#[ modern verses yes but also in general ]

[spiderwarden]

Minthara is that woman that has 10-15 pillows at the head of her bed.

#[ 🕷️ ] —— musings #[ modern verses yes but also in general ] #[ the last post got me thinking about it ferally ]

[nap-mak]

LOTR in a modern world headcanons? I think yes.

I did this on one of my old accounts that i ended up deleting for some reason, i don’t remember, but here. Back on my Lord Of The Rings BS, let’s gooooo. This’ll be the fellowship with everyone intact, no one is dead.

As always requests are open and let me know if you want more!

LOTR x GN! Reader, general headcanons for if you had to take care of them today, in 2023. Enjoy!

The ring most likely has no power in this dimension, so yay Frodo is free from torment!

Sam loves watching cooking, gardening and home renovation shows, and he gets very invested in the former two. You learn a lot you didn’t really need to know from his commentary

Once Pippin learns about pyjamas and fuzzy slippers he never goes back, you literally cannot get him out of them

Boromir and Aragorn, being human and coincidentally two of the most responsible members of the fellowship, are the easiest to take in public to the grocery store and such.

You can pass off the hobbits (if they cover their ears with their hair) as children, and Gimli is your friend with dwarfism.

Gandalf you can pass off as your grandfather, and Legolas looks pretty normal if you cover his ears.

Pippin is the type to bounce in his seat in the car and ask “Are we there yet?!” every 5 minutes

Frodo really likes to draw, especially when there’s so many cool places and movies to draw inspiration from.

Movie nights? No horrors. The hobbits are terrified by ‘em.

Movie nights are literally so difficult because they all have such different tastes

Merry really likes James Bond movies.

Pippin is obsessed with nail polish when you introduce him to it. Boromir gets his repainted every time the polish come off. His nails need serious help after a while

Pippin and Merry often start pillow fights, and drag everyone else into it

If you have space for a garden or plants in your home, Sam is on it. He finds it calming, so now you have some home grown plants :)

Taking the hobbits in public? Bad idea. You can trust Frodo and Sam, but Merry inevitably drags Pippin off to do something dumb and possibly dangerous.

Gandalf has an old man rocker. There is no discussion.

The hobbits do the classic “getting one sibling to ask for fast food because whoever’s in charge will say yes”, they get Frodo to do this because he has the best puppy dog face and he’s unsure about asking for things normally.

Pippin and Merry cannot handle too much caffeine or sugar or they go crazy

You thought Legolas’ hair was good before? He steals your hair care products and his hair is literally perfect.

(He’s also willing to do skincare with you, not that his face needs it. Again, flawless)

Game nights are so chaotic. You can’t play a lot of games since they don’t know what many things from this world are, so games like Trivia and Charades are off the table

Gimli and Legolas verse each other in video games, often enough it ends with Legolas winning and Gimli rage quitting

Aragorn is so responsible he’s literally the perfect man to do anything with, and he can hold the fort down if you need to leave

Pippin is so clingy, he trails you wherever you go and asks you random questions but it’s adorable

Boromir insists on carrying your stuff, bags of groceries, all that

Frodo often goes to the library to find new books to read, with you of course

There’s a whole debate on whether 3D or 2D animation is better, i would not get involved if i were you.

Pippin and Merry are also avid fans of quoting their favourite movies, once they see them

Legolas and Frodo are the best listeners, they will just sit there and not judge or try to give you advice they just. sit there. like the perfect men they are.

Legolas would have a meme for everything. Like any situation. You text him like “PIPPIN FELL DOWN SOME WELL WE DON’T EVEN HAVE A WELL HELP” and he just has a meme that fits the situation perfectly.

Frodo and Legolas would watch Avatar: The Last Airbender together because it’s their favourite show. Aragorn jumps in also.

Those three are also avid tea drinkers.

Boromir likes Game Of Thrones. I don’t know anything about it, he just does. Please confiscate Pippin while he does.

Pippin gasps dramatically whenever a plot twist surprises him.

Sam loves to cook, and he does a lot of cooking in the house once he arrives. You two just work together in the kitchen (if you can’t cook, he’ll teach you) and have nice sweet conversations

Legolas is great at doing people’s hair. If you ask him to, he’d probably agree, though he’d probably be a bit flustered as that is a courting ritual in his culture.

Ask Legolas to talk to you until you fall asleep. His voice is so heavenly istg-

The hobbits get sleepy when their hair is played with and it’s adorable

Won’t lie this hyperfixation came back then it circled back to TMNT and today i watched these films with my friend and now i’m back to LotR love. Most of this has been sitting in my drafts for a couple weeks.

Anyway, I think that’s about it from me, I hope you guys enjoy! :)

If you want to request, rules are pinned on my page! Let me know if you want a general part two or a set of modern headcanons for a specific character. I love LOTR in the modern world content so much.

Have a good day, and remember that you are loved!

#lotr #x reader #fanfiction #lord of the rings x reader #the fellowship x reader #gn!reader #frodo x reader #samwise x reader #pippin x reader #merry x reader #aragorn x reader #legolas x reader #gimli x reader #boromir x reader #gandalf x reader #everybody lives #lotr in modern world #im not making aragorn a single hobbit parent no sir #so many tags

[steddieunderdogfics]

This week’s writer spotlight feature is:  Sidekick_Hero! @sidekick-hero has 82 works on AO3 in the Stranger Things fandom and 80 of them are in the Steddie tag!

@steddieas-shegoes recommends the following works by Sidekick_Hero:

I wore his jacket for the longest time

Suitcase of Memories

to the rhythm of eternity

Will you cleanse me with pleasure?

Sandy is an incredible writer and always manages to paint beautiful scenes regardless of rating or situation. She was one of the first authors I found in the fandom who really captured so many things about Steve and Eddie that I love. She continues to inspire me constantly! -- @steddieas-shegoes

Below the cut,��@sidekick-hero answered some questions about their writing process and some of their recommended work!

Why do you write Steddie?

Great question! I'd been out of fandom and on a writing hiatus since 2016, the spark had just left me. Until early 2023, when I wanted to give Tumblr and fandom another try, but nothing really clicked until late summer when this wild-haired, bambi-eyed guy started popping up on my dash more and more. I fell in love with Eddie first, looked him up, and found that people were shipping him with this Steve character. I've never seen Stranger Things. I went to AO3 looking for some fic and the rest, as they say, is history. I fell in love with this ship the way you fall asleep, slowly, imperceptibly, and then all at once. I think what drew me in is these two characters who are so different from each other on the outside that you'd never think they'd work, but the closer you look, the more you can see how well they would fit, how good they could be for each other, bringing out the best in each other.

What’s your favorite trope to READ?

Wow, so many. I actually love the range of tropes this fandom offers. I'm a big fan of modern aus, especially ones where one or both are famous. If it's canon-based, I'm a sucker for Kas!Eddie. In general, I love it when one or both are creatures of any kind. I also love friends with benefits fics because they are idiots. Enemies to Lovers and Fake Dating are also high on my list. Last but not least: Porn with feelings and hurt/comfort.

What’s your favorite trope to WRITE?

That's tough. I enjoy writing all kinds of smutty tropes as one-shots. When there's more plot going on, I really enjoy the "exes to friends to lovers" trope, just because as someone in their 30s, I look back on past relationships and hookups and realize what went wrong and how it could be different today, and I think that's something I can relate to a lot when I'm writing it for Steddie. I also love writing about second chances in general.

What’s your favorite Steddie fic?

It’s impossible to pick just one, sorry. I give you three with the disclaimer that there are so many more I could - and probably would - have picked on a different day. But I wanted to share some older ones in the spirit of what this blog is all about. the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you by greatunironic Keep it Steady, Eddie by outofmygourd Love blooms, love hurts, love prevails by corrodedbisexual (mishabawlins)

Is there a trope you’re excited to explore in a future work but haven’t yet?

Yes! I definitely want to explore some fantasy/creature fics (more outside of a pwp I wrote with Lake Creature Eddie), I already have the idea for Werewolf!Steve, and I really want to try my hand at Vampire!Eddie. I'm also super excited to finally get to work on a fake-dating trope fic for the summer exchange, I've been dying to do that. Last but not least, I really want to try writing an omega!verse at some point, I just don't have an idea yet.

What is your writing process like?

Pretty straightforward, I guess? It never really feels like a process, to be honest. I have an idea and I let it grow in my head (daydreaming, my beloved) until it has grown enough to become an actual fic, and then I sit down and write it out chronologically. Before I start writing, I need to know a few things about the story. I don't usually work with outlines or anything like that, but in my head I know where it starts, what the emotional beats and major plot points are, and how I want it to end. The rest I let unfold as I write. That's why I'm not the fastest writer (plus the whole not-native-English thing). Often the story tells me where it wants to go, so as long as I have the cornerstones, I let it flow.

Do you have any writing quirks?

Not sure if these are quirks, but my sentences tend to be very wordy. My dear friend @yournowheregirl used to comment on my fics when she beta-read them, "Another Sandy sentence. Make it multiple sentences." Also, I only write in present tense, even though I know most people prefer past tense, but it's too hard for me. Other than that, I can't have too many WIPs, I have to finish one story before I can start another.

Do you prefer posting when you’ve finished writing or on a schedule?

Post when I'm done writing, for sure. I hate waiting, I have the patience of a toddler.

Which fic are you most proud of?

I wore his jacket for the longest time, no question.  It's still so precious to me, especially because I got to write it with my platonic writing soulmate @legitcookie, but also because I got to really explore these characters and their growth in this story. It has so much of me in it and I'm really proud of how it turned out.

How did you get the idea for I wore his jacket for the longest time?

Actually, it wasn't all me. I just had this idea of them being kind of friends with benefits, but Eddie wants more than Steve is willing to give him, so they hook up one last time before Eddie sends Steve away for good. That was the original idea that inspired the prequel "we pass the ghosts that haunt us later". The idea for that actually came from a song, "we can never be friends" by mgk. Jen (legitcookie) would not accept the ambiguous (sad) ending, so she demanded that we fix it. So we decided to find a way to let them both grow as people apart and then rebuild their friendship, because only then would they have a real foundation for their second chance.

When writing I wore his jacket for the longest time, what was something you didn’t expect?

How much fun it would be to develop those OC side-characters, especially Mrs. Horowitz but also fucking Tom or even Fritz. It was also the very first time I collaborated with someone on a fic and I was a bit apprehensive if this would work out so I was surprised when I discovered how much I love writing with someone else.

What inspired to the rhythm of eternity?

My love for London, really. I am madly in love with this city and have explored it a lot, so I wanted to use my experiences in a fic. And when @tboygareth asked for a long distance relationship fic for our server holiday exchange, I knew this was my chance. Their meeting as well as the ending is heavily based on my own experiences.

What was your favorite part to write from Suitcase of Memories?

The dreams! They were so much fun to explore because there's a certain mood I wanted to set with them, that dreamy feeling mixed with events from another time period. Their first date and especially their first kiss is a close second, though, because the swing set scene is something I've been thinking about since I saw 13 going on 30 as a teenager.

How do/did you feel writing Suitcase of Memories?

To be totally honest, a bit stressed 😀 It was my first big bang and I was so glad to have Jen by my side, but then real life happened and I realized it's hard to write on deadline. BUT I still love this fic. Especially the theme of love as a choice, even if some cosmic interference gives you a second chance, you still have to WANT it, you still have to work for it and choose it, over and over again. I feel like we nailed that pretty well and I'm proud of us and this story.

What was the most difficult part of writing Will you cleanse me with pleasure??

The emotional setup, because it was a gift for Ger (@steves-strapcollection) and he wanted them to be disgustingly in love, but I also needed Eddie's condition to be something he kept from Steve at first for fear of losing him. Besides that, the logistics, really. So many tentacles, man. So many.

Do you have a favorite scene and/or line from any of your fics?

Okay, some very, very self-indulgent scenes I wrote are for my Runner!Steve verse. I am a passionate runner, and it was so much fun to write that love for Steve and to geek out about it in my writing. Another scene I'm very fond of is from my very first ST fic, "I'm tired of asking to settle the debt," and it's a scene where they're both kids and meeting for the first time, it's winter, and Eddie is doing an impression of a dragon with his breath.

Do you have any upcoming projects or fics you’d like to share/promote?

Well, by the time this comes out, I will have posted my reverse big bang fic "Emotional Motion Sickness" with art by the amazing @arimakes. There's also the summer exchange, in which I was lucky enough to claim my dear friend @starryeyedjanai's prompt, and the steddie big bang 2024. I'm also finishing the last chapter of "hold me close (I'm shaking apart)" and hope to post it soon. 

Outside of these questions, Is there anything YOU would like to add?

Yes, I want to thank everyone for making this project possible! This fandom has grown so much and there is so much amazing fic that easily gets buried under all the content, so having this project to give the writers of this fandom some visibility and love is precious to me. Thank you, really 💜🙏 Also, all my love to every single writer out there - you make my life and the lives of so many better by sharing your gift with us.

Thank you to our author,  Sidekick_Hero, and our nominator,  @steddieas-shegoes on tumblr! See more of Sidekick_Hero's works featured on our page throughout the day!

Writer’s Spotlight is every Wednesday! Want to nominate an author? You can nominate them here!

#writer's spotlight #writer's wednesday #ao3 writer #steddie writers #steddie #steddie fic recs #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #stranger things

[ash-and-starlight]

Books of 2023

the list nobody asked for <3

My reading habits had gone a bit stagnant in the past couple of years so this year i made the effort to engage in reading again and wow books really are good!! who would have thought! Sharing this year's book log with the small reviews i did while reading yeah i am That kind of list lover if u feel like being nosy, (and maybe even help mi crowdsource reading recs based on my likes 👀🤲?)

The left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula i Need to know your thoughts on omegaver- [gunshot] THAT ASIDE yeah. mrs Le Guin you've done it again. I can see why everyone got their brain chemistry altered by this book.

The Membranes - Chi Ta-Wei another brain chemistry altering book. would love to discuss it with a gender studies major lmao

Satanic Verses - Salman Rushdie its a v atmospheric and poignant story, I know I would have loved it more if I was familiar with the rich religious/cultural background it draws from

The Masquerade Series - Seth Dickinson Crazy insane in the membrane about this series. one of the most compelling worldbuildings I've ever seen, and most importantly it features one of the most crazy wet pathetic scrunkly meow meow protagonists i've ever had the pleasure of reading about.

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides i liked the writing style of this book a lot! idk how well it holds up re: intersexuality topic, but its a very engaging read.

Dead Blondes and Bad Mothers: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power - Jude Ellison, Sady Doyle The title says it all honestly, its a beautiful, thought provoking and engaging essay, spanning eras, pop culture phenomenons, and real life events on the topic of women and horror.

The cat who saved books - Sōsuke Natsukawa this was so cute and heartfelt, it will really make you go Ah Yes, this is Why we Love Books <333

The Locked Tomb Series - Tamsyn Muir now when people say there is a girl who is the cursed sacrifice of 2000 infants who falls in love with the sleeping embodiment of the soul of the Earth (barbie) and also another girl who is the only survivor of the aforementioned sacrifice and is. a Jesus metaphor? and also the two girls become one at some point. and every book is a different genre. and god is bisexual. and memes survived the nuclear apocalypse. I can just nod and say so true.

The Area X Trilogy - Jeff VanderMeer Rotating this series in the microwave of my mind at the speed of light it's soSO GOOD!! the movie doesn't even come close honestly u NEED to read the books. and then go touch grass and be aware of every strand in a completely new way.

The Dawn of Yangchen - F. C. Yee nice read! I was more invested in the worldbuilding crumbs than in the actual story lmao, I will forever think about the HEATED airball rivalry between the air temples and about the swt greetings / bethrotal armbands.

Inuit Stories of Being and Rebirth: Gender, Shamanism, and the Third Sex - Bernard Saladin d'Anglure starting w a disclaimer bc I feel like the topic of native colonization was ignored when it should have been way more prominent when talking about the context of where and when these testimonies were collected?? That aside it was very interesting and well put together, with first account testimonies of Inuit elders about their myths, lifestyles and beliefs.

Pachinko - Min Jin Lee i read the book after having seen the tv series (which i also rlly recommend). Very moving story about a family and its generations, from Korea under Japanese colonization to modern day America.

Her body and other parties - Carmen Maria Marchado sometimes I go about my day then I remember this book exists and stare at the wall for 30 minutes.

Dictionnaire de l'impossible - Didier Van Cauwelaert big miss. this collection of articles about "strange impossible phenomenons" sounded so quirky and interesting but i sure would have loved if the author hadnt so clearly picked a side. and also way too much church for my tastes.

He who Drowned the World - Shelley Parker Chan Im not even gonna speak about this one if you've followed me since july you know what pits of insanity and despair i'm in

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow - Gabrielle Zevin Sometimes!! the book with pretty covers put in the "famous on socials" bookstore section!! are good!! It's about being othered it's about connection it's about diaspora it's about love and friendship and most of all it's about viddy games.

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel reading this post-covid and learning it was written in 2017 was A TRIP. Psychic damage at every page. still feeling very normla.

The Mask of Apollo - Mary Renault Ugh i desperately wanted to like this book because the setup is so interesting and full of potential, but the end result was just. flat. flat story flat characters the plot focusing on the wrong things at the wrong times i was so DONE when i reached the end otz.

Babel - R. F. Kuang LOVED the worldbuilding in this, the "lost in translation" system of magic is one of the most interesting things ive ever read. I think theres something about the writing in general that didn't win me over completely?? but all in all a very good

Red Ocean - Han Song This sure is a Book. That i've Read. its so profundly strange and unlike anything ive come across that i dont even know what to feel about it. i think 90% of my confusion comes from Not Getting Cultural References so if someone has a "red ocean explained" essay plz send it my way bc i couldnt find one.

#taking with me into next year Chromorama and The seven moons of Maali Almeida #anyway blease talk to me about your fave books!! #or about the ones in this list!! #send post #books

[birds--daily]

welcome to birds daily!!

this is my blog where i draw a bird every single day! the idea was completely ripped off from one of my best friends of all time, @fish-daily !! please go check him out :0)

my name is sunny and i'm a wildlife biology major and art minor from the eastern united states. i'm 21 years old and i use they/them pronouns!

i'm here because i love birds so much, and i'm assuming if you're following then you do too!!

IMPORTANT INFO BELOW!!

what to know before you request

please check if i've drawn a bird before you request it! if you don't want to scroll through everything, all my birds are tagged by order. don't know the order of your bird? look it up! the IOC world bird list has a great resource for this.

i tag them by name, but some birds have multiple common names.

i also have a spreadsheet of every bird i've done so far! but i can definitely see myself forgetting to update this, so it's best to double check.

any avian dinosaur archaeopteryx-and-beyond can be requested! many ornithologists consider avialae to be the cutoff for "modern" birds.

i can't guarantee full-accuracy of prehistoric birds as i'm not very well-versed in paleontology.

please keep asks to only one bird! feel free to send multiple asks though. if you include multiple birds in an ask i'll just pick one. when i answer the ask to post it, the other birds will be gone forever...

i will prioritize requests in the order i received them in, but a couple times a week i might draw a personal pick instead.

not accepting duplicate birds doesn't mean you can't request a different version of the same bird, which leads me to…

sexual dimorphism and seasonal plumage!

yes! you can request different plumages and sexes of a bird i've already done! want to see a female ruddy duck? of course! want the breeding plumage of the willow ptarmigan? absolutely!

i have sex, maturity, and plumage recorded on my spreadsheet, but i'm bound to make some mistakes on there. once again, double-checking my blog is your best bet to getting accurate bird info!

if you don't specify anything, i'm going to assume the basic mature male with breeding plumage that you come to expect from a bird.

breeding and non-breeding plumage can also be called summer and winter plumage. some birds also have special names for their plumage forms. just to keep things consistent i'll be referring to it as breeding and non-breeding!

final notes

my main blog is @eggpathy if you're interested in any of my other art! i forget to post there a lot. most of my art is on my twitter under the same name (trying to move here though)

i'm a full-time college student with a job, so some days i won't be able to get a bird out. sometimes i might even have to take a few days to a week off just to keep my sanity. this doesn't mean i'm not having fun and enjoying drawing birds! it just means i'm busy and maybe need time for other things

i'm also still human. this means i WILL MAKE MISTAKES! i have not finished my degree yet and i'm still learning! one of the big reasons i made this account was to help myself learn my birds! i take extra time out of my day to find facts to post with my birds, and sometimes those are wrong. if you see me post misinfo, please kindly correct me with a comment, dm, or tag!

any post that isn't a daily bird will be tagged #not birds. any post that is a daily bird will be tagged #birds.

please feel free to add extra fun facts, info, and generally any other silly comment in the tags. i love reading them and they make my day!

asks don't have to be request-related! feel free to ask me anything :0)

thanks for reading! peent!

#about time i made an introduction post lmao #birds daily #not birds

[nanoa1foryou]

Columnist Arttu Seppänen wrote about Käärijä in Helsingin Sanomat today, and I have thoughts (most of them disorganized).

His point is that the modern world is divisive and that it is incredible to see something bring us together. However, his point is also that Käärijä is threatening to get chained to a stereotype. He critisizes Käärijä's music for centering on drinking. Generally understandable in the Finnish context.

However, he completely missed there that the point of Cha Cha Cha was more about breaking your shell than drinking. And better yet, he took as his second example Toiset Samanlaiset. The one about making a long career, in which Käärijä's verse openly criticizes the media maddness he has been subject to, which Seppänen is now contributing to, in a way.

Yes, both are in theory drinking songs, but it is doing a disservise to them to call them just that. What I find very frustrating, is that he is simplifying Käärijä's entire discography to that: drinking songs. That he judging by the music output this year, he runs the risk of being a one trick wonder who does nothing more than sing about drinking.

Yes, Seppänen is overexaggerating to make a point, but we are talking about the one rapper who has gained notability through the diversity of his song topics when compared to other similar artists. Fucking around on the commuter train (Z), the frustration that hooks you to gambling (Yhtä Vailla), when you just have such a shit day that everything only serves to upset you (Hirttää Kiinni), trying to shed that tough guy attitude (Kovis).

I really don't think he's running the risk of only talking about drinking in his songs.

Also, Seppänen goes through some other interesting points that have nothing to do with the rest really. That Vilma Alina deserves more regognition (agreed), that Jere looks like a sirkus animal on stage (rude, but it's not like Jere hasn't said the same), and that the Finnish language won't be a problem for international success (and this pone he could have very well tied into the point of uniting people, but nope, he makes a point about standing out).

The one point of his that I really like, is the implication of Käärijä's and particularly Cha Cha Cha's quality, that made it break through. In the beginning Seppänen notes that the song divides opinions, as do most hits like it. In the end, he notes that algorithmic content and majority of what goes viral online is divisive, because that is what gets interaction. The implication is, that by being so divisive, Käärijä went viral and then became a force to unite people this year.

So yeah, like the other columns I've seen where Käärijä is used to make a point, it has some hits and some misses, which is understandable considering that the writers are rarely fans and more just a member of the general public speaking to the general public.

Really, I'm just wondering if I even understood this kolumn at all, considering how it feels its going through all sorts of hoops about current events in Finnish music.

#käärijä #nanoa1 speaks #helsingin sanomat #kolumni #I'm just impressed he managed to sneak in a jab at olli herman and popeda in there. that news was released today.

[queerprayers]

hello! i had a quick question

so deuteronomy 18:14 mentions practicing magic and divination as not being allowed but, isnt prayer magical in itself? are we not practicing some form of divination when we celebrate our Lord (in our silly rituals and practices)? any thoughts on this?

thats all! have a blessed day!

Good question, beloved!

The differences between prayer and magic and worship and divination and ritual and practice are largely cultural and informed by our associations with a religion/culture/ethnicity. Ancient indigenous religions are often seen as primitive and naive for instance, more aligned with magic than "proper" religion, and newer religious practices are dismissed as "made-up." There's also inter-religious accusations that go on—think about how some Protestants describe Catholic rituals. And then there's people who are anti-religion in general, and see any spirituality as silly magical beliefs.

I would say we can make a distinction, however, between treating prayer as magic and treating prayer as worship and connection. If I believe saying this prayer ten times will heal my illness, this to me seems more of a magic spell than a prayer. Now anyone is welcome to believe in magic spells, but nonetheless I prefer prayer as a purposeful entering into God's presence, perhaps seeking specific blessings, but with no formula or assumption of a specific outcome.

If divination is gaining insight through religious practice, then definitely lots of Christians practice that. When people reduce practice to figuring out the future or interpreting signs or asking God for proof, I see a formulaic religion rather than a connecting one. I think we can definitely look at our practice and ask if we're treating it as a formula/spell. But my definitions of these words (and what I look for in religion) may differ from yours, and obviously a lot of this is cultural. I'm using "magic" to describe things I connect with less than "prayer," but this is arbitrary, and many people would consider my definition of prayer to be magical as well. 

All that said, I'm not sure any of this has much to do with Deuteronomy, so I'll also talk about the verse you brought up. Jewish law is always interesting to bring up in Christian circles, and we should acknowledge that we do not have the history of interpretation/relationship that Judaism has with it. We do have a relational history with it, but it's very different and doesn't align with the people who compiled these laws.  (Is this appropriation? Many would say yes, in the sense that Christianity inherently is. That's a whole nother conversation.) There are many Christian attitudes toward Jewish law—for me, it is a valuing of what I believe God gave to humans, with an acknowledgement that I am not the intended audience and am not called to follow it, but rather to honor it. The law's focus on justice and worship matters to me, albeit in a very different way than both its original audience and current Judaism.

Deuteronomy 18 bans occult practices by specifically referencing the nations/cultures around ancient Israel. It is comparing ancient Jewish practice to its contemporaries. Many biblical laws, in fact, exist as a way of differentiating Israel from other cultures, and many of the moral laws are in response to practices they would have seen around them. There's a huge focus on being set apart, on practicing a religion that doesn't look like anything else. That's not to say they're random—in fact, they're very specific.

I've said the difference between religion and magic is cultural, and Deuteronomy lays this out perfectly. From a modern lens, animal sacrifice to achieve forgiveness may seem primitive, like a magic spell. And yet, magic spells are prohibited. To them, it obviously wasn't sorcery—it was religious practice.

We do have specific practices that are condemned, like interpreting omens or consulting the dead, but there are plenty of those things (or at least things adjacent to those things) in the Bible. The implication is always don't do these things like those other people. You're an Israelite, not a Canaanite. You don't eat those things or dress that way or do those things in your temple because God wants you to commit yourself specifically to a new way of doing things. 

What does this mean to us, though? Canaanite paganism isn't practiced anymore, as far as I know. In our time and place, there's more of an awareness of respecting others' cultures and religions, even when we don't understand them. So what does it mean to honor a law that condemns magic in 2024?

Although you could investigate how you treat prayer/ritual, the relevant question to me in light of Deuteronomy isn't really "Is prayer inherently magical?" but "Am I being purposeful rather than conforming to those around me? Am I honoring the specific ways Christianity exists? Is my practice relevant to my beliefs, or could it be anyone's? Is it obvious through my rituals that I am a follower of Jesus?" I don't mean you have to advertise (Jesus actually specifically taught against that), but why are you Christian and not anything else? Is Jesus at the center of your practice? 

These ideas are very relevant to me in the US, surrounded by conservatism/evangelicalism—I don't want my faith to look like theirs. Maybe both our practices look like magic to an outsider, but I know how mine is different. (I'm not trying to put myself on a pedestal here—it's all a journey, and I won't pretend I know the "right way" to do things, but I strive towards a practice that causes less harm than theirs.)

To conclude: whatever your prayers/rituals are like, honor God through them. Don't fall into formulas or assumptions, but allow space for God to change you until you are fundamentally at odds with those who use God for evil. In a world of empire and capitalism and conservatism and violence, find a new way of doing things. Look more like God than the world; set apart your life. Paul tells us (Romans 13:8) that love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. I wouldn't worry about whether your prayer looks like magic, but about whether it looks like love.  

<3 Johanna

#asks #i know a jewish person would have a different answer and I am not saying this is the only response. but it is my christian one

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: I may have activated my own trap card

Spoilers for a movie that's two months old and also out on home release.

So, Miles, Gwen, Pavitr (Spider-India), and Hobie (Spider-Punk) all seem to have modern left-wing politics, though Gwen's got edited out. Hobie's introduction specifically says he hates "fascists", which carries over from the original comics.

By the time Hobie came around, I assumed he was just another poser, cooler than the hero rival character, expressing generic leftie politics, and his punk ethos wasn't sincere.

Which is exactly what the writers wanted me to think.

Not only is Hobie perfectly sincere about being anti-authoritarian, but he's been helping Miles since before they even met. He's been blatantly stealing junk from the Spider Society to build his own universe-jumping watch, and disguising it as petty vandalism.

He even tries to talk Miles out of trying to join the Spider-Society before the reveal that Miles himself is an anomaly, and the SS (geddit?) tries to detain Miles.

When Hobie says he's against authoritarianism, he really means it.

Speaking of the left-wing politics, Miles has a "#BLM" pin on his bag. It's very visible while he sits next to his dad.

Who's a cop.

(TANGENT: A few years ago, someone drew a stupid, very bad comic where Spider-Man (Peter Parker) was a) black, b) hated cops, and c) assaulted and subdued riot cops when they asked him for help.

That the comic didn't even show the riot cops were wrong. We were just supposed to assume they deserve to be left to the mercy of an angry mob.

Also, in this comic, Uncle Ben was killed by a cop, not a random thug who Spidey could've stopped but chose not to. Which makes me wonder how that would shake out.

It's kind of weird for someone to look at a character who's about personal responsibility to an unhealthy degree, and use him to express their collectivist anti-cop terrorism fantasies. That, or they didn't think through their fantasies.)

During Spider-India's opening, Miles says "I love Chai Tea!" And Pavitr goes on a rant about how "Chai" means "tea". Later on, The Spot says he's been on a "journey of self-discovery", and Pavitr basically says he's racist.

Which is a tad ironic, because Spot is literally white. And also because Pavitr is the one making the racist assumptions.

And I personally go to a church - in England - that has a lot of non-white non-British people. Mostly Africans. And me, of course. I wonder if any Asians ever went on a journey of self discovery to South London.

And I don't just mean as a cab driver.

"Wait, SYABM, didn't you move to the UK for self-discovery?"

W-well, yes, partially.

Aside: I made the mistake of watching a Youtube video with the Chai Tea joke, and then I looked at the comments.

One guy said "tfw when Twitter users write a movie". An idiot (with much more upvotes) said "bro out here wanting blatant racism in movies".

...When the whole point of the joke is that the racism is not blatant.

It's only "blatant" if you're insufferably Twitterized. There are loads of redundant phrasings in English, like "ATM machine", and words often shift when they're adopted from other languages.

Also, "I dislike this joke" is not the same as "I want racism in this movie", when the "racism" in the movie is only there so it could be mocked.

One of the issues with putting real world movements in worlds that are drastically different - it's one of the main selling points of the franchise - is that it may seem odd that those movements exist in very similar form to the IRL version.

For example, Miles supports BLM in both his video game, and this. Which makes me think "did Trayvon Martin get shot in Florida? How about Mike Brown? Wouldn't the existence of supervillains throw things into a new perspective?"

Did I mention the giant George Floyd-style "REST IN POWER" mural to Miles' dead uncle? I cringed at that in the Wakanda Forever trailer, and I rolled my eyes at it here.

Floyd wasn't a saintly martyr, he was an unlucky violent thug.

Also, Aaron was a supervillain killed by another bad guy who nearly destroyed the city, not a cop.

Also, this is at a party to celebrate how Miles' dad is about to be promoted. Assuming Floyd died and the 2020 protests/riots also happened in Miles' universe, then it seems a tad tasteless to have a mural inspired by an anti-cop movement overlooking it, even if the party is not full of cops.

Spider-India lives in "Mumbattan".

The people who settled the Manhattan area were originally Indian. But the other type of Indian. The Indians we're not supposed to call Indians anymore.

The name "Manhattan" is even Native American.

The first permanent settlement was Dutch. Then the English got it. I guess the English could've shipped Indians to the other side of the world and eventually ceded the area to them, or maybe in this world India was a world-conquering superpower and Mumbattan is the result of...importing Native Americans?

Which would make Pavitr's complaint that "the British stole all of our stuff and put it in their museums" seem a tad hypocritical.

Of course, since I wrote all that, someone reminded me that Pavitr explicitly says the joint is in India.

"SYABM," you say, "you're overthinking this."

Yes, I am. Because the filmmakers didn't think it through. If you want to use ha-ha-funny to make a serious point, you invite examination of that point.

Miles (as Spidey) now works with his dad, though he disguises his voice. At one point, Miles tells his father that men bottle up mental health issues.

This is true (and ironic, considering Miles is hiding who he is from Jeff), but it's not the first time I've seen some progressive work try to address men's issues in an very awkward way. At least here, it's played for comedy.

Also, seems a tad hypocritical coming from a guy who wears a "#BLM" pin in the presence of his cop father.

Also, if you work the timeline, that would mean Miles was about 7 or 6 when BLM started. Which means he's gone most of his life knowing nothing else.

There was a controversy over a "protect trans kids" trans flag in Gwen's room, which was apparently edited out.

IMO, it seems a tad strange for a girl who feels estranged from everyone in her world to join a social movement, but what do I know? Maybe it was there before then.

Some people came to the extremely logical conclusion that Gwen herself is trans. Even though she's distinctly physically feminine and possibly too young for puberty blockers depending on Earth 65′s laws.

Like the "oh great, it's Liv" shippers, people are reaching really hard to see what they want to see.

Some people have said that Gwen's issues with her dad and herself seem awfully similar to the issues LGBTQIA2S+ kids go through.

Gee, it's not like, y'know, feeling estranged from one's family is a common theme in fiction about teenagers and superhero, and the whole "superpowers = minority" thing has been done to death for most of the past century.

Perhaps most notably - and clumsily - in X-Men.

I'm not saying this wasn't the intended subtext. I'm saying if it was, it would just be really, really cliche.

There's this recurring theme of people telling miles "how [his] story is supposed to go".

When he's at a meeting with his parents and his guidance counselor, the lady says his story of being a black-Latino son of an immigrant would sound great in the college application letters. His mom is a tad miffed, given that they're a) solidly middle class, and b) as a Puerto Rican, she considers herself American.

Miguel (Spider-Man 2099) doesn't want Miles in the multiversal council of Spiders, because Miles was bitten by the radioactive spider from a different universe. Which is why his local Spider-Man died, and the spider's home dimension has no Spider-Man.

Also, Miguel is fixated on "canon events". The idea that there are certain things, especially tragedies, that have to happen to Spiders, or their entire universe falls apart.

And he knows this, because he tried to take over for a version of him that got shot dead by a thug. Tried to raise his daughter.

And he watched as the universe collapsed in front of him.

So he's projecting his own guilt onto Miles, a tad.

According to TVtropes and other sources, this was actually about the people who didn't accept Miles as a replacement Spidey, possibly out of racism.

Yeah, that's real hard-hitting topical meta-commentary about a character who debuted 12 years ago. 8 years when the first movie came out.

I'd also like to point out that despite stereotypes of comic book fans, certain minority successors to banner superheros have been fairly well-received. Like Jaime Reyes, or Cassandra Cain.

(Note: I wrote that before the Blue Beetle movie came out. And flopped.)

And, of course, loads of people like Miles specifically because he's a minority Spidey, which is also racist, just from the other direction. In fact, a lot of his fans seem to forget the "Latino" part of "Afro-Latino". From what little I've seen of Miles early comics, they did actually put strong emphasis on his race.

I also suspect the filmmakers may be misinterpreting the usual successor knee-jerk reactions

as racism. If you're using an established brand name for your new hero, you're creating some expectations.

Also, you know the most popular meme about regular Spidey that I see? That Marvel's writers just keep making him suffer and don't want him to actually develop. Which would kinda make Marvel closer to Team Miguel than Team Miles.

Miles also gripes that Miguel is letting "some algorithm" tell him what to do. While I agree with the sentiment, I'd like to point out that, again, Miles supports BLM.

A movement popularized by an algorithm.

A movement made up of narratives and assumptions.

A movement which has never proven a single incident was because of racism.

During the big chase scene, we see a Spider girl in a wheelchair, aka Sun-Spider. She's from the comics. Same initiative that gave us "Web-Weaver".

Who is, of course, an extremely effete gay fashion designer Spidey. I kinda like his outfit, though the Spider-eyes with eyelashes is a little too far.

And Sun-Spider seems exactly like a character a stereotypical 90s executive and focus group would come up with. Down to the backward baseball cap.

(Turns out she's Dayn Broder's actual Spider-Sona.)

Also, while I was looking up that one black and white Spider who said "nowhere to run" (Metro-Spider, played by record producer Metro Boomin [/sic]), I found out that Aunt May's full name is "Maybelle", not just "May". TIL.

There's a bit of a double standard with this version of Spider-Woman, who's black and pregnant. -People in the movie - including Peter B - regularly point out how Peter B endangering his infant daughter Mayday by taking her along with him. But for some reason, nobody says a word about Jessica, who's an active-duty stunt-biking superhero.

Even regular motorbiking can be dangerous for pregnant women.

In fact, the movie portrays this as heroic and impressive. When Gwen sees  Jess is preggos, she asks if Jess can adopt her.

Not to mention the whole "afro and hoop earrings" thing, which seem like a bad idea for a type of hero who often gets into melee combat, even with Spider-Sense.

Yes, I'm aware that female heroes, including the Spider-Ladies, often have exposed hair. It's a genre convention. Incidentally, it was nice to see Batwoman wore a detachable decoy wig in the comics. Some bad guy tries to grab it in a fight? It comes right off.

Also, Jess doesn't have much actual character.

Being pregnant is not a character trait. In fact, her only real traits are basically "cool but stern sassy mentor", to contrast with Peter B. -Incidentally, someone on TVtropes pointed out the double standard. And when I saw the page again, a page-camper had deleted it, with no explanation.

Guess they couldn't stand someone pointing out the flaws of their waifu.

(One) Spider-UK in this movie is Muslim. I know she's Muslim because she wears a Spider-themed headdress. Note that regular Marvel 616 has a muslim lady Spider-UK, but her name is Zarina Zahari and she doesn't wear a hijabi.

(Also, she could be mistaken for Ms. Marvel.)

ms marvel.jpg

You might be thinking "wait, isn't a headdress impractical in a melee fight? Doesn't it give your enemy something to grab?" Yes, it is.

But so are Jess's earrings, afro, and being pregnant, so clearly there's a lot of artistic license going on.

Maybe it's partially tearaway, like Batman's cape.

I gotta wonder about the religious rules of wearing a head covering over a mask that *already* covers your entire head. Did she go see her imam and go "Okay, I have a really weird question..."

Come to think, Spidey is usually slim, but a lot of lady Spideys in this movie seemed to have wide hips. Including muscular ladies. Kris Anka's concept art goes really hard on wide hips. I don't know why. Stronger, faster character reads during the big chase?

I guess Spiders could be expected to have strong legs.

BOTTOM LINE:

I liked the movie overall, though the progressive bits made me roll my eyes a little. I...want to see the third one, with reservations.

#tvtropes #spiderman #character design #movies

[ghost-bxrd]

Ok so I’ve seen your thoughts on Talia being a good mom to both Jason and Damian and generally being a better person vs when she’s morally gray and really only good to Damian, but how do you feel about Bruce being a bad dad? Like personally I don’t like him being abusive but unfortunately…canon does not disprove it 😕🫠. Like do you have hcs or prompts where he switches from one interpretation to the other? Genuinely curious bc my thoughts on him going between these two have me conflicted bc I don’t LIKE him being a bad father, specifically in regards to Jason, but it does kinda fuel some ‘Jason leaves the batfam to go find himself’ stories I’ve seen, but you could argue that Bruce doesn’t NEED to be terrible for that to happen. Idk maybe modern comics have poisoned my ability to ignore Bruce’s history of abusing his children in some way by cranking up that abuse to a solid 20/10 (I’m sure I don’t have to mention what I’m referencing lmao), but it just makes me think. So much would be nicer if he was just a flawed father, but that’s not what his character fully is y’know (this is why I brought up Talia, just realized I was rambling without making that clear lol)

Phew ok, I’ll try to answer this to the best of my abilities!

So keep in mind that these are my personal thoughts and I’m actually not that well versed in comic lore (the comics I’ve read can be counted on one hand sadly but I’m trying to get my hands on more ksksks), and majority of my knowledge comes from research and fanfic.

Okay back to the topic at hand!

Generally I write/read fanfic for some fluffy family feels (and angst) and the occasional romance, hence why I prefer to write Talia and Bruce as being good parents and likable characters in general. I enjoy reading about it, so I enjoy writing it that way.

In regards to Bruce and his canon actions… well, that’s a tough one to answer ngl.

On one hand he’s displayed as a loving adoptive father who absolutely adores is children, on the other hand he’s shown to be ruthless when they violate his no-kill rules (reference to the Batarang incident).

To me this kind of juxtaposition makes little sense, but I’m afraid there are quite a number of character inconsistencies in the franchise from what I’ve seen so…. I don’t know. It’s just such a 180 turnaround to the early concept of the Batman who considers everyone to be redeemable regardless of their crime. Why would that suddenly not apply to his child?

I don’t think I could ever stomach writing him as a genuinely bad father, most I could do to mix it up a little and have him struggle to reach an understanding with Jason regarding his rule over Crime Alley and dealing with his own inability to communicate properly.

Batman was always supposed to be a protector, the “good guy”, but he’s also human. A human with significant trauma that he’s never properly worked through which… can screw with your people skills significantly.

So that’s usually the way I try to look at it whenever I want to write a Bruce who isn’t the World’s Best Dad at the moment. He’s trying, he just doesn’t know how to show it in a way that others can understand, especially his kids. (Yes tho I take full liberty with the more heinous stuff Bruce pulls/pulled in the comics and discard them as if they’re expired candy >.<)

To sum it up, I’m afraid you won’t ever find a fic where either Talia and/or Bruce are genuinely, irredeemably bad. Simply because I personally don’t think that’s how people work in general and because… well, I’m soft and I need some soft parenting in there somewhere. Sorry dear 🥺

Phew ok I think I was rambling a bit here, but I hope that answers your question somewhat? But if you’d like I could totally cook up a prompt for you that deals with Jason and Bruce struggling to come to an understanding and making compromises to be a family again. Feel free to let me know or send another ask if you’d like to stay anonymous 💚💚💚💚

#I’m not sure if this was the answer you were looking for anon but I. tried 💚💚💚💚💚 #look I’m soft and I WILL cry if I read/write bat dad Bruce #I just—- can’t #I’m weak #🥺🥺🥺🥺 #jason todd #batfamily #batfam #bruce wayne #batdad #Talia #fic #prompts #ask and answers #musings #rambling #dcu #Batman

[silviakundera]

silvia's drama watching queue for 2024: a somewhat random assortment of stuff that was rec'd and for some reason feels it might scratch an itch

in progress - started & I swear I'm gonna finish

* Empresses in the Palace - I'M DOING IT BABYYYYY. 9 episodes down. Yes, the emperor looks like your grandpa and so far has the personality of stale toast. But as long as I don't imagine him naked (no, grandpa, no! it's time for your nap!) then it has this vibe of those Masterpiece Theatre productions I watched as a preteen and I already am recognizing tons of famous tropes (some elements of Job of Imperial Concubine already 3x funnier). Also I appreciate a horror story with a high body count and we have 3 victims already 👌

* Derailment - Modern cdrama that I know is great. I'm 3 ep in, just gotta be in the right mood

* Legend of Fei - Wuxia; got distracted halfway through last year but love the 2 lead actors. Not their best work but still.

* Fireworks of my Heart - what if china did a modern Persuasion adaption but he's a fireman and she's a nurse, basically. kinda. idk man, it has those same vibes for me. I like both lead actors (yes I'm on the YY Can Act Sometimes, When He Feels Like It defense squad. fight me). I'm like 1/3 of the way thru, need to be in that melancholy romantic wallow mood. But mmm I do love second chance + pining.

* Secret Romantic Guesthouse - a wild kdrama appears! Historical drama about saving your inn from debtors by finding a missing royal & turning him over to be murdered. you know, just girlboss things. 💁 Some mystery, some romance. I like the FL. Not much slapstick humor or people screaming at each other so far, which will make me tap out. 4 episodes in and it's quite watchable. I'll probably finish.

not started

* The Left Ear because why not? teens being realistically messy 👌

* Go Ahead - so this may sound strange but I've been holding back on this one a long time, until my work hours were less insane & I can focus. Universally beloved, one of the top cdramas. I'll sink my teeth into this Modern in 2024.

* The Blessed Girl cause it sounds like my jam

* Fake It Till You Make It - modern romance that I've seen rave reviews for. Pretty confident I'll love it.

* Gone with the Rain cause dangermousie's posts seduced me. Costume drama.

* West out of Yeman/Parallel World - multi-verse modern with a lil sci fi? I love multiverse and time travel \o/

* Wonderland of Love - historical romance with generals and some court intrigue, a happy ending. On paper, my kind of stuff. But will I make it thru 40 ep depends on how much I vibe with the otp

Maybe

Choice Husband (12 eps romantic comedy, then turns into blood and manipulation? sounds intriguing)

Moonlight - modern workplace drama, editor/author. Reviews are mixed but I have affection for how cdrama scriptwriters will obsessively research a topic in the style of an AO3 fic writer. I expect to learn more than I ever wanted to know about the toils of being an editor.

Marry My Husband - I don't watch many kdramas but I turn up for tropey reborn every time. If they deliver on the promise of a ridiculous but entertaining romance revenge then I'm there.

#drama review #cdrama

[sirfrogsworth]

So, I guess Justine has appointed herself one of the main advocates negotiating the use of A.I. within the film industry.

I don't know how else to say this... she is a ditz.

I used to follow her on Tumblr. I even gave her kids laser eyes. And then I started seeing bad take after bad take. And it is disconcerting when someone with mostly progressive ideology veers into poorly informed points of view. And she went completely off the rails when the COVID lockdowns interfered with her local small business. She was ready to throw grandmas under the bus to protect her profits.

Negotiating how A.I. is used in filmmaking needs to be handled competently by someone who understands the technology.

And that is not her.

First you have the pretentious "very raw" statement. Movies contain multitudes and the ones that are not... raw... are valid too. Then she conflates visual effects with A.I. and throws VFX artists under the bus with the grandmas.

If you want her seal of approval you can only do minor fixes and effects. That is so vague and not at all how modern movies are made. Even smaller films without superheroes and crazy CGI can make extensive use of VFX for set extensions and myriad other invisible things. And while there are some "A.I." powered tools in VFX, that is completely different than generative video. Those tools are used by legit artists and still require skill and experience.

The latest Spider-Verse movie used A.I. tools. They trained the A.I. using their own artwork so it could understand their inking style and apply it to the CG characters. It was not a magic push-button effect. But it did save artists hours and hours of tedious, frame-by-frame work. Would that get Justine's stamp of approval or is it not raw enough?

And then she imagines this A.I. blender thing that does not exist. I guess she thinks the still image generators will easily translate into video and work the same way. I'm reminded of Y2K when people were predicting exploding electrical grids and digital armageddon.

The truth is, we have yet to really see what A.I. will be like in a more video-centric context. The tech is mostly based in the realm of still images. From what I understand, generating images is extremely intensive on servers. Actually, text generation uses quite a bit of computing resources as well. So generating complex A.I. video could require orders of magnitude more resources.

Currently any A.I. video you see is usually just a static talking head that had an animation assist from After Effects. Corridor's controversial A.I. anime video required taking live action footage and converting every frame to an anime-style still image. It took them months.

If you look at this video, no one talks, there are no dynamic camera movements, no dynamic lighting, and people mostly just... blink.

Generating still images is much different than generating video.

And as of now, you cannot even create a finished product with A.I. with still or moving images. I mean, it can barely do hands. The stills are not very high resolution, the prompts are often finicky and take a lot of trial and error to get a usable result. And usually you still have to do a lot of cleanup to use an A.I. image for anything considered professional.

Yes, it will get better and probably at an exponential rate. But we don't actually know what the capabilities will be and how people will take advantage of them.

So to make wild predictions of A.I. blenders that can mix multiple actors into a composite super actor is a little premature.

Creating feature length, cinema quality 4K video is a very long way off. Which means we should probably focus on the current problems and when the technology advances more and we have a better understanding of how it will be used, we can cross that bridge.

Also, even if the studios had the capability to create a composite virtual actor, I don't think audiences would ever accept it. People already get grumpy about CGI. Virtual actors do not worry me that much. I think audiences are always going to demand real people saying lines written by human beings. Maybe I'm being optimistic. And I'm not saying we shouldn't put in place safeguards to prevent misuse of A.I. tech. But I still don't think this is a huge concern.

Right now deepfakes on social media are more troubling than A.I. video generation. A scam Mr. Beast deepfake was just passed around and it was definitely good enough to dupe people. We need to figure out how people's likenesses can be protected. We need ways to verify a video's authenticity.

And when deepfake tech is used in filmmaking (e.g. The Mandalorian season 2 Luke Skywalker) actors need very specific approval powers. It makes sense to use deepfake tools to put an actor's face on a stuntperson. That is an amazing way to improve safety. And I don't have a huge issue with de-aging effects (again with consent). But the actor should be able to approve everything on a case-by-case basis and also control what happens to the training data.

Beyond that... what do we do about dead people? Is it good enough that their "estate" approves? Perhaps it would be a good idea for all living actors to make their wishes known before they pass.

And we need to come up with protocols to ethically train A.I. tools.

I believe A.I. has great potential to actually *help* the filmmaking process if we approach this intelligently. It isn't all good or all evil. It could be used for things like rotoscoping which is a thankless and mind-numbing task. It could make big budget-style VFX accessible to indie filmmakers who can't afford ILM. People could make their own superhero movies outside of the studio system on tiny budgets and a gaming PC.

I have been using A.I. tools to paint out things in Photoshop and it works so much better than the old clone and heal tools. There are so many tedious tasks with my photography and art that I would happily pass off to A.I. so I can focus on the more artistic aspects of creation. And I really hope that is the future of how A.I. is utilized.

I don't know if the dreaded A.I. blender is on the horizon, but I really hope a more serious person takes up this fight. We absolutely need to be careful how this technology develops. But if we leave this to silly people, all of the *actual* negative eventualities are going to happen because we were trying to stop a mutant JLawMeganMerylGinger Cruz from dancing in our movies.

[esc-is-holding-me-hostage]

Okay, I'm finally done with the annual quick reviews. Overall opinion: it's 2020 all over again but the lows are not so low (and the highs are not as high either). The competition is very open, which is refreshing after last year's one-horse race disguised as a two-horse race. There are no songs I would listen to after the contest but as a Eurovision lineup it's pretty entertaining and varied. Also, the girl-bopocalypse of 2021 was much better. Albania The decision of translating the song into English is already questionable but did we really need a fucking dance beat in the last chorus?

Armenia I love how fun it is, but I wish there were, you know, lyrics in the chorus

Australia You couldn't have made a more unsettling music video if you've tried.

Austria I don't know why they've decided to go with bloody eurodance this year. It does not feel updated for the modern times, it's not a cheeky pastiche either. We Will Rave feels like it's been lying around in a vault for the past 20+ years and then the Austrian delegation accidentally stumbled upon it and decided that yes, it will be a perfect Eurovision pick. I still don't hate it though? It might become my guilty pleasure of the year even.

Azerbaijan Why would you bring a guy with such a charismatic moustache just to do a little 10-second chant near the end? He deserves better!

Belgium I should love it. It should've been my number 1, it's Belgium going back to Dark and Moody™, it's what I always want from them. And yet I only like it. The last minute or so is great, but the lead up to that is whatever and doesn't do anything for me.

Croatia The chorus is weak and kinda generic, but the verses are so good they make up for it. The "please meow back" line receives the award for the best lyric of the year.

Cyprus For a twice (or possibly thrice) recycled song it's surprisingly okay. Nothing groundbreaking, it's still a dance-pop song from Kontopoulos, but it's fine.

Czechia I have a complex love-hate relationship with this one. The melody is great, it's exactly the kind of music I listen to outside of ESC. But good lord, do I hate the repetitive self-empowerment lyrics in the chorus.

Denmark Ehhh... She's a good singer I guess.

Estonia I think it's my favorite song of the year? Similarly to Trenulețul it just activates some primal dance spirit in me. Suit jackets on the naked body are still a crime against humanity tho.

Finland Yeah, I'm sorry, but if you hate No Rules, then you hate fun.

France France keeps trying to hide from us what's actually popular in their country.

Georgia It's another generic girl-bop ESC song, we've got half-a-dozen of these this year, but goddamn Nutsa is a fucking powerhouse.

Germany Imagine Dragons-ass production aside, the elephant sounds are such a bizarre choice.

Greece ... I'm sorry but Zari sounds like a bunch of noises with no melody to me, I'm very much not the target audience for this one and I don't get why everyone seems to love it so much.

Iceland Yeah, it's dated and kinda lame but in a very charming way.

Ireland Doomsday Blues is great, but because of all the layering and vocal distortions the live version will always be very different from the studio one. What I'm trying to say is that the live version sounds like an off-off-Broadway villain song.

Israel It's boring as fuck.

Italy It's nice but similarly to Greece I have no idea why is it so beloved by the fandom.

Latvia The song is so boring, that the most talked about part of Latvia's entry is Dons' lack of hair.

Lithuania After I've reassured myself that no, Luktelk does NOT sound like a Ruki Vverkh song it became pretty good.

Luxembourg So much potential in Luxembourg's comeback and yet they went with the most mid(tempo) song ever.

Malta Another generic girl-bop, and the closest we've gotten to an actual SloMo copycat, but it's okay I guess.

Moldova I almost forgot to write anything about Moldova before posting it, which is all you need to know about my opinion on In The Middle.

Netherlands I hate to say it, but I kinda love it? Yeah, Joost has the most punchable face in the history of humanity and I've made several references to my comedically exaggerated hatred of 90s dance music, but Europapa just keeps getting better the more I listen to it.

Norway I like it, but can't really say anything about it other than that.

Poland Very "topped at number 37 in Billboard hot 100 in 2019 and then was featured in a couple ads"-coded

Portugal One of the Portuguese entries of all time (i still like it tho)

San Marino Not as good as Arcadia but I'm happy Megara have made it to Eurovision anyway :)

Serbia It's fine.

Slovenia Similarly to Belgium, I wish I loved it more than I do.

Spain Really fun entry, iconic journey to ESC, but the weak vocals will be the reason the juries will murder Zorra in the Grand Final.

Sweden Not as forgettable as everyone says it is but it's still polished Swedish pop entry #569328

Switzerland From testing the limits of my attention span two years ago to making the most ADHD song of the year, huh. The Code is so many things at once and yet it works without feeling like a disjointed mess.

Ukraine I miss the times when Jerry was making funny meme songs, now we're stuck with her religious awakening era. Alyona's verse is the highlight of the song, everything else is good if you don't think about the lyrics too much.

United Kingdom I don't know how, but the UK has managed to make a decent song that I kind of hate yet again. The production in Dizzy annoys me to no end, I fucking hate the bells and the synths in the chorus, why are they so fucking annoying.

#eurovision #esc #posting before the rehearsals how punctual of me

[astrum-aetherium]

HEY GIRLIE LUV UR BLOG was just wonderin what type of modern media (like after the 80s or smth) henry wld like in ur opinion? things like idk music/artists or movies/shows or heck even musicals! ^^

awh, thank you so much!! i'm always heartened greatly to see people finding enjoyment in my blog and my content. i do this for all of us henry-enamored masses, as goddd knows we deserve it. there is such a profound lack of content about him pretty much everywhere.

this is such a thrilling ask to receive! i would love to share my thoughts on that. because i have strong perfectionist tendencies, however, i will deviate from the instructions a little bit and break this down into two sections — a short mention of interests that align with the canonical timeline, and one that attunes to a more modern setting. beware that i'm incredibly biased, but all of these just make sense to me. click on links to hear examples.

so, we know that TSH takes place in the 80s. it's never directly mentioned which year we are actually toying with, but it's sort of generally established in the fandom that the story starts in the late summer/fall of 1983 (richard attending hampden and joining the greek class), and ends in the summer of 1984 (henry doing what he did). therefore, these first few propositions on my end are based on this boundary. not to worry, however — it'll be quite short, as i, as a contemporary member of gen z, have way more things to add to the modern list.

he would be quite fond of classical music, there's no way around it. specifically, and mostly because of donna tartt's own description of him likening an old ballerina, i would even go as far as saying that he prefers ballet. take tchaikovsky as an example — swan lake or the nutcracker as the classics, definitely. i wouldn't even exclude the possibility that he would like to go see performances thereof (aside from reimaginations of ancient greek theater, of course). i'm not exactly well-versed in classical music, but from what i do know, i would also like to add that he could like rachmaninoff, shostakovich, beethoven and bach, of course. chopin, even. and yes, i know, this might be quite boring to uninterested minds — which is why i will be moving on.

to assume a slightly more modernized viewpoint (80s-90s)... he would love depeche mode. specifically their albums some great reward, black celebration, and ultra — the comparably darkest ones. this doesn't quite align with the "canonical" timeline as all of those were released around/after 1984, but i just know he would. specifically the songs but not tonight, only when i lose myself, lie to me, if you want, and (of COURSE) enjoy the silence. just basically depeche mode as a whole — so fitting.

for a more broad approach to slightly older music: tears for fears, the cure, duran duran, billie joel, U2, chris isaak, the smiths.

now, to modern stuff. i have to mention lana del rey. there is no way around her when i talk about henry. ultraviolence and honeymoon are his albums. from UV: specifically shades of cool, black beauty, and the title track itself. from honeymoon: the blackest day, swan song, terrence, and, once again, the title track itself. from other albums, i'd say: if you lie down with me, did you know, NFR, national anthem, and i can fly. a bonus mention of unreleased songs that suit him so well: cult leader, tv in black and white, and serial killer. can you tell i am a diehard lana fan? always have, always will. i could write a novel-length essay about how each song on her discography correlates with henry. i love them both so.

other examples of newer music he would like: mitski (specifically heat lightning and once more to see you, but generally all of them), lorde, mac demarco, local natives, the national, birdy. and — you need to hear me out — some taylor swift songs. i think he would appreciate the poeticism of folklore (e.g. hoax, this is me trying, the lakes) and evermore (cowboy like me, tolerate it). sue me.

when it comes to film and tv... i'd say he would be one of those people who genuinely enjoy silent movies, lol. pretentiously so. to be less humorous, i think he'd quite enjoy complex dramas. the haunting of hill house, maybe. the sixth sense. the shining. the silence of the lambs. hannibal. TROY (although he would complain and complain and complain about the inaccuracy but still like it). a clockwork orange. dexter. evidently, i'm not a huge movie nerd, which is why this might be a little general. but here are just some thoughts.

for musicals, i needed to consult my devoted theater kid friend. to make a long debate short, we agree that it would be the phantom of the opera, les mis, and heathers (for some funny reason). as an explanation on the latter — he would enjoy the hierarchy concept and the dark comedy of it all. but this is just a wild card, lol. the other two are more fitting (specifically the phantom of the opera!).

this took longer than anticipated to compose, but i hope it provides some sort of outlook. thank you, once again, for this wonderful ask! i was overjoyed to say the absolute least.

#astrum asks #henry winter #the secret history #dark academia #please add anything you deem fitting #this feels very right

[transgenderer]

On the Norse, Indic, and Iranian stories of the origin of the world from the dismembered bodies of a god, from "The Indo-European Myth of Creation", Lincoln, 1975

The general resemblance among these texts is certainly quite clear. In all of them a primordial being is killed and dismembered, and from his body the cosmos is fashioned.28 Yet, there are differences in each account (beyond the petty difference that the body-world homologies do not always match up), and it is evident that certain transformations have taken place within each culture and within each text. The dismemberment is performed by gods intwo of the accounts and by a demon in the third. The victim is accompanied by an ox in one text, a cow in another, and has no companion in the third. The act is treated as a sacrifice once, but as murder twice. Most perplexingly, the names of the victims bear no resemblance to one another. The primordial victim is Ymir in Scandinavia, Gayomart in Iran, and Purusa in India. The question must arise: Are these figures who are structurally so similar really related in any historical way ?

The answer is certainly yes, and it is here that the Old Norse version best preserves the P-I-E heritage. Old Norse Ymir, as Guintert first demonstrated, is derived from Proto-Germanic *yumlyaz, which in turn is derived from P-I-E *ya2m(i)y6s (*Ymr[mi]y6s, as it might be written in a more modern orthography), a term intimately related to P-I-E *yemo- "twin."29 This word corresponds to Lettishjumis, "double fruit"; Middle Irish emuin, "twin"; Latin geminus, "twin"; Avestan yama, "twin"; and, most significantly, to the proper names Avestan Yima = Sanskrit Yama, which literally signify "twin" as well.30 Based on this phonological and semantic correspondence, we hypothesize that there was originally a mythic correspondence and that all are derived from a figure in the P-I-E myth.

Iranian evidence supports this hypothesis, for behind the figure of Gay6mart we may discern the older figure of Yima.3' The way in which this transformation took place is somewhat complex. First, it must be recognized that in pre-Zoroastrian Iran, Yima was not merely king of the golden age, but, as Christensen so skillfully demonstrated, was regarded as first king, first mortal, and first to die.32 This tradition, however, was rejected by Zarathustra, who soundly condemns Yima the only time that he mentions him (Yasna 32.8). There is one verse, however, in which Zarathustra does make an oblique reference to the myth of creation by sacrifice: YASNA 30.4 And when these two spirits first met [the good and evil spirits], they instituted Life (gaem) and non-life, and how life should be at the end.33 Moreover, these two spirits are said to have "appeared in the beginning as two twins (yjmd) in a dream."34

In these verses several eminent Iranists have recognized that Zarathustra attempted to deal with an earlier myth of creation which he found objectionable but which he could not completely ignore.35 Thus, he philosophized the myth, changing its characters into abstract entities, but retaining the essential mythologem that the first living man died at the creation of the world. Ironically, however, a re-mythologization of Zarathustra's version took place in later centuries. In the verse cited above, the Avestan term translated "life" is gaya-, which in the Younger Avesta is often combined with the term maratan-, "mortal"36 to form the name given the first mortal man, who was created and died at the beginning of the world-Gaya maratan.37 This name comes into the Pahlavi (Middle Persian) of our Bundahisn text as Gayomart. Thus, the development is Middle Persian Gayomart < Younger Avestan Gaya maratan < Gathic Avestan gaya < Pre-Zoroaster Yima

In India, too, it seems that the figure of Yama lies behind the Purusa of the Vedic hymn. Most scholars have agreed that Yama is another First Man/First King figure and have also noted that he is the first to die, thus establishing the realm of the dead.45 Several scholars, however, have been willing to go somewhat further and equate his freely chosen death and his abandonment or transcendence (< Skt. pra-Vric-) of his body as in RV 10.13.4 with the sacrifice in Purusa in RV 10.90.46 As Dandekar, who most effectively argued the case, put it, the Purusasuikta is merely a more detailed setting of the Yama myth of RV 10.13.4.47 In light of the comparison to Ymir and Yima, I am inclined to agree. The name Purusa literally means "Man" and seems to be a title born of philosophical and theological speculation. Such speculation changed this figure's name again in the Brahmanas, as Purusa, "Man," became Prajapati, "Lord of Creatures,' but the under-lying story is still the same.48 The morphological and structural features convince us that this is the same figure encountered in Iran and Scandinavia-*Yenlo, "Twin"-first king49 and first sacrificial victim, from whose body the world was made.

honestly the purusa connection seems kind of dubious (although i mean, yama being a first-man figure and purusa just meaning "man" does seem like a strong association) but i love how elaborate and yet imo totally plausible the yima->gayomart transformation is

also if youre curious, lincoln argues that dismembering-god-to-make-the-world stories arent independent even though we see an example that should be independent in china, he argues that's influence from india. he also alludes to a similar polynesian and south american myth which must be independent but he doesnt give any details and i cant find any so no idea whats going on there

[verysmolnerd]

The mysterious medallion

Ares x reader

(Based off a dream that I had)

(Lmfao my first impression of Ares was him decking Diana in the face. So I’ll put the gif here too)

You hold up a medallion with uncertainty. Some stranger pushed it in your hands and walked away without a trace. It’s made of solid gold too, the ribbon on it had to be made with the finest silk too. The design on it is unheard to you… it’s essentially priceless.

What do you do with it precisely? Well, you slide it into your pocket and go about the rest of the convention. It’s one where inventions of all kinds come and present. You’ve been looking forward to see the one coming from Octavius industries.

You socialize, talking about your first few years wearing a lab coat. You’re relived that your predecessors are far kinder than you expected, that they had set their egos aside in order to aid in hurting the next generation of bright minds.

You ended up sticking with a group of college grads, talking about the scientific industry bits and bobs. What to do after getting that doctorate, dissertation strategies, etc.

“I never got to ask, what school do you lot come from?” They seemed very eager to answer, but all had the same answer, “M.I.T.” You gave them a muted applause, to which they bowed slightly and snickered.

“What college did you come from? You’re a chemist, right?” You nodded, “Yes! And I graduated from Harvard. That full ride made it easy, that’s for sure.” That gained you some silence applause, to which you mimicked the bow that they did moments ago.

“Now how are-“ whatever you were going to say was cut off with a hiss. You felt something heat up in your pockets that it was borderline about to burn you. You his and pull out the medallion, holding it exclusively by the ribbon. It’s practically glowing and heat is radiating off it.

There’s a moment of shocked silence between you and your new friends. Until one stepped forward and their fingers ghosted the burning metal, “That’s…. That’s the symbol of a god.” You eyes widened, “What?!”

“You heard me,” they said, continuing their observation, “There was a way for gods to pick their favorite mortal, and they did that by sending some sort of wealthy apparel.” You weren’t sure what to make of it.

“What god do you think sent me this?” You ask and they furrow their brows, looking at every single detail in it. Their face went dark, “Ares.” You felt like gagging, your stomach felt uneasy and your legs felt weak…. But that doesn’t mean the gods are real! Right?

Someone came running into the convention hall, “There’s a bunch of people on Greek getup and they’re attacking the center!!!” You panicked and decided to throw the medallion under a table. You then whip around to retrieve your friends.

Just because the entire room is full of the smartest individuals in the world does not mean that they are wise. They lack in athletics and street smarts, both of which you’re fairly versed in.

You waved them over snd started running for the emergency exit. Only for the door to burst wide opens and a bunch of Greek solders to come pouring in. A bunch had taken prisoners to a lot of the scientists. It’s a little ironic that a lot do them make powerful weapons and they’re too afraid to use them because of the fragility they’ve developed for them in their mind.

So you grab ahold of a metal pipe, you have a gut feeling that you might have to fight a few soldiers that don’t belong in modern times. You take for the second floor in the center. You stay low when walking on the roof, not wanting to bring any attention to yourself.

You also dial the authorities, knowing full well that others have not because they’re currently being taken out of the convention center. The sheer panic in their eyes makes you turn away. You can’t bear to see them hurt.

However, you did notice that all the solders report to one much larger and mentor muscular, one with hair of white. That must be Ares…. And just looking at him from the back, he could snap you like a twig.

He whipped around and you made eye contact with his cold eyes. You stagger back and he smiles, even from a great distance away, just a mere glance sends you spiraling.

You run back inside, hiding in one of the smallest offices rooms you can find. The center was empty, considering that everyone that occupied the space before was either captured or holding said occupants hostage.

The entire room is silent, with no really other way out than the way you came in. You just hope that the mindless warriors will over look the room you’re hiding in and leave you be. Not to mention, that the authorities should be showing up soon.

Speaking of which, you heard the noises of sirens, and all sorts of unspeakable violence. You shudder, hoping that you can just wait it out. The at everything will pan out in your favor.

However, your hopes were soon shoot dead when the office door was ripped off its hinges and thrown to the side as if it were mere paper. You bite down on your had to suppress a scream and tuck further into your hiding spot.

“Come out now,” Ares said, his voice shook your to your very core, “I can smell your fear.” You choke down any subconscious noise you could make, but he still found you.

His eyes pierced through your entire body and very soul. His smile was sinister and hungry. You find it odd when he kneels down to your level, “You shouldn’t be, mortal. For I have spared you.”

You opened your mouth but no words came out and he only laughed, “I sent my medallion to you, we are bound to be wed.” You rear your head back, appalled, “We?” He smirked, “Indeed. I will give you what no mortal man can be capable of doing.”

He leans in, his breath ghosting your lips, “Make you a god.” Your heart stopped beating, you’re surprised the constant state of shock you’ve been in hasn’t made you queasy. “You can’t tell me that I don’t intrigue you. If it makes you feel better, I find you absolutely fascinating.”

That’s the thing, being a point of interest to any god is not good. It never ends well for any human stuck under their blazing gazes. And you? You are cornered like a wild animal and the hunter deduced to pamper you, put you on display for all those unfortunate enough to cross his path.

You were so caught up in your mind that you helped when he picked you up, throwing you over his shoulder. All you could do was appear puzzled as he declares you to be his newly beloved… in front of a bunch of alders and scientists.

He takes off with you, holding on tight in… specific areas. “We will marry at the gates of Olympus, to which you watch me slaughter my father and take his throne!”

Who knows what’s going to happen to you? You’re certainly stumped.

#fanfic #fanfiction #ares #wonder woman #wonder woman (2009) #ares (2009) #ares x reader #drabbles

[agonycrossbow]

General Leon backstory headcanons

this feels so... self-indulgent and cringey now in modern-day fandom, after having dedicated so much time to arguing what is or isn't canon and having to explain multiple times, at great lengths, that the mafia backstory is not canon and why it's not. my brain is just like "shut up and just be glad that people are starting to listen to you at all."

but

this is basically the backstory I've come up with for Leon and have been using for mmmm around 20 years, give or take (though I tweaked some slight things to account for Remake Leon, which I'll also note):

● grew up in a suburb around the Hartford, CT area

● only child

● very religious/uptight Catholic mom, dad was basically Mike Cosgrove from Freakazoid

● like seriously, the personalities of his parents couldn't be more different, to the point where it almost doesn't make sense to anyone on the outside looking in how they ended up together at all. but his mom really loves how stable and grounded her husband is and appreciates his really awful sense of humor, and dad fell in love with his wife's cooking and the way she actually laughs at his jokes and the fact that she really believes in something greater than herself -- because he doesn't, and he wishes he did. they also share a taste in music, surprisingly.

● "Scott" is a family name, but Leon's dad was already "the third" and he was like "you really wanna put this kid through being 'the fourth'? that's stupid. just make it his middle name." Leon has never told a single person in his adult life this, but his parents and his very early childhood friends (up until about middle school) actually called him "Scottie" -- because "Scott" was his dad. (yes this headcanon was born directly from how funny I find the whole "Mr. Scott Kennedy" shit in OG RE4 and I'm not sorry) mom's name is Carol.

● mom was a middle school geography teacher (and CCD teacher). dad was a cop (he was bASICALLY COSGROVE)

● was always closer with his dad than his mom, despite the fact that his mom very clearly and very desperately wanted him to be a mama's boy. it wouldn't be quite correct to say that his mom was emotionally abusive, but she definitely didn't Get Him and very rarely actually listened to what he had to say -- she had a pre-constructed image in her head of the kind of person she wanted him to be, and anything that didn't fit that image was either questioned or ignored outright. (NOTE FOR REMAKE-VERSE LEON: this was even worse for Remake Leon, who has a lot more self-awareness than his OG counterpart and started to suspect that he may not be fully straight pretty early in life, even if his conservative upbringing didn't give him the language to express what, exactly, he was feeling. he had a crush on a boy once, vaguely mentioned it in a very roundabout way to his mom, and then spent the next like 10 years convinced he was going to hell. see here for a more in-depth explanation of how I view Leon's sexuality.) dad gave far less of a shit about who his kid was, so long as he wasn't doing dumb shit to get himself in trouble or arrested or something. as a result, Leon's really stupid sense of humor came from his dad, because they did spend a decent amount of time together. the two of them + Leon's uncle (dad's brother), who was maybe a little bit off his rocker, always went hunting once a year.

● was never super religious like his mom is, but still definitely believed. didn't pray regularly -- but prayed enough. he can pinpoint the exact moment that he lost his faith, though: when, while in Raccoon City, he first considered suicide -- and he realized that he was looking not to God for salvation, but to his gun. even as an adult, he won't outwardly classify himself as an atheist, but his general feelings towards God and faith are: "if God is up there, He's not listening anymore."

● wasn't ever super popular in school, but was never an outcast loser nerd, either. he was just kind of... there. he had his own little circle of skater kid/grungecore and metalhead friends, and they just kind of did their own thing.

● didn't actually start to get hot until senior year of high school and kind of thought that people were taking the piss when they started looking at him differently after he'd been so completely ignored as a dating/sexual prospect for so long. plus he had a girlfriend by then, and they'd been together for a while, so he didn't really think too hard about how other people were looking at him, anyway.

● he and his long-term high school girlfriend broke up before they both went off to college, mutually, just because they were going to different schools. (NOTE FOR REMAKE-VERSE LEON: OG Leon lost his virginity to that girlfriend at age 16; Remake Leon didn't. the Remake version of his girlfriend was too prudish to go all the way, but third base was a familiar friend.) this was to the great relief of the girlfriend's dad, who fucking hated Leon's guts and frequently told him that he would never marry his daughter (and once chased him out of the house with a shotgun, but that's a different story).

● played lacrosse in high school. didn't love it, mostly did it to put on college applications. actually wanted to play football, but his mom was adamant about not allowing him to (AND SHE WAS SUPER RIGHT HOLY SHIT DON'T LET YOUR KIDS PLAY AMERICAN FOOTBALL).

● dabbled in some arts stuff here and there in high school and college, but never in a serious way and never for any great length of time. he was more of a math nerd than anything else. but he spent like, half of a school year involved with the lit mag and, despite being a not terrible poet and short story author due to having an inherently romantic nature, dropped it pretty fast out of disinterest. tried being involved with the school paper, dropped that within a year due to disinterest. thought about picking up the guitar because some of his friends were musicians, but never committed to it. the only thing that ever stuck was an interest in film; he spent a decent amount of time in the A/V club and really enjoyed the editing process. probably would've majored in it in college if not for his far greater interest in criminal justice, so he just kept doing it on the side for fun. took some electives for it in college, at the very least, and worked on some student films. mostly horror films, which is ironic to him in hindsight.

● did not go into criminal justice because of his dad; it's just a coincidence that he ended up being interested in the same field that his dad worked. Leon has always had a problem with bullies and was that guy in high school who inserted himself into situations that didn't involve him, just to stand up for someone else. got in only a handful of fist fights as a result of this, and the extent of the scolding from his dad was "knock it off. quit screwin around. you screw around too much." in the most non-committal, "don't actually stop though" tone possible, followed by taking him to get burgers. his mom lost her mind any time he got sent home from school for fighting, though -- and the one time he actually ended up suspended was Literal Hell for that full week. but, either way -- for him, growing up with a very positive opinion of law enforcement to begin with, criminal justice seemed like a natural fit.

● beyond the few times he got in trouble for fighting (in fights he never started and always won), the worst trouble he ever got into was that time his mom found out that he and his friends snuck beer into a Green Day concert in 1994. that was also the first time she learned that her 17-year-old son was already drinking. he got grounded until graduation.

● overall was just a pretty good kid, though. constantly on honor roll. graduated college with a 3.7 GPA.

● mostly behaved in college, too, but he definitely went out and partied when he didn't have anything school-related to worry about. OG Leon partied way more frequently and way harder than Remake Leon did, though. OG Leon dragged his dick all over campus. Remake Leon had maybe a handful of drunken hookups (that still never actually got him laid) and spent most parties being that guy who was taking care of his much drunker friends. catch Remake Leon standing over one of his friends who has their face planted in the sand at a beach party like "hey man. you good? we can't leave yet. I gotta finish this beer." Remake Leon also made an excellent wingman.

● after getting hired at the RPD but before actually able to move out there (in late August, roughly), he did go out to Raccoon City to try to land an apartment so that he'd be ready once he actually did move. he filmed most of that week-long trip in a sort of self-documentary style and edited it all together with the intention of giving it to his parents before he left, in case they started to miss him -- so that they could see where he was and who he'd likely be hanging around with and all that stuff, because he is a Good Boy. he ultimately never finished the very last part of it because of the phone call he got to stay away from the city a week prior to his move, and he soon forgot he'd ever made something like that at all. his mom found it a few months later while cleaning up his room, which she did frequently as a grief response "so that it'll be ready for him when he comes home."

● to date, Leon's family and friends from back home think he died in Raccoon City. the CIA kept a tight leash on where he went and who he spoke to for the first four years of his captivity -- he basically didn't get freedom to live his own life until after Operation Javier. by the time he had the ability to call or visit home, he felt like it was too late -- that it'd be crueler to show up out of the blue after being "dead" for so long -- especially considering that he couldn't stay in their lives. he'd basically just be showing up to say "hey not dead" and then have to disappear again. so he just sort of... let it go. though, of all of the terrible things he's done in the time since then, this is the one thing that weighs heaviest on his conscience -- the one thing that he feels guiltiest about most often. but he continues to stay away, because he has nothing kind to say about the life he's lived or the man he's become. even if he were to go home now, he's convinced that his parents would not recognize their son.

● he doesn't know this, but there is an upright grave marker for him in a cemetery in his hometown dated 1977-1998. buried there is an empty casket with only a framed photo of him. his parents still lay flowers there twice a year: once on his birthday and once on the anniversary of Raccoon City's destruction.

#resident evil headcanons #leon headcanons