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edwardscissorfeet · 1 day

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could you elaborate on the canon thing irt mythology? i don't disagree, i would just love to hear what you think

hello! just a preface before i get into it, i'm not in this field at all as a student or professional so i'd take my own words with a grain of salt. if im getting anything wrong please do let me know!!!

im linking two posts i think are relevant by:

@/thoodledoo and @/what-even-is-thiss

and let's get on! the problem with saying something is an 'original' is that more often than not, you're going to be wrong about that. i get it! there are a number of retellings i don't like either, which narrate stories i care little for, but consider that myth is often a reflection of society and culture. people then and now ascribe stories to phenomenons and events to make sense of the world. like,

persephone's tale gives a mythological reason to why we have the change of seasons. now, imagine i said "in the original myth, persephone was an unwilling captive".

one, what myth am i saying is the "origin"? hesiod, because he was one of (if not) the first to write it down? do you see the problem here? does 'original' just mean the first instance of recording?

and then, two, does it make every adaptation of persephone's myth that came after that something 'fake'? are you going to beef with ovid for changing your 'original myth'?

it's absolutely alright (and id say encouraged!) to critique adaptations and retellings. this, however, should be done with the understanding that changing a myth isn't the crucial factor here - it's how it affects and reflects on us in this time. an example,

your reaction to a medusa retelling could be less "but in the original she wasn't a victim of rape! this is taking away from her girlbossness!", because what is the original??, and more "how does her backstory, given to her by this author, affect her character and how [x group of people] are represented in media" (or something like that).

essentially, like any other literature, how does this one impact anyone and anything at all?

back to homer, a lot of the time (i find) when someone says something like 'originally odysseus was assaulted by calypso' is that they mean a very specific source of myth - i.e. the odyssey. oral myth tradition predates written work by centuries. just because homer (not even sure about this, actually) wrote it down first, does not mean he is your og!! the odysseus in homer's two works don't even sound like the same person!

like hi! i love homer! but let's not pretend he was mr "came up with every myth about the trojan war under the sun".

making very obvious my point here, my critic of a book, like say, the song of achilles, isnt that madeline miller failed to copy the iliad plot for plot. it's fine that she changed it! in fact, it's great! it's a myth! it changes with time anyway! my critic is that girl you made patroclus literally the boringest blandest boy ever good god, (only sort of joking)

tldr; there is no real mythological canon. clarify, make it clear and say 'in homer's iliad' or something if you need to. don't brush a story off just because it doesn't fit within the version of the myth you know. and don't cheapen your criticism by saying it isn't original.

#ive used up all six braincells i have on a good day #also this is a very boring spoken of again and again regurgitated nonstop topic i am not adding anything new to this line of discussion #asks #greek mythology #homer #iliad #odyssey #i hope i am not making a FOOL of myself here #i feel crazy beefing with euripides for how he wrote menelaus. like homer menelaus ate. euripides menelaus??? is he any less myth though.

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beesinspace · 1 year

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name change? I ask you?

I am SO glad you asked~

Well it start with a need to change the og name, I think EVERYONE in the fandom (all 12 of us lol) hates the og name, and rightfully so.

My first name change was, Cleo D'Nile, which I really liked! I then come to find out that one of the main characters in monster high is called that riiippp.

After a while, I saw @purpleskull97 's post about how ever fem Mummy character is always named after Cleopatra, I was like that's so truuuue. So I knew I wanted to do something completely different!

One of the names I looked at was Nitocris after the pharaoh, since all descriptions of her present her as female and us she/her pronouns but apparently modern historians think she may have been AMAB! But...I-I'll admit...the reason I didn't use that one is because I did comely know how to pronounce it (_ _ ") (when I looked it up all that came back was text to speech pronunciations riiipppp). Nefertiti was my next choice! (Partly because I love the nickname Nefi, partly because Nefertiti is nearly as popular at Cleopatra so I thought it was a good trade)

Next, the middle and last name. I looked up Egyptian naming conventions (anyone who is Egyptian or is of Egyptian decent please please please tell me if I'm wrong about this!!)

So if I remember correctly a name goes; |Given name| Father's Name||Grandfather's name||Last name|. With that, it got me into having to figure out Nefi's family situation, which a.) I didn't really wanna do atm and b.) Any rough ideas I'd had didn't fit the naming thing. So I ended up giving her |Given name|| Parental name|| Last name| which hopes that wasn't a terrible thing to do riipp (so her name may change again in the future lol rippp)

And finally, what the middle and last name means!!

Heru, another name for the ancient Egyptian god Horus. (them being the god linked with the sphinx is what made me choose it ;) )

Yehia, meaning God is Gracious. The person that wrote the first mummy monster book,"The Mummy!" in 1824, was Jane Wells Webb Loudon. I didn't want to shove a random British name onto my ancient Egyptian character, but found out that Jane means God is Gracious!! I was so happy when I found an Egyptian/Arabic name that ment the same thing!! XD

But yes, that is the incredibly long winded story of how I chose Nefi's name! I am honestly really happy someone asked because I really wanted to talk about how and why I got to the name that I did! Jakdhaks XD

#gdh #gravedale #gravedale high #askthebee #thanks for the ask!#asked and answered #Cleo gravedale #Cleo gravedale high #Nefi Gravedale #Nefi Gravedale high #gdh redesign

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frostbittenbucky · 3 years

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Ok this is inspired by another post but I can’t find it, it’s been months and I think about it everyday

Batfam hacking Bruce’s phone for super important reasons

Barbra: “I have it hooked up to the batcomputer, it’ll decoded it in a few seconds then start opening all his files and go through them live”

Jason: “oh great, we get to see all his secrets together”

Dick: “yea, no offense to B but I don’t think there’s much to see”

Barbra: “it’s in, now we relax and watch the screen”

Stephanie: “oh man that’s fast, look we’re going through all his emails— now his texts. He talks to Clark a lot”

Damian: “none of this is of any use. This is a waste of time”

Barbra: “shh, just keep your eyes peeled. We’ll have to go through manually after but keep an eye out for anything interesting so we don’t have to search for the next two hours”

Duke: “ooh we’re in his photos now. Aw he has a family photo album”

Cass: “we look so happy. He took a lot oh pictures, and he has pet album”

Tim: “honestly I don’t expect this. I thought there’d he only pics he downloaded from the internet that the paps took”

Albums labeled “Dick pics” that’s private pops up

Stephanie: “oh god no!” [covers her eyes]

Jason: [ducking down] “fuck! No! Why, why!?”

Tim: “I don’t want see him like this. Isn’t he too old for that??” [covers his face with a file, smack his arm over Damian’s eyes]

Dick: [crouching down his his head in his knees] “ew, ew, ew”

Batkids: [panicked screaming]

Barbra: “for fucks sake Bruce, what the— oh they’re pictures of you Dick”

#if anyone finds the og post please god link it to me. I think about it every day #my post #bruce wayne #batman #batdad #dick grayson #jason todd #damian wayne #tim drake #duke Thomas #barbra gordon #Cassandra Cain

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sketching-shark · 3 years

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I think we should start a protection squad (although they don’t need it because they can protect themselves) for Sun Wukong and Guanyin

“Begone monkie kid fandom trying to down grade these really interesting characters with interesting personality’s and backstory ( the both of them like seriously Guanyin backstory is so cool) to a villain wile trying to justify your angsty backstory (that are no where near as cool as monkey who fights gods and Person who has 1000 arms and heads to help people in need) for the actual villain”

So who wants to join

Me:*raises my hand*

Ps: sorry if I got Guanyin backstory wrong am not an expert on it.

Haha okay so some critiques on the jttw & associated media western fandom & fandom in general coming up, so please skip this upcoming text wall if you don't want to encounter my undoubtedly ~devastating~ words (i.e. don't like don't read as people love to say, & if I have to be inundated with images of my notp every time I go into the sun wukong tag then I imagine people can be chill with me expressing my opinions & giving people fair warning that I WILL be critiquing common fandom trends, but no need for you to see that if you don’t want to. Cool? Cool.)

-----

PFFFFFTTT oh man there are many times when I feel like signing up for such a protection squad...when it comes to the current western jttw & Sun Wukong fandom I do feel like I'm often swinging at a rapid pace between "well it's fandom & people are allowed to make the stories they want" & "I am once again begging my fellow monkie kid enthusiasts (& sometimes creators) to do more research into the og classic/show it more respect so you can avoid any potentially offensive/off-the-mark misunderstandings of the status & cultural context of the characters in their country of origin (I promise it's super interesting & I can provide you with links to free pdf copies of the entire Yu translation, i.e. the best one ever created, so feel free to ask!) & maybe also stop constantly stripping away all the nuance of Sun Wukong's character for the sake of either making him an entire asshole so your little meow meow can look completely innocent in comparison and/or making the monkey king's entire life & character revolve around said meow meow."

Like I get that fandom's supposed to be a kind of anything-goes environment, but one thing that honestly seems to be true of a lot of fandoms--and the western one for Sun Wukong & co. is certainly not immune from this--is that there often seems to be a kind of monoculturalization at work in what stories are created & what character interpretations are made popular. Across a multitude of fandoms, you frequently see basically nothing but the exact same tropes being made popular & even being insisted on for the canonical work (especially hasty redemption arcs & enemies to lovers these days), the exact same one-dimensional character types that characters from an original work keep getting shoved into, the exact same story beats, etc. And I get it to an extent, as fandom is generally a space where people just make art and fic for fun & without thinking too hard about it & without any pressure.

This seems to, however, often unfortunately lead to the mentality that it’s your god-given right to do literally whatever you want with literally any cultural figure without even the slightest bit of thought put into their cultural, historical, and even religious context, even (and sometimes especially) when it comes to figures that are really important in a culture outside your own. For such figures--even if you first encounter them in a children’s cartoon--you should be a little more careful with what you do with them than you would with your usual Saturday morning line-up. It of course has to be acknowledged that there exists a whole pile of absolutely ridiculous & cursed pieces of media that are based on Journey to the West & that were produced in mainland China, but for your own education if nothing else I consider it good practice for those of us (myself certainly included) who aren’t part of the culture that produced JTTW to put more thought into how we might want to portray these characters so that at the very least (to pull some things I’ve seen from the jttw western fandom) we’re not turning a goddess of mercy into an evil figure for the sake of Angst(TM), or relegating other important literary figures into the positions of offensive stereotypes, or making broad claims about the source text & original characterizations of various figures that are blatantly untrue, or mocking heavenly deities because of what’s actually your misunderstanding of how immortality works according to Daoist beliefs. Yet while a lot of this is often due to people not even trying to understand the context these figures are coming from, I do want to acknowledge that the journey (lol reference) to understand even a fraction of the original cultural context can be a daunting one, especially since, as I’ve mentioned before, it can be really hard & even next to impossible to find good, accessible, & legitimate explanations in English of how, for example, the relationship between Sun Wukong and the Six-Eared Macaque is commonly interpreted in China & according to the Buddhist beliefs that define the original work.

That is to say, I do think it’s an unfortunate, if unavoidable, part of any introduction of an original text into a culture foreign to its own for there to be sometimes a significant amount of misinterpretation, mistranslations, and false assumptions. There is, however, a big difference between learning from your honest mistakes, & doubling down on them while dismissing all criticism of your misinterpretation into that abstract category of “fandom drama.” The latter attitude is kind of shitty at best and horrifically entitled at worst.

Plus, as I’ve discovered, there is a great deal of interest and joy to be drawn from keeping yourself open to learning aspects of these texts & figures that you weren’t aware of! I can say from my own experience that I’ve always really enjoyed & appreciated it when individuals on this site who come from a Chinese background--and who know much more about the cultural context of JTTW than me--have taken the time to explain its various aspects. It often leaves me feeling like woooooaaaahhhhhHHH!!!! as to how amazingly full of nuanced meaning JTTW is like dang no wonder it’s one of China’s Four Great Classical Novels.

And I guess that right there is the heart of a lot of my own personal frustration and disappointment with the ways that fandoms often approach a literary work or other piece of media...like don’t get me wrong, a lot of the original works a fandom may grow around are just straight-up goofy & everyone’s aware of it & has fun with it, yet the trend of approaching what are often nuanced and multi-layered works in terms of how well they fit and/or can be shoved into pretty cliche ideas of Redemption Arc or Enemies to Lovers or Hero Actually Bad, Villain Actually Good etc...well, it just seems to cheapen and even erase even the possibility of understanding the wonderful complexity or even endearing simplicity that made these works so beloved in the first place. Again, I feel like I need to make it clear that I’m not saying fandom should be a space where people are constantly trying to one-up each other with their hot takes in literary analysis, but it would be nice and even beneficial to allow room for commentary that strives to approach these works in a multi-faceted way, analysis & interpretations that go against the popular fandom beliefs, & criticism of the work or even of fandom trends (yes it is in fact possible to legitimately love something but still be critical of its aspects) instead of immediately attacking people who try to engage in such as just being haters who don’t want anyone to have fun ever (X_X).

----

Anyway, I know I didn’t cover even half of the stuff you brought up in the first place anon, but I don’t want any interested parties to this post to suffer too long through my text wall lol. I was asked to try my hand at illustrating Guanyin, but as with you I’m nowhere near as informed as I should be about her, so I want to do more research on her history and religious importance before I attempt a portrait. I’ll try my best, and do plan to pair that illustration with my own outsider’s attempt to summarize her character. From what little I do know I am in full agreement that her backstory is so incredibly amazing...just the fact that she literally eschewed the bliss of Nirvana to help all beings reach it, and even split herself into pieces in the attempt to do so (with Buddha granting her eleven heads and a thousand arms as a result)...man, I can see why she’s such a beloved & respected deity.

----

As for what western fandom commonly does with everyone’s favorite god-fighting primate...I can talk about this at length if there’s interest, but for this post I’ll just say that I guess one lesson from all of this is that for all the centuries that have passed since Journey to the West was first completed, literally no one drawing inspiration from the original tale in the west (lol) has come even slightly close to being able to equal or even capture half the extent of the nuance, complexity, religious, historical, and cultural aspects, and humor that define Wu Cheng'en's story of an overpowered monkey who defied even Buddha.

So thank the heavens we'll always have the original.

#journey to the west #jttw #guanyin #sun wukong #monkey king #monkie kid #fandom #fandom critical

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trashballerina · 4 years

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Hetalia Fics I Really Like

this ⭐ will be for fics I really like. I’ll try not to star everything.

I’m starting with my favorite of all time and tbh I think the fandom should see this fic as a OG, like Auf Weiderstein Sweetheart or Gutters, I really do.

Are We Even Humans ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (Literally all the stars)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4103344

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5660761/chapters/25048773 (prequel)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/7036330/chapters/16007758 (sequel)

The war is over, but putting together everything that fell apart will be a greater challenge than anyone is prepared to handle. Alliances dissolve, and the lines between friends and enemies are blurrier than ever before.

Opinion: Please read it. It is a series with a sequel and a prequel that can be read on its own but it’s so good. Imma go on a quick rant here. This fic is great from the writing, plot, characters, and the nuances of nationhood abilities. I literally rioted during the first chapter because it was so good. One of my absolutely favorite things in the fic and the series as a whole is Prussia. Kingdom of Prussia, German Democratic Republic, Gilbert Beilschmidt. His character progression and seeing him through the series as a whole is astounding. I was literally left shaken at the end of this series and I’ve read it twice. The OC’s are usually the antagonists, but hot damn, they are memorable OC’s who are great (terrible?) villains. And the family dynamics! The family dynamics are enough of a reason to read it by itself and the romances. Omg I love this fic so much. Main takeaways: astounding characterization, amazing plot, will cry, long read, and a reality check on what it means to be a nation.

Would it be too much if I did a separate post on how much I love this series and an in depth analysis? (I feel like such a nerd omg)

Hard Times Passing

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23516458/chapters/56397817

Alfred is homeless during the Great Depression and in his wanderings he's charged with the task of caring for a small orphaned Taiwan. AU-Human names used, Taiwan is a child.

Opinion: So incredibly heart warming. It’s well written and I love the dialogue so much. Also, the little cameos from other characters are an absolute delight. It’s a it short, but so wholesome.

Flowers Don’t Grow on Battlefields ⭐

https://archiveofourown.org/works/14153106/chapters/32619954

https://archiveofourown.org/works/16898919/chapters/39697068 (sequel)

As war tightens its hold on the nations of the world, new alliances are formed. Nobody will escape the war unscathed. Italy only hopes that this time, he will find a way to save those he holds dearest.

Opinion: I realllly like this fic. Maybe I’m a bit bias because I remember reading it from like to third chapter and watching it get updated till the end, but this is really good. Cute gerita, great characterization, good plot, and some lines just really make me melt. And the fluff omg. There’s a sequel that’s linked under too that I may like more than the first.

Who Knew (One Shot)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23516695#main

“The last time the two of them had any sort of contact was when Gilbert sent the letter to Matthew before the first war started.

That was twenty-six years ago. Twenty-six years Matthew had not seen Gilbert. Twenty-six years of Matthew worrying about if his fiancé was alive or not. Twenty-six years of Matthew thinking about all the horrible things that could be happening to Gilbert. Twenty-six years of Matthew wishing he could just see Gilbert, even if it were just for a second. Twenty-six years of pure hell for Matthew. Twenty-six years of being all alone.”

Matthew Williams, the personification of Canada, never thought that he would fall in love, but he did. He fell in love with Gilbert Beilschmidt, the personification of Prussia, but their romance would have to be cut short with the up coming war that was soon approaching them.

Opinion: My god my heart. Matthew had great characterization. Like amazingly so. 10/10 somber and melodic tones throughout the story. Good tension. And again, my heart.

TELL ME A PIECE OF YOUR HISTORY ⭐

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3741175/chapters/8294941#workskin

An account of the media reactions to the reveal of Nations (anthropomorphic national embodiments) with scholarly commentary.

Heavily inspired by: United States v. Barnes, 617 F. Supp. 2d 143 (D.D.C. 2015) [fallingvoices, radialarch] with mixed genres.

Opinion: It’s really cool. It’s told through media, like email, twitter, texts, online magazines, subtitles of videos (not actual videos tho). I love the outside view point of the world on nations and how some people really like them and how others absolutely despise their very existence. One of the main things that sticks out the me is the in depth analysis other humans or posters do on the nations and people even interview the nations, chapter eight is like my favorite for that reason, or how some humans just gush about the nations on so media like how half the fandom does lol. It’s really good. Super creative, great insight on how to world sees the nations, and honestly a great read.

Red Winter (One shot and crossover!)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/909492

The Winter Soldier's new target: a Russian politician named Ivan Braginsky.

Things don't go as planned.

Opinion: Literally so cool. Like nations are total BS to outsiders, especially assassins. I was loosing it during this fic because from Bucky’s POV nations are something else. The writing is really solid and the author uses italics to highlight an action sound or word and even single-word thoughts. The fight scene is really entertaining but also it flows fantastically.

In Costa Rica (Oneshot)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18614041

“You have this backwards,” McLaughlin said. “Everything. You have it all backwards.” He was a lithe man, looked to be in his mid-thirties. Schnabel leaned back in his chair. Outside, the afternoon rain started, and the frogs momentarily fell silent. “They are dangerous, aren’t they?” Two men discuss the nations and history.

Opinion: No actual nations appear in this fic. It’s just two men talking about the nations and it’s really interesting to see them humor and take seriously the idea of nations. They both discuss what they already know about the nations and theorize. Also hearing an outside perspective and how the nations effect the word around them is golden. I give this fic a big ol’ chef’s kiss.

Finally, I’ll Just Miss You! (Oneshot)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15553608

Countries will be abolished tomorrow. For the first time, they breathe and realize this might be their last breath and they’ll never wake up again. They want to wake up, they want to go to sleep, the land will still be there when they’re gone. But they breathe, it won’t be the same- for once, they feel human.

Opinion: Bro, I swear I’m not crying. This one is short but really bittersweet and my heart really hurts. I like the snippets of insight on the characters.

Diamond in the Rough ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12872642/1/

The year is 1952, the last full year of Joseph Stalin's rule over the Soviet Union. After an incident with Latvia, Estonia is determined to find out what Russia did to him. And so unfolds a chain of events that would lead the Baltic States to tears, to forgiveness, to unexpected courage and horrifying discoveries about the mysterious past of Gilbert Beilschmidt. See AN for rating.

Opinion: This just be a legitimate book. I have honestly read this one like three time and every time I read it I am absolutely elated to discover another detail or action I missed. It is a longer read but I think it is absolutely worth it. For one, the characterization is beautiful. Maybe I might be bias because I stan and love the Baltics, but how they are written compared to the many other fics I’ve read on them is phenomenal. While the author does take some creative liberties and deviates from canon a little, like the Baltics actually considering themselves to be brothers, I really enjoy the changes. ALSO, the history and research and on this fic is genuinely impressive. To think fic authors do this shit for fun and pour so much of their passion into a piece of writing. Secondly, while Russia may be an antagonist in this story, I honestly think it is just. His mentality, backstory, and current predicament explain his behavior and make him a justifiable antagonist. I highly recommend this one.

Adieux (Oneshot)

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6700886/1/

What happens to nations after they cease to exist? Do they simply disappear or do they get a second chance? It wasn't a subject Francis was particularly keen on finding out about...but at the same time, it wasn't something he could just ignore. One-shot

Opinion: I hate this fic because I love it way too much. I might of cried a little bit and I instantly melt of Francis and Matthew.

In Our Solemn Hour (incomplete) ⭐

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8975529/30/In-Our-Solemn-Hour

The time was World War II, at the dawn of a global conflict like nothing any of the Nations had ever seen before. Nothing could've prepared them for what lay ahead: a war more total and radical than anything they could ever have imagined. This wasn't just business as usual; it was centuries' worth of pent-up emotions all coming into play at once. This was indeed their darkest hour.

Opinion: Characterization is on point. One part of this fic I remember very well during a fight to the death, Finland mutters a little “Oh dear”. The characters retain some of the qualities that make them silly in Hetalia but because this is another take on it it does get darker. I think Germany’s portrayal is my favorite because he does cruel and unnesscary things and questions it because its not his usal nature. The author notes are super insightful and sometimes funny; it really adds to the rest of the story. I might revisit this post to make a more in depth opinion on it because I don’t remember it all to well when I know I really like this one.

So that was my post lol. I’ll probably make more on other fandoms later tbh or I’ll just make a part two. If you end up reading about any of these posts, please feel free to tell me about them! I love talking about fics and reading in general. Thanks for reading!

#hetalia #helltalia #fic reccomendations #fanfiction #hetalia fanfiction #recs #help i really love fanfiction

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niosei · 5 years

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(*literally had to write all this because Tumblr glitched and deleted my draft*)

I haven’t got a clue as to how stupid my theory I’ve got going is going to be, but it is something that I’ve thought about for awhile. I am not of Christian faith and so after some research and a now very dark and satanic looking browser history, I present my theory:

I do not agree nor think that before the fall, Crowley was the Archangel Raphael. A bit plot hole in this is that, as far as I know (again, not Christian and so some of my info may be false), Raphael never fell. It is mentioned in the script and visibly executed on the show that Crowley’s real name is, in fact, a sigil.

It is rather difficult on the show to make out exactly what Crowley puts as his name but it looks similar to the ‘&’ sign.

Another plot hole that interferes with Crowley being Raphael is sigils. Raphael’s sigil looks nothing like what Crowley wrote on the clipboard.

While this is aside from my inteded theory, it does branch out into another pending question of: Who was Crowley before the fall?

AGAIN, I am not Christian and so a lot of the information that I am getting is off of various websites of which I do not know how reliable they are. I don’t know these things for myself and so I participate in 20+ minutes of research and about 5 satan-worshipping website to get the information that I am bringing you guys now.

So WHO is Crowley, then?

Well, I theorise that Crowley is not the Archangel Raphael, but the Archangel Cassiel.

I originally saw Cassiel in a list of demons/fallen angels and their sigils and decided to investigate further. But from the OG website, lo-and-behold, Cassiel’s sigil looks remarkably like the vague shape that we received for Crowley’s sigil.

After I investigated further about Cassiel, it brought in some ties to the show and even some other theories I’ve seen.

I do not remember who it was exactly who posted it on Tumblr, but I remember reading a theory on how Crowley originally owned Aziraphale’s flaming sword (of which was passed down to the principality after he fell), which was what got the demon’s attention in the first place. The theory points out that Crowley’s immediate inquires about the sword were rather pointed and almost out of the blue. The theory is very intricate and I will link it if I can ever find it again. I am mentioning this theory because our boy, Cassiel, ALSO wielded a sword.

I believe that it is possible that Crowley could have been the Archangel Cassiel before he fell, but here are some ways that he ties in with Crowley:

- Cassiel means ‘speed of god’. Who goes 90mph in central London??

- Cassiel is depicted in art with red hair

- Cassiel is known as Archangel of Saturn, obviously being an angel of high ranking. Crowley can be seen as being fond of space and also having helped built certain stars and galexies.

- As mentioned before, the shape of Crowley’s sigil name resembles Cassiel’s sigil.

- The Archangel Cassiel can be depicted as or known for having the symbol (not sigil) of a dragon. Crowley had the former appearance of a snake and has serpentine eyes.

If anyone with a firm knowledge of Cassiel has anything to add, tell me and I’d love to add it to my theory. Again, I don’t know how dumb this may sound to people with actual knowledge of Christian lore and the angels, so please excuse my ignorance of the subject.

But any thoughts??

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wayward-mikaelson · 4 years

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Centuries-Five

Word Count: 2673

Pairing: None

Characters: Dean, Sam, Hezekiah (OG Character-I picture him like the dude who played Laurent in Twilight and New Moon), Reader, Rowena (Known in this chapter as ‘certain witch’), Michael (Mentioned), Maggie (Mentioned), HooDoo Zombies (not sure if that’s a thing but in this world it is), HooDoo Priestess (Mentioned)

About: Dean worries that he hasn’t heard from the Reader in a week. The Reader has stumbled upon a case that has a whole town trapped not knowing what day it is. The Reader breaks free and finds herself back in Texas and face to face with Hezekiah.

Disclaimer: Language and Angst

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DEANS POV

"It's been a fucking week, man," I pace the kitchen holding the cup of coffee Sam gave to me. "I haven't heard from her since I called her that night." I set the cup down and rub my face.

That phone still plays in my mind. I get why YN left, I really do, but I had just gotten her back myself. I wanted more time with YN before she pulled something like this. I knew her would too. When I pleaded with YN to come back she told me she had to do this alone. She didn't want me near Michael at all. Hell, I didn't want him to come back but things kind of changed but I wanted to do this with you. Then YN said "What if I wanted Michael back because a part of me loved him? I don't want you near if that's the case. I'll call you when I can, Dean."

I hate that YN had some weird ass connection with the archangel that took his body for a joy ride. That used it to stab her. To hurt her. That used it to manipulate her to do his bidding. That used some dream to get into her pants. I shiver remembering when I found out that she and Michael had dream sex. Something that Cas told us that even though in a dream, it was real. That used it to get her killed. I just can't get on bored with YN being in love with him. I just didn't believe her and I knew she would say what ever she needed to keep me out of whatever it is she are doing.

"I'm sure she will call when she calls," Sams doesn't look up from his laptop. "Last I check her phones tracker was lost somewhere outside of New Orleans."

I look up from my coffee. "Why are you tracking her?" Then it hits me, Sam knows. YN told him she killed Maggie. "Dude, if you even think about going after her, I won't hesitate to kick your ass."

Sams looks up and I see the pain and anger in his eyes. I feel for my baby brother, I really do, but I can't let him go after YN. Sam doesn't know how freaked out she had been learning she did kill her best friend. Sam doesn't know how she hid from him in her room. "I'm not going to lie, Dean," Sam closes his laptop. "It crossed my mind a few times this last week but I just know I can't. For all we know Hezekiah, the angel that has her mind on lockdown, could have pulled the strings on this and manipulated her like Michael had."

"Then why are you tracking her still?" I ask firmly. "If you aren't planning on going after her."

Sam leans back and takes a deep breath. "I guess to make sure she's okay, since she hasn't called at all."

I sit back and let out he breath I held in. I know Sam is hurting. I've been in his place where the girl I love has died. Maybe we can find a way to bring Maggie back. I can call Rowena, but she always has some sort of condition. "You said she was somewhere outside of New Orelans?"

"Yep," Sam nods. "Then her tracker literally just fell off the face of the earth. I should also mention I did try to call her but her phone is also out of service when the account says it's still in service."

My heart just barely stops. I know she's in trouble. I get up and make my way to my room to pack. "We should go look for her," I yell towards Sam.

"I know, and she will kill you knowing you didn't listen to her," Sam yells back. It sounds like he's in his room as well packing. Even though YN killed Sam's potential love, he still cared for her. He is still looking on the bright side of all of this.

As I'm throwing things into a bag my phone rings. I look down to see an unknown number. Not many people have this number but it could be someone needing help. I reach down and something tells me that I need to answer this.

"Hello?" my voice is cautious.

"Dean?! Oh thank God!" YNs voice sounds freaked out and out of breath. "How long has it been?"

"Wait, what? Why?" I ask confused.

"I don't have time," she yelled into the phone. I stop what I'm doing and turn around to see Sam in the doorway. I mouth to him that its YN on the line. His face is covered in worry. "Tell me how long it's fucking been since we last talked!"

"A week," I'm suddenly aware of the pounding in the distance over the phone. "Is everything okay? Are you okay? Whats going on?"

I hear some shuffling and banging around. "I accidentally stumbled on a case that involves some dark and heavy hoodoo. What's been a week for you has been only a day for me. I tried to call but my phone wouldn't work. I couldn't even leave either. I killed the witch or hoodoo priestess or whatever the hell you want to call her but when I did, the town folk turned to zombies. Now I'm trapped in a room with the only working phone in town."

I zip up my bag and signal Sam that we were leaving. "Honey, where are you? Sam tracked your phones last ping outside of New Orleans. We are on our way. Just hang tight."

YN gives a small chuckle. "Of course, one of you tracked me. And yes, theres a small town outside of New Orleans but it's not on a map. But I got this Dean, you stay where you are. Theres a window I can jump out of and high tail it to my car. All the magical bearers are gone now that the hoodoo chick is dead."

The sound of banging and wood breaking kills the call. "YN?" I try to call the number back but it's dead. I look at Sam and he sees the fear written all over my face

"I'm assuming we're still going?"

"You bet your ass we are," I turn the key in the ignition and we are on the road in seconds.

DEANS POV OVER

The line is dead.

A few hoodoo zombies stumble into the room. I throw the phone aside and eye the window thats a few feet from me. This is going to hurt like hell, I think as I take a couple steps backward to get a good running start.

"This window better already have a weak spot," I mumble as I run towards it.

Taking a leap towards the window, I break through landing on a dirt and broken glass. A few shards of glass pierce my skin but I don't care. I get up and make a bee line for my car. Only to be stopped by a few hoodoo zombies. I then notice that the one trying to eat my face off has a familiar necklace on to the one of the hoodoo priestess. I yank it off and kick the thing off of me and break the crystal-glass thing to the ground. A faint glow comes from it and breaks into several tiny specks of light and going after the hoodoo zombies. Once the light touches them they all drop like flies.

"Huh," I then grab my side. I look down and see a shard of glass sticking out of my side. I know I shouldn't pull it out but I needed to. I limp over to my car and throw open the trunk where I know there is a first aid kit. I bite my lip and slowly pull out the glass. A small whimper escaping my lips.

I toss the glass to the ground and quickly cover up the already bleeding wound. I take my flannel and cut off a long piece and tightly tie it around myself. Maybe I can talk Hezekiah into healing it. I painfully get into my car and pull my phone out of the glove compartment. The battery is suddenly charged and there's service.

I dial up Deans number and press send.

"YN?!" Deans voice sounds so excited. "Oh thank God. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I get the car on the road and speed out of town. Not evening caring to look back. "I have a bumps and cuts. The Hoodoo zombies are all dead. Apparently there was a necklace that held some sort of light thing that killed them when I broke it. Similar to how I killed the hoodoo chick."

Dean sighs on the other end. "That's good. Sam and I can finally have a good night in."

"Dean," I know hes on the road. He can't hid that from me. "how far are you out of Lebanon?" Dean's silent. "Dean, don't forget I know you really well. Anyone in danger that you care about, you drop everything and race towards them."

"About an hour," Deans voice is firm and deep. "I just couldn't live with myself if I just sat back and let you die. Again."

I close my eyes. Maybe taking off was a bad idea. Maybe I should have done this with Dean. "Whatever happened in that field was not your fault. You had zero control over it. Michael hijacked your body."

I can picture Dean licking his lips and staring out the front of the impala. "Right, anyway, where are you headed?"

Right, of course he doesn't want to speak about it. According to Cas, it's too much for him. Michael is a sore spot for him. But what they all don't know, Michael is also a sore spot for me too. Despite everything I've done. The only reason I would want him back is to beat the living shit out of him.

I think back to the last words I said before this whole thing happened. I told him 'what if I wanted Michael back because a part of me loved him?' I shouldn't have said that. I even wonder why I even did say that. Yes I have or had some feelings towards the archangel. Hell, he was incredible at making love to me, almost as good as Dean. I push it aside.

"I have a feeling about Texas," I tell him. "I feel like I've driven this road before. Just keep an eye on me if you don't hear from me."

"Sounds perfect, we will make our way there then," Dean is quiet for a second. "YN, I love you. Whatever happens and whatever you find out once your memories are back, just know that. I will always be here for you. Hell, I will die for you if I have to."

I drive all night and end up in Corpus Christi early morning. I don't know why I am here, but I know I am in the right place. I send a quick text to Dean telling him where I ended up and to tell me to call me when he's at a motel. I stare at the beach in front of me and feel a pull on the mark on my side. Which reminds me that I never asked Cas to look deeper into that mark. Too late for that.

I get out and walk the beach. The pull on my mark is strong. I look up and down the beach and my eyes land on a light blue beach house. I've been there before. I walk back to my car and drive towards the blue beach house. It's not the same place I walked out of before I killed Maggie. Maybe we changed location. I don't know, But I will find out.

I get out of the car and pull out my gun. I make sure it's loaded, you know just in case I need to stun the angel. I slowly and cautiously walk up to the door. I go to knock but then I slowly put my hand on the door knob. I slowly open the door and slip inside. Dean would be pissed for doing this part alone but, I need to know if the dick face angel is in here.

The house is spotless. Almost like no one has lived in it for sometime. It's also quiet. I poke around rooms and find nothing. Then I come upon a locked room. I look around the small hallway for a key until something hit me. I sweep my hand over the top of the door frame and feel a small objet. I take it down and see that it's a small key like thing. I use it to unlock the door.

I see a room that looks like I could have slept here. The bed is all messed up. Theres clothes thrown all over the place. I guess I didn't care about what my room looked like then. I pick up the clothes and stash them all in the hamper near the closet. Something tells me that I needed to open the closet.

I am not prepared for what I see in there. There are papers taped and pinned to the walls. A list of things that make me tear up. Maggies name is on that list along with the words HAIR FROM DEAN. It's crossed out so I must have gotten it from him without him knowing. There are pages from a book about how to create a vessel without really having a body.

"What the hell did I get myself into?" I ask myself.

"I was wondering when you would come back," a voice startles me. I turn around and see a dark skinned man with dreads in the door way. "I see that wall has been activated too. So how did you find your way back if you're memory is gone."

I watch as he walked a few steps into the room. He spots the gun in my hand. "I'm assuming that you're Hezekiah," I say staying where I stood. "According to Cas, there are some holes and cracks in the wall. Could explain why I was able to find this place. He was also able to pull out one memory from me. Maggie."

"Ah, yes, the girl from Michael's world," Hezekiah smirked. "As I recall you didn't have much regret for it. You really really wanted to see Michael. Well," Hezekiahs smirk got bigger. "That's what I made you think when I brought back and refused to do what I needed." Hezekiah must have seen the look on my face. "Yep that's right, when I brought you back, with a little help from a certain witch, you flat out refused to help me get Michael back. Told me and I quote 'go die in a ditch you self righteous spineless dickless asshole.' So I toyed with your mind some and now we are closer than ever."

Fuck, I think. "So not only did you throw up a wall to cover your ass, which you did a piss poor job by the way, you messed with my mind to get you to bring back Michael. For what? Control? Power?"

"To rule Heaven, along side him," Hezekiah raises his voice. "Once he's back and finishes what he started, I can kill him and rule Heaven. With you by my side of course." He takes a few more steps towards me. What was it with angels want to rule heaven with me by their side.

"Okay, I'll continue to help, but first," I holster my gun. I know that if I don't go along with this I will die. I need to play along. "Give me my memories back."

Hezekiah looks me up and down trying to get a read on me. "You're still very hard to read." He closes the space between us. He smiles wickedly as he touches my forehead. Dean is going to be so fucking pissed.

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designforsocialimpact · 6 years

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19 - “Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new.” Og Mandino

So I’ve become accustomed to posting in this blog in a way that is more “tell you everything we’re doing” than examining a specific area that we’re exploring as a group. I’ve changed that up a bit this week.

Let me explain. Our courses are challenging us quite a bit more this semester with the “who are you as designers for social impact?” and “what are your roles and responsibilities?” questions. It may come as no shock that rather than arriving at definitive answers, these questions lead to more questions for us on a personal and a group level: What do we value? What does design mean for us? Social impact? How do we see ourselves designing for a better world? What does this world look like? Who specifically are we designing for? What are we contributing? How do we make sure that what we’re contributing (and how we are contributing it) are responsible and ethical? How do we encourage others in our discipline to do the same? How do we measure impact? And how do we do all of this in the context of a world that is changing so rapidly with social, economic and governmental systems as we know them being fundamentally challenged and changed?

Snowy weather and brisk runs help with the posing of questions

These are only a few of the questions we’re considering, and each of us has a different focus. As we progress further in the semester, you’ll witness through this blog a lot of our daily work and efforts that help us to formulate our responses to some of these questions, and, to be sure, there will be a lot of other questions that come to fruition in the process.

In the meantime, I will share a bit about our endeavors through the week (were you worried I wouldn’t? Never fear, the play-by-play is still here).

I see the week starting on Sundays, so I’ll begin there. The day entailed working on the thesis first draft (yesterday was the first official week of my thesis sport integration project. We started with a trial week to try and recruit players to commit for all six weeks. We were gung-ho, until we realized that our assumptions about the pre-registration process were, well, not accurate. But this is what prototyping is for! We learned that people who register might not necessarily come, and that people who do not register WILL come. This is helpful for us as we iterate the program each week. It meant some serious struggles and questions for me in terms of evaluations, as I based my evaluations plan on a consistent group of people coming - but fortunately I have some awesome mentors who have helped steer me anew. I’m strong in my faith that this will be as God wills it, and it will work out for good).

Here is a pic of week one of the program - this week we had to cancel because of an event at the church, an inability to play outside because of the snow, and a hard situation for one of our leaders preparing for his refugee status interview. Praying HARD that this inspiring human is rightfully granted the status to continue his noble work in France.

The rest of the day contained church service, reading for school, and preparing a presentation for Social and Urban Governance demain.

Monday, a LOOOOOONG haul of early social and urban governance on community mobilisation, which raised tons of questions about the ethics of activism for me. How far is too far in challenging the powers that be and bringing power to the powerless? Saul Alinsky, in rules for radicals, makes an argument that ridicule is a most powerful weapon - but is it ethical? Super stimulating subject area - I’m loving our readings and linking them with the readings we have for Designer’s Social and Ethical Responsibilities.

We followed this with Research & Methodologies, which was a peer-editing workshop, for the most part. Lillian took the time to connect with each of us and give wise advice. I really appreciate her as a professor. She is encouraging, insightful and dedicated. Not to mention wonderful at keeping those of us who may be a bit neurotic (ahem, moi) grounded.

Tuesday is group KILLING IT day as we forecasted the future for the Sprout Methodology that we are lucky enough to work through with Maurizio & Laureano. I would share more details about the process, because it’s a practice that I find really useful for any professional domain, but because our professorial duo is waiting to publish, I’ll refrain (I’m encouraging those interested in developing for the future to keep an eye out for the methodology when it’s published). We finished the day discussing our social and ethical responsibilities assignment and I spent an absurd amount of time deciding on an example of “bad” design from an ethical and social responsibility lens and examining different ethical theories. I was really convicted by some of the current trends we’ve been discussing in design studio with AI, as well as an ethics reading about the mental manipulation that mega corps like Google and Facebook design their technologies for. I went to bed with more questions about a solid “bad design” than I did answers.

Wednesday AM is a MakeSense morning, where we meet with Sabine (and Layla, my thesis mentor) and discuss our projects individually. This was crazy-helpful for me in re-evaluating WHAT I’m evaluating with my thesis project. Was it easy to go through? No, but so important for me to reassess with the advisement of these women who are well-versed in the social business sector.

I spent quite a bit of time devoted to my hefty pile of french assignments (yes, a lot, but so good for me! And the professor, Emma, is INCROYABLE - I feel myself learning a lot, even if it’s hard to keep up with! The wonderful thing is that Emma is one of the most attentive teachers I’ve encountered in terms of a) practicality and b) adaptation to the level of each of her students. She also GENUINELY cares and wants each of us to excel. She doesn’t play favorites or make anyone feel incompetent - it’s a joy to delve into this beautiful language with this strong woman guiding us!

Then I spent the evening trying to figure out our ethics assignment. It was incredibly challenging; I was reminded from my undergrad days in philosophy just how mentally demanding the field is - especially when it comes to ethical arguments on something like Facebook (which was the “bad” design I chose to focus on).

Thursday and Friday, as I’m sure you know by now, are long ones for us. We “sprouted” with Maurizio and Laureano in Design Studio, learned about the professional practice of art buying and consulting from Matilde Biondi Morra di Belforte.

Then Friday AM rolled in (me for French) with cozy socks for a fully-loaded friday, and settled in for a SUPER discussion about Tactical Urbanism (Holla at our girl Smarti for a bomb presentation) and even toyed with questions of ethics when it comes to designing with vs. for communities. Which was a nice segue into ethics presentations, where each of us chose a “bad” design to present on.

Rica and I didn’t have time to present, but Smarti delved into the good and the bad about the “sweater of the future” made of recycled plastic fibers, Emilie Logan talked to us about the ethics of the swank LA-based fashion brand Revolution, Vaila filled us in on the good intentions but bad consequences of a water pump playground in Africa, and Hanna brought us into a critical space regarding a project called salivation, meant to make a statement about food rationing and the future. It was reassuring to know that I was not the only one in the group that really struggled with the assignment in terms of trying to apply these ethical theories to our bad designs.

“Can something really be designed well if it does not consider the ethical impacts that it may impoe on our planet and people?” This is the big question for us moving forward.

More to come on this next week as Rica and I present. Until then, we’ll be reading and thinking critically about our design projects for this class (if you have ideas for us, please don’t hold them back!)

Us asking Thomas Watkin, our Social and Urban Governance prof, to pose for us for the blog. He was a good sport and laughed with us as we did the least-candid “candid” shot ever.

Have any thoughts on the questions from part one of the post? Or any questions of your own? Please let us know! One thing I feel certain of: as designers for social impact, we cannot work alone - we can contribute better when we collaborate with each other.

Thanks for joining with us in exploring a better future. We believe that more smiles are in store.

#designforsocialimpact ethics socialandurbangovernance pariscollegeofart mastersthesis questioneverything whatsportcando

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