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cheeseanonioncrisps · 3 months

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I think we as a society really need to get over the idea that 'natural' automatically = 'good'.

And I don't just mean in a 'use actual disinfectant instead of cobwebs and wishful thinking!' kinda way, although that is part of it.

I mean in the way that so many people seem to fucking valorise the neolithic period as some sort of Pure and True Garden of Eden where everything was Perfect and humans got it Right.

Obviously we all know conservatives do it. The whole evolutionary psychology 'pink is for ladies because they evolved to see berries better, while blue is for boys because they evolved to hunt under the sky and we're going to ignore that these trends are less than a century old' thing. Yeah, we all get that that sucks.

But for some reason the Left Wing response is so often to just pull out the Uno Reverse card and be like "well actually the Neolithic era was a socialist utopia because-" which is surely a much less revolutionary argument than people seem to think it is.

Firstly, because it encourages historical revisionism. Like, if everything people learn about the lives of Early Humans ends up getting twisted into some political argument about the Right Way To Live in the modern day, then people are obviously going to be motivated to interpret the facts in a way that supports their own personal values.

To give an example: suppose one day we somehow found incontrovertible evidence that Stone Age autistic people were not actually valued for our ability to sort animal bones or stay awake all night or whatever, but were rather beaten to death with rocks the moment we started showing symptoms.

What would we do with that information? Given that 'autistic people were valued members of society in Stone Age times!' is currently being used as a key argument for our right to exist?

Ignore it? Refuse to believe it? Shrug our shoulders say "well, guess we were wrong" and start beating people to death with rocks as an expression of the wills of our Pure Divine Ancestors?

Which brings me to my second point of: while I don't think stone age societies actually did beat autistic people to death with rocks for no reason, they almost certainly did a fuckload of stuff that we would consider immoral today.

I mean, they definitely didn't vaccinate their kids. If you went back in time and told somebody from the Neolithic era "poke your kid with the Magic Needle and they will be Protected From Disease" they'd probably go for it, but if we're going for natural = good then technically the anti-vaxxers have it right.

There's also a fair amount of evidence for cannibalism. And massacres. And infanticide as a method of birth control. The natural state of humanity is pretty shitty by most modern standards.

And like, I'm not saying that stone age cultures were cruel and inhuman either. They were very human.

The nature of humanity isn't inherently brutal or inherently pure… it's mostly, in fact, the desire to build something for ourselves and our communities that is better than what we have. Medicine. Shelter. Warmth. Clean sources of water. Consistent sources of food.

Humans didn't Get It Right in the stone age, and we sure as hell haven't Got It Right yet. But billions of people didn't spend their whole lives working to make things better for future generations, only for us today to decide that the only way to Get Things Right is to go all the way back to the beginning.

#nature #evolution #history #neolithic #stone age #autism

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quitealotofsodapop · 5 months

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Some Tang-y asks;

Both asks referencing; this previous about Tang realising his buddies are the Monkey King and the Six Eared Macaque + he's the godfather to their upcoming baby.

Tang is freaking tf out after the shock/fainting wears off. His academic career has revolved around the Journey to the West and connected mythology. Even as a lowly libarian who does mythology talks on the side, even he recognises that this is historical Iridium. He has *The People Who Were There* in his apartment (eating his chips)!!

Afterwards he has a moment of; "Oh gods, I've pretty much adopted the Monkey King." since he's been helping the monkeys learn how to read/write in modern chinese and generally giving Wukong life advice in the manner of a father-figure (all mid-twenty years of him).

And although he def shares all his secret wuxia and isekai fantasies with Macaque (fantasy nerd to theatre nerd communication); he certainly didn't expect to end up like This.

Tang knows he at least has a genetic link to the historical Tang dynasty - something he isn't really proud of since he's been kicked out by his parents. But with all the Monkey King stuff starting to pile up, he wonders...

Then he gets kidnapped by a firey toddler calling him "The Tang Monk", and is told to help out in a super specific ritual that requires the skill of an enlightened sage. Tang faints in the backseat of Red Son's mini-car when the penny drops. His frantic call to Pigsy straight afterwards is a babbling info-dump that sounds more like a cicada screaming.

Bonus ask!: Did Wukong *know* that Pigsy and Tang were reincarnations of his friends?

Sort of.

You see, after the Harbringer accidentally got sealed in Macaque (and the shadow monkey was still passed out); Wukong asked Guanyin to help him seek guidance from his old master - since he isn't exactly able to contact the Pure Lands himself. Guanyin tries calling up the Golden Cicada and... she appears to a confused, bleary-eyed Tang in the noodle shop at like 11pm. Even the bodhisattva is confused. Tang Sanzang/Tripitaka was supposed to be the last Golden Cicada incarnation. Tf is he hanging out on earth for?

Guanyin mentions this fact to SWK, and Wukong has a heart-stopping second of "Oh sweet buddha, Master is alive!!", before the goddess confirms otherwise. Wukong is super-confused, and a little disappointed, but really wants to seek out this new version of the GC even if for his own comfort. He's given a vague direction of where his master's soul is now residing, and the bodhisattva doesn't discourage him from following it. Wukong does hide his main reason for hiding in the city when Mac wakes up.

Eventually as the duo are ducking the sight of curious local demons/human (the meteorite and battle on the mountain def drew attention), Mac and Wukong bump into a strangely famililar face...

You see, after Tang literally glimpsed at the Goddess of Mercy, he became super-awake and rambled to Pigsy about his vision. Pigsy, despite being dismissive of most magic talk, thought that his suspicions of the meteor shower being a "sign" could be correct. The two went downstairs to eat/talk about what Tang's vision of Guanyin could mean.

Ironically, it's Pigsy who catches the monkeys walking down the street. He'd gone out to grab something from the convenience store and saw the two young, kinda skinny-looking, monkey demons arguing and trying to dodge the rain. The ginger-haired of the two shielding the darker-furred one with an old cape.

Pigsy has a moment of "No. No no no no. Good samaritan sh*t only gets you hurt." before he recognises something off about the two "kids" words. And with Tang's talk about having a vision of the Goddess of Mercy...

"Mihou": "This is all your fault!" "Wu": "How is it all my fault?!" "Mihou": "You put this... this thing in me! Now we've got no money, our magic isn't working, we can't go home, and we don't even have shelter for the night! I'm so..." *crying* "I have no idea what to do Wu..." "Wu", holding the other's face: "Hey, hey, it's ok Mihou. We'll figure this out." *presses foreheads together* "I won't let anything happen to you or the ki... guess it's too early at the moment. Egg, I guess?" *goofy, hopeful smile* "Mihou", sniffling: "You're so dumb."

They hear a cough beside them and turn. Wukong looks at the face illuminated by the neon of the storefront like its wearing a halo. It can't be!

Pigsy, holding grocery bags: "Hey... you kids sound like you're in a tough spot right now. If you need a roof over your head 'til the rain eases off, my restaurant is around the corner. Door's opened either way."

Wukong happily jumps at the offer, seeing the familiar glow of his pilgrim brother's soul resting warmly in the cook's body. Macaque is super sus of the situation; he kinda recognises the face infront of him but he just knows it isn't Zhu Bajie. The tired, sincere look on the demon's face is far too unalike the greedy gluttonous fool he'd seen getting his King into so much trouble. Just for now will he trust only his instincts - which at the moment wish for him to get dry.

Wukong sees it as a sign from the Buddha. Clearly someone is looking out for them. Even if this isn't Zhu Bajie, and the man inside the noodle shop isn't his master, then something in the Pure Lands or Diyu has shifted to allow them to reunite in this life - just in time for the King's heir responsibility to be brought into the world.

And then Pigsy ruffles his hair? Calls him "kid"? And then Tang is helping him with his writing? And telling him all the stories he's heard a million times in a way thats never boring?

Wukong feels queasy in a good way. He doesn't know how to describe it. He cries when he sees the silly mock shop logo he drew pinned to the corkboard by the kitchen - pinned amongst the pig-chef's most prized moments in his cooking journey. He doesn't know why he's crying but it feels like something he's been left out of for so long... thats the moment he decides that Pigsy and Tang (+Sandy) would be the godparents of the Egg. He just knows they'd all be great parents cus they already are.

#the monkey king and the infant #the monkey king and the infant au #asks #lmk #lego monkie kid #lmk aus #lmk tang #lmk pigsy #freenoodles being parents #shadowpeach being parents #shadowpeach #lmk shadowpeach au #sun wukong #liu er mihou #six eared macaque #lmk au tmkati story events

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kicktwine · 3 months

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for the ffxiv specbio stuff, do you headcanon the people on the First as having physically different traits from the people on the Source, or are they pretty one to one? and if so, were there any strange looks/social faux pas regarding the scions while on the First?

THIS IS REALLY INTERESTING ACTUALLY I think… that the species are all the same, mostly, but since they evolved/grew/colonized in/from different environments, there are definitely differences because of that. Like, say, dwarves not having any of the lalafells’ adaptations to sand, and instead having darkvision in their mining environments and more of a mole snout than a slit snout. Maybe being fuzzier overall. Or elves not having that split between duskwight (colorful, variant cave animal) and wildwood (forest animal). Heck there’s not a lot of elves at all, are there? Was their homeland just so concentrated that most of them were wiped? Another hard thing about this is the complete lack of knowledge we have of the regions before the Flood outside of Norvrandt! Or maybe just knowledge I have. Lol. I don’t have encyclopedia eorzea 2 or 3 just the first one… if anyone can hook me up with a First Lore Historian. I’d love to learn. Or with 50 bucks so I can grab the encyclopedia

And then, even, after the Flood, a lot of culture broke down in favor of communication and survival, so people just souped together. In short… ok. I think the First had a very fairytale vibe, so their designs should reflect that. I know drahn and galdjent have like a kingdom thing going on. There’s probably WAY less sea imagery and ocean features on roe in the first. More puppies than sea puppies, vaguely. More mountainy? Drahn I think are much more draconic than most Auri people, think fairytale dragon guys. They have the kind of customs that fairytale dragons and fae have, too, so it’s historically easy to say something odd to them and vice versa. Giants and dragons! I haven’t met a single elf except Ardbert’s friend. That’s an exaggeration but like no important npcs were elves. They seem very isolationist to me, very used to solo travel. Humes seem to have been mostly in kingdoms as well, like Ishgard, but less Catholic. They’re probably the most same. Garleans as a race of people do not exist on the First which is interesting. Ronso seem much more family-oriented, work-oriented, still cowboys, but very similar. I think the coeurl type hrothgar would be replaced with something else. Viis we know a lot about! They seem to be very similar as well, though I think just for fun for me, they’re Bigger. Like, taller, they’re isolated in a warm forest with plenty of prey and big magic energy. Viis big. Mystel I don’t know about, but they don’t SEEM to be desert cats, so I actually think. They don’t have undereye markings. Some of them have fold ears or domestic triangle cat ears rather than wild cat features. Familiar-like, not a lion pride — so they don’t have the same family structure miqote do either, it’s more like wolves where location and family are top tier. And Dwarves for sure have more mole than mouse features - thick claws on their toes and fingers, a little snoot, and very reflective eyes that are a bit sensitive to light.

As for social faux pas… I think that Miqote, to show they’re unserious or apologetic, bunt or touch the other cat, lay down or sit next to them, put their tail on the other’s tail, something physical — and Mystel will lick their lips and look away and NOT touch, because further touching is To Fight. Ari FOR SURE tried to lean on and got smacked by Kai-Shirr and then smacked him back in betrayal. It took Alphy intervention to fix that. It is also way more common for humes to grumble and growl than it is for hyur (that’s bad manners. Imagine you bumped into someone at the store and they growled at you), so there was one point where Ryne actually (quietly like a kid swearing for the first time) grrrd at a monster and thancred had a whole 20 minutes of thinking to himself wether or not this was OK feral child behavior to let her keep doing or if he should tell her not to or. Or what. What do here. Is this OK. And lastly..,,, lalafellin alcohol is pretty strong, but their beer and mead taste great so it’s a popular party drink. dwarven alcohol is INCREDIBLY strong, it contains an ingredient mildly toxic to every other race except mord. You are SUPPOSED to, however you decide to do it, last a number of mugs (if you’re a bigger race, dilute the thing with soda or juice, you might get teased but it’s what you do). Some people were not aware of this and passed out after one mug, and got pitiful beards drawn on them (Urianger’s wispy stubble was quite silly to the rest of the party)

I’d love to compile more abt the First just in general. maybe my ideas would change with more info … anyways! Thank u for letting me drop a very large text bubble :]

#ffxiv #ask #vivinavina #shadowbringers spoilers #I like the first so much…….

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comradekatara · 3 months

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i never thought of modern au katara being a writer, but that's so fitting and i love it. do you see any parallels between her journey learning waterbending in canon with her gaining confidence as a writer in your au? ex being dismissed bc of all the disrespect the art of writing gets irl, meeting haru and being mutually inspired/ working with jet and having a fallout? i know there's a fine line between narrative parallels in aus and like, contrived shit like katara being the last mcr fan or smth

not the last mcr fan 😭 but yeah!! it feels like the very natural connection between her being the show's narrator and the way storytelling and narrative is such a crucial aspect of her identity, culture, the way she sees the world, and survives. i think her being an investigative journalist who travels and reports on various crises and exposes corruption and inequality, but also writes more personal essays on her own experiences, or even just writing about media and art and fashion and sports and the stuff she enjoys. historical monographs, journalistic exposes, personal essays, poetry, fiction, maybe even like. a children's fantasy series. truly, she can do it all!

however, unlike waterbending, i don't think it's the kind of thing she would aspire to excel at since childhood. i actually think that she wouldn't really try hard in any academic pursuits for most of her childhood/adolescence bc she doesn't feel like she'll ever be good enough anyway, so what's the point. she's like "i only learned how to read when i was five and i don't understand number theory i must be some kind of ignoramus." the prospect of actually being very smart in many ways (including academically) just totally eludes her. because in a mundane world like ours, where bending does not exist and there is no such thing as a chosen one, it is sokka, not katara, who is the shiny, special wunderkind, and katara is the one who compensates by excelling in areas that sokka does not (namely, athletics, activism, and art). so mapping those arcs into this world actually inverts a lot of their dynamics in the sense of what and who is valued.

obviously katara does nonetheless struggle with being valued as a waterbender (by the nwt, by sokka himself, by the fire nation) and has to work incredibly hard to prove herself, so the idea that she's never underestimated or undervalued in the show isn't entirely accurate, but there's definitely a sense, at least within her family and tribe, that she is the world's specialest princess, and although i still think she'd be kanna's favorite and cherished as the baby of the family and beloved by aang in modern au, she isn't deemed inherently worthy and special. because she isn't a waterbender, she's just a normal girl.

sidenote: i do actually think a lot about how katara and sokka both undermine each other out of jealousy, like it's just not sokka calling katara a freak for playing with magic water, katara is constantly dismissing and undermining sokka in a way that's like. hang on. does she think she's....punching up?? like i do think katara probably carries resentments about not being as smart and special as sokka and compensates via her bending in the same way sokka compensates for his lack of bending via his other skills. they are constantly caught in a cycle of trying to be worthy of being the other's sibling, with the ultimate result just being that they are both incredibly gifted and accomplished in their respective areas (azula and zuko also sort of have this going on, but it's less mutual, because azula's skills are valued and zuko's are not, whereas both katara and sokka possess valuable skills that make them special to their community).

anyway. as for katara's journey to becoming a writer, i think she would write for fun as a kid but never show it to anyone, not even aang. and then occasionally she'll hand in an essay for school that she actually put effort into, which is very rare, because she only puts effort in when she's genuinely interested in the subject, but sometimes she'll put in a lot of time and research and effort just to prove the teacher wrong, which is when she truly shines. and some of her teachers can actually see that she has a lot of potential when she actually allows herself to be vulnerable and her passion seeps through the page, but she never really pays attention when they try to tell her that she's talented, because she just assumes that they're only being nice to her because they know that she's sokka's sister and feel an obligation to praise her by association. so it's only when she gets to college, and enters a world where sokka simply does not exist, that she realizes that she has merit of her own as a writer, thinker, and student.

she begins writing essays for various school publications, and after a while starts publishing them online, and then eventually in legitimate journals. it takes her a long time to actually establish herself as a career journalist, because she doesn't have the luxury of just writing full time, but eventually she's established enough that she actually publishes a book of essays, and goes on a book tour, and is invited to speak at various universities and events. and then one day, during a talk at a college, she says, "you know, there's hope for everyone. i only learned how to read at the age of five. but i went at my own pace, and eventually found my calling." and the moderator is just like "uhhh.... that's actually above average??? you're basically just saying you've always been smart." and katara. shuts down for a second while she attempts to process this information before she just goes, "WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

#surelyjtemple #asks #modern au katara working as a barista for her entire 20s and being addicted to twitter and being a massive jock #and always dragging her friends into supporting various causes and going to protests with her #and being really into fantasy and romance novels and getting into fights with her history teachers and and and #she is so important 2 me. -_-#modern au #katara #katara&sokka #fyi: he taught himself to read when he was 2. katara just assumed this was the norm her entire life.

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authoraemoseley · 10 months

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An Introduction

About A. Hello there! I'm Anna (now you know what the A. stands for). I'm a 30 something author that's previously self published two short stories and a novella. You can read more about them (and read them!) here. I'm currently finishing up the first book in my (darkish) YA fantasy series House of Moons.

I went back to school to get my degree in Creative Writing and I'm finishing that up. While it's not the right choice for everyone, going to school for Creative Writing is the best and kindest thing I've done for myself.

When I'm not writing or studying, I'm playing Hollow Knight, plotting how to build the best blanket/pillow fort (you are never too old to make a blanket/pillow fort), baking cookies or trying to master the art of bread. If I'm not doing those things, then I'm probably playing with some sort of animal, reading, or exploring the woods.

I'm very blessed to work in a bookstore. I absolutely love it. Not only do I get to help people get into reading again and introduce them to new authors, I get to work with amazing people who love books just as much as I do.

I'm hard of hearing (HoH) with my hearing aids and deaf without them. I'm learning ASL so that I can y'know, communicate. Also because it's fun and it makes me feel more connected to my culture. I love helping people learn about deaf/hohness so please don't be afraid to ask me any questions!

"Ok, that's cool, but what do you write?"

Stuff. So. Much. Stuff. I'm a morbid soul, but I'm also a hopeful one. So I write darkly appealing stuff. I typically stick to fantasy, but toss in dark/horror elements.

My first short story "Roses for Cassandra" is about a stagehand that falls in love with a dancer. Victorian era vibes with a tinge of magic. There's a little darkness wedged in there too. I wrote it because I thought it was what people wanted to read, what I was supposed to write. While I don't think I would write it today, I'm glad I wrote it. It's brought happiness to a lot of people, and that's beautiful to me.

My Secrets of the Lion series (ongoing, currently on hold) is a historical fiction series (currently a short story and a novella), where I really chose to embrace the darkness. I also embraced my love of epistolary writing. Victorian era with secrets, lions and shenanigans! I love my little Victorian era dorks. The novella, Of Secrets and Sound is the first time I wrote my disability into a story.

But my true love, the thing I am deeply passionate about is House of Moons. It's a YA fantasy series with dark elements in it, and the main character has the same sort of hearing loss I have. It's the book that I always wanted to read as a kid, and now as an adult, but I've never found a book with enough space for me. So I'm writing it. My biggest hope is that those who feel like outcasts will be able to find a bit of shelter in it.

"Cool! But what is House of Moons about?"

Here, have a synopsis: Mark Featherguard should have it all. He's heir to the most powerful family of fire mages in the world, and about to start high school at one of the most famous magical schools known: House of Moons. To ice the proverbial cake, he and his best friend are going to be roommates.

But Mark's plagued with nightmares of a world ending black phoenix. His family lost the magical artifact they were supposed to guard. Sure it happened generations ago, but the magical community won't let them live it down. His parents, highly involved in magical politics have no time for him. In a sudden twist of fate his best friend just so happens to be moving.

And then there's the problem of someone, or something, destroying magical schools around the world. Mark just wants to be able to change his hearing aid batteries and pass his classes in peace.

But it seems like the magical world, and his new found friends, might need him to do a little more than that...

TL;DR:

Anna

She/They

30 something because it's a good age to be!

Went back to school to get her degree in Creative Writing...almost there!

Writes a wide variety of fantasy stuff, often times tossing in horror elements

I like writing dark, but hopeful stuff (thus "an appealing darkness")

My main WIP is House of Moons: The Phoenix Mirror which is the first in an upper YA fantasy series.

One of my back burner projects is a horror short story/screen play combo

Another back burner project is a horror short story collection

So that's me! Welcome! As I like to say, my teeth are sharp, but I rarely bite. While I'm quite shy, I do love being tagged and asked things, so if you think something might tickle my fancy, or have a question of any sort, tag and ask away!

#writeblr intro #the writer talks #lolz it took me forever to do this XD #hom:tpm #hom book 1 #hom:tpm synopsis

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noodyl-blasstal · 6 months

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The Prince Who Saved Himself

It's @taznovembercelebration day 6 and we haaaaaveeee - "problem" and the second card: "Job AU"

Read below or on Ao3, and check out yesterday's here.

“Everyone put your listening ears on!” Taako yells to the assembled crowd. He pretends to take his ears off and rifles through the box in front of him until he finds a suitable new pair, then screws them on laboriously before he turns back to the wodge of children staring enraptured in front of him.

“Is everybody ready! To! Learn!?” Taako yells, as if he’s actually excited to be running this session for the 10th time today, as if the kids are going to care about anything they have to say and they haven’t just been forced here by their parents so that someone else has to entertain them for a bit instead.

Although, that said, this batch do they do actually look like they're paying attention. Maybe Kravitz is slightly biassed, but maybe he deserves to be after being thrown up on and tantrumed at, and that one kids’ Dad who tried to answer all the questions and wouldn’t let the kids take a turn. Taako seems to just take it all in his stride, probably because he’s perfect and smart and wonderful, but Kravitz isn’t like that. He’s never been very good with people. Especially not good at kids. How he ended up in the field of ‘funducation’ is, quite frankly, beyond him. Well, it’s not. He needed money and this was a job that existed, and apparently he didn’t fuck up his interview. So now he gets to tell the story about Neverwinter's Monarchy; show off the box of exciting ‘historical artefacts’ (replicas, because neither children nor he can be trusted with the real stuff); and help the kids find ‘knights’ bones’ over and over and over again day in day out forever and ever and ever. This wasn’t the career plan he'd set off on his degree with, but it sure was the one he ended up with.

Honestly, he should have quit by now, and he would have too if it weren’t for Taako. Taako with his beautiful face and his gappy teeth and his freckles and his delight at the world. He loved fun, loved teaching, it was infectious. On Kravitz’s first day he’d been paired with Taako and he hadn’t worked a single shift with anyone else since, he hoped he wouldn't ever have to. Sure, he'd much prefer to see Taako every day in different circumstances, in 'waking up next to each other and bringing him a coffee in bed and kissing him over and over' circumstances. But cowards who weren't brave enough to ask out the guy they had a crush on couldn't be choosers, so colleagues would do.

"Is everybody excited for storytime?" Taako's so thrilled about it that Kravitz almost finds himself saying yes.

The children yell excited nonsense.

"Well then, it's a good job we're about to get started! I'm Taako and I'm gonna be one of your story tellers today." There's a big cheer from the audience.

"And say hello to Kravitz who's going to be helping cha'boy weave you a tale of magic and mystery." Kravitz waves and smiles. There's a much more subdued cheer. He understands, he'd cheer louder for Taako too.

Kravitz clanks up to the front in his armour. They let him paint it for realism so it's red and black and bashed up. He smiles at the children again. "Hello brave time travellers! Thank you for coming to help me today. A terrible fate has befallen the handsome prince, and he needs to be saved, do you think you can help me?" He overdoes it, but the audience seems engaged enough - probably a hold over from Taako's intro.

"Yes!" It's rousing enough to instill some confidence in Kravitz - he's got this, it's going to be okay.

Taako uses Kravitz's distraction to run to the far side of the patch of ground they're presenting on. "Oh please!" He wails, hand pressed to his forehead. "Won't somebody please save me, the handsomest prince anyone has ever set their eyes upon?"

Kravitz is inclined to agree.

"Once upon a time." Kravitz begins, because all good stories should. "There was a handsome prince..."

Taako preens, Kravitz takes a moment to appreciate him.

"... He was clever." Taako whips a pair of glasses out of his pocket and slides them into place. "...and funny..." Taako has an imaginary conversation, the laughter of his audience is palpable. "...and an excellent leader." Taako stands upright, orders his troops around with vim. "His parents adored him..." Taako bowed respectfully, showing his deference to the Queens of the land. "...and they doted on him, but despite that he wasn't spoiled." Taako arranged his face into something gracious.

Kravitz stops smiling at Taako's antics and tries to portray solemnity. "But even though the prince was beloved by people across the queendom, the royals in the Felicity Wilds were wracked with jealousy. They ruled cruelly, using fear and sadness as tools to keep their subjects in line. Do you think that was a good way to be when you're in charge?" Kravitz asked.

The crowd boos loudly.

"Do you think the people who lived in the Felicity Wilds liked them very much?" Kravitz goes for the double, why not? They seem engaged enough.

"No!!!" They shout.

"That's right!" Kravitz says, pleased with the reaction. "King Edward and Queen Lydia were twins who ruled together, and they grew jealous of how much the people in Neverwinter loved prince Taako and the Queens. Instead of deciding to be better and try harder, asking the people who lived there what they wanted, they decided to kidnap prince Taako!"

There's a gratifying gasp as Taako bravely fights his invisible assailants, but is overpowered.

"The queens were heartbroken, their beloved son! Gone! Neverwinter mourned, but they also sought to return the prince so cruelly snatched away."

Kravitz looked out into the audience. "Will you help us tell this part of the story? I need some brave adventurers."

A wave of hands shot up, straining for the sky.

"Thank you!" Shouted prince Taako. "It's nice to know someone cares."

Kravitz cares. Kravitz cares a whole lot. He just needs to work out how to tell him.

"Okay brave knights, we'll take you three!" Kravitz points at a mix of children. "And we all know that knights need some equipment." Kravitz gestures flamboyantly towards the tabards, soft foam short swords, and shields laid out for them. Then asks quietly "Will you please put these on while I tell the next bit? Let me know if you need any help and remember to be careful with your swords, you need to listen carefully to my instructions"

The children nod and Kravitz reverts to his dramatic voice. "Knights came from across Neverwinter and offered to go and return the wonderful prince." Kravitz glances at Taako, his description of the prince has become more and more complimentary with each retelling. Thankfully Taako doesn't seem to have noticed.

"The Queens, Istus and Raven, decided that sending too many brave knights would be an open declaration of war, instead they needed to act carefully, cautiously. No ransom arrived in the days following the prince's abduction, only silence. It was decided that only a small group of knights would go." Kravitz gestures to the motley group next to him, readjusts the one who's holding their sword by the blade, and starts a round of applause.

"They knew it was Lydia and Edward's men who took Taako, so they set off towards the Felicity Wilds." Kravitz places himself in front of the knights and indicates they should follow.

"They set off quietly at the break of dawn." Kravitz crept forwards on his tiptoes, assumes the kids are following based on the "awws" and camera clicks from the audience.

"They soon found that prince Taako, just as clever as he was handsome..." Kravitz cups a hand round his mouth to whisper to the audience, "...which was very..." They let out a gratifying laugh. "...had left them clues." Kravitz points to the tree stump with a fine stripe of glitter at the base and tries not to smile too fondly, (Taako chose how the prince would mark his path in their story when they decided not to use the blood from the original.) "So our brave knights followed the clues he left behind."

Kravitz pretends to look around dramatically. “Can anyone help our knights find the next clue?”

“Over there!!!” A chunk of the kids yell, excited and pointing at another smear of glitter (placed so the audience can see it more easily than the knights in the ‘stage’ area.)

“Thank you!” Kravitz says, the other knights also say their thanks, two of them wave, the cameras go off again.

“And there!” There’s more yelling and pointing, they work their way over to near Taako.

“Our brave knights closed in on where prince Taako was being held, using their tracking skills to remain unnoticed. But…” Kravitz pauses for drama. “...as they approached the encampment, they noticed guards posted up ahead.” He pauses here to ask the crowd, “would anyone like to play a bad guy?”

A range of hands shoot up, less, but still plenty. Kravitz selects four children who look like they won’t go too hog wild if given swords. This part is the highest risk for injury, thankfully he’s always been quick enough to intervene. “Okay everyone, grab your swords and tabards, remember that you have to be very careful and responsible, you don’t want to hurt anyone, do you?” Only once has a participant ever answered ‘yes’ and he got immediately demoted back to the crowd.

“The guards were half hidden in the trees, but the knights were stealthy and knew they needed to tread carefully.” Kravitz positions the guards between Taako and the knights.

“Now, what do you think the knights did? I need you to let me know. Did they… all rush up in one go and fight the guards?” Kravitz waits for the replies, mostly a chorus of ‘no’s’ with a few bloodthirsty ‘yes’s’ thrown in.

“Or did they… sneak through the trees and ambush the guards?” More assent this time.

“You’re right! They snuck up on the guards in the trees, carefully and quietly.” Kravitz indicated that the knights should sneak. “The guards looked out very hard.” The guards start looking around in an overexaggerated way without any prompting. Excellent.

“They came to the first guard who saw them too late and tried to block the blow…” Kravitz mimed what the first knight and the guard should do, whispered a reminder about being careful not to hurt anyone. The guard died dramatically and beautifully, Kravitz hoped the others followed suit as the cameras clicked again.

“They came to the second guard, who noticed them slightly sooner, but not soon enough to stop them.” Kravitz waved his second brave knight forward and another dramatic death scene played out.

“But then…” He’s serious now, trying to inject drama. “... the third guard spotted them and called out to the others!” Kravitz nods encouragingly at the guard who obliges him.

“Intruders!!!” The guard yells, impassioned, incensed, determined to ensure their prize isn’t liberated.

“The two guards banded together, and they all fought mercilessly.” Kravitz takes a second to remind the children that absolutely no one is to be merciless and everyone is just having fun - too much passion will lead to their removal from the scene.

After allowing the battle to rage (very gently) for long enough for all the parents and guardians to grab photos, Kravitz nodded to Taako.

“They were almost at a stalemate when one of the knights stumbled...” Says Taako. Kravitz drops to a knee. “... and one of the guards held a sword to his throat." There's a gratifying gasp from the crowd.

A slightly-too-enthusiastic-for-Kravitz’s-taste guard grabs him and places their foam sword across his neck. “Gentle, remember.” Kravitz whispers.

“The knights knew they should keep fighting and sacrifice their friend to the cause…” Taako conintues. Kravitz hopes the knights looked suitably sad. “... but it was difficult. They had been friends for many years and trained together, they didn’t want to watch him die.”

A few restless giggles in the audience tell him Taako is nearly there.

“But before anything bad could happen, the prince grabbed the sword away from the guard!” Taako yells triumphantly and disarms the guard trapping Kravitz.

“... The prince was a great swordsman and fighter and ran both guards through.” Kravitz adds.

The audience whoops and cheers as the two guards fall, each trying to out-last the other in their death throes. Finally they stop twitching and Taako stands tall and beautiful, his sword raised in the air. “Took you long enough.” He says to the assembled group of rescuers.

“And that’s the story of how the prince of Neverwinter rescued his favourite knight.” Says Taako. Favourite. That was new.

“They returned to Neverwinter...” Taako helps Kravitz to his feet and makes a show of inspecting him for wounds. “... and the Queens were overjoyed to see their son.” Kravitz says, then asks the audience, “Can we have some queens?”

Hands shoot up and he selects two more children to join them, places crowns on their heads, and smiles as they fuss over Taako and the knights.

“And then they announced…” Kravitz whispers to them.

“IT’S TIME TO HAVE A REALLY BIG PARTY!” Both queens yell together.

“All the villagers came to the celebration.” Kravitz motions at everyone to stand if they can. Taako presses the button on the ancient CD player and one of Johann’s slightly-too-sad-for-the-occasion lute tunes blasts out.

“Everybody danced!” Kravitz shouts to be heard as the audience begins to shuffle.

“Everybody danced.” Taako says. Kravitz didn't realise he was so close.

“I said that bit already.” Kravitz replies.

“But you’re not dancing.” Taako grabs his hand. “You said everybody.”

“I did say everybody.” Kravitz makes no move to loose his hand from Taako's.

Taako spins him fast, then launches into what Kravitz thinks might be an adapted macarena, Kravitz joins him.

Taako laughs, alternates between pulling Kravitz close and pushing him back. It's messy and wild and perfect because Taako's there and Kravitz is making him happy and they're together.

One of the queens knocks on Kravitz’s armoured leg. “Can I help you your highness?” Kravitz asks.

“You didn’t finish the story.”

“We did! We're having a party.” Kravitz wiggles out a dance to demonstrate the party atmosphere.

“But they didn’t kiss.”

“She’s got a point.” Taako says beside him. “They’re clearly into each other.”

“Are you hitting on me via children’s story time?” Kravitz hisses, hoping Queen Istus can't hear.

“Taako’s reciprocally hitting on you via educational story time because you’ve been doing it for weeks and haven’t taken it any further and cha’boy’s impatient.” Replies Taako at normal volume.

“Could you maybe not do it in front of a child?” Kravitz tries again to lower his voice.

“Hasn’t stopped you.” Taako grins his smug grin, the one that shouldn't be attractive, but is regardless.

“Are you going to kiss or just argue about it?” The queen says impatiently.

Kravitz doesn’t know if there’s any way to answer that which doesn’t get him fired.

“Can’t argue with royalty!” Taako says cheerfully.

Kravitz wonders if Taako is seriously going to let their first kiss be this public, this ridiculous, and this controlled by a child.

“Pucker up, Sir Kravitz.”

Apparently so.

Kravitz is vaguely aware of Taako leaning towards him, of the Queen ‘eep’ing in excitement, it's not what he wanted, but it's Taako so it's perfect. There’s a loud clang and his world shifts to a slit of vision. All he can see is Taako planting a kiss on the visor he’s just closed over Kravitz’s eyes.

“We’ll try without the kids later.” Taako whispers.

I hope you enjoyed! Check out tomorrow's prompt here.

#taz nc #taz november celebration #taz balance #taakitz #taako #kravitz #noodyl writes

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kustas · 2 months

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For the silver eve arc in wha , what did you envision or think it would be like in comparison to other anime arcs , episodes or anime movies & manga? Or in other words could u share more on what energy/pacing/direction/visuals you wanted to see? Hope this makes sense !

Hi anon! Thank you for asking! Earlier arcs in WHA were super short, only a few chapters long, around an arc or two per volume when the transition was mid volume. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about arc structures in the first place because of stories like early WHA - "arcs" only feel like distinct, strong parts for specific long and often shonen type series. It seems like with the evolution of the story and stakes in WHA it's transforming into this. Because arcs are convenient I'll keep using them to answer though!

Purely in matters of what I like, raising the stakes is a problem. It's entirely subjective but I personally care less and less about stories the higher the stakes are. I like narratives centered around a small group of individuals and if it involves worldbuilding I like the worldbuilding to be expressed through everyday interactions. This is something early WHA excelled at and who continues to be a strong point in the series. The author has crafted a believable, engaging fantasy world who's intricacies are shown through personal problems first, before reattaching them to societal problems second. Instead of showing you it's witch society through grand info dumps of historical moments, you learn about it alongsides a little girl who's fascinated by the world the same way the reader can be.

What I thought the Silver Eve would be was a step back from the currently established factions (the atelier, the knights, iguin's brimmed caps) to consider the greater picture of how witches interact with outsiders. The arc was introduced by Tartah's proposal for a stand and the arrival of the Three Wise at the King's castle. I was expecting those two POVs to cover the duration of the festival: on one side, the atelier girls selling their wares and on the other the politicians organizing it all. Both were to answer the question raised with the phantasmal flame chapter: how do you regulate how to use magic? Outsiders want magic which and it is up to the witches, who's faction chose to control it exclusively, to decide how to distribute it. And from this stems the questions of corruption (Engendil), control (king vs Wise), poverty (Custas), yadda yadda.

This hyped me up a lot because it's an amazing opportunity for more worldbuilding including a major city we hadn't seen yet, politicians we hadn't seen yet and their POVs and outsiders! Asides of the first chapter with Coco, Custas&Dagda were pretty much the only outsider characters and their life conditions were pretty extreme. This arc promised to me to show way more "normal" magicless people and their associated takes on the witches. Think the chapter where Oru and Hiehart go to work and help both the nobleman and the poor kid. It also immediately started with teasing the king had other bigger plans, as well as introducing a potential new faction or brimhats with Ininia and her master. This was around chapter 40-45.

A few chapters later none of this was resolved at all. We still don't know what the king wants, or Restys. The subplot with Custas is without a resolution. To this kept being added more backstory material fleshing out more characters (don't like that either but it's a whole other can of worms) which usually prepares you for their big time of relevance but uh. That did not happen. Instead we have: the leech.

That leech was, imo, entirely unnecessary. It dropped at a moment where the stakes were already at an all time high with all old and new factions involved in a single event, at the same time, something the story had thus far entirely avoided with smaller more separate arcs. And it ballooned all stakes to city ending mass massacre stuff without resolving any of the established issues. I...don't thing WHA needs giant monsters. It's a story about a little girl learning things in a society she's uniquely placed to see the unfairness of. I like how human it is and I don't think kaiju battling will contribute to that. The human scale is literally and figuratively gone with something like that.

Pacing wise, I'd have liked for all those little individual groups of characters to continue being individual and indirectly influence each other via their role in society. I'd have wanted for subplots to be closed off one by one or allowed to bait for next story beats like was done before. I'd have kept the blood eating monster a small one off incident way further that'd have to be solved by a crew of characters. While not all subplots need final closure the earlier arcs did a great job of addressing a situation and moving on from it in 3-10 chapters. The silver eve isn't over and it's length is approaching to be longer than the rest of the arcs combined.

Visually, while the outfit and world designs continue to go hard, I dislike how the character art has simplified away from a semi realistic take to smoother, more ... "moe" characters. It's more conventional and I don't like it. I like my characters to look distinct and this includes the little everyday traits that are dismissed by many authors for not being conventionally attractive. While WHA makes a visible effort to be inclusive it's the unfortunate reality that while the author can draw old people, fat people, people with all skin tones and all sorts of scars and stubble she...does not. I want to see it more. I would have liked to see it from day 1 actually, instead of having extras like the adult woman helping the leech victims sporting those one off designs, I'd have wanted Qifrey or Olruggio to have her look. It's too late for this and I hope it gets slowly changed with how the series continues and grows.

I don't really read a lot of long manga and nearly don't watch anime so I can't compare much to other media, I hope otherwise I've answered your question and don't hesitate to ask me again if I haven't or if you want further details!

#ask #witch hat atelier

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mothmags · 2 months

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The Redfox Girls

Identical twins and the middle children of the family

They have an older and a younger brother (I'll flush them out eventually)

They learned their magic from their mama and bonded over it

they were levys little shadows when they were very small

Odessa - 22

Takes large influences from goth and punk ideals and fashion

very patient and quiet but still extroverted and social

has, does, and specializes in face pircings

she's certified now, but she very much wasn't when she did a lot of them for her friends

she works as a piercer at a tattoo shop by commission

shes has a huge interest in languages and is fluent in 5. 1 of them being considered a dead language. Shes semi fluent in 3 others and is studying several more

she helps translate and localise texts and media in her free time and makes a lot of passive money off of it

started out being an unofficial sub translator for anime when she was like 12 and now people hire her to do it

she does a lot of very old text translation for the magic councils library and Fiore University

She got her undergrad in linguistics and is getting a masters in historical linguistics at Fiore Uni (online courses coming in clutch)

is a solid script wizard but doesn't just stick to english.

I like to think that different languages change how a script functions, sometimes even if it's "technically" the same word.

is appart of Maree's team and is mainly the mediator of the group when things get out of hand

Salem - 22

Takes influence from "preppy" or "soft academia" aesthetics

she picked up a valley girl esc accent from her time studying abroad and refuses to lose it

it drives her dad CRAZY

I think she'd be going to law school at Fiore Uni for magic law, but studied abroad for an English and journalism degree

she looked up to her auntie lucy as a kid, and it shows

doesnt do much magic anymore, but she will take a job here and there with Odessa if she needs backup or money (law school doesnt pay for itself)

she's also a solid script mage :) (shocker) but is kinda rusty

has a shit ton of properly healed ear pircings and brags about it (i would too honestly)

has pierced and will pierce again

same as her sister in piercing others before being certified, but she only does ears. she also works in the same shop for some quick cash when she needs it

she did one of Nashis nostrils when she was like 15 and she got a booger on her. it grossed her out, and she now refuses to do face stuff because of it

has a short temper but learned to control it very well in a professional setting.

not in a personal one, tho. can and will throw hands at any time

has a very bold personality

#fairy tail gajevy #gajevy #gajeel redfox #levy mcgarden #fairy tail anime #fairy tail fanfiction #fairy tail headcanons #fairy tail #odessa redfox #salem redfox #fairy tail next generation #fairy tail next gen #mag art

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birbmonster · 1 year

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Part 1 of screaming msm headcanons into the endless void of chaos and fandoms that is tumblr

Gonna have to explain this best as I can

Anyways, this one is about the basics of modern monster society

Firstly, all monsters are species, expect for Legendaries and Celestials. Wil touch more on those guys in a different one prob.

However, the epic variants of some species, like Kaynas, are so rare that there’s often only one existing at a time. Each species has anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand individuals, with the amounts of rares varying between species.

Like the monster handlers said that one time, the islands are waaaay bigger than they appear in-game. Most monsters on each island live in the castle, and inside it’s like a luxurious hotel/apartment building, with rooms of various sizes for everyone and various public spaces. However, a few might live outside the castle in other buildings, usually when there’s no room left for them.

They don’t sing all the time. They actually only do the song once or twice a day depending on the island, and also depending on the island is the time they do it. For example, Cold Island prefers to do it the moment the sun sets, Plant Island in the middle of the day when it’s warm and sunny, ect, just whatever time fits the vibe of the song.

Monsterlings do go to school. They learn the usual stuff, math, writing, history, but there’s also a lot of emphasis put on learning about as many species as possible.

There’s no defined ‘ruler’ of any of the islands as of right now (expect tribal, wait a second). Desciscions are made as a community and when an island-specific tradition, social norm, or law pops up or can end up staying for hundreds of years completely unchanged, until everyone just forgets why it’s even there in the first place.

The only expection to this is Tribal Island, which always has a chief that’s usually voted on.

There were, however, relatively short periods on history where islands did have leaders. For example, Fire Haven was ruled by a Kayna named Dawn when it was first founded after the cataclysm, and Magical Sanctum might’ve had some sort of Enchantling ruler at one point.

The monster world is generally super peaceful, with far fewer historical records of things like wars happening.

There is an economy in existence. Round, gold coins are used as the main currency, while the Pocket Dimension Islands (Magical Sanctum and Ethereal Island) use Shards.

All monsters are able to speak to each other and are fully sentient. They age at about the same rate as humans, though actual lifespan may be anywhere from 60-100 years depending on the species.

There’s no such thing as having a biological sex. Monsterlings are simply referred to with they/them pronouns until they’re old enough to figure it out. But there’s sometimes… questionable… parents who try to decide for their kids. Not cool 😤

As for breeding, it works quite similar to how it does in-game, with inter species cross-breeding creating children of a new species with the right elements.

However, though it’s not shown in-game, sometimes the breeding structure may malfunction and create direct hybrids, which look like an actual blend of their parents species. But these are a VERY, and I mean VERY rare happening, so there’s no way a hybrid could go under the radar anywhere.

And lastly, a bit about etiquette: when your talking to someone, and you need to say their name, but don’t know it yet because you just met them, it’s best to just replace it with species name, and they’ll usually just tell you. It’s considered a bit rude to ask “what are you?” and similar enquiries about someone’s species.

That’s all for now, I need sleep

#msm #my singing monsters #msm headcanon #msm lore #the monsters do be singing #can I move to the monster world please how much is rent #like imagine living on Fire Oasis it would be so darn cool #I can have a Kayna gf

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palebloodcvrse · 2 months

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Heres my fuckin gremlin:

The main event

The creature

His name is Ae, he got turned into a weird demon dragon thing when he was a kid, also some weird shit happened that left him mildly silly shall we say

He isnt part of any particular fandom and is part of his own story :p

Btw his design includes a lot of black and red and lemme just say if youre a black/red hater leave that mentality on deviantart. Fuck that shit

Every day wear:

Monster form:

Armor his adoptive father gave him:

His dad is a giant dracolich man who adopted him when he was 7 and turned him (dont worry, it wasnt forced on him, ae didnt wanna be human anymore due to some bs that happened to him, ill get in depth in another post)

They have a very addams family esque father son dynamic

This is his dad, kvstrathos (he didnt start wearing metal merch til ae did lol)

Heres Ae when he was a kid, he had ultra long hair lmfao

His dad is a few thousand years older than him btw.

Youd think being adopted by a murderous dracolich warlord would mean they have a tumultous dynamic, but no. Kvstrathos loves and spoils Ae and has dad of the year award behavior, always cookin him stuff teachin him life lessons tutoring him going on hunting trips telling him stories, playing games with him etc

So, this gremlin is very skittish and really doesnt like interacting with people much having grown outside of human contact for 90% of his life

His disposition often switches from impish/happy to a complete stormcloud the next

He often has intense mood swings and flipflops from being silly goofy to being not so silly goofy and concerningly... unstable.

(other than the fucked up court wizard his dad has, and even then the dudes an insane warlock and ex surgeon who was made immortal by an evil deity, ill upload him later)

Its left ae pretty much ignorant of how the human world worked other than outdated shit (he still thinks humans have widespread villages and farms like in the middle ages, boy was he wrong) since all his dad had in the archives about human history are all outdated historical texts (oh but all the occult crap? That got saved.)

So he grew up learning how humans tried to bind demons but doesnt know what a stanley cup is.

His dad spent his days training ae in various combat arts, sometimes showing him some weaponry or old siege equipment/medieval torture devices, etc and mr insane warlock was there to tutor him on dark magic if his dad was busy, and also to act as some sort of babysitter

Ae grew up in a castle with nobody but his dad and the court wizard for company so he pretty much doesnt know how to socialize with like... normal people.

Ae likes a lot of things:

Morbid crap, gardening, the woods, (he has an obsession with farms and nature.) Medieval weaponry, the occult, FOOD and the baking and cooking/preparing of said food, animals. Especially cats. And metal. Holy shit he went to the human world very few times but he fucking found some metal records in an abandoned shed and couldnt stop listening to it after.

As a result his dad gave him an enchanted guitar that has destructive properties and now hes some fucked up heavy metal bard on top of being taught by a giant dark knight and warlock on various combat arts.

Gory descriptions under the cut

His body is heavily mutated from the amount of dark magic that seeped into him since the ritual™ and therefore it has weird traits like worsening his vision while increasing his other senses like hearing and smell, regenerating wounds but also randomly forming painful clusters of black nerves, mouths and eyes that sometimes dont go away on their own, sickening him or strengthening him randomly, etc this boy is not normal and doesnt function as such.

As a dracolich (not all undead dragons are azeratean dracoliches, more lore on that later) he consumes the flesh and souls of demons and corrupted humans.

He often needs said blood and flesh to stay and healthy and strong.

He and his father are children of a dark elder god but theyre not wholly evil, its a whole thing that I dont wanna type out in one post for now.

#oc #oc artwork #oc art #oc shit #monster oc #metalhead oc

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too-many-rooks · 10 days

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thanks @dykesville for tagging me, this was fun! (DISREGARD how my first answer seems to suggest otherwise)

When was the last time you cried? Ough. Um, my grandad died, and then I feeling guilty about how much more of an emotional reaction I had when my dog died about six months ago, and then I started thinking about my dead dog, and then I started crying. Anyway this is getting off to a great start, lets roll on to next question babyy!

Do you have kids? Nope, I'm 24, single, live at home and work a part time minimum wage job, and have in no way figured out my life/what I want my life to be. Don't particularly plan to have kids, but the concept of even thinking about having kids is extremely distant rn.

Do you use sarcasm a lot? I think so? like a normal, british amount, I guess?

What sports do you play? None really, I played Hockey when I was at school, and did a lot of swimming, then in my late teens and early 20s I had some physical health issues that prevented me from doing anything like that, but in the past couple of years I've been building back my muscle and stuff, and at the moment I'm really into going on long walks as I live on the edge of my town and get into the countryside quite easily.

Whats the first thing you notice about people? What they're wearing, usually.

What's your eye colour? Blue.

Scary movies or happy endings? I am a big big coward, so can't really do scary movies - if it's like an unnerving psychological horror sure, but if there's some spooky victorian ghost lady lurking about and the threat jump scares, I'm OUT. I like a happy ending.

Any special talents? I'm a really good cook, bc I have a good palatte, I'm really good at tasting a dish and knowing how it needs to be altered for the flavour balance to be right, and I'm good at knowing what flavours will go well together, and freestyling a meal. Also I can roll my eyes back in my head so only the whites are showing, which is kinda freaky and fun.

Where were you born? Pattaya. (Technically the hospital was in Na Kluea, but it says Pattaya on my passport.)

What are your hobbies? Cooking, Hiking, Video games, Writing, and I've been getting increasingly into photo/video editing stuff as I've been learning how to make gifs, and have been making assets for a tabletop thing (basically an alex rider au) I'm planning to run with my friends.

Do you have pets? Ah.. uh, not anymore. 😅

How tall are you? 5'8", I think?

Favourite subject in school? I'm a humanities girlie, through and through, so English, History, Politics, and Classical civ.

Dream job? I've got two history degrees so would love to make those useful. If I lean in to the fantasy of a 'dream' job where it has none of the actual real life shittyness and I'd magically be great at it, I'd love to be able to write? Or, different fantasy element, just a skill I totally don't have, I think doing historical costuming for tv/stage/movies would be an extremely fun blend of historical research and creativity. Though I can barely sew a button IRL, so that dreams probably a little distant.

tagging @countessrivers and @icebluecyanide or whoever else might want to answer :)

#ask game

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oathshxker · 1 month

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hello my beebs (again)! it's lyna again, just making a separate intro for joon. he's my lil adventurer draconic bloodline sorcerer who loves going out into the world to explore, learn about dragons, and just do cool stuff! he's very wholesome, has a nice cozy home life and just wants to learn more about his origins and where his bloodline comes from! he's a good boi. if you'd like to plot with him just give this a like! i haven't made any open connections for him (yet, working on it) but his bio will be under the cut if you're interested in perusing him!

“⸺ ✧˖° Introducing the adventurer KIM JOON, a earnest HUMAN with a fondness of dragon lore and alchemy/herbology. Their admirers endlessly praise them for their skills as a courageous SORCERER & their work as a GUILD MEMBER and ADVENTUERER. On the contrary; their rivals will warn you of their tendency to be careless and unintelligent.

NAME: kim joon NICKNAMES/ALIAS: joonie GENDER: male PRONOUNS: he/him BIRTHDAY: december 18th AGE: 26 SPECIES: human, koryoan SEXUALITY: pansexual CURRENT LOCATION: jeosung, koryo OCCUPATION: adventurer (does alchemy on the side) ETHNICITY: koryoan NATIONALITY: koryoan RELIGION: bahamut SOCIAL CLASS: adventurer ADVENTURE CLASS: sorcerer - draconic bloodline, lightning

FACECLAIM: bang chan, stray kids EYE COLOR: cobalt blue (draconic bloodline) HAIR COLOR: dark brown HAIR TYPE: wavy BODY TYPE: burly HEIGHT: 5'11" WEIGHT: 190 lbs SCENT: dragon scales TATTOOS: multiple draconic runes that cover his arms, back, shoulders, chest and legs PIERCINGS: ears: lobes, upper lobes, and helix SCARS: multiple across numerous part of his body from previous battles OTHER: has a bright blue shimmer to his skin from the scales of his draconic bloodline growing in

bullets:

born in jeosung to a set of human parents who own a potion shop. mom was skilled in alchemy, dad in herbology

joon ran around the shop as a little helper growing up, quickly picked up on magic and learned little cantrips like mage hand to help out where he could

mom and dad were both sorcerers, one from storm sorcery and the other from the lightning draconic bloodline, mastering weather magic together and fitting like two peas in a pod, had been former adventurers together and made the perfect match

joon had the picture perfect example of true love in his parents growing up and this has shaped a lot of who he is: loving, caring, unsuspecting, trustworthy, imbued with the need to do the right thing, help those in need, give freely

has a younger sibling [wc] that took after storm sorcery while joon inherited the draconic bloodline

the shimmer of his scales started showing around 7 years of age and he always thought they were super cool and pretty

his eyes changed colour as his scales grew in and he also loves them

in his preteen years his magic developed further into first level spells and he grew more curious about both alchemy and dragons

his parents showed him how to make some basic potions and he practiced every day

he asked his parents about dragons and draconic history and lore, but even the parent with the draconic bloodline didn’t know much.

joon started going to the library to research draconic history, magic, lore, etymology, and learned to speak draconic in the process. he didn’t find enough to quell his intrigue, and so he decided to start training up his magic more so he could venture out to historic and ancient sites to learn more

between helping at the shop when he’s in town, joining up at an adventuring guild, and practicing his magic, joon has become a capable adventurer

has gone on many quests with various groups and companions, has seen near-death more times than he’d like to admit, but has acquired a lot of knowledge that he documents in a series of texts called ‘Joon’s Guide to Draconic Discovery’. he has written enough for three volumes so far, and is working on the fourth currently.

#a’ intro #𝕛𝕠𝕠𝕟 ⚡︎

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aeide-thea · 1 year

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[cw for mention of rape, Consent Issues]

prefatory acknowledgment that my thinking here is prompted by (1) an unrebloggable post i will therefore not cite (2) my own experiences growing up (3) olreid's ongoing theoryblogging abt Childhood Power Dynamics—

but like. thinking abt 'oh of course kids shouldn't read abt Bad Things bc they'll upset them omg!!!' discourse and like. as per (1) i agree that like. actually kids probably should experience getting upset by art sometimes and learn how to handle it, if nothing else because at some point their own life will upset them and they won't be able to step away from that nearly as easily as you can from a book?

but also like. as per (2) i read a pretty infamous series of historical fiction/romance books in first grade that notoriously feature (a) rape and (b) a lot of explicit consensual sex, and like. as far as the sex went, i was already reading about magic and dragons and aliens—lots of stuff happened in books that wasn't happening in my own little life! that was why i was reading them: for visions of other experiences!

and as far as the rape—i honestly don't remember being especially struck by it? which i'm sure makes me sound bafflingly callous, but like. the reality of (as per 3) childhood in general and also of (2) my ~neurodivergent~ childhood in particular was that my autonomy was overridden all the time in unpleasant if nonsexual ways, and i was being taught not to exhibit or even register distress at this, so like. in what world was a rape scene going to stand out to me as something unimaginably shocking, after that? life had already taught me that social norms, and the desires of those around you with power over you, mattered more than what you personally wanted, every time.

so i guess i just think like—a bad thing did happen to me growing up, but it wasn't reading about bad things in books; it was the socialization that taught me not to be bothered by bad things irl.

also i think—kids are generally curious about the world, and a lot of the time that includes being curious about sex, and i just—it's a normal part of development to seek out information about things! information itself isn't harmful: information is what enables you to identify harm.

also there's this idea that like. sexuality is somehow a whole other level separate from anything else, and i just think. i don't know that i agree. you can be very deeply, intimately, traumatizingly wronged in ways that are totally nonsexual, and things can happen to you sexually that don't really feel like a big deal! slash like—the sexual experiences i've had where my partner was worst about soliciting my consent didn't register emotionally as violations, because i'd already learned in a nonsexual context that it was fine when people who nominally loved you were careless with you! so i really struggle when people want to position rape+ as inherently separate from, and worse than, any other overriding of autonomy because it's sexual, when in my experience—it all connects.

#this very much isn't a well-structured Essay‚ just an agglomeration of thoughts #but like. (1) kids *should* get upset sometimes. imagine making it to adulthood without ever encountering anything upsetting.#(…could you even be said to have *made* it to adulthood in that scenario tbh.)#but also (2) honestly not all of the things adults think Are Going To Upset Kids *will* necessarily upset kids #either bc (i) they don't yet have the life experience to comprehend its full upsettingness #or bc (ii) they've already been trained out of the ability to register it as upsetting #anyway none of this will persuade ppl who really think differently #bc they WILL think that like. my being unfazed (either at the time or in retrospect) by sex scenes was the devil in me or w/e #like 'obviously it fucked you up‚ you're not a good christian now'#but.#formative #bookblogging #also i guess #parents and parenting

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marisramblings · 1 year

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Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a Mess

(Did no one reread the script?)

The Good

The animation is lovely. Let’s get that out of the way. I love stop motion. Pinocchio’s design is fantastically creepy, he’s an annoying little shit, and I liked the death aspects. Positives are done.

The Bad

The plot of this movie is terrible. The story beats and characters aren’t fleshed out, the plot progression is clunky, and the music was unneeded. This movie is about 2 hours long, more than enough time to tell a wonderful story with characters that are good. I felt nothing during the finale because the relationships were not developed.

Let’s start at the beginning. We have a younger Geppetto and his first son, Carlo. The mom and wife? Dead. It’s a cute opening, skip some stuff, Carlo gets blown up and only Carlo, I think. Maximum sadness, etc.etc. Geppetto, understandably, becomes a drunk and is miserable for 5-10 years. A tree grew in the time between Carlo’s death and Pinocchio existing. No one in town seems to have consoled him in any way, but that’s not really a criticism of the movie. He goes all Victor Frankenstein and a creepy blue fairy thing brings our puppet to life. There’s also a talking cricket who I think is just there because the original had one. He’s not magic. There’s just a walking, talking cricket that reads, writes and plays violin. The monkey can also talk, through puppets, but mostly speaks in monkey gibberish. I’m more okay with that than the cricket; I can’t tell you why. It’s a “kids’ movie” but that is doing the work of gods.

The movie sets itself up to be a story of Geppetto working through his grief and accepting that Pinocchio is not Carlo. Pinocchio is learning how to be a real boy. We have one day of him going to school. He is then picked up by an evil carnie. We spend more time with that than developing the relationship between our protagonists. I’m not against this plot point, I just think it could’ve been shortened or been the main focus. I didn’t get a sense of time progressing with Pinocchio and Geppetto interacting in close proximity. Pinocchio dies, we get an interesting death sequence, and then runs away to join the circus because of a contract. I’m paraphrasing. Geppetto misses Pinocchio and I don’t know why. It’s been a week. Am I supposed to believe that this man cares about a living puppet this much so quickly? He travels Italy to find him. With how much history plays a role in the background, you’d think a talking puppet would be burned by the catholic town. Anyway, a whale eats him. The cricket is eaten as well, but I don’t care. He gives a few unearned speeches. He’s trying to live inside Pinocchio. That was a thing.

The movie still has an hour at this point. All of this could’ve been stretched out so we could truly experience this journey.

Anyway, Pinocchio makes fun of Mussolini and is killed. Then the secondary villain kidnaps him so he can fight in the war. We have a brief interlude where Pinocchio spends one day at a training camp and Candlewick, son of 2nd villain, has his character arc. Then the camp is bombed. Candlewick seems more concerned for the puppet he first attempted to incinerate than his dead dad and falls of the face of the earth. Evil carnie comes back, dies, Pinocchio and his new monkey pal get eaten by the whale. The time wasted on fridging Geppetto and Pinocchio’s foray into war would’ve been better spent developing their relationship. While I enjoy the historical perspective, shoehorning in a lesson on “facism is bad” was unneeded. You don’t have the time. The whale is there because of the original story. It could’ve have worked.

Anyway, they escape, Pinocchio dies blowing up Brendan Fraser, and sacrifices his immortality to save his dad. I don’t mind this, I just wish we had a little more focus on the afterlife aspect of the film. It’s really interesting. For some reason, Pinocchio dies despite having no lungs or a heart. Cricket gives an unearned speech to make the fairy bring him back. Seriously, what did Sebastian actually do? He spends most of the film with Geppetto. He taught Pinocchio two things??? At least they were self aware enough to mention it.

The Opinion

I like the movie, and I see it’s potential, but nothing was earned. If its time was better distributed, I think this movie would be a fantastic adaptation with a beautiful story. We spent time on a side character who was barely relevant and literally disappears with no resolution. Fascism also disappears. No one came for the talking puppet? Pinocchio fosters no relationships with the townspeople, he has no discernible arc because immortality wasn’t something he desperately wanted, so…

No one read this damn script. We are thrown lessons that aren’t learned by the characters, plots are dropped like stones and once again, what happened to Candlewick? Did he die? Why don’t we see him grieve over his father?

Score: 4/10 this might’ve worked as a limited series.

Post Script:

Fuck the cricket. What did he actually do? Why is he such a major part?

Don’t give me shit about Pinocchio trading his life to save Geppetto. He was alive and drowned. How does that work???

#pinocchio #guillermo del toro #pinocchio netflix #Candlewick #can Mari spell fascism?#no #mari’s rambles #movie review #this wasn’t spell checked because I’m not paid for this #ps Guillermo supports Roman Polanski #fun to learn

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