#first known time humans started making structures | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fatehbaz · 2 years

Text

In September 2022, the Australian High Court upheld a law that effectively allows “preventative incarceration,” or the imprisonment of people even after their sentence has been served, based on whether or not a court thinks the prisoner might be at risk of committing a future crime.

Indigenous people make up 4% of the population of Western Australia, but 40% of the state’s prisoners are Indigenous.

At Western Australia’s Banksia youth prison, 75% of incarcerated youth are Indigenous.

Australia allows for the imprisonment of children as young as 10 years old.

---

Excerpt:

Casuarina prison is a sprawling, concrete jungle on the southern outskirts of Perth, Western Australia (WA). It is a maximum-security, adult facility, home to people who may never leave its confines. However, on July 20, the penitentiary “welcomed” a new cohort of prisoners: 17 kids under the age of 18, who had been moved from the Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Center to Casuarina [...].

When current WA Premier Mark McGowan was elected in 2017, his Labor party promised to lower the rate of Indigenous incarceration in the state, which is the highest in the nation. First Nations people are 16 times more likely to be incarcerated in WA than non-Indigenous people, a number that has only risen despite the promise of the government.

Dr. Hannah McGlade, a Noongar academic and human rights lawyer, isn’t surprised by the state’s failure to uphold its promise. “Our government cares little for Aboriginal lives,” McGlade told The Diplomat. [...]

In the past month, the Australian High Court upheld a law designed to keep the worst offenders in prison indefinitely, even after their sentences have been complete.

Known as the High Risk Serious Offenders Act (HRSOA), the legislation was challenged in Australia’s apex court when Peter Garlett, a 23-year-old Noongar man, was imprisoned after stealing AU$20 and a necklace while pretending to be armed. Despite this being his first adult offense, when his sentence was up, the Western Australian government asked the High Court to keep Garlett, now 28, in prison.

The court agreed, effectively paving the way for preventative incarceration in Australia.

Though five of the seven High Court judges upheld the constitutional validity of the HRSOA, many academics, lawyers, and activists who deal with the lives of First Nations people inside the legal system on a regular basis, note that this will only further trap Indigenous Australians in the carceral system. Garlett had been in near-continuous detention since he was 12, and this became the rationale for keeping him in prison beyond his criminal sentence.

One of the judges even hypothesized that the law could “potentially lead to the imprisonment of one seventh of the entire prison population of Western Australia for offenses that they have not committed.” [...]

“This is a crystal-clear example of an indirectly discriminatory law: one that is not discriminatory in its express terms but is discriminatory in its practical effect.” [...]

Though Indigenous people make up less than 4 percent of the state population, nearly 40 percent of Western Australia’s prison population is Indigenous. That is particularly troubling given the horrific record of Australian prisons. Since the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody in 1991, over 500 First Nations people have died while imprisoned in Australia. In 2020-2021 alone, 13 prisoners died in custody in WA – five of them Aboriginal.

No custodial or police officer has ever been found criminally responsible for any of these deaths.

The structural forces pushing Indigenous people into Australia’s prisons start early. In the Banksia Hill Juvenile Detention Center, three-quarters of the inmates are Indigenous. Despite its mandate to rehabilitate people for their eventual release, reports show some of the prisoners receiving as little as five hours of education a month. In April, the state’s prison watchdog outlined a series of “cruel, inhumane, and degrading” treatments in the facility’s Intensive Support Unit. Children have reportedly made suicide pacts due to their treatment, with some being kept in isolation for 23 hours a day. [...]

Penglis and McGlade point to the age of imprisonment in Australia being only 10 years old as devastating. [...]

---

Text by: Dechlan Brennan. “How Western Australia Criminalizes Indigenous Children.” The Diplomat. 7 October 2022. [Italicized first lines/heading in this post added by me.]

2K notes · View notes

ecoamerica · 2 months

Text

youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

15K notes · View notes

discord-lurking · 5 months

Text

Dungeons and Daddies Wiki Drama: A Greek Tragedy Told through the Medium of Forum Posts (Part 1)

Prologue

Greek tragedies are typically formatted in three or more acts interspersed with choral interludes, beginning with a prologue, and ending with an exodus. In these, protagonists often meet their downfall due to their fatal flaw, or hamartia: the ways in which the protagonists are their own undoing. Our own human failings are the things that bring us the most pain.

When considering a three-act Greek tragedy structure for this, my first thought was to use the Oresteia as a framing device, a trilogy of plays written by Aeschylus about Agamemnon's family in the aftermath of the Trojan War. Upon reflection, though, the themes of the Oresteia (revenge vs. justice, perpetuating a cycle of violence, honor and punishment) didn't quite fit the story I was trying to tell.

No, this is a classic tale of hubris: excessive pride and its ultimate downfall.

After all, what position could come with more power than that of wiki moderator for a Dungeons and Dragons podcast series?

Act One: The Beginning of the End

The D&Dads wiki has historically been... unhelpful, at best. (Source: Myself.) Trouble had been brewing for a long time.

Forum posts from spring 2022 began noting issues cropping up around the wiki. First, it was a complaint about anonymous users "disrupting" the wiki (specifically on Jodie-related pages) while also fixing mistakes in articles.

I'm unsure what specific "disruptions" were meant, but the proposal to ban anonymous users didn't garner much traction.

March 21st, 2022:

After little activity for months (only one forum post, related to infoboxes), wiki user TwoRatner had a radical proposition: wiki migration.

December 17th, 2022:

TwoRatner suggested an alternate platform that would have different editing options, then made a potentially-prophetic statement: the wiki might be cursed.

This warning went unheeded.

December 27th, 2022:

Ten days after the migration suggestion, TwoRatner came back to ask if there were any recent changes. This went unanswered for months until new user Penguinwithafancytophat reported adding art to character pages (including Glenn, a main season 1 character since the start of the podcast in 2019, who incredibly might not have had any official art on his wiki page before March of 2023).

Spring of 2023 seemed to bring along a revival of the wiki, with new editors coming in, engaging with the forum, and attempting to make suggestions on how to improve wiki organization.

March 31st, 2023:

May 27th, 2023:

July 17th, 2023:

October 2nd, 2023:

Interestingly, the only administrator seen to be interacting with these enthusiastic new editors? Gaycowboyrats. Let's put a pin in that.

Enter: the drama.

It started out simple enough- a forum posts for administrators to discuss changes that needed to be made.

November 3rd, 2023:

76 replies.

Seventy. Six. Replies. Each deeply interesting in its own way.

However, this is a Tumblr post, not an Hbomberguy video essay, so I'll keep it brief.

The discussion started out as one might expect a wiki admin discussion to start:

Mods discussed blocks, deleting stub pages, spam, etc. Standard wiki business.

The first reply to ping my interest:

Removing cast pages from a wiki about their work seemed like an odd decision, in my non-wiki-editor opinion, but the last line is what really stuck out: "Besides, I hate the idea of someone vandalizing the pages to defame them."

Several questions arose for me:

Was this a known problem? Were people constantly vandalizing cast pages?

Would a vandalized fandom wiki page really defame somebody?

Isn't the point of wiki editing to remove vandalization on articles?

The administrators began to stand out to me as deeply invested in a very specific sense of wiki justice.

Users TwoRatner, Brazil86, and TheOneTrueGod41 agreed with Honic's take.

Another thing to ping my interest: these users seemed to share a similar odd, slightly stilted, writing style. Almost Tommy Wiseau-esque.

Brazil86 expressed optimism about users engaging with wiki pages, something that would begin to set them apart from other administrators.

As I read, themes began to emerge: wiki justice, and incongruous one-liners.

Quoth Honic Washington: "I just found a wave of nonsense fish. My backyard is full of them. Hey, TOTG41, do you like jazz? I like jazz."

Truly, modern poetry.

Administrator Marth8204 suggested giving people more time. More time for what? Unclear. It seems a plan was afoot.

TwoRatner came in with a hot take: "I feel like we need a community more right now, than adding links that people can search for in the search bar."

Brazil86 agreed: Changing the navigation was less important than getting people editing and making friends.

Another theme began to emerge: wiki community as more important than wiki functionality.

Gaycowboyrats had some (incredibly reasonable) objections to this, pointing out that the wiki was a resource for many visitors who might not participate- something that is generally true of wikis as a form of content.

Honic Washington responded to this, the signs of wiki-related stress beginning to show.

Honic posts a long rant about the thankless task of moderating a wiki, which goes largely unacknowledged.

Notable TwoRatner quotes:

"You can't crack open a few omelets without punching a few egg-rolls."

"Now Freddie will get more money. What do you all say? I think I helped quite a bit."

Another theme emerges: discontent in the wiki moderator ranks.

Honic reaches full Joker mode. Again, this goes largely unacknowledged.

Honic: "I am leader. I am a painter! Keep your rules. Keep your status. Keep your friends."

"Keep your status"- words that will reverberate throughout the rest of this tale.

The final theme? Wiki moderator status, and the maintenance of it.

After Honic's bomb drop, conversation about regular wiki moderation continued, with mods considering the addition of a bot to make edits.

Admin Discussion Zone, first started by Honic Washington, ends not with a bang but with a whimper.

Over nearly a year of forum posts, patterns emerged.

Firstly- users attempting to engage in the wiki, wiki administrators not engaging with these new users, then wiki administrators bemoaning the lack of user engagement.

The notable exception was Gaycowboyrats, the only wiki administrator to engage with new users in the forums. Gaycowboyrats, the administrator whose (incredibly reasonable) suggestions ended with Honic Washington's villain-esque monologues and denouement as a moderator.

Secondly- administrators putting forth large-scale, drastic solutions to real or perceived wiki problems. This includes Cheesoid4 wanting to ban anonymous users, TwoRatner suggesting site migration, Honic deleting cast pages to prevent vandalism, and more to come.

Thirdly- wiki administrators seeming to share similar styles of speech and occasional non-sequiturs. Interestingly, this mainly seems to include the wiki administrators who agree with each other.

Funny how that happens.

Chorus

Stay tuned for Part 2, where the forum drama really starts to heat up.

#dungeons and daddies

165 notes · View notes

blueiskewl · 3 months

Text

A Major Tomb With Gold and Ceramic Artifacts Discovered in Panama

In an archaeological find in the El Caño Archaeological Park, located in the district of Natá, province of Coclé, in Panama, a tomb has been discovered that sheds light on the sophisticated Coclé society of pre-Hispanic times.

The tomb thought to belong to a Coclé lord and dating back to 750 CE, was found to contain a wealth of funerary offerings, including ceramic and gold artifacts.

The El Caño Archaeological Park is well-known for its necropolis of tombs and stone monoliths that date back to 700–1000 CE. American explorer Hyatt Verrill first realized the importance of the site in 1925 when he discovered ancient monoliths beside the Rio Grande River.

Linette Montenegro, National Heritage Director of the Ministry of Culture (MiCultura), explained that this discovery is part of the ongoing archeological project in the park.

The project, started in 2022 and financed through a cooperation agreement between the Ministry of Culture and the El Caño Foundation, aims to thoroughly explore Tomb No. 9 during the 2021-2024 campaigns.

The tomb’s contents, consisting of 5 pectorals, 2 belts of gold beads, 4 bracelets, 2 earrings in the shape of human figures, an earring in the shape of a double crocodile, 1 necklace of circular beads, two bells, bracelets, and a skirt made with dog teeth, and a set of bone flutes, is testimony to the cultural and social wealth of the Coclé society.

Dr. Julia Mayo, director of the El Caño Foundation and leader of the archaeological project since its inception in 2008, highlighted the importance of this discovery.

The collection, which probably belonged to a high-status adult male, represents a window into life and death in the Rio Grande chiefdom. The tomb, built around 750 A.D., is especially intriguing due to the presence of sacrificial attendants buried alongside the lord, indicating multiple and simultaneous burial practices.

Dr. Mayo noted that the excavation process is ongoing, making it difficult to determine the exact number of individuals buried within the tomb. She said that this type of burial, known for burying a variable number of people in the same tomb, provides valuable information about the beliefs and funerary rituals of the Cocle society.

Dr. Mayo explained that the Coclé lord was buried in a face-down position, a customary practice in this culture, often atop the remains of a woman.

El Caño Archaeological Park, built around 700 A.D. and abandoned around 1000 A.D., has yielded significant archaeological discoveries. In addition to the known monoliths, the site includes a cemetery and a ceremonial area with wooden structures. This discovery stands out for its uniqueness and the insight it provides into Cocle society’s funerary practices.

By Oguz Buyukyildirim.

#A Major Tomb With Gold and Ceramic Artifacts Discovered in Panama #El Caño Archaeological Park #Coclé lord #ancient tomb #ancient grave #ancient necropolis #ancient artifacts #gold #gold artifacts #treasure #archaeology #archeolgst #history #history news #ancient history #ancient culture #ancient civilizations #Coclé society #pre-Hispanic times

93 notes · View notes

tortelette · 11 months

Text

It is god awful 4 am in the Philippines (insomnia growing worse due to worry) and I have one fucking theory on what fucking Demian said in the epilogue of Chapter 4.

Demian fucking returns to the presence of Dante as the Sinners took a feast for themselves at some restaurant and talks to them about the meaning and true purpose of technology and the morality behind it along with the concept of greed. One line took a fucking slap on me whenever I kept reading his dialogue.

This is...

A "The Little Prince (TLP)" by Saint Exupéry reference said by the Little Prince himself when he met the stranded pilot in the desert.

Back then when I was still studying religious literature and our main topic is TLP, there are many biblical references here and there from the snake who bit him down to the desert where the pilot has been stranded upon for some time. The sheep has many symbolisms back in my lessons, the common ones that I get to see are the spiritual transcendence of the prince, the representation of the truth, and the beauty hidden from reality. Mind you all that the story of TLP is quite imaginative and a sad one that gives the hopeful yet real life lessons of friendship, value, love, and loss. Hence many symbolisms are interpreted here.

Now that I mention those things... what does it have to do with Demian telling Dante to draw him a sheep like they promised to him? Judging from the structure of his tone, it appears that Demian knew Dante before Dante took their clock prosthetic.

Well my theory is that the sheep is the symbolism of "realization" or more likely "seeing the truth of humanity." Dante is a blurry yet blank slate when they saw that they lost their memories yet retained a sense of a trail of their true goal. Dante wants answers (an obvious reflection of decision for a person who knows nothing of the world) in everything around them and they are the ones who let's out the final decision to handle in everything with the Sinner's help. Hence, they take semi-control in seeing EVERYTHING and witness it along with them. So far Dante has saw the lives of four of their sinners (Gregor, Rodion, Sinclair, and Yi Sang) and see how cruel and unfair of the life they went through. Dante sees them all since they resonated as well with the golden boughs and sees a portion of their troubled lives. A normal happening of humanity in The City.

Dante has to draw a "sheep" to Demian, more likely... Dante has to share to Demian the "truth of humanity that they have witnessed through resonance with the Sinners in a refreshed look." In this chapter, it appears that Dante has to share their side of the truth to Demian about Yi Sang's life yet they appear to be at a lost as always. Just like a sheep that strays away from the shepherd's guidance.

Remember Faust's remarks when she stated on what would be Dante's reaction about their decision to suppress the bronze bull when they get their memories back? It is implying for me at least that Dante is a dislikable or negative character. I mean... look at them when we first started the entire game. Demian must have known this too and probably wants to get Dante to draw a sheep for him now that he can have a more "innocent" or understandable outlook about humanity.

In TLP, the sheep (if removing the more complex representations of various literary analysis) is a literal representation of one's ability to appreciate the beauty of all things through the heart despite the appearance. All of the sinner's lives are miserable in some way yet they are still "beautiful" for us because they manage to strive through their problems, they seek on the right of their belief, they live on to face their traumas, and to accept help from others in order to get back up. The disgusting experiences of humanity in The City is a facade that people always see, but the actions they have done that either support or combat those experiences is what makes it beautiful.

The truth of humanity, is the suffering that they have been through.

It would be interesting that Demian has the title of "The Little Prince" as a nod to it.

EDIT: How does my unhealthy insomnia theory get a lot of interactions- I... I am scared.

#limbus company #limbus company demian #limbus company dante #limbus company theory

272 notes · View notes

heartfullofleeches · 10 months

Note

Do it!! We love your ideas chief, that’s why we’re here!

Also ghoul reader is hot as fuck

[Light body horror. Angst]

Well- two important factors about ghoul reader are both their body and mind deteriorate over time, but can be rebuilt to full structure by eating human meat/brain healthy meals.

This led me to think of a "healer" ghoul reader who can sorta transfer/reconstruct the healthy cells to others and heal people that way. Lose a kidney? Ghoul Reader can create a new one and negate most side effects by eating some ground beef left in the freezer. A personal sacrifice of their flesh for another being.

Given the nature of their healing properties, Ghoul Reader is extremely caring and always puts others before themself. They make friends with the wrong person- someone who hardly cares about their well-being and uses Reader for their personal gain. They had been scarred horribly by mistakes they'd already made and without them even asking Reader starts to slowly heal them. Their body needs more work than reader's can take, but they just write the ghoul off as lazy and trying to keep them around. Reader's body mass continues to shrink no matter how much they eat. It hurts them to put so much strain on their body... it hurts so much... but they still try. They still keep that "friend" in their heart and notebooks so they'll never forget them when their memory blanks. They care about their friend. They love them. They want them to be okay and love themself for who they are-

But they never knew how truly rotten that person was - inside and out.

"Finally... All those horrid scars were a damper on my social life. I'm even more beautiful than I was then. That being said, I can't be seen around something like you. It was fun."

That isn't what friends are supposed to say.. After all they did for them... Gone without even saying goodbye. That was the ghouls first time being betrayed to such caliber- and it crushed them. They wouldn't feel this pain if they were just another mindless creature, but they were proud of the person they'd become. The "normal" human being who walked around same as everyone else. They were just like them... only rotting... maybe that person wasn't so wrong to leave them behind...

Ghoul Reader shuts off from the outside world after that. They stick to their routine as it's all they've ever known, but they've lost that rosy view of the world. Is it worth making friends anymore? What's the point of trying if they'll just be abandoned again? They were more human than the people around them. Unlike them - they felt pain. They wanted to forget it all - so they did. Most of it at least.

While out one night reader notices a musky scent in the air. So faint only their nose would catch it. They follow the trail to a body lying behind some dumpsters - stab wounds having torn deep holes through their vital organs. Their pulse was weak - fading. Despite all the pain they've been dealt, Ghoul couldn't let someone die for another's mistake. They fixed up the near corpse and waited for them to wake up so they couldn't get home safety.

"Ugh....I'm still alive....lame...who the fuck are you?.."

Ghoul Reader explains everything that lead up to the encounter and their healing capabilities.

"Eh....with how my nights gone - I'll believe anything at this point. Thanks for the help, bud."

It was nothing. Ghoul Reader gets up to leave.

"Aye! Where ya going? You save people's lives on the regular and expect nothing back? Lemme treat you to dinner. Know a good spot close by and I still have the wallet I was gutted over. Let's get going already!"

Reader learns more about their new acquaintance. A petty thief trying to get on the right track in life. They spun some wild story about seeing a guy dropping his wallet and them trying to return it with the guy flying off the rails and accusing them of stealing it. The details were spotty, but Reader nodded along to every word. They needed a place to stay for the night as their home was too far to trek back too at that hour. They give Reader the rest of the cash in the wallet in exchange for their couch and they become the first real friend Reader makes.

Everything Reader gave they always tried to give back double. The near death experience gave them a new outlook on life. It was something to be cherished and not thrown away so easily as they had in the past. They wanted to share that new view with their only friend. Reader was a better companion than people they'd know their entire life. A little bitey when they got hungry, but everyone gets a little cranky when they're starving.

The friend gets a call over. Reader had skipped breakfast and wasn't sticking to their usual diet. They sat alone, unable to move and succumbing to the painful cramps of hunger. They begged their friend to bring them meat from the store, but their friend wanted to end their suffering as quickly as they could. They pulled out their trusty switchblade, embedding its teeth in their pinky finger. Ghoul Reader tries to stop them.

"Y/n, you saved my life. It's as much yours as it is mine. I'd give anything to properly replay you, but I'll never be able to and I don't mind living with that debt on my shoulders if it means we're together. This is the least I can do for you- so shut up and eat my damn finger."

A week after Reader tries them their finger back there's a knock on the door. Their friend refused treatment seeing it as a marker of their loyality to reader. They make sure reader is well fed at all times. A face reader has seen before stands behind the door. Some model they've seen on billboards and flyers. What could someone like that with them?

"Y/n. I know you probably don't want to see me after what I've done, but I need your help. I got into an accident after a few drinks last week. Nothing serious before you ask, but I've got these bruises and I have an important party to attend this Saturday. I'll allow you to be my plus one if that fixes things."

....

"I'll be out with a friend Saturday, but thank you. I can still fix you, but if you don't mind me asking - how do you know my name?"

Reader leads them to their couch and heals their spotty face all while the stranger is left bewildered. They're acting like nothing happened. Why are they acting like nothing happened? Who was this new friend and who the hell was that standing by their bedroom door?

"Are you seriously going to play this game?"

"What do you mean?"

"Pretending like you don't know who I am. That's harsh even with everything that's happened."

Ghoul Reader backs away from them.

"I've seen you in pictures, but that's it. I don't know who you are."

"It was cute at first, but I'm not playing whatever game you're trying to start. You know who I am."

Ghoul Reader racks their brain for answers, but there's no result. They begin to hyperventilate. "I don't....I don't know who you are....Stop it, please!"

"Not til you say my name. I'll own up to my part when do that simple thing."

They grip at their face, talons catching on their softened skin. "I don't know who you are...Don't make me remember..... Get out.... GET OUT!"

As the stranger leaves and heads towards their car a notebook flies out reader's window - aiming for their skull had they not stepped out of the way in time. Inside are pages of filled with scratched out ink held on a weakened spine. It was a miracle they held together. The pages stick togethered, water damgaged by crusted specks of blood and smaller dots of a clearer fluid. The words written were near illegible, but there's a few key points they could make out. A birthday, the begining and ending characters to a person's name, a repeated phrase pieced together over the various pages. Don't forget. Never forget.

They'd been erased completely from reader's conscious mind. This notebook had been kept to prevent that very thing from happening. All those precious memories thrown away. The stranger was happy with the life they'd been robbed of - but no one had ever been their for them like Reader had. A new stain falls to the page.

Flipping to the final page, a note slides off the back cover.

"Come here again - and I'll erase you permanently."

It wasn't reader's hand writing. The person in the window holds up a new journal - comforting a sobbing ghoul on their shoulder.

#yandere x reader #yandere x you #yandere headcanons #yandere imagines #yandere insert #yandere scenarios #yandere #yandere blurb #yandere oc #tw yandere #yandere angst #zombie reader #yandere drabble

207 notes · View notes

ecoamerica · 1 month

Text

youtube

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

15K notes · View notes

catnipplot · 1 year

Text

Sagau Genshin -but the characters can't agree what God you are

So just about every Sagau AU for Genshin agrees that every character and/or country/faction just accept the player as the Creator (or at least eventually, in the cases of the Imposter AUs). Yes, sometimes the different countries have conflicting lore connecting you to their archon, but that is as far as it goes. Which does not account for the different perspectives cultures from vastly different environments and traditions have.

So instead I porpose; Sagau where nobody agrees on who the player really is aside from a higher being. Either because of them not realizing their all controlled by the same person or they realize you are the same person, but disagrees on who you are.

To start lets address a character everyone skips over: The Heavenly Principles. There is nearly no canon-knowledge about her, so it is free reign. She is more aware than any other character, having not just awareness of this being a game, but having awareness since Gun Girls. She remembers Gun Girls and Honkai Impact, during which she was crushed by her awareness. She knows you are a player, but that doesn't matter. You are her Constant, whether you played the other games or not. Her Constant, her companion, her last anchor -when she feels you play genshin that first second, she attacks the twins to keep you connected to this world. While she doesn't share the truth with the rest of the world, Kiana might become the number one reason you isekai -and gain powers after arrival.

Now everyone else is just aware of you're influence, not the game.

Moonstadt has at first a few people actually thinking you are Venti -what with him being their god and not havin' been seen for so long-, but said archon quickly spread the word that this was not actually the case. Since then theories are running wild here, but at least they all agree you are one god. Some like Barbara, Kaeya, and Venti do think you are in fact the creator god. Lisa accidently started a rumor that you were started a rumor that you were basically an archon that was sealed away during the Archon War and Barbatos' soulmate as a joke, but the rumor mutated and now there are proofs to the point she believes it(Which makes a certain bard blush and stutter). Bennett is part of the group that thinks you are a Adventurer Archon, as you always use them as vessel when adventuring. Meanwhile Razor thinks you are the Guardian Spirit that was his childhood hero, a human raised by wolves like him, who ascended and returns to guide them during difficult times. And there are at least 50 other possible godhoods.(Think wall with strings If you 'descend' you will find a loyal fellowship regardless, but if you try to deny your godhood then that can only mean somebody erased your memories. So no worries, the theories will continue as a attempt to help you regain your 'true' past and punish whoever attacked you.

Liyue is much more structured; they all agree that you are the God of the Beginning. Not so much a Creator as a bringer of change who only appears at new beginnings -may it be their world, a new era or to fight the End of Days. Which of course makes everyone silently panic when your present gets known. They want to belief it's just a new era coming, but you use them to fight... Zhongli, just as his people, quietly spreads his network, searching for your 'true' enemy -the Abyss or the Fatui. They are ready to fight on your side regardless. Given this, Liyue might end up special when you isekai, as some characters will tread you as equal. But never forget that they see you as their last defense against Armageddon -they might speak to you like a friend, but you are so much more important.

Inazuma actually do not welcome you right away. They are seeking eternity, you bring change. But after the Traveler, who is recognized as your champion, saves them, they accept you. But the Traveler only tells them that you are 'his/her god'. So they consult the old books. They find a old, practically burned text on the Archon of Hope and Dreams. Beelzebul is devastated that she had apparently forgotten her childhood crush that died centuries before the Archon War, but had you returned? If so, you were clearly still reforming. If you descend, they welcome you at first open to you either staying or leaving to create your own city. But what is eternity without hope? Won't you reconnect with your old childhood friend?

Snezhnaya thinks you are a god connected to Visions, as you can use all Elements (even if through different vessels). Still there are pretty split at who you are. Most think you are either the Archon of Power or the Archon of Souls. Interestingly enough those two ideas give you vastly different backgrounds; The Archon of Power (Childe believes this) supposly was banished to the abyss after placing mortals over their fellow archons, while the Archon of Souls was imprisoned in Celestia and hidden from the other Archons since Creation. Either way you escaped. The Tsarista keeps quiet on the tropic, but would waste no efforts to bring you to her if you were to ever descend. She might even come to pick you up herself.

Sumeru meanwhile thinks you a Overseer to the Archons, meant to protect the balance between them in the world. You always did so from Celestia, with the Heavenly Principles as your Executer. But something happened. Members of Akademiya tend to think the Archons had fallen to the point you had to intervene yourself, while everyone else thinks there was a traitor in Celestia that forced you to flee and is responsible for the chaos appearing across the Teyvat. Still, to them you are the Judge of the Gods. Someone to be obeyed without questions. If you ever isekai, you might end up getting pressured to play the act, or they might think you have been corrupted and must be protected till your divinity restores.

Last, but not least, we have Aether and Lumine. Now regardless to which you chose, they hold the same option and loyalty to you. But they also look at the Teyvaters with pity; for a god you might be, you were not of this world. You were of their home world. Their beloved god who crossed worlds to save them when they were attacked at the beginning. Alas, this was not your world, which was why your powers are limited so much. If you descend they will conclude that Teyvat attacked you, caged you like the twins, forced you in a mortal form and messed with your memories -which neither sibling will ever forgive. You are their god after all, Teyvat had no right to you.

#genshin sagau #sagau x reader #sagau aether #sagau lumine #sagau brainrot #sagau zhongli #sagau ei #sagau venti

393 notes · View notes

planetarysemaphor · 7 months

Text

𝔼𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝕞𝕦𝕥𝕖 𝟘𝟙

Slugs are friends.

01.Rigelian Bodyplans

Mmf'tir. A race hailing from the 2nd moon of Rigel. A fairly warm, oceanic world. According to their ships archives, they are a living fossil on their homeworld, one of the last of the Mucorposi kingdom, their survival is thanks to a number of reasons, but most important one of them is their insane adaptability, spawned out of their equally unhinged lifecycle.

_ (fig.1 Rigelian Hydra (Mmf'tir<a>umf'm)) The Rigelians' life starts inside the hydra as a bud. These buds grow into the larval rigelian, and develop internal organs before fully separating from their host.

The Hydra itself is the backbone of rigelian social structure, serving as both a nursery, 3d printer and information server. It's the longest living form of a rigelian, able to survive up to 230 years, however, due to the fact it has no "main" head, it is unable to heptate, and therefore is doomed to expire. This however, does not bother the hydra, as it does not posses any manner of autonomy, it's previously exhibited personality erased entirely.

_ ((fig.2 Rigelian larvae(Mmf'aAr))

The larvae remain in the shallow waters for the better part of 6 years as they grow in both sentience and shape. During this time, they go from animals in need of tending to, to menial workers, able to preform manual labor in specially designed exobodies.

_ (fig.3 Rigelian larvae piloting an Aethlynn exobody)

The Aethlynn was developed long before the first official contact with humans to aid in ambassadorial duties. As you can see, it's nervous system is not integrated into the larvas, allowing for easy separation when need arises.

_ (fig.4 The Aethlynns major structural components) This body is a middle ground between rigelian and human anatomy, created based on the data received by the rigelian ships brain over 192 years prier to it's arrival in the solar system. At that time, the ship had not utilized electronic sequencing interpretation. So from what little it could understand, it sourced that humans had long, dexterous upper appendages and strong, upright standing lower ones. This minuscule amount of info it applied to the basic rigelian body plan, resulting in the aethlynn.

_ (fig.5 Rigelian larvae piloting a golem exobody)

The golem is a unique exobody, a result of collaboration between rigelian colonists and humans. If we remove the opaque exogracii, we can see that the main body is an incredibly dense pod of structural exogracii, making the golem a kind of hardsuit for manual labor.

_ (fig.6 golem exobody with opaque exogracci removed)

These exobodies have become so popular, than there are multiple scientific efforts to create a method to allow for other races to pilot them, sadly, there has yet to be any meaningful development on it.

_ (fig.6 Adult Rigelian(Mmf'tyr))

Also known as "the heirophant" this exobody is unique as it's nervous system fully integrates the larva into itself, allowing not only for more precise control, but also heptation and further evolution. The Rigelian will spent around 30 years in this state, until it heptates, turns into a hydra, or expires of old age.

_ (fig.7 Side by Side size comparison)

Rigelians evolved to be rather large due their amphibious lifestyle, of course, it should be noted, that any exobody can be modified by the hydra to suit the rigelians personality and preferences. The most popular bodypart to grow among the colonists are the sensory lobes on their head, which allow for a better depth channel pickup range.

#Endless mute #sci-fi #lmao slug #alien

105 notes · View notes

hugmeimtouchdeprived · 2 months

Text

Ghost!Johnny "Soap" MacTavish x fem!reader - Chapter 1

Here's the first chapter to my ghost!Johnny fic (still trying to come up with a proper title...)

Again, English isn't my first language and this is my first fic, but I'm learning :)

Original drabble | Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Your life isn’t what you’d consider spectacular. You have your routine that you follow, every day almost exactly the same and blending into each other.

At least you got a new job recently, at a small local bookstore. Your commute to work just about tripled, but the work itself is more enjoyable than your last job. And taking the train isn’t too bad, even when it’s full to the brim in the evenings when everyone is rushing to get home.

The bookstore itself is lovely. You frequented it before you even started working there, so when you noticed they were looking for new employees you didn’t hesitate to apply. And since the staff at least somewhat knew you already, you were welcomed on board just as quickly. Elphaba, the senior cat that lives in the store, didn’t seem to care one way or another. She doesn’t seem to care about much, other than the armchair in the corner she claimed as hers and the daily treats she gets from staff and customers.

The work is monotonous. And to your surprise, you kind of like that. Of course, you knew what to expect before starting there, working at a bookstore isn’t known to be the most thrilling job. It has that certain structure that you like oh so much. Stock the shelves and keep them organized, order new stock and unload it, keep up with paperwork. With customer service, majority of the time it’s like a script you follow in your head. Easy peasy. No surprises.

The commute to work is fine, although not your favourite. The underground train makes things a lot easier, and at least you can keep your current apartment instead of having to find one closer to the store. Dealing with the hassle that is moving almost across the city is definitely not something you’d want to deal with right now.

Your free time is taking it easy, most of the time. Doing chores, reading, maybe painting on occasion, going for coffee, and gossiping with friends, going on small trips across the country when you can to see old friends from school. Just keeping yourself busy with something, even the little things.

But it’s all so mundane. You like mundane, you tell yourself. There are no sudden, unpleasant surprises, nothing to throw off your entire day. You always have a plan, always prepared for anything.

Until it’s not. Dull and mundane, that is.

It’s just a shadow in the corner of your eye at first, just a trick of the light. That’s what you tell yourself, even when it occasionally moves closer. It disappears right when the train arrives. Sometimes you get a chance to glance at it before that, and it vanishes all the same. It still makes you anxious, paranoid even. As much as you stubbornly refuse to believe it could be anything more than that, it’s still there, every goddamn day. And only in the mornings. Or maybe you just don’t notice it after work; you don’t tend to hang around the station on your way home.

Then it grows darker, bigger, more intimidating. The thing, shadow, whatever, looks almost human, in both shape and size. Maybe you should be scared? But you’re not. Absolutely not. Because it’s not real. No matter how real in feels, and how you know you’re being watched every time you step foot on that platform, there’s still nobody there when you turn to look. Nor does there seem to be any place someone could slip in and hide, either. You can still feel uneasy about things you don’t believe in, right?

No one else seems to notice it, either. Or maybe it’s some common knowledge – that you just happen to not be aware of – that this station is haunted. (No, not haunted. You don’t believe in that stuff. Nope.) A friend of yours, coming to visit you and whom you go greet at the station, doesn’t see it either. You even ask her about it, point at the shadow and ask if she saw it too. She didn’t, of course not. Why would she? It’s not real. She asks if you’re okay, if you’re overworking yourself again. You swear to yourself you won’t bring it up after that, to anyone.

You’re just paranoid, or maybe you’ve watched Ghosts on CBS too many times. Or you’re just straight up losing your mind. That’s always an option.

And it doesn't stop at the station, oh no. Soon enough, you see the same shadow on the train. You assume it’s the same one, at least. Feel it following you around, eventually ending up watching you at work. You’re not sure how to react when Elphaba freaks out at the sight of your new shadow. You really, really don’t want any confirmation that it’s real, no thank you. But Elphaba is an old cat, her black and white fur greying before she even found herself at the bookstore. An old stray looking for shelter from the rain, the staff explained to you once.

Stubborn as she is, she refused to leave after realizing how warm the store is, with customers and staff alike bringing her treats. The owners, a middle-aged couple, decided to let her stay eventually. Named her, bought toys and scratching posts and food bowls and a few beds. She prefers the armchair in the corner of the shop, though.

Brings in customers, too. New customers are surprised to find a friendly feline greeting them with odd chirps, regulars heading straight to her chair to find her and sneak her treats. She’s gained quite a bit of weight after moving into the store, but nobody bats an eye. She’s old, at least over 12 years old for sure even if her exact age isn’t known, who would have the heart to deny her of her treats?

She’s always so calm and friendly to everyone. Doesn’t even mind kids all that much but has definitely learned to find a place to hide if some loud toddler tries to touch her with their grubby little hands. She can usually be found in the backroom then, her tail peeking out from under the couch or beneath the curtains. But still, much of her time is spent in that armchair. She likes the attention she gets there. If anyone else dares to sit in it, or God forbid some audacious customer shoos her away from it, she’ll go scream at the closest staff member until the injustice has been corrected.

With how calm and lazy Elphaba usually is, it’s quite shocking to see her freaking out when you arrive at work with an extra shadow in tow. She hisses at the dark corner it stands in before running away, hiding in your lap. Rinse and repeat every time she gains the confidence to approach the shadowy being, seemingly trying to intimidate it and failing miserably.

You try to calm her, tell her it’s okay, that there’s nothing there, but it’s hard when you’re not sure if you believe it yourself. Your coworkers laugh and say she must be seeing ghosts. You don’t find it funny, not with your current predicament, but laugh politely anyway. Elphaba ends up getting used to the shadow as the days pass, staring at it in silence from a distance before running off again. Or she’ll be lounging somewhere and suddenly bolt for seemingly no reason. Everyone else laughs, saying she must have been spooked by something. You see the shadow standing where she just laid.

And the thing is, after a few more weeks, it doesn’t disappear the moment you try to lay your eyes on it. It remains, at least for a few seconds, enough for you know you really did see it. The thing is getting bolder by the day, always surprising you with new things. It goes from creeping around to eventually throwing things around. Not aggressively, you don’t think. Tossing your pen under your desk, dropping books from the shelves. Some of Elphaba’s toys even get thrown in front of her face, as it this thing wants to play with her. She either runs off or ignores it.

The books feel like they have some significance, you just struggle to figure it out. It never seems to be just random books flying across the room; they’re all related to either the military or ghost stories. At first you judge the thing’s – you don’t know what else to call it besides a shadow or a thing – book preferences, until your brain starts to connect the dots.

It started with the few copies of Casper the Friendly ghost comics in the kids’ section. Then some more books about friendly ghosts, and some military history books. You try not to think too deeply about it. You’re not being haunted, after all, so why concern yourself with trying to solve a non-existent mystery like this? Someone just didn’t put the books properly back on their shelves, some military or ghost enthusiast. And poor little Elphaba hasn’t been herself recently anyway, she could be knocking them down too. Although it is odd how these things seem to happen only when you’re on shift.

You feel it’s presence stronger, too. It’s gaining strength, or maybe just becoming bolder around you. There’s barely a moment anymore where you don’t feel watched, where you don’t see it looking at you.

It’s looking more human, too. Shaped like a person, tall and strong, instead of just a dark shape in the corner of your eye.

You try asking it things. What or who it is, where it came from, why is it following you around. If it could leave you alone, please and thank you. (All this, and you still try to convince yourself it’s not real. Denial is bliss.) It never responds, and you can’t figure out if it’s because it can’t, or just doesn’t want to.

It’s getting to a point where even when you know the shadow is not there, while out running some errands or while out seeing friends, you almost miss it. And you know for certain that it isn’t following you, you don’t feel its heavy, overwhelming presence behind you, around you, right next to you. It’s weird getting accustomed to it as the weeks and months go by.

Your home isn’t safe anymore, either. It takes longer for the thing to follow you home than it did to follow you to work. You’d like to think it’s because it wanted to respect your privacy or whatever, but that, too, came to an end eventually. Or maybe you failed to notice it at first, maybe this isn’t the first time it’s inside your home.

Your already small apartment feels even more claustrophobic with it lurking around. It’s like having a roommate that has no respect for personal space, always feeling like someone is watching over your shoulder as you cook, or staring at you through the mirror when getting ready for the day or for bed.

It's almost like you can feel the weight of someone next to you on the couch while watching tv, and catch a glimpse of your shady roommate next to your once the screen turns black, arm behind your shoulder on the back of the couch for a brief moment before vanishing.

Not a damn moment of peace, even in your own home.

Thank you for reading! Likes, comments and reblogs are appreciated!🌷

#ghost!soap #cod mw x reader #johnny soap mactavish #johnny mactavish x reader #cod x reader #john soap mactavish x reader #john soap mactavish x you #johnny mactavish x you #johnny soap mactavish x reader #soap x reader #soap x you

45 notes · View notes

mossymandibles · 5 months

Note

I'm sure it's all lore that will be revealed in due time, but could you tell us about some of the side effects of consuming the celestial flesh?

I’m definitely not good at working linearly and slow at story plot reveal right now anyway, so happy to answer lol

Also, I wasn’t sure how to gage how much context this answer needed so sorry in advance for the long answer 😭. And cw for graphic descriptions of disease/body horror stuff.

Tl;dr Eating Yvishnir eventually caused evolutionary entropy that sometimes causes horrors.

It’s said that Yvishnir (the body not in the ocean) was a fallen star from long ago, before humanity and the fall of Tartarus(ocean body). The primordials, (Furies and sea dragons) were the ancient fish and birds that fed on Yvishnir in order to sustain their size and godhood and multiply on Earth as its continued keepers. They grew jealous over humanity’s progress and out of fear they buried Yvishnir so humans wouldn’t find it, and hid themselves away. That’s how part of the creation myth goes anyway. Then Tartarus fell and uncovered Yvishnir once again, drawing the primordials out and changing the sea.

So when I say ‘eating the flesh’, I mostly mean the Crux. At first, when Yvishnir was discovered and exposed to the atmosphere, it produced something called Crux which permeated the corpse and oozed from it as a liquid, thought to be a type of otherworldly bacterium or ichor to help it decompose. It caused a sort of explosion of hyper biodiversity/evolution, starting with plants. Here are some examples, mostly some fungi:

Most Humans didn’t really consider eating the Crux of course.

There were a few eccentrics and cults however that started the ball rolling. They would mostly eat it from fungi that had grown around Yvishnir, as well as cooking with it. This caused versions of human evolution, where they began to evolve into the Myce and other species to repopulate as, genetically merging with fungi in order to survive the new world. They’re under the blanket term ‘Hox Strays’, who make up most of Marrowtide and other known civilization islands to this day. There are different variations of these and their mutations have ‘stabilized’ over many generations but that’s another story.

As for Yvishnir, there was a point where the Crux changed its properties, becoming more crystalline. Entropy took over the longer the body was exposed. Even the very insects that were feeding on it began to quickly horrifically mutate and grow. People would say that demons were being birthed from its rotted juices. The Crux began to bring on less desirable effects. Humans classified it as several new forms of horrific diseases ranging from otherworldly prions to the very DNA itself denaturing and mutating.

✨Some outcomes include but are not limited to;✨

>Victims known to have fits of uncontrollable laughter while bleeding from orifices. Several cysts that had broken out on the skin were found to contain bits of teeth, hair and even eyes, like they were growing them.

>Some victims became more beast-like but at the cost of their minds and insatiable hunger for more of the celestial flesh/Crux.

>Victims first described it as a tingling sensation in their chest and extremities. Their blood began to change its molecular structure to be crystalline as well. Cells became shard-like, until their blood eventually hardened completely. It could be seen poking through skin, like they were full of glass.

>Worse still, in a sort of sped up form of the first outcome, they can become a never ending cycle of constantly evolving body parts, growing biomass like cancerous tumors of body parts forever in bloom, eg. growing several hands from your eye or numerous organs. The body can’t sustain this and it pretty much ends in death.

These modern day effects were mostly observed by The Ladder and they determined that Yvishnir was not to be consumed by organisms any longer. In the modern day it is safely contained in Hearth, which is the name of the quarantined citadel outside of The Fever, serving god knows what purpose aside from genetic experiments they’re rumored to be continuing with the remaining crystalline Crux Root.

The primordials felt that those who continued eating the Crux were forsaken, punished for eating the god. They along with others had migrated far, far away at that point, populating the mountains of Zenith and oceans that no one dared to sail through. The body of Yvishnir faded into legends. Even people living within Fever and the isles surrounding it knew less and less about the body as time went on, more focused on surviving day to day.

Their are cases where people have somehow managed to preserve the liquid form of Crux, said to still be procured and preserved when the body was first uncovered and would thus have the least amount of risk involved.

Some people hunt mermaids for the soul purpose of searching the contents of their stomach, to see if they have remnants of Tartarus in them.

With Tartarus it’s all based on theory because no one is able to get down there to see wtf is going on, they only see the results.

#idk why I instinctively apologize for long answers #lotsa new info ig #I want to make more plants and stuff but I’m usually focused on characters #anon reply #lore #hallowed carrion lore #the celestial bodies

58 notes · View notes

slayingfiction · 1 year

Note

What would your advice for just-starting-out young authors be?

I love new writers! I’ve never known a better way to escape my reality and live a thousand different lives.

I started writing when I was young, maybe 12 or 13 years old. I am now 25, and very much consider myself to be a child, but still, in my 10+ years of personal writing and classes, here are some of the best tips I can give anyone who is new to writing, regardless of age.

Read. Read. Read. Then read some more. The easiest and fastest way to learn how to write is by reading and studying how other people have written their stories. Study their balance of dialogue vs description vs action. Study the words they use and what they’re choosing to describe. Study the scenes that make you feel something, or pull you to the story even more, and dissect it until you understand how to do it.

Daydream. At night, in the morning, before and after school, during school, during work. When people are trying to talk to you, just daydream. Image worlds with populated moons. Imagine worlds with multiple human-like species all living in the same area. Image a boy who goes home and cries to his adoptive vampire parents, and girls who practices knife throwing every night to prepare for the apocalypse that no one sees coming. Dream of everything and anything because that’s how you keep and improve your creativity. Eventually you may even write something with it.

Write for yourself. Always start by writing what you enjoy, and love your characters and your stories. Everything about your first draft should be because you love the story, not what other people like. You will never please everyone, so start with yourself, and build a community with the ones who love your story as much as you do.

Do it on your own timeline. If you want to write a book in a month, edit the next and publish right after, do it. If you want to write the first five chapters of 8 books without finishing, do it. If, like me, you want to write your first novel at 18 years old, and 7 years later still not feel ready to publish, that’s ok! You are not falling behind anyone else, you are exactly where you should be on your own path.

Practice. Your writing will improve with practice, that’s how it works, it’s how it always works. No way to skip right to publishing a first draft and becoming famous for it. Practice and just keep writing, you will improve.

Challenge yourself. While you may love fantasy or romance, or maybe all your story ideas are too big for only one book and they all end up being series’, you need to try new things. Write a mystery short story. Write poetry on how you feel. Write one page on how you could survive a zombie apocalypse as long as you have your coffee in the morning, it doesn’t matter, just try new things. Trying new things is how I wrote this haiku: Take a deep inhale, Breathe fresh air into my lungs, I savorfreedom. Is it the greatest haiku ever? No, but it makes me happy, and reminds me that I can write, good or bad, and still be proud of myself.

Keep all your projects. Good or bad. Look back on them years later and think, yeah that was terrible, at least I’m better now. Or maybe think, this wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. It’s a progressive journey. You can take your time. DONT EVER SHAME YOUR YOUNGER SELF FOR THEIR WORK. THEY TRIED THEIR HARDEST AND WROTE AS BEST THEY COULD. WE ARE PROUD OF OURSELVES, NOT EMBARRASSED OR SHAMED. Whether the work is from years ago or days go. Be kind to yourself, no one else owes you that.

Compare. Compare to popular novels, compare to your friends stories or to people online. Compare and see if your character are developed enough, or if your story makes sense, or if it’s relatable. When comparing however, keep in mind that your written style will be different than all others writers. Your first novel will not be the same as an author’s 10th book that just went viral on TikTok. It takes practice and time. Compare for style, technique, structure and plot. Not for popularity, worth, importance, and don’t feel down thinking that someone writing at a higher grade level makes them better, it doesn’t.

Share your work. If you are embarrassed, use a pen name. That’s perfectly fine. Put your work out there and get feedback. Having one person saying your story is (negative criticism here) is going to happen, don’t freak out. It doesn’t mean your story is flawed and should be tossed. If most people are saying that, then maybe it’s time to revisit the story and plot. Getting feedback from people reading your story is important, you want to ask specific questions so you don’t get generic answers. Get real reviews from real people, the mean voice in your head doesn’t get a say.

Learn the difference between perfect and done. I know, I know. Perfectionists around the world just scoffed and thought ‘I would if I could’. Here’s the thing, it’ll never be perfect. A word won’t be right, you can’t find the right way to convey an emotion, your choice of vocabulary isn’t up to your standards, I get it. You want your work to be absolute perfection so that everyone loves it and no one can say a bad thing about it, but it doesn’t work that way. Instead make it to ‘complete’, then nitpick some details, then it’s done. Done is good, it’s where you want to be.

Self-publishing? Pay for a professional editor and a graphic designer. It makes a difference, I promise.

There’s lots of others, but I would say as a writer-starter-pack, these should get you started, then you will learn lessons all on your own, or find them as you’re writing later on. Truly, just have fun, and the rest will come with time.

Happy Writing!

#creative writing #novel writing #writing community #writer #writing reminders #writer tips #writing advice #writing resources #writing reference #writers of tumblr #write write write

441 notes · View notes

drconstellation · 7 months

Text

The Great War of Tadfield Manor

Future Echoes of the Past #1

One of the books on the shelf that Jimbriel is organizing is Catch-22, by Joseph Heller. I have to admit it’s been a while since I read it, (er, several decades, if I’m truthful about it) but my enduring memory is it seemed like the author wrote it in a linear fashion, then took all the chapters and threw them up in the air and put them back together at random, because it bounces back and forth in time in a confusing kind of way. There is a method to this madness, however, and the structure is deliberate. It’s also dealing with bureaucratic absurdity, but that’s not what I’m trying to explore in this particular meta. It’s the bouncing back and forth in time bit.

Now we have two series of GO to feast on, we seem to be slowly piecing together the expanded history of the GO universe in an inferred kind of way. It’s rarely given to us directly in a chunk, it’s mostly by a comment here and there and then we try to join the dots.

So we’ve learnt that there was a great deal of time that existed for Heaven before time on Earth got started, in 4004 BC, maybe an ineffably long period of time, maybe millions of years, maybe not. Sometime prior to 4004 BC, however, there was a rebellion in Heaven between at least two factions of the angels. This event is sometimes called the Great War - which is what Aziraphale is referring to in S2E6 when he is removing his halo for demon-detonating purposes; he’s not referring to what us humans would call World War 1 in the early 20th century. The result of the Great War led to the formation of Hell. The angel known as Lucifer was the leader of the losing side, and he was known as Satan afterwords. A third of the heavenly host of angels were sent with him down to Hell, and this event is called the Fall. They became fallen angels, or demons. At some point, there is supposed to be a second War, one that will decide who is the winner once and for all time. Well, that’s supposed to be the Plan - God’s Ineffable Great Plan, right? And we all know how the first attempt for that to get started ended up, don’t we?

As we start to look more closely into parallel stories and scenes between the two series, some curious pairs of parallels are starting to emerge. And even more interesting is that some of these pairs indicate that they will get a third presentation - I’m not just talking about the 1941 Blitz scene here, there are others! And I’m going to try and talk about one of them here, that I think has largely slipped under the radar up until just recently.

There was a meta by @newfangledfancy here about the two parallel scenes in S1 and S2 involving miraculous escapes from being shot with a loaded gun, and we should expect a third one in S3. It’s worth pausing and heading over to read it at this point, but if you don’t, I’ll try to fill you in - and I will revisit in the future, as while it contained the seeds of inspiration for this meta, it also reveals something interesting about Crowley's backstory that's worth discussing on its own. You probably know what and where the S2 “miraculous escape” is referring to: the Bullet Catch scene during the 1941 Blitz minisode in S2E4. But where is the one in S1? It’s at Tadfield Manor, in S1E2, after Crowley has turned all the paintball guns into real guns, and Norman, on the yellow team, cracks it, does a big rant about his life and charges into the firing line of the opposing red team, only to be shot straight in the heart.

Let’s rewind this a little bit, because I want to talk about when Crowley and Aziraphale first arrive at Tadfield Manor. All seems calm and quiet. They stroll in side by side – and are each shot by a paintball. Yep, this has been watched over and over, comments made about the colours of the paint, how they represent their various “sides”, and the sexual innuendo in way Crowley miracles it away after Aziraphale makes heart-eyes at him. But you’ve all missed once very important clue about what was about to go down in the next few minutes that was right in front of you all along.

Maybe I should pause this meta just here and refer back to my big colour meta I posted recently. I specifically went to all that work so I could come here and discuss the following event at Tadfield Manor.

Firstly, the paintball colours. There are three: blue, yellow and red.

There is a discrepancy between the colour that book!Crowley and screen!Crowley gets hit by. In the book its yellow, but in the tv series its red. Just at this point I’m going to emphasize that yellow is not the same as gold; gold is one of the colours of Heaven, but yellow is usually associated with fear.

Secondly, Aziraphale is hit with blue paint. That’s consistent with both book and tv. Then Crowley blows the blue taint of Heaven away, because Aziraphale needs help to escape its abusive clutches, its not something he can do on his own. Ah, a cute demonstrative metaphor there, another layer to that little scene.

BUT YOU DON’T SEE A BLUE COLOURED TEAM IN THE FOLLOWING BATTLE! Where is the blue team, that supposedly represents Heaven in the following battle? Did they just vanish when Crowley snapped his demon-miracle into place? I dunno, but we just see a yellow and a red coded team for the rest of the battle. But if blue is always Heaven-coded, yellow is fear, and red, while often demon-associated should be seen more as an indication of passion…what it really going on? Who is at war with who? It can’t be Heaven against Hell, because Heaven is not present, per se, as you know it, and neither is Hell, which is usually green. Oh no, it’s not that black and white…because we are watching a battle where Hell doesn’t yet exist, there is only Heaven at this point. One side, one faction, in fear, the other fighting with passion, and the division that actually creates the ‘blue’ side is yet to occur…

We’re watching a re-enactment of the Great War.

Let’s take another step back, to here: S1E2, around 15.46 minutes in. Newton Pulsifer is about to start a new job (wait, what? What the Hell is Newt doing mixed up in this? To honest, I'm not quite sure...*looks at a certain at note she made IN ALLCAPS again*...oh ffs- that is the worst joke, its got to be one of Terry's...now I can't stop cackling...oh, god now I've spotted another awful, awful joke...poor Newt, I love you more every second...)

*ahem* Back to the impending battle. Because it's here in the office of UNITED WORLDWIDE HOLDINGS (HOLDINGS) - an office *wink wink* of management and bureaucracy, that we establish the tension. As Newt slides into his seat, Nigel the manager arrives to ask who is exited about the upcoming "training initiative." Turns out, not really anyone has much enthusiasm for it.

Janice is going to complain to HR. Nigel points out there is no "I" in team, and Norman, who apparently organized the whole thing, proceeds to pick the three 'eyes' out of the "team building exercise."

This is going well, isn't it? [Newt departs. His role here is done.]

Lets skip to Tadfield Manor and the "training initiative" is underway. The Red team, lead by Nigel the Manager, seem to have the upper hand. The Yellow team see to be pleased at a chance to let off some steam with anyone who has annoyed them, the bitches.

Then God drops in to make an interesting observation.

Firms these days expected more than that. They wanted to establish leadership potential, group cooperation, and initiative, which allowed their employees to fire paintballs at any colleagues who irritated them.

Oh. Right. Lets deliberately cause a little chaos so we can see who's got leadership potential, who works together, and who actually has some brains? Go God! Lets start a little War and we'll pick the new Archangels out of the winners? Nice one. Plus, we get rid of all the troublemakers in the process, and we'll just be left with those who like to follow management's orders...

Then Crowley ups the ante. As the young woman who was the only keen employee to come, and is on the Red team, no less, runs past and asks "Who's winning?" he snaps his fingers and to change all the paintball guns to real guns.

Cr: You're all going to lose. Az: What - what the Hell did you just do? Cr: Oh, they wanted real guns, so I gave them what they wanted.

You're all going to lose.

Aziraphale does his best to protest at the demon's bit of wicked mischief.

Az: But there are people out there shooting at each other! Cr: Well - Lends weight to their moral argument. Everyone has free will, including the right to murder. Just think of it as a microcosm of the universe.

A microcosm of the universe?

Who's universe, Crowley? Yours? The humans? It's a big universe out there...

Things don't seem to be going to well for some, and Norman, on the Yellow team, has finally reached his breaking point. He makes a declaration. I'm only going to quote the last bit of his little speech, as I want to deal with the first bit in another meta. As he takes off his tie, and wraps it around his head, he says:

"They want war, we're going to give 'em war! OK guys, let's go get the bastards!"

Hmmm. Do the visuals remind you of anything?...

He turns around to charge out - and is promptly shot in the heart. While it's Nigel the manager he is facing when it happens, it's actually the young woman from the Red Team who ran past Crowley and Aziraphale inside the Manor, who asked who was winning, that fired the shot. The implications of this? I'm going to save that for another meta.

The sequence moves on to the infamous wall-slam encounter, which I don't think we need to go over here, so lets skip to where Crowley and Aziraphale have finished questioning the past-Sister Mary Loquacious and have decided they've found all they are going to find here its time to leave. The police have arrived and have broken up the fight. The fun and games are over. As they walk, floating unnoticed and serene, through the chaos, Aziraphale starts to ponder.

Az: You'd think he'd show up, wouldn't you? You'd think we could detect him in some way. Cr: He wont show up, not to us. Protective camouflage. He wont even know that his powers will keep him hidden from prying occult forces. Az: Occult forces? Cr: You and me. Az: I'm not occult. Angels aren't occult, we're ethereal.

Crowley refers to the two of them as one kind of entity, but Aziraphale insists there is a difference - they aren't the same. Not any more.

The War is over, and the division between Heaven and Hell has been created.

[Edit: I've since finished a meta on the Bentley and it's connection to crossing the thresholds between worlds. I mention this scene in it, as it is actually a beautiful example of two different times and places existing at once, overlaid on one another, as indicated by the smoke - that's a sign we are in a subliminal space. Its why Aziraphale and Crowley seem to just glide through untouched and noticed, as they aren't really there, in a way.]

Will we see another echo of the Great War in S3? Possibly.

It's the 3-card Monte. Its the three cowrie shells and a lone caraway seed. It's the Professor's Nightmare, where you don't know how long a piece of string rope is.

It's a f*cking Mobius strip that has no beginning and no end, infinitely going around and around.

It's God's game. Only She knows where it stops.

Further reading in this series:

#2: The Newton/Crowley Mirror-Parallel in S1

#3: "Not Even At Gunpoint!"

#good omens #good omens 2 #crowley #aziraphale #good omens meta #good omens analysis #tadfield manor #the great war #paintball scene #miraculous escapes #he did the thing with halo #lucifer and the guys #newton pulsifer #combating the forces of darkness #mobius strip #future echoes of the past

83 notes · View notes

lets-try-some-writing · 2 years

Text

Guilty Pleasures

Every sentient being has a secret hobby or interest. Autonomous robotic organisms not excluded.

Megatron

The only one who knows about his little hobby is Soundwave, it's a good thing too, because Megatron would kill anyone else who uncovered his secret.

Despite his general distaste for humans, Megatron admires their creativity, more specifically their literature.

He may be a warrior first and foremost but he also has a love for any all all historical and poetic works.

He enjoys reading and having to decipher the hidden meanings behind the stories he collects.

It fascinates him to read about just how different and how similar Cybertronian societies are.

However he would never be caught dead reading a book written by a human. So he sends Soundwave to fetch him good books whenever there is nothing more important on the agenda.

He is greatly inspired by Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, J.R.R Tolkien, C.S Lewis, and Homer.

He has a whole secret closet in his berthroom filled with dataslates that contain the works of his favorite authors.

He will often read them before falling into recharge, and occasionally he will attempt a little writing of his own if he is feeling particularly inspired.

This has led him to create another secret stash in his berthroom filled with his own stories, ones that mostly illustrate his own life and views on how society should be structured.

(If Megatron's works make their way into the newly rebuilt Iacon hall of records in the future due to a certain Prime, then no bot comments on it)

Optimus

He has a rather unique little hobby, one that like Megatron, he would never be caught dead engaging in.

His particular hobby stems from his base coding as an Archivist.

Since the war did not really grant him much opportunity to work with and organize the data he desired, he ended up developing a tendency to note and catalogue the relationships of bots around him.

In short, Optimus is a shipper.

It was not a purposeful thing, but as time passed and tensions heightened Optimus just started listening in on conversations more frequently and paying extra attention to body language and how other bots interacted with one another.

He found it fascinating and so began to write it all down on a dataslate, and from there it just escalated as he began noting how certain bots reacted around others.

It really began after he started listing known relationships and all the information he had on them (In surprising and almost creepy detail)

Then he started theorizing and creating a whole separate catalogue dedicated to organizing gossip and discerning what was correct and incorrect so that he could get his relationship files properly updated.

In the end he created the most intricate and well informed database filled with information regarding every known relationship, platonic, familial, and romantic that he caught wind of.

But of course that still wasn't enough for his Archivist coding, he needed and still needs a constant flow of fresh data, and so he started playing a role in the relationships around him.

A well placed rumor here, a slight change of orders there, and Optimus's notes gain new additions from either the success or fallout of the event, satisfying his urges and helping his troops sort out their feelings much quicker than they would have otherwise.

To the complete and utter shock of everyone when they eventually find out; it is not Smokescreen, Bumblebee, Jazz, or any other source that has all the tea. No, it's all Optimus, and he knows everything and will gladly play matchmaker for his favorite OTP.

Soundwave

Cats. Soundwave. Loves. CATS.

He thinks they are the best to thing to happen since Primus himself came into being and nothing will change his mind.

His berthroom is covered in posters, pictures, and art of cats.

He has a whole pile of cat plushies that he stole and he adores it, especially when he is having a mental breakdown.

Soundwave also has a whole drive reserved solely for any all and all cat related content on the internet.

He is obsessed, he wants a cat badly, and he is not shy about his desire to adopt one.

However as he knows it would not be safe for a feline to stay on board the nemesis, Soundwave has turned to alternative methods to satisfy his desire to be around the fluffy organics.

Soundwave's solution is to not keep cats on board the nemesis permanently, but to bring them on for a limited time before ground bridging them away.

When he has the chance he collects a few street cats that he has taken a liking to and will keep them with him in his office, taking every measure to ensure their health and happiness.

The cats love him and he loves them, everybody goes home happy in the end.

However on the off chance that someone wanders into Soundwave's office while he is with his court of cats they are met with hisses and a terrifying blank stare from the spymaster.

Everyone on board the nemesis chalks it up to Soundwave being strange as usual and refuses to speak of what they see, lest the spymaster make them disappear.

Ratchet

Despite his gruff personality Ratchet has a rather wholesome secret hobby, that being baking.

He picked up baking from his mentor before the war, the older mech had been fond of the activity due to its simplicity.

Ratchet was skeptical, but out of respect for his mentor agreed to participate.

He ended up developing a fondness not for the energon goodies themselves, but for the process by which they were made and the smiles of those who consumed them.

During the war he made energon goodies and secretly put them in among the rations to increase moral among the troops

For a while a rumor spread about how there was a ghost meandering about leaving goodies for bots who did well or were going through some things.

No one suspected the 'I NEEDED THAT!' Ratchet to be the one leaving the treats. (except Optimus or course, such data would never escape his notice, not with his files constantly needing updating)

Ratchet also got into the habit of making small batches of goodies for Bumblebee every now and then when he was small, mainly to keep him quiet but also because he genuinely has a soft spot for him.

The habit continued even when Bee got older, surprising the scout on occasion when a little baggie of goodies appeared in his rations.

Once on earth Ratchet also ends up becoming interested in the human version of baking and since then has found no end of frustrations with the whole process.

Despite how much it aggravates him, when he has time he tries hard to figure out the intricacies of human baking so that the children won't feel left out out when the energon goodies are passed around (not that he will admit that is his true purpose)

Currently his baking capabilities with human food are abysmal largely due to inappropriately sized equipment and lack of organically attuned taste buds.

But the children appreciate the burned cupcakes he produces anyway, after all, its the thought that counts.

Knockout

In his own words, he is not only an Automobile but an Automobile enthusiast.

He goes street racing when he can but for a mech as interested in cars as he is, only being able to street race is not nearly enough.

And so Knockout collects things, more specifically model cars.

If he likes them as they are, he will liberate (steal) them from human stores and display them on a little shelf he has in his berthroom.

He even has some mood lighting around the shelf to really draw attention to his collection.

His favorite models also have their own little pedestals which spin and light up.

He is particularly proud of himself for setting it all up correctly.

But, oh boy, if any bot on the nemesis so much as looks at his collection funny he will end them.

Those are his models. No touching.

Usually the models he collects are well painted and well within acceptable standards but sometimes he just doesn't like the colorations of his models.

On such occasions he will spend hours, painstakingly using tiny tools to change the coloration of his collectable. Carefully using small brushes and glasses in order to make everything just right.

He always takes great care to not damage the fragile human product. Sometimes going so far as to watch online video's on model painting just so that he doesn't mess up.

Occasionally though, the mass produced models simply don't cut it for Knockout, and so he goes hunting for rare and custom made collectables.

He even set up an account online and liberated (stole) some cash to use to buy particular models from around the globe.

If a human were to see his collection they would be flabbergasted as he has one of the most pristine and extensive model collections known to man.

Bumblebee

Bumblebee never really had a hobby on Cybertron, he was far too busy training for and fighting in a war to really get involved in anything else.

However upon coming to earth and getting roped into earth culture his status as a mech without an interest changed quickly.

Bumblebee swiftly got swept up in the melting pot that is the internet, and there he learned a great many things he wishes he could forget.

But it was also on the internet that he was introduced to video gaming.

He spent countless hours watching gameplays, livestreams, and walkthrough video's, yearning more and more with every video to be able to play as well.

Thankfully his wish was granted when Raf rolled round and helped him get his own gaming system set up, with controllers of the appropriate size of course.

What no one expected however was for Bumblebee to become and absolute boss in nearly every game he played.

Online matches are filled with anger towards Bumblebee's character, but being a veteran of the internet by the time he starts playing, he is unconcerned by the human profanity thrown at him as he leaves his competitors in the dust.

Bumblebee has even made it into the world of E-sports, operating under an alias when online and using a holoform when he is required to turn up for tournaments.

Agent Fowler had a fit when he found out, but since no one suspects Bumblebee's alias of anything other than hacking he left it be.

Little does anyone know that Bumblebee has no fragging clue as to what he is doing.

More often than not it is dumb luck, a lot of ignorance, a healthy dose of stupidity, and his spectacular servo to optic coordination that pull him through.

Everyone around base praises him for his skill when they watch him play, and Bumblebee thoroughly enjoying the praise, refuses to say anything regarding the truth of his gaming career.

#transformers prime #transformers #optimus prime #tfp #bumblebee #ratchet #fluff #megatron #soundwave #knockout #Transformers shenanigans #secret hobbies #i believe optimus is a shipper and no one can stop me

623 notes · View notes

sonkitty · 23 days

Text

Crowley S2 Hair Post #22

(For reference: The Sideburns Scheme)

Crowley, Good Omens 2, Episode 2, The Clue, so were the goats

...

Hairstyle Notes

The red hair is not as fluffy and a little longer compared to the earlier minisode portion that started off the episode.

This style is what most closely resembles a "human" reading with short sideburns from the season 2 present day. Crowley is with two humans and no supernatural beings. The humans assume he is human during the scene.

Even though it's the accessory on the head, even the headband itself changed with its appearance in the back. While that looks to be a continuity issue, it's good to keep in mind that Crowley can control his own appearance so is likely mixing this headband appearance with the reading from the space.

...

Earthly Objects

(For reference: Earthly Objects)

Job sits on the ground against some rocks. Sitis touches her own clothing.

Crowley likely receives credit for a miracle touch on a human when he says, "You tell me," and hisses at Sitis. This action looks like compelling someone for an answer though that answer is something Sitis herself decides. The name, "Bildad the Shuhite" is then said.

That name is his alias for these two. It's a human name from the Book of Job itself, and it's going to be reused later when he has this same hairstyle. While these circumstances are understandable in the context they happen, it's also a clue about the potential rule that Crowley isn't allowed to say his own name for any time period during the entirety of Good Omens 2.

Crowley has several questions when first talking to Job. Job says Sitis' name. They both say "God," in a way that I think qualifies as a name.

It's hard to really see much in the way of pockets. Everyone's separated and contained in their own cuts for most of the scene.

While Job and Sitis occasionally make pockets, those pockets are small and hard to notice to begin with. Their thumb joints do suspiciously align with edges of their clothing at times even though the Tied Hands aren't around.

Crowley's headband is like his substitute Belt Head at least. Sitis also wears something over her head.

Crowley still has the threads on his robe making pockets over his chest for where his Tied Hands would be.

When Crowley turns to show his back to the camera, then shows his front again, he does receive some extra lighting over the part of his chest exposed, before his beard covers it. He receives lighting generally in that area sometimes, and it's where the upper portion of his Tied Hands would be in the present day.

There's one cut with Job on the ground and Crowley standing, so a pocket generally exists between them though it doesn't seem to do anything special. There's another cut with Sitis pocketed between Job still sitting and Crowley still standing. Again, it doesn't seem to do anything special either.

For my tangential reading in my desperate attempt to improve my play, I finished The Sandman Volume 3. I'm still re-reading the Good Omens book.

...

Story Commentary

From the last scene, the story greatly implied that this part of the minisode is from Crowley's point of view. Aziraphale isn't around, and Crowley himself received stronger focus from the camera work.

When Crowley is talking to Job, the lighting on him is darker and favors his left.

When Sitis arrives, the lighting shifts. It then favors Crowley's right. With more light on him, his hair looks more red. After that, the hair generally stays as more red and favoring his right, regardless of the camera angle.

In trying to study the space and understand what's happening with the hair, the camera work ensures it is known that the space still has a roof—or at least roof edges—of a human-built structure, even if it is damaged and with an open threshold. Light pours in, presumably from that damage.

Crowley is not giving off the impression of someone secretly trying to save goats and children here. Without knowing how the minisode ends, the goats seem "destroyed", and now he's after the children.

Things don't look good. Well, things don't look good for people like Job, Sitis, and Aziraphale. Hell would be rather pleased.

Crowley expects Job to be furious with God and says so.

But Job isn't furious with God. He's furious with himself.

Then comes the main hint of Crowley's sympathy from the questions, "Yourself? Why, what have you done?" Then he looked like he wanted to say something more to Job's answer, but they were interrupted with Sitis' arrival.

We'll get a glimpse of Crowley's real scheme for this minisode in the next scene.

...

That's it for this post. Sometimes I edit my posts, FYI.

...

Before the next post in this series, I am going to take some time to review things for The Pocket Trick that I'm hopefully starting to piece together and may update the main Sideburns Scheme post as well.

...

Main post:

The Sideburns Scheme

#crowley #good omens 2 #good omens #good omens s2 #david tennant #good omens season 2 #good omens meta #good omens analysis #good omens crowley #crowley good omens #crowley s2 hair project

21 notes · View notes

madwomansapologist · 7 months

Text

disney princess worrying about their girlfriends not taking care of themselves

synopsis: They understand that you think you are doing the right thing. They really do. Turns out that it doesn't make it any less worrying how you simply forget to take care of yourself and focus on taking care of them. That needs to change, and Tiana, Belle and Ariel aren't known for giving up easily.

warnings: waitress!reader x tiana. beast!reader x belle. human!reader x ariel. fluff. hurt/comfort. female!reader.

Tiana

• You were one of the first hired, which made you see many of the difficulties that Tiana had to face. From ignorant customers to structural problems, you've seen it all. But not just the problems, you saw Tiana's determination to manage everything. She never gave up, and deep down you knew she never would.

• And although you had never seen someone as determined as her, what really surprised you was how Tiana never treated anyone as inferior. You never saw her yell at anyone, even over the most grotesque mistakes. Even in situations where you would have screamed. Tiana deserved the world.

• All it took to change the boss/employee relationship to something more complicated was a longer shift, torrential rain, and the lack of an umbrella. That night you spent hours talking, laughing, forgetting about life's problems.

• As her girlfriend, your admiration turned to concern. How did Tiana think it was healthy to work so much? Or how could she stay so calm while being disrespected? How could Tiana move forward and ignore the tiredness in her body?

• You started to intervene. Entitle clients? You deal with it. Problems in the kitchen? You talk to the chefs. Did the distributors let Tiana down? You will spend the night on long calls, writing down protocols, shouting out data that the answering service never wrote down.

• But you weren't the only one paying attention to this relationship. Tiana saw you too, and she understood what you were doing. She saw you sleeping less, taking care of yourself less, paying less attention. Tiana doesn't want you to wear yourself out helping her, she wants you to be happy. And Tiana won't be able to be happy until you are.

• As your boss, Tiana abused this power. She took your restaurant key, denied you entry to the kitchen and started kicking you out whenever you got close to your stopping time. If you wouldn't stop yourself, then Tiana would take care of it.

• When Tiana understood what motivated you, she gave in. She stopped working so much overtime, demanding so much, and only thinking about work. Only then did Tiana realize that in order to take care of you, she would need to take care of herself.

• That made her even more sure about her love for you. What a dream. To fight because your girlfriend care so much about you.

Belle

• Your relationship didn't start out easy. Now you can assume that part of it — most, actually— was you fault. You did things you shouldn't. Things that only made it harder for Belle. She had all the right in the world to hate you.

• But after she ran away from you, things changed. Evolved. You saved her, and she saved you. Belle could've let you there on the snow, but she didn't. She showed her true colors to you, and you couldn't help but to get drunk on it.

• Belle is kind. You saw how your mobile talk about her. And you also saw how she treat them, how sweet she can be. Belle is fair. When you treat her badly, she didn't let you go away with it. When you saved her, she saved you. When you changed your behavior and got better as a person, she turned into a friend. And Belle is brave. That one surprised you. She is amazing.

• To let Belle go save her father was the easiest and most difficult choice you ever made. Easiest because you could never act another way, and difficult because of the same reason. You can't make her love you or stay, but you can love her and make sure that she'll be happy. Not as close as what you want, but all you can have.

• So when those vile villagers invaded your house, the last thing you thought was that she would come back to you. A animal. You were just a beast. Not a woman anymore. Not someone that deserved respect, and that could be loved. When that man hurted you, chased you throught your house, the last thing you thought you would see was Belle. But you did.

• She came back to you. She chose to help you. To protect you. She chose you, without even knowing you had the chance of being a woman again, even without knowing if you would stay alive till the end of the life.

• Then you were human again. Someone, not something. Your people, your castle, everything got better. Changed to what it really was. You were human, what means that Belle loves you. That she truly loves you.

• The beginning was difficult, but she helped. She always does that. She cut your hair to your liking, helped you with your bath, helped you learn how to eat as a person again. Belle was perfect. She always is.

• Now better, you chose to be the person she deserves. You gave her your love, a library, a place to grow old. But she deserved so much more than that. Belle deserved to live her dreams, to get things done, to live a life worthy a novel.

• You spend days and nights planning. How could you make her happier? How could you make her glad she came back to you? How could you make it up for the fact that you were you?

• You took her in so many travels. You both traveled the world. From forests to great cities, from beaches to mountains, from old towns to uncovered lands. You did everything so she would have her happy ending.

• Even things you didn't really wanted to do. Height was a problem for you, but you did went up mountains so she could smile to you. You hate from the bottom of your heart hot places with insects drinking your blood, but you pretend not to care. For her, you would do anything.

• Apparently you're not a good actress, because quickly Belle called you out. You tried to lie, to pretend to be even more happy than you actually were, but she didn't fell for it. When she asked you were you wanted to go next, you tried lying again. "Whenever you want to, dear" didn't convinced her. "South America" made Belle roll her eyes. "Germany" ended up with Belle yelling for you to say the true.

• Back at home, you were feeling like shit. How could you fail at something so easy? Not even you as a woman again could make her happy. What would be enough? How can you be enough?

• When you told that to her, for a second you thought Belle would slap you across your face. Not even when Gaston hurted you she got so mad. She yelled at you for what looked like hours. You yelled back at her because... mostly because you like to yell at people.

• Belle told you that if you ever did something you don't want to just because you guess that will make her happy she will burn the library down and never read for you again. That shut you up.

• But that same night, Belle spend hours with you on the bath and ate with a book between you both. Looking at her eyes, you saw how they glowed. How they shone like a million stars. How she was truly happy because of her dear book. Because of you. If that's enought for her... Maybe it is hee happy ending. Maybe you already got to yours.

Ariel

• Ariel loves humans, but you are for sure her favorite one. No one could ever beat you. Not how adventurous you are, they way you want to be part of the sea just as she wants to be part of earth. Not how kind you were, helping her when she could speak just because you could. Or how patient you were when teaching her about your life. Or how fucking brave you were as you got into your ship and killed a gigantic Ursula to save her and her father.

• So when she overheard a conversation in which you said you're not enough for her... Ariel got so confused. How could you ever think that way about yourself? How dared you speak about yourself like that?

• She didn't said anything because she didn't want to embarrass you or anything like that, if you wanted to talk about that with her you would have done it already, but Ariel started to pay more attention to you. To see if she can understand your fear.

• As a princess, you had so many things to care about. Your people, your country, yourself. Not only that, but you were trying to explore the sea. To learn more about it. You almost don't sleep. You don't have time to do anything. You have time to yourself.

• Then Ariel understood. You think that because you can't be with her all the time that means... Ariel never thought you were so stupid. What are her? A toddler? You think she is a "away from the rest eyes, away from the mind" kind of person? Not even when she was a little mermaid she was like that!

• So to prove to you that you're enough (and she's not a child), Ariel took a adult decision. She started to help you with your work. That way she spend more time with you, and could also make you rest more often. She even asked Sebastian to help her, he's the smartess crustracious she knows.

• You did notice she was up to something, but you thought she just wanted to be more active. You could never imagine Ariel was trying to help you. What don't mean she didn't.

• Looks like Ariel is get her work done without saying anything. But that's just a guess.

if you enjoyed, please reblog! i promise it makes a difference ♡

@ madwomansapologist.tumblr.

87 notes · View notes

batmanisagatewaydrug · 7 months

Text

okay whatever!! I'm doing NaNoWriMo I guess!!!

I'm fully expecting to fall off the wagon at some point, probably this coming weekend because I'll be at a conference, but idk I like having structured writing motivations. and it's a YA thing with a VERY informal conversational voice so hopefully I can just chill and have fun.

first 1800ish words here. meet Cara, she's 18 and a werewolf and not doing so hot.

Where do I even start?

That’s not a rhetorical question, I have no idea. I’ve never really done this before, you know? I’ve never actually had to explain myself to anybody. Growing up, everyone always knew exactly who I was and what was going on.

Well, not everything. I mean, a lot of people actually had no idea what was going on with me for a really long time. That was actually part of the problem.

So suppose I start with the day that everything started falling apart? It makes as much sense as anything else.

That was the day we were supposed to be getting back to school from winter break. I remember really clearly that I slept in so late that Dad had to come and tell me it was time to get out of bed, which I he hadn’t had to do since I was a little kid and still adjusting to the routine. Every morning since I was thirteen, we get up early together to make breakfast and go patrol around the town.

Sorry, do you know about… I mean, you obviously know what I am. That’s not what I’m talking about. But how much do you actually know about the werewolf thing? Most people don’t really know much unless they grow up in a town with a local wolf around. It’s a lot simpler than most people think it is but it’s also a lot more complicated, in other ways.

I don’t even know if I’m making sense. You remember what I said, about not being used to having to explain myself very much?

Okay. Um. Just let me know if you have a question, I guess. Basically, what happened that morning is that Dad came and told me I had to crawl out of bed and I scrambled up and got dressed in the warmest, baggiest clothes I could find, and then we had some oatmeal together, and then we both went out back on the porch and turned into giant wolves so that we could run around the town borders and make sure nothing spooky was afoot. Got that?

Cool.

Like I said, we’d been doing that a long time. Every morning since seventh grade started, when I finally started getting a handle on my wolf stuff. And I was a real pro about it, even though I love being in bed, so I guess Dad probably thought it was weird that he had to tell me to get up. It wasn’t like I had been sleeping in over Christmas vacation; we never get a break just because of holidays. I mean, monsters don’t care that it’s Chrisitmas. Heck, the year before that we had to deal with a bunch of snowmen that came to life and started attacking people up at the ski lodge.

Did you hear about that? We did kind of blow up the lodge, but it was an accident. And it worked, so… You know.

Sorry. Am I avoiding the subject? I don’t know, I don’t think so. We haven’t even gotten to the hard stuff yet.

Me and Dad. He made oatmeal with strawberries and cream for breakfast, it was great. And then we went out to circle around Silver Falls and make sure everything was normal, which it wasn’t, but we didn’t know it yet that morning. Normally we can smell it coming miles away, right? I sort of mean that literally, because the sense of smell when you’re a wolf is like… I can’t describe it. I’ve never known how, when I’m human. It’s like having an extra eye open up seeing stuff you can only kind of squint at normally, and everything that’s usually fuzzy or invisible is suddenly so obvious. And then you change back and it’s just gone, like trying to hang onto a dream after you wake up. And our hearing is great too, which also helps. It’s hard to surprise us.

But there’s also just, like, a sense. Like a feeling, like when the town is in trouble we can feel it as clearly as if there’s something creeping up right behind us and breathing down our necks. My friend Ruby says that normal people learn not to pay attention to it when they have a feeling that something’s following them or they can’t stop glancing over their shoulders, because in normal people that’s just anxiety or paranoia. You take pills for it and go to therapy because it’s bad for you to feel like something is out to get you all the time, so you make it stop. But Dad always taught me and my brothers to listen to those instincts, because when werewolves feel like they’re in danger they’re usually right.

That morning everything was normal, though. All of the tracks in the snow were normal animals, ones that we knew. And no strange scents in the air. It was just a nice run with my dad, a good way to start the day off.

Most days actually are quiet, you know. For every day we’re tearing around town trying to catch a monster before it can kill someone, there are dozens of mornings that we just get to go for a run and stretch our legs. We can’t talk when we’re wolves but it’s still nice, hanging out. Sometimes Dad will stop to point out something cool he doesn’t want me to miss, like some baby animals or a pretty sunrise or flowers growing when it’s warm. I always get what he means. And I appreciate that he does it. We go fast when we’re wolves, like, faster than anything else can run. So it’s easy to miss things. And he always says it’s important to actually pay attention to the land and everything living on it, so that we remember why we do this and what we’re protecting. Because if you lose sight of why you do it, then you get… I don’t know. Weird?

I definitely ended up getting weird.

But we made it back to the house with no incidents, which was great. We were definitely thinking it was about time for something to happen soon, though. We never go more than a few months at a time without something cropping up in Silver Falls. The last big thing had been some gremlins at the trade school, gathering up scraps to build a mech suit. That one was… it was fun, honestly. I had never fought anything like that. And Hector thought it was really cool, because he likes robots and stuff like that. It was actually kind of downhill after that? I mean, not really, but we had kind of been getting worse since then. Like the gremlins were the last time we had something in common.

Hector was sort of my boyfriend, by the way. Or my fiancé, sort of. I don’t know, I hate that word. We weren’t even technically engaged, I guess. He had never actually proposed, but everyone knew what would happen after we graduated.

Do we have to talk about this part right now? I’m going to get to it, I swear, but there was other stuff. I swear I’m not avoiding it.

I was avoiding Hector, though. Not on purpose, it had just kind of happened over break. I don’t know, we’d been hanging out less and less, and then over break it was just so easy not to see him at all. He’d gone back to Florida with his mom for Christmas, to visit their family there, and I didn’t want to bother him. Or think about him at all, really. He’s a nice guy, really, but it was…

No, hang on. I’m doing this so out of order. We’ll get back to Hector, I swear.

Okay. Okay. So I got back home from this patrol where nothing happened, and we were running a little behind because I’d taken so long getting up, so Mom and the boys were practically already out the door. Um, I’ve got three brothers. Colin, Caleb, and Cooper. My parents liked the double C name so much for me that they just kept on rolling with it.

The boys are all normal. Only the firstborn in each generation gets the wolf gene, and it only bounces if something happens. Like, my dad actually wasn’t supposed to be a wolf, but his brother died when he was a teenager fighting some tree monsters with my grandma. It only shifted to Dad after that, on the next full moon after his brother was gone. So Colin would only be a wolf if I died too young to have a successor, which is… I don’t know. I won’t let it happen. Colin doesn’t need to worry about that.

It’s weird, actually. Colin was fourteen when all of this happened, and Caleb was twelve, which was how old I was when I started wolfing. And when I was twelve I felt so mature and ready to start taking all of those responsibilities on with my dad. I was so impatient for it, and I hated that it felt like I took so long. Like, I was kind of a late bloomer. But I think back to Caleb being that age, and even Colin being fourteen, and I don’t know. They’re babies. They’ve always seemed like babies to me. But I would look at my brothers and their friends and how young they were, and how totally clueless, and it just seemed crazy to me that I was already running off to life or death fights at all hours when I was their age.

Sorry, I got sidetracked. Anyways.

So Mom was already dressed for work at school, and had the boys wrangling all of their books and lunches together and stuff, and she told me if I wanted a ride with her then I needed to move fast, so I told her not to worry about it. And she said:

“If you see Ruby before I do, give her a hug and tell her congratulations for me.”

And I didn’t know what she meant, which was weird, because Ruby was always doing something that deserved a hug and congratulations, but I also always knew what it was because Ruby was my best friend and I thought I knew about everything going on with her. But I was confused and Mom could tell, so she went:

“She got another three acceptance letters over break.”

And I said, oh, right, yeah, like I had known all about that, so Mom dropped it and gave me and Dad little kisses goodbye and left. Which was kind of silly in my case, I guess, since she worked at my school and my school wasn’t huge, so we would definitely see each other again before too long. But it was sweet, though. I don’t want to sound like I was complaining about my mom loving me or anything.

#nano 2023 #NO ONE has to read this but crossposting to tumblr will keep me motivated #pls feel free to send encouragement or bully me as needed

47 notes · View notes