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spocks-kaathyra · 8 months

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thoughts about the Cardassian writing system

I've thinking about the Cardassian script as shown on screen and in beta canon and such and like. Is it just me or would it be very difficult to write by hand?? Like.

I traced some of this image for a recent drawing I did and like. The varying line thicknesses?? The little rectangular holes?? It's not at all intuitive to write by hand. Even if you imagine, like, a different writing implement—I suppose a chisel-tip pen would work better—it still seems like it wasn't meant to be handwritten. Which has a few possible explanations.

Like, maybe it's just a fancy font for computers, and handwritten text looks a little different. Times New Roman isn't very easily written by hand either, right? Maybe the line thickness differences are just decorative, and it's totally possible to convey the same orthographic information with the two line thicknesses of a chisel-tip pen, or with no variation in line thickness at all.

A more interesting explanation, though, and the one I thought of first, is that this writing system was never designed to be handwritten. This is a writing system developed in Cardassia's digital age. Maybe the original Cardassian script didn’t digitize well, so they invented a new one specifically for digital use? Like, when they invented coding, they realized that their writing system didn’t work very well for that purpose. I know next to nothing about coding, but I cannot imagine doing it using Chinese characters. So maybe they came up with a new writing system that worked well for that purpose, and when computer use became widespread, they stuck with it.

Or maybe the script was invented for political reasons! Maybe Cardassia was already fairly technologically advanced when the Cardassian Union was formed, and, to reinforce a cohesive national identity, they developed a new standardized national writing system. Like, y'know, the First Emperor of Qin standardizing hanzi when he unified China, or that Korean king inventing hangul. Except that at this point in Cardassian history, all official records were digital and typing was a lot more common than handwriting, so the new script was designed to be typed and not written. Of course, this reform would be slower to reach the more rural parts of Cardassia, and even in a technologically advanced society, there are people who don't have access to that technology. But I imagine the government would be big on infrastructure and education, and would make sure all good Cardassian citizens become literate. And old regional scripts would stop being taught in schools and be phased out of digital use and all the kids would grow up learning the digital script.

Which is good for the totalitarian government! Imagine you can only write digitally. On computers. That the government can monitor. If you, like, write a physical letter and send it to someone, then it's possible for the contents to stay totally private. But if you send an email, it can be very easily intercepted. Especially if the government is controlling which computers can be manufactured and sold, and what software is in widespread use, etc.

AND. Historical documents are now only readable for scholars. Remember that Korean king that invented hangul? Before him, Korea used to use Chinese characters too. And don't get me wrong, hangul is a genius writing system! It fits the Korean language so much better than Chinese characters did! It increased literacy at incredible rates! But by switching writing systems, they broke that historical link. The average literate Chinese person can read texts that are thousands of years old. The average literate Korean person can't. They'd have to specifically study that field, learn a whole new writing system. So with the new generation of Cardassian youths unable to read historical texts, it's much easier for the government to revise history. The primary source documents are in a script that most people can't read. You just trust the translation they teach you in school. In ASIT it's literally a crucial plot point that the Cardassian government revised history! Wouldn't it make it soooo much easier for them if only very few people can actually read the historical accounts of what happened.

I guess I am thinking of this like Chinese characters. Like, all the different Chinese "dialects" being written with hanzi, even though otherwise they could barely be considered the same language. And even non-Sinitic languages that historically adopted hanzi, like Japanese and Korean and Vietnamese. Which worked because hanzi is a logography—it encodes meaning, not sound, so the same word in different languages can be written the same. It didn’t work well! Nowadays, Japanese has made significant modifications and Korean has invented a new writing system entirely and Vietnamese has adapted a different foreign writing system, because while hanzi could write their languages, it didn’t do a very good job at it. But the Cardassian government probably cares more about assimilation and national unity than making things easier for speakers of minority languages. So, Cardassia used to have different cultures with different languages, like the Hebitians, and maybe instead of the Union forcing everyone to start speaking the same language, they just made everyone use the same writing system. Though that does seem less likely than them enforcing a standard language like the Federation does. Maybe they enforce a standard language, and invent the new writing system to increase literacy for people who are newly learning it.

And I can imagine it being a kind of purely digital language for some people? Like if you’re living on a colonized planet lightyears away from Cardassia Prime and you never have to speak Cardassian, but your computer’s interface is in Cardassian and if you go online then everyone there uses Cardassian. Like people irl who participate in the anglophone internet but don’t really use English in person because they don’t live in an anglophone country. Except if English were a logographic writing system that you could use to write your own language. And you can’t handwrite it, if for whatever reason you wanted to. Almost a similar idea to a liturgical language? Like, it’s only used in specific contexts and not really in daily life. In daily life you’d still speak your own language, and maybe even handwrite it when needed. I think old writing systems would survive even closer to the imperial core (does it make sense to call it that?), though the government would discourage it. I imagine there’d be a revival movement after the Fire, not only because of the cultural shift away from the old totalitarian Cardassia, but because people realize the importance of having a written communication system that doesn’t rely on everyone having a padd and electricity and wifi.

#if I read over this again I will inevitably want to change and add things so I'm refraining from doing that. enjoy whatever this is #forgive my very crude recounting of chinese and korean history! I am neither a historian nor a linguist #but I will NOT apologize for talking abt china so much. that's my culture and I'm weird abt it bc of my family history #and it's my GOD GIVEN RIGHT to project what little I know abt it onto all my worldbuilding #also I've never actually read abt any of the various cardassian conlangs but I'm curious if this contradicts or coincides with any of them #I still want to make my own someday. starting college as a linguistics major (in 2 weeks!!) so presumably I will learn how to do that #narcissus's echoes #ds9 #asit #star trek #cardassians #cardassian meta #a stitch in time #hebitians

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runawaycarouselhorse · 3 months

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Our pure-hearted, all-loving hero... he can be a little brat (especially back in OS/early in his journey, when he was much more of a hot-blooded boy hero), but his heart's worth its weight in solid gold and he grows into such a kind, patient character with strong ideals, which is why Hero of Ideals suits him best (even the movie manga opted to adapt that version of the movie, rather than the one where Ash is Hero of Truth, and expanded on it!)

[I hope you have "long post" and "image heavy" muted if you need to, because this post's a doozy and given tumblr, if my blog's ever deleted, posts with read mores will be rendered inaccessible forever, so I don't like to make them!]

A lot of people complained about how young Ash looked in BW! (and complained even more about Sun & Moon's very divisive art style... and we wound up seeing great growth for his love of a whole region, and achieved a goal integral to achieving his dreams), but from the first episode of BW!, my first impression was of how mature and calm Ash is with Iris and Trip in regards to their initially abrasive and varingly aloof personalities.

Iris was friendlier and more excitable, more childlike, but Ash took her barbs in stride and patiently waited for her to open up about her dreams (she keeps it secret in the first episode, using that cute, childish word "naisho" instead of saying it's a secret "himitsu"--the same childish word she uses when asked about what Kairyuu/Dragonite told her in their reunion episode) and background (we don't know she ran away from the academy or what her hometown was like until season 2!)

The way Ash handled Tory (who was a traumatized, younger child--and Ash wanted to fight him at first, before understanding him!), Lucario (also traumatized, insulted Ash and Pikachu's bond--Ash fought him and fell off a hill, wrestling with him, before he saw Lucario's memory of being "abandoned" and broke down in tears, apologizing for what he said when he didn't know anything...), Chimchar (a traumatized Pokemon, Ash was patient, kind, and loving to him, even when he lashed out while out of control due to Blaze, which he previously could only use to save his life...), etc., is very different from how he handled Iris (who was bullied subtly by being completely ostracized, no one would sit or eat or play with her at the academy, she was so depressed, she stopped eating--this is canon and not lingered on, but she plainly says it and that her dorm mother making her food that would remind her of home, just berries skewered on a stick, "saved her") and even Trip.

(By the way, Ash apologizing to Lucario, in tears of regret over what he said to Lucario when he didn't understand him is when I first started to truly love and respect Ash's character and growth! Before that, I really was only a big fan of the TRio.)

By contrast to those rockier beginnings with other kids, Ash was patient and encouraging with Trip, even while Trip purposefully kept him and everyone else (even his Pokemon who loved him, as Alder said...) at bay and rejected all his attempts at friendship, before he got the answers he needed from Alder and slowly stopped shutting others out. He had every right to lash out at Trip for making fun of him, but kept trying to befriend him and showed interest in his journey and growth.

(Trip was also his youngest main rival at that point, even if he is a very book-smart child prodigy type who was an excellent battler from the start, he still fell apart in front of unexpected, unorthodox techniques like Bell/Bianca and Satoshi/Ash's out-of-the-box strategies.)

Naturally, there's also his very patient and encouraging bond with Lillie, who also had her trauma-induced fear of Pokemon (much like Tory!) and dissociative amnesia, the early loss of her father in infancy, and the distance between her and her mother (too wrapped-up in work and her obsession with Ultra Beasts to notice her own child's trauma and falling behind her peers...) to overcome, but the focus of this post is BW! I already write a lot about Lillie, she's another favourite of mine. <3

It's worth noting, too, that Pikachu was Ash's first "problem Pokemon"... even if it's usually the Fire types who are traumatized, Pikachu has abandonment issues like Chimchar and Tepig did. Pikachu famously hates being inside a pokeball and Ash always repesects this boundary and becomes very, very upset in XY when he believed Pikachu was forced into a pokeball... the pokeball factory episode was, otherwise, a very light-hearted episode, but Pikachu's boundaries and possible trauma is taken seriously.

This scene mirrors a similar breakdown Alain has when he finds out all he's done, under the impression he was protecting his loved ones, was aiding Lysandre's genocidal plans... both smash their fists into hard surfaces, blaming themselves for failing to protect loved ones.

In a very early Kanto episode, Sparks Fly for Magnemite, we learn Pikachu has abandonment issues so bad, he doesn't want to be separated from Ash for even an overnight stay in the Pokemon Center. It seems Pikachu (fortunately) quickly become much more secure in his bond with Ash and no longer fears being separated for medical treatment, but this is very, very sad and telling!

Although we never delve very deeply into that for most of the series... (an early magazine scan has Ookido-hakase/Professor Oak theorize Pikachu's previous trainer abandoned it), we were finally given some answers late in series!

In the AU movie, Pikachu says* his reason for not going into the pokeball: "It's because I always want to be with you." ;O;

... unless this is a dream or hallucination, given Ash is on the verge of unconsciousness when it happens--but if we really want to believe it happened, maybe his latent Aura post-cognition abailities kicked in and he understood Pikachu's feelings, like when Victini slept in his lap, crying, and Ash saw Victini's dream of his past.

As for the main series canon, in the first episode of Pocket Monsters 2019 (Pokemon Journeys), we learn Ash's Pikachu was a lone, possibly orphaned, Pichu, who was briefly raised by a Kangaskhan, carried in her pouch with her child, until he grew too heavy and quietly left at night (without saying goodbye) to live by his own strength, evolving into Pikachu as he did so.

If Lusamine not taking Lillie's (because they're irrational or not logical) feelings seriously gave her a complex where she always needed to claim her stances are "logical" even when they're based in emotion... I wonder what it tells us that "child prodigy" Trip defaulting to blaming his loss to Alder on him doing something wrong or being inherently lacking ("What did I do wrong? What do I lack?"), because he doesn't ever consider a simple difference in experience is all it is... that Alder's many years of wisdom and Pokemon training give him an advantage over rookie trainer Trip, who's shown to be averse to being called a "child" (Iris ropes him into battling Ash twice by calling him a kid), because he always has to prove he's an adult. He thinks there's something inherently "lacking" in him or "wrong" about his method if he doesn't achieve.

All of that is canon, but if you further analyze his character, Trip has a superiority complex, which is very often a defense mechanism to mask feelings of inferiority. He canonically places a lot of worth in the image he projects and constantly puts down others. Add that to being a child prodigy and his preoccupation with proving he's an adult (but doesn't bat an eyelid at someone calling him "unjust" for his violent methods in the Venipede episode, like he's already accepted being a terrible person, because he thinks striving for peace like idealistic Ash is "naive"--Trip has a very cynical view of adults, yet thinks of himself as such...)

Trip only cares to be seen as strong and mature, not good (he's not even surprised to be called bad, he's already accepted it, he doesn't care), and if he fails, he blames his lack of knowledge or his inherent nature as lacking.

Because his self-worth is in being a genius and being better than the rest, so he seeks outside validation, namely Alder's, who Trip behaves so jealously about, Alder canonically compares him to a fickle-hearted woman (well, he messes up the phrase 'Onna-gokoro to haru no sora.' "A woman's heart is as fickle as the sky of spring" because he was hitting on Junsa-san/Officer Jenny earlier, so he says "fickle as Junsa-san"... Freudian slip. ^^;;;;)

Trip, when asked what he was battling for, what he wanted to prove... he said it was to prove his strength to Alder.

That's all he wanted! To prove his strength and be acknowledged by his hero. Alder even asks him if he likes him. Adeku frankly asks it in the Japanese version, but the dub dances around with "do you have any admiration for a man such as myself"--which Trip doesn't answer verbally, although he really doesn't have to, because the scene makes it clear and is a lens that clarifies all his past behaviour.

That's all Trip wants: love and acknowledgement. Which he believed he could only get by becoming stronger, smarter, and more mature as fast as possible, likely taking Alder's to be some stronger and grow up quickly too literally, as head animator Iwane said, Shootie was just "a little too grown-up."

It takes a long, long time for Trip to unlearn prioritizing battles over anything else and to embrace childhood (which hey, is one of the main themes of BW!), because it's a precious time which we can never return to... so, Alder's current idealogy is to enjoy life, make friends, love Pokemon, and not dwell on the past. Ash's approach to being a Pokemon Champion and Master is the same.

Alder's introductory episode made it very clear he and Ash are very, very similar characters... and we see this again in Journeys, in the kind of advice Champion Ash gives younger kids. Ash and Alder have a similar wisdom they'd like to impart, I know, it's funny calling Ash wise, but he has high emotional intelligence and is incredibly wise in that respect for his age... it took Alder many, many long years to arrive at the same conclusion Ash reached.

Ash's Japanese name, Satoshi, means "Wisdom." (Another cute detail: Ash's little brother, Lei, whose Hawaiian name means a "Garland of Flowers-- in Japanese, would be pronounced as Rei, which also means "Wisdom." Lei likely has a name chosen to have meaning in both Hawaiian and Japanese. ^^)

Bonus shout-out to Ash, Iris, and Cilan all protecting Keldeo until he finds the courage to face his fears, correct his mistakes, and save his friends...

Ash is a very good friend, AG, DP, and BW! are all part of his development into the kinder character he became today. Some people might miss how rude he was to his friends in OS, but he can still playfully dish it out, he's just calmer and more sure of himself, so less likely to sweat the small stuff and recognizes when someone, whether Pokemon or trainer, just needs time and patience.

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sophiamcdougall · 1 year

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A TUMBLR CITIZENSHIP GUIDE FOR TWITTER REFUGEES

Welcome, stranger. Fear not, we were just kidding around. You're mostly safe here. We know you've been through it, and though our teeth are sharp and our unblinking eyes are unnaturally shiny, we're not really going to eat you.

Still, our ways must seem strange to you. Doubtless you feel bewildered by the hoots and growls we've developed over the years we roamed the twilit wastes of Tumblr, alone and gibbering, forgotten by God and Man.

While you basked in the daylight of Twitter.

Don't worry! It's fine. And these sounds actually mean something! It's really quite simple! And I'm here to explain.

A BLORBO

Your blorbo is, very loosely, your favourite character. But not in a casual way. You must be at least a little weird about them. Songs remind you of them. You picture them in scenarios. Maybe you don't write fanfic, but if you did, it would be all about this guy. They are in your thoughts more than you would care to admit anywhere else -- but here on Tumblr you can be free! Infodump about your blorbo without shame!

You may deeply admire your blorbo, or regard them with fond contempt. Some will say that the latter type of blorbo becomes a scrunglo but we regard this as a fussy and unnecessary distinction. A POOR LITTLE MEOW MEOW

Like a blorbo, but canonically evil. They have committed crimes against humanity. You either make passionate excuses for these or you revel in their excesses.

The point at which a shady blorbo becomes a poor little meow meow is necessarily subjective.

THE COLOUR RED

When you see an image prominently featuring red, especially a design resembling blood splatters, especially when this appears to be unintentional, it is correct and polite to respond either "a children's hospital!" or "colour theory!"

Why? Others will explain why. For now, just do it.

THE IDES OF MARCH

March 15th, the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar. A high holiday here on Tumblr, celebrated with a festival of memes and shitposts. Put on your best outfit and post a picture of bloodstained senators to mark the occasion.

Hey, maybe they work at the children's hospital! Haha. Now you're getting it!

HORSE PLINKO

This gif is highly regarded here.

That's it, really.

THE GOD OF AREPO

The key figure of the most prominent Tumblr religion. His scripture was begun by @sadoeuphemist in 2018, with @ciiriianan and @stu-pot contributing further to the canon.

(A collaborative modern folktale). EEBY DEEBY

While not mentioned in the scripture of the God of Arepo, Eeby Deeby is an additional name of the underworld region also known as Erebus, Tarturus, Hell, etc.

THE GOD APOLLO

"But I thought you said you worship the god of Arepo?"

We are polytheists. In Tumblr tradition, Apollo's aspect as the god who conveyed the gift of prophecy on mortals is most significant. Alongside the ancient bow, laurel wreath and lyre, Tumblr Apollo has gained a new attribute: the red dodgeball. This image alone is sufficient to mark a post as sacred to, or cursed by, Apollo.

Be careful about prophesying things on Tumblr! Apollo can be spiteful!

We'll leave it there, traveller. Of course there's more. But learn these basics and you'll be well on your way. Soon you will be truly one of us.

one of us.

#tumblr #twitter

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saintsenara · 4 months

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Snape/Mulciber?

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

and i mean, snulciber is basically canon, isn't it - i'm sure we're all sufficient degenerates that we've deeped the bisexual potential of that interview where jkr's like "snape wanted lily and he wanted mulciber too"...

one thing i'm really taken with in pairings between snape and his slytherin schoolmates is the really interesting things you can do with the reversal of the implied power dynamic during their schooldays as snape is gradually accepted into voldemort's inner circle.

because it's clear in the prince's tale that snape is both somewhat deferential to mulciber and somewhat dismissive of him - he defends mulciber's use of dark magic against mary mcdonald, but he doesn't do so particularly vehemently, and he doesn't appear to care at all that lily's called his friend "creepy" because he's too busy seething about james and sirius. it's also clear that mulciber [and avery etc.] didn't care enough about snape to intervene against the marauders' bullying, and that snape was - throughout his schooldays - an easy target for the gryffindor four because he was usually alone, peripheral to the rest of slytherin.

and we can also see that one of the reasons snape became a target for bullying was because he was so demonstrably working-class, in contrast to the suspiciously well-heeled majority of the student body - so much so that i have a meta lurking in my drafts about whether hogwarts is a selective school. mulciber can be reasonably written as being yet another of the posh, well-off boys who snape is both incandescently jealous of and tremendously unimpressed with - and his attitude towards snape can be written as the same sort of faintly amused condescension we can sense from characters such as slughorn. which, of course, enrages snape because he considers himself - not without reason - superior intellectually to them, and wants to be awarded the status he considers himself to deserve on the basis of his magical power, rather than his name or background.

and then snape becomes a death eater.

my preferred view is that snape is very much voldemort's "exception" in terms of class [in the same way that bellatrix is his exception in terms of gender] and that he is the only death eater in the first war [since i also don't think wormtail receives the dark mark until he rescues voldemort from albania prior to goblet of fire] who isn't from an upper-class background. my preferred view is also that voldemort's recognition of himself in snape is the reason he makes this exception - and that he loves fucking with the pride of the posher death eaters by favouring a half-blood with a regional accent over them.

and - as i've said for the concept of snape/regulus - i really like the drama this can introduce into snape's relationship with mulciber, who spends his schooldays feeling superior to snape [and probably treating him quite poorly as a result] but is then confronted by the revelation that the dark lord... much prefers the man he essentially thinks of as a fucktoy to him, and that his father [who it makes sense to assume is also a death eater] wants him to suck up to the big boss' new favourite so they can profit from it.

and snape is a suitably horrible person that he would one hundred percent love the opportunity to lord it over mulciber as mulciber once lorded it over him.

think of the mess.

#asks answered #asenora's opinions on ships #snulciber #severus snape #mulciber

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aquilacalvitium · 1 year

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I'm going to list every sign of autism in the submas twins that I can think of for no reason other than I want to

1. Facial expressions

Probably what they're most famous for, neither of them seem to be able to control their facial expressions in a "normal" way. Ingo is constantly frowning and Emmet is constantly smiling. They're both canonically capable of having other facial expressions, but they always default back to these.

2. How they speak

Ingo. Shouts.

Need I go on? He's so loud and doesn't seem to have a cap on how loud he can possibly be at any given time. He's very enthusiastic, very loud and his voice is far more expressive than his face is.

Meanwhile, Emmet's voice is quite monotone. He's not noticeably loud or quiet, but he doesn't seem to put much expression into his words. He likes to repeat phrases over and over (e.g. "I am Emmet") probably in an effort to pad out sentences to make it sound like he's got more to say. He prefers to talk less than Ingo and is very direct and to-the-point, so he probably repeats things multiple times so that trainers he's battling don't feel disappointed if he has very little to say about their performance. This could also be a form of vocal stim considering he repeats specific phrases.

3. Their aesthetic

Okay yeah I admit pokemon trainers sometimes have aesthetics they stick strongly to. I.e. bug catchers, dragon tamers etc. But I'm yet to see any other character as dedicated to an aesthetic that doesn't centre around pokemon types as these two.

They are fully ride-or-die with their train aesthetic, which could very well be a hint that trains are a special interest for them both. So much so that they made the world's first Battle Subway, when every single other region has a tower instead. Neurotypicals could never.

4. Social cues

Emmet is infamously bad at social cues. He's seen multiple times in the manga very clearly walking up to two trainers having a private conversation and asking them to continue as though he isn't actively leaning over their shoulders and listening. Ingo has had to physically drag him away from these situations several times.

He's also so straight forward that sometimes people have to remind him to not be rude. While Ingo seems to have a better handle on social cues and politeness, Emmet is constantly saying or doing things that may make other people a little uncomfortable. Never with any malicious intent, mind you. He also rarely caters to people's feelings and simply states facts. For example, here's his dialogue upon winning his battles:

"I am Emmet. I won against you. But I think I just got lucky. In a Double Battle, if you misread one thing, the rest will be totally different. You know. Please win 20 battles in a row, and fight with me!"

"I am Emmet. I won against you. But this is not the end. I am sure you will show up here again. I will wait for it and win against you again. Because I am a Subway Boss. I am Emmet."

He's not being outwardly rude in either of these instances, nor is he congratulating his opponent on their battling skills, unlike Ingo who always makes sure to state how impressed he is with his opponent even when he wins. He is simply stating facts and encouraging his opponent to try again.

#submas #pokemon #autistic submas #autism #autistic #pokemon bw #pokemon submas #aquila thinks #aquila's comfort characters #aquila infodumps

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welcometoteyvat · 6 months

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waterborne poetry reactions (belated) (long post)

XINGQIU GOT FUCKING SMASHED IN THIS EVENT. BULLYING XINGQIU HOURS I LOVE TO SEE IT (affectionate)

bro got roasted for his handwriting, is Baffled by the mondstadters, then spends an entire day missing out on [whatever that was] and STILL DOESNT HAVE A CLUE WHAT HAPPENED HAHAHA im sorry i love bullying him

please never tell xingqiu whats going on it's payback <3

CHONGYUN DIONA AND MIKA. i need to hold them omg,,,, i was using freminet to wander around so in my heart they r just 4 cryo kids in a terrarium what will they do!! that combo was quite cute

CHONGYUN YANG MODE?!?!?!?!?! ON SCREEN??????? WAAAAHHHHHHHHH

he was adorable ;;;;;___;;;;; his little eye sparkles and the jumping T_T also the near-rap speed that his lines were delivered in was hilarious (thank you kinsen for ur service)

my son.... please never feed him chilis again

CHONGYUN IMPACT. that's all

now full of unfounded hope that chongyun will someday get an event about his pure yang spirit since they mentioned it a fair few times here

give him the deep lore he deserves

also XIAOYUN?!?!?!?! (only seeing what i want to see) THEY TALKED!!!! IN PERSON ON SCREEN THEY TALKED AND XIAO WASNT DISPARAGING!!!! im sorry this is what a rarepair with no food does to a mf

xiaolumi so strong (or xiaother if u prefer)

oughguhguhg the rhyming couplets part was SOOOO CUTE!! idk they did good with the pacing of the banter i think 🥺

adding onto that the camera angles and cuts this event were actually really nice and creative i think. they made it more engaging (the quick pan from chongyun to xingqiu at the end of the 3rd act, hu tao popping out from behind venti's shoulders during the couplet exchange, etc) it was REALLY good really funny. added to the experience a lot <3

Also venti zhongli are truly the most archon old friends ever

that cutscene was actually so pretty. It's drawn in the same style as Lyney's: very textured lines, slightly reminscent of linocuts, quite a few handdrawn parts, especially where there's water/liquid movement present, etc. Maybe this is a Fontaine style animated cutscene, since the oceanids and lyney are both from there? anyways. i'm intrigued—I wanna see if there are regional cutscene styles or something (that'd be very impressive)

the "close ur eyes paimon/diona" line was so fucking funny. traveler's been the third wheel a bunch of times but never this explicitly

also ! for people icked out by the morality of kid finch's crush on the oceanid: it is Fiction with a capital F

on the one hand I agree with the above sentiment, but it's also just funny to think about. first canon monsterfucker ? /JJJJJJJJJJJJJ don't kill me for that joke

Real thoughts: I think it was actually really sweet how he fell in love with a fairytale. Someone said the oceanid could've been aromantic coded to make their love story more morally palatable; I agree, it would've been cool if she was aro, but I don't think their romantic relationship is like somehow terrible and gross either

overall ending was really mid tbh, I appreciate the character growth of everyone who was on screen but literally all the other characters just disappeared. It was really unsatisfying lol especially for an event that was supposed to be hte gathering/unison of mond and liyue

would've been better if the second day's rhyming couplets ended the event I think; you'd have to tweak it to fit the mood of the oceanid/finch reveal but literally anything works, the ending was so anticlimactic

overall event: 10/10 for giving me the character interactions I wanted, and those that I never knew I needed, 5/10 because the minigames are. not the best, I get the intentions but the execution could've been better. And then 5/10 for story arc (heavily influenced by how mid the ending was LMAO)

I want to go through all the poems and their english translations because I Know somethings gonna get screwed up and I'm also just curious as to how they translated it

#oh also. chongyun diona something i never knew i needed #very disappointed that hu tao disappeared though!! like come on even how they wrote her out was so lazy #same can be said for xq and noelle though like thats foul 'oh theyre just busy' LIKE ???? WHY WERENT THEY BUSY YESTERDAY #ramblings!#liveblog insanity #waterborne poetry #4.1 spoilers #genshin spoilers #event spoilers #waterborne poetry spoilers #genshin impact #xiaoyun

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whinlatter · 10 months

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Could you explain more what you mean by “shows how the wizarding world, which does not seem to be a representative democracy”? Like I feel I probably agree with you but I want to understand it more because like from what little we know of canon wizards do get a say in ministry (ex Fudge lied to public about Voldemort so the public wanted him out and chose Scrimgeour, etc) but cause we don’t see general elections but snap elections it’s unclear ?

The British wizarding world when asked to prove that it's a functioning democracy:

Would love to say a bit more about this (briefly mentioned in the author’s note for Beasts chapter six) 🤸‍♀️ It’s definitely true that the opinions of the wizarding public do hold large sway over the appointment of the Minister of Magic in canon in ways that could imply the existence of wizarding. democracy. But it just seems to me that if the wizarding world in Britain is a democracy, then it's so weak or partial a democracy that I don't think we can really call it one at all. I know that old Pottermore post insists Ministers for Magic are democratically elected, and, as you say, in canon, the Minister of Magic seems to be somehow answerable to public opinion and support in a way that implies some idea of popular self-government through some form of representative democracy. But my view is that, in canon, it's basically not a democracy, for reasons I've put below the cut. (Thank you for letting me waffle on about this!)

The reason I think the wizarding world basically doesn’t seem to function as a representative democracy:

None of the four Ministers of Magic in post in the core timeline of the series participate in (or win) a free and fair election during the canon timeline, and most well-informed characters refer to the post as one filled by appointment (possibly by the Wizengamot). In OotP, Arthur gives a bit of insight on the process of appointment when he's talking about Fudge and Dumbledore's rivalry: '[Dumbledore] never wanted the Minister’s job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he’s never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job.” 'Applied for the job' would be a strange way of describing running for elected office, and Bagnold having 'retired' again doesn't imply an election was held. At the start of HBP, Fudge says he's been 'sacked', and while he says that the public were calling for his resignation, there’s no mention of a snap election. You’re completely right that there could have been one, but to me this sounds more like Scrimgeour is an internal emergency appointment (that he's an Auror suggests to me that it's a bit like bringing in the military, along the lines of a state of emergency provision). That Fudge can stay on 'in an advisory capacity' as a Ministry employee also suggests there are other governmental actors who have the power to 'keep on' outgoing Ministers, suggesting again that the Minister of Magic is usually an appointed rather than elected office. Obviously, Thicknesse becomes Minister in... not very democratic circumstances. And then Kingsley gets 'named temporary Minister for Magic' in a decision made by who bloody knows at the end of DH, which again suggests the existence of an unelected body called upon to appoint Ministers, at the very least, in times of emergency.

Even if we buy the idea that the Minister of Magic is elected sometimes, the Wizengamot doesn't ever seem to be, and it seems likely they're body with the power to appoint or dismiss the Minister of Magic without an election. Even if you take the Pottermore post on its own terms, it seems the wizarding community only get to elect the office of the Minister for Magic and not any representatives of an elected chamber who would legislate on their behalf, and who might sit in an assembly like MPs in a parliament or congressmen or senators from different regions. There also doesn’t seem to be a system where the proportion of votes corresponds with the number of representatives and therefore majority/minority control of an elected chamber, either with or without a party-political system. In canon, the Wizengamot really doesn't seem to be a body of elected representatives. They seem to be much more like an unelected legislative body of grandees, some with inherited titles, some appointed as an honours system, like the House of Lords in the UK, but also with the power to hold court trials. (There's a great meta on this that I really enjoyed - it's a bit ahistorical, but it's super rich and fun exploration of different models for the Wizengamot's strange blend of executive and legislative power in the British political tradition).

Popular opinion can matter in non-democracies, and popular opinion and support for political figures seems to matter a lot in the wizarding world. In GoF, Sirius gives us an insight, admittedly that of an outsider, of the process of ministerial appointments when he talks about Barty Crouch Sr. Sirius says Crouch was 'tipped for the next Minister of Magic' and had 'his supporters': 'Plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamouring for him to take over as Minister of Magic.' This sounds like strong popular support, likely communicated through wizarding media, but also just through hearsay and gossip through Ministry and adjacent circles. But what Sirius describes doesn't sound like a support base of voters, and certainly Crouch doesn't seem to have run against Fudge in an election.

Everyone seems to think of the Ministry as holding a broadly technocratic role in wizarding life (even though it's actually extremely political and also functions as the justice system). The Ministry of Magic seems to exist to both shield Muggles from knowledge of magic, to make and enforce law, and to function as a bureaucracy overseeing and ensuring the smooth running of education, trade, communication, transport etc. It doesn't seem to function as a social democracy in the sense of having any kind of welfare state. But this (false) idea of the Ministry as having a fundamentally apolitical social role lends itself to this idea of the wizarding world being a tepid democracy, with a populace broadly happy to give up certain democratic freedoms if it's in the public interest, trading off elements of self-government in exchange for greater efficiency or seeming sense of safety.

It seems possible, even likely, that Kingsley, as a progressive, would try to make his appointment as Minister official and legitimate through a free and fair election after the war (Lee Jordan says Kingsley's “got his vote” if he runs for office after the war - it's extremely funny to me that the only character to talk about voting in the entire series is the deeply unserious Lee Jordan in a jokey radio segment). We don't know that for sure, though, and when the series ends, it is with an unelected Shacklebolt caretaker government. The goodies might win, but democracy continues to elude the wizarding world as the series concludes.

...Basically, you know that scene in OotP when they're at the Hog's Head planning the DA? It's sort of a perfect illustration of the wizarding world's approach to democracy lol. Hermione is one of the nuisance progressives trying to do something mad like 'hold an election', Cho is the voice of the Wizengamot:

“Well, I’ve been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and — er —” He noticed a raised hand. “What, Hermione?” “I think we ought to elect a leader,” said Hermione. “Harry’s leader,” said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she were mad, and Harry’s stomach did yet another back flip. “Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly,” said Hermione, unperturbed. “It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So — everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?” Everybody put up their hands, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very halfheartedly. “Er — right, thanks,” said Harry, who could feel his face burning.

#meta #beasts #shoutout lee jordan the only man who mentions voting in all seven hp books #wizarding politics #wizarding world #ministry of magic #i loved answering this tysm #i just love that sassy gambon dumbledore gif so much

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cosmopoliturtle · 6 months

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When designing new Pokémon, what do you consider first? Like, what’s the easiest way to think of new Pokémon for your region? Like how mine is giving out fanmade categories such as fossils, regional birds but also the official ones like starters

I think the biggest factor is trying to think of ground that hasn't been covered before, or has rarely been covered in the canon games. I try to think of animals, mythology, folklore or just concepts that aren't featured in the games and how to give them a distinct Pokemon-like feel. Some examples being the Manatubb line, being based on an animal not yet seen in the series, the Alvuff line which is inspired by the Wild Hunt from European mythology, or the Boufleece line being based on the idiom "a wolf in sheep's clothing". I find it a fun character design challenge to try to head-craft these kinds of things into a Pokemon design.

I also try to think of ways of diversifying or subverting how we view recurring tropes in Pokemon. For example, having the Duna line or the Marijell line be based on aquatic animals but not typing them Water, or having Bovelle and the Pupplebee line not fully resemble insects while being Bug type. I try to sell the idea that characterizing the type by certain design elements is more important than the animal species having to slot them into specific types.

Even though I try to explore new stuff, I do also try to keep it grounded in some Pokemon nostalgia. I'm the furthest thing you'll find from a genwunner but if there's one aspect I miss from old Pokemon, it feels like we've drifted from Pokemon I describe as "monster friends". Pokemon like the Nidoran line, the Slowpoke line, the Rhyhorn line, Sorlax, etc where they have some basis but are largely their own critter. I try to capture this in my designs but I'll try and set aside Fakemon just for this purpose, such as Hanako, the Loftling line, and the Yttri line.

A part of my project also is that I don't really consider there to be one region being explored. The premise is you're exploring far flung locales or wildernesses that act as a sort of buffer between inhabited regions that don't see much (if any) human activity. If I had to make it analogous to one of the games I would say its like Pokemon Legends: Arceus where you would explore decently sized maps that have their own internal level design and Pokemon variety that are connected by a hub you set out from, not like one big open world like in Scarlet and Violet.

So yeah, thank you for coming to my TED talk. Hopefully something in there makes sense! Thanks for the question!

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narcissa-black-supermacy · 1 year

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Ohh elaborate on the Mena house of Black :D

ok so. I think after all the time i spent ranting about this, it's time for the official dissertation. If someone reads this and is still not convinced that the Blacks are mena-coded, talk to me (that's a threat). @soloorganaas feel free to add on if i missed something

Note: MENA is short for the geographical region of Middle East-North Africa which includes a variety of ethnicities and cultures that share certain traits and stereotypes I'll be addressing here.

Disclaimer: I have lived my entire life in the Levant. I am speaking from my own experience with these cultures not within British diaspora. If anybody can provide input on that, it will be great.

my main points (going from the more superficial things to the more niche topics)

Very obvious non-white features and appearance among the majority of the members

French being used as a second native language in many mena regions ("toujours pur")

Big, multi-sibling families in comparison to most pure-bloods in canon

Cousin intermarriage (is second cousin marriage incest?)

Frequent reuse of names

The tapestry

Pure-blood mania as a parallel to mena religious Sectarianism

12GP being located at the heart of muggle London

Family values, betrayal and "all or nothing" approach (= mena blood feud culture)

JKR's tendency to let her internal biases seep through her writing unintentionally

Let's tackle these one by one, I will try to be short (HA that's funny. under the cut):

(I will highlight the main points in bold for those of you who don't want to read through all of my ramblings)

Very obvious non-white features and appearance. I think this one is self-explanatory. Sirius, Bellatrix, Regulus, Walburga - except for Narcissa, who is intentionally altered to resemble the Malfoys since page one, all of the Black are described to have very non-white features and appearance. Black curly hair and grey eyes are extremely common in the NA + Levant region, regardless of skin colour.

The most wide-spread fanon ethnicity for the Blacks appears to be French. Genuinely no idea where that came from. I am guessing that some of it stems from the "toujours pur" line, to which, I must point out: tons of regions in MENA have been French colonies. French is taught at schools (I learned French at school before English), spoken alongside Arabic/Hebrew/etc within the family, used for things like slogans and mottos. Kill the idea that French is only spoke in France and if a character speaks French it gives us a clear idea of where they come from.

This is something I don't see talked about, but the Blacks have very abnormally large families in comparison to the rest of the pure-bloods we are presented with in canon. Most are only children (James, Remus, Peter, Draco, Lucius, so on) and the only exception to the rule is the Weasleys, who are constantly ridiculed for it by others. Cygnus and Druella have 3 daughters. Walburga has 2 sons and she comes from a family of 3 siblings. Orion's parents are 3 siblings, Walburga's parents are 3. The generation before their parents are 4 siblings. The one before it is 4 as well. Anyway. There's a pattern. See? The average number of children for the Blacks appears to be 3, while for most pure-blood families, even 2 is way above the average.

Cousin intermarriage - also pretty self explanatory? Might be a bit of a harmful stereotype here, but it's true - second cousin intermarriage is not seen as a big deal in most MENA cultures, to this day, and definitely not back then. It is much more widespread than in most European cultures, I believe.

Reuse of names - another very common trait in all MENA cultures. My husband has 7 Mordechai's and 8 Moris'es just in the last 3 generations of his family. Half of my cousins are called Muhammad. Typical.

The tapestry - another example of something that's portrayed as strange in canon, but is actually typical MENA culture. I don't think I know a single Arab or Jewish family that does not have some kind of equivalent of the Black family tapestry showing off their lineage generations back. And the disowned family members get taken off, yes, that's a thing.

Pure-blood mania as a parallel to MENA religious sectarianism Now, THIS is something I want to focus on. Most MENA cultures are very sectarian. Not in a "well, duh, it's the middle east" kind of way - I am talking about the most progressive regions and cities. People will consider themselves progressive, support women's and LGBT rights, but still view intermarriage as a dirty thing. Religious intermarriage between the different sects of Christians, Jews, Shias, Sunnis etc is strictly forbidden and frowned upon almost everywhere. Now, you might say - well, isn't this just a general pure-blood thing? No. The Blacks are NOT modal pure-bloods. They are a very radical, extreme version of it. I would argue that the average pure-bloods look like the Malfoys - who are stated to be rather moderate, not accepting muggle-borns, but having no problem with half-bloods. The Blacks' pure-blood mania dates back to before Voldemort's rise, it's a family trait passed through generations, and it goes beyond the regular pure-blood snobbism. This is typical, by-the-book sectarianism.

12GP being located at the heart of muggle London This is an interesting one, I think, because it might not be as obvious as the others. The Blacks are very known bigots and muggle-haters, but surprisingly, unlike most pure-bloods we know (even the muggle friendly ones!), their house is located at the HEART of muggle London. Why the hell is that? This actually makes PERFECT SENSE if you understand how Sectarianism works, which ties back to point N 7. Typical religious sectarianism does NOT look like western racism or bigotry. Sectarianism is NOT hatred or fear. Different sects across MENA work together, study together, even make friends on occasion, but they make this very strict separation between accepting the presence of someone different in their immediate surroundings, and actually letting them into their circle. In other words: we can work with muggle-borns and blood-traitors. We can study with them. They are allowed to exist. Actually, we will go out of our way to live among them, state our existence, remind them who is the boss, but we will not engage. We will not marry them, we will not let them into our house. This is sectarianism. It's a behaviour VERY specific to the Blacks in the HP universe, not pure-bloods in general.

Family values, betrayal and "all or nothing" approach (= mena blood feud culture) Blood feud culture is a strong thing in all MENA cultures, even to this day. Blood feud can be used to mean revenge on someone who hurt a member of your family, OR it can also mean "honour killing" within the family itself. If a member of the family is considered to be a disgrace and brings shame with a certain type of their behaviour (that is typically a young unmarried woman who slept with a man outside of a permitted relationship, an openly LGBT individual, someone who speaks against the political stance of the family). Reminds you of something? Yep. Disownment, disinheritance, the only thing we do not see here is the Blacks actively seeking to kill the members who have left. Again, this is NOT typical pure-bloods behaviour, this is something we see specifically within their family. Just like with Sectarianism, this is classic, by-the-book Blood Feud culture and honour killing.

JKR's tendency to let her internal biases seep through her writing unintentionally Do I think JKR consciously sat down and said "let's write the Blacks as mena-coded characters"? Of course not. Just like she did not intend for many things to come off the way they did (like wolfstar, desi potters, etc), but that happened. I think it's natural that when you are raised with certain biases and stereotypes towards a certain group, it will seep through when you're writing characters that are meant to be "evil" and "bad". Again, maybe it's just me. But there are simply way too many similarities and coincidences. I remember reading and watching HP with my siblings when the books/movies were just coming out, and we were all 100% convinced that the Blacks being Arab is just... common knowledge. It wasn't until I started engaging with the Western fandom that I realised it wasn't.

This is all, I think. Well, not nearly all, but these are my main points. It's been long overdue. Feel free to shoot me an ask if you want me to elaborate on something.

#is anyone going to read this?#probably no #but this makes me feel calmer lmao #mena house of black #hp meta #marauders meta #house of black #asks #dani talks

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kaguyass-houraisan · 4 days

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I have had this idea for some time now... a Pokémon au with the DC folks... I was only able to shit out these two for now but #TRUST I've been thinking abt the rest... like I for sure know Aiden is from Unova with one (1) Pokémon and it's a normal type 😭 just THAT

Anyways I do want help for more n stuff.. so if you wanna suggest or dm me pls do it omg

Anyways here we go !!

Tom:

I've decided that he is from Unova bc really it's the closest we have to Canada so 😭

Anyways I based his design straight up off of the policeman design in the gen 5 games for that reason, I like to think he has a past as a spy just like- well branching off to Pokéspe rn but in the manga the character Black two whatever the fuck his name is again is a kid slash teen spy police thing whatever I haven't read ts in awhile and I think that would have been Tom ! He would have been a teen spy slash policeman for the international police but like he experienced some. Things again. As seen by me keeping his scars and now as an adult I feel he is a cop in unova now... as for town slash city ? I don't fucking know yet like either castelia or nimbasa...

And I think he should have ONE partner that he's been through everything with but I can't decide whether it'd be Sawk, Machamp, or Scrafty yall can pick sishdbf I just think he needs a fighting type esp bc it's known as a hero type and police class uses fighting type

As for the next...

Jake:

Teen him- let's get into my Jake lore now !!

I do not know what region he'd be from being honest. The simplest would be unova, but I kind of lean towards a region from gen 4 bc of his teen design inspo being the psychic class trainers from gen 4... so either johto or sinnoh... not really sure

But anyways he used to be a psychic type trainer and extremely powerful with his psychic abilities in the sense that his emotions could destroy shit like think of Sabrina and caitlin how Sabrina has power limiters on and caitlin used to throw bitch fits when she'd lose a battle and I think that's Jake... he prolly sucked ass and was a disappointment to his parents or dad and would have meltdowns and break shit w his powers when upset #his telekinetis throws everything across the room moment

Anyways I think as an adult he'd grow to be able to control himself better at least no more psychic tantrums but still good ol being pissed off !! I think he'd switch to be a fairy type trainer and has remnants of his psychic past in his team slash design... I think he's a gym leader or maybe I could be nice and make him a frontier brain... but for now I see him as a fairy type gym leader with a clefable and mimikyu on his team and potentially hatterene grimmsnarl ?? I still have to decide on that

I like his design being more showy, I mean he was posing that one ep talkn abt model and I like to think he's canonically good looking Plus Paldean gym leaders have professions and so do unova ones etc.. I think he's a model in this world too or some kind of musician... not sure.. he just has the right to be extra... he's the most darkest fairy type trainer bc of his design.. probably implies his ace is grimmsnarl or mimikyu something of the sort...

Tomjake ? Girl they are wared up... as in I think Tom still avoids him and I'll wait to see if they kiss and make up based on what happens in dcas... but fighting type ? What's it weak against... ? Oh right. #violence

Also I think Miriam has or had an alcremie or smth or a fidough... just power... maybe Jake could gift her a fidough... I think Miriam is a powerful trainer in her own right perhaps a retired gym leader ? Gave her position to Jake ? Maybeeee...

#cereza made art #my art #disventure camp #campamento desventura #disventure camp jake #disventure camp tom #dc tom #dc jake #Pokémon #pokemon au #I LOVE POKEMON DID YALL KNOW THAY #my fav region is sinnoh #dc pokemon au

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alexseanchai · 4 months

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@snowflakechallenge 3:

Create a wish list of fandom things (podfic, graphics, playlists, canon recs translations, research help, vids, sky's the limit!) that you'd like to receive. Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this Snowflake Challenge Dreamwidth post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

I'm mostly blanking on things I want that aren't on my fandomtrees wishlist (which has Emelan, Encanto, Miraculous Ladybug, and Yuri on Ice prompts) or holiday_wishes wishlist (though the only fannish bits there that aren't on the fandomtrees list are in the spending-money section).

But! The first chapter of starting right now I'll be strong and all chapters of Jeu des princesses avec les pommes d'or de la discorde, inscribed 'to the fairest', both canon-divergent Yuri on Ice fics, are told entirely through stuff the characters said on the internet. Notably on Instagram. Thing is I do not have either the art skills or the art commission money to illustrate most of those Instagram posts. So if I can't glue the Insta post together using canon screenshots, Wikimedia Commons, and Unsplash, then the Insta post has to stay text-only. (You can see in the second chapter of Jeu des princesses how well that's going. I do have two and a half of the images for the first chapter of starting right now—the first one, the Minami one, and the top half of the one where the bottom half is Yuuri stole Phichit's Pikachu hat—but comparing those two chapters may illustrate why I haven't added those images yet.)

So in addition to what's listed on fandomtrees—and I'm joining the chorus of Snowflake participants who want people to look over all those wishlists, or at least the ones with fewer than two gifts, and fill what you can—I am asking for fanart that's the image part of one or another of the Insta posts in one of those two fics.

And! fandomtrees doesn't do Creator's Choice of Fandom, which is valid, but does mean I had to leave this prompt off that list:

* exploration via historical documents, primary and secondary sources, etc., of canon characters/events and their effects on the local, regional, and global courses of history. this could be set a couple hundred years after canon and thus explore canon from a historian's perspective (social media posts could be both primary and secondary sources here, depending), or it could be set around, during, or before canon and explore characters who have been name-checked at most.

Also, the how to use CSS to make iOS messages look realistic guide by CodenameCarrot and La_Temperanza makes it seem like there should be a way to use background-image in the CSS from the how to use CSS to make vintage-2016 Instagram posts look realistic guide by gadaursan (with instIcon1 instIcon2 instIcon3 instead of instIcon, as well as instIconRight instHeart) so that those five little icons don't display when creator style is off. But so far all I seem to be achieving is making them not display when creator style is on, either. Send help?

#snowflakechallenge2024 #yuri on ice #miraculous ladybug #emelan #disney encanto

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scarlet--wiccan · 8 months

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What do you think about (as an idea for a slight retcon to explain the Maximoff twins’ background without removing Natalya from their story) Magda actually BEING Natalya? As in, when Magda is presumed dead after giving birth, she actually took on a new persona as Natalya and started a new life as a witch? This way, Magneto and Magda could still be the twins’ parents. I feel like it’s iffy because Magda is Western European and Natalya is likely Eastern European implying they’d be from different vistas (sorry, I’m not 100% sure that this is the proper term) but I think it would be the best way to bring back the old story without undoing the new one.

I gotta tell you, that would be really hard to pull off. I mean, Marvel is no stranger to sloppy retcons, but if you actually care about good writing, I think it'd be tough. First of all, in Scarlet Witch, Wanda encounters a past version of Natalya from before the twins were born, and she's already a witch, already going by that name, etc. Second, multiple living characters attest that Natalya was Django's brother and had been living-- and doing magic-- in the Balkans her whole life.

So, you need to find a way to account for all that. If Natalya, as a character, existed in a vacuum, then maybe it would work, although I really don't like that almost every Romani woman in comics is a witch, so I'd like to keep Magda out of that if possible.

On that subject, though, if we are going to continue employing Romani witch archetypes, I want to do it in a way that speaks authentically to this part of Romani history.

As I understand it, things like folk magic and divination, in the Romani community, are usually family trades, and were historically practiced as survival work, so, for most people, it is something that goes back several generations. A lot of those skills, like cartomancy, were developed by applying Romani ancestral customs to European folkways, and many of our communities do still have closed and/or initiatory spiritual traditions.

I don't have all the right answers, but I feel very strongly that if Wanda's magic is hereditary, it does need to be a part of a family lineage. My dream would be to really incorporate this part of Romani history into the Marvel canon in a way that changes outsider perceptions of witches and gypsies in genre fiction for the better. That's a lofty goal, and I'm not the right person to do it-- I'm sure you can imagine that this is difficult to talk about in a way that respects our cultural boundaries, and you end up walking a really fine line between representation and affirming stereotypes. So, it's just really hard.

Anyway, that's why I kind of love Natalya as she is, and I want to believe that something really positive could be done with this character. In the same vein, I actually really like that Magda is just an ordinary lady-- her story's really dark, but it's important for people to be reminded of Romani Holocaust victims, and I worry that we would be taking away from that if we made her into a magical being.

In this house we stan two unique, individual, and equally important Romani mothers!!!

The word you're looking for is "vitsa," which, in this context, is used to describe distinct groups or communities within the global Romani diaspora. Those distinctions are not technically based on geography-- it's more about lineage and dialect-- but, yeah, in Europe, they tend to be regional. It's not a hard rule, or anything. My family lives really far north from where you'd think to find Cale people, but that's who we are! I don't think it's ever explicitly stated, but we can infer from context that Magda is Sinti. She is actually one of the few Romani characters in comics with an identifiable vitsa. The fact that the Maximoffs don't have one can make it harder to nail down "authentic" details, which is sometimes frustrating.

#magda eisenhardt #natalya maximoff #scarlet witch

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thiswaycomessomethingwicked · 4 months

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Vetinari for the character ask game? :)

ahhhh everyone's favourite dictator.

First impression

I read Hogfather first, and so I didn't think much of him at all. Downey left way more of an impression on me, obviously. Then I read Guards! Guards! and I thought him mildly entertaining, though perhaps a bit boring and predictable.

Overall, I think my takeaway was: What a stupid nerd, love that for him, but he should be more of a weird freak.

(Do I have Downey's approach to Vetinari? Possibly.)

Impression now

I'm not sure my impression has changed too much. While Vetinari does change a bit as a character over the series (though in the last few books he's pretty OOC, in my opinion), it's not distinct enough of an arc for me to really alter my opinions on him.

(tbf I do stop accepting canon at a certain point, because there are some books of Pratchett's that shouldn't have been published because they weren't up to standards due to the whole mental decline. Let him write all he wants, just don't publish them. Jesus.)

Like, Pratchett doesn't write deep characters for the most part. Vimes and Granny have depth to them - but they're POV characters so I would hope they have depth. But side characters, not so much. Which is reasonable, you know. Pratchett was writing satire and pretty basic political commentary, he wasn't doing character studies or deep literary explorations.

So, I think Vetinari is a fun spoofing of the stereotypical villainous dictator wherein he's still a dictator but he's not terrible. He's sort-of benevolent. (He still has a scorpion pit and has Problem People assassinated and locks away others who he likes but doesn't want out in the open for various reasons i.e., Leonard. Still very much a tyrant - don't get on his bad side or you'll disappear. But he's nicer than Snapcase and Winder. Low bar but he crosses it.)

I like that he's very weird and has an idiosyncratic sense of humour. That delights me. Also his fastidiousness and clear foibles and ticks are charming. That he refuses to leave treats on Wuffles' grave that Wuffles didn't like in real life is a nice detail on some of the innter softness that is in him.

That said, he can be a hard one to get into the interiority of his head because he's so...untouchable, in a certain way? He always has a trick, he always has an answer, he is always able to turn a situation to his advantage no matter what to an implausible degree, etc.

Like, Vimes I understand. I can get into his head. Same for Angua or Carrot or Downey or Sybil. But Vetinari is on the harder side. I can do it, but it's not as easy as it is for others.

It's the perfection, I think, because TP needed Vetinari to never not be in power therefore he has to be impenetrable and able to always maintain control, or reclaim control in a Cool Fashion should it have been wrested from him in some manner.

We also just don't spend much time with him, compared to others. (Barring Downey, but Downey is disastrously human so I get him.)

Favorite moment

Probably most of his vacationing with Colon and Nobby during Jingo. That was all rather entertaining.

Idea for a story

I feel like I've written all the stuff I want to with Vetinari? I'm not sure I have something off hand that I can think of.

Unpopular opinion

He ain't the woke leader fandom sometimes weirdly projects him as. He is High Tory who does progressive changes only when he thinks it will best suit him to maintain stability within the city, overt control of Ankh-Morpork as a whole, and/or to ensure the city's broader hegemony within the region.

In Night Watch he isn't written like a sixteen/seventeen-year-old and I wish he had been.

Favorite relationship

Downey lol. I mean, come on - those two have history and it's going to be Stupid and Ridiculous.

I also like him and Madam and wish we saw more of that, especially in present day as an adult.

Favorite headcanon

Other than Madam being his mother? His leg wound is an actual disability and will steadily get worse with age and Vetinari's seeming lack of a lot of physical activity.

Pratchett sort of writes it off as a whatever/funny point/something that isn't an actual problem for Vetinari (because Vetinari can't have real problems due to the need for him to be perfect so he never has to write political changeover in the city in the present day) - and I always found this annoying.

So yeah, the leg wound is a real problem and his cane is an actual mobility device and not some "aha, you thought I was weak but I'm actually not!" gimmick.

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Thank you! <3

#vetinari #discworld #ask #reply #ask meme #ask game #character ask

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croik · 5 months

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Hastur’s mind buzzed excitedly. Though he had virtually no experience teaching his own language to a mind as relatively simple as a human’s, every inch forward in Arthur’s progress brought him a prickly delight. To say nothing of his particular choice… “Yes,” he answered with as much restraint as he could muster. “Though stressing verbs like that is more of a regional dialect. In Carcosa we would simply use the word for longing, myhrey.”

(if you're still accepting fic asks!)

(Yes, I love talking about worldbuilding and characters!!)

Not sure if you're more interested in Hastur or the language stuff here, so I guess I'll blah about both XD;

There are only a few phrases of canon "Cthuvian" in the mythos - three or four famous sentences by HPL himself, and a few add ons from other authors. As far as I can tell there isn't much in the way of fan-completed con-langs because there's not much to work with, the language is *supposed* to be unintelligible, and some of the authors who added to it were lazily just slapping funny spelled words on English sentence structure etc. But there are a few things that seem relatively consistent: pronouns that become a prefix when attached to a verb, like "ya / y'"; prepositions also become prefixes to the noun they're describing like l'ebumna and l'geg. There's only one example in the spattering of words that uses repetition (n'gha-gha) and I don't think we know what it's supposed to mean, but while randomly googling language concepts, I was thinking of how in English we use repetition to slightly change the meanings of things ("do you LIKE HIM like him?") and was amused by the idea of inserting something similar to Cthuvian. So this part of their lesson is not "canon" but nothing says it couldn't be either.

I have a little spreadsheet devoted to what I've sussed out of the Cthuvian that appeared in the actual stories, and I've been slowly adding some things just for fun, trying to work out the basics of how the language could be structured. But I'm not a linguist so I doubt it's impressive yet lol. I haven't really done much research other than some language classes in college while learning Japanese.

This fic (I Long to be Filled) I started writing before the story that now comes before it. I originally meant for it to take place someone fairly soon after the Squeezing, but ultimately decided I wanted them to have some "normal" sex before Hastur whipped his real dick out, which is why there are references to the Scholars and such things that came up before but haven't been paid off yet (oops). I've since developed a lot more backstory for how the King came to Carcosa in the first place, which may come to light later. But I especially think that part of what sets the King in Yellow apart from other mythos figures is his canonical connection to theater, music, and the arts. He fancies himself not just as a god but royalty among gods; he distinguishes himself by his ornaments (he's the king IN yellow, the play describes "the tatters of the king" rather than the king himself). Compared to his half brother, he's CULTURED. We get to see a little of that in Malevolent but way more in John (and Yellow) than with the King himself, which is interesting considering that John is in some ways a more pure version of the King, free from thousands of years of experience.

So this whole fic we get to see a version of John who is learning that his appreciation of these things has a long and illustrious history, and a version of the King who is finding new ways to delight in parts of his nature that have been commonplace to the point of complacency, relearning himself through Arthur's study. And that's very exciting for him :3

Thank you for the ask!

#malevolent fanfic #entangledverse #the king in yellow #ask game #cthuvian

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disquiet-doll · 1 year

Text

i think i've posted about it before, but i am thinking a bit about fantasy race stuff again

namely, how it's uh. not really possible to avoid certain implications and you kinda gotta be aware of that

and then past that, how interestingly dungeon meshi does it, because like... they aren't "races", in the normal fantasy sense of "like races irl except race realism is true". they're different hominid (mostly) species.

and like, yeah that's not free of it's own weird implications either, but it puts it in an area that's more like, sci-fi with sentient aliens (which is to say, also easy to accidentally just make race science implicitly real but imo less inherently fraught than fantasy), and one thing about how it's treated really puts it in the good zone for me:

There is not, in the region the main characters are from, actually a race called "humans". Instead, all of the standard "good" fantasy races are considered "human", and what we'd identify as bog-standard humans are "tallmen" (since they're the 2nd tallest on average after ogres, which like, i don't know if this is canon but I suspect they were a later addition to this whole system).

This is also basically explicitly arbitrary, and not only that but created directly to justify existing forms of oppression (as with how race is constructed in real life, whiteness exists to justify exploiting those excluded from it etc. etc.). We don't like orcs and kobolds so they don't get to be human. How do we justify it? Uhhhh all the human races have the same number of toes, yeah that makes sense.

(Something something yeah the shape of your skull totally determines your character as a person, can't be helped)

And when we see characters from elsewhere (the not-Japan in the setting) we're told: Oh no they don't do that at all, they just divide everyone into Human ("Tallmen") and Non-human (everyone else). Which you know, isn't better but it does highlight that yeah, it being entirely arbitrary is very much intentional.

And like, I can very easily see that being how things would've gone if other hominids had survived past pre-history IRL! Certainly they wouldn't go for "we're just intrinsically different" because... I mean, if you've lived in a world where Elves and Dwarves and shit have always been around, that's not *really* gonna be different from being some medieval English peasant who's aware French and German people exist.

(They *are* different species - there's stuff like how half-elves are closer to like, a liger than an irl mixed race person - but that's only clear, y'know, coming from an irl perspective)

Anyway point of this all is: I like it. I think it's good. Not perfect because the whole concept of fantasy races has weird DNA all the way down, but there was at the very least very clearly real thought about the concept (and how race as a concept is constructed IRL).

#this is probably somewhat incoherent but i don't feel like editing

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