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y-rhywbeth2 · 4 months

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Lore: Elven Culture #1

(An incomplete compilation.) Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess and it's borderline impossible to cover everything. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest]

--- How to flip somebody off in elven culture. Random elven pan-cultural highlights ranging from marital traditions to poker.

Key elven philosophical concepts that inform their entire cultures. Farming, architecture, opinions on undeath, stages of life (Astarion's 200 years too old to be acting like an ardavanshee, but there we go)

Default elven society, including the family units (Clans and Houses), nobility, and the absolute monarchies with the divine right of kings that're tasked with herding cats.

Forewarning, this is a long post! And I still cut stuff... I was going to include the specifics of the seven individual surface elven cultures, but it was getting too damn long.

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Random little things before we get into the wordy stuff:

The equivalent to giving somebody the finger amongst elves is to crook the middle finger inwards towards oneself and then bring it upwards in a diagonal movement across the body. For the greatest show of insolence, the elf in question may then hold eye contact and slowly lick the tip of that finger. I have no context for how this come to be, or why it's insulting, but I'm sure it's quite the story.

Elves rarely make their piercings out of metal, instead preferring to craft them from the bone of their ancestors and departed loved ones.

The elven term for their own people is Tel'Quessir ("of the people," or simply "the people). The name refers to the fact that all elves are inherently spiritually linked to each other, the Seldarine and the Weave. They are capable of a form of low-level telepathy where they can share emotions, surface level thoughts and reverie with each other. As a result, non-elves who are not part of this interconnected whole are N'Tel'Quessir or N'Quess - "not of the people."

The elven spirit, or soul, is referred to as ues. The ability for elves to link their minds and share feelings and thoughts is a state referred to as "communion."

The elven term for "stick-in-the-mud" is irrquarlan - which I'd imagine is often used by moon and copper elves to refer to sun elves.

When an issue is considered to be "black and white" - as in a choice lacking any moral ambiguity, where one is wrong and the other right - elves would say it is "sun and moon," as in anybody with working eyes can tell the difference between sunlight and moonlight.

The elven equivalent of "no shit sherlock" is “Trees grow, no?”

Elves have a gambling game called kholiast, involving a deck of over 1,000 cards. The hands are determined randomly by dice roll, and the point system would apparently "drive even the most dedicated Candlekeep scholar completely mad." Needless to say, moon elves love it and probably invented it.

Haven't found much on elven coinage, but the one familiar in human lands is the "blueshine" coins; silver coins with a blue-green lustre bearing the image of a crescent moon (the holy symbol of Corellon Larethian). Presumably equivalent to a silver coin in any currency.

While they can be made of the materials used in reality, elven bowstrings may be crafted from spider silk (especially if of dark elven make), elven hair, and sometimes magically-treated spun silver.

Elven fashion varies by specific culture, location and individual tastes. The trend is for loose and flowing garments with no footwear (except for the sun elves, who refuse to go out in public without some kind of shoes). An alternative to shoes is to use some kind of minor magical accessory that allows one to hover just above the ground, able to glide around without getting one's feet dirty or damaged. They tend to have few or no taboos about nudity, so garments may be quite revealing. Elves believe that their dress should be a reflection of their home nation, and the peace and prosperity that it cultivates.

The generic term of reference for ones committed romantic partners is one's "mate." Elves practice marriage, and the terms "husband" and "wife" have been seen, although it seems "consort" is just as - if not more - popular.

Elven marriages may be sealed through the use of one or two lower level High Magic rituals;

Quamaniith, "the vow made tangible," causes a vow made to be woven into physical form. In the case of a wedding, it's about the size of a fist. It usually takes the form of a stone, carved with inscriptions relating to the vow, though artistic mages may craft a figurine. When used for marriage vows, the created object is called an Aestar'Khol, a "marriage stone." Should the two divorce, or betray their vows, the stone will shatter. There is no other way to damage it, it will always remain perfectly unblemished.

U'Aestar'Kess, "One Heart, One Mind, One Breath" - this ritual creates a permanent passive mental bond between an elf and another living being (who may also be an elf), and it sees use most often as part of marriage rites. It allows the linked beings to know instinctively when their partner is in danger, detect and sometimes share their mood, and if they concentrate they can communicate telepathically.

Due to the fact that elves don't sleep, instead spending four hours in reverie, an elven home will not include a bedroom. Personal rooms resemble something closer to studies and sitting rooms; furnished with comfortable chairs, lounges and divans, furnished with personal affects and whatever projects the owner might be working on.

The other side effect of the reverie is that since elves have a full 20 hours of activity, can see just fine at night, and don't necessarily have fixed sleeping hours, elven communities don't fluctuate in activity levels. Villages, towns and cities will be as busy in the dead of the night as they are at every hour, and elves have more free time than others.

Elves have perfected birth control. While technically the magic rituals involved in this came about for practical reasons - including ensuring a child would not be conceived in harsh conditions like famines, plagues and wars, where its birth would cause suffering for both it and its family - elves now just use it as an everyday thing when they don't want to get pregnant. No elf will be having children if they don't want them, those who do want them will only be conceiving them when they intend to, and attempting to change their mind will be considered an infringement of their personal freedoms and bodily autonomy, and be met with hostility.

Linguistics: The elven language is called Lalur, "the Singing." All elven languages are written in the Espruar script, which has two forms. One features more loops and curls, and the other features a series of curved lines, dots and dashes, which has come into fashion more recently. Another elven language is Seldruin, which is almost extinct. It's the language used in the casting of elven High Magic, and is written in a unique script called Hamarfae.

Similarly, elven accents are usually described as "musical" - they tend to pronounce "s" softly, drawing it out and their voices shift up and down the vocal register more than is usual. Elven vocal chords are odd, allowing them to reach over an octave-and-a-half, which they can sustain for longer than a human could. Elven vocal chords are capable of producing two completely different notes at the same time. The overall effect of the elven voice and accent is likened to chiming, or little bells.

Elven songs are usually either wordless vocalisation, or feature multiple overlapping voices singing different lyrics. The typical "mood" of the music varies by culture: for example, sun elves prefer solemn songs with gravitas; wood elves enjoy a good rhythm; moon elves prefer something fun, whimsical, and sometimes bawdy. Some elves have a rare genetic quirk that allows them to use their vocal chords to speak two different things at the same time; the "secondary" voice is much fainter, and limited, but in music is allows the singer to produce a layered, echoing quality.

Elven musical performances feature galadrae - three dimensional illusions depicting scenes to go along with the song, not dissimilar to what one might see at a modern concert.

Musical instruments most often seen are woodwinds and strings, especially harps (which are strongly associated with elves). Elves are the only people thus far who have worked out how to build their instruments to be capable of sustain. Elven music has been compared (out of universe) to Enya, Loreena McKennit, Genesis and ELO.

Music and song is an important part of romance in elven culture... alongside erotic dances, apparently. But anyway, courting is accomplished by writing each other love songs and singing them to each other, or by composing poems for similar effect.

Non-elven languages are rather charmingly referred to as Glahkery, which translates into something like "strifeful sounds."

Key Philosophies: An important part of elven cultures is the concept of laraelever - technically referring to undamaged forest, "as it should be." This does not mean nature should be "pristine" or untouched by humanoid life. It means that the way the world is found in its untouched state, unmodified by another's desire, is how it is meant to be. The lives of others should not impose on the world more than they need to. The natural world is to be without blight, unburnt and unharmed by careless logging, overhunting or depletion of resources.

It also applies to the elven approach to life and the passage of time: things will generally occur when they're ready and grow/proceed at the speed they're intended to. One should never rush. Non-elves and younger elves tend to find this attitude incredibly frustrating, while "adult" elves find them dangerously impatient.

This may also be a part of why elven cultures tend to value independence and individual freedom - that one must "accept life as it is", implies you can't force things to be anything else.

The "way life is supposed to be" does not include dark magics that tamper with natural cycles, and the elven word for undeath is mormhaor - "corrupted death." Undeath is a blasphemous attempt to impose one's will on the world and force it into a shape in the most horrific way possible, and is heavily tied to the loss and violation of free will, and its believed that undeath destroys the soul (whether this is correct or not in D&D varies by source). The state is generally considered worse than death - the elf is cut off from their people, their gods and their path, and denied their chance for spiritual enlightenment and the afterlife. The sole acceptable form of undeath exists in the baelnorn; a form of elven lich that was created willingly and is sustained by positive energy instead of negative, in the name of continuing some duty or other for the sake of their people. They are sponsored by the Seldarine, and tolerated by the elven deity of death. Elves respect their sacrifice, but are usually still uneasy around them.

This philosophy appears in the rest of their societies in the way that they build their homes and furniture; a chair may be "constructed" of wood that was carefully grown into shape and harvested with careful consideration to the timing, rather than by unnecessarily cutting down an entire living tree and taking more wood than is technically needed and whittling it down to shape.

Elven architecture is built to complement its natural surroundings, blending in with it. The design concept is that a building should seen as much a part of the landscape as the trees or mountains and enhance their beauty. To help these buildings blend in, elven doors are designed to disappear into their surroundings, and they can be incredibly annoying for outsiders to spot (elven children grow up learning to see them, and so elves don't have this problem).

Buildings are preferably constructed by growing trees into shape rather than by constructing from timber or stone. If they are made of stone, they're still usually "grown" by shaping them with magic, creating a seamless mineral structures.

From non-elven perspectives, an elven city resembles a garden or park more than a settlement. They favour building in the trees themselves more than anything else (for example, the city of Suldanessellar in Baldur's Gate 2 is built on platforms built around the trees, high in the canopy). The higher constructions are linked by bridges and swinging ropes.

Ground dwellings are typically built for children, the elderly, and the disabled, and others who might be unsafe with heights and getting up and down them. It's also where elven realms that have contact with outsiders build their inns, taverns, warehouses and businesses. Elves don't clear the area a great deal when building their ground dwellings, their roads and streets are built around pre-existing natural structures and can meander a lot.

The ground level and higher parts of the city may be linked by teleport magics and enchanted platforms that function as lifts/elevators.

This preference to leave things untouched doesn't mean that elves never alter the world for their own desires - especially since obsessive, eccentric artists are a staple of the elven population. Wealthy Houses are known to make roofing materials out of precious stones. Some cities, such as Leuthilspar, get artistic with their roads. The main road there is magically constructed from some kind of glassy, clear crystal and is nicknamed the Diamond Road.

Each building typically belongs to a single Clan or House (often the building is an entire living, ancient tree), and if they belong to a culture that builds tombs, they will also have a family tomb. The rest of the city, outside of residential buildings, is not considered owned by the elves but simply under their care and stewardship. It belongs to the other lives as much as them. Elven communities often have neighbours from other fey races; dryads, faerie dragons, treants, fauns, nymphs, pixies, etc. Elves and fey tend to be relatively close, and the elven and seelie fey pantheons are often worshipped by all of them.

Elves do not farm in pastures and fields - it's more that they cultivate the world around them without disturbing it too much (I don't remember the technical agricultural jargon here.) They'll try not to disturb the rest of the ecosystem too much, but elven farmers will nurture the plants they desire while removing harmful plants and pests. They don't introduce plants or disturb the soil, merely encourage what's already there for healthier and higher yields of whatever grows. A lot of outsiders can easily stroll through a farm without realising it. Farmers are the only elves who count the passing of years, due to the need to keep track of crop yields and the ages of plants and animals. The equivalent of a year to elves is a grouping of four years known as an aeloulaev, or more commonly as a pyesigen - "four snows" (plural pyesigeni).

While Houses might have their lorekeepers, who preserve and record history, the typical elven opinion on time tends to be that "history is the weave of things outside of life, not for those still within its loom." They see history in their reverie, they don't need to worry about it in their waking hours.

Yet another elven philosophy is of the Road of Life: a multi-staged, twisting spiritual path every elf walks, and one with many potential branching paths to explore.

It is, in part, a shared path because all elves are part of the greater whole that is the Tel'Quessir - but at the same time, no elf can walk the path for another. All should care for the community and support fellow elves in being able to walk their path, so that the community can support them as they walk theirs; “We are on this shared path together, but at the same time all of us are finding our own way.”

Elves under 100 years old are walking the first section of the road. Their life experience and perspective is the equivalent of a human of the same age. They don't yet perceive time and think in terms of the passage of decades and centuries as a "mature" elf does, and from their elder's perspective are incredibly (annoyingly) impatient. Due to this gap in understanding, young elves often find themselves more comfortable in the company of humans, who share their feelings and perceptions.

It's the elves in their first stage of the road who are usually found adventuring and living in human cities, they're "whimsical dabblers, ‘flighty’ and inclined to plunge into something new or [grow] tired of something and move on without feeling the need to shoulder responsibilities, or [care] overmuch about consequences," "...almost like the humans in their passions of youth, and they adapt to their more transient surroundings. They eat over-spiced animal flesh and other abominable foods; they wield simpler, cruder, combat-oriented human magics; and they even mate with non-elves."

These younger elves, in the throes of rebellious youth and lack of patience, may be prone to selfishness, ruthless ambition and disrespecting their elders as they turn their nose up at elven values. This particular phase is referred to as Ardavanshee - "the restless young ones."

Older elves mostly leave the youth alone to make their own mistakes, assuming they'll grow out of their crueller and selfish behaviours with time and experience.

An elf under 90 years old is not considered experienced enough to be allowed to hold leadership positions.

All elves will begin their journey on the road with a basic magical education during childhood: Magic is an everyday part of elven cultures at every level of society, and every elf grows up surrounded by it. Even the copper elves, who have little interest in arcane magic, surround themselves with druidry.

Basic martial training in traditional elven martial arts is also part of the standard for all elven cultures, involving the bow, sword and rapier - elven blades tend towards being long, very thin and flexible. Elves have a long and bloody history of conflict, and every one of them is be expected to be able to defend themselves and their home, should the need arise.

Whatever other education their family sets for them, elves have childhoods much like any other race's children. They learn their history through creative retellings form their elders and are let loose to run around and engage in physical activities - climbing trees and swimming. They're taken to play in the outdoors and encouraged to take interest in the natural world, learning of the animals and plants they share the world with.

Reaching the elven age of majority, and the second stage of the path, occurs some time in their second century of life (120 years old, on average). As they mature and outlive the human lifespan they tend to settle into the elven ways, and focus on their spiritual ties to their communities and faith.

Mature elves typically take things very slowly. They spend a lot of time in contemplation, consider all facets and nuances in a problem, and try to predict all potential consequences that could be born of a choice (even those domino effects that may occur decades after the fact). They prefer to implement these choices very slowly, watching what ripples are caused through the course of years and responding accordingly - they may continue, stop, or make revisions as they go.

Occasionally an "adult" finds themselves drawn back to adventuring and a faster paced life outside of the elven homelands. This is accepted as simply a natural part of that elf's particular path.

The other branch on the road is one where an elf finds a passion and devotes themselves to it; fine art, playwriting, magic, architecture, the martial arts, literature, faith, music, whatever. They become hyperfixated on whatever has caught their eye; they keep the company of others who share their interest and talk about it to the exclusion of almost everything else (others are warned to beware engaging an elf in conversation about a topic dear to them, because they will tell you every single detail there is to know and will not stop).

Elves will dedicate months and years preparing for their projects; spending time in reverie and contemplation as they meditate on ideas, praying to the gods for guidance, and traveling leagues to gather materials and discuss with experts or observe others' works for inspiration.

The last stages of the road are stages of seeking spiritual enlightenment; they reflect on their long lives and many, many experiences with the world and contemplate the bigger picture and the nature of the universe and the People. They will begin to feel the Seldarine calling to them in their reverie, summoning them to the afterlife in Arvandor (Sehanine Moonbow's call, in particular).

The mythical final stage, occurring past 700 years of age, is one where an elf's contemplation successfully leads them to enlightenment. They become at peace, and their understanding puts them in perfect unity with the universe. These elves are faced with the choice of returning to Arvandor to join the gods, or to remain in the mortal world and use their wisdom to guide their people. Thus far the only elf said to have achieved this state was the elven queen Amlaruil, who chose to stay behind.

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All this philosophy aside, elves still run businesses, have class and wealth divides and squabble amongst each other for power and prestige like anybody else does. The common elf is a priest, a guard, a farmer, a hunter, a cook, a maid, a tavernmaster... In daily life, most of the daily function of the realm involves cultivating the plants that grow in it (farming, construction, maintenance) and security (scouting, guarding, patrolling).

Although, elven society is steeped in magic all over the place, so in regards to things like maids and household chores, elves are more likely to simply use magic to clean the house and lessen the amount of physical labour involved.

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Society (Houses and Clans, and the Government):

The concept of the Merchant Clans and Noble Houses aren't unique to drow; these family dynasties are part of larger elven culture, be they categorised as high, wood or dark. All elves are part of a larger extended family, known either as a House or a Clan, from which they take their surname.

Elves will generally be loyal to their Clan and House before their nation, and they have their own laws that members must follow, generally set by the matriarch or patriarch (the later only existing in non-drow cultures). Some have multiple leaders, ranging from a duo (House Nightstar is governed by twin sisters) to a council of elders. Each clan/house has different methods for choosing their leader/s, some are hereditary and others are elected. For larger Houses that span multiple regions, there will be a hierarchy with local leaders who answer to a family head that oversees the entire bloodline.

Elven nobility belong to Houses, which are generally known for each having certain political ideologies, and they often specialise in training their members in specific skills.

The elven concept of "aristocracy" is granted by a ruler, who makes that elf and their clan a Noble House as a reward for some exceptional service to elvenkind (this is very hard to achieve). The status cannot be revoked by a ruler, nobles can only be exiled and stripped of their House name by their own family.

Some families restrict their membership, and will not acknowledge the spouses or children of their relatives who are of certain elven cultures, non-elven races or half-elves. As a rule of thumb, moon elven culture would frown upon excluding anybody of elven blood from the family. Everybody tends to make an exception for drow - you are not bringing a dark elf into this family tree. Houses may adopt others into their family, and it's also possible for a House to adopt N'Quess into their ranks, usually as servants (so one could find a human cook who happens to be a member of an elven House).

Houses are generally associated with a specific elven culture, although the family usually contains a mixture of backgrounds. House Le'Quella, for example, has prominent mixed moon elven and green elven ancestry. The copper elves have mostly abandoned the concept of Houses, though some prestigious and historically important ones remain. Green elven cultures have long forsaken the concept, along with most of the trappings of the elven society that caused them thousands of years of suffering. Sun elves pay greater attention to their elders and important ancestors, and consider their Houses more "legitimate" than moon elven or wood elven Houses, and take House politics and affiliation far more seriously. Due to this, their Houses usually hold greater status than those of other elves'. Within the vast majority of dark elven societies, House affiliation and prestige is a matter of life and death, and being without a House to protect you leaves you open to enslavement and death.

Each House has two colours associated with it (sometimes they have more, less strongly associated colours), as well as an insignia (for example House Aelorothi's colours are pale blue and green, with a red swan for a crest. House Starym's colours are silver and maroon, with two falling silver dragons on the crest.) It seems like Clans may also have colours and insignias, but that may only be for the most prestigious of them. Even within the larger Houses, there will be members of the House who are nobility, and those who are common servants and footmen.

Clans and Houses are not tied to specific realms, and members and family units may be encountered anywhere in the world. "It's a mistake to think of elven Houses as equivalent to human [noble] Houses [...] in some respects you can almost think of an elven House as a small, extremely long-lived organisation with blood-ties."

Some Houses have existed for over 10,000 years, and these houses usually boast the highest status.

Status is a fluctuating thing; it depends on many factors such as wealth and prestige, the actions and reputation of its members, its relationship with other houses (feuds and alliances), how many powerful and talented mages - especially High Mages - it hold in its ranks...

Elven Houses may have smaller, related Houses attached to them called Septs, much like human dynasties have cadet branches. Septs are formed when a noble marries a commoner and takes their clan name, rather than having their lover marry into their House. A Greater House has many Septs, and a Lesser House fewer or none.

Arranged marriages do - or did - exist. They're primarily practiced as part of House politics, mainly by sun elves, and this historically caused some irritation in the time of Myth Drannor, when the Houses started using arranged marriages to call dibs on promising mages to bolster their own family's retinues and reputations. When elves marry, the elf of the less prestigious Clan/House will be considered as marrying into their spouse's more prominent Clan/House.

Surface elven Houses are as prone to intrigue and politicking as their Underdark equivalents, but they are significantly less likely to murder over it.

Most surface elven realms are city states, ruled by a Coronal, who is "speaker among the trees with Corellon's voice and bidding."

While this means that Coronal has absolute authority, the assumed role of the ruler is to keep the peace and maintain harmony between the various elven peoples and Houses within their realm. On an individual level, elves won't necessarily respond well to attempts to meddle in their personal lives, and sometimes trying to organise the masses is like herding cats.

The Coronal's word is law, but the entire realm may discuss and debate it before that word becomes law, and the Coronal cannot pass a law before at least a month has passed since its proposal.

While elves must accept the law of the land once made, mass migrations of entire clans and houses are known to occur in response to an unpopular proclamation as the elves leave for somewhere they don't have to listen (assuming the response isn't something more along the lines of an assassination...). While they might move to another elven settlement entirely, these elves won't necessarily leave the geographic area, they may simply settle on a patch just outside of the Coronal's jurisdiction and govern themselves. Sometimes elves just build an entire demiplane (small alternate universe) and move there instead.

In larger realms, such as the former empire of Cormanthyr, the Coronal oversees the realm and the individual cities within are been governed by a local council made up of the heads of the most influential Houses, who govern the minutia of daily life in their own city and have no influence outside of it.

Coronal is not usually an inherited position (especially in the modern day). How one achieves the position varies by place. In Cormanthyr, this was determined by blade-rite. The applicant draws an enchanted, sentient blade from its sheath, and the sword judges their intentions for the power they seek. If it decides they don't have the Tel'Quessir's wellbeing at heart and will abuse their power, then it kills them on the spot.

Rulers are advised by a council of elders, who as always are usually the family heads of the local Houses.

Larger surface elven society saw a slight shift towards matriarchy in the reign of Queen Amlaruil Moonflower on Evermeet, and women usually wield the most influence in elven politics.

The entirety of elvendom was technically ruled by a (popular) royal family at one point, situated in Evermeet. However the queen has vanished in the last century, and it seems the monarchy no longer applies. Even when she was alive, some of the elves were merely humouring the notion and didn't pay it much mind. Loyalty came mostly because she was likable and her people felt she cared for them and served them well.

Nobility is defined as the Houses in "good standing." Those who possess more "wealth" - although elves don't value things like gold the way others do, so they don't put the same weight on it - and those who have a fancier family history, which gives the family more weight when councils convene to make realm-wide decisions about enterprises and social policies being made for the good of all.

Some particularly arrogant Houses feel they have "claim" to a particular patch of forest, in the same way a human noble might claim estates, but nobody else would agree with them, and collective elven society considers the world outside of their front doors to be public property that happens to be under the People's care.

While no house is beholden to the realm it resides in, and owes no duties, society expects the elven aristocracy to provide warriors, funds and resources to the wellbeing of the realm as a matter of honour. In peacetime this means providing the guard patrols and hunting parties, and providing for the sick and elderly of their communities who require aid.

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While the dwarves and some human cultures can give them a run for their money, elves are quite possibly the proudest people on Toril. Theirs was the first and longest humanoid empire, theirs is the greatest grasp of magic, theirs is the longest lived of the common races of Toril, theirs is the blood that runs in the veins of a god... Suffice to say, the People tend towards being arrogant and stubborn. It never occurs to a number of elves that their ways might not be the way, and between that and their resistance to being governed when the rulers want to change things, the dwarves have invented a saying regarding attempting to change their minds on something: "If you want to tell an elf what to do, be sure to bring your axe."

Where the halflings and gnomes blend in, elves (and dwarves) are the most likely to stand out as distinct, separate cultures within human cities. On average they're proud of their history and their ways of life, and won't be trading them for others. How aloof they are exactly will depend on factors like personality, and how fairly treated they feel they are being by their neighbours.

#astarion #astarion ancunin #elf tav #This took so long #Shoot me.#Please.#two sourcebooks. tweets. forums. youtube.#all it cost me was my sanity

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nilesmoon · 6 months

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actually yknow what I will Not stop talking about amprule 4th anniversary art because I know Uri (the artist who designed amprule) puts so much detail into each drawing they make of them so let's break down this banger artwork together

Let's start simple! A pink rose! Pink roses signify elegance and deeper colored ones can signify appreciation! While the characters themselves are Korean, their artist is Japanese, so I also looked up what they mean in Hanakotoba (Japanese flower language) they signify trust, happiness and confidence! Considering their dynamic, these could be the meanings they were going for!!

Up next the dog & the cat. They are possibly a Maine Coon and a Pyrenean Mountain Dog!

From what I've gathered the Pyrenees are used as a livestock guardian. Because of this they are rather protective of their family, as well as loyal and loving but also do not get along well with strangers. All of which work for a rather good descriptor of Chungsung considering how he has dedicated himself to taking care of and protecting Dongha.

Maine Coons, from what I know of them, are curious cats who'll follow you around and try to get included in whatever their owners are doing. So basically, they're giant cats that are clingy. Which, again, works well with Dongha, since he clings to the people he loves! He is afraid of being left behind by Chungsung and he has always been clinging to support he had provided for him.

Now this part might be a reach but when it comes to Uri's art I'm not leaving any idea unsaid. Compared to how the dog is sleeping peacefully in Dongha's lap, the cat is looking at somewhere else, possibly showing how Dongha is desperately trying to get his father's approval?

I would also like to add that in the extra art Uri posted, it is pretty much made clear that the animals are supposed to represent each other, thus signifying the trust they have for one another.

And at last, the color swap. It is my favorite part of the whole thing ngl. Colors mean a lot of for Amprule in my opinion, green means Dongha and red means Chungsung. In their original designs Chungsung's reds are Dongha's accessories, they're eye catching and are mostly associated with hearts. Meanwhile Dongha's greens are naturally blended into Chungsung's clothes with a gorgeous pattern inside his coat. In this illustration however they covered in each other's colors! Hell, in Dongha's case he's covered head to toe in pink!! And this is a Huge Thing especially considering how their main colors contrast each other (but when two colors are contrasting they are also complementary).

But also gold means Dongha and silver means Chungsung. In an interview with Uri, they talk about how they used the gold & silver accessories to show their power imbalance. While it's not a complete swap, bronze & pearl keeps it similar to the colors of gold & silver without losing their difference in monetary value.

It's Dongha's brooch that sums it all up perfectly, green & red and bronze & pearls together in one beautiful piece of jewelry. Put a crown on top of it and that's Amprule.

In the end, I think this is the perfect illustration to showcase how Amprule has changed and will keep changing!! And here's to hoping that sometime soon they'll wear each others colors in not so muted tones.

[if you're here because you read this whole thing, thank you 💚❤️]

#shout out to my beloved twitter mutual keken for suggesting the dogs breed btw <33 #MENTAL ILLNESS WINS!!!!!#Uri I love you and I love how much thought you've put into designing them #Guys please read this I spent a lot of time writing it while also making myself seem like a coherent person #EDIT ok the brooch line added bc i saw a post on twitter dot com and typed it out in its qrts. I then decided to add it to the post #paradox live #amprule #dongha yeon #chungsung baek #nile talks

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such-a-barbarian · 5 months

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w e e k l y t a g w e d n e s d a y

thanks for the tag @mybrainismelted!

which character from any media would you like to have as a father?: I don't know man, my dad is pretty kickass. Even if I could pick a new one I'd still choose my dad. But, if I have to pick, maybe Keith Mars. He seems like a cool dude and I totally want to be PI with him.

if money, laws, time, and effort were no object, what animal would you want to have? Ethics and safety also not issues? Then a tiger - obviously I want a giant cat to cuddle me on the couch.

what is your Chinese takeout order?: My city has a Chinese place that is famous for its egg rolls. I actually have no idea if they are famous outside of my town, but they do ship them frozen across the province. All that to say is they are very good and for sure on my order. Also generally anyone of the following: lemon chicken, general tao chicken, veggies chow mein, beef and broccoli, and fried rice

what's your favourite emoji?: I am peak millennial so obviously, it's 😂

would you rather have a library, greenhouse, or home theater in your house?: Greenhouse for sure. Ian and I are growing all the tomatoes year-round! haha

what childhood tv show do you think of the most fondly?: Oh man, I know it asks for only one, but there are so many good Canadian shows that hold such a special place in my heart! Mr. Dressup, Fred Penner's Place, Polka Dot Door, The Elephant Show, Under the Umbrella Tree, The Big Comfy Couch, and the most wonderfully bizarre and crazy Today's Special.

what was your tumblr like when you first joined?: It sat blank for probably a year before I posted anything. I'm actually kinda surprised I'm not blocked by a bunch of you thinking I was a bot...

what clothing style do you love but don't feel compelled to replicate yourself?: I was for sure a hippy in another life.

if you were plopped into a fictional world, which one would you know the layout of the best?: I have no idea, maybe hogwarts?

what is your favourite piece of art?: Not sure I really have one, but I did have a very unexpected visceral reaction to seeing A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat in person. So maybe that 🤷🏻‍♀️

do you have a water bottle? what does it look like?: do I own water bottles? yes. Do I have one that I use regularly and is dedicated to me? no. We have family nalgenes.

what fanfic trope is a quiet fave?: Only one bed. Will read every time.

do you carry a daily bag? Just my clutch wallet if I'm solo. I've got a diaper bag backpack that is 95% snacks if I'm with the kids.

If you had to ship Mickey with another Gallagher, who would it be?: no.

what is a fanfic trope you didn't expect to like and then very much did?: A/B/O fics. I didn't read any for the longest time. Didn't really think it was my thing and then M8TE sucked me in and I haven't looked back.

Do you think s11 Mickey can still carry s11 Ian?: Over the shoulder like in season 4? Probably not. But like a piggyback? yeah, probably for a little bit.

who got custody of the killing bat when they sold the house?: Agree with @mybrainismelted they for sure steal it from each other whenever they visit each other.

Let's see I'll tag @jrooc, @krystallouwho, @juliakayyy, @francesroserecs, @bawlbrayker. @callivich, @iansfreckles, @iansw0rld, @lupeloto, @tanktopgallavich, @transmickey, and @zutaralesbian

#it’s been a crazy few days so this was a nice distraction!#tag game #about me

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imsparky2002 · 9 months

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Grimwood Gays

What if Ghoul School was about Shaggy teaching the daughters of a polycule consisting of some of the greatest monsters of all time?

Count Dracula - An eccentric but distinguished vampire with a flair for the dramatic, Dracula loves to play up the theatrics of being a creature of the night. He’s a huge flirt, who especially loves to playfully tease the Wolfman, bickering in a loving sort of way. His daughter Sibella is his little princess, and he has a hard time telling her no. Overall, he may be a bit cliche at times, but he’s a loving partner and father.

The Wolfman - The bear of the dad group, the Wolfman has a love for all things manly, especially football, wrestling and hunting! Despite his tough exterior, he’s a loving partner and father who’s always up for a hug, he’s also a Papa Wolf through and through, always ready to protect those he loves. He’s very close to his daughter, Winnie, the two do everything together, and he couldn’t be prouder of her strength.

Frankenteen - A dedicated scientist, Frankenteen is an even-tempered and kind man who sometimes gets a *little* too into his experiments. He loves to craft and build things with his partners, especially gifts for their daughters. Though he may do a lot of groaning and growling, he is a caring man who loves to conduct experiments with his daughter, Elsa.

The Mummy - Described by the girls as their ‘hippie dad’, the mummy is typically the one keeping things chill and relaxed around the house. While typically nonchalant, he is very protective of his family and will curse anyone who messes with them. He loves his beauty sleep, and despises cats. He loves spending time with his daughter Tanis, being the guest of honor at many of her tea parties.

The Phantom - A fun-loving and mischievous spirit with a taste for music and cracking jokes. His vocal inflection has the tendency to make anything he says sound sinister, but he’s a kind soul. He loves to serenade his partners and always delights in performing with his daughter Phantasma and the rest of their family.

The Lagoon Creature - The suavest of the bunch, The Lagoon Creature can make any of his partners weak in the knees with little more than a look. He knows just what you say and it’s hard not to feel breathless around him. He’s the most proficient at girl-dadding, always up to go for a shopping trip or offer advice.

The Martian - An overall nice and jovial fellow, the Martian isn’t particularly inclined to act terrifying, though he enjoys the sounds of screams. He has unique way of speaking and expressing himself, which is something that only makes his partners love him even more. He’s always up to learning new things about Earth, though he can be a bit awkward socially, a trait he shares with his daughter.

Godzilla - A true gentle giant, Godzilla is never one to go out of his way to scare people, though he can’t help doing so anyway. He’s also a massive geek with a love of anime and film culture, just like King Kong and Mothra, his lifelong best friends. He’s also one of the best at girl-dadding, and helps his daughter in becoming a ballerina. He may not be the roughest guy around, but lord help you if you mess with his family. Overall, he’s a big guy with an even bigger heart!

More will be coming soon, but this is just to give you and idea of the dads and how they interact with each other. Thank you to Weeby for helping with the summary and writing the lore with me! Make sure to reblog, reply, post and ask. @artzychic27 @msweebyness

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ntls-24722 · 1 year

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YARRRR I MADE 6 PAGES OF DJMM BULLSHIT TODAY MATEYS

he could take me hostage if he wants

@artastic-friend lmao

also this is dedicated to the one person who tagged my previous post with "he's a dad." it is a crime that i got so caught up in listing his crimes that I omitted that yes, he is a dad!

while most of the kids he's watched grow up had their own families, he informally adopted a homeless boy named Adi who was left to the streets as the monastery that was communally raising him was closed down.

Small note but him building shelter for Adi is actually the reason why "illegal construction" is among his other illegal shit of yknow arson and holding hostages, alongside him taking profits from the company that built him to afford buying things for him.

jumpscare warning for 2022 art of these 2 (i thought i had so much more art of these two... not to mention that i used to have a lineup of the "giant spider uncle club") (also, no tooth gap for DJMM??? CRINGE)

he was insane for lighting an employee's house on fire though he's still not innocent. he may be a good father figure but he's still batshit. like bowser

He's slowly trying to gain independence especially now he's stuck in such an enclosed space and that he wants to visit Adi and Co, with one of the ways he's doing so is... getting an education. of some sort. he's taking robotics classes.

His fatal flaw is that he still depends on humanity like all machinery, and despite his attempts to stop it, he can be modified and controlled by another person - alongside wanting to be able to make his OWN modifications, he believes if he understands how he works, he can counteract whatever control Fazbear entertainment has on him.

He had some help from a broken down STAFFbot since dude is too huge for... practically everything. So he just takes over its body and uses it for human-sized tasks!

alongside his dreams of returning to japan, DJMM's also beginning to have dreams of... having a really normal and domestic lifestyle.

I mean, for a robot who works all day for free i would imagine any sort of autonomy would be revolutionary, but like. THIS scary robot spider just dreams of having a kitty cat and his own place

(extra MM doodles)

I thought it was a dumb/silly concept but i guess character.ai's with me on this one, because i made a DJMM bot, pulled a gun on him, and he immediately just went like "don't kill me man i've got a cat to look after in my New York apartment"

i was too intrigued by his lifestyle to stop him. i had to draw this

human dj drawings for you to snack on on your way out

#djmm #dj music man #(almost) daily music man #music man #music man fnaf #ntls-24722

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galacticnova3 · 1 year

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Assorted screenshots of my thoughts/ideas and a doodle related to RtDD. Contains minor to major spoilers, which will be under a readmore. However for folks in the tags who don’t want spoilers, I do have a shitpost regarding the giant boot items/puzzles so this post isn’t a total nothing burger for you.

Anyways now for the bulk of what I was too impatient not to post. Again, spoilers for new content!

First and foremost, I wish everyone who ever called me weird or said I was reaching with my headcanons regarding Lor being sapient and not solely just under the control of Magolor or whatever powers that be a very GET FUCKED FOREVER. BOAT PLAY BEHAVIOR REAL.

Next, Magolor’s win animation in Samurai Kirby took me out for a solid 10 minutes and I was compelled to make this.

I also had another thought regarding things with Lor in Magoland. Specifically boat experiences mask noise jumpscare.

And while I am gonna wait a bit longer before saying anything about [the horrors](including the alternative joke name I thought of for them), I did make this doodle based on a recent catcrumb post and my experience in the poor little meow meow mode.

And then finally here is me being extremely normal about a mask. Did I immediately notice all the inconsistencies with this design when compared to previous in-game appearances Nova has had? Yes. Did that make me not happy to see them again acknowledged as a character in spite of only being tangentially relevant to this game due to special obscure dialogue from Magolor? Absolutely not, I didn’t name 99% of my accounts places after Nova for nothing. Love that cat clock. My brain rot is terminal

I do plan on posting some actual headcanon-y stuff soon(particularly regarding Doomers and a certain headpiece), but it’ll be once the game has been out for longer to reduce the odds of people being spoiled by mistake. That stuff will be shared on my sideblog dedicated to such things, @nova-starcutter. You’ll never guess just by the name of the blog what kinds of headcanons I tend to think about most.

#rambling #kirby return to dreamland deluxe #krtdldx #lor starcutter #magolor #krtdldx spoilers #krtdld spoilers #kirby spoilers #kirby #look how hard I can fixate on random characters FFWSHSHHHHHHH #I’ve got 100% on normal and extra mode + epilogue #just need to complete Magoland and then beat the True Arena(I have gotten very close every time)#(the original RtD TA was easier. I will not elaborate further)#anyways so boat huh

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faggotwalkwithme · 1 year

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hi, i'm theta, mars and basil! > he/him > gay + aroace > 17 :3

i love horror movies and i make them all transgender

my neocities (huge wip) (flashing warning)

my current interests areee > evil dead (+ other bruce campbell and/or sam raimi stuff) > twin peaks > jeffrey combs stuff (esp. reani, the phantom empire and dead man walking & love and a 45)

other stuff i'll definitely still be posting about: -> doctor who -> alternative subcultures (mostly goth and punk) -> fiction podcasts (specifically tma, w.bg and malevolent)

also, i'm in a band! we're @knees-mean-nothing, give us a follow :)

byf; i post a lot of fake gore/blood (like, A LOT of blood!), syringes, i'm a twin peaks fan (so also a lot of topics on sexual assault, incest and all that fun stuff..[/sarc] i'll try to tag this but i'll pribably mess up sometimes) i swear a lot and i use caps lock a lot. just bware if thats not ur jam

also exclusionists and TERFs go fuck yourself! and plz, if u ship minors and adults, block me

extra stuff below the cut :3

i literally just made this section because i like lists and i need an excuse.

also umm some microlabels: quasiromantic, orientated aroace, genderfaun, xenogenders (im considering making like a blog or something where i document them all :3), aegosexual, grayromantic

my birthday is on february 24th :3 i'm from australia and indonesia!!! i'm an avatar of the lonely lets fucking go

#pinned post

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find-your-wings · 3 months

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Meet the Author + Info Card!

If you're here, you're either lost, or you're exactly where you want to be.

I've gone by many names over many journeys, but you can call me Vex Takor.

I'm an LGBT+ author making LGBT+ stories for all types of adults and young adults alike. My goal is to wrap personal themes of self discovery, generational trauma, self-acceptance, and finding your place in the world in a blanket of fantasy, monsters, and supernatural tales that would be right at home in an animated series.

When I'm not writing, I work as a freelance illustrator and animator. I love cats and their criminal ways, my favorite food to make is soup, and my ambition in life is to have a physical copy of my book(s), "Find Your Wings," in my hands in the next five years. I wanted to make an animated series, but a book is much more affordable. ;>

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Find Your Wings is about the meek owner of a local hang-out club that has the spirit of a monster. When someone finds out his secret, he has to fight for proof that he has a reason to exist, or risk losing everything that gives his life meaning.

Full of mystery, magic, laughs, and deeply personal themes of self-discovery, it is my hope that Find Your Wings finds its place in a few hearts.

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If any of that sounds up your alley- take a seat, settle into a reading nook. This will be the first place any announcements get posted, including applications for Beta Readers, early access to chapters, and official launches.

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OFFICIAL TAGS:

DEDICATED TAG FOR ALL THINGS FYW: #find your wings (story) Author ramblings/notes/etc: #Vex Text Art/Animations: #FYW Art, #Find Your Wings: Art, #FYW Animation, #Find Your Wings: Animation

Relevant tags/genres/CW for FYW: fiction, fantasy, dark, comedy, anime, queer, lgbt+, original fantasy, elves, monsters, giants, faeries, modern fantasy, mental health, generational trauma, illustrated, super powers, superhero, young adult, adult, sfw, 16+, m/m, w/w

[OTHER LINKS AND INFORMATION TO BE ADDED LATER]

#Find Your Wings (story)#Find Your Wings #Vex Text #About the Author #fantasy fiction

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shewhoeatssand · 2 years

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General TG characters and what pets they should/shouldn’t have

When I say “general” I mean the ones either from Anteiku or ones that were introduced before :re and aren’t shown to be part of an organization. I’ll do CCG and Aogiri characters later.

Hide - Our favourite blond boy! I think it’d be illegal for me not to let him have a golden retriever. He’d take it on walks to Johoku Chuo park on the weekends, and he’d name it Ethan after the first blond boy in The Blond Boys (the one who performs for the other boys with a ribbon baton).

Kaneki - A house cat. Just an American shorthair or calico from off the side of the road. This cat would probably live a very calm life, sitting on it’s owner’s lap while he reads, before suddenly being thrown into a house with a bunch of strangers and being fed scraps of human meat lol. I think it’d be very therapeutic for Kaneki to have a cat though, and Touka can look after it while Haise is happening.

Touka - A rabbit!! She should absolutely have a rabbit. She already loves rabbits, and I imagine the only reasons she doesn’t have one yet is because she doesn’t have the space, money or time to look after it properly, but if she did, she’d have a rabbit. Heck, she could have multiple rabbits. And she would spoil them rotten too, and buy them cute outfits and take them for walks to shrines and stuff (can you walk a rabbit? I hope you can). Just. Touka with rabbits. It would be amazing.

Tsukiyama - He must have horses. A bunch of them big sprinty bois. I don’t know horses very well, so I can’t tell you exactly which breed of horse he’d own (though I’m pretty sure I remember someone making a post about it!), but let’s say he has multiple horses of a variety of breeds. They’d probably live on a separate property dedicated to his horses, with a lot of land on it for them to explore. Shuu would also take photos of them in beautiful places a lot, and run a blog posting about his horses.

Yoshimura - A cage full of budgies, that would be named after different teas and flowers that Ukina used to like. They’d live upstairs in Anteiku, and be evacuated to Yomo’s shipping container when the CCG came to destroy Anteiku. Yoshimura would probably put pretty potted plants inside their cage for them to investigate every once in a while. I can also see him putting a large tank full of goldfish for the customers to watch inside the shop.

Uta - Another bird. But this time, it’s a big bird. Uta would probably like owning an African Grey bird, because it can be trained to say more words than most birds, and can therefore be used in some of the best pranks. Imagine being a dove, and chasing down a ghoul, but then it disappears around a corner and you hear “quick! He’s over here!”. Then this voice proceeds to lead you around in circles for 20 minutes, before the ghoul you were chasing earlier appears with a bird on his shoulder and kills you while laughing his head off. Typical day for investigators once Uta gets himself a bird.

Roma - Every time I see the name “Roma”, I think of the tomato. Which makes me think of gardening, which makes me think of guinea pigs. Roma would probably own exactly 2 guinea pigs, and they would be called Felony and Misdemeanor, however she would tell most people that they’re called Felix and Missy. She would feed them lettuce from her neighbor’s garden, and join race groups to put them in guinea pig races, then if her guinea pigs ever came last, she would kill everyone at the tournament.

Nishiki - I can’t believe I got this far without remembering Nishiki! He would have a chihuahua that was originally bought for his girlfriend Kimi, but then he ended up taking it for walks instead of her, and then it got really attached to him and now he sleeps next to the chihuahua more often than he sleeps with Kimi. If anyone ever laughs at him for owning a chihuahua, he will flip them inside out and hang them from a telephone pole, which he will make very clear to everyone. Good job Nishiki.

Koma - I can think of two things for Koma - either an entire giant catfish (yes! A whole catfish!) or a squirrel monkey, but I’ll go with the catfish for now because it’s funnier. Originally he wanted a trilobite, but when he found out they didn’t exist anymore he bought a giant catfish instead. Obviously he couldn’t fit the catfish in a regular fish tank, so he took it to a hidden pond in the woods and marked out a trail with a sign that said “Koma’s catfish trail” on it so he could remember where to go. He even put a collar on the catfish with a tracker before leaving it, and sent an Ape to the woods each day to feed it and update him on how the catfish is going. However, the government did not enjoy having a catfish trail that lead to an actual catfish in their forest, so they sent someone to remove it and set it free. So when Koma received news that someone moved his catfish, he tracked them down, brought 50 ghouls to their house, yelled at them for 2 hours, stole their toenails and threatened to kill them if they or another person moved his catfish again. Then he orchestrated a mission to find his catfish, followed the tracker, got his catfish and put it the fuck back because no one moves his goddamn catfish.

Irimi - A black doberman, as a group mascot, and a little pink axolotl that she buys miniature hats for. The hats usually fall off though. She takes the dog for walks in the same park as Hide, so sometimes when they see eachother they have to awkwardly say hello while their dogs yap at eachother very very loudly and attract the attention of everyone around them.

#suddenly felt in the mood to write headcanons yesterday #so now we have pets!!#yayy #sandy speaks #tokyo ghoul #kaneki ken #nagachika hideyoshi #kirishima touka #tsukiyama shuu #kuzen yoshimura #tokyo ghoul uta #roma hoito #nishio nishiki #koma enji #irimi kaya #tokyo ghoul:re #haise sasaki #tg #tokyo ghoul headcanons

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catdemontraphouse · 1 year

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Note: referenced a post by @thedarkestcrow several times which I think is a really interesting one. Can’t seem to paste in the link🤨🙄 it was an ask answer about Sebastian’s contract

Hey also if anyone can tell me how to do “read more”on mobile… please tell me 😂🤦‍♀️

Just some character uh, idk analysis/hypothesis??

The more I think about it, the more I reckon Sebastian’s problem is that he has an unfortunate mother hen syndrome which he either isn’t fully aware of OR, more likely, is aware of but actively tries to deny. This is of course going off the assumption there is no governing body for demons like there is for reapers since we’ve never seen anything like that? And that Sebastian’s contract is something he made up for himself with no actual consequences outside his own judgement.

Sebastian goes above and beyond to critique and perfect the conduct of other people who are under his authority. His contract (which I won’t even get into atm lol) only states the following stipulations as far as I recall:

Yet he goes out of his way to not just keep OCiel alive but to rear him as he sees fit. He tries to feed him balanced meals and regulate his sugar intake, he demands the child brush his teeth well, instructs him diligently in various academic subjects etc.

Some of this you could argue is for the sake of the mission, i.e. making OCiel as versatile and cultured as possible in order to maintain social connections necessary for revenge. But I kind of have to wonder, is it even necessary? Like is that degree of adhering to societal expectations really required to reach the end goal? I mean maybe I’m wrong here but I feel like there’s other cheaper, quicker ways they could investigate who’s behind the cult than making alliances with other nobility and whatnot. 🤷‍♀️ Sebastian seems to spend more time teaching OCiel dancing or Latin than bloodily interrogating suspicious people who might be connected to the cult.

Same could be said for how Sebastian treats the servants. He praises them when they manage to or at least make good efforts at upholding high standards of etiquette and efficiency in their roles as housekeepers, even though he knows that isn’t really what they’re useful for. They were hired to be bodyguards in essence. I get that they want housekeepers around to make it look “normal” so people won’t question the Phantomhive household but I just find Sebastian’s dedication to molding them into proper servants a little more intense than is probably necessary? Could be he is just tired of doing everything alone but also this guy built a wholeass mansion in a night alone with magic. He could magically clean the whole house alone if he really wanted to, probably? Or maybe he’s running low on MP from not eating lol. Idk I’m just saying he seems to almost enjoy being a teacher even if his students piss him off.

He tells Will he’s “tired of messily sampling every dish available to him” and how that’s his reason for basically starving himself. I guess it would be like… idk a farmer raising a single giant pumpkin and waiting to eat that instead of growing lots of crops and eating regularly? An obsession with cultivation at the expense of well-being.

At one point the reaper says this about Sebastian compared to other demons:

This suggest you don’t *need* to make a contract to eat a soul, which would mean Sebastian’s suffering is self-inflicted. Because he’s obsessed with rearing and tending to things.

He says he enjoys “playing butler” and what that behavior translates to in Sebastian’s day-to-day life is essentially being a care giver. He enjoys raising and caring for things weaker than himself.

We see a similar behavior when it comes to cats. The main difference here I think is that cats dont seem to be considered demon food as far as we can tell. He doesn’t ever try to write off or hide his love of cats. Keep that in mind for later.

He also mentions that there are pets in his world but he basically indicates that he finds them ugly and unappealing. So having affection for other beings doesn’t seem to be an unusual thing for his species per say? It’s just what they find cute is very different from Sebastian.

There is no discussion of the demonic world other than this, Sebastian never returns there or mentions having friends or something akin to family there etc. He never spends time with other demons in the manga canon even though this panel kind of implies they have some sort of world or society? He seems oddly divorced from his own kind, doesn’t he? Or is that just me that thinks so idk

I think ultimately Sebastian finds what is, for his own kind, considered probably ugly and stupid livestock somehow endearing and cannot really cope with that. He is probably considered weird or creepy by members of his own species, and while he’s aptly aware of that he can’t help but be amused by humans and want to impress them. He doesn’t just fulfill the contract he goes out of his way to do it in a fashion that makes humans go “oh wow.” It’s not for the sake of impressing other demons!! They’re not watching. He doesn’t associate with other demons, ever. Only reapers, who I might add were once human dunno if that matters tho. He wants humans to *like him* he goes out of his way to charm humans that will do nothing for him except satiate his own ego and attention span.

But he eats them to survive. And also as a demon, he isn’t supposed to grow attached to humans. So he’s battling with this cognitive dissonance constantly, I theorize. Like he kills and eats people but at the same time, he likes raising them like pets? He loves teaching them things and is proud when he cultivates a human that really stands out among other humans. I have reason to believe he is an outcast in his own society and part of him is pained by that? Idk it’s all speculation but I’m fuckin autistic and stuff so I have to write essays about it.

I can’t find the damn video but there was this one VA live reading of a hypothetical scene where OCiel is dead after Sebastian ate him and he’s still going thru the motions of celebrating the kids birthday like… WTF? This man ate his pet and realized it was a mistake major wtf moment

Sebastian is like one of those Karens that breeds exotic cats and gets competitive at CFA shows…my human is a prime specimen give me an award

#long post #long #like excessive im so sorry #idk how to do read more on mobile plz tell me #Sebastian #kuroshitsuji #black butler #sebastian michaelis #manga #anime #Ciel #ociel

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whenimgod · 5 months

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It has unfortunately occurred to me that fanon representations of Kevandriel are perfect to describe what I meant when I said only vibey Aesthetics, compelling Dynamics, and a hilarious Bit matter to me when discussing interpersonal sensual/sexual/romantic exchanges and intrapersonal labeling and identifications which only occurred to me when thinking on The Bit being 'hilarious' made me realize someone might think I meant 'hilarious' in a mocking way when what I really meant was a "Your sweater is fucking atrocious" "I know right??? I love it!!!" kind of way.

Case in point:

Kevandriel as Aesthetics - three men, posted up in garish orange, a 5' nada Angry Black Cat, a 5'3" Paranoid Trash Racoon, and a 6'1" Anxious Moose respectively

Kevandriel as Dynamics -

Tiny Angry Black Cat carries knives and will pop off with unapologetic impunity to protect him and his, wearing nothing but an immaculate Resting Bitch Face and finishing fights his idiots keep starting when he isn't looking

Slightly Less Tiny Paranoid Trash Racoon dedicated to Staying Alive At All Costs and yet still constantly manages to run his fucking mouth to any and every person willing and ready to kill him just to see their face twitch a lil bit, wearing nothing but a feral grin while starting fights he will not finish

Giant Anxious Moose with a demanding and overbearing obsession about his and his loved ones health and athletic skills because he knows that they're capable of great things and if he has to shove a healthy smoothie down your fucking gullet then so be it, wearing nothing but a petulant scowl and being dragged into fights he desperately tried to avoid in the first place

Kevandriel as The Bit - 5' nothin Angry Black Cat Hard Dom Top Always will handcuff you if you touch him (unless you ask first), 5'3" Paranoid Trash Racoon Switch Vers gets in where he fits in cus he's just happy to be there, 6'1" Anxious Moose Subby Bottom god help him

This is what I mean. Are the aesthetics a vibe? Fuck Yeah They Are. Are the dynamics compelling? You bet your ass, look at all that Lore (crying). Is The Bit hilarious? Five foot nothing knife wielding man tops a six foot one tall professional athlete, hell yeah, this Bit is fucking side splitting (affectionate)!

#the footnote of god #aftg #kevandriel

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mostlysignssomeportents · 2 years

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A(nother) way in which Facebook is the 21st Century's tobacco industry

Have you noticed some extremely normal ads from extremely normal “grassroots activists” who are really, really worried that if we break up Facebook, China will destroy America and that is why Congress must absolutely stop trying to regulate America’s tech giants, the bristling colossi that stand guard to defend us from the menace across the ocean?

https://www.djournal.com/opinion/columnists/clayton-stanley-north-mississippi-should-be-in-tech-revolution/article_7fa044d6-f7d1-57d1-8441-f53f0aef569d.html

Those are extremely normal ads, because if there’s one thing that extremely normal people love, it is Facebook. A lot of extremely normal people think Facebook is amazing, which is why extremely normal grassroots organizations like American Edge, “A coalition dedicated to the proposition that American innovators are an essential part of U.S. economic health, national security & individual freedoms,” stick up for ‘em.

Which is why the totally cool bros at American Edge found a bunch of extremely normal “economic development agencies” to publish op-eds in newspapers across the country to defend Facebook as a force for racial justice (no, really) and American prosperity. They also used all that grassroots money from extremely normal people like you and me to pay for a national advertising campaign about the “small businesses” that just love Facebook and want to keep Washington’s “misguided” antitrust agenda in check.

American Edge, being both extremely normal and awesomely humble, kept their role in funding this national ad campaign a secret, not wanting to de-center those hardworking small business reps like Clayton Stanley who were stanning for the beloved folk hero Mark “Extremely Normal” Zuckerberg.

All of this is very normal and even heartwarming, and that is not diminished in the slightest by the fact that the hardworking grassroots activists at American Edge were working for an organization that was secretly founded and bankrolled by Facebook — a fact that was conspicuously absent from those ads and op-eds.

Indeed, even as Facebook was making nice to regulators and the American public and saying, “Please, just create some regulations that we can abide by so you’ll stop being so gosh-darn mad at us,” they were funding these heartfelt, sincere, secretly paid “activists” who were on a nationwide campaign to block all regulation of Facebook.

This revelation is both extremely predictable and extremely important, and Elizabeth Dwoskin and Cat Zakrzewski’s Washington Post article on Facebook’s sock-puppetry and American Edge’s cowardly shilling is a must-read.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/05/17/american-edge-facebook-regulation/

They note that American Edge used Facebook’s millions to rope in “a surprising array of partners, including minority business associations, conservative think tanks, and former national security officials.”

If this sounds familiar, it should. We’ve seen this playbook before: “It’s a political playbook more common to other industries, including pharmaceuticals, tobacco and telecommunications.” And it’s also just the latest revelation about Facebook secretly bankrolling dark PR companies to push anti-China messages to distract from the myriad of ways that Facebook is harming Americans.

In March, Taylor Lorenz and Drew Harwell revealed that Facebook had hired a GOP-aligned dirty tricks firm to plant stories about Tiktok’s connection to the Chinese government, a whataboutism campaign that was meant to distract from Facebook’s own domestic scandals.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/03/30/facebook-tiktok-targeted-victory/

The Post’s new report draws on research by the Tech Transparency Project — an org “that seeks to hold large technology companies accountable.”

https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/funding-fight-against-antitrust-how-facebooks-antiregulatory-attack-dog-spends-its-millions

The Post quotes an anonymous insider who explains why Facebook wanted a fake grassroots org talking it up: “Facebook can’t be the messenger. If we are out there saying it, people won’t believe it as much, so the conversation is how can you set up a proxy.”

When asked about all this, American Edge CEO Doug Kelly had this risible reply: “The Washington Post may not display Amazon’s name on its front page, but the American Edge Project has displayed Facebook’s name prominently on ours since launch.”

Of course, every mention of Amazon in the Post carries a prominent notice about Bezos’s ownership, while American Edge’s “prominent” display of Facebook’s name was as an “affiliate” — a label that doesn’t really convey the sense of Zuck’s hand thrust so far up the org’s asshole that he is able to operate them like a sock-puppet.

Facebook gets good value for its money. The US ex-spooks who sent a letter to Congress demanding that Facebook be left alone to save the nation from China? Included in their number — but undisclosed — were members of American Edge’s “security advisory board.”

https://punchbowl.news/wp-content/uploads/Open-Letter-Cyber-Intel-Defense-HS-1.pdf

Facebook laundered contributions to the National Black US Chamber of Commerce through National Edge, and then the Chamber’s CEO published a Black History Month op-ed extolling Facebook’s benefits to “Black-owned businesses.”

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/feb/15/tech-platforms-are-vital-for-nation-to-support-bla/

National Edge hands out a lot of grants, and the grantees often go on to write op-eds about how totally cool Facebook is, and weirdly, none of them mention that they got a bunch of Facebook money before writing those op-eds.

The idea that monopolists are how America keeps evil foreigners at bay isn’t new. During the seven decades during which the US Government was trying to break up AT&T, the company used its status as a “national champion” to win multiple stays of execution. Like, when it got the Pentagon to cool out the DoJ by claiming that the Bell System was necessary to secure victory in Korea (oops):

https://doctorow.medium.com/all-broadband-politics-are-local-e103967a0f0c

This “national champion” talk went into overdrive in the eighties, just before the DoJ actually did break up Ma Bell. Back then, the evil, authoritarian Asian country full of copycats stealing American ideas and destroying its tech industry was…Japan.

https://pluralistic.net/2020/10/21/each-drop-of-strych-a-nine/#break-em-up

This warmed-over “Yellow Peril” scare-talk is no different. AT&T wasn’t America’s national champion — it was a boot on the throat of the American tech industry. AT&T’s major project was suppressing the spread of modems. Breaking up AT&T gave us the commercial internet and forty years of unsurpassed projection of American soft power around the globe.

You know who gets this? China. China’s been doing antitrust at scale and speed. They don’t exalt their tech leaders as national champions who will defeat Zuckerberg and win cyberspace for the CCCP. They treat their tech leaders as threats — would-be usurpers who don’t represent Chinese interests, only their own:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/04/03/ambulatory-wallets/#sectoral-balances

China has hamstrung its Big Tech companies, and not because it secretly wants to make it easy for Zuck and Nick Clegg as they straddle the globe and dare Baidu to knock a chip off their shoulder, if they’re so big.

https://pluralistic.net/2022/02/22/national-champions/#biddable

There used to be a lot of talk about how “addictive” Facebook is, but really, the company’s “addictiveness” primarily springs from its ability to defend its walled garden and keep you hostage, by making the price of leaving severing contact with all the customers, communities and friends who stay behind.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/facebooks-secret-war-switching-costs

But even if Facebook isn’t addictive, it does share important commonalities with Big Tobacco: it’s a company that ruins millions of American lives, and defends itself by hiring sock-puppets, shills and astroturfers to run around looking busy and making it appear — superficially, at least — that the lurkers totally support them in email.

http://www.jowaltonbooks.com/poetry/whimsy/the-lurkers-support-me-in-email/

Facebook may find it easy to hire shills, but it’s really struggling to hire engineers. The company is increasingly turning into a tech ghost-ship, experiencing massive shortfalls in its recruiting goals. Apparently, coders have higher standards than “think tanks.”

https://www.protocol.com/workplace/facebook-docs-hiring-recruiting-crisis

Image: Helfmann (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sockie_transparent.png

Minette Lontsie (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Facebook_Headquarters.jpg

CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en

[Image ID: The Facebook '1 Hacker Way' sign. A large sock puppet wearing an American Edge logo looms out of the sign. To the left, a trustbuster-era editorial cartoon drawing of Roosevelt swinging his 'big stick.']

#pluralistic

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kharmii · 8 months

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TrainwreckShipping started because people wanted someone alternative to ship Emmet with, someone he wasn’t related to. It’s the same reason the Supernatural showrunners kept Castiel in, since it meant less people were shipping Dean and Sam together. Emmet doesn’t have to be romantically into his brother to get upset about him being spirited away either - they’re brothers, after all.

No one is telling you what you can or cannot ship. You’ve made it clear that there are kinks that make you uncomfortable, and it’s the same for other people. It’s not a personal attack if they don’t want you to post their art.

Ship whatever you want, but there’s no reason to attack other people, especially since you’re upset about being attacked in the first place, or else it just becomes hypocritical.

Nonononono......I'm not willing to let this one go, especially since I've already offended everybody on both sides of the fandom. Feed the troll and I'll keep posting. Anyway, I was thinking that the next time I did a good old wholesome Christian trainwreckshipping erotic cannibalism furry fart fat fic, I might put an unexpected twist on it. Emmet would be a snake man, and when Volo asks him how many dicks he has, he'd reply 'just one'. Get it? Because if someone has to ask, it's always assumed they have like two or three or an amoongus shaped giant phallus with little dicks sticking out the sides, or tentacle dicks....whatever.. Emmet would reply, "I just have one dick, sillybuns! Why would I have more? It's not like female snake people have two vaginas!"

On a serious note, I'm actually wondering for real (plz someone let me know) what percentage of antis who think I'm some sort of threat to the childruns because I post cartoon twin yaoi turn around and think it's okay to insert stupid kinks into furry fandom? I'm not going to check, but I assume that the Warrior Kittehs fandom, -based on books written for ten-year-olds- is likely 90% filled with that sort of thing. I could imagine whole forums dedicated to "Firestar's big fat feeding frenzy" where people do fanworks about an inflated ginger boi version of Cat Satan from Tailchaser's Song by Tad Williams.

Hey, I just want to see twins being cute.

#fandumb fail #blankshipping #ask me about my million stupid bj aus #trainwreckshipping #troll post #fun stuff #arguing about stupid stuff #ginger boi #srsly tho

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13-nastin-13 · 2 years

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Okay, it’s been literally almost a whole ass YEAR since I last posted anything on my tumblr, but luckily I’m going back!!!

But before I do it, I need to write down a VERY emotional wall of words, there will be also, once again, some V E R Y important news, bad and good, you’ve been warned.

During all this time while you were waiting for new stuff here, some strange and even horrifying things happened, I have no idea how the heck did I survive all this and the goddamn 2021 has finally let me go and I can start posting at least some content in the new year.

I have absolutely mixed feelings and thoughts on 2021 as it had the potential to be a very therapeutic year until october, but then OCTOBER happened and everything went to shit leading to an unbearably long art block. But, you know, I started writing this post at the beginning of 2022 and, s o f t l y speaking, current year is a total f*king mess which is not anyhow better than the previous year, except for this is totally not the right blog to discuss it (I believe my drawings do it better than my text posts anyways), after all this art acc mostly dedicated to pure escapism, so.. let me explain everything in order, from the very beginning.

Here’s a cool story for ya:

Over the previous year, I also managed to somehow imperceptibly get sick with covid, so I could not be vaccinated for another six months. And imagine the giant resentment of mine when I again fell ill with covid in January of this year (this time, in a severe form), and then I recovered circa in March. At the same time, right before I got sick, a lot of ideas for new art came to my mind at once, and even when I finally got better I STILL felt like a 400 year old omelette >:((((

But, as it turned out, this is definitely not the worst thing that could ever happen hahaha

Unfortunately, the art summary turned out weird and incomplete (I'm not even afraid to say that even in 2016 it wasn't that bad lol). I think it's obvious that 2021 was more dedicated to recovering from a horrible trauma (which I spoke about in another huge text post before), rather than making art. And about current year, I could say, basically, the same thing, but this is not exactly what it is... And I could recover earlier and even make inspiring posts already in November 2021 about how "I aLmOst sUcCeSsFuLLy OvErCaMe DePrEsSiOn", if not another death in October, which made all my fears, ptsd, anxiety and other most tough mental problems of mine float to the surface of my consciousness again, and my condition, once on the mend, worsened several times compared to the beginning of the year AGAIN.

I remember how I was consumed by guilt and even the craziest thoughts about being, in fact, damned? Yes, yes, it sounds ridiculous, but it really seemed to me as if enyone who had ever shown affection and sincere love for me are automatically doomed to inevitable death.

Alas, sometimes I still get such strange thoughts, as if I am climbing to the cherished hope for the best again and again, and some incomprehensible shitty force pushes me back to the bottom of a dark abyss and laughs at me, trying to convince me that "it will never be like in 2018 anymore", that I will never make it.

However, it all affected me in such a strange way and made me realize that this loud, distorted laughter in my ears made me grow pretty much tired of it, but let’s talk about it later LATER in this post ahaha...

Gonna sound extremely banal right after more serious text above, yet still another very UNpleasant thing for some followers of my little bloggo, this time from 2022, It’s my instagram acc being totally blocked. Yes, yes, and the reason of it is extraordinary stupid, well SOOO so darn astronomically stupid on all material and immaterial levels of different stupid realities to the core that I feel stupid to even tell you guys... As soon as the developers came up with that stupid update featuring sorta trash like "set the birthday, even if the acc is for a cat, we will then customize everything for you by your age", for some reason I thought that you can set any age, even a cat's, completely forgetting that, in fact, there’s a law which says that no one should use social media under 13. Although I remember it as 12. Fuck guys, my paranoid ace ass just didn't want an abundance of s3xual content in my feed, because who the hell knows what tf does it even mean "by age" like why not by something else w h y- 🤡🤡🤡 *sigh* I will of course start a new account, if anything... But losing memories from the old one made me feel down a bit, since memory and time, the past in general, as you can guess judging by my art, plays a significant role for me. And with that, thank God, the bad news end for now!

For a long time I’ve been immersed in brutally deep prostration, all my possible and even impossible psychological issues flared up with a blue flame. And after so much time since I made the last post in October of the previous year, everything has come to the point that I have turned into some kind of completely different person. On one hand, this type of thing happens to me every year and it’s time to get used to it, but what I’m trying to say is that a certain mental cup (???) overflowed so much that everything in my head just simply dropped back to zero and turned completely upside down and somehow simply started to follow its own rules, independent from everything that happens in reality, purely detached.

And you know WHAT?

To this day, for the first time in several years, I felt the echoes of THAT VERY freedom, which I lacked so much! Suddenly there was some light, some hope, despite the incredibly brutal and dark cage of this flat world.

I don't care what cociety's reaction will be to anything I’ll say or do and I'm not afraid of anything anymore. I don’t know if I’ve gone completely crazy or, on the contrary, this is a long-awaited remission, but I don’t care so much anymore, so I will just run with sincerest enthusiasm into this light and just continue to watch what's the rest in 2022 for me. One way or another, if every year is so bad and you never know when will it change to good (maybe never at all), then why not send everything in the world to hell and do things that bring at least a little of joy to yourself and others? I think I've been strong for too long, it seems like it's time to get even stronger now...

Well, after a several awkward attempts to end this text wall on a more "positive" note, why not revisit some really sweet moments of 2021? For example, my crazy artistic search for my identity in March, when I locked myself away from everyone in a room for a month, embracing creepy movies, flowers and immersing myself in various 17th century art, or when me and some frenchman my close friend (WHO REALLY NEEDS TO DROP DA ALBUM ALREADY YEAH I’M TALKING TO YOU JULES) were sitting at home in a May thunderstorm, recording some silly careless stuff with sleepy rainy weather and misty green trees outside the window yessss. Or when we watched that old movie from your computer in July, because my internet connection said “no ❤️» :((((( And, well, the most epic stuff a.k.a my birthday, when we went to the park with another very close bro of mine, ate there some giant crumbling burgers with tiny glasses of milk, which they call "milkshake" and then wandered around the gardens of Peterhof palace just to get lost there until it was very late at night and then we got out of there god knows when ha ha. Seems like nothing really grandiose, but God I felt so good and peaceful at such moments and I am very grateful to my friends who were next to me back then 🥺

In terms of good news for 2022, I have a lot of creative work to do at the moment and hope to feed u guys this month with one big epicc thing that my friend and I have been working on tirelessly for a little longer than expected, but it WILL come out one day and this fact brings us a lot of joy to be honest! And I also would like to record something like rants for my YouTube channel, since even posts like this one are not enough for me, because I’m still that one Hamlet, yeah.

For the goals for the rest of the year, I only want to finish that cool project and also create on my blog and in my life in general, an era full of everything new! So far, sounds like something impossible, after all what happened lol. But, by the way, I graduated in my school this year, all the exams are over, so why not?

Aaand, from now on, I announce the renaissance of the blog and, in short, let's celebrate guys, happy new year on october 9th everyone! 😭🎉

Thank you so SO MUCH who read this post to the very end, because there is nothing more important for me than knowing that someone cares :"0 This gives me a feeling of some kind of unity or family, or something... And now it's time for new adventures!! We will all definitely survive and make it.

And, finally, some of my favorite pictures from 2021 in order to boost the cozy vibes..

Lots of hugs for y’all ❤️

#results of 2021 #big post #Nastin talks

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