! He strikes me as a guy who’d give you plenty of space but would definitely care. In his own way. Sometimes, he’s not all that great with words, but he’d try to show you that he cares (even if he can't always be around either because of his duties or depression-) with gifts and doing things for you. Not in a babying you. And he’d treasure every single thing you give him. It could be the weirdest thing, but we’ve seen this man’s house - putting your craziest gifts up on display won't make the aesthetic any more whack with those ducks around.
In my opinion, the N/S mbti dynamic works well and he has some S vibes. That sort of thing gives the relationship balance without being too contrasting.
And, please, your cold demeanor and irony matched with the King of Hell who’s this warm, enthusiastic guy is iconic. When people hear about you two, they assume they should be cautious of him. Then they meet him and he’s literally just a guy. But the second they say some bullshit he just lets you go at them and obliterate them verbally. That's when they find out they were intimidated by the wrong person. True scary dog privileges.
For the most of the show he’s put in a pretty compromising position where he can't do much for his loved ones (mainly Charlie), but you are bound by no deal. Go, get those Exorcists! A real power couple.
Though his bluntness is expressed in a different way from yours I feel like that shared trait could be one of the things that connect you two. Like, sometimes he needs to hear your deadpanned comment to get himself together.
Sometimes, he can be all over the place when he feels like he’s been put in a tough spot, but don’t dread him coming to you all whiny and helpless. His dread is his to know and he usually deals with it in private. What he does come to you finally, it’s usually for levelheaded advice and normal discussion.
Your curiosity woks well with his an his creative soul definitely fuels it. Not only does he know a lot (he was around for a long time, come on; also asking questions is kind of his thing, much to his detriment) but he enjoys having someone to recount some stories to. And the way you detailed how you cannot stand failure paired with him being so tied (at least in actual religion) to Pride is kind of nice as a concept. Like, a running theme I guess? I mean, would be cool in the show, you know.
This man is a disaster when it comes to dealing with negative feelings and I’m a firm believer that having someone to relate to you is way better than the whole ‚I can fix him’ thing. So you guys could just communicate at your own pace and it would be nice not to have that other person pressuring you to just ‚open up and be vulnerable☺️🌸’ like it’s something everyone should do with ease and pleasure.
And this man has the craziest True Crime stories, you can’t convince me otherwise. Don’t put on a podcast, let him talk and enjoy your evening. He’s seen wild things and has no issue with recounting them.
If you’re up to it, he’d definitely get you into doing some inventions/projects together, even if you just ‚fuck around and find out’ he would find it rather charming to have another perspective. Just spend some time with him and play around in his work space (not really sure what that room is at this point, but there is a ton of equipment on the walls, so it could double as some sort of study). You could even just draw alongside him while he works on his ducks. And he would love it if you ever wanted to make a project for him of a duck. The man would make it in SECONDS I swear. He’d find your little ‚collab’ so cool.
Additional he knows how to deal with loneliness without giving you any pity, he’s been there, he knows things suck sometimes and he’s far from overbearing about it.
Sure, Lucifer might be ‚nice’ but he’s THE King of Hell. If you told him about that DNA-related dream of yours ethics wouldn’t be much of a concern, he’d try to help you to figure it out. I mean, he might be a little reluctant about making more humans, cause like, from his experience there’s one out of three chance it will be a disaster. But cloning isn’t technically the same as creation, so it should be fine? That’s yours to find out!
#not me shitting on my fave with that 1/3 bit#love my man but Lucifer would probably be careful with your experiments#SOLELY because of how Adam turned out#also I don’t think it’s immoral I guess the only thing ppl would be judgy abt is that it could end in like#ppl using it for eugenics??? like cloning the ‚right’ people so that they can get rid of the kinds of ppl they dont want living on earth#additional but if this was also about HB I would put you with Stolas SO FAST#additionally I kinda see those two as like. same person different font. so it works in my mind
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Hi I've been having a lot of anxiety attacks lately and your stories are helping me coping with it💖
So I wonder if you could write an au kind of funny and fluffy about Levi and Hange telling to their children,family and friends that they're having another baby after years saying that the factory is closed
It was a rare occasion that Armin's parents gathered him and his two siblings like that. Usually, the so called meetings were the results of Eren's shenanigans at school, sometimes - it served to explain some unknown concepts to them: like what words 'financial crisis' meant and how it related to them changing houses, or what an allergy was and how hange having one prevented them from taking a dog in. But never before the atmosphere of the meeting was so tense and their parents appeared so serious. Nervous, even.
"We wanted to have a talk with you," Hange said with a tight-lipped smile, their hand in Levi's firm clasp. Armin exchanged a look with first Mikasa, then Eren. That tight-lipped smile certainly meant trouble, and Levi holding Hange's hand - that too was unusual, and worrying because of it. Armin never doubted that his parents were in love - they rarely fought, the number of disagreements neared zero, but... their love was never flashy, not like the relationship of princes and princesses from cartoons Eren loved so much. Armin could count on one hand all the occasions in which he saw his parents hug, he never saw them kiss - at least, not the kind of kiss that was shown in cartoons, so their hand holding... was concerning.
"A talk?" Eren tilted his head quizzically. "About what? Not that... um, thing again? With the ecology?"
"Economy," Hange corrected with undeniable fondness. "And no, it's not about that. But we do have to change houses again. You see..."
They faltered, biting at their lip uncertainly. Levi quickly came to rescue. He appeared determined, but awkwardness was so potent in the air even Eren felt it.
"There will be an addition."
For all bravado displayed on Levi's face, his explanations... didn't explain much.
"An addition?" Mikasa asked. "As in..."
"As in a new member. Of our family."
Eren jumped from his seat, fist raised in the air and eyes shining brightly. "Yes! We're finally getting a dog!"
"Oh, honey..." Hange reached out, ruffled his hair gently. "It's not a dog."
"Then what is i-"
Mikasa was the one to answer. She did so flippantly, with a careless shrug. "Another brother, or a sister."
"Eh?"
Hange and Levi turned to look at each other, both appearing equally bewildered. "Mikasa, how did you-"
"Easy," she rolled her eyes, much more interested in studying her freshly painted nails. "You act just like you did when you were carrying Armin - you stopped eating meat, you work less, you run to the toilet first thing in the morning. You're pregnant again, aren't you?"
"Oh well..." Hange's hand fell onto their stomach, started to subconsciously rub it. Seemingly, just as subconsciously, Levi's hand covered theirs. "You're right, my dears, so smart we've raised you..."
Levi snorted. "The only good thing they take from you."
"Hey!" Hange cried out, indignant. "How dare you, I-"
"Gave him your wild temper and disrespect towards authority," he pointed at Eren. "Gave him the stupid habit of always having his nose stuck up in a book," now at Armin. "Well... she's alright," he concluded, with a vague shrug in Mikasa's direction.
"All of them are more than just alright, my children are-"
"Wait!" Armin raised his hands, just in time to stop a lengthy and definitely convoluted speech about family's values. "So who are you pregnant with? A girl or a boy?"
"Oh..." Hange smiled dreamily. "You'll get a brother."
"And a sister," Levi added.
There was a beat of silence, then- the collective, "Huh?!"
"I'm pregnant with twins," Hange explained.
Well... that was a definitely a lot to take in. The news were certainly unexpected, but... made Armin giddy all the same. It seemed his parents were experiencing the exact same feelings.
"So..." Hange said with uncharacteristic tentativeness. "What do you think about it?"
Both Mikasa and Armin struggled to form a coherent answer. Eren didn't appear to have the same problem.
"Well..." he ran a hand through his hair, turning it even more unruly, then smiled widely. "Of course, it's a not a dog. But I'll guess it'll do!"
Mikasa and Armin gasped, not expecting that lack of tact, Hange started laughing, and Levi... he sighed, then leaned closer to Hange, and in their ear he whispered, "See? That was your genes talking."
"Hush. Perhaps, those ones will take after you."
Levi took a look at his spouse, ran his thumb across their knuckles, stole a brief kiss while the kids were busy arguing and murmured, "Nah, I like your genes far more."
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On some of the White Ash girls because I don’t really talk about them as characters all that much
❤ Phillipa has spent her whole life on the edge of society. Despite how rich and illustrious the Claret name is, their family estate, the grounds turned into a winery decades ago, was out practically in the middle of nowhere. It was surrounded by dense forest all around, miles away from the closest town. Despite the fact that Phillipa had all the best given to her, all her fancy etiquette classes were never put to much use, and despite Mr.Claret always expressing how he wanted her to behave with better decorum, less running off, less fights, more effort into what she wears, he knows he only has himself to blame for never putting more effort to putting her in a situation to use it all. Despite all this though, Mr. Claret will never not jump to his daughters defense. He can complain all he wants, but what gave you the right to talk about her?
Some snob: Who let her come out her room looking like that?
Mr. Claret: *looks over and see they’re talking about his daughter* What’s wrong with my Phillipa?
Snob: Oh that’s your daughter? Oh nothing, it’s just obvious she didn’t put much effort into getting dressed. Her hair is barely brushed. ...is that a leaf in her hair?
Mr. Claret: Ah yes, it’s such an inconvenience when children are free to have fun. I know the concept of them being happy is foreign to you.
Snob: I merely saying-
Mr. Claret: No. Because you are not going to come into my house and insult my daughter. So I suggest you either keep it to yourself or get off my property.
🧡Lily is still new to many thing and is still learning. Out of all the White Ash gang, she’s the one that relates to Yuu the most. She’s a stranger in a strange land trying to find a place she belongs. Lily is a first year, but she had been living with the headmage for a full year prior to prepare for school and become accustomed to the new environment. A giant school and bustlingly towns were wildly different to the small rural village she had become accustomed to and even that was an adjustment. That first year was rough. A lot of things overwhelmed her. She often spent time alone in the schools gardens or her room at the headmages mouse, her only companions the were the mice Clara had all over school grounds to help students. She missed the savanna. She missed her mother. She missed Priya.
Lily had known about the village for months, staring in, trying to figure out how they spoke and acted, trying to work up the nerve to go. Then one day she saw Priya reading by the river bank that separated the town from the wild. Lily wanted to talk to her, and worked up the nerve to call across the water. “Hello! I’m Lily!” After that Priya helped her practice, Lily was a fast learner and built her confidence to go into town. Despite how long Lily has been away, her and Priya still talk all the time, excitedly planning when Lily goes to visit home.
💜Nyla has done her damndest to not let anyone knows she’s her families biggest disappointment. Her human mother is a stain on the noble house of Drakes fae blood line. Meanwhile her mother ignored her in favor of moving on. Like if she ignored the fae half, maybe one day Nyla will human and sweet and not at all like her father. The only people who didn’t mistreat Nyla was her father and grandfather. Despite the Mr. Drake could not save his marriage, he did love his daughter and tried his best to give her all she needed. Her grandfather was less warm, but rather honest, and a part of Nyla will always appreciate that he never treated her less or pity her. The elder Mr.Drake was a practical man, for better or worse Nyla was his only grandchild and heir to the Drake clan. She would have all she was entitled too, despite his wife objections.
Nylas most vivid memories are of sitting in her grandfathers study as her tutored her on magic, he would tell her, “Chin up, when you speak, speak loudly and clearly, make every word count. Never forget child, you are a Drake, and when a Drake speaks the world listens. Never allow anyone to talk down to you.” Nyla internalized this. Despite her home life, no one at school would ever be allowed to pity her. She’d make everyone care, and make those that cast her aside regret not seeing her worth.
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you with college Bo: every man-attracted person will be so. jealous. also he may or may not still flirt with people.
you with college Lester: so much mutual infodumping and puns. you can't really stay in the library cause you're always laughing too loud. people give you weird looks when passing you in the hall or anywhere cause you're always joking or talking about weird stuff.
also
what i one were to end up with both of the twins 👀 how, why, would they keep it a secret from the other students? 👀👀👀
yes i want both to fuck me at the same time i am a whore at heart
- 🔪
God, y'all gotta stop giving me a platform to just spew the contents of my brain. I am so fucking long-winded it's dumb. Please never stop I love it so much.
College Bo is a goddamn dreamboat. He's got admirers in every class, gets invited to every social gathering, professors either adore him or loathe him. He insists on walking you to class though, and expects you to wait outside for him when yours ends first. Sure, he'll be chatting up some cutie on his way out the door, and Bo communicates exclusively in flirtations and threats. But those baby blues light up when he sees you like they don't for anyone else, and he'll tap out in the middle of a conversation to wrap you in his arms and give you a kiss because goddamn, he missed you so much in the last hour it's unfair. And don't even get me started on what happens if someone else takes notice of you. His arms are around your waist, both of them, locking you in. He sets you on his lap, kisses your neck, physically steps in front of you. Do not touch what is his.
Lol you and Lester get no studying done together but it is not due to extracurriculars (usually). It is because every concept is a gateway to three new concepts. And every word that sounds even a little bit odd or inappropriate becomes a whole thing. The library is off-limits so you sit on the grass or at a picnic table instead. Your favorite is when he excitedly grabs your arm between classes and tells you he cannot wait to show you this thing he read in American lit, or explain to you something wild he just learned about a bug. It took him his whole life to finally get the chance to appreciate learning about something he cares about and he cannot get enough.
College polycule with both twins AHHHHH. I am so on the same page with you, Knifey my darling. Two Sinclairs one me please and thank you.
How? You met them separately, were interested in both, did not realize they were twins or even related. They're polar opposites in a lot of ways, after all. You flirted with both of them and when they realize they have been raving about the same person on the drive home this whole time, they have a discussion. They come to an agreement. They confront you together and you are stunned by the revelation and by the fact that they are proposing they share you.
Why? Because are you kidding me, hell yes I want to have my cock cake and eat it too. Two Sinclairs are better than one! (Three is better than two ehe) And they are both equally selfish and concerned for the other's well-being. They want to see the other happy, but neither wants to give anything up. If you're open to it, it's a nifty little solution.
Is it a secret? At first, I think yes. This is new to all three of you. They've shared a lot of things, but never a partner, and they want to take it relatively slow at first to make sure it works. Nothing will get between the two of them and they'd drop you in an instant if it was straining their relationship. They try to take it slow. But damn if they don't really, really like you. And you balance the two of them so well. Before long, it's more trouble than it's worth to keep your unconventional relationship a secret. So you kiss them both goodbye before class. You walk across campus between them, holding both of their hands. You can be found studying together in the student lounge, Vincent slouched on a chair, you perched between his legs, your feet up on Bo's lap. And with the two of them, you enjoy such immense scary dog privilege that anyone who gives you a second glance gets a sneer from Bo and a deadeyed stare from Vincent, and that's enough to shut them up before they even start.
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Queer Ecologies: Sex, Nature, Politics, Desire
Chapter 2 : Enemy of the Species by Ladelle McWhorter (part 3)
Species Troubled Past
1830s, USA—the abolitionists movement was growing. “it was simply wrong to enslave fellow human beings, no matter what benefits to society might result and no matter what racial differences might exist in intelligence, strength, health or ability” and old justifications for slavery no longer carried weight so slavery defenders turned to science—“Negroes and Caucasians were in fact distinct species” (79)
‘Important’ Names:
John Bachman- naturalist, South Carolina
Josiah Nott- physician, Alabama, “the most vocal of slavery’s scientific proponents”
Samuel G. Morton- world-renowned anatomist and professor medicine, Philadelphia
James Cowles Prichard- biologist, England
Nott used Prichard’s definition of species, “separate origin and distinctness of races, evinced by a constant transmission of some character peculiarity of organization” and referenced Morton’s study that found “significant racial differences in cranial capacity” to claim that Caucasians, Negroes, American Indians were separate species (79)=polygeny
Monogeny =the theory that humanity is one unitary species; Bachman offered this definition of species: “those individuals resembling each other in dentition and general structure. In wild animals […] they must approach the same size; but in both wild and domesticated animals they must have the same duration of life, the same period of utro-gestation, the same average number of progeny, the same habits and instincts, in a word, they belong to one stock that produce fertile offspring by association” (2005, 220) (80)
Racial diversity already existed in the USA, so Nott argued that ‘Mulattoes’ (crosses between Negroes and Caucasians) were sterile hybrids like mules and thus met Buffon’s requirement and qualified as two distinct species (80)-- he used his ‘observations’ as a physician who had treated many enslaved people to support this.
“Between 1846 and 1850 most respected scientists in the United States converted to polygeny”. Types of Mankind (1854)-published by what is now known as the American School of Anthropology.
Returning to Foucault’s words the author states, “concepts […] are for cutting. They are never merely benign representations of a natural arrangement.” (81) “Species could be made to function oppressively to separate white from blacks because […] it was already a tool for marking separations in natures heterogenous continuities in the interest of prevailing human practices” (81).
The Origin of Species (1859) Charles Darwin, who like many others maintained that the concept of species was practically meaningless, given the inevitability of evolution. “There are not eternally fixed types, nor are there eternally distinct lines of descent. All life on earth, no matter how morphologically or functionally distinct at present, conceivably could be traced back to a single germ line” (81) To me this concept is also what Mitakuye Oyasin means—we are all related. I believe my ancestors knew this ‘scientific’ truth long before Charles Darwin was alive. Charles Darwin never answered the question on the origin of species—species must change over time but not when change amount to a new species (82).
The theory of natural selection was remarkable, proponents agreed but it was incomplete—clearly certain groups like Africans, Pacific Islanders, and indigenous people from North and South America had not evolved sufficiently to produce ‘civilization’ (82) (Between indigenous peoples and those who supposedly created ‘civilization’, only one group has nearly destroyed their very environment at almost every turn—making them remarkably unfit and poorly adapted to the planet--and it isn’t indigenous peoples). But even those in the ‘higher races’ could fail to adapt—criminals, idiots, the mad, the degenerate, the chronically ill…like the ‘lower races’ these weaklings should be eliminated by natural selection. BUT, the Caucasian elite grew increasingly anxious…was humanity still evolving? Or was civilization circumventing the evolutionary process? Could it even reverse itself?—devolution. Modern technology and medicine= saving more people who might have once not survived, “allowing those with inferior traits to mature and reproduce” (82).
Madison Grant, was one of the many theorists who was concerned about devolution. He was a New York attorney and a conservationist who co-founded the Save-the-Redwoods League and the Bronx Zoo and helped establish Glacier and Denali National Parks. (83) Grant believed humans had evolved under harsh environmental conditions. Anglo Saxon history and the rising tide of inferiority that was everyone else…”Mistaken regard for what are believed to be divine laws and a sentimental belief in the sanctity of human life, tend to prevent both the elimination of defect in infants and the sterilization of such adults as are themselves of no value to the community. The laws of nature require the obliteration of the unfit” (Grant 1916,44-45) (83). (When in fact it is humans caring for one another that built humanity and underlies the entire point and purpose of civilization). Grant advocated for the sterilization of the criminal, diseased, insane and other weaklings and those he termed ‘worthless race types’ like Jews, blacks and indigenous peoples.
Immigration, they believed, should also be curtailed to prevent undesirables from entering the USA. “Immigration is thus, from the racial standpoint a form of procreation and like the more immediate form of procreation it may be either the greatest blessing or the greatest curse” (Stoddard 1925, 252) (84).
So elite influential men and their allies created organizations such as the Immigration Restriction League (full of Harvard alumni), the American Breeders’ Association (later renamed the American Genetics Association), and what later became the American Psychiatric Association-- and they won passage of an immigration restriction bill (1917)—it instituted literacy tests, put caps on the number of immigrants, national quotas and denial of entry basis on the condition called ‘constitutional psychopathy’. This effectively screened out anyone who did not conform to gender norms or anyone who admitted to homosexual desire. “Further, any immigrant who, during the first give years of residence in the United States, committed a crime or showed signs of any allegedly hereditary physical or mental defect, including sexual inversion, could be deported” (84). Congress also barred people who were ‘feebleminded, morally degenerate, or sexually suspect’.
Then in 1924, they reduced the number of people who could immigrate to the US by an annual total of 150,000, making it the exclusive country in the world. These provisions stayed in effect well past the middle of the twentieth century (85).
The introduction of the Simon-Binet IQ test in 1912 made identifying those were ‘intellectually unfit’ quick and easy (85)—public schools became screening grounds. Certain children would be segregated from their classmates until they could be institutionalized. The test was modified by eugenicist psychologist Henry Goddard to include a grade of ‘feeblemindedness beyond the imbecile. Individuals with a test measured mental age of eight to twelve years were classified as morons.’ (85) “Women who had children out of wedlock were automatically classified as such but any deviation from heterosexuality and prescribed gender roles could earn a person the label of moral imbecile in addition to the label of degenerate, lunatic or psychopath” (85-86). Hundreds of thousands were locked up for life as a result of these efforts to forestall a perceived threat to natural selection and evolution of humanity.
Quietly, eugenicist physicians had been sterilizing ‘defectives’ in prison, hospitals and asylums since the 1880s. In 1927, the Supreme Court endorsed these eugenic practices in Buck v Bell (86). By 1927, the number of Americans legally sterilized without their consent would reach 65,000~ (86).
“Adolf Hitler learned a great deal from American eugenicists, particularly about involuntary sterilization” –1934 Nazi involuntary sterilization law was based on the Model of Eugenical Sterilization Law drafted by American biologist Harry Laughlin (1922). He advocated for the sterilization of about 10% of the U.S population, those deemed ‘socially inadequate’ such as the (1) feeble-minded; (2) Insane, (including the Psychopathic); (3) Criminalistic (including the delinquent and wayward);(4) Epileptic; (5) Inebriate (including drug habites); (6) Diseased (including the tuberculosis, the syphilitic, the leprous, and others with chronic infections and legally segregable diseases); (7) Blind (including those with seriously impaired vision); (8) Deaf (including those with seriously impaired hearing); (9) Deformed (including the crippled); and (10) Dependent (including orphans, ne-er-do-wells, the homeless, tramps and paupers) (Laughlin) (86-87).
By 1934, nearly thirty US states had enacted such laws, though few were as drastic as Lauglin’s suggestion. Some provinces in Canada and in Europe also followed. “The Nazis […] has some serious eugenic catching up to do” (87).
By 1937, the Nazis had sterilized approx. 250,000 Germans before they began to eliminate defectives through eugenic ‘euthanasia’ (87)—genocide.
Though such things were never enacted in the US, proponents of eugenics considered it and continued to push their sterilization agenda (Partlow and his three-man committee designed to sterilize any sexual perverts, Sadists, homosexualists, Masochist, Sodomists or two-time convicted rapists. They would have no right to judicial review. The bill passed state legislature when it was vetoed twice by Governor Bibb Graves) (88).
As the details of the Nazi regime became more widely understood in the US, the eugenics movement lowered its profile and changed tactics. “Eugenics should therefor operate on a basis of individual selection” and “Eugenics, in asserting the uniqueness of the individual, supplements the American ideal of respect for the individual” (89)
#queer ecologies: sex nature politics desire#eugenics#genetics#critical ecology#queer ecology#ecofeminism#queer theory#environmental politics#colonialism#racism#ableism#erotophobia#heteronormativity#queer history#nazis#ww2#immigration#immigrants#ecology#long post
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WIP Titles + Canons
Because I posted my first genuine Old Canon snippet yesterday and I also talk a lot about Old/Middle/New Canon now I wanted to take my list from the WIP titles tag and break it down a little more into my rough canons, with some notes about how un/hinged some of these ideas were. I will in fact answer asks about these but I reserve the right to [skip egregious James nonsense]
Pajiir & Delphonus
(the numbered ones are versions typically with multiple drafts)
Old Canon
[1] Azalea the Book (sorry it's just Secrets of Droon but…not that great I was like 8-10 for this. Azalea is the princesstagonist and Zalen is the barely-seen villain)
[2] Azalea Sequels (see above)
[3] Azalea Dream Beginning (ambitious. weird. chocolatey. there was torture??? this draft sucks [mostly affectionate])
[4] Azalea 3 (the origin of Dez and Julian, but they were pawns/patsies in Zalen's wildly ambitious plan to kidnap the entire royal family and then become king [bc he was Azalea's cousin]. I also got super distracted with him just like. falling in love with the royal police chief. There's some really cute stuff in these drafts but most of it is barely plot relevant. There was also a secret spy organization that was plot relevant or would have been eventually? Also first appearances of Kirnus, Hoven, Candra, Emmitt, Bean, and Franny)
[4.5] Meldraco (tiny draft about an orphan adopted by a nobleman who shadow runs a country, from whose estate he plans to escape. sounds cooler than it actually was tbh)
[5] Hope (the last hurrah of "Zalen is the villain" stories)
[6] Princess Azalea (what if the conflict was not "Zalen is the villain" but ghosts, need to procure magic seeds for an overly convoluted birthday present, summer camp, swl power struggles, or maybe Zalen kind of I don't remember what was supposed to happen? Origin of Syndy and a bunch of swl and imbra characters.)
Middle Canon
[7] Spacefarer Stories (wild space adventure involving evil scientist aliens, the rebellion against evil scientist aliens, the previous version of Dez being a charismatic asshole action hero, early versions of Anni/Julian/Dez dynamics, Zalen being pathetic, and a teenager who just wants to stop enduring corporal punishment and being shot back to Pajiir in a tiny space capsule. First appearances of several Melichacha crew members)
[8] Zalen the First (Autobio) (literally what it sounds like, Zalen's autobiography & related. surprisingly not a bad read)
[9] Chykoff Stories (stories about Zalen going to college and studying abroad, having a bad time with his girlfriend and boats, being Silas's roommate)
[10] The War Files (remember that weird nobleman? yeah he started a whole war and I decided to get Azalea and Seriito involved because royals. kind of a nothing draft except I also introduced the first iterations of new Keearo & Kirnus)
[11] Elbas Stories (Zalen, still a rich inventor, decides to buy a whole island)
[12] Az 2019 (a half-assed retwisting of some Princess Azalea threads. Origin of the "Seriito is hot for [graduate student] teacher" concept that became Sheri)
New Canon
The Fourth Android (the Scrivener file is just called Dez. went through so many concept iterations even before I introduced it here that thinking about it makes me want to scream. however some of that old stuff is still a lot of fun)
Delphonus 2 and 3 (sequels to TFA without titles. I just had ideas and needed a place to put them)
Triad (need to post a new intro. I made it better tho I'm not actively writing it)
Syndy & Hoven (favorite aggressive snowglobe story)
Pajiir Reference (there was too much character lore to reasonably put it inside a WIP Scrivener file so I put it here)
Pajiir Side Scenes (there were too many side scenes to reasonably keep inside Pajiir Reference so I put it here)
Locality Space
(previously Faeryland)
Old Canon
Creepsters - Witcheden Phase (9 major versions. faery police shenanigans with a fast and loose association with actual Celtic/English folklore [my output when the input was so many UK cop/mystery shows + a copy of Katherine Briggs' An Encyclopedia of Fairies]. Source of the zipline incident. Kat is our primary human POV)
HS - Horatio's Story (attempted reframing, kinda nothing)
SNA - Standing, Nazib, and Associates (what if it was the faery police guys but they were cool PIs instead)
Spinder and Georg (a full 400+ pages of a so-so-ishly executed romance between Spinder & Isabel under a fake name)
Middle Canon
LiBN - Love in Brú Nua (what if it was the faery police guys but they weren't police or PIs they were just having relationships. in an underground city)
Tales of Tobar Si (what if I super honed in on whatever's up with Horatio & Sid. direct antecedent of Another Ocean's Moon)
Spinder and Isabel (closer to S&G than Nicea, but with more Rodney & Declan)
Isabelle and Spynder (the far superior version [read: it's sexy and the Faeryland/Earth logistics make sense and I made an actual attempt to pay attention to the folklore])
Christina & Kat (lesbian attempting to locate her lost great-uncle [Leon] and with questionable motives falls for a powerful witch [Christina] with an equally powerful and bitchy ex. Walked so Drowning in the Stars could run)
New Canon
Nicea (fun fact: Rodney's design is straight out of Isabelle & Spynder and does not resemble earlier versions)
Another Ocean's Moon (not really written at all yet, though it's pretty much just space Tales of Tobar Si. maybe the Avis & Sorian stuff will go in it)
Drowning in the Stars (except Kat is nice and awkward lol)
Locality Space Side Scenes (currently 99% Sorian and Avis and 1% Michael making amends for the Incident)
If you wanna know more about all the New Canon stuff I have a WIP Master List also.
#I hope this was as funny to y'all as it is to me even though you have not written/read any of these#please yell at me about any of these if they intrigue you. I enjoy laughing at my old drafts and causing other people to scream in the tags#(affectionate) ofc#rose meta#wip titles tag game#wip o' clock#the Canons
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The Muan-Atlantean War
And what exactly is Wold Newton?
Different sort of Gamera March post today, and a history lesson in digging through a bunch of websites I found probably 10-15 years ago that permanently influenced my take on kaiju films and how I write about them.
Readers of some of my own kaiju fandom stories (barely worth mentioning here considering the weight of what I’m about to talk about) may have noticed hints of a concept I’ve been recently building up to tackling, the origins of various Toho and Daiei kaiju and how they relate to two warring ancient civilizations, Toho’s Muans and Daiei’s Atlanteans. The story of how we got to this point begins in 1795 - yes, 1795. Really.
The Wold Newton family concept, per Wikipedia, is effectively a study of fictional universes, with the aim to figure out which of those universes might actually be the same universe after all. This exists largely outside of official crossovers, although those are often considered as evidence. The premise is basically “if it fits, it’s canon, and if it doesn’t fit, some version of it might still be canon.” AKA the absolute bane of a certain no-fun-allowed type of kaiju fan that I probably annoyed the hell out of in my younger days and remain damn proud of it. (/hj)
The concept dates back to a real meteorite that fell in the town of Wold Newton, Yorkshire in 1795, and Phillip José Farmer, a later American writer who proposed the hypothesis that many improbably strong or intelligent fictional heroes and villains are in fact descendants of two families irradiated by said meteorite. It’s since evolved to be more centered on the universe-connecting I’ve described above, but the idea of the two families seems to still be mentioned on occasion.
(Important note: Wold Newton historians thematically phrase their findings in a way that describes fictional events/characters as if they were part of a real history and dismiss contradictions between the included stories as ‘errors.’ This is not a slight against established canon or willful misinterpretation of official material, but a device meant to imply the official material is an erroneous or exaggerated retelling of the ‘true’ events as present in the Wold Newton Universe)
Which brings us to the first leg on the journey to how this is at all relevant to Gamera, the article Prehistoric Survivors in the Pacific by Mark Brown. This an oft-cited article by later kaiju writers, seeming to be the first ever suggestion that the people of Mu are responsible for the prehistoric creatures encountered by modern explorers in various fictional island adventure stories. I’ll note here that this article actually has nothing to do with Toho’s Muans, or the film Atragon, or any other kaiju films for that matter. It instead concerns other fictional depictions of the real-world hypothesis of the continent of Mu/Lemuria (proposed to explain similar lemur fossils appearing on continents separated by water and since discredited with the discovery of plate tectonics).
Among those writers that expanded on Mark Brown’s concept and adapted it to kaiju films, I specifically bring up Den Valdron and Chris N., who have done much of the most creative and scientific writing on Godzilla, Gamera, and their ilk that I have ever encountered - everything from hypothesizing what Gorath really is in true astronomical terms to a personal favorite wild theory that connects every giant spider that’s appeared in every film ever.
In constructing a kaiju universe to tell stories in, these following articles in particular are those I remembered best and find most relevant to revisit (note that all these links are to an old Angelfire site, The Godzilla Saga, and were written decades ago by Godzilla fans from decades ago, so may contain terms or phrasing that didn’t quite age well. Also note that the timeline is very, very long and may require several full days’ worth of reading to get through, if one feels inclined to make the attempt. The first article sums up the main concepts in a more digestible format, however):
THE ALIENS OF THE SHOWA TOHO UNIVERSE: COMMON ORIGINS? by Den Valdron, edits and supplements by Chris N.
GODZILLA SHOWA SERIES TIMELINE by Chris N.
To summarize, most if not all of the science fiction aspects of the Toho universe are ultimately derived from the ancient Muans - the kaiju are genetically-engineered bioweapons bred for war, the alien races are the descendants of Muan space explorers, the advanced level of modern human technology (Maser tanks, moon base in 1999, etc.) is a result of studying technology left over from the Mysterian invasion in 1957.
Likewise, one can assume similar, Atlantean-related origins for the Daiei science fiction elements (although I personally posit that the aliens seen in Showa Gamera are not actually living Atlanteans, more on that in my upcoming Gamera vs. Guiron review).
That said, these timelines for the most part do not seem to endorse putting the Toho and Daiei films and elements in the same universe. Each one only requires that the other ancient civilization exist as a rival to justify the creation of kaiju, not that that other civilization also created kaiju or that any of them survived to the present day. They also most certainly do not endorse my personal attempts to create a timeline not only involving Showa Toho and Showa Daiei, but one that includes the rest of the Godzilla and Gamera films including all five Godzilla Millennium series timelines (GMK and Final Wars need to be heavily modified), GODZILLA(1998) and its animated series, and perhaps most significantly, the Rebirth of Mothra trilogy, whose elements give some insight to events of Earth’s distant past before the Muans and Atlanteans.
But my most obvious Wold-Newtonian element may actually be the recent inclusion of a version of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in this universe - because the operative question isn’t “Why would they be there?” it’s “Why wouldn’t they be there?” There are actually quite a few stories and characters where I’ve hinted at there being at least some version of them in this universe (with the caveat that they don’t include any obvious complicating elements like superheroes or aliens or the world ending, etc.). However, and I feel this is important, when writing a story I’m careful to make sure the non-kaiju-related references have no more relevance than background details, unless the story I’m writing is tagged specifically as a crossover.
I’m not going to go over every single aspect of this timeline attempt, because that would be way too long and some of them are spoilers, but since this is Gamera March, I’ll end with my version of just the Gamera elements of this timeline (save for the aliens, which I’ll get to later, and Irys, whose origins I haven’t completely settled on yet. Also note that I include characters and elements from The Last Hope in my world-building but not the exact details of the legend). I use this timeline in the stories that are set in my main kaiju universe (only two definitively so far), but you can bet I’m probably still thinking about at least some of its elements, even in one-off stories and AUs that don’t directly follow these events.
12,000 years ago: In response to the Muans developing creatures that absorb atomic power (or similar energy) to grow larger and stronger, the Atlanteans switch from their arsenal of such weapons to one that includes a genetics program. The earliest kaiju created include Gyaos, Barugon, Jiger, and possibly Zedus, but when they (most significantly Gyaos) go rogue, the Atlanteans create Gamera to stop them - emboldened by the discovery of Universal Energy/Mana and their acquirement of Elias metals to use in the Magatama amulets to channel it (the same technology as the seal used on Desghidorah). Their efforts are ultimately futile, and Atlantis is destroyed.
12,000-10,000 years ago: Toward the start of the intervening millennia, a group of Atlantean survivors establishes an underground city near what would become New York. The purpose taken on by this city and its inhabitants is to allow Gamera to protect future civilizations from the Gyaos horde. During this time, Gamera’s reincarnation cycle is developed, including a number of eggs that would be distributed across the Earth and used as beacons to re-absorb and house Gamera’s Mana upon death. (The Atlantean survivors would also establish an observation outpost nearer to the surface, which would millennia later become home to four mutant turtles. At least one Atlantean inhabited the underground city up until that time, however, his intentions were ultimately malicious and an encounter with the mutant turtles left him imprisoned in stasis, where he could do no further harm).
10,000 years ago: The continent of Mu is destroyed by Battra after an attempt to gain control over the Earth with a weather machine. With humans now nearly extinct, the adult Gyaos turn on each other and the rest die of starvation. Gyaos eggs laid across the world during this time fail to hatch due to the recovering environment and associated increase in Mana, and would remain dormant until ecological destruction and the decline of Mana reaches another peak with modern humans.
3,000-1,500 years ago: It is unknown how many incarnations Gamera took on over the next many thousands of years, but by Magatama being discovered in association with Japanese cultures from these periods of its history, we can infer he had at least one, possibly many encounters with humanity in this stretch of time. It is unknown for what purpose he emerged or what other monsters he may have faced.
1965: Gamera, in either a new body hatched from an egg in the arctic or one that was imprisoned there at some point prior, is freed by an accidental nuclear explosion and (for reasons I will theorize in my review of the original Gamera) initially chooses to wage war on humanity. He would go on to later battle other monsters either directly or indirectly created by Atlantis (more on that upcoming in my Guiron review), including a reawakened Barugon (unconfirmed if Barugon follows a similar reincarnation cycle or if the cave contains a finite number of eggs) and the first new Gyaos of many to revive during this era.
1971: the events of Gamera vs. Zigra take place (the 1985 date appears to be an addition of Sandy Frank, who commissioned the dub in 1985, and if Super Monster is included in this timeline, it appears to necessitate these events taking place before 1980).
1973: Showa Gamera is Avant Gamera, and dies sacrificing himself against a larger swarm of Gyaos that awakens six years after the first.
1980: If Super Monster is included on this timeline (and at this point I’m leaning toward yes), then another incarnation of Gamera appears when, newly hatched, he somehow winds up placed in a pet store terrarium with other turtles. This Gamera would grow to full size over several days and sacrifice himself again to stop the Zanon spaceship.
1995: After hatching inside the atoll and growing large enough to lift it to the surface, Gamera engages another group of Gyaos, then later fights Legion and Irys (for now, I’m leaving Legion as a genuine interstellar lifeform, with no connection to the inhabitants of ancient Earth).
1999: Gamera succumbs to his wounds and dies, after his triumphant defeat of a much larger swarm of Gyaos (with the help of Godzilla Junior and the other broken-loose inhabitants of Monster Island, along with several rogue or territorial kaiju active at that time including Titanosaurus and King Cobra, in an event that becomes known as the Gyaos War).
2006: Gamera reawakens from another egg, and while only partially grown, manages to defeat Zedus. Which brings us to where our story (or one of them) begins...
#gamera#godzilla#wold newton#kaiju#daikaiju#tokusatsu#crossover fiction#atragon#atlantis gamera#mu atragon#continuity#fanfic#gamera march
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@brokenalibi said: ❝ I need more bastard content thanks Jen. ❞
I didn't think anyone would be interested in anything else bastard related but once again Zatan proves me wrong. In the original post with their sketched out concepts I mentioned that I was looking into Roose's book based lore. I will be reading the books as soon as I finish the show, and honestly with the information I pulled from the book series wikis I most definitely plan on basing Roose on the book series rather than the TV series. While glazing through the wiki I found out what the First Night tradition was. Considering that Ramsay came to be from this I thought it'd be interesting if Ramsay had more bastards because of this.
So here are his bastard twins, Segovia and Lucius Snow. Their mother's name is Astrid, her husband is Nikolai Ashborn. Thankfully for Astrid's sake Nikolai doesn't enjoy having a woman in his bed, their marriage a ploy to those around them. A year after the birth of the twins, Nikolai and Astrid did have their own child since it was obvious that the twins weren't his. On the first night, Astrid actually enjoyed her time with Roose and insisted that the night go on longer. She never told the twins who their father was, but Segovia was able to figure it out. While she wasn't quite book smart like her brother Lucius, Segovia learned how to read and work people. Just based off how her mother would speak about the Lord of Leeches and how she looked at him when he'd pass through their village for annual checks. After she knew the truth, the next time Roose Bolton passed through the small village, she threw a straw doll with nails jammed into its head, hands, and feet, trying her best to replicate his house sigil. The two made eye contact, and without any words falling from her lips Segovia told him ❛ I know our secret. ❜ She of course told Lucius what she knew and about two other bastards who were clearly their half siblings.
The third bastard is Clauneck Snow, his mother being Eissa. When she was wed to Ivan Erikson, Roose claimed the first night. Ivan had no objections but was disgusted with his wife afterwards, he never laid with her. When he found out she was pregnant he abandoned her, his body was found in the woods weeks later, his death caused by being attacked by a wild animal. After Clauneck was born, Eissa started working in a brothel. She never tried to make contact with Roose when her son was born, Roose found out about Clauneck after one of his banner-men had seen Clauneck playing with other children in the area. Segovia later sought out Clauneck, curious to who her half brother was. Clauneck thought Segovia's interest in him was because she was attracted to him, he found out the hard way that it wasn't when he tried to kiss her which resulted in her kneeing him in the crotch. She yelled at him stating that they were siblings, Clauneck followed it with ❝ Just because our last names are Snow doesn't mean we're related. ❞ She kneed him in the groin again then informed him of who their father was then called him a ❝ half wit whore. ❞
Clauneck's strengths are his swordsmanship, his physical strength, and quickness. Lucius is incredibly book smart and well versed in the art of healing. Segovia's strong suit is being able to read people, figure out what drives them, their intentions, and so on. The three grew close, almost inseparable. Roose took notice of this and started watching them closely. Out of all his bastards, Clauneck was the first to be legitimized. After he earned his father's family name, he met Ramsay who told him the fate of Domeric. Clauneck took this tale as a threat, out of fear, Clauneck ran off to The Wall to join The Night's Watch.
Seeing that Roose lost another son, instead of just giving Lucius his last name, he asked if he wanted it. Lucius said he wouldn’t mind having it, seeing on how he had planned on going to Oldtown to study in the Citadel it wouldn’t matter, but he would return after finishing his chain to be the Dreadfort’s maester if that’s something Roose wanted. Lucius did take on the Bolton name. Segovia is legitimized after Ramsay, it’s not because Roose was particularly fond of her, or found her useful in anyway, his thoughts on it being that he might be able to arrange a marriage with another house to strengthen an ally ship. Segovia wasn’t pleased with this when she found out.
Here is a piece I did of Segovia and Lucius.
Below the cut is something short I wrote up on the twins and their mother.
Roose Bolton’s bastard twins may have his blood flowing through their veins, yet they lack the coldness of his heart. Instead, what beats in their thoracic cage is their mother’s love. The warmth that it brings in their chest is one that can combat the Northern winds. Their compassion could never be hidden by ghost grey eyes ; their only feature that proved they were Roose’s. Every other trait they hosted was gifted by their mother, a lowborn with a queen’s beauty, if only she was born to a noble family... maybe her children would be fully acknowledged by their father.
#𝐇𝐈𝐃𝐃𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓. ( headcanons )#thanks zatan ily#i did not intend for these bastards to be in his lore but now they are since im attached#art tag pending#i tried following both book & show canon when i wrote this up#one thing that pushed me to make clauneck dip was the line ramsay said to walda in the show#i like being an only child which was after he killed roose#and it stuck with me#since i did the concepts i knew lucius was gonna become a maester#which works out for ramsay i guess since maesters toss out any claims to shit like the nights watch#and with segovia 1 already being a bastard#2 being younger than ramsay#3 being the last to become a bolton#and 4 being a woman#she has no claim over anything#so i dont see him being threatened by her in anyway#especially since roose only made her a bolton to marry her off to another noble family dude#yeah these are my bastards and i love them they will be heavily written into rooses lore#and if anyone likes them enough ill either make this a multi or throw them on a sideblog#if i do add them or do the sideblog ill throw ramsay on it too#also might be writing drabbles that ft these bastards#𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐃𝐎𝐌 𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐆𝐄. ( answered )
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MOON!
Far from being a barren rock, the Moon of Earth actually contains quite an amount of life. Deep inside it lies caverns and seas, created by the intelligent race of insects that developed there to survive the climate changes there. Within it, Fungus-like plants and microbial mats are common outside the colonies of the ant-like rulers of the planet. The seas house might aquatic beasts--and at least one Great Old One.
The Rulers of the Moon are the Selenites. These beings resemble humanoid ants and rely on simple and magical advancements to control their planet. Most of the footmen wield spears or strange, almost semi-automatic crossbows. While some workers can use cannon-like weapons that use crystals to send charged energy against their prey. Like Ants, the Selenites are divided into casts that are born for specific jobs, though they are not all born from a single queen, they behave as though they are a unified force. Because of this, war was unheard of until the arrival of humans in 1899--shortly followed by the Sarmaks. The humans introduced the concept of war to the Selenites, and they were appalled by it. Thankfully, however, it prepared them for the eventual repulsion of the Sarmaks. They remain, however, extremely Xenophobic, but they are polite and courteous with their prisoners. They would much rather have them live and serve the colony than die a needless death.
Also on the moon are hideous Moon Beasts, servants of Nyarlethotep who live in the wild caverns of the moon. They seek out unwary sentients to slaughter, torture, or do other horrific things to. The Selenites generally avoid them, as they are so much more powerful than they are physically, and their abhorrence of war prevents them from attacking the Moon Beasts directly.
Moon Calves are huge, caterpillar-like animals that are the cattle of the Selenites (though wild ones exist). They are generally docile grazers, but bulls can and will attack if the season is right.
Beings from the moon suffer greatly in the earth's atmosphere. They receive a -2 for all strength-related tasks, quarter jumping distances and the inhabitant must roll Constitution (not doubled) rolls or risk becoming fatigued easily. They also suffer a -2 to their combat score from the gravity differential.
The reverse occurs for humans and earth-tolerant beings that go to the moon. They gain a +2 to all strength-related tasks (no effect on life points), Quadruple jumping distances, and add +4 to all constitution rolls related to fatigue.
Name: Moon Beast
Motivation: TORMENT and ENSLAVE In the name of Nyarlathotep
Critter Type: Alien
Attributes: Str 5, Dex 4, Con 3, Int 4, Per 4, Will 3
Ability Scores: Muscle 16, Combat 16, Brains 14
Life Points: 42
Drama Points: 0-4
Special Abilities: Reduced Damage (1/5 Bullet), Deranged Cruelty, Attractiveness -8
Name - Score - Damage - Notes
Spear - 16 - 19 - Slash/Stab
Name: Selenite Worker
Motivation: Orders
Critter Type: Alien
Attributes: Str 2, Dex 3, Con 2, Int 2, Per 2, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 10, Combat 12, Brains 10
Life Points: 26
Drama Points: 0-2
Special Abilities: Armor Value 2, Zealot (COLONY!), Low Gravity Tolerance, Attractiveness -2
Name - Score - Damage - Notes
Punch - 12 - 6 - Bash
Spear - 12 - 11 - Slash/Stab
(Thrown) - 11 - 8 - Slash/Stab, Thrown
Crystal Cannon - 12 - 52 - Plasma
Name: Selenite Soldier/Hunter
Motivation: Orders
Critter Type: Alien
Attributes: Str 4, Dex 4, Con 4, Int 2, Per 2, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 16, Combat 16, Brains 10
Life Points: 42
Drama Points: 0-3
Special Abilities: Armor Value 6, Mental Problems (Mild Cruelty), Zealot (Colony), Low Gravity Tolerance, Attractiveness -2
Name - Score - Damage - Notes
Punch - 16 - 12 - Bash
Spear - 16 - 19 - Slash/Stab
Arrow-Gun - 16 - 20 - Slash/Stab, Auto-Reloading Crossbow
Crystal Cannon - 16 - 54 - Plasma
Name: Selenite Administrator/Erudite
Motivation: Learn and Study, Lead the Society
Critter Type: Alien
Attributes: Str 1, Dex 2, Con 3, Int 6, Per 3, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 8, Combat 10, Brains 16
Life Points: 26
Drama Points: 0-3
Special Abilities: Armor Value 2, Status (Thinker), Low Gravity Tolerance, +4 Brains (chosen Subject), Attractiveness -2
Name - Score - Damage - Notes
Dodge - 10 - None - Defense Action
Name: Selenite Matron
Motivation: Raise the Colony
Critter Type: Alien
Attributes: Str 2, Dex 2, Con 2, Int 2, Per 3, Will 3
Ability Scores: Muscle 10, Combat 10, Brains 12
Life Points: 26
Drama Points: 0-3
Special Abilities: Armor 2, Status (Matron), Obligation (Raise the Eggs), +3 (Education), Low Gravity Tolerance, Attractiveness -2
Name - Score - Damage - Notes
Dodge - 10 - None - Defense Action
Name: Mooncalf
Motivation: Eat
Critter Type: Alien
Attributes: Str 20, Dex 3, Con 5, Int 1, Per 3, Will 2
Ability Scores: Muscle 56, Combat 14, Brains 9
Life Points: 610
Drama Points: 0-2
Special Abilities: Armor Value 25, Acute Senses (sight), Burrow, Low Gravity Tolerance, Attractiveness -10, Increased Size 7 (-8 Dodge, Targeted attacks suffer no penalties)
Name - Score - Damage - Notes
Stomp - 14 - 43 - Bash
Bite - 13 - 63 - Slash/Stab, AP 3
Dodge - 9 - None - Full Defense Only
Block - 56 - None - Reduce Bash damage by 1 per SL.
Moon Calves are 200ft long and about 25ft around.
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Ancestors/the Dead
As I work out who to include and what role ancestors/the dead play in my local cultus, I decided to make this glossary for study and comparison of different cultures and traditions- this is not implying that these cultures should all be combined or borrowed from, as the boundaries of those traditions will vary.
I've decided to included house spirits in this list, as they often overlap a lot with ancestor cults, household worship. Or I may put them in a different list.
apotheosis- Greek- elevation of a human soul to godhood
Dii Manes- Roman- Divine Dead
disir- Collective of Norse female divine ancestors- cognate with the German idises, Celto-Roman matronae- associated with fertility, childbirth, dead, often depicted with fruit, grain, cornucopias, distaffs, spinning wheels. Some specific goddesses that may be related to the matronae include the Frisian/Dutch Nehalennia, the Gaulish Rosmerta.
euhemerization- the view that deities were once historical people. Some we have myths explaining that a human was deified or became a bodhisattva
hero (fem- heroine) Greek- a legendary person known for great deeds. Sometimes deified, often seen as semi-divine or a demigod/dess that is more powerful than a regular ancestor spirit.
folk saint- a saint that is venerated but not officially recognized by the Roman Catholic or an Eastern Orthodox church.
kula devata- in Hinduism, the guardian/patron deity of a family, clan or village. Sometimes an aspect of one of the major Hindu deities.
martyr- Greek- someone who died for their beliefs (religious and/or political) While typically associated with Christians there are a number of polytheist, pagan & heathen martyrs.
Mighty Dead- used for spiritual leaders, clergy, founders of traditions honored in modern Pagan and Witchcraft traditions (I'm not sure of origin of this term- I recall it first being used in British Traditional Witchcraft (BTW) but not positive.
restless dead- Spirits of those that died angry, with unfinished business, trauma. In some traditions they may be approached with caution and calmed with particular rituals, offerings and prayers so that they can move on to the afterlife, and bless descendants. They also may cause harm.
transcestors- modern portmanteau for transgender/transsexual ancestors/dead coined/used by some Pagans, polytheists, witches etc. especially for honoring folks on Trans Day of Remembrance. (TDoR)
Wild Hunt- legend/belief in a procession of spirits and other beings riding horses led by a deity, hero or legendary being. Legends of the Wild Hunt are found all over Europe and have many regional variations.
House Spirits
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OC-Tober Reworks Day 2!
//This is a biggie for me as I only have a small recollection of this 'OC'
From a nameless, faceless, and purely written OC to having a design! Meet
Thannel!
//So, some background before the information dumb beneath the cut.
Back when I first started on Gaiaonline, I remember joining a thread labeled 'Demon Girls Catch Boys' or it might've been 'Demons in a Forest'. My cringey early start was really... really... REALLY bad. However, I did try running with the idea of an animal-like demon who 'powered up' randomly and could do pretty much anything at the time. It's gonna be hard to figure out a good concept for him, but here's what I think might be good.
Name: Thannel
Age: "Old Enough to Know you shouldn't be asking questions."
Gender: Male
Sexuality: "Asking such a lewd question without even buying me dinner first?"
Family: Shima (Wolf Demon/Half Brother/Alive) - "Unless you're planning on marrying me, you don't need to know the rest~"
Powers: "I don't just give away all my sec-" Nature Magic, Illusion Magic, Hand-to-Hand Combat (He fights dirty).
Background:
Thannel was the bastard child of a Fox Demon who's father disappeared on him, leaving both his mother and his half-Brother's mother to fend for themselves and their children. Deciding it was safer for them to stay in a forest shrine away from any town or village, the four would live a simple life there. In the mornings, Shima, Thannel, and Shima's mother went to hunt and forage while Thannel's mother shrouded their home in Illusion magic to keep travels and wandering merchants away from their abode.
It wasn't glamorous, it wasn't grand, it wasn't even worth mentioning, but it was a simple and quiet life. Eventually, as Shima and Thannel grew more into their demonic nature, their mothers decided it was best to teach them how to be 'good demons'. The two women differed greatly on how to go about being such...
Thannel's mother believed that sharing their wealth of knowledge from the ages, displaying their powerful magic, and a little bit of seduction would lead them to being popular wherever they went! Shima's mother believed that showing their might and getting the locals to be indebted to them was a better, easier, and less messier solution. Needless to say, this wasn't just for the benefit of their children, the two Demonesses longed for contact with others just as much as their children, so from that day forward the 'Human and Demon Get Along' Plan was to commence.
First, Shima's mother decided to train the young boys in the way of close-quarters combat, Shima opting for the use of a sword while Thannel simply wanted to use his fists. After that, their training with Thannel's mom and magic use was next. Both young men were adept with Nature Magic or 'Rose Magic' and 'Wild Magic' as the two youths claimed. After such was training to understand and try to relate to humans and studying their culture. From that moment on, locals near the forest reported seeing two wolves and two foxes all moving together and observing them from a distance.
As time passed, the four managed to obtain enough information, gain enough strength and magical knowledge, and even managed to get clothing that looked somewhat normal on themselves. All that was left was to find a town, village, or even hamlet with which to just simply... move in to. Out of the four, Thannel was the most nervous, almost cowering behind Shima and his mother as they approached what would become their permanent home.
The location was a small village known as Woorida, a village known for it's inhabitants being very kind and in-touch with nature. The mothers of the young demon-boys figured this would be a safe and kind place for them... and they were 100 percent right. Upon seeing the four, the villagers were all amazed by the animal demons, asking questions, seeking knowledge, and wondering if they were all just as in tune with nature they were. Of course, living a life that relied on foraging and hunting meant that the small family would be a welcome addition to the village.
After a lengthy discussion with the village Elder and introducing themselves to everyone, the four were given a very nice home to live in. Apparently the previous resident left the village to look for adventure of somesort and left a note behind saying 'Whoever wants my home can have it!'. What the 'adventurer' neglected to mention was that it was haunted. Thankfully, Thannel and Shima were able to befriend the spirit and thus, their lives in the village began without too much of a fuss.
Time passed, the young demons grew older and mastered their respective magics while their spirit friend managed to possess a large doll that Thannel's mother managed to obtain from a merchant, granting the ghost a body and giving it the chance to live alongside the family as a proper member of it. Getting used to not being able to fly through walls would be a challenge for them though.
Eventually, the simple, peaceful life was growing too dull for the demon brothers. Thannel and Shima were growing bored of simply fighting off the stray 'evil demon', monster beast, and normal beasts of the forest. They wanted more, they wanted to have a journey or adventure of their own. Needless to say... their mothers were so proud that they finally developed their wanderlust and were able to leave the house. The brothers were very confused as to why their mothers wanted to have this alone time, though neither really seemed to care, as they were ready to test themselves and their skills on their own separate journeys.
With that, they would take off, and no one really knows what's happened to the brothers from that moment on.
Since Thannel was the true 'First OC' of mine, I decided not to inflict him with the tragic backstory, but a more goofy and light-hearted one. Shima is an OG from my brother's OC Gallery, a wolf-demon who used Crystal Rose magic and such. This was before we started doing 'brother characters' but I figured this would help him be more fleshed out.
Thannel's personality is also very similar to his mother's, though more battle-ready/crazy. A shameless flirt who's very cocky and confident. Bit of a himbo at times, but he has a good heart and can be very Tsun about things. Course he'll never admit it.
Bonus Shima
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