funny pink lady for the swap au vanny wanted a vessel for her ghost to possess and william made a rlly cute plushie and shes like WHAT THE FUCK I WANTED IT TO LOOK COOL!!! GIVE IT RED EYES!!!

religious trauma lifesteal!zam essay //lifesteal spoilers

call it projecting but like imagine the amount of religious trauma lifesteal!princezam has (presuming theres some sort of connection of the characters between seasons) like bro has had like 80% of his teamates become gods and watched them loose their sense of self in one way or another he himself started exploiting at one point then goes on to ban himself in season five theres something to be said their having reached the heart cap and having so much power after hours and hours of constant labour to achieve what he got handed to him by a divine like entity like just to ban himself something something sacirficing your life to a higher entity . something also about watching all of his loved ones betray him die or him having to betray them for his own self of moral justice which is very lackluster to his constantly changing beliefs and morality he will never find something that he can cling to (like religion) so. yeah.

i think there's something to be said about what exactly it means to be "non-human" in a story that is as much about humanity as wolf 359 is, where even the dear listeners are defined less by their own perspective and more by what they fail to understand and therefore reflect about the human perspective - to the point that they don't even have their own voices or faces or identities that aren't either given to them or taken from humans. they speak to humanity as a mirror.

even pryce and cutter are "very much humans" - pryce defined by her resentment of and desire to transcend its limitations, and cutter by his aspirations to redefine and create a "better" type of human - and find the idea that they might not be human laughable. it's interesting that they have distinctly transhumanist aspirations when their goal is the narrative opposite of common science fiction fears: that we will expand the definition of humanity so much that we'll lose whatever it is that makes us human. pryce and cutter's transhumanism narrows the definition of humanity to the worthy and the useful, as defined by them; "there will still be a humanity; it'll just be our humanity."

in direct opposition to that, i think it's meaningful that the show instead expands the definition of humanity in ways that include lovelace and hera, who in another show with different themes might be considered (in the descriptive, non-moralistic sense) non-human. i will always make a point of saying that personhood and humanity are two often-related but meaningfully distinct concepts, especially when talking about sci-fi and fantasy. i am talking about humanity.

the question of how hera identifies, and what social pressures influence that, is a complicated one. i've talked about it before and i will talk about again. what's important for the purposes of this post is that i think the show considers her fundamentally human. think about her role in shut up and listen - consider jacobi's lion example and the concept of different paradigms - that even things that are close to humans, comparatively speaking, understand the world in different ways. whatever differences hera may have from the others, it's primarily in experience, not fundamental understanding. she shares their emotions, their concerns, their values, their thought patterns. she has an appreciation for music, which the show considers a hallmark of humanity. she fits within the framework of humanity as the show defines and is, in her own words, left feeling "uneasy" about how difficult it might be to communicate with beings who don't. and it's significant that this takes place in shut up and listen, of all episodes, specifically because the way she is clearly and unambiguously included in the show's understanding of what it means to be human highlights the ways she and lovelace are othered by eiffel's careless comments that suggest otherwise.

(i don't want to get too into these details for this particular post, but it's worth noting that hera will refer to 'humans' as a category, often when she is upset and feeling isolated, but has never said that she 'isn't human' - she has never been upset that people are treating her 'too' human. i've seen it said about the line "you need to get it through your heads that what goes for you doesn't always go for me", but that's a frustration related to ability and safety, not identity. far more often, she will refer to herself in 'human' terms - referring idiomatically to experiences or body parts etc. that she doesn't literally have - and is upset primarily with comments referring to her status as an AI. it does not diminish how being an AI influences her perspective and experience, but again, so much of that is in terms of ability that it feels almost inseparable from a discussion about disability.)

lovelace's humanity and hera's humanity are so interlinked and directly paralleled in the text that i think it's impossible to really argue one of them is "not" human without making implications about the other. in desperate measures, lovelace tells kepler he's "not human" and he responds "you're hilarious. on a multitude of levels." later, defending lovelace against kepler's repeated dehumanization, hera very pointedly uses the phrase "that woman." in out of the loop, hera says she's never met anyone who "worked so hard at being inhuman" as jacobi, who says "what do you know about being human?" hera very emphatically responds, "i know plenty." later, defending hera against jacobi's repeated dehumanization, minkowski pointedly uses the phrase "that woman." with the care taken towards language and the way scenes and turns of phrase will parallel each other, that's not a coincidence. it might seem strange to have the "non-human" characters be the ones to express criticisms based on perceived "humanity" (something hera will do in other contexts as well - "we don't have funerals for animals" etc.) but in the broader context of the show, i think it's the point.

so, whether hera would ever call herself human, or be comfortable with that, is a complicated question for another time and depends on a lot of other factors. but wolf 359 is a show about humanity, it includes her within its definition of what it means to be human, and i wouldn't be comfortable definitively saying she's not human because of that. it can't be a neutral statement within the particular context of this show.

Lightning, water, and fire! Like forever before the plot starts. By the time the plot starts, the lightning and fire deities have been subjected to punishment by the two gods that picked them.

Oh (the fire deity) is first to be punished. They basically decide that since they're going to live for a long time, gotta set some long time goals! And they opt to be the wrath of the gods since most of the other deities are too 'soft' in their opinion. So Oh just. Smites humans. This isn't really a /good/ thing and in their defense mentally, they do it to help Ymber since he's the softest of them all. So their punishment by the gods is to be split in two, effectively halving the power of one into two. (Now they are in a male and a female body and use both male and female pronouns apart since they together make they but apart it feels weird to be they. But prior to the split they use they/them. Also the split bodies go by the names Ohiwe and Ohime.)

Fulj is the second to be punished. She falls in love with a mortal woman and that is a crime according to the gods. Mortals and immortals are not to be together and it will only bring suffering to both sides. So her punishment is her memories of the woman are stripped and her body basically broken to the point she can't remain physical all the time.

Ymber, unfortunately, is the one who blames himself for the discoveries and punishments. If he had only tried to restrain Oh more then maybe they would have chilled out and stopped before being punished. If he had only tried to persuade Fulj to not continue seeing the mortal woman so often perhaps she wouldn't have been punished. So he's just increasing the guilt on his shoulders every day that he remains unpunished since the elder gods have both laid down to rest. They can't enforce their laws anymore and none of the deities are keen on harming one another at this point. They just want to continue existing in peace.

giving my ldb a daughter. embarrassing for all involved. mostly me

Anyway I feel like it kinda gets glossed over that Knives was a child when he caused the big fall and idk I think that's kind of important because he's lived with that for over 100 years and just like Vash has lived with knowing the people he loves and fights for don't see him or his kind as anything more than a tool at best or a monster at worst, Knives has most definitely lived with knowing he's the leading reason why this system has remained in place

“As it was in the dawn of our days As it will be for all tomorrows To you, my husband, I consecrate all that I am. T’Pel, my wife. From you I receive all that I am. As it was in the beginning, so shall it be now. Two bodies, one mind.“                                                                   - Pon Farr Ritual Lines

Tuvok can have a little overwhelming guilt, sorrow and heartache as a treat. Also, people need to start talking about that fucking Pon Farr opener because it’s hardcore and so loving. Anyway so I was thinking about the fact that pon farr is a bonding ritual which helps to alleviate fever...how intimate that would be and how it’d feel to have to share that kind of thing with a facsimile of the person you care about.  It’s not just sex, it’s love. And Tuvok loves his wife - to the point that even having sex with a hologram that didn’t look like T’Pel was unacceptable to him. To the point that he noticed that her ears were 4 millimeters too long. It must be difficult knowing that your wife is there, waiting for you, still in love with you, but you can’t reach her.  It must be difficult holding a woman who looks almost exactly like your wife but where she had a mind as familiar to you as your own (a mind which was your own, as yours was hers) this woman has only a static buzz and a voice you half-remember. I think it’d be very complicated and painful! And so so interesting! And I was picturing Tuvok, still under the pon farr’s influence, feeling so bad about not being able to control himself and also missing T’Pel and his children and regretting being trapped in the delta quadrant and just like....crying. All of his emotions from the past few years are just bubbling to the surface. And Holo T’Pel doesn’t know. She can’t help him like the real T’Pel could. She can’t receive his telepathic apology or pain or love and he won’t say it out loud because her inability to respond/understand is painful and in his state he feels the pain is deserved. What use would talking to a hologram be? It would just be even more pathetic. But Holo T’Pel sees that he’s crying she asks what’s wrong and when he doesn’t answer she presses their heads together as if they actually could speak properly, telepathically, and know each other. But they can’t.  They are two bodies, two minds. They will never become one.

GIRL IN MY FRENCH CLASS JUST GAVE ME A PRINGLE!!! turns out being friendly with people and helping them do their french projects DOES cause them to be nice to you in return. lets go

@quiiscnt im taking the opportunity to do 3 😅 so here's #1/3

Send ⭐ for a sample of a new muse I am thinking of writing // accepting

The soft sigh she let out would have come across as exasperated to some, yet those who had come to know her well would see the touch of a smile and the warmth in her eyes. She watched Wendy fall deeper into sleep, marvelling at the way the girl could rest on the floor as she was. Even with the pile of blankets they’d amassed for their ‘movie night’, it wasn’t particularly comfortable on the floor of the lounge.

Charle suppressed a yawn and eyed the movie Lacrima that continued to play softly. Would Wendy wake up if it was turned off? Perhaps she’d wait a few minutes more, just to be sure it was safe. Wendy deserved a good rest, after all. They’d had quite a day of travelling, finally returning home after an extended mission together. Tiring as it had been, it was…nice to not be involved in some world threatening danger for a change. Did they dare get used to it? She supposed she could channel her prophetic powers if she really wanted to know…But the future was too fluid, she knew, nothing could really be certain.

What she did know for sure, was that Wendy would wake up with a stiff neck from the position she was curled in now. Really, she should be moved to her bed, or at least the couch.

Another sigh slipped from Charle as she adjusted herself to stand, paws brushing invisible dirt from her clothes out of habit. Closing her eyes, she focused her magic and allowed it to wash over her, the transformation sending a warmth through her body. Now considerably taller than she was (though her ‘human’ form was still hardly tall), she opened her eyes and peered down at her dearest friend, watching for a moment to see if she remained asleep. Reassured for the moment, Charle quietly shifted closer, glad that she had pushed herself to gain new magic so that she could be of more use. Stronger (and longer) limbs certainly made gently scooping up the young dragon slayer now a lot easier, after all.

With Wendy’s slight form in her arms, she carefully lifted her to the couch and eased her down on the plush surface. Certain the girl wouldn’t wake, Charle straightened up watched her for a moment, a fond smile playing on her lips.

She then turned and picked up one of the blankets from the floor, draping it gently across Wendy before moving to sit upon one of the nearby armchairs with her own blanket. Content for the moment, she allowed her eyes to close and peace to seep in.

And that was when the vision struck.

Some obligatory hiatus doodles

"I speak your name, Matthias Nonius, cavalier of the Ninth House. I charge you to protect the Reverend Daughter of Drearburh, and to slay her enemies"

Naruto Modern Fantasy AU - Bijuu & Patrons

Order and Chaos are two of the oldest divinities and are responsible for the creation of the systems that exist within the Nexus (my world). Respectively, they're famously known for the creation of the Order of Angels & Life (Order) and Hell & Death (Chaos). Other achievements include the Seven Heavenly Virtues and the Seven Sins (Partially out of commission).

At an early part in their life, Order and Chaos formed an understanding relationship that developed into romantic feelings. The result of that romance and their union were the bijuu, their nine (related) children. Very soon after Shukaku was created, they separated and began their long-standing and bitter feud. In addition to their together children, they each have their own offspring, the Goddess of Life and Creation & the God of the Dead (prev the God of the Dead, Death and Decay; alt title as King of the Dead).

In the older days, each Bijuu was worshipped and had devoted followers because they were so important, and at the time were the only minor gods around. Eventually, after the creation of the New Gods, the Bijuu lost relevance and were in danger of fading away. A deal was struck so that they could maintain their form and power but they had to have a patron that they fused their soul with. In rare cases, the patrons are willing participants who offer themselves in exchange for help. In most cases, the patron is an unwilling sacrifice, pushed by devoted followers (or power-hungry men) who want to keep their god alive. In the very special case of Mito Uzumaki who offers herself to keep Kurama alive by making a deal that she'll honor his wishes in exchange for power and safety,,, she absolutely does not follow through. This builds up decades of resentment, especially when he is passed down to Kushina who does the same, which starts off his rocky relationship with Naruto.

In another very special case, Rin, who is forcibly made a patron to Isobu, dies within the early stages of his soul intertwining with hers. Later she is resurrected, as the initial soul intertwining process was botched, and Isobu and Rin's souls are now one in the same. Meaning that instead of switching out consciousnesses like a regular patron and god can do, they share it. After the resurrection, Rin also displays physical features of Isobu such as red sclera and protruding spikes.

Patrons receive their patron god's powers and abilities in exchange for either sacrifices or completing quests/tasks, often they're centered around the patron god's title. For example, Matatabi requires Yugito to exorcise and guide spirits/ghosts to the afterlife. In Killer B's case, him and Gyuuki are just vibing. Gyuuki has a historically good relationship with B's family and all of his patrons volunteered willingly, so he freely exchanges his power. Fuu was unwilling sacrificed, but thankfully Chomei adores her enough to provide her power for protection, even helping her leave her followers.

Kurama - God of Vengence

Gyuuki - God of Persistence and Adaptability

Chomei - Goddess of Luck

Saiken - God of Patience

Kokou - God of Determination & Freedom

Son Goku - God of Courage & Strength

Isobu - God of Still Waters and light rain showers

Matatabi - Goddess of Exocisim and Safe Passage to the Afterlife

Shukaku - God of Overindulgence and Partying

random blorbo headcanon of the day: mori’na’s mother became mute and uses a form of sign language to communicate with her daughter. mori’na likes to teach her friends that language in her free time :)

the sims 4 is releasing a werewolf pack so i had to get my werewolf hawke x vampire sebastian au out there. 

a vampire prince and his feral gf (aka can you tell i don’t really draw animals that much lol)

Speaking of that trans one/pie/ce oc

Did I mention he's a obvious self insert bc I definitely should have by now. Like. Literally drawn as me if I was in the world of on/e/pie/ce, spoke to Ivankov, and also 7 years older. And I love him. Just wish he had a name... That's always the hardest part ;_;

reading ur response to the mushroom shadow knights post my brain went "oh so they're hotter? Laurence is hotter???????"

UES EXACTLT