#it’s possible they just continued to evolve as a culture | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

formulas-bitch · 1 month

Text

streamer Lando Norris x artist/reader

In a world where streaming had become the new norm, Lando Norris found himself in an unlikely partnership with a female streamer. Their names were as different as their personalities; he, a young, charismatic racer with a penchant for speed and risk-taking; she, an enigmatic artist with a flair for storytelling and an uncanny ability to connect with her audience. Their partnership was not born out of convenience or necessity, but rather, a strange and inexplicable twist of fate.

As they streamed together, their chemistry was undeniable. Lando would bring the thrill of the race to the screen, his fingers dancing across the controller as he maneuvered his way through virtual tracks at breakneck speeds. His laughter and cheers echoed through the studio, filling the air with an infectious energy that seemed to lift the spirits of everyone around him. On the other hand, the female streamer would take the reins when it came to interacting with their audience, engaging in witty banter and sharing intimate details about her life as an artist.

Their fans, known as the "Lando's Angels" and the "Artiste's Aficionados," were equally devoted. They would tune in religiously to witness the dynamic duo's antics, often spending hours in their streams, cheering them on and leaving generous donations. The streamer pair's popularity only grew with time, transcending the boundaries of gaming and art. They became cultural icons, their influence spreading far and wide.

Lando and the female streamer continued to push each other to greater heights, experimenting with new games, art forms, and storytelling techniques. They embarked on charity streams, using their platform to raise awareness and funds for various causes close to their hearts. Their partnership was not without its share of challenges, of course. They had their fair share of arguments and disagreements, but they always managed to find common ground and work through their differences.

As their fame grew, so did the pressure. Lando found himself constantly in the spotlight, his every move scrutinized by fans and critics alike. He struggled with maintaining a private life and the constant need to be "on" for his audience. The female streamer, on the other hand, dealt with her own set of challenges as she navigated the often-misogynistic landscape of the streaming world. Despite these obstacles, they remained a beacon of positivity and resilience, inspiring countless others to chase their dreams and find their own unique voices in the world of streaming and art.

Their partnership eventually evolved into something more than just a professional arrangement. As they spent more time together, traveling the world for gaming and art conventions, attending exclusive events, and collaborating on creative projects, a deep bond began to form between them. Lando found himself falling for the enigmatic artist, her wit, charm, and unyielding strength winning him over. She, in turn, found herself drawn to his vulnerability, his willingness to open up and share his fears and insecurities with her. Their relationship was not without its fair share of challenges, but they faced them together, their love for each other serving as a guiding light.

As their personal lives intertwined, so did their professional lives. They launched their own production company, hiring a team of talented streamers and artists to join them in their quest to create something truly special. Together, they pushed the boundaries of what was possible in the world of streaming and art, exploring new genres, mediums, and storytelling techniques. Their streams became less about the games they played or the art they created and more about the stories they told, the lives they shared, and the connections they forged with their audience.

191 notes · View notes

kanansdume · 26 days

Text

I have SO MANY feelings about Kanan, Zeb, and Rex all being some of the last few survivors of dying cultures.

Even though the Jedi can pass on their teachings and there will always be more Force sensitive people in the galaxy, the specific culture of the Prequels Jedi that Kanan grew up with will never completely come back. Jedi like Ezra and Luke will share a lot of similarities, obviously, especially philosophically, but their way of life and traditions will look VERY different, as will whatever ends up evolving from them (and from Rey if we include the Sequels).

Similarly, Zeb finds the Lasat on Lira San, but those Lasat will presumably have a VERY different culture than the one that existed on Lasan. The two groups of Lasat have been separated for so long that Lira San has become legend and is thought to not really exist and even the people who believe it exists don't realize what it actually is and that there are other Lasat on there. This implies that it's been an EXTREMELY long time since the Lasat of Lasan originally left Lira San and the two groups have probably diverged quite a bit. Lira San itself is also just not going to feel like Lasan, it won't have the same landscapes or wildlife, the cities will be different. The language might even have some significant differences that the last three Lasan survivors would have to navigate. And there's no getting back that culture from Lasan, it's gone. There's only three known survivors and they're going to end up just... engulfed into the Lira San culture without a lot of ability to pass on what they remember from Lasan. Lasan might end up like... a chapter in a Lira San history text and that's probably it. The nuances of its culture will be lost completely.

And the clones. The clones are just going to completely disappear. People will likely only remember the clones even existed because the war got named after them. All they'll be remembered FOR is violence and death. Depending on who is talking about them, they'll either be the traitors who destroyed the Jedi and allowed the Empire to reign, or the poor pawns that the Empire used to destroy the Jedi and keep the galaxy under its thumb. Who they were will be completely and utterly lost. And there's no way for them to continue in any form. While it's POSSIBLE that a few of them might have sired children out in the galaxy somewhere, we never have any confirmation of that, and nearly all of them are dead by the time the Empire falls. Their friendship with the Jedi, what little culture they were able to develop, all of that is lost to time and will disappear once the final clone dies.

It's such a horrific thing that is happening to these three characters, a slow dying out that that's literally happening in front of their very eyes. It's the worst kind of connection between the three of them, but something that's probably really important in their various relationships. No one else understands this grief the way they do, no one else quite understands how this feels, the helplessness and hopelessness. There's absolutely nothing they can do but try to keep going and remember their people as best they can and live according to the culture the Empire has tried to eradicate.

I like to think the three of them end up discussing it one day, maybe one Empire Day they all just decide to go drinking and be maudlin together. And Kanan ends up talking about how the Jedi believed that there was no death, there was the Force. Everyone who dies rejoins the Force, so even if they're gone they're still impacting the galaxy and the people living in it, regardless of whether those who remain can feel them or not. Maybe you get a burst of inspiration or have a lucky break or meet someone you instantly click with, and maybe that's the people who've left before you still touching your life through the Force, binding you together no matter what. Zeb and Rex really connect to this belief and end up finding comfort and even a little healing in it.

#star wars #kanan jarrus #caleb dume #captain rex #garazeb orrelios #jedi #clones #clone troopers #lasat #lasan #lira san #prequels jedi #pro jedi #tw genocide

144 notes · View notes

heartmachinez · 8 months

Text

CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF HEART MACHINE

A Decade of Creativity and Community

A decade ago, we began a journey that would lead to the birth of Heart Machine - a game studio committed to crafting immersive, vibrant experiences that resonate with players on a profound level. As we celebrate our 10-year anniversary, we reflect on our history, achievements, community, and the exciting future that lies ahead.

THINKING BACK

Glitch City, Kickstarter, and Hyper Light Drifter

In 2013, we took a leap of faith and launched a Kickstarter campaign for our debut project, Hyper Light Drifter. Little did we know that this campaign would not only secure the funds needed to bring our project to life, but also ignite a beautiful connection with supporters, players, and community members who believed in us from the outset.

Fueled by a need for camaraderie and knowledge, we spent those early days of Drifter’s development as a part of Glitch City, a then-small collective of independent game developers, artists, and creators all working together out of Alx’s basement. Those early days and (often) sleepless nights vision were critical in defining our design philosophies, studio culture, and grassroots community connections - setting the stage for what was to come.

Our Heartfelt Gratitude to Our Early Contributors

To date, thanks to the incredible support of our community, the Kickstarter for Hyper Light Drifter remains one of the most successful game projects on the platform. It smashed through the initial funding goal of $27,000 and ultimately raised over $600,000.

To our early backers who believed in us and our vision, and those fellow devs who helped us through endless rounds of playtesting and feedback, we extend our deepest gratitude. Your unwavering support enabled us to bring our dreams to life and emboldened us to continually push the boundaries of game design.

Special shout out to core Drifter team members: Alx Preston, Beau Blyth, Teddy Dief, Casey Hunt, Rich Vreeland, Akash Thakkar, Sean Ward, Lisa Brown, and Cosimo Galluzzi.

The critical reception following the release of Hyper Light Drifter was incredible - beyond our wildest expectations. We never could have anticipated the accolades and recognition it received, or the impact it made on players far and wide. It was humbling, and affirmed our dedication to continue to make great games to share with the world.

Moving Into a New Dimension

We started development on Solar Ash about a year before the multi-platform release of Hyper Light Drifter. Early on, we joined forces with Annapurna Interactive, whose expertise and resources facilitated our exploration of 3D game development. Over the next five years, Annapurna's support played a pivotal role in bringing this ambitious project to fruition. The vastness of the game's ethereal landscapes and fluid movement mechanics opened new avenues for worldbuilding and storytelling.

To date, Solar Ash continues to engage new players and inspire returning ones to create beautiful works inspired by the game. It is following in the footsteps of its predecessor and is now available on a a wide array of game platforms for a worldwide audience.

All of the positive reception that followed Solar Ash’s release proved that our community was ready to continue along this new aesthetic path with us. Just as Drifter smashed through its initial Kickstarter goals, we are poised to once again smash the boundaries of possibility with our upcoming projects.

HEART MACHINE TODAY

Reimagining a Familiar World

As we celebrate our 10-year milestone, we're thrilled to now be well underway with our newest title set in the familiar Hyper Light Universe. This new project, Hyper Light Breaker, builds upon the foundations we've laid, evolving our creative vision in unexpected ways.

A Shared Journey

Our journey would not be complete without acknowledging the invaluable contributions of our community. From community leaders who pave the way forward with creativity and kindness, to creators who challenge us with incredible skill and passion, to modders who continuously breathe new life into our games, to wiki writers who meticulously document every detail, to speedrunners who push the boundaries of possibility – you are the heartbeats that keep our worlds alive.

Over the years, we've had the privilege of connecting with our wonderful community at conventions and events across the digital and physical world. These gatherings allowed us to share our passion, hear your stories, and learn from your insights. Your presence and enthusiasm continue to inspire us.

We’re so grateful to: Polare, Lukas, Durtle, Clark, Yrrzy, CornMayor, Aza, Andreas, Conscy, Perfectly Mediocre, Thunderbrave, Bryonato, Utsu, NicowithaC, Covert Muffin, Sylvi, among many many others who make our work worth doing.

Our Company Vision

At Heart Machine, we've built more than games. We've cultivated a company culture that values kindness, inclusivity, and pushing the envelope. Our mission has always been not only to entertain but also leave a lasting impact. This dedication has enabled us to support and grow a thriving studio of some of the most talented, thoughtful, and fun people in the entire industry.

Our ethos revolves around fostering a work environment that prioritizes professional advancement, mental and physical health, and employee happiness. This commitment takes shape in various dimensions of our culture. We proudly offer Heart Machine University (HMU), a collaborative peer-teaching initiative where we cover everything from how to LARP or make sculptures out of driftwood to environment, concept, and tech art techniques. We also organize activities like group gaming and anime sessions, provide access to networking and learning resources, and support social and charitable initiatives to reinforce our team’s sense of purpose. As a studio, we strive to hang our culture on a framework where each individual can flourish and achieve their own growth and learning goals.

It’s no accident that the trajectory of these past 10 years has led us to forming the team we have now. We have always and will continue to adhere to our culture of high quality standards, emphasis on creative innovation, and heart-first leadership practices.

LOOKING AHEAD

As we stand at the threshold of the next chapter, we're excited to announce that Hyper Light Breaker will be arriving in Early Access in 2024. This project represents our ongoing commitment to pushing boundaries, taking risks, and creating experiences that captivate and challenge players in our specifically unique ways.

Beyond Hyper Light Breaker, we have other projects currently under wraps that will continue to define us as a studio. We can't wait to share these journeys with you as we forge into this next decade.

Thank you thank you thank you for joining us on this incredible ride. Heart Machine wouldn't be the same without each and every one of you. Here's to the many more adventures that lie ahead!

With love and gratitude,

The Heart Machine Team

#hyper light drifter #solar ash #solarash #annapurna #gearbox #kickstarter #hyper light breaker #game development #gamedev #indiegamedev #indiegames

212 notes · View notes

kindestegg · 1 year

Text

Collector, Hunter and Caleb: On cycles of violence

Baby titans. Flapjack. Evelyn. What do they all have in common?

If you guessed "they were key components in making a character question what they've been told and pursue a new life, kickstarting major events", you're correct!

Hi, I'm Romeo the local Collector obsessed TOH fan!! And I REALLY need to talk about how Collector's backstory parallels Hunter's and Caleb's. Like I REALLY REALLY do.

Just as a quick disclaimer, if you're still feeling lost on Collector's backstory, I made a quick write up of my analysis for it here.

Now, if you're up to speed, we can start talking about the parallels. You see, I feel Collector's backstory is so fascinating because it really solidifies one of the recurring themes of The Owl House: cycles of violence.

Specifically, I want to talk about cycles of violence that aren't easily changed or broken. Societal ones, ones that worm themselves into the very norms of conduct that inform a certain people's behavior.

For Caleb, that was being a witch hunter, something that not only do we know was part of the local culture of Gravesfield back when he and Philip came to it, but that also apparently by Philip's memories, was even something he looked forward to.

I'm not going to get into how this ties into historical, real life witch hunting, because I feel it's hardly appropriate I, as someone who's not that well versed on such history, go into it in a theory post about a Disney cartoon.

But even in this fantasy world, the fact of that matter is that this witch hunting was enacting a system of organized violence. Children were brought up since early on to act out witch hunts, to understand witches were enemies and should be hunted. The othering of witches, the insistence of them as monstrous and inhuman. All this must have led to the witch hunting culture of Gravesfield.

And Caleb and Philip were deep in it.

Now, we know how the story goes. Both brothers go to the demon realm, meet a witch. Caleb gives it all an earnest chance, resolves himself to learn about how witches really are, and humanizes them, even possibly falling in love with a witch, who we now know as Evelyn. Philip despises it all from the start, refuses to ever see the place as anything but damned and monstrous.

From this, Caleb and Philip become symbols of opposing forces: That of change, a break in the status quo, a shining light of questioning why things are and calling for peace VS That of tradition, the desperate want to keep the cycle going, inability to envision anything different than has ever been, to question the old teachings.

Each fought for what they believed in. But Caleb lost and the cycle continued, evolved.

In the real world it is much of the same. Change happens gradually, but even when it does, the cycle does not break easily, it evolves into something else.

Philip's hunt turns to the entirety of the Boiling Isles. He creates the Coven System, to get rid of all witches, yes, but also to keep them easier to control, predictable. He becomes Emperor, and now there is a new system of control, a new cycle of violence.

The Emperor's Coven is suspiciously the only one allowed to use all kinds of magic, a way to assert this authority as well as making recruiting Coven Scouts easier. Witches who do not conform to the system are captured and petrified en masse, the Coven Scouts ensure all witches and demons must fall in line, or else. The parallels to our world and state forces used to control the population is not something that goes unnoticed.

Hunter is part of the Emperor's Coven, too. He's placed as the Golden Guard, the most important symbol of the Emperor's Coven, a substitute for Lilith once she reforms. As such, Hunter too starts out by enforcing a system of violence, just as Caleb did before.

The cycle even more glaringly becomes a cycle now, as Belos literally keeps making grimwalkers and restarting the cycle of the golden guard. Belos enforces the cycle of violence, and hopes this "new Caleb" will do it too, and every time he attempts to break it, Belos breaks him first. In a way, there are two cycles of violence at play: that of which is systemically mantained over the Isles, and that of which Belos mantains over Hunter and every other grimwalker he's made.

Hunter, of course, eventually defects as well. He meets Luz, Flapjack, and then Willow and Gus and when he knows it, he's got a whole lot of people he cares about and that care about him. And he becomes a little less willing to carry out the system of violence he was placed in every day. Until he defects for good.

So the cycle breaks once more, but this time, Belos doesn't catch up to him, at least not yet. In the present, Hunter is still surrounded by friends and a loving mother figure. He was part of breaking the cycle, of at least helping stop the Day of Unity. Change is starting.

So where does Collector fit into all of this? Well I'd first like to address the elephant in the room. For a character whose backstory also involves breaking cycles of violence he sure was aiding in one, by giving Belos the draining spell and encouraging the creation of the coven system. But that's just another aspect of cycles of violence.

Because cycles of violence don't just imply systemic violence or even violence perpetrated through constant abuse. But also, the cyclical nature of violence. The ability that someone who has grown up with violence normalized and has had violence done unto them can then channel that into violence towards others.

Now, before I am misinterpreted, I'd like to make some things clear: One, I am not of the simple opinion that "abused people turn into abusers", that is an ugly myth. Two, I have been a victim of abuse myself, and am a psychology graduate. I feel confident speaking with authority about this subject. Third, there is a difference between the psychological concept of generational trauma and internalized violence and the idea that being abused will turn someone violent.

What I am implying here is that Collector's behavior of dismissing both the violence done unto the grimwalkers, as well as towards the victims of the draining spell is something that he has learned and internalized as normal due to his life experiences.

Recall if you will that Collector is a member of an alien species that has a high disregard for life. In the same breath that they will say they preserve creatures to study them, they will also attempt to destroy all that opposes them. Collector grew up with this violence being seen as normal. He was brought to meet the titan trappers and taught to wear the titan skulls, following in his family's footsteps.

But... just like Caleb and Hunter before them, they saw a different path they could take when it came to the titans. A way to approach them without violence. They gained an interest for titans, just like Hunter with wild magic, just like Caleb with the demon realm.

Once left alone to do so, they approached the titans, specifically young ones, close to their age. They played and maybe even learned some of their favorite games for the first time there.

They also became horribly traumatized.

Both Caleb and Hunter have suffered greatly as a consequence for their defiance. No system of violence lets itself be broken peacefully. Caleb had his life taken, so did all the grimwalkers. Hunter, while having escaped with a good support system, lost Flapjack.

For Collector, that came in the form of having to watch all the remaining titans he had so happily introduced himself to play with get killed off by his own family. We do not know the full logic of how or why his family did this, but we know it was brutal and we know the end result: King's egg alone and Collector in the disc, imprisoned for centuries.

Collector is a child, and if there was still any doubt in any fan's mind of this, For the Future stomped it out for good. Collector was a child when he had to watch his family kill off his new friends. He was a child when King's Father, likely in the middle of these attacks and motivated by it, sealed him away. He remained in stasis for centuries during this imprisonment.

I can only imagine that would really mess up any kid up. And through that, I think we can begin to understand what the mindset was for Collector when he took Philip up on his offer.

I've seen people be surprised by how friendly and childlike Collector acted in this latest episode when compared to his previous appearances in season 2, and I think we need to remember that Collector was in a much different condition back then. He had lost everything he cared about, got stuck in a prison for centuries with no one to talk to and no hope of anyone ever finding him, and when someone did find him, it was Philip fucking Wittebane.

And something I think most of us have already clocked about Philip is that he prefers the people he collaborates with to be vulnerable. Someone he can easily control, usually through their emotions and attachments.

We see this in Elsewhere and Elsewhen with his tendency to praise and lead Lilith and Luz on to get what he wants, knowing they need something out of this and are desperate.

We see this with Lilith, whom he uses the guilt of her sister being cursed to make her follow his every command and not question his rules.

We see this with every grimwalker including Hunter as they're told he was the one who "saved them and took them in".

We see this with Luz and how he leads her thoughts around in Hollow Mind to twist it in how she helped him unwittingly before.

And though his relationship with Kikimora and her schemes is more of an odd one, with him mostly paying her no mind, Follies at the Coven Day Parade at the very least touched on the fact her mental health at the Emperor's Coven is not doing well. She's also desperate for something and being led around by Belos' promises, even if that thing she's desperate for is... power. But er, we love an evil girlboss.

Look, what I'm trying to say is that Philip saw a child that had been horribly traumatized from seeing his friends die and then getting stuck in fantasy perpetual prison for centuries with no enrichment, no one to talk to, just eternal loneliness and sadness and he absolutely took advantage of it.

He used every single part of Collector's broken psyche to his advantage, including possibly withholding his freedom to interact with the outside world through the disc, shutting him up and cutting his vision whenever he might have wanted to.

And Collector, having grown up in an environment that encouraged killing everything in your way if necessary, having nothing else to lose because everything he could have cared about not killing was to his knowledge gone...

Absolutely took him up on the offer. And so, the cycle of violence is mantained, the one who had to witness such violence, unable to stop it, now carries out the same type of violence against others. Out of anger, maybe, but mostly out of desperation. For Collector, there's nothing left to do but do what Belos says, otherwise it's back to loneliness and darkness. And if Belos says "kill every last witch and demon in the Boiling Isles", he'll get that.

Collector's glee in this is not something that can be excused, however. It must be examined through the lens of understanding this is a bad thing, that this is a case study in how children internalize violence and learn to be not only compliant to it, but also even revel in it. He's gone from victim to perpetrator. Not because of any of the abuse or trauma he faced, but because of his environment creating the perfect conditions for it.

But that's when our heroes come in. The cycle of violence did not complete itself. The draining spell was stopped. And the way it was stopped is also incredibly powerful in its symbolism.

Because it was King who went out of his way to contact Collector and who freed him. King, a titan, the last of a species that was at war with the collectors, now extended a hand for our Collector to be free. Despite everything indicating that they should not find each other, should not be together, they came together to stop the Day of Unity.

In the Day of Unity being stopped by the Collector, so another cycle of violence is broken: that of titans and collectors being at odds with each other. In them is represented the hope for the future: two children who are free of the anger their species would hold for one another, now united in their wish for a better future.

When King decides Collector shouldn't be imprisoned again and insists to Lilith and Eda that they let him talk to them peacefully, that's him taking a step to break the cycle of violence. When King says "it didn't work" he's not just talking about the fact Collector could go free. He's talking about the fact imprisoning Collector was a violence done unto him that only brought about more danger and more violence, did not teach him anything, and doing so again could risk worse things to come.

When he says "it's worth a shot if no more people get hurt" he includes everyone in that equation. He includes Collector. And that's breaking the cycle of violence.

In a way, you could say if Belos and Collector's arcs as villains are both about stopping cycles of violence in different ways.

With Belos, he has spiraled down so deeply he has become the cycle itself, eating everything in the way and infecting everything, unable to live on without creating more violence onto others, and so he must be stopped by force if necessary. In this, The Owl House doesn't shy away from the fact that in the real world, sometimes you need to fight back, you cannot resolve everything peacefully, and breaking the cycle will involve hurting someone before they hurt more people.

But with Collector, another side is shown, one that reminds us that we must have nuance, and sometimes, we will be faced with the difficult reality that those doing violence unto others are also people who are hurting, who are lonely, who are sad. Specially children who have grown in environments where violence and prejudice was normalized. Sometimes children will be violent, will be bigoted, will repeat every little horrible thing the adults in their lives taught them. But they're still children. And they still deserve a chance to learn and a chance to grow.

It's about recognizing the difference between a young person who genuinely wants to learn and hasn't had the opportunity to, and someone who is not interested in this. Collector's backstory tells us he does have an interest in being good, he just needs the opportunity.

Collector isn't an easy character to approach like Hunter or Caleb. They do not have the benefit of starting off the narrative dead and buried, leaving the audience to assume mostly good things out of his deviation. Neither do they have Hunter's rebellious teenage bravado that allows him to show his defiance to Belos or his tragic fate of being a grimwalker binding him. They just are an alien child with immense power who tried once to deviate from the norm and then got the worst luck of the entire universe after them, and procceeded to become bitter and angry and absolutely sadistic afterwards.

But there's still good in them. And just like Caleb and Hunter, their efforts to break the cycle of violence they were raised in, as well as the efforts to denounce their fellow collectors will not go unnoticed.

#the owl house #toh analysis #toh theory #toh spoilers #toh collector #hunter toh #caleb wittebane #the collector #did you know i hit image limit with this post. i was gonna add more.#Commander's orders

672 notes · View notes

pinballopinions · 2 months

Text

Listen it's midnight but I continue to be obsessed with Chants of Sennaar.

Can you imagine how the languages of the tower must have changed when/if the people moved away from the tower? Like, languages language because people people. Cultures don't invent words for things unless they have a need for that word. (Ex: the verb "to google" didn't become a thing until a) search engines were invented, b) Google became the most popular search engine so specifying that it was Google you used became largely irrelevant, and c) Googling things became so common in daily speech that "looked it up on Google" became clunky and inconvenient to say...so we needed a dedicated word that meant "looked it up on Google".) I'd imagine the languages of the tower are so simplistic because the people live simplistic lives. You'd speak to the same 10 people about the same 10 things, you don't need words for anything else.

Each and every culture in the tower lacks a distinct tense in its sentences; that is, "I see", "I saw" and "I will see" are all represented by the same two glyphs. That's probably because the culture currently has no burning need to distinguish between them. Imagine what will happen when they leave the tower! When past and future become things that are different! When what happened yesterday is different from what will happen tomorrow, when they start making plans with people, when they start communicating with people with different experiences, when they will need to communicate what their past was like because the person they'd be speaking to wouldn't already know! Imagine when they start needing directions! When they start seeing new things! When there becomes a need to distinguish between up and great!

Imagine! How will they distinguish past and future? Will they have a dedicated word, such as "I will play", or will they add a time word such as "I play tomorrow"?

Imagine when the exiles need a word for, say, "poet". What glyphs will they need to invent? What glyphs will they then combine to form the word poet? Will the language evolve beyond a combining language where the glyph for "stranger" combines the glyphs for "not" and "me"? What change would have to happen in the culture for a combining language to become clunky and inconvenient? The possibilities are quite literally endless!!!! It's so exciting to think about!!

Just!!!! Langauges!!!!!!!!!!!

#chants of sennaar #language

60 notes · View notes

nerdygaymormon · 7 months

Text

The LDS Church & homosexuality

Some church goers are uncomfortable that I identify as gay. They think how my Creator made me is somehow against God, but I’m allowed to stay in my church because I’m single and celibate which means I am following my church’s teachings on sexuality, which also matches historical Christian teachings on sexuality.

You know who isn’t following those historical teachings? Straight couples who use birth control. Also breaking the historical rules are straight couples where one or both of them divorced a former spouse.

By historical, I mean the majority Christian understanding of the past 2000+ years. But we don’t even have to go back that far. I’m a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which I’ll refer to as “the church” or “LDS Church”), let’s look at some of it’s more recent teachings & practices:

In the 1960′s, at General Conference it was taught that using contraception was a gross wickedness.

In the 1980′s, the LDS Church told bishops not to issue temple recommends to married couples who engage in oral sex.

Even up to 2020, the Handbook said church members had to consult with their bishop before getting a vasectomy or tubal ligation because this was seen as a moral issue since it would prevent them from having more children.

This is not ancient history!

Over the past 50 years, the church has liberalized sex for straight married couples. Current LDS policies are that birth control is considered a private matter for the married couple to decide and bishops are instructed not to ask married couples about their sexual behaviors. Oral and anal sex, or any other sexual act that may not result in pregnancy, are no longer considered moral dangers which the church needs to stop straight married couples from exploring. As one friend of mine described it, once you’re married, anything goes as long as there’s consent from both partners.

————————————————————

For gay couples, there’s been a little bit of movement by my church, but nothing like what has happened for straight couples.

Gay individuals are now allowed to call themselves “gay” without getting in trouble, they’re allowed to date and hold hands and kiss without having to confess or have their church membership put in jeopardy (unless you attend the church’s schools where you may get punished for those behaviors). However, for gay couples, marriage or sex will both bring discipline and possible expulsion from the church.

————————————————————

The Biblical viewpoints on sexuality come from a time and culture that valued women for their ability to produce children. Infant mortality rates were high and overall population growth was slow. Any kind of sex that couldn’t result in a pregnancy was forbidden (even if not the intent of the original text, that’s the interpretation made by Christians and taught for centuries)

Today, infant mortality rates are low, life expectancy is high, and the world’s population is at a whopping 8 billion (it first reached 1 billion in 1804, 2 billion in 1927, and has continued to expand at a quickening pace). The reality of our lives has changed.

Biblical understandings of orientations were very different from today’s. Even modern understanding has evolved as prior to the 19th century, the concept of a sexual orientation was absent from Western culture.

————————————————————

Let’s take a look at the evolution of the LDS Church’s positions on homosexuality.

Labels

In the 1960′s church leaders took a hard stance against even identifying as gay. Calling yourself gay or a homosexual could result in excommunication.

In the 1980′s, the church separated having gay feelings from behaviors. Feelings and attractions were no longer a sin, just the behaviors. However, what labels queer members should use was still a hot topic. Same-sex attraction was the preferred label.

I remember being told in the 1990′s that the terms gay, lesbian, or bi should only be used as adjectives to describe behaviors or feelings, not people. People were encouraged to say they experience same-sex attraction (SSA) and not call themselves gay.

While calling yourself lesbian, bi or gay is still not encouraged, in 2016 the church finally said it’s okay to do so.

—————————

What causes someone to be gay

The church taught people developed homosexual feelings due to a variety of reasons. These reasons changed over the decades, but here are some of the things the church taught as causing homosexuality: masturbation, sexual abuse, wearing gender non-conforming clothing, or even just talking about homosexuality. In other words, having gay attractions was a mental disorder for which someone needed help.

Gay people have been disagreeing for decades, explaining we didn’t choose to be gay and it isn’t the result of abuse or other such causes, it’s just how we are.

Since 1990, there’s been a steady accumulation of research to show that a person’s sexuality is determined before birth. Yet the church resisted change. Recognizing that it’s previous statements on the causes of homosexuality conflict with the research, in 2006 the church stated that it has no opinion on what causes someone to have homosexual attractions.

In 2010, Boyd K. Packer taught in General Conference that since God’s Plan is for men & women to have sex with each other in a marriage, God wouldn’t give people same-sex attractions without a way to change them while also prohibiting them from being able to act on these attractions. "Why would our Heavenly Father do that to anyone?" That is a damn fine question to which the church has yet come up with a good answer. It leaves the church in a quandary that it acknowledges people are gay, they don’t choose to be gay, and they can’t choose to not be gay, and yet they're still prohibited from having sex or getting married

—————————

Reparative/Conversion Therapy

Given the way the church thought about what causes someone to be gay, it’s little wonder it also taught someone could be ‘cured.’ The 1960′s saw a big increase of statements from top leadership in the church teaching this.

In Sept 1969, the BYU Psychology Department begins electroshock aversion therapy research against ‘sexual deviancy.’

In 1978, gay students who attend BYU are still required to do conversion therapy, but no longer will aversion therapy be used.

In 1992, the church discouraged leaders of local congregations from encouraging members to change their sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual as that generally leads to frustration and discouragement.

In 2016, the church created the Mormon and Gay website which declared conversion therapy or sexual orientation change efforts are unethical. It seems that it’s around this time that BYU ceased conversion therapy

It took until 2019 for LDS Family Services (the church’s therapy arm) to say it no longer tries to change a person’s sexual orientation, in other words, no more reparative therapy.

—————————

Mixed-orientation marriages

In the 1970′s and 1980′s, gay men were actively encouraged to marry a woman with the promise this would "cure" their homosexuality (the church is focused on gay men while barely showing any concern for lesbians). I suppose this could be seen as another attempt at reparative therapy.

In the April 1987 General Conference, Gordon B. Hinckley said marriage shouldn’t be used as a way to cure homosexuality. But for men who were able to have some attraction to a woman, or who had a great desire to be married with a family in spite of who they are attracted to, mixed-orientation marriages were still encouraged.

In 2006, it was stated mixed-orientation marriages are no longer encouraged as therapy or a solution to deal with homosexual feelings. It’s a little more expansive from the 1987 statement which was only about using marriage to cure homosexual feelings. While this is the official policy, many leaders still encourage gay people to enter mixed-orientation marriages, and not just at the local level. David Archuleta shared in 2022 that an apostle had encouraged him to marry “a good girl.”

Mixed-orientation marriages don’t have a good track record, even for LDS couples, about 70% of them end in divorce. This is why I think the church stopped encouraging them.

—————————

The fight against gay marriage

In the 1990′s and 2000′s, the LDS Church’s fight against gay marriage invoked the fear that if gay marriage was legalized, within one generation the world’s population of humans would be wiped out.

Somehow they thought homosexuality was so alluring that everyone would choose it and no more children would be born. Makes me wonder how many repressed gay men were in the ranks of the church leaders.

Once gay marriage was legalized, the church moved to explain why it still wouldn’t allow gay marriages among its members. Here’s some of the attempts:

The church has continued to teach that God only approves of a man & a woman who are married and sealed together. They will sometimes refer to scriptures as if that settles the matter, but even a casual reading of those verses will leave a person wondering what they have to do with a gay couple, or why a verse about polygamy is used to support 1 man + 1 woman.

With the growing acceptance of gay people and calls for change, in 2019 Elder Oaks introduced the idea that the 2 great commandments are in conflict and we need to not accept our gay neighbor too much because it would conflict with obeying the 1st command to love God. Later in a 2023 YSA fireside, Elder Oaks backed off of the idea that there's tension between the 2 great commandments.

In 2021, Elder Oaks introduces the idea that the church is only about helping people aim for the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, and that requires a straight couple being sealed. Queer people can’t fit that, so they will go to a lower kingdom, and those are really good, so they’ll be fine. (it feels like an attempt to placate those who want more, like how the idea of civil unions was meant to satisfy gay couples and keep them from wanting to get married)

In 2023, Elder Oaks added the idea that everyone who “keeps their covenants” are assured of having a sealed relationship. I think this is his way of saying gay marriage isn’t needed because that won’t last and eventually after you’re dead you will get to be in a straight marriage so just be patient.

In 2023, a survey by PRRI shows that as of 2022 50% of active LDS members of the church in the United States approve of gay marriage. So I would say these attempts against accepting gay marriage are not yielding the hoped-for results

—————————

Status of children of gay couples

In 2015, in response to the legalization of gay marriage across the United States, the LDS church implemented a new policy which forbids children from joining the church, or advancing in church, if one of their parents is in a gay relationship. Sadly, this mostly affected children who grew up in church as they were born to a couple in a mixed-orientation marriage which had broken up and the gay spouse found a same-sex partner.

In 2019, as part of undoing the 2015 policy, it was shared that many exemptions to the policy had been granted since 2015, and that the policy against the children is no longer in effect.

—————————

Law of Chastity

For many decades, “acting” on same-sex attractions was considered against the law of chastity. Many took this to include not just sexual acts but also dating or even hugs and holding hands.

In 2019, as part of undoing the 2015 policy which banned the children of gay couples from joining the LDS church, the statement was made that "immoral conduct in heterosexual or homosexual relationships will be treated in the same way." Many interpret this to mean dating, hand holding, and other activities that single heterosexual adults are allowed to engage in before marriage, these are now allowable for gay people. Not all local leaders agree with this interpretation, and in 2023 the BYU Honor Code was updated to forbid “same-sex romantic behavior.”

————————————————————

Within my lifetime, the law of chastity restrictions on straight couples have gone away as long as they’re married.

For gay people, the church now acknowledges they exist and it isn’t a choice to have these feelings. You may be allowed to date and hold hands and kiss but it is not encouraged because it can lead to a gay marriage.

Church leaders and members from a few decades ago would be shocked at the current teachings and practices of the LDS church in regards to sexuality, both for straight and gay people.

It is odd to hear church leaders claim the law of chastity isn’t subject to change, that doctrines never change, our teachings about homosexuality will never change, and yet we have a history of change. What's the point of being a church of continuing revelation if we say there will be no further revelation?

I hope for our leaders to receive "further light and knowledge.” We claim to be a church of revelation, so let’s get inspiration on how God’s queer children fit into God’s plan, on the blessings available to them, on how they bless the rest of the church, and their purposes in life. Let queer people have joy and hope in this life.

#queerstake

83 notes · View notes

pearldrone · 9 months

Text

hey guys, this is a post about side order and what we can somewhat gather about it so far. this'll be a long one, so hang tight. i've seen others vaguely talk about these ideas, so i decided to go all-out.

this image is of what i'm going to refer to as the 'landscape of thorns,' which is a 'long-term nuclear waste warning message.' these being used to sway humanity from intruding on highly dangerous sites.

as certain kinds of radiation can stay toxic for thousands of years, a warning of the dangers of this plant were needed. non-linguistic messages were attempted at first by a report from the sandia national laboratories, one of the three development and research laboratories of the department of energy's national nuclear security administration. {DOE, NNSA} the aim of this series of messages were to warn later visitors to any waste site. they recommended that messages include each of the following, gradually increasing complexity.

{much more under the cut.}

"1} Rudimentary information: "Something man-made is here"

2} Cautionary information: "Something man-made is here and it is dangerous"

3} Basic information: Tells what, why, when, where, who, and how

4} Complex information: Highly detailed written records, tables, figures, graphs, maps and diagrams"

the issue with worded messages is that they're unlikely to be comprehensible in thousands of years. considering how much the english language has changed, and will continue to evolve, would those of the future be able to understand what is being said? because of this, symbols were also considered.. but another problem arises with that. no symbol will be universally understood to mean one thing, even something such as the jolly roger. {☠️} using it to warn for risk of sickness, or general harm would serve useless as time passes. especially nowadays, while the jolly rodger still is seen as a danger symbol somewhat, is used more commonly as a cool design thing.. at least in the USA. and again, that's the problem. no symbol is universally known for one thing, no matter what.

i believe it was also a thought to not warn at all, and just leave it there.. but that questions ethics.

eventually, physical markers were explored, giving ideas such as the forbidding blocks, rubble landscape, the landscape of thorns, and a few beyond those. these ideas carry similar characteristics to each other.

from the official trailer.

in 1992-1993, a poll was issued by the zeitschrift für semiotik of tübingen germany, asking the following question:

"how would it be possible to inform our descendants for the next 10,000 years about the storage locations and dangers of radioactive waste?" and received answers such as artificial satellites, atomic priests, and 'ray cats.' i'm going to further talk about ray cats, as i think, considering the themes, it would be a good opportunity for side order to delve deeper into li'l judd, and his current whereabouts or motivations. as it's very vaguely hinted that he owns grizzco industries, and with that presumably dead fish in the trailer, it could be explored. i hope they won't make it weird though, as you know.. the whole thing with mammals has been a bit bizarre..

anyway, it was suggested that a species of cat should be bred that changes colors when exposed to radiation, so essentially a living sign of nuclear threat. as things such as nursery rhymes have been culturally significant in some way for many, many years.. in 2014, the musician 'emperor x' was commissioned by the podcast '99% invisible' to create a song about this idea for an episode about long-term nuclear waste warning messages.

whatever this fucker is. they could be completely done with grizzco, but who knows.

{edit 8/23/23 i've been told it resembles the bake-kujira. the ghost whale which is accompanied by "weird birds or fish."}

giving us the song '10,000-Year Earworm to Discourage Settlement Near Nuclear Waste Repositories {Don't Change Color, Kitty.}' the gist of this track being "if the cat turns bright colors, run!" and was designed to be "so catchy and annoying that it might be handed down from generation to generation over a span of 10,000 years."

youtube

so, themes of radiation are very likely to be present. this brings us to our next section, the coral bleaching.

as you may know, healthy coral has beautifully bright colors. this is due to microscopic algae known as zooxanthellae, which lives inside of the algae's polyps. it is also a major source of food, and nutrients. coral bleaching occurs when coral reefs are under stressful conditions, a huge one being climate change, which i will get deeper into that specifically. if the waters it lives in heat up too much, the coral will begin to expel this zooxanthellae.. leaving it completely white, and exposing its bone-like structure.

healthy vs partially bleached coral.

while bleached coral isn't quite dead, the aftermath of said bleaching makes it much more susceptible to disease and malnourishment due to lack of nutrition. if the waters stay too warm for too long, or if the bleaching is too extreme, the coral will die.

images from the official side order trailer, showing us bleached and possibly dead coral.

coral bleaching is an ongoing issue, and efforts have been made to conserve and regrow the coral reefs.. this brings us to a shorter section, but one worthy of a mention.

coral cloning. coral cloning is a phenomenon where a small bit of a healthy coral is cut, and grows into a full piece. it helps when this, sometimes miniscule, piece is placed next to another. this speeds up growth almost rapidly. however, it is not too easy to grow, and this method isn't totally fool-proof. coral requires very certain conditions to flourish, such as not being placed on an open ocean floor, but instead in an already established habitat. also things like water temperature, pH levels, pollution, all can stunt growth. this is a very vast oversimplified explanation, but i believe you get the picture. have you wondered why i am bringing this up? here is why..

am i saying this directly implies cloning? not exactly. it's an interesting thing to note, though, as you might know how octarians {NOT OCTOLINGS!} are born.. via severed tentacle. coral can sometimes be born via severed piece. i'm not going to go into this much more, as it's kind of an out-there comparison. do with that what you will.

continuing on with the radiation and infectious theme, i feel i should mention ultraviolet radiation. the sun produces these UV rays, of course, and they can be good in moderation. if it's too much? it can be absolutely killer. you guessed it, ultraviolet radiation does play a part in warmer waters, which aids in bleaching coral. however, that's not all.. the state of inkopolis square we see in the side order trailer could very well also be due to residue of nuclear radiation from the human society's many wars. before humanity's fall, natural disasters were more prevalent than ever, and we still don't really know what exactly happened besides the massive flood. the sea levels rising was the reason the great turf war, the deadliest war to strike inkadia, even happened. things like oil spills could possibly be going on too, as in some photos, you can see this black liquid.

i'm going to state the obvious and add on that oil spills are incredibly dangerous to marine life, and that includes coral reefs.

remnants of human life have not disappeared from inkadia, or anywhere in this world dominated by marine life. it's not far-fetched to say they could still be affected by anything else left behind, climate wise.

the landscape of thorns has not been built, to my knowledge, but maybe it was here. this could be a rediscovered nuclear plant, who knows. especially as certain kinds of radiation, again, can stay hazardous for upwards of ten-thousand years, and possibly longer. you may have caught that ten-thousand is an important number for multiple reasons, especially with the possibility that this octoling is eight. the human race has been extinct for longer than ten-thousand years by this point, but it's something to remember. but there's still questions.. where do pearl and marina fall now? what is their role? is this an infection only targeting octolings, and other octarians? what's going on with marina? only time will tell, yeah?

there you have it, if you read this far.. definitely tell me what you think. i've still not covered everything in the trailer, so any add-ons would be cool if you have any. this took a while to research and write, so thanks for reading.

sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral_bleaching

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-are-taking-extreme-steps-to-help-corals-survive/

https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/everything-you-need-to-know-about-coral-bleaching-and-how-we-can-stop-it

https://response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/how-do-oil-spills-affect-coral-reefs.html

https://youtu.be/JENUAv0w8Q4

https://youtu.be/ZiULxLLP32s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_nuclear_waste_warning_messages

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200731-how-to-build-a-nuclear-warning-for-10000-years-time

https://youtu.be/dDIMYAYSGCo

#splatoon #pearl rambles #splatoon 3 #splatoon lore #side order #splatoon 3 dlc #agent 8 #splatoon theory

120 notes · View notes

cemeterything · 1 year

Note

What brought you to bring your book on heads? I just finished Stiff by Mary Roach, and it’s super cool to see someone interested in the same stuff!

I’m just starting on Over My Dead Body by Greg Melville, which you may like - it seems like it will cover a lot of the same questions about the meaning behind the different ways we treat human remains

i've always been fascinated by death, i think partly because it's always been a strong presence and influence in my life (even my birth was heavily surrounded by the shadow of death and there was no certainty that i would make it), and partly because i've always gravitated towards things that other people turn away from, to the taboo and the macabre and the horrifying, because i don't want other people's judgements to inform my opinions on and understanding of something without getting any firsthand perspective, because i find that hypocritical and impossible to justify to myself, and because i know how it feels to be misjudged and shunned and told that it's just because you're inherently offputting and wrong. i have this insatiable need to know things and an obsession with trying to understand what compels people to behave and think and feel the way they do. it's never enough for me just to accept what i'm told about something and not question or examine it at all. also i'm just a little bit of a sicko who likes weird freaky shit and gets a thrill out of treading the fine line between disgust and excitement and testing my personal boundaries.

and i guess death is something i'm particularly drawn to because it's the ultimate combination of the taboo and the unknowable. it's an extremely personal, polarizing and influential part of life, society and culture. there's just so much there to study and question and interpret and it's continuously evolving, and its inevitability and significance in our lives means that will always continue to be the case. death is also very influential in all of my favorite subjects - english literature, history, psychology, and philosophy - so it overlaps with a lot of my other interests.

stiff by mary roach was actually one of the first books that got me hooked on reading more about death, dead bodies and dying, actually! also ask a mortician on youtube, and to be honest, the tumblr bone stealing scandals. autonomy, consent and self control are very important to me, and being denied them is something i personally find especially horrifying, so when confronted by the realization that the dead are especially vulnerable in that regard, and the ethical debates as to what is an acceptable way to treat the body after death, i became obsessed with learning as much as possible. i wanted to master my fear rather than letting it control me.

thanks for the book rec! that sounds really relevant to my interests ^_^

#heres my psychological profile make of it what you will #death

124 notes · View notes

nellasbookplanet · 3 months

Text

Book recs: possession, bodysnatching and bodysharing

Demons, ghosts, aliens, sentient bacteria, artificial intelligences - isn't there something fascinating about the idea of sharing a body with another being like a giant get-along t-shirt? No? Too bad, because I'm going to tell you about books featuring this trope anyway.

A note: multiple of these books are sequels where the bodysnatching/possession aspect plays little to no part in the first book. In all these cases, I still recommend starting with book one. I also in one case chose not to include a certain sequel that I loved as even mentioning it in this context would be a huge spoiler, so, uh, sorry about that.

For more details on the books, continue under the readmore. Titles marked with * are my personal favorites. And as always, feel free to share your own recs in the notes!

If you want more book recs, check out my masterpost of rec lists!

Brain Plague by Joan Slonczewsji*

Chrys, a struggling artist, agrees to become a carrier for a sentient strain of microbes. With their help, Chrys breathes new life into her career and becomes a success. But every microbe society is different - some function as friends and brain enhancers to their carrier, while others become a literal brain plague, a living addiction taking over the life of their carrier. And like every society, the microbe community is in constant flux - including the one inside Chrys's head.

Children of Ruin (Children of Time series) by Adrian Tchaikovsky*

Sequel to Children of Time. Millenia and generation spanning scifi. After the collapse of the Earthen empire, a project to terraform various planets and use them to uplift other species to sentience in left unfinished. However, both species and planets continue evolving on their own, and when what remains of humanity flees the dying Earth millenia later, these planets might be their only hope of survival. But the uplifted species aren't the only intelligent life out there, and are far from the most dangerous as the survivors encounter something capable of terraforming the human body itself.

Leech by Hiron Ennes*

Unbeknownst to humanity, a sentient hive mind has taken over the entire medical profession to ensure the health of their host species. One of their doctors is sent off to an isolated location where they’re cut off from the rest of the hive mind, only to realize they’re faced with a rivaling parasitic entity. Leech hands you only just enough information to get by, and whether its historical fantasy, an alternate timeline, or futuristic post apocalypse is hard to determine. It’s spooky and a bit weird and wildly creative.

A Memory Called Empire (Texicalaan duology) by Arkady Martine

Mahit Dzmare is an ambassador sent to the center of the multi-system Teixcalaanli Empire, where she discovers that her predecessor has died. Trying to protect her home, a small independent mining station, from being taken over by the empire, Mahit struggles to find out the truth of her predecessor's death while carrying the voice of his ghost in her head, guiding her as best he can. Features a sapphic relationship but focuses more on world-building than romance.

Ninefox Gambit (Machineries of Empire trilogy) by Yoon Ha Lee*

Military space opera where belief and culture shape the laws of reality, causing all kinds of atrocities as empires do everything in their power to force as many people as possible to conform to their way of life to strengthen their technology and weapons. It’s also very queer, with gay, lesbian and trans major characters, albeit little to no romance. Disgraced Captain Kel Cheris is given a second chance by allying with the undead Commander Shous Jedao, who in life never lost a battle, but also went mad and massacred his own army. Now, Cheris must decide just how far she can trust him, with her forces as well as with her sense of self.

My Heart is Human by Reese Hogan

Nine years ago, all complex technology was made illegal. This complicates life for Joel, young transgender single father, as a bionic just uploaded itself into his brain without consent. Scared of losing his daughter, Joel tries to keep the bionic secret while using it to fix his life, but things quickly get more complicated as the bionic gains more and more control of his body. A bit simplistic in writing style but makes a lot of cool parallels of bodily autonomy to Joel’s experiences as a transman.

Bonus rec: if you like the general concept of struggling for physical control over one’s body with an AI, may I also suggest the (much grittier and gory) movie Upgrade.

The Host by Stehpenie Meyer*

The Host follows Wanderer, an alien part of an invading force on Earth. Humans have been defeated and are being used as host bodies, but Wanderer's host Melanie is being difficult and refuses to fade away. Instead she fills Wanderer's mind with images of Jared, the man she loves and who's still in hiding. With Melanie's feelings bleeding into Wanderer's the two reluctantly ally to find and keep safe the man they both love. While The Host does feature Meyer's trademark romance - of which I'm not the biggest fan - the more interesting and arguably more central relationship is that between Wanderer and her human host.

Needle by Hal Clement

1950s classic. A small island in the pacific ocean and a fourteen-year-old boy have just become the center of an interstellar chase between an alien Hunter and the criminal he’s pursuing. Robert is a regular boy, but he has a very special passenger: an alien symbiont hiding inside his body. The alien became stranded on Earth as he pursued a criminal of his own species, and now they are both trapped on the same island, playing a game of cat and mouse as Robert and the Hunter struggle to find their prey before it finds them.

Malevolent by Harlan Guthrie*

Lovecraftian horror mystery. Private detective Arthur Lester wakes up in his office, his partner dead, memories fuzzy, vision gone, and the voice of a malevolent entity in his mind. Unable to see, Arthur is forced to rely on guidance from the entity as he attempts to solve the mystery of what it is and where it came from. Is this a book? No. But as someone who reads mostly audiobooks, the difference between a book and a fiction podcast is negligible, and also I love this story and its characters and want all of you to do so too.

Goddess of Filth by V. Castro

Novella. What starts as a drunken seance between friends ends with one of them chanting in Nahuatl, the language of their Aztec ancestors. Following that night, the formerly shy Fernanda has changed. While her family calls for priests, claiming her possessed by a demon, Fernanda's friends believe what has taken up residence in her is something decidedly older. A quick read featuring female rage, desire and empowerment, this is a different twist on the typical possession story.

This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman

Space opera in which humanity found a way to faster than light travel and began establishing colonies all over the galaxy, only to belatedly realize the method of FTL caused irreversible mutations and disabilities and leaving their nascent colonies to die. Much later, many of the colonies have survived and thrived, and one has found a new method of FTL travel, allowing an interconnected space society to grow. However, Earth is on the hunt for their method and is prepared to do anything to steal it. Trapped in the middle of all this and forced on the run is young Jamisia, who is little by little coming to realize that not only might she be the very solution Earth is after, she's also not alone in her own mind and body.

Touch by Claire North*

Kepler should have died long ago, beaten to death in an alley. Instead, a switch happened as Kepler leapt into and took control of the body of the killer. Since then, Kepler has lived in body after body, having gained the ability to inhabit anyone with a touch and stay for anything from a few minutes to an entire lifetime. Kepler cares much for the host bodies, and when one of them is brutally assassinated, Kepler must find the killer, avenge the host's death, and stop it from happening again. You want a fucked up main character with fucked up morals who still genuinely cares for people? Then boy do I have the book for you!

The Midnight Bargain by C.L. Polk

Fantasy romance. Beatrice Clayborn is a sorceress, but if her family gets its way she won't remain so for long. Married women are forbidden from practicing magic, and Beatrice's father is intent on marrying her off to save them from destitution. Beatrice has a different plan: become so powerful a sorceress that she can herself save her father's business and becomes too valuable to marry off. To achieve this, she strikes a bargain with a minor spirit of fortune. In return, the spirit demands to be present in Beatrice's body as she experiences her first kiss... a kiss with a man who might jeopardize all her plans.

Pandemonium by Daryl Gregory

Del Perce's world is almost indistinguishable from ours, the only difference being the presence of possessing entities that can strike with little to no warning. When he was young, Del was possessed by one of these demons, which was eventually exorcised. But now he’s experiencing a resurgence of symptoms, a voice in his head demanding to be freed. To save himself, Del races to find out the truth behind the possessions.

The Thousand Eyes (The Serpent Gates duology) by A.K. Larkwood*

Sequel to The Unspoken Name (please read that first, I promise this duology is very worth it). These books have a lot going on: portals, flying ships, orcs, elves, creepy snake gods, possessions, cults, immortal evil mages who traumatize teens as their hobby, gay and lesbian frenemies, the works. Csorwe, born and raised in a cult and meant as a sacrifice, escapes her intended death with a mage who becomes her mentor. But he has dangerous motives of his own, and Csorwe must decide where her loyalties lie.

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge

Young adult, historical. All her life, Makepeace's mother has been teaching her how to defend herself from the possession of ghosts, until one day her guard drops and a wild and fierce spirit slips in. When Makepeace's mother dies and she is sent to live with her father's family, this spirit might be her only defence. Because her family is harboring dark secrets, and they have plans for Makepeace... plans which do not care for her well-being. Unlike most other YA I've read in terms of vibes and plot, A Skinful of Shadows is a unique and intriguing read.

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson*

Young adult fantasy. Artemisia prefers the dead to the living, and is training to become a Gray Sister, a nun who helps the souls of the deceased pass on to the afterlife rather than remain as dangerous spirits. To defend her convent, Artemisia accepts the help of a dangerous revenant, a powerful spirit which grants her great power but also could possess her the moment her guard is lowered. As evil threatens her homeland, Artemisia and the revenant must find a way to work together.

A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown

Young adult fantasy. Sequel to A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. To save his family, Malik has made a deal with a dangerous spirit with equally dangerous demands - the death of the princess. Meanwhile, princess Karina is seeking her own power, meaning to resurrect her assassinated sister no matter what the prize. As their paths intertwine, the consequences of their pursuits keep getting higher, both for them, their nation, and the entire world.

Grey Sister (Book of the Ancestor trilogy) by Mark Lawrence

Sequel to Red Sister. Fantasy with sci-fi flavor. Nona is being raised to become a killer at the Convent of Sweet Mercy. But dangerous classes aren’t Nona's only problem: her planet is slowly dying, and her own inner demons whisper in her mind. As the sun grows weaker and ice creeps ever closer, Nona and her allies race to save themselves from extinction.

Fifth Quarter (Quarters series) by Tanya Huff*

Sequel to Sing the Four Quarters. Fifth Quarter is only loosely connected to the first book in the series so you could read it as a standalone, however I still recommend starting with Sing the Four Quarters as it is very good. Bannon and Vree are siblings and highly skilled assassins, but they are put to the test when a failed assassination finds them sharing a body, their intended victim having stolen Bannon's. Now, they must choose between remaining loyal to their Empire, or helping their supposed victim find a new body to steal - and he doesn't want just any body, he wants the royal prince.

The Nein Eyes of Lucien by Madeline Roux*

Recommended with the caveat that you're unlikely to get the full experience unless you have also watched Critical Role Campaign 2 (which is quite the time investment, but very worth it). It follows the antagonist Lucien, first owner of the body we know as Mollymauk Tealeaf, both before Lucien lost his body and after he regains it in the ultimate struggle against Mollymauk's old friends, the Mighty Nein.

Bonus AKA I haven't read these yet but they seem really cool

The Scratch Daughters (The Scapegracers trilogy) by H.A. Clarke

Sequel to The Scrapegracers. Sideways Pike used to be able to perform only party tricks, but in finding new friends and starting a coven, the four become powerful witches. But not everyone wants witches around. After having gotten her spectre stolen and losing her ability to perform magic, Sideways is forced to rely on Mr. Scratch, a book demon taking the place of her spectre to keep her alive. Now she must struggle to get her magic back before it’s too late.

Riding the Odds by Lynda K. Scott

Sci-fi romance. Tara Rowan is a spaceship captain with secrets - a past she wants to leave behind, and Zie, an organic symbiote which grants her greater strengths and reflexes. But when sexy Holy Knight Trace Munroe blackmails her in an attempt to rescue a missing princess, Tara's secrets are in danger of being revealed.

What Doesn't Break by Cassandra Khaw

Like The Nine Eyes of Lucien, you're unlikely to get the full experience of What Doesn't Break unless you're also a viewer of Critical Role. It follows the backstory of Laudna, undead sorceress and warlock with the ghostly presence of the necromancer who once murdered her keeping residence in her mind and tugging at her strings.

Every Day (Every Day trilogy) by David Levithan

Every day, A wakes up with a new body and a new life. A has rules on how to deal with this existence - don't get attached, don't get noticed, and don't interfere. But when A finds themself falling in love, all their established rules no longer apply. This one has also been adapted as a movie!

This Body's Not Big Enough for Both of Us by Edgar Cantero

A. and Z. Kimrean are twin siblings and private eyes - they also share the same body, calling themselves A.Z. When someone starts murdering the sons and heirs of a ruthless crime boss, it falls on A.Z. Kimrean to solve the case and find the killer before all out gang war breaks out.

A Madness of Angels (Matthew Swift series) by Kate Griffin

Two years ago, sorcerer Matthew Swift was killed. Today, he woke back up. And he isn't alone in his body... Now, he seeks vengeance not only against the one who killed him, but also against the one who brought him back.

Honorary mentions AKA these didn't really work for me but maybe you guys will like them: Bone Rider by J. Fally, The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu, What's Left of Me by Kat Zhang, Hunter of Demons by Jordan L. Hawk, Odder Still by D.N. Bryn

39 notes · View notes

melloween-candie · 8 months

Text

She's Perfect

Judd Birch x Black, Goth Reader Headcanon

Requested // Request Rules

"I LOVE YOUR WRITINGS FOR JUDD OMG!! YOUR WORK *chefs kiss*!!! can I request judd with a black reader who's also a goth and the shit they'd do together! if not you can totally ignore this 🫶🏾"

Submitted by: @monibabsx3

A/n - I wasn't sure whether I should make this into a headcanon or one-shot, so I kind of made it a blend of both- Basically, I made one-shots out of categories based on what I think you guys would do~

[I try to write stories that don't evolve around skin color as much as possible so everyone can fully see themselves in it. So, if it's a little weird- my apologies 😅]

I myself am Asian, so I don't really know much about other cultures, but I do find them interesting, in general. I really hope I got most if not all of what you were trying to request! 🫱🏻‍🫲🏿🫰

Warning! cussing, racism, drugs, racial slur

Word Count: 1,376

⚠️NOT MY ART⚠️

Big Mouth Masterlist

Fandom Masterlists

/"Talking"//Thinking//Muttering-Whispering/

Graffiti

"You ready?" Judd asked you as he threw his duffle bag into the back seat of his car.

"Ready as ever!" You replied as you put your respiratory mask on.

You both got in the car. Judd was speeding as usual, and you picked out the beats as he drove. You guys listened to a variety of songs, mainly going back and forth between Rap, Metal, and R&B.

Of course, it wasn't a normal car ride without letting every car around you guys hear the songs you guys were listening to. So, obviously, you blasted the nuts out of Judd's car radio.

You guys got out of the car and went behind an ally from an abandoned building.

You guys spent hours perfecting your art as you listened to some beats in the background. You ended up drawing your pride. You wanted your art to speak for your culture.

Meanwhile...

Judd ended up drawing what he thinks humanity's real truth is.

"Ironic, I know, but it speaks the truth." He said as he puts away his stuff.

You smiled, elbowing him. "I love you..."

His eyebrows furrow, "Where did that come from?"

You fidget with your mask as you continue staring at his art. "You don't see color- just the truth."

He smirks, leaning in closely; he kisses your head- "That's not entirely true..." You two stare at each other's eyes for a hot moment until Judd looks at your art. "That's you to me." He spoke in a soft tone. You blushed instantly and looked at him with shock eyes as you lifted your mask higher so he wouldn't see the blush.

He laughs, then quickly cuts it off- "Don't tell anyone I said that." He said, sounding all serious as both walked back to the car.

Hairstyles

You were sitting in Judd's room, feeling completely bored. You've been sitting there for about an hour, practically doing nothing as he sharpened his knives.

"Juuuuddd... Can we do something else PLEASE!"

"With what money?"

"I don't know... we don't have to do anything money related today- just something!"

Judd stops sharpening his knives he looks at you for a moment then proceeds to stand up. He walks towards his bathroom leaving the door open for you to see what he was doing.

You peaked in and found him leaning close to his mirror as he shaved the side of his head. He looked like he was struggling with the farther back part of his head.

You looked at him surprised.

"What?" He spit.

"N-nothing. Just a little surprised... I just didn't think you did your hair- since it was really good..." You muttered the last part-

"What was that-?!"

"Nothing!" You giggled... You continued watching him struggle only to end up grabbing he knife.

"Hey!" He turns around.

"Relax! I got this~" you said in confidence. "You looked like you were struggling."

He grumbled. "I don't like it when other people do my hair- they always do it wrong."

"You and me both." You sassed. "Now turn around."

He grumbles and proceeds to turn. "If you fuck up my hair I will-"

"Shave me bald?" You interrupted. "Yeah, don't worry- I got this!"

~Time Skip!~

After hours of angry Judd wiggling and whining, his hair was finally complete.

"We would have been done hours ago if you just stopped wiggling!"

"I wouldn't need to if you'd stop pulling it on so hard! Besides, I. Don't. Wiggle." He said, standing up, towering over you. He had his arms crossed... He looked hot.

You had your arms crossed, too- a smirk started forming as he stood in front of you. He hadn't seen the full results yet... You simply grabbed his arms, turning him around so he could see himself in the mirror.

His reaction was priceless... Man was literally touching his face as if he couldn't believe that the man in the mirror was actually him- One thing's for sure: he looked like a badass.

(This is how I would have pictured him... just with blue tips for his bangs~ Personally, I think he would look hot as fuck 😏😂)

With the beads and his edges done... he never thought he'd live to see that day when he actually feels cool with braids on...

Your smile only grew as you watched your boyfriend check himself out in the mirror. You giggled, shoving him in the arm. "Feels good to look good, huh?" You smiled biting your lip. He smiled grabbing your hips pulling you close.

You wrapped your arms around his neck. "I guess I won't be going bald anytime soon~" you said, rubbing the tip of your nose against his. He smirks, not saying anything- he just smashes his lips towards yours.

Racism

"Calm down, dude it was just a joke~" One of Judds friends said.

You were currently sitting on top of a rock wall. The roof part that's supposed to be connected to it broke off years ago.

You were hanging out with Judd and his friends at an abandoned orphanage, smoking pot. You were all cracking jokes and having a fun time until someone said something a little too offensive.

It was one of 'Judd's' newer friends... Judd's friend Camden invited him. The dude's name was Deerk. Pronounced: Dee-erk. He was blond with dirty, long hair. He was wearing a loose tank top that looked like he hadn't washed it in weeks. He had a green bandana on... it looked like it was sucking in the grease from his hair due to how long it's been there- He had loose pants, so every time he walked, his underwear would show- And lastly, he had slippers on.

He looked like a certified hippy. He was also extremely pale and skinny, as in bridlebone skinny.

He was currently lighting up a joint. "Want some honey?" Judd scrunched up his nose instantly when he heard what his 'new friend' said. Instinctively grabbing ahold of your waist, he just sat there staring at the guy.

"No thanks," you said. "I don't smoke."

"Really... Well, that's surprising."

Clearly, the guy was high-

"W-what do you mean by that?" You didn't really want to believe in what you just heard.

You crossed your arms waiting for the guys reply.

He smiles. "W-well, it ain't no big deal-"

The group started to realize the tension...

"I-I just thought that you smoke that's all."

"Why? Is it cause I'm black? Do you assume all black people smoke? What?! You wouldn't offer a cig to a white girl unless she asked, right?"

"N-no, no! It's just most of my black friends-"

"Oh, were comparing now!"

'No! That's not what I meant!"

You stood up with your arms crossed, staring down at him. "Then what? What did you mean?"

The guy looked at you as if you were being unbelievable right now. He looked around at the other people with him. They all shooked their heads.

He shrugged his shoulders- "Come on, can't we all be ni**** about thi-"

He couldn't even finish his sentence because Judd's fist slammed into his face, causing him to fall back. As you left.

His nose was bleeding. "Oh- come on, man! Not cool-"

Then Judd walks towards where you walked off. Meanwhile, the entire group of friends got up, too. Shaking their heads as they threw their joints to the ground. Some calling the dude an idiot...

"Camden- you too?" Deerek said as he watched his new friend get up.

All Camden did was flick his dead joint at him. "It was a regrettable choice of mine to bring you here. Find your own way home, racist fucker." Then he walked towards where the rest of his friend group left.

When he caught up, he found you and Judd sitting on a rock close to the river. He saw you get up and walked away as Judd nodded.

He then walked towards Judd, grabbing his shoulder as he took a seat right next to him. "Hey, man."

Judd nods as he placed his cig back in his mouth.

"Sorry about that, is your girl, okay?"

Judd removed the cig and puffed out a cloud of smoke, nodding as he stared off into the distance.

A/n

I hope this is okay! I wanted to make it into a regular one-shot, but it was kind of hard for me to think of adding all these plots into one story whilst also keeping it a good length. So, I decided to put this into small little stories instead~! I might actually make a part 2 because I had a lot of ideas. With all the new experiences and what you guys would do together. This was kind of fun~ 💕

80 notes · View notes

viviennelamb · 1 month

Text

A soulmate means you're mentally, emotionally and spiritually compatible with one soul and you are eternally loyal to her, not just when it suits your loins or when you want a distraction to stave off bouts of loneliness. The key word is "soul," so this has nothing to do with physicality. To find your soulmate, you have to know what the soul is first, otherwise you won't know what you're looking at, wondering why everything is a match on paper but that person is being difficult "for no reason." There's a reason.

What prevents one from knowing who her soulmate is primarily vanity. Each lifetime our conscious memories and appearance resets, the only thing that remains is our progress towards or distance from realizing the Truth which reflects in our next lifetime. This familiarity is usually recognized in how that person carries herself: her mannerisms and other things that stick with souls and is hard to fake regardless of the culture they grew up in that lifetime. This is also true for enemies, there are people who become fixated on hating each other and it consumes their lives to the point where they respawn in the same family so they can conveniently continue their conflict.

I know who my soulmate is and once she stops being worldly, avoidant and steeped in egotism, I'll be here. If she doesn't heal from her egotism in this lifetime, we'll meet again in another. She's only temporarily confused, but I'll catch her up on the truth when she's ready to actually listen. Lust is really is the final boss of delusion & everybody is fighting for their lives. If a "solution" to your problem is in the external world, it's a false solution because it will disappear upon physical death. People say "happiness comes from within" as a platitude but when you actually live it, they think you're extreme. Cosmic optimism comes from your soul, not sex.

A common fallacy people believe with soulmates is that they have to align with you which isn't always possible. Since we're in the Dark Age, almost every soul is more likely to fall into deeper into egotism each lifetime instead of climbing out of it. You can't talk a soul out of her brainwashing. In fact, she'll think you're the brainwashed one for not hallucinating... whatever you say beautiful. Zero faith, zero science, zero proactivity, zero love, yet all the pride and meanness in the world, clearly. But these are the times were in. If you think you're not brainwashed, you need to trust in the soul's Intelligence more than what the parasitic ego is showing you at that time which helps her evolve faster.

Sometimes, we're meant to be in the background of our soulmate's life helping her free herself of man-consciousness, so people who think you're supposed to marry your soulmate each lifetime are wrong. She has her own lessons to learn and it's up to you to learn yours as well. I've chosen to get better at explaining the truth, improving my strength and resilience while waiting for the day she's ready to sincerely hear me out. In the end, everything that's meant to happen will happen, but humans like prolonging the inevitable because they think there's something to have here. I'm not going to pry anything out of her hands, if she wants the world she can have the world. God will give you everything you want, but one day, in some lifetime, you'll grow tired of believing your ignorance start letting God give you what you need instead.

Egos don't have soulmates, they have fuckmates. If you've met your soulmate, it's completely different from the fake love egotists talk about. Your soulmate would think you're too good to treat like a common whore and they will say this themselves regardless of how hyper sexual they are. Love gives even the most fucked up mind a moment of clarity.

The ego-identified soul has the memory of a hamster because she constantly lies to herself. So she will say something loving one minute and in the next she'll tell a lie. I used to think people like this were purposefully being abrasive, but they have a war in their minds. It's like dealing with somebody with dementia where they have moments of lucidity and you get excited just to see them fall into into mindlessness and this cycle happens repeatedly. At some point you let go of whatever potential you think they have, settle for their insanity and go crazy with them or take a step back and focus on your soul.

I'm only writing this because some people have no-so-covertly tried to find out my "type" so they can confirm I'm a lesbian. I don't have a type, but I'll be even more specific for you: there's only one soul. All I'm interested in is remaning lucid in this Dream, so I won't become prey to society's alien concepts of the "right way to live." I'm not interested in dating (as in going on dates with random people to find somebody to occupy my time and life). Dating has never crossed my mind as an option either.

Life is about devotion to God, which means the God in people as well. But nobody has to be devoted to an ego who hates her soul which is why I disagree with the commonly pushed concept of "loving everybody," (people who say this want everybody to love them). If you met your soulmate and she was in the throes of self-hate, you'd know to step aside because it's not about you. You have to let people emotionally develop on their own, there's no convincing them otherwise. If your unevolved soulmate is around you for too long, she's gonna get too relaxed and take out her immaturity on you, making you egotistical as well. Give her some motivation and let her suffer a bit lol.

Followers of Neville Goddard should know this much... if you're searching for something, that means you don't know what you want and if you don't know what you want, how will you get what you want? Only people who don't know what they want date, that's like window shopping for people. All of us meet the same souls from a previous lifetime, none of us are meeting "new" people. I'm not interested in anything new anyways, I'm happy with what I have because I know for a fact there's nothing better. I'm persistent, but I'm not pushy. What's ordained is ordained.

#doesn't matter if it's a trillion lifetimes souls are worth the wait and effort.#once you understand there's literally no rush. nowhere to run. no death. etc you'd understand.

26 notes · View notes

virgoilluminati · 11 months

Text

Belongings

(Series Masterlist)

Chapter 7: “Leave America, two kids fall in love.”

A/N: (they don’t live in America at any point but I thought this lyric works the best for this chapter). GUYS I LOVE THIS CHAPTER because it’s evolving!!! I’m sorry this fic has been such a slow burn, but don’t worry it’s getting interesting now….

Warnings: Angst, but mainly fluff

Word Count: 2908

_____________________________________________________

Harry's heart raced as he lay in bed, his mind consumed by a vivid dream that had just unfolded. It was a dream unlike any he had experienced before, a dream that centered around a person who had captured his attention and stolen his heart—Y/N.

In the dream, Harry found himself in a picturesque garden, surrounded by vibrant flowers in full bloom. The air was filled with the sweet fragrance of roses and the gentle sound of birdsong. And there, standing before him, was Y/N, looking more radiant than ever.

Y/N's eyes sparkled like stars in the night sky, reflecting the moon's soft glow. Her smile was warm and inviting, melting away any trace of unease Harry may have felt. As he approached her, his heart swelled with a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.

With each step, Harry couldn't help but admire Y/N's grace and beauty. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders in soft waves, and her presence illuminated the garden as if she were a beacon of light. It was in that moment that Harry realized he was falling in love with her, with every fiber of his being.

As they stood face to face, Y/N reached out and gently took Harry's hand. The touch sent shivers down his spine, an electric current that connected them in ways he couldn't comprehend. Their fingers interlocked, and it felt as though time stood still, as if the world around them faded away, leaving only the two of them.

In this dream, Harry felt an overwhelming surge of emotions coursing through him. Love, desire, and an unyielding sense of connection flooded his heart. It was as though the dream was revealing his deepest, most hidden feelings for Y/N, feelings he hadn't yet had the courage to express in reality.

Y/N leaned in closer, her breath mingling with Harry's. Her voice, soft and melodious, whispered words that touched his very soul. "I've been waiting for you," she said, her voice carrying an unspoken promise of love and devotion.

In that moment, Harry's doubts and insecurities melted away, replaced by a profound sense of peace and belonging. Y/N's presence brought him solace, and he knew deep down that she was his soulmate, the missing piece he had been searching for.

Their lips met in a tender, passionate kiss, and Harry felt a surge of euphoria, a sensation he had never experienced before. It was a kiss filled with longing, a culmination of all the emotions that had been building up inside him. It was a kiss that sealed their destinies together.

As the dream continued, Harry and Y/N explored the garden hand in hand, their laughter echoing through the air. They danced under the moonlight, spinning and twirling, completely consumed by each other's presence. It was as if the world revolved around them, their love creating a universe of its own.

As Harry's eyes fluttered open, he found himself drenched in a cold sweat. The dream had left an indelible mark on his soul, and the thought of Y/N consumed his every waking moment. He couldn't bear the idea of her being engaged to someone else, of letting her slip through his fingers without a fight.

Determination ignited within Harry's heart as he made a silent vow to himself. He would do everything humanly possible to end Y/N's engagement and make her his. His mind raced with ideas, but one plan stood out above all others—taking her to London and showing her the things she would miss if she chose a life without him.

London, a city filled with charm, history, and endless possibilities, was a place Harry knew intimately. Its cobblestone streets, iconic landmarks, and vibrant culture had always held a special place in his heart. He believed that by immersing Y/N in the enchantment of this city, he could ignite a spark that would illuminate their shared future.

With newfound purpose, Harry began meticulously crafting a grand gesture that would leave Y/N breathless. He researched the finest hotels, exquisite restaurants, and hidden gems that London had to offer. He planned each day with precision, ensuring that every moment would be filled with romance and wonder.

Harry's first move was to secure the most breathtaking suite in one of London's luxurious hotels. He imagined surprising Y/N with a room adorned with fragrant flowers, champagne on ice, and a personalized note expressing the depths of his affection. The suite would be a haven where they could retreat from the world and indulge in their love.

Next, he plotted a course through the city's historic streets, leading Y/N to iconic landmarks like Big Ben, the Tower Bridge, and Buckingham Palace. He envisioned taking her hand as they strolled through the bustling streets of Covent Garden, immersing themselves in the vibrant energy of street performers and charming boutiques.

But it was the quieter moments that Harry cherished the most in his plan. He envisioned leisurely walks along the serene banks of the River Thames, where they could share intimate conversations and steal stolen glances. He imagined cozy evenings in quaint cafes, sipping warm cups of tea and sharing laughter that echoed through the night.

Harry's grand gesture also involved immersing Y/N in London's rich cultural scene. He dreamed of taking her to world-renowned theaters to watch captivating plays and musicals, enveloping her in the magic of storytelling and the power of live performances. He wanted to show her the enchantment that could only be found in the heart of the city.

As the details of his plan came together, Harry felt a renewed sense of hope and purpose. But in the midst of his excitement, Harry couldn't ignore the nagging doubts that tugged at his conscience. He wondered if his plan was too grand, too audacious. Would Y/N be willing to leave everything behind for a chance at love? Could he convince her that their connection was worth risking the stability of her current life? And most importantly, would she choose him over Will?

***************

Harry bursts into Y/N's bakery, brimming with excitement. He waves two tickets in the air, a wide grin on his face.

"Y/N, guess what!" he exclaims, barely able to contain his enthusiasm. "We're going to London! I got us these tickets for a spontaneous trip!"

Y/N looks up from behind the counter, her tired eyes widening in surprise at Harry's sudden announcement. She groans softly, feeling the effects of last night's escapades still weighing heavily on her. She rubs her temples, trying to shake off the remnants of her hangover.

"Harry, I appreciate the thought, but... I don't know if I can go right now," she admits, her voice laced with exhaustion.

She avoids making direct eye contact, feeling a sense of guilt about her actions and unresolved issues from the previous night.

Harry notices Y/N's discomfort and concerningly furrows his brow. He takes a step closer, placing a hand on her arm gently. "Are you okay, Y/N? You don't seem like yourself today," he asks, genuine worry in his voice.

Y/N sighs, feeling the weight of her mistakes and the consequences she must face. "No, Harry, I'm not okay," she admits, her voice tinged with remorse. "I messed up last night, and I need to fix things before I can move on."

Harry approaches Y/N with a determined look on his face, understanding the weight of the situation but believing that a change of scenery could help lift her spirits.

"Y/N, I know you're tired right now, and I understand the importance of addressing things with Will. But hear me out," Harry starts, his voice filled with earnestness. "Going to London won't change what happened, but it might provide a fresh perspective and some much-needed distraction. Plus, it could be an opportunity to take care of some important wedding preparations."

Y/N's eyebrows furrow in surprise as Harry reveals his plans. She tries to process the idea, knowing that she needs to face the consequences of her actions but also acknowledging the practicality of his suggestion.

"We will?" she asks, a mix of curiosity and confusion evident in her voice.

Harry nods, a reassuring smile on his face. "Yes, we will. I spoke to the lady at the bridal boutique, and she was kind enough to fit us in for an appointment. You need to find your perfect wedding dress, and we can also discuss catering options while we're there."

Y/N is taken aback by Harry's thoughtfulness and his willingness to help her through this difficult time. She searches for words, struggling to express her gratitude.

"Harry, I don't know what to say," she admits, her voice filled with a mix of surprise and appreciation.

Harry gently takes Y/N's hand in his, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "You don't have to say anything, Y/N. I just want to support you and help in any way I can."

Y/N looks into Harry's eyes, finding comfort in his unwavering support. After a moment of contemplation, she lets out a small sigh, finally conceding to the idea.

"Alright, Harry," she says, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. "Let's go to London.”

A couple days later, the pair arranged the details, Harry was already finished with tour, and y/n had gotten Florence and her Father to look after the bakery, until she came home after a impromptu two night stay in London. She had even gone as far as to text Will to let him know of her whereabouts, however he had left her on read.

Y/N: Hey, I know that you are annoyed at me, and I completely understand. I had no intentions on embarrassing you, I just drank too much. And I’m sorry.

- read at 9:06am

Y/N: I’m going to London for a bit, just in case you want to reach me. Don’t worry, all is good- I’m just going to buy a wedding dress, because ps. I still want to marry you.

- read at 9:25am

************

As the train glided along the tracks, Harry couldn't help but steal glances at Y/N, sitting across from him. The morning sunlight filtered through the windows, casting a gentle glow on her features. She looked breathtakingly beautiful in her ensemble, wearing a short white turtle neck top that accentuated her graceful neck, paired with a brown skirt that hugged her curves just right. Her choice of big black boots added a touch of edginess to her overall look.

Y/N's hair was elegantly tied up in a clip, allowing a few loose strands to frame her face delicately. Harry loved how her natural beauty radiated without needing excessive makeup, making her features even more captivating. He couldn't help but be filled with adoration as he gazed at her.

Harry had planned this trip to London as a way to spoil Y/N and show her how much she meant to him. Surprising her with first-class tickets was just the beginning. He wanted to make this journey an unforgettable experience for both of them.

Caught off guard by Y/N's question, Harry's heart skipped a beat. He had been lost in his thoughts, envisioning a future with her by his side. Her remark brought him back to the present, and he stumbled over his words, struggling to find the right response.

"No! No, you don't have anything on your face," Harry stammered, his cheeks turning slightly pink. "I was just... I mean, you look really nice. That's all," he managed to say, hoping his words didn't betray the depth of his feelings.

Y/N's cheeks mirrored Harry's blush as a soft smile played on her lips. She seemed pleased by his compliment. "Thank you, Harry," she replied, her voice filled with genuine gratitude.

As their eyes locked for a moment, Harry couldn't help but feel a surge of affection welling up inside him. He wanted to tell her everything, to express the depth of his emotions, but he held back, afraid that he might overwhelm her. Instead, he chose to savor these stolen glances and cherish the connection they shared.

Harry's face lit up with a mischievous grin as he retrieved a packet of jelly beans from his pocket, a childhood favorite they both cherished. He interrupted Y/N, unable to contain his excitement.

"You'll never guess what I brought," Harry coughed playfully before presenting the jelly beans. Y/N's eyes widened in pleasant surprise.

"Harry, you didn't—" she began, but before she could finish, Harry interjected, "I had to! Come on, it's our first trip away in years."

Y/N couldn't help but laugh, her eyes sparkling with affectionate adoration. She reached out and grabbed the bag of jelly beans, popping a couple into her mouth. The flavors burst on her taste buds, evoking fond memories of their shared past.

With a mixture of tenderness and sincerity, she looked at Harry and said, "Ugh, I love you, you know that."

A wave of warmth washed over Harry's heart at those words, even though he understood they were meant in a platonic way. It was enough for him. It was a reminder of the deep bond they shared, built on years of friendship and shared experiences. It made him feel grateful for having someone like Y/N in his life.

"I love you too," Harry replied quietly, his voice filled with genuine fondness. He cherished these moments, where their friendship shone brightly, and he vowed to continue spoiling her throughout their trip, creating more beautiful memories together.

******************

“Harry, you’ve booked us two rooms?”

“Well, I assumed you didn’t want to share with me.”

“Nonsense.”

Harry looked at Y/N with a mixture of surprise and amusement. He hadn't expected such a response from her.

"Are you sure, love?" he asked, a teasing smile playing on his lips. "Sharing a room with me might mean putting up with my snoring."

Y/N rolled her eyes playfully. "I think I can handle it, Harry. Besides, I'm not about to let you waste all that money on a separate room when we can enjoy each other's company in one."

Harry chuckled, clearly pleased with Y/N's response. "Alright then, love. If that's what you want. We'll save some money and enjoy each other's company."

They headed to the reception desk to sort out the change in their booking. Harry explained the situation to the staff, who quickly accommodated their request. Soon, they were given a room key and made their way to their shared suite.

The elegant hotel room had a luxurious king-sized bed, adorned with plush pillows and silky sheets. The room exuded sophistication and charm, with large windows offering a breathtaking view of the city.

As Y/N took in the sight, she turned to Harry with a mischievous smile. "You know, Haz, this room might be fancy, but it's missing one thing."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "What might that be?"

"A touch of our personal touch," she replied, slowly walking towards him.

Harry's laughter filled the room as he watched Y/N pull out the unexpected surprise from her bag. He couldn't help but find her spontaneity endearing. "Fairy lights, huh?" he chuckled. "Only you would carry those around in your handbag."

Y/N grinned mischievously, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "You never know when you'll need a little extra magic, Harry."

They both set to work untangling the lights and finding the perfect spots to hang them in the room. With each twinkle and glow, the atmosphere transformed into a whimsical wonderland.

As they decorated, their fingers brushed against each other, their laughter filling the air. It was a simple yet enchanting moment, as they weaved the lights around the bedposts and draped them across the room.

Once they finished, they took a step back and admired their handiwork. The soft, warm glow of the fairy lights gave the room a cozy and intimate ambiance. It was as if they had created their own little escape from the world outside.

Harry looked at Y/N with adoration in his eyes. "You're incredible, you know that?"

Y/N blushed and nudged him playfully. "Oh, stop it, you. But I must say, our room looks absolutely magical now."

He pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her waist. "It's all because of you, love. You bring magic into everything."

Their eyes look at each other absorbing all the unexpressed love. But then suddenly, they pull apart. Y/N reminding herself, that she was Will’s. Not Harry’s.

“Yes. Well - anyways - what should we do in London. There’s loads of galleries and restaurants.” Y/N stumbles confused to what has just happened. Harry takes a step back, letting the reality dawn on him once more.

The sudden shift in atmosphere left both Harry and Y/N feeling a bit unsettled. Y/N's reminder of her commitment to Will brought a moment of clarity to her, causing her to pull away from Harry. Meanwhile, Harry took a step back, his mind filled with a mix of emotions and confusion.

Y/N tried to regain her composure, attempting to steer the conversation towards more casual topics. "Yes, you're right. We should explore the galleries and try some amazing restaurants while we're here. There's so much to see and experience in London.

Harry nodded, although his mind was still preoccupied with the intensity of their connection and the unspoken emotions lingering in the air. He couldn't help but wonder if there was something more beneath the surface, or if he had misinterpreted the moment entirely.

Throughout their time together, Harry couldn't shake the confusion that gnawed at him. He wondered if what he felt was merely a strong platonic connection, or if there was something deeper that Y/N was also grappling with. The more he tried to understand, the more conflicted he became.

Y/N, too, found herself lost in her thoughts. She pondered the intensity of that fleeting moment and questioned her own feelings. Was it a sign of something more than friendship? Or was she simply caught up in the excitement of being in a new city, experiencing new adventures with a close friend?

#harry styles #one direction #harry styles fanfic rec #harry styles x reader #harrystyles x singerreader #harrystylesfanfiction #harrystyles fluff #harrystyles fanfic #harrystyles angst #harrystyles x y/n #harry styles angst #harrys house

58 notes · View notes

bethanythebogwitch · 8 months

Text

Let’s turn up the heat because I’m going over the real-life inspirations for all the fire-type starter Pokémon. Here are the links for when I covered the inspirations for all grass starters, all fish, and all non-fish aquatic Pokémon.

Gen I gives us quite possibly the most iconic starter line: the Charmander line. Interviews with the design team have revealed that Charizard was the first of the line to be designed and the other two were designed by working backwards from it. Both Charmander’s English and Japanese name (Hitokage) reference the mythical salamander of European folklore. Salamanders have been associated with fire in multiple cultural folklores throughout Europe, often to the point where their depictions have nothing to do with the actual amphibians. Interestingly, the oldest accounts that associate salamanders with fire comes from Pliny the Elder, who repeated an account their bodies were so cold they could extinguish fires. Somewhere along the line of legends being passed down, salamanders got flipped from repelling fire to living in it, possibly as a result of getting conflated with other mythical reptilians like dragons or basilisks. In the renaissance, the alchemist Paracelsus described salamanders as fire elementals, along with a group of other elemental beings (gnomes for earth, sylphs of air, and undines of water).

(image: an artistic depiction of a fiery salamander. Art by Michael Maier)

In addition to salamanders, Charmander and Charmeleon are given the upright poses and dragging tails of outdated reconstructions of theropod dinosaurs. Charizard is a classic depiction of a western dragon: a winged reptile that breathes fire. Western dragons are based heavily on lizards, with some of the earliest depictions being a dead ringer for monitor lizards. Charizard is said to love fighting, which is reminiscent of how western dragons have been depicted as dangerous, destructive, and even demonic monsters. It is only relatively recently that western dragons have been depicted as anything but evil. Charizard doesn’t have the dragon type (unless it mega evolves to X form), but that’s more because back in gen I, dragon was intended to be the special type exclusive to the late-game powerhouses that are the Dratini line. Charizards mega evolutions and gigantamax form don’t really add much to the origin, they’re just exaggerations of Charizard.

(image: art of a western dragon by Friedrich Justin Bertuch)

Cyndaquil is based on an echidna, an Australian monotreme (egg-laying mammal) that has a long snout and quills like a porcupine.

(image: a long-beaked echidna. I don't know why, but its snout makes me very uncomfortable)

Despite being an echidna, its species name is the Fire Mouse Pokémon. This is actually a hint to an additional inspiration for its origin. The Japanese word that got translated to “Fire Mouse” is “Hinezumi”. This is the Japanese name for a monster originating in Chinese legend called the “huǒshǔ”. It’s a flaming mouse that lives in volcanoes. The flaming mammal and volcano association continues through the line. Also, when I googled “hinezumi” the first thing that popped up was the Monster Girl Encyclopedia. If you know, you know (don’t google it). Quilava and Typhlosion completely drop the echidna inspiration, which is a bit disappointing to me. That’s why I made regional variants of them for my Australia/New Zealand fakemon region where they stay as echidnas. While being based on badgers, they retain the quills that are found in many animals, most famously porcupines and hedgehogs. Hisuian Typhlosion is based on Kamuy-huci, the Ainu goddess of the hearth. The Ainu are the indigenous people of Hokkaido, the island that inspired Sinnoh and Hisui. There are multiple Ainu references in Hisui’s design, plot, and regional variants. In the Ainu religion, the hearth was the connection between Earth and the world of spirits and was therefore never allowed to go out. It could also be used to communicate with the kamuy (gods and spirits) and was the passage through which the souls of the dead would leave the world and eventually return for reincarnation. This is why Hisuian Typhlosion is part ghost-type. The fire around H Typhlosion’s neck looks like magatama beads, which are used in the spiritual practices of multiple belief systems. These flames can release 108 ghost lights. 108 is an important number in Buddhism and is the number of beads in a Japamala, another type of beaded necklace used for spiritual practices in (among other religions) certain types of Buddhism.

(image: a japamala with wood beads)

The Torchic line is, I suspect, the place where the trend of basing fire starters on Chinese zodiac animals started. Typhlosion really doesn’t fit the zodiac, though some people say it’s supposed to be the mouse. The line is based on chickens. More specifically, they are based on the basan, a legendary fire-breathing chicken.

(image: art of a basan by Takehara Shunsen)

Torchic is a chick, a hatchling chicken. It being bright orange comes from a tradition of dying chicks bright colors to be sold at festivals. Male Torchics have a tiny black spot on their rear ends that females don’t. This is probably based on vent sexing, a technique for determining the sex of chocks, a notoriously difficult task. It is done by examining the cloaca, looking for a bump that usually only males have. Combusken and Blaziken are based on cockfighting, a form of animal abuse where people force chickens to fight and bet on the winners. The official art for Blaziken’s normal and mega evolved forms have it in poses used in the martial art of Muay Thai. Blaziken is usually depicted as fighting primarily with kicks and Muay Thai emphasizes kicking. Blaziken being an humanoid with a bird head may also reference the bird-headed Egyptian gods Horus and Ra, or off of the karura, a diving being that looks like a human with a bird’s head in Japanese mythology.

(image: a statue of a karura)

The Chimchar line are based on the monkey from the zodiac. Chimchar’s species name is the Chimp Pokémon, and it does bare some resemblance to a young chimpanzee. When Chimchar’s flame goes out, you can see prominent red marking on its butt. Several monkey species have marking on their hindquarters, but the most famous by far is the baboon. Chimchar’s lack of a tail identifies it as an ape, but its evolved from gain tails, making them monkeys. A lot of people think that apes are separate from monkeys, but really apes are a subset of old-world monkeys. Apes are monkeys, you are an ape, therefore you are a monkey and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Monferno and Infernape both have prominent facial markings heavily reminiscent of those of mandrills.

(image: a male mandrill's face)

Monferno having blue facial marking and orange fur also makes it look like a golden snub-nosed monkey.

(Image: a golden snub-nosed monkey's face)

These are native to China and the line does have some heavy Chinese influence. The martial art that Monferno and Infernape use is most likely Monkey Kung Fu or Hóu Quán, which was inspired by the movements of monkeys. Infernape is based on the character of Son Goku, the Japanese name for the character Sun Wukong from the Chinese epic novel Journey to the West. Sun Wukong is the king of all monkeys, a martial artist, and has several magic powers.

(image: Japanse art of Son Goku/Sun Wukong. Art by Shunman Kubo)

Sun Wukong may be based on the older Hindu god Hanuman, a monkey-like god associated with strength and heroism who was also a member of the varana, a species of monkey people.

(image: a sculpture of Hanuman)

The Tepig line are based on the boar of the zodiac. Ken Sugimori said that the Unova starters were based on different cultures to reflect Unova being a very diverse place. The Tepig line were given Chinese design elements whole the Snivy line were “western” and the Oshawott line were Japanese. Tepig having a dark marking on its head and rear but being light everywhere else comes from the markings of the British Saddleback pig breed.

(image: a British saddleback pig)

The fire and pig combination references how pigs are bad at regulating their body head and need to use external sources like mud to cool off. Pignite takes on more boar traits with its exposed tusks. The markings on its body look like it is dressed in a wrestling singlet, which fits as both Pignite and Emboar are based on wrestlers. The yellow markings on Pignite and Emboar resemble patters found in ancient Chinese cauldrons called dings.

(image: a ding)

Ken Sugimori also stated Emboar was inspired by the character Zhang Fei in the Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. In the story, Zhang Fei is betrayed and decapitated by his own men. This could be the purpose of the fire scarf Emboar has, to separate its head from its body. Pignte and Emboar also draw from another Chinese story, the afore-mentioned Journey to the West, specifically the character of Zhu Baije. Zhu Baije is a pig man who joins the titular journey. He is also jealous of Sun Wukong, which kind of fits with how Emboar is a much worse Pokémon than Infernape.

(image: an artists depiction of Zhu Baije. Unknown artist)

The Fennekin like take the place of the fox in the zodiac. Design-wise, their large ears mark them as being based on fennec foxes. They are also based off of the kitsune, magical foxes in Japanese mythology. Among the many powers attributed to kitsune were the ability to breathe fire and perform magic. Kitsune could also take on the form of human women, which is referenced in Fennekin’s evolutions becoming humanoid and having feminine designs.

(image: art of a Kitsune scaring two people by Utagawa Kuniyoshi)

Human could also learn magic form foxes, becoming fox witches or kitsune-mochi/kitsune-tsukai. Braixen and Delphox take quite a bit of their design from these fox witches, they also draw from the classic wester witch, using magic wands and Braixen having a tail that looks like the head of a flying broomstick. The association of witches with fire might be a reference to witch burnings. Delphox is also based on a prophet or seer, with its ability to see the future. Delphox’s English name directly references the ancient Greek oracle at Delphi. The final forms of the Kalos starters are based on the fantasy character archetypes of the fighter, the mage, and the thief. Delphox is very much the mage.

Litten is a black cat with tabby cat features. Tabby cats are defined by the stripes on their faces and legs. The orange and black stripes also identify it as the tiger from the zodiac. Its eyes plus forehead stripes are a dead ringer for the alchemical symbol for brimstone, another name for sulfur. Sulfur is a highly flammable element, fitting the fire type. This is one of several references to alchemy found in gen VII.

(image: the alchemical symbol for brimstone. two horizontal lines crossed by a vertical line that leads down into an infinity symbol)

Torracat doesn’t change much from Litten, just adding more stripes and a fireball that looks like a bell on a cat’s collar. It does change when it evolves to Incineroar, and not for the better. Incineroar is my least favorite final stage starter and easily in my top 10 most hated Pokémon. I could go on for a while about how much I hate it, but this isn’t the post for that. It’s still a tiger, but now it has been combined with a professional wrestler. You can tell they really wanted to do another fire/fighting type but knew there would be backlash. The belt of fire is based on a championship belt and its dark type comes from being a heel. In wrestling language, a heel is a villainous character, someone the audience is supposed to boo (a face is a heroic character). This fits with Incineroar being describes as a violent and egotistical Pokémon. However, Incineroar does have a soft side. This fits with how wrestlers are performers playing characters. A performer playing a heel character may cheat, lie, steal, and generally be an asshole while in character, but when not in character they probably won’t be nearly as unpleasant a person.

Scorbunny is the rabbit of the zodiac. More specifically, it is a white rabbit and like with real rabbits, its feet are considered good luck charms. The yellow patch on its face comes from a Japanese character design trope where a bandage over the nose is supposed to indicate that the character is tough and rambunctious. Maylene from the Sinnoh games shares this design element. Its fire typing could come from the Jataka tales, a collection of Buddhist stories from India. In tale 316, a rabbit is placed in a fire as a burnt offering, but it is unharmed by the flame. Another connection could come from the fact that rabbits have unusually high body temperatures for mammals. If Scorbunny is cheerful child, Raboot is a moody teenager. It’s fur and the stripe on its head look like a tracksuit and headband, giving it a connection to athletics. This continues with Cinderace, who is now an association football (or soccer to Americans) player. Football is a huge deal in England, the basis for Galar. Its fur looks like athlete’s attire and it uses a flaming berry like a football. This is another one where you can tell they wanted to make another fire/fighting type.

The Fuecoco line ditched the zodiac theme to become a crocodile. Its upright posture makes it look like a chibified theropod dinosaur and its silhouette looks like a chili pepper. The white face of both Fuecoco and Crocalor resembles a calavera, skull imagery used in the Mexican Day of the Dead. This is a Mexican holiday which is a celebration of dead loved ones that is typically very spirited and cheerful as opposed to glum and mournful. Folklore says the ghost will return to the world of the living on the Day of the Dead. While Paldea is based on Spain and Portugal, several of the new Pokémon have designs based on elements from central and south America, possibly because of both countries’ history of colonialism in those areas. Crocalor adds several references to mariachi players. The flaming nest and egg on its head is a sombrero while the markings on its abdomen look like a traje cordobés, a type of vest often used in mariachi.

(image: a mariachi band wearing wests and sombreros)

The hat combined with the calavera face makes it look like La Calavera Catrina, a skeleton wearing a wide-brimmed hat that is used as a common symbol in the Day of the Dead.

(image: art of La Calavera Catriana by José Guadalupe Posado)

It could also be a bouquet of Tagetes erects, the Mexican marigold, a flow also used for the Day of the Dead. Skeledirge continues the mariachi and Day of the Dead theme by becoming an undead singing crocodile. Real crocodiles will vocalize during mating and nesting season. There are several stories of ghostly or monstrous crocodiles in Spanish folklore, such as the Cocollona and the Drac de Na Coca, the latter of which is displayed as a taxidermied specimen in a museum in the city of Palma de Mallorca. There is also the Coco or Cuca, a boogieman-like that originated in Spain and Portugal and spread to the Americas that is often depicted as a monstrous crocodile. All three of the Paldea starters are based on entertainers and Skeledirge is based on a singer. Given its typing and English name, it probably single funeral dirges. The fiery bird on its nose could come from the gharial, another type of crocodilian. Male gharials have large bumps on the tips of their snouts in the same spot the bird sits.

(image: a male gharial)

Another, possibly more likely source is the Egyptian plover, a bird that will land on top of Nile crocodiles and eat parasites off of their skin. Skeledirge could also be based off of alebrijes, very colorful statues of mythical creatures in Mexican folk art. This is making me think about how cool a Mexico-based region could be.

35 notes · View notes

7grandmel · 2 months

Text

Todays rip: 18/02/2024

Mad Mew Mew Becoming Uncanny

Season 6 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume DQ

Ripped by The Green Spy

youtube

Requested by xinos! (Discord)

LORD, where to even begin with this one? I mean, a lot of times when I cover well-known rips on this blog, ones that continue to get references and tributes made within the channel itself, its typically rips from early on in the channel's life. Mii Favorite Things, Ripping Video Game Music......At Night, THE NEW TEAM 10 FORT!!! [Francis Flow: Original Mix] - all of these play part in or started a sort of ecosystem of paying forward respect to rips from the channels past, with these examples being from Season 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Yet seemingly through its sheer quality and variety alone, Mad Mew Mew Becoming Uncanny has become a modern classic on the channel despite being barely a year old, referenced in several rips since and with two direct tributes made during Season 7. How the hell did this happen??

I was thinking of this rip a fair bit whilst I was writing the post on Corridors of Vine, wherein I tossed around some thoughts on just how memes grow and evolve overtime. A lot of memes have a very linear and predictable lifespan correlating to just how overexposed internet users get to them, how long it takes before the joke stops being funny from derivative edits and low-effort uses. Yet we're currently in an internet age where far more platforms with unique features and cultures are all in mainstream circulation at the same time, each one finding new bizarre ways to pump extended life into memes as they would've otherwise fallen out of style. TikTok Duets and stitches, the captioned GIFs on iFunny as saved and spread like wildfire through Discord's GIF keyboard, Twitter's quote retweeting, Redditors' thirst for upvotes making them an easy target for all of the above platforms, and of course YouTube channels like SiIvaGunner itself constantly finding new and surprising ways to edit memes in hope of ending up in users' recommended feeds. And when one of these platforms finds a new way to twist a meme, the rest are soon to follow in its footsteps.

What I'm saying is - tracing the growth of memes made in recent times is an immensely interesting experience for just how many hoops they seem to jump through. A meme like "Super Idol" was one I'd never heard of until it started appearing on SiIvaGunner, because the joke itself is so baked into the culture of TikTok: A clip of a pop song cover with an eye-catching beginning and photogenic singer, with an addictive melodic hook and a silly "twist" of an ending. This one little section of the current internet grew its own meme, raised it through the unique features and community of TikTok itself, and soon enough it was everywhere for just a short while. There's a similarly interesting story to follow with Mr Incredible Becoming Uncanny: an innocuous showcase of AI technology on Twitter grew to be adopted into the most rote-basic "thing good/thing bad" meme template possible, before finding new life on TikTok with a seemingly endless pool of new degrees of Canniness added to the original Twitter joke. By now, its as if we're in the 9th layer of irony with these edits (SiIva itself has a YouTube Short that showcases just how deep in the sauce we are) and I genuinely cannot get enough of it.

Those are just two examples of how bizarrely memes seem to be growing and evolving these days, yet even without that explanation of it all I think it's something a lot of us have sort of become...subconsciously aware of. In my eyes, it's that knowledge, the experience of having seen these memes come and go in popularity in so many different ways, that makes Mad Mew Mew Becoming Uncanny such a delight to experience. The two Frankenstein-ian memes I used as examples here, juxtaposed with the enduring icon of meme culture in Rick Astley's Never Gonna Give You Up, effectively assault your senses in a YTPMV made out of pure gold. That is, of course, to be expected from The Green Spy - a ripper who seems content in remaining anonymous yet has been putting out some of the densest YTPMVs I've ever seen on the channel as of late, such as (YTPMV) Bob-Omb Battlesources.

The quality of the original Mad Mew Mew certainly help the rip stick with you, yet its really the sheer pace and silliness of the visuals that make the rip unforgettable. Uncanny Mr Incredible practically bursting into the rip out of nowhere five seconds in, the edit of Tian Yiming himself being made uncanny at the end of his section, we in the audience being called out for our canniness, the tenth layer of irony being applied with an Uncanny meme being applied to the very jokes used by the SiIvaGunner team themselves, and even a brief segment paying tribute to VTuber Ina'nis Ninomae...whose birthday this rip was apparently part of as a larger event?

It's a whole bunch of sources, a concoction of shitposting from times of old and new, intent both ironic and genuine - an experience that's as memorable and catchy as it is deeply hilarious to watch. It may be due to my lack of knowledge with VTubers in general, but I hardly remembered this rip as being part of Ina'nis Ninomae's birthday, it alone stood so tall as to eclipse the event itself in legacy. Visuals, jokes, energy, quality, and catchiness - Mad Mew Mew Becoming Uncanny was the perfect storm to leave an unmistakable impression on the channel. The 100K viewcount appears relatively modest when compared to other hits on the channel, and yet, it feels as if every SiIvaGunner fan of today *has* to have heard of this rip; or if nothing else, heard it referenced someplace else. The Green Spy demonstrates time and time again the power that high quality YTPMV holds, and struck absolute gold with Mad Mew Mew Becoming Uncanny, a mess of noise that...still somehow manages to spark so many thoughts out of me.

16 notes · View notes

usakizades · 2 months

Text

📍Monica Bellucci graces the cover of Vogue Arabia, photographed by Nima Benati for their March issue themed 'Beauties of the World'

Italian Actor Monica Bellucci on Continuing to Transfix Audiences Around the World at 59

An eternal muse, the beloved Italian actor continues to transfix audiences around the world. She also inspired the world’s greatest directors, most recently Tim Burton.

The most beautiful woman in Italy. The sexiest woman alive. World class bombshell. Since her first on-screen appearance in the early Nineties, Monica Bellucci has been showered with accolades related to her looks. Now, at 59, praises continue to rain down on her, showing a definitive shift in the global mindset: a woman’s beauty evolves with time; and when led by magnetic charisma and talent that speaks to people across cultures and generations, it endures.

“Things are changing because women today are talking out loud. They’re less scared to talk,” offers Bellucci. “I’m in Paris and I see all these incredible actors like Isabelle Huppert, Charlotte Rampling, Fanny Ardant…women who still have the possibility to play leading roles and they’re still amazing. It really proves how things are different compared to before, where after 40 years old, women didn’t have the chance to work anymore–even though they were still talented, it was impossible. I can’t say that everything is done–the evolution is still there and it’s really changing.”

Of course, Bellucci is far more than a beautiful woman. While her entertainment industry debuts were as a muse and model for photographers like Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton and fashion and jewelry houses like Dolce & Gabbana and Cartier, she has evolved into an artist with an expansive career spanning film and theater. A polyglot, who can act in many languages, Bellucci has worked with the likes of Sam Mendes for whom she made headlines as the oldest Bond girl in history in Spectre; with Giuseppe Tornatore in the role of a war widow in Malena, and with Gaspar Noé who directed one of her most remarkable performances in the dark art film Irréversible alongside her former husband Vincent Cassel.

“Each director gave me the possibility for me to evolve as an actor, and many of them come from different countries and different cultures,” she says. Her experiences with female directors remain sparse but special. “I like it very much because there is an intimacy between women. Sometimes we look at each other and without words, we can have the same feeling about things. There is something very spontaneous and distinctive and natural, and I like this very much,” she says.

Bellucci is also a woman in love. She made her first red carpet appearance hand-in-hand with legendary director Tim Burton at the Rome Film Festival, in October of last year. “It’s so interesting and beautiful to share the experience of work with someone that is also the person that you love,” she says of the time spent on set as an actor in Burton’s forthcoming film Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. And while she shares that she is at her happiest when she is with her children, she expresses that she is equally joyful when she is in love. “When I have the possibility to feel alive as a woman,” she expresses of her current state of bliss.

The Burton movie is not the only film forthcoming for Bellucci. The actor’s warm and melodic voice rhymes off her recent work. She is presently shooting a TV series in France and has just wrapped a film with Iranian director Marjane Satrapi, the woman behind Persopolis. “When I make a movie, more than feeling nervous, I’m excited, especially in the first few days,” remarks Bellucci of her feelings on-set. She notes that cinema is a completely different experience to theater, an art she dedicated the past three years of her life to, performing across Europe in the one-woman show Maria Callas’ Letters and Memoirs. “This was really something that made me very nervous,” she says of her experience before a live audience. There is something very sincere and artisanal in the process of making a show. But at the same time, it’s very intense because you can’t really make any mistakes, and the public can really feel what you feel. This relationship is very beautiful, but also very intense.”

Bellucci describes herself as “very feminine,” but is not fixated on anything beauty-related. She practices pilates and eats well. “I’m not obsessed with anything. I like to live and to have a real life. If I want to go and buy things, I want to feel free to go.” Bellucci’s self-confidence, sophistication, and warmth emanate from her hazel eyes. It is perhaps her curiosity that is the essence of her decidedly youthful spirit. “My job, I really think that it’s a kind of job that you never stop learning,” she says. “And I’m still enjoying doing that. I’m really full of passion for my work.”

Originally published in the March 2024 issue of Vogue Arabia

Style: Barbara Baumel Fashion director: Amine Jreissati Hair: John Nollet for Maison de Beauté Carita Makeup: Letizia Carnevale Nails: Nafissa Djabi Digital operator: Massimo Fusardi Hair assistant: Pierrick Sellenet Lighting assistant: Pierre Cathala Producer: Sam Allison Talent: Monia

8 notes · View notes